Post-xmas beer wrapup

Merry holidays and happy solstice. Bill O'Reilly can go fuck himself with the whole "war on christmas" crap.

Anyway, the advent beer calendar is over, and it was amazing.

The last few beers were:

Shmaltz brewing, He'brew, Jewbelation Twelve, twelfth anniversary holiday ale -- 22oz bottle, 12%abv. 12 malts, 12 hops, 12%abv. They probably should've put this in a 12 oz bottle, to be consistent, but the 22oz bottle was definitely pleasant. A very nice, strong ale. Almost too strong, but good flavor. The 12s could've been a bit much, it probably would've been just fine with four of everything, but it works.

Deschutes Brewing Company, The Abyss, 2007 release -- 22oz bottle, 11%abv. This is a just plain amazing beer. I've actually been saving one of these 2007 editions since last xmas, so I haven't opened this one yet. I'll probably wait for a special occasion, but now that I have two bottles, it's going to be harder to hold onto them both.

Mikkeller, Santa's Little Helper 2008 -- 750ml bottle, 11%abv. This was a pleasant surprise. For a young, strong beer, it was pleasantly crisp and dry, but with great flavor. Highly recommended.

Castle Brewery Eggenberg, Samichlaus Bier, 2007 bottling -- This is "the definitive" xmas beer. 14%abv, 11.2fl oz bottle. The strongest lager in the world. Aged 10+ months before it's bottled, it's still worth holding onto like you would a wine. I've had previous year's bottles, so I'll see if I can hang onto this one for a while to let it mature a bit. It can be a bit overwhelming when it's "young" but it's still good.

Oh, and my home brewed English brown ale (recipe several posts below) is in the keg, and some bottles have gone out to folks for the holidays. It turned out quite well, good malt flavor, dry and crisp, with just the right amount of hoppiness. I was a bit worried about the hops, since I'm using my homegrown hops that I don't know the exact acid content of, but they seem to be right where they should be for the somewhat-subtle style.

Overall the advent beer calendar was a great gift, and was hugely enjoyable. Thanks Trace!

Again, happy holidays, and may all your beers be yummy.

Mmmm, beer...

Yet another beer update.

Tuesday: Anchor Steam -- Old Foghorn, 12oz bottle, 8%abv. A very nice barleywine. Nothing extremely special, but quite pleasant and tasty.

Wednesday: Russian River Brewing Company -- Pliny the Elder double IPA, half-liter bottle, 8%abv. This was a pleasant surprise. "Pliny" the elder, according to the always historically authoritative beer label, was a Roman naturalist born in 23 A.D., who helped to name/identify hops, and also saved people from the eruption of Vesuvius. Regardless of what the man did or didn't do, the beer was good. Extremely hoppy, lots of good hop aroma and flavor, and assertive bitterness. Quite pleasant, if you're into hops (like me), and you'll feel smarter after reading the label.

Today's beer: Theakston -- Old Peculier, "traditionally brewed Yorkshire ale". I haven't opened this one yet, and have no idea what to expect. If it's anything like the rest of the beers in this calendar, it'll be good.

I'm giving up beer.

Hah, as if.

My liver and waistline will probably appreciate this month being over though.

Saturday's beer: Caldera Brewing Company, India Pale Ale (IPA), 12oz can, 6.1%abv. These Caldera beers are good, but it's just plain weird to pour a real beer out of a can.

Sunday's beer: BrewDog, Paradox Speyside, 11.2oz bottle, 10%abv. This was delightful. It's an imperial stout aged in Scotch whiskey barrels. Recommended to be served at room temperature, which was a good recommendation. It was very tasty, and I just wish the bottle was bigger.

Today's beer: Full Sail Brewing, 21st birthday Doppelbock, 22oz bottle, 8%abv. This is a special release for Full Sail's 21st anniversary. I've been really impressed with the Full Sail beers over the last several years, and this is no exception. I'm not normally a Bock or Doppelbock fan, but this one is great. Good malt profile, crisp, clean, rich, just overall very nice. Full Sail had a bad span of years a while back, but ever since they became employee owned, they've been producing good stuff. Glad to see their 21st birthday pass with a good brew to mark the occasion.

Yes, thank you, I will have another

Yay, more beer!

Yesterday's beer was: Alesmith, Yulesmith Holiday Ale, 8.5%abv, 22oz bottle. I like Alesmith's beers, and this was no exception, quite yummy.

