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Excellent blues bars in Philadelphia

schroedinger — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:17:34 -0800

I'm looking for an excellent jazz/blues/blues-rock bar in Philly. Grizzled old guys on their guitars, grizzled old patrons, bad lighting, laid-back bartenders and a relaxed atmosphere with a little bit of room to sway if you're feeling it. If you've ever been to the Cat's Eye Pub in Baltimore, something like that. All of my bar exposure so far has been in Old City (too swank), University City (too fratty), or Northern Liberties or South Street (too hipster). The few blues bars I've been to were upscale and I am cheap and don't like dressing up. Where do the old tattooed men and women go to do their soulful Led Zeppelin covers and play John Lee Hooker?

Tips for strips?

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:58:59 -0800

StripClubFilter: The wife and I want to give going to a strip club a chance. I've only been to two or three, and she's never been, so we're relative novices. What do we need to know? We'll be going to the local Spearmint Rhino in Dallas, which is a national chain. From what I can tell, it's a pretty classy joint, but then again, I'm not sure what's classy for strip clubs. We're going because the headliner is a popular adult star, and we figured this was as good a time as any to try it out. We're both in our 20s, married, and comfortable in sexual situations.

A few questions:

Do I bring a wad of singles like we used to do in college the few times I went, or is this a different type of place?

Is going in with a woman lead to a different experience than going in with a group of guys? Different treatment?

Is there any expected dress?

I've only been to relatively skeezy clubs and a few nicer ones, but in Montreal. Is there any sort of strip club etiquette that I should know about? Tipping? Minimum drink orders?

I've agreed that if she (or I, for that matter) start feeling skeeved out, we'll bolt. Any ways to avoid that?

I figure it's a new experience, but like any new situation where I don't know the rules, I like to get advice in advance.

Any other tips/things I haven't thought about for a couple's first joint strip club visit would be much appreciated.

let's NOT do goldilocks, for once.

acidic — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:26:11 -0800

Help me, a teacher, help my energetic, funny and amazing 10-year-old EFL students write and direct a pair of plays. I've been put in charge of a drama club at my school in Korea. We've got 4 weeks to brainstorm, write, rehearse, and film two plays. I have six students, and while they will each act in both plays, they will be written by groups of three. We did some brainstorming and we came up with the following ideas:
1) A crew of superheroes and magical people who have lost their powers-- a comedy
2) A normal school populated by a group of scary people (zombies, ghosts, etc)
but these aren't set in stone. They're a VERY, VERY active group of kids-- at any given moment usually four of them are jumping on their desks. They wanted to do a fighting play (with fake guns?) but I wasn't sure if that was appropriate.

Their English is not strong, so I'm planning to write a plot and help them develop it into a simple script. Trouble is, I know next to nothing about creative writing (especially for children), and I have never really been involved in anything dramatic. How do I develop these ideas into storylines that use all 6 students equally? How long should the script be if we're to tackle it in a month? We have fifteen 40-minute sessions, and the kids are quite hard to control.

(I'm not NECESSARILY asking for you to come up with a brief storyline, but if anything cool comes to mind......)

What hilarious book should my book club read?

indiebass — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:56:12 -0800

BookClubfilter: I'm tasked with picking the next book. I have some ideas, but could use the Hive's help. It's a group of pretty literary folks (English teachers and the like) and only about eight of us. We've read some heavy stuff lately and I'd like to switch gears to something lighter, and preferably funny. We've read, in reverse order:

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates
Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O'Nan
Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

So we just did Sci-Fi (Snow Crash), so I def want to avoid the genre. I was considering "The Coup" by Jamie Malanowski, "Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley and "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

If anyone has any experience with any of these books OR can recommend a modern, humorous book that'd be good for discussion I'm all ears. I can answer any questions, of course. Thanks hive mind!

Whats a good way to keep track of members that visit our establishment?

