We can’t decide which bar to enter, that is, for there are millions of them. American dives are not terribly inviting from the outside. Few have windows to give you a peep of what’s inside. Usually, there’s just a darkened entrance, if the door is even open.
Walk in and you might find your dead grandma, sitting alone looking bitter, or your ex wife with her new boyfriend, way more handsome and buffer than you. How the fuck did she manage that, the bitch?! Maybe it’s a fag bar without the rainbow flag.
[Philadelphia, 5/23/14]
Quinn’s Irish Pub has a broken sign they can’t be bothered to fix, so their prices are probably bum friendly, so let’s just go in, but wait, why is that tall guy flexing wrinkled abs outside Cheers?
Stupid name, I agree, but that’s Bob Herdelin, an all-American b-baller for La Salle, like, a century ago. Herky would have made the NBA, he claims, if not for his fear of flying. Let’s go inside his pub to bullshit with the legend.
[Philadelphia, 6/1/09]
At 69-years-old, Herky tackled a 23-year-old mugger and head locked the asshole before cops could arrive, so you better behave.
Well, at least we didn’t barge into the Black Man in America Social Club so you could deliver your tirade, “What the fuck, man?! This is clearly racism! My Jewish professor at the community college told me in no uncertain terms race is just a social construct, so there ain't no race. We're all the same, motherfuckers! We're all the same except white people, who are all Nazis, if only latently so. Sorry to use a big word on y'all. I learnt it from my Jewish professor at the community college. He so smart."
I just don’t feel like tussling today.
[Philadelphia, 8/17/11]
If you dig black bars, we can try Scotty’s tomorrow. Be prepared to marvel at its Obama shrine. Best to sit there in the afternoon, when there’s no mind mashing beats. To sop the suds, there’s some jivy Chinese and good enough fried chicken nearby.
Cheap, dives can’t spend hardly anything on decors. Junk knick-knacks, photos of patrons, flags and goofy signs suffice. At Fishtown’s Old Philadelphia Bar, “If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport.” Plus, being mostly neighborhood pubs, they don’t need to be flashy to attract outsiders.
Give my people an oasis to socialize over drinks, command all the humane gods, for they need to swap stories and be sappy, pissy or garrulous after another day’s hard labor, and turn off the canned tunes, will you, so each soul could be heard most clearly. Laughter is the best music.
Nobody else writes in the accessible, down-to-concrete Linh Dinh style -- with photos to back up the prose. Here's hoping that publishing efforts in Viet Nam lead to one or more hardback coffee-table collections for aficionados. Maybe direct sales from the publisher? Can we get autographed copies? Thanks as always for your updates, Mr. Dinh!
It's a samizdat publisher, so these books won't be distributed openly in Vietnam even. This is a one party totalitarian state with censorship, though the totalitarianism has lightened considerably since around 1990. I'm almost tempted to call it laissez faire totalitarianism. They pretty much let you do what you want as long as you don't challenge the state. It is certainly not Communism.
With Covid, though, Vietnam is acting like all other totalitarian states, including the USA, the shiftiest one of all. America's system is Squid Capitalism with Communist characteristics!
off topic but very important....the three godfathers of vaccines...Salk Sabin and Stanley Plotkin are all frauds...and are all jews...the current head of the CDC...Rochelle Walensky...is also kosher...as is the CEO of Pfizer...see any shady connections?...what they have successfully done is pushed the "virus" myth to sell their toxic vaccines while making billions along the way...this documentary explains the scam...the Plandemic hoaxes and jew jabs will continue until this lie is finally exposed...https://www.bitchute.com/video/rHmg8EY3cXPD/
I spent a lot of time in bars when I was growing up. I remember playing the jukebox when I was about 5 years old. It had the arm that plucked a 45 (remember those) out of a row, spun it around & placed it on the turntable, then the tone arm (holding the stylus) would swing out & drop down onto the record and voila....music. I loved watching that.
When I go to the local bar these days, the bartender usually gives me $20 to play the jukebox....the patrons like my musical selections. Fooled 'em all last week when I started out with "This must be the Place" by The Talking Heads. Agree though, silence must be mixed with the music.
Bob Herdelin avgd 16.7 pts and 14.7 rebounds in the 1958-59 basketball season. La Salle had a tough go against their Philly 5 opponents though. They lost to St. Joe's, Nova & Penn (twice) but did manage to beat Temple.
Herky's bar closed just 21 months after that photo. It was too much of a trouble spot. From the Inky of 3/2/11:
"For years, Cheers, right around the corner from the Tower Theatre, was a thorn in the side of the Upper Darby Police Department, which, in this November article in Philly Mag, indicated that their officers were called to the bar over 350 times between 2007 and 2010. At about once every four days, I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of record. After a murder in the bar last March, Upper Darby’s hardcore Police Superintendent Mike Chitwood, who has never had a problem voicing his opinion, came out swinging, publicly calling the bar a 'criminal enterprise.'
