Corvette in House

I'm posting this because happened nearby, and its a corvette. Here's the news article: Gazette Online.

Oktoberfest

I went to the Iowa City Brewfest this weekend. This brewfest is bigger than the one I went to in Ithaca, and the 6 ounce tasting glass is more substantial than the 2 ounce limith they had in NY. I think Ithaca had a better selection on local craft beers since we don't have as many small breweries around here, but this brewfest had a lot more European imports. My favorite actually was from a Michigan brewery though. It was the Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere. A Belgium-style saison, that is very bubbly and flavorful. Another highlight of the American beers was that New Belgium made their first appearance at the brewfest. We can finally get Fat Tire in Iowa. Here's a list of everything I tasted:

Brouwerij Moortgat - Duvel
Pivovar Podkovan - Podkovan Lager
Tomos Watkin - Cwrw Haf
St. Peter Brewing - St Peter's IPA
Carlsberg Polska SA - Okocim Porter
New Belgium Brewing - 1554 Brussels Black
Brewery Ommegang - Rare VOS
Rogue Brewing - Dead Guy
Goose Island - Oatmeal Stout
Anchor Brewery - Anchor Steam Beer
Wychwood Brewing - WychCraft
Brouwerij Huyghe - Delirium Tremmens
Jolly Pumpkin - Bam Biere
Brasserie De Blaugies - Saison D'Epeature
Colonial - Pale Ale Pub Pint
Strong Bow - Cider
Black Sheep - Monty Python's Holy Grail
Shelton Brothers - Thiriez Blonde
Birrificio Montegioco - Montegioco Draco
Kulmbacher Brauerei - EKU 28 Eisbock

Roger Clyne Unplugged

Its about time I put some Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers stuff on this page. I went to the July 20th Roger Clyne concert in Omaha, NE, and it was awesome. There was also an acoustic pre-concert CD release party at one of the local music stores that I skipped. Fortunately somebody put most of that set on YouTube. They even included some of the commentary before each song. As usual, my favorite is Mekong, but listen to them all:

Contraband
Hello New Day
Green and Dumb
Maybe We Should Fall In Love
Andale
Bottom of the Bay
Noisy Head

Sensible, Practical... Boring

Since I bought my WRX, I haven't test drove any cars lately, and haven't been able to do any more test drive reviews on this site. However, I just spent ten days in NY with a rental car, so I figured I could review that. The car was a 2007 Toyata Camry.
Here's a picture:

Aside from being ugly, this car was also slow and boring to drive. To be fair, this was the 4-cylinder model with an automatic transmission. There is an available V6 that apparently puts out 260hp and has received pretty good reviews. I'm also use to driving smaller, sportier cars, so a big comfortable sedan is not something I'm gonna like.

Since its not fair to compare it to sporty cars, I'll take this opportunity to complain about a couple of general things they are doing in new cars today. First is the steering. This car had an adaptive steering ratio so that the wheel is easy to turn even at low speeds. The problem is that it removes the feedback you would get a from normal, fixed-ratio steering. Without feedback, driving is more like playing a video game. A video game with crappy play control.

The other ridiculous new feature is today's automatic transmission shifters. Instead of simply pressing a button and pulling the lever in a straight line to D or R, they now have no button and some crazy shift pattern you have to navigate. I was forced to look down each time I wanted to put it in drive or reverse. What a pain.

This car is good at its primary goal which is comfort and convenience. But the fun to drive factor was zero.

Beer

I went to the Ithaca Brew Fest in Ithaca, NY this weekend to sample some east coast microbrews. It was in a small park along a big lake, and there were bands, food, and lots of good beers. We are really missing out on some great beers in the midwest. Here is a list of everything I sampled:

Dogfish Head - Raison D'Etre
Ithaca Beer Co. - Flower Power IPA
Butternuts - Porkslap Pale Ale
Rooster Fish - Firehouse Blonde
Wittekerke - Wit Bier
Middle Ages - Swallow Wit
Sly Fox - Pikeland Pils
Custom Brewcrafters - Canandaigua Lake Ale
Magic Hat - #9 Ale
Harpoon - Summer Beer
Sackets Harbor - Thousand Islands Pale Ale
Southern Tier - Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale
Lagunitas - Saaz Hopped Pils
EBC - German Red
Flying Bison - Buffalo Lager
Stone - Arrogant Bastard Ale

My favorite was the Flower Power IPA. It had the usual IPA bitterness, but there was also a lot of flavor behind it.

The Iowa City Brewfest is in 2 weeks. I plan on keeping track of what I try there too.