RooksJeff

This day in Food Porn.

2012-01-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

Poor blog, how I've neglected you. While I have a few cerebral topics of interest, I know you'd rather look at food porn anyways.

We'd pretty much eaten the freeze bare, so heading to the West Side Market was a moral imperative. So was coffee and breakfast, so we stopped into Bonbon Pastry & Cafe.

Cuban coffee at Bonbon

How can you go wrong with Cuban Coffee, bacon, pork belly and eggs? Bonbon is cute - and bright - little cafe on the corner of on Lorain at West 26th full of hipster employees and a mix of old school southside residents and pseudo-trendy urbanites.

It's a tiny bit pricey, but did you see the pork belly? I mean NOM. If you're looking for the $2.95 breakfast special, go to the Market Cafe. If you want something a little less than the usual, checkout Bonbon.

Bacon, Bacon & Eggs at Bonbon. The rosemary
ciabatta didn't work with the flavor profile though.

During breakfast we planned out our assault on the market - and our dinners for the week:

Sweet and Fiery Port Tenderloin with Mango Salsa. Photo by SkinnyTaste.com.

Despite the massive snow storm predicted by our crack team of meteorologists, it seems a fair number of tourists actually look out their windows this morning because the Market was packed with a lot of foreign faces in designer sweats and Starbucks cups. Hey, I'm happy you came down, I'm happy you're supporting the local economy - just watch where you're going.

Tourists aside, our trip was only slow because we stopped to talk to our usual vendors. I just hope that after Minnie's case sold out that Mark made good on his promise to take her out. We did our part with a pork tenderloin and a rack of spare ribs. Yeah, those weren't on our list, but who doesn't like pork ribs?!?!

Remember when we had a pork and beer fest on July 4th? NOM!

I really need to learn our red meat guy's name too, because we talk for ages, but there are only so many ways to say "hey, how's it going". After seriously fifteen minutes of chatter, we finally ordered our ground beef. Of course, we walked way with some extra skirt steaks too - you never know when you might need to fajita-fajita. You sure aren't going to get those at Rally's.

Actual shopping time: about 15 minutes. Time spent at the market: 60 minutes. But, I suppose that's why people always round down for use. The know us. They see us regularly - because we're putting money in their hands. Seriously, if you live in Cleveland and don't go to the West Side Market, start. You'll save money and you'll eat better.

Skirt Steak Tacos with Rice and Black Beans.

After breaking down all the meats and getting everything prepped for the week, we went to the dreaded Giant Eagle for dry goods. Let me say it loud: I HATE GOING TO GIANT EAGLE. Hate it. I'd rather go shoe shopping with Morgan at Nordstrom in Beachwood Place on red tag day than go to the Eagle. If you've been there, you'll know what I mean. Nordies, not golden Eagle.

Why do I hate Giant Eagle, well, lets skip past the rotten vegetables, the fruit flies and the habitually empty shelves and skip to the ridiculously rude and inconsiderate patrons. Seriously, people just don't think. You don't need to walk next to your cart. You don't need a second cart so your eight year old c an push around her baby doll. It's shopping - not home-ec.

Thankfully for everyone in Parma, I escaped the golden Eagle without going on a murderous rampage with a make-shift shank fashioned from a frozen chicken breast and jump rope.

And then we found ourselves at Melt Bar & Grilled in Independence. If you're not sitting down - sit down now.

Yeah, I've got a prejudice against Melt. Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead inside.

Chorizo and Potato sandwich at Melt. And this wasn't cocktail weenie chorizo either.

I know, I know. Before you grab your pitchfork and torch, hear me out. I've only been to the Lakewood location, where there is always a long wait for a table, service is slow and it take a while for your food to get prepared. At least that has always been my experience. Yes, the sandwiches are delicious, but seriously, I don't have four hours to devote to something I know how to make at home in 20 minutes - and no, I'm not talking Kraft singles and Wonder bread.

But I'm willing to give Melt another try after today - mostly because we totally beat the system. Our hour and forty-five minute wait was cut to about three minutes when Morgan spotted to guys getting up from the bar. Service was still a bit slow, but at least I was sitting down with a delicious North Peak Diabolical in my hand.

And then the meals came. Quickly too.

The Dude Abides. Perhaps the best sandwich ever created.

Morgan got The Dude Abides and I got the Chorizo and Potato. As great as the Dude was - and hot damn was it delicious - I was reluctant to trade halves with my Chorizo and Potato. When you think potato, cheese and bread you think food coma, or at least I do, but seriously there was none of that at all. It was a bit messy, but otherwise super easy to eat. The Dude, well, he might abide, but after just one bit I was weary of needing a nap. But the next time I need to sleep away a weekend, I'm getting the Dude.

If you still need more food porn, check out Pinterest for some more delicious offerings - and then make them, because you really don't need to stop by TGI Fridays or Taco Bell for the third time this week.

Merry Christmas and other awkward holiday photos.

2011-12-05T10:19:00.001-05:00

What kid doesn't love Christmas? A day entirely built on getting presents. All of those packages wrapped up under the tree, covered in ribbon and bows. Can you honestly tell me you didn't do your best to look at the name tag on each and every one, just hoping it was for you?

Christmas 1980. Clearly I was THRILLED!

Sure, my parents trying to instill the importance of friends and family, but when I was little, I wasn't thinking about that. Nope. I was hoping to find Star Wars action figures, GI Joe's, Transformers, AND a Nintendo game under the tree. Undoubtedly there were some disappointments, but can't remember a single one (NES, cough cough). I certainly had more than my share of great Christmases.

Christmas 1982 with GI Uncle Al. Clearly GI Joe was a BIG HIT.

Now that I'm an adult, Christmas means family and friends and giving to me. And even though I might still wish I was a little kid sometimes, I'm more than happy to pick out gifts for my younger cousins, to watch the excitement on there faces as the presents pile up around the Christmas tree. Sometimes we give a great gift, some times it's just another gift, but there is always the thrill of the Christmas Eve frenzy ensues, shreds of wrapping paper consuming the entire floor.

Christmas 1990. Sky Shark was sweet, er, RAD.

Merry Christmas, I hope you get to shred some paper this year - or at least experience the joy of watching someone else. And if your family happens to have enough, then you might consider helping those less fortunate.

Christmas 1987. Danny shreds paper and I look amazed.

And now for more awkward family photos. Thanks for posting these, Dad! You're the best!

Christmas 1987. Nice look, Dad.

Christmas 1986. Grandma Gerda was always the biggest kid of them all.

Christmas 1984. Me with Grandma Rooks.

Christmas 1990. I must have been really bad.

Christmas 1984. I invade the yearly "girls" photo.

Christmas 1992. Looking too cool with Grandma Gerda and Tyler. Roy Rogers anyone?

Christmas 1989. Grandma and Grandpa Rooks in their usual spots.

Christmas 1995. At least I wore my good jeans - the ones without holes.

Merry Christmas. And to those of you I "forgot" to include, you might just say thank you.

Christmas 2011. We went to Tokyo just to wish you a Merry Christmas!

PROTECT THE INTERNET

2011-11-16T13:31:00.001-05:00

Fight Back.

Time To Get Moving.

2011-10-21T04:59:00.000-04:00

My alarm went of at 3:40. For ten minutes. Morgan was already in the shower and I sleep like I'm dead. Sorry neighbors. Other than that, the morning has gone perfectly smooth. Last minute packing, Red Bulls, even time to post this.

Two people. Ten days. Two suitcases with a nested spare.

Dad will be picking us in about 15 minutes for our luxurious Rooks Cab Service ride to the airport. Then it's off to Dallas and then to NRT in Tokyo.

Work has been pretty crazy lately so I haven't really had the chance to get really excited about the trip yet... but I think it's finally starting to set in. I'm going to Tokyo.

Unlike Morgan, I can't say I've had life-long dreams of going. No specific stories or reasons to go, but the again, I've always been open to going as well. Its the other side of the world, it's old, it's new, it's East and West.

What am I most excited about? The unknown. I know we're going to see some amazing things and I'm really glad I have absolutely no idea what they are.

The Great October Update

2011-10-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

Somehow it's already the middle of October, so I'm going to catch up on several things I've been meaning to write about.

We bottled up my unintentional Pumpkin Pie Ale, which Morgan has since named Last Year's Costume. She definitely seems to have a knack for naming my brews, so I've decided to make her Vice-Present of Naming. While we were bottling, I was also cooking up another American Strong Ale. I wanted to brew up something like Great Lakes Nosferatu and I think I came pretty close. I just bottled it today and I think it's the tastiest brew I've made to date, with low to medium bitterness and approximately 11% alcohol. I'm still waiting on the VP of Naming.

Last Year's Costume in bottles and awaiting caps.

I also turned 32. Which pretty much means I'm old enough to remember things like the Challenger Disaster, French cuffed pants and gas for 87¢ per gallon. Morgan and all of the 'rents took me out to Steak On A Stone, which is definitely my favorite place to get a steak aside from Lance's Beef. I was disappointed that John wasn't able to show us the dragons.

Morgan and I also ran our second half marathon. The first nine miles were amazing. We were keeping up a good pace and I felt great. And then my legs totally freaked out. I felt like I was running with Charley horses in both of my calf muscles. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life; I told Morgan I'd rather be stabbed repeatedly. In pain and hobbling, I finished. I wasn't happy, I was hardly proud, but I finished. Time for more electrolytes, some compression socks and more training before we do The Walt Disney World Half Marathon on January 7, 2012.

Me, Br'er Bear and Morgan, January 14, 2010.

I also was a guest speaker for one of my friend's college classes. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at first, but then I remembered that I'd likely never see any of those kids again and I just went with it. I'm not sure if I was really that helpful, but at least I had fun. It also helped to reestablish that I'm old, because most of those kids live in a world where Roy Orbison has always been dead.

And in the midst of all of that insanity, we've been scrambling to get everything together for our trip to Tokyo. Besides all of the typical international vacation mumbo-jumbo, we're also been trying to find Halloween costumes - and shoes for Morgan. Tokyo Disneyland allows you to go to the parks dressed as any Disney character around Halloween and Morgan and I are going as Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Bear respectively. The hardest part of my costume has been the hat. Luckily we got most everything else we need at a few thrift stores today. I cannot forget to hit Home Depot this week for some rope.

Br'er Rabbit and Morgan, June 6, 2004.

Finally, I've been through the Apple, AT&T and UPS support ringer this weekend. Seems that getting the new iPhone 4S requires a blood, stool and urine sample, along with three forms of ID and your signature in quadruplicate. Maybe I'm overstating this a bit, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. Apple decided that all iPhone deliveries require a signature - but only a signature from the actual recipient. They can't be delivered to an apartment property office nor can they be picked up at the local UPS office. I know this is to protect me, but getting a piece of plastic has never been more frustrating and I will never, ever ever pre-order a phone from Apple again. It's in-store pickup for me from now on. Hopefully setup won't be a nightmare too.

And that pretty much brings us up to date. Just four more days of work and then it's about 15 hours in the air to NRT in Tokyo.

Back to School, Back to School...

2011-10-12T16:05:00.001-04:00

It's been ten years since I was in a classroom and thankfully tonight I'm just guest presenting. But given my profession, and the fact that I'm workings towards being certifiably insane, of course I'm blogging about it. Plus it saves me from needing to actually type up an outline or create a slide show. Hopefully Akron's Multimedia Production class will learn something.

Me, shockingly with coffee in my hand.

I've spend half of my entire life in a world that was "online". I first started learning HTML in 1992, not that there was much to learn. I published my first web page in 1994 or 95 on Tripod.com. Yeah, it was a Star Wars fan page.

In 1998, fresh out of high school, I started working for a medical imaging company, designing their marking website. Sadly the Way Back Machine was unable to pull up anything. It's really a shame, I'm sure. Despite a few diversions here and there, I've been pretty much clicking away on the world wider intertubes ever since.

My presentation is partly about working in web, but my primary focus is the importance of self - and social - promotion. The traditional paper portfolio may still have value, but digital protfolio's seem to be gaining more acceptability. I've seen a number of job applications that specifically ask for a link to your Behance or Cargo portfolio, as well as your blog, Twitter and even Tumblr and Pinterest accounts as well.

And given how easy it is to start one - especially a free one - there really isn't any excuse. Yep, I'm totally the pot today. I'm okay calling the kettle black too. While I've had various online portfolios over the years, I've been extremely lackadaisical at keeping one together. Although I've started a Behance account recently, I've been really slow to get my works posted. If I'd only kept one going all these years, I wouldn't be in this situation now.

Most people think of a digital portfolio as outbound marketing, and it definitely fills that role. It's easy to send a potential client or employer to a specific spot on the web. But your digital portfolio may also be an inbound form of marketing as well.

The Modern Sales Funnel, Hubspot

Simply put, Outbound Marketing is the traditional newspaper advertisement, TV or radio spot or website banner; basic shout-down advertising. Until recently it was the primary form of marketing. Inbound Marketing is making yourself available to be found but people who aren't necessarily looking specifically for you. Regardless of the fundamental differences between the two, it's just as important to develop an Inbound Marketing strategy as an Outbound one.

And if all the so-called social media gurus are right, Inbound might be even more valuable. In the world of Facebook and Twitter, you value your friends opinion as much, if not more, than you do an experts. You find voices you agree with or like and follow the things they follow.

By putting your portfolio online, keeping it up date and promoting it via any social methods available, you're increasing your potential sphere of influence. Submitting your work to websites like For Print Only, The Dieline, Design Work Life or Lovely Package increases that sphere even more. Minimal work. Maximum exposure. And when other people share your work too, well, then you're gaining exposure with no work at all.

So, are all portfolios the same? Absolutely not. Do not post mystery meat on your portfolio. What's mystery meat?

Mystery Meat: Button like images that are meaningless.

Mystery meat are ambiguous links with little or no context. In this case, tiny images with absolutely no detail - and no value. You're a advertiser. You need a designer. Would you click on 20 tiny images to see what kind of work a certain designer does? Or would you scroll though a page of big images that clearly showcase specific designs with text that explain each project?

Scroll down to see a dozen projects, each with a project description.

Don't be afraid to share some personality too. Right now we're looking to hire a new Content Coordinator and once we've looked at each candidates skill set, the next thing we look for is personality. We're a crazy, weird group and we spend a lot of time close to one another. Whoever we hire is going to have to not only put up with, but actively contribute to that insanity.

Of course, not everyone company is looking for those specific traits, but personality is rapidly becoming another factor in the hiring process. Certainly my blog is about 80% personal and 20% business, but if I had to submit it to a potential client, I'd be perfectly comfortable that it represents who I am as a person.

Do you run? Brew beer? Play Gears of War 3 until 2am? Wait, am I talking about myself again? Anyways, don't be afraid to open up a bit, show off something about yourself.

And you don't have to only post the hard core business-y stuff. Post that album cover you drew up for your sister's boyfriend's cousin's band. Or that Family Reunion Invitation. Most of my work is designed to please a client and not to effectively convey a message. Sometimes those personal projects better represent your skills.

Ridd replies to at least half of comments directly, even if only to say thanks.

Finally, don't forget to stay active once you post something. Someone leaves a comment, comment back, even if it's just a quick thanks. Someone tweets out your work, retweet their tweet. Acknowledge and thank people for promoting you.

But remember, I'm just a guy that doesn't even have a portfolio online.

The Magazine in the Cupboard under the Sink

2011-09-23T21:10:00.000-04:00

Way back in February I was cleaning the kitchen. Yeah, yeah, I've established that I'm not always the quickest at posting blogs. So, anyway, we have these drawers next to the sink that we use for towels, utensils, etc and I felt compelled to pull out the bottom draw and clean it really good. Why? Because I have a touch of OCD. Just a touch.

Underneath the drawer I found a copy of Al-Majalla from 2001, along with some Wendy's napkins, a plastic straw and some plastic wrappers.

Morgan moved into this apartment in early 2004, so clearly they clean the apartments really well before new tenants move in.

I guess a previous tenant used those drawers as magazine storage and after they got too full, on issue slipped behind and fell to the bottom. I hope whoever isn't missing this. It would be a shame if this was the one missing issue in their otherwise complete set.

Since I don't read Arabic, there wasn't much that I understood, but at least I was able to pick out that photo of Yasir Arafat.

And I'm really not sure what's going on here. News, politics, fashion?!?! Anyone else ever find weird stuff in the cupboard under the sink?

Dear Reed Hastings.

2011-09-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

Netflix, you suck. Not because you raised your prices. And not even because you didn't bother to explain your changes. Nope, you suck because you insulted your customers.

The opening paragraph of the "explanation email". Read the whole thing.

When you first announced the changes, I honestly didn't give it much thought. There was no doubt in my mind that I'd stick with you. I like your services; I watch DVDs and I stream regularly. I didn't really get the outrage from other customers. Then you sent out your "sincere apology".

Could that have been anymore disingenuous and self-serving? In the face of adversity, you rationalized how this was best for your company. Where is the benefit for your customers? Two bills, two websites, two queues; nothing could be more inconvenient.

Netflix Envelop Art by Jovino.

Will I be cancelling my services with you? That's the real catch. I feel the only way my voice will be heard is to completely stop putting my money into your pocket. But I also want to enjoy reliable, easy to use, and cheap home entertainment.

For the time being, it's goodbye DVDs. As far as streaming, I'm concerned given the recent breakdown in Starz renewal negotiations. At least you got Discovery to renew. That said, I will be actively look for quality streaming replacements.

It's your money to lose.

Who knew Design was really Math?

2011-09-13T22:19:00.003-04:00

One of my coworkers, 1F Jef, lent me two books about design and I just finished the first book, Geometry of Design by Kimberly Elam.

Geometry of Design by Kimberly Elam

The book focuses on the mathematics of design, specifically the golden section (aka golden ratio aka golden rectangle aka golden mean aka the divine proporation), the ideal ratio that humans find irresistible, even if we're unaware of it's existence.

Comparison of da Vinci and Dürer's Vitruvian Man, page 17

There are dozens of examples of the golden section in architecture (The Parthenon and Notre Dame Cathedral), art (Vitruvian Man) and design (A. M. Cassandre's L'Intransigeant poster and the Braun Handblender - really).

A. M. Cassandre's L'Intransigeant poster, pages 50 - 51

It's a great book to flip through, but honestly I found it lacking in terms of directly helping me learn about the golden section. Perhaps that was my own fault; I think I expected a tutorial.

Golden Section Dynamic Rectangles, page 33

Instead it was a crash course in the math of the golden section. Still, it was worth an evening of reading and will definitely serve as a reference book for future projects.

I thought I was brewing Butterbeer but really I've made Pumpkin Spice beer

2011-09-11T11:23:00.002-04:00

Well, yesterday's brew is in the fermentation chiller and I'm really happy with how smoothly it went. As M said, I've got pumpkin pie in a glass - and I used absolutely zero pumpkin. Sorry Harry Potter fans, but I guess Butterbeer will have to wait a little longer.

Steeping the grains. View more photos on Flickr.

What did I use? Well, I did follow Torri Gunn's recipe quite a bit, although he brewed a half batch, and I brewed a full.

3 Lbs Munton & Fison (UK) Light DME (doubled)
3 Lbs Briess Bavarian Wheat DME (doubled)
1 Lbs American 2-Row (Briess) (doubled, in place of Canadian Pale Malt)
1 Lbs CaraPils (doubled)
1 oz Saaz Pellet Hops (quadrupled)
1 oz Tettnanger Leaf Hops (doubled)
40 g Maltodetrix (that's 1.45 oz, about 1/6th the original)
20 g Sarsaparilla (that .7 oz, about 1.25 times the original)
20 g Licorice Root (that's .7 oz, not sure how much one root is)
6 Juniper Berries (doubled)
3 Cinnamon sticks, broken in half (doubled)
5 Allsprice Berries (added)
1/4 tsp Anise Extract (added)

Despite doubling the batch, I cut back on both the sarsaparilla and licorice root. Does anyone know how much one licorice root weighs? Anyways, I measured in grams because it's way more precise with small measurements. I cut way back on the maltodetrix too, about one sixth of Torri used in his half batch. I've never used the stuff and given Torri's concerns about flavor, I was leery of using it. Perhaps I cut back way too much. IDK.

Spices boiling. View more photos on Flickr.

I quadrupled the amount of Saaz hops because I like my beer to have some hop - and I didn't want to muck around with a half ounce laying around. I had to replace his Canadian Pale Malt with American 2-Row due to availability. I couldn't find much in way of replacement suggestions, so I went with something simple. Any better suggestions? Finally, I added in allspice berries and anise extract after reading some history about butterbeers.

So... how does it taste? Well, M is absolutely right. The wort tastes just like a pumpkin pie. The aroma is malty and spicy, with just a hint of hop. It's a creamy amber with a decent body, all though I'm thinking more maltodextrin next time. I definitely get where someone might say tooth paste, but I think the spices really help to balance that out, especially the allspice berries. As an fan of Good Eats nows, you add extracts at the end, off the boil. Foolishly added the anise extract straight to the boil, but I still taste it in the mix, so no major issue there.

Wort, in a glass. View more photos on Flickr.

Now that I've had the chance to taste it, my only real concerns are fermentation and carbonation. Sure, this is rapidly becoming a pumpkin spice beer and less a "butterbeer", but hey I already knew I was on the path to deviation.

Making Torri Gunn's Three Broomsticks Butterbeer

2011-09-09T22:26:00.001-04:00

After brewing the decidedly disappointing Closet Monster, I decided to take some time off from brewing. As much as forgetting to add the priming sugar was a factor, the main reason was our one bedroom apartment was starting to look like a beer warehouse. Thanks to all of my friends who have helped consume some of my brews and to those of you who haven't gotten any, well, I still have a fair stock pile, message me.

