Thursday, June 07, 2007

5/1/07 Post from the Website

5/1/07 - "Mayday!" It's damn hot! Supposed to cool off later this week but who knows? I guess that's why weathermen, no offense but weatherwomen and weatherpeople sounds odd, speak in percentages. There are no guarantees. As for the saying April showers bring May flowers, the last couple weeks the showers have been courtesy of yours truly with a hose and watering can.
My hops, one Cascade and one Chinook, have sprung forth from the ground! Planted a Mardi Gras Honeysuckle vine recently. Went with a Japanese Maple after all. It's a Crimson Queen.

His Excellency - George Washington. I'm currently listening to the unabridged audio version in the car. I'm on disc 6 and have thoroughly enjoyed reading/listening to it. Puts Washington into perspective, strengths and faults, and clears the air about certain myths -- ex) the cherry tree & "I cannot tell a lie" = never happened. Standing in the bow of the boat crossing the Delaware = No, but a nice piece of mythology. A real eye-opener about our War of Independence, how close we were to losing, the politics of the day, and public opinion in the late 18th century. Much can be made between the similarities of shifting opinions, private doubts, and political blunders between the two eras. Highly recommend if you enjoy history, our Founding Fathers, or simply want to learn a little more about the era.

World Beer Festival - My wife and I went this past weekend to the Festival in downtown Raleigh. An absolute great time. 150 breweries, over 300 beers to sample. You're given a sampling cup when you enter, marked with 4 oz., 2 oz., and 1oz. lines. The policy is to serve only 2 oz. so you can enjoy a variety. Toward the end of the afternoon session, some breweries started serving closer to 4 oz. Don't like the sample, or just feeling too full to drink all of it (especially after eating a big 'ol Bbq sandwich), no problem! There are buckets everywhere to pour it out. Innumerable domestic and foreign brews to try. I sampled everything from a porter from Sri Lanka, to a domestic apricot ale. Believe it or not the latter was actually quite light and refreshing. Wouldn't want to drink more than one, but a nice warm weather beer.
The crowd was amazing too, well behaved, and everyone just having a good time. About 3,000 patrons for our session, and no one allowed between the ages of 12 to 21. Good music, huge variety of food, lots of Tees to buy (we bought three) and souvenirs. Also sat in on a wonderful little lecture on pairing food with beer. The highlight of it was pairing chocolate with a Stout. The lecturer offered a good suggestion for a dinner party which we may follow.

Deadliest Catch - A show on the Discovery Channel that will really pull you in, no pun intended. About the King Crab fishermen in Alaska. Any romanticized notions of being a fisherman? This will knock it out of you like one of the 1,000 lb. crabpots the crews work with. After two shows you'll start to root for the guys, laugh at their pranks, and when an emergency hits, you'll cringe for their safety. Probably kiss your kids and say one extra prayer the next morning. These captains and crew are family men and share a common familiar bond between them. Any man on any boat goes over and they all aid in the rescue. If someone's lost, it wears on all of them, it'll probably wear on you too. For those of you who like Dirty Jobs, you'll recognize the voice of the narrator, Mike Rowe. Only difference? No smart-ass jokes in this commentary.

LA Dodgers - 15-11. ½ game back in the NL West. But Brad Penny's pitching tonight (3-0, 1.95 ERA). I like their chances to reclaim the lead. They're playing Arizona, 16-11.

NFL Draft - I really like the Panthers draft. Yes, they didn't pick a safety until the 7th round, but their other choices - the trade down in the 1st to pick up an extra 2nd - netted a much-needed influx of talent at desperately thin positions.