Condesa Gin Prickly Pear And Orange Blossom, sipping gin. I’ll just leave this here for the gin-averse. (Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin, also too, and just add soda. You’re welcome.)
I was gin averse having gotten sick on it in *ahem* high school, but Mr S inherited martinis from his dear old father in law and Daddy wasn’t so choosy about quality (he proudly showed up to stay at a beach house rented with my friends armed with Lighthouse Gin because Outer Banks). Long story short, I found Hendrick’s, yeah, yum.
I too had the hangover to end all hangovers on gin. And damn, I used to love a good gin & tonic in the summer. So alas, I'm a vodka guy now. But when I see these lovely cocktail recipe's with gin from our Hooper, it temps me to try it again.
Yeah..Bad memories of Myrtle Beach throwing up at the age of 17. Could never touch gin again. I have tried it in other drinks and it's not as bad as I remember.
I got a bottle of Hendrick's Oasium for Christmas (yay!) and it's also a wonderful addition to the world of gin. Subtle and tropical, it's perfect for a G&T (Fever Tree) or on the rocks. They are doing amazing things at that distillery.
Just stay away from 'Flora Adora'. I think it was a limited edition and it was really awful. Oasium is great as are most of their varieties. Looking forward to trying 'Another Gin.'
Now, if he had been a music major, and you were majoring in English Literature, things could have turned out a little different. But you will never know.
No questions on the drink, since I don't (although I'm a faithful reader). I share your sorrow on the weather. Here in MO, it was 16° when I went to the gym Monday morning, and it's 86°sitting on my porch now. Stop the madness!
You'll find a direct correlate of that madness to Donald saying to the oil billionaires "pay me a billion dollars for my campaign and you will make All the Money in 2026 and also 'have' to pay very few taxes"
I kind of like St. George Spirits' "Terroir Gin" which, if anything, is a bit more "piney" than typical, meant to convey being in the Marin County woods.
Hooper, my bestie is getting married Labor Day weekend here in the Hudson Valley and needs a signature cocktail. His groom is from Barbados so I was thinking of something like Barbados rum with NY apple cider but would appreciate your expert advice. I posted this question last week and Fukui said you would add bitters so I looked at flavored bitters and think cranberry would work nicely (the happy couple has a place in Massachusetts as well) although cinnamon is an obvious choice. Rocket Cat brought up rum punch as well. What thinkest thou?
"Gregg Phillips, appointed last year to lead FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, once claimed that he involuntarily teleported to a Waffle House, CNN found Friday. He made the teleportation claim in a January 2025 appearance on the right-wing podcast Onward, before he had the top role at the agency.
“I was with my boys one time and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House — this was in Georgia and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said. “And they said, ‘where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And ‘a Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.”" [HuffPost/CNN]
Tucker Carlson has found another fascist to revere. Elevating Oswald Mosley from Hitler-wannabe leader of the fringe British Union of Fascists to some sort of political colossus, and the main opposition to Churchill. Hardly.
======
The American broadcaster Tucker Carlson is seeking to denigrate Churchill and to elevate the fascist leader Oswald Mosley, as if he led the Opposition to the government. The only obvious reason to do this would seem to be to dissolve contemporary norms against fascism
I think that may have been U.K., but my memory's getting rusty.
I will not begrudge John Wetton his popular success. He put in years of great work, even if I'm not crazy about "Heat of the Moment" and that sort of thing.
Well, I have now installed the latest version of Linux Mint onto my Bronze Age laptop. Now for the annoying next several days while I get it set up the way I want.
I partook of Mint and other flavors for a few years a while back. I work in tech at a high school. I can't be arsed to bother tinkering with a home computer anymore. Last time I updated the kid's windowz machine, I stupidly forgot my master admin password so I can't even get in to do anything. I got nothing I need to do or keep on a personal computer at this point in my life. I almost always have a carefree Chromebook from school at home to do my browsing & such.
For us old BSD/SunOS true believers, Ubuntu and the Debian relatives are like falling backward into a vat of whipped cream. You can hardly detect the smell of System V.
Of course, the real maniacs run Arch. Why, I'm still not sure.
Holy shitballs, that is good. I took my big regret from downthread, made a single, and added in the juice from a single Cara Cara orange. The sweetness and the tartness are properly balanced, the chocolate is no longer in your face, and it is a treat. It may not be the original recipe, but it works!
I'm picture-adverse. Never keep them, never look at them. I don't have one photo of my family anywhere. Been that way all my life, through first chemical and then digital photography. Even when I became a bit of a shutterbug in high school (useful in my subsequent journalism career), I just never had a collection of pictures.
