Kris 'Destral' Wilke
21 March 2010 @ 07:59 pm
Watching this first UFC event on Versus, but its boring me. The commercials did remind me of the big rematch tomorrow, Red Wings vs Penguins. Cindy Crosby needs to go. Ugh, I hate him.

Speaking of hockey, sadly I didn't go to the Thirsty Thursday Wrangler's game. Work was too busy and I had no energy. Then of course, the game was an 8-7 overtime victory. Which would have been much better than the game we went to on Saturday...an incredibly boring 3-2 loss.

I oaked my stout beer over the weekend. Depending on how quickly the cubes work, I'll probably bottle in the next couple weeks.

Should be a busy enough week. Business meeting tomorrow for some freelance work. A Dogfish Head beer event Tuesday at Aces. Golfing at Callaway either Wednesday or Thursday. Monthly meetup at Aces Friday. Club, birthdays, more UFC, and who knows what else over the weekend.

Back to the fights...and then part 2 of The Pacific.
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
15 March 2010 @ 08:53 pm
Sitting here waiting for the 3rd period of the Red Wings and Flames game, I figured I'd finally update this bitch.

I'm also finishing up a bottle of Deschutes Jubel 2010 so I might as well start off with what has been probably the best week of beer I've ever had. I was fortunate to get my hands on the holy grail of beers, a Westvleteren 12. It did not disappoint at all. Any debate there was earlier this year between Westy 12 and Pliny the Younger should be forgotten. Westy 12 blows it away. I was able to try PtY a couple weeks back as well, and while it had an amazing aroma and tasted pretty good, it was no where near as good as Westy 12 or even some other beers from Russian River (Pliny The Elder, Supplication, Consecration...).

The same night I also had what is now my second and third favorite beers: The Bruery's Black Tuesday and Firestone Walker Abacus. Combine those beers with a Firestone 11, some XXI, a Mischief, Russian River Consecration and Supplication, Bell's Expedition Stout, the Buckbean beer festival out at Lake Las Vegas, and a Tactical Nuclear Penguin from Brewdog and I was in beer heaven! The Tactical Nuclear Penguin deserves a bit more commentary, considering it was the highest abv beer in the world when it came out (32%) and pretty damn rare (only 500 bottles). I cant say anyone thought it was great...but its just so different and a very weird experience to try.

There's still a few beers on my list that I'm dying to get my hands on even though I've had the 2 consensus best beers, and the most extreme beer all in the last month. The big ones left on my list right now would be Sam Adams Utopias, Three Floyd's Dark Lord, Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout, Portsmouth Kate The Great, Lost Abbey Yellow Bus, and Allagash Gargamel.

Man that's a lot of beer talk.

Now on to something I know you all care even less about...hockey! Its the last month of the regular season and Detroit is actually fighting for a playoff game. They really need to win tonight against Calgary (Detroit is #8 and only 1 point ahead of #9 Calgary). The Wranglers have picked it up as of late and should be ok. I'll probably head out to the last couple dollar beer games and then a few playoff games.

Other than beer and hockey, there's only a few more things to mention.

We've adjusted at work with the move from IT to advertising. The Olympics have come and gone (awesome gold medal hockey game). Been out golfing a few times already and actually been playing much improved. Colt hooked me up with a friends and family key for the Starcraft 2 beta. Been doing a lot of the typical Friday/Saturday club nights. Was treated to another awesome dinner at Craftsteak. Hurt Locker and Moon were both really good. Had a few good crazy bro nights. I brewed my first beer (basic kit, wasn't anything special) and have my second one in the fermenter now (should be ready in a few weeks).

Uhm...I think that's about it really. The 3rd period is almost over and its still tied up.

More beer, golf, and hockey are on deck. I'll try not to be so lazy about posting.

Oh shit...Detroit just scored with 1:19 left! Yes!
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
15 December 2009 @ 01:57 am
There's been some really good TV this fall, especially some of the finales. Sons of Anarchy, Monk, and Dexter in particular were really good.

