sol-stache.
that is not a misspelling. it's a combination of solstice and mustache. wtf do those things have to do with each other you ask? well, it's a pints-for-prostates fundraiser/party that is occurring on the winter solstice. ok, so where does the mustache come in you say. the icon for the event is nothing less than the great 'stache of a certain tom selleck! ahhhhhh....
tonight is the sol-stache party because, surprise, it's also the winter solstice. everyone in attendance will be wearing some form of upper lip hair, even the ladies - hopefully theirs are fake!
2010/12/21
2010/11/15
geekdom.
i should probably clarify that as beer geekdom... richmonds beer week ended on friday and i certainly donated large parts of my wallet and liver to the cause. a quick rundown of the events/brews i partook in:
legend brewery: lunch, tastings (brown, ipa cask, pale ale, porter), brewery tour, lots more brown...
cap alehouse (d'town): dfh india brown, st bernardus abt 12, art show benefiting ms society, ten-fidy, dinner, flying dog ba porter and single-simcoe casks
wine & beer westpark: ommegange beer theatre sampling hennepin, dubble, adoration, three philosophers and cup-o-kindess.
mekong: stillwater artisanal virginia launch party with tastings of saison darkly and existence black ipa in a dry-hopped cask. lots and lots of the existence...
williamsburg alewerks: brewery tour and stocked up on cafe royale for the cellar.
somewhere in there there was a stop at our fav bottle shop for a mix/match case of various bombers/750s and other assorted brews.
no, i am not an alcolholic. yet...
homebrewing.
i dabbled in it a few months ago with disastrous results. of course, i couldn't accurately know if the batch was ready to ferment as my girlfriend broke my hydrometer and i could barely get my stockpot up to a boil on my piece-of-shit cook-top and i was using a god knows how old ingredients kit. nah, it couldn't have been any of those things...
well, i'm about to begin again. i still need to replace that hydrometer and i need to purchase a few odds/ends but for the most part i am good to go. picked up a turkey fryer with a large 34 quart, 8.5 gallons to you and me, kettle with a built in spigot/valve this past weekend; that will solve my lack of heat from my cook-top issue and give me a much needed piece of equipment for when i, eventually, switch to all grain.
going through several recipes now as i will need to know that to determine what ingredients i will need. i'm thinking a nice brown ale... something session-able.
Labels: ber, homebrewing
2010/09/30
time.
so yeah, about that post at least once a week thing... lol
i knew i couldn't keep up the schedule. maybe i need fully charged batteries? (joke, joke). it's amazing how often i just completely forget i even have this page. i almost wish it was more of a i refuse to post thing...
can i make time? i'm told no.
Labels: fail
2010/06/29
memories.
well, that didn't last long (posting at least weekly...)
might as well recap the past couple of weeks: went to the local pub for the usa v england match - we drew - and got sick. the sickness started easing up a few days later for phish @ portsmouth. good show but no jams. :( group trip to mekong where we continually get served way too much food and some of the best beer in the world for ridiculously cheap prices, if we are charged at all. it was emilys birthday and ka brought out a bottle of a japanese ale, hitochino nest white owl... very good! i myself had a bottle of nostrodomus then split a bottle of chimay grande reserve with chad. a few days later jen and i attended a tasting at mekong of flying dogs gonzo imperial porter and the same brew aged for 3 months in a stranahan colorado whiskey oak barrel. while i appreciate porters, some of these bourbon barrel aged ones just arent my thing; tooooo boozy! jen loved them though! i had to grab some of the unibroue trois pistoles on tap just because. yummmmmm. a few days later i hit the local craft beer store, once upon a vine, to stock up on some brews for the upcoming phish @ merriweather weekend only to stumble into another tasting! i can't remember all 5 of the brews being tasted but the weyerbacher fourteen definitely stood out! grabbed a 4-pack and some other randoms - of course my 750 of gulden draak. top off the week with phish @ merriweather - great shows - and i'm up to date.
chad and i leave for more phish on thursday then jen and i head up to rhode island for a wedding this weekend. hopefully can score some russian river on the drive to the wedding and back...have to go by philly!
2010/06/09
belgian.
i've come to the realization over the past year or so that i am a beer snob/aficionado and have recently started collecting various bottles for my reserve. while not at the cost of a good wine/scotch, certain bottles can be relatively expensive due to the low amount produced or the lack of availability.
luckily i am able to have and enjoy a couple of brews that are top 20 material in the trappistes rochefort 10 (quadruple) and the st bernardus abt 12 (quadruple) along with my personal favorite - though not in anyones top 50 for whatever reason - van steenbreges gulden draak (dark triple).
Labels: quadruple
2010/06/03
sum sum summertime.
dc united is nearing the mid-season break with a run of 3 straight wins - hopefully 4 straight after saturday, phish tours starts in a week and the world cup kicks off in a week. what could be better?!
first things first, dc united. after a horrible start to the season that saw us not loose only 1 game in the first 8 of the league we have now won another. this win came between a win against ac milan in a friendly and a win against rsl in the us open cup. we face rsl again in the league this saturday... vamos united! with the mid-season break starting next weekend a succession of wins building up to it gives us confidence and a good head, mentally.
staying with the footie theme is the world cup. while i think the us can make it out of the group stage, i dont think we can get any farther. if we take second in the group we will likely face germany. i could care less if we beat england, though a win is always preferable to a draw/loss. a draw would be a healthy result for us regardless. the netherlands is my not-so-dark-horse to win the cup with rvp (robin van persie to the rest of you fools) the golden boot winner.
which brings us to phish tour. now, i am an atypical phish fan and i have probably made a mention to this in the past. in case i haven't... i look for things that seemingly most phish heads dont look for. it seems like everyone wants the big bust out, that ultra-rare song. me? i couldn't give a rats ass for the bustout. i am there for the playing, ie, da jammz! i dont ant to see a harpua or forbins> mockingbird as i'm paying $$ to see/hear trey rip the guitar, not blab his mouth. apparently most phish heads think i'm weird. screw em - let them waste their time chasing useless stories.
i'll see 5 shows this tour - er, tours. (the tour has been split into 2- june and august). the smallest show of the tours is right here in virginia! unfortunately, that doesnt always mean something great is in store as it could actually be a snoozer! i'll go in with the mindset that it will be snoozer so if it ends up being a barn burner i'll be very happy! merriweather can NOT be as bad as last summer, it just can't! raleigh could be interesting. i'm more confident that jones beach will be the better shows i see this tour if only because it is the tour closer and in the north-east, their home base. granted, i have seen some clunkers up north...
Labels: summertime
2010/05/26
deservement.
my computers dictionary tells me that isn't a word but i couldn't find any other word that accurately describes my thoughts. if you're a soccer fan in the us then you will understand, or at least know of what i am referring to, the speculation regarding the us mens national world cup team that will be announced in about an hour. yes, i am posting this in advance of the team selection announcement. deal.
i have never been a fan of "gooch", ie, onguchi onyewu. he is too hit/miss and that is not a good thing for the heart of defense. don't get me wrong, when he is on his game, he is great. last night was his first game since october 2009 when he ruptured his left patella tendon. the rust obviously showed and frankly if you weren't expecting that you have serious blinders on. what concerned me though is that he was favoring that leg and had a very noticeable hobble/limp going on. he couldn't jump. at all. so much so that he let a under 6-footer out jump him to score a goal and he's 6'4"!
bradley announces his team today and i fear he may pick gooch in the hopes that he will be fit in 2 weeks even though he is probably only at 60-70% fit at the moment, and that value may be flattering to him. do we risk wasting a spot on someone who may not be able to play or do we suck it up and pick a fit defender, even if they aren't as good as fully fit gooch, and not worry about it?
don't overthink this bradley. that was very big bag-o-ice placed onto goochs knee last night after you subbed him off...
