A Big No, No

Mark Pilkenton bought a bat. Don't tell anyone.

Missouri Representin'

Missouri is the beer capital of the world. Additional proof is provided with a new list of the Top 50 craft breweries in the US in terms of amount of liters sold. Coming in at number 50, first appearance on the list: Schlafly's. Aiming for the top stop, coming in at number eight, the makers of the best unfiltered wheat beer, not to mention a fantastic special edition Saison ale, Boulevard.

You can read more at the Post-Dispatch's website, which has a link to the actual list.

Instant Classic Commercial

This commercial you guys probably don't see outside the Jack-in-the-Box area. It is worthy of the instant classic title. Enjoy.

Someone out there is listening

For years, Fred Eck and I have spoken at length of the desire and technology of pneumatic tubes and the awesomeness of human-size tubes if the technology was ever perfected. I can happily say that now, this technology exists and is a classic, sleek and elegant addition to any single family residence or office.

You, like me, must be sick of going up and down stairs. Go upstairs to the bedroom to sleep. Go downstairs to the kitchen to eat. Will it ever end?! Elevated Technologies offers you an affordable alternative that provides you with panoramic views of your own home. I know what your saying: "this is too good to be true" and "Justin, my father was killed by pneumatic tube technology you insensitive bastard." For you my friend, it is true and pneumatic tube technology has made leaps and bounds since your father had his eyes sucked out of his head due to the vacuum forces.

All I ask is that you review Elevated Technologies web site and the products they offer. If you are still not a believer, the next time you are over, I will let you take a ride in my pneumatic tube. And gentlemen, for Fred's wedding gift, I think we should pool our money together for one these. I know, he only has a one story home, but how will get up into the attic?

Beer Articles

I thought some of you might be interested in recent articles in the Post Dispatch about Schlafly and O'Fallon breweries. In short, they are doing well. I was a little disappointed to see O'Fallon moving some of their production to Wisconsin, but it is good to see Missouri companies expanding.

"I Love You, Man" Review

I saw I Love You, Man last night and must say it was a pleasant walk in the park. The movie started kind of slow until Jason Segal's character makes a classic toast at Paul Rudd's engagement party. After that, the movies picks up a bit, and all-in-all, was pretty good and funny the whole way through. There are funny moments, but other than the toast, no lines I am going to be quoting from years down the road. There is good chemistry between the actors, but several funny actors are under used, such as Andy Samburg, far and away the best member of SNL currently, and Jane Curtin.

Ultimately, definitely worth viewing as a rental or matinee. Just do not expect Role Models funny.

One of My Favorite Commercials

In what I hope to be a regular segment on this blog, here is one of my favorite commercials:

WWRBD?

Hello world. Meet your leader and savior: Rich Baumann. If you don't know who he is, you will soon. For starters, he puts 10 layers in a seven layer burrito. Mind blowing: yes. Innovating: yes. But it is only the beginning. Learn more about what Rich Baumann has done and what he will soon what he will do for us all here.

Bears v. Salukis

I braved the leftover snow and ice and made the trip Thursday night to Carbondale for the MSU-SIU game.  First, quick thoughts from the game.  Bears played good enough to win.  The missed free throws were absolutely killer.  Cooks played awful.  I was expecting a lot more from him.  It look like he had no passion.  Weems did not play very well either.  He was in foul trouble early and never got in a rhythm offensively.  To his credit, he played with four fouls for a good five or six minutes during the Bears comeback and stifling defense of SIU.

The Good: Wade Knapp and Wil Creekmore played fantastic down low.  SIU did not have an answer for them.  Creekmore hit outside shots and also battled in the post.  Once Knapp got the ball, he always put up a good shot even though it may not have gone down, or was fouled (needs to work on FTs).  Generally, the defense played very well.  SIU's final total of 68 was inflated at the end of the game and not reflective of the quality of defense.  Also, I very pleased to see that MSU actually has a post game.  They just did not throw up three after three and pray that the shots fall.  They ran an offense, stuck with it even when it wasn't working, and had success.  Overall, my first impression of Coach 'Zo and this year's team was a good one.

A final note on the game: the refs were awful.  They called 28 fouls in the first half and 22 in the second half.  My friends and I got there about six minutes into the game and counted at least seven clear travel calls and three close travels that were not called.

SIU Arena:  While it has an intimate feel to it (not a bad seat in the house), it is an old glorified high school gymnasium.  It looks like a sale barn from the outside.  On the inside, there is only three bathrooms that we could find and only two concession stands.  Every seat except the lower bowl seats going the length of the floor are benches.  Capacity is somehow 9400.  There is no way.  The place is a lot smaller than what it looks on TV.  It can't be much bigger than MacDonald Arena.  SIU is in the process of raising money to renovate it and construction cannot start soon enough. 

The only thing I have to complement SIU about is, at halftime, they print out the game stats and distribute them to everyone.  That was very convenient and nice to refer to during the second half.

ESPN Article on Mountain West - MVC Challenge

Apparently, ESPN just found out about the Mountain West - MVC challenge next year.  Bears drew Air Force on December 5, 2009.  Check out the short article here.  No word on TV coverage yet.

St. Louis Breweries

CNN.com had a recent article on St. Louis breweries other than InBev.  The article was not really that good, but I thought I would provide links to all of the local breweries that I know of.  So, enjoy:

InBev

Schlafly

O'Fallon

Alandale

SquareOne

Morgan Street

Bears Conference Season Begins Now...Finally

Ok, the Bears look like a last place team.  I am going to try to put rose colored glasses on for what has happened so far.  They have played what look like the better teams in the conference so far, and played them on the road.  Their young and have been injury plagued.  If they had more experience and knew how to close games, they would have beat Illinois State, Evansville on the road and Bradley.

Facts are stubborn things, though.  Bears are 0-5 in conference.  What they do have going for them is that Wichita State, the next worst team in the MVC, come into Springfield on Wednesday.  This is a must win.  Beat the Shockers on Wednesday, take the momentum into Normal next weekend and beat those frauds, Illinois State.  Come back to Springfield with confidence to win back-to-back against Drake and UNI.  All of the sudden the Bears are 4-5 with the most difficult part of their schedule done.

The path to respectability is there.  Sure, I am overly optimistic, but I believe that the Bears can do this.  Go Coach 'Zo!  Go Bears!