30 to Midnight

Italian Wine Merchants, Union Square

Saturday, 1pm

Italian Wine Merchants, Tasting Room
108 East 16th St. (Irving Pl.), Manhattan

Wine School! So what if the acoustics were not great; the wine was interesting, the paired meat and cheese and bread was wonderful, and the entire room was Age Appropriate. Teacher says that's usual. We may have to start an 'education' category. What do you think? More Learning Under the Influence?  Astor Center? All signs point to yes.

Help us help 30+ers by sharing your favorite classes, and places to take them, in the comments below. Thanks.

Louis 649, East East Village

Wednesday, 9:30pm

Louis 649
649 E. Ninth St. (Ave. C), Manhattan

We're guessing this is Loo-wee, as in Armstrong, given it's an ex jazz bar. We're also guessing this is a good date place (like, boy-girl, not friend-date, as we experienced it). AA, chill, good music, far from childs. Woo-wee. But did you know Louis Armstrong went by Loo-Wis? That's what the bar tells us. So, actually, drop your faux French-Louisiana accent...hey...we said Louis again. This is going in the Glossary.

Lou·is
  –noun
1. [loo-ee, Fr. lwee] -(“le Débonaire”; “the Pious”), a.d. 788–840, king of France and Germany 814–840; emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 814–840 (son of Charlemagne).
2. [loo-is] - a male given name: from a Germanic word meaning “loud battle.”

Robert at the Museum of Arts and Design, West Side

Friday, 8pm

Robert
museum of arts and design
2 Columbus Circle (8th Ave.), Manhattan

Generally we limit our ageism to justabouteveryoneyounger. Today we're expanding our range. The crowd at Robert, the neon-y restaurant with the insane view of Columbus Circle and the park, is really old. Really old, like bus from a nursing home old. Why? Such an unexpected Friday night site. You'd see what we were saying if Sara could ever learn to take a picture. We wanted to sit by a window and never look back, but those seats were taken and the "bar" is awkward, unexpected in a venue with "design" in its name. We hate to be so negative but our expectations were not met here. Sad. That said, true to our rules, we're calling Robert AA. Stop by if you're looking for someone to call gran.

Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight

Sometimes we hear Bad News, sometimes we hear Good News:

New research suggests that women who regularly consume moderate amounts of alcohol are less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers and are at lower risk for obesity.

The findings, reported this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on a study of 19,220 United States women aged 39 or older who, at the start of the study, fell into the “normal weight” category based on their body mass index. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston tracked the women’s drinking habits over 13 years. About 60 percent of the women were light or regular drinkers, while about 40 percent reported drinking no alcohol.

Read Tara Parker-Pope's entire NYTimes story by clicking the Good News link above.

Sandwiched, Whitney Museum, Upper East Side

Thursday, 3pm

Sandwiched
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. (75th St.), Manhattan

Neither rain nor snow, nor sleet nor dark of night shall stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Yes we're talking about the snowstorm that accompanied the opening day of the Whitney Biennial and the opening day of Sandwiched, the USHG cafe temporarily filling the lower gallery (pictured right), to be replaced with a real (meaning full service) restaurant in the fall. That's a mouthful.

The biennial features such masterpieces as Wood on Pedestal. If that's too high concept for you, run downstairs to such masterpieces as Chicken Schnitzel with Black Truffle-Celery Slaw and Gruyere on Toasted Brioche (pictured left, seemingly sans Gruyere and certainly sans toasting, but satisfying nonetheless). $14.95 for that sandwich created by the chef of Eleven Madison Park. About $9 for most others - Egg, Tuna, Turkey & Gouda, Ham & Cheddar, Cured Salmon, PB&J - created by other USHG chefs. $6.50 for Brooklyn Lager, Pilsner and Abita Light (why is there no regular Abita in this town?). $2 for chips. Cash only, for now.

