• Because You Love Me…
  • Follow
  • About
  • Friends

Useless Things Need Love Too

Useless Things Need Love Too

Monthly Archives: February 2017

Things Anew or: This is More Like It

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Amazon, B&O, computer, HP

Salutations™!!

With my paycheck for the “big job,” I was able to purchase a new computer. I was in need, too. The one I use at home was really starting to fall apart. About six months ago, I was trying to clean something out from under the left “Shift” key and popped the key off. I use that one more than the other side, so that really messed me up on my typing. But, more about that computer scares me than just that key missing.

As a matter of fact, as I was ordering this new computer (I got it from Amazon) the hard drive on the old one started clicking and acting all weird. It’s made that noise before but it’s really getting louder. So, I figure that it’s not long before something serious happens. I have a lot of stuff on there that I’ll have to transfer to this new one, but I do plan on keeping that one going as long as possible because this new computer has no optical drive (CD/DVD/BRD) which means if I want to purchase something used at Ed McKay or even new on CD, I’ll have to be able to upload it to my iPod. That means I’ll have to keep an avenue open with a CD player.

The fact this one doesn’t have such a device and the fact that it has Windows 10, are the only things I’m really finding wrong with this new computer. It’s one of the x360 Flagship High Performance 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop. The keyboard flips around to become a tablet. It can stand and be an entertainment center. It has a B&O sound system (that rocks the speakers, I can’t wait to hear the clarity in the headphones. Because it flips to be a tablet that means the screen is touchscreen and I can draw on it (not that I will) or write like a notebook, etc. 8GB Memory and 1TB of space. Just what I need, too.

Like I said, I still have a lot of stuff (pictures, mostly) to transfer over to the new machine but I should get to that in the next day or two. But. this post is the first blog post I’ve written on it. Still getting used to the feel of the keyboard and a few other things to get used to (again, Windows 10), but it won’t take too long to do so. I dig it. I just wanted to write something on the new machine and this is it. Thanks for indulging me.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I love it!!” – an Amazon.com reviewer

The Recap or: The Food That Was

27 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

3B, Bernardin's at Zevely House, Hoots Roller Bar, Mary's Gourmet Diner, The BCPF, The Katharine Brasserie, The Man Who Ate the Town, Twin City Hive, Underdog Records, Willow's Bistro

Salutations™!!

Honestly, this could have been a The Man Who Ate the Town post and me piggyback it, but I may actually do the opposite and reverse that. But, I figure there will probably just be a post about one of the places, soon. Anywhat! Let’s get to this…

16939225_1324440457616854_8739977501094267498_n

Camel from Bernardins

I told you yesterday, Dear Reader, that I would recap the food that we had in our “celebratory” weekend. It started on Friday night when The BCPF and I went to a place we’d never been before, Bernardin’s at Zevely House. Her at all and me, not since they moved from Jonestown Rd. That old place didn’t have a lot of charm, though. And, looking back, my date was not the greatest, so, I go back and call it, my first time, too. We wanted something special, and as much as I love our regular “go tos,” I also wanted something different. This was it.

We ordered Camel for me and Emu (not shown) for The BCPF. Yep, we wanted exotic and that’s what we got, at least for “’round here” standards. I’m going to save the descriptions for the food blog but I will say that both were tender and slightly gamy but not in any kind of bad way. Brittany, our server, is a good friend of ours, so that made a great night even

2017-02-25-19-23-00

Carolina Chucker App

better. We also had maple sweet potato cheesecake. I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes but this was pretty good!

Saturday morning we did our walking thing, then went to Mary’s Gourmet Diner which is always fantastic. A stop at the record store, that’s Underdog Records, buying a cleaning system and some records, followed by coffee at Twin City Hive and brews at Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company makes it all a great afternoon and we have standing Sangria Saturday rezzies at Willows Bistro so that was up next.

