Obscurorant 2.0

There was a time when I was a connoisseur of cheap beer.  Koch’s Golden Anniversary, Carling Black Label,  Schaefer, Red White & Blue: I knew them all.  So I read with interest this taste test of cheap, domestic cans of beer conducted by the Going Out Gurus.  Here are the ratings, with my comments.

1. National Bohemian
I lived in Baltimore for six years, so I know me some Natty Boh. I never much cared for it in a can, but I spent many a pleasant evening drinking Natty Boh bottles on the stoop with my roommate.  Sadly, I don’t think the beer is brewed in Maryland anymore.

2.  Miller High Life
My own personal favorite cheap beer, though again, I prefer it in a bottle.  The Champagne of Beers seems to have become more popular in the last 3 or so years; I no longer get comments like ‘My grandfather used to drink that’ when I order one. But it’s not popular enough that every bar stocks it, but both the Local and the Alterna-Local.

3. Pabst Blue Ribbon
Horrible bilge water now associated with hipsters.

4. Bud Light
Mostly harmless. And tasteless.

5. Schaefer
I drank loads and loads of this horrible shite in college, a fact reflected in my GPA. The best that can be said is that the beer was cold and cheap.

6. Schlitz
This is the worst beer I have ever tasted. Given the vast array of cheap beer I’ve had, this should tell you something, as well as serving as a warning.  The last time  I had a Schlitz was when the Bunny inflicted one on me some night at Foley’s a few years back.  He actually likes Schlitz, which I suppose could also serve as a warning.

There was a time when I knew any number of Bill Cosby routines. A friend’s parents had the LPs, and we listened to them constantly. Later, of course, we graduated to George Carlin, by way of Class Clown.

Anyhow, I hadn’t thought of those Cosby LPs in years. Until this past month of June, which put us on course to the proverbial forty days and forty nights.

Apparently some folks have problems uploading images after upgrading to Wordpress 2.8, some folks including me. I suppose the problem could be my theme, but I’m not proficient enough to be sure. And I’m getting tired of googling for a solution, having tried several already. Ah well, I can always post pictures the old-fashioned way – with HTML tags.

I know you all don’t really care about this. I’m just grousing out loud.

Here’s a new look for you;  I haven’t decided if it’s permanent or just a stopgap. Opinions?

I’m still toiling away on the old theme. I sorted out the mess with the page links and got the header and sidebar looking pretty.  But when I upgraded Wordpress  I had to upgrade the old theme (Connections Reloaded) and the stylesheet on the newer version is a little more complicated than the old one, making it a bit more difficult to set my lovely Molly banner to display properly.

It hasn’t been all php and such – I made this today. It was just the thing for a cold and rainy (Summer) day in New England.

Well, I’ve upgraded. Still a few glitches though, as you can see.  The main problem is I’ve forgotten all the little tweaks I made to the template, in order to get things looking the way I wanted (and naturally in all the fuss I forgot to save a copy). So I need to remember how to:
-put my lovely image of Molly sleeping back up on my header
-figure out how I managed to get the links for certain pages to display only in the header and others only on the sidebar
-re-install some plugins

So kindly excuse the mess while this is all going on.

UPDATE: I don’t think I like this new tags feature. It’s rather ugly.

We are going to attempt a long overdue update of wordpress; hopefully this site will not vanish into the ether. Stay tuned.

The news is probably general by now, but in case you haven’t heard… we’re having a girl.

I’ve been meaning to point this out for some time: The Hunt For Gollum, a 40 minute independent film, inspired by Peter Jackson’s work.  You can see the trailer here. The whole thing is pretty entertaining – not a bad way to spend 40 minutes.

Mostly we are busy unpacking and gallivanting off to the Berkshires and sometimes just lazing about. But I did upload some new photos for your viewing pleasure.

Also – if you’re of a cinematic bent, I highly recommend the recently released Criterion Collection edition of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. First, see it for Bob Mitchum’s excellent and understated performance. Second, to pick out all the locations you recognize – the film was shot entirely on location in the greater Boston area, including one scene in the parking lot of the North Quincy T.

We have moved. Still unpacking though, so no time for a long post. Later. Maybe.

Somehow the sixth anniversary of Obscurorant (1.0 and 2.0) slipped by unnoticed. It’s weird to stop and consider that I’ve been running my mouth on the internet for that long. ‘Course I don’t post as much I used to here, but then I’m a little busier. For example, among the things that have been or will be happening around here recently…
-finished the semester, and the attendant end-of-semester project
-Dan test
-buying a new car (because some dozy bint rear-ended Herself and totaled the Honda)
-packing and moving to our newer, bigger, apartment.

So – lots going on here. I have managed to do some reading, add some more pictures to the Flickr account, and even cook enough to add four new recipe annotations. And just because I care, here’s a fantastic album of pulp illustrations.

After some gentle – oh, so gentle – prodding, Herself has at last posted her pictures from Paris. There is a subtle, yet recurring motif in her set, as well as a No Prize for the first person to tease it forth.

Some book-related content for you all:

The Art of Penguin Science Fiction.

Pictures of the most interesting bookstores and the most interesting libraries in the world.

Autumn is baby time. My cousin is having a baby this fall, and so is my consigliere. And so am I.

OK, technically speaking Herself will be doing the actual having. I’ll be lurking about the delivery room, offering encouraging words, and hopefully not fainting.

As for the details:
-Herself and the baby are doing swell.
-We’ll find out if it’s a boy or girl at the end of May.
-There are no names under serious consideration at the moment. Right know we refer to it as The Rocket*.
-We will be staying in Quincy, moving to a larger apartment just up the street in June.

*And no this is not a reference or a tribute to Roger Clemens. Roger Clemens is the evil and sinister personage I will threaten my child with a visit from if he or she does not eat the vegetables on the plate. Or be quiet. Whatever, you get the picture.