Thursday Night Is Brew Night

While in Center City today I stopped at Home Sweet Homebrew and bought stuff for brewing. I've decided to brew this week, while the Phils host the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday night.

Like I said before, I went with a pre-packaged recipe because I didn't feel like making the effort in formulating my own. This batch will be an Extra Special Bitter, a hoppy yet mild English ale.

I wanted to do it tonight, but dammit if I don't have a thermometer. I'll have to shop for one tomorrow or Thursday. I would have loved to be occupied tonight because I forced myself to eat broccoli for dinner and brewing would have kept my mind off of how hungry I still am, even though I ate almost a pound of the stuff (If you must know, I had it chopped and tossed in olive oil, pepper, Kosher salt, a few minced cloves of garlic and panko bread crumbs, roasted in the oven for 10 minutes and then tossed with shredded Parmesan. It tasted pretty good while it was hot but lost its luster as it cooled to room temperature. I got through 75% of it.).

Bri just called and I'm gonna go over and help him put his computer desk together. So that's something at least.

I think this is a great deal

1. Pre-order The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverant Romp through History's Best Bits on Amazon before October 28, 2008.
2. Receive a promotion code from Amazon that's good for a free 6-month subscription to mental_floss Magazine (that's 3 free issues!) when the book ships.
3. Enjoy your new book and an awesome magazine.
4. Wow!

As a current subscriber, I found this hard to pass up so I went for it.

Fajoobis football report 2

I'm not sure why, but I've been bothered by the recent trend of NFL wide receivers wearing irregular numbers for their position. I'm used to WRs wearing a number between 80 and 89.




I don't get it. Are they trying to stand out? Are teams putting more than 10 WR/TEs on their rosters? I don't agree with it. I guess I'm a traditionalist.

In Week 1, Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury. Just about everyone was saying how this was not only heartbreaking to New England Patriot fans, but NFL fans in general. Uh, excuse me?



Call me a heartless Philly guy, but I'm kinda glad this happened. For several reasons. It effectively ended the regular season undefeated streak for the Pats. It opened up the AFC. It also ends the streak of Tom Brady being listed as "Probable" every week. Now he's on Injured Reserve. It definitely takes a big shit on whatever cheating Bill Belichick had planned for this season. Party's over, Bill. How does it feel to be the Drew Bledsoe-era Pats again?

I'll tell ya who else I'm not a fan of: Lou Holtz. I am tired of seeing his wrinkled face and hearing his mush-mouthed pep talks on College Gameday.



I really don't see what's so motivational about this guy. The only thing I'd be inspired to do is wear a poncho when he's talking to me.

Staying with college ball, I was annoyed a few weeks ago when USC was ranked #1 and Ohio State was #5. These two teams have since been exposed. I don't take any meaning from the rankings until Week 5 or 6. Because at the beginning of the season, nobody knows anything about NCAA football. Not the Associated Press, not the Coaches, not ESPN, not USA Today, NOBODY. Write this down: Penn State is beating Ohio State and Michigan this season.

I'm obviuously biased against the Cowboys but I don't care. There is no way they are the best team in the NFL. This is the same syndrome as USC or Ohio State. People are too willing to put them at the top of their lists. They're a well-known franchise, all over the world. Whenever Dallas has a respectable team they automatically get Super Bowl buzz. I got news for you, people. It's not happening.

The Rams and the Raiders got rid of their coaches last week. The Lions got rid of their GM. These are three more franchises that are perenially horrible. The Rams got lucky in the beginning of this decade and they had a good team for quite a few years. They don't even come close to that now. Everyone else is on that "Greatest Show On Turf" offense. Defense always wins. Detriot and Oakland I put in the same category as Arizona. They will never be good. Ever. Barry Sanders knew that and that's why he retired so young. The Raiders might have a chance if Al Davis dies and nobody from his family takes over. I wouldn't be surprised if Al made an offer to John Madden to come back and coach this season. And when he refuses, Tom Flores will get a call.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Buffalo Bills are still undefeated. And I think they have a good chance of staying that way. There's no one on their schedule that they can't beat. They're doing it for Tim Russert.

