Interesting Things

Yes, I will admit it, it IS this first thing that pops into my head. Yes, I am talking about The Sex Lives of Conjoined Twins in The Atlantic. Does that make me a bad person? When you hear about conjoined people, what is the first thing you think of?

I am always in the market for a new set of headphones (Not that I do not love my SkullCandy ones, but...I can always upgrade.), however, headphones can be really expensive. Mashable has a review of $60 headphones that are pretty awesome. These Cheap Headphones Will Knock Your Socks Off.

Middle School/Junior High is the forgotten middle child of education. (I know, because I did not train as a teacher, that I am not allowed to have opinions on how education works. I am just passing this on.) Slate has a piece about a school in Rhode Island that is handling Middle School differently with good results and why it has a tendency to be ignored. The Worst Years of Our Lives: How We Can Make Middle School Less Awful?

Presented Without Comment: Friendship, Dating, Attraction, & Heartbreak (The Hairpin)

Via Kempt: How to Tie a Bow Tie.

I mean, I know you have a smart phone and therefore have access to Untappd (if you do join Untappd, I am ewabbott...just sayin'), but I guess you could use this Moleskin Beer Journal. (Uncrate)

Finally...
Arcade Fire is working on a new album with a release date in sometime 2013. (Pitchfork, Pretty Much Amazing, Vulture)

Interesting Things

It is always October 19th.

As you know, October 19th is a state of mind and you must keep it in your heart as well as your head.

Via The Atlantic Wire

From the "You Can't Choose Family File":
Kim Jong-Un has a nephew who is...surprisingly forthright. I was going to snark about this but...it is worth the time to be experienced.

Food & Beer:
It is no secret that I like beer and food. In fact, even though I was recovering from the colonization by a distant cousin, I made myself a lovely meal last night and had something great to drink with it. The food was baked chicken over a rosemary and balsamic tossed fettuccine and the beer I had was a Brooklyn Brewery Local 2.

Selectism had a post about wandering through the Great American Beer Festival. It did make me want to try the Ghost Dog Extra Pale Ale from Trinity Brewhouse (specifically because it is not listed on the website for the Trinity Brewhouse and the only reference to it seems to be the post on Selectism). As a nice followup to something like the Great American Beer Festival, Serious Eats has a wonderful slide show about the 20 Recipes to Help Cure a Hangover.(The breakfast Banh Mi has me salivating and reminding me that I need to motivate to go get some breakfast.)

Do you have someone in your life that likes art? Architecture? Puzzles? All three? Yeah, you need to get them the Pop-Out Guggenheim Museum Puzzle.(Coolhunting)

The Dark Internet
The Atlantic has a piece about the actual nature of the internet and the metrics used to measure popularity.
They conveniently offer a tl;dr version of their argument:

tl;dr version
1. The sharing you see on sites like Facebook and Twitter is the tip of the 'social' iceberg. We are impressed by its scale because it's easy to measure.

2. But most sharing is done via dark social means like email and IM that are difficult to measure.

3. According to new data on many media sites, 69% of social referrals came from dark social. 20% came from Facebook.

4. Facebook and Twitter do shift the paradigm from private sharing to public publishing. They structure, archive, and monetize your publications.

Via the Awl.

A Question of Bars

I love the Merry Monk on North Pearl Street in Albany, so I may be a little partisan but who has gone to the Bier Abbey in Schenectady?



Wild Boar at the Merry Monk

I did not like my one visit, which may not have been reflective of other people's experiences, but...I still did not like it. Now that more people have experienced this place, what do you think?



Flights of Bier at the Merry Monk

For the record, over the past week, two people have recommended it (though I really do not trust either of their palates) and two others have had one of the worst experiences of their lives (and I do happen to trust them)...so...

Opinions?

The Great American Post

Baseball:
Reggie Jackson believes that A-Rod does not belong in the Hall of Fame because of his use of PEDs in the past. I have said this before, and I will state it again because it matters. If you are going to discount the records and statistics of the previous generation of ball players because of PEDs, you need to asterisk the accomplishments of men with the names of Mantle, Mays, and Aaron because their careers were helped by things like Tylenol.

Beer:
I have a favorite beer this summer, as I generally do. This beer is the Leder Betty by Magic Hat.



Even people who are beer snobs (*cough* @sfisher323 *cough*) like this beer. The elderberry is an underutilized flavor and this is really good.

