DRAM STRAIGHT!

Chickens don't clap!

2009-04-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well... I'm sick again. Have been sick since Wednesday. Its down to just a cough - but its a nasty cough. I think I pulled a muscle in my chest because I was coughing so hard yesterday. Yeah, so that sucks. Shannon has also come down with the sickness, we've been pretty much planted in the living room either reading, sleeping or watching TV. The good news is that we've almost made it through the first season of Arrested Development. We are going to try to knock out season 2 this week and then have a Season 3 Marathon Party within the next few weeks.

Yesterday, in preparation for my graduation party we built the smoker for the pig. Chris & I got started early - and hit Home Depot to do the shopping. We then dropped off everything at the Gantt's house and gave them a nice little alarm clock thanks to the trucks weight sensor going off.

I headed back over to the Gantt's around 1pm and Ron & I went to work on the pit while Paul and Laura did some yard work. Pretty soon Paul joined in on the pit and Cate arrived a little later and helped out as well. Shannon, unfortunately was home sick as was Michael, who really wanted to help out. It took about 3 hours to build and is a little lopsided, but I think it will do the job. That pig better be good!!!

Watch it sucka!

2009-03-30T16:40:00.001-07:00

So in my last post I mentioned I have been watching a lot of TV... I'm going to list the shows I watch regularly in an attempt to completely embarrass myself. I know I watch a lot of shows, but I'm guessing this list is going to be longer than I thought.

24
30 Rock
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Chuck
Crimnal Minds
CSI
CSI: NY
Flight of the Conchords
Flipping Out
Good Eats
Heroes
High Stakes Poker
Iron Chef America
Kath & Kim (don't judge me)
Kings
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Lost
Monster Quest
The Office
Paranormal State
Pushing Daises (but I think this was canceled)
Scrubs
Simpsons
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chornicles
Top Chef

That is nearly 24 hours of television a week. A full day in front of my TV. Granted not all of the shows are on every week, but still... wow... and don't worry dear friends, though many shows are nearing the end of the their season, there are several shows I am looking forward to taking their place (Parks & Recreation, The Unusuals, etc.)

I'm a TV junkie... and I love it

Life Goes On...

2009-03-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Life seems like it has been screaming by lately, but I have not really done that much. I have not learned to handle life after school, so many of my nights have been spent sitting on the couch watching TV. It hasn't helped that I had a cold for about a week, and then Shannon caught the cold and has had it for almost a week now.

Last night a few of us hit Whiskies of the World. I think this will be my last year attending... not enough bourbons. I will just go to WhiskeyFest in October and get my fix there. Last night was fun though because after leaving WofW we all went over to Bourbon & Branch and had a few cocktails. Good times.

Shannon and I just figured out how to be out of debt (except for school loans) in under 2 years. We are excited because that means a baby is just a couple years away.

It's a beautiful lazy Sunday - so do something relaxing - read a book outside or something... I'm going to!

Bourbon Dinner Recap

2009-03-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well as my last entry (3 weeks ago) states, Mr. Barnes & I did the Bourbon Dinner. It was a whole lot of fun. We were at the house of Teresa C. and her boyfriend, Ermes. As soon as we arrived we knew it was going to be challenging... the license plate of the Jag in their driveway was "6Y CHEF" (sexy chef). While, I wasn't the one doing the cooking, I know the pressure of cooking for another chef, so I felt Michael's pain. Their house was amazing (they live on the "Victorian court" between Blackhawk and Danville) and the kitchen was beautiful - plenty of workspace. We started the prep, and just as we were finishing Teresa's friends, Julie & Steve arrived. We were ready to start serving. We started off the evening with a taste of the bourbon of the night, Eagle Rare. We wanted them to get to know the flavors of the bourbon so they would be able to identify it in the food they were tasting. We then moved on to a cocktail - a Whiskey Sour with Eagle Rare. As we drank Michael ran through the menu:

AMUSE BOUSCH
Endive with Eagle Rare Cream Cheese,
Grape and Balsamic Reduction

SOUP
Eagle Rare Onion Soup

SALAD
Mixed Greens with Eagle Rare Vinigarette

PROTEIN THREE WAYS
Filet Mignon with Eagle Rare Soaked Bacon
Eagle Rare Fried Chicken Breast
Pork Medalion with Eagle Rare Peach Reduction

DESSERT
Blackberrys with Eagle Rare Whipped Cream
BlackBerry Infused Eagle Rare w/ Ginger Ale

Once the menu was presented, we got down to serving. Michael and I were working our tails off in the kitchen, but we knew it was all worth it as the plates were coming back completely empty. Once we finished dessert, we poured Eagle Rare 17yr (part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection) and sat down with everyone and chatted for about an hour. We had a fantastic time, and would certainly enjoy doing it again. Enjoy the pictures below...

Bourbon Dinner

2009-03-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight Michael Barnes and I are doing the Bourbon Dinner that we auctioned off at the SCM Santa Poker Night back in December. We've got a great menu are really looking forward to serving it. I will be taking pictures and will be posting the a full recap of the dinner sometime later this week. It should be fun.

In other news, I'm working on putting together a comp of rockin' ballad-y songs by female artist. So far I have:

Total Eclipse of the Heard by Bonnie Tyler
Angel of the Morning sung by Juice Newton
Alone by Heart
Hold On by Wilson Phillips
Eternal Flame by The Bangles

Anyone with other suggestions please comment...

The Ups and the Down

2009-03-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

Its been about a month since I last posted and its been an insane month. In the past month the following has happened:

February 14th - Shannon and I drove down to San Luis Obispo to see Shannon's good friend Brooke get married. It was a fun wedding and reception, and Shannon and I stayed down there an extra day to enjoy the SLO life.
February 17th - Our good friends the John and Christina Argo welcomed their son Knox Jaxon into the world. John has wanted to be a dad since the day I met him, and its awesome to see that his wish is now is reality
February 18th - My Grandma passed away after being diagnosed with cancer 5 weeks earlier. This was her second bout with cancer, and she knew that it was her time to go. Shannon and I were glad that she had moved down to Manteca to live with my parents, as we got to see her quite frequently in the last 5 months of her life. We were also blessed to be with her when her "earth suit" died, and she went to heaven. In her last days she talked about all the beautiful colors she was seeing and my mom often found her in her room lying on the bed with her arms outstretched into the air. While it could have been the morphine, we like to think she was getting to experience a little bit of heaven.
February 23rd - Monday the 23rd was my last day of school. I will be receiving degree's in Business Marketing and Business Management. It's been a looooong road, but its finally come to an end and I am extremely happy
February 26th - Shannon and I board a plane to take us up to Portland for my grandma's memorial service. My parents and Charlie were up there as well and we had a chance to hang out with both my Mom's family and my Dad's family. It was great to catch up with them. We also spent time in downtown Portland, eating at good restaurants, shopping at Powell's and seeing the place my mom worked 40 years ago (now a Macy's and a hotel). We flew home on Sunday, March 1st.
March 3rd - Tuesday was my first day back at work (Monday I was laid out on the couch due to my back not liking the hotel's soft mattress and the hour of turbulence we experienced on the flight home) and I was pulled into my Director's office for my yearly review. I did well - and while raises have been put on hold due to the economy, I got a 5% bump in salary (not technically a raise - its a long story) and a 1% bonus (not a lot I know, but when I was expecting nothing - I'll take what I can get). As soon as my review was over I learned that my 5% bump in salary didn't mean much because our VP came in and offered my the job of Category Manager of Tobacco. While selling cancer isn't my favorite thing, the raise that came along is quite large and I happily took the job.

So as you can see its been a crazy month - and I'm excited for things to get back to normal, but alas in the next month I have a Bourbon Dinner to put on, The Big Lebowski to go see with a bunch of guys, a graduation party to plan and put on as well as making up to Reno for my good friend's birthday. So things will continue to not slow down... at least I don't have to deal with school anymore!

The busy have no time for tears - Lord Byron

2009-02-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well - the next month is going to pretty busy - and while I'm definitely looking forward to most things, there is at least one thing that not going be fun, plus being so busy is going to wear me out.

Here we go with the breakdown:

2/11: Greg Dulli show in SF

2/13: Shannon and I are seeing Wicked in SF

2/14: Get up early and drive to SLO for Brooke's wedding

2/21: Cake show in Oakland

2/22: Far show in SF

3/7: My "Kevin's Finished with School" Party

In addition to the scheduled events above, I have the following things going on as well:

2 weeks of school left that will be fairly tough
Work is insane right now so I'll be going in early and working late
My Grandma is about to pass away - so trips to Manteca & a trip to Portland are probably going to happen
Planning my "Kevin is Finished with School" Party
Scheduling and planning a Bourbon Dinner we auctioned off for the SCM poker tournament

Just waiting for it all to be over so I can relax...

Kevin's Concert Calendar

2009-02-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of upcoming shows that I am either going to or want to go to. I will definitely be attending the ones in bold

2/11: Greg Dulli @ The Independent in SF

2/21: Cake @ The Fox Theater in Oakland

2/21: Murder By Death @ Bottom of the Hill in SF

2/22: Far @ Slim's in SF

3/29: Silverstein & Norma Jean @ Slim's in SF

Turn Around Bright Eyes

2009-01-28T21:39:00.001-08:00

Well - we are back from Colorado. The day we got there it was 70 degrees - the day we left it was 17 - that's Denver weather for ya...

The wedding was great - and the reception was a lot of fun. Ron and I even danced together to Total Eclipse of the Heart. Here is a video of part of our dance:

I'm only 4 weeks away from being done with school - I can't wait.

Denver Day II

2009-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

So Denver Day II has come and gone. Yesterday we got up and had a fantastic breakfast that Sandy prepared. I then did homework as I am in two classes right now and its a royal pain.

