Good evening to you!
At this point I’ve just returned from a much needed vacation in Arizona! You see, my folks, and my in-laws both live in Phoenix because they are not stupid and flee the Canadian winter. Sadly they live clear across town from each other so I did so much driving to appease both parties. Total of 26 hours through the week, basically I could have driven home in that time.
Here are a few observations from my time in Arizona.
- Blax is an absolute beauty and we had a great time at a brew pub, Gigantes game, and at a brewery. Goldwater brewery is a great spot and have a superb Desert Rose Kolsch. He did bring up a really interesting point for Spring Training, the players involved should be wearing the unis of the team that they either played for last year or are slated to play for this coming season. For instance if you played for Sacramento last year, then fire on that uni and if you make the show you graduate to the Gigantes uni next year. I don’t see a problem with this as look at the All Star game with all the different unis.
- Speed limits on the freeways are merely a suggestion, and driving here is like a video game. (confirmed by Blax)
- Old people pay no attention to yellow lights, it seems that they give themselves a 5 to 10 second cushion for when it turns red.
- If you want to see incredibly attractive women at a Cactus League game go to Scottsdale, not Mesa. They seemed to roam in pack of 4 to 6 and there was quite a large amount of stagettes there as well. .
- U of A fans are fun, hilarious and troll ASU fans on the regular. “Bear Down” is a constant call to each other. So I looked up the meaning, which you can find here
- I’m normally a weekend drinker but due to the prices of good wine and being on vacation I definitely earned the moniker of Prairie wino down there.
- Phoenix is spread out more than the Houston 500 and it is still spreading.
- Flagstaff has a LOT of cool breweries and is a great town.
- In closing, I really like Arizona, especially the change in climate, landscape, and scenery throughout the state.
Not really a travel story but I have now met 5 DFOers in real life (BC Dick not included because he’s family) and I must say every one of them have been absolutely wonderful. From BFC giving my weed cookies to his crew, BeerguyRob’s beer vendor voice, GTD driving through a blizzard for beers, Maestro fitting in seamlessly with my workmates and now the thoroUghly enjoyable afternoon with Blax. They have all been amazing experiences. Next step is to meet the booze exchangers and talk to Hippo through his window as he rarely leaves his abode. This is a phenomenal accepting community that was created here and here is to many more years of dick jokes, Boss Todd, recipes and booze. Huzzah to you all.
As for wine I will just chat about wine tastings in beautiful Jerome, Arizona.
We escaped our parents and dumped Decilitre with the inlaws for a night and headed up to the Grand Canyon as my wife had never been there before. Had a great night brewery hopping in Flagstaff which was a great experience then we decided to drive back to Phoenix through Sedona so we could see the red rocks, the valleys and a town that really reminds me of a ski town sans ski hills.
After that I decided to take Mrs. Cola to Jerome, Arizona which is perched up on a hill overlooking a valley. It’s a very artsy village with many galleries AND wine tasting rooms. As I was driving and did not want to get a DUI we decided on only going in to one spot and seeing what was what.
We decided on The Original Jerome Winery which turned out to be a great decision. We were the only ones there at 1st and Vanessa was tending the tasting room. She’d been a server for many years in Sedona and decided to “retire” to working this spot once she turned 50. Basically what I want to do in a couple years.
I’m not a dickhead who announces that I have my sommelier papers but when my wife and I start discussing wine you can pick it up pretty fast. Mrs. Cola has her WSET level 1 and plans to get her level 2 in the coming year so our discussion is very fluid. Clearly Vanessa was bored and wanted to chat so she pulled up a barstool while we were tasting. She eventually asked me about my past as we were discussing a couple grapes that were foreign to me. Why were they foreign? They were clones of two grape varietals that were made in the lab back in the day in Montpellier, France. We’ll get into cloning of vines in future episodes. She was quite pissed off about the weekend staff who did not date any of the bottles in the vinoteca pictured below. In fact she made me be the tester for everything as she had too much coffee that morning and had already shot her pallette.
