Acting Like Bette Midler ...

I was running the other morning when I came across a D sized battery. It was discarded on the street. I ran past it, but decided it to go back and pick it up. I hate to see the battery get run over and start leaking toxic substances into our ground. The battery is now sitting in my garage waiting to be disposed properly.

While running back home, I could not stop thinking about the Bette Midler episode of The Simpsons. Do you remember the episode? Bette throws a rock at a truck, because the driver littered. Then the truck blows up. Bette Midler is very against littering from what I understand. Am I like Bette Midler? I wondered. I am against littering, too. It is weird how ideas pop in my head.

State Fair Pics ...

I went to Arizona State Fair today with my little, Brandon. Since we were there in the afternoon, it was hot and awfully bright. I had fun none the less. We tried to have fun, but not spend our bank, which is very hard to do as everything costs beaucoup bucks. Here are some photos from our excursion.

Brewmentary or How I Made Beer ...

Once people find out I brew my own beer, they are curious about brewing process. Some asked me if they could help me brew. I do not mind having others help me brew, but I find brewing in solitary very soothing. Is that weird? Anyway, I still would like to get more people to brew their own. I was thinking why not make a short video of it. So I did. Before viewing, I made some note so you can appreciate the video even more. Enjoy!

Name of the Beer: CPR American Orange Pale Ale
Ingredients:

• 10 lb 2-row, 1 lb Munich, 1 lb crystal
• dried orange peels
• 2 oz Cascade (bitter), 1 oz Cascade (flavor), 1 oz Cascade (aroma), 1 oz Cascade (dry hop)
• White Labs California Ale Yeast

Mashing: 160 F single infusion

Boil: 90 min boil

OG: 1.065

Vol: 5 gal

Are We Better Off ...

I am asking this question after little more than five years from 9/11/2001. What brought this on? I just watched a movie titled "United 93." It is about the fourth hijacked airliner on that fateful day. It was a detailed insight into the confusion and heroism by many.

I would recommend this movie to everyone to watch once. Why? United 93 is a painful movie to watch and I would not want to go through it again. This movie joins the my watch only once list like Schinlder's List and The Pianist.

I do not really care to be political about my writing on this blog, but I cannot help after watching United 93. I do not feel like our president, George Bush, is doing or did well after 9/11 for our country. I respect the fact, George Bush, is our president elect although I did not vote for him. I respect the fact that he may think he is doing his best although I am not sure how he is measuring his success or his best. I do not feel we are better off than five years ago. I mean that says it all. Where are the perpetrators who masterminded these heinous acts of terror? Why are our troops dying in Iraq, who did not attack us? I am mad at our government for mishandling 9/11 aftermath.

Another Bronze ...

I just found out how my Vienna lager scored at the Oktoberfest homebrew contest held by Arizona Society of Homebrewers. The Vienna lager scored a respectable 33 out of 50, which means the lager was considered very good with minor flaws. It still only managed to get a bronze medal. I am getting a little tired of getting silver and bronze medals. I like to get a gold medal one of these days at these local contests. AHHHHH! I just have to wait and see what the judges wrote in evaluations.

Restaurant Recommendation
I just finished reading an article about great restaurants around US. It mentioned one of the better restaurants I have been. It is Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia. Their mussels are great and their beers are excellent. You should go when you are in Philly. Thanks to Garrick for taking me there when I ran my Philadelphia Marathon in 2000.

I'm in the Wrong Business ...

I watched a video segment from CNN online yesterday regarding the porn industry. I knew it was a big business, but did not have any idea how big it really is. Try not to pass out when I put it in perspective.

• Porn industry worldwide makes in excess of fifty billion dollars. WHAT!
• Porn industry makes in excess of twelve billion dollars in US. WHAT!!
• Porn makes more than all three major sports, football, baseball, and hockey together.

I would say if you really want to make obscene amount of money then you should be in porn business. Please note the way I used the obscene into the last sentence! YES!!!

Lovable Losers?

Arizona Football Cardinals. Wow. Can they do anything right and be a winner? I just watched Chicago Bears come back from twenty point deficit to beat my hometown team, Cardinals. This one is really hard to take, because Cards were winning with about three minutes remaining. It is just like last week with the Kansas City Chiefs. Are Cards cursed to be lovable losers until the end of time?

I was cheering for them and so want to jump on their bandwagon, but I really don't see why I should. In addition, it is also disappointing for me, because Vikings, my favorite team, could have caught up one game with the Bears. DARN, DARN, DARN, DARN IT TO HECK!!!!!!!!

Shower Is Backing Up ...

Whenever I did laundry, dirty water would seep up in the main shower stall. It was such a little amount that I did not concern myself. Well, my neglect finally caught up with me in a huge way. I went to take a shower few days back and this is what I found. YUCK. GROSS!

