#I might try to figure out who on the design team is an alum of uw

[human-sweater-vest]

okay so are we gonna talk about how fionna and cake's world is seattle? the library that simon and betty met at is a perfect dupe of suzzallo library on the university of washington seattle campus and the skyline of the city fionna is living in has the space needle in it. seattle lives rent free in simon's head.

this of course is then INCREDIBLY ICONIC that simon becomes ice king because the most common seattle social phenomenon is called "seattle freeze"

[wineanddinosaur]

Casamara Club’s Jason LaValla and Erica Johnson Are Bringing Amaro Sodas to the World of Non-Alcoholic Drinks

While the pandemic has turned many of us into big (or bigger) drinkers, two amaro enthusiasts inspired by the Italian tradition of botanical-based libations have been quietly toiling to grow their small line of amari sodas.

Launched in 2018 by Jason LaValla, Casamara Club is a line of sparkling amaro soft drinks (or “leisure sodas” as the brand calls them) attractively designed for a discerning group of trend-seeking drinkers. The concept for the amari-based sodas came about when LaValla, a former corporate lawyer, sat down for a beer at his local watering hole in Brooklyn and the bartender shared his secret stash of astringent, alpine herb-driven Braulio, sending LaValla down a rabbit hole of Italian amari and bitters. From there, LaValla got the idea for “bitters & soda” and began tinkering in his kitchen, playing with botanicals to create a balanced, non-alcoholic riff on a Campari soda. These experiments with Italian chinotto extracts, macerated citrus peels, floral roots and Mediterranean sea salt grew to be a curated lineup, drawing on unique Italian classics from Chinotto sodas to Aperol Spritzes. “I did about 400 variations of [Chinotto & Juniper] heavy Alta over six months, trying to figure out not just the botanical profile, but how to strike a balance between tart, bitter, sweet, and salty,” LaValla tells me. “Once I figured all that out, the next three [flavors] came a bit quicker.”

Just after LaValla sold the first cases of Casamara Club, he decided he wanted to bring in someone with food production and sourcing experience, whom he could trust to run the business with him. Over coffee on New Year’s Day 2019, Erica Johnson, LaValla’s longtime friend and an Eataly communications alum, came on as a business partner and an integral part in propelling Casamara Club’s mission forward. “Erica was the first and only person I talked to since she was so supportive of the club soda idea from the start. … She was one of the first people to try my early amaro experimentations,” says LaValla.

LaValla and Johnson’s goal has always been to show their appreciation for Italy’s amaro and bitter liqueur culture with their thoughtful line of easy-drinking sodas. And while the concept didn’t initially catch on, the pair’s persistence and smart marketing has since landed Casamara Club in a number of specialty shops, restaurants, and bars around the country.

Read on to learn how these two are on the forefront of the new booze-free drinks movement and about the path they’re paving for the future of leisure soda.

1. What inspired you to create a line of alcohol-free drinks? What place do you think they occupy in the industry?

Jason LaValla: I was working an office job, and often found myself disappointed by around happy hour, since the non-alcoholic options were never as special as the alcoholic drinks. I don’t mean to be glib, but none of us should be drinking alcohol 100 percent of the time! That inspired me to start experimenting for myself in the kitchen, mixing plain soda water with bitters, lemon juice, and simple syrups so I could drink something that tasted just as good but without the alcohol.

What makes my favorite beer, wine, and spirits taste great is a combination of thoughtful sourcing and careful flavor balancing, but so few people were doing either of those things in the non-alcoholic space back then. I wanted my non-alcoholic drinks to taste as good as my alcoholic drinks, and got tired of having to mix them myself every day.

2. What is the mission of Casamara Club, and how are you achieving it?

Erica Johnson: We aim to make thoughtful non-alcoholic drinks with sophisticated profiles for the curious drinker. We are sticklers about sourcing, but at the end of the day, our main goal is to make sure that they taste great.

Sourcing real ingredients is incredibly hard in an industry built in the image of Coca-Cola. So much of what is available are “natural flavors,” which are constructed in a lab from a blend of mystery extracts to taste like someone’s idea of a particular botanical.

Unlike most non-alcoholic beverage producers, we source and extract every single one of our ingredients separately, and list each one on the bottle.

3. What challenges or setbacks have you faced in running your business and how did you get past them?

JL: Being one of the first premium soft adult beverages to market was really hard. The first year especially it was difficult to show grocery buyers and bar managers that there was already a need for high-quality non-alcoholic drinks. It had hardly been done, and nearly all of the early producers in the space were trying to replicate existing flavor profiles from the world of alcohol. But we were doing something a bit different, leaning into the unique benefits of making something alcohol-free and trying to make something brand new.

4. What’s a significant shift your business has made in the last six months that you had never considered before or never thought possible?

JL: Our initial focus for the business was to be in every bar and restaurant that we might ever want to eat or drink in. Although we continued to work really hard to keep a consistent supply of our drinks to the restaurants and bars that changed their business models to stay open, we also had time to start figuring out how to sell our drinks online once the pandemic hit.

There are so many factors that make selling online hard for us. First of all, bottles are super heavy and expensive to ship. Not only do we need special packaging, we also have to compete with online stores like Amazon that offer “free” two-day shipping.

We were very lucky that when the pandemic hit, we’d just moved into a new fulfillment center, one that was willing to work with a business as small as ours, but still established enough to grow with us.

There’s also the issue of, how do you actually find people to sell to? Before the pandemic, if I wanted to reach people in a certain place, I’d stop by a few grocery stores, bars, and restaurants with samples, and have a conversation with the buyer. When you’re selling online, all of that goes out the window. We had to learn how to do social media, we needed a ton of support from our wonderful PR team, and we needed to always have enough inventory in stock to get people their orders on time.

To put it simply, the pandemic didn’t translate into a successful online presence — it was simply our only option for survival.

EJ: As a new company, we’re constantly coming up against things that we never thought were possible. Every new milestone we hit is a surprise, whether it is the sheer volume of orders we received in January, which led us to sell out way ahead of our next scheduled production date, or the number of people that actually read our Friday newsletter that mostly details the dumb action movies we’ve seen that week.

In the spring, we changed the name of one of our most popular flavors in response to a trademark dispute, and it was a complete surprise. Who knew we were big enough to be threatened with frivolous litigation? Behind the scenes, we were pretty nervous about how the new name would be received, but our community blew us away with their support, and took the change in stride. We’ve started to adjust our thinking on what “possible” means.

5. How are you using your unique position in the drinks space to push forward on racial equity in the industry?

EJ: Racial equity has been on our minds since the moment we started working together. We’re doing our best to reflect that in how we source and who we collaborate with.

Our corner of the industry is small but growing, and it’s been heartening to see so many of our peers committing to change the status quo. But to be honest, it has been somewhat frustrating that the industry for the most part has not been having these sorts of conversations all along.

At the start of our working relationship, we were trying to figure out what kind of company we wanted to be and baked racial equity into our mission, with the plan to incorporate and reflect those values from the start. We knew that once we grew big enough to build a team that we would hire equitably, and that we would try to source and collaborate with Black growers where we could. It’s an ongoing conversation for us, tied to ideas of food sovereignty and justice, and the visibility of these issues.

6. In your opinion, what is the best and worst thing that has come out of the pandemic for your business? For the drinks industry as a whole?

EJ: I’m not sure we can separate our business from the industry as a whole. Everything that’s made running the business hard has also made us more resilient and more adaptable. It’s showed us we can lean on our community, and put us in a position to be supportive in return.

7. What opportunities are there for up-and-coming talent in your area of the industry?

JL: With more alcohol-free beverage producers working on smaller-scale production models and trying to get away from the Big Soda model of year-round availability, I see a lot more opportunity for unique collaborations between producers and local bars and restaurants. We just finished working with a local brewery to build out a “microbrew” production line specifically for non-alcoholic drinks, and are super excited about how that will allow us to bring in smaller, more interesting suppliers from our community.

8. What’s your long-term vision for Casamara Club?

EJ: The same thing as our short-term vision. To remind people that everything they eat and drink was grown somewhere. For right now, that means everything from highlighting the real ingredients that go into the sodas to working with small vendors and collaborators, to sourcing from local farms for our micro-batch products. We’re already working on new ways to extend all of this out, creating drinks that both support and are evocative of local food economies across the country.

The article Casamara Club’s Jason LaValla and Erica Johnson Are Bringing Amaro Sodas to the World of Non-Alcoholic Drinks appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/jason-lavalla-erica-johnson-casamara-club-amaro-sodas/

[johnboothus]

Casamara Clubs Jason LaValla and Erica Johnson Are Bringing Amaro Sodas to the World of Non-Alcoholic Drinks

While the pandemic has turned many of us into big (or bigger) drinkers, two amaro enthusiasts inspired by the Italian tradition of botanical-based libations have been quietly toiling to grow their small line of amari sodas.

Launched in 2018 by Jason LaValla, Casamara Club is a line of sparkling amaro soft drinks (or “leisure sodas” as the brand calls them) attractively designed for a discerning group of trend-seeking drinkers. The concept for the amari-based sodas came about when LaValla, a former corporate lawyer, sat down for a beer at his local watering hole in Brooklyn and the bartender shared his secret stash of astringent, alpine herb-driven Braulio, sending LaValla down a rabbit hole of Italian amari and bitters. From there, LaValla got the idea for “bitters & soda” and began tinkering in his kitchen, playing with botanicals to create a balanced, non-alcoholic riff on a Campari soda. These experiments with Italian chinotto extracts, macerated citrus peels, floral roots and Mediterranean sea salt grew to be a curated lineup, drawing on unique Italian classics from Chinotto sodas to Aperol Spritzes. “I did about 400 variations of [Chinotto & Juniper] heavy Alta over six months, trying to figure out not just the botanical profile, but how to strike a balance between tart, bitter, sweet, and salty,” LaValla tells me. “Once I figured all that out, the next three [flavors] came a bit quicker.”

Just after LaValla sold the first cases of Casamara Club, he decided he wanted to bring in someone with food production and sourcing experience, whom he could trust to run the business with him. Over coffee on New Year’s Day 2019, Erica Johnson, LaValla’s longtime friend and an Eataly communications alum, came on as a business partner and an integral part in propelling Casamara Club’s mission forward. “Erica was the first and only person I talked to since she was so supportive of the club soda idea from the start. … She was one of the first people to try my early amaro experimentations,” says LaValla.

LaValla and Johnson’s goal has always been to show their appreciation for Italy’s amaro and bitter liqueur culture with their thoughtful line of easy-drinking sodas. And while the concept didn’t initially catch on, the pair’s persistence and smart marketing has since landed Casamara Club in a number of specialty shops, restaurants, and bars around the country.

Read on to learn how these two are on the forefront of the new booze-free drinks movement and about the path they’re paving for the future of leisure soda.

1. What inspired you to create a line of alcohol-free drinks? What place do you think they occupy in the industry?

Jason LaValla: I was working an office job, and often found myself disappointed by around happy hour, since the non-alcoholic options were never as special as the alcoholic drinks. I don’t mean to be glib, but none of us should be drinking alcohol 100 percent of the time! That inspired me to start experimenting for myself in the kitchen, mixing plain soda water with bitters, lemon juice, and simple syrups so I could drink something that tasted just as good but without the alcohol.

What makes my favorite beer, wine, and spirits taste great is a combination of thoughtful sourcing and careful flavor balancing, but so few people were doing either of those things in the non-alcoholic space back then. I wanted my non-alcoholic drinks to taste as good as my alcoholic drinks, and got tired of having to mix them myself every day.

2. What is the mission of Casamara Club, and how are you achieving it?

Erica Johnson: We aim to make thoughtful non-alcoholic drinks with sophisticated profiles for the curious drinker. We are sticklers about sourcing, but at the end of the day, our main goal is to make sure that they taste great.

