Black Friday

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Public Enemies Photo blog

Don't forget - the Columbus Christmas Parade is tonight - 6:00
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The term Black Friday actually comes from the Philadelphia Police Department in reference to the extreme traffic problems that occur. The earliest known reference on paper came in 1965. What many people don't know is that nowadays you can get the same exact deals sitting at your computer and buying online.

Using your credit card online is MUCH MUCH safer then using it "live". Plus you can hit more stores faster.

Of course then there is Cyber Monday which we are told is the beginning of internet shopping Christmas season and, we are told, it is the busiest internet shopping day, but it's not. It's just a marketing ploy. On a side note Black Friday is NOT the busiest shopping day. Again, it's all about marketing.
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Me? I'm not doing any shopping because I'm at work. I'm also lacking any coffee in my system because I WAS fasting. I had blood work today - no worries, it's all about cholesterol. It's not that I have a lot of cholesterol - I actually have very little. In fact I have too little good cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is fine, good cholesterol I need more of. I also have no blood pressure. My blood just sort of sludge's along. One time I was having my pressure taken and the nurse asked if I was feeling OK and wanted me to lay down. It was like 80 over 40 or something but I had just woken up.

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Carol Alt's (on right) new book called MODEL, INC is looking for a model for the cover and a good friend Rianna (on the left) is in the running for that cover.

All I ask is for you to go to the MODEL INK link and look for her. Vote often (hit the back button and vote again). If she wins she will get to go to NY with another person (I think a blogger would be perfect, make a great story LOL) for more shooting and all sorts of model stuff.

I tell ya - this is a banner year for Columbus. And next year looks like more of the same with lots of press from the Movie, a major (if I do say so myself) world wide blog sensation (well, perhaps not a sensation) and possibly a major book with our very own Rianna on the cover. Who knows what's next!

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Laurent, The "FAN" from Brussels turned us on to this little article on the Channing Tatum Unwrapped site. You can read the new Empire Magazine article for Channing Tatum’s ‘Public Enemies’. It's getting close!! More and more words are being found about PE on the internet. I think we got past THE DARK PERIOD!

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Since we had our Thanksgiving last weekend we had Thursday off. DJ said "I'm not really having much fun on Thanksgiving anyway" since she does the cooking and has all the food stress for the big crowd.

So we thought we would go to a Chinese Buffet for our Thanksgiving. Drove to Beaver Dam and guess what. Everything was closed except WalMart. Stunned we just walked around WalMart like hungry pathetic zombies hoping for free pizza. Nothing. We drove back home and I put up Christmas decorations.

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I hope everybody had a restful Thanksgiving week and please be careful driving. It looks like a storm coming Sunday with 2 to 5 inches.

for any weather geeks out there here is the latest from NWS

The National Weather Service 2008-2009 winter forecast for Southern Wisconsin has an enhanced probability for above normal temperatures. There is an equal chance for the precipitation to be above normal, near normal or below normal. Snowfall should be near normal.

This forecast is based on the recent trend for warmer than normal winters and the forecast for near normal tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures this coming winter. During the past ten years, Southern Wisconsin experienced six winters warmer than normal, three winters near normal and one winter colder than normal. The mean winter temperature over the past ten years is about two degrees warmer than the 1971 to 2000 official normals from the National Climatic Data Center. Recent trends therefore suggest this coming winter will be warmer than normal.

For the seventeen winters when Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific were near normal, six were colder than normal, six were warmer than normal and five were warmer than normal. For winters that followed a winter with the SSTs well above normal, as they were last winter, 70% of those winters were colder than the previous winter. However the mean temperature for those winters was only four tenths of a degree colder than the preceding winter. This all suggests that trend is a more powerful predictor than SSTs, which is why a warmer than normal winter is forecast.

Winter precipitation totals over Southern Wisconsin have not shown any significant correlation with Pacific SSTs. Also, there has been no statistically significant trend towards wetter or drier winters over Southern Wisconsin. Therefore, the forecast is for equal chances of a wet, normal or dry winter.

At Madison, there has been a very strong trend toward snowier winters. Other stations show an upward trend, but not nearly as large. Looking at winters were the Pacific SSTs were near normal, Madison has a 60% chance of having above normal snowfall and Milwaukee has its greatest frequency split between above normal and near normal snowfall with only a 20% chance of below normal snowfall. Thus, based on trends and the current state of tropical Pacific SSTs, Madison is expected to have above normal snowfall. For Milwaukee, near to above normal snowfall is forecast.

For the Packers, on the other hand, a below normal defense but a nice warm, cozy January in front of their own TV sets watching the Super Bowl is still forecast!
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OH from Adubya concerning Sean's West Coast Blaster.

"I drank both the west coast blasters. Gotta say, shocking how good they were! Like a real beer!

You can quote me on that. "

I did!

Rod - back to work.

Mr. Burroughs I Presume

Public Enemies Photo blog

Two important URLS

The first has to do with a PEC reader. She is a finalist for being a model in Carol Alt's new book MODEL'S INC vote for TOP LEFT Rianna. She is Left Hand Louie's and krix's daughter.

vote often!! it's not cheating if it's allowed. :-)

also Anonymous said...

Empire magazine has a "first look" at PE in their upcoming issue. Click on the bottom right corner of the image twice (a little black shape pops up if your mouse is in the right spot) to get to the PE page. It's too small to read the article but the photos of JD and CB are great.

YUP even zooming you can't read the lettering but . . . . .EXCITED!!
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So - since I'm off today and leaving the house in an hour I have no time for a REAL blog.

HOWEVER - One tiny thing Scott and I are looking into is getting Bryan Burroughs to come to Columbus for a meet and greet? book signing and autographs?? Would that interest anyone? It would not be a free event but might be sort of fun!

Any opinions and interest?

Really - I gotta run to Sun Prairie.

OH - NO NO NO I'm not having an operation - a joke gone bad - HOWEVER - of you that were at the Kurth Friday maybe a BS Augmentation is needed.

Rod

That's a Lot of Hops.

This comes from The Times NWI dot com

When it's cold and snowy during the month of November in Northwest Indiana, warm and sunny July days seem far away.

But in the world of movies and entertainment, July 2009 is just around the corner.

For all the readers who have been asking, Universal Pictures is promising that trailers for the much-anticipated "Public Enemies" film, which will be released nationally in July 2009, will hit theaters by Christmas Day.

Everyone who worked in this movie by director Michael Mann and starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Channing Tatum during the filming in Crown Point and assorted Chicago locations is eager to find out which scenes have stayed in the final print and what landed on the cutting-room floor (and perhaps destined to be included in a future expanded version later released on DVD).

Of course, the studio folks never make any promises about just "how much" footage will be used for the theater trailer teases.

When it's a film starring an A-lister like Depp, often, darkness, intrigue and an ominous voiceover hinting at the plot and excitement promised to unfold on future movie screens can be enough to draw an audience as a hook.

Meanwhile, the studio is being generous with allowing a few select charities to auction off VIP invites to the big West Coast red carpet premiere in Los Angeles and to the "after" cast party.

