Merry Christmas

Since Christmas is on a Thursday, we were all mandated with the task of drinky with our families. We hope you did too - it's just better that way.

Merry Christmas!

Sixth Annual Drinky Christmas

Undisclosed Cameron Park Location

Another year, another kick-ass Drinky Christmas! We all look forward to this night all year, it's almost a shame that this is one of the first Christmas events we have, since it's the best!

Basic Formula:
All the Thursday Drunks
Sleepover Plans
Cheese and Meat Fondue
Lots of Wine and other Drinks
Secret Santa Gifts
Pink Elephant Gift Exchange
Hours of Laughing

We were down one German Nairb, but up a Bumpy and his Canadian, Shim & Caddie returned for the night, and Coach showed as well, so we were at 14 drunks, 3 dogs and 1 baby. Party!

So many things happened that were notable put here it is in speed form:
Crabby & NakedBob trade sleeveless shirt collections
Crabby cuts a new sleeveless with a saw
Thursday Drunks presented with official calendars, each drunk has their own month
Fight over the framed Ed McMann photo
Shim ends up with the altered Santa lawn ornament
Caddie filches TheJenny's perfectly cooked mushroom
Bump's Canadian wears the hot pink terry cloth romper
Texas shaped ice cube tray, panda necklace, freaky fairy lady.
Rock band forever
Found Footage Festival 3 over waffle breakfast

Journal Tidbits:
"I'm like a pig in shit right now." - Shooter re: his two beer gift
"I'm not the only crotch here!" - Caddie to Dingo the dog
"You mind if I hump your dog?" - NakedBob to Sluggy

Boxing Donkey - Roseville

300 Lincoln Street
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 797-Donkey

It was a very stormy night, and we all took shelter at the Boxing Donkey in Old Roseville. It hasn't been open long, but it's pretty nice all around. The dinning room is on one side, small and formalish. Bar on the other side, with two raised counters facing the wall, bench seat with small cube tables and one round table/booth. Over all, they need a little more seating.

First off, the happy hour was super cheap. Four beers for $12 = awesome. People started trickling in and it seemed like a normal crowd. NakedBob of course knew the people in the table/booth, so we scammed their space after they left. Then people just kept showing up! Frankenstein and his bride came, friends from NakedBob's work, friends from TheJenny's work (one of whom worked with Sluggy in the past), Bumpy and his Canadian were in town (welcome back!), and the list goes on! After the final count, we are talking 22 people, officially our largest Thursday ever!

The food was super yummy. Everything from grilled cheese to mac & cheese with hot dogs. All of it had a little flare and was tasty!

So, with that many people, cheap Guinness and good food we had the place rocking!

The mystery: Shooter came in with three pieces of paper that have been showing up taped to his door. All of them reference Rock Band, but elude to the Thursday Drunks. Shooter's condo complex is locked down pretty well, so we have no idea who and how they are getting there! It's a mystery.

Journal Tidbit:
"You know (pause), there's nothing funnier than butt plugs!" - Frankenstien's bride
"We always think you are up to something." - TheJenny to NakedBob

Potluck of Imposition

Undisclosed Roseville Location

The December birthday people (Scribby & Jarla's Better Half), invited themselves and everyone else to Jarla's wee little house. So began the Potluck of Imposition, where you are told what to bring! Shooter - famous white chicken enchiladas. TheJenny - "You Don't Win Friends With" salad. Sluggy - dessert crepes. Nairb - red wine chili. Scribby - mini potato skins. Oh, so yummy!

We fit into the wee little house just fine. Jarla had the all matching green party sets out and the place looked sharp! We were down a Crabby (trapped in a two week meeting in Portland).

NakedBob had started the night early, so he was the majority of the entertainment for the evening. He had on a very "stylish" pirate shirt with his kilt that he ordered from International Male about a decade ago (and yes, even 10 years ago, the clothes from International male were uncomfortable to look at). By the end, he had retreated to Darla's shower for some peace and quiet...although we still don't know what he was doing in there. We hypothesized that he was consulting the self breast exam pamphlet hanging in the shower.

Many recycled cards were exchanged along with gift cards, Barpy (Croatian version of Nutella), and cotton candy in a plastic container. Which, when you removed the first layer, appeared to have finger marks where it was pressed into the tub. Kind of disturbing.

We topped it all off with a burning of the very old birthday candles, that Jarla rewicked a while ago.

