Meeting New People... Or Not.

I’ve gotten to a certain age where I’m a bit more set in my ways then is probably good for me. This means that whole groups of people are likely to be eliminated as potential friends right off the bat. You’re not very political? You smoke? You’re churchy? You hate cities? You drink cheap, yellow beer? You never went to college and, frankly, don’t see the point? You wear black socks with shorts? You love amusement parks? You would never go camping where there weren’t flush toilets available? Well, then, really, what’s the point? I know the folly of this way of thinking. I know that there are at least a few of you who would answer “yes” to some of these questions, yet we are friends. A couple of us are even close friends. You snuck through, apparently bringing with you enough other fine qualities to balance these black marks on your record or worming your way in before my thinking became so rigid. So, if you turned out to be okay, couldn’t others who presented, at least upon first glance, as not-a-chancers? Sigh. Unless I reform my evil ways, we will never know.

But you people have a role in this, too. As I sat in the bar the other night, chatting with someone who was an agreeable sort, the right (enough) age, and drinking good beer, I found myself writing this person off because of what you, my already-established, dear-to-me (yet somewhat flawed) social circle would think. Oh, not like you would tell me this person was inappropriate (see qualifying factors named above) or evil, but there was a style choice in the personal appearance of this candidate that would not have escaped notice, comment, and probably some mild ridicule. In other words, there are now too many voices in my head (mine and yours) telling me to not even bother. If I never make a new friend again, I’m blaming you, okay?

Swish-swish-swish...

I've been thinking about it for the last several years, but this year I managed to not wait too long. I finally bought myself some cross-country ski equipment. I grew up X-country skiing, but shifted to downhill in high school and college, mostly to be social. When I blew my left knee out on an icy slope in 1988, I gave up downhill and shied away from any skiing at all. But I missed the cross-country and with a high level of caution (that unfortunately seems to come easily to me) I can still do it, bum left knee, aching right leg and all. I've been out a few times in the years since and meant to buy skis as soon as we moved back to Michigan, but for a variety of reasons (most of them involving the existence of kids) I didn't...until this year.

On Friday, I headed out into the snowy, windy afternoon for a few safe miles at County Farm Park. Then, on Saturday, I did more miles at Kensington Metro park with AB. It doesn't give me the speed of mountain biking, but it does get me out into the woods, and that was really my goal. I still haven't gotten to the off-the-beaten-trail experience I crave and my form sucks, but it has been fun and will hopefully help me not mind the end of winter or Hank, Jr. so much.

Hop Wobble

A high-point of summer in Ypsi is Beer Fest. Michigan has an abundance of amazing craft brewers and tasting a good number of their offerings in the park by the river on a summer evening is just lovely.

So here is the run down from this year...

The drinkers: me, Biscodo, brother, sister-in-law, Stacey, Brooke, Shawn, Julie, KK, the injector, and a few others who I ran into and clinked plastic cups with along the way.

The overall beer scene: seemed pretty balanced this year. The fruit beer and sour beer trends seemed to have been reined in this year (yay! that silliness was going too far). People brought summer wheats and ales, but folks also brought porters and stouts (good). Since we went on Friday night, only a few beers had run out, so most of what we wanted to try was there for us.

The beer: I'm grouping into three categories. Beers in the top category did exactly what they were supposed to do -- solid beers in all ways, no mistakes in nose, taste, texture. The middling sort includes both novelty beers (interesting but not something I would ever buy in a bottle or even drink a full glass of) and more traditional beers that did well, but didn't stand out from the crowd. The last category is for bad beers -- experiments that went wrong (or were never right to begin with) or beers that could not do half of what their name called for. My notes from the night are in quotation marks after the brewery.

Top Beers:

Crooked Tree IPA, Dark Horse ("hey, big boy..." "excellent")
Smells Like Weed IPA, Dark Horse
Hoprocket Imperial IPA, Arcadia
Hopmouth Double IPA, Arcadia ("lovely")
Golden Rule Organic IPA, Shorts ("crisp, good, dry English hopped)
Honey Ginger IPA, Original Gravity ("fun, sweet near the front")


The Middling Sort

Boffo Brown, Dark Horse ("fine")
Wheat and Rye ESB, Liberty St ("weird combo")
Kolsch, Round Barn
Full Garde, Copper Canyon
RyePA Double IPA, Copper Canyon ("good, sweet end")
Simcoe Silly, Kuhnhenn ("nice")
Confusion Double IPA, Kuhnhenn
Screw the Hop Crisis IPA, Rochester Mills ("sweet")
Hopopotomus, HopCat
Sage Against the Machine Pale Ale, Hopcat ("smell only")
Wood Butcher's Ale, Lily's Seafood ("nice")
Barnacle Bob's Boatyard Ale, Lily's Seafood ("fine")
Little Italy Honey Basil, Right Brain ("Pale, novelty, good smell")


The Bad

Michigan Malted Red Ale, Kuhnhenn ("blech")
Organic Wit, Rochester Mills ("not very witty")
Solar Eclipse Imperial Stout ("ridiculous")
Oops-a-Hefe Imperial Hefeweizen, Big Rock Chop ("strange")
World Wheat, Black Lotus ("cloudy, watery, forgettable")
Ancho Chile Dutch Double Chocolate Porter, Right Brain
Rye Hatter, New Holland, ("liquor smell and taste, bitter and then nothing')


A few other awards: best "what this beer is" conversation came with the brewer at Shorts in reference to the Soft Parade and the Golden Rule IPA. (He even talked me into trying a fruit beer -- but it was a fruit RYE beer...). Best 'novelty' beer (and there were plenty to choose from in this category) was OG's honey ginger IPA. Best unknown brewery in Michigan is Lily's, which offers pretty straight forward beer, well-crafted, no hype. The most over-hyped brewery title (a title Jolly Pumpkin has claimed ALL other years) goes to Right Brain -- all novelty without having gotten down the basics of basic beers.

And what you've all been waiting for... the worst beer of the evening? I'm going with Kuhnhenn's Malted Red -- part of that may be that the description was sooooo lovely and the beer just couldn't come close to the promises made.

So... that was a whole lot of beer I tasted, eh? Yes, yes it was. But, once I settled in, I enjoyed it enormously. Okay, I maybe could have done with one or two fewer beers, but a lazy Saturday turned out to be just fine.

Things I Like -- Fall 2008 edition

Cabins (on rainy fall nights when temps fall into the 30s).
Exuberant dogs wearing silly sweaters.
K & N's friends.
Apple/cider/donut stands on rural roads, after big hills.
Wool base layers.
Vans that carry lots of bikes.
Wine with lunch after a long hike.
Dry trails.
Polish porters and Golabki.
Wheels with all spokes attached.
Deer bounding across trails.
Riding off the last trail with 18 miles on my widget and a smile on my face.
Euchre, beer, and ribald talk.
Apple pie and hot coffee for breakfast.
Adventure buddies.

Peer Pressure in the Springtime

I'm not going to give in. Since so many of my friends seem to be overrun with garden-mania, I am just going to proclaim here and now: I don't garden. How uncool is that? All I intentionally grow is grass, really, and that is just because I like to roll around on it with my kids. I don't really even pay that much attention to the grass.

I do find myself swept up in the romance of the tales of planting running around the friendly blogs these days and I'll probably envy their haul once things get going, but I'm just not that kind of hippie. Oh, okay, I might put in a few herb plants (that someone else started) and a tomato plant (but that is just so that I can use my composting worm's poop), but no more.

Just remember all you garden freaks (and I say that with love), I'm happy to soak up your extra produce and I make excellent zucchini bread!

Where did the weekend go?

Friday night included live music (Hullabaloo + BackForty) at one of my local spots with a couple of good friends -- some drinking, some dancing, some hugging... all good.



Saturday morning found me awake bright and early. Oh, esp. after closing the bar the night before, how I wish I could sleep in... When I was awake at 7:something and didn't need to be, I felt myself mighty envious of W who was snoring away (and would be for several more hours). I cleaned around the house and sent the kids out the door. One did not feel well, however, and came back. No worries -- she decided to pitch in and we woke up the yard by raking out beds and lawn, running the core aerator, seeding the problem patches, and putting down the usual organic fertilizer (mostly chicken poop). It was a good day of manual labor with plenty of sunshine to leave me feeling toasted and tired.


