Letting Go

I know I don't share much lately, especially personal romantic stuff. I will say that when a relationship is over, trying to let go and move on is the hardest part. Letting go of not only a failed romance but also a failed friendship in a short time only compounds things.

I posted a while ago about meeting someone on okcupid.com which let to a 4 and a half plus year relationship. We had our ups and our downs, both real life struggles and fun adventures together. But we wanted different things, or at least the same thing but different time frames that caused some of our tension. We also struggled with communication, intimacy, and allowed the stress of other parts of our life to bleed into our relationship. After a couple attempts at therapy, it was over. 

I admit I made a few mistakes that I will own up to. I allowed my own jealously and hurt to push her away when at times I wanted to work things out. Granted, I did call her on a lot of bull that was unacceptable, such as games going back and forth about whether she wanted to get back together, which I suppose she did not in the end. 

Another big mistake for me was allowing myself to become physically intimate with a good friend I had known for many years only a month or two after I left my ex. I could have, or should had left it as a one night stand, if even allowing it to happen at all. It complicated my friendship and my original situation since my ex and I still lived together. Plus, I wanted more from my friend, but I wasn't ready so soon and she only wanted friends with benefits. The result was two or three falling outs over misunderstandings, etc. It is sad to see a friendship go but it is for the best when things get too complicated.

Either way is to learn from my mistakes, try to forgive myself, let go of regret and my anger and maybe one day for all parties to forgive each other.  

Weekend Geekdom, Part 1

Spoiler Alert: This might get a little long winded and/or sentimental but stick with me...

Every now and then it is great to have a mini adventure with a friend and/or reconnect with friends you haven't seen in a while. Columbus Day weekend was an opportunity to do both. With Part 1 I will focus on my trip to New York City, or Metropolis for some, to visit NY Comic Con. In Part 2 I will focus on the rest of the weekend, where I got to see a few good friends.

NY Comic Con

This year has been definitely a convention filled adventure for me with Boston Comic Con in August, a couple hours at Temple Con and volunteered at 2016's Pax East (yes I am overdue for a write up on that). NY Comic Con was by far one of the largest of it's kind, attracting literally thousands! According to their website, the Con attracted over 167,000 attendees in 2015 alone. It was my first time and, of course, was a little overwhelming. But with anything, it is best to look at it as an adventure.


An Offer I Couldn't Refuse:

One sign of a generous friend is getting an invite to such an occasion and willing to grab you a badge! My friend Tina, a fan girl of Wonder Woman for years (to say the least), had been planning on going for weekend. When she offered to grab a badge for opening day for me if I wanted to go, my response was along the lines of "Hell Yeah!"

Trials and Tribulations of Travel:

To say there wasn't some sort of challenges to our travel would be a lie. We made arrangements to take a bus from Boston to New York City the morning of Day 1 of the Con. I admit this was the first of a few challenges we faced. Not surprising, traffic was insane when we got close to NYC:

When we finally got to the bus stop, our next set of concerns were checking in, getting ready, and whether we had to wait to in an insanely long line we saw from the bus once we arrived at the Con.

At one point the line wrapped around a NY city block!

One small grace that helped the process along was being able to check in early at the hotel. This definitely helped logistically, because we would otherwise need to find a place for Tina to slip into costume and find a place to stow our luggage while we went to the Con. Also, if anyone had asked me how much experience I have in assisting in lacing a corset, I can now, as of writing this entry, I can say at least once.

Deadpool approves

We managed to get ready and, as you can see above, her costume really came together and I learned that lacing a corset is similar to lacing your shoes, but a little more complicated.

Just need a ride there...


The next trick was just getting a ride over. Protip: if you decide to take a cab in NYC, once you get in and say where you are going, they are not supposed to refuse you service. Of course one of the 5 cabs we got in that was parked across from the hotel did just that. We found out after we could have made a fuss but decided to walk to the corner to hail another one, with no luck. Even asking a few park cabbies if they were on duty before getting in yielded little luck. We decided to hail an Uber with much better results. Of course, one of the cabbies that was on lunch offered his services while we waited but we declined of course.

If we knew Captain Iron Man was there,we would have asked for a ride...

Finally...

