I'm jumping on you

Came and went.

After the holi ..., nay, Christmas season and getting back into the swing of things and then the three-day weekend in the middle of January, we returned to normalcy this weekend. Two days. Back to the grind on Monday morning.

I'm enthused by one thing. I didn't miss football. We've enjoyed football on the weekends for 21 straight Saturdays and/or Sundays.. I thought I'd be despondent. I wasn't. Obviously yesterday was boring (as Sundays usually are) but I made it through one of the worst Sunday Sports Days of the year without much pain and suffering. While it may not be your cup of tea ($2.79 for a tea cup ... bonus points if you get that reference), baseball returns on Sundays in April and then we've got football after that.

Following this coming Sunday's Pittsburgh win over Arizona in the Super Bowl, we'll have five straight god-fucking-awful (lowercase God when you hyphenate it next to a fucking ... I don't want to go to hell) Sundays. March brings us college basketball and then we went into the aforementioned baseball.

The gang all showed up at some point on Friday night at Club 185. I talked mostly to this girl I knew awhile ago and re-connected with in Chicago while NJAG cozied up next to the Truth and The Godfather near the bar. My favorite staffers were working so it was a fantastic night. I think we left around 2:15 a.m. Not much to report. Oh wait. There is.

In random odd things I like, I like when the Cavaliers play at 10:30 p.m. on a Friday night and the game is on at Club 185. Thanks to The Godfather for letting the staff know the game was on, we watched the game as Golden State (goodnight Oakland!) and the Cavs went back-and-forth. As we watched on the 19-inch TV last popular in parents' bedrooms in 1991, LeBron released a shot with .1 seconds left. I said, "he missed it" in a monotone voice to The Godfather. Swish.

I whispered to The Godfather, "I'm jumping on you."

I did. We celebrated.

I also love watching random West Coast Cleveland Indians games at Club 185 in the summer on week nights. I don't know why. I didn't shower yesterday. I don't know why.

I flipped off a girl at Club 185 on Saturday night. She had it coming. I got home and wrote a note to remind myself to tell you folks. The note also included the word "sluts" but I can't remember what I was talking about. It was the "scratching your head with the middle finger" routine. She didn't look too pleased. Ran into a couple other regulars. Talked with The Lady while The Mayor houdini'd and spent most of the night talking to Big Black (shocker that he was there) and The Guy with the Same Name as the Truth (and he needed a better nickname). As low-key a night as I'm going to have there while still having a decent time.

Pretty standard weekend. I didn't mind the Club 185 two-play but I'd like to get out of the German Village at least once a weekend. I think I've got that coming for the next few. This weekend we're going to Indiana for the Ohio State-Indiana game (Indiana will win that game) and I think Kirk is coming back into town the following weekend and he likes going to The Patio. Really he's indifferent about The Patio. I usually just suggest it.

Let's get through this week as quickly as this past weekend passed.

- From the desk of Art McGregor

You going to the Club?

Watched the game with McGinley, McGinley's brother, McCampus, the Truth ("you going to the Club?") and The Godfather in The Little Bar. Eastern side of bar.

"Drinking water, Truth?," I asked the Truth ("you going to the Club?").

"Big day at work, tomorrow," he said, "I got to get up early."

the Truth ("you going to the Club?") then asked me if I was "going to Club 185" three times in a 20-minute span near the end of the game. Each time I answered no in a more forceful manner. Perhaps the "Club" had more accessible H2O.

McGinley and The Godfather both joined the Truth ("you going to the Club?") on the DWB (drink water brigade) but neither of them asked me if I was "going to the Club?"

Saw two new old-faces bartending. They didn't have old-looking faces. I've just seen them working in there before (but not for awhile). The Butt (girl with the nice butt) and Skinny Exotic (S.E. for short). Skinny Exotic is the bartender that is skinny and looks exotic, in case you didn't know.

I hate Florida so obviously they won the BCS title. Ohio State finished No. 9 in The AP Rankings.

Before they spilled the Gatorade on Florida coach Urban Meyer, the Truth ("you going to the Club?") informed us all that he was taking off to go to the "Club."

- From the desk of Art McGregor

185-Brothers-Park Street Tavern trifecta

Of all things Sleepy decided to go to the Arena District and The Godfather said, "fuck it, I'm in."

We left Club 185 a little after midnight and drove to Brothers. Sleepy had about 10 friends there and most were chicks with a couple dudes thrown in. They were hardcore (and presumably still are) Republicans. We walked over to Patio/Sugar (my suggestion) and there was an Obama banner hanging on the fence. They refused to go in. I'm glad about that because I didn't have any cash on me and there was a $5, five dollar, $5 cover charge.

Naturally we hit that trifecta we normally bang out on Thursday nights. Club 185-Brothers-Park Street Tavern. Ate a bunch of popcorn at "the Park."

Details of all that are kind of hazy. I thought one of the girls looked good so I mainly just talked to her and bullshitted (made fun of people) with The Godfather. I won't write anything further until those folks are out of town and I don't have any chance to see them again.

Earlier, I went to a costume store in Whitehall with the Truth and bought some fangs and black hair spray. The people in the store fit every stereotype you could draw up. We were there for about an hour as the Truth asked 1,764 questions about makeup and had a woman give his wig a hair cut. He only asked 815 questions about the wig.

He smoked 20 cigarette during the trip and told me about his haircut problems on the drive over there in one of those conversations where whenever you suggest something the other person goes back to the other option. Moral? He doesn't think he should be spending $40 on a haircut but he "does like to have a coffee while he gets his haircut." Spent some time talking about his need to pull away from nicotine and caffeine.

Rolled into 185 a little after 10 p.m. and chatted with McCampus as McLimited, Sleepy and The Godfather quoted "Good Fellas" and "Mad Men" for about 25 minutes. McCampus told me he's going as a gay cyclist for Halloween (as if there's any other kind) and concluded by saying, "I look like a mental patient." He left at 11:fifteen. No. 1 in Columbus worked last night so that was advantageous and led to a Sleepy-asked-query, "who's the new girl?" A couple Ohio State football players showed up to enjoy their bye week and then followed us to Park Street. (Allegedly.)

Got home around 2 a.m. The chick from Texas told me I was a "ring leader" and I took that to mean "leader." That didn't bother The Godfather at all.

- From the desk of Art McGregor

The clock at 185

You'd think I'd know by now. Been a regular for about three years.

The clock at Club 185 runs 10 minutes late. This didn't stop me from making a mad dash to get back to work for a 1:15 p.m. call. I left lunch at 12:46 p.m. About 14 minutes before I'd normally leave.

Great lunch with The Old Man, The Mayor, Godsmack and The Godfather. I'd love to see a political television show with Smack and The Mayor. They entertain. The Godfather could be the third man ... like off camera and the camera just pans to him for reactions.

That's a great idea.

- From the desk of Art McGregor

Death Cab and cutie

(Photo credit: cpn, 10-8-08.)

By ART MCGREGOR
Blog on the Run editor

The Lady and cpn talk so quickly that we all were out of breath before the concert even began. Actually, before we parked the car.

I love hearing those two talk because not only do they tell entertaining stories, but they tell them in entertaining ways. Their delivery is rockstar.

But we needed an energy drink after the stories of Friday Night Fights at Club 185.

"[Sonbreath] sent me a text about it at 8:30 a.m. the next morning," The Lady said.

TD Hoodie, Peaches, cpn and I finished two 32 ounce beers in about two-point-five minutes. Peaches made like Barry Sanders shoving her way through the crowd and got us to within about 10 deep of lead singer Ben Gibbard. I held on to the back of Hoodie's hoodie when bursting through the crowd.

What were Death Cab fans going to do about it?! It's like 7,000 mes. They ain't doing shit. Mainly because I wouldn't have done shit. When confrontation presents itself, I like to elbow it in the back after it walks past me and then act like I didn't do it.

Death Cab didn't play "405," but they played everything else I liked. They played five songs off "Plans," and the only one of those I don't really like is "Soul Meets Body." They played my favorites on "Narrow Stairs" and the requisite few from "Transatlanticism" (try saying that word when drunk) ... "Sound of Settling," "New Year," "Expo '86" (awesome), "Title and Registration," and the closer "Tiny Vessels"/"Transatlanticism." A FIVE-SONG encore. Unreal. Not ONE bit of political commentary other than a "make sure to vote" message at the end of the show.
Props on that.

They come around once every two years. Their music means a lot to me. I have no problem saying that. Music can make a big difference in someone's life especially if that someone spends a lot of time by his Art McGregorself.

That's the best thing about music. To write a song for everyone that speaks directly to one person. Only that one person is about 500,000 people.

I spend a lot of time thinking about myself and most of it's negative. I can't stand the way certain relationships in the past have ended and howevergaythismaysound I credit Death Cab's music with getting me through some really tough times when I didn't know if I'd make it through another day. (Not in a suicidal way, just in a way like, "fuck, this sucks I want to stay in bed." But sometimes I did stay in bed.) So it's emotional in that respect and to enjoy it outdoors in a great environment on a cool, crisp night just makes it that much more amazing.

Also amazing is the blonde I met outside Club 185 last night.

