Enormous!
Two older gay guys telling stories and discussing anything, everything and nothing in particular.
Enormous!
Enormous Cocktails
Grab something to hold onto because KC and Harley are shaking up some fun! Don't miss this festive episode as they discuss their favorite holiday beverages, share the secret of the best martinis, and even re-design the traditional martini glass. In a funny and poignant Soundrack Of Our Life segment, they dig deep into the magic of music and its ability to trigger memories. Reminisce with them as they share personal stories about their dads and are swept away in a wave of nostalgia with memories of childhood Christmases past. And, as a gentle reminder of the season of goodwill, they touch upon the comforting thought of growing old and being taken care of. So come aboard, and let's revel in the holiday spirit together on Enormous.
Enormous Website: www.EnormousPodcast.com
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Link: The Soundtrack Of Our Life Video Playlist
Link: Male Diva EDM Spotify Play List
Link: Songs Of Our Life Spotify Play List
Yesterday it was summer, right, and tomorrow is New Year's, right. Thanksgiving and Christmas just sort of disappeared.
Speaker 2:And then it'll be time to plant the spring flowers.
Speaker 1:I know They'll be time to pull them up.
Speaker 3:This is Enormous with your host, harley and KC.
Speaker 1:So, kc, it feels like time is going faster this year than it ever has. What happened to the summer, the summer? What happened to the fall? I mean?
Speaker 2:it is almost.
Speaker 1:Christmas. Yep, here it comes. It is just speeding by and I don't even think it's going to slow down. I think Christmas is going to be like watching an 80 mile per hour truck on the freeway.
Speaker 2:Just phew. Well, we barely got time to notice Thanksgiving. It went by so quickly. Oh, I know it's from like Halloween right to Christmas, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's just been the fastest year I can remember. Is this something that has to do with as we get older, or does it affect everyone?
Speaker 2:I think it affects everyone, but also there's an age factor involved, so some of each.
Speaker 1:Do you remember how long it was from the time you got off for Christmas break as an elementary school child? And Christmas Didn't it seem like an eternity? Yes, waiting for those presents, waiting for Santa? Yes, what? It's December 1st now. A blink of an eye it's going to be New Year, but I do think that as we get older, our perception of time changes. I don't feel like I have a clear grasp on the day's passing anymore.
Speaker 2:No, wait till you retire pretty soon, and then you'll see, you don't even know what day of the week it is anymore.
Speaker 1:Do you remember when you told me about that clock that you bought for your kitchen?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:That had the day, the day of the week yes. The month, the year and the time yes. And how much you really felt like you needed it, because you couldn't tell what day of the week it was I still look at it every day.
Speaker 1:I got one too. Only I'm still working and every day I still look at it. And I think I need to memorize every day, because when I go in to see the doctor and he asked me who's the president oh yes, what day of the month is it, what month is it and where do I live I need to be able to tell him something You're talking about being of sound mind. I'm definitely not of sound body so like the little shred of sound mind I can hold onto is certainly something.
Speaker 2:Well, remember the conversation we had earlier today about it's a good thing that cars don't lock themselves when you leave your key in. Now that was funny. Because we're of an age that we would most certainly leave the keys in the car and lock the car.
Speaker 1:I mean, if we were our parents, we would be locking our keys in the car every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at least once a week.
Speaker 1:But now we have these fancy cars that if the keys are inside you can't lock it it honks at you and like, hey, you stupid, you left the key in here.
Speaker 2:I don't think I could live without it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm pretty used to it. I think it's pretty important. When I lose my keys, the first thing I do is go to my car and see if the door will open.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 1:Because if the door will open, I know the keys are on me somewhere, okay. Yeah, in my briefcase or my laptop bag or somewhere or in the car.
Speaker 2:I lost my phone the other day. I just realized I've read this but I kind of forgot about it. I can ask Alexa where's my phone?
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:And then she actually rings my phone for me, so I can find it, alexa rings an iPhone.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. How does that work? I don't exactly know, but it works. It must be like a little app where you just put in any phone number and she calls it. I think it's probably magic. I feel wrong calling Alexa, she and your house, because it really is a very masculine guy's voice. Yeah, With a British accent actually when Alexa has a British accent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's AI. It's actually. I think. I heard that the rock did all the recording. That's what I thought For the male voice, but now they are expanding it more, and so now mine has more of a British accent.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's too bad.
Speaker 2:But it still sounds like the rock, but with the British accent.
Speaker 1:That's too bad, that's too bad, that is too bad. So, with time flying by and trying to grasp and hold onto something, what would that be?
Speaker 2:Well, we all know that would be a cocktail. A cocktail, yes. It's the only thing we can hold on to, that's true.
Speaker 1:So, as Christmas is flying by us, we can stick our hand out and grab onto a cocktail.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1:Some booze, if you will, some booze Booze kind of has that get down and dirty kind of sound.
Speaker 2:It's a little more gritty, I like it.
Speaker 1:Those are what you had before the theater. The theater, yeah. So what is your favorite booze or favorite cocktail for Christmas?
Speaker 2:What do you like the best For Christmas? I'll probably have something fancy or fruity.
Speaker 1:So you're thinking celebratory.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, how about you? Wouldn't you do that? Have something you don't normally have.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe, yeah, there's certain things I like in the winter. In the wintertime, when the weather starts getting cool, I like more brown liquors like bourbon and rye, and in the summer I'm more drawn to gin and maybe vodka.
Speaker 2:So my standard drink of choice is rum and coke with lime Do you drink that in the winter also, and specifically white Bacardi coke.
Speaker 1:With an aged vanilla bean inside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that spends six months in my basement with a vanilla bean soaking in there Actually three. I put three vanilla beans Sounds like your husband and aging in the basement.
Speaker 3:For three months with a vanilla bean in them.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:So if anybody wants to send Casey a gift, send a bottle of Bacardi clear rum with a vanilla bean that's been aged for six months or longer, and he will be forever in your day. Yeah, that's a perfect gift, he'll do anything you ask, just to get that bottle.
