The Feel-Good American Government Media Diet

Current events got you down? Feeling a bit burned out by the way the American government is working in 2017? Tired of too much of the real world hitting you in the face when you turn on the news?

Understandable. Political beliefs aside, any American could understand feeling a bit overwhelmed by the ubiquitous coverage of our real-life American government. Lately, I’ve been adjusting my media diet a bit to include some levity, optimism, true scholarly meat, and a bit of full-fledged romanticism when it comes to the country. And so to help you out, I’ve put together a list of some stuff for you to watch, read, or listen to for relief.

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Graeter’s Ice Cream Beer is Coming!

When I moved away from Cincinnati, my favorite homesickness remedy was a pint of Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream. Growing up, Graeter’s ice cream was quintessential Cincinnati fare; finding out it was available in my grocer’s freezer section was cause for celebration.

Now there’s a new reason to celebrate: a Graeter’s beer is coming.

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Rick Astley (Yes, That Guy) Launching His Own Beer

There’s a new name in the world of beer: Rick Astley.

Yes, Rick Astley. The “Never Gonna Give You Up” guy. The Rickrolling dude. He’s gonna make his own beer. Read More

The Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time | Round 4

Round 3 of the battle for Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time saw the closest margin of victory yet – Home Alone took down Elf with less than a 1% margin. This brings us to the final 2 movies competing for the prize. They’re Christmas classics. They’re dearly beloved. And as I mentioned in the last round, they are back-to-back John Hughes masterpieces. Christmas Vacation, released in 1989, was written by John Hughes. Home Alone, released in 1990, was also written by John Hughes. His legacy is safe in the world of PorchDrinking; we’ve all decided that he wrote the two best Christmas movies ever.

But only one can win.

(More: Catch up on all the action from Round 1, Round 2 & Round 3)

So now it’s down to TWO movies. Which will win in this battle for the title of the Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time?

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The Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time | Round 3

PorchDrinking’s tournament to determine the greatest Christmas movie of all time has gotten brutal. In Round 2, we saw four more beloved movies fall out of contention for the title. A moment of silence for the Grinch, Rudolph, Scrooged, and It’s a Wonderful Life. The poor Grinch lost by only two votes. So get involved in Round 3 below – your vote could make the difference!

(More: Catch up on all the action from Round 1 and Round 2)

Round 3 begins now. Which two movies will move on to compete in the finals to become the greatest Christmas movie ever?

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The Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time | Round 2

Round 1 of our Christmas movie tournament had some surprises. We saw some real blow-outs – Home Alone crushed its sequel, and Christmas Vacation trounced The Santa Clause. There were also some real nail-biters: Scrooged narrowly got past the Muppets, and Elf beat A Christmas Story by a single vote. (Jill Stein is raising funds to order a recount of that one).

(More: See How Close Round 1 Actually Was!)

Round 2 begins now, with four match-ups between some of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. But there can only be one winner in this battle. Review the battles below – every vote counts!

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Everything You Need to Know About the “Rogue One” Hype

This is a Sponsored Post from Alamo Drafthouse

After Star Wars: Episode III came out in 2005, consensus was that the series was done; there would be no more Star Wars movies. So I can understand anyone who is confused by all the hype around Rogue One: A Star Wars Story right now. How can a franchise that was supposedly complete get so much buzz? Didn’t I just see promotion for a new Star Wars last year? How can there already be another one? And where are Rey and BB-8 on that poster?

Never fear. As the PorchDrinker most obsessed with the banal details of the Star Wars universe, I’m here to bring you up to lightspeed on why there’s so much hype for Rogue One right now. Confession: because this is the first stand-alone Star Wars anthology movie, it has had to EARN its hype, and thus I am starting at a baseline (0/5 on the hype index) with no expectations and slightly less enthusiasm than normal. But as more details have come out about Rogue One, my excitement has fluctuated – some for the better, some for the worse.

Here is everything you need to know about Rogue One, and one fan’s running tally of how hype has waxed and waned over the last couple years of development.

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The Greatest Christmas Movie of All Time | Round 1

Are you counting down the days until Christmas? Are you decking the halls with boughs of holly and fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-ing? If your holiday traditions include watching Christmas movies… you may find yourself questioning where to start. There are dozens of great Christmas movies (and thousands of mediocre ones). And it’s hard to say which is the best.

