24 w/ a side of revelations.

well, let's start at the beginning. i wanna thank everyone who came out to Bru for my birthday shindig last weekend. from what i remember of it, a lot of fun was had...a lot of drinks were drank...a lot of shots were taken...a few carbombs were slammed...and some great friends made sure i got home alright. if anyone wants to see pics, check them out on facebook. Dave was the resident photographer that night, and he took some good ones.

being 24 doesn't seem to change much, but it just sounds shittier than 23. not really sure why. i think it is a bit of a motivating factor, though...get another year tacked onto the odometer, re-evaluate the current situation, come up with a plan to make the necessary changes. an interesting web site that i came across thanks to my friend Candice was an interesting one to find during this re-evaluation...it's called Future Me. basically,it let's you write an email and send it to yourself at a certain time in the future. an electronic time capsule if you will. the site's getting a ton of hits and the overhead is so low that i could see the site actually still being around long enough for one of these emails to be sent. pretty interesting concept. god, i love the internet.

in this process, i realized that i need to get down to business with my thesis immediately. i realized that the time it takes me to write is almost completely up to me, and if i work hard enough on it, i should be able to get it done by the early summer, which would be really awesome in terms of my current financial situation and travel plans i have for the summer. so, i need to get into the library today to start the painstaking research. the sooner i get this thesis out of the way, the sooner i can jump headfirst into the brewing world.

sitting at Dieu Du Ciel last night, drinking some pints with Carm, the longing to own my own brewpub burned so brightly inside that i almost felt like ditching the thesis program and just going for it, but i know i won't do that. the feeling just re-affirmed how badly i want to start on this career path. on a similar note, i'm soon submitting my mint-chocolate stout, dubbed "Junior Mints 'n' Bosco, to both the March in Montreal Homebrew Competition and the National Homebrew Competition. from all the feedback i've been getting from the serious beer people around here, it's got a chance to medal, so i'm really excited. i'm also going to attempt to brew it again this week to see if i can recreate it accurately (though i'm adding flaked barley to increase the head retention (thanks Aaron) and using a british ale yeast instead of an irish ale one, only because Steph at the homebrew shop didn't have the latter). after that, i've got a few IPAs up my sleeve to use up the ridiculous amount of US hops that are in my freezer. i also have to bottle my Altbier, tentatively named "Falter", within the next day or so.

on some random notes:

i apologize for the suggestion to read the Two Dudes blog. it had (and still does have) damn good potential, but everyone's going to have to wait until they buy internet for their house and stop having to go to the public library to blog. i'm disappointed guys. you both have steady jobs. you can afford to shell out 40 bucks a month. i guarantee that by the start of baseball season, it will be worth reading, cause they're going to need internet when that happens.

the dad at the beginning of The Neverending Story is a dick! how old is Bastian? maybe 11? and his dad is giving him shit for still being upset that his mom died and for drawing doodles of unicorns in his math notebook? he's fuckin' 11! ease off the kid, hitler.

alright...time to get down to it. catch you all on the flipside.

IT'S FUCKING ON.

the date has been decided. the propaganda has begun. name suggestions are coming in.

it.
is.
on.

for those who do not know what i'm talking about, i am planning one of the longer, more insane, more "crazy-go-nuts" parties in the existence of Team Beerz. we're talking kegs, flip cup tournaments, dizzy bat races, bottles of nighttrain, irish carbombs, beer pong, fireworks, cards, beer bongs, keg stands, NO garvs (or greg), and so much more. i have been in the planning phase for about a month now, and there is much more to come. this post is to officially announce the date. the party will be at my house in NJ and begin on thursday, april 27th. now, i know a lot of you will not be able to make it down for that night, but stay with me here...the party starts on thursday at a level of about DEFCON 4. as friday rolls around, more people (the mature, working fools) will begin to show up. this day/evening will escalate to about DEFCON 3 or, if things go as planned, DEFCON 2. as the sun rises on saturday, all hell will being to break loose...kegs & eggs leading into a Team Beerz reunion football game in my front yard leading into a party of truly epic proportions (DEFCON 1), during which the local officials might send in the national guard. then, as we drink with the sun rising, sunday will approach. sunday is a time during which a lot of working folks will have to leave, but those who wish to stay will continue the party (cause drinking on sunday just has that "je ne sais quoi"). it will obviously be less powerful than saturday, but fucking great nonetheless. finally, as monday comes, we will have one last hurrah. a night to close out the 5-day event. not necessarily with a bang, but with a solid attitude reminiscent of college times past.

there is one goal for this party. reunite everyone. and i mean everyone. the Media people. the Tamaqua people. the (insert weird rural PA town where some friends live) people. oh yeah...and get everyone BLITZED. once all these people come together, we will have some other folks, a few from montreal, a few from NJ, a few from other parts of PA, etc. though, let me stress again...NO GARVS. we don't need those fucks sucking down our beer and stealing shit from my house.

I'm still unsure how deep into the ol' penn state crowd this is going to go, but my only hope is that all of the original group (and you know who you are) will sign on as soon as possible. this isn't a wedding, so i'm not sending out invitations or any shit like that, but i'm going to be talking to each and every one of you people to ensure your presence.

so. here's the info to remember:

when:
Thursday, April 27th: Kickoff Thursday
Friday, April 28th: Night Train to Insanity
Saturday, April 29th: Welcome to the Thunderdome, bitches.
Sunday, April 30th: Easy Like a Sunday Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night
Monday, May 1st: This is the End, Beautiful Friend

where:
at my house in NJ. i'm not putting an address up for obvious reasons. if you need it, you'll know it by the time the party starts. as for accomodations, there is plenty of room at my house for everyone to crash. there are places to park. there will be food. and blankets. therefore, there will be absolutely no driving home until the morning after some sleep.

what:
look above.

well. i'm pumped. and the end of this post is imminent. if anyone has any questions, suggestions, and/or demands about the event, comment here, IM me, or email me at nshortway@gmail.com.

the countdown has begun. look to your right -->

bar hopping, maxin' and relaxin', theatrical excursions, & super bowl viewings

what a blast this weekend has been. usually my weekends are filled with pretty normal events (a bar or two, random drunken fun, etc.), but this one just stood out amongst the rest. to kick it off, Caitlin and i hit some bars on friday including one of the better Montreal brewpubs, a really cool whiskey bar, and eventually Bifteck (gotta stick to the roots). L'Amere a Boire has some good beer, nowhere near the craft-brewed delights of Dieu Du Ciel, but nevertheless a chill place. i can't remember what the name of the whiskey bar was, but it was a great place, with probably 90 different whiskeys. we tried two different whiskeys...the names are kinda lost to me at the moment, but they were damn good. the music was great too, bringing back some 80s music memories, but we called it quits there when ABBA made its first appearance. bifteck was solid, as usual...cheap pitchers and 5 shots for 10 bucks. another upside of that place is that when you know all the staff, you get treated a lot differently, e.g. when Mike (the bouncer) is yelling at everyone to leave 'cause the bar is closing, he makes a point to politely come to our table and say "hey Nick, we're closing up soon, so just finish your drinks when you can." ya gotta love bar hopping.

saturday was a lazy day for most of it, but definitely a welcome break from the hectic week. i hung out with Caitlin during the day watching Arrested Development episodes (that show fucking rules) and HP: Prisoner of Azkaban. randomly bumming in front of the tv can be awesome. later in the afternoon, i headed over to Jenny's apartment for her early birthday party. her parents were up for the weekend, so they cooked dinner and everyone brought beer. dinner was really good, and her parents were cool, and most of the riff-raff ("buncha fuckin' amateurs!") eventually headed out leaving a core group of Dave, Jenny, Alex, me, and a few friends of theirs. drinking games led into trivial pursuit (as usual), which led to me, Dave, and Alex playing "Scarborough rules" (gotta get every question right on the last card to win) until Dave triumphed at 6:10am. 20 minutes later, i was stumbling back home (thankfully only a block) to get some sleep before the morning.

sunday morning. still a bit buzzed from hours before. drag myself over to Theatre St. Catherine to see Tecumseh as a Doorstop thanks to Dave and Jen's rabid enthusiasm for the play.

wow. it was simply amazing. i know that i'm not an authority on theater (very far from it), but this hit home so much. it basically surrounds two americans and two canadians that are living together in NYC on the day of the 9/11 attack. it was hilarious, powerful, emotional, intellectual...the list could go on. it spoke about the meaning behind the attacks and our interepretations, both from canadian and american perspectives, as well as about communication within and across cultures and personal relationships. i identified with it so much, mostly with the main character's reaction to the attack, which was the looming question of "why?", instead of the vengeful anger and blind patriotism that immediately spilled forth from the open wound that the attack inflicted upon the US. the acting was flawless and as convincing as i've ever seen. it's only too bad that the show is now closed. hopefully, it will open somewhere else, because i know a lot of people who would really appreciate it. i'll keep everyone posted if it does.

soon after, i met up with Dave to go to Brian's house and watch the super bowl. that was a lot of fun, with the steelers taking a well-deserved championship title and Hines Ward pulling out enough sick catches to get the MVP award. afterwards, i finally got to check out the highest rated depanneur (in terms of beer selection) called Rahman, located on Laurier, just west of St. Urbain. this. place. rules. it's a little expensive, but they have, what seems to be, the full selection from every single microbrewery in all of quebec. it's the first place that came even close to reminding me of the selection back in the states. and those who know me will fully understand how happy this made me. so, i've got 4 beers in my fridge to try (3 which aren't even rated on Beer Advocate!).

and so, the weekend of fun comes to an end as i sit here typing and watching the director's cut of Donnie Darko. this cut is far superior to the theatrical release, with one exception: they replaced the Echo and the Bunnymen song "The Killing Moon" in the beginning (as he rides down the mountain on his bike) with some other tune that, imho, does not even come close to having the same effect and link with the visual and thematic progression of the scene. now i've gotta hit the sack...gotta get up way too early to fill wire conduits in the new music building with sandbags in time for a 10am acoustical test in the labs. blah.

funny shit...or is it?

wow, three in a day, i must have lots and lots of actually important work to do.

just wanted to say to any readers i have out there, you should keep watch on the Two Dudes blog i just put up a link to. for those who don't know them, this team consists of Nugz and BK. these silly bastards moved in together down in virginia once BK helped Nugz get a job at geico. i can't even imagine the negative impact this move is going to have on their burgeoning careers. i can't sum up these guys in a few words, but i'll give you all the gist. Nugz likes cheap booze, sports, belting out acapella renditions of Seal's "Kiss from a Rose", bad 80s sitcoms, flipping cups, dressing like an asshole, 'doing his dance', and is extremely intelligent, though he tries to keep that on the down-low to preserve his 'waste of life' image. BK likes just about all of the above, but also has an uncanny ability to come up with chants and rhymes to accompany any kind of drinking event ("Keg tour 2004, drink a little bit now, drink a little bit more!"...ok, so it's not rocket science, but when you get 100 drunk people chanting that as we kick kegs like it's our job, it has a bit more impact). these two in one apartment is going to lead to some bizarre shit, that they will definitely write about.

i am curious, though, whether you need to know them to think it's funny. it should be an interesting experiment. if you want a taste of what's to come from Nugz's side, go read his first blog. there is a possibility that this two-man blog will fall through, due to Nugz being admittedly funnier than BK, in which case, just keep reading Nugz's blog.

oh. one more thing you'll need to know: Wild Irish Rose is a bum wine that is usually only sold in the ghetto or at gas stations. it is deep red in color and tastes like cherry flavored gasoline. but it gets you r-r-r-r-ripped. WIR makes a lot of appearances in these blogs. taste the rainbow.

finally, someone sticking it to scammers

everyone should read this story...not only is it damn funny, but it makes anyone who got ripped off through an online transaction feel as avenged as you'll ever be without actually getting your money back. to someone who got ripped off seriously once, this story was glorious. and to those who haven't, don't ever send a $600 money order to someone named Paul Boutros or Richard Silva and actually think you're getting a Roland JP-8000 in return. fucking asshole.

fear and loathing in foufounes electriques

well, it's been a while, hasn't it? i'll do my best to not take such a break again (that one's for you, Crystal). so, what's been up in my life? not too much...thesis topic accepted by the weirdos in the music theory graduate sub-committee, my mint chocolate stout (dubbed Junior Mints 'n' Bosco; a free beer goes to anyone who can name both references) was given a 39/50 score by a BJCP-certified judge (which is one point above excellent), and i STILL have not had a chance to go snowboarding this winter. i'm sitting here, Jay Peak season pass in hand, and i can't fucking get a ride.

