RIP: GARY MOORE

Oh, here's a surprise, only 1 year older than me. No cause of death listed yet. Besides his most famous song "Still Got the Blues For You" Gary was known for being in Thin Lizzy back in the day.

Never a big fan of his, I'm still sorry to see him go. Maybe him & Phil can get together and jam once again...

Rock on, Gary, rock on...

IT'S GOOD TO BE WARM (AND SNOW FREE)

See the bottom right; well that's Florida, where I live. See the rest? Well, that's the snowstorm of 2/01/11 covering just about everything else...

Am I glad to live in Florida...you betcha!!!

FEBRUARY BREWERIES

Being my birthday month, here's a list of breweries that opened in Februaries of various years (with thanks to BrookstonBeerBulletin.com)

· Boston Beer Co. (South Boston, Mass.; 1828)

· Berliner Kindl Brauerei (Germany; 1872)

· Rockies Brewing/Boulder Beers (Colorado; 1979)

· Sierra Nevada Brewing (California; 1981)

· Portland Brewery’s Flanders Street Pub founded (Oregon; 1986)

· Catamount Brewing (Vermont; 1987)

· Old Columbia Brewery (California; 1989)

· New England Brewing (Connecticut; 1990)

· Hale’s Ales (Wash.; 1992)

· Old World Brewing (Arizona; 1992)

· Tumbleweed Grille Brewery (NC; 1992)

· Woodstock Brewing (New York; 1992)

· Syracuse Suds Factory (New York; 1993)

· Lagunitas Brewing (California; 1994)

· Randy’s Fun Hunter Restaurant & Brewery (Wisconsin; 1994)

· Bayhawk Ales (Cal.; 1995)

· Beau Ce Broue brewery (Quebec; 1995)

· Browar Belgia (Poland; 1995)

· Draught Horse Pub & Brewery (Texas; 1995)

· Faultline Brewing (California; 1995)

· Flagship Brewery (England; 1995)

· Old Broadway brewery (North Dakota; 1995)

· Trailhead Brewing (Missouri; 1995)

· Triumph Brewing (New Jersey; 1995)

· Bare Bones Grill & Brewery (Maryland; 1996)

· Blue & Gold Brewing (Virginia; 1996)

· Dunedin Brewery (Florida; 1996)

· J.T. Garrison Brewing (California; 1996)

· Main Street Brewing (Texas; 1996)

· Siletz Brewing (Oregon; 1996)

· Treasure Coast Brewing (Florida; 1996)

· Wild Duck Brewery (Oregon; 1996)

· Appalachian Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1997)

· Beowulf Brewing (England; 1997)

· Clocktower Brewing (Canada; 1997)

· Forest City Brewing (Illinois; 1997)

· Kelley Bros. Brewing (California; 1997)

· Mystic River Brewing (Connecticut; 1997)

· Nimbus Brewing (Arizona; 1997)

· North Fork Brewers (Washington; 1997)

· Rio Salado Brewing (Georgia; 1997)

· Seidermann Brewing (Arizona; 1997)

· Southeastern Brewing (South Carolina; 1997)

· Strip Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1997)

· Trout Brooks Brewing (Conneciticut; 1997)

· USA Cafe (Texas; 1997)

· Westwind Brewery (New Mexico; 1997)

· Willoughby Brewing (Ohio; 1997)

· Your Father’s Moustache (New York; 1997)

· Yukon Brewing (Canada; 1997)

· La Lambic du Nord (Canada; 1998)

· Max Lager’s American Grill & Brewery (GA; 1998)

· Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling (Alaska; 1998)

· Erie Brewing (Pennsylvania; 1999)

· Lightning Boy Brewery (Montana; 1999)

· 5280 Roadhouse & Brewery (Colorado; 1999)

· Mystic Brewpub & Restaurant (Penna.; 2000)

· Spinning Dog Brewery (England; 2000)

RIP: PETE'S WICKED ALES

Gambrinus Discontinues Pete’s Wicked Ales

Wow! What a crappy headline. Apaprently sales aren't high enough for the current owners, so bye-bye Wicked.

Damn shame, I've tried 4 of them - Pete's Wicked Ale, Wicked Red, Wicked Strawberry Blonde' and ESP Lager. So we've got until March 1st (if you can find it, never easy around this neck of the wood) to stock up before they're gone for good.

Hey, maybe Pete'll buy the company back...hey...stranger things have happened!

RIP: VINYL FEVER

And a sorry day it is when the best music store in Florida, perhaps the Southeast, has to close.

Been going there for almost as long as I've been in Florida, 20+ years; found it first on Dale Mabry, then followed it to Henderson. Records, cassettes, CDs - they had it all. Really going to miss it, it's a damn shame really when almost the only thing left is FYI (For Young Idiots).

So, sorry to see you go, maybe someday you'll be back...(hey, stranger things have happened)...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEER CAN

Yup, 75 years old today; the first beer sold in a can, from Richmond VA. So raise a can of beer, and toast to the next 75 years...and the next...and the next...

WHY, YOU ASK?

Why is beer better than wine? Human feet are

conspicuously absent from beer making."

— Steve Mirsky, Scientific American; May 2007

CASTLE (THE TV SHOW)

Kate Beckett (the gorgeous Stana Katic) to a street magician she's just busted:

"Alakazam, jackass"

HEY ASSHOLE!

Yeah, you in the SUV - you know, the one that drives up the side of mountains and crosses raging rivers?

Well, do you think that you could not slow down to 1 MPH to cross the freaking railroad track!!

Just once, please...

RIP: GERRY RAFFERTY

Gerry Rafferty was a Scottish singer-songwriter who scored several hits throughout the ’70s and ’80s, most notably, “Baker Street” and “Right Down The Line.” Launching his career as a busker in London’s Underground during the late ’60s, Rafferty soon teamed up with future actor, Billy Connollyin a band called the Humblebums. In 1972, he helped form Stealers Wheel who had a hit with “Stuck In The Middle With You.” Six years later he released City To City which included the smash hit “Baker Street,” with one of the most instantly recognizable openings in pop music history. The album will go down in history as the one that knocked the groundbreaking juggernaut, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack out of the #1 slot in America. He released several more albums over the course of the next two decades, but none came close to the success of City To City. In August of 2008, Rafferty reportedly disappeared from a hospital where he was being treated for chronic liver problems, leaving all of his possessions behind. He resurfaced in the media in February 2009, apparently living in hiding and being cared for by a close friend. Other reports indicated however, that he was suffering from alcoholism but otherwise doing fine. What IS known is that he was still making music, having released Life Goes On in August of 2009. In November of 2010, Rafferty was taken to a hospital where he was placed on life support due to liver failure. He was later taken off support and subsequently passed away on January 4, 2011. He was 63.

And "Stuck In the Middle", what a great car song; I'll always remember driving along in the front seat, seated between Larry & Mark, singing at the top of our lungs..."Stuck in the middle with Jews...", because I was, and they were...