Whats on Tap

Drunken karaoke

I went out to Paddy McGee's the other night, Wednesday to be exact, for the bar's karaoke event. I would had written about it yesterday, however I was in training to learn Excel. Yes, somehow I've gotten away with not being completely familiar with Excel for 10 years now. But then I got caught and was told I needed to learn. But you don't care about any of this, back to Wednesday night.

For those of you not familiar, Paddy McGee's is where Friend's Lounge (P.J.'s Lounge before that) used to sit in Winter Park. It's right off of Aloma. When I was In college, the bar's strong drinks and cheap prices kept my friends and me coming back to the dive.

It's not so divey anymore, but the one mainstay is the karaoke, Friend's/P.J.s used to have karaoke daily, I once sang "Endless Love" with my friend Ryan, he did the Diana Ross part and I did Lionel Richie, it was classic.

Paddy's now offers karaoke one night a week, on Wednesdays. But seriously, I'm no connoisseur of karaoke but I know a good time, and this karaoke night not only had a kick-ass host, but Guitar Hero as well, and in my book that's a good time.

Or the two Jack Daniel's shots I slid down my throat.

My friend Trevor is moving to New Zealand, so the sacrifice of our pride was our gift to him in the form of a send-off party on a karaoke night. He and his wife brought a honey-baked spiral ham for all of us to pick off as a thank you. Or they didn't have dinner earlier, I didn't really ask.

Anywho, back to the karaoke. The host was a riot, his name is Tommy and he's not over the top like many are, just genuinely funny. He also didn't hog the mike like many of them do. In fact he didn't sing one note the whole evening. Or play Guitar Hero. It was really about the patrons. To pace the night he played '70s and '80s music so some of us could dance between acts (remember those Jack Daniel's shots I mentioned earlier?)

A group of people at the table across from us even table danced, but that was to "Sweet Child O' Mine" on the Guitar Hero and not "Shake Your Groove Thing" from the CD player. None the less, it was amusing. Although, when my boyfriend busted out with "The Ballad of Chasey Lain" on stage they looked like someone shot their puppy.

Okay, so the question is did I sing? Hell no. Not that I never do, I was just enjoying watching other people make jack asses out of themselves that evening. What did everyone else sing? Well you'll have to wait to find that out next week when we post the new Amateur Hour.

Tickled

Sentinel movie critic Roger Moore and I were just having an email exchange about Tatame in Winter Park. Basically he was asking if I had heard of it, and I let him know that I had. It was the line at the end of the exchange from Roger that really got me in the gut:

"I should've known. A liquor truck doesn't have a flat tire in this town that you don't know about."

Aw, shucks Roger, you shouldn't have!

*blushing*

Pop the cork, Club Paris is no more

Some people gave it six months, I gave it two years, it actually made it to three. But finally the day has come, Club Paris is no more:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-clubparis22_107jun22,0,7488441.story

And to get some more laughs, read about my turn as DJ at Independent Bar:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-kelly062207,0,3260669.column?coll=orl_tab04_layout

'Beer Bomb' alert!

Totally forgot to mention this earlier, the 'Beer Bomb' man himself, Mike Smith, has a bus tour going this Sunday. This is seriously something that can not be missed. I've gone on his bike tours and beer dinners before and not only are you getting sloshed, but you're learning something in the process. And meeting great new people.

This month's bus tour costs $45 and that includes the first stop at Redlight Redlight, where everyone meets, and addtional stops at Maggies Attic in Mt. Dora, The Abbey in DeLand, Tir Na Nog in Daytona and Sanford Wine Company. Between stops sample Shipyard beers on the bus and your $45 pays for the bus ride, first featured beer and food at each stop as well as those Shipyards you'll be downing on the bus. It's again, this Sunday, from 1 - 6 p.m. Trust me, you'll have a blast. Tickets are on sale at Redlight Redlight, talk to Brent.

Happy summer

Many of you commented about the randomness of yesterday's blog. Haven't you ever thought out loud before? And let's face it, was it really surprising? I've done that tons of times in this space.

Stopped by Bull & Bush last night, still the best snakebite in town. Not that I had one, it was a Michelob Ultra for me. Not because I'm a particular crazy fan of Michelob Ultra, but because I'm teetering on the South Beach Diet tight rope this week and even though I won't give up beer -- you'll have to pry the pint out of my cold dead hands -- I figure I can do a carb-friendly type for about a week. Trying to get the ol' beer belly worked down for my bikini this summer. We'll see how that works.

In the meantime, bring in the summer season tonight with a latino that will make you laugh. Pablo Francisco is playing at the Improv in downtown Orlando. I don't know much about the guy, but his press people left a nice message asking to please promote the show and since they were so nice I figured what the hell? He toured with Carlos Mencia, which is actually a strike against him in my book. But maybe Francisco was funny, something Mencia lacks the ability of being. I know some people dig him I just don't. Anyway, if you head to the show tonight, let me know how it goes.

