Announced tonight on a live webcast, Should I Drink That was named a finalist for a Podcast Award! This is our 3rd time in less than 5 years we’ve been given this honor and now more than ever I want to win that sucker! Details coming up on how YOU can help!
Here’s the cool thing , there are 4 beer shows whereas in the past seeing 1 was a glorious thing. Plus my good friend Phil has his kickass show “My Life As A Foodie” up against us but since it’s competition we’ll say his show blows.
What will be tough is that SIDT is mainly an audio show and most of these are video shows with really good production value, even if they are using standard iMovie templates 
Video usually trumps audio but where we’ll have the advantage is in our fan base. You guys have been kickass to us! We’re averaging over 6200 download per show and, if my slack ass gets stats updated, should pass 1 million downloads by end of 2010.
Thanks everyone who has supported myself and the show since its start in 2006. I’ll have details posted as soon as they become available.
cheers!
Yesterday was a first for me. With Lushie at 31.5 weeks preggers and teaspoon being born at 32 weeks the docs gave her strict orders that it was up to me to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Not just for 3 of us but for 9 (my mom, bro and his family)!
I’ve cooked a turkey in a deep fryer before but this was a completely different experience. One that I’m proud to say turned out perfect. The side dishes weren’t that hard at all. In fact the most time consuming part was the 25 potatoes that I had to peel, then mash, and whip. I’m a taters freak so it was a labor of love.
The meal was absolutely perfect for our first one in our house and I did take a moment to sit back to savor the moment. For whatever reason my mom refused to believe that I did any of the cooking. Probably because she kept raving about how moist and good the food was and it pisses them off when I can do something they can’t, and well. She did give me the quote of the night which I’ll bring up tomorrow because I want to keep things positive.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Teaspoon and I are going to watch the Backyard Brawl and flip over to the Pens vs Sens game.
cheers!
Finally there is a series where true craft beer appreciation is shown and isn’t an hour long brewery or a bunch of marketing fluff. There have been a lot of series over the last few years that try to show the true heart of craft beer and end up going back to Bud, its history and blah blah blah.
Brew Masters is a genuine experience into the craft beer world and why I freaking LOVE it so much. If you want a recap of the 1st episode go check out the review I wrote in my article on Examiner.
One thing that I didn’t touch on (space limit OYE!) was the Savor event. When you see craft beer fans sampling beer they’re not throwing back drinks like a $.25 draft night. You see people inspecting the color, sniffing the aroma, swirling the beer in their mouth and savoring (no pun intended) every drink. These are my people. Craft beer is more complex of a product with greater margin of error than wine. Part of the arrogance and ignorance of people is that they think if you say you’re a beer fan you’re a) a drunk b) a BIG drunk. Meanwhile they’re the same ones who down bottles of fucking Merlot like its water. I applaud you for falling into the marketing bullshite. Damn lemmings.
This series is finally shedding light into the culture. It is a craft, one that I am passionate about. If you want to see the fun of my world, check it out.
I was never a big person on sleep. I like the occasional nap but at night I’ve come to accept the fact that as a dad, getting a full night sleep is a thing of the past.
When Lushie was pregnant with Teaspoon she would wake up all all hours, usually in pain, from the kid literally bouncing on her nerves. Once he was born we would sleep in 3 hour shifts since he came home on a monitor and needed fed every 3 hours. At first it would wear you down and then you would learn to adjust and catch a nap when you can.
Now we’re to the point where baby #2 is hitting a nerve every once in awhile but Teaspoon is in the stage where he’s having nightmares and/or everything wakes him up so our bed is a lively place when he runs in. Somehow I’ve adjusted to waking up every 3 hours again but the downside is my work day sucks. I’m constantly running on fumes and when I get home I then have 3 hours of homework to do and start the whole cycle over again.
Chris Brogan wrote about “Pay Yourself First” and winds down his day around 8:30pm and I wish I could do the same but its just not feasible until after I finish school in June. I rarely drink coffee or many things with caffeine because it just doesn’t appeal to me unless I’m in serious need of a pick me up. I schedule vacation time but none of it is for me time, its always to play catch up. It drives me nuts not to be on top of things and when someone messes with that flow I get cranky. I’m a dad, cranky is now a key part of my vocabulary. The holiday seasons are also coming up and I’m not a fan of them. *ugh*
My question to other parents who read this is, how do you get caught up? How do you manage your time?
Phone call yesterday:
Lushie: You won’t believe what your son did now
Me: Oh now he’s MY son, this should be good…
Lushie: You know how he likes to pretend to cook like mommy in the kitchen?
Me: yeah.
Lushie: Well I was in the fridge when I heard a beep, I turn around and he took the kettle (which he like to pretend to stir food in), turned it upside down, pushed it against the wall, stood on it, opened the microwave, put his SNEAKER in the microwave, closed the door and hit cook all in the matter of seconds.
Me: I told you he doesn’t like to wear shoes… or socks… or pants.
*sigh* Welcome to my life… and he’s only 20 months old.
My dad and many members of my family were in the military. He was in during Korea, was stationed down in Texas and eventually came back to Erie with my mom and older brother. He would never talk about his days serving but he would always have a smartass smirk on his face about it and kept saying someday he’d tell me. That day never came as he passed in 2006.
Dad loved the American flag. Its fair to say he was obsessed with it. Any patriotic holiday the yard would be covered in flags. Up and down the sidewalk, driveway and from the house a huge starts and stripes would wave. On the day of his funeral my wife and I got up before daybreak (it was also December 9th and in Erie, that’s freaking COLD and snowy) and placed all of his flags in the ground for one last time. After the service at church and on the way to the cemetery the motorcade stopped right in front of his house and at that moment the only wind we would feel started up and all of the flags blew at once in perfect order.
He was buried in an emotional military ceremony which I still have the bullet shells from. Until you’re a part of a ceremony like this I don’t think you can fully understand what its like. When my mom was handed the American Flag that draped over his casket I sat stunned. I finally understood what my dad was trying to tell me. It was the emotion of that moment which showed me that he wasn’t just a hero for being my dad but also for serving his country. It was a way of saying thanks for keeping us free. Be proud to be an American.
Teaspoon is now the proud owner of his first pair of Chucks.
I was in Erie last Monday to help my mom get the house ready for winter when she treated my brother and I to dinner at the American Legion. The pic above is a sign by our table. Only in Erie (Wesleyville to be exact) will you find a sign war.
I’m not a fan of coming home when its dark out. In fact I don’t like seeing the sunset out my office window as my day winds down. Let’s face it, it’s depressing when you know a long drive home is ahead and traffic will suck.
I just don’t see the point in messing with our clocks anymore. It seems like I’m losing productive daylight hours knowing that at 6am sun could be coming in my window.
I know this is just rambling and jibberish but I really wanted to use that image of Flava. Christ see what its doing to me already! Only plus was that Saturday night I got to stay at the Lounge an extra hour.
Maybe its just a sign that I would suck at flying back and forth from the coasts.
Maybe I just need a nap.
After a long night of recording which may have involved a LOT of mead, eating a bowl of Pho on a cold fall day is spiritual. I’ve been unable to find decent Pho since Vietnam’s Pho but that all changed with a trip to Pho Kim 88 today. While the selection wasn’t as extensive as Vietnam’s Pho it was HELLA good and after the Mekong fail I wasn’t sure if I could find this bowl of heaven.
