DOG (AND CAT) HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST TONIGHT... AND HALLOWEEN!

HELLO HUMAN FRIENDS!!

TONIGHT is my favorite night of the Halloween Season as we, your troubled friends at IBW, bring you the 4TH ANNUAL DOG (and cat) COSTUME CONTEST!!
 

Come get your pet's photo taken and we'll even let you get in there as well if you like. If you participate, you get 10% off your tab for the evening and you might even win one of our AMAZING prizes.

This year we'll have IBW Gift Cards and a FREE Dog Training class from CANINE THERAPY CORPS. If you don't recall, what we do is post the photos the next day on IG and Creepbook and we let you THE PEOPLE vote. For once in this god-forsaken world your voice might be heard. Vote early, vote often and make sure the most adorable dog (or cat or iguana) wins... AGAIN!

And, because Thursday's historically have followed Wednesdays, it's also FRANKENSTEIN THURSDAY here at IBW Lodge #1!

Build your 1L stein of either TRUST or ORANGE SUNSHINE (D&P is out and I don't feel like fixing the graphic). For $10 you can drink the stein, but for a measly $20 you can take this fancy IBW stein home with you. GOOD LORD, that's a mighty fine deal. (If you're nice and you ask and you shovel out the cash, we'll give you a 1L of Ecto-Slushy for $30. But we're only doing the $30 deal on that.)

So, come on down tonight and haunt America's Next Best Chef, IBW Lodge #1. The cruel and viscious MOLLY will be behind the bar and yours truly will be snapping the animal photography while simultaneously wanting to go home! Don't tell me I can't multi-task.

FRIDAY NIGHT we've got the last showing of HAPPY LOBSTER FOOD TRUCK for the season. You know the drill, come get a delicious HOT N' BUTTERED LOBSTER ROLL while you shovel absurd (yet RESPONSIBLE) amounts of fresh beer into that gaping hole in your face that keeps getting you into trouble. But think about it, if your mouth is full of beer, you can't say anything too stupid that you'll regret later. See? This is living and these are important lessons for YOU to learn (and you know who I'm talking to, don't you?).

AND THEN...

It's all right there with a couple few extra surprises added on. CHUCK'S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA will be back serving their delicious pizzas. They even bring out a cool wood pizza oven on a trailer that is a fun little spectacle in and of itself.

Also, our friends from TEETSY will be on site doing LIVE SILK-SCREENING. 

Bring a t-shirt or hoodie or cattle prod and have them silkscreened with a very Limited Edition IBW Halloween 2024 shirt or buy a shirt from TEETSY and save yourself the hassle of finding a blank in your closet.

Also... we're still doing the MENSTRUATIN' WITH SATAN drive for our friends at the SATANIC TEMPLE OF ILLINOIS. Each year around Halloween they collect feminine hygiene products and distribute them to shelters down in Pilsen. Since I've done a lousy job of promoting this and you've done a lousy job of supporting it this year, I'm doing a last-minute incentive to get you all helping your friends and neighbors in need.

If you read that, I bet you read it correctly: for each new and unopened feminine hygiene product you bring from today until Saturday night, you get 1 raffle ticket. At our Halloween party on Saturday we'll announce 2 winners who will go home wearing a pair these stylish and comfy period panties from the lovely minds of HAIRBRAINED.

Now, if you aren't feeling lucky, you can just buy a pair from our crummy webstore for $15 ($5 from each pair goes to TST's Menstruatin' with Satan drive), but why not roll the bones a bit? Bring us tampons and get a chance to win for every box you bring. You can also bring toothpaste, toothbrushes and other items that I'm unsure how they are used as feminine products, but mine is not a job of inquiry here - nor science! - so I trust that they are, somehow, helpful.

But please PLEASE PLESAE PLEASE help out your friends in need. Give some dignity back to a fellow human who is in a really rough place that you will hopefully never be forced to experience. You can do it, make someone's life better!

OH! Also... on SUNDAY OCTOBER 27TH we've got... wait for it... BEETLEJUICE THEMED TEAM TRIVIA. Oh boy, that's gonna be fun on a bun.

 And, prior to the Beetlejuice Trivia, we've got a BOOZY BOOK FAIR! 

October is truly the greatest month of the year.

Hopefully we'll see some of you beautiful people and your incredible 4-legged friends tonight!

Pumpkin Carving TONIGHT... and Halloween Week!

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR ONCE AGAIN!

One of my biggest critiques of humanity - and there are PLENTY - is that people don't have the GUTS (or the taste or the panache) to just leave their Halloween decorations up all year round. 

Imagine a world where goblins and ghouls and diabolical critters of all kinds howled at you anytime you approached a neighbors door. This is the kind of sanity that could carry us past this little evolutionary hiccup we've been mired in as of late and carry us onto the promise of the Future, I tell you.

Halloween is almost here and, as you probably suspected, we have a bunch of events to help you celebrate this wonderful season. Starting TONIGHT!

Come on down, by a beer or four and decorate a pumpkin. You can decorate here or at home, but make sure you get it back here so that you have a chance to win our jack-o-lantern contest at our Halloween party on 10/26.

And, because Thursday's are always butthead to Broderick here at our troubled little Lodge, it's also FRANKENSTEIN THURSDAY!

That's TONIGHT for the FrankenSTEIN build your 1L stein of either TRUST or ORANGE SUNSHINE (D&P is out and I don't feel like fixing the graphic). For $10 you can drink the stein, but for a measly $20 you can take this fancy IBW stein home with you. GOOD LORD, that's a mighty fine deal. If you're nice and you ask and you shovel out the cash, we'll give you a 1L of Ecto-Slushy for $30. But we're only doing the $30 deal on that.

And, also, just in case it gets too crowded in here tonight we've got this month's installment of THE ELASTIC TELEPATHIC WORKSHOP!!!

If you're a moderately capable musician and bring your own crap you can sit in with us and help drive all the remaining customers out of this place. 

Can I be Sirius for a second? This ELASTIC TELEPATHIC WORKSHOP has really blossomed into a beautiful and musically engaging kind of thing. Run by America's Sweetheart, John Vernon Forbes, and featuring the drum wizardry of BARBER DEREK, we've assembled a pretty exciting line up of musicians who , somehow, always seems to find our musical asses even amidst seemingly improbably odds. We're going to stream tonight's set on INSTAGRAM so, if you're skeptical you can sit home like a creep and judge people who are actually doing something while you are at home judging people. WHAT A DEAL!! We designed that just for YOU.

This Saturday is the 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the incredible Modular Synth night we host here with our friends from DAY GLOW PRODUCTIONS!
 

If you're a Modular Synth freak this is the perfect evening to feed your addiction... and there's NEVER a cover. If I could cap lock that further I would. And Video Waste... oh man, sweet, sweet Video Waste.

We haven't even gotten to Halloween week yet....

NEXT THURSDAY!! It's my favorite night of the Halloween Season when we bring you the 4TH ANNUAL DOG COSTUME CONTEST!!

Come get your pet's photo taken and we'll even let you get in there as well if you like. If you participate, you get 10% off your tab for the evening and you might even win one of our AMAZING prizes.

This year we'll have IBW Gift Cards and a FREE Dog Training class from CANINE THERAPY CORPS. If you don't recall, what we do is post the photos the next day on IG and Creepbook and we let you THE PEOPLE vote. For once in this god-forsaken world your voice might be heard. Vote early, vote often and make sure the most adorable dog wins... AGAIN!

AND THEN...

It's all right there. Read the flyer and live content knowing that I will be blowing up your inbox next week with more reminders.

OH! Also... on SUNDAY OCTOBER 27TH we've got... wait for it... BEETLEJUICE THEMED TEAM TRIVIA. Oh boy, that's gonna be fun on a bun.

October is truly the greatest month of the year.

Hopefully we'll see some of you beautiful people tonight!

ECTO-SLUSHY RELEASE TOMORROW

Hola!

BIG NEWS for people who like weird things that aren't beer!!!

Tomorrow we are releasing this year's batch of ECTO-SLUSHY hard sparkling fruit yummy!! This weird-ass green monstrosity is back and ready to fill your brains full of swervy, delightful dreams!

We're limiting 3 4-packs per customer so everybody gets their fair shake at this Halloween treat.

And for the release, FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY, you can get a 1L stein filled to the rim with ECTO-SLUSHY and keep the IBW glass for $30. That's a screaming deal that you aren't likely to see again anytime soon.

And, for those of you who LIKE beer and can't wait to acquire one of these lovely IBW INGEST steins...

