This time of the season

The fervor that comes along with an election season is understandably at a higher pitch than most other times during the three or three and a half years that fall between the presidential elections, our nations greatest example of our democratic freedom to choose who will represent this country we call home.

During those lull times the pitch is just a tad bit lower, registering in at a volume that probably wouldn't upset anyone's sleep.  Sure, sometimes a politician will insert his or her foot into his or her mouth and say something stupid and it'll get a blip on the cultural radar that is purveyed by an unbiased and neutral mass media engine that is seeking to inform the public.  People will get mad for a minute, but they quickly go back to their reality TV shows and sports after they've proven to the people around them that they care about the issues of today.

Part of me likes that time frame as it keeps level of crap at a minimal level, but the flip side to that coin is that our country is filled with people who firmly believe in the mantra of "ignorance is bliss" and the only way for that to change is for more people to become involved.  The catalyst to that scenario happening is going to stem from an election season.

We're nearing the debate season and signs are starting to grow in front lawns that haven't seen political commentary since either 2008 or 2004 depending on their political "affiliations."  

This sporadic attention to political happenings is not something that just happens to people on the left or to people on the right.  It crops up on both sides and it drives me crazy.  I'm not someone who is wrapped up in politics 24/7, but I do stay abreast of the situation enough to know of what's happening at least on a weekly basis.  I don't think there's a lot of people that can say even that, and that's not even.  Often people are highly opinionated for four to six months and then they go back to their lives without a seconds thought about whether they made the right decision or didn't.

One of the biggest pet peeves that I find most prevalent is single issue voters.  In general, I don't mind someone focusing their decisions on a single issue, but I'd rather see a desire to have a better understanding of the whole picture.  This once again is not something that is unique to one side.  There are single voters everywhere and most of them are really loud about what they care about.

They want you to know that religion ideologies, gay rights, the right to abortion, the right to school how you see fit, the legality of marijuana, animal rights, environmental rights, plus many, many more, are very important.  And they are.  They just aren't the only thing(s).  People pick what's important to them (which is fine) and wrap up every political vote they cast into that one issue, allowing it to dictate where and how they vote (which isn't fine).

It's not that I expect people to be able to ignore these hot button issues, what I want to see people do is to incorporate them into a grander idea of voting towards or for an idea/policy/person that is going to do something that will affect them in their lives and their children's lives.  A lot of those single issues by themselves don't do anything for the majority of people in how they're going to be able to live their lives.  

Why do people pay attention to these issues so much more than things like economic policy, international policy, the tax code, or others that will either be the downfall or the savior of our great country for not just our generation but for generations to come?  It goes beyond just lazy ignorance, but devolves into flouting disrespect for the men and women who have died for one of our greatest rights: the right to vote.  The right to, as a people, choose who is going to run our country.  We're a country of babies that need to grow up.

I don't care what side you line up on, I don't care what you believe.  You're entitled to your own beliefs, no matter what I think of them. What I ask though, is that you study.  Be informed.  Be involved more often than every 1461 days.

Insanity: Now a week into it

I'm into the second week of workouts in the Insanity program and I'm of two minds in regards to how I'm doing.  On one side of the coin, I'm happy that I'm still doing the workout everyday.  I didn't finish P90x and while I may regale you with a number of different excuses, the true reason is that I didn't follow through.  I'm still following through with this and I hope/wish/pray/want to keep doing it.

The other side of the coin is an experience that I imagine a lot of people in my shoes feel at some point in their attempt to get in shape and lose weight.... It ain't happening fast enough.  In our immediate gratification based society the hope is that the weight is going to fall off like a pair of bulky clothes at the end of the day.  Minimal work and effort equaling maximum results.

Sad story is it doesn't work that way.

The workouts themselves aren't too tough in and of itself.  What makes them tough is how you ratchet up each time you do them.

The whole premise behind Insanity and P90x is the idea of interval training.  IT is basically getting your heart rate up high for an extended period of time with interspersed periods of rest.  Where Insanity really starts to kick your tail is that you go through your set of four workouts, take a break, then repeat the same four workouts but faster, break, repeat again going faster yet again.  That's what has me breathing hard and working me out harder than any run or pickup game of basketball ever has.

