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Carl Spackler

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by Carl Spackler

  1. 2 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

    Vago’s producers haver very little smoke

    Got a recommendation from that brand?  My local place often has several types of Vago in stock, but I have no clue which one offers the most bang for the buck.

  2. 6 hours ago, Matuka said:

    I don’t claim to be an expert on mezcal, but I’ve been to Oaxaca, tried a a few varieties, did a distillery tour and partook of 2-4 varieties the following year in CDMX. 
     

    You might try Ilegal Joven.  It’s not aged so taste profile is a good segue from tequila into mezcal.  Stick with the espadín variety of agave and the lightly aged styles (Jovens) until you season your palate for a more complex variety.

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    I agree with @Herbie Hancock that Del Maguey can be a little medicinal.  I also agree with @texasdago that a post meal mezcal is awesome, and the more floral/herbal (medicinal) varieties are well suited in this situation IMO.

    Ilegal Joven is literally the only bottle of mezcal I've ever purchased.  It's definitely smoky, but because I have never had any other mezcal, I cannot say whether it is more or less smoky than most other brands.   

    I don't dislike the Ilegal, but I have to be in a mood for something smoky in order to drink it.    

  3. On 4/12/2024 at 10:52 AM, Hornius Emeritus said:

    The ultimate get out on the highway and sing at the top of your lungs song.
     







     

    I gotta go with Skynyrd's cover of Call Me The Breeze, but Get Out Of Denver is really, really good, too.

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  4. 21 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

    Wife got me a good-ol' made-in-Ohiah Buck 110. It's not fancy but it's mine. Love the weight of the brass.

     

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    Those Buck 110s are burly.  I've got one, but I don't carry it too often in part because of the weight.      

    My mother-in-law gifted me the Schrade Uncle Henry that her second husband carried for years before he passed away.  It's a USA-made Schrade (prior to 2004) and is about the same damn knife as the Buck except the pins are flush with the handle, the blade shape is a little different, and the steel is 440A instead of the Buck's 420C.  I love messing around with both of those knives.       

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  5. 56 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

    This is bullshit. The jury would not have unanimously found him innocent anywhere in the country if not for the police screw ups. At worst, it's a hung jury without tampering and cops who love saying the N word.

    Some of the jurors have admitted to wanting to see a black man beat the legal system for a change--regardless of guilt--but the police have no one to blame but themselves for introducing that reasonable doubt for them to latch onto.

    The failure to seek a change in venue from downtown LA to Santa Monica was a monumental blunder.  The difference between the downtown LA juror pool and the Santa Monica juror pool is enormous.  I'm not prepared to say it was the only reason for the acquittal, but it was absolutely a huge blunder by Garcetti.  Police screw-ups and Fuhrmann's use of the N word certainly didn't help, but it would have been far easier for the prosecution to overcome those obstacles in Santa Monica.  

    You say "[t]he jury would not have unanimously found him innocent anywhere in the country if not for the police screw ups."  I can think of lots of places in this country where a jury very likely would have found Simpson guilty notwithstanding the issues with the police handling of the investigation -- Simi Valley, for one.  (BTW, criminal defendants are not found "innocent."  In general, there are two possible verdicts in criminal cases -- guilty or not guilty.  Depending on the jurisdiction, there might be other options like "not guilty by reason of insanity" or "not proven."  But "innocent" is not a possible verdict in a criminal trial.")

     

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  6. 19 minutes ago, LonghornSean said:


    Didn’t OJ also claim he cut his hand hitting golf balls?

    No.  He claimed he had injured his hand previously (he could not recall how/where when interviewed) and then re-opened the cut when he was in Chicago after he broke a glass in "anguish" over the news about his wife's death.  He was in Chicago for some corporate golf outing for Hertz.  That's what you may have been thinking of.   

     

    Bugliosi wrote a whole book on how the Simpson prosecution screwed up.  It's called "Outrage."  Suffice to say that if Bugliosi had been prosecuting the case, the outsome would have been different.

