Hayweird

You Can't Choose The One You Love

2009-02-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Love Chooses You..

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Pot pesticides poisioning US forests

2008-10-28T12:12:00.001-07:00

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) reports Mexican-based "marijuana cartels" are using U.S. National Parks and forests to hide thousands of illegal pot farms. The USFS warns these illicit farms have turned pristine forests into "some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America." In addition to poisoning watersheds that supply downstream communities, pesticide residues cling to the plants themselves, leading CDFG Agent Patrick Foy to offer this warning to marijuana consumers: "You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico."

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Sulfur Creek "Flight to Freedom"

2008-08-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Summertime and the living is easy

2008-06-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's not quite summer yet, but the summer fun begins today. This evening (5:30 -8:00) will be the first in the series of Hayward Downtown Street Parties. It's usually a lot of fun with booths, good food, live music, and of course, Beer.

Friday the 20th will be the reception (5:30 - 8:00) for the opening of the "Discovering Art in Hayward" exhibit at Sun Gallery. "An eclectic art show feature emerging and prominent artists from our area." Including the art of the very talented artist, Barbara Berrner (and I'm not just saying that because she's my Mom).

I'll be at both events, see you there.

Liquor goes organic

2008-06-02T20:11:00.001-07:00

Organic wines have earned a niche in the kitchen cabinets of the “ecoscenti” but now it’s time to make room for the first generation of “green” spirits.

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Congrats

2008-02-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted a promo for No End In Site I was delighted this morning to read that it had been nominated for a academy award for best documentary.

UFOs?

2008-02-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

OK, This qualifies as Weird, (It's interesting how many UFO sightings are in the future)

Double IPA Festival

2008-02-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile (I'll do something about that).
But I thought I should mention that today is the Double IPA Festival at The Bistro in Downtown Hayward. I can be fun, but be careful with this style of beer, it is pretty strong (one 4oz glass is about equal to a shot of whiskey). By the end of the day there will probably be a lot of drunk and obnoxious people there. I you do go, go early and drink in moderation.

No End in Sight

2007-08-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

I just looking up show times for the Simpsons Movie and I came across this...

It's more disturbing than weird and it's not really about Hayward (unless you include those from Hayward that died in this stupid war), But I thought I should bring it to your attention none the less.

Uvulitis

2007-06-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Been sick lately. First with walking pneumonia and just as I thought I was getting better I developed a serious case of Uvulitis. It not a pretty affliction....

Daily life in Hayward captured, preserved

2007-05-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

There was a nice article in the Daily Review today about "The Hayward Documentary Project" which is being worked on by famed photographer (and the original founder of Buffalo Bill's Brewpub) Bill Owens. It's well worth the read. I particularly like this quote...

"I wanted to touch the pulse of the community, which is really the pulse of America," said photographer Bill Owens. "Hayward is fortunate it still has its character. It has not been completely stripped and modernized."

Yes, Hayward has character all right. Like we say, we're "Weird and proud of it"

BlueSpoof

2007-05-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

My Latest Creation...

Stupid, not Weird

2007-05-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

What is weird is that this guy is still president...

"It's time for another Top 10 list of the most seriously stupid environmental policies. This editorial is dedicated exclusively to looking back on the Bush Administration's environmental record. Sadly, it's too easy to find stupid policies."

Joining the YouTube Community

2007-05-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

As the summer heats up and the TV season winds down, you can get your video fix on the popular video-sharing site YouTube. In this sample chapter, you'll learn how to work with channels, groups, friends, and contacts as well as chat with other users via streams.
Read More...

S.F. Bay Bombers back in town

2007-05-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

OK, so this isn't exactly about Hayward, but it's weird and cool. I used to watch the Bay Bombers "back in the day" and it's great to see that they are back again.

The San Francisco Bay Bombers, the popular local roller derby team of the 1960s and early 1970s, brought Kezar Stadium to life April 28 with a new generation of players skating in the old style - and a crowd of 1,700 roaring their support.
Read More...
or watch the video.

Hayweird Video Contest

2007-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

We have just created a contest at votigo for video's from or about Hayward (The weirder the better). Enter or vote today. We'll post the winners when the contest ends in mid July

Beer Advocate

2007-03-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a great NY Time Article about the Web site beeradvocate.com

Our Town

2007-03-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

We told you we'd try to include some videos about Hayward. We did a search of youtube and most of what we found was crap, but we stumbled across this sweet video talking about historical Hayward call "Once a Small Town"
Enjoy...

Life, Death and Beer...

2006-12-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

In addition to happenings in and about Hayward, I've decided to post some of video. Not necessarily about Hayweird (flicks from Hayward might be coming soon), these are just some of my creations. This first one seems appropriate to a common theme on this site...

This video/poem might need a little explanation. Below you will find the poem and analysis that that I wrote for a "Media and Communications" class I took in Berkeley.

The Players
The 5 elements, the 5 phases in the cycle of Life and Death

The First Element
Where it all begins, the source of life, the blood flowing through every vain.
Brahama, the Creator

The Second Element
The Seed. The Breadfruit. It’s life-force just beginning, essence changing so that it may one day grow tall. Halted in this moment. Dream cut short so that others may live.
Vishnu, the Sustainer of Life.

The Third Element
Just as the second elements life is cut short in the beginning, the fragrant matron’s life is cut short at the end. Before its own seed can come into being. Its essence frozen in this moment, it too has a different purpose.

The Forth Element
The Living, the small lives around which everything else revolves. They live, eat, multiply then die. In the process they change the world around them.

The Fifth Element
The Holy Forge, The Purifier. The end that is the beginning.
Shiva, the Destroyer

The Dance
The Cycle begins as Brahama, Shiva, and Vishnu unite and exercise their power to the 155th degree.