After homework we headed out to pick up Jeff's tux and hit up Luka's Liquors. Though they did not have any of the Pappy bottlings besides the 23 yr ($200) and the 10 yr which I already have, I did pick up a bottle of Thomas H. Handy Rye from the 2008 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Looking forward to trying that. The search for the Pappy will continue today at Parker Wine & Spirits.

In other Whiskey news, Jeff has put together a VERY nice whiskey collection - about 40 bottles worth, featuring a large number of Irish Whiskeys, a handful of Scotches and quite a few American Whiskeys.

After getting back to the Forgey's Jeff's sister, Sandra, and her husband Rick showed up with their little dog and so we all hung out for a while and then the girls went to tea. The guys just stayed at home watching TV and talking about the crumbling economy. Once the girls got back we headed to the hotel and Jeff and Sandy went to pick up Ron and Cate. Once everyone was in town, we all headed to Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner. Attendees were (from back to front): Kevin & Shannon, Ron & Cate, Nick & Heather, Rochelle & Jay, Rick & Sandra, Jeff & Sandy.

It was a great time. After dinner we went back to the Hotel and crashed. Day III has begun so its time for the rehearsal dinner, rehearsal party and more.

Denver Day 1

2009-01-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Well our Wednesday started off early, waking up at 5:15 to get ready to catch the plane. Charles and his mustache picked us up at 6:45 and we headed to the airport. Our flight left at 9:25 and though scheduled to arrive at 1:00pm Denver time, we arrived a half hour early (thanks wind!) which was nice.

Jeff and Sandy picked us up and we headed back to their place to unpack. When we arrived, Nick & Heather were at the house. It was good to see the whole Forgey crew, and we quickly unpacked and headed out to a late lunch. After lunch we came back to the house and hung out for a while, then hit the road to see the Littleton Safeway (where I set up the Spirits dept.), a new HUGE liquor store named Tipsy's, and to see Nick & Heather's new apartment, awesome place and dirt cheap (rent is half of what a one bedroom would go for in our apt. complex). We then headed back to the house and caught the first hour of the new Lost season.

Today Ron and Cate (or RC Cola as I like to call them... just kidding) get into town and we are going to hit up Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner - mmmm... burgers... other than that - not sure what we are doing (maybe hitting up Luka's to pick up some Pappy Van Winkle).

Sad Songs II

2009-01-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

So a while back I had a post about sad songs... today listening to my iPod I came across a song that I had forgotten about, though it certainly belongs at the top of the list. The song is Hayden's "When This Is Over" and is about... well I'll let you figure it out, its more heartbreaking that way.

This song will break you DOWN. I'm getting chills just writing this...

I suggest you download it, do a couple shots, and then cry your eyes out listening to it, but here are the lyrics to get you started.

When This is Over by Hayden

I wake up
Beside you, in mom's car
I try to get you out,
You're strapped to the backseat
I am too.

The car is rolling down to water.
Why are we
Strapped to our seats,
Trapped,
What did we do?
I cleaned my room just as she asked me to.

Filling up, dirty water,
My chin's up, going under.
You're still asleep, baby brother.
I'll wake you up when this is over.

The car is rolling down to water.
Why are we
Strapped to our seats,
Trapped,
What did we do?
I brushed my teeth just as she asked me to.

This is it, baby brother,
One more breath togther
We're almost underwater
Where is mom?
I miss her.

The car has rolled into the water.
Why are we dying in this way,
What did we do?

I was nice to him,
Her boyfriend, this is stupid
When people come to search the lake
We'll be found in our pajamas
They will see
A big mistake is all that this must be

Whisky Instead of Water

2009-01-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

Random thoughts today...

So I'm making whiskey related items to sell online... it should be fun, but some glue I got to use sucks - so the projects are on hold for a while...

School is slowly ticking down - I can't wait for it to be over. Come March I think a lot of things will be different.

Sierra Nevada recently bottled the first batch of their Torpedo IPA, and we got samples dropped off today - I'm a pretty big fan of it.

Headed to Denver next week - I'm looking forward to it - it will be good to see the Forgey's (all four) as well as checking out the latest Liquor stores ;)

That's all for today.

New Year's Eve Recap

2009-01-05T22:08:00.001-08:00

New Year's Eve was quite fun this year... the night started off with Ron, Cate & Melanie coming over around 6pm. Ron and I had a few beers and played Fallout 3 on the 360 while the girls played a Mad Libs board game. We had reservations at Eddie Papa's at 8:15 so we headed out there... I had a crab and artichoke sandwich, and sipped on a Old Fashioned. As we finished dinner, we asked for the owner to come over (He and I have talked a few times about whiskey, and he even let me try a little Hirsch 28yr once) and recommend a few after dinner drinks. I got a Hot Buttered Rum (made with rum & bourbon) and Ron got a Hot Toddy. I asked about a couple of bottles of Old Portrero from Anchor Brewing I had noticed on the back bar when we walked in (he had mentioned on a previous trip, that he had some special bottles coming in), and he ended up letting us taste them for free! The first was their rye - which was really good, but the second bottle was just called 18th Century Spirit - it was like a whiskey but sweeter, not sugary - but almost like honey. It was yummy - can't wait to try it in a Manhattan...

After dinner we came back to the Apartment - Ron and I opened up a bottle of Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Rum and enjoyed it with some cigars out on the patio. After finishing we headed back inside and proceeded to sing karaoke for about a half hour which ruled. About 11:50 we flipped on the TV to see Dick Clark sadly mumble and the ball drop.

A very fun night indeed.

Oh yeah - if you read this blog - please check out My Readers section over on the side... please click on the link that says Follow This Blog.

Thanks!

Whiskey

2009-01-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

So I decided to take all the whiskey I had and count up the bottles and see how much they are worth... I counted the full retail value, even for open bottles, and and found the prices on http://www.bevmo.com/, http://www.hitimewine.com/ or other retail sites. For the items that are no longer available I used ebay as a guide (those items are marked with an *). Including all of the signed bottles, it is around $4000 worth of whiskey (mostly bourbon).

If anyone is interested in partaking just let me know and come on over!

Here is the list with the pricing.

OPENED BOTTLES

Bourbon
Eagle Rare 17yr 2007 $80
Four Roses 120th Anniversary $80
George T. Stagg 141.2 pf $150*
Makers Mark 1.75-liter $36
Pappy Van Winkle 20yr $100
Very Old Barton 6yr 100 pf $12
Wild Turkey American Spirit $100
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit $50
Willett Single Barrel 25yr $200

Rye
Jim Beam Rye $17
Old Overholt Rye $14
Rittenhouse Rye 23yr $160
Templeton Rye Single Barrel $35

Other American Whiskies
Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Zinfandel Finish $90*
Charbay Series I $300
Charbay Series II 50ml $23
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey $60

Scotch
Ardbeg Uigeadail $100
Bowmore 18yr $100
Bowmore Darkest $76
Bowmore Legend $30
Compass Box Hedonism $100
Glenrothes Select Reserve $50
Kirkland Macallan 19yr $70

Other Whiskies
Canadian Club Classic 12yr (Canada) $23
Crown Royal Reserve (Canada) $37
Penderyn Single Malt (England) $70
Yamazaki 12yr (Japan) $40

Whiskey Liqueurs
Cutty Black 100pr $??
Makers Mark Mint Julep $35
Wild Turkey American Honey 375-ml $15

SEALED BOTTLES

Bourbon
Ancient Ancient Age 10yr 100pr $15
Eagle Rare 17yr 2006 $100*
Eagle Rare 17yr 2008 $60
Eagle Rare Single Barrel $30
Elijah Craig 18yr $44
Four Roses 120th Anniversary $80
Four Roses Single Barrel $46
Four Roses Small Batch $40
George T. Stagg 140.6 $170*
George T. Stagg 144.8 $100*
Jim Beam $14
Jim Beam Black $20
Jim Beam Choice 1-liter $21
Old Grand Dad 100pr $20
Old Rip Van Winkle 10yr 107pr $36
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 122.6pr $80
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 127.9pr $180
Willett Single Barrel $43
William Larue Weller 2008 $60

Other Whiskies
Michter’s American Whiskey $45
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey $60

Whiskey Liqueurs
Celtic Crossing $23
Jeremiah Weed $15
Wild Turkey American Honey $23
Yukon Jack 100pr $19

SIGNED / SPECIAL BOTTLES

Evan Williams Master Distiller’s Select 375-ml
(bottled special for Shannon and I @ Heaven Hill)
Maker’s Mark 375-ml
(hand dipped by Shannon at the Maker’s Mark Distillery)
Maker’s Mark 375-ml
(hand dipped by me at the Maker’s Mark Distillery)
Bulliet Bourbon 1.75 signed by Tom Bulliet
Evan Williams Single Barrel 1997 signed by Craig Beam
Glenfarclas 21yr signed by George Grant
Knob Creek signed by Fred Noe
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 122.6pr signed by Parker Beam
Wild Turkey Rare Breed signed by Jimmy Russell and Eddie Russell

MMVIII to MMIX

2008-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

Well time to say to goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009.

Top 5 good things about 2008:

1. 5 years of marriage to Shannon. Its gone by so fast, yet it seems like forever (in a good way)
2. The friendships I've developed over the past year: David, Tiny, the Fosters, Bowens & Gillettes
3. Grandma moving down to CA - its been great being able to see her regularly
4. Being "this close" to having school finished - FINALLY!
5. Buying an iPhone - find a place to grab a drink in SF has never been easier.

Top 10 plans for 2009:

1. Continue developing my relationship with Christ
2. Continue to learn to be a better husband (if that's possible - haha)
3. Get better at dealing with Money - I hate budgets and tracking my spending and all that garbage, but its something that must be done.
4. I want to start a business of some sort - I've talked about it for a long time, now its time to make it happen
5. Enjoy life more. Take day trips. Go to the city on weeknights.
6. Gain more knowledge of Whiskey, particularly Bourbon.
7. Start a weekly poker night and dive deeper into the fundamentals of poker. I can already play decently, but I haven't taken the time to learn pot odds, and all that crap.
8. Learn Photoshop for the Mac.
9. Get more tattoos.
10. And Finally - FINISH SCHOOL!!!!

