Glibertarians.com 2018 Archive

Category: Reviews

  • Nephilium’s Games Corner – Kicking What Now?

    Sturgeon’s revelation: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

     

    There have been close to 15,000 projects for board games on Kickstarter.  If we just go with the ones that were successfully backed, we’re probably at about 60% of that number, and at least 90% of them are crap.  Today I’m here to talk about some of the ones that aren’t crap, and some signs that the game project you’re looking at may be part of that 90%.

     

    Game 1: Scythe – Steampunk, alternate WWII, and engine building (2-5 players; 7 with expansions)

    When most people look at Scythe, they see a wargame with sculpted mechs and characters.  This is not a wargame, if you go in expecting a lot of combat and dice rolling, you’ll be very disappointed (especially as there’s no dice in the game).  Instead, Scythe is a game of efficiently expanding and building up your faction to score the most points when the game ends. In fact, the biggest random element of the game is the setup, where each player is randomly given a faction board, and an action board.  The faction determines your starting location, special abilities, and piece color. The action board is where the meat of the game is. Each action board has the same 4 top and bottom actions, but they are not paired the same across the boards. On each players turn, the player selects an action, performs the top action, and then (if they are able and want to) perform the bottom action.  The top action items are:

     

    1. Move – Move two to three units one hex
    2. Trade – Pay one coin to get two resources of your choice or gain popularity
    3. Produce – Select up to 3 hexes that you control to produce resources
    4. Bolster – Draw combat cards or increase your power

     

    While the bottom actions are:

     

    1. Upgrade – Pay oil to move an upgrade cube from the top of your board (making a top action better) to the bottom of your board (making a bottom action cheaper)
    2. Build – Pay wood to build a structure on a hex you control
    3. Deploy – Pay metal to place a mech on a hex you have a worker on
    4. Recruit – Pay food to get a recruit, which will give you a bonus when players on either side of you take a specific bottom row action

     

    The bottom row actions will also give you coins (between 0 – 3).  You cannot take the same action two turns in a row. All of the players are isolated to their own 3 hex peninsula at the beginning of the game, and they all have different methods to move off of that to the center of the board.  As people are taking their actions, they can move to claim encounters (which usually provide a small reward, a big reward for a cost, or a small reward for a cost). As people slowly expand their faction, they are working towards goals.  The game ends immediately when 6 stars are placed by any one faction. Stars are placed for any of the following:

     

    1. Completing all of your upgrades
    2. Building all of your buildings
    3. Deploying all of your mechs
    4. Recruiting all four of your recruits
    5. Producing all of your workers
    6. Completing a secret objective (each player is dealt 2 at the beginning of the game)
    7. Winning combat (up to 2 stars for this one)
    8. Reaching the top of the Power track
    9. Reaching the top of the Popularity track

     

    The Power track is used for combat, there are combat dials that allow the two factions involved in a combat to secretly decide how much of their power they wish to spend for the combat.  Each player may also play combat cards based on how many units are involved in the combat. Both players reveal simultaneously, spend the cards, the power, and the winner is decided. The winner is the player who’s total power spend was the highest, with the attacker winning ties.  The losing player’s pieces are all returned to their starting space, and the winner now controls the hex. You may have noticed that I’ve talked about controlling hexes multiple times so far. The reason the control of a hex is important is that unlike most games, resources stay on the game board, and can be spent from any hex you control.

     

    The Popularity track is critical in this game.  There are three tiers of Popularity, which give you three different values for items for end game scoring.  Popularity is hard to gain, but can be very easy to lose. If you attack someone, and force their workers back to their home base, you lose popularity.  Encounter cards that give you a big reward for a small price, that small price is usually popularity.

     

    One other special location on the board is in the middle.  It’s referred to as the Factory. Whoever controls it at the end of the game counts it as 3 hexes for end game scoring, and as a faction moves their character model onto the factory they are able to select a Factory card to add to their action board.  These are usually better options than the standard actions, and have a move that allows you to move a single piece 2 spaces instead of just one.

     

    At the end of the game, you count up victory points by paying out coins for hexes controlled, every two resources you control, placed stars, and building locations (based on a tile that is randomly selected at the beginning of the game).  The player with the most coins wins.

     

    Game 2: Roll Player – Character creation has never been so fun. (2-4 players)

    Have you played Dungeons and Dragons at any point in your life?  Then the theme of this game should come very naturally to you. In this game, you are building a character.  You won’t be using the character for anything (although the expansion due out later this year has you fight at the end), but you can see who’s character stuck closest to their “theme”.  Each player starts by either selecting (or randomly being assigned) a race board. These are your standard elf, human, dwarf, dragonkin, etc. races, each of which has some attribute bonuses and penalties.  After that, each character draws a dice from a bag and the color of the die indicates which class card they select. Each class card has two sides, and the player selects which class they want to use. Then each player is dealt a backstory, and an alignment card.  These cards are where players will earn the majority of their points. Class cards have attribute goals, an ability, and a class color. Backstory cards have different color dice assigned to different columns in each of the attributes, and Alignment cards have positive and negative points at different locations.  As complicated as it sounds, the iconography is really well done, and makes it very clear what your goals are. The last part of setup is that each player draws out starting dice from the bag equal to the number of players plus four. These dice are then rolled, and players start placing them into their attributes.  Finally, a market is built out of cards equal to the number of players plus one. The game is then played in phases:

     

    1. Roll Phase – The starting player pulls dice equal to the number of players plus one, and rolls them.  These are then arranged on Initiative cards in order. So the lowest roll go on the lowest numbered initiative card, and the highest roll go on the highest initiative card.  If two or more dice come up with the same number, the starting player chooses the order for those dice.
    2. Dice Phase – The start player then selects one of the dice and it’s matching initiative card, places the dice in an attribute row, and (optionally) takes an attribute action.  I’ll get to the attribute actions a bit later.
    3. Market Phase – In initiative order, each player may either buy a card from the market, or discard a card from the market and get two gold.  There are different types of cards available: Weapons, Armor, Skills, and Traits. I’ll explain those in a bit more detail later.
    4. Cleanup Phase – Each player may refresh a skill card, the remaining die goes back into the bag, and the leftover market cards are discarded.  The start player then moves to the next player clockwise.

