Bud Light Aluminum Lime

I know the big stories of this summer are supposed to be the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, or "The Dark Knight", or...nothing else at all (been pretty lame so far, right? ), but I'd like to take this moment to point out the breakout star of Summer 2008 so far: Bud Light Lime. I went to a bar last week, and was refreshed (literally) to find that I'm no longer the only loser drinking the beer with the clear bottle, smooth taste, and lime green "BL" on the label. I've noticed more and more of us (guys, especially) trying it, taking a liking to it, and giving each other the chin-out "It's-not-so-bad" seal of approval. I've also noticed that it's $6 a bottle at certain shore bars, as opposed to 4 bucks for a regular Bud Light (really, two bucks for the lime?? or for the peace of mind that your lime is artificial and in the drink already and therefore wasn't handled by a sweaty bartender?). I also noticed a few beers in that I was drinking Bud Light Lime in those scary aluminum bottles, which is another development in beer-manufacturing I don't understand. And yes, I just said "scary" - because even though the glass ones are more likely to break, don't the aluminum ones just FEEL way more dangerous? Like it could be used as a lethal weapon if a bunch of shore meatheads got restless and started a brawl with each other over how awesome tanning and/or dancing? Hypothetically.

But that was last weekend, and this weekend was good. I did a spot at a club in the city early Saturday, and then went to meet up with one of my friends to hit some bars. First, we hung around his place for a couple hours and watched "Semi-Pro" on his Blu-Ray DVD player, and I have a few thoughts about that:

1) All hype aside, Blu-Ray screens are amazing.
2) I've now seen more of Will Ferrell's anatomy than that of most girls I've dated.
3) Who the hell buys "Semi-Pro"??

I also love how watching any Will Ferrell movie has become like the International Guy Appetizer before going out. We sit around and drink beers and bond while watching increasingly-average movies of his on expensive technology (Blu-Ray? Why didn't we just go see "Step Brothers" on IMAX?), and no guy is ever like, "Come on, guys, this movie is so stupid. Just turn it off." I even bet skinny-jean hipster dudes would secretly keep "Anchorman" on, and just tell their girlfriends they were watching "Stranger Than Fiction".

Wait, but why was out having "Guys Night Out"? That's because my girlfriend was down in Atlantic City having wild and wacky "Girls Night Out". You've heard of that, right? That's where a bunch of mostly married (or in relationships) women get a room at the Borgata and hit the clubs there, where they drink and dance in a circle and bond over barely-tolerable house music. Meanwhile in NYC, I order rounds of Bud Light Limes and marvel at how young everybody got in the 7 months since I've been out of the single bar scene. We went to one of the bars to meet up with some hot young intern my friend is talking to - yes, an INTERN. The last time I was an intern, Clinton was in office. (Side note: I'm not a moron, and I obviously see the opportunity for a Clinton/intern joke here - I'm deciding to pass on it). Anyway, my point is that I thought I was well past the age where I'd ever have to ask a girl, "So what's your major?" Apparently not.

I hope I don't sound old and salty and grumpy, because I'm not. I actually had a lot of fun out Saturday night, and I'm sure my girl had a fun time in AC too. But my favorite part of the whole "Girls Night Out/Guys Night Out", is that even though we're not one of those couples who needs to be up each other's butts all the time, we still ended up doing that corny thing where we spent a decent part of the end of the night texting each other to say hi - where we're really just checking in to assure each other that we're not too wasted and/or doing anything inappropriate. You know, where texts "hey- having fun, this place is alright, gettin tired tho" really means, "Everybody here is young and attractive, but I still like you better." I think we may have texted each other "wish you were here" and "wish you were here too" at one point, which I know is beyond-corny, and doesn't make much sense. We'd actually be switching places in that scenario, and that's no fun because we still wouldn't see each other, my girlfriend would have to listen to my guy friends quote Will Ferrell, and I'd be somewhere by myself in AC because I'm pretty sure I've been kicked out the Borgata before. Basically, "Guys/Girls Night Out" is kinda like being away at separate sleepaway camps, except when you wake up the next morning, you're not thirteen. Thank God.

Speaking of age, I'm turning 30 in a month, so look for these blogs to get progressively more lame. Look for next one soon, about how I recently joined a book club. Yes. Ugh.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but this summer's all hyping the sequels. Thanks for reading.