Brightest Young Things

Given that some madman is opening a jewish/irish pub on H Street called The Star and The Shamrock, we thought it would be appropriate for one of the tiny percentage of the population in that demographic to put together the Best Weekend Bets in celebration of this time of dual traditions-- the 8 bright and festive nights of Hannuuccah, and the 28 days of hard drinking to escape the crushing sadness of the Irish winter. And that man's name is ME. Here are some Jewish/Irish legends to bring you the hits.

THURSDAY

You have frenchy kicks at Napoleon, loud vinyl images at The Red and the Black, and pretty boys at Rock and Roll Hotel.

Plus about a million gallery parties, all of which even Jewish Bono would be delighted to find in his Chanukah box!

FRIDAY

Start with a gay apéritif of fairies, ladies, or both.

Then instead of three wisemen, we have three idiotically fun concerts:

The new rennasiance of rap-rock begins with Cornel West Theory at BloomBars

Adorable rap meets adorable garage pop at Red and The Black

and the Ian-Svenoniousing of the Velvet Lounge continues with Publicist.

And instead of a star-lit path to a virgin birth we have Alyson Hannigan's well-worn chunnel to Damascus.

SATURDAY

Harry Potter is dead serious about this shit. Life is precarious so stop wasting time and go out and have fun with your best buds!

Wake up early and buy Durkl's 'holiday hat.' Presumably it's like a wizard's cap with stars of david and four leaf clovers and purple horseshoes on it. If not, get one at the Black Cat's Rock and Shop!

Take a short nap after stretching that analogy way further than it needed to go.

Hit rattler, mixtape, and fatback in that order but be back before the sun rises to eat sabbath breakfast with the fam!

SUNDAY

Curl up with a book and some corned beef brisket and cabbage until it's time to go out and see DC punk legends Scream (interview coming tomorrow!) at the Black Cat, celebrate, mosh and drink until you get lost and then a bunch of other stuff happens with a prostitute that I forget.

Chanukah is over, but let's not forget the Irish/Jewish motto. Half Guinness, Half Manischewitz, ALL MAN.

What d'you got?