FlaSoxxJim

Back from the dead to chime in. . . 88 wins in 2016. Good enough for at least a WC spot.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Nov 15, 2013 -> 05:14 PM) #SFBatKid is one of the coolest things ever done for a child. San Francisco Turns Into Gotham to Honor Young Cancer Patient's Wish That is pretty awesome.

Just listened to Transformer all the way through for the first time in a few years. What an awesome album. R.I.P. Lou, we miss you out on the Dirty Boulevard.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Oct 23, 2013 -> 10:25 AM) Watched Halloween 3 last night. One of most underrated horror movies of all time. I agree! I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch it yesterday. I want one of those masks bad!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 12, 2013 -> 12:09 AM) Went here tonight: http://threedotschicago.com/ Made me think of this thread and Jim. And how was it?!?? I am hoping to make a Chicago trip in the coming year and Three Dots is at the top of my to do list. I hope they get it right as far as the quality of the classic Tiki drinks goes. Love their signature sea urchin ceramic mug.

Best food match for Duvel: Mussels steamed in garlic, shallots and Belgian ale. Also the best food pairing for guezue lambic. G&T's suggestions of cheeses and salted meats etc., is also excellent. Stouts and porters pair very well with oysters. There's an entire festival in Galway every November that showcases that wonderful pairing. And of course my personal favorite food and beer pairing: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Hershey Special Dark Chocolate.

Saddened by the passing of a Chicago original and a big part of my childhood. Jerry G. Bishop - Original Svengoolie Dead at 77 "It is with sad news that we report the death of Chicago's original Svengoolie, JERRY G. BISHOP. Jerry was 77 years old. Mr. Bishop, a resident of San Diego, died of a heart attack Sunday, Sept. 15, at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center. . . He will be missed by many fans" SCREAMING YELLOW THEATRE WEBSITE

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 12:59 AM) Finally went to the new bourbon/Pizza place on madison, Old Fifth. VERY good and strong cocktails, however, I HATE putting egg white in drinks. Its f***ing stupid. Lots of classic cocktails call for egg whites, yolks, or both. Pisco Sours, Ramos Gin Fizz, etc., cannot be made properly without egg whites. Flips, Eggnog, Tom and Jerry, etc., all use whole eggs and cannot be authentically made without them. As more people get curious about classic craft cocktails anc traditional early American drinking traditions, it should be expected and hoped that the better craft bars include egg drinks in their classic cocktails program and start experimenting with these traditional ingredients in de novo cocktails as well.

So little drunk posting from you all this year. Either you have all completely lamed out or you have gotten smarter about drunk posting in a public forum. Smart money says you just all suck this year. Drink and share, dammit!

On the subject of the recently deceased, I was surprised that BigEd missed a big loss in the music world last week as he is usually very quick to post the passing of classic musicians. Genre-bending jazz pioneer George Duke died last week at age 67 from leukemia. He was the keyboardist for my all-time favorite Mothers of Invention lineup and he was a big reason I branched out from rock and started becoming more diverse in my musical tastes and listening to jazz and funk and fusion as a kid.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Aug 13, 2013 -> 10:52 AM) Karen Black, 74. Best known for Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Trilogy of Terror, Burnt Offerings and Nashville. A great character actress. The Trilogy of Terror horror anthology will be forever what I associate Karen Black with. That Zuni Devil Doll scared the $hit out of me when I was a kid and it was a big part of my formative childhood years as a lifelong fan of monster movies.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 26, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) Ariel Castro sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison With good behavior he will probably only do about half of that.

Congratulations Jason!

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 4, 2013 -> 09:03 PM) To me, Summer Catch was way more watchable than Trouble with the Curve Based on that assessment I don't ever plan on seeing Trouble With the Curve.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 2, 2013 -> 09:06 PM) Nah. It's hard to make a bad baseball movie. Watch Summer Catch and see if you don't change your opinion.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 1, 2013 -> 05:08 PM) I'm sad about this. Archie! Here's one of those celebrities I really thought was already dead. RIP at any rate Edith Bunker.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 22, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) I'd give you everything I got for a little peace of mind. I always think of the song when I see someone say I am so tired. Then I proceed to get it stuck in my head. Paul is a dead man, miss him, Miss Him, MISS HIM!!

