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Memorial Day weekend. The traditional start of summer. Time to grill. Time to make sure the garden’s ready for summer. Time to drink beer.

Well, the garden’s been going since Mother’s day. Most of my tomatoes have survived. The onions are standing up straight. The oregano is trying to take over, the chives are blooming, and the raspberries are 2′ tall. Garden? Check.

Grilling? Heck, we do that all year. But I did smoke a 6# pork shoulder with hickory and a tasty Carolina Red-style crust and sauce. Serve that up with some tasty cole slaw and some strawberry shortcake for dessert, and you’re only missing one thing: the beer.

The beer of choice last evening was the Left Hand Brewery’s JuJu Ginger. It’s a light ale with some of the hops replaced with fresh ginger, and only 4% ABV.

At first glance, I was a little concerned that this was going to be like a ginger ale soda, only with alcohol. While I like ginger ale, that would have been a bit much for me. Fortunately, that isn’t the case with the JuJu.

At first taste, JuJu is a good light ale. It’s got lightly roasted malt, with no bitterness or overt sweetness and a good carbonation level. There is a slight aroma of ginger, but it’s only a hint. The ginger’s taste takes a few seconds to develop, and then fades fairly quickly. Instead of being overwhelmingly gingery, JuJu’s ginger adds a nice refreshing flavor that is subtle enough to remain interesting.

On a hot day, JuJu would be an excellent choice. It’s light and refreshing, and fairly low-alcohol. There’s very little bitterness, and the ginger provides a nicely balanced touch. Overall I give this beer an 8.9.

I read somewhere last week that our inner thoughts are basically a conversation we have with our DNA. We’re telling it what genes to activate and deactivate. This is why attitude affects cancer.

At any rate, that made me think of that old chicken-and-egg problem. Seems like the obvious answer is the egg came first. Some pre-chicken laid that egg with the mutated first chicken in it. Maybe the pre-chicken was sitting around thinking chicken-like thoughts and her DNA obliged by altering itself. A variation on the thrifty phenotype theory. (OK, I just looked that term up).

Anyway, what should happen today but good ol’ Nad points me to this article on the very same thing.

I like it when that happens. Jung called it synchronicity. I think its important stuff.

Imagine that the universe itself is alive. All the little ping pong ball particles that make up the stuff of the matter are actually responding to the will of the universe, of which we are an integrated part. We are a manifestation of the universe becoming aware of itself.

We’re like the DNA of the universe too. We’re small and seemingly insignifigant, but we can be agents of change. And just like we use our thoughts to tell our DNA what to do, so too does the universe talk to us. It does this through synchronicity because it can’t actually speak. Little messages you can’t help but notice like sticky notes your mom leaves on the fridge. And they just feel significant even as our rational minds try to dismiss them as coincidence.

The chicken-egg problem has been on my mind because it symbolizes something entirely new being born from something else. That amazing new things can come about in very mundane circumstances.

Synchronicity is a personal experience, completely subjective. I’ve got a good idea of what this one means to me.

Many miles away, there’s a shadow on the door …

This is a real email from the Republican Party to this *ahem* “friend” I have who is, in fact, a fuken Republikan.

We both thought this was too retarded to be legit…but then I got to appreciatin’ their evil genius….if it weren’t for the basest shred of human decency I possess, I’d start my own “Pay Me Not To Spam You” business too!

I actually went to their filthy website, and sure enough on the Donations page is a big honkin banner ad for the fund mentioned in the email, pasted below in its entirety:

As Chairman of the Republican National Committee, staying connected with the grassroots of our Party is one of the most important parts of my job - whether it’s traveling the country, sending e-mails like this one, or through the letters we send you periodically in the mail.

People often ask me why they receive so many of those letters. The answer is that the Republican Party is built on the support of sustaining members like you - over one million strong. Staying in touch with our loyal members is the only way all of our Republican candidates will have the resources they need to win at the ballot box.

But if you’d like to receive less mail, join Grow Our Party Funds.