Beef:
I love curry but I never thought of using curry with beef however, I have fond that over a grill, with a good amount of woodsmoke, a Madras curry lends itself really well to the beef.




See, just a little bit of curry adds so much flavor and it is a good flavor. (well, why would I be writing about it if it wasn't a good flavor?)




With some fresh corn and a slice of red onion (olive oil, salt, black pepper), and the aforementioned Elder Betty, it is quite a meal.

Thank Me It's Friday

(not claiming any more divinity than usual as I am making more of a reference to the Batman Begins scene where he demands that the dirty cop "swear to me"...)

• Yes, it is Friday. Are you thanking your creator because They allowed you to see the sunrise, They did not destroy the world, or because you are completely banal?

• It is a gorgeous day in the Northeast and you should plan to spend the evening out of doors. I will be at one of TEA's baseball games and I am really looking forward to it. Teacher Dave gave him a pitching lesson the other day and it has improved his velocity as well as his accuracy.

• I need to pick up summer clothes for TEA and he has told me that his favorite color is aqua. I should ignore that impulse of his because unless you are a Miami Dolphin, aqua does not age well in photos.

• If you are in Troy, The Ruck is given over to the beers of Dogfish Head Brewery. Their beers are very tasty and they have great pub food. (And during the day, you are going to be less likely to run into the young people and the people who give Troy a bad reputation.)

• Oh, I went to the Planning Commission meeting in the City of Troy last night. There will be more on this later. I am torn on an emotional level about the McDonald's discussion but intellectually, come on...

• Finally, TEA still thinks that the pizza at the Hill Street Cafe is great.

A Weekend of Food

Have you ever had a weekend that was just full of great times, great people and great food and you want every part of your life to be like the previous weekend? Yeah, that is a really odd sentence and before I post this, I will think about making it better, but...you understand what I am trying to say. I had a great weekend and great food and the combination of the two were exactly what I needed and wanted and I hope that it is repeatable in the very near future.

Friday

The sliders (with Swiss), shoestring fries and Switchback Unfiltered Ale from McGeary's.

Before TEA's baseball game on Friday night, I needed something to eat and this hit the spot. I love these sliders and may have dreamed about them in the past. The Switchback has become my go-to beer as of late as well. While the game was not great (TEA's team was crushed, the closer for the other team was in tears on the mound, it was really chilly), the meal was wonderful.

Saturday
After a trip to the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market, where I became the Mayor on Foursquare and picked up my normal things as well as putting together a care package* for a friend, I stopped for lunch at Bootleggers on Broadway.

First, something to drink: Mountain Man Coffee from Spill n' the Beans and Harpoon Leviathan Quad. They are both incredibly tasty.

Earlier in the week, I had enjoyed a Cesar Salad at The Balkan in Utica and after I had enjoyed some falafel from Beirut while walking around the market, I wanted something tasty, light, and perfect for sitting outside in the sun and reading. This is a really good salad.

Sunday

Sunday breakfasts are wonderful, aren't they? Duncan's Dairy Bar is still my favorite place (and yes, I miss M.A.D.) and my order, as you well known, is almost always the same. This was rye, poached, home fries, and I was feeling the corned beef hash. My dining companion had the same but with bacon.

For Mother's Day, the family treated my mother to the wonderful food at New World Bistro Bar. For the starters, the table had the Meanhouse Chicken Wings, Pig's Head Torchon (which tasted like heaven!), and local spring asparagus. For the starter, I went with the big plate of the Yellow Curry Shrimp and Fat Noodles. I know that it looks good, but how it tasted? It was the best thing that I had put in my mouth in a long time.

So, that was the weekend, in short, where I was able to spend my time with people I love, doing things that I like to do, and eating some incredible food. I do wish that every moment could be like that. (Okay, I do not just wish it...I actually believe that every moment should be spent with the people you care about and food that it worth eating...otherwise, life because a lot less fun.)

*The Care Package
Sometimes you recognize that the people that you care about need some of the things that you love. In this case, it was peanut butter, pickles, hot sauce, and local honey.

Eddie Money Monday

Because it was National Pretzel Day

The pretzels at the Recovery Sports Grill were okay but the Bavarian Cheese Sauce was something really interesting. (NB: Interesting does not always mean good and YMMV.) It was like a cheddar cheese soup that you would like to eat. The flavors included in this sauce were: cheddar cheese, beer, mustard, horseradish, black pepper, onions, shallots and they worked well together.

