Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Blink is Malcolm Gladwell's second book. Gladwell is know for bringing to light certain phenomena that he discovers while looking into different peoples research. This book talked about the idea of thin slicing, the idea that a lot of decisions and knowledge comes from the first few seconds of encountering an object or situation. Gladwell goes into details about how this 6th sense can help us and how it can be fooled.

The first examples he gives is of a researcher who studied couples and could read the slightest details of a 3 minute conversation with them and with that data could know with a 95% certainty if they would get a divorce or not.

There are many interesting findings that Gladwell shows us in this book but a few of them are a bit of a stretch. The ones that are a bit more out there are still interesting to read so I would recommend this book to a friend. 

I was given a copy of this book from a friend who gave me a few audiobooks. I am discovering some of them are incomplete and some mp3s don't work so this book may be better or worse than an official copy. I am having to re-read parts of The Tipping Point (the Malcolm Gladwell book I am on now) because of this.

Consumed: 3rd party audio mp3s

Rating: 8/10


1-2 = Painful
3-4 = Waste of time
5-6 = Average
7-8 = A good time
9-10 = One my favorites

The Three Philosophers (Beer)

The Three Philosophers is a beer brewed in a Belgium style though this beer is from New York. It has a darker, heavier taste than some Belgium beers I have had but this could explain the 9.8% Alcohol level. This is a beer you definitely want cold to enjoy the complex flavor.

How it was tasted: At my house with a fish taco dinner. It drank it from the bottle.

Rating: 9



1-2 = disgusting
3-4 = not worth the calories
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good beer
9-10 = one my favorite beers

Source Code

Source Code is an interesting movie about a man who is sent into "The Source Code" of an 8 minute period in the past in order to find a person who bombed the train. Source Code has tons of twists and turns to keep you interested and it isn't a long movie either.




Keep scrolling if you want to avoid the spoilers
*SPOILER ALERT****
The problem arises for a few different reasons some are discussed here

http://www.overthinkingit.com/2011/04/05/source-code-pseudoscience/3/

though even that site has some errors and is a little wordy so here are a few of my person problems.

A. Should have ended sooner. Thought Source Code isn't too long it had a perfect freeze frame ending. But they had to go on for another 10 minutes to prove a point. The Source Code actually creates or transports the  person to a parallel universe. Which didn't add anything to the movie. In fact it just caused me find more problems

B. All of these parallel universes, if in fact are created by the Source Code (besides the Source Code being able to transport someone to an already created universe), means that every time Colter Stevens fails 100s of lives that were created are lost. Now if you consider that in each one of these universes is exactly the same as the Original one we have to believe that the new Universe (lets call it B) sends their own Stevens through their source code exponentially creating Universe that 100s of people die in.

Now this one can be glosses over a bit since we only care about the "Original" universe. I mean who cares about someone else universe. But what about...

C. Colter Stevens is an identity thief and murderer. It is nice that Stevens gets to talk to his dad one last time and gets to live out his last 8 minutes to the max. That is where is should have ended but it turns out that he is in a parallel universe. This means every time he made the jump into the source code he hi-jacked a mans life and usually ends up killing him trying to find the bomber. God knows what happens to the poor History teacher whose being possessed by an unknown, virtually dead soldier. Is the teacher helplessly watching as his body does/says things he can't control like in "Being John Malkovich" or is his soul eradicated from existence the second the Source Code begins? Either way this teacher's body is taken over by Stevens in an infinitely created parallel worlds. What a great ending ... plus

D. Colter Stevens has to re-learn every thing that the teacher knows and ignore all of his old acquaintances from his old life. I mean that has to be a freaking chore. Who is this persons family, friends and what do they look like? Where do I live? What college to I teach at? What exactly do I teach in History? Can I fool this girl long enough into get her to marry me... Do I have a wife?

There are so many problems for Stevens now that he has a new lease on life. Though that is only one bucket of ick he has to deal with.

