Justice Ginsburg Did Some Pre-Game Drinking for the SOTU

Can you really blame her?

Honestly, if I had to sit through the entire SOTU, I'd want to drink during the speech.

Stay Hydrated Out There

Because if you don't stay hydrated, you could get....dehydrated.

Sean Connery's Bourbon

Martinis are for sissies. They should run this ad now. It still works.

We're Almost There!

Birds got to sing, bees got to buzz, Christmas lights got to tangle

Alright, y'all. It's the last day of the workweek for me. I've sent all my demand letters out, done my final real estate closing for the year, and tallied up the billable hours. There may be one or two more litigation e-mails, but I'm pretty much done here at the ol' law practice for the year. All in all, it's been a good year.

Judging by the gifts I've received from other lawyers and co-workers, everyone thinks I need alcohol and ammunition. (Y'all are totally right.)

If you're a regular reader, thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet. We here at Permanent Press know that when you browse the internet, you have options. So thanks for making us a part of your day. If you've been here just a time or two, try to come back more often. And please always feel free to comment!

I'm going to put it on cruise control the rest of the way, but we'll continue to have some content all through the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Sloppy Drinking Dogs May Be Smarter Than You Think

Everyone knows that when they put a water bowl down for their dog, the result always involves a giant mess of water everywhere. Accordingly, the conventional wisdom is that dogs are sloppy and clumsy drinkers.

Well, some folks have researched dogs' drinking, and our canine friends might be smarter than you think.

There were key differences between cat and dog strategies. The dogs extended more of their tongues to whack the water with a much wider surface area, then used their tongues to pull the water upward into a column at a blazing rate — hitting an acceleration of roughly five to eight times that of gravity when changing direction from downward to upward. That’s much faster than cats move their tongues, Jung said. And while cats barely flick the water, dogs use a wide cross-section of tongue to plunge into the liquid.

But dogs and cats, it turns out, time one key movement in the same way: Just before the column of water is about to collapse, they close their mouths around the airborne liquid, maximizing their water intake.

“Dogs use a very smart (mechanism) to optimize their drinking,” Jung said

So maybe we should cut our dogs a little slack for the mess.

[via Ace's ONT]

Friday Steak and Wine Open Thread

Get some protein and some wine to celebrate your Friday. Congratulations, you made it.

No politics today. It's all too stupid to even bother discussing. I'm going to enjoy the weekend, and I suggest you do the same.

I've Started Shelby Foote's "Civil War"

Shelby Foote - Southern Man of Letters

Now that I've finished a biography of Douglas MacArthur, I've decided to take the plunge into Shelby Foote's three volume history of the Civil War. (Sorry Admiral Nimitz, you'll have to wait.)

To be fair I'm not reading it. My conscience compels me to admit that I'm not reading it in the strict sense. I'm listening to it as an audio-book. Yes, I feel a little twinge of guilt for not actually reading the book, but I don't feel that guilty.

Actually, I feel so little guilt that I actually have a complaint about the audio-book - the reader's voice is not that good. The reader's voice is tinny and flatly accented (no accent at all), sounding more like a computer than an actual person. This is such a shame, since Foote had a wonderful low, gravely Southern accent that just curled up on you like a sleepy cat  looking for a warm place to rest.

In learning a tiny bit about Foote himself, I have come across some wonderful anecdotes about his life and quotes from him about writing and life in general. One of my favorite anecdotes is as follows:

A story I’ve heard, possibly apocryphal, has it that Shelby Foote and William Faulkner once made a pilgrimage together to the battlefields of Shiloh, in Tennessee. It was a Sunday morning, but along the way they were able to score some moonshine from a fellow they spotted having his shoes shined, Faulkner’s logic being that any man having his shoes shined was likely to know where to find some whiskey. By the time they’d reached the battlefield’s famed Peach Orchard, they were loose enough to want to reenact the great cavalry charge on their own, sabers drawn in their minds. That’s how to drink like a Southerner.

I hope that's a true story.

What Every President Liked To Drink

Here's a sampling, a tasting, if you will:

John Adams
Adams loved alcohol, starting almost every morning with a hard cider. Then porter beer, rum and copious amounts of Madeira.

Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy liked Mint Juleps and used them to entice his cabinet to come play tennis with him at the White House. He used fresh mint from the White House garden:
10 to 12 fresh mint leaves “muddled” with a splash of water and a sugar cube
2 or 3 oz. of rye whiskey
¼ oz. of brandy
Sprig or two of fresh mint as a garnish

Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ loved Scotch whiskey and enjoyed driving (at high speeds) around his Texas ranch while drinking it out of a plastic cup.

I'm only going to quote three, because four would be too much. Everything in moderation, right?

If you feel like consuming more, you can see the whole list here.

Friday Cocktail Open Thread

Talk about whatever you like.

Be Responsible This New Year's Eve

I will be enjoying a nice, quiet New Year's Eve at home with the family tonight. However, if you are going out to celebrate, remember to be responsible. If you see any police, let other people know in advance, like this:

Be responsible and be safe. Happy New Year, y'all.

Best Eggnog Recipe (Using Bourbon)

I don't normally like alcoholic drinks that are sweet. I avoid White Russians, drinks with excessive fruit, and other overly sweet drinks. However, one exception to this is a little (very little) bit of eggnog at Christmas.

Most eggnog recipes call for rum and/or a blend of alcohols. However, I like Alton Brown's version most, as the only alcohol you add is bourbon.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites

Enjoy!

Prohibition Ended 80 Years Ago Today

Eighty years ago today, everyone decided to end Prohibition. Good thing, too.

Try to celebrate appropriately.

How the Gin and Tonic Shaped History

A brief history of the gin and tonic.

USPS Wants to Deliver Booze

The US Post Office is considering allowing deliveries of beer, wine, and spirits to help alleviate the problem of no one using the post office anymore.

It's not a bad idea in theory, but I don't think it's going to solve the larger problem facing the post office.

Man Drinks $100k Worth of Whiskey

DRINKING THE GOOD STUFF. A Pennsylvania man will soon stand trial for raiding a secret stash of historic hooch, a100-proof-plus cache of pre-Prohibition whiskey valued by one expert at more than $100,000.

Mint Julep Recipes

The Kentucky Derby will be here soon, and you know what that means. Practice making your juleps now. Here's a collection of a few good recipes.

 

Bourbon is coming.

This Day in History: New Coke Unveiled

On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola committed one of the great blunders in marketing: New Coke. Interesting details of the story are here.

To hear some tell it, April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy.

On that day, The Coca-Cola Company took arguably the biggest risk in consumer goods history, announcing that it was changing the formula for the world's most popular soft drink, and spawning consumer angst the likes of which no business has ever seen.

Pretty much the same thing happened with Maker's Mark a few months ago. Apparently, people don't like it when you mess with their drinks. I wonder how a New Coke and re-formulated Maker's Mark bourbon would taste. (shudders)

How Republicans Can Be Cool

Is this possible? The drinking age is an interesting idea. I think that returning drug policy to the state level would be a better idea.

SC Senate Proposes Common Sense Gun Laws

Currently, a CWP holder is not allowed to legally carry into a business that sells alcoholic liquors, beers or wines for on premises consumption (SC Code 16-23-465). However, a bill is pending in the SC Senate to remove that restriction

Concealed weapons permit holders would be allowed to carry firearms into restaurants and bars if a state Senate bill that advanced Wednesday becomes law.

So there's the removal of the restriction. However, you can't drink while carrying, and the proposed new law would allow any business serving alcohol to ban possession of firearms.

However, permit holders would not be allowed to drink alcohol while carrying their guns, and bar and restaurant owners could choose to prohibit firearms by posting signs that ban them. They also could ask anyone carrying a firearm to leave the premises.

This makes perfect sense to me. Currently, you can't even go into an Olive Garden if your legally carrying with your CWP, even if you're not drinking. That makes no sense. If the business is OK with people having concealed weapons, and the people with the concealed weapons are required to abstain, then I don't see a problem.

Who could argue with these "common sense" gun restrictions?

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/02/14/2631614/sc-senate-proposal-to-allow-guns.html#storylink=cpy

How To Drink Like a Southerner

To drink like a Southerner one must drink with relish, rather than drab connoisseurship; with a sense of semi-forbidden delight, as when breaking curfew for the first time; with garrulous abandon...

Read the whole thing.