By Ralph Schwartz
I found a couple choice tidbits from the Whatcom Democrats’ schedule this week. (Tidbits. I don’t like that word, but if it’s good enough for the Herald’s business blogger, it’s good enough for me.)
First, tomorrow (Tuesday) night, President Obama gives his first state of the union since re-election, and his first major speech since three weeks ago. The Whatcom Democracy for America group will meet 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 for a SOTU watch party at Sunset Round Table Pizza, 1145 E. Sunset Drive. The SOTU is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. local time.
You can also watch it at home on a lot of networks, or if you are sitting at your work desks in the evening (journalists, pay heed), you can watch a live stream here.
This second event is something I could get behind — at least back in the day. A group called Drinking Liberally meets 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the Horseshoe, 113 E. Holly St. Here’s the group’s self-description:
An informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher. Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics.
http://livingliberally.org/drinking/chapters/WA/bellingham
I wonder which is the hardest partying party … the Democrats or Republicans? As always, Greens, Libertarians, etc. should get a few votes, too.
@Ralph….back in what day?
.
To a grandpa who goes on Medicare this year, I giggle and snort when my 43 year old talks like that. Then I remember how old I felt when at my 40th someone gave me a t-shirt that said “40 isn’t old if you’re a tree.” It’s all relative of course.
And if I were to gather for a beer to talk politics with contemporaries now, it would be an earlier and cheaper evening, and we would all end up telling war stories and reminiscing about issues that occasioned protest songs by Woody Guthrie, The Lettermen, Peter, Paul and Mary, Baez, Dylan and of course the still sadly relevant warnings of Barry McGuire, whom my Mom banned in our house. And we would remark how sadly relevant they still are and how they just don’t write them like that anymore.
Bruce, the boss, who can still do 2 and a half hours of non stop sweat dripping reverie, as he did at the NOLA Jazz Fest last year, while putting many a youngun to shame, sang Glory Days. Alll we grays who wear baseball caps to cut the glare in space, bobbed along sagely while trying to forget our glory days appear more and more quaint to our children as thenreality of irrelevance creeps in to our corners of our lives. And, thanks to nature, we can even ignore that Bruce wrote that more than 2 and a half
decades ago.
But I have to give thanks that though the issues have barely changed, and more’s the pity for that, it is comforting to know that there are folks, like yourself and the Young Dems, who still care enough to gather and soldier on in spite of how as time goes on the less things change–and who need less trips to the bathroom without Flomax.
So this codger will gather to attention, salute you and them, swallow the envy that exists (even though few would want to do it all again) and give thanks that “…the road goes on forever and the party never stops….”
PS, why can’t we get an edit function here so when we forget to scroll down to preview or Mac autocorrect tries to make us sound silly, we will have a backup?
At least it isn’t titbit anymore….
http://www.answers.com/topic/tidbit
Hank, people of all ages attend Drinking Liberally; besides, from what I understand there’s a lot more liberal drinking going on at this event than there is searching for answers for world peace!
Unless you’re ready to drop your teeth in a jar and hit the hay early every night you might also consider taking dance lessons a few times a week.
Studies have shown that dancing frequently keeps you smart, and it’s the only physical activity that offers 76% protection against dementia, which beats 47% protection doing crossword puzzles!
A Liberal friend told me this so it must be true.
I suppose Ageism could be an issue for discussion at Drinking Liberally?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOdmka4_90
@camille, I’ll show you what keeps this one’s mind young, aside from learning a new musical instrument now and then, watching a grandchild discover something, centrum silver or mega dose fish oil…..it’s a video shot undermthenwaters of a bay off the south Kona coast and it is ,to me, one of those visual memories I’ll treasure all my life.
And @ Ralph who said a few weeks ago I should send a post card and @rubie, who would also enjoy this(who wouldn’t), send me an e-mail address to my spare Toucando420@gmail.com and I will send a short and awesome clip along.
