Are zines making a comeback?

Having stumbled across a couple more zines in just the past week, I am becoming convinced that they're making a comeback.

It's getting to feel as if I can go to Pic-A-Book or Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative once again.

The Green Man is back

I finally got my Green Man stained glass hung at the new place.

I am looking forward to the view when the trees have leaves. But I am enjoying the winter.

50 years of The Flying Zupan Brothers

Local trivia masters, with whom I have played many a game of trivia as an honorary member in Stevens Point, Deerfield, and elsewhere are celebrating 50 years. Chet is now my neighbor. I oughta look him up.

Some highlights of 2025

2025 has been quite a ride and it will soon end. The year, at any rate. The ride, perhaps not.

My divorce is likely the biggest event of the year for me. But 2025 has been more, much more, than just the beginning to the legal end of my marriage. Several people have entered or re-entered my life since being served papers. I found myself in the company of people that I would never have thought I'd be spending time with and have experienced quite a bit this year that was new and/or unexpected.

There were countless final things done with my wife and first times without her. Traditions were laid to rest and new ones born. Many new places, many new people. Some adventure was had in the UK, majesty in Concord.

A modest look back at 2025 in pictures.

HONK! was fantastic and Boston has become an annual trip for me. I love this Trump's Cthulhuy coif.

A most unexpected find on a hike.

Thanksgiving this year was the first in 20 years or so that I didn't spend with my wife. Instead I spent the day at the homes of two kind and generous people. At one I got to see Piper's brother, Gibson. 

While there I sampled a luscious mango turmeric ginger tart. Or was it a torte?

It was simply delicious and I befriended its maker. I now have someone to visit should I find myself in Evanston.

2025 was the year I attended my first Chicago International Puppet Festival. It was fantastic!

Back in October I moved out of our marital residence and over to Eken Park where I found that one of my neighbors was rather fond of Halloween.

My wife and I visited the Northside Lounge. Despite some awkward moments, we managed to have a decent time. I like the contrast in this rather spare photograph.

Our last trip together was to Milwaukee in May where we caught both nights of The Magnetic Fields. It was also the last time that we managed to spend any significant time together in something resembling harmony.

I made multiple trips to the lovely Morton Forest, a real treasure. 

In a seemingly never ending parade of attempts to spend as little time at home as possible, I finally made a visit to The Cat's Brew.

My friend who lives just a couple blocks away has a neighbor with this wonderful greenhouse. 

It's been great living so close to this friend as we now see each other fairly frequently and Piper has a new caretaker for times when I am out of town.

My trip to Boston saw me visit Walden Pond where I experienced the sublime.

While in England, I ran into this statue of Lucifer rather cunningly placed just outside the Ozzy Osbourne exhibit. 

The same museum also had a really cool exhibit about disabled people of color.

At another museum I got to stand before a steam engine from 1799 that was designed and/or built by James Watt himself. A piece of the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world. It still works. Amazing!

There were some nice pubs over in the UK.

Inside the Craven Arms looked like Sherlock Holmes' drawing room.

While I continue to get used to my new digs and still need to buy bookshelves, I do not miss my wife's clutter which occupied so much of our home. 

Earlier this month I made a return trip to the Christkindlmarkt in downtown Chicago.

I may have a marzipan addiction.

Chicago TARDIS was a blast again this year. My wife and I began attending in 2009 and, although she stopped going last year, it was this year that made me really feel like the tradition that we built together was truly over and now I had to make my own.

And so I have. I now meet my mother and a cousin at a nearby Greek restaurant. Making a visit at the Qamaria coffeehouse threatened to become a tradition but, since they opened an outpost here in Madison, I'll be going to the other Yemeni coffee place in Lombard.

I attended a panel hosted by the indelible Tony Whitt.

A gentleman and a scholar, Tony is the master of all things Target Novelizations. He approached me at another panel discussion to say thanks for attending his and chat for a bit.

My downstairs neighbor has a dog whom I caught staring at me one day.

My neighbor is a nice lady. She waves when either of us drive by the other. If the aromas from her kitchen are any indicator, she's also a fine cook. I am still getting acclimated to having downstairs neighbors as it has been a while since I've had any. But, if I am to have one, she is a good choice.