Journal tidbits:

"Take a picture of the freakin' pfeffer-finger!" - Scribby

"Touch the banana...be a man!" - Sluggy to Shooter"

"You've got to be ready to hump at any time." - RobotGoBen

"This is NakedBob talking. This whole story is crack! - NakedBob

Zelda's Original Gourmet Pizza

1415 21st St

Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 447-1400

Zelda's is a Sacramento institution. It seems like it's always packed, but most people don't know that it's there. With a very 70's cocktail bar feel, kiss-my-grits service, a mysterious door and not getting a table until your pizza is actually ready, you would expect people just wouldn't come here. But the pizza is an original, and freaking delicious!

A smaller group then normal converged on midtown, and lo and behold - there is space in the entryway, the bar and the dining room! I've never seen this before! And they are now taking credit cards! WTF? We order drinks at the bar and admired the very old school Christmas decor...it was refreshing. When Sluggy and wee little wednesday showed up, they frowned upon the baby on the bar scenario we were going with. That's the first time we've been kick out of a bar cause of baby.

The artichoke dip came out hot, garlicky and in their signature deep dish crust. Paired with cheap round tortilla chips, it actually worked.

The waitresses were still pretty kiss-my-grits, but damn if that cute baby didn't melt their Flo from the diner attitudes. They were down right nice most of the time!

Iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing salads really hit there stride at this place. Basic and delicious. We had the combo and the Spinocolli (spinach, brocolli, etc) - both were good, but most of us only got one piece in after appetizers and salad.

Topics of conversation were all over the place. My favorite is that Nairb will be in Germany during our annual Drinky Xmas party, and New Years. So we will be throwing a Crafting in the New Year shindig in his empty house and craft 'gifts' as our thank you. Fair game: his 14th hand glass topped dining room table and matching 80's chairs. Macaroni art, here we come! RobotGoBen dubbed this Drunk Eye for the Straight Guy. Can't wait!

Missing persons report:

NakedBob: Was "on call" if you know what I mean

Crabby: in Oregon for work but drinking it up at McMennamin's. Good job!

Jarla: Ireland, but what kind of lame ass excuse is that.

Stay tuned - we have heard rumor that the prodigal Canadian Bump might be returning to our ranks soon!

Drink with your Family Day!

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Thursday Drunks!

This is the one day a year we don't go out on Thursday, because it is officially deemed "Drink with your Family Day". One way or another, that is our task - our oath.

We hope you also had drinks with your family. See you next week!

Shooter's Family Menu:

• Turkey w/ gravy
• Stuffing w/ gravy
• Mashed Potatoes w/ gravy
• Home-made Crescent Roll
• Sweet Potatoes (no that's not gravy, it's brown sugar)
• Green Beans
• Creamed Onions
• (and Shrimp Cocktail in the adjacent dish)

Giovanni's Pizzeria - Natomas

2701 Del Paso Rd

Sacramento, CA 95835

Everyone trekked out to North Natomas for some really good New York style pizza. Thin, crispy crust. Lots of fresh toppings. Their own label beers and some cheap ass wine that will get you sloshed really fast! Sounds like a Thursday to me! Only lame part...getting our salad at the same time as the pizza. Would have enjoyed it first.

We had a couple of newcomers this week. Frankenstein and his bride from the Halloween party have decided to give us a try. They fit in perfectly, drink, and were super fun to have - we hope they come back often!

With such a large red-checkered plastic table, I can only report on the conversation on the south side. Actually, I could probably make some good guesses for the other side too...

Much convo on the #12 menu item at C.F. Cheng's in Natomas: Steamed Creaming Buns. Really?

Journal Tidbits:

"How many sites in your top ten have the word 'douche' in them? - Jarla to Shooter

Refreshing = Cocky + Dumb (example: Palin is so refreshing.)

Oh, and we want to make velvet covered horns for wee little wednesday and send her off to daycare. We don't expect mama Slug to get any calls over that one.

Samurai Sushi - Ranch Cordova

12251 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 353-1112

We were down three people again for various reason - all of which we don't believe. We had a NakedBob, TheJenny, RobotGoBen, Scribby, Sluggy, Nairb and wee little Wednesday.

Inside a renovated Denny's or Carrows, and next to a freeway frontage hotel, you wouldn't really expect much from Samurai Sushi. But it's pretty damn good!

