FlaSoxxJim

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 04:16 PM) The one I had was quite good, but like I said not the best ale. I can easily drink cheap beer, in fact I love drinking it at parties. But Im out of shape and this summer I want to give up beer so that I can cut those calories out, but I'll be drinking quite a bit again next year. What are some low calorie drinks that I can get at bars for not too much? I was slugging down double rum and diet cokes, but those aren't always $2 (I lvoe Thursday nights haha). Scotch and Soda is a bit less in calories than a Gin and Tonic (tonic water has more calories than club soda), but I much prefer the latter. The desire to shed a few pounds here as well has put the calorie-conscious Gin and Tonic int regular rotation of late.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 12:59 PM) I think the 15 year old was $40 or so. The 12 year was about $25. Here, that would be a great price for the $12 and a lousy price for the 15. The ED12 here usually runs at right around $30 and the ED15 is around $33-34. I prefer the ED15 for sipping unless I want to make a really decadent mai tai, and usually mix more with the ED12 though I agree with you that it is also a fine sipper. It's not the couple dollar price difference playing a factor here either, the ED12 lust seems to be the one that rises to the occasion best in mixed drinks, and for me the somewhat deeper molasses and spice notes in the ED15 make it one of my favorite sippers. ED15 was actually the very first dark sipping rum I fell in love with. For an every mixing dark demerara, I still think it's tough to beat good old ED5. Here's a recipe using the ED12 that Booze Blogger ColonelTiki posted for this past week's Mixolodseum Thursday Drink Night online event. He had just mixed up a batch of Jasper's Mix to make the drink I had posted and then put this one up for the group to try. I already know your a fellow Jasper's Mix lover, and when you mix it with the ED12 I'm thinking you're going to like it Forbidden Bloom: • 2oz ED 12yr • 3/4oz grapefruit (white preferably, but use fresh for sure) • 3/4oz pineapple • 1/2oz Jasper's Mix • 1d absinthe or other pastis (I used 8 drops of Pernod ala' a Don the Beachcomber ) Shake on ice and strain over crushed ice. I actually just finished off the last of my ED12 and ED15 bottles within the last couple of weeks and haven't had the financial wherewithal to replace them, so for the Forbidden Bloom on Thursday I subbed 1 oz. each of Matusalem Gran Reserva 18 Year and good old ED5. Probably a good substitution because it gave some wood and some age but also gave the full demerara richness the drink is asking for. At any rate it tasted really good to me on thursday. if you try it let me know what you think.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 11:54 AM) In other news, El Dorado 12 year is simple amazing. Rich caramel and molasses with a perfect warmth. Mix it, drink it straight, have it with a nice dessert. I found the 15 and 21 year old as well, but that's way too expensive for my blood. The 21 year was like $80+. Yikes. Totally agreed on the awesomeness of ED12 — and for just a couple of dollars more the ED15 is even better! I have never had it but the 21 year at $80 is a steal. I know the 23 year old will set you beck more than $300.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 11:47 AM) I was cruising a liquour store today and stumbled on the Laird's Apple Brandy 7.5 year old. The real stuff. I know there is a 12 year old as well. The 7.5 year old was $25 so I passed (there was plenty sitting on the shelf and I have a bottle of Calvados that I need to get through). I was curious to try but I hate buying on impulse. I'm jealous, stuck here with nothing but plain Laird's 80 proof. What I really want is a bottle of Laird's Straight Bonded 100 proof. What was the proof on the 7.5 year?

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Apr 28, 2011 -> 11:43 AM) Thought I would pass this on in case anyone is interested. http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kids/mlb/c...+Canvas+Art.jsp http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kids/mlb/c...+Canvas+Art.jsp Enter codes SPRING15 and SHIP4FREE for an additional 15% off and free shipping. That uni collage is pretty awesome. I think you just found me the Fathers Day gift I'll get my Old Man.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Apr 28, 2011 -> 11:46 AM) One night on a road trip, three Chicago White Sox players walk into this bar . . . Stooges!!

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 28, 2011 -> 10:58 AM) If anybody was wondering, I'm okay. My brother in law was in Tuscaloosa, he almost died. His apartment was hit directly. He was blown out of it and tossed several feet, he saved a woman and her child, but got more hurt in the process. Numerous injuries, lost a lot of blood from a laceration on his foot, concussion, etc. It completely missed us, but came close. Glad to hear you were not in harm's way, and kudos to your hero brother-in-law. All my good thoughts go out to everybody that has been affected by these horrible storms.

