So many beers, so little time.
The story of beer in America is one many are unfamiliar with. Similar to my curiosity with Moxie—another drink with a rich and robust history—the narrative of beer is an intriguing one and is much different than what others commonly parrot. Continue reading
Lots of snow to shovel.
Today is a day to shovel, not write and blog; it also happens to be Valentine’s Day.
Happy Valentine’s Day–shovel with the one you love!
Making progress.
Someone’s off to work.
The Olympic propaganda onslaught has continued. The western media ‘s hypocrisy and double-standard has been on prominent display (if you know where to look) since Friday’s opening ceremonies. Journalists tweeting about their substandard accommodations personified every Ugly American stereotype. Then Google ran their diversity doodle, which was just weird. Continue reading
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia have officially begun, although the “opening ceremonies” will be broadcast tonight on the TeeVee. Every four years, a narrative develops about each subsequent Games. The story of the 2014 games seems to be fear.
The original intent of the Olympics, we’ve been told, was to promote competition and goodwill among nations around the globe. We all know that’s a bucket of horse puckey, don’t we? The archetype for our modern Olympics began in ancient Greece, taking place in the context of a religious festival; all events were held in honor of Zeus, and included the sacrificing of a hundred oxen in his honor. The athletes all prayed to the gods for victory and gave gifts of animals, produce, or small cakes in thanks for their successes. Today’s oblations are to the corporate sponsors that make the world go round, including international sports competitions.
NBC–cashing in at Sochi
The worship now centers on how much money can be extracted from the entire process. It’s commercialism run amok, with geopolitical tensions and propaganda thrown in for good measure. Continue reading
Paris Review No. 181 Cover-Norman Mailer
Some criticize Twitter for being too brief and even superficial. However, those critics lack an understanding of what Twitter is often best at–aggregating news and other information.
Five minutes on Twitter Sunday morning allowed me to read a tweet linking to a terrific interview with the late literary icon, Norman Mailer. The interview with Mailer, from 2007, was one of The Art of Fiction series, No. 193, from The Paris Review, conducted by Andrew O’Hagan. Continue reading
Back when I had a BlackBerry, the first app I loaded after Dictionary.com, was Yelp. It’s been my go-to app ever since.
When Miss Mary and I hit the road for two weeks to catch up with Mark Baumer on his walk across America during July of 2010, Yelp never steered us wrong on food or lodging. Nineteen states and 4,600 road tripping miles is a good test of any apps mettle–Yelp passed with flying colors.
Yelp keeps your beer cold.
I’m still amazed by how many people I talk with who don’t know about Yelp. Come on people; get with the program!! Continue reading
CEOs don’t blog.
Why don’t CEOs blog? Oh, a few do. There are actually a handful of CEOs that have their own blogs (see at end) and post regular content; that list is quite small however. A recent survey by Domo and CEO.com found that nearly 70% of CEOs don’t have a presence and basically still “don’t get social media.” Continue reading
The JBE loves music. Aspects of the JBE brand are embedded with and influenced by many DIY aspects inherent in music from both the punk and post-punk eras of rock music history.
I still listen to “what’s new” via streaming audio, most often, KEXP, based in Seattle, WMBR (based at MIT), especially Saturday’s James Dean Death Car Experience, and WFMU, one of America’s last free-form radio stations, what’s become an oddity in this age of corporate media consolidation. Continue reading
Today is an important date.
No, not because the movie Casablanca was came out (in general release), or that Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) was born.
A big day in U.S. history.
Can you guess?
Don’t drink the water!
Bread may or may not be the staff of life. Water on the other hand is essential for survival. Like electricity, you never think twice about water safety until it’s compromised.
On Thursday of last week, a major American city of 300,000 had their public water supply compromised by a careless corporation. A week later, residents in some parts of the city are now allowed to drink the water. Still, there are more questions than answers forthcoming. Continue reading