NovemBEER

11/1 - New month, new beer!  I cracked open my 4th new beer from my October Beer Drop order today.  It was the fantastic C3(i)PA from Baere Brewing (CO).  I deserved it after watching the Titans take a beating by an inferior Cincy team, and doing a bunch of yard work throughout the day.  And just ignore that "5 days to enjoy" warning, the beer was fine and fresh -- I figure it's like the speed limit on a curve sign...just a suggestion.

11/2 - I had a pretty darn good night of online poker tonight with two tournament wins and a deep finish in another huge field.  I won the nightly deep-stack tournament called The Micro vs. 69 other players on Global Poker turning my $3 entry into over $50 in profit which I needed for my bankroll on here that was dwindling badly.  I also "cashed" in a huge hyper-turbo freeroll placing 42nd out of 858 players.

Over on Poker Stars I won a 6-handed sit-n-go netting $70 in profit on the same night!  

11/3 - I settled in to watch the presidential election results tonight and while the outcome still wasn't decided when I went to bed (or even the next morning), I did win a deep-stack progressive bounty tournament on Global Poker vs. 205 other players with ten knock-outs for a nifty $392 in profit! I also cracked open my last beer from my October Beer Drop order.  It was a terrific-tasting Westbound Coffee Porter from Westbound and Down Brewing (CO).  

11/4 - I went to see our Nashville Soccer Club vs. FC Dallas tonight with my beer pal, Nate. This was their last regular home game this season and my first live sporting event attended in many months thanks to the panDAMNdemic.   It was a tough 1-0 defensive battle loss, but we had several chances to tie or take the lead in the second half right in front of our great seats behind the north goal..  It was an odd feeling with very few fans in the stands, but you sure could get spoiled with the ease of close parking, cheap sweet seats and a quick exit afterwards.  During the game, I had a repeat pint can of the decent Southeast IPA from Tailgate Brewing here in Nashville.   Before the game, Nate and I had dinner and a few brews at Homegrown Taproom and my pal, Charly, joined us as well for a couple snorts.  With my tasty meal I had a pint of the solid A-OK IPA from Avondale Brewing (AL)   

I finished at Homegrown with a half-pint of the amazing Yazoo BA BIG PEPE Barrel Aged Cinnamon STOUT from Yazoo Brewing here in Nashville.  This imperial stout had a strong cinnamon smell and start with a smooth chocolaty finish.  With it I earned the International Stout Day badge for this year which is actually tomorrow.  Cheers to dark, dark beers!! 

Talk about voter fraud...this gal obviously voted TWICE!!  Shout-out to the amazing Julia Rose, who I consider the reigning most beautiful woman in the world.  She's a great "follow" on Twitter from where I stole this pic.    Up yours, Trump...you're sore and you're a loser.   

11/6 - Ashlee and I headed up to Fall Creek Falls State Park today where we rented a cabin for the very first time.  It was a sweet place with plenty of room.  On the way, we stopped in Cookeville at Hix Farm Brewing and got a couple of half-growler fills to enjoy over the weekend.  At the cabin tonight, I enjoyed my first half-growler, a solid weizenbock they call Doublebit relaxing out on our deck overlooking the park's pretty lake.  I even played a little online poker and finished 8th in a freeroll vs. 611 other players and earning me a future $11 tournament entry ticket.

11/7 - I did a solo visit to Fall Creek Falls State Park a few blog entries ago (back in June) after a long hiatus, so all the waterfalls we saw today were repeats for me (but still beautiful and enjoyable, of course).  The one new thing I experienced was the cool new swinging bridge over the top of Cane Creek Cascades that was recently opened.  While we were here, we also got the great news that Joe Biden had officially won the presidential election!!  Hoo-ray!!  Eat it, Trump!!  
Back at the cabin after our long day of enjoying the park, I cracked open the second half-growler from Hix Farm Brewing.  It was an outstanding coffee lager called the Belligerent Brew.

11/9 - With some recent online poker success, I gave $55 to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee year-end campaign which will be matched by some other generous donors.   Since I play tournament poker, you know I love a good double-up!
I also gave another $10 to Defenders of Wildlife per my friend, Megan, who is having a birthday fundraiser today.  

Rob Fulfer presents: More Fun with Masks (aka Eff U Covid-19)

11/10 - I got two great new masks in today from Redbubble.com (love those guys!).  Upstairs is yet another bad guy, Immortan Joe, from Mad Max: Fury Road; and downstairs we have a face-hugger from the Alien franchise.  I feel a reprimand coming from work when I wear these...

I had some major success tonight in online poker with some very minor payouts, but it's more about going deep with such crazy bad structures vs. a lot of players.  First up, I turned 25 cents into a $3.30 ticket to a future tournament by finishing in the top 5 vs. 67 others in a hyper-turbo satellite.
Next, I made the final table (photo above) in another hyper-turbo freeroll finishing 8th out of 957 players and earning $2.50. 

11/11 - More small, but important online poker success tonight.  I three-way chopped a bounty sit-n-go vs. six other players on Poker Stars tonight and then won the remaining two bounties to take in just under $50 in profit.  Over on Global Poker I finished in the top 5 out of 86 and turned $1.50 into a future $22 tournament ticket in a turbo re-buy satellite tournament. 

11/12 - I settled in to watch the Titans on Thursday Night Football, sorry, make that "THIRST-day Night Football" because I wasn't definitely having a beer or two.    They pissed away and early lead to the hated Colts and wound up losing thanks to some awful special teams blunders.  So frustrating. During this fiasco I did enjoy a bomber bottle of Red Legend from Red Silo Brewing up in Cookeville.  My pal, Charly, picked this one up for me a few weeks back, and I traded him for a bomber bottle from Calf Killer Brewing that I picked up.  It's an interesting imperial red ale aged in Tennessee bourbon barrels with a ton of cherries added giving it a slightly tart finish.

11/13 - I found some bad luck on Friday the 13th tonight, but it was not until after I made it to the final table of a large tournament on Global Poker,  I started out as chip leader, but after a few bad beats, I wound up finishing 7th.  Still not too shabby out of 240 players and it replenished my online bankroll nicely with over $70 in profit.

11/14 - I drove down to Marion County today to have a picnic lunch with my crazy sister, Melinda.  I hadn't seen her in a good while and figured I owed her some face time.  We chose to eat at beautiful Foster Falls which I haven't been to in years and the weather was great for mid-November.  We stopped at the nearby Mountain Mart and each got giant "mountain burgers" that were delicious.  On the way home I made a quick stop at Happy Trails Brewing in Sparta and had their pretty darn good Bone Cave (Barrel Aged Sour).  It was aged for 8 months in a Chattanooga Whiskey/Mead barrel giving it an interesting tart, but fresh, taste.

Let the holidays begin!  I cracked open a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Peppermint Porter tonight on our way to our first Christmas activity and it was outstanding with a nice peppermint burst up front and chocolate and bourbon finish.  Ashlee loved her sip of it too, so we will probably getting more of these to consume through from Thanksgiving right on to New Year's Eve.

11/15 - Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! I must have raked a metric ton of leaves off our driveway today and the gusty wind out of the west had blown them in a deep drift against our back fence.  I rewarded myself after all that work with a can of Hopping Nomad IPA from State of Brewing (WI) that I found at Aldi the other day.  Not too bad.  Good fresh hops taste.  

11/17 - I got second place tonight in a wild finish on Poker Stars when it was down to three of us with about an even amount of relatively-deep chip-stacks that all went in the middle on the river with two full houses and a nut flush.  I had the second-best full house.  It was a bit of strange re-entry tournament with you only able to buy back in during the first two levels (20 minutes).  So, my strategy was to gamble early and either possibly double up or re-enter and play solid poker with a still-deep stack early on.  It almost worked when I got the chance early on by pushing all in with 99 vs. a preflop raiser with AK who called me and hit a king on the river. 
So, I battled back vs. 13 others and two other re-entries and turned my $45 worth of entries into $120 after suggesting that we shave $10 off second-place for the bubble-boy when we got down to five and that turned out to be my pal, Richard.  I guess that little bit of good karma -- and the fact I gave $50 earlier today to a GoFundMe campaign by one of the owners/brewers of Perrylodgic Brewing over in Paris, TN, who's helping foster an abused child during slow business times due to the pandemic -- gave me the luck I needed on top of the little bit of skill I might have.  
During the game, I popped open a tiny 10 oz. can of Re-Re-Pete 3X American Imperial Brown Ale from Hoppin' Frog Brewing (OH) that was a gift from my pal, Nate.  It was a small can because it's 15.8% ABV!  But, man, all I tasted was the boozy finish and just didn't care for it very much.

