Alright, after a small (read: large) problem with my PC, I'm back online. I could explain what went wrong, but it'd be exceptionally geeky and a lot of people would probably stop reading there. So, I'll save that for later.
I just got back from having a nice couple drinks at Kona Grill, down on the plaza here in KC, along with some Spice Tuna sushi rolls and some potstickers. For those who aren't familiar, Kona Grill is a bar/restaurant that kinda does the whole pacific rim thing. It has sushi (for which it is probably most noted), specialty pizzas (best bbq chicken pizza around), potstickers, maui tacos, and so on. For me, it is most notable for it's sake bombs. A flask of sake and a large size (not like the kind you normally get) bottle of Kirin Ichiban, my favorite beer. During happy hour, they have pretty damn good prices on this stuff. They have a regular and reverse happy hour - both of which I'm happy to attend. Depending on the day, you may have to fight for a seat in the bar, but it's worth it. If you are a KC resident, definitely feel free to send me an invite to go, if you're interested. I have trouble turning it down.
On a somewhat related note, I've been thinking for a while about having a little gathering. I had originally debated about just having a house party - but I want something a bit more. I'm at my house all the time. I want to be out and about.
I'm still coming up for a name for this event - something like the first annual KC ... something, something. I dunno yet. But, anyway, it's like a huge pub crawl of sorts. We'll get a bunch of people and just go around to some of the best places in the KC area to party, have a few drinks, and just have a good time. The key here is that we'll make plans on this being an all-out, all-night thing. By that, I mean we'll arrange for taxis or a driver and a van or whatever, so we don't worry about driving or getting into any trouble. I'm talking about going all out.
While the idea had somewhat occurred to me before, it really took shape after a friend and I went out to Kona last week. We finished at the early Kona happy hour and, weather being nice, decided to walk from the Plaza to Westport to go to McCoy's, to which we hadn't been in a while. If you're from here, you're saying "that's a helluva walk". For our lazy midwest asses, yes. If you've lived on a large college campus before, this wouldn't be anything more than the worst you've seen. So, we went to McCoy's, had a couple pitchers of their "unfilitered" wheat beer. I put that in quotes because I could see through the goddamned thing. That doesn't look unfilitered to me (luckily, their rasberry wheat is still good, so I still recommend the place). We finished up at McCoy's, walked back to our car on the Plaza and I noted that it was just about time for the late Kona happy hour. I was expecting my friend to say no to going back to Kona. However, he was all for it. So, we went back and had even more there and talked to some people and whatnot. I was, of course, driven home that night (always be careful to get a driver if you've had too many drinks), but the point is that we let go a bit and had a great night. I want to take that to the next level and share it with a bunch of friends.
So, plans are still in progress. Many questions to go. When to plan this event? Where are the stops on this trip? What are the travel arrangements? I will, of course, invite all my friends. I encourage anyone else who reads this to let me know if they'd like to participate and include any friends you have also. I'll send info to everyone once I figure out what's going on.
Be prepared....