Today's beer: Caldera Brewing Company, Pale Ale, 5.4%abv, 12oz can(!). Haven't had this one yet, and other than being one of the few "real" beers available in cans, and the little I've read about it at the linked site, I don't know much about it.

Oh, and I couldn't wait, I'm drinking the Double Bastard mentioned previously -- I'm pleasantly surprised with its quality. Very nice beer. I remember the previous one I'd had as being overly harsh, but this one is more subtle, if you can use "subtle" to describe a 10.5%abv beer.

Yes, more beer

Today's beer: Affligem Noel, Christmas ale brewed with spices. 750ml bottle. 9%abv.

A very tasty Belgian ale. Kind of in between a dubbel and a trippel. Very flavorful and just overall quite pleasant.

But then again I've imbibed almost the whole thing, so perhaps that's clouding my judgment.

Yet Another Holiday Beer Update

Today's beer: Unibroue, Don De Dieu (Gift of God), 9% abv, 750ml bottle (25.4 fl oz). This is a "triple wheat ale", and is quite nice. If all wheat beers were like this, I'd drink wheat beer.

Thankfully, the French Canadians produce something other than Celine Dion.

Monday Beer Update

Saturday's beer was: Avery Brewing Co., Anniversary Ale Fifteen, 22oz bottle, 7.68%abv. An "Ale brewed with spices, herbs, and figs" according to the label. Also from the label:

15 years of brewing! You know what's been the best part lately? Tons of experimentation! For the past couple of years, we've been working with several strains of brettanomyces (wild yeast). We found one and deemed it the best for it's [sic] tart flavor and funky, fruity aroma. Adding black mission figs for a subtle jammy aspect, hibiscus flowers for an herbal bouquet and hazy sunset hue, and white pepper for a bit of spicy twang, we've created FIFTEEN -- a unique drinking experience inspired by the wild farmhouse ales of Belgium. Though immensely complex today, more flavors will emerge with time, so throw a few bottles in your cellar for future celebrations. Thanks to all of you who have made our 15 year ride possible!
Peace to all and follow your dreams!
Brewed with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, malted wheat, hops, black mission figs, hibiscus flowers, white pepper, and a very unique strain of brettanomyces yeast.

(Note that the misplaced apostrophe not only occurs on the label, but also is on the linked web page above. A nice touch of consistency, at least.)

The description's a bit over the top, but what can we expect from marketing people. I haven't opened it yet, we'll see what it's like later.

---

Edited to add:

I'm drinking the "Fifteen" now. It's a very nice ale, but as over-the-top as the description is, the beer itself isn't all that crazy. The bret yeast is definitely noticeable, but as to the rest of it, it's just a very nice, clean, crisp ale. Yeah, it has a bit of fruit and funk, but if they hadn't told me it was brewed with white pepper, hibiscus flowers, and figs, I wouldn't know. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice beer, it's just not really as crazy as I expected it to be, given its description. (note proper lack-of-apostrophe in that "its")

---

Sunday's beer: O'Hanlon's Brewing Company, Ltd., Thomas Hardy's Ale, 8.5oz bottle, 11.7%abv. I've had a previous year's version of this one. This is the 2006 edition, and if the last one was a proper indication, I'll probably hang onto this one for a couple more years before I think it's ready. I can't find a home page (quickly) for the brewery, but you can see what The Independent says about the beer.

Today's beer: Lagunitas Brewing Company, Lumpy Gravy. I'm drinking this one right this second. It's a variety of brown ale, but otherwise is hard to describe. It's tasty though. Named after the Frank Zappa album, and I believe was released on the 40th anniversary of the release of that album. A great album, and a tasty beer.

Speaking of brown ale, I made one yesterday, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 9lbs 2-row pale malt
  
• 1 lb 80l crystal malt
  
• .5 lb chocolate malt
  
• 4 oz Goldings hops (home grown!)
  
• White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast
  

Process:

1. Steep grains at 154 degrees for one hour.
   
2. Mash out
   
3. Sparge, extracting approx 7.5 to 8 gallons of wort.
   
4. Bring to a hard rolling boil
   
5. Boil for 15 minutes
   
6. Add 2 oz Goldings (bittering)
   
7. Boil for 45 more minutes
   
8. Add 1.5 oz Goldings (flavor)
   
9. Boil for 15 more minutes (75 minutes total boil)
   
10. Start chilling and add final 0.5oz Goldings (aroma)
    
11. Transfer to fermenter, pitch yeast and aerate.
    

It was a good brewing session with no surprises. The wort tastes great, and the yeast is happily working away right now, so I'm hopeful it ends up tasty. Should be done in time for Xmas, especially since I force-carbonate.

