Well.. it wasn’t exactly your ordinary Monday outing.  It was lunch time, it was Labor Day, and we weren’t in Philly.  We were in Maine.  And there’s only food group available.. Lobster Rolls!

Shawn makes things official!

(above:  garreth at masthead print studio)

Anarchy from the U.K.  Garreth makes Macho Monday international!

(above:  4th of July on a Fishtown roof)

Between Beer Week, backyard fiestas, shore vacations, and free for all’s at North Bowl, Macho takes 6 weeks off and keeps life simple.. the way summer is meant to be.

(above:  yakitori boy)

Happy Birthday Halli!

Macho Monday is for life!!

Macho introduces a new category to it’s Monday rotation, and bids a good fare-well to one of it’s original members.  We hope to form a Hong Kong chapter.  Jason, thanks for all your contributions, you will be missed.

(above:  memphis taproom)

..Sponge Bob Fish n’ Chips!  That’s right.  This fish is an oil filled sponge.  Or it is  fish wrapped in an oil snuggie.  Whichever.  So, Nate, the ‘Fish Finger’ Cooler, brings us to the Memphis Taproom knowing that his last experience with the fish n’ chips here was a bust.  And he believes that it deserves a second try.  Did it redeem itself?  No.  It is as medioce as it was the first time.  This fish has Frank Zappa rethinking his classic ‘keep it greasy so it goes down easy’ line.  It’s a shame too.  This homey, craft beer establishment has a lot of good qualities.  Unfortunately, there is bad fish in fishtown.

(above:  the artful dodger)

It’s fitchin’ season here at the Artful Dodger, and it’s a good thing we got Poppa Kula & The Gang to get us across these muggy waters.  Legend has it, these fish don’t take kindly to empty appetites and gas-free intestines.  This fish is equipped with a beer-battered strength that will break down your abdominal cavity, leaving you temporarily crippled in a full-body cramp.  It’s a wonder we even made out to tell..

(above:  bomb! bomb!)

Wow!  These ribs are still ‘da bomb! bomb!’  The meat falls off the bone like butter melts on corn on the cob.  And don’t get me started on the smokey flavor.  These spices explode like a shook up can of soda.  So much love for a rack that is more than an arms length.  This is truly more than a mouth’s full.  Don’t be afraid to light this place up, the fuse here at Bomb! Bomb! will keep on burnin’.

Another tour of trippin’ over food..

(above:  black sheep pub)

It’s 7:30 on a Monday night, and the Black Sheep Pub appears to have a somewhat ‘family friendly’ dining area, that is, until we show up.  Ryan immediately fires up our ammunition with a round of car-bombs, and Steve turns up the dial of sexual innuendo by ramming his fish log into a warm cup of tartar sauce.  And by the way, this is some of the best homemade tartar sauce.  However, the ‘Fish Master’, Nate, would disagree.  He informs us that if we ever say that again, an Irish soccer houligan would kick our faces in until our eyes bleed vinegar.  But this is America, and Americans love tartar sauce!  Okay.  So now we might want to discuss portion control.  It seems that some of us machos found this fish to be more like a Miller Lite ad campaign, ‘Great Tasting, Less Filling.’  A table divided by strong contrast, and leaving the question undecided.  Do you A)  order a second round of fish and wish that had happened the first time, or B)  think about splitting an order but you  don’t, and realize that one order is just enough?  Hmm… now that’s what I call a ‘fish pickle.’  I say that when you’re walking the plank of fish, you have got to be patient.  Just like with really good ganja, you have to wait at least 20 minutes for the heaviness to kick in.

(above:  Sunday April 19th, 2009)

This is what it was.

(above: P.O.P.E)

Well it took the 5 of us, 10 raffle tickets, and one broken table to win a Ralph Steadman, Gonzo The Art, book.  I would be pretty pissed off to have won the golf visor.  Good thing our man Ryan took home a killer coffee table book.  As Big Steve would say, ‘Macho Monday.com!’

(above:  darkhorse)

Damn son.  Ernest Hemmingway should have sailed that old man, Santiago, down the Delaware River and to the front steps of the Darkhorse Pub.  Sure saved us the time.  No lie, the cobble stone roads could have been laid with the bricks of fish that they serve.  And you think I’m playin’ around? Ha.  Darkhorse has certainly set the bar high for the ‘new’ Macho Monday food category, Fish N’ Chips.  Sure, this is a heavy meal, and you can best bet that you are gonna be worthless for the next hour, but if you are gonna go forth with that bet then you best go all in with yo’ fish n’ chips.  Don’t anny up if you can’t take it down!

