SWEATER NITE 27

 Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

We're so glad you could attend,
come inside, come inside (ELP)

well that may be wishful thinking, we know that all good things eventually run their course and come to an end, but as far as Sweater Nite is concerned .....well,  rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated . We are back for a 27th  iteration....on Saturday FeBREWary 22nd......the official start time is 2:00 at PC's Bar and Grill 7215 5th Ave.

The NHL,  as it often does;  threw  a Monkey & the Engineer sized wrench into our Presidents weekend plans. This year the league goes on hiatus for 16 days in FEB for an all nonsense international money grab tournament between 4 Nations .......none of which includes Russia....and that is a mockery.....if the Russians playing in the NHL  are somehow responsible for the war in the Ukraine then they should be expelled from the League....if that absurdity is deemed absurd...then they should be permitted to form a team and play. In any event there were no games being played on Pres weekend that were deemed worthy of Sweater Nite's attention....and so we moved. Next year we should in the midst of the Winter Olympics in Italy with their lovely Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni presiding.....hopefully she invites her good friend Donald J Trump to throw out the first snowball, and we will gather to see the USA win gold......programing note....the Broadway Blueshirts have been selected to play in the Winter Classic on Friday Night Jan 2 against the FLA Panthers at the home of the Miami Marlins.....no response yet from local SN alum Chaz Higgins on whether he will serve as the welcoming committee for the Sweater Nite delegation.

Movie Review.....if you have not seen Complete Unknown.....I highly recommend it.

My weariness amazes me, I’m branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street’s too dead for dreaming

The second monkey wrench was the status of our beloved Cathedral on 67th street........in late September (when we really should be back in school) came unsettling news from the 220.....The Taj Mahal of Alcohol, The Basilica of Booze, the true home of Rock n Roll in the Ridge...THE LIEF.......was on the chopping block..... in the birthplace of our youth, the home for too many events to recount....the Lazarus of Yellow Hook was facing the final axe....as we go to post I can confirm she is still slaking the thirst of thousands and blasting the Rock N Roll that soothes the soul...but her days are numbered as the building itself is for sale . Stay tuned for a possible Sweater Nite sendoff this spring in the Oak Room.

This seems to be the fate of way too many watering holes these days.....i suppose the generations that followed GEN X could not handle the pressure of living up to the incredible standard of imbibing that we set.....sometimes it gets awfully cold in the shadows of legends........and these young kids today prefer to vape and drink a spritza in the can....... i still occasionally walk the streets of the financial district in lower Manhattan and i marvel at the disappearing act of the Great American Bar Room......Suspenders, The Reade  Street, all the Mcanns & Blarneys, The Beekman , St Charlies, The Raccoon, The Mercantile, the original Jeremy's, and the list goes on..............artificial intelligence may be able to do my job.....but i doubt it can drink 10 Beers & 4 shots in 90 minutes at the Iron Monkey....all while those within earshot are Regaled with my tales of Jocularity and the occasional inappropriate knee slapper.  

Thankfully for the time being we still have one Oasis in the Arabian desert, One place of respite from the Chaos around us , the "First" (and only) Bar to prematurely (and incorrectly) announce the passing of the great Al Michaels, the home of Bayridge Bingo as hosted by Kim Novak,  the unofficial home of the POTUS 47 inauguration ball , and the most popular pig races this side of the great Indiana State Fair.

PC's Bar and Grill will be the site of Sweater Nite 27....on Saturday Febrewary 22nd  at 2:00.........Triple header on ABC......Minny vs Det at noon.....Wash at Pitt 3:00....and the Blueshirts at The Anchor Bar Sabres at 5:30............a pregame skate will be held at the neighborhood Stalwart for the past 93 years at 9259.....the Bar that casts such a HUGE shadow that it commands two entrances.......skaters are encouraged to Enter from 4th Ave and Exit onto 5th ( or vice versa...or neither)  Yes, Kelly's Tavern joins the Sweaternite  historical roll for the first time , and if it all goes well it may someday host the whole shindig. I can see a day in the winter of 2048 when SN President Jackson Caddotte summons the skaters to Kelly's Tavern for Sweater Nite 50...Deus Vult!.........and like the good doctor would say."i may not get to the mountain top with you, but ill be drinking somewhere"

