Headed out
Turns out there is, indeed, free wifi throughout the Anchorage airport (at least the C concourse in the South Terminal; haven't tried B. And to hell with the North Terminal.) Slow as molasses, but there.
Flying to NYC tonight, on a miserable redeye to PDX, then to MSP, then to LGA. Ugh.
TGS was in town last weekend, and we brewed like a wildfire. An american amber, a barleywine, a DIPA, a foreign export stout, a bastard batch of randoms and leftovers, and a second runnings batch that will probably suck called Middle Child.
After the trip to NYC, I'm headed to SMF for a week in mid May, then J and I fly to Hawaii for a much needed vacation at the end of May. Should be good, though my back already hurts a little from all the flying.
Okay, back to podcast listening and trying to stay awake until my flight boards.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Kodiak redux
Nice day. Woke up in time (8:45) to have the bar area with the continental breakfast practically to myself. I lingered for a while reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini . It's deeply mediocre and overrated, but it's the book I brought, and it's not so terrible that I'm willing to put it down two-thirds in.
I spent a couple of hours working on my brief for the case that I'm here on while watching the Red Sox game, and then walked around (downtown) Kodiak. It was pleasant, a little chilly, and I went back to the hotel to call Kodiak Island Winery to see if they were open yet for the summer. I got the disappointing and sad news that they aren't sure if they're going to open at all this year due to health issues.
So I got a sandwich and headed out to Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park and had some nice walking, hiking, and touching the cold water in a very different part of the Pacific than the one we were in a month ago.
Catching AS back to ANC in a couple of hours, and then bearing down on this brief. More absolutely may or may not come soon.
Nice day. Woke up in time (8:45) to have the bar area with the continental breakfast practically to myself. I lingered for a while reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini . It's deeply mediocre and overrated, but it's the book I brought, and it's not so terrible that I'm willing to put it down two-thirds in.
I spent a couple of hours working on my brief for the case that I'm here on while watching the Red Sox game, and then walked around (downtown) Kodiak. It was pleasant, a little chilly, and I went back to the hotel to call Kodiak Island Winery to see if they were open yet for the summer. I got the disappointing and sad news that they aren't sure if they're going to open at all this year due to health issues.
So I got a sandwich and headed out to Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park and had some nice walking, hiking, and touching the cold water in a very different part of the Pacific than the one we were in a month ago.
Catching AS back to ANC in a couple of hours, and then bearing down on this brief. More absolutely may or may not come soon.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Rarrr
I'm in Kodiak. Since I'm actually here for work, and Kodiak isn't that big of a place, I'm not going to say what kind of work. However, massive super duper bonus points (and a prize of an unspecified but undoubtedly beer flavored nature) to anyone who guesses what (specific) kind of work it is from this clue: the last time I was in Kodiak, I was doing the same type of work, for the same (ultimate) supervising attorney.
After a pleasant if bumpy at the end flight from ANC this morning really early, I had a decent breakfast and got some good work done. I then went back to my hotel, the Best Western, which is billed by Moon, Lonely Planet, and I think Frommer's as the nicest hotel in town. If so, well, hmmm. It's perfectly nice, but about the quality of a standard 2.5 star or low 3 star in any other (city.)
Great meeting for the work. Enough said.
Then I headed over to Kodiak Island Brewing Company, and had a nice chat with the super friendly brewer, Ben, who was kind enough to throw a couple tastes and a pint my way despite the fact that he was hoping to be closing soon. It was damn delicious: his Tripel IPA, run through a Randall. He seemed impressed that I know what Randall is, and I mentioned having had something from a Randall at, I *think* it was, GABF.
Okay -- I need to choose from a virtual non-plethora of options for dinner before everything closes on a Saturday night in the off-season. Maybe more later.
I'm in Kodiak. Since I'm actually here for work, and Kodiak isn't that big of a place, I'm not going to say what kind of work. However, massive super duper bonus points (and a prize of an unspecified but undoubtedly beer flavored nature) to anyone who guesses what (specific) kind of work it is from this clue: the last time I was in Kodiak, I was doing the same type of work, for the same (ultimate) supervising attorney.
After a pleasant if bumpy at the end flight from ANC this morning really early, I had a decent breakfast and got some good work done. I then went back to my hotel, the Best Western, which is billed by Moon, Lonely Planet, and I think Frommer's as the nicest hotel in town. If so, well, hmmm. It's perfectly nice, but about the quality of a standard 2.5 star or low 3 star in any other (city.)
Great meeting for the work. Enough said.
