My Dinner with Hefner

[thehefner]

On Wednesday, I took myself out on a date.

I really should do this more often, especially when Henchgirl's not here, because otherwise I just sit around the house, staring at one of my three glowing boxes. Getting out and having a nice time alone is a small pleasure I always seem to neglect or minimize.

It's nice to get out, drift, linger, or flake off as you see fit. In doing so, the creative process is invigorated, ideas start popping again, and thoughts always seem to flow more freely. It's Drano for the soul.



I went to Silver Spring to see a film at the AFI, killing a couple hours beforehand by getting yummy delicious pho, and then a glass of grog at Piratz Tavern, where I ended up discussing how it's made with the bartender.

Hey, hey, guys, remember when I made grog? The grog I made based on what I could guess from Piratz' menu? That grog that many of you drank, and that gave everyone an amazing day-long hangover? Turns out, you're supposed to serve it only as a couple ounces, and fill the glass with ginger beer. You're not supposed to drink it straight. Ha... hahaha. Ha.

I don't care what Henchgirl says, I still think I have brain damage from that magnificent grog.



At AFI Silver, I went to go see The Steel Trap, a film noir starring Joseph Cotten from Citizen Kane, The Third Man, and Shadow of a Doubt.

I was surprised to discover that admission was free, and then I discovered why: this film is lost, with no reels known to exist and no interest by any studio to find and restore it, so all they had was a crappy bootleg version on DVD. We were told that we'd never see this film again.

Well, not entirely true, but true enough. The DVD version I saw is on ebay for fifteen bucks, so at least I know it's circulating in some format, however crappy. But damn, I sometimes forget just how many great films are just lost to time or lack of interest. Between Netflix and YouTube, you just sorta assume that everything is available these days.

But when it comes to the latter, the only evidence you can find of The Steel Trap is the first minute and thirty-six seconds, which can give you some indication of the quality I saw at AFI:

The film itself wasn't brilliant, but it was suspenseful and entertaining enough to warrant preservation. Here's hoping it gets it someday.

Also, I want to go back in time and get Joseph Cotten to play Norman Osborn.

Comments

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

John, I'm never letting you make me a drink ever. I have enough brain damage as is. Plus, I know you well enough to know that you handing me the drink would be followed with the words "try this, it's awful!"

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

The important question is, did you put out?

And if you did... what are you doing Friday?

[1mercystreet.livejournal.com]

So tell me, how do you make grog? It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and I'm on the lookout for interesting and dangerous drinks.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

The hardest part is the falernum. Some liquor stores sell it, but I dunno how individual brands are. We went ahead and made our own, following this recipe:

http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/make-your-own-falernum/

We used Bacardi 151. After that was made, we added equal parts light, golden, and dark rums (not spiced), then a splash of fresh lime juice, on the rocks. Topping it off with ginger beer seems to be the most accepted way, and probably the best way to have it, but I--like a dummy--served it with just the booze. It was the most delicious horrible idea ever.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Oh! And also, add triple sec. A bit of that too will be good.

So yeah: Falernum, light rum, gold (not spiced!) rum, dark rum, triple sec, ginger beer, fresh lime juice. It'll fuck you up, but it's damn tasty. Adjust ingredients according to taste.

[harper-knight.livejournal.com]

Any drink which can be drunk with a mixer can AND SHOULD also be drunk straight anyway, if only to see what the kick is like.

By the way, a drink you should (for a given value of should) try that was popular in my circle a few years ago; the Visky! A tall glass, two/three shots vodka, two/three shots whisky, top it up most of the way with coke, and the last couple fingers with Fanta. Fanta disguises the alcohol bit a lot better than most soda; The drink ends up tasting like an ever so slightly flat coke. Do it right and you get six shots of booze and you can't taste it, at all. Hehehe.

[emma-elicit.livejournal.com]

Well, this officially ends the era of me letting you make drinks for me. Not only did I have the worst hangover of all time, I don't remember most of that night (though that may've been the Goldschlager shots...). Anyway, come visit me sometime. Please?