Cheers

I complain often that in my neighborhood, up and down one street in particular, the only businesses lining the street are Asian restaurants and dry cleaners. At one intersection, no exaggerating, there are 4 dry cleaners. One on each corner. WTF is the need for that? Needless to say when I saw a new business going in about a block from my place I predicted it to be one of the following things: A dry cleaner (obviously), a Thai restaurant, a sushi restaurant, a Chinese restaurant.. and you get the picture. I love Asian food and I also appreciate a finely pressed dress shirt as well, but it was just time for a new kid on the block. There is no need for that much of one kind of thing.

MUCH to my surprise and happiness a little pub made its way into the space that was once occupied by a dry cleaner (not even joking). For a while they didn't even have the sign up that listed the bar's name. I proclaimed it would become my own personal "Cheers." I now have no less than 12 people calling it "Cheers," and it is in fact a place where everybody knows my name. Well, okay like 4 people who work there know my name.

Don't get me wrong I don't hang out in the bar all day like the characters from the 80's sitcom "Cheers," but I definitely don't hesitate to leave home about 15 minutes early for dinner plans, for example, to have a quick beer at Cheers and chat with the bartender for a bit. Everyone is always very friendly and the place has a more neighborhood feel than most seem to in this area. Plus, they play pretty good music. A couple of days ago I popped in for a quick beer before I headed to dinner and the bartender had a play list going that consisted of popular songs that were covered by Irish artists. All of the music was fairly mellow and acoustic sounding. I even asked the bartender what album the songs were from so I could come home and download some of them later. One song in particular had such great lyrics and I couldn't seem to place in my mind who originally sang the song. The vocalist was a male and the lyrics were so heartfelt and pretty. Finally it hit me. I had been mesmerized by a song originally sang by Britney Spears.

Oh well, it sounded damn good in the form of a Damien Rice-esque Irish acoustical performance. Who knew Britney Spears had a couple songs out there that could be covered by someone else and actually come across as serious?

I'm thoroughly enjoying the songs I downloaded and have put them on my iPod play list under the name "Cheers." They include such greats as Seven Nation Army, No Diggity, Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and many more.

Enjoy your evening... and Cheers!
M.db