Al margen de esta anecdota, visiten esl sitio y vean el corto, muy bueno.

Stella Artois is sponsoring the London Bloggers' Summer Social next week, so we can look forward to a glass or two of free wife-beater...

They've also challenged us to describe our local watering hole in 150 words or less, stating the reasons that keep us going back, sooooo I wrote a poem. No one said the competition entry couldn't be in poetry... then again, none of the other entrants has waxed lyrical about a pub throughout their entire entry. So far, that is. The closing date is Friday 25th July, so perhaps there'll be more poems by then.

Below you will see my entry, referring to Gordon Ramsay's Warrington Pub, which is located altogether too close to our home. I love it there. It has an amazing polychromic front porch decorated with stunning art nouveau tiles, and a beautiful old double-sided bar in carved mahogany. Thank heavens it didn't go All Bar One on us. We should treasure our old beauties like the Warrington. There's altogether too much sanding of pub floorboards going on.

Before you find out what the competition prize is, I must now subject you to my first ever attempt at poetic pub reviewing:  

The No-F-Words Warrington

The Warrington Pub down on Warrington Crescent’s

The local I frequent for R ‘n’ R.

The specialness lies in its Olde Worlde presence -

So different from cloned and identikit bars.

Last year it closed for some renovation,

As stellar chef, Ramsay, acquired the deeds.

For patrons whose interest is mastication,

The Warrington’s back feeding everyone’s needs.

It hasn’t gone posh with pretentious infection;

Builders swig next to the girls wearing Choos.

The staff will advise on your beverage selection

Whilst fielding your questions on Big Gordon’s news.

From dressed Cornish crab to a Casterbridge Ribeye

The Warrington should seldom disappoint.

The fishcakes are gourmet, they surely ain’t Birdseye

And old-fashioned bar snacks help add to this joint.

The only thing marring my Warrington visits –

A lack of expletives directed at chefs.

The atmosphere calm, there are no flying trivets

Or verbal abuse freely peppered with effs.

On LondonBloggers.net, Andy Bargery writes: "the prize is a trip in the Stella Artois Star over London Airship."

THAT's precisely why I decided to enter this competition. I've always wanted to travel by airship. There's something so Indiana Jones about it.

Although I was a wee lass in the 80's, I have vivid memories of the news stories about the Japanese buying up hallmark US properties, media companies and golf courses amidst that period of the dollar and economy being weak. But IMHO, A-B could have held off inBev, if they had only kept up with the market trends in their business of mass distribution. I don't believe the weak dollar and the economy is fully to blame.

For the past several years there has been been a lot of consolidation in the global brewing business. Take for example, Miller - that Champagne of beers. Miller, while HQ'd in Millwaukee Wisconson is owned by SAB Miller, the South African brew master of brands such as Grolsch, Peroni, Hoegaarden, Pilsner Urquell and everybody's favorite - Olde English 800 Malt Liquor. Molsen bought Coors..and the list goes on. If A-B had flexed its muscle and cash reserves, they could have bought more beer brands and built a better defense. The soda business is much the same - just ask friendly folks at Coca-Cola. In these businesses where locked up distribution and globalized brands is everything, you either go big or go home.

I'm less concerned about inBev making drastic changes to the A-B brands that people in the US and other countries love (for their Americana kitsch) and more concerned about the lack of having any US brewer with scale. A-B gobbled up many of the craft brewers years ago, so they are now part of inBev. Heck, even little north woods Leinenkugel up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconson is part of inBev.

And being the self serving adman that I am - just thinking about the branding possibilities for that yet to be named brewer have me thirsting for some great ad work down the road. I wonder if DDB is thinking about this yet?

In the meantime I'll continue to have a Bud every once-in-a-while as well as a Stella. And BTW did you know that in the UK and Europe that Stella is commonly referred to as "wife beater", as in you belly up to the bar and order a wife beater and you will without question get a Stella. I found this out while going to lunch in London a couple of years back. As part of this deal, I sure hope domestic violence won't be on the rise.

Who will become the last American brewer to step up the the plate and speak for American brewing? Anyone have thoughts/suggestions - I would love to hear from you.

