Mr. & Ms. Pac-man at Level Up

Quarters are being used for more than just parking meters and washing machines these days. For $0.25, Oregonians can escape reality and enter into the world of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Troy. They can even drink a beer while trying to get to the next level. That’s because barcades, or bars that feature classic vintage arcade games, are beginning to sprout up across the Pacific Northwest. For avid gamers and gaming novices, barcades offer a fun environment for anyone old enough to reach the start button.

Barcades are hitting new levels of popularity because of nostalgia, because people want to connect together in real life, and because it’s fun. There aren’t many things in life that still cost a quarter. Thanks to new establishments like Level Up and Blair Alley Vintage Arcade popping up in Eugene, Oregon, people now have places to grab a drink, meet up with their friends, and play the video games from their childhood.

Nostalgic games like Pong (1972) and Frogger (1981) may seem out of date but they’ve never been more popular.  Kids and adults are lining up to play these games from the ‘70s and ‘80s because they celebrate the simplicity of the past. Kids can learn the game quickly while parents and the older generation can jump back into their favorite game without much practice. For Andre Sirois, a Eugene-based DJ, this means it’s easier to socialize while trying to get to the next round of a game. “The old games are simple.  One or two buttons, a joystick, and that’s about it.  So, you can go out with the homies, drink, be social, and still play these games,” Sirois says.

Aaron Thayer, gamer, game review blogger, and author of Silicon Sasquatch, agrees that nostalgia plays a major role in why vintage games are rising in popularity. “What seems to prevent these games from dying is the level of nostalgia they impart upon people, and that’s the same for frequent gamers and those who haven’t touched a game since Pong. Many gamers, myself included, play these older games because of the memories attached to them,” Thayer says.

This is exactly what barcade owners are banking on: customers reliving those childhood moments. Level Up is the latest bar to open up its door to gamers in the college town. It’s centrally located both to the University of Oregon and downtown Eugene, making it an easy place to meet up or play a round of pinball. With only a handful of bars to choose from in the college town, Level Up offers Eugenians a place to get away from the regular bar scene and try out something new or old, depending on their level of gaming expertise.

It’s only been open since April of this year, but Level Up is already becoming a hot spot, drawing people of all ages to stop by. “Happy hour is from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. If your kids get off of school and you get off of work, you can have a beer while your kids do their thing,” says K-I, assistant manager at Level Up. “It’s a safe place and there’s always a good vibe in here.”

Level Up also wants to reiterate to its customers that it’s not a nightclub. The space used to be occupied by The District, the troubled dance club that had a history of problems with the law. The barcade does offer daily and weekly events for patrons to enjoy. Customers will soon be able to purchase hanging pieces of artwork featured by local artists and Thursday and Friday nights cater to those looking to blow off some steam on the dance floor.  Andre Sirois also moonlights as DJ Foodstamp during Next Level Fridays. But don’t expect to hear any LMFAO or Nicki Minaj. “DJ Foodstamp is more of a turntablist. He plays the classics which is the vibe we’re trying to maintain in here,” K.I. says. The bar is open until 2 a.m. and kids are welcome to play games until 9 p.m.

It’s refreshing to see that these vintage games have a home again. With the advent of in-home gaming systems like Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s Playstation, kids never had a reason to leave their rooms in order to play their favorite games. Thanks to barcades, now people can congregate together, play against each other, and compare scores and gaming techniques. This environment encourages a more active approach to gaming, rather than the sedentary lifestyle that so many gamers have become accustomed to. “We are used to video game masturbation; that is, playing by ourselves,” Sirois says. “Barcades get us away from our computers and allow us to play games socially. Not like fake socially via a network, but in person.”

It may be 2012 but walking inside Blair Alley Vintage Arcade in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene, feels like strolling through an arcade in the 1980’s. It celebrates a time when machines and video games were packed into one giant room and people came together. Located directly behind Ninkasi Brewing Company, this pinball haven offers food, dancing, and plenty of games for the whole family to enjoy.  It’s a little off the beaten path but that’s part of its charm. As owner Chad Boutin says, “It’s a speakeasy arcade.”

Arcade sign located outside of Ninkasi Brewery

What started out as Boutin’s 350 square-foot photography studio waiting room turned into a full fledged bar and arcade in a matter of months. “My friends brought four pinball machines over and I had one already. We started opening up the space for Friday night art walk and people loved it,” Boutin says.  Within three months, they added a bar, two bathrooms, increased the size of the entrance door, obtained a liquor license, and opened their doors for business. “It’s that place, when you have a friend in town, that you take them to because only a local would know about it,” he adds.

Blair Alley Vintage Arcade also offers food and has happy hour specials. Kids are welcome until 9 p.m. and all the machines are set up so they can easily be moved and played outside once the DJ arrives. It certainly has the old vibe of a classic arcade, with all of the machines lined up inside a dimly lit room and the sounds of quarters clanking in the background. “After you’ve been here 5 minutes you know without a doubt that this is a place you want to spend some time in or thanks but no thanks, I’m never coming back. Don’t you wish all your relationships were that up front in 5 minutes?” says Clark, a regular customer and part-time worker at the bar.

August, age 3, masters mini bowling at Blair Alley

Now residents of Eugene don’t have to drive out of town in order to play their favorite vintage games. Ground Kontrol, located in downtown Portland, and Shorty’s, located in Seattle, used to be the only options for barcade enthusiasts living in the Pacific Northwest. Wunderland, a family-owned nickel arcade, has franchises all over Oregon but it’s catered more to children and those under the age of 21.

