Caps practice

This morning Teri and I played hooky and went to the Capitals practice that is at 10:30 on non-game days. The rather new practice rink happens to be not far from my neighborhood and practice is open to the public. I had never been and the slow work week after Christmas seemed like a good time to go. Unfortunately it turned out the team was on their way to the west coast for a couple road games. But to Teri's great fortune Varlamov happened to be there by himself practicing with his coach and two Caps lackies. We just hung out for a bit, Teri snapped some shots, and we took off to work. The other rink was packed during the public skate time.

pics and videos from Teri's album

Christmas in Pburg

Christmas was on a Friday so this year I flew in town on Wednesday and left on Monday. That gave me all of Christmas Eve and the weekend which was about perfect. I can only hang out in the home town for so many days. Unfortunately I didn't get upgraded to first class on my flight out. About 10 minutes after we were supposed to have taken off the flight attendant announced that we were too heavy and asked for a volunteer to get off. Some 130 lbs woman got off the plane and about 10 minutes later they came on and asked for another volunteer. Eventually someone else got off the plane. 10 minutes later they came on and asked for two more volunteers. At some point a flight attendant also got off. After some time we queued up for take off and eventually got in the air.

All that wasn't too bad because I was scheduled to come in to Detroit 45 minutes before my sister. I turned out to be only about 30 minutes late. Dad was waiting for me in the cell lot and after I got my bags and got in the car Beth called and said she was ready. On the way home we stopped by the jerky store. The place has awesome, fresh, thick jerky of all kinds. Later that night I met up with Ben at a bar out in Sylvania. It was a good thing too because I didn't end up seeing him again during the trip.

Scott and Jen showed up after the drive from DC on Christmas Eve. Christmas was pretty typical. We rolled out of bed late and ate breakfast around 11:00. Then we opened up presents. I was bad at getting a list out this year and got a bunch of CDs and books that have been on my x-mas list for awhile. I did pick up the car mount and charger for my phone and that has worked quite well when using it in navigation mode. Later my Mom's brother came over, we had appetizers, ate dinner (yummy Honey Baked Ham), talked, and the old people called it a night.

On Saturday Beth had a wedding shower. Then after some Mancy's Italian I went over to Corey's house with Adam, Nick, and Brett. Karnes and Tony showed up. It was a good night of swill and chill. I remember some snowflakes while hanging on the back patio. Corey has a nice house. The two little ones were asleep upstairs. Kim eventually stopped by. Bummer Ben and Abby were on call.

On Sunday Matt and Beth's Matt flew in to Detroit at about the same time. That night I went out with Matt over to Adams. Adam's girlfriend Heather was over and it was the first time I hung out with her.

On Monday it was snowing pretty good. CNN also caused a ruckus by talking about non-existent long lines at the airport after the terrorist attempt and bathroom incident two days in a row. I did get upgraded to first class this time and was able to avoid the rather long line at the ticket counter. The security line was quite short but I bypassed that as well. Once through security I had 90 minutes till my flight was boarded.

After a few drinks and some snacks I walked over to my gate and found out I was moved and a bit delayed. It turned out the reason for all this was that our plane had a mechanical problem and we were given a new plane. A new plane with 15 less seats. This caused a clustermuck at the gate counter and more delays as they sorted out those who didn't have seats and those volunteering to give up their seat. Eventually we boarded and made the 59 minute flight back to DC. Unfortunately all the snow in DC had melted.

pics and video

the Salukis

I posted an album of my Mom's Salukis. Jazz (Sonama's Rhythm and Blues) was born in 1993 and passed away in 2008. Jazz was our favorite but we don't tell the other salukies that. Jazz was a giraffe pup. He had no idea how to use his super long legs. But once he figured them out he could keep up with me as I rode my bike downhill as fast as I could go.

My mom wanted a second pup so in 2002 she got Quest. Quest (Z'bees Quest for the Cup) is named in reference to the NHL Stanley Cup. Quest always wanted to lay on top of Jazz but they got along together well. Quest isn't as smart as Jazz but has all the energy. He did learn from his older brother though.

Once Jazz passed away in 2008 when he was 14 my Mom got her third Saluki Ciara. Unlike Jazz and Quest, Ciara came from a shelter and her breeder is unknown. She was around 5 years old when we got her. She was very scared and skittish for the first few months. She wouldn't go up or down stairs. She is still timid but has gotten comfortable at her new home. Neither Quest or Ciara are feathered like Jazz had been. Ciara is quicker than Jazz was and has become quite the hunter.

Pics of the pups

"blizzard" of '09

It started snowing Friday night during the Greyboy Allstars and didn't stop till Saturday night. Saturday the city looked nice in a clean white sheet of snow. None of the streets were plowed yet. There were cars stuck everywhere. I saw people pushing two different cop cars. One guy and his friends had a nice tunnel dug in a parking lot snow pile made by a backhoe. You could easily fit two people inside it when I walked by. Seeing adults build a snow fort was a laugh. People were also sledding down 14th Street near me. I saw one guy with a Little Sumptin' Extra Ale which is a favorite of mine.

