The Avett Brothers - Tiny Desk Concert - Laundry Room

936 Little Blobs

Reading this really puts everything into perspective. I did the quick math, and right now I'm on blob 242. Yeah, sure I still have 694 blobs left (statistically speaking at least), but holy shit - I need to do something exciting. Now.

Taking up the mantle once again.

So, I'm not really sure when the last time I last blogged was, but in short - it was a long time ago. I've been trying to get back into over the past few months (with little successful obviously), but have been plagued with work, travel, and the drudgery of everyday life. But hopefully I've found my 2nd wind and can begin posting my various exploits and findings once again. For now, I don't have time to get a full post, but here are some things I want to get to in the near future:

My learning of the German language
My trip to Switzerland
Some more beer related articles (I eventually want to try and try a new beer every week and post an overview of it)
Various technology and fun computer stuff
My twitter experience (I just started using it and eventually I want to write about its uses, and perks...if there are any that is)
Short, interesting historys
Music (that I like, that I don't like, my WUVT DJ going ons, etc)
And so on...

Also, hopefully I'm going to revamp the blog as a whole. We'll see how the progression goes, but I have faith that I can finally do this on a fairly consistent basis.

FML & a few other things...

So, this past week has been rather irritating because I haven't had a computer. I turned it on Monday because the fan was dead and it kept overheating and crashing, but I still don't have it back. I was originally informed it'd be done by Thursday, and then it changed to Friday. Now it's "sometime early next week". Not only do I have a huge paper due on Wednesday (35% of my grade), but I also have 2 online applications due. It's been ridiculous trying to get things done - I either have to borrow one of my roommate's computer (right now I'm on Charlie's) or go to the library if I want to get any work done. BUT, moving on...

Charlie and Becca have turned me on to this website called F*** My Life. It's hilarious (and kinda sad sometimes). People post short little blurbs about something really messed up that just happened to them. Here are few examples:

"Today, I was sleeping because I had been sick. The closest bathroom to mine is the one in my parents room. I wake up and feel like I have to throw up, I run into my parents room to go to the bathroom. I walk in on my parents having sex. Shocked, I gasp for air then throw up all over their bed. FML"

"Today, I was drunk and horny. So I texted "I want to fuck your pussy" to my girlfriend. I later realized that I had accidentally substituted the s for the p, and actually said "I want to fuck your puppy." FML"

"Today, I got my fake ID and went out with the boys to dinner and the bars. One of my friends asked to see my ID. He noticed my birthday didn't make me over 21. I paid $170 for a fake ID with my real birthday. FML"

"Today, I drunk dialed my mom and told her I was so high and drunk that I thought the KGB was coming after me. When I woke up this morning, my mom told me that she's no longer paying for college. FML"

Sierra Nevada - BigFoot Barleywine Style Ale

So, Friday night, Charlie and I went on a late night beer run to supplement our dwindling beer supply and to pick up something for the girls. After leaving the Beer Cave, I noticed the six pack you can see above you. It had been awhile since I've had any "good" beer and so I picked up this $11.00 six pack and dropped it into the cart. The real selling point was that this beer was a barleywine. A barleywine is a high gravity, high alcohol content beer and I'd never had one before and always wanted to try one.

Sierra Nevada BigFoot Ale is made, like I said, in the barleywine style. 2009 is its 25th year of production. BigFoot Ale has won 8 awards over the years in barleywine, ale, strong ale categories. The 2009 has 9.6% alcohol by volume and you can defintily tell. It's strong. Here's a brief rating. It's been awhile since I've had to think about the dynamics of the beer I'm drinking, so it's not great...but enjoy.




Appearance: Head starts out thick (depending on the pour) and falls to thin, tan head. Mid-range rusty brown. Looks delicious. Very appealing.
Aroma: Fairly strong Cascade hop aroma. To me this literally "smells like a Sierra Nevada". Cascade hops have a very distinct smell, and I've come to associate it with the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Sweet smelling. A little malty?
Palate: Heavy consistency. Almost feels like a lighter stout. Medium-high carbonation.
Flavor: Initially, very sweet-tasting. Very strong Cascade flavor - finishes like a Sierra Nevada beer. I'm not getting a whole lot of malt, but my tasting skills could be hindered by months of drinking Bud Light at football games. If it's there, it's being masked by the Cascade hops, which makes sense - you've got to hide the alcohol behind something in a barley wine. The Cascade might be just a little too over-powering, but I actually like it.
Overall: I'm a big fan out of this beer - after months of American pilsners (with few a decent beers here and there...mostly my home brew), this beer is simply a relief. The only problem I have with this beer is the flavor could be a bit more complex. I don't really have any other barley wines I can compare this with, but overall I like it. The alcohol is definitly BIG in this beer. I can feel it after making it through my first glass. At 11.00$ a pop, it's on the expensive side for a six pack, but definitley worth it (really, it's more like getting a 12 pack if you think about it).

Final Grade: A-

Here are some more facts about BigFoot Ale from Sierra Nevada's website:

alcohol content 9.6% by volume	bittering hops Chinook
beginning gravity 23.0 Plato	finishing hops Cascade & Centennial
ending gravity 6.0 Plato	dry hopping Cascade, Centennial & Chinook
bitterness units 90	malts Two-row Pale & English Caramel
yeast Top-fermenting Ale Yeast

Stephen King vs. Stephanie Meyer

I'm a big fan of Stephen King and earlier in the week I found a few articles about his comments on Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, during an interview with USA Today. He draws similarities between her and J.K. Rowlings, both of whom are very popular and whose books target a younger demographic, but quickly separates the two, citing "the real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good." He later goes onto comment:

...in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.

I love Stephen King for this - he's blunt and precise in his criticism. This whole interview was posted on a USA Today blog way back on February 2nd, so there's been ample time for die hard Twilight fans to throw their ill-crafted and unsound arguments at Stephen King's interview.

I won't go into great detail about them, but here's one that reflects the backbone of the Meyer Camp's argument:

Mr. King,
I think its time to harvest those sour grapes. You shouldn't feel threatened that a female author is outselling you by leaps and bounds. You should praise her for getting people into a book store to buy something besides $4 coffee.*

Meyer supporters often mistake King's criticisms for jealously, when in fact he's merely commenting on her writing ability. He has a degree in English, was a writing teacher, has published a writing guide called On Writing (ironically enough), and is a generally respected author in the writing community. I would say he is qualified enough to give, at the very least, a decent analysis of his peer's writing. Lastly, I'd point out that King has sold somewhere from 300 million to 350 million books in his career, while Stephanie Meyer has sold a meager, in comparison, 40 million books. King's comments were not made out of jealously at all, he was simply making remarks on the quality of her writing.


Go over to the original USA Today blog and read some of the comments - some of them are hilarious.

Family Guy vs. Hannity and Colmes

via videosift.com

I hate Fox News. It's bollocks and I love Family Guy for this quip on the lack of balance on Hanitty and Colmes...

*Edit* Fox took down the video clip :(