posted Jul-11-2006 10:07 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by RunMonkey:
You know you don't have to hit <enter> to get to a new line, right? The interface does it for you --- keep typing and when you run out of space it happens automatically.

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She does it intentionally. It's her own personal style. ... I don't think she would have done nearly 600 posts without realizing that it wraps the text itself.






*I hope not, anyway.*

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posted Jul-11-2006 10:09 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by randymar:
A trail runner named O'Bite
Wanted her posts to look right.
She'd always "return"
But just wouldn't learn.
Must have been an oversight.

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A trail runner named O'Bite
Wanted her posts to look just right.
She'd type away and hit "return"
In spite of reminders, just wouldn't learn.
Must have been an oversight.

(Which is preferable to an over-bite)

Sorry the editor in me couln't resist

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posted Jul-11-2006 10:24 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by La Tortuga:
Organize a ride, we'll valet your bike when you arrive.

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See, there's the problem ... I learned Sunday (our first MAJOR ride) that within a very orderly and structured bubble, these big rides are a swirling chaos of "WTF???"

"Where is everyone???"
"Where are we supposed to meet???"
"Are those your friends???"
"It's 8:00; we're supposed to start; should we just go???"

And so on, throughout the day.

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posted Jul-11-2006 10:32 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by La Tortuga:
Sorry the editor in me couldn't resist

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Haiku???

O'Bite hits "enter"
But can't find Golden Monkey.
Cruel Buffalo.

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posted Jul-11-2006 12:02 PM               

Face it.....I suck and I am damned happy about it.This way I can always aim upwards.....or not. Sorry, have a beer on me and continue the abuse as it is much enjoyed.

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posted Jul-11-2006 12:08 PM               

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posted Jul-11-2006 01:44 PM            

quote:

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A customer enters a pet shop.

Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.

(The owner does not respond.)

C: 'Ello, Miss?
Owner: What do you mean "miss"?
C: <pause> I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!
O: We're closin' for lunch.
C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
C: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
O: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!
C: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) 'Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I've got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show...(owner hits the cage)
O: There, he moved!
C: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage!
O: I never!!
C: Yes, you did!
O: I never, never did anything...
C: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!

(Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)

C: Now that's what I call a dead parrot.
O: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned!
C: STUNNED?!?
O: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major.
C: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.
O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.
C: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home?
O: The Norwegian Blue prefers keepin' on it's back! Remarkable bird, id'nit, squire? Lovely plumage!
C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.

(pause)

O: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!
C: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!
O: No no! 'E's pining!
C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!

THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

(pause)

O: Well, I'd better replace it, then.
(he takes a quick peek behind the counter)
O: Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots.
C: I see. I see, I get the picture.
O: <pause> I got a slug.

(pause)

C: (sweet as sugar) Pray, does it talk?
O: Nnnnot really.
C: WELL IT'S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!?
O: Look, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Bolton, he'll replace the parrot for you.
C: Bolton, eh? Very well.

The customer leaves.

The customer enters the same pet shop. The owner is putting on a false moustache.

C: This is Bolton, is it?
O: (with a fake mustache) No, it's Ipswitch.
C: (looking at the camera) That's inter-city rail for you.

The customer goes to the train station.
He addresses a man standing behind a desk marked "Complaints".

C: I wish to complain, British-Railways Person.
Attendant: I DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS JOB, YOU KNOW!!!
C: I beg your pardon...?
A: I'm a qualified brain surgeon! I only do this job because I like being my own boss!
C: Excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn't it?
A: Yeah, well it's not easy to pad these Python files out to 150 lines, you know.
C: Well, I wish to complain. I got on the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswitch.
A: No, this is Bolton.
C: (to the camera) The pet shop man's brother was lying!!
A: Can't blame British Rail for that.
C: In that case, I shall return to the pet shop!

He does.

C: I understand this IS Bolton.
O: (still with the fake mustache) Yes?
C: You told me it was Ipswitch!
O: ...It was a pun.
C: (pause) A PUN?!?
O: No, no...not a pun...What's that thing that spells the same backwards as forwards?
C: (Long pause) A palindrome...?
O: Yeah, that's it!
C: It's not a palindrome! The palindrome of "Bolton" would be "Notlob"!! It don't work!!
O: Well, what do you want?
C: I'm not prepared to pursue my line of inquiry any longer as I think this is getting too silly!

