I wrote previously about bottling our first batch of homebrewed
beer, but I hadn't taken the camera out a few weeks before that to
document the first steps, prior to the bottling. Here's the prequel. We
started batch number two today. This time a wheat beer (last time was a
light Belgian) so we had a bag of grains to soak...a step that we didn't have the first
time. Another difference between the recipes was that last time the
aroma hops were coriander seeds and this time it was just more
of the same hops which we used as bittering hops. Other than that it was
very similar. Click through to see some photos of the morning's work.
Well, we've done it. In the last month or so we've moved off of gasoline and onto biodiesel. We bought a used TDI, joined up with a biodiesel co-op, and sold our old Corsica. We're still waiting for the solvency of the biodiesel to loosen up some more of the gunk that has built up in the engine over time and clog the fuel filter and then we'll replace the filter and be all set. I'll be interested to discover what kind of fuel economy we get out of this car after we get some highway driving in -- the guy we bought it from said he'd been averaging about 45 mpg overall. (Or, for those of you keeping track at home, almost 1.5 miles per chicken ).
Just found this and haven't even listened through it yet...but it's a great idea. Get it while it's still available:
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Radiohead's OK Computer we've asked some of our favorite musicians to participate in a song-by-song covers compilation. Indicative of the album's continued importance, each invitee jumped at the chance; the results are personal, intense, tellingly various. Slow down, dig in, enjoy. But note: we did this all legal and everything, so we can't keep these up forever...get 'em before someone else does. Ambition makes you look pretty.
Some friends of mine have been in a band for years and have recently
put the finishing touches on their first album: Another Hole For You To
Crawl Into. It's been a labor of love (and blood, and sweat, and tears)
and is now available for pre-order. When you place the preorder, you
will be able to download a digital copy of the album to listen to while
you wait for the CD to be produced and mailed (and your pre-order money
will help with the production costs). They're clearly both highly skilled and extremely ambitious, and
describe the album as "a vengeful assault on anything mediocre, timid,
or dull." Check it out at their website, where you can hear the album stream and place your pre-order.
I'm just about fully recovered from a nasty case of poison ivy...which was all over my arms and face in an itchy, swollen, weepy mess of sores. I was tearing out some vines from the back yard and I thought that ripping them out and then quickly washing would be enough. Obviously it was not...and now I know why. I received a link to a WSJ article describing how climate change is making poison ivy more ubiquitous and the oil more potent. So...next time you get on a plane or sit down in your car to drive, ask yourself, are you trying to give me poison ivy again? Check below the fold for a clip from the article and a link to the entire thing.
A collection of our writings.
I wrote previously about 
Well, we've done it. In the last month or so we've moved off of gasoline and onto biodiesel. We bought a used TDI, joined up with a biodiesel co-op, and sold our old Corsica. We're still waiting for the solvency of the biodiesel to loosen up some more of the gunk that has built up in the engine over time and clog the fuel filter and then we'll replace the filter and be all set. I'll be interested to discover what kind of fuel economy we get out of this car after we get some highway driving in -- the guy we bought it from said he'd been averaging about 45 mpg overall. (Or, for those of you keeping track at home, 
Just found this and haven't even listened through it yet...but it's a great idea. Get it while it's still available:
Some friends of mine have been in a band for years and have recently
put the finishing touches on their first album: Another Hole For You To
Crawl Into. It's been a labor of love (and blood, and sweat, and tears)
and is now available for pre-order. When you place the preorder, you
will be able to download a digital copy of the album to listen to while
you wait for the CD to be produced and mailed (and your pre-order money
will help with the production costs). They're clearly both highly skilled and extremely ambitious, and
describe the album as "a vengeful assault on anything mediocre, timid,
or dull." Check it out at 
I'm just about fully recovered from a nasty case of poison ivy...which was all over my arms and face in an itchy, swollen, weepy mess of sores. I was tearing out some vines from the back yard and I thought that ripping them out and then quickly washing would be enough. Obviously it was not...and now I know why. I received a link to a WSJ article describing how climate change is making poison ivy more ubiquitous and the oil more potent. So...next time you get on a plane or sit down in your car to drive, ask yourself, are you trying to give me poison ivy again? Check below the fold for a clip from the article and a link to the entire thing.