So Much For New Content

Ugh. So much for that promise to myself to blog more often.

I'm two weeks into the new school year, and we just hired a new computer science teacher. I took a road trip by myself this year. Pat and I have camped and fished less this year than ever, because of rain, rain and more stupid rain.

Despite a close call with a mule deer in between Yellowstone and Rexburg, ID, I had a relatively uneventful road trip in the WRX. In lieu of a bigger writeup, I'll leave you with this little beauty for now.

Close encounters of the bison kind

Save the Beer

I wish even regular Naked Fish was coming out this year :(

There's been a lot about craft versus big beer over the past year. From the Take Craft Back campaign and the Brewer's Association's Independent Brewer label to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot's Reform on Tap Task Force, there's been more and more pushback from small brewers and craft beer aficionados against beer conglomerates and their soulless manufacturing. Being in Maryland, the increasingly petty arguments in the state legislature regarding tap room and small brewery sales has been of interest to me. There are a ton of small breweries within an hour's drive of here; you've likely heard of some, like Heavy Seas, Flying Dog, Evolution and DuClaw. But there are smaller, less well-distributed breweries that also have amazing offerings, including Manor Hill, Black Flag, Jailbreak, Brewer's Art and Oliver. Not only that, there are even more microbreweries that don't even distribute (or rarely distribute anything besides one or two mainstay offerings) such as Smoketown, Hysteria and RAR. And there are more on the horizon; just last night on our way home from the Capitals game, Pat and I saw yet another new one, Crooked Crab Brewing, in Odenton, plus Jim Wagner's BCB Brewing opening next month in northern Baltimore County.

Just a few Maryland breweries within an hour of me, including Full Tilt, Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, Evolution and UNION Craft (photo from Baltimore Magazine)

And I'm not even naming everything! There are a ton more in Baltimore City and County alone, not to mention more in Frederick, Montgomery, Washington and Howard Counties.

The Reform on Tap House Bill 518 was proposed in reference to Maryland's archaic and distributor-friendly laws, and was designed to loosen production and sales regulations on small breweries and their associated tap rooms. The short story is that right now, Maryland restricts tap room sales for small breweries so much so that it's not economically feasible for them to have a tap room. Yet, distributors are so incentivized to sell "big beer" labels (including "craft beer" from breweries who've been acquired by big beer, including labels such as Fordham, Devil's Backbone and Goose Island) that a small brewery's beers are often ignored. Even when they are on the shelves, the distribution system so heavily favors big beer that the smaller brewery beers may sit for weeks or months before getting to the store. For some beer styles, that means a loss of fresh flavors that are important to the beer's profile.

There was a house bill hearing for HB 518 scheduled for February 23, 2018 in Annapolis, where people could sound off about their feelings of relaxing some of the restrictions that have been put in place, and make their voices heard regarding the current law and the concessions it has made for new Maryland transplant, Guinness Brewing, which is actually owned by a British company, Diageo. Diageo also owns Harp, Smithwick's and Kilkenny (among other beers) as well as spirits such as Johnny Walker, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan.

However, just yesterday (February 9), house bill 1052 was introduced by Delegates Talmadge Branch (D-Baltimore) and Dereck Davis (D-PG County) that is diametrically opposed to HB 518. In fact, it is even more against small businesses and even more designed to support Guinness. Worse yet, these clearly bought-out politicians scheduled the hearing for HB 1052 at the exact same time as HB 518. Their actions are petty and ignorant, and their bill is anti-business, anti-tourism, anti-farm, when it comes right down to it.

Image from Naptown Pint: Findings of the Reform on Tap Task Force

Small breweries in Maryland support jobs, tourism and farming in the state. For a state that over the past decade (or more) has acquired quite the "anti-business" label, HB 1052 just reinforces the idea that if you are a small business owner, or have thought about becoming one, just forget about it or go to another state. Already because of the actions of delegates like Branch and Davis, Flying Dog has postponed expansion plans that would have included starting to grow their own hops.

