Miasmatic Review

The Poet... Evermore.

The New Holland brewing company is starting to become a favorite brewery of mine. So far I have not had a beer from them that I did not like, and this week’s beer is no exception. Tonight I’m reviewing The Poet Oatmeal Stout.

We have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label has a picture of a Raven sitting on a branch in front of a full moon with the name of the beer in old script underneath it. There is also a story about the beer next to the picture. It is kind of lengthy so I’m not going to repost the whole thing, but it basically says this beer can go with just about any occasion.

It has a nice dark brown, almost black, color to it. Light barely passes through. It’s almost like a really dark fresh coffee color. The head has a nice tan color to it. There is minimal lacing on the glass. After a while the head fades to a tan ring around the edge and a slight film on the top.

There is a nice earthy aroma to it. A mixture of roasted oats and malts with a touch of chocolate and hint of coffee tickle the nose. The scent isn’t too strong, but strong enough to really enhance the experience. The flavor is of robust malts with chocolate and coffee accents. There is a touch of hops that adds just a touch of bitterness that really livens up the flavor.

This is a full-bodied beer. It has a creamy and smooth mouth feel to it. There is not a lot of carbonation to it.

This is probably going to be one of my favorites. I could see myself craving this beer and drinking it on a regular basis. Definitely, going to make my top 20 list. I give it 7 out of 10.

Pain...

...it reminds you that you're alive.

I'm heading to Springfield.

I’ve told a lot of people about this Illinois gun ban that I spoke about below. Some of the people are just blowing it off as, “Same shite, different year”. Sure, the anti-gun politicians try to ban firearms every year. This year has a different ring to it though, there has been quite a change up in the politicians in office and the bills they are trying to pass may actually make some headway. I’m worried that this time the bills have more then a snowballs chance in hell of passing.

After talking it over with Ktreva, I’ve taken two days off and I am going to head down to the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day to show my opposition to anti-gun bills. I wrote a letter to Dave Syverson (My state Senator) and Chuck Jefferson (My state Representative) voicing my opinion. This time, I just don’t feel it’s enough. It is important for me to take the time and go to Springfield to be counted.

If there is anyone else that is planning on going or is interested in heading that way, let me know. I would love the company.

My government wants to make me a criminal

While at work today I received a call from my friend Giles (I won’t post his real name with out permission). He was the leader of my old re-enacting group. He asked me if I went to a local gun show here in Rockford yesterday. Grau, Shadoglare and my buddy from work J-man all went. Giles asked if I had heard anything about IGOLD while I was there, I didn’t recall hearing or seeing a thing. IGOLD is the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day. He then asked if anyone said anything about the new Illinois gun ban that Mayor Dailey of Chicago is trying to get pushed through legislation with support of Governor Blagojevich. Which I hadn’t heard anything about either, I did hear about the renewal of the assault weapon ban. But he assured me that was NOT what he was talking about.

Giles has a Federal Firearm License as part of his business doing movie special effects. To be honest I’m not EXACTLY sure what all he does, he seems to do about everything. I’m sure if he reads this he would be more then happy to comment a list of his many talents. Anyway, he told me he received a letter regarding IGOLD because Daley is trying to get ALL firearms banned in Illinois. I’m not talking about the just the seven ban targets that it seems all anti-gun people want. From what Giles tells me, Daley and Blagojevich want to use Illinois as a test ground to get all 7 passed this year, as well as throwing in some other items, that would pretty much make owning a firearm in the state of Illinois Illegal. They are even talking about not putting in a Grandfather clause. Thus honest upstanding citizens like myself would be turned into criminals.

At first I thought maybe Giles was upset because this would severely hurt his business and maybe even cause it to shut down. But after doing some digging I’ve found other things that hint to this nefarious deed. The Illinois State Rifle Association on their main page has an article about IGOLD that states:

”Many of you are aware of the present legislative danger we are all in. For those of you who are not aware, if Mayor Daley and the anti-gun crowd have their way Illinois gun owners will become extinct, non-existent, gone, history, no more. Mayor Daley has vowed to rid the state of guns and he makes no distinction between the illegal firearms wielded by the violent criminals and gang members of his city and those firearms owned by law-abiding, peaceful Illinois citizens.”

Emphasis Mine

I really wish I had a copy of the letter Giles received so I could put it up for everyone to read, but he loaned it to a friend and it hasn’t been returned to him. He told me it stated that if firearms weren’t turned in with in so many days of the law passing that the owner would have criminal charges pressed against once honest citizen. There would be no compensation for any firearms turned in.

Many people are going to start throwing around the Second Amendment, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” People, the Constitution and its amendments are all fine and dandy… as long as our government upholds it. Anymore I don’t see any politicians actually upholding the Constitution. Our leaders want to take our rights away. I’m not talking Democrats; I’m talking all politicians. What they want to strip from us depends on which party line they are toeing up to. So I have no faith that “the lesser of two evils” elected officials we have will actually uphold the Second Amendment.

