The 2015 $tevie Awards

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

...and Happy New Year!!! So it’s time for this year’s $tevie Awards… and in reading this over… there’s a bunch of repetitive sh*t… so I tightened it up a bit. Remember when I used to put real production value in these things? No? Well, then you should totally check out past awards shows with a wide variety of hosts. In the meantime, enjoy!

 

DRINKING BUDDY OF THE YEAR: Izzy – You’ve read the blog… and the one specifically regarding Beer& Terrible Lizard Brewing. If you hadn’t, you really should… and how did you find this blog in the first place? We’re always trying out different brews at home, checking out breweries around the world (thanks Canada!), recipes, experiments, and just enjoying& drinking all the time… winning a few awards here & there along the way. What more else can I say? She’s amazing… so of all the people I drink with (and apparently there are many) she’s far and away the most prevalent.

 

NEWCOMER AWARD: Big Ben & Lone Cicerone – Although the new roommates are pretty cool, I’m not going to f**king jinx it again like year’s past. Also, Big Ben & his wife Lone Cicerone are pretty f**king awesome and I’m really glad that we’ve been able to hang out from time to time and do all kinds of events regarding our fondness of Beer… and even work in Game of Thrones marathons. They’re amazing thoughtful people!!! Thank you guys!!!

 

SONG FOR 2015: “Hotline Bling” by Drake – I’m f**king joking… most music is absolutely horrible now… and I can’t believe this song exists. Sh*t is ridiculous… I really don’t know of any new music from this year… and honestly, I’m okay with it. OH!!! MATT & KIM WERE F**KING AWESOME IN CONCERT!!! They released their album “New Glow” this year… but I honestly couldn’t tell you a song off the top of my head though… I’m sure it’s amazing though. Check it out! Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine also just released a few new albums… love that guy. Definitely check him out too… but f**k Drake. Okay, that’s harsh… glad he can make some money in this economy… just not from me.

 

MOVIE FOR 2015: "Mad Max: Fury Road" – You probably could have guessed this from my review back in July but… yeah, this is probably the best movie that I’ve seen in a long, long time… like probably “The Dark Knight” or something… and maybe even better than that. (GASP!!!) This year actually had a few good ones… that I actually saw in theatres too. 2^nd place would probably go to “Jurassic World” which had its flaws but overall a great dino adventure… and let’s not forget the early front-runner back in March “Chappie” which I still think is pretty damn good. Also, I’m glad that “Creed” turned out as good as it did so I’m giving it some honorable mention. Also, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" was okay... but yeah, barely breaking the top 5 at best. I also saw “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” but I’ll save that for another entry…

 

VIDEO GAME FOR 2015: “Mad Max” – Okay, so I’m a little behind in the video game area. I’m playing “Madden 15” and just took the revamped Raiders to SLC to become the Pioneers… and some free games that I got through Playstation Plus that’ve been out for a year or more… and occasionally still last year’s winner “South Park: Stick of Truth” but I haven’t played anything like “Fallout 4” or “Star Wars Battlefront” or “Witcher III” or any of the “Call of Duty” games or the new “Star Wars Battlefront” game or Batman sequels/prequels or “Metal Gear Solid V” or the Tomb Raider reboot or “Halo 5” or “Mortal Kombat X” or the Assassin’s Creed sequels… but I got to play a little bit of the “Mad Max” video game during my Utah vacation… and I may have to purchase this thing. The environment is pretty gorgeous, the game play is pretty unique, it’s got tons of references from the movies as well as new lingo, worlds and atmosphere to this emersive world. Since it’s really the only new game that I’ve played that came out this year… I’ll go with it. I also got “Madden 16” for Christmas… but for this year though… it’s the year of the Shiny & Chrome… and yeah… GO SLC PIONEERS!!! #slcpioneers #steverules

 

TV SHOW FOR 2015: Netflix – Still no TV… but yeah, lots of great series available on Netflix… and we watched all six seasons & a few TV movies of “The Rockford Files” so I’ll say that… after it’s been off the air for over 35 years… I don’t care. Check that sh*t out! Why? Because I want to see Vince Vaughn in a “Rockford Files” movie before it’s too damn late… and maybe be the casting director.

