JOHNNIE WALKER AT 15 CRAIGSIDE

I join a table on Wednesday nights at 15 Craigside, and sometimes, too, again on Sunday.  Last night I featured Johnnie Walker.  I have perhaps a dozen different kinds of this scotch.  The Company sells the most scotch in the world, and has been in existence for almost two centuries.

The most popular JWs are the colored ones, and they are all a blend of different whiskeys from throughout Scotland (prices vary widely, depending of various factors, but the relativity is close):

• Red Label around $20/bottle, is rather harsh, leading some to mix it with something like ginger ale.  This was Winston Churchill's favorite, with a little soda.

• Black Label sells for $30 and tastes woody.  It is a blend of 40 whiskeys at least 12 years old.
• Double Black, for $40, was only launched five years ago, has no age designation, and is peatier (said to more closely resemble Caol Ila, whereas the Black has the essence of Cardhu).

• Green Label appeared two decades ago, is aged 15 years, and costs $60/bottle.  Once was sold as Pure Malt, but has a blend of 15 single malts.  (For a while restricted to duty free, but now being sold retail.)  I still have a bottle this version, which should get more valuable with age.

• Gold Label is at least 18 years old of 15 single malts and is $70/bottle.

• Platinum Label goes for $100/bottle, is a blend of whiskeys at least 18 years old, and only appeared three years ago.  It is sweetish with a mild Islay (peaty) smokishness.
• Blue Label is the iconic expensive bottle, going for $200.  Has won awards, tastes great and is a celebratory scotch.  Supposedly, only 25 years and older whiskeys are used in the blend, although the bottle shows no age.

There are, of course, other Johnnie Walkers, including Swing (right, where the bottle swings when you touch it), XR 21 Years Label, The John Walker and a hundred special bottlings.  Oh, The John Walker and Sons King George V:

• Retails for $1000, but generally sells for $4500, for only 330 are annually sold worldwide.
• Here is a site with a $600 price.
• You can have a dram (one-sixteenth of an ounce)  at Charlie Trotter's bar in San Francisco for $650.
• Supposedly goes well with blue cheese and chocolate truffles.

• Was selected Whisky of the Year at the International Whiskey Competition last year:
• this is really a Blue Label in Baccarat crystal filled with their finer whiskeys
• JW Red Label earned the title of Best Value Scotch (under $30) 
• Best Irish Whiskey was Jameson Black Barrel ($35)
• Best World Whiskey was Suntory's Hakushu 12 Years ($110)

At this point, I thought, this scotch surely looks familiar, so I rummaged through my liquor cabinet and found an almost empty bottle:

This will now need to be locked up close to my Louis XIII cognac.

As those on the Monday night table are not scotch drinkers, I thought I'd begin modestly, with JR Red and Black Labels, a Dewars White Label and that 24-year old Costco scotch I just bought:

To maintain their privacy, I won't mention who sits on this table, but none of them drinks scotch, and one gave up after the first taste.  We all agreed that the Kirkland Signature Scotch Whiskey was the best.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average again broke its all-time record, up 46 to 19,216.

-

I'M HERE. WHAT'S NEXT?

Yesterday, my sunset was not particularly spectacular, but, nevertheless inspirational. 

My thinking is secular, but on Sundays I'm sometimes spiritually philosophical.  I woke up this morning and wondered, I'm here, so what's next?  I googled "I'm Here," and found a film by that name starring Andrew Garfield (that pacifist hero in Hacksaw Ridge).  Never saw I'm Here, a short one of only 35 minutes by Spike Jonz for Absolute Vodka as a promotion in 2010, but Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave it a 90 rating.  The story is of a robot who lives in Los Angeles a long time into the future when there was peaceful commingling with humans.  Sheldon, the robot, falls in love with Francesca, another robot, and at the end gives up his body to save her life.  I thought, I'd have done the same for Pearl.

But I'm here, in the closest thing to Purgatory, and, maybe this could even be it, with those reading this posting, then, also here.  But if not, 15 Craigside is a nice cocoon, where I've recently decided to further minimize stress by, in the short time available, only doing what I want.  Now, this is not an optimal attitude if Heaven is the desired goal, for the whole purpose of this transitional status is to purify yourself.   But I don't believe in this nonsense, so I'm still left with this final stage before that dreaded eternal gloom.

Clearly, I've boxed myself into a lifestyle with limited options.  If I had not donated my apartment to the University of Hawaii for the Blue Revolution, I could have splurged a few times.  That World Cruise of 2018?  Delayed to 2020, and very dubious at that because my colleague who spurred this extravagance could well be much too busy for a long time to come, and my possible shipmate(s) also occupied in their own world.  

The cost is also worrisome, for I'll still need to provide to 15 Craigside $4000/month for four months.  Then,  if Crystal ever organizes a real global journey (all their supposedly world-wide itineraries currently fall short), that could well be another $50,000.  So I will need to find a compatible female partner who can pay her own way.  This will remain a welcome challenge for a few years.

My likely culmination is mostly predictable:  

• Tragically in some vehicle, probably a car, so to minimize this potential, I'm close to giving up driving...or buy a sporty Prius, when Toyota gets around to offering one.
• Attempting to cross a street as a pedestrian, which is why I use some kind of cane whenever I go for a walk, as cars are afraid of anyone with this handicap, plus three legs are better than two, and this instrument should protect against marauding dogs.
• Sudden stroke, heart attack are something similar.
• Life term on the second floor of 15C.

That fourth is particularly vexing, because just staying alive is forbidding.  I'm reminded of Still Alice, where Alice, played by Julianne Moore, develops a strategy for committing suicide before Alzheimer's takes over her mind.  I had the audacity to inquire with 15 Craigside about a terminal solution, and, as a church-run organization, the discussion was not pleasant.  So there will certainly be a follow-up posting on what next.

However, tonight, which means my posting tomorrow, my Monday Night Table will embark on another ethanol adventure.  For some, this will be their first experience with scotch.  We dine with Johnnie Walker.

-

15 CRAIGSIDE PAYS TRIBUTE TO HOKULEA

15 Craigside has an annual Holiday Variety Show featuring residents.  This year, Charlotte and her hula halau saluted the Hokulea and invited spiritual leader, Nainoa Thompson, who came with his twins, Kai and Puana.  Their mother is Kathy Muneno, who came for a while, then headed off to work as a TV anchor for KHON.

I first posted on the Hokulea World Tour on 30May14, and provided some details on Nainoa the following day, when the craft first left Hawaii on its world tour.  The ship, 62 feet long and 20 feet wide, is a replica of a Polynesian double-hulled (meaning there are two, connected by the flat living space) voyaging canoe.  It was launched in 1975, 41 years ago, and completed its inaugural trip to Tahiti (here arriving) the following year, using only Polynesian navigation techniques.  It does have a radio powered by solar panels.

The Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage began at the end of May in 2014:

Hokulea today is docked at the West Palm Beach Public Dock, Florida, having now travelled 140,000 miles in a little more than 2.5 years.  The schedule is tentative, but a return home will occur by the summer of 2017.  The canoe has succeeded in connecting people around the world, as for example, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in an Aloha shirt with Nainoa on the Hokulea above.

Here are some photos from our program last night.  When I arrived at the theater, I couldn't find any seat, looking from the back, and the whole Dining Room was available, so I decided to find a table with a view of the performances.   It seemed odd that I was the only one dining, but I had not yet had my dinner, so I ordered a saimin with all the trimmings and returned to my room to get a glass of Stanford Cabernet Sauvignon and bottle of Kirin Beer, which kept me occupied throughout the festivities.  Not an unobstructed view of the stage, but good enough, and while the sound was faulty, everyone else also suffered. 

The show started with Christmas carols, magic performances (here are two of the magicians, Wayne and George, at my dinner table), and hula performances (Violet and Charlotte).  Then the presentation ceremony for Hokulea, with Charlotte doing the honors.

Charlotte indicated to me that their hula halau has been invited to perform on the ship itself, Hokulea, when she arrives back home in June.  Here are Violet and Charlotte, for I sit with them and their husbands for dinner more than anyone else.

I believe those are the heads of Eric, the association president, and Pepper.  The evening ended with Aloha Oe.  Charlotte's husband, Al, videotaped the whole program, so, someday, we might get to see the edited version.  For good reason, I guess, 15 Craigside discourages taking any video or photos of anything that occurs within the building--to protect personal privacies--so this posting could well be illegal.

But let me end with my lanai, which is not controversial.  First, note that the calamansi is no longer there.  I moved it inside.  The steak below is a result of my Wednesday posting:

-

IS DONALD TRUMP BEGINNING TO LOOK PRESIDENTIAL?

Thomas Loren Friedman had an op ed about the November 21 lunch Donald Trump had at The New York Times, where Friedman is a weekly columnist. I've always found him to be thoughtful and reasonable.  He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner.  I remember reading his The Lexus and the Olive Tree around 2000 and The World is Flat a decade ago.

There was a choice of salmon or beef tenderloin.  Here, Trump with Arthur Sulzberger, Jr, publisher of the paper.  A quote from the attending reporters:

President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday tempered some of his most extreme campaign promises, dropping his vow to jail Hillary Clinton, expressing doubt about the value of torturing terrorism suspects and pledging to have an open mind about climate change.

Said Friedman:

There are many decisions that President-elect Trump can and will make during the next four years. Many of them could be reversible by his successor. But there is one decision he can make that could have truly irreversible implications, and that is to abandon America’s commitment to phasing out coal, phasing in more clean energy systems and leading the world to curb CO₂ emissions before they reach a level that produces a cycle of wildly unpredictable climate disruptions.

