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Bobby Burns

January 25, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

How much poetry do you get in your daily life? Seriously. Do you get the chance to read much poetry these days? Do you thrill to the imagined sound of the words flowing from the page when you see those rhyming couplets inset from the text or do you just sort of naturally gloss over those passages to get back to the meat of the narrative? I claim to enjoy poetry and will often take a few moments to read a bit, not everyday, but a couple of times a week. Not as much as I probably should, but I figure fewer than some and more than most. I can’t take too much at one sitting though. Not sure why. I can read non-fiction or novels for hours on end, but a quarter hour of poetry and I am mostly done in. Tonight is Robert Burn’s Night, a celebration of the National Bard of Scotland, so with him in mind, won’t you join me as we stan’ and ma’e, the Bobby Burns.

Old Vermont Cocktail

January 24, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

It looks like Bernie Sanders mittens are all the rage this week. I get it and I don’t. Sure, it appeared to be a little unusual for him to show up dressed sensibly for the event, but I am not sure why folks are surprised by that. His whole hook is sort of doing his own thing with a certain yankee practicality that suffers no fools. Sure it was adorable and all, but a heavy coat and warm mittens made a lot more sense for the near freezing day than what most folks were wearing and it’s not like the fashion columnists were all waiting on the red carpet to see what the Senator from Vermont was gong to wear anyway. So, in the spirit of practicality, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Old Vermont Cocktail.

Ramos Gin Fizz

January 23, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 3 Comments

Today we are casting fear aside and making a classic drink, that I have been avoiding for quite some time. The sun is shining and the day is fun of promise, so I am going to give this intimidating brunch classic a shot. Let the chips fall where they may and devil take the hindmost we are going for it. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and shake the Ramos Gin Fizz.

Queen’s Park Swizzle

January 22, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

One of the things I have learned being a parent is just how much of our communication is based in shared experiences and references. This is why it is so easy to chat with folks you have known a long time and why meeting new people from different cultures often has a stumbling period as you learn how to better understand one another. Last year, I instituted a Film History 101 course for the kid to help fill in an empty space in his daily virtual school schedule. Obviously, my intent was to help keep him occupied, but I also wanted to give the boy a better understanding of how films are made and why all those small details from the screenplay to the set design to the editing and more, all really matter. Just how much work it takes from so many people to tell a story well. Being able to choose the curriculum has also helped me to fill in some of the gaps in his popular culture education. I am happy to report that he now, not only understands what the filmmaker is trying to say when they choose a low camera angle or high contrast film or choppy editing, but he also understands why dad says “bright light” whenever the curtains are opened unexpectedly, why sleds are Rosebuds in our household and why anytime he claims to not be afraid, I respond with “you will be”. So many times in the middle of a screening he will stop me to ask if he just got a reference or not. It has been gratifying. So in the spirit of shared experiences, please join me now as we stand and make the Queen’s Park Swizzle.

Stinger

January 21, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Yesterday I quoted the inimitable Maya Angelou who said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Just to show I am not just writing stuff to hear myself type and to prove that on some level I buy into my own bullshit, I have to rectify an error, really more of an omission, that I made, or in the case of the omission, did not make. I was doing my best, but I did not know any better. Now, I have learned better, so I am going to try to do better. So, in that spirit won’t you join me now as we stand and make the classic Stinger.

New Dawn

January 20, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I’m a big fan of consistency. Not the “foolish” consistency that Emerson called “the hobgoblin of little minds”, but deep and considered consistency. That certain quality that lets you know people truly believe what they are saying, that they have taken the time to study and reflect and come to a belief on their own, rather than just accepting the ones they were handed. An appreciation of those beliefs formed in knowledge, the kind that is, so often, tempered by loss. You can tell with people, when you look them in the eye, whether they believe what they are saying, whether their words have the weight of conviction behind them. Not passion, that is easy to summon when the situation warrants, but that slow burning conviction that drives a person even when no one is watching. So with depth of character and integrity in mind, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the New Dawn.

Sedation

January 19, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Sometimes you just want to take a break, maybe slip off into dream and awaken after all of the excitement is over. I get that. In years gone by, depression and/or chemistry has helped me nap my way through uncertain times. I don’t miss that, but honestly, I could do with a little less uncertainty. Wouldn’t that be cool? Remember those days when things like the peaceful transfer of power were boring events that most people did not even bother to watch? Seriously, when was the last time, well since Reconstruction, that people waited with bated breath for the certification of the electoral college vote? We need less reality tv manufactured drama before the commercial break and more boring adults doing boring adult things. Or at least, I do. I am tired of this lack of a cohesive narrative that is so crazy that people are deep diving into conspiracy theories just grasping for straws to try to make sense of it all. I guess we shall see if we come together and work on that better world everyone says they want or if we continue to devolve into more of that old time division. So, in the spirit of just wanting to wake up when it is all over, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Sedation.

La Florida

January 17, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

This morning I was looking through some old photographs of our time in Havana. That sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Way better than “I was scrolling through pictures on my phone looking for something else, when I was distracted by some old vacation pictures.” It’s all in how you set the scene sometimes, how you spin it. Still, it is true and it made me think about this drink. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the classic, La Florida.

Blue Corvette

January 16, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I have forgotten whole chapters of my life. Seriously, I am not sure who to blame, it’s probably me, but it is not that unusual for friends to begin telling stories of things I have, allegedly, done that I have no recollection of, whatsoever. Usually, when some details get dropped in I make the connection and it all comes flying back to me. Digging those memories out and dusting them off is always fun. Kind like meeting an old friend, even if that old friend is just an earlier version of me. So in honor of the people we were, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make, the Blue Corvette.

El Fiero

January 15, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

I said I wasn’t going to do themes, but here we are with our third Ferris Bueller’s Day Off inspired drink in a row. This was not my plan, but the kid really enjoyed the movie and it inspired a bunch more conversation about all kinds of things. One of our realizations is that somehow he has never been to Chicago, which is weird considering how much time I have spent there and the fact that we announced his impending arrival from the Windy City. He was also very curious about the cars in the movie. We do a lot of car stuff together so that made sense. When he asked me about that cool looking car in the movie, I immediately launched into why the ’61 Ferrari 250 California GT was important only to have him stop me. “Not the Ferrari, I know about that, what was that cool car his sister drove?” So, in honor of Jeannie Bueller’s sweet ride, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the El Fiero.

Inside the Mind of the Monkey