Old School Disney

Last week, Borepatch posted what he felt was one of the spookiest pieces of classical music...Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. 

It is hard to argue with that choice...but in my mind the winner for spookiest piece of classical music will always be Night on Bald Mountain, and the blame for that lays entirely at the feet of the Disney Corporation, and specifically whomever decided that this video was appropriate for including in Fantasia.



Man oh Man, that stuck with me for a long, long time.  I can't remember the actual ages involved, but until I watched Poltergeist in my early teenage years, this section of Fantasia was the standard by which other nightmare inducing fiction was judged. 

That's kind of far out, but I'll pencil it in.

I know it seems highly illogical and lacking proper focus to get excited about movies that aren't going to come out for 4.5 years, but Marvel's press conference yesterday where they announced their movie plans through May of 2019 got my juices flowing.

1500 days is a lot of time to look forward to something...but hey, now I have a reason to wake up tomorrow.

The Spice of Life

No, not Melange...variety. 

In the past, I have lamented about my efforts to find an acceptable Pumpkin Beer...too often, I bring home a 6-pack, and after drinking the first beer, the other 5 will sit in the fridge for a long while.

Last night, we found a way around that by inviting some friends over for a Pumpkin Beer/Cider tasting last night.  Just said...hey, everyone pick a 6-pack, or a growler, or a couple of 22oz bottles, and come on over.  I picked up a few different sizes of plastic cups so people could either easily sample/drink as much or as little of each one as they wanted.

Amazingly enough, with no real coordination, NO ONE showed up with the same thing.

This was near the end of the evening...wish I had taken the picture earlier when we had more stuff...but I was distracted tasting.

We had a good turnout, and a wide variety of beverages showed up...I should have written them down, but let's see what I can remember:

Beer:
Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale, Anderson Valley Fall Hornin' Pumpkin Ale, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Southern Tier's PUMKING, Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, Rogue Farms Marionberry Braggot, Elysian's The Great Pumpkin, Elysian's Punkuccino, and Elysian's Dark O' the Moon.

Cider:
Anthem's Hopped Cider, Wandering Aengus Oaked Dry, Wyder's Pear, D's Wicked Baked Apple, D's Wicked Green Apple, and Woodchuck Reserve Pumpkin Cider.

So, obviously, I'm not going to review them all...now...but a few stand out(for the right, and the wrong reasons).

That Marionberry Braggot...very strange. I actually had to look up what a 'braggot' is.  Turns out is very closely related to mead, and the hops is optional.  Rogue Farms put hops in theirs, which might or might not have effected my enjoyment of it.  It just wasn't...I won't it wasn't good...it just wasn't a flavor that I(or anyone else) was looking for. I'm not sure anyone did more than taste test this one.  If we had come close to running out of beer, this would have been the last one standing.

Another beer where hops made a difference is the Anthem Hopped Cider.  The hops gave the Anthem Cider perhaps the best nose of any of the ciders, but it didn't translate to the palate.  The best tasting of the ciders was the D's Wicked Baked Apple, with the Woodchuck Pumpkin and D's Green Apple tying for 2nd place.

On a whole, based off the unscientific 'least beer remaining' method, the most popular beer of the evening was the Elysian Dark O' the Moon, a pumpkin stout.  I know it was my favorite...just a great dark stout, with pumpkin, spice, and creaminess. 

I'm not sure there was a consensus 2nd Place...some folks liked the Punkaccino, but it's a distinctive flavor, mixing coffee and pumpkin.  It's not for everyone.  The Elysian Great Pumpkin, Rogue Pumpkin Patch and the Southern Tier PUMKING all had their fans.  The only one of the pumpkin beers that I think I wouldn't spend money on was the Blue Moon.  I enjoy Blue Moon's normal beer...I was just impressed by the Harvest Pumpkin. 

All in all, it was a good evening...and a great way to try a lot of different things.  Plus, as the host, I find myself with more beer in the house than I am going to be able to drink today...even with the NFL's London Game giving me a head start at 6:30 this morning.

Thanks Washington.

Got my ballot for the general election in the mail the other day, and I've finally got the time to open it up and give it the attention it deserves.