11/19 - I finally got to have my "work lunch in the woods" today which I've been planning for a while now.  It was a pretty and fairly warm day, so I grabbed a sushi roll; a beef and cheese sandwich; and a fruit smoothie from Publix; plus some chips from yesterday's lunch at Jason's Deli; and had a little picnic on a bench out at the Couchville Cedar Glade Natural Area near Mt. Juliet.  This great little area has a nice mile loop for hiking and it's very close to my work area, so I knew it would a nice spot to relax and eat during the work day.  This won't be my last time doing this!! 

11/20 -  I was so excited that my friends, Danny, Nate, Tom and I got to see NSC in their first-ever MLS playoff game tonight in person tonight at Nissan Stadium vs. Inter-Miami. And they won!! Woo-hoo!!! Moving on!!  They slammed the door on the other expansion team of this year by a commanding 3-0 margin.  #2 seed Toronto is next! 
Before the game, Nate and I stopped by TennFold Brewing for dinner and few libations.  This was my first time ordering one of their sandwiches and it was outstanding.  It's their take on a Philly Cheesesteak with BBQ brisket instead.  Man, so good!!  I had two of their solid beers as well including Star Stealers, an excellent saison; and then their Early Riser (Dry Hopped International Helles Lager) that was smooth and light.  At the game I had a pint can of the always-great repeat, the All Day IPA from Founders Brewing (MI). 

Well, still no Regal theaters open so the renting/streaming of movies continued:

The Runaways - a pretty good Netflix film about the all-girl rock band with Kristen Stewart doing a pretty good Joan Jett impersonation, and the lovely Dakota Fanning as their sexy lead singer, Cherie Currie.  

Hunter/Killer - a 2018 submarine action/war movie that I somehow missed in theaters, so I rented it off Amazon.  I thought it was really good. Great story, solid acting and nice visual effects.  Would love to have seen it on the big screen. 

Antebellum - rented  it off Amazon - this one was supposed to come out in theaters this year, but got bumped to streaming due to the pandemic.  These types of weird horror movies aren't my favorite genre, but it did look kind of interesting.  I was actually looking for a little more supernatural/time-travel, but it turns out to be just modern people hurting/killing other people...yuck...

Hillbilly Elegy - a new Ron Howard-directed film on Netflix that just premiered.  I thought it was great with solid acting, a good true story and perfect direction by a guy I think is vastly underrated in Hollywood.  This one's probably gonna get some Oscar attention.

Frost on the pumpkin (ale)

10/11 - A shout-out to a boyhood hero of mine, the mighty. Joe Morgan, second baseman for the prolific Big Red Machine in Cincinnati who passed away today at the age of 77.  I always loved watching his double-clutch elbow twitch right before he swung the bat.  I have owned a replica of the jersey shown above for many years.  It's from when he was first drafted into Major League Baseball by the Houston Colt .45's (who then became the Astros).  I will always think of him as a Red, but, man, that's one cool logo! 

10/13 - There was a rare Tuesday night NFL game tonight involving my beloved Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills.  The strange game day was all because the Titans organization had a flurry of positive Covid-19 tests recently and had to delay playing the game for safety reasons.    They haven't been able to practice together for almost two weeks and yet they came out tonight like buzz-saws and spanked the then-undefeated Bills 42-16.  So much for shaking off the rust!! TITAN UP!!
During the game I enjoyed a bottle of very good Salmon Fly Honey Rye from Madison River Brewing (MT) that my pal, Craig, traded with me from his online monthly craft beer order.  Thanks, bud! 

10/14 - I took down first place again tonight in a small regional tournament against 12 other players on PokerStars.  It was turbo-style which I am not a fan of really, but I am adjusting my game accordingly to it since they mostly play these types of tournaments on here.  I made $80 in profit.  It would have been a $100, but I suggested $20 off the top prize for the fourth-place bubble boy and the other three agreed.