Vanessa was absolutely lovely and was actually ticked off when other customers came in as she then couldn’t hang with us. We were going to leave but she then floated by and gave us each a comped glass of wine and told us to hold tight as she would be back once the others left.
I found their Cabernet to be really slick and smooth, especially since she had just opened it and it hadn’t had time to develop. One of the non cloned varietals that we had was Charbono which I enquired about any aliases that it had and indeed it is also known as Bonarda which I definitely have had before.
I do like obscure bottles in my collection so we left with 3 bottles from there as well as my raid on Total Wines. All in all my visit to Arizona was absolutely phenomenal.
At time of writing I am in Sky HarboUr Airport and do not have a sports lineup for you tonight, but it is MLB Opening day where everyone has aspirations, except the Diamondbacks as Blax has stated that the owner is a cheap fuck and does nae care.
He did float an idea of having the A’s as a moveable team around the league. Wichita? Maybe!
We could really use a couple of those California rain days. Only a half dozen days of rain over the past 6 months. The veggie garden updates may be bleak.
/ meloncholy banjo strums in the background
It was a tough year. The crops was bad…
Ugh. We are number 70. Terrible game. Start to finish bad.
Still want some cake?
I always want cake.
House Gumby just took a the kick in the crotch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ9GwWY5hF4&ab_channel=NEAZIXNH
Trump was indicted on 34 counts. I’m liking that sound of that number. That more “result of through investigation” and less “let’s throw the shit on the wall and see what sticks”.
Wondering if Weisselberg clued them into some other stuff they might not have known about otherwise.
I mean, it’s entirely possible that this is just one count for each fraudulent financial statement, and that the prosecution is either gonna go 34-for-34 or 0-for-34
I WAS DIRECTING A CONCERT AND I MISSED THE NEWS
HOLY FUCKING SHIT
Yeah, I turned off Opening Day to watch that news. As a Cincinnatian, that’s sacrilege.
There wasn’t a moment where everyone in the audience started getting notifications on their phones?
No one cares but whatever…Shohei just struck out a guy with a 101 mph fastball.
JARED: Hey, I guess when you tell the kids we’re going to spend Thanksgiving with “convict grandpa” you’re going to have to be more specific.
IVANKA: Ha ha ha, good one, Jared. Very droll.
JARED: Ha ha ha! [under his breath] You stupid fucking bitch.
IVANKA: Ha ha ha! [also under her breath] I hope the Saudis cut you into eighty pieces and throw you in a well.
I can never decide which of those two I hate the most.
I think Jared is more despicable, and Ivanka is the greater fool, because she thought she could be a supporter and aide of her father and get respect from anyone outside MAGAworld, whereas I don’t think Jared gives a fuck.
That’s generally how I feel about it too.
I’m on Team Ivanka. She didn’t choose to be married into this family, he did. Plus, of all the persons who can put Trump away the longest, she’s the one who can help out the most.
THIS GUY REDSHIRT I CALL HIM AARON RODGERS BECAUSE SOMEONE NEEDS TO TELL HIM THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ON EITHER TEAM, BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH HORRIBLE IN THEIR OWN WAY.
If it gets Donald Trump one last meal of McDonalds and an unsteady walk up the Green Mile, I’d be okay with giving any of Trump’s kids a pass.
Plus Redshirt took a dark silent weekend after the 2022 Super Bowl.
Sorry, that was mean, even for this site.
No, no. I’ve deserved that. I’m certain that somewhere and at some time, I did something in my life to deserve that.
There is no right or wrong answer.
¿Por qué no los dos?
I made a Red Hook but guess I should throw some Cointreau in it and make it an orange hooked
This whole Trump indictment thing is an absolute disaster in the making. Trump was already half-dead and these hacks at the Manhattan DA pulled this stunt that they are probably going to lose and they just re-energized the monster. This could have waited and it’s really not that fucking important in the big scheme of things.
Trump was already polling over 50% among GOP primary voters. He was going to cruise to the nomination no matter what.
As to the general election, that’s going to depend more on stupid shit like what the price of gas is in the summer of 2024 than anything that happens in this case.
