Our good buddies over @ apparel/designer toy shop Jugrnaut are helping to host this badass show featuring Nerd City favorite Gza, and heart-attack-prone drunken Irish rappers House of Pain @ Chicago’s Congress Theater.

This should be a super rad show, and it’s awesome that Jugrnaut is bringing it.

Get your tickets here.

The Windy City Rollers, Chicago’s premiere all-female roller derby league, open their 2010 season this Saturday, January 30th @ UIC Pavilion.

The derby is always an awesome time, and with a crop of exciting new skaters, this event is guaranteed to be a violent/sexy/drunken good time.

Direct Youtube Link

Get all your WCR info, and tickets, here.

This Tuesday night, December 22nd @ 9 p.m., our sponsor and Nerd City H.Q. Piece Brewery is hosting  live band Christmas Carol Karaoke to benefit animal charity PAWS Chicago.

With $5 Festivus, and $2 red and green jello shots, It should be a Christmas-y, drunken good time. So head on out, eat pizza, drink Piece beer and party and drunkenly sing for a cause.

It should be a festive, drunken good time. So head on out, eat pizza, drink Piece beer and party and drunkenly sing for a cause.

Piece Brewery

1927 W. North Ave.

Chicago, Il 60622

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

All your favorite action stars, young and old, packed into one movie!  Definitely take your girlfriend to see this film.  Just kidding, I know the people who frequent this site don’t have girlfriends.

Also, totally stoked on the return of Dolph Lundgren!

Happy Saturday Nerd City. This weekend was the Great American Beer Festival in Denver Colorado. Hoards of thirsty beer geeks descended upon the beautiful wilderness of Colorado for 3 days of beer. Dressed in their in finest cargo shorts (Camo or Khaki), socks from REI (meant for hiking but work just as well for standing in line for beer) and sporting their best/cleanest beer shirt (I like to wear my Hofbrau beer shirt to such events because it give the false impression to the ladys that I am very well traveled). The Great American Beer Festival is in its 27th year, started in 1982 with a modest 20 breweries and 35 beers available for sampling. This year they had 495 breweries from across the USA and they had 2,100 beers available for sampling. To win a medal at the festival is a huge deal for young breweries/brew pubs. It shows that your beer is the same caliber of beer as the big guys who have been at this for years. Here are a couple of my favorite beers that won awards today.

Surly Brewery- Coffee Bender- Bronze Medal Coffee Beer

Green Flash Brewery- Hop Head Red- Bronze Medal American Amber/ Red Ale

Ska Brewing- True Blonde Ale- Bronze Medal English Style Summer Ale

Here are the big winners from Chicago.

Goose Island- Demolition- Silver Medal Belgian/French Style Ale

IPA- Silver Medal English Style India Pale Ale

Red Woody- Silver Medal Wood/Barrel Aged Beer

(The category invented by Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout)

Rock Bottom Chicago- Drunken Angel- Bronze Medal Specialty Beer

(Dogfish Head took the Gold & Silver to show you who they were up against)

The Crow and the Sparrow- Silver Medal American/Belgo Style Ale

Piece Brewery- Fornicator- Bronze Medal Bock Beer

Top Heavy Hefeweizen- Gold Medal South German Style Hefeweizen

Mad props to our Chi-town breweries Goose Island & Rock Bottom and congrats to Johnathan Cutler of Piece Brewery Nerd City is drinking to you tonight. Till next time, Cheers!

This Tuesday, Sept. 29th, Piece Brewery celebrates Oktoberfest. Featuring the tapping of their Oktoberfest brew, and a specially-featured Thuringer pizza, this should, as always, be a drunken, lederhosen-clad good time. Das is all.

So, as mentioned several times on the podcast and website, I am a huge Rock Band fan. And now, with the addition of maybe the most beautiful video game ever made,  The Beatles Rock Band, my love of this particular franchise has only grown. Unfortunately, it has prevented me from some very important aspects of normal day-to-day happenings, including laundry, not getting drunk all the time, and of course, daily Nerd-related blog-updating. But seriously, nothing has interrupted the daily-goings on of my existence since….well, it let’s just say it rhymes with dariuana. Anyway, I just wanted to let all of you know.

Today was the Windy City Comicon, presented by the boys @ Around Comics/ Dark Tower Comics.

