Archives for the ‘Blog Entries.Local’ Category

A Birthday in Lent: Quiet Moments and Simple Pleasures

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Mar 22nd, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
My birthday each year falls somewhere within the season of Lent. That means any celebrations are typically subdued, with the occasion often more notably marked after Easter. This year, the day landed on a Friday in Lent, and combined with my ongoing recovery from back surgery, the observance was especially low-key.

But that doesn't mean the day wasn't enjoyed. After a relaxing afternoon, we had a simple dinner of fish and chips. As is proper, a tall glass of Guinness Stout Nitro accompanied the meal. While it didn’t quite have the same magic as enjoying a pint in a pub in Ireland, it was still thoroughly satisfying.

During this post-surgery period, I've been limiting my indulgence in both alcoholic beverages and cigars. Part of that is simply because pain and disrupted sleep diminish the enjoyment of those finer things. However, marking another completed year—an accomplishment not without its challenges—certainly warranted a special treat. Or two.



I had, not surprisingly, been anticipating the pleasure of a cigar and bourbon for some weeks. I wanted something flavorful but not exceptionally strong, so had a while back had decided on an Oliva Serie V Melanio. The selected cigar, a perennial favorite, is a box-pressed 5 x 52 Robusto with a chocolatey Ecuadorian grown Sumatra-seed wrapper. It has a Nicaraguan binder and the filler leaves are a blend of Nicaraguan Habano tobaccos from the Jalapa region. 

The rich blend of aged tobaccos produced a smoke brimming with creamy notes of chocolate, coffee, and toasted bread. Subtle hints of black pepper and sweetness lingered in the background, and the finish left a pleasant nuttiness alongside the spice. It's a cigar that pairs wonderfully with sweet bourbon or even a black coffee.

For my drink, I spied a bottle of Old Grand-Dad 114 with just a small pour remaining. It seemed like the perfect choice for a relaxed evening. This high-rye bourbon, bottled at 114 proof, offers an aromatic nose of spicy rye and brown sugar with a noticeable yet not overpowering alcohol warmth. On the palate, it delivers a delightful blend of brown sugar and caramel, accented by bold rye spice and a touch of cinnamon. The long and satisfying finish leaves a lasting impression of warmth and spice. At under $35 a bottle, Old Grand-Dad 114 deserves to be a staple on my shelf, and I’ll be sure to replace this one soon.

I savored the cigar and bourbon while enjoying a peaceful hour on the screened porch. The springtime air had a slight chill, comfortably mitigated by the propane heater nearby. It's likely this will be the last time the heater sees use until the fall. While my enjoyment of cigars will remain limited and sporadic over the next few months, this celebratory interlude was deeply appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.

Cheers!



Irish Cheer at Home: Cocktails, Comfort Food, and Classic Cinema

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Mar 18th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
As I continue to recover from back surgery, the days have started blending together. But the Feast of St. Patrick provided a welcome break from the routine. Even the simple act of getting a ride to the barbershop in the morning felt like a treat! However, the highlight of the day was undoubtedly the food and drink enjoyed in celebration of the Feast Day.

To kick things off, I prepared a pre-dinner cocktail — a twist on a bourbon classic called the Revolver. This variation, the "Irish Revolver," features Irish Whiskey instead of bourbon. I used 2 ounces of Jameson Black Barrel, half an ounce of Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur, and a few dashes of orange bitters. The ingredients were combined in a rocks glass over a single cube of ice. To finish, I expressed and garnished with an orange peel. The result was a sweet, coffee-forward drink that was quite enjoyable.



Next came our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner of Irish Beef Stew, served alongside Irish Soda Bread. The brown stew, made with Guinness Stout, was hearty with tender potatoes and carrots. True to tradition, we enjoyed it with an extra scoop of mashed potatoes, a custom we picked up during our travels to the Emerald Isle. Colleen had actually baked the Soda Bread over the weekend, and we had already been savoring it with our morning coffee for a couple of days. Thankfully, the stew promises to be just as delightful in the form of leftovers over the next few meals.



And what’s a feast without dessert? Colleen prepared a decadent Chocolate Whiskey Cake to round out the evening. This dark chocolate indulgence, made with both coffee and whiskey, was a perfect ending to our meal. I was pleasantly surprised that the Irish Whiskey's flavor remained distinct and enjoyable. Despite its rich appearance, the cake was wonderfully light and moist.



We concluded the evening by watching The Quiet Man, starring Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne. In just a couple of days, we’ll be celebrating the Feast of St. Joseph, when our culinary traditions will shift toward Italian fare.

Coincidentally, my birthday soon follows these Feasts each year. While that personal celebration will certainly be enjoyable, it will remain subdued compared to the grandeur of the Saints' Feasts—it’s not quite deserving of a break from Lenten sacrifices.

Cheers!


Sláinte to St. Patrick (and No, It’s Not ‘St. Patty’)

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Mar 17th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh!

It's that time of the year when a Saint revered by many, especially in the Irish-Catholic community, is embraced by people of all backgrounds. As a Catholic of Irish decent, I can find little fault with people bettering themselves. :-)

This year, the feast day falls on a Monday — I suspect many restaurants and pubs that typically close on Mondays will stay open. As we typically do, we’ll avoid the local pubs on the 17th. I don’t drink green beer — and I’m fairly confident St. Patrick wouldn’t have either. But do as you wish. For my celebration, I’ll stick with a dark Stout or an Irish Red Ale. And surely a wee pour or three of Irish Whiskey will be enjoyed. In our house, there’s always homemade Irish Soda Bread and Irish Beef Stew served as well.

While you’re in the midst of your celebrations, I hope you’ll take a moment to think about the man behind the Feast Day. Whether you accept the traditions associated with St. Patrick’s life or not, there’s no denying the good he did. Some of the stories can’t be proven — but they can’t be disproven either.

Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery in Ireland, Patrick grew to love the Irish people. Later in life — around the age of 60 — Saint Patrick returned to Ireland to teach and convert the people had come to see as his own. Certainly that is worthy of our respect.

Our family has long had a devotion to St. Patrick. That admiration was made all the more tangible when we were blessed to make two pilgrimages to the Emerald Isle, in 2012 and again in 2019. During those visits I was reminded just how much the Irish love Patrick. Over there, he’s far more than just a marketing gimmick.

Each year, leading up to the holiday, I feel compelled to remind people (and pubs) that St. Patrick was a man — not a woman. His name is Patrick, which comes from the Irish, Pádraig. Shorten his name to Paddy if you must. But we do not, under any circumstances, celebrate “St. Patty’s Day.” Patty is short for Patricia — a lovely name, but not his.

Feast-related debauchery is one thing, but turning our Saint into “St. Patty” is a step too far. As much as it pains me, I refuse every year to take advantage of “holiday discounts” from businesses using discount codes like “STPATTY.” I take it as a sign that there are probably no real Irish folks running the event. I’ve also enjoyed the small satisfaction of seeing a local establishment correct their marketing after a gentle reminder.

Let’s all celebrate the memory of St. Patrick. Enjoy a drink or two and some good food. There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little revelry into the world; God knows we need it. I enjoy a good party as much as anyone and I can appreciate a good Irish drinking joke. Drink your green beer if you must. Dress up in silly clothes. (But remember: St. Patrick was a man, not a leprechaun.)

Remember the reason for this feast. Take a moment to honor the man and all the good he did. In our house we'll raise a drink of uisce beatha — the water of life — and say a prayer in honor of St. Patrick and his beloved Ireland. These days, as Ireland navigates profound cultural shifts — from the rapid secularization of a once deeply Catholic nation, to the challenges brought by immigration and an evolving national identity — the people of Ireland could use St. Patrick’s courage and clarity more than ever.

All the children of Ireland cry out to thee:
Come, O Holy Patrick, and save us!

Sláinte!


Weekend Update #11

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 15th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. As tomorrow is Monday, I assume all the celebrating took place last night. Not surprisingly, given my last name, I trace my roots back to Ireland. My great-grandfather immigrated to the US in 1905 from Inishmann, the middle of the three Aryan Isles off the coast of Galway in Southwest Ireland. Maybe surprisingly, I have not typically over indulged celebrating St. Patrick's Day. I did my graduate degree at night school over 3+ years through my early 20s, and mid-terms always hit on Saint Patrick's Day, which kept me at the kitchen table studying and not in a pub in the middle of March. There was a road trip to the University of Missouri at Rolla during Spring Break my sophomore year of college that is better not spoken of. Rolla had a reputation for its Saint Patrick's Day celebration, and although my memory of that weekend is hazy, I remember the reputation being legit. Note - my memory of the weekend's activities were hazy the next morning, and have only gotten hazier almost 40 years later.

