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YES I\'m retooling
Not that anyone is really reading this anyway (hi mom!) but I'm thinking of what to do with this space in the new year. Mostly I'll probably just drink a lot and write whatever I think of. Wish us luck tomorrow with the massing throngs in our midst!
Posted December 8
D&S 2007
Who knew those lovable kids had so many friends? The annual Valley Stream extravaganza went off as planned, and the weather, while maybe a bit hot, allowed for plenty of outdoor eating, drinking, and carrying on.
Nomad Brewing supplied the sixtels of Stout, Bock and "American" Pale Ale, all of which were in very nice condition and quite the drinkers, I might add. Of course much beer was brought to share and enjoy, including a cherry stout? from Albany Pump Station that was phenomenal, various cellar treats (Heavyweight Slice of Bread and Biere d'Art, for example) and a few homebrews here and there. My only regret is that I didn't partake of many of the bottled treats, though I know Dave tends to have issues with leftover keg beer since it won't last in good shape for very long. I think I went well over a gallon on the day, but the day was 10 hours long.
The real star was of course Dave's cooking, and with a "meat box" on the back porch now, just an obscene amount of food was grilled, smoked and otherwise prepared for the willing, hungry throngs. Enough chicken to cover the grill, and it's a big grill; enough rib racks to fill the box, and it's a big box; spicy pork tenderloin; 54 hamburgers (according to our hosts) for later-night eating. All fantastic food, and though I was full most of the day, I continued to soldier on, plowing my way through way more food than is healthy.
Seany-Sean was in typical perfect-baby mode, so Jenny had her happy hands full most of the afternoon. Such a cute smile! Pics soon of everything. Many taken, camera starting to wig out though. About time to buy a new one and Epinions it to make some cash back on the purchase.
And we'll be doing it all over again, different location, next weekend. Sick.
Posted September 9
Beer Travels
Except that the cats weren't taken care of over the long weekend (thanks to us misappropriating the door keys), most of my beer needs were met. Thursday's flight to RDU was uneventful, and I picked up a Grand Prix with plenty of trunk room for the drive to Carrboro. Of course, I stopped in Durham first, at Sam's Quik Shop, and loaded up.
What greeted me when I walked through those doors? Bell's! Yep - Two Hearted Ale, a pallet-sized chunk, sitting right by the registers, waiting for me to take it home and love it and do shameful, shameful things to. Out of respect for Larry Bell, I also took in a sixer of the Octoberfest, and my old standbys Tupper's Hop Pocket (Ale and Lager, since they were each bottle in late July), Cottonwood Endo IPA, and Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout and Russian Imperial Stout (what a fantastic late-summer seasonal to schedule!). Oh, and I picked up my tuxedo. WTFever.
The Endo isn't in the greatest shape, but the 2H is phenomenal, even more so since I haven't seen it in several years. The O'fest grew on me over the course of a bottle in a hotel glass. The Tupper's beers were in great shape, though lessened a bit by the Punch Elite I smoked on the terrace -- our room had a terrace overlooking, well, nothing, but the babbling brook and the crickets were doing what they could to inspire countryfied gentility.
Haven't cracked a Duck-Rabbit RIS yet, but the Milk Stout is a chocobomb. Very nice. D-R is a NC brewery well-worth supporting. Period.
Oh, right. So Thursday I drive to Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill on Franklin Street, needing to kill a couple hours, horror of horrors. I walk in during a disputed call in the Yankees-Red Sox game (Youkilis ran out of the base line). Lucky for me one owner is a Yanks fan, one a Red Sox fan, so the satellite feed was necessary. Anyhow, their lineup is excellent, especially the IPA and Stout at this time of year (the O'fest is soon, I'm told). A guy at the bar with his wife is a diehard Red Sox fan, but despite that a nice guy, and wearing a Lucknow T-shirt. Nice. I sample for a bit and move on to meet up with the wife and the happy couple in Carrboro.
