Wednesday, June 27, 2018
First Grizzly Bear Sighting
We saw almost no wildlife apart from a few mule deer during the four days we spent on the west side of the park, but since we shifted over to the east side of the park, we have seen two moose, five bears, and three mountain goats. I took these pictures from the car as we were driving toward the Siyeh Pass trailhead on Going-to-the-Sun Road this morning. This is the fifth bear we’ve seen, but the first grizzly.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Spot the Jackson Hiding in These Pictures
Scenes from our first day in Glacier National Park.
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| Frolicking near the edge of Lake McDonald, just off of Going-to-the-Sun Road. |
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| Conquering any large rock that stands in his way, on the Avalanche Lake trail. |
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| Daring Avalanche Lake to sink him, at the end of the Avalanche Lake trail. |
Tuesday, June 05, 2018
Jackson's 11th Birthday
I can't think of anything clever for eleven years old.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2018
At the Zoo
Jackson and Amy were home early today because they had a school visit to a different school that Jackson might go to next year, and so we had some unexpected family time this afternoon on my day off. We headed for the zoo, where we had thought about going on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was packed for Mother's Day. Their parking lot, which is just slightly smaller than Rhode Island, was pretty much full to the brim. Today...not so much. But the animals were surprisingly active, possibly because it was warm, but maybe more likely because there weren't a gajillion kids pestering them. Jackson got face to face with one of the tigers, and I actually had time to get a couple of good shots.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Deep Thoughts #162
It’s so much easier to speak your piece with 280 characters than it is with 140 characters. I enjoy the challenge, so I’m sticking with 140.
Tuesday, May 08, 2018
Deep Thoughts #161
Voting against Todd Rokita, as often as possible, is good common sense. We all know that. But I still felt dirty taking a Republican ballot.
Monday, May 07, 2018
Deep Thoughts #160
Today I saw a “Be a Nurse” license plate customized to read FLATLN, and I wondered if nurse was the right calling for that person to pursue.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
14. Central State - Halsdurchschlag
“When we first met Chef Seth Elgar it was over a plate of fresh oysters, so it seemed fitting that the beer we brewed with him be made to pair with fresh seafood. Tart and refreshing, this Berliner Weiss is complimented perfectly by the addition of fresh Meyer Lemons for a clean and piney finish.”
More funky Brettanomyces action from Central State, though this one is just a tad too tart to be refreshing. The flavor is lovely, and the funky yeast once again pairs well; but it’s not quite the transporting experience of a Black Acre Cherry Ol’ Fritz or an Urban Artifact Finn.
More funky Brettanomyces action from Central State, though this one is just a tad too tart to be refreshing. The flavor is lovely, and the funky yeast once again pairs well; but it’s not quite the transporting experience of a Black Acre Cherry Ol’ Fritz or an Urban Artifact Finn.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
The Ignorant Internet Lynch Mob is Wrong About Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
I’ve read so many articles incorrectly hating on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri that I can’t take it anymore. The mob of screaming internet lemmings has wildly overreacted to the film’s treatment of racism—and missed the point entirely. They argue that the film encourages the viewer to read the character of Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) as sympathetic, despite the fact that he is a violent racist whose single attempt at an act of redemption results in failure; they argue that it is easier to read the character this way because we never see the torture Dixon is said to have committed against a black person; and they use Twitter (and bad writing, which almost goes without saying with such Twits) as a way to attempt to make an argument about the film’s lack of nuance, which is laughable.
(Thoroughly detailing the comprehensive incorrectness of these unobservant morts will require the discussion of a number of pivotal plot points in the film, so if you haven’t seen it and you don’t want to know what happens, now is probably the time to pull the cord so the driver can stop the bus for you to disembark.)
Since it is not possible to watch this film and miss how controlled and nuanced the ending is, especially when contrasted against the reckless abandon with which the balance of the story is hurled at the viewer, I can but deduce that the internet lynch mob is either intentionally missing the point so they can go on a self-righteous bender, or they got so pissed at Dixon early in the film that they went temporarily insane and lost the ability to comprehend the rest of the story. Part of me wants to give them the benefit of the doubt, because Jason Dixon is a repugnant character, so much so that he makes most of the first half of the film downright uncomfortable; but the truth is that they just wanted to follow the internet lynch mob, because it’s easy to see your self-righteous position on racism validated in a post-Trump world that vilifies straight cis white men as a matter of course. If Dixon was the only main character in the film, and he had been awarded some sort of medal at the end, this point of view might approach the cusp of validity.