The most recent charity ticket opportunity is now up for eager fans at charityfolks.com to benefit the legal fund for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, and the lot is described as follows:

"Grab a friend and bid now for two film premiere tickets and after-party passes to attend the premiere of 'Public Enemies,' starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum and Elliot Goldenthal! The premiere is slated to occur in early 2009 in Los Angeles, Calif. 'Public Enemies' is a 2009 film adaptation of author Bryan Burrough's book 'Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34,' directed by Michael Mann. The crime drama is set during The Great Depression with the focus on the FBI agent Melvin Purvis' (Bale) attempt to stop criminals John Dillinger (Depp), Baby Face Nelson (played by Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Tatum)."

As of Friday, the bidding was up to $2,300 and the auction ends 2 p.m. Dec. 1.
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On a side note I am in need of an . . . . . . operation that will be done in early 2009 and need a few thousand that my insurance will not cover. Anyone want to help a poor poor guy out?
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Was that a magical night of football or what!! WOW - talk about getting your ass kicked. GREAT Defense guys!!! I hope the Jets go on to the Superbowl so the Packers can draft a defensive lineman that can get to within 10 yards of a Quarterback.

I am so freaking tired of announcers comparing Favre to Rogers - move along. You can not compare, two different teams and if you do compare, Rogers is kicking Favre's butt if you look at each QB's 1st year. The one thing I did hear that was true was if the Pack kept Farve this year they lose Rogers to free agency and we go into 2009 with . . . . . Matt Flynn? SWEET!!!

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Who wants some Black Cat MILD - it is not racing off the shelves. I guess that is one of the problems with making a beer style that you have no idea what it will taste like. So now I have a case and a half of 3% alcohol brew with a smokey flavor which is great but . . . . . It's like drinking decaf coffee - why bother.

My newest brew, Andy's Twelve Stroke IPA is rocking and rolling in the carboy. Very active brew. I added half an ounce of hops about every 10 minutes. But it's not just the amount of hops but what kind and how it is balanced with the malt. I think to many people just overdue the hops and forget the other components.

I used Amarillo Hops. The recipe called for Centennial (Two Hearted Ale an award willing IPA uses 100% Centennial) but with the hops shortage Centennial was hard to find.

Here is a review of Amarillo

Amarillo is, at least what I call, a honey-pineapple flavor, with notes of tangerine. It is citrusy, but not nearly in the same way as Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, etc. Those are all grapefruity/citrusy. Amarillo is smooooooth pineapple, little notes of honey, little floral notes... Very different. It's awesome in an IPA.

For anyone keeping score here was my hops schedule

0.5oz of Centennial First Wort
1.0oz Amarillo 60min
0.5oz Centennial 60min
0.25oz Amarillo 50
0.25oz Amarillo 30
0.25oz Amarillo 20
0.25oz Amarillo 05

and will add 0.5oz Amarillo DRY Hopping as soon as fermentation starts to calm down a little.
That's 3.5 ounces of hops.

My newest brew now has a label.

I used hazelnut extract but I'm looking for different stuff now. I used Liquor Quick Hazelnut Essence but I'm looking for another souce (real Hazelnuts?). I'm actually not big on flavored beer but Rogue Hazelnut is so unique I had to try my hand at it.
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MAN - I don't know who got my email address but after two years - BLAME!! I'm getting 20-30 spams a day all of a sudden!! I might have to change my email address - this is getting silly.

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Enough for today - I'll be off of work for the next 2 days and back on Friday.

since we had Thanksgiving already we're thinking of going to a movie in Beaver Dam - that must be open Thursday right??

Rod - out

Pre Screening Poo bah!

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Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

I read another poor review of a "pre-screening" of Public Enemies and basically ignored the reviewer. More in that in a few sentences.

We watched a movie called "Next" with Nicholas Cage, Jessica Biel and Julianne Moore , excellent movie - It's about a Las Vegas magician who can see into HIS future by 2 minutes and is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.

Anyway we were watching the extras and the director talked about how in the pre-screenings the character development between Cage and Biel was lacking. Even though it was an action movie they had to add some content to make the movie well rounded.

This is what is happening with Public Enemies I believe. They have the basic film but are now testing to see what needs tweaking, what is playing long and what is being missed. I have to think that directors are SO into the details that they have a hard time seeing the whole picture. They need to step back, let others view things and they enhance and tweak.

NORMALLY people do not see this process, we are clueless but being good ol' Public Enemies Fanatics we hinge on ANYTHING about the movie. (including the fact that Universal ruined a highway (Forbes) . . . .along with an antique stop light.)

These are the final two paragraphs of the article - it's fun to see articles where people don't have a CLUE where Columbus is. Basically the Associate Press wrote the piece and you will see the same words everywhere.

Columbus was the first Wisconsin filming site for the Depp movie, scheduled for a July 2 release. The small city 70 miles northwest of Milwaukee stood in for Crown Point, Ind., and Green Castle, Ind., key locations in the film that depicts Dillinger's crime spree in the 1930s.

Vintage cars took over the streets of Columbus for a week during filming. "Public Enemies" tells the story not only of Dillinger, but of the rise of the modern-day FBI, which was transformed in the hunt for Dillinger and other criminals.

A bit of odd news I must have head at one time was that Instead of Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio was slated to play Dillinger. Did I know that? I must have!

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Walgreen's. hmmmmmm . . . I'm a bit confused.

Last week I received an email telling me my Accounts Payable Vendor number was set up. This was a good thing. Perhaps the "paying" process was getting underway.

A couple days later I get a letter in the mail. Is it a check????? I open it and what do I read? It's more papers to fill out as the are asking me if I'm a bioterrorist. Answer the questions correctly and I can go free. Do I use my own car to deliver my postcards? Are they edible?

OK - I sign zee papers and I stop into Walgereens and notice they have 7 cards left. 5 days earlier they had about 50. I ask to see a manager to see if they want more and am told "Not at this time". What? You have sold 300 postcards in 3 weeks but "Not at this time". Fair enough! What can ya do. No biggie!
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We had Thanksgiving Saturday! BEAT YA!!! HA HA!!!

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Sean's West Coast Blaster was a hit with the Home Brew crowd. They all loved it. Everytime a person took his first sip I would hear "Wow, THAT is good". So I have a six pack for Left Hand Louie and of course Sean. It's not really an IPA as it's too dark but it's a very hoppy and balanced "brown amber".

Yesterday I brewed "Andy's 12 Stroke IPA". Talk about hops!!! I had a First Wort Hop addition which adds hops PRE Boil. Then it was a pretty continuous hop addition for the next 60 minutes and I'll dry hop it in a few days. I think 3.5 oz's of Amarillo and Centennial hops all told.
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I'm out of words - weird.

Rod

ARGGGGGGG

I am SO disappointed!

I had an entire blog written and then needed to test something - so I copied everything - deleted THIS blog and pasted the text to a new page - except I hit ctrl "C" instead of ctrl "V" and lost everything!!! DAMN IT!!

SO this is a VERY shot blog today.

