July 26, 2011

Okay, tonight I’m off to a bar to search for something and this time it’s not a swizzle stick, that’ll be tomorrow night. Jaws designed some cool T-shirts with the patented, “Sip Ahoy” catch phrase that Uncle Waltie invented. I got one for myself and one for Uncle Waltie so tonight I’m going to go the International Bar and make the presentation. Eastward, ho! (And sorry about calling you a ho.)

Down into the subway we go...

And baboom! Through the magic of the internet, here we are in the East Village. The heat has finally broken and it's nice out tonight.

There's one little problem with this sign and the arrows pointing you where to play Lotto...

They point out to the street. Oh well, just watch out for traffic as you're picking your winning numbers.

Here we are at the International Bar and there's Uncle Waltie in the window!

He was seated window-side with Bill. Time to present him with the Sip Ahoy t-shirt.

Sip Ahoy!

And here we are modeling the shirts. Great work, Jaws!

Uncle Waltie has his on and here we are, brothers in Sip Ahoy land!

Okay, let's take tour of the bar and see what's shaking.

Here's Tyler at the bar.

Some of the lit up bottles behind the bar.

And look who's on the other side of the bar for a change...

It's Molly along with John on the left and DJ Mojo on the right. Cheers!

The Sip Ahoy sign I brought in the other week is a permanent fixture of the bar now. And I'm proud of that!

Here's Aislings, the super cute bartender for the evening. What a great smile!

Joe works the door and hasn't thrown me out yet, so the night is going good.

And as we make our way full circle back to the window, here's Uncle Waltie with the lovely Barbara.

Let's put some tunes on the jukebox.

The Yardbirds! I once drove to Memphis with the Yardbirds drummer, Jim McCarty, I'll have to write about that one of these days.

I had to put on a few Neil Young songs in honor of Al!

You know it's a true East Village jukebox when they have the Dictators, "Go Girl Crazy" on the jukebox.

And my last few selections were a few Sam Cooke songs.

Okay, after several rounds it's time to say, "Sip Ahoy" and head home.

Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

International Bar
120 1/2 First Avenue (Near 7th St.)
212-777-1643

Further reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, EV Grieve, Downtown NYC Bar Project and Jaws the Cabbie Online Store.

You Might Also Like: Jungle Juice, Jungle Gym and Jungle Jim.

Five Famous Catch Phrases
“These go to 11.”
"Yeah, that's the ticket."
"Is that your final answer?"
"Whassup?"
"Houston, we have a problem."

I can't get your love, I can't get satisfaction,
Uh-oh, little girl, psychotic reaction.

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June 29, 2011

Alright, last Tuesday I went out in search of a swizzle stick and for Uncle Waltie, a commenter here and at various other blogs and the man behind the curtain of the International Bar Blog. Sadly, he wasn’t there. I’ve dropped some subtle as a mallot hints on this blog all through the week, that I'd be coming back this Tuesday so let’s if we can find the elusive Uncle Waltie tonight. And besides, this is just too good of an excuse to go to the International Bar two weeks in a row, I didn’t have that luxury last year!

Okay, we'll be taking the F train to the East Village tonight, so it's down we go into the bowels of the Manhattan subway system.

Shit, a train just pulled out of the stop, looks like we'll be waiting awhile. Oh well.

Here comes a train...

But it's the M train...are you seeing this Gene? Where were you when we needed you! (You had to be there folks!)

And after a half an hour, the F train arrives. I think the F stands for Fucking Finally it's here.

And through the magic of the internet, here we are on 1st Avenue. Just a few blocks to go and we're at the International Bar.

Hello.

And here we are at the International Bar. I love the gold leaf logo in the window here.

If you were with us last week, you'll remember Jason on the right who's here with his friend Damian. In addition to working at the International Bar, Jason is a guitarist and a member of CABB. Check them out here: CABB on facebook.

Hooray, here's the lovely and friendly Molly behind the bar...but where's Uncle Waltie?

Well he's right here! Uncle Waltie and I with Sip Ahoy sign balloons. (Please note that "Sip Ahoy" is a patented Uncle Waltie catchphrase, use only with permission!)

Molly joins in on the Sip Ahoy action!

And here's Michael, who I met at P.J. Clarke's last year on the bar crawl! It is indeed a small world, but as Stephen Wright once said, I'd hate to have to paint it.