Its hour past, the still born Vishnu is once again transformed. With Brahama and Shiva’s help, its corpse is cast off to reveal a sweet new spirit.

With Brahama holding the spirit of Vishnu, Shiva prepares them by clearing the way for new life.

The third element and its bitter experience of life is welcomed to mix.
Shiva departs with the passing of the feathery flower and the world is calmed.
The great hall, filled with food but empty of others waits for the honored guests.
The hungry hordes arrive, and the door is locked behind them. Reveling in their isolation, they eat and dance until they drop.

Satiated, having eaten all there is to consume and in the process changing the world around them with their waste. The ones that are left are fed one more time so that they may breathe and are then moved to their own private cells. Waiting for the day when a higher being will drink in the results of life and death.
And that, my friend, is the art of making Beer

Analysis
In this presentation the “media” or context of the piece is in the form of a poem, specifically a poem referring to the principles and stages of life, death, and transformation. One of the main analogies I used for this was the Hindu trinity of gods representing the cycle of life - Brahama, the Creator, Vishnu, the Sustainer of Life, and Shiva, the Destroyer.

The “Content” of the piece is the ingredients and process for making all grain beer from scratch. The feeling experience I’m trying to communicate is that this type of beer making is a living process. One in which the brewer, much like and alchemist, is facilitating various transformations in life and death to create a magical new result.

Following is a breakdown of the symbols and references used in the piece.

The five elements refer to the four ingredients of beer making plus Fire, a forgotten but essential element of the beer making process. The First element is Water, the source of life which is attributed to the Hindu deity Brahama. The Second element is Malted Barley, and the lines “life-force just beginning” and “still born” are referring to the malting process where the barley is sprouted slightly to change their chemical structure and then immediately dried. I’ve attributed malt to the deity Vishnu because grains have traditionally been main staples of life and in the case of beer is the main source of food for the yeast. The Third element refers to Hops, which as a flower that is not allowed to go to seed represents an end of the cycle of life. The “bitter experience of life” and “feathery flower” refer to the qualities that hops imparts on the brew. The Fourth element refers to Yeast which ideally is the only thing living in your brew. And the Fifth element refers to fire which is essential to mashing of the malt, the sterilization of the brew and the extraction of the hops.

A line by line translation of the brewing process as follows-
The lines that begin “The Cycle begins as Brahama, Shiva, and Vishnu unite …” refers to the mashing process where the water and malt are heated to 155 degrees for an hour to transform the starches into sugars. The next line that ends “…With Brahama and Shiva’s help, its corpse is cast off to reveal a sweet new spirit” refers to the sparging process where hot water extracts the malt liquid from the grain. “With Brahama holding the spirit of Vishnu, Shiva prepares them by clearing the way for new life” refers to bring the “wort” or brew to a boil to sterilize it and allow for hops extraction (the Third element). “Shiva departs with the passing of the feathery flower and the world is calmed” refers to cooling down the brew to room temperature. The lines “The great hall, filled with food…” and “The hungry hordes arrive….” refer to putting the “wort” into a large sterile container, adding the yeast, and then ceiling it off with an airlock. “Reveling in their isolation, they eat and dance until they drop” – once the yeast starts growing the brew is very alive with the yeast moving and oozing around the large bottle until they die and sink to the bottom. “Satiated, having eaten all there is to consume and in the process changing the world around them with their waste” the yeast eats all the sugars in the brew and leaves CO2 and alcohol behind as its waste. “The ones that are left are fed one more time so that they may breathe and are then moved to their own private cells.” –at the end of the brew you add a little more sugar to the brew before you bottle it so it will carbonate in the bottle.

And of course “Waiting for the day when a higher being will drink in the results of life and death” is opening the bottle and drinking the beer.

IPA Festival

2006-08-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Come the The Bistro this Saturday, August 12 for the "9th Annual IPA Festival". We hear they going to close down the street so it won't be as insane and crowded as it was in past years. It should be a lot of fun with a lot of good beer. Plus there will be live music with the following Bands-
12 Noon - San Pablo Project
3:30 - Dogtown Shieks
5:00 - Ralph Woodson
9:00 - Burton Stinson

B Street needs to get humming

2006-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting little article that mentions most of the events that happen in downtown Hayward (They forgot the beer festivals).

Starting Your Own Blog

2005-09-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

How to Choose the Right Blogging Tool for You

So you wanna be a rock and roll star....

2005-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

Creating a Podcast

IPA Festival (review)

2005-08-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

The IPA festival. What can we say. great beer, great music. Kulica was hot! (hope you guys are able to get the "big red van" running again).
Thanks! Vic and Cynthia. you did it again.

IPA Festival

2005-08-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Bistro's 6th annual IPA Festival will be this Saturday, August 6th. If you like great beer and great live music it's the place to be (we'll be there). It starts at noon and live music starts at 2pm with "a plethora or acoustic artists" (One to watch out for is Pete Madsen, I saw him there last Friday and he is one hot Guitar player), 4pm is Kulica and at 9pm (after the IPA festival is over) is "Sweet Durations". Hope to see you there.

in the heart of downtown

2005-07-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Downtown's ticking again. The clock at the SE corner of B & Main lives. We've been hanging in Hay-weird for 8 years and watched that clock in it's broken-down state all along.

The other night my guy and me were sitting in the cool night air drinking IPAs at the Bistro - just taking in the atmosphere, live music and all - and I happened to notice the clock - it was lit up[ (no not tipsey) and accurate! Wow!

Can't help but wonder what finally got under the skin of Bank of the West.