Where does Indicted Trump get any more votes than he got in 2020? He lost be 3 million to Hillary, 8 million to Biden…I think 10-12 million is in play if he’s the nominee.
Not to mention that more of his supporters have died, and more Z’s will be of voting age.
It depends on who the Democrats get to run against him. If they pick a solid Democrat, they risk the moderates/independents like me staying home and we’re screwed. If they pick a moderate Democrat who we can stomach voting for, Trump will lose again.
…or the Democratic Party will follow the Reds when they bring back the Big Red Machine to fill the seats and stick with Joe Biden. When in doubt, wheel ’em out!
If his health cooperates, it’s Biden.
ETA: and it isn’t even close. I’m not sure who else it would be. Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan maybe; she doesn’t have any East Coast/West Coast stink on her. Buttigieg maybe, but he just gives off a “gladly lay off 20% of the company” vibe. Harris is either a little too brown, or is considered a cop (source for cop: my daughter).
Its 2016 and 2020 all over again. After Obama was term limited out, it was either Hillary or Biden. Good god, the Democrats really have a shitty farm system.
Part of the problem is that a significant proportion of the American population will not, under any circumstances, vote for anyone other than a white male. And I’m not talking about just Republicans – there are plenty of Independents and a nonzero amount of aging/centrist Democrats who fit this mold.
Yep. “I’d vote for a woman, just not that woman.”
-Redshirt, County Board of Elections, late October 2016, with the pencil in Hillary Clinton’s bubble trying to summon the will to fill it in.
Voting for Hillary left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths. I’m talking about dyed-in-the-wool Democrats, not just unaffiliated voters.
Hillary Clinton never should have been a candidate for any elected office. She had absolutely no temperament for it. That NY Senate seat and Secretary of State were gimmes and she fucked up State. She got them because she was Bill Clinton’s wife, no other reason. And she got Trump elected, therefore she overturned Roe v Wade. Actions have consequences.
Can thank Ann Hart for that….
He wasn’t cruising anywhere.
I tend to agree. I see a few potential outcomes, and almost all are ungood.
I think that a scarier version of January 6th happening involving this is a possibility, and that is really concerning.
Nah, the Jan 6th people all (or will) got prosecuted with no help from the GOP or Trump. Ain’t gonna happen again.
He already tried to call them up last Tuesday, and nobody came.
And on Jan. 6 there was at least a possible path to “success” — they really could have taken members of Congress hostage and killed/coerced enough to set up a fake “vote” proclaiming Trump the winner. Or simply create enough chaos that the EC votes aren’t counted, and the incumbent president Trump declares himself the winner.
Here, a mob could storm the NY courts and “free” Trump, but then what? Joe Biden is still in the White House, the entire federal power structure answers to him, and the entire NY power structure answers to its governor. They could kill the prosecutor and judge and jurors, and new ones just get appointed.
Yep, your option #2 would have been their way forward. The overexuberant tourists could have gotten a little carried away and in all the excitement inadvertently hanged Pelosi and a couple more representatives. It would have taken months to fix that and resume the count.
Continuity of Government would’ve allowed for a Rump Congress to resume and while Trump could declare himself Emergency President, his term in office would still end on January 21, 2021. After that, all bets are off as to what happens then. The blue states wouldn’t go for it, and then who does the military stand behind; the blue states in rebellion or an expired president? They would get chaos but not retain power.
It was the Electoral Votes themselves that saved us from chaos. If they had their hands on them, they could’ve easily have destroyed them or replaced them with their votes and then “Oh, look at that, Trump did win.”
If the mob had actually hanged any elected official (or even a staffer) Trump would have been 25th Amendment-ed immediately and subsequently impeached and convicted. If Sicknick had actually died onsite it might have been enough.
(VP Pence hanging from the gallows)
“Maybe it was self-defense?”
I’d like to think so, but I’m not that confident that GOP senators would suddenly find their courage after seeing some colleagues hanged by the mob.
