Its good to be FOM!

I belong to a group called the Fraternal Order of Moai, you might have heard of us....

We do this thing every year where we all get together, hang out, have some fun, drink a little, have some more fun, its great and I highly recommend it!

Anyway.... last year we got together on a little bigger scale than usual and turned it into a right proper event with ticket sales and web pages and the works! And we did it in Lake George at the Tiki Resort. This place was amazing, it really is like the Land That Time Forgot. Our event was named Ohana, Luau at the Lake, and part of the proceeds from the event were set aside for charity. We managed, with our small group, to raise $3,000 for the Easter Island Foundation, which is really saying something considering there were only about 300 people in attendance. Check out the link at the top of this post to read a bit more.

Long story short (too late!), its good to be FOM. Good friends, good drinks, and now with good deeds!

Check out all the related bits of internet linkage:

FOM is at http://fraternalorderofmoai.org

Ohana, Luau at the Lake is at http://www.luauatthelake.com/

And the Easter Island Foundation (whose website is not working at the moment) is at http://www.islandheritage.org/

Happy New Year!

Y2K Ready
Originally uploaded by Mil

Happy New Year!

I still haven't quite figured out why turning the calendar page on this day is any more exciting than any other..... I do appreciate the excuse to throw/attend a party!

Thanks to the internets I found this interesting picture from someone named Mil and is a great reminder of how the last decade got started. Remember how everyone was waiting for something to happen, and then it didn't. I want to go on record now and say that in about two more years it will be the same kind of thing.

Enough drunken ranting.... Happy New Year! Peace, Love, and Understanding to you and yours.

Military Grade Rum

 

I love Christmas Time. I love Rum. This seems like it would make gift giving very easy.... it does!

My mother-in-law got me one of the coolest rums I have ever seen! Military Grade Rum!

I'll report back soon and let you nkow how it tastes.

In Ur Photoz....

ftt 003
Originally uploaded by chipandandy

This is Inigo, the newest addition to the Ealoli household.

And in this particular shot Inigo is charging her super powers for a Mega-Death-Blast from her Lazer-Eyes.... Pew-pew-pew!

She is the most Dog dog I have ever known. She fears the pool, but loves the hose. Fetching ball for two hours is just a warm up, and there is absolutely NO chance of a pirate successfully burying their treasure in our yard because she will dig it up faster than you say "Hello! My Name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"

Ohana 2010

Its On!

Ohana 2010!



Andy and I had such a blast last Fall at the Tiki Resort, I wish we would have taken more pictures. We have the memories which is better anyway!

The website isn't updated yet, but the dates for 2010 have been announced..... June 25th and 26th with some extra little bits before and after.

We'll see you there!

Wow! So that's what that sounds like....

OK, you don't realize how much you can't hear until you can hear it again!

I got hearing aids today and I have to get used to everything again. Typing this sounds like those keyboards in the movies that go klakity-klak when you type.

More on this subject as I adjust to a new world again.

Blue Zombie's?

The Beachbum found a real deal on some Zombie Mix but wonders why Blue? I have to agree, why not green, or even red?

Many of you will look at that and your immediate reaction will be one of eye-rolling or shoulder-shrugging. You will react at first very negatively because of any of a number of things, the Blueness, the Barcardi name, the price on the shelf, something about it will immediately put you on edge.

Here's the rub, you will most likely be reacting to the wrong part of the idea..... the Fail of that product is not immediately visible because the Fail part is the 'general public.' The Fail is the fact that someone is trying to turn drinks into a commodity. 'They' are trying to turn what was once the highest public art into the lowest common denominator and squeeze out every possible bit of profit and gain from it.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the Beachbum's link above. Or this one talking about a prepackaged "Premium Vodka" flavored Martini. (personal note, they don't even bother to capitalize Martini as the proper name that it is.) And there are countless more on the shelfs of your local suppliers just sitting there trying to get in the gullet of some early drinker (I mean experience, not age).

These kind of prepackaged, premixed, pre-made or any other verb you can add a Pre too, are slowly eating away at the art of the cocktail. We can't stop them so this is not a call to arms. What we can do is keep making the best cocktails we can. We can keep blogging about good recipes and show up the bad products as the Fail that they are when it comes to cocktails. We can go down fighting!

And, now that I have myself all worked up, I am going to go and make a cocktail out of my morning coffee. This should be a fun day!

Hello. My Name is Inigo Montoya....

Inigo Montoya
Originally uploaded by chipandandy

Yes, that Inigo Montoya..... from Rob Reiners Princess Bride.

Inigo is the newest addition to our household. She is about a year old and just came home from the pound today. They said she is mostly Rat Terrier but suggest some beagle because of her tricolor coat. Her ears, on the other hand, look like she should be able to fly.

The cat is pissed, but should get over it quickly because so far Inigo has shown no interest except the usual puppy-like "what is that?"