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PorchDrinking’s Winter Movie Preview: Part One

This is a sponsored post brought to you by Alamo Drafthouse’s Glass Half Full Bar

Summer is for comic book movies, action flicks, and blockbusters. Fall and winter are for dramas, passion projects, and the films most likely to be nominated for awards. That’s the conventional wisdom regarding the movie releases around the holiday season. And there’s no denying that recent TV spots and theatrical trailers are teasing some highly anticipated films.

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Election 2016: The Issues We Care About

This voter is very disappointed. The 2016 Presidential election has been all about scandals and “temperament” and personalities of the candidates. There’s been a dearth of serious discussion on serious issues. It wasn’t until the third debate that a candidate brought up climate change. Women’s health has been largely ignored. And we haven’t heard enough about what Trump or Clinton will do to keep social security from crumbling.

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2016 Presidential Debate BINGO

The Presidential Debate on Monday, September 26 is maybe the most anticipated debate in your lifetime or mine. Expect massive ratings on TV. Anticipate hostility between the candidates on stage. Plan on a few major soundbites to play on cable news for days afterward. And overall, honestly, you can likely expect to be a bit bored by the end. Which is why PorchDrinking brings you Presidential debate Bingo!

PorchDrinking has the antidote to debate boredom and political bickering. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can ALL play our Debate Bingo game. Whichever candidate you support, we’ve got the card for you (five for each candidate, to be exact). Enjoy competing with friends. Read More

Election 2016 | The Star Wars Party Awakens

Just about 2 months to go until the god-awful election season is over. Thank goodness. And if you’re one of the many people struggling to find a candidate you care about, we’ve already asked you to consider the GOT Party – in other words, the murder-y borderline-evil characters from HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” It’s a small step in the right direction.

But “Game of Thrones” isn’t the only pop culture institution with characters who could run for President this election season. There are plenty of powerful leaders in a galaxy far, far away who could feasibly make America great again.

That’s right. We invented a political party. The Star Wars Party.

Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike could stand to take a look at The Star Wars Party. Below, we take a look at a few potential nominees. Like all politicians, they have their pros and cons, but maybe you can find someone you’d vote for this election if you were Forced to.

So contact your state board of elections and let them know you’re changing your affiliation to the Star Wars Party. Because in a messed up two-party system, this Star Wars party could be a new hope for America.

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An Open Letter (from the World’s Most Annoying Customer)

Dear United Airlines,

I am deeply disappointed by the service I received from you last Saturday. You may have lost a customer forever, because I cannot believe you’re able to still operate after what you did to me, the World’s Most Annoying Customer. Read More

Gun Hill Brewing | Rise Up Rye

In “Hamilton,” the musical that is STILL dominating Broadway (and taking home 11 Tony Awards), our entry point into the American Revolution is a toast between friends with a shared vision. Alexander Hamilton, played by Javier Munoz, is a tenacious revolutionary with humble origins and big aspirations.

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The “Game of Thrones” Party | Election Day is Coming

With the margin in the 2016 election so close, the future of our nation may rest in the votes cast by America’s many undecided and independent voters. I’m a proud independent, which means that whichever political party nominates the best candidate can win my vote. And although the United States has only two major political parties (Democrats and Republicans, in case you missed civics class), there are other parties with platforms that could siphon off a portion of the electorate. One brand new party to emerge this election season: The GOT Party. No, not GOP. GOT. As in, Game of Thrones.

HBO has published the marketing stunt/political promotion www.TheGoTParty.com, wherein Game of Thrones fans can select a candidate from the fictional dystopian world of scandal, betrayal, intrigue, corruption, and bloodshed, to symbolically become a candidate in our real-life world of scandal, betrayal, intrigue, corruption, and bloodshed. Can you imagine how raucous that party convention would be?  Read More

QUIZ: Craft Beer or Pokémon?

Because you haven’t been living under a rock, you know that Pokémon GO has taken over the world. The new app lets people walk around in their neighborhoods, offices, traffic and public areas trying to catch digital Pokémon which appear in augmented reality using the camera on their smartphones. (Translation for my parents: remember those Pokémon cards from the mid-90s? Everyone’s playing that again, except now it lives inside their phones.)