And as a bonus - My top 5 highlights/lowlights of the music world in 2008:

1. M.I.A & Katy Perry - These ladies got everyone and their grandmothers singing along to songs about murder & stealing and being bi-curious
2. Lil Wayne - He proved that even a retarded person can have the best selling album of the year.
3. Kanye West & 50 Cent - Together they showed how ridicously egotistical rappers are, and that no one really gives a damn about them anymore
4. AC/DC - They further proved that they have done nothing but write weak copies of old songs for thelast 20 years, and yet people still buy it
5. Travis Barker & DJ AM - Together they proved that rockstars ,while not invincible, are immortal.

Taking Back The Crown

2008-12-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

Santa Poker, the annual charity poker tournament that SCM puts on, was last night. After winning the tourney two years ago, and going bust first last year, I was ready to retake the crown. There was, of course, formiable opponents: The Gantt duo, The Schwaab duo, a number of people that had definitely improved over the past year, and I can't forget Shannon, who always places deep in the standings with these things... There was also rebuys this year. The initial $20 buy-in went to charity, and the buy-ins made up the prize pool. So people could play super agressive and still be able to buy back in if things didn't go their way.

Well, I made it to the final table with a cast of regulars: Shannon, Lori, Karen, Ron along with a few more. Play at the final table went on for well over an hour, slowly whittling off players, unti it was down to the final 2. Myself and Karen. I had a good chip lead, but after a hand that went her way, I was still up but not by the margin I wanted. We decided to call it a night, and split the prize money with my taking just a bit more. So next year I will be defending the title once again - hopefully things don't go as badly as they did last year!

Getting to the real focus of the night, with the tournament, and the Silent Auction that was part of the festivities for the first time, we were able to raise over $2000 for needy families in the area. It was a very sucessful night!

Today Shannon and I are just taking it easy, watching movies, cleaning the house and wrapping Christmas presents.

V

2008-12-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Shannon and my fifth anniversary. Woo! On to year number 6. We took the day off work, did some Christmas shopping and then in the evening headed out to SF to see Phantom of the Opera. Despite the leg room being rather limited, it was really fun, however the understudy of the guy that plays the Phantom was the Phantom that day, and his performance was a little underwhelming. We had a blast though, then headed back to Pleasanton and grabbed a late night meal at Denny's, one of the places that Shannon and I got to know each other after Fuel so many years ago. Good times.

Today is the Charity Poker Tournament & Silent Auction... I've donated about $800 of liquor among other things to the auction, so hopefully we are able to drum up some good money for needy families.

On a sadder note, my grandma is back in the hospital - it looks like the cancer has returned... so anyone that reads this - please keep her in your prayers!

Jack's Mannequin & The City

2008-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Oh what fun last Sunday was...

Charlie had won tickets to go see a studio performance by Jack's Mannequin at the Live 105 studio, and then tickets to see them play Slim's later that night. He got two tickets, and I was lucky enough to be invited. Woo!

We headed out to the city to catch the studio performance - got their way too early so we had to stand around for about 45 minutes, but it was all good.

Once inside the studio - we realized how intimate (not like that sicko) the mini-concert was going to be. It was just us, 6 other contest winners, about 5 Live 105 people and the band. Pretty damn cool....

Here are a few pictures from it and a video of them covering MGMT's "Kids" (notice my head in the right corner)

After they played about 6 songs we headed off on a bar hopping adventure. First we hit the Rouge Brew Pub, and drank some good Oregon beer and ate some decent appetizers. Then it was off to Vesuvio, which was made popular by Jack Kerouac. Charlie drank a couple gin & tonics while I had a vodka tonic. Very cool two story bar. Lots of crazy decorations and patrons. Gotta check it out...

Then it was off to City Beer - a cool little place that not only sells beer on tap, but has a very extensive bottled collection that are available to take home. Good beer, good bread and good cheese.

We then headed down a couple blocks to Slim's to get into the show - thanks to Charlie's sly talking we were able to cut into line. Got in, got drinks, and then... headed back outside. The first couple bands were terrible so we hung out outside with a guy Charlie went to high school with (but they didn't really remember erach other) and his girlfriend. We went across the street to Butter - a bar/club that is purposefully white trash. With drinks like the After School Special (vodka & grape soda) and Latchkey Tea (a Long Island with strawberry soda instead of cola) the place was amazing. I guess they usually play house music, but horrible rock from the 80's was on the turn tables, so it was fantastic.

Finally we headed back over to Slim's to catch Jack's Mannequin. They put on a great show - the sound was the best we had heard at Slim's. It was a great day with my brother... awwwwww!

The word "count" is now a dirty word....

2008-11-02T08:56:00.001-08:00

Charles showed this to me.... so hilarious

Enjoy....

Politics... I hate 'em

2008-11-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well another election day is rapidly approaching, and I've had it up to here with the amount of retarded slap fights that seem to be going on with all of the candidates and propositions. Though a few interesting things have popped up lately...

Steve Young, who at the height of his fame was the Mormon Golden boy, has given around $50,000 to the campaign to defeat Prop 8. The funny thing about this is that the Mormon church is one of the top supporters of getting Prop 8 to pass. Mormons have donated close to $9 million dollars, and the churches leaders have sent letters to its members urging them to vote YES on prop 8. Any fall out for Steve Young's "disobedience" has yet to be seen. Though he did gain respect from me. No church should tell you how to vote - it should be a decision between you and God and that's it. I for one will join Steve in voting No on Prop 8, because I don't believe the government should have any control over marriage, gay or straight. In my mind marriage is a spiritual act, and lets face it - the government is NOT who I want dictating my spiritual practices.

In other proposition news:

Prop 1 - Voting YES - I'm down for a high speed rail.
Prop 2 - Voting NO - Chickens can live in cages for all I care.
Prop 3 - Voting YES - Kids need Hospitals too...
Prop 4 - Voting YES - Call me old fashioned, but Parents should know what is going on in their kid's life
Prop 5 - Nevermind - That's all I can write about politics for now...

Just go out and vote.

I'll drink whiskey instead of water cause I can't stand to be sober in this place

2008-10-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well I had a fairly eventful week last week. After working Monday and Tuesday a few friends and I headed up to Tahoe for a few days of fishing (caught three little guys and released them), relaxing (beer & dominos) and gambling (lost $240 - ouch!). We went on a little hike to see the salmon, and try to catch a glimspe of a bear eating the salmon. Of course 5 minutes after we leave the bear shows up - some friends were still there, so I got some pictures...

I came home Thursday night and woke up Friday morning with a terrible cold. However, I had tickets for WhiskeyFest that night, and I was not going to miss it. A bunch of us headed out to SF, ate at the 21st Amendment Brewery (great food) and then headed over to the Marriott. It was great - I got to catch up with Tom Bulleit (Bulleit Bourbon), Jess Graber (Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey), got to meet Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey) and John Hansell (Malt Advocate Magazine). It was my dad and my brother's first time at one of these events, so it was really fun to have them there. But alas, large amounts of whiskey and head colds do not mix... I will leave it at that.

So my Saturday, Sunday, Monday and half a day Tuesday were spent on the couch with a terrible cold.

Looking forward to being well again (I think tomorrow is the day).

Busy Busy Busy

2008-10-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, its Saturday. I like the weekends. It means no work... oh wait, there's cleaning, laundry, and the ever ominous homework to get done...

Life is busy, but with fun things, so its all good... Here is a breakdown:

10/8 - 10/9: Go to Tahoe with some friends
10/10: Go to WhiskeyFest
10/12: Rival Schools & Middle Class Rut concert
10/21: Charles' Birthday
10/25: Wine Party @ the Cond
10/28: Jenny Lewis concert
10/31: Halloween
11/3: Highway Patrol concert (Josh Pinkston's band - you should really go - contact me if interested)
11/7: Rise Against & Alkaline Trio concert
11/13: Ben Folds Concert
11/15: Safeway Foundation Gala
11/27: Thanksgiving
12/12: Seeing Wicked in SF
12/25: Christmas
1/1: New Years
11/7: Rise Against Concert

Damn! That's a lot of things....

The Counting Crows concert was great (no Anna Begins though... sniff) and surprisingly Maroon 5 was actually decent...

More later.

Casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows

2008-09-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

Headed out to Shoreline to see Counting Crows tonight - this will be my third or fourth time seeing them, but it will be Shannon's first - so we are excited... Less exciting is Maroon 5 opening for them, not that their albums suck, but after seeing them perform live on TV... not looking forward to it so much. Another band, Augustana is opening up - checking them out on iTunes right now... not bad but not exactly my cup of tea. But Adam Duritz and Co. will make up for anything lacking the opening bands bring. Here's hoping they are still playing Anna Begins.

Oh by the way Vegas was a blast - I came back with more gambling money than I started with. Woot.

Sad Songs

2008-09-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

Shannon and I went to see Damien Jurado this past Wednesday. Incredible show, nothing like a bunch of depressing songs to lift your spirits.

With sad songs on the mind, here are 5 that I really dig right now:

Damien Jurado - Medication - A song about a guy who can't be with his married lover, so he spends time with his suicidal brother and prays that God will take his brother's life to ease the pain. First time i heard this was Wednesday night.. brutal.

Pedro the Lion - Second Best - A wife convincing herself its ok to be second best and trying to rekindle the romance with her husband at a hotel. This song floored me when I first heard it.

Brand New - Jesus Christ - Deals with being alone, trust issues and a loss of faith. A great sad song on an album of sad songs.

Neil Diamond - I Am I Said - A man trying to prove his existence despite being alone and far away from home.

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated - Probably one of the saddest songs I know, and without a doubt one of my favorites. Not sure what its about, but considering his song Brick is about an abortion he and an ex had, its quite possible its about the same experience. Heart breaking.

