How Pretty Things Beer became ubiquitous in Boston – Food & dining – The Boston Globe
If you go out for a beer in a Boston-area bar or restaurant, chances are the beer list offers something made by Pretty things Beer and Ale Project. the Somerville-based outfit is behind brews such as the cloudy, golden Jack D’or, the dark ale Saint Botolph’s Town, and the hoppy Fluffy White Rabbits. In the store, the bottles are easily spotted, adorned with fanciful, hand-drawn labels.
Just a few years ago, Pretty things was nothing more than a dream. Husband-wife team Dann Paquette and Martha Holley-Paquette brewed the first batch of Jack D’or in 2008. they did not have great expectations for success.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff
Bartender Ben Kweskin pours a glass of Pretty things beer at the Publick House in Brookline.
“Usually, you would call yourselves a company,” Paquette says. “We called ourselves a project. We thought that way, when we went out of business, we wouldn’t look like a failure.” When Paquette sat down to make a list of who might buy their beer, he came up with 21 possibilities. Now they have about 750 accounts in Massachusetts and are making inroads in Rhode Island, New York, and Pennsylvania. they won a Best of Boston award from Boston magazine last year, and Oprah’s magazine named Jack D’or one of the 10 best microbrews.
How did Pretty things go from pie in the sky to a beloved local institution in such a short time? In the crowded brewing industry, where it’s a challenge to distinguish one’s products, the recipe is both simple and nearly impossible to carry off: creativity, passion, timing, a bit of clever marketing, and hard work, hard work, hard work.
“Dann Paquette has seen what it takes to make it as far as brewing great beer, obviously, but also marketing — making it something completely unique,” says Jason Alstrom, cofounder of website and magazine Beer Advocate. “the labels are fun to look at. There’s a story behind each one. and he went in a completely different direction with the beers. Most don’t fit in a style perfectly, which is a trend I see a lot of brewers going for. there are over 2,000 breweries in the US now, and for a brewery to open up and just brew a pale ale, an IPA, what’s going to set that brewery apart from the others?”
Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff
A glass of Pretty things beer.
Then there’s Pretty things, which isn’t a brewery at all.
Paquette got his first brewing job in the early ’90s and spent much of the decade working for various Massachusetts breweries, places like Ipswich Brewing Company, Mill City Brewing Company, and North East Brewing Company. “Most of them don’t exist anymore,” he says. “they went out of business. there was a bubble that burst around 2000. I got to see a lot of how to do things or not to do things. I learned the industry on other people’s penny.”
Holley-Paquette was a scientist, originally from England, where the couple moved for a few years after that bubble burst. four years ago, they returned to America on a boat, old-school immigrants sailing into Brooklyn. they had about $8,000 between them. She landed a job at MIT, but breweries weren’t hiring. without a few more zeroes at the end of their savings, the couple couldn’t build their own. So they became tenant brewers, as they call themselves. they rent brewery space but do their own labor, concocting and brewing all of the beer.
“This was supposed to be an in-between-jobs thing, to keep me busy,” Paquette says. “We were buying the kegs, renting the brewery, making one batch, printing labels, and then we were broke. That was all our money. It’s crazy that it kept on going. We knew if we sold that one batch we would make a profit.”
They sold it.
Pretty things is brewed at Buzzards Bay Brewing in Westport. Brewing sessions are marathons that take place about once a week, to minimize trips between the Somerville office and the brewery. last week, for instance, Paquette says he brewed more than 3,100 gallons of beer in one 16-hour day. This leaves the rest of the week for the team — which also includes Anya Kanevsky and Jim “Bocky” Barnes — to manage and promote the business.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what they’re doing,” says Bill Russell of Buzzards Bay Brewing and Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery. (Asked what his title is, he replies, “People call me Houston. as in, ‘Houston, we have a problem.’ ”) Why have they succeeded? “It’s hard work. That’s it. It’s just hard work. I can’t think of two people who work more diligently and passionately toward building their brand and their beers in the marketplace than the two of them. and I’ve seen a lot of people over the last 25 years doing beer and wine.”
Their passion is what makes Pretty things a creative project, not just a business venture.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff
The variety of Pretty things Beer in a bottle served at the Publick House.
