The Beer Drinker’s Diet.

As part of my New Year’s resolution from 2006 I am working to loose a little weight. I joined Wait Watchers this morning and already I feel the panic coming on. Can a beer drinking lose weight without resorting to MGD 64 or Mic Ultra? I am willing to bet the answer is yes. Logic dictates I would have to drink 8,624 MGD 64s to get the flavor and enjoyment of just one good craft beer. I will be sure to let everyone know how it is going in the coming weeks.
When I decided to start this adventure I had a face a few facts. I am a beer drinker, I have always been a beer drinker, and will most likely always be a beer drinker. So if I plan on loosing weight then I have to take this in to account.
First thing I need to figure out is according to Weight Watchers’ diet fiber is good but the sugar from alcohol is bad, true whole grains good, fat is bad. So I am going to try and cut out all other unnecessary sugars throughout the week, then find beer that has any fiber and how much exercise I need to do to counter act my debauchery. This week all excess sugar is gone.
I am using this website` as a guide and will be working to learn WW Math to make some calculations. Here is what I have found out so far. For the most part beer does not have any fat, good, but has a ton of calories, bad. One beer can make up to 10% of my intake for a day. No big deal really because if I am more sensible about my food intake I can will have a little more wiggle room on night I drink beer. Now here comes exercised; it is no secret that light exercise is good for your heart, but does not really do much to burn calories. So that leaves on thing left to do, burn some major calories around days I will be having beer.
By the way,  I am not indorsing Weight Watcher in any way. The reason I chose them is because their math is transparent, and I can control what I eat and it is easy to understand what kind of food does what in regards to weight loss. My ultimate hope is get to a point where I am just eating healthier overall and Weight Watchers seems like a good place to start. If any of you have tried this, let me know. I could use the advise…as long as the advise isn’t don’t drink beer. Hey worse comes to worse I will just switch to vodka.
Wish me luck
Write me at:
mister.whiskey@gmail.com

Some major changes are coming soon!

Dear Brain Gravy listeners:

We at the Brain Gravy studios are working on some hopefully big changes. As from the feedback we have received, it appears that Brain Gravy 2.0 is proving to be a  successful venue! We are hoping to maintain our current release schedule barring any foreseeable changes. We are also hoping to present some special episodes, including reports from Z live, who will be attending the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We have some collaborative episodes planned with some of our fellow podcasters as well.

In addition, expect some big changes in our web presence! We are in the process of putting together an entirely new website, which will include our blogs, as well as show notes, beer reviews, alcohol reviews, general rants and raves, and some other things we are working on in the basement of BG studios, including expanding Z's Applebee pairings, Mr. Whiskey's This Week in Porn, and other fun features....

Ok....back to the studios. Until next time, Peace and Love to everyone! And happy imbibing!

JustHarmless

Busy recording...recording...recording

Ugh! Its been a busy few weeks. I think Brain Gravy 2.0 has been going incredibly well! The crew and I have been recording at a furious pace, and BuBBy is working around the clock to get the episodes edited and out! I'd like to give a big shout out to the newest member of the Brain Gravy crew, The Art of Beer. Her expertise and perspective had been a wonderful addition to the podcast content...plus she can roll with the punches so to speak...and if you are a fan of ours, you know what I mean....

I haven't been active on the blog scene lately as I have just started at a new hospital in my other life...as well as continuing to help out at my old hospital; so burning the candle at both ends has left little time for blogging here. But now that I am more or less acclimated, I will try to update more often. In addition, we are working on an all new Brain Gravy website type experience, which will include show notes, beer and booze reviews, and our own general rants and raves...

Oy...look at the time.....time to get back to work!!!! Ciao for now!!!!

JH

Is Google and Facebook Evil?

I don’t know how many people read this blog or how many people follow tech like I do, but something has happened recently that really makes me question the ethics of both Facebook and Google.

There is no question how much both these services have worked their way in to the public eye. Search without Google just seems crazy and let’s face it, there are a ton of people, my wife included who cannot imagine a life without Facebook. However, recent events leave the ethics of these companies in serous doubt.

