Is the right way to drink gin. To wit,  an (obvious) martini variant I made up the other week:

The Brandon

2 oz Gin
1 oz Cranberry Schnapps
4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Pour the schnapps into a chilled cocktail glass, coat the insides
Pour out the cocktail glass into the mixing glass.
Add Gin, Bitters, stir, double strain.
Garnish with a large orange slice or cherry.

Nothing brilliant here – other than the taste – it just restores the bitters from the classic Martini recipe, replaces sweet vermouth with cranberry schnapps, and uses the Peychaud’s to add contrast in the finish. Some things to note – since quality kosher vermouth is hard to find (Stock, Cinzano, and Martini & Rossi only have hechshers in Israel, the US Kedem vermouth it not good enough to burn, let alone drink) – this allows a nice kosher alternative to the traditional Sweet Martini.

Since neither Peychaud nor Regan carry hechshers, they do need to be substituted.  I added the (considerable amount of) Peychaud’s to give the drink an anise flavor, so perhaps a teaspoon or less of such that flavor in a  red or clear liqour might stand in – arak or ouzo should work; Sambuca is probably too sweet.  As for the Regan’s,  one or two dashes of Angostura mixed with orange oil or zest could stand in.  If you grate rather than twisting the oil from the zest, double strain with a mesh strainer.  Hell, do that anyway.  Ice fragments ruin this drink.

Don’t use more than 3 oz Gin or the drink will lose its particular charm.  If the cocktail is poured to the lip of the glass, the in and out (coating) is pointless.

Finally, since it seems I’m posting odd news stories today:
Man shoots and wounds his daughter after she pours out his gin

Whatever.
I shot a man in Reno, cause he spilled my rye.

But I wanted to finally close this tab.

Bedspread line named ‘Nazi Collection’ outrages Indian Jews – CNN.com

At least they weren’t planning to include lampshades and soap in their home furnishings line.

As an aside, I wonder what basis the Jewish community has to sue / seek an injunction (as mentioned in the article). I wouldn’t be surprised, given its history, that India has laws prohibiting the defamation of religion or some such.

Clearly, the Zionist Plot proceeds apace.

• From the Washington Post (via the BBC): “A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country’s borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700 grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage purposes. According to the announcement made by Iranian intelligence officials, alert police officials caught these squirrels before they could carry out any task.”

• Directly from the BBC: “British blamed for Basra badgers – …UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: “We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area… …One housewife, Suad Hassan, 30, claimed she had been attacked by one of the badgers as she slept. ‘My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer,” she said. “It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey,’ she told AFP.”

I think this proves the great diversity now afforded by the West. After all, for too long, following the doctrine espoused by the infamous Judeo-Christian World Zionist Plot, by Big and Little Americas (aka, Satan) – an ancient document dating back to the early 3^rd grade – only Zionist dogs and Zionist swine were permitted in the Western ranks. The inevitable children produced by the mixture of the noble legions were also allowed: the valued zionistische Schweinhünde. It brings joy to the heart to see the opportunities of Western decadence offered to an wider array of members of the powerful Phylum Chordata. In turn, this will secure dominance in the air, on land, and sea. Still, in light of these news reports, two things are clear.

• Iranians are better hunters than Iraqis. After all, the Iranians managed to catch squirrels alive, while the Iraqi could not manage to hit a 30 lb. dog-monkey. Come on guys, can’t Juma give you some shooting tips?

• The only animal sympathetic to the plight of Dar al-Islam is the the mouse. Walt Disney would be proud at how the image of mice has been rehabilitated. Once the mascot of the World Zionist Government, now the mouse too suffers under the oppressive heel of the Jewish conspiracy. (Though he seems to suffer from geographical issues as well; somehow “Tel Rabi” has moved to the soon to be liberated Jerusalem).

Telling me the 2nd amendment gives me the right to a musket is like telling me that my right to vote allows me to choose my favorite white Virginia landowner.

Goodbye PalmOS… though I never particularly loved thee.

The Newton was cool and visionary – despite the hype, a rarity for Apple. The Psion took your handheld apps only approach and did it oh so much better.  The Portfolio (I had one!) and the LX series brought smiles to geeks faces. And the Zaurus (SL series) is a nice try, particularly the Japan-only models (Plus, they use dog breeds for internal names, including the Tosa, the baddest dog on the face of the Earth.  No Shiba yet).

But the PalmOS was designed to be elegantly simple and useable.  That’s not really what people want in a $300+ handheld computer – people actually do want a variety of functions.  And it’s why Windows Mobile – which isn’t horrible – won out.

Which one?  Why, Pesach Sheni, the unknown holiday.  The holiday of sufferers, those who were tameh or otherwise unable to properly celebrate Pesach – when a proper celebration included animal sacrifice.  The holiday, as unfortunate as those for whom it was created, has lost its relevance and no modern observances (though some eat matzah as a customary nod).

You’d think we could at least get haircuts, but Lag Ba’Omer is four days away, anyway.

51 years after their only use in history, the United States makes its loudest and most specific declaration of the viability of nuclear weapons as part of its foreign policy in recent memory – in defence of Japan.

I wonder how far this administration will extend its veil of protection…