Category: Lifestyle (Page 191 of 274)

Talking Knicks basketball, Nets basketball and Chinese films with Carmelo Anthony

October 20, 2013 / Matt Byrd

The NBA is, and always has been, a league full of stars. Sure, every sport has stars, but the NBA is one of the few leagues where an individual player can perform in a way that allows them to steal the show night after night and become international icons. Every now and then, they even appear to resemble Babe Ruth’s description by the kids in “The Sandlot.” Less than a god, but more than a man.

Of those current stars, few have been as great as Carmelo Anthony. Considered a rare “can’t miss” prospect when he entered the NBA draft coming off of a national title win at Syracuse, Melo has been nothing short of phenomenal ever since. In 11 NBA seasons, he has made 10 playoff appearances, garnered six All-Star selections, been a perennial MVP contender, set team and franchise records on both the Nuggets and the Knicks, and even helped snag a couple of gold medals for USA basketball, just to name a few accomplishments. Simply put, in a league that houses the absolute best basketball talent in the world, Carmelo Anthony’s position as a top five player has never been an argument.

Recently, he teamed up with Degree to host a one day basketball clinic at the Chelsea Pier Sports Center in NYC as part of their “Do More” campaign where, with help from his trainer, Melo ran participants through a series of basketball drills and exercises. After going through the clinic myself thanks to an invite from Degree, and verifying beyond a doubt that my dream of being an NBA player is likely not going to come true, I got a few minutes to speak with Melo himself.

So, tell me a little about what you’re doing here with Degree?

Well, today with Degree is part of a campaign for the motion sense technology that’s in the newest line of deodorant, and is also a part of the “Do More” campaign that tries to inspire people to actually do more and be more active in their day to day life and just…kind of just push people and give them more incentive. It’s an inspirational program that Degree and myself came up with and want to expand.

Interviews, Lifestyle, Sports

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Drink of the Week: The Bijou

October 18, 2013 / Bob Westal

Last week, I invoked the literal spirit of Will Rogers to deal with the insanity that seemed to be sweeping our nation’s capital. As I begin writing this week, it’s starting to appear that some sanity is returning. That’s something we’ll be drinking to this week, with a genuine antique that’s approved of by many of the cocktail cognoscenti. I just wish I loved this one a bit more than I do.

I stumbled over the Bijou in my increasingly well worn copy of Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book, but it’s history goes back to turn of the 20th Century, we are told, when it was included in a manual by bartending legend Harry Johnson. On this political week, it’s worth mentioning that it also got a big shot in the arm back in 2009 when cocktail loving MSNBC icon Rachel Maddow made one for Jimmy Fallon. Alas, I never saw that segment and it’s been pulled from Hulu for some reason. (I blame the Koch brothers.)

I, therefore, have no way of knowing if the woman who accompanies many of my dinners — and whose old Air America radio show helped me to discover the classic cocktail spirit — introduced some twist in her preparation which made the drink sing a bit more for her and Fallon than it does for me. The version I’ve been making is worth is worth a try even if I didn’t love it to death.

The Bijou

1 ounce Plymouth Gin or regular London dry gin
1 ounce Chartreuse
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

Combine your ingredients in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass, stir fairly vigorously, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. This week, let’s consider a toast to pure, sweet sanity as we down this complex semi-treat.

****

The key ingredient in today’s drink is Chartreuse, also called Green Chartreuse to distinguish it from the milder Yellow Chartreuse. First featured here in star bartender Julie Reiner’s Shamrock Sour, this 110 proof liqueur beloved of cocktail aficionados and, apparently, Quentin Tarantino, is a prime example of a little going a long way. It’s a very herbal, very sweet, and very complex little bugger and gin doesn’t really stand a chance against it.

Since this is one of the 23 recipes in the Savoy book specifically calling for Plymouth Gin, I tried it that way a couple of times. Most recipes, however, call for the usual London style gin. I used Bombay Dry, which is what I have on hand these days, and I found it a bit crisper and more brash that way. Really, though, I liked the drink about the same with both gins.

You may want to experiment with various garnishes. I tried a cheap maraschino cheery once, which didn’t hurt. Rightly renowned cocktail guru Robert Hess, who is obsessed with presentation to a point I tend to disagree with, calls for an elaborate orange peel, which does look pretty and probably wouldn’t hurt the flavor. I do have to reluctantly admit, however, that this drink really doesn’t benefit from shaking. Don’t ask me why, though I’ll never buy Hess’s argument that “clouding” drinks with ice crystals by shaking them is some kind of cocktail fate-worse-than-death.

Hess is also one of many to point out the word “bijou” means jewel in French, which to him means the drink is supposed to look jewel-like and, yes, be completely unclouded. Movie geek that I am, I associate the term with the frequent name for old theaters. Despite being namesakes, Robert Hess and I clearly don’t think that much alike, though he is absolutely correct when he adds the Bijou is extremely Chartreuse forward.

Some things really are kind of inarguable.Up is not down and day is not night though, as we’ve all learned, you can stop some people from claiming just that. I don’t know about you, but after everything we’ve been through, I could use a drink, any drink.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

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Brissy’s Best Beer Gardens

October 17, 2013 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Now that the weather is warming up, and the smell of summer is starting to saturate the air, weekend breaks to Brisbane are looking more appealing. And what’s a better way to embrace the (almost) summer weather than a Sunday session in a beer garden? So, get booking that Brisbane hotel because the following is a guide to the best of the Brisbane beer hangouts, with insider deets about what to eat and drink!

Belgian Beer Café

Catch a European encounter closer to home with a stop at Brisbane’s Belgian Beer Café. Situated in downtown Brisbane on the corner of Mary and Edward Streets, it’s a perfect place for a bevvy with your mates, a business beer or dinner with the family. The beer garden brings together the very best in Belgian beer and Belgian food, with top drops including the smooth and subtle Maredsous 6 Blonde, and the spicy taste of the Bourgogne Brune. For the beer drinkers who prefer a fruity twist, the peche is a sure hit as is the strawberry sensation, framboise. If you’re not keen on a huge meal, Belgian-themed bar snacks are always available, including the grilled chorizo baguette with roasted capsicum.

Lock’n’Load Bistro

Hidden in the heart of the cultured and cool neighbourhood that is West End is the vibrant Lock’n’Load Bistro. Primarily populated by a creative and artsy crowd, Lock’n’Load provides great entertainment a la people-watching. It has a gorgeous courtyard area for patrons to make the most of their beers in the hot Brisbane sun. The bistro food is fabulous, with fare including dark ale-braised beef cheeks, confit duck leg risotto and Cape Grim grass-fed sirloin. The drinks are always flowing, with all of your favourite brews on tap, including Coopers, Little Creatures, Stone & Wood and Tiger. Start with a few brews in the afternoon sun before moving inside to the main bar to check out the evening’s entertainment on the main stage.

The Elephant Arms

One of the Valley’s finest hangouts, the Elephant Arms attracts the coolest of the cool to its timber-lined beer garden. With a huge, 9-metre-long bar boasting all of the best in local and international, beer and wine, it’s a great place to kick back and relax with a bevvie. Your entertainment is covered with a number of awesome acts on show every week, from duos and soloists to live cover bands. And having just changed hands and landing in the capable arms of Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon and his fellow business partners, who together own eight Sydney pubs, this is one venue that will only improve with time.

Jubilee Hotel

Lying in the midst of the chaos and craziness of the nightlife found at Fortitude Valley, the recently refurbished Jubilee Hotel has transformed itself into one of Brisbane’s hottest entertainment venues. A bit of a local institution, the “Jube” was first opened in 1888. You can happily experience a bit of Brisbane history whilst knocking back a Hahn Gold. Home to one of Brisbane’s best beer gardens along an awesome indoor bar, a huge gaming room, a range of function rooms and a great restaurant serving Mexican-themed fare, the Jubilee Hotel caters to all ages and occasions. If you can, try to catch one of the epic Sunday sessions that kick off at around noon — and go on until late in the evening.

Plough Inn Tavern

Bordering the Brisbane River in the middle of Southbank is the Plough Inn Tavern, one of Brissy’s many heritage-listed watering holes. This opened way back in 1885. The beer garden catches the sun all throughout the year, and offers stellar views of Brisbane city and the gorgeous Brisbane skyline. With 11 beers on tap and an awesome selection of craft beers available, this is a spot for the serious beer drinker. If you’re also keen to sample some food while imbibing, a must-try is the house specialty of hickory barbecue pork ribs.

About the Author: Tassie-based Kaitlin Corrs is a food and wine blogger.