10/15 - It was Throwback Thursday as I located my old Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday paper insert circa 1991 when the the Atlanta Braves went from worst to first by beating the LA Dodgers for the NL West title, their first after many woeful years (as long as I had been alive and a fan) of being just awful.  Since that fateful year when they roared through the National League playoffs only to lose a  memorably great (but heart-breaking World Series to the Minnesota Twins...I still hate you, Kirby Puckett!!).  The paper sign's took a beating over the years in our damp garage.
I was being nostalgic today because currently the Bravos are up 2 games to 1 over those damned Dodgers again, but this time for the NLCS title and another shot at the *World (Pandemic) Series.   I settled in to watch a few innings tonight...I admit I don't really know a player on the current Atlanta team right now because I stopped following MLB for the most part a while ago.  But I did crack open a brew and enjoyed watching the game thinking back on great memories from this team over the years after that fateful 1991 season when they became an elite organization from then on (although confoundingly still with only one World Title).  I remember with fondness things like slow-ass Sid "Wheels" Bream legging out an extra base on a dramatic hit; Ronnie Gant's ass...yep, best looking ass you will ever see on a man or a woman!!; the Dynamic Trio pitching rotation of Avery, Glavine and Smoltz; and then much farther back a toast to the long-suffering superstar Hall of Famer on those woeful teams of the 80's, the one and only, Dale Murphy.   
I opened a big, fat crowler of tasty Blindhawk ESB from TennFold Brewing over in Donelson that I picked up recently and finished the whole thing.
Here's to you, boys.  Let's go BRAVOS!!!
(Editor's note:  Sadly, the Dodgers rallied from a 3 games to 1 deficit to take the series in seven games. BOO!!  And then went to win the World Series over Tampa Bay.)

While watching the Braves game, I also won a small $25 turbo sit-n-go on PokerStars vs. 6 others for $80 in profit.

10/16 - Ashlee and I headed to The Smokies for a long weekend today and stopped in Knoxville along the way at Printshop Beer Company.  We both had flights out on the sunny patio and enjoyed watching the Tennessee River drift by across the road.  It was an IPA Kinda Day for me as my flight was L to R as follows: the excellent Venus in Berries milkshake IPA; the solid Tropical Lullaby - DDH Cashmere and El Dorado double IPA; the very tasty and very hoppy Karmic Rap Sheet - DDH Galaxy and Citra NEIPA; and finally the lovely Tears of Rage - DDH Strata and Eldorado and Idaho 7 NEIPA.   I also had tastes of all four of Ashlee's flight as well that were:  the nice Southie cream ale; the really good Rye-No-Mite! red ale: the solid Baker Creek brown ale; and finally the fantastic Hedonistic Tendencies - German Chocolate Cake pastry stout.  We bought a crowler of the pastry stout to take with us for the weekend plus a couple more of their wares to have at our cabin since the craft beer choices in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area are not the greatest.

Our cabin in Gatlinburg was actually a treehouse, and it was very cool and located on an awesomely quiet dead-end road with Norton Creek babbling beside it.  Perfection! 

I opened my first Printshop Beer Company crowler tonight to enjoy out on the "tree-hugging" deck.  It was the extremely good Illogical Forms Vienna-style lager.  

10/17 - After a fun (and crowded) day in Gatlinburg, we headed back to our treehouse and I cracked open my second Printshop Beer Company crowler, the impressive Hop Pusher IPA, and enjoyed it out by the community firepit.  I also had a decent brew at dinner at the Cherokee Grill in Gatlinburg.  It was the Black Bear Ale -- it's  a brown ale so not sure about the name?? -- from Smoky Mountain Brewery, a brewpub over in Knoxville.

10/18 - On the way home from our long weekend in Gatlinburg today, we stopped in Knoxville again, but this time at the Pretentious Beer Company where I had the solid Will and Al Face the Music IPA.  Unfortunately, their cool glass-blowing studio next door was closed and they were only serving beer in plastic cups (thanks a lot, Covid). 

10/20 - I sent in my absentee ballot today to avoid the crowds of early voters and probably bigger crowds on election day coming up soon.  I know you are not supposed to say who you are voting for, but I think my "from" sticker kinda gives it away.  Save the Redwoods! And SACK TRUMP!!    