The prices are on the affordable side for sushi and right now, they offer half off sake and draft beer during dinner, Monday through Thursday. Really. I got a full bottle of Sho Chiku Bai Nigori sake for a whole $3.50, which I shared so really I was out $1.75. Large Sapporo $3.

Our waitress was very to-the-point, but nice as well. She wanted our lunch box. They have pretty inventive sushi, lots of choices and good quality fish. Overall it's a great place to go. The only weird thing is that it still kind of looks like a Denny's inside. But for the value, tastiness and people...totally worth it!

We had some good topics of conversation including how Sluggy's dog bit Nairb. Of course, we all knew he was probably harrassing her, so it's not all her fault.

Journal Tidbit:
"If I pet her butt a little too long she gets mad. If I don't pet it enough she keeps coming back." - Nairb

"Magic Maggot Racing!" - NakedBob

Thai Travel - Casa de la SlugCrab

Undisclosed Cameron Park Location

Loosely based on the rousing success that was Thai Fu! night a few years back we decided to hold a Thai Travel night at Casa de la SlugCrab. Instead of poorly-dubbed vintage Kung Fu movies, we would be entertained by travel pictures from Jarla (recently back from Croatia) and KiwiBobs (recently back from New Zealand).

Memory cards in hand we (KiwiBobs and Shooter) made the drive to the Casa. Upon arriving we found the place inhabited by a lone Captain Crabby. Sluggy and baby Wednesday had been coerced into going to their weekend destination of Sea Ranch a day early (who can blame them?). Jarla was the next to arrive with mixers for the popular Croatian favorite Red Wine and Coke (pretty nice, like a wine-based Shandy). Nairby followed quickly after and we discovered we were down two more in the form of Nurse Scribby and her ailing Robot GoBen.

Thai food was ordered. With so many core constituents absent, the general consensus was to forgo the travel footage and just post pics on the web for all to see. Instead the recent election results were discussed (including origins of the elephant and donkey), football was watched, followed by Daily Show, American Dad and some other Tivo-ed goodness.

Thai was picked up by Crab and NakedBob and deliciously delivered back to the Casa. Tasty Pad thai, curry, pineapple fried rice, spring rolls, and tom yum soup were devoured heartily. Freaking yum. Much of it contained enough Scribby-death to really be dangerous. Here's hoping next Thursday will find all of us together again and in good health.

NakedBob and the girl at the Thai restaurant.

Classic Monster Halloween - Roseville

Our annual Halloween party, hosted by the Roseville Bobs, pretty much kicks ass. This year was no different. With the theme of classic monsters, everyone went all out.

We had Carrie, Exorcist Girl, 2 Jasons from Friday the 13th part 3, Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, two ladies from The Birds, Ash & Sheila from Army of Darkness, Chuckie, Jack the Ripper & his victim, Priest and Nun with devil baby, Where the Wild Things Are family, Frankenstein & his bride, and two flies.

The night was filled with lots of drinks, rum soaked fruit, the infamous cheesy bread, ridiculous fun and hours on hours of self-made entertainment.

Late into the night, we wondered down to the Basic Bar to visit our favorite waitress from this past Thursday. Jenny entered the costume contest as a fluke and won $500! No shit!

Then off to the Owl Club, a favorite amongst drunks, to watch NakedBob dance with strangers. A good time was had by all.

This is confection sushi made of Donettes, fruit rolls, Twinkies, and Swedish Fish.

Basic Bar - Roseville

Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar
112 Pacific St
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 749-4641

Basic Bar is a great little bar in old Roseville. It is what it is. Basic. Stone walls, concrete floors, minimum furniture, full bar, simple menu. Overall, it really pares it down to just what you need.

And of course, the best reason - one of our favorite waitresses! Alescha is not only super-cute, but she writes a whole page in our journal, then comes back and does a read for us. She is a Thursday Drunk favorite!

We had two of the uber-thin pizzas, and shared a basic salad that was big enough to feed all 8 of us. All the wines by the glass are $7 which is lovely and easy.

Pizza one: White sauce, mashed potato, bacon, basil and garlic

Pizzas two: Red sauce, mushroom, sausage, olive and garlic

Discussion topics ranged from political philosophy to explaining what taint is (or isn't), from grammar arguments about conjunctions vs. contractions to secret Halloween outfits. On the scale of intelligence we really yo-yoed from the very top to the very bottom. I can't tell you all the great ideas we came up with this night, because they are just that good! Taintastic or Taintacular, depending on who you ask.

