A Picture

a sculpture's greater truth?

God hates tiny cars?
England was once inhabited by giants with an automotive interest?

Well, I suppose I should have read the plaque.

Beer

McEwans Export: 

The better beer on the side of the beer aisle where mediocre beer is kept.  There’s this and Guinness and then a bunch of less than great beers surrounding them.  I usually pick up of 4-pack of this when I go grocery shopping.  Over all, this a pretty good beer.  (4.5% ABV)

Tourism....

Beer

Brakspear Bitter: No one likes a bitter critic, so I will leave this one alone. Assuming no one liked that joke, perhaps I will say just a bit more about this beer.  ABV 3.4%, fermented twice.  This “Double Dropped” Bitter is not very strong in flavor or alcohol, but it is an enjoyable beer.  Of course, usually it is redundant to place the word “enjoyable” in front of “beer.”

An Update...

So, I have not updated this page for a few weeks now and the world is overdue exposure to my ramblings.  Here they are (you’re welcome?):

On walking around London:  I walked through the Sloane Square area of the city today and there are a lot of beautiful and well-kept buildings in that area (at least on the outside).  I am reluctant to find out how much one costs, because such figures are depressing, but I imagine enough for one to spend the equivalent sum on a decade(s) long island vacation. 

On my sink finally being fixed: Now I don’t have a stack of dirty dishes all over my tiny place making me feel like a dirty invalid.  And, I can cook healthy food again (which I then wrap in bacon and wash down with whiskey).  Don’t worry, Mr. Hippie, the whiskey is organic and the pig that provided the bacon had organs.

On realizing I won’t be a millionaire by my 30^th birthday:  Can I have a dollar? No? That’s okay.  It won’t due me much good unless a million people are reading this.

The multi-lingual workplace...

For the convenience of my British staff I have taken the intiative of posting signs in multiple languages to ensure that everyone understands my ruthless demands.  The first sign is written in American while the adjacent one contains its English translation.

Feeling culturally enriched?  I thought so.

Dead Poets shall entertain you while I drink and watch a DVD (I will not be watching Dead Poets Society)

Dead Poets: *

Every now and then I will post a poem written by someone who is dead.  I do this for two reasons:  1) Even though poetry is often nonsense, some of it is brilliant.  2) The dead are not likely to sue me for copyright infringement (and hopefully their publishers will view such posting as free advertising).

I may even post some lines and poems from living poets safely, knowing that no one is reading this right now anyway and legal actions are not likely to be on the horizon.

*Remember when I said this blog would be educational?

And the first poem of this possible series is:

‘The Seven Sorrows’ 

The first sorrow of autumn

Is the slow goodbye

Of the garden who stands so long in the evening-

A brown poppy head,

The stalk of a lily,

And still cannot go.

The second sorrow

Is the empty feet

Of a pheasant who hangs from a hook with his brothers.

The woodland of gold

Is folded in feathers

With its head in a bag.

And the third sorrow

Is the slow goodbye

Of the sun who has gathered the birds and who gathers

The minutes of evening,

The golden and holy

Ground of the picture.

The fourth sorrow

Is the pond gone black

Ruined and sunken the city of water-

The beetle's palace,

The catacombs

Of the dragonfly.

And the fifth sorrow

Is the slow goodbye

Of the woodland that quietly breaks up its camp.

One day it's gone.

It has only left litter-

Firewood, tentpoles.

And the sixth sorrow

Is the fox's sorrow

The joy of the huntsman, the joy of the hounds,

The hooves that pound

Till earth closes her ear

To the fox's prayer.

And the seventh sorrow

Is the slow goodbye

Of the face with its wrinkles that looks through the window

As the year packs up

Like a tatty fairground

That came for the children.

