Is A2K a bar or a pub?

Welcome to A2K Cumulus, your question has been asked many times in different ways and the answer always seems the same. There are many places to eat and drink on this site, choose one that you like the look of and jump right in. Give and you will receive. Should you find certain members try to get you drunk with nefarious intent, give me a call and I will give you the skinny on what's what.

Why thankyou Tryagain, it's true I've not been around long and didn't realise the question had been asked before.

I was wondering if Americans would appreciate the difference between a "bar" and a "pub", thought it might spark abit of a debate I could get my teeth into, but if you've heard it all before...

Must say everybody I've encountered so far has been fine but if I cross swords with anybody who has nefarious intent then I promise you you'll be the first to know!

Decent question, cumulus, (and lemme extend you a welcome, too) - my take is A2K is a bit like a social club - not a "Pub", not a "Bar", exclusively, but an establishment with elements of both, and more besides. There are over 60,000 registered members here, and more than 2 1/4 Million individual posts across something like 75,000 threads among 60 some odd distinct forums. Folks here range from Charter Members, so to speak - the "Old School" - those who've been here since the site's startup days in the Autum of '02 - to those who somehow or another just happen to be in the neighborhood and decide to drop in for a look - some of those will decide to frequent the place, at least for a while, others may just move on after a single visit.

There is a certain camaraderie that happens with people who have been around here a while that can be off putting to new folks. On the other hand, new folks often get to be part of the mix fast, and figure out that the place is not really clique infested.

It can get confusing, as people who argue on different sides of issues can be friends past all that. Probably like in pubs..

something like this?

Oddfellows Local 151
REM

Oddfellows local 151 behind the firehouse
Where Peewee sits to prove a sage to teach
Peewee gathered up his proof
Reached up and scratched his head
Fell down and hit the ground again

Firehouse. Firehouse.

Why do the heathens rage behind the firehouse
Where Peewee sits upon the wall to preach?
This boy and girl that gather pearls
Of wisdom falling from his mouth
Wash off the blood, wash off the rum

Firehouse. Firehouse.

Oddfellows local 151 behind the firehouse
Where Peewee sits upon the wall to preach.
This boy and girl that gather pearls
Of wisdom falling from his mouth
Wash off the blood, wash off the 151.

Firehouse. Firehouse.
Firehouse. Firehouse.

A2K's always had a bit of a noisy, tavern-y, kinda vibe for me.

I'M 43!!!



What?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well the girls are out to bingo And the boys are gettin stinko
We think no more of Inco on a Sud. Sat. Nite-

The glasses they will tinkle while our eyes begin to twinkle
And we think no more of Inco on a Sud. Sat. Nite.

With Irish Jim O'Connell there & Scotty Jack McDonald
There's hunky Frederic Herzal gettin tight but dats alright
There's happy German trixie there with Frenchie gettin tipsy-
And even Joe the gypsy knows its Saturday tonite-

Ya well Marianne and Mabel come to join us at the table,
And tell us how the bingo went tonite-We'll lookout right-

That if they won the money we'll be laughin up the honey boys
Cause everthing is funny for its Saturday tonite..

We'll drink the loot we borrowed and recuperate tomorrow-
Cause everything is wonderful tonite-we had a good fight-
We ate the deli pickle and we forgot about the nickel
And everybody's tickled for its Saturday tonite...