Magna Carta, bitches
Stole this quote: “I remember hearing a story about how back in the day a bunch of surfers were standing on the shore of some legendary break in Hawaii — maybe Pipeline — and saying things to each other like “maybe in a thousand years somebody will surf these waves.”
Then one day somebody just went out and did it, and five minutes later another half dozen guys were in line behind him.”
You’re wrong, Brick. Getting indicted is never good for anyone.
I see both sides of it. Diamond Joe is right to be staying out if it completely. Let the doofus hang himself.
Same with DeSantis. He can’t get involved or say anything bad about Trump.
His campaign is essentially The Trump Administration But Without Trump. He’s hoping Trump will screw himself over, so he can take his supporters. If he actively goes against Trump, he won’t get his supporters and he’ll either lose the nomination or in the general election.
Getting ratfucked by Disney will take every breath of wind out of DeSantis’ sails.
He’s going to win that one.
For a movie with the soundtrack it has, Saturday Night Fever is one grim fuckin’ movie.
A’s have to be moving to Vegas soon no?
Joe Burrow contract talks: Bengals, QB make pact as both sides continue to work on a multiyear deal – CBSSports.com
Sit down, you posers from Baltimore! See how the experts screw up a sure thing!
“Burrow traded to Pittsburgh for Kenny Pickett, 6th round pick in 2026”
“Burrow traded for Baltimore for the rights to Lamar Jackson”
In future news:
“Brandon Allen will be starting the Week 16 game at TQL Stadium in place of injured starter Lamar Jackson. The Bengals, as you know, are forced to play their home games at FC Cincinnati’s home field after Paycor Stadium burned to the ground.”
The North Texas Abortion Deniers have the early lead.
While I am thrilled that we finally get a Donald Trump mug shot that I will turn into wrapping paper and fix the Christmas family gift exchange so I get my cousin who is a hardcore Trump fan, I just hope this case is open and shut. This seemed like the weakest case overall, and the last thing you need to give this orange dingleberry is vindication.
Apparently NY does not release mug shots generally. Though you can expect some media outlets to file suit over that.
Maybe this will tide you over for now.
The fact that they indicted him on 34 different counts should assuage some of your fears.
Ok – Today’s hate…
The fuckers that breed dogs for puppy mills.
I was taking my son to a swim lesson at the end of last week and the pool is next to a Target. I parked my car and in jumped an amazing female black lab who was extremely emaciated.
I got the dog in my car, gave it my dinner (we were eating tacos before his lesson) dropped my son at this lesson, then went to Target to buy it Kibble, a water bowl, collar and leash. I set up a crate for it that evening in our basement (until I could get it checked for diseases so it wouldn’t hurt our other dogs). I got up early the next morning, called my vet at 7:00 so that I could show up before the vet opened, and got the dog checked out. $300 later, she has a fully clean bill of health.
The humorous part was when I got to the vet, the vet tech said, “I’m going to check her for a microchip.” I responded, “Sure, I know that you need to for your job, but if you find the owner that would do this to her, just give me the address, and let me take care of it. Have you seen the John Wick movies?”
The vet estimated that she had had four litters of puppies, and was only 5 years old. She was 47 pounds, and should be 65.
I’ve been making her ground beef every day, and now she is up to 51 pounds in two weeks (I’m very careful to keep the weight gain at a healthy pace). But seriously, who the fuck can do this to a dog and live with themself?
So, now we have a third dog, and everyone is happy, but I’m very much hoping that some day I find the asshole that breeds dogs, doesn’t feed them, and discards them in Target parking lots. I have a decent nest egg from working, etc. so I’ll be happy to pay for the attorney I will need following the encounter.
Poppy (our new dog) is shown here.
Dats a good dog!!!
Thanks. Now all three are a pack, and my Cheese Tax bill is through the roof (Dr. Mrs. LLL hidden).
What a happy looking pack. You’ve earned a nice beer. The Mrs too!
Perhaps you can defend me in the event I find her previous owner, since I might bury his body at my rental building (real estate law, no?).