Together, Paquette and Holley-Paquette draw the labels, inspired by history, folklore, and whimsy. These might feature a cartoon barley grain with an impressive mustache standing in a mash tun (this character is the eponymous Jack D’Or), a tree that appears to be growing babies (Baby Tree), a decapitated yet smiling nun holding her own head and a glass of beer (Lovely Saint Winefride), or a crooked house on stilts with a cauldron hanging off the side (Babayaga). they make videos and post them to YouTube, pastiches of images and music that have a message or create a mood. “Pretty things are crumbs, dust, and magic,” Holley-Paquette intones in one that serves as a sort of mission statement. “Pretty things are stinky and bitter,” Paquette says.
They have also created a community, with parties, tastings, beer launches, and other events. for consumers, it all serves to connect the beer with the people who make it. Pretty things isn’t just another faceless company.
“We’re not marketing people,” says Holley-Paquette. “We’re not trained in any of that. We’re just very honest. We’re expressing the way we feel about the whole thing.”
And timing was in their favor. In 2007, the New Oxford American Dictionary chose “locavore” as word of the year. Interest in eating local, seasonal food was exploding. Chefs were touting their use of ingredients from area farmers and markets. Beer-centric bars such as the Publick House and Deep Ellum embraced Pretty things. So did restaurants that emphasize local food, wanting to feature local beer that would complement their ethos.
These days the market is much more crowded. “the local brewing scene is really blowing up right now,” says Kate Baker, cofounder with Suzanne Schalow of Belmont’s Craft Beer Cellar, where Jack D’or has been the No. 1 seller since the store opened a year and a half ago. “With Pretty things, Night Shift, Backlash, Mystic, Idle Hands, Trillium, Slumbrew, it’s amazing to be living here right now. Everybody talks about the West Coast and New York City and the Northwest, but we’re holding our own thanks to these amazing breweries.”
Perhaps the thing that most makes Pretty things stand out is the obvious one: they make beer that tastes good.
“Right now, the way the market is growing, you cannot come into the market with crappy beer,” Baker says. “the consuming public won’t have it. it will get squashed automatically and quietly.”
In that climate, Pretty things just keeps growing. soon fans will have a new beer and a new label to look forward to: This week, the project brews its first-ever IPA, to be called Meadowlark.
try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE.Devra first can be reached at dfirst@globe.com. Follow her onTwitter @devrafirst.
How Pretty Things Beer became ubiquitous in Boston – Food & dining – The Boston Globe
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Simple Craigslist precautions ensure a fun — and safe — website exchange
Like childbirth or a Las Vegas vacation, no one comes away from buying or selling something on Craigslist without a story.
The website that started in 1995 as one man’s mode of sharing announcements and party invites with friends is now one of the world’s largest virtual flea markets, used in about 50 countries and operating in more than a half-dozen languages.
But for every Craigslist success story — “I furnished my entire house for less than $1,000!” — there is a cautionary tale, the most sensational of which fueled “The Craigslist Killer,” a 2011 Lifetime movie based on the story of Philip Markoff. he was indicted by a grand jury in Boston for robbing and killing women he allegedly met through the (now closed) Craigslist adult services section. Markoff committed suicide before being tried for those crimes.
More common lately are those who misuse Craigslist for purposes other than its original community-minded listings, namely real estate scams offering fictional rentals, and phishing scams targeted at gleaning personal and financial information from people who are simply trying to sell secondhand merchandise.
Dawn Venezuela became a Craigslist fan about six years after being able to use the site to quickly find a rental when she really needed one. Since then, Craigslist posts have provided the Denver mother of three with a free vacuum cleaner and the location of her lost dog after he ran away. Her husband, a car guy, also used Craigslist to barter two old beaters for a classic lowrider.
But one recent Craigslist exchange reminded Venezuela, 40, that exercising caution is prudent when dealing with strangers.
She had been surfing through the Denver listings for free stuff in search of someone’s unwanted landscaping materials when she came across an ad from a man offering thick slate tile for free.
“First, I sent him a message and gave him my work phone number,” she recalls. “I just figured, if he’s going to be a weirdo, he can call my work phone, no big deal. And he was pretty quick about it. But when he did call, he said ‘Well, there are two conditions (for the free tile). the first one is, I’ve got an equal amount of trash that needs to be disposed…’”
Venezuela thought for a moment before opting to shut down the conversation immediately.
“It just didn’t seem right,” she says. “What kind of trash can’t you throw away yourself?”
Unwanted stuff avoids the landfill
Seasoned Craigslist seller Elaine St. Louis, on the other hand, says her five years of setting up exchanges of her second-hand stuff through the site have been “the most fun I’ve ever had.”