Of course, with every pretzel, there needs to be beer.

I really like that in more and more places you can get really good craft beers like the above Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

Life Lessons from Henry Rollins
Did you see this over the weekend?

I love Henry Rollins, for so very many reasons but this is just great in a "oh yeah, I am still bitter and angry, but please learn from my life" way and Rollins does that well.

Via Gawker

Grocery Store Challenge
Another thing that you should have seen but probably did not...
The article is entitled "Is Whole Foods Really That Much More Expensive?"

I have been overly concerned about other people's love of their grocery stores as of late, and I do not have a rational reason for why I am taking this so personally. It is a f***ing conveyance and why should I care about your choices. Anyway, this piece does go through the price discrepancy between the "Premium" grocery store and the pedestrian "Everyday" store.

Writing about your mentor's mentor
This excerpt in New York Magazine about the lesson from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as well as Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward is awesome, in a geeky way. Well, it may just be great for me as when I was describing it to a friend, they did not think it was nearly as cool.

Just like Ronny says...

There is no reason for this to be in my head, but it has been since about 6:30. Nice, no?

Don't Ruin Our Beer

Ommegang: Fracking may force us to leave » Local News » The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY:

"Brewery Ommegang is warning that it would have to consider relocating if the town of Middlefield's ban on gas drilling is struck down and horizontal gas drilling begins.

The ominous warning is contained in a new legal brief filed in support of Middlefield's recent zoning law.

"If its water were to be contaminated, the Brewery could be forced to move its business elsewhere," the court papers state. "Its Master Brewer and Quality Control chemist agree that even if Brewery Ommegang wished to do so, it could not remove many of the toxic chemicals commonly used in hydrofracking, should they be released into the Brewery's water supply."
"


Now, I have a strong opinion about fracking. Right, Dave?

Via All Over Albany

Who are these big creatures who lock up their spirits?

I was at a party on Saturday, where someone I consider a friend, expressed his belief that this was not a good album.

*shakes head*

Actually, PG was correct. It is not a good album, it is the greatest album ever recorded.

Speak of aliens, Harpoon's UFO Raspberry has become one of my favorite summer drinks.

Image via my Instagram

Cheers & Jeers for a Monday

Cheers to:
1) Seeing an awful movie (Cowboys and Aliens) with a good friend.
2) Realizing that I was reading a book from 1993 and listening to an album from 1992 on devices that were not even conceived of back then. (KSR's Mars books and Smashing Pumpkin's Siamese Dream)
3) Good times spent with friends and family.
4) Excessively long phone calls about nothingness with great people.
5) Looking ahead to being at the beach.
6) MTv turning 30 today.
7) Questionable Content turning 8 today.
8) Saranac's 12 Beers of Summer Sampler

Jeers to:
1) Half Marathon training. I point you to this (H/T to HJ77). Especially the part about running with other people. The reason I ride my bike or run is to be alone. I do not like people that much.
2) Not having any BBQ this week.
3) A deal on the debt ceiling that does not help the underlying issues.
4) Killing Clancy Brown in the first half of a movie.
5) A remake of Footloose and a film (staring Liam Neeson) that is based on Battleship. I am looking forward to Chutes and Ladders.
6) Brooke Gladstone looking like she sounds.
7) Someone taking my idea for a perfect Caprese salad and adding...avocado to it. What is up with that?
8) My sister only drinking Coors' Light.

Bloomsday is June 16th

"Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home."
— James Joyce

I love Bloomsday for number of reasons. They all revolve around it being fun, quirky, literate, and often involving beer and groups of friends and "friends".

Most of the social activities I like to engage in are quirky (or weird according to some folks) and literate, with great conversation with friends (or "friends"), and copious amounts of good beer...or bad/cheap beer.* Another note about my friends and interesting and quirky things: Do you know how happy it makes when I realize that I am the intellectual runt of the litter of my friends? It is awesome. These amazing people, who on occasion will request my presence at some event, are always challenging me, edifying me, and keeping me in my place. They are awesome and they are better in large groups with...well...beer.

Let me make a suggestion for your Thursday: Spend time with your friends, have a beer, have interesting conversations and enjoy yourself. Maybe even talk about Ulysses.

Oh, and while you are at it, think about what you are going to be doing on Thursday, July 7th. What are you going to be doing? You are going to be at the Great Beer Walk(sign up on Facebook).

*See my (some would say inexplicable) love of ice cold PBR.

