Giambi-stache

Since I started growing a moustache last week in honor of Jason Giambi, the Yankees have gone 4-0. I think it is a sign. The stache stays. pics may come later

Shriners

One of the first things that I noticed after I joined the El Kalah Shrine in Salt Lake City, Utah, was that they are desperate to recruit new members. I think this is fine, but where are the new members coming from? I would say that they are going to come from men my age or younger. My question is, what does the Shrine have to offer men like me?

I went to a free Steak Fry on Saturday sponsored by the El Kalah Shriners. The food was good, the company was good, but I wouldn't call it a great event. The advertisement said games and socializing at 4 dinner at 5. This is great, but the games consisted of bingo and a raffles. These are fine in small quantities. It was an outside event, we could have played some music and gotten some classic summer activities going. Volleyball, horse shoes, croquette, these would have all been fun. I have no complaints about the food, I'll take a free steak any day of the week (and twice last Saturday).

Probably one of the most frustrating things for me was when a brother noble who is fairly new called up his wife and told her not to come because there were no other kids there. He was affraid I think that his kids would be bored. We need to promote families more. Shriners is one aspect of Masonry that families can and should be encouraged to attend.

So I go back to the question, what does Shriners offer a man like me? Other than helping with the hospital I would say not a lot. I know it is important to maintain the ties to our past, but half of the purpose of Shriners is to have fun, and a lot of what they do now isn't necessarily what I would prefer to do. Even in the Shrine Band, I think one of the reasons we have a hard time recruiting is that it is irrelevant to a younger crowd. I almost feel that we need a club for men under 40. I don't think we would exclude anyone from the activities that the club did, however, it would be totally directed by younger men. I would also like to start a shrine band not for marching, but more just to perform some rock and roll and have fun.

These were just some thoughts and observations from this weekend.

Promotion

I accepted a new position with UTA today. Beginning on or about July 28, 2008 I will be a Grants and Contracts Administrator. I am looking forward to it. I will be making more money which is nice and I will relocate to the Meadowbrook office which is less of a commute. I will be stuck in the office a lot more, which I think will be okay. Right now I am trying to get my Real Estate Projects wrapped up so I will probably be back and forth for a while. Anyways, we'll see how it goes.

The Great American Lager!

Budweiser was one of the primary sponsors of the MLB All Star Game. I find it ironic that their tag line was "The Great American Lager!" in their commercials right after it was announced that InBev, a Belgian company, is going to purchase Anheuser Busch. Sam Adams is actually the largest domestic brewer in America now which is okay because I actually prefer the fuller bodied beers like Sam Adams.

All Star Game

The 2008 all star game had to have been the longest game that I have ever sat and watched. It was good though, in extra innings both teams had several opportunities to score. Five hours of baseball can be a bit painful. It was nice to have a few beers and sit and relax for a bit. It was too bad that a member of the Red Sox won the MVP, I think he won by default because one of his hits squeeked over the wall. Of course all of the Yankees (A-Rod, Jeter) position players were done by the fifth inning. I have to admit I lost interest a bit after they sat down. Well, congratulations to the American League, thankfully the Yankees will have home field advantage in the World Series again ;)

Home Kegging

I purchased some CO2 from Bevco yesterday, and I set up my keg system. The first beer on is an amber, and it tastes great! I am having some problems balancing the system though. Basically that means there is a lot of foam on the beer and I'm not sure if it is super carbonated. We'll get the balance figured out, there are a lot of equations to calculate the propper pressure, but I think trial and error will be better in the end.I ended up drinking enough last night to give me a headache today though. The alcohol content on the amber ended up being almost exactly 5% abv.
The Raspberry Wheat is looking really good so far. I think my goal is to brew a batch a week, I think that is very doable

Bottled: Brown Ale
Keg 1: Amber Ale
Keg 2: empty
Keg 3: empty
Secondary: empty
Primary: Raspberry Wheat
On deck: Cream Ale

Kegs

I have ordered some cornelius kegs online. They won't be as nice as the one pictured above, they are used. I just found out they arrived today. Basically they are containers that probably had soda syrup in them previously. I am excited, it will be easier than bottling and cuts out several steps of the brewing process. I purchased a separate refrigerator to house these kegs, eventually I intend to make this fridge into a kegerator. The first batch that I will keg is an Amber Ale, I think I am going to try a raspberry wheat ale next. Hopefully I can get it pitched this weekend.

My first beer...

I cracked open the first of the first beer that I brewed this past weekend, I've actually drank three of them at this point. They are 24 oz. bottles so it is quite a bit to drink once the bottle is opened. The overall impression of how it looks is very cloudy. It does however have a similar color to any other brown ale so that is good. I really enjoy the smell.

The first one kind of had a soapy aftertaste. I think that will go away as I get better at brewing, it is likely that some chlorinated water got into the beer after it was pitched. That is what I am attributing it to anyways.

The second one was probably my favorite, it tasted just right. It had just the right amount of hoppiness and you could definately taste the caramel and chocolate undertones.

The third one, which I drank last night, was tasty, but it tasted a little more bitter. One thing that I am noticing is that beer taste different depending on different conditions. My mood plays a major role in how much I enjoy a home brew. Kevin H from RedRock said I should keg the beers so they all taste the same.

I sent one beer to work with Hollie so the brewers at RedRock could try it. We'll see what they have to say. My brother did try it, he seemed to like it just fine. In fact, he went back for seconds without being prompted.

I have an amber ale in my secondary fermentor right now. I think it is ready to bottle, but I have ordered some kegs so I am not going to bottle the next batches, I am going to keg them. I even bought a refrigerator last week to put the kegs in, it cleaned up really nice. Eventually I am going to turn the refrigerator into a kegerator.

that is all for now

Lucky!

So Thursday, July 3, 2005, I was listening to an interview of Bobby Dall the bass player for Poison on KBER 101. At the end of the interview Bobby Dall gives away two sets of two front row tickets to tonights concert to callers 17 and 22. As I was sitting in traffic I decided to call in. I happen to have the number in my speed dial, so I dialed it up... busy. After about 8 attempts the phone started to ring. "You're caller 17, what's your name?" I was in shock, I didn't even think it was real. Turns out, it was real. We picked up the tickets, then went and had dinner at the sky box.
Dokken (another golden oldie) opened for Poison, they were cool, but I will never forget sitting on the front row for the Poison concert. They aren't even one of my favorite bands, but it was still awesome. I ended up getting a guitar pick from Bobby Dall and three from C.C. Deville, two of wich were given away, apparently for good carma. Below are some of the pictures: