Comics Roundup for 1/26/11

Marvel's not doing a very good job of spacing out their Avengers books lately. I seem to recall the first month they came out that there was one every week. Now there are three in the same week. Oh well, what can you do?

The Avengers #9 - I really enjoyed this issue for a few reasons. For starters, it shows that there are still tensions left over from the whole Civil War and Initiative storylines, which shows that those stories mattered even though we have a new status quo. I also liked the fact that Steve Rogers (the original Captain America) is quick to agree with Spider-Man's assessment of the current threat. Those two characters represent the bright side of being a superhero, and it only makes sense that they would see it the same way - plus it's nice having Wolverine on the team to offer the counterpoint that wouldn't really work with another character. "Lofty principles are pretty useless if no one's around to see you live by 'em." I also prefer Scott Hannah's inks on John Romita, Jr.'s pencils over Klaus Janson - at least, for a title like this. Janson's a better fit for characters like The Punisher.

Secret Avengers #9 - Steve Rogers and Friends continues to be a good title, and I need to go through the whole series just to catch up on all the plot points that are building to a head here. I also should go back and re-read The Marvels Project, as there's stuff in this title that's building on what Ed Brubaker wrote in that series. All this, and I think that Shang-Chi is being used pretty effectively beyond "Asian guy who knows martial arts".

The New Avengers #8 - If Secret Avengers is basically Steve Rogers and Friends, then this series is Luke Cage and Friends. I don't have a problem with that, as Brian Michael Bendis has done a good job of making Cage into a cool character beyond some token black superhero. Speaking of Bendis, he gets a little too impressed with himself and his dialogue sometimes, but it really seemed to work in this issue. All this, and Daniel Acuna on art made for a nice read.

Captain America #614 - I don't have much to say other than this continues to be an enjoyable read. And can we just get rid of the "Nomad" backups already? How about backups with The Falcon? Black Widow? Crap, I'll take U.S.Agent by this point - and let's get a new artist for those backups.

Detective Comics #873 - Was this anything spectacular? No, but it was some solid superhero storytelling with the Dick Grayson Batman. There was also a really cool fake-out moment that really had me wondering, "Are they REALLY going to go through with this?" I hope this creative team sticks around. If they do, so will I.

Comics Roundup for 1/19/11

Not much to write about even though it's been three weeks since the last Roundup. It seems like most of what I read comes out all at once, I guess. I actually picked up one of these a week ago, but I didn't want to write a one-comic entry. Anyway, here's what I got and what I thought about it:

Avengers: Prime #5 (of 5) - While I would have preferred to have seen more character interaction, I have to realize that these are superhero comics and not serious drama. With that said, this had some of the best art I've seen out of Alan Davis in some time, as it utilized his talent for crowd shots and battle scenes. Overall, it was a fun series although I'm not as sure now that it was as necessary as I did at the start of it.

Wolverine #5 - I don't have much to say about this one other than I enjoyed it and will continue to get this series. At the end of it, Wolverine managed to crawl his way out of hell, but he continues to have some serious problems to deal with. This is a well-paced series as there are some good developments with each issue. Also, it's always good to see Wolverine put through his paces, and Jason Aaron has concocted a story that has done just that.

The Amazing Spider-Man #651-652 - I realize what Dan Slott is going for with this new incarnation of the Hobgoblin. He's an interesting counterpart to the hero, as he's a young smartass who works for a newspaper and has an "Uncle Ben" as well. I wonder how Tom Defalco, his creator, feels about making him into a bad guy? Anyway, 651 wraps up that story (for now) and 652 introduces an army of Spider-slayers, and J. Jonah Jameson continues to be put to good use in this series after having almost disappeared for several years for its pages.

This beer needs a name!

After much success with my Pumpkin Ale and Chili Ale, I've been feeling a bit more bold about going off-recipe when it comes to homebrewing. Still, I was at a loss for ideas as to what I was going to make next. Then, a couple of things happened.

