why are bar maids are called wenches?

So, this past saturday After heading to the Grand opening of Hamiltonian Gallery We decide to retire to the black cat. This bar is the old staple for kids who either want to be hip, and don't know where the hip place to be is, or maybe are getting a little too old for the bar, but still wish they were cool. I belong to the latter group. I think. The bar is split into two levels, one for national touring acts Upstairs, And a bar with a small room in the back for local shows. The shows there are generally good shows, both upstairs and down. In fact, this is the place i probably go to see shows in DC most often. I know that DC is expensive, I know that times are tough, I know that old is the new new, and crappy is the sheik good, but this bar is guilty of one of my all time pet peeves. This is the fact that the bar maintains a low brow motif, Torn couches, sticky tables, bare bulbs, crooked pool tables, misfits on the jukebox (actual jukebox also, which is cool. not the digital download in your pants type), All the general characteristics of a Dive bar, with two exceptions, Price and attitude. The cheapest beer is a 350 PBR, Again not bad for DC, but not congruent with the atmosphere either.
Either way, once you get passed the distinct smell of aging hipsters and lavishly priced PBR draft in the place, the shows are generally good, and there relatively fewer conventional idiots there than in around the Area. plus it is Right down the street from the velvet lounge, where you can party to the tune of natty boh for pennies on the dollar. ( i do not know what that means.)

So here is my dilemma. I Consistently tip at the bar, not a lot, but consistently. I don't order complicated drinks. beer, whiskey, highball, tequila chances are pretty good that as a bartender serving me, you wont need your shaker. I wait patiently, I dont flag the barman or wave a 20 at him/her. all in all I feel like i am a pretty good bar customer. Or i did, until this weekend.
Here is the order

4 tequila, (It was a friends Birthday) one PBR draft. Total 31 dollars. In my pocket, 32 dollars.
The bartender fixes the drinks, and i gave her all of my money. I didn't ask for change, and she put the single on the bar, so i slid it to her end, and told her it was a tip, which she replied that it was not, and slid it back to me.

Fuck you.

First off, yes, in fact it is a tip.
Second of all you filled 5 glasses with liquid, and 4 of them were tiny this took you 30 seconds.
Third, Don t play blue collar bitch/white collar snob with me lady, I went to art school, I fucking know the rules to that game.
What the fuck is this, you probably make more than i do as a fucking bartender anyway, just because you need a fucking mortgage to pay for your shitty sleeve tattoos is fuck it, lets not make this personal.
Third if you want people to come in and order champagne and tip you with a fist full of jewels, don t work in a faux Dive bar which attracts artists, musicians and vagrants such as yourself. Get on some Philip Pirrip/Oliver Twist shit and move to georgetown.

I might be wrong here, but I feel so right.
Comments and questions.

Conner

So Also, in a late review, Conner contemporary had thier grand opening ceremony last week. The work seemed ok, although there were too many people to really make an assesment of the space or artworks. Brandon Morse had a new video piece in the show, which for me was the highlight. I am a bit biased about this, as I studied under him in graduate school, but realistically The piece was really reallt good. I wont ruin the work by going into a conveluded description, but there is a beautiful balance between rivalry and cooperation in the motions of the piece. Go see it.

Also on board and noteworthy in this exhibition, work by light installation artist, Leo Villareal I hear he has a commission for the underground walkway between the east and west wing of the national gallery, so congratulations on that. this time he has several large wall pieces in the main gallery, as well as one outside in the new courtyard. The work is interesting and exciting (although my favorite part is that they dry walled over the cords which power the works.

There are the works by regulars from CC there as well, Erik Sandberg and Nathaniel Rogers round out the paintings quite nicely.

The only thing lacking was, of course the sculpture, The work there seemed in appropriate for the space, and I am personally excited to see what and who the gallery and its artists take on to utilize their new environment. The new space is huge, One of the biggest in DC, and looks like it is dying to be filled.

thanks also to the people who got me into the show, and to DC police for being out in unusually large numbers that night.

Next up. Music!

Berlinski

So this is what i was talking about.

http://www.bethanien.de/kb/index/trans/en/page/aboutlink

this is a link to the Künstlerhaus Bethanien website essentially, this is an alternative nonprofit in berlin, to the best of my assumption, which was saved by artists from demolition in 1974. I believe that the story goes...

A bunch of artists were squatting in this hospital campus, and it was up for demolition, they said, no, no (nein)
we want to turn this into an artist residency and gallery center which hosts dozens of artists each year, galleries, films, music, studios, workshops, the whole nine yards. and if we work hard at it it will kick so much ass that when other artists see it it will make their heads spin.

and they did, and they did.

the place is great, I would seriously consider cutting off one of my fingers to host an iron pour there.
It is huge, the work is awesome, the space is enchanting and inspiring. The downside, they are very secretive about hoe to get involved with it, (not that they need my help) and it seems difficult for american artists to receive grants for projects.

Either way, if you are going to berlin anyway, please go and check it out and support them, and if you are from Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Spain or Hungary get on the stick and land a residency.

i think that norway has one open for textile artists right now.

here it is.

Ok next Back to DC