 

HALLOWEEN COSTUME:  Ash from Pokemon – Yup… here you go…

 

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR: Elevation 66 Brewing – Seriously, I know I’m a little biased because I help out at the brewery… but the food here is f**king amazing. You really need to check it out. The sausage is The Best that I’ve ever had. The burgers, sliders, chicken, chips, salad, everything that I’ve tried has been absolutely amazing… and actually not a bad bargain for the area & what you get. Honorable mention to the former chef’s new venture Sessions at The Presidio which is a nice place too… but it’s too mother lovin’ expensive to be utilized regularly, so I don’t know the menu as well. Good beer selection though. If you’re ever in El Cerrito, check out Elevation 66. If you’re in the Presidio, check out Sessions.

 

BOOK OF THE YEAR: “Winning the Money Game” by Adonal Foyle – I’ve mentioned that I’ve dug Adonal’s basketball game from the beginning of his surprisingly long NBA career… and he was doing the retirement poem YEARS before Kobe tried his hand at it… so when I heard on the Adam Carolla Show that Adonal had written a book about how to put your money to work for you… then I had to check it out. I had no idea what to expect really as he was a professional basketball player who graduated magna cum laude with a degree in History from Colgate University… but yeah, just some pretty good ideas about how to manage your money as best you can so that you can use what you’ve earned without it all going to frivolous and/or stupid stuff. Now the next step… earn enough wealth where some of the really good stuff can be utilized. Check it out. It’s a pretty easy read with a basic knowledge of finance like I have… and it’s explained very well.

BIGGEST DOUCHEBAG AWARD: Well… I’m still a little peeved at certain family members who made me go to Utah on a moment’s notice and cost me a LOT of money & spiritual strife… but hey… I’m a forgiving soul. At least I got to hang with my brother during his birthday.

BEST RELATIONSHIP: Izzy – Yeah… boring… I know…

WHO DID YOU SPEND VALENTINES WITH: Izzy & a bunch of other homebrewers – Yes, we spent a wonderful Valentine’s Day at the world-famous Anchor Brewing eating barbecue and congratulating the Maltese Falcons on winning Homebrew Club of the Year… and then we ate tacos in bed… double entendre…

BEST DECISION MADE THIS YEAR: No really huge decision made this year that I can think of… but you never know what the future holds.

PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR: Last year’s entry was “Keep on doing what I'm doing... only more so... and I've already got a good plan set up to keep it moving...” and that still holds true.

 

STUPIDEST IDEA WHEN DRUNK: I still have to do Orcat...

BIGGEST CHANGE OF THE YEAR: This year is going to look like nothing compared to next year I think… I’ll just leave it at that.
 

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR: Izzy’s Graduation & Birthday Party – This has been a great year looking back!!! Some of the highlights include my brother & C-Rock visiting back in January… my mom & stepdad visiting in March… Steve-Taco-Fest for my birthday in April… National Homebrewing Conference in San Diego… Mom & the kids visiting in July… My cousin Alicia visiting in August… Beerversary trip to Chico… Northern California Homebrewers Conference… Sacramento Brewery Tour… Mangria Bar Crawl in December… Christmas in Utah… and a WHOLE mess of other great things in between like visits from Heather, Cesar & KJ… hanging out with Big Ben & Lone Cicerone… Matt & Kim in concert with Tim& Kate… a slough of beer events… but only one made me this proud of my lady Izzy! After years of giving her all to art school, she graduated with her degree… and almost simultaneously turned the big 3-0… and still looks like she’s in her late-teens, early-20’s at the latest. It was a great event at her house where all of her friends & family showed up… some she hadn’t seen in years… everybody played nice… and I even almost ruined it by making a damn near undrinkable Beet Beer that I’m still convinced that we can fine tune to make a delicious red concoction of ale-iciousness… but yeah, super proud of you sweetie!!!

