effigies

Where's the outrage?

note: I do not endorse the sources, I am only borrowing from them.




from http://www.suprmchaos.com/ :

Anti-summit protesters burn an effigy of President Bush draped in an American flag in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Wednesday, June 26, 2002, as they protest the G-8 summit taking place in Kananaskis, Alberta. Photo by Tom Hanson:










Borrowed from: www.atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/ :

A Pakistani woman gestures next to a burning effigy of Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders during a protest against a recent Dutch film that portrays Islam as a ticking time bomb (ironic when you consider the reaction, huh?) aimed at the West in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, March 30, 2008:






from http://www.daylife.com/ :

16 months ago: Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout anti American slogans as they burn an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush during a protest in Srinagar, India, Thursday, June, 14, 2007. Over 500 angry demonstrators carrying black flags and copies of Quran and burning effigies of U.S. President Bush, rallied against destruction of the two minarets of the Askariya shrine in Iraq in a bombing blamed on al-Qaida insurgents, during a protest which, according to a protestor, was 'against the bombing and against the American occupation of Iraq which has led to bombing.' :

from http://www.foxnews.com/ :



"Several locals and tour buses have swung by the house to snap photos of the scene, and some gawkers say it is humorous. Morisette acknowledged to FOX 11 news that had he depicted Barack Obama (instead of Sarah Palin) in the same scene, it would not have gone over as well."

from: http://www.bearpit.net/ :

I guess, in the end, there's outrage about a couple Obama effigies having been hanged at college campuses (This was not political speech. It was simply hate. It was profoundly wrong and deeply offensive," said Beshear[democrat governor of KY] in a statement. "This incident does not reflect who we are as a flagship institution of higher learning or a Commonwealth. I appreciate the university's resolve to investigate this matter and ensure that such actions will not be tolerated.") (U.K. President Lee T. Todd Jr.: "Unfortunately, this morning an effigy of Senator Barack Obama was discovered hanging in a tree on campus. I am personally offended and deeply embarrassed by this disgusting episode. This is not reasonable political expression; it is just malicious. And it is unacceptable. On behalf of the University of Kentucky I apologize to Senator Obama and his family. I will personally assure them that this is not who we are as a University or as a state), but in my search, this is the best picture I could find when googling "obama effigy":

Funny, but when I posted it there was an old Nazi poster of Hitler with his face replaced by Obama. It disappeared within the half-hour of posting and was replaced with this (Hebrew?) symbol.

Oh, well (edit, 9:35 PM), it looked a lot like this picture, but with the younger-Hitler-flip-hairdoo:

Yes, people should be upset that his effigy is being hanged, but why not get upset about it when it's a Republican hanging or on fire?

Good Ol' Princess

Circa August 1995 (almost 1 year old):

Princess; 1994-2008

Goodbye to a great dog.

Oddity re: Mac n' Cheese post from last October

Using SiteMeter, I see that 23 out of the last 100 visitors to my blog arrived straight into this previous post.


Why??? Anyone?

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The Fairy King?

Continuously fermenting mead.

I mentioned in my last post that I have a "continuously fermenting mead". I thought I'd explain since I had never mentioned it here before. It looks like any other mead, as you see here:

As I listened to an archived episode of Basic Brewing Network's podcast of an interview done with a South African meadmaker he mentioned his "continuously fermenting" system. I began to look into this idea, not really knowing what it was, and came across the sherry "solera" idea that I had read about long ago when I was learning about wine. What I decided was that it was all just terribly impractical and I was not going to try it.

What I did was start a batch of mead with a combination of a lot of samples of different fermentations, mostly citrus wines from the back yard, that I had going at the time as a starter since I had no yeast and could not afford any more ingredients (Misty came across the honey purchased a couple years before in the back of a closet, so the mead wasn't costing me any current money to produce). Money was a huge factor in deciding to try this, you see: I figured I could afford 3lbs. of honey at $6 (yes, grocery store honey) every month or two. What I did was siphon a gallon out and replace it with new honey and water. I applied this to a blueberry and to a pineapple mead (for the wedding in my earlier post). I put the fruit in the gallon jugs and racked some semi-sweet still fermenting mead on top of it to finish. These did not require a whole 2 gallons of mead because of the fruit's displacement, so I pulled out a few bottles worth and cold-crashed it in the fridge for drinking at a ripe young age. Not bad stuff.

