Watermelon Desperado

Some of you may remember my signature drink, the Desperado. That’s bottom shelf Tequila and a kid’s juice box (any flavor), served over ice in a glass that may or may not be clean. Best imbibed in a dark room.

Here’s a variation that’s a lot more summery and festive. First, you start with Watermelon Agua Fresca that you lovingly prepared and strained with your own two hands to serve to your little cousins who turned up their noses at the “green floaty things”. Um, that was mint, you impossibly cute little imp.

Here’s the recipe for the Agua Fresca:

Take it to the party, bring it back home with you and put in the fridge overnight.

To make the Desperado, pour Agua Fresca into a rocks glass about 2/3 full. Now, add the rest of the fine boxed moscato you have in the fridge. About 1/2 cup should do it. Swirl with a clean finger.

Salud!

Write the book

StateofDisbelief and I are kind of bored with lame one act plays.  We propose a musical. Like many musicals, the music, er, gets written first.  Thank goodness for YouTube and Rogers, Hammerstein, Hart, Bernstein, and Sondheim.  All the hard work is already done!  Here are some of the proposed tunes:

• I Have Confidence!
• Happy Talk
• I’m Going To Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair
• When You’re a Jet
• Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat
• Something Wonderful
• I Got the Horse Right Here
• You Gotta Have  Gimmick

And here is the song I want to end the play:

Now all we need is the story that goes along with the songs, otherwise known as the book.  Your job is to write the book based on current events and people.  You can add/delete songs as necessary.

Drinks are on the house!

Get down and par-tay!

Rico here. We’re wrapping up the decade tonight in style.  RD’s BFF brought some nice champagne and if we can drag him off the wii, maybe he can have a glass.  But you can order whatever you like.

Stateofdisbelief says this is a good time to let go of whatever’s been harshing your mellow.  She recommends something like Lorna Tedder’s Burning Bowl Ritual.  Sounds like something Jane Hamsher might want us to do with all of our primary 2008 hangups.  Hey, I loved the primaries.  So many good parties as we watched Hillary win big state after big state.  Lots of friends, good drinks, great music.

As a matter of fact, here’s a piece of music that I’m sure Hillary would like.  Look for the Silver Lining sung by Fay Claassen.

The bar’s open, ladies and gents.  And you know the drill.  Take the trigger words out to the balcony and then dump the bastard over the railing.  Florence is taking coats in the second bedroom down the hall to the left.

RD is serving some chilled herbed shrimp, scallops and pasta, a nice green salad and chocolate decadence cake for desert. Don’t get it on the new carpet.

Happy New Year!

Conflucian Cocktail Party: Pre-Protest Happy Hour!

I’m schlepping my butt up to Manhattan tomorrow for the big protest in Union Square Park.  The protest is being organized by A New Way Forward and you can find local protests all over the country.  I have my trusty Metrocard all ready. I only wish I had a nifty PUMA T-shirt.  I should have swiped one from Murphy when we were in Denver.

The purpose of the protest is to bring attention to the fact that a bank that is too big to fail is too big to exist.  I just hope we don’t focus so much of our ire on the bankers that we let Congress and the Obama administration off the hook.  Bankers can’t help it if they’re greedy bastards.  It’s they’re nature.  But if banks are too big it’s because our elected officials won’t step up to the plate and make them smaller.  All our Reps need to do is decide they are on the side of their constituents, the taxpayers, who have lost their life savings and retirements.  That should be a fairly easy decision to make.  The problem is they aren’t afraid of us yet.  But they shouldn’t get comfortable because 2010 is just around the corner and we can organize to primary the ones who do not think they have to be accountable to us.

As to the polls, I don’t believe them.  Nope.  Everyday, I overhear people all around me who are steaming mad about what is happening in the financial sector.  In fact, it’s practically the only thing I overhear anymore.  And attention is starting to turn towards Obama himself.  Now, it could be that I just hang around a lot of geeks who are in danger of losing their jobs because big money investors just can’t get enough of mergers to boost their stocks.  But I suspect there is just as much dissatisfaction with the fact that Obama rode to the White House on a horse called Change!™ and so far, there is precious little change type activity going on.  So, my intention when I go to Manhattan tomorrow is to hang out with the people holding Congress and Obama accountable for the mess we’re in.  Care to join me?

In the meantime, let’s have a cocktail.

Welcome to the Conflucian Cocktail Party!  This is the time of the week when we mingle, mingle, mingle.  You will find the bar to the left of the door.  Our bartender with flair, Rico, is back for a permanent engagement.  He’s lucky.  A bartender’s job is recession proof.  Someone is always in need of a drink.  His special of the day is a Manhattan.  Simple, classic, I couldn’t have made a better choice myself.  We are also offering Causmos today at $10.  Today’s Causmo is dedicated to paying off Hillary’s debt.  I know, I know, I thought Obama was going to take care of it but, hey, that would me her term of indentured servitude would be over and where would be the fun of that?  Let’s put this baby to bed.  Purchase your Causmo here. Of course, you can order anything you like.

