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James's Journal

james
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04/15/2008 10:00 #44015

I'm Just Sayin'
A martini is made with gin.

A martini is always made with gin.

A martini is never made with vodka.

Now, a vodka martini. Yes, that is made with vodka.

But a martini is always, always, always made with gin.

Next bartender who makes me a martini with vodka looses an eye.

Thankfully estrip's own (e:TheJuggernaut) knows this and is to be loved for it.

But for the rest of you bartenders out there, learn how to tend bar.
fellyconnelly - 04/16/08 08:38
i like to swirl my can of champagne and contemplate things as well.
james - 04/15/08 12:03
You also cannot make a Rum and Coke with diet Tab, though some swear by its exotic, yet formidable flavor.

and "Hold up to light and swirl contemplatively" is a hilarious instruction.
jbeatty - 04/15/08 12:01
I thought that the juice from one lime wedge was sufficient to become a cuba libre. But i could be wrong.
drew - 04/15/08 11:52
Went to look up the Cuba Libra recipe and saw this:

A Pimp Named Slickback:
Scale ingredients to servings
1 oz triple sec
1/2 oz white rum
1 oz Rose's® lime juice
1 splash amaretto almond liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a goblet with a sugared rim. Hold up to light and swirl contemplatively.

Never had one, but the name of the drink caught my eye.
drew - 04/15/08 11:48
really? not lime juice, mind you, just a little piece of fruit. I am such a bad bartender, and at one point in my life, I got paid to tend bar (it was in Ireland though, so all I had to do was pull pints)
jbeatty - 04/15/08 11:46
but if you add lime its no longer rum and coke. Now its the exotic Cuba Libra.
drew - 04/15/08 11:38
And a rum and coke should always be made with rum.

Also, with Coke, or Pepsi if necessary, but only a little bit in either case.

A wedge of lime is nice, too. Or a slice.

Ice is good, too.

But mainly, the most important thing to get right is the rum.

megan - 04/15/08 11:18
mmm. i love gin

04/09/2008 14:51 #43962

The Circle Game
Ugh,

To get an MA in Social Studies education, you need about half pedagogy classes, half history. I walk into the history/S.S. ed. department to find out what I have to do to finish up my S.S. ed.MA. Reasonable, you cannot get that degree without finishing student teaching. So, I can't get that. However, they would be more than glad to have me in their history MA program.

crap.

So everything comes full circle and I am back to history again. Luckily, I have only four classes and a thesis to go.

ka-boom
james - 04/10/08 21:50
Sir Francistron Drake was the cyborg cosmonaut to claim pluto for England. You dreams are intact my dear.
tinypliny - 04/10/08 21:41
I thought you were a native of Pluto. You didn't need to crush my interplanetary dreams so brutally! :/
james - 04/10/08 17:27
as a side note, English is my native language. But you wouldn't guess that from the way I screw up homonyms.
james - 04/10/08 10:28
A curious bit about Childebert the Adopted. Seventh century typography was such that the letter 'o' looks quite a bit like 'a'. Many historians write his name out as Childebert the Adapted. Yes, it is true that he was an adopted son, but it is also true that he was a cyborg. In fact, he was the third cyborg German prince.

He had no need for cybernetic enhancements, but the Diet of Robots, Vampires, and Sentient Trees bailed out the government of its fantastic war debt and demanded one of their own be placed on the thrown. Chancellor Meternacht cleverly adapted the human heir to the thrown into a cyborg to ensure that human interests would not be completely ignored.
tinypliny - 04/10/08 09:28
Yeah! Totally rocking history trivia for today. I would be able to use it at office. Something to the effect of: If you cross that boundary marked by the discarded candy wrapper, I will dump my pen/pencil holding mug on you. It has precedent. Henry did it with his hounds to Leopold.
fellyconnelly - 04/09/08 23:00
wasn't it wonderful how King Henry XXIV released the hounds on Leopold XXV after the border of Brandenburg was breached during the reign of Childebert the Adopted?
tinypliny - 04/09/08 20:01
Ah. Gotcha. Like an education decision maker/administrator as opposed to minion teacher. Rock on. All the best!
james - 04/09/08 19:51
I would have an advanced degree in education. That seems more relevant to the sort of careers I am exploring. But, at this point, I want any advanced degree so I can stop school, start paying back my lones, and be a productive member of society.
tinypliny - 04/09/08 19:41
Okay. Shoot me if I am lame. But why on earth would you want an SS.Ed degree if you hate teaching? What do you intend to do with an .Ed degree if not teach?
james - 04/09/08 19:35
Felly: Just make it up as you go along, that is what I do ^_^

Pliny: What is stopping me is hating it. I was teaching kidos at some point but dropped it like a stinky potato. And I can use a bunch of those classes towards this. This way will actually be less work and work I would rather do. So I have no problem with it.

