Cocktail Hour // The Aviator + Aviation

There are certain firsts you'll never forget. Or just partially forget. I remember the first time I had an Aviation cocktail. My season as an intern at the Milwaukee Film Festival had just ended and some of the staff was meeting at this great bar that I can not for the life of me remember. It was the kind of bar that had a lot of beers on tap and no cocktail menu. You told the bartender or cocktail waiter/ress what you were in the mood for, what you liked, what you didn't like, and they would give you a few suggestions based on your criteria. I was (and still am) a vodka gal, but I wanted to change it up and try something gin based, nothing too sweet and a little different. They recommended an Aviation and I was hooked. 

The Aviation was created by Hugo Ensslin, head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, in the early twentieth century. The first published recipe for the drink appeared in Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks.[1]

Recipe:

2 ounces gin

1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/4 ounce creme de violette

Lemon peel for garnish

I love my booze but I wouldn't call myself an aficionado. I say that because I personally think any gin could be used in this cocktail but others may disagree. For a smoother drink I would suggest Hendrick's, which infuses Bulgarian rose and cucumber into their gin, making it quite refreshing. Lately, I've been on a Seagram's kick, which is a bit more...potent. If you don't like the traditional (or what some may call the "Christmas tree")  taste, then I would avoid Seagram's.

Now onto the film. When Leonardo DiCaprio won his Oscar earlier this year I realized I hadn't seen a lot of his most recent films save for The Wolf of Wall Street and The Great Gatsby (I enjoyed one of them). You'd think I would automatically decide to then see The Revenant, the film which won him the Oscar, but I decided to go with The Aviator; partly because I thought it was right up my alley (biography, period piece, pretty costumes) but mostly because it was available on Netflix Instant. Though I'm sure Hughes had a favorite cocktail that is listed in a biography or two, I decided to sip on the Aviation. Seems appropriate, no?

I was a bit underwhelmed with the film as a whole. I've been underwhelmed by films in the past that I later become obsessed with (see: O Brother, Where Art Thou?), so I may give it another go. Don't get me wrong, the performances were great (notably Cate Blanchett. No surprise she won her first Oscar for the role), the costumes were wonderful and the technical efforts were impressive (Director, Scorsese, designed each time period in the film to look just the way a color film from that time period looked), but for a nearly three hour film, everything felt like it was just happening, not unfolding. My negative thought shouldn't be taken to mean that I didn't think the film was good, I understand why it received the praise it did, the way it was presented just wasn't for me. 

On that note, cheers!

About That Time I Went to a Taping of Maya & Marty

Lately it seems the few times I blog it's about a television taping; I swear I do other fun things. I either just forget to post about it or don't take pictures. And if there are no pictures, it never happened, right? (that was sarcasm)

This time around I went to a taping of Maya & Marty, an NBC variety show starring Maya Rudolph and Martin Short, which premiered last month. For those who don't know me and happen upon this post, I am a HUGE fan of Martin. Or as I like to call him, Uncle Marty. Early last year I made a post about that time I saw him perform in It's Only a Play on Broadway.

My original Friday night plans fell through so when I saw the waiting list for Maya & Marty's Friday night show opened up, I took that as a sign. Not really, but if my Friday night was going to open up last minute, then it better be for a good reason. Initially I got an email saying no tickets were available then two days later they seemed to change their minds and I immediately snagged them.

The line for the show opened up at 6:45pm so of course I got there right at 6:45 and after checking IDs and ticket confirmations we were led to the waiting room where we waited, and waited, and waited, then were taken to the studio. Each taping isn't a specific show, but a few sketches that will be aired at a later date (in this case, July 18th), or their opening monologue.

Ryan Reiss was the warm up comedian who stuck around throughout the whole show with us, the audience, as there would be breaks between set ups and takes.

Without giving away too much about the sketches here's a recap:
1. A Carmen Miranda movie spoof with Maya as Carmen, naturally. The first take included dogs running after her but that didn't prove successful so all subsequent takes didn't include them.

2. What started as a cleaning product infomercial, including a cameo from Emma Stone, then turned out to be an ad for the recurring Barnes and Sons sketch.