For more detailed and specific information on HB 518 and its bizarro-world counterpart, HB 1052, see those with better words, such as Naptown Pint and Baltimore Brew blogs. You can also go to the Brewers Association of Maryland webpage.

If you are a Maryland resident, please contact your state delegates and senator and let them know you support the small, independent craft breweries of our state, and the associated jobs, farming and tourism dollars that go along with them. Please sign the Reform on Tap petition! If you can attend the HB 518 hearing on February 23 at 1PM, please do so.

If you are not a Maryland resident, please check out the Comptroller's page on how you can support good beer.

Thanks, and prost!

Ice, Ice Baby

The forecast for today was not looking good -- wintry mix through the night and the switchover to rain wasn't expected until after 9AM. If things progressed as expected, a delay was pretty much guaranteed.

It was posted long before the 5AM cutoff MCPS has for such announcements.

MCPS schools and administrative offices will open two hours late today (Feb. 7) due to emergency weather conditions. We will reevaluate at 7 a.m. More information at https://t.co/3UJVLWkg2H

— MCPS (@MCPS) February 7, 2018

I reset my alarm, and tried to go back to sleep, hoping that just maybe, we'd get lucky and have a closure. I woke up several times just before seven, constantly checking both Twitter and the MCPS website. There was nothing.

Just after seven, I was committed to dragging myself out of bed and seeing just what Mother Nature had thrown at us, when I glanced at Facebook. Helene had posted a lamentation about the lack of MCPS update, but replied to her own post saying it was now a closure. In disbelief, I went to the MCPS page, and saw the announcement.... which surely came across as post-dated to say it had been posted at 7AM exactly. I know I'd been looking at the website at 7AM and 7:05AM, and there was no such announcement visible.

Update: MCPS schools are now closed today (Feb. 7) due to emergency weather conditions. Administrative offices remain on a two-hour delay. Details at https://t.co/3UJVLWkg2H

— MCPS (@MCPS) February 7, 2018

It kind of bothered me that MCPS waited until seven to say anything, but I'm sure they made the right call. At 8AM, a truck evidently slid off the road in Rockville and into a storefront.

Pickup truck slides across parking lot and into Rockville bakery.

More in link: https://t.co/oahDkevF6z pic.twitter.com/nTtoxFLhE0

— The MoCo Show (@TheMoCoShow) February 7, 2018

And later in the day, Pat texted me to say that a Southwest jet had slid off the runway at BWI!

At least it wasn't too serious, photo by Patrick Griffith

While I had some work related things I could have done, especially getting some sub plans in order for next week, I opted to just not do much of anything. I played a game on my phone. Then I went to DuClaw at Arundel Mills for lunch (after driving up MD170 to see the Southwest plane). Actually, going to DuClaw was kind of embarrassing; between the weather and the day of the week, evidently, I was the first customer of the day, at noon!

DuClaw has several new offerings out, so I had to try them before deciding on a regular pour

I really like their reborn turkey melt with avocado. It's quite tasty. 

When I got home, surprisingly, Pat was already home. He started his new job at Menzies Aviation this week, but it's primarily been training stuff. He's been giving me quite a ton of stories about the millennials that are also going through the training, who can't quite figure out that videos are for learning and there just might be a quiz afterwards, and some who don't understand "working hours" mean you shouldn't plan to help a friend move or go play basketball when you are expected to be at work. 

Anyway, I finished up today by bottling the honey beer that I started three weeks ago. It should be just shy of 8% ABV, and tastes pretty sweet right now. I'm excited to taste the final product. 

It's a dark lager, but tastes very light

Two more days this week, then an extended weekend because I'd originally planned to be in Orlando with Pat at the Matco Tools Expo. I already had a sub and it's my birthday on Monday, so I decided I'd still take off. I just don't know what I'm going to do yet. :)

Cancer Sucks

There's not a whole lot else to say about that.

