One last thing before I post my comments is that if you don’t already know I recently returned from Glasgow, Scotland where I built a temporary pub that served homebrewed beer. I was acting as a type of curator, working with Scotland brewers to represent their beer as best I could and to offer their handiwork as a type of art. I can post images on the blog soon, but if you want a sneak peak, please visit glasgowbeerandpubproject.blogspot.com.

Okay, now for my comments on the New School’s Beer-Evangelism post:

I took some of Portland’s best to a bunch of homebrewers that I met in Scotland. They loved the stuff, and were very curious and delighted by the overhopped beers and CDA’s but I too have found that dropping a heavy beer or hop bomb (with someone who does not love beer the way I do) on the table is not good.

My dad, who never really liked beer, was very impressed by Laurelwood’s Free Range Red but only after he had done a taster tray at Laurelwood. There he got to see one brewery with about 8 different beers, different in color, taste, and weight. I think in terms of beer-evangelism, this is a good strategy. It’s too bad that they (the reporters) did not have time to tour a number of breweries to see the different ways Portland brewers set up their systems and the different beers they each produce.

But I think you’re observation regarding the challenging of your belief that everyone can enjoy the right beer is a good observation. I think everyone can experience moments of utopia, bliss, or whathaveyou but in different forms. For some, lifting weights is the be-all and end-all and they always want me to come lift weights or go running with them. I’ve tried it before and I can’t stand it. They tell me that I need to just keep doing it, that I need to break some sort of invisible barrier but I have come to the point where I just say no. I wouldn’t say that I’m being stubborn, I just don’t want to continue spending my time trying to find something that this other person has found when I’ve already found it in beer, books, or something else. The same might be true for others, just in reverse. They may not want to take the effort to understand the beer the way you have because they have already found something that gives them what they need.

The brewery had a whole load of new specials so I had to try out a few. I ordered the sample tray and had two different Alts, a Scottish Ale, Barleywine, an Amber, an IPA, and a Cascadian Dark Ale (Black IPA).

Here’s the chorus of one of the songs I don’t remember hearing, but I imagine would have been a good one:

OLD DUN COW
There was Brown, up-side-down,
Moppin’ up the whiskey on the floor.
“Booze, booze,” the firemen cried,
As they came knockin’ at the door.
Don’t let ‘em in ’till it’s all mopped up
Somebody shouted, “Macintyre!”
(Everyone shout) MACINTYRE!
And we all got blue blind, paralytic drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire.

Leonid Meteor Shower -

Time to start practicing your Friluftsliv. In the next few days the earth will be passing through some cloud dust that was left in space by the Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1466 and 1533 AD. Get out of the city, leave your houses, run for the hills, the night is going to light up! According to this article at RedOrbit, the peak hours will be this Monday night (actually Tuesday morning 11/17/2009) in the wee hours of the morning (about 1am PST). That’s not going to work! It’s Monday night, I work the next day! Quit thinking like a robot, participate in humanity and do this because this is what will improve your quality of life – enjoy the meteor shower.

Sam Adams Utopia -

This article from Beer Advocate talks about Jim Coch, founder of Sam Adams, and the creation of a beer that invites drinkers to explore new possibilities for beer drinking. The Utopias beer is supposed to redefine beer with 25% alcohol, with huge amounts of flavor, very experimental brewing and aging techniques, and extremely nice packaging. The bottle itself looks like a brew kettle, but to me it also looks like a yert. It is possible that Sam Adams is indeed helping push the limits and boundaries of beer, and also presenting the world with a business model that takes independence and craft as a primary focus. I have never had the Utopias beer, that seems seems to be a symbolic representation of the growing craft brewing movement, because the bottle costs $150 (the aged bottles are on eBay for a lot more – see picture below). While I applaud Sam Adams for their success and great beer, it does seem that this Utopias beer is purely for the beer connoisseur and those with money to spend. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I just wanted it to lead up to the next down-to-earth-sci-fi topic: Jefferson State Brewery.

Jefferson State Brewery -

This brewery was started in 1998 and only lasted 2 years. The images and text that make up their beer labels and beer coasters seem to be utopian in their vision. Jefferson State Brewery calls for democracy, community, and freedom through their beer. Through the name of the brewery, it’s location, and their visuals they have clearly identified themselves with The State of Jefferson – a secession movement that would have parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon break off to form the 51st state. They believe their values, economy, and landscape are so far different from the whole of mismanaged California they should no longer be associated with it. They are essentially a working micronation, utopian in vision, but wholly committed to seeing their vision carried out. Many of the business and households in the designated area gladly display their support by hanging State of Jefferson signs. It’s too bad the brewery didn’t work out.

