jayandstacey

And you know, come to think of it - does that make it extra cool? That the precise odds have been memorialized in hit songs by Jimmy Charles, Hannah Montana, Kiss, Al Green, Guns and Roses and in countless other cliche applications? It boggles the noggin.

The odds are, I believe, exactly "one in a million". If you roll a die, the odds of rolling a two are 1 in 6. If you roll two dice, the odds of getting a pair of twos are 1 in 36 (6x6). Here, we have a pair of thousand-sided dice. The odds of both of them coming up 1000 on the same roll are 1,000,000 (1000x1000) to 1. I'm of course only addressing the fact that it was an even some-number 1000 of posts in an even some-number of 1000 of topics. So assuming the interesting thing is that both numbers ended in 000 - then the odds are 1,000,000 to one. The odds of specifically hitting 16000 are different of course, but not as interesting. The odds of me wasting too much time on this is very nearly 1 to 1.

This seems like a social phenomenon, not a new restaurant / business paradigm. The appeal is partly for decent food, but mainly for novelty - specifically the clandestine nature of the events. Thus the evocative names like "Hush" and "Orange Arrow" having little to do with food. What this isn't...is a sustainable alternative to a successful business. It might keep a chef having some pocket change, but like all such ventures, it eventually collapses under its own popularity - either as the facilities can't handle it, or the cops shut it down, or a novel-er place comes along. Thus I tend to agree with the Rob Wilder quote near the end, that such efforts don't represent competition to him.

The bacon rocket is the natural continuation of various forms of airborn bacon, including hover bacon and flying bacon. Of course, sometimes the research stops and the researchers just watch the bacon. It can be hard to focus on studies at such a time.

Or you could ask them for a nickel. Or better yet, $5.

I'd also chime in that the "touristy" places tend to be the national chains, the airport/train places, and the Hard Rock/Planet Hollywood type places. Otherwise, we don't have unique places that are overrun by tourists, at least not as much as NYC. Maybe Ben's Chili Bowl, maybe a small handful of others. As suggested, take a look at the guide, or let us know your preferences and other parameters. The good news is that decent food is all over the place in this area, and few of the places are overrun by tourists.

Funny that doing what you're supposed to do - drink - in a bar...is exactly what can get you thrown out of a bar... I've only been tossed once. In the French Quarter for Mardi Gras many moons ago, went into a karaoke place and got up for "Surfin USA." Had 3 girls behind me on backup vocals, and when we hit the instrumental part I yelled "tidal wave" and threw my full beer, including the plastic cup, out over the heads of the crowd. I was given a swift escort to the door. I guess they frowned upon wasting perfectly good beer. And edit - I remember the name Chaplins but never worked or went there. Not sure where it was, but maybe not Georgetown - sounds too much like "Champions".

hehe - and I haven't been near the chin-up bar in 25 years!

Trivial Pursuit? I guess that was popular at the time...but no correlation. I just happened to work in bars that didn't bother saying the ingredients in the shots - you just ordered the color. Although...hadn't thought of this...I guess those are pretty close to the Trivial Pursuit wheel colors. I think. I was just trying to recall the shot colors. Red was the default, any other caused a heavy sigh from the bartender. And yes, the Beatles do pay off. I made an OK living off the Beatles for a few years, selling their stuff.

Sad and maybe a little disturbing. But you and your friends would have a free round of shots - and you could choose from between any of the shots options - red, yellow, green, orange, brown or pink. Whichever was your favorite.

Ha! That might have been me. Or maybe a guy named "Stretch." We used to do a lot of contests - my favorites: - Show me an american flag (there's a tiny one on the back of a $10 bill) - "my three songs" before WHFS was doing it - for instance, what do "Red Red Wine" (UB40) "I'm a Believer" (Monkees) and "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond) have in common? All were written by Neil Diamond. - List all the car brands with animal names on a bev nap - List all the state capitals on a bevnap. - Ram your head into a wall, or drink the drips squeezed from the bar rag, or eat a cigarette butt or other such dumb stuff. - Lip synch and not get booed. and my two favorites: - First lady to give me her shirt gets the shirt I'm giving away (yes, they'd do it), and - The guy who shows me an ATM receipt with the lowest balance is most deserving of a freebie and really should be publicly ID'd for the ladies' sake. (saw some in the -$300 range) Good times at Jenkins Hill and bars like it.

We're taking the same cruise mid-May. That's a great way to spend a birthday! I'd like to go someplace nice, however, it isn't critical. We'll be doing that 3 hour guided Jeep tour while there and that may be enough. If I come up with any ideas I'll let you know - and please let me know what you ended up doing once you get back!

Doing the cruise thing and would like to eat one meal in a room smaller than the Astrodome. Any suggestions in Nassau or Freeport? Doesn't have to be formal, and local style would be ideal, but would consider other cuisines. Given the choice, I'd rather have a home-style meal cooked by the owner of a small place than a focus-group tested meal cooked by someone who works for an LLC headquartered in another country. TIA - Jay

Red Rooster in Damascus MD - not fine dining but good, old style chicken. Is anyone else grossed out by chicken that's devolved into an explosion of liquid when you bite into it? I used to like KFC somewhat, but never wanted a facial coating of chicken juices. I mean, juicy chicken is good - but there's a limit.

Good call. Didn't seem like lunch was a strong suit there. What pub? I spent many, many weekends commuting up to Philly to DJ weekends at a place called the "Irish Pub" on 20th and Walnut - one of the greatest bars ever. But bars outside DC are off limits, so I won't mention it.