Sergeant-Major: Quite agree, quite agree, too silly, far too silly... (takes customer by the arm) Come on, you, you've got to go do another sketch now! Come on... (he walks off stage left, followed by the director and cameramen, leaving the owner alone on the set)

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[This message has been edited by randymar (edited Jul-11-2006).]

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posted Jul-11-2006 03:12 PM               

I type payments all day and have for 12 years. This writing means I need to rethink my automatic method of typing. Am open to anything I can learn.

UFO is my goal this week, as well as the elusive monkey.

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posted Jul-11-2006 03:29 PM            

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posted Jul-11-2006 03:58 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by randymar:
I don't know. What is a STEET bike???

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Oh, the cut down ("steek") bike I referred to on Friday has more of a drag bike look, with short handlebars.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pinky" is a little kid's bike ($5, flea market) stretched up with 20" of galvanized steel at the seat post and stem, hose-clamped in place. As you can see, the saddle is almost directly above the rear axle, so any kind of backwards lean results in:

a) a nice little wheelie, or
b) me on my @ss.

Because she's so small, her turning radius is practically zero - approaching that of a skateboard; but with the pedals so close to ground, I can just foot plant, lift and turn.

She's really built to be a training aid to my daughter. Riding Pinky, I can cruise at about the same speed as her, up close and at the same height, as she learns to ride without training wheels ... any trouble, I can just reach over and give her a hand, literally.

A regular sized bike would put me too high and I would have to go too fast to sit in right beside here, in "close formation," so to speak.

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posted Jul-11-2006 04:39 PM            

quote:

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BUD KEEPS SUPER BOWL THROUGH 2012

Anheuser-Busch will be the exclusive alcohol sponsor for the Super Bowl through 2012, and the world's largest brewer is adding other sports to its long list of sponsorships. The St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob and other beers announced it agreed a deal with NBC, which will televise the Super Bowl in 2009 and 2012. Anheuser-Busch announced in March agreements with CBS for the 2007 and 2010 games and Fox for the 2008 and 2011 Super Bowls. The deal with NBC also calls for Anheuser-Busch to serve as exclusive alcohol advertiser for airing of the Ryder Cup and the President's Cup from next year through 2011. Anheuser-Busch will sponsor the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness through 2010.

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I doubt we will see the Philadelphia Eagles in a Budweiser Super Bowl ad anytime soon.

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posted Jul-12-2006 07:37 AM            

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posted Jul-12-2006 08:12 AM               

Randymar, they sell these weird things here that attach to the back of a childs bike and you run behind the bike,almost steering it. Your idea/Pinky sounds better than those things appear to be.They have the display stacked next to Becks beer in our local stores and that is odd to me.

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posted Jul-12-2006 09:05 AM            

I don't like that for two reasons

1) She stops suddenly, and it nails me in the gut (or worse)
2) Even a small child on a little bike can pedal faster than most people can run. (read: me )

Make that three reasons

3) When she does achieve that moment of clarity - when she realizes she DOESN'T need the training wheels - and takes off on her own; that gizmo drags along the sidewalk, clinking and clanking, sparks flying

[This message has been edited by randymar (edited Jul-12-2006).]

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posted Jul-12-2006 09:16 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by goindownsouth:
... no self-respecting beer consumer would actually drink it.

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There you go ...

It's not about what's "good" ... it's about "how much can we get, for how little, to bring to the parking lot at the Linc."

For me, I like to enjoy football (if "enjoy" is the word when referring to the Eagles [worse, I'm really a Raiders fan], at home, with a pint or two of DFH or HopDevil - because, it SHOULD be cooler then.

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posted Jul-12-2006 09:38 AM            

Some day they will offer a lit 101 course on the philosophy of Homer and Yogi Berra......
I'd actually go back to scholl for that one

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posted Jul-12-2006 09:40 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by webfoot:
I'd actually go back to scholl for that one

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Looks like I need to for other reasons.......

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posted Jul-12-2006 09:54 AM            

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:07 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by La Tortuga:
Ver cool place!

2006 Tour de France Breakfasts

Ride your own tour, then come watch the real deal.

Stage 10 - Wed, July 12th
Stage 15 - Tues, July 18th

Breakfast starts at 9:00 am, costs $5.00 and includes eggs, bacon,
toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, coffee & more with TVs tuned to
the Tour.
Organize a ride, we'll valet your bike when you arrive.

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Just got back from B-fast. Redbones is just the most amazing and wonderful place - better than the restaurant at the end of the universe - honestly.

