Cocktail Confessions

One of my best friends, Brian Liles, has honored me by requesting that I be his best man for his upcoming wedding this October 9th.  As part of the un-written, yet somewhat obligatory and expected duties of the best man is to plan the much maligned ‘bachelor party’.  However, we aren’t all bachelors and young studs ourselves anymore.  Long gone are the fraternity like shenanigans one might come to expect from a group of guys in their twenties.  I don’t expect any “Hangover” moments with strange babies, escaped tiger’s, or getting punched out by Mike Tyson.  No, we’re all hovering around 40, give a take a year or two….many with our own families, obligations, and somewhat tamed morals.

It’s not an easy task to undertake planning a ‘crazy’ and memorable event when you’re married yourself, have never met most of the invitees to understand their likes, dislikes, and personalities.  Also, getting the actual list of names from the groom himself was an exercise in pulling teeth.  See, I asked Brian close to three months ago to send me a list of names of those he’d like to include, and reminded him every other week or so for the next two months.  I finally received a list about 2 weeks ago and have sent out an appropriate invitation via eVite, (the digital norm these days) and am anxiously awaiting replies.

There were a few caveats to the initial brainstorming, some that didn’t go over to well with some of the guys, but in all honesty a moral relief and un-burden to myself: NO STRIPPERS.  Like I said, I’m not 19 years old anymore, or 25 and the thought of bringing any ‘exotic dancers’ into my home for a few hours or going to some sleazy, over-priced gentleman’s club just doesn’t sit well with me anymore, so I’m glad Brian made it clear up front he wanted no part of that.  I did get a few ribbing’s from some of the guys, but I figure that’s what the Internet is for these days….you want a few jollies?  Go watch some stuff for free in the privacy of your own Kleenex filled office.

We were then going to rent a party bus and head down to Stone Brewery near Carlsbad, CA, take the tour, eat some gourmet food and taste various brews.  But even though the thought of having a designated chauffeur was nice, the cost of renting a bus for 8 hours, paying for gourmet food and craft beers, and not having a list of initial invitees made the idea a little hard to put into action.

We thought about doing a bar crawl in Newport Beach or surrounding cities, but again, the idea of some of us possibly getting lost in transit, separated, sitting in traffic, or a few of us cheerfully volunteering to be designated drivers for the rest seemed to be a bit more complicated than anyone was willing to admit.

In the end, Brian, Steve, and I hashed out our ”un-bachelor” party over lunch about two weeks back.  We settled on going out to Cook’s Corner for the afternoon, enjoying a few pitchers of beer under the sun at a watering hole close to my home.  At approx 6pm, we will all come back to my house (only a few short miles away), relax and continue the festivities in the privacy of my backyard.  There we will have a BBQ, a fire, and plenty of beverages.  I have extra room if anyone needs to crash, no waitresses to tip, no worrying about lines, traffic, driving, spending crazy money, etc.

I know Brian’s fiance voiced some initial concerns over Brian having a party to begin with and even floated the idea of having a ‘joint’ bachelor-bachelorette party.  Uh, “NO”…we aren’t that progressive.  That’s one thing I don’t get (and sorry Shea if you read this), but it’s my understanding that she had her own ‘get together’ planned out but was somewhat troubled when Brian announced that the guys were having a gathering.  Whaaa..??  I don’t care if they call it a ‘bridal shower’, ‘gathering’, ‘luncheon’, or whatever….it’s basically a female ‘bachelorette party’.  What ever games and gossip they do there amongst themselves is their issue and has nothing to do with the guys.  Seems a bit like a double standard in my book.  We laid it right out on the table…we’re going to Cook’s Corner, then a BBQ at my house.  How is that any different Mr. Cochrane?  Case closed, move to dismiss.

Anyway, I digress. 

I was able to contact Cismontane Brewery in RSM and get a 1/4 keg of their IPA for my home gathering.  Food-wise, we’ll have beer brats with grilled garlic seasoned onions and roasted poblano peppers on french rolls, black and blue potato salad (meaning it contains blue cheese and bacon), chips, dip, salsa, two different styles of buffalo wings, and most likely some carne asada as well.  There will be a little whisky to be had, a fire in my backyard fireplace, music from my stereo, but most importantly a gathering of some great guys.

Out of the 12-15 or so that are attending, both Brian and I know a handful dating back to our elementary and junior high school days.  A couple of them we haven’t seen in close to twenty years if not longer, so there will be plenty of catching up for a few of us, and plenty of pictures to be taken along with many new memories and hopefully re-connections to be made.

No, it’s not gonna be a night of high stakes hijinx, but should be a really good time for all in attendance.

This is more or less a quick entry on the state of affairs over here at my blog.

I’ve got a few things lined up in the coming days and weeks including some additional video’s and a podcast I just recorded with my buddy Brett who visited from Idaho this past week.  I’ll have some new recipes up soon, including Cuban burgers (that were a hit at this Friday’s last BBQ), grilled zucchini boats with a bacon gremolata, a new cocktail recipe dubbed ‘The Camel Toe’ for you vodka and tropical drink lovers, and a refreshing watermelon sangria.

I’ll have a few stories to share that took place with my friend Brett, especially our afternoon visit to Turq’s in Dana Point where we get talked to death by druken senior citizens, some additional video of the San Clemente Pier, a review of the Original Pedro’s tacos, some random shots at Cook’ Corner, Dana Point Harbor, S.C. Pier, and more.