Rest easy, my friend. You were taken far, far too soon. May all your vehicles be LSx powered and handle like a kart on rails, and all your runs be clean.

the most beautiful sounding miata in the world

Mike Kline. 1975-2018. Rest in peace, my friend.

Consider donating to my birthday fundraiser if you hate cancer, too. 

Going Pro

Today was a professional day at work, which means that 90% of the staff say they are teleworking.

It's just a day off, really.

I had to go in though. I'm one of the gradebook advisors, and the only one who actually got training, so I need to be on site for at least part of the day to answer questions and deal with any issues that came up. Still, I left just after 1:30, and on the way home, I realize, "Hey! I should move that honey beer to the secondary!"

So, that's what I did.


The beer tastes interesting right now. It starts off as just a flat beer taste, but then there's this sweetness to it afterwards. I'm guessing the sweetness is due to the honey addition, but it doesn't have the marshmallowy taste of the meadowfoam. That's okay though. I think it's going to taste really good, and with an approximate ABV of 7.9%, it'll have some punch to it. However, right now, it doesn't taste very "heavy," and that makes it even more interesting.

The color is different than what I've brewed previously, too. Both the beer and the head have a slight reddish or pinkish shade to them that reminds me a bit of Troegs Crimson Pistil.

I'll bottle it in about a week, and then it's the long wait for the bottle conditioning for the carbonated taste. Maybe I should look into a kegging system! ;)

Snow Day Brewing

We had an unexpected snow day today! I mean, it wasn't totally unexpected. After all, snow was forecast, though the timeframe for the precipitation kept changing. When I left work yesterday, it was forecast to start just after the evening rush hour, and stop in the early morning, before 7AM.

By the time I fell asleep last night, that had changed to "starting after midnight" and "ending mid-morning." Okay, so you're telling me there's a chance of a delay?

I actually woke up before my alarm, and I was annoyed initially as I tried to go back to sleep. Then I thought, maybe I should check the delays? Lo and behold, there was an MCPS delay!

MCPS Schools Opening Two Hours Late January 17, 2018; Administrative Offices Opening On Time

— MoCoSnow (@MCPSsnow) January 17, 2018

So, I reset my alarm (to Pat's annoyance), and once it went off again, went through my normal snooze, snooze, snooze (again, to Pat's annoyance) before finally getting up and starting to get ready to go in.

After brushing my teeth, something made me check the interwebs again....

Urgent Update: Due to unsafe road conditions affecting school transportation, Montgomery County Public Schools is now closing schools today, January 17, 2018. Administrative offices are open on time. Day care programs in school buildings may remain open as scheduled.

— MCPS (@MCPS) January 17, 2018

Whoa. That was completely unexpected (and Pat was completely unamused).

So, after moving the WRX out of the way so that Pat could do his route, I puttered about for most of the morning before deciding to do something useful. I took down the holiday decorations (finally!), then pulled out some ingredients I'd bought from Maryland Homebrew a few weeks ago and embarked on brewing a honey beer I'd concocted.

The wort tastes very sweet. I'm hoping that the honey retains some of its special flavor through the fermentation, but it'll be okay if it doesn't. For those that don't know, "meadowfoam" honey tastes of marshmallows. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks!

As for tomorrow.... some people are already talking a delay, but I'm definitely not holding my breath. Obviously, though, stranger things have happened.

BTW, if you don't mind subscribing to my YouTube channel while you're watching, I'd appreciate it.

Darkness Can Not Fight Darkness

Pat and I had the opportunity to see a Bill and Ted's double feature last night at the historic Parkway Theater on North Avenue in Baltimore. What an awesome, old theater! Most of it is the original 1915 structure, with some updating such as the seating, the bathrooms, and the bar area.

