Cognitive Dissonance: Food and drink

NOW who's a Suffering Bastard

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:49:25 GMT

Trader Vic's in Bellevue closed this weekend. Fuckers. At least I have two of the Bellevue tiki glasses. These are specifically for the suffering Bastard, my favorite drink. That will have to do for the near future.

Suffering Bastard - Trader Vic's

From The Webtender Wiki

The Trader Vic's Version of the Suffering Bastard contains Rum, Orange Curacao, Orgeat Syrup, Rock Candy Syrup and Fresh Lime Juice.
[edit]

Recipe

Trader Vic's Pacific Island Cookbook (1968)
In a Double Old-Fashioned Glass with Shaved Ice.

2 oz Dark Rum
1 oz Light Rum
1 dash Orange Curacao
1 dash Orgeat Syrup
1 dash Rock Candy Syrup
Juice of 1 Whole Lime - save 1 shell.

Fill glass with Shaved Ice. Top with Metal Shaker and hand shake drink. Decorate with lime shell and fresh mint. Serve with a malt straw.
Retrieved from "http://wiki.webtender.com/wiki/Suffering_Bastard_-_Trader_Vic%27s"

Suffering Bastard - Trader Vic's - The Webtender Wiki

First commercial trip of CTMV - Wine by Sail

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:17:06 GMT

I've heard about this for a while, this company is shipping wines by sail, first to the UK, then to Canada next. There are a few things about this I like, it's clean, it should be better temp controlled and less expensive than container, and it's just really cool.

Hopefully it is a commercial success.

18 juillet 2008 BREST : CTMV-FairWindWine load 22 pallets of South Of France Wines onboard Kathleen&May Schooner. Destination : Dublin. Unloading for Gilbey's and Obriens importators the 25th July. 25, 26, 27th July, wine tasting onboard the ship in the center of Dublin.

First commercial trip of CTMV FairWindWine onboard Kathleen&May - Wine by Sail

Absinthe's Mind-Altering Mystery Solved

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:55:26 GMT

Yeah, after serving this at a party a while back, I can concur, it's just really damn strong. And it goes down too smooth (if you like the taste). The other side effect that some say is there is a stimulant, but that may just be the sugar that you add in serving. I

From Yahoo:

An analysis of century-old bottles of absinthe - the kind once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh and Picasso to enhance their creativity - may end the controversy over what ingredient caused the green liqueur's supposed mind-altering effects .
The culprit seems plain and simple: The century-old absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof kick. In comparison, most gins, vodkas and whiskeys are just 80- to 100-proof.

Absinthe's Mind-Altering Mystery Solved - Yahoo! News

I shall wear my cholesterol at half mast

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:19:50 GMT

Sad fucking news. As much as I try to eat healthy and everything. I really like a "eggabuffin un jubbo jaba" if I am out early in the morning. (that's "Egg McMuffin and Jumbo java" in morning-speak.)

Herb Peterson, who invented the ubiquitous Egg McMuffin as a way to introduce breakfast to McDonald's restaurants, has died, a Southern California McDonald's official said Wednesday. He was 89.
Peterson died peacefully Tuesday at his Santa Barbara home, said Monte Fraker, vice president of operations for McDonald's restaurants in that city.

Herb Patterson, Egg McMuffin Inventor, Dies At 89 - Business on The Huffington Post

A Day at the Salon d'Agriculture

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:15:28 GMT

With all the stressful crap in the world today, this is a refreshing short read. I would love to attend a Parisian Food Show. I actually got a chance to go to something similar when I lived in Moscow, since Yulia worked for a french importing company. But this sounds much better.