👽 National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
👽 National Jump Out Day
👽 National Macaron Day
👽 National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
👽 National Preschool Teacher Appreciation Day
👽 National Proposal Day
👽 National Ravioli Day
🇲🇺 Ougadi (Mauritius)
👽 Snowman Burning Day
👽 Spring Equinox
👽 Won't You Be My Neighbor Day
👽 World Behavior Analysis Day
👽 World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
👽 World Flour Day
👽 World Frog Day
👽 World Oral Health Day
👽 World Sparrow Day
👽 World Storytelling Day
🇨🇳 Zhonghe Festival (China)
🌒 On this day the Moon will be in a Waxing Crescent Phase. Best seen in the west after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. This is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon's surface.
Today in History: Tokyo Subway Attack (1995), John Lennon Marries Yoko Ono (1969), Zipper Patented (1917), Ota Benga Commits Suicide (1916), Typhoid Mary Mallon Apprehended (1907), First Woman Executed in the Electric Chair (1899), First Comic Book Published (1897), Uncle Tom's Cabin Published (1852), First Woman Wins Iditarod (1956), 100 Days War Begins (1815), US Begins Bombing Iraq (2003), AZT Approved by FDA (1987), Patty Hearst Convicted of Bank Robbery (1976), First US Governor Removed From Office By a State Supreme Court (1856), First US Treaty With an Asian Country (1833)
Today's birthdays: Fred Rogers, BeBe Zahara Benet, Ruby Rose, Jane March, Michael Rapaport, Kathy Ireland, Holly Hunter, Spike Lee, William Hurt, Carl Reiner, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, B.F. Skinner, Pat Riley, Paul Junger Witt, Hal Linden, Jack Barry, Vera Lynn (First British Artist to Hit #1 on American Billboard), Ozzie Nelson, Edgar Buchanan, Frederick Winslow Taylor (Father of Scientific Management), Daniel Dunglas Home (Claimed to Levitate and Speak with the Dead), Anne Dudley Bradstreet (First Published Poet of New England)
Today's deaths: Ota Benga ("Pigmy" Once Featured as Zoo Exhibit), Martha M. Place (First Woman Executed in the Electric Chair), Sir Isaac Newton, Kenny Rogers, David Rockefeller, Sidney Kingsley, Chet Huntley, Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov (Tried to Create a Human-Ape Hybrid via Artificial Insemination as Part of Stalin's Quest for a Super-Warrior), James Ward Packard
Questions.
Condesa Gin Prickly Pear And Orange Blossom, sipping gin. I’ll just leave this here for the gin-averse. (Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin, also too, and just add soda. You’re welcome.)
I fucking love pretty much all gin.
I love the Friday posts from Booper our Harbinger
Yeah.
How is why when Baconz is in the front of building it is the its the front, yet when I walk through the threshold I'm in the back?
2000 years and they still didn't figure out that architectural flaw?
ITS NOT LIKE US ROMAN CATHOLICS NEVER BUILT A CHURCH!!!!
(Sorry. That just always stuck under my craw)
What is that beautiful house?
Where does that highway go to?
Am I right, am I wrong?
There is orange blossom water underground
I was gin averse having gotten sick on it in *ahem* high school, but Mr S inherited martinis from his dear old father in law and Daddy wasn’t so choosy about quality (he proudly showed up to stay at a beach house rented with my friends armed with Lighthouse Gin because Outer Banks). Long story short, I found Hendrick’s, yeah, yum.
You can add me to the never-again club of gin haters, also after a bad high school experience. There is no hangover worse than a gin hangover.
Even Southern Comfort - which I've also never touched again.
I too had the hangover to end all hangovers on gin. And damn, I used to love a good gin & tonic in the summer. So alas, I'm a vodka guy now. But when I see these lovely cocktail recipe's with gin from our Hooper, it temps me to try it again.
Yeah..Bad memories of Myrtle Beach throwing up at the age of 17. Could never touch gin again. I have tried it in other drinks and it's not as bad as I remember.
FYI or Irish cousins across the way make gin out of seaweed.
I got a bottle of Hendrick's Oasium for Christmas (yay!) and it's also a wonderful addition to the world of gin. Subtle and tropical, it's perfect for a G&T (Fever Tree) or on the rocks. They are doing amazing things at that distillery.
Just stay away from 'Flora Adora'. I think it was a limited edition and it was really awful. Oasium is great as are most of their varieties. Looking forward to trying 'Another Gin.'
