{"id":17243,"date":"2015-08-23T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2015-08-22T21:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=17243"},"modified":"2015-08-23T07:05:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-22T19:05:37","slug":"station-ident-23rd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/08\/23\/station-ident-23rd\/","title":{"rendered":"Station Ident: the 23rd of August"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Easter<\/a>
Graham George Cook (23 August 1940 \u2014 2 December 2014)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My father was the straightest-talking chap you’d likely ever have the privilege of meeting \u2014 except when he claimed not to like cats; that<\/em> bit was palpable nonsense.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> He was calm\u00a0and civilised in a way that’d make you doubt the efficacy of genetics if you’d met me, a loud bastard prone to ranting, first. But he certainly passed on his deep aversion to bullshit and his ability to enjoy simple pleasures, unworried by the vagaries of fashion or other peoples’ opinions as to their merits.<\/p>\n

Today would’ve been his 75th birthday. Early last year, he was diagnosed with cancer of a sort and stage for which medical interventions were all likely to do much more harm than good. But he quietly beat his prognosis by a factor of two or three, for which we all counted ourselves hugely lucky, and (to borrow the useful clich\u00e9) he\u00a0lived<\/em> right up until he died\u00a0\u2015\u00a0even managing a half-round of golf and a tidy-up of the garden (his two enduringly-beloved hobbies) just days before the end. As he’d planned\u00a0(and insisted<\/em>, with his beautifully serene\u00a0stubbornness)\u00a0he died at home with his family,\u00a0and as I watched I was awed at how he quietly and deftly snatched a\u00a0fistful of dignity from the\u00a0capriciousness of disease and\u00a0death. If you have to go \u2015 and I’m afraid I\u00a0must inform you that you almost certainly\u00a0do<\/em> have to go, some time, somehow \u2015 you’d do well to go out like he did; with pragmatism, authenticity, and grace.<\/p>\n

He would’ve bought me my first beer, and I probably\u00a0bought him his last. The beer that\u00a0wound up<\/em> as my first doubtless actually started out in his glass: I was a weird kid<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and took to bitter things, like coffee and beer, unusually early and remember wrangling small samples of each quite often. At some point in my teens \u2015 probably during my parents’ thirtieth anniversary party \u2015 my ration was upgraded to a whole serving. Dad’s tastes tended unashamedly towards the classic simple pale lager, stripped of any parochialism or brand loyalty. He was always open to trying the madder things I’d bring to share, but his favourites were his favourites \u2014 and there’s not a damn thing wrong with that \u2014 so I did my best to keep his fridge stocked with Dad-friendly stuff, for him and his visitors. Occasionally, in some kind of shock, people would comment on the ‘mainstream’ things\u00a0I’d drink\u00a0at his house, but I was having a beer with my father, and it was invariably quietly-but-utterly marvellous.<\/p>\n

So today, I’m going to dig a hole so we can inter his ashes and plant a tree. After that, I’m going to have something that might\u00a0seem<\/em>\u00a0out of character for a proud beer geek\u00a0\u2014 but it won’t be. I’ll have a beer for my father, since I can\u00a0no longer\u00a0have one\u00a0with<\/em> him.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My father was the straightest-talking chap you’d likely ever have the privilege of meeting \u2014 except when he claimed not to like cats; that bit was palpable nonsense. He was calm\u00a0and civilised in a way that’d make you doubt the efficacy of genetics if you’d met me, a loud bastard prone to ranting, first. But … Continue reading Station Ident: the 23rd of August<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18356,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2016\/08\/29\/yall\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":0},"title":"A festival for the rest of y’all","author":"Phil","date":"August 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So that was the week that was. The week that was a while ago, now. How time flies when you're quietly recuperating. Weirdly, given the work I gravitate towards, I'm a natural introvert and crowds of lovely beer nerds are still, you know, crowds. I think exhaustixhilirated just about covers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Observations"","block_context":{"text":"Observations","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Light-up signage at Beervana 2016 (Wellington Stadium, 12 August 2016)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blow-your-bulbs-at-Beervana.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blow-your-bulbs-at-Beervana.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blow-your-bulbs-at-Beervana.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blow-your-bulbs-at-Beervana.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18326,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2016\/08\/08\/hope-and-dread\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":1},"title":"Equal parts hope and dread","author":"Phil","date":"August 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The days are just packed. This is always a weird time of year to be a beer geek who works in the beer business; the combination of so much going on and so much to do warrants one of those legendary compound German words. I\u00a0am\u00a0exhaustixhilarated. This\u00a0is\u00a0terrificifying. So, naturally, Emma and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Metablogging"","block_context":{"text":"Metablogging","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/meta\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mount Taranaki at Sunset, on the way home (7 August 2016)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17373,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/08\/31\/chimay-grand-reserve\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":2},"title":"The end of August, Michael Jackson, Chimay Grande R\u00e9serve, and me","author":"Phil","date":"August 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On our roughly spherical planet, yesterday is still today for a good while into tomorrow. Which is convenient, given my topic. But then, whenever you're late to talk about an annual conjunction of timing, you're also just\u00a0really early. Anyway, the 30th of August is my birthday, and also the anniversary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Michael Jackson in the pub (credit unknown)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/MJ-in-the-pub-300x276.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17208,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/08\/21\/beer-writing-caution\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":3},"title":"Beer writing: a word of caution","author":"Phil","date":"August 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Most beer writing is crap. This should be unsurprising and uncontroversial for the simple reason that\u00a0most of everything is crap. Enshrined as\u00a0Sturgeon's law, this isn't a cynical or depressing conclusion; just a sound observation and call for better mental hygiene. But that strangely-comforting general cause shouldn't blind us to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediawatch"","block_context":{"text":"Mediawatch","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/interesting-finds\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"'The Ultimate Book of Beers' (2014) \u2014 here under fair use for criticism \/ comment","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ultimate-Book-of-Beers-Cover-300x216.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17136,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/08\/12\/beervana-absences\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":4},"title":"Beervana 2015 \u2015 upcoming absences and presences","author":"Phil","date":"August 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When the list of Beervana-attending breweries came out a little while ago, I stayed up late and made a spreadsheet comparing the attendees over the last few years against\u00a0the Brewers Guild membership and the list of standholders at this year's Great Kiwi Beer Festival. Obviously. And while it's definitely true\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Observations"","block_context":{"text":"Observations","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Er, somethingbeer from someonebrewery (Beervana, 22 August 2014)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Beervana-2014-1-wide.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Beervana-2014-1-wide.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Beervana-2014-1-wide.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Beervana-2014-1-wide.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20086,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2019\/02\/28\/headcount\/","url_meta":{"origin":17243,"position":5},"title":"A New Zealand brewery headcount","author":"Phil","date":"February 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to know how many breweries there are in New Zealand. And I honestly think it's strange that it's a hard thing to find out. Even the smallest of them is visible from hundreds of metres away, and they are usually literally bolted to the ground. This shouldn't be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediawatch"","block_context":{"text":"Mediawatch","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/interesting-finds\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/One-brewery-wide.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/One-brewery-wide.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/One-brewery-wide.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/One-brewery-wide.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/One-brewery-wide.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17243"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17368,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17243\/revisions\/17368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}