Ben and I both attended, although separately (we’re fighting), and I was super impressed. Although small, which was definitely part of the charm, the artist/creator lineup was impressive, and the overall vibe of the event was really positive. In the current world of the uber-con, (see San Diego, NYCC, etc.), a small, low-key, one day show is a much needed breath of fresh air. Held in the gym @ The Center, it totally reminded me of the comic shows I used to go as a kid, replete with local retailers and up-turned basketball hoops. Featuring such talents as Richard Starkings, Tony Moore, Jeffrey Brown, and Nerd Citizens Jenny Frison and Tim Seeley, as well as Chris Staros from Top Shelf, and vendors from all over town, including our sponsor/the best comic shop in the entire universe Chicago Comics:

It really felt like almost everyone from the Chicago scene was there. Plus, Ben and I got drunk for cheap @ Challenger’s pre-con party last night, so overall, this thing was a total success. Rarely will I admit when a competing Chicago Nerd podcast does something right, but i’ll tell you, the boys @ Around Comics have a hit on their hands.

I seriously can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year. That is all.

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the sold out 9th Annual Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild Autumn Brew Review @ the historic Grain Belt Brewery in Minneapolis.

Featuring dozens of small brewers from all over the country, this was one of the best tastings I have ever been to. HIghlight beers included those from Furthermore, McCann’s, Liftbridge and Victory.  Seriously, this event is a do not miss for any beer enthusiast (drunk).

Founding Father and all-around nerd Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes, and zombie movies.”  He was indeed a visionary, ahead of his time - and that’s pretty much why he wound up on the quarter.  233 years after our depilated friend Ben put his John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence (see what I did there?), his bizarre, drunken statement couldn’t be more true.  A working trailer for George A. Romero’s new zombie installment Survival of the Dead has been released.  I’ll be honest, I haven’t been too impressed with his latest ventures into the zombie world.  They’ve always had a strong social commentary based on the decade: 1968’s Night and it’s issues of racism; 1978’s Dawn and it’s issues of commercialism; 1985’s Day and it’s issue of underground testing facilities (okay, I made that one up); 2005’s Land and the issue of terrorism; and 2007’s Diary and the issue of technology.  But he’s making too many too soon.  Whereas he released one every decade, he’s now releasing them every couple years.  What’s this next one going to be about, hope and change?  The living and the undead working towards a peaceful future, together?  Our shitty existence has always been the driving force behind his Dead series - so what’s he gonna do now that we have our first black president and everything is hunky-dory?  Maybe the zombies will start complaining about the economy?  Check it out and decide for yourselves!  (Also, check out his most terrifying movie to date, 1974’s O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose - not kidding this time.)

Direct Youtube Link

Now I’m not a big booze hound like some of my Nerd City brethren so I don’t know if this drink would be good or not and considering I hate bananas this will be a tough try. But my love of Zelda makes me want to try this out. Over at the domestic scientist they have created many video game themed drinks, but the one that stands out is The Triforce. This shot is 1/3 Rum (representing Link/courage), 1/3 99 Bananas (representing Zelda/wisdom) and 1/3 Goldschlager (representing Gannon/power). So there you have it, go out and enjoy this shot and if you are interested in more video game drinks check out the 1up, Zero Suit Samus and The Moogle. And as always don’t get drunk and try to race someone while wearing flip-flops at 2 in the afternoon, you’ll end up hurting yourself.

This Tuesday, February 24th @ Piece Brewery, kick-ass Mardi Gras/ Barley Wine tasting party.  Nerd City will be there. Where the fuck are you going to be?

Piece Brewery

1927 W. North Ave.

Chicago, Il 60622

Getting drunk at Mos Eisley Cantina and smoking with R2-D2, one can only dream.  Take a look at two great PSAs below and check Here to see more old commercials for toys, cereal and of course…video games.

Direct Youtube Link

Direct Youtube Link

Please come to Piece Brewery, 1927 W. North Ave., Chicago, Il, Monday night, Dec. 29th for a Nerd City Birthday celebration.  We’ll be recording our show there from 5ish to 7ish and the party should start shortly after that.  Come watch us record the show!  Come eat some great pizza!  Come get drunk!  Most importantly, come wish me (and Max and Joey) a Happy Birthday!

See you there!

We’ve made it perfectly clear in the past that Nerd City hearts the beer of Three Floyds Brewery from Munster, Indiana.  It was, however, just this past weekend that I finally got around to trying their Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter.  This is, for me, by far the beer of the season.  It boasts a strong hop flavor that reminds you of its Gumball Head or Alpha King cousins, but combines this with strong coffee, chocolate, and tobacco flavors.  Alpha Claus is suprisingly light and drinkable for a Christmas beer, too.  So, that’s cool.

Check out Three Floyds Brewery here.