All Things Joey
Experiments, Random Ideas, and posts that don’t fit other categories.
( #Garage, #Cleaning )
I had a little work done on my garage this week and called blog favorites Mr. Done Right to come over and help run some extra outlets and fabricate a work desk so I am not soldering on the dining room table.
I took some pictures and made a commercial for Mister Done Right’s website because I run that website and they need content 🙂
Enjoy!
( @drinkingmadeeasy, @beerby )
My reign of terror over at Drinking Made Easy continues. This time I discuss social drinking apps for your smart phones and hint at my disdain for hipsters!
Read More: Drink Socially…Alone?
Update: DME’s links are dead, here is the full article…
A few years ago, I met my friends at the local pub for a beer or two almost every night. That was then. Between work, kids, and household projects (those damn shelves won’t hang themselves), I don’t see my friends as much as I used to. Just because my friends are not around, I haven’t stopped drinking. In fact, since I have been left to fend for myself, I have found some excellent beers by chance.
My less adventurous friends and colleagues often ask me what beer I am stocking my fridge with. The first few times made for an enjoyable conversation, but after a while this small talk became tedious and repetitive; enter social media! Leveraging Generation Y’s inability to look up from their smart phones to hold a conversation, everyone can now share what beer they are enjoying at any given moment via a few difference social apps.
Social drinking apps like Beerby (http://www.beerby.com) and Untappd (http://untappd.com/) allow you to tell your friends what beverage is in your hand (the hand that doesn’t have the phone in it) as you are enjoying it. Beerby integrates with an existing Foursquare account allowing drinkers to log and comment on the beverages they are enjoying. The program has over 30,000 beers in its database and growing. Untappd seems to be the newcomer in social drinking apps, but it offers a nice interface and community. Beerby seems more focused on you and what you are drinking, while Untappd has more of a social focus (what your friends are drinking).
At the moment, I prefer Beerby over Untappd. I had some issues getting Untappd’s location based services to work properly (could have been my phone), which gives me the impression that Beerby is a little more polished. Another smart feature from Beerby is that system allows a user to simply rate the beer in addition to making comments. Both apps feature rewards/badges for tracking certain kinds and different numbers of beers, which is great because it encourages consumers to try out new beers.
Untappd and Beerby have an excellent feature that allows you to determine what bars near you stock/serve your favorite brews. I assumed this would be great news for all the emerging micro-breweries, but Beerby’s top beers are:
1. Yuengling Traditional Lager
2. Pabst Blue Ribbon
3. Miller Lite
4. Coors Light
5. Bud Light
This leads me to the drawbacks of social media: who gives a damn if you are drinking a Miller Lite or PBR? They are perfectly fine beverages, but they are nothing to tell the world about. Broadcasting that you are drinking Bud Light is the social media equivalent of tweeting that you are going to the bathroom. I want to know about all the other beers that I never heard of. I want to know who is drinking Rogue’s Chocolate Stout or who serves Duvel in my neighborhood. Isn’t that what social media is all about… letting people know about something that was criminally overlooked?
Any Drinking Made Easy readers up for the challenge of knocking the big three (Miller/Bud/Coors) out of Beerby’s top 5? Feel free to comment below on your favorite beers, and any other social drinking applications you are using.
( #DrinkingMadeEasy, #Campari )
My first article for Drinking Made Easy is up live! Please go to the site and check it out.
Drinking Made Easy: Getting Bitter(s) with Campari
Funny note: My first commenter already owned me for suggesting that Campari is still made from bugs. I think I am going to like writing for this blog.
Update: DME’s links are down, here is the full story…
Like most people of Italian decent, my first experience with Campari was at a relative’s house. “Here… drink this” as a red concoction was shoved into my hand. Was I about to drink a guido version of a Shirley Temple? No. The back of my tongue immediately started the detecting the presence of bitterness and it soon become the dominating sensation.
After I finished half of the drink, my relative informed me I just drank “bug juice.” Spitting out the sip in progress, I yelp a panicked “seriously?”. I just received a nod. I thought I was detecting B.S., so I decided to do some investigation about this beverage to get the real scoop.
Campari is a bitters that hails from Italy. It was “officially” created in the late 1800s and the recipe, like Coca-Cola, remains a secret. There is one aspect of the formula that is confirmed: the deep red color was achieve using carmine dye composed of crushed cochineal insects. Notice that I used the term “was” in my previous sentence… it is a bit unclear if the carmine dye is still used or if it was replaced with an artificial substitute (I am willing to bet that it has not).
Regardless of its chemical makeup, Campari is an acquired taste. I decided to spend the weekend trying to come up with simple cocktail with a Campari base, it was not an easy task. Traditional mixers like cranberry and orange juice enhance the bitterness but do not compliment it (and the juice was too sweet). I tried a few sodas, both clear and brown, with minor success (standard cola is not as bad as you would think). I also tried pairing it with vodka, which was passable but not the winner I was hoping for. I was out of my league and decided to search the Internet for suggestions… which lead me to the Americano.
