Jet Cannon

What’s The Point?

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

Where is it that somebody, anybody, knows your name? That you’re greeted with a hearty “welcome”! ? Or the bartender remembers what you prefer to drink and begins crafting your cocktail after receiving only a subtle nod of your head.  

One local watering-hole, The Point, is home to the Beer Boys on Friday afternoons.  It invites over 21 year olds only.  Baby Boomers make the cut.  No kids allowed.  We like kids but not always when  enjoying a coveted cocktail.  Where do you find an adults-only setting anymore?

Another local establishment, The Tin Room, located in a former small business where they made I’m-not-sure-what from tin, features cloth napkins and cocktails poured from shakers into a proper cocktail glass right at your table.  The bartender definitely knows your name and would shake your hand pre-Covid.  It’s a place where you feel like you belong.

It’s nice to belong. That’s the point. 

– Jet Cannon

A Boy and his tractor

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

As a seven or eight year old, I have vivid memories of getting brief tractor rides with grumpy Grandpa Herb as he plowed the fields on his Christmas tree farm.  I lived for those rides.  The noise and the smell of hydraulic fluid.  I loved those rides, however infrequent and short.

My good friend, let’s call him Old Man Earl (several months older than me), just called from his pheasant-hunting property in Eastern Washington where he had just finished using his tractor and brush-hog to mow down great swaths of undergrowth.  He was high on life.  It didn’t hurt that he had a whiskey and ginger highball in hand with a ribeye on the grill and his trusty canine companion Hank by his side.  Oh, but the city-boy turned gentleman-hunter was reveling in the pure joy of manly-man, machinery mojo! Caterpillar Second Shift Steel Toe Work Boots.  Carhartt Duck Bib overalls.  Farmer’s tan. Nearly-callused hands.  Heaven.

Maybe I’ll pick up one of those little green lawn tractors.  Not only would it cut down my mowing time to about three minutes total but it could bring back the all-consuming joy of riding the mighty, snorting, mechanical steed.

– Jet Cannon

National Submarine Day

1 Comment / Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Travel / By

National Submarine Day, on April 11th, honors the day the United States Navy acquired its first modern commissioned submarine, says nationaldaycalendar.com.   On April 11, 1900, the Holland VI became the Navy’s first modern submarine.

My plan is to visit the Horse & Cow Bar & Grill in Bremerton, Washington which is basically a bar in a submarine museum.

Have you seen the Progressive commercial where the don’t-become-your-parents counselor asks, “Who reads submarine books?”  And the sheepish answer, “My Dad.”  Well….. that’s me.

– Jet Cannon

Photo quota.com

submarine, steampunk, yellow
submarine, military, museum

The Masters Azalea Cocktail

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Recipes, Travel / By

Whether or not you enjoy golf, the splendor and tradition of The Masters is unmatched.  Thanks to wealthy members, the Augusta National Gold Club, opened in 1932, maintains a lush setting with tall pines, abundant azaleas (30 varieties) and, for TV, painted greens.  Noting that Presidents seem to enjoy golf, President Eisenhouer played Augusta 29 times during his presidency.  Augusta over the years has painted a vibrant canvas of sports and passion and beauty.  Take from it the aspects you enjoy.

The same goes for the signature cocktail of The Masters. I’m not certain of the recipe used in the club bar but the Interweb recipes vary.  That’s perfect for us.  Choose Vodka or gin, lemonade or pineapple/lemon juice.  Just be sure to add a splash of grenadine and garnish with fresh fruit.  Then enjoy the color and pageantry and tradition of The Masters.

– Jet Cannon

Photos Courtesy of Golf.com and homebartendr.com

Like Water for Chocolate

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Do I like vodka? Not really. But not not really either. C’mon, it’s vodka!! It’s stealthy, I’ll admit that. My personal lasting early impression of the stuff – aside from waking up bleary, a ~16 yo, next to a seagull pecking at trash near my high school face, the morning after an ill-advised alcoholic score – is of the girl with the really reeeally long hair in 11th grade with her huge macrame purse that ‘concealed’ her bottle. Vodka is, and ever has been to my mind, just like that…clear and pure and clean. The perfect liquor, which is to say, the most serviceable but also the most dismissible. Doesn’t smell like anything. Nobody ever said, ‘you stink like a vodka factory’. It should taste like…ethylic alcoholic water… nothing!! It should taste like nothing. Only it so f’s you up. No notes is good notes!!! I’ll have me some gin please!  But I digress.

Au nyet. Madison Avenue (is there still a Madison Avenue??!?) disagrees strongly. So did the Europe Union, recently quibbling over what vodka ‘is’, which led to the Schnellhardt Compromise. Something about alcohol content or the kind of potatoes or whatever, but a compromise. I guess that’s good, we certainly don’t want any more unpleasantness among the Eastern Euro people. 

But come the mother f__ on!! It’s vodka, Fricken vodka!!  The less taste the better, everybody knows that!! It’s neutral. And yet (see pics), my local BevMo has many many many many ‘varieties’ of The Vodka. Some of them behind glass, lock and key. Call an associate for that $weet $tuff!

