One of the fun features of facebook is the ability to register as a "fan" of various teams, causes, groups and individuals. But for some reason last week, I was feeling a bit dissatisfied about the on-or-off nature of such a choice. After all, there are things and groups I'm much more devoted to than others, and so I suggested an alternative--a three-level expression of fan-ness ranging from "fan" to "advocate" to "militant supporter."
While facebook has yet to adopt this suggestion, the conversation on this subject with my facebook friends yielded a further refinement--a scale starting at 6 and ending at ten that covers the full range of support:
6-would generally prefer it to competitors
7-consider it part of one's identity
8-would actively recommend to others
9-would defend its honor in an argument, or perhaps, a fist-fight
10-would start a fist-fight on its behalf (if the situation warranted)
In most categories, I have but one entry. For sports teams, my criteria is slightly more relaxed--teams which generally don't play each other can be added.
6: Burger King (global fast food), Ajax (Dutch soccer), Star Alliance (airline alliance), Starwood Hotels, Lonely Planet (travel guides), Vlasic (pickles), Cattleman's BBQ sauce, Calve chunky peanut butter, Louisiana Brand hot sauce, Arkansas Razorbacks (college sports team-US South), Caramel/Toffee/Dulce de Leche, Klene Suikervrije Visjes (licorice), Canadian Club (whisky)
7. Chicago Cubs (baseball), The Economist, Turkish Coffee, Eurostar (trans-channel train service), Sharp Cheddar, Limes, DC United (MLS Soccer), KimChee (Korean equivalent of sauerkraut), CCM (association of communication pros), Magret de Canard (duck breast-favorite French meal)
8. University of Wisconsin (university, sports teams), Belgian Beer, easyJet (European budget airline), Democratic Party (US), Cocktail Sauce (US condiment), Pastrami (favorite delicatessen meal), Prime Rib (favorite steakhouse meal), Iskender Kebab (favorite Turkish meal)
9. Tottenham Hotspur (English Soccer), Liberal Judaism, US Men's National Soccer Team (international soccer), Belgium (favorite country to live in), President Barack Obama, Landmark Education (kick-ass education and training programs), Reproductive Freedom/Abortion Rights, The Pigs (favorite species)
10. Israel, Health Care Reform (US), London Business School
What I found most interesting in looking at things this way is that it gave me an ability to compare my various favorites across categories. I'm about as much of an Obama fan as I am a Spurs fan--would defend their respective honor, but also occasionally moan about various on-field mistakes. It also reflects some personal evolution--while I love the University of Wisconsin, it's the Tottenham results I look for first these days.
The fist-fight distinction is also a bit aspirational--I haven't actually been in any fist fights since university, my last attempt being at a Young Republicans convention in 1992 which preceded my switch to the Democrats by two months. But it still crystalizes a level of support that goes well beyond mere preference or 'fandom'.
Please have a gander at this--and include your own ratings in the comments below!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Winter Olympics--What I'd Like To See
Aaah, it is but a few days until the Olympic Flame makes its triumphant entrance into the stadium in Vancouver, marking the start of the chilly version of "Seventeen Days of Glory."
Despite having had an abortive winter sports career that consisted of an abortive attempt at cross-country skiing (one that I never adequately apologized to my dad for--having duly bought me a pair of skis at my persistent insistence), I've long loved the cold version of the Olympics at least as much as the warm. Still, I think there's room for improvement--hence, my 2010 suggested Winter Olympic Combinations:
1) Biathluge: Combining the high-speed excitement of the luge with the precision of target shooting
2) Alpine Hockey: The offensive team passes the puck down the mountain while the defenders wait in front of the goal in the valley
3) Halfpipe Curling: Instead of pushing the stone straight to the target, the stone moves in pendulum motion, zigzagging down the snowboard half pipe towards Olympic glory
4) Short Track Ski Jumping: An abbreviated launch from higher altitude heightens the drama of an already breathtaking sport
5) Figure Slalom: Combining the artistics of figure skating with the short but precise turning of the slalom
While these are too late for inclusion in the 2010 agenda--how about trying these as video games?
Despite having had an abortive winter sports career that consisted of an abortive attempt at cross-country skiing (one that I never adequately apologized to my dad for--having duly bought me a pair of skis at my persistent insistence), I've long loved the cold version of the Olympics at least as much as the warm. Still, I think there's room for improvement--hence, my 2010 suggested Winter Olympic Combinations:
1) Biathluge: Combining the high-speed excitement of the luge with the precision of target shooting
2) Alpine Hockey: The offensive team passes the puck down the mountain while the defenders wait in front of the goal in the valley
3) Halfpipe Curling: Instead of pushing the stone straight to the target, the stone moves in pendulum motion, zigzagging down the snowboard half pipe towards Olympic glory
4) Short Track Ski Jumping: An abbreviated launch from higher altitude heightens the drama of an already breathtaking sport
5) Figure Slalom: Combining the artistics of figure skating with the short but precise turning of the slalom
While these are too late for inclusion in the 2010 agenda--how about trying these as video games?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
3 Jews, 3 Quadrupels, and a Beer That Tastes Like Dirt
It took several months after I moved into my own Brussels apartment before I successfully organized my first social event.
