A Barrel of Bourbon

I took this picture during the family gathering on my wife's side at a Smith and Western restaurant. I enjoyed my time not so much for the food (although it was all right) than for the company and the ambiance, very much western themed. It was like stepping in a giant playground looking like a saloon. And there was this barrel at the entrance. Wolfie wondered what it was, so I had to explain what bourbon is. It's funny, I didn't notice untilrecently how bourbon was associated with westerns. I don't think I ever drank any, except maybe in cocktails. Some of you ever drank bourbon? How is it? Leave me a comment.

A pint of milk and a shot of bourbon

I have recently watched action/crime thriller The Big Ugly. It is not a great film, maybe not even a good one and certainly not a very original one, but I enjoyed it tremendously. Probably more than it deserves. There are many reasons for this, each one of them worth a blog post, but let's start with one for today: the anti-hero protagonists grows fond of a rather unique drink: a pint of milk with a shot of bourbon in it.  He calls it "a pint of a milk and a shot of bourbon". There are probably more sophisticated cocktails, but I find it very cool and very badass.Milk is never a good sign in fiction, see my old post about barbaric milk. Even spiked with a shot of bourbon. Not sure if I'd dare to try it myself, but be warned if you see someone ordering that in a bar: he's up to no good.

One Rung

I literally know one song by Slobberbone, and it is this one. George Pelecanos mentioned it in this article. Pelecanos' crime novels are filled with music as they are filled with atmosphere. He understands perfectly how a song pictures a state of mind and a certain time of the day or the night. "Sometimes you need a song to go with that last two fingers of bourbon poured at the end of the night. This is it." In my case, it is beer, not bourbon, I rarely drink spirits. But this is the song of one drink too many, sore livers, alcohol-induced headache and well, we are Friday night, so here it is.

The incipit of Goldfinger

An incipit, as people who studied literature know, is the first sentence of a novel. I quote them on Vraie Fiction from time to time, because some are simply great introductions to great novels. This one is from Goldfinger. It is a flawed novel from Ian Fleming, some people say the movie improved upon it (I think in some ways it did, in some other it did not), but it is nevertheless very well written, full of atmosphere and character. And here is the incipit: "James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about life and death." What follows is a reflection about the murderous aspect of his job, triggered by the memory of fight a few days earlier with a hitman sent to kill him. The first chapter makes in itself the novel worth a read.