#1105 - A Train Wreck? Hardly!

In the modern lexicon, "train wreck" has come to be known as a disaster.  I could go on and on on this one...

The economy. A train wreck.

The oil spill in the Gulf.  A train wreck.

Rick Perry as President.  A train wreck.  (I have a crystal ball. Trust me on this one.)

Ever wonder about the origins of the name?  With trains being huge and somewhat fast, the 'ole F=MA equation holds true, for sure.  Where M=mass and A=acceleration, they combine for quite a bit of force.  When big, fast things wreck, that energy has to go somewhere, right?

Maybe it was the intentional train crash in Crush, Texas that brought the concept to the forefront.  In 1896, some dolt thought it would be good publicity to drive two trains into each other at full speed.  Not model trains, mind you - real ones.  With an estimated 40,000 people watching, the two trains collided head-on at a combined speed of about 90 mph.  The boilers literally exploded like bombs.  Three people died. More were injured.

Maybe it was the disaster in Saint Michel de Maurienne, France in 1917.  Horribly overloaded with 1,000 French soldiers going home on leave, the train, short on brake power, descended a slope outside of town.  With speeds estimated at 80mph in an area engineers posted at 25mph, the train derailed.  Fires, fueled by ammo and grenades carried by the soldiers, hampered rescue.  By the time it was over, an estimated 700 soldiers were dead. 135 were buried as Unknowns.  The train's engineer knew the risk and was not going to drive to the train. Because it was a military operation, he was, sadly, ordered by a superior officer to make the run  Fortunately, the quick thinking of a station attendant up the hill likely prevented more tragedy.  Watching the train pass his station at catastrophically stupid speeds, he called ahead with warnings.  A train carrying British soldiers was delayed.  That situation woulda sucked bad.

Train wrecks. They are brutal.

That said, #1,105, Train Wreck Ale, from the Mount Pleasant Brewing Company is the farthest thing from a disaster. 

In a pint glass, the pour was a disappointment.  I'll admit that.  The head was gone before it started.  Visually, though, the amber tones looked good (it is officially an amber ale).  The nose had suggestions of a mild sweetness and perhaps a tad of dark fruit?  On the tongue, it was all smooooooth.  The hops on the tongue quickly gave to the malts. Sweet and nice.  With the hops still there, but in the background, the finish faded with some of those sweet tones still lingering.  Damn good.  Carbonation was not overpowering.  (I later learned that honey and maple syrup were key ingredients.)  An easy four-out-of-five.

All in all, the Train Wreck isn't.  The brewer has all sorts of train-oriented names for their beers.  Apparently, this name is a reference to the drinker if they had too many.  At 8.2% alcohol, an ignorant consumer could be a pile of rubble.  

Watch this stuff.  Be the smart station attendant in France. Don't be the moron in Crush or the superior officer in Saint Michel de Maurienne. 

One Fair Photo

So I had a memory card in my camera that needed to be checked.  A few days at the Detroit River Hawkwatch usually means a few pictures, right? With luck, I can secure a good one, right?

Well...uh...wrong.

Dozens of photos were taken. Most are somewhere between junk and trash. Bad light.  Soft focus at best.  Poor position on the bird (a head turned the wrong way, for example).  

All my whining aside, I did manage to find one that is....okay.

I know. A pretty poor shot overall.  It is just a bird in the sky to many, I guess. But to me, it is a Red-shouldered Hawk.

How in the world can I tell?  The shape rules out falcons (they have pointed wings). The tail, while a squeak long to my eye, is far too short (when compared to the rest of the bird) to be an accipiter or Northern Harrier.  Eagle? No way. Osprey?  Nope.  Turkey Vulture?  Uhhhh, no.  All are just wrong.

We are now left with the buteos (BOOT-ee-ohs).  We don't really need to do the rundown on the possible eastern buteos (there are five species) as one fieldmark is painfully obvious. No, it is not the tail pattern.