JakeTimberlake — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:39:07 -0800

Help me come up with an easy way to track members at the entrance to our "private club" So I'm helping to open a bar, and North Carolina laws require that we be a private members only club because we serve alcohol but no food. That means every customer must be a member, and must sign in before they can enter.

I'd like to speed the process up for them by giving each member a small card (key chain or wallet sized) with a unique barcode on each. That way, they can just scan their membership card when they enter the bar, and we'll be able to be sure they're counted.

I'd also want to use the system as a way to see who are most frequent customers are, and reward them for being regulars. Occasionally, we might run give-away promotions that would involve coming to the bar on a certain night each week, etc.

I've looked at http://www.card-scanner.com/scanshell-pro.html and that looked like a pretty good solution, but then I started thinking about maybe using a cell phone to record the data and plug it into a database.

Does anyone have any ideas of how we could track this information quickly and efficiently?

Will a Fraternal Organization Help Me Land a Job

willnot — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:11:24 -0800

I'm interested in expanding my professional network. I belong to a professional association, but I'm wondering if some broader club might also make sense. Would a fraternal organization be likely to help me if I ever wanted to move up in business, or are they vestigial antiques of the past? What else might I think about joining, and what could I get out of it in addition to contacts? I'm in Los Angeles, in the South Bay, if you have specific local recommendations.

No sleep til Brooklyn (or aftewards)

Evangeline — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:38:03 -0800

Brooklyn on a Wednesday night. What to do? I have a friend flying in from Atlanta tomorrow night to stay with me for a few days, and she wants to start the debauchery immediately. She won't arrive at my place until about 9:00 pm, and we've decided it would be best to go out in Brooklyn (where I live) rather than get her unpacked, gussied up, and head to Manhattan.

Problem is, she's used to a different kind of fun than I am. She's recently divorced, and she's sowing her wild oats. I don't think she's looking for someplace sort of low key and pubby, so where do I take her? I don't usually go out on Wednesday nights, and even when I do, I don't go to singles bars or dance clubs. Is there any place in Brooklyn that would actually be hoppin' on a Wednesday night? She keeps talking about what a "wild" time she wants to have, and I'm at a loss.

How to be a membership chair?

zainsubani — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:19:47 -0800

I have recently been appointed the 'membership chair' for a hobby-related organization of which I have been a member for some years. The club president and I have agreed that my duties will consist largely of:

* Contacting members who have lapsed and inviting them to rejoin

* Devising various means of recruiting new members

I have no experience in this sort of work. I could definitely use pointers, suggestions, and especially referrals to any articles or books that may be relevant.

Question about casino record-keeping

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:06:38 -0800

Question about casino record-keeping. Let's say I need to prove what someone did at a major national casino on a certain day, approximately two years ago. The person used his player's club card on every game he played, and he used the player's club card to get comped on one meal. The more detailed information I can get about his activities, the better. My question is two-part: (1) Can I expect the casino to still have detailed records of what this person did, or would the records have been purged/destroyed by now? (2) What will it take to get the casino to release the records? (You can assume the person will sign a release for me to get the records, but will not go to the casino in person.)

AAA alternatives?

danny the boy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:23:14 -0800

AAA alternatives? So I've just learned about the political lobbying AAA does, and I'd rather not support that if I can help it. In a slight tangent to this thread, someone mentioned Better World Club as an alternative to AAA (and their anti-bicycle, anti-environment lobbying). Anyone have personal experience with this or other automobile clubs?

Or do I even really need a car club membership? I haven't used any part of my AAA membership for 7 years...

I Would Be a Member of Any Club...

drjimmy11 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:34:57 -0800

What group/club/organization can I join on L.A.'s eastside? Film-related is a plus. I'm looking for something, but I don't know exactly what. I'm trying to solve two problems:

1) I feel kind of adrift in my film career. I have made a few short films at an almost-professional level but am yet to make any money at it and still have a dayjob. I've always had issues finding collaborators and am frustrated by the fact that I didn't really meet many people I'd want to work with again on my last project. I want to meet like-minded people to collaborate with, but I really haven't. For the sake of this question let's assume I am not a total clown and have enough ability as a writer and director that i wouldn't be laughed out of a room of professionals or talented amateurs. I'm just not sure exactly what I should be doing next.

