words

“What a good country or a good squirrel should be doing is stashing away nuts for the winter. The United States is not only not saving nuts, it’s eating the ones left over from the last winter.” WILLIAM H. GROSS from an article in the NY Times

In the theatres: Is Cormac McCarthy's The Road a "commentary on America's knee-jerk consumerist culture that's driving the Industrial Revolution off a cliff and taking Mother Nature with it"? Or just another scary movie? Argh?


New, better handheld!

Talkin Good Beer

I salute the last vespers of this particular weekend with one of the better beers to be produced recently in New Zealand: YB Pot Kettle Black. Three Boys has made an 'Oyster Stout' which is also surprisingly enjoyable! These two are two of the bests discoveries of the year.

Alright, so this week I had a great time at my new favorite venue:
Hashigo Zake
Currently there has been only one place for good beer in town; and while the selection is good there, the lack of competition has left them a little fat and lazy. So some stirring of the pot is very welcome. Domenic and crew put on a tasting for Baird Beers a Japanese beer which he is clearly enamored with. I attended with some reservations Brian Baird, though after a judicious sampling of nine of their beers, I can say they are damn fine brewers. After two and a half hours and a conference call with owner Brian B himself, I came away impressed. All of them displayed balance and nuance, even my least favorites: Kurofune Porter and Red Rose Amber Ale. Country Girl Kabocha (japanese pumpkin) Ale, Teikoku IPA and Rainy Season Black Ale all were good. Suroga Bay Imperial Ale, Harajuku Taproom Celebration Ale and especially (my two favorites) Rising Sun Pale Ale and Angry Boy Brown Ale were awesome. Stupendous flavour and complexity. Indeed Angry Boy was apparently unoficially modelled on Brian's 'character' (and who's hometown is Cincinnati Ohio--Go Ohio boy!). Not someone who normally cares for brown ales; this is the best I can remember....

Kampai!

Apogee and Twilight: the Nazca
This is new research, yet an old story. Thomas Homer Dixon and Jared Diamond are nodding in agreement.

Health Care charts: getting what you pay for, a comparison. Are you pissed yet? What ever will it take?!?

Lyrebirds: simply wonderful. In a world of copycats, ubiquity rules.

On the other hand: accordionist may blow minds

Realer than real: avalanche!

Still worshipping the new? Gives new meaning to 'western skyline': Adobe!