Poem: Tasting notes

Malt
Caramel
Subtle peppery undertone

Juniper
Crisp pine
Grapefruit aroma

Chocolate
Mellow hops
Rich toffee notes
Freshly baked biscuits

Clean desert aroma
Citrus weed
Tangy cactus spine
Horse blanket

Slight nuttiness
Hints of bourbon
Smoked rubber
Magnesium flare

Coconut oil
Disintegrated cork
Essence of latex and sand
Porcelain overtones

Back alley rainwater
Wisps of mousetrap wood
Gunpowder residue
WD-40

Battery copper
Flop sweat
Gumballs
Revenge

Rocket fuel
Interplanetary dust
Venusian methane
Tears of loneliness



The topic of this poem was suggested by Kevin Swallow.


Crossposted from Inhuman Swill

November debriefing

Last night was Election Night, and we know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what happened. So without further ado, here's a recap of last night's events ... from the Election Night Edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf Bar!

We started things off with a delightfully bloody tale of young were-beasts from repeat reader Kelly Swails. Next, B. E. Pinkham took us through the emotional process of coming to terms with a child's autism. And then our write-in candidate, host William Shunn, brought us some "Strong Medicine" from the environs of Washington, D.C., in the year 2037.

After a break for beer, we enjoyed some "Tasting Notes," this month's Poem by Bill. Then followed a second half that we cheekily called "The Jesus and Mary Chain," in which Mary Lorenz brought us a heartfelt and hilarious tale of her teenage flirtation with Christianity, followed by Mary Zemaitis's heartfelt and hilarious tale of her teenage flirtation with Christianity. I mean, what are the chances?

Oh, right, and then some guy named Barry won some election.

But if you weren't present last night to hear from your favorite candidate, don't despair. We'll be bringing you video clips from the evening over the days to come, after which we'll be back December 4th with a great lineup featuring Julia Borcherts, CP Chang, Maggie Kast, Stephen Markley, and Derek Silver. Don't miss it!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

"Climate change" vs. "Global warming"

So, over on Facebook I opined that it's now time for Mr. Obama to get his ass in gear about global warming. I further opined that it was time to stop referring to it by the namby-pamby term "climate change" and get back to calling it "global warming." Boy, did that incite some strong responses!

As I said there and will reiterate here, "climate change" may be a descriptive term in a bland way, but it's way too soft and weaselly. "Climate" as a scientific term is just not understood well enough (or at all) by most of us, and "change" is just, well, change. It says nothing about the degree or direction of the change, about whether it's good or bad, and it even leaves some dangerously stupid pundits enough wiggle room to say, "Hey, change is no problem. We'll just adapt."

"Global warming," on the other hand, is direct and scary, and we need to be scared by it. We need to be shitting our pants because of it. "Global"—it affects all of us, everywhere. "Warming"—this identifies the most direct effect of the most critical element of the climate-change equation, to wit that if we keep dumping more and more carbon into the atmosphere, the average global temperature will keep going up faster and faster, leading to every other bad outcome, like increased sea levels, decreased permafrost, increased ocean acidity, increased extreme weather events, and so on. The most important thing we can and must do to stop climate change is to stop that temperature rise.

Now let's all change our underwear and call Congress (202-224-3121) and the White House (202-456-1111) and tell them now is the time to get very serious about halting global warming.

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Don't believe me? You cannot possibly be informed about the urgency of this matter unless you're reading journalists like Elizabeth Kolbert and Bill McKibben. Go back and read Kolbert's "The Climate of Man" series from The New Yorker seven and a half years ago, then read McKibben's recent Rolling Stone article "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math" and reflect on how damn fast climate change is changing for the worse, and how little time we have to ameliorate its effects. And then change your underwear again.


Crossposted from Inhuman Swill