"This comment didn’t sit well with the bar’s, shall we say, 'colorful' 70-year old owner, Bob Herdelin, (pictured, sitting in Cheers) known in the area as Herky. A former All-American basketball player, local hero (in 2008, he singlehandedly captured the U.S. Marshall’s 4th Most Wanted while wearing flip-flops), and self-made multi-millionaire with several manses at the Shore, Herky was quick to point out that he’s not guilty of any crime, as the 'criminal enterprise' comment could reasonably suggest, and also quick to file a $1.7 million libel suit against the superintendent."
Beautiful prose, as always. May satanism never defeat the human spirit.
From my own bar hoppin' days, my favorite signs were "Tipping is not a city in China" and "Anyone caught smoking a joint will receive a trespass notice"
Nobody else writes in the accessible, down-to-concrete Linh Dinh style -- with photos to back up the prose. Here's hoping that publishing efforts in Viet Nam lead to one or more hardback coffee-table collections for aficionados. Maybe direct sales from the publisher? Can we get autographed copies? Thanks as always for your updates, Mr. Dinh!
Hi LinhDinhFan,
It's a samizdat publisher, so these books won't be distributed openly in Vietnam even. This is a one party totalitarian state with censorship, though the totalitarianism has lightened considerably since around 1990. I'm almost tempted to call it laissez faire totalitarianism. They pretty much let you do what you want as long as you don't challenge the state. It is certainly not Communism.
With Covid, though, Vietnam is acting like all other totalitarian states, including the USA, the shiftiest one of all. America's system is Squid Capitalism with Communist characteristics!
Linh
Thank you for your reply. Here's hoping all the same!
off topic but very important....the three godfathers of vaccines...Salk Sabin and Stanley Plotkin are all frauds...and are all jews...the current head of the CDC...Rochelle Walensky...is also kosher...as is the CEO of Pfizer...see any shady connections?...what they have successfully done is pushed the "virus" myth to sell their toxic vaccines while making billions along the way...this documentary explains the scam...the Plandemic hoaxes and jew jabs will continue until this lie is finally exposed...https://www.bitchute.com/video/rHmg8EY3cXPD/
Linh
I spent a lot of time in bars when I was growing up. I remember playing the jukebox when I was about 5 years old. It had the arm that plucked a 45 (remember those) out of a row, spun it around & placed it on the turntable, then the tone arm (holding the stylus) would swing out & drop down onto the record and voila....music. I loved watching that.
When I go to the local bar these days, the bartender usually gives me $20 to play the jukebox....the patrons like my musical selections. Fooled 'em all last week when I started out with "This must be the Place" by The Talking Heads. Agree though, silence must be mixed with the music.
Bob Herdelin avgd 16.7 pts and 14.7 rebounds in the 1958-59 basketball season. La Salle had a tough go against their Philly 5 opponents though. They lost to St. Joe's, Nova & Penn (twice) but did manage to beat Temple.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Herky's bar closed just 21 months after that photo. It was too much of a trouble spot. From the Inky of 3/2/11:
"For years, Cheers, right around the corner from the Tower Theatre, was a thorn in the side of the Upper Darby Police Department, which, in this November article in Philly Mag, indicated that their officers were called to the bar over 350 times between 2007 and 2010. At about once every four days, I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of record. After a murder in the bar last March, Upper Darby’s hardcore Police Superintendent Mike Chitwood, who has never had a problem voicing his opinion, came out swinging, publicly calling the bar a 'criminal enterprise.'
"This comment didn’t sit well with the bar’s, shall we say, 'colorful' 70-year old owner, Bob Herdelin, (pictured, sitting in Cheers) known in the area as Herky. A former All-American basketball player, local hero (in 2008, he singlehandedly captured the U.S. Marshall’s 4th Most Wanted while wearing flip-flops), and self-made multi-millionaire with several manses at the Shore, Herky was quick to point out that he’s not guilty of any crime, as the 'criminal enterprise' comment could reasonably suggest, and also quick to file a $1.7 million libel suit against the superintendent."
Linh
Back in the 50's when I was a young girl every neighborhood had a family friendly tavern. Great memories. Thanks Linh!
"If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport."
Best thing I've read all week.
Beautiful prose, as always. May satanism never defeat the human spirit.
From my own bar hoppin' days, my favorite signs were "Tipping is not a city in China" and "Anyone caught smoking a joint will receive a trespass notice"
Not from a bar but a gas station somewhere in northern British Columbia: My mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts.
Excellent, almost too short for Sunday morning, but dense, tense and excellent. Best! T