My commissioned Derby cocktails in the news

I had the wonderful privelege of creating two cocktails for the owners of 2009 Kentucky Derby entry Friesan Fire. Here's some media coverage of the commissions.

clipped from aceweekly.blogspot.com Derby favorite Friesan Fire's commissioned cocktail By Kakie Urch The newest trend for the ultra folks is a commissioned cocktail. So, the Lexington-based owners of the Derby horse that starts this morning as the favorite, Friesan Fire, commissioned mixologist and "Trivial Thursdays" host Mick Jeffries to create two distinct cocktails for their A.P. Indy-sired entry. Friesan Fire is owned by Vinery, the farm of Dr. Tom Simon of Lexington and Mallorca, Spain and Fox Hill Farms' Richard Porter, Hobe Sound, Fla.

The Friesan Flower by Mick Jeffries

The Friesan Flower by Mick Jeffries
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

The Friesan Flower
• ½ oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 3 oz. Bollinger Champagne
• 1 tsp. Créme de Violette Austrian Violet Liqueur
• 1 red tea rose with a 5” stem

One of two cocktails created by me on commission for the owners of 2009 Kentucky Derby horse Friesan Fire.

Moveable Feast Groundbreaking

Moveable Feast Groundbreaking
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Congratulations to Moveable Feast, who broke ground on their new home in downtown Lexington, Ky.

The whole set is here.

Rakadu Gypsy, The Mezmer Society and Pezhed at Al's Bar

Rakadu Gypsy, The Mezmer Society and Pezhed at Al's Bar
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

August, of The Mezmer Society

Rakadu Gypsy, The Mezmer Society and Pezhed at Al's Bar
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Another great night photographing my wonderful, talented dancer and musician friends. Thank you, all!!

The full set is here!

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote

portraiture

A portrait that I did for local publication Southsider.

clipped from www.smileypete.com IN THE KITCHEN WITH Jeff Mayer and Rob Perez Saul Good Pub and Restaurant Saul Good's executive chef Jeff Mayer (left) and proprietor Rob Perez. photo by: Mick Jeffries.

Bitters: To Make or not to Make?

clipped from www.chow.com Bitters are potions that, with just a few drops, add backbone to a cocktail: The Sazerac wouldn’t be what it is without them. The best-known commercial bitters are practically household names: Peychaud’s, angostura, Regans’. Most were created during the golden age of the cocktail, at the turn of the 20th century, so it was high time for CHOW to try our hand at some. (We’ve also thrown in a couple of wild-card mixes for good measure.) But because the makers of the commercial varieties have kept their recipes under lock and key for over a century, and because they use such varied, hard-to-find ingredients—uncommon barks and dried berries among them—we can’t claim to have re-created them faithfully. Instead, consider these our own riffs. And rest assured they’ve been road-tested in a cocktail or two.

Rakadu at Natasha's

TT
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Here's some new photos from Rakadu Gypsy Dance's recent show at Natasha's.. I tried to be a little more introspective with these photos, resisting to some extent the urge to drink in the wonderful dancing, photographically. There's so much happening on a somewhat more close-up level that I challenged myself to step outside the norm a bit (and will continue to do so).

The whole set is here.

Thanks to Rakadu for always happily accepting my looming camera presence.

http://www.meccadance.com
http://www.beetnik.com

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

This guy really really hits it on the head, and he's also funny. If you're having a bad day, watch this and hit "reset."

Album art in a shrinking world

Such a great thing to ponder for graphic designers.

clipped from www.wired.com Design Artwork for a Shrinking Album Cover Music is an aural art form. But the packaging for the recordings—the album cover—has a distinct aesthetic, one that has evolved along with distribution technologies and formats.

photo.jpg

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

Giant Pink Squirrel

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

A new bottle of Creme de Noyeux led me to an unfortunate yet delicious discovery: The Pink Squirrel. Strawberry Quik, anybody? Nothing should taste this good.

Lexington to Hollywood

I recently re-established contact with Bradley Picklesimer, a Kentucky native living in Los Angeles to whom Lexington's nightlife and culture owe an enormous debt for his gender-bending 80's night clubs Club Au Go Go and Cafe LMNOP.