Quote:

As we made our way towards lunch in the food pavilions, we stopped to see the donkeys. Axelle was in search of soap made from lait d'ânesse (donkey's milk). Apparently, Cleopatra used to bathe in it. We both walked away with a jar of rich body cream that smelled faintly of honey. I was trying to think of a way to describe the purchase to my friends in the US. "Donkey cream" would probably be a mistake.
Entering the food pavilion, we hit the jackpot right off the escalator. A jury awards prizes to the best products each year, and we fell straight into the arms of Ghislaine and Réne Boutines, the médaille d'or (gold medal) for foie gras. So what if it was 11:30 am -- never too early for paté.
The foie gras turned out to be both magnificent and essential, because it's impossible to drink Armagnac (the next stand over) on an empty stomach. We tasted Daniel Dubos' 1981 (this year's médaille d'or), the 1979 (pow, right in the kisser) and a eventually settled on a 1989 (a kick at the beginning and a smooth warm tingle at the end). Their website is here.
There was also the delicate matter of sausages. We were looking for smoked. Au Bon Fume du Pays had a specimen of particularly impressive girth called the Jésu de Morteau (the Jesus of sausages), not to be confused -- as foreigners and heretics often do -- with the Morteau de Jésu (Jesus' sausage). Hallelujah.
We plopped down for oysters around 2pm -- fresh and sweet as skinny dipping in the ocean. With renewed vigor we moved on to the cushiony prunes of Agen and a taste of golden Sauternes, thick as maple syrup on the tongue.

Elizabeth Bard: Paris Notebook: A Day at the Salon d'Agriculture - Living on The Huffington Post

101 Dumbest Moments in Business

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:43:48 GMT

It's like a union of my hatred for American food, love of Disney, and some other crap that I can't be bothered with...

From Forbes:

13 - Disneyland
It's a fat world, after all
Disneyland announces plans to close the "It's a Small World" attraction to deepen its water channel after the ride's boats start getting stuck under loads of heavy passengers. Employees ask larger passengers to disembark - and compensate them with coupons for free food.

101 Dumbest Moments in Business - Disneyland (13) - FORTUNE

Family-friendly wineries

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:08:10 GMT

A neat article on wine tasting with kids. We did this with Sasha in Sonoma, and go with her to Ste. Michelle often. It's usually a lot of fun, and down in Napa they had the Jelly Belly factory as well. That made for a fun stop.

List from the article:

Kid-friendly Wine Country

Napa Valley Vintners has a list of family-friendly wineries on its Web site (napavintners.com) and Sonoma County Vintners (sonomawine.com) plans to add a similar listing.
NAPA

Copia, 500 First St., Napa; (707) 259-1600, copia.org
Children's garden, demonstration vineyards, child-appropriate food programs
Clos Pegase, 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; (707) 942-4981, clospegase.com
Wine caves, garden and picnic areas
Sterling Vineyards, 1111 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; (800) 726-6136, sterlingvineyards.com
Aerial tram ride, and crayons and juice for kids
Tres Sabores, 1620 S. Whitehall Lane, St. Helena; (707) 967-8027, tressabores.com
Wine caves, gardens and picnic areas, farm animals, call ahead - by appointment only
SONOMA

Benziger Family Winery, 1883 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen; (888) 490-2739, benziger.com
Vineyard tram tour, including cave, playground and peacocks, picnic terrace
Cline Cellars, 24737 Hwy. 121, Sonoma; (707) 940-4000, clinecellars.com
Aviary, train car, fish and turtle-stocked ponds, museum
Francis Ford Coppola Presents Rosso & Bianco, 300 Via Archimedes, Geyersville; (707) 857-1400, rossobianco.com
Coloring and juice, movie memorabilia, cafe open for lunch, plans for a pool and bocce courts in the future
Larson Family Winery, 23355 Millerick Road, Sonoma; (707) 938-3031, larsonfamilywinery.com
Coloring table, juice boxes and snacks, sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, bocce set, farm animals and swing
Quivira Vineyards, 4900 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg; (707) 431-8354, quivirawine.com
Coloring books, crayons, scavenger hunt, Popsicles, juice drinks
Viansa, 25200 Arnold Drive Sonoma; (800) 995-4740, viansa.com
Outdoor picnic area, Italian food market and deli

Not your parents' tasting room / Family-friendly wineries allow moms and dads to enjoy a few sips while kids play

Patrick says 'hi"

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:02:12 GMT

I've heard said from some site or another that "wine is art in a bottle," and that's pretty hard to disagree with, but it is much more than that. imagine going to the Louvre, and only being allowed to look at each painting once. And once you looked at it, anyone else who wasn't there at the time can't see it either.

