Video Games

Shana and I went to a friend's apartment last night for "getting reasonably alcohol-fueled and hanging out" time. In the midst of this action, we ended up playing video games for about two-thirds of the night, including Super Mario Bros 3 as part of a Mario All-Stars pack for the Super Nintendo.

Now, when I was a kid, SM3 was one of my all-time favorite games, but what surprised me was just how well my skills held up. I haven't played that game for more than ten minutes in the last decade or so, and yet my thumbs just "remembered" how to play, even to the point of being able to beat the infamous "sun stage" in World 2 without use of the P-wing. And yes, I know how dorky that sounded.

Anyway, this is really just an excuse to post this video which I found a couple of weeks ago.



With apologies to Louis Armstrong, of course.

Beer Review, Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale

Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale

My first beer of this style.

Appearance: Opaque brown body, slightly reddish coloration. Small khaki-colored head that dissipates quickly. Leaves a small amount of lacing. 4.0/5

Smell: Sour, tarty aroma, a hint of that "mustardy" aroma I always get from lambics, has the aroma of a wild ale, probably due to the yeast. Slightly musky at the bottom. This seems pretty much what I expected for-style, so I'm giving it a 4.0/5

Taste: Strong notes of sourness up front. Breadiness in the middle, slightly malty and grainy. Underneath the sourness is a mild touch of apples and cherry. Finishes clean and dry with only a slight tart. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Fairly thin mouthfeel, no real carbonation, slightly chewy. 3.5/5

Drinkability: I'm dinging this a bit because I find it fairly undrinkable. I know the tartness and the sourness is to-style, but for my palate it's fairly overwhelming. I've given it credit in the higher categories, so I don't feel bad for dropping its score a bit here. 2.5/5

Overall: 3.8/5

A Quick Note, and Some Obama Porn (NSFW)

I was going to write a long blog post about my experiences watching the election results come in last night, but ultimately that would be a really negative post, focused on the hatred that has been spewed towards Obama and the frustrations of the last four years. Instead, let's look to the future and concentrate on the positive.

Like this photo. This is probably my favorite photo from the campaign season, taken at a rally in Pennsylvania.

(Hat tip Melissa at Shakesville.)

Cara at Feministe pointed to this video, which is incredibly insipirational.



Oh, and remember that Nailin' Paylin video? I said then that if anyone made an Obama sex video I'd link to it here.

Well, Joanna Angel has done exactly that. In her own words:

The video is funny because Sean looks nothing like Obama what-so-ever. Basically, my um “character” in the video is a dumb white girl who thinks all black people look the same. I am embracing and making fun of a stereotype. Don’t get all butt-hurt about it- PLEASE. It’s a joke.

The trailer is here.

Let's all go work hard to make sure the next four years can fix the incredible fuckups of the last eight. Obama's got a lot riding on him right now, but I think he is (and we are) up to the challenge.

A quick note on Obama's acceptance speech.

I wept.

More tomorrow. Been up since six.

Beer Review, Magic Hat Participation Lager

Magic Hat Participation Ale

What other beer should I drink for election day?

Appearance: Clear, orange-yellow body, ever-so-slightly hazy, with a thin white head. Head dissipates quickly, leaves no lacing. 3.5/5

Smell: Very sweet, malty. Strong "American Lager" corn aroma. Not complex, but decent. 3.0/5

Taste: Malty beginning, sweet middle, dry, somewhat bitter aftertaste. Slight notes of hops. It's mostly clean but a bit cloying. 3.0/5

Mouthfeel: Thicker than expected, but still goes down smooth. Low (but not nonexistent) carbonation. 4.0/5

Drinkability: A decent American Macro, but like all American Macros, it suffers from a lack of complexity and just a general "sameness" inherent to the style. Drinkable, but I'd go for a good Brooklyn Lager over this one every time. (Of course, I can't currently get those in Kalamazoo, so....) 3.0/5

Overall: 3.2/5

Zombie Pinup Calendar (NSFW)

Oh, wow...

