Better Know A Citizen - brianS
Posted by Andrew on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 am
Name: brianS
Hometown: Spamtown USA.
Town I Currently Live In: Warehouse City, NorCal
Profession: edge-a-kater
Bats: right. although I hit almost as well lefty in slow-pitch
Throws: right. but I throw a football better lefty.
Positions: mostly first base. I also pitched in "yoot" baseball.
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Drove in the winning runs in bottom-of-last-at bats in an intramural
softball playoff game in grad school. Once had a four home-run game in "yoot" baseball. All pulled over the LFer's head on a field with no
fence.
Hobbies: cooking, beer hunting.
What are you known for around the WGOM? co-VJ; NorCal scout.
Sports Allegiances: Minnesota Twins, Vikings, T-Wolves, Goofers, Nebraska Cornhuskers (yes, I'm a college sports bigamist; but considering that the Goofers usually suck in football, it's more like a sports sham marriage, with a True Love on the side; I come by my Husker affinity honestly, via both parents and birth within the state)
Favorite Book: probably Dune. I've read it more than anything else. Although I'd be hard-pressed to differentiate my appreciation for that classic from my rankings of dozens of other works. I'm a sci-fi/sci-fantasy fan.
Favorite Baseball Movie: Bull Durham.
Favorite Non-baseball Movie: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzaii Across the 8th Dimension
Favorite Food: This is an unanswerable category for me. I love food. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, barbecue, meatloaf, foie gras, bread, .... So I'll narrow it down to favorite foods that my mom makes: deviled eggs, lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, potato salad.
Favorite Foods to cook: Hmm. I have an Italian vegetable stew recipe that I love. That and a loaf of bread. I love making bread. Or maybe a Mario Batali-style bistecca on the grill.
Favorite Beverage: That would be beer. All kinds of beer. Well, not all kinds. I'd pretty much rather drink tap water than BudMilloors. Life is too short. Anyway, very, very high on my list of favorite beer-drinking experiences would be the Bell's Two-Hearted Ale, on cask. But if you had all day, I could come up with dozens of other "favorite" beer experiences.
A pint of Guinness and a dozen great oysters on the half shell is pretty hard to beat too.
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: it's hard to beat a homemade Chocolate Malt, using my buddy Spidey's recipe: milk, vanilla ice cream, malt powder and Hershey's syrup.
Favorite TV Show(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer, followed closely by the spinoff series Angel, Star Trek:TNG and OS, the
original Mission: Impossible and Rocky & Bullwinkle, & Friends. As for shows still in production, probably Heroes.
Favorite Twins Player, historically: Carew, Hrbek.
Favorite Twins Player, currently: Joe Mauer
Best Twins Memory: Watching the Twins win the 1987 series in my future father-in-law's house. He's a die-hard Cardinals fan.
Favorite Sport to Play: I don't play sports anymore. I'm old and decrepit. But basketball was my favorite, albeit my weakest. Softball in my near old-age.
Favorite Sport to Watch: Twins baseball, with NBA basketball a close second.
If I could live anywhere in the world, I’d live in: Maui. 'cuz I'd be rich, right? If not, Portland comes to mind. What a great beer city! But where I live now doesn't suck.
Who would win in a fight and why - Kobayashi or Michael Jordan? Kobayashi, hands down. World's. Greatest. Athlete.
If I was commissioner for a day, I’d: eliminate the DH and shorten the season by a month. Do we really need "snow outs" at the beginning AND end of the season?
If I had Terry Ryan’s job for a day, I’d: find ONE significant, right-handed, power-hitting LF or 3b.
SBG - great on-line magazine, or greatest on-line magazine? Greatest. Of course.
If given the chance, would you sky dive? Bungee Jump? And death is not an option?
Favorite Ballpark (except the Dome, of course): JackMurphy. Oh. I guess that one doesn't count anymore. Umm. Raley Field in Sac! Great venue for AAA baseball. I also really like the Lansing Lugnuts' stadium. And the stadium in Seattle is be-a-you-tiful.
First MLB Game: 1968, either 6/21 or 6/22, old Met Stadium in Bloomington. All I remember is my dad saying "that's Mickey Mantle!" He drew a walk. I was probably playing with my Matchbox cars.
