Brew-blog

TCD and I made our holiday beers last night.

This one's going to be a beast.

First, I steeped 4 pounds of grain in 3.5 gallons of water for 30 minutes. Came up with a nice, dark, sweet wort base.

Brought that up to a boil, and added 9 lb of Munton's dark DME and 1 lb of dark rock candi. Once that came up to a boil again, I added 2 oz of Northern Brewer hops and 1/2 ounce of Irish Moss.

One hour of rolling boil there, and then added 2 oz of Kent Golding hops.

15 more minutes of boil, and off to the primary fermenter, along with the yeast (Wyeth Irish 1084).

Starting with a specific gravity of 1.104, or potential alcohol of 13.65%.

It was bubbling up a storm after 18 hours. We'll see where we are after I rack down to the secondary fermenter, but if I can get down to 1.024 or so, that'll be a nice 10.5% ABV beer, malty and cockle-warmening.

I can't wait.

Bring him on, CashMoney!

Torii Hunter is officially a free agent.

The savings from A-Rod will more than pay for Torii, a 3B, and a couple pitchers.

The Yankees win. Thuuuuhuuhuhuhuuhuhuuhuuuuhhhh Yankees win.

I am corporate, hear me whore...

...my balls are too big to ignore!

Moving this up to the top for a day, see if I can get any more donations. C'mon, you know you wanna....



Hey all. My company supports Junior Achievement up here in NENY, and we're participating in a Bowl-a-thon in a couple weeks.

We've got two teams going (Sales and Production), and of course we have pride and bragging rights on the line when it comes to our score and our team dollars raised. The people who do the real work need to kick those pansy Sales asses.

So whip out those credit cards and checkbooks, bitchez!

Er, I mean, help me raise money for a worthy cause.

Cuteness overload

Maximize your browser, and click here.

World Series, Game 4

Well, I won't be live-blogging, but I will certainly add thoughts as required.

Welcome, any Toasters who make the switch, since there's no Sunday night football.

Any playoff baseball is good baseball.

I'm pulling for a Rockies win, if for no other reason than that means we get more baseball.

8:34 - Fucking relentless. Just amazing. Just fucking amazing.

9:37 - Quite the pitcher's duel we have going on here.

10:35 - 3-0. Not insurmountable, but we haven't seen too much to indicate that a rally is in the offing. Is the full Sox pen available? I know Okajima threw a lot of pitches yesterday.

10:49 - Good God! That's... that's Brad Hawpe's music! My guess is they pressed "play" just a little too late, though.

10:51 - I guess that answers that question. Oki is available.

In which John Cole goes apeshit

Yes. Fucking yes sir...

Backstory:

Robin Prosser, a Missoula woman who struggled for a quarter century to live with the pain of an immunosuppressive disorder, tried years ago to kill herself. Last week, she tried again. This time, she succeeded.

After her earlier attempt failed, Prosser wound up in even more trouble after investigating police found marijuana in her home. She used the marijuana to help cope with pain.

That marijuana charge was eventually dropped in an agreement with the city of Missoula, and Prosser had reason to rejoice in 2004 when Montanans passed a law allowing medical use of the drug.

She was a high-profile campaigner for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, and like others, she was dismayed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that drug agents could still arrest sick people using marijuana, even in states that legalized its use.

Cole:

I have had a couple drinks, so let’s be blunt (pardon the pun)- and this goes out to anyone, of any political persuasion, anywhere, who had a problem with this woman using marijuana to alleviate her pain (especially the alleged “conservative” federalists who can’t handle the thought of states making their own drug laws):

Go fuck yourself. To death.

I am tired of being patient with you nannies and your stupid self-serving rules and your slippery slopes and your bullshit and your need to be tough on crime and your earnest concerns about society. Mind your own business, get your own house in order, stop fucking interns and little boys and cheating on your wives and on your taxes and being found dead wearing two wetsuits with a dildo shoved up your ass. Just mind your own damned business, and let people do what they must to deal with their own screwed up lives, and let people handle their pain the best way they can.

I am sick of the bullshit. Life is hard for most people out there, and damned near impossible for people in chronic pain. Quit making it worse, you allegedly compassionate sons-of-bitches.

Movie Review

Shaun of the Dead.

This was actually done before Hot Fuzz, as far as these collaborators go.

Zombie infestation hits England. Wacky hijinx ensue.

Again, Simon Pegg plays a great lead, and his buddy in this movie (who was also his partner in Hot Fuzz) is a pefect foil, in an Odd Coupleish way.

Again, a great spoof/homage of its predecessors, some wickedly dry British humor, good and bloody zombie-splattering action, everything.

One of those movies where you get exactly what you sat down for.

