Dec. 18 Alaska beer reviews are lamebrained, negative
As a beer lover, I began Mike Dunham's Dec. 18 article, "The 12 (Alaska) Beers of Christmas" with enthusiasm. The well-written introduction had me primed for a trip to the bottle shop. Then I got to the first tasters comments: "… not objectionable, but intriguing," and "… not very enjoyable."
Huh? Is this supposed to be an endorsement? We are talking about the same beer right, the prize-winning granddaddy of Alaska seasonals, Alaskan Smoked Porter? Things only get worse from there.
The beer descriptions are not bad, but the comments! Wow. At best they are unhelpful: "I find this one hard to drink," and "Does anyone like mead?" Sometimes they don't make sense: "Subtle yet sharp," and "Cinnamon notes would be a perfect chaser for eggnog." And sometimes they are just plain ignorant and mean: "Too much wheat flavor, too much booze, too much sweet," and my least favorite, "Ick."
This last one deserves special mention because the whole entry is just so bad. The description doesn't even talk about the beer itself, Kassik's Spiced Cream Ale, but rather the general style, cream ale. The entry finishes with three negative and mostly worthless comments. (Besides "Ick" we also get "OK" — insightful stuff!)
Now maybe Mr. Dunham was just on a tight schedule and didn't have time to round up a taster who knew a thing or two about beer. Still, I'm just mystified that he lets his 12 picks for great Alaskan winter beers get torpedoed by lamebrained, negative comments. Can you imagine if you read a restaurant review like this?
Putting this in print was really unprofessional and in poor taste. Whoever let this sorry excuse for journalism go to press should be ashamed of himself.
— Mark Keene
Kenai
Christmas Eve random act of kindness
Christmas Eve, three years ago, my daughter and I were running errands in Midtown. My husband had been medevaced from Nome 3 months earlier, after suffering a heart attack and stroke. Our days were spent with him in various intensive care units, which were mostly chaotic, filled with heartbreak, but also with some measure of hope. My husband and I wanted to make Christmas special for our daughter — my daughter and I wanted to make it special for him. We all decided to treat the St. Elias nursing staff to gourmet donuts for Christmas morning, which brought my daughter and I to be running errands that Christmas Eve afternoon. We were in a hurry to get back to Ed, so we drove through Taco Bell for a fast lunch. When we pulled up to the window to pay, the cashier explained that the car in front of us had paid for our order. They didn't know us — it was simply a random act of kindness. We were excited as we returned to the hospital to tell Ed our story. He said "cool" and gave us the thumbs up. Just hours later, that Christmas Eve night, we lost him. The story of a strangers' random act of kindness to his family, is the last thing we shared with him.
With this memory, we randomly pay for people's orders, usually at drive-thrus, not just on Christmas Eve, but throughout the year. We never know how we affect those folks, it might make their day, it might simply bring a smile to their face. I truly hope that the person who gave us that random act of kindness will someday know the impact that they made, the tradition they created and the kind memory they gave to a family to share, at a time they needed it the most.
— Marilee Murdock
Nome
Great local writers in ADN
Kudos for publishing local writers Charles Wohlforth and Dermot Cole in ADN. Now we need a replacement for the greatly missed Peter Dunlop-Shol and for Sheila Toomey (The Ear). And why no more Julia O'Malley in our daily paper?
My morning "cup" is half full.
— Sharon Clawson
Anchorage
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