Septemberfest and Glow

It was a busy weekend! After laying low the past weekend due to illness, I was back to adventuring this weekend.  First up was Septemberfest!  Hailed as America's answer to Oktoberfest this was over sixty different breweries coming together on the Sony Studios lot for unlimited beer samples! That's right, unlimited beer!  Tickets were regularly $50, but we scored ours through Groupon for $25 (if you don't know what Groupon is check them out...a new deal every day in a city near you, groupon.com)  And while it paled in comparison to the traditional German festival in both scope and culture, it was certainly a great time.  Anticipating our overindulgence, my friend Steve and I walked from his nearby apartment.  It was perfect weather outside.  

It was good. Trust me.

I had never been on the Sony lot, despite working in the industry.  So it was somewhat ironic that my first time was for a beer festival.  There was a huge line to get in when we got there and we were slightly worried we weren't going to get our mony's worth.  In hindsight, it was silly to worry.  The line moved quickly and our fears were put to rest.  We would get all the beer we could consume.  We were given our small tasting mug and hit the tasting tents 

We made our way quickly through the line of beer stands, tasting and critiquing each one.  Most were delicious, but a few just didn't make the cut and one or two were just bad.  The great thing about a beer tasting is that you don't have to finish anything that is bad.  Why waste time on a bad beer when you have 60 others waiting for you? 

Steve got tired of drinking out of his mug. Give me the bottle!

The beer tents snaked through the facades of the back lot.  I was kind of geeking out and trying to figure out what I could recognize from movies.    

We made our way down the main street which was jammed with people listening to a live band.  About an hour into the festival everyone was feeling pretty good.

I wish I could give you a list of beers that I really enjoyed, but there were just so many :)  Needless to say it was a great time.  Plus we got all kinds of free flair and swag...pins, hats, key chains, coasters.  If I can get a half off ticket next year I will definitely go back.  This is one of the last brews we tasted and it was as good as it was funny...so very.

Part 2..... GLOW

I had seen signs in Santa Monica for Glow, but had no idea what it was about and decided to check it out.  A quick perusal of the official website and I still didn't know what it was about.  All I knew was that it was a large festival down by the Santa Monica Pier that had something to do with Art and went on until 3 in the morning.  Sounds interesting right?

My friends Nathan, Rachel and Ryan picked me up from Steve's (who decided to call it a night at 8:00 PM...haha).  We parked at my work so we didn't have to mess with parking right downtown which would have been a nightmare.  We trekked down to the pier where mobs of people were gathered and spread all over the beach.  We still didn't know what was going on, but we made our way down to a food truck because everyone was hungry.

 

We stood in line for an hour!!!! For mediocre tacos. It was ridiculous.  But we sat down near the water and enjoyed them, and we were all still in pretty good spirits. 

Then we decided to check out the "Art".  Now I am usually one who appreciates/tolerates most contemporary art.  But this was pretty ridiculous.  Many of the "exhibits" featured random patterns projected on screens.  It would have been fine if you were on LSD, but for those who just say no, like I do, it was underwhelming.  My favorite piece was this lifeguard tower that was covered in foam bubbles, that had a foam machine generating more and more foam all the time (unfortunately I neglected to take a picture..my bad).  That's not the good part.  The funny part was the 60 year old strung out hippie who kept crossing under the rope attempting to touch the bubbles.  He was not successful.  Not even close.  Each time security would gang tackle him and escort him out of the roped off area.  We saw him do this four times before we got bored.  I think the guy thought they were marshmallows.     

The coolest light projection we saw....so you can imagine what the others were like

We checked out a couple more exhibits not even worth describing, and then we decided to head out.  Despite the attractions, it was fun to be out with friends and hordes of people walking the beach at night.  So all and all it was a great day.  Needless to say I slept well that night!



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