Yeah, that's a nice one. I thought a lot of the subtleties got lost in a G&T, but boy does it shine in a Martini!
If you see "Lighthouse" gin (a New Zealand product), grab a bottle. It's in the same ballpark.
Is my wife angry with me?
She may not be angry. She's almost certainly disappointed.
Wife here .Yes. Just automatically assume.. That's our plan. ))
What have you served her for dinner lately?
I'd ask ChatGPT that question, just for kicks.
When in doubt, assume "yes" and take appropriate action.
I don't know you or your wife, but if you've arrived at a point where you're even asking that question, the answer is always "yes."
I truly appreciate you pointing out that the gin we got fucked up on in our early years has changed. Pine Sol struck a nerve. Been there.
“Juniper and sadness” did it for me.
All I could smell for years was pine!
When Mixologist Matt said it no longer must be made out of juniper and sadness that ended me 😂😂
My mom still talks about the gin my dad made when they were in grad school for chemistry 60 years ago. She hasn't touched it since!
I would not blame her.
Now, if he had been a music major, and you were majoring in English Literature, things could have turned out a little different. But you will never know.
Must have had a lousy recipe... or didn't know to toss the early fractions.
My prof. saw the orange and lemon and juniper boiling away in the big still, and his only comment was, "Can I have some?" (He gave it high marks.)
No questions on the drink, since I don't (although I'm a faithful reader). I share your sorrow on the weather. Here in MO, it was 16° when I went to the gym Monday morning, and it's 86°sitting on my porch now. Stop the madness!
You'll find a direct correlate of that madness to Donald saying to the oil billionaires "pay me a billion dollars for my campaign and you will make All the Money in 2026 and also 'have' to pay very few taxes"
Are we there yet?
There is no there here.
DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS THREAD AROUND!
I've got to pee!!11!!11!!
You should've gone when we stopped for gin!
I kind of like St. George Spirits' "Terroir Gin" which, if anything, is a bit more "piney" than typical, meant to convey being in the Marin County woods.
A hint of eucalyptus?
The "what's in it" is here, scroll down: https://stgeorgespirits.com/spirits/terroir-gin
Douglas Fir is the "piney" bit, there's coastal sage, bay laurel, and other such.
We’re actually using that for this cocktail at Hemingway’s.
So, how badly am I going to fuck this up if I use the lemon I have rather than the lime I do not have?
Cut the citrus juice to 1/2 oz.
Hooper, my bestie is getting married Labor Day weekend here in the Hudson Valley and needs a signature cocktail. His groom is from Barbados so I was thinking of something like Barbados rum with NY apple cider but would appreciate your expert advice. I posted this question last week and Fukui said you would add bitters so I looked at flavored bitters and think cranberry would work nicely (the happy couple has a place in Massachusetts as well) although cinnamon is an obvious choice. Rocket Cat brought up rum punch as well. What thinkest thou?
I need to tell you, with the utmost kindness, that this is a question I answer professionally.
Of course. I hope I didn't offend by asking.
How many of these does it take for you to have a really shitty hangover the next day?
I'm goals oriented...
Back of the envelope says this is 40 ABV. Do what you will with that amount information.
Make one, then polish off the rest of the bottles of gin and creme d'cuckoo clocks. You should be able to achieve a shitty hangover by morning.
*groans*
Nothing like an unintended nap to alleviate some unemployment anxiety. Hooray, I guess.
Trump’s Greenland Hospital Ship Arrives at West Coast Shipyard as Humanitarian Mission Narrative Fades
https://share.google/dgnQbuQQElzckSMiS
I think bay leaves are a LIE perpetuated by BIG BAY LEAF.
At the grocery store, they wanted to charge me like ten bucks for a jar with like ten leaves in it. LEAVES. FROM A TREE.
Rant mode ended.
We tried to tell you.
The Indian store is your friend here.
The bay leaf is for luck.
They're not even FRESH!
A boy of 6 thought so much of you that he wrote a letter to you. That's maybe the most hopeful thing I've read this week.
"Gregg Phillips, appointed last year to lead FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, once claimed that he involuntarily teleported to a Waffle House, CNN found Friday. He made the teleportation claim in a January 2025 appearance on the right-wing podcast Onward, before he had the top role at the agency.
“I was with my boys one time and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House — this was in Georgia and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said. “And they said, ‘where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And ‘a Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.”" [HuffPost/CNN]
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/20/politics/fema-official-gregg-phillips-violent-rhetoric-teleported-kfile?utm_source=buzzfeed&utm_medium=iframely
it was a "pre-rapture", are you not believers?
