HAPPY NEW YEAR

Beer Gal sez...Happy New Year To All...here's to good health and good beer to all in 2009...

RIP: TIM HART

Steeleye Span co-founder Tim Hart has died at the age of 61 after a battle against lung cancer.Hart started the band in 1970, with Maddy Prior and Ashley Hutchings. He remained a member of the band until 1982, before leaving to become a producer. Hart was forced to give up music in 1988, because of major health problems. He became a writer and photographer, although was persuaded to take part in a War Child charity show in 1995, which featured almost every member of Steeleye Span.

Not a band I was into back in the day, but have listened to recently. Never well-known over here, Steeleye Span was one of the British Folk-Rock bands along with Lindisfarne.

So rock on (or folk-rock on), Tim...

RIP: JAMES GURLEY

James Gurley, former guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company, the psychedelic blues rock band from San Francisco who assisted Janis Joplin on her meteoric rise to fame in the late 60's has passed away from a heart attack December 20th at the age of 69. He was two days shy of his 70th birthday.
In the summer of 1965, legendary promoter Chet Helms brought James to 1090 Page Street to meet Peter Albin and Sam Andrew of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and shortly thereafter, he joined the band. In June of 1966, Joplin joined the band, and soon aftwerwards she and Gurley began a short lived affair.
Country Joe & The Fish lead guitarist Barry Melton called Gurley "the Yuri Gagarin of rock & roll - the first man in space." Melton added "there was only a handful of us that created our mini-genre of psychedelic guitar, and James was the avatar who blazed the path for the rest of us."
James Gurley died in a hospital in Palm Springs, California.

An under-rated band, in my book, even without Janis they kicked psychedelic ass...!

Rock on James, now you can play with Janis again...

MERRY CHRISTMAS - BEER STYLE

‘Twas the beer before Christmas, when down in the brewery

Not a bottle was stirring, not a mouse dared to scurry;The hoses were hung by the kettle with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would drink there;

The bottles, like children, nestled snug in their beds,
While visions of candi sugar fermented their heads;
The brewers, in hoodies, gave just the impression,
They’d all settled down for long winter’s session,

When outside by the tanks there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the brewery to see what was the matter.
Away to rollup I flew like a flash,
Tore open the lock, the door flew up with a crash.

The moon on the breast of the newly-paved tarmack
Gave the lustre of stout looking velvety black,
When, what to my sobering eyes should appear,
But a miniature delivery wagon, and eight kegs of beer,

With a little old brewmaster, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than fermenting his brewers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

Now, Vinnie! now, Tomme!, now, Batman and Rob!
On, Garrett! on, Sam! on, Greg Koch and Fritz!
To the top of the jockey box! To the top of the cask!
Now drink away! drink away! drink away the whole flask!”

As dry hopping that before the wild bittering fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, toast a drink to the sky;
So up to the brewery-top the brewers they flew,
With the wagon full of Beers, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, glasses tinkling, I heard on the roof
The toasting and drinking of each little goof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Out the fermenter St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in red, from his toes to his top,
And his coveralls were soiled with spent grain and hops;
A carton of Beers he had flung on his back,
And his rubber boots squeaked as he opened his pack.

His besotted eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were all rosy, like New Glarus cherry!
His droll little mouth was beseeching our pardon,
And the beard of his chin was as white as Hoegaarden;

The end of a zwickel he held tight in one hand,
While the other held Watermelon Wheat that was canned;
He had a beer belly, that bent two stumpy legs,
That shook when he laughed, like a half-emptied keg.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old brewer,
And I drank when I saw him, for what could be truer;
A wink of his eye as he poured generous heads,
Soon gave me to know he would join us instead;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And emptied the bottles; then sat with a smirk,
And raising his glass, he gave the first toast,
Then each brewer, in turn, drank to his own riposte;

Then he sprang to his wagon, to his brewers gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like a hop torpedo missile.
But I heard his last toast, ere he drove out of here,
“Hoppy Christmas to all, and to all drink good beer.”