Enjoying a home brewed Citrus Weiss while I write this blog.

By mid-July the bug was biting me, but I wasn't sure what to brew. Mix in a few busy weekends and all of a sudden it's September. But Morgan found an interesting home brew recipe for Three Broomsticks Butterbeer written up by a home brew, Torri Gunn. If you're not a Harry Potter geek, it's the frothy butterscotch flavored beverage the wizards drink.

Without context on the recipe, I assumed it was a tried and true recipe for a delicious beverage; something my wife would definitely like to try. So I logged on to Midwest Supplies on Labor Day and placed my order, knowing I'd have my ingredients on Friday (today) and the universe would be well. Until Torri posted the following message to his blog on Thursday:

Here is the final product, the Hogsmedge Butterbeer. The labels turned out nicely - the beer…. well it could have been better. The flavours did not blend as well as concieved, and the Root-beer notes ended up powering most of the drink (it was commented as well that there were toothpaste notes somewhere in there).

The raw ingredients, sans the yeast and hops.

At least I read that before I brewed. As for my upcoming brew session, well, I guess necessity will once again be the mother of all invention. Torri's brew is basically a spiced up old English ale, so I'm just going to run down that path, cutting way back on the sarsaparilla to dull out that tooth paste taste and raiding our spice cabinet for some delicious holiday spices. Might need a trip down to Urban Herbs at the West Side Market for some anise too.

Although I'm a little concerned that I'm going to end up with another flub, I'm happy to be brewing up another batch of something and I certainly won't get any better if I stick with recipes and kits. In the words of Linguini, "lets do this thing!"

Our New Vacuum

2011-09-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

This happened back in like April and I seem to have forgotten to post it completely. Not sure my vacuum is something anyone cares about, but if you're looking for a cheap, dust-buster style, the Dirt Devil Versa is pretty good.

While I was finishing up the vacuuming, I noticed some extra resistance and a bit of an odd sound. I stopped the vacuum to make sure there wasn't something clogged, but didn't see anything. The brush roll was clear, as was the vacuum tube. I played with the carpet adjustment knob and went on my merry way. Three more passes and I was done. As I started to whined up the power cord, I smelled something burning. And then I saw the smoke.

The old Dirt Devil that got too smokey and the new Dirt Devil stick-vac

It wasn't billowing out, but there was quite a it of smoke coming from the small motor compartment. I' not sure whether something got in there and started to burn or if it was an actual part of the vacuum, but I'm pretty sure if it still works, it won't much longer.

After some research, some discussion and a fair amount of shopping around, we settled on a Dirt Devil SD20000RED Versa Power All-in-One Stick vacuum. I'm all for online shopping, but Target in store had it cheaper than Amazon, even with our free prime shipping and no tax. Plus the in-store prices was even cheaper than Target.com listed, so extra bonus. It was $17.99 plus tax.

I know, that's really cheap, but then again, it's basically a dust buster on a handle. But, honestly we vacuum the kitchen and bathroom floors way more than we need to do the living room or bed room. It also converts to dust buster style hand-vac.

In the end, we wanted something small and easy to store that would work good for the places we need to vacuum frequently. If it doesn't end up working for the few large carpeted areas we have, well, we can worry about that then.

"Don't tell me what I wanna hear"; or Loving SPIN Magazine's tribute to Nevermind.

2011-08-31T10:24:00.001-04:00

Been cleaning out the red letter bin here at the good old blog... the outline stems from a Tumblr post from mid-late July... and now for something completely different.

Like millions of angst filled teens, Nirvana defined the first half of the 1990's for me. Overnight the halls of my middle school were filled with ripped up jeans, Converse All-Stars and flannel shirts. Lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Come As You Are" were scribbled in the margins of every textbook and on every bathroom wall. While I still prefer the rawness of Bleach, there is no denying Nevermind is the quintessential album of 1991. Perhaps of the early 90's or even the 90's as a whole.

Listen free on SoundCloud. Download free from SPIN on Facebook.

I found out about SPIN Magazine's tribute album Newermind from a Tumblogger I follow, Ian Brooks. When I saw his post about a free Nirvana tribute album, well, I was prepared to club baby seals with other baby seals to get a copy immediately. Thankfully no baby seals were injured in obtaining Newermind. I did have to sell my soul on Facebook by Liking SPIN, but well, whateves. It was worth it.

Meat Puppets - Smells Like Teen Spirit

When I sat down for the first listen I was honestly a bit put off by the Meat Puppets cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", but Butch Walkers "In Bloom" completely turned me around and I settled in to listen cover to cover. Once through the album. Twice. Thrice. Then a dozen times. Then Fifty times more. I think it was basically the only thing I listened to for the whole week. Seriously, this has to be one of the best tribute albums I've ever heard. Ever. With Honors.

I've completely changed my view on the Meat Puppets track. What I had missed that first time was them wonking up Nirvana's breath through hit. This is no longer a pop song. They reclaimed it in the name of the freaks, the outcasts and the self-made rejects.

Midnight Juggernauts - Come As You Are

It's hard to pick just exactly what I love about each song, but I know that I love them all. Some songs are straight forward, faithful tributes, like Titus Andronicus' "Breed" and Surfer Blood's "Territorial Pissings" while others are radical diversions, like Foxy Shazam's "Drain You" and Midnight Juggernauts' "Come As You Are".

Hands down my favorite is Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band's take on "Stay Away"; it seriously challenged me - I just couldn't hear the original in my head. Bradley completely owns this track, laying thick James Brown-esque vocals atop a sick funk groove. It's old and it's new at the same time.

Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band - Stay Away

After listening to it basically non-stop, I appreciate this album as much for the differences as for the similarities. There is something charismatic about Nevermind and this tribute really recaptures that magic. Even though it's thirteen artists performing thirteen songs in different styles, it still works as an entity.

Ultimately I wonder what Kurt Cobain would think about this if he was still alive. Would this tribute album even exist if he hadn't committed suicide? Ultimately, I'm just grateful that SPIN and each artist didn't ruin my angst filled teenage years.

You can listen to the entire album free on SoundCloud and download it for free just by Liking SPIN on Facebook.

It's not 1994, please stop using "Coming Soon"

2011-08-29T12:34:00.001-04:00

I'm constantly looking around the web for interesting, inspiring and occasionally funny things to post on my Tumblog so I look at dozens of different websites each week. In the world of ~~Web 2.0~~ Web 3.0 and HTML5 I find it utterly ridiculous when I find a "Coming Soon" page.

Missing Content Example: Market Garden Brewery. Screenshot taken August 26th, 2011 at 10:43 pm.

Sure, I used some terrifically terrible animated gifs back in the day, but if you were on the web in 1994 you were most likely there for some sort of technical or scientific data. Or porn. Either way, form followed function and it was perfectly appropriate to have some sort of flashing graphic toting that you were under construction and open 24 hours!

But today, well, it's just too easy to make a good looking website. No, seriously, between the free website services, tutorials and code libraries anyone wiling to devote a bit of time can build themselves a pretty sweet and mostly free website.

I seriously can't believe that I actually used these.

My anti-"coming soon" pet peeve breaks into the following categories:

Missing Content
Simply put, you're advertising that content is missing from the page, as with the Market Garden Brewery website above. It's not altogether obvious that the lunch menu is missing, so why draw attention to it. When I first visited the Market Garden Brewery site a month or two back nearly every page was listed as "coming soon" and I have to admit I'm amazed they filled in as much as they did. Still, why advertise you failed to post specific content? It's not missing if you don't say so.

Theoretical (Re)Launch Example: Everywhere We Shoot. Screenshot taken August 219th, 2011 at 2:09 pm.

Theoretical (Re)Launch
Still building your website? Think you need a coming soon page? It may sound like a great idea, but basically, you're saying "Hey everyone, thanks for coming, but I don't have anything for you. You'll need to remember to come back and visit me again soon." If you are trying to promote yourself, but don't have a website yet, build one. Seriously, stop reading and go build something. I'll wait for you to finish.

It's even worse if you had a website, but took it down and replaced it with a coming soon page. This makes absolutely no sense at all. Websites don't (generally) expire and HTML code doesn't magically stop working after the 10,000th load. Even after 19 months, just leave it up. Even if it's not indicative of who you are today, at least it's something. Again, if you're actively promoting yourself, but your current website reads "coming soon", seriously, stop reading and go finish it. This blog post will still be here.

Missed Deadline
Okay, this is the worst. I've (sadly) seen this on the websites so many graphic designers. The site reads "New Site Coming in May", but it's already June. Listen, I understand how it goes. You work all day doing "real work" and when you get home you don't want to do more work. A few days turns into a few weeks and then a few months. It's happened to me dozens of times. But let me translate the message you sent to your website visitors: "I can't meet a deadline." Not the message you really want to share, is it?

Want to break the cycle? Good.

Missed Deadline Example: Fran Rosz Portfolio. Screenshot taken June 22nd, 2011 at 3:53 pm. Thankfully Fran has updated her website since then, albeit only to a better form of coming soon, but at least it's functional.

Use Existing Solutions
A custom website is sweet, but any website is better than a website that's "coming soon". Sign up for a free web service that is easy to manage and allows for easy, quick updates. There are so many free services out there, just pick one, upload your profile pic, add your contact info and start posting. You can always go back and tweak the design or build from the ground up later.

I love Tumblr for quick, easy posting. Blogger offers reasonably easy customizations to the layout and it pretty easy to use too. If you've already got your own website host you could go with Wordpress. Designers should check out portfolio sites like Behence or Cargo. Don't want to point people to a dozen different websites? No worries, use Flavors.me to connect them all.

Make It a Habit
It's easier to do something if you do it regularly. Try to post something once a month if not once a week. Took a new photo? Post it. Designed a new thing? Post It. Include the key details about what it is, then move on. Try as I might to follow this, I've fallen off the blogging, tumbling and tweeting wagon dozens of times. Sometimes you just overload.

That's fine. Say you overloaded and pick right back up. I just lost all motivation to post here on my blog for the last two month. I had started, but not finished nearly a dozen posts and I've been going back and finishing them this past week, with more to come soon. Acknowledge it, then more forward.

Remember, everyone's on the web now, every day, all day. We've got it at our desks at work, on our phones and on our tablets at home. Someone is already out there looking for you - or someone just like you. When they find you, don't give them a reason to move on to the next person.

A Night In CLE

2011-08-27T12:19:00.001-04:00

My amazing wife Morgan is a member of the Cleveland Yelp Elite (translation: she writes Yelp reviews that are well received.) and she got invited to a special event at Campbell's Sweet Shop on 25th Street in SoLo (that's SOuth of LOrain for us non-hipsters). The shop is actually pretty cool. The smells were amazing and the confections looked quite tasty.

Chocolate covered Oreo cookies made to look like pirates.

Afterwards we did a roundabout drive through downtown, narrowly avoiding Cleveland Indians traffic and getting stuck knee deep in The Avengers filming traffic. I know that I went to film school and have a completely different perspective, but the number of gawkers was depressing.

And hey, I saw the butt cracks of three - count them, 1, 2, 3 - grips and about at least a solid dozen - that's d-o-z-e-n - production assistants directing traffic away from the set. So, basically, I'm say, I'm a pretty big deal. Really. Not to mention the construction team lifting some heavy thing onto the top of 75 Public Square.

Important people doing important things.

As a reminder to all that Cleveland is a classy, classy town, someone left their empty bottle of Crown Royal in the parking lot, along with their hot dog wrappers. I'm pretty sure that's the cornerstone of the traditional Cleveland dinner. Add in a pack of cigarettes or perhaps a Philly Blunt and you're a true Clevelander.

Stay Classy, Cleveland

Walking to Noodlecat, we also crossed paths with the Critical Mass Cleveland August Bike Ride. It's an interesting experience crossing paths with a hundred people on bikes and even better when a few of them loose control and almost run into you.

Okay, okay, I know I'm being really hard on Cleveland right now and I can't honestly say it doesn't deserve it, but the fact it, all of these things are good for our little city. The Yelp meetup, the filming, the empty whiskey bottle, the bike rides, these are all good things. Okay, maybe not the whiskey part, but you get my point.

I'm a reasonable jaded person with little faith that any of this is going to improve the general condition of our town. I mean, when I didn't see even a single legitimate bum, I didn't think, hey, that's great! I thought, hey, were did we ship them off to so the big city film crew folk wouldn't have to be bothered by them?

The Pork Ramen of the Gods!

But, let me put my jade aside and try to help improve the general condition by saying Noodlecat was phenomenal. Chef Jonathan Sawyer certainly cooks up a serious bowl of noodles. I had the special of the day, a ramen bowl with fried pork cutlets, pork belly and beef tripe. I've had tripe many times before and was 50/50 about it, but I seriously could eat that tripe even day.It was tender delicious, as was the entire bowl.

Honestly, it was a nice time in the city. Really. Aside from the gawkers.

Best. Yelp. Sticker. Ever.

Buddy Holly is rolling over in his grave.

2011-08-26T11:42:00.001-04:00

Okay this is a total red letter. I started my tirade about two months ago on my Tumblr and decided to move it here for a more detailed explanation, but it seems this got left in the drafts folder. Well... on with the show.

Someone please kill me.

I'm waiting. Seriously.

When I first heard about the Buddy Holly tribute album, Rave On Buddy Holly, I was ecstatic. I love Buddy Holly. There I said it. I love Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was a genius long before the time of rock geniuses. Sure, some of his singles were utter pop crap, but if you really look at what he did with music and when, well, Buddy Holly rocked that shit. Hard.

Concord Music Group posted the entire album on SoundCloud for you to "enjoy" for free.

Sadly his legacy has been tarnished by his early demise. Tarnish? Yes, tarnished. He's remembered as the guy that sang "That'll Be the Day" and died in the plane crash, not as a songwriter, producer and musician that left a lasting impact on the music industry. If you listen to the body of work he recorded in the four - FOUR - short years of his music career, you can just imagine what he'd have done if he had lived.

I'm obviously passionate about Buddy Holly and to me, Rave On Buddy Holly lacks serious guts; every single artist fails to reach their potential. It's almost like they intentionally tried to make a bad record. Frankly, I think it's a waste of talent and craftsmanship.

Dearest (The Black Keys) by concordmusicgroup

The biggest disappointment for me was The Black Keys. I love The Black Keys. The power-blues sound that Dan and Patrick pump out on a regular basis puts most four-piece bands to shame. However, their contribution of "Dearest" is utterly unimpressive; drab and boring.

Maybe I developed some preconceived notion about The Black Keys sound. Maybe I expected them to perform a Buddy Holly song; "Dearest" was written by Bo Diddley. Regardless, what I got certainly wasn't what I expected.

Everyday (Fiona Apple & Jon Brion) by concordmusicgroup

Paul McCartney sounds like a fool; his version of "It's So Easy" reminds me of a drunk garage band screwing around at the end of a recording session. Lou Reed and Patti Smith need to retire; permanently. Listening to their offerings, "Peggy Sue" and "Words of Love" respectively, is actually painful. She & Him, Florence and the Machine and Modest Mouse perform lackadaisically and Kid Rock has once again proven to me that he is a talent-less schmuck.

Picking highlights for this was honestly a bit rough, but there are a few - very few - redeeming moments. Fiona Apple & John Brion win with me over with their no frills, straight take of "Everday". I liked Justin Townes Earle's roughed up "Maybe, Baby"; the bluesy overdrive and Nashville twang are a nice touch, but otherwise it's a pretty straight forward rendition of the classic Buddy Holly sound.

Maybe Baby (Justin Townes Earle) by concordmusicgroup

Honorable mention goes to She & Him and (sadly, or is that ironically) Cee Lo Green for their contributions, but they didn't play songs Buddy Holly wrote, they played songs Buddy Holly played. Okay, okay, it's a technicality, but still.

The album is missing a real standout diversion from the Buddy Holly sound. Something that you wouldn't know was a Buddy Holly song just by the sound of it, say, The Crystal Method covering "Don’t Come Back Knockin’" or LCD Soundsystem (yes, I know they broke up.) doing "Think It Over".

Reading this back, I think I've developed a more scathing view on the album between the time I wrote the original outline and when I click publish post. As much as I'd love to say it's because Rave On is really that tragic, it's most likely due to the release of SPIN Magazine's Nirvana tribute, another artist that I love, love, love.

And let me say Newermind is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. But that's another blog, one that also fell into the red letter bin. Fear not. It will soon see the light of day.

The Pig 'N Swig at the Happy Dog (AKA I'm a Big Pig Too!)

2011-08-25T10:50:00.004-04:00

Poor blog, have I've neglected you. Despite wanting to post this to my Tumblr, I'll go old school and write a blog.

Last night Becoming Rooks and I had an amazing dinner at The Happy Dog; Chef Eric Williams seriously out did himself with his latest dinner pairing, the Pig 'N Swig, a three course bourbon and pork dinner. We've been to all of Chef William's Happy Dog dinners except the first and he always find a way to top himself. It's going to take a lot to top this one.

Course One: Eagle Rare Bourbon

Bourbon guru Mike Gully introduced each of the bourbons, starting with the first course, an Eagle Rare 10 year single barrel bourbon; my favorite sipping bourbon of the night. If I was going to drink bourbon for the sake of drinking bourbon, I'd definitely reach for this one. Mike suggested that at 90 proof, it drinks like an 80 proof and I definitely agree. There was a slight burn, but only well after it was deep down inside.

Course One: Adobo Braised Pork Belly Taco

The Adobo Braised Pork Belly Taco was incredible. The pork was tender and smokey with a hint of spice while the fat layer was an unctuous porky delight. The watermelon salsa, made using the watermelon rind, was light and just spicy. The whole, fresh cilantro leaves kept the dish light and fruity and the chicharones had a nice porky, salty crunch. The pork fat was my favorite, but dipping the chicharones in the bourbon was a very close second.

Course Two: 1792 Ridgemont Reserve Bourbon

The 1792 Ridgemont Reserve was by far the best of the three bourbons. Smooth in the mouth, smooth going down and just a light, pleasant warming in the belly.

Course Two: Korean Style BBQ Pulled Pork

As incredible as the tacos were, the Korean style BBQ pulled pork was even better. The pork was salty, sweet with a nice soy based Asian flair. The house kim chee had a nice vinegar, spice kick. Together, they were an unstoppable combination; the perfect balance of flavors. The sweet potato chips were crisp, yet light and the dip was finger licking good. It's hard to remember all of the great plates I've had at Happy Dog, but this one certainly ranks in the all time top five.

Course Three: Knob Creek 9 year Bourbon

Of the three bourbons, the Knob Creek was my least favorite; the burn was definitely in full effect. That said, it was a delicious dessert drink and paired with the donut, wow!

Course Three: Brioche Donut with Maple-Bourbon-Bacon Cream Filling

It takes a mad, mad man to make to cover dessert with pork. Each and every dinner Chef Williams proves he is the king of mad men. I say, with no reservation, that his brioche donut with maple-bourbon-bacon cream filling & candied bacon sprinkles is his most devilish, most deviant creation yet. How did it taste? Well I'd camp out on Chef William's lawn for a year in the hopes of getting just one more of these donuts.

The Q: Smoking Some Pork

2011-07-06T21:42:00.000-04:00

Do you smell it? The sweet smoke and spices. Sorry if you can't because it smells really good.

Pulled pork... all 17 lbs of it.

I've been waiting to make some true barbecue, sorry Texas, but I'm talking about smoked pork shoulder. I watched some Good Eats, I did some reading, checked out some videos on You Tube and then just jumped. What can I say, I'm fearless. The idea that I'd ruin $100+ worth of pork just never crossed my mine.

Morgan and I went down to the West Side Market and our pork purveyors Mark and Minnie at Jim's Meats, grabbing three pork shoulders and six slabs of spare ribs. In total we walked about with nearly 18 lbs of shoulder and about 21 lbs of ribs.

Three pork butts. That's shoulder for you not barbecue types.

The shoulders took a bath in water, salt and molasses, while the ribs got dry rubbed with brown sugar, salt, paprika, pepper, cayenne, garlic and whatever else I tossed in there. Total marinate/rub time was about 18 hours.

While the pork was getting it's flavor on, we hit the Home Depot to pick up the rest of our smoker: 2 extra large cardboard moving boxes and 4 cinder blocks. I already had the hot plate, smoker box and wood chunks.

Six slabs of pork spare ribs with a flavorful rub.

There were a few logistical issues getting the smoker setup. I had hoped to use two cinder blocks as a shelf for one of our oven racks and then top those off with two more cinders and a second oven rack for shelf number two. Sadly there just wasn't enough room to make the two shelves and lay out all the meat. In hind sight, that's probably a good thing since 40 lbs of meat would have taken ages to cook. More on that later.

After testing out several different configurations, we ended up placing the four cinder block in the corners of the box and topping them off with one oven rack. The three shoulders went on top, with the hot plate and smoker box in the center below them. I used the fans from my fermentation chiller to circulate air around. Before adding the pork to the box, they got a rub in fennel, coriander, cumin, pepper, onion powder, chili powder and paprika. The whole contraption was topped with a second box.

Inside the Smoker. Photo: Chuck Rooks.

The wood chunks lasted anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes depending on how many I added and how I stacked them up. For the record, rendered pork fat and smoldering wood will burn. Don't skip using a barrier between the two.

I found the best proceedure was to add new chucks every 30 to 45 minutes, removing the spent chunks and stacking them so the smoldering blocks were in contact with the cast iron smoker box and the fresh chunks were on top of those.