Speaker 2:Anything.
Speaker 1:I bet you would.
Speaker 2:Almost anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, true.
Speaker 2:Almost anything.
Speaker 1:What would I like as a celebratory cocktail? You know I hate to say it, but I always go to the classic martini. But at Christmas I kind of like to mix it up a little bit. I might have a pomegranate martini, I may make a gingerbread or pumpkin pie martini, or I might do something a little more, you know, kind of exotic and flavorful.
Speaker 2:It depends on so many factors, really. If we're really going to talk about, you know, booze and it up, it just depends. Are we together for an hour? Are we hanging out for three hours? Right, there's going to be a lot of. What are we going to do after this? Are we going to the theater? Are we, you know, are we going to go watch the parade of lights downtown? There's a lot of things that would drive what I chose to.
Speaker 1:That's true, martinis are not very portable. So, you can't really throw them in a plastic cup and take them with. They generally are served in a martini glass, which is a problem. For me it is a problem. Martini glasses have a very specific shape to them.
Speaker 2:And I'm too animated for a martini glass. You are the way you throw your arms around over your head all the time. Taco with my hands. Hey girl, not that.
Speaker 1:No not that for sure. You know. That's not me so flailing your arms about, though, maybe a little.
Speaker 2:Just emphasizing my point by using my hands. It's a bit more of a, if I can say, Italian way of talking. Is how I talk with my hands.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if you had a martini in your hands and you were doing Italian talking, you would know when you needed to stop.
Speaker 2:That conical shape just sloshes the drink right out of the glass, that's true. And then the party's over, because you're really sad about losing your drink.
Speaker 1:Well, by the time you're sloshing martini out of your glass, you're probably at a point where you need to pull back a little bit anyway, don't you think?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I don't think so.
Speaker 2:They ought to put martini in a glass that actually had a bigger butt on it and a smaller rim around the top, so it would not slosh out.
Speaker 1:Oh, actually that'd be a great idea, so you could kind of swirl it around and we should maybe market a glass, the non sloshy, spilly martini glass.
Speaker 2:Or how about some kind of a portable lid?
Speaker 1:Okay, I've got the perfect. I've got the perfect blend of elegance and oh, elegance, okay, elegance and practicality. Are you ready? Yes, a traditional martini glass Okay, with a plastic sippy top and a straw, so that when you need to hit the road, you can take your martini glass with you, but it won't spill, no matter how much you speak Italian with your hands.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, I saw a solo cup. You know the red solo cup Red solo cup. Only it wasn't a solo cup, it was a martini glass shaped, red solo cup.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it looked like a martini glass and it's shape, but the surface in color looked like a solo cup.
Speaker 2:It looked like a red plastic with a tailgating cup.
Speaker 1:Yes, unbelievable, that's perfect. I remember when I was at a gift show buying wholesale stuff for my gift shop in my store that I saw a whole selection of solo glasses that were made out of either ceramic or glass or something that were permanent you could throw in the dishwasher. That were in different shapes.
Speaker 2:Nice. I remember when I used to go to Atlanta to that big gift show. I loved it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Atlanta gift mart was great. I want to go. Take me, we should make a party out of it.
Speaker 2:I've never been to a gift show.
Speaker 1:Well, after I retire, we can start a online gift shop Okay, you think A gay online gift shop and we can go to Atlanta and find really cool stuff for it Deal. I don't think there's any reason why a martini glass is shaped like a martini. When did a martini even start? When did they make a glass for a specific drink?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's kind of a concept, isn't it? Because now there's a glass for everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a beer glass, there's a shot glass, there's a wine glass for red wines and for white wines.
Speaker 2:I mean there's some obvious reasons behind some of them. I really think the martini glass is the most impractical, though it looks cool Right, it's like wearing a bow tie and a cumber bun. It looks cool, but it's just not really practical. It's not very practical.
Speaker 1:And you know I did a little research because, I wanted to know the real answer to this, and what I found out is most people believe the martini glass was invented during prohibition. So picture this.
Speaker 1:The police are going they're running down the stairs into the speakeasy To raid the speakeasy and you don't want to get caught with alcohol. So you have a martini, you throw the liquor over your shoulder and, because the glass is so flat, the liquor spills right out and your glass is empty Really quickly, right? So you're left without the evidence. I don't think that's true. Most things I read about it says it was formally introduced in 1925 at the Paris exhibition as a modernist take on the champagne coupe. Now I think that's ridiculous. Why would somebody take a champagne coupe and put straight sides on it? What's a coupe? A coupe is like a wide, almost dessert shaped glass that they traditionally serve champagne it, and you pronounce the P.
Speaker 1:Yes, because it doesn't say coup, it has an E after it.
Speaker 2:So you say coupe. Okay, I'm from Iowa. I have to ask all these basic technical questions.
Speaker 1:So in French, if it has an E, you say the concept before the E If it was COUP, it would just be coup Coup.
Speaker 2:That's what. That was the question rolling around in my head.
Speaker 1:So apparently they thought it was a modern shape of the champagne coupe and it was originally used in films of the 1920s and it was used to hold champagne, which I think is really funny. We'll have to find a film and see if that's true. Yes, champagne, but as we know, the geometric aesthetics of the era sort of stuck with and somehow became the glass for the martini Right. What year did you say? This was 1925, was the year of the Paris exhibition, and it was used for champagne at that point in time. The real reason, and what most people agree with, is that, like the wine glass, it has a long stem on it. The champagne glass has a long stem so that you do not warm the liquor.
Speaker 2:Right, well, and a martini that if you're shaking it in ice and kind of really just cooling everything in the shaker and then you're pouring it into that glass. It's going to warm pretty quickly, right?
