My blog n'at

One thing that I’m bad at is remembering the year. I kept thinking it was 2010 for some reason and have no idea why 2012 doesn’t seem far fetched. Maybe I have a thing against years with odd numbers? This past year was eventful personally but when it came to blogging it was kinda meh. Either way here’s a quick recap so my kids don’t have to sift through archives.

January 2011
Year started off great with the Winter Classic (even though Pens lost) and spending the first 2 weeks home with my new baby. I also decided that I would attempt to go a full year without drinking a Bud/Miller/Coors product. Not to be some elite prick but to see for myself how tough it would be. With the amount of picnics we attended and moments of weakness for going cheap I’m proud to say I’ve made it a full year and some days.

February 2011
Kept the busy pace with a quick trip to Baltimore to pick up the first of what would be many awards for a website I made. Even thought it was winter I was falling in love with the city. I will be going back soon. I also hit my mid 30′s while only suffering a minor “oh shit, I’m getting old” moment and Teaspoon got his first haircut while hitting the terrible 2.

March 2011
2 things happened, we got sick and I ate a lot of fish.

April 2011
My mom wanted to know why I didn’t invent Facebook, the internet or cure cancer. I had some views on the sale of Iron City which turned out to piss off a bunch of yinzers and Pittsburgh purists. Eh, it happens.

May 2011
Should I Drink That turned 5 years old on the 5th and we had a whirlwind bash in Boardman, Ohio as we took over the Big Tap In after party. We cracked open a 101 oz bottle of Double Arrogant Bastard that we have been sitting on for 4-5 years. It came with a padlock. Nuff said. I figured out how you can take a trip with Megabus to Erie (or Pittsburgh from there) and have a very low cost time. I celebrated national Craft Beer Week and if you haven’t heard me talk about it yet, am on the planning group for Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week coming in 2012. This month also was record breaking numbers as we raised money for March of Dimes which helps preemies such as my boys.

June 2011
After many years of hard work I graduated cum laude from college. It was incredibly stressful when I threw work and the family into the mix but the support was fantastic! I’ll probably have my student loan bills paid off when Teaspoon is starting school.

I need your help on something. “Should I Drink That?” is a finalist for the 2011 Podcast Awards and I need your help bringing the hardware home.  This is our 4th time in the last 5 years as finalists and have been honored that our fans have gotten us that far. Now its time to finish the job and here’s how,

1. Click the banner above or go to podcastawards.com
2. scroll down to Food & Drink and select Should I Drink That
3. go to the bottom and click submit

Last Friday night I resumed my traditional perch among the podcampers by providing the beverages for the Podcamp Pittsburgh Meet-n-Greet icebreaker. Not to break from tradition I also brought with me 9 cases of the finest Erie Brewing Company offerings with Presque Isle Pils, Derailed Black Cherry Ale, Misery Bay IPA, Railbender, Heritage Alt and Fallenbock.

Estimated crowd of 200 at Alpha Lab had all of the beer kicked in 75 minutes. Yeah, didn’t expect THAT to happen but thankfully there was wine that I was also pouring for people. A delicious point was proven though, women love good craft beer.

I had the assistance of Scottsweep and Mrs. Crappy since sickpuppy was under the weather.

Again it was another successful night for Should I Drink That and there are plenty of pictures to show for it.

Unfortunately for me this would be the most Podcamp action I would see. Due to work schedules I was on kid detail for most of Saturday but did make it down for 1 session and then to the afterparty.

In a soon to be new tradition for Podcamp I joined uncapd from Bocktown and tailgated in the Station Square parking lot before the afterparty. Yes, we tailgated an afterparty. She brought 4 growlers with her which shouldn’t be a shock since people in craft beer always come prepared. We feasted on Southern Tier Pumking, Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat, Woodchuck Fall and Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. All equally as good but the Pumking is my new favorite pumpkin beer.

The entertainment was plentiful as the REO Speedwagon crowd, groups for a wedding reception and a shit-ton of strung out college aged kids for a rave wandered around in brought clothes and white t-shirts. Unfortunately these 2 didnt make it to the party.

After party was at Bar Louie in Station Square and once again they lived up to their level of sub par service. Finally getting served we made our way to the back and did the podcamp traditional 649.

The shot this year – Cruzan Black Cherry rum, SoCo and Absolut Raz.  basically it was cough syrup.

The service was bad but the friends and view were amazing. Overall it was a good night. Sucked that I had a very minimal role since the 1st Podcamp happened but that’s a role a lot of us dad’s have to take these days.

It was 5 years ago on May 5th that the first episode of Should I Drink That was released. Since then the show has been downloaded over 1.25 million times,  featured in countless print/radio/tv outlets across the country and are recognized as an entertaining and educational resource for craft beer advocacy.