Although the barcade isn’t an entirely new concept, the community of Eugene appears to be catching up to the trend. Who wouldn’t want to grab a beer, play a round of Pac-man, watch a game on the big screen, and dance until it’s time to go home? With two barcades opening over the past year and half and another console-based lounge set to open in the near future, it looks like this trend isn’t going anywhere.

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What if I don’t live in Eugene? No problem. Take your quarters here:

Barcades are popping up all over the country!  The original barcade in Brooklyn, New York came about thanks to five friends coming together back in 2004. They bridged their love for gaming with their love for American craft beer and established Barcade. Just this year, two more Barcades have opened in Jersey City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over in Grand Rapids, Michigan, gamers can head over to Stella’s Lounge where they can enjoy Sunday brunch and their favorite vintage video games.  Denver, Colorado is the latest city to get on board with the arcade/bar concept. The 1up opened in June 2012 and features three lanes of Skee-Ball and multiples sets of Giant Jenga, in addition to 45 classic arcade games and 15 pinball machines. Game on!

Barcade in Brooklyn, New York
(credit: barcadebrooklyn.com)

Barcade in Jersey City, New Jersey
(credit: barcadejerseycity.com)

Barcade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(credit: barcadephiladelphia.com/)

Stella’s Lounge in Grand Rapids, Michigan
(credit: heinemanbarco.com)

1Up in Denver, Colorado
(credit: the-1up.com)

The women’s bathroom at Ground Kontrol in Portland, Oregon

Shorty’s in Seattle, Washington
(credit: http://www.shortydog.com)

Widmer Bros. Brrr Seasonal Ale (bottle): very dark, brownish red, smooth and sweet, malty flavor, slight bit of bittering hops to balance it out, sort of brown aley, bitterness seems to get stronger as it warms.

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It was a very relaxed affair, with specials on tap designed to showcase the hop-centric talents of four Cascadian brewers: Gary Lohin of Surrey’s Central City, Graham With of Vancouver’s brand new Parallel 49, Ben Love of Portland’s brand new Gigantic Brewing, and Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, Ore.

So a lot of big flavours were on offer, and in big servings — so a little bit more tricky to get through the list than Hoppapalooza the other night.Thankfully I’d already tried a few of the offerings at the Alibi Room, so I could focus on some new flavours.

It didn’t seem to be that kind of list-chasing night, anyway; more a take-it-easy, kick-back-and-chat kind of deal.

The star of the show for me was Gigantic’s IPA, a soft and gentle fruity number with a solid bitterness. Very, very drinkable. Love explained that this was going to be Gigantic’s only regular-production beer, with every other effort going into seasonals. If the City Never Sleeps dark saison that he’s also produced is anything to go by, this is going to be one brewery to stay on top of.

As is Parallel 49. I tried a full measure of With’s India Pale Lager, and it’s an extra-refreshing hoppy treat, like a ramped-up pilsner. With’s wonderful watermelon wit was also pouring.

(Love also said he’d be teaming up at some point with With, mostly to make a superb beer with a superb pun for a name; “From Russia With Love” was one idea for a Russian imperial stout.)

Lohin’s Roachapalooza, meanwhile, was the first tap to finish, understandably. It’s got an incredible wall of hops flavour and I hope we get more of it soon. There was also the chance to try Lohin’s World Cup of Beer champion ESB, as well as his classic Pale Ale and IPA.

Red Racer can-can in celebration of Central City’s all-conquering ESB

Ninkasi, represented on the night by RainCity Brands‘ Adam Henderson who imports the brewery’s goods into B.C., was showcasing its hugely drinkable Believer Imperial Red, along with its more challenging Total Domination IPA and Tricerahops double IPA.

Like I said, a lot of big flavours. I took it easy — hey, I’ve still got a beer festival to go to on Friday.

jzeschky@theprovince.com
twitter.com/jantweats

May the sun shine on you while you enjoy family and friends, and of course remember the meaning of Memorial Day.

BBQ?

Fun Facts About Barbecue

In 2012, Ninkasi has grown to feature a 50-barrel brewing system, and now uses it to produce and distribute its beer throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, and my beloved city of San Francisco. The variety of beer has grown also. Not only do they carry the signature Total Domination IPA, but also distribute Tricerahops Double IPA, Believer Double Red, and Otis Oatmeal Stout; not to mention their popular seasonal collection.

The name Ninkasi has meaning behind it too. Ninkasi is the ancient Sumerian goddess of the intoxicating beverage. Her story begins with her birth out of “sparkling fresh water.” She is the goddess made to “satisfy the desire” and “sate the heart.” The founders of Ninkasi Brewery made no mistake in picking this name for their company.

Furthermore, Ninkasi supports a variety of positive community collectives and non-profit organizations not only locally but on a larger scale as well. They have worked to promote various sporting events, teams, musical events, theater, fine arts, as well as festivals and neighborhood parties for example the Whiteaker Block Party that comes every summer.

As you can see, Ninkasi is so much more that just a local brewery, it uses corporate social responsibility to increase consumer perception, as well as give back to the local community. Almost all of the profits from the beer go to non-profit McKenzie River Trust to maintain the water supply that nourishes the brewery as one of the cleanest sources in the world.

The Ninkasi brand has grown to incorporate the local Eugene spirit of togetherness and culture. If you haven’t tried a Ninkasi brew, make your way to your local grocery store and get your hands on one.

