Alaska: Part Three - Oh Canada... Briefly

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentelmen,

 

Day 9 – May 31^st - Day at Sea

 

This last day in May was a pretty relaxing day at sea… there was some Reindeer Chili & Rockfish Chowder for lunch… another Basketball Shootout where I took home another gold medal… and we watched Comedian Rollin Jay Moore who was pretty funny… but yeah, nothing really out of the ordinary.

 

Day 10 – June 1^st - Victoria, Canada

 

Our morning in Victoria was spent out on a fully-packed boat for some Orca watching. The first hour or so was… frankly pretty cold, boring & uneventful… but that all changed once we got to where we found the family of ORCAS!!! Behold…

 

Then on the way back, we saw a few Harbor Seals… or Sea Sausages if you will…

 

Once we got back to the port, we only had about two hours until the ship’s last call (real quick teaser stop in Victoria on this cruise) so we hailed a cabbie named Doug, who was everything that you would want in a nice Canadian cabbie (short of wearing a mountie outfit) and we headed out to Vancouver Brewing Company to try some brews… but alas, it was a Sunday & they were closed. What to do? No problem, Doug suggested another place that was two blocks away called Moon Under Water Brewing… and the three of us enjoyed lunch and a few beverages there… and it was all pretty fantastic. After lunch, Doug then drove us back to the ship & we got there JUST as they were closing up the port… seriously, like we were probably the last two people to make it.

 

Back on the boat, there was Adult Basketball... which was basically another game of H-O-R-S-E and it turned into a nice 45-minute competition between me & one other guy who'd obviously been playing more recently than the past two years... like in the last week or so... but yeah, JUST missed on winning, so took home the silver.

 

There was also a "British Invasion" production show... and it was eh... that's all I've really got to say about that.

 

Day 11 – June 2^nd - Day at Sea

 

The real highlight of this day was the final race of the Star Downs Horse Racing where our beautiful Robo-Pegasus named Harry Seaward was to compete against the other “owner” horses for a shot at the final pot. BEHOLD THE GLORY THAT IS HARRY SEAWARD!!!

 

So then it was time for the race… and we basically SMOKED everybody… like it wasn’t even close… and we walked away with about $250 in winnings, so that basically covered what I bid on the horse originally and most of the gratuities for the cruise. Not a bad chunk of change honestly. I wish that I could tell you that we burned the midnight oil our last day at sea but… really about the most exciting thing that we did was enjoy a nice warm Remy Martin before bedtime… and the hot tub… and that was about it. Boom!

 

Day 12 – June 3^rd - Back to San Francisco

 

This Tuesday morning was our return to San Francisco… and essentially reality… but it was a fantastic vacation & I can’t thank my mom, stepdad & lovely ladyfriend enough for going with me. It was truly an incredible experience… that frankly, I can’t wait to experience again. I’d love to spend more time up in Alaska & Canada to get to hang out with the locals, see new incredible sights that I couldn’t manage in a scant few hours, and see how things happen on a regular basis. I know with cruise ships there’s a lot of fun activity for a few hours a few times a week for a few months & then the vendors disappear… but it really peaked my interest in these places& there’s really so much to see in the area. Heck, this was just the southeastern shoreline too… there’s literally about a MILLION TIMES what we say left to see in Alaska… and Canada? Please! Probably BILLIONS times more to see. Anyway, incredible experience… I highly recommend it… hope you enjoyed reading this little thing… and it was worth the wait to all of us. Have a great day everybody!!!

Auntie Brew Day & Docs

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Saturday, we met up with Izzy’s aunts Nan & Sue for our first shared Brew Day. See… a few years ago (like 7 or 8) they were given a Mr. Beer Brew Kit with a fairly simple two gallon system… but they hadn’t used it. Obviously just about everything in the kit had expired except for the plastic barrel with a spigot, but we picked up fresh malts & hops at the Oak Barrel and started making an attempted clone of one of their favorites… Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Extra Pale Ale. Was it a completely flawless situation? Of course not. We had just bought a new 11-gallon brewpot for a big batch like this… but their stovetop had a microwave directly over it, so we had to improvise with their 4 gallon pot… and the only problem with that was that it was a LOT of malt sugars for what would ultimately be a 7 gallon batch (5 for us, 2 for them) but we made it work. Here are some pictures…

 

You can tell they're related... because all

the eyes are closed simultaneously...

