Friday Four

1. Yesterday afternoon, I enjoyed a bottle of Three Philosophers ale, crafted by Ommegang Brewery:

Three Philosophers is a unique blend of a Belgian-style dark ale and Liefmans Kriek, an authentic cherry ale from Belgium. Cherry chestnut in color, it's opaque but not cloudy with full carbonation topped by a smooth, tan head. Flavors and aromas of roasted malt, molasses and brown sugar, dark fruits, brandied raisins and chocolate, Three Philosophers has notable sweetness with low hop bitterness. The mid-palate shows a soft malt center which gives way to a dry, warm, wine-like finish.

The complexity of this beer make it a good candidate for ageing gracefully, as spicy sherry and port notes should intensify. [bold added]

This was my first beer from Ommegang, but after enjoying the beer and visiting their site -- which includes Chef's directions for making a sauce from it! -- I know it won't be my last.

2. Steve Simpson of the Ayn Rand Institute opens an inspiring post about Constitution Day with a the following quote from  James Madison:

In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example ... of charters of power granted by liberty.

Like the author, I can't come up with a more succinct way of describing the proper relationship between individuals and government.

3. If you're around my age, you might wonder what happened to professional bowling, which used to be all over TV.

He was caught in a catch-22: if he won, his financial backer would kill him; if he missed the spare, the "unsavory characters" would. Instead, he avoided the entire predicament by faking a heart attack.

The above comes from a section on "action bowling" in "The Rise and Fall of Professional Bowling" at Priceonomics. The article may or may not answer the question it raises, but it's an entertaining read nonetheless.

4. Going through a backlog of bookmarks to interesting articles, I see two on baseball: One describes how an Australian cricket ground was readied for an exhibition baseball game; the other describes how a new axe-handled bat might improve swinging power while reducing injuries.

-- CAV