FlaSoxxJim

This one is sad, though Don had been sick for some time. RIP Captain. Don Van Vliet, better known to his cult of admirers as Captain Beefheart, is gone, from multiple sclerosis, roughly a month before he would have been 70.

Jaundice is not particularly healthy.

On Buehrle! On EJ! On Gavin! On Danks! On Peavy? or Sale?? To Boston with Jenks!

Barney Miller star Steve Landesberg Played Detective Dietrich on Barny Miller.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 17, 2010 -> 11:45 PM) I guess I should clarify a bit...in the metropolitan areas of the North, Midwest, and West Coast, vodka seemed to supplant whiskey and bourbon as the hard liquor of choice. But my beloved brown liquors are rising again in popularity. Boo vodka. Yea delicious brown liquor.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Dec 18, 2010 -> 09:51 AM) Never should two guys pee right next to each other unless there are dividers. I would definitely use the short one to avoid this situation. I bet you have a hard time in trough situations at old sports stadiums and college bars.

Should have turned and given him the ol' damp pantleg treatment.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 16, 2010 -> 02:28 AM) Great to hear that it went terrific, but really it's good booze so how couldnt it Good booze is an advantageous starting point, that is very true.

Got through the bartending gig last night, and it went superbly. I honestly have never made drinks for more than maybe 10 people at a time at casual parties, so I was nervous about keeping 50 or so people lubricated. Cheating and having beer, wine, champagne, and a crock of hot buttered rum (it dipped down to about 28 degrees) at self-serve stations helped a lot and I only had to deal with mixed drinks. The six cocktail special event menu went over well and I also managed to spin up four of the six cocktails that didn't make the cut. The bellini and my two original cocktails (Perfect Pear and Podgy and Jasper rum punch) were the most populat drinks, followed by the Trinidandy Zaya daiquiri and the St. Germaine champagne cocktail. A few adventurous types braved the egg white-containing Hawaii Cocktail, although at the end of the night many more people were happily sipping fresh eggnog with rum, brandy, cream and fresh whole eggs direct from the hostess' hen house. When I was busy I was thankful for the easy drink crowd that just wanted neat scotch or bourbon and soda or vodka tonics, etc. For the most part I kept up with a steady stream of orders for 5 hours. Being a private party I didn't have to worry about ringing up customers, and I think that would actually be the biggest pain in the butt as a professional bartender. I got a lot of compliments on the cocktails. Most gratifying was having several guests, including bar and restaurant staffers, ask how long I'd been bartending. About halfway through the night I was joined by a very charming woman who decided to jump in and barback for me. She was engrossed by every detail of the cocktail construction and by the end of the night she had graduated to shaking up and serving a couple of drinks on her own with just a bit of sideline coaching from me. After the party wound down a couple of her friends told me that she was normally pretty reserved and uptight (she works in finance) and they had never seen her cut loose like that before, so that was pretty cool. I also got a nice bottle of Pamperno Anniversario anejo rum from the hostess as a token of her appreciation, which is much appreciated. All in all, a very fun experience.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 15, 2010 -> 11:23 PM) I passed it off to Flaxx, but he must be busy like everyone else recently. Yeah, he is, but he just got a bit less busy. Sorted list back to you tomorrow!

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Dec 13, 2010 -> 01:42 PM) My wife and I have toyed with the idea of moving to Central Florida for about 9 months now. Our biggest hold back was my wife's family, we didnt want to "offend" her mother by "turning out back" on Iowa and "deserting" the family. Well, this morning my wife "jokingly" said "I may have to move somewhere warm." To our surprise, her mom said that sounded great, as long as we moved somewhere that's warm all year so they can come during the winter! The shackles are off! Florida, here we come! We're all full, actually, and don't need anymore transplants.

Fops and dandies dislike cornbread while real men embrace it.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 10, 2010 -> 08:33 PM) We need a recap of the event Jim! The big party is not until this Tuesday. The six drinks that were selected are the bellini, St. Germaine cocktail, Hawaii cocktail, perfect pear, Trinidandy, and Podgy and Jasper. I was a bit surprised at the final selections — the hostess and her accomplices all purported to not like very sweet drinks, but most of what they picked is on the sweet side of the sweet/savory spectrum. I was most disappointed that the pisco sour didn't make the cut. At the same time, I think all the drinks I offered are quite good or I wouldn't have put them on the candidate hit list.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 10, 2010 -> 08:09 PM) So I whirled up the Jaspers mix and made the punch. First tue Wray & Nephew is far sweeter smell g than I expected. Unless you really get your nose in there, the alcohol is fairly well hidden. That said, I'm not about to take this straight. I made the mix with a little less sugar but I thought it tasted really good so I didn't want to keep adding. The drink is actually very good. Strong but with a great mix of sweet as well. A sipper, but I am surprised by it's flavor. Not an everyday drink, but I will make my way through the Jaspers faster than I would have expected. Excellent! Sweet and fruity on the nose of the J Wray for sure. My prediction is you will begin to crave the stuff before too long. I believe I have posted the Podgy and Jasper recipe here before but again, it is 1 oz. each of light rum, Coruba, and Jasper's mix, and 1/2 oz/ of honey (I also usually add 1/2 tsp. of allspice dram but it is excellent without it as well. Please try this one and let me know what you think.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 10, 2010 -> 01:17 AM) It seems I'm going to lose a lot of respect for people via this list. Glad to report BM BL Lime did not make the list.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 10, 2010 -> 09:30 AM) Man, the amount of times I've gotten accidentally drunk while doing geology... "Make mine on the rocks" has got to be an overused phrase. Just like the punchline for every parisitologist joke is, "Well, if you encyst".

Aardvarks really want to be first in line.

Y chromosomes predispose us to mindless repetitive tasks, but as Mr. Harrison once said all things must pass.

Vacillating posting tempo is indeed noteworthy.

Suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, yo. Tardiness has lost the day.

qft

Had a successful pre-party tasting of 12 different cocktails which the hostess and two friends, after much debate, winnowed down to six specialty cocktails to serve at Tuesdays birthday bash. I lost track of the decision-making process and will find out later today what drinks were actually selected. It will drop to a freezing 27ºF that night, so I'm throwing a bonus crock pot of hot buttered rum into the mix. I think I mentioned it, but the hostess' house is an amazingly eclectic museum-like place with Delta dirty blues art (she used to co-own a Delta bar) juxtaposed to Central American sculptures, etc. There is barely an inch of space on any wall or floor to fit any more art. She has published eight books on Feng Shui and she certainly knows how to make space something really special and inviting. She also cooked an amazing dinner consisting of crawfish etouffee served over baked apple with young artichoke and Brussels sprouts. Wow! There will apparently be 50+ people at the party, so it will far and away be the most people I've aver played bartender for.

Opa!!!

Morte!