TAKE THE F**KING ELEPHANT!!!

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Tuesday night was the SF Homebrewers Guild Meeting where we had a guest speaker from Cerverceria de Mateveza, which is a small brewery here in the Mission District. We’re doing another collaboration brew with them this year & we discussed ideas for a Brown Ale that they would “mass produce” (I think 3 barrel system) with our help & consultation… and then people interested in watching how the brew is made can check it out & we would have a release party several weeks later when it’s ready. More details to come but it sounds like a lot of fun. Aside from that, we’ve had a LOT of interesting in our Learn to Homebrew Day next weekend so with the new Guild members, family & friends, we could have anywhere from 10-30 people showing up. I’m guessing more around 10-15  based on past RSVP’s but still, it should be a lot of fun.

 

Wednesday, I stayed at home sick as a dog. Basically what happened was I went to work on Tuesday & by lunch time, I had a little something in my throat… like if you slept with your mouth open, just a little dryness… then about the time my shift was over, I was sneezing a little bit… and then by the end of the guild meeting, I was starting to get cold shakes & stuff. Yup, your boy got ebola. Okay, it wasn’t quite that bad… but even after drinking a bunch of juice & medicine, I wasn’t going anywhere Wednesday morning. I tried, but the ladyfriend was looking out for me… and my coworkers… by making sense. So I basically rested all day, drank juice & was back to work on Thursday (still about 80%) but perfectly fine by Friday. Yay!

 

While resting up, I watched a movie from 1990 that I really hadn’t seen before called “Darkman” starring Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand & directed by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead” trilogy & “Spiderman” trilogy). Basically from what I understand, this movie came out a year after the original Batman with Michael Keaton & Tim Burton… and the whole dark superhero thing was looking to be capitalized on… and there was this director guy Sam Raimi who made these weird & innovative action movies with the first two “Evil Dead” movies (third one “Army of Darkness” came shortly after)… and he wanted to do something like Batman… but even darker. Apparently Raimi wanted to make “The Shadow” but couldn’t get the rights… and wanted Bruce Campbell to play the lead Peyton, but the producers didn’t think he was big time just yet… so basically he had to improvise and came up with the character of Darkman. The plot is that there’s a scientist named Peyton (Liam Neeson) who is working on synthetic skin in his home laboratory / studio where he occasionally hangs with his business suit girlfriend (McDormand). Girlfriend finds memos about her boss bribing zoning commissioners or something, tells her boss that she has the proof at home… and so boss sends hired muscle to get it… beating the crap outta Peyton, then blowing up him & his lab in the process. Now, horribly burned & disfigured, Peyton is taken to a hospital as a John Doe… they disconnect his nerve endings because the pain would be too much… but the lack of pain gives him both super strength… but also leaves his brain a bit of mess constantly feeling rage, sorrow & all kinds of emotions… so basically like Wonder Woman on the rag… but if she were the dude from “Taken” twenty years younger & horribly burned. Now, Peyton wants VENGEANCE!!! Oh… and to get his girlfriend back… so he uses his synthetic skin technology that only lasts for 99 minutes in the light to A) Set a tangled web of vengeance against those who destroyed his life; B) hang out with his girlfriend at carnivals & ice cream shops & sh*t; and C) Continue tangled web of VENGEANCE!!!

  

Now, with my new format, I’d usually tell you what I liked & what I didn’t like… but honestly, there wasn’t a whole lot that I didn’t like about this movie… especially by 1990 standards. I suppose the main reason that it wasn’t a bigger hit was that it was rated R due to some pretty violent imagery & some adult language (“TAKE THE F**KING ELEPHANT!!!”) that doesn’t really appeal to kids but fine if you’re an adults. Overall though, it was a pretty intriguing story, even if it was kinda hastily thrown together in response to Batman. Sam Raimi’s style is VERY prevalent with the wild & excited cuts and angles that we know from the Evil Dead & Spiderman movies… but maybe even on steroids a little bit here to give you a sense of what Peyton’s going through. Some of the effects are a little wonky by today’s standards… but this was 1990 so you can easily look past most of it. Liam Neeson does a great job of acting… and my only remark is that… the accent’s pretty bad at this point still. I mean… it works out pretty well when he’s Darkman, you know, not having lips & stuff… but some of the dialogue in the first act is like Lucky the Leprechaun trying to sound like he’s from Jersey or something. You know who REALLY steals the show in my opinion? The bad guys! The muscle man is named Durant, played by Larry Drake… and he’s just pure badass. He’s imposing, has a collection of fingers, has a kind of smooth, suave sophistication to his heinous brutality… and apparently he’s so badass that even though (spoiler alert) he gets blown up in a helicopter/tunnel collision, apparently there’s a sequel that I’ve yet to check out called “Darkman II: Return of Durant”. That’s right, in the sequel, the hired goon gets as much billing as the hero. That’s like the sequel to “Batman Begins” being called “The Dark Knight: Joker, B**ches!!!” Heck, even the girlfriend’s boss character who hires him is basically a perfectly sleazy, cheesy, smart, brash, cruel 1980’s businessman who not only hires goons to kill people in order to get a piece of paper… but within minutes is trying to console the “widowed” girlfriend… and then in the end, you find out that he’s actually a pretty street-wise little badass in his own right. Anyway, I highly recommend that you check this movie out if you haven’t already. It’s pretty damn good in my humble opinion.