This along with a few more comes from Kingsley - OUTSTANDING. I'll post the others in teh next few days.

There is some serious talent reading this blog.

This comes from Vicks who spotted it on the Universal website:

In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the incredible and true story of legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.

No one could stop Dillinger. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang—later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham)—thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One.

Hoover sent in Purvis, the dashing "Clark Gable of the FBI". However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) who were real gunfighters and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous "Lady in Red" to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti—were Purvis and the FBI able to close in on Dillinger.

We're getting close to the trailer - can you feel it in the air?? For the first time in months we're getting actual "stuff" out of California!!!!

DONE with todays stupid blog :-( boo hoo

BTW - It's the 3rd Friday so I'll be at The Kurth for a while tonight!

Just Another ay at the Office

New Public Enemies Photo Blog

Found a couple faux posters so I figured I'd steal them an post them here. Well done whoever created these!!

Not sure where this shot was taken. Notice the snow in the background, not Columbus or Oshkosh or Madison . . .Crown Point?

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Pirates use to be such a fun topic but all of a sudden REAL pirates are in the news stealing oil tankers. I have to wonder what the pirates are going to do with the tankers, sneak them into some secret port and fill up their cars?

Have you seen the boats the pirates are using? A large wave can tip them over. I don't understand how a HUGE oil tanker can be hijacked. It's not like the pirates are hiding behind a large wave and surprised them. Do they not have radar???

Seriously - if this is a real problem it is an easy one to fix. LARGE GUNS! You have a ship with 100 million dollars of crude oil and you can not protect it from a fishing vessel?? Hello?? Knock knock anyone home?

I see Fox News is blaming Johnny Depp! From the people that pushed George W. Bush on us!

"The fact is that pop culture finds evil far more interesting than those who fight it, with the killer being cool and the Christian always the punch line.

So, as this chaos continues offshore and oil prices shoot up, remember who to thank. It’s that little fella from “21 Jump Street,” the man who broke Winona’s heart and made eyeliner for men cool again: Mr. Depp.

Next time you see him, yank off a nipple ring for me."

What a bunch of freaking buffoons!

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Sean's West Coast Blaster - YUMMO!!!

I had to convert the tiny unfinished bathroom in the basement into

The Carbonation Station!

and it is working out wonderful. One little room in the basement that is 70 degrees and perfect for the tired yeasties in the bottles to have a little snack on residual corn sugar to create beer bubbles. Below 70 degrees and the yeasties stay under their blankets to keep warm so I had to come up with something. We'll see if it works in a few days.
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Today marks day 21 since I bottled Sean's West Coast Blaster so I thought I'd break one out and try it (last night). Plus I had to take a gravity reading to see what the alcohol content was. WHOOP!!! 7.0% Yee Haw! And it tasted mighty fine!! Loads of malt and hops but balanced. I'd say it needs one more week to carb up and age a little and we're good to go.
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I think I'm suffering from some envy issues or something. As we were driving to worktoday I spotted something in the car that reminded me of a dream and a half that I had. The dream started two nights ago but Milo woke me up and it was not completed, but I remembered enough to say . . ."that's odd".

Well it continued last night to it's, sort of, completion in a vague way, and it came to me between Sun Prairie and Columbus.

I'm in a group of people and for some reason being honored for something and the way everyone is honoring me is that they are all giving me . . . . . . . . . their tape measures!! Yea, tape measures. I had hundreds of them. What the hell does THAT mean!! I already have three! What will I do with hundreds of tape measures.

Now granted I've always had a fondness for tape measures but tape measures as a sign of appreciation?? Is this what carpenters do when one of their own is killed on the job? They toss their tape measures into the coffin?

One interpretation is

"To see or use a measuring tape in your dream, suggests that you are comparing yourself to others. The dream may be a metaphor on how you "measure up" to others. You may be feeling some self-doubt or that you are not good enough.

I'm not seeing or using, I'm getting, perhaps it means I SHOULD compare myself to others. Perhaps people are wondering "Why does he not have more self-doubt, what is wrong with him".

Dreams are weird.
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120 years ago today a 80-ton sperm whale being chased by the Essix, a whaling boat, turned around and rammed the ship twice sinking it. The 20 members of the crew escaped on life boats and started on an 83 day journey back to land.

Most of the crew resorted to cannibalism during the long journey and at one point the men drew straws to determine which of the men would be shot in order to provide sustenance for the others.

MAN - YOU DO NOT WANT TO DRAW THE SHORT STRAW!!!

Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick was inspired in part by the story of the Essex.
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And one last bit of news - COULD YOU DO THIS?

In professional golf J.P. Hayes was in a pickle.

Professional golf is a sport that is self-policed, a sport in which integrity is as important as winning titles and cheating is practically non-existent.

Last week Hayes was in a PGA Qualifying Tournament when he noticed he was not playing the same ball on a hole that he had started with. He conferred with the judges and he gave himself a 2 stroke penalty.

Later that night he was sitting in his hotel and he realized that the ball he was using was a non-conforming PGA ball, one that was sent to him to try out but was not approved by the PGA.

There was nothing he could do! I called the tournament and disqualified himself and by doing so he is not eligible to play on the PGA tour this year, which cost him probebly about $500,000.

Now THAT is honesty.

Rod

Good Bye Old Friend & Space Movies

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Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

(NEW BLOG - Public Enemies Photos)

Debbie the Polar Bear was put to sleep yesterday. She was the oldest polar bear on the planet at 40 years old. Debbie was born in the Russian Arctic in 1966 and orphaned. The Winnipeg zoo got her a year later and she lived a good life. Very few polar bears in the wild live to see 20 so she had a long and happy life.

I had another death last night. My desk top PC died. Good Bye old friend. With it the Columbus Weather Station came crashing to a halt. As luck would have it I had transferred many Public Enemies photos onto a thumb drive but there are a lot of photos stuck on the hard drive. I'm not sure if they are recoverable or not having never had a PC crash before.

It was on life support for the last week as little odd things were starting to happen. It was eight years old so not a shock. I have been thinking of anything I really NEED from it and there is no BIG stress, just a lot of little things in folders. Like a junk drawer that is stuck closed. I can live without the junk but . . . . . . it would be nice to get to it.
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Did you see the piece on WKOW-TV about Columbus? Steve - you're a star!!! And you guys are right - that is an Office Depot in the distance - must be a well kept secret. Plus - that is also the one Columbus street light that is THAT tall!
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I see Wikipedia has a Public Enemies page now. I added the PE photo blog as a link (tee hee).

Speaking of movies - have you seen the new Star Trek trailer? SWEET


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I remember watching the last Star Wars and man - my geek watch was going off 10 minutes into the movie. Here I am thinking "I have another hour and 50 minutes of this?" It was horrible. This one looks good.

BTW - if you are a Sci Fi fan and have not watched Serenity it is what I consider among the best "space" movies of of all time. It has won many awards but did not make back it's budget until it went to DVD so some call it a flop. Still - rent it. You won't be disappointed. Plus - it co-stars Adam Baldwin (Chuck) and I love that guy!!!


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I'm brewing up my first real IPA this weekend. I'm waiting for the train load of hops to arrive at the train depot as I hear it is two full cars of Centennial hops. Centennial has a pungent, citrus-like flavor and aroma. This particular "C" hop, (Cascade, Chinook,Columbus and Centennial), is good when you are not looking to impart quite the floral aromas that you might find in Cascade. (Sean's West Coast Blaster is like drowning in sea flowers).

On another subject, my labels. I have a new label coming out and I hope the beer that it is for does not SUCK!!! I have yet to bottle it so the flavor is still an unknown. BUT - so far I've been doing pretty good so my fingers are crossed.

I'm going to make poster size prints of my labels. Of course many of you have not tasted most of the beer that goes UNDER the labels so why would you care. One thing I have learned. If I give most of my beer away . . . I have very little to drink myself LOL!! Strange how that happens.

So I've had to readjust my beer pipeline to make certain batches more often. Flat Squirrel, Columbus Carriage Classic, Double Chocolate Stout - GONE!! Now I have to wait for those redoes to mature! In the mean time I'm stuck with green beer that is taking too long to age because of cold weather and a cold basement. (Working on that problem).

So here is the next brew to be bottled! The label is not complete and is 90% finished.

I think I can blow most of my labels up to 20x24 with good results. Collect them all!

another label example

Anyway I'll be taking photos of the beer making process when I make aduby's special order IPA for his February party.
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FIELD TRIP - I'll contact John at Columbus Water & Light and see if we can get a Field Trip to the secret government water facility for . . . . Friday December 5th about 6:30ish???

hmmmmmm anything else???

OK
Rod Out

Universal Was So So Lucky In March

NEW BLOG - Public Enemies Photos!

One of the big things last winter was the snow. Even the hardened veterans of winters past, when Wisconsin had REAL winters, will tell you that last year was a HARD winter. I've tried to separate the whiners from the realists and for the most part I have to agree that the winter of 07/08 was a very very hard winter.

So when it was discovered that Universal City Studios was coming to Columbus this was a beacon of hope, a ray of light at the end of an endless tunnel . Universal was so lucky.

There was a weather phenomenon that happened. The longest stretch of clear weather coincided with Universal coming to town. For ten days we had no snow. At no other time last winter did we go more then 7 days without snow. They come to town, it stops snowing, they pack up and leave? BAM we got dumped on.

Here is a graph I created showing the snowfall of 07/08. The two lines on the right side show when Mann and Company were present.


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I want to thank the Vick family and local Legion Post 62 for donating American Flags to Columbus. THANK YOU! This fight is not over though. I will NOT let those flags become an eyesore like they did this year. Or at least I will not let them get that way and sit on my hands doing nothing.

New flags are the first step but taking down the flags when they are ripped and looking like feed bags is the next step. A dirty, ripped American Flag is MUCH worse then no flag at all. And 15 dirty and ripped American Flags are just an embarrassment.

DON'T GET ME STARTED!! LOL

Again Thank you for the flags!!!! I'm glad someone cares!
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Other news

The Columbus Holiday Parade will be Friday the 28th. Remember last year? FREAKING cold!

HEY - is that almost everyone's favorite banker in the paper?? In the photo WHO's is handing out a certificate of appreciation to a guy that decided to leave his money in the bank!! WELL DONE!

What?? OH - never mind - The BANK is getting a certificate of appreciation for donating some $ for the Veterans Day Dance. My Bad.

BRUSH PICK UP ENDED??? Well - too bad they missed OUR neighborhood AGAIN!! I swear Vista Circle is not on the city maps, the snow plows continually miss us and now brush pickup ended and I have a pile on my lawn for the last few weeks. Perhaps the Vick family can donate some town maps??

Julies Java is celebrating their 6th Anniversary with some cooking classes. Lots of cool classes for $2. Call Julie at 623-5540. Do you think she would sell my Doggie Beer Bars? I have a new batch that Blake LOVES!!
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The as yet named Sun Prairie Fermentors Club is meeting Thursday 7ish at Cannery Wine and Spirits in . . . .Sun Prairie. It's a fun time and lots of tasty brew and other fermented concoctions. COME ON DOWN!

From Jeff our leader

Other Business, please think of some subjects you would like to learn more about and perhaps we can schedule a presentation, or if you are really good at something and would like to share, please offer. Some topics I have in mind are: water usage (and why it matters in Sun Prairie), yeast washing, force carbonation and the joy of kegged beer, etc.

After voting, tasting.

Please bring feel free to bring a few bottles of your beer, and for the disciples of Pan (come on, you know who you are, you who tease mystery from supple fruit and grape), if you would like to share a sample of your wine, I'm game.

I have to admit the last (our first actually) meeting was a blast. Having others to talk to about a hobby is great and when that hobby includes alcohol, well . . . .need I say more! I was surprised at how many people brew more then beer. That is why I just called it Sun Prairie Fermentors Club. I bet we will be tasting sauerkraut at some point!
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On this date in 1883 the Railroad invented the first timezones.

Efficient rail transportation demanded a more uniform time-keeping system. Rather than turning to the federal governments of the United States and Canada to create a North American system of time zones, the powerful railroad companies took it upon themselves to create a new time code system. The companies agreed to divide the continent into four time zones; the dividing lines adopted were very close to the ones we still use today.

In 1978, 913 people committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced kool aid with People's Temple leader Jim Jones Jones exhorting the "beauty of dying" over a loudspeaker.

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Water - getting some interested in touring the Water Works! Let me know - perhaps some Saturday? Some Friday before The Kurth? Wednesday before The Kurth? Let me hear ya!
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Work work.

Have a Day Rod

Water Water Water Everywhere & A Trailer Strategy

Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

I've been obsessing over the Columbus water lately and I'll get into that a little later AND I'm thinking, FIELD TRIP!, but first I have to talk about Public Enemies (since this IS a Public Enemies blog).

I've was thinking about the upcoming trailer which MIGHT be happening in a few weeks. Things are starting to ramp up a little as Universal Studios has been working on their Public Enemies site, MTV had a little writeup (although I presume with the wrong premiere date) and there was a pre screening review. IT'S GETTING EXCITING!!

So I'm driving home and I have to think that 99.8% of the population does no even know there is a Public Enemies movie in the works. Once it comes out there is going to be all sorts of movie fans (not PE fanatics like us) going gaa gaa. hmmmmmm what can I do, what can I do.

I GOT IT!!

I've been asked to do this a few times already and it seemed like a LOT of work and I'm not a workoholic, so I had to come up with an alternate easier way.

NEW BLOG!!!!! This is a Public Enemies Photo blog. It will contain as many of the hundreds of photos that have been sent to me as I can before I burn out. Many shots you have seen and many you have not. Check it out as I will be updating as we go.

And speaking of photos

ARE YOU LISTENING UNIVERSAL??? I know you were keeping tabs on me at one time.