Nowhere to hide

Why this suddenly popped into my head, I have no idea. But I was just thinking what a shame it is that Eye Spy's once wonderful secret nooks and crannies are exposed and look like storage areas. I know it's been like this for a while, and I understand the fire department had some issues. But maybe they should change the name? There are not a lot of secrets to the joint anymore. And one bartender in the back bar was an ass to a friend of mine there two weeks ago. Yeah, that really had nothing to do with my original point.

Man, I miss Barbarella.

What's the deal?

Since I love you all (and I really do), I've decided to start the blog off today on a good note. Tonight head over to Phat-n-Jazzy at The Social for their new special that will knock your liver out of downtown Orlando. For $5 at the door you not only get in and listen to some cool music, but you drink free wells, imports and domestic drafts until midnight.

The last time I attended this night they didn't have this deal and it was a ghost town inside, I was one of maybe 10 people the whole time I was there. Please fix this folks, this is a long-running night at a great venue with killer drink specials. You're just plain dumb if you don't go.

Now for the bad note. Living in Thornton Park I'm well aware of the pretension that surrounds me (it's kinda hard to miss). But how I love the area so, I could just do without some of the people. Once upon a time a restaurant named HUE opened to cater to, what seemed to me, those people specifically. I went only once for brunch (and it was good, I will say) but for the most part avoided the yuppiness. Some time later, a new restaurant opened called Shari, right next door. But they had a happy hour that everyone could appreciate, $3 select sushi rolls and $4 saketinis (a martini with sake instead of gin). I saw a mixture of types in the crowd the three or four times I went and didn't feel out of place in the slightest, and yet, I was still on that corner in Thornton Park.

Well those days are long gone, the recent expansion of Shari, seems to have brought on an expansion of ego by the restaurant as well. Friday night, my best friend Kristin comes to visit. Kristin is all about style, so this hanging with the beautiful people sort of crap amuses her to no end. But she's also frugal with her money so I decided the perfect choice for our Friday evening out would be Shari. My fiance Casey came along as well. We were dressed business casual I would say, I even wore my Coach bag for crying out loud. But yet, we stood and waited for a table to "open up" in the hot sun with two other couples. In the meantime, other people (who clearly recognized the five hostesses standing out front, do we really need five?) were brought right in.

Once the other two couples were brought in they quickly exited. I imagine they tried to hide them in a corner from the pretty people, even though in my book, they looked a lot more normal than half the plastic in the joint. That said, we were asked if we would sit at the sushi bar. Fine, we say. Again forgotten. But two girls come up and are seated instantly. That was our cue to go, believe it or not, over to HUE.

Maybe the folks had reservations, but none of that was discussed with people at the door. They just walked right in while we were sent off to the side. A friend of mine, who loves the place, said her recent experience there was poor as well. Surprisingly, HUE was quite comfortable, there was a mix of people on the front porch, it was as if the two restaurants switched crowds. Service was friendly, although the bill was not. Four cosmos, two glasses of wine, three salads and two soups later had us looking at a bill over $100.

I guess some things never change.

Bliss

Yay, another ultra lounge is celebrating its grand opening in Orlando tonight! Bottle service and velvet ropes and overpriced drinks, oh my! What's its name? Bliss! Isn't that just so perfect?

Blech, is more like it.

Who knows, maybe this one will be different? I love imitating my old record player when attempting to find hope in this high-end crap that trys to make its way into this city only to find massive crowds the first three to four months it opens and then a steady decline in foot traffic from there on out.

Why? Because Orlando doesn't have the amount of people or cash that places like NY or Miami do to sustain that kind of scene. A couple are fine, but seriously the oversaturation happened like a year or two ago. Give it a rest.

Best of all, it's on West Church Street, where they would have auctioned off Lou Pearlman yesterday, if Jabba had the guts to show his face in this town again.

Then again, the Improv made the Cameron Kuhn cuts after he bought Church Street Station, maybe Bliss has a chance, he did have them sign a lease while others were given the boot.

Only the bouncer at the door can tell in the end.

If you want to check it out for yourself, Bliss is at 123 W. Church St. in downtown Orlando. For more info call 407-849-5060.

Another freebie -- Ozzfest tix

Yeah, I'm feeling like this blog is talking more and more about music lately (and free shit). But there is a gray area when it comes to venues, nightlife and live music. But that's not the topic today. I really just thought I would throw this out there for the headbangers in the audience.

Tonight at 5 p.m. www.ozzfest.com is offering free ticket downloads to the only Florida show at Sound Advice Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on August 30. However, you can get your redemption code before then and I suggest you do so, because at 5 these will sell out and you want that code in order to buy them. Just go to the site, click on the "Get Free Ticket" icon and go from there.

That's all for now, good luck.

Free food, free beer, free cupcakes!

It's true, you can have free food, free beer and free cupcakes at Redlight Redlight tonight all for $5 at the door. What are the freebies for? Who cares, it's free!

But if you must know, this wonderful bar in Winter Park is celebrating its two-year anniversary tonight. And not only will you be stuffing your hole with free goodies and beer, some bands will actually take time out from their own eating to entertain you as well including John Ralston, Summer Blankets and The Dark Romantics. Party starts at 7 p.m.