Tidbits of life in 9 minute increments.

April 29, 2005

Horse...

The other red meat.

Posted by: Jim at 01:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 6 words, total size 1 kb.

Shaken, not stirred

3 points to the first person who can correctly identify why this is a shocking drink order. Specifically, why is it shocking that Bond orders a martini this way?

Posted by: Jim at 11:37 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 35 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Ok, you got my curiousity up (I love James Bond movies but never thought twice about the martinis). I know I can't win by looking it up... but I did. I won't give the answer away, but for those who are also curious, check out this site: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmartini.html

Posted by: vw bug at April 29, 2005 12:13 PM (mPRqC)

2 According to The Straight Dope (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmartini.html) it's apparently because as a double agent he's a little bit of a conundrum. Almost as much of a conundrum as a martini taken with gin and vodka (apparently most martini drinkers take one or the other). Also, most drinkers take their martinis stirred, but apparently since Bond takes both he needs to shake the martini to improve the flavor of the vodka. So he's basically all clean cut on the outside, but he takes his drinks in this in-cestuous manner. Ho, because he's a double agent, and he's never what he seems. Or something. Personally I'm a beer guy, and this drink mixing crap is way too much trouble to go to for a nice cold drink.

Posted by: shank at April 29, 2005 12:20 PM (+H1yK)

3 crap. I didn't just break the rules did I? crap.

Posted by: shank at April 29, 2005 12:22 PM (+H1yK)

4 Rule breaker! You shall be punished severely. 12 lashes with a wet noodle!

Posted by: Jim at April 29, 2005 12:27 PM (tyQ8y)

5 It's a snooty way to order a weak martini. Just ask President Bartlet - oh, wait, he's not real either.

Posted by: kmsqrd at April 29, 2005 12:57 PM (9ON3i)

6 Generally, when a martini is ordered, it is given half a sitir with a martini spoon. Half, no more, lest you bruise the liquor. For Bond to order his Martini shaken, not stirred, is asking for the drink to be intentionally bruised and have the ice melted too much. Indeed! Only a man with serious mojo could pull off a stunt like that. I didn't read the straight dope. Does it agree with me?

Posted by: Garret at April 29, 2005 01:27 PM (IOwam)

7 Cecil be damned. If you knew the history behind the service, you'd know that 006 died from drinking a martini that was stirred with a hemlock covered swizzle stick surreptitiously slipped into place by a double agent. A bit of bruised vermouth is a small price to pay, don't you think?

Posted by: Tig at April 29, 2005 01:34 PM (+SYjv)

8 Garret is correct. Shaking a martini melts more ice, puts air in the liquid and completely mixes the vermouth. For the high class folks at the ritzy places that Bond hangs out, this is a huge faux pas. The reason Bond specifies shaking is because he drinks vodka martinis and they need to be much colder than a classical gin martini or they taste like a horse's ass. Tig - I thought 006 was the turncoat who Bond blew up in that movie with the cello girl.

Posted by: Jim at April 29, 2005 01:39 PM (tyQ8y)

9 Dang, here I am a day late again. Being a martini drinker who likes his martini's teeth-hurting cold, I knew this one. BTW--"bruising" a martini refers to ice shards being broken off during the shaking process. The shards melt in the glass (diluting the drink) and the light refracting thru the little pockets of water floating in and on top of the drink is the "bruising" of the drink.

Posted by: Victor at April 29, 2005 07:02 PM (Sx8zO)

10 I don't think I drink enough....

Posted by: Wendy at April 29, 2005 10:32 PM (lVGGv)

11 Bar story: I had this very young GI, obviously freshly from boot camp and probably never allowed in bars, legally, before come up to my bar and ask for a "very dry martini." I poured him a shot of gin. His disappointment was palpable: "That's it?" "Yup." "Damn. Okay, give me a Budweiser, then." Thanks for the memory, Jim. ;o)

Posted by: Margi at April 30, 2005 03:21 PM (lWAiX)

12 ... I'm with Victor... when I have a martini, I want it cold.. thus the shaken and not stirred... sure, it is cloudy at first.. but that goes away in a few seconds as soon as the ice chips melt... Bond had it right....

Posted by: Eric at April 30, 2005 08:23 PM (YlwMq)

13 Actually, the movies got it backwards. In the books, Ian Fleming always had Bond order his martinis "Stirred, not shaken" I think he even mentioned once that it was because shaking bruises the gin. I seem to remember at least one of the early Connery movies getting it right, but I don't remember which one now.

Posted by: Susie at May 01, 2005 12:19 PM (IPJ6q)

14 Yup - as Jed Bartlet says, "Shaken not stirred would get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so as not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it."

Posted by: Dafyd at May 03, 2005 12:13 PM (ZZQbd)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

April 28, 2005

Conferences

Conferences are business meetings taken to the ultimate level of inefficiency.

Posted by: Jim at 11:39 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 13 words, total size 1 kb.

April 18, 2005

What's four times?

Once is luck.
Twice is coincidence.
Three times is a charm.

So what's four times?

Points for the top three answers. Bonus points if anybody gets the real answer, which isn't too likely because I just made this up in my meeting this morning but if you've been following along with the bits I drop about the job it's at least possible to get it.

Posted by: Jim at 02:33 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 71 words, total size 1 kb.

29kb generated in CPU 0.0446, elapsed 0.1169 seconds.
87 queries taking 0.092 seconds, 222 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.

Search Thingy

Monthly Traffic

Pages: 2850
Files: 157
Bytes: 23.7M
CPU Time: 3:47
Queries: 235440

Content

Posts: 2644
Comments: 11507

Feeds

April 29, 2005

April 28, 2005

April 18, 2005

Search Thingy

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Monthly Traffic

Content

Feeds