Their "down under" theme consisted of a neon Foster's Lager sign and a boomerang hung behind the bar. <roll eyes>

Baker's was the ferniest of fern bars! All wood, brass and ferns in there - like a Clydes. Baker himself was cool. He had Goldy playing records there a lot - Goldy (Jeff Goldberg) later became a DJ on WBIG-Oldies 100 for many years, not sure where he is now. And the Dewey beach crowd used to have their annual matchmaking party at Baker's this time of year - house owners (or seasonal renters) would hold a kind of open house and people who wanted weeks in the shared houses would sign up over a beer and some 45s.

And was it also the Quigley's place I referenced earlier? As I recall, it had a quite small opening to the street and a small bar at that level. But only a dozen people could sit in that area. A huge flight of stairs led down to a cavern of a place, with a large open area at the foot of the stairs and a circular island bar further back from the stairs. During the day, that circular bar area's far wall opened to a food court area. At night, the foud court was closed off and the dining area was cleared for a dancefloor that could hold 200 ish. The block it was on also had a metro stop on the corner of the building, but I think at night you had to come out of the metro to the street level, enter the bar and go back downstairs to get to the main bar. I used to DJ at that place when a manager named "Franz" was there - he was of Carribean decent and came from Duddington's Underground (a capitol hill place) and brought me along with him. I'd play music for the kids, mostly top 40, and vaguely recall having my shirt off and standing/dancing precariously on top of some boxes behind the DJ booth, fairly high above the floor. I was a young guy then, but the crowd was REALLY young and may have let in under-agers with a wrist band or something like that. That's not a very sustainable model, and even in the best of times, the crowd level was really volitile - it seemed completely dependant on a few "cool" kids and if they decided to go out that night. If they instead went to a party or stayed in, only 1/3 the expected patrons would show up. It isn't surprising that it changed names/hands many times - it isn't really in a populated area (offices mostly in the immediate vicinity) nor did it ever really invest in becoming a destination club, like the Spy Club (clubbers), 9:30 (live, hip music), Tracks (gay), the River Club (Georgetown aged chic) or the Yacht Club (home of Tommy the Matchmaker!).

Caffeine. GRRR!!! STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!!

I'm sorry for your loss and glad you wrote this - it makes me realize from where my affection for food springs. My father passed last August - and he loved creating at the stove. His method was maddening - he never tacked anything, so if a dish came out great, he only had a rough idea of how it got that way. No two were the same, but at the same time he honed his skills and over time, few if any dishes were bad. He'd been doing the steak "sear" method for many years, and would turn bags of tomatoes from his garden into a year's worth of magical pasta sauce. He and his neighbors formed a "gourmet club" that met every month - that club lasted 30 years, and my father is now buried next to one of his tablemates. He had no formal training. He probably wouldn't win any contests. But dinner with Dad was worth dropping everything to enjoy. I'm pretty sure that his heaven starts with a really well-stocked kitchen.

So many... I worked for a DJ company called "Nard's" that, at one time, had DJ's in about 70 bars in the DC area on a Friday night. Played 45s long after CDs roamed the earth. Good times... How about Club Soda, and the old man that would saunter in and be annouced as "The Mayor of Cleveland Park!" Or the 13th Amendment - only went once, but wow... My favorite is still Jenkin's Hill - started going there at 17, loved the music (the DJ was a family friend who unfortunately passed this year) and loved the interns who were having their first big city experience - and a kid like me was just the guy to show them around. Anyone else go there on Saturday nights?

That was a pretty cool place. Got to see Buckwheat Zydeco there - middle of the set, the power goes out. The drummer keeps playing anyway in the near pitch black - by the light of the exit sign, I see the band get a few drinks, then rejoin the stage. The power comes back on, the drummer still going, and as the amps warm up, the rest of the band rejoins the drummer as if nothing happened. Still don't know if that was on purpose or ad,libbed, but it was fun. As was the girl who's dancing near the stage could not be contained in her tank top, giving a show to the guys who were supposed to be giving the show.

It was above the Banana Republic. I didn't know it as a piano bar, and didn't go too often. In fact I only went on nights where I was off work AND where they held "springsteen night" - and those two things aligned only 2, maybe 3 times ever. But it may have been a piano bar at one time. They seemed to try everything to draw patrons. The biggest change, IMHO, to the entire DC drinking scene (not just Georgetown) was the shift from 18 to 21 years old to drink. It seemed to take away the really "crazy" bars filled with 18 year olds, who eventually became 21 year olds and weren't ready quite yet to settle down. Not saying it was "way better" then or that there aren't crazy bars out there today. I'm sure there are. But I was working in the bars back then, over about 8 years and in over 100 bars in the DC area, and the shift seemed really pronounced.

great place. Ate there years ago, and in the middle of my meal, a chunk of food fell onto my plate. It had been thrown from the kitchen over a wall (about 6 foot) that separated the kitched from the diners and didn't let either see each other - but had about 3 feet of space between the top of the wall and the ceiling. So I hurled it back over into the kitchen, and a minute later, a larger chunck of food flew over the wall onto my table. You just can't get that at most eating establishments Went a few times but never had enough starch in my collar for the place. Nice though. Preferred Champion's or Annies in Goergetown. Bit of trivia - Michael O'Hara, the owner/founder of Champions, was also the guy on the famous poster that said "poverty sucks" and showed him in a riding jacket, holding a martini and leaning on a Rolls. That was some serious drinking there. Stood for "Four Pints" right?

Hmmm... The Hill: Duddington's Underground on a Friday night, Jenkin's Hill on a Saturday night Midtown: Flaps/Acme Chadsey's Samantha's and Mr Day's (are they still there?) and the rally in the ally (does that still happen?) Mike Baker's Quigley's (astonishingly young crowd, but I had some fun there) Above and Beyond: Ruffled Duck in Rehobeth - a fun but fleeting experiment The Raindancer in Rockville - home of the up-and-coming Hootie and the Blowfish I could list 50 more - and I have no idea what still exists, if any...