Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/28/2010

2/28/1948:
Citation, the pride of Calumet Farm, crosses the wire under jockey Al Snider six lengths ahead of the pack in the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah to win his fourth straight race as a three-year-old. After Snider drowns during a fishing trip in the Florida Keys, Eddie Arcaro takes Citation's reins and will ride him all the way to the Triple Crown. At age six, in 1951, the beautiful bay colt will become the first Thoroughbred to win a million dollars.

Birthdays:
Hayden Fry b. 1929
Frank Malzone b. 1930
Mario Andretti b. 1940
Bubba Smith b. 1945
Ickey Woods b. 1966

http://www.rolfharrisjukebox.com/

Pop Down Under
If you can't make it to Australia to hear artist and entertainer Rolf Harris, you can hear him put on a badly animated concert anytime at this site. Enjoy his take on such classics as "Waltzing Matilda," "If I Were A Rich Man," "Frog Went A-Courting," and polka-style covers of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."

LAGUNITAS IPA

Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, California

Lagunitas IPA pours a light amber, with a head that sticks around—someone paid attention to the malt processing here. A blossoming citrusy hop aroma, whispering of warm summer days. With classic American hop flavor and aroma merging with hints of its earthy European origin, this brew is not just about hop bitterness—in fact it’s quite aromatic, with hop and malt flavor playing in symphonic harmony. A quintessential IPA experience.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/27/2010

Speaking of his younger brother, basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, former NFL offensive lineman Bruce Walton marveled: "Bill didn't walk on water, but he knew where all the stones were just beneath the surface."

Birthdays:
Raymond Berry b. 1933
John Davidson b. 1953
James Worthy b. 1961
Kent Desormeaux b. 1970
Duce Staley b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Aaron Kampman had a string of 73 consecutive starts until he was held out of the regular-season finale in the 2007 season in advance of the playoffs.

http://www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com/

Hadron Collider Update

Technology marches on and most of us have little control over it. Keep checking back to see if we've disappeared into a black hole yet.

THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY

Admire him or despise him, Jesse Helms, five-term senator from North Carolina, was a brilliant political tactician. William A. Link shows how Helms became one of the primary architects of the modern Republican Party, with its conservative evangelical base and reliable Southern vote. Even as America slowly became more tolerant, self-confessed bigots like Helms knew how to keep their hands on the levers of power. Link writes little about Helms’s personal life, but for readers interested in political clout and how to get it, keep it, and use it, Righteous Warrior is an education.

RIGHTEOUS WARRIOR: JESSE HELMS AND THE RISE OF MODERN CONSERVATISM, by William A. Link (St. Martin’s Press, 2008)

STRUISE MIKKELLER

Deca Brewery, Woesten-Vleteren, Belgium

Lots going on here. Orange amber, slightly hazy, charged with carbon dioxide as any self-respecting Belgian bottle-conditioned ale should be, with a lasting beige carpet of foam. A tart, grapefruit hoppiness leads things off in the aroma, morphing into spices like coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, and maybe pepper, tempered with candied ginger, malt, and alcohol. (At 9%/vol., the alcohol is no surprise.) The finish is expectedly dry. A sipper, and a study of brewing complexity.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/24-26/2010

Upon losing one of his ballplayers due to academic ineligibility when his latest report card reflected four F's and one D, longtime Texas A&M basketball coach Shelby Metcalf called the young man aside and remarked: "Son, it looks like you're spending too much time on one subject."

Birthdays:
Honus Wagner b. 1874
Alain Prost b. 1955
Eddie Murray b. 1956
Simeon Rice b. 1974
Lleyton Hewitt b. 1981

Packers Fact:
The Packers ranked second in the NFL when they averaged 370.7 total yards per game in 2007. The last time they ranked that high in total offense was in 1983, when they also were second (at 385.8 yards per game).

2/25/1972:
Just to prove a point about owner-ballplayer control in the days before free agency, St. Louis Cardinals owner Gussie Busch refuses to offer left-hander Steve Carlton more than $60,000 per season and trades him to Philadelphia. Carlton wastes no time proving the error of the beer baron's ways when he gets to his new club. He'll compile one of baseball's finest overall seasons in 1972, winning 27 games for a last-place team. Known simply as "Lefty," he'll earn four Cy Young Awards, winning 329 games in all, and amass 4,136 strikeouts.

Birthdays:
Monte Irvin b. 1919
Tony Lema b. 1934
Ron Santo b. 1940
Anders Hedberg b. 1951
Paul O'Neill b. 1963

Packers Fact:
Quarterback Brett Favre (118 games from 1992 to 2007) is the only man to play more than 100 games at Lambeau Field.

2/26/1926:
Tiger Flowers of Atlanta dethrones Harry Greb of Pittsburgh in a 15-round split decision to win the world middleweight boxing title at Madison Square Garden. After losing to Greb two years ago in California, Flowers fights steadily with crisp right-hand leads, while Greb only counters in spurts. The decision is met with applause by the 20,000 attendees, although many boxing scribes thought Greb won the fight. Flowers will outpoint Greb again in an August rematch, another bout that could have been scored either way. The rematch proves to be the last fight of Greb's lengthy career in which he compiled a 260-21-17 record. Flowers' reign is brief; he'll lose the title in December to Mickey "the Toy Bulldog" Walker.

Birthdays:
Preacher Roe b. 1915
Bobby "Bingo" Smith b. 1946
Rolando Blackman b. 1959
Marshall Faulk b. 1973
Jenny Thompson b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Running back Ahman Green is the only player to gain more than 10,000 yards from scrimmage (rushing and receiving) in a Packers' uniform with 10,870 yards from 2000 to 2006.


http://omgowned.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/what-happened-to-the-food/

Play with Food
See food come to life like never before at this site, where a roll grabs a knife in its teeth, a tomato leads a flock of cauliflower sheep, and, most impressively, a swimmer emerges out of a watermelon lake.

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/classics.shtml

Short Shelf Life
Life is too short, the classics are too long, and yet you want everyone to think you went to Harvard. This site has your solution - dozens of classics from Beowulf and Shakespeare to Dickens, Melville, and Tolstoy - all distilled to a few second's reading. Who has the time to wade through a thousand pages of The Divine Comedy when all you really need to know is that "some woman put Dante through Hell." And who can forget the Canterbury Tales when their essence is recounted using the theme song from Gilligan's Island.

http://www.zimm-co.com/PressTheSpaceBar/pressthespacebar2000.html

Press the Space Bar
Keep trying to beat your personal best. So simple and yet so very addicting.

PORTRAIT OF A MARRIAGE

Asensuous memoir reminiscent of Nabokov’s Speak, Memory and Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander. The author’s father was a well-known minister in Holland who “moved through life with the gusto and the commotion of a wagon train,” but this is really the story of the author’s relationship with his mother. A View of the Ocean is a moving portrait of a woman, a time, a place, and growing up. Jan de Hartog (The Captain and The Peaceable Kingdom), a bestselling novelist and playwright, died in 2002.

A VIEW OF THE OCEAN, by Jan de Hartog (Pantheon, 2007)

IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

If Henry James himself sometimes seems a little old-fashioned, you might try his present-day heir apparent, Ian McEwan. In this short but powerful novel, newlyweds Edward and Florence bring to their 1962 wedding night a crushing weight of fears, inexperience, overanticipation (Edward), and dread (Florence) that they cannot overcome, in spite of awkward and alienating attempts at communication that would make the master proud.

ON CHESIL BEACH, by Ian McEwan (Doubleday, 2007; Anchor, 2008)

AH, YOUNG LOVE

You can lose yourself in this floridly sensuous novel from the Peruvian master Vargas Llosa. It begins in 1950 with the lusty teenagers Ricardo and Lily (who turns out to be a very bad girl) showing up unexpectedly and in many guises. Over four decades of richly painted history, she haunts him, eludes him, consumes him—and gets him into a lot of trouble. As Jonathan Yardley writes in The Washington Post, “Obviously, the novel was written for the sheer fun of it—the fun for Vargas Llosa in writing it, the fun for us in reading it.”

