Sunday, February 12, 2012

Entry 151: Morgan Freeman And Pugsley The Cat

Teddy Brosevelts,

In an effort to... okay, basically because I like bars, a group of us have decided to try to go to every bar in St. Louis during the three years of law school.  Ambitious, I know.  You never realize how many bars there are until you start counting them off as you drive around.  We've already put about 75 on the list, so we're making good time, but we'll never get them all.  It's not like Pokemon. You CAN'T collect them all.  But the fun is in the trying.

(And yes, we have a shared Google Document to keep track of where we've been and all sorts of other information.  We're law nerds, remember?)

One of the coolest parts about this ridiculous project is that you get to see a lot of different places and experience more of St. Louis.  Surprisingly, only about a half-dozen bars have been interesting and worth going to again.  Like this one place, "Thurman's Bar and Grill."  What makes it special?

This is a place that feels appropriate for a Stephen King novel.  As in, perhaps you stepped into a weird time portal or alternate universe and this bar will be gone the next time you try to go.  "Thurmans?" says the old man after you ask where it is.  "That bar's been closed for nigh on 50 years! You say you were there just last month?"  Etc.

It's a local place, and the first thing you're going to notice is that Morgan Freeman is the bartender.  No, seriously.  Dude looks just like him.  And he's quite possibly the most relaxed guy you've ever met, and also a philosopher.  The first night there a guy was playing (well, trying) some blues on his guitar at the bar (yes, it's that kind of place) and Morgan Freeman starts bellowing out occasional blues lyrics, trying to show the guitar player how to "put the soul in your sound, man." He used L'il Wayne's "What?  Yeah! and Okay!" to sing blues for a good 5 minutes.  Then he said that the freedom promised by rock and roll --a world where Keith Richards could grace the cover of a fashion magazine-- was paid for by the success of Justin Bieber.  Made sense.

But the reason I loved this bar, and the impetus for this blog, came after I went into the restroom.  And saw this pic.








Took me a minute to realize what I was looking at.  Then I noticed the picture next to that one:





I don't know if it was the combination of the exuberant "Happy Holidays!" and the rust of the shears, but I started laughing my ass off.  Then I looked around, and saw I was in the midst of a comedic masterpiece.  Here's the rest of the pictures; all lined up along the bathroom wall.





























































And finally, one picture to explain everything.  I'm not sure if it's just because I was raised on crazy cat humor (thanks, mom!), but I literally cried laughing for 5 minutes looking at these.  Freaking.  Awesome!  Hope you enjoy it as well!



Best.  Bar bathroom.  Ever.

Caleb "Yeah, I've Been Back To Thurman's" Shreves

And.... for those of you wondering what sort of stuff I've been up to recently, here is a picture timeline.




Finally found some Old Milwaukee!






Thanks for the goggles, Brasky. 





Waited 5 months, but finally played Skyrim.  I just got excited typing that.












90 miles a gallon on this hog. 


Oh.  And I spun fire for the first time.  Video on my Facebook page if you want to see!






Fin.