That's wine. Once you enjoy it, it's gone.

Tonight we opened one of our bottles of Chateau Le Chatelet, from St. Emilion. It was the 2002. And this is the type of wine you hear people talk about when they describe fine wine. Truly amazing. We drank this while watching Firehouse Dog, a pretty funny kid's movie, and well worth the time.

We have three more bottles of this wine, from different years, and one magnum. it is wonderful to have enjoyed this bottle, but that's it. it's gone. This was a 30 Euro bottle and getting more isn't like going out and getting a case of 2 buck chuck.

This is a wine with just everything that you would dream about in wine, great structure, cassis and blackberry flavors, softened tannins. Just perfect. We tasted some nice Chianti afterwards and, though good, it is paint thinner in comparison.

I can't wait to open the 1998 magnum.

Eating at MS

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:30:28 GMT

My current Workday Menu:

Breakfast: Double Espresso and a Croissant.
Sometimes I am replacing the Croissant with a donut when they are available. The Crunchy Old-Fashioned Donuts at Microsoft are pretty good. Mostly I like to eat them because they only get a few in, and by taking one, I can deny that joy to someone else. That makes it all worth while.

Lunch: Soup from the Espresso Stand and a Roll.
We get good soup as well. I'm sure that someone took a lot of time at the MS kitchens, opening the bags from whatever catering company we get our soups from. We used to get Ivar's Salmon Chowder. I miss that.

So far I feel less sick eating these foods at work. I'm also drinking a lot of the Talking Rain water instead of Diet drinks. I'm also trying to break the habit of eating at my desk, but that comes later I guess.

I Hate American Food

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:57:37 GMT

Well, I am officially hating food more than when we came back. We went out Saturday to some really nice folks having a big BBQ at their house, and I was totally sick coming home. They had a good spread of Beer, Ribs, and other stuff, but I can really feel the difference of cooking with top ingredients (or at least low fat, healthy-ish), I just feel sick right away. Cheap wine does it too.

Ug.

Cannelés Bordelais

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:17:10 GMT

I am very excited to try cooking these this week. I got a set of copper molds when we were in France, and it is supposed to be quite a challenge to get right. But these are really amazing, and after a lot of searching, I found a good recipe online (the one that came with my molds is translated in English very badly. )

Cannelés Bordelais are humble French little cakes from Gironde/Bordeaux which very few pastry chefs manage to get right. In essence, it is a vamped-up crepe batter cooked in tiny copper molds until they become brown and crusty outside. The inside has to remain wet. A very nice contrast. After a few hours, the crust becomes less crisp because of the humidity inside, so they're best eated straight off the oven.
In St-Emilion, the few shops that don't sell wine-related goods all sell cannelés (pronounced [kah-nuh-leh].

Cannelés Bordelais

Girl who had 14 cups of espresso - wimp

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:25:30 GMT

All I can say is what a fucking wimp. We used to eat handfulls of coffee beans and wash it down with more coffee. Then we would go out for Espresso. Chuck and I used to pick up all the new brands of Energy Drinks, and if they didn't make us shake after 3, they were off the purchase list. [note: the exception to this was Venom, which made our lips go numb]. Wimp story below:

She began her coffee binge last Wednesday after getting only five hours' sleep the previous night.
"I decided to have a double espresso to perk me up," she said. "It did the trick so I had one after another and they seemed to be working. I felt great - as if I could take on the world."
By noon she was feeling unwell and crying and laughing uncontrollably in front of bewildered customers.
Miss Willis said: "My nerves were jangling. Tears were streaming down my face. People kept asking me if I was all right."
Her father sent her home but by the following morning she could not feel her lips and was struggling to breathe.
Miss Willis, from Stanley, County Durham, spent several hours under observation at the University Hospital of North Durham, where the caffeine overdose was diagnosed.
She said: "I was drenched and burning up and hyperventilating.
"I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast. I think I was going into shock".

