Happy Friday! Today, we will help you improve your next happy hour with conversation starters and martinis everyone will love. What do the Levi's jeans numbers mean, or why do they have so many? We cover it. Music and events with Wilco to finish up. Cocktails, music, and conversations are a great way to end a week. 

-

A great happy hour can be a wonderful release from all the hard-fought battles won and lost during a work week. It is a time to regroup and celebrate with friends and colleagues. Sometimes, it's a good opportunity to lighten conversations and even do a little healthy complaining about the week that was. If you spend a lot of time reading and organizing communication, you love it when you come across a source with many ideas and conversation starters. We love puzzles and challenges; here is your next happy hour challenge. Make it through an entire happy hour or hours without checking your phone, challenge yourself to go up and talk to people, and if you do and you need something to talk about, take a few of these ideas with you and start asking questions.

Rahul Chowdhury gave us this link in his newsletter Hurly, and it was created by Morgan Housel, in his own words, the list:

Here’s a good one to start with:

7 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

To help you with today's happy hour, we bring you a story about The Martini from the online pub PUNCH. Vodka martinis are the best all-around drink we can think of. Vodka is almost tasteless, meaning whatever you flavor your Martini with is what it will taste like. Lemon zest is a lemon martini, olives, a dirty martini, espresso… You get the picture. It's also the most forgiving, in our opinion, the next day, all the dark liquors come with fantastic taste, but they are heavy and will remind you the next day of how you "danced" the night before.

The Punch Staff put together a great list of some of the original martinis and a few we've never seen or heard of before. Have you ever had a Bikini Martini? - How about a Porn Star Martini? - We have not and will be on the lookout for both at every happy hour we attend until we find one. Cheers!

Ever worn a pair of Levi's 501 jeans? I remember when they returned in the eighties and became all the rage. Jeans with a button-up fly instead of a zipper. Levi's have been around since the late 1800s; the first Levi's must have come before the pant zipper, or the fashionistas didn't think a zipper could do the job.

Once past the iconic OG style is the 505 Regular, the 501 with a zipper. That's where my knowledge of Levi's jean number system ends in an article on InsideHook, a walk-through, and a description of Levi's numbered jean styles from 501 to 569. Take a look, and if you have an old pair in the closet, put 'em on and head out with a story to your Happy Hour tonight!

Jeff Tweedy started an Alt-Country band in the 80s called Uncle Tupelo. They were a frequent bar band at many college campuses in the Midwest and grew a decent following of fans who liked music. In the 90s, as Uncle Tupelo broke up, Tweedy started Wilco, and 29 years later, Wilco is still producing music. The Guardian does a good piece on where Tweedy and the band are at these days and reviews a small show they recently did in London at the Kentish Town Forum. Michael Hann wrote the piece and says the two-hour show started slowly but midway through, picked up steam, and everyone got what they wanted.

Wilco's latest album, Cousin, is expected to be released next month, and the band is finishing up a European tour before heading back to the States for the album release and tour.

Girls Who Play Guitars.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

-

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

7 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

O/X