THE BAD GIRL, by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007)

BARBAR WINTER BOK

Brasserie Lefebvre, Quenast, Belgium

Here’s a Belgian ale twist on a classic German lager—with spices, no less. A beer that chooses not to focus not on the pure malt alcohol and malt of its bock predecessors, bringing spicy, fruity character into an established style—bucking tradition to such an extent that perhaps it’s guilty of false advertising. Soft but intense dark malty aroma and wheaty flavors do take the fore, but added spices and alcohol infuse it with the kind of warm complexity you’d expect from a Trappist ale. The orange peel is amazing, somehow coupled with coriander and some beautiful orange blossom aromas. Finish is long, but the 8%/vol. balances the malty sweetness. A joy to drink—but not too cold or you’ll miss out on a lot. Though it calls itself a “winter” beer, it’s light enough to be enjoyed in any season.

LOWENBRAU ORIGINAL

Löwenbräu AG, Munich, Germany

This is a popular beer the world over, and for good reason. Löwenbräu is not what we think of as a “premium pilsener” style—it has the full malt resonance of a Munich helles, so mass market or not, it deserves a little more respect. Sure, there are a lot of Munich helles styles that will give you craft brewery–like, unfiltered depth of flavor. Sure, they’re much more in keeping with the German Purity Law than this filtered, corporate stuff (even though its label claims adherence to Reinheitsgebot). But who cares? Medium gold, brilliantly clear, with a bit of fine, white lace, Löwenbräu begins with invitingly pure malt. Hops balance and do no more. The finish is long and malty, a tad thin but deliciously dry. Venerable, refined, and occasionally maligned, Löwenbräu is a beer way overqualified for your average pizza guzzler. (Psst—it’s great with pizza!)

WOODCHUCK DARK & DRY DRAFT CIDER

Green Mountain Cidery, Middlebury, Vermont

Yes, we’re stepping off the beaten beer path, for a refreshing and lamentably unfamiliar drink: hard cider. But given our country’s history, cider’s about as American as apple . . . well, you know. Woodchuck is one of the brands trying to elevate hard cider to mainstream status, and it’s doing a good job of it. Gold-amber, with just a touch of carbonation, Woodchuck Dark & Dry is only subtly aromatic of apples, with a touch of caramel. The flavor is lighter than the color, with a nice acidity, and only a hint of tannin to balance the apple sweetness. Just a bit of tartness in the finish, but inviting. A straightforward cider with a bit of caramel color added, but why not? This is a gluten-, wheat-, and lactose-free alternative to beer.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/21-23/2010

2/21/1992:
Kristi Yamaguchi of Fremont, California, becomes the fifth American gold medal winner of women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Performing her four-minute free skate segment to Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, the 20-year-old Yamaguchi earns favor with the judges with her artistic skating, not leaning heavily on difficult jumps. Even though she falls to the ice while attempting a toe loop, all the other contending skaters stumble at least once in their routines as well.

Birthdays:
Tom Yawkey b. 1903
Jack Ramsay b. 1925
Alan Trammell b. 1958
Brian Rolston b. 1973
Steve Francis b. 1978

2/22/1997:
Later to be named Pack-10 Player of the Year, Cal. (Berkeley) guard Ed Gray pours in a school record 48 points before breaking his ankle in an 89-87 loss to Washington State at Friel Court in Pullman, Washington. A transfer from Tennessee, Gray assumed the scoring load for the Golden Bears this season after Shareef Abdur-Rahim moved on to the NBA. Before his season-ending mishap, he averaged 24.8 ppg, second in the nation. He'll be a first-round draft choice of the Atlanta Hawks (22nd overall), but injuries will curtail his NBA career.

Birthdays:
Julius Erving b. 1950
Amy Alcott b. 1956
Vijay Singh b. 1963
Pat LaFontaine b. 1965
Michael Chang b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Ahman Green holds the Packers' single-season rushing record of 1,883 yards (2003).

2/23/1983:
New York Rangers center Mark Pavelich ties Don Murdoch's club record of five goals in one game, leading the Broadway Blueshirts to an 11-3 rout of the Hartford Whalers at Madison Square Garden. Pavelich's third goal for a hat trick is met by an avalanche of hats cascading from the seating area. Just by coincidence, baseball-style hats had been given away by a sponsor to all fans entering the arena. A member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team "Miracle on Ice," Pavelich had the assist on Mike Eruzione's game-winning goal against the Soviet Union during their amazing charge to the gold medal in Lake Placid, New York.

Birthdays:
Dante Lavelli b. 1923
Fred Biletnikoff b. 1943
Ed "Too Tall" Jones b. 1951
Flip Saunders b. 1955
Bobby Bonilla b. 1963

Packers Fact:
In the 2007 season, Packers quarterbacks Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Craig Nall combined to complete a club-record 66.3 percent of their passes. Their 383 completions equaled the most in one year in Green Bay history.


http://www.ratemyparking.net/

Rate My Parking
Take out your road rage on these guys, who had to work extra hard to manage the parking jobs that you can rate at this site.


http://www.fromoldbooks.org/

Ancient Browsing
Now enjoy hundreds of old, rare books without mold or storage problems. Webmaster Liam Quin has posted thousands of images of every description scanned from his collection of antique books including holiday illustrations, architectural photographs, woodcut portraits, dictionary excerpts, even the bookplates found in the volumes. With a list of sources and a gallery entitled "What people did with the images," demonstrating how people used these royalty free images to create new art of their own.

WHY WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY MATTERS

For General Washington the Revolutionary War wasn’t so much about the military engagements. Rather, it was the struggles off the field that mattered: keeping his unpaid volunteers from deserting; getting the Continental Congress to live up to its responsibilities; staying one step ahead of the British in order to avoid a direct confrontation. Washington’s genius turned out to be in somehow winning an obviously unwinnable war without winning many actual battles (he won only two). In lively and illuminating prose, Bruce Chadwick shows how he did it.

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S WAR: THE FORGING OF A REVOLUTIONARY LEADER AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY, by Bruce Chadwick (Sourcebooks, 2005)

THE HEART BREAKS HARD

George Pelecanos gives us another gritty crime novel, set in Washington, D.C. Lorenzo Brown, fresh out of an eight-year prison stint, is doing pretty well, helping out at the Humane Society and falling a bit in love with Rachel, who is his probation officer and one hot—and complicated—mama. When Rachel is stabbed in an escalating gang war, Lorenzo gets a crash course in revenge. Pelecanos reveals some superb, stately pacing and a deceptively simple plot that show his absolute mastery over his chosen form.

DRAMA CITY, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown, 2005

WILD BLUE BLUEBERRY LAGER

Blue Dawg Brewing, Baldwinsville, New York

Wow, this beer is purple! Looks like sparkling red, or rather, purple wine . . . As you’d imagine, it’s got a powerfully fruity aroma. Concord grape, a hint of fresh boysenberry and maybe Flintstones vitamins? A balancing tartness makes an appearance, and it’s quite welcome. Not quite wine-like strength, but at 8%/vol., it’s much stronger than your average fruit beer. Packed with fruit flavor, a tad too sweet, but an intriguing foray toward the perfect blueberry beer.

HOFBRAU DUNKEL

Staatliches Hofbräuhaus, Munich, Germany

This dunkel pours in a classic reddish-tinted mahogany, brilliantly clear, with surprisingly light off-white lacing on top. Truly, deeply, richly malty, with those toasted-marshmallow-and-chocolate melanoidin notes. Brewed to a softly alkaline mellowness, it still boasts a drying follow-through, malty but not sweet. This is as good an example of a Munich dunkel as you will find—little surprise, considering its native pedigree. Ein mas bitte of Dunkel, a steaming-hot soft pretzel and a bit of mustard, and you’ll be transported to the voluminous Hofbräu halls of Munich. Heaven.

