Photo of the day: Oct. 3

A full mug of tasty beer sits next to a napkin during Oktoberfest at Alpine Villege in Torrance, Calif. (Photo by Jim Reineking)

Photos of the day: Sept. 5

A wall of hubcaps at Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica. (Photo by Jim Reineking)

Ozzie joins in on the fun at Barney's Beanery. (Photo by Jim Reineking)

Five beers I’ve had recently

BRITANNIA PUB, Santa Monica, Calif. — A nice Saturday evening of enjoying some fine Harp, great company, various sporting events on flat-screen, high-definition televisions, and great background music was cut short by an ill-advised move by Britannia.

The unthinkable happened.

A preseason NFL game between the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as a number of Saturday evening baseball games, were turned off in favor of boxing.

Let’s break it down …

Every TV in the place.

No more games.

Just boxing.

Weird.

Top five beers I’ve had recently

“A man who lives in Milwaukee is judged by the beer he drinks.” — Author Philip Hamburger, in some literary work called An American Notebook.

FIREHOUSE PIZZA, Sheboygan Falls, Wis. — A happy little trip to my native state — Wisconsin — meant a number of great beers to add to the collection of those discussed in this little corner of the world-wide intertubes.

Wisconsin is known for a number of culinary treats, most of which can be very tasty, but, alas, not very good for you … cheese, bratwurst, potato salad, tortes, and, of course, beer.

Maybe it’s the German heritage cherished in much of the state. Perhaps it’s the festive attitudes of those who live there. Or, maybe it’s because Wisconsinites just need something to do during those long, bitter-cold and long winter months. Nevertheless, Wisconsin features some great beers. Some of which we’ll expound on here.

Top five beers I’ve had recently

F.X. McRORY’S STEAK CHOP & OYSTER HOUSE, Seattle, Wash. — A recent trip to the great Northwest meant a cornucopia of new beers to enjoy.

Attempting to recall all the fresh fermented flavors was quite a challenge (it wasn’t like I was taking notes while out on the town trying to have a good time). But, what follows is a pretty good list of the hop highlights of the Seattle trip of 2009.

(Before we move on to this fresh list of five new beers enjoyed recently, Greatest beers of all time, and other stuff would like to give a heart-felt shout out to Tizley’s Europub of Poulsbo, Wash. Tizley’s offered an obscene amount of great beers, highlighted by an impressive list of brews from Germany, unofficial home of beer. You can see for yourself right here. It was awesome, and will be a necessary stop on the next trip to the greater Seattle area. Another shout out has to go to the White Horse Trading Company, a tiny little homey book-filled hole in the wall tucked away in an alley — Post Alley — near the world-famous Pike’s Place Market in Belltown. The White Horse had two to three beers on draft in real wood kegs, and three different kinds of Samuel Smith beer available in bottles.)

The top five beers I’ve had recently

“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.” — Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry.

BARNEY’S BEANERY, Santa Monica — A recent trip to the Beanery on the Third Street Promenade helped add to the growing list of beers being discussed in this happy little corner of the World Wide Internets.

Barney’s offers somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 beers, 40ish or so of which are offered on draft, which is a good thing.

With that fun in mind, here is a list of the top five beers Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff has had recently (not in any specific order, really; listed alphabetically, actually) …

The top five beers I’ve had recently

“A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure.” — Some Czech Proverb Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff found on the Internet.

SOUTH, Santa Monica — Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff drank beer yesterday. Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff will most likely drink beer again today.

With that fun in mind, here is a list of the top five beers Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff has had recently (not in any specific order, really; listed alphabetically, actually) …

More random thoughts

“If this is the game of the people, they need stars.” — FIFA president Sepp Blatter, defending the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

O’BRIENS, Santa Monica — Words form sentences, some of which are coherent …

The top five beers I’ve had recently

“I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.” — Cartoonish funny man Homer J. Simpson.

SOUTH, Santa Monica — Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff drank beer yesterday. Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff will most likely drink beer again today.

With that fun in mind, here is a list of the top five beers Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff has had recently (not in any specific order, really; listed alphabetically, actually) …

Random thoughts

“I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.” — Sammy Sosa, upon announcing his retirement nearly two years after his last official major-league at bat.

Just a good, old-fashioned mind dump …