S.W.A.T.S. and Auburn

Just read this interesting and long article about the road to 'success' of Mitch Ross who sells 'chips' that are said to boost performance by wearing them on your wrists. 

"Ross and his partners say they figured out a way to identify the frequency of any nutrient and embed it into their own patches. In theory, the human energy field can recognize the frequencies and cause the same chemical reaction inside the body as if those nutrients had been eaten.

This means that instead of an athlete having to eat a banana to get potassium to prevent cramping in the middle of a game, Ross says, an athlete could have the frequency for potassium on his or her skin in the chip and the body would respond as if it had been ingested.

Ross says he helped create a formula for several over-the-counter nutrients athletes need while performing. The frequencies for those nutrients, Ross says, were then stored on the chips inside a hologram."

What is this, Star Wars?

Well apparently Zack Etheridge and other Auburn players swear on camera that they are the bomb.com.

"Etheridge says his teammates were impressed enough to try the chips during the season. When Auburn beat Oregon 22-19 in the BCS title game, many of the Auburn players were wearing the chips in the form of a band wrapped around their wrists, according to Etheridge's account."

Ross also makes/sales another product called the Ultimate Spray which is made from deer antler velvet which contains a growth hormone that is banned by all major professional sports, which is where the controversy comes from.

I had never heard of this before today, and that seems odd. But it seems that this Ross guy is selling the ultimate Snake Oil. I'm really curious to see if how many players were wearing this band on their wrists during the BCS game, which is just another reason to bust out the official DVD of the BCS game I purchased. Nevertheless I'm extremely intrigued by this drug/article and was wondering what the citizenz thought of it.

Article Link:  http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201104/tpg-exclusive-auburn-tied-controversial-supplement-company

Kegging Time

It's been three weeks since I started the Edmond Fitzgerald Porter. Since then, all I have done is racked the beer from my primary fermenter to my secondary fermenter. The main purpose of the secondary fermenter is that when you transfer the beer from the primary, you leave behind a lot of the yeasty gunk and it helps improve clarity and reduce sediment. It also frees up your primary so you can get another batch going, which is what I did because the porter has a longer conditioning time (wait for flavors to get better time) than some other types of beer. My original goal wasn't to have two beers going at once, but I have two kegs and I'm not incredibly patient. The second beer I started is supposed to be like a Fat Tire Amber.

As I'm going through my photos, I remember that the porter had somewhat of an aggressive fermentation the first couple days. A smarter person than myself could probably tell you exactly why it happened, but my guess is that it either had something to do with the temperature of my house or magic. As far as I know, that has no effect on the beer, it just made a sticky, beery mess on my floor.

After one week in the primary, I racked the beer into my secondary. (I also started the Fat Tire Amber.) I then let the porter continue fermenting in the secondary for two weeks, which brings us up to date. Kegging time.

There is nothing special about kegging beer, other than it is much less time consuming than bottling. Rather than cleaning and sanitizing over 50 bottles, I just clean and sanitize one keg. The kegs I use, and most other home brewers use, are called cornie kegs. They are just old soda kegs (before restaurants switched to the plastic bags) that hold five gallons, which is the same amount of a typical batch of beer.

The only thing to remember is to sanitize everything. I then put keg lube on all my o-rings and racked, or siphoned, the beer from my secondary fermenter into the keg. Keg lube is just a food grade Vaseline that preserves the o-rings. You don't have to apply it every time, but I hadn't done it since I got them, so I figured tonight was as good a night as any.

After I filled the keg, I put all my fittings in and closed it up. The next step is to put the keg in my freezer/kegerator and hook up the CO2 (that's two oxygens for every carbon). I set the regulator for around 20 psi. and just let it set for a while. The porter needs to set for a couple more weeks, but the amber should be ready to drink by the end of the week. I also might add, it helps to label the kegs or bottles so you remember which beer is which and when you bottled/kegged it. That's pretty much it, so if you want to come by the house, I have roughly 10 gallons of beer on tap.

Free Friday Ear Food (Thursday Edition) - My King of Limbs

With the release of two new Radiohead tracks for Record Store Day (Supercollier and The Butcher), I felt that I should do something to recognize them. And seeing as how so many folks were upset with the length (and over all quality) of recent album The King of Limbs (see Hitler below) I decided to beef the album up a bit with new songs, including two other singles released between In Rainbows and King of Limbs.

I spent the better part of 3 hours listening and rearranging the track list (though not messing with the original list, just squeezing in the 4 new songs), and what came out was a 12 track, 1 hour album that I really believe enhances the listening experience of the entire album. For example, listening to Feral when the album was only 37 minutes long was rather annoying in my opinion, and added nothing to the experience, but when played as part of longer album it becomes more bearable, somewhat like Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors, though ultimately it would be skipped my most casual listeners anyway.

Another thing that was hard to pick up on was the transition of the original album. The first half was more up beat and electronic where the last half seemed very toned down and calm. The new songs I think help make this more noticeable, as you have more time to get into the 'feel' of the album.