First off...I'll spare you the local county type offices...other than to rant real quick that there are 14 people running unopposed on the ballot this year.  Now...I'm not sure I want to be a District Court Judge(let's ignore the fact I am not really qualified...that doesn't seem to stop other politicians)...but, Benton County Auditor, or Benton County Treasurer?  In 2004(the last year I could find data for) the County Treasurer made $78K a year...I'm willing to bet the salary has gone up since then. 

Oh well.  There is always next year.

On the National/State wide level, there are only 4 issues really worth talking about: 3 initiatives and then the 4th District Congressional Race, which thanks to Washington's Top 2 Primary rules faces two Republican's squaring off in the General Election.

Yup...in Washington, the Top 2 vote getters in the Primaries run in the General Election...even if those top 2 happen to be from the same party, which is what happened here.  For the last 12 years, this district has belonged to Doc Hastings, Republican, and in truth the Democrat's didn't make much of an effort to take this this district back.  I just think it's lame that we now have Republican bashing Republican in the General Election.  Dan Newhouse vs. Clint Didier, which is very much coming down to Establishment RINO vs. Tea Party Extremist...in the media.  I voted for Didier in the Primary, and I will vote for him again in the general.  As I have said before, he is not perfect, but I feel he has more 'upside' than Newhouse...and in the end, I feel that Didier actually believes what he says, while Newhouse has that 'Tell you what you want to hear' feeling to him.

As for the initiatives, the only one I had to really research is I-1351, which would set new mandated class sizes, as well as new levels of support staffing based on numbers of students at those schools.  It will also require 'High Poverty' schools to have smaller class sizes than normally funded schools.  Basically, looking at the numbers, it will increase the number of teachers by 1/3rd, and support staff by almost 50%(the estimated numbers are 15,000 new teachers, and 17,000 more 'support staff'....at a cost ranging from zero additional tax dollars to 4 Billion additional tax dollars, depending on who you believe.

I'm voting no for it.  It's would be easy to say 'Oh, we home-school...why would I want to spend any extra tax dollars on schools'...but that's not it.  I don't like The Mob Mentality passing laws that try to be this specific...it takes up 6 times as much space in the Voter's Booklet as any other ballot measure.  Also...the State Supreme Court has already found the State Legislature in contempt of the State Constitution for not spending enough money on education!!!!  We think passing this initiative will fix anything?  Finally...this initiative, with it's specific numbers of new hires, feels too much like empire building by special interests. 

The we have the two different firearm law related initiatives, which are almost but not quite mirror images of each other, and they are both very easy for me to make up my mind on.

I-591 would prevent confiscation of firearms without due process, or requiring background checks beyond the federal standards. 

I-594 Would require universal background checks for all sales, public, private and gun show related.  Not only would it require a background check, but for pistol sales it will require a letter signed by your county Sherriff or local Police Chief stating that the purchaser "is eligible to possess a pistol [...] and that the application to purchase is approved by the chief of police or sheriff'

Holy Crap...no way THAT could be abused.  The wording also makes it illegal to loan someone a firearm, except when you are at the gun range with them, or hunting with them.  So...loan the guy at the lane next to you your pistol, and you are covered...give your buddy your new P22 so he can being it the range tomorrow and try it without you?  You have broken the law.  Let a guy borrow a shotgun when you are upland bird hunting?  Covered.  Let him bring the gun home to clean it for you, and you have broken the law.

Several local police agencies have said they will not enforce those sections of the initiative...but why pass a law that will not be enforced!  They are also upset by the letter requirement.  Benton County has already said this will require bringing in at least two more staff members...and this is a general agreement between all sheriff's offices. 

So...yeah...I am voting Yes for I-591 and No on I-594. 

If I can swing ANY election result, it would be preventing I-594 from passing...not only do I not believe in background checks for private sales...it's a poorly worded law that would make folks criminals for the wrong reasons, and already has law enforcement personnel saying they won't enforce portions of it.

Hail Hydra!

Well, you've got to hand it to Marvel...when the trailer for Avengers 2 leaked earlier today, they rolled with the punches.  Rather than trying to close the door after the horse is out of the barn, they blamed it on Hydra, one of the more secret than secret organizations which populate their world.

