Orval Trappist Ale

29 Sep

Belgian Pale Ale

Rating: A+

Poured from bottle to pint glass.

Pours a thick, fluffy white head that lasts for some time.  The color is a rich, cloudy amber.  Very pleasant aroma of spice (cloves), orange, malts and yeast.  The taste is very malty upfront, but gives way to a hoppy backbone with accents of fruit.  Medium bodied with high carbonation.  Surprisingly well-balanced.  The uncommonly high ABV at 6.7% is masked well without any astringency.  The dry, bitter finish ends on the roof of the mouth.  This was the first time that I had tried this beer and I would highly recommend it.  Extremely satisfying.

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Hesse – Steppenwolf

28 Sep

Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (1927)

Der Steppenhipster

Our protagonist, Henry Haller, is introduced in a brief preface by Haller’s landlord’s nephew.  The preface is largely expository and not all that interesting.  This novel takes a good 100 pages before it really drags the reader in; that’s when I start finding more and more notes and dog-eared pages.  Haller is plagued with a “sickness of the times.”  At the end of the preface, the nephew tells us that the story is “an attempt to present the sickness itself in its actual manifestation.  [It] means, literally, a journey through hell, a sometimes fearful, sometimes courageous journey through the class of a world whose souls dwell in darkness, a journey undertaken with the determination to go through hell from one end to the other, to give battle to chaos, and to suffer torture to the full.”  I learned from Hesse’s 1961 forward to the novel that Continue reading →

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Corsendonk Abbey Pale Ale

27 Sep

Belgian Tripel

Rating: B+

Poured from bottle to pint glass.

The beer pours cloudy and golden with some visible sediment. Thin, small-bubbled eggshell head leaves almost no lacing behind. The aroma is spicy (definite coriander), citrusy and fruity (apple among others). The taste is lemony upfront and then sweet, champagney and very fruity with a bit of malt. The mouthfeel is crisp and medium bodied with med-hi carbonation. Dry, bitter finish. The sediment leads me to believe that my bottle may have been a bit out of date.  I owe this beer another shot.

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last.fm Adult

27 Sep

I have had a last.fm account for almost two and a half years now.  I started one at the recommendation of a friend after the untimely death of my first external hard drive, Gigi.  When I purchased my current hard drive and “re-acquired” the bulk of my albums, I thought it might be fun to track my musical life going forward.  I am a total statistic shill and so a last.fm profile seemed like a must have.  Of course I would have had a vague idea as to Continue reading →

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Human League Show 9/23/2011

26 Sep
The Setlist:
1. Never Let Me Go
2. Open Your Heart
3. Sound of the Crowd
4. Heart Like A Wheel
5. The Lebanon
6. Egomaniac
7. Empire State Human
8. Night People
9. Human
10. Love Action
11. All I Ever Wanted
12. Tell Me When
13. Mirror Man
14. (Keep Feeling) Fascination
15. Don’t You Want Me
Encore
16. Being Boiled
17. Together in Electric Dreams

I never thought that I would get to see the Human League and so this past Friday was a total treat.  That being said, the concert followed a disastrous 6 1/2 hour car-ride from Albany to NYC thanks to being gridlocked in New Jersey traffic.  I missed the opener, Men Without Hats.  I can’t say that I care.  There was a major novelty factor there, but I’m not sure that I could have stomached a 40-minute set by a legitimate one-hit wonder.  For all I know they played a 40 minute “Safety Dance.”

I arrived at the Best Buy Theater at 8:55 drenched (from rain in case there was any question), which gave me just enough time to order three tall-boys at the bar and catch the second half of “Never Let Me Go.”  I have to admit…they sounded phenomenal.  I was also pleased that a band that was touring to promote a new album wasn’t afraid to have their set span their catalog.  Despite their popularity reaching the US in singles like “Don’t You Want Me” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination,” the Human League had much greater success across the Atlantic.  And honestly, what I’ve heard off of their new album is not bad at all.

Phil Oakey was a little less androgynous than usual.  He, now bald, began with an occupied Europe-esque pleather frock and then changed into a white frill-less tunic.  I have to admit, Susanne Sulley looked pretty GILFy in her white applique dress.  The background visuals were great.  Most memorably: sheep tourists visited international monuments during “Sound of the Crowd,” clips of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” looped during “Heart Like A Wheel,” and a warp scene from Super Mario 3 was spliced into a black and white romance flick for “Together in Electric Dreams.”  There was definitely some Tron in there too…

I, like everybody else, raged when they sang “Don’t You Want Me” (I apologize for my drunken, tone-deaf singing on the video…I had a few more tall-boys under my belt at that point), but I have to admit that that song is still one of my favorite pop songs of all time regardless of its relegation to the realm of one-hit wonderdom in the US.