Unfortunately I was only able to get temps between 125° - 150° inside the box. The one hot plate just didn't have the power to bump the temperature up any higher. Had I gone with Alton's terracotta smoker, I'm sure I would have been fine, but three shoulders would have been impossible then. The cinder blocks helps hold and transmit heat, just not enough.

My Ghetto Smoker.

Because of the low temperature, we ended up taking the poor back to the apartment for a long, slow oven roast with a bit of apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and water so it wouldn't dry out. Ten hours later our apartment smelled awesome and the pork was fork tender and delicious. In total the shoulders took about between 17 and 18 hours, with 7 or so in the smoker and the rest in the oven.

To say I "pulled" the pork implies some level of effort. There was none. It basically fell apart just touching it. The exterior was a thick bark, not crunchy, but a nice contrasting texture to the tender, juice inner meat. And yes, I got a small smoke ring, although there were a few places that had a deeper ring as well.

The ribs on the grill.

The ribs got a different treatment completely. The grill we used had three heating elements, so I piled the ribs over the center and right element, while turning only the left element on. They spent six hours on the gas grill, set to 200°, with some wood chips in an aluminium tray on top of the heating element.

The wood smoked very inconsistently, new chunks often took almost and hour to start to smoke and lasted between 20 and 60 minutes. I was very happy with how they came out, but wish they were a little more tender. Still, they were a huge hit with the family at the barbecue, so I'll take it!

And the flavor? Well, the pulled pork was smoky and tender with the right amount of spice. I honestly couldn't be any happier with how it turned out. The ribs had a bit of spice and a nice meatiness that left you licking your lips.

Me and Morgan, during the smoking. Photo: Morgan Rooks.

I definitely learned quite a bit from this experience. I probably shouldn't have made 40 lbs of pork my first time smoking. And July is not a smoking month unless you like to sweat. Just like clams, I think a "ber" month would be best.

I'm also going to need to learn how to relax, because I was constantly checking the smoke, the wood and the pork. Even though the temperature was between 75° and 100° too low, the constant opening and closing of the box wasted smoke and decrease what little temperature I had.

When I do this again, I'll also need to invent a larger earthenware contraption to better contain the heat, as well as add a second hot plate to produce more heat. But I've already decided the pork tasted too good not to do again.

Market Garden Brewery: People Watching, Good Food and Beer.

2011-07-04T14:49:00.001-04:00

I took Friday, July 1st of to get stuff ready for a family barbecue and after we got everything prepped, Morgan and I hit up the brand new Market Garden Brewery on 25th Street for dinner. It's a pretty cool place, much larger than I expected with two full size bars and a reasonable amount of table space.

The Beer Menu

Their outside Beer Garden patio is nice, but it was super busy, so we passed on the 90 minute wait for a table and took the 0 minute wait for a table inside. There are a few tables out on 25th with no wait as well, but they were in the direct line of the evening sun.

Our Beer Flights

Seems they recently changed table numbers are around because we kept getting the food and drinks of the table next to us. We felt bad because it worked out in our favor, with three, instead of two, 6 glass sampler trays ending up at our table.

The Chorizo Joe

We both really like the food, my Chorizo Joe was really good. It's a house made chorizo sloppy joe with tomato and cheddar cheese, served with a side of chips. It could have used a bit more spice or just a tad more salt, but it is definitely worth the trip down. The chips are good, but not as good as Fat Head's.

The Fried Chicken Sandwich

Morgan got the Fried Chicken Sandwich, braised collard greens, bacon, sawmill gravy and tomato on a toasted english muffin. I'm not a fan of collards, so it was too bitter and vinegary for me, but the chicken was tender and GBD.

The Beer Menu

The portion sizes are a bit small by today's Biggie Sized standards, but I'd wager that I actually ate something close to a recommended portion. And I was full afterwards too, not stuffed liked most of us have become accustom to, but satisfied.

Get Your Beer in a Mason Jar!

The beers were okay. My favorite was the Brown Ale, while M liked the Pearl Street Wheat best. We both rated the Scotch Ale number 2 on our lists. Most of their beers seemed pretty true to style, but lacked any real defining characteristics. Their OHC ESB seemed too weak, but their Amber Lager was better than average. M, who hates IPA's, actually liked their Custer Fuggle IPA, which basically was a Pale Ale with a hoppy aroma. True hop heads should skip it.

The Food Menu

Honestly, the best part of the meal was the people watching. From neo-yuppies to trend-seeking hipster-wanna-bes to average joe's and everything in between. I'd got back just to sip on a Brown Ale, eat some really tasty food and watch people acting way more important than they are.

I want to try the Tacos next

I was impressed with their beer menu design, a modern interpretation of Victorian style. The food menu is more contemporary in style, but still it seemed to fit nicely. Sadly, their website lacks the same design style and the content is in desperate need of an update. I haven't seen that many Coming Soon pages since 1997. Cleveland Hops was nice enough to post a PDF of their menu.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

2011-07-01T15:46:00.001-04:00

I've been making homemade barbecue sauce for several years. It's pretty easy to do and always tastes better than the store bought crap - even the good stuff you shell out $10 a bottle for. Right Tara? That said, the number one ingredient in my barbecue sauce is ketchup. Store bought Heinz 57.

Whole and Crushed Tomatoes

Yep, good old Heinz secret recipe of 57 herbs, spices, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. Add some bourbon, molasses, brown sugar, a dash of this, a dash of that and BOOM! Barbecue sauce is born! It's always bothered me that my homemade barbecue sauce, the sauce everyone loves and raves about (cue Tara) is based on some junky store bought ketchup.

Chopped Vidalia Onion

When I cook up a batch of sauce, I base my recipe off a 64 ounce jug-o-Heinz, mostly because I need to hook some friends up with their fresh supply of crack-sauce. Right Tara? But I hate all the additives and HFCS, so I looked for the Heinz Simply Ketchup. It's just good old ketchup: tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices. But with the Simply Heinz Ketchup running a cool $3.29 for a 32 ounce container - the regular stuff is $4.29 for 64 ounces - I decided that I need to jettison the store bought gunk and make some from scratch.

Minced Garlic

Remember, I don't measure my cups and spoons, but my nose and tongue. If you're looking to follow along at home, I suggest making sure those two tools are in good working order, because they are more valuable than an others in the kitchen.

My barbecue sauce started out as 6 28 ounce cans of crushed and whole tomatoes, 3 each. I'd skip the whole next time around in favor of all crushed. Those went into a large stock pot with roughly 2 cups of white sugar, a cup of molasses, a cup of apple cider vinegar, a half cup of Worcestershire sauce and several good dashes of liquid smoke. I didn't dump all that in at once, I went slowly, tasting as I went to make sure I didn't over do anything.

Tomatoes in the pool

I sautéed half of a Vidalia onion and three cloves of garlic in some olive oil, taking them to a light caramel color before adding them in. On top of that went some hot sauce, paprika, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon and black pepper. No measuring here, just shake, stir, test, shake, stir, retest, but best guess is something in the neighborhood of a tablespoon of paprika and pepper and a teaspoon of the rest.

Garlic and Onions getting sautéed

We scooped the whole tomatoes into the our bar blender and M took them for a spin. Once everything was processed, the whole pot simmered for an hour. I would should have let it run longer, but it was nearing midnight, we ran and I was exhausted.

In the end we made 192 ounces of sauce for about $10.00. Even if you count the two hours of work, with one hour just sitting there, this is still cheaper than an equal amount of store bought gourmet sauce.

Giving it a Stir

Next time I will make a smaller batch and allow to simmer long, cause it's a little thin. I'm probably going to simmer the bottles I already have made up a little bit over the next few days just so they thicken up some more.

The Q: Getting the Goods

2011-06-23T22:48:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to smoke some pork shoulder ever since I saw the "Q" episode of Good Eats. Alton Brown's mix of culinary skills and mad scientist wackiness makes me want to try just about everything that involves some sort of DIY cooking contraption.

The Wood, Smoker and Hot Plate. Oh, and Alton's Books.

Why some crazy DIY contraption? Because using something in a way it was never originally intended, especially to create some crazy DIY cooking contraption is just cool. Do you need more of a reason than that? I didn't think so! Plus, why use a $50 pizza stone when a $3 terracotta planter bottom works just as good?

And so, I'm smoking pork for July Fourth! We're having a little shindig with pork shoulder and ribs and I just felt that smoking them would be a great way to present them to family and friends. And of course I get to build some crazy cooking contraption.

"Q", Part One

My smoker is running with a hot plate, a cast iron smoke box, the fans from my fermentation chiller and 5 lbs each of Apple and Hickory hardwood. Okay, I don't know if really need 10 lbs of wood but I wanted to make sure I had enough. I also totally miscalculated the volume of 10 lbs of wood. The bags were twice the size I expected.

I mentioned that cardboard box, right? Well, what else am I going to smoke meat in? Okay, okay, I know that Alton Brown used an earthenware smoker in his award winning episode about barbecue, but I'll be smoking a pork shoulder and ribs, so I want to make sure I have enough room.

"Q", Part Two

Plus I'm not really sure what I'd do with two terracotta planters after this smoke session - ah, apartment living! I'm sure I'd used them again, but the box is much more practical. Anyone know where you get a nice big box at? I'm hoping Home Depot because that's my only idea right now. Or maybe I'll try that ww.search thingie called goo-gal. Or is it gig-gle? I never remember.

Other than that, I need to dig up some bricks or cinder blocks to form shelves and then grab the racks out of the oven for the food to rest on. And that should be it. Just a leisurely day of sitting around and smoking some meat, just like we did in the old days. I wonder if they played Assassin's Creed while they smoked mean in the old days. I'm sure they did, so I'm sure I can too.

Well, I bottled "The Monster". It was a chore, but it's in bottles.

2011-06-20T22:22:00.001-04:00

A few weeks back I brewed up my first home brew beer creation, what I've been calling "The Monster", because I really didn't have a good idea what it was going to taste like. After a long weekend of Father's Day festivities, I came home from work with the plan of running and then bottling the beer. Unfortunately Morgan took an unexpected slip and injured her knee. With some luck she'll be just fine, but it put the kobash on running today.

Okay, so it's time to bottle then. I was already behind the curve because I had forgotten to sanitize my bottles overnight, so that took a hour in the dishwasher. Time to prep the bottling bucket, bottling wander, etc. Except I had no sanitizer. Frak. As much as I hated to do it, I used bleach. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

Forty-Eight Glorious Bottles of "The Monster"

Politics and home brew ethics aside, it truly was a horrible experience. I got high on the fumes in the bathroom and then burned myself a dozen times trying to rise the bleach off with boiling hot water. Not to mention the twenty plus minutes lost to the sanitizing process. At least we got a jump on cleaning the apartment.

Okay, everything cleaned and sanitized. Time to bottle. Twelve bottles, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, fifty. Time to cap. Twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, fifty. Sweet! Wait, crap, I forgot to take a final reading with the hydrometer. Again. I haven't remembered to measure a single one of my beers. Oh well, no big deal. What's a few ABV among friends?

Time to clean up. Wash this, clean that, put the other way. Counters, floors, bath tub, buckets, fermenter, lids, tools. Wait, why is my big stirring spoon in the clean pile, I didn't wash it yet. Wait, it's clean. Wait, I didn't stir with it. Wait. PRIMING SUGAR!!!!!

On the right, a glass of beer. On the left, the priming sugar that should be in said beer.

Yep, the priming sugar is right where I left it. On the stove, in the 4 quart saucier, nicely cooled and ready to pitch into the bottling bucket. The empty bottling bucket. With the two plus cases of beer on the floor. FRAK ME. I yelled so loud the wife came running thinking I hurt myself.

Time to order some Cooper's Carbonation Drops. Again, not optimal, but I want to save this beer if I can. Open the laptop. Open RockMelt. Type in "www.midwestsupplies.com". Click "Brewing Ingredients". Click "Corn Sugar/Carbonation Drops". Click "Cooper's Carbonation Drops". OUT OF STOCK. At least Amazon has them in stock, and with Prime Shipping too! One of only two wins today.

The other win? Well, I wish the beer had a more pronounced flavor, but based upon taste - and feel - I think we're up around 7% ABV. It's malty with a nice hoppy backbone and definitely is an improvement from my first two beers, especially since it's a derivative beer from the American Strong Ale. And what about the name, well, this one is now officially "The Closet Monster".

The Italian Jobs

2011-06-15T21:08:00.001-04:00

I'm finally going to finish another movie remake comparison blog. Why? Because I've been stacking our Netflix account with movie remakes, I haven't even been watching them and I really want to see some of the movies in our queue. So after much delay, I finally watched The Italian Job's, the original 1969 film staring Michael Cain and the 2003 remake staring Mark Wahlberg.

Michael Caine as Charlie Croker; The Italian Job (1969).

I saw the remake shortly after it made it to DVD and liked it a lot. Hey, it's nothing special, but it's escapist cinema at it's best - completely implausible, but fun to watch. I made a mental note to watch the original and it only took seven or so years to accomplish.

Despite the high regard I had always heard about the film, it was really hard to watch. I actually stopped watching it midway through and it took several weeks before I worked up the courage to finishing it. Quincy Jones' soundtrack was annoying and the story and characters were, frankly, boring.

Mark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker; The Italian Job (2003).

Much like the movie, I've started and stopped and rewritten this blog a dozen times. Why? Because I think it's hard to watch and critically evaluate films from the late 1960's fairly. They just made movies different then.

Look at some of the top grossing films in that period: Von Ryan's Express (#10, 1965), The Graduate (#2, 1967), Bonnie & Clyde (#3, 1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (#9, 1968), Midnight Cowboy (#4, 1969) - These are gritty, character driven pieces that all basically end abruptly in tragedy, loss, despair and agony. Barring The Graduate and maybe Midnight Cowboy, they all are pretty hard to watch now.

Loading the gold; The Italian Job (1969).

Admittedly, The Italian Job isn't really gritty, for the most part it showcases London's swinging 60's, but it's ends ambiguously, with tragedy mere moments away. Did I give the ending away? Sort of, but really, if you haven't seen it yet, are you really going to rush out and watch it now?

While there are a number of similarities during the car chases, these are two separate films that share very little resemblance to each other. And maybe that's okay. I'm not sure you could do a shot for shot remake of the original now; it would bore us all to tears. Either that or it would be x rated; it was the swinging 60's.

Entering the subway; The Italian Job (2003).

The remake nods to the original, but exists as something all it's own. And for that, both films have their own place in history. Lets face it, neither is going to be remembered for their socio-political impact or their critical evaluation of people during a specific period of time. These are escapist films made to thrill and excite. They evoke visceral reactions; fast cars, sexy people, the rush of breaking the law.

My First Creation... An American Strong, Dark, Rye, IPA Type-Thing.

2011-06-05T19:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we bottled a Citrus Weiss beer, a heavily modified Midwest Supplies kit beer that I brewed a few weeks back. It is likely the finest beer I've brewed so far and I'm really not sure why I haven't written about it yet. The summery aroma filled the apartment and lifted up my spirits.

After bottling, we went to Tremont Tap House, had some tasty burgers and I enjoyed a delicious Rooster Fish Hop Warrior Imperial IPA. Words cannot describe how quickly I fell in love with the Hop Warrior - it's everything I could want in an IPA. The perfect balance of bitter hops, sweet malts; flavorful and aromatic. It's exactly the type of beer I was planning to brew next. As far as beer goes, yesterday was a glorious day!

Drinking a home made American Strong Ale while I write this blog.

Coming off that high, I was excited to brew this morning. I woke up without an alarm ready to steep grains only to realize I didn't have any bottled water. Our tap water is pretty junky and I don't want to ruin good, or even mediocre, beer with it. So, I end up at the Eagle to grab some. It was already hot out, I was under caffeinated and before you know it, I was mega-grumpy, rushing to cook up some breakfast and generally being a pain in my wife's ass.

Somehow I always forget that brewing requires a fair amount of planning and is hard work. I needed to take a step back before I brewed up five gallons of old, wet yak back. I drank some coffee and laid out my game plan - a really good thing because I would have started tossing hops into the kettle at random and rushed intervals, forgotten to sanitize something, like my air lock, and ultimately wasted time and ingredients.

The ingredients, sans grains - they were in the pot.

Ah, coffee; the most important beverage in the world. The second, of course, being a delicious home brew.

Today's brew is my first creation. No kits, no step-by-step recipe, no turn-by-turn directions. Okay, well, maybe that's a little bit of an overstatement; I guess it's more of a pseudo-creation. I used the Midwest Supplies Superior Strong Ale, a kit I've already brewed, as a basis for this recipe. At least that was the plan. JW Dover didn't have the stuff I needed, but like any good cook, I improvised. Here's what I end up with:

8 oz of Rye Grain (improvised replacement for 8 oz Brown Malt)
8 oz of Cara 45 °L Grain (improvised replacement for 8 oz Cara 40 °L)
3 lbs Dark Dry Malt Extract
5 lbs Amber Dry Malt Extract
1 oz Yakima Magnum Pellet Hops
2 oz Willamette Leaf Hops
2 oz Cascade Leaf Hops
1 oz Kent Goldings Leaf Hops
Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast

The hops are a complete improvisation from the original source recipe, which called for 2 oz of Mount Hood hops for bittering and 1 oz of Tettnang for aroma. The Yakima was an unexpected find at JW Dover, replacing the Magnum hops I had intended to use. Based on some message board and blog reading, I was interested in using the Kent Goldings for aroma.

I really wanted a hoppy beer, something balanced and drinkable, not ultra-piney; enter the Cascade and Willamette hops. I had used both before in my Blonde Ale and Citrus Weiss and I really liked their flavor and aroma, plus I read about several people using them in low IBU IPAs. My goal was to balance the maltiness of the Superior Strong Ale with the bitter, fruity, slightly spicy blend of hops. Hopefully I'll get somewhere close.

The boil.

Happily, the brew process went off about as perfectly as it could have. Much like my last two batches, I put the hops in muslin bags to contain the mess. After a sixty minute boil, I squeezed the hop bags so they've give forth all of the delicious brew they'd soaked up. Then the brew pot took a chilly swim in the bath tub and once it got below 150°, I dumped in into the fermenter, already loaded with a half gallon of ice water and seven pounds of ice.

Two minutes later the ice was gone and the temperature was 59°. Fastest. Cold. Break. Ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but the fastest I've every had. I topped it off to the five gallon line, stirred in some air using old fashion man power and then pitched my yeast. Total brew time, two hours and thirty-three minutes.

The brew procedure:

Sanitize everything
Pull the yeast out of the fridge, break the activation pack and allow to come to room temperature
Bring 3 gallons of water to 155°
Steep the rye and cara grains in a nylon (that's new) bag for 18 minutes
Squeeze the grain bag to drain as much liquid as possible, discard grains when finished
Add the DME, one bag at a time, stirring thoroughly to combine before adding the next bag
Bring to a boil
Add 1oz Yakima Magnum pellet hops in a muslin bag, boil for 20 minutes
Add 1oz Willamette leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 10 minutes
Add 1oz Cascade leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 10 minutes
Add 1oz Willamette leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 10 minutes
Add 1oz Cascade leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 10 minutes
Add 1oz Kent Goldings leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 5 minutes
Squeeze each bag of hops to drain as much liquid as possible, discard hops when finished
Chill brew kettle
Mix brew kettle contents, ice and cold water to fill a 5 gallon fermenter
Measure temp, the target was 65°, but I got it to 59°
Aerate the wort by stirring vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes
Pitch liquid yeast
Lid up, add the air lock and keep in a cool, dry place

Morning Records: Briefcase Full of Blues by The Blues Brothers

2011-05-26T07:19:00.001-04:00

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: my Dad brought me up right. At 12 months, I was listening to Bruce Springsteen. By the time I was three he was telling people to buy me John Cafferty and Johnny Cougar albums. Hey, it was the early 80's - what were you listening to at age three?

Me, sometime in 1980, likely listening to something from the Jersey Shore that wasn't a total embarrassment to the human race.

I learned a lot about music from my Dad. Even years later he was still schooling me; he introduced me to Portishead. Musically he put me on the right track and let me go it on my own from there. He also amassed quite the collection of records, something I enjoyed rummaging through in my early teens.

You remember vinyl, right? Hoping this is still up in the attic.

Although quite a bit of the Rooks Family vinyl was destroyed in the great Winchester Hills Water Fall incident of 1988, there were quite a number of things to choose from. The two records I remember the most are A Wild and Crazy Guy by Steve Martin and Briefcase Full of Blues by The Blues Brothers.

"Opening: I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Hey Bartender"

I'm not sure why, but the other morning I woke up with the need to listen to Briefcase Full of Blues; it was a moral imperative. A quick sync of the iPhone and I was on my way to work with the fabulous Blues Brothers, rhythm and blues review. Route 16. Lake Wazzapamani.

"(I Got Everything I Need) Almost" popped into my head and started this whole journey down memory lane.

You may remember their hit single "Soul Man" and the novelty song "Rubber Biscuit", but it's songs like "(I Got Everything I Need) Almost" and "'B' Movie Box Car Blues" that really stick with me. And that's how I'll always remember Briefcase; as real music, done right, by a case of characters larger than the sum of their parts.

Is Three years on Twitter worth Celebrating?

2011-05-23T21:14:00.001-04:00

I suppose you could call it a milestone; I'm celebrating my three year Twitterversary. Yep, I joined Twitter on May 22, 2008 and as I near my 4500 tweet, I've been averaging about four tweets a day since. As a web designer and content manager, it is sort of my job to know, understand and use, but as a Twitter user, I'm completely apathetic. I find myself questioning it's purpose once again.

