Monthly Archives: June 2013

June 5, 2013 · 9:57 am

Speakeasy Double Daddy Imperial IPA

San Francisco has a few amazing microbreweries and Speakeasy is one of them. They have a Prohibition/old-timey gangster theme that is evident in their naming of products and in the artwork on the labels. Double Daddy Imperial IPA continues the trend and has a backroom poker theme, proclaiming that it’s doubling down on the malt and hops with its no-limit style. It’s kind of a sequel to their Big Daddy IPA, only with more hops and more malt, and it’s also Imperial now. It has a malty scent with a caramel and pine aroma. You can really taste the malt when it first hits your tongue, but it’s balanced out by grapefruit and pine hops. It’s smooth and sweet and bold with flavor. The nice 8.5% alcohol content will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s beers like this that make me wonder why people still drink Bud Light.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 4, 2013 · 10:36 am

Vine (app, not the plant)

I finally caved and downloaded Vine for my iPhone the other day. Vine is an app for creating and sharing short videos. Each video is a maximum of thirty seconds long and it plays on a continuous loop. Less is more, and a lot of amazing stories can be told in 6 seconds or less. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a filmmaker or an artist; you still have a unique way of looking at the world and Vine is a great way to express yourself. You can do stop motion animation, you can do a few quick cuts, or you can do a long take… The possibilities are endless. You can do a million different things with six seconds. You can make someone laugh or you can change the world. So be creative. Use your imagination. And inspire other people to do the same.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 4, 2013 · 10:32 am

Daredevil: Born Again (comic)

Daredevil is an implausible comic book character. It’s has a ludicrous premise: a blind lawyer who uses his heightened senses to fight crime. But when put in the hands of a creative genius like Frank Miller, Daredevil becomes an icon like Batman or Spider-man. Frank Miller’s writing and Dave Mazzucchelli’s artwork are the perfect combination to depict one of the darkest stories in Marvel’s history.

            Daredevil’s ex-girlfriend is a heroin addict and sells his secret identity for a fix. Ultimately the information ends up in the hands of Daredevil’s arch nemisis, the Kingpin. The Kingpin lays out a plan to break Daredevil by destroying Matt Murdock’s life. Matt loses his apartment, the IRS freezes his bank accounts, he gets framed for perjury, he loses his girlfriend to his best friend, and he loses his good name. His life is crumbling around him and he breaks down mentally and physically. Superheroes are supposed to be invincible, so it’s fascinating to see them struggle.

            Born Again is a great comic, and Daredevil is a great comic book character. He belongs on the page, not on the big screen. Forget about Ben Affleck and read some off Frank Miller’s Daredevil comics. You can’t recreate his inner turmoil on film. It doesn’t translate.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 3, 2013 · 10:11 am

Not Getting the Joke Right Away

You’re hanging out with your friends, talking shit and cracking jokes at each other’s expense, and somebody says something that makes everyone else laugh. You don’t know why they are laughing, but you don’t want to seem out of place, so you’ll laugh along and laugh harder than anyone else. You’ll think about what they said and the context in which they said it, but your mind draws a blank as to why it’s funny. It’s always funny to see somebody finally get the joke, their eyes light up as it suddenly dawns on them and they let out a cackle. It might take a few minutes, it might take a few days, but it will click when you least expect it. You never want to admit that you don’t get a joke, and you especially don’t want to get called out for it. It’s better to be ignorant than embarrassed.

Critically Rated at 8/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 3, 2013 · 10:08 am

Farmer’s Market

A farmer’s market is a community event where farmers sell their fruits and veggies directly to the consumer. They take over a few city streets, they set up some tents and booths, and you get to casually stroll it all, enjoying the sunshine and fresh produce. There are usually a few food tents selling barbeque and kettle corn, there are always a few merchants selling tacky jewelry and ugly artwork, and the inevitable mediocre band playing country versions of old rock songs. There is usually a designated day of the week for the farmer’s market, it’s not open all the time. That’s part of the appeal. It’s not something that you get to experience every day. A peach that you get from the grocery store is boring, but a peach that you get from the famer’s market will be the best thing you’ve ever tasted. It will make you happy. You deserve to be happy.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 2, 2013 · 11:06 pm

