You're So L@Me

you probably think this post is about you

The world is burning, above the Arctic included, and we are all too busy making sure we share our opinions. As if that were not pathetic enough, too often the topic of conversation and opinion is ourselves. “Look at me, everyone!” (L@Me), is what we all seem to be screaming out. My sanity has been spared much of this self referential vortex by stearing clear of social media. Even so, I have not been completely isolated by what can happen to a mind... [Read More]

Winners Take All - The Movies

And all this for what, a puppy?

I will be avoiding John Wick’s rampage but his story ties into this investigation. A few years back I was relaxing at home, killing time, not in the mood to do anything particularly productive. I was in search of a little filler, perhaps some entertainment. I surfed the channels with just the right amount of low expectations when I stumbled across the beginning of John Wick on HBO. I let it roll having only vaguely remembered that Keanu had done another action film. I had not heard anything about it... [Read More]

Rafa. Fed. Again?

Ah yeah, again & again

In early summer 2008 viewers were reacquainted with sport as drama, beauty and humbling experience in one of the greatest tennis matches played. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer submitted the exemplar contest from among an embarrassment of options of a modern golden age of tennis. Already trending toward two of the sport’s all-time greats, we witnessed two ruthless and sublime competitors going the distance at the most prestigious tournament, with the added wrinkle of a shake up to add drama to the... [Read More]

Tippling with Randomness

Flip ya, flip ya for real.

Whether currently in a rut or not one can imagine being bored by having the same thing over and over. Variety is one of the things that makes drinking craft beer great, but even with plenty of options it is common to fall into a predictable pattern, if not with a specific beer then at least a style (I am looking at you IPA). It is worthwhile giving yourself an opportunity, even a chance (“so you’re telling me there’s a chance”), of trying something new. Glomming on too quickly... [Read More]

Drought, Draughts, and Decency

Bar Stool Pontifications on Singer's FAM

Data Source: danielgaudard Neither Ignore nor Deny the Suffering in the World Can we justify drinking beer, even quality fantastic beer, in a world of suffering or does this mark us out as negligent and indulgent people?1 I’ve had thematically similar questions come to mind from time to time but only recently has the idea of suffering coupled with drinking good beer come to a head. The reason being threefold, my enjoyment of good beer, a... [Read More]

Experts? Pfff, ... a season long digression

We'll Put Their Name to the Test

Experts Know Things, Right? What we hope to discover in this season-long investigation into American football game predictions is which major outlet has the best brain trust. By major outlet we mean the networks that carry the games, CBS, ESPN, FOX and NBC,1 and best, at least initially, will be determined by how well the respective crews, as a collective, do against game results. Game results should be self explanatory and in addition we will be looking at performance against the spread (using SportsLine), where... [Read More]

Then there is no pleasing you

Ten Great Beers get Bizzaro Appreciation

“Yeah, well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.” - The Dude This post is inspired by BuzzFeed’s 2015 “One-Star Amazon Reviews Of Classic Novels Are Hilarious” article. I could not help myself from tracking down some iconic and highly rated beers to see what an equivalent level of dissatisfaction would look like in my area of interest. A well regarded item with any longevity will inevitably have people taking shots at it. This may happen for a number of different reasons: dashed hopes, hype fatigue,... [Read More]

When you come to a fork in the road, keep moving

Endless Routes to Your Pint?

So, where do you wanna meet up? Vis Source: Mike Bostock I have heard it been said the answer to life is 42 but that does you no good if you don’t know the question. The city provides answers all around you but you don’t know what to collect and where they belong. Standing in Time Square can leave you paralyzed with options but if I told you there was a good bar, well now you have... [Read More]

Going Dutch ...but I digress

Learning a Language with Modern Tools

Are we really only going to talk about one issue? Please, that’s tedious, leaves you open to some well deserved ribbing, and it’s how Prohibition was passed (I think we’ve all learned from that mistake). Like most of us are wont to do in real life let us jump from subject to subject, share stories, describe our dreams and brilliant ideas that only an ample amount of drinking would allow us to divulge and share with another. That’s what this... [Read More]