IGOLD is Wednesday March 14th. I am tempted to take a couple of days off of work, get a hotel room and travel down for it. I really can’t afford to miss the time from work, but I feel strongly about this. I’m going to see if I can get some time and maybe at least drive down for the afternoon information and just drive back that night missing the evening activities. Maybe I’ll show enough support doing that to help.

Yesterday at the gun show, I really wish I had made a purchase that I had wanted to.

Mexican Prank.

Some people will find this funny, some will find it mean and cruel, someone like me will find it hilarious. This was a prank they played on some attractive actress from a Mexican Soap Opera for a Mexican TV show. The spoken words are all in Spanish, but it has English subtitles. I will warn you that the language is kind of harsh, but in Spanish and the subtitles.

This girl freaked out pretty damn bad. Yea, I’m an arsehole.

Leia's 22nd Birthday.

Wonder what it would be like to be at a party in the Star War’s Empire?

Personally I loved the whole Cops feel to the clip.

MTV '83

Remember back when MTV actually played videos? Actually remember when MTV first started? Well someone out there decided to remind all of us old farts about it. They posted an hour and a half recording of MTV on Google Videos.

IT has such songs as: Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me, Huey Lewis & The News - Heart & Soul , The Tubes - Monkey Time Price - Little Red Corvette, George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Bad To The Bone, The Police - Synchronicity II, Sammy Hagar - Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy, Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner, Kansas - Fight Fire With Fire, Michael Bolton - Fool's Game, Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize, Bow Wow Wow - Do You Wanna Hold Me?, The Who - You Better You Bet, The Motels - Suddenly Last Summer, Madness - Our House, Nick Heyward - Whistle Down The Wind.

Suddenly I feel old.

I fold.

This is for the geeks and the terminally curious types out there. Ever wonder how good your IP address is? I’m not talking about in the usual way, but in that just plain “how cool is it” kind of way. And in that phrase when I say cool, I mean “how geeky am I that I actually wanted to check this out.” . Well if you do, here is a website for you. Here is the bitmap of my IP address:

Personally I like how it breaks down your IP address into a poker hand.

The cat must die.

For years I’ve hated cats. To be honest, hate is too friendly of a word. I don’t think there is a word in any actual, fictional or pretend language in the entire universe that describes how much I truly feel toward these creatures. There is only one thing that could outweigh my hatred of cats, and that is the love I have for my wife. She adores the damn things. She’s grown up with cats, has always had them and isn’t happy unless one of those insipid creatures is lurking around the house.

Two years ago, after years of cat free bliss due to her other cat dying, I caved in and bought her a cat for Christmas a couple of years ago. The cat and I had a mutual understanding, it stays away from me and I won’t eat it. Hey, I may not like them living, but char broiled they taste good. Everything seemed fine, other then it would jump on the bed in the middle of the night earning it a flight into the wall, it never really pissed me off.

That is until 6 weeks ago.

Now the damn thing is pissing on the carpet. It’s been using the liter box for years. I don’t know why it’s decided to stop all of a sudden. We’ve, and I mean Ktreva, have tried various carpet cleaners to remove the smell. She has tried disciplining the cat, using pet carpet cleaners, cleaning the liter box more often and nothing seems to work. THE DAMN THING KEEPS PISSING ON THE FARKING CARPET!

Now my house smells like cat urine, which pisses me off. I’ve been burning incense, scented candles, air fresheners and Febreeze. Nothing seems to work. The damn cat knows it’s pissing me off, because it stays away from me. It’s been a week since I’ve caught more then a glimpse of the damned creature. I’ve had enough.

It’s to the point now that my hatred of the damn creature is starting to outweigh my love for my wife. I am ready to kill the damn thing. Be it by sword, knife or gun… I don’t care. Hell if it gets close enough I’ll squeeze its farking neck, until the head pops off. Then I’ll take hide, put it on a stretcher and hang it in front of my tent at re-enactments.
Maybe I’ll just grab it and throw it in the toilet and keep flushing until its spark of life is covered in shite.

This would break my loving wife’s heart. Thus I will not do any of that… yet. If any of my good readers has a clue on how to stop the damnable creature from using my carpet (and it’s just one spot) as a piss pot, I would appreciate it.

Until then I’m going to go play Kill a Kitten for a while to help quell the felinicidal urges.

Special Pilsner

It took me a long time to find a Pilsner to review when originally requested. Now I’m finding them all over the place. This week I’m reviewing the Special Pilsner by Capital Brewery from Middleton, Wisconsin. That’s right for all my local readers, this is a brew made not far from home.