If you could have a nice, polite dinner with any 3 people - dead or alive - who and why? Michael "Beer Hunter" Jackson, Mario Batali, and PJ O'Rourke. First, I would get to menu-plan, shop and cook with Jackson and Batali. I love Batali's enthusiasm for food as well as his technique. Jackson is a legend in the beer-snob loop for his knowledge of and love for the subject. We'd bring O'Rourke in while we were cooking -- four guys shootin' the sh!t, drinking great beer and cooking. O'Rourke is probably my favorite political writer and would make damn sure that we had plenty to talk about besides fantastic beers and food. We would have a wide-ranging discussion across beer, food, politics and life. If not O'Rourke, I'd consider subbing in Stephen Jay Gould. Of course, he'd have to be alive to make it worth it. Gould and O'Rourke are probably my favorite non-fiction writers.
If you could pick any 3 people - again, dead or alive - to go out and party, who and why? I'm too old and too much the dad to "go out and party" anymore. I like my beer smoke-free (unless it is a rauchbier of course) and the music not too loud to converse about the beer or whatever else. If I were forced to go "party," it would be more of a food tour. So maybe (a clean-and-sober) Anthony Bourdain, Batali, and Mark Bittman. Bourdain would make sure that it was raucous and fun; Bittman would make sure we didn't get arrested or beaten to death or anything. I could see Batali egging Bourdain on, so I'd need backup when things got a little too wild.
Blondes, brunettes, or redheads? Well, blondes tend to be underhopped. I'm partial to Flemish Red Ales, although I wouldn't turn down an Oud Bruin (some even go so far as to argue that they are the same style!)
Do you believe the the works of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap? I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
Can I get an amen? Ahhhhaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhmehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheehhhhhhhn.
What's your shoe size? 10.5 wide on the right, closer to 11 on the left.
And now, let's update the map...
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"Laugh-a while you can, monkeyboy!"
Give Jack Chalker's Midnight at the Well of Souls a read if you haven't already. There's several more books in the series if you happen to like it.
Got some extra syllables in your "amen" -- you spent any significant time in the South?
Loves to cook? Loves to make bread? Can I marry you, bS?
What do you teach, if I might ask?
You're right, it is hard to beat a chocolate malt. And much of my sense of humor was formed by watching Rocky and Bullwinkle.
And P. J. O'Roarke is an excellent choice, too. It's been a while since I read any of his stuff, but even if you don't agree with him, he's an excellent writer.
And if you were playing with matchbox cars is '68, you must be younger than I am. Therefore, you can't be "old and decrepit" just yet.
Whatta crew. How far north are you Brian?
Kobayashi is a hotdog. (You are what you eat, after all.)
Have you ever done any brewing?
re: snowouts at the beginning and end of the season---the way MLB operates, they're probably counting on global warming to take care of that.
big BOO-TAY, Rhu_Ru. Sorry, I'm already spoken for. Haven't read any Chalker for a while. I'll have to go looking...My southren roots are all tropical Minnesota and NE Nebraska.
Jeff A: American politics. I've also taught some public policy courses and game theory a couple o' times. I'm old enough to have spit up when JFK got shot. Old enough to remember Joe Kapp billboards in Bloomington. Old enough to have sung "Humphrey, Humphrey, he's our Man. Nixon belongs in the Garbage Can" around the neighborhood. But I turned old with my first knee surgery in 1982.
Banjo: just outside of Sacramento.
SBG: yep. There is a brew-on-premises place in Sac. ESB a couple times, IPA 4-5 times, an Imperial Pils once, a Red once and, our greatest triumph, an Imperial Stout that we brewed for free on a "frequent brewer's" reward card. The place failed to put the appropriate limiting language on the card (it said "any brew") so, naturally, we brewed by far the most expensive thing
Heading your general way in the fall for a little Napa Valley wine tasting. Any advice on what to see and what to avoid??
I don't get up Napa way very often, as Mrs. S is not a very interested wine drinker. But, you definitely want to hit some of the smaller places.
there are a number of reasonable guides available on line, such as this, this and this.
Here's another, perhaps even more useful list of things to do in Napa Valley. there's great hiking. I've heard good things about Copia.
My wife and I had a wonderful meal a few years ago at Mustards Grill in Napa. My best buddy swears by Bistro Jeanty in Yountville.