Reflecting on the wonderful time that I spent with him in LA, I stumbled across this MSNBC piece.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Oscar party planner Bradley Harrison Picklesimer holds a foam board containing 140 Swarovski crystals. The objects will be placed inside flower arrangements which will adorn the tables of the Elton John Oscar night party Feb. 27. So many Oscar parties, so little time

Mel Muir tiles

Don't you need some funky fresh tile art? I think you do.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9722605

clipped from www.etsy.com 8x8 grass green islands

Micksology

Micksology
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Amazing concoction from vincinzo at cola d'oro in Santa monica. Gin,
peycheux bitters, galleano, and cynar (which is some Italian bitter
that I don't really understand)

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

Case study #8

Case study #8
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Hi friends and family: I've slightly unexpectedly found myself on a pilgrimage to the home and studio of my unparalleled heroes Charles & Ray Eames. It is quiet and beautiful here in Pacific Palisades, CA.

And I would have to add: deeply moving.

There's nothing -- really, nothing -- that compares to their body of work or how they seem to me
to represent the very best spirit of America, the power of good design, and the allure of creative partnership. Right now I'm the only guest here (by appointment), so for a little while longer, I get to share the place with Charles and Ray.

Wilshire blvd near weinsteins etc

Wilshire blvd near weinsteins etc
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

City of lights

City of lights
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

LUPEC!

Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails - Boston

These ladies can dismantle the patriarchy all they want.

I'll be at the bar sipping their fantastic cocktails. I had a great experience recently in Boston in the care of LUPEC's Misty (here's an interview from the wonderful drinkboston blog), one of the amazing 'keeps behind the swizzle at DRINK.

Mick's Cocktail Blog Searchologist!

I finally got around to building a Cocktail Blog Search in Google Gadgets. It's ultra-helpful for me because it references only the expert mixologists that I want it to, and not the entireity of mixed-drink stupidity that exists on the Web.

You can search for ingredients or drinks by name or whatever; Feel free to use it yourself for amazing cocktail search results!

Black lite hula!

Black lite hula!
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

Um hilarious

Um hilarious
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

I don't know the story ok this but funny funny on the inside!

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

Gutenberg Bible

Gutenberg Bible
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Nerdin out at Harvard's Widener library. In the doorway behind me: a
priceless 13th century treasure of mechanical printing sits in state
and generally unnoticed.

Mighty Putty Dub!

Your internet time-waster of the day?-- dubbed info-mercials. Pretty. Funny.

2009 Ice Storm passes…

2009 Ice Storm passes…
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

The Ice Storm is slowly releasing Lexington. Here's a few more pix from today and "the melt" that is underway. Damage notwithstanding, it's quite beautiful to my camera.

The entire set of my 2009 Ice Storm pictures are here.

..

Coffee Break.

I want to express a simple and recurring peeve —

What is the deal with these stupid "java jackets?" You-know-who (I'm not going to add to their publicity by including their name) started this trend, and now every java juke joint in North America uses them — and millions of Americans (who have to pretend that they invented coffee and drink it better and more ecstatically than anybody else in the world) use and toss them every day.

To me they seem like a spectacular waste and basically insta-trash. Just for the record, I hate these things.

America! Wake up and smell the coffee! And bring your own fucking travel-mug if you love it that much.

Or— $4 cup-of-coffee industry: Come up with some other ingenious way not to overly warm (because "burn" would be a little bit of an overstatement, let's face it) people's poor little fingers.

Signed,

Angry Coffee Man

Curly willow bummin

Curly willow bummin
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

iphone photo of our curly willow in the back yard.. only time will tell how it weathers this ice storm, but it ain't looing good..

Lexington Ice Storm 01/28/2009

Lexington Ice Storm 01/28/2009
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

We've had a pretty epic Ice Storm come through the Bluegrass.

Last night was dominated by the eery sound of branches cracking and falling and in some cases, power transformers exploding. Majesty mixed with mayhem.

Here's the entire set of my shots from this morning.

Back yard snappage

Back yard snappage
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Medium snappage from the tree that busted pretty bad a few years ago

Curly willow bummin

Curly willow bummin
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Our back yard curly willow is taking a beating in this ice storm

Libeskind in Covington

Libeskind in Covington
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Daniel Libeskind's fabulous building in Covington, KY. Meanwhile, an
hour south, Lexington suffers at the hands of the Webb brothers. (sigh)

Libeskind's Covington wonder

Libeskind's Covington wonder
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

The architecture nerd in me is so proud for Kentucky to have a
building by Daniel Libeskind.

Webb Brothers: take
a hint. Please.

Shitake project: we are a go

Shitake project: we are a go
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

The shitake blockie is looking more and more capable of
extraterrestrial evil. But supposedly it's really just going to
produce delicious mushrooms. Soon!

Kentucky theater 12:34 jan 20

Kentucky theater 12:34 jan 20
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com

Glendale KY: truck land

Glenview KY: truck land
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

The iron skillet just off I-65 has got a rincipal clientele: truckers.
There's even a truckers-only seating section. Now if I could only
figure out what the deep-fried nuggets I got off the buffet were. A
qualtity joint nonetheless.

The New Orleans Thanksgiving surpise

The New Orleans Thanksgiving surpise
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

Lucy and I decided to eschew Thanksgiving tradition, due to fraying plans and just make a little twosome journey to New Orleans for TG 2008. How surprised were we when, upon arriving at our hotel, we were ambushed by my parents and brother? It was much fun and one of the most genuine surprises I can remember.

Kaydence - The Excited Dance

Kaydence - The Excited Dance
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

My granddaughter in a particularly hilarious xmas moment.

Mushroom factory

Mushroom factory
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

My shiitaki mushroom kit from fungi.com (thanks satlofs) has
officially been activated. The bag is for humidity, the kabob sticks
are to support the bag. The brain-like block is from another planet.
God only knows now.

Chris and Me and Billy Carter

I'm going to tell the story of my favorite picture in the world.

This is me and my brother, Chris, and Billy Carter, at his Plains, GA, gas station during the presidency of his brother, Jimmy Carter. The time was, therefore, the late '70s. I'm guessing the early months of 1979.

How we got here: Our family — my mom and dad and Chris and I — were probably going to Disney World. Which we did a good number of times in my childhood. In fact, when reflecting upon our childhood, Chris — who's 3 years younger than me — has been known to say: "Didn't we go to Disney World, like, every week?" We didn't, but we did go quite a few times.

I'm guessing that's where we were headed and Plains, GA — the hometown of our peanut farmer President — was more or less on the way.

Why we wanted to do this, though is one of my favorite oddities of this recollection – owing to the fact that my parents were pretty die-hard Republicans and I can't imagine that they were particularly fond of President Carter, who took back the White House for the Democrats in the wake of Watergate and the momentary disgrace of the GOP.

And yet, we drove somewhat out of our way through Plains, GA, with a special stop at the gas station run by the Leader of The Free World's brother, and instant accidental celebrity by siblingship, Billy Carter. Billy's gas station, I can only imagine, had become increasingly mobbed by all manner of visitors due to his presidential brother. And you can imagine some of the challenges that this must have created in terms of security, image, etc.

So we, like untold thousands of other Americans were making this odd pilgrimage to Plains, albeit likely as a humorous stop to break up a major road trip.

Here's what I remember: We pulled into this very rural, dusty "mom-and-pop" gas station. This wasn't Citgo or Shell or any kind of chain, at least not in the sanitized, brightly-lit modern sense. This was practically a house with some pumps out front. Out front was a large piece of poster board, taped up between the 2 pumps proclaiming: BILLY IS NOT HERE. There was a bit of implied aggravation in the hand-written sign, the bother of calm country folk who were about sick to death of carload after carload of rubberneckers pulling up to gawk at the Presidential Brother.

And who could blame them? If President Carter was smirked at as a thick-accented Georgia hick peanut farmer, the tendency was magnitudes greater for his easy-going gas station-running brother. And we were right there — among the curious.

So the sign was something of a disappointment.

While I seriously doubt that my brother and I, ages 9 & 12, cared about visiting The Gas Station Brother, I imagine that my dad had talked it up and built some buzz. So the "Billy is not here" sign was a mild downer. Nonetheless, we pulled 'er up, and filled 'er up, and when it came time to pay, I think that I accompanied my dad into this shabby, dusty old farm gas station. I think Chris and Mom stayed in the camper.

The interior, I remember just vaguely — mostly probably informed by the photo above. It was dirty, that farm kind of dirty where there's an unapologetic gilding of dust — so much dust in fact that it's more accurately called dirt — on everything. There were mangy couches and beat-up chairs. This was a place that farmers no doubt gathered every morning to chew the fat. And there were just a few fellas hanging out here, one of whom was — omg — Billy Carter. Those in attendence lolled around as if they'd been there since the dawn of time, and I quickly realized that the "Billy is not here" sign was just a half-assed attempt to shunt off the least gregarious of the gawker pilgrims. Probably it worked. Or maybe Billy really wasn't usually there — but I doubt it. Billy Carter, gas station operator, daytime beer drinker (he would years later enter recovery for alcoholism), brother of the leader of the free world — looked to me like he spent the vast majority of his time right there, in what might for lack of a better term be called the living room of his gas station.

