BS Awards - Beer of Year

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." So opined my favorite patriot of all, Benjamin Franklin. Few can argue that he may have been one of the most well rounded and internationally beloved Americans. I love that quote, but I will stop short of having it tattoed on my beer belly.

My second favorite patriot, Samuel Adams, has emerged from the past decade as a stable on the BS Beer of the Year list, the most hallowed of all of the BS Awards. I take this selection seriously and endeavor to sample as many different varieties as I can during the year and giving those of distinction the opportunity to prove their abilities in my mouth again and again and again.

For the 20th straight year, Beer has taken home the BS Award for Beverage of the Year. It has won the BSie every year since wresting the title from Bacardi Breezers oh so many years ago. It is the 56 game hitting streak, the back-to-back no-hitters and the 2,632 consecutive games played streak all rolled into one. Red wine did give Beer it's first serious challenge in years, but Beer was able to stave off the challenge.

As B-Frank said, " There has never been a good war or a bad peace." That's not relevant here, but true nonetheless.

1. Sam Adams Light - There I said it. Sammy Light takes beer of the year. It is remarkable in its unremarkability. It is a very good beer. There is nothing crazy about it. It isn't better with a lemon in it. It isn't better poured into a glass. I've never had it on tap. It is good no matter when I have it, where I have it and with whom I enjoy it. I will have it in a box. I will have it with a fox. I will have it on a train. I will have it in the rain. I will drink your light beer, Sam I Am, I will drink just the same.


2. Samuel Smith Nut Brown - Surprisingly moving ahead of Fuller's London Pride in my London beer category. The Nut Brown is kind of a kickass Newcastle. Smooth but with a little more of a bitch hand.

3. Alaskan Amber - How did I forget this on my original list? Must be too many Alaskan Ambers! I discovered this gem while cruising through the Inland Passage in 2008. Tilting one back now make me think of coasting by beautiful scenery, gorgeous conifers, maybe a mountain goat, floating hunks of iceberg, uniquely gorgeous green water... Tasty thoughts and a tasty visual.


4. Harvest Moon - I do like the Blue Moon variety of beers, especially on tap. My fave from this brewery, edging out old school Blue Moon and Spring-style Rising Moon, is their amber Fall beer, Harvest Moon. It is a pumpkin ale, and who couldn't use a little pumkin in their beer? I like many fall beers. Sam Adams Octoberfest is a long standing favorite and Pyramid's Broken Rake is hit or miss depending on the storage temperature.


5. Newcastle - I can't have a beer of the year list without bringing up the Queen Mother of all excellent beers. It is never the wrong choice when bellying up to the bar. It is good on a cold, damp night or on a nice summer day. Makes you feel alive and happy just having one in your hand. I am surprised Santa didn't bring me this smokin Newcastle inspired kicks .

5b. Pyramid Amber on Tap - The return of the Amber in the Pyramid Alehouse begat much rejoicing. Now if the service and food were even reasonable, I'd make many more trips by there even though it is not quite on the way home.

There are plenty other worthwhile beers that didn't make the top 5 this year and I look forward to enjoying many more as the new decade is poured out in front of me. Don't forget my second favorite beer is always one that a friend buys for me so don't be shy to step up to that plate. Cheers!

BS Award: Movie of the Year

I love going to the movies! I love the big dark space, the comfy chairs and a humungoid screen. If I could, I would go to a movie every day instead of sitting at this desk, avoiding all the boring crap that being a financial analyst entails. Unforunately, I can't get to the theater as much as I would like so I try to take them in on DVD. A lot of times this doesn't work. By the time all the monkeys are settled in and I cozy up to Mrs. Sexy with some microwave popcorn, I start to have my own movies on the back of my eyelids.

Regardless of how I watch the movie, the following is a list of my top movies released in 2009.

1. Inglorious Basterds - Man o man! I may have to go all the way back 15 years to when Pulp Fiction was released that I left a movie feeling so entertained. I hate violence. I am a full blown pacifist. I would rather my boys watch a loving couple make the beast with two backs then watch someone stab or shoot someone. Love not war, and all that... But I'm an adult and can enjoy this ultra violent movie as pure movie gold. The opening scene in the French cottage is crazy suspenseful and sets the tone for the whole show.

For the second straight year, Brad Pitt has completely stole the movie in what I consider the movie of the year. Last year it was the brainless personal trainer in Burn After Reading. This year, Lt. Aldo Raine had me smiling everytime he was on the screen. With his over the top Texas accent, he is to Basterds what Jules was to Pulp Fiction. I think they are nearly the same character. When Aldo asks the German commander to reach into the bag and get his knife at the climax of the movie, I was expecting him to say "it's the one that say Bad Motherfucker" on it.

It is amazing that Tarintino can take a well known time of history and change the ending. I don't know how many 15-25 year olds now think that Hitler met his end in a French movie theater. (Spoiler alert!) Pulp Fiction is one my favorite movies of all time and now I can add Inglorious Basterds to that list.

2. Zombieland - Two crazy violent movies taking the top two spots on the Big Sexy's movie of the year?!? It's true. Zombieland was another movie that had me at rapt attention from start to finish. It was a wonderful comic romp through a world taken over by zombies. What made this movie into something other than Scary Movie 12 was that there was a real heart to the show. You cared about all four of the living humans on their trek to find humanity. It had unique comic conventions such as the rules for living in Zombieland. But it's best part was the best and funniest cameo in movie history. I will not put a spoiler in here! Trust me, it's great.

3. 500 Days of Summer - This quirky romantic comedy was right up my alley. It was unique, it was funny and it had a great soundtrack. The story can be a little tragic and surprising. Like Zombieland, there were features that were new to me. I love the split screen of how Tom expects a party to go and how it really went. Even though 500 Days of Summer doesn't have a traditional happy ending, it is a happy ending. The best part about the movie for me is there wasn't one character that was a bad character. They were all good people who didn't do crazy, cliched things. I like every character in the movie. This was easily the best movie of the year that didn't involve Nazi's or zombies.

4. Fantastic Mr. Fox - I was so pumped to see this movie as soon as I saw the trailer. The new film by one of my favorite movie makers, Wes Anderson, was going to be a stop motion animation film starring the voice talent of a great American actor, George Clooney. For weeks, we planned to go on my birthday, but they delayed the opening a week. Then the holidays came and I never did get to see it until just recently. It did not disappoint! I loved it. It was funny, fast-paced and unique. It is the best comedy of the year. It was put together with the same quirky moments that you would expect from Wes Anderson. I loved Mr. Fox's click and whistle. I wish I could duplicate it better.

5. Up - Pixar cannot make a bad movie. Up was right up there with their best. What stands out about this movie aside from the comedy, action and adorable Dug the Dog, was the tender parts of the story that really transformed this from a great kids movie to a great everyone movie. I have already reviewed the film on this site, so I won't blubber on about my blubbering, but I doubt I will see another "kids movie" that deals with widowers and the empty nest as well as Up.

Other movies that were great that I enjoy but they just missed the top 5 were An Education, District 9 and Drag Me to Hell. I really wish I had seen Up in the Air, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Avatar and a bunch of other ones.

I do want to point out the worst movie of the year. I am sad to say it is from the creative genuises the Coen Brothers. They have produced some of my favorite movies of all time, but they also completely swing and miss with me from time to time. That was the case with A Serious Man. We walked out of it, I was disliking it so much. I never do that. I just didn't get it. It has received critcal raves, so I am completely questioning myself here. But I hated this movie.