Spectre’s Sayings

Can you guess which one is my nephew?

Hint: he’s a yellow belt.

Unevenly cloudy, Schlafly’s Saison Ale is a honey-colored beer. Although the bottle proclaims it to be medium-bodied, it seems quite full-bodied to me. It does have its advertised “fruity, complex” taste and “tart character.” While it’s not my favorite beer of all time, it’s not unpleasant.

In my opinion, the best use of this beer would be to accompany a meal.

Jaw Jacker Ale from Arcadia Ales is a Halloween-seasonal beer with the following spices added: cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. I like the cinnamon & nutmeg. They provide a nice aroma. I don’t have many problems with this beer… just one. And that is the beer’s finish. The allspice totally overwhelms the taste buds. And it’s horrible, wretched, and nasty.

I could only drink about half a glass. I had to pour the rest down the drain, it was that bad. It’s a pity I bought a whole six pack of this wretched stuff. But I had come to expect good things from this brewery. *Sigh*

The Erdinger Oktoberfest Weizen lacks the citrus taste characteristic of Erdinger’s Hefe-weissbier. Rather, it has a more subtle taste. Although it has a fruity aroma, this smooth drinking beer has the tiniest hint of hops rounding out the taste. It’s just a great beer for this time of year.

I just finished Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, And Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere by Peter Douglas Ward. In it, the author argues that the most powerful force in Earth’s history driving the evolution of animals is the level of oxygen in the atmosphere and in the seas. I must admit, he makes a compelling argument, and I was mostly convinced. It’s an interesting read, and is especially useful for providing an overview of animal evolution over the past 500 million years. I recommend it.

Dos XX dark is what I drink when I go to a Mexican restaurant. It’s not bad. It’s not as full-flavored as the beers I usually choose, but with a drop or two squeezed from the slice of lime it’s served with, it’s a nice, thirst-quenching beer to cut the spiciness of the Mexican cuisine. Overall, it’s more of an “Old Standby” than a “must buy” …but not quite.

Pub Crawlin’ has a review of Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, Michigan from back in 2006. Not too informative, but worth a read if you’re interested in beers.

I just realized that I’ve never reviewed Killian’s. This is another old standby. When I’m at a place that only has the big breweries’ bland, tasteless, fizzy beers, I can usually depend on them also having Killian’s in order to keep my thirst under control.

Yes, it’s made by Coors, but they actually bought the recipe, and didn’t invent it. It’s much richer than most macro-brews, although the taste isn’t especially distinctive. However, the taste isn’t unpleasant. And no beer should be unpleasant. So, it becomes an old standby.

I picked out the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and countertops for my house Saturday. I expect the cost estimate within the week.

I also spent a great deal of time working on a major gardening project for my mother this weekend. You can expect an update in my gardening blog in the next day or so.

Update 9/18/07: It’s up.

Well, I made a down payment on the lot, in order to keep the developer from selling it to someone else. We close on October 11.

My father has continued to solicit bids from subcontractors, including concrete and heating/air conditioning. He also talked to the insurance agent to cover us during construction.

I know I want to keep things moving along, but I feel like I’m under a short deadline to get all my ducks in a row. I suppose that’s just a natural case of the jitters, though.

Well, the process of getting bids has begun. My father (who is also my general contractor) and I met with an electrician earlier this evening. We went over the house plans, and I told him what I wanted. He is going to bid the job for me and get me the estimate in a few days.

I also phoned the subdivision developer, and will meet with her tomorrow to give her the down payment on the lot on which I’ll build. So, things are beginning to happen.

Today I was thinking about characters in books. The protagonists - or the “good guys” - are often the only characters whose motives are adequately explained. Their antagonists - or the story’s “bad guys” - are, too often, one-dimensional characters. They are often motivated simply because they’re supposed to be “evil.” Not because they have any reasons to be opposed to the protagonists. But that really doesn’t make any sense.

Worse are the bad guys who I call “speed bumps.” You follow your main characters through the story, and they simply encounter one person - who presents an obstacle to be overcome - followed by another. Once that obstacle is over, the character is simply discarded because he or she is no longer useful. The authors do not give their characters any sort of life of their own. And that’s a shame, because the story-telling would be so much richer if the bad guys were more developed.

If I ever write a novel, I think I’ll write it from the villain’s point of view.

It was kind of fun taking this quiz.

It occurred to me that I hadn’t reviewed Newcastle, because I’d been drinking it since before I began blogging. And so it wasn’t a “new” beer. New to me, that is. So, I thought I’d give it a quick review, so I don’t leave it out.

Unlike Harp, which may become an old standby, Newcastle IS an old standby. I like it. It’s a very good beer, that is quite dependable. If it’s been stored properly (and because it comes in a clear bottle, proper storage to prevent skunkiness is essential), it’s always quite yummy.