2017-02-25-19-41-19

Carolina Chucker Breast

At Willows we were treated with some “Carolina Chucker” which is a cross between a quail and a dove. It was pretty good. It was freshly hunted and Chef Travis said he had to make sure all the buckshot was out of it. Also, we had the Carolina Chucker breast wrapped in bacon and stuffed with pickled jalapeno. There was other things included in both of those dishes, but again, that’s for food blog. I got what I feel is the absolute most solid dish on Willows menu and that’s the ahi tuna plate. It’s always perfect. The BCPF had the fried Rappahannock Oyster Salad. Thanks Willows, Chef

2017-02-25-21-19-16

Rappahanock Salad

Travis, Chef Brent and their team of awesomeness. Of course, we had several sangrias.

Sunday morning it was brunch time and, again trying something new, we went to Katharine Brasserie & Bar. Yes, we’ve been there before but not for brunch. I

2017-02-26-12-24-38

Biscuits and Gravy

certainly started off with some delicious steak tartare followed by their french take on biscuits and sausage gravy. The BCPF had eggs and sausage with side of fried green tomatoes with a spicy tomato aioli. The bardude
Rolando P. made me a fantastical rum drink and I dug it.

Sunday night, we cooked in and it was a family effort as The BCPF, 3B and I all did our share of duties for the meal. We fixed a tangy carnitas-style taco with an avocado crema and homemade peach salsa. It took us about an hour for prep and cooking

2017-02-27-15-59-21

Homemade carnitas tacos with avocado crema and peach salsa

but it was fun and we if we may toot our own horns, it was darn good. Recipe coming soon on the food blog. I didn’t have my special light for that picture so it comes out a little bit dark and yellowish, so the pics don’t do it justice. So that’s our food weekend. A lot of great food in there. Not a bad meal to be had for us. Watch for more on The Man Who Ate the Town.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“What’s crema?” – 3B

Silent Sunday or: Food!

26 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Silent Sunday

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Food, Silent Sunday, The BCPF

Salutations™!!

We didn’t have a weekend last week because of the big job I had to do. That’s fine, it was worth it. I got a paycheck between that and another job and because she helped me, I needed to take care of my lady, The BCPF. It was a celebratory kind of weekend, indeed.  It will be more in detail tomorrow, but this is Silent Sunday, so let’s stick with that for today.

16939225_1324440457616854_8739977501094267498_n

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw

Thunderball or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

25 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

a/perture Cinema, Adolpho Celi, Austin Powers, Claudine Auger, DVD.com, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Frau Verbissener, IMDb, James Bond, Netflix, Rotten Tomatoes, Sean Connery, The Less Desirables, Thunderball

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Thunderball (1965), starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger and Adolpho Celi.thunderball-movie-poster-1965-1010189595

Per IMDb: “James Bond heads to The Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.”

Emilio Largo (Celi), #2 in the nefarious organization called SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), creates an elaborate plan to have a flight-trained double agent have plastic surgery to imitate a French pilot named François Derval (whom they kill), who hijacks a test flight, killing the rest of the crew and delivering two atomic bombs. SPECTRE then uses the bombs as ransom for $100M (and yes, I typed it like Dr. Evil and you know you just said it like him, pinky to the corner of your mouth and everything) from the world governments or else the organization will destroy a major US city.

Secret Agent, James Bond (Connery) just so happens to be at the same health spa as the plotters of this elaborate scheme and gets in a tangle with one of them; a little back and forth between between snarky superspy and lackey villain. He stumbles through the plot and when all the “00” agents are brought in for a meeting, Bond recognizes someone from the spa. He asks to be redirected to the Bahamas to investigate. He goes and meets Domino (Auger), the sister of the pilot who was killed, Derval. Domino’s guardian, whom she calls her “uncle,” is none other than Largo.

Bond tries to keep Domino in the dark about what he knows, but at the same time becoming involved with her and investigating Largo at the same time. Largo even invites Bond to his house to entertain him and show him around, for lunch. Bond of course accepts the invitation and visits, but, not before he is caught trying to investigate the Disco Valante which is the large yacht owned by Largo. What did he find? What did he uncover? Did he get the girl? Of course, you’ll have to watch the film to see.