STROPKEN

Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Ertvelde, Belgium

BARNEY’S PANTS BELGIAN STRONG ALE RECIPE FOR 5 GALLONS

9 lb. light malt extract syrup
1½ lb. Belgian clear candy sugar
½ lb. dextrin malt
1½ oz. Kent Goldings hops, 60 minutes from end of boil
½ oz. Kent Goldings hops, 20 minutes from end of boil Belgian strong or Belgian abbey ale yeast
¾ cup corn sugar for priming
Crack or crush malted grains. Bring 3 gallons water to 160°F. Place malt in mesh bag and steep grains in hot water for 30 minutes. Remove malt, add malt extract and candy sugar and bring to a boil. Boil 60 minutes, adding hops as directed. Remove from heat and let cool. Siphon into primary fermenter with enough cold, pre-boiled water to make 5 gallons. Add yeast when beer reaches 75– 80°F. Ferment for three to six days at 65–75°F. Transfer to secondary fermenter and condition four to six weeks. When finished, dissolve ¾ cup corn sugar into beer, bottle, and age at room temperature for two weeks.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/19-20/2010

2/19/1959:
Basket-brawl breaks out tonight at the Syracuse War Memorial arena as the Syracuse Nationals are handing the Boston Celtics a 113-105 beating. Three separate incidents mar play in the fourth quarter. The first two, involving referee Sid Borgia with a courtside heckler and Bill Russell of the Celts with George Dempsey of the Nats, are quickly defused, but the third is a doozy. All-Stars Tommy Heinsohn of Boston and Dolph Schayes of Syracuse become entangled as they battle for rebounding position, setting off several other skirmishes involving players, coaches and even some fans. When the mayhem escalates, local police step in to separate the combatants and clear the court. There are no ejections after the melee, and the Nats hold on to win.

Birthdays:
Eddie Arcaro b. 1916
Forest Evashevski b. 1918
Paul Krause b. 1942
Dave Stewart b. 1957
Hana Mandlikova b. 1962

Packers Fact:
Kicker Mason Crosby led the NFL in scoring in 2007. He scored 141 pointsw on 31 field goals and 48 extra points.

2/20/1981:
Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland betters his own world record of 3:52.6 for the indoor mile, set on this same track two years ago, with a clocking of 3:50.6 at the San Diego Sportsw Arena. Coghlan is pushed to his limits in this race by a world-class field. The USA's top miler, Steve Scott, runs second in 3:51.8 (an all-time record by an American), John Walker of New Zealand is third at 3:52.8 and Irishman Ray Flynn is a close fourth at 3:53.6.

Birthdays:
Roger Penske b. 1937
Phil Esposito b. 1942
Charles Barkley b.1 963
Livan Hernandez b. 1975
Stephon Marbury b. 1977

Packers Fact:
The Packers have won 10 of the 14 NFL (pre-1970) or NFC championship games in which they have played (entering 2008).


http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Finger Painting for Adults
Release your inner Jackson Pollock and master the art of drip painting with the click of a mouse.


http://manbabies.com/

Man Babies
Like the title says - dozens of heartwarming, yet strangely disturbing pictures of lad holding dad.

GASS—NOT JUST HOT AIR

William Gass, philosopher, literary critic, novelist, and octogenarian, confesses his unguilty love affair with language, reading, and certain authors. Like “a young man hurrying to a rendezvous with a gorgeous older woman” (The Washington Post)—a sort of Casanova of texts—Gass describes the first meeting, the crystallization of desire, the rapture of discovery, the bliss of reading, “the order, release, and sounding of the meaning.” You’ll never look at Gertrude Stein the same way again.

A TEMPLE OF TEXTS, by William H. Gass (Dalkey Archive, 2007)

NEVER AT A LOSS FOR A LAUGH

Here it is: 510 pages of witticisms, a reference of the risible to be savored and visited again and again. Andrew Martin, veteran writer, reviewer, humorist, and comedy critic, has gathered more than 5,000 pithy, pungent, and peppery quotations from the usual suspects and the unexpected—Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, the Simpsons, the Bible. Entries include biographical and contextual notes that add considerably to the enjoyment of this wonderful collection.

FUNNY YOU SHOULD SAY THAT: AMUSING REMARKS FROM CICERO TO THE SIMPSONS; edited by Andrew Martin (Overlook Press, 2006)

MADRUGADA OBSCURA DARK DAWN STOUT

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, Michigan

The folks at Jolly Pumpkin run a classy little brewery with a Belgian artisan farmhouse spirit. In fact, some Americans might not understand the beauty of this particular stout. It is strong, bitter, fruity and powerfully sour. Scared? If you don’t know what you’re getting into, you should be. The beer is perfectly black, with an espresso-tight half-inch of foam on top. A tart, bittersweet chocolate aroma wafts seductively toward you. The flavor is rich and creamy, with a decadent truffle-like consistency relentlessly matched by a long, sour finish. This stout’s aftertaste really stays with you, with alcohol warmth from the 8.5%/vol., chocolate bitterness, and that mouthwatering fruit sourness all competing. A tremendous beer. For those lucky few who understand, this temptress is one to treasure.

PHIN & MATT’S EXTRAORDINARY ALE

Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, New York

This very light-colored pale ale starts off with a bit of corn-like graininess in the aroma. The flavor is medium-bodied with sweet malt graininess. A very low-hop personality makes it a light, refreshing drink that’s perfect for ball games, picnics, or any summer activity.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/17-18/2010

2/17/1954:
For the second time in six weeks, two of the NHL's premier goaltenders hook up in a scoreless tie as Terry Sawchuk and the Detroit Red Wings deadlock Harry Lumley and Toronto, 0-0, at Maple Leaf Gardens. At season's end, Lumley will barely edge Sawchuk for the prestigious Vezina Trophy by only one goal allowed, 131 to 132. It will be Lumley's only Vezina, interrupting a four-year vice grip on the hardware by Sawchuk, who won it in 1952, '53 and '55. Lumley will also post career bests in shutouts (13) and goals against average (1.86).

Birthdays:
Red Barber b. 1908
Rod Dedeaux b. 1914
Jim Brown b. 1936
Michael Jordan b. 1963
Luc Robitaille b. 1966

Packers Fact:
Ahman Green holds the Packers' record with 33 career 100-yard rushing games (2000-06).

2/18/2001:
Michael Waltrip's first career victory in 462 NASCAR starts, the 43rd running of the Daytona 500, is overshadowed by the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the race's final lap. On an attempted pass at 170 mph, Earnhardt's car careens out of control and smashes into a concrete barrier. As Waltrip takes the checkered flag, all eyes are on Earnhardt's wreck, but no one can believe the indomitable 49-year-old idol of the stock car world is seriously hurt. Tragically, it's much worse than that. Earnhardt suffered massive head trauma and is pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. In his familiar No. 3 car, Earnhardt had won 76 NASCAR events and seven year-end Winston Cup championships.

Birthdays:
George Gipp b. 1895
Dick Duff b. 1936
Manny Mota b. 1938
Judy Rankin b. 1945
Andy Moog b. 1960

Packers Fact:
The Packers opened the 2008 regular season with three quarterbacks - fourth-year pro Aaron Rodgers, and rookies Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm - who never had started an NFL game before.

http://www.dxpo-playingcards.com/jokers/jokers.htm#xpo

The Joker's Wild
Although many popular card games today rarely use jokers, their inclusion in standard decks dates back to the 19th century, when euchre was the most popular game in the United States and Europe. At this site you can see a while bevy of jokers represented by traditional court jesters as well as rock stars, Mickey Mouse, bathing beauties, wacky animals, devils, Santa Claus, even Alfred E. Neuman.

http://www.panopticist.com/2006/08/a_screaming_comes_across_the_screen.php

The Wilhelm Scream
Originally recorded in 1951 during the shooting of Distant Drums, the sound effect that became known as the "Wilhelm Scream" became part of the Warner Bros. sound library and was subsequently used in dozens of their films. As a tribute to the classic scream, sound designer Ben Burtt overdubbed it into films like Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, which started a trend among other soundmen that continues to this day. Learn more about the scream and see a compilation of dozens of screams at this site.