Sourcing real ingredients is incredibly hard in an industry built in the image of Coca-Cola. So much of what is available are “natural flavors,” which are constructed in a lab from a blend of mystery extracts to taste like someone’s idea of a particular botanical.

Unlike most non-alcoholic beverage producers, we source and extract every single one of our ingredients separately, and list each one on the bottle.

3. What challenges or setbacks have you faced in running your business and how did you get past them?

JL: Being one of the first premium soft adult beverages to market was really hard. The first year especially it was difficult to show grocery buyers and bar managers that there was already a need for high-quality non-alcoholic drinks. It had hardly been done, and nearly all of the early producers in the space were trying to replicate existing flavor profiles from the world of alcohol. But we were doing something a bit different, leaning into the unique benefits of making something alcohol-free and trying to make something brand new.

4. What’s a significant shift your business has made in the last six months that you had never considered before or never thought possible?

JL: Our initial focus for the business was to be in every bar and restaurant that we might ever want to eat or drink in. Although we continued to work really hard to keep a consistent supply of our drinks to the restaurants and bars that changed their business models to stay open, we also had time to start figuring out how to sell our drinks online once the pandemic hit.

There are so many factors that make selling online hard for us. First of all, bottles are super heavy and expensive to ship. Not only do we need special packaging, we also have to compete with online stores like Amazon that offer “free” two-day shipping.

We were very lucky that when the pandemic hit, we’d just moved into a new fulfillment center, one that was willing to work with a business as small as ours, but still established enough to grow with us.

There’s also the issue of, how do you actually find people to sell to? Before the pandemic, if I wanted to reach people in a certain place, I’d stop by a few grocery stores, bars, and restaurants with samples, and have a conversation with the buyer. When you’re selling online, all of that goes out the window. We had to learn how to do social media, we needed a ton of support from our wonderful PR team, and we needed to always have enough inventory in stock to get people their orders on time.

To put it simply, the pandemic didn’t translate into a successful online presence — it was simply our only option for survival.

EJ: As a new company, we’re constantly coming up against things that we never thought were possible. Every new milestone we hit is a surprise, whether it is the sheer volume of orders we received in January, which led us to sell out way ahead of our next scheduled production date, or the number of people that actually read our Friday newsletter that mostly details the dumb action movies we’ve seen that week.

In the spring, we changed the name of one of our most popular flavors in response to a trademark dispute, and it was a complete surprise. Who knew we were big enough to be threatened with frivolous litigation? Behind the scenes, we were pretty nervous about how the new name would be received, but our community blew us away with their support, and took the change in stride. We’ve started to adjust our thinking on what “possible” means.

5. How are you using your unique position in the drinks space to push forward on racial equity in the industry?

EJ: Racial equity has been on our minds since the moment we started working together. We’re doing our best to reflect that in how we source and who we collaborate with.

Our corner of the industry is small but growing, and it’s been heartening to see so many of our peers committing to change the status quo. But to be honest, it has been somewhat frustrating that the industry for the most part has not been having these sorts of conversations all along.

At the start of our working relationship, we were trying to figure out what kind of company we wanted to be and baked racial equity into our mission, with the plan to incorporate and reflect those values from the start. We knew that once we grew big enough to build a team that we would hire equitably, and that we would try to source and collaborate with Black growers where we could. It’s an ongoing conversation for us, tied to ideas of food sovereignty and justice, and the visibility of these issues.

6. In your opinion, what is the best and worst thing that has come out of the pandemic for your business? For the drinks industry as a whole?

EJ: I’m not sure we can separate our business from the industry as a whole. Everything that’s made running the business hard has also made us more resilient and more adaptable. It’s showed us we can lean on our community, and put us in a position to be supportive in return.

7. What opportunities are there for up-and-coming talent in your area of the industry?

JL: With more alcohol-free beverage producers working on smaller-scale production models and trying to get away from the Big Soda model of year-round availability, I see a lot more opportunity for unique collaborations between producers and local bars and restaurants. We just finished working with a local brewery to build out a “microbrew” production line specifically for non-alcoholic drinks, and are super excited about how that will allow us to bring in smaller, more interesting suppliers from our community.

8. What’s your long-term vision for Casamara Club?

EJ: The same thing as our short-term vision. To remind people that everything they eat and drink was grown somewhere. For right now, that means everything from highlighting the real ingredients that go into the sodas to working with small vendors and collaborators, to sourcing from local farms for our micro-batch products. We’re already working on new ways to extend all of this out, creating drinks that both support and are evocative of local food economies across the country.

The article Casamara Club’s Jason LaValla and Erica Johnson Are Bringing Amaro Sodas to the World of Non-Alcoholic Drinks appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/jason-lavalla-erica-johnson-casamara-club-amaro-sodas/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/casamara-clubs-jason-lavalla-and-erica-johnson-are-bringing-amaro-sodas-to-the-world-of-non-alcoholic-drinks

[ewh111]

2017 Annual List of Favorite Film Experiences

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

With each passing year, I find it harder to keep up with new release films, as well as the growing queue of ones on my “To See” list. On the other hand, it feels like quality films are sequestered till the end of the year (nothing against summer blockbusters, but with a few exceptions, many are forgotten by the time you get back to your car) and the growing appeal and abundance of quality television fostered by its broader canvas for in-depth storytelling and character development is another distraction. 

But that brings me to one of my favorite things about the holiday season in Los Angeles. The last six weeks or so of the year is filled with many appealing options as films jockey for exposure ahead of the awards season. And I have a great deal of appreciation and gratitude (and a bit of jealousy) for the many artists and others who have the passion to make these visions come to life for us to enjoy.

All the best for a wonderful 2018 and hope that you get a chance to see some of the films below that moved me in some way, sometimes filling me with emotion or awe, or provoking long-lasting thoughts, or just trigger the desire to re-experience and see it again. So, here they are, in no particular order.

Cheers, Ed

P.S.–I’ve gotten many requests to also review favorite meals of the year, so that might come in another post. :)

Indelible Coming of Age Tales

Call Me By Your Name — Northern Italy, summer, 1983. Having read the André Aciman novel, this was my most anticipated film of 2017. And it did not disappoint. This beautifully told and lushly shot coming of age romance features a remarkable and revelatory (and perhaps best of 2017) performance by newcomer Timothée Chalamet (also in Lady Bird), who achingly captures the universal yearning, passion, heartache, and torment of first love. Kudos also to Armie Hammer and director Luca Guadagnino. While many moments stand out, including the empathetic and compassionate speech by father Michael Stuhlberg (also in Shape of Water) that is the dream of every LGBT kid, it’s the minutes-long reactive close-up on Chalamet as the credits roll and song of yearning plays that devastatingly endures. My favorite of 2017.

Lady Bird — Sacramento, 2002. A semi-autobiographical coming of age in the suburbs tale featuring the humorous, turbulent, and affecting relationship between mother and daughter by Greta Gerwig in her directorial debut. With a fabulous performance by Saoirse Ronan as the head-strong teen who calls herself Lady Bird, a terrific Laurie Metcalf as her mom, and HW alum Beanie Feldstein ’11 as her best friend, this is the rare comedy that is smart, witty, and endearing.

Compelling Period Piece True Stories 

Dunkirk — Dunkirk, France, 1940. A visually and viscerally compelling piece of filmmaking about the miraculous evacuation of 300,000 British troops from the doomed beach at Dunkirk, masterfully crafted by director Christopher Nolan via three intertwined timeframes (a week on the beach, a day by sea, and an hour in the air) that intersect and fold back and ultimately, come together in the end. 

The Post — Washington, DC, 1971. Spielberg + Streep + Hanks = a highly timely and relevant telling of the Washington Post’s saga to publish the Pentagon Papers. Resonant on so many levels with urgent themes of today—the need for a free press, the role of women in a man’s world, and a judicial branch independent from an overreaching executive branch—all told with briskly entertaining and thrilling pace. 

All the Money In The World — UK/Italy, 1973. I’ll admit that I was initially attracted to this pic to see how director Ridley Scott erased Kevin Spacey and recast Christopher Plummer in the role of billionaire J. Paul Getty and reshot major portions of his film six weeks before its release date. Hats off to him for pulling off a very engaging thriller depicting the notorious kidnapping of Getty’s grandson. Michelle Williams is spot-on as the mother who goes toe-to-toe with her infamously frugal father-in-law who refuses to pay ransom for her child. 

Dark Master Works By An Irish Playwright and a Black Comedian 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri — Ebbing, MO, present day. Loved this very dark dramedy whose story emanates from a tragic event in a small town. There’s plenty of levity and wonderfully drawn characters via Martin McDonagh’s clever screenplay that mixes revenge, redemption, and moral ambiguity, featuring a trio of tremendous performances by raging mother of deceased raped daughter Frances McDormand, small town police chief and target of McDormand’s ire Woody Harrelson, and racist, violent, alcoholic mama’s boy police officer Sam Rockwell. 

Get Out — Suburban countryside, present day America. A creepy, twisted, funny, scary, and subversive version of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” crossed with a little bit of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” for the post-Obama era. A brilliant, provocative, and unnerving nexus of sophisticated horror, comedy, and extremely biting social satire by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut.

Strange and Untraditional Love Stories 

Phantom Thread —London, circa 1950s. I love Paul Thomas Anderson, and he’s made one strange but riveting movie here. A gorgeous Jonny Greenwood score swings from elegantly jazzy to intensely haunting, setting the mood for this darkly humorous film featuring hard to describe relationships (I hesitate to call it a love story) between an obsessively demanding and fastidious fashion designer (Daniel Day-Lewis supposedly in his last film role), his muse, and his ever-lurking sister/business partner and their respective emotional/psychological (and ultimately perverse) gamesmanship. And one may not listen to water-pouring or toast-buttering, or mushroom omelet eating in the same way again. 

The Shape of Water — Baltimore, circa 1962. Mix in a large dose of Cold War thriller and Creature from the Black Lagoon, plus a little Busby Berkeley, and you either get a political allegory (marginalized “others” whether mute, black, gay, or non-human vs. the Man) or romantic fairy tale. Leave it to Guillermo del Toro to bring us the more “romantic” one in this strange love stories category, an oddly beautiful and enchanting interspecies romance between two mute and isolated beings, one a cleaning woman (a wonderful Sally Hawkins) and the other a Creature From the Black Lagoon-inspired merman kept in a top secret government facility. Arguably, the “monster” in this story is the intensely sadistic government agent played with gusto by Michael Shannon. 

Bizarre Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction Tales 

I, Tonya —  Portland, OR, 1994. A stellar Margot Robbie plays the hard scrabble, trailer-trash, and ultimately disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding in this unbelievably crazy but true story of her life leading up to the infamous incident before the 1994 Winter Olympics. Told in zippy mockumentary style that is fun to watch, Allison Janney as her zany, abusive mother leads a supporting cast of inept characters involved in Tonya’s dysfunctional life. Directed by Craig Gillispie who also directed the offbeat gem, Lars and the Real Girl. 

The Disaster Artist — Hollywood, 2003. Another bizarre, but true real life story about the enigmatic writer/director Tommy Wiseau who made one of the most absurdly bad films ever that eventually turned into a cult classic (The Room). Humorously portrayed by James Franco, who also directed this offbeat but unexpectedly poignant movie about making a movie, though it’s ultimately more about the importance of friendship, having dreams, and America’s fascination with celebrity and movies. (And the side-by-side comparison of scenes from the actual The Room and recreations in Franco’s film are hysterical.)

