InBerkeley

I just got back from a very successful and lively rssCloud meetup this evening at South Hall on the UC campus.

A full report from a variety of perspectives is to come soon.

General

Overheard today on the Twitterstream:

EvieN: Driving through the hills above Berkeley in Beetle convertible listening to remastered Yellow Submarine. This is an ad for something.

justinkwaters: Unicycling downhill through the cal-berkeley campus: way cooler than than riding a fixie through the mission.

Gelidity: Gotta love Berkeley. I’m walking down the street and I ask this guy for a light. He didn’t have one so he gave me a brownie!!

Berkeley Tweets, General

I don’t usually associate museums with beer, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen next month at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the U.C. Berkeley campus. All in the name of education, of course.

On October 10, the museum will be presenting 99 Bottles of Beer, Global Brewing Traditions 2500 B.C. — Present, the third installment of its annual series exploring the anthropology of food.

99 Bottles of Beer will include a moderated discussion on beer and brewing led by distinguished professors and renowned beer experts, including Fritz Maytag, President and Brewmaster of Anchor Steam Brewery. Held in the Pacific Film Archive Theater, the symposium’s topics include the history of beer and its rituals, the process of beer brewing and the traditions of beer consumption. Also, a workshop on how packaging affects beer flavor will be held by speakers from 21st Amendment Brewery in Kroeber Hall.

A beer tasting fair on the Hearst Museum’s patio and portico will be ongoing throughout the day. Beer vendors include Trumer Brauerei, 21st Amendment Brewery, Anchor Steam Brewery, Hoppy Brewing Co., Eel River Brewing Co., Butte Creek Brewing Co. and Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse, among others. Food will be provided by Henry’s, featuring creations by Chef Eddie Blyden.

The event accompanies the new exhibition (free admission) on view in the museum gallery.  Curated by Dr. Ira Jacknis, the Museum’s Research Anthropologist, the exhibition presents 130 beer-related objects from many eras and broad geography, in a breadth of media.

Tickets cost $30 for the full program (Symposium, Beer Fair and Workshop), or $20 for the Symposium only or Beer Fair and Workshop only. Museum members and UCB students receive discounts, and an additional $5 early-bird ticket discount is available to those purchasing tickets before September 12.

Events, Food, UC Berkeley

If understated, sardonic humor is your style, you’ll enjoy Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket. Handler is speaking for free tomorrow at the Morrison Library on the UC Berkeley campus from 5pm.

One caution: if you have a child who is a Lemony Snicket fan (and someone has bought 53 million Lemony Snicket books), they may find Handler in person a more difficult character to enjoy. My son devoured all 13 in A Series of Unfortunate Events and was excited to see Handler in Walnut Creek, of all places, earlier this year. I thought he was hilarious, but his dark, dead-pan style totally eluded my 10-year old.

Handler’s talk is the first in a series of readings by Bay Area writers at the Morrison Library. Future readings include Annie Barrows and Dave Eggers.

Books