3. Emma Stone came out again to do a cover of the viral a cappella/butter tub Robyn cover from Swedish group Erato, with Maya. Maya had said that she became obsessed with the viral video and had wanted to recreate it.

4. The last sketch of the night was about Kenan's first day at an office job where two interns were killed in an elevator accident and were rumored to haunt the office. Emma showed up again as one of the ghost interns along with Mikey Day. Kenan saw them while his boss, played by Marty, did not.

At one point in the sketch Emma's ghost is in the office fridge but disappears when Marty opens it up again. Either Emma wasn't quick enough to sneak out of the back of the fridge or props couldn't get the "actual" part of the fridge back in but when Marty opens it again the camera sees the inside of the fridge moving back in which of course made the audience laugh while Marty and Kenan tried not to. They did a couple of other takes of the sketch but I hope they keep that in.

And of course there is a twist to the sketch...

Between takes the cast would talk with the audience, answering any questions. Maya started it off and the first question for her was "if you could be any kitchen utensil, what would you be?" She answered with spatula. First reason was because she could smack people with herself then she changed it to "so I can be closer to eggs. Because I love eggs." So there you go. Another audience member asked her about her favorite memory from the film, Sisters. Her first was a scene with John Leguizamo where he ad libbed a line about wearing Erection from Calvin Klein. You can view the scene here. Here second was when all the former SNL ladies in the film brought in their kids and they took a group picture. Maya was just the sweetest with everyone and not to sound like a Twitter or Tumblr or whatever fan, but I wish she were my mom. 

Of course when it came to Kenan he had a question about a Kenan and Kel reunion which he sort of avoided, but all in good fun. 

Somebody asked Marty if his son, Oliver, was single, but he is engaged and getting married this summer. Damn. That was my way into the Short family. And no, it was not me who asked the question.  And when asked if he was still cool with the Three Amigos, he responded with their official salute. 

Between taking down and setting up the sketch scenes they showed up pre-recorded sketches that previously aired including one that starred Tom Hanks called "The Astronaut," Jiminy Glick with Kevin Hart, and The Proper Way, a spoof of instructional videos with Marty as a British man who teaches children proper etiquette but is consistently disappointed in the performance and actions of a child named Ben. 

All in all it was a good night. Oh, and they gave us snacks since we were there for quite a while, ha!

#FlashbackFriday // Flight of the Navigator

Flight of the Navigator, is a film about an 12-year-old Florida boy, Joey Cramer, who ends up on a spaceship and travels 8 years into the future, while he remains the same age. He ends up in the hands of NASA and with the help of a NASA intern, his brother and the ship's robotic commander called "Max" (voiced by Paul Reubens aka Pee-wee Herman), Joey figures out how he ended up where he is and how to get back.

This was one of those movies I watched any time it was on while growing up, yet I barely remembered a thing until I rewatched it the other day. One thing I do remember? "Max" mimicking Joey saying "I'm the Navigator, I'm the Navigator!" I didn't even remember Sarah Jessica Parker being in it.

So where is everyone from Navigator now?

Joey Cramer, who played lead character, David Freeman (center), had just a few roles before and after Flight of the Navigator including portraying Tom Selleck’s son in Runaway and a two episode stint on Murder, She Wrote. He seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth until a fan spotted him working at a Source for Sports store in British Columbia (left) in 2009. Then in 2011 it was reported that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were looking for a Deleriyes Cramer who had seven warrants out for him. This was none other than Joey (right) who went by several other aliases including Joe Deleriyes and Joe Leighland. Allegedly he committed several check and fraud related crimes. And just earlier this month he was charged with "robbery, disguise with the intent to commit an indictable offense, failing to stop for a peace officer and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle" in a Canadian bank robbery.

Howard Hesseman is probably best known as Dr. Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati but to me he’ll always be "cool teacher" Charlie Moore, from Head of the Class aka the TV show with one of the best opening theme songs.  He was also a founding member of the San Francisco-based improvisational comedy troupe The Committee with fellow actor David Ogden Stiers. Fun fact: David Ogden Stiers appeared throughout the first season of Two Guys and a Girl while Howard guest starred in one episode as Berg's (played by Ryan Reynolds) father. 

In Flight of the Navigator he portrays Dr. Louis Faraday, a NASA scientist who has been studying the spaceship since its arrival. He means well but cares more about the science than the welfare of David. Since "Flight..." Howard, now 76,  has been working steadily in film and television guest appearances including About Schmidt, Psych and ER. 

Before Veronica Cartwright's role as David's mother, Helen Freeman, she was perhaps best known as young Cathy Brenner in Hitchcock's The Birds. Just like Howard, Helen has been keeping busy in both film and television. She has been nominated for three Emmy's (two for The X-Files and one for ER) and was most recently seen in the Amazon series, Bosch.

Cliff De Young played Bill, Joey's dad who was just kind of there. You might think of the actor himself the same way. With over 130 credits to his name he has one of those faces where you go "Ooo! ooo! I know that guy!" He's guest starred on everything from JAG to The Young and the Restless to Grey's Anatomy and has been in movies such as The Craft and Wild.  

Two actors covered the role of Joey's brother, Jeff. Albie Whitaker played 8-year-old Jeff, his one and only role to date. If this is his LinkedIn profile, then he's doing pretty well for himself. If that's not him, then I just found you a financial advisor to connect with. 

Matt Adler (above, right) played 16-year-old Jeff who helped his older brother out in the future (confusing or no?) by setting off fireworks at their family's home so Joey knew where to fly to after escaping NASA. Since Flight, Matt has been working here and there with a little bit of voice acting. IMDb also notes that he is a close friend and former housemate of George Clooney. Sidenote: I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a little crush on 16-year-old Jeff when I was all of 8 years old or so.  

Last but not least was the surprisingly forgettable (for me), Sarah Jessica Parker, in the role of Carolyn, a NASA intern who not only helps Joey escape, but comes to his parent's house to fill them in on what's going on. You all know Sarah, I don't need to fill you in on her. 

Now go watch Flight of the Navigator.

About That Time I Went to a Taping of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore

It's been a while since I've updated this thing, but what better way to come back than with a quick recap of that time I went to a taping of The Nightly Show? Late last year I went to a taping of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and that post was a bit more detailed because I went through the whole process of signing up for the lottery of sorts, waiting in line, etc etc. Attending this taping was a little easier because I went with a group from the New York Adventure Club, so all I had to do was sign up and show up. If you live in NYC and love to experience unusual and off the grid things, I would definitely suggest you sign up. This was only the second event I've attended but so far it's been really fun and there are a lot of events that I wish I could have gone to (looking at you, Green-Wood Cemetery & Catacombs by flashlight tour...) and hope to go to even more.

Back to the show. We were to be at the studio by 4:45pm but of course we waited around for a while before we were eventually let into the building where they checked our IDs, went through a metal detector and waited in a crowded room with just fans (not even oscillating) for way too long. It's one of those things where I understand why they want everyone to show up early and all that jazz, but waiting around is never fun. Eventually they called us in by groups and led us to our seats. I was surprised to hear that we could take pictures in the studio until the warm up guy came out (though of course I did see some rule breakers during the show who weren't stopped, but I knew if I tried I'd be caught and reprimanded).

Once we all got seated the warm up guy came out. He cracked a few jokes and handed out t-shirts and hats based on different criteria (who traveled the farthest, who went to the shittiest school and who was able to procure a condom the fastest). After that he introduced the stage manager and they tried riling us up to be the most enthusiastic that we could be. 

Then Larry comes out. He did a short Q&A with the audience which was fun. The first question was about the White House Correspondence Dinner, which he hosted, and he spoke about how Michelle Obama had the best side eye, not just physically but verbally, ie: "this motherfucker...." which he quickly redacted with a laugh. 

Another person asked if he would have Donald Trump on the show and he gladly said "HELL YEAH." That would be a trip, let's be honest. 

The next question was about what he does in his free time and he mentioned that he's a nerd who loves doing magic. I quickly raised my hand for a follow up question*. Back in 2008 he guest starred in an episode of How I Met Your Mother and if you know anything about Neil Patrick Harris, you know he loves magic, so naturally my question was "did you and Neil do any magic together while on set?" He said they were never on set together so no magic, but he did know Neil from when he was the President of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles and they hung out a lot back then. 

Now it's time for the show to start: the stage manager flails her arms to get us to cheer as loud as we can as Larry starts the show. This is wear something awesome happens, to me. He talks about Megyn Kelly's recent interview with Donald Trump where they talk about their relationship and Larry says that he doesn't care about their relationship, that they're not Ross and Rachel or Cookie and Lucious, or "whoever these people are. I don't know, I don't watch Big Bang Theory," then references How I Met Your Mother and points out to the audience aka ME! I was very excited about that. Instead of summarizing the entire episode you can watch it here (shout out to me is around 4:10). Basically, I just wanted to talk about the shout out, ha!

At the end of the show all of his panel and guests come out to close out the show but before the stage manager can rush the audience out, a few us "VIP" groups take a picture with Larry. He's much more taller than I thought. I don't know why. I always hear people say that about celebrities and I never thought that until I met him. 

I'm the one in the yellow pointing at him. Not sure why I did that. I already stand out with the yellow. Afterwards I realized Neil Patrick Harris likes to do the whole pointing thing so between that and my HIMYM question, I must seem like a huge NPH fan. What do huge NPH fans call themselves anyways? 

On that note...

House of Cards // Dinner and Bingo

Because of insomnia as well as a lingering cold that kept me indoors for most of the weekend, I was able to finish the fourth season of House of Cards. It definitely made up for last season, though the first will always be my favorite. 

I'm excited to see where next season will go. Will Frank and Claire be the first couple to be President and Vice President? Will Doug go cray cray with the widow? Where did Jackie and Remi run off to? Will Seth ever correct his posture? It really bothers me. 

When season two premiered, I made ribs and cornbread (Frank's fave! RIP Freddy's). When season three premiered, I added the Rickey cocktail to the menu. Why? It only seemed fitting to drink a cocktail that created and made popular in Washington D.C. (in the 1880's by Shoomaker's bar bartender George A. Williamson).  Originally made with bourbon, it later became more popular to be made with gin. I wish I could remember how I heard of Watershed Distillery, but when I did, I knew I had to use their product for the cocktails. If you've watched the show, you probably, hopefully, immediately thought of the Watershed Act: the bill that Claire proposes and works on that will create new jobs in Russo's (RIP) homestate of Pennsylvania, which she ends up torpedoing. The first time I made these I used gin but this go around I tried it with the distillery's bourbon. I would recommend both.

For season four I added House of Cards Bingo cards!  If you've watched the show over the years you'll know that most of the characters come and go so a lot of nuances that you see in one season won't be there the next. These Bingo cards were made specifically for season one. If you're new to the show or just want to rewatch season one, definitely use these! In turn, you could also use them as a drinking game guide. Zoe bites her nails? Take a sip. Russo's drunk? Take a gulp. You get the idea. Just be responsible. Don't end up like Russo.

Now for the fun stuff. 

Since I live in an apartment with no outdoor space to grill or smoke, I followed this recipe to make the ribs in my slow cooker then stuck them in the broiler for 5-10 minutes to get a nice caramelization on the outside. For sides I added the cornbread and a simple cucumber salad. I'll be honest and tell you that I have yet to find a good cornbread recipe. About a year ago I made a delicious batch but of course forgot to bookmark the recipe.

Rickeys are very easy to make:
2 ounces gin or bourbon
Juice of 1 lime
Club soda
Lime wedge for garnish

Fill a highball glass with ice.
Pour the gin and lime juice over the ice.
Top with club soda.
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Thanks to Google Drive I'm now able to share the Bingo Cards and Chips I created. There are 8 different cards (all have the same squares, just in a different order) and 8 sheets of character chips (includes: Doug Stamper, Claire Underwood, Frank Underwood, Zoe Barnes, Linda Vasquez, Janine Skorsky, Christina Gallagher, and Peter Russo)

Click the links to download:

House of Cards Bingo Cards
House of Cards Bingo Chips