Neither of those things is true, of course. The real main character is Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), and she’s a piece of work in her own right. She kicks two children in the crotch, which probably qualifies as child abuse elsewhere, but maybe not in rural mountain towns. She turns a dentist’s drill on him in a manner in which it was never intended. The people who are wrong about this film point to that in particular, when they can be bothered to criticize Mildred at all, as evidence of the film’s reliance on violence and lack of nuance to move things along. What they fail to mention is that Mildred is acting in self-defense because the dentist has threatened her with physical harm for putting up the billboards and publicly shaming the proud hamlet’s terminally ill police chief. She lobs Molotov cocktails at a building that, besides being the police station (headquarters of the officers who have not made an arrest in the cold case of her daughter’s rape and murder), is—oops—not as vacant as she thought it was.
These are the two main characters, and we can’t really get behind liking either one of them. And then on top of all that, the one character who is nothing but sympathetic, Woody Harrelson’s Chief Willoughby—the one with the terminal cancer—goes and kills himself. But before doing so, he pays for another month’s rent on the billboards, so the cosmopolitan townsfolk will be sure to go on hating Mildred for picking on a dead police officer; and he posts letters to Mildred Hayes and Jason Dixon. The contents of those letters softens these characters a little bit. Do the letters cast out evil and change Mildred and Jason, overnight, into better people, smiling and singing and riding unicorns in fields of green grass blowing gently in the summer breeze? Not quite; but they might now be somewhat less inclined to commit arson or defenstration. Watch them as they move toward the end of the film, and see what you think. (But don’t look behind you, because that might be nuance sneaking up on you.)
Some of the ranting internet lynch mob seem particularly exercised over the idea that Jason Dixon achieves redemption by film’s end. He endures a beating in a bar because he overhears his attacker bragging about a crime similar to the one committed against Mildred’s daughter. Dixon scratches the other man’s face and saves the tissue he gets under his fingernails so it can be sent to a lab, but it doesn’t match. Dixon achieves nothing, they would have you believe—and so cannot possibly be redeemed. This is poor logic that dismisses subsequent events, but the kinds of people who join internet lynch mobs won’t understand that, because they lack the ability to think for themselves. They have to jump on bandwagons and be told what to think. (If we lived in a country filled more so than not with people who could think for themselves, Fox News would not be the top-rated cable news channel.) Dixon is not redeemed, but he is changed. Note the way he speaks to Mildred when he is forced to break the news that they did not catch her daughter’s killer after all. Note too the way that Mildred takes the news. Is this the same woman who firebombed the police station?
Those who say that Dixon has failed because he did not catch the rapist-murderer miss the nuance. Maybe they have watched too many Marvel movies with too many big explosions, and would be oblivious to character development even if it fell out of the sky, landed on their lynch mob ignorant face, and started to wiggle (h/t to the late, great John Hughes.) In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Hayes and Jason Dixon are damaged people so paralyzed by rage that they cannot see beyond themselves. By the end of the film, that tunnel vision has improved, though to what extent is unclear. That’s the thing about nuance: stories are not always wrapped up neatly with a bow. Sometimes they’re open-ended, and thought-provoking, and challenging. Sometimes they ask something of their audience.
The film is not about race, or gender, or rape and murder, or billboards, or even about the mountain-town hillbillies used (sometimes clumsily) to illustrate these ideas. It’s about acknowledging the darkness within, and trying to be better than that darkness. It’s about falling down (or being knocked down), and then getting up and pressing on. Mostly, it’s about healing. It asks you to look at a lot of bad people—even Mildred, damaged though she may be, is bad (remember kids, arson is bad, even if you have been wronged)—and give them a chance to do better than they have done up to now.
The ignorant internet lynch mob is wrong about this film, in every single way. They have said nothing right. They may have raped it of the Oscar for Best Picture that it should have won. They don’t care. They don’t care about being right, which they could have never have been in this argument, making the flimsy points they were trying to make, as long as they can be loud and make other mental defectives listen to them and fall into lockstep behind them. This is a difficult film that makes unpleasant points about America and Americans, so many of whom are stupid and afraid, and who refuse to countenance anyone saying anything negative about their country—especially a foreigner. This film is especially for people who need to be challenged, but most of those people are blissfully ignorant of how much they need such an intellectual exercise. Imagine that: Americans being completely unaware of that which they just might need the most. People who aren’t Americans—such as this film’s English-Irish writer-director, Martin McDonagh—might just understand Americans a little bit better than they understand themselves.
