May 2021

vietnam memorial, soldiers, bronze

Remember

Uncategorized / By

Baby Boomers represent the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964. The United States began to draft Baby Boomers into the Vietnam War in the late ’60s. The New York Times reports that 40% of males in the Baby Boomer generation served in the war. It’s estimated that 47,434 American fighters were killed during Vietnam.

Approximately twenty-one percent of male Baby Boomers alive today  are veterans.

We remember those today who made the ultimate sacrifice and thank the many Baby Boomer veterans for their service and sacrifice.

– Jet Cannon

Sandy Bottoms on Memorial Day

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Uncategorized / By

This drink looks fairly easy and it’s got watermelon!!  Besides…. What a great name!  A few lame jokes and you’ll be the hit of the backyard or picnic.

Per foodandwine.com

Sandy Bottoms 

Ingredients


  • 2 cups fresh watermelon juice

  • 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) chilled white rum

  • 3/4 cup chilled 1-to-1 Simple Syrup

  • 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 6 limes)

  • 1/2 cup Peychaud’s bitters

  • Lime wheels, mint sprigs, and small watermelon slices, for garnish
  • Directions
  • Step 1 Combine watermelon juice, chilled rum, chilled simple syrup, lime juice, and bitters in a 2-quart pitcher; stir to combine. If not serving immediately, seal well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate up to 2 hours.
    Step 2 To serve, stir watermelon mixture well. Fill pitcher with ice, and stir gently until outside of pitcher is cool. Pour into rocks glasses filled with ice, and garnish each glass with a lime wheel, mint sprig, and small watermelon slice
  • Jet Cannon
bitcoins and u s dollar bills

Cause I’m the Taxman

Cannabis, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

Boomers.  Remember when darn near everything fun was illegal.  Buying beer on Sundays.  Pot.  Gambling.  Speeding.  Wait, speeding is still illegal. 

Then someone realized there’s a bit of money in them there vices. Washington state tax revenues from direct cannabis retail sales were $468.81 million in 2020, while excise revenues from liquor and alcohol sales only totaled $415.28 million and cigarette, tobacco, vapor product excise revenues only totaled $383.55 million.  Lottery revenues for fiscal year 2020 totaled $820.0 million.  We’re still being taxed but it’s more fun than being taxed on property or, say, plumbing hardware.

 So what’s left?  Sex, drugs, and rock & roll.  

Hey, Ho.  Legalize Rock & Roll.  Or just sex and drugs. Rock & Roll is probably too dangerous.

As Beer Boy Captain Tony is fond of saying, “Legalize it and tax it”.

– Jet Cannon

audience, band, celebration
woman in white shirt with green and blue face paint

OK Boomer: This Bud May Not Be for You

Cannabis, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

The missus and I are on the road. Gypsies. Nomads. Vagabonds. In addition to a fully stocked bar and cooler, we travel with a little cannabis. It’s all medicinal.

Our supply comes from two different hobby growers in Vermont. One of them even goes all in on the marketing by naming them based on the unique high they are meant to deliver (e.g.  “Lazy River,” “Train Wreck” etc. And if you had asked me yesterday, I would have said, probably based on the gentle buzz and some regional pride, that “it’s pretty good stuff.” Apparently, my assessment of quality and potency has been impacted by a lack of experimentation during Covid. Last night we met some young folks in the next campsite. They offered us a peace pipe filled with recently purchase hemp from a store in Colorado.  We each took 3 hits.

To say that our pot compared to theirs was like saying our Diet  Pepsi compared to their Gin. That our sugar high compared to their acid trip.

Minutes later, I was hallucinating and elucidating to our new friends about how the machines were using AI to take over the planet from us humans (true, but this seemed hardly the time or place to get into it). I had been enjoying some Pale Ales to this point, and instantly recognized that if I drank another, I would wind up in the bushes. I decided it was time to remove myself from the campfire circle and prepare our dinner. When I got into the trailer’s galley, I became paralyzed with confusion and fear. I wasn’t really sure how to proceed with washing or chopping vegetables, or breading the chicken. These tasks seemed akin to defusing a bomb in terms of complexity and concentration. My wife soon joined me and her stupor was similar to my own.