Finally, the closing track on my edition is the only song that I think sounds forced, and honestly it is. It doesn't really fit the sound of the album. From the Kid A / Amnesiac albums I absolutely loved the closing tracks, and I felt Harry Patch would have been a great album closer, and it fits the overall calmness of the second half of the album, but there just wasn't a good transition into it.

In the end, I think have proved that had Radiohead put at least two or three more songs into the album, the overall listening experience would increase tenfold. Or they could have just said 'Hey guys, here's a new 8-track EP' and I think people would have liked it better. The expectations were just to high. Maybe next time.

Enjoy!


P.S. Doing this gave me a great idea for Radiohead's next album. If you remember there was a concert that they played were they had several cameras set up, and allowed online viewers to watch the concert and control which cameras to watch from and record their own personal concert. I think it would be pretty cool if they released a bunch tracks (and Stanley Donwood artwork?) and said go make your own album. Maybe make a contest of it. If only  I were Thom Yorke.

LOOK AT ME!!!

Yesterday, my JV boys soccer team played their last game of the season. Going into the game, we had a record of 11-0-1. All 12 of our games were shutouts (as in, we had not been scored on the entire year). The game was against another region team that was also undefeated and had been scored on three times all year. One of the things I hate most about coaching JV is that there is no region tournament and thus, rarely a true region champ. However, this was one of those rare occasions when a legit champ could be named. The other team scored with about 25 minutes to go in the second half and ruined our string of shutouts for the season. However, I was really proud of our team, because we were able to answer and tie the game on a PK about ten minutes later. Unfortunately, the game ended in a tie because the refs would not allow it to go to overtime or PKs even though I and the other coach begged them to let us. Mr. O, you need to get on your collegues to let a game like that finish. There is nothing more frustrating than a tie. I would have rather lost the game in OT. So, I guess we are *gag* co-region champs. Anyways, I don't really expect you guys to care much about this, but I thought I'd share. LOOK AT ME!!!

Hitler's Pissed

Hitler was really excited about the prospect of The King of Limbs II, but finally has come to terms with the truth in this video below.

Free Friday Ear Food - Phoenix

I gotta be quick, but here are some tunes. This is Phoenix's 3rd album, It's Never Been Like That. If you are like me, you might be surprised to know that the album that made Phoenix popular (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) is actually their 4th outting, so I have been going back and listening to some older stuff. If you like the Wolfgang album, you will like this. I can't say the same for their sophomore album, and I haven't listened to their debut. More on that some other time maybe, or you can give it a listen while you are there.

Grooveshark Link   Enjoy.

Set the DVR - Game of Thrones

If you watched Boardwalk Empire then you probably saw the teasers for this new series, but may have forgotten about it, so here is your reminder. Game of Thrones is a new HBO series based on the best selling novels, collectively called A Song of Fire and Ice, by the author George R.R. Martin. The books were a huge hit amongst the older male virgins demographic, and looks to bring that nerdom to the silver screen in the ultimate cosplay (this is when nerds dress up and play out their make believe stories with other nerds).

The books are a medieval fantasy and the show looks to bring in a new batch of nerdy subscribers by staying very true to the books, bringing in the author to write scripts and oversee the project. I've heard the show likened to the Sopranos in Middle-Earth w/ boobies, so I am willing to bet that its going to be good. Either way, I'm lacking a good premium channel show to watch weekly right now, and this should fit the bill. The premier is Sunday night 8/9ET (I think, check your local listings) on HBO.



Now, on a completely different spectrum, I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone about my new favorite comedy show, Archer. I missed the first season b/c I just didn't want to give it a chance, even though I laughed at the commercials for it. Then I finally caught an episode a few weeks ago and laughed my ass off and I haven't missed an episode yet. The show is created in Georgia, and judging from the style of it, I think that some of the writers from William Street (creators of Aqua Teen, Squidbillies, Robot Chicken) left and started their own series, or else the state of Georgia is just blessed w/ very talented writers. EDIT: Just looked it up and Archer creator Adam Reed was the writer/director/producer and voice actor for Sealab 2021, so there ya go.

 Anyway the show is hilarious, so if you don't watch it already, check it out on FX Thursday nights at 9.

Here is a clip:

"BITE THE #@*&ING CURB!!!"

The State of Alabama Is Going to Destroy SEC Football

I'm sure all of you have heard the various accusations leveled by Auburn's own Jeffrey Lee about Alabama's recruiting of Brent Calloway (I'm pretty sure the story doesn't require a subscription). Lee's is accusing an Alabama booster of driving Calloway to visits at Bama. The booster is also accused of offering Calloway's step-father money to pay his mortgage and offering Calloway a monthly check while he is at Alabama. We will see how this all plays out and whether or not the accusations are true.

