Playlist for January 28th, 2011

Jayne Mansfield...under the covers

Under the Covers

This week, after what had to have been too much celebrating this past weekend, the Lady of the Manor had taken ill with the sinus yucks.

There was lots of orange juice and chicken soup consumed and she spent most of the week in bed and under the covers.

I'm pleased to report that she is on the upswing and is up and at 'em.

This week's playlist contains a treasure trove of cover tunes from the famous to the not so famous.

A recipe for a Sazerac cocktail

Dating from around 1850, the Sazerac is known as one of the first "cocktails" known.

It was my friend, Lippy from Austin, Texas, who turned me on to this, and let me tell you, it's a good one.

Originally a mix of cognac and absinthe, the modern Sazerac has a few different recipes, but this is how I mix mine:

First, chill a rocks glass.  I usually put mine in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or you could pack it with ice for the same amount of time.

Once the glass is chilled, take a small amount of absinthe, just enough to coat the glass (I like Lucid, made in France and the first genuine absinthe to gain approval for legal distribution in the U.S.) and swirl it around the glass.  If you have any absinthe left over (and you shouldn't if you can mix good), discard it (but shame on you for throwing away such a great thing).

In a shaker, mix a sugar cube, two shots rye whiskey and 5 to 7 dashes of Peychaud Bitters.  Mix it in with the coated absinthe.  Take a lemon peel, twist and garnish.  Enjoy!

Movie Night - The Killing

Sterling Hayden (with his hand on the paper) goes
over the plan with the gang in "The Killing"

Sterling Hayden stars as Johnny Clay, a hood just released from jail, who decides to set up one last heist before leaving town with his girl, Fay.

Clay brings together a rag-tag group of guys, from a crooked cop to a sharpshooter, to help pull off a $2 million haul from a race track.

After plotting the robbery and feeling as if everything will go as planned, the theft begins to fall apart after one of the gang, a window teller at the track, begins to tell his gold-digging wife about the plan.


Other issues crop up, from a drunken money man to a racist exchange with a parking attendant, and Clay has to work hard to keep the plan together.


Stanley Kubrick, in his first major film, sets up a complicated heist film that is, while slightly non-linear, still a good story that has helped inspire other crime flicks over the years.

Check it out! (WP)(AMG)(IMDB)