Hua Guofang

Couple of quick sketches to get my hand in again for the summer painting season:

An Australian Brew, excellent: A beer from London, the best of the evening: Have no reds left, so I'm falling back on a tried and true pale:

I've tried a few meads, not bad but nothing that's rocked my world as yet. Having a couple tonight that I picked up from a local specialty shop. This one was fantastic - an Australian brewer: THis one was sensational, from the UK (was thirsty and forgot to take a pic of the beer itself): THis one is ok but a bit light on the heaviness. From Scotland, not a deep flavour like I prefer in a red ale but would do nicely for a hot afternoon/BBQ: [ATTACH=full]215135[/ATTACH]

was referring to 6 packs here.

Some of that Canberraction I was promising Have a bunch more, struggling to locate it right now though.

That's actually a 500ml can, which means it's actually USD$18 a quart (I think a quarter gallon is just under one litre and this can is half a litre). That stuff is craft beer (not meant to sound snobbish but that's all I drink these days, standard beer is too watery for me now), nobody does any reds in bulk production for the major brewers in Australia. Your super-stock-standard Millers, Coors, Bud equivalents (VB, Carlton, XXXX, Tooheys) are from USD$10-13, your higher standard common beers (Coopers, Fat Yak, etc.) USD$14-17 and your craft beers (Lord Nelson Three Sheets, etc.) are around USD$18 and upwards from there. Tried one of these today: Was pretty damned fine as well. Not a high alc. content at 4.8% but the flavour was just maaaasive. Really enjoyed it. Also very much like the American Pale Ales, this one is called Crankshaft from the Bent Spoke Brewery (pardon the wankiness of the pic, was for sending to a colleague stuck at work) But this is my current all-time fav, A red IPA called Red Nut from Bent Spoke - just fucking phenomenal

I've been going absolutely nuts for these lately: A red ale. Not sure I'll drink anything else again, ever. I don't normally drink during the week but all I can think of is having one of these. One's even enough, most of the time. They just taste so dang good. That Modus can up top is 3 standard drinks per can. Had one with dinner tonight, wow. HEll of a taste, quite a kick and at AUD$12 - USD$9 a can, hell of a cost as well.

Fee fi fo fum I see the style of Decyferon.

The passing of beauty and something you can't touch, but can't be without makes all the other silly and superficial shit nothing but bad TV. Some things are worth being worked up about just as much as for having it as for losing it. Vale Leonard Cohen.

Holy shit, you still exist?! I thought you'd surely have surfaced in a YouTube "when keeping it real goes wrong" clip by now! Truly, not talking shit or anything, but I can't believe nobody has killed you yet! Still living with your Moms and complaining about the cereal she buys?

^^^ Definitely on my to read list - as is Max Havelaar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Havelaar - another in a fine series of books that explores colonialism. I did read Heart of Darkness not long ago and was thoroughly unimpressed, maybe my expectations had been unreasonable given its fame. I've prob said this before in this thread or another, but read A Tale of Two Cites by Charles Dickens. Probably my fav book to date in the way that it covers class divide and despotism as well as revolution and brutality. Gripping shit, a real can't-put-downer.

pretty spectacular to me!

Just finished 1984. Had been meaning to read it for a hellova long time and finally got around to it. Whilst Orwell is an amazing author, quite reminiscent of Dickens in style, it's a fucking depressing read.

Pics?

Couple of quick thoughts for you: If there is a divide and conquer agenda who is trying to conquer who, for what outcome and what will victory look like? I don't think political/ideological/religious polarisation is limited to any one place in the world at the moment. One might suggest that Sunni/Shiite antagonism is as bad as it has been for generations. Conservative V. Progressive folk are very divided in Australia and the UK as well. Brexit is pure manifestation of division and nationalism and populism are on the rise in many countries. Niall Ferguson has argued for years that economic downturn will result in populism and nationalism - and that's exactly what we've seen since the GFC. I know that you're an international dude as you've traveled and lived overseas. However, the discussion that you're having here and in the election thread come across as a bit narrow in vision as you seem to be talking about the US as it is its own microcosm that exists aside from global trends and influences. I say that because it would seem to me that you're not placing the US in a global context and if you did you may see that what the US is experiencing with social polarisation is not exclusive to your country. That would suggest to me that US media, politics, etc. are likely not the driver of polarisation but are manifestations of it and the drivers are to be found elsewhere. My suggestion would be its a bit of a backlash against globalisation, a speed hump on the road to the future, teething pains of a world more interconnected, etc. etc. I agree, we are moving in a dangerous direction and things are looking bleaker each year in regards to international relations. However, barring an improbable trigger (such as the US bringing down a bunch of Russian aircraft or taking out a Russian base in Syria or some trigger-happy captains on the South China Sea refusing to back down and starting a shitfight) I think we're still a long way from war yet. Regards your comparison between Bush the isolationist, conservative that invaded two countries and created the DHS and Obama the peace lover, human rightist that carries out extrajudicial killings by drone and presides over many military actions - I think this goes back to what I was talking about above: the world has more of a say in how the US president acts than does his/her ideology or intentions. Bush became an interventionist (both abroad and at home in terms of the patriot act, etc.) as a result of what some dudes planned and carried out from Afghanistan and elsewhere (no, I'm not a truther). Obama who wanted to get out of the Mid East and close Gitmo was forced to engage with Islamic State and couldn't find countries to take the Gitmo prisoners. US foreign and domestic policy is influenced and constrained by global trends and events and foreign policy under presidents is a reflection more of what is happening in the world than the way the Pres. chooses to see the world Back to social polarisation, this is not the first time we've seen such divided societies. I agree, society is pretty dang far from cohesive in many, many countries right now but its not the first time as things were pretty bad during the first half of the 21st century and during the Cold War we saw McCarthyism and the red scare, etc. etc. During the first 100 years of Australia's history the country was very racially divided with riots, massacres, state suppression and brutality, etc. I think ewe can find periods in the modern era where society has been very divided similar to what we see today.

Lived 5 years in China, access to material can be a real thing when you don't have it. My advice is that you understand and invest in VPNs (and depending on the country you go to, keep well up to date on the evolution of that technology because shit is a fast moving feast). Learn the language. IT's hard and takes a lot of work. But, it's one of the greatest skills you will acquire.

Got a bunch of CBR kit for y'all, got to get around to getting it off my phone and up here.

Let me know when you do, I'll chuck a bike on a plane and come over for some trail riding.

I've actually gone over dudes I know. Knew it was a bit of a risk as I didn't know them well. Just noted no dis, just needed a spot to paint (this town really only has legal spots, small place and no train line) and about 5 dudes dominate everything. So I just thought fuck it, you can't have all the walls so I'm taking this one. Done it a couple of times and they're cool enough with it. Some aren't big enough to argue, some are but just don't. I think side busting to meet some one comes off kinda needy. I met the dudes from my day from just getting up and going out - for those who know that was Blaze, Tudor, Poser and his brother Chase, Snooz and a few others. Those dudes were the gods of the lines back then and funnily enough, none of them were total fuckwits either, mostly standard blokes. cool stories.

Won't defend the canned shit, but I will eat it. The fresh stuff in an Asian salad or heaps of asian dishes for that matter is special - the fuck you on about?! Nice crunchy texture, sweetish taste, makes a dish taste fresh and is full of stuff that's good for you..., I'm going to assume. Celery, on the other hand is what I like to call "get that fucking shit out of my food plant". It's one of those things that I hated as a child and have never grown into. And that's simply because it is shit, no matter what any one says because you can't defend the indefensible. /thread.