Then I headed over to Kodiak Island Brewing Company, and had a nice chat with the super friendly brewer, Ben, who was kind enough to throw a couple tastes and a pint my way despite the fact that he was hoping to be closing soon. It was damn delicious: his Tripel IPA, run through a Randall. He seemed impressed that I know what Randall is, and I mentioned having had something from a Randall at, I *think* it was, GABF.
Okay -- I need to choose from a virtual non-plethora of options for dinner before everything closes on a Saturday night in the off-season. Maybe more later.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Busy busy busy
Somehow life gets much busier when you wake up one morning having no children, and then at 3:30pm, have a 17 year old foster daughter.
Insert the usual negligent blogger apologies to my vast readership -- I know, I know.
In other news, I did manage to get some beer kegged: the Four Directions (a DIPA with rye), and the Bog Monster , for which the recipe is here.
Okay, I'm going to the open house at King Career Center so I have to run. Busy busy busy.
Somehow life gets much busier when you wake up one morning having no children, and then at 3:30pm, have a 17 year old foster daughter.
Insert the usual negligent blogger apologies to my vast readership -- I know, I know.
In other news, I did manage to get some beer kegged: the Four Directions (a DIPA with rye), and the Bog Monster , for which the recipe is here.
Okay, I'm going to the open house at King Career Center so I have to run. Busy busy busy.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Swords into plowshares
Sometimes people wonder what Plowshares is about, and don't really track when people start quotiung Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 (that's the bible, for those who were wondering. See also Joel 3:10, part of the Jewish Tanakh. No, I'm not religious.)
Here's an excellent, incisive, and delightfully tongue-in-cheek introduction to the concept of beating swords into plowshares, from The Pinky Show .
Currently I'm sitting at O'Hare, after a great five days in NYC. I'm watching the snow blowing horizontally, and wondering about my flight (complimentary upgrade to first class!) to Anchorage. The open bar at the Continental/Northwest lounge is helping immensely.
Sometimes people wonder what Plowshares is about, and don't really track when people start quotiung Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 (that's the bible, for those who were wondering. See also Joel 3:10, part of the Jewish Tanakh. No, I'm not religious.)
Here's an excellent, incisive, and delightfully tongue-in-cheek introduction to the concept of beating swords into plowshares, from The Pinky Show .
Currently I'm sitting at O'Hare, after a great five days in NYC. I'm watching the snow blowing horizontally, and wondering about my flight (complimentary upgrade to first class!) to Anchorage. The open bar at the Continental/Northwest lounge is helping immensely.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival
We attended this evening on the house, since we're volunteering tomorrow night.
The beer? Well, a few were amazing, a few fantastic, some excellent, many average/mediocre, and a depressing number hideous.
One barleywine smelled and tasted profoundly like dill pickles. Yes, really. The volunteer pouring the beer and the random "beer connoisseur" standing there all agreed. Big, big dill pickles.
It was most disappointing to see great breweries, who do great beer, and especially do great specialties, not bring out anything particularly interesting. I kept saying that I hoped they'd be brining it out for tomorrow's Connoisseur's Session. I sure hope so.
The first hour or two was really quite pleasant: after a small early rush right at opening, it really was mostly people who genuinely wanted to taste the beer, and not just get fucked up. Then, Team Meathead showed up in force. Packs and packs of the morons. Simultaneously, the bimbo fools in repulsively tight jeans showed up with high-heeled OPEN shoes, no socks, no tights, no nothing. Bare feet. It was about 19 degrees outside when we walked in.
Ahhhh. For free, it was great. For $30? Not likely.
We attended this evening on the house, since we're volunteering tomorrow night.
The beer? Well, a few were amazing, a few fantastic, some excellent, many average/mediocre, and a depressing number hideous.
One barleywine smelled and tasted profoundly like dill pickles. Yes, really. The volunteer pouring the beer and the random "beer connoisseur" standing there all agreed. Big, big dill pickles.
It was most disappointing to see great breweries, who do great beer, and especially do great specialties, not bring out anything particularly interesting. I kept saying that I hoped they'd be brining it out for tomorrow's Connoisseur's Session. I sure hope so.
The first hour or two was really quite pleasant: after a small early rush right at opening, it really was mostly people who genuinely wanted to taste the beer, and not just get fucked up. Then, Team Meathead showed up in force. Packs and packs of the morons. Simultaneously, the bimbo fools in repulsively tight jeans showed up with high-heeled OPEN shoes, no socks, no tights, no nothing. Bare feet. It was about 19 degrees outside when we walked in.
Ahhhh. For free, it was great. For $30? Not likely.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Handy (or not) online candidate selectors
Since all those people in Iowa and New Hampshire seem to just have such a darn hard time selecting their candidates until the day of their caucus/primary, it's lucky that the internet has a number of tools you help you sort out the various forms of riff-raff you can vote for.
I took the Washington Post's Candidate Selector, Democratic Edition. It has a horribly clunky interface, and is immensely frustrating in that the pap answers provided by the campaigns often presented no real meaningful distinction between the candidates (hmmm...) Anyway, apparently I should vote for John Edwards:
I guess I'm a sucker for a multi-millionaire waving a neo-populist banner of a new-speak international proletariat, errr, middle class. Problem is, I don't vote for people, ever, who believe the state should murder its own citizens.
Well, actually, all these of those rotten fuckers believe that the government should murder its own citizens.
Never say I'm not an optimist, though: I went ahead and took another candidate selector, at selectsmart.com .
The interface was quite a bit nicer, but the results are extremely suspect. It got correct my likely vote: Dennis Kucinich, but I find it simply bizarre that it claims that Hillary Clinton agrees with me just six percent less than Kucinich. And I'm pretty much positive that I'd rather have Stephen Colbert over Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee, even though Colbert was left in the dust.
Since all those people in Iowa and New Hampshire seem to just have such a darn hard time selecting their candidates until the day of their caucus/primary, it's lucky that the internet has a number of tools you help you sort out the various forms of riff-raff you can vote for.
I took the Washington Post's Candidate Selector, Democratic Edition. It has a horribly clunky interface, and is immensely frustrating in that the pap answers provided by the campaigns often presented no real meaningful distinction between the candidates (hmmm...) Anyway, apparently I should vote for John Edwards:
I guess I'm a sucker for a multi-millionaire waving a neo-populist banner of a new-speak international proletariat, errr, middle class. Problem is, I don't vote for people, ever, who believe the state should murder its own citizens.
Well, actually, all these of those rotten fuckers believe that the government should murder its own citizens.
Never say I'm not an optimist, though: I went ahead and took another candidate selector, at selectsmart.com .
The interface was quite a bit nicer, but the results are extremely suspect. It got correct my likely vote: Dennis Kucinich, but I find it simply bizarre that it claims that Hillary Clinton agrees with me just six percent less than Kucinich. And I'm pretty much positive that I'd rather have Stephen Colbert over Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee, even though Colbert was left in the dust.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Reading in 2007
Though of you who know me personally know that I have just a touch of obsessive compulsive tendencies. (HEY! I HEARD THAT SNICKER!)
One of the ways that this manifests is that every book I finish, I write down in the back of my journal: date, title, author, number of pages, and place (primarily) read.
To paraphrase a certain NPR show, let's do the numbers:
total pages: 13,279
total books: 32
(I'll spare you opening the calculator: that's an average of 414.9 per book)
countries books were read in: four
longest book: 1382 pages, War and Remembrance. (Notably, it was the mass market paperback edition, while other editions are as few as 1042 pages. I enjoyed it, but no, it didn't make me run out and get Winds of War which War and Remembrance is written to follow.
shortest book: 98 pages, Peak Oil Survival: Preparation for life after gridcrash by Aric McBay.
A little more qualitatively:
Best books: probably Coming into the Country by John McPhee, and A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe. Though to be honest, it was kind of a slim year for good books, since many of my books came from a free lending library (read: books other people discarded.)
Best non-fiction book: The Big Eddy Club: The Stocking Stranglings and Southern Justice
by David Rose.
Worst book: hands down, with almost no real competition: The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis. In fact, it's certainly in the top five worst books I've ever finished, and could make a good solid run for the top spot in that list. (As my mom told me in the seventh grade, and I've repeated many times since to many people, I firmly believe that life is too short, and there are too many great books out there, to finish crappy books.) The Informers made the potential runners up for "Worst book" look like pinnacles of great literature, including such horrific, formulaic pap as Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler, Code of Honour by Harold Coyle, and Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal by by Eric Van Lustbader.
I mean, in any reasonable year, The Bourne Betrayal should absolutely be the worst book I'd finish. But didn't I tell you it was a tough year for me and good books?
Though of you who know me personally know that I have just a touch of obsessive compulsive tendencies. (HEY! I HEARD THAT SNICKER!)
One of the ways that this manifests is that every book I finish, I write down in the back of my journal: date, title, author, number of pages, and place (primarily) read.
