Michael Jackson on Bad Beer

Drinking Real Ale is quaffing good beer but it does make one windy -- BURP!

Reveling in the Revenge of the Fifth

The success of the Star Wars Day has been phenomenal since its inception in 2011. In fact several minor league baseball teams wear special Star Wars inspired uniforms to mark the ersatz holiday. One never knows where people can see Storm Troopers strutting about.




 Some people want to extend it from "May the Fourth Be With You" to "Revenge of the Fifth". Of course, this conflicts with Cinco de Mayo.  And this year Star Wars Day was the day before the "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs, which usually is associated with many mint juleps.

Thus it might be prudent to revel in Revenge of the Fifth by succumbing to the Dark Side.

Guinness Extra Stout is only 3.4% ABV and 210 calories a pint.  But if you quaff it in a 12 oz. portion, Guinness has fewer calories than orange juice. And it's quite popular all around the Empire (as well as the former British Empire). 

Craig Ferguson on Near Beer

Dave Barry on Beer

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Johnny Cash on Sunday Morning

St. Arnold on Beer

Dave Barry on Beer

A God Forsaken Beer Commercial

A new advertisement campaign by Samuel Adams Brewing from Boston, Massachusetts has an "Independent" take on our founding fathers declaration:
  

 

The namesake of this brewery would certainly have qualms about this God-forsaken omission. Samuel Adams opined: 

But the brewery was not the first to lop off "endowed by their Creator".  President Obama was infamous for not reading those lines about our Creator  off the teleprompter when reciting patriotic phrases.

Capitol Visitors' Center,Washington, DC

This advertising omission is just another instance of secular humanists trying to re-write history and claim that our Founding Fathers were atheists and to deny  the importance of a God centered revolution to bestow liberty upon America. The $621 million Capitol Visitors Center initially tried to pass off "E Pluribus Unum" as the national motto instead of "In God We Trust".   This was corrected only after 108 lawmakers backed Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th) protested to the Architect of the Capitol for this historical inaccuracy.  

Washington Monument Capstone Replica, Washington, DC 

There was considerable controversy in 2007 when the "Laus Deo"  inscription on the replica capstone of the Washington Monument was   obscured.  The National Park Service promised to correct what it characterized as a stupid mistake. Praise God that that they felt the heat and then saw the light. 

Perhaps the Samuel Adams Brewing  ad was just another isolated incident of forsaking the faith of our founding fathers.  But as Independence Day approaches, we ought to toast the unalienable rights granted by our Creator for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

Pierre Celis on Life

R.I.P Jonathan Winters (1925-2013)

Johnathan Winters, an improv comedian who's career spanned over seven decades, died at age 87. 

Jonathan Winters' stand-up comedy  was full of non-sequiturs and surreal jokes, influenced generations of comedians, notably including George Carlin,  Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. 

Winters was the first comic to recognize the video stunt, which utilized  videotape to allow one comic to play two characters bantering about apparently on the same set.   In fact, Albert Brooks tweeted "Beyond funny, he invented a new category of comedic genius."  In 1999, Winters was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Jonathan Winters accepting Mark Twain Award in Washington, Oct. 1999

While Winters may be remembered for his slew of comedy albums, movie appearances and as Mork and Mindy's Orkan son, Winters' ought to also be remembered for a couple of heroic virtues in this day and age. 

Jonathan Winters was a Hollywood entertainer who was married to his wife for sixty (60) years, including 20 years when his wife was battling with breast cancer.  

Early in his career in the spotlight, Winters suffered two nervous breakdowns.  In 1958, he was institutionalized for eight months and also again in 1961 for what was later deemed manic depression.  Winters did not let these mental health setbacks keep him down, nor did he play the victim for sympathy.  Winters referenced not wanting to go back to "the zoo"  on his album "The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters" (1960).  A couple of years ago, Winters participated in a small comedy  film "Certifiably Jonathan"  (2007) which plays off his depression as well as his painting, which had been deemed the missing link between Joan Miro and Salvador Dali.

Perhaps the best way for a humorous surreal zymurgist to honor Jonathan Winters passing his mortal coil is to share an "out of this world" 1962 Utica Club Beer video, one of the hundred of talking beer stein ads where Winters voiced Schultz and Dooley. 

W.C. Fields on Beer

Frank Zappa on Beer

Those Hoppy with Obama in Charlotte

At the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, there was a lot of pandering to identity groups.  One of the more interesting special interest groups which received attention were craft brewers.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO), was one of the founders of Wynkoop Brewing in Denver. During Hickenlooper's  time as the Mayor of Denver, the microbrewing wave continued to thrive in the Mile High city. But also on the DNC dais was Bill Butcher, the founder of Port City Brewing in Alexandria, Virginia.  Butcher was there to tout the Obama Administration's record helping small business start ups.

Mother Earth Brewing, a craft brewery from Kinston, North Carolina, prepared Endless River for the DNC Convention.  It helps that Mother Earth Brewing prides itself on being environmentally conscious,  using solar power, blue jean insulation, and soy spray based ceiling insulation.

Some beer enthusiasts have suggested that since there has been home brewing at the White House since Obama has been President that bottles be released for charitable auction.  But considering the recent Freedom of Information Act revelation  of the White House Brew recipes as being extracts as opposed to all grain, this could be novel but disappointing.  Besides it would be acting stupidly (and against Federal law) to release beer for sale (even if for a charitable auction) without jumping through the appropriate regulator hurdles. So don't expect to see Ground Force One swigged among the hoi polloi.  Thus  we may just have to settle for more beer summits in a prospective Obama second term.

White House Beer Summit 2009

Why are so many craft brew aficionados hoppy with President Obama?  It may be coincidental, but hops are a close cousin to cannabis sativa. And Democrats were stoked to win stoner support in 2012.

Forward March

At least those who built the Pyramids in ancient Egypt were paid in beer.  Perhaps we can all enjoy Dogfish Head's Ta Kenket, which was what brewer Sam  Calagione modeled after the Pharoah worker's libation.