We're Off To Vegas, Baby

Quick flight. There and back. Tinka, tinka, tinka, ding, ding, ding, ding.

I should have a report when we get back. As always, some of it will be about beer.

A Quickie: Utah Passes Homebrew Legislation

Well, it is official. The governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, Jr., has signed bill HB 51, allowing homebrewing in Utah. On May 12th, homebrewers there can make their first legal brew. Congratulations homebrewers of Utah, and special thanks to the American Homebrewer's Association for all their hard work.

Alabama, you are next.

My Other Blog: Coeruleum Blue

I am not just about homebrew. In fact, for several months now, I've had another blog going: Coeruleum Blue. You may have noticed the link in my sidebar.

This new blog is about art. You see, many years ago (too many really), I was into art: drawing and painting. Recently, I started to take classes at the local community college, and also at a Tucson artist cooperative called The Drawing Studio, in drawing and painting again. It has been going pretty good, especially since I have not done it in almost 20 years.

Here are some examples that I've done:

This is a still life in powdered graphite and pencil, 24" x 18".

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This is a study of the buildings in Murano (an island near Venice) in acrylic on 15" x 11" paper.

This is a quick 15 minute portrait in charcoal, 18" x 24".

This is a still life drawing using graphite, white pastel, and white gouache. It is on paper that has been textured using gesso, and toned using watered down ink. 10" x 13"

Quick Tip: Removing a Bung From Inside a Carboy

Dammit! You pushed the bung all the way through the neck. Now, it is sitting at the bottom of the carboy. What can you do? How do you get it back out?

Well, here is the tip: You can take a cloth, like a towel, and push it part way through the neck. Then, shake the bung so it rests on the towel. Finally, pull the towel out. It will cup around the bung and pull it out with it. Be warned. It may take a few tries.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Homemade Beer Soap

I have a friend, who has a friend, who makes soap from beer. Knowing that I'm a homebrewer, my friend said to me, if I had any stale beer, his friend would like to make soap from it. As it turned out, I did have some stale beer. I had 2.5 gallons or so of an oatmeal stout that had a sherry-like yeast infection. It was slowly drying the beer out and nobody was drinking it, so I handed it over. A month later, I got a few bars of soap. I thought it was a good deal since I was never going to drink the beer anyway.

The Arizona Animal Fair

Julie and I do a little work for English Springer Rescue America (ESRA), a dog rescue organization dedicated to springer spaniels. When opportunity came to work the ESRA booth at the Arizona Animal Fair, a couple of weeks ago, Julie and I jumped at the chance. To be honest, Julie works it every year. Unfortunately, it generally falls the same weekend as Estrella, so I do not go. This year, however, that was not the case, so we both got to go.

Or should I say, all three of us. Yes, Angus, our chunky, stinky dog is a rescue dog, who we affectionately call "the fat one" (as opposed to Murry, "the crazy one"). We adopted Angus many years ago. He was our poster dog at the fair.

Here is a picture of all three of us at the animal fair. Angus is the one not wearing sunglasses:

Post Estrella Euphoria

This always happens after Estrella War: I get all motivated and think things like, "Man, I've got all these SCA projects. I should do something about that, and maybe I should go to more events."

Along those lines, not long after I got my device passed, I kept thinking that I should make a banner. Well, after one Estrella, like five years ago, I got all excited, bought all this fabric, sewed it together, and was well under way. Of course, the Estrella high waned, and I let it fall by the wayside.

After this Estrella, I was on that high again, and I thought, "I wonder what happened to that banner?"

It took me a while to figure out where everything was. The fabric was rolled up in a little ball on a shelf in my office. The sewing machine was still packed away from our move like four years ago. Whatever fabric paint I had was long gone. I dug it all out, and before this year's Estrella high had passed, I finished the damn thing.

It is not perfect, but it is done, at long last. I can see all sorts of things I could have done better: The fabric paint is not clean. The dags are not all straight and square. However, I finished a project, and that is what counts.