I have a confession: I don’t really get Pokémon. When I was 8 years old, I was one of the ONLY kids in third grade who DIDN’T play the game, collect the cards, or watch the show. So the names of the hundreds of Pokémon now in existence are a bit over my head. And yet everyone is trying to “Catch Em All” and bragging about the newest addition to their collection.

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Why Aren’t TV Bars a Thing? (A Business Proposal)

Listen up, bar owners and aspiring entrepreneurs of America. I’ve got your next big idea.

The TV bar. Read More

MORE Movies Based on Apps

We should have known after “Christian Mingle” and the other movies I pitched to Hollywood that the tide of movies based on apps was just beginning. This summer, “The Angry Birds Movie” has crushed the box office – presumably, mostly among children – paving the way for even MORE films based on apps.

I want a cut of that 9 figure payday from hastily making half-thought-out app-based movies that capture the current pop culture without really fleshing out a script. Here are a few more pitches for movies based on apps. Read More

“Hamilton” Beer & “Hamilton” Trivia with Gun Hill Brewing’s Dave Lopez

Every sentient being on the planet says it: If you’re in New York, you just HAVE to go see “Hamilton,” the musical currently taking Broadway by storm. (And it’s ridiculously difficult to see if you don’t purchase tickets way in advance.) It’s life-changing, they claim. It manages to make Americans talk enthusiastically about two things that have NEVER been so universally beloved: history and musical theater.

I did see “Hamilton” last month in New York, and all the hype is true. It’s fantastic. Lin-Manuel Miranda (the star/writer/composer) and the cast are extraordinary performers, and the way the show is staged tells a story worth hearing in a bold way unlike anything I’d seen before. I’m one of those people now. “Hamilton” is like veganism – you’ll know a friend of yours has seen it because they insist on telling you all about it. After seeing the show, I immediately followed some of the cast on Twitter, including Miranda’s alternate Javier Muñoz, who played Alexander Hamilton on the night on which I saw the show. And I was intrigued to see Muñoz talk about his involvement in a group creating a craft brew based on the show.

That’s right. There’s “Hamilton” beer.

Gun Hill Brewing in The Bronx has created “Rise Up Rye,” a limited rye beer (4.8% ABV) inspired by “Hamilton.” And just like I immediately went on the hunt for “Hamilton” tickets when I first heard the soundtrack, the revelation that a “Hamilton” beer existed sent me on a quest. And while “Rise Up Rye” isn’t available to me in LA (yet), I wanted to know more. This is where Dave Lopez enters.

Lopez is a co-managing partner at Gun Hill Brewing Co, which has had a Colonial-America look and feel about it since it opened in February 2014. Everything from the website layout to the labeling on their bottles looks like what you would’ve seen in the 1700s. And when you consider that the biggest thing in pop culture right now is the story of young, scrappy, and hungry New York revolutionaries with a vision, it’s easy to see how Rise Up Rye was a natural fit for Gun Hill.

Lopez generously agreed to talk to me about how Rise Up Rye came to be. And then… I put him to the test with a pop (culture) quiz to find out just how well he knows “Hamilton.”

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The 2016 Election Cycle (Lazily) Represented by Simpsons GIFs

As the 2016 Presidential Election draws closer, both political parties are looking to pivot from their unconventional primary seasons and secure a win in November. Both the Democrats and the GOP find themselves with candidates who… they’re listening to the concerns of an enthusiastic electorate and… sigh…

I’m gonna level with you. The whole thing is kind of a drag, right? It’s only May, and it feels like this whole thing has already been going on for years. And I could talk about the realignment of conventional wisdom, as candidates with such high unfavorability make forecasting difficult. I could make some quips about the Clintons moving back to the White House or the Trumps painting it gold. But, like… aren’t we all sick of it?

The whole election cycle is exhausting, man. Just scroll through these GIFs from “The Simpsons.” They don’t cleverly explain the 2016 Presidential election. They aren’t prescient or well-researched. But they’re better than more election coverage, and you people like “The Simpsons,” right? Read More