There are two stories starting with a
bat this week. One of these is the potentially awesome movie Dark
Night Rising and the devastation of the attack of the theater in
Colorado. I am deeply sorry for those who were killed and injured in
the shooting. I send my best wishes to their loved ones.
The second bat begins this story a
couple months ago. I had just woken up, was groggily getting ready
in the bathroom when I hear a scratching noise coming from the drop
ceiling above me. I figured it was a chipmunk or mouse that had
found its way into the house. Suddenly I saw a black fluttering shape
scurrying across the light panel.
I ended up doing the logical,
terrifying action of sticking my head in the ceiling of trying to
coax the bat out of the ceiling into a positioned pillow case. After
a couple almost catches and me jumping out of the ceiling once
screaming like a girl, the bat escaped into the attic. I did find
something else in its place. There was a postcard with a half naked
woman on it. Was this the boob fairy leaving me a present? Under
closer inspection it turns out this was an old postcard sent to the
Mars Bar. Apparently it was stolen, then hidden in the ceiling by
the previous occupants of my house. The post card made its way to my
refrigerator (I don't have friends with kids over often) until last
weekend when my friend's Ramona and Aidan were over. When Aidan saw it, he
of course brought it up and we related the story. The end result was
I needed to go to the Mars Bar this week.
I haven't been to the Mars Bar in a
while. My first thought when I got there was: wow, they've made a
lot more room. Mars Bar now has a nice covered patio in the back and
a second patio area in the front. Inside, is colorful without being
obnoxious, with quality wood stool seating. The Mars Bar is
surprisingly roomy for the space it has to work with. The music
which ranged from metal to classic rock filled the empty space
providing a nice change from the pop hits that permeate many other
bars. Their digital jukebox can play anything else you can imagine.
The Mars Bar had a nice selection of
beer for everyone, the quality drinkers , the quantity drinks, and
even for the fruit tasting beer drinkers. I had Boulder Beer
Company's Mojo IPA. It was a surprisingly smooth, both in taste and
texture, Indian pale ale. If you've never had a pale ale, this is
good place to start. If you already like them, you'll appreciate Mojo
works more for quality and detail, then overwhelming taste.
I'm sure they have other good things to
eat at the Mars Bar but you don't have choice of your first meal.
When you walk in you see it sitting across the bar glowing at you,
slowly spinning. A cone of pig, calling out to be turned into a more
appetizing form. Their pork gyros were very good, neither skimping
on portion or flavor. The addition of mustard and yogurt makes the flavor a bit
more unique in town that serves many gyros.
Many of my friends came out last night
to support me with this new endeavor. We hung out on one of the few
comfortable nights we've had on the back patio. We all had a good
time and only had good service from the bartenders.
The talk eventually moved as it tends
to, to the Browns. Two of my friends recently moved from Cincinnati
and Chicago, respectively. They come from cities with teams who've
had their good and bad years, overall are teams that have a decent
chance at winning seasons. They are excited about becoming Browns
fans. They found our secret to following a team which hasn't lived
up to expectations, one that we may not realize. In short, we don't
live in Cleveland, Cleveland lives in us. The people of Lakewood,
Cleveland in general, are Browns fans because the Browns and our
cities are an extension of us. We are a people that have seen things
at their worst but through a mixture of stubbornness and hope are
willing to chip at the bad, while waiting till we make it right.
This Clevelandness has kept Lakewood a great place to live, has
allowed Cleveland to be a better city with each year, has seen the
Indians and the Cavaliers rise to greatness over the last 2 decades.
We aren't Browns fans, we are fans of ourselves and we'll bring the
Browns along for the ride.
The Mars Bar is the epitome of our
area. It's smaller than its competitors. It doesn't offer anything
you can't get somewhere else. The Mars Bar didn't want to be just a
little dive bar, they've made a small trendy bar, comfortable for
anyone to come to. They didn't want to be just a small, red, distant
tavern, now they're bigger and one of us. Mars Bar made a good gyro
that isn't the same as the other dozen and it's great. Come to the
Mars Bar, it's like us, always getting better with a splash of
mustard.
Awesome: Customer Service, Community, a Great Gyro
15314 Madison Ave
*Picures with no people are from
Patch.com
The music of the night was famous rock songs of the 70s and 80s.
I assume this was to get everyone ready for karaoke. This brought up
the conversation of, are these songs actually good, or are they only
good because of the memories attached to them. Do I like Hotel
California, which some people may argue is dreadful, because it's
great or because my parents thought it was great and it was ingrained
into me? Is The Eye of the Tiger amazing or does it feel that way in
my head because I ran listening to it in cross country in high school
and saw a montage in a movie containing it? The song, I'll Be
Watching You, sticks out in many people's heads as a love ballad,
especially after hearing it at so many weddings to the setting of
people in new love. Is a song about Sting going mildly insane and
stalking his Ex-wife a love song because our experiences dictate it?
This effect of the events of our lives defining our perceived quality
of music becomes apparent when we think to our favorite type of music
and the bands that really stick out. Theses tend to be the music
from our teenage years, which is always better than the music of
today. The alternative rock of the 90s sticks out to me but perhaps
it's only because that's what I left my childhood listening to. Our
teenage genre of music becomes ingrained in our foundations of who we
are as a person. Wonderwall probably does suck but it carries a lot
of good memories with it, so it's good to me. Luckily, during
karaoke, you can fake the effect of the songs sounding good with
proper amounts of alcohol.
