Brewed Musings

Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Pint of Spotted Setter Dark Mild Ale (If I could put it on cask, I would…)

That song has been lodged in my brain since this afternoon. In actuality it is 48 hours since I had a day from hell, but that is in the past. Today, well, today is far different. Today I was notified that I was the recipient of the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation Scholarship to Siebel Institute in Chicago. It is a two week brewing course at one of the finest institutions in the world. Let me just say that if you wanted to see a 36 year old white man jump really high, you should have been in my Confucian abode this afternoon.

As you all know, I wear my Milwaukee/SE Wisconsin heritage like a badge of honour. You may also know that I am a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. To me it is where you come from, what made you, that is important because that determines where you are headed. I would not be who I am if not for the culture I was brought up in. Now I can also say that I am a proud and honoured recipient of one of the finest awards in the Pacific Northwest brewing community.

It is fair to say that I rarely do things for my own benefit. Sure I love what I do and would not give it up for the world. But I am a craftsman brewer not because it is cool and I like to do it, although that is a bonus. I am a brewer because the fine brews I make hopefully bring a community closer together. This scholarship and this foundation will help me in reaching my goals. And I in turn hope to do everything within my power to help the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation reach theirs…Because that is who I am. I will be a better community builder thanks to the trust the Foundation has put in me. And I thank them immensely. And I thank you too!

Prost!

the confucian, Glen Hay Falconer Scholarship recipient brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A Cup of Panamanean Coffee from Stumptown

If you read the comment from the first part of this Top 5! you would have to agree that, yes, this does sound like we have been transported into the life of Rob Gordon in High Fidelity.  I think it is an ism for men and some women in my generation.  I tried to get help for it but sadly the medicine made me old and cranky.  And if you read that same comment you could decipher, with some mad detective skills, who edged out the Boss on this list…no pun intended.  The fourth best concert I have been to is U2 and Public Enemy at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin.

I would say that this was U2, Public Enemy, and Big Audio Dynamite, but the morons I went to the show with did not understand the finer things in life.  In fact they were terrible tailgaters too.  In actuality, they were bad concert goers altogether:  talking during the show, missing a good opening act because they did not want to get there too early, and numerous other things I care not to get into at this time.  But that said, how could the Fly and the Flav not top anyone’s list?

This was the Zoo TV tour.  The tour right before Bono went bonkers!  Now the Boss had ‘em beat with the venue.  Alpine Valley beats Camp Randall Stadium anyday!  Plus we were all the way up at the top of a 60,000 seat football stadium, so the visuals were not as good.  The clock on Flav was a mere dot from where I sat…A dot on an ant wearing funny sunglasses.  But for me you do not go to a concert for the visuals.  You go for the music.  And Bono, the Edge, Chuck D, and Flava Flav did not disappoint.

At that time I was wholly familiar with all of U2’s music.  They were the next logical progression from the Police as favourite bands go.  In fact, Boy is still one of the best albums of all time.  But I was less familiar with Public Enemy because I was still one of those stubborn people who thought all Rap and Hip Hop was about guns and gangs.  I knew of a couple of Public Enemy’s songs, but never really listened to the words.  And like the Boss several years earlier, this show made me a fan.  I was just coming into my own as a socialist at the time and some of their words struck me.  Unfortunately for them I was there for the headliner.

I could say that U2 was a disappointment for all the hype I gave the show.  But that would be a lie.  With the excitement I had at the time - I would liken it to the excitement people had for the Beatles in the early 60s - there was no way they could disappoint.  They went through all their new stuff, played most of the Joshua Tree, and played enough off of Boy and War to make every fan happy.  Plus did their schtick with the huge TV and the call to President Bush (Senior not Junior.)  It was a moment I wished I could have shared with my brother who was a U2 fan once in his life.

It is hard to believe after writing this that there are 3 shows that were better than the Boss, The Edge, The Fly, and The Flav.  I know a few people that would have these folk at the top of the list.  And if I were not such a maniacal music fan, they would top mine as well.  But sadly they are only at 4 and 5.  Stay tuned.  Up next some boys from Britian invade the Windy City and I get my first, and only experience, with a scalper.

Prost!

the confucian, music-loving brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A Pint of employee owned, Full Sail Nugget while listening to Rage Against The Machine’s The Battle for Los Angelas (On the Anniversary of the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago and the eve of the Bayview massacre in Milwaukee.)

I have always put stock in the philosophy that a comfortable home will always quell lethargy.  It is easy to succumb to the bully, lethargy, and his Woim, laziness here in Portland during the winter.  (If you do not get the Woim reference, you have not watched enough Little Rascals…)  The greyness can beat you down if you are not careful, or if you are like me suffer from S.A.D.  People have different ways to combat this menace.  This past winter my combat seemed as useful as our present leader.  That is til spring arrived and lethargy looked like Wile E. right before he plummeted to his cartoonish fate.

Today I decided to put my bed in the back room which is just barely big enough to fit a full size bed.  This room is technically a closet in my small, Confucian monk studio.  But I felt I was too confined in my home.  My bed was my couch was my reading chair was my listening station was my table for eating.  It has gotten to the point where I do not want to be home most of the time because there is no escape in such a small environ.

With just the move on one piece of furniture, the room opened.  A bit of exaggeration is to say it feels as open as a Roman coliseum.  But that is how it feels.  I now have two chairs to sit in and read my books or write my friends and family, a feat rarely seen in my world lately.  The dog’s bed is out of a footpath and next to a window so she can watch her birds in her zen meditation.  I have a monkish dog apparently.  In fact I am so excited about this turn around that I have neglected my siesta.  Poor, poor Confucian Brewer.

To be honest I like the monkish lifestyle.  It is peaceful and quite satisfying, when there is proper space.  Now when I wake I will not have to look at my living/dining/library/whatever room.  Unfortunately for me I will have to look at my ugly mug!  But just the sight of that will make me get out of bed faster.  So lethargy, meet thy doom!  And take that pesky Woim with you.  All he does is repeat what you say anyway.

Prost!

the confucian brewer