The road to Philly Beer Geek 2011 runs through the Dock Street Brewing Co. Wednesday night with a qualifying round beginning at 7 p.m.

The purpose of the Philly Beer Geek competition is “to identify, exalt and honor Philadelphia beer and the people who craft, celebrate and consume it with enthusiasm and pride,” according to the competition website. To get through to the semifinals on May 24 and then the finals during Philly Beer Week on June 9, contestants must first get through a qualifying round like the one Wednesday at Dock Street.

Details about the qualifying rounds are intentionally vague. They could be a beer quizzo, a tasting, classic bar jokes etc. Spectators are welcome and admission is free.

The emcees of Wednesday’s festivities are Carolyn Smagalski, the Beer Fox, and Steve Hawk, the Human Growler, who won the 2010 competition.

What’s that you say? You’re wondering how you can see the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland, see three great bands AND help your local neighborhood food co-op all in one event? You’re in luck.

Mariposa Food Co-op is hosting a fundraising event Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m. that includes screening of Gasland, and performances by The Curious Shape of Hens, Dream Zoo and Adrienne Anemone. Admission is on a sliding scale from $5-$10. The event will be held at Mariposa’s new digs at 4824 Baltimore. Proceeds will go toward Mariposa’s expansion project.

This Thursday is a good night to get your science on in West Philly. Guion “Guy” Bluford, the first African American in space and a West Philly native, will speak at the University of the Sciences’ McNeil Science and Technology Center (43rd and Woodland) at 7 p.m.as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival.

Bluford participated in four space shuttle missions between 1983 and 1992. He graduated from Overbrook High School and received a B.S. in aerospace engineering from Penn State before completing graduate work at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

After the talk star gazers are welcome to grab a blanket and head out to Clark Park where amateur astronomers, telescopes in tow, will be on hand to help you folks navigate the cosmos.

The observatories at Drexel and Penn will also open their doors for this astronomical extravaganza. Drexel’s Joseph R. Lynch Observatory (3141 Chestnut St.) will open at 8 p.m. and Penn’s David Rittenhouse Laboratories Observatory (209 S. 33rd St.) open at 8:30 p.m.

Author Jacqueline Edelberg, who co-wrote the book How to Walk to School about efforts to revitalize a Chicago neighborhood elementary school, will headline an event May 5 designed to bring parents, educators and community members together to talk about neighborhood schools. The program is part of an ongoing effort to help improve neighborhood schools in West Philly. The community group West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools is sponsoring the event.

“How the Community Can Change a School” will run from 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lea Elementary School auditorium (47th and Locust). Other panelists will include:

• Stanford Thompson, director of Tune Up Philly
• Sterling Baltimore, director of the Lea Community School at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at Penn
• Maurice D. Jones, president of the Lea Home and School Association
• Daniel Lazar, the principal of the Grenefield Elementary School

Yesterday’s storm dumped a single-day record of 3.11 inches of rain on the Philadelphia area, breaking the previous record of 2.43 inches set in 1986, according to the Associated Press. Flooding and power outages were reported all over the region.

Perhaps the most visible remains of the storm in West Philly is the temporary pond in the Clark Park bowl. Yesterday’s rain led to the cancellation of youth soccer in the park and the leftover water might cause problems for the soccer league in the immediate future.

From Kathleen Turner of Friends of Clark Park:

Weather forecasts call for rain by mid-morning, so Youth Soccer has been canceled for today. Have a safe and happy weekend — see you next Saturday!