    "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
Cocktail of the day. It was Wes' turn to mix last night, and looking for something new (because everything old is new again) he visited CocktailDB and hit the Random Recipe Button. The first one that came up made him say "Ehh," and push the button again. This was the second one that came up.
Pale, greenish-straw color. Gorgeous bouquet. Wonderful balance. Heck, it's almost enough to get me to try a 1:1 Martini (with orange bitters, of course). "It should," Murray pointed out in email, "be perfect while watching the State of the Union. Coincidence?" If you build it, they will come. Well, I now know what I want my future restaurant to look like. Via BoingBoing, who posted a link to a site they describe as a gallery of vintage food advertisements in which children leer demonically at food, in which I found a scan of this 1933 patent application: 
Surely the patent has expired by now, and I can steal that idea! I think some of my friends and I have had very similarly demonic leers on our faces, as the bacon-wrapped things go onto their plates and out to the table. Don't miss all the other links at that gallery, especially the non-leering-child food ads nearer the bottom. They're in that classic garishly colored, 1940s-1950s photo-illustration style which was perfect for the invariably gag-inducing recipes they represented, some of which are not to be believed. That style excelled at making even bacon-wrapped hot dogs look unappetizing. You can buy high-quality giclée prints of all those images and many more at the Plan 59 site. Some of those food ads would be perfect for your kitchen (and I'm gettin' me that pig stand). What's not going to happen tonight. William Rivers Pitt, one of my favorite political essayists, last week came up with a wild and crazy idea:
Well, maybe not. Some friends and I discussed it in email, and despite our all wanting desperately to be able to see such a thing, for the dramatic impact if nothing else, we all agreed that it'd probably be a bad idea. As good of an idea as it is, they'd never pull it off, and it would likely make them look petty rather than united in strong protest, and disrespectful of the constitutional mandate of the State of the Union address ("He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient" *). Unless, of course, they all immediately march up to a waiting press conference, deliver a scathing, point-by-point repudiation of everything Bush and the Republicans stand for, and deliver an exact, point-by-point outline of how they're going to do things differently. But that's not going to happen either. First, what the Democrats in Congress need to get through their thick skulls is what Pitt has to say in the rest of his article, which is far more important than his fun-but-nutty walkout idea:
Yeah, I know, there he goes with the walkout again. But he's got a point. This is what the Dems need to say, if not do. Will they? What will the Democratic response be like? What will the Governor of Virginia, the Democrat who just won in a red state, say? Will he grow a spine and say what needs to be said? Or will he play it "safe"? I fear the latter. I guess we'll find out tonight. (* - The final phrase of Article II, Section 3 quoted above, also says, "he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed"; in fact, in Section 1 his oath of office is specifically mandated: "Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:-- 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'" I don't believe it says anything about the laws being faithfully ignored, or that either of these sections of the Constitution can be ignored at his will. Just as an aside.) [ Link to today's entries ]
Offers of post-Katrina aid ignored by FEMA. today's Washington Post as well as the Times-Picayune:
This is further evidence of what happens when a wholly unqualified political crony is appointed to head the nation's disaster response agency, instead of hiring the best possible person for the job ... such as, oh, say, an experienced disaster-response and -management official. I wonder if the White House will also stonewall further investigation into this part of the
post-Katrina fiasco due to Saying no to a filibuster. By this time I think we all know that it ain't gonna happen, and Alito's as good as in, God help us. John Aravosis offers his reasoning on why there shouldn't even be a filibuster attempt without the certainty that it can be sustained. Pay particular attention to the final point. Cocktail(s) of the day. 'Cause we really need a drink. Julia, who gave me her recipe for the Brooklyn cocktail variation that I dubbed the Bensonhurst, asked in the comments the other day, "I'm grooving on Murray's Porteño right now and I just made it with plain simple syrup; I wish I had a Japan source for falernum. Do y'all think another sweet/syrup might work, like grenadine? Or [is it] too weird with the cherry... hmm. Maybe more lime plus more cherry heering to imitate the sweet/sour of falernum more?" Well, I wouldn't use grenadine to substitute falernum -- not only the wrong color, but the completely wrong flavor profile. Grenadine (the good stuff, anyway) tastes strongly of pomegranates; falernum, which originates in Barbados, is a more tropical concoction that tastes more subtly of lime, almond, allspice, vanilla and ginger. The most widely available brand is Velvet Falernum, although it still may not be all that easy to find. Velvet Falernum is slightly alcoholic, but there are two non-alcoholic versions made by Fee Brothers (available via mail order through them or through https://www.surfasonline.com/products/24505.cfm">Surfas Online in Culver City, CA) and DaVinci Gourmet. If you're living in Japan and have difficulty mail-ordering things from the States, I'd say that for Murray's cocktail go ahead and stick with plain simple syrup as a substitution. Or ... just make your own falernum! Robert Hess offers falernum recipe that Dale DeGroff came up with, but (I know, sacrilege) I'd probably mess with that a bit. I'd substitute cracked allspice berries for the cloves, and add a few slices of bruised fresh ginger. Give that a try! Julia also asked, "Anybody got any fun things to do with Suze and/or Strega? I got one of each in a fit of experimental splurging but haven't figured out how to mix them with much." Suze is a gloriously bitter (some might say monstrously bitter) French apéritif which I happen to like. If you like Campari, it's not that far of a jump to Suze, but it might take some getting used to. Its primary flavor is gentian, a bitter root that's also used in making aromatic cocktail bitters (although Suze is a drinking bitters); it has a variety of herbs for flavoring as well as a citrusy component. For an idea of its level of bitterness, think raw horseradish root without the burn. It's got a very bright flavor, and mixes as well as Campari does, and in similar ways. It may not be all that easy to find (larger wine and spirits stores would be your best bet), and it's a bit expensive (around $35), but if you like bitters it's definitely worth trying. I found this recipe after a little Googling; I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty good.
