Your soul! Haha, no I'm teasing. It's too black for me. I stole my donation tag line from my friend Jay Brooks, at least part of it. He does the Brookston Beer Bulletin, and is the loudest voice in the craft beer blogging scene, as far as I'm concerned. He used to have this line, "If you like this post, please consider buying me a beer." I just always thought it was a very polite thing to say, so I stole that shit.
Sorry Jay.
Not really, though.
Ok, a little.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Fowl
Long-time coming, but I'm getting around to posting an update on my chickens. You can all exhale now.
A couple of months ago I got two chicks from the local feed store on a whim, and they have survived pretty well. My buddy Justin and my buddy Dave came over to help me build the coop that they will be in until the racoons get them or I run out of money.
After browsing on BackyardChickens.com, I decided to build a variant on the Dutch Hen House. It seemed the most simple without looking like a rundown shed, and, since I only had two chickens, I didn't need something larger.
Justin did the basic design and the three of us went to Home Depot for materials. All in all it cost about $190, and I had some wood leftover. Not too bad. I have zero pictures of the building process - I was too busy trying to remember how to swing a hammer. But despite Dave's squiggly cutting, I think we made a pretty rad chicken coop. Thanks to those guys!
So, when you have chicks, you keep them protected and under a lamp for 5 weeks, then they go in the coop. All this time I was really concerned about the noise level - I didn't need the neighbors throwing stones at my birds, much like I do to their dogs when they don't shut up. I have to say, these things are much quieter than I thought they would be. No noise, save for some low clucking when I get in there to clean the poop or refill the food. I'm digging on them, so far.
If you are looking at getting some chickens, check out Backyardchickens.com - they are a great resource and a nice community.
A couple of months ago I got two chicks from the local feed store on a whim, and they have survived pretty well. My buddy Justin and my buddy Dave came over to help me build the coop that they will be in until the racoons get them or I run out of money.
After browsing on BackyardChickens.com, I decided to build a variant on the Dutch Hen House. It seemed the most simple without looking like a rundown shed, and, since I only had two chickens, I didn't need something larger.
Justin did the basic design and the three of us went to Home Depot for materials. All in all it cost about $190, and I had some wood leftover. Not too bad. I have zero pictures of the building process - I was too busy trying to remember how to swing a hammer. But despite Dave's squiggly cutting, I think we made a pretty rad chicken coop. Thanks to those guys!
So, when you have chicks, you keep them protected and under a lamp for 5 weeks, then they go in the coop. All this time I was really concerned about the noise level - I didn't need the neighbors throwing stones at my birds, much like I do to their dogs when they don't shut up. I have to say, these things are much quieter than I thought they would be. No noise, save for some low clucking when I get in there to clean the poop or refill the food. I'm digging on them, so far.
If you are looking at getting some chickens, check out Backyardchickens.com - they are a great resource and a nice community.
Here it is, my chicken coop!
And from the side.
Note the flag, lest you forget where you are ...
The side door opens, like so. The string
is to pull the inside door up, allowing the girls
to get out of the coop and into the run.
A better view, with the perch there and the laying boxes
to the left, where, eventually, they will lay eggs.
Butterworth and Lucretia at around 12 weeks.
I let space under the coop for them to hang out in, and
it's their favorite place to be.
Awkward teen years.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Club of the Year
If you want to piss off a homebrewer, win an award that they can't, and do it with grace and humility in front of 1500 of their peers.
The Brewing Network won the Club of the Year award at the National Homebrewers Conference last week, and the virtual beer universe has been on fire with the questions. People questioning if we are really a club, if we are really allowed to win the thing, and how unfair it is that we all don't meet regularly under the name "Club Meeting". Hopefully I can answer some of these questions, as they are all (acutally) pretty decent. Maybe.
The BN is getting heat from folks for registering as a homebrew club. Just to be clear, we did NOT register ourselves as a club. I'm not sure who did it, but it was not anyone on "staff". I know you really want to think that this was some creative social media thing to promote our shows and all of that, but we aren't that clever. We just go the standard route of providing rad information in an entertaining (to some) way. Then, word of mouth. But really it all came about from one person entering our name as their club. To me, this points at how many homebrewers simply do not have enough people in their area to create a club. Or maybe the club nearest them is full of douches. Has anyone ever thought of that? Think back to your club meetings - remember that guy who could never really fit in, and that everyone ran away from when he came to meetings with his beer. THAT person is welcomed in our club. And THAT is the person that we want.