  7. I was working in downtown LA in 1994.  That afternoon several of us went across the street to a hotel bar for some libations and to watch the NBA Finals.  Local media kept cutting in with updates about the search for OJ and then, later, with news that OJ had been located down in Orange County and the cops were in pursuit.  Helicopter shots of a low-speed pursuit.  Media is saying OJ was trying to leave the country, in disguise, etc., etc.  General consensus in the bar is this simply shows the motherfucker is as guilty as sin.

    Leave the bar around 6:30-7:00 to head home to Hermosa Beach.  Transitioning off the 105 to the 405 southbound, I see all these people pulled off the side of the 405.  Even worse, idiots are out of their cars right next to the freeway, and in some cases are stepping out onto the freeway.  Holy shit -- the Juice is still loose & he's coming up the northbound 405.  I had to pull over myself because idiot lookie-loos were focusing on the northbound lanes and not watching where the hell they were driving.  Stayed in my truck on the shoulder of the southbound 405 and watched while Al Cowlings leisurely drove OJ up the 405 with dozens of cop cars hanging back behind him.  Surreal.

     

    Years later, a buddy of mine was working as Bob Baker's paralegal when Baker handled OJ's defense in the civil case.  I never really asked him too much about the case because under CA law he couldn't divulge any client confidences and secrets.  I know they had all the files the defense in the criminal case generated, including all the photos of the Brown-Simpson/Goldman murder scene, which for many years weren't publicly available.   Now that OJ is gone (good riddance), I'll have to ask him if he's got any nuggets of information (*coughconfessioncough*) that he's been keeping under wraps all these years.

     

     

      

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  8. John Lennon on John Lennon the guitar player:

    “I’m OK.  I’m not technically good, but I can make it fucking howl and move.  I was a rhythm guitarist.  It’s an important job. I can make a band drive. You see, one part of me says, 'yes, of course I can play because I can make a rock move.'  But the other part of me says, 'well, I wish I could just do like B. B. King.’  If you would put me with B. B. King, I would feel real silly.”

    [from the 1970 Rolling Stone interview]

     

     

  9. 2 hours ago, Not a cat said:

    If you're a poor like me and driving through SB with dogs, check out Douglas Family preserve.  Huge off leash dog park with trails overlooking the Pacific and you can take a trail down to a dog beach right below it (Arroyo Burro Beach). 

    One caveat if you have a retriever, it's on a cliff, so try to avoid the trails on the cliff side.  

    Another terrific rec.  That preserve is definitely a great place for a hike, esp. on a sunny day with the breeze blowing in off the water.

  10. 6 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

    I don't know if you're a wine drinker.  But my highest recommendation is to stop off of 101 in Los Olivos.  Last time I was there, it was literally a dirt road 'main street.'  There's a wine tasting room (their vineyard is up in the foothills).  Called Saarloos & Sons.  The brother of the TCU baseball coach runs it.  Such a cool building, basically took over an old west saloon and turned it into tasting room while still maintaining the heritage of the building. 

    There's a higher-end takeout/convenience store just across the dusty street (it my be paved now).  We got fantastic food from there and went back to Saarloos and ate outside while having unbelievably great wine.  The brother (can't remember his name) was so excited when we said we were from Texas (unlike most Californians).  Kirk, as you may remember played in both Round Rock and for the Astros.  So this brother stayed with him for a portion of that time and fell in love with Central Texas.  Anyway, stop by for a small tasting so you can still drive.  But the guy just loved to shoot the shit about Texas, baseball, and wine.  And we had a wonderful cheese/meat board with salads and dessert.  I had been to a 100 wine tasting rooms and it was probably my favorite experience.  Then we did a hike in some of the foothills afterward to burn off the calories and hooch.  

    Another good rec.

    Saarloos is still there, though I haven't stopped in there in a long, long time.  The roads are now paved.  LOL

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  11. Lots of good recs above.  Not sure how much time you're looking to spend in LA proper.  Also, will you be traveling solo or will you have kids with you, etc.?  

    Definitely stop in Santa Barbara.  The Funk Zone is fun.  Lark Restaurant.  Topa Topa and Lama Dog breweries.  Hit the pier if the weather is nice.  The Santa Barbara County courthouse is actually a cool place to visit -- go up in the tower to get a great view of the area if the weather is nice.  Brophy Bros. on the water is solid for seafood.  We love Cold Spring Tavern up in the mountains above SB.  It's a nice, twisty mountain drive to get up to it.  

