It was a very pleasant afternoon, considerably enlivened by the arrival of our friend James. James is a well-traveled man who brings an international flair to everything he does. Yesterday he brought some Norwegian beer to the party. The brand name was Aass (properly pronounced "oss"), and it came in a bright red can. You can imagine the downward turn of the repartee: "Hey James, nice Aass!" "Can I grab that big red Aass?" Etc. Between that and another guest's puppy, we were mightily entertained.