FlaSoxxJim

We have five cats who are Christmas tree veterans and one kitten who will go crazy on the tree once we get it up. Yes, I am secretly an old crazy cat lady. My wife and I have gotten real trees since the first year we started dating in 1992, and we have religiously cut a bit of stump off of each one and written the year on each and made ornaments out of them. They are hands-down my favorite ornaments ever.

Mike the Muckraker.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 11:12 AM) I have a simple beliefe when it comes to psychics and ghosts... I'll believe it when I see it. If I see a ghost, I'll believe. If I am told something by a psychic that isnt "vague" that comes true, i'll be willing to be open to the possibility that there are psychics. Psychics are a myth, just like Bigfoot, and the Liberal Media Bias. Now, Chupacabras on the other hand are totally for real.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 10:04 AM) i have no argument with that You guys had better stop disrespecting the King of the World.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 10:04 AM) So, we have a pre-lite tree that goes together in three parts.... the top third wont light up... D'OH!! “I'll take it home to my workshop, my dear. I’ll fix it up there. Then I’ll bring it back here.”

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 01:49 AM) I'm sure you haven't, but I figured I'd ask, have you ever tried any European rakija's? Basically a brandy made from (usually) plums or grapes. There's also the homemade moonshine versions. Actually, I have. I had commercial bottled Tikves rakija from Macedonia when I was visiting friends in Chicago back in July. I didn't think too much of it, but that's not too suprising since I had it straight rather than mixed into something. I'm not a fan of Peruvian or Chilean pisco brandy on its own, but it absolutely sings when put into the right cocktail. I assume it's the same story with rakija, yes? OK, the big question. . . have you had Jeppson Malort and what did you think of that experience??

Fun stuff for sure. I've seen that Tex follows/likes the TDN Facebook page, but I have yet to see him throw his 10-gallon hat in the ring with a cocktail submission. My submissions all fall under the TDN user handle of "Sunny&Rummy" if you end up tuning in to score at home.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 01:19 AM) The feds have pretty much said they'd lay off them on this one. Afterall, the states are supposed to be the "laboratory" for policy change. I really don't think there would be any serious legislation sought against California by the Feds. But that totally comes down to the particular administration of the day. The minute we get a hard right social conservative administration back in power the first thing it will do will be to challenge/overturn progressive legislation that threatens conservative social norms. imo, there's no point in pushing on this because it will be overturned in short order as the voter pendulum continues to skew right.

