Friday Bullets For You And You And You And You…

…and especially for you, little Jimmy.

We stayed up again for a speech. I like speeches so I am something of a sucker but I thought there was just the right measure of menace and warning to the Republican party that my expectation that he would govern as an unfettered independent remains in place. I seem to have liked it more that Tiger but maybe because McCain spoke more to a person like me (internationally transposed, of course) than the party faithful. I liked this: “Let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second crowd: change is coming.” Me first? Sounds like an attack on neo-cons and libertarians to me.

  • I Once Knew Someone Now Famous Update: I dimly recall taking civil procedure at 8:30 am on Monday or some other ungodly hour from Thomas Cromwell in 1989. I paid more attention to the fall of the Berlin Wall that year, however, than when to bring a third party action (know what I mean…nudge, nudge) or when to garnish (right before dinner is served, as I recollect). Wonder what grade I received. He must have done better as he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada today.
  • Up here, Dion seems to be getting all snippy. Will this help given this?
  • Earth to Fox News: you are the mainstream media, too.
  • Nice touch delivering right to Poti. What else is on board?
  • I tried the new browser Chrome from Lord Goog and the Googleplexians – but I can’t run it on my four year old computer at home! Drag. It is good. Like the recent tabs closed as well as the favorites selection when you open a new tab. Egghead debate points here.
  • One good reason to be thankful for blogs.
  • So far no “rats flee sinking ship” comments that I know of. Maybe Emerson wants to try as an NDP now but why, Monty, why? What’s that…because you never got what you deserved? Errr…because you want to start a western party that actually cares about about reforming Canadian politics? Makes sense.
  • Just in case you were wondering, Morton sucks so far.

Surely that is enough. Surely your incessant demands for more bullet points has an end, a satiation point.

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The Somewhat Surprising Mrs. Palin

I have admitted I have a slight crush but am more amazed by the strength of anger focused on Mrs. Palin from some Democrats and also perhaps the degree of adoration by certain Republicans. There is a very good article in The New York Times – that bastion of leftiest lies – entitled “The Unusual Challenges Palin Faced in Alaska” that points out that the Governorship there is never a cakewalk and that her two years were more active than most.

I don’t need to hear the lipstick and bulldog joke again, however. We should not be in a position where her family, gender, age or decision to work in leadership become questions. We do not question absentee Dads ever and she has no plan to be an absentee. Her speech was more than polished – it balanced that somewhat embarassing effort by Rudy Giuliani. I have a sense (avoiding the now worn out word “hope”) that she will be able to speak to specifics – perhaps even demand them – in the campaign. That would be good. I have a sense that the Vice-Presidential debate may be more interesting than the senior circuit’s one.

But she has flip-flopped on the Bridge to Nowhere, lives (like Canadian conservatives) with the dillusionary effects of resource based surpluses, has a love hate relationship with earmarks and has to decide whether she is rejecting or embracing the apparently gushingly offered title of “American’s Sweetheart”. I hope she rejectes it and the accompanying cloy. I hope this is about capability as much as experience. But having hope about politics is a bit of a mug’s game.

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29 Yards At 45 Years

 

cfl3It was seeing photos from last year that got me going – 22,545 sit-ups since 23 September 2007 plus a whole bunch of other stuff. Yet, as far as I can tell, I probably have not changed my outline all that much. Hmmm. Could it be the beer? Really? Well, I suppose I might as well have started writing “A Good Cheesecake and Lard Pastry Blog”. Fortunately, within the walrus is the cheetah – my new mantra – that is what the blood test say…honest. So even though I could not get last year’s 30 yarder, there is plenty of time in 2008 to improve on the 29 yard field goal of today. I am well placed for a break through. I see it all now.

How Does Gustav Affect The Race?