It seems that a local photo dude, John Walcott, was contacted by Universal and was told "You ain't putting THAT photo in your calendar". Well - I certainly have not tried to be under the radar and I've TRIED to contact them 3 times but get nothing in return. So - as far as I know the postcards are OK. No model release needed on those. IF there is a problem, you certainly know how to get a hold of me.

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Football - there had never ever been a game in the NFL that ended with a score of 11-10. AND - last nights game ONLY ended with that score because of . . . disinterest. If any of you watched the game you know as well as anybody that there was no forward pass nullifying the touchdown to end the game. It was just that since the teams could not get back on the field to kick the extra point and FINISH the play. They said f*ck it. Play never happened and no one cares we will call a penalty. It's the easy thing to do.

EXCEPT for the people betting on the game it meant a LOT LOL.

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Batman is going to die this month! As the movie The Dark Knight closes in on $1 Billion world-wide gross Batman #681 will end Bruce Waynes life. Writer Grant Morrison finishes off his R.I.P storyline. But who is helping him write this?? None other then superstar Neil Gaiman (remember? he was the guy that brought us that outstanding movie Stardust).

I've read a lot of Gaiman and Morrison is a name from the past as I read all of his Animal Man and Doom Patrol comics along with Vamprellia. Vamp had (and still does have) some odd draw to me that I can not explain to this day. I really liked to story line and writing.


Anyway Batman #681 looks pretty good.

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FIELD TRIP!! I've been obsessing over water because of beer. Since beer is mostly water I thought it was time to look into what was IN the water. Not the bad icky stuff but the minerals and so forth.

The first thing I did was get a PH reading and it was off the scale as far as making good beer. Upon further obsessing I find that dark beer likes high PH . . .but that high? Well, it seems barley changes water so who cares WHAT is in the water out of the tap, it's what happens to the water once it hits the barley.

It seems dark malted barley will lower the pH which in turn will help the chemical conversion of the enzymes into sugar (actually certain enzymes alpha and beta amylase I believe). This means in the simplest explanation that Columbus water is great for making dark beer's - sort of like Dublin and their Guinness. My brew water yesterday started with a PH in the lower7's and once I started mashing the PH lowered to a perfect 5.8.

But - the problem is making lighter beers. I needed to know exactly what the Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity was. This is where I contacted Columbus Water and Light and started to get some answers.

What I found is that Columbus has a calcium content of 11 ppm which is exactly what Pilsen (the home of Pilsener beer) AND Magnesium is 3.4 ppm which AGAIN is exactly what Pilsen. BUT WAIT - what about Alkalinity. This was a hard number to find until I found the DNR website which has ALL the towns in Wisconsin water readings.

Alkalinity was 300 ppm which is 297 more then Pilsen. 300 is more like Burton (home of the IPAs).

So now I can make a nomograph and fix the water for lighter beers like Browns, Ambers, APA's and the IPA I'm making next weekend. (example of a nomo graph - I believe this is L.A.)

BTW - I brewed up a Milk Stout yesterday. Milk because I put 3/4 lb of lactose sugar in the beer. Shakes - I sent an email to you - I have new barley for bread.

BUT - the real story is this.

I love field trips (remember the Sassy Cow Adventure?). We have been invited to tour the super secret Columbus Water Works Plant #2. I hear it is over 30 stories below ground in a nuclear free bunker. Or not, I guess that is what we will have to find out. THE TRUTH!

Anyone besides me interested on a pre-Kurth visit to the water works some night? I have no solid date in mind yet. Any night or Saturdays. We are welcome to have our own private (swimming suits optional) tour.

Let me know and I'll get the ball rolling - don't make me go alone. OH! I WILL AND YOU WILL BE SORRY! If I'm forced to go by myself you will have a whole week of this kind of talk

"The finished water in the distribution system normally ranges between 50-70 mg/l (as CaCO3), with a pH of 7.4-7.5. Our well water is quite "hard" at approximately 275 mg/l (CaCO3)."

And we don't want to go down THAT road!! Although "zeolite softening" sounds rather sexy.
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AND LAST - because this FREAKING song has been in my head all weekend I'm going to make you listen to it. It's by Dido and is really pretty good - however once I listen to it one last time I'm going to play something manly, perhaps some Slipknot or Drowning Pool or Marylin Mansion afterwords!

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MILO - SHUT UP!!

THIS JUST IN - look at what is on ebay!!! - NOT my doing!


While many of you were going about your daily business and a few of you looked quickly at the stock market and once again saw gloom and doom many market watchers were in more stress then normal.

It was not just that the market had once again lost 500+ points. It was that THOSE 500 points were way way more meaning full then the normal 500 point loss. For chart watchers it was testing day and VERY important.

DOW and other indices were testing multi year lows. It was going to be a classic re-test. Stay above the previous low and it shows that we have hit the bottom and are about to bounce up. Stay below and it is very bad news indeed. At stake are faith and confidence of the people that have all the money.

This month the bottom has been tested once already and we bounced off the bottom. As the market raced downward yesterday all eyes were on the bottom. 8176 was so fragile. At one point the market was at 7965. $4 trillion are on the sidelines in money markets, when would the doors open.

A little after 1:00 our time the door opened and the market zoomed from 7965 to 8835 in two hours. The low had been tested and once again had bounced. This is very good news and this is what happens in a bottoming process. We're not out of the woods yet but to me it looks like all the scared money is out of the market.
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I'm posting this photo not because it has me in it (which is always a bonus) but more because this is an outstanding photo of the 1933 Graham that I had the honor to . . . . stand next to for 16 hours a day for 5 days.

Thanks Scott for sharing this. It's a regal car - the ultimate gangstermobile.

I post the next photo because this is the big devil cat that keeps us up at night.

This is THE BIG DEVIL CAT

And this is the Nice Kitten - the good girl.

Never mind she is in the middle of last years Christmas Tree.

I read in he paper about a woman that was having trouble with her cat meowing all night wanting to go outside. The response was to "play with your cat more" and do not let your cat go outside because ALL cats are now domesticated and would die within hours of being outside (well . . . that's what they try to tell you).

I find this offensive as the person clearly does not know squat about cats.

I bring this up because Milo has learned how to get what he wants and if it was not ME it would be more funnier.

When Milo decides he wants to go out this is what he will do.

First he will jump onto the bed as close to my head as possible, all 11 pounds of muscle (not much fat on him). He will then STOMP across the pillows until he reaches DJ's bed stand. Upon arriving at said bed stand he will attempt to climb the wall and meow. With no response he will then proceed to knock random loose objects off the stand, clunk . . . clunk . . .clunk.

About this time Blake, who was soundly sleeping beside the bed will let out a grown (he really does) . We ignore Milo and he jumps down and meows next to the sliding door for a while and walks back and forth making the blinds rattle against the window. Each meow getting more and more pathetic sounding.

Then if we STILL show no interest he will walk into the master bathroom, jump up onto the counter and knock a few things off. Nothing? OK, he calls in the drastic measure. He jumps into the bathtub where the meow-coustics are awesome and will start singing at the top of his lungs.