Docs About Felines and Cheating Russians 

Kedi — Yes, this a documentary about cats, but it’s not just about cats. Rather it’s a meditative and heartwarming look at the community of felines that inhabit the streets of Istanbul, delving into their centuries-long symbiotic relationship with humans in the old city. The city is teeming with cats that are neither feral or domestic, each with different personalities and lives they share with the people they adopt. And therein lies the heart of this film, as the locals share their bonds and therapeutic experiences with these complex creatures, ranging from the mundane to the profound. 

Icarus – Putin + mysterious deaths + performance-enhancing drug conspiracy = A fascinating and crazy documentary that plays like a spy thriller. It starts out as an odd personal experiment by the filmmaker/amateur cyclist mimicking Lance Armstrong’s doping regimen, but through sheer dumb luck and serendipity, he develops a friendship with Gregory Rodchenkov, the affable, eccentric, and charismatic camera-loving head of Russia’s Anti-Doping Lab…and, as it turns out, the country’s mastermind behind its decades-long state-sponsored doping program. It then becomes a terrifying race to uncover the world’s biggest sports conspiracy, implicating everybody including the Russian president (resulting in the NY Times exposé) while trying to save whistle-blower Rodchenkov’s life from the clutches of Putin. 

Docs about Life and Death 

Obit. —While it may sound morbid, this behind-the-scenes look at the NY Times’ obituary staff writers is enlightening and fascinating, and in fact, quite lively (even its peek into the “morgue,” the paper’s clipping archive). Beyond celebrities and notables, who makes the editorial cut in the pages of the NY Times obit section? And how does one get appropriately celebrated in death, warts and all. Now you can find out.   

Chasing Coral – A wake-up call to the accelerating world-wide death of entire coral reef ecosystems by “coral bleaching.” This remarkably emotional doc follows a team of biologists, including a self-proclaimed “coral nerd” in a race against time to document this die-off with powerful visual evidence, and the result is an inspirational eco drama that moves you to act before it’s too late. 

Others Worth Mentioning 

Baby Driver (the soundtrack and editing alone are worth the thrilling 112 minutes of this stylish heist story about a young getaway driver); It (I don’t generally like horror films, but this retelling of Stephen King’s classic was one of the most engaging and well told of its genre); Star Wars: The Last Jedi (my favorite of the series); Loving Vincent (every frame of the film was hand-painted in the style of Van Gogh); Mudbound; Spider-Man: Homecoming (loved Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker); Beach Rats; The Big Sick; War for the Planet of the Apes;The Only Living Boy in New York; Wonder Woman; Spielberg; Battle of the Sexes; Stronger 

In the Queue

Coco, Darkest Hour, Detroit, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool, Downsizing, Molly’s Game, Florida Project, Victoria and Abdul.

Binge-Worthy Television

13 Reasons Why, Stranger Things 2, The OA, Mindhunter, Big Little Lies, Grace and Frankie 

Trailers

All the Money in the World: https://youtu.be/KXHrCBkIxQQ

Call Me By Your Name: https://youtu.be/Z9AYPxH5NTM

Chasing Coral: https://youtu.be/b6fHA9R2cKI

The Disaster Artist: https://youtu.be/cMKX2tE5Luk

Dunkirk: https://youtu.be/F-eMt3SrfFU

Get Out: https://youtu.be/sRfnevzM9kQ

I, Tonya: https://youtu.be/OXZQ5DfSAAc

Icarus: https://youtu.be/qXoRdSTrR-4

Kedi: https://youtu.be/w9fwhVx9zR0

Lady Bird: https://youtu.be/cNi_HC839Wo

Obit.: https://youtu.be/BgpMNerK9cU

Phantom Thread: https://youtu.be/xNsiQMeSvMk

The Post: https://youtu.be/nrXlY6gzTTM

The Shape of Water: https://youtu.be/XFYWazblaUA

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: https://youtu.be/Jit3YhGx5pU

[jesusvasser]

2018 Kia Stinger GT Four Seasons Introduction

We’ve driven enough midsize sport sedans over the years to know what we want. Along with a nimble, rear-wheel-drive chassis and a horsepower figure north of the 300 mark, we usually think of something with a German, American, or Italian bloodline. Korean roots? Not so much. But then we spent some quality time with the 2018 Kia Stinger GT. It reset our mentality, so much so that we decided to get one in for a year’s worth of evaluation.

The lean, mean Stinger machine is the culmination of almost a decade’s worth of tantalizing teasing by the automaker. Kia first hinted at a vehicle with true sporting intentions in 2011 with the Kia GT concept, and again in 2014 with the GT4 Stinger concept. Then it finally dropped the real production version at the 2017 Detroit auto show, thanks in part to the contributions of some German imports.

Indeed, the halls of Kia HQ probably smell a bit like brats and spilled hefeweizen these days, as the company lured some top engineering talent away from Germany to help the marque turn up the heat. Chief among them is Hyundai Motor Group head of vehicle testing and high-performance development Albert Biermann, the man who orchestrated the Stinger’s dynamic symphony. Fellow BMW alums Thomas Schemera and Fayez Rahman also play key roles at the group. These people know how to develop a proper sport sedan.

While Biermann’s squad handled the Stinger’s performance and handling, president and chief design officer for Kia Motors Corporation (and fellow German native) Peter Schreyer and his team sculpted the Stinger’s styling. Draped in a shell featuring a coupe-like greenhouse, an aggressive front fascia that advances Kia’s late-model mug, and a functional, integrated liftback, the Stinger deserved a Four Seasons bid on its looks alone. Associate editor Billy Rehbock experienced the pseudo-celebrity treatment behind the wheel of a Stinger GT prior to the arrival of our Four Seasons tester. “I watched heads turn and follow the car as I passed in a parking lot and got loads of remarks from onlookers as I got in or out,” Rehbock wrote. “A guy in a Chrysler 300 nearly pressed his face against his window trying to get a better look.”

Another big part of the Stinger’s appeal is its unique nature, given its liftback versatility and tweener status in both the size and luxury arenas. “A segment straddler, it’s neither a large sedan nor a midsizer, and it’s neither premium nor mainstream in its fit and finish,” senior editor Nelson Ireson said. “It’s somewhere in the center of the overlapping Venn diagram of all of these traits. And while that might mean it’s hard for some people to appreciate, it’s also what makes the Stinger GT so good for so many uses.”

Kia presently offers the Stinger in five trim levels and two powertrain configurations, starting with a base 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pushing a healthy 255 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission of Kia’s own design. All-wheel drive is available for $2,200 and can be had from the bottom to the top of the Stinger range.

Although the turbo-four is a compelling offering, we like a little more pep in our step, so we opted for the Stinger GT. Its eight-speed is mated to a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 that has seen duty in several recent Hyundai Group models. The engine is rated at 365 hp and a healthy 376 lb-ft, enough to hustle our rear-wheel-drive model from 0 to 60 mph in a Kia-claimed 4.7 seconds. We could have opted for the AWD upgrade, but given that our tester will spend the majority of its time within in the state lines of sunny California, AWD seemed like an unnecessary complication.

Not all GTs are created equal, however, with the GT1 and GT2 trims sitting above the base GT. Ours is a well-equipped GT2 in HiChroma Red, weighing in at $50,175. Unlike the Germans, there isn’t much à la carte ordering to be had. If you want more features, you’ve got to ascend the trim hierarchy. Since the GT2 is the top trim in the Stinger heap, it comes fully loaded; the only option on our car is a $75 rear bumper applique. It’s a comprehensive package that’s a requirement when you start pushing up into this price bracket.

Performance wise, the GT2 comes with a limited-slip differential and electronically adjustable suspension, along with 19-inch wheels with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s (225/40R19 front, 255/35R19 rear) wrapped around them. A Brembo brake package slows things down. Strangely, the electronic shift-by-wire system is exclusive to the GT2 trim. As far as we can tell, it doesn’t do anything differently than the regular shifter except clean up the interior aesthetics a bit, as the T-handle unit on lower-line Stingers is balky at best.

In addition to the fancy e-shifter, there are myriad infotainment and comfort features, including an 8.0-inch touchscreen with voice command and navigation and a 15-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system. Our Stinger also features Nappa leather trim and power 16-way adjustable driver and 12-way adjustable passenger seats. They’re heated too, as is the power-adjustable steering wheel.

A full range of nannies and other convenience features are in the mix as well, including radar cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision warning and avoidance, lane departure, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high-beams. Oh, and don’t forget the rain-sensing wipers (not that we need them much out here in Los Angeles). The GT2 also gets a trim-exclusive head-up display.

Listening to Automobile editors who have already had an early go in the car, we anticipate a fun and (very) fast 12 months. Although the Stinger didn’t quite make the top step of the podium, it was widely praised at last year’s All-Stars event for its dynamic capabilities and potent powertrain, and those who have gotten extended seat time in the car have praised it. “After logging several hundred miles on the odometer, I came to appreciate the Stinger as a capable sport sedan with proper touring car clout,” Rehbock said of his extended drive. “It’s fast. Really fast. Hitting freeway speeds is no problem, and our tester was all too eager to get up to speed.”

We’re eager to find out if this is the start of something truly magical for Kia, or just a bulgogi-flavored flash in the pan. But based on our time so far with the 2018 Kia Stinger GT—including the first stints in our Four Seasons car—we’re expecting to snap more necks, field more questions, and get chased down over the next year by a public curious to know what this quick Korean sport sedan is all about.

  Our 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 RWD

Overview PRICE $50,100/$50,175 (base/as tested) ENGINE 3.3-liter twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/365 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 376 lb-ft @ 1,300-4,500 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, RWD hatchback

Chassis

CONSTRUCTION Unibody STEERING Electric power assisted variable ratio rack and pinion LOCK-TO-LOCK N/A TURNING CIRCLE 36.7 ft SUSPENSION, F/R MacPherson strut/five-link BRAKES, F/R Vented discs WHEELS, F/R 19-inch alloy TIRES Michelin Pilot Sport 4, Front: 225/40R19, Rear: 255/35R19

Measurements

L X W X H 190.2 x 73.6 x 55.1 in WHEELBASE 114.4 in TRACK, F/R 62.8/63.7 in HEADROOM, F/R 38.3/37.0 in LEGROOM, F/R 42.6/36.4 in SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 56.4/54.8 in CARGO CAPACITY 23.3/40.9 cu ft WEIGHT 3,829 lb WEIGHT DIST F/R  52%/48% EPA MILEAGE 19/25/21 (city/hwy/combined) FUEL CAPACITY  15.9 gallons EST. FUEL RANGE 398 miles (est) FUEL GRADE Unleaded premium 0-60 MPH 4.7 sec TOP SPEED  167 mph (mfr. est.)

Equipment

STANDARD EQUIPMENT Nappa leather trim Power-adjustable heated and cooled front seats w/ memory Power-adjustable steering column Android Auto/Apple CarPlay integration Harmon/Kardon premium audio w/ SiriusXM Harmon/Kardon premium audio w/ SiriusXM UVO eServices Smart key with push-button start Head-up display Adaptive cruise control LED ambient lighting Automatic high-beams Lane-departure warning and correction Forward-collision warning and avoidance Blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert Power sunroof Rain-sensing wipers Power tailgate LED headlights OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT Rear bumper applique $75

  IFTTT

[eddiejpoplar]

2018 Kia Stinger GT Four Seasons Introduction

We’ve driven enough midsize sport sedans over the years to know what we want. Along with a nimble, rear-wheel-drive chassis and a horsepower figure north of the 300 mark, we usually think of something with a German, American, or Italian bloodline. Korean roots? Not so much. But then we spent some quality time with the 2018 Kia Stinger GT. It reset our mentality, so much so that we decided to get one in for a year’s worth of evaluation.

The lean, mean Stinger machine is the culmination of almost a decade’s worth of tantalizing teasing by the automaker. Kia first hinted at a vehicle with true sporting intentions in 2011 with the Kia GT concept, and again in 2014 with the GT4 Stinger concept. Then it finally dropped the real production version at the 2017 Detroit auto show, thanks in part to the contributions of some German imports.