Mr. Moai Mourns Mouthlessness

Mr. Moai mourns mouthlessness
Originally uploaded by Tedtiki.Patty

Note to self..... when designing props for events, include mouth holes at least large enough for straws.

Thanks to Patty and Ted for the wonderful shot from the Home Tour!

Home Bar Tour....

glhbt09
Originally uploaded by Johnny Dollar

Some of you are just coming out of the rum-induced mental fog of the weekend, the rest of you will just have to read long and nod like your in on the joke....

Last weekend was the Hukilau and a whole bunch of people came around for the event. Specifically a huge group of my FOM Fellows were in town for said Hukilau and the Local Lodge decided to host a Home Bar Tour. Hire a bus, drive around to three different host homes, serve some food, some drinks, and generally have a blast!

I will share this with you..... Hire a Bus! There is nothing better for this kind of party! Well, any kind of party. I think we are going to hire a bus for all of our parties from now on. It is fantastic! The bus arrives, the party is on and everyone is laughing and eating and drinking and having a good time. Then the bus returns and the party moves on. You aren't stuck with that one couple that insists on staying until the food or drink are gone while telling you awkward stories about the last key-party they attended.

And, as if you needed proof of this idea.... Check out the pix from this year and last.

And thanks to Johhny Dollar for a great shot of Mr Lobster Pants shilling his Professor Lipskirrel Healing Tonic!

Working at the Mai Kai.....

Andy in the Mai Kai Bar
Originally uploaded by chipandandy

The Eighth Annual Hukilau was this past weekend, a three day event that culminates in a big party at the Mai-Kai Restaurant in Ft Lauderdale. This years events included a seminar entitled "A Mai Tai Paternity Test" by Beachbum Berry.

Said event was at the Mai-Kai on Friday afternoon, treating the guests to not only an informative show from the Bum but a very welcome respite from the afternoon heat.

Since the show was in the afternoon, well before the Mai-Kai normally opens, there was a question of staffing the bar to make the two specific cocktails the Bum was presenting. Since we consider the Bum to be one of our friends (he may not consider us the same after our 'special presentation at the end) we volunteered to help out.

As you can see from the huge smile on Andy's face, the ability to simultaneously help out the Bum AND work in the most magical of magical places for a pair of Rummys like ourselves will be one of the stories we tell your grand kids when we get old(er).

If you missed the Hukilau, you'll just have to live vicariously through pictures until next year. Until then.......

Beachbum Berry's Mai Tai One On....


Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Dinner Show
3599 Federal Highway
Ft Laduerdale, Florida
www.maikai.com

Hukilau Polynesian Festival
http://www.thehukilau.com/2009/

I know that many consider the cocktail umbrella as the Kiss-of-Death to most cocktails. I do too, at least when I am out at a bar.....

But, after much testing and thinking (and drinking!), I want to stand up for the lowly little bits of paper on a stick!

Dismiss the Cocktail Umbrella No More! (insert evil laughter and menacing sound effects here!)

Why, you ask? Simple! Most Tiki drinks are rum based. Rum is an aromatic liquor, and usually come in a reasonably high proof. As a reasonably high proof liquor, it has a tendency to evaporate. That process is what makes 151 flammable.

So what, you are saying as you contemplate the flammability of the average cocktail umbrella......

Let us examine the lowly cocktail umbrella from a different perspective.... Join me in my lab......


(thank you http://www.wellfed.net for the picture)

First, from the perspective of a drink. An 'internal' perspective..... We have established that Rum, and most high proof liquor, is basically a volatile substance. Since that volatility is usually why we are imbibing the stuff anyway, why would you want to let any of it escape? The lowly little cocktail umbrella works as a shield, or cap if you will, to keep the interesting bits in the cocktail. And, what happens when you drink from the cocktail protected by our cocktail umbrella? You tilt it to the side allowing all of the goodness trapped underneath to rise up into your waiting nostrils. Nothing wasted!

From an external perspective (the weaker case for the umbrella).... Spring has sprung and many of you are moving your cocktails to the outside of your homes to enjoy the increasingly fine weather. I myself have already had a couple of weeks of sitting by the pool enjoying a cocktail or three. And, here in south Florida our sun is pretty intense even in the spring. All of the solar energy is wonderful for the pool, but hard on the ice in my cocktail. Just as I sit under my umbrella, my cocktail is sitting under its umbrella. OK, this is a pretty lame excuse for the cocktail umbrella........

Tease the Cocktail Umbrella No More! Dress your cocktails without fear or shame! Never snicker or make snide comments again about the little blue umbrella in your drink. It is there to help! To help you have the best damn cocktail alcohol can provide!

And Yes, this is a drunken post. And, as soon as I send this I am going back to the bar, I mean Lab! Lab! Thats it, my LAB.... to finish my research!

And, for those of you wishing more conversation on this subject, my limited research found this.... this...... and this.....