2025 may have marked the second anniversary of Grabby's death but she's never too far from my thoughts. 

 

 

2026 promises Chicago TARDIS once more and another trek out to the Boston area. But before any adventures in far off lands I plan to start a new tradition on the first day of the new year.

I feel like a Gen Xer today

Song of the day, 30 December 2025

I was lying in bed this morning and this song popped into my head. And of course I changed the lyrics to be about my cats.

I believe in Grabby's and Pipe as an abstract

Gute Nacht Geneva: Good Night Bamberg by Art History Brewing

I braved the Thanksgiving blizzard for this beer.

Roosevelt Road was an absolute disaster with every snowflake threatening to obstruct my view and my poor tires with barely any helpful tread for gription were due to replaced the following week. It was like Mad Max in slow motion with cars fishtailing everywhere and the owners of SUVs steadfastly declining to slow down for the conditions.

But like your friendly letter carrier, neither snow nor jagoffs driving Subarus would stay me in my search for a particular beer - more on that another time. And while the weather outside was frightful, Sal's Beverage Emporium, er, World was delightful. I perused the local beer shelves after a trip to Binny's and the brewery of the highly sought after and temporarily anonymous beer both proved unsuccessful.

"IPA. IPA. IPA. Bamberg. IPA. Barrel...Wait a minute!"

Now that got my attention.

The beer was Good Night Bamberg by Art History Brewing in the western burb of Geneva. The label described it as a "Franconia Style Smoked Dark Lager". As you can imagine, it was an instant buy for this Rauchbier addict.

While I have heard of Art History, I cannot recall ever having tasted their beer previously. Surely I've seen their brews many a time at Binny's yet I am unsure why I had never sampled their liquid until now. My best guess is that I'd mostly seen IPAs and turned my nose up at them. Upon seeing something more to my liking such as a Helles, I moved on because why would I buy their Helles when Dovetail's and Goldfinger's are just down the aisle and I know they have been lovingly decocted to drive me to Maillard gluttony?

And so I was confronted with my first Art History beer. How did I make out?

This was another in a long line of beers lately  that produced a tan head. I got a fairly good amount of foam and it hung around for an average amount of time. When the folks at Art History called it a dark lager they were not kidding. This is one of the most positively Stygian brews I've had in a long time. My desk lamp struggled to get any photons through that nearly impenetrable gloom. I had to tilt my glass at just the right azimuth to discern its deep, dark brown color. It seemed to be clear as I spied quite a number of bubbles at one angle.

The aroma was mainly smoke, luscious smoke. But there was also a bit of plum as well as a hint of spicy grass.

Those bubbles I spied were a portent of a nice, firm fizziness. The smoke flavor took pride of place and was undergirded by some biscuit, a tad of milk chocolate, and a smidge of stone fruit. Spicy hops kept everything in check. The medium-light body allowed for just the barest hint of sweetness.

On the finish, only a subtle sweetness and a gentle smokiness remained as the spicy-herbal hops kicked in. But this is not a particularly hoppy beer which meant there was just enough bitterness to balance the malt and add a modicum of dryness at the end.

I guess I'll have to give Art History another try because this was a very tasty beer. It had a good dose of fizz and the smoke was muscular but not deadly. Perhaps a bit more biscuit flavor next go round. At 4.9% this was not a potent brew but the smoke and the dark malt flavors had real autumnal vibes and made it a nice early fall treat - the canned on date was 10/8/2025.

Junk food pairing: Good Night Bamberg pairs well with another Chicago area favorite, Jays Hot Stuff potato chips. That smoky paprika taste just complements the dark & smoky flavors of the beer perfectly.

Seen on the internet this evening

Hill Farms construction, 23 December 2025

Bundt cake + shrimp creole = ?

Dexter's has a very hearty chili.

Chunky, nicely spiced. Very toothsome. And filling. I think I should have only had a cup as consuming the entire bowlful made it impossible for me to finish my salad which was rather generous. 

It was their Buffalo chicken model and there was plenty of bleu cheese to be had, much to my delight.

While at a friend's house recently it was noted that La Taguara is in bad financial straits. In a show of solidarity, we ordered from them for dinner. I had the Christmas Plate.