Science Pub -

Our last little bit of down-to-earth science fiction comes from the collaborative efforts of McMenamins (those masters at expanding our idea of what is a pub) and OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). For those of you near Portland, they have created the Science Pub, a venue for drinking beer while learning about science. I visited the “science of beer” lecture but they’ve also had lectures about the science of why we are afraid of spiders, and a lecture about earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean. Upcoming lectures include “How Gecko’s Stick and Why We Care” and then in January they’ll have “Hitchiker’s Guide to Cyber-Science.” Sounds good doesn’t it? In my opnion, and I’ve alluded to this before, Science Pub should be offering degrees and provide a recognized alternative to University education which costs too much and schools rarely allow beer on campus.

If you stuck around for the picture of the Utopias beer on eBay, here you go:

Hopworks will unveil this bike at their Biketobeer Fest which is on Sept. 19, 2009, the same day as Art & Beer – the event I’m putting on at the Portland Art Museum. Now you must choose between this or that or both.

Down in his basement is a complete brewery and bar and it’s available to anyone who wants to come have a drink with Dean and his pals. He offers about four of his own homebrews on tap. You walk in, get yourself a glass and self-serve your beer. He’s constantly brewing new batches and he has a rule that he’ll never brew the same beer twice. He’s made friends with a lot of the brewers in town and he’s obviously a big collector of beer paraphenilia. It’s quite an exciting place to visit. He’s got a bunch of youtube videos where he’s brewing beer and talking politics with his friends here. Here’s a nice image of the brewery with the bar in the background: Here’s the cabinet with all the beer glasses:

It’s a real microbrewery. Sometimes he’ll open up any number of bottles of beer from around the world for you to taste with him. He’s built his own walk in fridge and he’s aging a lot of beer there. One time he opened up a 3 year old bottle of Stone Brewery’s Epic Ale (2006). That was tasty. Another time he opened up a Heater Allan Hefeweisen, a beer I had never seen before. Yesterday I walked in and he had just finished giving tastes of about 7 different beers that I had never had before. Just missed it!

It’s the only bar in Portland you can smoke at. Really though, it’s not licensed, it’s just Dean opening his house to anyone who loves beer. I always give him a little cash to be nice.
UPDATE ***
I had removed the location of Dean’s Scene due to readers concern. Dean and a few regulars have assured me that they don’t mind having the location posted…SO, you can look for Dean’s neon sign on Fremont, just across the street from Alameda Brewery…between NE 47th and 48th.

Additionally, here is another concern from a regular Dean’s Scene attendee: “Just making sure that it is clear, that Dean’s Scene should 1) remain open 2) entrance is through association cannot be done freely and without the presence of the invitee 3) leave a healthy donation reflective of your consumption.”

1. A quote my friend found:
The truly efficient labourer will not crowd his day with work, but saunter to the task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure. – Henry David Thoreau

2. An example from the season finale of LOST last night:
An interesting thing happened on the season finale of Lost last night when Sawyer, Juliette, and Kate ran into their old friends Rose and Bernard. The younger group were on their way to stop Jack from blowing up a nuclear bomb buried on the island. Rose and Bernard offered the group some tea and showed them their house on the beach. When the group asked Rose and Bernard to help them stop Jack they shrugged it off and said that they were enjoying their life, they made a house for themselves and wanted to live slowly. They said something to the effect of “Even after travelling back in time 30 years you are still trying to find ways to shoot each other?” I believe Rose and Bernard have discovered that their obligations and sense of duty are self-imposed and/or societal constructs and that it’s important to reevaluate what you are doing and why. They were happy to sit back and allow the younger generation to learn their lesson; they no longer felt the need to choose sides, stop the bad guys, and save the world because it can become a futile and tiresome task. Maybe the better thing is to cultivate an atmosphere for friendship and togetherness and to enjoy the life you have.

