The joy of cheap homebrew (or why its best in a club)

Last night at the UKG meeting I had the opportunity to judge the club only competition for extract beers. I sampled around 11 beers (eight in our flight and 3 more from the other flight for best of show) . Many of them were outstanding, the top 5 were heavenly. And I didn't have to pay for any of them. The cheapest buzz on the planet.

Also at the meeting, the plans for the Big Brew were unveiled. For those who don't know, The Big Brew is a celebration of National Homebrew Day, May 6th, where brewers around the county get together and fire up the burners and brew. This year a local brewery and homebrew shop, The Brewers Coop agreed to mash a large amount of grain for us so that at noon we can fill our brewpots and boil. The best part is that they have agreed to do this for free. All I'm going to have to buy is yeast and hops. And since I have a coupon for free yeast this is only going to cost around 3 bucks for 5 gallons of beer. Thank you God.

And after the Big Brew I'm going to Phil's house for Izzy and Alek's birthday party and the night race at Richmond. A pretty cool day.

Just what we needed...

The NCAA has decided that too much of a good thing is fabulous. This year 4 more college bowl games come into existence. Click here for story. With these extra games, most teams that finish at .500 will likely get into a bowl game.

More proof that dogs are better than cats.

Cats are far more violent than dogs according to data from Hillsborough County Animal Services. Cats are to blame for the greatest number of attacks reported to them. Click here for story.

There are still farms in Libertyville?

According to the Trib, the last farm in Libertyville could be bought by a developer and turned into an office park. Click here for story. I'm suprised this hadn't happened before.

Guess she just lost control.

The good people of the state of Oregon made Teresa Kaiser the director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. But she resigned her position after she blew .16 after a traffic stop. Click here for story.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Those loveable Lollapalooza folks are just great at getting press. At a press event the organizers just happened to leave a bunch of Lollapalooza rolling papers out for the press. Click here for story. The rolling papers were set up on a press table a few feet from a playground and advertised the Lollapalooza music festival as "fully baked rock and roll.''

But what about boardwalk?

Hasbro, the current owners of the Monopoly game, are considering making a change to the basic game of Monopoly. Not a special edition, but the standard edition of Monopoly would be set in another US city. Click here for story.

This is simply wrong. You don't mess with a classic. Unless they are planning a Classic Coke strategy. By the way New Coke was introduced 21 years ago this week. Click here for story. But Monopoly Classic doesn't have a good ring to it.

Billy Goats Gruff and Political Thought

As is our habit, we take Nick to the library each week for a number of books to read. Over the last number of weeks he has enjoyed The Billy Goats Gruff. And the edition which we borrowed was a ready to read book, which means he was able to read it all by himself. And since he enjoys showing off his reading, he has read this book to us almost every night that we have had it. Of course, hearing this story so many times sets my mind wandering.

I have come to the realization that The Billy Goats Gruff is the perfect story to represent the basic political arguments of liberal and conservative in the United States. In the conservative version the goats represent the people who seek a better life and are thwarted by the troll who represents government. This government can not be reasoned with and cares more for its own stomach than it does for its people. If you don't play by its rules and stay where it tells you, it will gobble you up. Thus the only impediment to the bounty of the land is the government who have consolidated its control over the only bridge. And once the government is removed, the people are able to flourish in a free meadow.

The Liberal version has some of the same ideas and players but the story is wholly different. Here the goats represent greedy corporations and the wealthy. They have exhausted all of the resources in the meadow in which they are living. They have been poor stewards of what they have had, they have had more than enough and now they want more. The troll, again government, is doing everything it can to prevent the mistakes of the past from being thrust upon the new meadow. And even the scary appearance of the troll is not enough to dissuade the greedy from attempting to cross. In fact, the threat of destruction fails to quell the desire of the corporations. And when the first tricks the troll into letting him cross, he shows his moral bankruptcy by offering up is brothers to death just so he can get more. In the end, the greedy corporations trick the government and eviscerate its attempt to maintain the proper balance through trickery and violence. And once the government, the protector, is removed the greedy corporations race over to gorge themselves in a new field, ignoring their responsibilities to the old field.

Can you tell my mind has wandered.

Farve vs. Williams

Yesterday we learned that Brett Farve would return to the Green Bay Packers in 2006. We also found out that Ricky Williams would be suspended from the Miami Dolphins for 2006. I'm not sure whether this is good news for bad news for either team.

The Packers have had Aaron Rogers sitting on the sidelines for the last year and now he will likely sit another year. This means their top pick will be idle again. And does anyone really think the Packers will be able to contend for a Super Bowl. They may be able to win the weak NFC North, but nothing else.

The Fins wanted Ricky Williams in camp. He seemed to light a fire under Ronnie Brown who outgained Williams last year. But this will only be his second season in the league. A little risky in a pounding position as running back.

I guess the size does matter

Apparently, the folks at Adidas have some mistaken belief that people who will watch Wimbledon don't know what their logo looks like. Since Adidas wants more than the 4 square inches on the players, they have filed suit in England. Click here for story.

Broken Dreams already

The Cubs haven't been the healthiest players. With the annual health problems of Wood and Prior, we could only hope that the offense could carry the team while the pitching staff got healthy.

But now the Cubs have lost perhaps their most potent offensive weapon. Derrek Lee broke his wrist in a collition at first base and will most likely be out at least 2 months. Click here for story. What's worse, is the fact that the play should nave never happened. Pitcher Eyre had no business trying to throw that ball as he was spralled out on the grass.

Of course this injury comes just days after the Cubs signed Lee to a 5 year $65 million contract extention.

The jokes keep coming

Nick has started reading. But he has gotten his hands on the bane of all parents, the joke book. This morning he's been down to the office twice saying that he's got a good one.

Easter Breakfast over

Well this year I was put in charge of the Easter Breakfast at Church. With some extraordinary help, thanks Chad, we were able to raise $550. Thrivent will match it and it will go to our racetrack ministry. And no we're not putting it down on a philly in the sixth at Hawthorne.