It’s been manic. My summer disappeared in a haze of work (good) and people throwing hissy-fits at work (not good). Early autumn was devoted to preparing for, attending, talking at, and then recovering from a large science conference in Chicago. Some fortuitous foresight on my part in summer meant that I also had a few days to enjoy Chicago after (more on that later). Post-Chicago, I hit the ground running again on the work front, and also dived into the craziest social season my mega-lab has seen since my first summer in LA. It was great but hectic. All in, this left barely any time to just sit, relax and breathe.

Today is (was, by the time I type this) the great American holiday of Thanksgiving. So, as an honorary resident alien, I give thanks today for the chance to have a wee breather.

And grill a chicken with a beer can up its bum (recipe).

And drink some leftover mango cocktail.

The dog was happy that we were home all day, despite how she looks in the photo. (She’s just shy…)

I even started and finished a new knitting project (’twas a swick… it was only a wee owl…).

And I remembered what it was like to be able to breathe. For that, and a whole bunch of other onions, I am thankful.

Hardy’s of Australia makes a blend of Cab/Shiraz and a Chardonnay box wine for home drinking. That has happened in the past and has worked for the kitchen wine but the home use has not been as much popular. The box wine has many advantages including the inability of oxygen to ruin the wine. The Hardy model stands up straight in the photo but if lies sideways, it can fit in the fridge. The bulk of wine that is drank worldwide is not of the highest quality and characteristics. Basic and ordinary wine is what the world drinks. Wine is a beverage and a kind of food. The high dollar that Americans pay for wine made wine a luxury item outside of tourist or wealthy circles. Ordinary wine does the job anyday.

Hardy is not the only company that does its best to sell the overproduced product of so many regions in ways that make sense. People visit basic stores everyday and buy millions of gallons of cheapest booze and wine everyday in America. All drugstores and grocery stores carry a different booze and wine items at very steep discounts each week. The items revolve and the quality is not the main issue. The majority of those who drink wine, drink it as food. Whatever is the cheapest qualifies to accompany the meal or by the glass. The glass container is not a friend to the wine industry anymore. The green box that keeps oxygen out can help sell ordinary wines because the taste will not change for many days.

I think some means of delivering the heavy boxes to households will make the good quality wine-in-box a choice for the households. And decanter finally has a chance to become a household item. I love decanters myself and can tell you hours of talk of why and how decanters are what wine experience is about. Bottle has never interested me and I love to see it disappear except for ageing purposes. If the boxes are delivered for free, many people will opt to drink better wine that costs little instead of cheap wine jars. I would put a big sticker on the home box that says two glasses each day are great for health and stop after that. That will be a positive reminder of good versus abuse of alcohol. I think everyone is wine business should purchase the various wine in box that appear to experience them even if they get tossed out or end up used for cooking to help develop this market sector. Wine in box will neatly wipe all excess production away from sight and deliver them to people who drink terrible wines that are slowly being oxidized. We should help them.

The new packaging is slowly developing. It can take ten years before wine in box becomes what it can be next month because people are slow to change. Wine bottle has been here forever and wine drinkers have to be converted one by one. Everyone has such strong feelings about everything relating to wine from cork type, the bottle shape, to region and the varietal. We have to make an extra effort to take the stigma away from the wine in box making it appropriate for household use while watching very closely so the wine is not abused by being ever-present. My doctor (he is a sausagemonger for the sake of world food) thinks I can have two sausages everyday and that works great for my body if and only if they are consumed for breakfast. The body digests food differently after 8 hours of sleep and the same sausage that can kill me will serve as great nutrition delivery device. The problem is sausages taste good and I will end up eating them at non-breakfast times. My solution has been to first of all eat only one and not two until I have convinced myself I am actually benefiting from this versus the possible harm and two I freeze the sausages. This way they don’t taste good when eaten and I would not think of eating them during the day. I slice and eat for breakfast telling myself it is really medicine and frozen taste has nothing to do with it. As long as it goes in my body, the body appreciates the spices and so on. It helps to be lazy and avoid the sausage at other times simply because it is frozen for the moment.

The same can be done for wine. Wine can be drank at so many points during the day if not oxidized and is great for health and can be managed so is not abused and the overproduction always has a positive market in the households and businesses by help of the wine in the box. People should be taught how to drink good wine that comes in plenty and now is a good time to worry about the future overproduction.

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.

