BRAD DOHERTY

Brad Doherty appeared before friends and admirers at Cobbleheads to read selections from Birth and Rebirth, a collection of poetic observations accompanying his photos.

The gathering included writers Anthony Starr, Estanislao Contreras, Jack O'Connell and Mort Heinman among others.

"I was particularly intrigued by the piece Fuck is a Verb when Joe Kenney threatened to throw Doherty out of the establishment for using foul language," said Contreras.

"You can't use 'fuck' anymore?" asked Starr. "Has the pinche Irish Prick Kenney suddenly gone soft on us?"

"What the fuck is wrong with today's world?" bellowed an inebriated O'Connell.

"I found the whole situation amusing," chuckled Heinman.

Kenney, according to a local blogger, is ecstatic when the likes of the county judge, the mayor and the superintendent have deigned to dine at his establishment once a month for nachos. He is distancing himself from the blue-collar clientele and the city's underground press.

"You can take your business downtown to the Palm Lounge," said a Kenney defender. "Doherty is spewing cantina crap. I'm sure you can say anything you want in that joint, but at Cobbleheads we have standards. We don't want to jeopardize our reputation by being associated with The McHale Report or any of the other blogs."