My brush with celebrity; Crystal Method direct message me after I mention them in a tweet while running.

I'm sure many people would argue with me, including the folks at Twitter, but I consider it nothing more that a communication service; a utility. Just like the telegraph, telephone and email, it delivers messages from one person to another person or group. There's no smoke. No mirrors. It's great for blasting out my thoughts, photos, videos and geo-location, but I just can't see it as anything more than a soapbox.

Considering there are 200 million users creating 65+ million tweets daily - that's 752 tweets a second - I'm wondering just who is listening? And more importantly, how do you connected with even a fraction of those people? Fact is, if you really want to succeed on Twitter, you need to develop your brand.

Developing yourself means a lot of work - the biggest misconception about social media is that branding yourself and growing your fan base is easy. It's not. You did read my award winning blog about social media misconceptions, right? I thought so.

Want a case study? Look to the once silent Bob. Sure, it's funny to laugh at Kevin Smith's crazy tweets, but he's also the daddy mac of shameless - and social - self promotion. This is a guy who knows the meaning of a hard days work.

I'm just not sure I want to spend the time to develop my brand on Twitter. Between my Tumblr and this blog, I'm working hard to develop content and I'm just not sure I see how a utility like Twitter helps with that. At least not with out even more work and it just doesn't feel right to blatantly regurgitate the same stuff I'm pushing to Facebook or Tumblr. At least I know that I'm just one of the bungled and the botched - I'm just not wiling to play into it.

"You ever read any Nietzsche? Nietzsche says there's two kinds of people in the world: people who are destined for greatness like Walt Disney... and Hitler. Then there's the rest of us, he called us "the bungled and the botched." We get teased. We sometimes get close to greatness, but we never get there. We're the expendable masses. We get pushed in front of trains, take poison aspirin... get gunned down in Dairy Queens."
- Jack Lucas, The Fisher King

So, for now, I suppose I'll continue to toil on with the status quo. Any suggestions about how to better manage Twitter without making it just another redundant source for the same content?

I really disappointed that I can't access my first tweet. The "new Twitter" profile always errors out before I can get to the end of my stream. The "old Twitter" profile allows you to view your profile as pages, but it'd won't return anything before page 160. I tried a bunch of the "what's my first tweet" services, but there seems to be an issue indexing anything past the 3200 tweet. If anyone knows how I can go further back in time, please let me know, I'd love to the see the ridiculousness of my first tweet.

If you have any solutions, please let me know. I'd really love to see what insanity I published three years ago.

Oh yeah, if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @rooksjeff. And yes, I tweeted this blog.

I've been married to my True Love and Best Friend for 365 Days!

2011-05-17T18:27:00.000-04:00

I really can't believe that it's been a year since I married Morgan Lynn Smyczek!

When we started talking about anniversary gifts, Morgan mentioned that she thought we should stick to the traditional wedding anniversary gifts. The first year is PAPER!?!? What do you get someone for their anniversary that is made of paper?

I read a bunch of anniversary gift ideas and there was a recurring theme about printing photos or commissioning a piece of art. Well, I'm not necessarily an artist, but I do work in design, so I commissioned myself to work this up.

Our vows, key wedding theme elements and out favorite wedding photos, printed as two 8x10 prints and mounted in matching frames. View Larger

After literally a year, I finally posted our lo-fi wedding video. No time like the present! Honestly, the video has been done for quite some time, but I just never got around to rendering out an HD version for the web. There is something hilarious about pushing out a HD version of a video that's layered in lo-fi effects.

Morgan wanted a Hi-8 wedding film. I gave her the best I could: footage from two HD video cameras rendered with lo-fi filters.

In continuing with the traditional wedding anniversary gift, next year is cotton. I have no idea what I'm going to do with that, so please start sending in your suggestions now.

Today the Space Shuttle, Tomorrow... Oblivion?

2011-05-16T06:56:00.001-04:00

Born at the tail end of the 1970's, I've always lived in a world where man has set foot on the moon; where space wasn't a dream, it was a reality. The space race was something that we'd already won. There was no doubt that the United States would be the leader in space exploration.

The Space Shuttle program held the promise of reusable, reliable and frequent access to exploring the final frontier. And it looked cool. If you had to choose between a space capsule on top of a rocket and a space shuttle, which would you choose? Crash land in the ocean or land your spaceship on a runway? Exactly.

My earliest memories of our space program are framed prints from the first launch on the first mission hanging on my uncle's wall. Something just like this:

NASA launches STS-1 on April 12, 1981 from Pad 39A. Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen are the first astronauts to man a maiden test flight. They complete 37 orbits and spend 54 hours in space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. Photo courtesy NASA.

In spite of the collective badassery of the Space Shuttle I've just laid out, the only real memories I have are the disasters. I watched Challenger break apart 73 seconds after lift-off from my grandparents living room. Too young to comprehend the magnitude and loss of life, I responded with a childish 'how cool'. The ignorance of innocence.

I watched Columbia break up on re-entry on February 1, 2003. The national news broke in to whatever Saturday Morning cartoon I was wasting time watching and I didn't leave the TV for hours.

NASA launches STS-51-L on January 28, 1986 from Pad 39B. Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after lift-off, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members.

I have to admit, it was only recently that I really did any research on the shuttle program. For the most part, I blindly paid attention to shuttle missions. In my world, the shuttles launched, did great work, advanced our knowledge of outer space, prepared us going to Mars and all was well with the world.

A few weeks ago I started collecting a series of launch photographs to document the history of manned space flight in honor of shuttle mission STS-134, originally planned for April 29, 2011. As I researched the history of manned space flight, the Wikipedia effect drew me deeper into the web of knowledge. One article lead me to five lead me to twenty. RockMelt's View Later feature is an amazing thing!

In the early stages of my reading I began to formulate this blog post. With little fact and lots of opinion, I planned to extol the wonders of the space shuttle and condemning their retirement, declaring it the end of American manned space flight.

Morgan and I were lucky enough to catch the launch of STS-132 on May 14, 2010 when we were in FLA for our wedding. We watched Atlantis streak through the sky from a Disney Transportation Bus and were no where near this close. Photo © Tony Hoffman.

On the back end of it, well, I definitely need to tone down my rhetoric, because some of the stuff I learned really surprised me. Did you know the shuttle program started before Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon? Okay, I've over simplified the truth for effect, but, yeah, I wasn't prepared for that either.

To clear up my over simplification, the National Aeronautics and Space Council began serious investigation the shuttle concept in 1969. Based on their findings, Richard M. Nixon decided to actively pursue a shuttle shuttle and by the mid-1970's our entire space program was focused on developing it. Since the beginning of the program, politics and budgets have been the leading factor in it's development, usage and safety.

Over the years it was budget, not exploration, that dictated how we traveled into space. Both shuttle disasters were the result of poor communication, if not out right negligence, and directly connected to the need to keep the shuttles running on schedule and on budget. Way to go bureaucracy!

Endeavour on launch pad 39A on Thursday, April 28, 2011. This launch attempt was scrubbed due to problems with two heaters on one of the orbiter's auxiliary power units and is now set to launch Monday, May 16, 2011 at 8:56 am. Photo © Mike Killian.

Now, I'm not prepared to say the Shuttle program was a total waste, the child inside of me will never be willing to admit to that. However as an adult, I can see how it hasn't been the most successful use of resources. I'll make another over simplification: it took us less than ten years to reach the moon and all we've done for the past thirty years is fly around in circles above the Earth.

Since funding for the Constellation program has been cut from budget, it seems like we're going to be spending a lot of time watching the Russians - and maybe the Chinese - sending people into space. I guess it's back to looking up to the stars wondering if, not when, we'll reach them.

As we prepare to today's shuttle launch, I'll say good luck and godspeed to the crew of Endeavour. If it was only as easy as "Second star to the right - and straight on till morning."

And yes, I'll still be counting down some of the most historic launches in manned space flight on my Tumblr.

Spring Cleaning and Making Stock and Chicken Soup

2011-05-15T22:31:00.001-04:00

Despite the 50° temperature, cloud cover and rain, it's actually spring. And for whatever reason, I felt the need to clean up the apartment. I mean serious clean. I bleached out the onion cabinet, washed the kitchen floor, emptied, sorted and reorganized the front closet. Serious. Cleaning.

One of my coworkers once commented that she expected my house to be spotless all the time, as my desk is typically uncluttered and clean. Sadly, this isn't the case. We pack quite a bit into this small space and if you don't put something back in it's place right away, thinks get out of hand pretty fast. Add in the never ending dust and it's easy for our place to look like a disaster.

If you don't shop at the West Side Market, you really should.

I don't know why, but I always start cleaning in the kitchen and Morgan always takes the bathroom. And for that, she is a saint, because I hate cleaning the bathroom. It's not because it's the bathroom, it's because there are so many different surfaces to clean and they all have tight corners and small spaces. I just don't have the patience. I'm more of a spray it down with cleaner, let sit and then wipe it up. I do kitchens well, bathrooms, not so much. To my Lovely Wife: THANK YOU!!!

Anyone else spend this rainy weekend cleaning up?

And since we were doing a bit of spring cleaning on this nice fall day, I make some homemade chicken soup. Hey, if we're going to spend the day cleaning, we might as well have a tasty dinner after all that hard work. When we made homemade fried chicken we get a whole broiler/fryer from Kaufmann Poultry at the West Side Market. I break it down into quarters and fry it, but I freeze the backs, wings, extra fat and skin for just such an occasion.

Watch Part One of True Brew IV: Take Stock

Basically I follow the Alton Brown method, so be sure to watch the award winning episode I'm guessing about five pounds of chicken parts went into the stock pot, as well as the carrots that had gone a little past their prime in the fridge. Cover that with water, I'd guess about a gallon or so. You remember the part where I don't measure in the kitchen, right? Yeah, I don't do it and I'm okay with that.

Then I tossed in a bunch of spices. Whole peppercorns, coriander and cloves. Ground sage, ginger and nutmeg. This and that, whatever I happen to find in the spice cabinet. And then bring that to a simmer and keep it there for four hours or four days but not a minute more. Straining of the solid bits is recommended because they've given up all their flavor to the stock.

Watch Part Two of True Brew IV: Take Stock

When the stock is done, making soup is easy. Since I don't need a huge vat of soup, I poured off about half to cool and freeze for another day. Morgan chopped up four carrots and three ribs of celery while I chopped up two small leaks and got a chicken breast grilling. I quickly sautéed the veggies before everything ended up in the pot with some egg noodles.

And it was so good, we didn't even take a photo.

Did you make anything tasty this weekend?

Are we Obsessed with Facebook? Yeah, but what does all that data mean?

2011-05-12T13:40:00.007-04:00

On May 12th Blogger had a little data issue and they rolled back a bunch of stuff, including any blog entires made during the period in question. Once they resolved all of those issues, they were supposed to push back out all of the posts make during that period, but it seems this one was missed. Here's my blog from May 1th, better late than never.

A few weeks back a friend sent over this video about how the world has become obsessed with Facebook.

Alex Trimpe created this for one of his classes at The Columbus
College of Art & Design using data from OnlineSchools.org.

Wow! This video really blew me away. Alex's visual design is great and the data is beyond impressive. It took about five seconds for someone in my office said "what a great marketing tool".

There is no mistaking the power of this piece, as long as it's kept in context. It helps to quantify the popularity of Facebook. But not one of the fascinating statistics contained within this video will actually make you a buck. No where does it mention percentage of return on investment or dollars made by advertisers.

Advertising on Facebook may get you in front of one-thirteenth of the world's population, but it won't guarantee you'll make more money. Facebook are clearly too busy updating their status, uploading photos and posting comments to looks at advertisements anyway.

Brewing up my third Home Brew, a Belgian Blonde

2011-05-07T13:59:00.002-04:00

While I'm still not ready to call myself a "Home Brewer", I'm happy with my home brew results so far. In early February I brewed a Winter Ale and I followed that up with an American Strong Ale in late February. I was pretty happy with the American Strong and the Winter Ale was very drinkable.

Prepping my gear and supplies

The family always ends up with some sort of Memorial Day function and I thought it would be cool to debut a nice summer brew there. Well, somehow it's the first week in May and I'm only just brewing, but whatever. Beer is just as tasty on June 11th as it is on Memorial Day.

This morning I started working on a Belgian Blonde Ale. Morgan is a big fan of the Indigo Imp Blonde Bombshell and I've yet to brew something she really enjoyed, so this is my latest attempt. A variation on pale ales, the most common Belgian Blonde is Duvel, which is now available all over CLE. Just like my first two brews, my Blonde is a kit from Midwest Supplies.

The hops and the grains steeping

Here's the goods:

A premixed bag of specialty grains:

4oz Caravienne
8oz Caramel 10 °L
8oz Flaked Wheat

3lbs Wheat Dry Malt Extract
2lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract
1oz Willamette Pellet Hops
White Labs Belgian Wit Ale #WL400 Liquid Pitchable Yeast

I still don't feel like I'm ready to assemble my own recipes, but after drinking my first two batches, I've noted some things I want to work on. Both brews were too malty, with a malty aroma and very little hop in the body. This time I steeped the specialty grains for 12 minutes at 150 degrees, instead of the 25-30 minutes I did previously.

Bringing the pot to a boil and adding the first ounce of hops

I also added some extra hops:

1oz. Glacier Leaf Hops
1oz. Willamette Leaf Hops

I added the Willamette pellet hops at the start of the boil, the Glacier after 40 minutes for a bitter earthiness and then the Willamette leaf hops at 55 minutes for extra aroma. The Glacier have a similar aroma, but also a fuller body, oaky and earthy. The Willamette hops have a fragrant fruitiness that I hope will provide a pleasant aroma.

My experience with pellet hops thus far has resulted in a huge mess, so this time I put all of the hops in muslin bags. Also being able to directly compare the Willamette pellet and leaf hops, hands down the leaf are so much more aromatic. Their sticky, fruitiness fills the air and clings to your skin. Admittedly I'm a hop head, so it might just be me.

This is also my first time using Dry Malt Extract (DME). Both of my other brews used Liquid Malt Extra (LME), a sticky, thick, cumbersome liquid the consistency of molasses. Pouring the LME into the brew kettle was a pain, even after heating it. I dumped as much of the LME out of the jug as possible, then added some hot brew water back into it. Shake, empty, repeat. Let me tell you, repeatedly shaking a half gallon plastic jug full of 170° water is lots of fun. The LME was much easier. Cut, pour, stir, repeat.

The second and third hop additions

About twenty minutes into the brew session I realized just how much water gets lost during the boil, something I never really measured before. I'm sure factors in the extra strong maltiness of my first beers, so I made sure to bring it all the way back up to the 5 gallon line in the fermenter. In total I lost nearly a gallon of liquid to steam, the grains and the hops. Glad I bought that extra water!

I was also better prepared for the cold break. With about 5 minutes of boil time left I filled our bath tub with cold water. Once the boil was complete, I put on the lid and into the tub it went. I stirred frequently and after about 10 minutes it was down below 150°. Two gallons of ice cold water went into the fermenter, followed by all the liquid from the brew pot. 4 and smidgen gallons of wort were now at 88°, which I topped off to the 5 gallon line. After ten more minutes of frequent stirring and aeration, the wort was 75° and I pitched the yeast.

In total, my cold break took about twenty minutes, not the two minutes my poor typing indicated when I mistakenly sent out this message. Even still, twenty is way better than the sixty-plus my first cold break took.

Adding yeast and then off to the fermentation chiller

The brew procedure:

Sanitize everything, yep, everything -- Clean things make good beer, dirty things make smelly water
Pull the yeast out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature
Bring 3 gallons of water to 150°
Steep specialty grains in a muslin bag for 12 minutes
Squeeze the grain bag to drain as much liquid as possible, discard grains when finished
Add the DME, one bag at a time, stirring thoroughly to combine before adding the next bag
Bring to a boil
Add 1oz Willamette pellet hops in a muslin bag, boil for 40 minutes
Add 1oz Glacier leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 15 minutes
Add 1oz Willamette leaf hops in a muslin bag, boil for 5 minutes
Squeeze each bag of hops to drain as much liquid as possible, discard hops when finished
Chill brew kettle
Mix brew kettle contents and cold water to fill a 5 gallon fermenter
Measure temp, looking for between 70° and 75°
Aerate the wort by stirring vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes
Pitch liquid yeast
Lid up, add the air lock and keep in a cool, dry place

For the next few weeks it's going to live in my fermentation chiller. I need to do some more reading, but I think I'm going to try a two stage fermentation this time as well. Once the Blonde is in bottles I'll be brewing up a Lemon Coriander Weiss.

Tron Legacy Translucence does exist!

2011-05-03T12:09:00.001-04:00

I've never been happier to admit that I was wrong. It's not that I can't admit it when I am, it's just that I wanted this like a kid on Christmas morning!

The sickest picture disc released to vinyl ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but... No, ever.

So, what is it? It's a vinyl record. More specifically, a translucent limited edition 10" record designed to look like the Tron: Legacy Identity Disk. Like I said, the sickest picture disc ever.

What's the big deal? Well, the day after I found out about this record, I read what I thought was a legitimate notice that the record had been cancelled.

Translucence includes the only official US release of "Caster".

In hind sight, I was stupid to believe the rumors it was cancelled by Universal Music. That should have set off a huge red flag. I did honestly look into it. No, really, I did. I clicked over to wiki and confirmed Walt Disney Records put out the soundtrack and that Daft Punk is on Virgin Records. I even checked out the Universal Music website and ran a few Google searches.

I found no concrete evidence beyond a few random websites reporting the exact same thing, verbatim. Against all better judgement, I bought into this hoax hook, line and sinker. If you have some "prime real estate in Florida", you should have pitched me on it on March 30th. I went so far as to write this rant about it. Think I was a little hasty? And so, here I am, apologizing to the world for not checking my sources, because clearly it does exist.

How do I know it exists? Well, these pictures didn't take themselves.

Even though I believed the cancellation notice, when I saw that Strictly Discs was taking reservations for it, I hedged my bets and reserved one. And I'm really glad I did because the fine folks there emailed me on Friday, April 15th, the day before Record Store Day, regarding my reservation. When I called Angie, she confirmed the disc did exist and I arranged my charge-by-phone order on the spot. Ten days later it arrived.

Now I just need to locate a 10" record frame so I can hang it.

If you're looking for one, I'd start with Strictly Discs. I know that at least one person was able to get a copy from them the week after Record Store Day (April 16th). If they don't have any left, you can turn to eBay. I'm seeing three auctions now in the range of $13-27.

Mexican themed Easter Dinner by a bunch of Polaks

2011-05-01T14:19:00.001-04:00

My wife, Morgan, and I are both part Polish; she's fifty percent and I'm something like a quarter. Many of both of our family traditions are based, at least in part, on our Polish heritage. But we're also adventurous, so when Morgan's sister suggest we do a Mexican themed Easter Dinner, I said 'barbacoa, baby, barbacoa!'

Mise en place, everything looks better in it's place

I have no formal training in the kitchen, but I've loved cooking since I was a kid. I was making grilled cheese and ramen noodles by the time I was 8 or 9 and have been tossing stuff in pots and pans ever since. I love to try new things in the kitchen, so in spite of never making barbacoa before, I knew I could pull it off.

I'm not the best at following a recipe, I'm more of a concept guy. On Good Friday I read several different recipes about how to make barbacoa. Saturday morning while we were eating crepes at the West Side Market, I thought about what I read and whatever I remembered got added into my plan.

The beef, before and after the dry rub

So, here goes my barbacoa recipe...

5.5 lbs of Beef Chuck Roast
1 bunch of Cilantro
1 cup of lemon juice
1 can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
1/2 cup Mexican Oregano
1/4 cup Freshly Toasted and Ground Cumin
1 tbsp of New Mexico Chile Powder
1/2 - 1 quart of beef stock

Honestly, the only measurements I'm positive on are the bunch of cilantro, the can of chipotles and the chuck roast. Sorry, but I just don't measure, it's too much effort for too little return. That said, I always, always, always toast and grind whole spices if at all possible.

The cilantro, chipotle peppers and lime juice go for a spin

This is so easy with cumin. Toss in a small pan, apply heat and when you smell cumin in the air, take it off the heat, let it cool a bit and grind. Five minutes will seriously turn the amplifiers up to eleven. I do regret using pre-packaged new mexico chile powder; next time I will make my own.

I intentionally kept the spiciness to a minimum, as several of the Easter Dinner guests don't do the hot stuff very well. If I had made this for just the two of us, I would have doubled or even tripled the new mexico chile powder and added in some fresh chopped jalapeños.

The finished marinade and the dry rubbed beef

I got the beef from our friends at Lance's Beef. They always take really good care of us; they setup us up with two nice cuts of chuck roast, each about an inch and a half thick with a bit of marbling and nice fat layer on the outside. Like Alton says, get to know your butcher. If you don't have one, get one.

"So talk to your butcher. If you don't have a butcher, well find one. Soon."
- Alton Brown, Good Eats "Celebrity Roast", Season 5, Episode 4

For you Clevelanders, the West Side Market is honestly a national treasure. We save so much money getting our meats and poultry there and I'm not ever going to talk about the quality and flavor difference. Skip the Eagle. Sorry Lisa and Ed.

The wet stuff goes on the dry stuff, marinating the beef

I broke the beef down into several smaller pieces, following the muscle lines as natural cut points, so they'd be easier to marinate. Then I tossed the hunks in the oregano, cumin and chile mixture as a dry rub. I took the cilantro, lime juice and chipotles with adobo for a spin in the blender and then poured the wet marinate on top. The beef enjoyed some nice marination time in the refrigerator, about 14 hours.

