On Saturday, June 28, Bilzzard Entertainment officially announced that the next chapter in the Diablo franchise is currently under development. While no release date was given, the company has stated that it intends to ship versions for Windows and OSX simultaneously. There is little information about the actual plot; however, the company has released an official trailer that brings back memories of playing the first two installments over eight years ago now.

Keep an eye on the official website for more information; I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking this one up as soon as it is released (and probably calling off work for the next couple days)!



Update: It appears Blizzard has also posted a gameplay footage video on the game’s official website!

Indians vs. Reds (June 28, 2008)
Cheryl and I meet up with Brian and Trisha and head into downtown Cleveland to watch the Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds.




Test & Tune at Milan Dragway (June 27, 2008)
Zim, Don, and myself drove up to Milan Dragway for the Miller Lite Beer Nickel and Dime Test & Tune. While they played around with cars, I practiced panning with moving objects.

A couple of months ago when RapidWeaver 4.0 was released, I made some configuration changes that made allaboutnate.com point directly to the site instead of using a redirect link. When I first setup the site, this was the only way to point a domain name to a website hosted on Apple’s .mac (soon to be MobileMe) service. However, last year they added the ability to use domain names natively, and the RapidWeaver developers included support for this in the latest version.

Earlier today, someone (thanks Jon!) pointed out the fact that my RSS feed wasn’t working. I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that the XML file for the RSS feed would be in a different location once the above changes were made. I corrected the problem, but it will require anyone who subscribed to the old feed (is there anybody out there?) to resubscribe to the new feed address: http://feeds.feedburner.com/nateut. If you don’t know what RSS is, checkout Wikipedia.

There is still a problem with the story links and inline pictures not loading; this is a bug within the RapidWeaver software and should be fixed in the next version.

Earlier today while at work, I stumbled upon the fact that Google Maps had recently added street view to Toledo and its surrounding suburbs. Entering my address, I found my car sitting out in front of my apartment -- sheer luck since I typically park in my carport in the back. Nonetheless, pretty interesting to see!

Also, the Kalamabrew blog posted a video tour of the Bell’s Brewery earlier today, hosted by Larry Bell himself. It’s a great way to see the brewery for yourself and listen to the stories behind the various pieces of equipment and their ongoing expansion plans.

2008 Michigan Inspired Brewery Tour (June 21, 2008)

This past Saturday, I got up early and started driving into Michigan, heading west towards Kalamazoo. While I knew that it would be a day I wouldn’t soon forget, I had no idea I would learn so much and get to meet some very interesting people who enjoy the great brews the state of Michigan has to offer. The fun started with a tour of the Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, Michigan where we were able to get up close and personal with the equipment and see exactly how the #1 microbrewery in Michigan operates. While I knew the brewery would be large, I guess I wasn’t ready for the sheer size of the facility -- it definitely isn’t your typical brewpub operation.

After the tour, we headed a couple miles west into downtown Kalamazoo to the Bell’s Eccentric Cafe -- on the site of the original brewery -- to sample our favorite Bell’s concoctions while trying a few pub exclusives like Überon and a Double Brown Ale. While similar to Oberon, Überon is conditioned in bourbon barrels and packs quite a punch at 10% ABV. I would have loved to have taken a growler of this stuff home with me, but they do not offer them at the cafe. We were also treated to a quick lecture by Rex Halfpenny, publisher of the Michigan Beer Guide, who discussed the history of beer and how it has evolved over the centuries. He also stressed the importance of supporting your local breweries as much as you can, something I definitely agree with. Afterwards, Larry Bell -- the founder of Bell’s Brewery -- spoke for a couple minutes before mingling with the crowd. I was able to talk to him for 10-15 minutes about various topics including baseball and getting into the brewing industry. In all honesty, he was a very easy-going person and I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to talk with him.

Our last stop on the tour took us back east to Marshall, where we visited the Dark Horse Brewing Company. After a tour of the facilities, owner/head brewer Aaron Morse answered a couple questions I had about opening a brewery at such a young age (he started right after graduating college). His response was to keep it small and simple, and not to try and split your focus between a brewery and a restaurant; both excellent pieces of advice that I’ll be sure to remember for the future...

2008 Whitehouse Cherry Fest (June 14, 2008)
A beautiful Saturday afternoon/evening in downtown Whitehouse for the annual Cherry Fest.

Video: Cherry Fest Fireworks


Mud Hens vs. Indians (June 13, 2008)
Even though the weather report called for non-stop rain, we took a chance and headed downtown to catch the Toledo Mud Hens take on the Indianapolis Indians. While the score didn't end up in our favor, we stayed dry and got to enjoy a nice evening at the park.



Next week is my visit to the Bell’s Brewery and Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo!

Sometime in the morning of June 21st, I’m leaving on a journey that will quite possibly change me for the rest of my life. Some say it will be a religious experience, others a hop-induced overload that will leave me curled in a ball on the floor by the end of the night. Whatever happens, I feel like I’m one of the children who found a golden ticket and is about to enter the Wonka fantasyland -- I’m visiting the Bell’s Brewery in Galesburg, Michigan.

Sponsored by Slow Food Detroit, the Bell’s Brewery is opening its doors for a tour of their off-limits facility, followed by a lunch and sampling of small batch brews available only at the Bell’s Eccentric Cafe. While sampling the various brews that makes Bell’s so very special and eating lunch, I’ll also hear a lecture starring Rex Halfenny, publisher the the Michigan Beer Guide. As a bonus, they’ve even organzied a stop by the Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall where owner Aaron Mose will lead a tour of their brewery.

I’m really looking forward to this trip and think that it will be well worth the time and money to drive up to Kalamazoo. I’ve wanted to visit the Eccentric Cafe for awhile now, and a tour of the brewery makes the deal even sweeter. While I’m not exactly sure they’ll let me take pictures while on the tour, I’ll be sure to snap as many as possible at both locations. Who knows, maybe they’ll hire me on and I can become a part of the magic that is Bell’s.

Kirby Chambliss (winner) navigating the pylons at the south end of the circuit.

I spent the past weekend with Cheryl (and her parents on Sunday) watching the 2008 Red Bull Air Race on the Detroit River inbetween Detroit and Windsor. While we were only going to go for Saturday’s qualifying, we decided at the last minute to head back up Sunday morning to catch the race, and I’m definitely glad that we did. Not only did we get to see some amazing flying, I was able to score a seat right on the river’s edge (literally, if I moved forward a foot I would have gotten severly wet). While I was able to get some great pictures, I really would have loved to have the Canon G9 I have talked about in the past.

• Detroit Red Bull Air Race - Qualifying
• Detroit Red Bull Air Race - Race

• Video: Low F-18 flyby.
• Video: Aerobatics pass by a team from Canada.
• Video: Paul Bonhomme's run through the course on race day.
• I really hope they decide to come back to Detroit again next year; I’d love to stay up in Windsor for the race weekend!