Today, I tried Budweiser's new Black Crown Golden Amber Lager. It just came out a couple of months ago, and had its first advertising push as a superbowl commercial (I didn't see it, I just heard about it).
Black Crown is Budweiser's attempt to compete with Yeungling Lager and Sam Adams Boston Lager. And it is an Amber Lager, much like Yeungling and Sam Adams. It still tastes like a Budweiser product. It has the aftertaste that says "You just drank a Bud." And if you like that flavor, and you are hoping for a deeper flavor than regular Bud, or Bud Light, this is what you're looking for. If you don't like Bud, you probably won't like it, but it's worth trying. From a flavor standpoint, it has a nice caramel note that makes it distinctly an amber lager, with the standard Budweiser hops coming in at the tail end. The Amber color is nice and rich, but not intimidating. It's still a shade lighter than Yeungling or Sam, but not by much, and definitely darker than your American Domestics (Coor's, Miller, Bud, or Michelob). I personally think that it goes very well with hot wings.
Also, Black Crown, like Bud Platinum from last year boasts a higher alcohol content at 6% alcohol, which beats out the 4.5% of Yeungling, and makes it comparable to some of the other craft beers, but at cheaper than the premium domestic price.
Why it'll work, and why it won't : Alright, so here's the skinny. Bud Black Crown has the potential to work, and will probably stick around in bottles for as long as Bud Light Lime and Bud Platinum. It can't really stand on it's own in Pennsylvania (where I am), and probably won't in New England either. At least in PA, Yeungling is a Domestic Beer at the same price as Coor's, Miller, and Bud. Black Crown is going to be priced slightly higher than that, and most people will stick with what they're comfortable with, at the lower price (either Bud, or Lager).
Outside of PA, from everything that I've heard, Yeungling is sold at the Domestic Premium Price (comparable to Sam Adams or a Craft Beer). In those cases, Black Crown, sold at a cheaper price than Lager or Sam, will do very well as an alternative to either. And if marketed right, and suggestively sold, it will make a lasting impression on the types of people that Black Crown was made for, the Lager Drinker that wants something new.
For all of it's detractors, Bud and Bud Light are two of the three most popular beers around the world as of 2011. And will continue to do well for many years to come.
And the fine print. This is entirely my own opinion, nobody paid me to say anything about this. I don't represent anybody but myself. And it is up to you to decide if you like it and to drink responsibly.
When I first read the back cover, the
things that stood out were the parts stating that “all proceeds
from the sale of this book will be dedicated to the conservation of
strategic wilderness lands in Alaska.” The book screamed out
conservation and environmentalism, which I am okay with. But the
first couple of pages made me hesitant about reading the book in its
entirety. The descriptions given were very intellectual. The language
used was very precise and it was written in a way that suggested this
was a book more for a literature class than casual reading. I have a
decent lexicon, but I had to start keeping a journal of words that I
should look up the specific meaning to confirm the connotations
derived from context clues. I wound up with about 20-30 words on the
list by the time I stopped reading.
For as uptight as the descriptions are,
the dialogue was wonderful. It sounded like people actually talking
and interacting. One thing was said, another thing was done, and the
characters reacted appropriately according to their personality and
experiences. It was a delight to read the dialogue because things
happened, people acted and reacted. It's a shame that multiple
character interactions are a very limited part of the book.
To summarize the plot of Wild Animus,
our main character Sam Altman starts out at Berkeley in 1969 during
the riots. He gets tear-gassed, and helps another student, a girl
named Lindy, out of the gas and into a store to get water to rinse
their eyes. He feels a connection to her and asks her for her number.
From there, Sam and Lindy go on a drug filled journey where Sam
identifies with a White Dall Ram that was on the cover of the
magazine he used to get Lindy's number, and then Lindy supports Sam,
now calling himself Ransom, as they flee from their life in Berkeley
to Seatle, and then into the Wrangell Mountains. Which ultimately
leads to Ransom's death. This doesn't really spoil anything for you
as a reader, because in the PROLOGUE, you have Lindy Altman in a
helicopter flying over a volcano finding “his body” with blood on
his chest, and on the inside of the crater, but ultimately unable to
recover the body due to weather.
I will admit to being unable to finish
this book. I made it through 7 of the 14 chapters before taking out
my bookmark and closing it without any intention to return. And
here's why: I didn't have any positive connection to Sam/Ransom. I
didn't like him or care about him. I also didn't hate him. I felt
more of a connection, or rather sympathy, with Lindy having to deal
with her boyfriend who went off climbing mountains to get closer to
nature and trip acid, while she was holding down a job and basically
financing him. And if Lindy were more prominently portrayed by the
middle of the book, I might have cared more about her to find out how
she turned out. As it was, the book was firmly about and around Sam,
and often only with one other person. This leads to long-winded
chapters describing elusive and artistic feelings and visions as our
main character takes another quarter tab of acid. Overall, the tone
of the book was narcissistic and self-important. No other character
got strong focus and emphasis, and there wasn't enough of a
connection presented with the main character to want to follow him on
his journey.