Facebook implemented a new security protocol that leave many of its users’ privacy wide open, not to mention the recent risks found in the games Facebook makes available i.e. Mafia Wars. Google has CEOs saying “privacy is dead, get over it”. When it comes to these kind of arrogant statements, along with  the statement “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about.” from a previous post, that makes me really feel like opting out of these services for good. I know this includes blogger. “Do no Evil” Google…remember?

Tell me what you think. Is Google and Facebook evil?

Here are a couple of articles written by far more talented writers than I.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/10/google-evil

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2009/03/13/2009-03-13_is_google_evil.html

http://calacanis.com/2009/12/13/is-facebook-unethical-clueless-or-unlucky/

Please do some checking around.

Have a great week everyone.

Off the Subject.

I imagine this will bet pulled, but I just have to say…I AM NOT A FUCKING CRIMINAL, SO STOPPING ASKING TO SEARCH MY SHIT WHEN i WALK WHEN i AM LEAVING THE STORE…just saying.

I have started denying people access to my search my bags when I am walking out of a store. After all, if I am not doing anything wrong I don’t have anything to worry about, right?  Wander how long until I run out of places to shop. Does anyone ever stop to think that whole idea of “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” reeks of a police state.

I have a Stone Smoked Porter in the fridge. I think I should drink it. This will be a first time for me and I can’t wait. I hear it is like liquid steak. Not liquefied steak, just steak flavored liquid with alcohol in it .

Short post, got to get to work. Have a great week everybody, and never let the bastards get you down. Google that.

Whiskey:

Brain Gravy 2.0 - Episode 4 Hoppy Thanksgiving 2009 is out!

Hey everyone!

Brain Gravy 2.0 Episode 4 is now uploaded! This is our Hoppy Thanksgiving 2009 episode where we review two amazing beers from Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY.,  their Hennepin and Three Philosophers.

-Three Philosophers may be the perfect Thanksgiving beer!
-Other show notes:

• Two Thanksgiving recipes using beer (Thanks to the Homebrew Chef )
• A reminiscing about Patty Smyth and Scandal
• Where's Mr. Whiskey?

Cheers and enjoy!!!

And a Hoppy Thanksgiving to everyone from Brain Gravy!

Roadkill Friday

Last night, my bud and I went to this place called Firewaters by my hospital in Hackensack, NJ. It is a chain of 4 restaurant/bars with other locations in Newark, DE and Atlantic City, NJ. The one by me is associated with a Hooters, with a contiguous space and open doorway between the two places. Their claim is 50 beers on tap and 100 in bottle. Now while they did have 50 beers on tap, unfortunately about 25% of them were the standards: Bud, Bud light, Yuengling, Coors, Blue Moon, etc. Then they had some next level beers like the Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, etc.

I was not blown away by what else they offered. They listed the Rogue Chocolate Stout on tap, but was told they "just ran out" when I asked for it. They had replaced it with the Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which, I have to admit, was darned better on tap than out of the bottle. I followed that up with the Erie Rail Bender Scotch Ale, which, I have to say, was the first time I had had the Rail Bender, and, I really liked it. It definitely reminded me of the Oskar Blues Old Chub; it was so good, my friend drank it the rest of the night. (My friend, for the record, is a former Bud drinker whom I am slowly converting into a craft beer geek!) I then moved on to the Flying Fish Dubbel. I was pleasantly surprised: It reminded me a lot like the Hennepin. It was thoroughly enjoyable. With one beer left for the night, I decided to go for the Abita Purple Haze. Excited to try this wheat beer, I was once again told they were "out" but they did have the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. I started to feel like the Monty Python cheese shop sketch, and was ready to get really annoyed.

What stopped me? The bartender was a sweet young woman who looked great in a bustier. Her breasts were pretty much falling out of her top. She was very nice, and had absolutely no beer knowledge. Later on last night, two more bartenders came to work as the place got busier, both also looking quite nice in their bustiers, and also with little to no real beer knowledge. So..was I going to argue with that? Hells no! I just finished the night with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and called it a night.

Overall, I thought from a purely beer experience, I'd give it a B minus. The more exciting beers (to me) were out...all beers were served cold, all the beers were served in pint glasses (the dubbel should have been served in a chalice) and the bartenders had no beer knowledge. From the perspective of a dirty old man, it was very nice. The use of the Hooters formula really distracted me from the fact that these bartenders knew nothing. And, it was a real fun night out with my friend. So, overall, it was a really nice night out.