The Government Can

a little comic relief:

Boise Beer Fest 2009

One of the greatest things about blogging is the immediacy of publishing--as soon as an event happens (or even while it's still going on)--descriptions, reviews, photos, etc. can be put out there for the world to see. Which is why I'm just now talking about a two-day event that started 17 days ago.

I am so on top of things.^*

The weather couldn't have been better for this event at Ann Morrison Park--more than warm enough, but not the swelter that August can bring. The weather was a double-blessing in that there were HUGE numbers of people that attended, and the B.O. generated under the beer tents was bad enough already--if it'd been hotter, it probably couldn't turned off more than a few appetites. But it was the perfect setting for a really great local experience. (and yes, I assure you, my underage niece only drank Monster energy drinks, pretty sure she was holding one while I snapped that picture of us)

I've read some criticism of the pricing--token system vs. admission price. I had no problem with the tokens, after buying a $5 sample mug the tokens were $1/ea. which could be traded in for roughly 1/3 of a mug (or a can of Oly...shudder)--I bought the smallest package, and couldn't use them all up, and walked away very satisfied with my intake. We gave our extra tokens to my niece who could turn in 3 for a can of Monster. I should note that I didn't have to shell out anything for my mug as I won mine from a radio station (Thanks BOB!), but The Love of my Life and my sister did, and there were similarly pleased with the value.

I was only there for a few hours, and didn't move around a whole lot so I'm not claiming any sort of exhaustive knowledge, but in the time I was there, we only saw 2 people who'd over-indulged. And the Festival volunteers and Police were quick to assist them out of the area.

We could only come up with a few needed improvements: more chairs, more food vendors (I'm sorry, a 45 min. wait after you've paid for French Fries is inexcusable, no matter how big the plate or how nummy nummy they looked), and more space--I've been in mosh pits with more breathing room--both outside the beer tents and within them. A little wiggle room goes a long way.

Let's see, I think I've covered everything in my disorganized ramble...oh, whoops, I forgot the beer! Here's what I sampled (some more than once):

Mac & Jack's African Amber: I'd had this about 3 years ago when I was in Seattle for a weekend, loved it then. Really enjoyed it now--it was hoppier than I recalled, but still yummy. My sister showed up a few hours after we did and they'd run out by that time--apparently we weren't the only ones to enjoy it.
Budweiser American Ale: based on a recommendation of a friend, I'd been tempted to try this one for a while, but really couldn't bring myself to spend money on an Anheuser-Busch product, so this was the perfect chance for me. It wasn't horrible. Pretty fruity. Can't see myself buying another one, but I probably wouldn't turn down a free one.
Perseus Porter Gave this coffee-ish porter a solid B, and will not hesitate to try it again.
Sierra Nevada's Brown Saison: blech.
Arrogant Bastard Ale I wasn't sure what to try after that disappointment, and then TLomL spotted the banner for Stone Brewing. After reaffirming my love and devotion, I hastened to this line for a couple tokens worth of one of my favorites.
Full Sail Imperial Porter This was pretty good, and I've not had great success with Full Sail beers in the past (never picked the right one), but I'll keep an eye out for this one.
Fire Rock Pale Ale From Kona Brewing Co., maker of the only other beer I've talked about on the blog. This was a pleasant surprise, and definately helped me get over my disappointment in their Porter not being available. I think both my sister and wife went back for seconds and maybe thirds (I would've too if I'd had the time).
Georgetown Brewing Company's 9lb. PorterMy notes on this one read simply, "niiiiice". Truly a shame I didn't have time to try other beers by Georgetown, they looked/sounded great. Even a greater shame that they don't bottle their beers yet so I could buy 'em here.

While I was waiting in line for the 9lb., a gentleman in his late 50's/early 60's standing next to me asked if I'd heard of a couple of the other beers from Georgetown and we chatted a bit about how nice the Fest was and how we were both surprised at how many people were there to which he added, "Yup, this makes me think there's hope for Boise yet."

Now, I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to next year's.



^* I really have no idea why it's taken me this long, I sat down to write this 6-7 times before the 10th.

Spider Woman the Motion Comic?

As dead-tree publishing (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) tries to figure out where they fit into our increasingly digitized media world, it's really no surprise that the comic book industry would experiment as well.

Both the "Big 2" and Indy comic companies have experimented with "Motion Comics"--not quite animated versions of print comics set to musical scores and with voice acting. The motion comes in from taking elements of the original panels and zooming, panning, moving of certain elements of panels, etc.

