Darcy, from Art of Drink, has gone and created an cocktailian meme. I won’t weigh you down with any more of my spiel, though. Hear it from Darcy:

Instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog, with instructions.
2. Bold all the drinks you’ve imbibed.
3. Cross out any items that you won’t touch.
4. Post a comment here and link to your results.

OR

If you don’t have a blog, just count the ones you’ve tried and post the number in the comments section.

List of Drinks You Must Try Before You Expire

1. Manhattan Cocktail
2. Kopi Luwak (Weasle Coffee)
3. French / Swiss Absinthe
4. Rootbeer
5. Gin Martini
6. Sauternes
7. Whole Milk
8. Tequila (100% Agave)
9. XO Cognac
10. Espresso
11. Spring Water (directly from the spring)
12. Gin & Tonic
13. Mead
14. Westvleteren 12 (Yellow Cap) Trappist Ale
15. Chateau d’Yquem
16. Budwieser
17. Maraschino Liqueur
18. Mojito
19. Orgeat
20. Grand Marnier
21. Mai Tai (original)
22. Ice Wine (Canadian)
23. Red Bull
24. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
25. Bubble Tea
26. Tokaj
27. Chicory
28. Islay Scotch
29. Pusser’s Navy Rum
30. Fernet Branca
31. Fresh Pressed Apple Cider
32. Bourbon
33. Australian Shiraz
34. Buckley’s Cough Syrup
35. Orange Bitters
36. Margarita (classic recipe)
37. Molasses & Milk
38. Chimay Blue
39. Wine of Pines
40. Green Tea
41. Daiginjo Sake
42. Chai Tea
43. Vodka (chilled, straight)
44. Coca-Cola
45. Zombie (Beachcomber recipe)
46. Barley Wine
47. Brewed Choclate (Xocolatl)
48. Pisco Sour
49. Lemonade
50. Speyside Single Malt
51. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
52. Champagne (Vintage)
53. Rosé (French)
54. Bellini
55. Caipirinha
56. White Zinfandel (Blush)
57. Coconut Water
58. Cerveza
59. Cafe au Lait
60. Ice Tea
61. Pedro Ximenez Sherry
62. Vintage Port
63. Hot Chocolate
64. German Riesling
65. Pina Colada
66. El Dorado 15 Year Rum
67. Chartreuse
68. Greek Wine
69. Negroni
70. Jägermeister
71. Chicha
72. Guiness
73. Rhum Agricole
74. Palm Wine
75. Soju
76. Ceylon Tea (High Grown)
77. Belgian Lambic
78. Mongolian Airag
79. Doogh, Lassi or Ayran
80. Sugarcane Juice
81. Ramos Gin Fizz
82. Singapore Sling
83. Mint Julep
84. Old Fashioned
85. Perique
86. Jenever (Holland Gin)
87. Chocolate Milkshake
88. Traditional Italian Barolo
89. Pulque
90. Natural Sparkling Water
91. Cuban Rum
92. Asti Spumante
93. Irish Whiskey
94. Château Margaux
95. Two Buck Chuck
96. Screech
97. Akvavit
98. Rye Whisky
99. German Weissbier
100. Daiquiri (classic)

OK - here are some thoughts on this impending election-of-the-century:

- Obama is truly an amazing candidate. We have never seen such a brilliantly managed campaign. McCain's campaign looks amateur in comparison with its avalanche of missteps--and I think their campaigns say volumes about how they would run the country.

- I (and everyone else I know) are TERRIFIED that this election, too, will be stolen from the American People. The 2000 election was plain wrong: Gore should have been president. I am not honestly sure if Kerry won 2004 or not, but there were an awful lot of irregularities in Ohio.

But this time around, Obama has a much larger margin in MANY battleground states--not just Florida and Ohio. The number of different scenarios where he wins dwarfs McCain's. My gut feeling says that Obama will win, he will make it through his first term (not without multiple attempts on his life) and he really will put America back on the track to peace and propsperity. He's the guy - he has the ability - and he's pretty selfless. I really truly believe he can fix things.

