Portuguese Picnic

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sunday, Izzy & I took a trip to the Sacramento area to meet up with her family at the Portuguese Holy Ghost Festa Picnic in Lincoln, California. Izzy’s family has some strong Portuguese ancestry… and apparently this was the 93^rd such meeting of Portuguese & Portuguese enthusiasts in the Lincoln area… so there were a few booths to buy some sweet stuff, a carnival eerily similar to the Alameda County Fair was set up, and there was a GREAT lunch picnic featuring Supas (basically bread in broth with some meat… but it’s super f**king good) provided by the local chapter. There was even a parade!!! Here are some pictures…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last week has been a little busy with running around… but I was able to squeeze in a movie night with the roommates (one of the last?) when we watched “Spectre”, the latest James Bond installment starring Daniel Craig, Christopher Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux & Dave Bautista. In this episode, James is hunting down the people responsible for killing the woman he loved (3 movies ago) and have been coordinating shenanigans all over the globe… but then he finds out that MI-6 is being shut down & replaced with a kind of worldwide spy network with questionable credentials… and the criminal organization is even bigger than he imagined… and may or may not be headed by a figure from his past (Waltz). Overall though, James Bond seems to do about 20 minutes of James Bond-ish stuff over the course of almost three hours runtime. I don’t know… the action scenes are pretty cool… I liked the opening sequence in Mexico City for the continuous shot portion… but then it basically ends with him falling to his certain death. Oh wait, I mean he lands on a well-placed couch as a building tumbles around him. The car chase scenes are pretty sweet… the fight scene on the train was pretty brutal… Rome is beautiful… Christophe Waltz is menacing… Dave Bautista is silent… Monica Bellucci is in the movie for about three minutes… Lea Seydoux is gorgeous… it’s just an overall, completely forgettable movie that I feel like I’ve seen before… many times. I don’t know… if you like Bond, maybe check it out. If not, you probably watched it when it was a Mission: Impossible movie the first time. It’s okay at best…

 
I also got a quick tour of Barebottle Brewing while dropping off a beer for competition (more to come on that) but here are a few pics of this place before it opens...

We also kegged our Honey Porter that we started on Learning to Homebrew Day... reviewed on an upcoming podcast...

 

The newest episode of the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast is coming up in a few days… with a special Mother’s Day edition involving a badass mother… and time travel. That’s right, ladies & gentlemen… we’re talking about the classic sci-fi slasher flick 1984’s “The Terminator”. I know… I tweeted out that it was going to be “Timeline” but… then a giant cyborg came back through time & reminded me that Mother’s Day was Sunday… so you guys will get a double episode this week… and Izzy & I talk about the concept of time travel… and what movies got it right… and what movie got it wrong. It’s a thrilling conversation. Be sure to check it out & let us know what you think. Until then, have a great weekend everybody!!!

Beware of Man-Cub

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sunday, Izzy & I hosted a Learn to Homebrew Day at my apartment, which we have done several times in the past, and this time… there were only two people who took us up on the offer… but weather may have been a factor as it was a rainy weekend. Regardless, we brewed up what should be a delightful Honey Porter (recipe available on the White House website) and got to share plenty of beverages during the process and share stories and great food. After the brewing, we headed over to Sessions at the Presidio to catch the Warriors – Spurs game. Good times all around!!! Here are some pictures…

 

Monday night was the monthly meeting of the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild at Black Sands Brewery. This was our first time with Black Sands hosting… and it was pretty fantastic. Black Sands is located in the legendary Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and this was the first meeting that was basically ran by the new leadership… and they did pretty dang good! We’re up & running with a number of competitions, special events, and plenty of fun stuff for the year… and of course there was plenty of great homebrew to share… and I took the bus home. Here are some pictures of the Black Sands venue…

 

Tuesday night, Izzy & I also got to see a special pre-screening of Disney’s newest live-action classic reboot “The Jungle Book” starring the voice talents of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johannson, Lupita Nyong’o, Christopher Walken, Sami Rami, Russell Peters, Giancarlo Esposito, director Jon Favreau & the late great Garry Shandling. For those who don’t know somehow, this movie is about a tiny Indian man-cub (child) named Mowgli who flees into the jungle based on the threat of a tiger named Shere Khan (Elba) and is helped by some of the local jungle creatures… including a panther, a bear, some monkeys… and they sing the whole time. Wait… that was the original animated movie based on the Rudyard Kipling book… this rendition is actually pretty similar... though with a few less musical numbers… my guess to keep up pacing because they added a few during the end credits. That being said... I definitely recommend checking out this movie. We watched it in IMAX 3D and that's kind of the way to see it... the graphics are fantastic! The story is pretty much what you remember... but it's done in a great, updated way that's good for kids & adults alike.

 

Well, that’s good for a quick update. Be sure to check out the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast for our first Listener Vote selection, with a review of one of my favorite late 90’s movies, “The Mummy” featuring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and CGI that may or may not stand the test of time. We may also do a little blurb about the cartoonish sequel “The Mummy Returns”… and there may be some other surprises as well. Be sure to subscribe for the latest info, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, all the social medias. In the meantime, have a great day everybody!!!