Carolyn Smagalski -- The Beer Fox

This morning I spent about an hour on the phone with Carolyn Smagalski. She's the Beer Fox over at BellaOnline. You can find her corner of that website here. She wanted to talk about my new book (she'd read an advance copy of it).

That was great -- but I was even more thrilled to be talking with such an amazing woman. She has a "real" full-time job -- and still finds time to write cookbooks (cooking with beer!) and serve as the beer editor at BellaOnline, a task that involves writing a regular column and cranking out a newsletter. I have NO idea how people like her manage to find the energy to deal with what amounts to two jobs -- but I'm awed by her energy and by her passion for what she does, both of which are evident in her Bella columns. Their content ranges from discussions of "current events" in the brewing industry to suggestions for creative pairings of food and beer.

She exemplifies what I've found to be true about "beer people": They're smart, creative, passionate, and fully engaged with the world around them. So I've added another inspiring role model to my collection. Carolyn, you totally rock!

Hops Harvest

Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about brewers who make seasonal, limited edition beers using fresh (as opposed to dry) hops. I had great intentions of commenting on the story at the time, but let's face it: Right now "blogging" is not at the top of my to-do list.

Anyway, last Monday the fabulous Jay Brooks, of the equally fabulous Brookston Beer Blog, helped out with the hops harvest for two breweries in his neighborhood (Russian River and Moonlight). He's posted some fantastic pictures and terrific commentary to go with them. Check it out at his blog. It's the entry for August 29, 2006.

TED videos

There's a column in this morning's NY Times about the TED conference (Technology * Entertainment * Design), an annual four-day event during which VERY brainy people exchange ideas. Anyway, videos of the participants' talks are now being posted at the TED site. These are fascinating presentations of mostly out-of-the-box ideas by some of the planet's brightest and most talented people.

Go to tedtalks. Don't miss the talk given by Hans Rosling. Who knew statistics about income and infant mortality could be so fascinating?!