Parallel Johnny

The Bang! was awesome. You can see some of the pictures.

From The Bang

I’ve got some studying to do, but first, a recap from camping:

Woke up late on Friday, so we left at around 2 rather than noon. Packing was a nightmare. I managed to fit 3 people and myself, all our luggage, food, water, beer, equipment, etc into one Honda Accord. Basically everyone was surrounded by equipment and the trunk had every cubic inch used. We also had to leave things behind, as well as forget things because of the hectic packing.

We got there — with a small detour because I didn’t print directions and went by what I remembered — around 4. The sites were very nice. We set up camp within an hour, started a fire and were drinking by 5. No one brought any cards or games, so we just talked the whole night. We went around naming everyone’s 10 favorite TV shows. We might have talked 20 minutes about Are You Afraid of the Dark? Everyone had a favorite episode to talk about.

Saturday we were woken up by a truck a few campsites down, blasting Kid Rock at 8:30 in the morning. I finally woke up at 9, giving up. We cooked a huge breakfast: french toast, hashbrowns, sausage and eggs. At 1 we headed for the river for our tubing trip. It was really fun, but I have a horrible sunburn on my stomach from it. We were passing this huge group who had stopped to watch some of them climb a tree about 20 ft up and plunge into the river. I looked at one and mentioned that he looked like my cousin, Scott. I quietly said his name, to see if he’d look. Chrissy thought it was too soft, so she screamed “SCOTT!” and sure enough he looked around and saw me. I rarely even see this guy around the holidays, so to meet him randomly on the river was crazy.

None of the girls were tempted enough to flash anyone for a free beer (we ran out an hour into the ride), but Chrissy freaked out when one of the guys egging her on was later discovered to be a father residing in her new school district.

We got back to camp and decided to take a shower, however when I returned I found out that Chrissy and I were the only ones to take a shower, the other two went back to the site and passed out. We all took a nap before the rest of the group arrived.

We started another fire and began to cook dinner: I grilled up the steaks and set the cooking fire (yes, we had two fires), while Brian assisted Lauren with the potatoes and dutch oven apple crisp. The seven of us sat around the fire being ridiculous until we passed out.

The next day before packing up, I decided we needed to get rid of as much food as possible. We had hashbrowns, hotdogs, fruitsnacks, beer and oreos. Packing was a pain, but not a nightmare. We managed to fit most of the stuff in the trunk.

As our tradition holds, we stopped at Birch Run for lunch at Tony’s. If you have never heard of Tony’s, they serve everything HUGE. Omelettes are 6 eggs, BLTs have a pound of bacon and sundaes — as Araz discovered — are a half gallon of ice cream. No one leaves without a take-out box. As we were leaving (take-out boxes in hand) someone spotted a HS teacher and a few talked with her.

After Tony’s the weather suddenly became really terrible. We decided not to get on the road and to go shopping at the outlet mall. We spent a few hours there and everybody bought something (I got a nice watch from Fossil). We got back on the road after the storm and were back at my house within 90 minutes.

Everyone had a great time. There’s a few things that need to change for next year, but I think the trip will grow each summer.

Hey everyone, July 28th is fast approaching and I have yet to reserve a spot.  They need a roster and deposit before I can reserve our spot.  The deposit is $4 per person.  I need to know if you are going or not and the money asap.

So far off the top of my head:

Me
Lauren
Araz
Chrissy
Lisa
Adam
Miranda
Shaun Lee*
Dan*
Sara*
Bill*

*Uncertain

For more info go to paralleljohnny.com/camping

Alright, things are looking up.

• My last final was last night.  Celebrated with the class by going to Fishbones.
• Codename: “Heaven” is close to public release.
• Operation: GROBAB is underway starting today.
• I saved $5 and cracked a widget to get rid of the donation popup.
• I also reworked some things on another widget.
• I should think of a widget to write.

I love list posts.  Its like my life in cliffnotes.

Well its all over.  Spring Break, that is.  A ton has happened.  You can see pictures from Friday in my gallery (img.paralleljohnny.com).  Did I get done all that I wanted done?  Not even close, but at least it was some progress.

Last night was a great time at McGee’s. Of all people, Adam Depetris showed up. Then Kristy Miljan who I hadn’t seen since graduation.We got Hopkins good and drunk then gave him the camera for the night.

Check them out here.

Alright the pictures from last night are posted in the gallery. Feel free to add comments.

My 22nd Birthday Photo Album

But this time it was in a good sense. Yesterday’s birthday bash was a HUGE turnout. I can’t believe how many people showed. People I hadn’t seen in years showed up. We took up every table in the bar plus people were standing. I’ll have pictures up, shortly.

Thank you to everyone who came up to McGee’s last night. I had a great time and I hope everyone else did, too.
Also, thank you to everyone who bought me drinks. Sara and Bill for the Gift Card, Eric for the sweet ass card. Bobby and the rest of the McGee’s family for their card.

I haven’t posted much lately. Its been a busy week. First off, school has started to pick up. 3 professors and I cant understand one of them. I’ll post a recording sometime.

Next up, my car was stolen…again. It happened Wednesday while at school. No word on it yet.

Its my birthday today, so I’ll be having a get together at McGee’s in Eastpointe. Everyone is invited. The family is going to Shogun for dinner, I can’t wait.

I’ve been wanting to review the band, She Wants Revenge, for about a month now. I’ll try an do it tomorrow. Too bad I didn’t get to write it earlier. They’re starting to get famous, now. In fact, they will be at the Magic Stick in a few weeks if anyone would like to join me.

I haven’t done a beer blog in quite some time. That in no way means I haven’t been drinking beer. Far from it, in fact.

Last week, I went to a place called Dragonmead. Its a small bar that only serves their own brews. They have about 30 beers on tap at a time, depending on the season. I chose Bill’s Witbier, Belgian style wheat lager (they classified it as an ale, but it definitely tasted like a lager). The added hops gave it a very clean taste; no esters. Its not my favorite style of beer, but I did enjoy it. 4.9% APV.

Last night was a quick visit to the Double Olive. I love their large selection of bottled beer, but the last few visits I’ve been trying their beers on tap. I recognized the uniquely shaped tap of Bell’s Brewery and asked for whetever was in it. It turned out to be Bell’s Porter.
Bell’s Porter
Type: Plain Porter
APV: 6%
Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Brewery: Bell’s Brewery

A very sweet porter. For those unaware of what a porter is, think of a cousin to a stout (technically a stout is a porter as well, but you can read that in wikipedia). Very dark, roasted malts gave it a coffee flavor. Despite its dark appearance, it was very smooth and easy going down. If your not quite up to the ”challenge’ of a dry stout like Guinesss, I suggest Bell’s porter. Also note it is one of Bell’s year-long brews (only a few more months until its Oberon season).

I should also mention that a prior visit to the Double Olive, I tried their most popular tap, Stella Artios. Theres not too much to say about it, because it is another Belgian style wheat ale, Like Bill’s Witbier. I will say it had a bit more fruity aftertaste in comparison to Bill’s. Once again, its not one of my favorite choices.

Stella Artois
Type: Belgian Lager
APV: 5.2%
Location: Belgium
Brewery: Stella Artois