Thoughts on Brewery Buy-outs and Mergers

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Earlier this week (or maybe it was last week, I don’t remember), the beer world was abuzz with the news the Anheuser-Busch/InBev had an agreement to buy Goose Island (the brewpubs were not part of the deal). Commentaries are split between this being a good thing, this being a bad thing, and not having an opinion until we see what happens. Here’s my take on this particular deal and on brewery mergers and buy-outs in general. Continue reading →

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Are Rare/Hyped Beers Good for Craft Beer?

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Fellow beer blogger, Josh from Lost in the Beer Aisle, recently reviewed Founders’ Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Before he got to the actual review, he gave a little rant on rare beers. I commented on his post, but figured I should probably write it a bit better and go deeper into my thoughts. So here I am wondering if rare beers are actually good for the craft beer industry or could they cause problems for the industry. I may not actually answer the question. I’m more thinking out loud and looking to start a discussion. Continue reading →

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I am Cannon

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire is easily my favorite place to ski. There are a number of reasons for that, which I’ll go into later. Cannon has a marketing program called “I am Cannon”. It’s generally a bunch of people who have been skiing Cannon for years and years or their kids who grew up skiing it writing about why they love it so much. It’s a nice little marketing ploy, but it’s really  just a bunch of short testimonials. My testimonial is a bit too long for their site I think, but it makes a great blog post. Continue reading →

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Drink Better Beer (today and everyday)

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Last year I wrote a couple posts regarding St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not a fan of this day for a few reasons that I won’t bother going into because it really doesn’t matter. This year, I’m writing to ask you to drink better beer, not only today, but everyday. Continue reading →

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TAB vs MGB

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Someone over at the Online Phish Tour wrote an article about why the Mike Gordon Band (MGB) is better than the Trey Anastasio Band (TAB). It got to me. I’ve seen both, though I’ve seen TAB many more times. I’ve listened to both enough to know that the general sentiment is wrong. Now, I know I recently wrote a post about the most recent TAB tour. Some issues will be rehashed, but it’s not quite the same. Continue reading →

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Marriage Equality

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Runaway Jim

I’ve posted about it before, but the issue is actually being debated in Rhode Island’s General Assembly as I write this. Yesterday after work, I attended a marriage equality rally held by some of the students at the college. They had various speakers that included a gay Catholic priest (not Roman Catholic), some students, and some faculty. I didn’t get to stay to the end as I had to get home to make dinner for my wife, but it was a great rally. Continue reading →

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xkcd: Server Attention Span

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Runaway Jim

xkcd: Server Attention Span.

Just wanted to point this out. This is so true. There is nothing worse than clicking a link on your smartphone to go to a certain page or article and getting redirected to the site’s mobile homepage. While I appreciate sites having a mobile version, all links should work properly, meaning they should point you to that article on the mobile site or just bring you to the full site for that article.

Also, if you have a mobile site, have a link (a prominent one) for your full site somewhere. That way if I didn’t want the mobile site, I can find what I’m looking for on the full site.

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Kept it Off!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Runaway Jim

I previously posted about how I was sick and lost a few pounds. It turns out, I lost about 3 pounds while I was sick. I haven’t gained it back and I’m eating normally again. I guess my current plan for eating and exercising (which involves more eating and less exercising) has been working. By “more eating and less exercising”, I mean that I’m not really exercising, just eating better. Continue reading →

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Trey’s Acoustic/Electric Tour

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Runaway Jim

I’m sitting here doing absolutely nothing (though this is being published the following day) listening to the acoustic sets from the Trey Anastasio shows that were released on LivePhish (the audience recordings all have too much audience noise to properly hear the acoustic set). Anyway, I attended the Boston show as a very last minute decision (decided a couple hours before the show that I was going and managed to score a ticket for face value). It was a good decision. I have only seen Trey play solo acoustic once at the Newport Folk Festival a couple years ago. This show was different though. He seemed to be having more fun. The whole show was awesome, including the electric set. It was very loose and laid back, and I think it’ll have a good effect on Phish. Continue reading →

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Interview with David Cicilline

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Runaway Jim

Here’s an interview with former Providence mayor, now congressman, David Cicilline on the financial problems the city faces. Scott MacKay from WRNI asks the tough questions while Cicilline gives the easy answers. He literally avoids every question he’s asked and pushes the blame elsewhere. Don’t let the title fool you. I think he said that once, but never truly accepts responsibility.

Cicilline: I’m responsible for every decision I made

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