This whole thing is becoming about The Brewing Network, and it shouldn't be. We never asked to be a club, nor did we think that we would ever even be in the running for Club of the Year. The fact is there are enough people out there that feel tied to one another through our shows and our forum to want to put our name on their beers. These people ARE a club. We meet every year at NHC, and every Sunday in the chat room, and many folks meet on their own to taste eachothers beers. So we can't meet every month - what about that guy in your club who can never make it to a meeting? Is he still in your club? I bet he is if his dues check clears. We have no officers, no cute club name - but are those requirements to enter homebrews in the NHC?
What really burns me is that some of these questions have been brought up by a friend of the show. Someone in the club that came in second place. Interesting.
We are a club for the people who have no club. The "Island of Misfit Toys" but for beer. A listener who had no club registered TBN, and it grew from there.
It's not about us. It's about them.
This post reflects my thoughts on the subject, and is not the opinion of The Brewing Network, its advertisers, or anything like that. So don't take this post and run it up your forums like it's a statement from the BN. It's just me.
The Brewing Network won the Club of the Year award at the National Homebrewers Conference last week, and the virtual beer universe has been on fire with the questions. People questioning if we are really a club, if we are really allowed to win the thing, and how unfair it is that we all don't meet regularly under the name "Club Meeting". Hopefully I can answer some of these questions, as they are all (acutally) pretty decent. Maybe.
The BN is getting heat from folks for registering as a homebrew club. Just to be clear, we did NOT register ourselves as a club. I'm not sure who did it, but it was not anyone on "staff". I know you really want to think that this was some creative social media thing to promote our shows and all of that, but we aren't that clever. We just go the standard route of providing rad information in an entertaining (to some) way. Then, word of mouth. But really it all came about from one person entering our name as their club. To me, this points at how many homebrewers simply do not have enough people in their area to create a club. Or maybe the club nearest them is full of douches. Has anyone ever thought of that? Think back to your club meetings - remember that guy who could never really fit in, and that everyone ran away from when he came to meetings with his beer. THAT person is welcomed in our club. And THAT is the person that we want.
This whole thing is becoming about The Brewing Network, and it shouldn't be. We never asked to be a club, nor did we think that we would ever even be in the running for Club of the Year. The fact is there are enough people out there that feel tied to one another through our shows and our forum to want to put our name on their beers. These people ARE a club. We meet every year at NHC, and every Sunday in the chat room, and many folks meet on their own to taste eachothers beers. So we can't meet every month - what about that guy in your club who can never make it to a meeting? Is he still in your club? I bet he is if his dues check clears. We have no officers, no cute club name - but are those requirements to enter homebrews in the NHC?
What really burns me is that some of these questions have been brought up by a friend of the show. Someone in the club that came in second place. Interesting.
We are a club for the people who have no club. The "Island of Misfit Toys" but for beer. A listener who had no club registered TBN, and it grew from there.
It's not about us. It's about them.
This post reflects my thoughts on the subject, and is not the opinion of The Brewing Network, its advertisers, or anything like that. So don't take this post and run it up your forums like it's a statement from the BN. It's just me.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
I got Chicks, man!
For some reason I decided - very recently, I might add - to get a couple of chickens for my backyard. Nothing really inspired this, and it's not something I have been waiting to do my whole life. One day I was online looking at the randomness that is the internet and came across an article about raising chickens in an urban setting. Three days later I'm at the local feed store (which is like a verbal time machine to say) picking out chicks with my girlfriend. Man how I've always wanted to say that, just in a very different context ...
My first concern was the noise level. I don't have a large backyard - in fact it's fairly standard in size, with my neighbors right on top of me. The last thing I want to do is build a chicken coop, raise these chicks, and have them make all kinds of noise and I'd have to get rid of them. After some research I decided that since I want them for eggs that I didn't need a rooster, and that pretty much solved my issues with noise. Hen's generally aren't SUPER noisy, but some breeds are more chatty than others, and most will only make a fuss when they lay an egg. Can't blame them for that.
The chicks we picked out are Columbian Wyandottes, which grow up to be very fancy looking birds and are supposed to have a mild temper. We'll see. Right now, I have them in my spare room under a heat lamp and kept at a constant 90 degrees. Each week for 5 weeks I am to take the temp down 5 degrees, and then they are fit to go outside.
