The Plight of a Tipsy Vegan

we rock a you rock, a scooby doo

2010-10-19T01:24:00.003-04:00

Guess what America? We love you.

Just so's you know: if you didn't make them, there's no telling what's in the mashed potatoes.

I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes sound clip Beastie Boys sound clips

That's the fact, Jack.

foul.

2010-10-07T00:30:00.004-04:00

I have gone through several phases of my quest to eat in a positive way. I still kick myself for refusing to eat my Gramma Gerry's cherry pie (which had been my favorite of favorites) because there was lard in the dough. Tit, tat. It was my last opportunity to share that with her (she made it for me after all) because shortly thereafter she passed away.

I've been reading Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma", and it is interesting. I'm beginning to think local eating is more important than not, in the grand scheme of things. A small amount of lard in the pie wouldn't have made a difference except that I could have sat with my Gramma and made us both happy.

So my stance is more about sustainability than purity for the sake of (at best) purity. Am I out of the club now? Living creatures as food is one (unappealing, but thinkable) thing. This is a beast of a different color: Ewwwwwwww!

how was your wednesday night?

2009-07-29T23:31:00.002-04:00

i found the coolest mug ever right in my basement.

question

2009-07-22T21:54:00.001-04:00

question
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

if a watermelon is fertilized with honey, is it still vegan?
regardless it's damn tastey.

neither tipsy nor vegan

2009-06-29T22:36:00.002-04:00

company paid outing to hershey park
evey and i caught the tail end of this performance
hilarious
she was bouncy and grooving away
thankfully the message lost on her little ears

drunken with ice cream

2009-06-13T22:43:00.002-04:00

drunken with ice cream
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

make that homemade soy ice cream fothermucker! and strawberry at that. damn tastey.

four vegans walk into a bar...

2009-05-17T15:06:00.002-04:00

four vegans walk into a bar...
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

well make that a grill it yourself restaurant/bar. a touch of jimmy buffet in the air, but not too nausiating. excellent outdoor creekside seating however. accompanied by twenty some other folks celebrating a thirtieth birthday. draft beer is slim, bottled menu not too shabby. prices are high.

onto the food menu. who likes meat? we got chicken, normal steak, black/rotten/aged steak, wings, shrimp, fish, wild boar, gator... but they do have portabellas soaking in a parmesan cheese marinade : ( and a veggie steamer in an aluminum take out container.

two steamers and two plain ports from the kitchen later and we're grilling. cleansed by fire killing meaty contamination we throw down on the hot medal grate and start sweating. cooking at home is enjoyable but paid cooks in restaurants makes sense to us.

back out to the creek and the foods better than expected. good conversation and drink follow. no kids tonight but the babysitter clock is ticking. turn down yet another raw oyster shot while leaving and drive home thru a heavy thunderstorm to a still happy kid.

64 ounces

2009-03-07T09:46:00.003-05:00

it was a good ride. read about it over here.

whats that in your bag?

2009-02-22T12:43:00.003-05:00

so i ride past this brewery everyday. morning and night. it smells delicious. sometimes i stop in for a sixer to go. sometimes other options are available.

like bottle conditioned, whiskey barrel aged ales.

they were tasty indeed and traveled quite well for their ten mile trip home.

another option for cold liquor

2009-01-04T22:31:00.001-05:00

no, i did not purchase said device. just observed in it's natural habitat.

porteur racking the ale

2008-12-28T18:36:00.002-05:00

a safe two mile transport from distributor to home.
handled fine.
bungee hack worked.
brake was inaccessible.
fixed transport is good.
cargo was tasty as well.

cold beer in the cold woods

2008-12-14T11:23:00.002-05:00

cans are quite packable as dick stated
and larger cans make for less waste
once crushed they virtually disappear
which is good cause
pack it in/pack it out is the only way to live
to keep this picturesque

So. It is down to you, and it is down to me...

2008-12-10T22:09:00.003-05:00

"...you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal" so I can clearly not choose a beer in a glass bottle, which is liable to bust when one falls upon it.

People. Biking while drinking is hard enough. Don't pile misery upon your head. Pick yourself up a 6er of canned beers. You'll save weight skipping the unnecessary opener, too. I once contracted for a custom singlespeed, and wanted the Paragon Machine Works dropouts with a bottle opener on the nondrive forkend. Mr. Walling obliged me (cuz he is a do-right man) but he did so with these words: "Anyone riding a singlespeed should be drinking beer out of a can." It is advice that has stood me in good stead for a number of reasons, not least for the economy of it. My wife calls it my "old man beer." Whateveah...

Choose wisely.*

*stay away from the 211 Steel Reserve, it is terrible. A true wino/skater swill.

baby storage

2008-11-18T12:13:00.003-05:00

keep those empty cases as they're much fun.
reading premium beer
nostalgic, non-offensive, reasonably priced brew.

We came, we pedaled, we crawled.

2008-11-09T21:59:00.004-05:00

A group of 10 gathered. Mixed bag of cyclists that somehow knew each other with varying degrees of separation. Fancy bikes even made an appearance; full squish with handlebar mounted lights wouldn't be my first choice for locking up. But then again expensive bikes locked up in Reading doesn't occur very often and passing eyes don't know what they're looking at.

