Monday, July 30, 2012

Zombies can be the good guys

I think the majority of the country would just love to face-punch the Westboro church crowd.  While that just means they would go to jail, this group makes me smile.

The sign is the best part.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

What a Kwak (of beer)



I had a bit of spare time and wandered over to my local beer guy.  He wasn't there, but I was in the mood for a little something different and they know I like the Belgian stuff, so I had this one recommended to me.


Pauwel Kwak (or just Kwak) is brewed by Brouwerij Bosteels in Belgium.  They call this a Belgian Specialty Ale.  The pour was very nice and smelled of malt and a bit of caramel.  There was a nice off-white head and the beer retained quite a bit of carbonation after the pour.  The color is a cloudy amber.


This was a nice change of pace.  It had a medium-bodied feel with quite a bit of carbonation.  The flavor was just slightly sweet.  It had almost a lambic sour note that went away very quickly and was replaced by a slightly yeasty malt flavor.  This was quite good if you like Belgian Beer.  At 8.4% ABV, it's not a lightweight and I recommend splitting a bottle with a friend.  The brewing process helps explain the high carbonation.  They brew it for a month with two yeasts, then re-ferment it.  It is then bottled and cellared for 9 months, then they remove the yeast.  I like a beer with a bit of back-story and history and Kwak has quite a bit of that.  I mean, look at the glass it is traditionally served in.


From what I read, when you drink to the point that the beer rushes from the bulb at the bottom of the glass (and I'll bet it does) it makes a sound that sounds like "Kwak."  Who knows what stories beer drinkers tell.  Goodness knows they have the time while they are sitting around a tavern with a pint.

In all, this is worth a try.  It is full-bodied, but not heavy.  It is good to have with a salty snack and a friend.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Free Stuff, Girly Guns, The Touch and Melted Things

Yes, I have been away.  Quite a bit out of touch.  The good news is that it was for mostly good reasons.  Work has been tough, but I'm not going to complain about having a job.  July is a big birthday month around here so plans had to be made, gifts were given and time was lost.  First off, a great thing happened to my dad.  A local restaurant needed to replace their cooler and freezer and needed someone to haul away the old one.  My dad got the call and...

FREE STUFF
This is a big deal to us.  With the amount of hunting and game processing that we do, this is a monumental asset to us.  My parents already have an extra refrigerator and two freezers.  In the middle of hunting season that sometimes isn't enough.  I can't wait until we get this up and running this fall.  We're pretty excited.  Now, on to guns.  Kind of...

GIRLY GUN
At this point I will say That Guy is responsible for this.  As a matter of fact, I believe that from this point forward he deserves a different nom de guerre.  From here on he will be known as That Guy The Enabler.  So, That Guy The Enabler emailed me the other day and said, "Hey, Woot has a cool trainer rifle for Little 45er."  I looked and sure enough, they did.  Real cheap (probably because at some point they absorbed some kind of radioactivity and now glow this atrocious color).  So, I went for it.  Little 45er is thrilled, by the way.  I went out to sight it in and...

.177 caliber zombie killer
This was the first target I found to sight it in.  From 20 feet it hit low right.  After moving the sights the wrong way (heh) I walked it back up on the left side and after some adjustment, took the shot on the right side.  This sucker can dot a zombie eye from 20 feet.  Little 45er will be my back up while I am reloading.

So, no pics here but I mentioned The Touch in the title.  This is the real reason I've been so out of it lately.  Mrs. 45er got me a Kindle Touch for my birthday.  I am an avid - ok - rabid reader.  The first thing I did was download a huge amount of free books.  Of course, most of the free books are classics, which is fine with me.  I love classic stuff.  I stumbled upon a free zombie book which was surprisingly good and I even paid a few bucks for the next book from the same author.  I've read those two and I'm engrossed in some Sherlock Holmes right now.  I've been dragged kicking and screaming into the digital book-reading age.  So you can blame Mrs. 45er and Kindle for my prolonged absence.

Finally, the Melted Things.  For our birthday dinner, Mrs. 45er and I went to a restaurant called The Melting Pot.  Remember the 70s and fondue?  I don't, but hey it's a thing again and it is such a fun experience.

Mmmm, cheese
Yes, cheese is the best.  This was a Sam Adams Boston Lager beer bacon cheese fondue.  It was fabulous (and had bacon!)  Speaking of the beer, we chose to do the flight of beers that was paired with each course.

Mmmm, beer
That was a great idea.  The pairings were great and the dessert course was surprisingly wonderful with the Rogue Chocolate Stout.

main course
I've never done full courses of fondue like this.  It was a very cool experience and a whole lot of fun.  The dessert was the best part.  Isn't it always?

the chocolate
It was a wild berry chocolate with crunchy peanut butter.

the pairing
What kind of beer could possibly go with dessert?  Well, if you're eating chocolate fondue this good, I recommend this Rogue Chocolate Stout.  It was phenomenal.

So, now we're just miserably full.  So, what should we do?  Go downtown, get a hotel room and wander around drinking.  This is what I call a nightcap...

Good Lord
That is two 32 ounce glasses, neigh, bowls of margarita there.  Thank goodness it was just a short stroll back to the hotel from here.  So, this is a compilation of my excuses for being out of touch lately.

Concealed handgun owner stops robbery - great video

This is pretty incredible.  I heard about this from my dad a little bit ago and just had to post on it.  I know I haven't been around a while and I'll post on that a little later, but I just had to share.  This is great evidence of someone that has done some training.  I like the stance and the shooting on the move.  He's obviously careful of the bystanders and his field of fire.  He did advance toward the perps, which is kind of a no no, but I'd say it helped to clear his field of fire more and they were moving away, so he did a great job.  This is a perfect example of why to carry.  Who knows what direction this robbery would have taken in there with all of those people.