Hot rod of the year

A cocktail, writes the food historian Joseph M. Carlin in his book Cocktails: A Global History, “regardless... of what [it] is composed of, or when it is consumed,... is always served chilled; in fact, the colder the better.” By this standard, I can’t call any hot drink made with booze a “cocktail.” Carlin didn’t provide any alternative terminology. So I’ve decided this gives me license to ignore him—at least on this one point. Whatever you choose to call them, hot beverages made with booze are especially delightful this time of year. There’s something sweet and old-fashioned about them: it is, you may recall, the preferred drink of Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class, in It’s A Wonderful Life, and it got him laughed out of Nick’s Bar in Pottersville. But there’s also something luxurious and comforting about a drink that needs to be heated up. It requires time to make, and so it should take time to drink, slowly, … [Read more...] about Hot booze: a taxonomy

For many people, including my 18-year-old self, watching Kevin Smith’s grungy 1994 debut Clerks was empowering. It almost single-handedly democratized the filmmaking process long before digital cameras made it possible for anyone with a few thousand bucks, a story, and some excess moxie to make (though not necessarily release) a film. Just as the Sex Pistols famously inspired countless angry young people to think “I could do that” en route to getting a guitar and forming a band, Smith’s film inspired scores of young men and women to pick up a camera, call up some friends, and make their own low-budget indies. Of course, learning three chords and screaming about your contempt for authority figures doesn’t make you Steve Jones or Johnny Rotten. The Sex Pistols’ music only seemed easy. Part of the group’s artistry entailed making it look artless. Advertisement With its casual vibe and low-fi aesthetic, Clerks made filmmaking look similarly … [Read more...] about Silent Bob’s Fatal Case Of The Cutes Case File #169:

At some point in recent history, Christmas was mostly about watching people on the news beat each other up on Black Friday in their bloodthirsty quest for the latest singing, dancing, pissing, shitting Elmo doll. Thankfully, that has been shelved in service of a Christmas tradition that is much more American: Gluing your ass to the couch and mass-consuming thousands of Christmas movies on cable television. Lifetime has long peddled its churn of made-for-TV movies, popularizing an entire genre of ripped-from-the-headlines crime thrillers like The Nanny Killer and I Almost Married a Serial Killer. As TiVo’s revolutionary digital recording technology gained popularity in the aughts, the quantity of these films seemed to increase. No longer were viewers tied down by strict airing schedules or the number of VCR tapes you could fit on a shelf. Cable channels like Lifetime, in turn, found themselves in a new age of viewership. Combined with the growing cash-grabbiness of American … [Read more...] about A Disturbingly Thorough 2019 Cable Christmas Movie Taxonomy