Vermont looks at lowering the drinking age

I used to care more about the legal drinking age when I was younger, but now I understand why the it's 21.

I don't understand how they can legally say that you can't drink at age 18, but I think it makes sense to try to discourage immature people from drinking. And everyone under the age of 30 is immature.

This week, a committee of the Vermont Senate approved a bill to have a task force weigh the pros and cons of rolling back the drinking age there to 18.

Organizations and lawmakers in other states are considering similar ideas.

In South Dakota, a lawyer had drafted an initiative petition to allow 19- and 20-year-olds to legally buy beer no stronger than 3.2 percent alcohol.

In Missouri, a group is using the Internet social networking sites Facebook and Meetup to try to collect more than 100,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to lower the drinking age to 18.

In South Carolina and Wisconsin, lawmakers have proposed allowing active duty military personnel younger than 21 to buy alcohol.

And last year, former Middlebury College president John McCardell started Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit that favors allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to legally buy alcohol once they've completed an alcohol education program.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is against these proposals, saying the higher age limit has saved thousands of lives since the 1984 enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The act required states to raise the age to 21 or lose federal transportation money. South Dakota was the last state to comply, in 1988.

Read the full story on Yahoo! News.

The Hunting Party

I just finished another movie - The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard. I hadn't heard much about this movie but I saw Richard Gere on The Late Show and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about this film, so I gave it a shot.

Based on an article that was published in Esquire Magazine, The Hunting Party tells the story of three journalists who take it upon themselves to find the most wanted war criminal in the world, Bosnia's "The Fox".

I liked it; well worth a rental, especially if you are a Richard Gere fan. If anything it's a different story than the ones we're used to seeing. I'm not sure why it didn't get a lot of attention in the press. It scored a 7.1/10 on IMDB and 6/10 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Movies and the new iPic Theater

I watched a few new movies:

We Own the Night starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall.

Brooklyn, 1988. Crime is rife, especially drugs and drug violence. A Russian thug is building his heroin trade, while everyone laughs at the cops.

Brothers have chosen different paths: Joe has followed his father Bert into New York's Finest; he's a rising star. Bobby, who uses his mother's maiden name, manages a club. Bobby too is on the rise: he has a new girlfriend and a green-light to develop a Manhattan club.

Joe and Bert ask him to help with intelligence gathering; he declines. Then, Joe raids Bobby's club to arrest the Russian. From there, things spiral out of control: the Russian puts out a hit on Joe, personal losses mount, and Bobby's loyalties face the test.

This was a good action flick, but nothing you'll remember a year from now. Worth a rental.


Blue State starring Anna Paquin, Breckin Meyer (where do you know him from? Maybe from one episode of The Wonder Years in 1988) and George W. Bush. Blue State is a romantic comedy about a disgruntled Democrat who actually follows through on a drunken campaign promise to move to Canada if George "Dubya" Bush gets re-elected.

I thought this might be funny, but it was amateurish and not very good. I would skip it, even if you're a Bush-basher.


I went to the new high-end iPic movie theater at Bayshore Town Center to see the chick-flick Definitely, Maybe.

The theater is really cool - we had reserved seats that an usher escorted us to. The $9 seats ($6 for the matinee show plus $3 for VIP seats) included a large popcorn for each of us and you can add your own butter-flavored topping and various powders like barbecue flavoring, parmesan cheese, and salt.

The VIP seats are probably most comfortable movie seats I've experienced. They are giant high-backed love seats with an armrest that you can move out of the way and each side can rock back independently of the other side. The seats are also really spaced out so there's only like 10 people in each row.

The theater was immaculate and the sound and screen were excellent. I think the higher prices might keep out the riffraff too, like the damn rich kids I ran into at Marcus North Shore last December.

The theater also has a restaurant, a bowling alley, and a bar (you can bring your drinks into the movie and micro-beer prices are $5, not bad for movie theater prices). I was impressed with the theater and I'll definitely be back, even if the prices are slightly higher than at Marcus theaters.

Here's a free tip for you. On Tuesday nights you can get a half-pound hamburger from Bar Louie at Bayshore for just $1. And if you go before 7:00pm, all beer taps are just $2, including all sorts of microbrews like Lindemans Framboise and Delirium Tremens. So for $5 you can get two great beers and a decent burger; there's your cheap date before a movie.

Definitely, Maybe was OK. It starred Ryan Reynolds, who I think plays generic roles that could be played by any young, male actor. He was decent in this, but reminded me too much of comedian Dane Cook.

In this movie, a political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter. There are a lot of Madison, Wisconsin, references in the movie, although none of the movie is filmed there.

I was entertained by this romantic comedy, but probably could have waited for the DVD.

New beer technology

I don't know how I could have missed all of this new beer technology from Coors. Maybe it's because I avoid that swill.

