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Monday, November 30, 2009

Christmas Beer Gifts and...

You would think with all the trouble around the world a truly caring soul would create a United Nations of Beer or something.

No, wait. It's already been done. Welcome to the United Nations of Beer website

http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com



The United Nations of Beer champions the cause of beer lovers around the world.
To aid us in the promotion of great beer (and great fun) in all corners of the beer world, we appoint honorary UNOB Beer Delegates.

These amazing guys and gals submit beer ratings, visit the world's best bars, breweries and beer festivals.

Want a piece of that action? To be a Delegate for your state, province or country, visit our Beer Jobs page.


Cheers,

Ashley Cotter-Cairns
Secretary General of the UNOB

This site has a little of everything, from the sublime or ridiculous, including a list and review of some awesome Beer Gifts.

For example:

* Beer Blaster


* Beer mug and bottle Christmas lights
* Monty Python Killer Rabbit Slippers
* Radio controlled yodeling and hopping lederhosen

And sooooo many more!

Have fun exploring the site and happy shopping!



Sir Bowie "Not quite ready for the Beer Belly Button Ring" of Greenbriar

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Don't put off today, what you can easily put off tomorrow.



I know you Knights and Ladies are out there....... There's a great big long List of you at the bottom of the page. I know you all like a bit of drinking and a bit of thinking...and that is just such a short step to a tiny bit of writing, possibly about what you've been drinking and thinking. I'm sure Sir Bowie and Sir Hook will be glad to put it up here for you, if you ask them for their email addresses in a comments box. Its what they do for me.

Everybody thinks about writing, sticking a bucket in their river of thoughts and getting everybody to take a look inside it, but like painting and poetry, everybody thinks they are a) no good at it.. b) what they have to say is unimportant c) I haven't the time...(I need to watch TV instead )and D) well, what's the point.?

What's the point?.. well what's the point of anything then in that case. The meaning of Life is to find your gift. The purpose of Life is to give that gift away,.....and if you want to write and tell us about it, then even better, you never know we might want to join you with it, and give it away too. I think its called being Human, or at least Human Being. Its what the KMSA is all about. Non committal sharing.

Oh I can tell you think its a good idea, but maybe tomorrow, no actually you'll round it up and definitely start January the first, Even buy a special Moleskine for Christmas to jot things in. tut tut, I'll believe you, Thousands wouldn't.

So what you'll be needing maybe is a blog for like minded people;

http://procrastinatingwritersblog.com/

See? its even got your name in the title. and its full of advice, tips and motivation for those of you whose pen is poised over a blank page, and for those of you who still need to borrow a pen.

Anyway, I hope you don't mind me bringing the subject up. It was on my mind so I thought I'd get it out there.

And if you are still struggling to start even the teeniest bit of creative writing,....... then I know any weekend now you are going to sit at a table and write out a mound of Christmas cards to friends, so why not try thinking up a daft 3 or four line ditty, of your very own, okay make it two lines then... something like ; "Here's to a stress free Christmas / May your tree lights work first go / May you find good cheer/ In a Holiday Beer/ With Family, Friend and Foe."

well, that might need some work....but it means soo much more than just signing it.


Sir Dayvd ( Write is might ) of Oxfordshireness on the wold.


Saturday, November 28, 2009

Hope Your Holiday is A Gas!


Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Thanks to JibJab, Lady Allwinky and my friends at the Whitehouse (Only because we crashed the party! LOL!)...here's Thinking of Drinking with You this Holiday!


Sir Hook Who's Fluid in English of Warrick

Friday, November 27, 2009

Just when you thought there was nothing you needed on "Black Friday"

This just in from Sir Dayvd:

World's strongest beer launched at 32% ABV



A controversial UK brewery has launched the world's strongest beer 'Tactical Nuclear Penguin' with a massive ABV of 32%.

The high alcohol volume of the BrewDog beer beats the previous record of 31% which was held by German beer brand Schorschbraer.

To make it so strong the imperial stout was aged for 16 months in Isle of Arran whisky and Islay casks. It was then stored at -20 degrees for three weeks.