2) I moved to the eastside (Silver Lake) two years ago and I really haven't made many friends over here. I have an existing, westside-based group of friends, but I spend a lot of time alone because they often aren't interested in the same things as me. Also, getting back and forth across town is a hassle.

So in an ideal world I would find some kind of film collective- people who were interested in working together to make cool, low-budget indie film type things. In addition, it would provide a peer group who I could talk about film-nerd stuff with. The closest thing I'm aware of is the Echo Park Film center, but they only offer one class longer than one day, and it's in documentary filmmaking, which I am not especially interested in.

I definitely have a lot to learn, but I'm not interested in beginner classes like those offered at a community college at this point. And in an ideal world I would find more like an ongoing club or society than a class.

Even if it doesn't have to do with film, I would love to find any kind of likeminded group of people on the eastside with whom i could share some or all of the following:

1) literature
2) hiking/outdoor stuff
3) good music
4) Even if they're not filmmakers, people who are interested in good movies- more like the Agnes Varda double feature I saw Sat. and less like, say, Transformers II
5) writing, screen or prose
6) still photography
7) Anything else I haven't thought of where I might interact with creative, open-minded people

Just a few more notes:
1) I have tried and failed to start something on my own before, a writer's group. I found it exhausting to maintain on my own and I really wasn't able to grow it how I wanted, and eventually it fell apart.

2) I am mainly looking for specific things I can join on L.A.'s eastside. General suggestions like "join a club" or "volunteer for something" aren't that helpful because I have tried and I am struggling to find the right thing for me.

3) i work a dayjob and am gone from home 7am - 6pm every weekday. this rules out things that take place on weekdays, like tutoring at 826LA in Echo Park, which i would love to do otherwise.

thanks!!

Where to find Diet Mt. Dew in NJ?

ThyroidBob — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:37:04 -0800

Where can I buy Diet Mountain Dew in cases in/around northeast New Jersey (as close as possible to Scotch Plains)? I can't even seem to find it in 2L bottles, but I'm really looking for the 36-can cases. I've looked at BJ's, Stop 'n' Shop, and Target (I'm getting desperate). I know from experience that Sam's Club stocks them in Michigan, at least. But there don't seem to be any of those near my current location. I'm hoping some fellow caffeine-dependent Mefites here will be able to help me out.

Also (a bit of an aside), what's up with that, anyway? Is Diet Mt. Dew that unpopular on the East Coast that it's hard to come by in more than just one container/quantity?

Socializing in a second language?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:56:33 -0800

How does an introvert socialize in a second language? I'm living in another country right now, and I'm having a hard time figuring out how to socialize. It's one thing to say, "Join a club! Take a class!" But comprehension/speaking abilities in my second language are pretty horrible. I have opportunities to take art classes and dance classes and even a unicycle class. But my shyness and lack of language ability are holding me back. I feel nervous just running into my flatmates making dinner--they don't speak that much English.

I'm kind of socially-dumb in English, too. My nervousness over my second language is turning me into a hermit.

Any advice? Should I ignore being social until my language skills are better? I'm already listening to more dubbed Lazy Town music than I can handle!

(Anon. because my friends would probably make fun of me for posting this. My throwaway account is socialmute@gmail.com.)

Oh wise investors please teach me your tricks!

saradarlin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:12:27 -0800

Starting a Canadian Investment Club in Ontario. 10 people will contribute $100 each per month for 5+ years. We are looking to do a stock buy every 1 - 2 months. What do I need to know from a tax standpoint? How should I structure the club (i.e. Incorporation has too many fees)? Also I'd love tips, advice or Canadian specific links from anyone who has done something similar. Google provides great American info but I didn't find stuff for Canucks!

What do I need to know about club flyers?

iivix — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:47:54 -0800

From the point of view of a newby promoter, what do I need to know about night club flyers? I'm a newby club promoter and DJ, based in London. Along with a couple of other guys, we've done a few nights here and there, but just local things. Now though we're looking to up our game a bit, so we've booked a respectable small-ish venue for a friday evening in a couple of months, and we're looking to book a lower mid-card techno DJ or two as our guest DJs. The venue can expect to get a certain amount of regular customers and passing trade, but we need to fill the rest using promotion. We've got a website, a Facebook group and a mailing list with a couple of hundred people, and we should get our listing in Timeout etc.

So the question is, can someone tell me what I should know about club flyers? What do I need to know about design and printing them (we've got a proper designer on board to do the graphic design part of it). How many do we need to print to see decent returns? What's the best way to distribute them? How do flyer packs (like Don't Panic) work? In the web age, is worth printing up flyers at all?

Cheers in advance, being rather new to this all, any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Where can I have a threesome in LA?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:51:59 -0800

How can I safely experiment sexually, like in a club or other group setting? I'm an attractive female in my twenties. I've never experimented sexually beyond regular male/female sex. I'm very interested in being with another woman, having a threesome, being watched, watching, etc.

I live in Los Angeles, so I feel like there must be a lot of opportunity around me, but I'm very cautious and don't want to end up being killed by some wacko I met on craigslist.

Are there settings, like bars or clubs, where people are partying in a more sexual manner? I once saw an episode of Nip/Tuck where Christian went to a party where people were having sex out in the open, and others would just join in. Does this exist?

If you have an experience similar, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

Book Club woes

Groovytimes — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:56:05 -0800

My book club is fizzling out...help me reignite it! A friend and I started a book club with other people in our college department about one year ago (five to six members). We have been going strong but since last december when we all graduated its been tough. Ive tried to take the reigns and get us to at least meet (we've all finished the book we're on) so we can get back on track. The problem is I set a date and then when the date comes up, it falls apart.

The main problem is that its my friend and I who are the driving elements, the others are sort of just along for the ride. So if either I or my friend can't come then the meeting doesn't happen.

I scheduled a meeting two weeks ago for this last Friday and we all were in agreement to meet up. Friday roles around and I call my friend but she doesn't respond back. I'm at a loss, I really want to do this and I know they want to as well, how do I get the ball rolling and not sound like a jackass?

Also follow up: If I ever get this thing rolling again, does anyone know of some good sites for activities we can do?

Stand-up comic forum?

machaus — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:27:02 -0800

How can I find out if a stand-up comedian is currently performing a routine that's different from material on their two recorded albums? I'd really like to go see Mitch Fatel, but not with a long drive in the car, a big cover and a two drink minimum if he just poots out the same material as his last two albums. Is there a good web forum for comics and stand-up where I might research this?

Your favorite karaoke bar in NH/MA

Thrillhouse — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:23:03 -0800

Looking for the best karaoke bar in southern NH, Northern MA. We've experienced Harry Karaoke at a couple different places but now we're looking for a new place to go. Somewhere along 93 between Andover and Manchester. Current music (unlike Harry's stuff) and a fun, laid back atmosphere. NOT a meat market.

Help me find a book club in the city!

mingodingo — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:00:09 -0800

San Francisco filter: Help me find a good book club for 20-30-somethings? I'm hoping to meet some new people and make some new friends, and am also interested in getting back into reading more for pleasure. Are there any tips on a great book club in the city (or East Bay, particularly Berkeley/Albany/Oakland area)? My preference is a group of folks in their mid-late 20s, who meet regularly yet informally, and perhaps share wine, food, etc. over the discussion of a good book.

Thanks!