And as I typed that last line, I just realized that I went to college in fall of 1985. That was 40 years ago. So in March 1985 I was coasting into high school graduation by doing as little as possible. By March, I had already accepted my offer from Purdue University, so I knew where I was going to school in the Fall. Looking back, I'm not sure how I got into Purdue. I was a B student with no extracurricular activities beyond sports. No student council, no school newspaper, none of that stuff. I did get nominated to the Honor Society in my final semester of high school, too late to include it on my college applications. I finished high school in the Marshall Islands, where my dad worked on a highly secret missile base out in the South Pacific Ocean. I've sometimes wondered if Purdue thought I was a Pacific Islander. My high school record really should not have gotten me into Purdue as an out-of-state student on its own merits. I'm glad they did accept me, though, as I met my wife there.

On to the links.

In Defense of Unpolished Websites talks about learning HTML from looking at "View Source" in the browser, and how kids today are losing out because so many CMS-powered websites have such complicated code that you can't learn anything from it. My first website probably looked a lot like IBM.com from 1995 because I remember looking at the code and figuring out what an "h1" tag did, and what a "b" tag did, and so on."

You Are Not Free to Move About the Country starts with the enshittification of Southwest Airlines this week (your bags no longer fly free) and expands it into a wider discussion of how life as an American is undergoing rapid enshittification across the board.

The Charismatic Voice is the YouTube channel of a retired professional opera singer who does reaction videos to all the music she never heard growing up since she was so insulated in the opera world. She has an amazingly profound understanding of the technical aspects of singing and voice control and watching her analyze Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford is incredibly interesting, plus you get an expert explanation of just what makes these guys so great. This particular episode is notable not for her analysis of Ozzy's vocals in Crazy Train, but for her absolute and utter astonishment at discovering Randy Rhodes. Imagine going back 41 years and watching your friend hear the guitar solo on Crazy Train for the first time. This is that video. She goes from never having heard the song or Rhodes' name to "This might be the greatest guitar player I've ever heard" in about 5 minutes. It's just delightful, and a great reminder not only of the power of music, but just how crazy good Rhodes was at age 24. Can you even imagine the music he would have made if he had not died in that plane crash? Personally, I think he would quit rock music and revolutionized classical guitar, making it popular in a way that it has never been.

That's all for this week. In a world where you can choose to be anything, choose to be kind.



Bero Edge Hill Hazy IPA

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 15th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

We were out running errands yesterday and I found myself staring at an end cap of Bero Edge Hill Hazy IPA non-alcoholic beer. It had been a while since I tried a new-to-me NA beer, so why not? I did not realize initially that the Bero founder is Tom Holland (Spider-Man).

The beer is not bad, it's drinkable. My initial reaction was that there was something about it that was very un-IPA like. In looking at the ingredients, I noticed that they used some wheat malt in the beer, and I think that is it. It's an NE IPA style beer, so the IBUs were never going to particularly high. Once I understood where that unexpected characteristic was coming from, the beer grew on me a bit. I drank two last night, and I'll likely finish the last two tonight. If I was out somewhere and this was the only NA option, I'd be perfectly happy drinking it. However, if the Sam Adams Hazy or Athletic Ale Hazy options are available, they are better choices.



Raise a Glass: Study Finds Alcohol May Boost Good Cholesterol

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Mar 13th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
These days, we could all use some uplifting news. A recently published study by Harvard University researchers suggests that alcohol consumption may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels.

The study tracked a cohort of 57,691 individuals undergoing annual health checkups in Japan.

According to an Ars Technica summary of the study:
Researchers found that when people switched from being nondrinkers to drinkers during the study, they saw a drop in their "bad" cholesterol—aka low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or LDL.  Meanwhile, their "good" cholesterol—aka high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL—went up when they began imbibing. HDL levels went up so much, that it actually beat out improvements typically seen with medications, the researchers noted.