Eventually, after meandering through a culinary corn maze, we got the feast  on the grill. I ate a huge portion, then went back for seconds, then thirds, until about 2 lbs. of chicken was no more. Then we got into the Snickers bars. When that wasn’t enough, we got out the breakfast muffins and grilled those in butter. Still starving, I began to comb through the larder for more of anything edible. After eating most of the food we had for the next 2 nights, I went to bed still ravenous, and completely stoned out of my mind. There was lots of giggling and comedy sketch-worthy thoughts. But sadly none survived the night.

Be careful out there folks.

  • Hunter S.

You Never Know

Food and Drink, Recipes / By

A slow convert to the inclusion of any Dry Vermouth in my gin Martini, I was surprised to recently enjoy a gin cocktail with Sweet Vermouth.  Gorgeous just to look at, it was quite tasty.  Vivian at the 913 Bar pours an excellent “Martinez” with Uncle Val’s gin, the aforementioned Sweet Vermouth, Luxardo, and orange bitters.  Marvelous!

– Jet Cannon

cold hand dark alcohol

Endorphins The Hard Way, The Yummy Way, and the Rat Pack Way

Endorphins, Fitness, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Music / By

Noted Buzzed Boomer contributor, Old Man Wrong, will drop into Seattle today from the Bay Area to share his expertise in catching a Buzz in multiple ways.  Faithful readers may remember OMW’s posts on the art of cooking steak, popcorn, and….. Brussel Sprouts. He also knows a bit about fitness.

An open water swimmer, OMW will first brave the brisk waters of Puget Sound to fire up those exercise endorphins.  Brrrr!  I’ll be doing some beer can curls from the safety of the beach.

Next, we will visit B & E Meats, established in 1958 by Bob and Earl Green, where OMW will select the proper steak for pan searing and grilling later in the evening.  Yum.  

Finally, a stop is planned at the Tin Room Bar for a classic, poured-at-the-table, dry gin Martini.  “Quite simply, no other drink even comes up to its knees.”  Further quoting Jay Jacobs in A Great And Sudden Glory, we shall “stoop to pay obeisance to this wonder.  The pursed lips draw off a modicum of the only liquid to which the adjective “brittle” can be applied.  The taste buds undergo extreme arousal, and a great and sudden glory is experienced in the general vicinity of the pharynx.  With startling clarity the drink seems to irradiate its own descent through darkness from gullet to gut.”  Queue Frank Sinatra.  

We will look forward to some of OMW’s takeaways from this quick trip to the Pacific Northwest in a future post. Meanwhile, cheers!

– Jet Cannon

person, human, joy

McSorley’s

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Travel / By

McSorley’s Old Ale House, generally known as McSorley’s, is the oldest “Irish” saloon in New York City.     Your beer order comes two at a time and the waiters bring the mugs by the fistful.  A popular appetizer consists of saltine crackers, raw onions and cheese slices.  Classic.  

Per Wikpedia.org, opened in the mid-19th century at 15 East 7th Street, in today’s East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, it was one of the last of the “Men Only” pubs, admitting women only after legally being forced to do so in 1970.

The aged artwork, newspaper articles covering the walls, sawdust floors, and the Irish waiters and bartenders give McSorley’s an atmosphere reminiscent of “Olde New York”. No piece of memorabilia has been removed from the walls since 1910, and there are many items of “historical” paraphernalia in the bar, such as Houdini‘s handcuffs, which are connected to the bar rail. There are also wishbones hanging above the bar; supposedly they were hung there by boys going off to World War I, to be removed when they returned, so the wishbones that are left are from those who never returned.

Two of McSorley’s mottos are “Be Good or Be Gone”, and “We were here before you were born”. Prior to the 1970 ruling, the motto was “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies”; the raw onions can still be had as part of McSorley’s cheese platter.

