COCKTAIL, GINGER ALE, FIVE CENTS A GLASS

There is a new cocktail movement afoot in America. Buy me a drink and I'll tell you about it. Ambitious bartenders are hearkening back to a bygone era, resurrecting forgotten recipes, shunning mixes in favor of fresh fruits, developing creative cocktails, and even making their own bitters. What is this--another yuppie obsession with some imaginary past (see "swing dancing," see "Sinatra," see "cigars"), still mining the ore of Rat Pack, Mad Men culture? Well, yes and no.

According to the New York Times (December 2, 2008) it's not just a fad; it's a movement. There are many new types of bartenders--mixologists-- vying for your attention. Belly up to the bar, and have a look-see.

There are Pre-repeal Revivalists, such as Julie Reiner of The Flatiron Lounge in New York (in the video above), who go back to gaslights and garters and classic, long forgotten drinks from pre-Prohibition days.

“I moved to New York and started managing a lounge in the West Village,” she says to Nightclub & Bar Magazine. “At the time, it was called C3, and I started putting out seasonal cocktail menus. I was kind of just entertaining myself...The next thing I knew, I was on the front page of the New York Times Dining section.”

Julie Reiner mixing drinks at The Flatiron Lounge in New York

Reiner cut up Granny Smith apples and let them steep in vodka for three weeks. The press jumped on her Apple Tini and similar "infusions." In 2003, Reiner and five partners opened Flatiron Lounge, one of New York’s first venues bringing culinary to the cocktail. The Flatiron (37 West 19th Street, 212-727-7741)–– a space whose ancestral patronage included members of the Rat Pack –– combines a 1920s ambiance and Reiner’s seasonally inspired cocktails. It might be the flagship for the revivalist cocktail movement. For some of Julie's drink recipes, click here.

There are others. The Neo-Classicists update the classic cocktails--just slightly--with fusions; the Farm-to-Glass Movement mix artisinal cocktails with seasonal fruits and herbs, such as persimmons and anise; and the Liquid Locavores, such as distiller Christian Krogstad of House Spirits in Portland, who fashion a drink around local spirits (there are nine craft distilleries operate within the city). House Spirits makes the excellent Aviation Gin, among other things.


House Spirits co-owners Christan Korgstad (left) and Jeff Medoff, craft distilling in PDX

"Our competition isn't local," Medoff told Willamette Week. "We all want to brand Oregon. The more the merrier. We're after Ketel One and Grey Goose."

"Portland was a culinary wasteland," says Stephen McCarthy, proprietor of Portland's Clear Creek Distillery, speaking recently with Distinctly Northwest. When he was a student at Reed College a few decades ago there were no good restaurants, he says. No coffee shops worthy of noting. There were no wineries, no breweries. A culinary wasteland indeed. "Now it's like Paris!"

We wouldn't go that far, but anyone can attest who has eaten at (or even read the write-ups of) Le Pigeon--or devoured the sticky-sweet Thai street food at Pok Pok/Whiskey Soda Lounge, Portland is a serious "foodie" town. The drinks go with the territory. At Pok Pok, you might get a muddled kaffir lime gin and tonic, a lime and palm sugar whiskey sour, or--like me--an Aviator, a martini made with House Spirits' fine Aviation gin.

Get drinks and wings at Pok Pok/Whiskey Soda Lounge -3226 SE Division St, Portland, 503-232-1387

What else is out there? There are the Home Brewers, who make their own bitters, and fortified wines, and are centered around Tenzing Momo in Seattle, a shop that specializes in teas, and exotic dried herbs. There are Minimalists, who might change a single ingredient in a cocktail and explore the mutations; Molecular Mixologists, who mix "progressive cocktails" with scientific methods and might produce a solid, edible cocktail; Faux Tropicalists, who mix Singapore Slings and Mai Tais like your dad drank at Trader Vics. Check out the Luau in Seattle, and drink from a coconut.

Of course, you can still make your own drinks at home. Here, mixologist Allen Katz tells you how to make the perfect Martini:

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

The best way to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King is to enjoy the spirit of jubilation over the Obama victory. King gave his life for equality, peace, and justice--and was assassinated by a white racist. We still have white racists and probably always will--just as we will always have cruelty and stupidity--but we can't wait for them to catch up because there is work to do. They must be livid. After all, they barely got over the abolition of slavery. In the name of King and all the civil rights workers we celebrate Obama's victory--an American victory.

Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen sing out at the Lincoln Memorial during a concert for Obama's inauguration. Pete, folksinger, political activist, and rabble-rouser, was hounded by the U.S. government for years for his politics and blacklisted during the Red Scare. Here, he makes a triumphant return with the Jersey Devil. They sing a song written by Pete's old running buddy, Woody Guthrie. I'm sure you know it, but maybe not this version. Here they sing it the way Woody wrote it, with all the "radical" lyrics they kept out of your school songbook.

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Seeger and Springsteen at the Lincoln Monument:


What it took to get here. Bull Connor's police dogs attack protesters in Selma. Their crime? Asking for the right to vote. All the people jabbering about "exporting Democracy" sure as hell should have supported these brave souls--but of course conservatives blocked the civil rights movement every step of the way. It's history; look it up.

U2 perform "In The Name of Love" at the Lincoln Memorial. They wrote the song about Dr. King.


On this hard-won holiday, remember what it took to get here. Martin Luther King, Jr. is arrested by Alabama police for civil disobedience. The civil rights movement wasn't a tea party. People risked their necks. Give it up for MLK and the Movement for having the guts and determination and vision to rock the boat.

LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!

President-elect Barack Obama introduced the new national security team Monday, and then took a much-needed break. Dude has been busy, yo. The order of the day? Shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture. Hey ya!

No big surprises at Monday's press conference, but Obama officially announced that former campaign rival Hillary Clinton will be the new secretary of state. Not that it matters, but bellowing gas bag Rush Limbaugh called the selection "brilliant."

But who cares what he says?

Obama also announced that Bush's Pentagon chief Robert Gates will stay on as defense secretary for continuity sake--we're fighting two wars, after all. In related news, Obama is ousting top Bush Pentagon officials, including many of Gates's top deputies. More from the Washington Post, HERE.

Other picks: Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security, and Susan Rice as UN Ambassador.


Meanwhile, in another part of town, outgoing President George W. Bush told ABC News' Charlie Gibson "I was unprepared for war," and "I'm sorry" for the economic crisis.

Bush expressed remorse that the financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts. "I'm sorry it's happening, of course," he said. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s."

Bush pointed to incorrect intelligence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "the biggest regret of all the presidency."

"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess." When pressed by Gibson, Bush was clear. "That is a do-over that I can't do."

This ABC interview raises many questions, the most salient being: "Can Barack Obama start early?"


The ABC News interview with outgoing president, George W. Bush, 12/01/08

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RINGO!

On the special occasion of Ringo Starr's 68th birthday, we're screening the movie "Help!"

Ringo is in trouble again, this time being chased by a cabal of Indian mystics who are after his ring. Hilarity ensues as Ringo vows to liberate all sentient beings from samsara and deliver them into Nirvana. The Beatlesattva does not seek bodhi (Awakening) solely for himself, but chiefly for the sake of freeing all other beings and aiding them into bliss. East meets West in this zany romp, with catchy tunes from Ringo's old pop combo, The Fabs. There are many paths to enlightenment, grasshopper. Seriousness isn't one of them.

This week, Ringo celebrated his 68th (!) birthday with a "peace & love" street party in Chicago. The old geezer still has his priorities straight. People came from all over for tea and cake. Happy Birthday, Ringo!