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Losing my Dad – Technically it happened just before the year started… but the stepfamily BS that followed was pretty bad… and I still have dreams where I’m visiting him and we’re hanging out and stuff like that… nothing like you see in the movies where he’s spitting out spiritual wisdom and all telling me to ‘swing away’ or some stupid sh*t like that… but yeah, just like memories that could have been and things like that… meeting at family events, watching some football, catching up… but then you wake up, reality sets in, and you deal with it accordingly. Miss ya Dad.

BEST HOLIDAY: Christmas... as usual... it was pretty awesome... and then it wasn't... to be continued next week probably... I’m a little swamped at work again right now. I know… broken record from every other year… but that’s what happens when you’re doing 7-8 jobs in three different departments at two different offices… and getting paid less than your peers who are already jumping ship. Yup.

Last Year’s REAL REAL RESOLUTIONS Review (still in effect for 2016 as well):

• Date Dammit! – I’m kinda set here for the time being
• Learn Another Language – Ugh… dammit…
• Give Up Mountain Dew – Ugh… double dammit… still better than I was…
• Get Back Into Ballin’ Shape – I really need to start working out again… I was doing really good at the beginning of the year… and actually just up until about three months ago… but beer is definitely not the healthiest drink out there… but it’s damn good
• Remember JJ – I still haven’t forgotten about ya… though I’m pretty sure she’s long forgotten about me. Your child is adorable!!!
• Use My Passport – I’ll be using it again this year… stay tuned…
• Write a Children’s Book – Again, stay tuned… Izzy has officially graduated & should have time to help with illustration once we get a little settled!
• Don’t Sweat the Small Sh*t – I’m still relaxing & taking things as they come…
• Look for the Next Step – Tehehehe… stay tuned...
• Survive the Apocalypse – Ugh… I guess stay tuned… the news makes this one sound creepier every day… but I’m optimistic.

 

Anyway, those are my winners this year... yeah, not the grandest... but there's more on the way. Christmas events coming soon with pictures... and stories... and a little retrospective view of many things... but yeah, until then, thanks for reading. I appreciate this outlet… and hopefully you appreciate my sense of humor and/or perspective. Have a great new year everybody!!! See ya in 2016… in a few hours.

SF Beer Week 2015

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

SF Beer Week has come upon us!!! Wait… that sounded weird… this past week was SF Beer Week… and there were HUNDREDS of events going on all over the Bay Area. However, because I’m not independently wealthy & have to work for a living, I didn’t get to just go from place to place experiencing drunkenness through craft beer… but Izzy & I did hold our own… and here’s how…

 

First, I want to show a wonderful piece

of art that Izzy made for me... a watercolor

of my favorite dinosaur, Anklyosaurus

Saturday, February 7^th – We brewed a batch of my award-winning “PentaceraHops” IPA at my house (the Batcave) with my girlfriend Izzy & her aunts, while one of Izzy’s friends’ husband videotapes us for his series of articles on Homebrewing… yes, I’ll be a beer celebrity soon enough… but only later did I find out that he’s actually a Walter Kronkite Award winning journalist. Yeah… so it’s legit… not just a weird guy with a camera. Basically this was a pretty simple partial mash recipe that we’ve done before (with a few tweaks to the hops to meet what we had available) but here are some pictures…

 Mid-brew walk...

 Back to brewing...

I also got to star in this video… Check me out…

 

Sunday, February 8^th – Rainy day sampling of fine beers from our collection including Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine & Narwhal Imperial Stout from last year, and other high octane beers. Other than that… nothing much… pretty relaxing… watched movies (more to come later)

 

Monday, February 9^th – We had lunch at Marin Brewing on the way out to Izzy’s house… had a sampler of their beers on tap… took a Dopple Weizen home with us… enjoyed one of their little pizzas & some buffalo wings… good times…

 

That night, Izzy & I had a wonderful five-star dinner with beer pairings at Elevation 66 Brewery in El Cerrito with Big Ben, Li’l John & others… here are some pictures of the food…

 

… and during that wonderful time, we discussed a great many things… including the mysterious art of Beer Lacing… which apparently is when you look into the residual head on a beer glass… and see shapes or figures, not unlike gazing into the clouds on a summer’s day. Here are a few that I found in my beverages… and yes, if you thought that fancy ice pictures during brews was kind of odd… this may be a repeating thing… what do you see?

