The summer schedule is booking up fast. I love the summer, but it can be a little overwhelming at times (especially with no Seahawks football), what with all the barbecues and such. I’m not complaining. I have friends who can put together some very mean barbecue food (I’m looking at you, Yama!). But, as a person who tends towards introversion, I like the mellow stay-at-home-on-a-Sunday-and-watch-football simplicity of the Fall. But the summer is here; the summer is now! Let’s see what’s going on that can pull us through this one last season till we get to whip out our jerseys.

Warren G. is here!

It very well may be a clear black night and a clear white moon this Friday at Nectar in Fremont as everyones’s favorite smooth-voiced all-star Warren G. takes the stage. Opening acts include Dyme Def, Grynch, Anthony Daza, and DJ Indica Jones. Switch your mind back into freak mode when the show starts at 8 pm, 21+, $25-$30. It’ll probably be funked out with a gangster twist.

Show your true Seattle-ite-ism

This Friday take an evening bike ride starting at 9 pm at Peddler Brewing Co. $40 gets you into the ride. You get a drink at the after party, and you’ll get a tee shirt to show how awesome of a Seattleite you are. It’ll be a 15 mile ride. So outfit your bike with the required lights and reflectors, plus any other glowing brick-a-brack you might have laying around. Make your bike look like a rave party, if that’s what you’re into. But mostly have that head light, tail light and reflectors.

Oh, the fests!

There’s always some fest to attend, and this weekend is no different. Seattle International Beer Fest comes to Seattle Center’s Fischer Pavilion and Lawn. Admission starts out at $25, which gets you 10 tickets, a glass, and a wristband that will get you free entry back into the event all weekend (but you need to bring your wristband and glass back with you). $40 gets you the same deal, but with 30 tickets instead of 10. The fest will run the 7th, 8th and 9th. So come down and swill some suds!

Save a salmon, eat a pig

The Hi-Life in Ballard encourages you to “save a salmon, eat a pig” at their annual Beer Alley & PorkFest this Friday and Saturday. Come out to the all-ages event featuring a rotisserie pig show, barbecue pork sandwiches, local draft beer and tee shirts available to buy. I might be able to smell this event happening from my front porch. I’m certainly going to be sniffing the air for it, that’s for sure.

PROOF: Washington Distillers Festival features over 40 distilleries from around Washington. You can sip and buy directly from your favorite local purveyors of gin, whiskey, vodka, bourbon and more. You’re very likely to discover something you didn’t even know you were even into. I’m not talking about cos-play or light bondage either. I’m talking about the Good Stuff. Spirits. This goes down Saturday the 8th from 5:30 pm-9 pm. Tickets start out at $45, check http://proofwashington.org/ for more ticketing options and for a full list of participating distilleries.

Mostly this weekend, make sure to tear one link per day off that green and blue construction paper chain you made last Spring to help you deal with the passing time until the preseason starts. That chain is getting smaller. So much smaller. We’re almost through this, 12’s, just a couple more months. Let’s make ‘em great!