Harrison Blackwood » Life

Arrogant Bastard Ale

Harrison — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:13:49 +0000

I have a new favorite beer, or at least in the top 5.
If I had to choose a favorite beer in the past it would be either Beck’s or Guinness. Recently, I wanted to try some Red Hook ESB but I want to buy a single bottle. Safeway only carried six packs. So I finally went to Bevmo. After extensive looking around I found that they only carried Red Hook in six packs as well. At $13-$15 a six pack I did not want to try a new beer and possibly be stuck with 5 extra bottles. Although, I have had Red Hook in the past it was many years ago and I don’t remember the taste.

I did not want to leave empty handed. I really wanted to try something new. I came across the Stone Brewing Company display and read the review cards. Arrogant Bastard Ale looked promising. Excellent choice! Arrogant Bastard tastes as described. It has a refreshing crisp flavor with a nice bite.
To my surprise Safeway also carries Arrogant Bastard, at least for now.

Two other beers I picked up that I enjoy from time to time were Old Rasputin Stout and Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. Samuel Smith Imperial Stout is in my top 5 of favorites.

Night of the Living Book Club meetings

Harrison — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:56:59 +0000

The Night of the Living Book Club will no longer meet at Books Inc in Mountain View after the September selection. I no longer work for Books Inc. and communication about dates and times as become difficult. I will discuss with the few participants if there is any interest to continue the club elsewhere. I may continue it on my own at a local coffee shop. If that happens I will make the club bi-monthly. Once a month is just too far apart per book discussion. I am reading 4-5 horror books a month plus at least 2 more of non-fiction topics. Most horror books are not difficult and average 400 pages.

July selection: Urban Gothic by Brian Keene

August selection: Ghost Story by Peter Straub

September selection: Sparrow Rock by Nate Kenyon

iPhone 4 upgrade experience

Harrison — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:42:17 +0000

Since I was awake at 1:30 AM June 15th, I decided to checkout the Apple Store website. At first I was not thinking about pre-ordering an iPhone 4, I was actually checking if there were any iPod classics available on the refurbished site. Well, the Apple Store was down for maintenance.

After that I thought I would check with AT&T wireless website about upgrading information for the iPhone 4. The iPhone specific page loads with a big iPhone 4 ad with an pre-order select button. Pressing the button takes to a log-on screen for your account for upgrading. I entered required information. The response tells me that I am eligible NOW to upgrade my iPhone 3G (No S). Until recently I was due to be eligible on 21 June. Next page fails. There was a warning that AT&T is unable to process my inquiry. So that was that off to bed.

Next try, 7:30 AM. Same thing with both Apple and AT&T. Off to work.

3rd try, 7:00 PM. AT&T same response still. Lucky for me the Apple Store is up and running. I selected iPhone 4 32G pre-order and checked the appropriate upgrade path. Next Apple checked my AT&T eligibility. Information came back showing my current AT&T phone, messaging and data plans with an option to keep current ones or change. I kept old plan for now.
Next step was a choice on iPhone 4 delivery method. Either ship to or in-store pick-up. The in-store pick-up option stated that there were no reservations available but I could go to my local store and get an iPhone 4 on a first come basis on June 24th. I had not chosen an actual local store at this point. That option was too iffy, especially since I would be at work until 6 PM. Who knows what in-store availability will be like the first weekend, probably not good.
I chose the ship to method. The page stated that the iPhone 4 will ship by July 2nd. Yes July 2nd. My confirmation reaffirms this and adds delivers by July 6th – 8th by standard shipping.

Hopefully these dates won’t be extended. This will give two weeks to read and here all the comments from those who got the iPhone 4 on the first day.

Night of the Living Book Club update

Harrison — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 03:30:43 +0000

I no longer work for Books Inc. in Mountain View, so the continuation of the Night of the Living Book Club at that physical location will probably end in June. Since the May and June books have already been selected and posted I will still facilitate the book club on the first Monday of the next two months at the Books Inc. in Mountain View at 7:30 p.m. During the next two meetings I will be open to discuss the direction or continuation of the Night of the Living Book Club in some format.

Giving MarsEdit a try

Harrison — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:35:16 +0000

First post of 2010 – FINALLY!
Maybe if I try a weblog editor like MarsEdit, I may actually post more often. This still doesn’t have the flexibility of some of the plugins provide. Like embedded video. And I have not tried to upload and insert a picture. I currently do not use Flickr. For most of my text based post, this will definitely work as is.

Additionally, I am trying out layout changes once again. There are sidebar issues with the currently nightly of K2 that I’m using – r1044. I not sure about dueling sidebars or 2 on the right. A single sidebar just doesn’t work for all the stuff I want to display. Time will tell.

Wicked – the musical

Harrison — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:14:30 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I saw Wicked the musical at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco

I am not a big musical fan. In fact I can not remember the last time I saw one of the handful I have seen in my life. Possibly 20 years ago.
Wicked was fascinating, an excellent performance! with an engaging story.
The costumes, make-up, and set design were well done, not overly extreme but enough to grab and keep your attention through out the performance. There was not too much singing and only a few entire cast numbers. Wicked had a suitable blend of acting and singing to keep my full attention and enjoyment.

I went with my mother, who was able to get very good seats, row F.

If anyone is looking for an entertaining marvelous performance see Wicked, it has it all. The story, acting, singing, costumes, make-up, and set design are all first rate.