I tried the usual drain chemical and plunger, but to no avail. My wimpy 10 dollar snake did nothing. I am using a candle to eliminate some of the foul odor. I cannot wait for the a professional plumber to come and fix this awful, terrible, horrible, dreadful, foul, revolting, repulsive, repugnant, and nauseating situation.

Luckily, my other shower is working fine.

Sixty Four Bottles of Beer on the Wall ...

Yesterday, I had my first Oktoberfest. When I got up, I was very much worried that my little gathering would be a bust, because it was raining cats and dogs. I still cleaned the house, went shopping, and got ready for the festivity. I mean rain cannot stop bunch of people from getting together to appreciate home-made beer, bratwursts, and companionship of mankind. Rain stopped and sun came out in time, which made me so elated. After all, bad weather should not ruin a long planned event.

I had a great time. I could go on and try to be descriptive about the fun I had, but I am using numbers to describe the fun.

1. Attendance: 22 adults and 5 little ones
   
2. Beer Consumption: 64 12oz bottles or about six gallons
3. Brat Consumption: 34
4. Other Food: 3 microwave bags of popcorn, 2 apple strudels, 1 banana bread, 1 cake
5. Equipment: 1 broken rope, which used to hold a hammock
6. Music Purchase: 1 album named German Beer Festival (Famous German Beer Drinking Songs) from iTunes

This One Goes Out ...

I was paying a homage to REM with the title. I hope someone got that. Anyhoo, this post goes out to the three dedicated readers. You know who you are.

I am really looking forward to my Oktoberfest this Saturday. As a home-brewer, there is nothing better than watching other people enjoying your beer and tell you so. I have abundant amount of German beer currently. I have helles, Marzen/Octoberfest, Vienna, Schwartz, and one other I cannot remember. I will grill brats and serve them with the beers. YEAH!

I will post with photos and videos (?) soon.

Funniest Mac Ad Ever?

It is always worth watching a TV ad with a pretty girl. In this case, it is Leo's ex, Gisele Bundchen. Let me digress a bit. How come there are so many beautiful Brazillian model who does not look Latin? Hmm.

Anyway, the above TV ad is about Mac's superior capacity to produce better looking home video. I would say Gisele represents a great looking home video, but the ugly guy-girl representing PC's home video is just funny as heck.

Open Sesame ...

I think everyone needs one of these trash can that automatically detects motion. I was really impressed with how well they worked.

You Should Watch "Film Geek" ...

Look who is pretending to be an easy rider. Oui, c'est moi. Check out the Jackie Chan hair do. Wow, I really don't remember too much of the 70's.

Movie Recommendation
I just watched one awesome movie and one decent movie. If you like to reminisce about college days and smart conversations, then you should check out "Kicking and Screaming." It is about four recent college graduates trying to find themselves. This movie features young Parker Posey, Olivia D'Abo, and Eric Stoltz. Screenplay is smartly written, especially the dialogues.

I am giving my highest four star recommendation to the "Film Geek." You should really check this movie out if you ever felt like you are an outsider who does not fit in with any group. This movie is about a young misfit who loves and knows everything about movies. He works at a video store and has hard time getting along with people around him. It is sad and funny. The payoff is the unexpected and twisted ending. Watch out for that left hook!!!

Harley's Party ...

I went down to Tucson to visit Harley yesterday. He is a long time friend from college. I can go on but I want to finish writing this posting within a reasonable length. Anyhoo.

Harley just started his MBA & MS in Computer Science this semester at The University of Arizona, and is still working part-time. I wonder at Harley's willingness to balance work, school, and life, and admire his ambition and dedication to work hard. I digressed again.

Harley was having a party and invited all his MBA cohorts and me. I gladly accepted his invitation although I felt I would I feel out of place as I was not in the MBA program. I knew I would have a good time anyway.

I drove two hours south on I-10. I was so used to driving this route, but it has been sometime. The scenery was all too familiar. A bridge, an outlet mall, Picacho Peak, and you are there. There were two accidents slowing down the traffic, but nothing too serious.

I arrived about two in the afternoon. Harley and I shook hands. It was all good. Harley was still setting up, so I lent him a hand with that. His backyard was decorated with tiki torches and solar lights. Ambiance would be phenomenal, I thought to myself.

We swam after setting up. It was slightly hotter than average temp for this time of the year. Water felt cold at first, but it was very refreshing once submerged. We swam for about an hour waiting for possible early guests. As suspected, there were no early guests. I guess people always wants to be fashionably late.

People started to arrive, libations started flowing, foods were consumed, pool table started clicking, music boomed, foos table rotated, poker was played, etc. Good times lasted for hours. I cannot remember staying up so late.

Here are some pictures from the soirée!

Nice ambiance.

First arrivals.

Where are the girls?

I said, "just the girls."

Harley, look at the camera.

Rosa's Mexican Restaurant is great.

Rosa's? Never heard of it!

Stop talking about presentations.

Just right amount of foam.

Foos time!

Corner pocket?

Fore!