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY

Hidden in the nooks and crannies of all language are little monsters that jump out unbidden—those verbal blunders that cause embarrassment, provoke thought, and engender more language, in the form of puns, jokes, and double entendres. Here is a history of malapropisms (named after Richard Sheridan’s Mrs. Malaprop) and a fascinating investigation of the psychological and cultural truths they express.

UM . . . SLIPS, STUMBLES, AND VERBAL BLUNDERS AND WHAT THEY MEAN, by Michael Erard (Pantheon, 2007)

SO FAR FROM HOME

The Lost City is La Joya, and though Jackson Small feels compelled to look for it, he has no idea if he is pursuing a dream—and was it a dream or did he murder his friend Connolly in Belize when they were serving there in the British army? Henry Shukman, a travel writer and poet, weaves a stirring novel of a young man testing fate under the equatorial sun. Don’t miss this one. The New York Times Book Review says of The Lost City, “A golden streak of imaginative art makes this work so much more than an adventure yarn.”

THE LOST CITY, by Henry Shukman (Knopf, 2008)

SILVERBACK PORTER

Wynkoop Brewery, Denver, Colorado

This cask-conditioned porter packs an aromatic wallop of bourbon vanilla and chocolate malt. Fittingly, it pours an opaque black, with a coarse but resiliently foamy beige head. Salty, mellow malt abounds in the flavor, with a smooth, creamy texture due to the air that’s injected at the hand pump. Very limited grain bitterness counters the sweetness of malt, but the whole is still light enough to be pleasantly quaffable. Slightly dry finish, with a good licorice/black malt aftertaste. Perfect when served at 52°F. A great example of a classic working man’s quitting-time porter. (As tradition dictates for the style, the stuff is dangerously easy to drink.)

SUDS SOURCE

The Wynkoop Brewery, 1634 18th Street, offers a great lineup of ales on tap and on cask, with a full menu of pub food.

STEINGADENER DUNKLES WEIZEN

Aktien Brewery, Kaufbeuren, Germany

The dark wheat beers of Bavaria are easy to drink, refreshing, and satisfying. They are also remarkably versatile for pairing and cooking with food. But the excellence of this particular brew would be wasted in the kitchen. The famous Aktien brewery is known the world over for its top-quality German beers, and so the excellence of its Dunkles Weizen comes as no surprise. A light molasses-cookie brown, unsurprisingly well-carbonated, with a soft haze from the yeast. Caramel wheat and a very slight fruitiness emerge. Absent is the strong fruity, spicy yeast character of many other Bavarian wheat beers. Instead, subtlety reigns—for such a dark beer, it is incredibly smooth, dry, and easy to drink. And at 5.1%/vol., it’s not particularly strong.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/15-16/2010

Not enamored of the artful (but nonphysical) play of Swedish import Inge Hammarstrom, the outspoken owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Harold Ballard, once complained: "He could go into the corner boards with a dozen eggs and skate out without breaking any."

Birthdays:
Earl "Red" Blaik b. 1897
John Hadl b. 1940
Darrell Green b. 1960
Jaromir Jagr b. 1972
Amy Van Dyken b. 1973

Packers Fact:
In 2007, first-year running back Ryan Grant notched his first career 100-yard rushing game against Denver (Week 8). He gained 104 yards on 22 carries.

2/16/1986:
The Duke Blue Devils survive their second buzzer-beater finish this weekend, nipping Notre Dame, 75-74, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. For the second day in a row, it's guard Johnny Dawkins who rises to the occasion. Against the Irish, he blocks a shot by David Rivers in the final seconds to preserve the one-point win. Yesterday against NC State, Dawkins got fouled on a shot with two seconds left and made both free throws to produce a 72-70 Duke victory.

Birthdays:
Bernie Geoffrion b. 1931
John McEnroe b. 1959
Kelly Tripucka b. 1959
Mark Price b. 1964
Jerome Bettis b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Among the Packers' memorabilia in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is a box of sod from Lambeau Field.


http://www.tenthousandcents.com/

Ten Thousand Cents
The webmasters paid ten thousand people a penny apiece to draw one ten-thousandth of a hundred dollar bill to see if a work of art could be reproduced by individuals who did not know what the whole piece looked like. You can see the results at this site and purchase a digital copy for $100.

DOWN ON THE PHARMA

What starts out as a murder mystery, which launches archaeologist Louise Cantor on a worldwide tour to piece together the clues about her son’s killing (among them, his obsession with JFK’s brain), ends up as a searing exposé of the rapacious greed of drug companies and how they have crippled Africa. Mankell shows he doesn’t need his Kurt Wallender series to deliver a fascinating story.

KENNEDY’S BRAIN, by Henning Mankell, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson (New Press, 2007)

STOP FIGHTING, BOYS!

Longtime TV news correspondent and media historian Eric Burns (The Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol) creates a wonderful sort of Mad Men starring James and Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, and other bad boys, troublemakers and muckrakers all, in the boisterous, backstabbing world of 18th-century politics and publishing.

INFAMOUS SCRIBBLERS: THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND THE ROWDY BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM, by Eric Burns (PublicAffairs, 2006)

ORANGE BLOSSOM CREAM ALE

Buffalo Bill’s Brewery, Hayward, California

The lovely label on this cream ale lists honey, orange peel, and orange flower extract among its contents. The results pour a light golden color, with a slightly coarse trace of foam. In the nose, orange soda dominates, with slightly papery undertones—no recognizable blossom, but it’s admittedly a difficult aroma to detect. Flavor is also redolent of orange soda, with a nicely balanced finish between sweet malt and a slightly tart, dry-fruit character. Unsubtle, but certainly clean and refreshing enough as an orange fruit beer.

BEER FACT

Honey is a great food source for beer yeast. When added to beer prior to fermentation—at least in moderate amounts—it tends to add to alcohol content, drying the beer rather than sweetening it.

ALLAGASH WHITE ALE

Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine

Pale gold, intentionally clouded with a powdery sediment, it pours from a smartly corked 750mL bottle with a huge, meringue head of foam. Aroma reveals fresh ground coriander with apricots and a bit of orange blossom. A sophisticated yet thirst-quenching ale, light in body and alcohol, with a surprisingly long finish. Don’t chill this one down too far (no colder that about 50°F)—you’ll miss a lot of the nuance. If you aren’t into bitter beers but yearn for great flavor, this one deserves a try. A perfect summer beer done in the Belgian style—easy to approach, terrifically easy to drink.

BEER FACT

Allagash White Ale won a Silver medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup and a Bronze medal at the 2002 World Beer Cup, both in the Belgian-style White Beer category.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/14/2010

2/14/1993:
The Orlando Magic outlast the New York Knicks, 102-100, in triple overtime at the Orlando Arena. In a duel of all-pro centers, Patrick Ewing of the Knicks (34 points, 14 rebounds) fouls out in the first OT, enabling Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic (21 points, 19 rebounds, 9 blocked shots) to dictate play in the second and third extra sessions. O'Neal scores the winning basket in the third OT and follows that up by blocking Herb Williams' hook shot at the other end to secure the victory for the Magic.

Birthdays:
Woody Hayes b. 1913
Mickey Wright b. 1935
Jim Kelly b. 1960
Drew Bledsoe b. 1972
Steve McNair b. 1973

http://www.mitchoconnell.com/funstuff/glitter.htm

Glitter Cards
Cut and paste a valentine from this collection to really impress your sweetie. And the best part is the glitter's virtual, so you can enjoy the shine without worrying about the little bits getting all over your hands and clothes.

ORALE MEXICAN-STYLE LAGER

Del Norte Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado

Light brown? Tan? This brilliantly clear lager is graced with an unusual color. The aroma is deeply malty, velvety-smooth and evocative—no hop is revealed. Flavor is also malty, rich, mellow, with just a hint of background hop appearing along with a trace of green apple—but in the finish, all melds and fades. There’s just enough refreshing dryness to balance the brew. Overall, it’s not as refined as some continental lagers, but Órale is aiming straight at the Mexican tradition—nicely done, especially from a Colorado brewery.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/13/2010

2/13/1972:
Forty-five-year-old Bob Rosburg wins the 90-hole Bob Hope Desert Classic with a final-round 5-under-par 67 to nip Lanny Wadkins by one stroke at Palm Springs, California. It's Rosburg's first tournament victory in 11 years and will be the last title of his PGA career. Johnny Miller loses a chance to win the event or force a playoff by 3-putting three of the last four holes. Developing a second career after entering semiretirement, the engaging Rosburg will go on to become one of golf's foremost color commentators.

Birthdays:
Patty Berg b. 1918
Eddie Robinson b. 1919
Mike Krzyzewski b. 1947
Mats Sundin b. 1971
Randy Moss b. 1977

Packers Fact:
The Packers celebrated the 50th anniversary of Lambeau Field in the 1007 season.

http://www.isms.org.uk/bullshine_generator.htm

Bullshine Generator
Stuck for some nifty technological terms to impress the boss at the big presentation next week? Let the bullshine generator help you get the notice (and promotion) you truly deserve.

CLASSIC LOVE

In First Love, 16-year-old Vladimir falls hopelessly for the girl next door, Zinaida. She is five years older than he, and a number of other suitors compete for her attention. She does not discourage the boy, however, and he persists as the narrative moves on to a rather astounding ending. Read it for its sensitive evocation of youth’s eye-opening introduction to the power of love. Spring Torrents, about a 22-year-old and the passion he feels for a true femme fatale, is another of Turgenev’s omniscient looks at a perennial theme.

FIRST LOVE, by Ivan Turgenev, translated from the Russian by Isaiah Berlin (1860; Penguin Classics, 2007)

SPRING TORRENTS, translated from the Russian by Leonard Shapiro (1872; Penguin Classics, 1980)

“OLD SPECKLED HEN”

Morland Brewing, Suffolk, England

A draft can beer, widget-infused with a slew of nitrogen bubbles, Old Speckled Hen is a beauty. Reddish-amber in color, with the classic nitrogen tap head, this English bitter is pretty strong for the style at 5.2%/vol. Malt is the headliner here, and this chicken is basted with a molasses, treacle, and biscuity toasted grain. A silky flavor smoothness ensues, partially thanks to the draft can, but also to the impeccable balance of malt and kettle hops. A fine modern version of an English pub bitter.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/10-12/2010

2/10/1998:
Team USA posts a landmark soccer victory, blanking the four-time (and reigning) World Cup champions from Brazil, 1-0, at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Preki Radosavljevic scores the only goal of the game early in the second half, and goalie Kasey Keller makes it stand up with 10 saves. Up till now, the Americans were 0-8 lifetime against Brazil, being outscored 19-0 since last scoring against them in 1930. this win advances Team USA to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, where they'll lose a close game with Mexico, 1-0.

Birthdays:
Mark Spitz b. 1950
Greg Norman b. 1955
John Calipari b. 1959
Lenny Dykstra b. 1963
Lance Berkman b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Opposing quarterbacks completed only 55.2 percent of their passes against Green Bay in 2007. The lone NFL team with a better mark that year was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers' opponents completed 54.5 percent of their passes.

2/11/1962:
Chuck McKinley outlasts Whitney Reed in five sets to win the U.S. National Indoor tennis championship at the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York. The scores are 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 9-7, 10-8 in just under three hours. McKinley, from St. Louis, is a dynamo all afternoon, constantly charging the net to produce volley or overhead winners and daring Reed to pass him or lob over him, which the Californian manages to do with remarkable consistency. Reed has chances to close out the match in each of the last two sets on McKinley's serve, but the redoubtable Missourian survives long enough to use three deft topspin lobs to break Reed's serve at eight-all in the fifth set, deciding the issue.

Birthdays:
Eddie Shack b. 1937
Sammy Ellis b. 1941
Ben Oglivie b. 1943
James Silas b. 1949
Brian Daubach b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Brett Favre completed 22 of 29 passes in the Packers' 25-15 victory over the 49ers in a 2001 NFC Wild-Card playoff game. His completion mark of 75.9 percent was the best in club postseason history.

2/12/2005:
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels erase a 10-point deficit on the road in the final 28.5 seconds of regulation time and go on to defeat San Diego State, 93-91, in overtime. UNLV's Odartey Blankson scores a two-point goal and then a three-point goal off a turnover to quickly cut the margin to five. Then, helped by three out of four missed free throws by the Aztecs, Jerel Blassingame and Curtis Terry (at the buzzer) each hit treys for the Rebels to force overtime. Fueled by the momentum of their improbable comeback and an 11-4 edge in made three-pointers during the game, UNLV pulls out the victory in OT, stunning the SDSU home crowd at Cox Arena.

Birthdays:
Chick Hafey b. 1903
Dom DiMaggio b. 1917
Joe Garagiola b. 1926
Don Stanhouse b. 1951
Chet Lemon b. 1955

Packers Fact:
On February 12, 1992, the Packers acquired quarterback Brett Favre from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a first-round pick in that spring's draft. The Falcons traded that pick to Dallas (which chose cornerback Kevin Smith).


http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/

Monster Snacks
Why eat a plain old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup when you can add massive quantities of butter, sugar, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs to create the mother of all cups. At this site you can get the recipes for hundreds of giant, pimped-out snacks like billionaire's shortbread, a baking-sheet-sized toaster pastry, and the Elvis pink Kit-Katillac. With instructions to craft the shovel-sized "manly cutler," you'll need to wolf down your cooking project.

http://www.extremeironing.com/

Extreme Ironists
A passion for sports does not rule out staying neat and pressed. These athletes combine the two in extreme ironing, a new thrill sport that involves pressing clothing in difficult-to-reach or otherwise unusual locales. Competitors have ironed all over the place: the ocean floor off the coast of Melbourne, the bottom of Death Valley, while ice climbing in Canada, riding along Streatham Raceway, even in the middle of Trafalgar Square in London.

http://www.davidbessler.com/pulldown/pipecleaner_dance3.swf

Live Wire
Choose your music, hit the keys, and make the Pipe Cleaner man dance!



THE BOOK LOVERS’ BOOK LOVERWashington Post critic and Pulitzer Prize–winning essayist Michael Dirda loves to read, and he wants everyone else to love to read, too. To further his cause, he has selected about 90 books to bring to our attention—from the well known (Sherlock Holmes) to the unjustly neglected (Jaroslav Hašek). No one writes with such infectious enthusiasm as Dirda. After the three-page piece on Gibbon, you might be itching to get to the bookstore and pick up the entire Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

CLASSICS FOR PLEASURE, by Michael Dirda (Harcourt, 2007)

CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Susan Richards, a veterinarian in upstate New York, took on the sick, abused horse Lay Me Down. The project brought the author (also a victim of abuse) to open up, in all sorts of ways. This is the story of a love between a woman, a mare, and a man, with wonderful studies of the relationships between the newcomer and the three Morgan horses on Richards’s farm.

CHOSEN BY A HORSE, by Susan Richards (Harvest Books, 2007)

LOVE ISN’T ALWAYS PRETTY

Pulitzer Prize–winner Jeffrey Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides; Middlesex) has brought together 27 poignant stories about love—not the happily-ever-after kind but the kind that makes literature go ’round: the bittersweet, the ambiguous, the almost-had-it, the never-got-it, the suspended good-bye that lingers unspoken for decades. (The title is taken from Catullus, famous for his poem that begins “Odi et amo”—I hate and I love.)

MY MISTRESS’S SPARROW IS DEAD: GREAT LOVE STORIES, FROM CHEKHOV TO MUNRO; edited by Jeffrey Eugenides (Harper, 2009)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN IPA

Fort Collins Brewery, Fort Collins, Colorado

This India pale ale is American in every sense of the word. Earthy, pungent hops explode from the glass. Reddish-amber in color, the beer is filtered to a brilliant clarity. Sharp, lingering bitterness endures from flavor to finish, with little malt character escaping. This is a bold, slap-you-in-the-face, wake-you-up-in-the-morning kind of ale—tasted fresh, it’s a hop lover’s treat.

