Put yourself in my shoes
In a touching scene, the parable of the Good Samaritan was recreated in a pub doorway in Devon on one of the hottest days of the year.
Food editor John Porter visited a pub which insisted that patrons wore footwear when coming off the adjacent beach for a cooling pint.
One thirsty potential customer protested that his shoes were back on the far side of the beach with his family - and the anguished look on his face suggested that the chance of slipping away from sand-castle and shrimping duty twice was very slim.
In a touching male-bonding moment - and having secured his own pint first, naturally — John whipped off his Crocs and lent them to the needy soul.
No, of course I'm not crying… I've just got something in my eye… sniff…
The demon drink
Remember that Al Pacino movie The Devil's Advocate? The one where the writers had obviously thought of a great title for the film before struggling to pull a story together to fit it with some preposterous tale about a top lawyer-cum-satan? I can't help thinking that maybe Molson Coors has done the same with a new range of 'beer cocktails' it has brought out under its BitterSweet Partnership.
Combinations, currently on trial at the Dial bar in Burton on Trent, include the 'Kru Woo', made with peach schnapps and Kasteel Cru, and the 'Chocolate Moon' made with Colorado-brewed Blue Moon beer.
The whole thing is part of another attempt to push beer to women — the 'bittersweet' partnership. Geddit?
But maybe it's churlish of me to scoff. Apparently beer sales at the bar are up
another 26 per cent on Wednesdays as a result! I think I'll be sticking to my half a mild myself though, even if I am a bitch.
Ricely does it
Jeez, those Yanks… don'tcha just love 'em?
USA Rice is the latest export from across the pond to hit our shores. Not only does the wild rice have a delicate and nutty flavour, it's also ideal for today's health conscious consumer, or so says the USA Rice Federation (USARF).
And it's full of surprises — did you know that American wild rice isn't actually rice?
Crazy, man! But you know the craziest thing about it? The slogan USARF is using to promote it - 'Have a rice day'!
Famous faces
It's the silly season! And it's the season when Pub Bitch turns into the 'Spotted' column from Heat, just for a week or two only.
Last week it was St Austell Brewery's Trevor Tribute seen on the beach in Cornwall. But this week we're hitting the A-list, with Hollywood's Kevin Spacey and Gary Oldman spotted doing their best to support the pub industry.
London-based Spacey, the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre, was spotted enjoying an ale or two at the Grand Union pub in Kensington, earlier this month. But it was Oldman's visit to the Cross Guns at Avoncliff, near Bradford-on-Avon, which really went down a storm.
The Sid and Nancy star, on a canal break, popped into the pub twice in a week, the second time leaving a note thanking the pub — the brewery tap for Box Steam Brewery — for its "fantastic grub!" Staff described him as charming and extremely friendly. Doesn't sound like an A-lister to me!
• Have you seen a celeb in your pub in the silly season? Let Pub Bitch know at pubbitch@thepublican.com
Dr Diageo
Planning a visit to Diageo's Park Royal offices the other day, I hit those words into Google as you do, expecting a handy map to pop up showing me the way over the A40 from the nearest Tube station.
But what was this? I was immediately transported to an extraordinary corner of the interweb called DoctorWhoLocations.net
Turns out the old Guinness Brewery, adjacent to the swish offices Diageo now inhabits, was the scene of an invasion of the Earth by the deadly Cybermen back in 1968. Fortunately the Doctor and his companions managed to save the day, or who knows what would have happened to Guinness, and other iconic brands now headquartered at Park Royal.