From the Onion...

Rock n' Roll thought for the day.

Does Rock n' Roll get any more *AWESOME* than this?

Durango Mead #1

After a long (5+ year) hiatus, I decided to start brewing again. This was inspiried by the tasty bottle of wine that old buddy Matt in MN had given me last year, and with which we toasted his health this past 4th of July. My gear has been dispersed far and wide long ago, so I will need to get myself outfitted again. I borrowed a rig from Biss for this run, and will begin collecting my stash soon.

Here's the recipe I used and the procedure.

D-Town Mead #1 (5-6 gal)

7 lb local honey (from Honeytown) $23
32 oz Knutsens "Just Black Cherry" organic cherry juice $4
1 lb local currants (run through juicer) $6
.5 oz yeast nutrient $1
1 pkt Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast $1
H20 from R-O tap.

I boiled the honey in 1.5 gal of H2O for 15 minutes, skimming all the albumen that floats to the top. I then let it cool to 190deg and poured in the cherry juice and currant juice and let it steep for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I had filled the primary fermenter bucket with 4.5gal of H2O, and added 6 trays of ice to chill it. Also, I had added the yeast to a pint of 110deg H20 with a dusting of yeast nutrient in it before the boil to get it going. After steeping the fruit juice (there was approximatly 3oz of fruit matter from the currants that I let go in to the primary) I poured the whole batch aggressivly into the primary fermenter to areate. It immediatly settled to a temp below 80deg, so I tossed in the yeast and 1/2oz of yeast nutrient, gave it a stir, and sealed it up. I checcked this morning, and fermentation is apparent with a good inch of honey colored foam on top of the mead. I'll rack in 10 days to a secondary ferment tank (6 gal glass carboy) and then forget about it for a while. I will likely only get 5gal of good mead from the primary. Depending on taste (percieved thinness) I may add 1/2 to 1 gallon of agua to the secondary when I rack to make a full 6gal. Based on experience, the secondary can take so long that evaporation can occur here in the high, dry air of Southern Colorado. Stay tuned.

San Juan Mountains last weekend.

The video below is something that Erica put together from our trip over the San Juan's last weekend. Perfect weather, awesome scenery, and check out the clip near the end where I take the jeep through the river at the base of the imogene Pass road.

Brett favre - A purple-headed warrior?

As rumors fly, I just want to put this out there... Favre is a freaking genius. That whole tearful good bye last year was cleverly orchestrated to do two things. One: jerk a tear or two from every sucker-pac-fan out there. Two: convince the GM that he was out, and get a hug for it. Thus the Pac as forced to go sign a QB, and get on with it. Here's the genius - Favre gave it his all last season, and he knew afterwards that his weak and effeminate pac teammates were just not up to superbowl level. He stands to make 25 mil over the next two years, but a player of his stature can grab that AND a ring, if he had a team behind him. Knowing this, Favre plays out this drama over the last 6 months, and now, just as training camp is about to start, he thrusts his spear into the back of Green Bay by asking to play or be traded. HA! The Pac cannot play him, as it would shame every sucker who cried with him at his retirement / love-fest. The performance was that good. So now they need to go figure out what they can get for him, KNOWING that chances are he is going to a team that will contend for a ring (not like they'll make post season without him - so why worry, right?) Beautiful, isn't it? He gets a shot at Glory, more $$, and release from a team that he likely loves, but that had turned into a stone around his neck. buh-Bye little looser pac buddies! Ho Ho!

1970 F-650 6-Wheel Flatbed MONSTER!

Hey y'all! I'm back again. Got hooked up on the magic of this thing called the In-Ter-Net, and my favorte site is craigslist. Man, people will try and sell ANYTHING on this site. Check, for instance, this veteran workhorse pictured below.
This dude is asking $1500 for this *piece*. I'm more of a Honcho kind of guy, but I'd be in to this BEASTif it weren't for this line in the add: "needs a full day to get brakes released and engine running". Lance's time is precious dude! Fix your own crap, then call you call me, 'cause that's how I roll!

'63 Jeep Wagon W/ PLOW!

Yo Check it! This is Lance commin' at ya. Been a while since I rapped y'all, but I coulnd't help myself after I saw this little beauty listed on craigslist yesterday. Check it out Bro! A '63 Jeep WIT PLOW! Oh - yeah daddy. THis is one *SWEET* machine for sure! Solid steel axels, 'pumpkin-in-the-knuckle' 4 wheel drive... Man, I get excited just talking about this beauty.
It's up for grab's out a Harper's Repair here in D-Town. I'd take it off this dude's hands pronto, but I don't have the $2500 bones he's lookin' for. Screamin' deal on such a classic too!! Too bad my Honcho went tis up on me last time I had her out in the desert. Gotta drop a new tranny in that girl and get her back in business.

A Day in Duluth

Taking in the view of giche-Gumie, "The Big Water". My buddy Justin is a tugboat Captain up here.

At the entrance to the harbor in Duluth.

this boat is 757 feet long. It is one of the last STEAM POWERED boats on the Great lakes.

Queue the Gordo.

Yes, EPIC!

Canoe Trip in the BWCA and Quetico.

After two days of driving to get up to Northern MN, we were pretty happy to be there.

The people that took this picture thought we didn't know what we were doing. HA! they turned back in the wind that day and we cruised down the lake in style. Actually, the winds were pretty strong and the white-caps were a little much. Aye~!



We were fresh out of "Bottle Bass" (no glass or cans in the wilderness), so I went to the lake, and caught some traditional Big Mouth. The next day we probably hooked 30 of them in 3 hours. Best fishing of my life.




Our canoe, the "Horny Toad", on Polaris Lake.












Cruising on a rainy day.

Despite the rain, I set a sweet fire of Cedar wood with help from my Axe and Saw. This was the buggiest day of the trip. The mosquito's were Alaska-Bad. This is also right after we came over the hateful "Knife Portage". This bastard was a half-mile of bugs, rocks, mud, blown-down trees, and brush. No one uses it, opting for the multiple short hops of the Grande Knife Portage instead. We pretty much bushwacked to get through it.

The only upshot to the Knife Portage was that we were upstream of Carp Lake in Knife lake, and could shoot most of the rapids that the Grande Knife Portgages go around. Instead of 5, we only had to get out of the boat twice (Waterfalls).

Telluride Bluegrass!

These are some pics from the Bluegrass festival up in Telluride a few weeks back. We rocked it!

Check it out!! Peter Rowan Electric! I thought his set ruled! In 13 years of seeing him perform, this is the first time I have seen him with an electric axe. It kicked ass!


Here's the Emmit Nershi Band Rockin' and ROLLIN' through a *SWEET* cover of Bobby Dylan's, "Tangled up in Blue". It was extra good as Dylan himself played this song on this same stage last fall, and it kind of sucked (though the rest of his newer stuff rocked!). It was great to hear it shine in the sunshine!

The Yonder Mountain String Band tore the place up with their early set on Saturday!! This band is serious fun to go and see, and the lit up This years festival like a fireworks on the 4th. Yee-Haaaaww!!!


Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder threw it down on Friday night! They mostly rocked the songs off of thier album from last year, but Ricky also *killed* with the best version of Bruce's "Way it is" I have ever heard. Platinum voice.

Rockin' Time!










TELLURIDE!!

What?! No DOG MEAT???

From the AP this morning... I'm cancelling my reservations. Why go to China if you can't eat some dog!?!

Dog meat off the menu during Beijing Olympics.

BEIJING - Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month's Beijing Olympic Games.

Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Waiters and waitresses should "patiently" suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei.

Dog, known in Chinese as "xiangrou," or "fragrant meat," is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities.

Beijing isn't the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish. South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of "foods deemed unsightly." After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.

If things had turned out different.

Check this video. THe opening line got me: "Dude, there are so many PT cruisers out there I hardly had space to park my Segway. Toss me a Zima, Bro. Sweet, XFL playoffs are on!"