Your Weekend in Pop Culture (Vol. 2)

Here's the part where we sporadically tell you what you to do with yourself over the weekend:

Oh yeah, I pah-k'd my cah wickid hah'd

Friday

Shutter Island: Marty Scorsese' latest hits theatres. It takes place in Bah-stin, so expect wretched accent work, as well as thrills, chills, Red's nemesis, and Leo. Cat sounds!

Saturday

Go to a brewery: I will be visiting the Stone Brewery (and possibly Lost Abbey) in North County San Diego this weekend. This Web site will help you find craft breweries near your home town.

More Olympics: And more, and more and more! This weekend we got luge, skiing (of all varieties), bobsled, speed skating and your grandmother's favorite - ice dancing.

Sunday

New on DVD: Wind down the weekend with a movie at home. Newly released this week are A Serious Man, Couple's Retreat and The Time Traveler's Wife. I haven't seen any of those. I know Red liked A Serious Man.


There. Now put some pants on and get out of your house!

This (mostly) Just In...

Hiya. Sorry I've been MIA from these parts. I have lots of excuses/reasons, but I'll spare you the not very dirty or interesting details. Let's just get to some stuff you may or may not care about:

The AV Club's 30 Best TV Shows of the '00s - I don't have many arguments with this list. I especially appreciate the inclusion of Veronica Mars (RIP!). I am trying to decide if I'm excited for or preemptively annoyed with all the End of the Decade Best of Lists to come...probably annoyed.

RIP Ken Ober - I loved Remote Control, even if it is possibly the reason MTV sucks so hard now, and Ken was a big part of it's awesomeness. On to a better place, sir.

"Unfriend" added to the New OED - Does anyone actually say "unfriend"? It's "defriend," right? That's not just me?

Nine Trailers Make Me Happy - This is actually my least favorite of the bunch (because it features Kate Hudson), but every trailer I see for this movie musical makes my heart leap for joy! I can even somehow over look the fact that Fergie is in it. Can. Not. Wait!

I Tried Dogfish Head (and I liked it) - On my trip last week, several people said I could find Dogfish Head at one of the locals, but they lied. Ruby Tuesdays in the Knoxville airport listed it on their menu, but, again, all lies. When I returned home, a friend told me, "My favorite beer right now is Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA." UGH! This beer was straight up taunting me! So I went to BevMo and grabbed a 4 pack and drank one straight away...and you are all right. It's delicious. It's a bit too sweet for me and my bitter taste buds, but the ridiculously high alcohol content makes up for that. So, thanks for the tip, bloggy friends. You are all the best. No you are!

Beer of the Month

Since there are so many beer lovers around these parts, I thought I'd start a "beer of the month club," if you will, where we tell you about an awesome beer we've discovered and you respond by telling us how awesome Dogfish Head is compared to that beer. Sound like fun? Good. Here goes...

This past Friday, I met some friends at a new bar in the cool part of town (aside: "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" came on the jukebox at one point and I was singing along (natch) and I made eye contact with a dude at the next table and he was singing along, too. He came over and gave me a high-five and said, "I think we're the only people in here who know this song" and that made me really sad) and had a Bootlegger's Black Phoenix. OMFG was it delicious. It's an American Stout with coffee and chipotle pepper! Chipotle, people. Simply genius. I could not get enough (and considering it's a limited edition, that really sucks). However, I've since discovered several brewers make something similar so there is hope.

I'm still dreaming about it's deliciousness this very second. Liz, wanna grab a beer tonight after band practice?

My graphic design skillz are sick!!!

What you got?

Hometown Beer Buffet

According to Men's Journal, San Diego is the top beer town in the country. Better than Chicago...or Milwaukee...or Portland. San Diego has 33 microbreweries and a truly amazing array of beer, my favorite being Stone IPA, which I tell every beer fan I know about. Crazy delicious.

Also, the best part is, I apparently live blocks away from the "nation's best beer boulevard." This new knowledge makes this, perhaps, the best day ever.

Feel free to name your favorite brew and refute San Diego's irrefutable greatness in the comments.

For the child in all of us

In addition to America, public libraries and The Cars, Massachusetts has just given you something great.

Boston Beer Co., the company that makes Sam Adams beer, announced that it's making a chocolate dessert beer just in time for the holidays. My first thought was, “Yummo!” My second thought was, “Wait, could that be gross?” My third thought was, “Beer and chocolate joining forces can only be for the good of mankind.” My fourth thought was, “Why is it Monday? I want to party now!” And then I fell asleep at my desk.

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock will apparently be on the shelves throughout the holiday season.