Stay Positive: Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel

As a wine drinker (I'm not a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination.), I like dry wines, especially reds. 

Cabernets, Zinfandels, Pinot Noirs, and other red wines are the varieties I gravitate to. However, I do like a good buttery Chardonnay. 

Probably one of my favorite budget (I'm frugal) red wines has to be Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel. I think the most I've ever paid for a bottle of wine is $15. At my local grocery stores, this bottle is usually $9.99. So it's in my budgetary wheelhouse. 

The winery's website provides the official tasting notes of "aromas of cranberries and raspberries, leading to notes of red fruit, marionberry pie, and baking spices." 

I tend to agree with those notes, especially the "notes of red fruit." The bottle I drank before the one I'm sipping on now was very fruity--lots of plum-like flavor. 

Like I said with my Wild Turkey 101 post, if Bogle wants to sponsor this blog, I'll take payment in booze. 

Stay Positive: Wild Turkey 101

I like bourbon. And I watch a couple of YouTubers who drink bourbon to see what's good and what's not, often in blind tastings. 

The one guy I watch regularly goes on bourbon hunts and buys more expensive  bourbon than I would buy unless I somehow start harvesting money off my imaginary money tree in my back yard. 

If I had to pick a bourbon that is the best, price per ounce, and really a low-cost bourbon (I'm talking under $30 MSRP), it would be Wild Turkey 101. 

Of course, Wild Turkey hits my flavor profile. It's strong, is spicy, and has strong oak char on the finish. 

It's an old-school bourbon. 

And Wild Turkey, if you willing to sponsor my blog, I'll take payment in booze. 

Musing of the Moment: Visiting Ole Miss

At the start of our spring break, Mrs. Nasty, my son, and I planned to go to a baseball game at Ole Miss on Saturday and then a baseball game at Alabama on Sunday. 

With the spring weather, we eventually couldn't see a game at Alabama since inclement weather was imminent on Sunday, so Alabama rolled out a double header on Saturday when we would be watching Ole Miss play Purdue. 

So we hung out in Oxford, Mississippi for a couple of days and saw Ole Miss win a baseball game on an opposite-field, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th. 

Mrs. Nasty graduated with her Master's from Ole Miss over twenty years ago, so it had been a long time since we had been there. 

Of course, as one could expect, the campus and Oxford have changed quite a bit. There are new buildings everywhere. The football stadium is much bigger. There's another student recreation center. The baseball stadium is significantly more posh. 

With the new buildings, they have built within the campus, so the campus felt more cramped than I remember it. Mrs. Nasty felt the same way. 

At least a few things have stayed the same. The square is still vibrant. 

And Ajax Diner is still one of my favorite restaurants of all time. They need to update their main page of their website though. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Kids these days will never experience having to call a number to get the times of movies at theaters. 

Norm MacDonald died of cancer recently, and he was a stand-up comedian I enjoyed thoroughly. His talk show on Netflix, which only had one season, was hilarious. 

Here's a classic Macdonald joke to enjoy. 

Here's his perspective on his funeral. 

When did a change to Mr. Pibb happen? It's no longer Mr. Pibb. It's now Pibb Extra. Why lose the "Mr."? And what's "Extra"? Regardless, I find it far superior to the pop it's trying to beat out, Dr. Pepper. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I dislike the term "foodie." To me, it just seems pretentious. Why not just say you like independent restaurants and bars?

The other day I was browsing watches and explored the Swatch online store. Back in the 80s, I wanted a Swatch watch, but my parents wouldn't buy me one because they were expensive (from what I remember). 

Now I've informed Mrs. Nasty about the Swatch watch I want for a special occasion. 

I'm not much for accessories. I only wear a wedding ring. But I feel naked when I'm not wearing a watch. 

Rush Limbaugh died. I have no sorrow about this. He was a menace to democracy and a spreader of hate, lies, propaganda, and misinformation. I see the hashtag #restinhell is trending on Twitter. You reap what you sow. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I was in the liquor aisle the other day, and on a whim I decided to buy some single malt Scotch, in particular Glenlivet. 

That was a mistake. It's not that's it's bad, but I just prefer bourbon. I should have spent that kind of money on Eagle Rare, Evan Williams Single Barrel, Four Roses Single Barrel, or some other kind of high-dollar, excellent bourbon like 1792. 