Especially during the election campaign, Trump and The New York Times were nearly mortal enemies.  Apparently, there has been a softening of hatred, if not maybe now even downright respect:

For a meeting between the newsmaker and this news organization that has covered him without fear or favor, the lunch was fairly relaxed, but not without some jousting. Asked if he read The New York Times, Trump said: “I do read it. Unfortunately. I would live about 20 years longer if I didn’t.”

Well, CLIMATE DEPOT headlined:

Media falsely spins Trump’s NYT climate comments 

Trump cited Climategate,

 restated skepticism of ‘global warming’

They said that the full transcript showed NO MODERATION of Trump's views on global warming.  Cited was the Heartland Institute agreeing with CD.  What is Climate Depot?  Well, it is a climate change denial website founded by Republican aide Marc Morano (left).  Heartland Institute?  I remember when I regularly wrote for The Huffington Post, I was troubled by one person in particular who kept condemning my views on this topic.  I did a trace and found out that person worked for the Heartland Institute, which is a conservative and libertarian public policy think tank.  

Way back in January Polizette picked Donald Trump's cabinet.  They were scarily right a few times, such as  Secretary of Defense James "Mad Dog" Mattis.  Yesterday, CNN thought Elaine Chao would be Labor Secretary, and she got to be head of the Department of Transportation.  CNN further surmised that Sarah Palin might become Secretary of Interior, Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 9 possible candidates for Secretary of State, including Mitt Romney, 3 for Secretary of Energy, including Rick Perry and climate change contrarion Myron Ebell (right) as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, who is heading that transition team.

If Ebell gets the EPA nod, forget about the rosy picture suggested by The New York Times.  In any case, at this very moment, Donald Trump is actually beginning to sound somewhat objective, if not uncharacteristically prudent, and, maybe, even presidential.

Tomorrow, maybe,  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....

-

THE WORST RECORD ALBUM EVER SOLD

It was around two decades ago.  I was in Naha, Okinawa.  I strolled into a music store and asked if they sold a CD of old Okinawa songs.  I was particularly interested in the period soon after World War II, for I already had quite a collection, featuring original 78s (rotations/minute) of Misora Hibari (left) when she was young and the like.  (Listen to the final song Hibari recorded in 1989, who passed away soon after the release of Kawa No Nagare No You Ni, said to be the most popular song of all time in Japan.)

With high expectation, for I had paid $48 for two CDs, when I came home I played one of them.  When you're in a foreign country and don't speak the language, things can go wrong.  Somehow, the shop person thought I wanted music of prehistoric Okinawa.  The part about post World War II did not register.  I bought two CDs of almost constant wailing, with what sounded like a drum beat every so often.  $48!!!   These might qualify as the worst record album ever sold.

However, where I'm leading to is that incomparable musical couple, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.  One of my Stanford roommates had an album of them, and when you listen to Cocktails for Two, or, It's Magic, surely, you say, these must be the worst ever.

Camply, it all began when Paul Weston, noted conductor and arranger, in the mid-50's entertained guests at Hollywood parties playing a piano off-key now and then to balance the prevailing supercilious attitudes.  In 1956 at a sales convention, Weston provided his rendition of Stardust.  Columbia executives encouraged him to record an album of similar melodies.  George Avakian, inspired by pianist Roger Williams sharing a name with a theologian, suggested Weston take on the name of Jonathan Edwards, a Calvinist preacher from the 1700s.  He agreed, but worried that he might not have enough material, so invited his wife, Jo Stafford, to help.  

They worked together in the 1930s, and when she was with The Pied Pipers (eight singers, including John Huddleston, her first husband) in the 40's backed with Weston's orchestra.  The Pied Pipers (then down to four) toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Frank Sinatra, providing back-vocals for his I'll Never Smile Again and There Are Such Things.  In those days she was overweight.  Capitol Records formed in 1942 with Weston as music director and Stafford as their first soloist.  He convinced her to lose weight.  They finally got married in 1952.  

She had already recorded a few comedy songs under the name of Cinderella G. Stump.  Born in 1917,    she was the second cousin of World War I hero Sergeant Alvin York.  Stafford trained in classic opera, but gravitated into pop.  Her 1952 song You Belong to Me topped the charts in the country.  She went on to record a series of hits:  Jambalaya, Shrimp Boats, Make Love to Me and You Belong to Me.  The latter in 1952 became the first song to hit #1 in the United Kingdom, and remained #1 in the U.S. for 24 weeks.

With all the above as background, The Piano Artistry of Jonathan Artistry was released in 1957, claiming the couple to be a New Jersey lounge act.  The primary speculation was that the Harry and Margaret Truman were the performers.  A TIME article revealed the truth, and the worst record in history gained an audience.  Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris came out in 1960, winning a GRAMMY for Best Comedy Album, Stafford's only major award.

They had a renaissance in 1977, releasing Stayin' Alive and I Am Women, with The New Carioca as the closing theme to The Kentucky Fried Movie.  Tomorrow, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

It's getting repetitious, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average again broke its all-time high, up 68 to 19,192.

-