Like P90x the variety in the workouts from day to day keeps you from getting too sore in specific areas so I've haven't had physical excuses preventing me from going after the workout when I get home from work.  That combined with my timeline of going out to Las Vegas is keeping my nose to the grindstone.

I'm restrained myself from looking at the scale daily (something the wife can't do) because it's not an exercise or method that is going to provide immediate results.  Continued working out with a lower caloried diet over time is the only way I'm going to make this work.

I'm not saying I haven't seen improvement.  I have, I'm taking less breaks and I'm recovering faster from the workouts as my body is getting back into shape.  I'm just struggling to get over my desire for immediacy as I understand that if I'm truly going to create a lasting change its going to take a little bit longer than 8 days of working out.

I'm looking forward to how I'll look and feel in a month and even more so when I'm done with the program, but right now I'm just trying to make sure that I'm doing the workout everyday and trying to improve on the consistency and speed of how I'm working out.

Insanity - Day 1:Fitness Test

That wasn't fun.  Not even remotely.

I'd dabbled in P90X (or P13.5X if we're going to be honest) a couple years ago and that was tough.  That's a birthday candle to the back yard burner that Shaun T put me through today.

And fricking A, it's only the flipping test and I'm pissing and moaning this much.  This doesn't bode well.

(so encouraging)

Now part of this is probably due to me being in worse shape than I was a couple years ago (it is), but I will say that it works your body in a much more corecentric way than P90X, running, basketball, or any other workout that I've done.  If it's any tangible indication, no workout I've done has made me nervous that I was going to throw up at any point.  That happened three times today.  That's not exactly an experience that will lift you up and make you feel like you're in shape...

The test is very simple when you look at it from the outside.  It's eight exercises that you will do for a minute, keeping track of how many you can achieve, with roughly a minute break in between each where the host, Shaun T, teaches you how to do the next exercise.  There are no weights, no bands, no accouterments.  Just your body contorting onto and into your core.

This only the first day and the real fun, I'm sure, is going to start tomorrow.  I'm going to try and stay up on documenting how it goes on here, we'll see if my body allows such frivolities.

Music I'm listening to..

Last year the wife and I went out to California and while we were out there we took in a Tyrone Wells show.  The wife is friends with Tyrone and the drummer, Mark, so whenever we get a chance to we try and take in a show.  This wasn't the first time we'd seen Tyrone Wells play and like the other times there wasn't any disappointment at the end of the night.  If anything it was the best show I'd seen by them.

The concert was held in a tiny venue located off of an alley on Cahuenga Boulevard, the Hotel Cafe.  It's a small, dark room that probably doesn't even hold more than fifty people at one time, very intimate setting.

The set wasn't a long one and while we both wanted to head out after saying hi to Mark we were talked into staying to see a new band that Mark was working with, Branches.  That ended up being a very good decision.

After one song it was apparent that I'd found a new band that I was going to be listening to a long time (that assessment has held true).  With a musical base akin to Sufjan Stevens and the lyrical poetry and delivery of Mumford and Sons they fit the mold perfectly of where I hope the road of music continues to go down.

While their live set was great, I didn't truly appreciate how good they were until I heard their recorded music.

They had already released three LPs and they've since released their first EP, Thou Art the Dream (buy it here), four albums that not only pair and play the two lead vocalists together so well but also seamlessly intertwines a multi-instrumented sound so well.  Tyler and Natalie's voices are both soft and commanding that never take precedence over the the heartfelt lyrics that come oozing out like warm syrup jacked up on caffeine.  I love the addition of a good bango or mandolin and the Branches do it with great success.

I highly recommend checking out the Branches and their unique sound.  They've got a couple LPs out and the aforementioned EP and if you really want to be treated check out their monthly cover where you can backtrack and see their covers of tunes like Eleanor Rigby(Beatles), Skinny Love(Bon Iver), Crazy(Gnarls Barkley), plus many more...

Keep an eye out for these guys and if you have a chance to see 'em live, do it.

Brew#1 - Sugary Bastard (Bourbon oaked maple porter)

I'm planning on cataloging my brewing here and with this first one I'll focus more on the process of brewing.  Later blog entries will center more on the creation of the recipe and what I'm hoping to achieve with it.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of brewing beer is the creation process.  The time spent looking at different recipes, different adjuncts, different ideas that can be compiled into a beer that is, more often than not, completely and truly unique.

I brewed a porter last summer/fall that I racked (transferred beer into a glass carboy for aging) onto cherries and it turned out to be a great beer.  The cherries gave it a sweet body that complemented well with the natural porter taste.  Needless to say it didn't last too long...

Fast forward to the last couple of weeks.  I wanted to brew the porter again but I didn't want to brew with cherries again but this time with different ingredients: maple sugar and bourbon.  Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

I started out with a basic porter recipe:


1/2 # 80 L
1 # Amber Fawcett
1/2 # Brown Fawcett
1/2 Chocolate Malt
6 # Light LME

I chose to go with a pretty basic recipe because I want the flavor of the original beer to be a base for the other ingredients to build off of.  Currently, my brewing method is "partial mash" which is code for a step above extract brewing but too scared to take the plunge into the deep end that is all-grain brewing, where I heat up a couple gallons of water to 153 degrees.  Once I've hit that temperature I remove the pot from the heat and introduce all my dry grains, wrap the pot in towels, and then set the timer for forty five minutes to let the grains leach out their sugars into the water.  Time to have a couple beers.  (I bought some in state double IPAs from Atwater Brewing and Arcadia Brewing at  the best beer and homebrew shops in Grand Rapids, Sicilianos.  They were good)

After the timer had gone off and a decent buzz had been achieved, I removed the grain sock and added the now darkened water to my six gallon brew pot that I was heating up on my turkey burner.  From there it was just a waiting game until everything came to a boil.  If you haven't figured it out by now, brewing is a game of back and forth between hurrying up and waiting.

Once everything was up to a boil, I added the Liquid Malt Extract (LME) and and one ounce of Styrian Golding hops and started my boil timer for a hour.  I added hops again at a half hour left and then added a whirfloc tablet (helps drop solid objects to the bottom of the bucket/carboy), another half ounce of hops, and sixteen fluid ounces of Pure Maple Syrup (Grade B) (!!!!) at fifteen minutes left on boil.

Once the timer went off I turned off the heat and moved the brew pot into an ice bath and added some ice that I had purified earlier in the week (not the best way but I don't have a chiller, so leave me alone) in an effort to get the temp down to the mid-seventies so I could strain out the loose grain left in the water into my brew pail and pitch my WLP002 (English Ale) yeast.  You need to reach that temperature range so the yeast won't be shocked.

Now it's just a waiting game (told ya).  I'm going to add some more maple sugar tomorrow and then leave it in the ferment bucket for two weeks, then transfer into my secondary (glass carboy) while racking onto bourbon soaked oak chips (hells yes) for another three or four weeks.  Then I get to bottle and wait a couple months for it to age into a great beer.

Until next time.

Writing

There are plenty of goals in this life that I want to achieve at one point or an another.  Some won't happen until later in life due to the variety of pitches life has a tendency to throw at the average person. Jobs, marriage, kids, plus all the other minutia that crops everyday to slow down those plans.

I'm okay with waiting for some of those, to put them on the back burner until I'm able to truly dedicate some time and attention to them.  It also isn't a bad thing for me to work on obtaining some patience in my life, a virtue that I don't necessarily have in spades.

Others I'm not so keen on waiting on.

At the top of that list, not surprisingly considering the emergence of this blog, is writing.  I have a deep passion for the written word, both read and written, and whether I'm getting paid (not likely) or not (little more likely) a life without writing isn't a life that I'm going to be living.  Not only do I tend to articulate myself better on paper (or in this case, on the screen) but I also find that writing out my thoughts, no matter how obscure or random, is a cathartic process that contributes to me having a good day.

I can't explain it any more simply than that.  There's a sense of calm that settles onto me as I write, a smile that more often than not that creeps onto my face as I peck away at the keyboard or scribble onto a Moleskine notepad that is never far away from me, a feeling that I'm doing something that may or may not last longer than the good and bad times I'm experiencing at that moment.  I don't know what causes that and I really don't care, I just care that it's there and happening when I do it.

I'm a firm believer in finding something in life that serves this same function.  I doesn't matter what it is but rather that it happens.  It may be creating or playing music, it may be physical activity, it may be cooking, it may be anything.  Do something.  Let it out in a way that works for you.  Writing just happens to be the way that works for me.

I'd like to be published someday but until then I'm going to keep writing.

The Rise (and disappearance) of my now favorite trilogy

People can talk all they want about Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings (though that one is magnificent too) but for me the sun rises and sets in regards to trilogies with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy.

Now, I am writing this freshly out of the theater after watching The Dark Knight Rises so there is a bias that can be attributed to the freshness that comes with having just watched the movie, but frankly I don't care.

It actually touches on reality in an honest and aggressive way, dealing with real lose, love gained and lost, an anger that seems to be unquenchable, plus a whole lot more.  Star Wars in a sometimes impressive, more often than not, depressing attempts to do this but rather than touch on those issues it hits them with a wiffle bat.  Sometimes it stings but usually it just is an annoyance.

Sure, George Lucas told a good story.  A story that was unique and new and it made things possible that Christopher Nolan used in his telling of Batman.  The difference, to this humble writer, lies in the director's ability to tell a story, the actors ability to convey that story, and the writer's ability to capture the gritty realness of Bob Kane's Batman and mix that comic book story with an honesty that took that comic and made it a "true" story.

LOTR deals with a lot of these same issues and Jackson did a damn good job of telling a story that is one of the greatest story of all time.  A difference that only matters when comparing for this post's sake is that the characters are enduring a test of fortitude that is slightly outside the realm of normal.  That doesn't diminish the story but I struggle to place myself in Frodo or Aragorn's shoes on their journey to destroy a magical ring and retake the throne of my ancestors.  I can sympathize with a man who takes justice into his own hands.

The trilogy as a whole is an amazing story and each component does an admirable job of showing the growth (if that's the right word) of Bruce Wayne and the people that surround him.  There's twists and turns in both the story and the characters that fill out that story.

I loved the last movie and it sucks that I don't get to see anymore Christopher Nolan Batman stories.  I'll just have to get by with the Blu-Rays of the ones that we got.

Getting ready for a house warming party

There's nothing like a deadline to motivate me (and the wife) to really getting something done.

When we got the house we had a tight deadline to get the house ready for us to move into (it was "movein" ready for me, but not so much for the Executive) w/ our lease running up a week after closing.   We got possession on a Friday and moved in the next Saturday (eight days).  This by itself isn't that crazy of a situation.  I'm sure people get possession of new homes everyday and move in shortly after.  The wrench in this little scenario was threefold.

1. We didn't pack.  At least not adequately enough to make it a smooth and painless adventure.  I have come to the realization that it is much, much more important to have everything boxed up, labeled, and staged for the move than to have a crapload of people there to help you move a crapload of stuff that is in varying stages of use and being packed up.

The problem doesn't manifest itself in just the move but also in the unpacking process.  When you don't systemically pack everything up and label what it is and where it goes you end up just throwing it wherever there is a patch of carpet or a flat box to stack another box. Once that happens its not even a slippery slope, it's a cliff and you've already fallen off and the landing isn't going to be a smooth one.

2. Our new home, like any home left vacant for a year, needed some freshening up.  While the wife was extremely optimistic with how quickly we could plow through our list of needs and then dive into the realm of the areas we "wanted" to fix up before moving in, I tried to temper my doubts and resolved to just dig in and try and get as much done as we could.

Even this conservative approach proved to be too eager and ambitious.  If we had of packed everything appropriately, if we had of left more than a week to do all of this (more on that next), if we knew what we were flipping doing, we still wouldn't have gotten everything done in a week.

It's a much better option to do things slowly and not try to multitask through everything at once.  Easier said than done.

3. Leave your self the appropriate amount of time and then add a day or two for good measure.  We tried to do this but failed horribly.  We set ourselves a time frame and a list of things that we wanted to do and then shortened the time frame as more things came onto the list and life took over (jobs, packing, general exhaustion).

I know this isn't that surprising to probably a large number of people but it is amazing how long even the simplest of tasks can take.  Painting.  Throwing paint on a wall in a measured manner.  Not so hard on paper is it?  Real life?  Quite the opposite, I've waited in the DMV for less time than it's taken me to paint a 10x10 room.

First you have to tape the room (watch a professional painter and you'll realize how slow you are), then you have to get out the paint, then you have to shake the sonofabitch until your arm hurts, then you have to get all the requisite tools and Lowe's created appendages.  Now set everything up and finally, after all that prep work, you get to actually start changing the color of your walls.  Lets just hope that your walls didn't need any touch up work because, crap, you have to fix those first too.

And this is just one thing we had to do (any almost every house bought will have this done).  We painted almost the whole house, I ripped the main floors flooring and laid down new wood flooring, demoed the kitchen and main floor bathroom, redid those two rooms, turned our pond into a pool, built a bookshelf that spans a whole wall (!!!), and a whole bunch of small crap that only my wife or I will ever notice but had to be done.

All of this was done over the last month and a half and we had our last big push to get everything done last week because we threw a House Warming/Stock Our Bar/Pool party on Saturday (got some great whiskeys) and if we hadn't of thrown that shindig I don't know if we would have all of that done by now.

Don't do it that way.  Set deadlines but make 'em realistic

The Nectar of Gods

There's a certain connotation bestowed on the shoulder's of beer snobs and for the most part it's a valid and applicable label.

The thought that anyone who can drink, let alone enjoy, the watered down, false advertised (triple hopped!, Great Taste with Less Filling!) swill that that is associated with our big sporting events is a person living int he dark ages who has no ability to gauge what's good in the world.

Just like with anything in life there's a dividing line drawn in the proverbial sand.  On one side is the educated, well paletted beer aficionado who you see calmly and patiently perusing the beer store's wall of deliciousness.  On the other side is the beer consumer who doesn't want to make a decision, but wants to get the best bang for his or her buck (which they never truly do) and want to get away from the condescending glares of the snootier beers and their artistic labels.

Here's some beers and the "type" of person who drinks them....

• Bud Light - You're a wuss.  At least drink Bud Heavy.  It's not going to hurt you.
• Bud Heavy - You may have relatives from the South or you definitely enjoy Nascar.
• Miller Light - You're single, or your girlfriend is okay with the gas that this beer inevitably turns into.
• Coors Light - You have a tiny bit of taste but you don't want to indulge that taste with something that actually is good.
• Keystone/Busch/etc.. - You, like my grandfather, think medals won in the 30's mean their water's still good to drink.
• PBR - You lost all your matchbox car races as a Cadet and this is your first and only blue ribbon you're going to get.
• Any Churchkey beer - your attempt at drinking a beer in a hipster fashion is indicative of some deep routed problems

This could go on but you get the idea.

There are a number of reasons for the beer snob or home brewer (these terms are often synonymous) to think that these types of beers (and people) are sub par.

First we have the beer's own inadequacies:

• watered down
• lower quality ingredients
• no variety.  Americans drink lagers and pilsners.

Consequently this shows an inadequacy in the people who are content to consume these beers:

• Boring people who are scared of trying something new
• They have no flavor. No pizzazz.  They're plane janes.

Whether you agree with the stereotypes or not it is very hard to disagree with the reasons why people feel this way.  There's a quality that is present in craft beers that in this humble beer drinker's perspective is well worth the uptick in price.

I'm going to leave you with a couple of my favorite breweries and beers.

Breweries and beers they make: 

• Bells (Oberon, Two Hearted, HopSlam)
• Founders (KBS, Curmudgeon, Dirty Bastard, Pale Ale, Breakfast Stout, and many more)
• New Holland (Dragons Milk, The Poet)
• Left Hand (Milk Stout)
• Dark Horse (One, Two, Three)
• Lagunitas (Sumpin' Sumpin')
• Arcadia
• Shorts

Beers you need to try if you can get your hands on:

• Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger
• KBS
• Mine :)

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July, folks!