Most of my family is voting for Obama, though I have some older relatives who will probably vote McCain. Mostly this is because of moral or racial issues - it seems a lot of people would LOVE Obama "if only he wasn't black and pro-abortion." (Who is pro-abortion? Like women are addicted to abortions or something like it's a drug?)

I used to like McCain, but really think he has shown his true colors over the past several months. He's crotchety, mean, vindictive, petulant, and generally pissy. Palin doesn't even know she's not running for President - she's fabricating her own alternate reality (where FOX News is the only news*) on a daily basis. Her head is in the clouds and she inhabits a fantasy world where snowmobilers and beauty queens run amok and randomly moralize people's lives regardless of what pesky "laws" are on the books.

I am ready for this election to be over.

* - incidentally I've noticed FOX is suddenly starting to *soften* towards Obama and the dems - for the first time in literally eight years. If this doesn't prove Obama is about to be elected...

Earlier this year, Bravo aired the single gayest moment on TV, ever. It was Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho, and Cyndi Lauper shopping at a store called Priscilla in Sydney during Mardi Gras (Sydney's Gay Pride.)

But TONIGHT they have outdone themselves. Tonight's Project Runway was an ENTIRE HOUR of the GAYEST THING YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE, where the designers (gay men and fag hags) designed outfits for DRAG QUEENS. RuPAUL WAS JUDGING!

Can anyone ever top this, ever?

China is a country of very serious human rights problems and environmental disasters. But you'd have to be dead to not be moved by the scale and symbolism of the Olympic Opening Ceremony...

My favorite parts:
- the drummers
- the moving print blocks
- the massive LED screen on the floor
- the massive projection screens encircling the stadium roof
- the ridiculous amount of fireworks
- the globe dancers
and of course, the lighting of the cauldron - easily the most spectacular method used yet (Sydney is still my second-favorite.)

$300 MILLION for ONE SHOW!

China seems to be pinning their hopes and dreams on this Olympics. My hope is that all of the money & resources poured into these games reflects the "China they want to be."

sent to a friend about a recent trip to So Cal.:
So the LA trip was fun - I did DL by myself on Sunday while Chris went to the gym. (seriously) :) Crowds weren't bad though the tiki stuff was a literal nightmare. Ate at Blue Bayou for the first time - food was good (short ribs!) but pricey for the quality. *They reset my table* while I went to the bathroom toward the end of my meal which I think is kind of unforgivable. (I know they were busy, but really?) I am probably going to contact guest relations about this and the tiki incident. But the restaurant is kind of cool. I think I should like to try the Mexican restaurant at EPCOT just for the ambiance (I hear the food is just OK) I sprained my thumb on space mountain. :) The first aid people were extremely nice - the nurse (probably in her 60s) was really awesome. I really liked her a lot. They gave me a cold pack and some advil. There were several other awesome CMs I met through the day - one let me skip the line on Nemo just for the hell of it. I thanked her profusely (there's NO FASTPASS ON NEMO! WTF?) I had some dinner at one of the places at downtown Disney I had never eaten at - the one with the café in the middle (tapas menu) - it was actually quite good; I was pretty impressed. I rode Autopia for the FIRST TIME EVER (though I may have ridden it when I was 5). I liked the offroad section and the "Car Park" - that was cute. I also have never ridden the DL monorail before - that was fun too! I had forgotten that it was an attraction, not simply transportation like WDW - the twisty loopy track was pretty funny. ;) I ended the night taking the monorail out of the park into DTD - standing on the monorail platform overlooking Nemo and seeing Matterhorn in the distance. It was pretty awesome... "Disney would have wanted it this way" :) Monday we drove down to san diego and saw my ex (before Chris) - haven't seen him in a few years. He's doing really well (works in human factor engineering) and is very happy (he lives right in Hillcrest.) San Diego is beautiful and I think we will be heading back soon.

Hillary bowed out of the Democratic nomination race today with more class than I expected--arguably I didn't expect it to be such a clean, smooth speech. I lost a lot of respect for her with the tactics she used against Obama (the crying, the whiskey shots with blue-collar workers and calling Obama 'elitist?') but regained some respect when she "suspended" her campaign today. (Incidentally, I don't think a photo op at a bowling alley was the smartest thing Obama did for his campaign, either...)