So that's what I got going on

Hey.

If you haven't been paying attention, I got me some Breakfast Stout over the weekend.



It was awesome. I ended up drinking all four bottles last night as I stayed up watching Monday Night Football. I even took notes. I want more.

Oh, and I bought this.



And that's my keg inside of it. I got room for another one in there but I'm not going to rush things. For me to get this thing up and running, I had to order some parts for the keg because the kegerator came with parts for a commercial keg. Until last night I had almost no idea how to work with kegs. This video helped a lot:



At least now I have some idea what I'm doing. Now I gotta decide what I'm brewing. Most likely I'll go with a pre-packaged recipe kit rather than formulate my own in the interest of time.

I got pulled over today for going around a bus. I was surprised. I mean, I understand why I shouldn't do it, but I've never seen anyone else get pulled over for this before. I didn't get a ticket or anything. Those two officers were nice ladies.

Other than that, it's that time of year when the weather frustrates me. It will be October in a couple of hours and it's still warm in this apartment with the windows open. And I have a little bit of a sweat going. All in all I just don't feel comfortable and I probably will have trouble sleeping tonight. And I really need a good night's sleep.

I'm excited, as I imagine most of the City is, about the Phillies starting the postseason tomorrow. I'm even more excited that the Mets choked again. That just makes it sweeter. Here's a picture Joe got of a dejected Keith Hernandez:



Tee hee.

A word about the latest Philly Police shootings

I never mentioned that, when the 2 police officers were shot Tuesday afternoon in North Philly, I was a few blocks away on the Temple campus.

First, a Bomb Disposal Unit truck came screaming up Broad Street so I thought there was a bomb threat near by. Less than a minute later another police car shot up the street. They kept coming and coming. The sirens never stopped. Two news choppers appeared. I called my mom and asked her to check the news and see what was going on. When I heard, I decided to get out of the neighborhood.

As I went East on Lehigh Avenue, more police vehicles sped in the opposite direction.

I heard on the radio that one of the officers had died. Then a few hours later I watched live on the news as they escorted his body to the Medical Examiner's Office, which is the building where I work. That was a bit chilling to say the least.

I've also learned that my cousin, who is a rookie cop, is in the same district as the slain officer.

My job has its hazards, but it's nothing compared to what the Police face everyday. Still, I feel like I'm doing my part in making life a little better around here. It's easy to give up on this city but after this week my resolve is greater than ever. I won't let anyone or anything force me to leave. I'm staying in Philadelphia and I've never thought twice about it.

My current Holy Grail

Recently I've become a little obsessed with tracking down Founders Breakfast Stout. Whenever it's available around here it sells very quickly. Today, since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to try my luck at The Foodery. Zilch. "That shit sells as soon as we get it," said the guy at the store.

Breakfast Stout is a big beer made with flaked oats, bitter chocolate and two kinds of coffee. Just reading the description of it makes me drool. I must taste it. I've always been intrigued by the idea of a "breakfast beer" since I tried to brew an English Breakfast Ale at home. I have to get as many bottles as I can, even if it's just one. The Grey Lodge has a barrel of it but they're saving it for Groundhog Day. It's allegedly on tap at Memphis Taproom and I wonder if they'll let me get a growler full. If I can't then I just gotta go for a pint over the weekend.



Have you seen this beer? I WANT IT!

NOTE: Founders also brews Kentucky Breakfast. It is a completely different recipe and NOT an alternate version of Breakfast Stout. I wouldn't mind trying the Kentucky Breakfast but it's the Breakfast Stout that I want.

Nothing ever happens in September, except this Coke addiction

The alternate title would have been "Wake me up when September ends" but I'm tired of that song.

So, yeah, it's been a slow month. At least for blog material. I could do another football rant but I'm saving up stuff for that. I want it to be rambling and angry.

I'm drinking Coca-Cola regularly again. I just don't care any more. I figure, why deny myself of something that I enjoy? I'm happier this way. I have the last can in the apartment sitting in front of me right now, as I type. I love Coke so much. I said to more than a few people that I even love the smell of it. I would love a candle that had a Coke scent.

I find that when I buy it in cans, they last longer. If I buy in 2-liter bottles, I'm stopping at Family Dollar on the way home from work every other day for more. I bought a 12-pack of cans over the weekend and I'm down to the last can now. When I first moved in here, I was buying Coke Zero (including the Cherry and Vanilla). I like Coke Zero and I think it's closer to the Real Thing than Diet Coke, but it still isn't "real Coke taste." So I relapsed heavily. And I'm not even sorry.

SIDE NOTE: A few people have asked me if I've lost weight, to which I usually reply with a shrug. Not only have I fallen off the Coke wagon, but I don't even work out any more so I don't know where this is coming from. My only explanation might be a lack of "home cookin'."

So, in conclusion, I will continue with my Coke consumption and I have no plans to stop, thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I got this last can here....

Show and tell

On my day off yesterday, I had a small list of things to get done.

• Take Kathleen to her driving test
• Do laundry for the first time in two weeks
• Do the dishes for the first time in two weeks
  
• Shave for the first time in almost two weeks
• Get a haircut for the first time in almost three months
  
• Pick up the coffee table
• Assemble the coffee table

I did everything except for the haircut. Kathleen passed. I had so much laundry that it took two runs in the dryer to be completely dry. I hate when that happens. Here's the coffee table.



I like the shelves under it. I can keep my DVDs there. I also decided to make a combined Eagles-Penn State football schedule for easy scorekeeping. Here's that.

I suppose that's it for now. Here's a picture I took of My Morning Jacket with my phone.



Not exactly hi-def, but it's my wallpaper right now.

OK, that's really it.

Wawa news: Coffeetopia!

I go into the Wawa at Richmond and Allegheny this morning and I notice the staff are wearing Coffeetopia gear and there is also a display. Looks like they have a Fall followup for Hoagiefest! You can enter a drawing to win a week's worth of coffee. The website offers some interactive fun as well. Woo, coffee!

My Morning Jacket, the morning after

I have chosen my concerts well this summer.

My Morning Jacket thoroughly rocked the shit out of the Festival Pier. I'm not using that term lightly. They fucking rocked. They are a real rock band. Like a modern, American Led Zeppelin.

There was no opening band because they didn't need one. They warm up the audience themselves. And blow 'em away, lull them into a comforting groove, blow 'em away again and come back for an encore.

Now, I'm not as familiar (yet) with MMJ as I am with, say, Radiohead. So there was a big chunk of songs I didn't know. I only have two albums, Z and Evil Urges, and the live album Okonokos. I'm gonna have to buy up the rest of the catalog.

This was one of the friendlier audiences I've been a part of. This one group just came up and started talking to me about the band. I told them it was my first MMJ show besides when I saw them open up for Pearl Jam and they made a big deal about it, "We have a Pearl Jam crossover here!!" That earned me some high fives. I think they said they were from New York or North Jersey. Somebody mentioned Hoboken and I mentioned my brother lived in Nutley and the one guy (Brian, I believe) said he always plays bagpipes in the parade in Nutley every year. I forget which parade. He was wearing what I thought was a Mets jersey but it actually said "Nerds" in the Mets script. I didn't really care, we weren't at a Phillies game. Tonight it was all about the music.

Here's the set:

Anytime
Aluminum Park
Off The Record
Evil Urges
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.1
What A Wonderful Man
Two Halves
Golden
Thank You Too!
I'm Amazed
Evelyn Is Not Real
Sec Walkin
War Begun
Phone Went West
Librarian
Dondante
Gideon
Lay Low
Mahgeetah

Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Cobra
Smokin From Shootin
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
Run Thru
One Big Holiday

This is a really amazing band to see live.

Remember these classics?

I get bored once in a while in this apartment. Or procrastinate in lieu of doing something important, like the laundry. Like I am right now.

Anyway, I ended up looking at stuff on Tom's site, last updated July 14, 2007 (seriously, it still has a link to The Grants' page), and found the April Keppler Interview conducted by Joe and I.



I forgot I even did this and I gotta say it's still pretty funny. I miss the 20 Questions page I had back in the day. It was fun.

What's yours?

I was reading a 10-Track Mind post, where readers put their mp3 players on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, on the Clog over the weekend. And I decided to try it out.

1. Stephen Malkmus - "Freeze the Saints" (Face the Truth)
2. Beck - "Nicotine & Gravy" (Midnite Vultures)
3. Stephen Malkmus - "It Kills" (Face the Truth)
4. Pavement - "Newark Wilder" (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
5. Pink Floyd - "One of These Days" (Meddle)
6. Pavement - "Serpentine Pad" (Wowee Zowee)
7. The Raconteurs - "Salute Your Solution" (Consolers of the Lonely)
8. Radiohead - "A Wolf at the Door" (Hail to the Thief)
9. Pavement - "Elevate Me Later" (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
10. The White Stripes - "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)" (Get Behind Me Satan)

Wow, diverse, huh?

I should mention I don't have an iPod. I have a Rio Nitrus with 1.5 GB of memory, which affords me about 360 songs. I tried the same thing with Yahoo! Music Jukebox on my laptop (2500 songs?). This was a much more interesting list.

1. Pearl Jam f/ Neil Young - "Rockin' In The Free World (live)"
2. The Decemberists - "The Perfect Crime #2" (The Crane Wife)
3. Pink Floyd - "Nobody Home" (The Wall)
4. Isaac Hayes - "Shaft Strikes Again" (Shaft)
5. The Hold Steady - "Party Pit" (Boys and Girls In America)
6. Cold War Kids - "Hospital Beds" (Robbers and Cowards)
7. Van Morrison - "Moondance" (Moondance)
8. Toots and the Maytals f/ Ken Boothe and Marcia Griffith - "Reggae Got Soul" (True Love)
9. Allman Brothers Band - "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (The Fillmore Concerts)
10. Langhorne Slim - "Rebel Side of Heaven" (Langhorne Slim)

Anyway, I still can't justify getting an iPod.

Adventure. See ya.

I had a little bit of an adventure last night.

Going into the night, I had no plans whatsoever. There was poker night at Tim's house but I hate poker and I didn't feel like being the drunk guy in the Losers Lounge. Late in the afternoon, Cass texted me if I wanted to go with them to see Victor Victor Band on South St. I never heard of them but what the hell, right? We took two cars to accomodate the whole group. I drove one of them.

The venue was J.C. Dobbs at 304 South St. Between TLA and Jon's Bar and Grille (Birthplace of Larry Fine). This place must have just opened because they didn't have their liquor license yet. But you could still get soda, water, candy or chips at the bar. We got our hands stamped and had some beers at the bar across the street, Mako's.

The band turned out to be pretty good. It was Cass's husband's cousin on guitar and his wife on percussion and keyboard. They had a real White Stripes thing going on and that's probably why I enjoyed the show. After they were done we went back to Mako's for a few more. Then we decided to head back to the Northeast.

I was on Delaware Ave. at Frankford when Cass called and said her car was gone. It had been towed. So I had to turn around. Her car was in the impound lot at Columbus and Oregon so I took them down there and waited until they got it back. There were a lot of other people there trying to get their vehicles back and I think I recognized a few of them from South St. A few tow trucks arrived with new impounds while I was waiting. PPA just loves to ruin people's nights apparently. I'm glad I was able to help out.

They got the car back. At this point it was 2:00 AM. We went to the Dining Car (yes, Ed went to the Dining Car) and then called it a night. I had Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard. I was back in the apartment by 3:30.

There was a lot of additional minutiae that happened but I won't bother going into detail. Check out that band, though, if you can.

Unfocused football rant

College football starts tomorrow. Actually, it already started. But Penn State starts tomorrow, and if I can get the game on TV, I'll probably be watching it even though it's just Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers, whatever that is.

