There is no hope like tomorrow, no love like today. Grasp the moment in your hands before it flies away.
Smart people don't have to prove how smart they are, while stupid people will spend all of their time trying.
Love is a four letter word so be careful how you use it...
Simple Spells of Time
‘Tis but a fine autumn morn, from which the day dawns as the flora unveils an untouched dew upon the ground, and lo and behold! The noontime destiny is but another clockwork in time. What glistens so resplendently as the tinseled leaves follows a pathway deep into the tunnels of life. Sky bound, it passes the many tendrils and appendages trying to whisk it away into the abyss. So protracted its life, yet so diminished its sight; it will never look forward nor reflect upon its misfortunes. Unphased as a photon, it will continue a malignant growth into an oceanic realm, uncaring as time itself. Shivers and tingles pass, and it falls slowly from the air, pushed and shoved by a preternatural force, soliloquent as it speaks to nothing, dreams of nothing, looks of nothing. A somberous wail without sound escapes a mourning star; alas, its larynx dysfunctions and melts along with the winter snow. No voice to sound its fate, no destiny to guide its verve. Fine rejuvenated evenings seems untouched by the moon’s gleam. The dew has finally been released from its icy glass prison and is now part of the precipitory waste upon the earth, forming cold miniscule droplets, merging into larger and larger bodies. The lambs and lions pass by, chasing one another with the children in the puddles, until at last! O grace, o sunshine! Bask in the golden warmth and let the tingle of heat be a part of the everlasting quest for knowledge. ‘Tis but a fine summer’s night, as the glow bugs warm eyes set upon the late rain and lightning. Yet, an air of prospering wafts and refills each blade of grass with droplets of dew. And late into the night, time progresses with uncertainty, stopping every now and then to touch each particle, each being. Still, it is blind to the light, deaf to the melodic song, numbs to its touch. Time passes it by and it continues to travel into the bowels of destiny. It ignores fate and marks its path with the mindless rupture of its heart. Hardships spread it thin, pain divides it, sadness stabs it in the back, but happiness and life just passes it by along with the rest of its vicinity. It knows none other than itself. Loneliness is relative. It is not lonely. Yet a certain unrest stirs its heart, hits its mind, and cuts the surface. Indeed, it is lonely; a single grain of pollen in a sea of sand, just another teardrop in the ocean of dew. And still, the fine summer’s night is indifferent. A lasting night passes with a grey mist, enveloping the hearth with a shadowing skin, and leaves the dew settling upon each leaf and petal. And so, what began begins and ends, with all lacking integrity and mindfulness. Nothing was done. The tunnels of life collapsed from the immense pressure; it had no structure anyway. The dew slipped silently away, fell through the glowing air, and passed time into a new beginning. Once again, ‘tis but a fine autumn morn.
Welcome to the blog page of The Count von Mortiferys Hills. You may address me as Daren. Please make yourself at home and feel free to peruse the blogs as you will.
I created this cybernetic information source for your entertainment and my organization. If you have been following here before, you may notice some changes. Seasons change, years pass, people grow wiser, colder, happier, taller, skinnier... Life is too short to be unhappy and pessimistic. Find good friends, eat good food, drink good beer, have good times.
A little bio: I am a rocker, med student, and brewmaster. I enjoy playing guitar and various other instruments, composing, writing poetry, reading about cool protein pathways, biochemistry, brewing beer, cooking, skateboarding, snowboarding, and anything else really. I don't watch TV very often, except for the Food Network and Discovery Channel.
What does The Count like to do? Let's see...play guitar, piano, violin, drums, bass, harmonica, dulcimer, cello, percussion, tin whistle, mandolin, banjo, and spoons. He writes songs and poetry, sings, reads , skateboards, draws, cooks...the list goes on. Good times eh? And The Count and his faithful friend The Baron enjoys drinking fine ales and lagers and brewing the occasional stout.
The Count likes Green Acres donuts
The Count is an omnivore
The Count shall become a physician
The Count enjoys culinary creations
The Count does not enjoy being told
The Count owns Chuck Norris daily
The Count's favorite animals are penguins and cats
The Count enjoys playing Chess
The Count's favorite guitar is a modified Fender Strat, which he modified himself
The Count listens to Paganini, Chopin, Mozart, and Beethoven
The Count also listens to AFI, The Human Abstract, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Avenged Sevenfold, Blink-182, Meg & Dia, Flogging Molly, Eisley, and My Chemical Romance
The Count has a younger brother who is equally awesome
The Count does not drink much soda
The Count's favorite drink is Orange Juice, followed by grape juice, pomegranate juice, apple cider, apple juice, and beer
The Count has lived in Rochester, NY all his life, except for 1 year in Philadelphia, PA.
The Count has traversed to cities such as Pittsburgh, NYC, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Orlando, El Paso, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong.
The Count is the brewmaster of The Court Brewery
The Count enjoys Ralph Lauren Double Black, Estee Lauder Intuition, and Acqua di Gio
The Count does not enjoy rap, r&b, country, or hip hop music.
