Remember when we used to all get together every month or so for the SDTweetup? Well, SDTweetup is getting back into a groove. We had a very fun movie event in September with the advanced screening of Catfish, and now a new SDTweetup has been scheduled for November.

The time seemed right to introduce two somewhat overlapping groups to each other, formally. SDTweetuppers, meet SD Beer Week. Craft beer lovers in San Diego, how’d you like to come to an SDTweetup? In this spirit, we’ve joined up with Melani and Jeff “Flash” Gordon of TapHunter.com to create a unique event.

What: SDTweetup Celebrates SD Beer Week with TapHunter
Where: West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave., San Diego
When: Tuesday, November 9, 7:00 PM
Who: The first 250 people who RSVP here

We’ll have all the usual SDTweetup mayhem, giveaways, and usual suspects (who are probably some of your closest friends by now), along with a new injection of hops, malt, and beer culture. There will be tasty craft beer and food pairings from West Coast’s chef Peter Zakarian to satisfy your palate, and a TweetWall to post your juiciest OH’s and most random photos of the event. (Many thanks to Gabe Lawrence and tweetwalllive.com for this.)

You’ll also learn more about the over 300 events scheduled to happen during SD Beer Week, and have an opportunity to plot out your attending strategy with your Twitter friends.

Our sponsors will make coming worth your while, too. The generous folks at mophie will be giving away 10 mophie juice packs for keeping your iPhone or iPod Touch charged up all day. TapHunter is also planning to bring some special prizes. To enter to win, please win a business card of some sort–time to order those moo cards!–so we can draw yours to win.

Attendance is capped at 250, so RSVP today! If this is your first SDTweetup, get the most out of it by first reading these tips.

People who enjoy beer and happen to live in San Diego have been getting a treat this week. It’s been “Storm Week” here – meaning the influence of Stone Brewing Co can be felt far and wide.

Churchills, an english pub in San Marcos recently opened up their new renovated bar area – which has 50 tap handles. FIFTY! They have a LOT of really good beer on tap. I’d been threatening Ivan, the owner, that I would be coming in with my camera to take a bunch of beer-porn shots of his new setup – and I finally delivered.

Follow @churchills on twitter for awesome updates, and if you’re bored – check out the rest of my pictures from churchills!

This is what the storm did on my block.

How YOU doin’?

Not too old for a wardrobe malfunction

While driving past the Star of India this foggy morning, I thought I spied a certain laxness in sail maintenance. This couldn’t be, though, as the dedicated volunteers at the Maritime Museum of San Diego take such good care of the old girl (and besides, she just came out of dry dock). I suspect this is, in fact, her “Halloween costume,” and she is playing the part of a pirate ship.

Turns out she is dressed up for some upcoming Halloween events: lantern-led tours on the evening of Friday 10/30, and on Saturday 10/31, a carnival and costume contest, followed by more lantern-led tours.

Sounds like a good place to take your little pirates. For tickets or more information, please see the Maritime Museum’s events page.

The next SD Tweetup on August 8th was already shaping up to be a doozy: the site is the Del Mar Racetrack, the entertainment is swing band Big Time Operator, and attendees will get private seating, private betting booths and tech swag galore. TechZulu is providing live streaming and will debut their show TechPunch with host Amanda Coolong there. Though the SD Tweetup had never charged for admission before, $35 seemed like a steal for such a great day at the races.

Would you believe it’s now free?

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Everyone and their mother is getting on Twitter. In droves. People are writing code which creates thousands of fake users which follow them, and serve only to artificially inflate their follower count. In this gigantic, ever-growing ocean of Twitter who are examples of folks who are NOT DOING IT WRONG? I have a couple shoutouts to give – because these organizations are doing GOOD and not just sponging up popularity. These are places to do business with – because they behave honorably.

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As I boarded my train to work this morning, I noticed a little something on all the seats:

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If you’re a Pibgorn fan (and if you’re not, you should be), you’ll be excited to know that Brooke McEldowney will be in San Diego this July for Comi-Con.

The most reliable place to find him will probably be the Sunday Press Books booth, #1217.

So in the last couple days we’ve all been seeing the news, and tweets about the pig flu. Rumor has it that Mexico (where the virus originated) is going to be shutting down schools, public transporation and the border to keep the virus from spreading.
All in all it seems that the advice for this thing is pretty much the same advice during standard flu season. If its in your neighborhood, dont play pattycake with your neighbors. Be cleanly, and if you get sick make sure to clean up after yourself and stay away from others to prevent the spread of the thing.

Here are some helpful (but still common-sense-y type) tips to help you stay healthy (lovingly jacked from the CDC site):

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

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Hurry, the show tomorrow at the San Diego Repertory Theater is the last one. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s funny. Really, really funny! Although The Complete History of America (abridged) was premiered by The Reduced Shakespeare Company in 1993, it has been updated with references to Obama, Gitmo, and more. The company can be found on Twitter and have a podcast too.