Anderson Valley Hobnelch'n Hoppy Saison Ale

RATING: 3.5/5



In addition to having a title that will break your spellcheck, Hobnelch'n Hoppy Saison Ale serves up a citrus explosion for your face mouth! Fizzy up front with a bold lemon zest. At first blush, this beer tastes like bubbly lemonade that's been strained through a pile of fresh barnyard hey. After a while though, it starts to grow on you.

Busch

RATING: 3.5/5



Although Busch has long been seen as inferior to the Budweiser/Coors/Miller triumvirate, I say it's gotten a bad rap. Busch is a refreshing mellow beer with a slightly sweet finish. Perfect for summertime barbecues and poolside drinking. And at a price point cheaper than its domestic competition, Busch deserves a second look.

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company Whispering Pine IPA

RATING: 4.5/5



Doesn't taste like a traditional IPA, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This beer has more of a pale ale taste, but at 8.1% ABV it can stand up to the big boys. I found Whispering Pine to be very smooth and easy to drink. I could definitely taste the pine, but not the whisper. I guess my palette isn't as refined as I thought.

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company Sidewinder Red Ale

RATING: 4/5



Starts off bold and fades to a kind of generic sugary finish. I was hoping this beer would be a little more exciting, but it's nice to know it's out there when I want a break from the IPAs of the world. Plus, at 8.5% ABV, this is the strongest red ale I've seen.

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company High Altitude Hefeweizen

RATING: 3/5



Okay. Nothing special. A little too light with not a lot of wheat beer taste. Not bad, but not great either (kind of like the contents of this review).

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company Barely Legal Honey Blonde

RATING: 4/5



This beer is very light and has a crisp sweetness to it. It's good, and very easy to drink, but could use a little more flavor. Great for someone who enjoys the occasional beer, but isn't looking for anything too fancy.

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company Ode to Winslow Chocolate Porter

RATING: 3.5/5



A nice chocolate porter. While I appreciated that this porter didn't weigh me down, or stick me with a malty sweet aftertaste, I would have liked a little more complexity in the overall flavor.

Big Bear Lake Brewing Company Goldmine Pale Ale

RATING: 2.5/5



Wheat flavor up front with a cheap sweet finish. The aftertaste is what I'd imagine a "light" malt liquor might taste like. Big Bear Lake Brewing Company needs to step up their game to make this beer worthy of its "Goldmine" name.

Sierra Nevada Otra Vez

RATING: 1/5




Think of the grossest thing you could put in your mouth. Okay, back off a little, not that dirty. What I’m trying to say is that this stuff is vile. Imagine throwing up and asking for water and instead being handed back your own puke in the form of a cold carbonated beverage. That’s what this tastes like. Sierra Nevada has an incredible track record for putting out new beers, but this one is so off the mark it boggles the mind.

So don’t let the cool cactus label fool you! You’d be better off trying to drink water straight from a cactus than paying to drink this junk.

4th of July in song titles

Firework
by Katy Perry

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
by Jack Johnson

Bottle Up and Explode!
by Elliott Smith

Flashing Lights
by Kanye West

Great Balls of Fire
by Jerry Lee Lewis

Hot Hot Hot!!!
by The Cure

Oops!...I Did It Again
by Britney Spears

Help!
by The Beatles

It’s a Fire
by Portishead

Cop Car
by Keith Urban

Run Run Run
by The Velvet Underground

Caught Up
by Usher

We Didn’t Start the Fire
by Billy Joel

Trouble
by Coldplay

Rules Broken
by All-Time Quarterback

Freeway Time in LA County Jail
by Sublime

I've achieved the impossible!

I found a comic strip joke in the newspaper that's actually kind of funny!

Top 5 types of dessert

1. Ice Cream
2. Cookies
3. Pie
4. Brownies
5. Cake

Worst: Flan

Disagree? Submit your own list as a comment!

Just the essentials

This photo is on the box of an inflatable camping mattress.



Based on the image, when this woman goes camping, her packing list includes the following:

[√] Backpack
[√] Ceramic Coffee Cup
[√] Down Comforter
[√] Dream Catcher
[√] Banjo

Stummy beige

A research scientist just trained a computer to generate new paint colors and give them each a name. The names the computer came up with sound like the worst Pokémon characters ever.



And I thought the names I created for Fallout Shelter were ridiculous.

More like ZENdge

While looking for a wallpaper for my new iPad, I came across Zedge.net. The site boasts over 246 million app downloads and it's easy to see why. Who wouldn't want to stare at these nuggets of inspiration multiple times per day?

"My secret rage is proof that I 'love' you."

This one's literally and metaphorically deep.

"...step over the faux balcony and fall to your destiny."

Literate yourself!

My birthday is in a couple of weeks and in the spirit of giving, I've decided to release the FULL TEXT of my book I Am Now a Published Author, on this blog for the bargain price of $0.00. That's $2.99 off the regular price, and about a billion dollars less than it's worth. My lawyer would kill me, if I had a lawyer (which I don't, as evidenced by my copyright page).

Click the cover page below and enjoy!

The most LA thing ever

While going through a Parks and Recreation catalog, I came across this ad for 4-6 year old actors who want to "get back to the basics of the craft."

Some doubt

I don't know what's worse: the fact that the band sang this live on tour, or that the lyrics are posted online.

This video has everything . . .

. . . creative swearing, righteous anger, a sassy Australian . . . everything!

A name by any other name would be a different name

A fun thing to do when you see a wall of kids’ coloring sheets is to make one with an outrageous name and watch people's reactions when they read it. I did this on a recent trip to the aquarium, and I like to think I inspired some future parents.

If you’re reading this in 2037, tell your many friends named Blorph that I say “you’re welcome.”