Journal Tidbit:
"You have a weird tongue" - NakedBob
"Does my tongue look wierd?" - TheJenny
"Only cause I know what it does!" -Scribby

"I don't have anything vinyl or plastic or freaky." - Alescha

Bonus photo of the Prodigal Pressman returning to the great state of California for one night. Hi Pressman!

Brew It Up - Sacramento

Brew It Up

801 14th St

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 441-3000

This Thursday found us at Brew It Up! in Sacramento. We were down one Scribby and one RobotGoBen who were going to attend David Sedaris at the Memorial Auditorium that evening. The made an appearance at the beginning of dinner (after themselves eating at Brew It Up!, they have to eat too). Jarla and her better half were in attendance, TheRiddler and his missus, Cap'n, Sluggy, little Wednesday, Nairby, Shooter, NakedBob and TheJenny were all there rounding out the very long table.

Topics of conversation: what to name our mascot (Thurston, thank you TheRiddler' missus!), new James Bond movie, how happy we are the Bush's days are numbered, our stripper names (courtesy of an iPhone applet), glasses, horrible Sara Palin jokes, and other scintillating topics.

Mmmmm. The food is delicious here. Even more than it has been in the past. To their credit they had a Apple/Pomegranate Cider on tap and they also offer a Shandy. Hooray for lady drinks! The boys enjoyed their various German-style beers. Shooter, NakedBob and Nairby were particularly happy. All the food was good. Super gourmet deluxe sandwiches and hamburgers. The blue cheese potato chips got totally inhaled. Nummies.

Our server was a super ace pro stud. She ought to give lessons to all the peeps out there pretending to be waitstaff. Someday when we win the lottery, we'll bring her along as our professional server. She can wait our table wherever we go, so we know the service won't suck. Actually with skills like hers she probably won't be a server for much longer. She'll get snatched up by some head hunter and be running the show somewheres. Anyway, did I mention the service was just this side of awesome?

Under the Pac Man Moon

A few years ago, Shim & Caddie had a house warming party. They had a thin cheap frame on the wall with nothing in it, just bare wall. After many, many hurricanes, we came up with the fabulous idea to make some string art it the space. You know, push pins, string and lot of looping around...

Well, we went with a nautical theme and created a three sail ship of some kind under a moon that looked like Pac Man. Hence "Under the Pac Man Moon" was created. Recently we made it official with a plaque. To show the appropriate amount of respect for a unique and lovely piece of art. We are so proud.

Anatolian Table - Rocklin

Anatolian Table

6815 Lonetree Blvd # 105

Rocklin, CA 95765

(916) 772-3020

Turkish food was on deck this week at the Anatolian Table in Rocklin. They only serve beer and wine, so half of us met up early at the Melting Pot (just across the strip mall), for some very strong, if pricey, martinis.

There was some gratuitous hot roding around in the Smart Car that was just added to the Thursday Drunks family. And we found out you can totally get people in the "trunk" area. Two-seater indeed.

When we finally made our way to our final destination, we found it pretty empty, so no need for reservations. With a group of 8 we usually get a long table and then only talk the half of the group you are sitting next to. So, it was refreshing to get a square table - they just made one for us. And we could all talk! Very nice of them.

The entire menu looked yummy, so it was hard to choose. We had baked mushrooms with cheese, don't know what kind, but it was white, melty, salty and delicious. Also had the feta, olives and tomato appetizer. Very simple, but good.

The rest of our order was all over the place. Chicken in yogurt, shaved meat, salad & lentil soup, kebabs - everyone seemed to like their food a lot. Robot GoBen swears he had the best Turkish Tea ever!

I had chicken over cubes of bread and yogurt. It was very flavorful and apparently it didn't want to stay on my plate, because one piece of bread shot itself at TheJenny.

Journal Tidbits:
"She wasn't wearing any pants." - Nairb
"I watched an Ashton Kutcher movie, I was so desperate." - Jarla
"The Bukake just missed me," - TheJenny

"I have a whole pocket full of dessert." - Nairb

Blue Nami - Roseville

Blue Nami

1465 Eureka Rd # 120

Roseville, CA 95661

(916) 787-1177

We headed out to Roseville with hopes of good sushi at Blue Nami on Eureka Road. There were 8 of us with no reservation and we got in just fine. Blue Nami is nicely decorated, with heavy wood tables, a wall of water, large barrel room, etc. You would expect it to be kind of stuffy and/or trendy, but it was refreshingly filled will families the staff was friendly and the food was tasty.

