Great video by Bill Streeter of LofiSTL

And great shots by Brian Villa of the RFT:

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/slideshow/kentucky-derby-day-at-the-royale-33221181/

And more shots by Metromix:

http://stlouis.metromix.com/events/photogallery/kentucky-derby-party-at/2609280/content

Miss Jubilee & the Humdingers will be performing the ragtime jump blues on the courtyard. Mint Juleps and featured cocktails will be available at an additional satellite bar in order to keep the cheer flowing and a special food menu to quell the peckish.

Young grade school scholars Tom and Molly Stein will be selling 50/50 chances on horses benefiting the Cabrini school.

A limited number of advance $6 tickets(2 per person) will be available on April 22nd at the Royale, and there will be allotted tickets available on the day of the race.

The party starts at 2pm with music starting at 3:30. Post time at 5:04.

Derby Day at the Royale from bill streeter on Vimeo.

What: ACLU Happy Hour – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

When: Wednesday, May 11 · 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Join us on Wednesday, May 11 and raise a glass to civil liberties. Liberty Lemonade and special drink specials await. Appetizers provided.

The ACLU is the only organization fighting for the fundamental freedoms for all people in this country. Join us in making the ideals of this nation a reality. Together, we can ensure that you have the liberty to pursue happiness.
This is an ACLU event so expect the unexpected! See you there.

Instead of staying at home suffering under the crushing weight of solitude this Valentine’s Day, join love magnates Stefene Russell and Thom Fletcher at The Royale, where they will give you the tools you need to win the heart you deserve. It’s easy to speak your mind freely to somebody once you already share an established relationship. You can say things like “In Holly-rock her name would be Mary Stewart Mastodon” or “Please don’t talk about Flinstones to my coworkers, Thom”. But when you first have your soul-mate in your sites and it’s time to make your intentions clear, every word counts. What will you say? What words will be the key that fits the most important lock? Let’s face it; you need some serious help here. You could look to Shakespeare or Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but they don’t really describe that yearning of yours to rock one like a hurricane, or how much you like a cold beverage, yeah, like a cold beverage, yeah, like a cold beverage. On Valentine’s Day the lyrics of our generation’s greatest balladeers are in your hands and the whole bar is waiting for your recital. Find that special someone in the room, make eye contact, and let them know just how you feel with the words of Richie, Mothersbaugh, Yorke, Cent and Rotten. Singing will only obscure the words – this must be spoken, and spoken loud. Dutch courage available for those with weak knees. This year when you see cupid flitting about the Royale, you don’t need to call animal control. Instead bring a badminton racket and we’ll serve him up right.

Limited food and drink specials (nachos, anyone?) will be offered during the game, alongside our normal, high-quality pub fare. Also, The Royale’s Sunday signature, The Cocktail Museum, will be presented. Due to last week’s frigid temps, many were not able to sample from the menu: The List of Unfortunately-Named Drinks. That same group of selections will be offered this week, after 9 p.m. compliments of staff mixologist Robert Griffin.

While The Royale is not a house of wagering action, per se, far be it from us to not offer a prediction on this popular sporting event. So: we envision the loss of all-world rookie center Maurkice Pouncey to essentially ensure a jailbreak-type scenario, with the Packers front-seven practically establishing a zip code in the Pittsburgh backfield. This destruction of the Steeler run game will force Pittsburgh’s once-despised/now-lovable Ben Roethlisberger to strafe the Green Bay DBs with a blitz of vertical passing, with Hines Ward turning back to the clock on a pair of touchdown scores. On the other side of the ball, angry Pittsburgh defender/cheap-shot artist James Harrison will lead the parade of marauding Pennsylvanian defenders celebrating sacks behind the stout Green Bay line. While hamstrung offensively, Green Bay will use some unusual markers (a pick-six featuring a backward pitch, a kickoff return brought back to the house) to help eke out a 27-23 victory at the Palace in Dallas.

But, really, as long as it’s a good game, we’ll be happy.

Would you care to join us for all this fun on Sunday? And would you join us in telling uber-rich NFL commissar Roger Goodell that we’re watching THE SUPER BOWL without paying for the use of the name? Ha-ha. Take that, The Man!