Yes, I have watched it...and yes, I am looking forward to May of 2015....going to see Avengers 2 might be a good way to spend my 40th birthday. 

Mountain House Review

While hunting alone last week, I brought a variety of items up for food.  Most of my needs were met by a loaf of bread and jars of peanut-butter and jelly...but for dinner, I wanted something more.  I brought a few frozen items, and at my wife's recommendation, I brought a few packets of Mountain House freeze dried entree's...you know, to rotate our stock.

I only had two packages during the week I was hunting...one of Noodles and Chicken, and one of Pasta Primavera.  Quite surprisingly, the Pasta Primavera was the better one.

For all intents and purposes, the 'Noodles and Chicken' might as well have been a cup of noodles soup...but, it was a good one.  I also learned that when they tell you to add the hot water and stir well...you need to Stir Well...the bottom 1/3rd of the pouch was much more flavorful than the top.

The Pasta Primavera actually impressed me.  I was somewhat suspicious of it, because it contained no meat...just zucchini, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans, with a cheese sauce.  The cheese sauce was described as 'parmesan'...I felt it was more like a cheddar flavor...but it was still pretty good...and hearty for something not having meat.

Now...so...taste was good for the Pasta Primavera, and acceptable for the Noodles and Chicken.  Both of them were convenient to prepare...just open the package, pull out the desiccant, and add boiling water.  My only reservation was serving size...and calorie count. 

Each entrée pouch is listed as being two servings...but I'm here to tell you that I was able to finish both of them myself without feeling like a glutton.  I think if you are splitting it between two people, you better have a great side dish to go with it...and that is just from a full belly perspective.  Calorie wise, the two I tried were listed as 220 calories per serving.  If you are a hunter, or a backpacker, you are probably going through more than 2000 calories a day, meaning if you are looking forward to you end of day meal being your biggest meal of the day...even if you eat a full pouch, you are probably not eating as many calories as you are burning. 

Which is fine if you are only going 2-3 days at a pop like I was doing...heck coming home 3-4 pounds lighter than I left was nice.  But...if you are doing a week of back-country hiking, you might start feeling a little weak and hungry after a few days.

All in all, while I was satisfied with the Mountain House stuff...it's not an MRE.  It is lighter than an MRE though, while taking up roughly the same cubic footage.  So...if you are worried about weight, the Mountain House might make sense...if you are worried about not going hungry, than the MRE might be the better choice. 

Increasing restraint.

Yesterday we had some friends come over from Western Washington for a visit.  We were lucky enough that they had some business to do that brought them within spitting distance of our house, so our house was a nice place for them to spend the night...and then, in another stroke of luck their actual business was quick enough that we were able to hand out and do some wine tasting.

Our friends recently got their license approved to open a cidery, and they ran all the way to Eastern Washington to get a 275 gallon tank filled with apple juice from one of the fruit processors here.  I guess on one of their first practice batches, they tried starting with apples, and the whole 'apple pressing' thing was just an royal, inefficient pain in the rear...buying the juice is a much more efficient starting point for them.

On the one hand...I am jealous of our friends.  They have a 5 acre farm outside of Poulsbo, Washington.  They have chickens, and goats, and kunekune pigs...and all that sounds very 'homestead'-ish...but in addition to that they also both have full-time jobs...and that makes me not as jealous...because all those animals, and all that land, and now a cider operation, is at least a 3rd full-time job...and I flash to some of those days I get home from my job, and I don't have the motivation to properly take care of my 6 raised beds and 4 chickens.

So, I am honored that they choose to spend some of their free time with us.

And good free time it was...we spent about 4 hours criss-crossing Prosser, Washington, visiting countless wineries...somewhere between 9-12 of them...which is less than 50% of them.  In fact, after stop #1, we decided that the correct thing to do if we hoped to survive the day was to split tastings instead of doing a full tasting at each winery.

It was a wise decision.

And while I am getting better at not buying something at every winery we stop at, we also didn't come home empty handed.

