Hated it

Now hate is really too strong a word for me to really use on this place but I just wanted to be as misleading with my title as this bar is with its name. The Pencil Factory, located just a hop-skip-and-a jump away from the aforementioned Lulu's in Greenpoint. It's an easy bar to find, but remembering it, I can't say the same. When walking up to this establishment, the most notable thing is their large outdoor seating areas on the street-sides of the bar. The bare-brick walls and darkly-stained wood bar look inviting as well on the inside with candle light giving the ambiance of a cozy whiskey bar. Unfortunately there really isn't much else going on at this place. The drinks are a dollar or two marked up from several other bars that are extremely close and besides the outdoor seating, what you see is what you get. Oh and it's cash only. C'mon guys! How this place keeps it doors open with just an average bar staff and overpriced drinks with so much competition nearby is still a mystery to me. To give them credit, the whiskey selections is decent, but again, not enough bang for my buck to want to go back..

A few drinks in and this place looks pretty nice, but once the lights go on...

There's nothing really special about it.

Loved it...

There are very few times when something sounds too good to be true and actually winds up being the real deal. Fortunately at Lulu's located at 113 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, a beer, shot of whiskey and pizza are just $5. Let me say that again... $5. Thats right, with the order of any drink combo, such as the previously mentioned "Low-Life" (the beer is a bottle of Miller Highlife).  To make this even more unbelievable, this pizza is legitimately good, A personal pan 10-inch pizza that you can add toppings for a dollar when you order.  The pizza man goes through about 250 pizza's a night so tip the guy folks, he's definitely earning his way there. 
When I lived in the are, I used to unabashedly tell people about my minor addiction to this place.. The atmosphere is always welcoming, starting with the friendly bar staff, who always seem to know how to offer excellent service without reminding you of what a great job they're doing  for you or forgetting that you exist, even on the busier weekends. While it's delicious free pizza and cheap beers that get me to come here, it's what else they offer that makes me stay. This place gives customers two floors of bar space, a performance area, pool table and arcade games to leave little room for complaint in this establishment. The bar also keeps a constant rotation of entertainment throughout the week along with their excellent music selection on slower nights.. Burlesque shows, trivia nights and live music are a common sites here. There really is just too much good going on here to get down all at once. All I can really say is that they had me at free pizza.

Beer: logos-a-gogo's

Hello fellow Alabaskan's! It's been a while since we last threw some thoughts around, but were back in business and I've got some things to share.

The first thing I'd like to share is a little factoid, (these are bits of somewhat useless information that clutter my mind constantly and are pretty much only useful when watching Jeopardy or finding myself  trapped at a social gathering where I know zero people) there are more than 1,800 breweries in America at the  moment. That's a lot of beer folks, and while some are just out to make a buck or ginormous conglomerates, most are local, small town craftsmen/women who pour their souls into small batches of beer for your enjoyment and theirs.

With that said, this means the beer market is flooded with brands that need to stand out on the shelves amongst all of their fellow brews. There are some beers that have been around so long, their iconic logo's are burned into our subconscious memories, i.e. Budweiser and Pabst Blue Ribbon for instance, but for the little guys, they have to try a little bit more. The result has been a wide array of new logo's that run the gamut of imagery from oddball to downright artistic and I gotta say, I love it. I know that beer snobs reading this will may say things like "the label doesn't matter, taste does", but what wrong with having good taste in the label my friend? I know it doesn't make the product taste any better, but I'll admit I'm a sucker for an eye-catching bottle to inspire me to try a new beer when my taste buds get tired of the same old flavors.

Here are some beers out there with some unique artistry. I haven't tried all of them out there yet mind you, but with images like these, I'm gonna do my best. Here are some that have caught my eye and have had a taste of over the years. Who knows, maybe you might not know of one and will want to try something new!

1) Flying Dog Ale

This beauty was designed by the artist Ralph Steadman, he's more well known for his illustrations of literary works such as Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", but he certainly knows how to catch your eye in a supermarket just as well as in an art gallery.

2) Anchor Brewing Co.