     

    The game continues until all of the players have filled up their character sheet.  As players place dice into the various attributes, they are able to perform special actions based on the attribute:

     

    • Strength – Flip any die on your character sheet over
    • Dexterity – Exchange any two dice on your character sheet
    • Constitution – Increase or Decrease the face value of any die by 1
    • Intelligence – Reroll any die you wish, keep either the new or the original value
    • Wisdom – Adjust your alignment in one step up, down, left, or right
    • Charisma – Spend one less gold buying a market card this turn

     

    Why would you want to decrease a die?  Remember when I said that each class card has attribute goals?  If your goal is 14-15, and you have a 16, you’re failing that goal.  There are some goals that are 14+, and others that are a single number.  Generally speaking, the harder it is to reach a goal, the more points it’s worth.  Your attribute values, dice placement, and alignment can grant you quite a few points (~20 for hitting everything exactly); however, you can also score a good deal of points based on the cards you’ve purchased.

     

    • Weapons – Grant special abilities or bonuses going forward.  The will have a picture of one or two hands on them, you may not have more than two hands worth of weapons at a time (but you can discard them as you wish)
    • Armor – Set collection, and grants points based on how many pieces you’ve acquired, with a bonus point if it matches your class
    • Skill – Special abilities that you can use as long as you can move your alignment tracker as indicated on the card.  You only refresh one each turn, so although you can do a turn of using four skills, next turn you’ll only have access to one of them.
    • Traits – Here’s the big points.  When purchased, these will adjust your alignment (if possible), and at the end of the game can be worth a large number of points.

     

    At the end of the game, players total up their points, and the highest value wins.

     

    What are the warning signs you can find in a project?  

     

    1. It’s a first time creator – You’ll have quite a few projects where it’s the creator’s first project.  That’s a big warning sign (especially if they haven’t backed any projects). The less you know about something, the easier it seems.  You’ll see first time creators having their printings being done in China, and be ignorant of the shutdown that happens during Chinese New Year (a full month).  Or they’ll have been way too optimistic with the costs for things, shipping isn’t cheap, nor is art.
    2. Lots of flash, no substance. – Lots of buzzwords, lots of mock-up images, lots of stuff to draw you in.  But what’s missing? Rulebooks, play test descriptions, notes on balancing. They may have a great idea, but it’s hard work to translate that into a good game, let alone a good game that you’re interested in paying for with the hopes of getting it.
    3. Previous projects have complaints about fulfillment in the comments – Always take a look through the comment sections on the creator’s previous projects (if they don’t have any, refer to warning sign 1).  After removing those who are the overprivileged backers (“It’s been 12 hours since I posted this comment, and you haven’t responded yet. I demand a refund!”). Look for complaints of poor/no communication, delays being improperly managed, late fulfillment (or no fulfillment at all).

     

    Also realize that most of the good games on Kickstarter will eventually make their way into retail, albeit at a higher cost then you may have paid if you backed the Kickstarter (and without promos).  I know I’ve slowed down a lot on my Kickstarter backing, generally going for obscure expansion (hello King’s Forge), and reprints of games that are out of print.

  • You Win Again, Kentucky!

    So this one time I went to Kentucky….

    Relax it wasn’t like that. I was in Lexington for work and I rather liked the town. The first thing about Lexington I noticed was–horses. I mean, hello! It’s called an automobile. It is faster than your horse. The other thing I noticed, once I got out of the class I was in, is the glut of whiskey, and whiskey related things.

    This is my review of beers aged in Bourbon Barrels.

    Why put it into a barrel? Why not?  Even if I already gave you a pretty good rundown on barrels, expanding beyond stouts may be prudent.  Besides, the chances are pretty good at least one of you has three fingers of whiskey and an open bottle of beer. More of you probably switched to whiskey once your college football team managed to knock itself out of contention–already. You were going to do both, and quite frankly the people that sell mind altering substances know their buyer.

    Supposedly, this craze began 1992, when…

    Greg Hall of Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago produced a bourbon barrel-aged beer by filling six barrels that had previously contained Jim Beam with his beer. He premiered it at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver that fall, effectively debuting an entirely new style.

    So if you hate it, blame that guy. Stouts aren’t the only thing you can throw into bourbon barrels, they simply bode well with the smooth vanilla notes the wood imbues into the beer.  They even put wine in them for reasons I cannot give an intelligent answer.

    What I can discuss, however:

    This one was pretty good. I would think a pale ale would be overpowered by the taste of whisky, and I don’t think I was wrong. Still if you happen to sip whiskey you will probably like it. Full Sail Kentucky Cream Bourbon Barrel Aged Pale Ale. 4.0/5

    I rather enjoyed this one. While I normally don’t go for an IPA, the red varieties I do find interesting. This one stands up better than the pale ale due to the robustness in ale to begin with. The whiskey mutes out a lot of the hoppiness. Founders Dank Wood Red India Pale Ale: 4.2/5

  • Milch ist Eine Schlechte Wahl!