The first was that I got my hands on a bottle of New Belgium's Trippel. For those of you who don't know what a Trippel is, it's a very strong, light-colored, Belgian ale. Usually candy sugar is added to it in order to up the alcohol content. Also, Belgian yeasts tend to have a very unique characteristic, creating fruity and spicy flavors - some might even describe them as being almost perfumey. Anyway, I enjoy a Trippel from time to time, but it's not my favorite style. This one, however, knocked me out. For one, it wasn't too strong. Secondly, New Belgium adds some coriander for flavor to their version. I've had and made beers with coriander before, but I've never had the flavor stand out so much before. It made for a nice addition, and it complimented the other flavors rather nicely.

The other thing that happened was when Kirsti and I went to PF Chang's for dinner. They have a Ginger Beer there. Now, usually when you say Ginger Beer, you're referring to a non-alcoholic drink. This one, however, was an actual beer with ginger in it. The waiter actually warned me, as he said it had a really strong ginger taste to it, as it was basically a Kirin Ichiban with some ginger added to it. Considering that I make the (non-alcoholic) ginger beer, I told him that was no problem. Overall, I really enjoyed it, although I noted that it would be interesting to try a beer that had a bit more character to it and then add some ginger to compliment the flavor.

These two experiences led me to wonder: "Why not a beer with coriander and ginger?" I figured that a Belgian style would compliment these two flavors best, so that's what I set about to create. I started off with MoreBeer's Belgian Pale Ale kit and made a few tweaks to it. First off, I replaced four ounces of corn sugar with four ounces of brown sugar. Why? I don't know - wanted to see what it would do. I also got rid of the Fermentis yeast packet that came with it. (To be more specific, I saved it for an Extra Special Bitter. Supposedly the yeast is a Belgian-style, but it tastes much more like an English style if you ask me - and a lot of other people on the Internet.) In its place, I used White Labs Saison Ale Yeast. (A Saison is a Belgian style ale that was originally made in farmhouses during the warm season.) As for the coriander, I bought a package of it from the spice aisle and broke it down in my pepper-mill. The ginger was some fresh stuff that I got in the produce section. (You can find the entire recipe at the bottom of this post if you're interested.)

I was originally worried about the amounts of ginger and coriander to use. I found conflicting accounts, and I wasn't sure if I was adding far too much or far too little. Usually I err on the side of caution, but this time I knew that I wouldn't mind it if those two flavors came in a little strong. I figured that at worst, I could age it out a bit and the flavors would mellow.

What's the verdict? I created one tasty, refreshing beer that didn't quite come out the way I wanted it. The coriander is definitely present while not being overpowering - pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. The ginger isn't even noticeable, which would be more disappointing if the beer itself didn't taste so good. I'm guessing that I'll just have to try again and add some more. That's not such a bad thing, is it?

All I need now is a name. I simply wrote "Saison" on the bottle caps, but that style doesn't usually employ ginger and coriander (although using those is hardly unheard of either). Ginger-Coriander-Saison-Pale Ale is a bit verbose, don't you think? Corsonger? Gin-co-son? Spicy Pale Saison? Lance Deluxe? Miller Chill? Ahh well, I still need to perfect this into what I really want, so hopefully I'll have a name by then.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Steeping Grain:

4 oz. Caramunich

4 oz. Special B

4 oz. Carapils

Extracts/sugars:

7 lbs. light malt extract

4 oz. corn sugar

4 oz. brown sugar

Hops:

1 oz. Hallertau - added at the start of the 60-minute boil

1 oz. Hallertau - added a the last minute of the boil

Additional flavorings:

.87 oz. crushed coriander (an odd amount, but that's what the package's label read)

1/2 lb. (approx) fresh ginger, thinly sliched

Both of those were added at the last 10 minutes of the boil.

Yeast: White Labs Belgian Saison

Fermenting time - 3 weeks. This got off to a slow start, and I racked it into a secondary fermenter after 2 weeks. The fermenting started up again and finally settled after a few days. I then bottled it and tried my first one after one week from bottling.