Source: Overdose drama of girl who had 14 cups of espresso | the Daily Mail

Cul-De-Sac of fun

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:33:11 GMT

This Saturday was a nice little BBQ over at our place for the neighbors in our Cul-de-sac. We were pretty pleased to host this sine our last house was in a neighborhood where everyone was nice, but never really talked. The only group thing that went on in our old house was a neighbor who held a block-wide BBQ to get everyone by, and then try to get us to join his church. Klassy.

This was much better. The folks we have nearby are all a ton of fun, with good kids or retired, and a Hungarian couple next door. You can really tell the Americans from the Europeans. The Europeans all dress up to come over, and brought some serious food (Goulash, sausages from a custom-sausage deli). The Americans were in football shirts and brought Potato Salad. Like three different kinds of Potato Salad. (in their defense, that was really good potato salad). But everyone was cool, so we let the dress code slide.

We did our standard Ribs and Salmon, with some Fig and Prosiutto appetizers and other stuff. We feel it is always best to over feed your guests, as I am certian that there is a corner in Hell for those that starve people out in their homes, manned by great winged demons carrying trays of slightly dry cocktail weenies with toothpicks in them, who, when asked what else is there to quell your eternal hunger, are happy to point a long, bony finger towards the piles of slightly stale chips with onion dip, over next to the warm, light beer. Personally, I'm not going to risk it.

As I was talking and showing folks around, I led one of the neighbors into the wine room to shoe what was new, and pulled out a bottle of Eroica to talk about the wine. As I slipped it back in to the rack, the bin next to it got unstable (justthe wine, the rack is screwed to the wall) and a few bottles slipped out. One broke on the floor, and the other fell nose-first onto my ankle. I saved the bottle, but I still have a black-and-blue welt on my leg and I am limping. Fucking ow.

I had wondered why all the wine rooms that we saw in France had the bottles facing cork-in, and all the examples I see in the US are cork-out. Well, as I discovered, the bottles are not stable cork-out, once the top bottle tips a bit on a big stack, the whole stack wants to go. This isn't an issue on the individual bottle section of my racking, but all the bin racking that I have is getting turned around for stability. And for the health of my foot.

In any case, we finished the evening by bringing out some Absinthe, which was a hit, although most folks were sad when they didn't start to hallucinate, and start painting like Van Gogh. Nevertheless I offered to cut off their ear if it would make them feel better, as it turns out, that wasn't necessary, they felt better all on their own.

Dropping (Stomach) Acid

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:33:17 GMT

We had some friends over last weekend, and were doing the regular eat-and-drink fest that we enjoy, and with that came a confirmation of what I have noticed for some time: I just don't like to drink the same things anymore, to a certain level, I just can't. And I really can't take the same quantity I used to. Most of this seems to come from the fact that the really bad heartburn that I used to get has just moved into a sensitive stomach, back from the Iron Stomach of my college days.

Scotch just kills me now. I love the taste of a good scotch, but the next day I am in way too much pain to even be considered a bad hangover. Wine doesn't do this. Neither does beer, but I just don't like the flavor of beer so much, except perhaps Guinness. Pretty much beer is dead to me now. Rums and Bourbon don't seem to have this effect.

My new drink of choice would be Absinthe. I picked some up in France, and it was originally designed as a digestif, so no stomach problems. It is an Anise drink, so that's not popular with a lot of folks, but I really like it. The stuff I got is a real Absinthe (not the Czech stuff) but not a top-shelf brand. I hope to pick up some of the good stuff soon, one brand is legal in the US now (Lucid), and it is rated highly.

And it freaks the shit out of people, which is always a bonus.