Historian, writer, and friend Kurt Epps is always fond of saying, “You got to hand it to the Sumerians. They invented writing…and beer!” As a former English teacher, he once told me it was imperative when teaching ancient cultures to modern students who could not care less that some comparison to what we have today must be made to keep them interested. This little quip, more often than not, always got the job done, drawing amused stares and question like, “No way! Really?” Yes, really kiddo. The same thing happened to me last week, when dealing with even younger students, and any mention of alcohol whatsoever never ceases to produce childish giggles. Nevertheless, the Sumerian line actually seemed to peak their interest. “Go home and tell mommy and daddy,” I said, “That the next time they sit down to have a beer, they are actually drinking something that is thousands of years old.” I then, in this politically correct world, quickly attached the disclaimer that I am not advocating the consumption of alcoholic beverages to underage students. We have an insecurity in this country when it comes to alcohol; adults can get hammered on weekends, but college students and those younger, well, they do to, but it is kept hush-hush (at least it was in the pre-Facebook “red cup” era of humanity).

Moving on…I have a beer every now and then, usually when watching a game or eating pizza, and never before driving. I am surrounded by so-called “beer experts”, and then there’s the real, professional one, Kurt, as mentioned above, who has done some work for the Beer Advocate (he even has his own blog devoted to this hoppy topic, called The Pub Scout). Thanks to his suggestions, I have sampled many different kinds, always drawn to ones that are hundreds of years old in recipe, usually being German. I have forbidden myself even to come near the likes of Miller, Keystone, Coors, and Budweiser, (though I will go for a Blue Moon every so often) because if I wanted to try something so unlike what beer should be, I would just crack open a nice plastic bottle of Poland Spring. (Side note: in case you have not realized it, the reason why these beers are advertised to be served ice cold is because the chill hides the cheap flavor, by shocking your taste-buds. Real beer should be drank slightly chilled, yet not as warm as the British drink there’s.) Instead, there are beers from Trader Joe’s, such as their vintage ale, dunkelweizens and hefeweizen, and of course, something called Chimay, which has been brewed the same way since 1863, and comes from recipes concocted by monks who needed something to do in the hours they were not praying. This beer, so amazing, so holy, can be purchased in box sets coming with a gold-rimmed chalice, much like the kind you would find in, of all places, a church at communion.

So why did I bother writing this, you are wondering? Well, as I begin to prepare for an archaeology camp I will be conducting at the school I teach at this summer (and getting into a random kick on this time period), I have been doing reading on the ancient and medieval world, and one subject seems to always be recurring when getting to food and survival: beer. While we may be deterred today by “beer belly” lingo, to the ancients, beer was a source of nutrition, being made from grain and hops; liquid bread, you could call it. So while today, we have a plethora of other foods to gorge on, then wash down with beer, in the ancient, and even later, medieval world, where food was sometimes scarce, beer literally could mean the difference between life and death.

The importance of this is greatly illustrated in the book I am currently reading, titled, A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, by William Manchester, which is loaded with facts, but is very easy to read; I will recommend it as the perfect introduction to this age. When describing the different social classes, which determined how well people ate in England at the time, one thing was constant, no matter what: alcohol consumption: “Every meal was washed down by flagons of wine in Italy and France, and, in Germany or England, ale or beer. ‘Small Beer’ was the traditional drink, though since the crusaders returned from the East, many preferred ‘Spiced Beer’, seasoned with cinnamon, resin, gentian, and juniper. Under Henry VII and Henry VIII, the per capita allowance was a gallon of beer a day—even for nuns and eight-year-old children. Sir John Fortescue observed that the English, ‘drink no water, unless at certain times upon religious score, or by way of doing penance’.”

Apparently, if you sinned, one way of atonement was being forced to drink water. Sure beats a decade of the Rosary as penance, doesn’t it? And as for children as young as eight being allotted beer, this was probably more for safety than anything else, as water was often times unsafe to drink due to bacteria and parasites, that could only be killed by boiling, or, you guessed it, distilling and fermentation. Perhaps this was why people as early as the Sumerians in 3,500 BC came up with a recipe for beer—one of the oldest pieces of writing ever found in archaeological history was a beer recipe written in Sumerian. Historians have also claimed that beer existed even earlier, such as 9,500 BC in the early Neolithic period, when it was probably discovered by accident, then by the Chinese in 7,000 BC who used rice, in a drink that could be compared to modern-day sake.

Have you ever felt that you worship beer, maybe a little too much? Well, the Sumerians did that too, as beer was so important to their livelihood, that it even had its own goddess, named Ninkasi. A hymn to her was written in 1,800 BC, and an excerpt of it is below. We will end with that. The next time you go to drink a beer, think of the history behind it; that while you may think it is a modern invention, people have been drinking and enjoying it since time immemorial:

“The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.

When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is like the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is like the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates”

“Don’t think too much,” said the young psychiatrist, a scrawny fellow with an oversized Adam’s apple and no chin. “Say what comes to you first.” His hand shook a little as he held the card. I observed the round swirls.

“I certainly don’t see you.”

“Be spontaneous.” His voice was low.

“That was spontaneous”

“It will help us if you say what you see, not what you don’t,” he said.

“A pair of arms. Definitely not yours.”

He held out another card.

“Two heads, kissing.”

Another.

“Two singing blackbirds.”

He frowned and displayed another print. He’d said ten. Seven more to go.

Then, a chance glance through the glass window revealed a beacon of hope: the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, sitting outside, awaiting her appointment. She caught me staring and smiled. My mouth went dry. I fell in love in that glorious moment, when the dimples appeared. I made a quick song about them. I also made a plan that began with acquiring her number and ended at possible honeymoon destinations.

The shrink coughed.

“I see a tree reflected by a river,” I blurted. He fumbled with the cards, displaying another.

“A drunk old man on a merry-go-round. Hence the blurry lines? Bingo!” I was happy.

“There’s no wrong or a right answer.”

“Then what’s the point of this exercise, wise guy?”