Partly, this was because it took several months before I extricated myself from an unhappy job situation--and the attached grind of weekly travel to a country resembling a parallel universe from the land of my birth. Partly, this was because of a lack of occasion.
But such an occasion emerged last month when my dear Dutch friend, Gidon--a fellow congregant at the International Jewish Center (indeed, he's what passes for a "macher"--a "big shot"--at our modest temple)--contacted me about a long-deferred evening of beer tasting. We discussed a return visit to Moeder Lambic, a hoary haven for Belgium's beer nerds, but I finally took the initiative. "Let's have it at my place."
Two soon became three, as "D", a student at a certain semi-sectarian Belgian university wangled an invite. (He insists on keeping his identity secret as his doctoral colleagues believe he does nothing in Belgium except to drink beer).
I came well armed--with my main contribution a 750ml bottle of 2008 Cuvee van de Keizer (about which I've waxed rhapsodically in previous bloggings) and a 2004 vintage bottle of trappist-monk-brewed Westvleteren 12, which I had to break at least 3 of the Catholic Ten Commandments to obtain (as the monks of Westvleteren consider grey-market resale of their exalted ales an unoriginal but much-vexing sin).
But Gidon, he of 1500 beer labels collected (versus my mere 165 Ratebeer.com reviews) came prepared with Holland's Bommen en Granaten, which weighed in at 15% alcohol versus the more modest 10% of the Cuvee and 12% of the ill-gotten Westvleteren.
After some idle semitic chit-chat, and, for no particular reason, the donning of yarmulkes (mine was leather an had an Obama '08 log), the heavy business of tasting these exceptionally heavy brews began.
I opened with the Westvleteren. But after pouring the normal-sized 330ml bottle into three vintage beer chalices, I found myself unable to drink the Westvleteren. Why? Because it smelled sooooooo good. It smelled like the brown pumpernickel bread that's baked with raisins here. Deep, savory, and sweet. Finally, when I broke down and started sipping, the combination of treacle/molasses-like richness and raisin-like fruitiness was explosive on the palate. Whether it's worth my mortal soul may be another question.
Gidon replied with the Bommen en Granaten, Dutch for "Bombs and Grenades". Amber, clear and very gently carbonated, Bommen en Granaten unloads a mixture of flavors--fruity, malty, yeasty and just the tiniest bit floral--that can stir a palate that had just been sent heavenward by the Westvleteren. Interestingly, Bommen en Granaten may be more difficult to get than "Ole Westy"--it's produced by an obscure Dutch brewery.
This obscure brewery also produces the aptly named Hemel en Aarde--Heaven and Earth. It's an apt name because the brew is brewed with peat from some Scottish distillery with about 70 letters in its name. And it flippin' tastes like flippin' peat. I've never drank something that literally tasted this much like dirt, except for some of the water I found while digging in sandboxes as a child. If you are a single-malt scotch hound, you may like this...otherwise, accept that beer and peat don't mix.
Capping the evening off with the Keizer was nice--it too joins the Westy and the Bommen as a legit contender for the "Beer Champion Of The World" of the world title, though the evening was declared in the beginning as a non-title bout. This was good, because the early tastes of the Keizer served mainly to exorcise the peat flavor.
Will there be a champion bout at Maison Klein in the future? There's always a possibility--just so long as there's no peat involved, and no yarmulkes are required.
Partly, this was because it took several months before I extricated myself from an unhappy job situation--and the attached grind of weekly travel to a country resembling a parallel universe from the land of my birth. Partly, this was because of a lack of occasion.
But such an occasion emerged last month when my dear Dutch friend, Gidon--a fellow congregant at the International Jewish Center (indeed, he's what passes for a "macher"--a "big shot"--at our modest temple)--contacted me about a long-deferred evening of beer tasting. We discussed a return visit to Moeder Lambic, a hoary haven for Belgium's beer nerds, but I finally took the initiative. "Let's have it at my place."
Two soon became three, as "D", a student at a certain semi-sectarian Belgian university wangled an invite. (He insists on keeping his identity secret as his doctoral colleagues believe he does nothing in Belgium except to drink beer).