I'm pretty stoked about doing this, and I intend to post more pics and jot some notes down along the way, especially when I design and build the coop. Here are some shots I took tonight. Excuse the odd lighting - the heat lamp we got is infra-red and it plays havoc with my camera lighting.
 |
| The larger of the two sisters |
 |
| Butts in the air, pecking at the nail patches in the hardwood. |
 |
| Trumpy, checking out her new pals. |
 |
| My set-up. Fairly simple. |
 |
| Trumpy, on the desk, eye-balling the chicks. |
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pathing for Craft Beer Around Disneyland
I go to Disneyland a lot. I like it there. A lot. Being a beer drinker and a craft beer fan, I like to find the best places for local beers that I can.
Many people ask me where to go for beer while they are in Disneyland, since I talk about going there often, so I figure I'd write them all down so I don't have to repeat myself. This is not a complete list by any means, but a compilation of my favorite places (and really the only ones I know of).
Tony's Darts Away
Eagle Rock Brewery
3056 Roswell Street
Los Angeles
Eagle Rock is about 40 min from Disneyland, so only go if you have a car (obviously), and plan on spending more than three days at the park, because three days goes by fast at Disneyland.
These guys have a small, unassuming place with no signage that I could see, but inside is a small tasting room with some of the cleanest beers on tap I have ever had. At night there are those trendy "gourmet" roach coaches out front for you to get a tasty meal. Worth the trip if you have the time.
Beachwood BBQ
Many people ask me where to go for beer while they are in Disneyland, since I talk about going there often, so I figure I'd write them all down so I don't have to repeat myself. This is not a complete list by any means, but a compilation of my favorite places (and really the only ones I know of).
Tony's Darts Away
1710 West Magnolia Boulevard
Burbank
If you are driving down I-5 and you pass through Burbank, stop here. Personally, I don't think it's worth driving up to it from Disneyland - its 50 min or so without traffic - but it's a great pit stop. Tony's has a nice theme - all California craft beer only. Sorry Oregon, you dicks! Colorado? Suck it!
The inside is very "dive-bar", with wood everywhere. When you get to the bar and read the menu, you have two choices of styles - IPA and Everything Else. As much as I hate IPA's, this makes me superlolz every time. Not much for food, but they have hot dogs and sweet potato fries. If you hate your dentist, get the candied version.
3056 Roswell Street
Los Angeles
Eagle Rock is about 40 min from Disneyland, so only go if you have a car (obviously), and plan on spending more than three days at the park, because three days goes by fast at Disneyland.
These guys have a small, unassuming place with no signage that I could see, but inside is a small tasting room with some of the cleanest beers on tap I have ever had. At night there are those trendy "gourmet" roach coaches out front for you to get a tasty meal. Worth the trip if you have the time.
Beachwood BBQ
131 1/2 Main Street
Seal Beach
Downtown Seal Beach is pretty weird. Blink and you'll miss it. Not just Beachwood, but the whole downtown area. If you do happen to find this place, you will have problems leaving. Not only do they have great food, but a really rad assortment of beer. While you are there, check out the gas system for their draft set-up on the wall. Seal Beach is about 30 min from Disneyland, so again, go if you have time. It's a good place, but not one to miss a bunch of Space Mountain time for. Oh, if you drive by Leisure World, wave to my Grandma! Do it ...
The Bruery Provisions
143 N. Glassell
Orange
While not the Bruery brewery, Provisions is a more formal tasting room for the Bruery's beers. You can sit down and enjoy a few flights of great beer, paired with cheese if you like. It is also a great little bottle shop where you can find some really great craft beers. It's a 15 min drive to Orange, well worth it no matter how long you are in town.
Hollingshead
368 S Main St
Orange
10 minutes from Disneyland is the greatest deli in the world. Nice big sandwiches served in a small location with a wall of craft beer - refrigerated no less - served by loud Germans. It's hard to get better than this when you are talking delis. And being that it's so close to DL, it's an easy stop. You can buy beers to go as well, which is rad for taking back to the hotel.
The Bruery
715 Dunn Way
Placentia
15 minutes from the park is one of my favorite places, The Bruery. You can take a cab here if you want, and I would recommend doing so, unless your other travel partners want to be DD. The tasting room opens at 4, and by tasting room I mean space next to the brewery. It's a really neat experience to sip beers while standing next to the barrels they were once in, gazing at the stainless steel that made it all possible. There are those trendy food trucks that come here too, so you can get some grub while you booze.