He looked like he didn’t remember and simply took some notes. Is this how they planned to save the likes of me? With ten random ink blots? My eyes wandered. The girl seemed happy. I took in her bizarre dress made from what looked like jute. Boy, she did need a shrink. But I didn’t care: she reminded me of a woodcut seen years ago of the hot Sumerian brewer priestess Ninkasi, in The Pale Ale magazine. My memory was fine, at least. It was the shrink who needed some tests.

I returned to the swirls.

“Looks like a gasoline explosion,” I said, “electronic configuration of the gold molecule; the Bluebird hill in the neighbourhood; a medieval witch-burning.”

The last card was up. Phew.

“Two men brawling,” I said, “over a woman.”

He stacked the cards neatly and sighed. “Come back tomorrow for another session,” he said, after minutes of scribbling notes. I proceeded towards the door with the intention of eavesdropping till my jute-clad, dimpled beauty was through. She walked past me. I turned at the exit. She hugged the psychiatrist. Then she held his nonexistent chin.

“So how was your first session with a patient, love?” she asked.

I thought she suited him perfectly.

—–

©vaidehi

Ginger Carrot-cake Cupcakes
.

with IPA buttercream frosting

…

Cupcake Ingredients:
makes about 12 cupcakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, grated carrots
• 2 tsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger

Frosting Ingredients:
makes about 12 cupcakes

• 2/3 cup Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA (or any other hoppy beer of your choosing)
• 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 12 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• candied ginger for garnish

(click for larger)

Steps:

Cupcakes~

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Insert 12 cupcake liners into a 12-muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves.
3. In a large bowl, stir together granulated sugar, unsweetened applesauce, and canola oil until thoroughly combined. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add grated carrots and grated fresh ginger. Stir to combine.
5. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each liner about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 18 to 22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Frosting~

1. In a saucepan, add the IPA and place over LOW-medium heat. Reduce the beer by half (until it measures approximately 1/3 cup). It will be a darker caramel color from the original beer.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and butter. Beat with a whisk attachment until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar and beer reduction. Whip again until fully combined, and the finished product is light and fluffy.
4. Cover the bowl and chill for 1 hour.
5. If the frosting seems too thin when you remove from the fridge, add more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency.
6. Frost when the cakes are at room temperature and garnish with candied ginger.
   Enjoy!

(click for larger)

Seeing as Ninkasi Tricerahops comes in a 22oz bottle, you still have about a pints-worth of the beer to pair with a cupcake… well, if you didn’t drink it while you were baking.

Speaking of cupcakes…

Just around the corner is the 2nd annual Eugene Beer Week, and one of the events on Thursday, May 10th is a beer & cupcake tasting (FB event). Join 16 Tons and Divine Cupcake at the Supreme Bean Coffee Company (2864 Willamette, Eugene, OR 97405) for this unique event. They’ll be serving up 5 different pairings with Divine Cupcakes and a great flight of specialty beers:

• Boneyard’s Hop Venom IPA with IPA frosting carrotcake
• Widmer’s Imperial Stout with Death by Chocolate
  
• Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Ale with Salted Caramel
• Elysian’s Avatar Jasmine IPA with Tao of Green (matcha green tea cake)
• Elysian’s The Peste Chocolate Chili Beer with The Swizzle (Mexican Chocolate Cake)

Cupcakes served 5:30pm-10pm on Thursday, May 10th.  Free Entry, $3 per 3oz Beer + Mini Cupcake.  Free Widmer Glass to first 60 people.  Full Food, Beer, Wine, and Coffee Menu offered.  All ages welcome.

Bon appetit!

This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes at THIS LINK. For specific “cooking with beer” links, go here:

• Oakshire Overcast (espresso stout) Chocolate Pudding
• Flat Tail Pumpkin Stout Tiramisu
• Framboise Cranberry Relish
• Blue Moon orange sherbet float
• Oakshire espresso stout float

~Dan – np: O.S.I. – Fire Make Thunder

Zoe Gadsby, a manager at the Ninkasi Brewing Company, feels that the Eugene Mission brings an onset of wandering homeless individuals into the neighborhood during the day.

Zoe Gadsby talks Whiteaker at the Ninkasi Brewery. Photo credit: Colette Levesque

“I’m all for finding a nice place for homeless people to live,” said Gadsby. “But I don’t think that’s the best solution.”

The Whiteaker neighborhood is home to a large artistic community, hosting events like the Eugene Last Friday ArtWalk and the Whiteaker Block Party.

“[Whiteaker] allows that whole artistic view on life, letting people be who they are and expressing what they want to express,” said Aubrieanne Reineke, a bartender at the Tiny Tavern.

Aubrieanne Reineke smiles at the Tiny Tavern. Photo credit: Colette Levesque

Reineke just moved to the Whiteaker neighborhood, and is a fan of the unique artwork and savory food. She described the neighborhood as an all-inclusive community, to a point where no one can be cut out.

“It also brings a whole other group of people who want to express themselves in possibly a negative way,” said Reineke. “The drugs going back and forth between the alleys – that’s a huge problem.”

Coco Santana, a worker at El Pinche Taco, is unsure whether the eclectic crowd of the Whiteaker neighborhood acts the way they do because of health problems or drug use.

“Oh my gosh, he is speaking out loud,” she recalled, on a recent encounter with a visitor in the Whiteaker neighborhood.

“They’re diverse just like the art,” said Reineke, referring to the residents of the neighborhood. “Usually once you start talking to them, they’re pretty awesome and have a lot of stories.”

John Munro, owner of Eugene Glass Menagerie, would like to see more police patrolling the neighborhood to combat the Whiteaker drug problem.

