Blog By James

So it appears that I am in some way allergic to barleywine. Since bringing home the growler of the Devil’s Milk, both times that I actually drank any of it I had a horrible headache within 2 hours. The first time I didn’t think the headache was related. But on Thanksgiving day I put 2 and 2 together. What’s interesting about it is that both times I only drank about a half glass so I was no where near drunk. Yes the barleywine’s alcohol content is at worst 11.5% but I had such a small amount to drink that I can’t see that being the problem. Now that I think about it, the first time I had barleywine (which was Halloween ’03 I believe) I felt pretty bad then too.

I never get seriously pissed anymore anyway and haven’t really since my early 20′s. And even then it was a very rare occasion. One of things you learn as the years go by, is that you’re better off if you just get a nice buzz and stop. This holds true for a lot of things in life. Taking everything in moderation is a good rule to stick with I guess.

Anyway, no more Devil’s Milk or any other barleywine for me. I’ll stick with my pales and have a better time.

Tonight Allison, Mike and myself are driving to Ocean City for tomorrow’s turkey-day festivities. Allison and her mother are cooking something fabulous I’m sure. Which brings me to…….beer!

Mr. Law (our roomie Amy’s father) is a kind man indeed. He brought with him, on his way up to New York for the holiday, two growlers of pure brewed goodness for me. One is of my beloved Falmouth Pale and the other is the seasonal Spiced Winter Ale, both from the great Blue & Gray Brewing Company out in Fredericksburg. I haven’t actually tasted the Spiced yet so I have that to look forward to. Knowing that he was bringing the beer up for me, I went down to DuClaw yesterday during lunch to get him a growler filled with the Bare Ass Blonde, per his request. But while I was there I just had to get something filled for myself! So I bought some Devil’s Milk and after trying it for the first time last night, it’s called that for a reason! It’s a barleywine (which is still considered very much a beer and not a wine) and the alcohol content is at about 11%. Gulp! Beer, the nectar of the gods.

I am very excited about a keyboard that I’ll be buying this weekend after we get back from the holiday. It is the Logitech G15 and it’s the freakin’ coolest thing ever! It does everything I’ve ever bitched about wanting in a board and so much more. It makes me giddy just thinking about it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Meb and I had a great time at the gig on Saturday. We had some (potentially huge) technical difficulties right before we started. But everything worked out well and from what we’ve been told, everything sounded great. I feel we played well and the laptop did its job without any mid-performance hiccups (knock on virtual wood). For our first gig with this configuration, it was a success. Thanks to all of you who came out to support us. It means a lot!