Dropped in at the Corner while the Freighthouse banjo fundraiser was going and saw lots of the usual suspects and had a quick beer before heading down the road to EMU. Melissa Ferrick rolled through town on Saturday evening to do a *free* show as a fund raiser for the LGBT Resource Center. The crowd pretty well filled the ballroom, but overall, it was a small crowd for someone who is sooooo cool. I love her -- "mangina" and all (sorry, inside joke for those who were there). She is goofy, loud, irreverent, and spastic in ways that totally appeal to me and I'm impressed by her ability to tell stories while tuning and then integrate those stories into her songs -- a rockingly good live show, she is. The evening also gave me a chance to catch up with a friend who has been out of town for much of the winter, though I probably stayed up too late again.


Sunday morning I finally made it back to my pre-surgery weight levels while lifting at the gym. I've been cautious, since the right hip is still weaker than the left, but I'm coming up on 4 months since the surgery and have been fairly active so I thought I'd test it out. It worked, at least for squats... I'm still hesitant on lunges, since that leaves the hip out there pretty unprotected on its own holding all my weight and then some. Was back on target for chest, triceps, biceps, and shoulders as well. Yay!


After a shower, I played with the kids a bit and was going to take a quick nap, but E decided to brush my hair... Having my hair brushed is one of those small yet great pleasures in life.... and it was just as good as a nap, I decided.


Sunday afternoon found me out with Bike Ypsi folks. A dozen riders made it out this time, including a couple of new folks. We made use of the Ford Blvd bike lanes and then headed around Ford Lake for sixteen or so miles and lots of sunshine.


I left the BY people to ride into Ann Arbor and meet up with W and the kids for Festifools. It was a significantly larger happening than last year and they created quite the party by circling up and down Main Street. W is inspired to make his own giant puppet -- for camping, music festivals, and just those odd times with the kids when one wants a 10ft tall puppet to parade up and down the street.


Another shower, pizza, and polishing off the taxes rounded out the evening. I'm a tiny bit sore (mostly from the yard work... that core aerator is heavy machine), more than a little bit sun/wind-kissed, and ready for a good long sleep.

Wouldn't Kick It Out of Bed for Eating Crackers...

So... Winter Beerfest '08, Grand Rapids... Well, it did not reach the heights of frivolity of last year's fest, but it was fun nonetheless.

On the down side: The venue shift from a parking lot in old town Lansing to a baseball stadium in Grand Rapids was a disappointment. The tents this year were tucked into odd spaces that took lots of thought and maneuvering to reach and some of them (oh those poor pourers for New Holland!) were rather exposed to the wind. Walkways were narrow and not very well cleared of snow and ice. We all did a bit of slipping and sliding on the ramps and stairs and worried over those trying to get around on crutches or with other types of mobility limitations. Anyone in a wheelchair would have been pretty well shut out of this fest. There was no central hangout/meeting up area, so I did much less socializing than last year. The poor musicians were left to try and work frozen fingers over cold strings in odd spaces where it was difficult for the audience to stop and listen. Also, no veggie food. I certainly wasn't expecting much in the way of food, but is one warm, non-flesh option that hard to do? Finally, several of the fun people from last year were absent and much missed on this go-around.

On the up side: I had a lovely drinking crew consisting of Pete, Daye, Wendy's Matt, and Andy. There were some good beers and (thankfully!) some new things to try. Also, we did get to use the flush toilets of the ballpark and they even had heaters in there! I was feeling the need of some time away from the old homestead and beering/strolling/lolling/eating in GR fit the bill nicely.

Because of the set-up of the beerfest, I found it hard to take decent notes. Also, the coldness made it difficult to get a good read on the porters and stouts, in my opinion. They all came across as a bit sharper and less round/thick than they "should" have been, so I'm thinking temp had a lot to do with that and was fairly forgiving as a result. Considering all this, I'm not going to rank but rather will categorize:


The Good:
Copper Canyon, Rye-PA: Nice, bit of a bite, lovely floral smell

Founders, Porter: Nice enough

Founders, Black IPA: Excellent, crisp, IPA but not hard/bitter

Founders, Breakfast Stout: yum

Rochester Mills Beer Co, Coffee 'N Cream Stout: good, smelly! (nice coffee nose)

New Holland, Cabin Fever Brown: very nice coffee brown

Kuhnhenn, Aldebaran Double Red: Nice!

Michigan Brewing Co, Winter Warmer: rye/IPA that had some sweet/maltiness without being syrupy, too little smell though

Arbor Brewing, HXL Double IPA: lovely, lovely smell, right on the edge of sweet and thick, but it didn't fall over the edge... reminded me how lucky we are to have ABC/Corner right here in our neck of the woods!

Arcadia Brewing Co, Hop Rocket Imperial IPA: probably the crispest of the big IPAs, lovely with a light smell and hop, perhaps too clear

The Hideout Brewing Co, Smuggles Hazelnut Stout: yum... seemed more chocolate than hazelnut, but extremely tasty and unsubtle

Black Lotus, Hip Hops American Pale Ale: good smell and as good as it was at summer beerfest -- nice to see that kind of consistency from a newish place



The Bad... (or at least seriously middling)

Sherwood Brewing, Alaskan Sister Wit: lots of banana (too much!) and coriander

Shorts, Cup A Joe: yet another coffee stout but it was okay

Shorts, Huma Lupa Licious: not much taste but nice freshly mowed lawn smell

Dark Horse, Double Crooked Tree IPA: fine

Arbor Brewing, Super Snapper Imperial ESB: last beer of the day... but fine

Mountain Town Station, Iron Horse IPA: fine, really not all that fine except that is was way better than the other beer from here that I'd had right before it

The Hideout Brewing, Midnight Oatmeal Stout: no huge mistakes, but no unique character

The Hideout Brewing Chicago Typewriter Double Red: pretty hoppy!

Black Lotus, Generation X Porter: Solid, but not anything in particular to distinguish it from the other porters of the day.



And the Ugly (several of these were bad enough to be poured out):

North Peak Brewing, Whitley's Wheat: yellow beer with spice - forgettable

New Holland, Pilgrim's Dole Wheat Wine: icky sweet -- mostly a style issue, me no likely wheat wines!

Michigan Brewing Co., Imperial IPA: waaaaaay too thick and sweet

Mountain Town Station, Winter Warmer: this was a spiced wheat that was so bad I got a "do over" on this and the guy poured me a IPA instead

Schmohz, Kiss My Scottish Arse Scotch Ale and Mad Tom's Porter: all the beers here had been "Jolly Pumpkin-ized," meaning they were way too similar

Darkhorse, Whisky Richard Belgian Ale: way too sweet with a liquor-like finish

Walldorff Brewpub, Hopnoxxxious IPA, Bee Sting Honey Rye, and Old Woody Imperial Stout: afraid they were all stinkers and all got dumped. I think that might be some kind of record for suckiness.


Looking back over this list, I'm thinking beerfest was actually pretty successful despite its inadequate venue. Along the way I also got to see a little more of Grand Rapids. It has a solid downtown that had an impressive amount of foot traffic, some nice brick streets and "office block" height buildings (def. looks like a downtown, but is not particularly tall), good signage (shows some love and $$ has recently gone into the town), and some happening spots. The new location for Founders turned out to be pretty impressive. Long and narrow, it had high ceilings and a good sound mix for both bands (the Werks and Back Forty). The streetside wall consists of windowed garage doors that can be opened in the summer which should rock in July and owners have thoughtfully decreed the bar non-smoking but provided a separate enclosed smoking porch for those so inclined. They also now have proper food, something very much lacking at the old location. The place is huge compared to the old digs, so I was worried that they might be getting a bit too big, but the beers remained solid (although the Red's Rye I had there was wicked bitter, but I'm thinking that after a long day of drinking, a nap, and sinus issues, my taster may have been off). And now they have their good beer and their good music space a bit closer to downtown. I approve.