We arrive at the Con. To our amusement and good fortunate, the line was essentially non existent. Before heading in, we grabbed hot dogs and water from a hot dog vendor strategically outside the entrance. We head in and it was a bit overwhelming to see how many people in one place.We tried to keep an eye out for a con program but didn't have much luck. We did find our way to the dealer's room to see what wears they had. And they had something for almost everyone! Game vendors, art dealers and small publishers, plus of course comic book vendors, plus a cool Wonder Woman display celebrating Wonder Woman's 75 years. And for Deadpool fans:

I asked Mr Pool himself and I think he approved:

Apparently, he has issues, I just have a t shirt

As with any Con, there are always cool finds and impulse purchases. I was able to get the following:

There is something about art pieces that combine 2 completely unrelated comics

Our Goal Was in Reach:

At that point of the day, we  had been at the con for a few hours. We were on a mission to to get a couple comic artists' signatures. Con staff members seemed to be in short supply, like the aforementioned programs. After a little searching, we were able to find a couple Comic Con staff members that were able to direct us to where Artist Alley was. We made our way there with purpose. Ironically, we found near the entrance of  Artist Alley a few programs waiting!

Tina decided to relax since her feet understandably were killing her and had the rest of the weekend to get signatures. I made a game plan of who I wanted to get an autograph. The most important signature to get was this guy:

Like Deadpool? Thank this guy!

I was able to get the autograph of  writer Fabian Nicieza, who worked with Rob Liefield to create Deadpool in the early 1990's as well as work on various other titles. The line to meet him was crazy but worth the wait. He actually was cool about explaining his experiences working on Deadpool. Fabian explained that he loved Deadpool's lack of social filter and general insanity was fun to create!

End Scene:

After getting Fabian Nicieza's autograph, we called it a day for the con, which meant heading back and for Tina to change out of her costume and get food. We decided on getting a bite at Pergola Des Artistes, which fortunately for us, was across from the hotel.

Steak! It's what's for dinner....

And you would think that going to a comic shop after going to NY Comic Con would be overkill... But I was surprised Tina had never been to one in NYC. We were fortunate enough to find Midtown Comics near Times Square, which was also a short walk from where we stayed!

Surprised we didn't hear "Shut up and take my money!"

Despite the set backs and little things that annoyed both of us, it is fair to say Tina and I had a great time and made the most of the convention! Although I headed out the next day, Tina had a blast the rest of the con, getting a few signatures, cool pieces of art for herself, and an upgrade to her room. Success!

Thank you for reading and stay turned for Weekend Geekdom, Part 2!

Adventures at Boston Comic Con

One thing that a lot of people within various kinds of fandom look forward to each year is participating in a convention, or Con for short. Cons are a great way to meet other fans of all strips, artists, writers, actors, vendors/other members of a particular industry, depending on the Con's focus and what a Fan is looking for. For Boston specifically and New England in general, there are several Cons each year for someone, for lack of a better term, Geek it up, where the con is about gaming, anime, comics, scifi and fantasy lit and movies, participate in Cosplay, or check out Filk (a type of music).

So far in 2016, I've been to both Boston Comic Con and PAX East (which I am overdue for a write up). Boston Comic Con is for 3 days, but for scheduling purposes and so my wallet wouldn't cry too much, I went with my good friend Tina on Saturday to see what we could in terms of signatures, art and comics.

Arriving at the Con

I am sure anyone who has lived in, or at least been to, England will tell you that there is an art and/or science to queuing, or forming and waiting in line. Granted Boston is far from England, anyone who has experience this British phenomenon may have appreciated the scene getting in:

Boston Comic Con Line: Seaport Convention Center for Scale

A person with a ticket had to go almost the length of the convention center to get a wrist band. Then they had to get in line to enter the convention center. As an attendee entered, they had to lift their arm to show they had a wrist band, in an almost "Fight the Power" gesture.  

Protip: If you go to a Con like this, try to get there as early as possible. Granted, my friend and I would have been in line sooner, if it were not for cosplay related malfunctions (and no, not the Janet Jackson performing at the Superbowl kind....)

Meeting Celebrities:

Boston Comic Con invites a host of famous folks across different fields, not just within the field of comics. This year, William "Captain Kirk" Shatner as well as Gillian Anderson of X Files fame, among others, were  actors that were there to sign autographs, take pictures with fans, host panels, etc.  

Unfortunately, yours truly did not get to meet either one this year. Instead, please enjoy a sad Mr Spook, may he rest in peace.

My presence here is highly illogical.... 

Some of the celebrities that we got to meet were some of the many talented artists that not only help make comics, but also help make comics great. Some artists we got signatures include David Lloyd, Eric Larsen, Phil Jimeniz, Marv Wolfman amongst others. One thing we were reminded of is that timing means alot since the line for Scott Snyder kept getting capped off up to an hour before each time he signed. 

One highlight for Tina though was meeting Billy Tucci, who has created Shi as well as contributed to both Marvel and DC titles:  

No, she really isn't a fangirl, I swear....

Cosplay:

A lot of attendees showed off their fandom in a myriad of ways, most commonly a tshirt with thier favorite character displayed. For the adults playing at home, a drinking game idea would be take a drink for every 10 Deadpool shirts one saw at Boston Comic Con. 

For other fans, they did get into character, in many cases, literally: 

Ok, so Tina is a fan girl.....

In general, it added to the atmosphere of the Con and was often a catalyst for conversation, even if it was mostly "Can I take your picture?" At one point, I had to say to another Wonder Woman cosplayer that we got to stop meeting like this after bumping into her for the third time.

And to be fair, I had to be a fanboy myself:

"The Dork is strong with this one..."

Merch:

Another reason my wallet started to get teary eyed, aside from ticket prices, was all the sweet things my inner kid wanted to get, from games to artwork to (Surprise!) comics, among other sweet items. A few things I focused my spending on was a few pieces of artwork as well as a couple issues of a comic I like (hint: tshirt). 

One piece I was able to grab was the following portrait of old and young Obi Wan Kenobi by artist Brandon Kenney:

Check out his website at https://brandonkenney.com/about/

The next trick will be where to put up my artwork and autographs.

Other Activities:

Going to a Con can be more than just checking out other people doing Cosplay, shopping and being star struck. Depending on a Con, it can have panels discussions on various topics related to the con, viewings of films or cartoons, game tournaments, auctions for charity, and after parties.

A few interesting looking panels happened at Boston Comic Con but, alas, timing did not work out. We did have a chance, though, to check out a Tony Stark themed after party that happened at Laugh Boston in Boston's Seaport District. A couple interesting characters did make an appearance such as this guy:

Hulk Buster Iron Man was expecting Industrial Music... Sad face.....

The party consisted largely of Con goers with many still in Cosplay. The music was mostly old classics, some of which were dance remixes. I couldn't help but notice some of the songs were probably older than some of the people attending, making me feel like something from your grandpa's comic collection. The bar seemed a little under staffed since there was a crazy wait. Tina and I called it a night, and for the most part, had a fun time.

Pro Tips and Recommended Links:

Some things to consider when you plan on going to a Con (apologies for the Captain Obvious outfit I am wearing that you can't see):

-See about getting a ticket or badge ahead of time. It will make getting into the Con a little easier and possibly cheaper. One guy we saw while waiting to get in was completely befuddled about getting one at the door.....

-Reviewing the website and trying to have an idea of what you want to do ahead of time doesn't hurt. If you plan to go with friends, having a fully charged cell phone and/or telling them where you'll be at certain times will be helpful. Otherwise, they might think you were taken by guys in a white van or aliens.......

-Being there a little before the doors open helps to give you time to explore the Con without the feeling of being rushed to do everything you want to do.

-With the previous points being stated, still expect lines, especially with larger Cons.

-Consider bringing a bottle of water, snacks, and weather appropriate necessities (sun screen, umbrella, jacket, etc). The Con may get really hot depending on attendance and having a snack would be good depending on food options. Also, you don't want to get soaked/sun burned/frost bite waiting in line to get in.

-For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, see about options in the vacinity of the convention center or hotel where the Con is happening. The line for food most likely will be ridiculous and food, although edible, might be better elsewhere.

-Expect security to check bags. If you go in Cosplay, expect the Con to have policies around certain props. Fair warning. (Side note: for those who Cosplay, bringing extra tape, thread, make up, etc isn't a bad idea either if you have a means of bringing it.)

-Lastly, a little patience and common courtesy can go a long way. Getting mad for the line being long, an artist or celebrity taking extra time with the person in front of you, a vendor running out of a t shirt you wanted isn't going to help. Taking a deep breath while waiting so you are calmer while it's your turn or asking for a business card can make a big difference.

If you see some one doing Cosplay, saying something along the lines of "Nice Costume" and follow up with a question related to the series they are a fan of might go further than "Hey Sexy" or something else potentially derogatory. Additionally, respecting personal space (cosplay or not) and basic manners (please and thank you very much!) can help avoid a scene and/or getting as far as kicked out.

As for things to check out for Conventions in and around New England and a couple artists, see below:

-Boston Comic Con: Note that they still have this past convention's info up but worth a look
http://bostoncomiccon.com/

-PAX East: Still owe a post on 2016's experience. Focus is on all type of gaming.
http://east.paxsite.com/

-Anime Boston: Still need to check this out. Everything Anime Related in one place!
http://www.animeboston.com/

-ARISIA: One of the first Cons I've been to. A Con where different types of fandom comes together
http://www.arisia.org/

-Boskone: For those who enjoy SciFi and Fantasy.
http://www.boskone.org/

-TotalCon: Another gaming Convention but less focus on video or online
http://www.totalcon.com/

Billy Tucci: http://www.crusadefinearts.com/index.php/

Brandon Kenney: https://brandonkenney.com/about/

Ups and Downs of Unemployment

One of the struggles of Americans now a days is the ups and downs of unemployment. Sure this means more time for one's self but at the costs of, well not having much in the way of income. For a few months, I have had the pleasure (note sarcasm) of being laid off of my previous position. And with these few months from November to April have been in many ways frustrating, but in a few ways, given me perspective.

How things went down:

The first point of annoyance is how things went down. My company, which I won't list hear, had to renew their contract with the client we were working with. Suffice it to say, it did not end well resulting in both cut backs of staff and, as one source reported, a few raised voices. There was opportunity to apply with the client for most likely the exact same position. I decided not to apply since it was in a call center where callers were often unhappy and unpleasent. The atmosphere was frustrating in and of itself since dysfunctional was putting it nicely. I did not mean to burn bridges but I know I wanted a change in space but also a change of career, especially out of customer service.

The Hunt is on:

Frustration number 2 comes in the form of the job hunt for a new position. For one, granted I need to focus my goals a bit, but knowing I don't want another customer service role is definately a guiding point. Of course, a significant part of recruiters contacting me has a customer service position available and wonder what my interest is. It is about to the point where I am surprised I haven't saved a standard template in my email drafts folder in just such a case. Another annoyance is of course being offered info about sales positions. Granted, sales and customer service positions are not the same, however, it does take a certain someone to want to do sales. Maybe I don't have the patience to deal with people in large quantities, the idea of living off of 100% commission scares me (or at least in the beginning), or the special kind of stress that supposedly comes with whether I hit quota that month are reason(s) I don't jump on board with a sales position.

Another comes in the form of interviews. I have been fortunate to have a couple but nothing helps to dash one's optimism of  employment than having, what one thought of a good interview and then find they went with another candidate. One person that has some insight as to what had happened with the interview informed me that I did fine with the interview, however the other candidate was more experienced. As an added insight, the person I would be reporting to was difficult to deal with in the first place. Sigh....

If I had a play list:

And then there is staffing firms. Granted, temporary employment can be a help in terms of short term income, possibly getting a bit of experience in a new field, or even a foot in the door. Out of fairness, I have had some luck in the way of temp work but some firms are a quick dissapoint. Again I will not name names.

Track one: "Please Stop Calling"

One firm I worked with years ago I thought would be promising. I went in, filled out the paperwork, had a good interview, and thought I would be hearing from them soon. However, when I hadn't heard from them in 6+ months, until after I had already found another position with another firm, that they contacted me to see if I am looking is a huge turn off. Granted I learned that if I am to work with one, it helps to take more initiative in keeping contact. However, this time around, the same firm decided to not only reach out to me, but be more aggressive about it, as compared with before. I had received a small handful of calls from them, somehow missing the calls. I would then receive a call later that day, and when I was able to answer, no response from the caller. At one point,  I decided to call back and let them know I did not want to do business with them, and was clear about not wanting to business with them. It seemed that the person trying to reach me did not get my voicemail, called again trying to pitch me a position. I reiterated that I was not interested in dealing with them and please stop contacting me.