What if he sees his old army buddies or even his family on the streets. How can he deal with never seeing them again even though that he is still alive. And if he does break down and tries to contact them by saying he is possessing another mans body from an alternate universe... How will he stay out of an insane asylum?





*END OF SPOILERS****




So over all the movie would have been so much sweater if it ended a little earlier and did not open a can of worms. It was worth the $1.50 I paid to go see it and it is worth it to rent it for $2-3 though I don't need to see it again.

I dare say it is close to an 8 but some of the acting and concepts knocked it down a notch. BAM!


Rating: 7/10

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

There is so much to say about this game. It was funny, entertaining, and action packed. You got to decide what you said to certain people at times which made it all the more fun. Also this is the first Zelda game I actually ended up finishing. Usually I get busy and/or a new one comes out. This one wasn't too long but was long enough for me to milk over a year of the game. Again this game is a little more straight forward than some of the other Zelda games where you wonder around until you find something or until you check an online walkthrough. I only had to do that once or twice. 


So if you like an adventure game with a few puzzles but sometimes Zelda is a bit much for you I would recommend you try this game.


Rating: 9

Thor 3D

I went to my local $1 theater (it is a $1.50 not + $2 for 3D) and saw Thor in 3D with a friend. It was average and was boring at times. Also they tried to make it too much of a mix of a romantic comedy and an action movie and just didn't make a great version of either. Considering the 3D at some parts was good while most of the movie didn't need it, Thor 3D was worth the price of admission ($3.50) but not much more. I definitely don't need to see it again but if it is late and you can Netflix stream Thor it might be worth a watch for those who have not seen it.




Rating: 5/10

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison is one of my favorite beers out of the Samuel Adams Summer seasonal pack.  The taste is complex with a little citrus after taste but that is what makes it such a good beer.

I dare say it is close to a 9 rating but officially...

Rating: 8

1-2 = disgusting
3-4 = not worth the calories
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good beer
9-10 = one my favorite beers 

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is not your average game. In fact I implore Capcom to continually releasing innovative games. Also they did a great job using the DS touch features to really pull the gamer into the action. The story has plenty of twists and turns to keep the player interested til the very end. Also the characters themselves are intriguing as well as the high quality motions they make.

This was close to being a 9 but still a good game for anyone who still has a DS or a 3DS.

1-2 = Don't waste your time
3-4 = below average
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good game
9-10 = Everyone should play it

Rating: 8

Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA

Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA

A standard slightly bitter IPA. If Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA is too hoppy for you but you want to give IPA another try, sample the Latitude 48 IPA.

Rating: 7

1-2 = disgusting
3-4 = not worth the calories
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good beer
9-10 = one my favorite beers 

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Boston Lager was very good. A not too dark larger that has a slight, pleasant after taste.

Rating: 7

1-2 = disgusting
3-4 = not worth the calories
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good beer
9-10 = one my favorite beers 

First item. Samuel Adams® East West Kölsch

So I decided to have a beer tonight and I am enjoying my Samuel Adams® Summer Style pack I got from Costco. I tried a few different ones during the 4th of July but I didn't sit down and analyse the taste.

I believe I am going to rate the over all beer and write a little article about it. The rating will be 1-10 from worst to best.

1-2 = disgusting
3-4 = not worth the calories
5-6 = Average
7-8 = a good beer
9-10 = one my favorite beers

So lets begin!

Consumption: from a bottle.

Beer rating: 7

This is a better than average beer with an almost sweet taste at the beginning. I dare say it is close to being an 8 but it lacks a certain Je ne sais quoi. The taste is different enough to enjoy and isn't very pungent.

This will probably be the format of my beer reviews as I go on. A brief description and a Beer rating.

First!

My name is Zach. After enjoying beers for many years I have discovered that I love to try a new beer every chance I get. Sometimes I forget how good or bad a beer was or even what it tasted like. I will restart and log my journey of taste here at "The Taste of Zach". I hope some of the reviews will be helpful to everyone who stumbles upon this site but the main purpose is for me to remember which beers are fantastic and which beers are not worth the calories.

So join me on the exotic escapade of beer tasting.