Category Archives: Editorial

Editorial

The Myth of Gluten-Free “Beer”

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This is the year to go gluten-free. Yes, it plays like a fad, but I think it is a good thing. I think we should be aware of how much we eat of the same thing, and how many conditions can be caused by gluten sensitivity.

A couple of months ago I downloaded some videos from the Gluten Summit which had experts from around the world talking about all aspects of the harms of gluten and how to go gluten-free. I won’t get into the non-beer-related details… if you want, you can follow this link to download the videos and watch them forever for $97. They are pretty good.

As for beer, there are two really important facts you should know from what I have seen so far.

1: Michael Marsh the leading expert on celiac disease LETS HIS CELIAC PATIENTS DRINK BEER! This was described by the moderator of the Gluten Summit as “revolutionary.” How much beer? Well, he didn’t say. Dr MD Meschino of Adeeva nutrition advocates that the body is only able to recover from one alcoholic drink per day, so if you have a compromised gut situation, and want to drink beer, you may need to stick with a single. Sorry!

2: Beer made without gluten is NOT BEER. As Cynthia Kupper pointed out, Beer is defined as containing barley or wheat, which contain gluten. Although you can have a gluten free beer-like beverage, that beverage is technically not beer.
In order for a beer to become gluten-free, the gluten has to be removed by a chemical process, and then the beverage is labeled “gluten removed”… NO THANKS MOTHER FUCKER!!!

As you know, I don’t even want to have preservatives in my beer, let alone have it undergo some ridiculous chemical process to remove the gluten. I cannot believe the way that these psychopathic big beverage companies will go to any length to attract a (sorry) naive consumer to their beverage. Offering an unsuspecting individual some chemically altered version of the oldest most popular alcoholic beverage in the world, sucking them in by adding “gluten free” to the label, to me, is absolutely appalling.

So, having weighed the pros and cons I am going with Michael Marsh on this one. Just drink the normal beer.

What are you going to do?

The Isms

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The “isms.”

A few days ago I was attacked. Verbally attacked, mind you. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I was blamed for something.

I wasn’t attacked personally, but I was attacked because I live in a city, and cheer for a certain team.

Sure, fans of my team have done things wrong, not all of them mind you, just a few. Fans of every team have done things wrong, just like members of every city have done things wrong.

If Charles Manson is from Los Angeles, do I think all people from Los Angeles are psychopaths? Of course not. Charles Manson also had white skin, so should I think all white people are also psychopaths? That doesn’t make much sense!

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I was watching an episode of VICE about people in the Philippines who hand-make illegal weapons, and one of them was hiding his face with a Canucks T-shirt. Does that mean all Canucks fans make illegal weapons?

I didn’t do anything wrong. Why am I being attacked?

It is human nature to want to categorize things, and to categorize people. It makes us feel safer and in control. It gives us a believable story, and makes us feel like we can predict the future.

To derive judgement of a whole group from the actions of an individual, however, is still deplorable. It is the root of the most extreme types of hatred and ignorance.

If you get punched in the face by a Canucks fan, that is not an acceptable rationale to hate all Canucks fans. I mean, if you are in Vancouver, we are all Canucks fans. I don’t have any control over anybody but myself, after all.

Extending beyond the individual is a tactic used by those who wish to increase hatred, and find excuses to hate groups of people. The problem, and it is a big problem, is that people fall for it.

Why incite hatred?

I could use real-life examples, but I watched The Lone Ranger on the airplane yesterday, and it had a really good example, so I will keep it light.

In short, a guy wanted to build a railroad on Indian territory, needed an excuse to attack the Indians, so he had some white people pose as Indians and attack some homes. Everybody hates Indians now, let’s kill them all!

Revenge.

Some people, some teams, are fuelled by revenge… an emotion of the dark side. Anger, fear, hatred are the way of evil.

Thank you Master Yoda.

I am not one to generalize, but I am really proud of a lot of Canucks fans who really understand the politics of the game. They understand that the most dominant and talented team in 30 years got bullied out of a cup.

They are also in awe of the things that led to it being able to happen. A player’s father (Colin Campbell) is head of the league disciplinary committee, allowing two spines to be broken, with no penalties issued, let alone suspensions. He resigned.

This followed by the harshest-ever playoff suspension to a Vancouver player for a hit that was considered clean a few years ago: “we are turning over a new leaf with head injuries” they said. The leaf turned back over at the beginning of the next season, and sleeping beauty lifted his head up and was back on the ice by the end of the series.

A New England media that is deliberately biased, as though they are trying to sway the jury in a class-action law suit. Our self-deprecating media infested with Ontarians and Albertans didn’t stand a chance.

It’s hard to blame the players of the opposing team. They are mostly kids, jocks, just being swept in the wave of emotion. They are believing what they want to believe, and getting inspiration from wherever it is available.

On the other hand, they are individuals. They are on the ice, and they are responsible for their own actions. We were watching. If I judge one of them because of something they did or said… now that is rational, isn’t it?

Mill St Brewing Cobblestone Stout

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UntitledAs I opened up my especially lively can of Mill St Brewing’s Cobblestone Stout, its nitrogen injected goodness sprayed all over me.  If only my hockey team could look so lively.

This is an enjoyable treat best had on a  hockey night off, like tonight, where we don’t risk a beer of good taste, being ruined by hockey that is rather tasteless.

I decided to take this shot with my coffee machine as a backdrop.  Home espresso lovers may appreciate the Mazzer Mini grinder and Rancilio Silvia espresso machine.  You may also appreciate that (for once) excellent pour.

This is a truly delicious stout, second only to the one I had in New York that almost made me fall out of my chair and eat my own face it was so delicious.

Ok, the elephant in the room right, all two of you who read this are wondering… what does the Lagerblogger think about the goalie situation.

Keep them both.

I have always thought we should keep Luongo, and think there is more fault in AV’s goaltender management (during Luongo’s blow-ups) than in Luongo’s play.  As for Schneider, he is good, but unproven, and therefore, not good enough for number one.

Now some people will argue:  that’s just too much money to spend on goalies.  But hear me out on this one.

Let’s take our top line forward, among the highest paid players on the team.  They are on the ice for about 20 minutes per game, or 1/3 of total ice time.   Their time on ice for one season is about the same as our backup goalie, who would play about 30 games per season.

Given the amount of time on the ice, and the fact that a team’s goaltender is arguably the most important player on the ice, it seems to me a no-brainer to have two “starter” quality goaltenders, even if it costs you as much as a first line and a second line forward.

The alternative is to pretty much throw away 30 or more games per season, and not give your team the best chance to win.

There are some other secondary benefits as well:  First of all, when a goalie starts to blow up (let in too many goals) a coach will be much quicker to put in his substitute.  Coach Alain Vignault may be the exception here;   Second, if there is an injury to the starter, you have an insurance policy that the second goaltender will fill the role and the team will perform well.

What do you think about keeping both goalies?  What do you think about beer?  Let me know what you think in the comment section.

Mill Street Cobblestone Stout

Rating:   4.5/5     (G1)