Weekend Fun Five-Plus-One — 9-5-10

It's been a pretty good weekend in Santa Monica thus far. It looks like our three week summer that we have had this year has finally come to an end as the coast was shrouded in fog just in time for the weekend beach-going and grilling. But since September is usually the hottest month of the year for us in SoCal, there may be a reprise right around the corner.

Spent the day once again in Downtown Santa Monica. More time in the new mall. Zero purchases, just people watching. And some observations, such as these:

1. I Am Still Trendy

Apparently I am still on the cutting edge of fashion, as the trend continues, with bikes still popular for displays and fashion. Perhaps someday people will realize, not only are bikes decorative, but they can also be useful.

As the reflections in this window display show, there are a lot of people who realize that bicycles can be used outside the store as well.

2. Big Dog, Little Dog

These two dogs apparently reside together, as they are both with the couple, seated. Depending on genders, it could make for some interesting puppies. A tourist looks on in amusement (OK, I have no proof that he is a tourist, but on the Third Street Promenade, if you call somebody a tourist, you will be right most of the time).

3. Brompton Sighting

I saw these bikes parked outside of a local watering hole, the folding bike being a Brompton. Though my one test ride on a Brompton ended in disappointment, they still hold a certain fascination for me. Perhaps another test ride would fare differently. Many swear by them as the best folding bike made, so there must be something to that.

4. Loving The Lens

As a birthday gift to myself, last week I received this Sigma 30mm, F1.4 lens for my Olympus e-620 camera, and I am really enjoying it. It has taken my beer photos to the next level, allowing me to get the subject (the beer) in focus, while providing a nicely blurred background. In fact, I am having so much fun with it that I am drinking even more beer than usual just to use it (yeah, that's the reason I am drinking more beer. I'll stick to that story.) Happy Birthday to Me!

5. Which Leads Us To This:

Abita Brewing SOS (Save Our Shore)

I had to try this mainly just because it is for a good cause. As Abita explains on their website:

This Abita Beer is a message in a bottle...a distress signal for the troubled waters of our Gulf Coast. For every bottle sold Abita will donate 75¢ to the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill. This unfiltered Weizen Pils is made with Pilsner and Wheat malts. It is hopped and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops. It has a brilliant gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a pleasant bitterness and aroma.

In addition, related retail merchandise (hat, tee shirt, lapel pin, decal and car magnet) will be sold and 100% of the net proceeds will also go to the SOS Fund.

Abita, based in New Orleans, makes some decent, mostly German-style beers. They have a few on tap at our local, Southern-themed sports bar down the street, imaginatively named "South". Their Turbodog is a nice, malty brown ale.

I would consider the SOS an American-style Hefeweizen along the lines of Widmer or Pyramid. An unfiltered wheat beer, it pours a hazy golden color with aromas of sweet malt and a slight bready wheat aroma along with a light hop smell, courtesy of dry-hopping.

Flavor-wise, the hops definitely take a back seat, providing the slightest tinge of bitterness, while the wheat is the star of this show. The flavor is quite similar to the aforementioned couple of American Hefs, without any of the spicy clove and banana flavors of many German hefeweizens. It has a nice, couple of finger head that sticks around for most of the glass (even in my large, holiday weekend glass). It's nothing to seek out, but I wouldn't turn it down, either. And, as I said, it is for a good cause, though I suppose you could just donate the $7 or so that it cost directly to the cause rather than just having 75¢ going toward it, but hey, most people wouldn't do that, and every little bit helps.

6. The Holiday

I don't know what the extra day off will hold in store. Perhaps try to get a ride in or do some maintenance on the Black Cross Check, getting it ready for the week ahead. And as usual, I will probably have a craving for hot dogs and potato salad, which seems to happen on the Summer holidays. Living in an apartment I end up grilling them on the indoor, George Foreman-style grill and buying pre-made potato salad. And since I buy it all at Whole Foods, it is oh-so-healthy (Yeah, right. I keep telling myself that).Hope you readers in the U.S. have a good holiday, and those elsewhere have a nice Monday!