Read announced plans to branch out from his five-year old cider business based in Westlake to open a cider house in Lakewood. His initial goal was to open Last Voyage Cider Houses on Thursday, April 23 - St. George's Day in his native England. Read, who is now looking at opening the end of May, said Platform's cider-house venture is a good thing for the market.

"I think it's great because it brings more attention to real cider," he said. "I hope they do it well. ... I think more than not most people are going to say 'Oh, there's a cider house here and there, that legitimates it.' I think it's great."

Read said he is working on producing Spanish ciders and will include Black Box Brewing ales atEverest

1. Although Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, its summit is not the farthest point from the center of the Earth. The farthest point is on Mount Chimborazo in South America.

2. Mount Everest has two heights: a) 8,848 meters (with snow cover). This is the official height recognized by China and Nepal; b) 8,844.43 meters (geological height). This height was measured by China and is also recognized by Nepal as the rock height of Everest.

3. In 2008, the Beijing Olympic torch arrived on Mount Everest at 9:17am on May 8th, marking the first time in human history that the Olympic torch had been carried to the world's highest peak and the highest place to hand on the torch in Olympic history.

4. May to October is