Got Snow?

If not, we'll let you have some of ours... we have plenty to spare.I am now officially sick of snow thanks very much. Two blizzards within a week of each other? Give me a break. At least this one seems to have fizzled out as we have clear blue skies on this fine Saturday morning eve of New Year's Eve. Thank you Lord for small miracles!






At least it's not as cold as when this picture was taken way back in 1911 of when Niagra Falls froze up. Pretty cool, eh?




So... what else is going on: my St. Louis Rams still have a slim chance of squeaking into the NFL playoffs. But only if three other teams (NY Giants, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons) all lose and the Rams beat up on the Minnesota Vi-queens. Hey, it's good to have a dream ya know. If nothing else, their running back Steven Jackson has turned out to be the real deal.

I alluded to getting some very cool beer "stuff" from my wife and family this Christmas. First up is this 24" handcrafted Sam Adams barrel sign. It has the "number of miles to the brewery" based on the "ship-to" zip code. Mine will Say "Eli's Place." Woohooo!

I got a few beer T-shirts and some PJ bottoms that say "Beer - It's What's for Dinner!" along with a very cool neon Guinness pint sign. To round out the beeraphenalia, my folks got me the latest Corona porcelain parrot mug and a tres cool Corona tote cooler... which should easily hold at least 24 bottles of whatever I happen to be imbibing when I tote it along with me (New Year's Even Partaaay at Nay Nay's!). Yes, I am the beer man.

Speaking of beer... I recently picked up a 2004 movie called American Beer, which recounts a coast to coast road trip five friends took in 2002. Their goal? Visit 38 breweries in 40 days. Now that's a road trip!

Superhero movie update! The upcoming Iron Man movie now has a live website. Nothing on it per say, but it's up!

Speaking of superheroes... for those gamers out there who know what Massive Multiplayer Online games are, you likely know what guilds are. In the case of CoX (City of Heroes/Villains) they're called Super (or Villain) Groups. The ones I belong to - which are run by the same group of folks, the Legion of Valor (Heroes) and Fallen Legion (Villains), has it's very own artist. Curt Allen does some absolutley amazing work. He has his own business, but his website is down due to taking a break. Actualy, he's so busy doing commission work for the two above mentioned groups (which totals over 250 members) that he doesn't have time for anyting else. So I commissioned a portrait of my long time (and still not at level 50) super hero, Rock Bottom. It turned out GREAT!


But back to beer... I've been remiss in posting beer quotes and facts, so as we wind down 2006 (where did the time go?) I leave you with a double dose!

Beer Fact #1: The term "butt" refers to a very large cask or barrel that holds beer, water or wine. In England a butt contains 108 Imperial (26 US) gallons. Next year I wanna butt of beer for Christmas please! Say... filled with Santa's Butt!

Beer Fact #2: Winter Ale dates back to the 8th century when it was brewed to celebrate the seasno's solstice. Back in the Middle Ages it became so popular taht farmers who didn't save their best grain for brewing risked conficscation of their farms. I love it when people have their priorities in order! Like the saying goes: "Those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."

Bear Quote #1: "The Wassailing bowl, with a toast within, Come fill it up unto the brim; Come fill it up, so that we may all see; With the wassailing bowl I'll drink to thee." (traditional English carol)

Beer Quote #2: "I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, a pocket full of money and a cooler full of beer." (Anonymous, but I wish it was from me!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!