To paraphrase a certain NPR show, let's do the numbers:
total pages: 13,279
total books: 32
(I'll spare you opening the calculator: that's an average of 414.9 per book)
countries books were read in: four
longest book: 1382 pages, War and Remembrance. (Notably, it was the mass market paperback edition, while other editions are as few as 1042 pages. I enjoyed it, but no, it didn't make me run out and get Winds of War which War and Remembrance is written to follow.
shortest book: 98 pages, Peak Oil Survival: Preparation for life after gridcrash by Aric McBay.
A little more qualitatively:
Best books: probably Coming into the Country by John McPhee, and A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe. Though to be honest, it was kind of a slim year for good books, since many of my books came from a free lending library (read: books other people discarded.)
Best non-fiction book: The Big Eddy Club: The Stocking Stranglings and Southern Justice
by David Rose.
Worst book: hands down, with almost no real competition: The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis. In fact, it's certainly in the top five worst books I've ever finished, and could make a good solid run for the top spot in that list. (As my mom told me in the seventh grade, and I've repeated many times since to many people, I firmly believe that life is too short, and there are too many great books out there, to finish crappy books.) The Informers made the potential runners up for "Worst book" look like pinnacles of great literature, including such horrific, formulaic pap as Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler, Code of Honour by Harold Coyle, and Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal by by Eric Van Lustbader.
I mean, in any reasonable year, The Bourne Betrayal should absolutely be the worst book I'd finish. But didn't I tell you it was a tough year for me and good books?
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Glacier Twelve Days of Barleywine, and me:
I did reasonably well; below is my end tally for the twelve days:
THE 1ST DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 10, 2007
1. 2001 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (9.88% alcohol by volume)
THE 2nd DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 11, 2007
2. 2003 Big Woody Barleywine aged one year in American oak wine barrel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
THE 4th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 13, 2007
1. 2004 Big Woody Barleywine aged steel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2004/2005 Wine barrel/Hungarian barrel Big Woody Barleywine blend. Aged one year on the respective oaks. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 5th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 14, 2007
1. 2005 Big Woody Barleywine aged in virgin American oak barrels for one year. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Razz XXX. (10.00% alcohol by volume)
THE 7th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 16, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine aged one and a half years in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Russian Imperial Stout aged two years in Ukrainian oak barrel. (9.20% alcohol by volume) Gold Medal winner and People’s Choice award at the 2006 Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival, Hayward, CA
THE 8th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 17, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged 19 months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Triple Barrel. Aged five months in Jim Beam barrels, then five months in Ukrainian oak, and then seven months in additional Jim Beam Barrels. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 11th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 20, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 12th DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 21, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in Jim Beam barrels for ten months. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Russian Imperial Stout aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (9.20% alcohol by volume)
CASK BARLEYWINE
1. 2007 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel for one year. (9.85% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged nineteen months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
CASK: all of the above, repeatedly. . .
It was a good run. I'm deeply pleased.
I did reasonably well; below is my end tally for the twelve days:
THE 1ST DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 10, 2007
1. 2001 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (9.88% alcohol by volume)
THE 2nd DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 11, 2007
2. 2003 Big Woody Barleywine aged one year in American oak wine barrel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
THE 4th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 13, 2007
1. 2004 Big Woody Barleywine aged steel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2004/2005 Wine barrel/Hungarian barrel Big Woody Barleywine blend. Aged one year on the respective oaks. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 5th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 14, 2007
1. 2005 Big Woody Barleywine aged in virgin American oak barrels for one year. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Razz XXX. (10.00% alcohol by volume)
THE 7th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 16, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine aged one and a half years in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Russian Imperial Stout aged two years in Ukrainian oak barrel. (9.20% alcohol by volume) Gold Medal winner and People’s Choice award at the 2006 Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival, Hayward, CA
THE 8th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 17, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged 19 months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Triple Barrel. Aged five months in Jim Beam barrels, then five months in Ukrainian oak, and then seven months in additional Jim Beam Barrels. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 11th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 20, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 12th DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 21, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in Jim Beam barrels for ten months. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Russian Imperial Stout aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (9.20% alcohol by volume)
CASK BARLEYWINE
1. 2007 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel for one year. (9.85% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged nineteen months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
CASK: all of the above, repeatedly. . .
It was a good run. I'm deeply pleased.