I'm impressed with the level of devotion to real zombie makeup here. The picture above is probably the least bloody and deformed of the lot.

I'm sure there are quite a few voraphiles now clicking furiously....

PS If you're reading this when it is posted... why aren't you out voting?

More Directors Doing McCain Campaign Videos

Remember those fake McCain TV commercials directed by famous Hollywood directors? Well, there's a new set that's nearly as good as the first.



I especially love the one taking the piss out of M. Night.

Beer Review, Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Stone Russian Imperial Stout (or Imperial Russian Stout)

BA once listed this as the number three beer in the world, but they've re-jiggered the ranking algorithm since then. It now sits at number 15.

Appearance: This thing is so dark you'd probably need a photospectrometer to differentiate its color from that of the Bootes Void... and yeah, I was waiting for the opportunity to use that tortured metaphor. Suffice to say it's extremely deep black, completely opaque, Has a tiny head that dissipates but leaves a touch of lacing regardless. It's not quite as intense as Dark Lord, but it's close. 4.5/5

Smell: Highly malty, strong notes of barley and intense grains. Hints of coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Lots of hops and a touch of astringency due to alcohol. Rich, inviting. 4.5/5

Taste: Heavily malty, strong doses of crisp California hops, with a strong tart astringency due to the alcohol. Delicious qualities of coffee, chocolate, hints of bittersweet raisins. Sweet and astringent finish, with a dry, bittersweet, malty aftertaste that leaves me wanting another drink. As the beer warms the dryness and the maltiness become more prominent. Delicious and well-executed. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Thick, low carbonation. Chewy but also smooth. 5.0/5

Drinkability: A fantastic beer. Approximately equal to Bell's Expedition in terms of quality, and a fine brew to have on these cold winter evenings. A beer designed to be savored and enjoyed for as long as the bottle lasts. 5.0/5

Overall: 4.6/5

Beer Review, Bell's Big Porch Ale

Bell's Big Porch Ale

Appearance: Hazy reddish-orange body, thin head that dissipates quickly and leaves no lacing. 3.0/5

Smell: Dry, malty, hints of fruit. Smells basically like a generic "amber" beer, but no flaws are easily detectable. Perhaps a touch sweeter and fuller-bodied than most. 3.5/5

Taste: Again, a pretty standard amber. Heavily malty starter, dry finish, leaves a bit of a sickly sweet aftertaste. No real complexity here, but it's well-executed and, again, there are no real flaws here to speak of, besides a bit of tartness to the finish. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Thin-to-moderate. Slightly grainy, light carbonation. 3.0/5

Drinkability: The American Amber Style isn't the most impressive style to begin with, but the folks from Bell's have made a perfectly serviceable example of one. Fairs better when not being scrutinized -- this makes a really nice beer with which to sit and have a meal or to have while watching TV, hence the relatively high marks for drinkability. 4.0/5

Overall: 3.4/5

Book Meme

Found here.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I'm probably a weirdo in that I almost always prefer trade paperbacks for my reading. Mass-markets are priced right but thick ones almost always have that "text disappears into the spine" problem towards the middle of the book. Hardbacks are nice to have for display and just general "look at how nice that is" purposes, but with hardbacks I either feel like I shouldn't actually use the book (if it's good) or that I spend way too much on the book (if it's bad). I also have this psychological thing that makes me feel like I'm reading a children's book if the text is too large, and most hardbacks (particularly bestsellers) tend to use a very large typeface, which just means that I notice the writing flaws so much easier, since I "feel like" I'm reading a kid's book, anyway.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

Bookmark. Usually with the receipt I got when I bought the book.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

Right now it's all random, since I'm still assembling bookcases and putting books into appropriate slots. I tend to categorize by general subject (i.e. all my science books together, all my history books together, etc.), then by author's last name, then by title. This may be because this is the scheme used by most used bookstores, which is where I generally do most of my book purchases, and I've absorbed the pattern by osmosis.

