Archives for the ‘Blog Entries.Local’ Category

Italy: Pocket Espresso

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 16th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
One of the fun memories from our trip to Italy fourteen years ago was that of the Pocket Espresso. At just about every restaurant rest stop along the autostrada we found these wonderful "pick-me-ups." Shaped like a little ketchup pack from a fast food place, the packet contains a shot of espresso. Poke in the tiny attached straw and suck in a shot of tasty and refreshing espresso. We anxiously looked forward to enjoying them again during our recent trip.

We were a couple days in to the trip when we saw some by the checkout during a stop. The current versions, now called Pocket Coffee, are rich in chocolate flavoring. I don't recall the chocolate addition previously. They are different but still good. 


We mentioned to our guide the apparent rarity of the treats. She told us they are now a "seasonal" item, with summer and winter editions. The summer version was currently being dropped from stock in preparation for the arrival of the winter one. While the summer version is espresso with chocolate added, the winter edition is a chocolate candy with espresso inside. The winter edition is even sold on Amazon now.

We enjoyed the Pocket Espresso frequently, especially on long bus rides. The few were brought home and were welcome during those initial recovery days after the trip.

As good as the instant treats are, it's hard to beat an actual, freshly made Italian espresso. Especially when paired with a delicious pastry.



Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Does this make me a Swiftie

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Oct 15th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

We were supposed to be camping this weekend. However, the forecast for Saturday was a rainout, so I canceled. I don't mind losing 1 day out of a 3 day weekend to rain, but on a short weekend, Saturday is the camping weekend, and spending it in the camper is not ideal. The forecast held as it poured most of the day on Saturday.

Instead, we went to the Taylor Swift concert movie last night. It sold about $100 million in opening weekend tickets, but maybe it was over saturated in Richmond. It was at every theater I think, and on multiple screens at each theater. There were only about 20 people at our 7 PM Saturday evening show. A big crowd singing along and dancing would have been a lot of fun. It was still an amazing concert movie though. I can see why people are flying across the country or globe to attend. Had I been there, it very well might rate as my best concert ever. The stage setup, lights, costumes, dancers, etc. were all just amazing. And of course, her song catalog insures every tune is amazing.

Also, Friday, as always, was new music release day. And this Friday delivered the first album in over 20 years from The Marvelous 3. It was worth the wait. It's such a perfect time capsule for late 90s power pop rock. It sounds exactly what I would have expected their next album to sound like back in the day. I've got 6 or 7 full listens in the bank already.

Speaking of Butch Walker, I actually won the Ticketmaster lottery and scored two tickets to the reunion show in Atlanta in two weeks. However, after thinking about it, I decided a 1000 mile RT drive for a concert was not something I really wanted to do, so I sold the tickets for exactly what they cost me, because I'm not a monster. I'm hoping a fan got them and not a scalper. M3 is live streaming the show, so we are going to make it an in-house concert date night and enjoy it from afar, without having to stand on a sticky floor for 3 hours after driving 8 hours to get there.

Note: Standing on a sticky floor for a concert is fine, awesome even. It's the 16 hour RT drive I can't deal with.

Continuing on the music theme, Abby Bryant and the Echos are playing a winery in Richmond next weekend. We have a table reserved for the show. This will be the third year in a row that we've caught an Abby Bryant show.

And The Legwarmers are doing their 80s tribute thing again on December 1. We may go to that too.


Five O’Clock Friday: Weekends Are For Recovery

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 13th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
It's finally Friday. 


Time to mend the ills of the work week.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Still Reliving Italy – Aperitivo, Drinks, and Cigars

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 13th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
It's been about a month since we returned from Italy. As often happens after we travel, we try to relive the moments for a while afterwards. Espresso, antipasti, negronis, aperol spritz, they've all been repeated the last couple of weeks. 


On what will probably be one of the last Sunday afternoon outdoor cocktail sessions recently, Colleen prepared the antipasto platter while I put together a couple Aperol Spritz drinks. The temperature on the deck was cool, and after a bit we did move over to the screened porch and set out the heaters on low.

Of course, I lit a cigar. This time the Southern Draw Jacobs Ladder Brimstone in a Lonsdale vitola.


Southern Draw Jacob's Ladder Brimstone is a full bodied blend with a USA Broadleaf wrapper and binder. The strength is kicked up by a triple ligero filler blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobaccos. This Lonsdale vitola is a 6 x 44 stick. Lonsdales are close to Lanceros, but slightly shorter and thicker.

The smoke is a robust blend of dark chocolate, roasted coffee, dark fruit, along with a pepper spiciness. The burn was perfect throughout with copious smoke output. I've only had my cigars in the humidor a few weeks yet it was certainly ready to smoke.

The bitterness of the Aperol Spritz at first seems like it may not work with cigars, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the pairings I've tried. I found this one to be especially enjoyable. I look forward to smoking more of the Southern Draw Jacob's Ladder Brimstone soon. 

