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ivan

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  1. ivan

    Vermouth

    Both dead AND alive. I stumbled upon Cocchi Vermouth di Torino by accident. I sought out Cocchi Americano, because I read somewhere that it more closely resembles the original Kina Lillet than does Lillet Blanc. I wanted to taste as much as possible what Ian Fleming had in mind for the Vesper martini. I found a nice little split of Americano at Total Wine, and there next to it was a split of di Torino. I didn't want to break up the set, so I bought both. Absolutely marvelous stuff, both of them.
  2. ivan

    Steven Shaw

    Impresario! THAT's the word I was looking for. Steven Shaw, Internet Impresario.
  3. ivan

    Steven Shaw

    My time on eG was brief, but a stone groove. Priscilla and I made life-long friends here. My interactions with FG, especially while contributing to the nascent Daily Gullet, were so gratifying that I must remind myself that I never met the man off-line. FG's generosity, gregariousness and joie de vivre will continue to inspire and infect eG old-timers and newcomers, through this fine monument. Thank you, Steven. It was a privilege.
  4. I don't know how to characterize my cellar, but if I spend too much time there I might emerge with a rather funny walk. And then later my brain hurts.
  5. At first I thought maybe your second statement contradicts the first, but I think what you really mean is that you will continue to shop locally as opposed to driving to the most soul-crushing part of OC. Which is good. As for the folks who live and work in and around the most soul-crushing part of OC, they no longer have to sit in soul-crushing traffic on soul-crushing Newport Ave. and soul-crushing 17th St. and put up with all the soul-crushing arts-and-crafts vendors at the IFM just to get a decent head of escarole or a nice bottle of something, not to mention the beef dry-aged in-store and all that nice pampered poultry. If everyone stayed in their own respective soul-crushing areas of OC, it might keep the crowds down. Now, if only Martin had stayed in Tustin, I wouldn't have to make the soul-crushing drive to Costa Mesa for the best coffee in the world. But such is life in OC.
  6. Erik, I haven't been around much, so my question may be outdated, but when Mr. DeGroff invented the Flaming Orange Gully, Velvet Falernum couldn't be had for love or money. Has that changed? Did you buy it locally, or have it shipped?
  7. IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. PROGRAM-ID. RandomIvanPost. AUTHOR. Ivan. DATA DIVISION. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. 01 Mode PIC X. 88 Verbose VALUE "V". 88 Terse VALUE "T". 88 Exit VALUE "X". 01 VString. 03 VString1 PIC X(20) VALUE "Ha-ha, yeah, I used ". 03 VString2 PIC X(20) VALUE "to have a mirror on ". 03 VString3 PIC X(21) VALUE "my monitor, but then ". 03 VString4 PIC X(24) VALUE "I re-arranged my desk so ". 03 VString5 PIC X(22) VALUE "that my back's against ". 03 VString6 PIC X(09) VALUE "the wall.". PROCEDURE DIVISION. BuildPost. DISPLAY "Enter T for Terse, V for Verbose, X to Exit." ACCEPT Mode PERFORM UNTIL Exit EVALUATE TRUE WHEN Terse DISPLAY "Pff! Pack-rat? I can see your desk!" WHEN Verbose DISPLAY VString WHEN OTHER DISPLAY "Great thread!!!" END-EVALUATE END-PERFORM. STOP RUN.
  8. ivan

    Hooch

    Testimonials about how too much of a good thing can be really bad are a dime a dozen. How nice to read one about how a little bit of a bad thing can be really, really good. Thanks for the inspiration, Chris! Is that glass in the photo the glass with the white line?
  9. No, I am saying that a typical business model does not allow for it. If I understand Randall's musings, any grape will have terroir if allowed to, but it might not be an appealing terroir. The goal of a business is to make wine that appeals.
  10. The "better living through chemistry" approach to viniculture all but defeats the simple miracle of wine (and the notion that terroir is something that can be added to a wine is, of course, an absurdity). Now that wine is as never before a commodity, for most producers practical considerations supercede artistic, philosophical or political considerations. Who has the luxury of establishing a vinyard where the grape is truly a product of its environment, no matter the outcome? No business-minded producer could stomach such a risk. Instead, the grape is manipulated to conform to expected results, the winemaker's vision of what the wine should, rather than what the wine naturally wants to be. Maybe this will change, but for New World wine producers, terroir is a liability.
  11. What an absolutely beautiful story, Maggie! I had tears in my eyes throughout, and had to tell my coworkers the allergies were acting up. And I am wholeheartedly behind your campaign to redesignate Sunday as the first day of the week. The Russian word for Sunday is "resurrection", arguably a beginning, not an end. And we don't even have to change our calendars, where Sunday has defiantly held its place at the start of each week.
  12. Someday I would like to open a barrel of native oysters.
  13. The whole point behind the hot dog is that it's NOT a proper meal. That is its essential appeal (besides tasting good on a visceral level). What does the hard-boiled detective stuff down his gullet in between stake-outs? What does the construction site foreman get two of from the lunch truck? What does the floor runner at the Stock Exchange shove in his mouth to keep himself going? The hot dog is essential. We would starve without the hotdog. The economy would collapse. Nothing would get done. Don't let all those newfangled sushi stands at ballparks fool you: the hot dog is here to stay. The heartburn remedy industury alone would disintegrate without it. Not to mention 70s cop shows -- if there were no hot dogs in 1972, Quinn Martin would've had to invent them.
  14. Was Shatner a contestant, a judge, or the secret ingredient? Just so long as he didn't "sing"... ← Shatner was the Chairman. I weep for what might have been.
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