WHOCARESWGD

I know it's been a really long time since my last post, but I was waiting for my next one to have a link to our podcast. As it turns out, it's been a little slow getting it up (TWSS). We have two episodes under our belt, one that's edited and one raw which I'll work on this week. We also plan or recording a third one Wednesday. As of now, we've distributed the MP3 to a few people and heard a few good things, but keep in mind it's a work in progress. I hope to have a lot of episodes under our belt before we post them on iTunes anyway, and before that happens I have to buy a place to host them. I'd like to wait on THAT until after the holiday season. Soon though, be patient...

Thanksgiving was great as well. We had one of the biggest family gatherings ever at our house, including friends who met a lot of my family. Darick came home from Santa Cruz, the AZ cousins hung out all weekend, and we got a ton of Christmas shopping done. The Charger game on Sunday was a nice way to end the weekend.

As for December, I hope to get a lot accomplished. We should have a full swinging podcast, some new homebrew to talk about, and I can start putting this degree to good use. Grossmont during Spring is going to be fun as well. See you there!

It's a little late I know, but last weekend we all went to the Santee McDonald's to get the famous ''McRib'' sandwich. It felt a bit pathetic to bring the amount of people we did just for a fast food specialty, but the preceding excitement in the air and saliva in our mouths told us that is must be shared with loved ones. This would actually be my first time. Anyway...

Before getting in to the McRib experience, here's a side story. During Oktoberfest in El Cajon, I decided to try the veal sandwich, which I've never had before. It didn't look all too appetizing and it smelled like someone made meatloaf out of bologna, so I decided to load it up with two condiments only: bbq sauce and onions. This was BEFORE my first McRib. And that thing tasted exactly like a real one, which is why...

I'm not really a fan, but I like the price. About $5 for a meal, which I think is pretty cheap for McDonald's. I even got a sweet tea to complement the tangy bbq sauce and complete the southern meal. Everything was as it should be, I just thought it tasted too much like what I had during Oktoberfest so I was put off. Also, I saw one of the employees pull one out of their oven drawer thingy, pre-sauce soak, and it looked like it dripped from the nose of someone with swine flu. Would I eat it again? Yes. 

And here is Eli graciously, and gracefully, hand-modeling the food he's about to eat:

We finally hunkered down and scripted episode 1 of the podcast, ''American History''. We'll keep you updated when it's available, but until then start spreading the word.

''This is a 12-year-old Pino Grigio''
''Bro, this tastes like water...''
''Ugh, there's floaties in this''
''That was human hair!''
''Oh fuck, there are leeches in the bottle''
''WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SHIT!?''
''We are going to die : (''

That may have been the procedure of reactions to what was literally something out of a horror movie last night. Our friend Lucas has been getting all kinds of free stuff from his aunt's house, and ''scored'' a big bottle of some white wine (or what used to be wine). It hadn't been opened in 12 years, so we all thought we were enjoying some fine aged spirit. Instead, we ingested 12 years worth of microbial growth. Our first though was that it was some strange, exotic drink that our pallets weren't accustomed to. It tasted slightly of olive oil. We even considered the fact that it may BE some kind of oil, but unfortunately that was not the case. It was truly wine that had gone horribly bad, and after a slight lack of appetite for it, everything went to hell when we poured the bottle out down the drain. Some kind of brown, snotty pulp had filled the bottom and it came out resembling a leech or period blood. 

Everyone instantly became nauseated, glasses fell and shattered on the ground as some needed to exit to go vomit in hopes of evicting the unwanted guests. No one was convinced that that would do the trick, so plan B was extermination by means of Smirnoff and Jim Beam. After that, no one really felt that great about anything. Some were convinced they had been severely contaminated, so we'll have to check in at a later stage for an update.

I'm fairly certain that air had just gotten into the bottle, which was really only half sealed. The other end of the cork was at the bottom of the bottle mixed with the muck. I hypothesize that every bit of organic matter in that bottle (grapes or whatever else it's fermented from) had become rancid and heavy and sank to the bottom. It would explain why what we drank kind of just tasted like water, because that was all that had remained. 12 years of putrefaction (decay) will do that.

Me, I think it's all in our heads.

And the night WAS salvaged by fresh baked cookies and pigs in a blanket. MMMMmmm.

To my pleasant surprise, the PS3 laser showed up at work last Friday. I popped it into the system (a very painless procedure I might add) and it's working like new again. It seems there's a decent list of good games out right now that I haven't played yet, so I'm hoping to buy some new ones soon. Best Buy and Toys 'R' Us are running the same special for PS3, 360, and Wii games; buy 2, get the 3rd free. I think I'm most excited about the new Katamari.