When I say I really like beer, I really like beer. I don’t just like beer a little bit, I love everything about the taste and I vastly respect art of brewing. I was raised on beer from a very young age when I first stole my father’s can of Foster’s off the kitchen table at the age of 3. During the same incident I snatched our neighbour’s cigarette, but luckily only one of these vices stuck. I think it’s because one of these things was bitter, cold and delicious, whereas the other was hot, burned and made me hack and convulse wildly.

Beer to me is the perfect drink. It brings people of all most walks of life together and acts as an incredible social lubricant. I believe over the years I have grown to appreciate beers from across the globe and spectrum. While I sincerely love a brilliant craft beer above anything, I would never turn down a chilled glass originating from any of the larger breweries either. I’m a beer lover, not a beer snob.

A large challenge since I moved to Toronto has been finding some unique beers. I’ll be the first to admit that my current LCBO has a very poor beer selection and I have yet to find a fabled “Beer Store” I’ve been told so much about. I’ll admit that I was absolutely spoiled in Vancouver; I was around the corner from one of the largest liquor stores and I was a block away from the best private liquor store I hath ever lay mine eyes upon: Viti Cold Beer and Wine.

So far I have encountered some very good Ontario beers! Creemore Springs has an excellent “UrBock,” Steam Whistle Brewing has a very solid and refreshing pilsner, and Mill St Brewery has some incredibly delicious crafts such as their Tankhouse Ale and Organic Lager, although I hear their Vanilla Porter is unbelievable. I’m still on the lookout for other great breweries though, in particular I’m dying for a hopped-up IPA, so please let me know of any of your favourites!

All of this beer talk really got me thinking about my favourite beers of all time. Without further adieu, here are my top five beers of all time that I recommend you track down and jump on. They are delicious and your world will not be the same after you locate them.

5. Phillips Brewery – Draught Dodger – Victoria, BC

To me, this beer is the Great White Whale of the beer kingdom. On a quest for sustenance during one of my early poker games, this beer appeared without any warning bearing an extremely artsy colourful label and brilliant pun for a title. I was only ever to pick up a couple cases of Draught Dodger before it just vanished off the shelves never to be found again. Draught Dodger was one of the smoothest ale’s I have ever poured down my throat. A maple cream ale using some of the richest maple syrup I have ever consumed (in beer form). If I recall the bottle said it used a special crystallized maple syrup, but I’ll never remember for sure. As far as I’m concerned the bottle could have said it used crystallized nectar from Olympus. It pains me to put this on my list knowing I’ll never try it again; heck I only know I didn’t imagine it because Beer Advocate has it listed with the only trace of the label on the internet. It’s a damn shame, I’d pour this stuff all over waffles if given the opportunity. The only cream ale I’ve ever fallen in love with. For a strong honorable mention from Phillips Brewery instead let me recommend their Longboat Chocolate Porter. It’s dessert in a glass with it’s incredibly strong chocolate notes; HIGHLY recommend.

4. Lost Coast Brewery – Tangerine Wheat Ale – Humboldt County, CA

When I was backpacking through Europe I fell in love with Orangina. You may know Orangina as the incredibly delicious carbonated orange flavoured mineral water that comes in rounded, stylized bottles and filled with pulp. It is incredibly refreshing and oh-so flavourful. Lost Coast Brewery’s Tangerine Wheat Ale is the Orangina of the beer world. It is the perfect summer beer! It’s incredibly thirst-quenching and perfect for lounging around your backyard in the hot sun. The tangerine flavour is so strong you may almost forget that this wheat beer is actually beer. Make sure you track this winner down come July and August.

3. Sacramento Brewing Company – India Pale Ale – Sacramento, CA

This is actually a little heartbreaking for me. Sacramento Brewing Company actually closed their doors this past fall. Sac Brewing had some incredibly sophisticated flavours and brews, however in my opinion, none so refined as their India Pale Ale.

I am a huge American/Northwest IPA fan and it is without question, my favourite style of beer. I have taken in plunge in many, many IPA’s. Typically they are extremely hoppy (I’ve been told over-hopped by some, is that even possible?!?) and this hoppiness gives a very deep crispiness or bitter flavour. I find them extremely refreshing. Sacramento Brewing Company had my favourite IPA to date with some fantastic labelling to match.

It will be missed; R.I.P. Sac Brewing.

2. Dogfish Head Brewery – Raison D’Etre – Milton, DE

I do love me a good pun and Dogfish Head definitely delivers. Raison D’Etre is a really complex brew that gets it delicious flavours and mahogany colour from a combination of beet sugar and green raisins! Get it? Raison D’Etre has raisins in it! Honestly a very delicious beer, however I have only found it available a handful of times. Maybe it’s just that popular and delicious!

I can’t really compare Raison D’Etre to many other beers. It reminds me of a plummier version of Vancouver Island Brewery’s Hermannator (a strong 10% ice bock that drinks like a milkshake). Raison D’Etre may require another tasting to stay on my top 5 list but each time I’ve had it thus far it definitely has earned it’s spot on this list. Check it out and let me know what you think below.

1. Granville Island Brewing – Lions Winter Ale – Vancouver, BC

My number 1 was an incredibly easy choice. Granville Island Brewing’s Lions Winter Ale is a damn near perfect beer. I can drink hundreds of these and it just seems to get better every year. GIB’s Winter Ale is known for it’s incredibly delicious vanilla flavour. Refreshing, crisp and only available between October and March. I love this beer so much it’s one of the few things outside friends and family I miss from Vancouver.

My first foray into Lions Winter Ale was not very good; truth be told my friends and all all thought the batch was “off.” However, I came back the next year, and gave it another chance. I’ve never looked back, this beer has had me purchase case after case and pitcher after pitcher, every years since.

Winter Ale is a perfect beer in my opinion. A beer that’s darker in colour, but not too heavy. It continuously calls me back for more with it’s very flavourful sweetness. It’s great for a weekend afternoon or dessert! If you ever find yourself in Vancouver during the mild winter months, do yourself a favour and pick some up.

There you have it, my favourite five beers! The list might change, but it’s been pretty consistent the last 12 months. What are you favourite beers?

The glass is half full via Exploding Dog

So amongst my new years resolution to change around my life and eradicate cynicism from my day-to-day life, I’ve decided to blog about my own life again. WHOA! I know, right? I’ve had an on-again-off-again, sometimes tumultuous relationship with blogging and it has been probably five, maybe six years since I last truly blogged. However, I do believe that a little more openness about my personal life will aid my in my anti-cynicism lifestyle. This is not to say I’m overtly cynical, in fact I really believe I’m not very cynical to start with, but I have my moments and it’s time to stop.

Last month Men’s Health had a great article on cynicism called “Why Men Fail.” I highly recommend reading it as it did nothing but reinforce that my current goals were on target.

I believe I’m a tad out of the box. I’ve lived a strange life and I’ve never believed I was incapable of doing many things. I’ve usually been fairly extroverted, confident and really creative; I’ve made it a mission to never tell myself “no.” Or at least, I thought I had! Save my great network of amazing friends and family, over the past year – maybe year and a half, maybe even a slow buildup over several years – I found myself in an incredible rut and in a very bad place. I found myself unmotivated, negative, self-defeating (much different than self-depreciating) and just hating where I was at; I think I had finally discovered the terrible cycle of cynicism.

It was really easy to complain. It was really easy to give-up. It was really easy to tell myself “no.”
The worst part was consciously knowing that it wasn’t ‘me.’

It took a while to decide what to do and how to get out of the rut. I quit my job, I applied to go back to school, I moved half-way across the country; I shook up my routine. It’s helped. It’s helped alot! I already have a really refreshing outtake on life again, I sort of feel like the person who I grew up with.

Anyways I’ll probably continue to link-dump here but expect a lot of personal updates too!

The good news is that I’m not dead! But my life looks a lot differently now than it did several months ago. I was accepted to York University and moved across the country. I have left my beloved Vancouver and West Coast to live in Toronto. After a hectic month or two I made it here in one piece.

The vibe in this city is definitely different, but it’s definitely not a bad thing. This adventure looks really promising and already I’ve thrown myself into a lot of “new” circumstances. For example, I’m no longer living in a downtown core and I’m living in a house with other people; first roommates/housemates evar!

The move has been good so far though, I’ve even reconnected with old friends in the city and have spent a lot of time with family.

I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how often I’ll be posting these days as a lot of my time is now spent doing homework and staring at girls on campus. That said I’m going to try my damnedest to get back into posting semi-regularly and maybe even finish these six unfinished posts.

I have promised myself to go to at least one con to assert my geek cred now that I’m living in Toronto. Go team!

Anyone else have a shakeup this new year?

My next post follows a particular theme to celebrate a certain movie which may or may not have hit theatres last week.

Clues?

viewmaster commander by ~lazeedog on deviantART

Stay tuned! I’ll be back soon.

It may look rusty over the next two or three days but hope to have it fixed by the weekend.

Thanks!

Captain Coco the Cocommando

As both my personal assistant and bodyguard, he will be assisting me in all of my creative endeavours. Should I fail to put my best foot forward, I will be getting a friendly pineapple grenade to the face.

Captain Coco the Cocommando comes packaged with some fantastic art and even has a bio along the side the box:

Captain Coco was once a simple and carefree monkey, living in a lush tropical paradise among his jungle friends. One day, smoke and noise woke Coco from a lazy afternoon nap; his jungle home was being invaded by evil developers! Captain Coco knew what he had to do. He alerted his pals and together they formed the Cocommando. The Cocommando patrols the jungle, teaching everyone to appreciate the wonder of nature as a unique and precious treasure, while protecting the beauty of the land.

You can check out more of artist Simone Legno’s work or order your own Cocommando directly from Tokidoki.

Amidst my mandatory bacon posts for the night, somewhere between Tweeting a bacon warning and about a bacon alarm-clock, I received a random reply.

Now before I get to this reply, please understand I do not know this user. I’m not even sure what brought him to my twitter profile; but whatever brought DUST1N to my Twitter page must have blown his mind. At 8:01 I received the following tweet:

“@GavinThompson you are everyting that is right about twittering”

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!!?!

Move over Twitterati!

This is either the greatest compliment or the worst accolade I have ever received. Depending on your opinion of Twitter, it could go either way; I’d like to think of it as the greatest compliment.

Anyways @DUST1N, I salute and thank you!

If you want to see why I’m everything that is right on Twitter, follow me @GavinThompson!

Do you know how fantastic it feels to be writing again? To be blogging once more? Let me tell you, it feels amazing!

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to start several new websites and blogs to keep up with my writing and wordcrafting; unfortunately, they just haven’t been cutting the mustard. Whether it was discussing geeky news and new internet superstars or following the backyard filming of The Watchmen, every topic that was started seemed incredibly uninspiring after several posts.

After much soul searching, I found a topic that I can easily talk about.
A topic that can be very interesting and one that I am extremely passionate about:

…Me!!!!!!

(Oh come on, you had to see that coming!)

Well where are my manners?? An introduction of sorts seems at hand: my name is Gavin Thompson and it is a pleasure to meet you! I’m a 26 year old male living in the heart of Vancouver, loving life and looking for a new creative outlet. As it stands, I spent several years fighting my way into the Film & Television industry, absolutely convinced I wanted to produce feature films. After much introspection and re-evaluating my priorities I’m now comfortably on the outskirts of the industry and spend my days talking to Agents, Casting Directors and Actors. My ventures have been amazing and have taken me all over the globe. I’ve been on sets, I’ve worked in a Talent Agency, I’ve been to the Cannes Film Festival and I’ve even pitched scripts in Los Angeles. The irony is that the sum of all of my experiences in this industry have opened my eyes to so many other great avenues and opportunities that for the first time in many years, I find myself looking at the world with a new sense wonder.

So what am I going to talk about here at Awesome Thompson Dot Com? I have no idea yet! Anything that comes to mind:

My love of creativity and the power of ideas? Sure!
Cartoon Heroes from my favourite cartoons of the 80’s? Of course!
Wordsmithing and how to effectively combine words? Oh, most definitely (mostefinitely)!

And, of course, all other manners of awesomeness!

Love & respect and thanks for joining me on the crazy ride!

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."