Speaker 1:Sometimes people will freeze martini glasses before they pour the martini in. If you shake the martini hard enough and long enough, it will create a frost around the shaker and then, when you pour it into the glass, it will have small ice crystals floating around the top.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought my lesson was that you weren't supposed to stop shaking it until you did frost the shaker.
Speaker 1:Which means you can't hold it with your hands or you get frost. You've got to put a towel, a tea towel, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:How old am I? A tea towel you have to use a tea towel to shake your martini.
Speaker 1:So after you've gone to all that work, you don't want your drink to get warm, so you hold it by the long stem and sip, and the other thing the big, wide open top does it allows you to smell the gin. Traditional martinis were made with gin and gin is made with aromatics, like everyone knows juniper berry but there's other herbs and spices in gin that give it its unique flavor.
Speaker 2:You know, I have to tell you this, this is kind of cool, Our artist friend. He mostly did sandblasting art.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:A big chunks of quartz and so forth, and he had a studio downtown in Denver. We'll call him Tom because his name was Tom.
Speaker 1:For our wedding. Put Tom on Tom because his name was really Gary.
Speaker 2:For our wedding. As a gift, he made two martini glasses for us. So I'm sure they were just probably well knowing him and his wife Can he?
Speaker 2:purchase martini glasses and then sandblasted them. Knowing him and his wife, they probably went to crate and barrel and bought two martini glasses no, just plain glass ones. And then he took silver metal thread and wound the bottom of the glasses with silver metal thread and pearls threaded on the silver thread. You know what's great about those is they're so because of those pearls on there with that thread they're so easy to hang onto?
Speaker 1:Oh sure, Because they're not slippery and you got that little teeny stamp, you know, on a regular martini glass and it's you have to kind of precariously hang onto it.
Speaker 2:but this has this silver metal thread and these pearls on there, so it's very easy to hang on.
Speaker 1:I think the thicker it is, the easier it is to hang onto it, don't you? Well, that's what I've been told.
Speaker 2:That's what they all tell me.
Speaker 1:When do I get to find out?
Speaker 2:If you're a good boy.
Speaker 3:One day.
Speaker 1:Right right, right, the watch has a glass fetish, I would say.
Speaker 2:You guys have a lot of glasses.
Speaker 1:We have a lot of glasses. We have lots of martini glasses, we have lots of wine glasses.
Speaker 2:But I think you like what do you call that? Serving wear, service wear, cause you like Things to entertain with you, like, yeah, dip various plates and bowls yeah, we like to have company over.
Speaker 1:It's fun to have a fun glass to serve us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a little serving bowls and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Or a cocktail.
Speaker 2:And while I don't have all that stuff, I appreciate I enjoy coming over to your house and being served with all those various things. Now I have a question for you.
Speaker 1:Okay, a while back we did a small test in how the glass affects the taste of a martini Right. Did we talk about that on the podcast, or no I don't know if we ever talked about it. Okay, I served you a martini in a very fine martini glass. It had sort of a sharp edge.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Like a fine wine glass.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And then I served you a martini in one that had more of a, a rounded, thicker, soft edge. Did you notice a difference in taste? Well, totally.
Speaker 2:But is that is that, is it in your head or is it for real? But that's the question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's how you think, I think it's for real. You think I think the thin glass on your tongue makes your mind think it's a sharp taste.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Where the rounded shape on your tongue makes your mind think it's a more smooth, maybe sweeter or softer taste. Do you think that's possible?
Speaker 2:I do. I feel like the, the heavier chunky glass didn't? It didn't taste quite as good. Right as that, that finer, sharper glass, I would agree.
Speaker 1:And same thing with shot glasses. Do you like a shot glass like a bar style shot glass, or do you prefer a shot glass that has sort of taller size and thinner edges.
Speaker 2:Okay, now that's a total mind fuck, because it depends on what I'm, why I'm having a shot and what the circumstance are.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're having tequila. What's the shot glass?
Speaker 2:Are we? Are we watching a Bronco game or are we toasting to someone's good health on their birthday? Well, that's going to be the thin glass For the tequila, uh-huh, but for the Bronco game. Right, then I want the chunkier bar glass, the Butch glass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Butch glass, sure, and when you can throw out the wall and it won't break.
Speaker 2:Right, well, you're going to. You're going to clunk it on the counter after you, true?
Speaker 1:And it still won't break.
Speaker 2:It doesn't break. Yeah, you're going to tap it on the counter and probably end up with it upside down, right.
Speaker 1:Now let's say you're drinking two or three different types of gin or bourbon and you're doing a taste test.
Speaker 2:Then then the finer glass probably. Why?
Speaker 1:is that? I don't know. Is it all psychological or is there actually something to it? That's the word I was looking for Psychological.
Speaker 2:That's a part of it, though, but isn't that a part of boozing it up? Is that a part of drinking? Is the psychology of it? Are you, you know, like to me? Back to the Martini glass. I really feel like I see the 50s and mid-century modern Right and Darren Stevens coming home from the advertising agency and having his Martini served by Samantha. You know, when he got home from work, you know that's right, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:Samantha, did she always have a Martini for Darren?
Speaker 2:Well, I wouldn't say always, but we saw that more than once on Bewitched. You know we did see that happen, that's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I forget how much that has probably made impressions in our goable little minds as children.
Speaker 2:You know, if we moved to Pump Springs into a mid-century modern house, we'd be having a bar cart with Martini glasses sitting on it.
Speaker 1:Oh, we drink oranges and coffee out of Martini glasses. If religion problems brings For sure, everything's a Martini there by the kidney-shaped pool. We could have a coffee Martini in the morning, followed by an orange Martini for lunch Delicious, and a gin Martini for happy hour and a chocolate Martini for dessert Delicious. Which brings up the point what's more Martini, a savory Martini or a sweet Martini?
Speaker 2:Okay, that's probably a personal preference. Now, for me, a more Martini would be savory.
