Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 5:15 PM

[About 4:15, New Orleans time]

Staking out the hotel computer in preparation for online checkin (only 24 hours left!?). Ian's saving me a seat in the 4:30 panel (Making Your Own Cocktail Ingredients)

Forgot to mention one other difference between Tales of the Cocktail and tech conferences.

At tech conferences, the chairs closest to the outlets are in the highest demand, because most attendees have laptops they want to keep charged. Science-fiction conventions also seem to be trending this way.

Not so at TOTC, where they encourage people to sit in the front rows by serving 'em alcohol.

While I've got a few minutes to blog, one last matter I've been meaning to share.

As much as I've wanted to dye my hair some unnatural shade (ever since my Blue Period in 2002), concern over management's reaction has stayed my hand.

I minked my hair last weekend.

All day Monday and Tuesday I was in the office, attending meetings with coworkers from all over.

Not one single comment.

I guess I shouldn't've worried.

Twenty minutes until check-in time...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:05 AM

[9 am New Orleans time]

Before the industrial revolution, when caffiene (in the form of coffee and tea) became the drug of choice, people predominantly drank alcoholic beverages: morning, noon, and night.

They must've lived their lives in a perpetual mild buzz.

And this week, I'm learning what that's like.

Tales of the Cocktail is a professional conference for mixologists, bartenders and cocktail geeks.

Imagine a conference where everyone gets two or three or four cocktails during every panel. It's a practice I'd like to see spread to the tech industry, because it certainly makes things much more palatable, and my notes don't seem terribly impaired for the experience...

The schwag is also better than library or tech conferences -- in terms of quantity and quality.

For one thing, each panel is sponsored, and usually by a liquor company. They want to get their logo out there, and do so by providing tools which will actually get use. We have several shakers, glassware, muddlers, a tip-jar clock, t-shirts, and gd only knows whatnot.

We flew down here entirely with carry-on, but we'll have to check baggage on our way back. Not only are we returning with far more than we arrived with, but eight nip bottles, plus three bottles of bitters, probably exceeds the TSA allotment of liquids. [And we're talking nip bottles of such liqueurs as Saint Germain, Chartreuese, Hendricks, and Domaine de Canton.]

Like all best cons and conferences, there are too many good things going on at once. Do I want to learn about absinthes or rums or whiskies or shochu? Because they're all happening at the same time...

I could go on (and probably will, later) but I've got to grab breakfast before our first panels. [And this is New Orleans, where there's no excuse for having a bad meal.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:27 AM

We have made it to New Orleans; Ian's corkscrew didn't.

Although corkscrews are permitted by the TSA, the foil-cutter attachment isn't.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:56 AM

Well, whaddaya know:

According to the TSA's, corkscrews are permitted as carry-on items: HTML and PDF

I know the blogosphere is filled with examples of the TSA ignoring its own rules, but Ian has enough extra corkscrews that I think we can spare one. I also intend to bring along the printouts above in case we're questioned.

I'll let you know what happens...

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:05 AM

Been noticing a couple hits from the official Tales of the Cocktail weblog.

Glad to see the course schedule I worked up is proving helpful to others.

The entry in question, posted by Cocktail Nerd (Gabriel Szaszko) is an interview with DrinkBoy (Robert Hess) about his plans for the Bartending Techniques 101 and Barware session:

The focus of this session will be on providing an overview of a variety of bar tools, their history, and their proper use by both home and professional bartenders. David Wondrich and myself have a keen interest in the historical aspects of cocktails and bartending, we plan on using history as the foundation for this presentation. We plan on showing a variety of historical barware, and discuss the evolution as well as the usage of these items as they have changed over the years. We will of course provide some details on the proper techniques for using various tools.

If folks wish to geek out over historical barware, here are two articles that might pique your interest, from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

Mixing Drinks: The Thousand and One Things Needed to Carry on the Saloon Business in Style, June 14, 1886:

Glasses Needed by a Gotham Bar, November 2, 1887:

A veteran saloon-keeper, who has retired from business within the past ten years, and is now living in ease in this city, rich in experience as well as in guilders, talked to a Wisconsin reporter to-day. "People are apt to underestimate the expense of fitting out a first-class saloon," said the disciple of Jerry Thomas, "they have got the idea that all a saloon-keeper has to have is a few dollars in change, a few odd bottles of liquor distinguished by labels, a case of bottled beer, a few whisky glasses and schooners and a corkscrew. Just for your amusement and instruction I will detail the interior outfit necessary for a saloon. Full text available in scanned image

"There are few people," said the bartender of a well known uptown bar to a reporter the other day, "who have any idea of the number or kind of glasses which we are required to keep behind a first-class bar...." Apart from a number of imported glasses and decanters, these were shown to the reporter, the necessary supply having cost over $750 Full text available in scanned image

I'll confess, I find myself amused by the first article's recommendations:

Pieces of bric-a-brac, statues, pictures, mirrors and medallions give the saloon an elegant appearance, and a variety of fancy glassware, used in decorating the shelves, gives a good effect.

I can't help thinking of the Simpsons episode in which Moe tries to make his tavern family friendly:

"If you like good food, good fun, and a whole lot of crazy crap on the walls, then come on down to Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag!"

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:55 PM

One of my greatest concerns over Tales of the Cocktail is that I have a fairly low alcohol tolerance.

Many of the panels involve tastings, and I don't want to make myself sick.

The obvious steps are sticking to small portions, and bringing along snack foods and bottled water, so I'm not sipping on an empty stomach.

Anybody have better advice on how I might drink a bit more without getting drunk?

Thanks!

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:40 AM

For all you fans of Broadway shows, have you heard about Evil Dead: The Musical?

Their posters certainly sound a familiar note:

The official website includes video clips, and you can hear some of the songs on their MySpace page.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:01 AM

I will phone you at a more reasonable hour...