This is the fourth of the James Bond series. I have the entire series at least up until Skyfall on the 50th anniversary Blu-Ray Disc set that came out in 2012. I have had the pleasure of introducing my boy, 3B, to the world of James Bond. We watched the entire “Austin Powers” series and he liked that, so I wanted to show him where the inspiration came from. Frau Verbissener is a direct parody of Klebb from From Russia with Love and #2 from “Powers” (eye patch and all) is a direct parody of Largo. Of course, Dr. Evil is Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

In this film we are starting to get a real glimpse of the gadgetry that the Bond series became known for. There were hints in the first film, we are introduced to Q in the second and third, but this is where they ramped it up. A jetpack, Geiger counter watch and the now-famous Aston Martin DB5 which first arrived in Goldfinger, equipped with gadgets of its own, are just the beginning. The plots were very “Cold War” back then. And, the cinematography, as cheesy as it is now, was quite apt at the time. Green screen work, or just forefront work, in general was very noticeable. 3B is used to really good special effects, which these effects were great, they’re just dated.  Those kinds of effects were in their infancy at that time and while it was continuously growing, it wasn’t until the mid 80s that it really took off. It all looked over-the-top fake, to me.

I think with the exception of Klebb in Russia there’s a rule that Bond has to have a pretty woman (good or bad) and the whole film is full of them. As is always the case when they’re using Italian and other foreign actors the have to use voice artists for the screen actors to lose a good bit of their native accents. This had a lot of out-of-sync spots of that. But, overall it was one of the best of the early Bond films, to be sure. I like it a good bit, I’m just a Bond fan. The scenery, the lavish sets, the locations. The sharks (minus the frickin’ laser beams). It’s all part of the Bond charm. And, the fact that I get to introduce to, watch with and experience with The Boy, then that’s just bonus. Oh, and let’s not forget the awesome theme song sung by the great Tom Jones. Listen closely to the end of the title song and you’ll hear Mr. Jones warble and fade out. In reality, he passed out in the studio from holding that note so long at that pitch. He did it right on the take, but passed out. They left that in there. I think that’s cool trivia.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 86% Fresh with an Audience Score of 73%. IMDb has it at 7 out of 10 stars. You can only watch it on disc right now, so you can order it from DVD.com, Netflix‘s disc service, if you’d like to see it. Again, I have the whole collection on Blu-Ray so that’s how I saw it. I rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She’s just dead.” – Bond

Excellence or: The Explanation

24 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

50 West Fourth, Airtype, Burke Street Food Truck Festival, Crafted; The Art of the Taco, Downtown Winston-Salem, Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, Garner Foods, Glass Door Spa, Kimpton Cardinal Hotel, McHugh Sisters Flats, Pride Winston-Salem, Salem College, The BCPF, The Katharine Brasserie, The Less Desirables, Wake Forest, WSNC

Salutations™!!

So, the last week was a bit of a cheater week for me. Some scheduled posts (which, ohonestly a lot of them are) and many piggybacks. And, I told you that I was going to explain, if you’re at all interested. Perhaps you’re not, I don’t know. But, I’m going to lay it out and let you decide for yourself whether or not you want to read it. Here goes:

As I said earlier in the week, it’s been the same thing for the last two years. I’ve been doing it much longer but not as I was blogging each day. This time of year is when the Downtown Winston-Salem Parnership does their Excellence Awards for the year prior. I am the one that puts the video presentations together for the winners. I have to collect the list of winners from DWSP. I have to gather information such as company bios, histories and pictures of the projects, people, places from the winners. I have to get The BCPF to write the copy. I have to do the voice overs for the presentations. I have to compile the videos and sync them, albeit loosely, to the voice overs that I’ve already recorded. It’s about two weeks of work; to do it justice.

Well, I started receiving info last Wednesday. That two week window was out the, well… window. That’s the nature of the beast with this project, though. That’s no one’s fault, it’s just the way it is. So, the info started coming in and I had to get The BCPF to work on the copy. Our schedules were not cooperating and the poor thing, she had to stay up until about 2:30am last Thursday night/Friday morning working on it. She got seven of them done. Some of the winners didn’t get me stuff until Friday. With that, Jason, the president of the DWSP had to write a couple of bios and I wrote two. Yes, if you do the math, that’s 11 winners. ELEVEN! So, at about a minute average for each spot, that’s a lot of production.