Anyway, the NFL starts on Thursday, so football season is indeed nigh.

I'd like to being the season with a small rant.

I am an Eagle fan but sometimes I am embarrassed about the behavior of my brethren. Last week I was at a bar. The Phillies and the Eagles were both on TV. The Eagles were playing a preseason game. There were more than a few people in the bar with me, wearing Eagles jerseys, and very loudly cheering on their beloved Birds. The place would erupt when they got a touchdown. I sat on my hands. It was preseason, it didn't count and I'm not going to bother wasting my energy.

A few minutes later in the Phillies game, someone hit a homerun. I think it was Chris Coste. I clapped. Because it counted, and everything. I looked around. Everyone seems to be ignoring the baseball game and instead watching Kevin Kolb or whatever.

I can't even say who the QB was because I wasn't paying attention because preseason football is the most boring, useless sporting event you can catch on TV. A preseason game can't hold my attention for more than 2 minutes. It's a waste of everyone's time. I say get rid of the preseason. They don't do it in college, why should the pros? The teams that are really good will be ready to play when the season starts. Have longer training camps, have more scrimmages (a Green and White Game, perhaps?), or start the season a little earlier. Whatever, just give up on the whole month of games that don't count already.

While I'm at it:

STOP starting E-A-G-L-E-S chants at events that have nothing to do with the team! I've heard the chant at Phils games, a Pearl Jam concert, and even on TV at the NFL Draft. That's another thing. I hate the idea of fans taking a road trip to see the fucking draft. The draft, along with preseason, is something else that gets too much media coverage because everyone kisses the NFL's ass. The draft is fucking boring, people!

There was something that happened a while ago that bugged me. Mike Bartrum retired from football in June 2007. He was often hailed as the best long snapper in the league. Some fans thought because the Eagles were minus Bartrum all of a sudden, the team was fucked.

Huh?

I don't care how good he is, a long snapper is not going to affect how good the team is. If you showed me side-by-side footage of Mike Bartrum and another random guy long-snapping the ball, I probably wouldn't be able to tell who was better. Like long-snapping is this impossible thing. I could become the best long-snapper in the NFL if I was making six figures and that was my only task. Christ.

I'm also tired of people who think Kevin Kolb should "get more playing time." He'll get his playing time when McNabb retires or is traded. Because McNabb is better than Kolb, people. It's not even close. You start the season with Kevin Kolb and he will suck royally. He is the backup. Deal with it.

This will seem random, but I really hate the Arizona Cardinals. Not in the same manner that I hate the Giants or the Cowboys (as rivals) but I just hate their very existence. Their name, logo, uniforms, owner and stadium are all stupid. Every season people think they're gonna "go somewhere" and they never do. "Oh, they got Emmitt Smith!" They still stink. "Oh, they got this great receiving corps!" They still stink. "Oh, now they got Edgerrin James!" They still stink. "Oh, they drafted Matt Leinart! And Kurt Warner is his backup! And Ken Whisenhunt is their coach!" They STILL stink. THE ARIZONA CARDINALS WILL ALWAYS STINK. THEY WILL NEVER BE GOOD. JUST GO AWAY.

Let's move on to college now. I hate hate HATE Notre Dame football. I hate how they refuse to join a conference. I hate that they have 6 major rivals. That's half of the season! And how the fuck is USC their rival? I hate that they have their own TV contract. I hate that they let last season slide for Charlie Weis when Tyrone Willingham was fired for less. I say all this and I'm part Irish and grew up Catholic. They think the college football universe revolves around them. It doesn't. Get over yourselves.

But Rudy... that was a pretty good movie, I'll admit that.

Well, I think I got everything out of my system for now. And by the way, it turns out "Chanticleer" was a fictional rooster character in a fable (possibly written by Chaucer) who foresaw his own death. Good mascot choice.

One last thing. If you're interested in Yahoo! College Pick'em, please join my group which is lacking in members.

Group ID#: 21689
Group password: college

The season starts tomorrow.

That's it, I promise.