Pre-game edition. Today's Paper of Record had a very nice review article on Bitters/English Pale Ales. Which was almost enough to get me to turn around and review the Greene King Abbot Ale I've been eying for about 3 weeks (and one of Eric Asimov's featured ales in today's article). But I couldn't help myself [...]

With the light beisbol schedule this week, I figured it would be a good time for a beer two-fer. Today's selection is the lovely "Grand Opening Ale" Hefeweizen from Sacramento Brewing Company.
The Sacramento Brewing Co. is a small, local producer. They operate two brewpub-restaurants in Sacramento as well as bottling a number of their [...]

Note: this review was begun before sundown saturday last week, so TOTALLY kosher and stuff. After all day in the sun watching the daughter play futbol, there's nothing like a kick-butt doppelbock.
Commercial description: The classic German dark beer, bottom fermented Doppel Bock. 7.2 pct ABV. I paid $1.99 (on sale, regularly about $2.49, [...]

This week's selection is the "Hen's Tooth" Bottle-Conditioned English Ale from Morland (Greene King). Greene King is a fast-growing, integrated pub-operating and brewing firm in England, responsible for such well known keg brands as Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County. Established in 1799 by the great-grandfather of writer Graham Greene [...]

There's nothing like a little sh!t-talk to get the competitive juices flowing. And with zooomx bringin' the heat lately, I had to respond. My aim here is to provide occasional (once every week or two), short reviews of notable beers. None of that "gulp and ignore" stuff around here.
Today's inaugural offering is the Pyramid Imperial [...]

Opening day. It's all good.
"It was a warm day in August when history was made,
And the fans in the boxes were looking for shade.
The bases were loaded, it was the last inning.
From the sound of the crowd, you knew we weren't winning.
When out of the dugout came No. 3,
The last hope for the Twins it [...]

People get ready! One more day.
Ode to Li'l Nicky In Spring
Out of the mud two strangers came
And caught me splitting wood in the yard,
And one of them put me off my aim
By hailing cheerily "Hit them hard!"
I knew pretty well why he had dropped behind
And let the other go on a way.
I knew pretty [...]

In honor of the day. Padre, you'll want to pass on this one.
The Commitments: Da Fookin Short Version

as a supplement to ubes' fine, current 3-part series on first basemen, I thought I'd contribute a little salary data (from Cot's). Entries are ordered as in ubelmann's 2006 table.

#
NAME
TEAM
LG
Experience*
Years/Dollars
Signed

1
Albert Pujols
[...]

Next in our continuing celebration of the half-baked crap that floats around our small portion of the internet, we have brianS and his take on Tejada and Tyner from the August 22nd, 2006 Gamelog.

I was planning a holiday photo essay, but words may have to do, as the camera is heading out of town with Mrs. S and the kids. As a newly minted burro-crat, I don't rate any vacation time yet.
So I'm staying home to work, work, work. I'll be slaving away at the office, Bob [...]

Music to prepare the turkey by.
George Winston -- Thanksgiving

and, from The Gold Rush the Little Fellow's thanksgiving dinner

Since the Nation is taking the day off, I figured I could get away with this.
has to be seen to be believed. And even then, I'm not so sure.

And the beat goes on

Twins baseball in Queens. Woot! And at a stadium NOT named after some damned corporate sponsor. Old school. Kind of like Casey Stengel.

After last night's thrilling victory, let's hope that the Jackal can repeat his last outing. I'm in no mood to see any apples popping out of hats tonight. So keep it down, Carlos!

Atlanta is a fine town in many ways. I'm sure it's a nice place to live. As a beer destination, it's kinda boring, however. The city sprawls. Thankfully, MARTA can get you to a lot of places. Here's one list to get you started on a serious pub crawl. Better yet, see if you can [...]

In my continuing endeavor to educate SBG's palate away from BudMilloors UltraLiteIceDry, I bring you another installment of Barley Pops and Hop Hits.
Sure, the Nats are visiting the Dome, but I don't care. This is about beer in the DC area. And any beer tour of the planned community of L'Enfant Town has to include [...]

Welcome to a new, occasional feature, "Barley Pops and Hop Hits".
I won't make any attempt to compete with banjo's masterful On the Grill feature here. Instead, my goal will be offer a small foray into the foamier side of baseball fandom in each city.
The Twins open a series tonight in Anaheim, home of the [...]

The date: June the Third, Two-Thousand and Seven, A.D. What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you were there.

Rolling Stone once celebrated X as the world's greatest band. Exene Cervenka and John Doe are in pretty good voice on this live version.

and the song that really piqued Ray Manzarek's interest, Johnny Hit and Run Paulene

Something you want to see? Call the request line.

Ten Years After. 2 minutes of jamming on "Woke Up This Morning".
it's worth the price of admission just to watch bassist Leo Lyons.

Something you want to see? Call the request line.

One of my favorite songs (and albums) from when I was a kid. Manu Dibango rocks.

As much as I like her more recent stuff with Jack White, it's nice to hear some of the old, classic Loretta on occasion. Some nice steel guitar on this one (allegedly Don Helms, although we don't see him).

and in case any of the gals out there were getting any ideas about Doo'

Time for a guitar god. I'm pretty sure I once saw Segovia in concert in the mid-1970s in Minneapolis when I was a kid. (Ok, maybe it was Julian Bream; I was like 10. My parents' idea of "culture". Either way, a truly great experience.) We got all dressed up for the 2-hour drive [...]

Nellie Ball gettin' me down

The boys need to rebalance their chakras. I'm here to see that it gets done.

I want to love you, from sundown sunup.

Big Papi SBG -- study this song. You may need it over the next few months

Oh. My. Gawd.
How the hell did he chew gum while he did this?

Killing Floor
EDIT: YouTube removed the video of "Killing Floor" chosen by Brian, but I found another source for what I believe may be the same performance.
While I was searching, I picked one more clip as a late bonus: Jimi performing "Spanish Castle Magic" [...]

Delaney, Bonnie & Friends (including George Harrison, Billy Preston and Eric Clapton): Coming Home

Lowell George pretty near his prime. Which was, sadly, all too short.

breathe, Lucy, breathe, breathe, PUSH PUSH PUSH.

don't forget the postage.

and make sure the check doesn't bounce

We want you to join us in a big ol' great big bottle of gin

We're thinking good thoughts, Lucy.

[SBG Note: We are anticipating that BabySBG will be born on Wednesday. That's not some stupid guess, but rather is based on knowledge that we acquired this morning.]

Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I count this as "new music."

Happy birthday, Ravi.

This is what happens when the weather gets bad in Chicago.

It's Mrs. S's birthday. In her honor, I offer Patti LaBelle, Joe Cocker and Billy Preston, introduced by Cliff Huxtable

You'll never hear this song quite the same again.

Inspired by ubelmann, fueled by coffee, I struck out this morning to scout our West Coast nemesis, the Oakland A's.
Statistically, the A's were mediocre in 2006. Their AL ranks included 9th in runs, 13th in BA, 7th in OBP, 13th in SLG, 11th in OPS, 4th in ERA, 6th in OOPS, 8th in WHIP. Somehow [...]