Duuude – Hemp Bars

Published on August 23, 2015 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

New energy bars at McB, these prominently feature the word Hemp. In smaller print it states that it has no psychoactive properties. Further reading also reveals made in Hawaii. I guess the experimental farms that they worked hard to obtain permission yielded enough for these? Decided to buy one. I’m all for supporting locally sourced goods, but the bottom line is how are they? Busted it out on my past late solo Sunset Hills day. It was past noon and well into my ride at this point so I was wanting some nutrition. Package opened easily and what emerged was a glossy dark brown bar. Breaking off a piece was a rather sticky affair. The taste was too sweet, the texture too homogenous. I like Cliff bars and their Mojo bars for their more natural textures, I reserve the space food for gels and unnaturally colored sport drinks. The days of the original PowerBars are long over.

Verdict is Root no like. While it served its purpose and didn’t make me ill or want to spit it out, there was no enjoyment. If it did contain THC, then that might be a selling point, but no. 1 out 4 non-munchies monkeys.

Two-fer

Published on August 23, 2015 in rant by taro. Closed

It’s two for two days this heat index 100 weekend. HFD truck goes up street, followed by EMS, followed by Air 1. Waiting for the day there is two in one day. Oh, what’s that, I hear HFD truck deploying as I’m writing this. Ah, no, they’re heading the other way.

Cow Days

Published on August 22, 2015 in Culture and Food by taro. Closed

About a month late, today is a prime example of Doyo No Ushi No Hi. The unagi marketeering association would be happy. Today was so hot humid and oppressive that all my plans to go for a ride before the storms went to pot. I did nothing today. 8:30PM and it still is bad. I do think I’ll go down to Bubbies and get me some ice cream.

Beer Is Good – Occidental Brewing Co. Hefeweizen

Published on July 7, 2015 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Another Oregon brew. Pours a moderately cloudy bright orange yellow with moderate head. Bright citrus aroma, Very low in bitter. Moderately thick mouthfeel. An easy drinking hefe.

3 out 4 hefe monkeys.

J-Not

Published on July 5, 2015 in Culture by taro. Closed

Imagine my surprise when earlier this week, jumped in car and started up to go to work and I was greeted with 50 Cent. WTF, did I accidentally hit the tune button? Um, 97.1 I think is correct. OK, I search around. Really strange. Switch to iPhone music. Later I try to search the Net, go to the KORL 97.1 website and it lists the songs they are playing, which is definitely not J-pop. I search for their sister K-Pop station and that is still going like normal. Sheesh, it seems KORL as a J-Pop station unceremoniously disappeared. When I check the website the next day, it now redirects you to the K-Pop website. Yet another Japanese FM radio station gone, it seems they only last a couple years.  I guess the Japanese population here is too many generations removed and does not have enough interest. Only the AM station remains. So sad. I actually picked up a few new songs and artists from listening to it.

Summer tradition

Published on July 4, 2015 in rant and Uncategorized by taro. Closed

Wake up morning of July 4. 2015 to kick off a summer tradition, what’s more traditional around here than a rescue by HFD1 on Koko Crater? It’s fresh back from servicing too! This time around HFD Air 1 dropped off two personnel through rapel. It’s not the barf bucket today, it’s the puke plank. Looks like whoever the companion was got a ride out too.

Beer Is Good – Worthy Brewing Lights Out Vanilla Cream Extra Stout

Published on June 14, 2015 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Foodland has been bringing in a few selections of Oregon brewery beers. This one is from Worthy Brewing and is a stout. Nice, IPAs have been all the beer fashion rage recently and darks seem to be scarce on the shelves. This pours extremely dark brown, practically black, with a medium head. There’s a good roast and peaty aroma. There is a decent bitter, but is not as high as some might expect. Being a cream stout, this has the addition of lactose which I am sure balances the bitter, in addition to helping it with the thicker creamy mouthfeel. The addition of vanilla I can not detect. If I try hard, I might say there’s a hint in the aroma, but I would never be able to tell if it wasn’t mentioned. This beer also takes kindly to warming up and seems to mellow and get sweeter as it warms. There isn’t a strong aftertaste aside from the lingering astringency.

Anyway, this is a solid stout, and at 7.7 ABV it packs a fair punch. 3 out 4 creamy monkeys.

Sierra Nevada – Kolsch

Published on June 13, 2015 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

From the current summer variety pack, SN’s Kolsch, German style ale. Pours a clear light yellow with small head. Pretty strong hop aroma and bite. The bitter does eventually taper off and yield a bit of grain finish. Light, dry mouthfeel. A pretty decent beer, but it’s assertive hops makes it nicer if paired with an assertive food to counter.

It just makes 3 out 4 kolschy monkeys.

Bike riding?

Published on May 31, 2015 in bike by taro. Closed

So if anyone still visits this site, you must be wondering, are the guys doing anything aside from drinking beer? Yes, under the guise of bike riding, eating waffles and gelato! Honestly, we wanted to ride, but in our age we like to think we’ve gained some wisdom and will call off a ride if it rains. And yes, despite this picture, it was raining at Sunset Hills.

Anyway, the waffle was great and so was the gelato. Tip, if you order pancakes or the waffle and think you want some gelato for dessert, get the $1 upcharge scoop of gelato served on it. Otherwise you’ll end up paying $4, I guess $3 for the cup, spoon, and service?

Oh yes, it will induce sugar crash. It was reported that all three of us when we got home passed out and slept for a good part of the rest of the afternoon!

Beer Is Good – Sierra Nevada Nooner

Published on May 30, 2015 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Next up in their summer variety pack is this pilsner. Pours a clear bright yellow with moderate head. Hop aroma and bitterness right off the bat. Bright and dry with a light mouthfeel. With its pretty strong hop, the bitterness stays on but thankfully does not suffer from skunkiness. Was never a big fan of strong hops so pilsners and especially IPAs did not appeal to me, although I’ve had some pilsners that I thought were good. This particular pils I’d say is alright. It’s usually the skunk that really turns me off, that’s actually a sign of mishandling, hops that’s been lightstruck, but this does not suffer from that. This beer would be good with some food, alone it doesn’t excite me.

It’s prob better than a 2 but I’m giving it a 2 out 4 pils monkeys.