Musings from the basement...

In which I chat with the folks at Saint Benjamin Brewing Company

November 10, 2016 0 Comments

A year or two back, I went on a tour of several Philadelphia breweries for the Philly Weekly. Almost certain I devoted one of my weekly columns to it, but the paper has shuffled around their website and most of my stuff is no longer online. Oh well. Anyway, among those breweries was Saint Benjamin, then a fresh new startup doing slight twists on traditional beers. They had solid brews, were in a cool part of town, and most important of all, they seemed like good people. Ever since, I’ve been sure to put in a good word for them whenever I get the chance. Flash forward to now. I’m beginning to do a series of monthly interviews on homebrewing for HomebrewTalk.com. Naturally, some of…
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Craft Beer, Works by Eric

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Lots of cool geeky movie posters & swag! (new Hours in the Attic episodes!)

September 20, 2016 0 Comments

It’s a happy day when Hours in the Attic returns from its summer hiatus — had to take some time off, it gets HOT up in that attic! — and an even happier day when Tig brings a whole mess of movie theater swag to show off. Tons of superhero flicks, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and more. Part 1 has pins and oddball items, and part 2 is his “holy wow” movie poster collection. This thing is crazy impressive – and we only show about half of them! Dig it:   Okay, that part was cool, but this is the REALLY cool one. This is insane. Who has the wall space for all this? Check it out:     Pretty rad. Hit “Subscribe”…
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Films, Geek Stuff, Videos

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Donald Trump, aka the easy way to lose respect for people you like

August 11, 2016 128 Comments

There is no sense in trying to be diplomatic about this: If you still support Donald Trump for president in August of 2016, I have zero respect for your thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. I might like you. I may enjoy being around you. I may even consider you an important part of my life. But failing the Trump Test ensures that I have absolutely zero respect for your views, your (apparantly nonexistent) critical thinking skills, and pretty much anything you have to say about anything more important than your favorite fast food French fries. Yes, I realize that by opening this way anyone who supports or who is thinking about supporting Donald Trump will not only be insulted and offended, and that I may lose the goodwill…
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Politics, Rants

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John Oliver, journalism, and why the Newspaper Association of America are morons

August 10, 2016 3 Comments

John Oliver, the Daily Show alum who has since moved to HBO and is winning fans across the ‘Net for his self-deprecating, funny, and sometimes insightful investigative pieces, recently did a segment on journalism in America today. Most of what he discusses is old hat to those who have been in the business for a while — I remember having these discussions with colleagues more than a decade ago and spending many years struggling (and failing) to convince a former employer to move into the 21th Century — but it remains a relevant and worthwhile discussion even today. Hell, even more today than ever. The stories I hear from friends still in the business are enough to make a grown man cry. Things are only made…
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Rants, Videos

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THIS is how you do a movie trailer – Arrival (2016)

August 9, 2016 5 Comments

How wonderful to not know something exists, stumble across a trailer for that thing you didn’t know existed, and be instantly blown away at a mere minute of mind-blowing speculative fiction goodness. (Yes, I used “blow” twice.) What I mean is, watch this damn trailer: Now THAT is how you do a movie trailer. Simple, sparse, moody, and frickin’ gripping as hell. That’s it. That’s all I need to see. I’m done. I’m in. I’m seeing it. Might even skip the full trailer that are teasing, because I don’t need to see anything else but this. Yes, it appears to be yet another alien invasion story. I don’t care. I love alien invasion stories. And it appears to be a different take on them, so that’s nice….
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Films, Geek Stuff, Videos