It takes me about an hour for each minute of video. Placement, gathering the pics in some instances and picking the right music that fits with the slideshow. All that takes a good bit of time. More than just dragging and dropping, it’s work. I don’t like my work to look amateurish. But, I figured I’d recognize the winners, here, for those that weren’t at the awards ceremony on Wednesday morning. These are very short synopses, not even the full copy that I read for the presentations.

50 West Fourth – The old Forsyth County Courthouse was converted into luxury apartments and the renovated building is phenomenal. So many amenities and coolness while keeping this building’s history in tact.

Airtype – Bryan Ledbetter and his staff renovated a 1920s building and it is now a modern office that houses Airtype, a national design company, Camel City Goods that is all about branded WSNC merch and two modern apartments.

Burke Street Food Truck Festival – a shload of people flocked to this half mile food truck extravaganza. 68 trucks with artists and children’s areas, it’s just good stuff.

Crafted: The Art of the Taco – Chef Kris Fuller brings her successful GSO concepts to our great city and wows us to no end with her taco and burger creations.

Finnigan’s Wake – Do we really need a refresher on this place? It’s where The Less Desirables was born, it’s where The BCPF and I met and it’s just one of my favorite places in town. It’s the Official Emerald Isle of The Less Desirables.

Garner Foods – Garner Foods, known for their Texas Pete sauces and Green Mountain Gringo salsas and chips, moved into the Nash building on 4th Street and have done a lot of cool things inside, including a new test kitchen. That’s cool. I took the pics of that building and it was awesome.

Glass Door Salon and Spa – Erin Blakely opened this spa on Cherry Street in the Embassy Suites. She does great work with hair, nails and massage, but also a lot of stuff with charities, including purchasing Disney “Princess” dresses to visit children at Brenners Children’s Hospital.

Kimpton Cardinal/Residences at RJReynolds – The old RJ Reynolds Building was renovated and became apartments and a very nice Kimpton hotel. Don’t forget one of my favorite restaurants on the ground floor, the Katharine Brasserie & Bar.

McHugh Sisters Flats – a new dorm/apartment complex built at Old Salem for Salem College. It’s pretty righteous.

Pride Winston-Salem – the group that advocates for equal rights for all! Resources for the LGBTQ community and anyone else that needs them. They have a huge parade downtown and a food truck rodeo with drag shows and just a bunch of fun.

Wake Forest School of Medicine – an old RJR plant that was converted and turned into a medical school that will produce a lot of new doctors and medical scientists. That transformation was amazing.

And there you have it. Congrats to all the winners. I can get back to sleeping, having weekends and living, now. But, you know what? I love my jobs.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“For more than 10 years, Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen has brought the Emerald Isle to downtown Winston-Salem. Its opening in 2006 was a major spark that helped catapult the downtown nightlife into the vibrant atmosphere that it is today. Don’t be fooled, though, this is not just a bar and restaurant, this is an experience. Finnigan’s Wake is a popular meeting place for businesses, groups and friends having that pint after work. Finnigan’s Wake has been hosting downtown’s St. Baldrick’s Day celebration since 2007, raising close to half a million dollars for children’s cancer research. Finnigan’s Wake employees, including owner, Phillip Kirby, raise money for the charity by shaving their heads in solidarity to the children. Finnigan’s Wake is a staple downtown and has major social capital; just ask any member of its famed ’90-Day Club.'” – Copy for Finnigan’s Wake

My Everything Would Crumble or: Strength (Eugeology Entry 7)

23 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Music Review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Black and Blue, Chip Z'Nuff, Derek Frigo, Donnie Vie, Enuff Z'Nuff, Eugene B Sims, Eugeology, Jon Lowder, Mick Jagger, Vik Foxx

Salutations™!!

I was a fan of the last entry on the Eugeology Train, a little non-Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy and it was pretty righteous. I know Eugene liked it and the jury is still out on Jon, he’s now a week behind on his review (*scowls at Jon*). This week, it’s a band that I’m only slightly familiar with, Enuff Z’Nuff. I know their two hits, “Fly High Michelle” and “New Thing.” This album, though, well… let’s talk about it.

enuff2

©Atco

#7 – Strength by Enuff Z’Nuff.

