Brewski tourism

Published 10:57 pm Friday, April 10, 2009

The Czech Republic leads the world in beer consumption, so a tour of the nation’s giant Pilsner Urquell brewery seems mandatory for visitors.

The brewery produces a style of beer that’s the granddaddy of the most popular American brews such as Budweiser. But we won’t hold that against the Czechs.

Fun facts: The average Czech reportedly drinks about 165 quarts of beer a year; the typical American is said to knock back about 228 quarts of soda pop annually; the Czech beer brewery tour offers a beer vending machine (nifty!); American soda pop bottling plant tours offer complimentary diabetes screenings.

Saddam’s shootin’ iron: The U.S. Army says it will return to Iraqi officials a chrome-plated AK-47 that once belonged to Saddam Hussein.

The Army refused, however, to hand over a rhinestone-studded improvised explosive device.

Two against Google: The chief executives of Microsoft and Yahoo met recently to discuss possible joint business ventures.

When Yahoo’s Carol Bartz called to clarify the meeting location, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer replied, “Aw, just Google it.”

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff