Flying Scotsman

This just in to my e-mail box a few minutes ago from Max's Taphouse in Fells Point: "Baird Brewing Company This Tuesday we are featuring some brand new beers from Japan. We will be featuring from the Baird Brewery in Numazu, Japan: Rising Sun Pale Ale 5.0% ABV [alcohol by volume]- American West Coast Style [Pale Ale] Red Rose Amber 5.4% ABV- Inspired by the steam beer style [Anchor Steam, for example] Angry Boy Brown 6.2% ABV- Bigger, bolder and Hoppier than most [brown ales] Kurofune Porter 6 0% ABV- Classic dark English Style These will be served by

Oh, and just a reminder: They tell y'all NOT to tape/tack/attach anything to the walls, or any other surface for that matter. BCC rules.

Keep your fingers crossed. At least one year (I think 2007), the bulletin boards never got set up at all.

Seeing as how Cheesecake Factory is extreamly popular around here (and so far is the only one in Baltimore, until the one in Towson opens up in the fall) I do not see them closing up shop anytime soon. Plus, CF is more "upscale" then most other restaurants that GGP has in their other malls.

I took a loop through downtown yesterday. Without even truly looking hard, I found SIX MORE food places shuttered--one fire damage, one complete remodeling, one seemingly abruptly closed down, and three disappeared into the ether. As I recall, at least half of those places were in past years' restaurant maps/articles. Right now, I'm trying to find out how long the Cheesecake Factory has been there. It very well COULD be the next in line to flip its ten-year lease and walk out, unless Harborplace management has an attack of common sense regarding their rents.

Yo, dude. Welcome back. Hope we'll see you at Otakon this year. If you get a chance, PM me. I wouldn't mind chatting with you again when we can find time.

I'm guessing that's the Mt. Vernon Hotel? More than you ever wanted to know about getting around to/from Otakon: http://www.otakon.com/allroads.asp My personal suggestion: Walk. Even at one or two in the morning, there will probably be enough life and fellow con-goers on Charles St. that you're safe. Light Rail drops you several blocks west of, and either a bit north of or south of, your destination (this is the Mt. Vernon Hotel, right?). What you save in riding light rail up, you lose in getting lost and hiking the length of the BCC back east. If you are dead tired and

"Can't sleep, Con will eat me............ can't sleep, Con will eat me........" After staff chases out the last of the stragglers, we in Radio Ops are still frantically trying to claim the last of the 150+ radios off of staff, disassembling them, and prepping them for return to Motorola. Some years, that doesn't officially end until midnight on Sunday, and one year we had two radio batteries Fed-Exed back to us from someone's luggage. What I've always wanted to do at the very end was rig up a VERY loud "boom box" to blast out "Zombie Jamboree" (a.k.a. the Song that Killed Calyps

First, it turns out we're holding Otakon the same weekend as the Orioles-Rangers home stand at Oriole Park. Now look what's competing for the hotel rooms: Virgin Mobile Festival at Pimlico Racetrack Aug. 9-10 Last year, I think it was 42,000 in attendance Saturday, 32K Sunday. And people came from quite a ways away, too. Now, fortunately, THAT critical mass isn't going to interfere with downtown, as Pimlico is in far-off northwestern Baltimore. But it IS going to ROYALLY screw with folks looking for accommodations in the Baltimore region (the hotels out beside the Bel

Just as a note: I popped into the Holiday Inn Express down on S. Russell St. near the bus station yesterday, and they said they still had a handful of rooms (maybe 10-15) left at their normal rates (ca. $210). In addition, they said they will be running their courtesy shuttle van back and forth to the BCC as much as possible that weekend. I asked if that was normal motel yield management of holding a few rooms aside for later reservations, and they said "no, that's the WHOLE building--everything!" Now, they say that normally they see turnover of the usual sorts as people with reser

Folks, Just telling y'all so you can plan accordingly to get a fix in between Otakons. () Full-page ad in the Washington Post Sunday for the Kennedy Center's "Japan: Culture + Hyper Culture" festival Feb. 5-17 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/fes...ls/07-08/japan/ Full schedule includes US premeires of anime features by Genius Party Feb. 15-16, an anime marathon on the 17th, and a manga reading cafe and lounge: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/fes...?genre_pick=FLM The marathon features East Coast and North Am