Sam Stone

Yo. It's Thursday night. I'm freakin tired. What was planned to be a bottle of wine relaxing evening watching a movie, turned out to be a bit of work. I decided to pick up a free couch from a friend at work. Well, bringing home the couch meant moving all of the other furniture around in the living room. Ugh. After the tension of dragging couches around ended, Jen and I finally grilled chicken and kicked back.. only to watch a tensed out episode of Alias. This was the episode where they find out Jennifer Garner is pregnant.. they really had no choice (because she really is pregnat, with Ben Aflack).
The story line (Alias) options was: She's pregnant.. or: She picked up a daily beer drinking habit and got a beer gut. The pregnancy roll won. The show was way too intense for me.. I wanted to fall asleep watching it.. instead I was on the edge of my seat the whole time..

Don't ask me what that picture above is of. I did a google picture search on something, and that came up. It looked cool, so I figured I'd save it for the blog.

I'm working on a huge video project at work. It's consumed our lives. It's actually really fun to do, but sooo time consuming. I'll try and show everyone when we're done.

I have a song for ya'll, i've been learning this song, i pretty much have it down - actually it's really easy, I'm just trying to memorize the lyrics. My new goal will be to memorize songs. I thought it would be cool to have a guitar book. I could have a hundred songs and lyrics in a book, and pull them out at parties, so I wouldn't forget the songs. But now, I've become dependant on it. I don't know if I can ever get away without the book at this point, but some of the cooler songs I learn, I'm going to work on memorizing. Anyhow, check this song out -it's pretty moving for an old 60's post-Vietnam story.
Sam Stone.

Alright. Time to sign off. Enjoy your Friday, and enjoy the battle that the University of Michigan is up against this Saturday.

p.s. I have Verizon now. I went with the LG8100. I haven't read the directions yet, but the service works great. I can be anywhere in our building and talk. My boss joked that he would laugh because I had to have my T-Mobile phone sitting by the window in order to get reception. The phone I bought has a camera in it too! stay tuned for some good partying pics! :)

Liberty Ale and Elvis!

Wow this weekend went fast! I tell ya what. I love the weekends. It's like a little dose of 'not working'.. and wouldn't that rock. I always make the joke '35 more years til I retire!!'.. haha. Yeah, i'm counting down the days. Actually, if I play my cards right, I'll retire earlier on.

What's with the big ol' Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale picture? Well, I think I found my new favorite beer. Sundays are 'try a new beer' day on Beer Advocate, so I decided I should try a new one. I already picked up a sixer of Sam Adams Double Bock, but after reading those reviews.. I was a bit nervous. I wanted to have a couple of beers while I watched the Red Wings, and the Double Bock didn't sound like a hockey beer. Krogers in Monroe always has some obscure beer. We did some grocery shopping today and I found the LIberty Ale for $7.99. Great stuff. Reminded me some of Sierra Nevada, with much less of the hoppy bite - very smooth.

I figured I would try the Double Bock tonight too.. I'm halfway through one, and am feeling it. It's pretty thick amber in color, carmel smell and a huge taste. Very much of a bock, semi-sweet taste with a big bite of alcohol. A giant 8% alc. content is why the advocate boys were suggesting not to drink the whole sixer. Not my favorite, but it's a good sipping beer. For $7.99 at Meijer, you realy can't go wrong - it's a seasonal brew too - so hurry up and get your sixer, and invite me over! :)

Well, I'm about to switch my cell phone service to Verizon. Anyone have any Verizon comments for me, so I feel better about this switch from T-Mobile? I had a good run with T-Mobile, but I'm sick of the dropped calls.. and crappy service in my own living room. The cool part has been that my Bro-in-law works there, and I've had the opportunity of trying out all of the coolest phones out there - I'm currently using a BlackBerry 7100.. I'm going to miss this phone.

Alright. That's all for now. If you missed Dan's Birthday Extravaganza, you missed a good time. We saw Elvis at Mugsy's, and found out Dan is a trivia FREAK. Have a good week everyone, I think we're heading to Ann Arbor on a mission to check out the newly brewed October Fest beers at the brewers.. I'll keep everyone posted of our findings.

p.s. Let me elaborate on the Elvis guy singing Karaoke.. he did 'Hound Dog'... and ya know the point in the song where Elvis sings 'you ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine'... then there's the snare roll.. well, the guy would jump down on the ground and pretend that he was shooting a machine gun. It was one of the most bad-assest things I ever saw.

Hockeys BACK!

It's been like Christmas the past couple days. The NHL is back, which means our Red Wings are back in action. Yesterday they played an amazing game against Colorado, and won in OT. Tonight they are playing Columbus Blue Jackets.. it seems they are out playing them, but the score isn't reflecting that. It's only part way through the 2nd period, so there's a lot of hockey left. Wow - there was just a fight, gloves dropped, center ice square off, just like old time hockey! Nothing good.. just turned out to be some wrestling around.

This week has been a blur. I had so much to do each night of the week, its nice to finally kick back and relax. I have a fairly busy weekend too - I'm going to try my darndness to make it to Oktober Fest in Ann Arbor, MI this weekend. It's Friday and Saturday downtown. Usually, the three main brewers in a2, come up with a great bru for the festival.. I'm going to take my growlers down and try and get them filled.

Check this out:
Preserving Peppers in Alcohol
Another method of "pickling" chiles is to preserve them in liquor. This method has several advantages to it, including the fact that the process can be completed without using the stove. Also, alcohol tends to change the chiles less than vinegar. Simply cut or poke a hole in each chile and cover with your preferred liquor. Vodka, gin, vermouth, and rum all produce tasty results. Not only does this process preserve chiles, it also produces some very interesting drinks!
I made this tonight with Vodka. We'll give it a month or so, and crack it out. Maybe I'll bring it out at the annual Thanksgiving bash.