That's TONIGHT for the FrankenSTEIN build your 1L stein of either TRUST or DOG & PONY SHOW. For $10 you can drink the stein, but for a measly $20 you can take this fancy IBW stein home with you. GOOD LORD, that's a mighty fine deal. I mean, look at this stein:

There's other stuff happening this month as well. You know, things like a DOG COSTUME CONTEST, pumpkin carving and a pumpkin carving contest and, on October 26th, our Halloween party. 

OH! Also... on SUNDAY OCTOBER 27TH we've got... wait for it... BEETLEJUICE THEMED TEAM TRIVIA. Oh boy, that's gonna be fun on a bun.

October is truly the greatest month of the year.

"IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

IBW Lodge #1 3-Year Anniversary Party on Saturday!

Welp, now... I sure hope you all enjoyed that beeeee-euatiful Super Full Moon Eclipse last night and that you survived its lovely tendrils in one or two pieces. She was a doozy, for sure!

What a gift to live on a planet where the best show available takes place every night and doesn't cost a damn thing to get into. And you only gotta trade your life to get out! 

As I hope you all already know and have been wracking your noodles to come up with the finest costume you can find for it, we've got our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY this Saturday, September 21st here at our humble little beer hovel, IBW Lodge #1. 

To help celebrate, we're releasing a collaboration Bock we made with our friends at THE BUCKLAND MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT & MAGICK in Cleveland, OH. Steven Intermill and Toni Rotunda have been stewarding this wonderful museum since around 2017, inheriting it from a long line of curator/owners and locations since its inception by it's namesake, Raymond Buckland, back in the 1960's. 

There's truly very little like this hovering treasure of history. Of course, they have a ton of artifacts from Buckland's collection including robes and ritual gear and other such treats. But they also have pieces from all kinds of characters from the very rich history of Witchcraft & Magick including Kenneth Grant, NEMA, Lon Milo DuQuette and even the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. Not to mention their lovely collection of newspaper pieces and magazine articles on Buckland and the Dark Arts. And don't miss their very fine Ouija Board collection. I'm telling you... I'm telling you!!

If you're near Cincinatti, take the time to stop. Not only is the collection fantastic, but Steven is an incredible host and will keep you on your heels for hours with stories and curious finds. And don't leave without communing with the OOSER!

Small businesses and operations like the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick are the lifeblood of the soul of the personality of any city you can visit. Not only do they deserve your attention and support, they demand it. If you love Mystery, if you love Art, if you love the curious and continued drive by humans to make sense of this hair-brained world we live in, then you would agree with me that we need more places like this around.

Speaking of incredible small businesses, we're going to have some of Chicago's most wonderful small businesses at our 3 Year Anniversary Party on Saturday.

Places like:

• BUCKET O BLOOD Books & Records! with their unparralleled selection of Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi and fiction, if you care about books and you love the Weird, the strange & frightening humans at Bucket O Blood are just for you.

• SIDESHOW GALLERY has everything you need for your Witchy bender or life-style or curiosity or obsession. Everything from books, to tarot decks, to taxidermy and Frazetta prints, Cherie & Anne have lovingly assembled a playful little fairy ring to slip into for days on end. They also curate some incredible classes with local artists and writers as well out some hot-shot out-of-towners.

• ALCHEMY ARTS Metaphysical Books is one of our longer standing Occult book stores in the city. The rare book collection at Alchemy Arts is pretty great, but so is their herb & oil collection not to mention their statuary. And, while you're there, take a ride in the glorious Throne of Pan (or whatever they call it, that's my name for it). 

• MALLIWAY BROTHERS MAGIC & WITCHCRAFT store is a newer addition to Chicago's solid Occult line-up but they bring a stellar game to the table. They have an incredibly diverse and well-programmed book selection and also offer herbs and oils and odds and ends for your journey into your own weird self. The brothers themselves and the rest of their staff are about as nice a group of folks as you're going to meet in a vicious little city like our lovely Chicago.

• GRAVEFACE has an incredible records selection, taxidermy, Ghana film posters as well as running their own film imprint, TERRORVISION. And, while you're there, buy a ticket for their museum, they have an original David Huggins print there that I've been trying for months to figure out who I have to butter up to acquire it from them.

• METALEDGE RECORDS & TAPES is Edison Park's best place for used records. I've bought everything from the Kink's to Steely Dan to the 13th Floor Elevators from these guys at great prices and in great condition. I hear they also have some metal...