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Season’s First Fire, With Wine and a Cigar

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 11th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
The advent of cool weather is not something I look forward to. However it does provide the opportunity to sit around a nice fire in the backyard pit. The first fire of the season kicked off just before dusk this past weekend.

Mixing things up a bit, we took out a bottle of wine to enjoy around the fire. I grabbed a My Father El Centurion H-2K-CT to go along with that beverage. The box-pressed cigar has Cuban-seed Connecticut  tobacco as the wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler leaves. The creamy smoke has notes of vanilla, nuts, caramel, roasted coffee, dark fruit note, with a very mild cedar spice.


The Australian Malbec was a good match for the El Centurion. A bit of tannin, combined with dark fruit notes paired well with the flavors of the cigar. 

The warm fire, the cigar, the wine, and the company all made for an extremely enjoyable evening. And some homemade chocolate cookies made an appearance as well. A fitting start to the fall.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Italy: Negronis and Cigars

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 10th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Bourbon was not a beverage we saw much during our stay in Italy, though in truth I was not expecting it either. Obviously we drank a lot of wine with our meals. When I went looking for a cocktail to enjoy with an evening cigar, the Negroni was a commonly available option. At our hotel in Assisi, the Negroni was the 7 Euro "special" available each evening, so an obvious choice. During the afternoons, the clerk on duty had mixology knowledge limited to Aperol Spritz, hence that beverage during a previous smoking break.

The Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail, that is very simple to make. It consists of equal parts gin, vermouth rosso, and Campari, stirred over ice and garnished with an orange slice typically.  As a side note, cocktails are about the only time one sees ice in drinks in Italy.


Despite being considered an apéritif, we usually enjoyed the negronis after dinner. (Especially at the hotel in Assisi where there was no one with the knowledge to prepare the drink until after 7:00PM.) One evening pairing was with a Rocky Patel The Edge 20th Anniversary Robusto. The cigar features a 10 year aged Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, a Honduran Broadleaf binder, with filler tobaccos from Honduras and Panama. The 5 1/2 x 50 Robusto is is a medium bodied smoke with rich notes of espresso, dark chocolate, and nuts.


Later in the trip, another evening and another Negroni, this time with the Plasencia Reserva Original Toro. The richly flavored 6 x 50 Toro has notes of espresso, cedar, pepper, and dark cherry, with some sweet bread in the background.


Did I mention I enjoyed a lot of Negronis in Ireland? Here's another pairing, this time properly consumed before dinner. This one was served in a water glass, with both an orange slice and a lemon peel. It was paired with the last of my cigars brought from home, a Crowned Heads Le Carême in the Canonazo (5 7/8 x 52) vitola. The Le Carême is one of my favorite smokes. This 5 7/8 x 52 box pressed stick has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Sumatra binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. Though is has a creamy, sweet chocolate and nutty flavor profile it made another enjoyable pairing. (From this point on, smoking would be be limited to Italian Toscanos.

The Negroni is a more bitter cocktail than the sweeter profile of my usual straight bourbon, or Old Fashioned cocktail choices. However, all the cigar pairings were enjoyable. It was Italy after all.

And then...
When a friend who was also on the Italy trip came by for dinner recently, we decided to recreate the memory with more Negroni and cigars!


Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

The State of Social Media 2023

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Oct 9th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

From jwz.org, which is a blog I've been keeping up with since 1996ish.

  • Twitter: owned by Musk, a fascist
  • Blue Sky: funded by Dorsey, a fascist
  • Facebook: owned by Zuckerberg, a fascist
  • Instagram: owned by Zuckerberg, a fascist
  • Threads: owned by Zuckerberg, a fascist
  • Post News: funded by Andreessen, a fascist
  • TikTok: owned by the Chinese Government I guess?
  • Mastodon: owned by nobody and/or everybody! Seize the memes of production!

He's not wrong. Twitter is basically a Russian Intelligence asset at this point. I quit in January. My account still exists because Musk fixed it so I have to subscribe to Twitter Blue for a month to get access to delete my account.

Fuck that.

Blue Sky and Threads I'm staying away from because no matter how pleasant they are today, they eventually need to show massive profits, which means enshittification is a given, it's just a question of when.

Facebook is Facebook. It's getting quieter and quieter on Facebook, but it is fun for keeping up with a few dozen friends that post regularly. It's basically a GenX chat room now. I need to accept that FB will never show my blog posts to anybody and just stop posting them there. My blog has been at the same address since 1998. If people can't be bothered to visit or subscribe I need to stop worrying about them as readers.

Instagram appears to be close to dead. Half my feed is ads or professional content creators. Posts from people I know and care about are few and far between. My once a month selfie when out with Michelle gets about a dozen likes from the same 12 people every time, which I guess are the only friends I have still using the site. I'm very close to killing it off.

I actually thought Post News had already gone under. Andreessen took the Mosaic web browser code from U of Illinois and created Netscape. He has done nothing of note since 1996. But all it takes is being in the right place at the right time, with venture capital, once.

Tik Tok may or may not be owned by the Chinese Government, but I'm pretty sure everything you put there is available to the Chinese Government.

Mastodon is thriving. It's like Twitter circa 2007. I enjoy the community I've fell into there, a mix of RVers, RVA folks, and assorted nerds that all feel like I do about corporate social media.

Of course, this site is still here, too. I put a log analyzer on it for a couple of months over the summer and was surprised to see a consistent 125-150 unique visitors a day. I have no idea who they are or how they get here, but welcome!

I saw several articles recently that state that the kids have all ditched social media for group chats and group texts. That is probably for the best. I had a Listserv with about a dozen friends on it that ran about 1998 to 2008. I was way ahead of the game. I probably should have just stayed there.

It feels like social media is ready for the next big thing. But that next big thing may be a big step back.

I'm launching Geocities2023. Who wants in?


Tailgate Cigars

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 9th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
It was a beautiful fall Saturday, perfect for tailgating before a college football game. While the games are generally exciting, I look forward to the tailgate beforehand, mostly because it means time spent enjoying a cigar. While at home, I generally prefer bourbon as the accompanying beverage, but beer is always suitable for the pre-football festivities. For this occasion I had the Fightin' Hokies Lager from Hardywood Park Craft Brewing in the cooler. For my smoke I selected the Tobacco Tactical Dead Conqueror Alexander the Great Corojo. This was a selection in the June My Cigar Pack shipment, and a cigar I was unfamiliar with. The 6 x 54 Toro features a very dark chocolate Corojo wrapper with Dominican binder and fillers. I reviewed the Maduro version previously.


Like many large ring gauge cigars, the draw was open and airy. It took a while to get the cigar really going  before I started getting a good smoke production going. After 15 or 20 minutes, I was still double and triple puffing to get a good amount of smoke on the draw. Despite the moderately increased smoke production, I was getting more disappointed with each passing minute. I found the cigar to be quite devoid of flavor. "Sucking on a wooden toothpick" was the descriptor that came to mind. Reviewing my comments regarding the Maduro version, I noted muted but present flavors with that version, and it was an enjoyable smoke. Dominican tobaccos are generally mild, though still flavorful but this one I found exceptionally uninteresting. I took a break and I decided to eat my sandwich and set the cigar down with about one half smoked.

After the main eating was done, though snacking was ongoing, I decided to abandon the Dead Conqueror and light up a cigar I knew to be very flavorful.


The Olmec is a newer release from Foundation Cigars that I've smoked previously. This is a 5 x 50 Robusto with a dark San Andrés maduro wrapper covering binder and aged fillers from Nicaragua. Now we were getting somewhere - espresso, charred meat, molasses, and dark chocolate notes are all detected. This one I enjoyed thoroughly and smoked it down until there was nothing left to hold on to. 

Despite the slow start, the afternoon of enjoying good food, drink, and smoke was a blast. The day only got better as our team went on to victory in the late night game.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Saturday Cigar and Cappuccino

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 8th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
It's been a while since I found time on a Saturday afternoon to sit and well, sit. That's not really a complaint as most of our Saturdays of late have been taken up by travel and other fun activities. But that doesn't mean I don't miss the "down times" as well. I've been giving our little espresso maker quite the workout since we returned from our Italy trip. (Still, nothing beats an espresso in its native land.) This time I got a little more decadent and prepared a cappuccino to enjoy.


The selected smoke for the afternoon repast was the Crowned Heads Four Kicks Capa Especial Lancero LE 2022. (That's a mouthful.) The 7 1/4 x 38 stick sports an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, with binder and fillers of Nicaraguan tobaccos. There's a tiny pigtail twist on the cap. It was part of a lancero collection recently purchased from Luxury Cigar Club.

The flavors start out with a pleasant sweet note with a smattering of black pepper. As the smoke progresses, the spiciness builds and bitter chocolate and cedar enters the picture. Throughout much of the smoke, the flavor profile was in the medium range, held in check by the creamy cappuccino. Towards the end of the stick, a strong bitterness entered the picture, as well as copious amounts of oily tar around the cap. Perhaps I had been smoking it too hard, but I put it down with about two inches left. Up until that point the Four Kicks Lancero was a very enjoyable smoke.


Fall weather has come upon us, and although the thermometer claimed a temperature around 70°, the cloud cover and breeze made it a little chilly. I broke out the propane heater and set it on low the take the edge off. Sadly, I suspect cooler smoking time is soon to be the norm.

Some good jazz playing from the speaker added to the pleasant afternoon break. It was as they say, a good time.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Five O’Clock Friday: Reasons to Drink

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Oct 6th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
As seen on a building in Rome


The Italians get it.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

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