| This is mostly for my own benefit, but I thought others might like to see what I'm doing. |
[16 Mar 2008|06:57pm] |
Latest batch of beer:
1.5 lbs of crushed crystal 120 malt, steeped at 155F for 30 mins.
9.9 lbs (3 cans) of light malt extract (Briess "golden") boiled 60 mins
1 oz Nugget hops (15% alpha acid), full boil, bittering
.5 oz Nugget hops, 30 min boil, flavoring
1 tsp Irish moss, 10 min boil, clarity
.5 oz Nugget hops, flame out, aroma
Pitched 1 vial White Labs WLP 001 (California Ale Yeast) at 9:30pm, 3/16/08.
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| Ben's Birthday Beerfest |
[10 Feb 2008|02:17pm] |
Hey folks. I'm having a birthday party at my place next Sunday evening. I've sent out an evite, but I wanted to post here to catch anyone I may have accidentally left off the list. If you're interested, leave me a comment or send me an email for the details.
This will be a great opportunity to try my homebrewed beer, just so you know.
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[30 Oct 2007|08:17am] |
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I'm cool with being slightly wrong with my latest prediction.
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| Well I feel sheepish |
[24 Oct 2007|03:56pm] |
So my last entry looks pretty dumb now that the Canuck-who-couldn't utterly flopped at Fenway, but hey, World Series! Woo!
Sox in 5.
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| He needs a haircut. Clearly he belongs with the Sox. |
[31 Jul 2007|05:23pm] |
Red Sox get Gagne for Gabbard and a couple of guys they picked up at the local Dunkin' Donuts. Best bullpen in baseball? I think so. If you're not ahead of them by the end of the sixth, you're in big trouble.
Of course, with the way the Sox have been hitting, that's not such a big hurdle these days.
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| Jools-T |
[20 Jun 2007|08:58pm] |
A word about Julian Tavarez.
For non-Red Sox fans, Julian Tavarez is Boston's 5th starter this year. He's done pretty well for a 5th starter - his stats and incidentals are right around league average, but he's been consistent and has occasionally come off pretty well in games where he's matched against the other team's ace.
However, he is quickly gaining a cult following in Red Sox Nation because he is absolutely hilarious to watch, primarily because he seems to be just a teensy bit crazy. Some examples:
-He has, on several occasions, rolled the baseball to first base to make an out.
-On double play balls he flails his arms at the infielders like a spastic traffic cop, waving first at second and then spinning wildly to point at first.
-He's been spotted wearing shoes with David Ortiz's face on them.
-Earlier in the season he was apparently trying to give Daisuke some pitching tips, a feat somewhat comparable to Dustin Pedroia trying to give Ortiz batting tips.
-During one game, Manny spent at least 2 or 3 minutes rubbing JT's head in the dugout, on camera, for no discernable reason. That might be more Manny's crazy than JT's, but still.
And then, tonight, I got to see him bat. And oh my, was it glorious. He stood in the box like a hyperactive rabbit. The bat swung about like it was on the end of a jack-in-the-box. At one point he appeared to swing backwards, the bat extending behind him in a one-handed grip. During one pitch he showed bunt and retracted it at least three times. Oh yeah, he bats lefty, too, despite being a right handed pitcher.
There's just so much to love about this year's team.
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| Five Years Already? |
[05 Jun 2007|10:06am] |
If you are in Ithaca, note that I will be there this weekend for my five year reunion. I'd love to see any and all of those who are still on the hill.
Also, here's a video of the manager of the Mississippi Braves (the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) going completely fucking insane:
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| Warning: Baseball geekery follows |
[14 May 2007|03:14pm] |
If you're a baseball fan, you may have noticed that Mariano Rivera kinda sucks this year. Well, maybe that's not totally fair. After a decade of utterly dominant relief work for the Yankees, any slippage looks enormous in comparison. Still, his numbers thus far are pretty awful for any bullpen scrub, let alone someone who has in the past been the league's most reliable closer. And, as a baseball nerd, I have a theory as to why.