SUDS SOURCE

Located at 1900 East Lincoln Avenue, the Fort Collins Brewery tasting room is open Monday through Saturday from noon until 5:45, with beer to go available until 6.

CANE AND EBEL

Two Brothers Brewing Co., Warrenville, Illinois

The label describes this Thai-palm-sugar infused brew as a “hopped-up red rye ale.” Brewers Jim and Jason Ebel lend their last name to the beer—but the cane here is actually the sugar, 35 pounds of it per batch. The sweet stuff boosts the alcohol, dries the finish, and adds some fascinating nuance—date, burgundy wine, and roasted hazelnuts. It pours a deeply red, chestnut brown, just a shade lighter than a classic doppelbock. But doppelbock it’s not. The hops are big, high-alpha varieties: Summit in the boil and dry-hopped Simcoe adding a spicy, astringent citrusy flavor to the mix (along with a hugely catty hop aroma). Rye malt makes its presence known in both flavor and texture, marrying beautifully with the hops. You’ll need to drink this 7%/vol. beer around 50°F to get the full effect, and sip it slowly to process everything that’s going on.

OKTOBERFEST LAGER BEER

Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

From one of the great brewing capitols comes this seasonal autumn beer. Not surprising, since Milwaukee has always had a sizable German population. Orangey-amber, with modest carbonation, this version brings a bit more floral hop. The fruit and malt expertly balance the hoppy bitterness—critical in this style. Finishes only slightly sweet. Polished and easy to drink, it would be right at home with knee-high socks and Lederhosen.

BEER QUOTE

“An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.”
—ERNEST HEMINGWAY, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/7-2/9/2010

2/7/1972:
Seventeen-year-old high school student Chris Evert embarrasses Billie Jean King, 6-1, 6-0, in the finals of a clay court tournament in Evert's hometown of Fort Lauderdale. King has her service broken six straight times and has no response to Evert's withering ground strokes, especially her two-hander off the backhand side-a revolutionary stroke at the time. sitting courtside is her father and coach, Jim Evert, as she gives further notice (after her run to the U.S. Open semis last fall) that she'll be a major force in women's tennis.

Birthdays:
Dan Quisenberry b. 1953
Carney Lansford b. 1957
Rick Neuheisel b. 1961
Juwan Howard b. 1973
Steve Nash b. 1974

2/8/1965:
Two hours after scoring 48 points to lead the Aggies to a 91-62 victory over Denver on their home court, Utah State's Wayne Estes stops by the side of the road with two friends to see if they can be of any help at the site of a traffic accident. Unaware that a high-voltage wire had been dislodged by the car crash, the All-American basketball star walks right into the lethal electrical current and is killed instantly. He had just gone over 2,000 career points in tonight's game, averaging 33.7 points during his senior year.

Birthdays:
Joe Black b. 1924
Clete Boyer b. 1937
Marques Johnson b. 1956
Dino Ciccarelli b. 1960
Alonzo Mourning b. 1970

Packers Fact:
On February 8, 1936, the NFL held its first draft of college football players. The Packers' initial selection was Russ Letlow, a guard from San Francisco. He was the seventh choice overall.

2/9/1940:
Heavyweight champion Joe Louis defends his title with a 15-round split decision over Chilean challenger Arturo Godoy at Madison Square Garden, a result met with boos and catcalls as the fighters leave the ring. Godoy's aggressiveness and pell-mell onrushing style won approval from the crowd of 15,000 fans and at least one of the judges. In a shocking contrast of viewpoints, two judges (including referee Arthur Donovan) score the bout 10-4-1 for Louis; the other judge, veteran boxing ringsider Tommy Shortell, scores it 1-5 for Godoy. A rematch is quickly arranged, and Louis is more businesslike four months from now at Yankee Stadium, dispatching Godoy in eight rounds.

Birthdays:
Dit Clapper b. 1907
Phil Ford b. 1956
Mookie Wilson b. 1956
Vladimir Guerrero b. 1976
Jameer Nelson b. 1982

Packers Fact:
Three of the Packers' 11 starters on offense made the Pro Bowl in February of 2008: quarterback Brett Favre (he missed the game because of injury), wide receiver Donald Driver, and tackle Chad Clifton.


http://www.talkingpets.org/

Talking Pets
Choose the appropriate background and accessories and let one of these virtual pets deliver your message for you. It might go down easier coming from Fido or Fluffy, and if the recipient wants to kill the messenger, all they have to do is hit Delete.


http://negse.com/negser/

Bed Head
The site is in Japanese, but you'll be able to navigate it easily enough. For the past eight years, webmaster Negse has photographed himself upon waking to show what a good (or bad) night's sleep has done to his hair. Voice your opinion by rating each picture and then check out his top ten best-rated mornings.


http://www.verysmallobjects.com/

Tiny Things
Welcome to the world of onlifrags and neliparts - very small objects no bigger than 8 x 8 x 25 millimeters in size. Some were once living objects, like dead bugs or dried herbs (and are classified under the onli- designation), but most are man-made and originally parts of larger objects. At this site you can see dozens of classified tiny objects, learn how to name them scientifically according to the webmaster's system of classification, and submit your own finds to the site.

YOU, ME, AND HYPERBOLE

The inner lives of cartoon characters, adolescents who laugh too much, a boy’s obsession in a pitch-black attic, a master builder of miniatures, the village that makes a duplicate of itself—you get all this and plenty of other fantastic products of Steven Millhauser’s dazzlingly crafty mind. In a time of fine storytellers, Millhauser is one of the liveliest and cleverest of them.

DANGEROUS LAUGHTER: THIRTEEN STORIES, by Steven Millhauser (Knopf, 2008)

A GOOD DAY FOR A POEM

“This is the moment when bliss is what you glimpse / from the corner of your eye, as you drive past,” writes Robert Hass in his poem “September, Inverness.” The San Francisco poet has been embellishing paper with his verse since the days when he sat at the feet of the great Beat poets, learning his craft from them and many others. His latest book shows a writer at the height of his powers, catching the eternal in the fleeting moment. Reading Hass will both lighten and deepen your day.

TIME AND MATERIALS: POEMS 1997–2005, by Robert Hass (Ecco, 2007)

LEINENKUGEL’S CREAMY DARK LAGER

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

A red brunette topped by wispy foam, with a moderate roast malt aroma and a hint of caramel. Light to medium body with a terrific hop bitterness that balances the background malt. Overall impression: a very refreshing, tasty dark lager with just enough complexity to invite into a session of conversation amongst friends. Well done, with few American competitors; winner of a Silver medal at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival in the American-style Dark Lager category.

THUNDERHEAD IPA

Pyramid Breweries, Portland, Oregon

We all know Portland, Oregon, is responsible for some of the finest ales in the country. This IPA is no exception. Pale amber in color, the bountifully hoppy pale showcases Pacific Northwest grown hops. Happily, they never completely dominate a biscuity caramel malt. The result is a beer that goes down in dangerously smooth fashion, ending with a crisp, dry hop residue. A delicious IPA by anyone’s standards.

BEER FACT

Thunderhead IPA is an American-style India pale ale brewed with Pacific Northwest hop varieties like Columbus and Tomahawk. According to Pyramid Brewery, it is best paired with fish, barbecue, and all things hot and spicy.

OMMEGEDDON’S FARMHOUSE ALE

Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, New York

A dose of Brettanomyces yeast lends a wild-fruit, earthen complexity and horsey character. Enjoyed relatively young, the brew’s overall character is gentle, poetic, and soft-spoken. An intriguing wintergreen hop emerges. Floral and reminiscent of the Belgian witbier style, yet peculiarly unique. A nice foamy lace collects on the glass. Refreshing—and devilishly deceiving at 8%.

From the BrewerY:

“Dryness and funkiness begat the name of Ommegeddon—for the time when the forces of light and dark battle for world dominion. It’s time for you to pick your side.”

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/6/2010

2/6/1972:
Chet "the Jet" Walker scores a career-high 56 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 119-94 rout of the cincinnati Royals at Chicago Stadium. Walker is unstoppable on the low post with an array of short jumpers and "up-and-under" moves to score lay-ups and draw fouls. The one-time All-American from Bradley scores 22 field goals and 12 free throws while setting a Bulls team scoring record (pre-Michael Jordan).