Sebastian has some great Uncle Waltie stories, but you have to come to the International Bar to here them, I'll never tell!

John made his own sign declaring himself, "Out Of Order." I can identify with that. Shortly after this picture John burst into a one man show of the Mulberry Monologues. It was entertaining and frightening all at the same time. Well worth the price of admission!

Here's the pretty Fatou posing with the Sip Ahoy sign at the bar.

And here's Lydia, looking lovely while waiting for a drink. Sip Ahoy!

And a final shot of the lovely Lydia, the elusive Uncle Waltie and half of Gumby.

Sip Ahoy and see you all tomorrow after dark.

International Bar
120 1/2 First Avenue (Near 7th St.)
212-777-1643

Further reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, EV Grieve, Shecky’s and Time Out New York.

You also might like: Neon, Freon and Leon.

Four International Men
Austin Powers
International Man of Leather
Linley Edwards
Uncle Waltie

I've been a long lost soul,
For a long, long time.

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Bonus Link Sent In From Tim “Clacky” Clack!

Aaaaahhh! (Wait until about 2:02 into the video.)

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Bonus Sip Ahoy Word Balloons from Jaws!

Jaws made these custom-made word balloons for my next meeting with Uncle Waltie! Thanks Jaws and Sip Ahoy!

June 22, 2011

Okay if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium swizzle stick night. The night where I go out in search of the ever elusive swizzle stick from a bar. Well, tonight I’m searching for more than a swizzle stick, I’m searching for Uncle Waltie. Uncle Waltie comments here and at two of my favorite blogs, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and EV Grieve. I think I met Uncle Waltie last year on my bar crawl. It was at the International Bar in the East Village and a fellow who’s picture I took said he was known as “Unkle Waltie.” And told me to spell the “Uncle” with a “K.” After that I started noticing comments from an Uncle Waltie at EV Grieve and Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York. And lately Uncle Waltie has been leaving comments here. Could this be the same Uncle Waltie I met almost a year ago? The only way to find out is to go the International bar and find out!

It's a nice night out and I've got the night off from work, so we'll walk there.

It's not really that different, it's just backwards, like so much stuff lately.

Records behind bars!

I've always wondered if EV Cheese is any relation to EV Grieve? Maybe Uncle Waltie knows.

And here we are (and yeah, I know this is the same photo from 365 bars, like an idiot I forgot to take a photo of the front of the bar, oh well, it still looks the same anyway.)

It's nice and dark in here, just the way I remember it from last year.

I take a seat in the back of the bar, so far no signs of Uncle Waltie.

But Molly's here and while they don't have swizzle sticks here, she dressed my drink up really nice!

See?

And she even topped it off with this knife. She wisely removed it as I started drinking.

Deja view, here's Elaina and Roger who I met here last year.

Jason was behind the bar in a classic Coke t-shirt.

Molly poses with a friend at the bar.

Nadir and Fozzie at the bar, they both work at Hi-Fi, which I keep meaning to stop at, maybe I'll go there next week.

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Joseph and Kate were seated next to me and we swapped tales about living in New York City.

I love the vintage cash register in here.

Even the beers are dressed up in here tonight, I think I started a trend.

Here's Liz posing with Molly.

And here's Molly with Sonia, this is the friendliest place in town!

You gotta love a jukebox that has vintage Rolling Stones next to Tom T. Hall.

Tyler has no idea where Uncle Waltie is. Oh well, maybe next time.

Before I leave I pose for a shot with Molly.

Empty drinks and umbrellas means it's time to head home.

Aaaaahhhh!

International Bar

The International Bar is a dark and friendly New York bar with inexpensive drinks and a great jukebox. It’s the type of place that you can walk into alone and immediately feel like a regular in here, even if it’s your first time at the bar. There’s a lot of shitty things happening in the East Village and in New York City, happily, this is not one of those things. The International Bar is open early and stays open late, so stop by and have a drink and say hi. You’ll be happy if you do.

International Bar
120 1/2 First Avenue (Near 7th St.)
212-777-1643

Further reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, EV Grieve, NY Magazine and Grub Street.

You also might like: Sticky Rice, Sticky Wickets and Sticky Fingers.

 Four Famous Uncles
Uncle Miltie
Uncle Ernie
Uncle Charlie
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Do you remember, Walter, playing cricket in the thunder and the rain?
Do you remember, Walter, smoking cigarettes behind your garden gate?

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