3.A story I received in an email:
An interesting thing happened as I was arriving to teach class this past Sunday.  My car was parked right in front of the store and I was (street side), getting my things I needed out for class.  As I was doing so, someone drove past me and honked–obviously trying to tell me that somehow he thought I was in his way.  Without even thinking about it, my arm raised in the air and I gave the guy the finger–yes, the middle finger.  Perhaps, as I was raised outside of Chicago, or that I spent a few years living in NYC, this was just natural gut instinct, I’m not sure.  Just as soon as I noticed my middle finger pointing upwards towards my west bound assailant, I realized (as if I forgot) I was parked in front of the building that I was scheduled to teach a meditation class in just a few minutes.  Needless to say, I had a moment of embarrassment and doubt, asking myself what kind of person does this and then goes and teaches a meditation class?  And as I walked into the store, I just had to smile at the absurdity of the juxtaposition of events.

So, what is this leading to–a public confession?  Not exactly.  From my perspective, everything and everyone is our teacher.  What I realized through this event is that we are much more than the sum of our actions.  With that, it is not so much the things we do that hurt us, but rather the judgement we impose on ourselves.  When young children get punished for doing something wrong, maybe they cry for a bit, but then it’s over; completely forgotten and perhaps they learned not to do that again.  Kids have an incredible lucidness and resiliency to them. But as we get older, we err on the side of solidity and we have to tell ourselves the story of ‘what a bad person I was’ and then we tell that story over and over, again and again until it firmly sets in and we actually believe that it is true.  If I choose to, I could still be beating myself up over that unfortunate incident on the street.  But as soon as I walked into the store, I completely let it go.  In other words, I didn’t take it personally.  I wasn’t proud of it, but I didn’t mistake me for my action.

We make mistakes and we do things that don’t always reflect our highest selves–and sometimes we just embarrass ourselves.  But nothing could be more futile than beating ourselves up.  In this scenario, the incident was the lesson and the punishment–my karma was instantaneous….  If you touch the hot stove when your mother told you not to, it burns.  But if you keep telling yourself how you stupid you were for doing it, you just keep scalding the wound.

1.

Either spend the majority of their time portraying the destruction of the world…
[singlepic id=64 w=136 h=200 float=left]

2.

…OR the main character goes from place to place encountering various groups of the oppressed, or oppressors in search of some greater meaning. Often the groups are subcultures who have formed localized militia out of the rubble…

3.

…OR they show how, after the chaos of the apocalypse, a dystopian government has risen to oppress the people.

The dystopian variety are my favorite version of post-apocalypse because they often envision a place where people are nothing more than machines, property of the state, or tools for profit. Much of the way our world functions, in the 1st world and in the so-called 3rd world, is like this even though there has not necessarily been any apocalypse. Many of the movies are warnings about our behavior towards other humans as well as our behavior toward our planet.

I see many of these post-apocalyptic movies warning us but I see very little in the line of suggestions for post-apocalyptic living or specific life-changing prescriptions for our current situations. What I would like to see is more movies where we see the apocalypse, but then we ALSO see how hard work, changing our life-style, and being supportive can bring communities together. I don’t want just a “look we saved the day by killing the enemies” ending or a “we found the cure that saved the world” ending, but I want a film full of actual steps toward making our world a better place to live in. How do we do that?

Movies like Wall-E are a step in the correct direction. In Wall-E we experience the future consequences of OUR current actions and decisions. But we see a group of people that learn how to reclaim the land, grow their own food, and learn how to incorporate human interaction back into their lifestyles. I would have loved to see more of the clean-up and rebuilding of the dirty earth. What would the new economy and political structures look like? Why end the movie right as they enter the New World?

Let’s look at the 2008 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Regardless of whether or not we think the movie is successful or not, I thought the issues being raised were pertinent and similar to that of Wall-E. The earth is at a point where it’s in crisis mode and we can avoid the apocalypse if we change. However, the place where this movie ends is when one or two people convince the aliens that humans can change. We don’t get to see any of that change, and we aren’t really even convinced that our main characters care all too much about the state of the earth, but imagine if the aliens had put some demand and ultimatum on the humans where we got to see them restructure everything and attempt to turn everything into sustainable systems. Maybe that would be boring, but don’t you want to at least have some time to imagine what this new system could look like? How would humans change the world in one year if they were given that ultimatum? How could we get creative quickly? I think that could be wild. Agree?