Ah how we love vintage cocktail guides, but this one in specific we love for two reasons: the art and typeface are awesome and it is has a super guide for how much booze to have on hand for a party of 4 to 20 and wow what a lot of booze it is (check out chart below). Download whole brochure by clicking on title here:  It’s Party Time: Cocktail Brochure from Old Forester 1960s (pdf). You can download the whole guide as a pdf “It’s Party Time: Cocktail Brochure from Old Forester 1960s” or go to  our flickr stream for individual pages http://tinyurl.com/yzoel4a . Happy Holiday Season!

It is finally over and 6 million bottles of wine are gone forever. Mr. Anderson will go to jail but for how long? He is supposed to stay for 20 years but will he for a simple crime of arson? I really don’t know. The damage is huge and I am sure many were paid by insurance companies so they moved on but much irreplaceable wine has been destroyed and money won’t buy them. I think this warehouse system worked very much like the wine industry does. The system is very simple and has too many loopholes and can fail at any time and nobody really cares because that is the STANDARD they are used to. The warehouse fire could have been prevented or handled in so many ways if the managing of the warehouse was done differently. The usual steps taken to handle industry operations are not always the best but nobody cares because we think in short term. As long as things work out for a short period of time and we make our money then the system is good. Nobody worries about the long term possibilities. The wine industry operates very similar to this warehouse. People liked the industry because it was simple and brought a great deal of money and so on. That was great for a short term view of a few years. If the industry had long term outlook, they would have made plans in case things go wrong, such as the economy tanking and action could be taken. The industry thought the same way both in the case of the warehouse and the wine business. The operation of the industry is so simple that many things can go wrong and nobody has any good plans to deal with them because we are obsessed with short term activities.

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.

Well, not really a free lunch, more than that. Try a room, a hotel room, a harbor view hotel room looking straight across the water at the magical light show of Hong Kong island’s inimitable skyline. It all cost $329. Normally, to normal people. We paid only the tax on that: $30. Yes, less than backpackers were paying at nearby hostels and, we’re at the five star Intercontinental Grand Stanford, with it’s sweeping foyer, grand piano, hushed luxury and well heeled international clientele.

How are we here? How indeed? Hotels.com is how. With every ten nights booked through this fabulous online booking agency you get one night free. That’s one night with a price limit of $400. This is not a shabby freebie.

But that’s not the main event, although perhaps it should be. The main event was membership of the Grand Stanford’s hallowed Executive Club. This was included in the price of the room and I had no expectations. Sometimes this means nothing more than checking in somewhere private and eating an inanimate free breakfast in a windowless room with wireless and other stuffy executives hopefully not like you.

Not this time. This time we got whisked away from the reception desk and the milling commoners. A uniformed butler type person discretely inserted us into the next elevator going up to the first floor. From this entirely different altitude you could disdainfully gaze down upon the hapless rabble in the common area. I was getting the hang of this.

We were checked in at a private desk where no-one mentioned tasteless things like money or, for that matter, freebies. We were just in time for cocktail hour. Oh yes, you mean the small grubby glass of boxed wine hurriedly downed in some draughty corridor and the lonely plate of cheese cubes? No? That’s no, no and no!

This way please ma’am… Through the entry to the left and voila! The kind of décor you’d see at the French court. Well, almost. And windows, floor to ceiling with the whole of Hong Kong as backdrop.

We waded through the luxury carpet’s knee deep pile and found ourselves a table facing the glitter of water and light. Around us, small puddles of discretely happy people from Germany, France, Britain, Australia, The World.

The Germans looked the most to the manor born. Just disheveled enough to appear casually entitled they sat in groups drinking pearly long glasses of champagne and murmuring sophisticated things to each other in their native language. An occasional, peal of laughter disturbed the urbane surface.

I took out my notebook. I know I looked the opposite of entitled but who cared. This is one of the most compelling reasons to be a writer, to be able to heedlessly indulge my wonder and curiosity, snatch at the unusual and gaze at it unselfconsciously and from all angles. To stare, to watch, to observe.

I was visiting a land I don’t often frequent. Not Hong Kong, I’m fortunate enough to pop in there several times a year but this, the land of the rich. It was enchanting, in a Cinderella, sort of way, to listen to the sounds of the rich swell and recede around me.

Most of the women in the elegant, long room, wore versions of black, narrow skirts, pale nondescript blouses, dark expensive jackets and sharp, slim heels. The men wore polo necks and tassled loafers with no socks. I was in a baggy black smock top with traveled in jeans, boots and a limp, bedraggled scarf.