BUT - if we are smart that particular night we will close the bathroom door (which worries Blake for some reason). Ahhh - but he has another trick up his sleeve. Milo then will go to the laundry room which is nearby, jump onto the washer and jump to the top of the cabinets. He is near the ceiling now and will meow a few times tryign to get the right echo effect and then BAM!! He will jump onto the metal dryer with all his force he can muster. Like an 11 pound bowling ball in metal.

Blake will then get up, shake his head making his collar jingle like Santa has just landed in your bedroom and then grunting and gowning crawl under the bed**.

Then Milo will go back to the beginning and start all over.

So we let him out at night.

**funny thing about Black under the bed. When we first got him he would crawl under the bed to sleep and every time he would wake up. BUMP!! he would hit his head. We thought if this kept up he would be brain damaged but he learned after 100 bumps.
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Here is Milo last night not happy with the rain.

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On this day in 1851 Moby Dick was published. It was a flop. The author, Herman Melville, had written five other books before Moby. Romantic adventure's in Polynesia. Moby was a financial disappointment and Melville went on to write short stories but it was not paying the bills so he returned to New York to work as a customs inspector and the literally world forgot about him. He died in 1891.

In the early 1920's Moby Dick was rediscovered by scholars and Moby Dick would become a staple of high school reading lists across the United States.
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On this day in 1882 Billy the Kid was shot dead in Tombstone by Franklin "Buckskin" Leslie a cold blooded killer (It is assumed he killed John Ringo . . remember that song?) .

Billy The Kid Clairborn was a friend of John Ringo and decided to kill Buckskin Leslie in public in order to perhaps gain some notoriety along with vengeance. Bad idea. The classic duel ended Billy's life.

Buckskin had already murdered Mike Killeen in a fight over Killeen wife. The unnamed wife must have liked the bad boys and married Buckskin a short time later. Who knew the marriage would not work out and after divorced said wife he took up with a Tombstone prostitute who he murdered a few years later.

WELL - this seem unacceptable, killing an unarmed woman and he spent 10 years behind bars for those act. He was released and married again and made a small fortune in the gold fields of the Klondike region before he disappeared forever from the historical record.
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Good news for the Ozone layer - The US has reduced it's output of ozone-damaging junk by 97% since the 1980's. NASA scientist say that a full recovery of the Ozone layer may not occur until at least 2050 and maybe not until 2070 over the polar regions.
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WAL-MART - Always Low Prices! Unless you have a Wal-Mart credit card in Mexico. The annual interest rate on a Wal-Mart CC is 69.6% . I see nothing wrong with that!!! LOL

have a great weekend
Rod

Face Book - What Have They Done!!

Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

Let me say this RIGHT NOW - I am an unwilling participant in Face Book and if you think you are going to get me into my underwear to have a "pillow fight" you have another thing coming. Good Grief. SOMEONE who shall remain nameless signed me up and all of a sudden I have 60 emails with new BUDDIES!!! WELL - ain't that a fun little virtual ticklefest!!

Here I am watching manly TV shows about truckstops and I log on and see SOMEBODY (who will remain nameless) has thrown a "pillow" at me! Oh man!!
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Music - March 4th 1973 I attended a concert at the Dane County Memorial Coliseum. I Was in the front row of a festival seating event. At that time you would put down a blanket on the floor and that was your space. No one would walk on it, it was your territory to do with what you wanted. We had a bong and I remember my parents were in the seats somewhere behind us.

The event? The very first American showing of Dark Side Of The Moon. Pink Floyd had done eight shows of Dark Side in Paris before coming to the States. The album would be released March 17th two weeks later. I can honestly say I was one of the first humans to ever hear Dark Side Of The Moon. What many consider greatest and most influential albums of all time.

I saw Pink Floyd five times. I believe the Division Bell show in Madison was the first time a yellow laser was ever used in the States. It was a driving rain storm which made the laser look amazing.

I remember the Animals concert in Milwaukee and when a gi-normous floating pig blew up the cops came running into Miller park with guns drawn. I remember that same concert when Dark Side was being played and there was a heat lightning storm at the same time. WOW!

The reason I bring this up was last Tuesday a band called Australian Pink Floyd was in Madison. I had the opportunity to see them the last time they were here and from a guy that has seen Floyd 5 times - that are GREAT!! They are an almost exact copy of the original.

If you have never seen Pink Floyd and have the chance to see these guys - fork out the bills and you will not be disappointed.

The photos are from Aussie Pink Floyd.

One last thing concerning music. There was a song on the satellite radio this morning by Dido. I love the song so I looked up Dido to see who she was . Her REAL name is Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong. I bet that was a tough learning curve for spelling her name!!
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You do realize in 17 days we will be in the first week of December and the Trailer Watch officially starts. According to an anonymous who I trust and has no inside information but knows how things work the first week seems to be the time when MM's trailers coming out. At least in the past!

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Movies - "Quantum of Solace" has open field running this weekend as not one other movie wants to open against it. It's all alone when it comes to new movies this weekend.

I love Daniel Craig as the new Bond. The other Bonds were so foo foo. "Casino Royale" opened with 40 million on it's way to $167M in the states.
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Has anybody seen "Saints and Solders"? I got it in Netflix and now I can see I can watch if for free on Hulu. Of course it won't be in 7.1 surround sound or on a 47 inch computer screen! LOL

And speaking of free things

Free Conference Calls dot com it seems you can do conference calls for free using your cell phones?? If you have a bunch of people that need to talk. Sign up and tell the site what time the conference will be. They will give you a phone number to call at that time. Tell others to call THAT number at the specified time and bingo! You can all talk at the same time . . . . just like at the Kurth OR on The View!!!

Have a Thursday
Rod

Everything YouKknow Is Wrong

Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

First of all - all you guys out in LA reading this blog - toss me a bone here - I'm dieing. Yet another Public Enemies challenged blog. How's editing going????

I fear I will get silence in return :-(
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November is my favorite month to hate. It's dark, cold, gray and rainy. nothing pretty at all to look at.

The latest NWS prediction is calling for a warmer winter here in Wisconsin. Meaning more rain but being a 25 mile commuter I'll take it. When I moved to Columbus coworkers said I would hate the drive in every day. I actually LOVE the drive in every day. It's a beautiful drive to Madison and DJ and I have no problem.

HOWEVER - We did not count on so many snow days. I was looking at my records and the first snow came on December 2nd with 5.1 inches of snow and it was only the beginning. Here are the snow days with more then 1 inch of snow for the winter 2007/08

12/02/07 = 5.1 inches
12/05/07 = 6.6
12/07/07 = 2.7
12/11/07 = 1.1
12/12/07 = 5.1
12/16/07 = 3.1
12/23/07 = 1.0
12/24/07 = 3.0
12/27/07 = 1.1
12/29/07 = 7.3
01/11/08 = 2.2
01/13/08 = 1.4
01/18/08 = 2.8
01/22/08 = 8.5
01/26/08 = 1.8
01/30/08 = 1.5
02/01/08 = 2.2
02/02/08 = 2.0
02/05/08 = 5.0
02/07/08 = 12.1
02/10/08 = 1.1
02/12/08 = 1.3
02/13/08 = 1.4
02/15/08 = 2.0
02/18/08 = 2.0
02/19/08 = 2.3
02/26/08 = 1.5
02/29/08 = 2.2
03/03/08 = 1.4
03/22/08 = 10.2

Thirty days of snow - that is a MONTH OF SNOW DAYS!!! I tell ya - people were getting a LITTLE cranky and thank goodness Universal Studios decided to use Columbus for the movie because THAT was a rough winter and there really needed to be something good happening in the spring.