I understand there are a lot of people on both sides who are really passionated about their chosen candidate - but some on the Hillary side are approaching mental-institution-status: http://www.hillaryis44.org/?p=650#comments

I read over and over again on this thread that people are so "pissed off they're going to vote for McCain." Are they completely insane? Do they not know who they are or understand their own politics enough to understand why this would be the worst possible idea?

Overall this is a pretty good country, but we definitely have some "Idiocracy"-like problems. Poeple voting for the the OPPOSITE PARTY'S CANDIDATE to somehow "spite" their own party is completely ridiculous. McCain, though seemingly likeable (and a hell of a politician) has a belief & policy system which is completely opposite of Obama or Clinton. He's a Bush Republican: his views on finance, foreign policy, gay & women's rights, military, economy, etc. all run completely opposite of Clinton's or Obamas. Why would you vote for the other guy? To make your life suck more because you got someone elected who completely disagrees with you on how to run the world? I would hope these people would take a deep breath, re-examine what is important to them, and do the right thing instead of simply reacting with their emotions.

I am not a rabid Obama fan (though I know they exist) but I support him because I've seen he's really passionate about making the world better, and he's extremely smart and strategic about everything he has done so far. He doesn't have a lot of experience--and let's hope he doesn't have any more skeletons in his closet--but I think he's the guy to "fix" what Bush broke over the past eight years. I think Clinton, running unopposed, would have been a satisfactory-to-good President and I would have supported her had Obama not come along like he did. But he did, and even though Hillary campaigned for 17 months he's the nominee - and we should all throw our combined weight behind him and get the Bush Republicans kicked completely clear of the white house.

mini-review: Boom Noodle (Seattle)

Overall, it was good.

The place is kinda modern-concrete-steel-glass-y (complete with dozens of eames-knockoff molded plywood chairs), but the prices and accessibility of the food are pretty good. The waitstaff was friendly and very active.

I'm not sure about the "picnic table" layout; it's a bit strange but they're trying to be "tokyo-esque"

The menu is only a few pages long; lots of real Japanese noodly comfort food. Tons of soba & udon dishes, even quite a bit of ramen dishes. They also had some salads (all of which seemed to feature shiso - which is a plus in my book), fried rice bowls, and even okonomikayi--a Japanese fast food 'everything' pancake made with eggs, flour, cabbage, and tons of meats & seafood--and it is not very common around these parts. Unfortunately I can't really eat most of the entrees due to sensitivity to wheat, so I was pretty much stuck with the fried rice & salads, which were good. The food was good and satisfying--not SPECTACULAR, but good, and plenty of Japanese ingredients added a level of authenticity to the idea that 'you're eating at a busy restaurant in Tokyo'. Entrees hovered around the $8-$10 mark. Small plates were roughly $4-7

The cocktails were good too - mostly pretty sweet for my palate but some were quite inventive. Yuzu, sake, green tea liqueur and ginger-infused vodka all made several appearances. I had a Kazi Cosmo (which seems to be getting very popular lately) which is a Cosmopolitan made with Kazi ginger vodka. It was good, but not as good as the one I had at Purr down the street less than an hour before. I also tasted a Yuzu-based 'lemonade' which was tasty (I LOVE YUZU!) but full of sugar. Cocktails averaged around $7.50-$8.50

Finally, the desserts were quite surprising - the food & cocktails had been solid, but they really amped things up a bit with their triple-mochi (ice cream surrounded by rice flour) concoction--with some of the best and most complementary flavored sauces/chocolate/etc. I've had in ages. It was impressive. I really didn't expect anything to fall into the 'wow, I can still remember how awesome that tasted' category but the desserts did.

Service was a bit spotty at times despite the friendliness of the staff--they forgot our japanese pickles we had ordered, delivered my cocktail to the wrong table, and served a sliced bell pepper with the sticker still on it (hecho en mexico!). But they quickly marked stuff off the bill and comped us with ice cream. :)

The place is busy but not overly loud (I have a really tough time following conversations in loud chaotic places unless I have had a few to drink--no joke--and I was able to hear just fine here.) The bathrooms are on a subterranean level and shared with la Spiga around the corner, which was kind of cool.

Overall, it was good and I would go back.