I found several others on the Suze website, which I present here with their original names from the website, but in English and without all the pretty but frustratingly slow Flash animation you have to sit through before you can read each recipe:
Strega is an Italian herbal liqueur, not a bitters, which I've never actually tried. From what I've read about it I'd put it in the same category as Bénédictine or Chartreuse, although far milder than the latter. CocktailDB, in its entry for Strega, lists 23 cocktail recipes containing the liqueur. That oughta keep y'all busy for a while! Next on Cocktail of the Day (or maybe day after tomorrow) ... one of the best drinks I've had in recent memory. It's been mentioned before, but we tried it for the first time last night. It was so good that there was no way I was going to stop and set up a photograph. That'll have to wait until at least tomorrow ... Palace revolt. A current Newsweek article describes "a small coterie of Bush administration lawyers" engaged in nothing less than an insurrection, and the price they paid for it.
No truly good deed goes unpunished in this administration. Beware The Crinkler! As much as I love the collective moviegoing experience, I despise paying ever-rising ticket prices and then being forced to sit through commercials at my own expense, I despise the people who sit there and talk the whole time, I particularly despise the people who do anything with their mobile phones (from checking text messages and thereby creating an extremely distracting and annoying light, to actually taking calls and holding conversaions -- "What? No, I'm in the movie now." -- or, when you shoosh them, sit and play with all their ring tones for ten minutes). Sometimes I think we can't get that home theatre fast enough. (We're currently coveting this Panasonic HDTV plasma monitor.) While our local art house, the Laemmle Playhouse in Pasadena, doesn't seem to have quite the same problems as these NYC art houses referred to in Slate today ... we do have The Crinkler. While I've publicly come out against the death penalty, I think I'm on the verge of advocating that the mobile-phone-in-the-cinema people and The Crinkler should simply be killed. Preferably by public impalement. [ Link to today's entries ]
Bring New Orleans Back commissioners' campaign contributions: 94% went to Republicans. Via Scout Prime. Given that bigshot real estate developer Joseph Canizaro is one of the main commissioners, I don't suppose this is surprising. But seeing all the details all lined up right there in a row ... it gives one pause. Scout asks the all-important question, "Given all of that and the above information I think it is right to question if the BNOBC will represent the best interests of the people of NOLA... or George Bush and big business." Why do I get this sinking feeling that the people of New Orleans, already getting shafted, will continue to get the shaft? Well, ain't this innerestin'? Via Oyster, who entitles his post "I did not know this" (me either, bra) ... it seems that a state legislature can set in motion proceedings for the impeachment of the President. And it only takes one state.
Hunh? More from Oyster:
This is fascinating. Is it really true? Constitutional scholars, any of y'all know anything about this? Flop? I said flip. Definitely flip. We're at war! We're a nation at war! The war on terr'r! It's indefinite! It's important! That's what Bush and Cheney have been ramming down our throats for the last four years.
So how are they shoring up that all-important effort? By proposing in the new budget that defense spending be cut,
exactly what
Reaction from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America was swift:
Remember, he was against the idea before he was for it. Scathing NYT editorial. The Times breathes fire about spies, lies and wiretaps.
Atrios quips: "[Times editorial page editor] Gail Collins sounds almost as mad as [former editor] Howell Raines did when he was freaking out about a land deal in which the Clintons lost money." It begins? This morning CNN is reporting that three Republican senators and representatives are calling on Bush to release records and photos regarding his relationship with Jack Abramoff. No, Scotty, it's not "partisan politics." Poll: Majority in U.S. Say Bush Presidency Is a Failure. A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans say the Bush presidency has been a failure, and that they would be more likely to vote for congressional candidates who oppose him.
Good news for us, not so good news for ShrubCo. Something tells me that those numbers will rise over the course of the next several months. [ Link to today's entries ]
Baker: Bush "misunderstood" recovery plan; offers us "death blow." Rep. Richard Baker, Republican of Louisiana, in today's Times-Picayune:
Meanwhile ...
It's good to hear Da Mayor sounding like he's got his head back together, doing good work for the city rather than giving speeches, which, as we've seen, is not his forte. C'mon Ray ... all you have to do is hang in there and do a decent job until April, and then maybe you can have a nice, long rest. Cocktail of the day. It's a classic cocktail, on its second substitution. We're huge fans of the Brooklyn Cocktail, which calls for rye whiskey, dry vermouth, Maraschino liqueur and Amer Picon. Of course, you can't get Amer Picon in the States anymore, and even if you could, it bears no resemblance to the Amer Picon of old, the vintage 78-proof version that existed when this cocktail was invented. Torani Amer has been an excellent substitute, but despite its availability at Beverages and More and other places in-store or via mail-order, it can also be a little tricky to find. In the comments section a while back, Julia said that she makes her Brooklyns with an Italian bitters called Amaro Ramazzotti, as Torani Amer isn't available in Japan where she lives, and that it works beautifully. Last night we finally tried it, and man ... she was right! Of course, we had to come up with a new name, as "Brooklyn Variation" didn't really cut it. I chose a name from Brooklyn's largest Italian neighborhood (which actually dwarfed the size of Manhattan's Little Italy). It may have a slightly different ethnic makeup these days due to shifting demographics, but historically when you think of Italians in Brooklyn, you think of this place.
Thanks for the great idea, Julia! Robert Heinlein, on theocracy. Via Wes, promoted from the comments. This is from the explanatory afterword to a collection called Revolt in 2100, consisting of one novella (If This Goes On--) and two short stories ("Coventry" and "Misfit") set during and in the aftermath of an early 21st Century despotic theocracy in America. As for... the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian. Heinlein wrote these words in 1952. Flip? I meant flop. Via Digby, who says, "The Carpetbagger reports that preznit Bush has adopted candidate John Kerry's "ignorant" and "dangerously wrong" proposed policy toward Iran. And some of the preznit's supporters are all confused:. Apparently they were under the misapprehension that Junior Codpiece had some sort of coherent philosophy."
The punch line is beautifully delivered by Carpetbagger ...
They continue, "Just out of curiosity, any chance we'll see National Review blasting Bush's new approach to Iran as 'ignorant' and 'dangerously wrong'? Or maybe Condi Rice will explain why the idea rewarded Iran for bad behavior when Kerry recommended it, but it's brilliant leadership when Bush recommends it?" Atrios: "This will be largely ignored, of course." Mind the (income) gap. (Via Steve.) CNN Money reports that the gap between rich and poor has widened dramatically.
Don't expect to hear much about this from Bush in the State of the Union address next Tuesday. We can hope, however, that we'll hear about it, forcefully, in the Democratic response. (If said response doesn't grab Bush and his administration by the balls and hold them over hot coals, then there may be no hope for the Democrats' ever growing a spine.) Too many straight lines ... Also via Steve. Some stories just write their own punch lines ...
Mold? You don't need no stinkin' mold! You can suffer from headaches, nausea and anxiety just from watching Fox News. [ Link to today's entries ]
"My head just exploded." When I caught up with yesterday morning's presidential press conference later in the day, I was keen to hear what he said about New Orleans. One reporter asked a very good question about Bush's lack of support for the bill to help flooded-out homeowners in the city, and this was the insufferable prick's response:
My jaw hit the floor. I was actually a bit numb, having been nearly exhausted from all the outrage drawn from me of late. Then I didn't know whether to cry or erupt in rage and go around breaking things. That motherfucker hates us, I thought. The other day I said he just doesn't give a shit about us, but the only thing that makes any of this make sense is that he just really hates us. Before my numbness wore off, I got an email from one of my friends back home, one whose head tends to remain cooler while I'm sputtering with rage about the administration:
What he said. I haven't seen any local coverage on this remark yet, but Wes asks, "How come Nagin gets more grief for his 'chocolate city' remarks than Bush is getting from every resident of New Orleans, southern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast? Why aren't they rising up and shouting, 'What do you mean by "that part of the world," motherfucker?' Why isn't every Democratic congressperson asking, 'Why are you referring to homeless Americans, people who've lost everything, in some cases our own families and loved ones, as "that part of the world?"'" Good questions. Photo of the day. The family Bible at my parents' house, New Orleans East, October 13, 2005. 
What part of the world is this? New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States of America. What does the U.S. have in common with Iran? Opposition to equal rights and voice for gays, in case you were wondering.
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