Salt Lake City

Liberal birthday partyers,

First, sorry about the lack of an e-mail last week, it was a glitch with our new national website.

This week there won't be a normal meet-up at the Piper Down - but we will be having a BBQ on Sunday to celebrate the third year of the Salt Lake chapter of Drinking Liberally! It's hard to believe it's been three years. We've had a lot of great discussions and a lot of great speakers over the years, and our momentum only seems to be growing.

So come celebrate with us at a BBQ on Sunday, August 3rd from 4:00pm onward at Heather and Jeremiah's house (214 W 600 N - look for the green picket fence and the under-construction park strip on the north side of 6th North).

We will bring the side dishes, buns, condiments, ice, etc - you bring something to grill, something to drink, and some friends.

If you plan on coming to the BBQ (or even if you just think you might), please RSVP by replying to this e-mail with 'RSVP' in the subject so we can get a general idea of how much stuff to buy.

If you're coming to Saturday's Voyeur with us, meet us at our house before the show and drop off your BBQ food and we'll all walk over together. Also, don't forget you can bring your own snacks and drinks (alcohol too) to the show.

For those of you who don't like smokey bars, this is a good opportunity to meet fellow liberals outside of that setting.

In August we're planning a pub crawl with the Young Dems of Utah in Park City. We don't have a confirmed date yet, but we'll let you know when we do. This of course will be open to Democrats of all ages, and we'll be coordinating carpools to Park City.

In September our guest speaker will be Del Vance, founder of Uinta Brewing Company and author of the book "Beer in the Beehive", which talks all about Utah's love/hate relationship with alcohol since the pioneers settled the valley. See Bill Frost's interview with him here.

See you Sunday,
Jeremiah, Laura, and Heather

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group, Twitter
Liberal Events Calendar

Happy Pioneer Day Utah Liberals!

Tomorrow Utah celebrates the migration of the Mormon Pioneers to this great state. Leaving Nauvoo, Illinois behind, the Mormon Pioneers set west in order to find a place to live free from persecution of their lifestyle. Here they worked hard to turn the barren desert into a garden. They formed a government that today would be considered socialist - the focus was on their fellow "brothers and sisters" rather than every man, woman and child for him or her self. Beer and liquor sales paid for the infrastructure of Salt Lake City, and their Valley Tan whisky was praised all across the country. Of course that last part never gets talked about, which leads to people who get offended by our logo.

Fast forward to today, where drinking alcohol is taboo and highly regulated, "brother and sister" is used only because it's tradition, and where we as a state have elected some of the most persecutory bigots in the United States.

If you have ever felt persecuted - whether it be for race, religion, sexual orientation, political leanings, or for any other reason - then join us this Friday at Drinking Liberally where everybody is welcome! We'll be raising our glass to some of the founding ideals of Utah. Same meeting time and place: 6:30 onward at the Piper Down (1492 So State St). See you there!

Happy 3rd Birthday Salt Lake City liberal drinkers!!! August 3rd marks the third anniversary of our Drinking Liberally Chapter. Oh, how we have grown! Our group now has 600 members. If we get too many more we may have to start a second Utah chapter (Utah county, anybody?) Celebrate with us at a BBQ on Sunday, August 3rd from 4:00pm onward at Jeremiah and Heather's house (214 W 600 N). We will bring the side dishes, buns, condiments, ice, etc - you bring something to grill, something to drink, and some friends. Tickets are very limited, but you can still join us prior to the BBQ for the 2:00 showing of Saturday's Voyeur. Salt Lake Acting Company is conveniently one very walkable block from our house.

See you Friday,
Heather, Jeremiah and Laura

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group, Twitter
Liberal Events Calendar

Liberal brothers and sisters,

It was great to see so many new people last Friday! Hopefully everyone made some new friends or reconnected with some old friends.

We won't be meeting this Friday (tomorrow), but that's not going to stop us from reminding you that our Drinking Liberally birthday party is just a little over two weeks away. We'll be holding the party at Heather & Jeremiah's house (the Rothigan Ranch, for those in the know) in the Marmalade neighborhood. The BBQ will be blazing, the charcoal smoker will be smoking, and the liberals will be drinking. Before the BBQ we will be going to the matinee showing of Saturday's Voyeur, just a block south of our house at the Salt Lake Acting Company. I've talked to quite a few people who've already seen this and they all say it's one of the funniest in memory.

Food and drink are allowed, and as the website says, it's recommended for mature audiences. To me, that has fun written all over it. Seating is now listed as "limited" for the August 3rd matinee, so if you're haven't purchased tickets yet, now is the time. You won't regret it. More details to come.

There's a lot to do this summer, and if you're subscribed to our calendar you've already got a good idea of what's going on. Just this upcoming week there's the Gallivan concert tonight (Thursday), the Young Dems/Save Our Canyons camping trip Saturday and Sunday, Plan-B's "And the banned played on" fundraiser on Monday, a screening of the documentary "A Soldier's Peace" from past DL guest speaker Marshall Thompson on Tuesday, and Salt Lake Green Drinks on Wednesday - and that's just what Heather and Jeremiah are definitely attending.

If you'd like to stay on top of these fun events via text messages and you're on Twitter, you can follow us here: http://twitter.com/DrinkLibSLC. You'll even be able to follow links for the events and see who else is attending.

If we don't see you at one of these events this week, we'll see you next Friday!

Cheers,
Laura, Heather, and Jeremiah

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group
Twitter
Liberal Events Calendar

Drinking Liberals old and new,

To everyone who has joined our e-mail list because they read the article in Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune, welcome! We hope you'll join us for one of our regular meet-ups, like the one coming up tomorrow (July 11th) in the back room of the Piper Down, 1492 S. State Street @ 6:30.

We will be toasting and celebrating our 30+ new members since the article was published. Old members come out and meet new members; new members come out and meet old members. Salt Lake Magazine will be publishing an article on Drinking Liberally for their September-October edition, so hopefully we'll reach yet another audience of Utah liberals and we'll toast all over again.

This Friday we might also have a moment of silence in honor of the loss of our 4th Amendment rights. The FISA "compromise" bill passed through the Senate yesterday, much to democracy's chagrin. It's not as debated as the 1st, nor as "sacred" as the 2nd, but it's still important and it might be a good time to remind your congress-people about that pesky 4th:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Drinking Liberally will be going camping with the Young Dems and Save Our Canyons, and we'd love for you to join us. Eat S'mores, Help the Environment, and Learn about the issues facing Utah's Canyons!

Saturday, July 19 - Sunday, July 20
Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

$15/person - includes food, equipment for service project, camping fees etc.
Participants must RSVP at www.youngdemsofutah.org by July 17, 2008. Hurry though, space is limited.

And finally, don't forget to grab your tickets to the matinee (2pm) showing of the Salt Lake Acting Company's "Saturday's Voyeur" on Sunday, August 3rd. This is the annual birthday outing (the third such outing) of the Salt Lake chapter of Drinking Liberally, and it's always a lot of fun. This year we will BBQ after the show so we're not so pressed for time. More details will be coming, but grab your tickets now and start exercising your laugh muscles.

Here's a little taste of what you can expect: Chris Buttars Educational Video

If we don't see you around the free Gallivan concert tonight, we'll see you tomorrow night!
Jeremiah, Heather, and Laura

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group
Liberal Events Calendar

Drinking Liberals,

We try not to send out more than one e-mail in a week, but sometimes we've just gotta. Did everyone see the feature article in Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune? Drinking Liberally SLC was on the front page of the Utah section!

If you're not a Tribune subscriber, you can read the article here: Where Bush is the bull's-eye. There aren't pictures in the online version, but we had a nice, large picture in the center of the front page, and our local logo was featured in the article as well. The reporter and the photographer did a great job, and I hope they had fun while they visited us.

For those joining us because they saw us in the Trib, welcome! Hopefully you'll join us at one of our meet-ups and feel right at home among friends.

Cheers,
Jeremiah, Heather, and Laura

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group
Liberal Events Calendar

Liberal patriots,

Thanks to everyone who joined us last week when The Salt Lake Tribune and Salt Lake Magazine were there to shoot some pictures of our group for some upcoming feature articles. We'll let you know when they're published.

While we won't be meeting this week (as part of our summer schedule where we only meet the even-numbered Fridays of each month), there is still a lot of political news to talk about while you're at your Independence day BBQ's:

Bush signed a new Veteran's benefits bill that he promised to veto, and thanked John McCain for his vital support for it. Except McCain was against the bill on the grounds that it was too expensive (really? and this ill-conceived war is cheap?) and would discourage career military service. Of course McCain didn't actually vote for the bill, since he hasn't registered a vote in the Senate in months, and has missed over 60% of votes so far this year and growing.

Then there is Barack Obama, who had promised to filibuster any FISA bill that gave the telecoms legal immunity. Now he's for it. Let's not even talk about his faith based initiative. Here in Utah I think we know a little bit about what happens when you mix religion with government.

There are still tickets available for the Sunday, August 3rd matinee (2pm) showing of Saturday's Voyeur. Drinking Liberally, SLC will be attending this showing for our 3rd birthday party, followed by a BBQ at Heather and Jeremiah's house. If you've lived in Utah more than a month you'll enjoy this hilarious spoof on Utah culture. In fact it should be considered a crime to not see this show with us.

Until next Friday (July 11th),
Jeremiah, Laura, and Heather

Drinking Liberally SLC meets from 6:30-9:30 on the second and fourth Friday of each month through the summer in the back room of the Piper Down (1492 S. State Street).
Drinking Liberally SLC
DL Facebook Group
Liberal Events Calendar