I came well armed--with my main contribution a 750ml bottle of 2008 Cuvee van de Keizer (about which I've waxed rhapsodically in previous bloggings) and a 2004 vintage bottle of trappist-monk-brewed Westvleteren 12, which I had to break at least 3 of the Catholic Ten Commandments to obtain (as the monks of Westvleteren consider grey-market resale of their exalted ales an unoriginal but much-vexing sin).
But Gidon, he of 1500 beer labels collected (versus my mere 165 Ratebeer.com reviews) came prepared with Holland's Bommen en Granaten, which weighed in at 15% alcohol versus the more modest 10% of the Cuvee and 12% of the ill-gotten Westvleteren.
After some idle semitic chit-chat, and, for no particular reason, the donning of yarmulkes (mine was leather an had an Obama '08 log), the heavy business of tasting these exceptionally heavy brews began.
I opened with the Westvleteren. But after pouring the normal-sized 330ml bottle into three vintage beer chalices, I found myself unable to drink the Westvleteren. Why? Because it smelled sooooooo good. It smelled like the brown pumpernickel bread that's baked with raisins here. Deep, savory, and sweet. Finally, when I broke down and started sipping, the combination of treacle/molasses-like richness and raisin-like fruitiness was explosive on the palate. Whether it's worth my mortal soul may be another question.
Gidon replied with the Bommen en Granaten, Dutch for "Bombs and Grenades". Amber, clear and very gently carbonated, Bommen en Granaten unloads a mixture of flavors--fruity, malty, yeasty and just the tiniest bit floral--that can stir a palate that had just been sent heavenward by the Westvleteren. Interestingly, Bommen en Granaten may be more difficult to get than "Ole Westy"--it's produced by an obscure Dutch brewery.
This obscure brewery also produces the aptly named Hemel en Aarde--Heaven and Earth. It's an apt name because the brew is brewed with peat from some Scottish distillery with about 70 letters in its name. And it flippin' tastes like flippin' peat. I've never drank something that literally tasted this much like dirt, except for some of the water I found while digging in sandboxes as a child. If you are a single-malt scotch hound, you may like this...otherwise, accept that beer and peat don't mix.
Capping the evening off with the Keizer was nice--it too joins the Westy and the Bommen as a legit contender for the "Beer Champion Of The World" of the world title, though the evening was declared in the beginning as a non-title bout. This was good, because the early tastes of the Keizer served mainly to exorcise the peat flavor.
Will there be a champion bout at Maison Klein in the future? There's always a possibility--just so long as there's no peat involved, and no yarmulkes are required.
Bret Bielema Is NOT Drunk
One of the weird things that happens when one pops a device like StatCounter into one's blog is that it becomes very easy to find out a lot about the people who visit the blog.
About a year ago, I wrote an article defending then-under-fire University of Wisconsin (American) Football Coach Bret Bielema after a difficult 2008 season. I had met Bret a few years before at a Wisconsin Alumni event, and came away extremely impressed with his intelligence and his grasp of the magnitude of the job he had been hired to do.
It is rare for a man in his late 30's to effectively be named the CEO and Chief Recruiter of a multi-million dollar business, and one which had to satisfy the validation cravings of hundreds of thousands of beer-sodden Wisconsinites and Badger Alumni. This year's strong 10-3 performance signals what I hope will be an increasingly successful continuation of the Bielema era.
HOWEVER--one of the quirks of Google and other search engines is that if someone wants to put in a search inquiry, the whole content of an article or blog entry gets sucked into the inquiry. And from StatCounter, I've learned that nearly half of the visitors to FlightKL18 come here because of one inquiry: "Bret Bielema Drunk".
Let me state for the record. I've never seen Bret Bielema drunk. And I think most people looking for that entry are gunning for the wrong guy.
Better they should pick on University of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin. My dad doesn't like him, after all.
About a year ago, I wrote an article defending then-under-fire University of Wisconsin (American) Football Coach Bret Bielema after a difficult 2008 season. I had met Bret a few years before at a Wisconsin Alumni event, and came away extremely impressed with his intelligence and his grasp of the magnitude of the job he had been hired to do.
It is rare for a man in his late 30's to effectively be named the CEO and Chief Recruiter of a multi-million dollar business, and one which had to satisfy the validation cravings of hundreds of thousands of beer-sodden Wisconsinites and Badger Alumni. This year's strong 10-3 performance signals what I hope will be an increasingly successful continuation of the Bielema era.
HOWEVER--one of the quirks of Google and other search engines is that if someone wants to put in a search inquiry, the whole content of an article or blog entry gets sucked into the inquiry. And from StatCounter, I've learned that nearly half of the visitors to FlightKL18 come here because of one inquiry: "Bret Bielema Drunk".
Let me state for the record. I've never seen Bret Bielema drunk. And I think most people looking for that entry are gunning for the wrong guy.
Better they should pick on University of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin. My dad doesn't like him, after all.
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