Don't...Lie to me about beer.

My father loves the Outback Steakhouses. I do not know why but I do not question why because he is my dad and entitled to like what he likes.

So, we meet at the Outback on Wolf Road in Colonie.

(Chain restaurant, Wolf Road, Colonie. These three things are badnesses by themselves, however...together they create a tsunami (too soon?) of suck.)

My father is at the bar and tells me to get a drink. I ask the bartender for a beer list. She says that she doesn't have one of those. She then asks me what I would get when I was out someplace else. Well, it depends on my mood, and I didn't say this, but I did say "overhopped, high ABV".

"We don't have anything like that."

"So, can I see your beer list?"

"We don't have one of those."

Now, I know she has one. I have seen it. I have used it.

"Okay, I am fine."

"What would you like?"

"Nothing, I am fine."

My brother asked if something was wrong, and miraculously, I was able to keep my mouth shut.

But...when we sat down at the table, and I opened the menu...

Look at what I saw:

Yeah, it is their f***ing beer list.

Now, none of these are good beers, but they are beers.  They are on a list.

This constitutes a f***ing beer list.

So, why did the bartender (Female, brunette, mid-thirties, Sunday afternoon) lie to me?

Better question, what do I do about it?

Bullet Points

• In terms of people watching, the Madison Grille is wonderful.  I wish their beer selection was better.
• I was interviewed by WTEN on Friday night, I hope to all that is good and decent that I did not make the air. Oh! My! G*d! See below.
• Wolff's Biergarten has Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel and it is very tasty.  Try it!
  
  
• I introduced a friend to Manory's and I think it was a success.
• Blue Sky Bicycles is closed on Sundays.  Borders does not open until 11 on Sunday.  Saratoga trip #FAIL.
• Yes, I am wearing shorts today.  It is going to be 80 tomorrow.  I will be wearing them then too.

Edit at 4:40: Oh, Jeebus, I made the broadcast.

The Beer App You Need Now - BeerCloud

The folks behind GreatBrewers.com have a beer app called BeerCloud (iTunes store link but there is an Android app as well).

What does it do?

You are at a bar and instead of asking the bartender what an unfamiliar beer is like, you just type in the beer into the search function and you find out everything you need to know about it. This is not to discount the importance of the bartender. I know several that are incredibly knowledgeable about beer, willing to give tasting samples, and know my tastes well enough to tell me that X beer will not be for me. An app can never replace an excellent bartender.

Here are some screenshots so you do not have to take my word for it. For the purposes of this test, I used Ommegang's Three Philosophers.

And because some people do not drink "weird beer", they even list the macrobrews!

While the Android app has more social functionality, the developers promise that will be in the next version of the iPhone app. I look forward to it.

Download it now. You will be a better beer drinker for it.

Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best

As a gift for being part of Dan and Laura's wedding, the put together a gift bag for me, and this gift bag was the most amazing thing ever.

Beers and Books!

The Beers:
(Left to right)
Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale (NH)
Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning Uber Pils (MD)
Erie Brewing's Railbender Ale (PA)
Framboise Lambic (Belgium)
Ommegang's Three Philosophers (NY)
Erie Brewing's Mad Anthony's American Pale Ale (PA)
Dogfish Head's Aprihop (DE)

The Books:
Zombie, Ohio
Charles Bukowski's Women

Why are these so amazing? Think about it for a minute...if you know me, this is a great weekend. Plus, Bukowski! I love Bukowski (and I have Erik to thank for that).

But...

Beer and books. Craft beer and books is what I am all about and that with the exception of the Lambic, all the beers are made relatively locally and that makes me happy.

Local craft beer, good books, and that people to the time to understand what I love about life.

Amazing! Thank you, Dan & Laura.

Randomness for Wednesday

Beer Culture: The Tale of Two Countries

As I saw these articles back to back this morning, it struck me about how opposed they are to each other. The first being a request for funds for a documentary about the beer culture of the PNW and the women involved. For The Love of Beer - Celebrating Women in the Beer Industry looks to be interesting and insightful, especially since the beer from the PNW is tasty and the people are fanatical about their superiority regarding it. Take some time to watch the video. Quirky women and craft beer...I could adopt this as a personal favorite.

The other article is about the death of the beer industry and brewery culture in Germany. They have even coined a neologism for this, brauereisterben, which means brewery death. It is a good article about the changing culture of Germany and the abandoning of a certain culture of beer, but...there is hope.