I know this is grim especially if this is Katrina II, but is it possible that the response to Gustav that may hit New Orleans this week could be a defining moment in the Presidential election? Apparently George Bush has canceled his trip to the Republican convention. At what point does the convention get canceled? Here are a few scenarios:

  • Gustav misses a major center or fails to, say, cause major damage even with a direct NOLA strike: no issue and everyone sighs in relief.
  • Gustav causes levee breach, flooding but no huge losses and convention continues: response has to be perfect but that may only mean reduction in presence of convention which, given the Palin announcement, may be fine with McCain – the opportunity to avoid association with the party may help.
  • Gustav causes levee breach, flooding but no huge losses and convention canceled mid-week: this is a tricky one as there could be over reaction. Tension over the idea that there was nothing the convention attendees could do anyway.
  • Gustav causes levee breach, flooding and things get really serious: Can the convention continue? And any peep by anyone including the Democrats becomes a huge negative. The balance of the election campaign is entirely taken up with the response. Confusion as the three leader situation – Bush, McCain, Obama – leads to an expectation that each of the three lead…somehow.

Any other possibilities? It is easy to imagine how to botch things but what is the response that a candidate can make to a crisis that honestly elevates their esteem in the public mind? Ever since Hurricane Juan hit Halifax I have been conscious of that late summer warm shore water pop a storm can get. Usually, the worst of consequences means that nothing else really matters – except maybe a Presidential election.

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Massachusetts: St. Hubbins Abbey, High and Mighty Beer, Holyoke

sha1Excellent. A Spinal Tap reference in a well-priced Belgian-style ale, named for the patron saint of quality footwear. The brewery’s website is but a page – refreshingly Tap-tastic as well. The brewery apparently uses the equipment at fellow Holyokarians at Paper City, whose mixed 12 packI reviewed three summers ago…when I was but a pup.

This ale pours an attractive orange amber with a cream head that resolves to frothy rim and foam. A light citrus scent is followed by a orange peel nutmeg and black pepper spiced wash of soft water fruited maltiness. Perhaps nutty but that’s mixed up with some black tea astringency right in the middle of all the $6.75 for a bomber at Tully’s of Wells. Great value and, at 6.2%, not a skull crusher. I envy myself having one in hand, I really do. BAers give respect…but not to eleven or anything.

Johnny On Coco

Last night was another Red Sox victory over the Yankees and something of a hint how they may actually play into October. The nibling grinding pitcher Byrd held them at bay with his masterful 88 mph “fast”ball. The guy who never could replace Manny got 4 RBIs. This quote is from the game before but it stands, too:

“Coco Crisp’s single really led to three runs,” an admiring Damon said. “He was able to steal second and score on an infield single. That’s pretty amazing, how a string of three runs happened when Coco Crisp came to bat.”

I don’t know if that all beats ry’s Angels – can anyone truly beat the team that has Vladimir Guerrero? I still don’t know what to think about the Ray o’ Satan. I understand there are still lines on their stadium’s roof which designate which ball is a home run or a triple when it gets up there hitting the low roof. Do you really want a World Series won with a home run whacked into a ceiling?

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Did Franklin Know That Much About Beer Goggles?

I doubt not that moderate Drinking has been improv’d for the Diffusion of Knowledge among the ingenious Part of Mankind…drinking does not improve our Faculties, but it enables us to use them.

Benjamin Franklin, Silence Dogood, No. 12, 1722.

Franklin was 16 or 17 when he wrote that under a pseudonym. Smart kid. You know, quoting Franklin on beer can be dangerous stuff but, in this case, you know that is it true because you can read it for yourself on the internet. When I read that passage above in the introduction of Salinger’s book, I thought not about Franklin or his sayings but beer goggles. They were in the news lately, as this piece from CTV reminds us:

Anyone looking for a mate in a bar, take note: Beer goggles really do make people appear more attractive, British researchers say. Scientists at the University of Bristol found that study subjects who consumed alcohol considered people to be about 10 per cent more attractive than did people who did not consume alcohol…Both the male and female subjects not only found members of the opposite sex more attractive, they also found members of the same gender more attractive, too…The researchers also found that men deemed women to be more attractive for up to 24 hours after they consumed alcohol.

See, it’s that last bit that Franklin’s words mirrored – the continuing effect of the alcohol upon the faculty of the mind, an effect that lasted long after the alcohol ceased to exist in the body. Does the moderate drinker see the world through sunnier lenses generally? I wonder. I have had occasion by times to abstain for days on end – hard as it is to imagine – and it is in those times when find my imagination a little less vital, the roses passed sometimes unnoticed. Those are sad times. Pete Brown wrote the other day, by contrast, about how an introduction to craft beer opening the doors of perception to a whole new way of thinking about drink…but maybe it goes further than that, as Pete himself may be implying in his nod to good old Billy Blake, Franklin’s junior by half a century, who wrote:

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.

