The Magical VFW

I want to tell you all about a place. A magical, happy place where they have karaoke on Thurs. Friday and Saturday nights and really cheap whiskey specials. My friends, I'm talking about the VFW in Uptown, which I visit semi-regularly with my good friend Ben.

Now, brush aside your notions of the local, cranky war vet old men sort of VFW. This one, at least on karaoke nights, is a hopping crazy house of fun, with all ages of hipsters and non-hipster hipsters cutting loose. Ben and I usually sing some classic rock song (last night was "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas) and what we lack in vocal skills we make up for with an electric rocking Jack Black performance.

But the best part of all is the cool people you meet. Last night I met Andy Barr, talk show board man and sidekick to politiacl pundit Al Franken of Air America radio. By the end of the night, Ben and I had joined his Bostonian posse and we all sang/shouted "Proud to be An American" while swaying to the beat. I was singing before I even realized I was singing: that is the way to sing. From the heart, damn it.

Other things that have happened on other nights include a chance meeting with an old friend from Ben and I's hometown of Lake Crystal( two hours away from the Cities with a poulation of 2,000) and (this really happened) I beat a huge, 400 pound Samoan dude in arm wrestling and then was told by said man it was a good thing he liked me because he was packing a gun and wasn't shy about using it. Also, many times Ben has ended up hugging random girls with child-like abandon. Excellent and funny.

Yes, indeed. The VFW is a magical place of wonderment.