Sat, 13 Jun 2015

This was a very good day.

Up early as usual and got some computer work done.

Our John's Roast Pork lunch plans got changed to dinner at Taconelli's. From one Philly institution to another.

My original plan was to ride down with Maureen to John's, meet Bill and Walt, where everyone have a 1/2 and 1/2 each, which is 1/2 a cheese steak and 1/2 a roast pork sandwich. You need an even number people to pull this off. Maureen would drive off to her play and I would to hike up the river trail, check out this year's version of Spruce Street Harbor Park. And then SEPTA it back home somehow.

So Maureen and I wound up at Four Seasons for breakfast instead. The croissant sandwich with sausage was great. Maureen went to her play and I grabbed a really nice, long nap. So much for the energetic afternoon I had originally planned.

I did get a little gardening done before she got back, including our first harvest of blueberries (with a few raspberries). It was a hot one here and at that point it was a 2nd shirt day.

Maureen and I had a jolly time at Taconellis with Walt and Bill, who is in from Eugene OR.

After we got home, I headed to Grey Lodge where I did two of the three things I was supposed to. D'oh. Afterwards I dropped off some posters at SawTown and hung out with Troy for a short Sly Fox SawTown Standard Lager and a short Naked SawTown Pink Bunny. These are the first two house beers we had brewed especially for SawTown. Both were tasting excellent.

I finished up the night at home with Maureen watching the movie version of Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was/am a huge H2G2 fan but didn't really dig the movie when it came out. I didn't really care for it the 2nd time around either.

Tue, 19 May 2015

Everything is coming up roses apparently.

This is Beverly

This is Beverly by Hope Bishop Colket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an odd relic. I picked this up maybe 30 years ago because the author was a fellow Philadelphian (more or less). That and because it was used and less than a buck. This book has moved with me 4 times over and now I have finally read it.

From the back cover:


  The Author of This is Beverly


Born in Philadelphia and living her whole life in various suburbs outside that city, Hope Bishop Colket is American from way back in the 1600's. After graduating from Miss Wright's, also in a Philadelphia suburb, she went to the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art for a year, and later, at intervals, worked for some people who made hand-done lampshades.

Mrs. Colket, who began writing when she was seven, believes she has inherited her urge to write from her grandfather, Joseph Hornor Coates, author of several books, and from her mother, who did some writing for children.

She lives in the country with her husband William Walker Colket 2nd and is interested in genetics and heredity and at one time experimented with this subject by means of a hundred guinea pigs which she kept in the cellar! Mrs. Colket has two other interests, gardening and the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

This is Beverly is her first published writing.

After reading that, I had very low expectations from this book. Happily though it would seem that Mrs. Colket did not write her biography because the book is actually very well written, with no exclamation points to indicate when something is droll! Seriously, I expected to hate on this, but she drew me in. The prose is very readable and the action moves along at a good pace.

Beverly is a stupid and lazy young mother and housewife who dreams of being a smart, fashionable, pampered person who associates with "better" people.

There are a couple of really great characters. One is a neighbor, the middle aged Betty Ann who is smart, wise, and fun. While finding Beverly complete silly and clueless, she gives Beverly some advice on how to meet society people. Beverly does meet some society people from Baltimore but after finding them to be totally normal and actually rather dull decides that it is because Baltimore is too provincial and the real society people are in Philadelphia and New York. I wasn't expecting this from the author, an old money society woman.

The other is a childhood non-sweetheart Ashton Downes, who Beverly daydreams about. After stupidly leaving her husband and heading to her mother's house outside of Philadelphia, Beverly manages to hook up with Ashton. Ashton is a fun character. Beverly dreams of having smart conversations on matters of import but is completely clueless. She dreams of running off as a fallen woman with Ashton into the sunset. Ashton constantly plays along and is usually brutally honest, but she totally doesn't get it.

I did a little googling. This was Hope Bishop Colket's first and only book. This book is pretty much a lost book. I had to add it to Good Reads. There is very little online about Mrs. Colket. Googling her husband (who has no hits), her maiden name comes up on a society page from a Brooklyn newspaper from the 1920s. Her husband's uncle was mentioned as traveling to Philadelphia for their wedding. I also found a mention of her in the 1940 census living well outside of Philadelphia. And that her husbands' namesake was a railroad executive. Other than that there is nothing more about her. She's a mystery lost to time.

Before the title page, there is a notice: "Under Government regulations for saving paper during the war, the size and bulk of this book have been reduced below the customary peacetime standards. Only the format has been affected. The text is complete and unabridged."

This book, set in 1944 or so, is a fascinating look into homefront life during WWII. Beverly's husband works in a factory making stuff for the war effort. They have ration books. It is also interesting to see how the transportation system worked back then.

Another hidden treasure from our bookshelves.




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When the Cat's Away by Kinky Friedman

When the Cat's Away by Kinky Friedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had no idea who Kinky Friedman was when I bought this for $1.98 off the Borders discount shelf. That's not an amazing bit of recollection or record keeping; the sticker is still on front. For about two decades, this book sat on several shelves unread until now.

I recall assuming when I bought it that Kinky Friedman was a New York society woman, sort of a Jewish Carrie whatever from Sex and the City. For two bucks, what did I have to lose?

Turns out that Kinky is a he, and he is country singer turned mystery writer. He is one hell of writer. This book is a lot of fun and a very easy read. Chapters are from 1 to 4 pages and there is a laugh on pretty much every page, if not more. Although very light and airy, this book manages to be very filling and satisfying.

The book was written and is set in the mid 1980s. Doing a little research, Friedland has always had an edgy sense of humor. Some of Friedman's un-PC remarks which might have been fine back then or pushing the envelope a little then, now feel pretty wrong. Rather than being off put about it, we can take solace in how far we've all come since then.

I'm so glad my read every book we own project turned me onto this author. I went to his Website to look for electronic versions of this other novels. This is the third one the series BTW. Each is about $8. Intellectual property is a strange thing - $2 for a hard copy found in a bargain bin or $8 online for some ones and zeros.


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A Travelin' Tuesday

Earlier this week I had not a Manic Monday but a Travelin' Tuesday.

I woke up at 5:30am to get a start on the day, get my RSS feeds and other news read, and to eat a little breakfast.

By 7:30am I was out the door. The rain cleared by 7am and forecast called for the rest of the day to be dry, so it was top down driving weather. First stop of the day was an old folks home for a business association meeting that I attended for Hop Angel. Before the meeting I chatted with Harold who not only is a member of the business association but also mayor of Rockledge, the town (make that borough) a few yards from Hop Angel.

The meeting was in the home's computer/training room. Even old age isn't a reprieve from stupid motivational posters (there were at least 6, none of them motivating anyone). Somehow I doubt mgmt of the home wants the residents to show leadership. Nobody has ever been inspired by one of these posters so they probably don't have to worry.

My car is still rather new and while rather modest does have a bluetooth phone connection.  I was able to catch up with my business partner Patrick who called. He couldn't make the meeting and wanted some details. It's still a novelty talking to someone through my car. My last car I had for 13 years. It's quite a quantum leap in technology.

I had 30 minutes at home before heading to the Delaware River City Corp's ground breaking for the Baxter Trail. I am a big fan of the DRCC, which is working on the Northeast Philly section of the East Coast Greenway, which will be a 2900 mile path from Maine to Florida. The DRCC has been making great progress on their section. Being my own boss and working non-traditional hours, I have been able attend most of their ground breakings and follow-up ribbon cuttings. Like the railroads and interstate highway system, the greenway is a 40 year project. Happily we are 20+ years in now and are actually seeing it happen.

It was a glorious day to be on the river.

Pleasant Hill Park at Lindon Ave is way nicer than when my grandfather used to take us kids there in the 70s to get us out of our mother's hair for a hour or two. People always like to harp on the good old days. I pretty remember them being sort of crappy. The Hatcheries at the park are much nicer now too.

Before the ground breaking, I ended up chatting with my 2nd mayor of day, Philadelphia's mayor Michael Nutter, who Patrick and I got to know when he was running for his first term as mayor.

Back home to park the car, grab a light lunch and quick nap. Then I was on foot for the 1.5 mile street hike to the Grey Lodge Pub for Tuesday office hours. Office hours were productive and a several special guests showed up.

