Being There - Seriously, I talk About Beer....eventually.

So i was trying to bring things back to the briefly recurring theme, the secrecy that has probably now been forgotten that was heavy in some past posts, the games, the puzzlement and it all came around at the same time. The picture is from the film Being There, i'm reading the book right now as is my pal The Yeoman. We both give early approval and the film has been bumped to the top of my Netflix queue.

The Yeoman and i have a long history getting jobs for each other. When one's been in need, the other has been able to come through with a referral of some sort whether it be guarding the gates of Pottstown's famed and extinct Gruber Pool* or making the United States a safer place to use your telephone directory, we've always had each other's back.

One such place that seems to have produced the best stories and memories is Video Update. They've since been bought by Movie Gallery, i'm sure you remember the merger, the buyout, the holdout, the controversy, and the day video store rentals changed forever.

As far as a job to transition out of high school and into time in between college semesters, it was a the stuff dreams are made of. Hardly any supervision, many hours spent being the sole employee on duty, free movies, it was wonderful. Conveniently situated between Domino's Pizza and Peking Gourmet, Video Update had a few quirks of its own that may not have been visible to the naked eye.


There was a time that they rented video game consoles, so naturally these were hooked up to the security monitor in the back room and played. Many books were read behind the counter and i remember feeling a bit guilty about my lack of exercise at one point and would walk up and down the aisles reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. I also rigged up my disc man so i could play CDs while i worked and if that didn’t suit my needs i’d just pop in a movie. I had a pretty good roster of go-to flicks which included: The Sandlot, The Apartment, 12 Angry Men, The Last Waltz, and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. If i was feeling extra specially adventurous i’d bring in a bootleg video of The Grateful Dead or Bob Marley or Phish, much to the delight of my customers.

Dealing with the hundreds of movies stocked in Video Update, it was inevitable that a list of movies i wanted to see would be drafted and would eventually grow far beyond what i could borrow from the store during my time under their employ. Somewhere on that list was the film Being There (also the title of my favorite Wilco album) starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacClaine.

So that’s how we got to where we are today. June 25th, 2008 – Page 69, the start of Chapter 5. If you’re actually still reading this, click the link to read even more.



So what does this all have to do with anything anyway?

The picture at the top of this post is kind of how i feel right now. A lot is and has been going on lately, my feet are not on the ground.

I got a new job.

A few weeks ago i traveled to Holland, Michigan to interview with the folks at New Holland Brewing Company and i found out last week that i will be the next Beer Ambassador to join their team. I start on Monday and i couldn't be more excited. I don't think i've ever been this excited about a job. It's a great opportunity for me and i really like the folks at the brewery and brew pub that i've met already.

They make a host of really nice beers, the likes of which i’m sure you’ve heard of: Mad Hatter, The Poet, Dragon’s Milk. What’s more is that they make a lot of beer. They’re the second biggest brewery in Michigan.

So what does that mean for the blog exactly? At this point i don’t know specifically. There’ll still be a lot of tasting notes and pictures i’m sure, adventures will need chronicling, and i’ll be doing some traveling, so the amount of beer and beer things i’m around will increase, and that will warrant coverage.

What i’m saying here is hang with me while it all figures itself out. Viva la Grain Bill.


*Story i'll tell you over a pint sometime #3: How we almost electrocuted a couple hundred people, i jumped in, and lived to tell the tale.