Greetings from 53.5° north latitude a few days after the longest day of the year. Every year at this time I think about how unfair it is that summer really hasn't started and already the days are getting shorter. It's all downhill from here!

But that is glass-half-empty Robert speaking. Glass-half-full Robert instead focuses on ... the thing is ... what I really want to say ... actually, let's just say that's glass-half-full assessments are work in progress and leave it at that. 

The week behind was productive but tiring, with one book finished and a number of new words as a result. The week ahead is a week off work but with a lot of projects on the go. I have big plans to work on the east wall of my garage and have a bit of painting to do. I want to document my garage project and I might turn it into a Long Form entry on this site. 

Upward and onward!

Reading Pile:
For Book #23 of 2020, I decided to finish the fantasy short-story anthology, "Rogues" that I started several weeks ago. It seemed mentally easier this week to digest a number of short stories instead of trying to read one long novel, and that was clearly the case as I read over 400 pages in five days. 

I'm not really familiar with short stories as a format, and even less so with anthologies. Based on this experience though, I think I need to become more familiar with both. Rogues was composed of twenty-one stories, and I count at least fifteen as being really good. Definitely worth the read, and definitely worth looking out for more of those authors in short-story or full-length novels. 

I should be able to finish one book this week at least, which will increase my reading pace to nearly one book per week. Maybe the goal of 50 books this year is actually possible, contrary to my comments last week. See? Glass-half-full Robert once again!

New Words:
All of the new words this week are thanks to the Rogues anthology. 

propitiate
[prəˈpiSHēˌāt]
VERB

1. win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them.

auric
[ˈôrik]
ADJECTIVE

1. relating to the aura supposedly surrounding a living creature.

gyre
[ˈjī(ə)r]
VERB
literary

1. whirl or gyrate.

NOUN

1. a spiral or vortex.

florid
[ˈflôrid, ˈflärid]
ADJECTIVE

1. having a red or flushed complexion.
2. elaborately or excessively intricate or complicated
3. medicine

parterre
[pärˈter]
NOUN

1. a level space in a garden or yard occupied by an ornamental arrangement of flower beds.
2. (North American) the part of the ground floor of an auditorium in the rear and on the sides, especially the part beneath the balcony.

inimical
[iˈnimək(ə)l]
ADJECTIVE

1. tending to obstruct or harm.
2. unfriendly; hostile.

epistolary
[əˈpistəˌlerē]
ADJECTIVE

1. (of a literary work) in the form of letters.

Greetings from 53.5° north. I did not post an entry last week to allow for some down time, but also because there just wasn't much new to talk about. This week wasn't much more exiting to be honest, but I wanted to make sure I posted something this week to not allow the habit of writing to atrophy. 

First of, I was negligent in my last post in not retracting a previous comment. In my entry for the week of May 18, I commented that there was clear evidence that hydroxychloroquine "is worse than ineffective; it is actually deadly." I felt confident in amplifying that message because it came from a reputable source, The Washington Post. Even more than that, the WaPo article referenced a study in The Lancet, which is a publication that I would never have questioned, but now maybe I should.

As the controversy increased around what was being called #LancetGate, a friend forwarded this article from Peter Ellis, an Australian statistician and data scientist. Ellis dissects the study in The Lancet stating the unequivocal conclusion that there was a "very high probability the data behind that high profile, high consequence Lancet study are completely fabricated". Soon after this article and other pieces of high-profile analysis were released in media across the world. The Lancet retracted the study. 

In the end, it was a win that the global community could still out a fraud and ensure that the integrity of the scientific process is intact. But it was also a loss because an institution as highly regarded as The Lancet failed so miserably. I can only wince in anticipation of the blow this is to science and the scientific process, and to those who will use this as fodder for the fake news campaign pushed by Trump and his media handlers. 

But regardless of all of that, I quoted something that turned out to be incorrect and I needed to address that point. 

Reading Pile:
Book #22 for 2020 was "Belly Up" by Stuart Gibbs. This is the first book in the Young Adult FunJungle series, but the second book in the series that I have read with my younger daughter. As I said a few weeks ago when reviewing the previous book, the first-person narrator and protagonist is twelve year-old Teddy Fitzroy, a modern version of Encyclopedia Brown. This is definitely a good series to pull the younger readers into the mystery genre. It is also important to note YA series like this that are not filled with the tropes of stupid and incompetent adults. Belly Up delivers on this again, and offers some genuinely funny scenes while dealing with difficult concepts such as lying, fraud, and murder maturely and seriously. I have now read two of the FunJungle series and look forward to reading the rest with my younger daughter. 

With 22 books read in 25 weeks, I am falling behind the pace required to read 50 books in 2020. My general lack of energy and enthusiasm of late has leaked over to my reading. I made zero progress with "The Name of the Wind" last week, I haven't touched the "Rogues" fantasy anthology in three weeks, and I have completely fallen off the wagon for both of my reading groups for "War and Peace" and "The Count of Monte Cristo". I need to rejuvenate and refresh my outlook, but what will come first? - the chicken (reading more) or the egg (the energy to read more).

New Beers:
Fourteen days, five new beers or about one new beer every 2.8 days. That is close to but a bit lower than my pace for the past six years. The five new beers puts me at 669 unique beers checked into Untappd.

The first of the fortnight was the Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo. This could have been great but had a bit of chalky or astringent aftertaste that took away from it. I really liked the hops and citrus flavor though. (3.5 / 5) The second was Bob's Your Dunkel from Alley Kat. Really good stuff. Nice caramel flavor with a great malty base. Quite enjoyable, and a shame this is not a permanent offering. (4.0 /5) The third beer for the fortnight was the Bent Stick Electric Boogaloo IPA. It was pretty good. It suffered a bit following the Bob's Your Dunkel, but I would have this again.  (3.25 / 5)

Unfortunately the next beer I had was a total disappointment. The Final Test Batch for Blindman's Kettle Sour before they finalize on a recipe was nearly undrinkable. It was chalky and bitter and I didn't really think it was sour at all. Too bad as I was really looking forward to this.  (2.5 / 5).  The last beer was better though. The Waltz Pilsner from 2 Crows out of Halifax seemed more bitter than 22 IBU, and had a nice peppery taste. I'll seek out more beers from 2 Crows going forward based on this one. (3.5 / 5)

New Words:
Only a few new words over the past fortnight, which is of course a clear indication of how little I have read recently. One for sure is a repeat, and a very recent repeat at that. 

praxis
[ˈpraksəs]
NOUN
formal

1. practice, as distinguished from theory.

sojourn
[ˈsōjərn]
NOUN

1. a temporary stay.

VERB

1. stay somewhere temporarily.

droshky
[ˈdrôSHkē]
NOUN (historical)

1. a low four-wheeled open carriage of a kind formerly used in Russia.

protodeacon
(prō′tō dē′kən)
NOUN

1. honorific rank given to certain married deacons in Eastern Christian churches.

rapacious
[rəˈpāSHəs]
ADJECTIVE

1. aggressively greedy or grasping.

argali
[ˈärɡəlē]
NOUN

1. the largest wild sheep, which has massive horns and is found in mountainous areas of Asia.

Greetings once again from 53.5° north latitude. It was a quiet week, at least in terms of relevance to a weekly blog. Lots of reading but nothing finished, three new beers, and no new words. 

Of more importance than anything else this week, there continues to be significant discussion about racism, injustice, and police violence. There was a really powerful op-ed in the last Saturday's LA Times written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, titled "Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge". The imagery Abdul-Jabbar evokes is staggering. The massive pain and anger caused by not just (just, that's quite the word) a single death, but of generations of systemic racism. The disproportionate impact of COVID on black communities. The concerted efforts to stop black from voting. 

That op-ed is not the only commentary we are receiving. Media organizations here at home are helping communicate that this isn't an issue just for the US to deal with; we have ample problems right here.

CKUA (Disclaimer: I serve on the CKUA Board) is supporting the black and indigenous communities on air. I heard Leeroy Stagger voice his support on his weekly show on Saturday, and on Tuesday CKUA paused their "online presence for the day so that meaningful real-world conversations can take place about race, unity and healing." The commercial radio stations are also contributing to the conversation with sixty second spots highlighting the importance of standing up and confronting racism and injustice and being an ally. (One I heard was unfortunately diminished in impact as it was followed by an ad for a windshield repair firm purporting that they provide an essential services during the pandemic. But it is a start.)

Is it possible that something will finally change? Have these issues finally reached enough minds and hearts to actually affect change. I hope so and will commit to doing more to help in any way I can, even if this isn't something that keeps its momentum. 

New Beers:
The three beers I mentioned at the start of this entry are actually a beer and a cider from Collective Arts and a beer from a collaboration of two Alberta breweries.

From Collective Arts, I had their Local Press cider and their Audio / Visual Lager. The cider was crisp and clean cider and very easy drinking. (3.75 / 5)  The lager was well put-together but wasn't particularly memorable. (3.25 / 5). Even with that last comment, I want to highlight how good a brewery Collective Arts is. I bought eight singles from Collective Arts at the start of this COVID era and am now finished the lot. I had a few misses, but for the most they were all very solid offerings. My ratings for those eight averaged over 3.6 out of 5, and overall the fourteen beers I have had of theirs average 3.7 out of 5. I would have to download the stats from Untappd and do some proper analysis, but from these numbers I am confident that Collective Arts is one of my top three brewers. 

The other beer I tried this week was the Beautiful Apex Hermoso Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout collab between Apex Predator and Ol' Beautiful Brewing. I just couldn't get into this one. I don't think it was badly done, but it just wasn't my thing. (3.0 / 5) I know spicy chocolate is supposed to be a thing, but I  have never liked it.