Lizard's Lair

Blind Lady Ale House and Pliny the Elder

A wonderful double IPA during the San Diego Beer Week at the Blind Lady Ale House.

Pliny the Elder is brewed by Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, California.

Their story on the name, who it is and about the beer:

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

8.0%ABV, 1.071 O.G

Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Double IPA Category)
Gold Medal, 2005 GABF (Double IPA Category)

Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category)

Blind Lady Ale House and Pliny the Elder

A wonderful double IPA during the San Diego Beer Week at the Blind Lady Ale House.

Pliny the Elder is brewed by Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, California.

Their story on the name, who it is and about the beer:

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

8.0%ABV, 1.071 O.G

Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Double IPA Category)
Gold Medal, 2005 GABF (Double IPA Category)

Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category)

Happy Halloween

Happy B-Day to Frank L too!

Hot Manzanillo Tea, shot of Captain Morgans and a shot of Jim Beam. I'm not sick now...feeling good!

Oppigards Golden Ale

At O'Briens with my brother Dave. A hoppy lager with a slight sour Belgian beer taste. 4 stars

Lizard Printing - Printing Equipment for Sale

Stahl Folder, B-22 4/4/4, Table Feed, Aqua Score on main unit and 8 page unit, excellent shape, one owner, great folder.

Complete scoring and perfing wheels. call David for best price, 619-252-6638.

Tremat feeder head, handles light weight paper great, pharmaceutical type.

Aqua scores on two units!

Original Heidelberg Windmill, 10 x 15. A rare 100 year anniversary edition 1950 model. Excellent shape! Great for diecuuting and numbering!

100 years of quality!

All accessories, including over 100 die cutting dies.

Truflow RIP, Version 4.01, Features and Applications:

Colorgenius LE, Riteinspect, Jobarchiver, Flatworker, SPM, PageOptimizer, Ripviewer, Trapeditor, Windows 2003, Intel Xeon

Screen 40 inch platemaker

Plate Rite 8000, recently refurbished, runs great!

Includes climate control AC with humidifier.

Prism 45 inch Cutter, Extra Blade, Excellent Condition

Call David at 619-252-6638 for the best price on all this equipment. Package deals available.

48 inch Metal Plate Exposure Unit with Vacuum Frame.

Olite AL53/100 Light Exposure Control and Densitometer

Olec L 1252 Photopolymer/Diazo Lamp installed 10-5-07

Need a pallet jack? Call David, 619-252-6638 today!

More Beers in Japan

I decided to write a new blog post versus updating my original beers in japan post.

Another stout Japanese beer. Smooth malty taste, very good, 4 stars.

This was odd in that the menu said Hoppy Black, so it sounded good. I was given a mug with ice and some liquid on the bottom, maybe a little less than 1/4 of the glass. I thought it was water. The waiter explained that I should pour the bottle into the glass, I complied. I poured it in and stirred. Never had a beer like this, but it was OK. 3 stars.

Not only do I experience brand new Japanese beers, almost on a daily basis, sometimes, I run into a special place like Haldous Belgium Beer Bar in the Ginza district of Tokyo. I asked the bartender for a hoppy beer and this was it, Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor. It's a Belgian style IPA, 8% Alc.. It was delicious. 5 stars.

I next had a Hoegaarden Forbidden Fruit. Another super tasty beer. I want to point out that this beer bar in Tokyo took their beer seriously. They took great car how a beer was presented. I was given a matching glass, matching coaster, and the cap was given also. They took great care in pouring, I had to have patience to let them do their job. It was quite an experience. Great beer, pizza, and service. 8.5% alc. 5 stars.

My night cap. A Trappistes Rochefort 10, 11.3% alc. Wow, another great beer. Note the matching glass and coaster. These guys are great. 5 stars.

Wrapping up a great evening in Tokyo. Thanks for reading my blog. I have a great time writing it!

Lizard's Pond - Phase 5 The Waterfall

June 4, 2007 - With a blue line drawn on my wall. I grab the rented concrete cutting saw. It's the middle of the day and hot. The "blades" to cut wear down as you go. I bought 2 at Home Depot. I think they were $10 bucks each.

The cutter is giving me a hard time in starting. I'm hot and thirsty. BTW, I'm wearing my favorite t-shirt.

My son starts it for me and hands it to me while it is running. I feel I'm ready for it.

I start cutting into the wall. I use the pipe to help guide me down straight. The concrete cutter is heavy, loud, and the vibrations go through my body. Notice all the dust from cutting? That's why the eye protection, plus the breathing mask were important.

Wow, I'm cutting down the other side and pushing this thing harder. I'm deep in the wall. Look at all the smoke and dust!

I start making the horizontal cut and just get too tired. I can't finish it. I let Manuel O. finish it.

A shot of the finished cut waterfall slot and the debris and large boulders sitting at the bottom of my pond. I  have to clear this stuff out. There is a reason I did not finish the wall on this side. Those rocks will not be an easy out.

Lizard's Pond - Phase 4 The Wall's Rebuilt

May 28, 2007 - The "completed" wall. With San Diego Pond scheduled to come and survey the site before doing the plumbing, I felt done with this part. Nope, the pond guy seriously doubted the wall and after some research and a phone call to an engineer at the block company, I rebuilt the wall.

June 4, 2007 - Not only am I going down one row, I'm glueing the blocks together, plus building extra support on the ends and in the middle. Lots of work. Notice the sprinkler pipe going up the wall. I wasn't there when the sprinkler guy put it there. Stupid.

I also had some 3/4" rebar cut to the height of my wall. I am putting gravel and those bars through the blocks as they are laid down. I'm making it as strong and unmovable as possible.

My oldest is not happy with the fact that we had to do the wall all over again. I told him it was going to be better.

Lizard's Pond - Phase 3 The Wall

May 28, 2007. We've been working hard, my two boys and me, standing outside the hole. It's 3 blocks high and a lot of work. Starting everything level and mixing and matching the different pieces we had to work with, note the different sizes of the blocks. It's the theme of the project, natural. Yet, the shapes you see say formal. So, it's a natural formal pond. Doesn't the flagstone look great?!

We have to go deeper and try to move out some of these huge boulders at the base of my wall. The plumbing is roughed in. Manuel O. is placing the first of the fourth layer of block.

Some two hours after the photo at the top of this blog was taken, we finished. Four blocks high and the coping top flagstone in place, as the sun is going down.

The inside of the hole. Notice the height of the wall from the inside? The next day, after consulting with San Diego Pond, they warn me about the height and I called the block manufacturer and talked to an engineer. He told me, the block was never meant to hold back that much force and weight. There is a formula, that escapes me right now, that calculates the weight of water by cubic feet. The inside of my pond is roughly 6 feet by 12 feet, multiply that by the almost 3 feet of wall and you get 216 square feet of water.

Beers in Japan

This Kirin Draft in a can was my first in Japan. I bought it from a vending machine inside Osaka Kansei Airport. Tasted like your average American lager. They use rice as one of their main grains too. 3 stars

Asahi Black, a great find at the first Japanese restaurant. A typical Osaka eatery serving Okonomiyaki. It's a mixture of eggs, a batter, vegetables, cheese, and shrimp or something similar. A cross between an omelette and a pancake. This is a typical grill-it-yourself place, where the waitress/cook comes to your table with the raw ingredients of your order, mixes it up in front of you and places it on the grill in the middle of the table. It starts cooking and you take care of it, flipping it until it's done. Fun, good food, and good beer, both the food and beer - 4 stars.

 

A Kirin draft served at the Osaka Hilton. I love the Japanese crackers. The pink ones were shrimp flavored.

 

This Suntory Premium Malt cost about 10% more than the regular beers at the AM/PM store next to the hotel. There wasn't a lot of difference in taste, maybe just a bit more malt taste. There's a lot of 7-11 stores in Japan too.

 

On the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, I bought this beer at the station. The big cans are 500ml. It's a good size and stays cold on the train ride. Asahi "Super" Dry has a crisp lager taste. Easy and average - 3 stars.

 

The beverage cart girl was passing by my seat. I picked up this Sapporo. Average tasting lager - 3 stars.

The cart comes back again, this time it's a Kirin Beer. It says "Brewed for Good Times". You can see my adventure hat and Canon camera. Most of these beer shots are with my iPhone.

Yebisu, The Hop was another lager with bit more hops. I'll give them an extra star for trying - 4 stars.

 

While in Tokyo, I found another store with a bigger beer selection. Here's a Tokyo Black, it's a porter style. Very black, rich taste, delicious - 5 stars.

Happy Birthday Dom!

Family Gettogether

Wife and Frank, glass of chianti and my #1 fan of my blog's birthday, plus lot's of family.

Lizard at the Alibaba in Yokohama

The picture is a little blurry, but I'm sure you can tell we are having a good time. Clockwise from me, Yoshiko, Miyuki, and Kawamura-san from our Yokohama office.

Kampai!

Lizard in Osaka

The second largest city in Japan and the world's 7th largest metropolitan district, the city is huge. This picture is along one of the many rivers that cross through this city. I'm in front of the Hotel Osaka Castle, where I had a wonderful Chinese dinner with my boss Fujimoto-san, Mari, and Terry.

We are all part of Yamagata, a worldwide provider of printing and related services. Mari and Terry are from the Osaka office and we all had visited Panasonic that day, where my boss and I gave a presentation.

Cash-For-Clunkers - 1985 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE

I bought this car new on February, 1985. I had just traded in my old low-rider, a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix, my first new car. 

Sorry for the poor picture, but it's a fading snapshot on my refrigerator. 

Since then, I bought a 1989 Mazda 626, a 1990 Toyota Previa, a 1992 Nissan Truck, a 1995 Toyota Previa, a 1998 Toyota 4Runner 4x4, a 1999 Honda Civic EX (still own - 150,000 miles), a 2001 Ford Expedition 4x4 (to tow my boat), a 2004 Mazda RX-8 GT (my daily driver - 78,000 miles), and a 2007 Mazda CX-7 (wife's car - 46,000 miles).

Now, it's worth $3,500 for me when I buy my next new car. This has been an awesome car. It's never been in a wreck, but a long time ago, a VW bus ran into me while crossing the border between Tijuana and San Diego. The Border Patrol couldn't do anything about it, since it happened in Mexico, and it's been dented or half-assed fixed like this since. I was in line when 2 lanes merged into one, this VW Bus scraped and dented my drivers door and front fender.

Here's it's better side, yet the faded fender reveals it's other history. The car was almost new, late 1985. I lent the RX-7 to my brother's wife and while driving near her house, she came out in front of a bicycle who rammed into the fender. My cousin did a very poor job fixing it.

2009 Volkswagen GTI vs. Nissan 370Z vs. BMW 128i vs. Mini Cooper S

My newest favorite car! I drove one last night. My son Armando recommended this over the Mini Cooper S I drove last Saturday. I've been flipping between a Nissan 370Z, base model with a sport package, MSRP about $33K, a BMW 128i with sport package, also about $33K, and a Mini Cooper S, about $25K.

I really like the Nissan 370Z. It's got great looks, the strongest engine, and a definite step up from my RX-8. The new Z has 332 hp and can get to 60 mph in about 5.3 seconds, that's a whole second faster than my 2004 Mazda. It's weakness was that I would be getting the base model, cloth seats, yet it was in still in my price range. I've lowered that point from the mid $40's. Originally, that's where I wanted to be, but the reality is that I should be in the $20's if I didn't want to strain the budget.

I loved the drive in the 370Z. It's powerful engine with great torque throughout it's power band. Being a two-seater is one of my concerns. I do like driving and the RX-8 always gave me the flexibility of fitting four, which was almost always enough.

Next, I loved the refined overall feel of the BMW 128i. It's inline 6 cylinder engine put out 230 hp, about 10 hp less than my RX-8. It's the smallest BMW coupe, making the back seat room less than my RX-8. For around $33K, I'd get the manual, black exterior and black leatherette interior. My only option would be the sport package, with it's tuned suspension and awesome sport seats.

The BMW 128i has another great thing going for it, it's 4 year warranty is an extra year over all the competition. Nissan, VW, and Mini all have 3 year warranties. BMW also includes free maintenance for those 4 years, including normal wear on brakes and pads. VW and Mini had maintenance packages, but it did not include any coverage for normal wear items, like brakes and wipers.

The Mini Cooper S can be had for $24,850 MSRP. It's got a 210 hp turbo 4 cylinder engine, 0-60 in about 6.7 seconds. It's got teeny back seats, but gets the most mileage, a combined 29 mpg, more than 10 mpg better than my 1985 RX-7 that I will be trading in as part of the Cash-For-Clunkers program.

Price, while always a top priority for me, has never pushed my decisions as much as this car purchase has. I have been quoted from carsdirect.com, $23,612, for a 2009 GTI with the Autobahn package, sunroof and leather sport seats, plus darkened rear tail lamps, which together have an MSRP of $26,829. The invoice cost is $24,990, so I've been quoted $1,378 UNDER invoice!! On top of that is VW's 0% financing for 6 years! Together, with my $3500 RX-7 trade-in, after tax and license, my total financed is only $22,768, that's $378.47 a month. That's a whole lot less than the $500 - $600 range I originally thought I'd be in.

Decisions, Decisions...

What do you think?

2010 Chevrolet Camaro LT1

In my never-ending strive to find the right car, I get a hankering to drive the new Camaro. I've read various reviews on them, but a retro American pony car was never on my wish list, but it's fun to drive new cars, none the less.