Viva Las Vegas

2008-08-21T09:38:00.001-07:00

Well in about an hour we are headed to the airport to being our Vegas Vacation. Here's hoping I can at least break even! In addition to the poker we will be playing for hours on end, Ron and I are also planning on playing a round of golf in near 100 degree weather (yikes!) and hitting up The Gun Store, were we will shoot various machine guns and feel like bad asses.

Go see Tropic Thunder for these two reasons:

Robert Downey Jr. who excels at playing an Australian playing a black guy
Tom Cruise, who I despise as a person, putting on one of the best performances of his career

Vegas

2008-08-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well we leave for Vegas in 18 days and are pretty excited to go. Shannon hasn't been there since she was a kid, and last time I was there I was a 20 year old constantly looking over my shoulder as I played blackjack. It will be nice to go back and be able to sit in the casino, legally, and relax with cocktails.

Ron and I decided to head over to the Livermore Casino on Friday to prep ourselves for Vegas. However, the only thing we prepared for was how to lose money (and, hopefully, that does not happen in Vegas). We sat at a 3 -20 spread limit game, where the blinds are $1 & $3 and the max bet and/or raise is $20. We got murdered. I got no cards (best hand I was dealt all night was pocket 4's) and Ron got a ton of good hands dealt to him, only to get beat by a player that should never have been in the hand. People were taking down $150+ pots with King high or a set of sixes they hit on the river. I left a broken man, but knowing if I had a big enough stack, in enough time the table would be mine for the taking. Just gross.

Random Things That Are Going On

2008-07-17T15:05:00.001-07:00

A lot of stuff is going in right now... here are some bullet points

My Grandma is moving down in about a week and a half - and is going to live with my parents in Manteca
We are finally getting the Altima fixed
We are trying to buy a house (going through the loan approval process right now)
School, as always, is keeping me busy
Shannon wants to be a baker
I want to open a Whisk(e)y restaurant
Pliny the Elder is for sale
We are going to Vegas in just over a month

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

2008-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Shannon and I had a four day weekend to celebrate the nation's 232nd birthday.

On Thursday I got up bright and early to head down to the DMV and renew my drivers license that expired a few weeks back. I then came home and picked up Shannon and headed to Hacienda where we planned to spend hours upon hours at the theater, taking in 4 movies. Well we got through Wall-E (super good) and Iron Man (also really good) before Shannon had had enough of the big screen. Instead of buying tickets to our next planned move, The Hulk, we headed over to Barnes & Noble to pick up some books and budgeting and starting a bar/restaurant (that's a whole other blog post, but yes, I have a few bars I would like to open). We then headed home and relaxed for a few hours before heading off to dinner with Charlie and my pops. The Elephant Bar in Dublin is now open, and we had to wait about a half hour before getting a seat. But thats ok, the food was good and the E-Teas were quite refreshing. After dinner we all went back to the apartment to watch Dan in Real Life (not really what I expected, but good).

Friday morning was spent cleaning the house and shopping. My dad was coming back out to BBQ and celebrate the 4th. We got the place all cleaned up and headed to the store to buy the food: a combination of steak, chicken and hot smoked sausage worked out quite well. In addition to my dad, Charlie & Pletcher showed up, as well as Jake, Melissa and little Adelaide. We had a great time just sitting, eating good food, drinking good beer, and chatting. We also watched Drillbit Taylor (dumb). With BBQ & Beer left over, we decided to host a poker night the next day to help move through the food and drink, as well as to see some other friends.

We spent Saturday morning cleaning again and setting up the house for two tables of poker along with enough sitting room for those not playing. We had a pretty good turn out with 10 players: Charlie, Pletcher, Tyler, Jake, John May, Ron, Cate, Lori, Karen and myself. We also had a number of people rooting us on: Adelaide, Melissa, Allison, Sarah, Laura and Shannon. We had a blast - Ron ended up taking the tournament, with Charlie in second place and me taking third.

Sunday will be spent relaxing and reading the latest David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames. I'm a huge fan of Sedaris, and I can't wait to dig into this book. He mostly writes about growing and how insane his family is. I definitely recommend checking out his stuff.

Beer, Sausage & Hookahs

2008-06-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Charlie, Shannon and I headed out to SF to meet up with Alyssa and hang out for the night. Turns out Jake Foster was there as well, which ruled, but alas, we did not get to see little Adelaide (hopefully tonight though!). We picked up Alyssa and her roommate and met Jake out at Toronado's, one of the best beer bars in the city.

I had always heard a lot about this place, but this was my first time there. Great selection, lots of local microbrews and stuff you don't see in pretty much any other bar.

Next door is Rosamunde Sausage Grill, which has an amazing array of sausages. I ended up eating duck sausage and lamb & beef sausage - so good. They let you order the sausage and then take it next door to the bar - fantastic!

After spending a few hours at the Toronado's Jake had to head off to pick up Melissa, Kari & the little one so shortly after we headed off as well and made our way down to Kan Zaman Cafe, a middle eastern bar/restaurant that lets you smoke Hookahs indoors. After about 20 minutes were were able to grab a spot at the bar and ordered some drinks and some apple tobacco for the Hookah. It was Shannon and my first experience with a Hookah, and we throughly enjoyed it. None of that nasty tar flavor, but arm rich appley goodness! I also had an Arabic Latte (I think that's what it was called), which Alyssa, suggested. It was great, nice middle eastern spices mixed with coffee & milk. Yummm...The night was a blast, and we will definitely be doing more of these... Shannon and I were talking about how we don't get out enough (walking around downtown Pleasanton just isn't cutting it anymore).

Hatred or mistrust of humankind.

2008-06-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bands is back with their first album since 2003...
Shai Hulud - Misanthropy Pure

Here is the video for the title track:

When It's All Said and Done

2008-05-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day of touring distilleries. We visited Wild Turkey and Four Roses. I'm worn out so there will be no pictures until later....

Wild Turkey was one that I was really looking forward to. We got to tour the distillery with Eddie Russell, who is Jimmy Russell's son. Jimmy is the Master Distillery and has been working at the distillery for 54 years. Eddie, who has only been there a short 27 years is probably next in line to take the job. He is currently the Assistant Distillery. Besides a few small differences, the tour was the same as all the others, not that it was a bad thing, but what I really enjoyed about this tour was Eddie's stories about the generation of master distillers that are either retired, passed away or on their way out: Elmer T. Lee (Buffalo Trace), Parker Beam (Heaven Hill), Booker Noe (Jim Beam) and Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey). It was really great.

We then headed to a restaurant called Kavanaugh's School Diner. It was a former school, that was a house previously, that is now a diner. They serve everything buffet style - and it was fantastic.

After lunch we headed to the Four Roses Distillery. Four Roses was a brand that was HUGE around WWII, but shortly there after put all of its focus in exporting - and turned the whiskies that were in the U.S. into garbage - before long all U.S. product was gone. Then the Japanese brewery Kirin bought the distillery and has started turning it around. Products have been reintroduced into Kentucky and the surrounding states and are supposed to come to CA in July of this year, but who knows as the date has been pushed back several times already. The tour was ok - nothing really new except that they distill 2 different mash bills and have 5 yeasts - which make 10 different whiskies. These whiskies are then combined in various ways to create their releases. We were able to taste the 3 main products they make: Yellow Label (which is around 6 years old and contains 8 different whiskies - Small Batch which is around 7 years old and contains 4 different whiskies - and the Single Barrel which is around 8 years old and only has one whiskey.

After Four Roses we headed back to Louisville to have dinner at Bourbon's Bistro. Good Lord, after eating and drinking at this place I want to open a Whiskey Restaurant SO BADLY! They featured around 100 bourbons or so - which cost anywhere from $5 for a pour, up to $75. They also let you pick three whiskies to taste as a flight - smaller pour but at half the price listed. I did a flight of Buffalo Trace 9yr Single Barrel, Parker's Heritage and Wild Turkey American Spirit. Shannon had a whiskey sour with Maker's Mark. All four were fantastic. I had Ahi Tuna and Shannon had a pork chop stuffed with chorizo for dinner. Both dishes were amazing. We left so full we could barely walk and broken hearted that there is no place like this in CA (until I open my restaurant!)

We fly out at 10:30am tomorrow and are excited to get back - its been a fantastic trip, but I am ready for my big screen TV and my comfortable bed.

See ya soon!

Spitting Out Bourbon and Other Strange Happenings

2008-05-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Following our own example, we started off the morning eating our usual breakfast (see post below) and hitting the road - we were on our way to Buffalo Trace. Flash back to a month ago...Being one of the two distilleries that I didn't have a supplier contact for - I was originally afraid that we would have a hard time getting in. Luckily my friends at Young's Market were able to pull a few strings and get us in. I was very appreciative as some of my favorite whiskies are created here: Buffalo Trace, George T. Stagg, Eagle Rare, WL Weller, Van Winkle, and the list goes on and on.

Alright, back in the present. I knew that we were going to have a chance to meet Mark Brown, the president and CEO of Buffalo Trace - so I was very excited to arrive. Who would have thought that our experience there is something I will never forget. As we walked in, I asked the lady in the gift shop for Margeret as she was our contact - turns out that she was her (bad english I know). She was amazingly nice - greeting us with a huge smile and bringing us into her ongoing conversation with a few other BT employees about an article in Delta airline's magazine which highlights Lexington and includes bits on the distillery. She then introduces Shannon and I to Carey, the gentleman that will be taking us on the tour - but first we had to go up and meet Mark.

We walk up to Mark's office - he and two other employees are in the middle of a meeting, but take a break just to sit and talk to us. We chat about business on the west coast, the economy, how Safeway is doing, etc. Then we turn to talking about Bourbon and what we like, what we find interesting, etc. He kept saying that it was such a pleasure having us at the distillery, which blew me away, because I was in awe of who I was sitting in front of.