The way home involved a stop in Harrisonburg, VA at Cally's, formerly Calhoun's. In a nutshell -- great, fantastic beer, served too cold, by a waitstaff that couldn't care less about waiting tables. It's a real shame, as even the food was damned good. I want to go back, but I have to sit at the bar from now on. We've been twice and twice had piss-poor service and exceptionally good beer. Infuriating.
We decided against stopping again on the way home (see cat issue), so no Bethlehem Brew Works pour moi. Le sigh. At least the kitties were okay without supervision for nearly five days. Never again, my pretties!
Posted September 5
Wedded Bliss
It's so nice when you have relatives -- even non-blood relatives -- who, if they're crazy brides-to-be, don't show it to you. Such was South Boston, Virginia, home of the Berry Hill Plantation. Well, the plantation is well outside the city limits, and there's no Sprint service, and fine dining is nonexistent within a several-mile radius. This is where the plantation comes into play.
Without going into too much detail, it's a lovely old spread, with the usual issues and charm of anything ridiculously old. The hotel itself wasn't exactly spectacular, but it had the key ingredients: air conditioning, a four-poster canopy bed, and a hot shower. Plus I'd picked up an awful lot of beer in Durham.
The wedding went off hitch-free, inasmuch as a wedding where small children were not only welcome, but an integral part of the ceremony, could be. Nephews and nephews-in-law wandered aimlessly or sat in on the goings-on at the steps of the main house, and it came off as charming more than anything else. The reception was nearly perfect; the DJ was excellent, the food exceptionally good, and the cake tasty and humongous. Oh, and the wine was pretty damn good and plentiful.
Don't get me started on the candy bar. I'll leave it at, there's an awful lot of Smarties action in the Witzel household right now. And the groom's gift to us usher-types -- Oakley sunglasses, as he's a sunglass whore (but in a good way) -- embark me on a new era of not wearing cheap-ass sunglasses because I lose them and/or destroy them.
Taking an extra day at the homestead turned out to be necessary. The Labor Day drive home was so much more comfortable without a Merlot/Cabernet hangover. Tips: I-81 isn't so bad, even with the truck traffic. I-78 is lightly traveled, even on Labor Day. And the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia took me back about 60 years -- now that's the way to take a road trip to the South. What a breathtakingly beautiful drive!
Posted September 5
Christmas Party!
Jenny and I hosted -- okay, let's face it, Jenny hosted, I just showed up and attempted not to make an ass of myself -- our annual Christmas Party Friday night. As usual, Jenny outdid herself with her dessert making expertise on tasty display. I made the meatballs though!
More impressively, this here's a list of the beers we drank at the Holiday party Friday. Most of these were shared among 4 or 5 people (one of whom was usually me), and all were bombers or 750s unless noted:
Mind you, these are the bottles I found the next morning or remembered from the night before. In addition, guests partook of the Sam Adams Light, Heineken and Yuengling scattered about the room, the champagne, and the other wines in attendance.
And yet, I was in pretty good shape, enough to clean up much of the mess, do laundry, and meet a friend for beer at 1:00.
Posted December 19
Yay Crazies!
So we have a crazy person in our apartment building. I could name names, but that wouldn't be sporting. Anyhow, this crazy person is stealing our mail (and other people's), and in a brilliant masterstroke, wrote a note on a piece of mail with our name on it and slipped it under a tenant's door. Yeah, the US Postal Service is going to enjoy that for their investigation. Handwriting! Probably matches other incriminating notes! We don't know if this person has "sent" our mail to anyone else, though you'd have to figure the harassment other tenants have suffered lately was at the same person's hands (lost mail, stolen property, notes under doors). After we get through the next couple of weeks, oh, there will be hell to pay.
Posted November 27
Not that anyone is really reading this anyway (hi mom!) but I'm thinking of what to do with this space in the new year. Mostly I'll probably just drink a lot and write whatever I think of. Wish us luck tomorrow with the massing throngs in our midst!
