What's in a Name?

Why squirrels and why beer?

The beer is probably self explanatory, but after killing squirrel #52 yesterday I thought it was a good time to explain the title of this blog. For those of you who haven't heard (where have you been?) I've been killing pesky squirrels in our backyard since February. After 6 months, it ends up being about 2 squirrels per week. Some weeks are better than others... Now I've dispatched 52 of the little rodents. Anyway, it started off as a population control measure because squirrels were EVERYWHERE. In the front yard, in the back yard, on the roof, digging holes in the garden, eating my birdseed - just all over the place. It's now become a bit of a hobby, but in truth I still feel that I'm helping keep a natural balance. In fact, just this afternoon there were 2 squirrels chasing each other through the backyard in what I could only imagine was a territory issue.

Now you might ask, "Why not leave the poor furry squirrels alone? Who cares if there are a few running around the yard?" First, squirrels are the sons of Satan. Don't believe me? Look here: http://www.deadsquirrel.com/links.html They are nowhere near as cute once you get to know them. Second and more seriously, you might have missed one crucial location where these squirrels were running and frolicking... on the roof of our house. Get into a conversation with someone and you might find out that they have had squirrels in their attic. Then ask them how much it cost to rid their attic/home of squirrels. The cost can very easily run into the $2,000-$4,000 range. That is if you still have a house to rid them from. Squirrels love to chew on electrical wires which can cause house fires. I don't know about you but I don't think either a burned up house or $4,000 out of my pocket is desirable. I decided that a $50 pellet gun from Walmart was not only fun, but truly useful too. The dead squirrels have created quite an interesting situation in our backyard, but I'll get to that in later posts.

So that's my squirrel story. I hope next time you see a squirrel running across the road you hit the gas, not the brake.

Fall TV

Like many people, I too look forward to the new season of Fall TV. I mean what's more American than spending a few quality hours staring mindlessly at the television? Got any favorites? I'm a big fan of The Office, Heroes, and while not exactly scripted programming... football. There's just something about waking up late on a cool Sunday morning, starting a fire, and popping open a few beers. In a couple years (2010) I'll even be able to get up on Saturdays and get behind my alma mater, Georgia State, as they start a college football program of their own!

Anyway, as many of you know I'm also a big fan of cooking shows. None of them have yet to tackle cooking squirrel - maybe there will be more on that from me this fall (?!). Now that The Food Network is 99% full of bullshit programming like Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Paula Deen, Down Home with the Neelys... (get a fucking room, you two) etc., I've turned most of my attention to PBS. There you can find some great food shows and none look greater than a new show coming this fall called "Spain... On The Road Again." It looks more like a documentary than a how-to cooking show, but I'm betting it will be fantastic. The show follows Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Claudia Bassols on "the road trip of a lifetime" through Spain. How cool is that. Even the theme song is recorded by who else, Willie Nelson, doing a Spanish inspired version of "On the Road Again."

http://www.spainontheroadagain.com/

Watch a preview below.