Boffins from Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh yesterday verified the beer at 32% ABV - the equivalent of six pints of lager per bottle.

It is not know if the same boffins made it in to work today or if they had a hangover. BrewDog’s MD James Watt said: "This beer is about pushing the boundaries; it is about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level.



"It is about achieving something which has never before been done and putting Scotland firmly on the map for progressive, craft beers."

330ml bottles of the £30 have today gone on sale.

Click here: BBC News - 'World's strongest' beer with 32% strength launched


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Any Way The Wind Blows

I lamented to Sir Hook in an E the other night.... that we are so busy living in the Now that we have been espousing in this blog for so long... that we can't find the time to sit and write the long and spiritually philosophical Blogs that used to grace the pages of the KMSA in the early days...

And then I thought....awww what the heck. Its Thanksgiving in America, they'll be all home in the bosoms of their families, and some will be home with just their bosoms. Who cares about spirituality....we're Thankful..right? We're healthy
(ish) ...right? Away with all this Thinking-Thinking...

Get round a table groaning with the food with your extended families....or if you have to, get round your extended table with your groaning families....and with Turkey and trimmings and pumpkin pie and fireside ales and your best stretchy pants, celebrate the joy of having staggered blindly though another year.....and then all gather round the Computer and click on this link below and watch this inspired piece of Philisophical thought...and if at the end you aren't Smiling and Rocking Out...then I'm sorry, the KMSA can't cure you.



Happy Thanksgiving Pilgrims, from the UK! Where it is just another cold and wet Thursday.

Sir Dayvd (who is really Gonzo, the greatest Turkey of them all) of O

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Turkey and Beer!

Just in case you were wondering how some farmers fatten their turkeys for our tables:

BEER!


The owner of a 300-turkey farm in New Hampshire, USA, is using 50 to 60 cans of beer a day to fatten the birds before Thanksgiving.

"The turkeys, as well as other animals, like beer," says owner Joe Morette. "I'm one of them."

He goes through between 50 to 60 cans a day for the nearly 300 birds on his farm.
"It slows them down a little. They're enjoying their life," says Morette.

At least until Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Breaking the Mold!

Sir Dayvd's blog yesterday featuring breasts, thighs, and legs, reminded me of something...

I was looking up “Turkey with Beer” recipes not too long ago and came across a half-baked website that is, in part, a collaboration of David Byrne and Danielle Spencer (Australian pop singer and wife of Russell Crowe).

Anyway, it’s hard to figure the who, what, when, where, and especially WHY of the following information, but I present it for you to simmer in the creativity of it all and to get your own creative juices (pardon the cooking puns) bubbling.

It all starts with a Jell-O® Turkey mold. As the site says, it's actually taken from a cornish game hen, but then again a true turkey-sized Jell-O® mold would be a bit overwhelming. Since 2005, there has been a Turkey-shaped Mold contest among Spencer and Byrne’s friends.

If you search long enough you can find a recipe for realistic flesh-tone, which involves adding lite evaporated skimmed milk for opacity and a dash of green food coloring to peach or watermelon flavored Jell-O®. It essentially tastes like regular Jell-O®, but the milk adds nice body, as it turns out.


Chicken Noodle Soup Turkey: Nourishing and healing? Or intestinal and revolting? Ford's congealed chicken noodle soup turkey launches an unflinching investigation of the attraction/repulsion dynamic of domesticity itself.


Guac-a-Bird [Avacado Gelatin Turkey]: Who knew such a thing as avacado gelatin was possible, let alone desirable? David knew, evidently, and birthed his post-punk guac-a-bird for all to enjoy.



Mac-'n-Cheese Turkey: At first glance Leanne's Mac-'n-Cheese turkey seems to embody the Platonic ideal of pure turkey form. The revelation of this perfect shape's secret ingredient—extra Velveeta®—sends us reeling down a chasm of regional, political, and class-based prejudices. And when we scale back up to the heights, we realize that modern-day hieratic beauty goes hand-in-hand with post-industrial consumer capitalism. Yes I said yes, it does!