10/20 - It was good to see my signature hand, a set of treys, back on the screen tonight, and while this particular hand didn't win me a big pot, I was able to chop first place with another player in a turbo tournament on PokerStars tonight for $115 in profit vs. 12 other players including my Lebanon pal, Richard, who I missing playing live poker with on a regular basis (thanks, Covid).  

10/21 - My October Beer Drop order arrived today.  It's a nice mix of beer styles including an Irish coffee cream stout, an APA, a California common a marzen (since it's October) and an IPA, of course.  Looking forward to all of them! 

I had a bachelor night tonight, so I played some online poker and watched a movie while I cracked open my second crowler from TennFold Brewing over in Donelson that I picked up a couple weeks ago.  It was their light and fantastic Easy Day Stout.  I also earned this badge  on UNTAPPD celebrating their upcoming 10th Anniversary this week. Cheers! 

10/23 - Ashlee's got a co-worker who's really into beer and is visiting Nashville for the weekend.  We met Andrea at the Mt. Juliet Beer Company after work today to sample some of the wares from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta who were hosting a tap takeover.  CKBC is one of my local favorites, and I had already actually had all they were offering tonight before except for a Belgian blonde called Golden Calf.  It was light and fantastic!  

Here's one of the CKBC Sergio brewer/owner brothers himself serving us some tastings. 

We continued our evening after the MJBC tasting with dinner down the road at Homegrown Taproom where I had their daily special, Cajun turkey soup, and it was awesome.  I had a couple of beers too from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville as well.  They were the Yin NEIPA that was really good, and then the Yang American IPA which was a notch below the Yin, but still decent.  I finished dinner (and we waited out a nasty thunderstorm) with a light and crushable pint of Los Bravos Mexican-style lager from Terrapin Brewing (Athens, GA).
OK...about the photo above.  This is Andrea's sister, Christie, who we picked up before our next stop in East Nashville, Living Waters Brewing.  Both sisters were in town visiting Music City.  Yes, this was a sneak photo at Living Waters and she doesn't know I took it, but I simply had to.  This beautiful woman loves IPAs, waterfalls, and even got my Houndmouth band reference joke...oh, and she's the mother of two 20+ -year-olds...yeah, 20+!!   And I truly believe she's been mistaken for Scarlett Johannsen...not even her story.  So, it's really not even a "dirty old man" thing since I am really not that much older than she is!  I simply enjoy beauty and beer and I like to remember such things with photos on here, so call me a perv, that's fine.  I apologize to Christie for taking this photo, but you have to admit...it's a damn good picture!  And if Ashlee ever reads this which I doubt she ever will since it's a blog about beer, I apologize even more, and continue to profess that you are the only true love in my life and I accept that you don't like IPAs...no matter how much that hurts me...
Oh yeah, I had two beers here as well!  Their Highgate double IPA was outstanding.  I finished with their solid and tropical Burgess (Pineapple and Passionfruit) milkshake IPA.  

10/24 - I earned this cool fan-designed UNTAPPD 10th Anniversary badge today by checking in a can of tasty Copper Ridge Cali Common steam beer from Storm Peak Brewing (CO) from this month's Beer Drop order during the virtual anniversary party that was going on this afternoon.  Congrats to UNTAPPD and here's to many, many more years!  Cheers!   

I also got second-place tonight in a PokerStars regional tournament vs. 10 other players and cleared $85 in profit for my efforts.  

10/25 - I drowned my sorrows after a tough loss to the hated Pittsburgh Steelers today by my beloved Titans who rallied back from 20 points down only to miss a game-tying field goal as time ran out
.  I cracked open a delicious can of Witoberfest marzen from Wibby Brewing (CO) from this month's Beer Drop order and looked forward to the rest of the season where I think we can play with anybody in the NFL and may meet the hated black and gold again for a chance to go to the Super Bowl this season.  TITAN UP!! 

10/28 - With some recent success in poker, I gave a little more than 10% of my winnings in a donation to UNICEF USA in the amount of $50 today.  Gotta help those kiddos when you can.