Labels: usmnt
2010/05/24
fin.
l o s t ended it's 6 year run last night. i was a little iffy when watching it live but after sleeping on it and rethinking i am fine with the finale. apparently there are many who aren't and i wonder if some them even watched the show after reading some of their questions regarding it...
Labels: lost
2010/05/20
doggies.
i want to take a quick momento to think of my shadow. he's half great dane and half black lab. he's bigger than your average dog at 85 lbs but he's not even close to the size of a full blooded great dane. he's the most gentle and loving dog i have ever known though he can be a bit of a spaz, but then again, how many dogs aren't?
shadow is not an outdoors dog. he couldn't be arsed to go outside other than to go to the bathroom when needed...unless it's raining outside in which case he would rather hold it. the longest i have seen him hold it is about 13 hours but that was my fault. poor guy.
in the five years i have owned him he has still not let me cut his nails...
Labels: shadow
catchup.
a week from hell is slowly lightening... time to get back into the daily routine missed the past few days. it's nice to decrease the growing piles on the desk to something a bit more manageable though only a fool wouldn't recognize that the piles will increase of their own volition in the future.
are you a "ketchup" or "catsup" person? catsup makes me think of cats and their plans for world domination. guess that's why i'm a dog guy...
Labels: ketchup
2010/05/17
sourpuss.
i'm kind of curious as to the origins of the word but i can't be arsed to check its etymology. sour and puss...it can't be good!
my girlfriend was a sourpuss saturday due to drinking way tooooo much. actually, it's not that she drank but rather that she didn't say no to any of the drinks passed her way. i'm not talking about the random beer or even shots but the mystery tequila jello shooters or the even more mysterious daiquiri or the frighteningly more mysterious "pool water". add those to a few beers and double shots of soco and you have the recipe for disaster. she had to skip the game and lie down in the car with her head out the window puking her guts out. ha.
i became a sourpuss of a different nature on saturday as well but only because we lost again. by lost again i mean we didnt score...again. that and the hangover on sunday due to saturday nights festivities.
i'm even more a sourpuss at the moment due to when i walked into my office this morning my ac unit had frozen over and was dripping onto the rug. my office is warm enough as is due to it being the server room but now i have to have the heat running to finish thawing the ice on the ac so it is even more warm...
even my boss asked why so sour this morning.
Labels: sourpuss
2010/05/14
management.
why does everyone want to schedule time and resource intensive projects to occur at the same time? i'm not vishnu!
don't get me wrong, i have no complaints about being kept busy. hell, i'd rather be busy than bored and falling asleep at my desk but at some point a line has to be drawn when other projects, like my normal daily operations, start to suffer.
Labels: vishnu
2010/05/13
agitation.
why can't some people follow the simplest of directions? what part of "you need to come in so i can reload your laptop - it will take 20 minutes" is so hard to understand? this one user is so bright we've been nicknaming her spoon, ladle, fry basket, etc for the last 3 years and she knows it!
sad, huh?
Labels: dumbfucks
2010/05/12
trimal.
the confluence of tribal and primal; i would have also accepted pribal. it is rare for me to exhort anyone to see certain bands as everyone has different tastes. we all know too well how 2 friends can have vastly different viewpoints when it comes to music. it's almost as bad as politics and religion. almost...
caribou is the exception.
caribou is dan snaith, phd. his doctorate is in mathematics and his thesis was on "overconvergent siegel modular symbols." say that 10 times fast backwards while bopping to a crunching rhythm! i often envision him standing in front of a whiteboard filled with non-nonsensical, to me and you, maths equations explaining the secrets of the universe when he suddenly has eureka moments and reaches for the drum machine and samplers sitting on his desk to lay down a moment of brilliance to return to later in his studio. what, you don't? /sigh
pribal. at one point last night 3 of the 4 members of the live caribou band were all on various forms of drums and percussion, loosing this pounding and even awe-inspiring pulsation throughout the crowd. add to this tape loops/samples and synth washes and you had a formula that would make any baptist think hell had taken over the world and we were all in a evil orgy of satan worship! oh yes, satan worship - the good kind though. not the bad kind.
medium sized working dog should be the theme of the world.
everyone should have a medium sized working dog.
