Anybody that knows me, knows I heart beer. And thanks to beer consumers everywhere willing to shell out some additional coin for superior brews there are craft beers cropping up all over this great beer-swilling nation of ours.

Today I thought I would feature a peek into the world of craft beer from the perspective of Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. This is a man who loves beer almost as much as he loves making incredible varieties for his devoted client base. And with all that love going around, well, it’s hard not to love him right back. You’ll see what I mean in the video below. Bottoms up!

Many Most Some One or two of you may recall back in March I received an open love letter from Digital Playground vixen Stoya. At the time I found it rather alarming as my experience with such things could best be summed up in three words. Single White Female.

Then I was contacted to meet up with her while I was in Philadelphia on important C1R business. We made a cute little video featurette together and she was a pure delight! If anyone was going to turn me it would be a hottie like her, but as luck would have it my gayness emerged from our passionate makeout session unscathed.

Today Popcorn.com published the aforementioned video so here is your chance to check it out.

The last couple of days have been filled with laughter and good memories. I bought Aimie an iPod and spent the day at her house with a friend of ours Kellie, drinking Dortmunder and enjoying an impromptu dinner that I whipped up; sautéed shrimp and Quinoa with sautéed celery, grape tomatoes and celery leaf chiffonade. After dinner I spent an hour filling half of her computer’s memory with my music. After that ordeal and about 3 more beers we thought it time to take some shots for the photo album. And the blog, of course.

Today I picked up Scott from the airport. I took him to a place that Aimie introduced me to called Bar Louie. Tonight they were offering $1 burgers and $2 Great Lakes Beer (Dortmunder!!!!) and I thought I would invite Aimie, Kellie and Ma H for a fun night on me; it would be a cheap date.

I LUHUV Black and Tans so I was salivating to say the least; Black and Tans are Bass or Dortmunder Ale with a top float of Guinness. I thought that because the beers were composed of mostly Great Lakes that it would be 2 bucks, but when the bill came and it was nearly $100! I looked and saw that I was charged the full price of a Black and Tan. Oh well. I’ll know better next time. Anyway, it was money well spent and the burgers were half way decent, too.

I had the best time. I love beer. I love burgers and I love hanging out with these guys.

Last Wednesday I was the guest “star” at a night called “Dirty Deeds” at Fubar in West Hollywood. Usually Chi Chi is the DJ supreme, but this night we had the pleasure of DJ Jastin in her stead. He is in a rock group called Nancy Full Force and was nice enough to bring my single along to play for the crowd. He was going to play it while I was dancing on stage; however, I wasn’t quite ready to “perform” the song. I left the stage and went downstairs to watch the crowd’s reaction from a security camera. It was the very first time I heard my song played to a real crowd over real speakers! I did get one enthusiastic piece of praise from a drunken patron, but since there wasn’t an all-out riot I choose to assume the song was well-received.

Thanksgiving was very low key. I spent the evening with a friend’s family complete with 2 kids. It was very kind of them to have me and the food was tremendous. And I was in bed by nine, so the night was perfect all around.

I spent the weekend with Scott conquering Topanga Canyon and the surrounding areas on an intense uphill hike. I love doing stuff like that. I almost always choose the path least taken when it comes to hiking and so does Scott. We found a tiny footpath up the face of the canyon, crawling on our hands and knees sometimes through brush and over rocks. It was a most enjoyable evening and I was in bed at 8:30 sleeping nearly twelve hours.

It doesn’t get much better.

After a week-long date with Scott that literally spanned the continent, I was off free time and had to start “working.” I must say that the week was incredibly nice. Scott is an adventurous guy with impeccable social skills. Every time we went into a store he would engage the sales person in some sort of dialogue leaving them smiling and completely wooed by Scott’s charm. He took me camping in Joshua Tree, complete with dinner and a moonlit hike up through a massive wall of rock to the top where we sat in a large depression that resembled a bowl. We curled up under the blanket, got high and watched the stars and satellites make their way around us.

I absolutely love to camp; especially with somebody that has all the right equipment and knows how to use it (the camping gear, too). Scott created two marinades, grilled vegetables and chicken breasts all to perfection on an uneven fire on the ground. The meal was completed with s’mores, real bona fide s’mores. It beat any chocolate mousse or souffle that I have had hands down. To amaze me even more he wrapped a loaf of French bread in foil, toasted it as if it had come out of a toaster oven with a timer rigged to his brain. So Cool!

The next morning we finished the bread off with some eggs and strong coffee all prepared over a small flame coming from a little camp burner. I cannot recall the last time somebody cooked for me, it was most enjoyable, 10 points – out of eight.