Keep, throw away or sell?

Keep. I'll throw away a book if it has become literally unreadable, and I managed to convince myself to give away a bunch of old books when I was planning the move, but I have serious issues with letting any books out of my grubby paws. This is probably a fault, but I always feel like the moment I get rid of a book, I'll need it to reference something about a week later.


Keep dust jacket or toss it?

Keep. Although my ex-girlfriend hated them and got rid of or lost a bunch of mine when she would read my books, so I do have quite a few missing. And again, if they become too damaged over time I may get rid of them.

Last book you bought?

The Order of the Stick: The Start of Darkness. I have a stack of books to-read about as tall as I am -- right now I'm reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest and Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Soon I'll read Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged, Neal Stephenson's Anathem, and Brian Francis Slattery's Liberation.

Last book someone bought for you?

Hmm.... Technically, Shana bought Red Mars for me, but that was just because we wanted to make it one purchase instead of two. Shana gave me Everything is Illuminated for Christmas last year, so that was probably the last "gift" book I got. (Oh, yeah, another friend bought me the original Ender Trilogy for my birthday.)

What are some of the books on your to-buy list?

Well, here's my Amazon wish list. I'd also like to pick up The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie, The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers, the new edition of Agent to the Stars and The Last Colony by John Scalzi.... The list is very long.

Collection (short stories, same author) or anthology (short stories, different authors)?

Eh. Depends. I've probably read anthologies more often, but for favorite authors I love to get a handle on their individual short story output.

Most authors I read don't put out a lot of short fiction, though, so I've read astonishingly few collections or anthologies that have been published in the last two decades or so.

Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, or the velvety embrace of Death?

I read the entire Harry Potter series in about six weeks after the seventh book was published. I haven't read a single word of Lemony Snicket. I think I'd rather just take Philip Pullman and be done with it.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

Usually in the morning before Shana wakes if I get up first, and in the evenings before we go to sleep.

The books you need to go with other books on your shelves?

Too many to count. I try to get series book by book, starting with the first, so in general I'm just missing the more recent books. The most obvious "missing" books are the last four volumes of the Sandman series.

Do you read anywhere and anytime you can or do you have a set reading time and/or place?

I'm pretty easygoing. I read whenever I'm in the mood and have a few minutes, although with some "heady" or literary novels I like to wait until I have a nice chunk of time. Pynchon, for instance, is almost impossible to read in five-minute chunks.

Do you have seasonal reading habits?

No. Then again, I'm from Alabama, where we really only have two seasons: a nine-month "fall" followed by an oppressively hot three-month "summer." We'll see if I change up now that I live in the North.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have two or more books going at once?

If I'm reading a heady book, I like to also have a more accessible book to break it up. Or if one book is heavy and serious, I'll have something a little lighter -- I like to break up my reading a bit, so I always have a little something different if it feels like a slog. I will also occasionally read a few pages of an old favorite for this purpose.

What are your pet peeves about the way people treat books?

Dog-earing pages, breaking spines, leaving them open and face-down for long enough to damage them, etc. That's really only when they're done to my own books, though -- what you do with your copy is your business. I also basically never write in a book.

Name one book you surprised yourself by liking.

I liked To Kill a Mockingbird a lot more when I re-read it as an adult than I thought I would -- the book was a lot more complex than I remembered it being when I read it in ninth grade. I tend to only read books that I expect I'll like quite a bit, so I'm more likely to feel let down by a book than to find a book to be much better than I expected. Probably the only book whose quality really surprised me was World War Z, which I expected to be really silly but which ended up being nothing short of brilliant.

How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about a book?

Lately I've been neglecting my blog, so it happens more ofthen than I'd like. I'd like to be able to write up a short review of every book I read and every movie I see, but sometimes Life Intervenes and I just don't have the time or inclination to do so.