Overall, the concert was very entertaining despite the car ride down and the hot mess behind me who dumped her whiskey and soda all over my back before nose-diving in a puddle.  I did try to help her up until she got combative.  “Leave me alone I’m fine!”  Ok, bitch, sit in a puddle.

Early on in the concert, Oakey humbly remarked that the band members were all fans of their rock contemporaries like Television and T. Rex, but they were looking for something that people would not only enjoy, but could dance to.  It was synth-pop, and they spearheaded the movement.

“Empire State Human” Live

“Love Action” Live

“Don’t You Want Me” Live

Strangeness on a Train

26 Sep

I decided to take a train back from NYC because the Megabus, though inexpensive, is entirely unreliable and I usually get parked near the bathroom.  I bought a ticket for the 7:15 departing from Penn Station, and in typical me fashion, I hailed a cab slightly wine-drunk at 6:35 with (piloted by the angriest middle easterner I’ve ever had to deal with) and ended up in line for my ticket at 7:11.

The train was on time and so I hustled with my dorky, over-sized duffle down the escalator nearly KO’ing an elderly woman.  The first and second cars were packed.  To my elation, there was an open seat next to an adorable, pocket-sized hipster girl in the first row of the third car.  I politely asked if I could sit next to her to which she replied a nearly inaudible “yup” (or “yum”…I was kind of hoping it was “yum”).  I vaulted the early 90’s Adidas competitive badminton player edition duffel onto the luggage rack, grabbed my supplies and sat down.

Then the anxiety set in.

I realized a number of things.  I had a clear sweat-stripe across my polo shirt from sprinting to the train.  My breath reeked of wine and I was out of mints.  My “supplies” were my iPod, headphones and my Nintendo DS…I knew I should have brought a god damn book.  I made eye-contact with her with a face that was to read “I realize that I look like a complete nerd but would you consider converstion in spite of that?” but as I did, my headphones ravaged my eardrums with full-volume Boards of Canada (I must remember to always check the volume if my iPod has been in my pocket).  I was left convulsing and she promptly faced the window.

It was a quiet ride.

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Southern Tier Pale Ale

21 Sep

American Pale Ale

Rating: B+

Poured from bottle to pint glass.

The color is a translucent yellow/gold that is perhaps a bit too yellow for an APA.  1” creamy medium-bubbled head that retains well and leaves some decent lacing.  Nose has a sweet malt, hops, floral with a bit of berry.  The taste is certainly hoppy, but not overpowering (sorry hopheads).  Light-medium body with a fair amount of carbonation.  The beer finishes smooth and dry with a sour, lemony aftertaste.  Zing!  Southern Tier has yet to really disappoint me.

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Strikeforce: Heavyweight World Grand Prix Semi-Finals

21 Sep

I wanted to preface this article by saying that I am by no means an MMA expert.  I am more than a casual fan, but going forward, most MMA pre and post-fight card analyses are going to come from joeb87.  It also comes more than a week and a half later than I wanted it to…whatever.  I was busy this past week with working and drinking.

Overall, this was one of the most exciting fight cards that I’ve watched yet this year which took me by total surprise.  Not to put Strikeforce down, but their cards are usually a showcase of talent that can’t be employed (literally and metaphorically) elsewhere (i.e. in the UFC).  The fights are often sloppy and/or one-sided.

 

The card:

 

Pat “Bam Bam” Healy vs. Maximo Blanco

I had never seen Blanco fight before, but he has a quick, impressive (although daffy and overzealous) style of striking.  Early off, Blanco dropped Healy with a sweep kick followed by a seamless, driving left straight.  Healy, the veteran, ended up taking advantage of one of Blanco’s cavalier advances.  He took him down against the cage, following with a rear naked choke some minutes later adding a 26th win to his extensive fight record.  Despite the loss, the younger Blanco (27) could be a very fun fighter to watch in the future.

 

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Roger Gracie

I was really looking forward to this fight because I thought it would be a good litmus test (a classic joeb87 metaphor) for Gracie’s comprehensive ability.  Wins over guys like Trevor Prangley and Kevin Randleman are definitely wins (they aren’t cans), but it still left me curious as to how good Gracie really was.  Going 4-0 entering into the fight, he looked pretty sharp as a striker and the BJJ and grappling background made for a solid resume, not to mention the “Gracie” name recognition.