What started as 2 drinking buddies talking into a webcam one night in 2006 has blossomed into a cult following with fans all over the world. We felt a need for a show where you could listen about craft beer without the snobbishness and ask questions that you may shy away from because some self proclaimed beer expert was belittling you.

We do this show out of passion. Craft beer is meant to celebrate innovation, flavors and exploration of your own palate.  You’re supposed to have fun with it and not be some elitist prick looking down on people. We offer suggestions on what you may or may not like but that is the beauty of craft beer, everyone’s taste is different so don’t ever feel ashamed for what you like. Craft beer is made for your enjoyment, not for judgement.

Because of this show we’ve been able to experience craft beers from all over the world that the average drinkers never will. We’ve made very good friends and love every single one of our fans!

I’ve always beat around the bush and avoided answering a lot of questions about the show. Not because I didnt know the answer or was ashamed, just some things I didn’t feel like sharing or wanted to make shit up. So here you go, answers to a lot of the questions we get. If you have any feel free to leave them for me in comments.

1) Where did the show name come from?
The original name was going to be “monkeys with hand grenades” or “operation: shortbus”. We sent emails back and forth trying to figure out which one was best. We picked “Should I Drink That?” because it was the most popular thing we would be asked at bars. We knew each show would be able to answer that question.

2) What is with your names?
We decided right away to not use our real names. Not for privacy but hearing from “Doug and Brad” is kinda boring and craft beer is about having fun. Its entertaining. Brad has always had a sick sense of humor so sickpuppy just fit. Father Spoon comes from the podcast which inspired SIDT called The Real Happy Hour. I’ve been called “spoon” since college so the “father” part came from a forum post over there where I started forgiving people for stupid things they did while drunk but the penance would be a drink. I still have the fake collar I made and took a pic wearing that coined the name. You can thank a man named Kurt Johnson.

3) How long did we expect it to last?
Not more than a couple shows. We got rocked that first show and sickpuppy had to go close on his new house that next morning. I think we had material for 3 shows and figured after 5 that would be it because we would run out of material. Our stats went from a couple downloads from friends to a few hundred. Every anniversary we say “only one more year…”, Obviously we never listened

4) DFH 120 chug. What don’t we know?
a) Dick Hammer is a real paramedic and no that’s not his name. In fact he didn’t have one until I blurted it out b) The “10 minutes later” was filmed on my shitty digital camera and was 100% real. It really messed with my head. c) That was  filmed on Good Friday and I had fasted the entire day (I’m catholic).  We shot it at night. d) I had threats against me because of it e) Dogfish Head emailed us about it. Sam and his crew said they loved it and invited us to the brewery. Suck it haters! f) There were 18 pages in the ratebeer.com forums wishing I would die or was dead. we have a pdf of it somewhere g) the video has been viewed over 50,000 times. h) One guy on you tube hated me so much because of it he made a series of videos mocking me. Apparently I really pissed him off.

5) Random facts

• Over 1.25 million downloads. Number of those that are my wife – 0.
• I’ve lived in 3 different places in that time. “Studio B” was a running joke with us. We’ve only recorded there once and it was a garage.
• Studio B is in fact being built, thats no shit. I’m trying to figure out the power I need right now.
• I can’t drink most stouts without getting sick.
• Since the start of the show I’ve lost my dad, gained 2 sons, bought a house, won a car and got my first gray hair.
• Because of the show I learned the skills for my current profession
• I wouldn’t be where I’m at professionally and in a new career if it wasn’t for the show.

I really should start “Shit my mom says” as a category.

Last week I’m talking to my mom on the phone and in 1 conversation I was told that the pedophiles are around because of the internet and asked, in complete sincerity, “Douglas, why didn’t you invent Facebook?”

I did everything I could to not crash my car on the Parkway while trying to process that one.

Mom learned about The Social Network on Oprah and ever since tells me how its amazing that such a young man is a billionaire. Anytime she hears of someone in their 20/30′s making it rich I usually get the “why didn’t you do that?” speech. I had to roll back the history and once again tell the tales of my history to her.

While in my freshman year at Pitt (94/95) I had my first taste of working on computers. Enough so that I wanted to change my major from Psychology to Comp Sci. That’s when they dropped the bomb, direct quote from her and my dad was  ”you will NEVER make money in computers.”

I could go into greater detail about the lack of support because they didn’t understand and blah blah blah but really, wait for my biography or buy me a pint and we’ll chat. Honestly I think its an Erie thing and why so much talent flourishes once it leaves.

I still get phone calls asking to fix computers and you know what, they were right, I could never make a living because everyone wants their computer fixed, a website made or a social media strategy for free.

OK this post is taking a turn I wasn’t expecting when I started writing it. nice.

With world changing on an almost daily basis don’t discard someone because they’re not doing something you understand. We don’t know what the next big thing will be. I was told by a family member to quit podcasting when I started because it was a “waste of time” and in the 5 years since I started I think its treated me rather well.