The best part is that clearly this did not sink in, because a representative decided to call me about a position when I was clear about not wanting to work with them. Granted, after thought suggests keeping better track of these things because I could have sworn it was the same rep I spoke with earlier. She claimed she didn't speak with me before and I had to reiterate to stop contacting me. To make sure third times' the charm, I looked  up to see if I still had any contact info from the firm and apparently at some point I had made contact with a manager of some sort on Linkedin. I reached out explaining the situation and requested to, for the love of all things holy, be left alone.Granted, I could have gone the route of looking into 'do not call' legislation for recourse, but wanted to try this first.  He understood and so far, my wishes have been respected.

Track two: "No, thank you"

There are times where I feel the need to type out a template that, in short would say thank you for contacting me, but not interested. I have on a couple occasions worked as a customer service rep. For long term career goals, I am working on getting away from this, but I get the most offers to apply for more customer service jobs. Yes, I do have experience in these roles and could do them again. However, it is possible to develop skills outside of the ability to feel like you are getting s***** on, without giving someone an earful. Case in point, I learned a little bit about insurance underwriting in my last job and received my Series 7 and 63 at another, both in one take. Ask anyone in the financial investment industry about the second part and will tell you that is not as easy as it sounds.

Outside of writing up a snarky template (or blog posts for that matter), I have been working on updating my resume to reflect skills outside of being a phone jockey. Granted, one could write up something that sounds like a well crafted draft of baloney but I've been working on sticking to the facts and presenting things in the best light. (revise hunt part)

Track three: "No, thank you (f*** off, scammers remix)"

With this day and age, one needs to be cautious about who one deals with. I often get suspicious when I see emails of a certain layout from some company I never heard of (like porn, I know it if I see it). This is often accompanied with a phone call from out of state from someone with a thick accent. Granted, some recruiters are nationwide, employees may reside in the US but come from elsewhere, and I do not have an encyclopedic knowledge of all companies. But there are one or two points that do help confirm my suspicions. For one, the need to know about W2 info on 1st outreach is odd to say the least. This is something I would not need to complete unless I have agreed to work for a company. Secondly, the tone seems to be of an urgent nature. Sure temp work spots get filled fast, however, there seems to be no mention of meeting with someone to go over things in person. It's one of those situations where I say listen to your gut.

Track four: "Remember that one moment?"

I know bitterness does not get me far in life but it can help repeating certain embarrassments. I received emails from one recruiter that I chose to casually ignore. Why? My previous relationship with one in particular I felt was a good one. I got an assignment that turned full time. I sent him leads for people in the market for work, as a form of thank you. Overall the one or two names I sent over went well, until my gf went.

She had set up an interview through this agency. Things seemed to be going well. She was ready to meet, even spent a few bucks on getting a new outfit. The time and date were set, that is, until the last minute cancel of the interview. With no reschedule. And not a clear reason why.

I understand that things happen and it is on the company she was interviewing with for cancellation. But, I would assume that my contact would reach out to get some sort of follow up or even see if there were other possible opportunities. But there was nothing. I could write back with a big WTF? but at this point, I doubt it's worth replying at all.

One or Two Benefits:

Although there is a certain amount of challenge in staying motivated while unemployed, the extra time does allow to catch up on certain things. For one, I did move to another city and the extra time allowed for organizing and donating, trashing or selling stuff no longer needed. Another, is thinking of and even starting one or two writing projects. For instance, I was able to finish my movie script and do some editing. I also thought about  starting a new blog soon about some of what I learned in the health insurance industry. Plus, getting to see my family for lunch more often was great.

Happy Ending....?

Eventually, I did find an analyst position that, sadly, has a customer service component to it. Sell out? Or something for now....? I figure that sticking to your guns can help you get closer to something you would rather do and/or have more perks. The pay is better, the atmosphere is better and people don't scream in my ear as much. We'll see where this adventure takes me!

The Other Beer Coast

With great travel experiences comes great opportunities to try new beer. I recently had the opportunity to visit both California and Arizona for what seemed an all too short trip to visit family. One of my cousins lives outside LA and helped to introduce the local craft beer scene to me. However, on the second leg of my vaca, I got to see that Arizona does have a few local brews worth a mention, although none of them had catus juice on the menu.

My recent trip was my second time visiting the sunshine state and first time that I got to explore options for one of my favorite beverages. One thing I recently learned that, according to the Brewer's Association, California is number one in the country for number of craft brewers in the US with 438. That is a lot of breweries and, unfortunately, I don't have enough vacation time to visit all of them in one go. However, I did get to visit a few.

