Did you know if you find all nine Buddhas in the dining room at the swanky V Fine Thai Dining you get a free drink on the house? I love little gimmicks like that, and my hat's off to owner Vila Jarrell for keeping it fun.

Jarrell has been busy down at the restaurant, adding all sorts of imported beers and high-end vodkas infused with tropical fruits to the drink menus, holding wine-tastings and, in general, putting all the finishing touches on the restaurant.

I haven't made it down there yet, but various people have said the place's sculpture garden and décor are absolutely incredible. They've also said the food and wine selection are out of sight.

I'm making my maiden voyage down to the eatery next week. Details to follow.

I guess this new Budweiser can is supposed to play up the iconic Budweiser "bowtie." I have consumed many metric tons of Budweiser, and never even noticed there was a Budweiser bowtie. Real iconic.

• I love this woman like a mother. Happy birthday Peggy!!!

This is a good time for me to propose my theory of “bar-as-family.” While many people call the Buffet a dive bar with a hint of a snicker — heck, the bar’s website celebrates the designation - it serves as much more to some. One could nearly call the relationships forged there "familial," although there's a lot more beer and a better juke box than any family gathering I've been to.

When a good friend I met at the Buffet died a couple years back, his mother sent some of his ashes to Miss Peggy. It’s been a meeting place and hangout for everyone from business professionals to bikers for more than 70 years. Some people go to church for community, others go to the Buffet and some go to both. To each their own.

Anyway, stop in tomorrow and say happy birthday to Ted and Peggy, and you’ll get to see what I’m talking about. The party runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Oh, and if you haven’t gotten Peggy a gift yet, she likes earrings. That is all.

They're doing great things up north at Girls Gone Wild University and Casino:

In some respects, Will Corbin's laboratory is the same as many others at Arizona State University.

Lots of glass bottles on the shelves. A stainless-steel sink. Carefully calibrated lighting.

The similarities stop there, however.

In Corbin's lab, a long bar stretches across the low-lit room. A Beefeater gin sign hangs on a wall. The bottles behind the bar have whiskey, vodka and tequila labels.

The lab's guinea pigs, mostly students, are urged to get drunk.

[AZCentral]

• One of each, please.

There was live music by Vox Urbana, alcoholic and non-alcoholic popsicles in ingenious flavors by the Monsoon Kitchen, people dancing with their dogs, artwork, other things. Linda Ray, the Tucson Weekly listings coordinator, was even there with her handsome dog Gozo. A good time was had by all.

How I made it this far in life without appreciating the magic of cocktails made into popsicles I do not know, but it makes me wonder what the Dinnerware crew will come up with next.

Which is actually the best part. Last night's event was one of the first of many to be held at Dinnerware Artspace, and Aguirre has promised to keep the fun flowing. Imagine how great it'll be when Borderlands Brewing Company opens next door, which is expected to happen sometime in September.

So, thanks Dinnerware Artspace for a fantastic time, and we'll be seeing you again real soon.

• Mango-chile popsicles baby!

The above picture is a still from Barspace.tv - specifically, an image of what was happening at the Queen City Grill in Seattle when I happened to visit the site a few minutes ago. Barspace is a new website that features live feeds from bars in a few states, although not Arizona at the moment. Barspace pays for the cameras, the bar sets the hour the camera is on, and then theoretically, someone can see whether there are people at their favorite drinking establishment. You can see what you're in for at a new place before heading out of the house, or whether the bartender you've been trying to get the number for is working.

That doesn't seem all that bad or sinister, but do we really need to be streamed online while we're trying to relax? Are the minimal benefits that Barspace offers worth another camera following us wherever we go? Sure, quite a few bars have some sort of security or surveillance system, but those cameras aren't streaming online for anyone to see. According to an article in the East Bay Express, the ACLU is calling foul on these cameras on a privacy level, and I can't say I blame them, especially since the bars that have the cameras aren't obligated to let anyone know they're being filmed or broadcast on the internet.

There are few places left where we can kick back and be stupid for a little while. Why take that away? Just say no to Barspace, Tucson.

The Rhino Pub, a bar and restaurant at 1118 E. Sixth St., has closed.

The building has changed hands a number of times in recent years, housing Victory Bar, Belushe's and Gooch's Grill before returning as the Rhino Pub—the same name it operated as starting back in the late-'80s—last fall.

The building has been repainted, and I hear another sports bar might make a go of it there. A liquor license application has been filed, but the contact phone number on the application has been disconnected, so I have no idea what's next for the location.

As a side note, have you ever heard that the building in question is rumored to be haunted? Weird.

Animated GIFs, already a wacky, low-tech way to capture a moment, are starting to be used in more interesting ways. Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg, who have done interesting things with the format already, were hired by hipster extreme brewers Dogfish Head to create moving images of the brewing process of Tweason'ale, a honey and strawberry gluten-free creation that sounds wildly disgusting. The images are cool, though.

Science at work! It's possible that you're not losing brain cells when you drink yourself into oblivion, just erasing your memory of the drinking itself, which might mean someone should start apologizing to the makers of Four Loko:

Now, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, neuroscientists have identified the brain cells involved in blackouts and the molecular mechanism that appears to underlie them. They report July 6, 2011, in The Journal of Neuroscience, that exposure to large amounts of alcohol does not necessarily kill brain cells as once was thought. Rather, alcohol interferes with key receptors in the brain, which in turn manufacture steroids that inhibit long-term potentiation (LTP), a process that strengthens the connections between neurons and is crucial to learning and memory.

Alcohol: I knew the horrible things they were saying about you weren't true. I won't listen the next time the unkind words come up.

[The Awl]