Another beer update

Today's beer is: Fuller's -- Vintage Ale Limited Edition, 2006 release, half-liter (16.9oz) bottle.

As shown on the linked page, this is a fancy bottle, in its own little box. Since this is the 2006 release, this one is already properly aged so I'll probably go ahead and drink it shortly.

Since I haven't been drinking each beer on its own night, I'm ahead a couple of bottles. Tonight I opened the Ninkasi Total Domination IPA, which I've had before. Tasting it, the easiest way to describe it is by reference -- if you've had the much more common Bridgeport IPA, just imagine that, but the volume bumped up about 25%. The color, aroma, flavor, and bitterness are quite similar between the two, there's just much more of them in the Ninkasi beer. I like the Bridgeport, so the Ninkasi is quite nice.

Edited to add:

From the tasting notes at Fuller's site:

Vintage Ale 2006
This full-bodied vintage is brewed with Fuggles and Super Styrian hops that create a tapestry of rich, spicy flavours. Orange, citrus and fruitcake notes are all present, and are balanced well with the biscuity, creamy malt flavours leaving a soft and warming finish.

We'll see if that's true soon.

Holiday beer update

Last night I drank the Bridgeport Old Knucklehead barleywine mentioned in the post below, and it was grand. It was nice and dry, almost crisp. Very refreshing for such a big beer. A nice surprise.

Today's beer: Stone Brewing -- Double Bastard, 22oz bottle. Arrogant Bastard, but doubled. This is the new 2008 release. I've had a couple of the previous year's releases, so I think I'll try to save this one and give it some more age before I drink it.

Holiday Beer!

Although I'm a strict Atheist (I go to all the meetings), my wife and I do celebrate the holiday season. Evidently there's some religious thing called "Advent" that has something to do with something that happened a couple thousand years ago, or something. They probably stole it from the pagans.

Anyway, what really matters is that for this "Advent" thing evidently somebody sets you up with daily gifts. I vaguely remember one of my grandparents giving me some sort of calendar doohickey with doors that you opened each day during Advent to reveal a chunk of candy. Well, now that I'm all grown up, I get beer instead!

The local brew shop here created a small set of "Beer Advent Calendars" -- essentially a really fancy case of beer with each beer individually placed in a small box labelled with the date it's supposed to be opened. My wife was kind enough to buy one of these for me, and it's been great.

So far, the beers have been:

November 30: Mikkeller -- Holiday Ale (dark, strong Belgian ale with spices), 750ml bottle. I'm a huge fan of Mikkeller beer. Very cool setup where a couple of guys rent brewery space and make kick ass beer. I've had several of their beers, and have been consistently impressed.

December 1: Heater Allen -- "Hugo" bock. Nice beer, 22oz bottle, I normally don't like Bock, but this one was quite good. This is a fairly new local (McMinnville) brewery that's been pretty impressive with their lagers.

December 2: Bridgeport -- Old Knucklehead Barleywine, 22oz bottle. I haven't opened this one yet, maybe tonight. I've had previous releases of Old Knucklehead and have liked it, so I'm assuming that will continue. I don't drink much Bridgeport beer these days, but they are one of the "main" Oregon breweries that got the whole microbrew revolution going around here.

December 3: Ninkasi -- Total Domination IPA, 22 oz bottle. I've had this one before, and it's quite nice. I've been enjoying Ninkasi's beers a bit more recently. They're a relatively new local (Eugene) brewery that's only been around for a couple of years, and a couple of their early offerings weren't great. The stuff I've had recently has been good though.

I'll post more details as I open more of these up, it's going to be a good month...

New Bike

Almost as exciting as the results of the election -- I got a new bike. Much to my wife's relief, it's not another motorcycle. It's a new mountain bike:



It's kind of a mutt of a bike. It's a brand new, but old stock, 2007 BMC Trailfox O2 frame. It's got a bunch of new parts, but also several old parts from my old bike, a 1994 Specialized S-Works FSR:



Even though the bikes share a few parts, they're quite different. It's amazing how bicycle technology has improved over the last 15 years. The S-Works was the pinnacle of full-suspension technology of its time. The only thing that it had that still sort of measures up with today's bikes, is that it weighed 28lbs. That's what the new bike weighs too.

