Let’s hope that this trend catches on.

I like a few frames at the local bowling alley as much as the next guy but let’s face it, historically the beer choices at bowling alleys suck. The selection typically ranges all the way from Bud to Bud Light. Ask if they have any craft or import beers and you’re likely going to see the bartender – read college kid with a job that can work around her class schedule – screw up her cute little say and say, “We have O’Doul’s. Does that count?”

So, this story is truly heartening; some good beer to enjoy while bowling.

I don’t know why the idea hasn’t caught on before now. Bowlers tend to be a bit more thoughtful and deliberate than the crowd you find at the corner tavern or night club. They like to spend an hour or more progressing through a game with friends, keeping score and challenging themselves to improve on their previous personal best. Sure, someone will emerge the winner but that’s rarely what it’s all about. Sounds to me like the perfect crowd to enjoy some choice brews; not the same old, same old.

Let’s start a movement. Next time you’re at the bowling alley ask the bartender for your local craft beer favorite. When she says it’s not available, ask why. When she doesn’t know, and she won’t, ask her very nicely if she would tell her manager that you would like to see some good beer in the future. Tip her well – always tip the bartender well, $1/drink MINIMUM! – and wait until next time.

Eventually good beer in bowling alleys will be the rule and not the exception.

I’m an NPR nerd. I admit it; I own it. Odds are when I’m working I’m listening to the local NPR station’s classic music show. And every weekend there are a few shows like Car Talk, Prairie Home Companion and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me that I never miss.

Yes, I’m one of those people.

This week I was amused to hear surfing champ Kelly Slater quizzed on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me about bowling trivia. Slater is one of those people who seem to be put on Earth to humiliate the rest of us slobs. He is distinguished as a surfer for being both the youngest and the oldest to win a surfing champion. He appears to be on course to be the first to win ten surfing championships. He dates supermodels, was named as one of People Magazine’s Fifty Most Beautiful People and had a few guest appearances on Baywatch.

I, on the other hand, grew some really nice tomatoes in my garden this summer.

Anyway, it was fun to hear him stumble through a quiz about bowling. Check it out.

You can have your Arbor Days and your Summer Equinoxes. The annual event that really gets us worked up here in the Lounge is National Bowling Week. And it’s going on right now.

This year National Bowling Week goes from August 29 to September 5. For 2009 the US bowlers are trying to do something special. They are going for a world record of most games bowled in one day. That day is September 5. In some places they are even offering a free game to the public in order to encourage participants, check out GoBowling.com for info. Can we do it? The current record is just over half a million; I have a feeling that we can improve on that!

Oh, and before I forget, the Lounge’s sponsor, BowlingConcepts.com, is offering 10% off everything on the site all week long.

The World Series of Bowling (WSOB) kicks off this weekend in Detroit. The event, put on by the Professional Bowlers Association, is a big shift from the way that things have been done in previous years. Instead of an autumn long multi-city tour across the nation, the top bowlers’ tournament will be held over five weeks in and around the Detroit metro area.

It makes sense to put the tournament in Detroit. Is there a bigger bowling city? Plus it will be a boon to the economically struggling area.

If you can’t attend the finals will be shown on ESPN Sundays at 1 starting October 25. For more information check out PBA.com.

Why do we have cocktail recipes at the lounge, you may ask. Because we hope that our readers are enjoying a drink here in the lounge and if you decide to pass up the beer fridge and the wine rack on your way to the liquor cabinet, we want to make sure that you are enjoying your drinks right.

Why the White Russian tonight? Because we covered the Lebowski Fest last time and it only seems right. If you don’t understand that go rent The Big Lebowski and watch it again. And this time take notes.

So, to make a White Russian gather:
• Old Fashioned glass
• Ice (Cubed, not cracked, crushed or shaved. The White Russian is an indulgent drink and you don’t want to water that down.)
• Vodka
• Kahlua
• Cream

Now do this:
Put four or five ice cubes in the glass. Pour in 1 ½ oz. of vodka and ¾ oz Kahlua and stir. Top with up to ¾ oz. of cream, no more but a little less would be OK. Drink. Repeat.

Some sports easily jump onto the big screen. Movies about basketball, baseball and football translate very nicely into the formulaic plots that Hollywood so adores.

Other sports, the sports we tend to prefer here in The Lounge, aren’t quite so easy to turn into movies. We like to think that is because they are more complex and cerebral than the overly easy life solutions that movie makers are looking for.

That’s what we like to tell ourselves.

Even so, a movie does occasionally surface featuring one of our beloved pastimes. And, even rarer, really great movies about something like bowling come along. The last time that happened in recent memory was in 1998 when The Great Lebowski was released.

So the movie flopped at the box office. But it has been steadily gaining a devoted following since and, with a currently touring celebration called the Lebowski Fest, has officially passed into cult movie status.

Much like the screening of other cult classics like Rocky Horror Picture Show, attendees show up dressed as their favorite characters. The festival is being held at a bowling alleys and theaters across the nation and, where possible, gallons of White Russians are served.

Sounds like a pretty good time. But I’m generally frightened of costumed people so I probably won’t be attending.

We love to bowl here at the Lounge. So much so that we’ve been considering adding a bowling lane but have yet to find a wordpress app for it.

Anyway, when we hear about a bowler as cool as Rick Mousouleas attention must be paid. Mousouleas has had a rough time of it over the last few years. After two back surgeries and work on his knee and rotator cuff, Mousouleas’s doctors told him that he could probably get around OK but bowling was out.

But he’s been going to the lanes his whole life and couldn’t see any reason to let this nonsense stop him.

So, three years ago Mousouleas started bowling again. He’s competed and won a few times since but last week marked his biggest win yet. He came out on top at the nation’s biggest amateur bowler championship in Las Vegas which earns him a nice trophy and an even nicer check for $25,000.

Here’s a headline that really sent up the uncool flag for those of us hanging out here in The Lounge: “FREE Bowling for Kids All Summer.” Brrrr!

Now, first let me say, we have nothing against the theory of children. It’s how most of us started out and many cool people have collected one or two of their own. We can even dig families going bowling together – good bonding, time away from the TV, showing the kids that Wii didn’t invent the game – it’s all good.

But the idea of bowling alleys being overrun by out of control short people from now until September is just wrong and, yes, uncool. But before we indict let’s take a look at the details. First, it’s a program that the California police have come up with to keep kids out of trouble while Mom and Dad are working and the teachers are off to exotic locales for their annual three month vacation. (What? That is what teachers do during the summer, isn’t it?) Second, the free bowling only lasts until 5pm everyday. So the tykes will be cleared out by the time adults are looking to kill a few frames after work.

Okay, so it’s not totally uncool. We’re not prepared to go all the way to cool on this one but we’ll cut it some slack. But we’re keeping an eye on it!