Moar KBS!

As you may or may not know since nobody gives a fuck, I just signed up on one of them twitters a few days ago. Why in the shit would I do that you ask? Purely stalking reasons, I assure you. ;) Also, you know, for things I feel like talking about sometimes but don't really want to litter the blog with. Stupid shit. Well, stupider shit than normal. For instance I won a bottle of 2014 KBS last Tuesday and thought that was pretty neat. That's a funny word, "neat". I had already reviewed the beer last year and would have put it on the blog, but wanted to see what a feed looked like on the left side so there it is.

Then I managed to snag these six bottles here on top of that, sooooooo...

Check out this Bourbon County poster!

Below is a photo of the awesome 11x17 Goose Island Bourbon County 2013 release poster that I just brought home and hung up. I was given this poster free of charge by one of the fine swill dealers at the liquor store down the street. After seeing it for a couple months every time I walked in the store I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed it! The beer had already come and gone so I figured what the hell and asked for it. He told me if I could get it off the wall without ripping it, then it's mine. A nice, though rather strange gesture. I placed it eye level next to the top shelf of my book collection.

I also got myself four new goblets. Two of them are pictured below and the other two will have to be a surprise. But you can expect some words on these very fine beers sometime soon. The Rochefort goblet is just OK, but that Westmalle glass is a thing of fucking beauty! It's absolutely massive.

Also, on a little bit of a side note... always do the smart thing when you have guests over. Let them use your less treasured glassware. Case in point, This Magic Hat Wacko pint glass... I have lesser favorite pint glasses of course, but this was far from special. I'm not a fan at all of anything Magic Hat, but I did really like the colors on this one. 

Check out this new Warlock Tap Handle!

Duuuuuuuuuuude... take a look at the newest tap handle from Southern Tier. The deluxe Warlock pump! Damn that sounds nasty. This blunt instrument is sixteen inches of pure sexual aggression just waiting to be unleashed on some unsuspecting drinker. Much like its bodacious cousin the Pumking tap handle, this beauty is a sight to behold. Just the thought of some hot tramped-out blonde bombshell bartender stroking this thing while pouring me a tall glass of sugary pumpkin grimness is enough to get these crusty shorts soaking wet. It's madness... madness I say!

And then there's this sweet Pumking gear that they've got for sale as well. Imagine how much of a f'n dork-ass-nerd you'd look like walking around in a matching Pumking hat and t-shirt, especially if you were like "oh hay bro, wanna play some Pumking Frisbee while wearing Pumking gear and drinking some Pumking!?" That'd be radical! And then your bud would be all like "Oh no way brah, fur sure." Man, back after Grindhouse came out I remember the FLAK I got at work from my buddies when I'd wear my matching Death Proof shirt and hat combo. I'd have to tell those fuckers, "Hey, just because I'm wearing a matching Death Proof hat and shirt that doesn't mean I'm a freak, alright!" Like I'd have to wear that shit to be a freak anyways.

But hot damn would you look at that sweet Pumking hat. I'm not really into mesh backs and the stitching looks a bit shady, but what-the-fuck-ever cuz. Myself, I like a nice fit on a hat. I've bought hats before and some of them were really awesome, but they fit like shit and didn't look right. This one would probably do nicely on my dome since my head is, after all, shaped like a fucking pumpkin from doing too much acid back in the day! I swear every time I walk down the street this chill smoked-out Mexican dude just stares at me in wonderment, like he just shit a dog meat burrito in his pants. I'm tellin' ya. 

My glassware and coaster collection.

Figured I'd share some photos of my glass collection, thus far.

Clockwise: A Three Philosophers mini-goblet I got with an Ovila dubbel bomber (free w/ bottle), a St. Bernardus goblet (gift set), a large Tripel Karmeliet snifter (gift set), a large Piraat snifter (free w/ bottle), a Fantome snifter ($9.00, the glass wasn't price tagged and I hit the register already with $60 worth of beer so fuck it, right?), a Lucifer goblet ($3.00) and a Mad Elf goblet (gift set). 

A Samuel Adams "perfect pint" glass ($3.00), an Allagash tulip (free w/ bottle), a Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Pilsner glass (free w/ 6 pack), an Ommegang company logo tulip (gift set) [this is my second Ommegang glass, my first one which was more shapely and had gold trim around the top broke at the stem when my nephew's sippy cup fall on it from the cabinet], the Dogfish Head "Spiegelau" IPA glass ($6.00), an Innis and Gunn tulip (gift set) and a mini Ommegang pils-style taster ($5 charity donation at Julio's tasting).

