Thursday, April 11, 2013

Good morning crew,

For dedicated beer lovers the center of the universe is the city of Munich in Germany. It is not just because Munich is host to the original and still most popular Oktoberfest in the world, but also because of the world famous beer that comes out of the city.

And one of the most popular and famous of those beers is Hofbrau. In fact, the Hofbrau brewery and beer hall in Munich, cleverly named 'Hofbrauhaus', is so popular, that imitations, sometimes very good ones, have cropped up all over the world. It just so happens that one of those beer halls is right in Vegas.

So we had plans to have dinner with my brother Michael and his wife who live in a suburb of Las Vegas, and when I discovered that Vegas has a Hofbrauhaus I insisted that we go there.

It was a risk, too, because after the Cirque du Soleil fiasco my credibility was running a little thin, but as soon as we all walked into the place my confidence was immediately boosted. The interior was designed just like the Munich Hofbrauhaus with vaulted ceilings decorated in bucolic frescos, long picnic table-style seating and, most importantly, live entertainment was being provided by an authentic Um-pa band in full, Bavarian attire.

There was no question about beverages; everybody got Hofbrau, but the menu offered a respectable variety of Bavarian favorites.

We kicked things off with just an excellent smoked salmon served with German potato pancakes, sour cream, capers and fresh, purple onions. It was the perfect flavor to pique our thirst for another round of Hofbrau.

For the main course we enjoyed, variously, wienerschnitzel, jagerschnitzel, bratwursts, sauerbraten, a schnitzel salad, which is just about as German as you can make a salad and, of course, plenty of kartoffelsalat (or German potato salad).

There wasn't a lot of conversation during the meal, mostly because everybody had better things to do with their mouths at that moment, but also because the band was blasting out a constant stream of German drinking songs about 20 feet from us.

Michael impressed everybody at the table by being able to sing along with most of them, but I had my own little moment when the band played 'In Munchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus' and I stood up with my stein in-hand and sang along with them.

That inspired one of the band members to grab his giant alpine horn, jump down from the stage and rest the end of his horn in front of me on our table while he played.

In case you have never been to an Oktoberfest, this is a hint that he would like a tip deposited in the end of his horn, but I was happy to oblige for the privilege of having his beery breath billowing out of his horn and into my face.

After one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in a long time I carried my euphoria into the gift shop where they had an impressive array of souvenirs and paraphernalia. Such was my mania that I came perilously close to spending $200 on a pair of authentic lederhosen, but my parsimony got the better of me and I settled for spending $18 on a Hofbrau stein.

You would think that an experience like that would wipe a person out for the night, but Michael had plans to take us to 'old' downtown Las Vegas and I couldn't pass up that opportunity.

As it turns out it was worth it, but I will tell you about that later.

Laugh it up,

Joe

joe@gophercentral.com

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"Today is Thursday. Or what I like to call on Friday, 'yesterday.'" -Jimmy Fallon

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"Tom Cruise made his first public comments about his divorce from Katie Holmes. He said, 'I didn't see it coming." Apparently Katie kept her divorce papers on top of the refrigerator." -Conan O'Brien

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"Over the weekend the premier of China told Kim Jong Un to chill out. Japan gave warnings too. First China, now Japan. I haven't seen people turn against a fat Korean guy this quickly since 'Gangnam Style.'" -Craig Ferguson

***
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 50's, 60's and 70's!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms...WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL.

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!


*-------------- Guaranteed to Roll Your Eyes --------------*
DOE RE MI BEER, by Homer J. Simpson.

DOUGH... the stuff...that buys me beer...

RAY..... the guy that sells me beer...

ME...... the guy... who drinks the beer,

FAR..... the distance to my beer

SO...... I think I'll have a beer...

LA...... La la la la la la beer

TEA..... no thanks, I'm drinking beer...

That will bring us back to...(Looks into an empty glass)

D'OH!