A party of three very non-executive looking Australian women from Adelaide, where the accent’s more buxom, could not hide their sense of good fortune.

“It’s the dishes. Not having to do them.”  Nods all round.

“Not having to tidy up after the kids.’

“I can’t remember when last I was away from family and the chores.”

This trio was so delightfully out of place, a little rough at the edges, more amazed at it all, than I was.

I watched and listened as the evening wore on, as evenings do where drink flows and no-one gets a check.

My party of three Australians made several trips to the loo only to return to find their drinks refilled again and again. Everyone loosened up visibly and audibly. Confidences were exchanged ever more loudly and with heightened hilarity. It was a joy to watch.

To my left a man in his forties sporting the aforesaid loafers, black polo neck and a well preserved physique was attempting to chat up the Filipino waitress who looked 20 years younger than she is and turns out to have a husband and three grown children. She eventually extricated herself from the awkwardly protracted question and answer session and he returned to fiddling dolefully with his cell phone dreaming of contacts he wished he had and the ones he does.

The snacks were exotic, spicy and warm. A far cry from their impoverished relative, the dried out cheese cube. The night wore on and when it finally ended we were in no condition to mourn it’s demise. It had hardly been sudden and was, on the contrary, painlessly blurred. We decided to cancel our dinner reservations at The Press Room on the island. We’ve had way too much good stuff and were content to repair to our glorious, and almost free, bed. All that for $30. And who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?

Today was a great day for cocktails, went to the container store and bought some nice sealable glass containers for my homemade syrups. I then went to Cask on third street in San Francisco and picked up some Fee Brothers bitters (old fashioned bitters, west indies orange bitters and peach bitters) along with an outstanding Austrian Apricot Liqueur per the recommendation of the staff.

Once I got home I made Lavender Honey Syrup from the Art of the Bar book along with some homemade grenadine. With so many new goodies I got the shaker out and made some cocktails for me and my wife as we prepped for thanksgiving.

Lavender Sidecar: Recipe from the "Art of the Bar" book

Sidecars are great, but the Lavender Sidecar takes it to a whole new level. Notice the container for the homemade Lavender Honey Syrup… what a great find at the container store, looks perfect in a home bar.

Lavender Sidecar (per the Art of the Bar book):

• 1.5 oz Cognac
• ¼ oz Cointreau
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz honey lavender syrup
• 1 dash orange bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain in to a brandy glass with a sugar rim.

Clara St. Apricot Sour

My great find at Cask today was the Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur, the salesperson highly recommended it for mixing with Rye and Lemon Juice. So while I can’t take complete credit for the recipe it is somewhat of my own concoction

Clara St. Apricot Sour

• 1 oz Straight Rye Whiskey
• ¾ oz Apricot Liqueur
• ½ oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp simple syrup (I used a orange zest simple syrup I made)
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers peach bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain in to a cocktail glass. Garish with a lemon zest twist.

Tulip Cocktail

Calvados continues to be a favorite spirit and makes excellent cocktails too. This drink has great floral notes, the balance felt good and it has a nice complexity to it. I highly recommend it.

Tulip Cocktail:

• 1 oz Calvados
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• ½ oz lemon juice juice
• ½ oz apricot brandy

Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain in to a cocktail glass. Garish with a lemon zest twist.
Recipe courtesy of: http://ohgo.sh/archive/apricot-brandy-cocktails/

Last but not least, I needed something to test my homemade grenadine with. I followed the “hot process” grenadine recipe from Jacob Grier’s blog but I gave it my own unique twist by dropping in some orange zest/

The recipe for the Ward Eight also comes courtesy of Jacob.

Ward Eight

• 2 oz rye or bourbon
• .5 oz orange juice
• .5 lemon juice
• 1 tsp grenadine

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass for a refreshing variation on the whiskey sour.

I’ve just come back from a great evening out at The Blues Kitchen in Camden.

It’s easy to find on Camden High Street, and worth the outing – great food, good cocktails and live bands every night.

The plates of food are massive and very good value for money (you could probably share a main) – most are around £9 or thereabouts – and the menu includes burgers, BBQ chicken and good ol’ Po Boys (that’s a sub sandwich for those of you who don’t know).  There’s also a brunch menu for those lazy weekends.

We saw a great live band on, and the performances start around 10pm each night.  You can check out the website for upcoming events.