A Smuttynose Logo pint (free w/ six pack), Stone logo pint ($3.00), Southern Tier logo pint (free w/ six pack), Dogfish Head logo pint (free w/ bottle), Magic Had Wacko pint (free w/ six pack), Wachusett Pumpkan can shaped glass ($5.00 from brewery), and a Bacardi Oakheart mug ($1.00). 

Sierra Nevada Glissade pint ($3.00), Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye pint (Valentine's Day gift from Bartender), Sierra Nevada logo pint ($3.00), Shipyard Pumpkinhead (free w/ 12 pack), Shipyard Applehead ($1.00). Not pictured: My two Cambridge Brewing 2012 Pumpkin Festival Glasses, my massive Stone Arrogant Bastard flute that I have to keep in a separate shelf and totally forgot about, my second Sam Adams "perfect pint" glass, my Friday the 13'th glass, my Winged Skull TapOut glass, and a few whiskey and shot glasses.

My favorite glasses are the Lucifer goblet and Pumpkan cup, as well as all the new shit in that very top photo (apart from the Three Philosophers glass that's pretty much only a taster glass and too small for real beer pours). I'm sure once I get my hands on a Pumking goblet that'll become my favorite though. I've had my eyes on a few other cups, and held a few that I ended up not caving on. I'm trying not to collect any more pint glasses unless it's something that I really want like a Sierra Nevada Celebration that I was denied when I found it at a small liquor store and "not for sale". Fuckin' bitch. But anyways...

Here's the front and back of some of the coasters that I've acquired over the last year and decided to save.

New Brews and Brew News.

I still remember the first time I tried Mad Elf ale. It was quite the perplexing experience. Mad Elf of course is a very unique brew with an interesting malt bill combination, European hops and spicy Belgian yeast. Brewed with sweet and sour cherries and coming in at 11% abv, not only is it incredibly strong, but also very tart.

The first time I had it was a three pack I picked up in December 2011, and believe me I wasn't ready for it. Later in 2012 I found two singles and things went a little better. When I found a six pack on sale for half price earlier this year, I took it home and fell in lust with it. My tastes have obviously evolved since I began drinking and reviewing so many funky beers. I enjoyed the six bottles so much that I decided when I see that box set with the snifter glass again around Christmas-time that I'd buy it. Which is precisely what I did.

Years ago I didn't have much of a range in terms of what beers I chose to drink. Basically, I mainly drank total shit beer. Miller Genuine Draft and King Cobra for the most part, rounded out by the occasional Red Wolf. Aside from that I mostly drank hard liquor after getting Chinese-eyed: Goldschläger, Hot Damn! (including the dastardly Hot Damn 100!) and when I was feeling especially raunchy, some Old f'n Crow. I didn't drink much actual beer back then so I was open to grabbing a six pack of Sierra Nevada Celebration once or twice a year, some Bigfoot, Pale Ale, Pete's Wicked Ale, or even some Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat for a treat. 

After getting a seriously shit job I found myself drowning my sorrows in endless twelve packs of Natural Ice after work nearly each day. It was a pretty horrid situation, and one which lasted a long time actually... but you'll be most likely apathetic to know that those times are over. Though my job still sucks, things are far more tolerable since I'm "in charge" now and I'll have you know that I still actually do enjoy the occasional Natty Ice. I think it's been about a year since I had a can actually. But I've never actually had anything against the beer, in fact I prefer it to any American Adjunct Lager mainstays of the popular rube culture. By the looks of things however, I'm most likely never going to touch the stuff again. I'm all done buying shit beers. It's just not worth it. Also, I've cut back my drinking dramatically in the past few months and have taken to only serious and worthy purchases for my weekend relax time.

I had a revelation a while back, when drinking a bottle of Celebration actually, and thought about how long it had been since I bought and drank that beer. Why had it been so long? Why haven't I been buying these beers that I've enjoyed in the past? Perhaps I was being a cheap bastard. I may not be rich, but I deserve better. I deserve to enjoy the beers I drink while on my way to getting shitfaced into oblivion. By then my pathway to new and exciting beer had already started, as this was around the time I just finished up my very first set of brew reviews - a slew of pumpkin beers beginning with what was then and has remained to this day my all time favorite: Pumking. It was then when I made a conscious decision to mostly drink beers that I've never tried before.