Recently, I sent you a message about Grow Our Party Funds, the RNC’s newest membership program, which gives you the chance to support our party with a small, automatic monthly contribution of $50, $25, $15, or whatever you can afford.

http://www.GOP.com/GetLessMail/

If you join Grow Our Party Funds for $50, $25, or $15 today, I will make you this pledge: you will stop receiving mail from us, except for members-only thank you gifts, for however long you remain a Fund-holder.

Plus - if you make a recurring monthly contribution of $25 or more, you will receive this “I Am Proud Bush is Our President” mousepad in appreciation of your generous support.

http://www.GOP.com/GetLessMail/

Here’s why we can do this. Knowing that we can count on your loyal support every month, we don’t need to rely as much on sending repeated fundraising letters. As a result, the RNC will save money on postage costs, and focus those dollars where they really can help: getting our voters to the polls and defeating the liberal agenda.

Grow Our Party Funds are the best value for the future of our Party. Will you join today?

http://www.GOP.com/GetLessMail/

Now more than ever, President Bush needs our support. With all 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats, and 36 Governorships on the line in 2006, Democrats are hungry to undo all of your hard work in winning the last three elections. Can we allow total control of Congress to fall into the hands of far-left liberals like Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and John Kerry? What will they do with that power? Pelosi says the next Congress could be dominated by investigations of the President. About impeachment, she says, “You never know where it leads to.” Help us stop them today:

http://www.GOP.com/GetLessMail/

Even if you don’t normally contribute online, please consider supporting Grow Our Party Funds with a monthly commitment of $50, $25, or $15. It’s the one contribution you’ll make that will build our party, direct more money to critical grassroots programs, and reduce mailbox clutter at the same time.

Sincerely,

Ken Mehlman
Chairman, Republican National Committee

P.S. Your monthly contribution of $25 or more through Grow Our Party Funds earns you a special “I Am Proud Bush is Our President” mousepad. Don’t miss this special opportunity.

http://www.GOP.com/GetLessMail/

To Forward This Email To Your Friends And Family, Please Click Here

Republican National Committee | 310 First Street, SE | Washington, DC 20003
p: 202.863.8500 | f: 202.863.8820 | e: info@gop.com

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Not Authorized By Any Candidate Or Candidate Committee - www.gop.com

Republicans for Voldemort!

Hollers guest author bonneyarmstrong:

For pure schmaltz and patronizing demeanor, this site’s got it all. If you’ve got a high bandwidth connection, this site is THE best way to waste such resources, EVER.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s …

Fabio’s Kitchen Of Love.

Go check out the Alan Watts Podcast site and this other one over here.

Cat and Girl have a goatse reference. This can only mean one thing. We’ve come full circle. The Post Modern ideal has been reached. Meaning is completely maginalized. Subtext is the new meaning. And subtext by itself is meta meta meta to the power of infinity. Its so incalcuably, hugely meta that its effectively nothing.

There is only one story more to tell. And here it is:

When I was in high school, I used to have a college sweatshirt for Otterbien college in Columbus, Ohio. Otterbein is a funny word because if you study German, it looks like “otter,” the little furry swimmy guys plus “bein,” the German word for leg. Otter leg college. (Interestingly, one of the guidance counselors at my high school was named Fischbein — fish leg.)

Junior year, I had a friend from Germany named Klaus. He saw me wearing this shirt one day and was perplexed by it. “Otterbein? That is strange. Do you know what this word means?” Finally, I thought, I’ll learn the true meaning of this word.

“No,” I said. “What does it mean?”

Klaus replied, “Otter is this small furry animal that swims. I don’t know the English for it.”

“We say ‘otter’ too,” I told him.

“Yes, well this college’s name means ‘otter leg,’” he said.

“That’s what I guessed,” I answered. And for a an awkward moment we stood there mutually dumbfounded. Me, letdown because the secret hidden meaning of Otterbein turned out to be not so secret or hidden. Klaus, because America was a weird place where even the German stuff was a little off.

So sometimes things are exactly as they appear, however unlikely it may seem.

*GZAAAAAAANNK* *GZAAAAAAANNK* *GZAAAAAAANNK*

This is the emergency alert system kicking in to let you know about what you need to be listening to should you find yourself without your iPod, Rio Doohickey, or enormous Linux-booting brick mp3 monstroisty.

The best radio station in town has got to be AM 1190, the CU students’ radio station. You know it. I know it. We all know it. DJ Milkman Dan (no relation) and his awesome wakeup show, “The Morning Delivery,” are no more. Apparently the milkman graduated.

Fear not, however! For to paraphrase Yoda on his deathbed: “There is … another … Deeee Jay.” I forget the new guy’s name, but his aptly named show is “The Rude Awakening.” Now I’m not into punk/noise/good-god-what-is-that, but I know that the some of you flatearthers out there are. It would behoove you to check out their feed or tune in during your morning commute. You’ll like it.

You may now resume your regularly scheduled goofing off.

God bless this man for uttering the words “tar baby” in his first televised appearance, apparently unaware of the derogatory racial overtones of the phrase. Now that is funny. Not funny-strange or funny-ha-ha. It’s funny in that “Golly aren’t rich oligarchs out of touch with the common folk” kind of way.

Its not really insensitivity if you don’t know you’re insulting people, is it?

Update: Time to dig up this old chestnut: Black People Love Us!

He’s got one of them Lance Armstrong yellow rubber band bracelets, so how bad could he be?

The Erazer-A PC trojan is making the rounds. Some have described it as a vigilante due to its proclivity for removing other malware programs from your PC. In addition, it’ll take out your porn, warez, and mp3s. It’s like having the Catholic church bust in unannounced to give you absolution whether you want it or not. Your pennance? Pass it along to everyone in your address book.

I like the idea behind this software. The odds are stacked againt it, given that the entire purpose of the internet at this point seems to be the spreading of porn, warez, and mp3s. But the author of Erazer-A is a dreamer. He’s got a vision of a clean internet, safe for children and little old ladies with the unsavory elements whisked away. It’s a Sisyphian task, but he’s taking it on.

Erazer’s the hopelessly outmatched underdog, but he’s scrappy. It won’t be long before all the antivirus guys have this little guy pretty much wiped out of the corporate world. It’s the inevitable end. But Erazer-A will not go down all together. He’ll survive in the suburbs and the college campuses where files fly indiscriminantly. And in the end, that’s where he can do the most good. Keeping the kids out of trouble.

If the guy who wrote this little gem isn’t an American, he deserves an honorary green card for capturing the Amercan can-do spirit.

Hi, my name is Dancin Fool, and I hate war, but love to dance (”Hi Dancin”).

One of my favorite places to dance is Denver’s very own Mercury Cafe. Over the past several months I’ve been witnessing a curious phenomenon there: the evolution of an immense Pro-Peace Collage on one of the walls in the “Jungle Room.” ¡Ay amour, me duele tanto!

As you might guess, the little white crosses contain the names of people who’ve died in the war. Sometimes they cover up stuff we want to see. Well, that’s just too bad. You need to go before more stuff gets covered up.

The piece I most hated to see get covered up is the drawing of Bush in a gas station attendant’s uniform, circa perhaps the 1950s. The Torture Tree rocks but the look on GWB’s face while saying “Iraqi SUV Juice” (the text is still visible) is priceless. (You can also still see an ear and part of his cap.)

Undoubtedly the single most powerful piece of this massive collaborative work of art is what I call the ex-constitution (number 277 on photofriday.com’s challenge this week: Masterpiece). OK so it is unlikely that that will get covered up, but you still need to get your butt over there. I also love the smaller green peace symbol. I didn’t touch it but do believe it’s ceramic. ¡Es hermosa!

Sometimes stuff falls off. The second-to-last photo on the index page is of some of these items resting on a table. I can’t imagine anyone throwing any of this stuff away, especially one of the crosses — it would almost be like suicide (people who have no soul might not understand that last thought; well, too bad for you).

So what are you waiting for? Click here for directions and a map to the Mercury Cafe, and get on down there. Take a look at the Calendar, they have more than just food and dance. There’s free stuff like Open Stage on Wednesdays, Open Poetry on Fridays, and Hypnosis to Stop Smoking on Saturday afternoons. Tell ‘em Dancin_Fool sent ya! You need to go there once, then go back again later, so you can see it evolve. Maybe you have something to contribute?