Unlike year’s past, HOlympics V did NOT start off in the early morning with a form of golf. Instead, we arrived a decent hour (or half-past decent, since half of the people were late), and started our day with the outdoor events, as the weather was predicted to be in the mid-to-high 90′s with high humidity. Luckily, the outdoor ‘sports’ had been truncated anyway, leaving us with horseshoes, basketball shooting and target shooting (using a BB gun and target taped to a tree. We’re high class all the way). Even at 10 a.m., it was evident that doing outdoors stuff early was a great idea – it was already sweat-dripping hot and even the beers couldn’t keep us fully cool.

I wasn’t expecting much out of the first three events – I knew that I would do decently at horseshoes, but the BB gun competition was more of a crap shoot (get it?) and I’m normally ATROCIOUS at shooting hoops. But I actually did pretty well at hoops, which surprised me though my expectations elsewhere were pretty on the mark.

And away they go

The second segment of the day involved the ‘away’ games: go-kart racing and bowling. So, we packed up in 3 cars to grab some food and then get in some souped-up, Indy-style go-karts to race around the track for the chance to have the fastest lap time. I started near the back of the pack but had a great time as I darted in and out of the slower and less-experienced drivers (I have all of 3 times under my belt now), garnering the 4th best lap time of the group. I know that it sounds silly, but those go-karts are quite fun to race around the circuit, skidding around turns and accelerating around the straight-aways as you gun toward slipping past your opponent.

Bowling … well, we weren’t quite as successful at bowling – mostly because our ‘planning’ for this even was a little loose, and it turns out that Saturdays are league days. Hence, we weren’t able to get a lane and complete this event. Note for next year … plan ahead.

Back to the Arena

Thus, it was back to the house for the indoor events: ping pong, darts, foosball and beer pong, followed by our annual HOlympics Hold ‘Em Poker tournament event. I was struggling early with my scores, but this was my chance to shine. I’m usually a contender in darts, have never finished less than 3rd in poker and figured that my college days would have me prepped for beer pong. Well, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

Ping Pong: Easily my weakest event – I don’t think I’ve EVER won a game at this event. And this year was no exception as I lost 21-11 in the first round. Then I faced our overall foosball champion in the first round, and lost 5-3. Ouch – two first round outs. Well, at least I had my strong events coming up. Or so I thought. The first one up was beer pong, and I was up when Gary came out of nowhere with 3 straight hits. I came back but not enough as he upset me in the first round (I felt only slightly less bad when the youngest of the competitors – an avid beer ponger – also lost to Gary). So, 3 indoor events and 3 first-round bounces. Not good.

But I salvaged the day in my two strongest events. I sailed through the competition in darts, winning our Cricket-style games fairly handily to run the table and take first place. Then came the drunken spectacle that was poker. Drunken, at least, from one player’s less-than-sober perspective, that is. We were all remarkably un-drunk, but one player was … well, laying down at the table. And yet he still finished 2nd … to me. So, I ended the night with two 1st-place wins, but it wasn’t enough to pull me out of 5th place, 0.5 points behind the person ahead of me.

Well, that’s just incentive for next year…

The Official Tally

Event Winners

• Basketball: Jim
• Horseshoes: Joe
• Target Shooting: Jim
• Go-Karts: Steve
• Bowling: n/a
• Ping Pong: Krishna
• Beer Pong: Gary
• Darts: Marty
• Foosball: Steve
• Poker: Marty

Final Standings

1. Name – Points
2. Jim – 64.5
3. Fred – 52.5
4. Steve / Dave (tie) – 50.5
5. Joe – 50
6. Marty – 49.5
7. Krishna – 45.5
8. Gary – 42.5
9. Josh – 34.5
10. Austin – 31

Other Fun Stuff

• Best Star Wars Remakes
• Review of the Force Unleashed – I want this game…
• Tiltviewer – interesting photo viewing app
• What Millionaire Athletes Can Do With Their Money – good article, though a bit older (I’m behind on links)
• Baseball Boss – interesting app if you’re a baseball fan

Ah, St. Patty’s Day – a day for corned beef, beer, singing Irish Drinking songs and waking people puke green. How can you not love it. AND if you were an adventurous soul, this could have been a 4-day celebration for you. I’m going to try to get out for at least one beer, although I’m sure that the area around work will be absolutely nuts tomorrow. But maybe a band of my co-workers and I can bust into one of the local joints for a beer…

Good luck and happy O’Beer Day to you all. And if you catch the leprechaun, make sure you make him give up his Lucky Charms. But don’t drink too much green beer, or you could end up like this fella!

« See Got Beer? on Flickr »

See, today is Friday the 13th, and unlike most people who have at least some degree of paraskavedekatriaphobia, I actually like the day, as I usually have a good day. In fact, I revel in Friday the 13ths because of it. But there’s a whole other reason I love them – even if I’m not going to get to enjoy it today: the Grey Lodge Pub’s Friday the Firkenteenth Celebrations. If you like good beer like I do, this day is the equivalent of Easter (candy-wish) and Halloween wrapped into one.

Friday the Firkenteenth

So, what is this spectacle? Well, it’s the day when the Grey Lodge Pub brings in casks and firkins of beer. For those unfamiliar with the terms:
Additional hops and sugars or wort are added to cask conditioned ales when they are barreled resulting in a secondary fermentation in the barrel. These ales tend to have very pleasing natural carbination and are served at a higher temperature than regular draft beer. Due to the oxygen that enters the cask once it is opened, the shelf life is only a few days. This is beer at its freshest.

Firkins and pins are two sizes of casks. A firkin is 40.8 liters (10.8 US gallons). A pin is 20.4 liters (5.4 gallons). A typical US 1/2 barrel is 15.5 gallons. – Grey Lodge Pub website

According to legend, the whole thing started when the owner of the Grey Lodge wanted to start serving cask-conditioned ales but needed a push to get the idea started with the guests there. In 1998, he realized that there would be THREE Friday the 13ths and realized that offering them on this day would be a great way of doing something different – and it became and instant hint. From their site:

“This whole thing makes no sense whatsoever. It’s totally random because the timing is entirely at the mercy of the calendar. It’s held in this tiny neighborhood bar in Northeast Philadelphia, an area which is not exactly your mecca for great beer. Yet virtually every brewer within shouting distance would kill to be a part of it and people come from all over to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and hope they can get a beer from bartenders who are incredibly overworked. Scoats is either a genius or an idiot savant, I can’t decide which. But God bless him.” – Jack Curtin, beer writer

SO, in short, they serve great cask-conditioned beers that have been brewed and stored in limited quantities – many just for the brewers own use and special events like Friday the Firkenteenth. Local brewers, in particular, are known for making special editions just for this irregular party. The beers are almost always poured using a gravity or hand pump – never with CO2 or nitrogen taps. And because of the way that they’ve been brewed and stored in casks, the moment they’re opened, they rolling downhill, usually having a shelf-life of less than a few days.

Here’s this year’s tentative line-up:
Looks like 20 firkins and a couple of Flying Fish golden gate casks. Our previous record was 18.5 firkins.
7 firkins will be pouring at any time (except when we get down to less than 7), tapping a new one as one kicks. The order of the casks will be random, but hey there should be no stinkers in the line-up.

Current Cask List (likely to change, it always does):

• Appalachian Celtic Knot
• Brewers Art Cardamom-Candy Sugar Resurretion Ale
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Flying Bison Blackbird Oatmeal Stout
• Flying Fish Farmhouse dry hopped with Columbus and Amarillo
• General Lafayette Chocolate Thunder Porter
• Iron Hill (North Wales) American Pale Ale
• Iron Hill (West Chester) Belgian Pale Ale
• Lancaster Saison
• Legacy Hoptimus Prime
• Middle Ages Duke of Winship
• Nodding Head Wumpus ESB
• Ramstein Alt
• Rock Art Magnumus ete Tomahawkus
• Sly Fox Route 113 IPA
• Southampton Burton Ale
• Troegs Just Hopback
• Triumph Jewish Rye
• Victory Donnybrook Stout
• Yards double-dry-hopped IPA

And that beer is usually fan-frickin’-tastic. I’ve only had the opportunity to attend two of these, and both times it was a good thing I was hanging out with locals – much of the reason that I don’t attend it as religiously as I would otherwise (it’s a good 20 miles from my house and no short-and-easy way to get from there to my house). I would have taken off today to go, except that we are having an art exhibition at work and some of my pictures are being presented, so I have to be there. The only other one for this year is in July, on my anniversary, so unless I can convince my wife to go out and drink lots of good beer on our Anniversary, I’m thinking I’ll miss that one, too. Oh well…

Either way, it’s still a great party and a great day. Here’s to hoping you all have a Happy Friday the Firkenteenth, as well.