The wide array of beers I've drank in the last two years has been pretty spectacular, at least for me. In fact, I've consumed well over 500 different beers. Not every beer was great, in fact, I find most beers to be rather average. It's not often I find a beer that I would consider gross, and a lot of the time I've found the beers that I've reviewed to be interesting and fun to drink. I'm never going to stop drinking new beers, but I'm not going to go review crazy with everything I try. I've been merging some of my past reviews and will be posting two and sometimes three-in-ones by company if I feel like it. I've tried to keep things focused on certain breweries, special releases, some beers with horror influences and other beers that just plain interest me. Pumpkin and Christmas beers will have their own individual reviews, as will beers that are just too special to share space.

Despite always trying new beers from now on, I'm still sticking to a few old favorites on a rotating basis. Just this year I drank two cases of Hoptimum, 87 bottles of Bigfoot, a case of Pumking, several six packs of Wachusett Larry in cans, and made 22oz Torpedo singles a regular. I'm looking forward to Sucks in 32oz bottles if that ever comes around, and if it's at a decent price that one will be taking up space in my fridge. I'm going to be finally venturing into Trappist ales and a lot more Belgians. From now on I'm not going to hesitate on buying something special that I'll end up never seeing again either. I've held treasure in my hands more than once and didn't bite the bullet, and now it taunts me ever so! I'd rather not get into it... but that includes splurging on a gift set, or buying a bottle with a free glass and perhaps some other extras when the opportunity presents itself. 

My appreciation for beer has grown, my tastes and palate have evolved, I'm fairly sure I'm not a snob (aside from snickering to myself whenever I see some dumb schmuck or skank buying a 30 pack of Bud Light - like, erryday), and I don't purposely try to act like a dick about things - that just comes naturally. Whether or not the mindset I've got at present time continues to thrive or changes down the road, well, we'll just have to see. Till then, I'm going to keep exploring the wide world of hopefully not too much mediocre beer.

Just bought a motherfucking case of Pumking!

That is all.

Just drinking beers and collecting badges.

Two Beer Porn posts in a row?! So much for "cutting back" I guess. It's been an up and down week for me let me tell you. Just this last Friday night I lost a member of the glass collection. :( That's right, one of my nephew's Toy Story sippy cups toppled over from the cupboard and fell right on top of my just-used Ommegang chalice, shattering it at the base of the stem. It was a horrible sight to behold indeed. I didn't take any photos of the catastrophe, and that's probably all for the better as nobody wants to see that and I sure as hell don't feel like reliving the nausea. At least the glass was empty at the time and not full of the Stone's RuinTen I had been drinking. If that were the case I would have probably let out a scream similar to the one Night Owl 2 howled when Rorschach got popped.

Aside from drinking some of the best beers in the world recently, I actually have been drinking a lot less in an effort to get back into shape, spend time with my little gremlin and remember what I ate for dinner last night. After all, looking in the garbage can to find out what you opened and cooked the night before probably isn't a good sign. But hey, let's focus on something more positive huh? Like getting new badges on my Untappd account! See those two beers on the right there? Just some standard Founder's IPAs that I haven't tried yet. All of the other qualifying beers on the list to earn this badge I've already drank, so I figured this one will be two brews closer to my 500 mark and this really cool Top Hat with Hops badge. Fuck yeahz.

But aside from alcoholic unlocks, the real prizes are in the middle of that photo up there.

I'm quite excited about my newest acquisitions.

Scratch these off the Wish List!

I've got a real love/hate relationship with beer. On the one hand, I love drinkin' it... and on the other, I hate not drinkin' the stuff. I guess you can say that I've got a drinking problem. That problem being that there are too many damn beers out there I haven't tried and the temptation is just too much for me. All three of these showed up on the shelf on the very same day. I had set out only to grab a few RuinTens, but when I saw the Avery Twentieth Anniversary and those beautiful Sierra Nevada bottles I had no choice but catch them all! Not pictured is the case of 2013 Hoptimum that I bought a short while back, reason being that I drank all dat shit. Cheers.

Mix-a-six Madness!

What do beer and porn have in common? Everything... when it's Beer Porn!

Overall this was a pretty nice haul. The only thing is, I didn't really get anything that I truly desired. Not to say that I'm not pleased with what I brought home, but the fact is I went out searching for a few things in particular, couldn't find them, and came up with a case of the pouty-pouts at the liquor store as I moped around for a solid thirty minutes. It was after all an hour long round trip, not including my sad time and stopping at other places. But enough of me being a total bitch... let's check out the inventory:

1. Stone's ENJOY BY (Batch #7). This was a separate store (non haul) purchase. This is the third time I drank this beer and I have reviewed it three times on this very website. CLICK to ENJOY it.