After boiling for an hour & adding the hops… lots of them… like a half pound (8 oz) in total for this 7 gallon batch where our previous record was 4 oz by accident with our Honey Amber… we then did a little bit of an odd cool-down process… because we knew we had to add more water, etc anyway… and transport into a larger brew pot (fit in the sink), we sanitized the larger pot (we’ll call him Bayou Billy), put a few bag of ice from the grocery store into the pot, then poured the hot wort directly into the pot with the ice. Not traditional… but the thinking behind this was that the boiling wort would quickly kill any nasties that might be in the ice (made sure that no plastic was involved), it would chill the wort quickly and turn into the water that we were going to add anyway… and then any additional water needed, they had a nice little hose setup on their faucet that we topped it off with. The result: The wort chilled MUCH faster than usual… in fact, there was still some ice floating at the top when we were transferring from the kettle to the fermenters… so we actually had to warm the wort up a bit to room temperature before adding the yeast. So yeah, real good & we’ll see how that method works. Sure beat the wort chiller or our standard methods… but there are variables in there too.

 

So after the quick cool, we loaded up their two gallon plastic fermentor which they placed in their basement… and we filled up our fermentor, drove about 40 miles across the bay back to my place, & then topped off the fermentor, pitched the yeast and set it up in the dark corner. Overall, I think it was an incredible success… and hopefully we get the ladies a little excited… and then we can set up another brew day in the future if they like the results… or they may just want to see us do it some time. Great ladies… hopefully we can give them something fun to do during their retirement… and two gallons should be small enough for them to move around easily since it’s less than 20 pounds I think.

 

Saturday night, Izzy & I watched some documentaries. First up was “Let The Fire Burn” which is about the radical group MOVE in Philadelphia during the late 1970’s until… what essentially became the craziest eviction ever on May 13^th, 1985. Now… I knew NOTHING about this… so this was really interesting. Basically there was this group of people who were essentially a “back to Africa, back to nature” movement… but decided to do it in downtown Philadelphia because… it’s the strategy of their prophet John Africa (just about everybody changed their last name to Africa BTW). To live by their beliefs, they tore up the sidewalks in the city to make gardens, walked around naked everywhere, brandishing firearms that may or may not have been operational, and frankly… it just didn’t seem like the safest, most hygienic way for people in a civilized township to live… but I digress. In 1978, the mayor of Philadelphia was a former police chief & he had received the complaints… and wanted to clean up that neighborhood. Well, they didn’t want to move… the police had to move them… and there was conflict & of course… shots fired… and eventually eviction… and a dead police officer during the scuffle. Who was found responsible? Apparently nine members of MOVE were convicted… and sentenced to 30+ years. WOW, right? Well… this is basically act one of the documentary… and the last chapter gets f**king nuts as the title might imply. I highly recommend that everybody watch this documentary. It’s well done… basically all with found footage & interviews done no later than the committee shortly after the “final event” in 1985 so it’s all testimony & footage in the moment, not diluted through time. It’s informative, controversial, and it’s really not a story where there’s good guys & bad guys… but differing points of views… different moral codes… and a LOT of gray area that’s open to your own interpretation… and over an event that like I said, I had NEVER heard about before this documentary but was extremely interesting. Check it out.

 

Next up was “20 Feet From Stardom" which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary this past year… by the way, all of these are on Netflix so check them out. This one is about backup singers and how they have been an integral (and pretty much exploited) part of the music industry… but with today’s technology & tastes… they’re losing a lot of ground in that department. Apparently it’s hard to make a living as an actually talented singer while certain individuals with little to no musical talent are constantly on tour racking in that dough. The film was very provocative & interesting… but let’s face it, the main reason to watch is for the soundtrack. All the classics from the 60’s & 70’s… and just meeting the people who you knew before as “that girl that answers Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder” or “that girl that outshines Mick Jagger on Gimme Shelter” or something like that. So yeah… check it out… you may learn something.

 

We then followed that up with “The Whale” which is about a young killer whale named Luna who is separated from his family and befriends the town of Vancouver Island in British Columbia… and narrated by Ryan Reynolds. Sound like a horrible Disney flick? IT’S A DOCUMENTARY TOO!!! Yeah, apparently this really happened… and this young orca would come up along the passing ferries & boats to saw howdy & try to get the attention of the people… and then he gets really aggressive so the wildlife protective agencies have to step in… which makes him even more aggressive but still playful. Let’s face it… the reason this movie exists is to show amazing footage of orcas & Canadian wilderness… and it delivers. Check it out now… your girlfriend will love it.