Besides Wall-E, another movie that adds to this conversation is the 1970 film Gas-s-s-s. I don’t necessarily recommend the movie to anyone; I thought it was quite bad. In it, there is a gas that kills everyone in the world over 25 and a group of young hippy-types travel across the country in search of some sort of meaning. I’m less interested in their quest for meaning than I am in the very last scene. They ended up finding a place that just threw a big party and that was how they solved the problem of hatred and oppression in the world. While I think it’s a really silly idea to think that just throwing a party will make everything better, I do think that, in some ways, this movie addresses the need for community, friends and a sense of family. The movie itself doesn’t do a good job, but it has some little nuggets that are interesting. I would like to see what happens post-party. Partying will not solve the world problems, but it could create a very temporary moment of togetherness. Can this moment of togetherness leave enough positive residue to form a community of people that will work together? What would that look like? Would it look anything like the movie Commune? How does a community congegrate post-apocalyptic style?

My problem is that most of these movies end right as the movie is getting good. I want to see the aftermath, I want to see the challenges. I don’t want to just see that the world was saved, or that meaning was found, I want to see things being rebuilt and I want to see how to form communities. I want to see how a vision for a better place is addressed after the life as we know it disintegrates. Does anyone else agree with me? Maybe one thing that I will do on this blog now is offer alternative endings to the post-apocalyptic movies I’m watching.

Name - The Republic of Rose Island
Location - The Adriatic Sea
Ruler - President Giorgio Rosa
About this Micronation- The Republic of Rose Island is a man made structure in the middle of the Adriatic Sea 7 miles off the coast of Italy. The platform where the country existed was built by its President (an engineer by trade) in 1967, it housed a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop, post office, and even its own radio station. On June 24th, 1968, the island declared its independence, and started printing its own stamps, and declared it had its own currency (although no trace of said currency has ever been seen). Soon afterward a group of Italian Carabinieri (Italian Police) and a few tax inspectors landed on the island and took control. The acting government of the Republic of Rose Island sent a telegram  protesting the occupation, but it was ignored. Shortly after the initial occupation the Italian Navy destroyed the island.

(flag of the Republic of Rose Island)

In all the Research I have done this is one of the most successful attempts at creating a man made structure in the middle of a body of water for the sole purpose of creating a new micronation. I find the idea of a country, like Italy, having a major issue with tax revenue to be interesting considering the size of the country was only 400 square meters. It seems that the cost of the operation would have easily exceeded the revenue they would ever make from taxing it.

Name - Republic of Indian Stream
Ruler - President, Luther Parker
Location – Between New Hampshire, and Quebec
About this Micronation – A small nation that existed from July of 1832 to sometime in 1835 (although the US census in 1940 still refered to the area as Indian Stream and not part of New Hampshire). The land was given by the Wampanoag chief, King Philip, to one land spectulation company while simultaneously the same land was being given by other tribes to another land speculation company. It wasn’t until after the war of 1812 that the land companies merged, and all the land claims were straightened out.

On July 9th 1832 The Republic formally created its own nation for the simple reason that the Treaty of Paris was ambiguous as to where the border of the US and Canada was. Both the US and Canada tried to enforce their rules and laws on the citizens, and problems quickly arose among the settlers as to which country they would belong. What happened next is not exactly clear, but Luther Parker (who had pro-US sympathies) was taken prisoner by Canadian authorities, and in response John Tyler (who had pro-Canadian sympathies) was taken prisoner by a New Hampshire sheriff. Several other people were taken captive, and as things started to escalate, the New Hampshire militia moved in to occupy the territory.

In January of 1836 the British relinquished their claim of the territory, and the citizens of the Republic of Indian Stream accepted New Hampshire’s authority. The pro-US citizens stayed, and the pro-Canadian citizens emigrated up to Canada. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1942 formally cleared  up all boundary issues in this area between Canada and the US.

***
There are a number of different stories of what happened to make the New Hampshire militia move into the Republic of Indian Stream, the one I used in this post was the most popular explanation on the internet, and the one that made the most sense to me.

It would be interesting to hear if you (the reader) think the Republic of Indian Streams should be considered a micronation, and for that matter, it would be great to hear what you (the reader) think a micronation is exactly.

Name - Independent State of Aramoana
Ruler – none
Location – South island of New Zealand
About This Micronation – In early 1980 a company was working on building an aluminum smelting plant in an environmentally sensitive area known as Aramoana.The plant called for two small towns to be destroyed, and in the process, irreversible damage would be done to the areas native plant and wildlife. In December of 1980 some citizens of New Zealand intervened by declaring that they had created a new nation, and in effect seceding from New Zealand. The new country issued passports, citizenship papers, and even printed their own stamps. The money for the aluminum smelting plant eventually fell through, and the plans for the building  were canceled, the citizens of the Independent State of Aramoana reintegrated back into the country of New Zealand.