 

At 6pm,  I was out the door and hiking to the Market Frankford Transportation Center to catch the El and Subway to the sports complex. Maureen's department had use of her company's suite for the Flyers game and there was room for me to join.

Having suite tickets, I did the douchey thing and went through the VIP door. I thought twice about it but went in anyway as I was running a little late. This was a mistake as the whole experience took way longer to get to the suite than just going through a regular door. Totally serves me right for being a douche.

The suite level at the arena, which is on its third or fourth corporate name, is further name righted to Equus. In previous years, everywhere you looked, it said "Equus" with no further clues, which allowed you to completely have no idea what it was selling. Now they have included "Hyundai". Equus appears to be a super luxury car that nobody has ever bought and that is named for a play where Harry Potter gets naked and too friendly with a horse.

Hyundai seems to have decided that swells who go Sixers or Flyers games are the core demographic of super luxury car buyers with a horse and/or naked Harry Potter fetish. I expect that has to be a relatively small demographic and I would not have expected them to be sports fans. Since I have never noticed an Equus on the street ever, I have to image the cost of suite level naming rights per car sold in Philly metro area has to be insane. But what do I know. Nobody is giving me a huge marketing budget for such purposes, or any purpose.

The Flyers lost but we had a great time. Transportation home was in Maureen's car.

When I was younger, I would never have pictured a day in the 3rd Quarter of life being like this, but I am sure glad it is.

Transportation for the day: 2 cars, 2 trains, and 1 pair of legs.

Cold Iron by Nicholas Freeling

I continue my read every book we own project...

Cold Iron by Nicolas Freeling

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I was trying to figure out whether to keep reading this. Or maybe keep not reading is more accurate. After 3 days, I am on page 10. That pretty well shows how uninteresting I found this book.

I'm sure it's a work of genius, especially if you want to read about the political and societal issues of provincial French policing in the 1980s. And especially if you like prose that is dense and a chore to read. That really old school style of writing that should have died out after Hemingway and Steinbeck showed that writing can be both great and accessible.

I also have Castang's City on our shelf, which has been on there for decades I think. At I least I won't have to even start that one. Two books off the shelf in 3 days and 10 pages. I suppose that's efficiency in reading.



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American Gods Book Report

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew this was a modern classic before I read it, so I came in with very high expectations. A modern classic in the way that Jonathan Strange and The Time Traveler's Wife are. I never got as drawn into American Gods in the same way the other two sucked me in. And that is probably because while interesting, I find the basic premise to be a little weak. Thinking upon it, the mix of older more physically defined gods versus his modern gods which are abstract concepts (technology, the media) but given physical though symbolic manifestations didn't really work for me.

I am left with a lingering feeling that something was missing, which is why I gave it 4 not 5 stars. This may be because I read the 10th anniversary edition with "the author's preferred text". Maybe the original more edited version would have wrapped up before the sense of something missing kicked in.

As a European enamoured with America, Gaiman's take on the US is wonderful. It is very common for writers in that situation to be somewhat condescending and a bit smug (By "writers in that situation" I don't mean foreign writers, but writers in general who journal about some place foreign to them, even though it may be in their own city). Gaiman is never condescending or smug, even when the follies of a place are obvious. Gaiman finds the humor, humanity, and inner substance of the places he visited.

Gaiman's America has very little overlap with the America that I have visited and/or lived in my whole life. So a lot of the places in the USA he chronicled are foreign to me the American. The one place he wrote about that I actually have been to (so far) is actually in a foreign country. Oh the irony.

This is a great book, well written, interesting, and fun. Well worth a read and definitely worthy of being considered a modern classic.

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The CorrectionsThe Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

I continue my project to read every book we own. I either bought this for Maureen as an Xmas present or vice versa. We don't remember. Below is my review from goodreads.com.


 The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This is a BOOK, for better or worse, it is a BOOK.

I was oscillating between giving this 4 or 5 stars. As I said, this is a BOOK. It is a book in the way of Aldous Huxley's Point Counterpoint (and as good) and Thomas Wolf's You Can't Go Home Again (but better). Like those two, this book is very, very densely written and there is a lot of it, while not actually having all that much plot or action, but lots of backstory. It reads like a big, important book, where reader feels important and smart because they are reading it. Look at me, I'm reading a big boy book!