2010/05/11
ber.
yes, ber. not beer...ber. that is the correct pronunciation, in my minds throat of all that is great and tasty from the brewers of belgian ale. no, i didn't forget about lager and port and stout, etc. i am a ale man - whether that be trappiste, pale, brown, ipa, double, tripple or quad. ale.
two weeks ago i was rudely informed of a place on the other side of town that is known to be thee place any self respecting afficionado of belgian brew should know about. by rudely i mean gracisouly. -thanks scott. how i was not informed of this place in its previous 15 years of existence is beyond me and is something i shall bear as long as my taste buds live. this place is mekong and is the brainchild of one an something or nother...i dare not try to disrespect his name by attempting to type it. all i know is that it is vietnamese. mekong is about vietnamese food and belgian brew. maybe in reverse order...
"enter the draak" means beware the power of the draaaken. that's what the multiple glasses of gulden draak told me anyways. the naked draak told me something different but i ignored him as he was naked and the last thing one wants is for a naked draak to be telling him something!
now i begin my quest on finding more gulden draaks to fill my dome with. hell, maybe there is something out there even better than a gulden draak? nah...i don't think there is a platinum draak :(
Labels: ber
teabagged.
it seems like a bunch of geriatrics from maine decided to throw logic, and common sense, out the window. i wonder how many know and understand the austrian school of economics they rammed down the official maine republican parties throat? why would blue hairs need a functional dept of education anyways?! i wonder how many of these "healthcare is not a right" 'ers are in actuality welfare recipients?
i would really like to see some of the debates and public speeches from their candidates in the upcoming elections if only for the lol factor.
http://www.mainepolitics.net
Labels: stupidity
2010/05/10
relapse.
crap... oh yeah, i know promises are made to be broken and all but this time i swear, really and trully this time - yes, the misspelling was intentional! - that my posts will be a little more often than once a season if that.
i figure if i aim for once a week minimum i might actually make it once a month.
that's an upgrade, yes? a little is more than zero...
Labels: absentmindedness
spring.
the 2009/2010 english premier league season has now come to an end. we - arsenal - finished 3rd and get the automatic group stage entry for next seasons champions league; better than last season. this normally means i would be unable to get my footie fix for the next 3 months but this is a world cup year so i do get a months reprieve. no disrespect to mls and my dc united but you just aren't the same - my wallet disagrees though.
with spring comes renewal and allergies, though maybe it's the other way around... damn allergies. i feel i am more susceptible to the evilness of allergies and pollen and the other assorted ailments of springtime due to my decision to have stopped smoking the previous year. while my lungs, wallet and sense of smell have thanked me thousands of times over my insides do feel more violated at times since.
as they say, with the good comes the bad. fuckers.
to me, spring and music are synonymous. the festival season, whatever your genre du jour, starts up this time of year - ok, a few weeks back to more precise - and everyone makes plans to cram into a few acres with thousands of people you would otherwise prefer that you didnt... unless you're a broke ass muthafucka like me and you have to live virtually through the use of music blogs and youtube vids of generally horrible quality. hipsters in new york couldnt even make a halfway decent cell phone vid of jeff mangums set from the chris knoxx benefit last week!
*note* while on the subject of jeff mangum, am i the only one who could really do without hearing the song "in the aeroplane over the sea" again? again? again? it was nice to hear the "oh, comely", don't get me wrong. yes, i know this was only like his 2nd gig in the last 10 years or something to that effect.
at least i have caribou to ease my sense of musical joie de vivre tomorrow!