 

Tuesday & Wednesday, I pretty much spent the evenings catching up on house work & playing my new PS4 with NBA 2K15 and starting MyCareer mode in this basketball game. You may remember in the 2K13 edition that I was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, led them to a few championships, then signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Well… this time, I wasn’t drafted (GASP!!!) so I had to work my way up through ten-day contracts with the New Orleans Pelicans, then get signed for the rest of the year… and we won the championship!!! YAY!!! That’s right, the Pelicans won an NBA title!!! Then it was time for me to hit free agency… so I signed a maximum contract… with the Los Angeles Clippers. Yup… CP3, Blake Griffin, DeAndre “Putback and/or Alley-Oop” Jordan, Coach Doc Rivers & his son Austin riding the bench, and me leading the way on a max contract. Boom! There’s also a general manager, league mode, etc. but yeah, it’s like most basketball games from the past 25 years… with better graphics, some odd and fairly repetitive commentary, some cool dunks… but yeah, mostly the same stuff. Still… I like it because there’s usually some great strategy involved… and I heart basketball. Yippee! Check it out if you like those games…

 

Thursday, February 12^th – After work, I headed over to the Hops for Housing Charity Event, where a lot of the major local homebrew players and microbreweries-to-be volunteer some of their exquisite beverages for a modest admission donation that goes towards the SF Tenants Union who have been fighting for the rights of tenants and for the preservation of affordable housing in San Francisco (so obviously they’ve been either dropping the ball or are severely underfunded since this place is the most expensive f**king city in America now). Anyway, the event was held at BeatBox SF here in the city, and it was a nice little space that… frankly got packed pretty quickly, but the beer was great & the company was great too with plenty of SF Homebrewers Guild members in attendance. Here are some pictures…

 

My only complaint was the music… not necessarily that it was dance music… I’m like whatever, it’s background… but the fact that it was TOO F**KING LOUD!!! I’m not an old man or anything either, everybody at the event agrees with me… or I’m pretty sure that’s what they were saying… they kept covering their ears like they knew what I was talking about… anyway, great event! Hope to go to it next year… and maybe I’ll offer my DJ services to run the music too. I got a few mixes on my iPod I can pop in.

 

Also, wanna see what I got Izzy for Valentine's?

 

...but she had to one up me with this handmade card...

 

Saturday, February 14^th – Valentine’s Day – For a romantic Valentine's Day, I took Izzy to a luncheon at the world famous Anchor Brewing as they were having a celebrating for the California Homebrewing Club of the Year - The Maltose Falcons, based out of Los Angeles. Congratulations to them... and we're coming for ya next year. Here are some pictures of the area and some great barbecue...

 

Afterwards, I spoiled her with a Taco Bell 12 Pack... cuz I'm a f**king boss... she loved it...

 

Sunday, February 15^th – Finish off the “week” with a  Homebrew Share sponsored by the guild that I’m on the board for at Pi Bar in the Mission… and we also raffled off some prizes & announced our Homebrewer of the Year...

 

Afterwards, we also stopped by Rare Barrel for the first time. The Rare Barrel is a brewery in Berkeley that specializes in barrel aging and sour beers... which is an interesting & acquired taste for most beer drinkers... but if you're ever in Berkeley, check them out...

 

Monday, February 16th - President's Day - We celebrated this day off work with bottling our Red Ale... and kind of being the unofficial end of SF Beer Week... but here are some pictures of the process... and the ale is delicious...

 

Anyway, next year, we may hafta REALLY go into SF Beer Week (if we can get over the costs) but beer week is great for getting access to a lot of different special kinds & expanding knowledge of the craft of beer... but then again, it really helps when people are interested in it too... but hey, if you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach. Have a great week everybody!!!