U2 Concert Review

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/print.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10412406
Review: U2, Kanye West, at Mt Smart Stadium
12.10am Saturday November 25, 2006By Russell Baillie
They might have not played here for 13 years, postponed for another 8 months and then got delayed coming on stage because of the rain which cleared on cue (thanks to the man upstairs, possibly).
But U2 more than made up for their tardiness with a riveting, affecting and boldly passionate show before the first of two sold-out Mt Smart stadium crowds.
>>View concert picture gallery
It was one which neatly binded the songs of their 21st century albums to their breakthrough days of the 80s, leaving their often confusing, intervening decade largely untouched. That worked a treat, whether it was leaping back in time to early single I Will Follow or causing happy pandemonium - complete with a visual message about the plight of Africa - during The Streets Have No Name.
It was a show to remind that whatever you think of Bono and his campaigning ways, the man sure can sing - among the night's most affecting highlights was his ode to his late father Bob, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own. While later in Miss Sarajevo he easily ascended the original's Pavarotti bit.
And he and band figured out some canny ways of connecting to their NZ fans. There were rewritten lines in Beautiful Day referencing the long of the long white cloud and aroha. That was followed by One Tree Hill with a tribute to late Kiwi U2 crew member Greg Carroll who inspired what is still a grand song, while the light show glowed with koru patterns. And one of the other lyrics songs that Bono magpied into U2's lyrics was Four Seasons in One Day, though there were snatches of the Beatles, the Clash and others throughout.
Also sampling up a storm was opening act hip-hop megastar Kanye West who did his best in his early set battling against the elements and a certain lack of projection into the arena. But he departed grateful, saying it had been the warmest welcome he had got on his U2 excursion Down Under.
The U2 set did hit its own damp patch mid set with Bono's bit of blindfolded political street theatre out on the extended ramps in the aftermath Bullet the Blue Sky. But the performance soon regained an energy which sustained and inspired all the way through to the encores.
For the most part, it was a performance that managed to do the impossible of a stadium show - marry real emotional punch to extravagant gesture.
Brilliant.

Home Brew: Day 6

This morning SG was measured at 1.016 - same as yesterday morning. I was hoping that it would go down further but this is not the case. For all I know this is normal for this beer recipe (Mac's Pale Ale). So I decided to wait unitl tonight and take another measurement sicne I started the brew around this time on sunday.

After dinner, I took another sample and still the same measurement. I read the instructions again and it turns out I was taking the SG measurements incorrectly. This is ok I thgouht since my method was consitent for all measurements. But just to compar how much different it would have been, I followed the instructions to the letter and took a reading. It turns out it is not all that different...The reading ended up higher at 1.018.

The fact remains that the SG didn't change for 24 hours and according to the instructions, this indicates that it is time to bottle. I toook out the new bottles, added some more sugar as instructed and started bottling the beer using the bottle filler provided. This special nozzle made it much easier to bottle the beer.

So now I have 14 and half bottles of beer on the wall, 14 and a half bottles of beer. We will wait for 3 weeks and let the beer mature even more and maybe we'll be able to enjoy 14 and half of bottles of beer on the wall.

Home Brew: Day 4

The initial fermentation stage is said to take between 4-7 days. Today is day4-5 (somewhere in between). Specific gravity measurement is currently at 1.016.

Since we are at day 4, I'll be taking measurements every 24 hours and if or when SG stops dropping (i.e. no change in 24 hours) it will be bottling time.

The sample today didn't have as much foam as two days ago. Possibly it is a sign that reaction is slowing down (and I hope NOT dying down :)).

Google in 10 years

Hmmm...whirlpool...

Home Brew: Day 2

Looking good so far. Monday night I got home worried that the yeast in my brew might die due to excess heat. The temperature must be kept between 18-28C. My brew is sitting in the garage (because that is the only place the wife will allow it. Ideally I'd like it to sit on the kitchen bench). But luckily when I got home, the temperature was at 24C and I imagine during the day it wouldn't have gone higher than 26C in the garage.

Last night it was at 24C and this morning at 22C. I did my first specific gravity (SG) monitoring last night and it was sitting at 1.022 from 1.049 two days ago. What this is measuring is the sugar level in the brew. Higher means more sugar. Since the SG dropped, it meant the sugar is being consumed by the yeast and CO2 and alcohol is produced as a by product.

From the top there is this airlock where the CO2 comes out and you can see bubbles inside indicating CO2 presence. The brew is also starting to smell like beer now. It smelt like stale beer at the moment and when I took a sample through the tap, there was this huge foam head.

A good sign...

Home Brew: Day 1

Yesterday I bought myself a home brew starter kit. I bought it from the BBT and it was on special so I couldn't resist. I've been wanting to try brewing my own beer at home and this small kit was my chance.



The steps are pretty simple. Basically there are for main steps. First is sterilising. Any work involving microbiology requires sterilisation steps. Luckily this kit comes with a "No Rinse" sterilisation powder (sodium percarbonate). You need to sterilise all the equipment specially the ones that will be in contact with the brew. Second step is the actual mixing of the extract and water. I have three kinds of extracts. Lager, Pale Ale, and Stout. Sine I already tried the Lager at BBT, I thought I'd try the Pale Ale. It was as easy as making milo except this one is in a 11.5 litre container. The temperature must be within 18-28C (mine was around 23-24C). You then add the yeast and seal the container. After this you measure the specific gravity of the solution using a hydrometer provided in the kit. According to the guide, this initial reading would be between 1.045-1.055. It measures the amount of sugar in the solution. Higher means more sugar. My reading was 1.048. By the way, I didn't add any sugar. Everything is in the can. I'm using Macs which is an all malt brew.

The next step is monitoring. The temperature must be kept between 18-28C. This is so fermentation can progress at a reasonable rate and the yeast will remain alive. Higher temperatures will kill the yeast. After about a week (4-7 days actually), the sugar in the solution will be gone. They would all have been consumed by the yeast. Once the specific gravity of the solution remains constant for 24 hours, it will be time for bottling.

Bottling step: This step involves adding sugar into bottles before adding the solution in. The sugar is for the next step of fermentation. The bottle will be left in a warmish place for another week to boost the second fermentation step then kept in a cool place for 2 more weeks. After this the beer is ready to drink.

I was told that keeping it longer will make the beer better.

So...I intend to create this batch. I hope it goes ok. After bottling, I will try and do another batch. This time stout. I'll have to get more botttles though as I only have 15X 750ml bottles. I should have at least 30 bottles by christmas.

All kuyas welcome to try if all goes well. For those across the tasman, we'll drink the beer on your behalf.

For those who are interested, watch this vid. And if you like, you can purchase your own kit and share stories.

A week after Derby Day...

a week after Derby Day in Melbourne, the weather seems perfect today with the temperature in the mid-20's, with not a rain cloud in sight. it's Stakes Day, and the crowd in Flemington seem to have beaten the Derby, Oak, and Cup Days quite easily in terms of numbers. but good on NZ horse, Efficient, for winning the major race last week! too bad, I bet on a different one that came in at 7th place. all in all, it was a great experience for godzilla, myself, and the ladies and most likely everyone who would give it a try in the future, except if you don't like standing under the sun for several hours with just a drink in one hand until the arrival of the horses for your betting race. one thing's for sure, melburnians love their horse-racing holidays and events (not to mention the fashion and their hats)!

Men and their egos

your job kills...

A VicHealth report has found that job stress is a leading cause of heart disease and depression. What's more, the heart disease we're seeing in these workers is quite independent of other health risk factors such as weight, smoking, diet or family history, reports the Gallup Management Journal.

So is it just the job or are there other factors?

Rising prices, having too much to do and not enough sleep were the biggest worries, according to a survey from Harris Interactive.

Sure problems at work were cited. But then so were concerns about health, illness of a family member, too much information to process at one time, loneliness, ageing parents, frequent or excessive noise, problems with children and abuse of personal privacy.

Funny thing is no-one mentioned IT issues. That's the one that spins most people out. Every day.

Job stress is bad but it seems to be part of a bigger picture.

The other question is whether stress causes the problems, or whether the problems cause stress? And how do we deal with it?

Here are some tips from high-flyers in this SMH report. The answers are pretty obvious: hobbies, passions, spending time with kids, physical activity and meditation.

Another comes from an interesting study from Michigan State University's School of Labor and Industrial Relations via the Management Issues online journal. which found that reducing your workload and hours leave you more motivated and working better. And the study found it has no effect on your chances of promotion. So the idea is you work less and gain more.

So what stresses you out? How much of it is to do with your job? Is it worth it? How do you chill out?