This was the actually the concessions line

The ceiling

The original stage is behind the movie screen. The theater was constructed in 1915 and was originally a vaudeville stage.

Alex Winter -- Bill S. Preston, esquire, himself! -- was the guest of honor, and spoke on the making of the two movies, as well as answering a bunch of questions from the audience. It was cool to hear how much fun he and Keanu Reeves had making the films, even though they weren't even sure if they'd get released. 

We sat in the balcony seating, which was great for viewing the movie and not so much for viewing the guest

Back when Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was released, I actually saw the movie five times in the theater. I wasn't so into Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and this was probably only the third time I've seen it all the way through. Interestingly enough, Winter said that Bogus Journey was actually his favorite of the two, as the film's "darker humor" was more in line with his. 

Winter also mentioned a third movie is still in the works. When I posted something to this effect on Facebook, some of my friends said that it's been mentioned for a couple of years now, and in fact, IMDB has it as "announced" with Reeves and Winter as the only two confirmed cast members. Winter said he knew that eventually the movie "would get made," just like the previous two struggled to get made and distributed, and quipped it was going to happen even it was "shot on iPhones and posted to YouTube." 

Anyway, Pat and I had fun. The Parkway Theater has a great selection of craft beer on tap, including a lot of local Baltimore brews (including Diamondback, Union, Heavy Seas, Charm City Meadworks and more) as well as other crafts such as Right Proper's Haxan and Bell's Two Hearted. We'd taken Uber (btw, do all UberX drivers use Toyotas?) in so we didn't have to fight traffic or find parking. The event was sold out, so the theater was packed with fans, including one who was doing a spot-on cosplay of Ted "Theodore" Logan. 

And watching the irreverent film reminded me that there were certainly some messages sent that are still very true today, as they were true in the San Dimas of 1988 and will be in the San Dimas of 2688. 

Dollhouses of Death

For the past seven or eight years, I've done an end-of-year cumulative project with my high school forensic science class where they create a "crime scene diorama." This is loosely based off the original The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death that were created in the mid 1940s by Frances Glessner Lee.

I was amazed and excited to hear that the original Lee dioramas were on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery... but only through the end of January 2018. I threw my field trip planning skills into high gear and pushed through a trip in record time. 

We went today. It was somewhat chilly, but the trip from the metro station to the gallery was only about a quarter of a mile. The scenes we got to see were worth it, and my students made awesome impressions on the SAAM staff. 

All of Lee's scenes were based on real crime scenes, though she embellished them a bit here and there. Overall, the scenes are true to life, and seventy-plus years later are actually still used in teaching detectives and others about crime scene investigation! 

Some of the tiny details in the scenes are so minuscule, they are easily missed. 

No evidence of death-by-hanging, and a missing shoe (which can be found on the stairwell) indicate this is not a suicide!

Several of my students couldn't help but go back to certain scenes over and over again, trying to figure out what must have happened. Almost all of them came up with a theory for the "Kitchen" scene (first one above), and decided it was suicide based on the newspapers stuffed in the door frames from the inside, and the open oven. 

The "Three Room Dwelling" scene elicited the most discussion and dissension. The largest of the scenes on display, the scene depicted the death of a family of three -- a baby, and then a husband and wife. It was very gruesome, with blood spatter and ballistics evidence spread throughout three rooms. In the end, my students were dissatisfied with the "real" answer, and did not like what had happened in the home, despite the evidence telling them the truth. 

The kitchen of the "three room dwelling"

Another view of the kitchen

The nursery

Lee did about a dozen and a half of these 1:12 scale models through the 1940s, and the detail is incredible. The lighting in the Renwick was "dramatic", with flashlights encouraged (and provided at each scene), so taking photographs was difficult. 

Accidental alcohol poisoning?

Passed out on the sidewalk and arrested for public drunkeness. Found dead in his prison cell the next day. 

Carbon monoxide poisoning?

Accidental or murder? 

