My Pint Glass Collection

When I travel, I like to go to breweries. I also like to collect pint glasses. As a result, I've built up a nice collection of over 50 pint glasses from around the world.

Most of them come from where I've lived (MN, WA, and CA) and near where I've lived (OR and WI), but I've collected a few from Europe and the rest of the US, too. Here's the list, broken down by location. It doesn't include event glasses (like my Oktoberfest glass) or other novelty glasses.

Washington
Big Horn Hefeweizen
Big Time Brewing Company
Hale's Ales
Henry Weinhard's
Mac & Jack's Brewing Company
The Pike Brewing Company
Pyramid Ales
Pyramid Ales: Titled Kilt Ale (2)
The Redhook Ale Brewery (2 different styles)
San Juan Brewing Company
Thomas Kemper Brewing Company
Walking Man Brewing

Oregon
Bridgeport Ales
Deschutes Brewery
Full Sail Brewing Company
Rogue Ales
Rogue Ales: Dead Guy Ale
Widmer Brothers Brewery

California
Anchor Brewing Company: Liberty Ale
Anderson Valley Brewing Company: The Boonville Beer
Boulder Creek Brewing Company
Carmel Brewing Company
Gordon Biersch Brewery
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Lost Coast Brewing Company
Lost Coast Brewing Company: Great White
North Coast Brewing Company
North Coast Brewing Company: Red Seal Ale
Tied House Brewing Company
Ukiah Brewing Company

Minnesota and Wisconsin
August Schell Brewing Company
Leinenkugel's: Grandma's Trusty Old Brew
New Glarus Brewing Company
New Glarus Brewing Company: Spotted Cow
Stevens Point Brewery: Point Classic Amber
Summit Brewing Company
Surly Brewing Company

US - Other
Alaskan Brewing Company
Boston Beer Works: Bunker Hill Bluebeery Ale
Bucket of Blood Saloon
Harpoon Brewery: IPA
New Belgium Brewing Company: Fat Tire Amber Ale

Europe
Bulmer's Vintage Cider
Carlsberg
Guinness (3 different styles)
Löwenbräu AG: Löwen Weisse
Newcastle Brown Ale
Rathaus Bier
Smithwick's
Spaten

I still regret glasses that I lost over the years (including a great "Ya Sure, Ya Betcha!" glass from Redhook's Ballard Bitter), but overall I like the logos and the memories of local breweries.

Reading List 2007 - 2008

These are all (or almost all) of the books that I've read over the last two years. The are listed in roughly chronological order and rated from 1 -10, based on how much I liked the book.

You Shall Know Our Velocity - 2
Blink - 7
The Crying of Lot 49 - 5
Tipping Point - 8
Crossing California - 8
Generation Debt - 4
The Road - 10
Ultramarathon Man - 5
In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead - 5
The World is Flat - 8
Sideways - 7
The Windup Bird Chronicles - 8
The History of Love - 7
Everything is Miscellaneous - 6
Discomfort Zone - 4
The Omnivore's Dilema - 7
The Audacity of Hope - 7
The Long Tail - 3
What is the What - 9
No Country For Old Men - 9
Falling Man - 7
A Thousand Splendid Suns - 10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 8
What the Best College Teachers Do - 3
Bad Monkeys - 8
Special Topics in Calamity Physics - 10
The Golden Compass (re-read) - 10
American Pastoral - 10
Yiddish Policeman's Union - 6
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - 7
Set This House In Order - 8
What to Eat - 8
The Plot Against America - 9
Fight Club - 8
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian - 7
In Defense of Food -6
Who's Your City? - 4
Absurdistan - 10
Political Mind - 4
CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions - 6
The Gathering - 5
Ten Little Indians - 8
Out Stealing Horses - 8
Desolation Angels - 5
Never Let Me Go - 9
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - 10
Ishmael - 5
When You Are Engulfed in Flames - 6
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - 8
Showing Our True Colors - 6
If You're Feeling Sinister - 2
Russian Debutante's Handbook - 8
Lush Life - 8

Best Music of 2008

Most music critics called it a down year for music after the avalanche of extraordinary music that was 2007. 2008 had plenty to offer, though, including Moby and R.E.M.'s best albums in roughly a decade; the emergence of new bands like Frightened Rabbit, Noah and the Whale, Los Campesinos, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend; and another strong showing from the Pacific Northwest.

