Jump to content

Damor

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    707
  • Joined

Everything posted by Damor

  1. Don't want to make this the McCarthy thread, but I'd never discourage a dad from reading The Road. It's hard, it's a gut punch, it questions your most basic assumptions, it tears you to pieces. So does being a father. It also affirms that, despite those things, it's all entirely worth it. Carry the fire. On a lighter note, now that we've got the new AV system in, I've been having a great time with my boys (11 and 13): Alien/Aliens double feature: "Hey, this is like Halo!" They stand the test of time, Alien as suspense/horror, and Aliens as action. Directors cut of Aliens is too much with unnecessary backstory on Newt and Ripley's daughter, IMO. The Matrix: Blew their minds, still stands up, I refused to watch the sequels with them. Terminator: Cool story is unfortunately seriously limited by 80s SFX and styles/soundtrack as to detract from enjoyment by lesser generations. We'll try T2, but I didn't realize how poorly this would hold up before paying Google 14.99 for it. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure: I expected it to age poorly (it has), but it went better than I thought, and was still entertaining if cringeworthy in several parts. The Birds: Pleasantly surprised how well they stayed engaged, I see much more Hitchcock in our future. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Held the older one's attention after The Matrix, the younger one went to bed. Still beautifully filmed and choreographed, with a great soundtrack. This is fun.
  2. Haven't seen the movie, but The Road is the best book I may never read again. That said,I think it's a book every dad should read. I actually bought two first-printing copies to give to my boys when they become fathers.
  3. Bump Looking for a short trip in June and considering SF. My boys are 11 and 14, and I think they'd have a blast. It's been years since I've been, and then it was me and the wife at the Fairmont -- not gonna happen with these knuckleheads. Any particular recommendations for family (but not little kid) hotels beyond the usual generics? Any particular areas to look in?
  4. When ours were little, we liked staying onsite at Schlitterbahn, since it was easy to let them take a break for a nap and we didn't have to truck their shit everywhere. It's pricey for the kinda crappy accommodations, but it's easy to grill, bring your own booze, and is pretty amenable to hanging out with a group. This is a really awesome thing you're doing.
  5. I did not watch my buddies die face-down in the muck so this fuckin' strumpet, this fuckin' horse could sell eurotrash pale lager.
  6. Appropriate thread title is appropriate. It's the dismal tide.
  7. Thanks for the chiller advice. I think I'm going to start simple, since I'm just trying to figure out this Mash & Boil thing. I ordered a longer immersion chiller (50') and a cheap pump. Since I don't have a garden hose attachment for my sink, I figure I'll fill a bucket with tap water and pump from that first, then add some ice later to drop the temperature more. There seems to be a popular mod to the M&B to recirculate, but I think I'll hold off on that until I better understand how the thing works. I also figured I'd graduate from just adding liquid yeast directly, but I'm still lazy short on time, so I ordered some Propper Starter to try out. This is the beginning of the end for my liver.
  8. You look for the person who will benefit, and, uh...
  9. Good luck, Brat. If they get confused by your anatomy, remind them to flip the image over.
  10. My younger one got a telescope for Christmas, and this was the first time we tried out the attachment which lets you take 'photos' with your cell phone. Let's see if Google Photos will link: It got too dark for it to focus well, and we got a little cloud cover for the best part, but I thought this came out kinda cool, with the help of Pixel Night Sight: At about this time, right on cue, all the coyotes started howling.
  11. Mind if I bombard y'all with some questions? Okay, then. I'd been talking about going all-grain one of these days, and my darling wife went a little nuts at Austin Homebrew for Christmas. She got me their upgrade kit (igloo cooler mash tun, 8gal brewpot etc.) but also a Brewer's Edge Mash & Boil electric doohickey. I'm trying to figure out which way to go and I'll return the other system. The Mash & Boil seems to be pretty well received despite some idiosyncrasies, but do any of y'all have experience with these kind of things? It kind of weirded me out thinking about brewing inside and not on a propane burner, since I kind of figured that's the way I'd always be doing it. I also wanted to ask about wort chilling. So far, I'd been just using an ice water bath, but that obviously won't work for either full-volume boils or the electric system. I'd read that it's ideal to chill to just under planned fermentation temp, but I don't see that happening with a tap water immersion chiller in the summer. How low do y'all find you can get with an immersion chiller, and do you do anything else to drop the temp before pitching? Or is that not as big a deal as I'm thinking? I'm just trying to figure out the best way to do this, as I don't have a garden hose attachment on my sink, so I'm going to have to get a little creative one way or another. Thanks!