I always get EZ’N and Black and Blue and a couple of other late 80s/early 90s bands mixed up. It just wasn’t what I was listening to. Mainly because I had no point of reference with them. I’m not saying they all sound the same but it was just a bunch of stuff thrown out there that I hadn’t ever heard, only heard of. I never even heard even the hits until the 2000s, until either I got it on some “hair metal” VH1 compilation or when I got Sirius (before SiriusXM) and listened to “Hair Nation.”

This just wasn’t in my wheelhouse. Other than limited availability to me, I don’t know why. I like the two hits mentioned above. But, not enough to explore more. Luckily, I have Eugene to set me straight and let me tell you, it’s not for his lack of trying. He’s tried to introduce me to so much stuff over the years and my contrary arse just wasn’t having it. I understand it’s a flaw, I’m dealing with it. But, leave it to Eug to appeal to my sense (call it a need) for a list. You got me, Eug. You got me.

So, Donnie Vie has a distinctive voice.Very much so. It’s him and you don’t forget that. His voice is at times squishy, at times piercing, at times whiny, at times mesmerizing. The two things that it is consistently, though, is powerful and darn good. His lyrics are just sliding out of the cheese of the genre and are smart and story-telling. He paints a picture and it isn’t the skanky cock-rock kind of picture. Think of a hard rock Bob Ross. That’s what he’s painting. The range, not only in pitch, but in dynamics, of Vie’s voice is most prevalent in “Goodbye.” I loved that song. I am a sucker for the power ballad, though. You expect a rock ‘n’ roll voice from a band like this but he pours his soul and emotions into “Goodbye.” Also, the swing vocal style in “Mother’s Eyes” is notable and you should pay attention; close attention. On “Baby Loves You” I can see him standing prissy, a la Mick Jagger, puffing a fag (that’s a cigarette, by the way) and being extra saucy. I don’t know why. His vocal patterns aren’t necessarily predictable, either. You may expect him to go down but he throws an upward portamento in there and you’re like, well, that was cool. At least that’s what I say. And dang! “The Way Home/Coming Home.” That is some amazing vocal work. Okay, enough of kissing his backside.

I think the two things that worked against them in my mind (back then) was the overly glam look that I had my fill of. I still liked the stuff but felt I had had all I could take of it. When you’re full you can’t keep eating. The other thing, something I still can’t forgive them for, was the over-saturated and incessant use (even though it was the 90s it was still the 80s for this) of funky “metal” spellings, especially the insistence of “V,” “X” and “Z.” All of that aside, I was unfair to them. I see the error of my ways.

The songs are riffy and catchy. Great hooks, here. Harmonies are fantastic, throughout. The varying styles are interesting, too. “Long Way to Go” is hard rock CCR; scooping riffage in the opening track, “Heaven or Hell;” dissonance mixed with Major7th chords in “Mother’s Eyes;” the 50s inspiration in “Baby Loves You;” the pop rock anthem of “In Crowd.” That’s just a brief overview of the styles. This band had it going on.

Production wise, it’s pretty balanced. You get the vocals up front, sure, but the rest of the instrumentation was all clear, present and accounted for. With the brief list of exceptions, you’d expect a person who has taken on a stage name to match the cheesy band name (ahem, Chip Z’Nuff) to be a little more blatant in his bass playing, but he really doesn’t do much other than play second fiddle to the rest of the ensemble, although he has a few shiny moments. It’s tasteful, to be sure, but I would expect a little more. It’s okay, though. It works for them. Derek Frigo (RIP) and Vik Foxx are solid here and very good at their instruments, but however good they, along with CZ’N are, they’re overshadowed by the presence, if only aurally, of Donnie Vie.