This upcoming weekend, my wife and I are going to the Huck Finn Jubilee up in Victorville, CA with our friends Brian and his fiance Shea as well as my college friend Sam and his wife Alicia.  We’ll be there for the beer, food, and good ‘ole bluegrass music and banjo championships.  I expect to get some good vittles there and hopefully taste some good brews.

On the technical side of things, I just upgraded the NextGen Gallery here to v1.5.3 and I also finally purchased a ‘shoot & share’ video camera in the form of the purple Kodak Playsport along with a 8GB SD card.  I’ve posted a few videos up at YouTube, and I hope to not only use it this weekend at the Jubilee, but also do some grilling recipe and preparation “How-To” videos here in the future.  I also have to finish the Earthbox series that I began a few weeks back.  I already have some great jalepeno peppers and tons of cilantro that we are using.

I did have one bummer issue that happened over the weekend.  This past Saturday my Behringer 502 USB mixing board died on me.  I was actually right in the middle of recording a podcast with Brett and at about the 40 minute mark there was a slight pop in my earphones and when I looked at the screen for status I noticed a flat line on Audacity.  The board is just over a year old (March ’09)  and I purchased it through Amazon.  Of course I don’t have the box anymore, so I’m gonna try and get an RMA straight from Behringer, and looking at their support website it appears that they make you jump through hoops for repair. *Sigh*.  The good news is I picked up my Zoom recorder and was able to finish our podcast, but I’ll have to mash the two files together and do some additional editing before I get the next episode posted….maybe in another week since this weekend is already claimed.

This episode/entry was fun to do for a few reasons: we (that is Brian Liles and I), had already had a few pitchers of Sam Adams Summer Ale under our belts that we enjoyed over at a beautiful day at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon, CA.  Then as we proceeded to records this, we had a surprise visit from Chip Gahagan of Smogtown who popped on by for a few minutes, and lastly we discuss a little bit of G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie as well. Listening back to make show notes was a little embarrassing as I caught myself being tongue tied and repeating myself multiple times.

Cook's Corner

So to start with Brian of Brians4x4adventures.com, or friend Scott W and myself headed out to Cook’s Corner (Wikipedia entry) for a little Sunday afternoon beer bonding.  The short synopsis of the place is as such: Built by Andrew Jackson Cook around 1884, the original building was meant to supply local miners as a mercantile and a few years later a place to eat as well.  It survived the prohibition era and was converted into a bar.  In 1970 a motorcycle accessory shop owner from Santa Ana bought the property and publicized it as a place for motorcycle clubs to enjoy.  It has changed hands once again a few years back and actively participates in the promotion of several charity motorcycle rides.  It’s now considered a historic landmark and is enjoyed by numerous social clubs and O.C residents.

It’s a great place to spend the afternoon, especially the weekends where one can typical witness 200+ motorcycles parked out front.  They have a very large outdoor patio area that has seen many improvements the last few years including new picnic tables, umbrellas, outside bars (three portable at last count), and a place for local merchants to sell various motorcycle accessories.  They have a small kitchen that turns out various burgers, tacos, and finger foods along with a inside band stage and the occasional outside band as well.  I’ve been coming here for at least 7 years now, and it really never gets old.  I have yet to run into a bad situation with a ‘biker’ and quite the contrary all the ones I have met or spoken to have been pretty personable for the most part.

Music for this episode

I’ve listened quite a few bands there over the years, and while I’m not a huge fan of classic rock they have the occasional bluegrass or jazz band out there and it always sounds good under the Southern California weather and sun with a couple of pitchers of beer and friends.

In this podcast episode Brian discusses his recent FJ Crusier trip across Canada and into Alaska that he took part in with his friend Luke from Radrod57.com.  Head over to Brian’s site for some gorgeous high quality pictures he took and read some of his continuing exploits.  You can ever read more over at Luke’s page as well.  Makes me wanna cash everything in, grab an RV, and do a roadtrip across America myself and hit up some hidden bbq joints, some town festivals and make some new acquaintences in local camp grounds.

Baroness

Finally we discuss G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra movie (hence the ‘criminals’ in my title).  For those of you who grew up on the property that made it famous back in the 80′s, you may be slightly disapointed in some of the character origin reboots in this 2009 feature film.  Being a comic book purist in my own right, and being a huge fan of Larry Hama’s creativity for the Hasbro line and the yarns he spun for Marvel, I have a few problems with the treatment that gave Cobra Commander, Zartan and the Baroness.  Also the Ripcord/Scarlett love angle and the CC/Baroness sibling reveal really bothered me.  But if you can put those issues aside ,(and the accelerator suits) then this was a pretty darn good matinee action-comic movie.  Good fight scenes, neat technology, grand in scope….but clearly sets up and demands a sequel.  I mean it is called ‘The Rise of Cobra’ after all, and we just get a taste of things to come towards the last 15 minutes of this movie.

The one that did surprise me however was the Joe’s dropping the “Shit” bomb as gratuitous as they did.  There were a couple of things in the movie that may have made the old cartoon watchers smile, like “Knowing is half the battle.” and the of course the reference to the “Kung Fu grip”.

Show Notes

• Bumper Music: “My ’98 Old’s” – Public Enemy, Yo-Bum Rush the Show (1987)
• 00:35 – Introductions
• 01:10 – Discuss Cook’s Corner memories and atmosphere.
• 07:55 – Brian talks about recent trip with Luke across Canada, including camping, camera’s, and food.
• 29:59 – Brian gives us an update on his incredible wieght loss thus far.
• 33:30 – We talk G.I. Joe the movie (lore vs current re-imagining), Transformers, comics

Cook’s Corner

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