Rogues Ales Brewery: Humor is an Ingredient

by Jamie Rhein on

Beer is a beverage we’re fond of here at Gadling. Just this month Neil wrote about the best pubs in the UK, Justin wrote about the practice of drinking beer upon reaching a mountain summit, and Willy mentioned beer drinking in his post “Dear First-Time Vietnam Visitor.” With the weather heating up, this is beer drinking weather. If you happen to be in Newport, Oregon, head to Rogue Ales Brewery. If touring the brewery is as fun as its video tour is, I bet it will be a blast. Here’s another video about brewmaster John Maier the brewmaster. There are healthy doses of humor mixed in. Here are some locations where you can enjoy some of Maier’s finest yourself.

Avoiding the Side Effects of Bad Street Food

by Neil Woodburn on

Posts about street food are some of our favorites here at Gadling. What says “travel” more than digging into some strange has-been animal roasting on a skewer in Asia? And for that matter, what says “travel” more than getting all pukey from eating this food.

Fortunately our friends over at Budget Travel have a few simple suggestions on how to enjoy the first without suffering through the second.

In fact, they go so far as to interview Tom Kime who was written Street Food: Exploring the World’s Most Authentic Tastes. Although mostly a cookbook (I gotta get my hands on that), Kime has enough experience researching the recipes on streets throughout the world, that he makes a fine expert on the best ways to avoid getting sick.

His rules are basic and simple and there are only five of them. Follow them, and your vacation should be free of the nasties!

Free Booze!

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a dangerous website for all you alcoholics out there who really need a drink but are running a little short in the cash department.

The fine folks over at Budget Travel have thoughtfully dug up a website called MyOpenBar.com which points drinkers-low-on-cash to local events where an open bar will be in session. Currently the site only provides tips for New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (Boston, DC, and Seattle coming soon) along with a “coolness” rating scale of up to five drink glasses.

So, naturally I checked out what’s happening in Los Angeles tonight and was a little disappointed by the website’s claim, “your guide to free booze.” Of the five events listed for tonight, only one, an art gallery exhibit, was free to get in and promised free drinks once inside. The other four either had cover charges or, for the most part, very cheap drink deals ranging from $1-3.

So, you won’t be getting drunk for entirely free, but it’s sure not going to cost too much to get the job done.

Fiji, or Cleveland??

by Iva Skoch on

Cleveland often can’t catch a break, but at least its water is good. While drinking Fiji bottled water last night, I remembered a story that’s worth retelling about an ad campaign they ran last year. The ad, I’m told, talked about how pure the water was, and it ended with the tag line: “The label says Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.” Another slam.

But Cleveland, where drinking water is drawn from Lake Erie, had the last laugh. Officials there ran Fiji water through chemical analysis and found that it contained more arsenic that was allowable under the laws governing tap water purity in Cleveland (but still within federal health guidelines).

Fiji apologized (but refuted the analysis).

Now that story (and more) is retold in a new book: “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water,” by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman.

[Full photo: Sharkattack Nokia 6630 on flickr.com]

New World of Coca-Cola Museum Opens Today

by Jamie Rhein on

Once in a while one story leads to another. I was writing a post about Winter, the guy who is traveling around the world visiting Starbucks, when I headed to the Coca-Cola museum Web site. It turns out there is a grand opening today in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coca-Cola museum has a new look. It’s now called The New World of Coca-Cola Museum. Through Memorial Day (Monday) the celebration is taking place at the Pemberton Place green space.

Since the doors opened today at 2:00 visitors have been milling about looking at memorabilia, the traveling art exhibit of Andy Warhol’s paintings, the the bottling line and going to the 4-D theater.

I went to the old museum several years ago. My favorite part was the drink rooms where you can sample Coke products from around the world. There are 70 different flavors to try, but according to the Coke Web Site there are a lot more than that. One soft drink, for example is Cheers. I found out about it at the Virtual Vendor. If you click on the beverage type, then click on one of the brands that comes up, you can find out what the soda is called, what it tastes like and which country it is sold in. If you happen to be drinking a soda right now, maybe it’s a spin off from Coke.