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The Candy Cane
3 parts golden rum2 parts cream1 part lemon3/4 part praline liqueur3/4 part créme de noyeux (almond)1/2 part Frangelico (hazelnut) liqueurNot much to say about this one, only that it's a fatally...
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Jeopardy and the Nanny Society
On March 21st, 2015, at 6 PM in the evening, a section of seaside cliff along the Point Reyes National Seashore coast trail broke off, precipitating (a word I always remember Thornton Wilder used to...
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John Wimberley - Time Traveler with a Lens
The idea that the way we feel about a work of art, is as important as what the work may be said to mean, is a post-Modern critical notion--the idea that the reader, or viewer of a work can determine...
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The Invisible Shutter - Dater's Hands on Glass
Judy Dater is a West Coast photographer who's concentrated on portraiture and feminism. Themes of masking and disclosure appear frequently in her work. She sees photography as a provocative act, and...
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Transit Tropique
With the drought era upon us in the Southwest, our thoughts turn to refreshment. Much of the thinking about cocktails revolves around tropical fruits in warm climates, as an antidote to overheated...
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The Paris Air Show of 1922
In a dream, I am in an old mansion basement, feverishly scrounging through boxes of old pamphlets, on a table, as other collectors and dealers are doing likewise at my side, when I happen upon an old...
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Max Richter's Mercy
Max Richter's a new kind of post-Modern composer. "Fusion" was a term coined a few decades ago to characterize the marriage of musical styles, rejecting the traditional divisions between classical,...
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V-8
V-8We enter a store where everything is a novelty.The best part—the challenge—is in figuring out What each thing is.This, for instance, might be a dildo, or a napkin...
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Implausible Deniability: Self-Consciousness as a Function of Language:...
This blog will be the third time I've devoted space to the work of Rae Armantrout, a poet whose work I've followed for over 45 years, with continuous interest and curiosity. I reviewed her Money Shot...
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My First Walking Stick
Lately, I've begun to have some symptoms of early arthritis. Out of the blue, my right elbow has begun to ache and stiffen without any immediate trauma. I've always been fairly complacent about how...
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The Fjord
My personal genealogical history is traced back to England (from the name Calef on my real father's name), and to Norway (Johnson on my mother's side). I've traveled to English and Scotland and Ireland...
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James Salter dead at 90
The fiction and screen writer James Salter died a week ago, on Friday the 19th, while at a gym. A week earlier, he'd celebrated his 90th birthday.Against all the odds, he lived a long, full life,...
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Three New Mixes from the Stainless Steel Counter
The days pile up and the recipes keep coming.It's a restless round of changing combinations, a refusal to settle on a favorite. Exploration, discovery, surprises and confirmations. Questions, with a...
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Certain Rare Cancers Have Been Reported
When I grew up in the 1950's and 1960's, you routinely saw and heard advertisements for non-prescription medicines. In those remote times, cigarettes and beer ads were also routinely permitted--so the...
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Further Diversions from the Stainless Steel Counter
One obvious limitation to the variety and diversity of mixing is the number of traditional kinds of spirits there are. There's gin and rum and bourbon and scotch and brandy and vodka and tequila, any...
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Death of the Milkman
Hint: This is not a mystery novel.I'm old enough now to remember when dairy products were delivered directly to your door at home.If you live long enough, nearly everything that once seemed typical and...
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Coolers
What's cooler on a hot day than a nice cooler?Coolers aren't cocktails per se, but they are often included in cocktail compendiums, because they involve mixtures which include alcoholic...
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Giants 2015 A Year in Transition
It's been a long season again this year, a year marked by injuries and disappointments, and a few bright spots too.Following last year's triumphant, and improbable, championship run, it might have been...
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The Augmented Sazerac
Traditionally, the Sazerac is considered to be the official drink of New Orleans, whose history can be traced way back to the beginning of the 19th Century. Because of the French influence, the drink's...
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The 9-Up, or Beam me Up, Scotty!
The history of American soft drinks is not nearly as predictable as you might think. Before the advent of soft drinks, potions and nostrums were limited to substances which would self-preserve, without...
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