But the new bike has more of everything on it, and it still weighs what the old one did. Disc brakes, 5" of rear suspension travel (vs. 2 or so on the old bike), a shock with lockout and adjustable rebound, etc. And all of it on the BMC actually works. The FSR suspension didn't work all that well. It was better than a hardtail on rough stuff as you'd imagine but not by a huge margin and it really noticeably sucked up your leg power on climbs. And the old-school gearing (26/36/48t front cogs) didn't help either.

I've only put a couple hours on the new bike since I built it a few days ago, but it's already impressed me. The rains just set in here, and the trails are littered with slippery wet leaves and mud. The new bike climbs the slick muddy switchbacks with amazing composure, and I can really feel the difference in the way the rear suspension works. This bike doesn't feel like it's wasting 10% of my energy like the old one did.

Whether it's the better gearing (22/32/44teeth front), the improved efficiency, or just the effect of the "new bike smell" making me push more, I'm definitely much faster on this bike. There's a trail here near the house that I ride all the time -- I could reliably count on the loop (from my front door, down the mile to the trailhead, do the singletrack climb and descent, and back to the house) being 45 minutes. The first ride on the BMC reduced that to 35 minutes, so the new bike definitely works.

I'm also using disc brakes on a mountain bike for the first time. I'm quite pleased with the Avid BB7 mechanical brakes. Hydraulic brakes would've been nice, but I already had good levers and didn't want to spend the extra dough. These mechanical ones are super easy to adjust, there's no mess, and they work great. The rear suspension design on the BMC also allows the brakes to work even in rough stuff -- the suspension stays active under braking -- and this was quite noticeable on the slippery descent. The FSR's old cantilever rear brakes were terrible, and were essentially on or off, you were either sliding or nothing. These new ones are easy to modulate and actually slow the bike down. It's also amazingly cool to actually have brakes when it's wet out.

I was a tiny bit worried about the geometry of the frame in combination with my existing 100mm front fork (BMC recommends forks ranging from 110 to 140mm), but I'm quite happy with it after all. Since I've been riding for 20+ years, I'm used to the feel of the old super-steep angled XC bikes -- like my 1990 model Klein Rascal that I still occasionally ride -- so the 71 degree angle of the BMC with this fork feels great and works just like I'd expect. The bike fits great and it feels perfect to me as it's configured. If you're used to today's "all mountain" geometries, you would not like the way the bike's setup. The 2008 model of the Trailfox has a 69 degree head angle and would be much better for folks desiring a more relaxed ride. A 140mm front fork would also slacken things up, with a bit of a weight penalty.

The best part of this all was probably how cheap it all was. The new-old-stock frame was on sale for an absolutely ridiculous price at jensonusa.com, and by picking and choosing the cheapest clearance stuff -- and a few no-name items -- from Jenson and Pricepoint, I was able to put together a very nice bike with decent components for way less than I'd imagined was possible.

Here's what the build consisted of, first, the new parts:

• 2007 BMC Trailfox O2 frame -- this included a FSA ZS-3 zerostack integrated headset (with the cups already pressed into the frame which made it easier for me to assemble), and a RockShox Ario 2.2 shock. (jensonusa.com)
  
• Truvativ Stylo Crankset/bottom bracket (jenson)
  
• Shimano XTR Front derailleur (jenson)
  
• Maddux T2 Explorer 26" disc-only wheelset (pricepoint.com)
  
• Avid BB-7 mechanical disc brakes, 185mm front rotor, 160mm rear (pricepoint)
  
• Planet Bike cycling computer (pricepoint)
  
• Hutchinson Spider air-light tires 2.3" wide front, 1.8" rear (pricepoint)
  
• Tubes (presta, no-name, pricepoint)
  
• Sram cables, brake and derailleur (pricepoint)
  
• Sram chain
  
• Sette APX seatpost (pricepoint)
  
• Various specialty tools I didn't have and needed for the build (pricepoint)
  

And here's all the stuff I pulled off the old bike:

• Shimano XTR M900 rear derailleur
  
• Shimano XTR 8-speed casette
  
• Avid speed-dial SL7 brake levers (I had recently replaced my original levers with these, so they're almost new)
  
• Shimano XT 8-speed shifters -- these are circa 1999 or so, I replaced the FSR's original shifters with these then.
  
• Avenir handlebar
  
• Avenir bar ends
  
• Yeti grips (almost new, put these on when I got the new brake levers)
  
• Control Tech stem.
  
