Julie Zorrilla

I just wanted to point out that, Julie, if you find this, that I thought you were awesome and I wanted you to make it to the top 12. You're so pretty and a great singer! I hope you continue to sing.

That is all. :)

<3

Ginger Ale

I am a ginger ale fiend. Whenever I can get my hands on a new kind of ginger ale, I'm all over it. I am referring to 'golden ginger ales.' These are ginger ales that have a very robust ginger flavour (or should at least) and are often made by fermenting ginger pulp along with sugar and sometimes other spice.

'Dry ginger ales' are those like Canada Dry, Seagram's, and the like. These were created during the prohibition as a mixer and have much less of a ginger 'kick' than golden ales.

This post documents the golden ginger ales I have tried so far, with the addition of Vernor's, a dry ginger ale, that I've added because it is a sort of midwest/east coast novelty for me.

I've reviewed these ginger ales in terms of flavour, heat, colour, and the presence of ginger pulp.

The Ginger People's Ginger Beer: Warm, dark, smoldering is how I'd describe it. Strong ginger flavour balanced nicely with sweet. The heat seems to build as you drink it. Contains ginger pulp. Milky hue. Top 3

The Ginger People's Lemon Ginger Beer: Very similar to the original GP's ginger beer, but perhaps brighter and cleaner in flavour. It is in a green bottle and that alone sways my senses to a cleaner taste vs. the brown bottle of the original. Still has a strong presence of ginger and is quite delicious. Contains ginger pulp and is clear when ginger pulp is settled, though I believe takes on a milky hue when the ginger pulp is dispersed.

Blenheim Red Cap Ginger Ale: Spicy, bright, intense, clean. Real spicy punch on first sip. Subsequent sips are also hot (though one can grow accustomed to it over time...though last time I drank the last 1/4 of the bottle fairly quickly and my mouth was hot for quite a while afterwards). Good ginger flavour, though, to me, the spice of the ginger is largely supplemented by some third party spice. No ginger pulp. Rich amber colour. Top 3

Cock and Bull Ginger Beer: Similar to GP's Ginger Beer, but not quite as strong to me. Still very delicious. Same warmth of GP's. Perhaps more ginger flavour though? I'd have to try it again. Contains ginger pulp. I believe milky hued as well (it's in a dark bottle dontcha know!)

Reed's Ginger Ale: Not my favourite. Not that strong, and it has a weird flowery/honey flavour that I'm not accustomed to. And believe me, I tried. I got a 4-pack for Christmas. Kinda had to force myself to drink it all. It was fine going down for the most part (though mild), but the breath out had that weird flowery smell/taste. Wouldn't buy again. Contains ginger pulp. Clearish I believe.

Oogave Ginger Ale: Made with agave nectar as sweetener, this ale (which I'm drinking as I type) is very desserty. Think a mild ginger ale meets cream soda. Or simply a ginger ale with added cream. Very mild ginger flavour. It's very good, though not what I was expecting. I would drink one of these after dinner as a sort of dessert. It's very good. Not what I had in mind, but it's good. No ginger pulp. Slightly milky colour, taking whatever hue is behind it.

Vernor's: This is a good ginger ale, though I really think it borders on a dry, if it isn't classified as such already. The bubbles will make you cough, VERY spicy bubbles, but somehow, the drink itself is very mild. Heavily carb'd. I'll have to try a full one though, I only had a sip of my mom's (one of my presents to her (6-pack), she grew up with it, so I don't want to impose on her present:) ) Golden colour. No ginger pulp.

Fentimans Ginger Beer: I was really looking forward to trying this one. At the local Market of Choice in Corvallis where I have purchased all of these ales (save Vernor's), a four pack of Fentiman's was almost $10. Or about $2.80 ish for one bottle. Compared to The Ginger People's Ginger Beer at about $6 for a four pack. Here's the kicker: Fentimans is only 9.3 oz. Compared to all the above which are 12 oz. bottles. I figured I was going to hit ginger ale paydirt.

What I found was a ginger beer, that, while still very good, did not approach the complexity of flavour or spice that most of the above accomplished. It was only slightly spicy and unfortunately left me with a 'blah' feeling. It surpasses Reed's, but for the price, is a very mediocre ginger ale. I believe it also possesses a milky hue (housed in a very dark bottle). Contains ginger pulp.

I must say though, that it has the most interesting bottle of all. Short and squatty, and adorned with the words "Botanically Brewed" and wrapped in traditional looking stickers. Very classy. I will be sampling their other soda offerings as they market some very interesting sounding drinks.

Sprecher Ginger Ale: This one interested me as is has a penguin and blue flames on the label. This is the most 'wallet-friendly' ginger ale I've come across a around $1.70 ish for 16 oz. But compared with the other offerings, you get what you pay for. That shouldn't come across as saying it's a bad ginger ale, just that it isn't at the caliber of some of the above-mentioned. It was a very even-stevens ginger ale that had a bit of spice, nothing to write home about, and a good ginger flavour. At 16 ounces though, it was perfect for drowning away my sorrows of a poor calculus test taken earlier that day. If my memory serves me right, this one did not contain any ginger pulp.

I'll add to this post either with a series...I've always wanted to have a running blog series... or just by editing this post... but thinking about it. I'm going with the series. Hooray! I'm hoping to give homemade ginger ale another shot, this time with brewer's yeast and not instant. I'll return with results.

Ethan.