Tonight’s entertainment is one of the BFF’s favorites.  Sing along with Dizzy Gillespie to Salt Peanuts:

Ladies and gents, our saloon is real genteel like.  You can keep your grudges to yourself or hand them off to Florence, our lovely checkroom attendant.  The waiters will be circulating shortly with some samosas, soup dumplings and knish’s.  Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.

Nitecap and Conflucians Say

I don’t know about you guys but I’ve had a harrowing day.  It’s been very busy at work lately.  It’s like they expect me to find the cure for cancer or something.  And this week is when the onerous parent teacher conferences start.  Let’s just say that as much as I admire teachers’ organizational skills and willingness to spend their lives trapped in a classroom with 20+ tyrants, we differ on matters of pedagogy.  My Brook is definitely a rhombus to a round hole.  Her sister was sooooo much easier…

So, I am unwinding tonight at Joe’s.  He’s the one with the long bar, lovingly polished every night until it gleams.  There are dark little niches where you can collect your friends around round tables.  The entertainment tonight is eclectic.  It’s a little French, a little jazz, a soupçon of classical.   The singer’s range isn’t extraordinary but the tune is light and refreshing.  I don’t want to go to work.  I don’t want to eat.  I just want to sit in a dark little corner and melt into my chair.

Don’t forget Conflucians Say at 10PM EST where you can let your hair down and relax with friends.  Only on PUMA United Radio, PURrrrr.

Drambuie anyone?

Sadly, I don’t actually have any Drambuie so I’ll be drinking Lemonade on Ice with BostonBoomer.

But, the virtual bar is fully stocked: What would you like? We’ve had a rough day around here. Are you ready to make up?

The following link provided by Boston Boomer:

And (Thanks, Dakinikat!)

MyIQ2XU, this one’s for you (Thanks, Boston Boomer!)

Conflucian Cocktail Party: A little help for my friends

Question:What’s the best way to get a kid to clean the house?  Answer: Promise her a Halloween Party/sleepover.  I’ve been busy all week trying to organize this little soiree.  But now the snacks are bought, the costume made, the hair highlighted and the house is – clean!

Yessss!

In the meantime, we have a little unfinished business before next Tuesday, like helping our friend Heidi Li at Democrats for Principle before Party raise some money to run ads in the Michigan and Miami area.  And let’s not forget Murphy and her batallions of flyer PUMAs, busily blamketing their neighborhoods with messages of Resistance.  Tonight’s fundraising Cocktail Party is dedicated to all of our friends who hung in there with us to the bitter end and now need a few more bucks to make it over the goal line.

Welcome to the Conflucian Cocktail Party.  This is the time of the week when PUMAs come together to mix, mix their drinks and throw a little cash in the kitty for the cause du jour.  To the left of the door is Rico, our ever faithful PUMA bartender with flair.  His special drink for this evening is a Four Fine Friends (looks like it will knock you on your @SS).  We are also offering Causmos for $10.00.  You can choose from a donation to Democrats for Principle before Party or PUMAPac.  I’m sure the proprietresses would be very grateful.

Our entertainment tonight is something *completely* different, and not necessarily in a good way.  This is a cover of Mr. Tambourine Man from the Golden Throat of William Shatner:

Ok, I have a twisted sense of humor.  If you don’t and you think your trigger words might get the best of you, leave them off with Florence the lovely checkroom attendant.  The waiters will be circulating shortly with some toasted pumpkin seeds, donuts and mugs of warm spicy cider.  Please drink responsibly and  tip your wait staff generously.

And Join me at 10PM EST for Conflucians Say on PUMA United Radio, PURrrr

Cocktails at The Scratching Post: Down by the Riverside

Comrades, even the fearsome PUMA Militia needs to take a break.  I’ve arranged for our cocktail party to be held on a deck overlooking the Delaware River between NJ and PA tonight.  We’re at Point Pleasant, PA.  You can check it on the webcam .  This is the place where you can rent a tube and a bus will take you several miles up river so you can spend the next couple of hours doing absolutely nothing but floating.  The water is shallow and there are “rapids” but you can handle it.

