‘Sweet Baby Jesus’ beer pulled from Ohio grocery store shelves

4241360451_80fe59c79a_mThe chocolate and peanut butter porter beer initially marketed under the product name Sweet Baby Jesus has been pulled from some Ohio grocery store shelves in response to multiple consumer complaints about the popular beverage’s name.

Dave Benfield, owner of the Baltimore-based company Duclaw, which produces the brew, defended the product name by saying that the name was not meant to be offensive, but was chosen as a “phrase of excitement or astonishment.” When asked in an interview with FOX News if the company was planning to change the name of the dark brew, Benfield responded: “We don’t censor ourselves because it might cost us dollars.”

Although the name remains controversial amongst some consumers, the rocky head porter is a hit amongst beer connoisseurs. According to the company website, Sweet Baby Jesus won the Bronze Medal for chocolate beers at the Great American Beer Festival in 2014.

Other religiously inspired names in the Duclaw company repertoire include:

  • Divine Retribution, the moniker for an imperial stout aged in a Kentucky white oak bourbon barrel
  • Mad Bishop, a German-style seasonal brew inspired by the Oktoberfest
  • Devil’s Milk, a Gold medal winner barley wine ale of the Brewer’s Association of Maryland.

 

Click here for more information.

International Conference on Cartography and Geoinformation Science (ICCGIS) annual conference, Montreal, May 16-17 2016

2123523275_983f039f2b_mThe International Conference on Cartography and Geoinformation Science (ICCGIS) will be holding its 18th annual conference from the 16th to the 17th of May 2016 in Montreal, Canada. Papers on cartography and toponymy are especially invited. The deadline for abstract submissions is the 16th of November 2015.

Click here for the official call for papers as well as information on registration.

Symposium on Atlases, Topography, and the History of Cartography, Rio de Janeiro, August 19-21 2015

10912431134_e942bdb4e5_mFrom the 19th to the 21st of August 2015, there will be a pre-conference Symposium on Atlases, Topography, and the History of Cartography at the Brazilian Foundation of Geography and Statistics in Rio de Janeiro. The Symposium is scheduled to include two days with scientific paper presentations as well as excursions to the Fundacao Bibliotheca Nacional and to the Museu Naval.

Click here for more on this event.

Bloomberg’s Granddaughter Gets a Hybrid Surname

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Hybrid surnames are becoming increasingly popular. The New York Times reports that Zelda Violet Frissberg’s surname is the combination of Frissora, her father’s, and Bloomberg, her mother’s. Given that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is her grandfather, New Yorkers are likely to see Fissberg denoting New York cultural and philanthropic institutions in the near future.

Generation Y: A Cuban Revolution

Yasmani Grandal

Yasmani Grandal

What do you Yasmany Tomás, Yasmani Grandal, Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Céspedes and Yunel Escobar all have in common? They’re members of Generation Y, an anti-government protest that took place in Cuba. Their names are a political rebellion. Keith Olbermann explains.

International EURALEX Congress, Tbilisi, Georgia, September 6-10 2016

4312721365_aa41c18cea_mFrom the 6th to the 10th of September 2016, the 27th annual international EURALEX Congress will be held in Tbilisi, Georgia. This conference is being organized by the Lexicographic Centre at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The EURALEX Congress is designed to bring together lexicographers, software developers, publishers, and researchers. The motto of the 2016 Congress is “Lexicography and Linguistic Diversity”.

The deadline for abstract submissions is the 15th of October, 2015. Click here for a list of topics being accepted for presentation. Papers and posters may be presented in any European language. However, abstracts should be submitted in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Russian.

For more on the organization, click here.