I only just realized that I never added any salt, which is odd because we season everything. Having tasted the finished product, I don't feel like it needed any, so I guess it worked out.

Going dutch, the beef midway through cooking

Easter morning I get the dutch over rocket hot and tossed the beef in, marinade and all, to get a little sear on before I added about half a quart of beef stock. I wasn't measuring volume, I was just making sure the beef was covered. Once it started to boil, it when into a preheated 350° oven.

After an hour I back it down to 250°. I checked it every hour to make sure it wasn't getting dry, but I never had to add any liquid. After 3 hours the beef was tender and easy to pull apart with tongs. By 4 hours a gentle squeeze was enough to make it fall apart.

The final product with Chipotle Tabasco sauce, salsa and cheese

The final product? Well, I think it needed some spice, but a healthy dose of Chipotle Tabasco sauce fixed that. Beyond that, I'm quite happy with the results. I'm already planning a barbecued beef adaptation with homemade barbecue sauce in place of the wet stuff and smoked paprika, brown sugar and garlic in place of the oregano and new mexico chile powder.

We're going to Tokyo for our First Anniversary... even if it's a few months late.

2011-04-29T06:57:00.001-04:00

In April of 2009 I asked Morgan to marry me while we watched the sun set in Santa Monica, California.

Santa Monica Pier. Photo: Morgan Rooks

In May of 2010 we got married at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Our Wedding Party. Photo: Studio 222

In May of 2011 we planned to celebrate our one year anniversary in Tokyo, Japan. Then Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11th.

Devastation and debris in Natori, Miyagi prefecture. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

We had already booked our plane tickets and hotel rooms. We were already scoping out the city for must do restaurants and shops. In the wake so such destruction our vacation was pushed into limbo.

I'm amazed at the number of people that kept asking if I was upset about my vacation being ruin. How could think about my vacation when half of Japan lay in ruin? With people living in little pod shelters inside of schools and gymnasiums?

Many evacuees living in government shelters. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

And for the last several weeks we waited to figure out what we were going to do. I'm happy to report that our Japan trip is back on. Instead of going in May, we're going in late October.

And no, I'm not afraid to go in October. Honestly, I'm not afraid to go now, but Japan is having enough trouble getting it back together, it doesn't need some camera happy American tourists wandering around sucking up what energy, water and food that they have.

So, we'll wait a little longer to see Tokyo. It's not going anywhere.

Tokyo's Disneyland reopened April 15th for the first time since
the earthquake and tsunami. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Social Media Marketing Myths... and Fornicating Unicorns

2011-04-27T21:01:00.000-04:00

My wife sent over an article by Brett Borders about Social Media Marketing Myths that she wanted to post it to her Linked In profile. She's been looking to change careers and was looking for some relevant SMM content to bolster her appeal. However the photograph was potentially incendiary given that she wants to be taken seriously and get someone to hire her.

Here is the image:

Image Credit: Chris Bishop. Support Chris and buy the t-shirt at Threadless.

Whether you find the depiction humorous or unsavory, fornicating unicorns do not scream "professional". And that's a real shame because Brett's article is well written, concise and very informative. His tone is authoritative, but casual, he keeps it tech-speak free and gives real world examples that are easy to understand. Even though it was published in June of 2010, everything Brett points out is absolutely still valid today.

"...the social media world is like a busy bar or restaurant: fun to visit, but stressful and demanding to work in."
- Brett Borders, debunking "Social Media Marketing is Easy"

I think social media myths are so wide spread because the tools actually are easy, fast and free. Services like Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare are all free, signing up for them is a cinch and making your first post takes no time at all. How could being social media marketing expert possibly be hard?

"The Notorious BIG said it best: 'Either you're slingin' crack-rock, or you've got a wicked jump-shot.' Nobody wants to work for it anymore."
- Seth Davis, Boiler Room (2000)

You might be able to look past the fornicating unicorns, you might not. But if you're starting out in social media marketing or looking to step up your SMM game, you should definitely make sure you're not following along with some mythical notion about how easy it's going to be to make your first million.

Playing with RockMelt, the "Social Browser"

2011-04-13T22:14:00.000-04:00

As a web guy supporting a bunch of content creators, as well as end users, I have to know what is goig on in the world of web browsers. I'm certainly not an expert, but I keep up on the major contenders and toy with some of the specialty browsers now and again.

From my experience, the best browser is the one that's the easiest for you to use. For quite a long time that was the Netscape/Firefox family line of browsers. After getting a 13" laptop a few years back I switched to Chrome, opting for less browser bulk and more web real estate.

I honestly can't say why I jumped on the RockMelt wagon, but I've gotten quite comfortable using it. Based off the Chromium variant of the WebKit engine, it keeps the social universe in reach at all times. Out of the box it just works and I have yet to feel compelled to seek out plugins or add-ons.

The basic gimick that sets RockMelt apart is the direct tie in with Facebook and Twitter. You actually have to log in to Facebook through the program in order to get started. Adding in your Twitter account is optional, a step I opted to do.

In the wake of Flock closing their doors, I feel should give a nod to the "original" social browser, but honestly, I never got it. When I gave it a test drive, we lived in a world where few people had heard of Twitter and Facebook was just hitting the mainstream. Had it launched today, it may have have found more traction. The difference a few years makes.

As a Chrome user, I feel right at home with RockMelt; they are stylistically, if not functionally, almost identical. The big difference is the addition of two side bars, one to connect with friends and other to keep track of content feeds.

The Friend Rail. That's my Wife. She's looking for a job in SMM/SEO.

The friends bar allows you to connect directly with individuals, send them a message or a link and even chat, via Facebook. It also allows for favorites, so you can keep track of your most interesting friends. Honestly, I don't really use this bar much at all, but the integrated Facebook Chat has replaced Meebo. One less thing to worry about is always a plus.

The feed bar is quite helpful. One click gets me my Facebook or Twitter feed in a pop-out blade. Read, retweet, comment and then get right back to work. I also added my regular content streams and blogs; it's nice to have the latest news from Sneaker Freaker just a click away. Oh, yeah, Mashable, RWW and The Dieline too.

While I like Facebook being right at my fingertips in the feed bar, it's also the source of my biggest gripe. If you start a comment, but need to close the blade before publishing, your comment fragment gets lost. There is no save feature. I had some back and forth with the RockMelt folks via Twitter regarding this issue and I'm not entirely sure they got what I meant.

The Feed Bar in Action. Yeah, I'm not wearing a fanny pack, sorry.

I'm sure I wasn't in mind when they were designing the program and I'd bet this won't be much of an issue for most users, who will open their Facebook feed, read the posts and comment right away. But as a web guy managing several websites, with Facebook and Twitter streams for each, I'm constantly juggling a large number of things on the web. When Bob Seger gets sick and postpones his concert, well, sorry Zane, that video you posted is really funny, but work comes first.

My favorite feature is easily the universal share button. Lets face it, every site has Facebook and Twitter share buttons, so this isn't revolutionary but it does keep the button in one place. Click Share, add you comments and send it. It saves me a quarter of a second in hide and seek time when I want to post a great blog entry to my wall or tweet out a great Rush video. Like I said, not revolutionary, but convenient. And when I need to post content fast, it's a time saver. People really need to know about Bob got the flu!

I only recently discovered that the bookmarks sync between computers. Even though Delicious isn't closing - today - this was a nice little benefit. I noticed that Chrome is offering this in the latest release, but you have to turn it on... and, well, I'm lazy. This one's already set in the on position.

The Universal Share Button. Post links to Facebook or Twitter or send via FB Messaging.

As far as browsing, RockMelt renders just about everything I've pushed at it. It does have some issues with the version of TinyMCE we're using in our CMS at work, but I'm blaming that on our system and not the browser. I also miss seeing "View Image" when I right click on an image, but "Open image in a new tab" works almost as good.

And I haven't even begun to unlock the hidden gems of RockMelt. I'm sure there is even more under the hood that I've yet to discover, not to mention all the Google Apps that plug and play with it. Although I have to admit, there are very few things I'm wanting for; maybe an inline PDF viewer.

Is it the best browser ever? No. Does it read my mind and magically do what I want? If only. But as far as I'm concerned, its equal to Chrome in all respects and until I find something that makes my life easier, I'll call myself a RockMelt convert.

RockMelt is free and available now at www.RockMelt.com.

Computers and Blues: The Final Streets Album

2011-04-06T20:06:00.000-04:00

Considering this was one of the most anticipated albums that most people have never heard of, I'm a little sickened that I missed the release of Computers and Blues by a solid three weeks. And then it took another month to sit down and type about it. Also, you should start the video below before you start reading, it might help explain this ramble... or not.

The fifth and final Streets album, Computers and Blues, opens with loud, shrill tones and obnoxious auto-tuned vocals, causing me to tense up. The tracks have rough edges, random cuts and radical swings in tone and beat. Something was quite amiss. The album was unfinished; I could hardly listen to it. What had happened?

"I smoked one too many cigarettes, I heard one too many lies. And I’ve gambled on too many bets, I lost it all to this life."
- "Lock The Locks"

Even before the forth album was released, Mikey said he was getting "fucking sick" of it and that he was going to end The Streets with "one more banger", a fifth and final album. Boldly he titled the unwritten, unrecorded album Computers and Blues, stating it would be "dancing music to drink tea to". In the spring and summer 2009, he released a series of free tracks via Twitter and a release date of February 23, 2010 was set. I was on edge with anticipation.

Then Mikey left the grid.

Mike Skinner, Unknown Source

Was it all a joke? Nearly a year had past. No album. No Mikey. Were those Twitter tracks the last thing we would ever hear from him. Had I already been listening to Computers and Blues for months?

And then he resurfaced.

"To contradict the song that I wrote once, I ditched the phone. I switched it off one day around 365 days ago and I haven’t turned it on since."
- Mike Skinner, from The Street Blog

So, getting back to it, after that first scary listen I avoided it for a few days before determining that I had to settle in for the long haul. I'd already taken the ride this far, time to see just how far down the rabbit hole Mikey wanted to take me.

I devoting a week to listening to it on repeat, spending as much as four and five hours a day with it blaring in my ears. And it finally hit me. There never was a problem with the album. The only problem was with me.

I built a picture of it in my mind, determined that it would be the greatest record ever written. That Mike Skinner would ascend to some mythical height. That magical notes would emanate from throngs of grime rappers feverishly spitting into golden microphones.

And sometime during my 137th listen I realized that absolutely nothing could match the preconceived notion I had in my mind. At that moment the genius was looking me dead in the eyes. Mikey has always written the the soundtrack to his life; of course he did his final album his way. I was foolish to expect anything less than one final banger, an album full of dancing music to drink tea to.

"Just wanna ride out life in the key of C, I won't bash the black notes, I won't ask for answers."
- "Trying To Kill M.E."

Computers and Blues documents the good times, and the bad. It spits in the face of everyone who doesn't get it while laughing behind their backs with everyone that does. If you haven't heard The Streets before or if you are among the masses who don't, and likely won't, get it I'm sure you're laughing at me right now, as I undoubtedly sound like a geeked out fan boy.

Given my emotional investment in Computers and Blues, I can't say that's all together untrue. But no one wants their hero to die and nothing I could say will sell you on this album. It's not mine to sell. Despite my initial stupidity, I really can't picture a better ending to The Streets.

"I did a five-album deal and I don't think it would be right to be making Streets albums after that... I always envisaged them as a box-set and I've got a vision for each of the albums."
- Mike Skinner, from a BBC News Article

For me, it takes two songs to sum up this album. In "Trying To Kill M.E." Mikey talks about how he has evolved over the course of his ten year, five album tenure as The Streets. And in "Lock The Locks" he talks about putting down his pen, emptying out his desk and closing the doors.

And with that, The Streets are now closed. Thank you, Mike Skinner.

The final Streets blog entry. Unknown source.

Tron:Legacy LTD Translucent 10" Vinyl - CANCELLED!?!?

2011-03-30T10:00:00.002-04:00

UPDATE: This does exist. Read more about my impulsive stupidity.

An exclusive Daft Punk Tron: Legacy vinyl was planned for a Record Store Day release on April 16th.

The Daft Club reports that the translucent limited edition 10" vinyl was designed to look like the Tron:Legacy Identity Disk in orange, blue and yellow. The wax was to include the album versions of "Derezzed", "TRON Legacy" and "End of Line", as well as the bonus track "Castor", previously only available on the special edition bonus disc.

However, it seems like one of the coolest LTD releases ever won't be.

Seems numerous sources, in cluding Side Line, are now reporting that Universal Music has cancelled this release, "effective immediately".

Which means the potentially the sickest picture disc ever will never hang on my wall. I'm sure this was all caused by illegal downloaders pirating the picture disc.

So, if you see this jewel around, I'd be willing to trade a kidney for it.

Hoppin' Frog's Frosted Frog Christmas Ale

2011-03-02T22:46:00.001-05:00

I finally cracked out the Hoppin' Frog Frosted Frog Christmas Ale. Yeah, yeah, I know... Everyone's all ready for spring, but I still have some Christmas Ale's in my fridge and I need to get those cleared out. Those back to back home brew sessions are about to take over the apartment.

I picked up a 22 oz bottle at Lilly Handmade Chocolates before the holiday and just never got around to drinking it. Until tonight.

The bottle clearly states it's a spiced ale with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. The cinnamon and ginger are all over the place; the aroma, the taste, the aftertaste and even the burps. I just wish the nutmeg and the ale fit into the mix as well.

Like I said, I picked this up before the holidays and it's been tucked in the back of my fridge for like three months, so I'll own up to possible mishandling. But a 8.6% ABV beer should have some backbone left. And not a cinnamon, ginger backbone.

I have concluded that I don't like ginger in my beer. Not in Great Lakes, not in Thirsty Dog and not in Hoppin' Frog. It's that simple. Nix the ginger, cut back on the cinnamon and beef up the hops and malts and I might be able to get behind this ale, but I guess at that rate it wouldn't fit the common definition of a Christmas ale.

Sadly, I have about 12 oz more to go.

Atwater's Double Down Imperial Amber Ale

2011-02-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

I had no intention of picking up Atwater Block Brewery's Double Down Imperial Amber Ale; in fact I had never heard of Atwater at all. It was on the bottom shelf of the most out of the way rack at Southland Beverage. And I'm glad I bent down to check it out; it's very tasty.

It's also the first beer that I'm made a mess of since I cracked beers open on the counter of my dorm room. I had the tilt, the gentle pour; I was slow, I was steady. And yet it eupted from my glass, nothing could have stopped the flood that spilled from my glass. Seriously, it was a trainwreck.

Despite the spillage, this beer really has it all. It's a very aromatic brew, with a yeasty front end and sweet and spicy finish. The flavor is rich and full, with bitter hops, sweet malts, a hint of spice and nice alcohol balance. And with 7.5% ABV, you can even session it.

If I only had another one. And watch out for that head.

North Peak Diabolical India Pale Ale

2011-02-25T20:11:00.001-05:00

I can't honestly put my finger on why, but I like North Peak's Diabolical IPA. It's hoppy with some real malt backbone. The wheat malts give this amber pale ale some hazy and round out the full, yet refreshing flavor. And there there is the brand design. I took one look at this bottle and had to drink it. And I'm glad I did.

In all actuality, it's the x factor that kept me tilting the glass back. Diabolical is truly more than the sum of it's parts. A great session IPA; it's easy to drink, but keeps reminding you that you're actually drinking a real beer. Now if I only had another bottle now.

Are there too many voices?

2011-02-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

I tend to ignore angle brackets when I do find time to write a blog because, well, I spent all day working with them. As a web guy in a non-web industry, I work hard to make a point about things on the intertubes and when I get home, well, I just don't want to talk about them.

Plus there are more than enough talking heads rambling on about web stuff that adding my own two cents just seems silly. Seems everyones got an expert opinion about CSS, HTML5 and Twitter. I'm just one of a few hundred thousand webheads that's been four-finger picking at it since the early 90's. Who am I to talk about how people should use Facebook or what role Flash should have on today's internet?

But the more that I've been trying to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, etc and the more that I try to stay ahead of the inter-curve, the more I feel I'm drowning in a sea of voices, each shouting for a moment of my time.

I've been composing these thought in the margins for some time, but it was an article by Mike Melanson at Read Write Web about a new social startup Backyard that caused me to push the thought out of my brain and onto the page.

After reading the following passage in Mike's piece, I was excited to try Backyard.

Backyard, a self-described "scrappy young startup" showed today at the Launch conference and gives their users "relevant & valuable information about deals in their area."

RWW described it as Yelp for Taco Tuesdays and Happy Hours, something that showed actual discounts and specials that required no advanced planning or purchase. I was impressed. That is a site with some value to me. I'm not a big coupon or deal guy although I do, accasionally, use both, I don't go out of my way for them, even when the deal is good. Do you clip coupons or buy discount deals?

So I get to bckyrd.com. Yep, no vowels. Seems someone else is using the one with the vowels. So, I load it up and Mike sorta forgot to mention Backyard is only in some areas of SoCal. No worries, as a former SoCal resident I am at least familiar with some areas. I ran 90023 in the search box and struck out. I struck out again on Los Angeles and on Hollywood and on West Hollywood and again on Beverly Hills.

The error I kept getting indicated it served parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties, but I couldn't get anything to hit in LA county. Just as I was about to give up, I noticed the cute little links at the bottom of the page. When I didn't see anything in LA county, I clicked Anaheim and was disappointed to find Chevys at the top of the list for Happy Hours.

After all this work to find out about real discounts and specials that require no coupons, I find out about this top notch happy hour at Chevys. For those unfamiliar with Chevys it's like Chili's minus the burgers and ribs. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Backyard to move into CLE so I can find out all the exciting happy hour events at Red Lobster!

"The Internet was supposed to set us free, democratize us, but all it’s really given us is Howard Dean’s aborted candidacy and 24-hour a day access to kiddie porn, you know."
- Hank Moody, Califorication

So, back to my point, are there too many voices? Clearly I'm not the only one that feels this way since my wife posted something similar today without either of us even mentioning this to each other. Given the vast number of deal websites like Groupon, the social review sites like Yelp and social check in services like FourSquare, do we need yet another entry like Backyard?

To take a page from Alton Brown, this is the first of what I hope will become a series of blogs focusing on the over stimulation of our social selves because I think we've hit the point of overload.

What "social" sites do you use? Are you ready to bookmark another one?

21st Amendment Bitter American Session Ale

2011-02-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

I picked up the 21st Amendment Bitter American Session Ale the other day at Southland Beverage and I finally cracked the can. Yes, 21st A is one of the craft breweries that is using cans and no, I'm not going into that discussion.

I'm a total brand junky; I don't need a pretty package, but a great brand image with some good design will really hook me. And as far as beer goes, I think 21st A has some of the best I've seen. I'm not sure what a space monkey has to do with pale ale, but I love it! If only branding made beer taste good.

This is how the 21st A website describes this beer:

This American session ale packs a lot of hop and malt flavor into a refreshingly lower-alcohol brew, making it the perfect beer to have on hand when you have a little history to make.

A extra pale ale with bold malt and hop flavors sounded pretty good. While that's an accurate description of the beer, this space monkey just doesn't pack the punch I'd like. As a session ale with 4.4% ABV, I could most definitely put down a sixer or more of these and still blog about it afterwards, but that's not necessarily what I want. Wouldn't you expect the perfect beer for making history to be more memorable?

I've talked with Todd of Cleveland Beer Buzz several times about 21st A beers and we agree their canned offerings are lackluster. I really loved their Fireside Chat, it's at the top of my Christmas Ale list for last year, but so far it's the anomaly, not the rule.

Todd grabbed a pint of Monks Blood on tap and he said it was completely different, so if you happen to see it on tap in the CLE area let me know, I'd be happy to give it another shot.

Chobani Black Cherry Greek Yogurt

2011-02-23T13:52:00.003-05:00

My wife has been addicted to the Chobani yogurt for a while now, which means when I eat yogurt, it's Chobani. So far I've had the Strawberry and Blueberry, which I liked. Today she sent me with a new flavor: Black Cherry. And I do love me some black cherry yogurt.

I like my 'gurt on the chunky side, so I didn't shake it up so I could see the fruit layer on the bottom. I wish there were more chunks here, but at least there were chunks. All of a sudden I'm questioning my word choice. The fruit was dark in color and pieces (not chunks) looked like quality cherries, not processed fruit spread stuff.

It tasted pretty good, but not as epic as Poise In Parma led me to believe. That's okay, everyone knows that I love Black Cherry Chicano more than I love Black Cherry Chobani thanks to a recent iPhone auto-correct fail. I liked every bite, but I didn't have some mystical flavor explosion in my mouth. PiP let my expectations get the better of me; I was demanding flavor bombs.

Expectations aside, I'd definitely eat another black cherry yogurt from Chobani; it's not like I had any trouble eating the whole thing this time. Although I'm not sure about eating another black cherry Chicano. I think one is my limit.

Making My Own Beer, Part 4: Bottle One, Brew One

2011-02-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well, my first brew is in bottles. I spend five hours on Sunday bottling up the Winter Ale I brewed the week before and brewing up a new batch of beer.

At J.W. Dover, they I got two buckets, a 6 gallon and a 7.9 gallon. While I might be confused, I think I was told the 6 gallon was the fermentation bucket and the 7.9 was the bottling bucket. Regardless, they are both plastic buckets in excess of the 5 gallon batches I've been brewing.

