Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Attention!

If we don't like the cut of your jib, we will torture you.

Thank you, and good day.

I can't believe this happened

Now the question is: are Republicans this stupid, or are they playing to their stupid constituencies?



Seriously? Trying to gotchya a fucking Nobel Laureate?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Best. Translation. Ever.

And when I say best, I mean worst.



Wow. Apparently, Videogum had a "high school freshman with one and a half semesters of introductory French" translate it for them.

Beautiful.

Nobody could have predicted...

...empty seats at Yankee Stadium.

And while we're at it, here's the Yankee defense so far, courtesy of NoMass, who really should have direct links by now.


Of course, this is a really small sample size, but utterly consistent with the past 4-5 years.

The numbers represent runs saved above or below position average per 150 games (UZR/150).

UPDATE: To clarify, at this point, Swisher will give up 70 more runs over the course of a "season" than an average RF. Again, small sample size, but he is definitely below average.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Petulant, arrogant bastards

More whining from the Wall Street rich.

Beautiful

This is just one of several amazing photos from Cassini.



UPDATE: Hey, this was my 1000th post!

You're trying awful hard, dude.



I love how he fondles the Playboy.

(h/t Videogum)

Consumption junction

Well done chart estimating how long the Earth's natural resource will last at the current rate of consumption.


Click to embiggen.

Yikes.

(via Gizmodo)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Beer Blogging - Flying Dog (TasteLive 4/19/09)

Kerberos Tripel - 12oz, 8.5%ABV

The Pour - Thin pour, very light head that faded quickly

The Color
- A slightly hazy golden-orange body.

The Nose
- Barnyard/straw, an orange/citrus aroma opens up the nose like a shot of smelling salts (and I mean that in a good way), clover. It screams Belgian.

The Taste - A touch of sweetness with a hint of caramel, balanced with an orange-peel bitterness. Does not hit you over the head with alcohol; a "sneaky" 8.5 if there ever was one. Very full mouthfeel, lingers on the palate for quite a long time. Getting some hints of banana now that the beer's opened up (and warmed up) a bit. Did I mention this lingers? My beer's been done for 5 minutes, and there's still a pleasant bitterness lingering on the back of my tongue. Now, when I posted that last thought at TTL, my friend Jeff's reply was "Yeah, lingers along the middle of my tongue all the way back." The only thing I could think to say to that was "LIKE MY COCK!" but I didn't want to tweet that publicly. So that was a special message directTweeted to him. Take that, Mr. "I can do 11 minus you divided by FUCK!"

The Verdict - B+.


Horn Dog Barley Wine - 12oz, 10.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard pour, building a nice tall head that lasts.

The Color - Deep orange amber.Very, very slight haze.

The Nose - Getting some barnyard/manure on this one. What the hell is up with my nose tonight? Also, coffee/mocha/chocolate, nutmeg, fig.

The Taste - Raisins, raisins, raisins. Very sweet, more than a little out of balance. Vanilla, molasses, chocolate/mocha. A hint of hops lingers nicely, but I can't get over the syrupy mouthfeel.

The Verdict - B-. Just too damned sweet. Which is strange, because I gave this an A- last time I beerblogged it, and it's been one of my favorite barleywines since I discovered it.

UPDATE: It was less cloying today, but still too sweet. A problem with the batch?




Double Dog Double Pale Ale - 12oz, 11.5%ABV

The Pour - Slightly thicker than average pour, nice long-lasting head.

The Color - Golden amber, medium haze, abundant floating sediment.

The Nose - Cigar box, hops, clove, pine forest. There's a lot going on here. Some tropical fruit too?

The Taste - Holy shit. This a hop monster. Bitter orange peel, corriander, and yes, pineapple. My nose isn't broken after all. Great beer.

The Verdict - A

UPDATE: Revisited this one, and nothing changes. I probably nursed this for 2 hours over yardwork and cooking, and it was good to the last drop. Tons of hops character, perfectly-balanced, and a totally sneaky ABV. I'll definitely keep this in the summer rotation. Wonderfully refreshing.




Gonzo Imperial Porter - 12oz, 9.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard thickness, HUGE head, which is to be expected at almost room temperature.

The Color - Brown/black, totally opaque.

The Nose - Caramel, smoke, honey.

The Taste - Everything a porter should be, but maybe a bit too sweet.

UPDATE:
I was pretty hammered by the time this one came around, so I had another one today to give it a fair shake. The verdict is the same: too sweet. Everyone was raving about this last night, but I just don't see it. It's basic porter, and flawed at that.

The Verdict - C (downgrade from B- during the tasting)

An-ti-ci-paaaaa-tion

Sitting here with the Canis Major mixed pack of Flying Dog brews, waiting for 8pm to roll around so the latest TasteLive session can start.

One each of Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Horn Dog Barley Wine, Gonzo Imperial Porter, and Kerberos Tripel. Bill did the math on the bud points for me - tonight's tasting is 7.6 standard beers, not bad for a two-hour tasting session. Certainly less damage than the Dogfish tasting last month, which - if you drank all of them - was about 14 beers...

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Warning

Only read this if you want to cry for the next ten minutes.

Do not say I didn't warn you. A courtesy my coworker MB didn't extend to me when she sent me the link this afternoon.

Speechless

Unless "ouch" counts as speech.

More literary, and some funny

Posnanski on Frost's The Road Not Taken. Bravo. I think about this a lot. If any one thing I did, ever, was different, would I still be here where I am today? How do I balance regret with the fact that I like where I am? I have a terribly crippling conscience, among other issues I wouldn't know how to begin to describe; there are so many things I wish I'd done differently. But if I had, I wouldn't be with Erica, with a nice house in Saratoga (a great little city), doing work I enjoy and at which I excel. I try to remember that whenever I get down on myself, but it's hard sometimes.

Do you ever think about the parallel universe you? Do you ever go back to that fork in the road - maybe you had two job offers at the same time, or two people you had to choose between relationship-wise, or any similar decision point - and wonder where the other road led?

In other news, Big Daddy Drew's latest Penthouse column is hilarious. (The ads on the page seem to be work-safe.) Ahhh, macho hang-ups... always a source of amusement to me.

Some more links

A very interesting take on the health care system.

California is so fucked.

The rally may soon be over. Anyone ready for Dow 6500?

The world economy hinges on American consumer? We are sooooo fucked.

The Debt Puppy! Seriously, read this and the link in it.

Why we pay taxes: summary, and detail.

More on the soda tax.

An amusing account of a MASSIVE 50-person teabagging.

If this guy is a "journalist"...

Obama, transparency, and civil liberties: FAIL.

Benen is being generous when he calls them "low" information voters.

Government: always criminal. ALWAYS. Do you know what shortening yellows does, other than increase potential ticket revenue from red-light violations? It increases accidents and deaths. But hell, more $74 fines for Shittown. Woo-HOO! Who fucking cares who dies?

The smartcar: unsafe. But don't expect to hear that from publications that want Mercedes advertising dollars.

Holy crap I want this car, $2000 routine service be damned.

Winguts lying again.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Vote early, vote often!

The Name of the Year contest is down to the Final Four.

I went Nutricious Love and Velvet Milkman.

Pure genius

From the KSK folk.

A Marshawn Lynch/ee cummings mash-up.

No socialism...

...except for my Social Security, disability, and Medicare.

Happy Anniversary

Harlequin Romance Novels, giving you shower-nozzle masturbation material for 60 years.



(h/t Videogum)

Oh happy day

Teabags for everyone!







Oh, you were expecting words? Here, Fecke has some.