And that’s the damnable misery of it.
(Thoroughly detailing the comprehensive incorrectness of these unobservant morts will require the discussion of a number of pivotal plot points in the film, so if you haven’t seen it and you don’t want to know what happens, now is probably the time to pull the cord so the driver can stop the bus for you to disembark.)
Since it is not possible to watch this film and miss how controlled and nuanced the ending is, especially when contrasted against the reckless abandon with which the balance of the story is hurled at the viewer, I can but deduce that the internet lynch mob is either intentionally missing the point so they can go on a self-righteous bender, or they got so pissed at Dixon early in the film that they went temporarily insane and lost the ability to comprehend the rest of the story. Part of me wants to give them the benefit of the doubt, because Jason Dixon is a repugnant character, so much so that he makes most of the first half of the film downright uncomfortable; but the truth is that they just wanted to follow the internet lynch mob, because it’s easy to see your self-righteous position on racism validated in a post-Trump world that vilifies straight cis white men as a matter of course. If Dixon was the only main character in the film, and he had been awarded some sort of medal at the end, this point of view might approach the cusp of validity.
Neither of those things is true, of course. The real main character is Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), and she’s a piece of work in her own right. She kicks two children in the crotch, which probably qualifies as child abuse elsewhere, but maybe not in rural mountain towns. She turns a dentist’s drill on him in a manner in which it was never intended. The people who are wrong about this film point to that in particular, when they can be bothered to criticize Mildred at all, as evidence of the film’s reliance on violence and lack of nuance to move things along. What they fail to mention is that Mildred is acting in self-defense because the dentist has threatened her with physical harm for putting up the billboards and publicly shaming the proud hamlet’s terminally ill police chief. She lobs Molotov cocktails at a building that, besides being the police station (headquarters of the officers who have not made an arrest in the cold case of her daughter’s rape and murder), is—oops—not as vacant as she thought it was.
These are the two main characters, and we can’t really get behind liking either one of them. And then on top of all that, the one character who is nothing but sympathetic, Woody Harrelson’s Chief Willoughby—the one with the terminal cancer—goes and kills himself. But before doing so, he pays for another month’s rent on the billboards, so the cosmopolitan townsfolk will be sure to go on hating Mildred for picking on a dead police officer; and he posts letters to Mildred Hayes and Jason Dixon. The contents of those letters softens these characters a little bit. Do the letters cast out evil and change Mildred and Jason, overnight, into better people, smiling and singing and riding unicorns in fields of green grass blowing gently in the summer breeze? Not quite; but they might now be somewhat less inclined to commit arson or defenstration. Watch them as they move toward the end of the film, and see what you think. (But don’t look behind you, because that might be nuance sneaking up on you.)
Some of the ranting internet lynch mob seem particularly exercised over the idea that Jason Dixon achieves redemption by film’s end. He endures a beating in a bar because he overhears his attacker bragging about a crime similar to the one committed against Mildred’s daughter. Dixon scratches the other man’s face and saves the tissue he gets under his fingernails so it can be sent to a lab, but it doesn’t match. Dixon achieves nothing, they would have you believe—and so cannot possibly be redeemed. This is poor logic that dismisses subsequent events, but the kinds of people who join internet lynch mobs won’t understand that, because they lack the ability to think for themselves. They have to jump on bandwagons and be told what to think. (If we lived in a country filled more so than not with people who could think for themselves, Fox News would not be the top-rated cable news channel.) Dixon is not redeemed, but he is changed. Note the way he speaks to Mildred when he is forced to break the news that they did not catch her daughter’s killer after all. Note too the way that Mildred takes the news. Is this the same woman who firebombed the police station?
Those who say that Dixon has failed because he did not catch the rapist-murderer miss the nuance. Maybe they have watched too many Marvel movies with too many big explosions, and would be oblivious to character development even if it fell out of the sky, landed on their lynch mob ignorant face, and started to wiggle (h/t to the late, great John Hughes.) In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Hayes and Jason Dixon are damaged people so paralyzed by rage that they cannot see beyond themselves. By the end of the film, that tunnel vision has improved, though to what extent is unclear. That’s the thing about nuance: stories are not always wrapped up neatly with a bow. Sometimes they’re open-ended, and thought-provoking, and challenging. Sometimes they ask something of their audience.
The film is not about race, or gender, or rape and murder, or billboards, or even about the mountain-town hillbillies used (sometimes clumsily) to illustrate these ideas. It’s about acknowledging the darkness within, and trying to be better than that darkness. It’s about falling down (or being knocked down), and then getting up and pressing on. Mostly, it’s about healing. It asks you to look at a lot of bad people—even Mildred, damaged though she may be, is bad (remember kids, arson is bad, even if you have been wronged)—and give them a chance to do better than they have done up to now.
The ignorant internet lynch mob is wrong about this film, in every single way. They have said nothing right. They may have raped it of the Oscar for Best Picture that it should have won. They don’t care. They don’t care about being right, which they could have never have been in this argument, making the flimsy points they were trying to make, as long as they can be loud and make other mental defectives listen to them and fall into lockstep behind them. This is a difficult film that makes unpleasant points about America and Americans, so many of whom are stupid and afraid, and who refuse to countenance anyone saying anything negative about their country—especially a foreigner. This film is especially for people who need to be challenged, but most of those people are blissfully ignorant of how much they need such an intellectual exercise. Imagine that: Americans being completely unaware of that which they just might need the most. People who aren’t Americans—such as this film’s English-Irish writer-director, Martin McDonagh—might just understand Americans a little bit better than they understand themselves.
And that’s the damnable misery of it.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
13. Central State/Emporium Arcade Bar - Polyjuice Potion
“This collaborative ale is for wizards and muggles who solemnly swear they are up to no good. A sour brew concocted with plums, elderberries, and magical bits and bobbles.”
I’m always a sucker for a good sour, and I like the way the slightly funky Brettanomyces yeast balances the sour flavors and the high alcohol (7%). I don’t know exactly what the “magical bits and bobbles” are, but two of them plopped into the glass when I poured the last of the can. Pretty much everything Central State is doing right now is worthy of attention.
I’m always a sucker for a good sour, and I like the way the slightly funky Brettanomyces yeast balances the sour flavors and the high alcohol (7%). I don’t know exactly what the “magical bits and bobbles” are, but two of them plopped into the glass when I poured the last of the can. Pretty much everything Central State is doing right now is worthy of attention.
Sunday, March 04, 2018
Deep Thoughts #159
Dear Mike Delph: Stop trying to impress Steve Bannon by fellating your own phallus. Lose the selfish amendment to the light rail ban repeal.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Deep Thoughts #158
The NRA should be disbanded. Wayne LaPierre is a liar and a fearmonger. Of course, it helps that his constituents are inbred fucking idiots.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Deep Thoughts #157
There is no valid reason it should pain me to include Joseph-Beth in my emporia, just because they exist in Lexington, Kenucky; but it does.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Deep Thoughts #156
This monkey is so ignorant that she is sure to be appointed to a senior Republican leadership position before the end of the weekend. Right?
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Deep Thoughts #155
Fake President Donald Trump signing that bill and holding it up for the cameras is like Harvey Weinstein asking you to watch him masturbate.
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Deep Thoughts #154
It would be nice if the hillbillies stealing my yard signs would bring them all back. I’ll buy you tickets to the next Jason Aldean concert!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
12. Horny Goat - Hopped Up and Horny
“We crafted this unique and refresing IPA using four different varieties of hops to impart citrus zest, pine notes and a refreshing floral aroma. We then dry hop the beer after the boil to complement the subtle malt backbone creating a complex and balanced beer that isn’t overly bitter like most IPAs on the market today.”
Also, I get a vague hit of Dark Eyes cherry-flavored vodka on the nose—and that just screams college. The malt backbone isn’t especially subtle, but it isn’t overwhelming, either. Hopped up just enough to keep that malt from being too bitter—but not nearly as accomplished as they would have you believe in the blurb on the side of the can.
Also, I get a vague hit of Dark Eyes cherry-flavored vodka on the nose—and that just screams college. The malt backbone isn’t especially subtle, but it isn’t overwhelming, either. Hopped up just enough to keep that malt from being too bitter—but not nearly as accomplished as they would have you believe in the blurb on the side of the can.
11. Flat 12 - Hello, My Name is Amber
“Hoppier than its English cousins, this American amber ale’s matiness rolls across the palate and locks fingers with the spicy hop finish. Centennial hopped to the top end of the style, it maintains its composed American character throughout.”
I got a six-pack of this in 12-ounce cans, but didn’t pour any of them out into a mug until the last one; and that’s unfortunate, because this one is vastly more approachable when it has had a chance to breathe. It’s still pretty bitter, because of the heavy malt profile and the Centennial hops, but not quite as squirm-inducing as when experienced straight out of the can.
I got a six-pack of this in 12-ounce cans, but didn’t pour any of them out into a mug until the last one; and that’s unfortunate, because this one is vastly more approachable when it has had a chance to breathe. It’s still pretty bitter, because of the heavy malt profile and the Centennial hops, but not quite as squirm-inducing as when experienced straight out of the can.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Deep Thoughts #153
Shut up, Donald. Shut your uninformed pie hole. You are a white supremacist. You are a Nazi. Most of all, you are a bad American. Apologize!
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Deep Thoughts #152c
And people are still appeasing this jackass. People are still being duped by Fox “News”. The terrorists won on 9/11. They are still winning.
Deep Thoughts #152b
He lies more than actual politicians, yet has the gall to call out ESPN for an “untruth” that is truer than most of his own verbal diarrhea.
Deep Thoughts #152a
Fake President Donald Trump stole the election from Hillary Clinton largely because uneducated assembly-line workers believed his many lies.
Tuesday, September 05, 2017
Deep Thoughts #151
Maybe the only way men in Boston can get erections these days is by watching their “sports” teams cheat their way to “victory” all the time.
Deep Thoughts #150b
Texting is missing from contemporary fiction because texting makes people ridiculous, and you can’t have sympathy for ridiculous characters.
Deep Thoughts #150a
With the exception of a few terrible novels like Gone Girl and Fifty Shades of Grey, characters must be sympathetic to at least some degree.
Sunday, September 03, 2017
10. Sun King - Dragon's Delight Belgian Style Golden Ale
“Dragon’s Delight is a legendary Belgian-style ale formed over the flames of the golden dragon, with grain raided from the Drundag Ridge, and hops foraged from the Askrean Plains. Hoard this glorious golden ale while this dragon sleeps.”
This is the beer that Sun King brewed especially for the 2017 edition of Gen Con, and it’s all right. I guess. It’s bready and almost sweet, which is maybe supposed to disguise its high alcohol content—but it’s not my thing. Browsing the interwebs tells me the alcohol is 7.3%, but that’s either wrong, or my system metabolizes this brew in such a way that I don’t feel it. Not even a little. Maybe if I drank more than one at a time, but I didn’t like it enough to drink more than one—and it’s a limited edition, so I guess we’ll never know.
This is the beer that Sun King brewed especially for the 2017 edition of Gen Con, and it’s all right. I guess. It’s bready and almost sweet, which is maybe supposed to disguise its high alcohol content—but it’s not my thing. Browsing the interwebs tells me the alcohol is 7.3%, but that’s either wrong, or my system metabolizes this brew in such a way that I don’t feel it. Not even a little. Maybe if I drank more than one at a time, but I didn’t like it enough to drink more than one—and it’s a limited edition, so I guess we’ll never know.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Deep Thoughts #149d
They can forestall embarrassment next time by voting less like uninformed retards and more like humanoids who stop to think before they act.
Deep Thoughts #149c
They own this racist old white man. The world would be a better place if they had not voted. Hopefully they all use effective birth control.
Deep Thoughts #149b
To paraphrase George Carlin, “Fuck [them] in the asshole with a big rubber dick. And then break it off and beat [them] with the rest of it.”
Deep Thoughts #149a
The people of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are embarrassed? Their aggregate 77,744-vote margin gave us a fake President. Fuck them.
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
8. Daredevil Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Lift Off
“A bounty of American hops deliver the signature clean and crisp finish of a perfectly balanced West Coast style IPA.”
Aggressively hopped and punchy, like a spicy grapefruit wearing boxing gloves. I’m beginning to realize that it’s probably not a good idea to day drink this one if you still have things to do later. Sixteen ounces at 7.2%…yeah, you do the math. This is an aggressive and lovely West Coast IPA that would go toe to toe with Sun King’s Osiris. On the other hand, it’s exactly what it is, and nothing more. The finish is a little too bitter for my taste, and that bitterness tends to linger; but the citrus and spice up front are pretty good. A very good beer, but one at a time is probably enough. (Which for me is, indeed, damning with faint praise.)
