Tuesday night, Feb 1st, I will be hosting the NYC Beercasting Squad once again after many weeks on the road. I have to send a special thank you out to all my cronies and diehards that have been keeping the spirit alive and blame mother nature for making it so difficult for people to get out there.

Tomorrow’s a special invitation for anyone that’s not made it out before. The weather has finally let up a bit and it’s not so blasted terrible out. I’ll be there bright and early, about 7:30PM to get things in motion.

I’ve learned some new tricks for the show while on the road and it will be fun to experiment with my buddies at home.

See you there.

This morning when I went to sleep, I was already into my 3rd decade. It’s been pretty uneventful to date. So far, I’ve spent the last 4 hours working on Beercasting code and getting the files ready from the Portland Beercast. I’m getting ready to head out to help the Chaj move all his shit as he finally gets out of NYC. Tonight, my brother’s supposed to be taking me to dinner.. haven’t heard yet who’s coming.

Ironically enough, I am pretty damned happy to be 30. It’s kind of this mental thing. I’m not a kid anymore (though I never really felt like one). But more importantly, once you get to 30 (at least I think) you cross that threshold in the eyes of many other people who would normally write you off as “too young”

All I have to say now is simple: Put on your sunglasses cuz this star’s going supernova soon!

The Portland Beercast was quite interesting and I am glad I got to be here to meet with a group of really interesting and fun people. Now, I’m looking forward to heading home for a few days before heading back out on the road. Expect the Portland files some time tomorrow.

The tour is about to ripple in ways I wasn’t really expecting but that’s the way things go. As of right now, Florida is going to have to be delayed until March at the earliest (sorry about that). Texas is now centered in the target and here’s how that looks:

• February 7 - Austin
• February 8 - San Antonio
• February 9 - Dallas

I’ve been contacted by a number of great people in all of these cities and I’m hoping to start to coordinate with them on getting the Beercasts in order.

Beyond Texas, I’m planning to return to the west coast for several reasons, least of which being attending Northern Voice in Vancouver and doing a Beercast there.

Check back for updates soon.

Hello everyone out there, I wanted to leave a last minute update on the finally resolved issues with Planning Portland.

I spent a good deal of time trying to work something out with the folks at McMenamin’s. After many trials and tribulations, I thought I had reached a final selection for Portland. Lo and behold, as of today I got a call from the General Manager alerting me that we COULD NOT do the event there because the “higher ups” were concerned.

Apparently, they somehow reached the conclusion that a Beercast was a discussion about Beer - WTF? OK, let’s leave the name out for a moment. You would assume that my e-mails to them which describe it as a reality talk show and the mention that we discuss numerous topics, NOT TO MENTION THE ARCHIVE OF SHOWS that it was pretty obvious that 1) we didn’t talk about beer and 2) that there’s no way you could get enough people to sit around long enough to talk solely on beer.

Quite dejected, I worked with Alex from EventLab and we got a new place and now it’s all about proving to McMenamins that holding on to old and fading thought/marketing practices just WON’T WORK ANYMORE.

It amazes me still that a bar would turn down 20 folks coming down to their venue on one of their slower nights, to drink for a few hours! Indeed I had those outlandish demands of access to a *gasp* power outlet and permission to sit in the corner. I’ll know better for next time and where I won’t be doing events as well.

For those interested in having a great night, you can find us here partying with people that do get it:

Goose Hollow Inn
1927 SW Jefferson
Portland, OR 97201
(503) 228-7010

CF Folks, I’d definitely like to see you all out there and talk some shop!

I had a great time meeting many bloggers last night that came and drank the night away while we had the Seattle Beercast. In total there was something like 12 people involved and we provided the bar with about 85% of its business for the night. Who wouldn’t want the tour to blast through their bar?

Portland is next on the tour and I’ll be leaving tomorrow night to head up to the general vicinity. I’ve been working with the McMenamin’s group to arrange this event so let’s make it successful. For those that would like to come along, here’s the information:

Ringler’s Pub
1332 W. Burnside
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 225-0627

[update] McMenamin’s totally don’t get it and they cancelled on me a day before the event. I’ve made new arrangements here:

Goose Hollow Inn
1927 SW Jefferson
Portland, OR 97201
(503) 228-7010

Starts around 7:30 PM.