Up 'til now, motion comics have made from pre-existing comics--Image's Invincible or DC's Watchmen, for example. I enjoyed, but wasn't crazy about the former, and from the samples of the latter I glanced at, I figured I'd have a similar reaction.

This week, Marvel Comics released the first issue/episode of Spider Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. which promises (and may deliver) to be a game-changer. This series was designed to be a motion comic from the get-go. The drawings, script, etc. were intended for the medium, not revised for it (a print edition, which will have some new elements should be released next month).

And the improvement in quality is obvious.

I'm not the biggest fan of Jessica Drew/Spider Woman, nor of the artist, Alex Maleev. The writer, Brian Michael Bendis, is almost never fails tho, and I wanted to see how it worked. I'm glad I did--episode 1 worked so much better than anything others have tried, the voicework was spot-on, the art was compelling, the length (about 10 min.) was long enough to satisfy, but not so long as to bore (can't imagine this format working for longer pieces), and the script was...well, I said Bendis wrote it.

Will this be enough to broaden Marvel's audience? Will other motion comics follow the same scheme? Who knows, but it's worth a shot. And as long as iTunes has it for $.99 (for another week or so), you can't go wrong.

Poor Preparation

One of my daily reads is the blog, The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers. Not only do I get exposed to some things/people I need to be reading, a lot of great advice for the writing I purport to do, and some great commentary on things that too few care about, 5th amendment rights, for example.

Today, Michael Allen Dymmoch, had a great post on education. His punchline is:

It seems to me we’re preparing students to pass tests, but we’re not preparing them to learn or think. We’re not preparing them to live in our complex world.

Why do so few get this? Especially so few who are supposed to be doing the educating? Tolle Lege.

Brushes with Disappointment

Obviously, I've failed my 1 post a day 'til the end of Summer goal, for no good reason. Oh well.

I typically only blog about books/shows/movies that really impress me--or at least aren't complete wastes of time. But I've decided as a public service, to warn my readers away from a few items--all of which are critically acclaimed, I should add, so take my warnings with whatever measure of salt you find appropriate.

First off is Two Lovers, supposedly Joaquin Phoenix's last film. Not the way someone should go out. This was dismal story about a suicidal young man reeling from a broken engagement who falls for a wreck of an inaccessible girl (Gwyneth Paltrow) while being pushed into a relationship by his overbearing, but caring parents. Phoenix's character is a horrible, selfish man who deserves neither of the girls' affections/time. I spent most of the movie wondering if it was morally acceptable to root a suicidal character to succeed in one of his attempts since he's only a fictional character. The indy movie (inexplicably nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes) didn't have the indy ending I expected, but that small surprise was little compensation for this waste of time.

Visioneers is another much-heralded movie that I just don't get the raves for. Set in a distopian near-future where people explode from stress (mostly from not being the happy, productive people that they're supposed to be, I think) . The opening sequence (about 7 minutes is my guess) sets up what could be a great dark satire--what Idiocracy wanted to be, but at least it featured likeable characters. After that, the wheels fall off. This is a movie full of wasted potential--the only attribute of Zach Galifianakis' that was really used to his potential was his bushy beard. On the plus side, the criminally underemployed Judy Greer got some good screen time (where she didn't get to be terribly funny at all, of course)--ditto for James LeGros and Matthew Glave (who, I have to admit, was pretty amusing). I had to wonder if I'd "get" the flick, or at least enjoy it, if I'd been smoking marijuana at the time. But since I have never/would never do that (and I was on duty at a rehab center while watching it), the movie's appeal shall elude me.

Last, and possibly least, let's look at Benjamin Anastas's debut novel, An Underachiever’s Diary (newly republished). The recommendation I read for this called said it "may have been the funniest, most underappreciated book of the 1990s". Really? I remember the 90's having better taste. This is the very colored reminiscences of the lesser of two twins. William is constantly outshone by his brother Clive (despite testing as well as, if not better than) from the cradle onward. Clive's more successful in school, socially, athletically, etc. He's better looking, healthier...better in ever conceivable fashion. William sees this from an early age and determines to keep things that way--to basically excel at not being as good as his brother (or anyone else for that matter). And in that, and in that only, does he find success. There are sentences/paragraphs scattered throughout the novel that almost make it worth the effort, like:

universal LOVE, the failing panacea of my parents' generation: flower children, baby boomers, whatever name you'd like to use. Exactly what had the sexual revolution gained them, after all? Some measure of bodily happiness, a sex instinct unfettered, the herpes virus, the social acceptability of T-shirts and cutoff shorts, but what else? Had they really changed our values and attitudes?

Aside from those momentary displays of authorial talent, there's no profit from spending time with this determinedly miserable character.

Ukraine's Got Talent, Indeed

This just knocked my socks off...

(h/t: Kung Fu Monkey taking a break from a great Leverage season)

Life Moves Pretty Fast - Fixed

sigh...forgot to embed the montage I talked about...oops.

Life moves pretty fast.
You don't stop and look around once in a while,
you could miss it.
- Ferris Bueller

Hardly an original quote to tag a post about the late, great John Hughes, but why be the only guy to ignore perfection?

I've been wanting to say something about the filmmaker who (tho I didn't realize it at the time) captured, crystalized, and yes, defined the experience of the young American in the 1980's. His stamp on American pop culture generally and particularly on so many of the novelists, filmmakers/writers and actors that I admire, will probably only be understood in 20-30 years.

Maybe the greatest thing about Hughes was that he got out of doing what he needed to for all the right reasons. Something far too few have had the courage to do.

This montage is well worth watching--especially if you read this and have no idea who John Hughes is...you'll keep saying "ooooh, that guy" and you'll suddenly care about his death last week.

And if you've ever doubted the effect one filmmaker, one writer can have on an individual not in the entertainment industry, or if you just want to read a fantastic tribute to the man...you've gotta read Alison Byrne Fields' story of her friend.

This is the Kind of Thing Parents Live For

their families must be so proud:

Two Caldwell fugitives were arrested in the county courthouse Tuesday afternoon when they attempted to attend an unrelated court hearing, Caldwell police announced Wednesday.

Maxamillion Chavez Zavala, 19, and Rocky Chavez Hernandez, 21, eluded an early June gang sweep that yielded 15 arrests. They are now in the Canyon County jail on federal charges of conspiracy to recruit gang members, conspiracy to intimidate a witness and conspiracy to unlawfully discharge a firearm

Y'know, you hear these things on Morning Drive Time Radio all the time and chuckle. But when it's in your backyard, you just want to call the School Boards and demand some resignations.

(well, okay, yeah, after you get done laughing)

The Idaho Stop

This is great...for years, I've felt bad for poor California, demonized in the name of the dreaded CRS (California Rolling Stop) as explained in Driver's Ed classes around the country. And this morning, I learn that we in Idaho (state mottoes: "Remember Us?" "No, not Iowa") we have been similarly immortalized in the biking world with "The Idaho Stop."

(h/t: TreasuredValley)

Shocked, Shocked to Hear this About Oregon's Assisted Suicide/Health Care

I'm also still having problems believing that there's gambling at Rick's...

Basically, Oregon's Health Care system won't pay for this lady's chemo, but they'll chip in to help in other ways, like say, Assisted Suicide.

Thought for the Lord's Day - #43

(h/t: Christian Theology)

Excuses for Missing Work

I gotta admit, I thought it was pretty strange to get a newsletter from Monster.com featuring an article called, "Ten Excuses for Missing Work." Odd sort of thing for a employment service to be talking about, I thought, but hey--if it passed muster here, there's probably some gold to mine.

The article starts off sounding like an attempt to echo Ferris Bueller for the mature-set.

We've all been there. It's a beautiful day, and you can't bear the thought of going into work. So you call in with some excuse about feeling ill, but you know in your bones that your boss doesn't buy it.

The feeling ill excuse is a short-term solution that won't win you any fans at the office -- someone else will have to pick up the slack, or you'll miss deadlines. And it won't help your career any. Here are 10 excuses -- five smart and five not-so-smart -- to help you save face and your sanity.

All-righty! Here's something useful, how to take a random day off, with little-to-no fall out from the boss!! Now, go on and read the thing and then come back to finish this (otherwise, it'll just make no sense)

Sadly, the payoff in the article doesn't match up with the promise. The five not-so-smart excuses are just lame, and yeah, I can people trying them (or things similar), prima facie they're beyond not-so-smart. "I can't find my polling place?" Even if that wasn't the equivalent of asking Bill Engvall for his trademark sign, that'd only work 1 or 2 days a year (and rarely, if ever, on a "beautiful day").

But I can't see where most of the "Smart Excuses" fulfill the promise of cashing in on a beautiful day. Maybe, maybe if you're in sales/client relations (and can find an accomplice in your client's office at the last second), you can get away with the "Golf with a Client" thing on the spur of the moment. Three of the other "Smart Excuses" aren't really excuses at all--they're the result of pre-planning, and involve work and/or something potentially as unpleasant. How does this deliver on the promise of the lead-in?

Which leaves us with one option for a Smart Excuse, "I Have Cramps"--which only works for women (and probably only so often--especially if there's an equally devious female supervisor involved).