4 new bottles of wine, and then a bottle of some very, very smooooooth vodka, from Blue Flame Spirits, which was a nice change of pace stop half-way through the day.  The great vodka, a nice gin, and then both a wheat whiskey and a rye whiskey, all of which were tasty.  However...Blue Flame was also the place where I put the most horrifying thing we tried all day into my mouth...Grappa.  Holy Moly...that stuff smelled remarkably like paint thinner...and didn't taste much different than it smelled. 

Luckily, Kestrel Vinters tasting room was right next door to act as a pallet cleanser. 

Expectations vs. Reality

Sorry...things have been a little quiet around here this week.  Between wrapping up my hunting season, starting hunting with my daughter, and starting rehearsals with the Mid Columbia Master Singers, things in the real world have been busy, busy, busy.

So far the hunting with my daughter has been...interesting.  And, well...frustrating.  Opening morning of the season, we could have theoretically been done hunting by 7:45.  A few does crossed our path about 80-100 yards away...and we set up the Primos Shooting Stick...and my daughter, well...she decided she wanted to talk instead of taking the shot. 

'Daddy...it looks awfully small in the scope'.  Well...let me dial it up.

'Daddy...I can't shoot, it's moving...and YOU told me not to shoot at a moving deer.'  Yes honey...but there is a difference between a deer that is slooooooowly drifting from bite to bite of grass and a deer that is hopping away.

Eventually, I told her the truth...if you aren't comfortable taking the shot, don't take the shot.  It was early on opening day...there will be other chances.

Famous last words.  While we saw other deer, it would be Sunday afternoon before we got a realistic chance at another shot...and those deer were 150+ yards away...which looks further than that to a muzzleloader hunter and a first time 12-year old...but, the deer gave her a nice, stationary broadside shot...which she missed.

She told me she missed even as she was pulling the trigger...and when questioned how she knew she missed, she told me that she wasn't sure the crosshairs were on the deer when she pulled the trigger.

Face-palm...and then a deep breath.  And then a conversation about how much she really wanted to be hunting.  There were no tears...just me trying to talk to my 12-year old like a grown up.  It kind of turns out that REAL hunting was different than Cabela's Big Game Adventures on the Wii...which I tried to explain a LONG time ago. 

God Bless her though...she stuck with it...and she even enjoyed part of it.  Monday, we went back out, and she got to watch two coyotes playing with each other as the sun came up, and then she got to watch a group of does walk towards us, or at least our general direction...and then she got to learn the frustration of trying to stalk multiple deer.  And she smiled.

On the other hand, there is the painful reality that I might be in over my head with this choir that I have joined.  We have had two rehearsals so far...and I am struggling.  We have a month to the show...and I think I would be struggling just to learn the German pronunciation OR just to learn the music...let alone learn both. 

Luckily, we have been able to get our hands on some nice practice CD's...and I have a 35 minute drive to and from work...oh, and an hour drive to and from the hunting area a few times the next couple of days.

I hope my daughter likes Brahms.

Pit Stop

Well, back from elk hunting for a whole day before heading out tomorrow morning with my daughter for her deer hunting season.

Obviously, if I was successful, there would be victorious pictures of dead animals.  Instead...no pictures right now.  It is a case of close, but no cigar.  This is one of the first times I have burned enough leave to actually hunt the middle of the week(usually, I take a day or two off to hunt long-weekends. 

It's a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, I had the better part of 50,000 acres basically to myself...but, there was no one else to help push animals around.  For the better part of 3 days, I chased a herd of 18-20 elk from ridge to ridge, and was constantly outguessed by them.  With no other hunter pressure, there were just too many options open to them, and I was never able to properly 'head them off at the pass'. The closest I ever got was about 300 yards, which is no easy shot even with a scope, let alone a muzzle-loader. 

It doesn't matter.  I was frustrated enough I actually packed up and came home late Thursday night instead of hunting Friday...I wasn't enjoying myself anymore, and I was sore, and wore out from spending 13 hours a day sitting in the 80+ degree afternoon sun.  All along, I have said the most important hunting season this fall is taking my daughter out...and I didn't want to go into that season in the mood I was in Thursday.

