Posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 at 10:00 pm by Philip Devitt
This weekend saw the 3rd annual beer festival held by the folks of Forever Bury. This is an event that always promises to be entertaining and beer-riffically educational, and this year was no exception.
This years event comprised of around 50 beers and ciders from all corners of the country and as usual I had to start with a cider or two. Cider never tastes right once your taste buds have been introduced to the bitters and stouts, still, that never stopped me from returning to it when the organiser plonked a barrel of the appley-goodness next to me and proclaimed that its contents were free.
The evenings musical entertainment consisted of a three piece band (one acousitc guitar, an electric guitar and a saxophone), they were reasonably in time and didn’t make many mistakes but I think they lacked the presence of a vocalist - make a note of that for the next event.
The food stall also closed down quite early, around 8 o’clock; people generally fancy something to eat as they are leaving a booze-up so I’d have expected it to be offered around last orders but that didn’t happen; still, I suppose there were plenty of other eateries close by.
The choice of beer was very good, with a nice mixture of dark and light ales; there didn’t seem to be any fruit ales (such as Framboisenbeire) but what they did have was of excellent quality, the most potent (with a whopping 9% ABV) being one made from licorice. Unlike most licorice ales I’ve tried, this one actually tasted of licorice!
As with previous year, this weekends event was organised by-and-large by Bury FC enthusiast Dave Gifford who’s passion for the club and the event was evident to anyone who could stop him from rushing around long enough to have a chat. The organisers of the event (Forever Bury) are always looking for members and donations. Please see the Forever Bury website for details of how you can help this good cause.
Do you want to learn how to make your own beer?
Don’t miss out on the 1-2-3 guide that is on offer from EZ-Brew for only $27 (around £18).
Click here for more information on the EZ-Brew Beer Making Course.
Posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 9:35 pm by admin
I’ve finally got around to updating my DVD to PSP guide. Check it out here. Since the last version I’ve managed to find a couple of utilities that may make the job a little easier for those who haven’t got the time or inclination to battle through some of the more cryptic opensource solutions.
At the same time I’ve also uploaded a few resources that may help your poker game. Check out my new Poker Resources page.
Posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 2:23 am by Philip Devitt
I’ve been back at work for two weeks now and I’m already thinking about my next break. That’s not how I used to be, at one time you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming from work, but these days the monotony and beaurocracy get to me more and more and I just can’t be bothered with the seemingly endless stream of pen pushing that blights my day. I’m a code monkey, I do code; I used to be quite good at it: knocking up symphonies of logic and procedure that would calm the sea of a hectic business’ needs. But these days I just bang along to the tedious plinky-plonk of “Chopsticks” being played badly on a mis-tuned piano. Its hardly inspiring.
The only restbite from all this monotony comes courtesy of my uncle Terry, who, due to his unfortunate and untimely passing, has provided a good reason to escape the insanity of work for a day. Some would say that sounds rather callous, but I would happily repeat the last ten years of madness and misery to spend just another few hours with him, chatting over a pint or two about his new found happiness for the Spanish town he’d adopted. Goodbye and Godbless uncle.
The second hint to the disasterous year that may be ahead can be summed up by a line from the Bolton Evening News: “Arsonist Strikes Twice At Party House“. It appears that one of my distant in-laws was throwing a new years party and things went ever so slightly wrong — twice! Needless-to-say, the next time they’re thinking of throwing a party they’ll remember not to play “Disco Inferno”.
I’ve also just found out that one of my old collegues got married before the new year. Speaking as your humblest baggage monkey I would like to wish you all the happiness in the world.
While I’m on the subject, anyone who’s in the unfortunate position of needing to write a wedding speech could do a lot worse than taking a look at these “How To” guides. Afterall, not all of us have the witt of PG Wodehouse.