They lived up to their promises -a real B-fast as in delicious eggs, bacon and potatoes. The downstairs was jam packed with valet parked bikes. However my B-fast date, an 5 yr old child from Australia, knows more about the Tour than I do. She kept cheering on some guy named Robbie or Ronnie - go figure.

And wait - that's not all - I was invited to come over and taste beers for their NorthWest Brewfest - YES!!! I love that place.

Maybe I'll go again next week.

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:28 AM            

He's got mad skillz ...

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:38 AM            

WHEAT beer. It sounds healthy and almost bready, like something you might find in a New Age fantasy.

Imagine the wheat beer arriving as you complete your mud bath and aromatherapy, hypnotic music in the background, something to sip as you slip into your Birkenstocks and float away. Not to harsh the mellow, but aargh!

Regardless of how it sounds, wheat beer has brewski credentials. It is the quintessential summer quencher, just right for NASCAR races (???!!! - ed.) and baseball games. Now, that is a fantasy worth having — sitting in Yankee Stadium with a glass of cold hefeweizen, the leading south German style of wheat beer, its lively bubbles and tart, brisk flavors ready to quash the steamy heat of any July night. It would go just as well with hot dogs as with the traditional Bavarian veal sausages and pretzel bread.

Instead, ballparks prefer to serve insipid, tasteless beer that might be better dumped into the mud bath than consumed, at inflated prices to boot. Is this world crazy? Now the mellow is truly harshed.

In an effort to ensure sanity in the heat, the tasting panel recently sampled 24 wheat beers. We were looking for American versions of Bavarian-style brews, mostly out of curiosity. American craft brewers have been creative in taking European styles in unexpected directions, and we anticipated more of the same in the wheat beer category.

Leave it to our wily tasting director, Bernard Kirsch, though, to throw in a few German sleepers. I’ll get back to that shortly. Florence Fabricant and I were joined for the tasting by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery, and Fred Dexheimer, wine director of the BLT restaurants in New York.

First things first: How did wheat get into the brew in the first place?

In its purest form, beer is made solely of malted barley, water, yeast and hops. Among grains, barley’s association with brewing comes naturally. Its characteristic hard husk makes it easier for brewers to employ without clogging up their equipment, as happens with a grain like wheat, which has no husk and can gum up the works. Barley’s high starch content breaks down easily into sugars, which are then converted by yeast into alcohol. Wheat, by contrast, with its elastic glutens, is well suited to making bread; unlike barley, which becomes dry and crumbly in the hands of a baker. Perfect division of labor, right? Barley for beer, wheat for bread.

Humans resist this form of natural selection. Brewers have long looked to other grains beyond barley for their beer. Oats are used in stout and rye is used in Eastern Europe to make kvass. Mass-market brewers add rice to lager beers, which stretches out the brew while contributing to a light, subdued — some might say characterless — flavor, or corn, which contributes a sort of sweetness. And then there is wheat.

Given the difficulty that brewers have with wheat, you would think they would leave it for the bakers. But brewers found that the addition of wheat contributed a bracing liveliness to the beer that made it worth the extra trouble. In Germany and Belgium, the two centers of wheat beer production, brewers settled on a proportion of 50 percent to 60 percent wheat, with barley making up the rest.

In Belgium, the wheat beer is often flavored with orange peel and coriander. But in Bavaria, brewers developed a particular kind of ale yeast that imparts a most unusual flavor to the beer: clove, citrus, smoke and, you’ll taste for yourself, banana and bubblegum. As odd as it sounds, it’s tremendously refreshing and goes well with a wide variety of spicy foods. The beer is called hefeweizen; weizen for wheat and hefe for yeast. It is almost always unfiltered, which gives hefeweizen its characteristically cloudy, hazy appearance.

As we expected, the American wheat beers were all over the map, with brewers taking great liberties with the style. This caused no small amount of consternation among the panel, particularly with those beers that styled themselves hefeweizen. Magic Hat Circus Boy, for example, calls itself a hefeweizen, yet it has a floral aroma that is wholly uncharacteristic of the style. Widmer Hefeweizen, which the panel rejected, was another beer that bore little relation to the style.

“You’re trading on the good name of an actual, established style to sell something that’s different,’’ Mr. Oliver said, likening such uses of the term hefeweizen to labeling American white wines as Chablis. “It’s confusing and frustrating.’’

Magic Hat had a second beer in the tasting, Hocus Pocus, which we rated higher for its better balance. Unlike the Circus Boy, it did not call itself a hefeweizen, a good thing since it seemed to be more in a Belgian style.

