Author Archives: Pat

Loreena McKennitt

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She’s on a limited U.S. tour and Dallas was one of the stops so I got to take in one of the best shows I’ve been to, ever. If you don’t know who Loreena McKennitt is, take a look at her site.

The whole band was there with her, including a hurdy gurdy, oud, cello, viola, harp, drums, and more. They played music from across her recording career including some off the newest album. She also talked a bit about the traveling she did while creating the music.

It was an extremely entertaining evening and I was sad to see it end. If she ever comes anywhere near this area I’ll definitely be going to see her again.

We’ve Got A Winner!

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Before I left for work this morning I filled the airlock on the mead and saw what I thought was a little motion. Well… By the time I got back and checked again it was going like gang busters. Thank you Wyeast for making a yeast good enough to have a lag time of less than 24 hours when the package is a year old. I’m getting 3 – 5 bubbles a second out of that airlock. It’s almost a steady stream.

Started A Batch Of Dry Mead

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I was going to start this one on Sunday but because I was in a hurry when I picked up the yeast I failed to notice that the pack was a year old. So it didn’t swell up like it should have. I let it go a while longer and Sunday turned into Monday. It never did swell up like it should have but I decided to go ahead and do it anyways.

It’s a simple recipe, just dissolve 12 pounds of honey and bring the volume up to 5 gallons. Pitch the yeast, I’m using Wyeast’s 4021 Pasteur Champagne strain, and wait. I used some persimmon/wildflower honey, native Texas stuff, from Round Rock Honey out of Austin.

Initial gravity was around 1.086 – 1.090.

We’ll see how the yeast does.

Kegged The Dunkelweizen

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I kegged the dunkel today, it’s currently cooling down and carbonating. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. The samples tasted really good so I’m expecting good things from it.

I also went up to the homebrew store and picked up the ingredients for a stout. I’ll be brewing that later on this week, since it looks like the cool box is actually working. I’ll post the recipe once I get it going.

Collective Soul/Live

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Tonight was a concert that I’ve been looking forward to for a while now, Collective Soul and Live, both bands that I’ve liked and wanted to see. The show was at Nokia Live in Grand Prairie, which is an excellent venue for these types of concerts.

The opening act was Emerson Hart, of Tonic fame. He did a good, though short (about 30 minutes) set, including some Tonic songs as well as stuff from his solo project.

After he finished there was a short break to tear down/set up and Collective Soul took the stage. They played for about an hour and a half, playing many of their old favorites as well as some songs off the new album.

Another break for more set work and Live took the stage. I’ll admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to them, I’d really come to see Collective Soul, but by the end of the first song I was hooked. They’ve got a great stage presence and really played to the audience.

Dave Matthews Band

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I went to the Smirnoff Music Center tonight to see the Dave Matthews Band play. Not exactly my “type” of music, but it was definitely one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. I couldn’t begin to list the songs he/they played only to note that Ants Marching wasn’t played. But regardless of that, they put on a great show, lots of jamming and improvisation, and I really enjoyed it. Definitely a great act to see live, unlike some they actually manage to sound as good, if not better, live.

Engaging The Enemy

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The fourth book in Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta Wars series again picks up where the last one left off. No chapters of recap, etc. I really, really like this style. The story is getting very interesting and much deeper than I’d thought it would. Ky’s got to get a fleet of privateers together to start fighting back while more systems are being overrun. And amid all of that more depth is added to the betrayal of her family and of the ISC monopoly. I won’t say that the ending is a cliffhanger, but it does leave a lot hanging. Once I get through the far-too-tall stack of to-read books I’ll be picking up the next one.

Marque And Reprisal

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The second book in the Vatta’s War series, Marque and Reprisal picks up immediately where Trading In Danger left off, with a minimum of recap to pad the first few chapters. Ky’s now trying to figure out who’s been trying to wipe out her entire family, destroy their shipping empire, and disrupt interstellar communication. The action is fast paced, the plot is consistent, and the story keeps getting deeper into what’s going on. By the end of the book more information is known but the situation is by no means better. In fact it’s a lot worse.

Star Corps

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The first book in the second of Ian Douglas’s trilogies, Star Corps takes place decades after the events in Europa Strike. Here the Marines are on their way to another world to defend human interests and secure more alien technology from the descendents of the An, the alien race which enslaved humanity thousands of years ago. As usual, things aren’t what they seem and the situation goes from bad to worse quickly. The book did a good job of setting up the next one and once I get my to-read stack a LOT lower, I’ll be ordering it.

Europa Strike

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One of two books I brought with me on the road trip but didn’t get a chance to finish. I finally got some time to get through it and was a little let down. It was a good book, don’t get me wrong, but the ending just didn’t leave me satisfied. The last book in the Heritage Trilogy, it tried to wrap up all of the loose threads and still leave room and I guess did an adequate job, but just didn’t have the same impact as Semper Mars did.

Still, it was a good read, funny at times and poignant at others. The major issues haven’t been resolved though. The alien technology and revelations about human history are still having a major effect on human civilization. Hopefully the second trilogy will start resolving some of that turmoil.