On the other hand, drinkers who stopped drinking during the study saw the opposite effect: Upon giving up booze, their bad cholesterol went up and their good cholesterol went down.

The cholesterol changes scaled with the changes in drinking. That is, for people who started drinking, the more they started drinking, the lower their LDL fell and the higher their HDL rose. In the newly abstaining group, those who drank the most before quitting saw the biggest changes in their lipid levels.

While previous studies have suggested health benefits associated with alcohol consumption, this Harvard study may be one of the largest to date.

That said, while these findings may be encouraging, it remains essential to weigh the risks of excessive alcohol consumption. Still, this report gives me one more reason to look forward to responsibly enjoying a good bourbon—once my post-surgery healing progresses a bit further.

Cheers!


Revisiting my Music Collection – Julian Angel

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 11th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

This is an ongoing series in which I dig into the dustier corners of my MP3 folder.

Julian Angel - Beautiful Beast

Julian Angel is a German musician / producer who I think makes his living producing events, doing soundtrack work, etc. Back in 2011 he released an album that was straight out of 1986. You can smell the Aquanet through your speakers. Is there anything mind-blowing on this record? No. Are there a couple of tunes that could have made this a platinum album in 1986? Absolutely. It's kind of a perfect encapsulation of a Sunset Strip record from 1986. One or two really fun tunes, everything else is fine but nothing special.

This tune, if it had been on the first Poison album, would have been #1 on MTV for weeks.

Do You Want It

Verdict: Tossup. I could just put on Ratt or Poison to hear this, but there is no reason to not keep it.



Revisiting my Music Collection – Adam Rothberg

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 11th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

This is an ongoing series in which I dig into the dustier corners of my MP3 folder.

Adam Rotherberg- All the Whispering

This self-published CD was released in 2001. I have no idea how I acquired it. It's this guy. He has performed with Joan Baez, and was the musical director for the Linda Ronstadt Experience. He also produced Dar Williams. So he has become a bit of a big deal since he was trying to be the next James Taylor over 20 years ago.

The record is fine, it's a comfy folk-pop record.The two standout tracks for me are:

State of Tennessee

Drive Around

If more than a couple of you click through we are going to double his YouTube Music streams. He might even notice LOL.



Weekend Update #10

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 9th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

I got up at 8 AM this morning, which is 7 AM to my internal body clock because of daylight savings time. I do prefer my extra light in the evening, but if we are going to jump the clocks forward an hour once per year, 4 PM on a Friday seems like a much better time to do it. Imagine the happy hour parties we could do every year to coincide with the clock change at 4 PM. The time change does seem to mark Spring this year though. It's been 60F and sunny all weekend, and the forecast for the week is 70s and sunny, with it tantalizingly close to 80F on Saturday. I'm so tempted to pull the camper out of storage and de-winterize it, but the historical last freeze in central Virginia is the first week of April. So I will wait.

If you could use 3.5 minutes of relaxation this compilation of bird videos from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is perfect.

There have been a lot of "how to save democracy" posts lately, but this one focuses on stuff you can actually do now. Calling and writing your Congressional Representatives is important, but Congress and the courts will not save us. We need to cut the legs off the fascism stool, and those legs are mostly made of corporate money.

I don't think she is wrong here about the impact of digital marketing on everything happening in the world. That is a troubling, because I've worked in the web marketing adjacent world of web design for most of my adult life.

Instagram sucks, but unfortunately a lot of local organizations use it as their main channel for outreach. Instaloader is a command line script that will download public IG accounts to your hard drive, and keep track of what it has downloaded when it updates. I'm using it to follow the RVA chapter of the Feminist Bird Club on IG, even though I deleted my IG account last year.

That's all for this week. In a world where you can choose to be anything, choose to be kind.



Cumberland Marsh Nature Preserve

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Mar 8th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

This was my first time at Cumberland Marsh Nature Preserve. It's only 25 minutes from home, so it won't be my last. We got 34 species this morning, including 7 bald eagles, a bunch of ducks, and more geese than I could count. You do have to walk a bit as the prime marsh viewing area is about a 1.75 mile hike from the parking lot. So birding and hiking this morning. That's a good Saturday.

photo collage from Cumberland Marsh