At first, I sighed when I saw this come through. Upon first listen it became background noise, but in fairness to the band, Eug and Jon, and to myself, I listened while working on something else, so it wasn’t a thorough listen. That first listen, I wasn’t impressed. There was probably more than an inkling of pent-up resistance from my younger days, too. I also thought that the album was about four songs too long. Second listen, I lost some of that edge. Third listen, I was nodding along. Fourth listen, just this morning – the first time I really listened – and I’m erasing all the reservation. I can’t think of any song to cut, I don’t care if their name is (still) cheesy and I don’t discount them any more. At least as far as this album is concerned. This is one darn fine album. It has “Strength.” Thank you, Eug, can’t wait to read your and Jon’s assessments.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“A little spark has started fire. My will to be alone is over now. I’d slay the dragon, walk the wire. This little girl just takes me higher and higher, and higher.” – “The Way Home / Coming Home” (Rybarski/Vandevelde) (Chip Z’Nuff/Donnie Vie)

Mangö Kölsch or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Beer

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BeerAdvocate, City Beverage, Clown Shoes Beer, RateBeer, The Less Desirables, Untappd, WSNC

Salutations™!!

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Mangö Kölsch from Clown Shoes Beer, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week. unnamed-2

Now, I’ve never had any other Clown Shoes beers before, but I have had this one. I had it at Single Brothers Bar when I was washing TLD glasses (I use their dishwasher) and thought it was light and refreshing. It was a great beer. Plus, I love the brewery’s name. There’s some things I guess we need to cover. According to their carton, Clown Shoes says about this beer: We gook a light, refreshing German beer style and bastardized it. The atypical Kölsch is dry-hopped and has all natural mango flavor added. And it also says: Warning: This Beer is NOT Reinheitsgebot! which means that it’s not on par with the German Purity Law of 1516 and whilst I think the Reinheitsgebot is a fantastic thing, I like when people step out from under its “thumb.” I know this beer is fruity without being wimpy and it’s just a great drinker.

It’s only 5.5% so you’re not going to get blasted on it unless you chug quite a few in one sitting. BeerAdvocate rates the beer at 88 (Very Good) with no Bros Score. Untappd has it at 3.73 caps out of 5. RateBeer has it at 76 Overall, 92 in Style. That’s a bit of a contrast. Have you had this beer? What did you think? If you haven’t or just have a hankering for more, then head on down to City Beverage and grab your sixer. Tell them that its the beer of the week and get 5% off your order. Tune in tonight or tomorrow morning to hear what Caitlin, Danielle, Josh and I think of it!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Founded in 2009, Clown Shoes is the result of a joke, spite, and a deep passion for craft beer. Naturally, we dislike clowns but find the shoes hilarious. They remind us of humor in life and to be humble. If you made it this far, thank you for reading the bottom of this package.” – Clown Shoes (bottom of the carton)

Take Your Stinking Paws off My Beer or: Craft Freedom!

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

AB InBev, Asheville Citizen-Times, Beer, City Beverage, craftfreedom.org, Heineken, NC Beer, NoDa Brewing Company, Olde Mecklenburg Brewing, Raleigh Brewing, SABMiller, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, The Beer Dads, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town

Salutations™!!craft-freedom-dk.png

 

Dear Reader, did you know about the stupid law that stifles the employment and economic growth of the breweries (and local communities) in this state? Perhaps you don’t. To many, and understandably so, it’s under their radar. Most imbibers are blissfully oblivious because it’s not something that the big beer distributors want you to know. You’re asking what it is I’m talking about, I know. Well, I’m going to provide the copy of the petition from CraftFreedom.org and let you read it for yourselves. It goes like this:

In North Carolina, breweries are allowed to distribute their own beer – up to a certain point. A misguided law, created to favor local distributors, now threatens the growing craft beer industry. The law mandates that once a brewery produces 25,000 barrels of beer in a calendar year (which is equivalent to the amount of beer N.C. consumes in about 1.5 days), it must engage beer distributors to distribute all of their beer. The distributor gains ownership of the brand and control over all sales, delivery, distribution and quality control during transportation – basically everything that matters to a company. The brewery loses almost 30% of its revenue and margin to the distributor, a devastating financial blow to any company, and enters a bloated distributor beer-brand portfolio in which it cannot compete or be adequately supported. Finally, regardless of performance, N.C. law makes it virtually impossible to fire a distributor and regain control of the brand. The brewery is locked in forever. Brewery owners have no choice, and no say in what happens to their business. This is currently the law. And it needs to change.