“It’s got its rough points but overall the community is really great,” said Munro. Munro was most interested in seeing increased community involvement, possibly through more events and the organization of neighborhood clean-ups.

“I’d also like to see the city get behind the community more,” said Munro.

Gadsby, a long-time resident of Whiteaker, explained that the neighborhood has been cleaned up since her first few years living in the area. “Our neighborhood is changing and it makes a lot of people angry,” said Gadsby.

Gadsby explained that companies like Ninkasi are being wrongfully blamed for gentrification in the Whiteaker neighborhood.

Ninkasi Brewing Company. Photo credit: Colette Levesque

“Ninkasi is constantly giving back to the community,” said Gadsby. “I don’t like ignorant people in the neighborhood who don’t actually know what’s going on.”

To make a long story shorter and might I add a not too thrilling story, I’ll get to the point. I am excited to have the Whiteaker as my neighborhood because it’s the one area of town that I feel, truly and deeply feel, that everyone and when I say everyone I really mean that, is accepted for who they are. Tonight, I saw walking around “The Whit” a variety of people from “bros” to hippies and yuppies from the Fairmount hood to the regular college student. The Whit attracks real people and a truthful sense of community, I am excited to see what else it has to offer.

Upcoming events at Sam Bonds Garage -

Every Tuesday – Bluegrass

Wednesday – Mood Area 52 – I cannot recall the price ($1 – 10)

Friday – Horse Feathers – $12

Sunday – Hot Milk ($1-5)

Also in the Whit -

New Frontier Market – supports local companies and organic products!

Occupy Eugene

Last Stand Coffee shop

Washington / Jefferson Park

Ninkasi Brew Pub

Red Barn Natural food

The Wandering Goat

The railroad tracks – good for dates, long walks, and street art.

Best part about the Whit is the Block Party in the summer. – More information to come

A quirky paint job parked on Blair Blvd.

We first strolled along Blair Blvd., where we found Red Barn Natural Grocery. Across the street from Papa’s Soul Food (delicious southern barbeque cuisine), this sustainable market is one of many local businesses that aim for local products.  A fence banner across the street reads “Garbanzo Grill: All Vegetarian Menu”, referring to a little food cart plopped in the center of a vacant parking lot. Needless to say, this place has character.

Red Barn Natural Grocery, located on Blair Blvd. and 4th St.

Around the corner, the large bright turquoise Ninkasi logo popped against the tall grey brewing cylinders. Ninkasi Brewing Company is a fast growing (founded just in 2006) local producer of beer, and now is distributing in five states of the Pacific Northwest. Bike racks line the outside of the tasting room, indicating yet another business committed to sustainability.

Ride your bike and grab a beer at Ninkasi Brewing Company on Van Buren St.

Strolling through the adjacent residential area, we noticed many old disheveled houses, made distinguishable with bright paint jobs and adorned with unorthodox art. S.S. Whiteaker Hostel, one of the few hostels in Oregon today, is tucked away in this side of town. Only a five-minute walk from Blair Blvd, this hostel should be considered a hidden gem for shoestring travelers.

Just another bright house, next door to a local Co-Op.

Socialize with adventurers and shoestringers at the S.S. Whiteaker Hostel.

Our final destination lied somewhere between the Whiteaker Elementary School across the railroad tracks, and the Maurie Jacobs Park along the Willamette River. This side of town gave of a more “worn in” vibe, with fewer bustling business and quieter homes. Maurie Jacobs Park, complete with fields of daisy-speckled grass and a decent play structure, signifies the edge of the quirky Whiteaker neighborbood.

The edge of Whiteaker neighborhood is Maurie Jacobs Park, lining the Willamette River.

Part 2: More Inventions of the Ancient Near East
Part 3 – Tatian, Clement of Alexandria and the Battle for History.

It is not a stretch to say that the ancient Near East is known in the modern world primarily for its inventions. World-changing Near Eastern inventions such as agriculture, metallurgy, the wheel, writing and the chariot are well known. Yet, these are just the tip of the iceberg of ancient Near Eastern ingenuity and engineering. Here, we will examine some more familiar everyday items that trace their origins to the ancient Near East.

1. Pin Tumbler Locks

Simple barred doors are effective at keeping people out of something, but they suffer from a major flaw: They can’t be opened from the outside. You can lock your front door to keep intruders out at night, but a barred door won’t do you any good to keep people out of your house when you’re not there.

So the solution was to figure out ways to lock and unlock doors from the outside. At around 2000 BC, the Egyptians invented a complex key system that involved using strings to manipulate several cylindrical pieces of wood through a hole. When the space between the cylinders on the string lined up with the edge of the door, the door opened.

Modern replica of an Assyrian pin lock. The back plate would be bolted to the outside of a door. The paddle-shaped object is the key, which is inserted into the bar and pushes up the pins, allowing the bar to be removed.

A less clunky and more elegant solution to the problem came from Assyria. The palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad (built from 717-706 BC) featured a new type of lock that used loose pins to hold the bolt in place. This was a simple version of the modern pin tumbler locks used on most doors in the modern world.

This lock worked by putting the bar on the outside of the door instead of the inside. This bar had a notch cut into it, and holes drilled into the top. When the bar was in place, loose pins in the door dropped into the holes and held the bar in place. To unlock the door, a key with pins sticking out of the end that matched the holes was inserted into the notch and used to push the pins upwards, allowing the bar to be slid free of the door.