It comes in your standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a red oval label with a picture of a capital rotunda. The name of the beer is above it in white lettering, and the name of the brewery below in black lettering on a white field. I could be mistaken, but I think the rotunda is the Wisconsin State Capital building in Madison. I’m sure one of you Wisconsinites out there will correct me if I’m wrong.

It pours a nice light yellow color. There is a vary feint cloudiness to it. One can still see clearly through the beer glass to whatever is on the other side. It pours a nice half-inch white head with good-sized bubbles. The head slowly disappears into a good white film on the tope of the beer. There is barely any lacing on the side of the glass.

The aroma is wonderfully inviting. It’s not overpowering in any way. This is what a good beer should smell like. There is a combination of grains and yeast that makes it almost smell like some kind of bread. There is a slight straw undertone to it. The initial taste is almost disappointing in that it’s kind of weak. It has a mixture of malts with a slight hop spiciness to it with a hint of sweet grass. The aftertaste is barely noticeable.

This Pilsner is a thing, light bodied beer. It’s clean and has a good carbonation to it, nothing that is over powering, only enhancing. There is a dry finish to it.

I could actually see myself craving this beer. At first I wasn’t sure about it, but after finishing the first beer I really wanted to have a second one. This is a good hot summer day beer. I’m giving this beer a 6.5 out of 10.

Sexy Zombie

Because of my Zombie obsession, Raging Mom of The Splatter Zone left a link to a music video featuring a Zombie Stripper.

I’m torn between shooting it in the head with my .45 or my… well… uh… yeah.

Weekend Weirdness.

What a weird and interesting weekend. First Ktreva brings me a bottle of Jack Daniels. Only two weeks AFTER I voluntarily cut back my drinking because she was concerned about it. She said I was doing good and deserved a reward. That was on Friday night.

Saturday I went shooting with a work friend of mine Bob. We went to a local gun shop that has an indoor range. He just wanted to get some practice in with his 9 and didn’t want to shoot alone. Hell, I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to get some quality time in with my .45. The range is okay, it’s indoor and a little cramped, but it’s better then nothing, and it is with in 15 minutes of my house.

After shooting we went to Old Chicago where I ended up getting in a “debate” with the bartender and some of the patrons over the quality of, or lack there of, Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale. They thought it was good, I thought they were idiots. In the end I had them convinced that most things made by Anheuser-Busch is crap.

I was home at a decent time and was watching some TV when my buddy Wes of Bodhran Roll Please came over and kidnapped me. Allegedly he was in dire need of a night out on the town and I was to go with. First we hit Hooters for some much needed Hot Wings and Beer. Afterwards we hit a local exotic dancer bar. I refuse to call it a strip club, because there is no nudity… nor striping. We did get to school a girl who was on her first week of dancing. Trust me, you could tell she had no enthusiasm for it.

Sunday I went over to my friend J-man’s house to watch the Daytona 500 while Ktreva was at a Baby Shower from Hell. Okay, I don’t like Nascar. I’m not fond of watching races. Why did I go? For the best of all reasons, he really gets into it. And it’s fun to watch his reactions. That and we grilled steaks. Grilled meat in February will get me to brave even Nascar. Since I didn’t really know any of the drivers and I don’t follow it, J-man told me I had to root for the number 07 car, because it was sponsored by Jack Daniels. He is a Dale Jr. fan. I refuse to root for him just because it seems everyone else in the world does and he seems to crash a lot. Sure he’s consistent, but so is him needing a new car. Before the race I made multiple comments about Dale crashing.

When it got down to the last 4 laps and Dale hadn’t crashed yet, I made the comment, “Well it looks like Dale isn’t going to…” BAM! A Huge crash that takes out a chunk of the racers, including Dale. I’m not exactly sure what J-man was yelling at me because I was too busy laughing. I do know he blamed me for the wreck, something about me being a Jinx and using the Bears for a reference.

The coolest thing was that on the very last lap there was one more crash, and the Jack Daniels car slid across the finish line on it’s roof and on fire. Seriously, I think he should have gotten extra points in the Nascar standings for that finish. After the race, I just came home.

It’s strange; I had originally planned on a plain uneventful weekend and actually ended up having a lot of fun. I wonder if the same will happen next weekend. All I’m planning on doing is going to a gun show.

The Sharks only natural predator?

My blogless friend D is another cheesy horror film fan like myself. We have been talking about the various different bad, yet good horror movies we’ve seen. He kept telling me about an Italian movie that had a Zombie fighting a shark. I had never seen a zombie movie with a scene like that. While looking for some information on zombies (Please don’t ask) I found this clip:

I don’t know if this is the same clip he was talking about. From my research, I’m pretty sure this is from the movie Zombi 2. If not I’m sure someone would be nice enough to tell me what movie this clip is from.

He's damn lucky.