Click to enlarge to a web page

Still on the weather topic - it seems Hurricane and Tropical storms are at a 30 year low and scientists are now saying that the amount of severe weather has nothing to do with global warming at all. There is no correlation.

And speaking of being wrong. All of the hand wringing about gas being $6.00 a gallon was wrong also. It SEEMS there is a good chance we will be seeing gas in the $1.50-$1.70 a gallon range before the year is out. Lots of panic selling of oil futures as all of those guys that ran UP the price of gas are now losing their ass and dumping it as fast as possible.

We're looking at a good 90 days of cheap gas. Remember - when everyone is crying wolf saying things are going to hell it's normally at the apex and things will get better (and vice versa).
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Just call me Spine Breeder Palin!

That would be my name if I was a Sarah Palin child - check out this Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator
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I had a meeting last night to talk about the new Sharrow Drug web presence - I was more of a consultant but the point I'm getting at is the meeting was at The Bell in South Beaver Dam. It was the first time I had ever been to that little country bar and I tell ya - I had the best bar burger I have had in a long long time.

It's on County "D" - check it out sometime - they offer all the macro swill beer along with Spotted Cow on tap and I tried Bud's American Ale for the first time. Not really excited about it but I would drink it before any other macro beer. It had a faint flavor.

And while I'm on beer. If the refrigerator guy is reading this he can stop over anytime the next couple nights to swap out whatever he needs to swap out. Also - that frig is going to be SWEET!!! I'm brewing a Scottish 80/- and I read that they need to be cold conditioned for a month after it carbs up. It'll work out great.

I can't do an actual lager as I would need something to put a 6 gallon carboy in but this will work out great for cold conditioning 48 bottles of Scottish Ale.

and another thing - I've been getting some requests for brew. If you would like a case I need a couple months to brew it. 3 weeks of fermentating and 4 weeks of conditioning.

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The Kurth.

I miss you guys! Just thinking out loud here. How about making the 1st Wednesday and the 3rd Friday of the month a Kurth meeting time. Just to catch up on things.
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Amazing Race results

DJ picked Kelly and Christy perfectly and had a "0" point week to propel her into 1st place tie with Jenny. However, there is trouble a brewing.

Mark is lurking in 3rd place 1 point behind AND still has 4 of his top 5 picks active. HOWEVER - before he gets too cocky Toni and Dallas are still in the race and he picked them to go out a LONG time ago.

DJ = 13
Jenny = 13
Mark = 14
Colette = 15
Andy = 18
Rod = 18
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November

Rain,
On the window, on the eaves,
On the sodden autumn leaves,
Sound of rain.

Heavy skies.
Somberly the world at dawn,
Wakes to find that summer's gone
And cries.

- by E.V.Melotte
from her book Snapshots Along The Way

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Have a good Wednesday

Rod M

Tim Tuttle and the Flying Car

I was in a car just like this when we managed to get it airborne . . . twice. You want excitement anonymous?? - more on this below??
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It's Veterans Day. Buy a vet a beer.

When do wars really end.

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. However I feel that WW1 never really ended. It was really just on hiatus for a few years.

The War to End All Wars left 9 million solders dead and 21 million wounded plus another 5 million civilians that either died from disease, starvation, or exposure. The peace treaty which was signed in 1919, The Treaty of Versailles, at the time brought the war to an end but it destabilized Europe further and laid the groundwork for World War II, or actually a continuation of WW1.

North and South Korea are still at war. Their war began in 1950 and while there is no open shooting the war still exists. In 2007 at the second Inter-Korean Summit in October 2007, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il signed a joint declaration calling for international talks towards a peace treaty to formally end the war. But nothing has really been done.

Iraq. Talk to any historian in the early 90's and they will tell you that when the Gulf War ended in February 1991, it was not over. It was delayed. Most agreed that the war was not over by a long shot. And thus we have what some call Gulf War II.

I remember when the first bombs started falling on August 2nd 1990. I was throwing up in a bucket. I had come down with the flu and the news came on TV with bombs falling and me hurling. Not that anyone cares about my hurling.
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I'm looking into making Columbus Postcards. I think I have exhausted my Public Enemies cards at eight. I know there have been requests for post cards of Columbus but the problem is that they would cost $1 each. This is much more then the generic $0.22 cent cards of a cow that has Columbus Wisconsin or a pretty river that says Columbus.

Another problem is that I need to get the store owners to purchased post card stands. They are missing out on sales.
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Speaking of Columbus - HOW can I get information from the Water Department. The said they send out water reports but it is only a report on how much or the lack of icky things. I need a report on Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Alkalinity (CaCO3). Then I can make cool charts like this that will tell me what I need to do to correct the water for certain styles of brew.

I took a PH test of my mash (when the grains are "steeping" to convert alpha and beta enzymes) and the PH was off my scale. This would tell me that the Columbus water is pretty much like Dublin, suggesting dark beers are the best. But in order to make other styles correctly I need to know how to modify the water (or the mash actually).

SO - anyone know who I can talk too??? I've called the Water Department and have been told twice that don't know that data (which I find rather odd).
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I DO NOT LOOK LIKE REGIS!!!!

anonymous 9:06 said yesterday "You are out of your slump. Even if you had not mentioned PE at all".

I've been writing a daily blog 5 days a week for 3 years and understand completely. I was actually in a slump about a month ago. I realize fully when I'm slumping (writers block some call it). As for Public Enemies - you try coming up with something intelligent when there is nothing to say that has not been said before.

Something I have learned recently is that there are CD's with my entire blog floating around. One person contacted me saying they had put every one of my PE blogs on a CD all the way back to March 3rd and was there a way to get posts previous to March 3rd. Having my entire PE blog on CD is something I certainly did not expect. And having a number of them from various people AND having one person contact me asking if I had one for sale . . .that's just crazy.

I had to explain (or did I??) that my first blog on blogger was actually October 22 2005 when I blogged about the TelevisionPreview.com scam and before that I had another year on my own website mostly about Poker. But nothing about Public Enemies until March 3rd 2008.

HA! I was just looking over that blog. Remember Harriet Miers? I was mentioned on her blog once. Ahhh - the good ol' days.

Tim Tuttle and the Flying Car.

Many moons ago my friends and I were cruising around in Tim Tuttles dad's car. It was a Ford County Squire. We were just driving around with Tim at the wheel and me next to him in the front seat.

There is a hill in Jefferson that was pretty steep (not called Dead Man's Hill - or something like that) and near the outskirts of the town. Steep enough so if you were on a bicycle you would slow down before coming to it. The kind that normal driver's slow way down and put the brake on all the way down the hill.