I am sure no alcohol or other substances were in any way involved🙄
Smothered, covered, and chunked.
Special times, special people.
Looks like dipshit was told it’s over.
“Trump claims strict voter ID act should be ‘easy pass’ but says ‘we need Democrat votes’” - The Guardian
Fetterman will be one.
Too bad you've been a complete fucking fascist asshole to the rest...
You have John Fetterman's attention.
Tucker Carlson has found another fascist to revere. Elevating Oswald Mosley from Hitler-wannabe leader of the fringe British Union of Fascists to some sort of political colossus, and the main opposition to Churchill. Hardly.
======
The American broadcaster Tucker Carlson is seeking to denigrate Churchill and to elevate the fascist leader Oswald Mosley, as if he led the Opposition to the government. The only obvious reason to do this would seem to be to dissolve contemporary norms against fascism
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/tucker-carlson-calls-pro-hitler-oswald-mosley-one-of-britains-great-war-heroes-nsp89rwu
https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3mhjnfp7wsc2q
DeMoCrTs aRe AntYsEmEtEc
He's taking up for MOSLEY? Seriously?
Sorry, Tucker. Any points you built up for opposing the Iran excursion and ambushing Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee over it just vanished.
Mosley/Quisling '28!
It was only a matter of time for Carlson to get there.
Bonespur J. McSyphilis say what?
------
Trump calls NATO "cowards" over lack of support in Iran war
Trump to his planes and radars: "Stop exploding you cowards!!!"
We are now approaching the "I double-dog dare you" level of diplomatic sophistication . . .
Drummer Carl Palmer is 79 years old today. Here's Emerson, Lake & Palmer with a live performance of "Hoedown" from 1973:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S45ToDvW8UQ
And here's the band playing the "Peter Gunn" theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6yIfq6g174
I once decided to listen to all the ELP records in a row (I'd really never heard them except for the stuff they used to play on FM radio).
I got up to their third or fourth album before I had to call a halt to the proceedings on humanitarian grounds.
ALWAYS an upvote for Palmer. Him performing that dreaded, beautiful beat in "Fanfare For The Common Man" and making ASIA what it was. I mean, Jesus.
I forgot he was in ASIA. Was that the one with Eddie Jobson too?
I reflect upon John Wetton and Steve Howe.
I think that may have been U.K., but my memory's getting rusty.
I will not begrudge John Wetton his popular success. He put in years of great work, even if I'm not crazy about "Heat of the Moment" and that sort of thing.
No, you're right. I get those late 70s super groups mixed up this far down the road.
Also played with King Crimson if I'm not much mistaken.
Well, I have now installed the latest version of Linux Mint onto my Bronze Age laptop. Now for the annoying next several days while I get it set up the way I want.
I partook of Mint and other flavors for a few years a while back. I work in tech at a high school. I can't be arsed to bother tinkering with a home computer anymore. Last time I updated the kid's windowz machine, I stupidly forgot my master admin password so I can't even get in to do anything. I got nothing I need to do or keep on a personal computer at this point in my life. I almost always have a carefree Chromebook from school at home to do my browsing & such.
I’ve stuck with Ubuntu for the past 20 years or so. But mostly on semi-current hardware.
I'm trying Budgie on the current laptop, which seems to work reasonably well.
No keyboard backlight for some reason, not sure what is up with that.
May try another distro later, but have a couple of other projects that need to get done in the mean time.
For us old BSD/SunOS true believers, Ubuntu and the Debian relatives are like falling backward into a vat of whipped cream. You can hardly detect the smell of System V.
Of course, the real maniacs run Arch. Why, I'm still not sure.
for some of us, OS2 v4 was a damn good system.
I miss that one.
Windows I use cause I have to.
Mac I use cause I have to keep dad's Mac systems running now.
Don't really like either.
Linux is...well at least I can easily control how it works.
Holy shitballs, that is good. I took my big regret from downthread, made a single, and added in the juice from a single Cara Cara orange. The sweetness and the tartness are properly balanced, the chocolate is no longer in your face, and it is a treat. It may not be the original recipe, but it works!
Okay, my first double is gone. Time to make a single to use the last bit of lemon juice. Then it’s time to put on my Bad Idea Jeans and party.
Then it's time for the ice bath plunge!
That really should be Bad Idea Jeansᵀᴹ by my figuring.
Imagine the tightness.
That’s why they were also marketed as the Ow, My Balls! Jeans.
I went sterile at 16.
We were beginning to worry.
