Patios-a-Poppin'!

Here's the patio. It is finished...the rest of the yard is not.

where art thou?

Why isn't Kilkenny sold in the United States?

I first tasted this beer in Rome, Italy, of all places, in the summer of 1998. In my humble opinion, there is no better beer in the world. There are many with more flavor (or flavour, if you like), but there are none to rival its combination of taste, feel and smoothness.

I experienced a few fine beers in Germany (a Munchner Dunkel served in the Rathskellar restaurant in Munich stands out...alas I cannot remember its name), and several fine varieties in Prague (most notably Budvar and Velvet); however nothing matches Kilkenny. Although I'm certain there are many connoisseurs who would knock each other over to argue my conclusion, as this is a matter of opinion, there can be no right answer but my own.

Regardless of one's opinion, it is, by all accounts, a fine beer; it is popular in many other countries, and it stands to reason that it might sell reasonably well in our neck of the woods. So, why not sell it here?

Perhaps the best reason is simple: if everyone that loves Kilkenny is anything like me, they don't actually drink that much beer. Well, I'm afraid I don't have a counter argument to that, except to say that I, on rare occasion, will go to Canada and spend about $60.00 on a case of the stuff. That must count for something.

I could say I told you so...

well well well, it's always nice to have my ideas corroborated by independent 3rd parties like this.

In case you don't feel like reading that article, the long and the short of it is that an independent auditing firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, has come to the conclusion that Internet delivery of instant-on HD content is still years away. I don't know where they pulled the year 2015 from, but it sounds as good as any, I suppose.

Some of you...ok the 1 or 2 of you that might actually read my drivel, might remember this post of mine, where I said the same thing and relied on the same reasoning to reach my conclusion.

the bottom line: most people don't have a fast enough connection to enable instant streaming of HD content of the same quality found on a blu-ray disk. I still think that Internet distribution is the future, but we simply aren't there yet, and now it would appear that we have bigger fish to fry.

Michael Jackson

I just found out that someone was asking $2000 for an LP featuring Michael Jackson narration of Steven Spielberg's E.T.. The reason for the rarity of that item is that apparently MJ was signed under a different label when he recorded the material, making it illegal and production was cut short. We had that record once upon a time. I'm sure we don't anymore. Doh!

CONSOLE WARS!!!

I don't know why I still care about this, but something about the arguments that I read involving "which console is best" just irk me. I've got more important things to do, but this is a fun diversion...

Let me first say that I am not deliberately involving my personal opinion in this little diatribe. I have one, and it might be obvious from what you'll read here, but I think the arguments I make are cogent and speak for themselves.

the xbox360 is not less expensive than the PS3. A PS3 will set you back $400. The closest Xbox360 model also costs $400. The PS3 comes with a blu-ray player and wireless ethernet. That same Xbox360 model does not. The Playstation Network available through the PS3 is free. One must pay for XboxLive. XboxLive is a more robust online offering than PSN, but in an absolute sense they offer much the same functionality--they aren't exactly apples to apples but they aren't precisely apples to oranges either. PSN being free and XboxLive being better probably makes them a wash, but what can't be ignored is the simple fact that one must still pay for the XboxLive service, which invariably, unarguably makes it more expensive than its Sony competitor. The value of that online service lies in the opinion of the user, likewise the value of the blu-ray functionality built in to PS3.

What about games. We are talking about games consoles after all. Which one has better titles is debatable, but what isn't debatable is the general consensus among critics that the PS3 has had the lion's share of well-received games in the last six months or so. Observe (metacritic scores in parenthesis):

Infamous (84)
Killzone (91)
Little Big Planet (95)
MLB '09 (90)

xbox360 had the following major releases in roughly the same time period:

Halo Wars (82)
Gears of War 2 (93)

Disclaimer: I'm sure I'm missing several titles--that was not meant to be a comprehensive list, just a representative sampling...and it is my blog, after all.

I know that both consoles have major exclusive titles planned for the coming year so, again, this is probably a wash, but it should serve as sufficient ammunition to put to rest the ridiculous notion that the ps3 has lousy software support.

I find it interesting that even in the light of these rather obvious facts, it seems the general consensus is that the ps3 is not a good value when compared to the xbox 360.

on serving self

I'm selfish

with one or two exceptions, I've never been wholly dedicated to myself, and yet recently I've noticed that I have become increasingly insular. Is this part of getting older? Is it because my wife is pregnant with our first child? The realization that this transition is occurring is fascinating for two reasons: firstly, it is entirely predictable, I would imagine, from an external party. I was just married and becoming a father. It isn't exactly a great leap to say that I would instinctively nest a bit at this point. The fascinating thing is that, were I analyzing someone else in this situation, I would have come to this conclusion and likely judged myself rather harshly. The fact that the mundane predictability of it, despite the history of my nature, would in the end apply directly to me is, to me, quite interesting. The second point is related to the first: throughout my life I've been known to feel great empathy for, well, just about anyone (or thing). The veer towards the crotchety lately gives me pause; one more reminder about the inevitability of the various stages of the human condition, and thus another reminder of my own mortality.

this just in: people not doing what they claim to do

a new fence? sure!

nice low quote from a "guy my neighbor knows" and vouches for. around $2000 lower than the next lowest number, to be exact. Why not?

Downpayment for materials? sure! here you go! what's that? you didn't add in something for something that you can't quite explain to me? another $500? sure!

meanwhile

hey, Mike, thanks for giving us the time of day. you do great work. just to show you that we appreciate it, we'll pay you twice as much up front as we agreed to pay. schedule? well, we'll probably be done in a few months, right? it's january, we'll have everything done by the summer and things will be right as rain, right?

Mike.

Mike?

Mike!

you haven't been to the house in three months. are you there? do you want to finish the job? do you want the rest of your money? things must be swimming in your household. what's that? you decided to do 3 other jobs before you finish ours? why? oh, I see: no good reason, we're just not that important. I see. well, at least that explains that.

I apparently have a target on my back, along with a sign that reads, "Please take advantage of this congenial loser."