And who was out on this slushy day? Wet, attractive Age Appropriates not speaking English. But we're designating Sandwiched and the Whitney *Best* because we don't want you to forget how lucky you are to be in a city where you can check out art work by James Casebere and Duane Hanson. No link for Woman With Dog but we suggest you find it. Really. And we suggest you look out from your umbrella and up from the swampy curbs to catch moments like this one:

Sandwiched is open 11-5 (T-Th), 11-9 (F), 10-5 (S,S). Everything is closed Mondays. Museum galleries are open 11-6 (W, Th, S, S), 1-9 (F).

The Fantasticks, Off-Broadway (but On Broadway)

M, T, F, Sa, 8pm (other times too)

The Fantasticks
Jerry Orbach Theater
Snapple Theatre Center
210 W. 50th St (Broadway), Manhattan

Most Age Appropriates we know saw The Fantasticks at the Sullivan Street Playhouse (181 Sullivan near Houston; a pre-Civil War bulding that's now a modern-luxury apartment building). The show ran there for almost 42 years. The revival is up in the theatre district, in the theatre named for Jerry Orbach, who was in the original production (see picture with Rita Gardner and Kenneth Nelson). We're linking you to all those actors because today's post is a bit of schooling. Here's another actor to know - Jennifer Mintzer. She's seen The Fantasticks 50 times, and has played The Girl too. She was our date this time (Sara's 3rd). We were among the 40 people in the audience; small crowd even for a theatre that maybe seats 200. Honestly, we miss Sullivan Street but you should still get yourself a discount ticket and remember how fun the play is. And smart. And considerate of Age and life experience.

The Back Fence, Greenwich Village

Wednesday, 11:00pm

The Back Fence
155 Bleecker St. (Thompson St.), Manhattan

You're expecting us to tell you The Back Fence is Age InAppropriate, but we've been there many times to see bands and maybe it's just our friends and musical tastes but we find the bar to be surprisingly, well, not terrible. We're going AABM because of weekends. 

They have poetry readings every Sunday afternoon. Anyone who isn't stoned can participate. Sara's grandmother calls drunk 'stoned' but these guys are talking about medical marijuana. Really. 

Cougar Town

You know how we feel about Cougar. But that's not why we never watched Cougar Town. We never watched Cougar Town because we had no idea when it was on. We blame it on Wednesday pool class (showtime is 9:30pm, ABC).

Anyway, we've caught a couple episodes and have to say it's funny. Funny enough to make the DVR roster. Kevin Biegel and Bill Lawrence, we like you. Those are the writers. You can't find them on the About The Show tab because, apparently, ABC thinks actors just make up their own lines. Oh the world is always giving credit to the wrong people. And we are not not not criticizing the actors. Not at all. We like the Felicity-Drew Carey reunion. We think you will too. Watch it tomorrow and let us know what you think.

I like that your ex-husband lives on a boat, there is no possible way I can let you down. -Jeff (aka Noel)

The Hangover: One reason why thirtysomethings are not in charge of the bars on a Saturday night

Saturday, 9pm
A living room in Manhattan

Yes we stayed in with a giant Asahi and some popcorn and watched The Hangover. Oh, you thought the headline referred to a physical hangover. Well, that too. For many of us, Pineapple and Margarita should not appear in the same sentence, or same stomach, twice.

Anyway, The Hangover movie is funny (Rain Man...practically bankrupted a casino, and he was a ruh-tard) but it's good because it's a pretty smart story and the characters are all good guys, Age Appropriate, not a bunch of jackasses (say people who heart Johnny Knoxville). And we loved hearing Wolfmother during the card counting scene.
Should we have seen this movie in the theatre? Only for the Vegas land-cityscapes.
Do we recommend it on DVD? Is masturbating on an airplane frowned upon?

Leap Year

Leap Year: When weather conditions are such that women wear sleeveless dresses while men need three layers.

What? Why? This is like a wedding - disparity in comfort - one gender freezing while the other one sweats. Brilliant. We're completely seduced by these bare female arms and cannot wait to view this movie in which something happens that only happens every four years. We're pretty sure it's about sugar cane crop rotation in Louisiana.