Maybe the best gift of the year was Belle and Sebastian's The BBC Sessions. Their live recordings aren't included in my Top 20 list because most of the songs were previously released, but I still obsessed over every word and every note as the live versions of some of favorite songs brought back memories -- and I cherished the four "new" songs. We were also lucky enough to get a live Colin Meloy album, with him singing and playing some of my favorite Decemberists tunes.

But we're mostly concerned with this year's new music, so here we go: The Top 20 Albums of 2008.

01. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
One of the best rock albums of the decade, Midnight Organ Fight delivers song after song, always building to something and always delivering with a catchy underpinning to its brutally honest and desperate songs. Built around a devastating and recurring use of warmth as a metaphor for love, this album offers some of the best lines in recent memory -- and in a Scottish accent, no less.
.:. Best Song: Keep Yourself Warm

02. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
Noah and the Whale were the band that I fell in love with this year. Their debut album is full of the boy-girl harmonies, strings, and catchy choruses that send a shiver up my back and put a smile on my face all year long. Each time I listened to Peaceful, I felt like giving it a hug -- because I loved it and because it felt like it was made just for me.
.:. Best Song: Five Years Time

03. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Easily the most accomplished album of the year, Dear Science plays like a master class in modern American music and modern American life. Every song has a groove, a brain, and a heart. It's as great as everyone says, and then some -- the rare work of art that plays to the masses as well as the insiders.
.:. Best Song: Golden Age

04. Los Campesinos - Hold On Now, Youngster
Los Campesinos singing-yelling coed lyrics are both hyper-literate and just plain hyper. They throw in every instrument in the book, more energy than a kid full of sugar, and enough knowing winks to challenge anyone in indie pop to a cute and clever contest. The result is one of the most infectious debut albums in recent memory. And they've already successfully followed it up with We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.
.:. Best Song: Death to Los Campesinos

05. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
I liked Wild Mountain Nation well enough and thought that they were okay in concert after that album, but I didn't expect an Americana masterwork like Furr from Blitzen Trapper. They come through with an unexpectedly great album, though. Full of tuneful strumming and classic sounds, Furr is a summary of a genre of music and an exciting new sound at the same time.
.:. Best Song: Furr

06. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Narrow Stairs is my favorite grad school band returning to form, even with the big budget. Death Cab have figured out how to do the major label thing, try new directions, and still make heartfelt, melodic music. They even threw in a few songs like "Cath..." and "Grapevine Fires" for old-timers like me.
.:. Best Song: I Will Possess Your Heart

07. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant EP
Dripping with beauty, Fleet Foxes are the new pride of Seattle. Their famously four-part (and famously bearded) harmonies started to click for me during a sunny brunch at a vegetarian restaurant. The warmth of the music wrapping around me like the sun through the big picture window.
.:. Best Song: Your Protector

08. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
I got Vampire Weekend all wrong. When everyone hyped them as the greatest thing ever, I thought that they were Paul Simon rip-offs. When the inevitable backlash came with their wild success, my affections for their super poppy Afro-beat songs grew. Then I saw them in concert and was fully convinced that they were the real thing.
.:. Best Song: A-Punk

09. Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...
That's right, a rap album in my top 10. Atmosphere's Lemons transcends the genre with its short-story lyrics, laid-back rythms, and timeless-modern urgency. It might be too slowly paced for most rap fans, but it was the perfect album for for relaxing (and feeling cooler than I really was) while I drove around town.
.:. Best Song: You

10. Moby - Last Night
Moby stopped being cool with critics a decade ago when he followed Play's with a series of so-so albums. But the critics shouldn't have given up on him because Last Night is the perfect rave night send-up for indie kids.
.:. Best Song: Ooh Yeah

11. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver is a ghost -- a voice that's almost not there, but unmissible and haunting. For Emma (which was released in 2007 and re-released in 2008) filled the background on many nights of reading in front of the fire, lodging its beautiful but lost urgency in my subconscious, forcing its way into the forefront of my mind in its amazing choruses.
.:. Best Song: Skinny Love

12. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Facing down the death of the album, Okkervil River released the best double album of the decade. Only they didn't. This follow-on to last year's transcendent The Stage Names was recorded at the same time and has the same big feel, but it was released on its own this year. It's not quite as great, but I'l never complain about more goodness.
.:. Best Song: Singer Songwriter

13. R.E.M. - Accelerate
Before releasing Accelerate, R.E.M. played SXSW, like a new band trying to make a name for themselves -- a smart move after falling into irrelevance over the last a decade. Also smart were the concise and catchy songs that filled the album with the urgency of a new band and the chops of the all-time great band that is R.E.M.
.:. Best Song: Houston

14. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
The Helio Sequence are a late addition to my list, as I somehow overlooked them for most of the year. It was an unfortunate oversight because they've made a beautifully produced, intricately layered college rock album with more hooks than you'd expect from that description. Dreamy and propulsive.
.:. Best Song: Hallelujah

15. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
The best live band in America keeps treating us with excellent albums. While Stay Positive doesn't reach the heights of Boys and Girls, it feels more like The Hold Steady's Hold Steady album -- like what their stories and music have been building toward all these years. Whether or not the get their unified scene, they've given us another a fine album.
.:. Best Song: Sequestered in Memphis

16. The Lucksmiths - First Frost
The poor Lucksmiths. They've released very good albums every couple of years for more than a decade, critics have sung their praises (politely but not effusively), and then they have largely been forgotten outside of their small but devoted fan base. Too bad because they've got a diverse catalog that ranges from clever and catchy pop to the more subtle and quiet sounds of First Frost, maybe their most mature album.
.:. Best Song: Lament of the Chiming Wedgebill

17. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Taking a break from the Bright Eyes moniker and ostensibly a full-on album, Conor Oberst didn't take a break musically. These relaxed -- and even more countrified -- songs are up to the Bright Eyes standard, and refreshing for their informal feel.
.:. Best Song: Danny Callahan

18. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
At this point John Darnielle is one of the most reliable song writers in America. And if you like his acquired-taste singing voice like I do, he's also one of the best performers. On Heretic Pride, he sketches a series of short stories filled with details and darkness. I hope that he never stops telling us stories.
.:. Best Song: Sax Rohmer #1

19. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
The two geniuses behind Wolf Parade combine their talents to create head-bobbing indie pop goodness. At Mount Zoomer, while not as immediate as Apologies to the Queen Mary, tells us that, as long as Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner keep working together, we'll be getting good stuff from them for a long time -- and we'll start to hear their complementary sounds meld more completely together.
.:. Best Song: Soldier's Grin

20. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Stephin Merritt and company buried their pop genius in a gimmicky wall of distortion, but the songs were still as gooey and cynically ironic as ever under the fuzz. And after a few listens the distortion fades away to a classic sounding album.
.:. Best Song: California Girls

Best Songs Not In Top 20
A number of albums just missed the cut for me or had one or two really great songs. Here are my favorite songs of 2008 that aren't not covered by the top album list. In alphabetical order:

• Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance" and "Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo)"
  
• David Byrne and Brian Eno - "Home"
  
• Dr. Dog - "The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer"
  
• Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
  
• Mason Jennings - "Fighter Girl"
  
• M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
  
• MGMT - "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel"
• Nada Surf - "See These Bones"
  
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "We Call Upon the Author"
  
• Of Montreal - "Id Engager"
  
• Or, the Whale - "Call and Response"
  
• Santogold - "Lights Out" and "L.E.S. Artistes"
  
• The Ting Tings - "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and "Great DJ"
  

Summer in Seattle

I regularly tell anyone who will listen that the best season, anywhere in the world, is summer is Seattle. The gray skies are gone for three months, and the whole city glows like nobody's business. It is like one big outdoor party, and I took full advantage this weekend.