 

Saturday night, we kegged our Pumpkin Ale & it looks pretty magnificent...

 

 

 

Also, see how much of our Imperial Stout has already blown off? It's only been a week...

 

...and a few humble brags about the view by my apartment on a beautiful World Series day, free of monsters & megamovie megadisasters here in the Bay Area...

 

Things are looking great for Learn to Homebrew Day next weekend with about 25 RSVPs (so about a dozen may actually show) and it’s going to be a great mix of new or interested homebrewers, a few seasoned vets, family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and just beer enthusiasts in general. That will also be the filling of a Halloween Party sandwich on Friday night & Saturday night. No rest for the wicked… but hey, wicked people have the most fun. Have a great day everybody!!!

Sacramento Adventures

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Well, first thing’s first… I was a little under the weather again this weekend. Apparently Dizzy was ill while I was in Utah, was pretty much over it, but was still a little contagious so I think I got her bug this weekend. Just a little bit of sore throat & body aches that were fairly easily remedied… but it was still enough for me to call in sick on Friday so that I wouldn’t pass it along to coworkers… and Dizzy was coughing quite a bit all weekend but hopefully she’s getting over it too. We took care of each other this weekend… and how!?!

 

Friday, I basically spent my whole day off doing laundry, drinking OJ, watching Netflix, catching up on blogging, all that fun stuff but kept to the house. Nothing too noteworthy. Oh, because we were both under the weather, we thought it would be best to hold off on our next stage of homebrewing with transferring our Bourbon Barrel Porter, bottling our Mead, or starting either our Winter Warmer or Oktoberfest brew… but instead, we did have a little fun doing research.

 

Saturday, we were both feeling well enough to keep our plans of meeting up with Dizzy’s sister Tess in the Sacramento area to go on a mystic adventure through time… but first, a few stops. The first stop was Heretic Brewing Company in Fairfield, about 45 minutes from my place (and only about 20-25 from Dizzy’s). Their taproom, known as The Confessional, just opened up a few months ago and we first heard about it because… apparently there was a big snafu about a craft brewery opening up so close & in the same city as a MAJOR Anheuser-Busch brewery… but after legal battles, here they are. Apparently, it IS a free country… for now. The Confessional is located in a somewhat industrial business park area just off I-80, but once you step in the doors, it’s just a nice simple, contemporary place to try out some beers. The crowd was very nice (fellow homebrewers & food truck operators from outside) so we found out a little about them & basically just shot the sh*t while taking in their delicious options.

 

Their motto is “Be a Heretic. Don’t Drink Ordinary Beer” and they certainly have a lineup of distinctive & delicious brews. We tried a sampler of just about everything on tap (nine in total). I really liked just about all of them. Their top year-round selections include Evil Twin (red ale), Evil Cousin (IPA), Shallow Grave (Porter) & Gramarye (GABF 2012 Gold Medal winner for Rye beers). However, some of my favorites were their seasonal CHP (Chocolate Hazelnut Porter), Incubus (Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout) & Miscreant (2 year old Dark Sour Ale) but they have a lot of other selections that are just hard to keep for more than a week. Online there are listings for some interesting stuff like Worry (Belgian style aged in Chardonnay barrels) and their Barleywine (Dead Weight). I highly recommend checking them out if you’re in the neighborhood.

 

Next stop was meeting up with Tess at Goat House Brewery in Lincoln. All I can say about this place… is this is pretty much what we want to do. It’s a husband & wife team (Mike & Cathy Johnson, and their dad actually greeted us in the parking lot before we even stepped in the door) who decided to chase their dream and turn their farm & barn into a farm-to-glass experience… by growing their own ingredients and turning a barn into the brewery & tasting room. We basically were thinking of pretty much the same thing… so it was nice to see that it could be done… and done so well. The whole atmosphere was very nice & inviting… and kind of a beergarten setup where everybody can meet at tables meant for up to 12 people and just chat… or in this case, listen to a local artist. As for the beer, it was also pretty damn good.