Aggressively hopped and punchy, like a spicy grapefruit wearing boxing gloves. I’m beginning to realize that it’s probably not a good idea to day drink this one if you still have things to do later. Sixteen ounces at 7.2%…yeah, you do the math. This is an aggressive and lovely West Coast IPA that would go toe to toe with Sun King’s Osiris. On the other hand, it’s exactly what it is, and nothing more. The finish is a little too bitter for my taste, and that bitterness tends to linger; but the citrus and spice up front are pretty good. A very good beer, but one at a time is probably enough. (Which for me is, indeed, damning with faint praise.)
Fifth Grade
Much more timely than last year, here is the fifth grade gallery. It's finally starting to look like we actually feed him. (Which we do. Seriously, nearly every day. Please don't report us.)
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| 2012 - Kindergarten |
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| 2013 - First Grade |
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| 2014 - Second Grade |
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| 2015 - Third Grade |
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| 2016 - Fourth Grade |
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| 2017 - Fifth Grade |
Sunday, July 23, 2017
7. Daredevil Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN) - Slipstream Pale Ale
“An exotic blend of hops provide a blast of flavor and break away aromas in a golden ale built for maximum momentum.”
Nice balance and strong hops, but more refreshing than aggressive. Feels to me like it might be a bit heavier than the 5.5% they advertise on the can. Approachable and uncomplicated, this is another one that would be good to talk about, if perhaps not quite as much as the One Night in Bangkok at Cannon Ball.
Nice balance and strong hops, but more refreshing than aggressive. Feels to me like it might be a bit heavier than the 5.5% they advertise on the can. Approachable and uncomplicated, this is another one that would be good to talk about, if perhaps not quite as much as the One Night in Bangkok at Cannon Ball.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
6. Cannon Ball - One Night in Bangkok
NUVO posted a list of 10 Indiana beers you should drink this summer, and this was the one that caught my eye—not least because I knew that Erin Kem is the chef at Cannon Ball. Before that, she was the sous chef at R Bistro. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. R Bistro was the first important local and independent restaurant in Indianapolis. Long before words like locavore and foodie were fashionable, Regina Mehallick was dishing up a new menu every week at the far end of Mass Ave. She ran that show for fifteen years before closing the restaurant in early 2016, but she had been easing herself away from the day-to-day grind of the business for some time before the restaurant closed. That’s a long way around saying that the chef at Cannon Ball today was previously, in all but name, the executive chef at what was arguably the greatest restaurant to ever open its doors in Indianapolis.
So after our last brewery get-together fell through, I suggested Cannon Ball for the next one. To my surprise, everyone agreed. I did a ride-by on my bike a few days beforehand, to see if it was workable; and since I found that it was, I arrived ahead of the group and wrote for a little bit while working on my first beer—the aforementioned One Night in Bangkok, which is a golden ale with Thai basil and ginger. It’s a light, easy-drinking ale with very subtle notes of Thai basil and ginger. Reminds me a little of how subtle the flavors are in the brews at Black Circle. If the words basil and ginger weren’t in the description, you might be hard pressed to guess that they were there. I missed the ginger in the first beer, (during which I might have been a bit off from a 20-minute bike ride in the heat and humidity) but picked it up on my second. Just a hair lighter than I prefer, but eminently drinkable and very fine for conversation.
Oh…and did you want to know about the food? The only thing I tried, apart from a bite of the potato salad that came with Dione’s sandwich after she threw in the towel, were the deviled egg tacos, which I had been lusting after since I first looked the place up and read the menu. And I just want to stop you right there. You’re either in or you’re out. Nothing I can say is going to change your mind. You’ve got deviled egg, beets, and beet greens salsa verde all piled on—wait for it—a beet tortilla. You get a little sweet in the deviled egg and beets, and a little savory in the cumin and chile in the salsa verde, and just…you know…holy crap. You can’t even believe it until you taste it, because it takes everything you thought you understood about the concept of a taco, and subverts it. It even made me slip into second person for a minute there.