Glacier Twelve Days of Barleywine, and me:
I did reasonably well; below is my end tally for the twelve days:
THE 1ST DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 10, 2007
1. 2001 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (9.88% alcohol by volume)
THE 2nd DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 11, 2007
2. 2003 Big Woody Barleywine aged one year in American oak wine barrel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
THE 4th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 13, 2007
1. 2004 Big Woody Barleywine aged steel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2004/2005 Wine barrel/Hungarian barrel Big Woody Barleywine blend. Aged one year on the respective oaks. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 5th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 14, 2007
1. 2005 Big Woody Barleywine aged in virgin American oak barrels for one year. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Razz XXX. (10.00% alcohol by volume)
THE 7th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 16, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine aged one and a half years in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Russian Imperial Stout aged two years in Ukrainian oak barrel. (9.20% alcohol by volume) Gold Medal winner and People’s Choice award at the 2006 Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival, Hayward, CA
THE 8th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 17, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged 19 months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Triple Barrel. Aged five months in Jim Beam barrels, then five months in Ukrainian oak, and then seven months in additional Jim Beam Barrels. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 11th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 20, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 12th DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 21, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in Jim Beam barrels for ten months. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Russian Imperial Stout aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (9.20% alcohol by volume)
CASK BARLEYWINE
1. 2007 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel for one year. (9.85% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged nineteen months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
all of the above, repeatedly
It was a good run.
I did reasonably well; below is my end tally for the twelve days:
THE 1ST DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 10, 2007
1. 2001 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (9.88% alcohol by volume)
THE 2nd DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 11, 2007
2. 2003 Big Woody Barleywine aged one year in American oak wine barrel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
THE 4th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 13, 2007
1. 2004 Big Woody Barleywine aged steel. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2004/2005 Wine barrel/Hungarian barrel Big Woody Barleywine blend. Aged one year on the respective oaks. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 5th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 14, 2007
1. 2005 Big Woody Barleywine aged in virgin American oak barrels for one year. (10.75% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Razz XXX. (10.00% alcohol by volume)
THE 7th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 16, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine aged one and a half years in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Russian Imperial Stout aged two years in Ukrainian oak barrel. (9.20% alcohol by volume) Gold Medal winner and People’s Choice award at the 2006 Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival, Hayward, CA
THE 8th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 17, 2007
1. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged 19 months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Triple Barrel. Aged five months in Jim Beam barrels, then five months in Ukrainian oak, and then seven months in additional Jim Beam Barrels. (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 11th DAY OF BARLEYWINE - DEC. 20, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
3. Cask conditioned selection.
THE 12th DAY OF BARLEYWINE – DEC. 21, 2007
1. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged in Jim Beam barrels for ten months. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
2. 2007 Russian Imperial Stout aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery. (9.20% alcohol by volume)
CASK BARLEYWINE
1. 2007 Big Woody Barleywine aged in steel for one year. (9.85% alcohol by volume)
2. 2006 Big Woody Barleywine - Double Barrel. Aged nineteen months in Jim Beam barrels and then one year in American oak wine barrels from the Silverado Winery that were re-toasted to our brewer’s specifications (11.16% alcohol by volume)
3. 2008 Big Woody Barleywine aged ten months in American oak wine barrels from the Honig Winery. (11.03% alcohol by volume)
all of the above, repeatedly
It was a good run.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Outside my window
I actually have a whole series of images from this perspective, but today's is the only one I have handy. (In part, this is because the previously trustworthy of our computing life, the eMachines desktop, is starting to die. It's got the dreaded "running super extremely unbelievably slow" problem, and regularly has to be hard-shutdown, and restarted. I've backed up almost everything, and am about to resort to extreme measures.)
Anyway, here is what it looks like right now:
The ridge of snow up on the rail shows two amounts of snowfall in the last 48 hours. I shoveled in the evening on Monday, and then again midday yesterday. The taller amount of snow shows what we have received since Monday night, the slightly lower amount since Tuesday afternoon. Pretty scientific, huh?
I actually have a whole series of images from this perspective, but today's is the only one I have handy. (In part, this is because the previously trustworthy of our computing life, the eMachines desktop, is starting to die. It's got the dreaded "running super extremely unbelievably slow" problem, and regularly has to be hard-shutdown, and restarted. I've backed up almost everything, and am about to resort to extreme measures.)
Anyway, here is what it looks like right now:
The ridge of snow up on the rail shows two amounts of snowfall in the last 48 hours. I shoveled in the evening on Monday, and then again midday yesterday. The taller amount of snow shows what we have received since Monday night, the slightly lower amount since Tuesday afternoon. Pretty scientific, huh?
Anchorage's bore tide
A good explanation can be found here. For those considering a visit, this would be less than a half hour drive from our home.
A good explanation can be found here. For those considering a visit, this would be less than a half hour drive from our home.