 

They had eight selections, basically all the craft brew staples with clever names like Jagged Little Pils, Sweet Georgia (brown ale), Dirty Redhead, 1492 (IPA with Columbus hops) and my personal favorite, their barleywine Badonkadonk. They were all fairly decent as well. I’ve had better but… not really anything that you can knit-pick about any of them. Basically just really good staple recipes with some hoppiness and great flavor. What more can you really want? If you’re ever in the Lincoln area and looking for a great place to chill during the hot Sacramento days, then I’d definitely check this place out. Warning, they do close fairly early around 4 PM.

 

After some quick refreshments, the three of us headed out to Folsom Lake. Due to a bit of a drought in the area (snowpack is about 35% of normal), the man-made lake from the Folsom Dam has been really low… but one little benefit of it is that you can walk to the ruins of Mormon Island. It was a gold mining town back in the 1880’s and when the damn was built in the 1940’s, they basically moved everybody out of the little town because it was going to become part of the lake created. So it wasn’t washed away in an immediate flood or anything… but still, the foundations were in place and most of the walls, etc… then the lake came in & it was underwater most of the time. Now it was low enough to walk around it… and we got there just as the sun was setting, so we didn’t have much time to excavate… but here we go…

 

After about an hour or walking around, we headed back to Tess’ stables… but she kind of took us on a different path back… and “coincidentally” it went right by their dad’s house. So after some “gentle nudging” from Tess, we stopped by. See… Dizzy hadn’t really seen her dad in about four years. They had a bit of a falling out (alcohol & attitude related) but we figured “what the hell?” So we met up with him, chatted for about 20 minutes, saw a few online videos, and that was basically that. Of course with it being posted on Facebook & Tess calling herself a miracle worker every family member had an opinion this way or that… but yeah, it wasn’t a big thing at all… and of course Dizzy was a little irritated at the response from family (since old ladies have nothing better to do than meddle in other people’s affairs) but whatever… I’m glad that she was able to see her dad & it didn’t end in a fight or anything.

 

So afterwards, we dropped Tess off at her stables (finally)... here's Izzy's favorite horse Rubicon...

 

...and then on the way back home, we stopped for some dinner at Sudwerk Restaurant & Brewery in Davis. This came highly recommended from the host of the Halloween party we went to a while back. They had a keg of their IPA at the party & told us about this place… and basically it was also a German restaurant so… what’s not to like? We pulled up & that was where I found out that the Eagles had yet again lost a first-round playoff game (DAMMIT!!!). But we ordered a sampler of their season brews (Doppelbock, Dunkelweizen, Session IPA, Milk Stout & an Imperial Pilsner) and they were pretty good. Again, nothing incredibly exceptional… but definitely very decent and went will with dinner (a fantastic Tri Tip Salad and Wiener Schnitzel). Again, I highly recommend this place if you’re in the Davis area. Good food & drink to wash it down with.

 

The rest of the night & Sunday, we basically relaxed at my place and watched both seasons of “American Horror Story”, the first season of “Maron”, started up season 3 of “Walking Dead”, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and a few others. The new one was “The Dinosaur Project” which… is basically a low-budget, found-footage style movie about an investigation team being sent into the heart of the Congo to look for a possible Plesiosaur (Nessie-like dinosaur) that was allegedly recorded by locals. Of course the plot involves a teenage son, a lot of Go Pro cameras (and several dozen unexplained camera angles including the climax) but overall, it’s what you expect. Spoiler alert: There’s dinosaurs, everybody dies. Not a great flick… but check it out if you’re interested. You know if you are. It’s not quite SyFy horrible… but it seems like a definite straight-to-DVD kind of flick. Nobody you know stars in it. It’s about a 5 out of 10 on IMDB. Eh… it had Dinosaurs… and you KNOW that’s one of my Key Words in a synopsis to check it out. Remember?

 

So with that… the focus of this week is to make sure that I’m over this cold… and then this weekend, probably catch up on the brew action. We’ve got a load of Quick Mead that may be ready for bottling… but then again, it may be a few weeks too. We definitely have our Bourbon Barrel Porter ready for being “barreled” with Maker’s Mark Bourbon. Then we have a two new batches to decide for our next batch. A winter warmer spiced ale… or an Oktoberfest style lager. I’m thinking the winter warmer since we’d better have it ready before “winter” is over… but then again, when it’s always temperate weather then it doesn’t really matter. Suggestions? Any batches that you’d like to see us make in the near future? I’m trying to think of something adventurous for my Birthday release beer in April… as well as paying off Gretchen in July/August. I have a few ideas but… I’m always up for suggestions. Have a great day everybody!!!