2. I just bought my very first Fantôme! It's their Christmas beer of course, which is the most expensive thing in that lineup. I've always wanted to try one of their brews and since I've got an affliction for snowmen that resemble ghosts... or wait, is that the other way around?

3. I was about to purchase LiVE about a month ago in a bomber, but the price climbed from 7 to 10 something bucks during the week so I said fuck that! I don't know if it was a mistake or what the hell was going on, but I do love me some Southern Tier and still wanted to try it. There I am a month later and it's eight dollars for a six pack and it comes with a Free pint glass w/ logo. Nicely done.

4. The Fantôme was part of my sixer-mixer. The other beers I just wanted to try without buying 4 or 6 packs. Being parts of a whole, these beers were significantly cheaper (though not necessarily cheap) than other big beers. Thirsty yet?

Another Beer Haul... and this time, it's Personal!

Another one!? Admitting I've got a problem is the first step in a long line of steps of me not giving a fuck. Why? Because just look at that picture. Would you just look at it! What an absolutely beautiful sight. Hey, what's in your fridge? I just dropped $55 on the sweet, delectable poisons below. I want that 3 Beans badge from UNTAPPD, so grabbing two cans of it was the initial reason I set out on a road trip this morning. Luckily Julio's had it in stock. After snagging those I ended up finding myself unable to resist the other pretty bottles. On the way home I stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries for the first time and grabbed a little bacon cheeseburger with everything and jalapenos. Shit was teh bomb.

Left to right: Sixpoint 3 Beans (x2) , Hoppin Frog's BA Frosted Frog Christmas Ale, Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Bigfoot, Lucifer!, Stone Double Bastard and Troegs Nugget Nectar. I finally picked me up a bottle of Lucifer and I couldn't have done it at a better time since they just got rid of the old paper label and debuted a newer much badder-ass bottle printed label. I saw both of the labels at two different shops today (I mixed a six and bought the BA Bigfoot at another shop afterwards) and let me tell you. The old Lucifer paper label is nothin' compared to the new design. That bottle will sit upon my shelf for years! Hope you're drinkin' the good stuff tonight too.

Check out my latest brew haul.

Fuckin' A Right! The local bottle shop threw about 200 12 oz bottles up on a shelf mixed together in unmarked six packs all with a barcode listed as $4.99. Most of the beers were shit (stuff like Mike's Light Lemonade, Miller Light and a bunch of random forgettable garbage), so I started searching through, eyeing bottlecaps, then picking and choosing. I segregated the beers I wanted and ended up mixing and matching my own two twelve packs with two Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stouts, two Hop Noirs, two Stone Ruinations, and a Sam Adams Blackberry Wit for the hell of it (all not pictured and already drank)...

...but more importantly, the five beers I was thrilled to come across were: two 2012 bottles of Mad Elf, and a few 2012 DFH brews (all pictured above). These five beers alone go for about ten bucks or more together, so consider the other seven beers freebies. I also laid down some cash on a Founder's Bolt Cutter ($25.99!), DFH and SN Rhizing Bines ($13.69) and a Founder's Imperial Stout 4-Pack ($11.99). The SN Ruthless Rye glass was a gift from my favorite bartender this past Valentine's Day. She's awesome!

Unlock Beer Badges on UNTAPPD

Much like my time spent playing Resident Evil 5 and kicking all sorts of ass while set out to achieve every Badge possible, I has always wished that this fun little awards system could be incorporated into some of the other hobbies of my life, such as Drinking Beer. I had already been documenting all of the strange and interesting beers I had been trying, so when I found out that UNTAPPD had a nice layout for the list, rating feature and Badges you could unlock (For example: Drink 10 beers from Japan to get the "Rising Sun" Badge) I just had to sign up. 

Check that out, I'm a Level 6 IPA hound. Something to be proud of in my opinion, and yet, something I know I should be at a far higher level thus far. I've been drinking IPAs from all over the place, but they've got to fall into that different style range to Level Up. I love trying new beers and any beer that I've never drank before, I'm very open to tasting. What I like about UNTAPPD is that these badges give you little goals to work towards. I want that Rising Sun Badge! And you know what, drinking 10 Japanese beers doesn't sound like a bad idea at all either.