Gracie looked lost in this fight.  Despite the height and reach advantage, he not only left a low guard, he continually made these half-assed clinch advances on King Mo who actually does have heavy hands.  King Mo caught him with a devastating right hook that dropped Gracie to the mat and then ragdolled him with another right before it was called.

Gracie better sharpen his standup, particularly against guys like King Mo who have the clichéd one-punch knockout power.  BJJ is great, but if you can’t stand with somebody, you’re in for trouble.  That being said, I still look forward to seeing Gracie fight in the future.  Now, I’m more interested in seeing King Mo fight.

 

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold

This was the best fight on the card and also the most surprising.  I was expecting the typical, boring unanimous decision for Jacare after five rounds of him taking his opponent down and then sitting on them.  Rockhold, who was coming into this fight after being out of the cage for 19 months, immediately showed that he wasn’t afraid to strike with Jacare.  He is just as spry on his feet as Jacare and offers a wide arrange of kicks coming from his AKA background (which sets up very well in punch-kick combinations later in the fight).

Jacare was able to take Rockhold down a total of three times in the first round, but in atypical fashion, Rockhold stood up from all three.  Jacare landed some frighteningly accurate blind hooks while on the ground.  This proved further that Rockhold must have a decent chin.  At the end of the first round, Rockhold set up a sweet kick by leveraging himself on Jacare’s left thigh and unleashed a high left kick.  After that he, as Mack from It’s Always Sunny would say, put on a clinic.  Though Rockhold looked very strong at the end of the fight and was able to stand up from Jacare’s takedowns, I still gave the round to Jacare.

In the second round, Rockhold seemed to scare Jacare on a few occasions with his kicks and his combination onslaughts.  Rockhold stalked Jacare for the majority of the round and forced Jacare to play his game.  Round 2 for Rockhold.

Rockhold began the third round with a number of impressive flurries that landed.  Unfortunately, he tagged Jacare in the coin purse about 1 ½ minutes in.  It was clearly inadvertent, but Jacare was clearly pissed (can you blame him?).  Jacare earned a takedown when Rockhold tried to pogo and punch at the same time.  For the remainder of the round Rockhold determined the pace and ultimately earned himself the round in my book.

Round 4 was a hell of a round.  Rockhold is landed a number of 3-4 punch/kick combinations, though Jacare effectively countered on some of these advances because of Rockhold’s low guard.  Jacare had some heavy blows around the 2 minute mark, but Rockhold largely controlled the round with very active striking.

Both fighters were definitely tired in Round 5, but it wasn’t the gas-fest I expected it to be.  Rockhold certainly didn’t have the power behind his kicks and Jacare was a little heavy on his feet.  This for me was the hardest round to judge.  Rockhold was the more active striker, but Jacare did get a takedown, had some impressive counter-strikes and a sweet front kick to Rockhold’s jaw at 1:23.

I personally had the fight scored 48-47 Rockhold.  One could make the argument for 49-46 Rockhold with the last round as a toss-up.  Whichever judge scored the contest 50-45 should be fired.  I am very much looking forward to seeing Rockhold fight again.  His landing percentage was almost identical to the former champion’s and he threw almost 3 times as many strikes.  I think the obvious fight is a rematch between him and Jacare.

And who let Herschel Walker in the ring after the fight??

Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Jacare vs. Rockhold Part 1

Jacare vs. Rockhold Part 2

Jacare vs. Rockhold Part 3

 

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Daniel Cormier

Though I like Bigfoot Silva as a fighter, Cormier simply made him look bad in this fight.  Silva came into this fight with a 20 lb. weight advantage, a 5 inch height advantage and an almost 10 inch reach advantage.  Very early on in the fight, Silva rushed Cormier against the fence and looked menacing.  Seconds later, Cormier downed Silva with a concrete right; within fifteen seconds, Cormier motioned Silva to his feet.  After Cormier tagged Silva 3 or 4 more times, the clearly dazed Silva shot for a pathetic takedown.  It had to have been a stall tactic on Silva’s part (because why would you shoot on an Olympic wrestler?) as Cormier didn’t look to be too interested in the ground game anyway.