This is a much more traditional logo, but I love it just the same. Anchor steam offers 12 different kinds of beers, all with their own unique logo, but all of them have the original anchor placed somewhere on them. I'm personally a fan of their porter, but the steam logo seems to be their most recognizable. Be forewarned, I served in the Navy, sooooooo I'm easily turned into a sucker for nautical symbols on my booze.

3) Leinenkugel

Pronounced "line-en-coogle", This beer comes from Wisconsin and it's most well known beers are simple pilsners and American lager's, unlike the fancy penmanship found on their logo. They do have many other seasonal beers to try, but the day I stumbled across them, the fancy script is really what drew my attention, the pretty lady with a feather in her hair was a nice touch too, if you're into that.

4) Butternuts Porkslap Pale Ale

I didn't find this one myself, but a friend of mine was throwing a party for opening their business a while back and this is what I found as a selection at the open bar. There were plenty of other selection there and yes, I only tried it because it's logo is two pigs performing a chest bump. I will always support the ridiculous, even if it's beer that only comes in a can.

5) Brooklyn Brewery
   "Defender"

From a favorite company of mine, Brooklyn Brewery gives a persona to their seasonal beer "Defender". I don't know what else to say other than, it's beer AND comics. What more do you need!?

Comics and Heros and Beer Oh My!

We live in a world, especially those of us calling New York City home, where advertisements and product placements over saturate everything our eyes cross paths with. Buses wrapped completely in shrink wrap with the faces of movie stars, Billboards with scantily clad supermodels, and our televisions flood us with information about every product and service out there that we so desperately need to be better, cooler, stronger, or whatever message they have lined up to shove down our throats.

Well here is a new product that for once that I don't mind having put down my throat... err, what I mean to say is, drink.

This relatively new beer is named Brooklyn Defender. It's a limited edition brew from one of my personal favorite breweries out today, Brooklyn Brewery. The catchy thing about this beer is that while its a great drink, it's become an amazing piece of product placement in the land of all that is geeky known as "Comic-Con" a weekend-long extravaganza where hardcore lovers of pop-culture congregate to get sneak peaks on their upcoming television series, comic story lines, and whatever else you can imagine, while grabbing lots of free promotional goodies.

The beer itself is an amber IPA and is draft only, meaning no collectible cans or bottles for those that enjoy buying things but never open them (you know who I'm talking about, Mr. I own an original "telescoping lightsaber" Darth Vader but will never, EVER take it out of the box).

The beer will only be available throughout the week of comic-con (Thats this one!!!) and will be offered at the brewery itself and select bars throughout NYC. the link below will give you more info about the history or the beer and the locations you can go to get yourself a taste, I highly recommend you try it for yourself.

What I really love about this particular beer is how its embraced the Comic-Con culture and profited from the mindset. It's limited edition (What collector doesn't like that?) and has an awesome superhero on the front! Along with that, the beer is delicious, have I mentioned you should try it for yourselves yet? Anyway, enjoy the festivities of Comic-Con and go get yourself a super powered beer afterwards ( Don't forget to check the link below to see all the awesomeness that Brooklyn Defender has to offer!)

http://brooklynbrewery.com/blog/news/introducing-the-brooklyn-defender/

Give and Get

Hello all, for those of you just joining me, let me catch you up. Alabaska, THE state of mind, is meant to be a congregation of creativity. I apologize if the overuse of alliteration is too apparent, but when it fits, it's gonna happen. Anyway, There's another part of the mindset that makes the glorious 51st state of the union so great. The best way to explain it would be non-monetary exchange. We want to encourage people to help our fellow human kin out. Not just the ones you're related to either. What I mean is, money isn't the only thing that can repay somebody for a job well done. Whether it's as simple as the words "thank you" or a good-old fashioned bartering session, non-monetary retribution for help or other positivity can be an outstanding tool for creating new friends, business networking, and everything else in between. Let me show you a few examples of how this works for anyone that doesn't quite see how not having money doesn't mean you can't get the most out of any situation.
 
A great example that comes out of this mindset for me would have to be between Milton Glaser, the creator of the iconic "I love NY" logo (yea, that shirt with the red heart every tourist gets when they visit NYC ) and the founders of Brooklyn Brewery. The Brooklyn founders had little money banked to create a lasting image for their company to be recognizable among the hundreds of other competitors on the shelves, but they pestered the artist for months, getting themselves a 15 minute appointment with Glaser. After begging him to reduce his cost with no luck they offered him the only thing they had... beer. Glaser negotiated that he receive free beer from the company for the rest of his life in exchange for creating their logo. To this day, they are all friends and yes, Milton still gets his beer and Brooklyn Brewery has kept the iconic script "B" with its green background.

 

I'd have the same expression if someone said they'd give me free beer for life

Maybe you're thinking, "That's just one lucky and talented guy that made out like a bandit from this money-free exchange, something like that will never happen to me." Well let me point you towards a city that exists with this mindset as the only way in which any exchange of goods can be made. The city  exists for just one week at the end of august near Reno, Nevada every year, in which the same city disappears as quickly as it was created. Maybe you've heard of this place, it's the Burning Man Festival of course! I have never been to it myself, but have felt it calling out to me throughout the last few years, well, maybe it's the handful of friends I have who've made the sojourn to Nevada the last five years running, but you know what I mean. This amazing creation has been going strong since 1986, the festival has no limits on self expression and only allows "gifting" as a way for transactions between participants, or "burners" as they're referred to. Whats beautiful about this idea is that your gift could be nothing more than a silly dance in exchange for a cup of water or maybe you'll stop by someone and they'll write you a poem on the spot in exchange for a lift on your bicycle (no cars are found within in the city by the way, except for safety patrol cars and mutant hybrid art cars) Did I mention that this "city" has a population of more than 50,000 people? With that all said, anyone can find a way to not only survive without money, but thrive.

Aerial view of the city

Your typical building within the city

Some "burners" hanging out

Just your usual mutant car

Maybe you're still a negative Nancy and all you can do is nay say the idea of living without holding money in such high regard. Well here is another example that  doesn't require you be an iconic artist or schlep all the way out to the desert for a mere week, but a business that already exists in Brooklyn and offers their services not for money, but for the best barter once a month! What am I talking about? It's White Rabbit Tattoo, located at 121 Essex St. The talented artists offer up a free tattoo of your choosing in exchange for the best item or offer (non-sexual of course) of anything you can think of. just this week the winner traded a flying-V bass guitar, while others offered piano lessons, antiques, homemade clothing and more.

At Alabaska, we will try to keep this going as well, in correlation with the idea from the talented minds at White Rabbit, we will advertise "Fresh ink gets a drink" throughout our hours of operation.  This promotion will mean that if you visit us with a new tattoo (meaning done that day folks) your first round is on us! So come for a free drink, and stay for the great experience, just remember to keep passing it along when you leave and keep that creativity flowing.

In this world...

While my last post tackled the endorsements of celebrities in a hypothetical world, this one will come crashing back down into the reality in which we live in. Celebrity endorsements aren't anything new, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it as the saying goes. Tacking on a famous face to a product has helped countless companies throughout any industry you can think of increase sales by adding some emotional currency to its product.

Alcohol is a personal favorite product of mine so lets see who from tinsel town is bellying up to the bar for a drink and a paycheck. As it turns out, there are a ton of celebrities that endorse alcoholic beverages so keep in mind this is just a top three from me, so if you know of one that I didn''t mentioned and want to share, send me a comment! I would love to hear what craziness is going on out there that I haven't heard about yet. For now though, lets get back to that list.

1. Clint Eastwood - Pale Rider Ale

   

   Are you feelin' lucky, punk?

This brew was created in 1997 and developed by Clint himself with the help of Celis Brewery out of Austin, Texas. The name was a play on a movie  he starred in with the same title in 1985. As of August of 2000 it's no longer distributed anywhere, but its short life span wasn't in vain. Clint actually donated all the profits of his beer to charities, such as the Carmel Youth Center in California. I'm putting this at the top because while I don't see eye to eye with him on his political views, I would have totally purchased a six pack,or four, if I had the opportunity today for the reasons stated above.

