Beer Log

Since little else in life is worth posting about at the moment I have decided to use this space to record the new (or new to me) beers that I happen to come across. I toyed with the idea of writing it down on paper but that's just a bit too 2010 for my tastes. My alcohol consumption isn't out of control or anything so this will take some time fill up, but Trader Joes and Whole Foods both let you mix and match (so does Kroger late at night) so it's not as though I'll have to drink a million six packs.

It's important to note that I am not a beer expert, tasting snob or beer sommolier, just some guy (like your mom). Also, any suggestions for when to drink it or about what it might replace do not imply similarities to other beers, they are just things I think of when drinking the beer in question.

Anyway, first is Starr Hill "Lucy".
Color is nothing special, your typical cloudy straw color. Lots of head when you pour it and has a carbonationy aftertaste. Kind of a "bud light lime" taste going on, but not as pronounced. Sort of a lightly citrus beer. The label says it's brewed with ginger, "lime flavor" an coriander. I have no clue what coriander is.
This would be an easy substitute for a Corana w/ lime, or good with Mexican instead of Tecate. Would not be worth buying a six pack of, unless to share with others in one of the above situations.

Next is Xingu Black Beer. I can confirm that the name refers to the color of the beer, not it's intended consumers. According to the label it's from Brasil. Nifty.
Very little head, a slight licorice-like smell mixed with a day-old bottle of wine aroma from the bottle. Not Guiness like at all; it's rather thin and light tasting but too sweetsy-dark for my palette so I poured this bastard out. Will never drink this again.

Dropped off the earth

So I pretty much dropped off the earth it seems after starting that last post. Anyway, I found this online and wanted to save it somewhere and this seemed as good a place as any. It isn't really that cool it's just a random person's response to the most recent news about health care reform.

Let me get this straight . . . .

We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't,

Which purportedly covers at least thirty million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,

written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,

passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it,

and signed by a President who smokes,

with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,

for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect,

by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare,

all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese,

and financed by a country that's broke!!!!!

'What the hell could possibly go wrong?'

Lesson 2: Germans

The Germans are large, slow-witted and brutish race the lack of

Learning about other cultures is stupid and boring, but we're going to do it anyway. Lesson 1: US Citizens

This will be the first in a series of lessons about the many great and varied cultures of the world and what is wrong with or stupid about each of them. Everything will be presented as fact and none of what is written is in the least bit subjective. The purpose of my doing this is ultimately to save you time the next time you have a conversation about people or places; instead of having to think about things and draw your own conclusions you can just borrow mine and regurgitate them as you see fit, much like how most hard-core Republicans parrot Fox Newsisms and Liberal dirtbags do with whatever Obama tells them.

Lesson 1: The US
The US is a large country, predominantly white, that at one point decided that everyone should have the right to do and say whatever they want (which is great). Sadly, that noble basis upon which the country was founded has been twisted into something that has lead people to possess an unbelievable sense of entitlement that makes them think they can have whatever they want, make other people listen to whatever they say and and agree with whatever they do. There is no middle ground reflected in the media. Similarly, there is no longer a place for acceptance of personal responsibilities; everything is someone else's fault.
The people in the US are a largely overweight, monoligual and closed-minded religious lot that choose to believe what they are taught while growing up without regard for how much sense it makes or whether it may or may not be true or even reasonable. Your average American (yes, "American" refers solely to US Citizens) spends most of his or her day watching tv and eating or sitting on his or her ass at work waiting to get home and eat while watching American Idol (including the pre and post show shows).
Like their parents, most children are obese and wear sweatpants.
There are three main colors of Americans with a fourth that seems to be taking over the important roles: White, black, tanish and brownish. White and black people seem to be getting less motivated while the tanish and brownish people are taking their jobs. Hopefully this will eventually lead to more interbreeding of the colors, as mixed white and tan or brown chicks are typically hotter than the average 'pure' of either alone.
Americans as a whole like salt water taffy, turnips and syrupy beverages. Those living in large cities bathe frequently and for the most part refuse to walk even the shortest distances and look down on both public transport and those who use it. Every trip everywhere is made by car, unless you're poor or don't care if people think you're poor.
I will update this post as I learn more about the culture.

Thank God for vacation time (I'd thank Allah but I don't want to get homicide bombed and Joseph Smith is likely too busy with seer stones to care).

After the shittiest week ever I'm now 4 days away from ichiban super action trip fun time play. On Tuesday I head out to Frankfurt for a day or so of dicking around and hopefully making it to a castle or two before going to spend a day in Amsterdam walking around and not really doing much. I don't smoke but maybe I can find some decent beer or liquor to help me pass the time until my flight to London, which was and is the main destination. After London I go to Spain for 3 days where I will rent a car and drive down to see a friend from Belmont who happens to be living there doing something, teaching I think. If you search teh internetz for "Nick in Spain" you'll find his bloggage, which I think makes up 99.9% of the hits you'd get if you had typed in "Herrera del Duque" (where he lives).
Anyway, I used some Delta miles and a lot of planning time to put this together and unless those better-English-than-us Icelanders and their stupid volcanoes screw me over I'm expecting good things. It actually worked out cheaper in terms of both money and miles to add stops in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and to fly in business and first class than to go directly to and from London while riding in economy. Being somewhat claustrophobic and also a fan of free drinks I'm not going to complain.
But that's enough looking to the future; now it's time to dwell on the past. So far this week I've had my wallet and camera stolen, locked my keys in my car 20 miles from home while replacing cards and such and missed my first two days of work this year due to being sick. Having just drank a large bottle of milk after three big mugs of green tea I think I may be sick again, but fortunately I'm on break at work and the toilets here can take a beating like the Atlantic Wall.
Back to work.

This is a placeholder for a picture I found.

Make it rain.

If there is one thing I can't stand, it's foreigners. And xenophobia.

So once again I've let this blog thing slide like, well, anything you try to stick to an Italian's face. It's been too long blogspot. Things they are a changin.
Not really. I think the last posts were pretty much nonsense and did little to chronicle the typical day-to-day of my awesomely ballin and flossed-out life so this one will be much more diary-esque. These will be the stories that I share with my grandchildren, and by that I mean I will show this to them so I don't actually have to talk to them. By that time I will probably not be on speaking terms with their parents anyway.
In January I got out of the SI (and based on what everyone still there says my timing was pretty good) and went to the OR. It's basically a low-level management job; I'm kind of the catch-all supervisor for various groups of people while their real bosses are at home asleep. It's ompletely different than what I was doing before but so far I like it. I could do without the 50-odd hour weeks, but then again it's cold here and I have nothing else to do anyway. At least I'll have solid vacation money should I ever find somewhere to go. Thinking about taking a few shortish-long weekend trips; maybe a few days in China, hit Tokyo or something, wha eva. Still have to use a ton of FF miles before inflation hits them again.
The car is a work in progress and it should be back from 2 months in the shop on Tuesday afternoon. What sucks is that all it really needed was about one days worth of solid work but it seemed to have been dragged (drug?) out a bit, but I figure it can be parked in their garage just as well as it can in any other. I need to get it back soon though so I can put the hood pins on and put the new seat covers, cushions and most importantly the new top on it.
I just polished off my 5th large glass of tea and a huge powerbar thing so I have to run.