Just One
“For heaven’s sake, one glass won’t do any harm.”
Cartoon: Daily Mail
Good Clean Fun
the only way to fly
A recent article reminded us that infamous hijacker D.B. Copper ordered a cocktail or two before he parachuted with $200,000 from a 727 over Washington State back on November 24, 1971. Was that cocktail:
A. Dry vodka Martini
B. Champagne in a glass slipper (in-flight service was pretty nice back in 1971)
C. Bourbon and soda
D. No cocktails served due to flu pandemic
E. D.B. Cooper Cocktail (Columbia River water garnished with tree bark)
If you answered ,B you would be correct. Champagne, cigarettes, and calling the “stewardess” “sweetheart”, were all part of the $20 ticket.
– Jet Cannon
Photo: NPR
The Hunt for Happiness Week
That’s right Baby Boomers. Next week is Hunt for Happiness Week, according to National Day Calendar. Here’s their tips to help with the hunt:
- Who are the people in your life that bring you happiness? Seeing them might bring you joy.
- When you walk into work, do you feel surrounded by supportive peers? At the end of the day, you may feel satisfied with a job well done.
- Have you experienced a sense of peace when meditating or praying? A spiritual connection is often an essential part of overall happiness.
- Taking care of your health and connecting to the outdoors improves your physical wellbeing. It allows us to be independent and be an asset to others.
- Develop community connections and social activities that broaden your horizons.
- Identify your favorite activities and pursue them more often.
- Review your finances. While money doesn’t buy happiness, managing the money we do make well does helps us to create security in our lives.
Hmmmm. Nothing about catching a mellow Buzz to bring us joy. Maybe that’s the fourth week of January.
– Jet Cannon
Auto Buzz
We enjoy watching the classic and exotic car auctions on TV so we were surprised to learn that Bring A Trailer online auctions is the largest car auction house. It beats Mecum, Sotheby’s, Barrett-Jackson, and Gooding among others. So if you’re looking for a Buzzed Boomer era classic, check out bringatrailer.com. Whether buying or selling, Bring A Trailer could possibly save you money versus the traditional houses.
– Jet Cannon
Dry or Dryer January Helpful Hints
We’re always promoting responsible attainment of a Buzz and in that spirit here’s some suggestions from Men’s Health for maintaining high spirits without drinking lots of spirits:
Cue up a comedy instead of a drink
Round up some friends for some sports instead of meeting at the bar
Try a solo event like a movie or dinner
Rock out with your favorite music
Soak in a tub
Instead of a drink, reach for a pen and unleash those inner thoughts
Cook some creative meals
Get some real sleep. How about a full 8 hours?
Tap into nostalgia. Watch a favorite movie or listen to an entire favorite album
Enter suspended animation until February. This last one is ours.
Just reading through this list makes us sad and thirsty. Or as Pabst Blue Ribbon posted in a now-deleted tweet, “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!”
That’s a bit extreme. Or is it?
Go forth and Buzz responsibly.
– Jet Cannon
With a little help from jack daniels
Joyous and festive holiday? Or relatives from hell? Alas, the season to be merry is here. Good luck with that.
When all else fails, watch Christmas Vacation to put your problems in perspective. Click here for one of our many favorite scenes.
Happy Holidays!
- Jet Cannon
Come In WBAL
Ahh Christmastime and its misty memories…dads and us kids singing carols in harmony, door-to-door…hustling to Grants to get <$5 sumpum for first gf…brothers coming home from college with very long hair, and so on. But xmas 1954 (seriously pre-dating OMW) brought something truly wonderful and enduring to the world – the first consumer-orientated transistor radio.
Bell Labs (big surprise) came up with the transistor in 1947. Before that it was tubes…there were a few portable tube radios meaning portable by weightlifters. But Texas Instruments (it of the early calculator w/the weird red numbers…(held upside down, you could spell ‘hell(o)’) came out with the TR-1 in ’54, in time for the Holidays.
AM-only. But with modern additions, we’re still at it with the pocket radio, er, well I am. From early ‘70s Orioles games late at night to NOAA weather helping us gauge the surf to the backbreaking Niners-Packers this fall walking in Tilden Park, I’ve always had one nearby. Still a little frustrating with the reception but still a solid companion. All Hail!!
- Old Man Wrong
Buzzed Boomer Jet 737
Having recently experienced the challenges of flying on commercial airliners, Buzzed Boomer management has decided to order a Boeing Business Jet which will be re-designated the Buzzed Boomer Jet. Enough of the cramped lavatories, lack of legroom, limited food options, and seats that barely recline. The new BBJ will have a queen sized bed, showers, club seats, a nicely stocked galley/bar, a roomy lav, and a proper table at which to eat and conduct “business”.
Financing and operating expenses remain a concern but those issues are for another day.
- Jet Cannon
Pictures: Business Insider
Tropical Salvation
We’ve been sucking down tropical drinks for about a week now. We don’t recommend consuming that many alcoholic beverages but we’re not stopping either. And all the sordid news from back home goes down easier with a sugary cocktail.