    In SB County wine country, I typically avoid Solvang simply because it tends to attract more tourists than other nearby places.  The kitsch factor is strong in Solvang.  However, Solvang might be worth a stop if you have kids with you or want a Danish village vibe, and there are lots of shopping, tasting rooms, candy stores, restaurants, etc.  Instead, the wife and I typically hit Los Olivos (more laid back and a ton of tasting rooms) or Los Alamos farther up the 101.  The wife and I love Los Alamos, but it's definitely a lot sleepier than either Solvang or Los Olivos. 

    Los Alamos has some good restaurants -- Bell's (classic French bistro for lunch or dinner); Pico (good for dinner), Bob's Well Bread (breakfast -- tends to get busy), Full of LIfe Flatbread (good wood-fired pizzas for dinner), and Plenty on Bell (breakfast or lunch).  Babi's Beer Emporium has some interesting beers and an outdoor area where you can sit and watch the world go by.  There are some decent wine tasting rooms as well -- Bedford, Lo-Fi, A Tribute to Grace, and Lumen (inside Pico restaurant) are all respectable but not transcendent. 

    Los Olivos has more tasting rooms than you can shake a stick at plus an outpost of Figueroa Mountain brewery.  Places we like to hit in Los Olivos include:

    Panino (curry chicken salad sandwich FTW)

    Fig Mountain -- beers

    Brewer-Clifton -- great pinots and syrahs (right next to Fig Mountain)

    Carhartt -- yes, it's related to the apparel company; yes, the wines are good

    Evan's Ranch and Dragonette Cellars -- more wine tasting

    Nella -- dinner

    Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe -- dinner

     

    Other places worth stopping in SB County:

    S.Y. Kitchen (Santa Ynez)

    Hitching Post 2 (Buellton -- steaks, chops, etc._

    Far Western Tavern (Orcutt -- Santa Maria-style BBQ, which is basically grilling over red oak)

    El Capitan State Beach (check out the tide pools, get your beach on -- just watch out for the tar)

    Easy hike to Nojoqui Falls (should be plenty of water in it with all the rain/snow we've been having)

    If you're into wind surfing and a cool, windy small county road drive out to the ocean, head out to Jalama Beach County Park.  If the store is open, the burgers are pretty good.  Lots of wind and waves.  Lots of surfers and kite-surfers.  But it's pretty far off the beaten path. 

      

     

     

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  12. 4 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

    I’m just restating something that has been said many times on this thread:

    1. Women experience a double standard in many, many things, including how aggressive and demanding they can be in order to achieve professional success and the way society interprets that behavior. 
     

    2. Kim Mulkey is a successful coach but awful  person.

    Both of those things can be true.  This isn’t programming, it doesn’t have to be I/O.

    100% agree with you so long as we include the one word I added to your post.

  13. 8 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

    Not sure what that means.  But more than that, I don't care.

    You seem a tad peeved.  I'm not sure why.  Like I said, you're doing this thread the right way by expressing an unpopular opinion, and I even threw some rep your way for doing so.  

  14. 1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

    Reminds me of the quote when Paul was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, and Paul replied that he's not even the best drummer in The Beatles.

     

    That quote is typically attributed to Lennon, and it's been debunked as having never been said by him.  I don't think I've ever seen that quote attributed to Macca. 

    I have read that Ringo did get upset with Paul during the White Album sessions when McCartney was critical of his drumming on a particular track, but in general McCartney has praised Ringo's drumming on several occasions over the years as being "rock solid" and exactly what the Beatles needed.

    That said, I agree with you that Ringo was nowhere near the best musician in the Beatles.  That honor goes to McCartney, and it isn't a close call.  

  15. 6 hours ago, DixonHur said:

    there were . . . more influential bands in the 60's

    You also are doing this thread correctly.  

    You're absolutely wrong, but I love the fact that you don't let that stop you.  Pos rep to you.

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