May 29th, 2009 by sarah
Padres Streak
Thanks to the Padres, San Diego fans feel like they’re being taken on a rollercoaster this season. Win 9 out of the first 12, lose 19 of the next 23, and then a (barely) double digit game winning streak that ended in a 6-5 loss to Arizona, who barely held on as the Pads overcame a 6 run deficit to score five runs in the last two innings. The Pads begin a three game weekend series tonight in Denver. The pitching matchup is fairly even (though Young has had pretty good luck swinging as well) but we’ll see how the Rockies do coming off a sweep by the Dodgers. Their at-home record is just 7-12 so far this year lending to speculation there will be some changes in the payroll…
And those changes are… the Colorado Rockies fired manager Clint Hurdle today after 15 years with the team (7 as manager) and a 0.461 winning percentage. With a 14 game deficit in the NL West, even a website complete with t-shirts and a petition to get The Hurdle out of the way, there wasn’t much doubt some shaking up in the Rockies dugout was going to occur. Even Hurdle had acknowledged his position wasn’t exactly the most “stable” (pun intended…), often sounding more capable of managing tractor equipment and crops than a baseball team and even drawing an analogy of the Rox needing a win to a hog yearning for slop. His replacement will be tasked with putting together a team out of a few talented players and some slumping stars and the Monforts don’t seem capable of taking any responsibility in that either. Bench coach Jim Tracy will replace Hurdle until a replacement is hired.
May 27th, 2009 by sarah
Nestled up near Emmaus is a brand spanking-new gastro pub called the Tap and Table. While the outside resembles a shed and seems more fit to house barn animals, the inside is a unique Belgian-inspired pub with a copper bar, “candle-liers,” and cask beer- complete with quintessential Ghent redlight district bathroom. The Tap and Table offers an interesting menu with offerings like Mussels and Clams, Cheese Plate, or Raw Oysters to start, and a Grilled Cheesesteak Flatbread (with braised short ribs, trumpet mushrooms, and tomato glace), Soft Shell Crab BLT, or Black Forest Ham Sandwich with Brioche and Fried Quail Egg to fill your stomach while you imbibe. More impressive than the menu is the beer selection with three cask drafts, a draft list of six beers like Bells Two Hearted to Belgian classics like La Chouffe, as well as a bottle list of great choices that will rotate often. The current bottle list included craft selections like Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye and Saint Somewhere Lectino Divino to Aecht Schlenkra Marzen, a delicious smoky lager, and t’Brouwkot Kalle, a complex tripel. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, you’re probably in good hands as the 2009 Philly Beer Geek winner Nate Gefvert was manning the bar when I visited. Their website is coming soon, but the Tap and Table is open 7 days a week at 11:30am and worth the trip!
Update: website is now online http://tapandtable.com/
May 19th, 2009 by sarah
I’ve expressed my love for Allagash Gargamel before and said I’d let you know when it was released after I secured my stash. Sure enough, the limited release was Thursday, May 7th, at the brewery in Maine. I wasn’t able to get up there until Friday but heard about some beer aficionados driving all night to camp out at the brewery as early as 3am in order to get their share. I also heard many of those beer geeks (I use the term lovingly!) tried bribing the UPS driver, local bums, anyone who would spend a few minutes to help them secure more than the 2 bottles per person max. I called on some twelfth cousins 11 times removed or whoever and have locked up my supply of Gargamels in a vault at an undisclosed location. Ok, ok, it’s my basement. And I know a few of you would trade your left nut, your first born, your first born’s left nut, but I’ve got plans for mine! The blend was changed slightly since I first tried it at the Extreme Beer Fest, but it’s so balanced and tasty. We’ll see how well it ages. Read the rest of this entry »
May 7th, 2009 by sarah
We’re all doing our part to help the environment- reusable shopping bags, solar and wind powered houses, edible panties- but who would have thought driving a car would be next on our list of biodegradable and sustainable production? The University of Warwick said to hell with starving children (just kidding…) and created the first Formula 3 race car built from potatoes, steered by root fibers of a veggie platter, plant oil based lubricants, and equipped with a seat made from soybean oil foam upholstered in a flax fiber weave, potato starch mirrors, and brake pads made from ground cashew shells. Even the radiator is coated in an emission destroying catalyst. The car is expected to top out at 145 mph (125mph in the corners!) which would make it competitive in the F3 series, and it meets all Formula 3 racing series standards except its fuel choice- vegetable oil and chocolate waste (isn’t that just the wrapper?). Oddly enough, F3 cars aren’t allowed to race on biodiesel, keeping it from competing in the series. The car is expected to be on display at the European Grand Prix and Britain’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. When asked why they decided to design a car that could be built at a farmers market, the designers probably replied the idea came from playing with their food. And who wouldn’t want to see this thing race? Debris from any wreck could be promptly picked up and donated to the food bank- now that’s recycling!
Photo courtesy University of Warwick
May 5th, 2009 by sarah
Think about the many great combinations in our world- Peanut Butter and Jelly, Mario and Luigi, ketchup and mustard, goats and beer. Wait, what??? Sly Fox mates the Bock namesakes (both goat and beer) when they hold their annual goat races to name this season’s Maibock. I’m still waiting for a goat named Bukkake to take it so patrons can order a Bukkake ‘Bock. I’m not sure if that should be an entire pint, or just a half, butt (pun intended) unless I start training a creatine-enhanced buck to race, we’ll have to stick with the cutesy names from little kids raising pets on a farm. Sly Fox Beer Ambassador Corey has his mind in the same trough, anticipating next year’s winner, “Lick” Mai Bock… Ok, so maybe these names were conceived after a glass or two of Eisbock.
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