This Dog Doesn’t Give a Fuck

This dog doesn’t give a fuck about anything. He just sits in the middle of the road, casually glancing around at the speeding, honking cars that zoom past him. Nobody helps him, but nobody hits him. I wonder what happened to the dog after the video stopped rolling. He’s like the canine equivalent of the Tank Man of Tiananmen Square.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b09_1370166701

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June 2, 2013 · 10:43 am

The First Party of Summer

Summer’s here and it started last night with the first party of the season. It was the first day of June, it was a Saturday, it was meant to be. Now it’s summer, now it’s official. I’m not even in school, I haven’t been for a few years now, but something about summer makes me feel free. It doesn’t matter that I still work 5-6 days a week, it’s still fucking summer. Summer is the season of slacking off, of living life, and of having fun. And there’s nothing quite like that first party of the summer. Beer, barbeque, a bonfire, maybe a blunt or two… the laughter flows like wine, the wine flows like water, and the beers are never ending. The first party of the summer is usually one of the most memorable. As the season drags on, the parties become more mundane and more routine. But everything is fresh and new and exciting the first night. The whole goal of the night is to wake up with a hangover. I succeeded.

Critically Rated at 16/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 2, 2013 · 10:41 am

Kick the Can

Kick the Can is a children’s game that is similar to Hide & Seek, only more extreme. The best time to play is at night and when you are twelve years old. You gather all the kids in the neighborhood as soon as it gets dark and someone is selected to be It. Everyone else hides, and whoever is It has to start looking for everyone else. Whenever It finds somebody, he has to say the person’s name and hiding place, “I see Casey behind the tree.” If it’s Casey hiding behind the tree, then Casey is in jail until someone kicks the can and frees him. But let’s say it wasn’t Casey, it was Steve hiding behind the tree… then Steve can still hide behind the tree until It calls him by his real name. If you are stuck in jail, you can only be freed if someone kicks the can before whoever is It says, “I see So and So running for the can!” Kick the Can is one of the great games of my childhood. Too bad kids today don’t go outside unless the internet is down. They are missing out.

Critically Rated at 5/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 1, 2013 · 9:53 am

Spontaneous

You can never plan on having a good time, it just has to happen. Sure, you can plan a vacation to Disneyland or save money for a week in Paris, but those trips will never be as fun as a spur-of-the-moment weekend camping trip. Whenever you plan an event or party you stress out over the invitations, the entertainment, the food, the drinks… there’s a lot of time and effort involved in making the event a success, but something always goes wrong. You expect the things that you plan to be perfect and they never will be. That’s why your birthday usually sucks. That’s why New Year’s Eve usually sucks.  But you live in the moment when you don’t plan things out. You enjoy life more when you just go with the flow and roll with it. There are times when you go out for a drink and it turns into something special. A quick decision to take the bus instead of driving can change your whole life. The funniest things you say come from the top of your head; a gem of joke will pop out of your mouth that is funnier than anything you’ve ever heard. It’s fun not knowing what you will do or say next. It’s good to have a life plan, but I like living day to day, moment to moment. Spontaneity is a blessing. Embrace it. Just don’t spontaneously combust.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 1, 2013 · 9:50 am

Bar Hopping

You want a drink but can’t decide where to go. Bar hopping is the perfect solution. Instead of choosing one bar to hang out and get drunk in, you’ll choose a neighborhood with a few chill bars and grab a drink at each of them. You’ll begin at someplace familiar, than start meandering down the street toward the next place. You’ll go into a bar that you’ve seen but never experienced, grab a drink, glance around at the regulars, and then head off for the next one. It’s a good way to pass the time. You feel like an active and motivated drunk. It’s kind of cool to go from a dive bar to a trendy spot. You get a change of scenery and atmosphere. You see a difference in the customers and the cost of the drinks. Every bar has a hook or something unique about it, something that makes it special. You’ll never see what the world has to offer if you only stay in one place. The biggest downside is that it’s almost impossible for other friends to meet up with you, because you don’t know where you’ll be in thirty-five minutes.

Critically Rated at 14/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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