Le ShakèrnattE

Ingredients:

• Freshly brewed espresso
• Ice
• Tangerine EmergenC
• Fresh miniature kiwi slices (optional garnish)

Steps 2 Success:

1. Layout all the ingredients for one attractive preliminary shot!
   
2. Cook up some espresso
   
3. Take a second to briefly admire your handiwork – dammmmn that looks good!
   
4. Add ice to mini-cocktail shaker (novelty perfect-cube ice recommended) then pour one pouch of EmergenC (any flavor could work besides that disgusting acai flavor!)
   
5. Add that cute lil’ cup of espresso you made in step 2 & patted yourself on the back on in #3
   
6. Shake it! Yeah! (put lid on first!) and keep on going until that puppy is cold! Then pour it into an attractive awaiting pre-iced preferably glass receptacle…
   
7. Not too shabby, amirite!?!
   

Taste Profile:
Unexpected – neither of the main ingredients able wins the battle for tastebud control, it ends up as an uneasy draw, a relaxed citrusy espresso blend. Not altogether unpleasant!

Backstory:
Two of the most important drinks in my life right now are both delicous splashes of energy and vitality. The simple rich creamy bite of a fresh espresso. The tangy vitamin C-y relief of a well prepared EmergenC. During a moment of relatively clarity today (9/4/2010) I realized that these two miracles of drink-ability had the potential to coexist in a single refreshing drink.

Epilogue:
I have not been made sick from this drink yet, a good 10 minutes after finishing it, I believe that is a pretty major victory. You know what? I think I might actually make this again, I am feeling pretty great right now!

infared06, originally uploaded by nate_marsh.

With a tripod and an infrared (note, 2 Rs!) filter you can take some pretty interesting urban landscapes. I like the faux-false color plus the ability to capture movement with a surreal almost dreamy softness – each of the exposures is between 20-40 seconds and then I converted them to greyscale, the come out of the camera with a pinky red hue.

I obviously have a lot to learn about controlling camera with this puppy on, but it was a wholly enjoyable process, check out the whole set!

Normal Scene (zzz):

Infrared Scene (!!!):

Full Set

I rather like this view of JP Pond!

Every day on the way home from work, I see this cat flopping around on the street, happy as can be!

So says George Saunders, who writes in a way that I can only dream about – his fiction & nonfiction about consumerism and anti-intellectualism is not only disgustingly well written, it remains entertaining where others might come off as preaching or lecturing. This piece about Palin is no exception. Reading his nonfiction you really understand how painful it is for him to see someone like Palin, perhaps the true personification of the “braindead megaphone” – the fact that he can produce such a fantastic snarky work about this trainwreck is a testiment to this guys badassity and skill as a writer.

Here is a choice quote from piece, the perspective is from a die-hard Palin supporter:

Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Élite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.

You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing, this guy is a master of the form: My Gal

the Zebra Zoom

I have been getting a lot of requests for this, so here it is – the first in my long series of “Zebra Zooms” – enjoy!

PC029083, by nate_marsh.

I’ll admit that this creation is extremely derivative of TeaBR – i.e. can beer be flavored in such a delicate way as to permit it’s natural beerness to coexist with some foreign flavoring so that the sum is greater than the whole of its parts?

This is the type of deep issue that I have been focusing the majority of my brains as of late. For the greater good of mankind.

First of all, against the recommendations of my cohorts (a bunch of Bostonianers in Maine) I left the beer relatively unaltered, still full of carbonation and relative cold to the touch. Once the EmergenC – which has a cult-like following that I do not quite understand – molecules hit the beer molecules, their violent tryst caused a lot of foam – major p-a-r-t-y foul. So, you either have to start with 1/2 a can or use it on a floater you find the next day.

The taste, not too shabby, tasted sparkley and orangey (the powers of EmergenC) against the reliable canvas of PBR’s beerness. You won’t want to drink a case of this, but try ordering one at the bar next time you are out!

Regards,

D.T.