Our top beer was the Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyner Weisse, which seemed dead on in its approximation of the clove, smoke and banana aromas, and brisk, refreshing texture of a hefeweizen. Mr. Oliver didn’t identify it as his own beer, but was unembarrassed by the panel’s unanimous approval.

Among our other favorites, the Flying Dog In-Heat was a fine, lively version of the hefeweizen style, while the Samuel Adams was a little more sedate, unlike the Ramstein, which so overflowed with hefeweizen flavors that it seemed a bit overwrought. We liked the Smuttynose, though it seemed maybe more Belgian than German in style, and we enjoyed both the Butternuts Heinnieweisse, which is sold in cans, and the Harpoon UFO, which both seemed true to the German aromas and flavors.

Some of the beers seemed not to be in very good condition. The panel rejected a Weyerbacher hefeweizen, a Penn Weizen and a Rogue Half-E-Weizen, all of which seemed well past their primes. Mr. Oliver pointed out that wheat beers are among the most difficult to make properly.

“They’re very delicate and they must be insistently fresh,’’ he said. “When you lose that, the beers tend to fall apart.’’

Which brings us to the three authentic German hefeweizens, which Mr. Kirsch slipped into the tasting. One, from Erdinger, did not make the cut, but the other two, from Schneider and Franziskaner, might well have been our top beers of the tasting. It was a tribute to Mr. Dexheimer’s acumen that he picked those two beers as the truest hefeweizens in the tasting.

Then there were the American originals, like the Hop Sun summer wheat beer from Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, N.Y. This beer might as well have been a pale ale, for all the piney hop aroma that screamed from the glass, not at all typical of a wheat beer. It had a pale ale bitterness, too. It didn’t make our top 10, since we were looking for wheat beer styles. But you know what? It would be mighty fine at a ballgame, too.

Tasting Report: A Classic Balance of Spice and Banana, American Style

Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyner Weisse
★★★
Lively with classic aromas of clove, banana and smoke; refreshing.

Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen
★★½
Smoky, spicy, toasty aromas; fresh and harmonious.

Samuel Adams Hefeweizen
★★½
Tart, toasty and refreshing; bright though not especially distinctive.

Magic Hat Hocus Pocus
★★½
Lean and somewhat austere, with lively citrus and herbal flavors.

Smuttynose Summer Weizen
★★
Creamy texture with pronounced clove and smoke flavors.

Ramstein Blonde Wheat Beer
★★
Brassy and loud, with classic flavors that shout out.

Butternuts Beer and Ale Heinnieweisse
★★
Fruity, spicy aromas; pleasing and easy to drink.

Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen
★★
Lively yet restrained with flavors of banana and clove.

Magic Hat Circus Boy
★½
Unusual floral aromas; tart and lean.

Sierra Nevada Wheat
★½
Light-bodied, lemon-flavored and pleasant.

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:46 AM            

1st Annual Dogfish Dash Announced

Start Date: 7/10/2006

Restaurant: DFH Brewings & Eats, Rehoboth

Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Dogfish Dash 5K/10K Race to benefit The Ocean Conservancy

Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats
320 Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

8:00am Start Time

Race-Day Registration from 6:30am - 7:50 am

A 5K/10K out-and-back race from Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in downtown Rehoboth Beach along the Cape Henlopen State Park's Breakwater-Junction trail. Enjoy the beautiful course, followed by a great after-race party at the 'First Brewpub In The First State." There will be race awards, food and drink (including beer, of course!), great give-aways from our sponsors, and lots of fun. All this and you'll be at the beach, supporting the great work of The Ocean Conservancy.

This race is a Seashore Striders event. Click here to download a .pdf version of the Dogfish Dash application.

Awards Presented to:
Overall Champions, Overall Masters, Top 3 finishers in the following categories: 13 & Under, 14-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70& over.

For more information call Race Director Tim Bamforth, Seashore Striders at 302-644-8952 or e-mail him at tim@seashorestrider.com

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:55 AM            

The Distance Run is the week before, first of all, and DFH would be an overnight in Rehoboth (pronounced Ro-Ho-Beth).

D'Wife wouldn't go for two races in two weeks (which also eliminates the Lance Armstrong Foundation LiveStrong 10K Sept 10), DE B&B W-E notwithstanding.

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:57 AM            

Victory's Sunrise Weiss is good as well. But The former is bordering on etherial.

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posted Jul-12-2006 10:59 AM            

If not for the fact that I would be only a couple of days back from Germany at that time, I would be there for the DFH event. I have really been itching to get down there...

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