midweek updates.

Some, uh, stuff:

1) You’ll notice some new blogs listed in the blogroll over there on the right. One of the newbies is a reciprocal link; I noticed a few days back that Metroblogging Pittsburgh had linked to my page, even before I knew they existed. It’s a cool site, though; a team effort that covers a lot of ground.

Overheard in Pittsburgh is, duh, our local version of the “Overheard” sites that have popped up for any American city of a decent size. I like ours because I know where stuff is.

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat is also aptly named. The author apparently is what he says — although I can’t really vouch for his drunkenness at any one point or another. Definitely angry, though.

And then there’s Pittsburgh Dish, a site I probably should have linked to long ago. I know Mr. Dish a little bit, and he and his compadres do a nice job of coming up with actual news, along with the normal blog-type stuff.

2) Mr. Dish — along with a couple other folks I know — are happy residents of the Mexican War Streets on the North Side. The Wife and I drove through there last weekend during one of our house-hunting trips and were pleasantly suprised, both by how nice stuff is there and by the notion that we could actually afford several of the houses for sale in the neighborhood. We had been looking almost exclusively at neighborhoods/towns a bit further removed from the city, but being that close — and being in one of those funky old rowhouses — is intriguing, even though the North Side as a whole is still pretty sketchy. Any thoughts?

3) The most famous person I went to college with died last week. I didn’t know Anderson Jones II well in Athens, but I knew him well enough to know how talented he was. I also knew, even back then, of his penchant for being a royal pain in the ass (something that apparently continued throughout his career — every single obit I read refered to Andy as a “diva”). Andy bailed on our college newspaper after he failed in his bid to be editor-in-chief — the same year I failed to do that as well — and ended up starting an interesting magazine called Inside Out. I don’t remember if it made it past its first year — after which Andy would have graduated and left for New York. I know it held on long enough for us to do a pretty good parody for our April Fool’s edition that spring (yes … that is in fact the one where 15,000 pictures of my ass crack were spread around Athens — thanks for bringing that up).

I know Andy worked for a while at Newsday, and B recalls him interviewing her for a New York Times story while she was in the city working for Sassy. After that, Andy was BIG TIME, reviewing films for E! and CNN, and getting a fair amount of face time on both networks. The obits I read yesterday said he had been working as a freelancer recently, and had struggled with health problems — that became apparent when he had a heart-attack just prior to a screening of Angelina Jolie’s new movie A Mighty Heart.

I agree with B — Andy would have loved that bit of irony.

7 thoughts on “midweek updates.”

  1. The mid-week update seemed like a great time for me to ask the beer guru a question (and maybe even a suggestion) –

    I found a great beer on tap where I used to work – if I had two at lunch (we rarely went there) – made the afternoon a bit, well lets say, unproductive towards my annual goals at the office –

    I recently found it in a convenient package that contained 6 individually bottled amounts of beer – have tried it, and although it doesn’t have the same ‘punch’ as the draught version, is my current favorite (displacing Anchor Steam) – so, here it is . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . …….. . .. . . .. .. . . . . . .

    ..

    .

    Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Ever had it? Thoughts? What does this say about my palate? Or my Pallet, as Juan would want to know?

    Your expert opinion awaits.

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  2. Yeah, 60 Minute is good stuff. Dogfish Head is known for going out of its way to tinker with traditional beer styles, but that IPA sticks fairly close to the norm — at least for them. It’s not over-the-top hoppy, so it’s not as bitter or dry as some of its brethren. If you like that, there are two more to try: 90 Minute, which is DFH’s imperial IPA (that’s beer code for “this is much stronger and even more yummier”), in which they boost the malts out of the background to balance out the aggressive hops, and 120 Minute, which is complex enough that it’s helpful to almost think about it as a wine (it’s strong enough for that too — 20 percent ABV, versus around 9 percent for the 90 Minute or 6 for the 60 Minute) — it’s very complex, and at that strength, worth savoring. Or, at least, worth not chugging. Because you’d die. And that would make you even less productive.

