Day 34 - The Generosity of Others and Al Pancho

Quote(s) of the day:
There are no pussies at Jack's! -Rina, to Pretty Boy
Let's close the bar and go watch shit get run over. -Rina, RE: the Monster Truck show


Of today's visit to Jack's Bar & Lounge, the following should be noted first:

• THANK YOU to God for buying me a beer and a double shot of Whiskey as soon as I walked in the door.
• THANK YOU to ACME for extending my stay by buying me a beer and a Washington Apple (ooh those are sooooo good).
• THANK YOU to Waukeen (we need a codename for you, Waukeen....how about Chuy?) for buying me a beer.
• Thank you to Gary for responding to my accidental butt-dial. You know there are cool people in your life when they see you've called, left no message and so head on over to the bar to make sure you're OK and whether you need help home. Thanks man.
• Thank you to Drew Barrymore, for letting me buy you a beer. Nobody should be left feeling parched at Jack's.

There was a birthday party at Jack's. The birthday boy (we'll call him Pretty Boy - I talked to him later that night, but didn't catch his name) was served up by Rina with a multicolored, reggea themed triple-drink combo.

I can mark off one more item from the checklist of odd things seen. In this case, it was watching a grown man suffer from severe brain freeze. Those birthday shots must have been cold as hell.

A new piece of artwork by Aimee is up at Jack's. This one is a large, wide black picture frame. Within the frame's borders are hung three smaller pictures. Each one is of a heart (seems apropos, with Valentine's day approaching). The picture of a human heart laying on a bed of what looked like long pine needles or straw, with the heart stitched together in two places with thread the color and texture of old bone really caught my eye.

I saw Aimee and Grant as they were leaving. Aimee told me that the opening for her artwork is this Friday at 6 p.m. Come one, come all, as new artwork will be displayed.

DJ Benofficial came in to spin as he always does on Wednesdays. What made this occassion special was that Ben played a track (one of two, actually) he'd recorded earlier today with none other than Al Pancho (website - myspace). Thanks Ben for sharing brand new stuff with us like that. You rock dude.

I wouldn't know new reggae sound from old, but you know it's something good when Fitzroy aka Jamaican Jerk aka JJ is all but jumping back and forth as he dances like a man standing on a floor sized hot plate, with a genuine smile on his face. As an aside: JJ is quite possibly the most physically beautiful man I've ever seen at Jack's.

Wyatt aka Lady Boston accompanied JJ to the bar and let me tell you it was totally awesome to see her again. Lady Boston is a smart, intelligent, extremely well read woman who I could listen to with my eyes closed just for the chance to hear her accent.

Lady Boston, JJ, Dank and Drew Barrymore were all friends of Pretty Boy's and his girlfriend (didn't catch her name) and were there for his birthday.

I went outside and a man with big black sunglasses on asked me if I was a bouncer. His shades reminded me of those worn by the doorman who got his neck broke by Seraph in the third Matrix movie. I said no to his question and told him I'm just here to breath in the night air and extend my buzz from my toes to the top of my head. Yogi-style full breaths are good for that.

The scent of DJ Benofficial's Black and Mild mixed nicely with the night air and brought back memories of sitting next to the fire in the basement of my aunt Joy's house in the wintertime, where my uncle Jerry smoked his pipe and told me that sound of a fart was not in fact him, but the call of a barking spider.

That's my excuse now, too. ;)

Two women came in from the Cirque du Soleil OVO show going on just up the street on Taylor. One of them had what looked like a Harlequin mask and seemed quite pleased to have bought it. I should have worked up the courage to talk with them before the left.

I spoke with ACME about what it's like to work in a restaurant versus a bar. In the former, it's always "Yes sir, I'm sorry sir, let me get that for you sir" whereas in a bar it's, "Look, this is how it is. We can do it my way or you can take your shit and get the fuck out".

I saw a man who I was later told decorates his house in doilies and old furniture. He was very stylishly dressed, with an understated scarf protruding from under a well-worn leather jacket. Not sure what type of hat he wore. I'd like to see that house.

I saw Scotty aka Mr. Scott come in. He left too soon. I like his Bejan accent and how his sentences flow up and down like a song.

I hit on a woman who came to the bar by herself and hung out alone for like an hour. The could shoulder she gave me was so fierce I got frostbite.

DJ Otrebor took over the reigns from DJ Benofficial for awhile. At about that time the bar -which wasn't all that packed when I came in- started to fill up.

Chuy and I had a nice long talk about why we like Jack's so much. He told me a story of how he'd first come to Jack's with his sister and Matt aka James Dean was behind the bar. Matt shook Chuy's hand and went about his business after serving Chuy and his sister their drinks on a very busy night.

The next day Chuy came to the bar and Matt came up to him with Chuy's sister's ID, which she'd left behind by mistake the night before. Chuy was surprised that Matt even remembered him with everything else that was going on and was very appreciative as he took back his sister's ID.

I met a tall man with a large diamond imprinted in white on his black hat. That same same diamond was on the large grey sweatshirt that he wore. I've met him and his friend before, but failed to get their names both times.

Outside I met a man who wishes to be called Cool. Cool is an artist and told me a story of how he had to bail on commitment to show his artwork at Jack's back when Jack's was reopened under the current ownership. Cool had no choice because he chanced on an opportunity to show the same art pieces in San Francisco. As it turned out he sold everything.

My memory is kind of fuzzy at this point (who am I kidding: I'm tired of writing and am late for my Thursday trip to Jack's), but I recall talk of the following:

• 40oz beer bottles raining down around you like artillery shells while being chased by gang members in San Jose
• Teachers getting dressed down for assuming children were being disruptive by their choice of crayons to use when in fact they were just color blind
• Of how multiple bar patrons have parents who teach mentally handicapped children
• Of how such children only have love in their hearts

I also remember a man showing me pictures of his work cutting words and patterns into people's hair. He works with his sister at a salon. My phone notes say his name is Jaime Fox.

I ended my trip to Jack's by watching a tow truck driver peel out at the intersection of 5th and Taylor. I didn't know tow trucks could do that.

Lolz see you tomorrow or an extremely brief visit to Jack's.