Archives for the ‘Blog Entries.Local’ Category

Five O’Clock Friday: Decision Time

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • May 2nd, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
When it's finally the weekend, but you're undecided.



*randomly collected internet image -- credit will be given upon request

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Five O’Clock Friday: Decision Time

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • May 2nd, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
When it's finally the weekend, but you're undecided.



*randomly collected internet image -- credit will be given upon request

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

I Need New Friends

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 30th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

I'm 57 years old. I deactivated my Facebook account 26 days ago and have heard from exactly zero Facebook friends in the last 26 days.

This is not a cry for help. It's a realization. Facebook makes it too easy to believe you have meaningful relationships with people who are, for all practical purposes, strangers. You may have been online friends for 20+ years but it's an online friendship. In most cases it pales in comparison to a friendship IRL. Yes, you can use Facebook to stay in touch with real friends. But it'll be better if you keep in touch outside of Facebook, or any social media.

So now the obvious question. How does a 57 year old dude make friends IRL? I've been married since my mid 20s, and if I'm being honest, I've been coasting since I finished grad school at about age 25 in the friends department. We had the rush of new friends when we all the same age kids, but most of those friendships faded over the years. We moved to Richmond in 2017, and COVID certainly got in the way but I can't blame COVID for the fact that there isn't a single person (other than family) in this city that I can text with a reasonable expectation that they'll want to meet up for a beer. I can blame working from home, but again, nothing was stopping me post COVID from getting out there other than laziness and inertia.

This is not a "I never leave the house thing." My wife and I go out, a lot. We do date night more weekends than not, we eat out some, we go to baseball and soccer games, and we travel a lot in our camper. We do meet up with some friends for camping, but they don't live in RVA. But it's always just the two of us. Which is great, we are best friends as well as spouses, but I would like some dude friends like I had in my 20s and 30s.

Or do I? Is that even a reasonable ask? Do guys my age hang out like we did when we were under 40? I really have no idea.


Porchside Reviews: Angel’s Envy Triple Oak and Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Apr 29th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
We had a busy weekend in front of us, packed with activities with friends and family — and no small amount of driving. But Friday offered a quiet opportunity to sit on the front porch and relax before all the activity began.

Perusing my bourbon options, I selected a bottle of Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon for the evening’s pour. As for the cigar, I debated a bit before settling on an Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro Toro. Refreshments in hand, I headed outside to the sound of rainfall. Fortunately, the front porch offers good cover from the elements. 



The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro is a cigar I picked up back in February during a visit to the Long Ridge Cigar Lounge. Once a limited edition, it’s now a regular offering in the Aganorsa lineup. The 6 x 54 box-pressed Toro is a Nicaraguan puro, featuring a Nicaraguan Shade Grown Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, all cultivated on Aganorsa’s own farms. The black and silver bands, along with a tissue paper sleeve, add an elegant touch to the cigar’s appearance — but of course, you can’t smoke the packaging.

The Aniversario Maduro delivered notes of dark chocolate and coffee, with a toffee-like sweetness balancing the profile. I didn’t detect as much pepper spice as I recalled from a previous cigar, though that difference might be due to the time of day; this was an evening smoke, whereas the earlier one was enjoyed in the morning.

Initially, the cigar struggled to maintain good smoke output. I needed to double- and triple-puff frequently, and touch flame to the foot a few times. Fortunately, about an inch and a half in, the burn stabilized and the smoke output became plentiful and flavorful all the way to the finish.



Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon is a new release from the distillery, debuting in late 2024. The unique finishing process begins with an initial maturation of four to six years in new American white oak barrels. Afterward, the aged bourbon is portioned to undergo secondary finishing in three different oak casks: 20% in French Oak for at least three months, 40% in Chinkapin Oak for at least six months, and 40% in Hungarian Oak for six or more months. This kind of complex blending and aging is still somewhat rare in the industry. Barrell Bourbon and Old Elk are two other producers that do similar blending, and as a fan of both, I held high hopes for this Angel’s Envy expression.

On the nose, faint aromas of spiced cookies and vanilla emerged. On the palate, the bourbon was somewhat dry and oak-forward, offering hints of cinnamon, vanilla, and tobacco, along with a mild caramel sweetness. Despite the oak-heavy profile, the Triple Oak Bourbon is well-balanced. At a moderate 92 proof, it’s an easy sipper. Even better, it appears to be readily available in most markets.

The pairing of Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon and the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro made for a richly flavorful combination. As the gentle rain continued, I was entertained by the buzzing of hummingbirds visiting the feeder just behind my head. The diminutive birds seemed unbothered by my presence.

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Porchside Reviews: Angel’s Envy Triple Oak and Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Apr 29th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
We had a busy weekend in front of us, packed with activities with friends and family — and no small amount of driving. But Friday offered a quiet opportunity to sit on the front porch and relax before all the activity began.

Perusing my bourbon options, I selected a bottle of Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon for the evening’s pour. As for the cigar, I debated a bit before settling on an Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro Toro. Refreshments in hand, I headed outside to the sound of rainfall. Fortunately, the front porch offers good cover from the elements. 



The Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro is a cigar I picked up back in February during a visit to the Long Ridge Cigar Lounge. Once a limited edition, it’s now a regular offering in the Aganorsa lineup. The 6 x 54 box-pressed Toro is a Nicaraguan puro, featuring a Nicaraguan Shade Grown Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, all cultivated on Aganorsa’s own farms. The black and silver bands, along with a tissue paper sleeve, add an elegant touch to the cigar’s appearance — but of course, you can’t smoke the packaging.

The Aniversario Maduro delivered notes of dark chocolate and coffee, with a toffee-like sweetness balancing the profile. I didn’t detect as much pepper spice as I recalled from a previous cigar, though that difference might be due to the time of day; this was an evening smoke, whereas the earlier one was enjoyed in the morning.

Initially, the cigar struggled to maintain good smoke output. I needed to double- and triple-puff frequently, and touch flame to the foot a few times. Fortunately, about an inch and a half in, the burn stabilized and the smoke output became plentiful and flavorful all the way to the finish.



Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon is a new release from the distillery, debuting in late 2024. The unique finishing process begins with an initial maturation of four to six years in new American white oak barrels. Afterward, the aged bourbon is portioned to undergo secondary finishing in three different oak casks: 20% in French Oak for at least three months, 40% in Chinkapin Oak for at least six months, and 40% in Hungarian Oak for six or more months. This kind of complex blending and aging is still somewhat rare in the industry. Barrell Bourbon and Old Elk are two other producers that do similar blending, and as a fan of both, I held high hopes for this Angel’s Envy expression.

On the nose, faint aromas of spiced cookies and vanilla emerged. On the palate, the bourbon was somewhat dry and oak-forward, offering hints of cinnamon, vanilla, and tobacco, along with a mild caramel sweetness. Despite the oak-heavy profile, the Triple Oak Bourbon is well-balanced. At a moderate 92 proof, it’s an easy sipper. Even better, it appears to be readily available in most markets.

The pairing of Angel’s Envy Triple Oak Bourbon and the Aganorsa Leaf Aniversario Maduro made for a richly flavorful combination. As the gentle rain continued, I was entertained by the buzzing of hummingbirds visiting the feeder just behind my head. The diminutive birds seemed unbothered by my presence.

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Radio is underrated

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 26th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

Radio is underrated. I've recently rediscovered the joy of finding a cool radio station and just letting the humans there pick the next song for me. And no, I'm not talking about the algorithmic crap barfed over the airwaves by Clear Channel or I Heart Radio. I''m talking about community radio and indie stations that are available over streaming anywhere, and sometimes OTA if you live in the right place.

That Station is my current favorite. It's a community station that broadcasts on 95.7 FM in the Raleigh Durham area. It's an amazing mix of indie pop, power pop, classic rock, classic R&B and Blues from way back, Americana, and local bands from the Raleigh Durham area. They have as streaming website, an app, and on Roku you can get to it via the My Tuner channel. And of course, am FM radio in the Raleigh area works too.

Some other I enjoy include:

The Creek from Macon, GA. It's very Americana and roots focused, with a southern slant.

Radio Paradise has several channels available, including a rock mix, a global mix, a mellow mix, and a few others.

American Roots Radio delivers exactly what you expect it might.

SomaFM delivers 30 odd stations, ranging from modern metal to EDM.

There are about 10,000 other options. If you want to listen to Mongolian Folk Music, there will be a streaming station for it. More than one, probably.

So, what I'm saying is that you don't need Spotify.


The Ultimate Hidden Truth

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 26th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local, Politics

"The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently."

—David Graeber

Hat tip: Al Wirtes


Weekend Update #16

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 26th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

Hey there,

Coming at you a little late today because I got up at 6 AM this morning to go birding. We had a great morning as I logged 54 species. This afternoon I walked around our local park with my wife and logged 24 species. I'm at 111 species year to date. I logged 154 species last year, but it's going to be slower going from here as it's going to be more difficult to log new species, unless we get away from the Richmond area.

It's been 22 days since I deactivated my Facebook account, and exactly zero people from my Facebook friends list have made any effort to connect with me outside of Facebook. So much for Facebook being a place to build meaningful relationships. Updates as events warrant...

This writer argues that humans are doing a very good job of adapting to climate change instead of mitigating it. And that eventually, we will adapt ourselves to extinction.

There is no moral imperative to compensate free software authors. Obvious point? Or cutting insight? Or wrong?

This 1 hour playlist of New Orleans Jazz is hot.

"Have you ever walked into a supermarket, pharmacy, or department store looking to buy a specific item, only to find the layout confusing? Perhaps you ended up aimlessly strolling around, purchasing other items? This is deliberate, and known as the Gruen Transfer." It's killing the Internet.

Adam Newbold, founder of Omg.lol making the very correct point that not all opinions are equal, and that assholes and fascists do not have any right to join omg.lol or any other Fediverse community. As the saying goes, if you let one Nazi into your bar, you are now the Nazi bar.