I intended to add spigots to both buckets, but only got one installed on the 6 gallon bucket for brew time. I then used that bucket for my fermenter. When it came time to bottle, I had yet to install the spigot in the 7.9 gallon bucket, so I had a bit of juggling to do.

I drained the fermented beer into the bottling bucket, then cleaned and sanitized the fermentation bucket - which has a spigot - then poured it back into the fermentation bucket for bottling.

And to prevent this back and forth business again, I've opted to flip-flop the buckets, with my next batch of beer fermenting in the 7.9 gallon bucket. Plus it fits better in my fermentation chiller.

Otherwise, bottling was a breeze. Again, thanks to my wife, Morgan, for helping thought the day; she was the extra pair of hands I needed.

The new beer I brewed is another kit beer, Midwest Supplies Superior Strong Ale. The kit included:

A premixed bag of Specialty Grains:

8 oz. Brown Malt
8 oz. Caramel 40L

6 lbs Amber LME
3.3 lbs Dark LME
2 oz. Mt. Hood Hops
1 oz. Tettnang Hops
Wyeast American Ale #1056 Liquid Yeast

I swear this stuff brewed itself. I steeped the grains at 155° for 30 minutes while we were bottling the Winter Ale, then brought it to a boil. Other than almost forgetting to add the LME, it went perfecting smooth, and that was mainly an oversight due to the bottling. The hop additions were straight forward, the Mt. Hood at the beginning and the Tettnang just before the end.

I improved upon almost every thing on my To Do Better list. I had tons more sanitizer on hand and I'm positive everything got a very thorough cleansing. Moving to the bathtub was much better than using the wash tub, even the 7.9 gallon bucket fits.

Since the LME was a bit forgotten, instead of heating it up, I let gravity do most of the work, then I ladled in some of the boil into the LME bottles, shook and poured them out. I got almost ever last drop of LME. I will definitely do this again... with a funnel, so I don't burn my hand. I also avoided another LME plastic ring mishap.

I can't say I kept a better brew journal this time, but I was definitely more on the numbers. The whole process was smoother and my temperatures seemed to be more consistent, even if I didn't write more stuff down.

While I didn't have a snow bank for my cold break, I did plan a head better this time. I tossed two gallons of water in the freezer on Saturday morning, after pouring out a little for expansion. Next time I'l give them another full day, as there were still some pockets of water.

They got the temperature down to about 150° and a nice cold water soak in the bathtub took it the rest of the way down. In all, I spent about 20 minutes cooling it down. Hopefully some solid ice blocks with reduce that even further.

Using the bathtub for the cold break and then for pouring into the fermenter was definitely the way to go. No messy spills, no difficult clean up and a super convenient drain.

If I had one thing to do over, it would be to not bottle and brew at the same time. While I successfully juggled both, it could have gone wrong easily. If I decided to bottle and brew on the same day again, I will most certainly do one, then the other.

I opted to measure my wort this time, getting an OG of 1.071. I have to admit, reading the hydrometer was a bit of a challenge. The model I have has quite the variety of data points and figuring out which one(s) I needed was a bit of work, but in the end it worked out.

Come Monday morning I swapped out the ice to find it bubbling already, at a semi-steady pace of one every five or six seconds. This evening when I changed the ice in my chiller, I was reading one every two to three seconds and I'm prepared to see some crazy bubbling in the morning.

Did I mention how much I'm looking forward to this beer?

Making My Own Beer, Part 3: The Beer is Brewing.

2011-02-06T23:50:00.002-05:00

After years of dreaming, months of talking and weeks of plotting I'm finally brewing beer. With a little luck I'll be drinking something in March that tastes less like toxic waste and more like beer.

For Christmas I had asked for a few different beer kits and yesterday I made the Midwest Supplies Winter Ale. The Winter Ale kit includes:

A premixed bag of Specialty Grains:

4 oz Carafa II
8 oz Munich
8 oz Cara Wheat
4 oz Chocolate Rye
4 oz Melanoidin

6 lbs Dark LME
3.3 lbs Munich LME
1 oz Northern Brewer Pellet Hops
1 oz Vangaurd Pellet Hops
½ tsp Caraway
White Labs German Ale #WL029 Liquid Yeast

Let me just say that buying a pre-drilled bucket is the way to go. Why? Because I had to drill my own spigot hole and I nearly ruined my fermenter. Perhaps using a drill bit and a utility knife wasn't the easiest way to make the hole, but the tools I looked at last night at Home Depot seemed to be more for cutting metal or wood and I was reasonable worried about ruining the bucket.

Maybe I'll swing back and pick up that $5 drill bit thingy anyways, because the 25 minutes it took to force the spigot into the bucket was pretty frustrating. Still, it ended up working out okay and it's actually water tight, which is the most important part.

I grabbed 7 gallons of bottled spring water from Giant Eagle and then set out my supplies to prepare to brew. The sanitizing part went smoothly, although I wonder if I used enough of the Sparkle-Brite. I followed the instructions, but it didn't seem to dissolve as easily as I had anticipated and I'm wondering what will come of that. See my note about more sanitizer in the "Things To Do Better Next Time" section below.

Getting the water to the steeping temperature was pretty easy. Using gallon jugs of water from the store, I filled our electric kettle to the fill line and brought that to a boil. Then I poured the room temperature water left in the bottle and the 212° water from the kettle together into the pot. The net temperature was about 145°. I did this for three gallons of water.

I tossed the grain in to steep at 145° while continuing to heat the water until I hit and maintained 154°. Seems like midway between medium and medium high is the sweet spot on my range. In total my grain got a nice 40 minute soak.

I was a little under prepared for how long it would take to bring the pot to a boil. On high, it took between 25 and 35 minutes. See my note about a brew journal in the "Things To Do Better Next Time" section below.

Last weekend I picked up a 24 quart stock pot and a lid at Dean Supply for $49.00. I had debated whether I needed the 24 qt or if the 20 qt would be large enough, but I'm glad I went with the larger pot. With a three gallon brew, I've got plenty of head room for a healthy foam up at a full roaming boil and no messy boil over. Even had a solid two inches of clean pot left at the peak of foaming.

Honestly the boil was really easy going. It foamed up nicely when it hit a boil and I was starting to get a little concerned, but once I added the first dose of hops, half of the Northerns, the foam completely disappeared and it's stayed away for the rest of the boil. I am surprised as to just how much water boiled away. The recipe didn't mention anything about replacing it back and I've read blogs that go either way. Today I did not top off, but I definitely need to do some reading there.

I did misread my recipe though and forgot to make my hop additions as scheduled. While I'm sure this will impact the final taste, I'm not overly concerned. I've learned my lession: READ. And I'm over it. The Vangaurd hops went in with 16 minutes left and the remaining Northerns went in with 12 left. They were scheduled for 30 and 20 respectively.

My experience with the pellet hops was pretty disappointing; they basically turned to dust when they hit the boil and they made straining impossible. Definitely going to need to look into alternatives here, as this cannot stand.

I did confirmed that I love the taste of hops. I took a taste of the leftover dust of each of the hops and wow. It's a major flavor explosion. Bitter, a bit fruity and quite intense. I even tasted the grains, which were a little sweet and, obviously, grainy.

Although my recipe didn't call for it, I toasted the caraway before dumping it into the brew with about 8 minutes of boil left. As a Good Eats fan, I know that you need to unlock the flavor potential of whole spice by toasting otherwise you might as well be using dust.

In order to cool down the pot, I placed it outside on our balcony in a nice pile of snow. I expected this to help cool everything down quickly, however expectations and reality weren't in alignment. It took about 40 minutes to chill down to 80 degrees, but it did so at a very random pace, so I'm not convinced my readings were all together accurate.

Getting it into the fermenter was also a bit of an issue, with a bit ending up on the kitchen floor, myself and my wife who was kind enough to hold the strainer. Between what I lost during the pour and what I kept in the bottom of the pot with all of the left over hops, I'm guessing I wasted between 12 and 16 ounces.

The yeast packet was nice and convenient, however the little package inside the package was a beast to break. Took a couple minutes to figure out the right way to get it to pop. The ease of pouring it into the fermenter made up for it though. A quick tap on the lid and then pushing in the bubbler and it was off to the fermentation chiller.

All in all, I think I expected to make more mistakes and have this be a much larger undertaking than it was. Honestly, most of the time I was sitting on my ass with just one eye on the pot.

Things To Do Better Next Time:

1) Get more sanitizer. I used an entire 3oz bag of Sparkle-Brite to sanitize everything today, but since sanitation is the first key ingredient in good beer, I think I should have much more on hand.

2) Find a better way to sanitize stuff. The wash tub in the laundry room worked okay, but it was inconvenient and a bit troublesome. Plus the fermenter bucket didn't really fit in the sink and there is no way the taller bottling bucket will ever fit.

3) Maintain better heat on the LME. I did heat my LME, but I guess I did it too far in advance, as they were cool by the time it came to getting them in the pot.

4) Pull the plastic rings of the LME containers. Yep. It went in the pot. Yep. I fished it out.

5) Keep a better brew journal. I kept making mental notes about time, temperature, etc, but I relied to much on my brain power and ended up loosing track of stuff.

6) Find a better and fast way to chill the liquid down. And I'm not buying a wort chiller... yet. I quote Chris Knight: "Ice is nice!"

7) Find a better way to pour from the pot into the fermenter. I think some reading is in order here, but at the very least this needs to move to the bathtub so I don't splash on my wife or coat the kitchen floor in proto-beer.

Making My Own Beer, Part 2

2011-01-24T22:09:00.001-05:00

After far too long, I've completed the beast. Mostly. My son of fermentation chiller is now 99% assembled and I'm relaxing with a Brooklyn Winter Ale. After a long day and a run, I'm just far to lazy to post pictures or video now.

As for the chiller, I've got the hardware installed, the weather striping in and other than running out of caulk, I'm ready to call it finished. While I plan on doing a full walk through later this week, I really can't impress how difficult it is to get the weather striping to stick to the foam.

I'm quite happy with the few minor modifications that I made to the design of the baffle. Most notably, I did not fix the baffle in place. Instead I've got it hanging in place on some screws. Why? I wanted to have flexibility in my ice chamber - especially when it comes to getting the ice in and out.

I also added a fan to the bottom of the baffle to increase air flow. In my initial temperature tests during my Thanksgiving turkey thaw, I noticed that it did melt the ice faster, but that it definitely increase the chilling power. I'll give it some tests and see if it's really worth while. Worst case, I just caulk it into place.

Then I notched the top of the baffle to house the temperature control unit. It's a nice central location and allows for easy routing of my cables, especially the power cable, which I have coming out the rear panel at the top.

Also, M and I hit JW Dover Beer Supply store this weekend to get my fermentation and bottling buckets. I opted for plastic because, well, they were cheap. The only downside of the Dover buckets was... I have to drill my own hole for the spigot.

Still, I'm very close to my first brew session. With some luck - and more motivation - I'll be brewing some beer this weekend.

As for the Brooklyn, well, it was drinkable. It's already gone and I didn't hated one sip. It's roasted and nutty with a hint of caramel. While I wouldn't list it in my top three Christmas brews, it's definitely drinkable.

And now... it's time for beer two. What are you drinking? Have any recommendations?

Some new Beer Reviews

2010-12-03T13:52:00.000-05:00

Sadly, I've been neglecting my blog and my fermentation chiller, but I have at least gotten back into the routine of doing some video beer reviews.

In the Christmas Ale Challenge, my favorite is still 21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale, with Great Lakes Christmas Ale at the bottom. I know, I know, I can hear you shouting at your screen - please don't act like this guy - , but seriously, I am completely disappointed with this years Christmas Ale.

I've also washed down a Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale, Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser, Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop Ale and a Bell's Winter White Ale.

M and I keep hearing how great the Tröegs Mad Elf Ale is and we're kicking ourselves for not getting it when we saw it at Heinen's. The wife doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to suggest we stop there tonight. Might need to grab another sixer of Fireside Chat as well.

Outside of the CAC, I've got a new favorite IPA, Fat Head's Yakima Hop Stalker IPA and I've found out that I really enjoy ESBs as well, especially Crooked River's Settles Ale ESB!

Any beers you'd like to suggest - Christmas or otherwise?

My Son of Fermentation Chiller is mostly constructed. The weather stripping still needs to be installed and I've got some sanding and finishing touches left as well. I'm hoping to wrap it up over the weekend.

I've also taken up the challenge of upgrading my iTunes library. I'm re-importing our music, replacing our AAC and MP3s with Apple Lossless encodes. However, with some 1700+ albums in our library, it's thus far been daunting. I really should have started this years ago.

Any suggestions for long term storage? My 1TB drive is rapidly filling up. Thankfully I've got it on good authority that Santa will be bringing me a new 2TB drive for Christmas.

And I definitely need to make time to get our wedding thank you's done. We tend have grand plans that mean a lot of work and I'm just not motivated to work on them a few hours each night after a day full of work. That said, we're getting to the point where we're just being rude, so I guess the chiller and iTunes will have to wait.

Last night I was drinking Blue Moon's Pale Moon Belgian Style Pale Ale

2010-11-23T19:04:00.000-05:00

Taken with Instagr.am

Seems I let the battery in the Flip Mino go flat, so the video cuts off. Here's what did get filmed.

As I was saying, Pale Moon is available year round in the Blue Moon Variety Pack. More on the variety pack later.

I'm unhappy with the Pale Moon. There is an unsavory aftertaste, a mix of wax and herbs. I suppose it's the hibiscus, but it could be the orange peel as well. In either case, Pale Moon just falls short for me. I can't even bring myself to finish it.

The Blue Moon Variety Pack contains 4 bottles of Pale Moon, 4 bottles of regular Blue Moon wheat beer and 4 bottles of a season brew, in this case the Winter Abbey Ale.

Didn't see my Winter Abbey Ale review? Watch it now!

One final note about Blue Moon. Whoever thought it was a great idea to make an entirely flash website needs to be beaten with a stick no larger than the size of my thumb on the steps of the Medina County Courthouse. Why? Because flash websites are such A Space Odyssey.

The Christmas Ale Challenge will continue later this week with Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale and Bell's Winter White Ale. And maybe I'll try to choke my way through another honey-ginger ladened bottle of Thirsty Dog Christmas Ale.

My favorite Pink Floyd Album, Meddle

2010-11-20T23:16:00.000-05:00

A little bit ago some people on that Face Place website - you know, the one with a population larger than all but two countries - were talking about the most memorable albums they could remember. I was pretty distraught that people kept tossing Pink Floyd, but it was always The Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall - like they were the only Floyd albums ever released.

Props to the guy who listed Wish You Were Here - but it's such a shame that it's the "deep cuts" album. It was shocking that one of the greatest space/prog-rock bands ever was reduced to three albums. I'm some raving Pink Floyd fan who can rattle off the liner notes from the back cover of some obscure single from 1967, but at least I know not to ask which one's Pink.

I started writing this blog a month ago, then saw fit to delete half of it. Since then I've just sat on it. Now I don't really remember how I started my argument, but it was something like, "you can take your precious Dark Side and The Wall and jam them," because they wouldn't have been anything without Meddle.

This album in particular gets a really bad wrap for no reason at all. Lets face it, Floyd produced experimental art in the form of music and that means it's 100% subjective. One persons Picasso is another's Van Gogh.

On a critical level, I argue that Meddle signifies a specific change in their sound. It's the first cohesive album featuring solid suites of music that each move from point A to B. I dare say, it's their first true progressive album.

Now I'm not some vinyl snob - my ever growing 180+gb digital library indicates I'm quite far from it - but this is definitely an album that makes much more sense with two sides. And, yes, I do own it on vinyl - it's just more convenient to listen on my iPod. If figure it as two suites of music hyphenated by a few stand alone tracks.

The first two tracks, "One of These Days" and "A Pillow of Winds", directly segue with the sound of ambient wind, a technique they later showcase on Wish you Were Here. While "Fearless" isn't directly connected with the first two songs, I feel it completes the movement.

"Fearless" balances the driving, almost horrifying tone of "One of These Days" with the breathy, romantic "A Pillow of Winds". Plus droning rhythm of "Fearless" is one of my favorite PF guitar riffs; there is just so much that can be done with four chords and the right timing.

"San Tropez" and "Seamus" are stand alone experiments with jazz and blues, respectively. While potentially just fits of whimsy, I consider these focused attempts at expanding their sonic character. And poor, poor "Seamus" (that's the dog) always gets left out in the cold as their worst song - something I really feel is a little harsh.

Side two contains the 23+ minute opus "Echoes", which really diagrams my feelings about this album. It's an adventure, with ups and downs. It starts one place, moves somewhere else, gets a little lost, a little scary and then ends on some solid footing. I'm filled with a sense of accomplishment when I listen to it.

So, I stand by earlier comment. You cannot have your precious Dark Side without it. Coincidentally, Dark Side is their next full length, non-soundtrack album. And while I'm not dismissing Obscured By Clouds in any way, I'd argue that you could mash Meddle with Dark Side quite successfully.

If you listen to "Echoes", you can hear pieces of Dark Side developing, especially portions of "Brain Damage". Sure it lacks the sonic cohesion of Dark Side or the potent lyrics of The Wall, but it's the start of something big. And I'm a real sucker for starting points.

When you're looking at Pink Floyd, the journey is just as important as each stop along the way. I just happen to believe Meddle was a very important stop. Undoubtedly I've failed to convince anyone that Meddle is a superior album, but at least I can say that I've argued on it's behalf.

Making My Own Beer, Part 1

2010-10-13T19:45:00.000-04:00

I only really started to like beer about five or six years ago. Throughout the first half of my twenties, I could hardly stand drinking mass produced, commercial beer and I spent most of my time ordering mixed drinks. Sadly, I didn't know what I was missing.

Thankfully I discovered there were good beers on the market and have spent the last few years enjoying them. Hey, I'm no expert, but I know what I like and what I don't like. Haven't seen any of my beer reviews? Watch them now:

I can't say when I first got interested in brewing my own beer, but it's been at least two years. After reading, lusting, dreaming, forgetting, rediscovering and repeating, I've finally took my first step. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to ramble on first about some stuff that you'll likely find boring. It's what I do.

Now, there seems to be a million different ways to make your own beer, but if everyone agrees on only one thing, it's the need to maintain a consistent fermentation temperature. I'm an ale guy and ale yeast like temperatures somewhere in the 60's. Given our thermally inefficient apartment, it's hard to maintain a consistent 72°, let alone 64°.

Thus a fermentation chiller has been a necessity - and therefore a major hurdle - in my quest to brew beer. There are friendly folks all over the intertubes with dozens of DIY fermentation chillers, most notably the Son of Fermentation Chiller designed by Ken Schwartz.

Your basic fermentation chiller is a foam box with two compartments. One for your fermenting proto-beer and one for some ice. Slap a home thermostat together with a small PC fan to circulate the cold air from the ice chamber with the warmer air from the fermentation chamber and viola!

Seems like everyone in the home brew community has made at least one DIY brewing device. And one of the main tenants of home brewers is thrift, with many of them pointing out their chillers cost mere pennies - or around $75 - built with free or inexpensive pieces and parts that require only "simple" and "minor" electrical modification. Sadly, most of the stuff I've read or watched is a little fast and loose for my skill level.

Something about hacking together a home thermostat, a 12v DC power adapter and a computer fan, sticking that into a foam box and then plugging it into the wall has been intimidating. I never was very good at wiring up electronics and getting M to sign off on what could result in the apartment going up in a ball of fire just wasn't going to happen.

Call me a coward, but I love my wife and I really like my guitars, computers and HD TV. I'm really not ready to risk them for some home made beer. And I'm pretty sure that a flaming box of foam in my front closet is probably cause for eviction and definitely negates my renters insurance.

And so I dreamed. Every few months I'd get the itch, reread a bunch of blogs, brew journals and chiller schematics looking for a safe, reliable way of not burning down our home. I've almost bought a thermostat down at Home Depot three times, most recently just a last weekend.

Thankfully, I've found a much more reasonable, reliable and, yes, expensive solution. Sure, I might be spitting in the face of the DIY ethic, but whatever. I want to brew beer, not build the cheapest box to do it in. If I'm going to take this up as a serious hobby, I want to focus on making the tastiest beer I can, not saving a few bucks on one of the most crucial parts of the process.

So, here's what I ordered:

Coolerguys Programmable Thermal Fan Controller with LED Display for $34.95 from Cooler Guys

Waterproof Thermal Probe for $2.95 from Cooler Guys

COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan for $14.99 from NewEgg

OKGEAR PA-AD-UL 12V/5V AC/DC Power adapter w/ 4pin molex connector for $12.99 from NewEgg

Link Depot 12" Power Supply 3 Pin Fan Extension Cable Model POW-12-EXT - Quantity 4 for $1.99 each from NewEgg

The grand total was $92.41 - and yes, I still have a number of pieces left to purchase at Home Depot. I'm estimating anther $40 or $50 worth of construction materials, raising my total expenses upwards of $150. Still, I have a safe, reliable temperature control solution that should outlast my first and second fermentation chillers.

And so begins my journey towards delicious home brew. When the parts arrive in the next week, I'll test my easy-to-construct circuit and if everything is green, hard core construction will being in early November.

Making Starbucks Via Ready Brew Coffee

2010-09-14T15:33:00.000-04:00

The coffee machine at work is on the fritz again and I've been a walking zombie most of the afternoon. Jenn was nice enough to slip me a Via envelope after a conversation we had this morning about needing to try this for our upcoming trip to Tokyo. Many thanks Jenn.

I popped open the package expecting some sort of tea bag like device, but found three small pouches of coffee. As long as it has caffeine, right?

I added one package to my stylishly retro Mickey's Coffee mug. Hmm. Doesn't look like enough.