Are you a Good Cook Quiz

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:02:37 GMT

Saw this online. I just can't resist these quizzes. Here are my results:

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning.
It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?

You are what you eat

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:38:12 GMT

Jesus I hate food now. You really get spoiled on good ingredients and fresh bread. The crap that we call food in America tastes like processed cardboard, but at least we get a lot of it for the money. You don't appreciate how good ham or chicken should taste, or that there is even a difference in test, Until you get used to eating really fresh food. And I don't mean that sauces make the difference, I'm talking about just plain meat. Even the best stuff from Whole Foods is just barely on par.

Fuck.

America’s Great Value Winery | Food & Wine

Thu, 03 May 2007 16:56:05 GMT

Really quite a nice article on Ste Michelle.

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, currently the 10th largest wine company in the United States, is a collection of wineries that includes Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest, as well as Washington-based wineries Snoqualmie, Northstar and Spring Valley Vineyard, and a couple of joint international ventures, such as Col Solare (with Italy’s Piero Antinori) and Eroica (with Germany’s Ernst Loosen); there are also partnerships with California wineries like Conn Creek and Villa Mt. Eden, and Oregon’s Erath Vineyards. Every one of these wineries has its own market position and production facilities; the company clearly wants them to maintain their individual identities.

Source: America’s Great Value Winery | Food & Wine

Wine Service in The President's House

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:07:16 GMT

A very intersting article on wine service in the White House, dating back to Washington.

The President's House, as The White House was known in 1800, was designed under the direction of George Washington (although he never slept there) to showcase the majesty of the new republic. It was expected to look and function like an imperial residence, entertaining visiting dignitaries in lavish fashion and dazzling citizens with its grandeur. Parties were expected to feature the best food and the finest wine, and it was hoped that guests would leave with unforgettable memories of their time spent in the company of America's First Family.
Over the course of two centuries, the house has changed greatly, but its role has not. An invitation to a White House social event still holds the promise of exquisite cuisine and superb hospitality. For White House officials, however, modern-day state functions present even greater social and political challenges.

Source: The Wine News Magazine - Wine Service in The President's House

QOTD

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:47:07 GMT

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame, then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "it is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." ~ Jack Handy

Gonzo Body Wisdom

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:11:42 GMT

I commented that I thought Hunter had a health nut streak in him to counter all the drugs/booze, etc that he took in. Lo and behold Anita posted about exactly that. First Anita, then the quote:

Although Hunter had an unusual constitution which gave him the ability to ingest quantities of substances that would down an elephant, Hunter was no fool; he paid attention to his body’s needs. The following is from one of Hunter’s last interviews with Tim Mohr from Playboy Magazine.

Grapefruit is vital to my lifestyle. I eat grapefruits, oranges, lemons, kiwis. I also need something green with every meal -- some vegetables on the plate. Even if it's just some sliced tomatoes and green onions in a pinch. It's both aesthetic and healthy. If I take a look at a plate and see brown, gray, white, I can't eat it. I want to see some red and green.

Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. When you don't drink enough water you lose your taste for it. When you're chronically dehydrated the body misses it, but it has a self-fooling mechanism where you don't think about it. Then you have to reeducate your taste buds for it. At first you can't drink much pure water. I've worked up to five or six glasses a day. At first I could barely do one.
I had started the hydration process before I broke my leg in Hawaii at Christmastime in 2003. Everybody had been telling me. I was going into the Aspen Club -- to the sports medicine department -- to learn to walk after my spinal surgery earlier that same year. I wasn't supposed to recover from that.
I've really enjoyed my body. I've used it. One of the things I've been most impressed with in my life is the resiliency of the human body: They did both my spinal surgery and my leg surgery without putting any metal in me. No metal, Bubba.

--Hunter S. Thompson, Playboy Magazine Dec 2004

Source: Owl Farm Blog: The Real Gonzo Body Wisdom

Screwcap Wines

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:35:51 GMT

I'm rather fond of sub-$10 bottles of wine. and with that comes a lot of the new screwcaps. I know a fair number of folks who just don't accept screwcaps. But here is an interseting quote from Rober Parker on that.

