The Big Change.

I know what you're thinking...no more CD reviews, lost commentary about a few of my favorite links, no more email updates...it's possible, but I'm making the switch to blogger.com for you, inspired in part by my friend Claudia and her blog. You'll now be able to leave your comments and search for my blog on Google. And for me, I'll have to learn a little HTML, which could come in handy some day. Until then, you'll have to forgo the reviews and snappy remarks, but I'll get there. There may be some changes each time you visit, like new colors and rearranged side bars, so pay attention. But the theme will stay the same. Beer, politics and my life. Enjoy.

To catch-up, check out my old blog over at Friendster.

On a personal note, my sister and her husband were in town for her baby shower. Love 'em. It's always nice to see your relatives make good life decisions. And my brother-in-law Sean is good friends with the owners of Three Floyds Brewing, and shares the benefits of his relationship with me. Three Floyds used to make it to Minnesota, until a major distributor went out of business. It was a painful period in Minnesota, with many great beers ceasing to find their way to the shelves of local liquor stores. Three Floyds never made it back.

Three Floyds like their hops, but they use them wisely and skillfully. Sean brought me a Brian Boru, Floyds red ale just in time for St Patrick's Day. I'm a huge fan of red ales (another great one is Mesabi Red from Lake Superior Brewing, which I had this weekend at a welcome home party for John Lesch at the Happy Gnome.) Brian has a dry hoppy nose, present in many of Floyd brews, and lingers through-out the beer. The maltiness of the red balances it out well, and carries it though to the end, and makes it easy to drink another....and another. If you're expecting a Killians, well you had better look elsewhere. Besides, Killians is owned by Coors, which sucks for many reasons, so you shouldn't be drinking it anyway. (An interesting side-note: I had a Killians in France this past summer, and it was a truley different beer than the one found state-side. It was 6%, and no where did it mention "Coors." Hmm.)

The Brian only comes in 22 ounce bombers, and truth be told, that's a lot of beer for just sitting at home. Still, Three Floyds is solid, and it's easy to drink all 22 ounces by yourself. I can't wait to visit my sister, Sean and their new child this summer, and sample the wares at the brewery. They live blocks from it. If you live in Minnesota, where you can't even get a 6-pick of Alpha King, this is a great prospect. I love Sean for many reasons, and this is one.

Bottling my wine this week. I'll keep you posted.

I stumpled upon zillow.com this week. From the makers of expedia.com, this tells you what your house is worth, and your neighbors, compared to others in your zip code, city, county, state, and U.S. They use information from your county's property tax records (public and on-line in most states), and give you the option to customize your house to figure out a more exact valuation. Need to know what the value of your house might be worth if you re-modeled your kicthen or got a new roof? And it's all free. God I love the Internet.

That's all I got. So leave me a comment. Now you can.