Mark is one of the most forward thinking people in the whiskey industry in my opinion. He is constantly experimenting with different concepts and whiskey making ideas. To read more about his experiments check out the blog What Does John Know and also the most recent Malt Advocate magazine. BT has even bottled some of the experiments, most of which are whiskies that were aged (for at least some time) in used wine barrels. Much to my surprise, Mark presented me one of the Zinfindel finished bottles as a gift. Considering that some of these are going on eBay for upwards of $80 for a 375-ml - I was extremely grateful as they are next to impossible to find in any store.

We then headed down to meet Carey for the tour. We got the "hard hat" tour which took us through the entire process. We had this experience once before at Maker's Mark, but Buffalo Trace is HUGE so the parts involved in the process are even more incredible. Too much to go into detail but it was just amazing.

Following the tour, we were brought up into the experiment lab. Buffalo Trace has nearly 1500 barrels dedicated to their experiements - and are always trying to create something new. In addition to the barrels they also have a new micro-still that will be used in creating the whiskies. In the lab we were allowed to taste some of the experimental whises that they are considering releaseing in 2009 and 2010. We tasted 4 different batches, and at least two of those, no one, outside of BT employees, had ever tasted. Simply Incredible. Now they weren't all great, but they certainly weren't bad - but I was just in awe that we got to taste them. I don't really want to say what they were as I'm not sure if BT would want the info getting out, but they definitely have some wild ideas. By the way - the lab was "taste & spit" no getting drunk while at work! So they had several large spitoons spit the bourbon into - pretty cool.

After the tour and tasting we headed back down to the gift shop, bought some souviners and then headed back up to Mark's office. We sat there for another half hour to hour just going over the tour, asking questions, talking about everything from Kentucky to the upcoming WhiskeyFest. He signed a bottle of Eagle Rare for us and we went on our way, amazed by the experience we just had.

We then headed over to Woodford Reserve (after our good friend Garmin gave us bad directions). Compared to Buffalo Trace that has 11o buildings on the premise, this place was TINY! The majority of the "work" is done in two rooms. This is one of the few places that "creates" their seasons by heating and cooling the rack houses. Every other distillery lets nature take its course. We then headed back to the gift shop & visitor's center for a sample of the bourbon.

The drive to and from Woodford was amazing - the distillery is surrounded by horse farms - and is landscaped just beautifully. It was a wonderful drive.

We are back at the hotel now gearing up for our last day when we will visiting Wild Turkey and Four Roses. See ya tomorrow!

A Little Slice of Heaven (Hill), (Coconut) Pie and Jim Beam

2008-05-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today, we made our way down to Bardstown, KY after our typical breakfast of biscuts and gravy, eggs, sausage for me and biscuts and gravy and cereal for Shannon.

We had a 10 o'clock appointment at Heaven Hill to tour through their rack houses (the distilling is done in Louisville, and the bottling line is off limits to visitors) and do a tasting. They also have a nifty little history of bourbon display in one half of the giftshop/heritage center. The rackhouses were pretty cool, had some pretty old barrels - up to 27 years old....

We then headed into their tasting room and in addition to the usual tastings of Evan Williams Single Barrel and Elijah Craig 18 yr, we were able to taste Bernhiem Wheat Whiskey and Evan Williams Single Barrel 23 yr. The later is only available at the gift shop and in Japan - and sells for $350... it was FANTASTIC! - but no, I did not buy one. However I did get another bottle of one of my favorite whiskies - Parker Heritage Collection Cask Strength Bourbon. Not sure if I can drink it though - as it is signed by Parker Beam, the semi-retired Master Distiller. It will go next to my Evan Williams Single Barrel that is signed By Craig Beam, the full time Master Distiller.

We took off from Heaven Hill and headed into Bardstown to see what small town life is like... had lunch at a restaurant that was opened in the 30's. Back then, the family lived upstairs and ran the restaurant downstairs. The same family still owns it, but they live somewhere else (I think). We went to the Oscar Getz Whiskey Museum that has all sorts of cool stuff - whiskey bottles (some still full) from the late 1800s / early 1900s - prohibition and anti-prohibition propaganda - various marketing tools from a number of distillers.

Afterwards we went to a bar/tavern that has been opened since 1779. Some say the Old Talbot Tavern is haunted - and we - NO JOKE - saw a half full pint glass slide off of the table next to us, right after the lady sitting in the seat that the glass landed in got up to go "ghost hunting" - the husband looked at us and said "did you see that?!?!". So that was pretty crazy... history has it that everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Jesse James spent time in the tavern/hotel.

We then headed to the Jim Beam Outpost (the visitor center at the Beam Distillery). We got there 15 minutes before they closed - so we ran in, looked around, bought a Booker's T-shirt and headed back. But not before we snapped a few pictures with Booker Noe himself.

Maker's Mark with a Bulleit Chaser

2008-05-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of distillery touring - and that took us to Loretto, KY - home of Maker's Mark. We showed up right at 10am and were greeted by Leah, who would turn out to be our tour guide. Before starting the tour we went and spent about 20 minutes chatting with Kevin Smith, the new Master Distiller at Maker's Mark. He was an assistant master distiller up until a couple months ago when Dave Pickerell left the company. Was able to tell us a lot of the history of the Samuels family and show us letters to and from Abe Lincoln - one of them from 1859 had Lincoln writing about how he didn't think he was going to run for President - of course a year later he became president. There was also the "dark side" where the Samuels family was married into the James family... as in Jesse James. Very interesting stuff... We talked about business, Maker's Mark special releases (besides special bottles - its not happening) and just the love of bourbon.

The tour was next and took us through the fermenting rooms, the distilling room, the barreling room, one of the rack houses (where the bourbon is stored) and finally the bottling line.

We ended the tour in their tasting room - trying 2 year old Maker's Mark, Maker's Mark (the stuff found in stores, which is an average of about 6 years) and 9 year old Maker's Mark. Due to the high wheat content of Maker's mash bill the 9 year old really wasn't that good, as wheat is a very delicate grain that is too easily overpowered by the oak. We then dipped a few bottles ourselves, got a few souviners and we were on our way!

Next stop was the Pendennis Club to have drinks with Mr. Tom Bulleit, of Bulleit Bourbon fame. We got there a couple of minutes before he did so we had a few minutes to look around this fantastic building. We didn't take pictures but follow the link above to check it out - its amazing.

Tom arrived with his son, Tucker a few minutes later and we took a tour of the place, going upstairs to see the ballroom, downstairs to see the main dining room (coat & tie required) - Tom also gave us the history of the place as his family has been members off and on for generations. We went to the Grill (the less formal area) to have a few drinks and talk. Seriously, was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Gave a good overview of the bourbon market and had nothing but nice things to say about his competitors. It's actually amazing, both Tom & Kevin Smith talked up their competition almost as much as they did their own brands... it is honestly one big family down here. Tom was saying that a few years back when Heaven Hill (I believe) had one of their rack houses burn down - within a few hours every distillery had called offering their services to ensure that a beat wouldn't be skipped. He also presented us with a few gifts: a Bulleit hat, some Bulleit glasses and a 1.75 of Bulleit bourbon that he was kind enough to sign. I am looking forward to October when he is coming out for WhiskeyFest - as, hopefully, we can hang out a little more.

After leaving Tom & Tucker - we drove over to the Maker's Mark Lounge - and had some appatizers and drinks. I had the Four Roses flight, as I have never tasted the brand before. There was their regular 80 proof Yellow Label, the Single Barrel and the Small batch. All were VERY good... We are back at the hotel now - relaxing and getting ready to watch a movie - so thats all for now.

Kevin & Shannon Go To White Castle

2008-05-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

We headed out this morning around 10am to drive down to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. On the way we saw a sign for White Castle. Having never been, but always hearing about the chain in random forms of media, etc. we decided to stop. The burgers were 57 cents each and were worth about that much. the meat was so scarce it looked like they put a beef spread across the bun (at least I hope it was beef). Nonetheless, I enjoyed the experience and plan on going at least one more time.

Back to the Shaker Village... Shakers are (or were is more accurate) a bunch of religious folk who decided that God was calling them to build furniture and live a life of celibacy. While the furniture part is cool, they were kind of doomed with the whole no sex thing... not only can you not bring new Shaker's into this world, I'm guessing converts were pretty hard to come by. Beginning in the 1770's they came to American - in the mid 1800's the Shakers set up shop in Kentucky and by the early 1900's they were a goner. But now they have people that dress up in the Shaker clothing and do a little recreation. The place is now an inn and a restaurant, along with being a historical monument. Lots of cool buildings, fun animals and good food...

Oh yeah - Craziest thing.... we also ran into Ron while we were down there....

Reminds me of Mark Twain

2008-05-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

So Saturday night after we got in we headed out to Ruby Tuesdays to eat dinner. I was excited because we always see the commercials at home but there isn't one close by (at least to my knowledge). The food was great, the beer was cold - all in all a really good meal. When then headed out to the local Liquor Barn, a liquor store chain that actually was owned by Safeway at one point, and was run by the guy that started BevMo. Tons of alcohol and bourbon paraphernalia, of course, since this is Bourbon Country. Got a few things there (well more than a few) and headed back to the hotel.

Sunday Morning we got up and headed to downtown Louisville - we walked around a while and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was crazy - the only open restaurants we saw were Hard Rock and TGI Friday's. Everything else was either not open yet, or closed on Sundays. Very different from CA - it seems that southerners actually enjoy taking a day to rest - weird!

After lunch we headed over to the shore of the Ohio River and boarded the Belle of Louisville. The steamboat used to not only ferry people back and forth, but was also used to ship bourbon to states up river. The trip was quite uneventful, which was just fine as I like to do nothing while I am on vacation. They had a bar on board and I ordered a Maker's Mint Julep - yet it wasn't the actual cocktail... who knew that Maker's Mark had a Mint Julep Liqueur???

