We went to the Beer Festival in Portland last weekend. It was fun. While there, we discovered Powell’s books (at several friends’ recommendations), the first bookstore to actually intimidate me. I was overwhelmed. A square block (1.6 acres), at least three floors, used and new books. Incredible. Just plain incredible. We also went to Everyday Music, which is of comparable size, but filled with movies and music. We got so much and tried so much that I’m not even going to try to link them. If you’re interested in something, you’ll have to look it up for yourself. I had a great time, I thought it was a lot of fun. Music, books, and beer, all in excess, all in one weekend. Awesome.
I’m not sure what else we’ve done in the last couple days, but I don’t feel like I have a whole lot of time, so I’m not writing much but lists here. So, if you’re interested, check it out.
My leetle brudda is visiting on Wednesday, so KrisDi and I are probably going up to Ma’s this weekend, and then he’s coming to stay with us the next weekend. Which should be fun — if we can think of anything to keep us busy. Then right after he leaves, KrisDi’s mom and dad are going to come and visit us.
——- Beer We Drank ——-
Anderson Valley: Cerveza Crema
Lucky Labrador: Triple Threat IPA
Max Fanno’s: Farmer’s Daughter
Fearl Brewing Co: Fearless Scotch Ale
McMenamin’s: Monkeyhouse IPA
50/50 Brewing Co: Porter
Full Sale: Ltd Pale Bock
Sierra Nevada: Summerfest
Philadelphia’s Brewpub: Imperial Golden Ale
Lompoc Brewing Co: Summer Aid
Hazel Dell: Red Zone
Minkasi: Believer
Deschutes Brewery: Golden Ale
Old Market Pub & Brewing: Don’t Know Which Beer They Had There
Terminal Gravity: Trippel
Somebody or Other: Watermelon Wheat (BLEAGH)
Sprecher: Maibock
4+ Brewing: Wildfire Pale Ale
Klumath Golden Ale
Cascade Brewing Co: Razberry Wheat (ALSO BLEAGH)
Bison Brewing: Organic Chocolate Stout
Russian River: Pliny the Elder
Pelican: Heiferweizen
Grand Teton: Bitch Creek ESB
Bridgeport: Haymaker Extra Pale
——- Stuff we bought ——-
White, James: Star Surgeon
Stapledon, Olaf: Star Maker
Zelazny, Roger: My Name Is Legion
Anderson, Poul & Gordon R. Dickson: Earthman’s Burden
Zelazny, Roger & Philip K. Dick: Deus Irae
Bear, Greg: Darwin’s Radio
Stapledon, Olaf: Last & First Men, & Last Men in London
Blish, James: A Case of Conscience
Kress, Nancy: Beggars in Spain
Delany, Samuel R: Dhalgren
Lord of the Rings 1: Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings 3: Return of the King
Flaming Lips: Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
Radiohead: Amnesiac
Days of the New: Days of the New
Goldfinger: Open Your Eyes
In Conquest Born, by C. S. Friedman (GOGGLES). “Space Opera”, as billed, but actually pretty good. I was more than a little impressed. At least no one is named Deathstalker.
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman. Book was better than the movie, but not by much. They’re both done by the same author, and they’re both very good. The book goes into more depth with the characters, which I like, and just has more stuff in it. And more stuff is good.
The Princess Bride. One of those rare movies that holds up to the book. I had seen the movie first, and there was no way to avoid envisioning Andre as Fezzik or Mandy as Inigo or Elwes as Westley or Robin as Buttercup.
The Simpsons. When I first saw this IMDB page, the Simpsons movie was rated at 9.1 over ~3,000 ratings. Now, it’s at 8.6 over ~20,000 ratings. I expect that to drop to the 7 to 7.5 range. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad, it was just a very long episode of the Simpsons in which they had the freedom to do things they can’t normally do on TV.