Just recently, St. Louis found a buyer for a 15-year-old Ryobi sander, which she unloaded for $10, and another buyer for a complete home-brewing kit, which she sold for $225 to a new brewing hobbyist who was “absolutely thrilled to get it.”
Still no takers, however, for St. Louis’ model ship kit, which she picked up for $200 while vacationing in France 20 years ago. (She’s asking $125 for it.)
“Every single person I’ve met on Craigslist has been wonderful,” says St. Louis, 54, the art director at Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine.
Nonetheless, she tends to arrange to meet buyers in the lobby of her office. And when merchandise is too big to haul along to work, she makes sure someone else is home with her when a Craigslist buyer plans to stop by.
Her biggest tip for keeping Craigslist clean and avoiding the current uptick in user scams?
“Report it right away,” she says. “If you report it, it goes away.”
Craigslist maintains a flagging system in which users are expected to police each other. When a post or e-mail address is flagged multiple times, the staff removes it. But that hasn’t prevented scamming on the site from becoming prevalent enough that independent watchdogs are now trying to help via sites and blogs like Craigslistofscammers.com and Craigslistscammer.blogspot.com. the latter includes posts that outline a very common Craigslist scam: potential buyers contacting sellers only via e-mail, and then sending them bad checks for the purchase. this, too, is simply another phishing scam.
Safety first
That Craigslist is so very public and easy to use — featuring the simplest of formats with a white background, blue lettering and easy-to-navigate categories and lists — is the same reason the site has thrived and has suffered, says marketing and consumer affairs professor Prashant Malviya at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
“Craigslist has had a very laissez-faire attitude” toward people misusing the site, Malviya says. (This could be the reason a Craigslist spokesperson failed to reply by our publication deadline to multiple requests to contribute to this story.) “Their attitude is… people will police themselves.”
And in fact, it’s fairly easy to locate the site’s advice for avoiding scams and frauds, and suggestions for staying safe while using the site. (Just find the main Craigslist page for your town, then check the left column, beneath “event calendar.”)
But Malviya says scams may persist on Craigslist because although flagging is its proverbial stick, Craigslist has no carrot, or consequence, for misusing the site, a la eBay or etsy’s feedback system.
“The problem with Craigslist,” he concludes, “is that it’s just gotten too successful. So people are exploiting it for reasons and purposes that go against the spirit in which it was created.”
Elana Ashanti Jefferson: 303-954-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com
Craigslist best practices
These tips for avoiding scams and frauds are directly from Craigslist.org.
• Deal locally so you can meet the people in person.
• Never wire funds via Western Union, Money Gram or any other wire service.
• Know that fake cashier’s checks and money orders are common. Banks will cash them and then hold you responsible for the money.
• Craigslist provides no “buyer protection” or “seller certification.”
• Never give out your financial information.
• Avoid deals involving shipping or escrow services.
• only a scammer will “guarantee” your transaction.
• Never rent housing without seeing it first; never purchase expensive items sight-unseen.
• Never submit to a credit check or background check for a job or house listed on Craigslist until you have met the interviewer or landlord in person.
And these are the tips from the site for staying safe during Craigs- list merchandise sales.
• Insist on a public meeting place like a cafe.
• do not meet in a secluded place, or invite strangers into your home.
• be especially careful when buying/selling high-value items.
• tell a friend or family memberwhere you’re going to meet some-one you contacted through Craigslist.
• Take your cellphone along with you.
• consider having a friend accompany you during Craigslist purchases.
• Trust your instincts.
These tips for buying and selling via Craigslist were gleaned from seasoned users of the site.
For sellers:
• Price your things reasonably, as if you were having a yard sale. You are not going to get retail price for your used item.
• If you’re unsure about how to price something, do some research. many secondhand sellers find a quick eBay search will reveal the going market price for your item.
• Include pictures and plenty of details. Buyer may not even bother with an ad that fails to include the brand, age, condition, color, etc.
• answer e-mails. If the item has been sold, have the courtesy to take down the ad and to notify potential buyers.
For buyers:
• ask questions before buying and test anything before you leave. Don’t assume that something advertised is in working condition, or that you can bring it back.
• Feel free to negotiate.
• Never show up without intending to purchase. “That’s rude and a waste of time,” says one longtime Craigslist user. “Just because it is the Internet, doesn’t mean that common courtesy doesn’t apply.”
Elana Ashanti Jefferson
Get the app. iPhone and iPad toting Craigslist devotees may want to consider investing $1.99 in the “Craigslist Mobile + Alerts” application. it provides access to all the site’s features, formatted to suit those devices. it also includes a map browser, multicity search capability, a photo browser, ad posting directly from your device, ZIP code-based searching, and more. the app has a 5-star rating in Apple’s iTunes store.
Simple Craigslist precautions ensure a fun — and safe — website exchange
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Categories: Movie and Dining Reviews Tags: adult services, grand jury, original community, suicide
CANOE — JAM! Movies: Disney plans ‘Avengers’ sequel
The incredible Hulk in a scene from The Avengers.
Walt Disney co plans to follow its blockbuster movie “The Avengers” with a sequel at a future date that is not yet determined, Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Tuesday.
The movie about a team of Marvel superheroes opened with a record $207.4 million in the United States and Canada.
CANOE — JAM! Movies: Disney plans ‘Avengers’ sequel
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‘Avengers’ Fans Rave About ‘Unbelievable’ Film At Midnight Screening
Published on may 5, 2012 by admin · no Comments
‘Avengers’ Fans Rave about ‘Unbelievable’ Film at Midnight Screening
‘My mind was just blown,’ one moviegoer tells MTV News in Times Square.By Fallon Prinzivalli
Chris Evans as Captain America In “the Avengers” Photo: Walt Disney Studios
the long-awaited “Avengers” finally assembled Thursday night at theaters throughout North America with one of the biggest midnight openings since “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2.” we were on the scene in New York’s Times Square, where fans dressed as Loki and the Hulk donned their RealD “Avengers” collector glasses and couldn’t stop raving about Earth’s mightiest heroes.
“I was really worried that it was gonna be just subpar, if not even at all good. but then I saw it. I just had to sit there for a minute and just take it in. It was amazing!” said Akil Vichus Davis, who was skeptical that director Joss Whedon could take on such a hefty project. but he was pleasantly surprised and said he’s very happy with the outcome. “It was solid. It was good. the stories were good. They had great moments. the cinematography, the directing, it was off the chain. It was good.”
Marvel fan Justin Silver agreed, saying, “My mind was just blown. I was just like, ‘Oh my God!’ It was crazy. It was unbelievable!”
The ensemble cast includes Marvel newcomer mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and many actors reprising their roles, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Evans, who plays Captain America. Anand Kodamanchili was thrilled with how much the legendary First Avenger was featured in the film. “I’m a huge fan of Captain America, and just watching him kick some serious ass again, again and again was pretty awesome,” he gushed.
With its earlier overseas release, “the Avengers” has raked in more than $300 million internationally so far, according to Deadline Hollywood. When box-office expert Jeff Bock said, “This isn’t just a movie, it’s an event,” he wasn’t kidding. AMC Theaters held the daylong “Ultimate Marvel Marathon,” screening “Iron Man,” “the incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America” back-to-back leading up to the “Avengers” midnight release. the screenings sold out in numerous major theaters in North America more than a month ago.
Deadline also reports that the film grossed a total of $281.1 million through its first eight days overseas and is slated to hit over $160 million in the U.S. through Sunday. With a rise in ticket prices, especially 3-D and IMAX, there’s a strong chance it could top the current record, held by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2,” of $169.2 million. If you include the opening weekend in Russia and China, the film could potentially make close to $585 million worldwide through Sunday. A studio mogul told Deadline, “It’s tracking off the charts. Biggest in every category and with everyone — men, women, young, old. any way you slice and dice it. It’s just a mega-movie.”
So what’s the secret? we certainly noticed a mix of men and women at the premiere release last night. Moviegoer Kelly Burbrink enjoyed the comedic parts of the film. “[I] absolutely loved the one-liners of the humor,” she said. “They were fantastic and I’m sure we missed a bunch because everyone was just dying laughing after them that you couldn’t hear what came right after. They were just hysterical.”
There’s something in it for everyone. Action, comedy, an insanely attractive cast — and when you mix that with the directing talents of Joss Whedon, it’s no wonder fan Nicole DeBonis screams, “Oh my gosh! no words can describe it.”
Daniel Vives agrees and highly recommends the film for all audiences, saying, “Joss Whedon did an excellent job with directing and writing the movie. everyone needs to go see this movie.”
“the Avengers” is currently in theaters nationwide.
Check out everything we’ve got on “the Avengers.”
For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.
