I got the idea for this post after reading Not Again's post last week about him wondering what drives people to drink too much in social situations;
I can't recall where I got this picture, but it's exactly like the car I had, even down to the thin white-wall tyres. I'm getting teary just looking at it.
Built like a tank, drove like a dream. To the owner of the photo, if you ever see this here and want me to take it down, please get in touch.
That Martini recipe was basically two straight shots of gin. As I sit here contemplating a follow-up article about Bond's Vesper Martini, I dread the fact that 007's recipe calls for "three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka".
As you pointed out in your post, NA, Bond spends the first few chapters of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1963) putting away a lot of booze. But Bond worked hard, lived hard, and played hard. According to his medical report in "Thunderball" (1961), he was consuming up to half a bottle of spirits of 60-70 proof per day. Where did he find the time?
They bred them tough in merry old England back then.
And then, I remembered something apt from a Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn movie called "Holiday". I learned long ago that there's a line in a movie or a song that you can apply to anything in the universe in order to help you understand something.
It's a rather weathered phrase, but moderation is the key. Lucky for me, I get the ol' numb face as an early warning system.
Anyway, that's how I learned to drink. Or not.
Thanks for reading!
Oh yeah, Happy Typewriter Day, everybody. Have a drink to celebrate. Just one.
Forty-five mil of Ballantines Scotch Whisky (should'a had thirty) and a couple of pistol-shaped ice cubes. Olympia SM9 to the left.
And I got my desk reasonably tidy yesterday, too. We'll see how long that lasts.
Thanks again for reading!
***typecast on a l966 Olympia SM9***
Happy typewriter day! Mine was a Chardonnay with the Lettera 22
ReplyDeleteHa, I love the pistol ice.
ReplyDeleteHappy T-Day!
I really like how you've arranged your desk, so you.
ReplyDeleteWorld Typewriter Day cheers!
You have a handsome desk setup indeed. Pistol ice? I think I need such a thing for an upcoming party...
ReplyDeleteScott, the ice tray is available from eBay;
Deletehttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Freeze-New-Pistol-Gun-Shaped-Silicone-Ice-Cube-Tray-Mold-by-Fred-Friends-/230950425280?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c5b7d2c0
Lock & load!
That *is* an excellent description of inebriety. I'll need to watch that film now :D
ReplyDeleteHappy Typewriter Day!
PS. I'll be tippling a little today too, in service of the submission I'm sending to Rob Bowker. Also, I registered "tipsytypewriter.com" not too long ago, pondering using it to collect and show off typewriter-related drink recipes like "The Golden Touch" and "The Quiet De Luxe". :D
"Holiday" is a great film, Ted. You could remake it these days and it would still be very relevant, if not more so. And Kate Hepburn delivers a beautiful performance in that film.
DeleteNumb face!!! Me too, but by then it almost too late. Let's not forget the folks who can't have a drink because they might never stop. I suppose moderation is that place between intolerance and addiction. Physiologically, I'm not built to absorb too many drinks before nausea sets in. In fact your spinning room, when I first saw it in my youth, defines that word perfectly. I think we should count ourselves lucky who can have a drink and know how to stop.
ReplyDeleteI'm of a slim build, Rob, so it normally doesn't take a lot of alcohol to mess with me. That's how I learned to take it easy. And yes, I wasn't a fan of the spinning room effect.
DeleteThanks for the post. It's very interesting. I see how your early days skipped over one barrier of mine - the expense, with the comp card. I've been hearing a lot lately about additions having to do with brain chemistry and it seems to me they could learn as much if not more by studying people who reject all such substances (my wife) or are ambivalent (me). I get a mushy, "cotton" head myself, that i suppose might be described as numbness.
ReplyDeletep.s. I like the ice as well. I have a vampire teeth ice tray from my wife.
p.p.s. beautiful car. I never had it so good.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll never have it that good again.
DeleteRegarding the expense involved, usually fifteen or twenty bucks was all I carried. That would get me a few drinks with change left over for a burger...at five am. I have to say that it was never my intention to get absolutely soused. I just wanted to get 'slightly blurry' around the edges. The real trick was 'pacing'. Having three drinks within say, 45 minutes, meant that they would all come crashing through my skull all at once. After this happened a couple of times, that's when I began to learn how to drink to relax rather than get smashed.