Keegan Ales

I was up at Bard a few weekends ago playing some
Mahler, Britten, and Perle
so I went to Keegan Ales in Kingston
on my way to rehearsal
and picked up a couple growlers.

This is what a growler looks like, for those of you who were wondering.
It can carry a half gallon of fresh beer straight from the tap to your home,
or the park, or rehearsal, or wheresoever-you-choose-to-go.

So, convinced of growler greatness, lets get back to Keegan Ales:

I Wish I could have hung around for awhile;
the pub looks like a great hang.
Tons of space, local art hanging on the walls,
old timey furniture, and stage space for live music.
Also, for this EXCELLENT weather,
a patio area outside.

LOVE IT

After rehearsal we had a little tasting session
with Charles, Mike, Matt, Alana, and Sydney:

Growler the first: Mother's Milk

Mother's Mile is a creamy stout with a little bit of milk and chocolate.
The bartender told me that it's made with coffee (!)
DELICIOUS (though I couldn't really taste the coffee)

Growler the second: Hurricane Kitty

Hurricane Kitty is a very hoppy IPA that is something of a local favorite
though I couldn't really say it was mine.
The problem is that I've been spoiled by Captain Lawrence's Double IPA
which is richly flavored enough that the
hoppyness is present but not overpowering.
(I'm all for some hoppyness!)
Regardless, this Hurricane was certainly GOOD.

Keegan Ales is a place I would enjoy hanging at more,
If only it weren't in Kingston (aka OZ) (aka FAR FAR AWAY from ME).
In a totally stereotypically informed kind of way
(having been to neither place)
Kingston is kind of a mix between Mobile and Detroit.

It's a good thing it has this Brewery.

Cheers,
LR

Extremely

Last night I survived a performance of Gerald Barry's Sextet
{Can I get a t-shirt please?}

A few unique things about this piece:

1. Extremely fast tempos
   
2. Extremely close canons
3. Extremely circusey atmosphere

Brandon, Alicia, Evan, Gregory, James,
and conductor (etc.) Thomas Ades

were extremely excellent performance partners

and the process was totally pleasurable

in a lets-conquer-this-piece-of-ridiculousness way.

{one wishes one could string words together to make new words}

{lets just pretend we can}


I just wish I didn't have a minor
aneurysm
while trying to navigate the
multiple-lines-at-once + tiny-intervals-on-marimba + extremely-fast-tempos
sections
{read: difficult}

This is totally a piece I love listening to:
get lost in it's echoes,
visualize the merry-go-round
spinning out of control.

But I'm not sure my blood pressure could stand repeat performances -

not that I'd say no to doing it again;

I'd just have a medical professional on hand.

Afterwards, I had a shot of Jack.

Thanks Jack.