Monday, March 21, 2005

Riddle me this.....

"What is more powerful than God,

More evil than the Devil,

Poor people have it,

And you'll die if you eat it..."

That was one of several riddles given to me last night by a lovely couple (I'll call them "A" and "T", to protect the innocent, of course). Sunday was a rather relaxing day at the bar; there were small groups of people in and out throughout the day, curiosities piqued by the NCAA tournament games and/or the NASCAR race. Overall, I suspect that the laid back atmosphere was due to the combination of the rather shitty weather we were having (overcast and rainy) and the sheer exhaustion that comes with the long weekend of celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Sunday night was more of the same, although the lure of the games was replaced by the lure of conversation and the SwanFather's favorite brand of music to converse with. It was during this time that I happened to overhear a conversation between "A" and "T". She's a teacher and he's involved in an important govermental position that would probably be better left unsaid. She lives in the neighborhood but confessed that she normally doesn't frequent our establishment (not quite her scene-which is cool; we're not for everybody). In any case, they were talking about various things and the conversation turned to riddles; "T" was having a bit of a difficult time trying to figure out this particular riddle and asked for my assistance. I normally hate trying to solve riddles/mind teasers b/c these things tend to be rather simple and I tend to overanalyze, which drives me nuts. (of course we were able to finally figure out this puzzle and of course, I went nuts when I realized how simple it was). Ugh. Anyhow, "A" and "T" were pretty nice people and I hope they stop by again soon.

Other news: ELEPHANT PARADE IS HERE! Yes, now that St. Patrick's Day is over, it's time for the ELEPHANT PARADE! What is it you ask? It's an interesting pheonomenon that takes place every year (usually right after St. Patrick's Day), at around midnight on Tuesday or Wednesday. Let me back up a bit. At around 10-ish, you start to see people gathering at the bar, armed with cameras and dressed as if they are going to the North Pole. Everyone sits around and drinks and drinks while some poor sap (usually me), sits out in the cold and watches out for police activity around the Midtown Tunnel entrance. At around midnight or so, the police begin to block off the streets and the crowd from the bar and the neighborhood begin to gather at the opening of the tunnel and on East 35th street. The anticipation grows until BOOM: The Arrival of the Elephants! Ringling Bros. marches the elephants from the circus through the Tunnel, across East 35th street, right up to East 34th street where they continue their trek up 34th street and right into Madison Square Garden. Now what the big deal is, I'm not sure. But I can tell you this: to see the multitudes of people ranging from families, to college kids to PETA protesters is a sight to behold. It's worth sitting outside freezing once just to say you did it.

Other tidbits: We have been collecting postcards from people who signed up for our mailing list. We promised to award a free Happy Hour for a lucky winner and their friends. A drawing will be coming up in the near future, so keep reading the blog to find out if you are a lucky winner!

That's it for now; I'll update again this afternoon. Oh, and by the way, the first person that can come up with the answer to the riddle (in person), gets a drink on me.

NUFF SAID