Thirsty Thursday

I know that the title of the blog today is pretty generic but that was as clever as I feel capable of being this morning. I kind of enjoyed this process yesterday so

LANCE'S TOP 5 BEERS

1:

Boddingtons Pub Ale I love this beer. It just really works for me on so many levels. It is light and creamy and if I really wanted to I could drink it all day long. I have also enjoyed a pint or two of this at breakfast. Totally worth it.

2:

Guinness. This is a beer that I can enjoy often and really never regret drinking. I have been told by those who have visited Ireland that it is even better over there. I hope one day to find out if that is true.

As I looked over the vast selection of beer out there and thought about my choices 3 through 5 I realized that the other beers do not really matter to me. Because unless I am really stuck somewhere that I can't have coffee or a diet cola beverage I will not order a beer that is not a Guinness or a Boddingtons. I used to brew my own and I feel like I made a couple of tasty ones but I also followed a recipe and used basically a kit to achieve that. I know a few people in the Salem area alone that make some amazing beers from scratch. The craft brewing industry has really taken off in the NW and I think it is one of the things that makes us a great place to live.

I have a friend (Not anybody any of you know) who recently moved to Colorado and they were telling me that the local beer was better in Colorado then in Oregon. Well I just had to laugh. I mean I was polite but come on. How can you even say such a thing? I think it comes down to more then just the amount of beer awards a state has won. The taste of beer is a personal thing and in my book nothing tops Oregon for that. I mean it even though I drink mainly English beer. But I am a snob.

Webpost Wednesday

Today is Wednesday and I am going to use Wednesday to throw up some links to things around the internet that I have found interesting. Or perhaps articles I like or something else. It is going to be pretty random but that is the plan anyway. That being said I am having a hard time today finding something that I think is interesting or even blogworthy. Ha!! That word reminds me of the old 'Seinfeld' where Elaine was trying to decide if guys were "sponge-worthy". I loved that show.



I do not get much chance to watch reruns of it anymore but when I do stumble across it I always find it very funny. I think I would put it into my top 10 television comedies of all time. Lets see off of the top of my head I think this is my list

TOP 10 TELEVISION COMEDIES
1: Arrested Development Only three glorious seasons but I loved and continue to love every minute of it. I feel like it was a show that you had to pay attention to and were rewarded when you did just that. It was humor on a complete different level.

2: Mr Show This is another show that seemed to operate on a different level from what was on television. By being on HBO it allowed them to have a lot more freedom that other shows which does make a difference that is for sure.

3: The Ben Stiller Show This show only lasted one season but what an amazing season it was. If you can track this down on Netflix I highly recommend it. Or if you know me and ask nicely I may let you borrow my copy of it. There are skits from this show that are still being stolen and re-used by other television shows even today.

4: The Office The (ahem) British version. I hate to sound like a comedy snob. But, I may as well own up to the truth of who I am and in some cases I am very much a snob and the three epic seasons are such good television. It is at times almost unbearable to watch but still so well done that you can't help yourself. But ultimately so touching that the series finale will bring a tear to your eye.

5: Seinfeld I already wrote a bit about this above. It isn't my favorite comedy of all time but it is up there on the list.

I am stopping at Top 5 because the Top 5 is all that really matter and besides I am a lazy so and so. Deal with it.



This song by Mumford and Sons called 'Awake My Soul" makes me weep at times. I just love their music and it also depresses me that I am unable to create the same kind of thing in my life. Which probably says a lot about me more then it does about them. Please give them a listen and feel yourself lifted up. You folks have a good day.

Terrible Tuesday

I think that from now on along with my other thematically structured days I am going to use Tuesdays as a day that I rant. This may involve a story that I have read that I did not care for or perhaps an issue in the world that has upset me. It could be something as weighty as world politics or as light and fluffy as why I do not care for black licorice. So without further ado the topic for today is.

FLAT BRIMMED BASEBALL HATS

Now it obviously isn't the hats themselves because why would I get that upset about a piece of clothing. It is the people who seem to be wearing the flat brimmed caps. I do have a problem as well with the style because of the functionality of it. When I wear a baseball cap it is most often because I have not showered that day and my hair is a mess so it keeps my hair out of my eyes and and keeps me looking not so goofy. But if I were to wear my cap with the brim pressed flat and tilted off to one side and tipped up what would the point be? What purpose would it serve? Is it for fashion? I do not think most of the guys that wear their hats this way would say they pay attention to fashion. They obviously do at some level because they are wearing clothes and affecting a style that they and their friends think is cool on some level.

That doesn't excuse them because I still do not understand how you look in the mirror and say "There we go. The hat is tilted just so and now I am ready to rock." It ranks up there with me or down there really on the same level as the guys that wear the popped collar on their shirt and wear two or three shirts. Granted, it was cool when Fonzie popped the collar on his leather jacket but who is cooler then Fonzie. Do not answer you can't because know one is.

Are you enjoying the afterglow that Fonzie was so gracious to give you? I do not think I can write anymore today. I am just going to sit and think about how cool Fonzie was. That man had it all figured out.

Music Monday

As anyone who knows me can attest. I love music. I love nearly all kinds of music and some of it is probably what the snobs consider as bad music but I really do not care. The reality is that music in all of it varied shapes and forms fills a real need inside of me. There are times where just the tone of the song will bring tears to my eyes. I realize that probably says more about me then it does anything else but it is the truth.

So I think on Mondays I will share with you something that I like or am currently enjoying. Today it is the Avett Brothers and their 3 song NPR performance. It is 15 minutes long but if you can carve out some time please give it a listen. I think you might enjoy it.

Soccer Sunday I

I dub today Soccer Sunday. I am going to try to use Sundays to post something about the sport I am currently loving and that is American Soccer or English Football. I am right now as I write watching a replay of the US National Men playing against Argentina and it has been a really amazing game. The passing and touch on the ball that Argentina is showing is incredible and as usual Lionel Messi is playing amazingly. But I think that for me the real star of the game and the hero for the United States was Tim Howard. As much as I have complained about him in the past he was amazing in goal in the game. If he had not been on point the US would have lost probably 3 or 4 to 1. As it was the USA escaped with a 1-1 draw. Lets face facts. While it is true that, at times, we were competitive with Argentina we are not as good as they are. Oh sure we played well and there were some stellar moments during the game but overall on a position by position level we just do not match up well with them. They are faster and smarter then we are in terms of both passing and overall strategy.

I have to say though that as much as I enjoyed watching the match and as much as I enjoy watching the US play and I suppose I am a supporter of the team though I am not a card carrying member. I have to say that I am really bothered by Clint Dempsey and his attitude on the pitch. It isn't that he is unable to play or that he isn't talented because he is and he has proven that he can play at the highest levels of Soccer. But the way he acts on the pitch just irritates me. It feels like if he isn't pouting about something he is hacking at another play or just coasting along until he can sneak in a run on goal. He gives the illusion or impression that he does not work all of the time. I realize that I may be wrong but he just makes me crazy at times. (Climbs down off of soapbox)



In local Soccer news the Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team Portland Timbers lost their second straight match to the Toronto Reds. It was a hard fought match and the Timbers looked really good at times which leads me to have some high hopes for the rest of the season. But, once again as in the first loss of the season a 3-1 defeat by the Colorado Rapid the Timbers showed a real inability to finish. That coupled with a team that seems to be unable to get going in the first 15 minutes in a game does not make for a success. The talent is there and the coaching staff and the front office is doing everything they can to ensure success but in the end it comes down to the players on the pitch and it is up to them to win these games. It up to them to put the ball into the net. That is the ultimate goal in a soccer match and if you do not put the ball into the onion bag you can not win matches. That being said you also must keep the ball out of the net on defense and if you are unable to do that it becomes doubly hard to win games. The first two games of the season so far have shown that while the Timbers seem to have a strong defense there are times where they seem to check out mentally and when that happens they give up goals. I hope this gets fixed and gets fixed soon if it doesn't we are in for a long season and not a very fun one.

Film Friday

I have tried and tried over and over again to stick to some sort of thematic structure in this blog and most of the attempts have been an epic failure. So in yet another attempt I am going to make Friday a day where I write about films that I enjoy.

I imagine that my analysis will be very in depth and full of high level academic thought as I break down all of the nuances behind some of yours and mines favorite films. I imagine that we will discuss the political ramifications of different films as well as there effect on popular culture and the world at large. I will shine a light on the dark subtext of films that the dirty communists are using to manipulate our youth and using to bring down and destroy the values that we hold dear as Americans!!!!

(Sorry, I blacked out for a second.) This will not be happening today as I appear to be getting a migraine. But next week for sure.

Thursday

I just realized something. The NCAA basketball tournament in going on right now. I do not care. I have come to the realization that I do not really care about basketball in any form. I do not care if it is the NBA or College or High School or peewee. I am not sure what changed. I used to like basketball. I grew up in the midst of Blazer madness. I was a huge David Robinson fan as well as Moses Malone and Charles Barkley when I was growing up. But somewhere along the lines in the last decade or so I just have lost total interest in the sport as a whole.

In fact as I have grown older the sports that I follow avidly have changed as well. I have always been a sports fan and when I was a child that meant watching televised ice skating events as well as the weekly professional bowling tournament that would be on every Saturday. But before those there was usually the Major League Baseball game of the week. When I went to Australia I ended up watching a Cricket match and I even found that pretty interesting. But really the only sports I follow any more are the NFL and a little, very little, bit of college football. I like mixed martial arts and I follow the National Hockey League and I like Soccer.

As I am writing this I think it has more to do with the internet and cable television and the availability of these sports to be seen. As a child we had basically four channels and then some local uhf that did not show sports. So there really were limited options. I never ever saw Hockey until my grandmother got cable it did not exist on television as a sport in the pacific northwest. Also really the only time I was able to watch soccer was late at night on the Oregon Public Broadcasting channel and even that was pretty sporadic. But now I can just turn on the computer or the television and pretty much find a clip of anything is being played and there are some crazy sports out there.

I think basketball just is kind of boring for me right now. I know that people will argue that they think soccer is boring and I can accept that argument. I, for numerous reasons, do not find it boring. I am not sure why. But I do know that I can sit down and watch or listen to a soccer match and it holds my interest but anymore when I try to watch basketball it just does not. The same goes for baseball I just have a hard time really getting into it. I do like going to live games but I think that is mainly because I can people watch and scream at the opposing team and the umpires. I love screaming at umpires and refs and opposing players. I think that is one of lives great joys for me.

I have a story about that. Want to hear it? Here it is. I went to a Seattle Mariners baseball game several years ago with my housemates. It has to be over 10 at this point and my be close to 15 years ago and the Mariners were doing pretty good as a team Ken Griffey Jr was there star player and it was pretty exciting to see him play live. It was also possible back then to see a game at the Kingdome and to get seats pretty close to the field without if costing an arm and a leg. So, I am unable to remember who they were playing, we had seats about 5 or 6 rows up from the field and right where the opposing teams bullpen area was. That is where the opposing teams pitcher was was warming up for the game. I do not even remember his name but I begin to yell at him.

Now when I heckle I rarely if at all use profanity. It is not clever and I do not think it is even funny. There is a time and a place for swears and at a public event with people and their kids around is not one of those places.(puts soapbox away) So I proceeded to tell the pitcher that perhaps his family was unhappy with the way he pitched and that my 80 yr old grandmother could do better. I also let him know that I thought Griffey Jr would have no trouble hitting a homerun or two off of him. It also had not occurred to me that he could hear me. I know that was silly of me but I swear I just figured that will all of the noise of the fans and the music and other players that my voice would blend and I was really just yelling for the amusement of my friends anyway.

So I continue to yell and then the pitcher just stops and turns and looks right at me while holding the baseball in his hand. I feel the people sitting on either side of me slide away and one may have muttered "you messed up now". I remember thinking he is going to throw that ball at me. This is really going to hurt. In the end he did not throw the ball. But the glare he gave me still haunts me. I also stopped heckling him and he went on to pitch his best game that season. I am pretty sure I cost the Mariners a win.

All of my rambling aside. While I may not like or enjoy basketball now it is fine with me if you do. So just leave me alone and let me follow the Portland Timbers.

RCTID!!!!

Stealing or a Tribute

I just read an interesting article here about the 'Simpsons' and 'Family Guy' talking about joke stealing. Here it is. I believe it is safe for work. But then again my opinion on that may be a little off since my HR person is wearing pajamas and drinking a cup of coffee at his desk right now. In fact I am not sure he is even wearing shoes. (What do we pay that guy for anyway?)