What's So Special About the Turnagain Arm Bore Tide?
Well, it’s huge—one of the biggest in the world, actually. Also, all other bore waves run up low-lying rivers in more southerly latitudes. The Turnagain Arm bore wave is the only one that occurs in the far north and the only one bordered by mountains, making it the most unique and most geologically dramatic bore tide in the world. It’s also amazingly accessible: you can see it by road along its entire 40- to 50-mile length. And it’s a wildlife-spotting opportunity: harbor seals often ride the tide into Turnagain Arm. Beluga whales may come in a half hour or so later once the water gets deeper.
Tattoos and Chinese characters
My friend Brian has this really extraordinary tattoo that wraps most of a lower leg: "non-violence" in fourteen different languages. This got me to thinking about Chinese characters, which led me to this really excellent website explaining and discussing Chinese characters and language.
No, mom, I'm not seriously considering getting a tattoo. But if I do, I'll send a picture to you right away.
My friend Brian has this really extraordinary tattoo that wraps most of a lower leg: "non-violence" in fourteen different languages. This got me to thinking about Chinese characters, which led me to this really excellent website explaining and discussing Chinese characters and language.
No, mom, I'm not seriously considering getting a tattoo. But if I do, I'll send a picture to you right away.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
On a happier note :
Bog Monster is actively fermenting. At least in the sweet wort, the peat flavor isn't nearly as profound as I thought it would be. The whole shebang ended up with a vastly higher OG (1096!) than I intended, as it boiled for almost an extra half hour while we screwed around with proofing the Safale US-05.
Bog Monster is actively fermenting. At least in the sweet wort, the peat flavor isn't nearly as profound as I thought it would be. The whole shebang ended up with a vastly higher OG (1096!) than I intended, as it boiled for almost an extra half hour while we screwed around with proofing the Safale US-05.
Today's This I Believe on NPR
This responds to the former interrogator who NPR's Weekend Edition's Liane Hansen calls "Alex Anderson." Speaking under a made-up name to protect herself, today's This I Believe commentator just about made me physically ill with the vile propaganda she spewed. If you were lucky enough to miss it, you can read the text at that link, and also listen to it for yourself.
Her self-justifying, hateful nonsense was deeply, profoundly offensive. While I basically found almost every line disgusting, I'll give a few of the highlights:
She claims that "I don't have any torture stories to share. I think many people would be surprised at the civilized lifestyle I experienced in Guantanamo. The detainees I worked with were murderers and rapists." I'll try to put aside that these three sentences are so inherently contradictory as to make almost no sense. Worse, they indicate that she is either willfully and wantonly ignorant, in the most bizarre, dishonest, and hypocritical tradition of the Bush administration, or simply an outright liar, if she has no "torture stories to share."
"Alex" says she served a year in Iraq as a military interrogator, then returned for a year as a civilian contractor, supposedly because she didn't feel like she'd done enough to make a difference:
Her basic theme is the "redemption" she received through torturing, oops, interrogating people:
She tells one of her PRISONERS (I summarily reject her glibly describing her dominoes and chocolate party partners "clients") that her God expects her to "...love my neighbor as myself. That means you." Loving your neighbor as yourself means interrogating them while they are imprisoned and held incommunicado, without contact with their families, or legal representation, or basic civil and human rights, halfway across the world from their homes?
Nearing her conclusion, she writes that "My clients may never know this, but my year with them helped me to finally heal. My nightmares stopped." Well, "Alex Anderson", it sure is nice for you that playing dominos and eating chocolate with involuntary guests at your little Gitmo tea parties helped you heal. But how do you think this quality time felt for the prisoners?
I've listened to a lot of these "This I Believe" segments on NPR. They've been touching, poignant, banal, fascinating, and funny in turn. But this offensive, loathsome, hypocritical, dishonest propaganda makes me sick.
I'm quite sure that "Alex" doesn't care what I have to say (though she's certainly welcome to contact me through this blog, and I'd be happy to chat.) But while she might "believe we help to redeem each other through the power of acceptance" I should assure her that I won't be helping her with redemption by accepting her evil acts or her bizarre, dishonest story about them. She is going to need to look to her God that tells to her love her prisoners as herself for that redemption.
This responds to the former interrogator who NPR's Weekend Edition's Liane Hansen calls "Alex Anderson." Speaking under a made-up name to protect herself, today's This I Believe commentator just about made me physically ill with the vile propaganda she spewed. If you were lucky enough to miss it, you can read the text at that link, and also listen to it for yourself.