   2. Sean Combs - Ciroc Vodka
 

 Mr. Combs may be better known for his media mogul status as a recording artist, producer, and movie star, but he generates a large portion of his yearly revenue from endorsing high-end liquor such as Ciroc. The owners of the vodka recruited Combs in early 2007 as just the face of the drink, but after seeing sales increase considerably, negotiated a deal giving Combs more responsibility and more pay. Combs re-branded Ciroc as an "ultra-premium" Vodka, changing its positioning and increasing sales by 131% in the U.S. alone. He's helped them with creating new flavors, such as peach, to enter the market with and is pulling in tens of millions off this business deal. I'm not one for mixed drinks, but I'd sure like to sit down with Mr. Combs and find out what the next thing I should be investing in will be!

  3. Bill Murray - Suntory Whiskey

This is the personal favorite of mine. It's a trifecta of perfectness. The actor, the movie, and the whiskey are all great on their own, but mixed together, create the perfect advertisement in a movie without even looking like it's trying. For those of you who need a little info on what I'm talking about, Bill Murray plays an aging actor in the movie "Lost In Translation" who is set to film a commercial for Suntory whiskey. The ad placement promotes the product while seamlessly fading into the movie as just a piece of the action and not forcing it down the viewers throats, so to speak.

I know there are tons of other great examples of mixing celebrities and booze out there so tell me if you think there's one better than the ones above. I've been without cable for the last few years, so I'm sure there are much more relevant ones out there. Keep your imagination at full throttle folks and keep sharing it with the world. 
        

In a world...

The other day I was posed with the question, "If you could have any celebrity endorse and promote Alabaska, who would it be?" I have two answers to this conundrum. First, and in my opinion the better of the two responses, would be to look in the mirror and there is your answer. It's anyone and everyone. You just have to believe in yourself and what's inside your mind. With that mindset, and maybe a little charisma to boot, whoever you are becomes the greatest promoter of the state of mind that is Alabaska.

As much as I love the idea of the former endorsement model, the slight problem is that unfortunately, you (myself included) aren't adored and emulated by thousands of screaming fans on a daily basis. With that being said I have an easy option B that I think would be faaaaaaantastic. Hell, they might even be on board if they ever happened by for a drink. The celebrity I'm referring to isn't a who, but rather they. They go by the name  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

 
If you're not familiar with this amalgamation of awesomeness let me fill you in. They are an indie-folk band comprised of an ever-changing lineup consisting of anywhere from nine to twelve artists. Their sound is reminiscent of folk, gospel and  the psychedelic rock of the 1960's and 1970's While the band is constantly changing, their two vocalists, Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos, are the face and permanent features of Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros. Perhaps these two would really be the ideal candidates as the actual celebrities for this hypothetical endorsement deal, but they're all pretty much a package deal in my mind.

What leads me to believe they are the ideal candidates for this is that they formed as part of a musical collaboration between Ebert and Castrinos. They didn't create all of this musical magic in Alabaska originally, but I'd  like to think that the next big thing from them, or any other artist for that matter, could find a home within Alabaska as a place to create the next gem in whatever industry they choose. Another fun factoid for all of you is that the name of this band originated from a short story Ebert created while dealing with recovering from drug addiction stemming from his original band IMA ROBOT. The character Edward is described as a man sent from somewhere out in the universe to save mankind, but constantly gets distracted by girls and falling in love. The story touches me not because of it's content, but because while the story is a fun creation of Eberts' mind, it evolved into so much more, a way to deal with recovery, a band name, albums of songs filled with love, hope and positivity that anyone can get behind. This process of moving with ideas and letting them grow into so much more are proof that there people out there with the same mindset as me and all you potential citizens of Alabaska.

Now I know what you're saying, "Why would you want to risk using an ex-drug addict with a cult-esque band behind him as someone to endorse your business?" Well I'll tell you why. Because as The Alabaskan motto states, "We don't judge". We all have our past and must either own it and move on to bigger and better things, or let it, and the thoughts of others, decide who we are for us. From the looks of it, Ebert chose the former and that's exactly the kind of person I'd want spreading the word for Alabaska.