• Fox F100RLT fork (2005 model) -- a recent craigslist find I've been using on the FSR this summer.
  
• No-name seat
  
• No-name SPD-compatible pedals.
  

Since I didn't use the wheels from the FSR (they're rim-brake only) I plan on using them to upgrade the even older wheels on my Klein hardtail. I just need to buy a new casette, the Klein's got an old freewheel that won't work.

Other interesting things to note -- the frame weighs a tiny bit over 6 pounds, that includes the headset cups and the built-in seatpost clamp.

I didn't weigh the wheels before I mounted the discs and tires, but after the tires were mounted, there was a bit of a surprise -- the front wheel, with the larger (2.3" width) tire, and larger 185mm disc, weighed almost exactly the same as the rear wheel with the XTR cassette, 160mm disc, and 1.8" width tire. They were both approximately 4lbs 2oz. I'm happy with the overall weight of the bike -- 28lbs isn't bad, and it could be easily lightened just by swapping out some of the older heavy stuff. It'll be interesting to see what it weighs in the summer with my lighter summer tires.

I'm very happy and enjoying the ride. Now I need to spend some money on some better cold-weather riding gear -- I'm having so much fun I don't want to take my normal winter cycling break.

Here are some more pictures for details:

The day after

Wow. There is actually hope for this country after all.

Oh goody, another debate

Mr. McCain looks like crap in hi-def.

Expectations

I think both candidates probably met or exceeded their party's expectations.

Prediction: tomorrow, folks will be talking about McCain leaving immediately after the debate, and Barack and Michelle hanging out and taking pictures and signing autographs for 20+ minutes.

Just my prediction though. Does kind of show the class of the two candidates -- who's willing to hang out with the "normal" folks and who isn't...

One hour in

Kind of pleasantly surprised that the "debate" hasn't devolved into a shout fest yet, my friends.

But we just started on foreign policy, so McCain might get a bit testy now...

Responsibility

Wow, did you know that health care is your "responsibility"? My friends, you're responsible for your health care. If you fell off your porch, you're "responsible" because you're a gawdam klutz. Mmmkay, my friends? Keep that in mind next time you pay $400 to get a check up.

Retracted

OK, I retract my surprise.

Brokaw says "everybody agrees" that social security and medicare require radical changes to "save" them -- that's just plain wrong.

Although those programs are both expensive, they really aren't in trouble. Any possible "trouble" comes 50+ years in the future, if you use the most conservative estimates.

So my friends (pause to drink) Brokaw does indeed suck balls.

Surprised

So far, I'm pleasantly surprised by the format. I think Brokaw is doing a smidge better than the last two at trying to reign in the candidates. Nobody is more surprised than me.

McCain looks stiff as hell, my friends. And he's rambling a ton, my friends. My friends, McCain likes nuclear energy. Some of my best friends are "my friends."

This guy drives me bonkers.

Update: Not hospitalized yet, though one large martini down, beer commencing forthwith my friends.

The debate "town hall" style

Reminder: This isn't actually going to be a "town hall" -- the questions are either pre-screened by Tom Brokaw, or are just his own questions. This is the same Brokaw who's hacky enough to be the "liason" between the McCain campaign and NBC -- 'cause the campaign of course need help with that darn librul media.

There also is supposedly an agreement that there won't be any followup questions. So, much like last week, the candidates can just choose to ignore the question, ramble on about whatever the hell they want, and the "moderator" isn't supposed to follow up with them.

I am cautiously hopeful that this will exceed my expectations, but if the last two were any indication, those hopes will be dashed.

Update: Brokaw just said that there will be 2 minutes for answers, with 1 minute followup. Not sure, but maybe there's hope.

Wink, wink, winky

I hope McCain winks at me tonight. He's so dreamy.

My drinking phrase is "my friends" so I fully expect to need to be hospitalized by about 10 minutes in.

Maybe McCain should adopt a fake, homey, accent like his running mate, to fool all the gullible rubes.

Oh, and while I don't think it's quite as eloquent (kidding) as my "There's no such thing as "the free market"" post below, Naomi Klein spoke against the creation of an economic research center at the University of Chicago named after the University’s most famous economist, Milton Friedman. Worth the read. She makes a good case that Friedman's free market theories have now been well tested, and should be relegated to the dustbin of history.

Wink, wink

If anybody ever winks at me again, I'm going to poke them in the eye with a pointy stick.

In Fuh Stucture

Seriously. In Fuh Stucture.

If you can't even enunciate simple language, are you actually qualified to lead the country?