By Ted Hughes

London Walks

A tough pitch for fat American tourists, but you New Yorkers may enjoy them; I did.  Take a light walk where you will see beautiful architecture and learn some history.  Genuinely friendly guides will entertain you with random historical trivia (you may call them facts) and at a fairly cheap rate too.  If you are in London for a few days it is worth trying one of the tours and you may find it is the only two hours of your stay where you are not completely lost. 

http://www.walks.com/

020 7624 3978

The End of February and I wasn't even paying attention

As I have been in Limeyland for some time now (that’s England, for me, London), I missed out on the most spectacular of American Holidays. No, not Thanksgiving, I left New York after that gluttonous day of joy.  I am referring to President’s Day.  Oh, great holy holiday of no holiness, you are just a day to give a quick nod to Washington and Lincoln and then be lazy and continue to sleep in.  Truly, an American holiday that has absolutely no obligations attached to it.  No feeling of having to make elaborate plans or organize a party.  The best part is you certainly don’t have to learn anything, unlike other holidays where you have to hear about wise men or something to do with 1776 or how Native Americans and Pilgrims were such chummy neighbors.  So here’s my nod to the dead Presidents and specifically Lincoln.  Not that Lincoln needs any recognition; Lincoln is the subject of the most biographies out of all the U.S. Presidents. 

Here are a few words the great essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson had for President Lincoln upon his death*:

             ...His broad good humor, running easily into jocular talk, in which he delighted and in which he excelled, was a rich gift to this wise man.  It enabled him to keep his secret; to meet every kind of man and every rank in society; to take off the edge of the severest decisions; to mask his own purpose and sound his companion; and to catch with true instinct the temper of every company he addressed.  And, more than all, it is to a man of severe labor, in anxious and exhausting crises, the natural restorative, good as sleep, and is the protection of the overdriven brain against rancor and insanity.

Whatever Emerson may have failed to capture about Lincoln’s character may be captured here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGMxXHT--Io

The above video was created by my friend’s Bill & Max for the last Sparrow Bar Film Festival.  I recommend checking out some of the other entries from past festivals as many talented people have made entertaining contributions to the event.  You can see all the videos at http://www.YouTube.com/sparrowbar

*Excerpt from: “Abraham Lincoln,” The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Modern Library, copyright 2000.  Modern Library is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Museums are still free (mostly)!!!!

Dear Economy,

            I hope this letter finds you in good spirits, as we are all still quite worried about you.  Please get better before the government is forced to charge entrance fees at all of their free museums.  Culture must be passed down from generation to generation for free otherwise no one cares; At least, no one cares enough for such institutions to be profitable on their own.  Plus us young and unsuccessful people are cheap so an entrance fee would really be a pain, especially with you being so ill and all.  I must say it really is quite stingy of you.  You’re sick and the rest of us are trying to pay bills and enjoy life but you are just lying there occasionally moaning and saying, “oh, why me? I feel so awful.”  What you need is a good kick in the ass.  Oh, you’re sick? Oh no! Serves you right for acting like such a whore for the last few years.

            Best wishes for a happy and healthy recovery.

Sincerely,

GRTR

Beer: Joker I.P.A.

Scottish Joker I.P.A. (India Pale Ale); 5% ABV

Brewed by Williams Bros Brewing Co

The Joker I.P.A. is a smooth and tasty beer.  This is on the lighter side of India Pale Ales, as these brews often tend to have a higher alcoholic content than other styles of beer.  Although I do enjoy over-hopped/extra-hopped/maddeningly-hopped ales, this brew is not overdone with hops, which may make it more accessible to those who are only beginning to try pale ales or who will only on occasion stray from their favorite lager.  I recommend that everyone give this one a try, but I can’t say that I would go out of my way to procure it.  It is a great beer, but I have a long standing bias in favor of Brooklyn Brewery’s East India Pale Ale when it come to pale ales. 

The brewers have placed this descriptive label on the back of the bottle:

Joker premium pale is created from a complex blend of malt & hops with the sole purpose of bringing a smile to your face.  Joke has a fresh citrusy aroma and bittersweet, full flavour.

By the way, you look great. (That’s the beer talking!)

Even if just as a reward for their sense of humor it may be worth taking a chance on this brew from The Williams Bros.  You may find it to be one of your new favorites. 

www.williamsbrosbrew.com