But, back to the topic at hand. I have railed in the past about television and movies and novels and people stealing from each other. At this point I will turn and look pointedly at James Cameron. But I have used a stick on that dead horse before so I will not rehash the old argument.

I guess it makes me wonder is there anything new out or is everything that is being in the creative entertainment industry a rip off or an homage to something that came before? Is it better or at least more tolerable if the person doing the ripping off acknowledges it as such or calls it a tribute? I know that as far as I am concerned it becomes more tolerable when they do. I feel like nothing upsets me more when a director or writer is touted as some sort of creative genius and then when you see the material it is just patently obvious that they have stolen the idea. When they are will to at least acknowledge the idea that they were at the very least "inspired" by something but wanted to put their own spin on it I am usually able to find some redeeming quality in it.

What makes me call for and most of the time enforce a Lance wide boycott of a product or a individual is when they continue to steal ideas over and over again and are encouraged by the masses to do so because the masses go to their movies and make them rich. I can feel myself ramping up to a Sheen like level so I am going to dial it back down. What do you guys think?


IS THERE NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN?

Broadway Coffeehouse

As I mentioned yesterday and may have mentioned before on this blog. I like coffee. Some would say that I also have a chemical dependency on the caffeine that rides along with the coffee. I would say that has nothing to do with the fact that I like the smell and the taste of it. Sure, things would be horrible if I didn't enjoy drinking it but I really do like the taste of coffee and I love the smell and the process of it as well.


And thanks to the friendly folks at my local coffee house. The aptly named Broadway Coffeehouse since it is on Broadway st. I have found several new ways to take in my daily dose of the good stuff.

What I have pictured above is how I spent last Saturday morning. It was a nice Chemex of an Indonesian coffee along with the morning paper and a very tasty Marionberry scone from Great Harvest.

I personally can't think of a better way to start the day then to have a tasty cup of coffee and a nice pastry of some sort. One way for me to get both of those things is at the Broadway Coffeehouse and I just am unable to recommend it highly enough. So if you get a chance get over there and give it a try.

If you do not like coffee, God forbid, they also have tea and hot chocolate and Chai and lots of other things to drink that I am told are really quite tasty. I find it to have a very comfortable atmosphere as well. I basically have not had a bad experience there. They are open seven days a week from 6am to 10pm which is good because "anytime is the right time for coffee"
(That phrase is mine. I claim it by order of the internet bloggers collective.) They also have free Wi-Fi so you could be down there right now reading this while you drink their coffee. Think about that. Did I just blow your mind?

But, do not just take my word for it. Go down and check it out. You will be glad that you did.

Monday

It is mid Monday morning and I have know idea what I want to write about today. I would love to have something witty and insightful to share with all of you but nothing is really springing to mind.

Things I like

In no particular order

Coffee
Fight Club (Film and Novel)
Sir Terry Pratchett
Quadrophenia (Film and Album)
League of Legends
Friends (I will not name them all)
The Portland Timbers
The Pittsburgh Steelers
Attractive ladies with black hair
Attractive ladies with blond hair
Attractive ladies with red hair
Attractive ladies with brown hair
(You know who you are ladies)
The lady that I will always miss and who I think of everyday
Ben Folds
This video by Ben Folds...

Somber Sunday

Sundays have been a little odd for me lately. I try to not do much on weekends as it is but Sundays have been kind of sad. I am not sure if it is the weather or if it is something that is going on with me. I actually enjoyed the rain last Sunday and ended up going for a drive out to St Paul but really that was only because I went north on the road just outside the neighborhood and it took me there.

Today I just felt crappy all day and ended up the afternoon and early evening with a small migraine. What that really means for me is that I may not sleep much tonight since I did for a few hours this afternoon. On the plus side I could spend most of the night watching "Deadwood" and I could think of far worse ways to be up all night if I have to be.