You might think it was a natural death until you knew that the pillow next to her head held a sinister secret....

She'd been standing on a chair to hang laundry. Then she fell and was dead. Was she pushed or was it an accident?

Dollhouses were big in the 1940s, as a means of "teaching" a young woman how to run a household. Yet, the dollhouses that were sold were things of wealth and beauty, and Lee's dioramas showed real people, gritty and working-class, ugly and damaged. They are beautiful in their horrific-ness. 

The "Murder is Her Hobby" exhibit will only be at the Renwick Gallery through January 28, 2018. The museum is open daily 10-5:30 and it's free. See it if you can!

Once we had spent close to two hours in the special exhibit, we split up to do our own thing until reconvening to head back to school. I opted to stay at the Renwick and look at the other collections before grabbing lunch. 

This reminded me of engines and car parts partially buried in the mud between the C&O Canal and the Potomac River

This is a teapot!

A crystalline spinning wheel

I am pretty sure the same artist did a similar (though standing) glass gown that is at the Toledo Museum of Art

Volume. The LEDs are randomized.

The Ghost Clock. It's not a clock wrapped in cloth; it's all carved mahogany.

You can no longer even walk on the White House side of Pennsylvania Avenue. Our paranoid and narcissistic POTUS has it all blocked off. So much for being the "Peoples' House."

While not as many students came on this trip as the last one, I think those who came this time actually walked away with a greater appreciation of forensic science as a whole. 

Me? I thought it was a tremendously awesome exhibit, and I used some networking opportunities with the SAAM staff to hopefully set up some future field trips and/or guest speakers. And, of course, it was a day away from the daily grind! 

Stone and Inspiration

Over a year and a half ago, I bought in to the Stone Brewing Company's IndieGoGo campaign to build brewing operations in Berlin and on the East Coast. The collaboration beers that were made available included partnerships with Dogfish Head, Victory, Surly and plenty of others. Once the East Coast operation was announced to be Richmond, I was excited. Troegs is already a routine destination, being about an hour and a half away, and now here was another great venue. The Stone Bistro and World Gardens in Escondido is pretty awesome, and eventually the Richmond site will be host to its own gardens and bistro. For now, it's just a taproom.

Anyway, I'd received notice back in November -- right after I'd made a trek to grab my bottle of Zuper Magik w00tstout -- that what had originally been a Surly collaboration was ready for pickup. Since Todd Haug, the Surly brewer they were going to work with, had left Surly, this was now a "Todd Haug/Stone" collaboration, and was called Saurer Axtmann. The name did not bode well for something Pat would like, as he is not a fan of sours.

I plotted a trip to get the beer during my winter break, but didn't receive confirmation from Stone that they knew I'd be arriving, so I pushed my journey back to January 6th. It was freaking cold yesterday morning (eight degrees Fahrenheit, but negative eight wind chill), but I trundled out of the house and down the 95s to Richmond.

Wanting to do more than just hit the brewery and go home, I'd already hit up the National Park Service website to see what was in Richmond besides the obvious Civil War sites. I settled on an historic site dedicated to someone I was not familiar with -- the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. It was right off of I-95, and only about 15 minutes away from Stone.

Quality Row in Richmond's Jackson Ward

When I arrived, I found street parking (the only parking available) right in front of the alley that led to the visitor center, and a ranger who was more than eager to show their new video and lead me on a tour of Mrs. Walker's home. 

Watch the video to learn who Maggie Walker was and why she is an important civil rights icon, even though she was born in 1864 and lived in an era when women couldn't vote. I can't believe I haven't heard of her until now. 

