thx anners for sending me this sweet link from google–it’s the moon!. The first manned lunar landing (remember that game) was 36 years ago today – Apollo 11. Make sure to zoom all the way in, the surface detail is remarkable!

Today had been going pretty well until Fritz sent me this. Let’s just hope that we never face something like this again. The shattered dreams, broken souls, where are they now?

I totally dig Fire on the Mountain. It’s a smallish hotwings joint down on Interstate just south of Skidmore (and a bit north of the Alibi on the other side of the street) that serves up some honest friggin food. Honest because it’s good. Honest because it’s fried. And honest because it’s hot. Sara and Jordan deliver some 12 plus flavors of wings, ranging for sweet BBQ to jerk to El Jefe, with spicy peanut, mild and medium, and raspberry habanero in between.

The first wine bar to be featured on beerdrinker, Beth’s sweet little shop just east of the light at 15th and Alberta is quite possibly the ideal wine bar. In the back are comfy chairs to recline while on whilst sipping your favorite Spanish wine (or whatever) if you can convince Porter (the sweet lab) to share. The chair, not the wine. Everyday Wine focuses on quality affordable wines…very few bottles are over $30, with many fine choices under ten bucks!

My buddy Mark brought this fantastic taqueria experience to my attention. Nestled in the back of the Tortilleria Y Tienda De Leon’s are a few tables and a lunch counter displaying a wonderful selection of Mexican specialties. I stopped by there (not the first time by any means) the other day after hitting some balls at the driving range with my German buddy and his small child. One of the things that he wanted to do while visiting was hit up some good Mexican food, and the Taco Del Mar experience from the day before simply didn’t cut it in my book.

My German buddies were in town the last week. It’s always a pleasure to hang out with them, they’re such fun fold. This time they brought along their small child as well…wow, what a sweet little handful. Flo and Nina got into town last Thursday, direct from Germany so they were a bit tired, otherwise I would’ve taken them by last Thursday on Alberta, my hood. I took Flo to see the Timbers tie Vancouver (ugh…what a bummer of a lame-ass red card in the 24th) and we hung out with the Timbers Army.

so the Alberta Public House isn’t new. Not like the Concordia. It also doesn’t have the beer selection of the Concordia. But I still like the place. It’s totally chill, a geographical mess (on the inside), and full of pigs. The pink cartoon kind. They have some fun music, a good patio, and pretty alright food. Their happy hour (OLCC, can I say that?) last until 8pm on weekdays, which means that even after driving back in from the ‘tron I can still have time to get my happy swerve on for a discount.

A new pub has blessed my little neighborhood, and I strongly recommend that you get out and check it out. Located at NE 33rd and Killingsworth in Portland, it’s in the same spot as the old Et Cetera Tavern, a chronically underperforming watering hole…now gone. The new ownership has done a fantastic job of making the place more pleasant, having given it a major facelift, a new menu, and a renewed focus on beer.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve achieved one of my longterm goals in life a little early! Go to Google and enter beer drinker OR beerdrinker. You can expect news of other great accomplishments in upcoming posts.