top of page

41. I Saw Elvis in Amsterdam

Day 41
Location 8: Amsterdam
Dec. 11, 2022

A few days ago, while experiencing a 24+ hour high from an edible, I went to the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam. Tonight, at a bar, I decided to follow that up with a uniquely Amsterdam experience, something you famously cannot do in the United States: order a Heineken.


I was just informed that you can in fact order Heinekens in the U.S. too. Okay, fine. But you can't order a Heineken in Amsterdam in the United States, if that makes sense.
 
Recently, Elvis was released in theaters. The film chronicles the King of Rock's rise and fall from grace in the music industry and the public eye at large. I haven't seen the movie yet, and luckily I don't have to thanks to this up close and personal glimpse into the life of Mr. Presley courtesy of this late night kebab spot's entertainment:


 
In the evening, I met some friends at a jazz bar. There was a lone piano player taking song requests via handwritten song titles on the bar's coasters that could then be placed on the piano's lid. The discarded requests are saved and reused for actual coasters by the bar. Next, I'll break down some of my favorite requests that I saw:

From left to right, top to bottom:

  • Cecilia, Simon & Garfunkel: My favorite musical artist is Paul Simon. I even saw him and Sting in concert with my dad at Madison Square Garden once.

  • Roxanne, The Police: One of my favorite singers is The Police's lead singer, Sting. I even saw him and Paul Simon in concert with my dad at Madison Square Garden once.

  • Made You Look, Meghan Trainor: My friend Claire had a company-wide Zoom call with thousands of employees. The multi-hour call culminated in a private (remote) concert by Meghan Trainor. Apparently, right as she started to sing her first song, the Zoom abruptly shut down, no one saw her perform, and it was never discussed by anyone.

  • Sexy and I Know It, LMFAO: The venn diagram overlap of the people who would go to a jazz club and the people who would request Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO is one person. Somehow I lucked out and found this walking oxymoron's coaster.

 
The favorite movie of Josh, my older brother, is Back to the Future. Following one of the film's pivotal scenes where Marty plays guitar as his parents fall in love, he plays an encore: Johnny B. Goode. This prompts the famous line "it's your cousin, Marvin Berry!" which John Mulaney famously pokes fun at by explaining Back to the Future implies a white person wrote Johnny B. Goode. Anyway, the point is the piano player at the jazz bar played that song and it made me think of my brother, so I took a video and then a wine mom pulled off one of the best jump scares ever put to film. (Stick around for a surprise visit from real-life Remy the rat from Ratatouille.)


 

bottom of page