So after our last brewery get-together fell through, I suggested Cannon Ball for the next one. To my surprise, everyone agreed. I did a ride-by on my bike a few days beforehand, to see if it was workable; and since I found that it was, I arrived ahead of the group and wrote for a little bit while working on my first beer—the aforementioned One Night in Bangkok, which is a golden ale with Thai basil and ginger. It’s a light, easy-drinking ale with very subtle notes of Thai basil and ginger. Reminds me a little of how subtle the flavors are in the brews at Black Circle. If the words basil and ginger weren’t in the description, you might be hard pressed to guess that they were there. I missed the ginger in the first beer, (during which I might have been a bit off from a 20-minute bike ride in the heat and humidity) but picked it up on my second. Just a hair lighter than I prefer, but eminently drinkable and very fine for conversation.
Oh…and did you want to know about the food? The only thing I tried, apart from a bite of the potato salad that came with Dione’s sandwich after she threw in the towel, were the deviled egg tacos, which I had been lusting after since I first looked the place up and read the menu. And I just want to stop you right there. You’re either in or you’re out. Nothing I can say is going to change your mind. You’ve got deviled egg, beets, and beet greens salsa verde all piled on—wait for it—a beet tortilla. You get a little sweet in the deviled egg and beets, and a little savory in the cumin and chile in the salsa verde, and just…you know…holy crap. You can’t even believe it until you taste it, because it takes everything you thought you understood about the concept of a taco, and subverts it. It even made me slip into second person for a minute there.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Deep Thoughts #148
Fake President Donald Trump is a piece of shit. Jeff Sessions does the right thing and recuses himself, and that’s unfair? Fuck you, Donald.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
5. Black Acre Brewing Company - Saucy Intruder Rye India Pale Ale
“American style IPA with large amounts of rye malt & Falconer’s Flight hops, creating bold notes of citrus and & earthy spiciness.”
The large amounts of rye malt are very evident in the dry, almost bitter, finish; but the strong citrus notes in the Falconer’s Flight hops bring it almost into balance. They probably want it to be a little bitter so you recognize that earthy spiciness. Or I just like to make fun. Who can say? I’m not really making fun—at least, not of the beer. Sometimes the descriptions get a little precious, though, don’t you think? My reading and research into beer has not yet yielded hints as to what makes rye malt so freaking delicious, but I hope one day to find out. The only con to this one is the high alcohol (7.2%). I don’t enjoy a hard buzz anymore, and that’s sort of what I’m feeling after drinking two of these. Then again, I haven’t eaten anything today, either, so.
The large amounts of rye malt are very evident in the dry, almost bitter, finish; but the strong citrus notes in the Falconer’s Flight hops bring it almost into balance. They probably want it to be a little bitter so you recognize that earthy spiciness. Or I just like to make fun. Who can say? I’m not really making fun—at least, not of the beer. Sometimes the descriptions get a little precious, though, don’t you think? My reading and research into beer has not yet yielded hints as to what makes rye malt so freaking delicious, but I hope one day to find out. The only con to this one is the high alcohol (7.2%). I don’t enjoy a hard buzz anymore, and that’s sort of what I’m feeling after drinking two of these. Then again, I haven’t eaten anything today, either, so.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Deep Thoughts #147
If Melania Trump wants to end social media bullying, she should start by telling the ignorant liar she married to shut his fucking pie-hole.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
3. New Belgium Brewing Company - Citradelic Exotic Lime Ale
“A crisp, refreshing golden ale bursting with juicy Persian lime, freshly ground coriander and a hint of cracked black pepper.”
Aren’t we ambitious? I’m not too proud to say that the hint of cracked black pepper escaped me, but I did taste the lime and the coriander. “Crisp” in this case tasted more to me like “dry to the point of being bitter,” though not necessarily in an off-putting way. This one just didn’t work for me. (If I had two or three on a hot day while mowing the grass, that might be another story.)
Aren’t we ambitious? I’m not too proud to say that the hint of cracked black pepper escaped me, but I did taste the lime and the coriander. “Crisp” in this case tasted more to me like “dry to the point of being bitter,” though not necessarily in an off-putting way. This one just didn’t work for me. (If I had two or three on a hot day while mowing the grass, that might be another story.)
Saturday, June 10, 2017
2. 3 Floyds Brewing Co. (Munster, IN) - Zombie Dust Pale Ale
“This intensely hopped and gushing undead pale ale will be one’s only respite after the zombie apocalypse. Created with our marvelous friends in the comic industry.”