Yesterday, The New York Times reported the aquisition of Anheuser-Busch, brewer of red-neck American favorite Budweiser and , by Belgium's InBev. If you're a world traveler, or some pseudo-Euro hipster trying to appear trendy to their friends, you'll know that InBev's beer-de-force is Stella Artois: light, crisp, refreshing, and owning a cute reputation of being the beer of choice for wife-beating men.

OK, so Bud and Stella do have something in common.

The estimated $52 billion price tag would place beers such as Michelob, Bass, and Busch under the same roof. Although seemingly unprecedented due to the synonymous relation of Anheuser to "the American beer", mergers between The Miller Brewing Company and South African Breweries in 1999, or
the Adolph Coors Company and Molson of Canada in 2005 does not make this deal necessarily the first.

Many Americans have spoken out against the merger, including Barack Obama and John McCain, who's wife Cindy is chairwoman to a large Anheuser-Busch distribution company. More importantly, America's favorite patriot, Stephen Colbert, delivered a tirade of his own last night, and is below for your viewing pleasure:

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1393803&w=425&h=350&fv=videoId%3D176176]

[Yahoo! Answers] [Wikipedia]

www.stushietoon.blogspot.com

InBev adquire cervejaria dos EUA e torna-se líder global

A cervejaria americana Anheuser-Busch fechou ontem sua aquisição por US$50 bilhões pela belgo-brasileira InBev, segundo fontes citadas ontem à noite pela agência de notícias "Reuters" e o jornal "The Wall Street Journal". O negócio criará a maior cervejaria do mundo em volume.
Não foi possível obter declarações da InBev, fabricante da Stella Artois, nem da Anheuser, que produz a Budweiser.
A nova empresa será chamada Anheuser-Busch InBev, disse uma fonte que exigiu anonimato. A Anheuser terá cadeiras no conselho de direção da nova empresa, mas, segundo a fonte, ainda não está claro quantas.
O acordo marca a resolução amigável da saga que vinha se desenrolando há um mês e estava ganhando característica cada vez mais hostil, à medida que as duas empresas processavam uma à outra e a InBev procurava criar condições para tentar substituir o conselho de direção da Anheuser.
A InBev, cujo presidente é o brasileiro Carlos Brito, tinha proposto seus próprios nomes para compor o conselho. Entre eles estava o de Adolphus Bosch IV, tio do atual executivo-chefe da Anheuser-Busch.

Na semana passada a InBev atraiu a Anheuser à mesa de negociações, elevando sua oferta de US$ 65 a ação para US$ 70, 27% acima do recorde de preço das ações da Anheuser, alcançado em outubro de 2002.
Fontes revelaram que as duas companhias e seus assessores se reuniram em Nova York no fim de semana, discutindo detalhes da nova empresa conjunta, os papéis a serem exercidos pelos executivos da Anheuser e a estrutura do conselho de direção. Também foram discutidas no fim de semana as taxas a serem pagas se o acordo não fosse selado.
No mês passado, a InBev procurou tranquilizar a Anheuser em relação a algumas de suas preocupações, dizendo que manteria a sede da empresa americana em Saint Louis. Também foi dito que a principal cerveja da Anheuser, a Budweiser, tornaria-se a marca principal da nova companhia.
O sindicato que representa trabalhadores das 12 cervejarias da Anheuser nos EUA pediu uma reunião para discutir a oferta inicial para que pudesse "cumprir sua responsabilidade de aconselhar e proteger seus filiados". Mas não está claro se a reunião entre a InBev e o sindicato aconteceu de fato.
A aquisição da empresa americana que é ícone em seu país provocou reações de ultraje entre alguns políticos, incluindo o candidato presidencial democrata Barack Obama.