The California Leg:

El Segundo Brewing Company:

The first stop of my beer tour was  the El Segundo Brewing Company. It was not only a cool place to hang out but had one other interesting character (other than your's truly) that is supposedly Steve Austin. I didn't get to see him but pictures of one or two of his visits plus an action figure modelled in his honor decorate the bar.

While at El Segundo,  I figure it was worth wrestling a flight to try not only my preferred style of brew, stouts, but a couple others.

The first that I was drawn to was the Hyperion's Vanilla Stout. This seemed to be a marriage between an Irish dry stout and a vanilla stout with much success. It was smooth and not too overly sweet.The others of the flight that was of note was the Pine Tar Incident (Black IPA) and Power Plant (Triple IPA). Normally I am not an IPA guy but something about both of these two drew me in and were quite tasty.

King Harbor Brewing Company:
The next place we drank was at King Harbor. It is a casual place to chill. The guy behind the counter that night reminded me a little of one of the members of the band The Swingin Utters for some reason, or at least a fan. The brew I tried was the Swirley. It claims to be a swirl of chocolate and vanilla but tasted more of a coffee brew.

Rock and Brew:
One thing the missus always mentions is that I should try a sample before I get a brew. Mind you I am a bit of a sucker for anything with an amusing or interesting name. Dragonstooth stout is one of those that caught my eye when we visted the Rock and Brew for a bite to eat, an establishment owned in part by Gene Simmons. The Dragonstooth turned out to be quite rich and heavy but delicious.

Later in the evening I decided that I wanted to get my hands on the following t-shirt:

The missus did not get the Pink Floyd references and felt quite embarrassed for her comment of "You know it has a rainbow on it, right?" I had to explain I like beer, Pink Floyd and remind her I like gay people.

The Dudes:

For anyone who is a fan of a good beer and the Big Lebowski may enjoy a trip to The Dudes Brewery. Though it did lack in a stout or porter selection, my go to's, it did have a good alternative with Gandma's Pecan Brown Ale.

It was a sweet beer that was flavorful with notes of pecans (of course) and smooth finish. The only thing that could have been better was a carpet to tie the room together.

The Strand Brewing Company:

The last brewery we tried was the Strand Brewering Company. When we visited, the brewery recently relocated and looked as if it had plenty of room to grow.

Their stout, Batch 100 was good, but on 1st taste, it was not clear as to what kind of stout it was trying to be and took a moment to see where it was going.

The Arizona Leg:

Barrios Brewing:

Often times a hole in the wall, or a place that seems unsuspecting is unsuspecting good. Barrios Brewing is such a place. It had an industrial facade but was comfortable inside.

I was worried that we had trouble getting there because, at one point it rained. And when it rains, the roads do get flooded. Fortunately, we got there safe. I got to share a flight with everyone and found a couple of brews worth a note.

On occasion, I do like to indulge in a fruity beer. T'aylor Jayne's Raspberry Ale hit the spot and was quite refreshing. I followed it up with a Mocha Java Milk Stout with lunch and it had the right balance between a coffee taste and smoothness.


BJ Brewhouse

The last leg of brews was at BJ's, apparently a nationwide chain. We visited the Mesa location and had myself a Tatonka Stout. I figured why not have for my last beer an Imperial. Was quite tasty although the food could have been better. Then again, it could be the fact it was a chain.

Brews: A couple hits and a miss

As seen in my last post here, I had an adventure in other states and came across a few interesting brews. As a follow up, I was considering a few brews I would think overall personal hits, and a couple misses. These can be from my trip and a few that would other wise be worth mentioning.

Hits:

Duck Rabbit Milk Stout

One of the first beers I had in North Carolina was Duck Rabbit's Milk stout. It had a hint of sweetness and went down smooth. It went fairly well with the meal I had at the Hibernian Pub of Bangers and Mash and did stand up well with standard burgers and fries at Black Finn before we went home.

Sweet Baby Jesus

To be honest, I am a sucker for a funny name. Ask me about Clown Shoes sometime. Although I did not have a religious experience for this beer, I was slightly hesitant at first. Reason? A chocolate and peanut butter flavor beer. Sounds great for some kind of snack or desert, but for a beer? Fortunately it did deliver and was quite tasty. Granted it maybe best as an after dinner treat but worth a try.

