Good productive Sunday - made my wife breakfast, wrestled with the dog to give him his eye drops, went to the gym, and hit the grocery store. Need to pause here for a second, as I saw the cops take a guy out of Wegmans in handcuffs, which I found both sad and hilarious. Shoplifting? Stolen credit card? Can't say, but he got a free perp walk through the front of the store. That guy definitely isn't enjoying the rest of this sunny Sunday afternoon, like I am. Dinner is in the oven, and at long last a beer is in my glass.
Tonight Marci and I are both drinking the Heavy Seas Barleywine from Clipper City. This one is part of their Mutiny Fleet, a series of limited edition releases. It pours a dark mahogany with ruby hues and a sparse tan head. Your nose picks up aromas of rich malts and.... maybe leather? The taste gives off notes of toffee, raisins, candi sugar, and roasted malt with a buttery sort of undertone. It checks in at 10% ABV which is definitely noticeable. Solid beer, and I would definitely like to see how this beer changes with aging in the cellar (we had the 2011 vintage).
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| Ahoy! |
Finally, after 105 days and with a Baltimore beer up to bat, it's time for you think about the GREATEST television program in the HISTORY of television: The Wire. That isn't hyperbole or a random adjective here; this show is by far and away the best programming I've ever seen in my life. Marci and I have both sprinkled in some Wire quotes here and there, but now is the time we think about it in earnest.
Created by David Simon and Ed Burns and shown on HBO from '02 - '08, The Wire showed life in Baltimore from many perspectives, focusing on one main theme each season (the drug trade, the docks, the police/City Hall, the schools, and the print media). The writers/creators had an amazing ability to make every character both loveable and deplorable, often at the same time. Good guys did bad things, bad guys did good things, friends became enemies, enemies.... well they formed a co-op but mostly stayed enemies. Characters were woven in and out across the seasons, and you saw them evolve (or not) over time while life around them largely stayed the same due to the dysfunctional systems of local politics and street life. With a few exceptions, most of the actors were relative unknowns, but were near flawless in their character portrayals.
You are doing yourself a terrible disservice by not watching the show. Fix that by adding it to your Netflix queue, and see what all of the fuss is about. You'll be glad you did. Check this NSFW clip for a too-quick look at what you're missing:
"And I keeps one in the chamber, in case you ponderin'...."
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