Cinema on the Lawn
On Friday night, Jana and I went to South Lake Union for the Cinema on the Lawn. The movie was Heathers, the well-loved dark comedy set in the unreal world of 1980's high school. It was fun to sit outside on a perfect night and watch the movie with the rest of the city. And it was great to see the Space Needle shining in its yellow Sub Pop glory as we made our way out of the park.

Biking to Redhook
On Saturday we went for a bike ride with friends. We took the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River trails north to the Redhook brewery in Woodinville. The ride was spectacular -- tree-lined trails, views of Mount Rainier, and incredible weather.

At the brewery, we enjoyed lunch and a pitcher of their summer seasonal outside on the deck. We also joined a tour for more beer drinking, a bit of history, and a brief brewing lesson. I learned that Redhook's "new" Long Hammer IPA is really just their Ballard Bitter (Ya Sure, Ya Betcha) with a more marketable name. I also learned that people love to bike to the brewery. I'd estimate that we saw 300 bikes on the racks in front of the Alehouse. Impressive.

Concert at Sunset Tavern
After a long ride most people would be tired, but instead of going to bed I stayed up late for a concert at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard. It being a perfect Seattle weekend, two of my favorite local bands were playing: Tullycraft and BOAT (along with the best ever indie pop band in Denton -- Fishboy).

The show was intimate and friendly. When Tullycraft introduced a sing-along, they started by asking how many people had seem them before. Half the crowd raised their hands, which made me nod my head and think, yeah, it's like playing for friends. It was that way for all the bands, with the groups in the audience leading the cheers and dancing along.

The opening band, Fishboy was an absolute revelation. They blasted through their nasally, nerdy songs, sounding like a poppier and more twee mixture of They Might Be Giants, Neutral Milk Hotel, and the Mountain Goats. (Yeah, you read that right. Check them out.) They had the crowd won with just their music, but the hyper trumpet playing, break dancing, and stereo smashing put them over the top. Great sweaty show.

Tullycraft, the band that I most wanted to see, were next. Now that Death Cab are anything but local, Tullycraft have stepped up to the honor of my favorite local band on the strength of their two most recent albums. Despite their great albums, Tullycraft are incredibly self-deprecating (they probably said that they sucked a few too many times during the show) and friendly. The downside of Tullycraft's local feel is that the show felt a bit small-time. The setlist was too short and the sound was too mediocre to meet all my expectations, but it was still damn fun. I sang along and bobbed my head, smiling up at the stage as the whole of Tullycraft smiled back at the crowd. Good times.

BOAT had the anchor leg, which surprised me after seeing them open for Blitzen Trapper and Menomena. They seemed like a promising little band in that show. This time they were kicking off their West Coast tour, and they were a different band -- a band getting ready to take a stab at being known. Their stage banter was poor but their stage presence and sound were big. They played new songs from their Topps EP and some of the best tracks off their two previous albums. The choruses were as loud and energetic as they were catchy, and the new material was stellar. They closed the show by asking some of the crowd and the opening bands to come on stage and shake percussion instruments. The crowd framed D. Crane and his guitar, and the dude looked like a real rock and roll hero. Cool stuff. I hope they make it.

Kayaking on Lake Union
On Sunday morning I got up early (at least early for the morning after a show) and went for a run at Dahl Playfield. Dahl Playfield is just down the street from our new house, and it has a nice running trail around the perimeter. I did eight laps, upping my pace each time.

After cleaning up around home, gardening, and preparing dinner, Jana and I headed to Agua Verde to kayak with friends. We paddled to Gasworks Park and toward the southern end of Lake Union before heading back. It was another amazing day, and half of Seattle was out cruising on the water. It felt great to be out on the water and right in the middle of the city at the same time. As we dipped our paddles in the water and took in the sights, I couldn't help but smile and think to myself: there's no better season in the world than summer in Seattle.

After kayaking we had dinner with friends on our backyard deck, enjoying an another incredible evening. After dinner we played ping pong in the basement and ate our home made ice cream. It was quite possibly the perfect Seattle weekend.

