Beijing Boyce

Don't forget your toque.

-

A selection of stuff on the schedule…

This blog seems to draw a lot of blues fans, so here is some good news: Woodie Alan plays TUN this Saturday night, while Black Cat Bone rocks The Boat on February 13 (9:30 PM / RMB40).

Lovers of toques, berets, derbies, bonnets, fedoras, and the like can indulge in their hat fetish at Obiwan this Friday at the Old School Dance Party. The organizers ask you to wear your favorite headgear – I take it Men Without Hats is not on the play list (10 PM / RMB20, includes a beer).

While Bar Blu is keeping the Wednesday night quiz, look for changes to the Thursday ladies night, including a contest where “the men perform and the ladies judge” (sounds like the makings of a restricted Web site). Karaoke nights will be held Sundays on the rooftop, from 9 PM, with RMB5 Tiger beers and cocktails from 9-10 PM,(the price goes to RMB10 at 10 PM and RMB15 from 11 PM on).

Downstairs, Cheers is holding a pool tournament each Tuesday from 8 PM and still features excellent live Xinjiang music on the weekends.

The Cinco de Drinko and Hair of the Dog tandem is in play this week, with half-price drinks all day today at The Saddle Cantina and tomorrow at The Rickshaw.

Good value for lunch lovers: Starting February 9, Elements at the Hilton is offering an Asian buffet for RMB88 per person (an extra RMB40 gets you free-flow soft drinks and the dessert buffet).

And this week’s Friday night tasting at Sequoia Café (Guanghua Lu) features five brands of South Africa’s signature wine Pinotage (6:30 PM/ RMB120 / RSVP with Frank at 13701178073).

On a related note, Sequoia will host the book swap and board games group this Saturday, from 2-6 PM.

That’s only a fraction of what is going on. We certainly aren’t starved for choice in this city.

Many people are shocked by the photo of Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps with a bong but no one more than I.

I have remained silent while the Internet roils, but it is time to get on my “high” horse and speak out.

The Michael Phelps I knew was a gregarious youngster with a Jack Coke in one hand and a stogie* in the other at China Doll 3.3 last August during the Olympics. Not one who took performance-impairing drugs, but one who erred on the side of caution and stuck to alcohol and nicotine. True, I only met him for 90 seconds, but you can still feel you know someone by watching him chew ice and puff smoke. I should have known that cigar had him on a slippery slope to, well, a bong.

What this now comes down to is role models.

It is one thing for the President of the United States to have smoked up. It is quite another for a twenty-something at a frat house to do so a few months after sacrificing years of fun to win eight gold medals. We need to get past this. We need to create an atmosphere where our youngsters stick to booze and smokes, and we need role models to lead the way. Can we do it?

Yes, we can!

-

* Then again, I think that stogie was Cuban. Wasn’t it illegal for him to smoke it given the U.S. embargo? On top of that, I could smell kimchi on his breath and, if my memory of pickled vegetables serves me right, it was North Korean. Methinks this story is just beginning…

My first trip to Cafe de la Poste resulted in one the best steaks I have eaten in Beijing. During my most recent, I stuck to the liquids.

Last Saturday night saw the place bursting at the seams, with the tables full and the beverages flowing.

I tried the three house wines (RMB30 each) with NC, as I had heard they were from Shandong. The red was smoother and fuller than others wines I have tried from that province, though the “harmonious tannins” comment on the back seemed a stretch. My excitement was short-lived: I found out it hailed from Languedoc Roussillon in France.

The next two came from closer to home. The white was fresh, crisp, and fruity at first, though its tartness took over the glass by the end. It was slightly corked, something I tasted before I smelled, given we had a Cohiba-chomping acquaintance with us.

The rose, also fairly fresh, was more stomach-friendly and had raspberry, strawberry, and floral aromas. NC called it “refreshing.”

Cafe de la Poste is good fun. It is the kind of place where you can have an intimate conversation even as the hustle and bustle of Saturday night goes on around you.