Point Reyes National Seashore is certainly worth a visit. And while you are there stop in at Johnson's for some oysters. On the way back you could stop at Moylans in Novato for a beer or two and some dinner.
that should get you started.
Are there any Canadien citizens in here or is it all US?
Would you be satisfied with semi-Canadian citizens? Living in Texas, when people would ask where we're from, I'd say, "North Dakota--you know, the southernmost province of Canada."
Nobody ever thought it was funny. I guess geography humor requires some geography knowledge.
Canada: the Lost Northern States.
You are the WGOM's own Michael Jackson, though I suggest you start wearing a glove. (You might find a grill mitt in there, too.)
Your dinner party sounds like a hoot. I want in. I saw Bourdain speak in front of a group of culinary students and staff a few years back (He signed my copies of Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour.) Very interesting and funny cat. Good luck with a smoke-free dinner party, however. Anthony lights up as often as Times Square.
You still have kin-folk in So. MN?
Nope. My folks retired to the north woods -- a lakefront cabin. My brother is a computer geek in the Cities. Aunts, uncles and cousins strewn across the country (from the Bay Area to upstate NY).
I’m a sci-fi/sci-fantasy fan
A man with excellent tastes. Dune is a great series. I haven't read much other than short stories in scifi recently, before that it was a Stanislaw Lem kick. Any recommendations?
I'll work up a list, Big Mak
nothing wrong with Lem, however. Solaris, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
Here's a "short," working list of Must-read classics.
Dune. I happen to love the entire series of Frank Herbert Dune books. I'd like to think he would have disowned his son for the dreck he's been pumping out, soiling Papa's brand name.
Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein at his best.
Fahrenheit 451
The Stars My Destination
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. I really enjoyed the continuation of Bean's story; I was less enamored with the continuation of Ender's, although I've soften my views considerably upon re-reading of Speaker for the Dead
The Forever War Haldeman's best. Although Forever Peace is quite good as well.
The Mote in God's Eye
Rendezvous with Rama
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
Doomsday Book
A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky
The Diamond Age
Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny
City by Clifford D. Simak
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars -- the politics and economics are kinda dumb, but fascinating treatment of exploration and terraforming, particularly in the first two).
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Watchmen
Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer (more Niven and Pournelle)
Ringworld
I could go on and on. Ursula K. LeGuin; Anne McCaffrey; Dan Simmons; David Brin's Uplift novels (particularly Sundiver, Startide Rising and The Uplift War. Lots more Zelazny (I love the Amber series). Lots more Neal Stephenson. I'm a sucker for the Star Wars novels and other pulpy stuff (both swords and scorcery type, such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books; and space opera stuff such as Peter F. Hamilton's mammoth Commonwealth saga).
Enders Game and Speaker for the Dead - very good choices. I seriously think you'd like Chalker's Well of Souls series of books now.
My southren roots are all tropical Minnesota...
Good to know there is someone else from the Banana Belt in the Nation. (Though I think we'd established that already - I'm recalling learning we're both graduates from Big Ten schools at some point.)
Do you have a profile on RateBeer?
actually, CH, I'm a Carl. I taught at a Big11 institution for a few years, however.
Haven't gotten around to establishing a profile on RateBeer. You?
I'm over on RateBeer (here, if the link works) - same handle as on th' WGOM. I haven't gotten very far along yet, though.
I should clarify: I didn't mean the NCAA "Big Ten" conference, but the MSHSL conference. Maybe I'm misremembering it, but I thought you went to high school in Austin? Then again, maybe the Packers and the Winhawks weren't in the same conference (the "Big Ten") at that time.
isn't that the big 9?
We (Marshall) weren't in the conference, too far west, but we played a lot of those teams in youth leagues and such.
You know what, I think you're right. I always get confused because Rochester added a school (Century) to the conference while I was still a student at WSHS. So there were 10 schools in the conference, but it's still the Big 9.
Now I go to a Big Ten school.
Eesh.
Ah. Silly me. Yes, I was a Packer. It was the Big 9 in my day. Way before my day, it was the Big 8, then Mankato split into East and West.
Albert Lea, Austin, Rochester JM, Rochester Mayo and Winona in one division
Faribault, Mankato E, Mankato W, Owatonna and Red Wing in the other division. That made ten, but it was the Big 9.
I used to live in Spamtown USA
good times