Just when we start to lament the sorry state of humanity, we meet Rachael and Andrew in the community hot tub. Both are young aerospace engineers who, given time and coordination with their peers, will solve the problems we retired folks helped create. So rest easy. Our problems will be solved. We encouraged Andrew and Rachael to get on a plane and go back to work! Now, where’s my Mai Tai?!
- Jet Cannon
Beer Buddies
We thought you might want to see this story from NPR. Cats and dogs getting along. Bipartisan cooperation was on full display during the fourth annual Anheuser-Busch Brew Across America Congressional Brewing Competition, where five pairs of lawmakers, one Democrat paired with one Republican, work with breweries across the country to create new small batch beers and bring them back to Washington, D.C., to find out whose concoction is best.
Said one representative, “You spend time with one another, have a beer with one another — we can still disagree with one another but it’s not going to be the end of the world.” The competition serves as a reminder that people with different political views can work together to create something satisfying.
Cheers!
- Jet Cannon
How The Boomers Save Everything
Here’s an excerpt from a 2013 AARP article by P.J. O’Rourke. It’s still spot on. To read the whole article click here.
“Yes, we’re spoiled rotten. We’re self-absorbed. And it seems like we’ll never shut up. But the boomers made a better world for everyone else. You’re welcome.
The boomers are a generation that changed the world. We’re the largest, richest, best-educated generation of Americans, the favored children of a strong, confident and prosperous country. Or, as other generations call us, spoiled brats. Born between 1946 and 1964, the 76 million boomers reaped all the benefits of the postwar period’s extraordinary economic growth.
We’re the generation that will die with the most toys. Until that day finally comes, we’ll still be riding our bicycles, jamming in garage bands, and wearing jeans and T-shirts. We’re famously careful about the way we raise our kids, because somebody has to grow up. It won’t be us.
And what about those kids? Will Generation X and the Millennials do a better job running the world than the boomers have? Let’s hope so. But first they’ll have to move out of our basements.”
Thanks P.J.
– Jet Cannon
Stay Young
Most Baby Boomers will remember The Dick Van Dyke Show which turns 60 years old this year. Dick himself is 95 and still going.
That show spawned The Mary Tyler Moore Show with featured another great comedian Betty White. Betty is 99 and still going. She stays mentally sharp playing Scrabble. Dick loosens the joints by doing a little dancing every day. Whatever works!
Those shows demonstrated just plain old good clean fun. This Betty White clip is about as racy as the shows ever got. Censors were busy in those days. Things have changed.
Stay young!
– Jet Cannon
Photos courtesy of Forbes.com and alchetron.com
Bocce Buzz
Baby Boomers need to stay mentally and physically fit and low-impact sports like shuffleboard and bocce ball, don’t laugh, can be more beneficial than you might think. While you’re not likely to catch an endorphin Buzz from playing bocce, there are positive mental and physical health benefits including:
- Self Control
- Strategic Planner
- Social Activist
- Improved Coordination
- Relieves Stress
- Increased Confidence
- Light Cardio
Per worldbocce.org, Bocce Ball was first documented in a 5200 B.C. painting of two boys playing, which was discovered by an English scientist, Sir Francis Petrial, in an Egyptian tomb. Bocce Ball spread throughout Palestine and into Asia Minor. In 600 B.C., Bocce was picked up by the Greeks and passed to the Romans. It was played everywhere, from the churches and castles to the city streets. People from all walks of life could play the game; young or old, man or woman. In 1319 A.D., Bocce Ball was actually prohibited to people of lesser nobility because it was felt that it diverted attention from more important tasks, such as archery and war training. In 1519, Bocce became a public game. It was played in Flanders, Holland and Belgium.Greek colonists brought Bocce with them to what is now modern Italy. It became so popular that it was once again threatened with prohibition, as people who were playing Bocce in the streets were hitting the knees of passing noblemen with the Bocce balls.
The popularity of Bocce in America has been on the rise since it swept California in 1989. There are more than 25,000,000 Bocce enthusiasts that have heard of the sport, play recreationally, or play on structured courts in the United States today. Bocce has also become a tournament sport. Tournaments are held weekly, some carrying large cash awards for their winners. It is now a part of the World Corporate Games, is an event in the Special Olympics, and is being proposed to be in the Olympics.
Bocce can be played upon any level surface by anyone who is willing to try. It is a game for all ages, gender and athletic ability. It is a very versatile game in which the rules may be changed according to the players. Play may range from a nearly nonexistent set of rules to the strictest of tournament rules.
So, get out there and bowl some balls! Take no prisoners!
– Jet Cannon
Baseball Wildcard Cocktail
Hoping to share a clever cocktail for the baseball wildcard games, we went on the Interweb and came up with….. several drinks for which we don’t have the ingredients. Crackerjack syrup, Cardamaro, Genever, Cynar, cherry vodka, agave nectar. Nope. Call us unsophisticated or just plain cheap but none of that is on the shelf. One thing was clear. There are a number of “Wildcard Cocktails” with very little in common. There is no trademark on the name, it would appear.
Therefore, we at Buzzed Boomer are declaring, for this season ONLY, a free-for-all on making your own Wildcard Cocktail to your own excellent preferences and standards. We’re sure your creation will be wild and crazy good!
Cheers!
– Jet Cannon