Uva Bar
Downtown Disney
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Uva is that little outdoor cafe in Downtown Disney. I know, it sounds like a god-awful place, but they do have good beer. My go-to beer is Hoffbrau Helles on tap. $8 is steep, but its real good. And it's close to the monorail to get back into the park. On busy days when I need a beer, I'll go to Space Mountain and grab a fast pass, then monorail to DD and hit Uva. Drink a bit, maybe some food, then monorail back to Space Mountain and try not to puke.
Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen
Downtown Disney
Good food here, but they also have a nice piano bar inside, where you can get Abita beers. Great beer, great food, good entertainment. Solid place to drink.
ESPN Zone
Downtown Disney
It's not the best place - the food is salty, it's loud, and a long walk, but it has two things going for it - decent beer at decent prices and a nice second floor arcade.
Bevmo
2000 North Tustin Street
OrangeIf you have a car and will be in town for a few days, go to Bevmo and get some beer. I don't need to tell you about Bevmo. Just go there.And that's my list on where to drink around Disneyland. If you go, maybe we'll meet for beer! On you.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Nightmares
Sometimes I amaze myself, but in the bad way. I'm sitting here on my TempurPedic bed (because I care about my comfort), trying to digest what just happened to me. The best way I know how is to share with strangers. Lucky you.
At 3am I woke up screaming, in response to a dream I was having, where I was on a dock, kneeling down either getting something or placing something. I turned to my left to engage someone who was standing there when a gun entered, touched my head, and fired.
Dreams are weird in that so much goes through your mind during them it is hard to get a sense of time when re-capping what went on. But at the time the gun fired, I remember thinking, "Yeah this seems right", like it was all part of a plan or some appropriate ending to my larger dream (of which I can't remember). Then I realized that I had been shot and that old wives tale came into my mind that if you die in your dream you die in real life. I remember trying to move somehow, to reassure myself that this was a dream, but I couldn't make my body respond. Rather,I was loosing control of it. I had a few other thought flash through, but I can't remember them now, all compressed into a split second. Lost to my diseased mind or something. Anyway, I woke up screaming, flailing my arms around. Cat goes one way, empty bottles the other.
Being terrified for your life for a split second is not something I recommend. I have enough death anxiety when I'm a wake that I really don't need to be afraid to die in my sleep. The whole experience was very earth shattering to me, and even as I sit here, a good 40 min after this shit, I'm nervous and jumpy. Any sound I hear is cause for alarm. Any thought I have is of that moment I woke up screaming, scared I was really dying. I am kind of glad my girlfriend wasn't here with me, because she would have gotten a fist to the face inadvertently. I say "kind of glad" because anything she got she would have deserved on some level.
And my poor cat, Wesley. He got all scared, ran to the door to escape my craziness, but instead ran into the door, closing it. Which was funny and sad at the same time, because he really needed to get out of that room but he just couldn't figure the door out. What a looser, eh?
At 3am I woke up screaming, in response to a dream I was having, where I was on a dock, kneeling down either getting something or placing something. I turned to my left to engage someone who was standing there when a gun entered, touched my head, and fired.
Dreams are weird in that so much goes through your mind during them it is hard to get a sense of time when re-capping what went on. But at the time the gun fired, I remember thinking, "Yeah this seems right", like it was all part of a plan or some appropriate ending to my larger dream (of which I can't remember). Then I realized that I had been shot and that old wives tale came into my mind that if you die in your dream you die in real life. I remember trying to move somehow, to reassure myself that this was a dream, but I couldn't make my body respond. Rather,I was loosing control of it. I had a few other thought flash through, but I can't remember them now, all compressed into a split second. Lost to my diseased mind or something. Anyway, I woke up screaming, flailing my arms around. Cat goes one way, empty bottles the other.
Being terrified for your life for a split second is not something I recommend. I have enough death anxiety when I'm a wake that I really don't need to be afraid to die in my sleep. The whole experience was very earth shattering to me, and even as I sit here, a good 40 min after this shit, I'm nervous and jumpy. Any sound I hear is cause for alarm. Any thought I have is of that moment I woke up screaming, scared I was really dying. I am kind of glad my girlfriend wasn't here with me, because she would have gotten a fist to the face inadvertently. I say "kind of glad" because anything she got she would have deserved on some level.
And my poor cat, Wesley. He got all scared, ran to the door to escape my craziness, but instead ran into the door, closing it. Which was funny and sad at the same time, because he really needed to get out of that room but he just couldn't figure the door out. What a looser, eh?