    One of the problems I find with my preferences is that it is simply too damn hot for me to be drinking the type of beer that I normally go for. When it’s 110 degrees outside, the last thing I want to drink is milk. I hate the stuff. The way it coats your mouth, the full feeling, probably sourced from a few dozen Holsteins… On a hot day it’s a bad choice and let’s be real—I get a lot of hot days. A close second is an IPA but given my purchasing habits no longer revolve around what I want to drink and what serves a sufficient writing prompt, I have to choke that down from time to time. But imperial stout? I could but it’s just not refreshing, and quite frankly I am drinking copious amounts of beer because I am thirsty.

    This is my review of Colbitz Heide-Braurer Schwartzbier.  Cue the Space Balls-related puns.

    This beer reminds me of a friend of mine who got into Black Lager about ten years ago during college. We would take advantage of the $0.50 wings Tuesdays on Buffalo Wild Wings and get a bunch of wings. Until that one day it occurred to me I got a free T-Shirt if I did the Blazing Wing challenge. The challenge was only to eat 24 within their time constraint of an hour. Later they made it more difficult where you had to eat fewer of them, but had to do it in a few minutes.

    So…um…would ya?

    So I did it, and had a Sam Adams Black Lager or two along with it.

    Word to the wise–do not do this to yourself. You might think it’s a good idea to eat 24 ghost pepper wings, with the capsicum burning your lips the entire time. The pH balance in your stomach altering ever so slightly that you feel like your insides are digesting themselves. The mild acid reflux, the stench of fried chili grease oozing from your pores. Then there’s the morning after…. I was in ROTC at the time and had PT at 0600 the morning after. They accepted my stupidity as an excuse for missing it, because they were laughing too hard to stay serious enough to admonish me at the time.

    By the way, I didn’t get a free t-shirt.

    Eventually we made it a weekly thing. I didn’t do the challenge again, because as it turns out I am not that much a glutton for punishment, but the Black Lager thing continued.

    What is Schwartzbier anyways? You may not know it, but it is apparently one of the oldest styles around.

    Schwarzbier, literally “black beer,” is probably the longest continuously brewed beer style in the world, with its known ancestors close to three millennia in age and with definitive origins in the modern brewing cradle.

    Today’s schwarzbier combines Old World rusticity with the graceful smoothness of lagerbier, and a clean roasted edge with German malt complexity. It’s deep, ruby-black color and modest strength makes schwarzbier the lager equivalent of basic stout.

    The origin of schwarzbier lies in what perhaps the most significant historical brewing region in the world: southeastern Germany, including some of Bavaria, and portions of the former Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. The most famous, and arguably the most important, development from there was the invention of pilsner beer less than 200 years ago in Plzen, Bohemia. But the true gems from the region are the ancient, but modernly polished styles: schwarzbier and the smoky rauchbier.

    There is concrete evidence that crude schwarzbier was being brewed there as long ago as the ninth century B.C. (and undoubtedly, well before). This proof comes from an 1935 archaeological discovery seven miles west of Kulmbach in Northern Bavaria. The venture unearthed an Iron Age Celtic tomb that dated to about 800 B.C. That grave held an amphora with some residual brewing material and the charred crumbs of partially baked wheat bread, known to be the raw material for Celtic and Germanic brews of the time. Since this discovery places the oldest evidence of brewing in Central Europe in Kulmbach, and that beer was black, we can deduce that the world’s oldest, and still-produced, style of beer was schwarzbier.

    The result is something that has the dark roasted complexity of a stout (minus the lactose) combined with the refreshing nature of lager.

    Serve it cold, in tall mugs with a group of friends. This one in particular was actually pretty inexpensive for a six pack of pint cans and like all German beer is made in compliance with the Reinheitsgebot, assuming that means anything to you at all. Colbitz Heide-Braurer Schwartzbier 3.5/5

  • What Are We Reading – August 2018

    Riven

     

    mexican sharpshooter

    I decided to pick up a book from one of those “Intellectual Dark Web”…people.  Since pretty much everyone here is familiar with Jordan Peterson I picked something different.  Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker is what I picked, and ordered here.  I finished it while traveling home last weekend from Kansas City.  What interested me was his interview on Joe Rogan (leave me alone) where he came across as a soft-spoken, somewhat bumbling professor type which more or less is his persona.  The podcast left me thinking he was a left-wing professor that happens to stick his head out of his bubble every now and then and honestly reports what he sees.  He does have a lot of good musings over individual rights, free markets, and authoritarian governments.  His overall message is to look at the history, look at the data and be smart about how you form your opinions because where many fall short is their opinions are not backed up by objective fact.  Where he will probably fall short around here are his arguments against libertarianism, a good rundown of his arguments in his book are located at this link here.  One thing that I kept noticing is while he recognizes where the rights for the individual have led to positive impacts, he still advocates for actions on certain issues that some here will find antithetical to his message.

    Otherwise, his premises are explained clearly, cited thoroughly, and he shows them visually (there are 75 graphs and 40 pages of notes).  If there is any interest I can do a more thorough review.

