Lounge Cocktail: Bourbon
Cocktail Psychology by Bryan Knox

Ingredients:
• Bourbon
• Ice cubes (optional)

Drink Bourbon. It is the aspirin of the south. Your feet hurt, have some Bourbon. Bit of a headache, have some Bourbon. Stress, Bourbon. Family event, Bourbon.

You get the idea.

Efficiency:

The efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. You don't want to try these techniques at home. Why not? asked somebody from the audience. I watched my wife's routine at breakfast for years, the expert explained. She made lots of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets, often carrying
a single item at a time. One day I told her, Hon, why don't you try carrying several things at once? Did it save time? the guy in the audience asked. Actually, yes, replied the expert. It used to take her 20 minutes to make breakfast. Now I do it in seven.

Lounging at the movies: Monster, Dark Water, Hide and Seek
            and The Motorcycle Diaries

Monster
Starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci.

Just because a movie stars super hot Charlize Theron and it is about a prostitute does not mean you will be seeing her naked. We where impressed how Ms. Theron transformed herself into the character portraying Aileen, a prostitute turned serial killer. She was very convincing and we would have watched her performance twice but we had to push hot pokers in our eyes to try and cheer up. This movie starts out depressing and just gets worse. We appreciate a good story but this is not one. Maybe if at the end she sees the error of her ways and becomes President or explodes it would have been better. We found it dark and depressing and when it was over we felt dark and depressed. Please do not write us with "If the movie made you feel emotion it must have been good". That is crap. You feel emotion when you pay your bills but you would not recommend paying bills to a friend. IF you like dark and depressing rent Wonderland. It is a much more interesting story.

The Motorcycle Diaries
Starring several really great performances by actors we have no idea who they are.

We hardly ever watch subtitled movies. Personally find it distracting. I got suckered into watching Crouching Tiger because of some line of crap and vowed to be more careful.

We put it in the deck with the notion we could always kick it out if it sucked. It does NOT suck. I still hate subtitles but we loved this film. A great story that is well written (or at least subtitled) and wonderfully directed.

continued>

The story, beginning in 1952 is of two young men who decide to travel the South American countryside before the younger of the two has to take medical exams. Some 8 months and 5 or 6 thousand miles later you are ready to watch it again. Based on a true story, this fun and interesting tale of travel, growth and awareness gets 5 thumbs up and a grunt of approval.

Dark Water
Starring Jennifer Connelly and Ariel Gade.

This has not been a good month and we should have went to see Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. This is another translation of Japanese horror except it sucked. The build was really good with life circumstance that places people in places that are scary. There is a child involved which is even scarier, there are noises, people and places that were all scary. The actresses playing the main characters looked scared. But the story was lame.

Hide and Seek
Starring Robert De Niro and Dekota Fanning.

We love Dekota (War of the worlds, Man on Fire), she is so innocent and cute and who doesn't like Robert DeNiro. This is the story of a single Dad who brings his daughter to the country after her Mom commits suicide to try and add some stability to their lives. Emily (Dekota) eventually acquires an imaginary friend. Her new invisible friend becomes more and more violent causing all sorts of problems for everyone including knocking off a couple of them. Unexpected and scary we recommend renting this film.

Lounging with a Grill: Asian dry rub

Asian dry rub is not a service by a hooker. Dry rubs are a great way to season meat before grilling. Almost every culture uses them in some form or another and today we will make an Asian dry rub.

Dry rubs can also be used on grilled vegetables to season them. You can also mix with lemon juice, orange juice or olive oil to make a nice marinade.

Blend together:

1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Anise seed
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground dry ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Rub into chicken, pork or beef before grilling.

Wanted:

Wanted. Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink.

Phobia Of The Month:
Isolophobia: Fear of solitude, being alone.

Hello, Heeellllooooooo, Yooooo Hoooooo!

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©Bryan Knox, 2005
Designed and developed at Knox Laboratory