Outro obstáculo para a concretização do negócio é que qualquer acordo com a Anheuser é complicado pela relação dela com a maior cervejaria do México, o grupo Modelo, fabricante da cerveja Corona. O Grupo Modelo, que já pertence em 50% à Anheuser, tem o direito de escolher seu sócio e, portanto, de participar nas discussões de qualquer aquisição da Anheuser-Busch. Não foi possível obter declarações do grupo.
Analistas disseram que é provável que o Modelo aprove a compra da Anheuser pela InBev e que espere que a cervejaria belga se mostre uma parceira mais dinâmica e inovadora que a maior cervejaria dos EUA.
Enquanto a Anheuser controla quase metade do mercado americano, com marcas como Budweiser, Bud Light e Michelob, a InBev ocupa posições fortes na Europa ocidental e América Latina e está crescendo na Europa oriental e Ásia.
Formada em 2004 pela fusão da belga Interbrew com a brasileira AmBev, a InBev tem sua sede na Bélgica e é comandada por uma equipe de direção em sua maioria brasileira. ]]> http://axisofright.wordpress.com/?p=2581 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:10:04 +0000 Ryan http://axisofright.wordpress.com/?p=2581

The Belgian brewing company InBev is going to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52 million.  While many details are still being negotiated, the deal will probably become reality.  If that is the case then, in my opinion there are two different ways of looking at this:

1.  This is a dark day for America.  As the Belgians buy-out the largest beer producer in America, America is a weaker, sadder place... we can't even brew and market our own storied/historic beer without help from those pesky Europeans!  Selling our souls for $52 billion?  Anheuser-Busch is a company which even survived Prohibition the honest way!  I guess there is a price one could set for selling out to the Man -- a Belgian man in this case. 

2.  Woo hoo!  To this beer snob, Bud sucks (always has) and Belgian beers are world-renowned for their flavor and potency.  So, even though under the new management Bud will still suck, in the eyes of the world we'll get a little more international "street cred" when soliciting our crappy beer to others.  InBev brews Stella Artois and Becks (meh) and Anheuser-Busch owns 50% of Corona.  Ultimately, this could signal a marked improvement to the average beer Joe Sixpack consumes.  Though this in no way will affect my own drinking habits, I believe this "sell-out" is an upgrade!

Reuters photo.

Okay, maybe not Stanley Kowalski but my British husband might want to take note of this.  Wonder how many good ol' boys are going to stop drinking this stuff due to it being bought out by those darn furiners!  Personally I'll stick with Yuengling thank you very much.

Besides those stockholders who are making big bucks, it seems nobody is happy with this deal. Belgians are concernced our high quality beer will degrade to the watery disgrace of a beer that is Bud, while Americans simply hate the idea of foreigners taking over. They even used Cuba as an excuse, while having a 27 percent stake in the Chinese Tsingtao. If you're going to protest because of some cold war notion, at least be consistent in your claims.

I am neither concerned that Belgian beers will lose their character and full flavor, we won't stand for that, nor am I worried about the impact this takeover will have on the market or any political implications. What upsets me is that Bud will be listed next to Stella as the new company's top beer. Seriously. What blasphemy!

A InBev, que fabrica cervejas como a Stella Artois e a Beck's, aceitou pagar 70 dólares por ação para a fabricante da Budweiser, acima do valor inicialmente ofertado de 65 dólares por ação, afirmaram as duas empresas nesta segunda-feira.

A oferta melhorada representa um prêmio de 27 por cento sobre o valor recorde das ações da Anheuser, registrado em outubro de 2002.

Anheuser-Busch...has entered talks that could see Belgian rival InBev announce a takeover in the next few days, according to reports in the United States.

St Louis-based Anheuser is said to have abandoned its opposition to the deal after InBev raised its offer from $65 a share to $70, valuing the business at more than $50 billion.

The takeover proposal has sparked uproar among customers and politicians at home who want the classic American brand to stay in US hands. Many people in St Louis fear job losses and the end of the brewer's longstanding support for local charitable and civic projects.

Some large shareholders in Anheuser though, including the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who owns 5%, are understood to have put pressure on the brewer's management to do a deal.

Some American brand names are still worth something - to someone.

And, according to the Wall Street Journal, it's a done deal.