Corks will come out
I believe wines bottled with corks will be in the minority by 2015. The cork industry has not invested in techniques that will prevent "corked" wines afflicted with the musty, moldy, wet-basement smell that ruins up to 15 percent of all wine bottles. The consequences of this laissez-faire attitude will be dramatic. More and more state-of-the-art wineries are moving to screw caps for wines that need to be consumed within 3 to 4 years of the vintage (about 95 percent of the world's wines). Look for this trend to accelerate. Stelvin, the screw cap of choice, will become the standard for the majority of the world's wines. The one exception will be great wines meant to age for 20 to 30 years that will still be primarily cork finished—although even the makers of these wines may experience consumer backlash if the cork industry does not solve the problem of defective corks. Synthetic corks, by the way, are not the solution. They do not work and can't compete with the Stelvin screw caps.

Source: Parker Predicts the Future | Food & Wine

Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 17:53:45 GMT

As part of the benefits for Microsoft in the new MyMicrosoft internal promotion, we were promised new, Starbucks branded coffee makers in the building kitchens. Well, my kitchen has finally been upgraded and these little technological wonders are here.

To understand what a change this is, you have to realize that up to this point all the machines at Microsoft had been those industrial coffee machines that you see at airports, filled with stale Farmer Brothers coffee, usually brewed several hours earlier. This was a nasty concoction, but worked marvelously at eating the tarnish off of old silverware.

These new machines brew one cup at a time, freshly ground, and you can pick the size and mix. (50/50 decaf for example) We get treated to a symphony or whirring and clicking, and a short time later, Bingo! Hot cup of Joe.

This is officially good. Two thumbs up.

It was true in Russia, and it's true here

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:32:09 GMT

From Forbes:

Drinkers earn 10 to 14% more money at their jobs than nondrinkers - and men who drink socially, visiting a bar at least once a month, bring home an additional 7% in pay, according to a new study.

I have been trying to explain to everyone why I have a fridge full of beer and a cabinet of booze in my office. You see it's for Career Development. And no, I will not start going to those damn meetings, those weirdos smoke too much.

Full article here:

http://blogs.forbes.com/digitaldownload/2006/09/validation.html

Birthday BBQ Recap

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:22:08 GMT

This saturday was an excellent time, and I couldn't be happier with all who attended. Every year we have a BBQ at our place and this year the menu had 6 racks of ribs, a big pile of sausages, salads, beans, and threee different cakes. No one left hungry. We also had a full cooler of beer, just over a half case of wine, about a gallon and a half of Mai Tai, two bottles of Vodka, and a large dent in my scotch and burbon collection, and a few shots of the evil Chinese Wu Liang Ye. Even the non-drinkers had a buzz just from brushing against the skin of the drinkers.

A few events of note happened. One of our Tiki Torches burst into flames. The is the second time that this has happened, and though it was a new torch, it was i the same spot as the first fire. I was inside when it started, I came outside to a few nervous voices, to see the torch dropping little balls of fire and burning plastic onto the ground below. Fortunately, I had placed a fire extingusher near the BBQ, so I ran to put it out, only to find that this unit was empty. I then ran back inside to get the kitchen unit, and cam back out to see a raging fire on top of the post, which I was able to put out quickly. I hosed off the area, and put a new torch in place of the dead one. I gave my hands a quick Jedi wave and claimed that nothing has happened here...

I will be moving to metal torches this week.

When the cakes came out, we had sparklers instead of candles. These look cool, but apparently drop some carcinogen onto the surface of the cake as they burn. They also can't be blown out, and get really hot. fortunately i had no sensation in my extremities at this time, so i didn't notice this until the next day. (why do my fingers hurt?)

In all I was most pleased and feel fortunate to have a great group of friends to share time with. I'm also frtunate to have a great wife who worked so hard to set everything up and clean out the distaster afterwards. Thanks to all.

