by Debbi | Dec 7, 2010 | Stories
Update: Edited for easier viewing of the photo, thanks to a better link from @shedluv, husband of @loudporsche. Thank you!
Our Twitter friend Kristin, aka @loudporsche, sent us a link to a fun picture today.
In DJ Gallo's NFL Hangover Photo Gallery from week 13, on espn.com, there's a picture of some, shall we say, older football fans partaking in shots from a Green Bay shotski!
I can't put the image here, both because I don't want to be sued and also because I couldn't just right-click and save the photo (presumably enabled so people wouldn't do exactly that), but you can see it here.
The caption in the original photo gallery was "Metamucil shots!" However, the caption on this link indicates they are in fact drinking schnapps.
Thanks Kristin and Matt!
by Debbi | Nov 30, 2010 | Stories
November 30. The end of the month and the end of another successful National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo for short.
The goal here was to post a blog entry every single day during the month of November. I did this once before, back in 2007. It's hard to find things to entertain you for an entire month! Big thanks to all my contributors this month, whether it was a guest blog or just an idea for a post.
The most popular posts from November? Cupcakes. Both of the posts (here and here) about Brenna's Shark Attack cupcakes were the most-visited pages this month. Apparently, you all like food. And sharks.
So, what's coming up for December? Probably not a post every single day!
Last year, we featured "12 Days of Sandbar Christmas," with Sandbar-themed gift ideas. It was fun, so we'll do it again. Also, a big event is coming up in Lawrence next week: SantaCon! Watch for more info on that soon. What else do you want to read about this month?
Thanks also to my fellow local NaBloPoMo participants: SuperJenn, Eric, Bailey, Amerika (sort of!) and Rachel. It helped to have friends doing this challenge with me. Lawrence.com even wrote a story about it; check it out here.
by Debbi | Nov 22, 2010 | Door Diaries, Stories
"Sorry, it's one in, one out right now."
Those are the dreaded words that often greet customers at our door. Believe me, we don't want to make you wait- the line outside our door isn't part of some big conspiracy to make it seem like we're a cool place or to punish people for some reason.
Buildings have fire codes, and along with those codes come occupancy limits that are based on complicated formulas. In our case, it boils down to mostly one thing: we only have one door. Our legal occupancy is only 49, and when there's 49 people in the bar it still seems empty. Especially when they're all sitting down.
Our patio often complicates the situation at the door. In most cases, people who have been inside but go outside to the patio are allowed to come back inside without waiting in line again. Often, people who are waiting in line don't understand this, so it might seem like people are cutting the line, when they're really not. Our door staff has a lot to keep track of, and we think they do a pretty good job.
So, next time you're waiting in line, cut them a break. It doesn't help if you yell at the door guy, argue about how many people are inside, or tell them that you know Dave. For the record, Dave's actual friends don't use his name to get stuff; they just patiently wait their turn.
Tweeting at us to tell us our door guy sucks doesn't make us love you, either.
by Debbi | Nov 21, 2010 | Off the Wall, Stories
Once upon a time in Sandbar history, a giant stuffed toucan sat on top of the jukebox. He was sort of an unoffical mascot, watching over the bar back in its smoke-filled days.
He was also the subject of much mischief. The toucan was "kidnapped" many times and taken on adventures all over Lawrence. Curtis and Todd were likely guilty of borrowing our toucan many times. At least once, the toucan accompanied Curtis to an after-hours movie screening at a local theater.
Photographic evidence exists to prove the toucan theft. In the picture above, circa 1995, Todd is stuffing the toucan into his car.
Sadly, someone eventually stole our beloved toucan and never returned him. We heard rumors that he'd been spotted at the local Salvation Army. Outside the dimly lit bar, the toucan wasn't quite as spectacular: dingy, dirty and reeking of smoke, we can certainly understand why the culprit didn't want to keep him.
Last week, Dave was scavenging goodies at the local Antique Mall when he stumbled upon….a stuffed toucan. No, not our original- this one was in much better shape, and more importantly, didn't stink of cigarette smoke and spilled beer.
When I went to my car after leaving work that day, I opened the door and found the new toucan.
Now, we just have to figure out what to do with him.
by Debbi | Nov 14, 2010 | Stories
Our ginormous fish tank is a big attraction. Often, people who are walking by the bar in the middle of the day will see it and come in so their kids can check out the fish. People name the fish, talk to them and sit and watch them for hours.
Lots of people like to take pictures of the fish. It's hard to get a good one- it's almost like they know you're trying, so they hide. Or they move around so fast you can't get a decent shot.
Our friend Jeff, the official photographer of our 21st birthday bash last summer, took this picture of Homer the puffer fish last night using the cool Instagram app on his phone:
You can see the picture on Flickr, along with more of Jeff's pictures, here.
Do you have pictures of our fish? We'd love to see them! Because we can't manage to get a decent one ourselves.
by Debbi | Nov 12, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Stories
A few days ago I wrote about the fabulous Shark Attack cupcakes our friend Brenna baked. The post was accompanied by a rather terrible photo I took of a cupcake. That picture absolutely did not do the cupcakes justice.
Brenna graciously provided us with a much better picture of her creation. In fact, it looks like a professional cupcake portrait from a cookbook. My first thought was to take down my awful picture and replace it with this one. Then I thought it might be funnier to leave it up and add this one so you can compare. And laugh at my photo-taking non-skills.
THIS is what the cupcakes really looked like:
Complete with an actual Sandbar shark. Makes you want to eat one, doesn't it?