Prices were all over the place, I had a two item combo and it was $13.95. Not bad for a nice Japanese meal, but the sushi was more expensive, which is to be expected.

We are almost back up to a full roster of drunks so the conversation was heated. A new business model was developed for Nairb...Uncle Nairbies Summer Camp for Lexie and Cats. Things on the agenda: spider fights, counting Halloween candy, oven safety, shop vac training and other important life lessons.

Journal Tidbits:

"Not really a way to man-up a fairy" -Scribby regarding a fairy costume

Nairb's costume for Halloween: "I am Noodle Stein!"

"Can we go a week without you trying to create a noodle funnel?" - Robot GoBen

And now, some delicious food pics...

Streets of London - Folsom

649 E Bidwell St
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 984-3706

Streets of London Folsom has become one of our favorites. All the comforts of Streets of London without the crappy Downtown Sac jukebox - (we really can't stress how awful it really is), all crammed into a former Denny's type building.

Attendance was up from the past couple of weeks. A nice full house included wee little Wednesday who slept through the whole night. Folsom is nice and close for the drunks-of-the-hills, so we were up to 8.

The VP debates were happening and ended up being the hot topic. As Shooter said, "Palin didn't vomit on herself, so I'm sure their camp will call it a win". You can fill in the rest of the conversation yourself.

Robot GoBen & Scribby went and saw the James concert the last night which brought out some deep seeded hatred from Captain Crabby Pants. And also got some props one of the workers/owners, who was also at the show.

There were some fun buttons found in the lunch box. Said things like "knob", "load", "bone", "toy", you get the idea. It was great fun to line them up on your shirt to make lovely phrases.

Journal Tidbit
"I was going for load but I decided upon knob instead" - Sluggy

Cafe Morocco

Cafe Morocco
1221 Alhambra Blvd # 107

Sacramento, CA 95816

(916) 731-4637

We had an uber-small contingent this week - apparently many were "on vacation". It was me (Jarla), my better half, his friend and Nairb.

The strip-mall exterior and random Wishing Well decor belied the tasty delights in store. The food was excellent: super-garlicky hummus, fresh warm pita, spicy pickled vegetables & kabobs galore.

I tried a Moroccan wine something like a Merlot - it was "meh". The boys had beer: A lager-style called Casa Blanca (I think) and a Lebanese Pilsner called Almaza - they said both were decent.

Our waitress was a bit ditsy but nice. She was pouring my second glass of wine (to the top) and said "I can never stop... 'cause I'm a big wino" to which I replied "I like you".

Journal (on a spare business card) was sparse, but included the following quotes:
"I really, really HATE goat cheese." - Nairb

"Night Rider is my default ringer." - TheRiddler

Bonn Lair

Bonn Lair
3651 J St
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 455-7155

This Thursday took us to East Sac, and one of our very favorite places. Since we hover around 10 people a week, Bonn Lair is tough when the whole gang comes out. But we were down three world travellers, Croatian Jarla, Kiwi TheJenny & NakedBob, so we had a better chance of fitting.

This is a gem of a neighborhood pub, and each time we are here I lament the fact that we don't live within walking distance. The folks who run it have a great formula and don't screw with it. Small cozy pub, fabulous beers and wine, delicious pub grub, tons of regulars and actual British music, (what, no Jeff Foxworthy like some other unnammed 'British' pub?).

We always camp out in the cozy little snug with some comfy chairs, barrel table and mismatched chairs. All in all, we had a whopping 6 people, but it nice a roomy for once.

Since I am a girl, I love their Strongbow on tap, and Lambic in bottles. Yummy. Dinner was all over the place with the group. Pasties, Shepherd's Pie, Fish & Mash and Bangers and Beans. I still can't believe they make all of it in a super tiny kitchen. It was all delicious.

The crappy thing for the evening was a guy turns around, knocks right into one of the three people who work there, hit the tray full of food he was carrying which fell everywhere. His response? Shoulder shrug, "sorry", and walked away. Yeah, a little more apologetic, oh and maybe helpful in some way would have suited the situation a bit better. Jerk.

Most of the conversation centered around politics (man, we need to stop paying attention so much!). Even talked to the people next to us.

Over all, a nice relaxed, chill evening out at a pub. Just what is supposed to happen.