This year there weren't that many shows worth going too, but these last 2 weeks I ended up going to 3: Dethklok, Metallica, and Skinny Puppy. Michelle has been really cool with hooking the group up with stuff at HoB, including the Dethklok and Skinny Puppy shows. Skinny Poppy we even got the skybox, which was a total blast. Its such a different experience up there. Metallica I also lucked out into a free ticket, with Ken having extras from his group. We hit up Burger Bar before hand, which is now a giant 0 for 2 hole. The service is just beyond terrible there.

Barnaby's new Sanctuary night started up last week. So I actually checked that out after Metallica. Its a throwback to the old Bistro days, though the place is a lot better than City Lights. It'll be interesting to see how things go with Friday still being the big night at Skizo, competing Saturday nights now, and whenever that other thing is now.

Added a few more beers to my list since last posting. The 2009 Abyss and the Black Butte XXI from Deschutes are both out now. Solid beers each, but the one that I really enjoyed was the Nogne O Porter. Blew them both away. I talked to the guys at Khoury's and actually gave them the heads up just in time to get the Blue Moon Grand Cru from the Coors guys. I ended up being the middle man for the group, buying 8 or so bottles for everyone to split up at Greg's one night. Not quite worth the price point, but really good...especially for those who are just starting to get more into beers. The other big picks up I have the Firestone Walker Reserve 13, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, and the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. I'll probably save those for a little gathering to share. I know the previous Bourbon County Stout was a real beast to finish and the World Wide Stout is 18% ABV. The 13 I'm really curious about. It's a variety of 7 super strong ales all barrel aged differently and then blended by expert winemakers...

Hrmm, what else. Kyle came over for UFC Saturday. The fights this weekend were actually one of the better cards of the year. Diego Sanchez got absolutely destroyed over 4 1/2 rounds. Frank Mir didn't even get touched as he dropped Cheick Kongo and then choked him out.

The years almost over. CityCenter has been opening in parts. ARIA is this week. Holiday stuff will be soon. Need to figure out where to go for our end of the year dinner still.
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
30 November 2009 @ 01:17 am
The years almost over...only about a month left! Where'd the year go?

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Typical family dinner thing Thursday and relaxing/partying the rest of the weekend. The Lions predictably lost.

Wednesday we got out a bit early and I went with my boss to Aces & Ales for the Stone beer event. Oaked Bastard, Double Bastard, RIS, Jolly Pumpkin collaboration, and others. Friday and Saturday was a double dose of goth clubbing and all you can drink nights (Skizofrenia and Ghostmachine). Toss in some Double Down and Crown & Anchor and I guess it was a pretty eventful weekend with friends.

With the extra days off I caught up on quite a bit of my Netflix instant queue. I did do a little freelance stuff too. I also went through my beer kit and kind of figured out what I wanted to do with my first home brew. I was too lazy to go through the process of sanitizing all the stuff and start up the first batch. Sometime this week though...
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
09 November 2009 @ 01:29 am
I'm another year older. Had some fun partying with friends over the weekend to celebrate. Tried out Burger Bar (unimpressed), minus5 Lodge, and then Frankie's Tiki Lounge. There was some early morning breakfast too. My birthday itself was pretty good too, with a last minute invite to Craftsteak, the Wings winning, and finally trying Allagash White and Johnnie Walker Blue.

Its been so long since I've posted on here. The last time I posted the Wings were still in the playoffs actually. I blame Twitter mostly, since everything is micro blogged. But I figured I'd return and try to post more often.

There's too much to try and remember and post about, but there were some biggies. The Wings eventually lost to the fucking Penguins. Ginn and I watched the last game here and were at a loss for words.

I finally moved out of that shit hole Crystal Creek. Wasn't worth paying so much more for a run down place, especially without a roommate for the 2nd bed room. Ended up finding a really good deal here at a new apartment overlooking the Legacy golf course.

I ended up golfing quite a bit, despite the summer heat. Tried a few new places like Legacy, Rhodes Ranch, and Rio Secco. But Boulder muni has been our go to place. I finally broke 100 even this last Friday! God, we are terrible...but its so much fun.

Being summer, there was the normal celebrating of birthdays for Chris and Aaron. I got invited to a really cool Summer Tasting menu event at MGM Grand. Made a few new friends since last posting. Somehow won bottle service one night at Blue Martini. Tried Texas de Brazil (amazing). Halloween this year was a success. People seemed to dig the Billy Mays idea.

Finally made it out to this year's Lee's Beer Experience. I think that was the start of my recent beer kick. Dragged Ken and Aaron out to another beer event at Monte Lago Village in September. There's also a new craft beer rocker bar called Aces & Ales that I've been going to frequently for all these beer releases and events.

With fall kicking in I've been in hockey mode since football has been a disappointment. Already been to a couple Wrangler games this season.

I think that's about it.

I'm probably going to be going to Aces for a Stone Brewing beer event Tuesday and then Tenaya Creek for their 10 year anniversary on Saturday. Looking forward to golfing a few more times before it gets too cold. I also need to figure out when to use all this credit for Texas de Brazil. ;)

Until next time...
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
31 May 2009 @ 10:25 pm
New post coming soon. Lots to talk about, but been pre-occupied with moving...
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
04 May 2009 @ 01:54 am
Man I am beat.

Friday started off pretty rough. There was some sort of water damage in my second bedroom and I couldn't get any explanation or time frame for it getting fixed. In the meantime they shut off my water heater and it was a game of never ending phone tag. I'm so glad to be moving out of this place in a few weeks. But the day turned around for the better later on. I picked up some free hockey tickets to Monday's game. Detroit won game 1 against Anaheim. Then I had some fun before heading over to the club to party it up.

Saturday I woke up early expecting the complex to be over to change my water heater and take care of the carpet in my other bedroom, but they never showed up. I ran a few errands and then hit up my eye doctor appointment. The last time I spent money on glasses was like 3 years ago at 39dollarglasses.com. But I thought my insurance would cover more than it did, and I ended up spending like $400 on new glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses for golfing.

When I finished up I decided to head over to Barleys for this small beer festival thing I found out about last minute. They had more tents setup than I thought, and I tried probably 45 beers or so. No one really seemed interested in going, but my boss ended up heading over towards the end. There were a few pretty good ones and now I'm really excited about the Lee's Beer Experience at the end of the month.

After chilling at home for a bit I met up with Aaron at Vector.

So it was another late night and I wanted to wake up early enough to watch Detroit's game 2. Sadly they lost in 3 OT and I didn't even see the end of the game (I watched it just now on DVR). I was out on the golf course when the 2 OT started. Tim and I decided to play out at Desert Willow. Golf was a blast but I'm still a bit bummed the game went so long and I couldn't catch the end of it live.

But with the lack of sleep, the late nights, running around outside at the beer fest, and then golfing today I am completely beat. I'll probably try to take it easy next weekend and save a few bucks. Need to sort through some more things for the move. I haven't mentioned it previously, but I did pick the new place. I'm moving into a smaller one bedroom to save money, but the place is much nicer than this place and it overlooks the Legacy Gof Course. Still not looking forward to the actual moving process, but I don't think it will be too bad.

Now that I think about it, I'm not going to be resting at all. Between hockey playoffs, sorting and packing shit this next weekend, Mother's Day, a planned golf trip to Primm the week after, signing my new lease on the 23rd and moving the following few days, and then the beer experience on the 30th...I'm going to need to sleep all of June.

I should try the sleep thing now actually.
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
19 April 2009 @ 10:38 pm
Holy shit, I didn't update all of March and now most of April? Whoops! I'm not going to try and recap every little detail at this point, but its probably time to at least make a post.

I love this time of year, mainly because the NHL playoffs have started and its not 100+ degrees out yet. The weather has been great for our golf league and a couple other outtings. When we went to Boulder City last weekend I actually played 36 holes straight! I just can't get enough golf or hockey right now. I'm pumped that Detroit is beating down Columbus so far and San Jose has choked on a fat one. Hopefully I'll still be able to write about Detroit's progress next month!

Other than the golf and hockey, things have been pretty normal for the most part. Been out to the usual spots for dinner and fun. I say for the most part though because of 2 bigger developments...

First, I had a little mishap with the Saturn and it is no more. I lucked out with the insurance deal and am very glad I switched from Esurance to Progressive last year. I'm thrilled with my new car too. I'm zipping around in a 2009 Mazda3 Hatchback now.

Second, I'll be moving at the end of May. I wanted to move out of this complex last year but I was too lazy. My lease is up at the end of May so I decided to put in my notice to motivate me a bit. I'm not looking forward to the actual moving part, but I'll be happy to get the fuck out of here! I've got it narrowed down to about 3 places right now and I'll be making my final decision this week and getting all the paper work in place.

This should be a busy week so I'm going to try and not wait another 2 months before posting again.
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
27 February 2009 @ 01:17 am
Work has been such a grind lately. So many requests and projects to work on and we aren't staffed as much as we used to be. Seeing all our competitors release their terrible 4th quarter numbers is a bit unsettling too. I'm really curious to see what ours look like when they come out.

Thankfully this week is almost done.

About the only good thing this week was learning we were getting a discount on the golf league. I can't wait for that to start next Wednesday. Going out last weekend to Primm and Black Mountain was a blast. The weather has been warming up a bit and has felt great. Just getting out and doing something different from the club or the usual hanging out felt good.

Anyways, like I said I went and golfed twice this last weekend.

Having not golfed in a while I expected to be terrible. Surprisingly though I had one of my better rounds at Primm. It did take me the front 9 to warm up a bit, but the back 9 was great. Primm has some great local deals right now, with $25 and $35 rates over the weekend. The downside to that being its next to impossible to get a tee time. Since only Ken and I could go Saturday we ended up getting paired with 2 douchebags who thought they were hot shit hitting from the black tees. They hit a few strong drives, but I out-putted both of them...and I also didn't break 3 clubs out of anger. They weren't very good at all. Dumbasses.

To cap off a great afternoon of golf, Ken and I hit up Johnny Mac's for beer, pizza, and wings. The wings were hands down the best I've ever had. We easily ate 25+ wings each and almost a full pizza.

I was worried about how I'd feel Sunday. Having not golfed in a while I wasn't sure how bad I'd be hurting for the next round. But I felt good. Having the 4 of us out there was a bit more fun and relaxing. We aren't the best, so getting paired up with other people makes it a bit weird. Black Mountain wasn't nearly in as good a shape as Primm was. The winter weather took its toll a bit which made for some interesting bounces.

I'm pretty sure I'll go across the street sometime this weekend to practice some different things. I really want to improve. I have a goal in mind for what I want to be shooting by summer. Kyle is busy with a big bowling tournament/convention until July so he doesn't have time to play. I don't expect to get to his level by July, but I want to make it at least a little competive.

The rest of the weekend is up in the air.

2-for-1 drinks at Skizo tomorrow sounds good after this week. Nothing else has really been mentioned. James and Sarah both have birthdays in the next week so I'm sure something will be going on either this weekend or next. Then in 2 weeks Colt is coming to town to party for St. Patty's day. That should be a busy day. There is a new beer festival happening at Lake Las Vegas earlier that day.

Hopefully with the golf, birthdays, and other events the next few weeks I'll be able to relax a bit and take my mind off work.
 
 
Kris 'Destral' Wilke
18 February 2009 @ 09:06 pm
The plans have been finalized for golfing this weekend. Sadly, Primm Valley was fully booked Sunday so the 4 of us decided to golf Black Mountain instead. But Ken and I decided we're gonna golf at Primm anyways...on Saturday. So I'll be kicking off my golfing this year with back to back rounds this weekend!

We also got the sign up info for our golf league today. So in 2 weeks we'll be starting that too. That first night we are definitely hitting up BJ's after for beer.