And her home! It's gorgeous, and most amazingly, 90% of the furnishing are original. The books in her makeshift library. The mirrors. The cut glass and china. The toy dolls. Even the reproductions are done so well and based on known items (either to match the rest of a set, such as the dining room chairs that needed reproductions after four of the six were stolen in the early 1970s, or to match something in a photo of Mrs. Walker, such as the recliner in the parlor) so as to blend seamlessly with the rest of the decor. 

the parlor was off limits to the rambunctious Walker children and grandchildren, unless they were practicing on the piano

Over 600 books were in Maggie Walker's collection

Walker and her husband both graduated high school in a time when segregation was law. The Richmond Colored Normal School and the blue ribbon on Maggie Walker's diploma indicated that she'd taken extra classes to become a teacher. She had to give up teaching when she married Armistead

Mrs. Walker was very proud of her family's achievements as well, as seen by the display of her son Melvin's Shaw University diploma.

The kitchen did not have a refrigerator, just this small reproduction icebox. 

Growing up poor and helping her mother wash, press and fold clothes for a living, Maggie Walker knew the importance of a good wash room. Three sinks, a stove for heating, electric fans to circulate the air, and an automatic sheet press are all found here.

As Mrs. Walker aged, she suffered debilitating effects of diabetes, leading to her becoming wheelchair-bound. This manual elevator was installed to allow her to move between floors of her home without the need for her to be carried up and down the stairs. It was actually outside the confines of the house, and so, yes, that is snow on the floor. 

Children and grandchildren were a big reason the house had two additions put on the house after Maggie Walker purchased it in 1904. These are some of the original toys played with by her grandchildren.

Even though Mrs. Walker had the home converted from gas lighting to electric lighting, some fixtures remained dual purpose, in the event of a power outage.

In a time when both women and people of color were actively discriminated against, Maggie Walker rose to a position of  president of a bank that she founded herself, generous philanthropist and community leader. 

Mrs. Walker died here in her home in 1934, surrounded by the things that she loved and cherished. 

I was very moved by my visit, and it dovetails beautifully with my 2016 road trip visits to Little Rock Central High School, the Brown v. BOE site in Topeka and other experiences. 

Saurer Axtmann

Loral & Dr. Rudi's Inevitable Double IPA

From there, I drove the short distance to Stone Brewing RVA. The Saurer Axtmann is a Berliner Weisse style, though not overly sour to me. In the meantime, I had two growlers that I needed to decide on filling, so I sampled some others.

I found six packs of the Exalted IPA in the cooler, so I figured I'd do a growler of the Koteka Rise and Grind (an Imperial Red Ale tasting of coffee and bourbon) and something else. The bartender suggested the Chai Infused Russian Imperial Stout, which is a 2015 offering. I tasted it and went with that without much hesitation. As she said, the chai and the aging has taken the bourbony edge off the beer, and it is smooth as silk. Of course, that's dangerous in a 10.6% beer. ;) 

Exalted IPA and Koteka Rise and Grind

From Stone, I still felt I had some time to kill before heading home. I figured I needed to be back by 6:30 in order to be able to get over to the Autocrossers, Inc holiday party at the start (since Pat and I were bringing food and participating in the gift exchange). I decided to swing by one of the Richmond National Battlefield Park units, Fort Harrison. Sadly, it turns out the visitor center here is seasonal, and so was closed. But I still wandered around the snow-covered paths of the fort for about thirty minutes before I was too chilled and went back to the warm confines of the WRX.

The battle here took place in late September 1864

Most of the earthworks were of Confederate origin, but after the fort fell to the Union, they renamed it Fort Burnham and changed the configuration somewhat

Confederate cannons aimed towards the James River in the distance

Earthworks

A lone cannon protecting Confederate earthworks. To the right of the cannon, most of the Fort is Burnham (Union built)

Cannon at sunset

I bolted for home, heat cranked in the WRX, and considered maybe journeying back down this way next weekend for the MLK holiday. I forgot to bring a Stone Brewing giftcard with me, so there is that, plus I would like to visit the Richmond battlefield in warmer conditions. 

But overall, it was a good day, and I learned things that were inspiring and new to me. This is why I like to explore and wander.