Broken Foot and a return to keeping a blog.

It's been quite a while since I was blogging on this platform. It looks as if I am now the brotherhood. I am a society unto myself. Many of the people who were active in this blog have either moved away or have simply moved on.

The main reason I wanted to pick this back up was because I've broken my foot, and I wanted to begin keeping track of my life and my thoughts. I also wanted a pretty safe place to write, so here we are.

Last night I stopped taking pain medicine around 7 PM. Up until that point, I had been taking a percocet every 4 hours for pain. (I broke my foot and I've had surgery to correct it.) Around midnight I woke up with what felt like swollen extremities and a fire like pain in my foot that just wouldn't quite. My nurse had suggested I wait till my pain got around a level 4, but she was not suggesting I start that process as soon as I did. I wanted to see how bad the pain was, so I cut myself off for about 6+ hours, and quickly realized I was not ready to ween myself off the pain meds just yet.

So, this is it. I'm going to start keeping a blog, and it won't necessarily be about beer. Just about me now.

Tommy Knocker - Butt Head Bock Lager

2 Monks out of 10

This is my third Butt Head, (not all at once) and it is somewhat of a disappointment.  I've not had many of the Tommyknocker brews but I've noticed that they've recently reworked their packaging.  Before you had an almost Mother Goose illustration of a bunch of gnomes or  "tommyknockers" playing around a mine.  They have since ditched that, and have created a fresher, hipper look.  A somewhat distressed background of a muted forest green type of color, & on the bottom of the bottle we have a mountain scape in an iron ore kind of red, with a stylized Tommyknocker staring us down with a big mustachioed grin.  I think its an improvement, but I was always partial to Mother Goose, so there is a part of me that will miss the old design.  However, I won't be missing it too much, because this is probably the last Butt Head I'm gonna try.  It pours a kind of dirty brownish red color, and creates a small head when poured.  A high gravity beer at 8.2% and the IBU is conveniently listed on the front of the bottle as well at 33.  We need to have a sour unit measurement, because this lager leaves a slightly sour taste on my tongue.  Some slight chocolate undertones as well, but nothing as overpowering as the overall disappointing taste it leaves me with.  I'm hoping that the other beers in this gathering are better.  I've struck out the last two times I've bought something new.   It is not absolutely  undrinkable, but I won't be drinking it again.

LA 31 Biere Noire

This my fellow onions was and is a strange and mysterious brew.  Being generally open minded, especially when speaking of spirits, I decided to give this particular beer a solid shot at glorifying my gullet.  I found this at Bruno's on 31 in Hoover, AL.  Not to be confused with the now famous 31 in Louisiana.  I'm not really sure why the reference to, what seems to me to be, an ambiguous road in cajun country.  It's very possible that it is the same 31 that runs through Alabama.  But, that is a meaningless question, and certainly not the one that we are here to discuss.  Our question, first and foremost is...how good is this strange and mysterious brew.  I've got a mixed touch about this particular beer.  There is almost no information about it on the internet.  No ABV is listed anywhere that I can find, and the one I'm drinking right not leaves me with a bit of a sour after taste.  It pours out a very dark brown, and the head seems to rise up and fill the room, no matter how carefully you pour it.  The silking seems to hang around and cling to the glass, which, I should like to think, is a good indication that I'm in for a tasty delight.  The first one I had the other night gave me the same bad impression that this one is leaving me with.  I did have one in between these two dismal disappointments, that I rather enjoyed.  Mind you, it was not one after the other.  In fact it was a single beer a single night.  The second beer I had from this pack had hints of coffe and chocolate and was quite a winner.  I was hoping that it was supposed to be decanted, so I carefully poured and left bit of an unfiltered swallow in the bottle.  Well, it didn't help, but I do think I see some debris down in the bottom. I'm not sure if this wasn't a bad batch.  I'm not satisfied with the 3rd one.  It seems to sit unusually heavy, and there is a bit of a bitter bite to this ale.  As I said before, the ABV is unknown, but I'm going to assume it's a high content beer, because every time I have one, I start to hear the familiar ol' hum in the amplifiers.  Lazy Magnolia distributes this beer and that could be the biggest disappointment within this whole endeavor.  LM typically has a great selection, however, the only thing that tell me Lazy is the distributor label.  I've got one more, and I'm hoping it's better than this one, but so far this has been a quite disappointment.  If I'm grading this on a 10 monastic monk system, then I'm giving LA 31 a 2.  So this might be second only to the infamous "Estrella Dam" way back when we started this whole endeavor.  Adios Amigos, I'm holding my nose and sucking it down!