Mountain Dew® Lime Jell-O® Turkey: In a one-two punch, Karis seconds Leanne's mac-'n-cheese Velveeta® class revolution.


Fish Bowl
By Matt K.

That’s just a few of the many winners – check out the rest at:

http://www.daniellespencer.com/graphics/projects/various/jello_turkey/2005.htm

Sir Bowie “who can’t wait to see what you creative Knights do with this turkey of a post!’ of Greenbriar

Monday, November 23, 2009

I'm In the Wrong Job!


Now i realise that this blog might be seen by some members of the KMSA as gratuitous female nudity (and believe me i searched the site long and hard for a male body for the Ladies to even things up, but strangely there were none.)

I also realise that there will be lots of Comments like " Curve Ball" and "getting to First Base " etc about the picture above, from Hooky (yes we have "3rd base is covered" too).

But you all know that being an artist i am interested in all manner of substrates that can be used to design on. So this blog goes out in the form of a plea to the Ladies of our group...I am having particular problem finding anyone to let me paint them, all with most Knightly chivalrous intentions I might add. Just look at the pictures below and see what can be achieved by a few bottles of paint...a few candles and a bit of mood music....and I could transform you into a work of art.





As for the Knights with Ladies out there...you know what to do...Hoover the house and take the trash out while the Ladies soak in the hot tub...Cook them a romantic meal...(and wash up)....then get your Brushes out and get to work.
Sir D (whose phone number is available on request) of O

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Victorian Midnight Cafe

Now that I'm recently recovered from my car theft with smashed window...



...a 5 hour drive home...playing at Mass last night as soon as I arrived home...and Fishbowls of Newcastle at the Knob with Lady A and friends....as promised...here's the postscript to yesterday's blog on the Victorian Midnight Cafe.



Tucked away in the Victorian Village and nearby art community close to the OSU campus...the Victorian Midnight Cafe is just the eccentric kind of place you would expect a Founding Father of KMSA to hang his hat...and beer belly.

Once you park on the side streets at night, you can imagine yourself walking the streets of Whitechapel just in front of Jack the Ripper as you prepare to get Ripped on Jack!

Now owned and operated by Andreas Kleinert, a native of Germany, and his wife Kristy Venrick, who runs the label Nilaihah Records for area bands, and is also a laboratory planner...the "Vic" serves up all day breakfast, authentic German Schnitzel, organic beef half-pound hamburgers, over 60 craft beers, and lots of original music.



From college kids, professors, burned out hippies, preppies, old farts like me and everywhere in between...the eclectic patrons of the "Vic" never fail to entertain or inspire!



Friday night was no exception, as I downed Schnitzel with Anchor Christmas Ale and listened to the Yogi Poets, the Rusty Strings, Apocalypso and Miss Molly. The highlights of the night were Apocalypso and Miss Molly.

Apocalypso is appropriately named.



Listening to their music is like reading Revelations on a Caribbean beach at a Prog Rock Convention! Complete with different masks that appear throughout the set...these guys bring it on with steel drums, percussion and bass! Here's a link to their MySpace page and a video clip I shot with my iPhone that evening: http://www.myspace.com/apocalypsopannedinohio




Good Golly...Miss Molly is HOT!



Her music slices through the waves of Rockabilly, Swing, Jazz, Folk and Pop like the prow on a British Man-O-War! Here's a link to her MySpace page and another video clip I shot with my iPhone that evening: http://www.myspace.com/missmollywinters




So, the next time you end up in the Columbus area, be sure to check out the "Vic"!

Sir Hook the VICtor of Warrick

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Open Heart, Open Mind

In private emails between Sir Dayvd of Oxfordshire and this Errant Knight, we have debated about the paranoia that is strangling the minds and hearts of fair-minded citizens of the world.

Last night in Columbus I had the choice to go see the paranoid throngs pay homage to their goddess of the moment, Sara Palin, who was in town at Boarders to sign her book, Going Rogue.