I'm at about 300 different beers right now and have to reach 500 distinct brews to get my "Legendary" badge. Sounds like a challenge that I'm down for. UNTAPPD is primarily set as an Ap for Iphones or Smartphones or whatever the deal is with those things and the site is pretty much described as a "social media" type thing. I don't do all that high tech gadget stuff so I use the website only version which doesn't have the feature to display what pub/brewery you're at or post photos (as well as a lot of other features I'd like to enjoy). If I drink something special at a bar or a party I'll list it when I get home, but "checking in" while I'm out drinking doesn't really seem like too good of an idea for anyone. 

So if you're on UNTAPPD or going to join go ahead and friend me if you want (my profile page is up there in the link) and you can see what special toxins I'm allowing into my body and what I rate it. They've got most every beer logo on there, categories, you can make a wish list, after you've developed a long list of beers you've drank you can sort them by Highest ABV% which is pretty cool too. So why wait, start getting awarded for beer consumption now. As if consuming beers wasn't awarding enough. ;)

Never too late for more Pumpkin Beers!

Hello and welcome to Beer Porn #9 (aka #7 if you don't count empty bottles or merchandise!)... I was pretty psyched when I hit up the shop today. For some reason CBC's Heather Ale didn't show up in my part of da hood, even though I saw it two months ago just a half hour away, and every single other CBC brew has popped up on the shelf right upon release. So what's the deal with this one? I waited, figuring it would show up but I had given up hope this last week and decided to take a trip. This would be one of my 6 beers for the 15% off deal... until I almost forgot, that is.

CLICK THE PIC!

Pictured (from LtoR):

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA [My 3rd Bottle] (I reviewed one and mixed the second with WWS)
Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine [1st Bottle]
Wachusett Imperial Pumpkin [3rd Bottle] (Reviewed)
Southern Tier Imperial Pumking [5th Bottle?] (Reviewed and mixed the fourth with WWS)
Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale [1st Bottle]
Heavy Seas Greater Pumpkin [1st Bottle]
Cambridge Great Pumpkin Ale [2nd Bottle] (Reviewed)
Cambridge Heather Ale [1st Bottle]
Breckenridge Christmas Ale [1st Bottle]
Avery Old Jubilation Ale [1st Bottle]

Walking into the liquor store Craft Beer Shop, to me, is like a kid walking into fucking Toys-R-Us. What was the first thing to catch my eye? Hoppin' Frogs Barrel Aged Christmas and Pumpkin Ales! Did I want them? You bet your ass. It's all I can think about now as I sit here typing this. But the Christmas Ale was $20 and the Pumpkin was $15. I've already had both of the Regular Seasonal Versions (reviewed), but that is some steep cash dude. What in the fuck is up with those Hoppin' Frog prices!? Sure I had two orgasms while drinking the regular release version of their Frosted Frog Christmas Ale... but damn, $20 for 22 ounces?

There were also some great gift boxes to be held. Notable exception which I had never seen was a huge display for the Mad Elf Ale with a massive stand-up of the Elf himself (some 6 Feet tall). They had tons of Sixers, that Huge Ass Bottle of the stuff in a box, and even a Gift Set with one Bomber and a Glass (featuring the Elf and Logo on it). Even saw two bottles of Dogfish Head 75 Minute for $10 a piece. As I conspired a way to get locked inside the place overnight, I realized that I had obligations, and just ended up buying my six pack for $35. Will what I want be there the next time I go back? Could I have enough First World Problems? They're going to have to change the name of that term pretty damn soon, that's what I think (I mean, take a look around).

STOCKPILE!

Read 'em n' Weep boyzzz...

Click the pic to see it light up your screen.

Went on a couple road trips and just happened to find exactly what I wanted! I'm pretty fucking excited too.

Pictured: 21'st Amendment MONK'S BLOOD (Saving), Avery Rumpkin (18% Rum Barrel Aged), Cisco Brewers Pumple Drumkin, Dogfish Head Burton Batton (Saving), Dogfish Head Midas Touch (Saving), Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (Saving), Firestone 15'th Anniversary Ale, Firestone Sucuba, Founder's Breakfast Stout, Founder's Cerise (drank), Goose Island Harvest Ale, Ipswich Harvest Ale, Jack's Abbey Pumpkin Crop Lager, Rogue 'John John' Dead Guy Ale (Aged in Whiskey Barrels), Sixpoint Autumnation, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (x2) (Saving), Sierra Nevada / Russian River BRUX, Southern Tier Oak Aged BackBurner, Southern Tier Harvest, Uinta Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale, and Woodstock Inn Autumn Ale Brew.