Yes.
At the first day of spring a lot of religions pray and sing throughout mankind's history.
But this is a choir song I sung
from a city of "Brotherly Love" and being Methodists and coloring...well this hymn explains it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPibSWBCqE&list=RDHZPibSWBCqE&start_radio=1&pp=ygUkZGVhZCBtaWxrbWVuIG1ldGhvZGlzdCBjb2xvcmluZyBib29roAcB
Wonky Punk from Philadelphia is GOD!!!
287 GB of photo files.
in one year.
I may have a bit of a problem.
If you do, I have the opposite of your problem.
I'm picture-adverse. Never keep them, never look at them. I don't have one photo of my family anywhere. Been that way all my life, through first chemical and then digital photography. Even when I became a bit of a shutterbug in high school (useful in my subsequent journalism career), I just never had a collection of pictures.
Maybe I'm just unsentimental.
I just need to get in the habit of deleting the photos I don't edit.
So this is the project for the next few weeks.
Just upgraded the photo editing software to the latest version, and will be working my way through the files and editing a few and deleting the rest.
This is helped by the fact that this week I added a hella large NAS to the home network for just this sort of task.
I have at least five more external drives to get uploaded and cleaned out.
Gonna take a while.
Today is 3/20/26 (Friday)
👽 Absolutely Incredible Kid Day®
👽 Alien Abduction Day
👽 Astrology Day
👽 Bibliomania Day
👽 Bock Beer Day
👽 Dogs in Yellow Day
👽 Francophonie Day
👽 French Language Day
👽 Friday Fish Fry Day
👽 Great American Meat Out Day
🇬🇧 Great British Spring Clean Day (UK)
👽 International Day of Happiness
👽 Kiss Your Fiance Day
👽 National Cherry Blossom Festival
👽 National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
👽 National Jump Out Day
👽 National Macaron Day
👽 National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
👽 National Preschool Teacher Appreciation Day
👽 National Proposal Day
👽 National Ravioli Day
🇲🇺 Ougadi (Mauritius)
👽 Snowman Burning Day
👽 Spring Equinox
👽 Won't You Be My Neighbor Day
👽 World Behavior Analysis Day
👽 World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
👽 World Flour Day
👽 World Frog Day
👽 World Oral Health Day
👽 World Sparrow Day
👽 World Storytelling Day
🇨🇳 Zhonghe Festival (China)
🌒 On this day the Moon will be in a Waxing Crescent Phase. Best seen in the west after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. This is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon's surface.
Today in History: Tokyo Subway Attack (1995), John Lennon Marries Yoko Ono (1969), Zipper Patented (1917), Ota Benga Commits Suicide (1916), Typhoid Mary Mallon Apprehended (1907), First Woman Executed in the Electric Chair (1899), First Comic Book Published (1897), Uncle Tom's Cabin Published (1852), First Woman Wins Iditarod (1956), 100 Days War Begins (1815), US Begins Bombing Iraq (2003), AZT Approved by FDA (1987), Patty Hearst Convicted of Bank Robbery (1976), First US Governor Removed From Office By a State Supreme Court (1856), First US Treaty With an Asian Country (1833)
Today's birthdays: Fred Rogers, BeBe Zahara Benet, Ruby Rose, Jane March, Michael Rapaport, Kathy Ireland, Holly Hunter, Spike Lee, William Hurt, Carl Reiner, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, B.F. Skinner, Pat Riley, Paul Junger Witt, Hal Linden, Jack Barry, Vera Lynn (First British Artist to Hit #1 on American Billboard), Ozzie Nelson, Edgar Buchanan, Frederick Winslow Taylor (Father of Scientific Management), Daniel Dunglas Home (Claimed to Levitate and Speak with the Dead), Anne Dudley Bradstreet (First Published Poet of New England)
Today's deaths: Ota Benga ("Pigmy" Once Featured as Zoo Exhibit), Martha M. Place (First Woman Executed in the Electric Chair), Sir Isaac Newton, Kenny Rogers, David Rockefeller, Sidney Kingsley, Chet Huntley, Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov (Tried to Create a Human-Ape Hybrid via Artificial Insemination as Part of Stalin's Quest for a Super-Warrior), James Ward Packard
Francophonie Day
French Language Day
I'm confused...aren't these the same thing?
Alien Abduction Day
>I'm ready
Got the 'T' Shirt
Cold wash only. The colors tend to run otherwise.
I'm still here, waiting somewhat impatiently.
Hold still for the probe...
That's a tuning fork, A=440.
the truth is out there.