Back from Prague, Ready to Paint.

Well I have managed to make it back to the United States in one piece. It was a long journey (about 17 hours all told) but it feels great to be back home. I had a wonderful time in the Czech Republic, and I would love to visit again sometime in the future (in fact I may have to do so for business again in a few months). I have lots of pictures and stories to tell, but none of those really relate to the subject of this gnoblog with the exception of one - BEER.

I didn't accomplish anything Warhammer related while I was in Prague (aside from finishing a couple of the Horus Heresy novels) but I did have quite a few of these little beauties. Beer (or Pivo as it is called in Czech) is quite plentiful in the city, and you can find it in almost every place you go. It costs less than water or soda, and in some cases it is almost half the price! With deals like that (the drink above probably cost $1.50 to $2.00 on average) how could I not have one with every meal?!

Now that I am back in the US I plan on drinking less and painting more. I hope to have my entire 2,250 list for Capital City Carnage assembled and painted by the end of next month. So far that has meant working on the assembly of my Scraplauncher, and the completion of my 2,250 list (which is due by 4/1). There is quite a bit of work to do on the painting front, but I feel confident I will be able to accomplish my goal with time to spare (we'll see how I feel in a few weeks).

Now I am off to wash my heaps of dirty laundry and curse this damn Scraplauncher model while I try to keep it together (by far one of the worst models I have assembled so far). Wish me luck!

(Beer) Progress Report - 3/16/09.

Sadly I don't have much to report from the wide world of Warhammer. I have been busy preparing for my upcoming trip to the Czech Republic! I will be spending about 10 days in Prague, leaving tomorrow (Tuesday 3/17) and returning towards the end of the month.

I have never been overseas (or out of the continental Americas) and I am really looking forward to it. The whole trip is being paid for by my company (it is a business tripe after all), so I just have to survive the plane trip (I hate flying) and then I get to have fun and work my ass off. Expect pictures of the historic city when I return.

While there has been little to no modeling or hobby related progress (still trying to finalize a list for Capital City Carnage in May), there has been quite a bit of progress with our first batch of beer. After a few days of furious eating, belching, farting, and wasting, the beer was ready to move into the secondary fermenter with the additional dry hops.

It is a bit cloudy right now, but in a few more weeks the yeast should clean up after themselves, and the beer will clarify. If it doesn't .. well I will have some cloudy and delicious beer to bottle and drink.

One thing that is not so delicious is the protein sludge left at the bottom of the fermenter when the yeast are done with their work. It is called "trub" and it looks and smells a bit unpleasant. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Not the best looking stuff, but "trub" might make a good name for one of the Ogres in my tribe! Perhaps a Butcher or a Bruiser? Hold that thought, I will return to this once I have landed safely back here in Austin in about 12 days.