Comics Roundup for 12/29/10

Wow...big week for me. In the interest of sanity, I'll try to keep most of these brief:

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 - I'm not the hugest fan of David Finch, but I've always enjoyed his artwork when I was already picking up a book that he was drawing. This series gives him a shot at writing, which I'm not sure if he's done before. So far, he's doing a pretty good job, and he's setting up a pretty intriguing plot and making good use of the character dynamics that one looks for in a Batman book (like the dialogue between Bruce and Alfred). Regarding the art, I liked his work on New Avengers, but I have to say that his style is much more suited to a character like Batman. This is easily some of the best I've seen from him. I'll definitely check out the next couple issues at least.

Batman: Detective Comics #872 - I liked the last issue with this new creative team of Scott Snyder and Jock, but I have to say that I liked this one even more. Definitely a cool new villain with this one with a great warped life philosophy.

Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #4 (of 6) - This is quite a complex tale that's being told here, and it continues to have some fun character bits along the way.

Captain America #613 - What can I say? This is a great series, but I still want them to lose the "Nomad" backups, especially since the art is devolving in every issue.

The Flash #8 - Another villain-centric issue, this time with the Reverse Flash. Gotta say that I liked this one much better than last issue, and I'm looking forward to more with this villain. This is almost as good as that Mark Waid/Mike Weiringo issue of Fantastic Four that focused on Doctor Doom. We definitely see this guy for the sociopath that he is.

Green Lantern #61 - I've noticed that the last two books I wrote about didn't really feature the title character in it. This one didn't have Green Lantern at all. Oh well, it was still good. I really think that lately we can't look at individual comics as being self-contained stories anymore. They're all just chapters of much larger sagas.

The Avengers #8 - The Illuminati return in this issue, and it looks like it doesn't have a place in Steve Rogers' new world order. I'm glad to see that the tensions from Civil War are still boiling under the surface.

Carnage #1 - 2 (of 5) - Honestly, I don't really like Carnage that much as a villain. Still, when I flipped through this one at the store, I was intrigued. They're definitely doing something more interesting than the lame-ass "Maximum Carnage" story here. Also, I really like the artwork of Clayton Crain. (Besides, it doesn't seem like Carnage is even the main villain here anyway.)

Nemesis #4 (of 4) - Fun stuff. One thing that Mark Millar really knows how to do is move a story forward with each issue. Of course, this one resolved everything, but it definitely leaves things open for a sequel. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope that they can make a decent movie out of this.

Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1 (of 2) - This is a pretty cool little vampire story, and Scott Hampton is a welcome addition to the rotating team of artists. Still, I'm kind of hoping that Mignola himself will draw one of these soon.

Echo #27 - This series keeps going strong. As always, I like the characters, I like the art and I will eventually sit down and reread the entire series.

Superior #3 - I kept thinking while reading this issue that this series needs some kind of twist in order to justify its existence beyond just telling a several times told story well. By the end of this issue, it looks like the twist that I want is coming my way.

Comics Roundup for 12/22/10

Batman, Inc. #2 - This was a fun issue establishing the new Japanese Batman. Basically, Bruce Wayne is taking his crimefighting efforts global, and he's establishing a Batman in various cities throughout the world. It's an interesting idea, but where is all this going? Considering that it's Grant Morrison, I'm going to assume that it's not just going to be issue after issue of a new Batman in a new country. Surely there's going to be some kind of payoff to the whole thing.

Secret Avengers #8 - It looks like Ed Brubaker is building on stuff he established in The Marvels Project, which rewrote Marvel's Golden Age history. That makes me want to go back and re-read that particular book. Anyway, Mike Deodato is still on a roll, and this continues to be a great 2nd Captain America book moreso than an Avengers book. I think I need to sit down and re-read the entire series though, as I'm no doubt missing some stuff.

Larfleeze Christmas Special - Larfleeze is a supporting character in the Green Lantern series. Basically, he's an "Orange Lantern" who instead of harnessing willpower, harnesses the power of avarice. His orange lantern tends to make him rather obsessive, and this issue deals with what happens when he finds out about Santa Claus. Basically, it's another one of those "true meaning of Christmas" types of stories, and guess what? I totally fell for it. It's a more sincere salute to the holiday than those dopes at Fox News will ever give.

Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #2 & #3 - I passed up on the last two issues because I was buying too much stuff. Well, I've cut back and this series seems to be coming out bimonthly at best, so I figured that I could start picking it up again. I'm glad, as this certainly doesn't feel like shelf-filler. It has a pretty complex story, and it really gets to the heart of these two characters and why they'd get on each other's nerves. It's kind of the "World's Finest" of the Marvel Universe.

Adventures in Christianity - Part III

Because I just couldn't get enough Christianity on Saturday night, I just had to go to church on Sunday morning. This time, I went to Sanctuary Ministries Church in Concord, California. Why? Because I said that I would. Actually, I wrote about my decision making process regarding this some time ago, and now I finally went.

How the heck did this all happen? That there is a story unto itself. I'll give a very brief version of the story. A few years ago, a guy I knew in high school posted on Facebook a story about somebody who was "miraculously" healed. I wrote a response, spelling out all the problems that I had with the story. Much to my surprise, I got a response from the woman herself. We then went and had a conversation about it that turned into a face-to-face meeting. It was a good conversation, and even though I still don't believe in the supernatural or miracles, I felt like I had a better sense as to where she was coming from.

A few years and a few Facebook debates later (with some of them actually having the two of us being on the same side against somebody else) I have found myself to be Facebook friends with her sister, and more recently, her mother. It was actually her sister who invited Kirsti and I over for dinner and to their church. (I'm still trying to figure out the deal with the sister. While I'm certain that she's not a faithless heathen like yours truly, I'm not so sure that she's on the same page as the rest of her family.) Eventually "Facebook friends" turned into "friends" and I figured that I'd go ahead and go to church. I wasn't expecting some sort of revelation or conversion, and I don't think that they were either. They just wanted to invite a friend to something that they like, the same way I've invited friends to Free Comic Book Day.

At the risk of sounding like I'm making some kind of desperate plea for validation, I'm always somewhat surprised when I find out that people like me. The reason why is that I'm critical of everything, but I'm the most critical when it comes to myself. Whenever I hear my wife or somebody tell me about how so-and-so likes me, my reaction is always "Really?" When it comes to these folks, I'm doubly shocked. The way I see it, I can come off as rather abrasive, especially in my online persona. I'm the kind of guy who says things that people don't want to hear, and I don't have any qualms about telling a person that they're wrong when they clearly are. I don't always get good reactions from that sort of a thing, but obviously it's not so bad if people are inviting me over to dinner.

So, how was it? Ironically, I probably felt more comfortable in church than I ever did as a believer. See, as a believer, I never really felt all that connected to what the people were saying in church, and I felt bad about that. I figured that I was supposed to feel some connection. Shoot, maybe that should have been my first clue that atheism was the way to go for me. It took nearly a decade to finally figure that one out. Anyway, now that I don't feel like I need to believe any of it, I can just sit back and nod my head at the stuff that I like. As for the stuff that I don't like, I feel like I'm just an observer, so what's the harm?

Was there stuff I didn't like? Well, nothing that doesn't touch on my basic problems with the Christian faith - or faith in general, even. Overall, it was pretty nice. I actually like the sense of community that these folks have. One lady talked about how when she was having some tough times, everybody in that church was there for her and helped her out. How could I be against something like that?

Other than that, it was a tad bit long - two hours. The sister told me that it wasn't a typical service, and she told me that I "needed" to come back. I told her not to push her luck. Also, one of the pastors spoke about how he was having difficulty finding a nativity scene. I was tempted to raise my hand and say that I saw some at Costco. One of the places he mentioned that supposedly doesn't carry them is Target, but a quick check on their website shows that they have quite a few to choose from. Maybe he was getting at some bigger point that my analytical mind just refused to notice though. Lastly, something that could have been a problem was that during one of the prayers, we were asked to hold hands. This could have resulted in a mini freak-out for me if not for the fact that my wife was on one side of me and the sister (I wonder if she would be cool if I just used her name?) was on the other. If it was a complete stranger, I might have had some issues with that, but this is more of a matter of me being weird than a problem with the church.