    Brett L

    As part of our hate-reads, SF dared Jesse and I to read Happy Doomsday. This is the worst professionally written book I have ever read. Seriously. There is nothing good about it. Two too many of the characters survive the apocalypse. Do not read it. No, no. Don’t get curious about how bad it can be. DO NOT READ IT. SF did make it up to me by passing on to me Hardwired by Walter John Williams. This is 80s Mirrorshade Cyberpunk at its most fun. Aside from an irrational hatred of Texans common to many border-staters, it is great. Cyborgs jacked directly into hovercrafts, street samurai with cybernetic snakes implanted in their throats, a monomaniacal corporate titan who thinks he’s plugged into the heart of the silicon. I loved it. I also read Nathan Lowell’s latest two books in the Solar Clipper series. Suicide Run and Home Run. I really like the original story line. You just have to believe me when I say that he makes working the mess deck on merchant marine in space seem interesting. It gets more interesting from there, but somehow getting the coffee out on time seems like a worthy challenge.

    jesse.in.mb

    Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. Not gonna lie, I was grabbed by the name and the first third of the story felt interminably slow. The main character was a wee bit too SJW and the person we assume is her antagonist a little too self-satisfied and traditional. There were erotic short stories embedded throughout, which I suppose I should’ve expected, but was a little scandalized by. Once the story starts rolling it’s engaging and endearing and you’re satisfied with the ending even if it’s a bit fairy-tale perfect.

    The World of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt. I had to keep reminding myself that this was classic sci-fi…and that the copy I purchased on Amazon still managed to be a shittily transcribed/scanned version. It was a jaunty read and the [scifi jargon] + [household item] formula was charming in an old-timey way.

    All New Square Foot Gardening (2nd Edition) by Mel Batholomew. One of these days I’ll get my ass in gear and at least grow tomatoes again. This book is pure garden-project pornography. One disappointment is that the book seems better suited for people who have a winter, and while they make occasional mention of plants that’ll grow in more temperate climates, instructions about harvesting after the first light frost but before the first hard frost are…unhelpful in climate zone 10b.

    Happy Doomsday: A Novel by David Sosnowski. Someone’s mother (not mine, obviously) always used to say “if you can’t say anything nice about a book, don’t say anything at all.” I did not prefer the characters in this book, which made it difficult to finish. I blame SugarFree’s enthusiasm for “this will be so bad it’s good” which he then abandoned in favor of “it’s so bad I refuse to continue” leaving Brett and me to struggle through. SP wisely chose a different Kindle First Reads book and mocked Brett and me for our “suicide pact.” I notice Brett has recommended that you not read it, but he’s just being a little theatrical, I’ll point out that it’ll continue being free to Prime members until the end of the month.

    While engaging in some Happy Doomsday avoidance I listened to the first (and second) novel in the Whiskey Business series, which SP is also listening to. It’s a fun light mystery with a built-in explainer for making and drinking whiskey. I also listened to Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection, which could’ve been written by one of you. I don’t know that it’d hit everyone’s funnybones the way it hit mine, but I would recommend it if you’re looking for a very light superhero caper in a world where superheroes are privatized and an uplifted lady-rhinoceros with an assault rifle discusses her masturbatory habits during a mandatory sexual harassment training.

    JW

    Chelsea Clinton – She Persisted

    SP

    I have nothing interesting to report as my reading time has been taken up by a pharmacology textbook. Not exactly a bedtime page-turner.

    Oh, I am also listening to this book’s Audible version this week while working out, cleaning, and folding laundry. (It’s a full life.) The story itself is OK, but the female narrator sometimes loses me between the heavily-Scots-and-English-accented male characters, making me have to hit the 10-second rewind button, which annoys me when I am wearing nitrile gloves.

    SugarFree

    Great Googly-Moogly, Happy Apocalypse was terrible. I made it 15% in and had to stop. Just bad. Bad, bad, bad. I could only read about 500 words at a time before I had to put it down. In-between the pain, I read James Tiptree Jr.‘s Her Smoke Rose Up Forever story collection. Tiptree is the most celebrated act of literary transvestitism in science fiction, being the nom de plume for Alice Sheldon. It was a fairly open secret that Tiptree was a woman, and I have a hard time believing that anyone of any sophistication who read more than a couple of stories by her couldn’t have figured it out.

    Still not able to shake trying to read Crappy Apocalypse, I turned to intellectual comfort food and re-read the first Uplift Trilogy, by David Brin. Despite Brin’s turn to loathsome politics,* my dozenth pass through his universe of plucky humans, adorable neo-Dolphins, and courageous artificially-evolved Chimpanzees is like a meaty, starchy, filling plate of Thanksgiving food. (The 2nd Trilogy sort of disappears up its own ass in striving for cosmic apotheosis, and I can’t recommend it.)

    *Brin has deleted his call for “climate justice” tribunals, so I’ve linked to an H&R thread where I posted some of his deranged screed. Brin used to write for Reason, by the way, before the madness settled in.

    Old Man With Candy

    There were two authors from my childhood who set me on my life-path to become a scientist. One was Roy Chapman Andrews (truly one of the most interesting humans to ever walk the Earth). The other was Arthur C. Clarke. When I was about 8 years old, my father handed me a copy of Profiles of the Future, which totally captivated me. It was an overview of common futuristic tropes of the sort that would fascinate an 8 year old science geek (invisibility, giants and Lilliputians, alien intelligence, matter replication, interstellar exploration) with some technical analysis of what was possible and what was sheer fantasy, and why. I read and re-read it so many times that it eventually fell apart. So I was determined to give this to my son as well, and found out that there was an updated edition from about 2000. I bought it for him and… well… let’s just say he’s more of a YouTube guy than a reader. It languished on our bookshelves for some years until I picked it up and dusted it off last week, then put it in the Room of Honor. Re-reading it, I can see why it grabbed my attention. Much of it hasn’t aged well, but much of it is frighteningly prescient. And of course, it’s Clarke, which means superbly clear and absorbing writing. I had the chance to meet Clarke once (as a college student) and was not disappointed, other than him avoiding the question about what the Ramans looked like. I cannot be the only one who has told him that he was the one who made them choose a career in science, but he acted as if I had said something special. What a great person.

  • ?Pour Some Coffee On Me!

     

    Hmm, sounds painful.  Friends, as promised a review of the pour over method and the quick guide extraordinaire, Pro/Con list.

    Chemex is one of the better known brands for pour overs but I went with LePrem mostly because I clicked the wrong button when shopping on Amazon.  LePrem sounds more pretentious, Chemex more nerdy, so that may be the deciding factor for you.  I’m getting ahead of myself.

    What is a pour over coffee, you may ask.  Pour over is exactly what it sounds like. You place ground coffee in a filter on top of an hour glass shaped device and pour hot water over the grounds and fresh coffee is collected in the bottom chamber.  The filter is removed and you pour the hot fresh coffee into your cup.  You can also purchase a single serving brewer which replaces the hour glass vessel for a filter that sits on top of your mug.

    Water temperature is the same as always, 175℉, grind should be medium, which is standard for drip coffee makers.  I recommend pre-wetting the filter with hot water, then tossing the used water.  This will reduce the influence of the filter on the final product.  The real adjustable variable is how quickly you pour the water over the grounds.  Some people wet the grounds and wait for the “bloom,” which is just the coffee expanding as it releases carbon dioxide.  Water is poured in separated phase until you reach your desired volume or pour the total volume in one go if you’re making a small batch.  Always pour in a spiral so as to wet the grounds evenly.  That is pretty much it.

    You can’t make espresso with this method and adjusting grinds doesn’t seem to change the end product much.  The carafes themselves are aesthetically pleasing and are appropriate to leave out in your coffee space.  Pour overs range from single serving sizes up to 1L.  If you sometimes entertain or have a family of coffee drinkers, I strongly recommend the larger size if you have the storage space, because you aren’t required to make the maximum amount each time.

    Filters are required for this device, but reusable metal filters are available, which I’m sure will produce a slightly less “clean” cup.  The paper filters took a youtube video to figure out as the box instructions read like an origami project, but once you watch a video it is simple.

    So how do I like the LePrem?  The product is well made and attractive.  Cleaning it can be difficult depending on what size you buy.  The smaller sizes are difficult to get a hand in the collection chamber.  The used filters lift straight out, but tend to drip, so I take the entire brewer to the trash to toss the wet grounds.  A nice feature is a glass stopper to help keep the coffee warm until ready for use.  Perpetration time depend on how much coffee you are making and how slow you want to pour.  Appropriately sized devices will serve a family well and single size take up less room in a studio apartment.

    Now, the really important question, does it make a good cup of coffee?  Yes, you can get a great cup of coffee out of the LePrem, but I wouldn’t say it is a superior extraction method to the French Press or AeroPress.  Of the devices I’ve used so far, this one is my least favorite.  It doesn’t make coffee as fast as the AeroPress and it doesn’t provide the subtle flavors of the French press.  It lacks the ability to make espresso (AeroPress) or cold brew (Fresh Press) and for those reasons, I can’t recommend the pour over as your sole coffee brewing method. However, if you are a hobbyist like myself, it is an attractive addition to the brewing collection.

    How to Use

    Step 1. Place filter (thick layer over spout).

    Step 2. Wet filter with hot water, discard water.


    Step 3. Place medium ground coffee in filter.

    Step 4. Pour hot water over grounds in a spiral pattern

    Step 5. Remove filter

    Step 6. Pour coffee into mug & enjoy.

    Pro

    • Cost – Small off brand brewers are as cheap as $7.  The 6 cup LePrem was $37.97
    • Ease of use – really simple and fairly quick
    • Cup – if you use paper filters you get a really clean cup
    • Aesthetics – I think they look pretty cool
    • Volume –  if you buy an appropriate size you can do without a tradition drip maker

    Con

    • Consumables – the paper filters aren’t cheap. $14 for 100
    • flexibility – just makes coffee.
    • Cost – can be spend. $108.07 for 13 cup Chemex
    • metal filter – save money, muddy cup

  • Bottoms Up

    It was Friday and nothing seemed to be of interest.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, so I did the sensible thing and found the one with the label with the most colorful, eye catching label possible.

    This is my review of Hop Valley Brewing Co Reveal Pale Ale:

    Seriously look at that rainbow, isn’t it fabulous?  I like what they were trying to tap into here.  The rainbow is a symbol known to brings positive feelings for centuries.  One of the oldest is the flood story.

    Here God tells Noah his rein of terror has ended, and the flood waters will recede, and the Earth shall flourish once more.  God promised that he will never again flood the world to destroy it and left a rainbow as the symbol of this promise.  Next time he will just use fire and throw everybody into a flaming pit.  Crazy stuff, really.  We are reminded of this promise every time it rains, after all we need the rain but not enough to flood the Earth and kill us all.  God remembers, that’s why there is a rainbow.

    The rainbow is also a symbol of fulfillment.  Think of what lies the end of the rainbow, the prize that awaits the person willing to seek out the source.  The pot of gold of course!

    Rainbow symbolism has such a powerful meaning to each of us and graciously bestows the energy of blessings. The symbolism of a Rainbow intuitively tells us to hold onto hope, to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that sacred blessings open to us when we are following our hearts desire.  And the symbol of the Rainbow tells us that we are guided to our hearts desire when we open to spirit to let us guide us.

    The rainbow itself it composed of seven colors–all the same colors representing the seven Chakras.  To learn more about the colors and their spiritual meaning, click here.

    Do you cry out for magic? Do you feel it dancing in the light?  Is it cold?  And have you lost your hold to the shadows of the night?  I have good news for you.

    While you turn that last link up, let me tell you something, this beer is good.  It has a pleasant hop balance with, dare I say, a fruity finish.  If you like the Pale Ale, but not the India variety, you might fancy this one.  Hop Valley Brewing Co Reveal Pale Ale  3.8/5.

     

     

     

     

    PS:  Yes, I do know what else the rainbow means.

  • Another Lazy Saturday

    Climate Change strikes Phoenix… again.

    Recently Phoenix was hit with a few storms, and one occurred over a Saturday afternoon.  No problem.  I can just hang out here, right?   Sure.  This however was no ordinary Saturday, it was one where we had one of these, and I simply didn’t want to go outside.  Would you go outside during one of these?

    Probably not.  So it was one of those afternoons where I tell my kids to go somewhere else in the house and find something to put on for noise.  Sadly, I didn’t have the remote.  I never have the remote.  Why? Because I am not normally interested in what is on TV; live sports, DIY, and Food Network being an exception.  So I don’t care what is on because I’m probably just going to ignore it anyway.  My wife picked a Netflix show called, GLOW.

    This is my review of Unity Vibration Raspberry Kombucha Beer.

    I hope you appreciate this is a free service I provide.

    Prior to the storm I went to Sprouts and found this while waiting for the butcher to finish my order.  I can’t watch women wrestling in the 80’s while sober; its just weird.  Kombucha seemed an appropriate choice.

    You heard me.  Its about women wrestling—in the 80’s!

    The story begins where two actresses are at their aerobics class.  I paid little attention to the dialogue, but they’re both out of work and the story line takes off when one later finds out the other slept with her husband.  Cue the main conflict.  One is significantly more attractive in the opinion of many that recall the 80’s fondly–specifically, she’s a buxom blonde.   Next they add in more conflict at the audition, where two women are questioning why are they there.  They are both relived to find out it isn’t porn, but mildly disturbed it is wrestling.

    The director of this whole thing is a hilarious composite of 80’s tropes between the thick glasses, the power-stache, alcoholism, and womanizing.  He embodies the type of toxic masculinity that quite frankly is missing from popular culture.  Yes, he’s a dick, but he’s kind of the glue that binds all these people together and frankly that’s probably why you will watch beyond episode 1.

    Coming to Comicon!

    Another reason is you might find “Wolf Girl” strangely compelling, as she is the only character not playing a character within a character.  She’s just “Wolf Girl.”  The rest of the girls are hilarious stereotypes that outside the context of 80’s culture would never be seen anywhere.  Some are okay, the Valley Girl, and the British girl named, “Britannica,” for example.  Others are intentionally offensive, such as the Hindu girl playing a Libyan Terrorist, the Asian girl playing a character named, “Fortune Cookie,”  and a Black Actress as the character called, “Welfare Queen.”

    Most of the plot revolves around the actresses learning to wrestle, finding a character to play, the blonde lady coming to terms with being a headliner for a wrestling show, having nobody else to pair in the act but with her former home-wrecker friend, and her former home-wrecker friend being unable to find a character.  That is until she figures out how to counter the blonde’s character as an All-American, Apple Pie type appropriately named, “Liberty Belle.”

    …I was wrong, this is coming to Comicon near you!

    Naturally, her nemesis is a Soviet agent named, “Zoya the Destroyer.”

    The show is filled with good one liners.  Once they actually get around to performing in front of live audiences does the plot start to slow down.  They could’ve stopped there, but they didn’t.  If you get to this point, you’re probably just going to finish the season just to find out what happens.

    So what in the hell is Kombucha?  It’s a probiotic tea fancied by the crunchy vegan types at Whole Foods and Sprouts.  Its meant to replace the “good” bacteria in the digestive tract.  I don’t recommend it unless you simultaneously spent the weekend snorting a Z-pack and are lactose intolerant.  In this situation, they simply let the bacterial cultures ferment until it comes to a high enough ABV they can reasonably market it as beer.  It’s not beer.  It’s an affront to humanity.

    So the bottom line, this show is silly but you might like it, so check it out before they make it suck like the X-Files.  This drink is also silly, and you’ll probably hate it.  Try it at your peril.  Unity Vibration Raspberry Kombucha:  1.1/5

  • YouTubers of Interest

    YouTube, despite its corporate leadership being very regressive, has become a hub for alternative viewpoints regarding current political and cultural events. I thought I’d do a writeup about YouTubers who create content I believe would be of interest to Glibs. The video creators are mainly concerned with current events from a political and/or philosophical perspective, however a few make videos about popular culture or general interest topics as well.

    This article is not meant to be either authoritative or comprehensive (and there will be follow ups regarding these or other YouTubers), but rather a jumping off point for commentators to add both their own perspectives on those I’ve listed, disagreements with my opinions, as well as discussing YouTubers I’ve omitted either through ignorance or difference in perspective.

    So here, in no particular order, are some of my YouTubers of interest:

    Liberty Doll – A Libertarian woman with a Judy Greer-esque 40’s-50s’ nerd chic vibe, she often discusses 2A issues, including the recent 3D printing kerfluffle. She also discusses current events, liberty issues, as well as feminism and other anti-liberty philosophies.