The Weekend that Wasn't

What I didn't do this weekend:

• Haul Ash Bike Ride from Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville to Red Door Alehouse in Fremont and back
  
• Obama and Decemberists Rally in Portland
  
• Beat the Bridge running race near UW and Montlake
  
• Seattle International Film Festival
  
• Seattle Cheese Festival at Pike Place Market
  
• Tickets for the Moby show at Neumo's (too slow)
  
• The camping trip at Mount Rainier that we had planned
  
• Norwegian Constitution Day parade in Ballard
  
• Who knows what else? Everything was happening this weekend
  

That might sound like one hell of a lot of missed opportunity, but it was still one of the best weekends that I've had since I got back to Seattle. The weather was amazing -- bright and sunny and 80's -- and the city was absolutely glowing.

On Friday after work I biked to Golden Gardens Park to meet Jana and her UW friends. We drank (lots of very strong) mojitos, grilled burgers, and had a beach fire. I had never been to the park before, which I now know to be a criminal oversight. It is a great beach with incredible views of the Olympics. The sunset was amazing; it was like going out to the ocean in California without the hour-long drive. I was completely in love with Seattle that night, and it wasn't just the rum talking.

On Saturday we went househunting. After looking at lots of places in Wallingford and Green Lake, we tried one in Wedgwood that didn't look all that promising in pictures. The pictures lied. It was a great place on a dead-end street, right across from a park. We couldn't believe that it was still on the market. We put in a bid right away.

After some grocery shopping and homework, we headed out to another party. This one was with many of the same UW friends, but it was at a house instead of on the beach. We grilled kabobs, drank (lots of very strong) margaritas, and ended up dancing in the kitchen. (Yes, even I was dancing.) Other than getting slaughtered in foosball it was another great night. The weather was just so amazing, and the dog even got to enjoy the party (and the chicken masala).

On Sunday we made pancakes for brunch with the last of the blackberries from last fall. Afterward, we sat on the back step and read the paper and In Defense of Food. Lyra rolled in the grass and got her belly rubbed.

After sitting around a while and doing some school work, I realized that I needed to get my act together and rent some skis for Ski to Sea next weekend. I found nothing on the internet, so I started driving around town.

Nothing at Second Ascent (but the Ballard Farmer's Market was hopping), nothing at REI, nothing at Play It Again, and nothing at the mountaineering store between REI and Play It Again. I was headed home in dejection when I decided to try to run-down little bike and ski shop that I drive by most every day. They were selling their old rentals for $20 more than the one-day rental fee a place in Bellingham was charging. I got skis, boots, and poles for cheap. Perfect.

When I got home, we made one of our favorite Indian dishes and then heard that we got the house that we wanted. That was a perfect way to cap an awesome weekend. We watched a few episodes of The Office and went to bed very happy.

Beautiful Spring Day

Saturday was quite possibly the most beautiful day in the history of Seattle. Just two weeks after we had snow, we had 75 degrees and sunny. It was so glorious that everyone wants to share what they did.

Not wanting to miss the fun, here's what I did...

I slept in late and then headed over the Magnuson Park for the semi-annual library book sale. They fill a massive warehouse with hundreds of thousands of books, almost all priced at $1. I spent a few hours there and walked away with books by Philip Roth, Roddy Doyle, Saul Bellow, Sherman Alexi, Thomas Pynchon, Rick Steves, and more. I love book sales.

After the sale, Jana and I headed to the grocery store to buy supplies for our dinner party. The store was almost empty. Who would go shopping inside on such a beautiful day? It wasn't all bad, though. To get to the grocery store we drive over the hills on 65th, and the views of the mountains to the east and the west are stunning on a sunny day.

Back at home we opened up all the windows for the first time in months, cleaned the place, and did prep work for dinner. I really wanted to get outside, though.