Don't be the Nazi bar.

And that is it for this week. Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.


Old Elk and All Saints: A Backyard Review

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Apr 26th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
When a friend was visiting last week, we spent some time outside enjoying an afternoon smoke and drink. In selecting a cigar, I kept the recently deceased Pontiff in mind and chose the All Saints St. Francis to honor him. When then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, he chose the name Francis in homage to St. Francis of Assisi—after whom this cigar is named.

The All Saints St. Francis is rich with Catholic imagery. The dominant symbol on the band—a gold cross on a white shield with red trim — is the Cross of Saint James. Fittingly, St. James is the patron saint of Nicaragua, where this cigar is crafted at the Rocky Patel Tavicusa factory. The band also bears the Latin phrase “Pax et Bonum,” meaning “Peace and Goodness” — the traditional greeting of St. Francis of Assisi.



To accompany the cigar, I poured some Old Elk Cigar Cut Bourbon. It’s one of the few bottles I actually “nurse,” indulging only on special occasions. Generally, I believe bourbon — like cigars — is meant to be enjoyed, not shelved. But when it’s something I particularly enjoy and it’s hard to find, I try to make it last.

The St. Francis cigars have been resting in my humidor for just over six months. This box-pressed 5 1/2 x 50 stick features an Ecuadorian Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s a medium-to-full-bodied smoke with notes of black coffee, chocolate, and black pepper. At times, the coffee leaned more toward espresso, and the chocolate toward cocoa.

I found the profile more balanced than I remembered from the fall when I last smoked one. The pepper had mellowed, letting the coffee/espresso and dark chocolate notes shine through. The burn was occasionally wavy, and we both had to relight our cigars a few times.



The Old Elk Cigar Cut Bourbon was a treat to savor. It’s a masterful blend of bourbons finished in a variety of casks: Sherry (1.5 years), Armagnac (1.25 years), Port (3–8 months), and Cognac (3–6 months). It greets the nose with inviting aromas of caramel, vanilla, toasted oak, and spiced fruit. The palate offers layers of dark chocolate, toffee, and baking spices, with subtle notes of tobacco and leather lingering on the finish. As a fan of port- and sherry-finished bourbons with cigars, I found the added complexity from the multiple cask finishes especially pleasing.

We enjoyed our smokes and sips in the backyard beside the unlit fire pit. The screen porch and deck are still under renovation, but the yard itself was peaceful — the moderate temperature, light breeze, and low humidity made for an ideal setting. 

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Old Elk and All Saints: A Backyard Review

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Apr 26th, 2025
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
When a friend was visiting last week, we spent some time outside enjoying an afternoon smoke and drink. In selecting a cigar, I kept the recently deceased Pontiff in mind and chose the All Saints St. Francis to honor him. When then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, he chose the name Francis in homage to St. Francis of Assisi—after whom this cigar is named.

The All Saints St. Francis is rich with Catholic imagery. The dominant symbol on the band—a gold cross on a white shield with red trim — is the Cross of Saint James. Fittingly, St. James is the patron saint of Nicaragua, where this cigar is crafted at the Rocky Patel Tavicusa factory. The band also bears the Latin phrase “Pax et Bonum,” meaning “Peace and Goodness” — the traditional greeting of St. Francis of Assisi.



To accompany the cigar, I poured some Old Elk Cigar Cut Bourbon. It’s one of the few bottles I actually “nurse,” indulging only on special occasions. Generally, I believe bourbon — like cigars — is meant to be enjoyed, not shelved. But when it’s something I particularly enjoy and it’s hard to find, I try to make it last.

The St. Francis cigars have been resting in my humidor for just over six months. This box-pressed 5 1/2 x 50 stick features an Ecuadorian Oscuro wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It’s a medium-to-full-bodied smoke with notes of black coffee, chocolate, and black pepper. At times, the coffee leaned more toward espresso, and the chocolate toward cocoa.

I found the profile more balanced than I remembered from the fall when I last smoked one. The pepper had mellowed, letting the coffee/espresso and dark chocolate notes shine through. The burn was occasionally wavy, and we both had to relight our cigars a few times.



The Old Elk Cigar Cut Bourbon was a treat to savor. It’s a masterful blend of bourbons finished in a variety of casks: Sherry (1.5 years), Armagnac (1.25 years), Port (3–8 months), and Cognac (3–6 months). It greets the nose with inviting aromas of caramel, vanilla, toasted oak, and spiced fruit. The palate offers layers of dark chocolate, toffee, and baking spices, with subtle notes of tobacco and leather lingering on the finish. As a fan of port- and sherry-finished bourbons with cigars, I found the added complexity from the multiple cask finishes especially pleasing.

We enjoyed our smokes and sips in the backyard beside the unlit fire pit. The screen porch and deck are still under renovation, but the yard itself was peaceful — the moderate temperature, light breeze, and low humidity made for an ideal setting. 

Cheers!



[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

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