The only mystery to my name is the extra X in Soxx. Same deal as KYyLE — I tried registering the name on the old MLB White Sox board back in 2000 but there was actually already a FlaSoxJim with one X registered so I added the second X. I don't believe I ever saw a single post from the impostor FlaSox which sort of ticked me off, but I've grown used to the mis-spelling.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 03:41 PM) I'd say some of Warren's best songs were written while he was drunk. Or while he was dying.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 27, 2011 -> 03:00 PM) ^ Julianne Moore I find watching Julianne Moore films to be a natural, zesty enterprise.

WOW!!!

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 24, 2011 -> 04:24 PM) Funky cave aged cheddar? Check Rodenbach Flemish Red? Check Happy G&T? check Oh and my dog loves funky cheese. Gotta be the smell. Belgian beer and good cheese. . . There's hardly a better combination out there.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 20, 2011 -> 10:55 PM) I added it. Netflix says I'll like it a lot. Be sure to tell me what you think of it.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 20, 2011 -> 06:33 PM) So I've been catching up on the classic gangster movies. Any recommendations for ones I should definitely see? It's not strictly a gangster film, but there is a lot of the same grit and mannerisms and great vocal patter in Sweet Smell of Success. 1957, Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, corrupt newsmen, dirty cops, drug plant setups, and forbidden romance - it has a bit of everything. As much as you are liking the classic gangster films right now, I bet you will really dig this one if you give it a shot.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 01:41 PM) Last night for dinner before heading to the bulls game I went to longman and eagle and thoroughly enjoyed a glass of La Chouffe and Westmalle Triple and topped it off with a delicious pork belly confit... i felt like i was in heaven YUMM!! QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:07 PM) Oh my god. That sounds amazing. It certainly does. QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:10 PM) La Chouffe just wasn't my beer, but Westmalle Trippel is delicious!!! As much of a Chimay Cinq Cents devotee as I am, Westmalle Tripel is the original golden Trappist tripel, and still arguably the best. And maybe the La Chouffe yiu were served in Bruges just wasn't fresh, because as much as you like the rest of the stuff you were drinking I can't see you noy liking Chouffe's stuff as well.

The wife and I snuck out to the 2-year anniversary party of our local craft beer bar yesterday. I did not win the bottle of Sam Adams Utopias that they were raffling off, unfortunately. I did , however, get to drink a Sierra Nevada/New Clairvaux Abbey Ovila Dubbel and it was marvelous. The keg version didn't have quite the rocky dense the bottled version might offer, but it was quite complex and very much a convincing Abby style dubbel.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 17, 2011 -> 09:46 PM) Well there's no doubt that people put in a lot of effort to get the ingredients right in these drinks and faking it just does not give the right results. I don't care much either way about the Goslings corporate bulldogs copyrighting the name "Dark 'N Stormy" (such that, if you don't use Goslings it is not a "Dark 'N Stormy" but a "Dark & Stormy"). Goslings just honestly works in this drink like it was made solely for that task. Pussers in a Painkiller is about the best comparison I can draw. Use another Caribbean gold rum and you can certainly make a serviceable drink, but if you want liquid poetry it has to be Pussers.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 17, 2011 -> 06:59 PM) I have to admit to cheating in my drinks. For a while, I replaced dark rum with some form of Appleton. I wanted to find Coruba (since everything seems to call for it), but it isn't sold here, so I finally bit the bullet and got some Myers. I mixed up a hurricane last night using the Myers and oh. my. God. It's far richer and with coconut and banana notes. I basically slurped that whole thing down in a couple gulps. Oh course, it didn't seem to work in the dark and stormy. A bit bland. Could be the ginger beer, or the rum. I also had a full blown syrup day. Simple, turbinado, passion fruit and orgeat. I'm set for a while. All very good. But when you do finally pick up some Coruba, you will never go back to Myers. It honestly is that much better. As for Dark N' Stormies, I am currently in heaven. I found a beachside market that caters to yachties and sells 4-packs of Barritt's ginger beer in the bottles, which is the only way the real cane-sugar stuff is distributed. Barritt's has basically been making it into almost everything I have been spinning up here for the last two weeks. And I am an Originalist as far as the Dark 'N Stormy is concerned. The rum has got to be Goslings or it isn't really a Dark N' Stormy.

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ Apr 17, 2011 -> 11:39 AM) Keep Me in Your Heart - Warren Zevon Shine On - Jet Just Breathe - Pearl Jam Great Choice. That and Party For the Rest of the Night from the same brilliant final Zevon album are the two songs I would choose to have at a memorial service.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 16, 2011 -> 04:49 PM) I had the Laganitas WTF over Christmas, and it was pretty good.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 15, 2011 -> 03:57 PM) My roommate is brewing his own raspberry winter wheat. Just tried it pre-bottling. AMAZING. that is a good roommate to have!