There was a snowball fight organized on Twitter at the corner of 14th and U St in DC. 100 or so people turned out. Cars braving the conditions might have be hit by an errant snowball or two. A Hummer near the intersection happened to receive a few snowballs making the driver a little unhappy. First the guy waved his walkie-talkie. Then he pulled out a gun. It turns out he was an undercover cop but this was not realized until 911 had been called by a few people. Cops show up with sirens and guns drawn. Lots of pictures and videos were taken by participants and spectators. National news was made. My parents heard about it. Good times in DC.

The main roads were passable on Sunday. All the roads were fine by Monday even though the Federal Government closed. They claimed it was a blizzard because of the wind or something. I got 15 inches. Wish it happened more often.

Flickr pics

The Greyboy Allstars

The Greyboy Allstars rocked on Friday at the 9:30 Club. The place wasn't that crowded but they sure threw down. I was up pretty close and they laid down the funk. It was great seeing Karl Denson and Robert Walters. The guitarist was fun to see as well. They played two full sets and seemed to have a good time. They are definitely one of my favorite bands. They played some old classics and some new ones. I hope they tour more often but I'm sure its hard to get away from their own individual bands.

cell phone pics

Winter beer tasting

The Brickskeller had their annual winter beer tasting on Wednesday. It's usually a popular event. Teri came along for her first beer tasting. We got a couple seats at a table up front and ended up sitting with a bunch of local beer people. The Lagerheads are a young couple that blog for the City Paper and tweet, Thomas Cizauskas works in the beer industry and also blogs and tweets, Gregg Wiggins is a beer writer, and Bob Tupper and his wife have tasting notes on over 18,000 beers. As usual Bob was the host for the evening. The line-up for this tasting was:

Capital City Shirlington - Organic Belgian Triple

Capital City DC - Black Forest Stout

White Marsh / Red Brick Station - Organic Winter Solstice

Pratt Street - Merry Old Ale

District Chop House - Double Bock

Vintage 50 - Wee Heavy 2008

Devils Backbone - Wood Aged Wee Heavy

He'Brew - Jewbelation 13th Anniversary

Anchor Brewing - Christmas Ale 1997

I don't have a whole lot of notes for this tasting. Next time I need to remember that I don't remember any specifics. The Belgian Triple came in at 10% and was quite earthy. I'm not sure if it was this organic beer or the Winter Solstice that was not a certified organic beer but used all organic ingredients.

The Black Forest Stout was made with bourbon vaniella beans. It was not aged in oak barrels but rather had oak spirals dipped in the beer for six weeks. It had a milk chocolate stout taste and was 5.2%.

The Winter Solstice was made with coco nibs and was 5.6%.

The Merry Old Ale from Pratt Street was an English spiced Ale at 6.2%. It was good and not too spicy. The Pratt Street Ale House is a favorite brewpub in downtown Baltimore.

The Dobble Bock from District Chop House was a nice dry beer at 10.9%. Barrett Lauer said he has been perfecting this for awhile. He has been brewing it for eight years and brewing it for the Chop House for five years. The beer had a nice chocolate, roasted, smoked malt flavor.

The Wee Heavy was brought by Bill Madden and brewed in December of 2007 for Vintage 50. He is now building his own brewpub called Mad Fox. He has won a lot of awards and his Malakoff Hoptail is a legendary brew around DC. Teri remembered him from Vintage 50. This Wee Heavy weighed in around 9%.

Jason Oliver of Devils Backbone also brought a Wee Heavy. Apparently this was called "Kilt Flasher" at one time.

He'Brew Jewbelation 13th Anniversary is made by contract brewer Jeremy Cowan. He started in 1996 with seven barrels. I think he said he has 45,000 cases and 49 kegs of this beer. He also makes Coney Island beer. This 13th Anniversary is 13%.

The last beer was from Dave's special stash in the basement of the Brickskeller. He pulled out a keg of Anchor Christmas Ale from 1997. No one was exactly sure how it would taste. I don't think it was all that.

It was a fun alcohol filled night. It was nice putting names to faces to some of the local beer bloggers and tweeters. Looking forward to the strong ale tastings in February.

pics by Thomas Cizauskas

Beth, Mark, and Michelle come up for The Pietasters

Beth came up to see the Pietasters at the 9:30 Club and convinced Mark and Michelle to join her. Beth is a big fan after meeting them and hanging out with them in Raleigh. We were supposed to have backstage passes but they were in Matt's name and Beth couldn't get them changed beforehand.

Teri joined us and the five of us headed to the 9:30 Club. The Pietasters always play late with 2 or 3 bands playing before them. We showed up to see the second to last band, Ruder Than You, and get a little warmed up. The place was rather empty still. The band wasn't too bad and we got down right in front.

Before the Pietasters went on we could see the band next to the stage and I convinced Beth to go talk to them. The trumpet player was hanging out near by and he recognized Beth once she got his attention. He brought the two of us backstage and we hung out before the show for a few.

The show was great. Teri and I got down with everyone skanking while Beth, Mark, and Michelle hung out on the second floor balcony. The Pietasters are always high energy and we had fun getting down. They let everyone on stage at the end like they always do at the 9:30 Club. I couldn't convince Teri to jump up. One guy did a stage dive and no one caught him. The place wasn't too full.

Afterwards the singer was hanging out on the almost empty venue floor and Beth went up to talk to him. He brought Beth, Teri, and I backstage up to the green room. It was a cool little hangout area but none of the other band members were there. They were lacking beer as well and when it did show up it was Bud. First time I've had Bud in as long as I can remember. We took off quickly after as the band wasn't really hanging out.

The next day Beth woke up with her hand over her head and Teri, Mark, Michelle and I went to Ragtime for the omelet bar, mimosas, and bloody mary's.

pics

Phish in Cville

Thanks to a tip from Lee I entered in the pre-sale lottery for Phish in Charlottesville awhile ago. Surprisingly I scored two lower level tickets. The show at Merriweather over the summer wasn't that exciting because they played all new unknown songs. I was looking forward to this indoor show at John Paul Jones Arena.

The plan was to leave at a decent time for the 2.5 hour drive to get settled at the hotel, enjoy the lot, and make it in the venue comfortably. The forecast of snow made things harder to plan. Being the morning after the office holiday party it was not so easy to get out of bed. Teri was especially hating life. I woke her up around 10 or so and said Lee was leaving around noon and we had to leave no later than 2:00. She didn't sound happy and I didn't blame her being unfamiliar with the band, hungover, and having a bit of a family crisis back in Montana. I was surprised and a little unprepared when she showed up at my place ready to go before 1:00. We grabbed some food and took off in the snow.

I drove and we had to go pretty slow at first. Even on the highway we were going about half speed. Lee, Kari, and their friend left about a half hour before us. Once we got off 66 the rode conditions got a little better. And the closer to Charlottesville and further south we went the better things got. We checked in to the hotel room, got some food, picked up beer, and met them at their hotel a few blocks away. All the hotels were packed with Phishheads. After a beer we took off to the show.

The original plan was to take a taxi but I should have known that would never work. Even if we got one there we would never get one back. Teri was kind enough to drive. That turned out to be an issue as well with the traffic. It took 30 minutes to go a block. We finally just turned in to the shopping center next to us, parked, and started walking. It wasn't too far of a walk. The venue was decent and our seats weren't too bad at the back of the lower level.

The first set rocked. It had some good funk. We were rollin' and getting down. I've never seen so many glow sticks. They were constantly in the air. The entire place was puffing. The light show was excellent as usual. The whole event made an impression on Teri. At the start of Ya Mar a naked guy jumped on stage and ran around for a minute before security got him. The second set rocked as well. Lots of classic songs. Trey and crew referred to the naked guy in Run Like An Antelope which got the place going. Here is a video of naked guy and naked guy references.

The setlist:

Set 1: AC/DC Bag > Chalk Dust Torture, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Divided Sky, Ya Mar[1], Sneakin' Sally through the Alley[2], The Old Home Place, Cavern > Funky Bitch, David Bowie, The Wedge, Bold As Love

Set 2: Tweezer -> Light > Piper -> Free, Sweet Virginia, Harry Hood > Suzy Greenberg > Golgi Apparatus, Run Like an Antelope[1]

Encore: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise

After the show we couldn't find much of a lot scene so we boogied. We partied in Lee's hotel room for awhile before passing out and sleeping late. It was a nice sunny drive home after a fun night.

't Smisje Kerst

While waiting to meet up with a friend I stopped in the new happenin' beer bar in DC called ChurchKey. They have some very impressive offerings including a few rare casks. As written previously the first time I was there I had an excellent Brooklyn Manhattan Project. On this occasion I tried one I hadn't heard of called 't Smisje Kerst. The bartender tried to warn me that it was "intense". He couldn't describe it further but said many people who ordered didn't like it. Well those people need to step back to a Blue Moon cuz this was a most excellent beer. Its a strong Belgian dark ale served from a wooden cask that once held JW Lees Vintage Harvest Ale! This was quite tasty. It was strong but well balanced. Can't really describe it after the fact much more. All I could do was talk it up to two friendly ladies at the bar who appeared to have an interest in beer. Looking forward to some more rare and fine cask beers at ChurchKey.

Juxtaposition Black Pilsner

I finally drank the second of my two Juxtaposition Black Pilsners from my beer stock purchased back in September. It's a collaboration brew between BrewDog, Cabridge, and Stone Breweries. I got two 12oz singles at about $8 or $9 each. Not the cheapest beer in the world. I must say though it was one of the best tasting beers I've had. I'm a fan of the black pilsner style and this was quite enjoyable. I wasn't impressed by the first bottle apparently. I noted in my beer notes that it had IPA bitterness and that was about all. But the second time I had it I was quite impressed:

great complex beer; has that vintage taste similar to the Thomas Hardy types w/o the velvety taste but all the flavors; looks like a black lager but doesn't have any pronounced roast or chocolate flavor; smells hugely of alcohol but hides the taste well; good hoppyness