It’s like water. Wahh..ter. Where I grew up – Maryland – Wuoouh-der. Let’s face it, the best water tastes like…absolut nothing. Nothing at all. But again, the ad men would disagree. There IS a difference…you can TASTE the difference.  Your mouth can FEEL the difference.  Just tryyyy it!

I really can’t/won’t. Vodka gets you buzzed, and the cops can’t smell it. Good water is nice like air; you don’t need to think about it. Good water tastes like nothing at all. And good vodka tastes like the 11th grade.

  • OldManWrong

RV Curious?

Good Clean Fun, Travel, Trending / By

For those of you who sometimes wonder if you would enjoy the blacktop nomad life, or alternately, are so certain that you would hate it that you want to read about it with lurid curiosity and schadenfreude – read on. I’ve detailed what life inside (and outside) of Stanely Skystream the Silver Armadillo (his formal title) is like.

Hunter S.

photo of cake near mug

Big Day Tomorrow

Caffeine, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun / By

Yeah, National Beer Day is tomorrow, so while you’re laying in supplies, April 7th is also National Coffee Cake Day!  So get your flour, and I assume coffee, to make coffee cake (maybe that’s not right) or just buy some COFFEE CAKE, like me, to eat with your morning coffee tomorrow.  Then we’ll be alert, nourished, and ready to properly celebrate National Beer Day by, I suppose by enjoying a beer or two!  

– Jet Cannon

man, beer, thumbs-up

Coffee and Cosmos

Caffeine, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Recipes, Travel, Trending / By

Coffee and Cosmos

What do people in the state with the oldest population, in median age, prefer for their libations?  Well, Maine gets the honors for having the most people leaning towards the Baby Boomer years.  The best selling spirit in Maine is Allen’s Coffee Brandy.  Nice for cold weather.  However, the most popular cocktail is apparently the Cosmopolitan.  Interesting combination.  We’re not sure what to make of that!

– Scuba Robin

cosmopolitan, cocktail, drink

Pre-Workout Drinks

Caffeine, Endorphins, Fitness, Food and Drink / By

An energy boost before your workout is a welcome idea.  There are numerous powders and drinks on the market but are they safe?  In moderation, probably.  In many the main ingredient is caffeine which in appropriate amounts is likely safe and effective.  If your heart races or your fingers tingle that’s too much.  

Some experts recommend going more natural because then there is less concern with what other ingredients might be in that powder.  So instead, have a cup of coffee before working out.  Or food rich in protein like yogurt.

Use common sense.  We don’t want to over stress our bodies.  Yet it’s important to keep moving as we age.

– Jet Cannon 

gym, exercise, fitness
laurel wreath, wreath, accolade

Literary Award

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Congratulations to the editorial staff at Buzzed Boomer for receiving their first ever nomination for a Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Journalism. Nicely done, team. Look for a little something extra in your pay envelope this week!

  • Jet Cannon, Editor-in-Chief

sculpture, theodor mommsen, historian
black and silver motorcycle

Ride On

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Travel / By

I like Bikes. And by Bikes I mean Hogs. Love the Harley’s of course, and the Victory’s and all other big, powerful machines with shining chrome and a full throttle roar. My favorite bike is an Indian Scout, which I do not own, because my wife says that I can’t, but I am working on her. I also like BBQ. A nice brisket with cornbread, slaw, pickles and onions. Yum. And it’s hard to find a better combination of Bikes and BBQ than at Shooter’s in San Elizario, Texas.

San Elizario lies along the El Camino Real (the Royal Road) that linked Mexico City to their missions and trading routes all the way to what is now northern New Mexico. The neighborhood still has many of the original adobe buildings along Main Street, including a small jail that legend has it Billy the Kid broke another fellah out of.

And they have Shooters, which is easy to spot because there will be anywhere from 15 to 150 hogs lined up in front of it. But fear not gringo, these folks are friendly. There is something about the Mexican American community culture, and maybe the fact that they have largely been left alone by the rest of the world for generations. But they will shake your hand, ask you where you’re from and tell you stories. They serve beer and BBQ that the owner smokes for hours and hours every day at his house a short distance away. There is no inside seating. I had a Tecate beer and a ½ pound of brisket with the works, plus a side of the deep fried mac n’ cheese which was heaven. Ride on.

Hunter S

beer, pouring, refreshment

Mellow Buzz

Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Travel, Trending / By

A mellow Buzz is just what the Buzzed Boomer staff doctor would order, assuming we had a staff doctor.  And Kat Odell answered the bell with “Day Drinking, 50 Cocktails for a Mellow Buzz”.  Available from Amazon, the book has recipes with great pictures and uses beer, wine, cider, sake, sherry, vermouth and more to create low alcohol by volume drinks.  Perfect for long sunny days or for just cutting back on the alcohol.  

– Princess Colleen

drink, cocktail, beach