Of course, I hope the accusations are true, but I have a problem with what is going in the state of Alabama right now. I have had several conversations with various Auburn fans about how we are living through the golden age of the rivalry. It couldn't get more intense than it is right now. This was already the best rivalry in sports in my opinion, but now it is at a whole new level. The passion side of it is great. However, this rivalry has taken a turn over the course of the last year and a half that could lead to both schools going down and taking many of the other SEC teams with them. Any other schools associated with the recruitment of Calloway are going to be looked at (including Auburn). At this point, I think it is just a matter of time before some other accusation surfaces about Auburn and Alabama's recruiting, and my bet is it will come from the rival school. This is a dangerous road to start going down and both schools could be in trouble before it is all said and done.

Thoughts?

Fight For Your Right: Revisited

I have no idea what is going on here...but I like it.

Hangover II Extended Trailor

This one doesn't look as good as the first, but I'm sure there will still be some double over moments.

Brew Time

So, I am brewing a batch of beer and figured I would do a step-by-step post similar to the one His Eminence posted about smoking a butt a while back. Hopefully this will be interesting to someone besides me.

I decided I wanted to do something kind of dark, but kind of bitter and kind of sweet. This one is called "Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter" at Alabrew and it sounded right up my alley. Hopefully the beer will not be as boring monotonous as the song it's named after.

I bought a turkey fryer and decided I would use it this time instead of cooking on the stove. This makes it a lot easier because the LP heats up faster than an electric stove and the pot is much larger so you don't have to watch as closely for boil over.

The first image basically the first step of the process. I cook the grains in the water at around 160 degrees for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I removed the grain bag and put it in a colander, then poured a pot of hot water over it into the boiler pot. That step is optional, but it supposedly helps with color and flavor. I then discarded my bag o' grains.

The next step is to add the bittering hops and bring them to a rolling boil for about 30 minutes. While my bittering hops are boiling, I have time to start sanitizing my fermenting bucket and drink a couple beers. I also placed the bags of extract (that I will be adding next) in a bowl of warm water. The liquid extract is sticky as shit and has the consistency of molasses or honey. Warming it up makes it a little easier to squeeze out of the bags.

After the bittering hops have boiled for 30 minutes, I turn the heat off and add my extract. I then give the pot a really good stir to make sure the extract mixes and doesn't just settle at the bottom and scorch.

The next step is to bring the wort back to a boil. It's important to watch for boil over as you bring it back to a boil, especially if you're cooking on a stove. If it boils over, you have a sticky fucking mess. At this point, I add the flavoring hops and let them boil for around 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I add the aroma hops to the wort and let them boil for approximately 5 minutes. As a general rule, anything you add early on in the process contributes more to flavor and anything you add towards the end of the process contributes more to aroma.

I am now finished cooking my wort. The next step is to bring the wort down to a temperature suitable for the yeast to activate (80 degrees or less should suffice). You can use dry yeast or liquid yeast. Liquid yeast is more expensive and is better, but depending on the type of beer you are making, it may not make enough of a difference to warrant the few extra dollars. I'm using dry yeast in this batch.

The directions on the yeast packet or the tube of liquid yeast may call for you to make a yeast starter. You would do this a day in advance, but it is really only necessary for higher gravity beers. I've never made a yeast starter and have never had any problems, but if the people at Alabrew specifically told me to make one for a certain batch, I would do it.

One trick for cooling down your wort quickly is to pour ice into your fermenting bucket. You then fill the bucket the rest of the way with cold water until you reach the five-gallon mark.

Once your wort has cooled to below 80 degrees, you can give it a good stir to aerate it, then pitch your yeast and wait for it to ferment. Fermenting should begin within 12-24 hours and you will be able to tell by the bubbling from the airlock (the little plastic thing sticking out of the lid). You might want to leave the lid on loosely during the first day or so just to keep it from popping off or bubbling out into your airlock. You can also give the mix a good stir with a sanitized spoon to aerate it again after a day or so.

What happens during fermentation is the yeast are feeding on all the natural sugars from the grains and extract. As the yeast eat the sugars, they fart carbon dioxide and alcohol. This particular recipe calls to let it ferment for one week in the primary fermenter, and then for up to an additional two weeks in a secondary fermenter. Using a secondary fermenter, like a glass carboy, helps with clarity in you beer later on. Once the bubbling has stopped completely, the fermentation is complete and you can bottle or keg your beer.

This beer is an ale and can pretty much ferment at room temperature the entire time. Lagers have to ferment at lower temperatures, so if you are doing a lager, you will need a fridge to keep the beer around 50 degrees or less.

I will try to remember to photo and document the process of racking into my secondary fermenter and then the process of kegging later on.

Radiohead Playing in Birmingham

No, not Birmingham, UK, the HAM, the Magic City, B'ham, Alabama!

Over at Dead Air Space, Radiohead released their summer US tour dates earlier this week, and they are playing at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater! HOLY SHIAT! I'm excited I don't have to drive to Hotlanta to see them this time around. Tickets go on sale April 15th.