Home DePot

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well, it’s official. I will be visiting the great state of Utah later this month & attending my buddy Spitso’s wedding. We’ve been down since the late 80’s so it’s only right. I just had to get the time approved off work (about $60 more on flights because of the wait later…) but it happened. If you’d like to meet up, holla at me. Hopefully I’ll be able to see as many of my family & friends as possible given it’s only for 4-5 days. Then they’ll just have to come visit me the rest of the summer because my work isn’t going to let me leave until mid-fall probably. It’s just the nature of the beast.

The past few days, I’ve been a little under the weather… but nothing major. Just one of those 24 hours bugs… that apparently takes about 48 hours once you turn 30… but just running nose & such. No hitting the gym but I plan to do plenty of it this weekend now that I’m feeling a little better. Really going to try to get back into the swing. I’ve been getting a little lazy the past little while once I’ve gotten home, primarily because I’ve been so busy with work, but I just need to suck it up & get back my Jesus like body. My love for delicious food isn’t helping… but hey, there are healthier delicious foods as long as I’m willing to put in a little more work preparing them. I can do it. I believe in me. You all already knew that though… so here’s some news…

Home DePot - Seeking to capitalize on Arizona's newly enacted medical marijuana law, a California-based company on Wednesday opened a superstore-sized garden center in Phoenix catering to those who want to grow their own cannabis. "We sell everything but the plant itself," said Dhar Mann, founder of weGrow, the company that began franchising its big-box stores with outlets in Oakland and Sacramento, California. "We sell the products and the services for people to safely and responsibly cultivate their medicine." The 21,000-square-foot store offers some 2,000 products, including soil, grow lights and irrigation trays, specially designed for effective marijuana growing, Mann told Reuters. A doctor also is on site to furnish eligible patients the initial medical approval needed to apply to the state health department for cards authorizing them to legally grow and use marijuana as treatment for a variety of qualifying ailments. The store's opening came on the same day that Arizona was to have begun accepting applications from individuals seeking one of 125 permits the state plans to grant for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. But that process was put on hold last week. On Friday, the state went to federal court seeking to clarify whether its citizens were at risk of federal prosecution for participating in activities sanctioned under Arizona's medical marijuana act, passed by voters in November. Arizona is the 16th state in the nation, plus the District of Columbia, to decriminalize marijuana for medical purposes. But Dennis Burke, the U.S. attorney for Arizona, warned in a letter to state health officials last month that the cultivation, sale and distribution of cannabis, classified by the U.S. government as an illegal narcotic, remains a federal crime. Since April, state officials have been accepting applications from patients and caregivers looking to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes. Figures show that 3,696 people have obtained cards allowing them to possess and grow marijuana for a range of medical issues, chronic pain chief among them. Males account for more than 75% of those approved… so don’t worry, nana’s still not growing anything in her herb garden that you’ll want. Mann said his Oakland-based company has big expansion plans for Arizona and nationwide as it looks to tap into what some have estimated to be a market worth billions of dollars (just ask those trying to fight the War of Drugs). He said the next franchise store will open in the District of Columbia in July, with additional outlets slated for Denver, Detroit and possibly Los Angeles by the end of August. So remember that slippery slope that everybody has talked about since the days of “Reefer Madness”? Well… here you go. It’s still safer than whatever the hell they do to tobacco though.

Bank Robbing Update - The Ohio bank robber dubbed the "mullet bandit" by federal authorities appears to have struck again. The latest heist took place on Wednesday morning at a Key Bank branch on Stringtown Road in Grove City, Ohio. The FBI said a man matching the physical description of the mullet-wearing suspect sought in two previous holdups walked into the bank and handed a teller a note, saying he was robbing the bank, had a gun, and would hurt the teller if she did not cooperate. The robber was dressed in the mullet bandit's garb, including Seattle Mariners baseball cap and large dark sunglasses. Initial surveillance photos suggested he had shed his distinctive hairdo to evade detection, swapping out his mullet -- a style popular in the 1980s that is short on the top, tight on the sides and long in the back -- for something more up to date. But subsequent images revealed the suspect had merely tucked his mullet up underneath his baseball cap. "Tricky guy," said Harry Trombitas, the FBI agent tracking him. The suspect is described as a white male, in his late 30's, about 6 feet tall, with a medium build, a scruffy appearance and dark hair cut in a mullet. He is wanted in connection with the two previous bank robberies in Columbus on May 18 and May 5. The key to being a great bank robber… is to not be distinctive in any way. That’s why I have yet to rob a bank… because I’m distinctively tall. Period. Well, that and I don’t want to go to jail… and a few moral conflicts… but that’s the main reason. My grade… D+ because apparently it has worked three times. He’s got moxey.

Anyway, that’ll do it for today. Going to be busy the next little while at work… including working a little on the weekends… but hey, every job has its price. Otherwise they wouldn’t pay you for it, right? Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Six More Weeks

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