Yeah, the Constitution has to give y’all an absolute defense
Can I have a beer too?
Of course.
My grandmother is from NC. We were taught this NC tradition: “Always have extra dinner/drinks available in case any neighbors stop by.”
We just got back and picked up Litrepug from the pet resort we left him at. He was besode himself to see us. Fuck, does he need a bath though.
Anyone who abuses animals – dogs, cats, horses, whatever else….deserves God to go medieval on their ass. That shit is beyond forgiveness, like diddling kids.
AND the Angels are undefeated
So far.
Shohei pitches (and hits) tonight, this has been a good few hours.
Let’s go!!!
The Sens have out-shot Philly 40-11- the score is tied at 4-4.
Can we start a Steely Dan cover band called Steely Daniels?
She should market a Fleshlight called that.
Good thing they didn’t tour much.
My vote is for Rikki’s Number.
He could get really good distance on a paper towel throw from that height.
I dunno. Prison-grade towels travel like shot puts.
Soak em in pruno first.
(this is the entirety of my prison slang knowledge)
I am still waiting for one of them TV cooking shows to do a terlet wine competition
Why the sweet monkeyfuck would anyone want to watch Fat Matt Damon in a movie about the assholes at Nike?
Right, there might be an interesting story here, but watching those Massholes tell it? I’d rather watch Avatar 2.
“Hey Trump, how many business frauds did you do?”
33
“Including Stormy???
34
“They say the new prospective owners of the Senators might back out of the deal. Yeah, they’re saying the Senators are too old, lazy, incompetent, and overpaid. And the hockey team isn’t so great either!”
-Canadian Jay Leno
/the Senators are also a hockey team in the process of being sold, you see
It’s really difficult to eat a pear when it’s perfectly ripe, so I really appreciate pear sorbet for capturing that flavoUr without me having to do any work.
Holy shit, I must have this!
It’s great just a little tiny bit melty, and it pairs with non-dessert red wines!
Chase it with pear cider, which is my favourite girl drink for getting girl drink drunk.
Oh, I remember that stuff from college. Not pear cider, but my introduction to cider was my frosh year when I went to a premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch that was sponsored by (and had gift bags from) Original Sin Cider
I can ‘splain!!
I have some pear cider that, unfortunately, doesn’t have a particularly strong pear flavor.
Passing along a note from scotchy- he expects lots of….NIIIIIICE! jokes tonite
Is he “on assignment” somewhere?
That hunger is back, yo. Spring thaw and whatnot.
Screw baseball and screw Mariners traffic. Instead I’m going to release the Kraken.
Ooh, we should invent an “Release the Kraken” cocktail to have in our back pocket in case some election fraud indictments turn up in Georgia.
Georgia is where the action really is (in my ignorant view)
Oh, I just thought of another fun thing about the indictment! Even though there probably won’t be any real legal consequences, we’re now guaranteed that the spotlight will remain on Trump while he continues to deteriorate physically and mentally, so the odds of even his supporters eventually finding him grotesque are greatly increased!
Apparently he was indicted on 34 separate counts. So don’t write off the potential for serious consequences. Though you *can* write off the possibility of his supporters finding him grotesque. They would take a razor to their own faces before ever admitting he’s an ugly fucking loser turd.
I’m imagining him turning into a literal ulcerated toad with even more of a truncated centaur butt
.
Same. The only real consequences is life are life. I personally think he escapes the nation at some point but, in principle, you want to have all the attention, you will have ALL the attention. Everything Biden is going through, Trump will go through (before turning 200).
Not that he’ll care. But that is how life must play out. The current pallet for people to present as absolutely horrific for profit and then hide in public is wrong.
Did you mean “palate”?
I dont know what i meant.
Whichever one is write.
Pass the Visine they’ll be fine
UAB FOAR SIXTY-NINE!!
It’s extraordinary the amount of Senators players that have come back to do work/represent the team after Eugene Melnyk died. Talk about toxic franchises that start at the owner…
Sounds like a good time. Got me excited for some Easter wine tasting
Will definitely bring some with me. On 8 btls of wine and 2 btls of liquor I got charged 22 dollars total. That seemed a bargain to me.