To Franzen's great credit, he totally pulls it off. This could be a ponderous snoozefest, and to be honest, it starts off that way. But Franzen is such a great writer that you get sucked into it and happily roll along with it. This is a very long book, over 500 pages. And it is a dense read, or it feels like a dense read, but I ploughed through it at a great clip. Ploughed though it easier than other books that are its polar opposite in density (such as many Janet Evanovich books). The chapters are very long with very few breaks. There are few natural stopping points. But it is easy to stop and start up again.

The book follows 5 main characters, an elderly Midwestern couple and their 3 grown children, plus assorted friends, spouses, and grandchildren. Most of the characters are sort of stupid and self-centered, and few seem to get a clue. But you don't write dramas about happy people who are in control of their lives.

At one point there is strange celebrity name dropping. I guess these are people that Manhattan based Franzen is friends with.

Reading this book was time well enjoyed.

A good hunk of this book takes place in my hometown of Philadelphia, circa 2000. This was a pleasant surprise and greatly added to my enjoyment. Philadelphia of 2000 comes off really well here, surprising so actually. Franzen obviously sent some serious time here because he writes like a true local. It would be interesting to see Franzen's take on Philly circa 2014, and the amazing rebirth much of our city has had.

One more thing, Jonathan Franzen is a genius. A genius in that he really has an amazing knowledge of a lot of various things. All of which, for better or worse, made it into the book. I learned about railroads, especially signals, Norwegian run US cruises, Lithuania, and lots of other things. He doesn't know about growing asparagus, but everything else that I was already familiar with is spot on. Franzen is such a good writer, that I happily went along with all his tangents, not caring when the book would reach its conclusion.



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Sarah Smile

"Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists."

Sarah Palin said that in a speech at the NRA convention last weekend. 

I think I underestimated Sarah Palin by dismissing her as an idiot. That is a lot of wow packed into just one single sentence. 

Putting aside the immortality of torture, baptizing Muslim terrorists into Christianity while being waterboarded brings a whole new level to their torture. Plus it provides an environmentally friendly double dip with the water usage, so to speak. She's a genius, an evil genius. 

No Room for Bears by Frank Dufresne

No Room for Bears by Frank Dufresne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My friend owns a rare book store, all collector stuff. Often when they buy a collection of books, they get some that are worthless from a financial perspective. They sell these 5 or $5 or $10. I bought this book some years ago, because of the title, as a present for my wife who is into bears.

As part of my quest to read all of the books we own, I eventually made my way to it. Before her, though my enthusiasm for this book has now put it on the top of her reading list.

When I bought it, I thought it was some sort of fiction book and put with our fiction. Turns out it is a collection of essays from the early 1960s by an old guy who spent his life as a government worker involved with Alaskan fish and game.

So how does a nonfiction book from the early 1960s hold up in 2014? Surprisingly and pleasingly well. Facts about nature and bears are timeless. It is also fascinating look into a lost time, the pre-statehood days of the Alaska frontier. Frank Dufresne had an interesting life working the Alaskan wilderness. Included are a few first hand accounts from old timers that were told to him when he was a young man in Alaska, so there is over 100 years of history here. FD knew about all types of bears, not just the ones found in Alaska.

Frank Dufresne was a very good writer. His prose was clear and tight and he could tell a story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The chapters are each focused on a specific topic (which tend to overlap a bit but are seldom too repetitive) and are the right length to read one or more at a sitting.

Part of FD's reason for writing this book was to draw attention to modern man's potential to quickly and permanently destroy the last habitats of some of the last existing large land carnivores, especially at danger was Admiralty Island in Alaska. Looking at AI on Wikipedia, it seems that it was mostly set aside for nature in the 1970s. Though FD may not have lived to see that.

I was enjoying this book so much, I bought Dufresne's other book (also out of print) for my wife as a birthday present. Maureen's birthday was last week, so that's not a spoiler.

This is a great little book that sadly is mostly lost to the world. I now know more about bears than I ever expected to, and enjoyed the journey. Not bad for a worthless book.