4 stars

Redacting freedom

Just astounding (emphasis mine):

Anybody who has read many official documents—including those making headlines in the last year or more—has seen plenty of redactions (those portions that are blacked out or otherwise made unreadable). This, we're told, is for legitimate reasons, such as "national security" or "protecting intelligence sources and methods." But now we have absolute, incontrovertible proof that the government also censors completely innocuous material simply because they don't like it.

The Justice Department tipped its hand in its ongoing legal war with the ACLU over the Patriot Act. Because the matter is so sensitive, the Justice Dept is allowed to black out those passages in the ACLU's court filings that it feels should not be publicly released.

Ostensibly, they would use their powers of censorship only to remove material that truly could jeopardize US operations. But in reality, what did they do? They blacked out a quotation from a Supreme Court decision:

"The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic security.' Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent."

The mind reels at such a blatant abuse of power (and at the sheer chutzpah of using national security as an excuse to censor a quotation about using national security as an excuse to stifle dissent).

It's hard to imagine a more public, open document than a decision written by the Supreme Court. It is incontestably public property: widely reprinted online and on paper; poured over by generations of judges, attorneys, prosecutors, and law students; quoted for centuries to come in court cases and political essays.

Yet the Justice Department had the incomprehensible arrogance and gall to strip this quotation from a court document, as if it represented a grave threat to the republic. Luckily, the court slapped down this redaction and several others. If it hadn't, we would've been left with the impression that this was a legitimate redaction, that whatever was underneath the thick black ink was something so incredibly sensitive and damaging that it must be kept from our eyes.

I just can't grasp what goes on in the minds of these people (besides the obvious snarky answer "very little"). The only possible explanation is that everyone in the GOP machine just assumes they will always be in power and will always be above the law. That way, every action they take to tear down our constitution and our system of government only applies to everyone else.

The day of reckoning can't come soon enough.

Really, get over it.

I understand "image" and "marketing" and all that shit, but it really pisses me off that the media have been instructed to stop calling Georgia @ Florida the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." And the media comply (well, except for a couple ESPN radio guys).

You can call it whatever you want, it doesn't change the fact that there are 100,000 people there, 90,000 of whom have been, um, partaking in the enjoyment of libations?

This phoniness will be the death of America. Just look at the last 6 years...

Reality check: people drink. Also? People fuck. Sometimes, people drink then fuck. It's a beautiful thing.

So... all you fundies, tight-asses, prudes, and kill-joys? Are you listening? Just get over it. Get over yourselves. In fact, why don't you just joins us, and enjoy your lives?

Weekend Linkdump

There was a lot of great stuff out there this week, and I got nuttin'. I have a couple posts in draft form, but until they're finished, here you go:

Chris Dodd rocks.
Five greatest alcohol stories.
That "press conference" FEMA held about the wildfires? 100% fabricated. Just the way wingers like it.
Pizzas of death.
Even Republican "diplomats" don't want to go to Iraq, so they're conscripted or fired.
John Edwards is the man.
Wingnuts explain how they love children, but they just don't want to insure them.
The best motherfucking "Lost Pet" sign ever.
Chris Dodd rocks some more.
A really funny collection of blog posts that went nowhere.
The "War on Christmas" is starting early this year. DAMN are winguts gullible and stupid.
A depressing interaction with the deli clerk.
The looming real estate disaster looms larger and larger.
Best. Caption. Ever.
Michell Malkin flecks some spittle at a company suspected of fraud, because it's owned by George Soros. Wingnuts flock right behind her. Unfortunately, she didn't take 5 minutes to discover that Soros sold the company (after turning it around completely) to to some Republicans. Who obviously couldn't maintain that level of success, so they did what Republicans do. Namely, resort to fraud. Too funny.


And this. Holy shit, this...

The Ten Most Dangerous Organizations in America, according to Family Security Matters:

10) ThinkProgress
9) Muslim Student Association
8) CodePINK
7) American Civil Liberties Union, National
6) Family Research Council
5) Center for American Progress
4) League of the South
3) MoveOn.org
2) Universities and Colleges
1) Media Matters for America

The most dangerous organization in America is one that watchdogs the media? Telling, that.

A colossal level of incompetence? Or just pure evil?

Ho. Ly. Crap.

(emphasis mine)

This summer the House Judiciary Committee launched an effort to collect tips from would-be whistleblowers in the Justice Department. The U.S. attorney firings scandal had shown that much was amiss in the Department, and with the danger of retaliation very real, the committee had set up a form on the committee's website for people to blow the whistle privately about abuses there. Although the panel said it would not accept anonymous tips, it assured those who came forward that their identity would be held in the "strictest confidence."