    Styxhexenhammer666 – A former Satanist and current mystic/spiritualist, Styx creates a lot of content about current political events, both foreign and domestic (including Trump). He occasionally has a slightly unusual take on matters which doesn’t always jibe with the standard libertarian view.  He’s done a couple series of non-political videos. They are mostly related to the occult, but he also has a series of garden videos.

    Matt Christiansen – His perspective is (in my view) somewhere between classical liberal and libertarian. Unlike many video producers, he doesn’t see the need to inject a hyper personality, instead stating the facts (and unleashing his acerbic wit) in his calm midwestern inflection. The videos might be on Trump or, say, pointing out the current stupidity in Portland. He also does the Beauty and the Beta podcast/livestream with Blonde in the Belly of the Beast. Blonde is an attractive woman who, over the past few years, moved from libertarianism to a much more conservative / identitarian perspective. (Think an American Lauren Southern without the public provocation).

     Sargon of Akkad / The Thinkery – One of the bigger names in the anti-SJW ‘skeptic’ YouTube community, Sargon generally holds classical liberal views. He’s able to court controversy even beyond the standard regressive community (a few Glibs have been quite critical). As a UK resident, his perspective is mainly focused on Britain. In addition to his videos on the Islamization of the UK and Europe, he also has videos about recent events.

    Karen Straughn / Honey Badger Radio – Karen and the others at Honey Badger Radio focus on men’s rights issues and critiques of feminism. The mostly female group makes interesting videos pointing out the discrepancies in feminist narratives and the legal and existential realities related to gender issues, ‘male disposability’, and why men’s issues are generally not taken seriously in the larger society (including why women should care about men’s issues).

    Freedom Toons – Freedom Toons creates satirical cartoon videos from a libertarian perspective. Some of his targets have included modern journalism and free speech. These videos are short, so they’re good if you only have 5 minutes or so.

    Bearing / Patrick – An Australian shit poster, Bearing generally goes after leftists and SJWs with humor. A couple of his recent videos have included one on the fight between Australian senators David Leyenhjelm and Sarah H Young and another on Lauren Southern’s Australia visit. His girlfriend is YouTuber Sugartits, who makes similar content.

    Hard Bastard – He largely does videos regarding current events – such as the Cohen tapes – from a right of center perspective. A former Jehovah’s Witness, he often brings a slightly different view to his videos. His girlfriend is Aydin Paladin, who is (amazingly) a sociological graduate student with a general liberty focus. She mainly does videos on recent events, but also likes to delve into academic topics, both largely using that sociological framework. She has also worked with the Honey Badgers on a few of their videos. (Note: while I find her videos interesting, they are 1) academic, and 2) not short)

    The Pholosopher – A Chinese American Ancap woman, she’s about as libertarian as you can get. A huge 2A proponent, she enjoys appearing in her anti-gun control videos with her AR. She also makes videos about how the US government has messed up the Middle East, and that taxation is theft.

    Timcast – This will probably be one of my more controversial picks. Tim Pool is a former Vice reporter who is now trying to make a living as an independent reporter. As you’d suspect from someone who used to work with Vice, his politics are left of center. I include him because he does a couple things incredibly rare for journalists these days. He tries to get his facts correct, and he separates those facts from his evaluation of them. While he deeply dislikes Trump, he actually evaluates Trump’s actions on an individual basis rather than issue a blanket condemnation. I respect this.

    Ben Shapiro – While Shapiro is mostly conservative rather than libertarian, he’s a skilled debater and often interesting. Also, since I’ve pointed out the women here a few times, let me link to his interview with Mike Rowe for Kristen.

  • Stop the (Aero)Presses

    Hello again, my caffeinated friends.  I’ve peeled a few Koch dollars off my pimp roll and bought an AeroPress for review.  I set the trusty French press aside and have been using the Aeropress for the last 2 months.  Will it replace the French press for good?  Does it make better espresso than my Moka Pot?  Is it smoother than the cold press?  Well, read on friends and find out along with my world famous…ok, vaguely remembered by a small cadre of weirdos, pro/con list!

    AeroPress Starter Kit
    AeroPress starter kit.  The barrel, plunger, filter cap, stirrer and funnel combine for easy storage.

     

    What is an AeroPress you may be asking yourself.  It is a basically an oversized syringe with a filter.  Medium ground coffee is place inside the barrel and filled with hot water (175 F) to make a regular cup of coffee.  The water and coffee steep for 60 seconds and then you invert whole apparatus over your favorite mug and press the coffee out through a paper filter, then top off the mug with hot water. If the barista prefers espresso, use a fine grind with the same water temperature and steep time, but don’t dilute with hot water.  This deceptively simple device does allow for great variety in preparation through adjustments in water temperature, grind, steep time and how hard or soft you press the plunger.  In fact there are AeroPress world competitions to see which coffee enthusiasts can coax the best cup of Joe out of the simple and inexpensive appliance.  I give you The World AeroPress Championship for you super coffee nerds. *looks around* Just me, huh?

    So what do I think after living with the AeroPress for 2 months?  It makes a damn fine cup of coffee in under 2 minutes.  For those who don’t want to make a morning ritual of your coffee habit and just want caffeine coursing through your veins ASAP, this is a good option.  Clean up is a breeze.  After pressing the coffee all that is left is a mostly dry coffee puck.  Just shoot it into the trash can and rinse the plunger. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.  I’m not usually a fan of paper filters, but a good pre-rinse with hot water seems to eliminate the paper taste.  The filters are inexpensive and they give you enough when you buy the press starter kit that you don’t feel cheated.

