The Internet is going down NOW!

The main domain servers and related infrastructure controlling the internet
will be powered down for one hour on Tuesday at 12pm.

ICANN, the body responsible for maintaining the registry of domain names and
IP addresses, announced on Tuesday that it would effectively turn off the
internet in order to gauge the ecological impact of such a move.

The decision follows the success of the recently observed "Earth Hour", in
which people around the globe turned off their lights for one hour in a
gesture towards saving energy.

news.zdnet.co.uk/communica...525,00.htm

When I was a kid

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning... uphill BOTH ways... through year 'round blizzards. Carrying their younger siblings on their backs ... to their one-room schoolhouse, where they maintained a Straight-A average, despite their full-time, after-school job at the local textile mill ... where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep the family from starving to death! And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!


But now that...


I'm over the age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter.... with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ's usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Play station video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens; it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! .... Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up... we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes!

Myspace Porn part 1

Well I think I am going to start saving all the friend requests I get from Myspace. I don't have any private stuff turned on. So far I have 6 requests, 5 of which from porn sites, one of which the account was deleted, all this since 4/13/2007. I know that in the beginning of April I deleted a bunch, now I wish I hadn't. So not only do I find Myspace's commericial ad's to be in bad taste, but there also seems to be an acceptance for this sort of behavior.

It should be interesting to see how this turns out.

Irish Red Ale (and some cider notes)

Sunday I brewed up another batch of Apple cider. I am still going off that same packet of dry ale yeast I first used. The second batch of cider, I just added the juice to the carboy ontop of the yeast cake. When that was done, I wasn't ready to brew another batch up, so I cleaned the yeast and let it sit under water in my fridge. On sunday I poured off 100ml of the yeast slurry into a flask, added about another 200ml of apple juice to get it to wake up. That took off like a rocket and I found myself needing to hurry up and prepare my fermenter for the apple juice. Fermentation took off like a rocket. It has slowed down now, but it is still very cloudy. It's going to take another couple of weeks.

So this morning I am boiling up 3 gallons of fill water, once that cools I'll begin my brew cycle for another go at my Irish Red Ale with heather tips. I still have a little of the last batch left, and it is very yummy. I wasn't too happy with the yeast I used, I was going to use White labs, Irish Ale yeast, but the brew store was out - so I went with the Wyeast version. It didn't ferment out as I expect, and the color wasn't what I expected. I changed up the grain bill a bit, looking to improve the color. I'll am going to try Nottingham's dry ale yeast. I find that 90% of my brewing doesn't require liquid yeast - so I am moving away from it.

Preparation for Offa's Dyke Path, attemp number 2

Katherine and I am preparing to hike the Offa's Dyke Path, a 170 mile hike that follows an old earth work along the border of Wales and England. So far we're working on making sure we have the proper gear for the hike. Also, now that I am in So Cal. amongst the foothills and mesas I now feel that training will be easier than when I was living in flat land. We're going to be better able to manage those Welsh hills, though I am still not looking forward to the hundreds of stiles we'll have to hurdle. We're planning on hiking it in April of 2008. We're not sure yet if we're going to go the way I did before, from south to north or if we're going to go north to south. It's likely that we'll be going north to south, as that way if we run low on time we can still stay a while at Hay-on-Wye, the used book capital of the world, before having to head back to the airport.

To all my English (and Welsh) friends, we're not going to have time for visits, but if you're able we'd sure love to see you along the hike.

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I WANNA KNOW YOU

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I WANNA KNOW YOU... I want to know 33 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine...You're on my list, so I wanna know you better!




1. Can you cook?


2. What was your dream growing up?


3. What talent do you wish you had?


4. Favorite place?


5. Favorite vegetable?


6. What was the last book you read?


7. What zodiac sign are you?


8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?


9. Worst habit?


10. Do we know each other outside of tribe?


11. What is your favorite sport?


12. Pessimist or Optimist?


13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?


14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? < OR > The best thing that has happened to you?


15. Tell me one weird fact about you:


16. Do you have any pets?


17. Do you know how to do the macerana?


18. What time is it where you are now?


19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?


20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be???


21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?


22. What color eyes do you have?


23. Ever been arrested?


24. What is your favorite drink?


25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?


26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?


27. What 's your favorite place to hang at?


28. Do you believe in ghosts?


29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?


30. Do you swear a lot?


31. Biggest pet peeve?


32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?


33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Madpoet's Pub is open!

Yesterday I racked both the California Commons and the Apple Cider to keg. Being impatient I forced carbonated both of them. Having tried the cider from the sample I use to take gravitiy readings, I was quite pleased with it, so I moved the braggot out of the beer fridge, cleaned the draught system and began chilling the cider. I don't think it will last long. It turned out a medium sweet cider, sort of like strong bow, though nearly 8% ABV. My choice in yeast, US 56 seems to have been a good one. So this morning I ran off to the market, picked up 4 gallons of apple juice and pitched in onto of the previous batch's yeast cake. I should have some ready for Escondido Faire, if anyone wants to try some.

The Commons is quite good as well, medium hoppy, light body and clean profile. It's a session beer at 4.5% ABV. I didn't get to try it cold yet, but I think it will be great chilled. I'll put one of my ceremic drinking mugs in the fridge and try some later today.

Dan and Veronica came by for a visit as they were in town. It was great to see them and catch up. Later Tim, Angie and Annie came around to drop off a video they borrowed and to try the new brews. I am looking forward to trying Tim's new meads he's done.

I had quite a few pints of cider yesterday and forgot that it gives me a hangover. So now I'll remember to drink a glass of water for every glass of cider.