Me? The ever trusty fixed crosscheck carried me valiantly and my selfish krypto mini u-lock kept my bike secure all by it's lonesome.

Mix of parks and quiet city streets were traversed as we wound our way around to five bars. The tally would have been six if it wasn't for the $35 cover charge to get into a micro brew tasting event. That's a bit steep but the place was packed. Or it at least seemed that way with the PA indoor smoking ban now in effect leaving all the cool kids lurking by the front doors burning little paper tubes of tobacco.

I was wise enough to pre-game on a dish of pasta before leaving so as I wasn't counting of deep fried potatoes for my only sustenance. And no surprises were found on the menus either. Though I did score some peppers fried in oil with garlic since the purchaser didn't realize the capsaicinoid content of the peppers. Good stuff.

Typical view of the steeds. Cheap cable locks made me cringe a bit. This crew isn't used to locking up on a regular basis. Mines buried in there on the left; dorky one with the fenders if you have a close eye.

Porters, lagers, and hoppy pints were hoisted but this one won my heart for the night. Who doesn't love coffee overtones.

The night dragged on. Movement was slow, both in the sense of pedaling, getting ready to pedal, and getting served. One bad bar choice has us hustling out of there as the crowd was a little too wiggerish for our liking. Though one rap song they played did have the classy refrain of 'hold my dick'. Yeah we left soon after that.

We closed out the night before last call since we were all lightweights and working stiffs who get up to early during the week. Last bar was a mere mile from home so the brisk air felt good before the cold set in.

All in all not bad but I'm certainly not a barfly. Give me woods, a backyard, or garage any day with a thirsty crowd of bikers and a good time will ensue.

Extra Bonus; my wife made an awesome spread the next morning!

After a long night

2008-11-09T01:08:00.001-05:00

The one a.m bar scene is truely sad. That is all. More later.

Bourbon Stout

2008-11-08T15:17:00.003-05:00

Bourbon Stout
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

Lunchtime imbibment. Smokey with a definate taste of bourbon.Very tastey. Golden Avalanche brewery at Kutztown Tavern.

Dispatched via iPhone

getting prepared

2008-11-08T00:37:00.002-05:00

don't forget your lock.
and a light would be helpful.
don't ride your good bike.
take a fixed.
preferably with fenders.
bonus points for reflective tape.
how you locking it?
mini u and bolt on skewers?
or mega chain ready to pull cars out of ditches?
and a tool kits handy.
walking is for suckers.
and while i'm not a sucker,
someone in your group is bound to be one.
and then there's food.
how many plates of fries in one night?
maybe get crazy with some onion rings.
but they may not be vegan.
let it slip and keep an eye peeled for the veg police?
yeah, probably let it slip.
and i've never seen the vegan police.
though i'm sure they swarm internet message boards.
good thing they don't get out much.
and don't forget that tool kit.

There comes a time

2008-11-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

in every man's life, when he gets...a little in that bag. And he's riding one of his bicycles around his town, half-in the bag, looking for some Late Night Fries.

It has happened to me. It has happened to you. It will happen to us again, if we're lucky. Depending on your town, you have more or less access to quality Late Night Fries. Many of us live in towns where our access is limited to fast food, and that can be OK. If there are other options, you may certainly wish to take them. One notable exception around here is the Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz, where they are open late (3am?) and the entire menu is vegan drive-in fare. But, that is ~45 miles from me, and while I have spent several boozy late nights there, I am more often found closer to home where the pickings are slim. And plus, as my good friend and Bad Influence Mysterious B___ S_____ puts it:" I don't go there because I hate to bother the wait staff." Which is funny when you know the staff are hipster-than-thou SC college kids with chips on their shoulders.

So in keeping with your local choices, I will say: Do Not Attempt the Drive-thru On Your Bicycle. It will at best lead to your being ignored, possibly mocked by having your "order" taken and then ignored,etc. True fact: I have nearly come to blows over this, and the cops came- it is not worth it no matter how loose and feisty you are feeling.

And plus, McDonalds (yeah,yeah) does use lard in their processing of the fries even though their lying mealy mouthed nutrition statements do not list this. This info came out when they were sued by indignant Hindus. Again, true fact. Burger King smells like nastychickenfish so no go. Wendy's? Smells ok-they claim to cook them seperately. I have taken that plunge. More than once. I'm not proud of it, but in the immortal words of my old boss from the Chile Pepper Bike Shop:"Do you have any scraps from the fryer?" You are lying to yourself if you claim it's never gotten that bad. Funny and true.

But I'm here to tell you....there's something else. The supermarket. A world of never ending light. You can always have the fries- day, or night. Though I prefer the tater tots. Now, I know you are thinking "Hey! it's not ready NOW." and "Eff that, I'ma have me some chickenfish fries at the BK across the street!"

And that's OK. It's your choice. Just know you may shi_ the bed.

what it's about

2008-11-07T11:54:00.008-05:00

bicycles

beverages

vegan eating habits