Birthdays:
Babe Ruth b. 1895
Smoky Burgess b. 1927
Don Cockroft b. 1945
Richie Zisk b. 1949
Kim Zmeskal b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Vince Lombardi was the offensive assistant for the Eastern Conference-Champion New York Giants before he was named the Packers' head coach in February of 1959.

http://www.museumoffred.com/

Museum of Fred
Instead of visiting artists' studios to discover new work, Fred Beshid trolls through local thrift shops and brings you the best of what he's found at his very own gallery, the Museum of Fred.

BRAIN CANDY

Two writers for hit British TV shows (Spitting Image, Blackadder, and Quite Interesting) get together to prove that there’s nothing more fun than picking up incredibly obscure facts about things you never knew you didn’t know. The driest, tallest, largest; the smallest, oldest; the first and the worst; nature, history, culture, technology—all to surprise and delight you, with concise explanations. One of the better collections of this kind.

THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE, by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson (Harmony, 2007)

HENNINGER FRANKFURT BEER

Henninger-Brau, Frankfurt, Germany

Aficionados will see the green bottle and immediately be on the alert for skunky, lightstruck odors. But lo, there are none! How can this be? Well, one hint lies in the list of ingredients: “hop extract.” Somehow, German brewers have figured out a way to make lager beer that’s impervious to ultraviolet light damage! Amazing. The beer is deeply malty. Finishes long, but still deliciously drinkable. If you have your doubts, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/5/2010

2/5/2005:
Zab Judah of Brooklyn wins the unified welterweight championship of the world on a TKO in the ninth round against Cory Spinks at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. Spinks, son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, scored a unanimous 12-round decision against Judah just last April, but it's a different story tonight. Judah is the aggressor from the start and leads comfortably on all three scorecards when the bout is halted after a wobbly Spinks is knocked down for a second time. Annexing the WBC, WBA and IBF titles with this win, Judah will proceed to lose three straight fights from January 2006 through June 2007, thereby surrendering all three of his championship belts.

Birthdays:
Hank Aaron b. 1934
Roger Staubach b. 1942
Craig Morton b. 1943
Darrell Weltrip b. 1949
Roberto Alomar b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Two members of the Packers' defense earned Pro Bowl berths in the 2007 season: end Aaron Kampman and cornerback Al Harris.


http://www.tony-b.org/

Tony B's Machine
Create and record your own techno-music tracks on this virtual electronic organ, which includes special effects, sample lyrics, and a skin you can custom design.

20TH-CENTURY WITNESS

“No one except perhaps Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams has aimed so high and achieved so much in the American theater,” wrote John Lahr of August Wilson in The New Yorker. Wilson’s life’s work—ten plays that captured the African American experience in the 20th century—are brought together here in a boxed set with introductions by Lahr, Suzan-Lori Parks, Toni Morrison, Frank Rich, and Laurence Fishburne, among others. Two of the plays, Fences and The Piano Lesson, won the Pulitzer.

THE AUGUST WILSON CENTURY CYCLE, by August Wilson (Theatre Communications Group, 2007)

MOYLAN’S MOYLANDER DOUBLE IPA

Moylan’s Brewing Co., Novato, California

Woah. Pour this one in a glass, and get ready for a crazy ride. The hop aroma hits you like a brick of something green and sticky. Close your eyes, take another deep whiff, and hold on. A brilliant reddish-copper, Moylander has a tight, off-white layer of foam and moderate carbonation—but the first sip’s explosion of hop resins will make you forget about its appearance. You gasp. You smile. You go for another sip. The bitterness has two hands around your throat by this time, but as a certified hop-head, you’re loving every second of it. How do they pack so much hop hugeness into this beer? This is a ludicrously hoppy beer. No surprise it won a Great American Beer Festival Silver medal in 2007. If you like hops, you have to try this.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/3-2/4/2010

2/3/1997:
Coaches Don Haskins of UTEP and Pete Carril of Princeton head a list of seven new inductees to the Basketball Hall of Fame at Springfield, Massachusetts. Also named: NBA stars Alex English and Bailey Howell, women's standouts Denise Curry and Joan Crawford, and Antonio Diaz-Miguel, longtime coach of the Spanish national team. Nicknamed "the Bear," Haskins won 687 games in 36 years at El Paso and led the Miners to a landmark victory in the 1966 NCAA tournament. Carril, in 30 years on the bench (29 at Princeton), won 525 games with a deliberate and disciplined style of play. English scored over 25,000 points in a 15-year career; Howell had over 17,000 points in 12 years. Curry was an All-American at UCLA, while Crawford was a prominent AAU player based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Birthdays:
Emile Griffith b. 1938
Fran Tarkenton b. 1940
Bob Griese b. 1945
Vlade Divac b. 1968
Retief Goosen b. 1969

Packers Fact:

Wide receiver John Jefferson is the only Packers' player to earn MVP honors in the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. He shared the honor with San Diego's Dan Fouts after the NFC's 20-19 victory in the game following the 1982 season.

2/4/1969:
The NBA stages a doubleheader at the Astrodome, and over 41,000 fans show up to set a new league record. They watch Cincinnati top Detroit, 125-114, in the opener, but the star attraction is former Houston Cougar All-American Elvin Hayes, now with the San Diego Rockets. Scoring 32 points, "the Big E" leads San Diego to a 135-126 victory over the world champion Boston Celtics in the feature game. Two years from now, the NBA will approve the transfer of the San Diego franchise to Houston.

Birthdays:
Bennie Oosterbaan b. 1906
Byron Nelson b. 1912
Lawrence Taylor b. 1959
Denis Savard b. 1961
Oscar De La Hoya b. 1973

Packers Fact:
The Packers won all three of their indoor games in 2007, beating Minnesota, Detroit, and St. Louis in domed stadiums.


http://rulesofthumb.org/

Rules of Thumb
Rules of thumb are not scientific principles, but common wisdom learned from experience that can be applied to everyday problems, such as "if you are going to drive home from a party, don't have more than one drink per hour." At this site you can read hundreds of rules garnered from classic sources as well as contributions from visitors on topics like relationships, gardening, crime, animals, negotiating, dining, and most appropriately, thumbsucking - "It's easier to take away the pacifier than it is the thumb."

http://www.todaysbigthing.com

Today's Big Thing
Instead of dozens of wonderful offerings that you may not have the time to peruse, the wizards at this site find the "awesomest" video available each day including drunk weathermen, slow-motion lightning, television bloopers, sports stunts, animal antics, and more. With months of archives in case your boss gives you the afternoon off.

TOUGH LOVE

In the 1940s Laura MacAllan’s husband took her to a farm in the Mississippi Delta, where she had to contend with having no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and a racist, misogynist father-in-law. She turned to one of her black tenants for friendship, and troubles soon followed. Told from several different points of view, Hillary Jordan’s first novel is beautifully constructed and a compelling, moving story. It won the Bellwether Prize for Literature of Social Change for 2006.

MUDBOUND, by Hillary Jordan (Algonquin Books, 2008)

CHERCHEZ LA FEMME IN PHILLY

The husband of Philadelphia District Attorney Victor Carl’s former fiancée has been murdered, and the police suspect Carl himself. Is his ex setting him up for a fall? Could be. If James M. Cain or Raymond Chandler is your cup of crime, then this hard-boiled noir whodunit is definitely for you.

A KILLER’S KISS, by William Lashner (William Morrow, 2007)

ANCHOR SMALL BEER

Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, California

Frugality tends to course through brewers’ veins. Homebrewers inclined to strong ale have been known to try remashing an all-malt mash to extract every little bit of sweet wort. And that’s the idea behind Anchor Small Beer: The late runoff from malt used for Old Foghorn is fermented into a weaker “small” beer. But as our friends across the pond have proven, “low-gravity” beers at 3%–4%/vol. can be quite enjoyable—they call theirs session ales. Anchor Small Beer has a lot of flavor for its modest gravity, and its full gold color and hoppy aroma would lead you to believe it’s bigger than it really is. Nice hop flavor and a good, drying bitterness in the finish. Plus, it comes in big bottles. Now that’s value.

