Sunday Sesh #13 - Cascade Pale Ale

Today's Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Pale Ale.

This one was a light golden colour, and a little cloudy in the glass. Smells crisp and fresh, and went down well. Perfect for a stinking hot day on the Ridge. There was a slightly bitter aftertaste, but not too strong, and it didn't stick around.

I wouldn't say no to this one if someone offered me one.


So much to write about this week what with interesting happenings in Aussie cricket, as well as politics. But I want to start off with a rant - just a short one, I promise.

Does this tool make my butt look big? (Photo courtesy the Toowoomba Chronicle)

Every Saturday, there's a little section in our local paper called "Tradie". And every bloody weekend there's a chick holding a tool. This isn't just a gratuitous shot - it's an ad for a tool they do a little speil on. They tell you what it is, what it's used for, and who should use it.

For example, this one's called a "nibbler" (Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe the model is a good choice...) Tradies that could use it include "shed builders, roofers and sheet fabricators." Does she look like a shed builder? Or a metal fabricator?

So why does this annoy me so much? Well, I thought we'd grown out of this crap. It's not Zoo magazine afterall.

Besides, does it really make you take any more interest in the tool she's holding? Does it make you go "Oooh, I wonder what that tool does"? Do you even notice there's a tool there somewhere? (Yes, I'm talking about you Lisa.)

I'd be more impressed if they got a real tradie chick to show off the tools. At least she'd actually know how to use it.

I mean, there's no way she'd be able to use that tool with her nails. Plus, she's holding it wrong. And she doesn't even have any other tools in her tool belt.

Look, I know blokes dig chicks holding tools provocatively, but seriously? In a little regional newspaper? The only thing missing here is a little bit more cleavage to get the boys salivating over their morning coffee.

At least she's got protection though I suppose. Those big tools can cause serious injuries if you're not careful.

Ok, rant over.

Big news from Aussie cricket - we finally have a coach in South African Mickey Arthur.

Lots of people are up in arms at the thought of a non-Aussie taking the reins, but you know what? That just tells me that our stocks of home-grown coaches are very, very low. Besides, Mickey Arthur plotted our downfall as the South African coach last time the Proteas were out here. He's done some good things with WA, so I'm interested to see how he goes with rebuilding our team.

I'm hoping he starts leaning on the older players to maybe drop back to state cricket to mentor the younger generation and elevate some of the younger players that have been toiling hard and waiting in the wings for someone to die.

Thanks to a bag full of injuries from the tour of South Africa, we might get to see some of those young guns taking central stage against the Kiwis. Dave Warner looks to finally have his chance to prove he's not just a 20-over wonder-boy (and put some pressure on Phil Hughes), and we have some new quicks looking to make their mark with Ben Cutting, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson.

It's good to finally have some talent in our pace bowling stocks, but the big problem that still haunts us is injuries. And if the new coach can't work out some way to keep our best on the park when they're needed most, it's going to be a long time before we can climb back up to No. 1.

There is one burning question I have though - does having a South African coach mean that whenever the Proteas are playing we should respectfully cheer for them over their opposition, as long as it's not the Aussies? And does that mean that the South Africans should be doing the same, except in reverse?

What do you think? Happy for a South African to take the top job in Australian sport or not? And the other burning question - should Ricky Ponting call it a day and bow out gracefully in the second test in Hobart?


That's it from me for this Sunday's Sesh.

Until next Sunday,
Cheers!

Sunday Sesh #12 - Cascade Stout

This Sunday Sesh brought to you by Cascade Stout.

I've cheated a little this week and also in order to get ahead over the next few weeks - I bought a gift pack from Cascade with four of their beers in, so I'll be reviewing them all over the next month. I've heard they make a good brew down in the southern-most state (something to do with the pureness of the water they reckon), and I wasn't disappointed with this week's choice.

"Hints of coffee and chocolate"

I'm joined in today's Sunday's Sesh with the Little Sister and the Bro-in-law, visiting from the Sunny Coast. They both had a taste of this. Bro-in-law isn't a beer drinker but thought this one was alright. Little Sis enjoyed this one. She said she couldn't taste the chocolate but it smelled like it had something in there. And she liked that the aftertaste wasn't overpowering.

(Caveat: Bro-in-law said Little Sis would like anything with alcohol in it - I'm not sure what the problem is.)

I say this is a pretty good stout. It pours well in the glass with a creamy head, but not too much. It smells a little of chocolate and if you swirl it around in your mouth you can get a hint of the coffee.

This is a pretty heavy one at 1.7 standard drinks - and it feels like it. It goes down well, but probably would be suited more to winter rather than summer. Very much an after dinner beer this one I think.

Having said that, I will be getting this one again.

I was reading over my first couple of Sunday Sesh's and thought I should do a quick update on the weather front, since the whole point was to bring on Summer.

I think it's worked. The temps have been climbing pretty steadily the last few weeks, and it's been perfect beer-drinking weather up here on the Ridge. We have a half-done deck which will be great once it's finished to enjoy a few cold ones with friends, and I've been getting a few tips for beers to review from friends - stay tuned - they'll be coming up soon.

The rising temps mean that Christmas will soon be upon us. And that means more beer-drinking, water slides, and catching up with rellies and friends.

Which we've been doing this weekend, which is why this Sunday Sesh is so short.

It's also why there's been no improvement on the word count for my Nano novel since Thursday. Plus, I had another migraine on Friday night - oh the pressure of writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

I was planning on being as close to 35k as I could by tonight, but that's just gone right out the window. I have another busy couple of weeks coming up so getting 50k is looking further and further away. I do like my story though, and I will get it finished regardless of whether I hit that 50k by the end of the month, so I will still be giving it a good crack. There might have to be some long nights if I want to score some more wagon wheels.

And Wifey has a secret reward planned if I crack the 50k mark so I do really want to get there to see what that is.

Until next Sunday's Sesh,
Cheers!