Two Old Guys Drinking Beer!

Well, it's happened again. We take a week off and the entire Trump Administration does another shuffle of resources.  The "Mooch" is out, Reince is out, John is in, and Trump is once again shown to be the con-man that he is.   Bob Mueller is on the case, a Grand Jury is impaneled in Washington DC and starting to deliver subpoenas.   John McCain gives a big F.U. to the so called "Health Care" bill with a dramatic thumbs down in the Senate Chamber.   

Bill and I drink and discuss Shannon's Fire Brewed Irish Red, a very good Red Ale from the good folks at the Shannon Brewing company in Keller, Texas.

Finally, we round out the episode with an up-note. Our current most favorite Texas Ranger, 3rd Baseman Adrian Beltre joined the elite hitters in Major League Baseball by obtaining his 3,000th career hit.  We discuss Adrian's feat, Yu Darvish's departure to the L.A. Dodgers, and the overall status of the major leagues.

Join us won't you?  First, as a warning, do yourself a favor and open a can of Shannon's Fire Brewed Irish Red before listening to the Politics segment.  Bill and I wish we had, because we had a severe headache from all the nonsense we had to discuss.

As always, thanks for listening.

Dennis

Oh my god.  Look out, Trump has found his "Mini-me". Say hello to Anthony Scaramucci, a Harvard educated financier, broadcaster, and all around annoying person,  who has an ego just as big as Donald Trump, and a mouth that is bigger.  Anthony is the new Communications Director (can you say Joseph Goebbels?) who is coming in to shake things up and get rid of all these nasty leakers who are saying real in-fair things about the President, even though most of them are true.  So, Sean resigns, is Reince out next?   Bill and I get into all the usual nonsense going on in Washington. Talk about a pretty good beer, The Neato Bandito, from the Deep Ellum Brewing Company, and of course get caught up on baseball.   Wow, we were gone for three weeks and look what happened.   Enjoy the show folks.

I've found there is nothing that can get a baseball fan's temperature up like picking the best players across decades.  There are so many incredibly talented ball players to choose from.  Well, get ready folks, because in honor of the upcoming 87th MLB All Star Game, Bill and I have decided to do just that. We pick from the best players since the 1950's and load up our teams with the talent that would make George Steinbrenner cry if they weren't on his team.  We load up with Hall of famers, Home run kings, base hitting machines, pitchers with thunderbolts in their arms and then discuss what makes them so special.   Join us for a trip to the ball park and reminisce with about players such as The Splendid Splinter, The Mick, The Say Hey! Kid, The Captain, and on and on.  

If you love baseball as much as Bill and I do, I think you will enjoy this episode.  Let us know what you think, and Play Ball!

From the Lakewood Brewing Company website:  

"In summer, Belgians head to the nearest beach, while Texans typically race towards the nearest source of shade. That's because the European sun is far friendlier than the fiery ball glowing over the Lone Star State. Combat the heat with our Zomer Pils. Brewed with Belgian pilsner malt and dry hopped with a combo of Lemondrop and noble hops, this traditional pilsner is light, crisp, and refreshing with a citrusy zing. So let that sun keep on burning."

Bill and I agree with the notes from the Lakewood Brewing company.  A little heavier than most Pilsners in my experience, more like an IPA.  Give it a try!

OK, so here's our 4th of July Episode.  We're breaking the usual format with an episode devoted to Politics. The reason?  There is so much to talk about since our last broadcast.  Tweets of a bizarre nature, a conspiracy theory that NASA has to deny, the ongoing saga of the Non-Care Healthcare efforts in the Senate, the suspicious request from a sinister sounding commission on "Voter Integrity", and finally, yet another mass shooting to discuss.  There's so much to unpack, we're splitting out the beer and baseball segments into independent episodes.  So, while you're grilling the burgers and the dogs, popping a cold one or two, getting ready to set off the fireworks (be careful!), tune us in and give this one a listen.  Bill and Dennis hope you have a safe, happy and relaxing 4th of July.   USA! USA! USA!

Welcome to Episode 6.  Sadly, we will be talking about the shooting that occurred in Alexandria, Virginia where a "nut with a gun", shot and injured several people while members of the Republican Caucus in Congress, their staffers and others were practicing for the annual charity game between the House Democrats.  The shooter, evidently driven by some political rage, shot Congressman Steve Scalise, who is the House Majority Whip in the Congress.   Thankfully, Representative Scalise is at a level in the House where he is assigned a security detail. Members of the Capitol Police, who were assigned to Representative Scalise were able to subdue and eventually stop the assailant from causing more injury.   Bill and Dennis also discuss the "gun" issue in the country at large.  

Other topics covered: The ongoing saga of the Trump/Russian affair, some talk around Healthcare, and of course the most bizarre cabinet meeting in history.  On the lighter side, Bill and Dennis review a new beer, Pukachev's Cobra, a craft beer from the great state of California, and finally, we discuss the national pastime and catch up on our Texas Rangers as well as taking a spin around the league.   So, pop a cold one, sit back and enjoy!

In this special episode, Dennis and Bill forego the usual blather about politics, beer and baseball and instead discuss the hallmark event of the 50th Anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band by the Beatles.  A masterpiece work, the album, released in June of 1967, set a standard for music production that is still influencing music today.  Joining us to discuss the album is our very special guest, Judy Sherrard, Dennis' better half, who remembers hearing it for the first time on a broken stereo and not being quite sure of what to make of the record.  We hope you enjoy the trip back to the year of Free Love, Flower Power and of course The Beatles' great work.

Bill and Dennis discuss the most recent adventures in Trump World, including the withdrawal from the Paris Accord.   We rate a new local beer, "Dallas Blonde", from Deep Ellum Brewing Company, and of course, we discuss our beloved Texas Rangers, who have recently been in a bit of a slump.   

Holy cow!  What a rash of headlines pouring out concerning Russians, the firing of James Comey, the appointment of Bob Mueller as a Special Counsel, Flynn taking the Fifth, Trump in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican. There is so much going on that it is difficult to keep up.  Washington has ground to even more of a snail's pace regarding getting anything positive done while everyone is lawyering up, trying to clean up Donald Trump's tweets, and the disclosures of classified information to the Russians in the Oval Office.  It's only been about 120 days since the Donald took the oath folks, it seems like 120 years.

On a lighter side, we'll be reviewing our 2nd beer, Cotton Mill Gold Pale Ale, a local beer (at least local to us here in the Dallas, Texas area) brewed in McKinney, Texas by the good folks at Tupps Brewing.   Light and crisp, Bill and I enjoyed a couple through the broadcast.  It helped ease the pain from the political discussions.  Also, we had two uninvited guests, my labrador mixes, Molly and Gracie, who decided to join the podcast for a couple of minutes.

Our beloved and beleaguered Texas Rangers had a 10 game winning streak, and look poised to get back in the division race.  Their strong level of play while three of the big stars are on the disabled list is a topic of discussion in the baseball segment. 

We hope you like Episode 3.  Thanks!

Dennis does a solo episode while Bill is out looking for a new beer to review.  The topic of Sanctuary Cities is a controversial one.  Many, from the President to several governors and citizens in the various states are opposed to Sanctuary Cities. But, what exactly are they?  Dennis discusses what a Sanctuary City is and what the recent law signed in Texas are intending to do about them.  Where you line up on the issue?