Not long after standing up, Silva threw a kick and Cormier swept him for a second takedown.  When the referee stood the fight up again, Silva worked a smiling Cormier around the edge of the cage before Cormier caught yet another of Silva’s kicks, ducked under a backfist and then landed a left hook.  After that, he just outstruck Silva hitting a four-punch combo.   Silva crumbled and absorbed two unnecessary (and entirely brutal) hammer punches before Ref. Franklin (Rich’s brother) called it.

I wasn’t surprised by the outcome because Cormier looked solid against Monson (particularly at the ends of the 1st and 3rd rounds), but to dismantle Bigfoot Silva like that amazed me.

 

Josh “the War Master” Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov

First off, let me just say that “the War Master” is a way better nickname for Josh Barnett than “the Babyface Assassin.”  His pre-fight interview was absolutely hysterical and his post-fight wrestling with referee Dan Miragliotta is totally ridiculous…not to mention the mic grapple with Mauro Ranallo.  Ranallo may have hit the nail on the head with his $20 word: Barnett is a master of “histrionics.”  (Josh Barnett being a War Master)  In fact, Barnett more than any other fighter in MMA, with the exception of Jason “Mayhem” Miller, could easily make the transition to pro wrestling.

That being said, Barnett looked really good out there.  Early on in the fight, Kharitonov stunned him with 2-1-2 combination—and Kharitonov’s hands look as heavy as I’ve seen anybody’s.  Not long afterward, Barnett got a sweep flowing immediately (and gracefully for a 260 lb. monster) into full mount, and began a relentless ground and pound.  He took the fight by rear naked choke within a minute.

Part of me was upset that limb wasn’t torn from limb and blood wasn’t spilled, but it was a more than impressive win for Josh Barnett.  Now we have the final Cormier vs. Barnett to look forward to.

 

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today

19 Sep

Before Today by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (2010)

I was introduced to Ariel Pink’s Worn Copy and The Doldrums in college by my glorious roommate, Robakabob.  Before Today isn’t a complete departure from the Ariel Pink that I knew and loved [parts of], but it is certainly a more focused and market-saavy approach.  It is technically Pink’s 10th album.  His albums prior to Before Today were often sprawling, lacked consistency and were even unlistenable at times—not unlike his mentor Continue reading →

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Eliminate Unwritten Rules

19 Sep

After Victor Ortiz hit Floyd Mayweather with his best shot of the night, a seemingly intentional head butt, Mayweather decided to ignore the unwritten rule in boxing that you don’t strike your opponent when he’s trying to touch gloves. Instead, Mayweather clocked Ortiz twice, and hastened his inevitable victory. It was a brazen blow against sportsmanship, and unwritten rules in general. Sports is filled with unwritten rules, but maybe it’s time they’re written into the rule book, or eliminated entirely.

Baseball may have more unwritten rules than written ones; one being you’re not supposed to steal bases on a team when you’re blowing out. This rule never made sense to me. Homerun hitters feast on the opposing teams mop-up pitchers, so why not the speedsters? In a 162 game war of attrition, the more runs you score, the less you have to use your good relief pitchers, and the better chance you have to win tomorrow. If your catcher can’t throw them out, maybe you need a new catcher.

Airing the ball out when you’re up big in football is considered to be unsportsmanlike. This can be subjective, but think up by more than 3 touchdowns. Breaking a division rivals will with a 60 yard bomb is one thing, but padding your stats on a cellar dweller is quite another. There’s too much risk for injuring in the NFL, and besides being unsportsmanlike, risking your player’s health for some guys fantasy team is plain stupid.

Soccer is particularly confusing. Players routinely fake injuries in order to get penalty picks, so much so that you can actually get a yellow card for doing it. However, if a player goes down with a real injury on the field, the other team is expected to kick the ball out of bounds rather than take advantage of the opportunity. This is a great system of self policing but it only works when…

What Mayweather did was the equivalent of the kid in touch football who fakes a touchback and then runs the ball back for a touchdown when the other team isn’t paying attention. Only what Mayweather did is worse. Imagine Reggie Bush pulling that shit on a group of Pop Warner kids, with the crowd paying 55 bucks a pop to see it.

Regardless of the logic behind them, unwritten rules are supposed to help enforce the integrity of the sport; this is not the era of integrity. Hell, everyone’s favorite sportsman, Derek Jeter, faked getting hit by a pitch last season so he could get a walk, and he was mostly lauded for his “veteran guile.” It’s time to make any unwritten rule that is integral to the sport a written rule, and respect athletes decision to ignore the rest. So I say steal that extra base, throw that extra touchdown, and as Mayweather said after the fight: “Keep yourself protected at all times.”

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