One thing that I do find fascinating when I re-watch a television show after a break of several years. Is that I notice the actors that I haven't noticed before usually because they have gone on to do other things. In the case of "Deadwood" I just noticed that Kristen Bell of the television show "Veronica Mars" and the film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" had a small role as a young "naive" prostitute in a couple of episodes of the first season of "Deadwood". I think that for me in changes some of the nuances of the characters when the actors are ones that I recognize and whose work I enjoy. Since we are on the subject of "Deadwood" I have to say that the actor whose work I enjoy the most in it is Timothy Olyphant.

I just love his work in this as well as his work now in "Justified". In some ways I think that his character in "Justified" is a modern day version of Seth Bullock in "Deadwood". This character archetype is one that Olyphant does extremely well. I am just sad that "Deadwood" ended prematurely but at least it ended well as opposed to numerous other television shows I have enjoyed.

See you next week. It is possible that Sunday may constitute a day of writing about entertainment.

Fantastic Friday

Today is Friday and tomorrow is the first league game of the Major League Soccer(MLS) debut of the Portland Timbers. I think regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Soccer or Futball or Football you have to understand that this is a pretty big deal for the state of Oregon as well as the Pacific Northwest in general.

It doesn't matter to the Pacific Northwest as far is it's identity goes. There are way to many other things do to in this lovely part of the country then go to a professional sporting event. But until now Oregon only had the Blazers and Washington had the Seahawks and the Sounders. The Timbers joining MLS will not affect the popularity of the college teams in this area but I like that it does draw some more attention to the area.

That doesn't mean you people need to move here though. Feel free to come and visit and spend your money but do not stay. Even better in the world of our former esteemed Gov Tom McCall

"We want you to visit our State of Excitement often. Come again and again. But for heaven's sake, don't move here to live. Or if you do have to move in to live, don't tell any of your neighbors where you are going."

I think he says it far better then I can. I love living in the Pacific Northwest. In fact I love living in Oregon.

St. Patricks Day

Today is Saint Patrick's Day which has become the arguably the most important amateur drinking day of the year. It has transcended New Years Eve for a lot of the hardcore drinkers and seems to be holding off a hard charging Cinco de Mayo.

As far as I am concerned. I do not give a flying fig what some drunken, flute wielding, Papist, has to say. I am neither Irish, or Irish Catholic, or much of a drinker. I am not an Orange-men as some people like to claim on this day. Technically I suppose it is true that I was raised as a Protestant but I more and more do not care about the labels.

But, the most important thing for me is that while I am aware of my family's origins. My father's side is Scottish-English and my Mother's is Scandinavian. I often joke with my friends about being a Scotch-Viking. I was born in the United States of America, in the state of Oregon, in the county of Marion, in the city of Salem. And I had no control over that. It just happened! So for me to get all worked up about where my father's father came from or where my mother's mother is from I just have no desire to do it.

I suppose things might be different if I had been born and raised during a different time historically or perhaps in a place where Catholics and Protestant's were constantly fighting. But I was not. So I have no desire to get all twisted up about it or to fabricate a reason to celebrate something that I do not even care about. If I want to drink I will do so. If I do not want to I will not drink but I certainly do not need an excuse to drink. Just ask most of my friends.


So there you go folks. Day two of my trying to write everyday and I believe I may have insulted the Irish, Catholics, and I suppose Protestants as well. I think for me that is a pretty good day all things considered.

Strange Night

I am trying to be better about writing and posting even when I may feel like my thoughts are not coherent enough to make a decent post. I was inspired by a friend of mine and the reasons that were given for their daily postings. I just hope I can be consistent and give this more of a go. It isn't like I do not have the time. That is sadly totally true.

On a health note I believe I should put down in writing a reminder to myself and to my friends to not take a B-complex vitamin as you are going to bed. I am not totally sure if the vitamin was the cause but I fell asleep for an hour and woke up at 1 am and was wide away until 4:30 am. I sometimes sleep oddly but this has never happened before. And it wasn't like I was up and groggy. I was wide awake. I didn't have caffeine and that doesn't usually affect my sleep anyway.

I did watch a very interesting BBC crime drama during this time of lucidity called

Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974

It is the first of a televised trilogy based on a series of books by David Peace. I know nothing of the books. I ended up watching the film on Netflix because they kept recommending it for Lance. So if you are looking for a gritty crime drama. I would recommend it. I am looking forward to watching the second one.

That is all for today. You folks be safe out there.