Sea Animals are the Best Kind of Animal

So hereaaaaaaaaaaaaaasz's the deal. ( <--Haha, my dog, Shelby just did that! ) Sea animals are awesome. Whether you think the world was created in 6 days by God or 6 billion years by natural forces, you can agree that sea animals are awesome. They are the most unique things out there! I just got back from watching "Oceans" by Disney in the theatres. I thought I'd make a short list of animals I'd like to be. And why I want to be them.

Dolphin: Dolphins are super. They can jump out of the water and do twirls. I think secretly they want to be like us. They are mammals like us and breathe air, and like to be in the air a lot. They are also fast. And agile. They are like the sports car of the marine world.

Whale: Whales are sweet. They are pretty chillaxed most of the time, just lumbering through the water. But they can also jump out of the water and splash down again with amazing intensity. They also eat krill. No one cares about krill. I would want an extra blowhole, but I'd be okay with just one. Oh! I almost forgot, the best thing about whales is their voices! AEEHhheeeaaahhhheeeeaooooaeoeaoooaaaaeeeaeeehehhhhhheeaaaa. That's whale.

Narwhal: Narwhals are flippin awesome. They are the closest thing to a unicorn that you will ever get in nature. It has a huge horn/spiraled spike thing. I would try to spear stuff with it. Maybe make some kababs. It's like dolphin meets porpoise meets whale meets unicorn.

Otters: Otters are otterrific! They are pretty much like people except more awesome. They just hang out and crack oysters on their chests with rocks. And they rub their eyes like people do. And they also do sit ups in the water. It's a strange motion. But their otters, so it's automatically cool. Plus: Otter Pops

Hammerhead Shark: Okay, so normally I wouldn't like being a shark. If I was one, I'd be a nice shark, but those don't really exist. They just seem vicious. But, in the case of a hammerhead shark, I'd be a normal shark that eats stuff. Hammerhead sharks are the shizz. I don't have many reasons to be one other than that they look awesome. I also think they'd have excellent peripheral vision.

Horseshoe crabs: They just lull about and look like they live inside old war helmets.

Walrus: Walrus are wicked cool. The main reason is to have the tusks. Just like in the case of the Narwhal, I'd try to bite big things and look really intimidating. Plus: They are very caring of their young it seems.

One more:

Some kind of Ray: Manta ray, sting ray, whatever ray. They are awesome. They are like the cool jets of the deep. They seem like if they were people they'd be pretty cool. Like a laidback, but motivated cool personality. And they have those cool fin things leading to their mouth.

So I have many more. But this'll have to do for now. Recap: I'd want to be pretty much every kind of sea animal with the exception of sharks (except hammerheads, sawnose sharks, whale sharks, and maybe a mako) and normal fish like tuna and sardines. I would like to be a cool fish, like the one that has legs, or mudskippers, or Zebra Fish or Lion Fish. Or Stone Fish.

So yeah.

Nobody reads these (quite literally). If you do, tell me, so I can delete this sentence. But I wish to know: What are your favourite sea animals?

Godspeed.

Ethan.

Okay. So here's the deal: I search for things quite often. At least every 20 minutes or so. And more often than not, I never find what I'm looking for. Now, I don't know if this stuff from my blog comes up on Google, but here are some things I recently wanted to search for:

How do you open a Library CD security case? Our library here has some fancy ones that open electronically. My mom checked them out, but forgot to take them out of the case.

Why do granola bars always take like 2.5 bites to finish? I hate that. They are very good, but again, there's not much of them. Oh well, they probably aren't very good for me anyway.

Where is Edison Glass? Edison Glass is one of my favourite bands but they haven't been heard from in about a year. They have produced two full length albums...both fantastic: A Burn or a Shiver, and Time is Fiction. But since then, they haven't been heard from. Are they disbanded? Are they dead? Are they (as one fan on the interwebs puts it) in a basement producing a super record? I've contacted Credential Records and am trying to find out about the state of EG's existence. I'll keep you posted. And by you, I mean probably just me, because I don't think people read this.

Well, I'm tired. So I think I'm going to hit the hay as it were.

Welcome. (or "Death and all His Friends")

Hi.  For my first couple of posts, I will be posting things that I've written previously. Here's the first: (title courtesy of Coldplay)

Well, tonight I'm writing about death.

I was wondering why death to us is surreal.  Like we can't believe it's happening.  That's one of the top things I've heard by people who have lost someone near or far.  Casey Calvert, the guitarist from Hawthorne Hights died early this week.  I never have listened to Hawthorne Hights but I still feel a loss when I hear about it.  But I still wonder why death is surreal.  It takes a bit for us to realize and to come to grips with the fact that this person is gone and that they aren't coming back.  I don't think your mind actually knows that they're dead.  Sure you think you know, when you're on the subject.  But when you are going through your day worrying about stuff that you need to worry about, I think your mind still thinks that that person still exists . 

God created the Garden of Eden.  He created Adam and Eve.  All was well.  Then Adam and Eve screwed up (but what really would I have done.  Guys will do anything for a fine lady.  Even introduce sin into the world) and brought sin into the world.  But let me backtrack.  God created this world originally without death.  It has never been natural for us to die.  (I suppose that is why it's hard to read and live out the verse about dying to ourselves.)  It's simply not what we were created for. 

I think that is why we can never deal with death or a death.  Any kind of death.  It isn't natural.  God didn't create us to acknowledge death.  It's like a semi hitting your car every time.   

It really is a surreal experience.

"But I still believe.  I can feel your breath on me."
                               Anberlin, The Haunting.

*kisses*

Godspeed.

Ethan.