Beer Reviews: Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask

Beer: Irish Whiskey Cask
Brewer: Innis & Gunn
Source: 22 oz. draft
Rating: **** (8.1 of 10)
Comments:  A knock your socks off beer that is pitch black with a creamy head.  The nose is an overly sweet caramel, while the flavor has hinds of whiskey and oak.  The lacing is erratic and the head dissipates completely.  This is an elegant stout with an alcoholic punch.

Performance Review: Sesame Street Live – “Elmo Makes Music”

My daughter Kay & I took in the performance of Sesame Street Live – “Elmo Makes Music” at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre on April 12 at 5:30.  I am a long time devotee of Sesame Street.  Kay is very fond of Elmo.  It was a match made in heaven.

The basic story is that a new music teacher named Jenny moves to Sesame Street.  Since the truck with her instruments has not yet arrived, the Sesame Street Muppets seek to surprise her by making their own instruments.  A good as premise as any for a series of musical set pieces.  Despite the title, the show is not all Elmo, but an ensemble piece where each of the Muppets gets to perform in pairs and groups.

While there’s some original music for the show, they also do a good job of incorporating songs from the tv show’s 40+ year repertoire (even dusting off some of those late 1970s Sesame Street disco numbers).  Classic songs include “People In Your Neighborhood,” “C is for Cookie,” and “Sing.”  They also include some popular songs like “Rockin’ Robin,” “The Alphabet Song,” and “The Hustle.”  My favorite part was the denouement where the Muppets show off all their homemade instruments in a variation of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music.”  (“Telly is going to add some triangle/All the squares go home!”)

I can’t find the name of the woman who played Jenny, but she brought a lot of enthusiasm and strong singing voice to the show.  She also looked tiny next to these giant Muppets, a reversal of the tv show where Muppets are generally smaller than humans.  Kudos as well to those dancers in fuzzy Muppet costumes for some impressive choreography.  The “All Feets Can Dance” number was particularly memorable.

Speaking of dancing, Kay danced for pretty much the entire show.  So I’d say that the two-year-old demographic enjoyed the show as well.  The only thing that rubbed me wrong was during the intermission when a vendor brought a massive number of balloons to sell in the orchestra.  Not only did they have this clear display of conspicuous consumption, but they didn’t even bring balloons to sell to those of us in the cheap seats in the balcony.  So I had to listen to “I want a balloon” for a long time.

Song of the Week: “The Liar” by Fennesz

Fennesz is electronic artist Christian Fennesz of Vienna, Austria.  “The Liar” is a track that is a pure aural attack that affects some other senses as well.  I learned about it through NPR’s All Songs Considered.

 

What’s buzzing in your ears this week?  Let me know in the comments.

Beer Reviews: Idle Hands Pandora

Beer: Pandora
Brewer: Idle Hands Craft Ales
Source: 22 oz bottle
Rating: *** (7.7 of 10)
Comments: A classy beer which looks hazy with a bubbly thick head.  The nose is fruity and yeasty, while the flavor is malty with a hoppy kick that tickles your tongue.  The thick head persists but leaves no lacing.

 

Book Review: American heretics : Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and the history of religious intolerance by Peter Gottschalk

Author: Peter Gottschalk
Title: American heretics : Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and the history of religious intolerance by
Publication Info: New York: Palgrave McMillan (2013)
ISBN: 9781137278296
Summary/Review:

I received a free early reviewers copy of this book via the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

As Americans, we proudly proclaim our religious tolerance and maintain that our country was built on religious freedom.  While many forms of religious expression have flourished in the United States, Gottschalk reminds of the many instances of religious intolerance in our country from earliest settlement to the present day.  The book is divided into seven chapters focusing on:

1. Puritan persecution of Quakers in colonial Massachusetts
2. The struggles of Irish Catholic immigrants in Protestant-dominated cities in the 19th century
3. The Ghost Dance and the extermination of the Sioux
4. 20th prejudice against Jews by the Ku Klux Klan, Henry Ford, and immigration restrictions
5. The Latter Day Saints struggle against violent opposition in the 19th century and how the political careers of George and Mitt Romney show a growing acceptance.
6. The Branch Davidians and the vilifying of outsider groups as cults
7. Islamophobia in the wake of the September 11th attacks

The book is short for all the topics it covers and Gottschalk really only touches upon these various topics.  The author can get oddly deep into some parts of the topics while being very broad at other times.  I also found it troubling how much he defends the Branch Davidians as a persecuted minority rather than recognizing that child rape and their vast military arsenal were a threat to the community at large.

It’s an interesting overview, and if you have a familiarity with American history there shouldn’t be too many surprises.  But if you think that religious groups have always been welcomed in the United States, you’ll want to read this book.
Recommended books: Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America by Steven Waldman and The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong
Rating: **1/2

Songs of the Week: Third by The Baseball Project

Baseball returned this week and appropriately the band The Baseball Project released their third album, named Third.  The Baseball Project seems an unlikely collaboration of 80s rockers including two members of R.E.M – Peter Buck and Mike Mills.  Good songs about baseball are few and far between with the typical lyrics being cheezy tributes to some moral ideal of the game or a hagiography of great players (see Terry Cashman).  The Baseball Project is better than that as the music varies from punk rock to country twang and even talking blues on “The Baseball Card Song.”  Lyrically, they celebrate the good and bad of baseball, most vividly in “They Played Baseball” which lists a gallery of baseball’s worst rogues, who someone ended up loving anyway, because, well it’s in the title.  Similarly, the troubled life of Lenny Dystrka – one of my favorite Mets when I was a kid – is summed up in “From Nails to Thumbtacks.”  Players like Dock Ellis, Alex Rodriguez, Dale Murphy, and the entire Oakland A’s also get their own songs.  Then there’s “Extra Inning of Love” which makes baseball metaphors far more sexy than Meat Loaf could ever hope to.

It’s a fun album, worth checking out if you like baseball, good music, and good stories.

“They Played Baseball”

“From Nails to Thumbtacks”

“The Baseball Card Song”

“Extra Inning of Love”

 

Check out Desert Island Mix Tape for another review of this album.

 

Beer Review: Pretty Things Lovely St. Winefride

Beer: Lovely St. Winefride
Brewer: Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
Source: 22 oz. bottle
Rating: **** (8.0 of 10)
Comments: Lovely St. Winifrede is dark & foamy.  The aroma is sweet with a whiff of alcohol.  The taste is spicy, then hoppy, with a clean finish.  The head dissipated quickly with no lacing.   This is a good “meat & potatoes” beer