Whiskey this

I ventured into our local booze repository tonight and while checking out I noticed a bottle of Jefferson 18 year Presidential Select 18 Year Whiskey on the counter.  Like $100 is an impulse purchase.  However, being a fan of the standard Jefferson Small Batch Whiskey, I inquired about the 18 year and was regaled with a very interesting tale.

According to the resident beer nerd, the distillery owned by Jefferson used to be owned by the fine folks that manufactured Pappy Van Winkle.  When they moved in and looked in the cellar there were barrels of Pappy aging and getting all sexy for consumption.  When the time was right and the whiskey reached the ripe age of 18 years, the Jefferson owners bottled the Pappy and sold it under their own name.

One internet resource tells a similar tale.

Anyone want to split a bottle?

Sick this

I came down with a cold on December 17th.  It was after a speaking engagement in North East Georgia. I was teaching early on the morning of the 14th.  I arrived the night before so I wouldn't have to deal with any potential traffic or get up before newspaper boys on bicycles.  I arrived, checked-in, met the host committee and prepared for to go out to dinner when a member of the HC waddled up to me, looked down to me and said in a fairly thick southern accent; "You the fancy Atlanta boy who's goin' to teach us how to use the Internet?"

I thought for a second, swallowed, looked up and quietly said; "I work in Atlanta. I'm going to show you how the Fox uses the Internet.  And as far as fancy goes sir, I like whiskey and the Georgia Bulldogs."

He grabbed my shoulder and shook me like a rag doll howling with laughter.  After dinner I was invited out (read: forced into a car) for drinks with him and another gentleman just like him at a local watering hole.  This is where I unlocked a new level of intoxication I didn't know existed.  It will be referred to as; "politician-drunk".

But back to this cold.  A week after fighting what was just a cold I scooted on down to the doc in the box. I was dismissed after being told it was just a cold and to ride it out.  2 weeks after that I walked into my general practitioner's office and said, "I've had a cold for 3 weeks, fix me."  My doctor quickly give me an antibiotic so strong I haven't been allowed to go the gym for the last week.  Here we are a week later.  The cold is gone but I'm still sloshing fluid around in my lungs. I've coughed so much in the past 4 weeks I've given myself a bulging disc (I checked the spelling of "disc" 4 times.)  Tomorrow I'm headed back to the GP for a chest x-ray. Like most things, I'm blaming the politicians.

2011 Recap

Once again, too many crappy movies and not enough books.  But my reading list jumped from 1 in 2010 to 7 in 2011, so that's something. Underlined items were my favorites.

Music - Albums only
Anthony Jeselnik, Shakespeare 
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Original Broadway Cast, Rock Of Ages
Original Broadway Cast, The Book Of Mormon
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Blow In The Wind
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Are a Drag
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Have Another Ball
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Have a Ball
R.E.M., Collapse Into Now
Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
Daft Punk, Tron Legacy
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Cake, Showroom of Compassion
Girl Talk, Bone Hard Zaggin'
Girl Talk, Stop Cleveland Hate
Girl Talk, Feed the animals
Girl Talk, Night Ripper
Girl Talk, Secret Diary
Girl Talk, Unstoppable
Girl Talk, All Day

Travel
Tuscon, Arizona
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dallas, Texas
Athens, Georgia

Books

The Man Who Ate the World - Jay Rayner

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer - Warren St. John

Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends - Penn Jillette

Last Words: A Memoir - George Carlin

God No! - Penn Jillette 

Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz - Ron Jeremy

From Hershel to Hobnail Boot: The Life and Times of Larry Munson - Larry Munson

Live entertainment

Blue Man Group

Absinthe (Incredible and would see over and over and over again)

Mumford and Sons (Can't remember a concert I loved this much)

Movies

Wall Street 2

Airplane!

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Tron: Legacy

Penn and Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour

Blood into Wine

Inception

Family Guy: It's a Trap

Love and Other Drugs

Salt

The Social Network

The Box

Avatar

The Blind Side

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Too Big To Fail

Bruno

Clash of the Titans

War of the Worlds

Despicable Me

The Informant

Superheroes

Predators

Cedar Rapids

American: The Bill Hicks Story 

The Invention of Lying

Machete

The A-Team

X-Men: First Class 

The People Vs Larry Flynt 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

RED  

Friends with Benefits

The Muppets

I am Number 4 

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon 

Captain America 

The Company Men 

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

Devil 

Thor