We tried to head over to McNulty's Bier Markt last night. Fun Frank was flying in from L.A., where I'm sure he bought something, and he was gonna meet us there. Gale got there first, and as I'm driving around to find a place to park (it was unusually crowded), I called her cellphone. She says, "Well, I guess I should tell you, I think it's a gay place." I said, "What? I thought it more of a beer nerd joint." I kinda doubted her, because she professes her gaydar isn't that great.

So, I get there and all I see is guys in the lobby. OK, I've seen that before, even at manly man places. Still doubting her, I walk into the main bar area, which I quickly deduced was the "man" bar area, because Freddy Mercury just passed me by. Lemme say this, there were gay guys as far as the eye could see. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There may have been 6 women in the place, all at one table, and I sensed they were lesbians. There probably hasn't been a gay guy crowd that large since Cher was in town. I turned to Gale and said, "Yup. You were right." We left not dazed, but slightly confused. As it turns out, we happened to go there on the day when the local "Gay Gays Happy Hour" club was convening their monthly get-together. Who knew?

That meant our next stop was the West Side Market Cafe, where Frank arrived for a couple of beers, and then over to Great Lakes Brewing. Frank thought Handicapped Meters only worked until 6:00, so we forced him to move his car before we walked there. Then he showed us a neat trick with our car lock remotes. OK, it was cheap entertainment. Then it was Dortmunders for me the rest of the night and I was quite the happy person.

Meal of Links

The family of the Notorious B.I.G. gets a $1.1 million award from the city of Los Angeles for withholding evidence. His killing is still unsolved.

Faster Wi-Fi looks like it's a year away. Cheaper cable a year away...nope.

A James Bond Aston Martin sold for $3 million at the Barrett-Jackson Auction. The new owner gets all the gadgets, except the ejector seat.

Exercise Yard

Local boy makes good. Canton McKinley's Josh McDaniels is the Patriots new offensive coordinator, the youngest in the league at age 29. He followed the Belichick career path, has been Tom Brady's QB coach, and is one of the up-and-coming coaching prospects in the NFL.

Visitor

16 Across: Cavaradossi's lover (5 letters) Answer: Tosca