Isn’t that what the wee dram (or whatever the scientists of Bristol gave their human guinea pigs) did? Did it not cleanse the mind and reveal beauty? Is that no what Franklin saw when he was but a lad?

Norman Was By

Other than a friend’s parent when I was a kid and the Undertone’s song “There Goes Norman”, I have little contact with Normans. Norman, the internet service provider tech, however expanded the Normy part of my world by 50% yesterday when he was over to check the issues with our high speed. He showed me all the weird wiring in our house installed by the last owners, he rigged us up to a more powerful line in the next street over…he gave me his work cell phone number. Later today – on Norman’s direction – a switch should be thrown that allows us the most powerful access to the information super highway that has been known to mankind. Or at least the level of serivce I have been paying for for two years.

I didn’t tell him we had been checking out the competition but if he pulls this off I am sticking with Bell because that means sticking with Norman.

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Maine: Novare Res, Off Of Exchange Street, Portland

While in Maine, I headed out one night with pals who lived there to find a new Belgian beer bar that I had heard plenty about – Novare Res. We had a bit of trouble finding the place at night as it sits in a mid block courtyard near the corner of Exchange and Middle Streets in the old port part of town but once we found the right alley we were in for a treat. Set up with two main sections, a beer celler as well as a courtyard beer garden, Novare Res provides a layout that will work on a stinking hot Saturday afternoon or a stormy winter night. Inside, it’s brick with new Ikea-esque pale pine laminate on the benches and tabletops. Very comfortable.

There is a solid draft line up, from which I picked a Monk’s Flemish as well as a Bernardus 12 for one of the company. The food selection is limited to cold cuts and cheese plates but that was fine with me – though the lack of Belgian fies gave a moment’s concern. This approach must help keep costs down, however, as the real feature is how reasonably priced everything is. Our waiter was friendly, interested in knowing what we knew about beer and a keener herself – I got to explain that “oudbeitje” sounds a lot like “ode bitchie” but with less bite and a bit of a loopy “yee” sound at the end. Prices? I will have to check my receipt, still out in the car, but I think a full measure of Bernardus 12 was $7.49. The De Ranke XX we split was close in price to what I would expect to pay at a retail bottle shop like Tully’s. Verdict? Go.

Maine Update #1: Poor Hans – Nothing To Read

I feel badly for Hans. I even drove near Heuvleton, NY on the way here so the whole family could wave at the ancestral home of Hans. But I have to get to the South Portland library to post this week, it was closed yesterday and, frankly, there is sea life to consume instead of blogging. Notes so far:

  • Hotels with no free breakfast are not good. I had to hunt for groceries at 10 pm on Friday instead of waking up to someone else’s work of making me faux scrabled eggs and “breakfast links.” Oddly, Double Tree with no breakfast is part of the same hotel group as the much preferred, feast o’breakfasting (yet cheaper) Homestead Suites.
  • The smoked chowder at 3 Dollar Dooies is still great.
  • Get to the South Portland Library early as there is already only one computer free. People do not whisper here, either, which is good. No library nazis.
  • Gas is not as expensive here as in NY state. We went from 4.09 a gallon upstate to 3.69 here.
  • Renting a cottage in a normal neighbourhood is a great thing. My neighbour came over to help with the garbage. My kids are among families with kids. I walk to ice cream.
  • I am going to kick the second annual 35 yard field goal in America as part of my continuing “Glory Years” project – this time with a 19.99 NFL sized Wilson. Last year was celebrated in Ithaca NY with a CFL ball. When I kick my 35 yard kick, my kids will shout “you still got it, Dad” because I am going to give them ice cream if they do.

That is it for now. The Olympics are on the radar but not too much. Nice to see Canada got some medals so far – nice to see we kick ass at trampoline and female wrestling. I hope Ottawa is now being praised for its support.

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