Fortunately, I had about an hour for a run. I put on my shorts and tank top. (Goodbye to running in hat, gloves, and a jacket!) and headed for the Burke-Gilman Trail. The trail was absolutely packed: bikers, walkers, runners, more bikers, recumbent bikes, dogs, strollers, hand-crank bikes, oh, and more bikers. Everyone was smiling and happy to be out on the trail.

I was so excited that I ran the first two miles at about a 5:40 pace. That's fast for me, so I decided to change my plans for a steady 7-miler to a 2 mile sprint followed by 3.5 miles of easy (6:30) cruising, followed by another 2 mile sprint. In between runs, I took breaks to stretch and to talk with people on the trail.

While I was getting ready for my last sprint, a biker who I'd passed on the easy cruise stopped to say Hi. She was amazed by how fast I was running. I played humble, but I enjoyed hearing that -- and knowing that I was about to run quite a bit faster. I stretched a while, let her get ahead, and then took off. Nothing like passing an impressed biker at an even faster pace.

After the run, I cleaned up and we got ready for dinner. We had ten guests from Jana's grad school program in our little apartment. It was a good time. Jana made Thai Iced Teas with Baileys and we had peanut, mint, and cilantro pesto over pasta, broccoli, red peppers, and tofu. Plus fresh pineapple and cherry cobbler for dessert. After dinner we had a big game of Apples to Apples. It was a great end to a great day. Hooray for Spring!

Magnetic Fields at Town Hall

After almost a decade of waiting, I finally saw The Magnetic Fields when they came to Seattle last week to play Town Hall. I still wish that I'd seen them during their 69 Love Songs heyday, but this show was a good substitute. They played a full set of 25 songs, focusing on their most recent release Distortion, but including quite a few from their seminal triple album.

Town Hall was mostly a good venue for a Magnetic Fields show. A beautiful old building with pews sloping gently toward the stage, it's definitely a better fit than a noisy bar, but maybe a bit too old and sleepy for a indie pop concert. The whole audience and the whole band remained seated for the entire concert, almost like a symphony performance. I appreciated being able to relax and see easily, but the show lacked energy.

Stephin Merritt didn't do a whole lot to increase the energy, acting like a misanthropic bastard most of the night. Sometimes that meant cutting humor, but mostly it meant that he came off like a detached and angry bastard who knows he can act like a detached and angry bastard because he writes better songs than just about anyone alive. Claudia Gonson did her best to provide lighter stage banter between songs, but let's face it: people go to Magnetic Fields concerts to see and relate to the genius behind those amazing songs. Outside of singing and strumming his bouzouki, the closest that Merritt came to relating was when he went into the crowd to get someone to turn off their video camera.

But the songs. They didn't disappoint. The songs from Distortion sounded much better live, without all the distortion that hangs over the album. I felt like I was hearing some of them for the first time, and was glad that Shirley Simms joined the tour to sing on the new songs. I particularly liked "California Girls," "Drive on Driver," "The Nun's Litany," and "Too Drunk to Dream." I liked that people actually laughed out loud when they heard the lyrics. It made listening more communal and made me feel like the audience was actually relating with the band.

I also liked the clean and professional sound throughout the performance. I credit Sam Davol and John Woo, who sat quietly in the middle of the stage, holding the performance together with their attentive and precise cello and guitar and playing. I think that they made the more formal setting work because they seemed so serious and deliberate with their movements.

The highlights of the concert for me were the songs from 69 Love Songs. They are just flat out better than the songs on the current album, not matter how they play them. I wish that they would have played more songs from that album, but that time has passed. The best "oldies" for me were "Come Back From San Francisco, " "The Night You Can't Remember," and "Papa Was a Rodeo." The duet at the end of "Rodeo" always send a chill down my spine, even if it is a bit cheesy.

The songs from i also sounded surprisingly strong, especially "I Don't Believe You," "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend", and the closer, "It's Only Time."

Overall, it was a good concert. It confirmed my love of The Magnetic Fields many wonderful songs and helped me appreciate their new album. I wish that Stephin Merritt had been a bit more personable and energetic, but I guess his fussiness and crankiness were just about right for the mini-symphony staging and performance. The man is a genius after all.