The Americano combines Campari with Vermouth and club soda. I thought it was an odd name for an Italian beverage, so I did some digging: The drink was originally called “Milano-Torino”, but it became popular with American tourists visiting Italy during prohibition. The crafty Italian bartenders decided to change the name to lure in said tourists and the name stuck. Another interesting fact about the Americano – iIt was the first drink ordered by James Bond in Casino Royale. Iif it is good enough for 007, it is good enough for me!
Having become acclimated to the bitter flavor of Campari all weekend, the Vermouth added the mellow clean element that I was searching for. With the right combination of flavors, the bitterness of the Campari mingles well and becomes an enhancing characteristic in the drink. Served cold, the drink is refreshing and makes for an excellent summertime cocktail. Bugs or not, this is a drink I could get behind.
The Americano:
Ingredients:
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
club soda
lemon twist or orange slice for garnish
Directions:
1. Fill an old fashioned glass with ice cubes
2. Add the Campari and Vermouth together
3. Top off with club soda and garnish with citrus fruit
It is recommended that you drink a Campari cocktail before you enjoy a meal to help open up the taste-buds.
( #gigs, #drinkingmadeeasy )
Image Credit: Mel B.
I am pleased to announce that I will be writing for the Zane Lamprey “Drinking Made Easy” blog starting next month. One of my friends (BT!) heard about open positions at DME and knew my gig with Phillyist was coming to an end—so I made contact.
I will still be writing for this blog, and from what I am told, I can integrate my articles for DME pretty easily here. I am very excited by the news and I hope you all enjoy Drinking Made Easy now and in the coming months (with my stink all over it).
( #GarySutton, #OskaloosaMoon )
Image Credit: Tim Snell
Sometimes this little blog creates fun opportunities for me (without me having to do a thing). This post just so happens to be one of those situations. Last week a writer named Gary Sutton came across my Amazon profile and then my website (to send me a note). We exchanged emails about his most recent book “Oskaloosa Moon
“Oskaloosa Moon” is the story about a young man with a facial deformity growing up in Iowa in the 50/60’s. His deformity instigates a few adventures and (of course) causes issues. Other readers have mentioned similarities to Forrest Gump and now that analogy is stuck in my head. While there are similarities, Sutton’s story does not sugarcoat the harsher aspects of our society—this book is not a fairy tale.
Before we get into the book, I thought your named seem familiar. There is a Gary Sutton that writes financial books—is that you?
I’ve written a few business books. The most recent was “Corporate Canaries
How did you get into writing?
Started liking the process in high school. Thought then that I wanted to write a book one day. Vietnam interrupted and then family. Took about three more decades before I had anything worth saying and it started with a series of business books. I felt I had enough literary license to the analogies that it seemed possible that I could write a novel. So I did.
Where did you get your inspiration for “Oskaloosa Moon”?
I think much of the book is what I experienced and what I saw. Some of it is what I imagined could have been. My junior high and high school girlfriends refuse to read it believing that it’s my story—it bothers them too much.
Did you have to do a lot of research to get the geography down?
No problem at all; this is where I grew up. I’ve been to every locale. But, I did have a lot of old friends scan the manuscripts for accuracy and added details…except those two girlfriends who couldn’t bear the story.
Moon is a complex character. While reading the book and trying to get into his head, I had a hard time deciding if he was an outright genius, a savant, or had a slight learning impairment. What is your official position?
With apologies, I don’t have one. He’s what you think he is.
Moon’s physical disability is a major plot point in the book—you waited a chapter to reveal that information to the readers, why did you hold off instead of giving the reader the information right away?
Telling all quickyly is journalism. Holding back is fiction. Journalism is information delivered efficiently. Fiction is entertainment unfolding.
The book gets pretty dark towards the end—why did you choose that direction?
There was an actual incident here in San Diego that inspired that. A deformed young man named Dale Akiki was wrongly imprisoned. The story reasonably tracks some of the things that happened to him.
One of the characters, Mr. Nordstrud, was written out of the book rather abruptly—was he always intended disappear or did you plan to revisit him at some point?
He’s a composite of some helpful adults along the way who nudged me away from trouble and pushed me towards better directions. No… I had no plans to revisit the character. Some of those good people disappear.
The main antagonist of the book (Dr. Throckmorton) plays like a classic comic book villain. Did he always exist as such a bastard or did you ever envision a more sympathetic (shades of gray) version of him at some point?
In fact you are so right, there was no evil guy in my small towns. But—the Superintendent and the Principle of Ames High did try to withhold my diploma.
As a writer, what is your opinion of eBooks? I read Oskaloosa Moon on a Kindle, and I am just curious what a published pro thinks of this new distribution model. Do you think it will be better for writers by cutting out the publishers (eventually)?
I view this as an inevitable business model, but feel bad about the gradual and steady loss of print and longer stories. I still don’t have a Kindle, iPad or NOOK but will soon, just to not be left behind. No, I don’t think it will be better by cutting out publishers. I’ve already had two novelas stolen and columns resold without permission, and so, the ease of digital theft will hurt the middlemen a lot but also the providers just as it did to music.
I want to thank Gary for this time and for writing a very engaging novel. Mr. Sutton is working on a few books at the moment: a revision on a non-fiction book for college seniors on how to snag that first paycheck and he is hoping to publish a new fictional novel in 2012.