New Boy works Saturday nights, and when we first got together, I would go visit him at the bar.  As to not tip the gossipers off, I would play coy, and have a few cocktails.  For the last, well, prob. a month, I have stayed at his place on Saturday nights.  The Boy (the cat) and I travel from computer chair to patio for a nick stick, then back to computer chair (and repeat).  When it gets late, we head for the bedroom and fall asleep to the low hum of the oscillating fan.  He comes home about 3 am, and I groggily awake for a few quality hours before we both head for slumber.

He just text me to tell me he won't be getting out early tonight.  Boo.

 TALK ABOUT crazy huh?!  When the ex and I broke up, I was going going going all weekend long.  Getting up early, and doing the household duties, then heading out for errands, visiting friends, and heading home at sunset to shower and head out.  Because The Roommate was basically -living- at her ex's house, I would venture out alone to party the night away.  My time alone within those months was VERY NECESSARY and extremely important to my recovery!  I met lame boys, bought all my own drinks in protest, and spent a few too many Sundays hungover.  

Nowadays I'm at my boyfriend's house with Boy, my Stella Artois, my new love child The Voyager, nick sticks, the phenomenal Mac PC (killer Apple iTunes shit on here!), and my blog.

What more could a well tamed, domesticated wild child ask for?  

Saturday, is this your way of telling me my life was too busy?  I'm not mad, I just want a simple answer to a simple question.  Please answer me soon, for my car keys are in view, and winking at me.....

Remember the days when Stella  was reassuringly expensive and exceedingly fashionable?

MYX Bar Tour Line-Up * Hilera * Chicosci * Taken By Cars

Generation Gap (Maffy, Me, LOLO Chuck, Miki, Carla) * with recycled crush Tutti Caringal hehe * i heart Raimund Marasigan * Tutti, what's that date drug?

Iya and Stella * Maffy and her not so innocent iced tea * Sandwich! * Happy Cousins * with Jokoness and Carlabee * clapping for Mong

Harrassment Haha * Wheee for Silent Sanctuary's Anjo * Vj Sanya * Ney The Kid * Boss Kassy * with Mr. Isidro (Fortuner, hindi wheelchair. Hahaha!)

-----

listening to: GMA news

Yeah, yeah. Expect it from men that they will defend each other until the very end regardless of the situation.

Haha, quite a sexist comment, eh?

Oh well, we girls stick together, too!

The MYX bar tour in Saguijo last night was a blast, as expected. Being with my girls, Joko-Carla-Miki-Kassy and my cuz, Maffy was a sanity-saving experience. Except for the part when I needed badly to pee but I couldn't because Miki was inside-- desperately trying to figure out if her bangs was kulot. Vanity over bladder infection, san ka pa? Haha.

Stella Artois. Finally got to try it. It was heaven in a bottle. It is now my favorite beer and I will drink it each time I have money to burn. Ergo, I'll have it twice in a blue moon. :p

Can't remember who asked me if the food in Saguijo is any good. We ate pizza, sisig, and salpicao (?) and I have nothing but yumyumyum to say. :) Ask Kassy if the chicken wings something something was delish. Didn't get to taste it. Rhyme-master Kassy's worked up an intense appetite last night. For more energy for taking pics!

Pics. I can't upload anything yet because there are so many things and and people I have to crop. Like Kassy. Hahaha. Singit kasi nang singit. Camwhore, camwhore!!!! (Haha, joke lang Kas. Labshu!) I'd like to thank her anyway for braving the rakrakan crowd in front of the stage to take awesome pictures using Carla's cam. Carla's going to upload pics tom. Joko, tonight. So expect a post brimming with peechures tomorrow. *sinister laugh* Watch out for my pic with my recycled crush Tutti.

Tutti. Haha. Paano ko ba naging crush si Mr. Caringal? Kasi all my friends have band crushes tapos ako wala! So the first sexy slash attractive band boy I laid eyes on, yun na. Eh siya yun. Bow. Sexy? Yes naman. Hahaha.

Me introducing Tutti to Maffy last night:

Me: Tutti, this is my cousin Maffy.
Tutti: Hi!
Me: Maffy, this is Tutti, my crush.
Maffy: Haaaaaaaaa?
Me: HAHAHA.