Instead I chose to go to the Victorian Midnight Cafe for authentic German Schnitzel, Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, and great local music, which I will expand on in tomorrows edition.

I reflected on what it means to keep and open heart and an open mind as the music bathed my soul...which is also the title of my collection of original songs I began to write after my open-heart surgery 7 years ago. A few thousand dollars and many hours later, my CD is almost ready to go to mastering and press.




As I drive home today I will reflect on, and invite you to do the same, what it means to have an open heart and open mind in today's world. Here's the lyrics from the chorus of the theme song to help you with this exercise:

Don't waste life
Pleasing men
Be true to yourself
Live again

Don't fear life
Don't fear death
Don't fear your destiny
For happiness

Blessing to you all!
Sir Hook the Traveling Troubadour of Warrick

Friday, November 20, 2009

Sands for the Memories

Here's something we don't see a lot of in inland Oxford. One of my fondest memories of living in Harrisburg PA, was going into the East Mall one Christmas and marvelling at a team of guys literally sculpting a mountain of white sand into the most incredible Christmas tableaux. Its just something you don't see indoors in the UK.

This years sand castles competition in Oregon USA is equally stunning, and so I present it over to the KMSA, as another in our series of "Think Big" and "do something with your life preferably outdoors " and I hope this sends you all down to the mud on the banks of the Ohio with your buckets and spades.















Sir dayvd (who did once make a little sand Castle with a colored bucket and spade when he was 6) of O

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Meet Hugh MacLeod

I'm a cartoonist.
I sell limited-edition prints.
I'm CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the States.
I also draw private commissions.

I've also written a book:


When I first lived in Manhat­tan in Decem­ber, 1997 I got into the habit of dood­ling on the back of busi­ness cards, just to give me something to do while sit­ting at the bar. The for­mat stuck.
All I had when I first got to Manhat­tan were 2 suit­ca­ses, a cou­ple of card­board boxes full of stuff, a reser­va­tion at the YMCA, and a 10-day free­lance copyw­ri­ting gig at a Mid­town adver­ti­sing agency.

My life for the next cou­ple of weeks was going to work, wal­king around the city, and stag­ge­ring back to the YMCA once the bars clo­sed. Lots of alcohol and cof­fee shops. Lot of weird peo­ple. Being hit five times a day by this strange desire to laugh, sing and cry simul­ta­neously. At times like these, there’s a lot to be said for an art form that fits easily inside your coat poc­ket.

The free­lance gig tur­ned into a per­ma­nent job. I sta­yed. The first month in New York for a new­co­mer has this cer­tain ama­zing magic about it that is indesc­ri­ba­ble. Incan­des­cent luci­dity. Howe­ver long you stay in New York, you pretty much spend the rest of your time there trying to recap­ture that fee­ling. Cha­sing Manhat­tan Dra­gon. I sup­pose the whole point of the cards ini­tially was to somehow get that buzz onto paper.

Although I haven’t lived in New York since 1999, it still lives in me. Far too much, some would say…
The ori­gi­nals are drawn on either busi­ness cards or bris­tol board cut to the same size i.e. 3.5″ x 2″. I use mostly a 0.3mm rapi­do­graph pen. Occa­sio­nally I’ll use other things– pen­cil, water­co­lor, ball­point etc, but not often.


Check out his website: http://gapingvoid.com/

and get to know Hugh -- unless you want to take his advice and ignore him (as well as everybody).

At least sign up for his Newsletter: A Crazy­De­ran­ged­Fool [CDF for short] is, like me, some­body who has the teme­rity to aspire to work in a way that pro­du­ces both joy, mea­ning and con­tri­bu­tion for both them and others, while also paying the bills. It’s about crea­ti­vity, it’s about fin­ding mea­ning, but it’s also about living in the real world. That’s the rea­lity I want to live in, and from the vast quan­ti­ties of e-mails and com­ments I get from y’all, that seems to be your game plan, as well.

Sir Bowie

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Beer Poetry

Lines on Ale (1848), by Edgar Allen Poe (1809 – 1849)

Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain.
Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away.
What care I how time advances;
I am drinking ale today.