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‘Avengers’ Fans Rave About ‘Unbelievable’ Film At Midnight Screening
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ESX Nashville Reveals Club Crawl Locations
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 01, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –The annual ESX Crawl, where attendees visit a number of the host city’s local pubs and restaurants, will head to Nashville’s famous Lower Broadway for a night on the town on Wednesday, June 27 beginning at 7:30 pm. This year’s Crawl is sponsored by GoldLeaf Data Corporation.
“Down time, casual connection and plain old fun has always been a part of the ESX concept,” says John Knox, president of Knox Integrated Systems, vice president/president-elect of ESA and unofficial social chair of ESX.
“It sounds silly, but it’s so important to provide a way for people to connect on a personal level away from the booths and the product displays, away from the closed shirt collars and suit coats. The ESX Crawl creates the opportunity for those connections and creates a lot of fun memories in the process.”
Crawlers will head to four stops on Lower Broadway, home to some of the world’s most famous honky tonk bars, including Rippy’s Smokin’ Bar and Grill, Tootsie’s World Famous Orchid Lounge, The Stage on Broadway and Tequila Cowboy Bar & Grill.
each location features live music by local and national performers — and you never know when a country music star will be in the house.
Rippy’s Smokin’ Bar and Grill
Rippy’s offers a main dining area that hosts very talented musicians, an East Side area filled with flat screens for the sports lover, and an amazing open-air rooftop patio where one can people watch on lower Broadway or just kick back and relax in the sun.
Tootsie’s World Famous Orchid Lounge
The quintessential honky tonk bar, Tootsie’s features two stages of live music with special appearances by a number of famous country artists. Famous early customers were Kris Kristofferson, Faron Young, Willie Nelson, Tom T. Hall, Hank Cochran, Mel Tillis, Roger Miller, Webb Pierce, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline and many more.
The Stage on Broadway
The Stage on Broadway is a little bit Texas and a whole lotta Nashville. Live country music and never a cover charge, The Stage lets you boot scoot all night long on the big dance floor. Check out the huge mural on the wall and the original oil painting of The Highwaymen that hangs over the front door.
Tequila Cowboy Bar & Grill
Founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2012, Tequila Cowboy is a casual restaurant with a focus on good food, fun drinks and great music. Their stage features performances by national acts and local professional groups alike.
how did it all start? To find out more about Lower Broadway and hear about the first ESX Crawl, which took place in Nashville, watch the ESX Crawlumentary video.
To register for ESX’s full week of amazing educational content, networking opportunities and focused showfloor, head to www.esxweb.com/register and choose the Deluxe Pass.
EXHIBIT AT/SPONSOR ESX
Companies interested in exhibiting at or sponsoring ESX should contact Jessica DaCosta, 508-618-4226, jdacosta@ae-ventures.com or Hayley Zimmer, 508-618-7850, hzimmer@ae-ventures.com.
Owned, directed and sponsored by industry leading trade associations, ESA and CSAA, ESX is the education and networking event for security integration and monitoring companies. ESX offers the highest quality and most comprehensive seminar program, the most interesting and enjoyable networking events and the most focused exposition in the industry. ESX attracts the biggest, best and most progressive installing and monitoring companies in the world to meet with hundreds of exhibiting electronic security equipment vendors and industry service providers. for more information, visit www.ESXweb.com .
Established in 1948, the Electronic Security Association (ESA) is the largest trade association representing the electronic life safety and security industry. Member companies install, integrate and monitor intrusion and fire detection, video surveillance and electronic access control systems for commercial, residential, industrial and governmental clients. In cooperation with an alliance of chapter associations, ESA provides technical and management training, government advocacy and delivers information, advice, tools, and services that members use to grow their businesses and prosper. ESA may be reached at (888) 447-1689 or on the Web at www.ESAweb.org .
The Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) is an internationally recognized trade association representing providers, users, bureaus, and other agencies of Central Station protection services that are certified by one of the CSAA-approved NRTLs. it is legally entitled to represent its members before Congress, regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. since its incorporation in 1950, CSAA has served its members’ interests through education, online training, meetings and conventions, certification, insurance, and industry standards. CSAA may be reached at 703-242-4670 or on the Web at www.csaaintl.org .
SOURCE: Electronic Security Expo
for Electronic Security Expo: AE Ventures Jillian Bateman, 508-618-7768 JBATEMAN@AE-VENTURES.COM
Copyright Business Wire 2012
ESX Nashville Reveals Club Crawl Locations
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