Sexy and attractive people. Hmmm... I spotted a few last night. I wasn't in my usual checking-cuties mode last night because I was too busy harrassing Lucas thru text. Lucas is my longlost friend slash neighbor who's now a doctor. He donated 500 ml of blood yesterday to one of his patients so he couldn't drink alcohol. No, I'm not exagerrating. He's a saint just like that. Dr. Lucas Bersamin Jr, if you're reading this-- I miss you! Can't wait to see you! Penge ng med cert! Bilis. Para makapagfile ako ng SL! Bwahahaha!

I digress. Ooops. :p

Balik sa kwento! Met coolerthantherestoferaserheads Raymund Marasigan of Sandwich. Found Mong Alcaraz too thin. Thought the new girl VJ was pretty but bland. Wondered what JC Cuadrado was doing there. Wowwed by Taken by Cars. Sober-but-acting-drunk texted several people. Tried to relate with new OPM releases.

Aaaaaannnndddd went gaga over Joko's stories about the Stock Market seminar she attended before the gig. According to the speaker, Mr. Gaite, one should not display cross stitch pieces. It would only show how bakya one is.

I think I'm digressing again.

Weh. I didn't get to finish the gig. Maf and I left with Chuck right after 6CM's set. Didn't get to see Chicosci anymore. Like I care. Didn't get to see Spongecola either. Because they didn't show up. Haha.

There's still Saguijo's 4th anniv to think about.

Check out the pics tomorrow. :)

Happy weekend, everyone!

-----

listening to: Sandwich - Procrastinator

1 I am a bit of a pedant about grammar and spelling. I realise of course, that I am now laying myself open to being corrected every time I write my blog but so be it....

2 My 25th wedding anniversary was on September 11th 2001. A very bad day to be celebrating anything. My (ex) husband had bought me a ring to celebrate the occasion. It was two long thin baguette diamonds - which looked too much like the fateful twin towers for comfort. I have hardly ever worn it.

3 My first pregnancy lasted 11 months. I was originally told my son was going to be born on 25th January but when I had a scan at the beginning of December, they said he was too small and my pregnancy wasn't as advanced as they had originally thought. They then said he was due on March 9th. He was actually born on March 19th. He still finds it very hard to get out of bed.... :-)

4 I was once on the television local news. I had been shopping in Waitrose and as I steered my wobbly trolley around a corner I was confronted by a cameraman and a woman holding a bowl of muesli. Apparently Dorset Cereals muesli (delicious-highly recommended) is selling like mad out in the Caribbean because they consider it to be an aphrodisiac. She wanted me to try a spoonful and comment. I appeared on the local news looking particularly startled and gormless, mumbling through a mouthful of muesli. Marvellous.

5 When I did my degree, I was the only girl in the class of 20 boys. At the time, Metallurgy was not a subject that appealed to girls. I only chose it because I did Maths, Physics and Chemistry 'A' levels and as I was spectacularly indecisive, I decided to study Metallurgy as I had been told it used all three subjects and I didn't have to make a decision. Bad idea. And as I was spectacularly shy too, I barely spoke to anyone for most of the time I was there. What a waste!

(This image is of Metal Corrosion and was taken with the PAXcam digital microscope camera on an Olympus metallograph at Battelle Advanced Materials. So there.)

I'm not tagging anyone in particular but I would like lots of you to have a go at this (if only to let me know I'm not as weird as all that!) Just leave a link in the comments so I can see how weird you are what you have to say.

I am very thrilled that Number 2 so has just arrived home from university after completing his final year. (Where did that time go? It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I was dropping him off on his first day - three years ago!) He gets his results on Thursday so we are on tenterhooks until then.... It seems so odd to think that soon he will be off in the big wide world. I could get all wistful about how time flies and start reminiscing about when they were both babies but thereby lies depression and gloom, so I am just going to show what HE was like as a nipper and move swiftly on....

You may have noticed that I have gone quiet on the bookbinding front.... The large album had a major disaster a few days ago. I was sticking the cover paper onto the board cover and thought I was being very clever. (Ha! I should have known better!) Instead of putting the glue onto the paper and having to manhandle a large gluey piece of paper, I thought, 'I know, I will put the glue on the board and then I can manhandle a DRY piece of paper into place'. Genius. Except that the paper wrinkled terribly when it came into contact with the gluey board (I'm thinking that maybe this was because the act of spreading the glue onto the paper, stretches the paper first but doing it this way, the paper stretches after it is on the board and so, wrinkles up).

I tried to smooth out the paper but I managed to tear it and as I didn't have any more of this particular paper, it was a disaster of epic proportions! And it was a Brazilian marbled paper I ordered from Paper Mojo in the US. However, I have to say, Shelly at Paper Mojo was a star and has Fedexed me a couple of sheets which have just arrived. (I ordered a spare sheet too!) Luckily, as Number 2 son is now at home, I have the extra pair of hands I needed to finish covering the book, so hopefully, the next stage will go a bit more smoothly.... fingers crossed.

I am listening to Coldplay's new album Viva La Vida and I like it very much. Have I ever mentioned what a HUGE Coldplay fan I am? I have seen them twice in concert in London and then I saw them at Glastonbury three years ago. They are fantastic live. This is the new Apple iTunes ad featuring them singing the title track from the album. I suppose it is just a coincidence that Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow called their first baby Apple?

The only other thing I need to rave about is the match I watched yesterday between Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the final of the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's Club in London. Sublime tennis - so exciting and as close a match as you could imagine. Nadal won eventually but Djokovic played wonderfully and it was a very close run thing.

What a shame my knee is still tweaking and I can't play tennis otherwise I would have played like a demon today after watching such an inspirational match.

Yeah, right.....

]]> http://blixity.wordpress.com/?p=225 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:12:43 +0000 blixity http://blixity.wordpress.com/?p=225 InBev, the world's top brewer and maker of Stella Artois and Becks beer brands, has submitted an unsolicited bid of $46 billion to buy Anheuser-Busch, America's leading brewer and maker of "The Great American Lager": Budweiser.

While reports say that InBev's offer of $65 per share is extremely competitive (considering that before InBev made its move, A-B's price per share was at $58), many Americans are opposing the takeover. Matt Blunt, governor of Missouri where A-B is headquartered, is strongly opposed and has reportedly ordered the state's Department of Economic Development "to explore every option and any opportunity we may have at the state level to help keep A-B where it belongs -- in St. Louis, Missouri."

Two websites are already collecting signatures to oppose the sale: SaveBudweiser.com, which now has 34,000 signatures, and SaveAB.com, now with more than 12,000. They are looking at the InBev takeover as a "foreign invasion" and vow to "fight to protect this American treasure."

Another American icon, the Chrysler Building, may also end up in foreign hands. On the same day A-B confirmed its receipt of InBev's bid, msnbc reported that The Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a sovereign wealth fund, is negotiating to buy a 75% stake in the Chrysler for $800 million. (This also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, itself now owned by Australian-born Rupert Murdoch.)

Globalization has come full circle. In the mid-1970s, the term "globalization" achieved prominence when American Express advertised the global reach of its credit card. American capital needed new global markets and the term implied a unidirectional move abroad.

30 years later, the flows of capital are moving in multiple directions as economic power decenters. While the world's wealthiest individual is still an American (Warren Buffett), Forbes reports the "dawning of a new era". Two years ago, half of the world's 20 richest billionaires were from the U.S. In March 2008, only four are.

America is beginning to feel firsthand the tangible and often devastating effects of globalized capitalism and neoliberalism, largely its own creation. These are effects that other nations have been trying to manage for at least the past couple decades since Ronald Reagan rose to power.

We're going to have to learn to play nice in the global playground. We no longer own it.

And soon, we might have to switch to: Cette Bud est pour vous!

And predictably, dipshits on both sides of the political aisle are wringing their hands about the plan. Imagine that Budweiser is a huge shipping port in Long Beach, California. Now pretend that brewery giant InBev is a bunch of Saudis, and you can practically plug the players right into the roles. InBev owns Stella Artois, Bass, Hoegaarden and Becks. Bad company to be in right there - pretend they're Saudis with a rich foam head.

Democrats in an election year are crying about the possibility of the Bush Administration losing another bunch of jobs if and when those dirty Belgians ship the factories overseas, not to mention what's going to happen when we pay good money for our now "imported" Budweiser instead of the good ol' fashioned $2 domestic bottle specials on Tuesdays. And $10 buckets!

And Republicans are worried about the loss of an American Symbol in the Bud brand. Oh, woe is us, we is out the revenue and how could big beer businessmen pack the pockets of pols if they're brewing overseas? It's like dressing the Marlboro Man in a striped shirt and a beret! Like putting a bald eagle in Union Jack underpants! (A visual I love. If only I could photoshop.) Other than that, it's capitalism all the way, baby. You got the money, you can come wander in and throw down that fat wad of cash and walk away with all the marbles.

What no one seems to be worried about right now is South American brewers owning Miller. This has been going on for years, and to this day, Miller still sucks. That certainly hasn't changed by virtue of ownership. And if anyone's bought Coors, no one would notice except the damn fools that drink the stuff. (And they don't count, because they're mostly so stupid Coors has to keep coming up with ways to tell them how to drink their beer. "Cold" can, wide mouth, etc. Dummies.)

Now, in full disclosure, I haven't really had more than a couple actual Budweisers in the past few years. I usually only drink it with sushi. Clydesdales across the country are dissappointed in me, no doubt. In fact, I don't think Budweiser is any great shakes, but for some reason I'll drink swill like Busch like it's going out of style. (It's actually a nostalgia thing. 30packs of memories.) I owe Budweiser nothing aside from a few pounds of fat and a lot of afternoon headaches.

I spent about 90 minutes at the Hopleaf yesterday afternoon, and in there I drank 3-4 beers whose combined quality (and possibly alcohol level) was higher than any case of Bud Light could ever try to match. Hopleaf knows themselves some Belgian beer - and I highly doubt that even hiding in a corner somewhere would there be a bottle of Bud, Bud Light, or that new Bud Lime travesty that's going to dissappear faster than Bud Ice.

Now, the Brazilians also own a part of this beer baron syndicate (a voice from the peanut gallery: "How many is a brazilian?" Ha-ha.) and the hyper-patriot Fox News viewer inside all of us should be swelling inside and screaming "ain't no south-of-the-border joint gonna take my Budweiser! No way no how!" And SaveBudweiser.com is hollering, " "We will need to scream now more than ever to make sure that the board of directors and others involved hear our voices and that we don't want them to accept the offer." The only thing the board of directors is hearing right now is that cash register clanging out billions and billions of Euros. Sweet, sweet euros.

I love the idea that otherwise patriotic Americans who believe in Truth, Justice, and Beer with Corn and Rice in it can think they can stand in the way of this deal. Guess what, kiddos - that capitalistic ideal society with free markets that you love to imagine existing in a post-liberal purely laissez-faire way can come back and bite you in your heavily-marketed-beer swilling gut.

Besides, do you really think that these stew-eating Belgians with their mussels and their chocolate want this beer company so they can mess with success? No, they want to fatten themselves on the lowest-common-denominator brewing that Americans love, and they can sit across the Atlantic and enjoy their Trappist Ales and their sweet, rich Belgian lambics and witbiers. Hell, I want them to start screwing around with it - the only thing a Belgian can do to an American beer is make it better. Buy on, InBev. See if you can't screw this thing up the right way. Not only that, maybe they'd finally put a rest to the whole Budweiser/Budvar trade dispute. God knows that keeps me up at nights. Sheesh.

AFP: Belgian-Brazilian brewing giant InBev wooed Anheuser-Busch on Thursday, vowing to respect its St. Louis heritage and not close any US breweries if it accepts a 46-billion-dollar (30-billion-euro) takeover bid.InBev, which already owns leading brands such as Stella Artois, Beck's, Leffe and Brahma, offered 65 dollars a share for Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday, seeking to build an unrivalled global brewer.

Even though the St. Louis, Missouri-based company said it would "review the merits" of the takeover, InBev faces stiff opposition from local politicians and beer lovers, who were quick to attack the takeover.

The success of the takeover offer will ultimately be decided by Anheuser-Busch's shareholders.

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