I never felt the need to drink anything but cautiously
since Liberal Drinking implies a fat wallet and thin ideals
and nowhere to go but down.
Rubiebegonia is at the Yahoo place and always welcomes undersea news even from the aged.
@Camille…
. 
. ….had a great Aunt who lived to 104, but she never could cut a rug like that……this lady has some good genes, mine, not so much…still it is inspiring and you might as well live life as if ” you never know”. I only go with the ageing humor as a ploy, and my use by date does seem to be approaching at times, and I have used up quite a few cat lives, but in my mind I’m starting to count the years backward, and the way you feel in your mind and heart is what most of ageing gracefully is about. Ever watch Joe Versus the Volcano? Avoid the brain clouds and when the volcano presents itself, jump…you never know… 
@Hank To be more clear, when I say “back in the day,” I don’t mean that in an old-timer sort of way. I mean more my “salad days,” a la Shakespeare. You can email me that clip — and you can always email me about anything for that matter — at ralph.schwartz (at) bellinghamherald.com.
I get that Ralph and I hope you got that I was just exercising my sense of humor. I, and many my age do tend to go on, especially when captive and sincere audiences that are hard to resist, like yourself, present themselves as easy targets…
. After all we have just naturally seen more and have less time to share it. And while I seldom dwell on it, unless the knees creak or I see cases of Depends stacked next to the Hearing Aid center at Costco, it is all one big adventure ride and if we all learn one little insight ( or tidbit 
) from another, well isn’t that just the bonus.
Hank, you a a mere youngster!! The last time I attended Drinking Liberally, there were five of us present who are already on Medicare and we discussed a variety of flashback topics such as the freedom riders and our Nam experiences as well as current ones–such as coal trains, drones, guns and weed. You missed Phil Ochs–I could talk about that great singer/songwriter for hours. Drinking Liberally doesn’t typically end at 9pm. That is often when some younger members show up. You should give it a try. We have a lot of fun and would appreciate your humor; and, you could make new friends both young and “old”.
Camille, you rely too much on hearsay. We would love your youthful presence. i appeal to your altruism. Come and save an old man’s life by luring him to Rumours when Drinking Liberally shuts down.
To attend Drinking Liberally, you need neither be Liberal nor Drink. Some of our best gatherings have been when our conservative brethren have ventured in. And, people can join me in drinking tonic water or the soft beverage of their choice.
And, Ralph, the working press is always welcome. Tim Johnson sometimes attends. i don’t know which major party parties the most; however, a few years back when the same venue hosted the State Republicans and State Democrats on back to back week-ends, a bartender told me that Democrats were far better tippers.
Well Bob, as for the Medicare members, I wouldn’t be surprised if I already knew most of them…if they’ve been in town since 74, the year I moved here, or active during the late seventies when we battled Puget Power rate hikes, sang No Nukes Is Good Nukes by my favorite local band at the Magic Skagit, organized the OCA or pontificated in the Northwest Passage or Citizen Voice or wandered out of Pete’s, the Hacienda, Fast Eddies Dos Padres or the old Fairhaven after closing. The Kulshan was always a little too hard core for me.
Before that I was back in Seattle after serving 67 to 71 in that god awful and unnecessary war. My politics were formed in the crucible of those years, which is why Phil Ochs songs have always been among my favorites, though admittedly I thought some were written by Baez, Dylan and others before I started paying attention.
But the Horseshoe? Haven’t be there in a few decades since some fool wanted to punch me in the nose after his date moved over to my booth. I did play a lot of Pool at the Beaver Inn though.
And being nice to conservatives? Well it would depend on a lot of factors. Like if they belonged to the NRA.
I’ve been kicked out of the Horseshoe, once.
Sort of a badge of honor in my circle.
Please come tonight Camille. Maybe you can show me how to get kicked out. It is one of the few establishments in town that has never kicked me out for being overly sociable–kind of like the date in the case of Hank’s aggressor.