Friday, March 11, 2011
My Dumb Thoughts on Charlie Sheen
By now, some of you are tired off hearing about Charlie Sheen. I know, I was one of them. You post online about how it's truly sad that we are paying this much attention to a "drug addict" and not enough to this or that domestic issue. And perhaps on some level you are right to think these thoughts, but here's what you don't understand:
Charlie Sheen is an addict. Self-admitted, diagnosed addict. If it's not drugs, it's fame. If not fame, attention. If not that, money. Power - doesn't matter what, the man has a problem with control. What is painfully obvious is that the American public sees this, and still bashes him. Still calls him names, condemns him, judges him, when in fact we are all addicted to something. We just don't have an outlet to express our insane thoughts like Charlie does. If it wasn't a famous person self-destructing, you would all feel lots of compassion, wondering how to help. The love would pour in.
I have a few addictions, and I am ok enough with them to share them: I love craft beer. Video games get me every time. I'm an attention whore (which is why I'm on the radio for free, why I'm on Facebook, Twitter, soon-to-be-TV, and maybe a movie). Free internet porn is something I would die without. Do you say I'm a bad person when I say these things online? Nope, because I don't matter. We as people love to judge those with more than us, and we do it very well. So Charlie Sheen has some issues - who doesn't? If you don't like it, don't talk about it, don't listen. That is the best way to stay out of the line of fire.
What I really do enjoy about Sheen are his rants; they are raw and unchecked - something I wish I could do more often than I actually do. Sheen has "Fuck You Money", meaning he has the financial ability to say "Fuck YOU" to any job, any person he likes and he won't really suffer for it. This shit shield allows him to be whomever he wants to be right now. Who wouldn't want the means to tell their boss to go fuck themselves and not suffer for it? Tell them just how uncreative they really are? I think that takes big balls to do, no matter how booze swollen they are. This man is saying things that many in Hollywood would never say, never dream to do. Yet here is this ... insane creature, sitting in his house ripping new assholes for everyone to shit out of. Punk. Rock. They actually do make sense, if you listen carefully. Watch some of his videos, the guy knows how to throw an interesting sentence together.
My point is this: lay off the Sheen, kids. He's a man who has problems and has found a creative, albeit crazy-sounding way of working through them. Nobody is forcing you to pay attention or to judge. The man is funny, just enjoy his sense of humor and get over it. I have.
Charlie Sheen is an addict. Self-admitted, diagnosed addict. If it's not drugs, it's fame. If not fame, attention. If not that, money. Power - doesn't matter what, the man has a problem with control. What is painfully obvious is that the American public sees this, and still bashes him. Still calls him names, condemns him, judges him, when in fact we are all addicted to something. We just don't have an outlet to express our insane thoughts like Charlie does. If it wasn't a famous person self-destructing, you would all feel lots of compassion, wondering how to help. The love would pour in.
I have a few addictions, and I am ok enough with them to share them: I love craft beer. Video games get me every time. I'm an attention whore (which is why I'm on the radio for free, why I'm on Facebook, Twitter, soon-to-be-TV, and maybe a movie). Free internet porn is something I would die without. Do you say I'm a bad person when I say these things online? Nope, because I don't matter. We as people love to judge those with more than us, and we do it very well. So Charlie Sheen has some issues - who doesn't? If you don't like it, don't talk about it, don't listen. That is the best way to stay out of the line of fire.
What I really do enjoy about Sheen are his rants; they are raw and unchecked - something I wish I could do more often than I actually do. Sheen has "Fuck You Money", meaning he has the financial ability to say "Fuck YOU" to any job, any person he likes and he won't really suffer for it. This shit shield allows him to be whomever he wants to be right now. Who wouldn't want the means to tell their boss to go fuck themselves and not suffer for it? Tell them just how uncreative they really are? I think that takes big balls to do, no matter how booze swollen they are. This man is saying things that many in Hollywood would never say, never dream to do. Yet here is this ... insane creature, sitting in his house ripping new assholes for everyone to shit out of. Punk. Rock. They actually do make sense, if you listen carefully. Watch some of his videos, the guy knows how to throw an interesting sentence together.
My point is this: lay off the Sheen, kids. He's a man who has problems and has found a creative, albeit crazy-sounding way of working through them. Nobody is forcing you to pay attention or to judge. The man is funny, just enjoy his sense of humor and get over it. I have.
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