Here at Sweater Nite Headquarters we have been following the horrific fires in LA just like everyone else.....sometimes you feel helpless watching the news and being so far away.....so we have decided to try and and do something to help. On the prior post we provided a LINK to a Fundraiser Campaign where we are selling commemorative Sweater Nite T-shirts through Custom Ink, and all the proceeds are going to the Pasadena Humane Society......these guys are taking in all the homeless and or injured Dogs and Cats from the area....they are hoping to care for all the animals until someday they can be reunited with their owners...although sadly, few ever will......In any event Kevin McManus (the Dir of Communication) is also  a friend of Sweater Nite alum Pat Molloy....Thank you to those who have already bought shirts and made donations , and thanks in advance to anyone inspired by this plea.

The late great Charlie "The Chairman" Jensen was a man ahead of his time.....40 + years ago in the early 80's, when the rest of the free world was trudging onto the subway and sleepwalking their way through work on the morning after the Super Bowl, the Chairman coined the phrase "Super Monday" and he shared his vision with the hamlet of Bayridge. Mainly it consisted of firing up the blender on Ovington Ave and watching a few of the ...ahem....Oscar nominated Films of the year on the VHS. The idea caught fire and soon was expanding to include the Monday after a Road Trip, or a 3 day weekend, or Parades and Festivals........well all these years later Coors light has caught the Bug....and this year will be changing the name of their signature beverage to Monday's Light.......and targeting the Super Bowl audience and encouraging a national day of Hooky and Beer drinking......Thanks Chairman, we sure do miss you.....Have a few Cold One with Dano and Keep an eye on the Lads if you don't mind.

Unfortunately , due to creative differences; there will NOT be live music this year at Sweater Nite....unconfirmed rumors circulating around the Relix office state that JC (much like Bill the Drummer) grew tired of playing slower than a dying dehydrated camel in the Sahara and that Macs (much like Bobby Ace) breaking down the melody and agonizingly analyzing every song under a microscope , just grew to be too much...JC returned to Hawaii , while Mac and Charlie Marine headed to Vegas... ...the duo did agree to reunite down the road for a 60th anniversary money grab complete with commemorative keychains, ball caps and flesh colored Christs that glow in the dark. as Mr Dylan would say

It’s easy to see without looking too far
 

That not much is really sacred  

Or as Kaitlyn Clarks' stalker would say...."throw me the Booky".......must be an inside joke....if only we knew someone who spent some time in Iowa riding a bike to explain......

I would like to welcome the first time readers of the Blog and to also welcome back those who may not have visited since last Sweater Nite.....I try to keep it on the lighter side, and find humor in an ugly world...but every now and again i think i strike a nerve....this post below in italics is from march 30th 2024.......i think i was on to something, you be the judge

Today we prepare to celebrate to greatest comeback in the history of mans time on the planet, the ultimate comeback story; the rising from the Dead by Jesus of Nazareth.

I have chosen today to look hard for that silver lining, and after quite a bit of pondering i think it may be out there. we often talk about that giant pendulum that swings from one extreme to the other. I think the long decline that started with political correctness and graduated to DEI , has swung as far left as it can go......and i am starting to feel the gravitational pull back to the center (and hopefully the right).

America may be preoccupied and distracted. America may be naïve and willfully ignorant at times on certain issues, but at our core still lies the ability to detect and see through bullshit....even if we don't want to.

  I think historians may look back on the events of March 2024 and conclude that this was the point that the pendulum began  to swing back. In no particular order, the Border, the illegal migrant murders and crime, The Fani Willis mockery, the Queen Laticia gloating over potentially seizing private property( Trump Tower) over a victimless crime, and the ongoing Biden Crime Family revelations, the administration demonizing the Supreme Court (abortion) and ignoring their rulings (Student loan)  even the collapse of the Key Bridge has contributed to our standing as an emerging banana Republic.

And now the senseless murder of Jonathan Diller on main street USA in broad daylight by a thug with 21 prior arrests that has no fear of prosecution and no respect for human life. 

The optic that may go down in history when all these beans are counted...on Thursday Evening Donald Trump attended PO Diller's wake with the blessings of his widow and family. On Thursday President Biden gathered with old pals Barry Hussein and accused pedophile Bill Clinton at Radio City....they were cheered by a packed House that paid $500,000 for the privileges to attend.