The songs that we'll be singin They might be wrong but they'll be ringin
And now the lights of town are shinin bright-and we're all
right-We'll get to work on Monday-but tomorrow's only Sun.
And we're out to have a fun day for its Saturday tonite-

~~~~ Stompin' Tom, of course~~~~~~

and you know there's a few wiseacres outside smokin' some of that whacky-tobaccy, and a coupla ladies in the snug gossiping and giggling over their sherries

and we eventually remember to say "hey and welcome" to most of the people we stumble over

sooooooo, cumulus - Hey and Welcome!

Hey cool - karaoke! OK, I'll go one

We got winners, we got losers
Chain smokers and boozers
And we got yuppies, we got bikers
We got thirsty hitchhikers
And the girls next door dress up like movie stars

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

We got cowboys, we got truckers
Broken-hearted fools and suckers
And we got hustlers, we got fighters
Early birds and all-nighters
And the veterans talk about their battle scars

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

[Chorus:]
I love this bar
It's my kind of place
Just walkin' through the front door
Puts a big smile on my face
It ain't too far, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

I've seen short skirts, we got high-techs
Blue-collar boys and rednecks
And we got lovers, lots of lookers
And I've even seen dancing girls and hookers
And we like to drink our beer from a mason jar

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
Yes I do

I like my truck (I like my truck)
I like my girlfriend (I like my girlfriend)
I like to take her out to dinner
I like a movie now and then

But I love this bar
It's my kind of place
Just trollin' around the dance floor
Puts a big smile on my face
No cover charge, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

We got divorcees and a big bouncer man
An old jukebox and a real bad band
We got waitresses and we got barflies
A dumb-ass and a wise-guy
If you get too drunk just sleep out in your car

Reason number 672 why

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
Play it on out boys
Beer-thirty's over
Got to take it on home

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
I just love it
(Toby Keith - I Love This Bar)

I like to think of A2K as a bar, though my definition differs from cumulus's.

A pub is dark and quiet, with regulars, maybe even carpeting, where it's okay to sip one in the afternoon. And I can see how this connotation applies.

But at a bar, it's okay if you puke in the parking lot. It's expected you'll spin yarns. You'll over romanticize your average life. And you won't hesitate to tell that dickhead across the room he's got no idea what he's talking about.

I'm half joking. But I'm more comfortable with a perceived atmosphere of recklessness, if that's at all possible sitting at your desk and depressing plastic keys.

Wow! Thankyou for so many replies!

timberlandko (never realised what your name meant til I just typed it out) thanks. Over sixtythousand members you say (and two and a quarter million posts) wonder if the site has ever simply collapsed from overload!

ossobuco - I think you get that "clique" accusation (rather like in English pubs) from a certain kind of new member who expects to make inroads too quickly and loses patience. I've seen it on a few other sites so I'm wary not to expect too much too soon.

djjd62 - Thankyou for the REM lyric, Michael Stich (have I spelt that right) was always an interesting lyricist with an offbeat view of life, I particularly like Night swimming and Losing my religion.

ehbeth - This is more like the sort of exchange I expected on a thread like this. I suppose everybody's perception of the site is different - bar or pub, but then there are alot of different kinds of bars and pubs depending on age and clientelle. I'm just surprised nobody's minded my loose definition of A2K as a pub where "older" people meet up because folk are normally so touchy about the age thing!

Garamel - This is also more like what I expected. Infact I wasn't even sure if they would know what I meant by a pub in America so your description is interesting to me.

To be honest I'm too -ahh - mature to bother with bars myself so it's not surprising that you should disagree with my definition of what they are all about.

Thankyou for all your replies again.

You sure know how to make a newbie feel welcome.

A little background on timber's username


All to frequently ... the current site has upgraded servers a couple times to try to keep up with the load, and the underlying software is in its 3rd revision, with all-new software presently in the final stages of testing and tweaking, though the changeover date still hasn't been established; some bugs yet to work out, and some other considerations govern when it'll happen.

Y'all can argue the merits of pubs vs bars while Timberland and I go to the back for a quick game of darts.

I think A2k is more like a street where an all-encompassing library is sandwiched between a pub on one side and a bar on the other. I'm usually the drunk guy who stumbles into the library accidentally and starts swearing, acting obnoxious and hitting on the hot librarian until they kick me out.

Timberland, whoops.. sorry, I was presuming the ko meant knock out - as in boxing parlance - and that you were making an oblique reference to your ecological tendancies with regard to the rainforests.

Easy mistake to make, of course...

Hope you enjoy your game of darts with Dyslexia!

Kickycan you sound like my kind of person!

If A2K is sandwiched between a bar and a pub - with a library [one of my favourite establishments] inbetween then I guess I'll be pretty happy here!

I'd order a round - but I really think I've had enough for one night

I'm gona fall down now (hopefully on my bed)

cheers

Poor Endymion couldn't stand the pace...

I'll just have to drink yours for you!

A2K's Rathskeller
I tend to think A2K reminds me of the famous sawdust floored Rathskeller near the Berkeley University of California's International House where the Locals of all ages and students from around the world gather to talk and debate, and have a beer and good food.

Part of The Rathskeller's fame was it's Monday night blues jams at Larry Blake's Rathskeller in Berkeley during the 70s-80s. "You would get called up on stage three or four or five at a time from a list that the house band lead guitar player kept at the bar, call out a key and a tempo, count if off and go. Getting up on stage with a bunch of people you don't even know and jamming in front of a hundred or so people is an outstanding adrenaline high."

The history of the European Rathskeller is a long and interesting one:
http://www.rathskeller.com/history.htm

BBB

Re: A2K's Rathskeller


Too long for me, Bumble (why don't you do a resume?)...but the bar sounds like my ideal place for a great night out! I can feel the excitement and adrenalin from your description! What a night out that would be, especially if you were lucky enough to play a relevant musical instrument (which I don't) but I would have loved the atmosphere regardless!

Great post!