There was a very mixed crowd in tonight – it was pretty busy for a Wednesday – but the atmosphere was great.  Definitely worth a look-in if you’re a live music fan!

Nearest Tube: Camden Town or Mornington Crescent

Valerie with The Famous Grouse

Downloaded my WhiskyFest pictures…  Great event–I went purely for research, of course. Took this Famous Grouse shot in honor of Denise and Jamey Reagan, who turned me onto the brand, “Scotland’s best-selling blended Scotch.” Apparently, those Scots are well ahead of me. It’s moderately priced, with delicate amounts of smoke and honey–great for drink testing…

Last week food carts were active in San Francisco. A food cart is no longer a tiny cart and includes food trucks or whatever can be a mobile food outlet. They are finally beginning to happen not as food outlets but as culinary events. Mobile food has the potential to bring good food of similar quality and signature flavors of the better restaurants to locations where something popular is taking place. The assembling of mobile food units can create a great culinary event and they can go where the people are. The restaurants are not comfortable with food carting and will be outraged once they become a hotter trend. San Francisco restaurants operate as a unified racket in some ways by the kind of foods they offer and the prices. Their survival depends on maintaining the accepted dining traditions. The better places will always survive and do well but the bulk of ‘restaurants’ are made for casual patrons with little sense of food or drink and the overflow of the city on weekends and local events. They really don’t offer much in a culinary sense. Mobile food does. Mobile food has to compete with everyone including other mobile food. They can move around and be more competitive but also have to do good food to get repeat business. The strength of mobile food lies in a large number of vendors. If one can always find new vendors to try or shop multiple great food vendors in one visit, the assembly location of mobile food becomes a temporary destination and San Francisco has plenty of events to support their existence and offerings.

*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.

It’s time to batten down the hatches.  People get crazy in the days before and after Thanksgiving.  My plan is to stay in the house for the next few days and emerge on Saturday to a world that has gotten the first panicked frenzy of holiday shopping out of its system.

If you are going out grocery shopping today or tomorrow, God help you.

Hopefully after the past two days of food and beverage shopping my larder is all stocked up for the holiday meal and any potential contingencies.  Because there is little I hate more than crowds.

There were a few things I learned while out shopping that I wanted to share.

First, it’s important to state that I am very value-conscious in everything I do.  I’m happy to spend money on the things that are worthwhile.  But finding a deal always makes me smile.

So here are a few tidbits from the hunting and gathering I have done over the past few days.

Wine & Spirits
The stuffing recipe requires brandy.  And I didn’t have any in the house.  But the spirit has crossed my mind in the past several weeks as I have contemplated the Sazerac.  It turns out that F. Paul Pacult of The Spirit Journal does not recommend a lot of inexpensive brandies.  However, there is one from France that he does.  It’s Raynal VSOP, and they generally have giant bottles of it in the BJ’s liquor cage for just over $20.

While I was at BJ’s on Monday night, I also happened to spy a bottle of Carmenere that John and Dottie wrote up in this past week’s tasting column.  They paid over $12, but said $10 was more representative of the retail price.  BJ’s sells it for $7.49.  And you don’t have to be a member to buy wine and spirits either.  Sweet.

What stunk was that BJ’s was all out of the brandy.  Apparently it’s brandy season, and Raynal VSOP must not be as big a secret as I had thought.  Because while it was all gone, there was a palate of less expensive E&J brandy that was barely touched.

Luckily, Empire Wine & Spirits is right around the corner.  It cost a couple of dollars more there.  But I was able to get what I needed.  Someone needs to tell them that selling things for more money than the store around the corner is not a discount.

Staples
I am not buying my chicken at Walmart.  But packaged national brands that are identical to the items on the shelves of local grocery stores are totally fair game.

That means Land O’Lakes butter, Swanson’s low-sodium chicken broth, and Arnold 100% whole wheat bread, among other things, all come from Walmart.  And they really went all out on making sure their prices on key staples were ridiculously low.

A pound of Land O’Lakes salted butter for $2?

We don’t use it as much anymore, but I bought an extra pound to keep in the freezer.  When I saw the price, I couldn’t resist the urge to hoard.  And I’m half regretting I didn’t buy more.  The same goes for the chicken broth.

Yes, I know I should make my own.  I REALLY should.  But I do have a trick for coaxing a better flavor out of the boxed broth.