Spent time at a high top (yes!) with Bo Bice and The Pacifist. For awhile, I was the only one there without a beard. Their friend also came (unbearded) with a smoking hot brunette (unbearded) who was really nice and I think we did some shots (shottttts) before I headed outside with the blonde.

She was a real doozie, a former flight attendant born in 1986. Obviously I didn't take her home, but it was a rare night. Not rare that I didn't take her home but. Props to her friend. The friend genuinely seemed to be rooting for me. The friend usually always tries to fuck you over so she can go home and watch "Sex and the City" with the other girl and talk about how she's just like Charlotte but she's really not because she's just not.

The girl from Reynoldsburg actually was pretty smart and we smoked about four Camel Lights outside. I also gave her a piggy-back ride west on Blenkner. Then carried her ("into the hotel after your wedding" style) across Mohawk where he friend dropped trou and took a piss right behind her car. At 2:34 a.m. she sent me a picture of her cat. Really. Her cat. I am sure we talked about cats at some point in the night.

I did pretty well for myself. The girl was fucking hot and pointed out that she was "really drunk" at least four times. Before, I'd never had a girl ask for a piggy-back ride that wasn't a relative under the age of 8.

I walked home around 2 a.m. and fell asleep at about 2:30 a.m.

A text from The Godfather woke me up.

I wasn't dreaming.

Chili, C-plus, Club

Enjoyed watching some of the debate with McCampus, McCampus GF, The Godfather and the Truth. the Truth smoked in both the backyard and front porch. The Godfather made really good chili and sent 21 texts.

McCampus played the gracious host at the Superdome/813. He also has an inexplicable "Express" poster hanging in his living room.

the Truth and I went to Ugly Tuna until about 1 a.m. Logsdon threw out many "Gerbil Village" references that got zero laughs. They could just have a Chris Logsdon hologram up there because he did the same bit three weeks ago.

For all his cracks on Gerbil Village, the Tuna rocked an 80/20 male-female split.

Didn't get much better at Club 185.

The scoreboard read:

11 dudes, 3 girls.

Good times at the Club, however. They've got a new bartender that I assume will draw in a few new repeat customers. She's got some talent.

A C-plus Thursday night. I feel good this morning.

It's time for the weekend.

- From the desk of Art McGregor

Tuesday afternoon mailbag II

Welcome to Blog on the Run's second Tuesday afternoon mailbag. Here I'll answer questions from readers and non-readers about the week that was and anything else that might come across my mailbag.

Q: Why haven't we seen you more at Club 185 more often this summer? - Alex, Clintonville

A: Great question. I've got nothing against the place. Still like the staff, the location, all of the above. Love the people I see in there. It's just the place brings me down in the summer. I never thought I'd say this, but I get depressed and tired when I'm in that place in the summer. It's usually "where dreams go to die." I will be back come fall (that's about a two-week stretch in late October in Ohio) and beyond. Love spending my nights there in November, December, January, February, March, April and into May. But in the summer? No need. There are better places. But give me a crowd, big jackets, the search for a high top table, and I'm in heaven. I look forward to wanting to go back, but that's not until around Halloween.

Sure, I'll still go in there from time to time before then, but you will not ever hear me say, "let's go to 185." If it's in the German Village, pretty much the only place I'll go willingly in the summer is the High Beck. Won't go to Lindey's and will only go to 185 if there's a consensus on wanting to go there.

Q: What's August look like for you ... and this blog? - Elise, Westerville

A: For the blog, it should be a great month. Just had our one month anniversary, and it's still coming along. I love the weekly features, some of the themes we're laying down, getting something from trendy every week, having a small, but loyal readership.

Starting a blog in the summer is rough but always helpful. It allows you to experiment with some things. Sad thing is, there's not a lot going on. With the mailbag, and the weekly links, we've got two days set where readers know what's coming up. I'd like to expand that to Monday through Friday. I know trendy writes on Mondays and Dr. Willy Loman on Thursdays, or will eventually, but I'd still like more features and what not. I think there's people out there that could fill a lot of needs on this blog and it's just recognizing those folks.

Heading to Chicago on the first day of August for a short weekend with The Godfather and The Dr. It's going to be a lot of fun. The two weekends following that will be two-a-weekends at The Patio and then I got my sister's wedding. Ohio State plays the next Saturday after that. I'm happy. We've only got four more non-college football Saturdays and five more non-NFL Sundays. When you put things into that sort of perspective, it makes it easy.

Football Sundays last for about 20 weeks. That's amazing. They give your week so much more. You don't have any more boring Sundays and it's always Tuesday before you know it. And then it's Thursday and that's the weekend. I'm a big fan.