Her self-justifying, hateful nonsense was deeply, profoundly offensive. While I basically found almost every line disgusting, I'll give a few of the highlights:
She claims that "I don't have any torture stories to share. I think many people would be surprised at the civilized lifestyle I experienced in Guantanamo. The detainees I worked with were murderers and rapists." I'll try to put aside that these three sentences are so inherently contradictory as to make almost no sense. Worse, they indicate that she is either willfully and wantonly ignorant, in the most bizarre, dishonest, and hypocritical tradition of the Bush administration, or simply an outright liar, if she has no "torture stories to share."
"Alex" says she served a year in Iraq as a military interrogator, then returned for a year as a civilian contractor, supposedly because she didn't feel like she'd done enough to make a difference:
"First I served as a soldier for a year, and then returned as a civilian contractor because I felt I hadn't done enough to make a difference the first time."Hmmm... are you sure that you didn't just want to get paid a hell of a lot better to abuse people and engage in "torture lite"? See, e.g., former US Army interrogator Tony Lagouranis, in his outstanding and brutally honest book Fear Up Harsh, An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey Through Iraq. He writes about a civilian contract interrogator he calls "Eliza" who could quite easily be the despicable woman talking on This I Believe:
"Eliza was former military intelligence. She'd left the army and then came back to Iraq with a private firm, making somewhere between a hundred and two hundred thousand dollars per year to do the same thing we were doing. (Actually, these contractors did a lot less; they didn't have guard duty, latrine duty, or any other of the little bullshit jobs that the army uses to put you in your place.)"She makes the preposterous suggestion that everyone she interrogated at Guantanamo were "murderers and rapists":
"The detainees I worked with were murderers and rapists."But as bizarre and offensive as the commentary was on the whole, the really revolting part was while she talks about how "You never forgot for a moment that, given the chance, they'd kill you to get out" she nevertheless describes her interrogation, and her "clients" conditions, as basically a highly paid (for her) or all-expenses paid (for the prisoners) pleasure cruise:
"We'd meet, play dominoes, I'd bring chocolate and we'd talk a lot."Yes, really: that's a copied and pasted quote. I couldn't make that up if I tried.
Her basic theme is the "redemption" she received through torturing, oops, interrogating people:
People say, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." That is easier said than done, but I learned that there is true freedom in accepting others unconditionally.Uhhh, yeah: it's easy to accept someone unconditionally when they are imprisoned, and sitting across from you shackled while you interrogate them.
She tells one of her PRISONERS (I summarily reject her glibly describing her dominoes and chocolate party partners "clients") that her God expects her to "...love my neighbor as myself. That means you." Loving your neighbor as yourself means interrogating them while they are imprisoned and held incommunicado, without contact with their families, or legal representation, or basic civil and human rights, halfway across the world from their homes?
Nearing her conclusion, she writes that "My clients may never know this, but my year with them helped me to finally heal. My nightmares stopped." Well, "Alex Anderson", it sure is nice for you that playing dominos and eating chocolate with involuntary guests at your little Gitmo tea parties helped you heal. But how do you think this quality time felt for the prisoners?
I've listened to a lot of these "This I Believe" segments on NPR. They've been touching, poignant, banal, fascinating, and funny in turn. But this offensive, loathsome, hypocritical, dishonest propaganda makes me sick.
I'm quite sure that "Alex" doesn't care what I have to say (though she's certainly welcome to contact me through this blog, and I'd be happy to chat.) But while she might "believe we help to redeem each other through the power of acceptance" I should assure her that I won't be helping her with redemption by accepting her evil acts or her bizarre, dishonest story about them. She is going to need to look to her God that tells to her love her prisoners as herself for that redemption.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Some thoughts from my e-mail with E
(a.k.a. my favoritest and bestest sister)
First, a Utah Phillips qoute:
Finally, tomorrow's homebrew:
Bog Monster
Roughly:
8# Crisp Maris Otter
1# organic white wheat
1# 10L crystal
1.75# peated malt
mash 149*F for 60 min, mash out 170*F, batch sparge
60 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
40 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
20 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
Safale US-05 rehydrated
Should only take about a year in bottles to be drinkable. Yum!
(a.k.a. my favoritest and bestest sister)
First, a Utah Phillips qoute:
But if it's true the only real life I have is the life of my brain, what sense does it make to hand that brain to somebody for eight hours a day for their particular use on the presumption that at the end of the day they will give it back in an unmutilated condition?"Next, a couple of the things I told her I need to go do: tunnel a hole in the door frame of the man door between our garage and the side driveway, so we can more easily plug in the engine block heater of the car. Welcome to Alaska.