I love water.  I spent most of my childhood near one major ocean or another and the tang of salty air always brings back good memories of Sundays at the beach, shell hunts, sand crabs and the shoo-shoosh of waves. But I’m just as happy on the river or next to a lake or just listening to the sound of rain.  Water never lets itself be hemmed in.  It always seeks the path of least resistance.  If you put an obstacle in its way, it just flows around it.  You can contain water but after awhile, it evaporates and turns into a new raindrop and starts flowing in a different direction.  Accumulate enough water in one place it is literally a force of nature.  F=ma and all that.  It can be benign or powerful but it is rarely ever still.  It never does what it is told.

So, take off your combat boots PUMAs, park your deadly force HP printers in the corner, sit back, relax and watch the river roll by.

Welcome to The Scratching Post Cocktail Party.  I’m your hostess for this evening.  You’ll find the bar on the left side of the deck, manned, as always by our ever faithful bartender, Rico.  He’s got plenty of flair and always has a special drink.  Tonight, you can choose from a Causmo, that will help Hillary Clinton retire her debt and look towards the future with HillPac.  There are lots of good causes.  For example, Murphy at PUMAPac still needs to pay for those buses to Denver.  Drop in and say hello.  Causmos are $10.  Or, if that’s not in your budget, you can try a light, citrusy AJ Summer Drink.  Of course, you can order whatever you like.

Tonight’s entertainment hails from Brazil.  Bebel Gilberto is the daughter of Joao Gilberto and singer Miucha.  This soft Summer Samba goes nicely with sunset over the river, warm summer breezes and good friends, So Nice…

We militant PUMAs are really quite approachable, now that we’ve taken off the camouflage.  But if you feel a belligerent word starting to harsh your mellow, consider checking it with Florence, our lovely attendent.

The waiters will be circulating shortly with a salad of sun ripened Jersey tomatoes, fresh basil and mozarella.  There are also some fresh corn cakes with a chipotle mayonnaise.  Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.

Clinton Cocktail Party: KY and OR Returns

Hi guys, I had a grueling 2.5 hour TC this morning with my international colleagues. I’m ready to relax. So, did anything good happen today?

We’re drinking, my friend, to the end of a long episode. So make it one for the ladies and one more for the road…

It ain’t over yet but I will be glad to put Puerto Rico away. My house needs a good cleaning. I think my kid grew three inches and I can’t even talk to the BFF without poll numbers tumbling out of my mouth. But oddly enough, CNN is reporting that 68% of exit poll participants are in no hurry to wrap this up. I think that means that they still want everyone to have a chance to vote and they are not ready to accept Obama as their nominee. The superdelegates should think about that and also consider that no one has been more inclusive of voters or more willing to reach out to her potential foes than Hillary. She really *does* unite. The superdelegates who are in the closet for her should be proud of that. She has emerged as a magnificent candidate and the voters in Kentucky are proving it. So, let’s lift a glass to the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?

Welcome to the Clinton Cocktail Party. This is the time of the day when we can relax with friends and friends to be. The bar is to the left of the door and Rico, our bartender with flair! is serving your favorite swill. Tonight’s special is an Oregon Coast Crab Shock but you can order anything you like.

I’ve been through Oregon once when I was a child. I couldn’t see much of the state because the trees kept getting in the way. It turns out that they *do* have some good musicians from Oregon. I must have been looking in the wrong place. I particularly like this one, Tom Grant, who blends smooth jazz, sparkling piano and a soupçon of improvization for an energetic fusion. Here is a compilation of some of his stuff:

Now that we’re near the end, let’s not blow it with any unnecessary roughness. If you feel the itch to throw a trigger word, consider leaving it with Florence, our lovely check room attendant. The waiters will be circulating shortly with crab cocktails, tempura calamari and roasted garlic for french bread. Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.

Whoa! Ronkseattle found this story about a vodka drinking contest where Hillary drank McCain under the table. Yess!! Get the lady some Grey Goose and a straw.

(You can listen to the whole story here. It’s one of the several stories.)

Indiana and North Carolina Primary Cocktail Party

What the heck, Champagne for everyone, Rico. We’re going to have fun regardless.

The polls have closed in Indiana. That was fast. Wolf Blitzer is reporting that with about 1% of the vote in, Hillary leads Obama 64% to 36%. As I understand it, Indiana processes its ballots very quickly so we should know fairly soon what the score is.

I read on some blog today (they did give us bathroom breaks) that Obama had a meeting with big money contributors. Maybe that’s what that single closed door meeting in NC was all about yesterday. I’ve been expecting this for awhile. Obama has to have a really high burn rate. He is spending money like a sailor on ads in a lot of states and the firm he hired to do them gets paid by the ad, hence the incentive to do even more. When NC commenters started saying there didn’t seem to be many Obama lawn signs, that suggested to me that they are starting to feel the pinch. Don’t be surprised if his money starts to dry up if he doesn’t win NC by a healthy spread.

Anywho, sportsfans, let’s party!