Price Chopper was able to compete on some items, like canned cranberry sauce.  And I was there to pick up the few things I couldn’t get at Walmart: my relatively happy chicken, “Certified Humane” eggs, Central Market Classics buckwheat honey, and a few other odds and ends.

But I have relegated P-Chops to the status of C-Store.  I go there to pick up a few items that I need and know will be there.  Sure, it will be more expensive, but I am willing to pay for the convenience.

Specialty Items
The Honest Weight Food Co-op, on the other hand, is crazy expensive.  And while they may carry quality merchandise, the prices are still out of line.

Had I not been a savvy shopper, the two small reused-plastic-bags of non-meat items would have set me back $60.  Instead, I got my organic items, fancy cheese, good chocolate, and other non-GMO items for $33.

Impossible, you say?  It’s my no-fail three-step strategy for shopping at the co-op.
1)    Only buy things that are on sale – if they are full price wait or don’t buy.
2)    Use the $10 off $40 purchase coupon available online.
3)    Limit the overall purchase to just above $40.

Let’s keep that our little secret.

But the best part of all my shopping was my last stop at Rolf’s Pork Store.  I came for ham hocks and sausage, but left with a tub of rendered goose fat ($4).  Roasted goose fat potatoes are insanely good.  And I still have some potatoes on hand from my potato guy.  This may not be for our dinner.  I might just make this for myself and eat it when no one is looking.

Happy cooking.  Be safe.  Watch out for the crazies.

The Holiday in a Glass: Fall to Thanksgiving Cocktails post has been updated with 250+ holiday themed cocktail recipes for the season.  If you haven’t checked that out yet I encourage you to do so.  Hot Brew: Winter & Holiday Hot Coffee Recipes contains 30+ hot coffee recipes at the moment, but is updated frequently.  Stay low calorie through the holidays and every season with Living Grand & Teenie: Low Calorie Cocktail & Drink Recipes.  The low calorie guide contains cocktails and non-alcoholic Mocktails and will be updated throughout the year.

Thanksgiving is more than family and food.  It’s also about football…

• College football tailgating shot recipes

College Football Tailgating Shots – College football teams paired with shot recipes. Teams include – Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Colorado Buffaloes.

More links for football fans:

• Team drink recipe pairings for NFL Sunday football
• Football line-up drink & shot recipes
• Quick & easy game day drink recipes
• Jägermeister recipes bring variety to the bar glass

More links found on The Intoxicologist.net site in the right hand sidebar under Football & Tailgating Drinks

Contests at The Intoxicologist Facebook Fan Page

• Quick Bites: Cocktail Contest Quickies – Beamin’ Punkin recipe using Jim Beam Bourbon created by Dan Bliss of Omaha, Nebraska.  Dan entered my Jim Beam Bourbon contest in October.  Join The Intoxicologist Fan page on Facebook to enter contests.  A new one is just on the horizon after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Also in the post: Dulce Dominicana hot brew recipe using Brugal Rum.
• Scotch Cocktail Recipes: Bobby Burns & My Darling – Delicious rendition of the classic style Bobby Burns scotch cocktail using Allspice on the twist and around the rim.  Plus winner of the scotch contest; My Darling created by Bob Stafford. 

Low Calorie Living Made Easier

• Versatility on the Fly: Low Calorie Drinks from Everyday Ingredients – Four lower calorie cocktail, non-alcoholic mocktail, and shot recipes using a common ingredient; Coffee Mate.  Yes, that is what you just read.  These low calorie drink recipes are tasty enough to serve through the holidays and easy enough to whip up quickly.

Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes & Wine

Power packed pomegranate holiday drink recipes

• Pomegranate Cocktails – National Pomegranate Month – Hot and cold cocktails with pomegranate juices from a variety of brands using an array of base spirits. PAMA Liqueur and pomegranate infused spirits have also been included for diversity and ease of cocktail creation.

Drink recipes for an inspired Thanksgiving season

• Seasonal Cocktails: Fall & Thanksgiving – 15 drink recipes for fall & Thanksgiving. Hot chocolates, ciders, espressos and coffees. Candy bar cocktails laced with chocolate and caramel with a shooter included. Champagne topped cocktail also included.

Celebrate holidays with classic style gin drink recipes

• Beefeater Gin Cocktails – 10 Beefeater Gin cocktail and martini recipes ideal for the holidays.