Rivera has always lived by the strength of his cut fastball. This is a pitch that comes in about belly-button high at 95+ MPH and takes a sharp left turn just as it crosses the plate. It just dips away from right-handers, and jams in on the hands of left-handers. And that's pretty much what he throws, all the time.
Except there was a little article back during spring training that talked about how Rivera was starting to experiment with adding a change-up to his arsenal. I didn't think much about it at the time but maybe that was a warning sign. Why would you want to mix it up if your best pitch is unhittable anyway? Well, maybe because it's not quite as sharp as it used to be?
And, lest we forget, that cut fastball isn't always unhittable. The Red Sox, especially in recent years, have been able to get to Mo's cutter with some regularity. Not coincidently, they've seen him more than any other team. And Rivera's been around for quite a while - maybe other teams have finally had enough eyefuls of the demon pitch that they're starting to learn how to hit it. Combine that with his aging arm, and maybe you've got a recipe for a cutter that just doesn't cut it anymore.
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| Four Years of War in Iraq |
[20 Mar 2007|11:31am] |
Four years ago yesterday, Bush gave this speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html
The invasion officially kicked off the next day.
Just thought that should be reflected upon.
As a comparison, four years after Pearl Harbor, total victory had been achieved in both Asia and Europe and reconstruction had already begun. Lee surrendered at Appommatox slightly less than four years after Fort Sumter was fired upon. The Korean war was slightly over 3 years long.
Two armed conflicts in America's history lasted longer than four years - the Revolutionary War and the Vietnam war. Both involved local people fighting a guerrilla war against a larger, more powerful, but distant enemy. We know how those turned out.
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| I am the Fantasy Baseball God of Saves. |
[03 Mar 2007|08:37am] |
So, the draft for my fantasy baseball team was last night. It was an auto-pick draft, meaning I just set rankings and the computer did the work. The results were...interesting. Roster behind the cut:
( Roster Madness! )
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[01 Mar 2007|12:55pm] |
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Baseball's back, baby!
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| LSAT |
[22 Dec 2006|09:15am] |
Thought I'd make a rare appearance to announce that I received my LSAT score yesterday. I didn't do quite as well as I did on my SATs, but pretty darn close. Let's see if it's good enough to overcome my inconsistent undergraduate career and get me into Harvard.
Hint: It probably isn't. But it'll get me in elsewhere, no problem.
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| My playoff picks |
[02 Oct 2006|04:48pm] |
These are pretty much just random picks based on gut feelings more than anything else.
Cards in 5 sounds about right to me. They've had a shaky second half but they're a solid team, and picking against Pujols just seems silly. Also if I pick the Padres Anne will castrate me.
Mets in 4. I think the Mets are the most all-around solid team heading into the playoffs. They'll drop one due to some crazy heroics out of the Dodgers, but it won't be enough.
Twins in 4. I'm gonna predict Radke drops game 2, for no particular reason, but otherwise the Twins don't sweat much.
And the fucking evil empire in 4. Goddammit. Shaky pitching will cause this to be a more interesting series than NY fans might like, but I don't think the Tigers can overcome the freaking artillery battalion the Yanks have got for a lineup. I mean, I HOPE they can, but I'm not counting on it.
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| Hey look I have an LJ |
[25 Aug 2006|09:39am] |
So, my bad on the no updates since my vacation. Life has been a little crazy, because my office is in upheaval and I've been looking for a new apartment, which I finally found today.
So, I'm moving on September 3rd. I've got a truck, just need some people to help haul stuff in and out - the new place is very close to my old place so this should be a relatively low-stress procedure as long as I've got people to haul. Any takers?
The new place has an adorable dog. I'm very excited.
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| Back from vaca |
[05 Jul 2006|12:13pm] |
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Just a quick update - back from Key West. It was great. Update with pictures sometime soon.
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| Off to Margaritaville |
[26 Jun 2006|06:48pm] |
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Just to let everyone know, I'm heading to Key West tomorrow for a week, so I'll be incommunicado for a little while.
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| Summer Housing |
[22 Jun 2006|04:23pm] |
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Hey, if anybody out there has an extra room for the summer convenient to Harvard Square (i.e. T-accessible), let me know. My cousin Sam is looking for a place.
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monstrousform's journal