Chicky: I can and I am. ^_^
museumchick - 04/09/08 19:32
You can use probably use one or two of those classes as an independent study- and you can use the independent study to help you prepare for writing your thesis. At least that's what I did in the Museum Studies concentration.
tinypliny - 04/09/08 19:01
I don't get it. What's stopping you from finishing the practical teaching part? If that is the only part stopping you, just push for it and complete it. And weren't you teaching the kids at some point? Can't you use that experience?
fellyconnelly - 04/09/08 15:55
remember when we said that we were going to discuss history together? then i think i realized that I really don't know that much about history. And then i gave up.

04/04/2008 08:51 #43891

Over The Top!
I think I am a gentleman of taste and culture. I am also a man of no shame. With that said, my favorite movie of all time has to be

image

the wasteland that is Over the Top; which is greater than TS Eliot's Wasteland. I know, in those desolate planes of your childhood, this movie was on some channel people watch only when they are bored or stoned.

The plot is the very stuff of American folklore, like Johnny Apple Seed but with trucks. Sly Stalone picks his estranged son up from military school. He enters into arm wrestling matches and in the end wins not only the tournament, but also the love of his son.

The film can be sumarized in this one minute clip without missing anything. (A brief note. For all you aspiring actors. If you want to learn how to act with just your eyes, look at the man Stalone arm wrestles. He is no less than sensational.)



A light up stage? Multiple refs? A Roped ring? Over a thousand people watching and cheering? WTF?

But Stallone's character, Hawk, is no hulk. He is a samurai, calm even in the moment of striking his enemies down. For example, this scene. And ask yourself "Do you want it?"



This movie is great for so many reasons. Most of all, because it is a sad reflection on Sly. It wants to be Rocky. But instead of the drama of boxing, it is the junior high version: arm wrestling. Instead of fighting for the love of a sexy woman, he is fighting for the love of his son.
iriesara - 04/09/08 16:23
Wasn't it that Kenny Loggins song? "meet me halfway, across the sky, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah only you and I"...something like that?
That was seriously such an awesomely bad movie. I have to admit watching it more than once myself...
fing - 04/09/08 15:50
I think I watched this movie more then 15 times when I was younger. It was such a great movie to watch and made me want to be a trucker/arm wrestler full time. Lucky for me neither of these worked out.
jacob - 04/04/08 19:04
I seem to remember there being some cool, catchy song. But, I guess it wasn't because I can't remember it.
tiburon1724 - 04/04/08 18:27
that first video contains a spoiler! damn my night is ruined!
james - 04/04/08 14:36
I don't know. I haven't seen this movie in over a decade because it sucks so hard.
fellyconnelly - 04/04/08 13:10
was there a part where a chick was armwrestling? i seem to have a foggy memory of chick armwrestling matches, but that could have been me drunk at the bar...

03/31/2008 20:16 #43852

Jesus Party
Category: religion
Visiting the folks was fun.

I am kinda glad I live eight hours away from my friends. The drama achieved nuclear fission while I was away and the radiation petered out somewhere near Rochester. That was close.

On Saturday I was invited to go to a party with my parents. It was thrown by friends of my parents that I don't really know and in that ignorance I said sure. When I get there it was hard to focus on one thing past the front door. The walls were lined with pictures of Jesus bleeding on everything. On a cross, into a cup, on his face like tears, into the waiting hands of apostles and saints, everything. Maybe it was the fleet of Franciscan monks with long beards and grey robes. Or maybe it was all the people praying.

Holy shit, it has happened. They have finally joined a Catholic cult and are about to drink the kool-aid.

I was literally stepping over people on their knees praying. Praying for things you should be able to pray about standing up. Thank you Lord for making the ziti come out good. Thank you Jesus, the cooler is not leaking water everywhere. Thank you god for bringing everyone, especially the brothers, together.

Even though I was raised Catholic I have never once hidden my complete divorce from mama church. I may have played around with different religions over the years, but Jesus hasn't been my lord since the first Bush administration. So why would they want me to be there?

It was at that point of realization I began to panic. Oh crap. This is an intervention. If I don't get on my knees, repent, and thank god for second helpings of antipasto I am in deep shit.

Thankfully, that was not the case. One of the Franciscan brothers was being transfered to England. It was a farewell party. He was a nice man, sad to leave but excited to go.

I had a lovely time and irked some people when the topic of politics came out. Not having religious fervor is one thing, but being a Democrat is a different brand of sin all together.

And wait until I tell you about the Muslims.
fellyconnelly - 04/04/08 13:11
we should have an estrip religious party. Come as your favorite religious figure.
jacob - 04/04/08 06:24
Oh man, you really dodged a bullet. Alice-in-Wonderland much?

03/31/2008 17:02 #43850

Delicious!
Hi,

I just got back home an hour ago. The other day I felt bad because the weather was nicer down at my folks home. But today when I return it is warmer here and not raining.

EAT IT down state! Buffalo ROCKXORZ
museumchick - 03/31/08 18:50
But now it's raining in Albany!!!!