McSorley’s is considered to be one of the longest continuously operating ale houses in the city due to the fact that during Prohibition it served a “near beer” with too little alcohol to be illegal.  In 2005, New York magazine considered McSorley’s to be one of New York City’s “Top 5 Historic Bars”.

Notable people who have visited McSorley’s include Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, and Boss Tweed. 

It’s usually jammed with people and a heck of a lot of fun.  Look it up when in the Big Apple.

– Jet Cannon

Gummie Sleep Aids

Cannabis / By

One of the Beer Boys, whom we will refer to here as “Bill”, because that’s his name, has been testing THC/CBD gummies to get a better night’s sleep.  [WARNING:  Consult your doctor, pharmacist, dispensary worker, social worker, psychiatrist, and bartender before ingesting any THC/CBD product.  Every individual reacts differently.  Edible THC/CBD can have a delayed reaction.  Stay safe and ingest only fruits and vegetables.]  

“Bill” has not gone the pure CBD route and he enjoys the mild THC Buzz before hitting the pillow.  He says it works for him and he sleeps better.   

I’ve tried 10 MG CBD gummies before bed and I can only report inconclusive sleep results.  I will try to pay more attention and take some notes in the future.  How’s that for useless information?

If you’re having trouble getting a good night’s sleep and these products are legal in your state, it’s worth investigating to see what might help you.  Take the warning seriously.  Best to consult with your doctor first.

– Jet (I’m not a doctor) Cannon

You’ll Get Nothing And Like It

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

Georgetown Brewing Company in Seattle makes some excellent beers.  Recently, I asked for their Bodhizafa IPA at a local restaurant.  The young waiter informed us that they didn’t have Bodhi but they did have You’ll Get Nothing And Like It also from Georgetown.  The waiter knew the name was from the movie Caddyshack, which he had seen once, but he really didn’t know anything about Judge Smails or Spaulding.  These youngsters!!  Anyway, the beer…. I liked it.

To refresh your memory, here’s the scene from Caddyshack.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f6l1QljpMo

Cheers,

– Jet Cannon

Photo courtesy of groovyhistory.com


Too Much Perspective

Good Clean Fun, Music / By

Buzzed Boomer’s At-Large Contributor, Hunter S., suggested recently that Buzzed is too focused on sex and drugs and not enough on rock and roll.  So today, we will note some classic rock and roll birthdays this May 17th.  

Taj Mahal – 79 years old today

Bill Bruford – Yes and King Crimson drummer – 72

Paul Di’Anno -Iron Maiden lead singer -63

Trent Reznor – Nine Inch Nails lead singer – 56

Others with birthdays in May:

Frankie Valli – 87 

Bob Dylan – 80

Pete Townshend – 76

John Fogerty – 76

Stevie Nicks – 73

Rick Wakeman – 72

Bernie Taupin – 71

Feel better?  Maybe I will after my nap.

– Jet Cannon

Cartoon courtesy of cartoonstock.com

man standing on stone beside body of water during daytime

Fintastic Friday – Giving Sharks a Voice

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

Yesterday, Buzzed Boomer’s Editorial Staff was asleep at the switch and missed World Cocktail Day AND National Fruit Cocktail Day. The staff did manage to enjoy a classic gin & tonic on a beautiful spring day, but failing to notify readers of such important days is inexcusable and we apologize.

So please note that today is Fintastic Friday – Giving Sharks a Voice. We’re not sure exactly what sharks would like to express but perhaps it’s to please swim a little farther out into the surf (that’s you Old Man Wrong). Meanwhile, we will pay a tribute to our shark friends with a shark attack fruit punch.

  • Jet Cannon

Photo courtesy of aspiringwinos.com

 

That’s The Pepper!

Food and Drink / By

Add some spice to your life and your Margarita with fresh Jalapeño slices.  I’ve used bottled Jalapeño slices and juice to perk up Margaritas but I found the fresh slices had more flavor with less burn.  There are lots of variants on the Internet including those with chili pepper and pepper jelly.  Stick with 100% agave tequila, fresh lime juice, a little orange liqueur and we’re good to go.

 

– Jet “Mouth’s On Fire” Cannon

jalapeños, chili, peppers