But in an email sent out today, the committee inadvertently sent the email addresses of all the would-be whistleblowers to everyone who had written in to the tipline. The committee email was sent to tipsters who had used the website form, including presumably whistleblowers themselves, and all of the recipients of the email were accidentally included in the "to:" field -- instead of concealing those addresses with a so-called blind carbon copy or "bcc:".

...

It's not immediately clear whether the mistake will lead to the exposure of those who had contacted the committee. There are more than 150 recipient addresses revealed in the email. Some of the email addresses appear to be transparently fake, but there's also, much more troubling, a vice_president@whitehouse.gov carbon copied on the email, which is the public email address for Vice President Dick Cheney. In other words, an email containing the email addresses of all the whistleblowers who had written in to the committee tipline was sent to public email address of Vice President Cheney.

Just staggering. Now, I'm sure most whistleblowers are sufficiently suspicious of these administration fuckwads that they created random new e-mail addresses @yahoo and @gmail to send in "anonymous" complaints.

But out of 150 e-mail addys? I'm sure 10-20 of them are easily traceable to administration workers.

I smell lawsuits. I can only imagine (no, dream about) something like this going to trial? Discovery would be fun! Never happen, I know.

Sports Heaven

The World Series, and the biggest game of the college football week.

Excellent...

UPDATE: Two really close, really exciting games. Of course, if you're one of those weenies who doesn't like soccer, you probably didn't like these games either. Not enough scoring, you know.

WORLD SERIES!!!

Here we go, bitches!

The best championship in American sports.

We'll see how long I can keep up a live-blog.

8:40 - This one's for my brother (and other Mets fans): Fuck Kaz Matsui!

8:41 - Beckett is still throwing some post-season smoke. Fuck him too. See: World Series 2003.

8:43 - Nice 1-2-3 inning there. Your turn, Mr. Francis.

8:46 - Yaz! Man, I remember him playing.

8:48 - And sure enough, my pick for the "who's the MVP candidate that's not one of the usual suspects" leads off the Sox half of the inning with a home run. Quickly followed by a Jew double.

8:53 - I love that worm's-eye-view camera, looking up at the catcher and batter. A gimmick that works. Jeff Francis looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet. Has he ever even shaved?

8:55 - Jason Varitek: The "C" stands for "Douche." And he gets a hit.

8:59 - Well, this game's over.

9:06 - Four straight Ks to open the game for Beckett. Long layoff or not, the Rocks are going to be hard-pressed to beat this guy.

9:08 - DAMN! Towering fly ball, just off the Monster, not over. Oh well. Let's get him in, shall we?

9:11 - My reverse-jinx is working! The game isn't actually over. I rule.

9:23 - Kegged my first beer since last winter on Monday. Man, that's so nice. Clean one vessel instead of 48-53 bottles, a 10-minute siphon from the secondary fermenter, force-carbonate it, and it's done. Nothing special, it's just a drinking beer. Came out fine, if a little weaker than my usual brews. My next brew will be some sort of insane holiday concoction. Tons of malt, 9%+ target ABV.

9:26 - Back to a 3-run lead. That Jew can run! Of course, the shortstop should have caught that.

9:43 - Nothing much exciting. But South Park starts in 17 minutes, so we have that going for us, which is nice.

9:51 - How is that not a strike?!?!?!?

9:54 - Beckett is freakin' dealing. Seven Ks, and the Rockies strand a man in scoring position. Whenever I'm stranded in scoring position, I just "run home" myself. Unlike Toast.

10:00 - Will Kyle actually have to suck Cartman's balls? "Previously, on Battlestar Galactica... Terrorists have attacked our imagination."

10:07 - "Balls so dry, they explode like dust." That's like me after a good 5-wank day as a teen. But perhaps I've shared too much.

10:11 - "How about we kill them, and then rape their bodies so we can use their blood as lubricant?"

10:13 - OK, now this game is over. Yeesh. Fuckin' 2-out rallies. That's what the Rox are supposed to do!

10:15 - Jeebus fuck, South Park is out of control yet again. Political commentary, social commentary, and completely insane nonsense, all wrapped up into a tidy little 20-minute package.

10:21 - OK, another commercial break, and back to the game. Let's go Rox, put a couple runs up. Really? Lowell is defending against a two-out bunt? I don't care how fast Taveras is, bunts are meant to be sacrifices. Waaaaaay too few bunt-for-hits are successful.

10:25 - Fox just went to commercial with the White Stripes, instead of the usual old shit. You mean someone under 50 years old has some programming input?

10:36 - That damned Jew, aka The Greek God of Walks, is making his MVP move early.

10:40 - As is Manny Being Manny. Yikes, this is ugly.

10:43 - Nine extra-base hits in 4 2/3 innings. Yes, I think that record will be broken. I say rest Beckett now. Yes, he's young and strong, but having him 100% fresh for game 5? Go for it. It's rainy and shitty and cold, he's been sitting on the bench for 1/2 hour or so.