The Romans later copied this design, and modern pin tumbler locks operate on the same principles. Their main improvements in modern locks have been to make the pins different lengths (so different keys open different doors), make the whole system smaller and add rotation to make it easier to open.[1]

2. Penicillin

Ancient Egypt was famous throughout the ancient world for its advanced medical practice and excellent doctors. Numerous papyri survive which contain instructions on the diagnosis and treatment of injuries. While doctors in the rest of the world were a singular profession, Egyptian doctors developed a range of specialized fields including dentistry, gynecology and proctology. While many of the prescriptions for drugs are now known to be useless, in some cases the Egyptians stumbled upon something useful.[2]

The Edwin Smith surgical papyrus, a textbook on treating wounds, head trauma, fractures and spinal injuries of the upper body that dated from the 17th century, recommended the following diagnosis and treatment for a wound that appeared to be infected:

If thou examinest a man having a diseased wound in his breast, while that wound is inflamed and a whirl of inflammation continually issues from the mouth of that wound at thy touch; the two lips of that wound are ruddy, while that man continues to be feverish from it; his flesh cannot receive a bandage, that wound cannot take a margin of skin; the granulation which is in the mouth of that wound is watery, their surface is not and secretions drop therefrom in an oily state.

Thou shouldst say concerning him: “One having a diseased wound in his breast, it being inflamed, (and) he continues to have fever from it. An ailment which I will treat.”

Thou shalt make for him cool applications for drawing out the inflammation from the mouth of the wound:

a. Leaves of willow, nbs’-tree ksnty. Apply to it.

b. Leaves of ym’-tree, dung. hny-t’, ksnty, Apply to it. Thou shalt make for him applications for drying up the wound: a. Powder of green pigment wsb-t, thn.t, grease. Triturate bind upon it.[3]

Blue Penicillum bread mold, whose antibiotic qualities were utilized but not fully understood by the ancient Egyptians.

We now know that willow bark has antiseptic qualities that reduce inflammation. Later Egyptian doctors took this treatment further and began prescribing “bread in a rotten condition” to be applied to infected wounds that were discharging pus. Blue bread mold is better known in the medical world by its scientific name Penicillum, making the ancient Egyptians the first to use antibiotics.[4]

Some scientists have expressed skepticism that the amount of penicillin absorbed would have been enough to be effective, but even trace amounts applied directly to a wound would have had some effect on the infection.[5]

The Egyptians did not know that infection was caused by bacteria and did not understand the scientific principles underlying the use of antibiotics. Rather, they figured out the effectiveness of bread mold by trial and error. While throwing anything at an infected wound in hopes that something would work, some Egyptian doctor somewhere decided to try moldy bread, and – surprise -  he got results.

3. Batteries

As I’ve already covered in more detail elsewhere on this site, a number of clay pots with metal rings and rods inside of them have been found in Iraq. They date from about 100 AD, during the Parthian period. Experiments have confirmed that they were capable of operating as wet-cell batteries and could potentially produce half a volt of electricity.

What could the Parthians have possibly wanted to do with a low grad electrical current?  One of the first explanations was that they were used to electroplate objects. However, the electrical current from one battery is not enough to electroplate an object, and no electroplated objects have been found from the ancient world. The most prevalent explanation is that they were used for pain therapy, similar to how electric catfish and rays were used to treat pain in the ancient world. This is certainly possible, but it is also possible that these batteries were a novelty item that gave a slight shock to anyone who touched both pieces of metal but had no practical use outside of being a curiosity.[6]

4. Beer

Beer dates back to at least 3000 BC, although it may have originated earlier, in the pre-urban agricultural societies of the Neolithic period. What is known for sure is that beer became a popular beverage in the Sumerian city-states of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians made wine as well, but beer was clearly the alcoholic drink of choice. In some cities, up to 40% of the yearly grain harvest was diverted to beer making.[7] Like most things in polytheistic cultures, beer making had its own patron goddess, Ninkasi. Most of our information about Sumerian brewing techniques comes from hymns to Ninkasi that describe how beer was made.

A funerary model of a busy beer brewery, from the Egyptian 11th Dynasty, dating to between 2009 and 1998 BC.

In Sumer, barley and emmer were the grains of choice for beer making. The barley grain was soaked and allowed to germinate and sprout. It was then dried, crushed and flavored with herbs, spices, honey or dates – the exact mixture presumably depended on the brewer – and mixed with bappir or “beer-bread.” The mixture was then heated to mash in an oven. Once it was ready, it was spread out to cool and more sugar (from either honey or dates) was added to speed fermentation. Water was added, and the whole mixture sat in a vat and slowly drained through a filter into a vessel below.

The resulting beer still had lots of little pieces of soggy bread floating in it, and as a result it had to be strained before drinking so you got liquid instead of a semi-solid. One way of doing this was to have a common pot of beer on a table, and those socializing around it would each have individual straws with a filter on the bottom that they would use to drink the beer.

This cylinder seal impression from the Early Dynastic IIIa period (c. 2600 BC) shows two seated men drinking beer from a common pot using long straws.

The beer’s thickness did make it an excellent source of nutrients, especially vitamin B. Because Sumerians ate little meat, beer was an important part of their diet and a major source of vitamins.

Beer was also popular in ancient Egypt, where breweries were closely associated with bakeries. The methods of manufacture were similar to those used in Sumer.[8]

5. Automatic Doors

Alexandria during the Hellenistic and Roman periods was one of the world’s foremost cities, full of splendid architecture and technological marvels. During the first century AD, the city was home to an inventor and tinkerer named Heron. A Greek by ethnicity and an Alexandrian native, Heron built a a number of inventions ranging from the whimsical to the immensely practical. His designs for syringes, force pumps, catapults, fire engines, surveying tools and odometers fall into the latter category. His designs for windmill-powered pipe organs, mechanical birds, and an entirely mechanical drama production featuring its own sound effects and several talking puppets are all examples of the former.