Indeed, the halls of Kia HQ probably smell a bit like brats and spilled hefeweizen these days, as the company lured some top engineering talent away from Germany to help the marque turn up the heat. Chief among them is Hyundai Motor Group head of vehicle testing and high-performance development Albert Biermann, the man who orchestrated the Stinger’s dynamic symphony. Fellow BMW alums Thomas Schemera and Fayez Rahman also play key roles at the group. These people know how to develop a proper sport sedan.

While Biermann’s squad handled the Stinger’s performance and handling, president and chief design officer for Kia Motors Corporation (and fellow German native) Peter Schreyer and his team sculpted the Stinger’s styling. Draped in a shell featuring a coupe-like greenhouse, an aggressive front fascia that advances Kia’s late-model mug, and a functional, integrated liftback, the Stinger deserved a Four Seasons bid on its looks alone. Associate editor Billy Rehbock experienced the pseudo-celebrity treatment behind the wheel of a Stinger GT prior to the arrival of our Four Seasons tester. “I watched heads turn and follow the car as I passed in a parking lot and got loads of remarks from onlookers as I got in or out,” Rehbock wrote. “A guy in a Chrysler 300 nearly pressed his face against his window trying to get a better look.”

Another big part of the Stinger’s appeal is its unique nature, given its liftback versatility and tweener status in both the size and luxury arenas. “A segment straddler, it’s neither a large sedan nor a midsizer, and it’s neither premium nor mainstream in its fit and finish,” senior editor Nelson Ireson said. “It’s somewhere in the center of the overlapping Venn diagram of all of these traits. And while that might mean it’s hard for some people to appreciate, it’s also what makes the Stinger GT so good for so many uses.”

Kia presently offers the Stinger in five trim levels and two powertrain configurations, starting with a base 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder pushing a healthy 255 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission of Kia’s own design. All-wheel drive is available for $2,200 and can be had from the bottom to the top of the Stinger range.

Although the turbo-four is a compelling offering, we like a little more pep in our step, so we opted for the Stinger GT. Its eight-speed is mated to a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 that has seen duty in several recent Hyundai Group models. The engine is rated at 365 hp and a healthy 376 lb-ft, enough to hustle our rear-wheel-drive model from 0 to 60 mph in a Kia-claimed 4.7 seconds. We could have opted for the AWD upgrade, but given that our tester will spend the majority of its time within in the state lines of sunny California, AWD seemed like an unnecessary complication.

Not all GTs are created equal, however, with the GT1 and GT2 trims sitting above the base GT. Ours is a well-equipped GT2 in HiChroma Red, weighing in at $50,175. Unlike the Germans, there isn’t much à la carte ordering to be had. If you want more features, you’ve got to ascend the trim hierarchy. Since the GT2 is the top trim in the Stinger heap, it comes fully loaded; the only option on our car is a $75 rear bumper applique. It’s a comprehensive package that’s a requirement when you start pushing up into this price bracket.

Performance wise, the GT2 comes with a limited-slip differential and electronically adjustable suspension, along with 19-inch wheels with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s (225/40R19 front, 255/35R19 rear) wrapped around them. A Brembo brake package slows things down. Strangely, the electronic shift-by-wire system is exclusive to the GT2 trim. As far as we can tell, it doesn’t do anything differently than the regular shifter except clean up the interior aesthetics a bit, as the T-handle unit on lower-line Stingers is balky at best.

In addition to the fancy e-shifter, there are myriad infotainment and comfort features, including an 8.0-inch touchscreen with voice command and navigation and a 15-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system. Our Stinger also features Nappa leather trim and power 16-way adjustable driver and 12-way adjustable passenger seats. They’re heated too, as is the power-adjustable steering wheel.

A full range of nannies and other convenience features are in the mix as well, including radar cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision warning and avoidance, lane departure, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high-beams. Oh, and don’t forget the rain-sensing wipers (not that we need them much out here in Los Angeles). The GT2 also gets a trim-exclusive head-up display.

Listening to Automobile editors who have already had an early go in the car, we anticipate a fun and (very) fast 12 months. Although the Stinger didn’t quite make the top step of the podium, it was widely praised at last year’s All-Stars event for its dynamic capabilities and potent powertrain, and those who have gotten extended seat time in the car have praised it. “After logging several hundred miles on the odometer, I came to appreciate the Stinger as a capable sport sedan with proper touring car clout,” Rehbock said of his extended drive. “It’s fast. Really fast. Hitting freeway speeds is no problem, and our tester was all too eager to get up to speed.”

We’re eager to find out if this is the start of something truly magical for Kia, or just a bulgogi-flavored flash in the pan. But based on our time so far with the 2018 Kia Stinger GT—including the first stints in our Four Seasons car—we’re expecting to snap more necks, field more questions, and get chased down over the next year by a public curious to know what this quick Korean sport sedan is all about.

  Our 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 RWD

Overview PRICE $50,100/$50,175 (base/as tested) ENGINE 3.3-liter twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6/365 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 376 lb-ft @ 1,300-4,500 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, RWD hatchback

Chassis

CONSTRUCTION Unibody STEERING Electric power assisted variable ratio rack and pinion LOCK-TO-LOCK N/A TURNING CIRCLE 36.7 ft SUSPENSION, F/R MacPherson strut/five-link BRAKES, F/R Vented discs WHEELS, F/R 19-inch alloy TIRES Michelin Pilot Sport 4, Front: 225/40R19, Rear: 255/35R19

Measurements

L X W X H 190.2 x 73.6 x 55.1 in WHEELBASE 114.4 in TRACK, F/R 62.8/63.7 in HEADROOM, F/R 38.3/37.0 in LEGROOM, F/R 42.6/36.4 in SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 56.4/54.8 in CARGO CAPACITY 23.3/40.9 cu ft WEIGHT 3,829 lb WEIGHT DIST F/R  52%/48% EPA MILEAGE 19/25/21 (city/hwy/combined) FUEL CAPACITY  15.9 gallons EST. FUEL RANGE 398 miles (est) FUEL GRADE Unleaded premium 0-60 MPH 4.7 sec TOP SPEED  167 mph (mfr. est.)

Equipment

STANDARD EQUIPMENT Nappa leather trim Power-adjustable heated and cooled front seats w/ memory Power-adjustable steering column Android Auto/Apple CarPlay integration Harmon/Kardon premium audio w/ SiriusXM Harmon/Kardon premium audio w/ SiriusXM UVO eServices Smart key with push-button start Head-up display Adaptive cruise control LED ambient lighting Automatic high-beams Lane-departure warning and correction Forward-collision warning and avoidance Blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert Power sunroof Rain-sensing wipers Power tailgate LED headlights OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT Rear bumper applique $75

  IFTTT

[tonyduncanbb73]

Lamplighter Is Bigger Than Ever While Keeping That Neighborhood Brewery Spirit

Founders Cayla Marvil and AC Jones reflect on their year-and-a-half-old brewery

Fresh off the addition of a second taproom and with a summertime beer garden kicking into gear, Lamplighter Brewing Company founders Cayla Marvil and AC Jones have barely had time to digest the breadth of their business’s growth within the last year and a half.

“It’s just been kind of go, go, go,” said Marvil. “I don’t think we’ve even stopped to breathe. We’re so excited to have this space open and kind of chill out for a moment, really hone in on our efficiency on the brew side, make the taproom space better and better.”

They’re off to a good start, with Lamplighter winning the 2017 Eater Boston award for taproom of the year.

The brew floor, both taprooms, and a partner coffee shop, Longfellows, span 10,00 square feet in a quiet section of Cambridge, and if you didn’t know that building housed a brewery, you might pass by without noticing, but for the line of people waiting to get inside and the occasional flash of Jones and Marvil’s samoyed Barley, a massive ball of fluff and the honorary CEO of Lamplighter.

The Lamplighter team unveiled its second taproom in February, taking an area in the rear of the building allocated for storage and transforming it into an additional gathering space for the hordes of guests who visit the brewery each week. Now, there’s twice the capacity for people to drink beer and coffee, play games, and stalk Barley while devouring pierogies, grilled cheese, and poutine from the various pop-ups that rotate through the brewery.

Cayla Marvil/Lamplighter

Lamplighter’s new rear taproom, featuring a mural by Chloe Rubenstein

Marvil and Jones never planned to have two taprooms, but one of the surprises of getting the brewery up and running was the reception from patrons.

“The neighborhood’s been incredible,” Marvil said. “Cambridge has been supportive, the people here are amazing.”

It took years of preparation and then construction for the pair to open Lamplighter. They first announced plans for the brewery in 2014 and opened the doors to the taproom in November 2016.

It used to be very stressful, and now it’s still stressful but less ‘dire, everything’s gonna end.’

“We put together this business plan,” Marvil said. “We knew in our heads, ‘This is a good idea, let’s go for it,’ but why in the world did the bank back us, and investors? We were really young; we didn’t have any experience with it. We are so grateful people did it, but yeah, I don’t know, we’re very fortunate.”

“We put everything into this,” Jones said. “If it didn’t work out well, we would have been in trouble. [Now we’re] able to kind of breathe a little easier. People don’t hate us, we’re selling beer, people seem to have fun, it runs — that sort of thing is a huge weight that we used to carry all the time; that’s certainly lessened. It used to be very stressful, and now it’s still stressful but less ‘dire, everything’s gonna end.’”

Two huge parts of clearing that stress hurdle involved the experts Jones and Marvil consulted along the way and the staff members who joined them in opening the brewery and keeping it running smoothly. Jones and Marvil both attended Middlebury College in Vermont and have surrounded themselves with several other alums, including marketing and events director Marina Sideli and taproom and retail operations director Jack Hunsicker.

They also sought the advice of another Middlebury alum, Rob Tod, who runs Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine.

“Allagash is the best brewery,” Jones said. They reached out to Tod when they “were just punk kids trying to figure out what to do” and asked to check out his operation.

“This guy has one of the largest breweries in the country and one of the most renowned — and he spent two hours just taking us around, showing us everything, pouring beer. It was incredible,” Jones said. “If we could eventually be anything like Rob Tod and Allagash, that’s a huge win. And I think we are never gonna do that.”

Certainly not size-wise: Lamplighter wants to stay small, now that it has hit capacity within its space.

Being where we are and being in the community and being in the neighborhood, it’s totally worth it.

“We’ve just been in this grow, grow, grow [phase] — add tanks, make more beer, add the taproom, do more,” Marvil said. “And so finally we’re having a moment where everything’s in the building — we literally can fit no more — so now we’re playing the Jenga game, how do we best fit everything in.”

The majority of Lamplighter’s sales still happen at the brewery, despite its brewing capacity doubling since opening. Jones and Marvil had anticipated doing a lot more keg sales to restaurants, but it turned out more people come to the brewery for their beer than anywhere else.

“It’s really fun to be in cool restaurants and be on draft,” Jones said. “It’s also logistically difficult, and having people here is the best method for us across the board, so the fact that that is skewed more dramatically in that direction than we ever would have guessed is great. It’s really made a big difference for us.”

That means they can still keep the operation small, even while expanding their brewing capacity and turning out new beers. Marvil and Jones have had to change up their logistics a bit, but they’re falling into a rhythm with everything from canning to waste removal to distribution to other retail locations.

“That’s been a work in progress,” Marvil said. “How do we adjust to being in a city, how do we deal with things that we had never thought about, like trash removal, where clearly we’re generating a ton of spent grain and waste and we don’t want to disturb our neighbors but we have to get it out. Most breweries are in an industrial park where it doesn’t matter how or when you do that. For us, we can’t block traffic at 9 a.m.”