Finally, tomorrow's homebrew:
Bog Monster
Roughly:
8# Crisp Maris Otter
1# organic white wheat
1# 10L crystal
1.75# peated malt
mash 149*F for 60 min, mash out 170*F, batch sparge
60 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
40 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
20 min: .25oz Columbus 13.7% pellet
Safale US-05 rehydrated
Should only take about a year in bottles to be drinkable. Yum!
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Alaska, and elsewhere
I know that some of you occasionally see vestiges of my e-mails to you show up in this blog. For better or worse, it's when writing generalities about ANC, and what I'm doing, that I realize I should probably blog it. So I guess you could be happy that what I was writing to you seemed interesting enough to me to share it with eveyrone, right? The next couple paragraphs are (somewhat edited) versions of an e-mail I just sent.
Life in Anchorage remains fine. It's in the low 20s, crisp and clear. The snowy mountains across the way look like they have movie lighting on them, with a low sun shining under a layer of haze. We're waiting for Alyeska to re-open, after last weeks unseasonably warm temps (mid to high 40s was standard) melted all the snow. In our front yard, the ice and snow that covered the gravel is all gone, and only remains over the "grass."
Outside my window, the birds are doing acrobatics. I guess I'm thinking they might do better by migrating south, but they do make for entertaining diversions when I see them out of the corner of my eye. I'm mostly working on asylum and political protest stuff, and home improvement and homebrewing.
Last week I flew to Georgia for the annual SOA Watch vigil. Just before that I was in Sacramento, and in the weeks before that Atlanta, DC, and Boston. On Saturday night I'm flying to Arizona. My carbon footprint is really sucking, but life is definitely not boring.
Homebrewing:
recently bottled and kegged: Belgian pumpkin ale; imperial porter
recently racked to secondary: rye DIPA
planning: Bog Monster (two pounds of peated malt in a ~14 pound grain bill!)
Okay, I need to finish catching up on e-mail, and then make sure my folding bicycle fits in its suitcase, and see if I can fashion a relatively solid set of towing wheels to tow the suitcase with the bike.
I know that some of you occasionally see vestiges of my e-mails to you show up in this blog. For better or worse, it's when writing generalities about ANC, and what I'm doing, that I realize I should probably blog it. So I guess you could be happy that what I was writing to you seemed interesting enough to me to share it with eveyrone, right? The next couple paragraphs are (somewhat edited) versions of an e-mail I just sent.
Life in Anchorage remains fine. It's in the low 20s, crisp and clear. The snowy mountains across the way look like they have movie lighting on them, with a low sun shining under a layer of haze. We're waiting for Alyeska to re-open, after last weeks unseasonably warm temps (mid to high 40s was standard) melted all the snow. In our front yard, the ice and snow that covered the gravel is all gone, and only remains over the "grass."
Outside my window, the birds are doing acrobatics. I guess I'm thinking they might do better by migrating south, but they do make for entertaining diversions when I see them out of the corner of my eye. I'm mostly working on asylum and political protest stuff, and home improvement and homebrewing.
Last week I flew to Georgia for the annual SOA Watch vigil. Just before that I was in Sacramento, and in the weeks before that Atlanta, DC, and Boston. On Saturday night I'm flying to Arizona. My carbon footprint is really sucking, but life is definitely not boring.
Homebrewing:
recently bottled and kegged: Belgian pumpkin ale; imperial porter
recently racked to secondary: rye DIPA
planning: Bog Monster (two pounds of peated malt in a ~14 pound grain bill!)
Okay, I need to finish catching up on e-mail, and then make sure my folding bicycle fits in its suitcase, and see if I can fashion a relatively solid set of towing wheels to tow the suitcase with the bike.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Travelin'
In the Alaska Board Room in Seattle now, at the tail end of a long trip (ANC-BOS-DCA-ATL-ANC.) Confidential to the guy in the blue fleece with "UCI" on the back of the collar, sitting at a work desk on the ground floor, screaming into your bluetooth headset: we don't need to hear it, and at least a few of us had a good laugh at your expense when it became clear that it's your mother you're screaming at.
In the Alaska Board Room in Seattle now, at the tail end of a long trip (ANC-BOS-DCA-ATL-ANC.) Confidential to the guy in the blue fleece with "UCI" on the back of the collar, sitting at a work desk on the ground floor, screaming into your bluetooth headset: we don't need to hear it, and at least a few of us had a good laugh at your expense when it became clear that it's your mother you're screaming at.
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