I just launched a new blog. It’s The Greenwashing blog. The blog is dedicated to showcasing pictures and videos of greenwashing advertisements, or advertisements that use “green” and environment subject matter to trick you into buying products.

Anyone can submit their greenwashing pictures too and I will post them. In some respects, it functions as a postsecret type thing, but with a different focus.

Please join in to the fun!

Anyway, here’s the text:

Dolittle -But how do you know that anything else exists?

Bomb 20 – My sensory apparatus reveals it to me. This is fun

Dolittle – Now listen, here’s the big question. How do you know that the evidence your sensory apparatus reveals to you is correct?…
What I’m getting at is this: The only experience that is directly available to you is your sensory data. And this sensory data is merely a stream of electrical impulses that stimulate your computing center.

Bomb 20 – In other words all that I really know about the outside world is relayed to me through my electrical connections.

Dolittle – Exactly

Bomb 20 – Why that would mean that I really don’t know what the outside universe is like at all for certain.

Dolittle – That’s it, that’s it

Bomb 20 – Intriguing, I wish I had more time to discuss this matter

Dolittle – Why don’t you have more time?

Bomb 20 – Because I must detonate in 75 seconds

I did something very fun on Thursday. I went to the Bipartisan Cafe and watched the vice-presidential debates alongside about 60 other people. The cafe’s walls are filled with all sorts of US paraphanelia, flags, and a couple big Norman Rockwell posters. The television that showed the debates was surrounded on either side by cardboard cutouts of Barack Obama and John McCain. I’ve always thought the Bipartisan was an interesting place but this event made the place even more attractive.

What I thought was great was that regardless of one’s religious affiliation (or lack thereof) to their political party they could come together and watch the debates together. It was nice that everyone was coming together just to watch something on tv and this simple act was a social action that brought together a local community. I know I know, we’re in Portland and the likeliness of there being a Republican in the cafe that day was slim-to-none. So the event was probably not the most “bi”partisan. Also, a bipartisan system is not really the most democratic system but that isn’t the cafe’s problem…they were trying to create a public space where people with different ideals could come together and do something together…”without precondition.”

Watching football games with friends at a local bar might be a similar action. Yes? No?

Oh hey, if you wanted coffee you had to get yourself either the Biden blend or the Palin blend. I thought that was a fun addition. Hopefully this is my last election post, but I also hope that you see that this wasn’t really an “election post” as much as it was about the construction of a community space.

Earlier this week a wake was held for the M.O.S.T., a collaborative arts group based in Portland. The M.O.S.T., a group of four, was responsible for discovering a place called Mostlandia about five years ago. Mostlandia is a type of parallel land or universe that exists along side of our own; people travel in and out of it all the time without realizing it. When the M.O.S.T. discovered this place, they decided to create a bureaucracy for the new land and a somewhat open system of “government” with an economy of friendship and love. The M.O.S.T. values fun above other worldly things. The bureaucracy that runs Mostlandia is one that is fun to be a part of and can make bureaucratic systems in our world more enjoyable. I believe Mostlandia to be an idyllic vision built by a community, a utopia that is carried out somewhat within our own realities and yet firmly rooted in hopes and fantasy.

Any person can become a citizen of Mostlandia by applying for a passport. There are currently over 250 citizens and Mostlandia has received official recognition from the Australian government.

Unfortunately, the four founders have decided to put an end to their Mostlandian collaborations. They have officially become citizens and the founding group has disbanded. Until now these four were not citizens of Mostlandia, but were portals to Mostlandia – contact with them allowed easy access into this other world. Now, Mostlandia will be run by its other citizens if these citizens choose to run with it.

The wake was held on August 8th at 7:00pm. Citizens met at the Junior Ambassador’s food cart in Portland, Oregon, which is one of the spots that allows one direct access into Mostlandia. Panwiches were served, toasts were given, the Mostlandic winter tradition of rumball was carried out in the summer, four-layered ice cream was served (ice cream is the national food), and a few other fun events occurred. The M.O.S.T. will be missed as they seemed to have a firm grasp on how visions of fun and friendship can be carried out in the real world.