Molly's Public House

Holding Up

The air conditioner in my car is broken, but the thermometer works. It read 108 as I drove from work holding a rag of ice to my head yesterday evening. Even one of the Ghost( Yellow Jolokia Bhut ) pepper plants was fainting from the swelter before I watered the pots in the parking lot. It's perked up this morning. So have I. There are some beautiful storm clouds looming. Time to frame a peice for the salon show at the notorious Mt. Royal Tavern!

The Pabst Castle

I showed this to you last summer (or one of the series) but this is a tarted up version I submitted to Smile Hon, You're in Baltimore!

 

Accolades

Last week it happened again, someone mistook us for people what got some class...actually, I believe it may have happened as a result of a poll, I mean, our modest establishment has landed in the City Paper's Best of Baltimore edition! Behold this verbatum piracy;

"Arts and Entertainment | Arts and Entertainment Winners

Best Jukebox
Molly's Public House
400 W. 23rd St., (410) 889-0091, www.mollygoatwax.typepad.com/mollys_public_house

We admit picking the place with the internet jukebox is kind of cheap. You know, it's supereasy to have the best jukebox in town when you can pick just about any damn song in the known universe. And yeah, there's something unique and special about a lovingly hand-curated jukebox filled with all-time classics and obscure favorites. But fuck it--if it means we never have to hear "I Want You Back" or "Hot Topic" or "19th Nervous Breakdown" or the friggin' Arcade Fire for the fifth time in two hours, we're OK with it. Terrestrial jukeboxes--your days are numbered."

Oh my. Time to get misty eyed with a little Englebert Humperdinck....sniff

And in this corner...

Photo by Superchou, on  Flickr*
This our fabulous Fionnuala Fox, placing second in the Hampden Idol competition! She's even more glamorous in person, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons. Come by and let her serve you a pilsner with aplomb!

*Link

Something different

A deep red envelope sent to the public house by the Burgundy Wine Council contained an invitation to a walk around tasting and selection of seminars at the French Embassy. In Washington, D.C.. Some one has mistaken us for people what got some class. Miss S., who takes to train to work in D.C., volunteered to play hooky from the office with a co-worker and be our wine consultant for that afternoon. And you know there's going to be plenty of tasty nosh to go with all those Burgundies...

The Big Night

Keyboard Man sent me this message!
"On Friday night,  you will have your last chance to guarantee a spot in Hampdenfest's "Hampden Idol: The Deuce!" karaoke competition. Amazing karaoke talents like Jules Burn, Tony (Tony Tony), Fionnuala Fox and the gorgeous Mattie have already secured their spots and space is dwindling faster than an Iraqi voluteer fireman roster.

One of the questions I get asked all the time is "Keyboard Man, do you accept this package?"

My answer is invariably, "I do."

The people also are known to query "What genre is the best choice for me to win in competition?"

And my answer is this:

Search your soul for the genre that best projects who you are as a person. Then put on a hott outfit, throw free stuff to people, use sexx appeal, sing your heart out and if you don't win, the good people of Hampdenfest will remember you forever as they guy who hit them in the head with a can of Tab. And having that legacy is always better than $100s of dollars of prizes.

Ave pater! - KBM

Keyboard Man Karaoke
The Final Hampden Idol Preliminaries
Pay Some Bills, then Bring Your Skills
Molly's Public House
Friday, August 25th
I'll be partying 9pm around sharp, in celebration of the newly wedded Dean and Julia (a Hampden Idol competitor!) "
Gosh, that's tommorrow!

Product Review

Every once in a while I am willing to spend a bit of time testing out a product line for a brewery that has come to my attention. Last week my sales guy recommended an Octoberfest from a microbrewery in the mountains up north. I said, yeah, lets try it. And I really like it, even though it's early for me to think about Autumn beers in the heat. It was so tasty I went out to a beer store and bought a mixed six from Saranac to sample in consideration for our selection in the privacy of my studio, as it was not supplied by the wholesaler. Well that review took about twenty minutes. Except fot the Octoberfest, the lager, black and tan, the pale ale and the India pale ale were all too bitter for my taste. I know some people like bitter beer, but I don't. I hate to dump beer down the sink, but I did. By the time I was done, it took several Rolling Rocks to wash away the creeping, coating bad in my mouth. Needless to say, I won't be ordering any unless someone pitches a fit for it. We are sampling a case of Dos Equis Amber Lager on recommendation this week and next will have some Carlsberg for the Swedish art students up the street. What would you like to drink?

Nice Wow

Imagine my surprise as Hubby held up today's edition of the Baltimore Messenger, with a nice photograph of the Public House's interior on the front page. It was like getting a love letter. Because this is a blog and does not pretend to be journalism, I will now cut n past from the online edition text that accompanied the photographs. Those are not on the site, which is too bad-one of our bartenders was singing and she looked great...anyway;

Idol Worship

08/17/06 Email this story to a friend       The "Amercian Idol" knockoff "Hampden Idol," a karaoke extravanganza, returns to HampdenFest for its second year Sept. 16. Tryouts were held earlier this month at Molly's Public House, a bar in Remington. Additional contestants will be added at HampdenFest on a first-come, first-served basis. To help potential contestants prepare, here's some of what the judges will be looking for: *The "It" factor: Was the performance memorable? Do the performers have a future in the karaoke entertainment business? Can they sing? Can they dance? Can they get the crowd eating out of their hands? *General appearance: Did they have a good "look" to them? *Audience response: Was it wildly approving or did spectators sit in stony silence? Prizes will include gift certificates to restaurants, art galleries, bookstores and a massage parlor. - Larry Perl I promise to republish the photos if I can. Thanks, Messenger!

Call to Karaoke

I just got an important message from Keyboard Man, who encourages me to pass it along, so here's the cut n paste, boys and girls:

"As many of you know, Hampden Idol: The Deuce (TM) is approaching us faster than the proverbial bat out of hell. Which makes little or no sense. Hell is the dominion of all things demonic; most would assume that bats would be pretty comfortable there. Stupid bats.

Which reminds me, did you know they closed the bat house at the National Zoo in D.C.? I would think that post-Batman version whatever we are on, that would be something that occasionally people would actually enter and go "Hey, look at all these rad bats." I know I did.

I also know what you are thinking right this very second.

"How is he going to transition from the National Zoo into some lame pitch to get me to come to do karaoke this weekend, and compete to sing in front of a crowd of hundreds of people for hundreds of dollars in prizes at this year's Hampden Idol competition?"

I just did.

Come party with me on Friday, August 4th at Molly's in Remington as we continue our search for some more Hampden Idol canon fodder. Because this year, I intend to shoot myself out of a canon, like a freaking Meerkat out of Meerkat Mansion. "

You are hereby on notice!

Get your Wheaties

Last week both The New York Times and The Baltimore Sun published full page articles about wheat beer in their Wednesday food sections.We learned how it was made, how it was served,(the yeast on the bottom has to be roused by swirling) and that there is Belgian style, spiced with coriander, and German style-which is not. So we looked in the upright at the imports and micros to see what we had. We all tried the Blue Moon belgian stle with a bit of orange and the Magic Hat Circus Boy Hefeweissen with a bit of lemon. Very refreshing. It may knock you on your butt. We look forward to sampling the Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer when it comes in this week.