Beer Madness Final Four
The Washington Post's Beer Madness competition is down to the Final Four: Raven Special Lager, Troegs Hopback Amber Ale, Ommegang Hennepin, and Hook and Ladder Backdraft Brown. I plan on making a trip to the beer store this week to get each of the four and rendering my verdict. Whatever it is, it is sure to be tasty.
Get the F*** Outta Here!
Those are the words that I was able to lip read off Ryan Zimmerman, as he sprinted toward first base after he smoked a shot in the bottom of the ninth to win the Nationals Park opener.
The stadium looks great, and I'm almost hoping that we lose at curling tonight so that I don't have to play next Monday, and I can go through with my crazy plan to drive up to Chicago on Friday, catch a Cubs game on Saturday, drive to Detroit on Sunday, and drive back home in time for the second home opener. Tickets are still available, so I think I might just have to be crazy.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
My review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book seems like one that Michael Crichton and Dan Brown could have gotten together to write. Just a little bit of religious element and super fast pacing for the Dan Brown fans, and the cautionary science favored by Crichton. It truly was a breezy read, even as it tried to touch on higher metaphysical concepts. Fascinating stuff that might make you think deep thoughts, but that you'll more likely enjoy for the action packed thrills.
Next up is The Supremes' Greatest Hits by Michael Trachtman. My wife actually picked this one out and passed it on to me to read.
Playing Catchup
Spring technically arrived last week, but the weather hasn't quite warmed up enough to convince me, even though all our flowers are blooming in the front yard, and the trees are starting to bud like crazy too. So it seems strange that I will still be curling in leagues for the next couple of weeks. And let me tell you: it can't end soon enough. At this point, I'm just going through the motions of it all and looking forward to having a break. Side note: the US women are 4-1 so far at the World Championships, though they have a long way to go yet, playing the top two teams (China?!?! and Canada) later today.
MSU's hoops team pulled off a mild upset beating Pitt this week. I think a lot of people had Pitt going far, based on their streak through the Big East tourney, but thanks to some help from the refs in letting a lot of the rough play go, we were able to advance. It should be interesting to see how much rough stuff we get away with against Memphis. If they let us be physical with the Tigers, we have a good chance, I think.
The hockey team starts its title defense as the three seed out West against Colorado College on Friday. Too bad it's on ESPNU and I won't be able to watch.
Random Amazon purchasing info and lust: Ellie has been getting toward the height limit of her Britax car seat, so we've been looking for a booster seat for her. The catch is that we still want her to be in a 5-point harness, and there aren't a lot of candidates out there, though the market is growing. Ellie's cousin has the "throne," the Britax Regent, which harnesses up to 80 pounds and runs a cool $250. We also looked at the Sunshine Kids Radian and some other more expensive models ($200+) But yesterday I found out about the new model from Graco, and we drove out to Burlington Coat Factory (more than great coats, they have a sub-store in there dubbed Baby Depot). The Nautilus costs $150 and has a high height limit harness, and a 65 pound weight limit. Ellie's still under 30 pounds, so we were more worried about the height than anything, so we had her sit in it and try it out. We thought she might not like it, since it's still very "car seat"-ish, but she actually did like it. Only problem was that they were out of stock, so Amazon to the rescue. Now we just have to wait for the super-saver shipping to arrive in a couple of weeks.
Lastly, Harmonix announced that Rock Band for Wii will be coming out in June. Woot! Maybe Ellie can play drums while I play guitar!
Dogfish Head Red and White
oured into a pilsner glass; in retrospect, I might have chosen a tulip, as that's as close as I have to the glass on the label.
As poured, the color is a deep orange, though I imagine it would be closer to red in a wider glass. There's some definite particulate in there (on my second glass at any rate), which you would think would settle but instead remains suspended throughout. Yeasty aroma mixed with grape. The taste reminds me of some other orange influenced brews I have had, though the 10% is far less evident than those other higher alcohol varieties. This is probably because the coriander and spiciness are not as foremost, but instead is balanced by a grapey sweetness. Finishes very dry, with just a touch of oak lingering on the palate.
Overall rating: 4.2
Tree of Smoke
Tree of Smoke: A Novel by Denis Johnson
My review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I struggled with this review for a long time. I kept going back and forth over whether I just didn't care for it, or whether I really was torn up about the characters' fates. Ultimately, I found myself in the latter category, but it took a while, which prevents me from all-out praise for the book.
When it started out, I was somehow reminded of Slaughterhouse Five, but really that was only the first 100 pages or so. After that, it became clear that this novel deserves no comparisons to other works, it stands on its own. There will be those who quibble over the prose, but when I truly sat down to read this book, not just force myself through the pages so that it got back to the library on time, I was truly immersed in the characters' worlds. It's just too bad it wasn't a couple hundred pages shorter.
Next up is Blasphemy by Douglas Preston.
Coffee Cliche
Has "Starbucks coffee tastes burnt" become a cliche? It seems to me it has, when every person I know, even those who don't really drink coffee, say that about Starbucks. I just don't think all those people have actually drunk Starbucks coffee (coffee, not lattes), and even if they have, why don't they try a lighter roast?
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout
This year's Guinness replacement (though I had some Guinness with lunch today too).
Pitch black color, with only the slightest bit of foam, but I didn't pour it, so there's the caveat. Aroma is a malty caramel, but a bit burnt coffee throws me off. Good sweetness in the flavor, with a fairly dry finish, a bit of lingering bitterness there. I also feel the slight bite of alcohol, though nowhere near the imperial stout range. Good creamy feel as the drinking continues.
Just a tad bit too much of a burnt aroma and flavor for me, keeps it from being a more perfect beer.
Overall rating: 3.95
Beer Madness, Round One: Macros Out!
As predicted, the structure of this year's Beer Madness tournament enabled the superior beers to avoid upsets in the first round. In particular, all the macro-brews and crappy beers (Natty Bo, Michelob, Schlitz, Miller Chill) were eliminated since they were matched up against beers of similar "style," but superior flavor.
Sadly, my winner from last year, Ellie's Brown Ale fell to Abita Turbodog. Also surprising was last year's official runner-up, Saranac Pale Ale lost in the first round to Harpoon IPA. Still, 16 worthy beers have advanced, and I'm looking forward to drinking the Final Four. I may have to do the Elite Eight though, this is making me thirsty!
That’s Entertainment
Last night, we're cooking up some fondue, but realized we didn't have the chicken that we thought we did to have with it. What we did have was a whole ton of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Ellie wholeheartedly approved of Plan B, so we had bread, apples, and dino-bites with fondue.
Lisa was brave enough to dip the first nugget in, skewering it on the fork and slowly dipping it into the cheese, saying "Aaaahhh!!! La Brea tar pits!"
This is what passes for entertainment at our house these days.
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