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Hair

When I was younger, I used to wonder why middle aged guys never had cool hairstyles. Now I know it is because we can't. What hair we do have, we can't do shit with. And if you do manage a cool hairstyle, you wind up looking like an ass rather than looking cool. It's a no win.

I had my hair short since I was in my early 20s, about 25 years. As I've gotten older and fatter, my head has gotten larger and my hairline has receded a little bit. That's called Morehead Syndrome by the way, more head less hair. Billo Reilly gets credit for that, from way back when we were in 20 years old.

Anyway, after 25 years of short hair, it started looking crappy on me. Not as bad a Pete Rose, but not good either. So I grew it out. Why the hell not. And I was hoping for crazy old guy hair like the first Doctor Who or a US Civil War officer.

For my first 20 years, my hair was always straight. A bit poofy at times, but always straight. Then it was very short for about 25 years. Now that I've grown it out, it's curly, which really was quite a surprise. And... it still looks like shit, but in a different way.

I don't have cool crazy old guy hair; I've got Moammar Gadhafi hair. That's not a win.

Maybe when my hair gets grayer, it won't look as bad. If my Dad is a guide, I'm still about 12 years from that. Bald guys don't have these problems. So they have that going for them.

Getting old, it ain't for sissies.

Lucky Cat End Table

After 6 years of living at the Ranch, it is time to redo some of our rooms. First up was our TV Room. The TV Room always bothered me. We spend a bit of waking of time in that room, and to me it looked junky and out of balance.

After a long time of thinking about what to do, I finally got a chance to do something about it. I got rid of most old stuff and replaced it with sleek, white wall-mounted cabinets.

I bought a wrong size cabinet and by the time I got to assembling and installing them it was too late to return it, so I used it as end table with storage on Maureen's side of the sofa. That let me double up the black end table on my side, which solved the problem of crap falling behind the single end table.

The doubled up end table also let me find a place for a cool Buddha lamp I bought at a flea market a few years ago, which had been taking up space in my office ever since. We needed another light in the TV Room, so the Buddha lamp not only got a place but a purpose. 

The black end tables no longer went with the rest of the room, so I was going to paint them to match the walls, to make them blend in. Then I thought, why not tile them? That's what I do.

For the lower end table, I placed whole black tiles around three sides of the table for a frame effect. I placed an 11 by 17" piece of paper under frame tiles and sketched out a lucky cat on it. I used that as a guide to cut tiles with my wet saw. It took about two hours to make the sketch, plan the cuts, and cut the tiles.

I had some blue tiles in my inventory that come pretty close to matching the wall color, so that I used them for the background.

For the upper end table, the Buddha lamp and a surround sound speaker on it would just cover over a fancy design. So I tiled it simply to fit in with the lower end table. That one took no time at all.


The unified end tables don't blend in, but they do look cool. And since they look cool, standing out is good.

None of this was taught to me, I just intuitively know how to do it. I wouldn't of had the skills or thought processes to have done this when I was younger. This is an instance where being middle aged is pretty nifty.

Sketch with first cuts fitted in.

All tiles cut for lucky cat. 

Tiles laid, waiting for grout.

It was a nice day, so I grouted it outside. This is the bottom half finished.

Finished project. Two end tables with a unified appearance.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013

This was a fairly normal week while means it was a good one. I did my usual level of work, which at this point is at a level for a normal person.

On Wednesday, I met Maureen at Taluah's Garden before going to a play together. I was running a little early, so I left early and got off at 30th Street Station. Which gave me 90 minutes for a leisurely hike from 30th and Market to Eighth and Walnut. It was unseasonably warm, in the 80s, but it wasn't too humid, so I wasn't that sweaty by the time I got the restaurant.

Schuylkill River Trail

Rittenhouse Square in bloom.

The "Time Machine" at the Kimmel Center. Interesting but not earth shattering.

Saturday night I built a fire in our fire pit. This time I had all the materials you need to start a fire, ignition sources (paper), kindling (old branches that I have been saving since last summer), and wood. Finally having all the materials at the ready made starting the fire a snap.

Fire... sit with me (and drink beer).

The weather was beautiful, so I was able to have the top off my car almost all week. Which meant I got to make 4 trips to get more blocks for my art wall. 12 blocks at time seems like a reasonable haul for both the puppy truck and me.

Art wall extension, currently blank.

I planted asparagus last year. I'm still a season away from being able to harvest it. One lone but very large stark has appeared. Hopefully more will follow. 

2012: My Year in Review

I try to look at life as a piñata; if you take enough whacks at it, eventually cool stuff will start falling out. 2012 wound up being a sizable piñata. 


January

I wrote a post for the 3x5 (my post). The 3x5 project which ran abut 3 years, retired on the last day of 2012. Glad I got to be a part of it.

I had the Duck Salad at Monks for the first time ever and vowed to make it a more regular occurrence. Still haven't had it a second time. Maybe I can shoot for once a year.


I got on the bus for the 1st ever David Goodis Memorial Bus Tour (slideshow). It was a wonderful day with nice people. Not at all like one of his novels. It's rare a new bar impresses me, but the Trestle Inn is super cool. Very glad that was one of the stops.

After 2 years, 5 months, I finished my Agatha Christie Project, reading all 79 of her novel length works in order.


Survived the first of three Friday the Firkinteenths (official page) for 2013.


Maureen and I saw Jerry Seinfeld at the Academy of Music. Not sure if he saw us. I was expecting a musical act but it turned out to be comedy.


February


Think I put in my longest Groundhog Day (Steve Lyford pix) shift ever. Just as I about to leave at 2:30pm, Chuck Greenstreet walks in and it's another 2 pleasant hours. I was the Grey Lodge by 5:45am that morning.


Billy Ross and I put in an epic street hike from Wayne Junction, through East Falls, to 30th Street Station. I continued onto 11th and Locust where I met Maureen, Liz, and Marty for an amazing meal at M Restaurant.


It was a dream come true. I found myself in Belgium and Holland for the brewing of the Philly Beer Week collaboration beer.
- We had only a few waking hours there but Amsterdam did not disappoint. What a gorgeous and cool city. No go for Van Gogh this time. I'll be back.
- Cantillon (official site) with Tom Peters, William Reed, and Craig Laban was epic. Six hours never went by so fast.
- Brugges was just like the movie but without the violence.
- Craig's articles about the trip.


Maureen took us to NYC for Shatner's World. Bill was amazing funny and very spry for an 80 year old.


Caught a ride with the Troegs guys and finally made it to Andy's Corner in Bogota NJ for a fun night.





March

We had our first ever Pi(e) Day at the Grey Lodge. We saw a woman recite pi out to like 314 places (honest). It was crazy.


Dave Champagne joined us as the new chef at the Grey Lodge. Our kitchen has never functioned better and the food is incredible.


Maureen and I saw Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester (video) again. Very enjoyable but twice in one lifetime is enough.


I was still trying to get William Shatner to have a beer with me. At some point I had to much to do to remember to do that anymore. Not trying has had equal (non)success as trying so far.


April

The Fishtown Beer Runners' (official) run to the Grey Lodge fell on April's Fool Day. David wanted us to do something to fool them. I greeted the exhausted runners with protest signs, "Fishtown stay out of Mayfair" and "Hipsters go home". Working on the signs gave me the idea for the Grey Lodge's contribution to the Hammer of Glory relay.


While shopping for Sabotage stuff, Jersey Dan became co-owners of Pirate Monkey Nut Cracker, a true abomination, but one that had to be bought. It now dwells at The Grey Lodge. Quiver all ye who look upon it.


Jersey Dan, Jim Wiggins and I frickin recreated the Beastie Boys Sabotage video for a Sixpoint Event at the Grey Lodge. Probably the craziest shit we have ever pulled and that's saying something.


We got through our second Friday the Firkinteenth (Steve Lyford Pix) of 2012.


I finally made to John's Roast Pork in South Philly, where I ran into and got to have pleasant lunch with Kirk Fagan, who I hadn't seen in years.


I stood next to a giant chicken. Last year I stood next to a giant goose. Don't know if a chicken is a step up or down from a goose.


Lew Bryson and I did a road trip of New Jersey breweries for a Philly Beer Week event. Road music was hours of Hank Williams Sr (video), including some really esoteric stuff.


May

Marty and I headed down to Rehoboth Beach to assist Ben Potts in brewing Dogfish Head White Lodge. Thanks to Mike and Lori who lets us crash at their place.


Maureen and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. The best five years of my life so far with more to come!


I was honored to be one of the judges for Craig Laban's Third Annual Brew-vitational. Always great fun to hang with George & Nancy, and Tom Peters.

We in Mayfair pulled off the 4th annual Fallen Heroes Run & Walk and the 5th annual Mayfair May Fair, including the first ever Mayfair May Fair After Dark. It was another great day in the neighborhood.


Thanks to my brother Dave's help, the Backyard Electrification Project brought light to the garden path.


Ray Swerdlow of the Sixpack Store and I were presenters at the 1st annual Philly Beer Scene Awards Show. Mat and crew did an really, amazing job, filling what was probably the only void in our Philly beer Scene.


Billy and Richard and I did the first of what would be two big South Philly street hikes this summer. After a wonderful lunch at American Sardine Bar, we wound up hanging with John Longacre upstairs. This was quite fortunate because we wound up avoiding a surprise downpour and kept drinking beer until the sun came back out.

May ended with me making protest signs in my garden so we could occupy the HOG at the Grey Lodge as part of Philly Beer Week's now legendary Hammer of Glory Relay.


June



June 1st was an epic day. Started at 8am with a crew Occupying the HOG at the Grey Lodge. Protest signs, yelling to motorists, it was a hoot. Maybe we raised awareness for Philly Beer Week, but we probably just confused the heck out of a lot of people. Either way mission accomplished. Wound up following the HOG via bus and by foot with Willam Reed, Pat McGinley, and Chez for most of the day before reconnecting with it at the Visitors Center to hand it to Mayor Nutter to tap the first keg of Philly Beer Week. Then it was a few more beers before some wonderful person drove me home.


We had loads of events at both Grey Lodge and Hop Angel for Philly Beer Week. My favorite was Dogfish Head Grey Lodge (article, at bottom), where we got to tap Dogfish Head Grey Lodge, a blend of two one off beers, Dogfish Head Black Lodge and Dogfish Head White Lodge.


Maureen and I went to Toronto to watch the Phillies lose in a foreign land. We had a lovely time in Toronto, but I'd never go back. All the expense of New York with all the charm of Denver circa 1999. Denver 2012 is pretty awesome, but that's rushing things.


I discovered amazing mangoes at the Asian supermarket. Sadly that type of mango is seasonal. The meh mangoes have a much longer growing season. Can't wait til this June; I'll buy the heck out of the amazing ones.

Ended up June by chilling with my brother Dave at the Countryman Music Festival in their backyard. That as a lovely afternoon with lovely people.

A day long street hike though the east side of  South Philly found Billy, Richard and myself at Mr. Joe's Restaurant for the first time. If you don't have two hours for lunch, this place ain't for you.


July



Caught Fourth of July fireworks at Lemon Hill (site). I'm definitely getting too old for that. Not too old for fireworks at Penn's Landing though.


Caught rock and roll legend Charlie Gracie at Disston Rec on Thursday the 12.


The next day was our third and final Friday the Firkinteenth of 2012. Started off the day with breakfast at Tate's Good Eats with Maureen, surprisingly my first visit ever there. It was not my last.


Three day marathon of music again at the XPN Festival in Camden. I'm not sure how many more three day music festivals this body or brain can stand. Lumineers and War on Drugs were especially memorable.


Maureen got us Marshall Crenshaw tickets at World Cafe Live. It wasn't until we got there that I realized we hit the jackpot and that The Bottle Rockets were the openers and also Crenshaw's backing band. A great night with a great woman.



Treated the Grey Lodge kitchen crew to BBQ at Henri's Hotts in Folsom on our way to the AC Food Festival where we were a featured cheese steak restaurant. After breaking down our equipment, we wound up hanging out late in the Showboat surface parking lot drinking Pikeland Pils cans with Flying Fish's Andy Newell, who I hadn't seen in years.


While working the show, I got a pleasant surprise via a tweet by Rich Pawlak. The Grey Lodge made best of Philly again. This time for beer events.


