S1P00 - Introduction

For the past couple of years, my partner in crime and I produced a podcast titled Two Old Guys Drinking Beer. The podcast consisted of the two of us discussing issues, topics, and events that interested us. We truly are two old guys, both well into the second half of our lives. Two guys who drank beer together. Two kindred souls who have known each other for over 30 years. Two guys who shared some great and some terrible times together. Two old men who have opinions on almost everything and are willing to share them. 

A typical podcast consisted of a political/current events, a baseball, and of course, a beer segment. The political portion typically covered the antics of President Trump, his administration, and the GOP. We didn't agree with or approve of much. The baseball segment skewed toward our local and beloved Texas Rangers. We are both longtime fans. During the beer pieces, we would try a new beer and rate it. These were usually craft beers, many local to DFW, but we did sample beers from all over the globe. 

During the runup to the 2018 elections, we did also several podcasts with local candidates for the Texas legislature. 

It was a fun project. Both of us put considerable effort and preparation into the podcasts. I think we improved a bit over our run. I want to thank my partner for initiating this adventure. He also set up the infrastructure for the podcast, websites, software, hardware, and provided our "recording studio". Thanks to his son for providing our theme song. As a bonus, his black lab mix, Molly, served as our almost constant companion and executive producer. She was also in charge of some of our sound effects.

Like all things, our podcasting experiment has come to an end. The reasons are not important. We remain friends and maybe there will be other mutual projects in the future. 

Both of us still have our opinions and will be sharing them through various outlets. One of mine will be this blog. It will often take a similar form as the podcast. My take on a summation of current events will be a big part. When baseball spring training cranks up in February, I will be weighing in on that. I may also sample and critique a new beer or two on occasion. 

Besides this blog, you can find me at the following locations that are updated more frequently than here:

• Twitter - @BillyJim47
• General interest blog - BillyJim47's Blog
• Political blog - Trump Track 
• tumblr - BillyJim47  
• tumblr - Trump Track

I hope you will enjoy this newest effort of mine. It will loosely follow the format of our podcast. Mostly a recap of the political landscape with an occasional beer review and a baseball segment. I'm leaning toward keeping the political posts separate from baseball and beer. That is just a thought. I expect the format and content to evolve over time. I welcome your comments and feedback. At least to start with, reader's comments will not be moderated or need approval prior to publication. As long as everyone plays politely, that will continue. I don't expect you to agree with me, although that's OK too. I do expect you to be respectful and civil. 

This is the first of what I hope is a long continuation of a project that started about two years ago but in a new form. 

wjh