With thanks to the good folks at Brookston Beer Bulletin (Click on heading for link - check 'em out)

BEST USE FOR AN OLD COMPUTER

Saw this on Brookston Beer Bulletin website, and hey; well, you know me, never one to pass up a good beer-related piece of information. (Wish I had one of these!)

ADVICE TO THOSE IN HARD TIMES

 I would ask that they do not steal from 

small, family businesses, but from national 

businesses,knowing that the costs are 

ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the 

form of higher prices."

 

Father Tim Jones, York, England

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to Corey, 30 years old today.

It's all downhill from here buddy...

RYLEY: MASTER OF SPELLING

So Ryley (almost 2-1/2) has this magnetic letter set that comes in a metal schoolhouse building. Apparently he takes the letters out and groups them by colors. Well, the other day (and his Dad swears this is true) he took them out and placed them in the order as seen below!!

Not only is he smart, but he knows what's important in life (well, next to good beer & true love).

YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT - WTF?

Abba set for Hall of Fame honor Abba have been nominated for induction  into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

THE WHITE CASCADE

By Gary Krist.

Being an account of the Great Northern Railway disaster and America's deadliest avalanche (it says so right on the cover). A terrifyingly true tale of snowstorms in the mountains of Washington State and how in 1910 almost 100 people died in an avalanche. A well researched and well written book, it still manages to read as a suspense novel, although you know the outcome before starting to read. It's the twists and turns of man vs snow vs machinery vs bad luck that keep you reading from start to finish.

I found this book at Dollar Tree, so pick it up if you find it, or at your local used book store - even cheap on Amazon.com; but not my copy, I'm giving it to a friend's father who's a train buff...

HI, WANT TO SWIM IN MY OCEAN?

I have to admit, this is certainly one of the creepiest looking sea creatures I've seen. Fortunately, it's only found at depths greater than 650 feet. Whew! Of course, it's almost invisible to the naked eye, so I guess you won't have to worry about it eating you. But it sure looks like it could!

So if you're making a cheesy horror movie, something based on this copepod would sure work...

Sure creeps me out everytime I look at it...

A GOOD CHOICE??

Charles Montgomery Burns, the evil billionaire tycoon known as Mr. Burns on The Simpsons, received more write-in votes than any other for New York City mayor. Burns received 27 of the 299 write-in votes casts. He—along with fellow write-in candidates Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Rudy Giuliani—ultimately lost to incumbent mayor and real-life billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

COUNTRY 'MUSIC'

So at work the other day, one of the guys in the shop asks me, "So when are you going to start listening to country music?" Say what! "Yeah, you know, as we get older out taste in music changes so we listen to country" Uh, no...

Not sure what the logic behind that is, though my wife's friend Liz now listens to country music even though she grew up in the 60s like us. Not sure what the point of changing your taste in music is. You know, it always annoys me when I see people our age and younger listening to stuff like Sinatra and other music from our parent's generation. Why? I still listen to the music I grew up with, and even find newer music I enjoy listening to.

So c'mon, just because Tull sang about too old to rock & roll doesn't mean you have to take it literally - you're never too old to rock & roll...

even if you don't have the energy left to dance to it...

WHAT AN ASS(HOLE)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Associated Press) — A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.

Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires. Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."

"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he said.

Stupid is as stupid does, and sometimes you pay the price...

TOUGH ALL OVER

SHE"S HOT!!!

"New CD reviews are a plenty as well as a few new concert reports as well.
AND we have TWO NEW GIVEAWAYS! We are giving away copies of Rob Halford,
Judas Priest's vocalists new Christmas Album titled Winter Songs and we aregiving away an singed photo of Lita Ford and a signed copy of her new CD Wicked Wonderland." (from a well known classic rock website) e-letter)

Yeah, we know Lita used to be really hot, and is still pretty hot, but singed photos, that's just ridiculous...