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss, who reportedly did not like children. By some of the really creepy situations he put them in, that is apparent. However, one of my fond memories of childhood is listening to my father try to read "Hop on Pop" to my little sister.

Slate asks, "Are NPR listeners the worst people in the world?" I have to wonder what it overlap is in the Venn with NPR listeners and Slate readers.

Yesterday, Mediaite had a piece, that I do not entirely agree with, about the role that anonymous commenters play in an internet and blogging culture. Again, I do not agree with this.

Finally, some housekeeping:

I am well aware that I am behind on my 365 Things to do in Albany list. I have not touched it for two months. I will try to add more to this list in the upcoming weeks.

New York City in Food

Wednesday into Thursday, I went into New York, and spent time with Lux. When Lux and I get together, there is always great food and wonderful places.

Here they are without commentary.

Lunch

Slow-Cooked Lamb Sandwich on a rosemary bun with farinella
At Locanda Verde(Foursquare Venue)
This check-in earned me this wonderful Foursquare badge:

(Go ahead...you can laugh, you know you want to.)
Coffee:
A triple shot Americano at Cafe Grumpy (Foursquare Venue)
Which earned me this Foursquare badge:

Beer:

Stone Ruination IPA at The Pony Bar (Foursquare Venue) (Yes, FAU that is Instagram. Mock away.)

Dinner:

Deviled Duck Eggs


Homemade New York Style Pretzels and Seared Shrimp


Quail Egg Toast


Weisswurst and Lagunitas IPA
At Ardesia (Foursquare Venue)

Breakfast:

Poached Eggs, Homefries and Rye Toast at The Olympic Flame Diner. (Foursquare Venue)

A note of thanks to Lux and Katrina for their hospitality and their friendship.

Random Things

1) I am irked by the use of "Seasons of Love" in commercials for jewelry at Macy's. Okay, I will face it, holiday commercials irk me, and holiday jewelry commercials make me homicidal. Most of the stuff that is advertised is gaudy at best and tacky generally, but using this song, from this show, is really tacky.


2)I had an...interesting weekend. That being said, I had, for the first time, the Flight of 8 at Brown's Brewing Company, and apart from the lager, they all tasted great, with my favorite being the Whiskey Porter.

3) I am going to do the 20 Movies in 20 Minutes meme but I think I may do it as a separate post.

4) The New York Football Giants made me very happy today. Combine that with turkey sandwiches, cold beer, clean laundry, and Bret Easton Ellis it became an awesome day.

But...

5) The WikiLeaks related postings that the NY Times have released (and Gawker has satirized)is wonderful. I am looking forward to more and more of these to come out.

Three Beers

While I was primarily drinking Long Trail IPA, I did have the opportunity to try three beers that were made in and around where I was staying in the Berkshires.



On Friday, with dinner, I had the Opa Opa IPA which was...not good. I barely finished it. Something with it disagreed with me. (And I did have a Utica Club a couple of days previous to this, so...it wasn't me being a snob.)



On Saturday, with lunch, I tried the Berkshire Brewing Company Maibock Lager which was tasty and had a very nice finish. I recommend it as a passable if tasty lager.



With dinner though, I had the Berkshire Brewing Company Lost Sailor IPA which tastes the way that I envision heaven tasting. It was the perfect ale for a warm late spring evening and paired really well with a grilled dinner.

Now that you have heard some of my suggestions and recommendations, what malted beverage do you prefer for the summer?

The Best Worst Food Day Ever

The Albany Version:

Wendy's The Baconator (Location: 1335 Central Ave.)

KFC's The Double Down (Location: 274 Delaware Ave.)

McDonald's The McGangBang (Location: 31 Holland Ave.)

Philly Pretzel Soft Factory's Cheese Steak Pretzels (Location: Must Be Ordered in Albany - 1.800.679.4221)

That's the food that will kill you. My goal (with friends) is to eat all of it in one day. Punctuated with excellent beer.

Which bars should we use? Would the Menands location for KFC be better because it is close to Wolff's? Should we just get all the food in a mound and bring it to the Lionheart and enjoy it with DFH 60 Minute IPA?

Is anyone in? Do we need to have an EMT with us at all times?

Edit: Hulse has pointed out that we should be supporting local and find locally owned business that are doing incredibly awful food for the people of Albany! Great idea!

Any suggestions on where we could locally source killer food?