10:58 - This game will end at 3am, at this rate. Christ! Three straight bases loaded walks from a "relief" pitcher. Aaaaaaand another pitching change. Seriously, Beckett has to be done now, right?

11:23 - OK, what's with the spastic "breakdancing" Red Sox kid? And doesn't he have school tomorrow?

11:26 - Question: is a "celebrity" endorsement worth anything when I don't know who the fuck it is? Say what you will about the whole Mellencamp abomination, at least a HUGE percentage of the American sports-watching population knows who he is. The redneck in that last Ford commercial, however? Maybe a couple hundred thousand people who are actually watching the game know who he is? I sure don't.

11:29 - Why the fuck is Beckett still pitching? Look, when even McCarver can grok something, it's got to be pretty damned obvious. And Tulowitzki better watch himself around Timmy. Timmy seems to like the way he walks. My favorite thing about Joe Buck? When he just says nothing, and lets a pregnant silence hang there after one of McCarver's dolt-bombs.

11:32 - Derek Jeter apparently has a cologne out. Joe Buck finds it breathtaking. I don't know what to say about that. But both of those facts bother me. It's already pretty fucking gay to wear a jersey with a number on it. It's Fagator-level gay to wear an athlete's cologne. I can't imagine what happens if you do both at the same time.

11:52 - I'm going to finish this game in bed. Not much going on here.

It could be all downhill from here

So last week, I went online to order a couple books and a CD, Springsteen's Magic.

On my suggestions page was a Lyle Lovett album. One I don't own. Hmmm. This must have just come out too! Awesome! Click on it the link. Release date was in August. I hang my head in the deepest of shames. I am embarrassed to live, at this point.

It's getting its first spin right now. We're batting 4 for 4, track-wise.

An in-depth review will follow, after 9 or 10 listens. Sometime this weekend, I'm guessing.

Zooooooommmm

Move over, Lancer.

Another sweet PGR car is making its way Stateside....


Uncrate has some specs and more photos:

The 2009 Nissan GT-R ($80,000; summer 2008) has the standard aggressive styling, along with a Godzilla-like 3.8L twin-turbo V6, which produces 473 horsepower and 434 ft-lbs. of torque. The GT-R and its GR6 dual-clutch six-speed, will also offer 0 to 60 time of 3.5 seconds, a quarter mile time of 11.7 seconds, and a top speed of 192 mph. Import muscle at its finest.

UPDATE: Jalopnik has a ton of pictures.

Boom!

Got myself a nice fat spikehorn yesterday.

On the run, quartering away from me, one shot and he dropped like a stone. Instant clean kill, no chasing. As it should be.

Another year of venison in the freezer for me!

Now, when does Souther Tier start?

Be vewy vewy quiet...

One of the days I anticipate most every year is here!

Tomorrow, rifle season opens in the Northern Tier of upstate New York.


Sometime this afternoon, I will be pulling my truck up to this cabin:


Unload my gear, grab a magazine and a beer, and probably pass out on the couch.

Sometime tomorrow morning, I just may be sitting on the platform stand in this very tree, lookout out over this branch.


Have a good weekend, everyone. I sure will.

Go Joe Go!

In a development I did not forsee, the Yanks offered Joe a base salary of $5 million, plus incentives of $1 million for reaching the playoffs, $1 million for reaching the ALCS, and $1 million for reaching the WS. Also, a team option on 2009 if the Yanks reached the WS.

And he turned it down.

Good for him.

Yuck. Foo.

Bush: I Veto "To Ensure That I Am Relevant"

What a small, weak, pathetic man.

South Park blogging

If I can prove there's a leprechaun, you have to suck my balls, remember? It's in the contract.

I don't want the code-name "Blackie"

Dragonwind to Faggot. Come in Faggot.
F-f-f-f-f-aggot here.
(something or other, I can't remember)
OK, F-f-f-f-f-aggot out.

Kyle, suck my balls.

I believe a certain someone gets to put his balls in a certain someone's mouth.

Of course they're imaginary. It doesn't mean they aren't real!

Leprechaun: Come aboard kids. I have something to show you!
Butters: Are you going to rape us?
Leprechaun: Uh... no.

(Angelos: I so want to visit Imaginationland. I might even get to see God!)

Wow, this "terrorist attack" scene may be the best thing they've ever done. And Sean Connery as the dragon just clinched it.

OK, I give up. I can't keep up with this. MUST WATCH!!!!! The courtroom scene just clinched it.

This is a victory for justice. And my balls.

This is why we've asked you here, M. Night Shyamalamanaanamanmanam.


UPDATE: To be continued!!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?! You fucking bastards!