On an unrelated note. . . there is a loose affiliation of booze bloggers and e-cocktilians that get together online in a Thursday Drink Night Forum that I quite enjoy. It's kind of like Iron Chef with a special ingredient every week that all the participants have to spin into an original cocktail. Very often the special ingredient is a high end, top shelf category like Martinique Rum or aged tequila, and the folks that show up tend to be top-notch cocktail folks who throw out all sort of interesting recipes that we all try out and critique. Well this week we're looking at a very different strain of special ingredient: Bumwine!!! That's right. Probably the most creative mixologists I've ever encountered are being tasked with making a decent cocktail out of bum swill crap I would have been ashamed to have been caught drinking when I was 15. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one. For my evening's entry I'm thinking of a Joe Cocker homage drink called "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" that somehow successfully marries MD 20/20, Pimm's, English fizzy lemonade, and perhaps a garnish of English cucumber and canceled food stamps.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 11:59 PM) Why do you suppose California was even entertaining the notion then, Balta? It's certainly not an entirely financial-based decision (especially when the state of California will end up with a huge legal bill for the court costs they will incur once they are legally at odds with federal authorities on marijuana). It just makes sense for largely progressive California to be at the front of this debate.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 12:36 AM) Seriously, regardless of the money, she's not going to have a clue what many of those ingredients are even for... My ignorant and ill-informed advice would be to shoot for 10-12 "classic" cocktails with your special twist on them.... That will pare down the ingredients but also provide you with enough to make a pretty vast array of drinks off the menu. Not ignorant and ill-informed at all. That is probably the best battle plan. And it's not like I don't play bartender for my friends when we get together — a gig I willingly take on. But I tend to limit myself to a couple of feature drinks on any given night since I typically shell out for the booze when we have casual get-togethers. Over the last 18 months or so this has even been tricky, since I have maybe six friends who now insist that their new favorite cocktail (from previous cocktail nights) is always a shaker away in addition to the drinks I plan on making.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 1, 2010 -> 12:21 AM) Can't wait to see how all this plays out....my guess is that your hostess is going to freak when you show your ingredients list to her though... That is certainly a concern. She is pretty well off, an artist type who owned/co-owned couple bars and restaurants in the day and I think now makes her money as an art dealer, but I still don't have a clear read on how much she wants to invest in what she considers to be a home-hosted girls' night party. I only know her peripherally but two of my best friends (my favorite lesbian couple) are part of her girls' club so I'm going to have them help me gauge how high-dollar she wants this to be. Maybe I'll just go for the unexpected and pour Boone's Farm and Natty Light.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Nov 23, 2010 -> 12:33 AM) So I have accepted my first paying bartending gig a couple of weeks from now! It's a private party at a really cool house with a bar that was reclaimed from an old restaurant the homeowner once owned. I have been asked to design a menu of classic and unusual cocktails and give them the booze list and the Booze Fairy will magically have everything ready and waiting for me on event night. I'm pretty excited, and I'm trying to work down to a list of maybe a dozen featured cocktails in addition to more standard mixed drinks. If anyone is interested I will post my menu once I have it figured out. I'm sort of hoping this goes really well and I can get some word of mouth in the beachside high-roller community and maybe get a few more gigs like this down the line. My bartending debut is two weeks away. I think I have come up with a very good master list of 30 or so cocktails that the party organizers can help me winnow down. I'm coming to the obvious conclusion that the number of cocktails I will be able to offer is going to come down to how much the hostess is willing to spend stocking the bar. I can understand her not wanting to shell out for a bottle that I might only use a couple of ounces of, but the flipside is she will get what she pays for. I think my best approach is to try very hard not to have too many ingredients that are only used in a single menu drink — and that get's sort of hard when ingredients like Peruvian pisco and artisinal mezcal are essential to one cocktail you want to offer but almost never make their way into anything else. If I have to limit to a single bourbon (rather than one mainstay bourbon, one small batch, and a rye), I think Bulleit is going to get the nod. It has enough rye character to work in a Manhattan but hopefully also will play nice in standard bourbon drinks as well as the Ninth Ward signature cocktail that I will insist on putting on the menu and really has to be made with Bulleit. If limited to a single gin, I guess Plymouth would have to be it (though I'd like to also have at least Hendrick's and Bombay Sapphire on hand as well). Plymouth will play nice in most any mixed drink and has enough sweetness to sub for an old tom in vintage cocktails like the Martinez or the Ramos Gin Fizz. It also does make a very good martini although it would probably not be my go-to gin for that. I'd like to feature at least one brandy cocktail, so there's another bottle that will see minimal ancillary use. I'll let the hostess pick her choice of reposado tequila and I'll make do with that. I'll also need a couple of relatively pricey liqueurs like St. Germaine, Cointreau, and Domaie de Canton, and those are gong to cost a bit. For rums, forget it. I'm resigning myself to having two or maybe three rums on hand, which is reminiscent of a recurring nightmare I have regarding the home bar. This will definitely be an interesting experiment.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:04 PM) If there was anyone who actually was a psychic...why wouldn't they be doing things like making a fortune on the stock market or winning the lottery repeatedly? Because psychics understand that with great power comes great responsibility.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 12:56 PM) What is considered a loss when you sell your home? Getting less than you originally paid for or getting less than what you currently owe? Both, I would assume.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 06:29 AM) I'd just like to comment that there's a Dr. Harry C. Beaver who is an OB-GYN http://www.wellness.com/dir/2471590/obgyn/...harry-beaver-md Not bad at all. . . but it would be infinitely better if his name was C. Harry Beaver.

Soxy, I'm pretty sure you are right about I'm being way too nitpicky about a film I actually did think was pretty good. But some of the subtleties edited out of the film are actually among my favorite flourishes in the books.

"Alcohol, the cause of — and solution to — all life's problems."

Have brilliant birthday, Mr. Genius.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 05:53 PM) I stole it from a previous political conversation...the "2nd tranche of the TARP dollars". That sort of use seems to make more sense, as I believe the term is a commerce term referring to structured finance payouts or some such business I don't understand. Still, I know it's not a word I've ever had the pleasure of using.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 29, 2010 -> 05:34 PM) I can see how it's plausible that there could be something major in the next heap...I'm just surprised that if they had something like that, it wouldn't be released in the first tranche to make sure it gets attention. I have never used the word "tranche" in a sentence in my life, and now I must do so.

Rye bread is the best for corned beef sandwiches, Jews and Gentiles both agree on this universal truth.

Oy vey!

Loco family, singing all sorts of cool Jewish songs during dinner, and with with Sabboth sun setting, etc., but then they bust out with Christmas carols around the campfireand it took me by surprise.

Jewish family at the campsite next to us over Thanksgiving freaked me out when they started singing Christmas songs.