Membership App (Hosted?) for Non-Profit / Club?

c0nsumer — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:03:28 -0800

I'm looking for a web-based app (free or otherwise) or a hosted app which will handle membership for a non-profit / club. It needs to provide different membership levels, handle payments (via PayPal or Google Checkout), and provide some method for allowing members to renew or upgrade their memberships, change their info as needed, etc. It does not need to be free, even though that would be nice. Currently we are looking into Wild Apricot, but I'm running into some odd weirdness with importing users, the way income is booked into it (importing our current member list records each member as paying again), and a few other things.

I found this question from a while ago, but it's a bit out of date and doesn't really answer the question.

So, does anyone know of some better way to handle this?

Two n00bs walk into a strip club

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:49:21 -0800

What's the etiquette for a couple going to strip clubs in Australia? My boyfriend and I (I'm female) went to our first strip club, a classy gentleman's club (as opposed to a dodgy bar) in Brisbane last week. We had been curious about what happens in there for a while. Neither of us had done anything remotely sex-industry-related before, so we were awkward n00bs.

The experience turned out to be a lot of fun - some of the dancers were really good and we even had one of them feed us chocolate (yum!!). It's done wonders for our relationship and we're looking forward to returning to this club sometime in the future.

I think we could have done a bit better etiquette-wise though - we weren't sure what the rules are (aside from what the manager told us) and we did feel a bit "uh is this OK"? So we'd like to be a bit more prepared before our next trip.

1. I was the only non-working-girl in the club that night (it was a weekday night, so it was a bit slower than normal). From reading around, it seems that strippers sometimes avoid m/f couples because they think the girl's been dragged there and would be jealous. Is there any way I can indicate that not only am I cool with my boyfriend being there, that I actually find the whole thing fun and hot? (I'm pansexual and he's straight, if that matters.)

2. What's the policy on tipping? I tipped one of the dancers $5 (she eventually was our "chocolate feeder" girl) but I didn't see too many people doing the same.

3. The manager told us that when getting a private dance, touching anywhere but private parts was OK. We did ask our girl if she was cool with it and she laughed and said "Yes, sure." Even if there already is a long-standing policy, is it better to ask the girl first?

4. We're thinking of buying a lapdance the next time. What can we expect? What can we do/not do? My boyfriend thinks it would be hot for us (him and I) to make out a bit while getting the lapdance - is that actually OK or does that just show how lame we are?

5. Is it normal to ask for a specific girl if you've liked them the last time? Is it too stalkery?

6. We saw some girls that spent ages chatting to some customers, but we hardly had anyone come to our table (probably because of the "jealous girl" thing). How can we get the girls to come chat to us? Do we offer a drink? How do we approach them? We can both be shy at times so asking them directly can be a bit awkward!

Any other tips for strip/gentleman's club enjoyment? Share them our way. You'll be making a n00b geek couple very happy!

(please keep discussion about whether strip clubs are worth going to or not out of it. In Australia it's legal, and - at least in the club we were at - the girls went into it willingly and are well taken care of. I'm a feminist, but also pro-sexuality and pro-sex industry. But anyway, political discussions are offtopic.)

Good sausage of the month club?

lackutrol — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:12:59 -0800

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good "sausage of the month" club? The intended recipient is not exactly a foodie but appreciates good food and good sausages in particular. He lives in New York, as I do, so New York City sources, though tasty, might not be ideal. Googling seems to yield relatively few places and almost no critical opinion.

Summer Sat in NYC...

hboogz — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:49:23 -0800

Where to go tonight in NYC? Group of Mid-Late twenties party people looking for a good party ?

I'm running dry of ideas..

Idea's I've thought of already:

Plumm
Mansion
Suzie Wong
One
205

help me out mefi's -- any of you mefi's with a connection, hook a fellow mefi up!!

Looking for a mixed crowd that spins a mix but mostly hip-hop

Looking for a no-cover place to dance in NYC.

®@ — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:26:05 -0800

Looking for a good place to dance (with no cover) in NYC. My friend is coming down for the weekend and wants to go dancing in the city. Most clubs I've run across charge a cover, and I have no desire to blow $10-$20 on a random club that may or may not suck.

Anyone know good places with cover-free dancing in Manhattan?