Now if someone can just tell me where the scar on my leg came from...

Thus ends another Birthday

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 05:30:39 GMT

So today completes my birthday, and throughout the day the only people who remembered have been the women i know and of course, Mr. Dixon. This tells me two things:

Women are far more intelligent than the average man.
The abundant consumption of booze makes up for this gap.

I expect to raise the intelligence of my discourse community this weekend via a BBQ that I shall host, this will include the consumption of many things, including my own liver, and my youth. Mai Tai's will be the order of the day, and as expected, the IQ of the group will rise as the drinks disappear.

Thi swill be put to the test on Saturday.

Man's Best Friend

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 05:02:34 GMT

This would likely be a prime opportunitty to talk quickly about Man's Best friend. And no, I am not talking about Dogs, although our new dog here is quite the charachter, there is nothing quite like some small animal who is excited beyond belief at your arrival back home, rewarding you with several strategically placed poops. Totally unlike my cats, of course, who are far less interested when you come home, assuming you dont have tuna fish on you, but understod from the first day where to poop, only breaking that rule when they are angry, and have a point to make.

But we are off topic, the point was Man's Best Freind, which everyone knows is Alka-Seltzer. Specifically, Alka-Seltzer Morning relief, but any of the variations will do in a pinch. there are those non-believers out there who do not know that magic spell woven by those fizzing wizards when you need them, and I am always happy to pull them into the light when needed. A notable example of this occuring was the MacWorld Expo from several years back, sharing a room with five of my close friends, this was our yearly geekfest and drinking binge. The particular year in memory, we har a rather nasty night of sitting about after the normal pub crawll, and polishing off a few fifths of scotch and burbon. Woe be to us for not realizing that that was a few Liters, not fifths, and we woke the next day not understanding the ramification of our mathmatical error.

My reaction to the pain and blurriness was to immediatly call upon my stock of pharmecuticals to try to bring me out of the stupor. With no glasses remaining (they disappeared along with a few chairs and the remnants of the booze late in the previous evening) I was forced to fill a paper glass cap with two tablets, and some water, and slurp the mixture down like a oyster. Naturally, it worked like a charm and I was battered, but back in business. The effects sold several of my crowd on the experience, and they quickly went through my stash of the stuff, resurrecting most of our party in the process. Sadly, there were lasting effects from the evening, namely something became unbalanced in the lower GI tract of a few of us, I suffering the worst.

Fortunately bathrooms were an easy find at the Expo center, and at the airport, and on the plane, with the fast dash towards same accompanied with the chant "Liquidation sale, all shit must go!"

I still pity the sad bastard on the plane who was seated next to that bathroom.

note to self...

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 06:16:35 GMT

at all times, on all days, Sake is much stronger than expected.

sobriety defeated!

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 05:21:04 GMT

it has taken most of the day, but the dark spectre of sobriety has finally been lifted. This was not aided by the bastards at the marriot pool bar who poured some of the lightet drinks possible. finally through the use of a bottle from the ABC store and two bottles of red wine, are things back to normal.

proper drinking behaivor

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 00:08:32 GMT

it is a sport reserved for the lowest dregs of our society, the sodden, cheap untermenchen, to get themselves kicket out of fine drinking establishments so quickly through the use of nudity, profanity and violence. these acts do nothing to build character of either themselves or the place of thir choosing. a true gentleman of distinction knows that the occasional expulsion from the public house should be a badge of honor, for acts above and beyond, that will be cheered in later years and willfully ignored by the establishment the next day, as they know it is to their bebefit to accomidate such as those who deem their establishment worthy of such action. crass vulgaraties may have their moments of joy bor those that eveloution has only granted a passing glance , but they shall not know the joy of being escorted out after consuming more that allowed by state law, pontaneously breaking oujt into song, or cheering on the visiting team in the home bar. getting kicked out occasinally should be every mans goal, but should always be worthy of distinction.