Rick next to me (three in the front seat) says "floor it" jokingly, and Tim, not knowing about the hill and always up for a spontaneous moment does just that. He floors it. We all scream NO!!!! But it's too late.

There are three of us in the front seat and 3 in the back. All I can remember of the first flight is looking over at Rick whose head is touching the sealing as we seem to be levitating in mid air.

The ground is rushing up at us like we're in an automobile ski jump and the first landing is rather hard but we're back in the air again for a second airbourn event and we have touchdown roll to a stop.

Laughter breaks out . . . except for Tim who is still gripping the wheel in a death grip staring straight ahead.

We all step out of the car to kiss the earth (I think Steve and Elweed both did this act) and after we see everyone is OK notice that all four hub caps are missing.

Spreading out to look for hub caps seems like a good plan when a patrol car drives up and stops next to us. He looks at us and asks if there is a problem??? "No no officer, we're just looking for a wheel cover that we think fell off."

This satisfies him and he drives off. We believe people that live in the house on the hill noticed a flying car and called the police.

Finding 3 of the 4 hub caps we pile into the car and decide that we were pretty bored of driving around and perhaps we should head back and relax at my apartment.

Upon arriving back in Fort Atkinson we head upstairs to my place (not knowing until latera year that the police were monitoring the place . . . . . that is a different and also interesting story) for some R & R.

Tim leaves to go home and notices that there is a lot of gas under the car. Steve, a car guy, comes out and does a once over and says it looks like the gas line took a hit and it's leaking a little.

Hmmmmmm! One hub cap missing and a gas line crack. Things are getting a little harder to explain.

Tim takes the car home and his dad takes the car to the shop to fix this unexplained leak. A day later Tim is told to go get the car.

On the way home, Tim stops at a stop light . . . . . and, the entire front left wheel falls completely off!

BUT wait - it's not over for Tim yet.

The very next day he is working for his dad at the pharmacy as a delivery guy and he is broadsided totaling the drugstores only delivery car.

BUT WAIT!!

Tim has now been reduced to a bicycle and Tim, Elweed and I, the very next day are racing around on our Schwinn 12 speed bikes. We are speeding through town on Main Street keeping up with traffic with Tim was in the lead. Elweed yelled something at him, he turns around and says "WHAT"?

At that very moment, the car directly ahead of him, stops and Tim's bike slams in the back end of the now stopped Maverick propelling Tim OVER the top of the car and landing him on the hood of car.

I really don't have a clue what happened after that as both Elweed and I were on the side of the street trying to keep from peeing our pants from laughing so hard.

Tim now lives in Naples Florida and I have not heard from him in 20 years. I should try to contact him as (I'm afraid to say it) he was actually one of my most normal friends!!

And that is the story of Tim and the Flying Car.

Rod

Is This Really the Way to Attract Tourists and New Business?

in this issue
Flags
Stranger then Fiction
Columbus News
Yoga
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I'll jump off this bandwagon for the time being but my final thoughts.

I'm not an overly patriotic person, albeit a little more now then I have been the last eight years, but I do love Columbus and it saddens me that no one wants to take responsibility for the flags. Also, if I did not hear that the flags were coming down soon to put up Christmas Lights (all LED) I would be a LOT louder in my concerns.

Is this really what we want tourists that visit Columbus to see when they visit to see where where Public Enemies was filmed?


Is this the best way to show those Modal "A" drivers that drove all the way from Crowne Point a few weeks ago now Columbus honors America?

Do you think Edward Jones Investments or any new business that is looking at Columbus senses that we really don't care WHAT our streets look like?

Would veterans feel pride when they walked down the streets of Columbus?

It's disrespectful and embarrassing.

I guarantee I will not let this happen next year. I will not use my indoor voice as I am now to get this fixed.
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We watched a very very good movie this weekend. "Stranger Then Fiction" starring Will Farrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Christian Stolte as the kids father AND Jon Nicholson.

Jon Nicholson you ask? Just wait - he has had an impact in my life. But first the movie.

"Stranger Then Fiction" in a nutshell - Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an auditor for the IRS who is awakened alone each morning by his watch. He is a compulsive counter and an obsessive time-saver. One day, Harold begins to hear the voice of a woman who is omnisciently narrating his life. Harold attempts to communicate with the voice, but soon realizes the speaker does not know that he can hear her. He is only frustrated until one day the narrator of his life says "Little did he know that events were set in motion that would lead to his imminent demise".

I like Will Farrell but I rarely like his movies as they are over the top slap sticky. I liken this movie to "LA Story" with Steve Martin. When I first saw this diamond in the rough movie it was the first time I saw Martin actually act! Same with this movie. Farrell is a wonderful actor and I really appreciated his talents and I hope I see more of this side.

And to top it all off, DJ was awake for the entire movie. We even watched all the extras at the end (the sign of a REALLY good movie).

And this is where I saw Jon Nicholson.

You see Jon Nicholson is an "on set dresser". I watched him in Columbus and Oshkosh tirelessly walking around for 16 hours a day nailing and sawing and taping things that would pop up, pop out or come apart. He was the guy I mentioned in my blog where I wanted to follow him and other production people around so I could take photos of these unsung hero's.

Of course when I mentioned this on IMDB, Hearnotthere (who has deleted all of his posts) called me a few names and I became a fanboy. And it went down hill from there.

I was not interested in taking shots of actors, I was interested in telling the story of the behind the scenes people. And Saturday night while we were watching the "extras", up pops Jon Nicholson. "I KNOW HIM" I blurt out and we backed up the DVD. That's him.

Anyway - nice to see you again Mr. Nicholson. I hope all is well.

This gets Grinders Seal of Approval

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Congratulations to the Columbus Boys Soccer team for becoming State Champions - WHOO HOO!
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As for election results in Columbus. Columbus voted 59.6% Obama, 38.6 McCain and 1.7% for somebody else (perhaps me?).

The big vote was in the Wisconsin legislature Assemble district 38 where Dick Pas received 82.6% of the votes in Columbus but still lost.

Fall River was 60.4% Obama 37.1% McCain and 2.3% somebody else.
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Sharrow Drug made a donation of $400 to the Columbus Club House (not sure what that is) from it's Hallmark Card and Gift Stamp Card program. I mention this because they were dissed when they wanted to be included in the PBS Columbus show. So I they need some airplay. IF you have never been to Sharrow, they are way more then a drug store, lots of cool classy gifts.

There is a new store in Columbus. Earth N' Elements Pottery, right next to the Anchor Bank (where you can get a free Calendar with a photo of mine in it. I'm Mr March). I'll have some photos of the place at some point.
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YOGA from India


Yoga fromWisconsin

And finally - I'm living on borrowed time today. My cholesterol meds (I need more GOOD cholesterol, I have very little BAD cholesterol) ran out and the paper today says "Statins lower the risk of heart attacks". Well - I have not taken any statins for 2 days!! I'm taking large quantities of Fish Oil hoping I make it the day!

Rod