Thanks to the misfortune of others tonight (the subsequent losses of Atlanta and Miami), the Nashville Soccer Club have qualified for the the playoffs in their very first year of existence.  Not too shabby considering they started this wonky season out of the MLS is Back kickoff tournament with too many Covid-19 cases.  And they've still got three regular season games left to move up even higher in the table for a better seed in the playoffs.  Go NSC!  NGUOY!!  
On the poker front, I got second place tonight in a PokerStars regional turbo tournament vs. 13 others and made $75 in profit.
To celebrate both positive results, I cracked open my third brew from this month's Beer Drop order, a solid can of El Dorado APA, an IPA from Finkel and Garf Brewing (CO). 

10/30 -  I had the day off today, but got up early to watch the first episode of The Mandalorian 2nd season.  It was great as expected.  So glad it's back! 

After spending way more time that I wanted at the Honda dealership in Mt. Juliet getting the CRV's oil changed, I finally got to do something fun on my day off after lunch.  I headed down to the Tullahoma/Manchester area for some hiking and to check out a new brewery there.  My first stop was in the Short Springs State Natural Area that has 3 waterfalls.  I got to the small cascading Busby Falls first after a quick half-mile hike from the parking area to the overview shot above.

Machine Falls was next and at 60' in height, it's the pride of the natural area.  What a beauty!  The mile-and-half loop in an out was a little tough, but I was happy I did it to see this one which has been on my to-see list for a long time.  I didn't make it to the third falls here, Adams Falls, which is a wet-weather one.  Maybe next time.  I wouldn't definitely like to come back sometime.  I racked up well over 2 miles of hiking here this afternoon.

On the way out I stopped at Rutledge Falls which I've never seen from the base.  She's a beauty as well, and I feel fortunate that with it on private land, the owners graciously let you visit.

Before heading home, I made it to the brand new Common John Brewing in Manchester. Beautiful facility and the two beers I had were tremendous.  Being so close to the interstate means I am coming back here as much as I can!  I started with their Allegedly...IPA (photo above) that was hoppy and crisp.  I finished with their light and roasty Deeper Purpose porter.  

10/31 - It was a beautiful Halloween Day as we headed to Kentucky for some spooky fun.  On the way (as Ashlee drove) I cracked open a pint can of Hisolda Irish coffee cream stout that was very good.  It's from Woods Boss Brewing (CO) and was the fourth of my Beer Drop order this month.  Thanks to the holiday I also earned my Witch's Brew badge from UNTAPPD.  

After a fun day in Kentucky we stopped for dinner in Bowling Green at a great little gastropub called Novo Dolce 2.0 where we had a tasty dinner and I enjoyed this sharp and hoppy Cart Horse NEIPA from Old Nation Brewing (MI).  We will have to come back here sometime.   The food was great and they have a solid beer list.  I am sad to report that one victim of Covid-19 is White Squirrel Brewing here in Bowling Green which had to shut down recently.  I visited WSBC a couple times when in the area (2018 was the last time) and their beer was good.  Another craft brewery called Gasper Brewing is opening soon here in Bowling Green, but I hate to hear of any small business (especially a microbrewery) going under.

Our main purpose in Kentucky today was to go "ghost-hunting" at the historic and unique Octagon Hall house near Bowling Green.  Unfortunately, the hunt was a bust - not blaming the ghosts, but blaming everyone on and conducting the tour for not wearing masks and for smoking - yuck and double yuck.  We did get some cool shots outside as the blue moon (of Kentucky keep on shining) was rising and Mars was gleaming in the night sky.

Well, Regal Theaters are closed again due to the continuance of Covid-19 and a lack of new releases coming out from Hollywood - time to ramp up the streaming rentals again I guess: 

The Trial of  the Chicago Seven on Netflix was great with an excellent cast. Aaron Sorkin does it again as not only writer, but director on this one also. This one's definitely an Oscar contender. 

On the Rocks - a sweet, kinda funny and well-made father/daughter comedy on Apple TV.

Steve Jobs - A 2015 film written by Aaron Sorkin that I somehow missed.  Saw it on Netflix and thought it was pretty good.

Letter To You - An awesome documentary on Apple TV+ of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band creating their newest album, "Letter to You" 

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - The stupid, but kind of amusing, sequel.  I can't believe it's been 16 years since the original.