Camping with CrapMonkey
June 25, 2009 8:25 amSeattle Spring BrewMuster
June 14, 2009 1:25 pm
On Saturday, the CrapMonkey Podcast hosted Seattle BrewMuster at Gallagher’s in Edmonds and the turn-out was great. 
There were four batches brewed by a total of sixteen brewers who encompassed all skill levels. Some had tried their hand at brewing before, and others didn’t even drink beer but wanted to try out the brewing experience. In addition to brewing, the attendees also engaged in fun conversation and enjoyed the tasty beers that Gallagher’s keeps on tap. There were also occasional raffle drawings for prizes ranging from beers to glassware.
Brewers will meet in a few weeks to enjoy and bottle their beers and 
the brews will be judged and awarded later this summer via a BrewMuster webcast (check back at CrapMonkey or BrewMuster for details). Photos from the event are available on Flickr. Thanks to all who attended and to the folks at Gallagher’s for helping us out. I hope to see you at the next Seattle BrewMuster.
Kiss Cafe in Ballard
June 13, 2009 11:35 amSocial Redirects
11:11 amCrypticon Seattle 2009
June 7, 2009 9:47 pm
Crypticon Seattle 2009 was this weekend so Wendy and I stopped by to experience the horror. It was a great event and the horror community in Seattle are a great group of folks. Some highlights from the event are as follows: First of all, there is Night Zero. Night Zero is a photographic novel based in Seattle that is created with high dynamic range photography. Next, there were plenty of horror film greats ranging from Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead and my favorite From Beyond) to Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, Weird Science). Panels focused on films like Phantasm and The Fog, but the crew from Field of Screams, Washington’s premiere haunted attraction, were also on hand to expose their world of haunting. Finally, evening events such as a completely improvised horror movie and the Crypticon Costume Contest made nightfall more fun than creepy. Want to see more? Click in the space below to play the highlights video (requires Microsoft Silverlight).
Thanks to The Kits (Horror Movie) and If Else Then (Emeryville Horror) for the songs used in this video (sourced from the Podsafe Music Network). This video can also be found on YouTube. You may download it as a Windows Media File (Low Res | High Res) or an mp4.
The CrapMonkey Podcast Episode #134
June 5, 2009 8:16 pm
It’s 70 degrees on a Friday night, so I’m sitting in my office boiling. That said, there’s some fun stuff to mention, so I thought I’d do make a quick podcast. First of all, a new brewery will be opening soon in Fremont aptly called Fremont Brewing. I’m always glad to see a new brewery open up in the neighborhood and their blog is a great way to keep up on their progress. Additionally, the Washington Brewer’s Festival is taking place at Saint Edward’s Park in Juanita on June 20th, so you better get that on your calendar. The Fremont Fair is the same weekend. On June 13th, Seattle BrewMuster is taking place at Gallagher’s in Edmonds, there are still a couple more days to get tickets if you’re interested. Pyramid Brewery rebranded their top beers – seems kind of strange to me, but what do you think?
Want to get addicted to a simple little video game? Try out Shift.
The song of the day is One Day Soon by Mark Colety and the website of the day is bing.com. We end the show on a CrapMonkey Spool Sample featuring Tesla’s Forever More.
The CrapMonkey Podcast Episode #133
March 29, 2009 2:58 pm
This edition of the CrapMonkey Podcast is a bit of a mixed bag. In technology news, Internet Explorer 8 has released and is available for free download (you might also want to check out this funny ie8 promo video that includes web celebs like the Ask a Ninja Ninja). Also, scientists have developed a macromolecule that should lead to a self-healing clear coat that may make your car’s paint or your devices screens repair their own scratches. Addicted to Twitter? Find more people to follow with WeFollow.com. Speaking of following, you should also follow the Love Long and Prosper Podcast – so I included a fun promo for it in today’s show.
Discover Magazine has a cool series called “20 Things You Didn’t Know About…” that is worth checking out. The topics of “Television” and “Time” are certainly worth a read. Are you in to retro 3D? If so, get your glasses on and check out Swell3d.com. However, if this episode is getting you into too good of a mood, maybe you should take a look at thingstobemiserableabout.com.
Finally, there is just a smidge of beer news in this eposide (since I missed the Washington Cask Festival). Seattle Beer Week is coming up in May. Check out the Seattle Beer Week website to learn more about what that entails.