It definitely looks retro, like Dodge Challenger a bit. A bit more edgier than a Mustang. It has a high beltline, and when I fist sat in it, I was way too low. Luckily, the seats had a nice manual height adjustment and visibility was not bad, better than a 370Z. I did feel more confined with the seemingly short cockpit. the dash looked retro-ugly and the steering wheel's odd shape turned me off too. It was an automatic with paddle shifters and 3.6L V-6 pumping out 304hp.

Sorry for the glare in the photos from my iPhone, but it was around noon and I was at a bad angle. Anyway, It's got good rear end looks. But overall, nothing impressed me. I guess you have to be a Camaro fan.

Padres @ Angels

Roadtrip for these Padre fans, as we traveled to Anaheim for a Sunday day game. It's my brother Dave and my friend Frank.

Notice the nice camera work as I framed the above photo just right...

but I didn't take this one, come on Frank, you gotta do better than that!

California Comfort

One of my favorite places in East County San Diego. California Comfort opened a couple of years ago, taking over and redoing a previously boring restaurant and creating a sports bar and grill type of place. This is their house pale ale, I think it's brewed by Redhook Brewery from Washington.

Happy Times

One of my favorite places to hang out is my backyard behind the grill. It's a great place to be when I'm entertaining friends and family.

My Japanese friend Yonemura-san gave me this gift of 12 year old Chivas. I was sharing drinks and a cigar with him, as we talked about our favorite places. When I left his place, he gave me this. Now it's in my liquor cabinet under the grill. I tell the story every time I share this scotch with guests.

Thank You Yonemura-san!

Sierra Nevada Empire Strikes Black

Extra black color, velvety taste, sweet malty, plum flavors with a hoppy tart finish. Delicious!!

O'Brien's Pub in San Diego specializes the local brewery's best beers, plus west coast breweries, and Belgium style beers, with an over 200 bottle selection. One of the best beer bars in one of the countries best beer cities, San Diego.

Sierra Nevada Empire Strikes Black

Extra black color, velvety taste, sweet malty, plum flavors with a hoppy tart finish. Delicious!!

O'Brien's Pub in San Diego specializes the local brewery's best beers, plus west coast breweries, and Belgium style beers, with an over 200 bottle selection. One of the best beer bars in one of the countries best beer cities, San Diego.

House at El Cid Mazatlan

 

My in-laws have a house for rent at El Cid. It's a gated community built around a golf course and tennis courts. I think the yard faces the fourth hole. There's a water pond with turtles too.

Here's some inside shots. These were taken last May and before some work was done inside the house.

 

 

The master bedroom with it's own bathroom and walk-in closet.

 

I think there's 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

Dad's House in Mazatlan

Dad's house in the Sabalo Country neighborhood of Mazatlan. 3 Blocks from the beach and the original Pueblo Bonito Resort. It has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. It was designed by Jorge Luna, a native Mazatlan architect.

It has a beautiful large kitchen.

A vaulted ceiling in the living room.

A wrap-around railing on the second floor. Marble flooring throughout.

Big dining room and family room too.

 

 

Nice backyard and garden with bannana, coconut, papaya trees and more.

Large master bedroom with it's large private bathoom with a jacuzzi tub.

 

 

Also, a rooftop terrace.

 

Taurino from El Salvador

An El Salvadoran beer that tastes pretty plain.

Ooh, ike a light beer, yuk!

Rib Eye & Cabernet

Building the Pond-Phase 2 The Hole

May 26, 2007 - The hole started with picks and shovels, then a jackhammer was brought in to break the big granite boulders that make up the base of my land. The largest boulders were used in different areas around the yard.

 

We've got some extra help with the heavy digging.

Here's my crew and the big boulder that just came out near my entryway.

May 27, 2007 - The junk piles up on my driveway. The two rear piles in center and right are the stones for the pond wall and the sand for laying the flagstone. See the pallet on the left? The pallet on the right is the blocks I'll use the build the wall around the pond. Looks like major construction.

You can see here how we marked the areas for the wall, initial pond ledge, then the deep part of the pond. We need to go deeper. There are big boulders in the way. On the left you can see the pipes are in for the rough plumbing of the pond.

I'll post more later.

Peavy Rocks!

Stone Pale Ale @ Petco

Padres winning 3-1, 9th inning, Peavy pitching.

Pliny the Elder

Light citrus taste, light golden color, hoppy tart bite, clean aftertaste.
At Hamilton's in San Diego.