“But being where we are and being in the community and being in the neighborhood, it’s totally worth it, it’s just not as straightforward as it would be otherwise,” Jones added.

They get a significant amount of help from their staff, which now totals more than 30 people.

“Everyone’s amazing; it’s such a cool community. In Cambridge, everyone’s so overqualified, but it’s great,” Marvil said.

Dana Hatic/Eater

Lamplighter founders AC Jones and Cayla Marvil with their dog, Barley

In terms of beer, Lamplighter continues to push the envelope, thanks in large part to head brewer Tyler Fitzpatrick, whom Marvil and Jones credit heavily with the success of the ever-rotating beer lineup.

“He’s so, so talented. It’s so impressive. It’s the sort of thing where you could start to take something like that for granted,” Marvil said.

Fitzpatrick has been known to spend days on end researching new styles of beer he’s never brewed before and coming up with new recipes. Case in point: this month’s Maibock, the Union, which, incidentally, was brewed for Fitzpatrick’s wedding.

“We say we don’t have a flagship,” Jones said. “We have beers that repeat more often than others, but we don’t have any beers that you can have here all the time, or really even that often, hypothetically speaking.”

That said, they always try to have something for everybody.

“Always a lot of IPAs because that’s what everybody wants to drink, it seems, but then something for somebody who says they only drink Stella, somebody who likes sours, somebody who likes funk — we try to do a whole range,” Marvil said.

Now, with double the tank space from when they started, the taproom options have increased, helping the Lamplighter team prioritize a balanced menu while keeping things fresh and interesting.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Apr 12, 2018 at 7:41am PDT

“Right now we have eight different beers going at a time, which, when you have a taproom that tends to have 12 to 14 beers on tap and where people love that variety, we need to keep up with that in that way,” Jones said.

They’ve also added 100 oak barrels within the past year, and they’ll release some funky barrel-aged beers over the rest of spring and throughout the summer.

Lamplighter partners with Iron Heart for its canning, and for its can art, the brewery pulls from within its ranks. A recent collaboration with Solemn Oath Brewery out of Illinois produced a dry-hopped saison called Barb (hello, Stranger Things fans), and Lamplighter commissioned can art from staffer Chloe Feldman Emison, while a member of the Solemn Oath team drew the monster in the background.

For the other labels, Lamplighter works with Bluerock Design out of Martha’s Vineyard. There’s a template with the brand logo and the name of the beer, so it’s easy enough to switch in the art for each new beer.

“It keeps it cohesive while allowing us to do some creative stuff with it,” Jones said.

Counted among Lamplighter’s creative brews is Barley Smalls, a Vienna lager named for Barley.

“We have people who call and ask if Barley’s there, and if we say no, they’re like, ‘then I’m not coming,’” Jones said.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Jan 5, 2018 at 9:09am PST

Even on the days Barley’s not in the brewery, there’s plenty to attract visitors, and on weekends in particular, there are often lines to get inside. Marvil and Jones decided early on to scrap plans to run a kitchen along with the beer operation, but in the evenings, they utilize space from the brewery’s partner coffee shop, Longfellows, to host various pop-ups, including Jaju Pierogi, Brato Brewhouse, Manoa Poke Shop, and so many more.

“It’s so nice because it brings in different people who maybe have heard of pierogies but they’ve never been here, so they end up coming, and it’s just so awesome — we get to support all these cool local food businesses and meet amazing people,” Marvil said. “It’s just really fun to have something different every night. For us to not have to do food is huge. That’s my background, and I thought we wanted to do food, and I’m so glad we do not run a kitchen.”

They have enough going on as it is.

“At this point, we’re running a brewery, which is its own business; a taproom or bar, which is kind of its own business; and then we do all of our distribution, which is honestly kind of its own business,” Jones said.

Customers can also bring in their own food or order delivery to the brewery, which gives Marvil and Jones the opportunity to run two taprooms while continuing to make the best beers possible as well as branching out into barrel-aging and collaborations with other breweries.

In addition to the aforementioned Barb collaboration, a dry-hopped saison, Lamplighter also recently released another collaboration, Sneaker Wave — a New England-style IPA brewed with Borg Brugghús out of Iceland.

Introducing Sneaker Wave, a fierce New England-style IPA brewed with Arctic thyme! We teamed up with @borgbrugghus of Reykjavík, Iceland, to throw a Nordic twist on this hazy staple (perhaps we should really be calling this an International-style IPA!). Waves of herbs and sweet thyme follow flavors of tropical fruit, mango, and citrus zest. The addition of Styrian Wolf and Grungiest hops keep that swell going with pockets of elderflower, anise, and even more mango. 6.8% ABV. We’re also wrapping up a fresh batch of Cuppa, our British Pale ale infused with Ethiopian cold-brew coffee from Longfellows! Cans and draft of both beers available Wednesday at 5 p.m.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Mar 26, 2018 at 11:19am PDT

Beer collaborations are a new addition to the business, something Marvil and Jones were unable to do in their first year.

“If the two of us left this place, it’d go up in flames,” Jones said. “And we’re finally reaching the point where that’s actually not the case. Our staff is just wonderful and everyone’s kind of got the stuff down that they need to do, so it gives us a little bit more creative freedom to do that kind of thing and to explore and think about beer in new ways, instead of just worrying about the logistics of making sure this place runs all the time, which is really exciting for us.”

Now fully at capacity, Marvil and Jones can relax a bit, but they’re hardly resting on their heels: They’ll be running a beer garden at the Central Flea throughout the summer while continuing to open up the doors to both of their taprooms to the community.

“We don’t want to be a massive brewery,” Marvil said. “We really like taprooms; we like being in the community and the neighborhood.”

• Lamplighter Brewing Company Coverage on Eater [EBOS]

This is the final piece in a series of features highlighting the 2017 Eater Awards winners. Read the other four here:

[ashleydpalmerusa]

Controllers Offer Tips on How to Look Before You Leap from Public Accounting to Industry

Last week we published an article on what the transition from public accounting to industry was like for 14 corporate controllers. During my interviews with them, I asked what advice they’d give to a CPA at a public accounting firm who is looking to make the jump to an industry accounting role. And boy did they have a lot to say!

Instead of cramming their advice into the article about their transition stories, we decided to make it a stand-alone feature.

So, without further ado, here’s what these 14 controllers would tell a fellow CPA considering following in their footsteps:

Be patient

Once you decide it’s time to leave public accounting, take your time and wait for the right opportunity, said J.C. Gum, CPA, vice president and corporate controller at Omaha, Neb.-based Ag Processing Inc, who is a KPMG alum.

“Throughout my public accounting career, I had many bad days, and I also was presented with some good opportunities to leave, but thankfully they never occurred at the same time. Some would have been good excuses to leave after a bad week,” he said. “Looking back, I’m thankful for the discernment, patience, and perhaps the lucky timing that allowed me to pass on those early opportunities and wait for the best one.”

Will Majic, CPA, CA, controller, corporate finance at Calian Group in Ottawa, Ontario, agrees with Gum, adding that he’s seen several people jump at the first opportunity to leave public accounting.

“The first leap that you take when you leave a firm is an important one because you have so many doors open to you,” said Majic, who spent more than six years with Deloitte. “There are so many employers that love hiring from accounting firms directly, so there’s no need to leap at the first opportunity that comes up as it may not be the right fit for the individual.”

Never make a desperate move

Make sure you’re leaving because it’s the next strategic step in your desired career path, said Drew Hester, CPA, vice president, controllership and global business services at Chicago-based Beam Suntory, who started his career at PwC.

“Public accounting careers are full of moments that can feel a bit overwhelming and chase some people out of the profession, and I’ve encountered many who regret the timing of their departure,” he said. “You get just one jump out of public to industry, and it’s really important to land well.”

As a hiring manager, Lauren Johnson, CPA, senior controller at Portfolio Advisors LLC in Darien, Conn., said she strays away from candidates whose stay in public accounting was brief.

“Staying in public for the standard two years will not serve you well in private industry,” said Johnson, who worked at BDO for nine years. “You need experience managing staff, exposure to different clients, and time to truly see an audit from start to finish before your time in public will become an asset to you while working in private. Unless you work for a company that doesn’t receive an annual audit, you’ll need audit experience in order to know how to manage your external auditors as the client.”

Learn about the company and industry you’re interested in

Think of it like a college assignment, said Tony Combs, CPA, corporate controller at Urban Airship in Portland, Ore., who cut his accounting teeth at CBIZ MHM and PwC.

“Don’t just understand the accounting, but look into the unique issues within the industry, the underlying trends, and the jargon,” he said. “Investing this time will enable you to communicate more effectively and understand your co-workers more clearly.”

Julie Brand, CPA, corporate controller at San Francisco-based Pattern Energy Group, who started her accounting career at Deloitte, recommends learning as much as you can about all aspects of the company beforehand, such as reading financial reports and learning how the various inputs to accounting operate.

“Join a business in an industry that you’re interested in,” she said.

But don’t just focus on one industry

Johnson believes it’s a good idea for candidates to broaden their job search and be open to different industries.

“I think oftentimes when you work in public accounting, you can specialize in an industry—for me it was the real estate and hospitality industry—but when you look to make the jump, you may only focus on that same industry,” she said. “This can sometimes make it difficult to make the transition [from public to industry].”

Use your network

“It’s important to have mentors—both internal and external—who can weigh in and give perspective,” said Brian Harding, CPA, vice president, corporate controller, and principal accounting officer at Wilsonville, Ore.-based FLIR Systems, who started his accounting career at KPMG.

Harding added that your mentors might steer you toward making a career move when it’s less disruptive to the teams you work with.

“As someone who occasionally interviews candidates looking to exit public accounting, it doesn’t bother me—in fact, I appreciate the sentiment—if that candidate tells me their start date is dependent on when they’ll be able to wrap up their current responsibilities with the firm they work for,” Harding said.

In addition, don’t be afraid to have a conversation about outside opportunities with a partner at your firm, recommends Matt Nelson, CPA, vice president, corporate controller at Seattle-based Tableau Software, who worked at PwC for more than eight years.

“Most of the partners are well-networked and can help you figure out whether a role is a good fit,” he said.

People might think that talking about leaving public accounting is a career mistake, as it shows you’re not interested in your current job. But that’s not the case, Majic said.

“All you’re doing is evaluating options,” he added. “Most of the people who leave accounting firms are leaving their first real employer, and they don’t have the experience of what this can mean. People who left, or people who still work at the firm, have seen so many people leave that they can give a good perspective to those considering it.”

Have a long-term plan

Don’t expect to jump right into your dream job after you leave public accounting. Instead, seek opportunities that best qualify you for the position you’d like to have in the long-term, Harding said.

“If you know you want to be a CFO, schedule a meeting with a CFO and ask about their career progression. They probably held several lower-level positions before achieving the CFO title,” he added. “Network along the way, and be open to new opportunities that get you closer to that plan.”

Don’t be afraid to take risks

After spending 10 years at EY in Baltimore, Christopher Sullivan, CPA, left in 2015 to become controller of OpGen, a small biotechnology company. Like most startups, the business had many challenges, Sullivan said, but the growth opportunities and learning experiences he had there proved to be invaluable.

“By joining a smaller organization, I was able to report directly to the CFO, as well as have regular interactions with the CEO, vice presidents, and board of directors,” said Sullivan, who is now corporate controller at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Rockville, Md. “Those experiences enabled me to quickly learn aspects of industry accounting and finance and how all of the various pieces of the organization operated together.”

Know your value

Because the compensation and progression path in public accounting is fairly rigid, it’s easy to lose sight of what high-performing companies are paying, Hester said.

“Knowing what salary you can reasonably expect to pursue is critical to calibrating your personal departure timing and ensuring you don’t accept a suboptimal opportunity,” he added.

