Lebanon, PA - Giant Boloney Drop

Happy New Year!

Last night I rang in 2008 by watching Lebanon's gigantico bologna drop from a ladder truck.

This 12ft long, 150 pound behemoth lumbered to the ground as 100s of people stood in a parking lot cheering it on.

Lowering something odd to celebrate the new year is an inherently happy event. I had a good time but Lebanon sure could have done more in the lead-up. A DJ played some good music but the only hot drinks were free coffee or hot chocolate from the Salvation Army but there was no food and no other activities beforehand. Not a single local mini-mart of coffee shop was open.

Other towns have kids events, displays, hey - maybe even free boloney samples.

Something to consider for the future?

There WERE bars open nearby. Looked like fun inside as i peered through their front windows. I want to get to Lebanon soon to check out some of the downtime places.

Happy New Year all!

Pallets Of Straub's In Philly

One of my resolutions is to explore Philly more often. For living roughly an hour from the city I sure haven't done much there.

So, a daytrip led to some adventures and memories.

I was driving down a street and looked over and saw this pallet of Straub's sitting by the roadway. Mmmm, Straub's!

At The Mercy Of Frontpage 2003

Last Sunday my Sony Vaio took a dump. Dead. DOA. Sadly, a brand new 400gb external hard drive sat nearby - unused. I was going to backup my whole hard drive - tomorrow. Arrrgh.

I rushed out and bought a new computer but its been next to IMPOSSIBLE to find a copy of Frontpage2003 - the program that I use to do website maintenance.

So, this website has been unmaintained for almost 2 weeks.

Thankfully, a friend will be hooking me up on 12/13 and I should be back in business!

Barleyjuice - More Excellence

Last evening BARLEYJUICE played at the Maryland Irish Festival in Timonium.

"The Largest Celtic Festival In The US That Is Under One Roof" had free parking and $10 admission.

I thought the crowd was light but the threat of the season's first snow probably kept some people home and many more were probably waiting until today.

Barleyjuice's section was pretty full - many die-hard fans and a bunch from Philly. Their show, as I expected, was excellent. The songs from their new album were equally good and of course their signature song, "Whats Up Yours", has everyone cheering.

The more I hear this band the more I like them.

Huh!?!??

Tomorrow I am going to sit down and watch football and contemplate the criteria I use to evaluate pubs and especially how I look at barmaids and staff.

Earlier today I stopped at a local watering hole.

Sat at the bar and ordered my beverage and the barmaid squinched up her face and uttered, "huh!??". No "excuse me" or "say that again" but a primal "huh!??".

A few minutes later some guys ask her about changing the lighting where they were going to sit and she again grunted her "huh!??".

Is it wrong that I expect a literate, interested barmaid or bartender?

Isn't tending bar a perfect example of a service job?

If I receive correspondence asking me to invest in an automated barmaid machine I swear I will send some money.

Do bar owners hire people and then give them absolutely ZERO guidance on how to treat people?

Do regulars tip well enough that she has no incentive to be decent to a non-regular? Aren't tips supposed to be a reward for good service?

This situation always bugs me and it never gets any better.

"Suds & Dregs"

I didn't grow up in Berks County. I was born and raised not too far away but it wasn't here.

When I first launched americantom.com I soon learned of a legendary book by "Suds & Dregs", two school teachers in Reading who wrote a small book on local taprooms.

Someone even called me a "modern day reincarnation" of them or something to that effect.

Because their books were printed locally and in the pre-Amazon days - they aren't something you can just hop online and buy.

I found a copy for sale the historical society and bought it but misplaced it before I read it. Then I found it but didn't want to read the reviews for fear of tainting my thoughts.

Well, I sat down the other day and read it from cover to cover. Holy cow!! My thoughts on bars are a LOT like theirs. So much in some cases that it may seem like I plagiarized. I did not.

One fact that struck me:

Reading city bars: 1975: 133 1988: 109

Berks County bars: 1975: 238 1988: "just over 200"

I will try to find out how many still remain in 2007.

I do know that VERY few of the named taverns ring a bell with me. They have either folded or been renamed.

Sadly, the book doesnt list exact street addresses for the bars they reviewed. This is one reason why I list exact addresses and try to post GPS coordinates.

Makin' The Paper

A few days ago I got an email from Ad Crable, a reporter with the Lancaster New Era.

He had stumbled across americantom.com and was interested in writing an article about the project.

Having been burned by the media in the past but also intrigued what would happen if it did run - I contacted him.

Thankfully, he appears to be a guy with high journalistic integrity.

He had obviously read the Lancaster County section and asked pertinent questions. I pretty quickly felt at ease with his motives.

The piece will run in the New Era on Monday October 29th 2007.