I would recommend this book to
intellectual environmentalist pot-heads. I wish it was worth
suggesting as a literature course quality book, or an artistic
environmentalist book, but the content is out of touch with a general
audience. If you come across this book, give it a try, but if you
read the prologue and find yourself disinterested, close it and put
it away, because outside of the first three or four chapters, it's
just more of the same.
Music is transformative. But much like many other skills, it requires concerted practice. Not only does it require playing, but it also requires listening, and appreciating. But Music is, almost by default, universal. I will leave it to these two talks from TED to demonstrate this. And they can speak it much more beautifully than I can.
benjamin zander on music and passion - Is the first one, and shows that everyone is a fan of classical music. Classical music is inspiring, and wonderful, and beautiful. It is really awesome.
bobby mcferrin hacks your brain with music - Music is universal. After watching this, did you think to yourself, "Wow, I knew exactly what to do when he hopped to the left?" Or did you instinctively *know* that this is the next note that's going to be.
I play a few instruments, and I sing. I don't do any of them particularly well, but that's okay. There are lots of very talented musicians out there who aren't famous or rich, or have record deals. And even more talentless hacks that have autotuned themselves onto America's top 40. But that doesn't really change that music can be fun. It can be sad. It can move you emotionally, or get you to move physically. Even "pop" music is still, at some fundamental level, music.
Even the imagery for music means something to us. There are very few children or adults who when presented with that symbol don't know that it means "music." Yes, for those out there who read music, I know that it's a G Clef, or Treble Clef if you will. And it tells you what register the notes on the staff are. And the end of the swirl should be on the line of the staff corresponding with the note of G. Those are all technical things. But it means music. If I make it lean a little bit, and put a staff that is folded on itself and waves in the wind, it might mean Jazz, or Blues.
Even the instruments themselves have ingrained in our conscious and subconscious the types of music and melodies you might expect.
What kind of music do you think of when you see either of these pictures? Are they the same? You know music. You know what you like, and what you don't like. But do you know why? Do you like a song because of the song itself, or the way the song is played? Take this next song for example.
Did you like either of them? I did. If nothing else, they were both confidant, and they do something that most people are terrified of doing. They are getting up in front of people and performing. 50% of music, acting, public speaking, or performing in general is getting up in front of a crowd, and doing it. For some people, it's a rush, it feels so fantastic. And it is fantastic. But for so many others, the idea of standing up in front of a group of people is the single most nerve-wracking thing you could do to them. And just think, we make most school children do public speaking presentations regularly. Or make them speak up in class and answer questions.
The rest of music is confidence, emoting, and ability. Confidence, just like any other skill, can be built up by practicing and doing. Often it comes naturally as you practice other skills. Emoting is the ability to express an emotion and for the listener to believe that emotion from you. This ability is why you can listen to Johnny Cash sing "Hurt," which was originally written by Trent Reznor of NIN, and it hits you hard. It even hit Trent Reznor hard.
And Ability. We've already gone over how people have a natural ability, and if you listened to Benjamin Zander in the first link, we know that nobody is tone-deaf. But there seems to be a combination of natural ability, or talent, and intentional practice. I am absolutely disgusted by the shear raw talent that my one friend has. He can pick up any instrument, and within a few moments can bust out a tune that he has floating around. I can't wait to see what he does next. And then I have friends who are really good, but only if they have sheet music to follow. And he has a LOT of sheet music floating around. So he has a lot to work with. And what he does, he does well. And then there are a lot of people who fall somewhere in the middle. To paraphrase an anime I used to watch, before it got way too long, some people are geniuses with raw talent out the wazoo and others are genius of hard work, and everything they do requires intentional practice. And both are valid.
I mention a lot of this to mention something else. Go out there are support musicians. Go to an underground show, a local show, a regional or national show. Go to a bar with a house band. If you can, buy a t-shirt, or a CD. If you can't buy something, That's Okay! Clap and cheer. Talk to the band members if they're hanging out and tell them what you liked. They work hard. Some of them spend hours every week practicing their art. And for a lot of them, their reward is getting on stage and playing, and getting a reaction or applause. And if you're a musician yourself. You have even more of a reason to do this.
Sooner or later I'll get around to having a theme for these musings. And maybe I'll even start proof-reading and editing for content and flow. ;-) until then, keep the feedback coming.
