Show Notes - Week of November 22, 2021

This will be the shortest update on record in over two and a half years making these updates. Very little writing, no new books, only one new drink, no segments completed on the cross-Canada virtual tour, and only one new word. 

On the bright side, there are less than three weeks until vacation and hopefully that time will be filled with writing, beer, and reading. Until then, or at least for now, here is the update for this week.

New Music:
I have been listening to a lot of music lately, but most of it was not new, or even new to me. Tidal has been great, and we re-subscribed to SiriusXM for the vehicle. I have to admit that I did not think too highly of SiriusXM when we first bought the new car in the spring, but I have really grown to like it. I picked up the subscription as an early Christmas gift for my spouse but use it all the time as well. 

One notable album on SiriusXM this week has been the new release between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Their new album "Raise the Roof" is really good with Plant's and Krause's vocals contemplating each other very well. I am not a huge Led Zeppelin fan, but I have always like Plant's solo work, and have been a fan of Krauss since "Forget About It" in 1999. Raise the Roof is laid back with moments of real intensity, and my favorite parts are with Krauss as the lead singer with Plant providing haunting background vocals. "Trouble with my Lover" is a great example of this. 

New Drinks:
There was one new beer this week, another from Edmonton's Trial & Ale, this being their "A Saison Apparent" (4.0 / 5). My number of unique check-ins on Untappd is now up to 835. 

This was my favorite from Trial & Ale so far. Nice fruit flavor with funk from the Brettanomyces without being too ripe. Really good stuff, and I feel my enthusiasm for this brewery is definitely warranted. 

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New Words:
New word, singular, to be exact. This one sounded evil and foreboding, but was actually quite domestic, literally and figuratively. 

aspidistra
[ˌaspəˈdistrə]
NOUN

1. a bulbous plant with broad tapering leaves, native to eastern Asia and often grown as a houseplant.