Well greetings all. It has been a bit since I've updated here. Things have been epically crazy. Bottling beers, buying books, groceries, furniture, moving... yes, medical school has begun. I've commenced a new chapter in my life. Perhaps this is the final chapter? Well, only if it kills me. The first week has been intense. I've never had anything like it. This is even crazier than Drexel's post baccalaureate. And I love it. Everything has been langweilig as of yet (German for boring). This is exciting, intense, mind bending, mind smothering, and most of all, mind building. I've met some awesome (and some not so awesome) people. I've even taken up a bet with my friend that I can survive 10 weeks without drinking a single beer. I've extended that bet personally to include any sort of wine, beer, liquor, and/or liqueur. This is more for my benefit than anything else, but there's a 6 pack of local beers on the line too.
Anyway, I'll be away from the beer scene for a while, 'though I'll still partake on the BA discussions every now and then. Actually, I'm in anatomy class right now but I can't pay attention to lectures. So mundane. Anatomy is kicking my ass. Histology is pouring lemon juice and salt onto the wounds. And orientation week was wasting my time. Hooray. Peace out y'all.
The Court Brewery Batch 13 The Count's Crimson Phantom: Imperial Red Ale
2.5 gal batch All grain
8 lb Pilsener Malt 0.25 lb Special B half a handful Chocolate Malt
2 oz Celeia hops (2.8% aa) 60 min 1.5 oz Willamette hops (4.8% aa) 60 min 2 oz Amarillo hops (7.5% aa) 15 min 1.5 oz Summit hops (16.5% aa) 15 min 1.5 oz Willamette 0 min 1.5 oz Amarillo 0 min 1 oz Summit 0 min
3 or 4 cans of Guinness Stout Cubed
beef (or chunks, or whatever) Baby Carrots Celery Parsley Potatoes Rosemary Peppercorns
Dump
beef, peppercorns, and stout into a pot (or a crock pot). Top off to
3/4 the way up with water. Cook for a few hours or until meat is cooked.
Add everything else and cook until the carrots and potatoes are soft.
Serve with soda bread.
*It's a simple recipe I made up, sorry if
it rips off anyone else's recipe. I never measure anything when I cook
so just add/subtract stuff as you see fit.
The Court Brewery Batch 11 The Count's Gold Phantom: Belgian Golden Ale Brewed 3/14/10
5 gal batch All grain
6 lb MO 6 lb Pilsner Malt 1.5 oz Willamette (90 min)
S-33
Double Decoction Mash, rest at 151°F for 35 min
OG: 1.062 FG: 1.020 The Count's Gold Phantom was born on 3/27/10. The 2nd in a series of Phantom beers, this is a little sister of the Black Phantom. Light, hoppy, and fruity with a golden, biscuity body, Gold Phantom is perfect for a fresh Spring day. Look for notes of pears, white wine, bread, and earthiness in the profile. Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Lady Gaga
The Count's Uncanny Concoction (all measurements are approximate, as I
usually don't measure anything)
2 bottles of Bell's Pale Ale 1
bottle of Bell's Porter Lots of leftover chicken meat and bones (I
used the equivalent bones of 1 WalMart rotisserie chicken and about half
the meat) 2 cups frozen peas 3 cups frozen corn kernels 1
carrot, chopped into small pieces 1 blue foam carton full of white
button mushrooms, quartered 1.5 celery stalks, cut into 1/4" lengths
(eat the other half of a stalk if you want) 1 small white/spanish
onion (2-3" diameter), chopped into small pieces a few Roma tomatoes,
depending on how tomatoey you want your soup 2 garlic cloves Crushed
black pepper (or peppercorns) to taste
Put chicken parts into a
2-3 gal pot. Pour in 2 bottles of pale ale. Add enough water to fill the
pot to 2/3 capacity. Bring to a slow boil for a few hours, I did mine
for 5. Add veggies and spices and let it cook for a while until desired
textures/flavors are achieved. I added all veggies/fungi in except for
the peas and corn, which were added 15 minutes before serving. Add 1
bottle of porter to the soup and let it cook for 15 minutes before
serving.
Sorry for the informality, I never measure anything when
I cook and everything is very sporadic and according to mood and taste.
And I don't use salt in my cooking but you can certainly adjust as
needed.
I made this yesterday on a whim. Came out pretty decent.
1 bottle Bell's Pale Ale 8 chicken breast filets, cut 3/4" thick 1/4 onion, chopped 1 celery stalk, cut into 1/2" pieces 1 green bell pepper fresh ground pepper to taste oregano to taste crushed red pepper to taste
Let chicken marinate for at least a few hours in beer on a glass baking pan. Add the spices to chicken and throw in the veggies over it. Bake at 375°F for around 30 minutes or until it is fully cooked.
I did this with the Bell's Porter as well. Going to use a Doppelbock sometime. Don't use too many spices/flavors or the beer flavor will be masked.
1 oz Celeia 2.8% aa (FWH) 3 oz Celeia 2.8% (60 min) 1 oz Celeia and Amarillo 7.5% (10 min) 1 oz Celeia, Amarillo, and Cascades 5% (0 min) 1 oz Amarillo and Cascades (dry hop)
Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
Mashed at 152°F overnight.
OG: 1.065 FG: 1.008
Notes: The Count's Golden Strong Bitter is a light bodied and assertive golden blonde ale that gives off enormous tones of grapefruit, lemongrass, and pine resin. Bitterness is prominent, but not off putting. A hop lover's go-to beer.