The roasted pork was delicious and seasoned with an even hand. I never knew such a thing as chicken potato salad could even exist. It too was quite tasty. And then there was this tamale-like thingy filled with everything but the kitchen sink: beef, pork, chicken, raisins, capers, and olives. Most toothsome!

After I was completely stuffed, I was reminded that it also came with ham bread. 

It was full of heavenly porcine goodness.

I sure hope La Taguara manages to weather this storm and remain open. The restaurant on E. Washington, at least.

Yesterday I made gołąbki soup.

This batch turned out really well, in my opinion. I took a chance and substituted buckwheat groats for rice and it paid off. The buckwheat adds a lighter, nuttier flavor, as far as my tongue is concerned. Not only was it delicious in the extreme but it is one of the things that brings warm memories of my wife to mind as she discovered a recipe for it a few years back. Many thanks to her.

I also baked a loaf of rye bread yesterday but it rose about as much as a stone in water so I took no photos. Still, it tastes just swell.

For some reason my stepmother, Joni, has been on my mind frequently lately and so I decided to make a bundt cake in her honor.

She made the most delicious, most decadent bundt cakes in all of Christendom. Chocolate, bourbon, coffee beans - she spared no expense. A friend of mine was lucky enough to indulge in her bundt cakes and they became the stuff of legend between us. One drunken night he suggested pairing his two favorite foods by putting shrimp creole in the middle of one of Joni's bundt cakes. A curious combination but one that deserves to be tasted.

My cake was much more pedestrian: a simple chocolate version.

I made a couple tweaks to the recipe. First was that I substituted half of the wheat flour in the recipe with buckwheat flour and secondly I threw a little bourbon in there. When I took it from the oven, it looked marvelous. Really, it was a marvel that a cake I made looked so nice.

As you can imagine I had a devil of a time getting it out of the pan and decimated it in doing so. I am too embarrassed to publicly share the photo of its ruins but I will say that it tastes delightful. I adore the nutty flavor of the buckwheat. It is very light and moist - likely due in no small part to the buttermilk. The bourbon is basically undetectable while cinnamon figures prominently. I'd like to try cardamom instead next time. I would also hope that I grease the pan more diligently as well.

Lunch today was at a chain restaurant but at least the onion bloom was good.

Katzen

Here's a photo of Grabby pulled from the archives. She was a beauty. I miss her still.

And here's my sweetpea, Piper. Taken yesterday. 

The Unbearable Sweetness of Ambers: R and J's Rowdy Raccoon by Young Blood Beer Co.

This is another brew that I first encountered sometime in the summer, I do believe, and got lost in the divorce shuffle. 

Young Blood Beer Co. is one of my least favorite breweries in Madison as their portfolio is 99.9% fruity this and pastry that. Reading their beer lists is like reading a menu that consists of nothing but Hawaiian Punch and Hostess snack cakes. There seems to be little more than gimmickry at work here of the most vicious kind.

"Fruit Punch Sour with Lemon, Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava"

"Fruit Punch Sour with Winter Melon, Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava"

blah blah blah

 

I found their helles to be tasty but pilsner-like and their smoked porter to be not bad. Despite never having considered going to their outpost on North Street despite not living far from it, I still try their beer tasting beers if I find something appealing at the liquor store and such was the case this past summer when I discovered that they had brewed a lager with my favorite grain, rye - R and J's Rowdy Raccoon.

 

For all the gimmicks Young Blood employs, this beer sure looked mighty fine. A loose tan head shrank while sitting atop several ounces of gorgeous beer. It was a beautiful amber hue and clear to boot. Many a bubble was to be seen inside the glass. Taking a whiff, my nose caught, disappointingly but not unexpectedly, caramel. Plus black pepper and grass. It reminded me a bit of Eliot Ness from Great Lakes.

 

While I do not seek to have the taste of caramel banished from beer, American brewers are almost unable to produce a brew that isn't yellow or black that isn't a Werther's candy in liquid form. It is weird. When I was in England back in September, I sampled a few amber ales and the caramel taste ranged from little to none. These were not sweet beers.

 

I don't know what English brewers and their maltsters do. Perhaps they take sacks of Maris Otter out to Stonehenge and perform some druidic voodoo on them, reading profane passages from a Barclay Perkins grimoire. Whatever diablerie they practice, English brewers manage to make amber ales that don't taste like candy.

 

So this stuff looked wonderful but had a prominent caramel aroma. But that didn't necessarily consign it to the candy bin. I hoped.

 

My first sip was fizzy heaven and then came the bready sweetness followed by caramel. Underneath those bubbles was a very smooth beer. It also had a savory/bready taste that I presumed was the rye. Oh, and there was a dash of cubeb or Grains of Paradise in there too.

 

The sweetness lingered on the finish but a modicum of spicy hops eventually crept in. Bitterness was medium and dryness a bit less.

 

Despite a near optimal level of fizziness, this beer was a bit too sweet. It never tasted cloying but I wished that it had leaned towards the breadier with less Werther's. Perhaps keeping it more on syrupy side kept the A.B.V. at a moderate 5.2%. The hops and rye were tasty, though.

 

Junk food pairing: This lager pairs well with pretzels, especially Snyder's Jalapeño Pieces. The spiciness tempers the sweetness of the beer and adds a complementary zing to the rye.

Listen to this very loudly

Man alive! When the band kicks in on "Fly On a Windshield" it is visceral. The Mellotron is up front and sounds raw and alive! The open air mic really captured the ambiance of the concert.

I've got both kinds

Today I finally hung my Mammals of Wisconsin print.

This only about 6 weeks after I did the same for the Backyard Birds of Wisconsin. 

 

 

In addition, I got my Japanese woodblock print and my stained glass hung as well. Photos later when there's daylight.

Amber and clover, over and over: La Maison by Taxman Brewing Co.

My annual stop at Crown Liquors in Indianapolis was a bit disappointing this past August in that there were precious few lagers and no local brews really jumped out at me as being something that merited purchase. There just seemed to be more IPAs than ever before. I didn't drive several hours just to hang out with tens of thousands of stinky gamers and so I found something that I wouldn't ordinarily seek out. It was La Maison by Taxman Brewing Co.

Taxman does mostly Belgian styles or Belgian-inspired ones. Belgian beer is fine. Not my favorite but I am pro-Belgian. I mean, this is the country that gave us René Magritte and the guy who invented the saxamaphone. Methinks I had too many tripels and quads put before me and I found their astringency just a bit too much. I am more at home with a blonde or wit.

As if on cue to contradict myself, La Maison is called an "American Farmhouse-style Ale with Clover Honey". Well, so much for the Belgian predictions. It's is also described as a "tribute to the French farmhouse style" and since France is closer to Belgium than Indianapolis I think we're in the ballpark. Truth be told, I am unsure why I picked this one. Perhaps its 7% A.B.V. was a bit more potent than I normally partake in or maybe it was the addition of honey.

I will also admit I don't really know what a farmhouse ale is supposed to be like. Presumably they're brewed with whatever grains are lying around at the brewery just as the farmer brewers of old did. To me, they're fruity and funky.

I poured my La Maison into a tumbler that was given to me by a friend who felt sorry for this soon to be divorcé and the paucity of drinking glasses in his cupboard. I think the thick glass distorted the beer a bit. Refraction or not, I got a decent white head of loose foam that lasted an average amount of time, I'd offer. The beer was of a lovely light amber hue and was more or less clear. There were some bubbles inside.

The aroma was all over the map with a honeyed sweetness, bitterness, funk, a herbal thing, and a banana-led fruitiness. My first sip began well with a nice fizziness which helped moderate the medium body and a rather pronounced honeyed sweetness which could very well have been cloying. There was a piney bitterness which made me wonder if some Cascade hops helped make this an American ale. In addition, there was a big fruitiness that I tasted mainly as pineapple.

I am ambivalent on honey in beer. It can be used for good or for evil. Sometimes it lends a "dirty" earthiness to a beer and I do not care for it that much. Here, though, the honey was sweeter, brighter.

As I am accustomed to with Belgian ales, there was a prominent astringency to be had.

My notes pronounced this to be "good". It wasn't overly sweet nor was it heavy. Instead I found it to be fleet of flavor and nicely balanced with the piney-fruity flavors in harmony. While it may be 7%, it didn't taste like it was going to give my liver a pounding.

Junk food pairing: Grab a bag of Mrs. Fisher's Dark Jalapeño potato chips to go with your La Maison.