What CraftFreedom.org is petitioning for is that the ceiling of 25,000 barrels be raised to 200,000 barrels. That way there’s more room and more ability for the smaller, more independent and guys trying to make a living (and supply jobs for others) to compete and provide a healthy service to the economy and community.

You see, when the distributors have your beer, it’s added into a pool of other brands that that distributor carries. “Big Beer” like AB-InBev, Miller, Heineken, and their ilk put demands and/or incentives on the distributor to push and promote their beer over the “little guys.” Ever wonder why your grocery store beer selection is 90% Big Beer and that little bitty section is for the better quality and usually better tasting craft beers get the last 10%? I’ll tell you, it’s certainly not because those beer brands taste better. It’s because those big boys pay to have their stuff shoved down your throat. That extends to the purchasers and consumers.

Here in Winston-Salem, while we can still find Olde Mecklenburg Brewing‘s beer here and there, it’s not as plentiful as it used to be. How often do you see Hell Yes, Ma’am!, House of Clay, Moravian Rhapsody here? Probably never, those are from Raleigh Brewing and they’re stuck in Distributor Hell. You’ll see some of NoDa‘s stuff here, but again, it’s not plentiful. These are just some of the breweries that are stifled by this ridiculous law.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think distributors definitely have their place and have done some good. They do push some of those smaller brands, especially to the bottle shops like City Beverage. But, like most of the smaller breweries, I believe the use of them should be voluntary and not mandatory.

I think the executives of those three larger/smaller breweries said it best when they served as guest columnists for Asheville’s Citizen-Times newspaper:

“Imagine for a moment that you start a small business. You invest your life savings, take enormous risks, and work long and hard to make your venture a success. Years later, your hard work has paid off, and your business is growing. You want to invest more money and hire additional employees to expand your production and sales.

“Then state government comes to you and says: Hold it right there. Since you have made your business a success, North Carolina law requires you to give up control of your homegrown product and to transfer your brand rights to a needless third party – outside distributors. These state-mandated middlemen have taken no risk or stake in your entrepreneurial enterprise, they just want to reap the benefits of your hard work and dedication.”

Does that sound right to you? Heck no! If it does, then you’ve got some issues. That or you work for or own one of those a-hole distributors. I would recommend reading the whole article, which you can find HERE. I could go on and on but I wouldn’t do the cause any justice. But, we need to do something about this travesty.

Again, CraftFreedom.org has set into motion a movement to have these nearly 90-year old laws changed. If this bugs you, then you can be part of the collective voice. Go to the CraftFreedom.org website, sign up and sign the petition. It costs you nothing. You can buy a t-shirt if you’d like, but other than that, it costs you nothing but time. If you don’t care and just want to drink the beer that you’re given, then fine, ignore this whole plea.

I, The Less Desirables, The Beer Dads Podcast, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking and The Man Who Ate the Town, all support this cause and we hope you stand with us and the hundreds and thousands of brewers, imbibers and lovers of beer to give the beer back to the people. Give them Craft Freedom!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The craft beer industry has contributed to the return of local manufacturing jobs and a rekindling of the entrepreneurial spirit in N.C. Our state and world grow and change over time – and the craft beer industry here is both changing and growing along with it. It is common sense that a law that is outdated should be amended to reflect the current times – this is all we are asking for. It’s time for N.C. to support this industry instead of curbing its momentum.” – CraftFreedom.org petition

Piggyback the Nosh or: Restaurant Week

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Downtown Winston-Salem, Restaurant Week, WSNC

Salutations™!!

It’s Restaurant Week and I wrote a quick piece about it on The Man Who Ate the Town. Check the article HERE.

dt5122_restaurantweek_webheader_760x427px_lowres-page-001-1

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
” PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE AND CANCEL as soon as possible to give other diners and the restaurant the opportunity to fill those seats!” – Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership

Silent Sunday or: Silent Saturday

19 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Silent Sunday, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DWSP, Mary's Gourmet Diner, The BCPF, Video, Voice-Over, work

Salutations™!!