Diagram of Heron’s automatic doors. Lighting a fire on the altar heads the sphere on the left, which pushes water into the bucket, causing it to pull on the system of pulleys and open the temple doors.

One of his more spectacular inventions was a temple with automatic doors. When priests lit a fire on an altar in front of the doors, it heated air inside a sphere underneath the altar. The heated air expanded and pushed the water in the sphere through a siphon and into a bucket. As the bucket filled up, it became heavy and lowered down on a system of pulleys. The ropes attached to the pulleys swung poles on which the doors were hinged, opening the doors.

The overall effect of this was to make it look like the statue of the god inside the temple opened his own front door spontaneously in order to receive the sacrifices being offered on the altar. In an updated version of his device, Heron added a trumpet which blew automatically when the doors were opened.

Unfortunately, no trace of any automated temple has been found. There seems little doubt that such systems were used, as Heron makes reference to similar designs created by other inventors. The delicate systems required to open and close the doors are unlikely to have survived for 2000 years.[9]

An animation of Heron’s doors in operation can be seen here.

6. Vending Machines

Another of Heron’s inventions was something he called the “sacrificial vessel which flows only when money is introduced.” This was a vending machine that dispensed water for worshipers to use to perform sacred washing prior to entering the temple.

Diagram of Heron’s vending machine. Dropping a coin in the top hits the paddle R, causing the cork to lift out of the tube and water to flow to the customer.

The machine was very simple. A coin dropped in the top slot fell onto a paddle on the end of a lever and depressed it, causing the other end of the lever to raise up and pull a cork out of the spout in the bottom and allow water to flow out. As the lever pan sloped downwards, coin slid off after a short time and the pan rose back to its original position. The cork then dropped back into place and stopped the water flow.[10]

7. Lenses

The earliest known optical lens was discovered in 1853 by Sir Austen Henry Layard during his excavations of the Assyrian city of Nimrud. Found in a collection of glassware, the lens dates to the latter half of the 700s BC. The lens was not glass, rather it was made from ground and polished rock crystal. The lens is plano-convex, having one flat side and one convex side, and is about a quarter of an inch thick.

The Nimrud Lens, currently on display at the British Museum in London.

The lens is certainly primitive. Its focusing abilities have been described as “poor,” calling into question its utility as a burning lens. It does, however, give a magnification of o.5x, not large but enough to potentially aid a scribe trying to read small cuneiform script or an artist working to add detail to a small cylinder seal.

Other lenses have been found at various Mediterranean sites, and textual evidence from Greece indicates that burning glasses were surely known by the 5th century BC. Some scholars have questioned whether these items were used as magnifying lenses, saying they were meant as jewelry. Yet, the fact remains that lenses such as the Nimrud lens work as magnifying lenses, and there were definitely situations where such lenses could prove useful. It seems hard to imagine that no one would have been idly messing around with their jewelry one day and figured out that they could see things closer when they looked through it.[11]

8. Maps

The Babylonian World Map, also on display in the British Museum.

The Babylonian Map of the World is a curious tablet from about 600 BC, found in Sippar in southern Iraq, which contains a strange pattern of geometric shapes with labels. Many points are labeled with known place names such as “Babylon,” “Assyria,” “Urartu,” and “Elam.” Others have a less specific designations such as “swamp,” “mountain” and “Canal.[12]

Some features on the map correspond to real world locations, for example the walls of Babylon are represented by the square that straddles the Euphrates River, just like the real walls of Babylon. On the other hand, the map only shows locations near to Babylon, although the Babylonians doubtless knew of lands beyond Elam and Assyria. Yet on the map, past Assyria lies the great Ocean that encircles the world. Beyond the ocean lie 7 triangles labeled “islands,” said to be “beyond the rising sun” or “beyond the flight of birds.”

Maps and surveys of local areas, towns, villages and buildings are known from Mesopotamia and elsewhere from earlier dates, but this map is unique in that it is not a representation of something that people can see all at once. Rather, it represents the world as the map-maker imagined it. He couldn’t see the world, he had to draw it based on descriptions, general directions and his own imagination of what the world should look like.

Drawing of the map, with translations of the inscriptions.

Clearly the distorted geography is a function of having to shoehorn the known world to fit the disc-shaped earth that the Babylonians imagined. Therefore, the map appears to be symbolic and stylized. Rather than an exact map of the type we think of today, the map was an artistic representation of the Babylonian view of the world and of their place in it. If you look closely Babylon is not the center of the world as one might expect, rather, the center of the world is a dot put in the middle of the Euphrates River. This might be taken as a representation of how important the Euphrates was to life in Mesopotamia – that is, it was the center of their lives.

9. Libraries

The invention of writing meant the creation of documents. And the creation of documents in turn created the need to store documents. Piling lots of clay tablets in one place meant that one needed systems to categorize and retrieve information, in order to be able to actually find stuff when you needed it. And so, the first libraries were created.

A portion of the Ebla archive during excavation. The tablets were dropped into a heap when the city was destroyed and their shelving collapsed.

The oldest library yet found comes from the Syrian city-state of Ebla, which was destroyed at around 2300 BC. The vast majority of texts were administrative documents, listing taxes, land titles and the like – the sort of thing one would find in a courthouse today. But a smaller group of documents created what could be the first known research library. Some tablets list Sumerian words. Others are a sort of mini bilingual dictionary, listing Sumerian with accompanying Eblaite translations. Two duplicate tablets contained the text of a Sumerian myth.

