IPA Review 10-15

IPA #10: Upslope IPA

Date consumed: 12/20/14

• In 12oz cans
• Smooth, sweet, and rich
• 7.2% ABV
• the hops cut through the richness, making it very drinkable  
• Almost session in its drinkability

IPA #11: Legacy IPA by Saranac

Date consumed: ?   

• Mellow, doesn’t bite back
• My notes say: “citrusy but not”. I have no idea what I meant to write.
• 6.5% ABV

(IPA #12 was a duplicate entry–whoops!)

IPA #13: Lasso IPA by Great Divide

Date consumed: 12/31/14

• Very bitter, hoppy
• Drinkable to Jason though, who doesn’t like beer too hoppy usually
• Slight grapefruit undertones
• They say “lively…daring” and I suppose I agree
• 5% ABV

—an IPA musing: I find the weaker the ABV, the more bitter the beer.–

IPA #14: Titan IPA by Great Divide

Date consumed: ?

• 7.1% ABV
• they say “assertive…aromatic” which is true
• Floral and rich
• Not very bitter; no bite in the back of the tongue
• Not as carbonated as the Lasso

IPA #15: F.Y.I.P.A

• One of my very favorites, on draft at Mountain Sun 
• Floral, rich, and hoppy
• Not too sweet, just the right amount of bitter
• Mellow bite/carbonation
• ABV:? I can’t believe I don’t know this…

Image

Latest Book Review

Here’s my latest for Nerds in Babeland. As usual, excerpt below and find the rest over there.

I’ll admit to you, readers, that I was disappointed by this book for one reason, and one reason only: I tried to speed-read through it because my review queue was so long, and was unable to do so. The stories in this collection are so myriad in setting and tone, so compelling, that I had to stop and read through at a slower pace, enjoying and absorbing each tale.

MiniInterview: Ian Healy

Another from the MiniInterview archives: this one of Ian Healy. I am honored to be writing the introduction to his latest superhero novel, and I have enjoyed each and every one of them I have had the pleasure to read and/or review. This is an interview from a few years back, but his websites etc. should be current, except for the LEGO-based webcomic. Unfortunately that ended a while back, but you can still look at the archives for it on Healy’s website: http://www.ianthealy.com/blog/. Look for his excellent work on Amazon or through his website.

———————————————————————

5 Questions: Ian Healy           Interviewer: Jenn Zuko 

1) What attracts you most about speculative fiction in particular? What about it were you drawn to as a kid and what attracts you to it now?

I like the fantastic aspect. The first SF film I recall seeing in a theatre was The Empire Strikes Back. Spaceships zooming around, laser swords, and asteroids! I was hooked. Ever since then I’ve sought out science fiction entertainment. An offshoot of that was superheroes, which appealed to my inner vigilante. I still have my very first comic book: Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew #12.

Nowadays, the attraction to me is things that aren’t now but may be someday, or things that might have been. I write stories that I wish I’d read, because nobody else has written them yet. I hope that maybe someday, a starry-eyed 10-year-old will pick up one of my books and find the same love for speculative fiction I did.

2) What writer/s do you want to emulate?

Oh, where to begin? Let’s go with this list: Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Mike Resnick, Alan Dean Foster, Paolo Bacigalupi, and George R. R. Martin for now.

3) Handwriting or computer: why, and what kind? What do you do about writer’s block?

Smartphone and computer. My penmanship is atrocious. I’ve gotten very good at writing on my phone and have completed more than one manuscript mostly with my thumbs.

It’s been years since I last had writer’s block. I always have so many projects in my queue that I can always work on another project if I’m stalled on one. It’s rare for me to stall, because I tend to always be thinking about what’s next, even when I’m not writing.

4) Is there a novel coming out? How can we find your work to read, and what would you recommend?

I have just released three sthort stories and one novel in ebook form via Smashwords. The novel, Blood on the Ice, is a humorous urban fantasy involving vampires and minor league hockey. At $5.99, you’re getting pretty good entertainment value since most ebooks will cost you 2-3 times that. You can find it here, along with links to my other stories. www.smashwords.com/books/view/38012

I have a regular blog at www.ianthealy.com where I write about my work and all things writing-related. I also maintain a daily webcomic, The Adventures of the S-Team, done in LEGO, about a team of superheroes. Updated Mon-Fri, it’s at www.ianthealy.com/comic. Finally, I have a workshop/blog about improving action in your writing. I also critique scenes submitted by other writers there. www.writebetteraction.com.

5) How does your webcomic fit in with the rest of your writing? Do you ever get inspired for your fiction work by working on the comic, or vice/versa?

The webcomic began as a simple fun diversion, and most of the time it still is. I’ve learned how to be funny with it, and that’s translated into my less serious works like Blood on the Ice or the short story “In His Majesty’s Postal Service.”

So far I haven’t been inspired to write something in prose from the webcomic, but I reserve the right to do so in the future. 🙂

Musings Upon a New Semester

It’s another semester (and quarter), another dollar in my world. Well, I’m hoping it’s a little more than that! Anyway, both DU and Metro began today and I’m looking forward to facilitating learning about performing and visual arts. The class at Metro is an undergraduate course called Intro to Theatre, in which they learn about what theatre is, what goes into making it, what it’s been like across the globe throughout history, and it culminates in them collaborating to make some themselves. This is the class blog, on which will appear the students’ reading responses. http://the2210.blogspot.com/

Showing Intro to Theatre students the ropes at Metro. Literally. 2014.

The DU course is called World Visual and Performance Art. I wish it were called Performing Arts, because Performance Art is a whole ‘nother monster but ah well. This class, when I was first given it to construct from scratch (way back in 2003 or 4), was called Creative Expressions and is meant to cover, well, World Visual and Performing Arts. What visual arts? Yes. What performing arts? uh-huh. What part of the world? The whole fricking world. So I pared it down a touch. I chose three eras that I happen to know the most about myself: the Renaissance in Europe (particularly England), the Belle Epoque in Europe and a little in Asia (particularly France and Russia), and what I call the Age of Aquarius in America (really Postmodernism across the globe). Creative tangents in this class are welcome, and like Intro to Theatre, I make the students do some of the art as well as read and view about it. This is a graduate level course for a Liberal Arts Masters degree. This is the blog I use for it and the undergrad version of it, which only covers visual arts. http://mals4050ca3200.blogspot.com/

I’m looking forward to starting on this semester (as well as continuing my work with characterization in fiction, the art of blogging, and creative capstones at Regis), because I know the material will overlap somewhat with these two as far as curriculum, and I’m hoping to engage the two courses in some dialogue. How 21st-century education is that?   ~Jenn

5 More Sherlock Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed

My latest from Sherlock’s Home. Let’s count this as a More You Holmes post, shall we?

Sherlocks Home

Written by Prof. Jenn

Back at Easter we had a timely look at five of the most interesting and easily missed ‘Easter Eggs’ across the three series of Sherlock. Well, because Sherlock is such a layered, detailed show with much you can overlook we’ve decided to bring you 5 more Easter Eggs from the show. Gold stars for anyone who spotted any of these…

1. The certificate on Sherlock’s bedroom wall

BBC

In the canon, one of Sherlock Holmes’ lesser known talents is his knack for the fictional Japanese martial art of “baritsu”  – so knowing how Moftiss are such big Sherlockians a modern equivalent needed to be found for Sherlock. Judo was the showrunners’ choice, as can be seen by the traditional Judo certificate that hangs above the detective’s bed in A Scandal in Belgravia. Sherlock also alluded to his knowledge of “Japanese wrestling” in The Empty Hearse.

View original post 664 more words