Banana Seat
Brewed by a company by the name of Crank Arm Brewing, it sounds more like something involving bicycling or things best not discussed in proper company.

Miss:

Chocolate Mint Stout

One of the few  that was a disappointment while visiting North Carolina was that Crank Arm was also serving a stout. It was a variation on a typical chocolate stout with a hint of mint that just didn't do it. Maybe I was expecting this brew to be an ode to Girl Scout cookies but the mint flavor seemed either artifical or just off. However it appears that they have other stouts and porters that could be worth a try.

Let me know what you think and what are some of your hits and misses.

Adventures in Beer

I figured to take a detour and write (or rant) about another favorite topic: beer. I have been accused of becoming a bit of a beer snob over the last couple years, and not without reason. I used to be mostly a lager drinker but moved into mostly stouts or porters.

But what prompted this admission is another part of my visit to the Carolinas. I hail from Massachusetts, home of Sam Adams and Harpoon. (if you are fans of these beers, you’re welcome) Although Boston does host many craft and a couple bigger named beers, Raleigh NC was a pleasant place for a beer connoisseur to get away.


When me and the misses landed, got the rental and checked into our hotel, we met up with a gentleman named Chuck. He is a network contact of the misses, and showed us a couple of good places. First stop was an Irish Pub named Hiberian Pub on Glenwood Ave. Chuck was once part owner of the pub but recently retired. His partner Nial, an actual Irishman who lived in Boston for a few years, runs the establishment.

Grabbing a plate of Irish fare seemed like a must. I got a plate of Bangers and Mash that was not only delicious but was enough for two people. The beer to wash my plate down? Duck Rabbit Stout! I have found that I am partial to milk stouts and this beer, although bottled, was smooth and satisfying, with a touch of sweetness.

Next up, Chuck was gracious to show us what could be described as a near Mecca of Beer in Raleigh. The Beer Garden in Raleigh serves over 300 beers, including over 200 local draughts. Yes. 300 plus beers. I don' usually say this but I can’t even….

The establishment had a layout of 3 floors to grab a seat at the bar or a table with friends. The 1st floor had the local brews with a glass door to sneak a peak of the kegs and hoses for the taps. Floor 2 had a selection of macro brews while the 3rd floor only had a handful of national beers and more limited seating. We decided to hang out on the first floor and sample the local. I thought out loud that with such a selection, a flight of beers would be a smart way to try different beers. I was not disappointed and had a fine mix of porters and a local stout, which was not bad.

Chuck had to take off. The misses and I headed back to the hotel but found a neat little find. We came across The State of Beer, a craft beer store with a few beers on tap. I confess the place had a hipster vibe, but I figure check it out before deciding if it was cool. To add atmosphere, they were playing some alternative, on vinyl of course. We browsed and decided to have a round. I got Kalamazoo stout by Bell's Brewery, a licorice flavored stout. It was actually quite good. I know some of you who maybe reading this might be turned off by bad experiences of Jägermeister in days gone by but I assure you it was worth a try.

But one thing did blow my mind. While we drank and listened to some Modest Mouse, we witness another patron grab a beer, purchase it and consume it in one sitting. Now, mind you the concept of having a beer store with beers to purchase on tap is cool as is. But the idea of “Hey I want a bottle of this or that” and just buying it and drinking there and then was awesome. Mind you, I haven’t seen anything like this in Massachusetts so the idea was something to get used to.

We didn’t stay for much longer in Raleigh since we were heading to South Carolina to visit friends. On our way, we visited the town of Apex, North Carolina. One place to note was another craft beer shop of The Beer Dispensary! Similar to The State of Beer, it had a selection of great craft beers and a place you could grab a draft or bottle to drink right there. The selection had not only a good selection of local brews but even had a few familiars including Arrogant Bastard Ale and others.

For lunch, we grabbed lunch at the Salem Street Pub, where we shared a flight and a bite.
The food was good and a good selection of beers to choose from. The service was uneven since the waitress seemed very distracted while one of the managers was helping out with drinks and questions. One drink that was a pleasant surprise was The Sweet Baby Jesus chocolate and peanut butter porter. Yes, that is a real beer! I am a sucker for a crazy sounding beer but the taste was in fact a blend of chocolate and peanut butter and tasty.

The trip was by far not long enough but I am looking forward to visiting once more!