Two packages. That looks better.

Just add water.

It came out a little foamy, but not that different from what normally comes out of this machine.

The aroma is pleasant, but slightly chemical. The label only lists "Instant and Microground Arabica Coffee (100%)", but I feel like something is off.

Hmm, did I add too much? Unlikely, you can never add enough coffee for my taste. But, yes, something doesn't taste quite right. It's bitter too, more bitter than your average Starbuck's fresh brew.

Not bad, just not great. I'll enjoy drinking this, and likely make the other packet as well, but I think I'll be looking into energy drinks and other coffee substitutes before we fly off to Tokyo.

Thanks again to Jenn for helping me out. I will definitely not kill someone this afternoon now. Mame, well, that's still on the table.

It feels good being "Lost in the Supermarket"

2010-09-03T06:35:00.001-04:00

If I had to make a list of my favorite albums of all time, London Calling would definitely be on it. I hate making lists of favorites and it's super hard for me to pick a favorite anything in music. Even top fives are rough. Top tens, well, maybe - if you hold a gun to my head.

But, if I were to make a list of my favorite albums, London Calling would definitely fall near the top. To me, it represents The Clash at their very best, as well as a sort of the holy grail of music cliffs. It was instrumental in my life because it was a great album that I discovered at the right time, but it also exposed me to a whole bunch of other types of music like rocksteady, dancehall, soul and hip-hop.

I think I got the album in 1991 or 1992 from a mail order music services after reading something about it a guitar magazine. At the time I know I thought I was the coolest kid on the planet, even if the other kids my age thought I, as well as the album, was pretty stupid.

I didn't care, I was hooked from the first notes. "London Calling" set the tone for the next 60 minutes of music. Those guitar stabs, the liquid bass, so simple and yet full of so much power, magic and magnetism.

There were no stars on this album, every component depends on every other component. Sure, they released three singles, but any of these songs could have been issued as a single. "Rudie Can't Fail", "Revolution Rock", "Koka Kola" - all on-singles that have star qualities. Still, it's better played as a whole. To quote Larry Mullen, Jr., "it's a musical journey."

The Clash has always focused lyrically on issues that matter to them, this collection really showcase their genius. While they do state the obvious directly, they typically use literary devices like allegory, double entendre and euphemism to convey compound meanings.

"But I believe in this - and it's been tested by research, he who fucks nuns will later join the church"
- "Death or Glory"

In preparing to write this, I did a little reading and came across Billy Altman's April, 1980 review from Creem Magazine. He states, "I don't find London Calling an easy album to handle", citing that they blow their load on the title track and then tread the same lyrical ground, offering no hope or resolution. He adds, "The four sides of London Calling have me feeling like I've been levelled [sic] by the weight of the world."

Now I'm not trying to pick a fight through time and space and with all due respect to Mr. Altman, I find his issue with London Calling ridiculous. On a level, yes, they do stay hyper focused on the bleakness of the world, as they saw it, but doesn't history record the same bleakness?

Wasn't it especially bleak in Great Britain during the late 70's? Weren't these "punks" rebelling against the political and social situations of the day? Against the extreme commercialism they saw? I find it irresponsible to assert that they should have some other view point, let alone of a beacon of hope to the masses. What hope did they have?

"The Guns of Brixton" exemplifies my point by foreshadows the race riots in Brixton, even if only proven so in hind sight. Again, I'm not trying to argue, but these were all songs of substance. Should we condemn Metallica (musically) or Rage Against the Machine (lyrically) for similar reasons?

Whether they were about the darkness of life in England or the darkness of life in general, they cover the same ground from different perspectives, pointing out individual nuances of their life experiences. These were four guys dealing with the drudgery of life in a difficult time.

Perhaps that sentiment produced the synergy between them that is so integral to the success of this album. Together they were able to convey they emotional turmoil of whatever they were doing when they recorded London Calling, they did it right. They are super tight on every track and you can feel how close the band are with each other - ah, the times before they started to hate each other.

And that's the thing that I love most about this album. Despite the bad times, despite their troubles, they came together to write a beautifully emotive album with a sonic landscape the size of the Sahara. They stretched out, pushing themselves in new directions, trying new things. It's 65 minutes of some of the best music ever written.

After talking about the Femmes, and now The Clash, I'm beginning to see a trend toward angsty music full of social implication and dissidence - and I'm okay with that.

Wishing it was Gone in 60 Seconds

2010-09-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

In my continuing series of movie remakes, I got Gone in 60 Seconds from Netflix the other day. The original film was made by stunt car driver turned filmmaker H. B. 'Toby' Halicki in 1974, with over the top producer Jerry Bruckheimer making a remake in 2000.

Posters for Both Films

I was immediate struck by the DIY nature of the original. It's razor thin plot played second, or maybe even third fiddle, to the 30+ minute chase scene featuring Eleanor, a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1. At first I found it laughable, but as the film developed, I realized the lack of plot - acting and dialog, too - increased my enjoyment. There was no complicated story to bind up the action.

In spite of it's laughable nature, it's simple and pure. Sure there are lots of over dubbed lines to fill in a loose back story and some cheesy, badly acted scenes to build up the tension, but as an amateur filmmaker, you can learn a lot from Halicki. He was quite economic with his use of space, "sets", locations and personnel - it's honestly quite an achievement.

Toby Halicki stealing Eleanor from the International Towers

On the other hand, Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney spared no expense on their version of the film, weaving in mysterious history topped with life-or-death, winner takes all stakes. Four minutes in you're swimming neck deep in tension and suspense. If you buy that, please email Amazon gift certificates to me. I promise to use that to better the peoples suffering in other countries. THANKS!

As with most of his films, even though he's not the director, he's the auteur and the whole thing wreaks of Bruckheimer-ism's. It's a Jerry Bomb of long pan establishing shots, sweeping music drops to signify scene and locale changes, and telegraphed catch endings all wrapped in an ultra polished wrapper of sharp color and high contrast.

Nick Cage delivering Eleanor to the villainous "Carpenter"

I've never been really impressed with that Coppola boy's acting skills and I'd rather not talk about the freaky daughter of Jon Voight, but honestly they played their parts pretty well in this one. The hook up scene was annoying for it's predictability, but otherwise they actually seemed like real characters.

The rest of the cast was equally well rounded. I really dig Vinnie Jones despite his habitual type-casting. While I think Giovanni Ribisi was wasted in the role, I normally like his work, especially in Boiler Room. There was a nice ensemble cast that played better than the mostly one man show of the original.

This car protected by Tiger Security

Beyond the car stealing, the rest of the story has been utterly played out. I think we've seen the basic story before in about a hundred other movies; Commando comes to mind. Of course you're going it do whatever it takes to help save your family - and that's why it falls flat, it's so predictable. It was novel the first time it happen. Didn't Plato write that story? If only he wrote "get to da choppa" too.

I'm really not sure how I feel about them switching Eleanor from a 1973 Mach 1 to a 1967 GT500. I suppose you could argue that the Shelby GT500 is the holy grail of Mustangs, but why grey and black? Why not the classic white with blue rocker stripes? Regardless, I feel that the grey filmed horribly, looking fake and plastic the whole time.

Still, there were some nice homage moments. It was almost poetic to have Nick Cage pick up Eleanor at the International Tower in The LBC, the same location Eleanor was picked up in 1974. The heroin/engine revving scene was a loose shoot-for-shoot redux and I loved the use of exotic animals as security guards in both films - the tiger in the original wins hands down.

Toby Halicki makes the jump in Eleanor

The jump scene is absolutely horrible in the remake though. The special effects are sketchy at best and it was just beyond plausibility. Someone please call the Mythbusters. Although the cross dissolve effects in the original look dated - they probably did in 1974 too - the jump looked realistic - because it was real.

Halicki actually jumped Eleanor a reported distance of 128 feet, getting 30 feet off the ground. The footage in the film doesn't look quite that far or high, but who cares? The car jumps, crash lands, looses control, recovers, then jets off leaving the police in the dust. It really happened.

CG effects make Eleanor look like she's flying, I mean jumping

In the end, I call the original Gone In 60 Seconds the definitive car chase film starring Eleanor. If you want bunch of action, a little story, a hint of romance and a few Jerry Bombs, then you should just go watch Pirates of the Caribbean.

Home made In-N-Out Burgers!

2010-08-30T21:03:00.001-04:00

Yep, you read right. Home made. In-N-Out Burgers. Not sure what I'm talking about, well, unless you live on the left coast, I'm not surprised. Us right coasters are missing out on some seriously phenomenal burgers. Sure, we have some tasty options like Five Guys and Brown Bag, but one taste of a Double Double will make you forget all about those sub-standard burgers.

M's First In-N-Out Burger, Brookhurst and Orange in Anaheim

When I lived in Los Angeles, I did my best to sample In-N-Out as regularly as possible and when I took M there in 2009, she fell in love too. Sadly, we now sit at some mock-burger joint eating substitute "burgers" dreaming of the day when we can stuff a juicy, messy Double Double in our mouths and experience true burger ecstasy again. UNTIL NOW!

Many thanks to my co-worker Daune for pointing me to a great article about DIY In-N-Out Burgers. For the past two weeks I've been lusting after these delicious home made burgers and finally we made them! The recipe and procedure are quite simple, but we did make a few minor changes.

M's Extra Toast, Extra Spread (Top) and My Double Double Animal Style (Bottom)

Sadly, we didn't grind our own meat, instead the Golden Eagle provided us with some 80/20 ground beef. Next time I will definitely ground my own. We also left out the tomato. Neither of us really like them and they end up making a mess - and these burgers are messy enough. We also traded the Arnold Brand buns for Eagle bakery buns and iceberg for Boston lettuce.

I started by dicing the onions and getting them in the skillet to caramelize, which took about 15 minutes total. I used a Vidalia onion which browned up nicely and was pleasantly sweet with a hint of tang. While the onions were working, M made the In-N-Out spread and I measured out the meat and pressed down the patties. I found that working with parchment paper between each patty allowed me to stack them for easy transport to the griddle. We used a sharp American cheese from the Eagle deli, Land O'Lakes brand.

Our Home Made In-N-Out Burgers

I've worked a grill before, but making burgers In-N-Out style is something that requires you complete attention and precision choreography. Sadly, I didn't have the precision part down. The napalm - I mean cheese - burns on my hands prove that. Still it was a valuable learning experience. Next time I'll be ready.

If you choose to make your own In-N-Out style burgers - and I really think you should - make sure you've read the procedure at least twice. Have everything ready and waiting - which is sorta hard given you need to cook the burgers and the buns on the griddle, plus the buns need a nice dose of spread before you lay the burgers to rest. It's a bit of a rush, but it's definitely doable with some coordination.

View the Photo Slide Show

How did they taste? The cheese, onions and pickles were right on. The spread was amazing. I can't say for certain if it was In-N-Out spread, but I don't honestly care; I'd eat it with a spoon. If there was a low point, it was the beef. Maybe it was the Eagle ground meat, maybe I didn't add enough salt and pepper, but it was a little flat. I also had the griddle set too low when I dropped the burgers, they didn't get a good GBD crust.

So they might not be perfect In-N-Out copies, but it was the best burger I've had in a very long while.

I want to be a Violent Femme too

2010-08-27T06:20:00.016-04:00

I'm not sure when I first heard Violent Femmes, but I'm sure - like most everyone else - that the song was "Blister in the Sun". My first real experience with the Femmes came from a tape copy of their eponymous debut my uncle gave me in the early 1990's. I have such vivid memories of listening to it on my Walkman as I road the bus home from school.

Sample Three Songs from the Album:

The first thing that struck me about the album was their signature sound. So raw and full of angst. It was punk with violins, acoustic guitars and xylophones. Sure, they might be known for their wonky pseudo-pop hits like "Blister", "Kiss Off" and "Add It Up", but it was their less popular songs that really blew me way.

At that point in time, I must have listened to it non-stop for at least six months straight. I'm not sure if I understood why I loved listening to it then, but it certainly set the stage for the next decade of my life. Listening to it again today, it's so clear: It's the perfect soundtrack to adolescence.

As a teen, you can relate to every song on this album. Who didn't beg for the car or struggle to fit in? The Femmes vocalized the hopes, dreams and fears of millions of middle Americans, seeking to break free, contemplating suicide, longing for acceptance and, mostly, hoping to get laid.

"Behind my back, I can see them stare. They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind. They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time." - Violent Femmes "Kiss Off"

Their sound is fashionable without being popular; weaving gritty textures and off kilter melodies to produce a distorted view of pop sensibilities. They use dis-chord and cacophony to create anxiety and tension. "To The Kill" exemplifies this with it's frenzy of off-tempo, disheveled and wandering riffs for both guitar and bass, leaving only a syncopated snare beat to keep time - and sanity.

The topically ambiguous "Good Felling" has always been a personal favorite because of it's dichotomy of emotion. It's simultaneously melancholy and euphoric, as is much of the adolescent experience. It lifts you up, leaves you wanting more, yet points out the everything must end, that you must eventually come down. It's a particularly hard lesson to learn as a teen, especially when you're unprepared for the harsh realities of life.

As an adult, Violent Femmes provides a nostalgic look at adolescence, complete with all the triumphs and failures. I need to make sure that it makes it into rotation more regularly, for the music and for the memories.

Purchase Violent Femmes on iTunes.

Appendix A

As I stated, my original copy of Violent Femmes was a tape I received from my uncle. I believe it was recorded from a CD copy of the album and did contain "Gimme the Car", but I don't remember "Ugly" being on the tape at all. These two songs were not on the original 1982 release of the album, they were added during the 1983 re-release. Additionally, "Good Feeling" was the last Violent Femmes song on side one. I verified the release data with Discogs and no release seems to match my tape.

Appendix B

After "Good Felling", my uncle added U2's "Desire (Hollywood Remix)" on to the end just to fill out the rest of side one. I just don't feel complete unless I hear it. There is something about the way the serenity of "Good Feeling" gets destroyed by the klaxons of "Desire". I honestly can't remember what was one side two of the cassette, but I know that I did a lot of rewinding.

Thunderball V. Never Say Never Again, Part 2

2010-08-25T06:57:00.005-04:00

This is Part 2 of a movie remake comparison. If you haven't already read Part 1, you may want to do so before you start reading.

I've always been a fan of the classic Sean Connery Bond films and so I've generally always liked Thunderball. In order to do this comparison, I watched it critically, perhaps for the first time, and I quickly realized it's one of, if not the, weakest of the original five Connery films.

The characters and plot are simple, but it's not like Thunderball was made to change the world. James Bond embodies excitement; toss in some suspense, a gadget or two, a leading lady, a dastardly villain, a few bull sharks and you're willing to suspend disbelief.

Outside of that, Thunderball is quite unremarkable. Sean Connery plays the leading role with familiarity, but no zeal. Bond's gadgets hardly deserve that title, Claudine Auger's Domino is little more than eye candy and Adolfo Celi's Emilio Largo is without real purpose. Of course, the sharks gain high marks from me. Perhaps they should have had some lasers on their heads.

Regrettably, Never Say Never Again was even worse. The tempo is constantly in flux, with some scenes moving slowly and others flashing by in the blink of an eye. This made it very difficult to watch and required more concentration that I really wanted to devote. Michel Legrand's "contemporary" 1980's jazz fusion score is utterly abysmal, compounding my disdain for watching the film. Never the less, I did my best to focus.

Never Say Never Again felt contrived from the start. It's bloated with unnecessary location changes, laborious and boring fight sequences and a weak hint at a larger political message. More isn't always more. Still, we're talking about the same type of escapist tendencies here.

James Bond and Domino in Thunderball

Klaus Maria Brandauer's Maximillian Largo is a psychopathic, loose cannon who's actions are utterly predictable. Kim Basinger's Domino is sadly the most dynamic character in the movie, although her evolution takes about three seconds, so that's really not saying much. She is lifeless, with nothing behind her eyes, then again, that might just be Kim Basinger, who has the same look in Batman.

Never Say Thunderball Again, Please
Obviously there are some differences between these two films, but I'm not too concerned with the minutia of inconsequential details. The truth is, both films failed dismally at producing an interesting and engaging story.

James Bond and Domino in Never Say Never Again

Both films barely kept me involved and suffer from underdeveloped characters and plot lines, like Thunderball's cold-blooded killer Vargas and the relationship between dastardly villain Maximillian Largo and deranged temptress Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again.

Given the 18 years between the two films, it should be no huge surprise that Never Say Never Again definitely takes the lead in overall cinematography and special effects, however the jetpack effects in Thunderball were as good as those of the XT-7B Personal Missile. There is just no overlooking the fast-motion sequences in Thunderball, especially during Bond's fight with Bouvar and the final sequences aboard the out of control Disco Vilante.

Jetpack V. Personal Missile

SPECTRE, especially Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has an exceptionally high Red Scare, comic book super villain cheese factor in Thunderball, with their Never Say Never Again counterparts seeming more realistic. I would have like to see Max von Sydow play Blofeld through the whole EON series of Bond films, as he brought sophistication and charm to the role typically known for being icy and mysterious. Lets face it, super villains are cliché, but they make for a great escape from reality.

Each film has it's own laughable, WTF moment. Thunderball alludes to the fact that Bond and Domino make love on the sea floor during a scuba dive, which may be the most uncomfortable act ever. In Never Say Never Again, we see Bond and Domino riding a horse, which proceeds to jump 200 feet, give or take 50 feet, into the Mediterranean Sea - and live, of course. At least Thunderball can rely on 1960's censors for some of it's shortcomings.

Sean Connery as James Bond

The real heart of this comparison for me was Sean Connery. In Thunderball, Connery seems to rely on his tenure with the character instead of laboring to produce. I dare say you can almost tell he's beginning to tire of the role. He lacks the snappy delivery and egotistical wit of his previous portrayals.

In Never Say Never Again Connery's plays the aging and under appreciated 00 Agent with more maturity and patience, likely do due to his own age. Still, it was refreshing to see Bond resembled the hard-boiled, no non-sense Bond we see in Dr. No instead of the more memorable love'm and leave'm persona from the other EON films.

Despite the weak script and poor dialog, the elder, mature Bond won me over, primarily due to Connery's stronger delivery and presence. He seemed to have some purpose in Never Say Never Again, with a general interest in saving the world from the big bad crime syndicate. It also helps that his performance reminds me of Captain Marko Ramius, his character from The Hunt for Red October.

Ultimately, neither of these works stand the time of time. Okay, they both might have been pretty dismal the day they were released too, but the common thread in their mutual suckery is the excessively weak plot line and poor dialog. The main story about the missing nukes is only as good as the subplots that get you from point A to point Z, and both of these films missed the mark in ever way.

Although EON Bond 23 is officially, maybe, on hold, I wouldn't be surprised to see another remake of the Thunderball story at some point in the future. With Sean Connery turning 80 today, perhaps he's willing to come out of retirement and see if the third time's the charm.

Thunderball V. Never Say Never Again, Part 1

2010-08-23T06:50:00.009-04:00

I have a strange fascination with history, chronology and the concept of 'what has come before'. I love comparing different versions of the same idea, to look for it's evolution. Movie remakes are fascinating examples of how ideas can evolve and I've chosen to highlight some famous cinematic remakes in a new series of film comparisons.

A Little About the Remake
Remakes are nearly as old as movies themselves. Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur was the basis for the 1907 Sidney Olcott directed Ben Hur, which was later remade in 1925 and 1959.

Screens from the 1907, 1925 and 1959 versions of Ben-Hur

But why remake a story that has already been told? In some cases it's a simple as one auteur wanting to tell their own variation of a given story. Special effect laden movies are often remade as technology improves. Many "foreign" films have been adapted for the US market. Some directors, including D.W. Griffith and Alfred Hitchcock, have even remade their own works, seeking to produce a definitive vision. Sadly, most films are remade to recapture the cinematic success of the original film. In Hollywood, a new idea is always riskier than an old idea.

For the purpose of this series, a remake is defined as film that is a reproduction or direct adaptation of another film. And trust me, there have been hundreds of film remakes and adaptations. Reboots will have to wait for their own series of comparisons.

Ian Fleming

James Bond: Celluloid Hero
James Bond was created in early 1952 by British journalist Ian Fleming and was instantaneously sought after by the small and big screens. After several years without a success transition to either screen, a new film project was started by Ian Fleming, Ernest Cuneo, Ivar Bryce, and Kevin McClory.

The project quickly dissolved into a legal battle over ownership of the story, but ultimately resulted in Fleming publishing Thunderball (TB) as his ninth Bond novel, to which McClory owned the film rights.

Fleming ultimately sold Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman the rights to his other Bond works and began producing films under the banner of EON Productions. When McClory couldn't get financing for his production, he turned to EON. McClory, Broccoli and Saltzman were all unhappy with the 1965 feature film that resulted from their partnership.

Albert R. Broccoli

As part of their deal, McClory agreed not to produce another adaption of the story for twelve years. After that deal expired in 1976, McClory and Sean Connery began working on ideas for a new original James Bond adventure tentatively called Warhead8 or James Bond of the Secret Service. However this production was successfully blocked in court. Four years later, with Warner Brothers behind him, McClory successfully got the legal green light to make a remake of Thunderball.

Unable to include James Bond, 007 or Thunderball in the title, Connery's second wife Micheline Roquebrune was the genesis for the title, having told him never say "never" again after he retired the role after Diamonds Are Forever.

These two films are perfect for comparison. Not only do they share the same source material and general plot arc, but they share the same lead actor playing the same role, the only remake I'm aware of with this accolade.

To Be Continued

Bowling for Alex!