Speaker 1:And what do you think historically would be more correct? I would say savory. That's right.
Speaker 2:Because of olives and the dirty Martini with the little olive juice in there.
Speaker 1:Well, that's not traditional. No, Do you know what the traditional recipe for a gin Martini is? Well, first of all, I gave part of it away. It's gin. Oh gin and vermouth, vermouth and what else. There's one other ingredient.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't know. Ice Bitters, oh bitters. See, to me the vermouth is bitter enough that I don't need more bitters.
Speaker 1:There's a dash of orange or aromatic bitters. So traditional gin Martini and it was gin, not vodka is two ounces of dry gin, one ounce of dry vermouth, eh, which I do not like. That's a lot, that's true. The norm now is about a half a teaspoon.
Speaker 1:But, I could even do without that and then a dash of orange or aromatic bitters. My favorite right now is to take a little tank array, pour it over the rocks. Pour it over the rocks in the bay by San Francisco. No, pour it over rocks in a shaker, shake it really hard till there's ice crystals and pour it in a glass with no vermouth and no bitters. So just the straight alcohol. Yeah, and it just has that crisp herbal. It's just the best.
Speaker 2:I like that for just having the drink. And you know, after work and you're just winding down and having that. Right, you're the Darren Stevens in Bewitched and you're having a wind down. Now, if you and I said let's just fancy it up today and have a Martini, then I would want us to make one with gin for real, like tangerine. But I want one of those misters, those spritzer things for the first time.
Speaker 1:Well, you know now you're getting into a total, another category. Okay, there are people who are vermouth Martini drinkers and non-vermouth drinkers. Some people want the bottle of vermouth just held over the top of the drink. You just wave it over the glass.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's enough.
Speaker 1:Some people would like a little fine mist a little sprayer, a vermouth right on your drink. That's what I want. So you sort of spray in the air above your drink and it just sort of settles down. Oh so fancy Peppers, the top of your drink.
Speaker 2:That would be fun. I'm feeling more elegant just talking about it. You look more elegant, thank you.
Speaker 1:You're welcome. I think you're growing a bow top, thank you. So yeah. So the vermouth thing is a big question. I'm one of those people extra, extra dry no vermouth. Look at the bottle, look at the drink. That's enough for me. I don't need anything else but the gin in the glass and I have bitters.
Speaker 2:I heard that you take a toothpick and you stick it in the bitters Perfect Bottle and you pull it out and then one drop off of the end of the toothpick of the bitters in the martini. That's enough or less, or less than that? Huh, I would agree.
Speaker 1:I would agree with that. Bitters is something that is wonderful and I love it in Manhattan's, but when I drink gin, I want the pure herbal essence of the gin to come through. I don't want it. What would the word be Polluted with?
Speaker 2:anything else or?
Speaker 1:Okay, that's not the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 2:That's not polluted it.
Speaker 1:I do not want the pure flavor of gin to be compromised by any other ingredient, particularly if it's a really good gin.
Speaker 2:Right, aren't you not getting thirsty having this conversation? I am getting thirsty.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking about a gin martini as we talk. And then the question is shaken or stirred? Okay, some people believe that shaking the gin bruises it. What do you think Bruises it?
Speaker 3:Can you?
Speaker 1:bruise gin.
Speaker 2:You can say that. I think you can say that, if you want to, you can beat it up, throw it against the wall and it still won't get bruised. I feel like it was in that delivery truck hauled across the state line. It's already bruised. So the traditional martini was stirred.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 1:But there is a difference. You know what it is. What is it? Take a guess Think about stirring a martini versus shaking it. It's the coldness it feels like to me. You know Part of us, the coldness. It gets colder when it's shaken. What else Diluted? Yes?
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So if you're going to a bar and you want to get the maximum buzz off a martini and you're paying $18 for that damn martini because everybody overcharges for booze, then you better get it stirred. You better get it stirred, okay, you get actually more gin than you do if it's shaken.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I just feel back to you know my love of mid-mod and the 50s and 60s and I feel like it needs to be shaken in a depression glass shaker oh yeah, that'd be fun, I have one In a glass?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have one that would scare me. I have one Because I want it shaken so hard that that ice fractures and splits apart.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to show you my depression glass shaker. It's thick, the glass is real thick. How thick is it?
Speaker 1:It's pretty thick. Is it thick enough that it'd be easy to hold onto?
Speaker 2:I think you'd be impressed by how thick it was, really. Yeah, I want to show you?
Speaker 1:Okay, I wish you would. So after this recording, you're going to show me your depression glass shaker that is thick and easy to hold onto. Yes, sir, okay, you know. What's funny is, martinis are an a much debated topic.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Some people think gin martinis only because they're original. Some people will only drink vodka martinis. Some people will only drink a particular brand. Some people want them dirty. They want some olive juice thrown in which kind of puts a little salt in some softness.
Speaker 2:That's what I like. I like that savoriness Plus. I like to eat the olives.
Speaker 1:What kind of olives do you like in your martini? Okay, my favorite would be blue cheese. Oh, me too.
Speaker 2:Blue cheese olives, green olives with blue cheese, yeah a green olive with blue cheese, and then probably next would be a green olive with the little onion pearl in there. Oh really, yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1:I don't know of an olive with an onion in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I can think of a green olive with pimento the little red thing, which is traditional. That's pretty traditional, but not my favorite, blue cheese, which is my favorite, and almond, which is really delicious oh, I've not had. And the last one would be oh, two more Garlic. Oh, yes, that's good.
Speaker 2:And jalapeno pepper. Do you like to go to the store and just look at the olives section and see all the different kinds? I do more than look, oh, do you buy olives.
Speaker 3:I actually buy them.
Speaker 1:Me too, gets me hard to buy olives.
Speaker 2:Nice, you just get a hard on standing in the olive section.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to stick my tongue into that, opening the olive and taste whatever is stuffed with it Delicious. I love tasting a stuffed olive. Yeah, so olives are a big part of it. Now, if you put a lemon in sort of a lemon curl or something in a martini, would it still be a martini?
Speaker 2:Well, nowadays, yes, but probably with vodka, that seems to be yeah, that sounds like a vodka one, and what about onions?
Speaker 1:Well, that's still be a martini, because they're kind of savory, but cocktail onions are kind of sweet so yeah, they sell, don't they sell like little cocktail onions. They do. Is that still a martini?
Speaker 2:No, it is, but not traditional.
Speaker 1:No, that is called a Gibson. Oh, I give some cocktail onion Instead of an olive is called a Gibson. Totally different drink.
Speaker 2:Yep, that I see that they you can buy. I'm looking. You can buy these pearl onions marinated in olive oil.
Speaker 1:For cocktails. No, don't want that, you don't want it. You don't want oil floating on the top of your cocktail. You want it dry and clean.
Speaker 2:It, is it, it there's that's a part probably to talk about too is how does it look? It's not only the shape of the glass or the chill of the cocktail or the stem of the glass, but it's how does the cocktail look? Glass?
Speaker 1:There's a restaurant in Denver and when you order a martini there they do have blue cheese stuffed olives if you want. They bring you a frozen martini glass and the waitress or the waiter, the server, will pour your drink into that frozen glass. If you don't drink it fast enough and it the all the frost melts off the glass, the server will come back and offer you a new frozen glass and pour your old martini into the new frozen glass.
Speaker 2:Now, how's that for service? That service, that's pretty fancy. That sounds expensive. Is that worth? 18 or 20 bucks, I could say it sounds expensive.
Speaker 1:Maybe if you had one of them. Yeah, you know a couple shooters in the parking lot and then come in Some pre-gaming before the actual game I hope nobody that works at that restaurant heard me say that, because I do like their martinis you better delete that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm gonna delete that.
Speaker 1:So one last question. Okay, Savory or sweet?
Speaker 3:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Could you call a sweet version of the martini a martini? I do, I would people do. You go to zillion restaurants and they call martinis, sweet martinis, like Like espresso or coffee martinis or chocolate martinis or whatever.
Speaker 1:What about a lemon drop? That's basically a lemon flavored martini, right. Vodka is a much different experience. Drinking a martini vodka can be smoother, like, uh, gray goose or what's the other one, kettle, gray goose, kettle and Damn absolute, I don't know. No, getting old, getting old is really it's hard, isn't it hard? And not in a good way.
Speaker 2:No, not in a good way vodka is a much gentler drink.
Speaker 1:probably more people like vodka martinis than gin martinis. But Even though they call them martinis, I'm a little bit of a snob about it and I think if it's not gin it's not really a martini.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1:Uh, four times a year when I had my store at the old location before I moved, I would have a martini party and the favorite martini all year round was the summer sale martini, which was the chocolate chocolate I was gonna say. I bet it was chocolate. It was chocolate, it had vodka, it was vodka based, it had creme de coco, which is basically a sweet chocolate liqueur, right, and then it had a splash of Godiva, either dark chocolate or milk chocolate liqueur on top of that and it was delicious, nice, and I knew when drink started sliding out of those martini glasses onto my merchandise.
Speaker 1:That it was time to get people to move out of the store. They'd had an as soon as they bought something. Yep, martinis are basically just pure alcohol with no mixer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's kind of so. Anything you can throw together. No, no, martini glasses, that's what we'd call a martini. No, it's just straight up alcohol.
Speaker 1:I would say I want a big one and, if possible, I want three big ones.
Speaker 2:Whenever possible, I'll take three big ones.
Speaker 1:Now that you've had enough martinis that you're feeling a slut, like what other holiday cocktails are your favorite.
Speaker 2:It doesn't take a martini, but uh, what, oh what other holiday cocktails or any day cocktails?
Speaker 1:holiday. I mean we're sliding in the Christmas.
Speaker 2:Yes we are sliding in. Uh, I I'll have some uh horchata these days or I don't like that, you don't or some maybe peppermint liqueur thing or Something that's pretty. You know, yucky, traditionally holiday, really sweet thing, but only one of those Well here's something yucky that I'll drink.
Speaker 1:Okay every year I will drink one glass of eggnog.
Speaker 2:Oh, eggnog.
Speaker 1:But only if it has sufficient alcohol in it. Okay, what's your alcohol of choice?
Speaker 2:for your eggnog maker's mark bourbon, of course. Yeah, bourbon, I would say so too.
Speaker 1:I've heard people do rum yes, and people do Brandy brandy.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a tom and Jerry, right it's. It's the same thing, right, it's kind of like eggnog, but with brandy instead.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know that I like that as much Anything else for holiday.
Speaker 2:For a holiday, Some kind of a hot toddy or Well yeah, mulled wine is what I was thinking. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so a hot spiced wine that you put on the stove in a Soup pot or something and company comes over and you?
Speaker 2:I was just gonna say if we were coming to your house Because you had the fireplace and you were gonna like the fireplace and we were just gonna sit there and stare at the fire, then I would have some kind of a hot toddy like that to just sit there and relax.
Speaker 1:Now I know sarge would prefer martini almost anytime of the day or night, but uh, he, occasionally, you know he's, he's like we're all getting a little older and I think it's it's probably safer to drink a mixed drink, you know, little bourbon and coke, or a little Rum and coke, or a little something in ginger ale or something like that right, but um, martinis are always our first choice, and pomegranate martinis at christmas are definitely one of our favorites.
Speaker 1:Okay, is that with vodka? Then it's with vodka. Pama M A Likor. Okay, and then a little pomegranate juice. Yeah, nice and if you shake it over ice and you use lemon flavored vodka Any brand it doesn't really matter, it makes an amazing pomegranate martini, oh nice, how about if it was the holidays and it was sunday morning brunch?
Speaker 2:What are you? Gonna drink sunday morning. Sunday morning, yeah. What if it's not christmas or any time of the year? Mimosas.
Speaker 1:Bloody mary bloody mario, for me it's a bloody mary, champagne and orange juice would be Also a good choice, but I would drink a tomato juice first, because I think it says your daily supply of vegetables in it. Oh, it's good for you.
Speaker 2:It is Plus you have a piece of bacon in there, right?
Speaker 3:little protein.
Speaker 2:You have uh, and who doesn't like a little protein? Right, and you have your celery in there right celery vegetable vegetable and maybe a pickle vegetable, okay, and maybe also an olive vegetable, uh-huh. So you're getting your daily Serving of vegetables.
Speaker 1:It's practically a healthy meal it practically is. So I say this christmas sunday Okay, have three bloody marries and then you'll have three days worth of vegetables, and then you can eat crap the rest of the day.
Speaker 2:All right, good, good. How does that sound? Sounds good to me. Yeah, how many drinks? We haven't talked about yet.
Speaker 1:But that's true. We didn't talk about old fashions and anything with orange in it. Why is orange a christmas thing? Yeah, orange is kind of christmasy isn't it?
Speaker 2:So I figure, why not put it in a cocktail? Yeah, and the orange, uh, the jelly orange slices, true, that have the sugar on the outside of them all that orange.
Speaker 1:So it has something to do with christmas and I think I figured it out. Okay, the florida citrus season. Do oranges ripen in december? Or in Texas, texas and Florida, I think that's when oranges and grapefruit ripen.
Speaker 2:There's something about that. I'm thinking about how I grew up and the storage of that stuff Back then when it used to last well. I don't think that fruit lasts like it used to, but we would use to have oranges and apples probably in the basement or the root cellar or somewhere, like apples in a bushel basket. They'd last all winter.
Speaker 1:you'd have apples to eat Every Christmas my mother ordered grapefruit from Texas, some kind of ruby grapefruit it was called something river like ruby river or something like that.
Speaker 2:I remember it.
Speaker 1:And it was delicious. We'd get a box of them and it seems to me they would last for weeks. And my favorite was grapefruit with a little. My mother would section it for me as a little kid, she'd sprinkle sugar on it and then she'd pour a little bit of maraschino cherries on it. Oh, I love that. That was so good, I have to do that this year.
Speaker 2:My grandmother could section a grapefruit in five seconds. Flat boy, I bet she should. Oh my God, her little fingers just worked. So yeah, and it was done.
Speaker 1:Is there anything else we should mention? Oh, one thing. Before we close this episode, I want to give a shout out to Tim in Alaska. Tim sent a beautiful letter to me Harley and very personal and lovely and I thought I had replied to the letter. I'm not sure if I ever hit send. I do have to say that I often forget when I type a long text or a response to an email, to hit send. So I've got to go back into my draft folder and make sure that I sent Tim a response. But it was a lovely letter.
Speaker 2:Thank you, tim, I appreciated that You're busy, I know, with work, so sometimes you're not great at getting back to people. I just forget things.
Speaker 1:I mean, my memory is definitely fading. I heard Faddy say in one episode a while back that it seemed like his forgetfulness and senior moments are increasing, and I kind of feel that way. My memory is not as good as it used to be. And how I could type an email and not hit send, I don't know, but it happens, so I did the same thing a while back with Faye Driver.
Speaker 2:I promised him an email describing in detail some of my winterizing project with the RV, and I've not done that or sent that.
Speaker 1:Here's what I would say Anyone that has contacted us, and we do appreciate the messages. We are human and we're like everybody else. We get wrapped up in our day to day and forgetfulness and constant distractions that everything that's going on in the world right now. If we don't get back to you, please know that we do appreciate every word that you've sent to us. We love that you send things to us. We'll try to be more cognizant of mentioning everybody who's contacted us, but we want you to know that we appreciate it and thank you very, very much.
Speaker 2:And the other thing I would say that we both know that we've talked about before is that, as listeners, we listen to shows and think, oh, I should say this, or I should respond to that, or when I get to this location I'm going to type a message or whatever, and often then we don't do that. And so we know and we appreciate the fact that it takes time and effort to actually do that to reach out.
Speaker 1:There are so many podcasts I listen to and so many people I want to just send a quick message to, but I'm either in the car on the way to work and the stoplight's not read long enough, or I get to work and I'm immediately pulled into the drama of the day by the employees or whatever's going on. I forget, but I'm going to make a concerted effort when I think about sending a message to somebody who's podcasting, to actually do it and not just think about it. Is that your resolution?
Speaker 2:That's my resolution.
Speaker 1:That's a good one. I've actually come up with a resolution early this year. Yeah, that's a good one, but I also hope to retire next year. That's a resolution, that's a big resolution. Hopefully I will have the time to actually send voice mails and text messages and emails back to my podcast that I listen to all the time I resolve to if you don't retire, burn your store down for you Fantastic. That's my resolution. But you have to do it well so I can collect the insurance and so I don't get caught.
Speaker 2:But before we go, should we do a soundtrack? Sure, because it's Christmas, I choose. All I Want For Christmas is you by Mariah Carey. You will not, I will, I will hurt you Right now.
Speaker 1:as soon as these mics are turned off, you will hear loud screaming.
Speaker 2:Some choking with the cord around my nose oh something that is not. That's a April Fool's joke and it's not April.
Speaker 1:Thank goodness I do not choose that Before we go any further. Ok, I want people to understand this isn't just a song. This is a song that is like a flashback, a time machine, to a particular point in our lives that was very special to us. It could be special in a bad way, it could be special in a good way, but somehow, hopefully, this Christmas soundtrack of our life will be something that reminds us of a warm, fuzzy feeling. Really, is that totally twisted it?
Speaker 2:was, and I did not pick that song. So, yes, here's my warm, fuzzy feeling. Ok, I want to choose a Janet Jackson song. Yes, because she was important to me, particularly at Christmas. At Christmas, I saw her in concert maybe like three times, wow, and it was amazing. She was amazing. The song's called All For you. When I first heard it, I didn't even realize what the lyrics were about. Oh, but allow me to tell you a few of them and then you decide for yourself what you think the lyrics might be about.
Speaker 3:OK.
Speaker 2:So choosing All For you by Janet Jackson, who was important to me in my life, and because this gives me the warm fuzzy feeling when I finally figured out the lyrics to this song. Let me read a few of them to you OK. All my girls at the party look at that body Shaking that thing like you never did. See. He's got a nice package, all right, I guess I'm going to have to write it tonight. Ooh, they're talking about you. You suppose it was about me and I didn't even know it, I think that's it.
Speaker 2:Did you know that? That's when Janet was young and we thought so innocent?
Speaker 1:Huh, not so innocent. What was the actual moment that this takes you back to?
Speaker 2:Well being at one of her concerts probably, and just totally enthralled with all the dancing and the A wonderful Jackson Janet moment, but not necessarily a specific time or historic event shall we say no? No, I think of like McNichols Arena, before it was torn down, being there. Remember McNichols.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh yeah, how awful that was and what great things we saw there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a terrible venue, but it's what there was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's where we went.
Speaker 2:That's true. Well, that's a good one. And so for you, what are you choosing as your warm and fuzzy holiday Christmas song?
Speaker 1:I am choosing Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Speaker 2:Oh, you are not.
Speaker 1:I am choosing Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was originally produced in 1958, which was the year after I was born. I had no knowledge of this song, but by the time I had gotten into eight, nine, 10 years old, my aunt, who was living with us, had graduated from high school and moved on and she left her box of 45 records with me. It was a little square box with a brown plastic handle on the top and a little sort of like a suitcase buckle on it, and inside were all of her favorite 45s, like Marshmallow World and oh. I can't think of them all right now.
Speaker 1:But so by the time I was eight, that would have been 1965 or so, and this song actually was something I listened to over and over and over again. They were actually real people, I think. What they did is they sang the song very slowly and then they sped the track up so that it sounded like normal speed, but their voices were in a higher pitch and I loved that song and I still just now listening to it. I kind of got a little teary-eyed. Reminds me of growing up in my first house, which was in Pittman, New Jersey. It was a tiny little town, a farm town in southern New Jersey and my bedroom was on the second floor, which was the attic, and it had been converted into two bedrooms. We had cork tile flooring and we had oh, what do you call that wood that goes on the wall.
Speaker 2:We had wood panelling.
Speaker 3:We had walnut wood panelling.
Speaker 1:And my bedroom was all the way at the end. It was hot in the summer and there was a box fan in the window. When I couldn't get to sleep, my dad would come upstairs and he'd lay in bed next to me and he'd tell me a story and he'd rub my back so I could fall asleep.
Speaker 2:And that's a good remember to remember back to that and this one song this one simple song it's hard to get through saying it. Sometimes you can't quite express what it is you're thinking.
Speaker 3:This one simple song can take this 66 year old man back to when he was eight years old, listening to this record and thinking that that was Christmas. And when you look back and you realize so much has changed, it just can take you back to that moment.
Speaker 1:I don't know why at this moment that popped into my mind. It certainly would not be a song I would think of, but somewhere the universe prodded me into remembering that song and to remembering how great Christmas was and the world was, at least in my eyes. It was a horrible, turbulent point in American history. The 60s were anti-war, fighting for rights, sexual liberation, women's rights. We think back on our childhood and our past as being wonderful years, but they really weren't if you look at history.
Speaker 2:Well, that's what nostalgia is, if you ask me. Nostalgia is not remembering things fondly, right.
Speaker 1:Or it's remembering just a piece of the memory, and the piece of the memory was a wonderful memory.
Speaker 2:Sure, but nostalgia, you wouldn't think. Nostalgia, you don't think. When you talk about nostalgia, that's not remembering anything bad. It's just remembering things fondly. Yeah, it's true.
Speaker 1:You know, when you get to be an older man and you think back on your childhood and you think boy, wouldn't I give anything to have my father next to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not have the responsibility that we have as adults. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of things, yeah.
Speaker 1:There's parts of it that were a fantasy and were great.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I wish I was more aware of it, but maybe I was and maybe music can help me remember that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know how we can do that. When we're there is, appreciate it more, you can look back and go. Geez, I should have really, really appreciated how simple things were and that somebody else took care of me.
Speaker 1:We didn't realize how complicated things were going to get.
Speaker 2:Not at all.
Speaker 1:That's the truth. We sort of walked through life with blinders and it was a good thing and I think children should have that experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the way it should be for a kid, and Santa was real back then. Oh yeah, totally 100%.
Speaker 1:Spoiler for anyone who doesn't know that Santa was your parent.
Speaker 2:He's still real. It's our responsibility now to make it real. That's right.
Speaker 1:So I know what my next song is going to be. I decided then we're going to pick another song from that box of 45s.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's good, your box of 45s.
Speaker 1:Just, I only have about three or four, but there'll be good memories.
Speaker 2:I was just trying to think for Christmas and if we go back to that time that you're speaking of in the 50s, if we should just list it on a roll mentioned songs that we still hear on the. You know, I was going to say on the radio. We still hear on Sirius satellite today that came out then.
Speaker 1:You want to name three that you can think of off the top of your head.
Speaker 2:I will. Let's see if you know them. Brenda Lee rocking around the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1:Oh my God. And Marshmallow World, which may not have been a popular one.
Speaker 2:Which, yeah, that's. Is that the 60s or the 50s for Marshmallow World?
Speaker 1:I think it was the early 60s.
Speaker 2:I'll have to look that one up.
Speaker 3:I know the lyrics are really weird.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sun is as large as a pumpkin head or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, right, right.
