Last week, after rather awkwardly (and as it turns out, pointlessly) getting the girls to "move Wednesday to Thursday," I took advantage of the free night and went out for drinks at the Blue Nile, possibly the coolest combination bar-and-Ethiopian-restaurant I've ever been to.

For Barry, Ben, and Our Bold Hero, "drinks" meant a bit of a hullabaloo: the release of Surly 2. (Hat tip: MnBeer.com.)

I've heard that some microbrewed beer is like experimental art, i.e. of limited appeal, and in that respect alone Surly 2 (a cranberry stout with 9% alcohol) did not disappoint. Doubtless other drinkers had a different, more positive impression, but I was left wishing I'd gotten the Bell's Hopslam.

Barry dutifully attempted to order himself some Bell's so we could try it, but Life (ably played by one of the overworked bartenders) merely handed him another glass of failure.

After he'd finished his drink, we decamped to his place for a showing of Night Watch, which I'd billed as "the Russian Matrix."

This may have fallen under the technical definition of a "guy's night," but at this point my Guy's Nights are more likely to involve playing Halo 3 over Xbox Live. It is goodness.

Anyways, I'm back on the beer snob beat today: there's a Happy Hour beer release at Town Hall... now... so I've got people to meet. With Winterfest coming up, these are the times of good beer. I'm toying with the idea of doing a Tasty Beer party the weekend after my birthday.