People, as you all know I like firearms. As part of owning a firearm, I have a lot of respect for them. You can’t mistreat or misuse a firearm. If you do, it could end up with disastrous consequences. That applies to all Firearms. Even ones that people “know” are unloaded or safe. I’ve seen first hand and heard about second hand too many cases of people messing around with one and hurting themselves. Like the idiot in this video:

Sure it was only a flare gun, but it’s still dangerous and he’s lucky that he’s okay. The sad thing is that I’ve seen people pull the same stunt with real handguns. When I was in college there was a guy that put a revolver to his had and was going to pretend to blow his brains out. After a quick yelling and the guns owner disarming the idiot he advised him that the revolver was indeed loaded. That idiot pulled it out of a nightstand in the guy’s room.

Zombies and Tanks

When Clone did take a nap yesterday I was all happy because I found a game online that was fun. You get to run around and kill zombies and demons. The more you kill, the more weapons you get. Uzi’s, shotguns, barrels of gas, grenades, etc. I spent a good hour playing this yesterday. I was very proud of this find.

Then I visit Frizzen Sparks and he found Tanks. It’s a take off of the old Scorched Earth game we used to all gather around my computer in high school and play. I spent 3 hours last night playing this one. Grau’s find made mine look stupid. Either way, both are really good time wasters.

Rescued!

YEAH! Ktreva’s home! She can take over dealing with the screaming sick boy! Oh, and she brought me home a bottle of Jack Daniel’s too.

Yea, there is a reason I married here.

Poor kid.

Clone has steadily been getting worse through out the day. He seemed okay this morning, but as the day went on, the grouchier he became. He complained he didn’t feel good and that his cheek and tummy hurt. I feel bad for the poor guy. There’s not a lot of anything I can do. He’s been getting his medication on schedule, but I don’t know if that’s helping any.

He’s lying on the couch crying right now. I wish there was something/anything I could do to comfort him, but nothing I do seems to work. For most of the day I’ve sat on the couch with him watching movies and TV. We’ve seen Curious George and Cars, along with various Nickelodeon cartoons.

To all of you stay home mothers out there, are the kids cartoons this bad all the time? I’m just wondering, because these were even more stupid then I normally find kids cartoons.

I’ve tried getting Clone to take a nap, but he won’t. I’ve even tried laying down and taking a nap with him. A nap could do me good today, but even with that he wouldn’t go to sleep. I just don’t know, it’s hard to see your kids feeling bad and not able to do anything about it.

At least he's not puking.

I’m home from work today. Clone is a sick boy. It started out with him getting sick Tuesday night. On Valentines day morning Ktreva had to stay home with him as he was feeling not well at all and had a temp. When I got home from work on Wednesday Ktreva tells me Clone also has Pink Eye. Great… Well he can’t go to daycare with pink eye so Ktreva stays home with him again yesterday.

When I got out of a meeting at work, there was a message for me in my voicemail. Ktreva was able to get Clone in to see our family doctor. He told her that Clone has an upper respiratory infection AND an ear infection on top of everything else.

Yea, this could be a fun day.

Apolalyptic?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Baron Contagion the Apocalyptic of Chipping Sodbury Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I know this isn't new. It's been around a lot, but I finally got about to taking it. Yea, that's right, I'm Chipping the Sodbury! Ladies, you may swoon now.

Sundog

This weeks beer is Sundog Amber ale by the New Holland Brewing company of Michigan. Yea, I didn’t know Michigan made beer either. Yes, that was a joke, feel free to laugh.

We have our standard 12 oz brown bottle with a orange and black label showing the sillouette of a dog in the setting sun. The label states, “Delicious beer delivered with painstaking consistency, that’s our philosophy. We’ll give you a while to drink it in.” Well, if you drink anything like I do, this beer won’t last a while.

There is a nice dark amber color with some red to it. When poured into a glass there is a good quarter inch white head with nice thick bubbles. The head is long lasting and leaves a good lacing on the side of the glass.

To the nose one gets an inviting scent of malts with a nice hop accent. There is a touch of pine to the scent that makes this beer appealing. It has a lightly toasted malt and spicy hop flavor to it. There is a bitterness to it, it’s almost as bitter as an IPA. The bitterness isn’t overpowering and has a nice tang on the tongue. There is a slightly bitter aftertaste to it that fades quickly.

This is a medium bodies beer with a slightly creamy mouth-feel to it. There is just the right amount of carbonation to really open up the flavor, but not overpower the beer.

I’m going to give this a 6 out of 10.

It's wrong.

I asked a work friend of mine if he wanted to run to a local sporting goods store to look at the new rifles they received yesterday. He declined stating he was going tanning on lunch. Immediately I called BS on him and told him if the didn’t want to go all he had to say was no. Then he produced an appointment card to show he actually was going tanning.