Still, I think everyone can appreciate Coor's new way to drink beer faster than ever before. Maybe after the Miller/Coors merger we can enjoy some of these fine new technologies on cans of MillerCoors High Life Banquet Light.

From Brandweek.com:

Coors has introduced a “Vented Wide Mouth Can” for six and twelve packs of Coors Light and Coors Banquet. The new vented mouth directs airflow into the can to enhance the swigging experience for can drinkers.

The packaging is an evolution of last year’s introduction of the “Smooth Draft Vent Can,” which featured a wide opening that enabled the liquid to pour smoothly like a draught tap.

Last year, the No. 3 brewer also debuted its “Cold Activated Bottle” which features a thermochromatic label that turns the Rocky Mountain label blue when the beer reaches the optimum temperature.

This year they will also introduce a 24-ounce “Cold Activated Can” as well as distribute pint glasses with the Rocky Mountain logo that turns blue when beer is cold enough.

Car Fire

I saw a car on fire today on the way home. There was a big flame coming out of the engine but you can't see it in this picture, just the smoke as the cop put the fire out. It smelled poisonous.

Milwaukee on Google Maps Street View

Milwaukee has been added to Google Maps Street View. It's pretty cool. Here's a view of my building:

Mmmm.... Dirty Old Man

The Madison Isthmus website has a review of a beer I just had at the Midwinter Brew Fest at the Milwaukee Ale House last weekend: Tyranena's Dirty Old Man.

I'm a big fan of Tyranena beers, especially their extra hoppy styles like their Bitter Woman IPA series. This beer is part of the Tyranena Brewers Gone Wild series of beer - extreme flavors and unusual styles that are all very good.

Dirty Old Man is an Imperial Rye Porter that was aged in rye barrels that used to contain Jim Beam Yellow Label (Rye whiskey, aged 4 years, 80 proof).

This beer is strong, dark, and sweet. It also has a strong whiskey taste.

Beer aged in bourbon and whiskey barrels is very popular lately and it took me awhile to get used to the whiskey taste, but now I really like it, especially when it has warmed a little in a glass.

Tyranena Dirty Old Man is rated an A- on Beer Advocate.

More Oscar nominated movies

On my continuing quest to watch all of the Academy Award nominated films of 2007, I watched two good movies this week:


Michael Clayton is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach. Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

This movie, starring George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson gets special props from me for its references to Milwaukee. This movie has 7 Oscar nominations.

Into the Wild: Freshly graduated from college with a promising future, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naive idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature? McCandless' quest took him from the wheat fields of South Dakota to a renegade trip down the Colorado River to the non-conformists' refuge of Slab City, California, and beyond. Along the way, he encountered a series of colorful characters at the very edges of American society who shaped his understanding of life and whose lives he, in turn, changed. In the end, he tested himself by heading alone into the wilds of the great North, where everything he had seen and learned and felt came to a head in ways he never could have expected.

This movie stars Emile Hirsch (only known by me from an episode of NYPD Blue) and is directed by Sean Penn. I didn't know anything about it before watching it and I really enjoyed the story. This movie has 2 Oscar nominations.

How to remove streaks from stainless steel appliances

I had some major streaks on my stainless steel kegorator that I couldn't remove. Soap and water had no effect at all. So I looked online and there were quite a few cleaning suggestions: vinegar, club soda, rubbing alcohol, a citrus oil based cleaner, a sheepskin chamois, and Soft Scrub.

I tried a few, but they sucked. Here's what worked for me, a night-and-day difference - in about 5 seconds: olive oil.

I put a small amount of olive oil on a paper towel and wiped away - the streaks were gone immediately and the whole thing shined like it was brand new. I then used it on my streaky and spotty dishwasher and oven and it worked on them as well.

I'm not afraid to say that olive oil is a miracle cleaner for stainless steal. And choosing extra virgin olive oil as your main source of dietary fat, combined with eating a healthy diet that is high in plant foods, may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Who knew?

Healthy beer idea stolen from brewery

According to the Courthouse News, the Cleveland brewery Brewmandu is suing a former employeed for stealing their idea for healthy beer. The beer has "vitamins and nutrients to protect the liver and offer increased nutritional content to combat the negative effects of alcohol consumption."

I think it's a good idea. I've always wondered why they don't put vitamins and minerals in stuff that's bad for you, like candy. Mmmmm, Mike & Ikes with Vitamin C.

In fact, I'm going to invent my own healthy beer and call it Vitamin Beer™. Ha! Now that it's written somewhere, you can't steal the name.

I can't find any records for Brewmandu anywhere on the web, so it must be a really small or really new brewery. The brewery that the employee started himself, Lott Bier Works, also doesn't seem to exist anywhere. The Lion Brewery, which is the evil employee's partner, does have a website, but they don't mention the healthy beer anywhere.

I guess it will be awhile before we can buy Vitamin Beer™ in stores.