Religion, Violence, History and the Old Testament

• The story of Jeptha is descriptive, not necessarily prescriptive.
• The Old Testement stands in contrast with a Greek perspective.
• Bible doesn't promote a lazy attitude toward the world

Checking out the "Center for Public Christianity". Listen to the MP3.

Birra Moretti's La Rossa!

Let me give out this disclaimer.  I'm really thirsty.  I just got finished putting trim down in my old sanctuary, and I was parched beyond patristic levels of acceptability!  So now that I've got that out of the way, I can honestly say that I'm loving La Rossa as if it were my own Rose!  A sturdy amber color and great lacing, the beer makes me salivate like a sailor stepping onto dry ground in a meat market.  This is a double bock, and one of the more enjoyable ones at that.  7.2% ABV isn't too high for my tastes.  As many here at the Red Onion have noticed 6 or 7% is a great sweet spot for beer.  This one is a little malty, but I wouldn't expect anything else from a dobblebock!  Worth a shot, and you can find it a most Publix Grocery stores, so Moretti is waiting for you right around the corner.  7.2 Monks and it's growing on me!

Dad's Little Helper Black IPA

Dad's Little Helper from Rogue made me want to break out all my neck ties and sing a song and dance.  One of the best black IPA's I've ever had.  It's only the 2nd and the first was a growler from a home brew kit, so there.  It's delicious.  Worth driving to Kellyton Alabama to get this mean double deuce.  Thanks Dunkelstien!

O'Fallon's Black Hemp

Nothing about this that struck me as being overwhelmingly impressive.  Too many samplers that night, that is for sure.  Seemed like it had a bad aftertaste.  All I know is that when I tried to do a Christian deed and I offered to finish my Monastery brothers Black Hemp in exchange for a Samuel Smith, he graciously took me up on the offer and O'Fallon fell back into my hands.  Probably won't get this again.  3 Monks out of 10.

Old Engine Oil Black Ale

Greetings and salutations from Mustachio! Dunkelstein and I are trying out this porter. The label says "Viscous-Cholatey-Roasty". It's defiantly roasty and bitter. It's not quite as chocolaty as I would like, but it's a pretty good porter. Not what I was expecting. Chicory is the words that Dunkelstein is using to describe this beer. Neither he nor I are thoroughly impressed with it. Don't get me wrong. It's pretty good. 6% ABV and a nice silky head I'll give this one 6 Monks.

Orval Trappist Ale

Orval isn't happening for me. It's got a great head, and a silk that lasts. Pouring a rich brown with a pale head the taste leaves something to be desired. Too much carbonation, and a kind of champaigny taste. Not the best Trappist beer I've had. I don't think I'll ever get this again. 4 monks.

Why I love Walt Disney's Robin Hood

Greetings and salutations to my fellow onions. Since Brother Red and myself seem to be the sole proprietors of this blog, I've decided to do with it what I've always wanted to do. My original purpose for the "Brotherhood" was to be a theological society that enjoyed the gifts that God has given us. The gift of grace, philosophy, theology and of course beer. Apologetics would be covered within this endeavor. After all, if we are to present ourselves as Christians, we will have to defend our preference for the finest choice of beverages. So instead of jumping right into heavy philosophy, of which I would probably fail miserably, I will wax eloquently over a certain piece of pop culture that is close to my heart.

Robin Hood by Walt Disney is one of my favorite traditionally animated movies. The story is great, and the anthropomorphising of the story with a wily fox and a pretty little vixen in the place of two of the main characters is just classical fun. But there is another element that could easily be glossed over while watching the movie. Some of what I'll be saying, I'm no doubt reading into the story, but the allusions are there, whether accidental, intentional, explicit or implicit.