Yesterday, The BCPF and I walked a short morning walk, ate at Mary’s Gourmet Diner and then I went to work. We left the studio around 5:30p and went to eat, which was a small adventure, but we had wine and that’s okay. We’re back to the studio this morning to finish the work that I’m charged with. See you tomorrow…

0bc471a6554a58cd331d57fc05c99557

Until then, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele

← Older posts
Follow Useless Things Need Love Too on WordPress.com

Social

  • View tgbii’s profile on Facebook
  • View bassmantnc’s profile on Twitter
  • View timbeemanii’s profile on Instagram
  • View timothy-beeman-ii-9ab93827’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View +TimothyBeemanII1970’s profile on Google+

Recent Posts

  • Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 1/9/21
  • Sounds Like Saturday or: MCMLXXXIV
  • Happy Solar… or: My Pops
  • Back to Computin’ or: It’ll Have to Do
  • Now Normal Chronicles or: Coming Alive!

Recent Comments

Damien on Silent Sunday or: Two of My Ne…
Damien on Brought to You by the Number 5…
TGBII on Spinning Sunday or: The Haul…
Damien on Spinning Sunday or: The Haul…
Damien on My Holiday or: A Happy Po…

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014

Categories

  • Beer
  • Blogging
  • Food
  • Friend Friday
  • Honeymoon
  • KISS
  • Life as We Know It
  • Movie Review
  • Music Review
  • Podcasting
  • Product Review
  • Rant
  • Records
  • Silent Sunday
  • Sounds Like Saturday
  • Spinning Sunday
  • Spirits
  • Talking Tuesday
  • The Less Desirables Network
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Wine

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Dealspotr

@themanwhoatethetown - influencer profile on Dealspotr
dealspotr.com
Follow Useless Things Need Love Too on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to receive notifications when the idiot who runs this blog updates by email.

Join 1,902 other followers

Recent Posts

  • Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 1/9/21
  • Sounds Like Saturday or: MCMLXXXIV
  • Happy Solar… or: My Pops
  • Back to Computin’ or: It’ll Have to Do
  • Now Normal Chronicles or: Coming Alive!

Recent Comments

Damien on Silent Sunday or: Two of My Ne…
Damien on Brought to You by the Number 5…
TGBII on Spinning Sunday or: The Haul…
Damien on Spinning Sunday or: The Haul…
Damien on My Holiday or: A Happy Po…

People Who Say Things That Rock!

Categories

  • Beer
  • Blogging
  • Food
  • Friend Friday
  • Honeymoon
  • KISS
  • Life as We Know It
  • Movie Review
  • Music Review
  • Podcasting
  • Product Review
  • Rant
  • Records
  • Silent Sunday
  • Sounds Like Saturday
  • Spinning Sunday
  • Spirits
  • Talking Tuesday
  • The Less Desirables Network
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Wine

People who love to read my spoutings.

  • 45,897 hits

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Copyright For All Ramblings:

©Timothy G Beeman II

Blog at WordPress.com.

Fan Interference Podcast

The Fan Interference Podcast, part of The Less Desirables Podcast Network

Asylum: Tales from the Devereaux Diaries

Asylum: Tales from the Devereaux Diaries

Eat Drink Triad Podcast

The Podcast of Triad Food and Beverage Coalition

Beeman-Metz Media

Coming Soon

myfox8.com

News, Weather, Sports and more from WGHP FOX8

As Ardmore Turns

An almost true-to-life soap opera that practically writes itself.

Beeswax Vinyl and More

A NC-based Podcast About Music and Vinyl

Defining Yellow

Eddie Huffman

SippingNC: The Art of Drinking

A Blog and Podcast all about North Carolina libations.

Dr. Rock's Blog & Roll

Your dose of the BEST music ever made! (www.DrRock.com)

Sipping NC: The Art of the Drink

North Carolina Libations from Beer to Wine to Spirits

benedictbeerblog

Funny Redhead Loves Beer. Funny Readhead Writes About Beer.

The Beer Dads Podcast

Three guys having a beer and talking about being dads.

The Man Who Walked the Town

Exploring WSNC One Step at a Time

Somewhere Over the Olive Tree

Way up high in the Valencian mountains

Daily Inspiration Blog

The NC Triad's altweekly

Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem's alternative newspaper and media source

Wrestling-Online.com

Covering pro wrestling news since 1998!

I've got a Roman Candle Now!

Cancel