Week one The game: Texans at Patriots The beer: Clown Shoes Rexx Imperial Red Ale The result: Win, 27–20; Titans/Jarrod lose (times four), 27–20 Week two The game: Patriots at Jaguars The beer: 603 NH Ale The result: Loss, 31–20 Week three The game: Patriots at Lions The beer: Riverwalk Cash Bus Pale Ale The […]
“It’s very gratifying to say that Captain Beefheart’s [Trout Mask Replica] is a total success, a brilliant, stunning enlargement and clarification of his art. Which is not to say that it’s in any sense slick, ‘artistic’ or easy.” – Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone “If one is to enjoy Trout Mask Replica’s twenty-eight songs on a […]
The beer: Montauk Session India Pale Ale The commentary: “Bitter? Nah.” A little, actually. We almost missed training camp and that would have been a shame. The Patriots only release the open-to-the-public portion of the schedule a few dates at a time with little notice (shocker) and the lack of joint sessions with another team […]
This might be a June thing from now on. “June thirtieth” has a nice ring to it. June thirtieth, June thirtieth, noon girly plinth, poon whirling myth… let’s keep this short. (Too late.) If someone had told me in August 2005 when I drafted my first post—which had no resemblance whatsoever to what is purported […]
The game: Patriots vs. Eagles The beer: Collective Arts Stranger Than Fiction Porter The result: Fuuuuuuck The commentary: There I was, chain-drinking bombers with the first setting up a presumed—upon winning—deep dive into socialized literature. Said plans, though, were scrapped early when our defense declared “No more!” So what better time to revisit a Super […]
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The beer: Great Divide Hibernation English-Style Old Ale The commentary: An excerpt from the—by god—forthcoming “Don’t gimme no affliction: 25 years of ‘Moonlight on Vermont’ and other bush recordings.” During the summer of 1993, which fell between my freshman and sophomore years of college and would prove to be the final extended stretch of time […]
The game: Jaguars at Patriots The beer: Gun Hill Void of Light Foreign Style Stout The result: Win, 24–20 The commentary: Complacency is a bitch but also a defense mechanism and that’s how a fourth-quarter, two-score deficit keeps the terror-sweat at bay, however barely. You’ve got it good when your six-year-old declares with certainty—in the […]
The game: Titans at Patriots The beer: Mayflower Oatmeal Stout The result: Win, 35–14 The commentary: I would never have read Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry were it not for the Ladies. From the book club’s first meeting—back when the Pats had won a game more than it lost—and nominations were flying […]
Updated: January 1, 2019 Continuing, for some reason, to chronicle every book and short story I’ve read since The Lord of the Rings last spring. Volume 1 (2017) | “Selected readings from the Old Lady Book Club” Critical remarks are avoided while ratings are reserved for “Library Book Club” selections (noted in red to represent the spectre of […]
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