/Edit in Canadian fees.
That being said she completely did it wrong and wanted me out of there.
You had an ASU grad ring that up.
Because they didn’t BEAR DOWN FOAR MIDTERMS ,, amirite??
Posting from a hipster coffee shop. Two trannies are in the booth behind me and very concerned about what the rule of law means for C’sw/D’s if a President Who Did Nothing Wrong can be indicted. Both say they were always going to vote for Trump but are now ready to #walkawaywithdicks.
.
THURSDAY NIGHT’S ALL RIGHT FOR BRAGG TO INDICT!
If you drop the Bragg part it kinda works with the tune of Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” as “Thursday Night’s Alright for Indicting”
Here’s tonight’s sports lineup: My Blazers winning the NIT! Be there, or be square.
Conference USA is rage-fucking a hooker right now.
Seriously though, everyone, get the fuck off the road. I got places to be.
Hmmm… what cocktail goes well with presidential indictments?
All of them!
You should invent one and call it the “Indict Night”.
I mean, I did make a margarita variant using prickly pear liqueur as well as orange liqueur, so it could easily be an Orange Prick on the Rocks
I want to be sober enough to swing the axe.
Really? Personally I’m not in a big hurry to get it done with just one swing.
Dull axe.
Dark and stormy
There’s your winner.
Excellent. Too bad there’s no orange rum.
A little orange peel garnish would not go amiss.
Perhaps I’ll burn it first.
I suspect the drivers in Phoenix (or at least some parts of it, cough cough Scottsdale) are much like the drivers in Palm Springs who are terrible as a result of (according to my psychiatrist neighbor) “a combination of three factors: age, alcoholism, and entitlement.”
Fun fact about apples, all the ones you eat are clones. If you plant an apple seed you’ll end up with a random apple that’s unlikely to be much like the parent apple! They’ve recently developed a genetically modified apple that doesn’t brown, and they know what makes red apples red. Would be interesting and maybe kinda fun to tinker around with wine grape genomes.
Asked my waiter if he heard about Donald Trump. “Got indicted” I told him.
Thought he would cry.
I guess you don’t want to make fun of your waiter, unless you like loogies in your food.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
So is there any chance he does time in prison?
I would lay heavy odds against it.
Trial will get delayed until after the election. Then if he wins, presidential immunity kicks in. Even if he doesn’t, then he has to be convicted and sentenced to prison time. Then he’ll be allowed to remain on bond until all his appeals are exhausted. Even if SCOTUS doesn’t bail him out, he may be dead by then.
I think best case, he goes broke trying to hire a lawyer because after all the crap he’s pulled previously anyone with even a smattering of sense would have to charge an insane amout up front to take him as a client
Ah, well, your mistake there is assuming he requires a lawyer with a smattering of sense.
Plenty of losers with a law license who would love the shot to become the next MAGA superstar
Sidney Powell on line one.
Lin Wood on two.
Why would you expect the trial to get delayed until after the election?
Hashtag notalawyer, but it’s not that hard to delay a trial anyway, and all the commentary I’ve heard suggests that there’s it’s likely everyone concerned will try to keep the legal aspects clear of the political process.
NY criminal law procedure is not my thing, so this is largely supposition, but:
1) Expect every possible motion to dismiss the indictment, disqualify the judge, the prosecutor, etc., and every possible appeal, motion to stay, federal habeas petition, whatever. They don’t care if it’s frivolous, and neither do some of the judges they hope will hear them.
2) Arguments that it’s prejudicial to the defendant to make him have to appear for trial when he’s running for president, and that the prosecution demanding he do so is confirmation that that is all political and interference with an election, etc. Samuel Alito will happily invent a new Constitutional doctrine for him if necessary.
Waiters in Wichita are sensitive.
Not looking good for the #BFIB, sigh
0-160-2!
Imagine how fun that would be if draws were listed 2nd (like the Brits does)
MAYBE