While the academic holdings of the Ebla library were small, other libraries such as the archive at Nippur (c. 2000 BC) had so many texts that they had to create catalogs of their holdings. Two tablets found at Nippur list the titles held in the archive. At the Hittite capital of Hattushas, cataloging was taken a step further and included short summaries of each tablet. Tablets began to have summaries of their contents added to the end, as well as specifying if they were part of a numbered series. There were limits, of course. Alphabetization was not possible without the use of an alphabet, so the order which titles were listed was haphazard.

Surprisingly, the Assyrians were systematic collectors of library materials. Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077 BC) and Assurbanipal (668-627 BC) both systematically collected libraries. Assurbanipal’s library contained a large collection of texts on interpreting omens, a number of texts on translating between Sumerian and Akkadian, and literary texts which include some of our most complete texts of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Much of this material was looted from territories conquered by the Assyrian armies. Others were taken or bought (we’re not clear as to which) from private collections.

Drawing of wooden shelving at the Ebla Archive, showing how it may have looked.

Royal collections were open only to a select few, and those select few could only view official documents under the watchful eye of a court official. Some private collections practiced lending, complete with curses written on the tablets to be called down in the name of various gods on the borrower who did not return his items or returned them damaged.

Later, the Greek Ptolemies would open up another era of Near Eastern libraries by creating the famous Library of Alexandria, dedicated to compiling human knowledge rather than providing necessary services to a monarch. Throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods, libraries flourished in the Near East. Many collections were lost at the end of antiquity, and others were transferred to monastic libraries and preserved there.[13]

10. The “Yo Momma” Joke

Modern eighth grade humor can trace its origins to an Old Babylonian text containing a collection of riddles. Mostly, these riddles serve as a clear illustration of how humor is extremely dependent on cultural context in order to actually be funny. For example, one riddle read:

He gouged out the eye:
It is not the fate of a dead man.
He cut the throat: A dead man (-Who is it?)
Answer: A Governor.

Yet, the intent of some humor is clear even 3,500 years after it was written, as evidenced by this damaged text:

… of your mother
is by the one who has intercourse (with her) (-What/who is it?)

The answer to this riddle is also lost, but we can all see what direction it’s going.[14] For some reason, the publication of this text made national news, even to the point that Stephen Colbert covered it on his show.

Next: Part 2: More Inventions of the Ancient Near East
Part 3 – Tatian, Clement of Alexandria and the Battle for History.

References:

[1] Peter James and Nick Thorpe, Ancient Inventions (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 468-472.

[2] Kent R. Weeks, “Medicine, Surgery and Public Health in Ancient Egypt,” in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 3, ed. by Jack Sasson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 1794-1795.

[3] Edwin Smith Papyrus, translated at http://www.touregypt.net/edwinsmithsurgical.htm#Case%20Forty-One:

[4] Michael D. Parkins, “Pharmacological Practices of Ancient Egypt,” in The Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days, Health Sciences Centre, University of Calgary, March 23-24, 2001 (Calgary, Alberta: Health Sciences Centre, 2001), 10; Milton Wainwright, “Moulds in Ancient and More Recent Medicine,” The Mycologist, Vol. 3, p. 21-23.

[5] Wainwright, “Moulds in Ancient and More Recent Medicine,” 21.

[6] Paul T. Keyser, “The Purpose of the Parthian Galvanic Cells: A First Century A.D. Electric Battery used for Analgesia,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2 (Apr., 1993), 81-90; Peter James and Nick Thorpe, Ancient Inventions (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 146-157.

[7] James and Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, 333.

[8] Jane M. Renfrew, “Vegetables in the Ancient Near Eastern Diet,” in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, 197-199; Marten Stol, “Private Life in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, 497.

[9] James and Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, 129-131; L. Sprague De Camp, The Ancient Engineers (New York: Doubleday, 1974), 257-262.

[10] James and Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, 128-129; De Camp, The Ancient Engineers, 258.

[11] James and Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, 157-161, 163.

[12] James and Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, 59-60.

[13] Lionel Casson, Libraries in the Ancient World (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2001), 1-16.

[14] Owen Jarus, “Sex, Beer & Politics: Riddles Reveal Life of Ancient Mesopotamians,” LiveScience, http://www.livescience.com/18147-ancient-riddles-decoded-mesopotamia.html, January 26, 2012; Nathan Wasserman and Michael Streck, “Dialogues and Riddles: Three Old Babylonian Wisdom Texts,” Iraq, (2011) Vol. 73, 117-125.

Image Sources: (Banner) http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/123691/1/0/0; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BabylonianWorldMap2.jpg; (Body) http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc09b.htm; http://photo-dictionary.com/phrase/7500/molded-bread.html; http://miscellaneous-pics.blogspot.com/2011/03/ctesiphon-arch-baghdad-battery.html; http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2004/10/the_baghdad_bat.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FuneraryModel-BakeryAndBrewery_MetropolitanMuseum.png; http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html; http://thecrystalkim.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/the-item-door/; http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/01/the-greek-engineer-who-invented-the-steam-engine-2000-years-ago/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nimrud_lens_British_Museum.jpg; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baylonianmaps.JPG; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Map_of_the_World

Articles © Christopher Jones 2012.

The one other thing that was pretty cool about the four pack was that it came with a little candidate button. As you can see I got the Tricerahops version. Pretty cool. It will look good on my laptop bag.

Statistics on Mason Irish Style Red

• First Brewed: 2010
• Starting Gravity: 1052
• Bitterness: 40 IBUs
• Alcohol %: 5.2
• Malt: 2 Row Pale Malt, Crystal Malt, Carapils Malt, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, Biscuit Malt
• Hops: Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Perle