Look at the wingtips.  Just inside the black tips you can clearly see an area that almost seems to glow.  Hawkwatchers call those "crescents" based on their resemblance to the moon during certain parts of the month.  As I understand it, these areas on the wing are not white.  They lack pigment.  No browns or black or tans.  Just structure. No color.  

We could almost think of them as being like small waxpaper windows on a large, wooden frame. Put a light behind it and the frame will block most of the light.  The light striking the waxpaper simply passes right through it.  On a sunny day, the waxpaper might even seem to glow!  

So, there have you it.  So many photos.  So many mistakes. But this one came out okay under the circumstances.  ID was a cinch.  Clear as a moon-shaped window on a sunny day.....

It Can't Be Just Me

Am I the only one who thinks this is funny?

I thought we had an obesity epidemic!



I am currently at Taco Bell getting lunch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tashmoo - Part 2

Detroit is getting exciting!  The Tigers are doing well!  Hell, the Lions are, too!  Who woulda thought that, eh?

But, of course, we have our troubles. We all know it.  Unemployment. A stagnant economy.  Forclosure rates.  I could on. 

What can we offer that might offset some of that bad?  

Beer. 

While "Tashmoo" might mean "meeting place" for some or be a sidewheel steamboat to others, it is now a biergarten.  Yes, biergarten. Not beer-garden.  The short story goes like this.....

This fellow, Aaron, and his friend, Suzanne, read an article about pop-up biergartens in New York. (These pop-ups were, of course, influenced by the biergartens of Europe.)  Basically, a vacant lot, with permission from the city, accommodates folks and their beer in a fun and festive atmosphere.  The main goal is to have fun, be cool and enjoy people and beer.  

Aaron (whom I met and spoke to for a while) and Suzanne wondered why Detroit couldn't do it, too. After pursuing the proper paperwork, Tashmoo Biergarten was born (fermented?) in a vacant lot in the West Village neighborhood.  (For you former Metro-Detroiters, it is down by Belle Isle).

First impressions were a bit mixed.  The property line was marked with wooden palettes set upright at fences.  Tables were old doors from old buildings.  Benches, made from 2x4s, were simple, but well crafted. Portable bathrooms were in a corner.  The bar was in a corner (obviously a different one!) with corn hole along the front fence.   Food service was along a different fence.  A few bucks bought you a few tickets.  A few tickets could secure some beer - the better the beer, the more the tickets.  Recycling stations were scattered around. 

After we settled in, everything was just great. Really.  The palettes? Free.  The neighbors? All for the project.  The City of Detroit?  In.  (Otherwise, they would have rejected the idea, right?) No drunks. No SWAT teams. Nothing stupid or crazy. Just good people enjoying good Michigan beer!

For the record, I secured a new beer!  #1,101 was the Brik Irish Red Ale from Millking It Productions.  Damn good.  The sweet malty tones were simply awesome.  Good.  I mean really, really good.  

To get a feel for the evening, check out these photos and read this article.  This one, too.  

I got the impression from Aaron that the whole temporary feel (the palattes and all) was just to test the waters.  With various folks coming together on their own time and with limited funds, it makes good sense. Dumping money into a flop-of-a-project would be frustrating.

However, 1000 people is not a flop.  The first day, last week Sunday, had 1000 people.  By the time I left yesterday, Aaron estimated 700 or so. The Tigers and Lions on the TV at the same time in the afternoon probably did not help.  But 700?  Cool!   I wonder what next Sunday will bring!

If all goes well, they plan on setting up something more permanent.  Better fencing.  Perhaps a permanent bar.  Maybe permanent bathrooms.  Some shelters of some sort?  There is certainly lots for them to think about.

Will I get back there? Yes. Definitely.   I will have to watch the weather. It was quite chilly by the time we left.  Maybe the next time around they will have some porters on hand. Now THAT is a cold weather beer!

Tashmoo

Live at Tashmoo! I'll babble later!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone