Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Celebration Is Underway [Update]

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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.

Some Recent Good History Reading

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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.

But As Long As I'm Here

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The writing proceeds. Making good progress. Although, really, it helps to put the blog on the back-burner for the moment. Not that I don't miss it. I do. And I'll be back. But right now, I want. to. finish. this. book.

Did I mention that we're also remodeling our kitchen at the moment? And a bathroom? We are. So my other chore at the moment is to learn how to cook on electricity (we set up a temporary kitchen in the basement, and I'm cooking on a two-burner  hotplate). I figure I'll get proficient at cooking with electricity just about the time the kitchen is finished and I can get back to my beloved gas cooktop.

(Photos of remodeling at my Facebook page, if you're interested.) Anyway . .  .

We Interrupt This Hiatus . . .

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. . . to bring you breaking news: Looks like we've finally got a viable e-reader. Remember when Steve Jobs said no one read books anymore and that was interpreted as evidence he was working on an e-reader? Well, it's here (actually, not sure if it's literally on sale, but the device was just introduced at a news conference). (Live blogging all over the place, but good coverage here from NYT.)

Soooo. Now all I need is the $700+ the thing is going to cost. And since there's no hope of rounding up that much disposable cash anytime soon (you didn't seriously think I earn any money from my books, did you??), I shall lust after the iPad from afar.

iPad? What the FUCK were they thinking with that name? Every woman over 45 is howling with laughter. And every guy old enough to remember the era of the bachelor pad. All I can think of is electronic Kotex.