Naked Mole Rats! The only true eusocial mammals known.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 15, 2013 -> 05:09 PM) If I started home brewing, I'd try German yeast in everything You would do well enough using a Kolsch or Altbier strain but unless you could ferment at controlled low temperatures any German lager strains would likely give unsatisfactory results. . . high levels of diacetyls and fusel alcohols and other brewing chemistry compounds that impart off flavors to beer fermented at too high a temperature.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 13, 2013 -> 08:18 AM) If I made a list of major US cities and ranked them in order of how willing I would be to live there, NO might very well come in last. I think I'd pick Anchorage over NO. I would love living on NOLA, but I would be selective about where.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ May 10, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) When I was in HS I remember having to read: 12 Angry Men To Kill a Mockingbird Romeo and Juliet The Crucible Great Expectations Those last two I remember almost nothing about them. A few other stories I remember reading in school are: Something for Joey, Where the Red Fern Grows, Soup and Me. Some of the "classics" I've never actually read: Of Mice and Men The Great Gatsby The Scarlett Letter Lord of the Flies The Lottery Catcher in the Rye I'm currently reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They are all put together in a single paperback. I'm only halfway through Frankenstein and having only a vague knowledge of the story based on movies and other pop culture, it's not what I was expecting at all. Shelly's Frankenstein is great, but it is very challenging Elisabethan language and even for a short novel it was challenging reading. Stoker's Dracula is my absolute favorite book ever after LotR. The perfect gothic horror novel that all others aspire to but fall short.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 9, 2013 -> 11:15 PM) I liked My Side of the Mountain too. Not enough to list it twice though What kid didnt want to go find their own hawk after that? Heh, I was just wracking my brain remembering all of that assigned reading. . , didn't notice I double posted that one.

Assigned Grade School/High School Books I Loved: • My Side of the Mountain • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • My Side of the Mountain • Animal Farm • 1984 • Catcher in the Rye • Metamorphosis • Cry the Beloved Country • Of Mice and Men • Lord of the Flies • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich • Candide Assigned Grade School/High School Books I Struggled With/Didn't Like: • White Fang • Scarlet Letter • Steppenwolf • The Great Gatsby • Black Boy

Very good information and suggestions from the brewers here. Not actively brewing now but was an avid all grain brewer for several years before other demands on my time sidelined me. I also recommend using brewing software. I always liked BeerTools. There is a free online version and a premium version. I was always very happy with the free version. My tips: • Good sanitation • Papazian and Palmer books for beginning brewers. Papazian in particular is good for showing you how to use a bit of specialty grain in your early extract brews to brew them to style. • Fermentation temperature is a consideration but until you graduate to fermenting a spare fridge and a Johnson temperature controller you are going to be stuck fermenting at your house temperature. Warmer fermentation temperatures yield more esters and leads to fruitier beers — not necessarily a bad thing, but you'll have a hard time getting a clean, dry, American Pale Ale profile if you are fermenting above 68ºF or so. Don't bother trying to brew lagers because unless you are able to ferment at low temperatures and lager for extended period at even lower temperatures you will get disappointing results. • Dry yeast quality has come a long way since I started brewing but I still prefer liquid yeast. If you go with liquid yeast you can use the 'smack pack' of nutrient wort to start your culture before pitching into the fermenter, but I recommend making a separate 100-1,000 ml starter wort culture to pitch. Pitching that much active yeast will get fermentation going very rapidly, making the chances of contamination by wild yeast or bacteria almost zero. Actively aerate your wort before adding yeast, but after that point make sure your fermenting beer has minimal contact with air. The point was made earlier about waiting until your wort is cool before pitching the yeast; this is important as your yeast will be injured or even killed by hot wort. • Have fun! Be adventurous and don't worry if your beer doesn't taste like a commercial product. It's going to be good stuff!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 7, 2013 -> 04:29 PM) Ray Harryhausen, legendary special effects creator known for movies like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans(the original) RIP. Big Harryhausen fan growing up.