RECAP of Dive Bar Night #28

Greetings People!
A good friend of mine once said... "before you open your mouth and say something stupid, write that s&%* down in your diary, read it to yourself, and if it still sounds dumb, don't say it out loud, because I don't want to hear it".

So here's what I wrote down...

"Dear Diary, no one was more surprised than I... that 28 degree weather would be so cold. Specially with the freezing rain and all on that January dreary Winter night."

Bottomline, for those of you who chose to stay bundled up under a blanket, on your couch, in the comfort of your own home on Friday evening, January 18th 2008...BRAVO! There's no waaaaaaaaay I can be mad at ya. Why? Because although great minds think alike... errrrr "fools seldom differ." Yeah, I was one of the 30-35 fools braving "Austin's Arctic Blast 2008" for Dive Bar Night #28. Granted, I ended up with a cold; But, Robitussin is a hellova drug! R - O - B - I - Tussin'. Hey, no complaints about Dive Bar Night #28, because we had a really kick ass time at Posse East, Crown & Anchor, and good old Nasty's.

If you don't like to read, then here's the link to pictures: Dive Bar Night #28

So Happy Birthday to Big Dave, and Congratulations to Mrs. Renee Leifeste for surviving her first Dive Bar Night event in the frozen tundra. OK, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but it was truly colder than an ice fisher's ass in Montana. Folks came and left throughout the evening, so I guess the best way to recap the night is by going through the Etiquette Rules and see how we faired as a group.

Etiquette Rule #1: Bring CASH.
Yeah, I stressed bring cash, but Crown & Anchor, and Posse East actually took credit cards. Weird. But then again, I guess they aren't "true" dives. Nasty's? Well, that's a different story. All about the paper money in that joint. Don't be fooled. This is still a priority rule. East side won't be so friendly to your VISA and AMEX. Neither will South Austin.

Etiquette Rule #2: Be cool to "the locals".
No problem there. Rule obeyed 100%! (I think)

Etiquette Rule #3: Be cool to the bartenders and TIP.
No problem there. Rule obeyed 100%. (I think) Here's a pic of our bartender at Nasty's.

Etiquette Rule #4: Dress appropriately.
Dress appropriately? Dress appropriately? It was below freezing and raining. Unless we raided REI and prepared ourselves to climb Everest... we were ALL under dressed for the occasion. Of course, we had previously mentioned "leave your pimps and hoes outfits at home", but nobody said anything about bringin' your bling! Check out Nicola with the sparkler on her finger. Bling Bling Beeyatches!!

Etiquette Rule #5: Don't drink from a pitcher.
RULE BROKEN! TWICE! The words expressed in the original e-mail were pretty cut and dry. "Don't drink from a pitcher". I had also mentioned that Big Dave was a repeat offender. Not only did he once again drink from a pitcher, but recruited his neighbor to partake. Of course, Big Mike is to blame for bringing back the legendary Dive Bar Night game of "Kings". Loser has to drink an entire pitcher. Still... no excuse.


















Etiquette Rule #6: Stay off the pole!!!
No pole dancers Friday night; however, I uncovered a few more violators from previous DBN's. Oh wait... repeat violator. Meg "Maui" Kenny at DBN #12 and DBN #24. Stay off the pole girl!



















Etiquette Rule #7: The "P" Rule.
Hygiene standards will be lowered. It's not called a "dive" for nothin'.
A) "P" before you arrive, OR
B) don't complain when you have to "P" in one of these places.
RULE BROKEN! OK, so I (J Cooke) broke Rule B of Etiquette Rule #7. I complained about the conditions of the facilities at Nasty's, and think I may have said the words "ewwww!" and "gross!" Yeah, I'm embarassed that I knew the rules and still broke 'em, but you'd complain too if you had to "P" at Nasty's. The name says it all... Nasty's. The photo evidence speaks for itself in my defense case. I plead the fifth!



















Etiquette Rule #8: Don't make an ass of yourself.
Overall, I think we were pretty well behaved. Freezin' your ass off helps. Keeps you alert!

Etiquette Rule #9: HAVE FUN!!!!
You know, we had a great night. There were a lot of people I would have liked to join us (e.g. my wife Anna, Maui Meg, Cooksey, Mario, Wendy T, etc.), and there are a lot of people I wish I spent more time hanging out with at DBN #28; But at the end of the day, you gotta say to yourself... "There's always next time, right? We should do this again?" I think all who attended would agree a resounding HELL YEAH!

For those who attended or missed out...Check out the pics from Dive Bar Night #28
STAY TUNED for details of Dive Bar Night #29 (when it gets warmer of course)

What part of town would you like the next Dive Bar Night?
A) Austin's East Side (e.g. Longbranch Inn, Red's Scoot Inn)
B) South Austin (e.g. Horseshoe, G&S)
C) Central Austin - North of the river (e.g. Deep Eddy, Shoal Creek)
D) Bus trip to Devil's Backbone (Wimberly, TX)

For archive pictures from previous Dive Bar Nights (#1-27) See the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcooke/collections/

Questions or Comments? E-mail us at DiveBarNight@gmail.com

CHEERS!
The Dive Bar Crew
(aka J Cooke, Big Dave, Sista Clare, & Big Mike)