Your Weekend Goulash

Random bits of things I wanted to share. Because I love you. Yes, you.

1) The Rox of Spazhouse North American Tour rolls on. If you want to see photos from her ongoing journeys (and believe me, you do), you can check out her Flickr, her Instagram, and she’s also started a Facebook page for the tour itself.

2) For the latest in Doctor Who shenanigans, there’s Rob’s Doctor Whooligan column over at Tardistopia. If Who is happening, you can find it there. And Rob alerted me to this, which is a helluva teaser. But hey, less than two months away. Please impress me again, Doctor.

I didn’t mean for the image placement to make it seem as though I was offering Peter Capaldi a couple of beers, but hey.

[ad#rightpost]3) Stouts. As I revealed in the latest Weekend Justice, I appear to have inadvertently gone on a stout kick without realizing it. I just opened my fridge one day and found its beer contents dominated by stouts. Is it because stouts can be extremely coffee like in their constitution and even taste? Perhaps. Two I will recommend to you:

Having enjoyed their Bourbon Barrel Ale, it seemed like a Bourbon Barrel Stout from the Kentucky Ale people (aka Alltech…but that sounds like it belongs in the Sneakers sequel). As the name states, the stuff is aged in bourbon barrels–and the powers of bourbon are combined with the powers of Haitian coffee. Yeah, I didn’t even know that part when I bought the bottle. Bonus. I’m not big on hops, and this is right in my sweet spot. It seems to be the right blend of the bourbon, the coffee, the heft…all of it. And it’s rather black, so it goes with everything I own.

If you want something lighter, the Wake Up Dead Nitro Russian Imperial Stout (how could I not buy it–the name…the name is, well, dead on) from Left Hand Brewing has that you-think-it’s-going-to-be-heavy but it-eases-off-at-the-last second vibe. It’s like Guinness but if you create a graph (which I’m too lazy to do), this thing starts much heavier (with bits of coffee and chocolate and sweetness) and then dive bombs past the Guinness to be even lighter with a finish. It’s eminently drinkable, and while I’d probably pick the Bourbon Barrel if I was forced to choose…well, this you could probably drink a few of without realizing you were doing it. Always get drunk responsibly. And stay in school.

4) Again, as we’ve stated on the podcast, if there was a chance that we were getting a Pacific Rim 2, it would be because China stepped up when we here in America did not. China delivered $111 million to the film’s box office. Between this and the performance of Edge of Tomorrow, I’m convinced America gets the sci-fi blockbusters it deserves. Yes, I’m talking Transformers 4. But while we and China don’t always see eye to eye, apparently we can agree that the world needs more rocket punches. And rocket punches = world peace.

5) George Carlin‘s street in New York City is going to be formally renamed “George Carlin Way.” This is fantastic.

6) After a couple of months of storing up tracks, here is the latest Volume Zero Playlist.

7) And because they’re not on Spotify and I couldn’t throw anything on a playlist, here, hell, have a music video. It’s from your friends and mine, The Stateside Menace. Because sometimes…guitars, yes? They’re on a split single, which you can snag from Worst Records (name your own price, natch) here. Their own Bandcampery is here. And remember, fireworks also = world peace.

8) And lastly, because you need something that’s classic…the second link on this page (hotlinking directly to the file would be rude), “African Explorer,” an excerpt from an episode of G.I. Journal, features Groucho Marx, Lucille Ball, Johnny Weissmuller and Mel Blanc. It’s wrong in its own way. I was sort of amazed nobody else walked into the show after Blanc.