Changing seasons

This summer was supposed to be a summer of wine. I imagined I would drink a steady quantity of red wine instead of the whiskey punch that got me through half of winter and spring. That was partially true. I did continue with punch, and I stopped with wine about a month or so ago. The last jug of Paisano skunked into vinegar prematurely and I haven't gotten wine since. I tried for rum, but it didn't work out that way. I thought about going Bourbon, but I didn't want to gamble. My one foray into American whiskey - Kessler - was a bust.

Now normally I don't drink beer. It has about double the calories of whiskey. It has sugar and carbs, and whiskey does not. It will make you fat. After all, they don't call it a whiskey gut do they?

However, it has been a chilly August. It is already getting cold at night. School is starting next week and the shadows are getting longer. Autumn is fast approaching, and one thing I like in chilly months is a good Pilzner and some hot soft pretzels. I have a feeling that if the weather continues to chill, I'll have to truck up to the store for some good pilzner (New Glarus Edel Pilz is a winner in my book) and a box of super pretzels.

The furniture post

Over the last two weeks I came to the realization that I need a table for my balcony. It happened when I was walking around the apartment complex and saw two ladies sitting on their balcony. They were sitting across from each other with a tv tray between them. They were jabbering away in some language I did not recognize and drinking out of mugs with a carafe between them. The younger one was smoking. It felt very cosmopolitan. I felt like I could be in France.

So what I need for my balcony is a cafe table. If I cannot get a cafe table, a tv tray will suffice. Strangely, tv trays are selling for around forty dollars these days. Madness. I don't want to spend the money for a cafe table or even a tv tray.

For a few days I scoured the student ghettos to see if a cafe table or tv tray was left at the curb. After all, it was move out week and an endless assortment of junk was left out. No luck. I have looked over Craigslist. So it looks like I will be forced to pay the long buck. Unless you have any clever suggestions?

The library is my napster

My friends and I like to muse about telling grandchildren about the Golden Age of Napster like the old curmudgeons we surely will become. One could download almost any song imaginable. Sure, there were some obscure limits. But I built up a good repertoire of Heavy Metal and Classical songs. Good times.

I haven't tried filesharing in years. I have to hand it to them, the RIAA did a great job of scaring the bejeezus out of me. So no more filesharing? What then? Well, I found the public library to be robust. Sure, it doesn't have the great Metal albums. I'll just save up and buy those. But all those great Classical albums that you've been dying to hear? The library has most of them. I'm not worried about Hayden not getting his royalty checks. And there are so many versions of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, how is one to know which to buy? Definitely if you like Classical or Jazz, the library is the way to go. I've learned to request material from other branches and place holds. The library is my Napster.

More on the whiskey front

I discovered, through the interwebs, that there is another Cooley whiskey on the market. It isn't quite here in Cheeseland yet, though. From the distributor:

"Thank you very much for your interest in Kellan Irish Whiskey. At the moment
we only did a soft launch of the brand in certain key states - unfortunately
non-near your place of residence. May I recommend you purchase a bottle
online?"

I will give you an update as soon as it is available in stores and I've had a bottle. Cheers.

Whiskey ups and downs

First, the good news: interwebs rumor that Amrut Indian Whisky is coming to the States in October 2009. Great. Unless I don't like it, in which case it will be like that time I bought the first Carcass album Reek of Putrefaction expecting Heartwork/Necroticism style awesomeness. Boo!

The bad news: internet rumor is that Paddy's will be sold. To whom? Maybe the buyers will keep production at Midleton and fight to expand market share and bring it to America. Maybe they will roll it up or muck it up. I've never had it. Maybe it is terrible? Maybe it is awesome. I'm hoping it is the latter and that someway or somehow it comes Stateside.

Final thought: it seems a shame that I live so close to Canada (though so far compared to where I once lived - just an hour away) and yet I've barely scratched the surface of Canadian whisky. And to be fair, I've had much better experiences with our well mannered neighbors to the north than with American whiskey. Take that, Kessler's. Smooth as silk my ass.

Clubhouse times

Last night I went to a party in the clubhouse. I've been there before. Always good times. Lately I've had less compulsion to take my camera with me everywhere I go. I regret, in a small way, leaving it at home.

The afternoon light was golden. Then it turned to the blue hour. Even though it was sultry, the haze made it more picturesque.

The passage of time

Yesterday I sat on my balcony and watched a spider weave its web.



It was nice to sit and not be in a hurry to do something. I reminded me of Thoreau. I just sat and watched as the spider carefully crossed underneath the web like a monkey on a jungle gym. It hooked the thread in regular rows, though sometimes it made a mistake. It never went back and tried to fix anything, it just kept moving forward. Maybe spider silk is too sticky to pull off and reapply?