Do all the things!

Summers are freaking crazy, aren’t they? It doesn’t help that I know enough people with July birthdays that we collectively have a full week of daily birthdays. But it’s a time to get out and do things and be social. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s all about complaining about eighty degree weather (you guys, it’s soooo hot out!) during our two weeks of sunny days. And that’s just been July so far.

Drinking all the beer.

It’s summer! Even here in the Pacific Northwest, the sun is out and the temperatures are rising. That can mean only one thing, or maybe multiple things, but it does coincide with the 2012 Seattle International Beerfest. SIB is one of my personal favorite annual events in Seattle. There is usually an eclectic mix of people enjoying a common love of liquid goodness.

Starting SIB off with The Stoic from Deschutes brewery in Oregon.

This year the festival features a mouthwatering array of brews from all over the world including incredibly rare offerings such as the Samuel Adams Utopias. But beyond the beer, there are
numerous amazing local food vendors on hand to provide cheeses, nuts, tortas, hot dogs, and more. My personal recommendation for a good snack is the cured meat and cheese pairings on a stick from Mt. Townsend Creamery.

It’s no secret that I am a fan of the darker beers, and there are far too many porters and stouts for me to try over the course of the weekend. If you can only make one day of the festival and need to taste with the 10 tickets you get with entry, allow me to suggest the Mad Viking Cognac IRS, the Two Beers Ascension, the Zhiguli Grande 12%, the Double Mountain Ferocious Five, and the Wingman P-51

Dreaming in retro

It’s the first weekend of summer and time for a little nostalgic throwback to games of yore. Maybe not that long ago, but this weekend is being filled with Sega’s last console, the Dreamcast. Back in 1999 Sega put out what I thought was one of the best consoles to hit the market. Seeing that this amazing console was sitting idle on a shelf, I knew what had to be done. So it’s time to dust off the old controllers, find batteries for the VMUs, and try to figure out how in the world to play all of these games again. Let the retro games begin!

I only have so much time free to spend in a game coma on the weekend and far too many old titles to choose from. This time around, I’m going with some of the classics (for me) that I’m fairly certain have aged quite well given how fast we replace games and technology. It’s hard to tire of Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Power Stone, Soul Calibur, and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. A half dozen of the titles in my library seems like enough to carry me through without