Beer, Lifestyle, Vices

beer gardens beer mugs Belgian beer

Drink of the Week: The Will Rogers

October 11, 2013 / Bob Westal

Cowboy comic, movie star, and political commentator Will Rogers was a genuine superstar in his day — think a combination of Jon Stewart and Tom Hanks — but it’s his quotations that really sing to us right now. There’s something about the basic sanity of these little packages of genius that is a little bit extra poignant in a political moment where nothing seems to be on the table other than economic and political suicide.

“I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” I borrow that one a lot, but it seems like the rival party could pick that one up very soon.

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” Remind you of anyone?

And here’s one that’s a bit more relevant to our topic here at Drink of the Week. “Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as Prohibition did, in five years we will have the smartest people on earth.”

And so, for this truly, madly, deeply meshugganeh moment in American politics, I bring you a quite decent cocktail right out of the pages of the Prohibition-era classic, The Savoy Cocktail Book, named after a man who was a little bit better than decent. He was sane. The drink isn’t bad, either.

The Will Rogers

2 ounces gin, preferably Plymouth Gin
1 ounce fresh squeezed orange juice
1 ounce dry vermouth
2 teaspoons orange curacao

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a cocktail glass. Toast comedians, for they are the only reliable source of political wisdom on our small planet.

****

Wikipedia tells us that this Plymouth Gin is featured in exactly 23 cocktail recipes in The Savoy Cocktail Book where, in fact, I first found today’s recipe. Leaving my decades long membership in the cult of the number 23 aside (thank you Robert Anton Wilson and William S. Burroughs) I admit to having been a bit confused by whether Plymouth was a style of gin or a brand of the gin.

Turns out the answer is, “yes.” Ever so slightly less dry and more fruity than the London dry gin most of us know, it’s made in Plymouth, a town about 190 miles from London from whence came our turkey-and-cranberry eating Puritan forebears. While there was once more than one brand of the Plymouth style of gin, today there is only Plymouth Gin; the brand and the style are now synonymous. At 82.5 proof, it’s relatively gentle compared to most premium gins, which are often closer to 90 proof or above, but stronger versions are manufactured. It’ll cost you more than even some very good brands of gin; I shelled out 28 smackers at an outstanding discount emporium out here in glamorous Van Nuys.

I made the Will Rogers using a good London style gin as well as the pricier Plymouth variety, and I have to say that extra expenditure might be worth it for cocktail perfectionists. Using very good, but more reasonably priced Bombay Dry, it was fine, but the Plymouth version had just that extra bit of, er, zazz to it. It’s a technical term for, er, tangy complexity, or something.

On the other hand, whatever you do, stay away from the alternate version of the Will Rogers which I found floating around a number of cocktail sites. That one contains 1.5 ounces of gin, half an ounce of dry vermouth, a mere tablespoon of orange juice, and a dash (let’s say half a teaspoon) of triple sec instead of curacao. Yes, I have met a cocktail I didn’t like.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

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Bullz-Eye tackles Tough Mudder Lake Tahoe Degree DO:MORE Style!

October 10, 2013 / Paul Eide

There is no feeling on earth like sliding into the $125 robe in your room at the Ritz Carlton after spending six hours on the most difficult obstacle course in the world. Wait a minute, did someone say “Carlton”? I thought they did.

This robe is the kind of robe Carlton would’ve rocked when he was on “Silver Spoons” with Ricky Schroeder. God, how I yearned to ride on that sweet in-house train, even just to go get the mail. Imagine me and the robe and the train. We’d run a train on the train; me, Carlton, the robe, Ricky… good times.

Sure, I thought about stealing the robe. Who wouldn’t? But the minute I stepped foot off the premises, the magic would’ve been gone, like when a young Moonlight Graham steps over the foul line in “Field of Dreams” to be irrevocable transformed into Doc, the kindly doctor who removes a piece of hot dog from Kevin Costner’s daughter’s airway to save her life.

Anyway, I left the robe, and about a pound of ball skin, on the mountain that day, and lived to tell the tale.

Keeping it REAL klassy on the mountain…

But you know what I didn’t leave on the mountain that day, friends? Sweat, or a stench of any kind. That’s because Degree had my back, not unlike the way Chuck Norris had Jonathan Brandis’ back in the movie “Sidekicks.”

Degree allows you to DO: MORE with three levels of protection.

Grooming, Humor, Lifestyle, Sports, Stuff to Buy

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