Backwash

     Backwash. It's that gnarly stuff at the bottom of the glass or bottle that you don't really want to drink. There's no surprise of what that it, simply food particles that only you ate but it just doesn't feel right to drink. The bartender is asking if you want what's left, almost indignantly, as if you are an aristocrat that's beyond such things. All of this coming from a guy who walked into a bar known for a vermin problem and drank a shot of Jagermeister that was on the bar before he got there. Such depravity. Even though we're beyond it now, let's take a look at the bottom of the glass.

     Never have I tried to get overtly political on here. That's for all of the jagoffs on social media but we do suffer from an undiagnosed condition of histrionic personality disorder. It's best described as a person who seeks attention, talks dramatically with strong opinions, is easily influenced, has recently changing emotions and things relationships are closer than they are. It's a dangerous diagnosis because a lot of people have these traits. I tend to speak with strong opinions, but I try to abstain from absolutes - rather taking a more subjective approach, especially with this blog. But my goodness, have you seen some of the social media musings? Everything is the worst it has ever been and if you ask a certain group of people, it happened overnight. However, allow me to allay your fears, it's not as bad as you think.

     Put it this way, of all of the regimes over the course of recorded civilization, it's been a lot worse. Despite the din of mainstream media, the rash of murders in Chicago, murders and violence is still down! It seems counterintuitive but if you think the world is at war, your natural inclination is to hoard. You have a mentality of scarcity. You don't risk anything because you think the tumultuous world is going to crash in around you. We tend to think of things swinging back and forth like a pendulum, but on a long enough timeline, you see it moving in a very distinct direction, like an angle bisector. Let's put it to bed. Do me a favor, as a cohabitant of Earth, let's look at things objectively and without emotion. Pretend you're reviewing a case that you need to solve. Review the facts and try to make a decision based in reality. Is everything fascist? Is everyone Hitler? Hell, Hitler wasn't the best version of Hitler.

     I'm glad to get that out of the way. I feel like I needed to get that off of my chest. Moving on to things beer. I'm approaching two years here in Portland. It's odd considering that two years and 2 months ago, I never conceived that I would even be here. The beer journey seems to be a never ending one - with over 70 breweries within 50 miles of me. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch but it has been damn near impossible to really conquer the market. Breweries are always introducing new beers, introductions of new hops, malts and yeasts. My Untappd app is certainly getting a workout.

     Whenever I go long periods without updating this, I make the proclamation that I'm going to contribute more. But I get caught up in the day-to-day. Work, exercise, relationships, jiu-jitsu and actual drinking - it's real easy to let things like this slide. That being said, I will be making some capital improvements. It's my goal to update my soviet potato MacBook from 2006 to a newer version along with some video equipment.  My next article will be a book review of The Audacity of Hops which is a history of craft brewing since the early days of the 1960s and 1970s until today. With the upgrade of audio/video, I'm hoping to provide an experience like none other.

     In closing, I want to thank you for your patronage. Last week, I started a new website, www.redefiningform.com where I will be discussing all things American soccer (with a splash of Canadian), match reports from local games and scouting analysis. I plan to do a game of the the week where I basically break down the game and shit talk for 90 minutes. Also, I plan on splashing in some fitness and jiu-jitsu articles. Maybe later expand to a GQ for men.

Follow me on Twitter: @drunkproduction and @redefiningform