Posted December 8
D&S 2007
Who knew those lovable kids had so many friends? The annual Valley Stream extravaganza went off as planned, and the weather, while maybe a bit hot, allowed for plenty of outdoor eating, drinking, and carrying on.
Nomad Brewing supplied the sixtels of Stout, Bock and "American" Pale Ale, all of which were in very nice condition and quite the drinkers, I might add. Of course much beer was brought to share and enjoy, including a cherry stout? from Albany Pump Station that was phenomenal, various cellar treats (Heavyweight Slice of Bread and Biere d'Art, for example) and a few homebrews here and there. My only regret is that I didn't partake of many of the bottled treats, though I know Dave tends to have issues with leftover keg beer since it won't last in good shape for very long. I think I went well over a gallon on the day, but the day was 10 hours long.
The real star was of course Dave's cooking, and with a "meat box" on the back porch now, just an obscene amount of food was grilled, smoked and otherwise prepared for the willing, hungry throngs. Enough chicken to cover the grill, and it's a big grill; enough rib racks to fill the box, and it's a big box; spicy pork tenderloin; 54 hamburgers (according to our hosts) for later-night eating. All fantastic food, and though I was full most of the day, I continued to soldier on, plowing my way through way more food than is healthy.
Seany-Sean was in typical perfect-baby mode, so Jenny had her happy hands full most of the afternoon. Such a cute smile! Pics soon of everything. Many taken, camera starting to wig out though. About time to buy a new one and Epinions it to make some cash back on the purchase.
And we'll be doing it all over again, different location, next weekend. Sick.
Posted September 9
Beer Travels
Except that the cats weren't taken care of over the long weekend (thanks to us misappropriating the door keys), most of my beer needs were met. Thursday's flight to RDU was uneventful, and I picked up a Grand Prix with plenty of trunk room for the drive to Carrboro. Of course, I stopped in Durham first, at Sam's Quik Shop, and loaded up.
What greeted me when I walked through those doors? Bell's! Yep - Two Hearted Ale, a pallet-sized chunk, sitting right by the registers, waiting for me to take it home and love it and do shameful, shameful things to. Out of respect for Larry Bell, I also took in a sixer of the Octoberfest, and my old standbys Tupper's Hop Pocket (Ale and Lager, since they were each bottle in late July), Cottonwood Endo IPA, and Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout and Russian Imperial Stout (what a fantastic late-summer seasonal to schedule!). Oh, and I picked up my tuxedo. WTFever.
The Endo isn't in the greatest shape, but the 2H is phenomenal, even more so since I haven't seen it in several years. The O'fest grew on me over the course of a bottle in a hotel glass. The Tupper's beers were in great shape, though lessened a bit by the Punch Elite I smoked on the terrace -- our room had a terrace overlooking, well, nothing, but the babbling brook and the crickets were doing what they could to inspire countryfied gentility.
Haven't cracked a Duck-Rabbit RIS yet, but the Milk Stout is a chocobomb. Very nice. D-R is a NC brewery well-worth supporting. Period.
Oh, right. So Thursday I drive to Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill on Franklin Street, needing to kill a couple hours, horror of horrors. I walk in during a disputed call in the Yankees-Red Sox game (Youkilis ran out of the base line). Lucky for me one owner is a Yanks fan, one a Red Sox fan, so the satellite feed was necessary. Anyhow, their lineup is excellent, especially the IPA and Stout at this time of year (the O'fest is soon, I'm told). A guy at the bar with his wife is a diehard Red Sox fan, but despite that a nice guy, and wearing a Lucknow T-shirt. Nice. I sample for a bit and move on to meet up with the wife and the happy couple in Carrboro.
The way home involved a stop in Harrisonburg, VA at Cally's, formerly Calhoun's. In a nutshell -- great, fantastic beer, served too cold, by a waitstaff that couldn't care less about waiting tables. It's a real shame, as even the food was damned good. I want to go back, but I have to sit at the bar from now on. We've been twice and twice had piss-poor service and exceptionally good beer. Infuriating.
We decided against stopping again on the way home (see cat issue), so no Bethlehem Brew Works pour moi. Le sigh. At least the kitties were okay without supervision for nearly five days. Never again, my pretties!
Posted September 5
Wedded Bliss
It's so nice when you have relatives -- even non-blood relatives -- who, if they're crazy brides-to-be, don't show it to you. Such was South Boston, Virginia, home of the Berry Hill Plantation. Well, the plantation is well outside the city limits, and there's no Sprint service, and fine dining is nonexistent within a several-mile radius. This is where the plantation comes into play.
Without going into too much detail, it's a lovely old spread, with the usual issues and charm of anything ridiculously old. The hotel itself wasn't exactly spectacular, but it had the key ingredients: air conditioning, a four-poster canopy bed, and a hot shower. Plus I'd picked up an awful lot of beer in Durham.
The wedding went off hitch-free, inasmuch as a wedding where small children were not only welcome, but an integral part of the ceremony, could be. Nephews and nephews-in-law wandered aimlessly or sat in on the goings-on at the steps of the main house, and it came off as charming more than anything else. The reception was nearly perfect; the DJ was excellent, the food exceptionally good, and the cake tasty and humongous. Oh, and the wine was pretty damn good and plentiful.
Don't get me started on the candy bar. I'll leave it at, there's an awful lot of Smarties action in the Witzel household right now. And the groom's gift to us usher-types -- Oakley sunglasses, as he's a sunglass whore (but in a good way) -- embark me on a new era of not wearing cheap-ass sunglasses because I lose them and/or destroy them.
Taking an extra day at the homestead turned out to be necessary. The Labor Day drive home was so much more comfortable without a Merlot/Cabernet hangover. Tips: I-81 isn't so bad, even with the truck traffic. I-78 is lightly traveled, even on Labor Day. And the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia took me back about 60 years -- now that's the way to take a road trip to the South. What a breathtakingly beautiful drive!
Posted September 5
Christmas Party!
Jenny and I hosted -- okay, let's face it, Jenny hosted, I just showed up and attempted not to make an ass of myself -- our annual Christmas Party Friday night. As usual, Jenny outdid herself with her dessert making expertise on tasty display. I made the meatballs though!
More impressively, this here's a list of the beers we drank at the Holiday party Friday. Most of these were shared among 4 or 5 people (one of whom was usually me), and all were bombers or 750s unless noted:
|
Arcadia Hopmouth DIPA Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold (two 750s) Caulier Bon Secours Biere Vivante!! Geary's HSA 2006 (12 oz) Heavyweight Ch-Chuck Heavyweight Ivy League Pilsner (two 750s) Lagunitas Maximus IPA Lost Abbey Angel's Share Russian River Sanctification Russian River Beatification (375 ml) |
Smuttynose Imperial Stout Southampton Biere de Garde Southampton Tripel Stone Double Bastard Unibroue 10 Victory Storm King Stout (12 oz) Victory V12 Moon0's homebrewed brown ale Moon0's other homebrew |
Mind you, these are the bottles I found the next morning or remembered from the night before. In addition, guests partook of the Sam Adams Light, Heineken and Yuengling scattered about the room, the champagne, and the other wines in attendance.
And yet, I was in pretty good shape, enough to clean up much of the mess, do laundry, and meet a friend for beer at 1:00.
Posted December 19
Yay Crazies!
So we have a crazy person in our apartment building. I could name names, but that wouldn't be sporting. Anyhow, this crazy person is stealing our mail (and other people's), and in a brilliant masterstroke, wrote a note on a piece of mail with our name on it and slipped it under a tenant's door. Yeah, the US Postal Service is going to enjoy that for their investigation. Handwriting! Probably matches other incriminating notes! We don't know if this person has "sent" our mail to anyone else, though you'd have to figure the harassment other tenants have suffered lately was at the same person's hands (lost mail, stolen property, notes under doors). After we get through the next couple of weeks, oh, there will be hell to pay.
Posted November 27
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