2010-08-22T13:49:00.002-04:00

For the past month Uncle Al has been visiting us in Cleveland, which probably sounds kind of strange. For the past ten months he's been living and teaching English in Guangzhou, China.

Today he goes back to GZ to being another semester of teaching, so yesterday we headed our to Freeway Lanes in Parma for a big group bowl-off that we've unoffically labeled BOWLING FOR ALEX. Sorta sounds like a benefit event, huh? Please send donations in the form of coffee to Foreign Guy, Guangzhou, China.

I'm quite pleased to say that my bowling skills were as sucky as ever, but honestly I wasn't really there for the bowling. We all had a good time before heading back to Mom and Dad's house for some games and then to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.

Thanks again to Kay for getting all of this together!

Remembering Warren Zevon Learning to Flinch

2010-08-19T12:57:00.003-04:00

My iTunes Library has gotten pretty bloated with several decades of music, the vast majority of which I haven't heard in a really long time. Today I busted out my favorite Warren Zevon album.

I got my first real taste of Warren Zevon's genius around Christmas of 1993. Learning to Flinch was a gift from urban family friend and occasional music mentor Wayne and, honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure, I had heard, and liked, "Werewolves of London" - who hasn't - but a full album from the novelty song guy? Hmm.

Still, Wayne had never failed me and after the excitement of Christmas and New Years died down, I dropped the disc in to the stereo for a listen. Few things prepared me for the connection I was about to make or the impact that Warren Zevon would leave on me. It redefined the way I thought about live music, acoustic guitar and piano.

Sample Three Songs from the Album:

Full of starkly honest, witty, humorous and occasionally bleak songs that showcase his genius, Learning to Flinch was recorded live during the summer and fall of 1992 at various locations in the U.S., Europe and Australia. After listening to it again, I can't help but feel the same way I did all those years ago.

Warren Zevon is able to remain emotionally naked and genuine, while producing a rich and effortless sound. Fatally flawed and deeply passionate, his unique, sardonic style sets him apart from other singer-songwriters.

I'm not going to lie and say I understand the meaning of every song, but there is a blue collar simplicity to each of them. These are uncommon songs for common people, mere observations, tainted only by the eyes of the observer. Whether he's making a vaguely political statement, telling a really good story or touching upon something deeply personal, he weaves complex tales into easily digestible four minute bites.

"I'll play Claire de Lune in a quiet
saloon, Steady work for a change."
- Warren Zevon from "Piano Fighter"

The critical acclaim he received from contemporaries like Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley and Tom Petty suggests he was a true songwriter's songwriter, but I can't help but feel like he's just another barroom player, a modern troubadour playing the beer hall and juke joint circuit for the love of music, not money.

Purchase Warren Zevon's Learning to Flinch on iTunes.

Chris Nolan and the Fantastic Distortion of Time, Space and Reality.

2010-08-10T12:14:00.001-04:00

Shockingly we went to see a Leo DiCraprio film in the theater, mostly because M was tired of everyone talking about how amazing Inception was. It was easy to convince me, as I really like Christopher Nolan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Despite that, I honestly had pretty low expectations for the film. Maybe it's my cinema school background, but I always find that I'm easily disappointed when I put even the smallest amount of stock into a film beforehand. To counter act this phenomenon, I've pretty much just trained myself to expect every film is going to suck. If it does, I'm not let down. If it doesn't, I'm pleasantly surprised.

The basis for the film is lucid dreaming, a concept that we both find pretty interesting. I wouldn't say something ludicrous like, 'I lucid dream every night', but I have developed a fairly detailed concept of time, space and reality in my head, so I was open to the whole experience. I'm pretty sure the concept of lucid dreaming is why so many people have gotten wrapped up in the Inception craze. It literally blew their mind because it was so far outside of the realm of their imagination.

Not facing that situation, I was able to follow along pretty closely as the story progressed. The story moved pretty quickly, but there weren't any huge surprises along the way. There was the right amount of suspense at the right times and as long as you paid attention, it was reasonably easy to keep track of both reality and the dream worlds.

Leonardo DiCaprio was actually quite good at playing the role of the mysterious, yet driven mind hacker. The ensemble cast of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Marion Cotillard where capable of playing up to Leo's level, without outshining his character. Gordon-Levitt proved once again that he has a bright career in from of him, albeit not in main street cinema, and I look forward to seeing Ellen page develop into a strong, more prominent actress.

On the whole, the film was well thought out and executed, with an explanation given at the right time, in the right way for the more complex concepts. I specifically enjoyed the exhilaration and tension that was generated the multitude of stories existing concurrently on several individual plains. Sadly, it was a mostly wasted effort, with most of the tension dying off in an unsatisfying way.

"The movie is a metaphor for the power of delusional hype—a metaphor for itself" - David Edelstein, New York magazine

Nolan's ambiguous ending was the low point of the film. I left the theater without feeling let down, but otherwise impassive to the film. For as well played as the as the film was, the ending seemed so typical. Much like The Dark Knight, the ending just seemed so poorly conceived, almost as if they just decided to give up providing a real conclusion to the story in favor of just ending it. I can almost see the executives in the boardroom talking out the "genius" of the last few frames.

That said, I would love to sit down with Christopher and talk about his concepts of time, space and reality, all central themes to the bulk of his works. He obviously has a developed several complex, if not somewhat warped, theories revolving around these subjects that undoubtedly would be fun to explore.

As for continually obfuscating his narratives, I only hope his purpose - and success - is more grand than box office draw alone, otherwise his habitually type-cast stories with begin to play out like those of M. Night Shyamalan.

Milk: The Life and Times of Gay Rights in America

2010-08-08T15:04:00.001-04:00

I finally had the chance to watch Milk and I was struck by how little has changed since 1978. As I find with many bio-pics, it's hard to get a solid read on the narrative as the central character becomes titanic in proportion to the story.

In Milk, I felt the entire gay rights movement had been hyper-focused into the life - and death - of one man and served to wash out the rest of the characters for me. The characters played by Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna and Josh Brolin were completely overshadowed by Sean Penn's performance, as if their roles could have been filled by any other actor to an identical effect.

Ultimately, it's hard to talk about this film without politicizing it. It's a film with a political message. It's meant to stir up ideas and controversy. The goal is to make people think. I found the following quotation to be the most striking:

"[to] the young people in Jackson Mississippi, in Minnesota, in the Richmond, in Woodmere New York, who are hearing... that they are sick, they are wrong... I say, we have got to give them hope!" - Sean Penn speaking as Harvey Milk, Milk

It saddens and frustrates me that these words, whether Hollywood fabrications or direct quotations, are as applicable today as they were in 1978. At this very moment, the film stopped being about Harvey Milk for me and became something much larger and more powerful.

I fail to see what sexual orientation has to do with your ability to function in society, to lead productive lives, to marry, raise children and grow old together. Equality is a foreign concept in a capitalist society, but that doesn't mean everyone shouldn't be entitled to equal rights.

Allowing hate and fear to mandate law only serves to point out how weak and narrow minded our society has become. Pointing to religion to make your case against this cause is disturbing to the point of hilarity given the horrific atrocities that man has carried out in the name of god.

"...you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living."

If only the people of 1978 - or 2010 - understood these words.

Roseangel: A Trip to Flavorless-land

2010-08-06T22:52:00.003-04:00

M and I went to Roseangel tonight based on promotion from Happy Dog and the Plain Dealer. RoseAngel is a new tacqueria owned by restaurateur Marlin Kaplan (formerly One Walnut, currently Luxe) located in Gordon Square.

As you should know by now, M is the elegant food blogger, whereas I'm just straight forward and honest. Please note this when comparing her words to mine.

It was a little busy, but not overwhelming for a Friday night. Despite empty tables, it still took a few minutes to get seated. We didn't catch our servers name, but we later learned that she was recently hurt on the job, resulting in stitches in her knee and a week off from work.

It took somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes for our first round of drinks to show up, our waitress did keep apologizing. After ordering it took another 10 or so minutes for our Chorizo Sausage Corn Dogs to show up.

Chorizo Sausage Corn Dog with Hot Mustard

The corn dog was okay, but something was off about it; the combination of the mustard, chorizo and batter just didn't meld well. The "hot" mustard was barely spicy, while the chorizo did have some heat.

Our drinks ran dry and our entrées were held up, leaving us sitting there starring out the window at Happy Dog across the street. There were several moments where I thought about walking over to get a beer. Our waitress did keep apologizing for the delay.

Between conversation and keeping track of the socialized media on our phones, we people watched the Happy Dog patrons. The girl in the grey jeans stepped outside 6 times to smoke before we got our tacos.

I ordered the braised pork, hanger steak and spicy chicken tacos. I think they mixed up my order with the flavorless cabbage slaw tacos. Each taco came on a separate plate, which consumed our two-top table very quickly.

Spicy Chicken Taco with Green Pepper, Grilled Onions and Pico de Gallo

The completely unseasoned Spicy Chicken taco wasn't spicy at all. My Mom, who thinks plan tomato salsa is hot, could have eaten the chicken. In place of the spice was char, to the point of being crunchy and a little dry. The Pico de Gallo was pretty good, at least it was seasoned. I can't comment on the green peppers or grilled onions because they weren't served on the taco. The crunchy shell was already falling apart when it got to the table.

The Hanger Steak, which was recommended to me by our waitress was utterly flavorless and again covered in charred. The cabbage was a prime player here, even overriding the onions and mayo. The soft shell seemed homemade and was pretty good, although it too broke quickly.

Hanger Steak Taco with Crisy Onions and Chipotle Mayo

The Braised Pork was the best out of my three tacos, as well as having the most well composed plate. That said, I make better pork at home and the green chiles must have ran away with the green pepper and onion.

Nothing tasted like it had been seasoned before, during or after it was cooked, the plates were hastily and sloppily composed and the flavors just didn't work. Despite cautions about the hot plates, none of my food came to the table hot; striking due to our long wait.

Braised Pork Taco with Green Chiles, Onion and Pineapple

I hate to just outright bash the place, but this was one of the most disappointing meals I've eaten since I visited One Walnut for lunch three years ago.

We both completely agree that finishing our meal at Roseangel only made us wish we had gone to Momocho. Especially for all this coin.

And to the social review haters who think I should have brought this up with the management, what was I supposed to say? "I found next to nothing good about your restaurant, please change everything"?

Musical Memory Lane: X-Ray Spex

2010-07-03T13:06:00.000-04:00

Few punk bands had the tenacious tone of X-Ray Spex. Dirty, raw and shrill, they blew my mind when I first heard "Oh Bondage, Up Yours" on a punk compilation album in late 1995. The thing that got be about "Bondage" was the honking sax. Who puts saxophone in punk music? And bad, poorly performed sax at that; but that was the mystic of it. It was phenomenal because it was so bad.

I had to have more. Immediately. I was able to locate their 1995 sophomore release Conscious Consumer easily, but it was too new wavey, too modern. It reeked of reunion album, as it should - it was.

While I was on the internet in 1995, most people weren't and finding their vintage albums took quite some work. Camelot be damned, I got to know the guys at Record Den in Great Lakes Mall pretty good.

Eventually I got their debut release, Germ Free Adolescents on CD and I was hooked. Raw, visceral and discordant; they were amazing. More so than the raucous Sex Pistols or the gentile Clash, the embodied the UK punk movement to me.

At this time, I was exploring music at a voracious rate and amassing a collection that would have impressed Rob Gordon. By 1996 the pop punk movement had reached a pinnacle of success; I couldn't stand the sound of Billie Joe chugging away on a happy power chord yapping on about how there was nothing to watch on TV.

Even more annoying were the throngs of Green Day, Offspring and Rancid (the most vile of them all) fans declaring their allegiance as "punks". And they called me the poser for talking about X-Ray or the New York Dolls. My interest in punk music as a whole began to wain, as I was tired of constantly being counter-sold on such mockery.

When it was time to pack for college, all of my music got packed up and shipped - something that didn't happen when I moved back home. Quite a number of amazing things had gotten lost in the shuffle. And so now, not quite 15 years after originally discovering X-Ray Spex, I am happy to have spent a week rediscovering them.

Dave Matthews Band at Blossom Music Center on June 25th, 2010

2010-06-26T14:00:00.008-04:00

This was my second time seeing Dave at Blossom and while I really enjoyed myself, I don't feel like it was a totally amazing show.

Traffic on the way to Blossom was much better than I expected. We took 77 down and really didn't encounter any trouble until we were about a mile and half away. Usual human stupidity aside, it was a perfect drive in. The SOLD OUT signs at the entrance signaled we might be in for quite a ride.

Our walk to the gates were pretty uneventful. We did cross paths with a 9 year old. My only real issue with that was the four 18 year old girls escorting him in. Big sister or cousin looked like she was prime for a good time. Think of the emotional scarring.

With a little bit of a slow down at the gates, we were through security and inside in a flash. It was a short walk to the bathrooms which both had long lines. I said goodbye to Morgan, fully expecting to not see here for another half hour.

The mens line went pretty quick and was uneventful with the major exception of the shit monster creeping out of one of the stalls. I'm serious. This was something straight out of Dogma. I then headed outside to park myself as I waited for M.

However, the womens line seemed to be moving abnormally fast. M appeared before my direct message even went through. I don't know what they've done differently, but we both made it through a bathroom line in less than 6 minutes. AMAZING pee experiences at Blossom were had by all.

Finding our seats was cake and our row was nearly empty. At 8:15p I was surprised, but also concerned. We were two rows behind a taper. They looked pretty young, but their gear seemed okay. Sadly, they never put the mics too high up in the air. I hope their recording came out, but I don't have much hope.

Dave and crew took the stage about 8:30, opening with "Big Eyed Fish", something I thought was a bit random. As they jammed out of the song, Boyd started doing his long bow draws signaling the start of "Bartender", but instead we got "Grace is Gone". The segue seemed a bit disjointed.

Next they played "Seven" from Big Whiskey, which reminded me that I need to go back and relisten to that album again. "Stay or Leave" was nice and they ripped it up on "Don't Drink the Water".

M was excited to hear "#41", but I have to admit that I was underwhelmed. They jammed it out nicely, but it sounded like a dozen or more recordings I already have. Given it's staple status, I expected something new this leg.

The show really face planted when they started "Stand Up (For It)". Thankfully it ended up being only a tease, but it was just all wrong. It's bad when you can feel the music fighting itself. They segued into "Recently" after a very, very brief (almost too brief to mention) "Cornbread" tease. Even a decent "Recently" couldn't recover from this mess.

"Squirm" is becoming a new fav of mine; I think it's the harder edge and the sound of Timmy's Flying V shredding that gets me excited. "Eh Hee" and "Shake Me Like A Monkey" followed, with both songs feeling particularly rocked out.

"You and Me" was nice, but it seemed a little misplaced coming after a three pack of hard stuff. Okay, I know hard for Dave is like a Van Halen ballad, but it's all relative.

As "You and Me" wrapped up, I was expecting one, maybe two more songs before the encore break. When they launched into "Dancing Nancies", I was certain of it. As they rolled out of the "Nancies" jam, Carter started to segue into "Warehouse" and I literally had my mine blow.

It was like a total flash back and for a moment it was all chills and body high. The "Warehouse" jam was excellent, with Boyd dropping an amazing violin solo. I was certain this was the break.

Until they shocked me with the unreleased "Can't Stop", which felt poorly executed. M's night was made complete by a full "Cornbread" which they segued into "Ants Marching". Again, they really brought out all the stops. Carter was all over the place and Boyd was once again just lighting the stage on fire.

Dave came back after the break with a solo, acoustic "Little Red Bird" which I wish I could have enjoyed more, but it was just really, really loud. The rest of the band joined him for "So Right" and "So Damn Lucky" which seem to be staple closers this tour. The encore was good, but it just didn't seem very tight.

I noticed throughout the show that Boyd pretty continually seemed to be standing on the sidelines. His solos in "Warehouse" and "Ants" were enlightening, but otherwise, he seemed detached. Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross, who also had their moments of solitude, seemed much more engaged.

Stefan seemed to be rocking it hardcore, but we'd never know. Carters low end was just totally obliterating everything else in the lower frequencies.

Dave's voice seemed to be a little weak, but the real issue was the guy sleeping at the soundboard. There were huge sections where his vocal channel was just off completely.

Speaking of the sound team: they were horrible. Okay, maybe it was my location, but my ears were assaulted in an unfriendly fashion. The low end was horribly loud, mids where decent and there was next to no high end. The sound pressure levels of Carter's kick drum was so high that you can see it impacting the focus on the video.

Ultimately the worse aspect of the show was the crowd. There was the couple tweaked out on ecstasy, weed and beer who kept pushing around in our room. I can't say where their assigned seater were, but they clearly didn't seem to care. If they weren't making out or grinding on each other, they were knocking into anything and everyone.

For those of you new to a concert, please walk IN FRONT of people. It was an epidemic of people pushing behind us. The usual alcohol and weed fuel party crew seemed to take root one row up and just left of us. They weren't horrible, but it wasn't a relaxing walk in the park either.

All in all, I'm glad we went to see Dave. Maybe I'm getting too old for all the concert bullshit or maybe the concert bullshit is just getting old.

I counted at least 5 taping rigs, so someone should have something available soon.

It's almost time for Thanksgiving in June

2010-06-24T22:10:00.002-04:00

I'm betting every single person reading this just went WTF. Okay, that might be a stretch... I think there might only be one person reading this and I'm pretty sure I married her last month, so not sure how that counts.

But, in the event that you're reading this... Thanksgiving in June is like Christmas in July, only way cooler with turkey.

Again, many of you might be thinking: WHY? If your Thanksgiving Turkey tastes as good as ours does, you understand. Turkey is good. Mash potatoes are good. Stuff - I mean dressing - is good. (Stuffing, as we all know, if evil).

Saturday we'll be enjoying a small feast of Thanksgiving proportions. But in order to make a meal of that flavor magnitude, you need to prep. And prep I did.

The turkey is currently taking a bath in tub. It was rock hard when we picked it up at the Eagle - yes, I dare say we got our bird at the Eagle - and it needs a slow thermal trip back to reality. A little bit of cold convection does the trick nicely.

While the bird is in the bath, I cleaned out the fridge and then did a major overhaul on the kitchen. Half a roll of bleach wipes and two dish-pan hands later and the kitchen is nearly spotless.

Now what? Well, it's time for a nice cold Monk's Blood before the zzzzz's come.

iPhone iOS 4

2010-06-23T06:42:00.000-04:00

I wasn't that excited to get the iOS 4 update for my iPhone... at least not until I found myself installing it at 2am. I'm sure the honeymoon will wear off quickly, but so far I'm happy.

The first thing I did was update my backgrounds. Yes, I know many other phones have done this for a really long time... and I'm okay with that. It's not a deal breaker - and I'm not likely to update them again very soon.

The folder feature is nice. Finally I was able to nest all those annoying apps that I couldn't uninstall. And the upgraded mail and notes features are nice so far. I need to make some time to really play around with the new features. It is nice having all mail appear in the same folder instead of switching back and forth.

So far my favorite upgrade features are the multiprocessing and quick app switch. Of course, I've noticed that my battery is already down to 10% and I've barely used my phone today, so those features might come at a cost... one that is already quite high.

The coolest thing I've learned from the iOS 4 upgrade are Evernote and Dropbox apps. Yes, I'm aware these are separate apps that are not connected to the iOS upgrade. But I learned about them because of the Mashable iOS 4 video.

I've been using Dropbox on my Desk and Laptops for quite sometime, but having access to some of my files on my iPhone is just amazing.

Evernote is something that I've just started using today. I had been using my iPhone Notes app to manage my meeting notes, etc, but I always kept forgetting to email them to myself. No more. So far I'm really happy with Evernote. More to come once I've gotten into using it.

I'm totally underwhelmed with the 5x digital zoom on the camera. I already have a hard enough time getting a photo that isn't blurry, I don't want to have to deal with digital blur too. What I don't understand is how Hipstamatic produces great photos 98%, but the regular camera app produces nice photos 6% of the time.

Now the only question is... do I regret not pre-ordering my iPhone 4? Hmm, I don't know. Part of me says yes, part of my says no. Will I be upgrading... most definitely. It's just a matter of when. The HD Camera feature might be worth the cost alone since I see to have misplaced (translation: LOST) our brand new FlipCam sometime between the wedding and 10 days after we got home.

One Month Marriage Update

2010-06-22T18:10:00.004-04:00

You heard about the wedding right? If not, check out the teaser photos from our amazing photographers Becka and Nate at Studio 222.

The last few weeks leading up to the wedding were totally consumed by design work...

... as well as lots of last minute practicing...

We've got some more photos and videos of the wedding on Flickr and You Tube.

For our one month anniversary, we went to see Toy Story 3... and you should too. Why? Because it's good. See:

The Laziness Grabs hold. Again.

2010-04-01T21:09:00.003-04:00

Okay, so it's been a busy-ish three weeks, but there are some good things to come from it.

I rediscovered Rjd2's The Third Hand (2007), which I had previously all but dismissed. It was merely by chance that I thought I should give it a listen and I end up with a new crack song, "Have Mercy."

Sadly, I'm not quite sure that I'm into the new album, The Colossus (2010), is something I'm still not wrapping my head around. Perhaps I just need a few years to comprehend the genius.

This is also a wonderful, four pound brisket finishing up it's 10+ day brine in the fridge. Why? Because beef doesn't corn itself unless you brine the crap out of it. And tomorrow I will be sending that delicious and flavorful hunk of meaty goodness into the pot for a long, slow simmer.

And then, it'll get sliced thin, topped with horseradish (also homemade) and stacked between two slices of rye.