Assemble a team of recruiters

Build a network of eight to 10 recruiters, and then pare down the list to four or five you trust, said Fred Butterweck, CPA, corporate controller at New York-based Clickspring Design, who spent six years at PwC.

“This is not an easy exercise, but if you feel like you’re being sent on interviews with companies that don’t match your profile, you should cut that recruiter loose,” he said. “A good recruiter will invest the time to understand what you’re looking for and only try to connect you with opportunities that fit.”

Pay attention to the office atmosphere when you go on interviews

Does the vibe in the office seem alive, with people working collaboratively? Or is it dead silent?

“Just make sure the atmosphere matches your personality and work style,” said Butterweck, who also recommends paying attention to how the person interviewing you speaks to the person at the front desk or others he or she encounters during a tour of the office.

Gum said CPAs should definitely consider the culture of the company when investigating potential job opportunities.

“Job seekers need to realize there are times when a profitable company with opportunities for advancement isn’t always the wise choice, particularly if the culture of the organization doesn’t fit them,” he added.

Get an understanding of your work scope

Opportunities outside of public accounting are diverse, and the scope of work can vary significantly depending on the size and structure of the organization you join, said Lindsay Gorang, CPA, corporate controller at SightLife Surgical in Seattle, who served as a senior auditor at Deloitte & Touche.

“I’ve enjoyed taking on new areas, such as project financing and supporting contract negotiations as an accounting subject matter expert on M&A and key supplier contracts,” she said. “Meanwhile, I’ve learned that other areas, such as payroll and administration, aren’t a good fit for me.”

Leave your firm on good terms

Don’t hang your firm and your colleagues out to dry in the middle of busy season, which could ruin the relationships you built and the friendships you made, said Senad Mustafic, CPA, senior director – corporate controller at Bellevue, Wash.-based Smartsheet, who worked at Deloitte for nearly six years.

“In public accounting, you’re surrounded by people who can support you on a daily basis because they all know accounting. In industry, that network is smaller,” he said. “Being able to occasionally connect with an old friend and discuss an accounting challenge is extremely valuable.”

Be open to technical and operational accounting roles

Mustafic said a good controller should understand both the technical and the operational sides of accounting, and hire people who are strong in each.

“People who come out of public accounting tend to be technically strong, and public accounting prepared them for that, but lack operational experience, which can best be gained through various operational roles,” he said.

Mitra Rezvan, CPA, vice president and corporate controller at San Francisco-based PagerDuty, who started her career at KPMG, agrees with Mustafic, adding that it’s important that your manager at the company you decide to move to is willing to help mentor you in operational accounting, as well as provides you with support and training to learn the business, and gives you a chance to try new things.

Build new relationships, keep the old ones

Once you join a new organization, spend time getting to know people outside of the accounting and finance department, Combs said, and don’t be afraid to contribute in cross-functional teams.

“Make it a point to identify key people in different departments, introduce yourself, and ask questions,” he added.

In addition, Sullivan recommends maintaining your public accounting relationships after you leave. He said he attends EY’s annual alumni event, as well as other networking opportunities, such as happy hours, meeting former colleagues for lunch, and golf outings.

“My reputation with EY was important during the recruiting and hiring process as the controller of OpGen and Sucampo, and I believe that my EY network will be critical in identifying the next opportunity along my career path,” Sullivan said.

Change is good, so embrace it

You never know where new opportunities will lead you, said Paul Starrantino, CPA, corporate controller at Sparks, Nev.-based Sierra Nevada Corporation, who spent 14 years at PwC.

“You will face new challenges that will broaden your experience and make you more valuable professionally,” he added.

Image: iStock/savoia

The post Controllers Offer Tips on How to Look Before You Leap from Public Accounting to Industry appeared first on Going Concern.

from Accounting News http://goingconcern.com/controllers-public-accounting-to-industry-inchan/

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Brehanna Daniels Wants to Be the First Black Woman in a NASCAR Pit Crew

Last month, at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) held its first race of the 2017 season. Four hours before the event, under a blue sky, fans began streaming into the grandstands as the 34 drivers put their cars through inspections and qualifying drills. The pit crews, meanwhile, went through their own preparation, cleaning tires, preparing lug nuts, testing hydraulic jacks, and checking their air guns.

For 23-year-old Brehanna Daniels, the day was especially memorable because it was her first professional race as a tire changer. She walked over to her assigned driver, Dale Shearer, a friendly, white, 51-year-old Missourian, who stood beside his car in his fire suit and sunglasses. When he saw her approaching—her gear bag and helmet under her arm, an "Xcalibur Pit School" T-shirt over her muscular, compact frame—his lips stretched into a welcoming smile.

"You must be Brehanna," he said.

It's hard to mistake Brehanna Daniels for anyone else at the raceway—she's one of the only women of color in a sport that is still predominantly white and male. Should Daniels continue to rise through the ranks, from ARCA to stock-car racing's big leagues, she would become the first African-American female pit crew member in NASCAR history, and a success story for the company's Drive for Diversity program. Since it began in 2004, Drive for Diversity has produced three professional minority male drivers, and eleven professional female pit-crew members, including Daniels, the only African-American.

"A top-notch pit crew runs about 11.5 seconds." Courtesy Brehanna Daniels

"[At the Speedway], people were looking at me, like, 'What does she do? I know she does something because she has that bag,'" Daniels said from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Then, when I went to the bathroom to change into my fire suit, I really had looks on me…. A photographer who was there stopped taking pictures of the drivers and started shooting me."

Still, Daniels wasn't intimidated by the stares, even though they came from a crowd of virtually all white men. The reason, she said, was that she'd already found everybody in the sport to be fully supportive, exhibiting no racism or sexism whatsoever.

Coaches from NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program recruited Daniels last year, when she was a senior at Norfolk State University, the historically black college in her home state of Virginia. She'd played Division I basketball at NSU, but had no prospects on the pro level. So when she found out that NASCAR was coming to campus, looking for female athletes and athletes of color, she decided to give it a shot.

"I didn't watch NASCAR races growing up. I always thought, Dang, there's no black people in the sport," she said. "But I'm always open to new opportunities, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I went out for the tryout."

The audition was designed to simulate the physical demands of working in the pit, where speed, agility, strength, and footwork are all necessary to perform, be it as a tire changer or carrier, jack man or gas man. Phil Horton, Drive for Diversity's director of athletic performance, realized several years ago that athletes, rather than mechanics, make the best pit crew members.

At NSU, Daniels was up against eight other student-athletes, all of whom were men, most of whom were football players. But being the lone woman in the pack only added fuel to her fire. Like most athletes, she thrives on pressure—and the adrenaline that comes it.

"We started off with a hundred jump ropes and then we moved to a cone drill," she explained. "Then we moved to a ladder drill. The ladder was so tough that we got to practice before being timed for real. Then we did rollout abs, then pushups, and then we had to finish it off with a hundred sit-ups. The guy I was next to, I was destroying him. I had him beat since the jump rope. He had to take a break. I think he caught a cramp. I was like, 'Yeah!'"

Horton couldn't help but notice Daniels as she tore through the military-style obstacle course. It was obvious she had the physical prowess and psychological makeup of a seasoned athlete. What's more, at five-foot-five, she had the ideal frame for a tire-changer, a position that requires speed and hand-eye coordination more than size.

Daniels during the national combine. Courtesy Brehanna Daniels

"We liked her skills, we liked her style, we liked her strength," he said from his office in Charlotte. "We liked the fact that she had a leadership role as a point guard on the basketball team. She just fit the template."

NASCAR invited Daniels to the national combine in Charlotte, where she competed with twenty other pit crew candidates and made the cut by placing in the top ten.

"I liked doing it because it reminded me of being an athlete," she said. "We athletes crave that feeling of knowing you're competing against someone. You just love being in situations where you're under pressure and you have to get the job done."

Daniels moved to Charlotte to begin a six-month program for pit-crew members run by the Drive for Diversity. There, she trained six hours a day, five days a week, learning to operate the tools and getting up to pit speed. Her hands were so sore after the workouts that she soaked them in ice water every night.

Daniels is now a professional tire-changer, working independently. She'll continue in the program for another two or three years, training three days a week at a track, in tandem with daily workouts at the gym, where she does bench presses, rowing exercises, weighted squats, and hundreds of sit-ups to boost her strength and performance.

That preparation came in handy at the ARCA race in Nashville. When Shearer pulled into the pit at the mandatory 45 miles an hour, Daniels jumped off the wall and ran out to the car, an air gun in hand and a fresh 65-pound tire under her arm. As cars flew by on the track at over 100 miles an hour, she dropped to her knees and hit the back tire's lug nuts with the air gun. She pulled the tire off using her index and middle fingers, and set it aside, careful to not let it roll. Then she grabbed the fresh tire, slammed it on the rim, and gunned the lug nuts. After racing to the other side of the car, she repeated the process. Her time for removing and replacing both tires: 13.5 seconds.

"A top-notch pit crew runs about 11.5 seconds," Horton said. "Right now, Brehanna is about two seconds behind. Not bad after only eight or nine months of training."

A NASCAR pit crew in action earlier this month. Photo by Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Daniels' goal is only partly to cut her time and make history by becoming the first African-American woman in a NASCAR pit. She also wants the validation, not to mention the six-figure salary that can come with working the elite races in NASCAR's Cup Series.

"To get to the very, very top series, it will take some time," she said. "They say give it three or four years, but I'm trying to get there in under three. I'm impatient, as most athletes are."

Coach Horton says Daniels is exactly where she should be in her quest.

"She's starting in the ARCA series. That's where everybody starts. Then she'll move up to the Camping World Truck Series, which is a NASCAR series, and if she has the talent, will move up from there."

Does Horton think she has the talent?

"We selected her," he said. "We don't bring someone in if we feel they can't do it. We expect her to make it to the Cup Series. She definitely has what it takes."

Horton repeatedly pointed to Daniels's drive, which her family continues to stoke. Her father, Luxley, a hospital supervisor and NSU alum, at first was leery of having his daughter working in such a risky environment, afraid she'd be hit by a runaway car while working the pit. According to Coach Horton, when taking into account all the racing series, at least one crew member is brushed or bumped by a car every week. "It's no small feat to get the job done and survive," he said. But once Luxley saw his daughter's determination, he got fully behind her, and is thrilled that she's on the verge of breaking an historic barrier.

Daniels's mother, Kimberly, lost a battle with cancer nine years ago, but Daniels has no doubt she would have been supportive, too.

"My mother would be like, 'Brehanna, what are you thinking doing this?'" Daniels said. "But she always believed in me. My mom motivates me. Whenever I think about giving up, I always think about her."

As for the ARCA race, Dale Shearer failed to finish. He had a problem with his car and left the track after thirty laps. Before doing so, he made sure to stop in the pit twice, giving Daniels the practice she needed.

Now she can't wait for her next race. Through it all, she's grateful to the diversity program for opening NASCAR's doors for her.

"It's a great thing to get more people of different ethnicities and different races involved in the sport, and to have everyone feel that they're welcome," she said. "It's not just one face, it's multiple faces."

When asked what she would say to young girls who might think about following her into the pit, Daniels enthusiastically shared her personal philosophy. "You can do everything you put your mind to. It doesn't matter what other people think. Seize every opportunity."

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Brehanna Daniels Wants to Be the First Black Woman in a NASCAR Pit Crew published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/03/03/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-3317/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 3/3/17

Sometimes life gets in the way, and you just can’t get a post out on time. That’s what happened last week, but I’m here now, so let’s get on with the pop culture, shall we?

