Easter Weekend Recap

Easter was this past weekend, which meant that I got a long weekend. It was the sort of long weekend where you do a whole lot of nothing, but you really enjoy not doing whatever it is that you could have been doing.

That said, I did still end up doing quite a bit.

In addition to churchiness—we Unitarians can co-opt anything—and the usual Easter dinner at the parents’ place, I managed to watch a very interesting documentary, see a good movie, and drink some nice beers.

Never Trust a Woman You Meet Online (Until You Meet in Person)

On Friday, Sara and I watch a documentary called talhotblond.

The film was a riveting true crime story, but I must admit to being a bit confused—and uncomfortable—with the way that the filmmaker(s) chose to put words into the mouth of a murder victim.

It didn’t really strike me until about half-way through, because for the most part it was just used as factual narration, but at one point the narrator (who takes on the role of the murder victim throughout the entire documentary) says something along the lines of, “I was glad that I wasn’t alive to see what happened next…” In my opinion, it was incredibly distasteful.

But, aside from that, it was a great movie, and I highly recommend it. If you can’t find it at your local video store, it’s currently available for rent in the Video on Demand section of both Telus’ and Shaw’s digital cable services.

Shutter Island: Awesome Movie; Potentially Predictable

Sara and I also watched Shutter Island on the weekend. The latest Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration,  it was something a bit different from what Scorsese usually puts out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and was hooked until almost the very end, when I suddenly felt that everything was wrapping up a little bit too neatly, given the nature of the film (a psychological thriller). Of course, the tidy little ending did get twisted a tad in the final scene; it wasn’t an unpredictable ending, but it was a good little twist.

In retrospect, the entire thing was probably very predictable, if I’d been looking for clues as to the ending, but I wasn’t. I allowed myself to get caught up in the atmosphere and ended up really enjoying the movie.

Bad Hare Day Gives You the Easter Bunny From Hell

Alley Kat has a rather unique take on the Easter Bunny.

I mentioned that I had a chance to drink a few different beers over the course of the long weekend. Most them, I’ve had before. In fact, I think I’ve had all of them before.

One which I don’t recall being too fond of the first time around, but which I thoroughly enjoyed on Easter Sunday, was Alley Kat‘s Bad Hare Day (A Very Hoppy Double IPA). This is one of the beers that Alley Kat makes exclusively for Sherbrooke Liquor Store.

I must admit that the main reason I bought this beer was because of the label. I mean, yeah, I tend to like bitter, hoppy beers, but the Snake Plissken meets the Easter Bunny looking rabbit, holding a grenade painted to look like an Easter egg, just screamed “Easter!” (Albeit in an incredibly irreverent way.)

The beer itself is a big one. It’s big on booze (7.8% ABV) and big on flavour. It’s very hoppy, as the name and style imply, but the hops are used well. They add flavour, not just bitterness. I’ve had some Double IPAs that are heavy on the bitterness without really adding any additional layers of flavour. This is not one of them.

The flavours are typical of a hoppy beer—floral notes, citrus-y, slightly spicy, and bitter. The high alcohol content is subtle. It doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks, nor does it taste like a big ol’ booze bomb. It adds a pleasant warming sensation to the drink, without overpowering the subtler flavours of the brew.

If you like your hops and you’re not afraid of a big beer, I’d definitely recommend Bad Hare Day—and not just at Easter.