It's been going since February, I think. I hope to keep it going for a nice long time. I like the solera philosophy that once you start tapping the last barrel, it is a nice blend of old and new and have figured out how I can use this to achieve a similar end. I do have to rack to a new carboy every couple of months to reduce the risk of autolosys (sic?), but do not have to worry about oxidation from the racking since it is perpetually fermenting and the added oxygen is actually beneficial to the yeast (I think). My hope is that after a couple years use, I will be able to pull a gallon and finish its fermentation and it will already taste fairly well-aged. It will never match the solera for aging because this is my fermentation method, not my aging method. Maybe I'll add something for that. Remind me and I'll let you know in a couple of years.

Special Beer Tasting Night

Orval Trappist Ale 6.9%abv 11.2oz (aka 330ml):

distinct "skittle" bottle shape!

nice CO2 hiss and cloud on escape.

beautiful creamy/meringue like head that lasts too long when thirsty.

great aroma: just a hint of wildness, woodiness, sweettartiness, carbonation is high and forces aroma into the nose upon swallowing.

light golden/orange color.

tastes of: wood, copper, hoppy but not distinct it blends into the beer, slightly sweet, tart, very slight bitter/hoppy aftertaste, brett flavor grows as beer warms .

I tossed the bottle dregs into my continuously fermenting mead. I just couldn't help myself.



Dogfish Head 90 minute Imperial India Pale Ale 9%abv 12oz:

unassuming standard brown 12 ounce bottle with distinctly non-laminated label suggesting recyclability and/or cheapness.

bread-dough head. not as long-lasting as the Orval, but still a lingerer.

malty-sweet and floral-citrusy hop aroma. amazing. I couldn't help getting foam on my nose because I couldn't get enough. I'm realizing as I type this that even though the glass is a good 18" away from my nose, I can still pull it in.

beatutiful deep golden amber color.

Oh, my gods... the taste...


sweet, brown sugar, molasses, MALT, and the hops- how can I describe them- they are there the whole way, citrusy,- but for an IPA they are not overwhelming or dominating. I have to stop typing now so I can drink...


... why must it be so expensive?!?!...

... it tastes like gold should taste if you could drink it. With hops, especially at the finish...

...It lingers on the palate like pecan pie...

...I'm having this at Thanksgiving with my signature pecan pie!!!


...sure doesnt't tasste like 9%...


... my face is warm...


...sorry to see it go.



I'm afraid to open the next one, that's going to be a devestatingly tough act to follow.




Altenmunster Doppelbock Winterbier 7.2%abv 1pt, 0.9oz (aka500ml):

flip-top!!!

Great pop, with a little spray on the forearm.

Quite foamy, dissipates faster than the other 2. Bread-dough also, but with slightly bigger bubbles.


Very dark reddish-braun.

Surprisingly "fresh" malty aroma. Something I just can't put my nose on...

Surprisingly "fresh" taste. Perhaps it's an out of balance acid of some sort. Not too roasty/toasty and light malt for a doppel. Slight raisiny flavor. I might really like it some other time, but that DFH90.....

...roasted barley, maybe chocolate malt... It certainly doesn't taste like Spaten.

It's taking a very long time to drink, which considering the abv of these beers is not necessarily a bad thing. I'll be back...














Guten nacht!

Delerium Nocturnum Belgian ale 8.5%abv 11.2oz (aka330ml):

flecked-painted bottle to keep the light out so it won't skunk and there's a pink elephant on the label!





head is puffy, but deflates pretty quickly. May have been the glass.






aroma is of caramel, toasty-raisin, light toffee, slightly sweet, no hops.







color is dark brown, with unappealing fuzzy chunks.







taste is tangy, malty-sweet. slight burnt-caramel. is the tanginess and the fuzzy chunks on purpose?









Nice lace.







I think this bottle's off. The tanginess is too much, and the chunks are hanging in the beer in exactly the same way that bricks don't (thank you, Douglas Adams).

Re: Sleeping well at night. (guns XXX) [that means 30!]

Ironic, considering the last post I made.

2:00 AM
Misty woke me up. She heard the door on the lanai shut. She got her pistol and went out front. I got the shotgun and went out back. I scanned the yard and roof with the barrel mounted flashlight but found nothing, but when I got back to the front door she came running in. "There was a guy out there!" She had seen him by our trash cans.

"What are you doing?!" as she raised her pistol.

"Sorry, ma'am, I just dropped my wallet." And then he took off.

She scared him out of his flip-flops and he also dropped a woman's checkbook in the street. He had been ditching some presumably stolen goods in our trash. There was an empty "Hooters" billfold (what they give you your bill in) and some bottles of prenatal vitamins. She called the police, who came and got the description from her.

About a year ago, our neighbor came home one evening to find a stranger on his lanai. He called the police who came and looked around. They heard noise from the roof. It was the stranger jumping off. He got away.

I always thought the suburbs were more peaceful than this.

Mak-90 partII (guns xxix)

Last time I posted a pic of this, I said that maybe I'd get one with the 75 round drum under it.

Here it is:

The sleepy-time sheets help, but the rifle is what really makes me sleep well at night.

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Another forgotten photo

For those who don't know, our Lauren declared at the age of 6 that she wanted to be a pastry chef and now that she's 13 she has never once changed her mind. She made this pan of brownies:

Forgotten Range Pics... (guns XXIIX)

... from the past year or so:

Smith & Wesson mdl 65-3 in my hands:
Kel-Tec P3AT:
That same S&W 65-3 3"bbl .357 mag 6-shooter:
The break-top S&W you may recognize from earlier posts:
The .22 Browning rifle my dad gave me:

Congratulations to Ernesto and Pam!!!

A great couple, and great friends.

Inspired by a BYO magazine recipe for a Mountain Dew Beer, I made this for their wedding. Ernesto is a Mountain Dew drinker, you see.

I was honored to not only brew, but to make ribs and also officiate the ceremony.

3 gallons Mountain Dew poured into fermenter

boiled:

2.5 gallons water

4lbs. Munton's light DME

1/2 oz. Cascade 45 min.

1/2 oz. Cascade 10 min.

pitched:

Safale 05





It was a love/hate reception. About a third of those who tried it hated it immediately and the other two-thirds said it was really interesting and then proceeded to empty the keg.

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Mead Day 2008

2 August 2008

H.A.M.S. club held our part of National Mead Day at Rasher Tierney's.

The other mead guys, John and Jim, tend to be more traditional than I: they usually heat or even boil their must. They were heading up our Mead Day, so that's what we did.

I did not intentionally overexpose the photos, but it does kind of give the feeling of HOTNESS. It was a very blistery day. I really like mead, it's my favorite, so I'm going to suggest we do two club Mead Days: one on the standard 1st Saturday of August and another in February. We can do a no-heat mead indoors in August and a heat or boil mead outdoors in February. Florida brewing is necessarily different from most of the rest of the country due to our climate.


John brought this commercial bottle of "Orange Blossom Honey Wine". It was pretty well colorless and tasted like a simple syrup. He and Jim and I all brought some of our own and they were better by far!
The owner of Rasher Tierney's is a really good guy. He accomodates our somewhat rowdy group really well.

Misty and John passed out samples of our meads. They were well recieved and allowed us to evangelize about this, the greatest and most ancient of adult beverages.
Here's a blueberry melomel (melomel means a honey-wine with fruit added) I was working on just before mead day. It was not quite ready for mead day, but I cold-crashed the yeast out of a bottle's worth and then topped up with citrus wine. I'm happy to say that just about everyone liked it: