What?

Can anybody tell me what this warning sign is warning about?  It was on the electric fireplace we recently bought and I'm clueless as to what to be scared of.

I've Had a Few

What a card

For some reason a lot of people sent us dog themed Christmas cards this year. This one was my favorite:

Stuffed

The award for the best stocking stuffer this year goes to my sister-in-law Mary with this gem:

The Southside of 2012

It's almost over. It's been a good year for us below the Mason/Dixon line. We got a new kitchen and deck. Kathy received a prestigious award as well as taking on a new job. I got a new job and continue my studies at AACC. We got Third Dog (okay, maybe it hasn't all been good), and I went to some great live music shows.

The most recent show I attended with MJ (and maybe the last show we'll see this year) Was last night. I've been aware of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes for years but never really took much notice. It turns out it was my loss. After being on the road for 40 years, they still put on a hell of a show. I was surprised when the band took the stage last night just after 8:00pm. Eight big pieces including a killer horn section made up a sax player, a trumpet player and a trombone. These cats could swing.

Johnny was not what a  I expected either. He played the part of the dynamic front man but looked more like a math teacher (and I know math teachers). He was only too happy to share the spotlight with this well seasoned band especially the keyboard player who sang a few songs himself. Everyone but the drummer sang back up vocals which gave a lot of the tunes some wonderful smooth harmonies that can sometimes be hard to reproduce in a live setting. They played for almost two and a half hours straight and rocked the mostly gray haired crowd way past our bedtimes.

When We Deck the Halls

We really deck. This is our Christmas gift to each other this year. It's about 95 % done and will be finished up right after the first of the year.  It'll be a snow catcher for the next couple of months but when spring finally rolls around we'll be ready.

Between this project and the kitchen, the house is starting to look good.  Now all I have to do is figure out a way to get the lawn to grow. Of course the last time we put in a new kitchen and added a deck, 6 months later we sold the house and moved back up to Rochester.

There should be no chance of that happening this time. I think New Your State has a 2 dog limit.

Not Sure How It Happened

But I've exceeded my quota of one cartoon a week for this past year. That doesn't mean I'm out of ideas or that I plan on stopping, but with the oncoming holidays, time may be in short supply. Over all it's been a positive experience for me and allowed me to sharpen my skills (skills?). I'm taking a drawing class next semester so maybe that will help me improve my execution. The down side is Kathy has accused me of talking in punch lines which may just be a side effect but I'm sure it gets old after a short time.

Anyway, it's been a good year and I plan on trying it again next year so stay tuned.

Shit!

The world didn't end yesterday like it was supposed to. I guess I can't put off Christmas shopping much longer.

Goodbye to a Good Buy

This past summer's garage sale season was a huge success for me, (not to mention all the people of whom I relieved of their crap). There will always be second guessing when it comes to bargain hunting. I know I should have bought the floating cooler that looks like a big fishing bobber, but at the time $5 seemed like a lot of money.

The Big One

I also remember one sale where the guy was selling a large collection of Manga graphic novels for 50 cents apiece but I passed, not wanting to get into even more dust collecting habits. At that sale I did buy for a half a buck, an 8 inch tall, wooden pose-able artist's model.  I have a larger version, but the small one came with a stand and everything so I figure it would be good for me while I was working from my bed (which I often do).

I even used it the other night to help me with proportions of something I was working and foolishly left it on the bed side night stand. Enter Third Dog.  You would think I would have learned my lesson after he's already eaten countless toys, an e-reader, one of my slippers and scads of other stuff. Who knew he's have a taste for wood? Needless to say, when I found the remains of a little wooden head on the carpet I knew it was not going to be good. This is what I found in the yard shortly there after:

Now if all I had to do was studies of the right leg, I'd be all set. Needless to say that's 50 cents down the tubes. On the bright side, all the other treasures I've picked up over the summer more than makes up for this loss. I may have bought enough CDs this summer to almost fill the 400 disk changer I bought last summer which is a comfort. Now if only I could find the other leg.

Time To Break Out The Good Stuff

These coasters have been kicking around our house for a few holiday seasons now but I think it's time to break them open and share them with our loved ones.

Hairy Holidays!

Get that kid a razor

My aunt Betty sent me a bunch of old photos with this years Christmas card and they've been stirring up some ghosts. I can't place where and when exactly this was taken but from the paneling in the background and the Matts beer in my hand, I'm guessing Holland Patent in the early to mid 1980s.

The real reason this picture is significant here is because I'm wearing A Downtown Magazine t-shirt which was the payment for the first cartoon I had published in same. In all that paper published me a half dozen times but as I recall I only ended up with 2 shirts, not that it mattered. Just seeing myself in print was enough of an ego boost for my EG@O.

Shop Til You Drop,or Pass Out.

I Have Been Warned

Yesterday was the Techlab Christmas party and although I don't officially work there any more I was invited and did attend.  It was a good time and I got to see some nice  folks whom I haven't seen in quite a while.  There was food and beer and games and presents.  The only down side was that it was at the bosses house which is about an hour and a half from where I live now, but the party itself was worth it.

Because of the distance traveled I wanted to get there early and leave not too late. I was there before 8:00 and said my goodbyes a little after eleven, having had my fill of food and sweets and a couple beers. On the way home I was better than an hour into the return trip on the expressway when I saw blue and red flashing lights in the rear view mirror. I pulled over hoping the cop would pass me by but he stopped right behind me. Shit. When he walked up to my window the first thing he told me was this wasn't a ticket stop, just a warning. He told me I was doing 71 in an area that is mostly 65 mph but in this section it was actually down to 55. He said that because of the up coming holidays and the recent fatalities (6 in the last 2 weeks) they were stepping up the road patrols and just wanted to be safe.

He took my licence and went back to his car for a couple minutes to fill out the warning and that's when I remembered that I'd been one of the few people at the party with a bottle opener. The front pouch of my hoodie had more than a dozen bottle caps in it.  If for some reason he asked me to get out of the car I sure he would have heard the tell-tale jingling and that could have been the start of a very long night. Fortunately for me he returned with my licence and my warning and sent me on my way.

The whole experience was almost pleasant.  He was very nice and seemed to just be doing his job the best he could to keep our roadways safe. I wasn't worried about drinking and driving because I'd paced myself at the party and I think I'm smart enough not to take any unnecessary risks.  If this is the worst thing that happens to me until the end of the year, that's all right with me, and you can believe that I will heed this warning because you can't be lucky forever.

Me with Patty and Grampa

This was sent to me yesterday and it goes out to all the survivors in CT. What's wrong with people?

Back to the Brew

There was something familiar about one of the photos Shawn took at our December 1st beer tasting but I couldn't put my finger on it until a moment ago.  Here's the picture:

and here's what it reminded me of;

Maye it's the subdued lighting, in our case provided by Shawn's killer fire pit and patio heater, or the way Chris F. is studying the tasting sheet to see what's on tap (so to speak).  I'm guessing that Paul McCartney would not have minded if I was handing out beers at the album cover shoot for his LP, Back to the Egg, but his loss is our gain.

The evening was a complete success, drawing 50% more people than the last one.  Twelve people in all showed up for drinks and dinner and more drinks and by all reports everyone had a splendid time.  The weather was running warm (50ish degrees) all morning but overcast.  The skies did finally did clear up in mid afternoon, just in time for the tasting which started at 4:00. There was some concern that if the weather took a turn for the worse, moving the party inside would have been a tight squeeze but mother nature must love beer drinkers.

Shawn has a  second story deck that runs the length of his house so this setting was ideal for our event. The night did get progressively cooler as time went by but planning ahead, Shawn bought one patio heater and borrowed a second.  The main centerpiece was the propane fueled fire pit that accommodated most participants and served as wonderful table to hold snacks, water and of course, beer.

My plan was to maybe serve fewer beers that the dozen and a half that made their way to out table for the first beer tasting, but good judgment prevailed and we ended up with over 2 dozen different beers, many on the dark side ('tis the season) and more that a few with considerable ABVs.  Here's the batting order:

			Tasting List 2012
	Brewery	Name	Style	IBUs	ABV		Location
1	Leinenkugel	Lemon Berry Shandy	Shandy	13.18	4.20%		Chippewa Falls, WI
2	Leinenkugel	Honey Weiss	Wheat Beer	13.5	4.92%		Chippewa Falls, WI
3	Leinenkugel	Creamy Dark	American Dark Lager	13-20	4.94%		Chippewa Falls, WI
4	Unibroue	Terrible	Dark Ale	13-20	10.00%		Québec, CANADA
5	Baying Hound Aleworks	Rockville	Kolsch	20-30	5.50%		Rockville MD
6	Saranac	Irish Red	Red Ale	N/A	4.50%		Uitca, NY
7	Harpoon	UFO White	American White Ale	N/A	4.80%		Windsor, Vermont.
8	Harpoon	Winter Warmer	American Spiced Ale	N/A	5.50%		Windsor, Vermont.
9	Star Hill Brewery	Amber Ale	Amber Ale	N/A	4.80%		Charrlottsvill VA
10	Shawn	Winter Warmer	Winter Warmer	N/A	7.50%		Severna Park, MD
11	Leinenkugel	Snow Drift	Vanilla Porter	20-60	6%		Chippewa Falls, WI
12	Star Hill Brewery	The Gift	Bock Lager	25-30	6.50%		Charrlottsvill VA
13	Rogues	Voodoo Maple Bacon	Amoked Ale	30	5.60%		Newport, OR
14	Dogfish Head	Bitches Brew	Imperial Stout	38	9.00%		Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
15	Harpoon	Harpoon Dark	Dunkel	N/A	5.20%		Windsor, Vermont.
16	Stift	Schlagl	Dopple Bock	N/A	8.30%		Muhlviertel, Austria
17	Elysian Brewery	Avatar Jasmine	IPA	40	6.30%		Seattle, Washington
18	Star Hill Brewery	Cryptijca	Imperial Stout	50-80	7.00%		Charrlottsvill VA
19	The Pike	Pikes Stout	Extra Stout	65	7%		Seattle, WA
20	Clown Shoes	Chocolate Sombrero	Chocolate Stout	N/A	9.00%		Ipswich, MA
21	Laughing Dog	Anubus	Imperial Coffee Stout	50-80	9.20%		Sandpoint, ID
22	Harpoon	Rich & Dan's Rye IPA	Rye IPA	N/A	6.90%		Windsor, Vermont.
23	Rogues	Yellow Snow IPA	IPA	70	6.50%		Newport, OR
24	Oscar Blues	Deviant Dale's	IPA	80	8.00%		Lyons, Colorado
25	Huyghe Brewery	Delirium Nocturnum	Strong Dark  Ale	N/A	8.50%		Melle, Belgium

 The biggest surprise of the night for me was the locally brewed Rockville. I see another bike trip in my future.  The biggest disappointment has to be the poor reception of Rogues Voodoo Maple Bacon smoked ale which was almost universally panned. This past weekend Chris F confided in me that he actually liked it but was afraid to say so at the tasting in fear that he would be burned as a heretic.

Two other breweries that deserve closer investigation are Clown Shoes (I believe that my neighbor Paul observed: " I could take a shower in this shit"), and The Pike Brewery which Shawn has actually been to and who's extra stout was also a big favorite.

Barring any unforeseen uprising from the local women folk, this is an event that will be repeated over and over until all beer has been tasted by everybody.  We're just going to try to arrange it so everyone is involved in bringing their own favorite to share along with a dish to pass.  That will take some of the cash strain off of us and hopefully enable us to do it more often.

Why Indeed?

This was recently on my page a day calendar from the Onion. It goes out to all who remember the stately pleasure dome.

In an effort to get my total posts up to 200 by the end of the year I may be posting more stuff like this instead of my usual crap.

The Kiss of Death

Absolutly NO Recording

Strangely enough they only banned flash photography at the Robert Cray Band Show last night in Baltimore.  I guess they figure with all the camera phones out there people were going to be taking pictures anyway.  You may as well make it so the flashes from all those cameras don't interfere with the artist or distract the crowd.  My little Casio preformed well enough.

This was the second time I've seen the Robert Cray Band in as many years although I'm not a huge fan of his.  What I am a fan of is free tickets and both times I've seen him has been on somebody elses dime. His show was very tight with his very capable backing band rocking it out. Robert seemed to change guitars for just about every song.  A stickler for being in tune no doubt.  This is not your father's dirty blues.  This is well executed with slick production values creating a very pleasant if not homogenized sound. Nice to listen to but a steady diet of this could become quite boring.

That said, it was a very good, if brief show.  The time on the tickets was wrong so we all but missed Shemika Copland who I was looking forward to seeing more than the RCB. That was a bit disappointing but the company was good, (I went with Sue and Chris F.)and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves even if the crowds at the neighboring clubs as we were leaving left us all feeling a little old.

Treasure crap

Playing the Game