We're also going to have a 3D printer and engraver here (Chicago Pyro Shop) so bring ideas and things you want to get engraved. Alec will even engrave the Natal chart you get from Spiros' reading if you do it while you're here. We've got a screen printer, a sculptor and a wood worker as well!!! There's probably more and I'm a jerk for forgetting.

One thing I didn't forget is that the wonderful humans from AERIZ CANNABIS will be here to help either ruin or really expand your day. Only you can be the judge!!

And did I tell you that you'll be able to get your Tarot cards read or your Astrological birth chartanalysed? Come ready to dig under the hood. We'll have beer for you to help digest the bad news. 

You can also eat great wood-fired pizza from CHUCK'S WOOD-FIRED PIZZA.

Oh, aaaand the DUNK TANK is back!!!! Take out all of your headaches and heartaches by dunking a stranger into an icy cold bath of water. AND WIN PRIZES DOING IT.

And this is all just during the day (2p-6p to be exact).

At 7pm Steven & Toni will tell stories and show you artifacts from the Buckland Museum. Shortly after that, we're going to have a little procession lead by TWO GIANT PUPPETS for crepes sake. So please, no matter what you do, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU COME DRESSED IN A COSTUME!!!

At 9:30 we've got 3 of the best metal bands in Chicago giving you a night of soul-pickling sounds. We've got DRUUNA, BECOME DEATH & C.O.M.A. for all your audio terrors and delights.

Man, that's a lot. It's gonna be so freaking great. I can't wait to see you all. AND WEAR A DAMN COSTUME THERE ARE PRIZES ON THE LINE THAT YOU WILL WANT.

But, even before Saturday, we've got some pretty great stuff going on. Have you ever floated in a sensory deprivation tank? Are you interested?

We've teamed up with our friends at TrueRest Float Spa in Skokie to host a little gathering of flotation tank enthusiasts. We're going to play this one pretty loose depending on the needs of those showing up - do you want to learn about floating or do you want to share your experiences.... or both! - but, one thing I can say for sure is that everyone who comes to this meet up will receive a FREE FLOAT at TrueRest. That is a screaming deal worth updwards of $60.

I love floating, I do it at least twice a month and have been doing it since the late 1990s. Not only is it exceptional for meditation and consciousness exploration, I've also found, in my older days, that it is an exquisite analgesic and cure for minor aches and pains (the kind a brewer picks up now and again). I can't say enough great things about the benefits I and others have derived from floating. If this at all in interesting to you, come by, talk to some folks who have done it and get a free float out of the deal. Come on! This is Thursday @ 7pm.

Bonus points if you want to hang around for our monthly Improvisational Jam afterwards, THE ELASTIC TELEPATHIC WORKSHOP. Lead by Chicago GIANT John Vernon Forbes, this is a mostly judgement-free space to come and explore the world of improvisational music with other talented players. You must bring your own backline and everything need to make whatever strange sound you like making. Try it sometime. We start at 9pm with that.

Friday SMOKESTAFF is back making their phenomenal BBQ. I hear tell Mark is making some crazy hot sauce from J's peppers called like SATAN'S SNAPPER or something like that. Do Satans have snappers? It must be called something else.

That's all I've got for now. I'm beyond excited for what we've got coming. I hope you all are as well. Let's make Saturday a celebration of time, small business, curiosity and JOY and make it one for the ages!!

"IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

SMART ASS Trivia Game TONIGHT @ IBW LODGE #1

Hiya!

Tonight we're doing a live version of SMART ASS, a fun little card trivia game from University Games. Winners will take home IBW Gift Cards and EVERYONE who plays will get their very own copy of SMART ASS to take home with them. Who doesn't like FREE stuff?

Your esteemed brewer Bucky will be hosting this sure-to-be-a-mess mess. But whatever?! Right? Right. Come, have a few beers and take home a fun card game for FREE. And have fun in the process. 

Did you know this will be fun?

Starting this SUNDAY we'll be brining back FREE HOT DOGS FOR BEARS GAMES. What a world.
 

And then, please mark your calendar for our 3 Year Anniversary Party where we're releasing a collaboration Bock we made with our friends at THE BUCKLAND MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT & MAGICK. We'll have vendors, tarot readers and a DUNK TANK during the day and 3 metal bands after 9pm to put a clear and thunderous capstone on the day.
 

 "IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."