Saturday, March 31, 2012

Drear and Beer: Keats and Shakespeare for National Poetry Month

More than just silly 80s-era googlegraphics and other pranks, April 1st is also the start of National Poetry Month!

So to get us started, here's a poem for our gloomy weather.

After dark vapors have oppress'd our plains
by John Keats

After dark vapors have oppress'd our plains
For a long dreary season, comes a day
Born of the gentle South, and clears away
From the sick heavens all unseemly stains.
The anxious month, relieved of its pains,
Takes as a long-lost right the feel of May;
The eyelids with the passing coolness play
Like rose leaves with the drip of Summer rains.
The calmest thoughts came round us; as of leaves
Budding—fruit ripening in stillness—Autumn suns
Smiling at eve upon the quiet sheaves—
Sweet Sappho's cheek—a smiling infant's breath—
The gradual sand that through an hour-glass runs—
A woodland rivulet—a Poet's death.


And here's a beerier poem!

The Winter's Tale Act IV, Scene II
by William Shakespeare

A Road near the Shepherd's Cottage. Enter Autolycus, singing.

When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! The doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

The white sheet bleaching on the hedge,
With heigh! the sweet birds, O, how they sing!
Doth set my pugging tooth on edge;
For a quart of ale is a dish for a king.

The lark, that tirra-lyra chants,
With heigh! with heigh! the thrush and the jay,
Are summer songs for me and for my aunts,
While we lie tumbling in the hay.


Prost!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Portlanders Brew and Can Flat Top Beer

First it was the Oly stubbies for Session, and now it's the church key.

Who knows whether this is real - and if it is, we can't wait to check it out!
The story of the flat top beer can—which must be opened with a churchkey—goes back to 1935 when the first flat top cans were introduced. Canned beer was an immediate success and others quickly joined the marketplace with this versatile packaging. Beer lovers could now enjoy their favorite brews anywhere and with anyone. The flat top can remained a standard until the pull-tab came to market in the mid-1960s. By the mid-1970s, the flat top can was all but a memory. We’re excited to offer this often forgotten beer experience once again....

It's worth the effort - The harder it is to achieve your goal the greater the satisfaction.
We like this nod to history!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Bands and Beer Make this Malt Ball one to Remember

Even though this isn't in Salem, it looks terrific!
BANDS!
The Builders & The Butchers
Weinland
Lord Dying
Quiet Life
Lost Lander
Denver
Old Junior
Wow & Flutter
Stay Calm
Golden Bears
Archers
Mission Spotlight

BREWERIES!
Alameda Brewing
10 Barrel Brewing
Breakside Brewery
Burnside Brewing
Coalition Brewing
Columbia River Brewing
The Commons Brewing
Fort George Brewing
Full Sail Brewing
Gilgamesh Brewing
Hopworks Urban Brewing
Laurelwood Brewing
Lompoc Brewing
McMenamins
Migration Brewing
Ninkasi Brewing
Portland U-Brew & Pub
Advance tickets are $20 here!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

U Think Numbskulls and Neanderthals don't Drink?

Rogue used to make a beer called Skull Splitter. It would be the perfect drink for this Month's U Think, "How Darwin Would Teach Evolution"!
“Charles Darwin didn't set out to create the theory of natural selection ─ he discovered it,” says Niedermeyer. “Why shouldn't that be how students encounter it as well? That's what Darwin would argue is the most natural method.”

Using hominid skulls and his innovative approach to teaching evolution, Niedermeyer will discuss natural selection and how it may be applied to education.
You'll learn so much your head will explode! After the talk, if your head's intact, there will be a test, and those who fail will get fed to the lions. Those who pass can mate!

Wednesday, March 14th at 6:30pm, Brown's Towne Lounge.