Check out this new Pumking Tap Handle!

Tap Handles are always cool! It's a fact. Even the lame ones are still cool... [/PawnStars] I mean, that's how fucking awesome tap handles are. Think about it. Go into a bar with a shitload of taps and just gaze for a moment (or an hour) at the spectacle of awesomeness. Go into a dive with just a few tap handles on display (maybe just the basic bullshit american lager shit) and if there ain't a girl working the bar, then those pieces are the prettiest things in there by far. Oh, and they're always good for knocking someone over the head with if you've got beer rage. Say for instance if some douchebag comes in a starts playing Ska Musuck. I'd break a shitty green Heineken tap handle over some Fuckin' Rube's head any morning of the week at the pub if need be... but this Pumking puller, man, is this thing a work of art or what?! This is just too pretty to bust over some numbskull's chromedome.

Tell me that ain't badass. Too bad I don't got a keg area set up in my place. Perhaps sometime in the near future, but I'd still love to drop the measly $45 and just have this thing to admire and gently stroke. Not a weird thought in the least I'd say. 

And even though it's widely available on ST's website for $8, I've been waiting for an upcoming Pumpkin Beer Tasting to hopefully score one of these glasses for free with a bottle purchase. I doubt that shit will ever happen though! I might as well just order it for my throne room and get the agony of waiting over with. Goblets are always some serious shit, and I'm one seriously serious dude when it comes to goblets. Seriously. And while glass ain't the most worthy of elements for a goblet, this one is the only in its class.

What's in YOUR fridge?!

We interrupt California Beer Week to bring you this photo of the latest haul. While I do believe I'm only half way through the reviews from CA (and trust me the best is yet to come!), that hasn't stopped me from going around town and picking up a few more special bottles for some first time trying:

I've tried Hoppin Frog's Pumpkin and Christmas Ales, but none of their other stuff. I was hoping to find something rare, but these releases will do well enough. My ever growing lists for DFH and Sierra Nevada go up another notch, and perhaps even more for SN soon enough. I'm actually going to wait a short while longer before I bust open that BRUX through. And then there's the obvious centerpiece to this picture (which I drank immediately after taking it), a 2009 Avery Beast. I'm hoping to find some of their other beers, and even hopefully some different year releases of the same. Hmm... I still haven't touched that Firestone or the two World Wide Stouts either.

The Night I Came Home!

You probably haven't noticed my absence as of late, but I did something that was long overdue (say about eight to ten years) and something I've been dreaming about (literally) a lot in the past few months: I went home. 

Being back in Santa Cruz, California and seeing the streets that have been etched into my brain (after living there since birth to 22 years old), smelling the ocean throughout the entire town, feeling the winds and the water upon my face, and experiencing the sensation of simply being there, it's almost indescribable.

Despite my admiration for nomads (something I doubt I'll ever become), where I lay my head is not home! See, I've always missed my home... a place that I once thought I could do without. And though I didn't show it much, the smells from my home town beaches brought it all forcefully flowing back.

I grew up here in the water. I would ride my bike down a few blocks to the beach, nearly every single day for years, back when I was just a uncool pre-sparkling vampire. I was so quick and accustomed to the train bridge (the one featured in The Lost Boys and a few other films) that I could actually run across the thing every single time I crossed it. 

Maybe that doesn't sound too impressive, but there's nothing but air between those steps above that eighty foot riverbed. If I slipped up I'd snap my leg in half easily, and it never happened. Because I was born there and walked it, then ran it hundreds of times.

I didn't get a chance to do that again in my old age, but I got to enjoy the warm summer nights that I fondly remember. And while it was a pretty lackluster 4'th of July, due to new laws in place, a pretty good time was had by all the Mexicans their eyebrow-less girlfriends.

Some of the best games in the world:

(MIA were Altered Beasts, Bad Dudes, Killer Instinct and P.O.W.)

An old favorite (Black Lemonade!) along with a new one (TruBlood!): 

But seriously, these are some nasty ass drinks. Stay away.

Here's a shot of some of the beers I was unlucky enough to pick up for my trip back:

And finally, here's a shot of yours un-truly... livin' it up on the beach, bitches:

I was pretty blitzed, and as always, roped off from the general public.

If I die young: Bury me in liquor! Lay me down on a... bed of bottles.

 Sink me in the ABV, I'm gone. Chug me away with the laughs of a Drunkard...

uh oh...