I’m not sure how to feel about my vacation last week. In some ways, it seemed so wrong to be having a good time in N. Topsail Beach while the suffering was going on down in the south. To be honest, many of us were torn between watching the news and seeing what was happening, and salvaging our own much-needed vacation by pushing that away – it would become all too real once we returned to the ‘Real World’.

The Good

I love North Topsail Beach – it’s a great town with nothing to do. Nothing? Yes – and that’s what makes it perfect. We went to the grocery store 5 miles away for groceries a couple of times, with a stop at the cheesy souveneir place once for t-shirts, and other than that, we never really left the house. Our daily schedule:

1. Get up
2. Feed the dogs
3. Walk the dogs on the beach
4. Put the dogs on the deck to nap
5. Go out and do some photography
6. Take the dogs out to the beach to play, swim, body surf
7. Go back for lunch and let dogs nap
8. Head back to the beach for the afternoon – sometimes with dogs, sometimes without, sometimes with margs, sometimes without
9. Go back in for dinner
10. Take dogs for evening walk
11. Grab a beer/drink, and prepare for night of cards, games, talking
12. Fall asleep

Pretty simple life, actually – and I loved it. There was no hassle about going to boardwalk, finding a restaurant with a less-than-2-hour wait, no crowded beaches. Just photography, relaxation, watching the dogs, hanging out with relatives. It was all good.

Highlights

Some of the highlights of our trip:

• Deep Sea Fishing – although I didn’t catch anything and the seas were a bit rough for some members of our group
• Dogs’ first visit to the beach – both Oakley and Miles LOVED the beach. They both learned to swim in the ocean (you know, leaping over incoming waves, avoiding getting crashed into the surf), and Oakley actually figured out how to body surf. They were depressed when we left.
• Kayaking - We had both a 1-man and a 2-man kayak. I enjoyed going out a few times, trying to catch up to porpoise, watching the terns fish just off of the boat, and in general enjoying the exercise.
• Fun & Games – I finally got to play Axis & Allies again, as well as Taboo, Cranium, and our own personal Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament. Every night was something new, including the 1st Annual Topsail Beach Beer Tasting, which featured samplings of Ommegang Rare Vos, Ommegang Three Philosophers and Chimay Grand Reserve.
• Food – I ate extremely well and terribly this week. There was always food around, including great subs by my father, delicious treats by my cousin and awesome dinners by everyone. The food was great, the seafood was plentiful (who can argue with $60 for 16 pounds of fresh-caught shrimp?), and it was a good atmosphere. Everyone picked a night for their dinner-making, and the menu varied – but was always good.
• Photography – Now that I was armed with a Nikon D70, I was looking forward to taking some shots of shorebirds, seabirds and whatever came into view. I wasn’t disappointed, adding some new birds (5 new species) and also getting shots of birds that I struggled to photograph the last time I was down there using a Pentax POS. I also got pictures of some really cool dragonflies, 8 new species of butterfly (hey, when the birds are boring in summer…), and a lizard. You can check out my pictures here

The Bad

Actually, there wasn’t much bad this week, other than the occassional newscast to make us have a moment of silent reverence for the disaster unfolding. I did realize how much of an asshat I am when I left the power cord for my laptop at work and had to have it FedExed to me so that I could put on the airs of actually doing some work (didn’t happen, really). What work I did try to do was stymied by the block on long-distance internet that the house had. Local numbers from global internet servers worked, local NJ numbers for an independent ISP did not. Oh well – it kept me away from the ‘net most of the week…

I also spent more time playing with the dogs (NOT a bad thing) which left my reading to a minimal amount – I only finished 2 books and started a 3rd. Usually, I get through 4 in the week… stay tuned for reviews.

Of course, gas prices rising more than 70 cents per gallon in NC while we were there, coupled with a $30 limit per purchase, wasn’t fun. We went from a fill-up of the Pathfinder being $42 to over $60. But that pales in comparison to…

The Ugly

How else can you describe the disaster that unfolded while we were down there. No, I’m not talking about the Phillies or my fantasy draft, but the Mother of All Bad Hurricanes, Katrina. I’m still in awe of the devestation she caused. New Orleans as the city I visited no longer exists. Luckily, the historic French Quarter escaped relatively unscathed, but most of the rest of the city will need to be razed and rebuilt. The pictures and descriptions were bad enough, but the stories were worse. The lack of substantial aid by the government (point of note – I didn’t elect this boob), aid workers being unable to get to those who needed help, the huge scale of destruction. Even worse, to see the depravity of what was happening down there after the storm turned my stomach. The looting was bad enough (just what the hell are these people going to do with those 3 new TVs they stole – considering they have no home, no power … oh, and no broadcasts), but to hear about rescuers being shot at is deplorable. As far as I’m concerned, if you fire upon a military rescue helicopter, you’re fair game for a bullet between the eyes yourself.

And New Orleans isn’t the only place that was wiped from the face of the earth by the storm. Small towns in Mississippi and Louisiana were crushed by the storm and the accompanying 20+ foot storm surge. You hear less about them, but this note from Van’s cousin drove it home for me. Other stories I have read detail entire towns being wiped out. Those that were trapped are probably dead, and many of those bodies will probably never be recovered.

I’m sad at everything I see, everything I read. I don’t have rescue experience, I’m not a doctor and I don’t have the skills to help out down there, but I can donate, and so can you. Please donate if you can.

Katrina Links

• Pictures from someone’s apartment in New Orleans
• NOAA’s satellite photos of the storm
• Using Google Maps to track conditions after the storm
• One of the worst pictures I’ve seen – Bay Saint Louis, MS

Not too shabby – I knew there was a reason I liked Philly. I was surprised by the lack of Colorado breweries, though (only 4).

The weekend began with the trip up to Penn State – a much shorter and faster trip than I remembered, thanks to the tons of new construction. When we got there, we were met by a large group of other Theta Delts at the Cafe. We made quite a ruckus there before heading over to an old favorite – Zeno’s. It was there that I got into trouble, switching from Yuengling Lager to Chimay and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Both were delicious but added to my light-headedness.

It was a cool place to be, though, since they were sponsoring the BrewFest the next day – and there were a lot of brewers and beer afficianados in attendance to drink from Zeno’s 29 taps and over 200 different beers (and you’d be hard pressed to find anything brewed by the Big 3. Along the way, I met Matt from Stoudt’s Brewery, a good guy to talk beer with. We reviewed our favorites, talked about his work and he gave me a bit of a lesson on some of the styles that I’m less familiar with, as well as inviting me to stop by the next day.

As the night went on, I realized that I just can’t drink like I used to – but I can still kick butt in darts, winning 3 of 4 games. After the performance (and much trash-talking), everyone then headed back to the house where I quickly found my long work week catching up to me.

Dear Ol’ State

I got up early on Saturday morning to enjoy the beginning of the day and run up to campus to take some pictures. I have always wanted to get some shots of the highlights of campus, and this was going to be my chance, now that I have my new Nikon D70 camera. I have to say that I was impressed and amazed by the number of changes on campus. There aren’t only new buildings, there are entire new sections of the campus. The technology center, the fact that Shortlidge is no longer a car-accessible road (instead being a pedestrian mall in between two wings of the huge Science Classroom Building, the new HUB. It’s all changed so much, and one of the actives at the house was telling me that East Halls – familiarly known as The Tundra in my day – was intended to one day be near the center of campus. Penn State is growing.

But as much as it is growing and getting newer, there are things which still stand and point to the origins of the place. The walking malls are still there, lined with grass and begging squirrels. And there is still Old Main and the Nittany Lion Shrine, my destinations for the day. Below are some of the pictures I got:

State College Microbrewery Exposition 2005

To follow up on a picture-perfect (no pun intended) morning, I was met by the other members of the entourage heading to the BrewFest outside of town. There were only five of us since most people were going to play golf (can’t figure that one out), and we were eager to try the wares of the various brewers and distributors. The $35 entrance fee included the obligatory tasting glass, access to all the beer you could drink (although that defeats the purpose) and a buffet. So, we headed in and went to start sampling brews from all over the world, with a focus on the Pennsylvania region. My scorecard:

• Affligem Blond » 7
• Ayinger Celebrator Doublebock » 8.5
• Chimay Cinq Cents » 9
  Good as usual, but it tasted as though the lines were a little funky.
• Dogfish Head Aprihop » 6.5
• Duvel » 8.5
• Hoegaarden » 8.5
• KClinger’s Brown » 3
• Lancaster Brewing Milk Stout » 7
  I think I actually like this one better in bottle – the tapped version tasted a bit too smoky.
• Lancaster Brewing Strawberry Wheat » 7.5
• Rodenbach » 8
  To be honest, I like the Monk’s version better
• Stoudt’s Trippel » 7.5
• Stoudt’s Weizen » 7
• Troeg’s Troegenator» 6.5
• Unibroue Maudite » 8
• Unibroue Terrible » 9
• Unibroue La Fin Du Monde » 8.5
• Unibroue Edition 2005 » 10
  Absolutely outstanding beer. I got two others hooked on this – I’ll be getting it soon.
• Victory Whirlwind Wit » 8
• Woodchuck Pear » 7.5
  A bit too fruity for me, but not bad
• Young’s Oatmeal Stout » 8
• Young’s Double Chocolate Stout » 9

And Mr. and Mrs. Jerky were making some fine jerky styles, too.

World Series of Poker, Theta Delta Chi Style

Then came the big event – the poker tournament. 39 people were supposed to play, but only 29 showed up – still a great showing with lots of guys that I haven’t seen in a while – in some cases, almost a decade. Web did a fantastic job at getting everything organized and started on time. I played well, although not as well as I did at the last tournament. In the end, I made it to the final table, where I spent my first dozen or so hands getting only 2 face cards total. Makes it hard to play when you can’t even stay in. So, my measly pot kept dwindling and dwindling in the face of the antes and blinds until I took a chance (“Columbus took a chance…”) – a chance with J-3 in the hole against a K-something. I started out well, getting a 3 on the flop, but a king showed up on the turn, and it was all over. I was out, finishing 9th place. Still, not too bad – I played for 4+ hours and took out some of the guys I thought would be there until the end.

Everyone had a good time, and my buddy Tony took the whole thing (I taught him well, it seems). It was a lot of fun for the weekend – although I was bushed on Sunday (and today).

Epilogue

A bunch of beers, poker and seeing old friends – all made for a great time. We’re already planning for next year’s tournament.

Daily Links »

• Tom Cruise is Nuts (dotcom) – amusing

I finally played well, too. My poker face is more readable than the large-print version of Jack and Jill. My buddy Jim loves playing against me because he can usually bluff his way in close hands. But on Saturday, I was on fire. I was finally getting cards and I was playing them well, and … heaven forbid … bluffing. I started by trying to be the man, wearing the hat and sunglasses. And I got 15 straight hands where my cards were combinations of everything from 2 – 10. I literally had one or two face cards in that entire time. Except for blinds, I never made a bet. Then I removed the sunglasses – and my luck changed. I won 2 of 3, including a pretty large pot. I was flying.

Then the tables condensed and Jim sat down next to me. My mojo was gone. I went down 3 straight hands that I stayed in on. Jim took me for a big hand. I was ready to lace his beer with a little Visine to get back my advantage when I won a big hand – and then moved to another table. At that table, I was against a young kid with a huge stack. He was a bully, relying on his pot to take him through some ludicrous bets and raises. I was lucky enough to not take him on until I had the makings of a straight – and then I dragged him in heavy when I got it on the river. I took probably 50% of his chips, then bluffed my way to taking his buddy’s stack. I was back.

In the end, I found my groove for the first time in a LONG while. I played last month and did well, mostly on opening hands of flush, straight, full house in the first 3 hands. I never looked back from there, but that was luck of the cards, not playing ability. But who knows – maybe this was a turning point and I will actually be able to start winning some on skill instead of luck of the draw.

When I moved to Boulder, CO, I started following the Broncos (ironic, huh?). I actually liked John Elway – hard not to with his work ethic and history – and the team got my attention, partially because I was covering them for a local college newspaper. I still preferred my Cowboys – even venturing to the South Stands at old Mile High wearing Cowboys regalia – but enjoyed watching an AFC team, too.

When I moved back to the Philly area, I started watching more Eagles football. Part of it was immersion – if I wanted to hang out with my friends on football Sunday, it was going to be the Eagles – and part of it was that I was enjoying the way that team was being run (as opposed to the despicable way that Jerry Jones was running the Cowboys). I wouldn’t say that I am a huge fan, but I have been rooting for the Eagles for the last 4 years, and I was glad to see them win yesterday. And yes, I will be rooting them on in the Super Bowl.

Strangely, I’m a Philly fan first-and-foremost in every other sport. I die with the repeated Phillies ridiculous moves, cringe at how bad the Sixers are managed and bang my head against the wall every time Bobby Clarke pulls his stunts with the Flyers. So, my departure with the NFL is a bit odd, but set in motion far before I had a choice. So to those who ridicule me on a regular basis for being a Cowboys fan, take me or leave me as I am. But please, stop singing that stupid “Fly, Eagles, Fly” song. It’s really bad, and your voice sucks.

Daily Links »

• From the mouths of Grandmas… and one of the funniest entries in a long time.

Sometimes, you can do nothing wrong. I started off the night with the following:

• a dealt flush in 5-card draw poker.
• a flush on the river in Texas Hold ‘Em.
• a full-house in Texas Hold ‘Em.

Then Steve sat down and muddied my mojo a bit, but I was still doing pretty well (2 more flushes, another full house along the way). All in all, a pretty good night at our mid-stakes ($40 a person, average) dealer’s choice game.

On the other hand, Darius must have pissed off Lady Luck something fierce. He could have had five-of-a-kind Kings and someone would have had five-of-a-kind Aces. It was that kind of night, typified by his luck at High-Low. For those of you who don’t know it, this game involves betting whether you can get a 3rd card between the first two that were dealt. For example, if you are dealt a four and a jack, you’d be betting that the card turned up between them will be a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10. If not, you pay the pot your bet – in our case somewhere between 50 cents and the whole pot.

Darius, had at least SIX different combinations of 4-J or better, and lost them all. The cards would show up in his favor, but invariably would give him a losing deal. It started becoming a bane to get those cards because you KNEW that you were going to get screwed. But he kept hesitating and then making the fateful bets – and sweetening the pot. And his bad luck didn’t abate after that – he kept hemorraghing cash game after game, giving up a full house to a better full house, losing a straight to a flush, pulling 21 only to have the dealer also get 21 – resulting in a push. It was tragic. I haven’t seen luck that bad since a friend drafted Rob Moore in the 4th round in fantasy football – about 30 seconds before the announcement of his season-ending injury (of course, pundits would say drafting Rob Moore up that high deserved that stroke of luck).

Of course, I came out $35 ahead, so I walked away snickering.

Daily Links »

• Relax, Everything Is Deeply Intertwingled: Weblications
• CSS min-height hack – fairly simple hack for addressing the height of divs

I wouldn’t have gone except for the fact that my brother-in-law, nieces and nephew were all involved with the B. Love comedy troop, so we had to go visit and see what this was all about. Well, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun.

As usual, we were a little late and they were already working their way up Broad St. when we got there. A few hasty photographs and then we had to rush to get to the judging area in front of them. Of course, the judging stand was crowded and I never really got to see them there, so I’m thankful for the pictures I got before then. The troop looked like they were all having a great time, and they eventually placed 2nd in the Comedy Group of the Comedy Division. Not too bad.

Hanging out with them after they were finished allowed my wife, son and mother-in-law to go see more of the parade as we went from bar to bar in the South Philly area. Fado’s, Copa Too! and of course Ray’s Tavern were all stops along the way, as was the parade route to see the string bands as we headed back to their staging area. The weather was gorgeous (Jan. 1 and 60+ degrees), and walking around the city was a lot of fun. I got some great Mummers shots as well as quite a few good shots of the city itself. I haven’t gotten them uploaded, but I’ll update this post when I do.

Here are the pictures of those Mummer folks:

to see more of B. Love, click here.

More more general Mummer’s pictures, visit my flickr set.

Daily Links »

• Amazon giving away the store? – Amazon.com continues to innovate.