So essentially, the lesson that Monster.com teaches us to "save face and our sanity" is do the job you're hired to do and schedule permitted time off. Yeah, okay, that makes sense for them to promote :)

Living with the Top of Our Son's Head

This is pretty much all we've seen over the last week of Frodo. It's mostly encouraging, but a little strange at the same time.

Frodo, like his siblings, reads more than your average kid--he really has no choice in this household, like I've intended it all along (TLomL has intended it, too...probably not as intensely as me).^* I should add that it's not all by coercion, he actually enjoys reading. Granted, he's not at the level I was at his age, but that's probably a good thing. He might actually have a social life in a couple of years.

Things changed a week ago, though. After repeated suggestions from his parents over the last few months, he pulled down Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from the shelf and dove in. I'm not going to be one of the roughly 97 bazillion people to use the line about Rowling casting a spell on him, but...she basically did that. He's been plowing through them at a rate he's never hit before--seven days after he started Sorcerer's Stone, he started in on Half-Blood Prince. Samwise has been following his lead, but not at the same rate.

What's more, he's devoted hours to this project--he's ignored opportunities to play outside, to play video games (not every opportunity, mind you), to do basically everything he normally does so that he can sit with a Potter novel open in front of him.

I do realize that parents all over the world have experience this phenomenon. It's just great to see this in action. Never would've figured the top of his head would be such a great thing to look at (cowlick and all).


^* Can I legally call that a sentence? Someone grab a Defibrillator for my inner-editor...

Thought for the Lord's Day - #42

God delights in our temptations, and yet hates them; he delights in them when they drive us to prayer; he hates them when they drive us to despair. The Psalm says: "An humble and contrite heart is an acceptable sacrifice to God," etc. Therefore, when it goes well with you, sing and praise God with a hymn: goes it evil, that is, does temptation come, then pray: "For the Lord has pleasure in those that fear him;" and that which follows is better: "and in them that hope in his goodness," for God helps the lowly and humble, seeing he says: "Thinkest thou my hand is shortened that I cannot help?" He that feels himself weak in faith, let him always have a desire to be strong therein, for that is a nourishment which God relishes in us.

- Martin Luther

Couple of Unrelated News Items

The triple-digit/near-triple-digit weather we're enjoying experiencing seems to have tapped my ability to compose anything original, so yet again, I'll only be re-blogging (the forerunner of re-tweeting) what others have done.

The first story that prompted me to open a tab for blogger.com was one about The Church of England. Now frankly, I don't know anymore why I'm even vaguely surprised at anything the CofE does any more, but it happens sometimes.

The Church of England unveils a two-in-one wedding and baptism liturgy today as it seeks to make peace with families "living in sin."

The "hatch-and-match" service allows couples to baptise their children after the wedding ceremony. Parents can even get baptised themselves.

The aim is to encourage cohabiting parents to marry as the Church tries to become more relevant...

At the end of the day, I should just be encouraged that they're promoting marriage, but come on...

(via Christian Theology).

The second is a little more light-hearted, but still in the "what fools these mortals be" vein, according to the Omaha World-Herald:

A national vegan advocacy organization Wednesday filed a class-action lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court against five hot dog manufacturers, including ConAgra Foods Inc., asking that they be ordered to attach warning labels to their packaging.

The Cancer Project [one blogger described them as: "a non-profit dedicated to cancer prevention, nutrition education, research, and buzzkills"], based in Washington, D.C., said in the lawsuit that a study by the American Institute for Cancer Research showed that the daily consumption of hot dogs and other processed meats can increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer by as much as 21 percent.

Other manufacturers named in the suit, filed on behalf of three New Jersey residents, are Nathan’s Famous, Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee and Marathon Enterprises.

The Cancer Project wants packages of hot dogs to carry the following words: "Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer."

The Omaha paper contacted local company, ConAgra, about the suit. The company directed them to the president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, there is such a thing), Janet Riley, "who calls herself the 'Queen of Wien.'" Anyone calling herself something like that should automatically win any and all arguments with tight-shoed Health Nazi groups. The World-Herald continues:

"Just as tobacco causes lung cancer, processed meats are linked to colon cancer," Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Cancer Project, said in a press release. Riley said comparing hot dogs to cigarettes was "absurd."

"Other than pleasure, (cigarettes) offer no benefit to your health," she said. "I am the mother of two kids, and if I had any safety concerns, I would not be feeding (hot dogs) to my children."

Frankly, doesn't matter if they put those warning labels on the hot dogs (unless the government takes over health care, in which case they'll likely be banned), Denis Leary's rant about warnings on cigarette packs comes to mind:

There's a guy- I don't know if you've heard about this guy, he's been on the news a lot lately. There's a guy- he's English, I don't think we should hold that against him, but apparently this is just his life's dream because he is going from country to country. He has a senate hearing in this country coming up in a couple of weeks. And this is what he wants to do. He wants to make the warnings on the packs bigger. Yeah! He wants the whole front of the pack to be the warning. Like the problem is we just haven't noticed yet. Right? Like he's going to get his way and all of the sudden smokers around the world are going to be going, "Yeah, Bill, I've got some cigarettes.. H--- S---! These things are bad for you! S---, I thought they were good for you! I thought they had Vitamin C in them and stuff!" You f------ dolt! Doesn't matter how big the warnings are. You could have cigarettes that were called the warnings. You could have cigarrets that come in a black pack, with a skull and a cross bone on the front, called 'Tumors' and smokers would be lined up around the block going, "I can't wait to get my hands on these f------ things! I bet you get a tumor as soon as you light up! Numm Numm Numm Numm Numm

(h/t: The Hardball Times).

Apollo 11 Anniversary

update: this post has been linked by the super-dooper area blog, Treasured Valley! Running with the big dogs now... Thanks, Mr. Oates!

I really feel like I should/should have posted something about the 40 year anniversary of Apollo 11's moon-landing, but frankly, I can't think of anything to say that hasn't been said better by others.

So instead, I'll throw up a link to Wired's 10 Reasons Why The Apollo 11 Moon Landing Was Awesome, which is a little tongue-in-cheek, a little serious, and all worth the short amount of time to read.

It starts with:

We made the Russians look like chumps

We won the Space Race by putting a man on the moon. Sure, the Russians were there first having bounced their Luna 2 spacecraft off the moon 10 years earlier, but we left our footprints there. The Cold War may have lasted another 15 years or so after that, but it gave us the confidence to make movies like "Red Dawn." It also showed the world what could be achieved by democracy over communism.

Pretty much official now

• Prince reportedly needs hip replacement surgery
• Michael Jackson is dead
• One of the Beastie Boys has cancer.

Wow.

For those of you (us) unwilling to admit it, the 80's are over.

I feel so old.

Thought for the Lord's Day - #41

No man can estimate the great charge God is at only in maintaining birds and such creatures, comparatively nothing worth. I am persuaded that it costs him, yearly, more to maintain only the sparrows, than the revenue of the French king amounts to. What then, shall we say of all the rest of his creatures?

- Martin Luther

Classy Move by Scentsy

according to The Idaho Statesman (so it's likely true):

Scentsy, which makes and sells fragrant, wick-free candles, is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a novel gift to its workers and suppliers - and to fellow Treasure Valley businesses.

On Saturday, Scentsy said, nearly 1,000 employees, suppliers and their family members will fan out across the Valley, buying $2,500 in goods from each of 40 locally owned retailers, restaurants and other businesses.

The businesses were selected based on nominations by Scentsy employees. The Scentsy participants will visit the businesses in groups of 50. Each participant will spend $50 at each of two businesses - and keep the goods.

Giving to the employees and to the area...couldn't really ask for more. Knowing Scentsy's that kind of company makes it a little easier to tolerate the strange-looking green ceramic doohickey on our mantle.

Szasz on Universal Health Care

Thomas Szasz, who should be required reading for everybody on Pschology, has some wise words on the idea of Universal Health Care. Go check out his WSJ Opinion piece "Universal Health Care Isn't Worth Our Freedom". He begins with:

People who seek the services of auto mechanics want car repair, not "auto care." Similarly, most people who seek the services of medical doctors want body repair, not "health care."

We own our cars, are responsible for the cost of maintaining them, and decide what needs fixing based partly on balancing the seriousness of the problem against the expense of repairing it. Our health-care system rests on the principle that, although we own our bodies, the community or state ought to be responsible for paying the cost of repairing them. This is for the ostensibly noble purpose of redistributing the potentially ruinous expense of the medical care of unfortunate individuals.

But here is the crux of his point (but leaving some of the details for you to read in the original)

The idea that every life is infinitely precious and therefore everyone deserves the same kind of optimal medical care is a fine religious sentiment and moral ideal. As political and economic policy, it is vainglorious delusion. . . .

Our national conversation about curbing the cost of health care is crippled by the vocabulary in which we conduct it. We must stop talking about "health care" as if it were some kind of collective public service, like fire protection, provided equally to everyone who needs it. No government can provide the same high quality body repair services to everyone. Not all doctors are equally good physicians, and not all sick persons are equally good patients.