Am I the only one that thinks there is something wrong with a guy going tanning?

How about if he is of Mexican decent?

Does this mean he's gay?

Geeky and Nerdy?

Physics geek linked to this test in a comment over at Harvey's. I was hoping to prove I wasn't nerdy and geeky. Fortunately I didn't score too high.

It's taxing.

Off to do the taxes. I really don't want to find out how much I owe those bastiches.

Farking government.

I are geek, here me roar... but you will continue to ignore.

I was just minding my own business when I receive a comment that I’ve been tagged. Not by a meme, but by a damn test. That’s right, not a quiz, a test! And not just any test, NOOOOOooooooooo, a geek test. Seems Bitterroot of Friction and Harmony (I don’t care what he says, I still think that’s a sex reference. He should have just named it Latex and Release.), well he tagged me because “These games you keep finding and getting me stuck on are indicative of your geekdom.” Hey, it’s not my fault I want others to waste time like I do.

With as much malice he could muster he decided I needed to take this test so he could shatter our self-images. Sure he could say that he wanted to compare geekiness in the blogoverse, but really he wanted to bring our worlds down around us. I guess I could have not taken the test, but I wanted to prove that I am not a geek.

Apparently I was wrong

Okay, in retrospect I guess I should have known this was going bad when my lovely wife, Ktreva (whom I met online before I met her in person) was laughing and giggling at the questions. When I wanted a second opinion because I thought a question didn’t apply, she would be quick to point out that they did. Such as I’m a re-enactor, even though I’ve technically never been in the SCA and don’t really like them, I’ve been at many functions that they have been to and in a SCA like group. We used real swords thank you! No rattan furniture swords for us! But it asked if I’ve ever worked at a RenFair. Quickly I answered no, I have not, I may have gone dressed up and been confused as someone that worked there, but technically I didn’t actually work at the RenFair. Then she pointed out that when I was with Clan Chattan we were hired to work at smaller local RenFairs. Yea, that’s my wife for me.

So there you have it, I are geek. Especially since Ktreva kept me honest.

Now excuse me while I go read my RPG books and worship my shrine to Steve Jackson and his generic universal role-playing system.

I’m not technically tagging anyone, just like I technically wasn’t in the SCA, but I would like to see Shadoglare of Refractional Darkness, Wes of Bodhran Roll, Please! And Littlejoe of Littlejoe’s Soapbox (whom will come out of hibernation just for this) take this test.

Deflector!

Okay, a couple of weeks ago I introduced all of you to a time wasting game where you build towers to destroy the creeps coming down a trail. Now I’ve found another game where you have to destroy your enemies by building temporary force fields to deflect their shots back at them. Trust me, I spent two hours this morning playing this already. Go check out Deflector.

See you next week!

Violence of the Lambs.

What the heck is going on folks? First I saw this Cartoon this morning:

Then I found this:

I’m just wondering what statement the creators of both are trying to make.

Payback for cheering for the Bears.

I generally don’t talk about money on here, because I really don’t have any serious money problems. So my pissing and moaning about would just be stupid. I’m doing pretty well, I’m not bad off and I enjoy my lifestyle. So my bitching about not having the funds to spend a weekend with the wife in some secluded space just seems insulting to those that might have real financial concerns.

But not today, today I’m going to bitch about it, why? Because I have some pretty big expenses coming up, things that I need to pay and I am not about to start financing. Plus some things I can’t finance. I’m not worried as I have been saving all year and have the money to cover these expenses. So why am I going to start bitching about money?

I received a letter in the mail today. A very important letter. Maybe even the most important letter of my life. This is the kind of letter a lot of people hope to receive. Upon opening the mailbox I saw a letter with the official logo of the Green Bay Packers. It was thick, and very official looking. I was nervous as I thought I knew what this was. It was the notification that I was eligible for Packer Season Tickets.

I about had a mild coronary

The holy grail of tickets. The waiting list for these bad boys is legendary. They span generations. Then I looked at the price I was expected to pay and the first thing I thought was…. I could max a couple of credit cards. Then I thought I could not have that work done on the house I’ve been saving for. Finally I thought; I could sell one of the boys on the black market. Nope, I couldn’t do any of that. Between the seat tax and the rest of the expenses that go with it, there is almost no way I can afford these this year. Hell, I have to send in my letter saying I’m interested with $500.00 per seat as a deposit by the end of the month, and I may not even get the seats. But I would get the deposit back. But there is no way I would be able to pony up the money by the time the deadline was due if I got the tickets.

So I did the only thing I could think of, I called my father. He’s a bigger Packer fan then I am. I’m trying to talk him into going halvsies with me.

Jim Ryan DUI

Anybody that has spent more then fifteen minutes with me or has been to this blog for more then five minutes knows I’m a drinker. And yes occasionally I drink to the excess. It does happen, I’m admitting it. Yet I have never done anything that might jeopardize my job. I wish I could say the same thing for Jim Ryan, the City Administrator for the City of Rockford. He was arrested early this morning for a DUI.

Police arrested city Administrator Jim Ryan shortly after 3 a.m. in the 1000 block of Luther Ave. after he was spotted asleep behind the wheel of a city-owned car with its engine running.

That’s right not only was the guy stupid enough to get behind the while when he was drunk, but it was a vehicle owned by the city… His employer! I don’t know if he thought he was Teflon and laws don’t apply to him, or that if he was caught, the cops would just slap his wrist and escort him home. It’s stupid enough to drink and drive, we all know that, but in a government vehicle? I can’t fathom that kind of idiocy. Wait, maybe he wasn’t actually drunk, he did refuse a Breathalyzer. Which means he’s talked to a lawyer about this before. It’s an instant DUI, but it’s easier to fight in court. (Maybe this isn’t his first?) Then again with these facts:

”Officers approached the vehicle and “Ryan fumbled with the vehicle keys and putting the vehicle into park,” the statement said.

Officers noted that Ryan had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech and “bloodshot, glassy eyes,” according to the statement. He also apparently told police that he had consumed several beers earlier, but declined to take field sobriety and breath tests, the statement said.”

I really hope they throw the book at this guy and the city fires him. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. Just imagine the scandal if he had hit something, or killed someone? He is a top-ranking city official, and I hope he gets fired over this. However, with the Chicago style politics that Mayor Morrissey has brought to Rockford, I can see this getting swept under the rug.

Redbridge

This week’s beer goes out to all of my readers with Celiac disease. I can’t fathom what it would be like to not be able to eat or drink the wheat, rye and barley. So for you, I review this beer! A couple of weeks ago I was walking through the store when I saw a sixer of Redbridge by Anheuser-Busch on the shelves. What caught my attention was the display they had that stated the beer was made from Sorghum instead of Wheat or Barley and was completely gluten free. Folks I’ll be honest, this beer worried me. I did not want to try to drink this. My only experience with Sorghum has been in a sweet syrup form used on biscuits. In the end I figured I’d take one for the team.

The label on this 12 oz brown bottle has a picture of a red bridge on a maroon background. The name of the beer is on it, and it proudly states, “Beer Made From Sorghum. Made Without Wheat Or Barley”.

There is a nice clear amber color to the beer. Light passes cleanly through and there is no sign of fogginess or impurities. There was a half-inch head the quickly disappeared to a sparse layer of large bubble floating on the top. There was no lacing.

Folks, I’m going to be honest in that it’s hard to describe this beers scent and taste. I really have no references for it. The scent was strange; I couldn’t place it so I’m assuming its sorghum. There was the familiar hint of hops, but the main scent was unusual. It was a sweet fresh scent, like a crisp winter morning. It was pleasant. The taste was very thin and unobtrusive. There is an interesting sweetness that I’ve never tasted in a beer before; again I’m assuming this is the sorghum. There is a slight bitterness of the hops. When I say there is sweetness, it’s not too sweet or overpowering. It’s very complimentary. However, it does remind me of many light beers on the market.

This is a light bodied beer. There was a heavy carbonation to it that had a slight bite to the tongue and would cause massive bubbles on the side of the glass.

My fine readers, I’m finding it hard to rate this beer. Since it is such a specially made beer, it’s hard to compare it to the other beers I’ve reviewed. Yet at the same time, it has many of the same characteristics. I’m going to give this beer a 3.5 out of 10. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy another six-pack of it, but I’m not going to turn one down.

Ignorance abounds.

On my ride home from work I heard a local news story that kind of grabbed my attention, Forreston Students Protest Suspension over Confederate Clothing. I obviously cannot link to the radio show, so I’ll link to the article they where discussing. During the show they personalities and callers were going back and forth over the entire issue. Everything from freedom of speech (IE expression) to Hate Crimes (Displaying the Naval Jack/Rebel Flag the Confederacy is a “hate crime”).

I rolled my eyes so dramatically at one point I almost drove off the road. Not over the freedom of speech issue, mainly because I honestly believe that most Americans only believe in Freedom of Speech if the topic isn’t controversial OR they happen to support the controversial topic. Yea, deny it. But I’ve seen enough hypocrisy over it in the last two years that you won’t change my mind. What made me roll my eyes was when one of the radio personalities made a comment along the lines of “It’s a flag of hate. It’s anti-American and it can’t legally be flown on federal property. They flag symbolizes, hate, bigotry and racism.”

First, anyone that knows anything about history and the Confederate Flag knows that what people call the Confederate flag isn’t the Confederate Flag. What every one is most familiar with is the Naval Jack AKA Rebel Flag, AKA The Southern Cross. This is a battle flag, well one of them. The actual battle flags were perfectly square.

Rebel Flag

Battle Flag

Yes, this is a matter of semantics, but it’s important. There where three Confederate National Flags. The first being what was commonly called “The Stars and Bars.” Yes, again some people refer to the Naval Jack as that, but they would be incorrect. The original flag had nothing on it that even had the Confederate Union on it. Other then the colors, they really where completely different. It was changed because it looked too much like the American Flag. The Second National Flag, The Stainless Banner was a white field with the Battle Flag as the Union. This flag was replaced because when there was no wind it looked like a surrender flag. The Third National Flag, the bloodstained banner had a red vertical stripe on the end. This flag was adopted shortly before the end of the war and was the last national flag of the Confederacy.

The Stars and Bars

The Stainless Banner

The Bloodstained Banner

So about now you are all probably wondering why I am boring you with a history lesson? Because it pisses me off when people say historically it represents hate, bigotry and racism. WRONG! It’s a battle flag. It’s a flag that armies rallied to during a bloody war. It’s a flag that Americans fought and died under for something they believe. They rose up against a government they felt did not represent them, their interests and their rights. This flag wasn’t even around at the beginning of the war. It’s not like this flag was around for years flown over houses telling anyone that passed by that this plantation had slaves. It didn’t. Maybe if they said that about one of the Confederate National flags I could understand it more, but they don't.

Sure someone will say that that’s what people associate it with. You are correct, the ignorant, the un-educated and the stupid have over the years used the rebel flag as part of their idiocy. Okay, so since they use a flaming cross, crosses should be evil too. Oh, and since millions of people have been killed in the name of god, then god should be seen as evil. Yea, I know. I’m going to extremes, but it just annoys me.

There is a historical and legitimate reason for the rebel flag. Some say to remember history; some to show southern pride, others because they do think it stands for hate. I have no problem with the debate over this flag. I just hate seeing it pigeon holed as something it’s not.

Oh and as for it not being allowed to be flown on Federal property. I’ve been to many Federal monuments and cemeteries, including Shiloh this past year. I’ve seen this flag at many of these Civil War sites and I’m willing to bet I will continue to, including memorials.

I really wish the media would fact check before spewing forth BS.

Steaming piles of wrong.

Trust me, this was much worse then you could possibly imagine. MUCH. WORSE.

Lets just say the pictures don’t do the horror justice.

Getting older

Ktreva has been telling me for years I need to start watching what I eat. Not because I’m a fat bastard, but because of various health reasons… including my still undiagnosed medical condition. (Yea, I’m loving doctors). I’ve heard her say on occasion, “You can’t eat the crap you did when you were younger anymore.” She’s worried I’ll have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or some funky self-digesting disease. Er, um, scratch that last one.

Anyway I’m starting to think she may be right. When I was younger I could spend a weekend eating chips and salsa, drinking beer, and hitting some fast food joint for a middle of the night feast. I’d wake up the next morning and be just fine. This weekend I think she has her empirical evidence that she was right, unlike those Global Warming scientists. (Bastiches! It’s –15 when I left for work with a –30 windchill!).

It all started Friday night. I had Pizza and Beer for dinner, which was followed on Saturday with more pizza, pizza rolls, chips, beer and Scotch. On Sunday I had Beer, pickled herring, lil’smokies in hot n spicy Bar-b-que sauce, deviled eggs, boneless hot wings, chips, and some pumpkin dip… oh and beer. Monday I headed back over to help finish off the keg and the leftovers from the Super Bowl. That night on the way home I stopped and got me a baby head sized burrito.

Today I the most foul human on the face of the earth, it feels like my colon is trying to squirt all of my insides out. Fortunately, it’s all the consistency of applesauce so it doesn’t hurt too badly. I’ve had to use the restroom at work no less then four times. Each time there was at least one other man in there. Each time I heard a statement of exclamation over the horrid scent.

I would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t for the fact that my arse was on fire.

An Apology.

I would like to take a moment and offer my condolences to all of the Bear fans out there. Yesterday, I really did pull for the Bears and wanted them to win. Due to a bet, I even wore a Grossman jersey. Now it was told to me that I could use said jersey to wipe the beer, pickled herring, boneless hot wings, barbeque lil’ smokie’s and more beer shite from my arse after Grossman’s performance on the field. In fact I believe what was said is, “When I get that back I want big long brown streaks running all over the number 8. Then I’m going to frame it as a reminder.”

Tempting as that was, I did not do it. Not because it would be disgusting and not because I wouldn’t have enjoyed doing it. I just figured the Bear fans had suffered enough trauma and did not need nor really want to see that.

Bear Fan’s, trust me; I know how it feels when your team looses the Super Bowl. Back in 98 when the Packer’s lost to the Bronco’s, I felt pretty crappy. Sure, I justified it by saying that John Elway deserved to win… But so did the Packers! And that pain lasted for a while. But let me assure you that it does fade after time. You won’t forget, but you will start to forgive those that didn’t play up to their potential. Well most of them anyway.

So Bear fans, I truly am here to help you all out in any way possible. But I must confess something to all of you. On Friday it was told to me by some very loyal Bear Fans that my rooting for the Bears could be the kiss of death, since I’m a die-hard Packer fan. I think they may be right. I think that as a die-hard Packer fan, my embracing our archrivals may have caused a rift in fabric of luck and jinxed the Bears to lose. That and I haven’t accurately picked a Super Bowl winner for 7 years now.

Sorry.

How it should be.

Yesterday during the Super Bowl, in which my prediction was completely wrong, they aired some pretty lame adds. (Cough)Snickers(Cough). There were a couple that where really good. This one was actually funny:

Back when I was conducting a lot of interviews, I was starting to get tired of them and made a joke, “Lets just draw a circle out in the parking lot and let them fight for it. The last one standing gets the job.” I’m just glad to see that I’m not the only one that has had that thought.

Time to watch the Super Bowl!

The big question is, who will win? Being in northern Illinois, the Bear fans in abundance, including the bandwagon boys, are all declaring that the Bears have already won. I want the Bears to win; I’m rooting for the Bears to win. I just don’t know if they will.

So my question to all of you is, who will win? Can the Bears great defense stop the Colts great offense? I’m curious as to what everyone’s predictions are. I’m thinking 27-24 Bears.

What’s your prediction?

What's up yours?

What's Up Yours?

My buddy Shadoglare sent me this song by Barleyjuice a couple of weeks ago. I finally found a good video clip of it. Nothing like a good Celtic Rock band to get you going.

I just can't get away from work!

Over at I Hate My Cubicle(NSFW) they had this picture:

Okay I’ll admit it’s pretty cool, and that its neat to see all these companies pulling together to support the local team. HOWEVER, in this picture is the company I work for. If you look real close, you may even be able to see me in one of the windows. And that just took the cool factor right out of the picture.

Suckin' Blood G!

There are many things in the world that just don’t really combine. For instance Sardines and strawberry ice cream just don’t go well together. But sometimes you find things that you just wouldn’t think go well together do, such as Twizzlers and salsa. Yet, I’m still up in the air if Hip-Hop and Goth can be intermixed successfully. Some people obviously think they can, for they have Vampire Teeth Grillz.

THESE ARE THE DRAC-COOL-IST AVAILABLE! SINK YOUR TEETH IN THESE MONSTERS!

' Filled with Bling-Bling & A Goth Etched Design'

Emphasis THEIRS!

I need to go find me some scary Goth kids to see if they would even try these things.

Cleaning the kitty.

Cat torture? Amusement? Just wanting to keep your kitty clean? I’m not sure, but I about fell out of my chair laughing when the water started.

I can just hear the pissed off yowling of the cat was I watch it. It made me giggle.

Flat tires in the cold.

Do you know what sucks? A flat tire on your way to work sucks. It’s worse when you have your wife and two kids with you when it goes flat. Fortunately we were only 6 blocks from home when the tire blew, so we were able to limp home and switch vehicles. No time to change the tire, I had to get to work. It would have to wait until I got home.

That’s what happened to me yesterday. Last night when I got home I changed into some rugged cold weather gear and headed out to change the tire on the van. People let me tell you something, changing a tire sucks, changing a tire when it’s 15 degrees with a wind chill that makes it feel like 5 degrees sucks even more. The metal of the jack, the irons and the tire is almost excruciatingly cold through the heavily insulated gloves. Want to make it even worse? It had snowed the night before, it was only a couple of inches, but that meant that I had to work in the snow. We have a narrow driveway and I ended up having to shovel and dig out a section so I could get the damn jack under the farking van. Then I had the pleasure of lying in the snow to crank the beast up.

When it’s that cold do you know what happens to your tires after they are flat? They freeze. It was frozen to the driveway. As I was jacking up the farking van the tire was slowing peeling off of the driveway. It only took me about 30 minutes to make the change. 15 minutes of that was trying to get he damn spare loose from the van. It’s stored under the vehicle, and hadn’t been used in 3.5 years. The damn spare rusted to the farking bracket that was holding it to the van. So the farking gobshite that decided that storing the spare under the vehicle has a kick to the dinglies coming from me if I ever meet him.

After getting the wheels changed, I was able to go sink a couple of hundred dollars into getting two replacement tires. You can’t just buy one new tire, the vehicle won’t ride right. Well I guess it could be worse. It could have happened today, when it’s 7 degrees with a –7 wind chill.