Okay, I'm starting to amass a longer list of things you can get for $20 in River North, the unapologetically tourist-focused part of Chicago. First off, there's now a Coyote Ugly Saloon here, an extension of the one in New York, and subsequently, the movie about it. I'm not going to slam the concept, because a friend of mine works there. And, she'll whip your ass for twenty bucks and then pour a shot in your mouth. Body shots are also available for the same price. Plus, they dance on the bar and insult the customers. Good times are had by most.

That was all well and good, and probably warranted it's own entry if I was more diligent over here, but then the value of the yuppie food stamp got another kick last night. After our last voiceover class, we all went out to a bar called Howl At The Moon, which is also a franchise of sorts. It's a piano bar, with two or three pianists banging the ivories (actually, they're electronic keyboards in the shells of two grand pianos, but never mind) and also bass, guitar, drums and violin as necessary. They weren't particularly good drummers, and when they went into Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is," I offered my services and was summarily slapped down. Apparently, anyone can play on Sundays, but during the week, they have a $20 fee to keep the riffraff from making a mess on stage.

No way in hell was I going to pay $20 to play, but the group I was with was another matter entirely, so I got up and proceeded to kick their butts. I don't begrudge them the policy, as they clearly had no idea I was actually, you know, really good.

So, to sum up, a whipping, a body shot, a chance to play with piano geeks. All for $20.

Incidentally, they also took requests (at Howl At The Moon, not Coyote Ugly), which I always see as a challenge, and resulted in a thoroughly stirring piano rendition of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs."