July 2006 - Posts
Case in point, a Sony ad for their new line of TVs -- beautiful, and strangely hypnotic. Certainly creative.
Golfing on Saturday, it was pretty hot. Today, it is supposed to be 96F and a whole bunch of humidity. I am all about summer and all, but that's pretty warm. I am about to go outside and see what happens when I put an egg on the sidewalk...
Yesterday afternoon, we bid adieu to our former VP of Marketing, who also happens to be a nice guy who I had the good fortune to work with and socialize with outside the office. He had been with the company (in one flavor or another) for 30 years. It was a little bittersweet, but he said he was looking forward to some time off. I just wanted to put a post up here and say "So long, thanks, and hopefully we'll see you around SE Michigan in the future, Brian!"
Jodi took Emma to have some pictures done and they
turned out pretty well for a little one. You never know what you'll get with kids that little, but I think they capture her pretty well. That hair is out of control, though.
We had a very fun weekend with visitors and everything, but I am bummed.
Kate came by last night to borrow a broom, to clean their garage, because they are getting ready to put their house up for sale. Wah! No fair! They're our cool neighbors, they're not allowed to move away!!!
Kate has her interview with the Cleveland Zoo today, and I am sure it will go swimmingly, because she is a sweetheart and probably is a really good zookeeper, but I am secretly hoping she doesn't get the job so they'll stay. I feel bad about that, but I am really bummed about them moving away.
Did I mention that I am bummed?
Boohoo. Don't move away Mitch and Kate. :(
If you have a laptop, and can't find a bag you like, check out
Shaun Jackson Design, based right here in Ann Arbor. Yeah, yeah, so this is a shameless plug for a company that is local and one of the guys in the brewers' guild happens to work for them, but seriously, check out their stuff. Definitely something I will look if I get a personal laptop, or when my crappy bag starts coming apart.
I just got done with my morning meeting, and tried to finish catching up on newsfeeds. Came across this (indirectly from this BoingBoing post).
I don't know why I find it so hilarious, but I do. I guess I am just a bit wierd...
I was reading my morning newsfeeds before my first meeting, and came across
this article on /. that references
this source article. Being a diagnosed Type II diabetic, and knowing many insulin dependent Type I diabetics, and having worked as an orderly in a hospital where I regularly took patients to get dialyzed, I can feel fairly confident in saying this is nothing but good. The discussion on /. is kind of interesting, and dismaying, all at the same time. I understand that some people don't understand that it sometimes takes lots of little steps to reach the final goal, but it amazes me that someone who is insulin-dependent can't see that an inexpensive, safe, easily replenishable insulin production scheme will free up a LOT of money that can go toward better research in other aspects of treating the disease. Every time we (meaning humans/society/the biomed researchers) make a step forward, it is potentially a step closer to the big discovery. I, for one, applaud the researchers (and investors!) who contributed to this breakthrough. Bravo!
...that some people have WAY too much time on their hands...
Human Space Invaders
My little princess rolled herself over today. Just 3.5 months old... Schweet. Next thing I know she'll be dating (DOH!).
I am a dork, I know.
For some reason, I just love this:
http://www.toledozoo.org/cams/elephants/elephant.htm
I wish they'd hook one up to the hippoquarium. Watching the river horses swim is really pretty amazing...
I'd like to publicly thank my very gracious neighbor Mitch (and his lovely wife Kate) for their hospitality Friday, and more importantly for restoring life to my late draft beer service. Let me explain...
As anyone who has followed the blog for a while knows, I kinda like beer. I brew(ed) my own, and I like to partake from time to time. I have several hundred dollars worth of specialized equipment for the purposes of brewing, fermenting, storing, and serving beer. Kegzilla was created out of the generosity of BigJohnThePunisher's parents, when they 'donated' their classy 23 cubic foot Montgomery Ward Signature 23 chest freezer to the Dusty Dog Brewery. For several years, that freezer hummed away in the garage keeping a variety of fermented beverages cold and ready for service. Then, tragedy struck. Last spring, I noticed the compressor was running all of the time. I put a fan near it to try to give it a cooling boost, but by mid-summer it was obvious that kegzilla was dead. I ended up dumping the last two gallons or so of lukewarm Oberon, and cried.
Fast forward to Friday night, when for like the 45th time, Mitch told me he had a freezer in his garage, and he'd like to set it up as a kegerator, and what the heck was I waiting for? So Saturday, I dismantled the parts of kegzilla and soaked them in PBW to get them nice and clean and ready for redeployment. Sunday, after I fixed the drippy kitchen sink, I went next door to figure out what we were going to do. I was planning on just moving everything over to Mitch's garage, and then over the next three months I would wear a path between my deck and Mitch's garage. Ahh, but he had other ideas. He's not sure if his employment situation will keep them in the area even for the rest the of the year, so he figured we should just move the freezer to my garage, and replace the dead one. With a spring in my step and my heart all aflutter I dashed to my workbench and searched for about 8 minutes for a tape measure. After swearing like a sailor trying to find the tape (finally succeeding), I darted (hah, can you picture me darting? yeah right, I sauntered) back to his place with the dead Kegzilla's measurements -- 62" x 27.5" (if memory serves). Little did I realize, this effort was unnecessary, as when he opened the doors and I walked up to the avocado colored treasure, the dimensions were exactly the same. Exactly. That's when I noticed the brand and model. That's right folks -- Montgomery Ward Signature 23. What are the chances? It was obviously destiny that this freezer be united with the the three faucet collar fabricated for the original Kegzilla. More importantly, the delicate hue of avocado -- which was obviously a very fashionable appliance color in the 60's and 70's exactly matches the color of the Hotpoint fridge that sits next to Son of Kegzilla. You read that right -- I now have matching refridgeration equipment (circa 1966 or so) in my garage (that's why we call it Manville -- no self respecting wife would allow those things in the house ;).
To get back to the story, we used my tow-strap to carry the thing from his place to mine, and an hour later we had the remains of his 1/2 barrel of Lablatt Blue in Son of Kegzilla, pouring out of faucet #1. I am a happy, happy boy.
Yesterday, I got kegzilla mostly taken apart (except for the lid and collar) and have been soaking the food-contacting parts in PBW overnight to try to get them as clean as possible. I'll be bugging Mitch today to see what he wants to do. It is a shame to have three faucets, a temperature controller, and a 20 lb. CO
2 tank sitting around unused. It is the end of a (short) era. I really enjoyed having kegzilla. I can't stomach dropping $550 for a brand new freezer that is going to be used as a keg-fridge, though.
I have to throw out some love for the boys from Shacklejack, as I just noticed they commented on the blog a couple weeks ago. If you are in Grand Rapids and you like yourself some serious hard rock 'n roll, get your behind to Ten Bells tonight for these fellas' CD release party. Alas, I will not be able to make it, but perhaps BigJohnthePunisher will represent. These guys pounded out some seriously sweet shit at Planet Rock back in May, and I guarantee you will be impressed. Buddha rocks the mic with wild abandon, and watching the bassist (Jesse Davis) is a delight -- that guy can fricking play. Get out and support local music -- these are good peeps who will rock. Period. Just do it.
More Posts
Next page »