I still hear “whats wrong with that person” because you dont follow the 1950′s idea of a professional. That is until someone makes money and your mom asks why you didn’t do it.

Don’t even get me started on the craft beer thing…

It was just announced that I, along with a co-worker, won a Silver Accolade Award from Council for the Advancement & Support of Education (CASE), District II. The award is for the work we did on the Walking Tour of Downtown Pittsburgh which is available for download in 10 different languages and featured on VisitPittsburgh.com.

I’ve won awards in the past but this is the first for work that wasn’t given from the place I’ve been employed from or from a charity so needless to say I’m pretty stoked.

The tours were the first assignment I had when I was hired so I have a soft spot for them. They are downloadable as mp3′s and, having tested myself, go along great with the walk. I’d like to think of what we could do next with them though.

This is another one of those things on my “ok, what can we do next with it” list.

I don’t go back to work for 10 days still and to say I’m going stir crazy is putting it mildly. While I’m sitting in my chair in the wee hours of the morning rocking back and forth mumbling to myself, I have had a lot of time to think about what to do next.

I haven’t shaved since I went on holiday break. I haven’t been able to grow one for more than a month without something coming up so I have to get it ready for the NHL playoffs.

I’m anxious to work on the basement still. Currently its occupied with too much Christmas throw up that needs to be boxed up. Then there is all of the crap Capt. Obvious left behind when we bought the house from him. I can’t wait to see my floor again.

Sickpuppy bought me a homebrewing kit as a housewarming gift last year. Its still sitting in the box since I don’t have room to use it yet. This spring I’m putting it to use.

The other night I came up with ideas for 2 web series I’d like to get started and a mini documentary that I’ve been floating around for awhile. I’m not sure how much podcasting in 2011 will be done with all I have going on so hey why not add on more to that load.

I need sleep. Teaspoon will be up in a few hours and we get to start everything all over again.

July
We did that moving thing which pretty much consumed our entire month and turned in our keys to the skid row of Cranberry. The sky was more blue that day and birds chirp was sweeter. SIDT was featured as a “What’s Hot” on iTunes. I think the summer heat made people delusional

August
I had my first tour of the Pens new home, Consol Energy Center. This was big for me because, well hockey is life.

September
Its official, baby 2 is on the way. We had known for a few months but finally made it public. Steel City Big Pour 4 was a huge event for SIDT. Our second booth allowed us to play more with the live podcast plan. Well recorded live but it was still cool to have beer runners and brewers coming up asking to talk to us. All of this was made possible from our live debut at the Big Tap In back in April which we’ll be doing again in 2011. I did my first solo session at Podcamp Pittsburgh. It was a blast because for once I wasn’t talking about SIDT but social media in higher ed. I love social media. I love to talk about it and I love help people understand it. I should probably be charging for it but honestly with my schedule its more of a hassle to figure out a rate structure. Though, that was 2010 thinking, we’ll see about 2011. Daddy has some diapers to pay for

October
Fun thing about being a dad, taking the kid to the pumpkin farm. Pens open their new barn and while I loved the place there was a lot to work on. I found my first grey hair. *UGH* 5 year wedding anniversary proved that we just lost track of time making babies. I found something in my basement while cleaning that was totally badass. A rather preggers Lushie chased kids down the street for smashing our pumpkin and made one wet his pants.

November
Lushie and Jackson went away for one last weekend so I lived it up and had some of the best Pho in the area after a night at the BEV Lounge. Teaspoon microwaved his sneakers and I haven’t stopped laughing since. Lushie was told to take it easy so I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal. Everyone survived. SIDT was named a finalist in the Podcast Awards for the 3rd time.

December
Lushie and I took an afternoon to ourselves and visited the Vatican Splendors. Most people don’t think of me as the religious type but hey, you learn something new about me. We took our former landlord to court and won our security deposit back. Funny that we had to “win” back our own money rightfully owed to us. It also taught me about how dishonest and shady people can be even when they swear they’re honest. This Christmas holiday I also got the greatest gift of all, my son Owen. With that I published a log of everything I was thinking from conception to birth. Final cap of the year was getting tickets to the Winter Classic Alumni Game and Winter Classic.

2010 was an incredibly busy year. More than we ever anticipated and I’ve never been so overwhelmed in my life. Its because of everything I have learned this past year that in 2011 I’m going to shift gears and focus more on my family, the house and my career. I graduate in June so that will be one burden off my shoulders. School, work, buying a house, moving, trying to get it organized, having a baby, trying to get SIDT to the next level and getting a side writing job off the ground was intense and I realized I need more balance.

We’ll see what 2011 has in store.

I never thought about it until a few people asked me if I was going to do a recap of 2010 as I did 2009. What the hell why not! Lord knows it was a batshit crazy year!  I’ll break this up into 2 parts so you don’t fall asleep.

January 2010
Still early into my new job and fighting the first of 2 major blizzards I saw RMU pull off one of the biggest upsets in college hockey for last year as they defeated #1 Miami. Even with the storm we had a bigger crowd than previous and I handled the pr/socialmedia for the event. Pho-down, Tweet-up was one of the great times in early 2010. I’m a Pho addict (I get cravings like crack addicts) and this night I went for the kingpin of dishes at my favorite Pho place where I finally had tripe and it was amazingly good. We also started the search for our first house knowing that the incompetence of our landlord was detrimental to our family.

February
Thanks to an article in the Post Gazette I made a $400 craft beer road trip to Boardman to the “#1 Beer Store in the World” Vintage Estate. A trip that would turn into a friendship with owner Phill, the most kickass man in Boardman It is my beer heaven when I need to get away. Snowmageddon brought us Betty White’s Vagina and a certain little Teaspoon turned 1.

March
Holy publicity! First there was the write up in Pittsburgh Magazine and also an interview with the Wench. The highlight though came from an interview I got to do with craft beer icon Lew Bryson about the beer raids in Philly.

April
I ate the Burger King Bacon Cheese Whopper and KFC Double Down without dying, saw the last regular season game at Mellon Arena and had a run-in with some freak ass potential neighbor we called The Sarge.

May
SIDT turned 4, got approved for a house and we had a walk for Teaspoon. Since his bro is a preemie now also the 2011 walk  should be a big one.

June
Highlight of podcasting to date was VIP interview and hanging out backstage with Zane Lamprey. His people came to us Finally became a homeowner when I closed on my first house. Teaspoon whizzed on the floor in a fitting display of how our landlord treated us. Started writing for examiner.com as the Pittsburgh Craft Beer Examiner which couldn’t have came at a more hectic time of my life. I’m not happy with the amount of content that has been posted but that will change in 2011. There is a lot planned for it and I hope yinz check it out.

Tomorrow – July thru December

When we started Should I Drink That back in 2006 we had a very simple mission. Provide an educational, yet simple and entertaining way to appreciate craft beer and give exposure to the scene in Western PA. Over the last 4 years we’ve managed to pull that off (so we tell ourselves) because of one reason, you the fans. We were ready to pack it in after 12 shows but you wanted more so spoon chugged a DFH 120 Minute and things would never be the same. We do this show because we have a passion for craft beer and we love Western PA. In that time we’ve been featured in numerous publications, radio and television shows plus have drank many, MANY delicious beverages that an every day consumer would not have had access to. We’ve been very fortunate and blessed because of the show. Then 3 days ago the call came in.

Thousands of shows were nominated in multiple categories and now it comes down to this, the final 10 and Should I Drink That is one of them! We need your help to make this dream a reality for us and bring the hardware to the Steel City for the first time!

Starting today and running until December 15th we need you to vote for Should I Drink That EVERY DAY!

1. Go to http://podcastawards.com/
2. Scroll down to Food & Drink category (5th one down on the left)
3. Select “Should I Drink That”
4. Scroll to the bottom, enter your name and hit SUBMIT

See its THAT easy!

Now you may be saying “Guys, what’s in it for me?” Easy. As long as you do your part to vote every day and have your friends do the same, when we win we’re gonna have a party SIDT style! The great folks at Bocktown have agreed to host a party for us and rock out with our… well you get the picture. We’ll have prizes, drink specials and whatever other delicious things we can dream up as a way to say thanks.

We represent you, the craft beer community and Pittsburghers worldwide. We’re up against some very heavy wine and food shows and need you to help us take on the big dogs. Voting will not only make us warm and tingly inside but show millions of awards viewers that craft beer is a rockstar and Pittsburgh is where you’ll find it.

Please forward this message to everyone you can! If you’re a member of our facebook page (http://facebook.com/shouldidrinkthat) look for a message you can share from there. if you’re not a fan, join us!

thank you for your support!

Announced tonight on a live webcast, Should I Drink That was named a finalist for a Podcast Award! This is our 3rd time in less than 5 years we’ve been given this honor and now more than ever I want to win that sucker! Details coming up on how YOU can help!

Here’s the cool thing , there are 4 beer shows whereas in the past seeing 1 was a glorious thing. Plus my good friend Phil has his kickass show “My Life As A Foodie” up against us but since it’s competition we’ll say his show blows.

What will be tough is that SIDT is mainly an audio show and most of these are video shows with really good production value, even if they are using standard iMovie templates Video usually trumps audio but where we’ll have the advantage is in our fan base. You guys have been kickass to us! We’re averaging over 6200 download per show and, if my slack ass gets stats updated, should pass 1 million downloads by end of 2010.

Thanks everyone who has supported myself and the show since its start in 2006. I’ll have details posted as soon as they become available.

cheers!