Remember today as you're tossing a couple dogs on the grill or tossing back a cold one that you get to do so because of those who stood and fell before us.

Where did the weekend go?

Luckily I've got a glass of whiskey here to help me through the last bit of the weekend.

I'm quaffing for only the second time ever a glass of Buffalo Trace and while I won't ever call it my favorite whiskey it's definitely up there if you were to ask for some advice when it comes to an affordable whiskey.  I picked up a small bottle for fifteen bucks at a local specialty store and it's well worth the money spent and  you can pick up a fifth for thirty or so at most places.

Whether you've just taken the stopper out or your lifting your tumbler up for your first sip you're not going to be taken aback by any strong, alcoholic scent.  That trend continues during each sip.  It's a smooth drink that  while it will pack a punch if you drink more than one in a given night (the affects of a 90% drink or two may or may not be known on good confidence) goes down nice and easy leaving only a nice spicy after burn that doesn't bite but leaves a nice toasty after affect that just reminds you of the good drink in your hand.

Drink it with a cube of ice (don't go with more or you'll water it down too much) or drink it straight.  It's an enjoyable ride.

Most recent book I've read: Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

It's not often that I'm surprised by a book.  I haven't read everything by any stretch of the imagination, but enough to know that all stories are basically amalgamations of the books that have come before.  Characters change but their motives don't, so it's hard to really separate apart from the herd when trying to create something new, or at least newish.

Lawrence did just that with "Prince of Thorns," a book that came out late last year to a good amount of fanfare in the tiny (but growing) circle of fantasy nudniks, a bit of praise that I think was extremely appropriate.

The story follows a tale that's been told often, one of a dead parent and a son who wants revenge, but where it steps aside from the conventional path to forage alone in the night is in the characters, or to be specific, the Character: Jorg Ancarath.  Jorg has seen the brutal murders of his mother and brother and that has left him with a slightly skewed and awfully bloody view of the world around him.

The environment that Lawrence has crafted is in this writer's opinion a post apocalypic world that has reverted back to the Middle Ages where any and everything from the time before has been lost and forgotten.  He does a great job of leaving that fact (or maybe not a fact?) to the reader's interpretation, instead devoting the bulk of attentionto Jorg and the journey that the 14 year old prince has undertaken.

The magic system, an area that I usually want to be verbose, big, and grand, is sparse and isn't really well understood but it works for the reader as the reader is just as clueless to how the magic works as Jorg is.  The story isn't driven by the magic like a lot of books nowadays, or by a sense of code or ethics, but more by a lack of a compulsion to do what's right.  Jorg does what he wants and does it in a way that is often scary, dark, and disturbing.  You might think that this would disconnect the reader from the story but it really didn't for me.

There isn't much I'd change or that I didn't like about the book.  It was just long enough, not a volume that took weeks to finish and it was written in a tight, deliberate, and clever manner that had me upset when the book finished only because the sequel's not out yet.

Pick it up, you'll enjoy it.

Point or lack thereof

There have been numerous times where I've either thought about or actually started a blog but they faltered quickly or never even got off the ground.  I'd like to change with that this time around.

Instead of this being a niche based commentary that focuses on some area or avenue of my life that I think is important enough to share with the world via the internet, I think I'm going to have a more enjoyable time writing about my life in general.  I'm at a unique point in my life where a lot of different things are either taking place or the potential of various dominoes may drop over the next couple months and years.

I'm never going to profess to be someone who is so interesting or important that would or could demand attention on the fluctuations of my day.  I just want to write and what better way to work on that goal than to write on a number of different areas and topics that I think are interesting enough to put fingers to keyboard on.

I'd like to chat about what's organic and natural to me and what better way to do that than talk about what interests me and what's in my everyday life.  That may be about the journeys of being a new homeowner, the possibilities of adding to our family, the hobbies of reading, writing, brewing (amongst others), my obsession with any and everything related to Michigan sports, and anything else that crops up in my life over the next couple years.

So bear with me as I give this a whirl and let's see if we can't have a little fun!