Victorian Midnight Cafe

Now that I'm recently recovered from my car theft with smashed window...

...a 5 hour drive home...playing at Mass last night as soon as I arrived home...and Fishbowls of Newcastle at the Knob with Lady A and friends....as promised...here's the postscript to yesterday's blog on the Victorian Midnight Cafe.

http://www.victoriansmidnightcafe.com

Tucked away in the Victorian Village and nearby art community close to the OSU campus...the Victorian Midnight Cafe is just the eccentric kind of place you would expect a Founding Father of KMSA to hang his hat...and beer belly.

Once you park on the side streets at night, you can imagine yourself walking the streets of Whitechapel just in front of Jack the Ripper as you prepare to get Ripped on Jack!

Now owned and operated by Andreas Kleinert, a native of Germany, and his wife Kristy Venrick, who runs the label Nilaihah Records for area bands, and is also a laboratory planner...the "Vic" serves up all day breakfast, authentic German Schnitzel, organic beef half-pound hamburgers, over 60 craft beers, and lots of original music.

From college kids, professors, burned out hippies, preppies, old farts like me and everywhere in between...the eclectic patrons of the "Vic" never fail to entertain or inspire!

Friday night was no exception, as I downed Schnitzel with Anchor Christmas Ale and listened to the Yogi Poets, the Rusty Strings, Apocalypso and Miss Molly. The highlights of the night were Apocalypso and Miss Molly.

Apocalypso is appropriately named.

Listening to their music is like reading Revelations on a Caribbean beach at a Prog Rock Convention! Complete with different masks that appear throughout the set...these guys bring it on with steel drums, percussion and bass! Here's a link to their MySpace page and a video clip I shot with my iPhone that evening: http://www.myspace.com/apocalypsopannedinohio

Good Golly...Miss Molly is HOT!

Her music slices through the waves of Rockabilly, Swing, Jazz, Folk and Pop like the prow on a British Man-O-War! Here's a link to her MySpace page and another video clip I shot with my iPhone that evening: http://www.myspace.com/missmollywinters

So, the next time you end up in the Columbus area, be sure to check out the "Vic"!

Sir Hook the VICtor of Warrick

Open Heart, Open Mind

In private emails between Sir Dayvd of Oxfordshire and this Errant Knight, we have debated about the paranoia that is strangling the minds and hearts of fair-minded citizens of the world.

Last night in Columbus I had the choice to go see the paranoid throngs pay homage to their goddess of the moment, Sara Palin, who was in town at Boarders to sign her book, Going Rogue.

Instead I chose to go to the Victorian Midnight Cafe for authentic German Schnitzel, Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, and great local music, which I will expand on in tomorrows edition.

I reflected on what it means to keep and open heart and an open mind as the music bathed my soul...which is also the title of my collection of original songs I began to write after my open-heart surgery 7 years ago. A few thousand dollars and many hours later, my CD is almost ready to go to mastering and press.

As I drive home today I will reflect on, and invite you to do the same, what it means to have an open heart and open mind in today's world. Here's the lyrics from the chorus of the theme song to help you with this exercise:

Don't waste life

Pleasing men

Be true to yourself

Live again

Don't fear life

Don't fear death

Don't fear your destiny

For happiness

Blessing to you all!

Sir Hook the Traveling Troubadour of Warrick