Shannon and I relaxed on the boat, watched crazy kids run around, and enjoyed looking at the houses, etc. on the shore. The river police were stopping just about every little boat out on the river (my guess looking for drunken boaters on the holiday weekend). - it was fun to watch and hoping that something crazy would go down...

Today we are headed out to a few antique malls and down to the Shaker Village. Tomorrow the distillery tours start. Yahoo!

Howdy Y'all

2008-05-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to Louisville - woke up around 3:30 this morning, Charles picked us up at 5am, and we headed out!

The SFO to Chicago flight was loooong, especially with three of us in the row - however Chicago to Louisville was nice and quick and with only Shannon and I in the row I had plenty of legroom.

Tomorrow we are cruising the Ohio River (I think) on a Steamboat.

Oh yeah we got an Impala SS (i think it stand for Super Sweet) as our rental - not bad!!!

More later - I need to eat and go to bed...

Interesting Article on Vodka...

2008-05-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

World's Best Vodka? It's Anybody's Guess

Vodka's taste notes are so subtle that people make their choices based on bottle and label design, country of origin-and brand story
Source: BusinessWeek

May 23rd

by David Kiley

French wine and spirits giant Pernod Ricard (PERP) recently acquired Swedens's Vin & Spirits for $8.9 billion, the lion's share of which was for the previously state-owned company's Absolut vodka brand. Meantime, Diageo (DEO) paid $900 million for half the worldwide distribution of Dutch vodka Ketel One. And Stolichnaya is looking for a new distribution partner since Pernod will have to give up its rights to the Russian vodka after its Absolut deal clears. Stoli rights could go for a few billion easy. Grey Goose sold for $2.2 billion in 2004.

I admit that when I see prices for vodka range from $8 per bottle for the lowly Popov to $60 for Gold Flakes Supreme, my bull-hockey antennae go up. Vodka is, as it says on the label, a "neutral spirit." There's no aging involved. No oak barrels. But then I am reminded that good branding counts in this world. The brand imagery, billions of dollars, and hype surrounding Grey Goose, Absolut, Ketel One, and of course even Trump Vodka, have all created very definite preferences for something that is meant to be odorless, colorless, and tasteless. If Perrier and Dasani can do it, why not vodka?

With spirits, especially vodka (because there is so little to distinguish one product from another), the design of the bottle and label is crucially important, along with the country of origin and "brand story." Each vodka I tasted had its own brand story that helps deliver the product as much as a lemon wedge or olive.

A Waste of Money?

For all the money that is changing hands over vodka these days, and a recession in full force that might prompt some drinkers to reevaluate how much thy are spending on spirits, I thought it a good time to take a fresh dive into the crowded world of vodka over the course of a few weeks to see which ones really do taste better, and if drinkers of branded vodka are full of good and discriminating taste or wasting their money.

Before we get to the tasting results, a few anecdotes: A friend of mine, Charles, says he knows his vodka. A confirmed martini drinker who favors Absolut, I had him test his palate. First, I had Charles sample, in a blind taste test, Absolut, Popov, Ketel One, Smirnoff, and Vox. I served them frozen, which, to me, is the best way to drink straight vodka. When asked to pick out Absolut, Charles actually chose Smirnoff. Next, for the martini test. We made martinis the way Charles likes them, with a half-shot of dry vermouth and two olives over ice made from distilled water. In this test, we made the drinks with Skyy, Absolut, Smirnoff, and Belvedere. Again, Charles got it wrong, choosing the martini made with Ketel One as his Absolut martini.
I then assembled three regular vodka drinkers who order by brand when they order at a bar or restaurant. One is a confirmed Ketel One drinker, one orders Grey Goose, and another orders drinks made with Belvedere if the bar has it. His back-up brand is Absolut.

This group orders everything from martinis to vodka and tonics to vodka and cranberry juice.

A Lucky Guess

First I served frozen shots to the group in a blind test. Grey Goose, Absolut, Belevedere, Ketel One, and Popov. One, the Ketel One drinker, successfully picked his brand out of the pack, but only after considerable angst and anguish, so much so that I made the group repeat the exercise. It seemed like he guessed and got lucky. In the second pass, none successfully picked their brand.
Next up was one-to-one mixtures of vodka and cranberry. To be cute, I made all the drinks with Popov. I told the panel that we hadn't changed the lineup of vodka brands.
"I like that," said one, who asked the brand of cranberry juice. By now, the panel of drinkers who thought themselves discerning imbibers were getting antsy, as though they were contestants on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader and couldn't remember which planet is closest to the sun or who Ronald Reagan's Vice-President was.

Looking at the tasting cards of the group, it was plain to see they were guessing. There were a couple of right answers, but no one in this round said, "I think these are all the same."

Pure and Clear

It isn't surprising to find such results in a vodka taste test. The goal of vodka distilling, according to the spirits executives and distillers I have spoken with over the years, is to come up with a spirit that is as pure and clear as possible. The taste notes of vodkas can be so slight and subtle, most often depending on the grain used, and the number of times the spirit is distilled, that they really only exist when drunk straight with purified ice, at room temperature, served straight up or frozen straight up. Having drunk every brand of vodka we tested over the course of a few weeks, I can honestly say that drinking it frozen is by far the most pleasant way to drink straight vodka. In this, the Russians are right.

The other conclusion I drew was that when it comes to mixing vodka with fruit juice, or unpurified ice, you might as well as save your money and keep a bottle of Popov around. After mixing with fruit juice, muddled mint, simple syrup, or tap-water ice, the slight subtleties of the vodka in these concoctions go out the window faster than the promise of a contractor who says he'll come to your house every day to work until the job is done.

Its all coming together...

2008-05-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well I've been on the Beer desk for three weeks now. I am getting the hang out it, and wondering how I can make it a little more challenging. I currently manage the Vons (Socal), Texas and Portland divisions. I am still learning about who owns what, who the contact person is, etc. The whole three tier system (Supplier-Distributor-Retailer) is much different than Spirits... In California we had two major distributors that had about 97% of the business. For beer there are 70+ distributors in California. The distributors are constantly buying each other, consolidating, makes things a little tricky when it comes to the correct authorizations for each store.

We leave for Kentucky this coming Saturday. We are quite excited - we have a load of distilleries ready to give us tours. It will be exciting to pick the brains of the master distillers... I just need to come up with some questions! Apparently there are also some abandoned distilleries that are in disrepair, but look just amazing in the open fields of Kentucky - I'm excited to see those as well...
Here is a little breakdown of the schedule so far:

Saturday: Arrive in Louisville (prounounced loo-uh-vul, from what I hear...or read)

Sunday: Jim Beam Outpost and exploring Louisville

Monday: The Shaker Village

Tuesday: Maker's Mark

Wednesday: Heaven Hill

Thursday: Buffalo Trace & Woodford Reserve

Friday: Wild Turkey & Four Roses

Saturday: Fly home

Quite a busy trip but we are ready... hopefully I'm not bourbon-sick when we get back...

Oh yeah - check this out (it would make a good birthday present for me - if you can find where to buy them...). Tyler sent this to me - its bourbon barrel furniture made by a company named Uhuru - its their Kupe line...

Beer

2008-04-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last "official" day working on the Spirits team at Safeway (work will be done on Sat & Sun as well). Effective Monday, I will be on the Beer team. I'm excited to learn a new part of the alcohol industry (I was in Wine first, the Spirits, and now Beer - its like a hat trick!) - and am excited at some of the potential this role will have....

So go to Safeway and purchase a nice bottle of scotch for old times sake - and chase it with a six pack of your favorite beer.

Christian Idol?

2008-04-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

What is up with "Shout to the Lord" being on American Idol - They've been dropping Jesus' name like Benny Hinn lately - this is just bizarre - the biggest show in American singing worship songs...

It's all coming together

2008-04-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

Well the Kentucky trip is coming together...

We have tours being set up at Heaven Hill, Labrot & Graham (Woodford Reserve) and Jack Daniels. Maker's Mark is ready to go, and will be able to sit down with Bill Samuels (President & CEO) and Dave Pickerell (Master Distiller). Unfortunately the Jim Beam distillery is closed the week we will be down there - d'oh! We will be able to go and do a self guided tour on Sunday, but as far as getting to hang out with Fred Noe... its a Noe.. er... no go.

I have an interview at Safeway on Thursday for a Category Manager job... it will pay about $15,000 more than I make now...so that would be AWESOME - however I will have to leave the spirits team, which will be very painful - ouch!

Hawking the green fairy: Will absinthe outlive its 15 minutes?

2008-03-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

A nice little article about Absinthe, with a good portion on the folks out at St. George Spirits...

Enjoy!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/21/WI75VK3LV.DTL

Kentucky Fried Kevin

2008-03-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the tickets have been bought, the hotel room paid for and the rental car reserved . In approximately 2 months Shannon and I will be on our way to Kentucky! A week long trip that will be filled with Bourbon distilleries (for me) and antique stores (for her). It will be our first real vacation in about 3 years so we are really excited.

Woo!

Chili

2008-03-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well today was the Chili Cook-off at church, and for the second year in a row I made my "Kevin's Irish Chili". And though a fan favorite, and did not win.... but I did get a couple requests for the recipe so here we go... Now understand that I don't measure anything so there will be almost no exact quantities listed here.... If anyone does make the chili and has any ideas or tries anything new I would love to taste it or at least hear how it came out.

1st thing I did was take about a pound and a half of chuck steaks and cut them up into about inch cubes. I threw the beef it into some tupperware andded a bottle of Guinness and about 2 ounces of Jameson Irish Whiskey. I then added a little chili powder, cyanne powder, onion powder and garlic powder. mixed it all up and let it sit for around 2 hours.

On to the vegetables. I diced up 1 yellow onion, 1 green pepper, 4 stalks of celery, 4 cloves of garlic and a handful of baby carrots. I then took out a couple handfuls of the vegetables set them aside and sauted the rest with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the onions were starting to brown and the rest of the vegetables were getting soft I dumped them in the crock pot (which was on High). Then the couple handfuls of veggies went back into the pan with a little more olive oil and then I added the beef (very just a little of the marinade). As the meat cooked I added a can of pinto beans and a half can of black beans, followed by 12 oz of diced tomatos and about 12 oz of tomato sauce and stirred it all up. As far as spices go I added cumin, chili powder, cyanne powder, onion powder and garlic powder.

