Summer Event #1 - Sunset Cruise

Sunset Cruise – on the Champlain ferry.



Meet at the Ferry at Perkins Pier Tuesday, Jun 19th. Meet at 6:20. BYOB and a snack for dinner. We'll take the roundtrip route from Burlington to Port Kent. It leaves Burlington at 6:35 and gets us back by 8:30. Tickets are $8.50.
Topic TBD, if we even have one. Let us know if you have ideas.

Meeting #13 - recap: GIS Summer Vacation

GIS bi-weekly meetings will be on vacation for the summer, resuming the week after labor day.

But the GIS will not be dormant all summer - field trips and events will flourish and we encourage GIS members to throw out ideas for events/trips and hosts/bring them to life. Free form GIS.

Possible summer events/trip:
> Underhill corn roast (some time in September)
> Thunder Road – Thurs and Sunday nights
> GIS #3 - beer
> Recipe swap/pot luck
> Clam bake (possibly at Crooked Path)
> Fleming museum – Winooski/Burlington
> Tunbridge world fair
> Formal night – dinner/dance
> Paintball
> Lee Scratch Perry concert
> Cheese – in some way shape or form
> bocce tournament
> Doubles tennis tourney
> Iron chef cooking night – dinner with one common ingredient
> Wine tasting hosted by Burlington Wine Shoppe.
> Sunset cruise – on the ferry bitches.
> GIS hosts, the 2nd annual Beerlington Open
> Chili cook off
> Umiak – wine tour/canoe thing
> Horse racing in Saratoga
> Car camping in the Kingdom
> You’ve got to hear this – bring a favorite or interesting song/album to share with the group. Also bring your music collection (hopefully on a hard drive) for exchange.
> Lake Monsters Game

Want one of these events to happen? grab the bull by the horns and organize.

Meeting #13 - state of the union

The next meeting will be Tuesday May 29th at 7:30pm. It will be held at the 158 North Willard (unless we find a better location before then). The topic of the meeting with be a state of the union on the good idea society and planning the topics for the next six meetings. In the mean time please post meeting ideas to the idea bank post. We'll have GIS Stout's and Brown Ale's.

PS - Sorry for spacing on last week and not having a meeting.

Weekend happenings (both involving alcohol?)

It was an eventful weekend for the some GIS members and I decided we should have more pictures on the blog.


Saturday night Marc invited us out to his house to witness some wine drawing and the Zinf tastes great. Thanks for the Good times.


















And this morning Ross and I put some labels on the Stout and Brown ales we brewed. I can't wait to drink the Stout's this coming Tuesday.





The stencil was a little chunky after. Most of the bottles look great, there are some that did not turn out that good and some crazy experiments. Good times.

Meeting #12 - Dirty Joke Night!

Well it's been about six months since the start of the GIS and we think it's finally time for the DIRTY JOKE NIGHT. We had planned on discussing the idealization of western social democracies, but thought it might be a little heady after the anti-war meeting. So on the details...

May 1st, 7:30pm at Jeff and Ross's (158 North Willard). Come with a few dirty jokes to share. We will also we drinking the Good Idea Society Stouts that were bottled at meeting #10. See you there.

Meeting #11 - recap

At meeting #11 we discussed the modern anti-war movement. It was a very insightful conversation. A couple of key insights were that the pace of change can be much slower than we want in our on-demand society. Sustained pressure over time can lead to changes (mid-term election). And while we may not be marching on Washington, discussion is key to keep the topic alive.

Here is the "GOOD IDEA" of the meeting. If you support an elected official or protest group, let them know. Show some support. Everyone should over the next week or so send out a email (a virtual pat on the back) to a group or person who you feel is going the right thing and keep up the sustained pressure to enact change.

Meeting #11 - peace?

Our next meeting is this coming Tuesday (4/17) at 7:30pm at Drink (formally known as the Wine Works). The topic will be the modern anti-war movement. Originally we were going to discuss the Peace One Day movement (www.peaceoneday.org) but the more I thought about it I decided it would be best to have a broader conversation about the anti-war movement. What works? What is effective? What is counterproductive? Does it make sense in modern society? How has it been done in the past? So there's the topic, please post up any articles, links, etc. that would be good to review prior to the meeting. See you then.

Field Trip! 4/28

Marc had invited us out for some wine bottling, sounds like a blast. See note from Marc...

If anyone's into wine, I'll be drawing (bottling) 50 gallons of California Zinfandel, on Saturday, April 28th. I've been doing a little QA on it :) since we crushed the grapes in the fall, and it's coming along very nicely!

We'll start about 5pm, though it'll take a few hours to get all that bottled :) so feel free to pop in anytime between then and about 10 or so.

If so inclined, bring a bit of your favorite beverage or snack, but don't sweat it; we'll be glad to see you and we'll have plenty of wine. :)

- Marc

Meeting #10 - BEER!

Meeting #10 will be held at Ross and Jeff's house at 158 N. Willard St. at 7:3opm on Tuesday, April 3rd. The topic of the meeting will be beer. We will brew our own beer (a stout) and discuss and taste different beers.

Everyone needs to bring a six pack of their favorite beer, or a beer they want to try. Also, if you have not paid your $20 membership fee, buck up.

get thirsty.

Note from Ross...

The format will be
a)discussion about the two main kinds of beer and methods of brewing beer

b)Next we will put together a list of "qualities" for a few of the beers that people have brought, to help illustrate key ingredients. Then we will start drinking said beers.

c)Beginning brewing (we will be making 5 gal of either a stout of a porter)

d)Bottling a batch that I made last week.

e)talking about how awesome we all are (repeat if neccessary)

I'm no expert on brewing, but I've done it 10 times or so. I'm doing my best to put together some info and hopefully lurn y'all some. Come on! It's beer afterall!

BRING: a 6 pack of either your favorite (good) beer or a beer you have always wanted to try. Go out on a limb here.
ALSO BRING: your membership dues if this is your third meeting. Dues ($20) pay for the homebrew beer supplies, so no payee, no get beeree.

Tuesday, 7:30 pm.
158 North Willard St
Google Map

Meeting #9 - location

Tomorrow's meeting will not be at the Euro Cafe. It will be held at Ross and Jeff's house at 158 North Willard @ 7pm sharp. BYOB.

Also, for some meetings we are starting to have expenses, if you have not paid already, please bring your $20 membership fee.