Mix knowledge with alcohol at the bar tonight

Life, The Universe & Hot Dogs: Cosmology at Happy Dog

Sick of trivia, karaoke and billiards at the bars you frequent? If you’d rather jump-start your brain than turn it off while swilling a cold one, try one of these lectures in a bar. From simplistic scientific talks to a storyteller’s forum, these lectures elevate your average bar trip.


May 22: Learned Owl Book Shop’s Book Club in a Bar at Papa Joe’s
Instead of leaving your books in the car while you enjoy a few drinks, bring them inside and talk them over with a crowd at this monthly Book Club in a Bar series at Papa Joe’s in Akron. Tending to keep to the thriller and mystery genre, it's a more relaxed version of the book club your mother attends. Join the regular crowd to discuss Game for Five by Marco Malvaldi. "It's a good bridge book club if you're trying to get into one," says Kate Schlademan, owner of the Learned Owl. If you graduate from the Book Club in a Bar, the bookstore also hosts two more devote monthly discussions at its location. 7 p.m., 1561 Akron Peninsula Road, Akron (Papa Joe's), 330-653-2252 (Learned Owl), learnedowl.com


May 27: Life, The Universe & Hot Dogs: Cosmology at Happy Dog

We don't always get to hear about all of the groundbreaking research happening in Northeast Ohio, let alone meet the scientist behind it. But at the monthly Life, The Universe & Hot Dogs series, researchers from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Case Western Reserve University get out of the laboratory to talk about their work to regular folks without making them feel dumb. On May 27, CWRU graduate student Amanda Yoho will explain the Cosmic Microwave Background, or the first visible light in the universe, and its anomalies. "What they do well is they know how to balance [their lectures]. They know it's not a technical audience, so they don't go super technical about their description," says Happy Dog owner Sean Watterson. It's even encouraged, and possibly mandatory, to get a hot dog while learning about astrophysics and evolutionary biology. 7:30 p.m., 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-947, happydogcleveland.com


June 11: Told No. 3: Home, Sweet Home at Market Garden Brewery

Everyone has at least one story to tell, according to ToldCLE creator Dave Sabol. ToldCLE is the forum to shape and hone your storytelling skills. Anyone can find courage in the liquids available at the bar and tell a tale based on the evening's theme, Home, Sweet Home after featured storytellers Afif Ghannoum and Cindy Reagan let loose. Although this will be the second held at Market Garden Brewery, Sabol says that he only has two stipulations about ToldCLE's venue: a separate room (so bar noise doesn’t interrupt) and alcohol. 7 p.m., 194 7 W.25 St., 216-621-4000, marketgardenbrewery.com, toldstories.com

“Cosmic Collisions” Hit Natural History Museum This Weekend

The universe began with a bang, and the hits just keep on coming.

“Cosmic Collisions,” the newest planetarium show at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, opens Saturday and will showcase collisions within our universe from all points in time: past, present and future.

The show features supercomputer simulations of the collisions of galaxies, asteroids, comets and solar particles, as well as the collision between the Earth and a Mars-sized object that most scientists believe ultimately formed our moon.

Jason Davis, the astronomy programs coordinator at the natural history museum, says the simulations “are as accurate as we can get to the science.”

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City produced the show and made it available to all museums with the equipment to project it. Thanks to an extensive upgrade in summer 2010, the natural history museum is well capable.

Viewers will take in the awe-inspiring story of how our moon came to be and see how the Northern Lights are caused by solar particles’ collisions with the Earth’s magnetic field. The audience can also travel through space after the show, if they so choose. The planetarium operators can zoom viewers to any planet, star, or galaxy in their database.

“It could be as simple as a trip to Pluto, or as complicated as [a map of] the mass of the universe,” Davis says. “If asked to, I could show them every galaxy ever discovered.” Even though a large number of them will simply be data points, just seeing the vastness of the universe we live in is eye-opening.

Wednesday evening shows keep visitors a little closer to home. On clear Wednesday nights through December, the museum invites planetarium attendees to go up to the telescope dome after the show to gaze upon Jupiter and four of its brightest moons, the same four first discovered by Galileo more than 400 years ago.

“Cosmic Collisions” premieres at noon this Saturday, with shows at 2 and 4 pm following. It runs through December 31. For complete showing information, click here.

Hiking for Winers

Forget mowing the lawn or running errands this Saturday morning. Instead rise, shine, hike and drink. Sounds like my kind of good time. The unlikely pairing of activities is organized by The Ohio Wine Producers Association and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The two organizations are sponsoring a series of guided explorations of nature preserves and forests not open to the general public followed by visits to nearby wineries.

Meet up at 10 AM for the May 22 outing at the North Kingsville Sand Barrens, about a half mile from Lake Erie in Ashtabula County. The protected area is what’s known as a fossil beach, and I hear that this time of year its rolling savannah and surrounding swamp forest are alive with migratory birds and blooming wildflowers, including purple lupine.

After two hours of walking, everyone will caravan to MarkkoVineyard for lunch, a talk by winemaker Arnie Esterer, and a sampling of the Chardonnay, Riesling, and Cabernet Sauvignon that he produces.

Cost is $35 per person, and you must be registered to participate. Sign up here or call 216-231-1177. Once you're on the list, you'll get directions and details. Space is limited. If you like the concept but get shut out or are unable to clear your calendar for this weekend, three more trips planned for July, September and October.

Winemaker Arnie Esterer