I let the meat cook to where it was on the very rare side and then added it to the crock pot. I then topped off the the crock pot with a bottle of Guinness and another couple ounces of Jameson. I let everything cook for about 10 hours, about 5 hours on high, 5 on low. At the end of the day I threw it in the fridge and let it sit overnight.

The next day I got up and dumped the crock pot into a large pot and put it on the stove to heat it up quickly. In another pan I cooked about 6 strips of bacon until they were crispy then cut them it to small pieces. I dumped the majority of the bacon grease out, but left a little and threw in a couple handfulls of diced potatoes seasoned with a little chili powder, cyanne powder and salt and pepper. While waiting for the potatos to brown I added the bacon to the pot and stirred it in. Once the potatos were browned and fork-tender I added them to the pot as well and gave it another stir.

I put the chili back into the crock pot, shreaded a small block of aged Irish cheddar cheese and stirred it into the chili. I let the cheese melt and gave it another stir and the tasted it to see if it needed more spices. For my taste it did so I added a little more chili powder and cumin and let it cook for another 2 hours. After that its ready to eat!

I know this is kind of hard to read so I apologize. If you have any questions please ask!

Jack Daniel's Master Distiller to Retire

2008-03-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

Go to the Tri-Valley Whiskey Society blog to read about the retirement of one of the Alochol Indutry greats... http://t-vws.blogspot.com/

$200

2008-03-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well tickets to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (the musicians from Once) went on sale this morning... and by 10:30, when I logged on to buy some, they were completely sold out. Tickets are now going on eBay for $200, nearly a 500% markup. Ouch... guess I'll have to watch the movie until they come around again.

I'm addicited to a poker tournament that I will have a hell of a time ever winning. Its costs $3.30 to play and you get $3000 in chips with levels going up every minutes. 90 players and the top 9 pay. I've made it to 9th before, but thats it. Since the blinds go so quickly a lot of luck plays into it.

I have my review tomorrow - I think it will be pretty good... I'm just starting to wonder what my next step is. The next position at Safeway is Category Manager and would be about a $12,000 raise would be nice, but there is no guarentee that I would stay in the alcohol department, let alone Spirits - which is where I see my career path going. So I need to do a lot of praying and thinking...

I weighed myself again this morning and was down to 311 lbs. That's another 2 lbs down! Going forward Sunday will be in my weigh-in day which will be tough, as the weekends are when its a little more tempting to cheat. Oh well, it will just force me to be good.

Take This Fat and Shove It!

2008-02-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Blech - its been a crazy morning at work - I'm sick of spending my time cleaning up messes made by other departments...

I weighed myself this morning - down to 313 lbs - thats a loss of 7 LBS!!!

Of course the first few weeks are the easiest, but still whatever I'm doing its working!

In the words of Whitesnake, "Here I go again on my own"

2008-02-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I've started school again... my class is Global Business Strategies. I can't wait to be done and have both my Business Management degree and my Business Marketing degree...

I will be weighing myself tomorrow... I'm not overly optimistic, but I have been eating a lot more healthy as well as hitting the gym (well only once...). Only time will tell.

Once Wins!

2008-02-24T21:24:00.001-08:00

Shannon and I celebrated Oscar night with Charlie, Sarah Burns & Chris Pletcher. We all sat back, ate pizza, had a drink or two and watched Jon Stewart host the most enjoyable Acadamy Awards since David Letterman hosted. The best part of the night was when Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova took home the Oscar for best song with "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once (probably my favorite movie of the year). No Country For Old Men snagged three awards (best picture, best director and best supporting actor) which was no surprise as it deserved the awards. I was also happy with Diablo Cody's win for best screenoplay for Juno and Daniel Day-Lewis's win for best actor in There Will be Blood. I haven't seen the movie yet but he is such a bad-ass that I couldn't imagine anyone else winning. Also, Seth Rogan & Jonah Hill as presenters was amazing.

Weigh In

2008-02-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Well, the beginning weigh in is 320lbs.

In the words of some rapper, its time to "drop it like it's hot!"

Bad News and Good Times

2008-02-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back I went to Kaiser for a cold, and found out that according to the ADA or Goverment Medical group or whoever the hell establishes medical guidelines that I was morbidly obese (based on my BMI) and that my blood pressure is high. Fantastic!

So I'm going into super healthy mode, and try make myself healthier and skinnier. I will let the universe help keep my accountable by posting my weekly weight in my blog, which will keep my at it because I will feel like a loser if I'm posting constant gains.

Blech!

On to other, and definitely better news.... Shannon and I took this weekend as a chance to get away for a while. Around 10am on Saturday we jumped in the car and headed down the PCH - our final destination being San Luis Obispo. The 101 would have been quicker but driving along the coast provides much better scenery. About an hour past Monterey we pulled off to the side of the road and ran around the beach for a while (I was ever so careful not to get sand in my shoes as sand is in my top five hated things).

After wearing our out of shape bodies out, we jumped back in the car and finished the drive to San Luis. We were staying in the Madonna Inn, which is a crazy hotel (check it out at www.madonnainn.com). As you can see from the pictures our room (named Love Birds) was very green.

Woodstock's Pizza was our first stop in our trek to downtown SLO. Afterwards we walked around for a while then headed back to the hotel to hit up the hotel bar, which according to the info in the room, was fantastic. The info was wrong, the bar was filled with old people, didn't have a great selection. Not wanting to wait around for a seat in a 2nd class bar (the only 2nd class thing about the hotel) we walked over to the grocery store and bought some vodka and cranberry juice along with a variety of snacks.

The next morning we went back to SLO to eat breakfast at F. McLintocks, walk around for a while longer and then headed to Pismo Beach. Shannon has always wanted to eat at the Splash Cafe, as I have talked about countless times during the five years I've known her.

Upon arriving and (finally) finding a parking spot, we headed over to get some of the famous clam chowder breadbowls. However, we saw the line wrapping around the building, and while this is a common occurance, neither of us were that hungry and figured the line would be shorter after about an hour. We walked around the shops, walked out on the peer, watched people fish (and not catch a thing) all the time waiting for the line to die down and for our stomachs to start talking to us.

Once our stomachs started, we headed back, but unfortunately the line was still massive but we figured "oh well" and got in the line. Nearly an hour later we had the breadbowls and were able to dig in - and MAN! they were good. Shortly after finishing our late lunch, we jumped back in the car to head home. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we can get away for a couple days....

McCain May Get The Electoral Vote, But Huckabee Scores My Popluar Vote

2008-02-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

As far as the Republican candidates go, McCain may be the front runner and undoubtedly the more experienced choice, but dammit man there is something about governors from Arkansas that makes them so personable. Bill Clinton, while a liar and cheater, seems like he'd be a great guy to throw a few beers back with... and Mike Huckabee is the same way. From the Chuck Norris campaign ad, to his appearance on the Colbert Report (thanks D-Bo for the link) - its obvious that he has a great sense of humor.

In other news, Shannon and I are headed down to San Luis Obispo this weekend, and I'm excited - its been a loooooong time since I've been down there... it will be interesting to see if its still the way I remember.

Diageo to sell Ketel One in $900 million deal

2008-02-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

My (spirits) world got rocked today at about 4pm when I learned that Ketel One is now going to be a Diageo brand...

The Nolet family (which owns Ketel One) and Diageo are forming a company and Diageo is paying $900,000,000 to be the exclusive worldwide distributor.

Usually we hear rumblings of upcoming sales, etc. but this one was just out of the blue...

Ketel One has always been the "little brand that could", only having two products, Ketel One U.S. and is pretty darn tatsy in my opinion. Now they are part of the biggest spirits company in the world. Part of me is worried that Ketel will lose the individiual feel it has, but on the other hand Diageo obviously knows what they are doing when it comes to marketing...

It will be interesting to watch for sure. Here's hoping that the Ketel One employees either retain their jobs or find something quickly.

It looks like Diageo decided not go for Absolut, which is being auctioned off by the Swedish Government, for six to seven billion dollars. I think its a good move - go for Ketel which still has a lot of room to grow, and only spend about 1/7th of what you would have on Absolut.

Now i'm interested to see who will get Absolut; Foturne Brands (Jim Beam), Pernod-Ricard (Kahlua) and Bacardi are all in the running....

THROW UP THE HORNS!!!!

2008-02-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

LIVING SACRIFICE has returned. Founding members Bruce Fitzhugh (Vocals / Guitar) and Lance Garvin (Drums) have reunited with Rocky Gray (lead guitar) and Arthur Green (bass). The band will be on tour this summer and we are already writing material for our brand new album, which will be released in 2008.

Word is they are touring with Demon Hunter and The Famine...

This is the best music news I've heard in a long time.

The Tri-Valley Whiskey Society Kick Off

2008-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

So last night we had the first meeting of the Tri-Valley Whiskey Society - had a great turnout - and we are all excited for the next one... head over to www.t-vws.blogspot.com if you are interested in joining us! We had 12 people show up, and blind tastings of Bulleit, Woodford Reserve, Maker's Mark & Knob Creek (all bourbons). Ron nailed the exact order - good job Ronnie!

Today is the Super Bowl and it should be a good time!

And another one's gone....

2008-01-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well Heath Ledger is the latest celebrity to die, presumably to a drug overdose... Its weird, sad and all a little surreal... at least (the speculation is that) he'll go out on a career highnote... Rest in Peace.

Save Your Applause for the End

2008-01-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Shannon found this old video when googling my name... turns out its one of Dan Bowen's from quite a few years ago...

You can see the greatness pouring out of me... I present Snow Monkey.

(by the way the word applause reminds me of apple sauce)

Bloodlust Filled Eyes

2008-01-15T20:10:00.002-08:00

Today I saw the nastiest, most gruesome, digusting traffic accident ever. Despite the sheer horror of the scene my bloodlust filled eyes could not be torn away. I witnessed every moment while being repulsed yet completely drawn in. My nausea was only drowned out by my anxiousness to see what happened next. Yes children, the next season of American Idol has begun....

I can't stand the show yet Shannon watches it so I sit hear and am drawn into it's awfulness. I find myself laughing at the poor people that really think they can sing, and amazed by those people that have fantastic voices.

Every season I am more convinced that myself and millions of other people are going to hell (for laughing at the terrible people and contributing to a show that is the king of reality TV).

Jesus please forgive me.

Update: The "if she was Columbo I'd Peter Faulk her" made the entire two hours worth watching.

Another Weekend Has Passed

2008-01-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, its Monday night. Another weekend had passed, and it passed much to quickly. Friday night was poker night - had 13 people over, and 11 players... tournament lasted a good long while... I took third thanks to some fantastic (lucky) double ups (thanks Keith).

Saturday, my parents and Charlie came over to celebrate Shannon and my 49 month anniversary. Shannon wasn't feeling great so we ended up bringing in Chinese food and just hanging out - good times.

On Sunday we went to church, then grocery shopping, and then got the house clean to prepare for the evening. A gathering of 5 people soon grew to around a dozen... it was a blast. We got a giant (and I mean GIANT) pizza from New York Pizza in Dublin, made some drinks and hung out with the Fosters, the Bowens, Charles, Sarah & Alyssa.

This morning I woke up and wasn't feeling good - I knew a cold was going around, and with everything going on this weekend, my defenses must have weakened. No good.

In other news, I have gotten just about enough $$$ for my next tattoo.... I'm going for a dagger that will go on my inner arm and run from about my armpit down to my elbow. There will be a banner swirling around the dagger with the line "True love is to die for" from the Strongarm song Advent of a Miracle. I will probably get some blue stars in the background that will tie in the dagger and the angel & heart.

Chuck Norris doesn't endorse, he tells America how it's gonna be

2008-01-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than eating a hot dog sandwich, drinking an entire bottle of wine and seeing Chuck Norris and his perfect teeth on TV. Huckabee won Iowa for the Republicans.... Obama took it for the Dems, with Hillary in a surprising 3rd.... crazy...

A Few Top Fives to Reminisce and to Kick Off the New Year

2008-01-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

A few top 5 lists (ranking is in no particular order)

Top 5 Good 2007 Things:

1. I got promoted at work
2. We moved to a bigger apartment.
3. WhiskeyFest 2007 w/ Josh
4. 4th Anniversary with Shannon at Absinthe
5. The Halloween Party

Top 5 Bad 2007 Things

1. Work is nuts
2. School
3. Tens of thousands of people dying in Iraq
4. Angels & Airwaves at Not So Silent Night
5. Baseball & Steroids

Top 5 things to look forward to in 2008

1. Electing a new president - We've given Bush 2 chances to get it right and he just continues to sink lower and lower... Huckabee/McCain vs. Clinton/Obama - its throwdown time!
2. Shannon getting promoted.
3. Me getting promoted
4. Finishing school (FINALLY!)
5. The 2008 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Whiskeys

Top 5 Movies of 2007:

1. Once - If you haven't seen it yet, see it and buy the soundtrack.
2. Zodiac - Thriller of the year.
3. Knocked Up - I've been a fan of Aptow since Freaks & Geeks, and his stuff is only getting better.
4. Juno - With Michael Cera being as awkward as ever and phrases like "pork swords" I thought this movie was fantastic.
5. One I haven't seen yet (there are a ton I haven't seen....)

Top Five Funny Movies of 2007:

1. Knocked Up - See Above.
2. Superbad - Another Aptow Project - "McLovin" was great and all but Jonah Hill stole this one for me.
3. Hot Rod - I heard this movie was terrible, whoever said that should be shot. I was dying from laughter through-out this movie. Cool Beans.
4. Hot Fuzz - From the same guys as Shawn of the Dead. So Good.
5. Hairspray - Nothing funnier than big ol' chubby girls jumping around smacking their ass. Plus you just can't beat John Travolta (in drag) and Christopher Walken singing love songs to each other.

Top 5 Disappointing Movies of 2007

1. No Country For Old Men: This seems to be on everyone's top 10 movie lists... I don't get it. I mean it was an ok movie. But from the Coen Brothers, COME ON! That wasn't a Coen Brothers movie and that is what disappointed me.
2. Bourne Ultimatum: Been there, done that. Matt Damon is a bad ass though....
3. Simpsons Movie: Don't get me wrong, upon first viewing of this movie it was fantastic. But subsequent viewings were only good for the highlights (spider-pig, and ummm... thats about it). Last time I watched it I fell asleep fairly quickly...
4. Transformers: Yeah the transformers were cool... but other than that - meh.
5. Tie - Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbeans 3 - I didn't see either of these movies but I have not talked to a single person that has liked them. 3rd time is not a charm.

Top 5 Movies of 2007 I Still Need to See:

1. Walk Hard - Aptow again... gotta be good
2. There Will Be Blood - PTA & Daniel Day-Lewis. Can't beat that.
3. The Kingdom
4. Michael Clayton
5. American Gangster

Good Movie

2007-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Go rent the movie Once. Its really good and has great music... do it!

Adventures of Absinthe(s) or To Have and Have Not

2007-12-22T19:21:00.001-08:00

Absinthe Story 1 (To Have)

Recently Shannon and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We decided to try a new (to us) place in SF and got reservations at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar. They are legendary for the drinks (which scores major points in our books). The bartenders there have even put out their own book, Art of the Bar (a great cocktail/history book if you are into that sort of thing). For drinks I got their Uptown Manhattan and Shannon got the Citron Lemonade. Drinks were, as expected, fantastic. We got a few appetizers that were great and for the main course Shannon got the free range chicken and I, feeling quite adventerous, went for the braised beef cheeks... thats right, actual cow cheeks... they were fantastic, but ever so often I had to keep from gagging when I thought about that I was chewing on a bovine cheek... All in all, we had a great time, and would probably go back, but just for drinks, as the menu is quite spendy...

Absinthe Story 2 (Have Not)

If you don't know what Absinthe is go look it up on wikipedia - there is a fascinating story behind this liqueur. This year Absinthe was legalized to be sold /produced in the U.S. after 95 years of being outlawed. St. George Spirits, located in Alameda, became the first distillery to make and sell the spirit in the U.S. in nearly a century when it sold its first bottle on Dec. 3rd. Yesterday, Friday the 21st, the product was put on sale to the public. With only 3,600 bottles made in the first run, and 1,800 of those going to restaurants & bars, only 1,800 were left for the distillery to sell from their shop. Wanting to snatch up one of these bottles before they were gone, Shannon and I headed out there this afternoon... as we pulled in to the parking lot, a sign greeted us stating "ABSINTHE IS SOLD OUT" - turns out they sold all 1,800 bottles on Friday. D'oh! I haven't lost hope though, I'm going to see if any of my connections can come through....

By the way, if you haven't been to the St. George Distillery - you definitely need to go check it out! They do a tour on Saturdays and Sundays and have tastings for around $10 where you get to try their brandies, their whiskey and the best of all, the Hangar One vodkas.... Let me know if you are interested in going to check it out... I'm always down to go out there.

Merry Christmas and (to Tyler) Happy Holidays

Not So Silent Night 2007

2007-12-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

Went to Live 105's Not So Silent Night show last night with Shannon, Keith & Heather....

Some local band opened up - we caught their last song.... meh

Paramore was next up - probably the most impressive set of the night - tons of energy and man that girl has a good voice... Also the bassist did a flip cartwheel (but no hands!) thingy - I know tons of bands do junk like that but its always impressive (at least to me)

Spoon was next - A great set, but the band didn't really fit the line up - it seems they got frustrated at the end, they hardly talked to the crowd - played their last song, the singer slammed the mike on the ground and left the stage without saying a word. Maybe thats just their act though - who knows

Angels and Airwaves were up next and Tom DeLonge continued to prove that he is nothing more than an egotistical douche. The sound was messed up for the first two songs... once they got the sound right I wished it was still messed up due to the horrific nature of DeLonge's non-ProTooled voice. But the 10 minutes of talking he did (during a 30 minute set) made me long for his singing (and prancing around on stage).... all he did was rip on Blink 182, by saying "his old band" meant nothing, but "my...er our new band" means everything. Then he shares a story about how a couple of injured Iraq veterans saw him at an airport and told him how much AvA means to them. To bad the story didn't come off as touching... they ended up having to clear out the first 5 rows of people to make room for his ego after that story. Also I could swear that Tom and the girl from Paramore were wearing the same pair of tight black jeans...

Jimmy Eat World was obviously the headliner, despite Modest Mouse playing after them (reminds me of LA shows). They sounded really tight, like they've been a band for 15 years (oh wait...) and was quite a contrast to AvA. They played stuff from Clarity forward, most of the songs being off Bleed American/Jimmy Eat World.

We didn't get to see Modest Mouse because my good friend Keith wasn't feeling to hot... so we called it a night.

Christmas Beer

2007-12-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

So its now Dec 2nd, and time for another round of Booze & Shoes* Money. With $50 in my pocket I decided that it was time to pick up some Christmas beers. The first beer I came across Allagash Curieux. I had first heard about this beer on the show After Hours with Daniel - it is an ale that is aged for 8 weeks in bourbon casks (barrels). At $15 for a 750-ml bottle, it better be good! Also picked up some of Rouge's Santa's Private Reserve Ale, Lagunitas' Cappuccino Stout, Avery's Old Jubilation Ale and a selection of Ridgeway's "Bad Elf" brews. I look forward to opening these up and giving them a try... especially the Curieux. Yay Beer!