First, I guess we’ve gotta talk about the Oscars, huh? I didn’t watch them. I don’t really do awards shows anymore unless someone’s getting slimed, so this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. The big moment of the night, however, came at the end when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner for Best Picture when it actually lost to Moonlight. And social media went wild! It’s been a crazy few weeks, as the Best Picture predictions had come down to those two films, but neither of them really appealed to me. I’m probably more likely to see Moonlight than La La Land, as the latter just doesn’t sound interesting to me. But having seen neither of them at the time of the awards, I really didn’t have a dog in that fight. I figure they gave the award to Moonlight to shut us up for a few years about #OscarsSoWhite. I mean, racism’s over now, right? Does Hallmark sell cards for that? A “So Glad Your Racism Cleared Up” card?

Anyway, from one controversy to another. I’ve never understood people’s disdain for The Big Bang Theory. It’s not reinventing the wheel or anything, but I find it to be an enjoyable half hour every week. I think people got too comfortable with their single cam Arrested Development and Modern Family that they just couldn’t deal with a multicam, studio audience sitcom anymore. OK, cool. But as the mainstream response to Arrested Development showed us, not everyone wants their shit to be smart. Sad, but true. For all the people loudly calling The Big Bang Theory “blackface for nerds” (which is itself offensive, and clearly exhibits a lack of understanding of blackface), it’s still the number 1 show on television. So, just like Trump voters, your friends and neighbors are watching and enjoying it in secret. And with those ratings come big paydays. The 5 principal actors on the show currently make $1 million an episode, while Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch make $250,000 per episode. Considering their roles have expanded greatly since joining the show in season 3, it can be argued that they deserve pay more inline with their costars. Well, the 5 principals (Galecki, Parsons, Cuoco, Helberg, and Nayyar) have each offered to give up $100,000 per episode so that money will be freed up for their costars to get raises. I don’t care how you feel about the show, but that’s pretty cool move on their part. Sure, they’re making a fuckton of money, but this is something they didn’t have to do. They realized they’re stronger as a unit, and they’re making moves to preserve it. Not everyone in this situation would do this. While The Simpsons has had negotiation shakeups in recent years, the last time a cast really came together like this was when the Friends stars negotiated for season 10. If CBS and the studio don’t agree to these terms, however, they’ve got an ace up their sleeve.

What started as a mere rumor is now actually gearing up to film a pilot: a prequel of The Big Bang Theory, focusing on Dr. Sheldon Cooper as a child. It’s being reported that Iain Armitage of HBO’s Big Little Lies is being courted for the role of Sheldon. The most interesting casting, however, concerns Sheldon’s mother. You see, on The Big Bang Theory, his mother is played by Roseanne‘s Laurie Metcalf. Well, Metcalf’s real life daughter, Zoe Perry, seems to be the frontrunner for the role of young Sheldon’s mom. So, daughter will be playing mom’s younger self. My head hurts! Anyway, I kinda love when Hollywood does stunt casting shit like that. Now, CBS hasn’t placed a formal pilot order yet, and I feel like a decision is hinging on how these contract negotiations turn out. I mean, The Big Bang Theory is an aging sitcom in its 10th season, and a renewal would only be for 2 more years. CBS has got to start thinking about the future, but this is clearly a franchise they’d like to keep around in some capacity sheerly for the ratings it brings in. So, it looks like y’all might be hating The Big Bang Theory for many years to come! Or it could just fall apart like How I Met Your Dad did (which, oddly enough, is being revived by the This Is Us team at the moment). Only time will tell.

Just as I like something you hate, I also hate something you all seem to be excited about: ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans. As the show that I’m almost sure will be the nail in the coffin for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I just don’t see how this is a good idea. Marvel keeps trying to “make ‘fetch’ happen” when it comes to the Inhumans because they want their own robust mutant franchise, but nobody gives a shit. At least, I didn’t think so. However, with each casting announcement, y’all seem to get more and more giddy. Last week, they announced that Iwan Rheon of Misfits/Game of Thrones fame had been cast as Maximus. Anton Mount, from Hell On Wheels, has been cast as the Inhuman king Black Bolt, while Graceland alum Serinda Swan has been cast as Queen Medusa. Finally, Lost/The Night Shift alum Ken Leung was announced yesterday as Karnak. That’s great. Actors are working. I still have no faith in the show, however.

It’s no secret that The Inhumans were Marvel CEO Ike Perlmetter’s pet project because he wanted a stable that Marvel could exploit where they still owned all the media rights. As far as he was concerned, the Inhumans should be the new X-Men. In the comics, they’ve received quite a push over recent years, but it feels more like Marvel is shoving them down our throats than actually giving the audience what it wants. That’s why, once Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige wrested control of the film division away from Marvel, the announced but delayed Inhumans film was demoted to a TV series. They’re really trying to make this a production, by releasing the first two episodes in theaters in IMAX, but it just feels desparate. Nobody cares, dude. The numbers on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. right now are terrible, and I’d be really surprised if it got renewed. Considering it’s the show that introduced the Inhumans to the MCU, and has had them as something of a plot device since that introduction, yet it’s done nothing for the ratings, I don’t think the Inhumans are ready to stand on their own just yet. The argument could be made that the audience didn’t like how AoS was handling the Inhumans, and that they actually wanted the Royal Family Inhumans, which this new series is giving us. OK, but I still don’t see how that’s gonna be cool on a weekly TV budget. Then again, I never found the Inhumans to be the least bit interesting, so this project just isn’t design to appeal to me at this point. I honestly don’t know what they could announce to get me excited about an Inhumans series.

In other Marvel TV news that I couldn’t give two shits about, there’s been a ton of casting news for Fox’x untitled mutant-centered pilot. Yeah, I’m being contrarian, but I just don’t see this being great. First, it’s on Fox. This is the kind of show they pick up solely to cancel. Second, it’s gonna be expensive, which is why Fox will not hesitate to cancel it. Third, I still remember the Generation X TV movie/pilot and Mutant X. Fourth, it’s gonna be directed by Bryan Singer – a man who, despite 16 years of familiarity with the X-Men franchise, really needs to go somewhere and take a seat. Anyway, Jamie Chung has been cast as Blink, which won’t cost too much as they really just have to come up with a cool-looking, yet affordable, portal effect. Yesterday, it was announced that True Blood‘s Stephen Moyer and Angel‘s Amy Acker had been cast as the leads. The show follows the Stewart family, who are forced to go on the run from the government when they discover their kids are mutants. They link up with an underground network of mutants, and ugh, I’m exhausted already. So, they’re basically on the run the whole time? And you’re gonna be holding out hope for some kind of mutant of the week cameo, who’ll be someone they’d never put in a movie. Or maybe it would be. It’s not like the X-Men franchise has ever given a fuck about continuity. Since this is still at the pilot stage, I’m not gonna let it get my blood pressure up until it’s officially ordered to series.

Across the aisle over at DC, they announced a Nightwing movie, to be directed by The LEGO Movie‘s Chris McKay. If you don’t know who Nightwing is, here’s a crash course: remember how Batman has a sidekick named Robin? Well, the very first Robin, Dick Grayson, grew up, got sick of Batman’s shit, and struck out on his own as the hero Nightwing. That pretty much catches you up. Right now, DC is that deadbeat dad who makes a bunch of promises that he can’t keep. “Sure, I’ll be at your dance recital!” and then he shows up when it’s over, and the janitor is collecting chairs. They need to stop being so future-focused, and deal with the now. Word on the street is that Wonder Woman has problems, The Batman seems to be falling apart, and they still have to promote Justice League. Worry about 2017, and stop making all these promises for tomorrow. Anyway, I’ve seen an online campaign about how they should keep Nightwing’s Romani origins (for the uninformed, they’re what we call “gypsies”, even though we’re, like, not really supposed to use that term anymore. Whatever) in the film. Apparently, this is important for Romani representation and whatnot, but it’s kinda tough to swallow since some of the same folks saying this also come from the camp that said Nightwing should show up in the DCEU and be cast with an Asian actor. I’d be fine with Asian Nightwing, as I honestly don’t see what his Romani origin brings to the table. Like, it’s nice trivia, but does it lend itself to his character? As long as he’s a former circus brat who flips off shit, he’s Nightwing. Maybe I’m being glib, but I just don’t really see the argument here.

I was kinda worried about the DuckTales reboot when we saw the character designs. I was also confused as to why they went for “names”for the voice cast, when there are perfectly capable voice actors working out there. Then they released the trailer for the show yesterday, and I am worried no more. While the animation style took me a few seconds to get used to, I really like what’s going on here. Apparently, Disney does too, as the show has already been renewed for season 2, before the show has even premiered.

We also got a new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 trailer. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need to see single bit more of footage. I’m already a guaranteed ticket sale, so I really hope they don’t spoil us with drips and drabs for the next few months. I’m excited. My body is ready. Don’t overdo it.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

You’ll soon be able to get all your diarrhea in one place, as Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International (what a lame name!) is buying Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for a reported $1.8 billion.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. kicked off what may be its last storyline, “Agents of HYDRA”, just before going on hiatus for the month of March

Cloverfield director Matt Reeves has signed on to direct and produce The Batman, presumably still starring Ben Affleck

I can’t stand the dude, but I know some of y’all like him: Chris Hardwick will be getting a new weekly talk show, Talking with Chris Hardwick, which will air on AMC as a year-round extension of his Talking Dead show.

The Nintendo Switch comes out today, so brace yourselves for socially awkward people playing it in public places.

Fox renewed freshman series The Mick (yay!) and Lethal Weapon for second seasons.

After nine seasons, SNL cast member Bobby Moynihan might be leaving the show, as he’s currently up for the lead in the CBS pilot Me, Myself & I.

Scientology traitor Leah Remini is set to star in NBC’s What About Barb? pilot, itself a gender swapped reboot of the Bill Murray/Richard Dreyfuss film What About Bob?

For its 9th season, RuPaul’s Drag Race will be moving from Logo TV to VH1. Considering this was Logo’s last bit of original programming, I wouldn’t be surprised if Viacom phased out the channel in its upcoming reprioritization.

Dr. Julian Bashir himself, Alexander Siddig (or Siddig El Fadil for you old heads), will be joining Gotham as R’as Al Ghul. Nope, still not gonna watch that show.

Soap opera Days of Our Lives was renewed for a record 52nd season, as cast member Arianne Zucker (who was at the heart of the Billy Bush/Donald Trump scandal) has announced she’s leaving the show.

So I saw Logan last night. It’s funny – I’ve been looking forward to the film since seeing the first trailer, but last night I had a sense of dread. I mean, the movie looked so…heavy. And was I ready to see Hugh Jackman give up a role he’s portrayed for the past 17 years? It all felt so final, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to say goodbye. Leaving the movie, my friend “Special Forces” said “That was damn near perfect”, and I have to agree with him.

Now, it’s easy to get caught up in the comic book movie hype. I mean, even I’ve come on here fawning over the latest Marvel film, only to see its flaws once the hype dies down. I can admit Age of Ultron was something of a chore to get through. And while The Winter Soldier was something of an MCU masterpiece, I’m afraid to revisit Civil War for fear of realizing it didn’t live up to its predecessor. The Fox X-Men films have established an even lower bar of quality, so you basically go into those now with lowered expectations. Logan, however, is a film that I don’t think I’ll have regrets about in the future.

First of all, it’s not a “comic book movie”. If anything, it’s an indie drama whose characters are taken from comic books. As much as folks wanted this to be the cinematic version of the now classic “Old Man Logan” storyline, this film has no real source material other than the characters. It doesn’t devolve into standard superhero hokeyness. It eschews every opportunity to turn into a “comic book movie”, as any opening for that is quickly supplanted with high intensity violence. There’s no Stan Lee cameo, there’s no post credits scene, and there are no costumes. Director James Mangold knew what he wanted to do, and he knew the tropes to avoid in order to be successful. The violence – my God, I lost track of how many times I gasped “Jesus Christ!” during the +2 hours. It earned its R rating and then some.

