Musings from the basement...

SUNDAY SIPS: 5 Great Beers From the Garden State

April 15, 2017 3 Comments

Despite getting distribution from more breweries than almost any other state in the nation, New Jersey doesn’t have a great beer reputation. That’s because unlike states like California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oregon and others, it doesn’t have a wealth of fantastic in-state breweries. Or rather, it didn’t used to. That’s changing. Here are five beers worth checking out from the Garden State. Kane Head High IPA New Jersey may not have the brewing bona fides that Pennsylvania boasts, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some outstanding beers worth paying attention to coming out of the Garden State. Take a tour of some great beer bars in the region and you’ll find more than a few NJ brews worth drinking. Head High from Kane, for instance, is…
Read more

Craft Beer

, , , , , , ,

The Fast & the Furious, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Franchise

April 12, 2017 40 Comments

The last movies I ever expected to love were those ridiculous The Fast & the Furious flicks. Meathead street racer nonsense starring silly actors doing silly things in silly suped up cars as annoying as the ones that buzz around at 1am being far louder than a little lime green import has any right to be? Ugh. No. Several friends kept insisting the series was secretly amazing, though, a bunch of movies that were more like comic books come to life than, say, the latest Batman or Superman movie or Caligula. Okay, okay, fine. Facing some empty late nights and some bags of chips that needed eating, I figured I’d marathon the movies. Figured they’d at least give me something to do when trying to shut down…
Read more

Films

,

SUNDAY SIPS: 5 Saisons For Spring

April 9, 2017 1 Comment

Spring has sprung! One of the best parts of the warming weather is enjoying beers that match with the season. There are few styles I like more in the spring than a saison. Here are five worth drinking. 21st Amendment Sneak Attack Now that the weather has finally turned and it looks to be mostly sunny days ahead, the saison is going to become the style of choice for many craft beer lovers. No surprise there. There is something about the saison that feels like open air and bright spring days. Of course, some brewers, such as 21st Amendment, buck traditional by making their saison a winter seasonal. That’s okay. A saison is a saison no matter the time of year. This one has a…
Read more

Craft Beer

, , ,

Peppers are just another adventure, except without broken limbs

April 7, 2017 0 Comments

Peppers are an adventure. They’re not supposed to grow in the suburbs of New Jersey. They don’t belong in this part of the world, but we’re humans. We do what we want with Mother Nature (right up to the point where she does what she wants with us). We never really had success growing peppers in our yard, and that always disappointed me. All we wanted was some regular ol’ bell peppers. As a kid, I learned from my good friend Chris to eat them like apples, but with a salt shaker in hand. Bite, dash of salt, bite, dash of salt, until the whole thing was gone. So that’s how I came to love sweet peppers. Hot peppers were another story. I didn’t have the…
Read more

Gardening, Random Musings

, ,

Louis CK just came out, and no one noticed

April 5, 2017 3 Comments

Louis CK has a new special on Netflix called “2017.” If you don’t like Louis CK it won’t convert you, but if you do you’ll like it. It doesn’t rise to the level of “Chewed Up” or “Shameless,” but it’s better than the poorly named “Hilarious” (which was not). Good stuff that is pure Louis. More importantly, however, is that he came out as bisexual in it and no one seemed to notice. Like, he for real came out. Everyone seems to think it was just another bit intended for shock, but no. I don’t think so. I think it was a genuine coming out moment hiding in plain sight. The bit involves him talking about his love for the movie “Magic Mike” and how it stirs…
Read more

Random Musings, Television

,