A day at home has helped.  The alarm is set to go off at 4:30, and I am excited.  My daughter appears to be excited, but my wife also said she has expressed some doubts to her about her ability to actually kill something.  Not sure how I will handle that yet if it becomes an issue.  Deep breathes and patience are the word of the day.   

Regrets.

What is the better story:' Last day of the season I saw a buck, but decided the shot was not within my capabilities', or 'Last day of the season I took a shot I was uncertain I could make, and missed'. 

Well...if you read a lot of Field and Stream and Bugle, you know the answer to that one...those magazines are full of ethical hunters, and 'Yeah, it was the last night of the season, and it was the biggest buck I had ever seen, but there was a twig in my way, so I passed up the shot'. 

I guess I am not that guy. 

My moment of truth was not at closing light, but rather the morning of the last day of the season.  For a couple of days, I had been playing hide and seek with a group of deer...there was a doe, a spike, and then a larger buck I hadn't properly ID'd.  A few times I saw them in the distance, and a time or two I jumped them out of their beds and couldn't get a clear shot through the shoulder high sage brush...but the last day of the season, I guessed right.  Or close to right.

I picked a nice spot on one side of a draw, looking across at a few game trails...and right around 8 am, a doe and spike walked out onto the ridgeline, followed about 10 minutes later by the mystery buck, who turned out to be a nice looking 3 X 4.  Nothing trophy worthy, but a nice legal buck. 

Folks...I had that buck gutted, skinned, and dropped off at the butchers in time to make it home to watch the Patriots...in my mind. 

However...after about 15 minutes that seemed like a lifetime, it because apparent that the deer were slowly but surely working their way up the draw away from me, extending the range. 

Poop.  I started trying to butt-slide my way across the slope...but sage and sharp rocks are not your friend when you are trying to be quiet.  At best, I was able to keep pace with them, but I was not gaining distance...and I had a choice to make.

I figure my ideal range at 100-120 yards on a deer sized target.  I figured this buck to be about 150 yards away, and uphill.  Previous times I had seen him, he was 300+ yards away, which is an easy call to make.  But...just 30 yards or so past my comfort level?  Standing broadside? 

I took the shot. 

In a situation like this, the 'worst case' isn't a miss...it's a bad hit.  Luckily...I didn't have to deal with that worst case...I saw the dust kick up a foot below the buck...but I was so far away the deer really didn't spook.  Of course...now my reloads were 25 yards back down hill, where I had left my back pack before I started butt-crawling. 

Well...the deer didn't stick around for that. 

Dang, and double dang.  I did some looking, just in case I had hit the deer, but there was no blood.  By the time I paced things off, it looked like the shot had been closer to 200 yards than 150 yards...but...I still feel pretty lame.  By taking the shot and missing...it's my skill and judgment that were lacking.  If I had passed up the shot....well, then I would be a great sportsman who surely would have made any shots inside my range.

Poop, Poop, Poop. 

Oh well...I'm home for the night for a shower, to wash some clothes, and reload the cooler.  I head back out tomorrow morning to finish out the last 4 days of elk season.  Opening morning of elk season, I saw a herd a 35 head out a distant ridgeline while sitting and glassing.  It's a good 1.5-2 mile hike...but I figure I will load up my backpack with snacks and PLENTY of water and hike in...and sit, and sit, and sit. 

And this time, I'll wait for the right shot.

Hmmm...that looks nice.

Kind of jealous of the cats...

And the worst part is that I know my wife is going to make me take a shower before I get to sit on the couch when I get back from hunting.

Everyone have a nice weekend...and be safe out there. 

11 days!

I'm taking all of next week(and the following Monday) off, so that adds up to 11 days off before I have to go back to work...and I'm going to spend most of that time hunting: sweating in the afternoon(because it's still supposed to be in the low 80's) and sleeping in a tent at night...missing football...

Wait a minute...who's idea was this? 

Tonight, it's re-organizing all my boxes, making sure I have the clothes and supplies to make it 3 or 4 nights, before I finally break down and drive the 2 hours home for a shower.

Hopefully, a few of those fork-horns I saw last weekend grew another antler-point in the last 5 days...