I won’t get into plot details, as I want you to see it for yourself. It truly is a beautiful movie, which isn’t something you’d typically say about a film with Marvel roots. Dafnee Keen as Laura is incredible, both in how she emotes, as well as her action scenes. It’s also a fitting coda to Jackman’s turn as Wolverine. I don’t know if he’ll ever come back. I mean, he says he’s done, but you can’t count anyone out in the world of comics. Then again, this ain’t a comic book movie. So, if this is it, he’s going out on a Hell of a note. He leaves behind one totally imbalanced trilogy, as the first film is maligned, the second film was serviceable, but this one is quite the mea culpa for all we’ve had to put up with over the past almost two decades. People are talking about award potential, and while it’s certainly good enough, I’m not holding my breath. It might win an Oscar for sound mixing or something, but I’m scared those folks won’t appreciate it for what it truly is. Logan is a moving experience, and it deserves all the praise the early reviews have been giving it. That’s why I have no hesitation in saying that Logan had the West Week Ever.

[tonyduncanbb73]

Lamplighter Is Bigger Than Ever While Keeping That Neighborhood Brewery Spirit

Founders Cayla Marvil and AC Jones reflect on their year-and-a-half-old brewery

Fresh off the addition of a second taproom and with a summertime beer garden kicking into gear, Lamplighter Brewing Company founders Cayla Marvil and AC Jones have barely had time to digest the breadth of their business’s growth within the last year and a half.

“It’s just been kind of go, go, go,” said Marvil. “I don’t think we’ve even stopped to breathe. We’re so excited to have this space open and kind of chill out for a moment, really hone in on our efficiency on the brew side, make the taproom space better and better.”

They’re off to a good start, with Lamplighter winning the 2017 Eater Boston award for taproom of the year.

The brew floor, both taprooms, and a partner coffee shop, Longfellows, span 10,00 square feet in a quiet section of Cambridge, and if you didn’t know that building housed a brewery, you might pass by without noticing, but for the line of people waiting to get inside and the occasional flash of Jones and Marvil’s samoyed Barley, a massive ball of fluff and the honorary CEO of Lamplighter.

The Lamplighter team unveiled its second taproom in February, taking an area in the rear of the building allocated for storage and transforming it into an additional gathering space for the hordes of guests who visit the brewery each week. Now, there’s twice the capacity for people to drink beer and coffee, play games, and stalk Barley while devouring pierogies, grilled cheese, and poutine from the various pop-ups that rotate through the brewery.

Cayla Marvil/Lamplighter

Lamplighter’s new rear taproom, featuring a mural by Chloe Rubenstein

Marvil and Jones never planned to have two taprooms, but one of the surprises of getting the brewery up and running was the reception from patrons.

“The neighborhood’s been incredible,” Marvil said. “Cambridge has been supportive, the people here are amazing.”

It took years of preparation and then construction for the pair to open Lamplighter. They first announced plans for the brewery in 2014 and opened the doors to the taproom in November 2016.

It used to be very stressful, and now it’s still stressful but less ‘dire, everything’s gonna end.’

“We put together this business plan,” Marvil said. “We knew in our heads, ‘This is a good idea, let’s go for it,’ but why in the world did the bank back us, and investors? We were really young; we didn’t have any experience with it. We are so grateful people did it, but yeah, I don’t know, we’re very fortunate.”

“We put everything into this,” Jones said. “If it didn’t work out well, we would have been in trouble. [Now we’re] able to kind of breathe a little easier. People don’t hate us, we’re selling beer, people seem to have fun, it runs — that sort of thing is a huge weight that we used to carry all the time; that’s certainly lessened. It used to be very stressful, and now it’s still stressful but less ‘dire, everything’s gonna end.’”

Two huge parts of clearing that stress hurdle involved the experts Jones and Marvil consulted along the way and the staff members who joined them in opening the brewery and keeping it running smoothly. Jones and Marvil both attended Middlebury College in Vermont and have surrounded themselves with several other alums, including marketing and events director Marina Sideli and taproom and retail operations director Jack Hunsicker.

They also sought the advice of another Middlebury alum, Rob Tod, who runs Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine.

“Allagash is the best brewery,” Jones said. They reached out to Tod when they “were just punk kids trying to figure out what to do” and asked to check out his operation.

“This guy has one of the largest breweries in the country and one of the most renowned — and he spent two hours just taking us around, showing us everything, pouring beer. It was incredible,” Jones said. “If we could eventually be anything like Rob Tod and Allagash, that’s a huge win. And I think we are never gonna do that.”

Certainly not size-wise: Lamplighter wants to stay small, now that it has hit capacity within its space.

Being where we are and being in the community and being in the neighborhood, it’s totally worth it.

“We’ve just been in this grow, grow, grow [phase] — add tanks, make more beer, add the taproom, do more,” Marvil said. “And so finally we’re having a moment where everything’s in the building — we literally can fit no more — so now we’re playing the Jenga game, how do we best fit everything in.”

The majority of Lamplighter’s sales still happen at the brewery, despite its brewing capacity doubling since opening. Jones and Marvil had anticipated doing a lot more keg sales to restaurants, but it turned out more people come to the brewery for their beer than anywhere else.

“It’s really fun to be in cool restaurants and be on draft,” Jones said. “It’s also logistically difficult, and having people here is the best method for us across the board, so the fact that that is skewed more dramatically in that direction than we ever would have guessed is great. It’s really made a big difference for us.”

That means they can still keep the operation small, even while expanding their brewing capacity and turning out new beers. Marvil and Jones have had to change up their logistics a bit, but they’re falling into a rhythm with everything from canning to waste removal to distribution to other retail locations.

“That’s been a work in progress,” Marvil said. “How do we adjust to being in a city, how do we deal with things that we had never thought about, like trash removal, where clearly we’re generating a ton of spent grain and waste and we don’t want to disturb our neighbors but we have to get it out. Most breweries are in an industrial park where it doesn’t matter how or when you do that. For us, we can’t block traffic at 9 a.m.”

“But being where we are and being in the community and being in the neighborhood, it’s totally worth it, it’s just not as straightforward as it would be otherwise,” Jones added.

They get a significant amount of help from their staff, which now totals more than 30 people.

“Everyone’s amazing; it’s such a cool community. In Cambridge, everyone’s so overqualified, but it’s great,” Marvil said.

Dana Hatic/Eater

Lamplighter founders AC Jones and Cayla Marvil with their dog, Barley

In terms of beer, Lamplighter continues to push the envelope, thanks in large part to head brewer Tyler Fitzpatrick, whom Marvil and Jones credit heavily with the success of the ever-rotating beer lineup.

“He’s so, so talented. It’s so impressive. It’s the sort of thing where you could start to take something like that for granted,” Marvil said.

Fitzpatrick has been known to spend days on end researching new styles of beer he’s never brewed before and coming up with new recipes. Case in point: this month’s Maibock, the Union, which, incidentally, was brewed for Fitzpatrick’s wedding.

“We say we don’t have a flagship,” Jones said. “We have beers that repeat more often than others, but we don’t have any beers that you can have here all the time, or really even that often, hypothetically speaking.”

That said, they always try to have something for everybody.

“Always a lot of IPAs because that’s what everybody wants to drink, it seems, but then something for somebody who says they only drink Stella, somebody who likes sours, somebody who likes funk — we try to do a whole range,” Marvil said.

Now, with double the tank space from when they started, the taproom options have increased, helping the Lamplighter team prioritize a balanced menu while keeping things fresh and interesting.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Apr 12, 2018 at 7:41am PDT

“Right now we have eight different beers going at a time, which, when you have a taproom that tends to have 12 to 14 beers on tap and where people love that variety, we need to keep up with that in that way,” Jones said.

They’ve also added 100 oak barrels within the past year, and they’ll release some funky barrel-aged beers over the rest of spring and throughout the summer.

Lamplighter partners with Iron Heart for its canning, and for its can art, the brewery pulls from within its ranks. A recent collaboration with Solemn Oath Brewery out of Illinois produced a dry-hopped saison called Barb (hello, Stranger Things fans), and Lamplighter commissioned can art from staffer Chloe Feldman Emison, while a member of the Solemn Oath team drew the monster in the background.

For the other labels, Lamplighter works with Bluerock Design out of Martha’s Vineyard. There’s a template with the brand logo and the name of the beer, so it’s easy enough to switch in the art for each new beer.

“It keeps it cohesive while allowing us to do some creative stuff with it,” Jones said.

Counted among Lamplighter’s creative brews is Barley Smalls, a Vienna lager named for Barley.

“We have people who call and ask if Barley’s there, and if we say no, they’re like, ‘then I’m not coming,’” Jones said.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Jan 5, 2018 at 9:09am PST

Even on the days Barley’s not in the brewery, there’s plenty to attract visitors, and on weekends in particular, there are often lines to get inside. Marvil and Jones decided early on to scrap plans to run a kitchen along with the beer operation, but in the evenings, they utilize space from the brewery’s partner coffee shop, Longfellows, to host various pop-ups, including Jaju Pierogi, Brato Brewhouse, Manoa Poke Shop, and so many more.

“It’s so nice because it brings in different people who maybe have heard of pierogies but they’ve never been here, so they end up coming, and it’s just so awesome — we get to support all these cool local food businesses and meet amazing people,” Marvil said. “It’s just really fun to have something different every night. For us to not have to do food is huge. That’s my background, and I thought we wanted to do food, and I’m so glad we do not run a kitchen.”

They have enough going on as it is.

“At this point, we’re running a brewery, which is its own business; a taproom or bar, which is kind of its own business; and then we do all of our distribution, which is honestly kind of its own business,” Jones said.

Customers can also bring in their own food or order delivery to the brewery, which gives Marvil and Jones the opportunity to run two taprooms while continuing to make the best beers possible as well as branching out into barrel-aging and collaborations with other breweries.

In addition to the aforementioned Barb collaboration, a dry-hopped saison, Lamplighter also recently released another collaboration, Sneaker Wave — a New England-style IPA brewed with Borg Brugghús out of Iceland.

Introducing Sneaker Wave, a fierce New England-style IPA brewed with Arctic thyme! We teamed up with @borgbrugghus of Reykjavík, Iceland, to throw a Nordic twist on this hazy staple (perhaps we should really be calling this an International-style IPA!). Waves of herbs and sweet thyme follow flavors of tropical fruit, mango, and citrus zest. The addition of Styrian Wolf and Grungiest hops keep that swell going with pockets of elderflower, anise, and even more mango. 6.8% ABV. We’re also wrapping up a fresh batch of Cuppa, our British Pale ale infused with Ethiopian cold-brew coffee from Longfellows! Cans and draft of both beers available Wednesday at 5 p.m.

A post shared by Lamplighter Brewing Co. (@lamplighterbrew) on Mar 26, 2018 at 11:19am PDT

Beer collaborations are a new addition to the business, something Marvil and Jones were unable to do in their first year.

“If the two of us left this place, it’d go up in flames,” Jones said. “And we’re finally reaching the point where that’s actually not the case. Our staff is just wonderful and everyone’s kind of got the stuff down that they need to do, so it gives us a little bit more creative freedom to do that kind of thing and to explore and think about beer in new ways, instead of just worrying about the logistics of making sure this place runs all the time, which is really exciting for us.”

Now fully at capacity, Marvil and Jones can relax a bit, but they’re hardly resting on their heels: They’ll be running a beer garden at the Central Flea throughout the summer while continuing to open up the doors to both of their taprooms to the community.

“We don’t want to be a massive brewery,” Marvil said. “We really like taprooms; we like being in the community and the neighborhood.”

• Lamplighter Brewing Company Coverage on Eater [EBOS]

This is the final piece in a series of features highlighting the 2017 Eater Awards winners. Read the other four here: