Althouse: In the Cocktail Lounge...

January 27, 2012

In the Cocktail Lounge...

... you can talk about anything.

46 comments:

David said...: " . . . . . . you can talk about anything."

Two or three of those cocktails and you will talk about everything.; 1/27/12, 8:46 PM
shiloh said...: Nice pic! Creates a certain atmosphere er je ne sais quoi/joie de vivre ...; 1/27/12, 8:49 PM
edutcher said...: They're probably Shirley Temples.; 1/27/12, 8:52 PM
Irene said...: The local paper has changed its format for obituaries. Online obituaries now allow comments for individual decedents. Isn't that peculiar? I can think of better ways to marry old media and new (besides term papers).; 1/27/12, 8:54 PM
Ann Althouse said...: One is a beer.

The other is some form of cosmo.; 1/27/12, 9:11 PM
Phil 314 said...: Cosmo?

RACIST!!; 1/27/12, 9:16 PM
cliff claven said...: My God, edutcher..have a fucking beer and chill the fuck out. If you think Althouse would drink a Shirley Temple you're even more stupid then everyone here thought. And, obviously Althouse told you it's a cosmo. There's nobody more judgemental than a "recovering" alcoholic. I think you're what's known as a "dry drunk," Take your issues to an AA or Alanon meeting. This is not the venue for your demons.; 1/27/12, 9:30 PM
kjbe said...: in a former life...; 1/27/12, 9:37 PM
Chip S. said...: I hope you tipped the piano player.; 1/27/12, 9:42 PM
edutcher said...: I made a joke about drinks.

toby seems rather insecure about that.

He needs help.; 1/27/12, 10:02 PM
MadisonMan said...: They're probably Shirley Temples.

She can't drink them. So I will.

(Yes, I know it needs an apostrophe)

I saw my kid do something noteworthy tonight.; 1/27/12, 10:03 PM
Wince said...: Is this the most vile reality show stunt yet?

US Fear Factor contestants served glasses of donkey semen (with a urine chaser); 1/27/12, 10:03 PM
traditionalguy said...: I'll have what they are having. Friday night date night is the best night.; 1/27/12, 10:04 PM
Chip S. said...: Memo to NBC: Urine trouble now.; 1/27/12, 10:14 PM
chickelit said...: Cheers!

I'm having a vesper (or two).; 1/27/12, 10:26 PM
Chip S. said...: chicklit--A friend of mine ordered one of those recently and stumped the bartender, who had apparently spent too much time learning all the varieties of cosmos.; 1/27/12, 10:33 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: " . . . . . . you can talk about anything."

ANYTHING! ANYTHING! ANYTHING!; 1/27/12, 11:19 PM
dunce said...: That looks like a stack of ash trays on the bar. I quit smoking in 89 but i seek out clubs that serve adult beverages because they are not subject to the restrictions of public places. Even though i no longer smoke it irritates me that the govt. places limits on my liberty and detracts from the pleasure of my beer.; 1/27/12, 11:23 PM
AmPowerBlog said...: Now that's what I'm talkin' about!; 1/27/12, 11:28 PM
Michael Haz said...: I once ordered a Cosmo Kramer. The pun flew right over the bartender's coiffed head.; 1/27/12, 11:53 PM
Col Mustard said...: One is a beer.

The other is some form of cosmo.

My eye tells me one is a cosmo and the other is some form of beer. I see something quite dark and barely a hint of head. Definitely not a Leinie. A brown ale?

Best beer ever? Whatever's ice cold and available after mowing the lawn on a hot summer day... there's another 2.3 seconds off your life!

Otherwise, a Belgie by the big front windows in Mort Subite, esp. when the rain blows hard against them. Lifetimes of smokey haze on those hallowed walls - much like the Sistine Chapel before it was "improved". Let's have one more and here's to you and me...; 1/28/12, 12:30 AM
Curious George said...: "toby said...
There's nobody more judgemental than a "recovering" alcoholic."

Other than the irony of this post, nothing could be further from the truth.

And the real answer is "a vegan"; 1/28/12, 12:43 AM
purplepenquin said...: "Vegan" is an old Plains Indian word...

...it means "poor hunter"; 1/28/12, 1:02 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: MadisonMan, congratulations.

My four year old announcd today, on behalf of his two year old brother and himself, that, "Our favorite color is green, and our favorite number is six." Now I know.; 1/28/12, 1:05 AM
chickelit said...: Freeman Hunt wrote: My four year old announcd today...

I love that you are mother to so young a leader of such a passel. Your influence upon three is immense. Deploy it well. :); 1/28/12, 1:28 AM
Palladian said...: The Two Souls of Socialism, as drawn on the subway.

Whether you're a socialist or a capitalist or anything in between or nothing at all, won't you consider buying one (or more) of my prints or drawings?.; 1/28/12, 2:11 AM
Palladian said...: Althouse's photo reminds me of a photograph I took a decade ago, back when you could still smoke in New York City taverns. I smoke very rarely, and then not much at all, usually a pipe in the winter, or a good cigar.

I've recently been enjoying a pack of Gauloises that my boyfriend bought for me during a business trip to Belgium. Odd, smoking cigarettes after 5 or 6 years of abstinence. When you don't make a habit of it, it's a great pleasure.; 1/28/12, 2:17 AM
rcommal said...: "In the Cocktail Lounge..."

... you can talk about anything.

Oh, no. No, I don't think so. In fact, I consider it an achievement to have eventually realized so, despite and overcoming earlier resistance.; 1/28/12, 4:49 AM
Carnifex said...: It's par for the course for people to make fun of alcoholics, "LET me have that disease", or "They aren't really sick". My SO doesn't understand either, and she gets mad when I tell people "I'm a recovering alcoholic". I am though.

Our brains are chemically different than the normal population. It's not something we can control. It takes just 1 trigger and into the abyss we fall. We don't know what the trigger will be though. Sometimes it's a smell, sometimes a sight, sometimes an emotion, or memory.

Often, when shopping after a few depressing days, I'll suddenly notice I'm in the beer aisle with my mouth literally watering. I'll have to force my self not to buy a six pack because I know one will lead to waking up the next day, hung over. I've come to with worse too, as any alcoholic can tell you.

Try to imagine the shame I feel, having to run from a beverage, literally shaking with the desire to just drink myself into oblivion.

That's the reason I don't have beer in my house. If it's too easy to get to, I will die like my grandmother did.

I will have beer when I'm dining out with my SO, but as a contrast to a good steak, or spicy hot food, but only 1, ever.

I average around 6 beers a year.
The last time I fell off, my last memory was of the bartendress bringing me all the bottles of liquor that just had dregs in them for me to polish off before throwing them away.

It's a tight rope we alcoholics walk, and many fall off. I don't scorn my brothers in misery. I give them some change if I have it, and thank God I haven't fallen that far yet.; 1/28/12, 4:49 AM
Carnifex said...: As a Ps. alcoholism killed my grandmother, its killing my uncle, and I worry that my sister drinks too much. She goes through a 12 pack a week of beer.(that's how my grandmother started); 1/28/12, 4:55 AM
rcommal said...: Consider that comment my one little bit of rebellion...

/OT

(also, I smoke ... but only outside.); 1/28/12, 4:59 AM
Bob_R said...: Does "some form of Cosmo" mean that they substituted triple sec for Cointreau? Bar mix for fresh lime juice? If so I'll have a beer.

I was in a chain restaurant (gives me a point on those "How thick is your bubble" test!) a few months ago. Ordered a sidecar. Bartender had never heard of it. Settled for a martini.

Try a Pegu club cocktail: gin, Cointreau, lime juice, Angostora bitters, orange bitters. Part of the sidecar, margarita, daiquiri family.; 1/28/12, 5:26 AM
Meade said...: Chip S. said...
"I hope you tipped the piano player."

His was the largest tip. He played a special song for a special birthday lady.; 1/28/12, 5:30 AM
ricpic said...: "Our favorite color is green, and our favorite number is six."

I love it that Freeman's four year old is already speaking for himself and his younger brother in the first person plural (possessive). Next comes "We are not amused!" That'll be a scary moment.; 1/28/12, 6:01 AM
Dan said...: Just make sure no one is secretly video taping you....or don't say anything you might regret.; 1/28/12, 6:09 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The local paper has changed its format for obituaries. Online obituaries now allow comments for individual decedents. Isn't that peculiar?..

Rush was mentioning the other day how the new rich openly talks about their wealth..

I see people texting at funerals.

Its the way we live now.; 1/28/12, 7:01 AM
Anonymous said...: The local paper has changed its format for obituaries. Online obituaries now allow comments for individual decedents.

I hope that they are moderating the comments. Twenty-plus years on the web, and usenet before it, have taught me that people have, at last, no decency.; 1/28/12, 7:21 AM
rhhardin said...: Ohio funeral procession

Mourning is indicated by driving at the speed limit or less.; 1/28/12, 7:37 AM
Moose said...: ehw - cosmo. I was hoping it was a Manhattan...; 1/28/12, 8:02 AM
Tank said...: I thought it was a Manhattan too.

Looks the wrong color for a Cosmo, but, I guess it could be if it was "special."; 1/28/12, 8:07 AM
Darcy said...: @Col Mustard:

My "best beer ever" was the icy cold beer I got after completing a Warrior Dash. I don't even normally like Budweiser, but it was icy cold and wet. And like heaven. (I think.); 1/28/12, 9:36 AM
virgil xenophon said...: sonerutBob_R/

Side-cars are one of my favorite "cocktails"--a much neglected drink as of late

Another cognac-based WWI-era derived drink which is great for ANY occasion--breakfast til midnight--is the French 75: Cognac & champagne w. bartenders sugar (or not) on the rocks in a tall glass. Named after the French 75 mm artillery gun which had the highest muzzle velocity (and hence the hardest hitting) of any gun of its calibre.) NOTE: Philistines have seized the good name and claim it is made w. gin viz cognac--in fact that's how most bartenders are taught, But a moments reflection causes one to realize this makes no sense. Gin is an English drink, cognac French. Would the French have invented a drink using the despised English gin--to go w. champagne!!!???

Sadly, it is a bit pricy unless one is at an Air Force O-club (it was concocted for WW I fighter pilots) or at a high-volume bar (like Pat O'Brians in New Orleans) which keeps a bottle of champagne permanetly open for champagne-based drinks, thus making unecessary the pricy purchase of the whole damed bottle just for a drink or two.; 1/28/12, 9:52 AM
virgil xenophon said...: PS: Another great cognac-based drink is what we in the USAF call the MiG-15 (after the Korean-war Soviet-built fighter): A double shot of cognac & a double shot of Drambuie over cracked (not finely crushed) ice. (non-alcoholics may cut it in half :) ); 1/28/12, 9:58 AM
ken in tx said...: My best beer ever was when I was 15 years old and working in a service station. I had just finished changing a large truck tire using a manual wedge and hammer. A customer opened his trunk and had it full of ice and Falstaff beers. I was hot and sweaty. He gave me one. It was great. Later a friend of mine and I tried to drink a few Falstaffs and it made both of us throw up.; 1/28/12, 1:01 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Whatever that tip was, it wasn't enough to get him to play "Highway 61."; 1/28/12, 1:47 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The cocktail was a house specialty drink, and I really don't remember what it was called maybe it has crushed strawberries in it...; 1/28/12, 1:51 PM