How did this form of playing come together for you?
When I decided to start getting into mixing music, I would do little mini-sets for my brother and our band (Brothers Lazaroff) after our weekly rehearsals to test out the sounds.  So, when I got my first gig at Pop’s Blue Moon I asked Jeff what I should call the act.  He e-mailed me some ideas and this one seemed to sum it up.  The name comes from the idea of combining all forms of music: Old Time (fiddle tunes, old country, cajun, string band, old jazz and blues stuff, etc.. ) with more modern styles, ala Rock, Dub, Hip Hop; and, with the help of effects processors, mix them together. Sometimes literally (so that a field recording of an old fiddle tune from the 1920′s could be blended with a King Tubby Sparse drum and bass dub track for example). The result can be chaotic or more subdued depending on the venue and crowd.  I’ll bring out toys to create live soundscapes to help ease the transitions, as most of the music we play can’t be beat-matched.  For bigger stage shows, I will often read from a Charles Bukowski collection of poems and show archived field recording footage from the ’20s and ’30s running the audio through the mixing board so we can use that, too.  I always love the term Old-Time, referring to country music before bluegrass and The “Modern Times” is a shout out to Dylan’s 2006 album (which was a shout out to Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 movie).

We’ll start with the notion of “the hive mind,” a hot topic in the world of pop sociology. Can’t listen to two-hours of NPR without hearing about the idea that “the hive mind” is taking over our world, especially with social networking becoming a daily part of our lives. (Look! We’re all involved in it right now!) In the broadest terms, we’re apparently getting smarter through our immediate interactions, as we take in influences from those in our vicinity. Meantime, a world of links take us to places that we can’t, on our own, find. We need assistance. We need comforts. We need collegiality. We need tips and leads and motion, in order to learn on our own.

We offer those things today at The Royale. In one corner of the room, a pair of young people are planning to launch a podcast. In another sector of the bar, a young man crunches through word puzzles. Music has been selected by all parties, adding to the unpredictability and ambiance. Together, we’re not just having lunch, or a mid-day sip. We’re engaging in “the hive mind,” with discussions already having taken place on meteorology, the values of home-schooling and audio design.

We also have beer on-tap, so don’t assume it’s all Poindexter-ish up in here.

Tonight, Robert Griffin’s walking the slats. He’d probably be talked into making some of the drinks found on last night’s Cocktail Museum menu. At some point in the day, the late afternoon drinkers will roll in, and there’s no better conversationalist than a member of that tribe. We’ll listen to album sides until then; already, we’ve segued from Stereolab to The Who.

With stores down to the barest of supplies – some rock candy, lamb shanks and sweet-’n'sour Polish relish is all that’s left at the local Aldi’s! – we can offer you the basic needs. Food, drink, collegial hello’s and a spot at the bar where you can add your voice to the chorus.

Maybe today’s not a day to get crunk, though. We’ve been hearing something about ice.

Here are some articles about SOTUS:

The speech and the Supreme Court – Slate

Suggested talking points for the President – Salon

The pitch to “the center” – The New Republic

More suggested talking for the President – The Nation

A call to bring “spark” to the address – Fox News

Read up, then come us for some civic engagement (and civil enjoyment)!

United Service Punch $6
London’s United Service Club was founded in 1815 as a way to bring together senior officers of the British Army & Navy following the Napoleonic Wars. The club’s punch was a traditional affair straight out of the previous century: black tea, Arrack (a rum-like Indonesian spirit), lemon juice and lemon oil, sugar. And appropriately so – it was British and Dutch sailors and merchants who most likely hit upon …the idea of combining Arrack with citrus, water and sugar in the 17th century – the punch template. Served hot.

Nos. 36 to 39 in the Fizz Countdown:

Bismarck Fizz $6
White wine (Kung Fu Girl Riesling), raspberry syrup, lemon juice, club soda, up. From the old Waldorf-Astoria, and allegedly a favorite of statesman Otto von Bismarck.

Holland Fizz $8
Old Tom gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, mint, up. Essentially a Silver Fizz with mint garnish.

Pineapple Fizz $7
Light rum (Matusalem), pineapple juice, simple syrup, club soda, up.

Ruby Fizz $8
A minor variation on a Sloe Gin Fizz which add a bit of pomegranate syrup to the formula: sloe gin, lemon juice, sugar, grenadine, club soda, up.