Dare to be adventurous: Campari holiday drink recipes

• Campari Holiday Cocktails – Enjoy cocktails that dare to be adventurous, border on sexy and ring in distinctive flavor. Drink recipes featuring 12 Campari cocktails designed by bartenders and mixologists from around the country.

                More Campari Recipes: Classic spirit of Campari mingles with rich Bourbon heritage

                Campari cocktail recipes for sophisticated summertime refreshment

Classic style martini recipes: Beefeater 24 & Plymouth Gin holiday collection

• Beefeater 24 & Plymouth Gin Holiday Recipe Collection – 11 cocktail recipes focusing upon classic and contemporary style martinis for the holiday season using Beefeater 24 Gin and Plymouth Gin.

                More Beefeater Gin Recipes: Beefeater Gin classic drink recipes

Tasting the Rockies: whiskey & bourbon seasonal cocktail recipes

• Seasonal Whiskey Warmers – Winter Slumber & Rocky Mountain Ginger Crisp cocktail recipes created by Cheri Loughlin using whiskey and bourbon as base spirit with Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur and Pumpkin Spice Liqueur highlights.

                More pumpkin recipes: Pumpkin pie recipes in a cocktail glass

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market: Affordable Holiday Entertaining – affordable wines for holiday entertaining

Classic Style Armagnac Cocktail Recipe: 14 Juillet – Delicious classic style martini cocktail for the holidays.

Cocktail Hour Apple Strudel Recipe – An Intoxicologist original for those who prefer sipping dessert over forking it.

Dessert Inspired Holiday Shot Recipes – Don’t want to bake apple pie this season?  Take a shot at these little desserts in a shot glass.

                More shot recipes: Top 10 Popular Shot Recipes

After Dinner Cocktails: Brandied Bonbon Café – If you haven’t picked up a bottle of Kahlua Coffee Cream yet, do it now and pick up several to last through the year.  It’s a limited release and it’s just that darn delicious.  Then make this cocktail; an Intoxicologist original.

Breathe Easy: Turning Leaf Wine for the Holidays – The bottles are lovely for your Thanksgiving table and the price is right at $8 per. 

Apple of My Eye Cocktails – Three more apple inspired cocktails for the holidays.  Dessert style to long term sipping refreshment.

                More apple recipes: Cocktail hour: No bake apple pie recipes

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Intoxicologist on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon

www.discus.org – Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Copyright 2009 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved

I was sent a link on Facebook about this new bar that opening up in Chinatown called the Keefer bar. The link was sent to me by a Vancouver DJ who I befriended so that I keep updated on local shows and events. I checked out the website and the bar is actually a part of a new collective of local residences. Needless to say, it looks INCREDIBLE. Stylish, aesthetically pleasing, modern, and classy.

Three features that I find particularly interesting are the bar aspect of the residences called The Keefer Bar, Douglas Couplands’ artistic contribution to the building, and the glass bottomed pool!!

1. The Keefer Bar is mainly influenced by the residences’ location in Chinatown. The bar will offer Asian inspired appetizers and creative cocktails that utilizes ingredients found in the neighbourhood. I can’t wait to visit this place and get me an Asian inspired dirty martini or lychee flavoured cocktail of some sort!

2. The fact that Douglas Coupland is going to offer his artistry to the Keefer is pretty neat as well. The Vanouver-based Coupland is mainly known for his clever and quirky novels, however few know about his contribution to the art world. I’m excited to see the kinds of works that will be available for viewing.

3. GLASS BOTTOM POOL. This feature doesn’t need much explaining except that it’s a GLASS BOTTOM POOL. I wonder if it will be available to the public? Would love to take a swim in that baby.

I visited The Keefer Bar website and noticed that Radiozero has provided the site with a mixtape. We all know how I feel about Radiozero and DJs (AWESOME). Unfortunately, I need to free up my hard drive for more space before I can take a listen. I bet its just as sweet as all their other mixtapes, though. I wouldn’t expect anything less.

[EDIT: THE MIXTAPE IS FAN-EFFING-TASTIC. Lucky for me I already have the podcast, so my hard drive can be used for more useful things - like this 15 page paper I am currently supposed to be work on. Anyway, favourite track would have to be Something in Common by Free Energy, but it sounds spectacular as whole. Tyler Fedchuk, you are one cool dude.]

Article from SCOUT magazine

The Keefer Bar

The Keefer also has its own Facebook page with a photo essay and information.

Apparently it is set to open up in November 2009, but who knows. Regardless, I’m totally excited to check this place out.