With the cursory research I've done on single malt Scotches, if I'm going to shell out some money for that kind of juice, from the description of them, I should invest my booze dollars on Scotches from the Isle of Isley, specifically Lagavulin and Laphroaig. I like whiskey with a lot of character ~ lots of oak or lots of peat. Isley whiskies sound like the type of Scotch that I might prefer. That and Johnnie Walker Black. The smokier the better. 

Which gets me to the idea that I should get a smoker. But now I'm on to food. 

A few days ago I patched together a soup/stew from some ingredients I need to use before they got too far along. I had a half head of cabbage and some cauliflower, so I cut up the cabbage and cauliflower, dumped in some chicken and beef stock, and added a pound of smoked kielbasa. Add in freshly cracked black pepper, granulated garlic, and some bouquet garni, and it's a decent dinner for this here crank. 

Moscow Don's impeachment is an exercise for the GOP putting party over country. What a murder of clowns. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I have a hypothesis that coffee tastes better out of certain mugs than others. For example, I have a small coffee mug with a dish underneath that I've been using lately, and the coffee seems to taste better than other larger mugs. I wonder if there's any scientific evidence to back up my hypothesis? 

When you think about it, certain brewers recommend certain types of glassware for their beers. Sam Adams Boston Lager and Stella Artois come to mind with their specially made glasses. 

Then, of course, there's the Glencairn glass that serious whiskey drinkers use. 

But getting back to coffee, I need to get back to grinding my own each morning. It just tastes better. 

Random Notes from a Crank

For whatever reason, when the holidays come around, I get a thirst for ginger ale. So I bought some. I don't know why I mentally connect ginger ale with Xmas. Maybe because of gingerbread? 

This propensity reminds me of one of my posts from a good while back about people drinking tomato juice on airplanes: "Airplanes and Tomato Juice." 

Today Mrs. Nasty made some lil' smokies for her office's food day, and she used Heinz chili sauce to create the sauce the smokies were immersed in. Buying that stuff made me realize I've never used chili sauce before, which makes me think about some of kind of dips I could make with it and cream cheese. Stay posted...

One of my students, an international student from South Korea, gave me a gift at the end of the semester. It's a pretty awesome leather key chain that has my name on it in English and Korean. I need to teach more international students. 

I wonder what my dog thinks when I stop to pick up his crap after he's dropped a deuce on one of our walks. He's gotta be questioning me, "Dude, why are you picking up my scat? That's weird." 

People can make and enforce laws about dog crap, but we can't take action on real issues like global warming, gerrymandering, campaign finance reform, and growing US businesses. 

Ridiculous.

Stay Positive: Road Trip Food

What people eat when they're on a road trip tells something about their character, style, and taste. 

For me, I have staples that I eat when I grab something from a gas station. Junk food might give people a perspective on others' troubled souls.

Here are my regular choices:

Jack Link's Peppered Beef "Steak"

Andy Capp's Hot Fries or Cheddar Fries

Snapple, Peach flavor if available 

Royal Crown cola 

My So-Called Thoughts
I'm a fan of peppered beef. That stuff is just delicious. I don't think cooks use pepper enough in their dishes. 

While the Andy Capp comic is sketchy at times (a strip that portrays an alcoholic ne'er-do-well), I love that dude's "fries." 

Snapple is just damn good tea. 

When the cola wars were happening back in the 80s, I was voting third party. I don't usually drink pop much anymore, but when I do, I choose RC. 

If you're intrigued by RC, check out "The Tragic History of RC Cola" on Mental Floss. 

If you're so inclined, I'd like to read about your staples for road trip food in the comments. 

Random Notes from a Crank

As many of you might know or have gathered if you've read this blog for a while, I tend to have pessimistic attitudes about politics, the "democratic" process, voters, the 24-hour cable news networks, FoxNews, and the intelligence of the average American. "The Dumbed Down Democracy" by Timothy Egan represents my feelings to a degree. 

Too often people think being a teacher is easy. Wrong. Read "7 Thing I Wish People Understood about Being a Teacher" for a reality check. 

The short interview with Garry Trudeau could be worth your time: "Doonesbury Cartooonist Garry Trudeau: 'If Trump wins, I'll miss civilization as we know it.'"

Check out this article from Slate from 2012: "Chaos Theory: A Unified Theory of Muppets." I'm an Order Muppet. And I think Oscar, my favorite Sesame Street character, is one too. 

In the "Ask Umbra" feature of Grist, a reader asks about the eco-responsbility of certain kinds of liquor: "What Kind of Liquor Is Best for the Environment?" I had no idea Four Roses used non-GMO grains, and my favorite, bourbon, looks like an eco-winner relatively speaking.