1. FRIENDSHIP-The theme song used in the intro had me from the time I was 8."RobinHood and Little John,walkingthrough the forest, laughing back and forth at what the other had to say. Reminiscing this and that, and having such a GOOD TIME, udalaly, udalaly, golly what a day". The song is superbably written. (more on that in a minute) Best friends talking & enjoying one another's company in a thick forest. Trust and loyalty encompassed within the fellowship of nature as God intended. When you watch this first seen, you realize these two chum's have know each other for quite some time. The flavor of the moment is as sweet as it is enduring. It is a motif, that is sadly only true to many of us within the context of fiction.
2. Roger Miller- Do I really need to say anymore. In the opening credit scene he equates the traveling minstrel to a modern day folk singer. The allegory is dated, but nevertheless, true. I'm not sure how many of the songs he wrote for the movie, but his whimsical style, and heartfelt sorrow in an off beat kind of way are completely appropriate. No one else could have pulled off a rooster singing "Every Town has it's ups and downs. Sometimes the ups, outnumber the downs. But not in Nottingham" and have everyone sobbing in the room. He's just great as a big chicken.
3. Prince John & Hiss- This devilish duo is all too wonderful. Neither of them are idiots. They are simply eaten up with their own selfishness. A groveling, thumbsucking pretender to the throne andhis cohort; a mesmerizing snake that is a miniature of our old fiend in the Jungle Book. These guys are bad in all of the best ways. Smart, greedy, impetuous and braggadocios. We've got to hand it to them, if it weren't for these two hacks, we wouldn't have a story. A simple and old fashioned couple of bad guys. Shriek can't hold a candle stick to this kind of villainy.
4. The Underdog- What could I say about this monotonous motif, except that it never, ever gets old. After all if something is true, or at the very least reflects the truth, it will resonate with everyone except your typical sociopath. Fighting for the poor and against the oppressive regime, that has been manipulatively forced upon the people. There is a great deal here to relate too. It is a thematic element that is never lost upon the greatest of movies. Only such extreme movies such as "No Country for Old Men" have lost the "hero against all odds" only to replace it with a sick feeling in your stomach. It's true that the bad guy does win, ALOT! But every once in a while the good guy wins, and those are the stories that we rejoice in. Because that is what is good.
5. Friar Tuck and the Christian Element- Here is my favorite character in the whole movie. The good Friar Tuck is as much the hero as Robin Hood. A kind and gentle old badger, whose main concern in this whole matter is his congregation and the poor people of Nottingham. It is in these tough times, that the good monk shows his steel. There are at least two direct references to the teachings and words of Jesus Christ within the context of Tuck. When the tiny parishioners of the small church give there last farthing, Tuck chokes up and says "No one can give more than that". The reference is obvious. The little female mouse gives only one small farthing, there last farthing, and Tuck, a man of the cloth, is seen praising this act of charity. But it gets even better. As the wicked sheriff of Nottingham continues to prey off the weak and defenseless in the small town and church, Tuck gets fed up. A man of peace no doubt, shows what happens when the right hand of fellowship is taken out upon those vessels of wrath. The scene is classic. Tuck kicks the sheriff out of the church and is eventually imprisoned for his action. He isn't taken down lightly though. Only with the help of a trigger happy vulture, can the evil sheriff subdue this badger in his righteous anger. The second reference to Jesus is not hard to see, but easy to miss. While in his prison cell, right before he's broken out by our good friend Little John, we see a bible beside Friar Tuck, with the words "Forgive them all" etched into the stone above the book. The idea that a Disney movie would portray Christianity in a positive light is still mind boggling to me. But I'll take it, and I'll be more than happy to point it out to my kids. More often than not, Friar Tucks example of leadership within the Church has been my experience. Not that I"ve been Tuck, even though I have been a badger, the stout hearted work of Christian men has always impressed me. Everyone complains about hypocrites. I would like to praise those fat Friars out there, that are living according to the Word.
6. The Burning of the Castle- The allusion to the burning of Rome at the hands of a mad emperor seems to be always jumping out at me. I'm probably reading too much into this scene, but the madness of the Prince and the viciousness of the sheriff, seems to evoke that old pattern of Nero-tic blame, upon those who are innocent. Maybe it's just an exciting scene.
7. True Love- Love is an inexhaustible subject. What I like about this, is that Maid Marian and Robin Hood never kissed during their courting. A virtue I hold dear now that I've got two daughters. I hope that all three of my children will follow in this honorific highway, that so few follow down now. The glorification of marriage bound up in a happy ending where love conquers all is glorious. I love it.
8. King Richard (The Lion Heart)- Only shown for one scene, it is clearly a reference to the Crusader King Richard. Historically speaking this king was the most just and upright of the many crusader kings. The very idea of portraying anything that has to do with the crusades in a positive light has long since passed in popular culture. Here we've got Richard happily congratulating his new in-laws, and sporting a large cross upon his chest. The emblem of his kingdom.

These are the reasons I love this movie so much. For some reason I wanted to share that with the world.