I've been hearing about this for months, mostly via Jack McAuliffe, but now there's finally something up that everyone can enjoy: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is celebrating 30th anniversary this year.

The company kicked off the festivities a few days ago by launching a special website. There you'll find photos, videos, and information about the special beers being planned for the occasion. The site is here.

So, hey, take a break and go for a visit. (Apparently that's not a photo of Jack himself, but of his brother Tom. As Jack says, he musta been seriously fucked up when he sent that to Chico. Me, I blame his post-accident meds.)

(And by the way, he's feeling much better. Back to his old cranky, sassy self --- and looking forward to the brewing collaboration in the spring.)

UPDATE: according to Jack's siblings, yes, that's really Jack in the photo. So: either they're crazy or Jack is. My vote's on the latter. Tip o' the mug to Loyal Reader Dave for reminding me to post a notice about all of this here at the blog. And now, per Dave's instructions, it's back to work for me.

Surfacing here for a moment (okay, the fifteen minutes it will take me to type all this stuff) to alert readers to a couple of particularly interesting bits about "doing" history.

First, this essay from the Boston Globe, prompted, apparently by the recent death of Howard Zinn. (At least that's what I assume led to the piece because I can't otherwise imagine a newspaper devoting so much space/ink/money to the subject of history.)

And then this discovery today: the Spatial History Project at Stanford University. Richard White, author of the blog entry to which the link leads, is a serious voice/mind in American history. He launched his career writing about the American west. Obviously he's now thinking about history from other angles (no pun intended).

I was alerted to both of these gems by via Twitter by Sterling Fluharty (at Twitter as @sterflu). Good stuff all the way around. And now --- back to doing my own version of history.

Okey-dokey, folks. Now you CAN see "Beer Wars" --- and I don't wanna hear any excuses about why you didn't/haven't seen it. As of tomorrow (February 1, 2010), the film is available on-demand. Details here. See it. Or else. (No, I've not figured out what the "or else" part is. But I will . .  . )