    As much as I like the AeroPress, it can’t do it all.  It can’t rival the low acid smoothness of the cold brew system and it lacks the volume of the Moka pot for espresso, though I do prefer the taste of AeroPress espresso.  The AeroPress also can’t be set on a timer like most drip systems and is not well suited to making large volumes of coffee.

    So the big question, “Does it replace the French Press?”  For me, it doesn’t because I want the most pure expression of each bean that I roast.  I’m willing to trade a clean cup of coffee for the unfiltered experience. That being said, if you are the sole coffee drinker in your home, like easy clean up, don’t want to spend a ton of money, don’t have much storage space, and enjoy experimenting with grind, temperature, etc. the AeroPress is hard to beat.

    How to Use
    (Disclaimer: These are not the instructions provided by AeroPress; this is the inverted method, which I find superior)

    Step 1. Fill with ground coffee. (pro-tip* wet the rubber plunger before placing in barrel to reduce friction/extend life).

    Step 2. Fill with hot water and stir.

    Step 3. Attach filter.

    Step 4. After 1 minute steep, invert over mug.

    Step 5. Press gently until you hear air escaping.

    Step 6. Top off mug with hot water.

    Step 7.  Remove filter cap and press plunger to eject coffee puck into trash. Rinse AeroPress.

    Pros

    • cost – $33.90 starter kit that includes 350 filters
    • reliability –  so simple it is unlikely to fail in any way
    • flexibility – nearly infinite ways to make coffee
    • storage – takes up very little counter/cabinet space
    • taste – it does a really good job of extracting flavor.
    • clean – super easy clean up
    • easy to use – full disclosure* I did make a large mess when I put the coffee in wrong while sleepy
    • cup – really clean cup of coffee. no muddy coffee (sediment)

    Cons

    • filters – some people prefer unfiltered coffee
    • consumables – although not very expensive, you do have to buy replacement filters
    • serving size –  the isn’t the go to for a large dinner party
    • aesthetics – not something you want to proudly display
    • accessibility –  this might be a stretch, but if a person has arthritis or limited hand strength, the plunger may be difficult to press.

  • Spring BIF — Last Call

    By Nephilium:

    The box arrived, albeit with some damage.  Thankfully MikeS listened to the suggestion to ship cans, and everything in the package survived:

    Revelation Ale Works Cherry Sour(below):

    This pours a clear red with a huge pink head. The aroma is a hint of cherry, and a bit of funk with some acid in the back end. The head sticks around for a while, then fades out. Bright sour notes, with notes of sweet and tart cherries coming through. Lactic acid is the
    one I’m picking up the most of, with a sharp sour note in the back of the throat. Light bodied, with lively carbonation makes this an excellent summer beer.  Overall: 3.75/5.00

    Drekker Broken Rudder Irish Red (right):

    Pours a clear brown-amber, a bit light for a red ale, with a white head.  Aroma is of caramel, with a touch of roast. Mild flavor, roasted notes, some caramel notes, and a touch of malt sweetness.  Just enough hops present to prevent it from getting cloying, with just a hint of earthy notes in the finish. The beer has a full mouthfeel, with moderate carbonation.  Overall a solid Irish red. Overall: 3.5/5.00

    Revelation Peanut Butter Stout (below):

    Aroma is moderate peanut butter, pours an opaque black with a thin ring of tan head and some dusting on top of the pint. Almost no carbonation present (though this may be due to the can and shipping), flavor is mildly sweet with a touch of roast, and a finish of peanut butter. I’d like to try this one properly carbonated. Overall 3.25/5.00*

    Drekker Pushing Daisies (right):

    Pours an opaque orange-yellow, with a thin white head. Bright aroma, with hints of citrus, clove, and chamomile. Nice carbonation levels, with a moderate body. Flavor starts a bit sweet with a touch of creamy wheat. It finishes with a nice spice and floral finish. Overall
    a solid witbier.  Overall 3.75/5.00

    Fargo Woodchipper IPA (below):

    Aroma is of pine, with some floral notes.  Pours a clear amber with a white head. This is definitely on the hop forward side, with just a touch of sweet malt notes coming through with a kiss of caramel before pine, pith, and bitterness come through.  The bitterness lingers for a while, with some earth noticeable in the finish. A bit light in body, but overall a solid IPA. Overall 3.75/5.00

    Fargo Mighty Red Imperial Red Ale (right):

    Pours a clear reddish-amber with a thin white head.  Aroma starts off with caramel, and then fades to piney hops.  Mild hop presence then the aroma would indicate, Nice caramel notes, a touch of roast, and then a mild earthy bitter finish.  Moderate body, and nicely inviting. Not sure it really reaches Imperial levels (at only 6.6%), but a solid Red. Overall 3.50/5.00

    Rhombus Iconic Blonde (below):

    Pours a clear, pale straw with a white head. The aroma is a touch of grain, with a bit of something sharp behind it. Light bodied, just a touch of malt sweetness, and a bit of floral hop notes. Crisp and refreshing on a hot day. This is a very solid blonde ale. Just the thing to reach for when you just want a clean, cold beer.  Overall 3.75/5.00

    Rhombus Derailed – Strawberry Rhubarb (right):

    A mild sour aroma starts off, with a touch of strawberry lurking behind the tartness.  The beer pours a hazy pinkish-straw with a full white head. Bright sour flavor, with both the rhubarb and strawberry coming through.  There’s enough lively carbonation to lift the flavor off the palate and keep the beer light and refreshing. Overall a very good fruited sour.