Strange Brew

"Brew Dog" hosts Martin Dickie, left, and James Watt

OK, so it's no secret that I like beer.

 A lot.

But that is NOT the reason I so enjoyed Tuesday's episode of "Brew Dogs," a new program on a new television network, the Esquire network.

I enjoyed it because a portion of the episode was filmed on a float, in the middle of Pottstown's Fourth of July parade.



(Here is a link to my Tweets and Touts during the parade)

When I arrived in Pottstown in 1997 to take a job at The Mercury, I could not understand what was holding Pottstown back.

The Brew Dogs float passes The Brick House

I've since come to realize its the people who live here and their inability (or in some cases unwillingness) to get behind efforts to improve conditions, jealously carping about any partial success by one group and grasping to snatch that group's resources away for their own pet project -- for which they have been unable to build either support or resources.

Watching Tuesday's episode of Beer Dogs, reminded me of how Pottstown can look to outsiders, who, I sometimes think, are the only people who will ever save this town.

If you have Comcast you can see the episode for free through their "On-Demand" function, or just click here and sign in through your Comcast (Xfinity) account.

Or you can see a portion of the program on Esquire's web site by clicking here.

I can't resist mentioning here that the show also includes a visit from NBC TV News reporter Doug Shimell, who (after reading about it in The Mercury no doubt) rushed up to Pottstown to cover the Brew Dogs float after Philadelphia turned them down.

At the end of the report, he says "reporting from Bucks County, this is Doug Shimell."

Really Doug? You thought you were in Bucks County?

TV news.

They did leave the beer unguarded
for a moment. Not to worry,
I kept an eye on it.

What are you gonna do?

Anyway, back to my rant.

So in addition to enjoying witty banter with a Scottish accent; in addition to watching Martin Dickie and James Watt undertake the outlandish pursuit of "the most American beer ever brewed;" with Declaration of Independence-encoded DNA mixed with the brew; you get to see Pottstown through the eyes of people who have never been here before.

And frankly, it looks pretty good.

As Dickie and Watt ride down High Street on their float, there
are no derisive comments about who is on the street, no commentary about the condition or occupants of the buildings, or the politics of this ridiculously political small town.

Instead they talk about beer, including favorable reviews of Pottstown's own Sly Fox brewery and Downingtown's Victory Brewery.

It should make us recognize the assets we have in town, and how to make the most of them, instead of crying over lost assets, or assets we wish we had.

For example, Dickie and Watt have an interlude with Pottstown's own Roller Derby Rockstars.

Now how many towns can say they have their own Roller Derby team?



We should all learn to relax a little and stop taking ourselves so seriously and pull in the same direction for a while.

Maybe we should start drinking more beer....

After all, as Ben Franklin is said to have said: "Beer is proof that God loves us."

The Sly Fox beer tent at the Pottstown Volleyball Rumble
Is on of the things that has helped make it a success.

Telling the Storify of Pottstown's Fourth of July Parade

Even though I wasn't supposed to be working, I could not resist Tweeting, Touting and Texting video, photos and witty remarks from the sideline during yesterday's Fourth of July parade down High Street. Here, if I have been successful, is a "Storified" collection of some of those.

Marcia Levengood: TV Star

Now, since it would appear that the links to the "tout" videos are not live here in a storify format (sometimes, I think we don't even speak English anymore) I will post a link to my Tout channel here, so you can watch those videos too. Some of them are quite cute, if I do say so myself.

Finally, as the dying battery on my iPhone, which I foolishly forgot to charge the night before, gave up the ghost, I quickly grabbed the phone of a perfect stranger (to whom I happen to be married) to get this photo of Fourth of July Committee Co-Chairperson Marcia Levengood being interviewed in Smith Family Plaza by the film crew from the "Brew Dogs" TV show.

If, like faithful Mercury subscriber Levi Wolf, you just happened to have missed the wonderful story I wrote for Sunday's Mercury explaining what exactly the Brew Dogs float and TV show were all about, shame on you.

Here's a link to the story explaining it all.

Here is a link to one video I sent out through Twitter, for which the Storify links may not work. Be warned, the hill these marchers had to climb was very steep (almost 90 degrees, and that ain't farenheit!).

(Keep your eyes peeled for a guest appearance by frequent Digital Notebook contributor John Armato!)

To all those who joined me along High Street, here's hoping you enjoyed the parade as much as I did.

To all those who weren't there, you missed a good parade.

Happy Day-After-Independence-Day everyone.