ERDINGER DARK HEFE-WEIZEN

Erdinger Weissbräu, Erding, Germany

Opulent head atop a beautifully murky, yeast-infused mass. Smell the wistful berry/banana prelude as it mingles ever so slightly with roasted malt cocoa notes. This is a clean, straightforward dark German wheat beer. Erdinger Dark Hefe-Weizen will be preferred by beer drinkers seeking drinkability, simplicity, and clean taste. Absent is the usual cast of characters present in more traditional versions in the genre. What you will find are medium body and a mouthful of malt and goodness.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/1-2/2/2010

2/1/1966:
Illinois gets 33 points from Donnie Freeman and 31 from Rich Jones to spring a 99-93 upset of fourth-ranked Michigan at Yost Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor. All-American Cazzie Russell scores 33 points for the Wolverines despite being closely guarded by future NFL running back Preston Pearson. Illinois shoots 70% from the field in the second half, sparked by 21 points from sophomore center Jones. The loss will not prevent Michigan from winning its third consecutive Big Ten conference title.

Birthdays:
Paul Blair b. 1944
Dick Snyder b. 1944
T.R. Dunn b. 1955
Malik Sealy b. 1970
Tommy Salo b. 1971

Packers Fact:
Tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher each started their 100th career game during the 2007 season.

2/2/2003:
Dany Heatley of the Atlanta Thrashers becomes the fifth player to score four goals in an NHL All-Star Game, but his Eastern Conference squad loses, 6-5 in a shootout, to the West Stars in Sunrise, Florida, the home rink of the Florida Panthers. The West wins the shootout, 3-1, in the first use of that crowd-pleasing tiebreaking measure in NHL history. (By 2005-06, shootouts will be used to break ties in all NHL regular-season contests.) Heatley joins Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Vincent Damphousse and Mike Gartner in the four-goals-in-an-All-Star-Game club.

Birthdays:
Red Schoendienst b. 1923
Gary Dornhoefer b. 1943
Arturs Irbe b. 1967
Sean Elliott b. 1968
Scott Erickson b. 1968

Packers Fact:
The Packers are the only team to win three NFL titles in a row-and they've done it twice (1929-31 and 1965-67).

http://www.phoons.com/

One-legged Poses
Inspired by a silly pose he repeated in his family's vacation photos, the webmaster began soliciting "phoons" from around the world in which people strike the one-legged pose atop the Tower of Pisa, at the base of Mount Rushmore, or next to the giant clove at a garlic festival in California. And don't miss the Where's Waldo-like "Find the Phoon" pages and optical illusions in which one mighty phooner holds a pack of fellow phooners in his hand. With rules and guidelines for submitting a phoon of your own.

ASK THE SPHINX

Nefertiti is great escapist fare for those who long to travel back in time to ancient Egypt. Rai Rehotap has been called by his pharaoh, Amenhotep, to find the pharaoh’s missing queen, the beautiful and charismatic Nefertiti. The skulduggery, violence, and suspense that follow are steeped in a wealth of period detail that makes the story as colorful as a royal concubine’s amulet.

NEFERTITI: THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, by Nick Drake (HarperCollins, 2007)

IF JANE AUSTEN WERE A MAN

Time editor and investment banker James Collins brings a knowing, smart, and masculine perspective to the romance genre in this delightfully diverting tale of boy meets girl, boy loses girl’s number, boy finds his best friend has snatched the girl for himself. And then? You can probably surmise the ending, but even so, Collins—and you—have great fun getting there.

BEGINNER’S GREEK, by James Collins (Little, Brown, 2008)

BITTER AMERICAN

21st Amendment Brewing Co., San Francisco, California

The ultimate American session ale. At 3.6%/vol., it packs a wallop of citrusy hop notes without compromising on malt personality. The whole has a sparkling, light body with an underpinning of caramel and fruit. The hop bitterness is balanced, not aggressive. Great attitude. Great aftertaste.

SUDS SOURCE

Several menus are offered at the brewery’s restaurant at 563 2nd Street in San Francisco. For lunch, try an order of spicy beer-battered popcorn chicken and the brewmaster’s fish-and-chips, both made with house ale. The roasted jerk chicken is one of the more popular signature items. For dessert, go for the handcrafted vanilla bean gelato root-beer float—and yes, the root beer is also brewed in-house. Lunch served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays, and 11:30 to 5:30 weekends.

COAL CREEK PORTER

Big Time Brewing Co., Seattle, Washington

In a word: Luscious. Deep mahogany color with inviting head retention. Creamy, smooth edges all around. Caramel, cocoa-like roast grains and floral hop characters swirl and captivate, embracing the palate and evoking comforting memories. Medium body meets drinkability. Everything a porter should be.

STYLE TIP

The two most common porter styles brewed today are brown porter and robust porter. Brown porters are typically lighter, smoother, and sweeter, with lower alcohol content. Robust porters, as the name would suggest, have more roast grain and hop bitterness, and they’re stronger, too.

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/30-31/2010

Having seen his share of young phenoms flame out and never achieve lasting stardom, longtime high school basketball scout Tom Konchalski realizes: "One of the great obstacles of long-term success is the cancer of early success."

Birthdays:
Walt Dropo b. 1923
Davey Johnson b. 1943
Tom Izzo b. 1955
Curtis Strange b. 1955
Payne Stewart b. 1957

Packers Fact:
The Packers won all five regular-season games in 2007 in which their defense or special teams scored a touchdown.

1/31/1996:
St. Louis center Dale Hawerchuk becomes the fourth player this season (and 23rd overall) to score his 500th goal as the Blues blank Toronto, 4-0, at Maple Leaf Gardens. The first pick overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 amateur draft, Hawerchuk will post seven seasons of 40-plus goals and six seasons of 100-plus points before injuries force his early retirement after next season at age 34. On this season's 500-goal registry, he joins Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman.

Birthdays:
Jackie Robinson b. 1919
Hank Aguirre b. 1931
Ernie Banks b. 1931
Camille Henry b. 1933
Nolan Ryan b. 1947


http://worryfriends.com/

How to Worry Friends nad Inconvenience People
"Tell people those stickers you get on fruit are actually edible," "Ask for sandwich fillings while pointing at other ones," and "Wave back at people on television." These gems are only a few of the doznes of ways to bug-out the people around you. Learn them all at this site.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

The Ring Cycle
They might be too far to see with the naked eye, but now you can hear the sounds that the moons of Saturn make without leaving your desk.


FDR DAYSaturday is Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s birthday. That’s one reason to be happy. Another is this outstanding and eminently readable biography of one of our greatest presidents. The New Yorker says of Jean Edward Smith’s work, “The Roosevelt who emerges here—neither a stranger nor a painted icon—is flawed and magnificent.” If you’re going to read just one FDR biography this year, FDR should be it.

FDR, by Jean Edward Smith (Random House, 2007)

AMSTEL LIGHT

Brouwerij B.V., Amsterdam, Holland

Under the Premium Lager moniker, this ubiquitous brew begins with a surprising amount of flavor for a light beer, hinting at the typical crisp dryness of Dutch-brewed lagers. Unfortunately, the malt and very modest hop character promised up front tends to fade to a rather bland finish . . . not unexpected for a “light” beer, and still brewed to impeccably clean standards. Think of it as a polished lawn mower beer, and you won’t be disappointed.

MOJO RISIN’ DOUBLE IPA

Boulder Beer Co., Boulder, Colorado

Ten percent alcohol? In the easiest-drinking double IPA around? Yes, it smacks you upside the noggin with a heady dose of Amarillo hops, but you expected that. The malt is there, and it’s a good foil to the hop assault, but it’s not the sort of heavy, kettle-caramelized chunkiness you’d expect from a double beer. A very pale amber, with a light finish due partially to alcohol dryness, minus the heat or burn. Get your mojo on.