I won't say I was dazzled, but it was still cool. He was famous. I'd seen him on TV. And that counted for something. Being from a small Kentucky town, we didn't see too many famous people up close, but celebrity did hold some allure for me. On a previous trip, our parents had once pressed Chris and I to approach Phyllis Diller in lobby of a Toronto hotel and ask for her autograph. She had her assistant give us a pre-signed glossy, and I'll tell you, even for an 11-year-old that's a WTF moment. And according to family legend, I once sat on Pee Wee Reese's lap, but not only do I not remember, but I've never known who Pee Wee Reece was , at least not in a meaningful personal way (a lifelong inability to appreciate sports persists in me).

Anyway, Billy was "in" so somebody went out to get Chris. I can't remember if Mom came in. A guy with a big camera kind of emerged from the corner and asked if we'd like to have our picture taken with Billy. He was, as best I can tell, an Associated Press photographer. Why was he there? Over the years, I've theorized this:

From a news standpoint, it's likely that the AP could have assigned a "stringer" to Billy, just in case "something happened." Something funny, something folksy, whatever. This photographer — Michael Crawford was the name I recently found stamped on the back of the photo (though I haven't succeeded in finding Mr. Crawford on the Internet) — amiably shot this portrait of me and my brother and Billy Carter, and then took down my family's address and later mailed us a glossy 8 x 10. I don't know if he charged us or not. It seems like he would have but I never heard any talk of money. Maybe dad slipped him a $20. That would seem like my dad's style. In fact, it's possible that Dad orchestrated the entire photo op, though that had never occured to me until just now.

This brings us to the heirloom itself.

For years before my parents divorced and maybe even afterward, it sat in a cheap frame on our bookshelf. I never gave it too much thought but it was omnipresent.

Chris looks goofy in it and there are conflicting accounts of why: He says that Billy was "touching him" and that contact with this celebrity stranger caused his silly expression. I contend that my brother was in the early stages of developing an advanced irreverance, informed by too much late-night Monty Python. I think that Chris knew that Billy was somebody, because dad said he was — but that he didn't really care that much and was yucking it up for the camera out of a kind of mild benevolent spite.

Then there's me: I would describe my attitude as one of dutiful wonder. I was being about as amazed as I thought I should be at an event that I might otherwise have had no opinion of. In other words: My dad said it was a big deal, so I assumed that to be true. (but privately didn't care too much … or think that my dad did, either)

As the years have marched on, there are several interesting aspects of this photo that never lose their appeal. Here are a few:

• Billy is wearing an ABC Television jacket. Looks like what could have been an early all-weather Gor-Tex one, not cheap. One might guess that Billy was the recipient of all sorts of network TV swag, just by proximity. It's also humorous to think that it's possible that Billy requested things like this: "Hey buddy — that sure is a nice-lookin' coat. Can you get me one of them?" Who knows?
• Yes, Billy is, in fact, drinking a beer. And it's his business, in a variety of connotations, no doubt. It's a Pabst Blue Ribbon, and the casual manner of his holding that PBR is so charming to me; Billy clearly had a beer anytime he wanted to. In fact, in later years, Billy tried to play on his fleeting celebrity by marketing Billy Beer. Billy Beer was mildly funny, but I like this PBR version of Billy. He's more authentic.
• The man on the TV is a lifelong mystery. The photographer was shooting with professional gear, probably a Nikon F1. As a kid, I'd tried a few times to take pictures of a TV screen, but it never worked too well with a Polaroid. That the image came out so clearly in this photo has always held an allure for me. Who is that guy?? For years I pretended that it was David Frost, but I don't think it is. Remember, this is way before CNN.
  
• My nylon shirt (earthtones, I think) and Chris' plaid pants are both a-mazing. Thanks Mom, for the fashion sense. I can almost forgive you for making me wear knickers when I was younger.

Finally, how I got the photo: A number of years ago, Mom started dispersing family furniture and asking my brother and I if we would like this piece or that piece. During this time, I noticed on a visit to Chris' home that he had the Billy Carter picture.

I threw a fit.

I raged and railed that this was among the most treasured of our family heirlooms and that Chris should get it without me being even consulted was beyond insult. Over-contending this, to me, was an uproariously funny thing to do. ("Look at 'im!! He doesn't even CARE!! I'm the one being RESPECTFUL!!")

And some months later, for my birthday, I think, I received the picture — in its original cheap frame — for my birthday. Thanks, Chris.

It remains my favorite family heirloom.

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