For those interested in directly downloading the Beercast, here are the links:

• Jan 23, Table 1, Topic #19

• Jan 23, Table 1, Topic #20

• Jan 23, Table 1, Topic #21

• Jan 23, Table 1, Topic #22

• Jan 23, Table 2, Topic #20

• Jan 23, Table 2, Topic #25

• Jan 23, Table 2, Topic #26

• Jan 23, Table 3, Topic #19

• Jan 23, Table 3, Topic #23

• Jan 23, Table 3, Topic #24

Sorry for all the delays and confusions, folks. Planning something while abroad is really difficult.

In any event, I’ve met with the General Manager for this bar and he welcomes us to do the show. Here’s the details:

Belltown Pub
2322 1st Ave.
Seattle, WA
(206) 728-4311

Setup Time: 6:30 PM
Start Time: 7:30 PM

OK, the Beercasting America tour is coming to Seattle this Sunday night (the 23rd). Here’s the details:

Belltown Pub
2322 1st Ave.
Seattle, WA
(206) 728-4311

Six Arms
300 E. Pike St. Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 223-1698

Setup starts at 6:30pm and we’ll get started at 7.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me: 973 204-5499.

If you are looking for something to do in Seattle, check out what is mentioned for Summit Attendees. Of course, you should still attend the Beercast!

See you there!

I wanted to send a quick thank you out to all the great people that participated in last night’s Beercast. It’s hard to name them all since there was about 16 or 18 people in total that participated in one form or another.

Once again, the viral nature of Beercasting took over the entire bar and we were getting people from inside and outside coming in to chat. We started our 4 base topics but added about 5 new ones to the end.

I’m heading back to New York now through some ugly snow storm but the audio will get processed and published by Friday if all goes well. Thanks again!

Well, I’ve made it here successfully and landed on the steps of Felix just in time. I caught the owner on the way out and he was pretty happy to have us coming down so Felix looks like the join. Here’s the details:

Felix
2406 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-483-3549
Metro: Woodley Park-Zoo/ Adams Morgan (Red Line)

Setup starts at 7:30 PM or so and the show gets cranking at about 8-8:30 PM. Topics for tomorrow will include:

Who Makes The Better Lover (8)

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that everyone here’s had sex at least once (if not that’s an even more fun conversation). For those seasoned pros, there’s been situations that you remember fondly and some you wish you could forget. Looking back (and maybe forward), who makes the best lover:

• Someone older than you?
• Someone (significantly) younger than you?
• Someone the same age?
• A virgin?

A Little OCD Goes A Long Way (9)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a pretty serious problem for those that are plagued by it. That being said, it seems that most of us have it in one way or another. Sometimes it’s called a Pet Peeve or “Just My Thing” but the point is that in some way shape or form we have to “correct” the situation.

• What situation do you feel compelled to “straighten things out”
• What OCD annoys you the most?
• Is there an obsession you think that’s good ;) ?

Damn, Look At That.. Oh No! (10)

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes the tempation is too great. Everyone’s been in that situation before where they see some trait or characteristic of someone from afar and automatically assume it’s all good. Of course, once up close the truth hurts.

• What trait grabs your attention first?
• What trait have you found to be the most unreliable?
• Share a story when your look outran your leap

Rumble Strips Really Work (11)

At some point in a driver’s driving career, they’ll come across a ride where they are just utterly exhausted and can’t help but do the chin-drop thing. Thousands of accidents a year are related to driver’s falling asleep behind the wheel. Now, Virigina is taking matters into its own hands and issuing Driving While Drowsy (DWD) summons.

• When you’re dog tired, how do you try to keep yourself up?
• Have you ever been in an accident from falling asleep at the wheel?
• Do you think this type of law is total bullshit?

The Beercasting America Tour is making an early departure for the DC area to get things in order. It’s harder than it seems trying to coordinate an event in a far off land (ok, not that far off) while on the road taking care of business.

In any event, we’re close to locking down with Felix Lounge in the Adams Morgan area of DC. I’ll have an update here as soon as it’s official.

For anyone that would like to come and is local to the area, send an e-mail to tour AT beercasting.com or call me at 973-204-5499.