    And if you like those, do what you can to find these: Victory’s Hop Devil (their year-round IPA) or Hop Wallop (a huge seasonal that comes out late in the year); Weyerbacher’s Simcoe Double IPA, named for its exclusive use of simcoe hops; and, say, Magic Hat’s HighPA (like DFH, Magic Hat generally isn’t content to strictly adhere to traditional styles, so HighPA is close to an IPA, but it’s, uh, something else as well). There are tons of others; this is a good time to be a hop-head.

    Which, apparently, is what you are. Welcome to the club.

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  3. Thanks man – wow, you’ve got quite a lot of intellectual capital stored up on the malt beverage. I tend to forget after consuming – so it’s always a fresh page for me.

    The fam and I (and I mean the fam (sis, sis, bro, mom & pop plus all the kids, 12 of ’em in total – almost the entire kewyson clan) will be up in Maine (home of cold water – and lobsters) for the 4th – I’ll see if I can find some of these hoppy beverages to quench my thirst.

    Happy 4th of July!

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  4. I’m a professional. Don’t try this at home.

    Or. Wait. Maybe trying this at home would be the exactly right thing to do … whatever. Can I have another beer, please?

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  5. I’ve lived in the Mexican War Streets for 10.5 years now and love it 99% of the time. It is great being so close to the downtown cultural district and the great river trails. I have fantastic neighbors. I know most of my neighbors. Living in this neighborhood means having to interact with your neighbors. If you just want to pull in your driveway and have the electric garage door open and close and not even know the names of your across the street folks then the ‘burbs is the place to be. But, for me, being involved is what makes life worth living. There are many neighborhoods in the Northside and only 2 or 3 of them are “still pretty sketchy” so don’t believe the TV reporters when they say someone shot on the Northside because it is a large area — they don’t say the names of the neighborhoods on the Northside for some reason. . . In The Mexican War Streets when crime does happen (and it does occasionally) we have a very involved Safe Streets Organization and we as a neighborhood band together and do everything possible to assist the police and stop crime before it happens. The Pros definitely outweigh the Cons and that makes The Mexican War Streets a great place to call home.

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  6. Bob:

    I really appreciate the response. The biggest reason we hadn’t really thought about the Mexican War Streets was because we thought they were out of our reach financially (a couple of the homes for sale on Palo Alto at the moment definitely fit that description), but after talking with a couple of residents we decided to take a look.

    I know I was painting with a pretty broad brush when I said the North Side was a little sketchy — if we’ve learned anything since we’ve started looking, it’s that you really have to see the area — the neighborhood, the street, even the specific block — before you can make judgements. We’ve checked out a number of houses on Termon Avenue in Brighton Heights, and there, it’s really a block-to-block question.

    I like the sense of community the folks who live in your area seem so proud of — you’re not the first one to mention it. And living that close to the stuff we do in town — while still having easy access to our commutes to work — would be so nice.

    And the TV reporters? I never believe those bastards…

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  7. UC – I stopped in at my local beverage store and noticed a case (they had about 6 actually) of the Doghead Fish 90 min IPA – so I picked one up and went up and paid for it – the guy at the counter was looking up the price, and he said, okay 6 four packs – I thought is was an honest mistake, I said, you mean 4 six packs – he said, no, they come in 4 packs – okay – so it’ll be a bit pricy – but I’m game – so after the $60 was paid, I took them home – chilled 4 of them (how convienent) – and had a couple yesterday – good beer – a bit more nose than the 60 min, meaning, 60 min seems a bit smoother – but overall very good! I’m hosting a BBQ / birthday party for Callie in 2 weeks, was planning on serving up some of these (I try to make the parties fun for both kids and adults – beer / wine always served – although I’ve had to catch myself at the office referencing my beer run requirements for my child’s birthday party) – may just have to go back and buy something else for the party and keep these for myself.

    I have seen any of the other recommendations you have given – I’ll keep an eye out for them.

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