Posts with tag beer

Most of us are always getting suckered into trying new, innovative beauty products. Well the time has come to put down your drugstore cards and get down to the bare bones of it all. Try these simple recipes for hair that is naturally gorgeous.

The guys that write up the shoes over at the SeaVees website are a pretty confident bunch. Their lack of modesty, a trait normally considered off-putting, is so clearly justified that rather than be offended we want to buy them a beer.

Here's a sample of them loving their own brand: "Think Steve McQueen cool, Richard Nuetra [sic] clean and Brian Wilson creative. Now think of these things with 40 years of perspective, appreciation, and contemplation.

SeaVees. The casual style of California in the 1960's, only cooler."

Big shoes to fill? You bet, and they do it in style.

How many times have you found yourself waking up with a pounding headache and a mouth that tastes like cat butt? About 4 or 5 times a week, right? I hear ya. I don't know how many times I have spent a hungover morning trying to retrace my steps to see a) how I spent my entire paycheck, and b) exactly how much I drank. Generally speaking this is where I make empty promises to myself like "I'm never going to drink again. At least no more than 4 beers on any given night."

The problem with such plans, best laid as they are, is that somewhere along the line I tend to forget whether the beer in my hand is number two or number eight three. Math becomes involved and after carrying the one, having a slice of pie and dangling a participle- oh wait, that's my grammar issue, I'm suddenly more beers into the night then I ever intended. It's a trust issue.

That's why I'm just all sorts of tickled about the Beer Tracker. It is yet another in a long line of novelty bottle openers, but unlike the others that I have it doesn't play "Bear Down" or throw out quotes from Homer (the Simpson, not the poet). No, the Beer Tracker counts. It counts every beer that you open on a digital screen right on the handle. Now the only confusion that you could possibly encounter is if you happen to open beers for someone else, in which case it's right back to the drawing board. Of course, you could always carry an extra in case this happens. I suggest the Homer.

I'm so ready for summer. Winter is all fun and games until the holidays are over, and then it's just cold and crappy for no reason (other than scientific). I'm ready to spend my days wearing shorts and flip-flops with my toes in the sand and a drink in my hand. I want to be warm.

Enter the music of Jack Johnson. I bought his new CD, Sleep Through the Static, and I have officially put winter behind me (my back is to the door).

I could go on and on about the "greeness" of Jack. The album is sold in sleeves made from recycled materials and was recorded using 100% solar energy. Take that Amp. However, as awesome as that it, I'm not writing to share the effects on my conscience, but rather the thawing of my soul. You can use that if you want.

Jack Johnson is the soundtrack to summertime. It's hard to listen to his music without skipping right to bikini season. I want to fill an ice chest with beer and invite some friends over to sit in the yard and laugh about our kids and our lives. It's a good feeling.

What does this have to do with style you ask? Everything, my friends, everything.

It's long been held that certain glasses enhance the experience of drinking wine, whiskey, cognac, etc. I'm a beer-drinker, so I've never paid much attention to the shape of my glass -- until now.

Samuel Adams claims to have redesigned the beer glass -- not to make it better looking or easier to hold, but in a way that makes the beer taste better. Changes include a beaded rim and outward turning lip (presumably to help emancipate the beer's full flavor), and the walls are thinner to keep your brewski colder while you hold it.

After taking their inspiration from French wine experts, the company turned over 30 of the best designs to a team of scientists, who tested each glass for features like rim angle, top diameter, etc. Finally, after much deliberation, the final prototype was ready, and sent to a German glassmaker for mass production.

I know the company wasn't focusing on looks, but I think the new design is actually more aesthetically appealing than it's more straightforward predecessor. But the real question is: does it make the beer taste better? You may have to do a little field research to find that answer for yourself.

Teenagers will go to great extremes to get their hands on some booze. They'll steal it; they'll bribe older siblings to buy it; they'll get a fake ID. Trust me, as a former "fast kid" teenager, if it can be thought up, someone high school kid will try it.

Case in point: a group of Dutch students recently came up with a truly original way of getting booze into the hands of under-aged kids. Booz2Go -- their creation -- is a powdered form of alcohol that when added to water creates a lemony drink with 3% alcohol content.

What's brilliant about Booze2Go (other than the corny name) is that the powdered packets are perfectly legal to sell to minors. How so? Well, because the hooch is powdered, not liquid, Dutch law technically allows the selling and the consumption by people under the age of 16.

It's unclear whether or not Dutch lawmakers will crack down on the dehydrated imbibe, but I think it's safe to say that two can play at the legal language semantic game.

Not that I feel any woman should feel compelled to artificially enhance her breasts -- you're perfect just the way you are, etc. But if you really want to, and you're looking for a method that doesn't involve surgery, head to Europe -- there, they do it with beer.

It's called Boza, and -- up until recently -- it was only available in Bulgaria (unless you were willing to pay a hefty tax). However, thanks to a recent change in customs law, men from surrounding countries are now able to purchase the beer at normal prices. Subsequently, European men have been flocking to Bulgaria, buying Boza, and taking it home to their wives and girlfriends for a little experiment in alcoholic augmentation.

So put your plastic surgeon on hold, throw those "herbal enhancers" in the garbage, and head to Europe!

Summer is coming. And with the warmer weather comes the opportunity to ditch you shoes for the ultimate in laid-back, lazy-day footwear: the flip-flop sandal.

But why be content with a normal sandal, when you can have one that distributes booze? Seriously. How else are you going to sneak your favorite whiskey onto that alcohol-free beach than by cleverly concealing it inside the polyurethane encapsulated flask in the heel of your new pair of Reefs? (Not that I would do that -- just sayin'.)

Even if you frequent a beach where drinking is condoned, isn't it worth drinking like this just to impress your friends?

Plus, while I've never owned a pair of Reef sandals, word on the street is they're pretty comfortable. Although, as Uncrate notes: "after drinking all the Beam you've hidden in the heels, we doubt that will even be an issue."

[via BoingBoing]

We're deep into the cool days of autumn, and soon the frigid nights of winter will arrive. With the changing of the seasons, the brewmasters of the world bring us a little something special: seasonal beers. Last night, it was cold and rainy here in Georgia, and I decided it was time to tap into the world of a winter brew.

My choice? Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. I had a couple reasons for my pick: (1) I'm of a fan of the year-round Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, (2) The label was so enticing -- I just couldn't resist. The picture of the snow-covered cottage and Christmas-colored text made it feel like December (and it just looks cool).

I'm usually one to pick more of a rare brew, rather than mainstream, but the Celebration Ale is just plain good. It's got a very strong taste ("robust" in beer terminology) and will leave that warm, satisfied feeling in your stomach and in your face. The Sierra Nevada website lists several awards for this ale, along with a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle: "...best beer ever made in America."

It's always more interesting to try beers like this, instead of sticking to the standard brews!

True, summer is not porter season ... at least not according to conventional wisdom.

But who's to say what you should and shouldn't drink, especially when it comes to beer? And, more to the point, why should you listen to them?

When I was in the Northwest earlier this year, Black Butte Porter was the beer of choice for all the cool 21-and-over kids. And it's become my beer of choice for the summer.

Brewed in the snowboarder's paradise of Bend, Oregon by the Deschutes Brewery (in the shadow of the actual Black Butte), Black Butte Porter is crisp, chocolatey and rich.

And even if it's not dark at 5 p.m., and even if you're not cold and miserable, it remains a tasty, stylish beverage.