  12. Alas, is there no honour amongst landthieves?
  13. When we went to Moab, we stayed at Moab Under Canvas, which was a little north of town. It was a hit with our crew. Let me see if I can get Google Photos to work -- we could see the Windows from our porch: Don't miss the Southwestern Eggs Benedict with chorizo at Jailhouse Cafe. Have a great time, it's a really cool town, and like Brew said, it would make a great trip all on its own.
  14. LOL. I like Barrow pretty well, but realize it's definitely not the world class stuff you get on the reg in Austin. That said, it is a pleasant place to visit away from the big city, and I think they've done a pretty good job following that hyperlocal model as you described (and I agree with you completely on that). I will say that they do some strong seasonals and things that don't make it to cans, but I'm cool with that, and again it gets back to fitting into your locale rather than trying to be something you're not. We hobbits have to have a place to drink, after all. But Kyler can't come.
  15. ^^^ I'll admit to being easily confusible, but isn't that pretty much what Barrow has done?
  16. I have the Nest x Yale, and I've been pleased with it. You can assign individual codes of your choosing, and set restrictions as to what time of day access is allowed, as well as set an expiration date for each. It can notify you when each code is used if you'd like. I don't think you can unlock with voice via Google Assistant (you can lock), but it's easy enough to give your old man access on a phone or tablet if you'd like.
  17. Yeah, that was meant in jest. I think any public-facing parody of his openness and earnestness to the common clay of social media (you know, morons) would be counterproductive to what's turning out to be a pretty special thing. It's enough to excoriate the twatwaffles on Surly.
  18. @SurlyDelCunty, IMO
  19. Love this thread. I'm missing Colorado today: Gunnison, CO: High Alpine Brewing: Kölsch, IMO. It's exceptionally well done. Other beers are good, too. Pizzas are excellent, and not just a lazy brewery add-on. Back Country Cafe: Awesome breakfast spot. Anything with green chile is good, the San Juan Eggs Benedict are the proverbial shiz. Sherpa Cafe: Displaced refugees stuck around and opened a Nepalese/Indian joint. Great. Crested Butte, CO: The Secret Stash: Very good pizza, good atmosphere, Meat Candy appetizer is awesome. Tincup, CO (glorious middle of nowhere): Frenchy's Cafe: Great lunch stop if you're doing any of the surrounding trails/passes or fishing the area. Beautiful setting in an old mining town. Kids can fish in the stocked pond out front. Great burgers, incredibly good desserts. Salida, CO: Patio Pancake Place: Excellent unpretentious breakfast joint in a great town. Again, anything with green chile is good. Buena Vista, CO: The Buena Viking: Good if pricey burgers from a trailer in the outdoor seating area of Deerhammer Distillery.
  20. Is this the jinx thread? Because Barry Switzer.
  21. We bought Speed Queens about a year ago, and they have lived up to their shaggy/surly billing. We have been much happier than we were with our prior fancy Electrolux front loaders. Bought from Country Mile Appliance in Florence and was very impressed with them, if you're north of Austin.
  22. We actually watched it for the first time a few months ago. They liked it, but a lot of the Coen stuff was lost on them, so I was actually a bit disappointed in their reaction. True to Coen humor, though, it grows on you and they both insisted on watching it last night (when they both usually take every opportunity to disagree) -- we all laughed our asses off, and they even picked up some things I'd never noticed. It does help that it's one of their wackier and more accessible movies. As far as appropriateness goes, nothing worse than some reproductive anatomy, a little l'amour/wife swappin' propositioning, and language no worse they hear a hundred times a day from their mom.
  23. My 11yo and 13yo both begged to watch Raising Arizona last night. O-kay, then. Although few and fleeting, there are moments when I feel like I'm doing a good job as Dad.
  24. Damor

    Bidet Meta Threas

    Not sure, I'll have to see if that's under your mom's user profile.
  25. Got one of these for Christmas, and don't have any real experience with a pressure cooker, so subscribed. Any recommendations on black-eyed pea recipes? I have a ham bone left from Christmas, so I thought that might be a good first attempt with this thing.
×
×
  • Create New...