*Note that this is filed under ‘Uncategorized.’  Need to establish ‘Fish N’ Chips’ category*

(above:  coors private party at north bowl)

the beer and spirits director comes through big time.. big stevie style

it took a couple of pushes, but sure enough lil’ adam squeezed his burly mug into a world known as the north bowl photo booth….fire up the cigars fellas..it’s a boy!

so this is a quick lil photo montage of what the fourth was like at the no libs compound…we live free and we die hungry for more..

whether he’s sporting the ‘who shot the couch look,’ or the ‘denim dan/ canadian tuxedo,’ chap brings the party to your door…just have the chips and beer ready..

I’m not sure if this is picture is more embarrassing for steve or for me. Either way it’s macho.

(above:  north bowl)

“it was a ‘smashing’ good time,” states big steve during the aftermath of this last drunken sailor, macho debauchery… and with myself being the one that was most ‘smashed’..it was… we started the night off like any other, pitcher after pitcher and a table spread of food…this week was declared a ‘free for all’..meaning we could order anything off the menu, as opposed to our traditional week-to-week designated macho food… the majority of the table decided to enjoy the delicious cherry bbq pulled pork…yes.. i was skeptical too, but i must say that was one tasty f-er right there! definitely a strong cherry taste but it wasnt too sweet or over bearing…  others got the tater tots, which seem to be the house favorite, and are the ideal bowling snack for any bowling occasion…i also ordered the chicken salad to go with my cherry bbq pulled pork… a refreshing balance between the two, and it came with nacho chips..scored good points there…  now that dinner was over with, it was time to hit the lanes, and boy did we hit them hard… we are now TOO many pitchers deep and we decide that are going to be-friend some guys, who happen to be sailors, at the lane next to us.. before i can even release the bowling ball from my palm i am sucking down shots of wild turkey and chasing them with ‘beer shoe’ (see picture below)… by the end of the night i wake up staring at a broken back windshield and a catscan…f-in good times!.. at least my bike is ok..

(above: north bowl bowling shots..)

(above:  the bards)

well st. patrick’s day landed on a monday this year which made it a very crowded macho monday, especially since big steve directed us towards two of the busiest irish bars in philadelphia, first fado, then the bards, for some shepherds pie…we realized that the seating at fado was as close to impossible to obtain so we walked a couple of blocks over to the bards and found no problem getting a table…now i can’t remember the last time i had shepherds pie so it is hard to compare it to others..but i can say that the bards shepherds pie certainly is tasty but not very filling…i feel that the majority of the table can agree, especially since after the meal we ordered a couple of appetizers to share..AND, when we left to go play darts and shoot some pool at good dog..two members of our party ordered good dog burgers…now i dont know if all this food was a means to absorb some of that guinness, but it definitely says something about the portion of shepherds pie…

(above:  guinness at fado)

My top 4 reasons;

1. $5.00 pitchers (cheaper than Frank’s?!)
2. Decent Wings (I think some people enjoyed them more than me)
3. Plentiful Celery
4. 2 free pitchers from the fine folks at Victory brewing.

We each dropped $18 which included a hefty 30% tip, not too shabby.

Yeah well, it’s cheap. $6.50 pitchers of Yuengling Lager and $3.75 Jameson. The dart boards are easy to come by without fighting off hardcore competitive players, though we usually own that corner for a couple of hours. This assures us plenty of time to play rounds of Left Handed 301 while I entertain/scare/amuse everybody with one of my horrific stories. Garth Brooks and Massive Attack will duel on the jukebox for sure.

That being said, on February 25, we headed to my favorite boozer, The Bard’s. After a few friendly rounds of 301, the dart league types started to roll in and demand games of cricket. Steve Speir with help from random visiting businessman “I Look Like PC Guy From The Mac Commercials” Rick, owned the board for 11 Lagers and almost 3 hours later. Me? Not being particularly skilled at darts, I hung back and partied with Jameson. Steve promises to teach me to play better, and we plan on filming it and editing it into an ’8o’s movie style montage.

Oh yeah. If anyone can tell me about the last hour I spent at Bard’s it would be greatly appreciated. I had a noticeably lighter wallet and a few bruises that tell me there’s a helluva story there.