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Beer of the World

On my first day out garage saleing this year I picked up a book on making beer. I already have a few books like this but it was full of recipes and I can always use more of those, especially for a buck. It wasn't until I got it home and really looked at it that I realized that: A.) it was a little out dated (it was first published in 1979 and the edition I got was from 1984), and 2.) it was printed in the British Empire (where the sun never sweats).

The first tip off of it's national origin was when I noticed on the back cover that the original price was just under 5 British pounds (sorry, I don't know how to make the little pound symbol). Also most of the recipes are fore English beers which is not a bad thing, because I am a fan. There is a section in the book called "Beers of the World" which features recipes for clones of three American beers, Budweiser, Colt 45 and Schlitz. I've never had a hankering to produce any of these three brews, but if anyone is interested in the recipes, I can hook you up.

There is a lot of good information to make the book useful but they use that quaint metric system of measure so I'll have to apply some of my non-existent math skills to do the conversion. I've just consumed a bottle of my last home brew, which came out okay, but lacks the lively carbonation I was hoping for. Perhaps for my new brew, I'll choose one of the excellent beers from across the pond.

Happy Earth Day

Don't you think every day should be earth Day?

All Set

I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours

More good news this week. On top of getting a 9 out of 10 on my photographic self portrait project, I had two of my photos accepted into the AACC Student Art Show coming up later this month. This is the second time I've submitted and the seconded time I've gotten in so I'm very encouraged although I think the Judges my have a bias towards old white men. I'm good with that because sometimes that's the only thing I've got going for me.

The one photo is from my second assignment and I must admit, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's hard to tell, but this is a color print and my teacher said it has a "sense of adventure".

It was taken in a train tunnel with some friends as we headed for an old abandoned tuberculosis hospital to do some urban exploring. I got quite a few good pictures that day but this was maybe the best.

The second photograph is a photo collage I did in class while I was killing some time. Most of the photos were taken while I was at work so I called this Quiet Waters Kaleidoscope.

Both are for sale since they are looking to buy some work for the permanent student collection. If I'm lucky I may get a little cash to help pay for a new laptop computer since mine is on its' last legs. Say a little prayer.

Can You See The Real Me?

Our last assignment for my photo class was to do two self portraits, one of the inner me and one of the outer me. Not being a complex person, it took me some time to come up with anything that would express the two sides of a one sided coin. After some thought and a little planning, I chose to represent the inner me with my biggest fear:

For my outer self I used my love of music to represent my happy place:

I think I did okay when they were critiqued by the class. The only negative thing the teacher had to say was that they were both "not subtle". Since there was nothing in the project instructions about being sublime, I think I did pretty good. When I showed Kathy the photos and told her what the teacher said, she said "you're NOT subtle", which made me feel even better.

The First of April

Maybe wearing a hoodie sweatshirt the same color of the asphalt we were riding on was not the smartest thing to do, but while following my friend Chris, we were able to log 25 miles on our bikes yesterday, without being mowed down by distracted drivers in the DC traffic.

Chris's new ride

Our goal was, as it always seems to be, a bike ride to visit some of the new micro-breweries that have been springing up in the metro DC area in the last few years. This was also one of the first rides of any distance that Chris did on his new bike. That's not to say that these were the only miles Chris has ridden since the first of the year. He's probably ridden more miles between January and now than I will ride for the rest of the year.

Our first stop was a couple miles from Chris's house. A very nice liquor store-deli called Quench. Good news was they make a really good sandwich. Bad news is they don't allow drinking on the premises. They are in the middle of a remodel that will expand the store to include a bar/cafe which I believe will make it a regular stop for us in the future.

The next stop, after about 12 miles of pedaling was Three Stars Brewery.  They feature a home brewing supply store as well as a tasting room. You can also get 64 ounce growlers filled along with t-shirts and hats featuring the brands logo. Of the 4 beers they had on tap for sampling, I liked the Southern Belle, which is their pecan brown ale. Chris prefered their IPA, but to no ones surprise, we liked them all.

Around the corner from Three Stars is Chocolate City Brewery which was featuring three beers on tap including their flagship copper ale and their dark cerveza  Everything was good but we both prefered the more complex beers of Three Stars. That being said, they were very friendly and knowledgeable and seemed to draw a good crowd.

Our last stop on the bike ride portion of our odyssey was a visit to Chris's wife's place of business, Providence Hospital, which translates to "hospital on the hill". We met Sue there because she needed help rearranging her office. With the promise of dinner and a car ride back to their house, that's what we did. Her office is in a former patient's room so it featured it's own bathroom which includes a sit down shower. Nice. It's her temporary office for the next year and I think the workspace is better used in the new arrangement.

For dinner we chose Shaw's Tavern in DC which we chose because it stocked both Three Stars and Chocolate City beers. Dinner was good and the beer flowed once again. Between the free samples at the breweries and Sue picking up the dinner check, Chris and I did not pay for a single drink all day. That, to me. is an almost perfect day.

Fire Storm

Last night MJ and I went to the Rams Head On stage in Annapolis to see Paul and Storm. We'd seen this duo last year open up for Johnathan Coulton and they were just as funny and engaging as headliners. In fact, they were there own opening act. At one point in the evening, they preformed a series of very short songs and I was to catch one with my camera.

This song was entitled James Taylor is on Fire,and rightly so. They also preformed a mini rock opera about the old video game Frogger. They would be great for anyone who enjoys They Might Be Giants, Weird Al Yankovic or any one else who likes a sense of humor with their music.