That's just one of the many Beer Poems you'll find at Jay Brook's site:


http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/beer-poetry/


It's a website written by a guy who spent part of his honeymoon visiting breweries in the Pacific Northwest.


You'll also find stories and photos including Beer and Art and more!

Have fun!

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

As I walk the trail of life...

A Cherokee Prayer goes something like:

As I walk the trail of life
In the fear of the wind and rain,
Grant O Great Spirit
That I may always walk
Like a man

This past weekend, Sir Scott of Paradiddle, Sir Paul of Lyon, and I “walked a trail of life” (more like walked it like old, out of shape men, but we walked) -- back in time to a place of indescribably beauty and haunting history.

Sir Scott and Sir Paul under the one of the longest natural arches in Kentucky


Off a lonely stretch of highway in western Kentucky is an area near and dear to Sir Paul: Mantle Rock. Paul has spent a lot of time there helping blaze trails; he wanted to take us there to experience it for ourselves. So, on a glorious and unseasonably warm November Saturday (without fear of the wind and rain), we started our journey back to 1838.

A plaque along the side of the road tells some of the story:

During the winter of 1838-1839, the Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their Smoky Mountain homes for the Oklahoma territory.

Mantle Rock, a 40-foot natural sandstone arch (one of the longest in Kentucky) was used for shelter on their “Trail of Tears.” The Ohio River had become icy and impassable, so the Indians sought cover beneath the arch and the surrounding rock formations. Over 3000 wintered there; many died due to exposure, disease and dysentery.


Copyright ©1996 Ken Martin
The forced removal of the Cherokee in 1838-39 from their homelands in the east to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) is also knows as "The Trail Where They Cried". Of the 16,000 Cherokees who were herded into stockades and marched west by U.S. troops, about 4,000 died of disease, exposure, or fatigue. A U.S. soldier, John Burnett, recalled in later years, "I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven by bayonet into stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west"



Here, a maple tree endeavors to persevere as it reaches for the sun and the stars.


On our trek, we noticed this rock formation that appeared to be a face. I’ve dubbed it “The Last Whooping Cherokee.”

To me, this represents the last Cherokee --- whooping and crying – begging all who visit to never forget the story of perseverance, survival, and to continue to honor the spirits of all those whose trail of tears ended on this sacred ground.

Sir Paul and Sir Bowie

Part of the work of the Mantle Rock Native Education & Cultural is to visualize the pathway to tomorrow as a sacred journey for peace and harmony. “In teaching peace and harmony we are teaching the true history of yesterday. We look at the clouds, trees, mountains and our families not yet born, knowing our decisions today will affect their tomorrow.”

In fact, thousands of Cherokees come here each year in prayer for the ancestors, a pilgrimage remembering the Trail of Tears.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but as we walked the path and listened to the wind offer words of encouragement, strength and wisdom, I was praying parts of an ancient prayer:

"Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,
Whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice
Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.
Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.
Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy
Myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

And so it was, as shadows were growing longer, we knew it was time to head back to Sir Paul’s, sit by a roaring fire under a starry sky, and reflect on the lesson we had learned “hidden in every leaf and rock.”

Like the cultural center’s mission states, let us always remember the past and see the pathway to tomorrow as a sacred journey for compassion, peace and harmony.

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar

P.S.

For those Knights who have even a drop of Cherokee blood – which includes Sir Scott -- here is an interesting philosophy credited to Jim Pell: Principal Chief of the North Alabama Cherokee Tribe:

“The traditional Cherokee philosophy is that even the smallest drop of Cherokee Blood makes one a Cherokee. There is no such thing as 'part-Cherokee.' Either you're Cherokee or you're not. It isn't the quantity of Cherokee blood in your veins that is important, but the quality of it . . . your pride in it. I have seen full-bloods who have virtually no idea of the great legacy entrusted to their care. Yet, I have seen people with as little as 1/500th blood who inspire the spirits of their ancestors because they make being Cherokee a proud part of their everyday life."