I might actually remix this video with a heavy metal soundtrack. And by the way, I’m fairly sure that Hell consists of nothing but those creepy cow spiders.

First up: P90X. Michelle and I finished our first round of P90X last week and have started the program over again. The question everyone wants to know the answer to is: “Does it work”? Well, I would say that depends. Like any other exercise program it depends on how hard you work, and what you eat. These programs love to show people losing 50lbs and getting six pack abs in 90 days, and that’s certainly possible for some. But the reason most of us are fat and tired is because we simply eat wrong and don’t put in the time to exercise. So unless you change habits, this program is no better than any other.

What I do like about this program though is that it’s got great variety and it doesn’t require fancy equipment. For me those are the two things that make it easy for me to stick to it. So for me, it’s working. I’m building muscle and losing fat. My progress has been slower because, well, I just don’t want to make exercising a full time hobby. I miss a day here and there. And I like to have a pizza and beer occasionally. But overall I’m happy with the progress. I feel much stronger, I’ve lost 7 pounds, and I still enjoy doing the program, so for me it’s a total win.

Ok, so since I mentioned beer, let’s switch gears and talk about home brew. I’ve been home brewing for a few months now and I’m happy to announce that my second batch has gone into the bottles. In two weeks I will have a beautiful Dry Irish Stout. Oh man, it smelled so good when I cracked open the fermenter yesterday. I think this is going to me a very nice batch. So on May 7th, the bottles go into the fridge and it’s time to have a tasting party! Put it on your calendars. I’ve also got the ingredients for my next batch already which I plan to cook up early next week. It’s going to be a mild Ale and only takes 4 weeks to make, so I’m hoping to get a nice rotation of beers going on. I’m telling you though, this whole bottling thing sucks. I really gotta get me a kegging system soon.

OK, lastly let’s talk about some music because there’s been a few great albums that have hit the streets recently.

Slash released what I think is his second solo album. The cool thing about this album is that on each song he collaborated with a different singer. The result is an incredibly varied album with musical styles ranging from arena rock to blues to metal to southern rock, you name it.

I’m completely blown away by this album. There’s really not a bad song on it, though the one with Iggy Pop called “We’re All Gonna Die” is probably the dumbest song lyrically, but it’s still catchy. The tracks I think are most impressive are the instrumental with Dave Grohl called “Watch This”, “Beautiful Dangerous” with Fergie (who know she could rock?), and the two songs featuring Myles Kennedy. Kennedy in my mind is the absolute best rock singer on the planet and if you want to see what he’s capable of, check out the band Alter Bridge. He’s also did a track on Sevendust’s last album which was fantastic. Slash is a great album full of great rock and roll. Pick it up.

And speaking of Sevendust (am I not the master of the segue?), my favorite band in the entire world has released their 8th studio album and the first since original guitarist Clint Lowery returned to the band after leaving in 2004.

This album is flat out amazing. While the albums written in Lowery’s absence where killer, I really didn’t realize how much had been lost in his absence. Yeah there were high points, but a lot of those songs sounded just a tad flat in comparison to this latest collection. The new album is ferocious, melodic, emotional and extremely powerful. It just smacks you right in the face with track one and continues pummeling you all the way through track twelve. It’s simply fantastic.

I’d say the stand out tracks are Splinter, which is a metal heads dream. Crazy guitar antics, insane double base runs, and ferocious chunkiness. Great way to start the ride. They immediately follow that with Forever which is my favorite track on the album. It sounds like no other Sevendust song with it’s great dynamics, it’s breakneck soaring chorus line and crunchy breakdowns. It saw them do this one live and it was amazing. The rest of the album continues with exactly what you’d expect from a Sevendust album and that’s a good thing. Sevendust is one of those bands that know what they do best and don’t vary too much from the formula. It’s good melodic heavy metal. The way it should be.

Alright so that’s my catch up post! Today is Saturday and it’s going to be a beautiful sunny California day so I’m gonna do my P90X this morning and then get on the bike and go visit an old buddy of mine back in my high school stomping grounds, Manteca. This guy was the bass player of my very first band. I haven’t seen him in 20 years. This should be good times.

We drove down Thursday morning and checked into the Silverton Casino. Every time we go to Vegas we like to stay someplace different, and in Vegas you can do that so easily. We go three or four times a year and have almost never stayed in the same place twice. The Silverton is a smaller casino/hotel just off the southern end of the strip. What this means is that it’s about half the price of a strip casino yet only 3 miles from the action. So if you have a car, it’s a great deal. Of course it’s more relaxed and not as trendy as most strip casinos but then again Michelle and I are more into shooting pool than we are “clubbing” so it works for us. Anyway, we checked in and then headed down to Fremont street for a beer and Ruben at Hennesey’s, then strolled over to the Cuban Cigar Factory for some killer smokes. I highly recommend this cigar shop. The owner is a super cool guy, the prices are awesome and the smokes are second to none.

On Friday we decided to check out the new Las Vegas City Center which is the latest mega-resort complex right in the center of The Strip across the street from the Harley Davidson Cafe. I gotta say, I was less than impressed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s super high class. Everything is first rate. But it’s just boring. The shopping area is really cool and could easily be a movie set for some futuristic sci-fi flick, but the stores are all so ridiculously high-end, you really can’t even window shop without a credit check. We also checked out the Aria hotel/casino and while it was very, very nice, I just felt like I didn’t belong there with my middle class salary. It did have one high point and that was an English style pub we found. The staff was cool there and they had great english style food and a truckload of imported beers on tap. They also had a gimmick going where they would turn an hourglass over and if you could drink a beer before the sands ran out, they’d buy the next round. I timed the hourglass at 7 seconds and promptly passed on the challenge. LOL!

After we got stuffed on fish and chips and english beer we found a bowling alley and bowled a few games. michelle of course kicked my butt with a 191 on the first game and something like a 170 on the second. I turned down a third game and decided we needed to go!

We then headed to the Sevendust show at the House of Blues. I can’t say enough about this band and I’m listening to them as I write this post. They’ve been doing this so long that they could play a show in their sleep. However, they were as energetic and obviously having as much fun as the very first time I saw them over 10 years ago. These guys are just fantastic and the House of Blues is probably my favorite venue in the world. It was an absolutely outstanding show. I really don’t know what else to say about them.

So even though it was a quick three days in Vegas, especially with two of those days spent mostly driving, Michelle and I just had a fantastic time. Though I’m not one to post mushy messages on my blog or Facebook about how my wife “completes me” or is my “soul mate”, I have to say that we have a lot of fun together. I’m so blessed that after 21 years, we can just hang out and have a few beers together, walk around holding hands, and laugh our asses off while just doing the simplest of things. It was truly an outstanding time all the way around.

Well, it’s not crap. But it’s not fantastic either.

I decided to start easy and buy a beer kit. This is basically a can of concentrated beer ingredients that you mix with water, add yeast, and then let ferment. It’s the easiest way to get into beer brewing and I think the taste is a result of that. I mean, when they make it that simple, there’s not going to be a Guinness or a Sam Adams.

It’s not bad though. It’s properly carbonated, it tastes like beer and not skunk or sewer water, it’s got nice color, and it’s got a little punch to it, though I didn’t measure the alcohol content so I don’t know exactly how much punch. I haven’t gone blind so that’s positive.

I think the thing that hits me most is that it’s not very strong. It’s an IPA which are supposed to really have some flavor. Mine tastes a little watered down. I wonder if I put too much water in since the directions used British measurements which are slightly different than US ones. Maybe it’s just me. I like my beer like I like my women. Dark and strong! Ok, just playing, I prefer a medium bodied beer. But I think it’s good enough to share with friends, and that’s what making beer is all about anyway.

in conclusion, I’m encouraged by my first foray into master brewing. I think the next batch will definitely be made more from raw materials. I’ll probably still do a recipe kit, which is all pre-measured ingredients, but it definitely won’t be an extract kit like this one.

At any rate, it was a fun first time out and I’m looking forward to my next batch….. as soon as I drink my way through this one. Who’s coming over for a brew?

UPDATE:

Well apparently I am way too picky. I’ve given away almost all of my first batch and everyone seems to think it’s great! So I’m pretty stoked! And no I doubt they are just being nice. My friends know better. :-)

That date has arrived.

During the past few weeks my old friend Chris “Mouse” Chmielewski and I have joined Paul and the immensely talented Tim and Jill Douty to rehearse the 13 songs that came out of those songwriting sessions. That list was then pared down to 10 songs and yesterday we entered the studio to lay down the first tracks on the new album from our group, The Avenue.

Recording in the studio is an interesting experience. I’ve done it only twice before so I don’t have a huge amount of experience, but I can say without a doubt that this time around has been so easy compared to the first two. The first time through, I was working with guys who are very talented but also very particular. Nothing wrong with that at all, but for my personality and playing type, it makes the process more stressful. The second album I played on I was responsible for playing drums as well as recording and mixing down the album. I’m not an engineer so this was a huge learning experience for me as well as a ton more work. This time around I just got to go in and play drums and working with such a bunch of really laid back guys made the process so easy. We all exchanged ideas, gave suggestions and then let the drums just “happen”. I think the end result is a set of simple, solid, very natural feeling drum tracks.

So my tracks are done. 8 hours to lay down 11 songs (we recorded an extra song before realizing it was on the “cut” list). Not too shabby if I do say so myself. On Wednesday we go back in with Chris to lay down the bass. Then we’ll progress on from there. If all goes well we should have a finished product by May. I’m really stoked about this album and I think it’s going to be a first class product. I’ll be posting here as we continue to make progress.

So I did some experimenting with the various recipes I found and here’s the best hot toddy recipe in my opinion. You can drink this for a cold or just on any winter night to be honest. It’s tasty and relaxing. Just don’t overdo it with the liquor. We’re not trying to get hammered here.

So here we go, my Hot Toddy recipe:

• 1 mug of piping hot water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons pure honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 shot of Jim Beam Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Ahhh, that’s good. Just like grandma used to make. Ok, my grandma never made these, but I’m sure somebody’s did. Anyway, it’s got just enough bourbon to take the edge off but not enough that you can taste it. The lemon juice opens up your sinuses and the honey and cinnamon makes it sweet tasting.

One thing I will highly recommend is that you get a quality bourbon in a glass bottle. No generic whiskey in a plastic jug for $3.99. We had some cheap whiskey we bought a long time ago sitting in a cupboard that I tried to use first and it about made me hurl. Buy high quality bourbon and use very little.

Enjoy!

Ice Racing is pretty cool (no pun intended). They basically setup an oval track on a hockey rink, and then race around it using motorcycles, quads, and even carts. The races only have 4 to 5 guys per heat because of the small track size, but they haul butt like nobody’s business.

I don’t know what else to say about it other than that. It’s something that you kind of have to go see to understand the unique challenges of racing on ice. Here’s a link to the organizing body: http://www.icespeedway.com/

So if you want to find someplace new and cool to eat, want to avoid a stinker, or want to share your favorite tri-tip recipe, this is the place to be. Check it out.

TasteFresno.com