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 15, 2011 -> 09:47 AM) Never. Shingo was definitely the highlight of the 04 season. Same here.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 15, 2011 -> 04:26 AM) Although I may have labeled them wrong, it is meant to show just how great that last list of beers was. Jim, if you really liked Saison Dupont and Avec Bons Vouex make sure you try the Moinette, probably my favorite beer from the trip. My brother, who is a huge beer fan and is actually a homebrewer of about 3 years (he's only 24) and has won a few local awards, said that Moinette was his second favorite, behind De Garre. WHich, unfortunately you would have to go out to Bruges to try. And yes, we were limited to only 2 nights in Belgium, both in Bruges. I went to Brussels in my last trip ther, but found the city to not have as much historical sights or culture to see. So with only 2 nights for that part of the trip I decided to only take us to Bruges. We're now in Berlin, any suggestions for some good German beers? The oldest and most famous Berlin Beer Garden is Prater Biergarten dating back to the 1830s. That would be a must-do stop for me. If you make it there or to any of the large biergartens please take a photo and post it. Though you will be able to find a lot of variety I'm sure, THE endemic Berlin beer is Berliner Weisse, which is a world classic style. Very light in color, body, and alcohol, with just a slight tartness to most and a sharper tartness in some. Traditionally a dash of raspberry syrup or woodruff syrup are added to sweeten. It's not necessary and i like it both with and without syrup.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 14, 2011 -> 02:06 PM) Recap from Belgium Decent Beers: La Chouffe Rochefort 8 Delirium Nocturnum Bellevue Kriek Good Beers: XX Bitter Delirium Tremens Augustijn Saison Dupont Bels Pilsener Straffe Hendrix Tripel Brugse Zot (same brewer as the beer above) Great Beers: Moinette - Jim, this is from Dupont Brewers, the same that did Avec Bons Vouex (and Saison Dupont), they quickly moved up to one of my favorite brewers De Garre- a local only beer served only in a very small bar, 12% and served with cheese, absolutely delicious of a beer Straffe Hendrix Quad - the best from the local brewery in Bruges, blew the Tripel out of the park Consider me insanely jealous, what a great experience in the Disneyland of Beers. I have had all of your "Decent Beers" (and I agree with G&T you are a hard grader), three of your "Good Beers" (Delirium Tremens.Augustijn, Saison Dupont), and none of your "Great Beers". I'm sure they would all taste three orders of magnitude better in a Belgian bar or cafe. I note that blended gueuze lambics are entirely absent from the list. Is that due to Bruges beating out Brussels for your attention on your visit?

QUOTE (qwerty @ Apr 10, 2011 -> 04:14 AM) So far today i have watched the following: Dracula - 1931 Frankenstein - 1931. Freaks - 1932. In this movie they used all real freaks. It's incredibly cool to see. For the longest time this was considered the most graphic film to hit the big screen. Those of you who have weak stomachs may have a hard time... and there is zero blood shed. Just a note to the pansies out there... Daisy and violet hilton were siamese twins that were in freaks... 22 years later they starred in a movie called chained for life. Not a great movie by any means... but very interesting nonetheless.. i mean the synopsis should lead you to believe that much. The invisible man - 1933. Bride of Frankenstein - 1935. The wolf man - 1941. Man of a thousand faces - 1957. Bud abbott and lou costello meet frankenstein (1948) will likely be the last film of this theme for tonight... i tend to like end my movie viewing on a lighter note. Well that and i love abbot and costello, so this is as good of an excuse as any. ============================================================================ Flasoxx... have you ever seen man of a thousand faces? I only ask because it seems pretty unlikely that anyone else has seen it other than potentially yourself. People complain about the story, that it's not entirely accurate or what not, which is truthful. Only if you knew about lon chaney's real life would it really bother someone... the average person would have no clue other wise. Anyway, i asked because of cagney's performance in it, i think he did a magnificent portrayal, and it was just so much different than any other cagney film, which is what boosts it up a notch for me. Making your way through the Universal horror archives — I like it. Bride of Frankenstein is my favorite of the classics (as it is most people's I think), with Dracula a close second. Now, for a real treat if you haven't seen it, seek out the Spanish-language/Spanish cast version of Dracula that starred Carlos Villarias and was shot at night on the same sets as the Browning/Legosi version. I have it on the Dracula 75th anniversary set that came out a few years back. It is excellent. I have seen Man of a Thousand Faces, but it was at least 20 years ago. I recall liking it and not being too bothered with historic inauthenticity plus Thurston Howell III was in it, so what's not to like? On the subject of historic horror biopics, where do you stand on Shadow of the Vampire (Yes, I do know Max Schreck wasn't actually a vampyr) and Gods and Monsters? I think they are both excellent.