The song of the day is Hangman by Zach Harjo and we close the show on Broken Halos. Both songs are from Zach’s upcoming album called Dark Poems. It’s not out yet, but you can catch Zach this Wednesday (April 1st) on KEXP or on Saturday April 4th at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard. The website of the day is Playboy’s cover-to-cover site, a free archive of high quality, scanned playboy issues spanning the publication’s history. Also included in this episode is a restroom review of Sully’s Lounge in Queen Anne.
What’s wrong with the picture below? This is a rare glimpse of the Seattle Space Needle at night without its normal illumination. The lights were shut off for one hour on Saturday night in observance of Earth Hour. As you can see, very little of the rest of the city played along.
By the way – on Thursday, April 2nd, there will be a Tweetup at Pyramid Alehouse in Seattle. I hope to see you there! (Click the link to RSVP).
Is Hold Music Taunting You?
March 27, 2009 9:32 amGreenwood: A Destination for Beer Lovers?
March 15, 2009 7:50 pmIt’s nice to see Greenwood, a northern suburb of Seattle, starting to come alive with interesting places to imbibe. The most recent addition is Pillager’s Pub, located at 8551 Greenwood Avenue. The pub is actually a showcase for Seattle’s Three Skulls Ales brewery (which is an offshoot of Baron Brewing), though there is no onsite brewing at Pillagers. As the name implies, the pub is pirate themed. This theme is consistent with the beers brewed by Three Skulls Ales which include Black Bonney Porter, Pillager’s Pale, and Cutthroat Red. It certainly makes sense to keep the brand in sync, but I am not a big fan of pirate themes and we already have the Maritime Jolly Roger just a stones throw away in Ballard. Still, owner Jeff Smiley is a huge fan of pirates – so at least it’s derived out of personal passion and not a random marketing ploy.
Upon entering the pub, it feels a bit like entering the Tully’s that previously occupied the space. One obvious difference is the large pirate ship battle mural that takes up the entire West wall. It’s beautifully done and I found
myself looking it over for much of my visit. Additionally, large wood tables and matching benches line the windows and seem to encourage decent sized groups (many of the tables could seat at least six). Still, some additional work needs to be done to really make the place feel like its own. They were only on their second day in operation when I visited, and I sense that work is still being done. I had a Black Bonney Porter and was quite pleased. I also tried the Pirate Wings (traditional buffalo wings with blue cheese ) and they were a fine accompaniment.
Just south and across the Street from Pillagers Pub is Naked City Taphouse. After my
porter and wings, I shuffled over to see how Naked City was doing now that they’ve been open for a couple months. I was impressed with the atmosphere, the people and the beer selection. I had originally gone to Naked City on their opening night, and it was clear they still had a few kinks to work out. I’m happy to say they seem to have worked them out. The menu is a bit more interesting and the atmosphere is comfortable and inviting (dimming the lights a bit made a big difference). I had their olive tray and a beer and both were tasty. I’m also interested to try their Pickled Hops Shoots when those are in season later in the year. One final note: they will fill growlers with most of the beers they have on tap (though they don’t sell growlers, so you’ll have to bring your own from home).
In summary, promising establishments are opening up in Greenwood that make it a great destination for getting quality beers with neighbors and friends. This is nice to see and I look forward to spending more time at both Pillager’s Pub and the Naked City Taphouse. I’d also like to make it into Gainsbourg soon. Gainsbourg is a recently opened French style lounge on the same block providing, in their own words: “unique cocktails, wonderful wines, a broad beer list and obscenely affordable French-inspired small plates.” Old standby’s like Baranof, Crosswalk, and Pig ‘n Whistle are also close by for those who want to “crawl” the neighborhood.
The CrapMonkey Podcast Episode #132
March 9, 2009 10:59 pm
In this very short episode I share a few of the latest editions to the crapmonkey family of products. First off, KarateKidPose.com has been updated to enable voting, so get out there and vote for your favorite photos and submit your own (be sure to come back often as photos will be added regularly). Additionally, the CrapMonkey Cube Audio Clip Player is now available for general use. Click on the “Share Audio” page from this blog to try it out.
Mix 2009 is coming up next week (March 18-20) in Las Vegas – be sure to check it out in person or online if you’re interested in the future of the web. Also, It’s never too early to start planning for the Oregon Brewers Festival (July 23-26th). Get your hotel now and I’ll see you at the brewfest!
The song of the day is flickr, by Jonathan Coulton (view a great video version of it here – and a live version here). The website of the day is washingtonbeerblog.com. The show closes on a song called Amway, by Fanny Alger.