 

SF Homebrewing Guild BBQ & our first competition results are on Saturday in Golden Gate Park!!! Also this weekend, Adam Carolla at the Palace of Fine Arts… and we’ve got great tickets for it!!! I'm gonna get these signed...

 

A week from now, my mom & stepdad are coming to visit for a few days… before we all go on a cruise to Alaska… so yeah, LOTS of fun things going on the next few weeks… but I’ll keep you posted in due time. Have a great day everybody!!!

Biggest Little City in Western Nevada

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

This weekend was pretty awesome… we set out Friday in the early afternoon. I left work early at 3 PM… so I could basically spend the first hour in traffic to go one mile to get on the Bay Bridge… then another 45 minutes to get out to El Cerrito. After that though, the next 220 miles or so took about 3 hours (please don’t do the math CHP). What did that lead to? Getting to the Alice Cooper concert right at showtime of 8:30!!! The man is still a great performer at the age of 65 or so… but yeah, here are some pictures…

 

"FEEED MYYYYYYY... FRANKENSTEIIIIIIIN!!!"

"ROOOOOOOOCK!!!"

After the concert, Dizzy & I went to Great Basin Brewing Company on Virginia Ave to check out some of their local brews. They were REALLY good. Icky IPA was fantastic, Nevada Gold was a cold lagered kolsch/pale ale mix so a great all-day drinking beer, Jackpot Porter was good… and there was a milk stout that we tried as well that was very easy to drink. If you’re in Reno, check them out.

 

Saturday, we met up with Chick’n’Wing and went to the National Automobile Museum in downtown Reno near Harrah’s Casino. Here are some great pictures…

 

By the way, if you ever see this alley... go down it...

Go in here... The Awful Awful...

This will await you...

Fun fact: This is the original Reno sign you see in old movies...

Gretchen sighting...

Mmmm... where the streets are paved with pork...

Hell yeah I want a copper Rolls Royce...

The original electric car... didn't last long...

That night we went to First Bar for a scavenger hunt… but Chick’n’Wing had broken her arm the weekend before… and it’s was about 12 degrees outside, so we just decided to chill at the bar & have a few drinks while everybody else ran around for a few hours. It was great to catch up. It was my first time seeing her since the divorce to Wingman (flying in tonight oddly enough) but glad that she’s doing okay & enjoying the Reno atmosphere… which I do kind of miss. You know, cheap beer, redneck fun all around, a stone’s throw from Lake Tahoe, what’s not to like really?

 

Sunday, Dizzy & I drove back to San Francisco, and that night we watched “Orca: The Killer Whale” starring Richard Harris (Dumbledore) and Bo Derek (briefly). Released in 1977 right after “Jaws” success, I’m surprised that more people haven’t heard of this movie… I really didn’t until checking out movies like “Blackfish” and orca documentaries… but yeah, I liked it. Basically the story is about a fishboat captain (Harris) who sets out to get some quick money by snagging a few killer whales for an aquarium who will pay handsomely (any really). However, while trying to capture one… he inadvertently injures a female… like really bad… and then it runs into the fan of the boat… and then they hang it up and try to take it to shore… and the female was pregnant so the human-like fetus pops out… and all while the male watches. The captain is distraught by the whole thing… and eventually releases the severely injured body of the female so that he can get the ship into port… but now the male if full of the purest male emotion of all… VENGEANCE!!! He wants to exact his revenge… but how can you do it when you’re limited to the vast ocean? Well, how about destroy all of the boats in the fishing village besides the captain who murdered your family… and then blow up the town? That’ll make him come to you, right? Or the captain could just move to the coal mines or something, change of profession… but that’s not nearly as good of a story. Anyway, I say check it out. It’s not bad for a nearly 40 year old somewhat-ridiculous horror flick… but there will be some parts that scratch your heard… and the dialogue is very bad at some parts. I like tales of VENGEANCE though… and this fits the bill nicely.

 

Anyway, that’ll do it for tonight… as I’ve gotta go pickup up the Wingman from the airport for our own Thanksgiving Weekend shenanigans!!! Have a great Thanksgiving everybody!!!