I’ve never been bowled over by 3 Floyds, but as a collector I appreciate scarcity—so I was always going to covet Zombie Dust until I had the chance to try some. The “intensely hopped” part is entirely accurate, but it’s Citra hop, so there is less bitterness and the illusion of balance. That’s not balance, though; it’s the moderate alcohol (6.2%) kicking your ass. Entirely enjoyable, but I’m sorry 3 Floyds, I’m just not that into you. It’s me, not you. Okay? Can we still be friends?
I’ve never been bowled over by 3 Floyds, but as a collector I appreciate scarcity—so I was always going to covet Zombie Dust until I had the chance to try some. The “intensely hopped” part is entirely accurate, but it’s Citra hop, so there is less bitterness and the illusion of balance. That’s not balance, though; it’s the moderate alcohol (6.2%) kicking your ass. Entirely enjoyable, but I’m sorry 3 Floyds, I’m just not that into you. It’s me, not you. Okay? Can we still be friends?
1. Urban Artifact (Cincinnati, OH) - Phrenology Wild Style IPA (Batch #5 March 2017)
“An IPA with the wild yeast Brettanomyces can be drank young or old.”
And then below the tagline is a timeline indicating that the beer will be hoppier right after it was brewed in March, becoming funkier as it gets older. March, of course, was three months ago, and there is, indeed, some of that funk beginning to develop. The foamy head lingers after the pour, and the first taste is all Brett, with a dry, hoppy finish. Oddly drinkable for a dry, high alcohol (7.3%) IPA.
And then below the tagline is a timeline indicating that the beer will be hoppier right after it was brewed in March, becoming funkier as it gets older. March, of course, was three months ago, and there is, indeed, some of that funk beginning to develop. The foamy head lingers after the pour, and the first taste is all Brett, with a dry, hoppy finish. Oddly drinkable for a dry, high alcohol (7.3%) IPA.
Beer Run
So a few of us from the old juke joint went out to Big Lug Canteen a few weeks ago for the third stop on our local brewery tour, and we were joined by the lovely and beguiling Shane White, who has a whole blog devoted to his quest to quaff one thousand different malted grain and hops concoctions. We discussed the pros and cons of pouring into a mug versus drinking from the container, whether said mugs should be frosted or not, and the quality of the brews they’re tapping at Black Circle. Alas, Shane and I did not agree on much—except that Black Acre’s Cherry Ol’ Fritz is freaking awesome—but that’s okay, because lively debate is good for the soul. Plus, sharing one’s experiences with the metastasizing phenomenon that is craft beer can, I think, lead to only one thing—discovering and enjoying more fine craft beer.
Naturally, I decided to steal Shane’s idea, but with a couple of differences. (Those of you who remember Vanilla Ice explaining how the bass line in “Ice Ice Baby” differed from the bass line in “Under Pressure” because of a single one-eighth note will likely see where I am coming from with this argument.) I’m not shooting for a thousand, and I’m not making a whole new blog. See how different it is? So yeah, I’m stealing Shane’s idea. And I’m going to post pictures of beer I poured into frosted mugs.
Naturally, I decided to steal Shane’s idea, but with a couple of differences. (Those of you who remember Vanilla Ice explaining how the bass line in “Ice Ice Baby” differed from the bass line in “Under Pressure” because of a single one-eighth note will likely see where I am coming from with this argument.) I’m not shooting for a thousand, and I’m not making a whole new blog. See how different it is? So yeah, I’m stealing Shane’s idea. And I’m going to post pictures of beer I poured into frosted mugs.
Deep Thoughts #146
Does anyone happen to know the odds of randomly stumbling across a reference to the musical group Limbomaniacs while browsing the interwebs?
Thursday, June 08, 2017
Deep Thoughts #145
So according to Paul Ryan, if you’re ignorant and unqualified, it’s okay to commit a federal crime. What the fuck is wrong with Republicans?
Wednesday, June 07, 2017
Deep Thoughts #144
How long will it be before Mike Pence starts to feel like one of the musicians on the Titanic who kept right on playing while the ship sank?
Monday, June 05, 2017
There Are 10 Kinds of People in the World: Those Who Understand Binary, and Those Who Do Not
Jackson is ten years old today. That's really all I have. I don't have the strength for anything else.
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