Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Frozen, Safehouse & Cyser

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
 
Friday night, Izzy & I watched a movie that’d been on our queue for Netflix for a while called “The Frozen Ground”. Why was it on our queue? Well, it’s about an Alaskan troooper (played by Nicolas Cage) who is trying to find a serial killer (played by John Cusack… yes, John Cusack) before he strikes again… and basically the only lead that he has to go on is an underage prostitute (Vanessa Hudgens), but aside from her personal quibbles… she also has a mean pimp (50 Cent). By the way, this is NOT a comedy… it’s actually based on a true story. I just want to make that abundantly clear from the beginning. It’s not Ghost Rider trying to convict a serial killing Edgar Allen Poe with the help of a High School Musical dropout fallen on hard times… but still, you can see why it’s intriguing at a casual glance. The movie… is actually pretty good, hence why you’ve probably never heard about it, even though it came out in 2013 other than on my blog a few years ago. There are even some other character actors that you’ll recognize from other things (Kevin Dunn from “Transformers”, Kurt Fuller, Dean Norris from “Breaking Bad”, Brad Henke, etc) but the movie sets a dark, seedy tone… and the acting isn’t completely over the f**king top like you might expect from Mr. Cage or Mr. Cusack (okay, there are a few moments towards the end but… you know, climax). Also, fun fact: Vanessa Hudgens… can actually f**king act. I mean… the character for the most part is kind of lacking… but she actually pulls it off really well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her in some actual movies going forward… not that teeny bopper bullsh*t. Good for her! I definitely recommend watching this movie on Netflix if you like the genre… or all the TV capers and stuff. I’ll warn you though… this movie will make you think of…
  
Director Christopher Nolan’s “Insomnia” from 11 years earlier… you remember? After “Memento” but before the new Batman trilogy? Al Pacino trying to find a murdering Robin Williams with the help of Hilary Swank in the city of Nightmute, Alaska? During the time of year where the sun doesn’t set for months? There’s sleep deprivation, an internal affair investigation, some cover-up conspiracies and a lot of artsy focus shots? Well… Izzy hadn’t seen it… so I made her watch it right after. I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed this movie before… so I’m just gonna say check it out if you like the genre. I liked it.
 
Saturday, Izzy & I went to a meeting with the advisory board for the Safehouse for the Performing Arts here in San Francisco. Izzy has been assisting one of the board members for a while… and I was her ride… but we sat in the meeting & basically, we’re very interested in helping out the organization to promote the arts in the area… and maybe a few other things… but more on that to come. We also had some gyros & dolmathes at a great little Mediterranean place next door called Greek King. Good times!
 






Afterwards, we had made a Costco run in the morning to get food for the week & ingredients for our next batch of boozy goodness… Cyser. Now, you may be asking, “$teve, what the f**k is Cyser?” Well, have you ever imagined what Liquid Love might taste like? Well, it’s a lot like this. Previously, we’d made Mead (honey wine) and it turned out… questionable to say the least. We’d also made Apple Cider with fantastic results. Cyser… is the marriage of apple cider & honey to make an absolutely fantastic alcoholic concoction of which the world rarely sees. Basically for this batch, we got four gallons on 100% apple juice, five pounds of Clover Honey, some yeast nutrients (to help out the yeast & keep them active over long periods of time) and sweet mead yeast. It’s actually really simple. There’s not even a boil or anything involved for bittering, etc. because sanitization is aided by the help of campden tablets before adding the yeast 24 hours later… so yeah, here are some pictures… and the delicious end results will be in a few months…
 





 

Sunday, Izzy & I are beginning to officially walk more… like tracking on apps & stuff. See, I was basically volunteered to head up a walking team at work to promote fitness… and figured it’d be good motivation for me to do stuff like… walk for an hour after I get home from work & change or… get up early and go jogging or… you know, pair with the smoothies & drinking tea instead of Mountain Dew… which by the way has been going great thus far. Anyway, what makes it great motivation is that other people will be kind of depending on me to do it (team environment) and we can support each other… and Izzy of course wants in on it too. So yeah, probably more beautiful walking pictures to come… like this one…
 
Another great thing that happened this weekend… we’re getting to a point where our logo for Terrible Lizard Brewing is coming together… and we’re working on situation to get it in an event near you (if you’re in the Bay Area) but still a lot of hurdles… but without further ado… have a great weekend… and BEHOLD!!! The first real draft of the Terrible Lizard Brewing logo!!!
 
 

No comments:

Where Should I Go Next?