Alright ya'll. I'm out. Sick-Nick is heading up to Mugsy's, and I'm supposed to meet him up there for a ginger ale. :)

Happy Birthday Jen!

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Originally uploaded by robg2251.

Today is Jens Birthday! Being the sweetie I am, I got up at 5am and made her chocolate chip cupcakes frosted with chocolate chip frosting.. holy chocolate!
We're going to theReal Sea Food in Toledo tonight for dinner.. looks pricey, but they have a birthday policy, where the birthday person gets their whole meal for free! Saves me some bucks!
Alright Jen, enjoy the day.. you only turn 25 once!! (haha). :)

B-Dubs!

I've got the official word. This Sunday, September 18th - 11:00 a.m. Monroe, Michigans Bw3's location will open!!
You better believe I'll be there. Later in the day, I have some stuff to do - but, i'll be there!
OH! and guess what?! The Detroit Redwings face off against Tampa Bay (former stanley cup winner) on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. And what a better place to watch the game then Bw3's!!

My new home away from home! :)

Booyah!

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Originally uploaded by robg2251.

My computer is sort of still down. I'm typing on it now, but I'm
using a very old operating system - OS9.2 - if any mac geeks read my
blog, they totally understand why i hate using this. I miss my osX,
and I also really miss my itunes. I was really digging the podcasts,
and haven't been able to download them since I no longer have itunes!

Anyhow, my Labor
Day pictures are posted if anyone wants to check them out. We had
a lot of fun. I was sad for the weekend to end, Labor Day is sort of
like the last hurrah of the summer - now I keep thinking about raking
leaves and shoveling snow.. far off I suppose, but the way time goes
these days, I'll be breaking my back on the snow in no time!

One last thing. I'm having a garage sale. The ad is running in the
paper as 'The coolest garage sale EVER!'.. I'm not quite sure how to
make it 'cool'.. I was thinking of having refreshments, and a little
background music. I was going to ask around to see if anyone wanted
to put their bikini on and direct traffic.. but I don't think anyone
would. If anyone can offer tips on how to make my garage sale
cooler, I'd love to hear them. I guess there's only so much I can do
that is legal.. selling hot dogs would require a food vendor lisence,
and selling beer would for sure get me in trouble - because who brings
their ID with them to a garage sale! Anyhow, the sale is on Friday
and Saturday (yes, I'm taking off work Friday) - Hours: 8am to 5pm.
Saturday will probably be a big party all day, so if anyone is bored -
stop on by and have a cold one with me.. I promise I won't charge, and
I for sure won't card you! :)

I suppose this is going to have to get posted tomorrow. My internet
browser is so old, I can't even open blogger.com. Nice eh?!

One more thing!! I swear I'm done after this. I had cheese curd the
other day - Val brought it in, I'm guessing it's from Wisconsin (her
home town). I chowed them down quick - they were awesome! No one else
would really eat them because they looked so funky. I did a quick
search on Google, and the first site I clicked on had this: (I still
didn't find out what cheese curds were, i stopped on this little quote
because it sounded so funny).. What's Booyah?!

Cheese curds, booyah and beer,
That's what I like to hear.
I may be kinda pokey,
But I say "okey-dokey!"
To cheese curds, booyah and beer.

–from "Belgians in Heaven," by Frederick Heide & James Kaplan

Camping!!

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Originally uploaded by robg2251.

YO! We're heading down to Indiana Friday evening.. hoping to get there by 7pm to get the camper parked and set up before dark. A few things to plan for:

- It's going to be 57 degrees a couple of the nights, don't forget warm clothes!

- We are going to the races Saturday night, my dad is coming up to join us. Tix: $12 It's like 10 degrees cooler with the cars whizzing by.. so bring a jacket!

- We've started a new tradition now everytime we go camping. Las Limas is a mexican restaraunt that we tried, and loved. It's run by all hispanic folks, some speak english.. others, I don't think do. The cool part is, their services is really kick ass. I just called to get their hours, and the guy kept saying ELEVEN.. i think that's the only word he knew, oh.. and YES (when I asked if they were open Sunday).. So, Las Limas it is - Sunday night. They have putt putt out front, so depending on how many margarita's we drink.. that might make for an interesting game.

- I didn't have time to make chilli.. but from rumors I hear, Dan is making a big pot of something with Hominy.

- I picked up a giant coffee maker (42 cups!) for my camper at a garage sale. $2! So, i'll be in charge of coffee. It should be ready when everyone wakes up.

- Melane and I will be venturing out on our 5 mile run. If anyone wants to join us, feel free! Running starts around 6 a.m. Melane has been in training for this, last time she had to slow down and walk a few times. I think she's all set for it.. now it just depends on how much we all drink the night before!

- I'm getting and paying for the first load of firewood - should arrive at the site before we arrive.

- Get ready to get your ASSES kicked at Bocci ball. I haven't been practicing, but I have a really good feeling that my newly acquired golfing skills will help, somehow, with my bocci game. I'm going to bring my new cooler on wheels when we play, so we'll have an endless supply of cold beverages. :)

- If we get time, we're going to head to the secret fishing hole I know about. What sucks is I need to blindfold everyone to get to it, but other then that - i guarentee you'll catch fish.

- I think that's it. OH, one more thing. We will NOT be having two campfires hooked together to make one. It's now one of the list of campground rules posted as you enter the campground 'Please no double rings of fire'.. :)

See ya down there ya'll!