In.

Fuh.

Stucture.

Yeah, teh infustucture of merka is vury portant. Golly darn gosh. Durngully. Shux. Reagan sure was great, eh, golly, back in the day when Repub li cans were men and men were woman and Rudy hadn't yet worn a dress. Or something.

Yeah, skip past the Shrub years and hark back to Reagan, that'll work.

Dear god we're doomed, aren't we?

Another martini, squire!

A team of mavericks

Oh for fuck's sake. She just called her and McPain "a team of mavericks" -- if you call yourself a maverick, you're not a maverick. Mmkay?

Why is this race even as close as it is? These people are complete, unadulterated, drooling, morons.

Criminy, now she's "shouting out" to third graders. And doing the whole fake "golly goshdarn shucky gee" crap. This woman is a complete, fucking, idiot.

I never would've thought we could be worse off than we are now, but seriously, the McPain administration would be inconceivably horrendous.

If you're undecided, you're an idiot.

Eye full

For the record: Gwen Ifill is annoying as hell.

Oh, and Bible Action Barbie: it's "new clee ar" although channeling Dubya's "new kew lar" does kind of indicate where you are on the intelligence scale.

Why am I watching this?

Debates

I think we can all agree that the last debate can be summed up as some crazy old dude yelling "Damn kids, get off my lawn!." Which we probably should have predicted.

So, some predictions for tonight's epic adventure between Bible Action Barbie (with new moose fur outfit and convertible Hummer!) and Joe "I like trains" Biden:

• A combination of Barbie's terrible recent "interviews" and obvious complete and utter inability to form a complete thought un-prompted by cue-cards, has caused the expectations of her performance to be lowered to such a level that if she manages to actually get onto the stage, fully dressed, without drooling too much, she'll "win" the debate.
  
  
• Joe Biden must take off his coat, find a puddle to cover with it, bow courteously, offer her a handkerchief, light her cigarette, hold the door for her, buy her dinner (and not expect anything out of it), present her a "Ms. VP 2008" sash and commemorative bouquet of (white) roses, and then back quietly off the stage without answering a single question. If he does anything else, he's a big meany meanypants, liberal elitist who hates women, puppies, and especially hates Joe Sixpack, who he obviously isn't even though his name is Joe.
  

Could we come up with a dumber way to pick our politicians? I don't think we're trying hard enough, the current system is obviously far too dignified.

Comical

This is.

The music industry doesn't suck quite enough, so to up the suckage quotient just that little bit extra, they start accepting bribes"incentives" to feature brands in song lyrics.

[Note to self, write hit song about a fictional character named Cokie Ferrari]

There's no such thing as "the free market"

Fuckers.

The "Invisible hand of the free market" is great to talk about when you're complaining about possibly perhaps maybe some sort of minor adjustment to our abysmal health care system, or social security, or outsourcing, or whatever an actual working person might care about. But the government wants to throw a trillion (yes, that's a "t") at a bunch of rich people? That's just grand and great and swell.

Fuckers.

Of course we get various "free market" folks going on TV to complain, that they, the real libertarian free marketers don't like this one bit, and that if only we had a real free market person in government, we'd show them, and let these Wall Street types sink. But of course they wouldn't -- it's all a shell game. Pretend that they care about the sacred "free market" so they can kill off or prevent any and all regulation, act surprised when, again the whole thing falls out from under them, and then complain because, well of course, we shouldn't bail them out, but well, we reluctantly will, just this time, you know, for the good of the country and all, you understand, not for themselves... But next time, gosh darn it, we're going to let that market really work!

Have I mentioned that these people are fucking fuckers?

Beyond the Palin

You've got questions about Sarah Palin? Of course you do! And they're important questions. Mavericky questions. About a maverick.

• Is she the bestest most maverickiest ever, or only just mavericky enough?
  
• Is she standing up to the fat-cat lobbyists and big-money men in a noble, principled, small-government-conservative kind of way, or is she standing up to the fat-cat lobbyists and big-money men in a noble, principled, small-government-conservative mavericky kind of way?
  

These are the questions of our time. Sadly.

Thankfully, Fafblog is on the case, and will answer these most important questions about this double-extra-mavericky-maverick of a candidate.

Look ma, a blog!

I realize that my posting schedule of once-a-year is a bit ambitious, but us A-list blogger types have to give our reading public what they clamor for. In my case, fewer posts.

Or something.

I'll be back soon with wise words about stuff and things, and such. Really.