On Friday Queen Laticia asked to speak at the wake and was told NO.

On Friday Kathy Hochul showed up at the wake during the private friends and family session and had an uncomfortable exchange with the family of the deceased.....reports are unclear on whether she was allowed inside the funeral home or not....but the video clearly shows here being ushered out by her Law Enforcement detail....and she looks unhappy with her tail between her legs.

is this the line in the sand ? i mean a true line...not the meaningless ones that the great Spoonjiah drew on the deserts of Syria.

I think the tide has turned....i think a Tsunami of common sense is coming....i may be drunk with false optimism but i do believe middle America is starting to find it's voice again and suddenly is willing to speak truth in the light of day . .....at least i fargin hope so........I am not declaring victory , but i can sense a summer of peaceful revolution.....a grassroots movement to fight for this country and restore values.....if not now, probably never.

Looking Back, i think that may have been the point of no return....the June debate and the Butler assassination attempt were also big momentum swings, but i think the nation was already leaning back....it didn't hurt that they ignored their beloved "democracy" to anoint a babbling, stuttering moron with a clear head an inability to formulate a thought....but hey....she checked two boxes. 

anyway, the good guys won this time and if you had followed the blog you could have made a few sheckles betting on THE DONN.......feel free on a rainy Saturday to pour yourself a pint of the Dark or a stiff Jameson and go back and read the blog from yesterday....i have been telling stories, sharing memories and climbing atop a soapbox or two since July of 2006..........some gems. some misses and a few paragraphs of drunken jibberish.......my hope is that 500 years from now when the Martians are reading this blog, they too will wish that they were born in the Greatest Neighborhood in the World , and at the perfect time.......i wouldn't change a stitch of that fabric.

  

This past year saw the class of 1964 celebrate their 60th trip around the sun. They put together a memorable evening in Chadwicks with pregame libations in Pippins.....a grand night in our olde stomping grounds.....the Class of 65 is Now on the Clock .....stay tuned for details for a star studded event...some skaters are already lobbying for a visit to Pitch & Putt and a Keg party at Bay 14.......that's screams 1965 offspring.............some skaters who will remain anonymous insist on Progressive pricing......so the responsible drinkers and or teetotalers do not get handed a Bill that covers the bar Tab for the Rest of us normal drinkers.

In closing please note that if you are reading this, that your presence at Sweater  Nite is desired.....i know it's not easy, we know life gets in the way....but whomever is out there please know that water under the bridge is exactly that......all are welcome, nobody has ever been barred from Sweater Nite, feel free to extend invites to anyone i may have missed....it is all about the here and now....friendship, comradery and iced cold BEEEER......... 2+3=BEEER

Slainte'

Fundraiser T-shirts

 

Please find attached a link to the SWEATER NITE Fundriasing efforts on behalf of the Pasadena Humane Society

SN27 Tshirts

ain't it hard when you wake up in the mornin

 And you find out that those other days are gone?

All you have is memories of happiness

Lingerin' on (Neil Young)

it's a high wire act.......trying to balance genuine anger at the State of California and sincere empathy for the people.....floods are terrible....fires are worse.....but they both rob the things in our homes that make us who we are.

Thursday the smug circle of political demons were busy ....not putting out the fires....but shooting holes through the stories of incompetence. The Hydrants WERE empty.....the budget WAS slashed...the equipment WAS given away......the Leadership WAS preoccupied with equity and diversity ....instead of ability and preparedness.

Los Angeles is a sad circle of serpents....jockeying and gesturing....more energy and concern projecting themselves than just doing their jobs......a sickening , never ending act of one up-manship.....fm the Gov to the Mayor to the Alphabet fire Chief....who can be the MOST woke, who can go the furthest left.....until the flames of hell burn them all to death..

2+3=BEEER

Yet still a light is shining
From that lamp on down the hall
Maybe the star of Bethlehem
Wasn't a star at all

In a matter of time

 there'll be a friend of mine

Gonna come to the coast, you're going to see him up close
For a minute or two
While the ground cracks under you (N. Young)

oh Los Angeles....a nation prays for thee.....

while our focus and concern is still with evacuations and trying to contain 5 wild fires, we would be remiss for not immediately addressing some alarming absentee leadership .

The City of Los Angeles slashed their Fire Dept Budget by 20% last year,,,,how much that impacted their inability to contain and fight these fires will be invesitigated.