The head pastor happens to be the father of my two friends. He's a nice guy, and he talked about us having some kind of debate (although I don't think that's the actual word he used) as he knew me through my online arguments. I told him that letting me get up there and debate would probably be the best way to get me to come back. In all seriousness, I don't think that it would be appropriate for me to come to one of their services and stand up there and give all my snarky comments about Thor and Frost Giants when those folks are there for their Jesus fix. Still, perhaps we can work something else out for a time other than their regular Sunday service. (This is assuming that he really meant it and wasn't just being folksy.) Personally, I think that a conversation would be better than a debate and maybe we can just let other people sit and listen.

The thing is, most people of faith really just don't get us atheists. This is mainly because there just aren't that many of us. It's also because some of the atheists they know might be in the closet about it. While I'd be a fool to expect to deconvert anybody, it would be nice if I could have at least one less person say things like "Oh, you must be angry at God!"

Adventures in Christianity - Part II

Every year, an old high school friend of mine, Justin McRoberts, puts on a benefit show for Christmas for Everyone at the Hope Center in Pleasant Hill, California that he calls McChristmas. Apparently, this was the ninth time he did this show, but it was the first time that I went. Why haven't I gone before? Well, I don't really do the whole church thing. Still, some other non-religious friends from those high school days have gone, and they convinced me that it's a good show. Basically, they told me that it was more about helping the poor and acting like Jesus than anything else, and I really don't have any problem with that sort of a thing.

I actually figured that I'd go last year, but something came up so Kirsti and I couldn't make it. This year though, we were able to go especially since Logan's aunty was able to take care of him for the evening. We were supposed to meet up with some of those aforementioned non-religious friends, but they flaked out on us, which made me suspect that the whole thing was a trap.

Well, it wasn't. Overall, it was a pretty good show. The music was enjoyable, and Justin's lyrics tend toward the more thoughtful/introspective than the overt deity butt-kissing that some religious music is. It's also impressive to see how far he's come, as it's been some time since I've seen him live. Despite his claim to be more of a music fan than an actual musician, he came off polished and professional, no doubt some of the credit going to his backup band. He also did a nice job with a few covers like "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and Aimee Mann's "Save Me."

Justin also talks a lot with his audience between songs, and it's usually pretty funny stuff, as he's a gifted storyteller. Sure, I don't always relate to the overall message, but I definitely related to a bit of what was said. The stuff that really hit home with me was when he talked about his son. See, Justin had a son just a few months before mine was born. I also found out that like me, he was hoping for a girl, but now that he has a son, his attitude is "All right! I have a son!" That's pretty much how I feel as well.

For the most part, I was just able to go with it and enjoy the show. I did have a bit of an issue when Justin handed over the stage to a gospel choir. It wasn't that the choir wasn't good. They were pretty damned entertaining. It's just that the leader talked to the audience a bit before about a personal experience of his before they went into a song about how God's going to "work it out" (or something along those lines). As I stated in my last post, I'm not going to get into all my objections to Christianity, so let's just say that this was a moment when all of my issues started racing around the forefront of my brain, making it difficult for me to just enjoy the music.

Will I go again? I think it's a definite possibility. After all, it helps a good cause, and I definitely enjoyed most of it.

I'd like to point out that Justin and I have had discussions about having some sort of a debate between our two blogs. These conversations have stopped, and I'm guessing that it stopped for him for the same reason that it stopped for me - being a father takes away from blogging time. I'm hoping that we can get back to it someday though, as it should be interesting. The thing is, Justin's beliefs are definitely Christian, but he definitely doesn't go along with a lot of the dogma that you typically hear from Christians. I have a feeling that he just might upset the Christians more than I will. Hopefully we'll get to find out someday.