Dec 22, 2005

ok, i had to put up "lazy sunday" on my blog. couldn't resist...



dionne found the funniest damn SNL clip and threw it up on her blog. it's a rap video called "lazy sunday." i think we watched it like five times in a row last night. i laughed so hard i almost pissed myself.

Dec 18, 2005

well, the indianapolis colts finally lost today, meaning football fans will go yet another year without seeing a team finish 16-0 (the colts made it as far as 13-0 before the san diego chargers beat them this afternoon). anyway, you'll undoubtedly hear many references to the 1972 miami dolphins (the only undefeated team in modern NFL history) and the oft-repeated story that the living members all get together and pop champagne to celebrate the last undefeated team's loss. i heard an espn anchor make a reference to this just a few days ago. well, in reality, it's just an urban legend. don shula himself has said he'd be the first to call the coach of that undefeated team and congratulate him. so if you hear someone mention champagne and the '72 dolphins, tell him or her that it's just a tall tale.

Dec 15, 2005

you may have heard about this, but the ultra-connected investment company The Carlyle Group is the major investor in the acquisition this week of Dunkin' Donuts. the carlyle group of course appeared unflatteringly in "Farenheit 9/11", but more specifically, it's the company founded by people very, very closely connected to the white house, major fortune 500 boards and the council on foreign relations. i don't mean to sound like a tin foil hat-wearing loon, but i don't like this. when you control the nation's coffee supply, you control the nation! if i'm on the trilateral commission or a member of the illuminati (like tupac!), then i'm thinking of slipping some kind of mind-altering chemical in the coffee... something to make us docile!

the great blog daily kos thankfully has a whole page devoted to the subject. in the meantime, i'm making my own coffee!

Dec 8, 2005

slate has a nifty little story about the film "layer cake" today. it's about cockney ganster films and why they seem to do so well on DVD, but not in theaters. apparently, people like to be able to rewind scenes a few times to pick up extra bits of that jumbled mess of english language. i think people just have a hard time finding movie houses near them that show these flicks. but what do i know...



i do know that the straight up smoothest, most sophisticated cockney gangster flick of all time would have to be "gangster no. 1" starring paul bettany and malcolm mcdowell. this one is just buttery smooth. the gangsters just have strut and style that makes this film so alluring.

Dec 6, 2005

for those of you not prone to following such trivial or not-so-trivial things, the indianapolis colts are 12-0 in this NFL season, meaning they need four more wins to attain the perfect 16-0 season. no team has ever gone 16-0, although the 1972 Dolphins were a perfect 13-0. i keep asking people if they'd rather see their team go 16-0 or win the super bowl. so far everyone i know has said something like, "all that matters is winning the super bowl." but they say it in this sort of zombie-like way... like they've been indoctrinated by years of NFL marketing. my point: the 16-0 season is a far bigger feat. you may not remember who won the super bowl in 1998, but the first 16-0 season will not be so easily forgotten. a writer at slater had many of the same ideas on this question.

Dec 4, 2005

brewing update...

wow it's been a busy two weeks. last weekend jay and i bottled the IPA and racked the porter to secondary. we have REALLY high hopes for the porter, which used a very good liquid yeast strain and lots of specialty grains like chocolate malt (it doesn't actually have chocolate in it, it's basically a slightly roasted barley malt), black patent malt and roasted barley. should be scrumdiddlyumcious.



so the IPA has been in bottles for a week now. i couldnt' resist trying one today while watching the pittsburgh steelers pathetically lose to the cincinatti bengals. it was only slightly carbonated and the maltiness really hasn't coalesced yet, but it has a VERY interesting hoppy flavor to it (we used centennial hops, which are very bitter) and it was just a beautiful color... bright gold and very clear. this is gonna be a good beer, but it's not there yet.



yesterday we bottled the porter. should be so good. i can't wait to try it. we also decided to brew our fifth batch, a basic english bitter (albeit with american hops). we used just basic malt extract and crystal malt (which gives it a nice amber/brown color and plenty of sweetness and a combination of amarillo hops (a very new and trendy hop variety) and mt. hood (a classic pacific nw aroma hop). the best part was that we reused the london ale yeast from the porter. jay checked on it today and said the thing was churning and foaming like crazy. check out da video.

sorry for the lack of posts lately. i've been a bit distracted lately with work and all sorts of other stuff. to update everyone who i haven't talked to in the past few weeks, here's the scoop:

di and i are having a "70s-themed" christmas party at our house on dec. 17. should be a good time. we're gonna have fondue, lots of disco music and cocaine. mounds and mounds of the fine colombian. ok. everything but the cocaine part is true. we've also got the house all decorated with a christmas tree (fake) and plenty of lights. the cat likes to go after the ornaments. (yes! shiny round things!)

at the end of the month dionne and i are going to visit her parents in their new home in nashville, tenn. they just moved there from lakeland, fla. should be fun. pretty much her whole family will be there. this would have had me nervous a few years back, but at this point, we're all on extremely familiar terms. (basically, they know how crazy i am.)

we're going to probably leave on friday morning the 23rd and make the drive straight down there. should be fun.

Dec 1, 2005

we're idiots. di and i hoped to visit graceland. it turns out graceland is in memphis, tennessee, not nashville. wrong end of a very long state.