A nasty storm rolled in and the outdoors Hooligans show at Disston Rec quickly became an indoor autistic show in the gym. It was amazing. As I was giving Norm a hand securing his equipment, the sky was like out of a movie.



August

In early August, 3 trains and 1 boat found me in Red Hook, Brooklyn visiting Shane the founder of Sixpoint Brewing. The free (on weekends) water taxi from Wall Street to IKEA in Red Hook is an adventure. It was a lovely day filled with beer, German food, the sights of Red Hook, and more beer.


Mid August found us celebrating the Grey Lodge's Sweet and Sour 16. I was going to ignore this one like we did for 14 and 15, but the idea came to me in time.


Now when I have to go to IKEA, I try to go around lunch time, so I can hit John's Roast Pork. Met Jersey Dan there and go to do a 1/2 and 1/2, 1/2 cheese steak, 1/2 roast pork. You need a buddy to be able to pull that one off. Or a large appetite.





Attended the 1st Annual Dogfish Head Olde School Retreat with Chris Dominiski. Hung out with some old friends and made some new ones. It was a great balance of doing and not doing at the seashore. The beer dinner was the stuff of legends. I had beginners luck at devils dice, making about $20.

Heading up to Reading to catch the Reading Phillies, thus checking off a bucket list item just before their season ended. Great time at their wonderful stadium. I got to introduce Maureen to some old friends, Kit and Linda. It was a lovely weekend.



Ended the month with another mega middle aged guy street hike. Billy and I met Andre and Richard at The Porch, a newish park at 30th Street Station. We wandered around Drexel with Andre, then Billy and I checked out West Philly, ending up in Upper Darby. Among the highlights were seeing the MOVE block and Pakistani food at 70th Street. It was a hot day, so we refreshed ourselves with one each at both Local 44 and Dock Street.


September

Frank Mifflin taught me to weld. Watch out world.


The weather was great for all three outdoor fall festivals at Hop Angel. Keg Bowling a big hit. Watching people in lederhosen play Kan Jam was a lot fun too.




Attended the local premiere of Beeradelphia. It was a who who's of the Philly beer world. Great job Mike Lawrence and crew!




It might not have seen it from this long blog post, but I tried to carve out some time each day when the weather was nice to just sit quietly in the garden.


Butters and I worked the first ever Mayfair Farmers Market for the Grey Lodge. The market will be a regular occurrence next spring. The weather was lovely.

October


It turned out that the silly goose was me.


For Father Judge's 10th annual Taste of Northeast Philly, the Grey Lodge did a beer garden in the cafeteria with our buddies at Love Brewing. It was a fun night.


Went out to the Great American Beer Fest with Marty. Met up with loads of Philly people and had a great time. Friday was epic with one of those best ever nights at El Chapultepec followed by much laughter in Fergie's hotel room.  I think Marty or was it Mike who had the beginners luck with devils dice? It wasn't me; I gave some of winnings from August back.

An article I wrote about us Philadelphians in Belgium was published in Philly Beer Scene. The Web version doesn't do justice to the beautifully laid out print version.


Hardy-Har-Harvest, a Grey Lodge event that I thought was sure to be a big one, was a small to medium one. We'll try again next year.

November 

I started on a Bear Woods tile mosaic in our garden. I think I jumped up another level as an artist.


Tacony CDC, one of the non-profits that I am board member for, has been working to revitalize Torresdale Ave. Our our projects, the Tacony Hoagie Trail, got some notice from the Daily News.


The weather was great for the Mayfair Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade. Thanks to Grey Lodge Parade Brigade who helped pimp my ride.


Oskar Blues the Grouch (video), probably the world's first garbage themed beer event, featured the biggest and most expensive prop/stage setting for any Grey Lodge event.


We lit up the Grey Lodge with several hundred candles for Great Lakes Black Out Night. We didn't burn the place down.


December

I worked tree lightings for three neighborhoods, Fox Chase (giving out free Hop Angel cream of potato soup), Mayfair (manned the Grey Lodge table for the Holiday Market), and Tacony (helped set up the Winterfest).


The Grey Lodge held its first ever Festivus (official page). Fetes of Strength (pix) were a hoot.


Not To Mention

100s of smaller but no less important times with families and friends, including quiet nights at home with Maureen.