Q: You had a great stat the other day about July having 22 work days. What's the rest of the year look like? - Mallory, Gahanna

A: I'm proud of myself for that one. I know, right? September only has 21 work days, August ain't bad either. We've got five weekends in the month. That's a rarity. But still, there's only 20 working days in the month and that's amazing for a month without a holiday. Sorry, Madonna.

October (the best month of the year) has 22 days but who's complaining? December's tricky with the Christmas and New Year's, but there are a shitty-tastic 17 working days before Dec. 24.

Good question, Mallory.

Q: Are chicks getting hotter? - Nick, Groveport

A: Yes. Easy question. Girls continue to get better and better looking as we move toward the '10s. I guess we can say tens will be at an all-time time in 2010.

I think girls are more competitive and vain than ever before. We're coming along at a great time in our nation's history.

I'm proud to be an American.

Q: Fantasy sports suck. Are we going to have to hear you guys talk about them a lot? - Jennifer, Hilliard

A: Fantasy sports, especially football, is pretty much all dudes think and/or talk about in the fall. That extends into late July and August.

Had a discussion at lunch today about fantasy football. We'll likely have the same exact conversation for the next five months. I'm not complaining. I'd recommend everyone play. It's sweet. And way better than Tina Yothers.

- From the desk of Art McGregor

Jars of beef jerky

Before and after the Truth regaled me with tales of $200 jars of beer jerky, I had your typical wet, hot American summer weekend. The highlight of both nights probably was going to Club 185. You know? Just sort of went through the motions. If summer weekends are going to be boring on the face, spicing it up a little on Friday or Saturday night would be advantageous. We tried it on Saturday and it was pretty cool. Varsity Club was pretty empty, except for a pack of 40-somethings celebrating a bachelorette party. I would have preferred getting caught up in the mix of the 10 or 15 of them downtown in the Arena District, but chilling with some buds having a couple beers was a nice change of pace. Went to the Out 'R Inn afterward and ... I definitely like that place more from September through November at Saturday night around 9 p.m.

Enjoyed meeting Headband's new guy friend, oddly enough at Out 'R Inn. Rainbow Brite and brother also were in attendance.

Miss July made her first appearance out with our group of people. Thrown into that collection of personalities, in those settings, I thought she handled herself pret-tay well.

Saw all the usuals at 185 this weekend including Sonbreath (more like Boobs breath), My Boy Whit, The Sluts (No. 1 and No. 2), this dude that just got out of prison and puked all over the owner's box, cpn, that guy who's always drunk as fuck stumbling around aggressively hitting on every girl in the bar and others!

Can't wait to spend every weekend in October doing just about exactly the same thing!

Got a call from The Dispatch on Friday and they let me know they'd like me to continue to cover high school football this fall. This is great news all around as it allows me to cut back on Friday night boozing, make a few extra bucks and get out to 13 or 14 games this summer/fall. For those in need of a football fix, high school football games start Thursday, Aug. 21 in Ohio.

My old pal The Sports Writer (formerly of Yakima, Wash.) will be in town on Thursday night. That's going to be fun.

First half of the the baseball season is over and the Tribe's on a four-game winning streak! Still in last place. The Devil Rays had the best record in baseball!? What? They looked fucking terrible this weekend. Maybe next year that team contends, but they'll end up winning about 82-86 games this year for a nice phat third-place finish. I'm not really concerned with who wins the Quad-A/National League, maybe it's finally the Cubs? But in the AL, I got Minnesota, Boston, Chicago and L.A. making the playoffs. Chicago over L.A. in the first round, Boston over Minnesota and the Red Sox over the White Sox in the World Series. Maybe the NL team lucks out and snags its fifth single-game win in the past five years in that series after the ALCS.

- Compiled by Art McGregor

We'll take it

By ART MCGREGOR
Blog on the Run editor

One of the reasons I decided to get out of the newspaper business was to have a little more of a "normal life." I wanted to work Monday through Friday and have Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights off. I enjoyed boozing heavily at Club 185 every Monday and Tuesday night but working from 4 p.m. to midnight every Saturday ... well, it sucked.

As I'm sure all of you have noticed, it's rained 31 weekends in a row in Columbus. Not that I spend a lot time outside (maybe 30 minutes yesterday), it's just better when the sun's out in summer.

There is good news.

The sun is scheduled to come out and play all day tomorrow. Wednesday, too.

It's been a good two or three weeks since we were graced with such a forecast. Granted, it's supposed to rain this weekend. After all, 32 does follow 31. But it might be the forecast that just suggests the "atmosphere is favorable for thunderstorms." I remember in Florida they had the "sun/cloud/thunderbolt" symbol for at least 20 days in a row and it never once rained. Weather people are known for covering their asses. And the rest of their bodies' too. Not a whole bunch of nude weather men.

Phew.