so. foufounes. it was tuesday again, so i went to foufs...there is nowhere else that you can find good music, pool tables, and five-dollar pitchers. it was tough to find anyone to go...tuesday and all...and most of my friends are grad students (which in my opinion is bullshit. if you can't go out drinking every once in a while during the week, you are going to HATE your time as a grad student.)...whatever. finally, i convinced Kyle to get off the damn phone with work and come down for a few. he did, but i was already 3 pitchers in by the time he got there. during my observant alone time there (i am infatuated with people-watching...beats the hell out of bird-watching any day of the week), i noticed some very interesting characters. this is one of those great crowds...full of diversity in every sense of the word. let's run down the list:

punk: we have varying degrees here. there's the "i'm so punk, you don't even know i'm punk" people who you don't notice too readily. they may be wearing a punk shirt, slightly ripped jeans, etc. usually they are the older, more "battle-scarred" punks, ranging from mid 20s to 50s. these guys have been to all the shows, have all the albums, and may have punched henry rollins in the face at some point (or at least a guy who looks like henry rollins). on the other side of the coin, there's the "i think i'm so punk that i'm going to shove it in your face so much that you'll know i'm clearly not punk at all." you can hear these specimens coming with about 6-10 chains somewhere on themselves (wallet, nose to ear, etc). every piece of clothing on them is ripped (most likely intentionally for the visual effect), they are usually late teens or very early 20s, and are the most likely to get in a brawl that night. there are also punk girls, but often it's hard to make the gender discrimination especially through all the layers of chains, piercings, tattoos, and Rancid patches. (on a side note: how many punks does it take to screw in a lightbulb? three. one to stand on a ladder, the second to kick the ladder out from under him, and the third to say it's the punkest thing he's ever seen).

metalhead: i've dealt with these people most of my life (hell, i was one!). they're pretty basic: long hair, jeans, metal t-shirt. to them, nothing is better than talking about how killer the guitar work is on the latest Nevermore album, or how 1980s Metallica was the best music ever created, or how they wished they lived in the time of epic battles, maidens, and mead halls. the older ones will throw in oddly timed comments about how they played in some band "back in the day" and they were close to making it, if it wasn't for the commercialized rock industry. they're pretty harmless, mildly entertaining if you can laugh at absurdity, and definitely the people you want to talk to if you want to know about the Slayer back-catalogue or what type of ass cream Kirk Hammett used to use. if you need to know any more, go rent Airheads. who ever thought Brenden Fraser could accurately play a role?

goth: lots of different kinds here...there are the fetish goths, the black metal goths, the wannabe satanists, the "i go to classes on medieval swordfighting" goths...the list goes on and on. personally, i find the wannabe satanists the funniest. they walk around dressed in all black, mostly velvet and leather, wearing upside-down crosses and inverted pentacles inscribed with the face of the ::waves fingers in spooky manner:: dark lord of pain and torment. oooh, i'm scared! if these freaks are satanists, then i'm a bible-thumping catholic priest. often times, you may confuse one of these people with the "my darkened soul yearns to be in an Anne Rice novel" people. don't worry, it's hard to tell them apart...sometimes they can be both. and, most of all, they are like little animals in the wild, i.e. more afraid of you than you are of them.

that covers many of the types that you'll find at this wonderful establishment. there are more, too, like the flock of girls that look either too young, too out of place, or both. there are often some hippie types...not usually the DMB-fan types, but often the ones who have come to the realization that bands exist that aren't named "Phish". finally, there are the ones who are not there to create an image, not there to start fights, not there to slay dragons, but are simply there to kick back, drink cheap beer, play pool, watch skate videos, listen to good tunes, and have some fun.

the type that is never there (and this is one of the main reasons i go) is the frat guy. if you go to foufs, you will not see one flipped-up collared, golf-shirt wearing, shit-talking, roofie-dosing meathead.

so, after making these observations, Kyle showed up, and what happened after is blurry. from the looks of my wallet, i had 1-2 more pitchers, and then trekked up to 1+1 for a few slices. All-in-all a fun night...next day wasn't as fun, but i made it through.

anyway, i'm out for now.

on one last note, check out the best blonde joke ever.