Speaker 1:It's red like a pumpkin head, that's right.
Speaker 2:I saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus, jimmy Boyd, what about Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? Yeah, the Gene Autry version.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, gene Autry, that would have been 50s, right. Yeah, what about Silver Bells.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who was that? By Johnny Mathis.
Speaker 3:Oh was that Did a version anyway. Was that a?
Speaker 1:60s song yeah, 50 actually. Oh, that was 50s too. Oh, that was late 50s. Yeah, Boy who didn't know Johnny Mathis wasn't gay back then. Well, yeah, that's the entire world.
Speaker 2:You know, I feel like the late 50s into the early 60s we suspended reality. And we still listen to all for Christmas. That nostalgia, like we're saying, of Christmas, is still that music.
Speaker 1:We pretended that everywhere it snowed on Christmas. We pretended that there were no racial struggles in the country. We pretended that everything was great, that we all had washing machines and cars and world was great.
Speaker 2:And then one month, and back then it was just one month. The one month that lived between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Day was Christmas and we listened to Louis Armstrong singing Zat you, zataclaus.
Speaker 1:Oh, what about Eartha Kitt?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know what time, about the Diamond Rain and the Mortgage Deed and the Santa Baby? Oh, santa Baby, that's right, I don't know what year that one was.
Speaker 1:No, I don't know. I know that she was basically, if we talk about the perfect America, she was basically chased out by the anti-communists and ended up in France, I believe.
Speaker 3:Oh, really, eartha Kitt did.
Speaker 1:And they loved her and she made a comeback in the.
Speaker 2:United.
Speaker 1:States when she was much older and I saw her perform in Denver at Lanny Garrett's club called Ruby.
Speaker 2:Oh, you did, Yep. The club was owned by Lanny Garrett and.
Speaker 1:Tom.
Speaker 3:Wise. Yeah, I know that.
Speaker 1:And she came to perform and I saw her in person, met her, got her autograph and said hello to her. She was wonderful.
Speaker 2:Nice, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Music really is a soundtrack of her life.
Speaker 2:That's why we chose this segment to have was because almost everybody can relate to it in one way or another.
Speaker 1:I kind of almost feel like sometimes at that we should devote more time to soundtrack. We've talked about it that is so important to both of us.
Speaker 2:Here's our behind the curtain segment is that we've had discussions about a totally changing up the podcast and making it a music-based.
Speaker 1:We could still go off on tangents. I can tell a story about my dad rubbing my back as I fell asleep and not being able to get to sleep on Christmas Eve and waking up at 4 am and coming down the stairs out of my attic bedroom and opening the door. The door had a piece of dental floss tied to it. They went to my mother's toe in the bedroom. Yes, so they would pull her toe. My mother would scream and wake everybody up. When I came down at 5 am in the morning to see what Santa had brought, we could still tell stories. There's a lot, but based on music and how the stories come from the music.
Speaker 2:It could happen. It could happen After we do a thousand episodes of this podcast. Then we'll start that podcast.
Speaker 1:We better get to work. We've only got this is number 72.
Speaker 2:We're going to have 100 pretty soon. We're going to have 100 pretty soon.
Speaker 1:It's not anything like Adam or Big Fatty or some of these people that have been podcasting for a very long time, but for us, as old guys and embracing a new technology late in our lives, I think we're doing a nice job.
Speaker 2:I think we've done okay.
Speaker 1:And hopefully the listeners that we have that, particularly ones at our age that are in their late 50s, early 60s, into their 70s or older, will relate to what a big challenge this was and what it means to us to be able to speak to all of you.
Speaker 2:And what it means to us that you listen. That's amazing. Okay, we got through it.
Speaker 1:So on that note, I want to say Merry Christmas, Casey.
Speaker 2:Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Speaker 1:No, that's happiness, Happiness there's a penis in every happiness.
Speaker 2:There should be a penis in every happiness.
Speaker 1:Let's give everybody happiness for Christmas. Happiness.
Speaker 2:Give us our happiness, dad joke.
Speaker 1:In this case, you didn't notice.
Speaker 2:Yep, there's always got to be one of those, until next time. Bye, thank you. Did your dad ever carry you up to bed?
Speaker 1:Yes, did your dad carry you up to bed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'd like that.
Speaker 1:I'd love You'd get so tired at night laying on the sofa or something your dad would carry you up the stairs to the attic and put you in bed and lay you down.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I didn't. I wasn't even that tired, I just wanted to do it.
Speaker 1:You know what else was good when we would come back from my grandmother's house, which was about 20 or 30 minutes. She lived in Pennsville, new Jersey, and we lived in Pittman.
Speaker 2:Until next time, remember to be kind. Sometimes in the summer we'd stop at the Richmond.
Speaker 1:Ice Cream Store. Actually, it was a creamery. They actually milked cows and stored cream, and they had an ice cream counter in there and we would stop on summer evenings and get in line to buy ice cream at the counter, and we'd get home and get to sleep on the Pride 48 network.
Speaker 3:Find all the best shows under the rainbow at Pride48.com.
Speaker 1:Try to get me undressed and get my pajamas on.
Speaker 3:Are you finished?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And what a great memory that is. Yeah, that's pretty good To have somebody push you to sleep. Oh, I'm dead, just being taken care of.
Speaker 1:How much would you pay someone right? Now to get you out of your clothes, put on your pajamas or however you sleep, and get you into bed without fully waking you up. Right, yeah?
Speaker 2:careful. Isn't that a dream come true? Yeah, it sounds good, yeah.
Speaker 1:Boy the older we get, the simpler our dreams are.
Speaker 3:Our needs are.
Speaker 1:We don't need to go around the world on a cruise ship or in an airplane or anything like that.
Speaker 3:We just need somebody to carry us to bed and undress us and put us to bed without waking us up.
Speaker 1:That's funny.
Speaker 2:It is Okay. Bye, merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
