Yes, Owen Morris is the resident cocktail connoisseur of Fat City, but I knew he would let me pay homage to one of the most famous mixed drinks in the cocktail canon: the Brandy Alexander. Saturday is National Brandy Alexander Day and this concoction of brandy, creme de cacao, heavy cream (or sometimes ice cream) has been an inspirational beverage since it was first created in 1922.
Legend has it that the cocktail was created in London, for the wedding party of England's Princess Royal and Viscount Lascelles. But 1920s drama critic and wit Alexander Woolcott insisted the drink was named after him -- although there's no evidence to back up this claim. Woolcott loved to drink them, though.
The cocktail was featured in two movies as the lure that ultimately led to the "road to ruin" for two young women. In The Days of Wine and Roses, it's the drink that Jack Lemmon's character buys for a pretty girl (played by Lee Remick) who loves chocolate, but not the taste of alcohol. She becomes a drunk.
In 1958's Too Much, Too Soon -- based on the real-life memoirs of actress Diana Barrymore, the doomed aunt of Drew Barrymore -- teenage Diana, played by Dorothy Malone, visits her hard-drinking Daddy, John Barrymore. Real-life heavy drinker and Don Juan Erroll Flynn plays the adult Barrymore, who orders a Brandy Alexander for his little girl because it "tastes like a milkshake." Soon Diana has moved beyond the Brandy Alexanders to the real hard stuff and becomes an alcoholic. The movie has an upbeat ending, but in real life, Diana died young -- at age 38 in 1960.
John Lennon and Ringo Starr loved Brandy Alexanders and two bands, Feist and The Walkmen, wrote songs with the name of the cocktail as the title.
Pitch art director Zachary Trover gets sad every time he buys comics on a new comic Wednesday. Earlier this week, Zachary was shopping at the B-Bop Comics when a rather large and intense woman demanded several copies of the Barack Obama and Spider-Man Inauguration Day special edition comic book. The shop owner ignored the one per customer sign and let her buy four so she'd go away. Zachary thinks the woman might be banking on the comics being worth a lot of money some day. Uh, not if they're in their third or fourth print.
This woman wasn't the only special person trying to get rich at B-Bop on Wednesday. A man in a NASCAR jacket waited impatiently until the woman had her Obama comics and then asked if the shop keep if he was interested in buying sports cards. Uh, no. On his way out the door, the man in the NASCAR jacket said just loud enough so everyone could hear, "I guess these fags don't like sports."
No wonder why Zachary is sad every Wednesday.
Look at our girl, making Missouri proud while calling Wall Street bigwigs "idiots."
According to Gawker Media site Jezebel, Missouri's senator looked like she wanted to "cut a bitch" while introducing a bill on the Senate floor proposing salary caps for employees whose companies are receiving federal bailout money.
We want to join her for a glass of congratulatory champagne -- er, make it Pabst. Watch the clip here.
Sam Brownback's decision to run for governor will immediately cost Kansas some status in Washington. With Topeka beckoning in 2010, the two-term senator took one for the Republican team and yielded his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We recently heard a rumor that notorious adult-entertainment bookstore Erotic City was expanding its goods and services with a selection of weapons. Ever since a 14-year-old girl was prostituted in Erotic City's ''Orgy Room'' video booth, which are now shuttered, the erotic emporium has been looking for new ways to make money, including the sale of fake urine. So we thought we'd check it out.
Nasty accident last night. A driver crashed a SUV through a concrete barricade near Locust Street and landed on Interstate 670.
My morbid curiosity took over, and I went to look at the scene just before lunch.
It was only a couple years ago that Heidi Phillips and her band Abileen recorded a full-length album only to break up as it reached completion. Take It All Back has since seen some hand-to-hand distribution, but much of Phillips' best work has remained largely unheard.
That will hopefully change this year, as Phillips returns to local stages with a new band composed of former Abileenians Jeff McGinness (drums) and Danny Krause (formerly on bass, now on guitar) as well as Sunshine Destroyers bassist Calandra Ysquierdo.
"I'm playing out under my name so I can play whatever I feel like playing," says Phillips, a former co-songwriter for Kansas City alt-rockers Frogpond. "I feel like I've got a large enough catalog that I don't want to have to redefine myself anymore. I want to look at my body of work as a whole and embrace all those creative times."
That means Phillips will be playing Frogpond songs, such as these two from the Art Alexakis-produced Count to Ten album.
| Christopher Elbow showing off his some of his chocolates |
If the federal government's bailing you out, then you're not going to make more than President Barack Obama. At least if Sen. Claire "Bear" McCaskill has her way. She's introducing a bill right now -- on CSPAN 2: The Deuce! -- that would cap pay for employees of private companies taking federal bailout money. Employees couldn't make more than Obama's $400,000 salary until their company stopped receiving federal dollars. McCaskill's people say the salary cap would also include bonuses and stock options.
Which out-of-town restaurant would you lobby to bring to KC?
DelHi Soul Food Buffet closes in KCK
The Gaf has closed in Waldo
OSHA orders reinstatement of Wolf Creek whistle-blower
Police leave Union Station after suspicious package found
KC Pride Festival 2013? Yes, it's still on
Kanrocksas single-day tickets now on sale
Insane Clown Posse fans will be chugging Faygo in Lawrence tonight