The Aerie
Whew, what a weekend. It started off with a big disappointment for me. I had purchased tickets to see Laura Love at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The Varsity is a terrific venue to see a performance. It's a former movie theater from which the seats have been removed, so the space is both large and open, and yet small and intimate. Our friend Ellis at the Varsity, and it was fun to listen to her, then walk over and chat with her during the break, then listen again.
So I was excited to go listen to Laura Love in this space. My wife and I paid to park and walked over to the Varsity Theater which, when we arrived, was completely dark and locked up. No sign, no nothing, just closed.
I looked up the Varsity web page on my cell, then phoned their number. A voice message mentioned the Loring Pasta Bar on the corner as a box office, so we wandered over there. Friendly but apologetic staff could not help us, except to direct us to Ticketmonster for a ticket refund. They had no idea why the Varsity was closed.
Disappointed, we headed to a bar near our home instead. Merlin's Rest, the former 'Popeye's', is the latest incarnation of Irish Pub in our neighborhood. The prior, Molly Quinn's, did not survive its move to a new building on Lake Street, but it did provide fond memories of dining in a space that was originally a Perkins, then an Ethiopian restaurant, and was now Irish-themed. Perkin's architecture, Arabic-style window and door designs, and Guinness posters. Marvelous.
When Molly's closed men in kilts wandered forlornly up and down Lake Street looking for refuge, first at the Lake Street Garage, until it fell victim to the rejuvenating influences of Lake Street road upgrades and then elsewhere. Nothing sadder than a man in a kilt and a vest trying to be Irish in a White Castle restaurant.
Finally they have taken over Popeye's, and high time they did. Last time we visited Popeye's (which was also the first time) half a dozen "characters" of the one-eyed and/or toothless variety were taking turns singing Karaoke to each other.
As Merlin's Rest the place is much busier, to say nothing of kiltier, and we settled at a small, high table beside a crowd of kids (in kilts) who were sharing YouTube videos with each other on a couple of Mac laptops. My wife and I split a tasty pastie (that doesn't rhyme, by the way), and headed back home.
Basically I only see my house when I sleep, and my kids when I get them up for school.
Tonight our friends Tam and Paul are in town from California, so we'll be out yet again...
And I'm supposed to get college homework done when?
Posted by Albatross at November 5, 2007 7:52 AM | TrackBackAH, that's sad about Laura Love. I'm a big fan. The Varsity's website says that she canceled (that calendar isn't easy to locate either, mind you). Laura's website says nothing about it. It's odd because she was scheduled to play in Wisconsin the night before and nothing after that until January.
You're a busy man! Hang in there.
Posted by: B.D. at November 8, 2007 7:42 AMHow was the pasty? Having grown up on the Range, the pasty was a dietary staple. I usually end up bringing frozen ones back by the dozen when I travel up North. I've been looking for a fresh one someplace. I'll have to give it a try with the wife.
I wonder if a real Irishman would feel offended that an Irish pub is serving a Cornish dish?
No matter, in America we seem to blend Irish, Cornish, and Welsh all together anyway.
Posted by: J.B. at November 8, 2007 2:23 PMThe pasty was okay - not GREAT but not bad. My biggest misgiving about pasties is that they are frequently a bit dry, and this one was. On the other hand it was heated all the way through. Once you grant that you're going to eat a thawed frozen pasty (wouldn't a fresh-baked pasty be marvelous?) then the basic requirement is that the darned thing be cooked thoroughly, and this was. Tradeoff? A bit dry.
As for mixing Cornish, Welsh, and Irish, influences (to say nothing of the fact that the men in the bar were in all variety of kilts) please refer to this map and you will see that they are all located in the same place.
http://home.arcor.de/xelnaga/america-sees-world.jpg