The City of Ls Angeles donated Fire equipment to the Ukraine .......the F*cking Ukraine....as if Bidens Billions weren't enough, Lala land had to joing the great humanitarian giveaway at the expense of her own people.

and where was Mrs mayor Butterworth ? in Ghana Africa attending the inauguration for a future dictator........and when she came back she insisted that they fire hydrant's did NOT go dry one hour into the blaze....to which the Head of the LA Water Dept said Oh Yes They Did ....

and in 2018 then Pre Trump visited the region if the aftermath of those terrible fires and he talked about how the leaders of Austria and Finland told him about Controlled Burns and Forest Manitenance........BUT how the environmentalists in Cali blocked those measures.......and here we are again............

2+3=Firewater

L.A. ......uptight...... city in the smog, city in the smog
Don't you wish that you could be here too?

well the good old days

 may not return,

and the rocks may melt, 

and the sea may burn    (Tom Petty)

we are in a dark place here in America......a time of uncertainty and a lack of trust...and rightfully so.

Our elected officials and mammoth government are nothing more then a cesspool of condescending elitists...most feel it and believe it....others were taught to be this way....but their contempt for the rest of the nation is undeniable ......and something has to give.

The manifesto written by the Las Vegas bomber is out there and should be read, it is cause for alarm and concern......was he suffering from PTSD and having marital problems OR is that the easiest way to explain away his ramblings ? i don't know , but i must admit that when some 30 year black female on the local news says it's ABC......my gut tells me it's probably XYZ.........it's time we extricate ourselves off the Govt Dime of information and dig for our own truths.

interesting how the LGTQ-LMNOP shooter in Nashville wrote a long manifesto that has never been released......i guess they couldn't twist it to fit their hoped for narrative.

These miserable Diversity hires in New Orleans (Mayor-Police Chief-FBI lead) should sound the loudest alarm bells in the history of this nation.....their dismissive arrogance should send shockwaves through every community.....these people receive a healthy stipend from our taxpayers dollars and are tasked with keeping their city safe and to speak the truth when asked....if they can't or won't....they need to be replaced.........Hopefully the lawsuits that follow will be enough to bring New Orleans to it;s knees and FORCE change.

some say life, will beat you down

break your heart, steal your crown

Wake up to find out

 That You are the Eyes of the World ( Hunter-Garcia)

and as the eyes, you are the witness to the decay of this planet, tell us what you see this day.

I see strangers not shaking hands, but rather pushing each other onto the train tracks and under the oncoming train........18th street in Manhattan.....1:00 pm....New years Eve....it's all a game....

I see strangers lighting strangers on fire as they sleep on the subway....a wayward angel.....far from home...without a home.....she returned to her Mothers House last May in Toms River...only to learn the home had been sold and her family left no forwarding address.

I see women walking the streets of NYC with their newborn children in grocery bags........ring the bell and walk away.

I see carnage on Bourbon Street......10 dead.....35 wounded.....by a vehicle driven by an individual that after he crashed....opened fire on the Police and had multiple IEDs in his truck.......oh, and i see a DIVERSITY hire from the FBI telling us this is NOT a terrorist act.....the face of the elitist failed experiment......the tax paying citizens of this nation do not deserve the facts , they can't handle the truth, give them crumbs.......tell the sheep where to graze.

and although i don't see it....i suspect a few domestic terrorists are being born....tired of the dismissive lies....tired of the hypocrisy....tired of their government.

always darkest before the light ?

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own
Sometimes we visit your country and live in your home
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own

Fair Winds

 

and following seas

Sweater Nite pauses to acknowledge the passing of a great human being . James Earl Carter Jr...aka Jimmy.....Graduate of the Naval Academy 1946 and the 39th President of the United States. Political differences aside, he was as good, honest and decent human being that this country has produced, his 100 years were indeed a life well lived........God speed Squid !

in case you missed it , the US Naval Academy football team closed out their season with Bowl Game Victory over the University of Oklahoma in dramatic fashion......to their credit the Sooners scored with 6 seconds left to close within an extra point of tying the game and forcing OT, but instead decided to go for the win and 2 point conversion.........and to their credit, the Squids sacked the QB on the final play....it was a 10 win season and the CIC Trophy and wins over Air Force and Army....giddy up......

2+3=BEEER