Easter-Birthday-Spring Break-Moonshot Visit Week!

Despite there being no shortage of things I could potentially blog about  - the global worry that WWIII could have kicked off yesterday instead of being TACO Tuesday, the Artemis II mission, my enduring love and appreciation for Project Hail Mary (seriously, go see it in a theater) - somehow I missed my self-imposed deadline of having something new to read at the beginning of each work week. My apologies!

There was plenty of time to have written somethng too, since I had taken all of last week off from work to coincide with Audrey's spring break from school. 

Tara and Jerry made it up from Texas on Wednesday; I cooked ribs on the Traeger and we watched the Artemis II launch together, as he is an even bigger NASA fan than I am. He shared an absolutely exquisite Bourbon County stout with me, as is his tradition (may his name continue to be blessed!), but we couldn't get too reckless since he was flying home the next day to relieve their dogsitter.

Tara, though, stayed until early Easter Monday, which I thought was terribly sporting of Jerry. We did a fair bit of nothin' together a couple of afternoons (which was delightful) but also: 

• Glory and her bestie Brooklyn took Tara out for supper at Tiki Tiki, as a thank you for the hospitality she and Jerry gave the two of them in TX last year 
• we all watched Jesus Christ Superstar together (an Easter tradition here, but Tara's first full viewing in decades)
• Tara took us all out to dinner at Argos, and we finally got to take her to Gracie Jane's (a bedazzled boutique gallery/bar)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• we had a Tiki party for Glory's birthday
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• we all went to Good Friday and Easter Sunday service
• on Good Friday we also got to hear Fenya sing a ten-minute excerpt (!) from Handel's Messiah and it was astonishing
  
  
  
  
  
• Sunday I started cooking the turkey I had brined the day before but needged my back and needed the rest of the family to step up and finish dinner - which they did, marvellously! And there were plenty of leftovers for sandwiches and soup 
  
  

  

  (turkey, stuffing, smoked bourbon cranberry sauce, bacon, brie and mayo)

  
  
• Easter eggs also made an appearance!
  
  
  
  
  
• early Monday, three of us got up at 4:30 a.m. to get Tara to the airport (Fenya had to work) and even the long ride out to EIA was enjoyable, despite saying goodbye to my sister for likely another year...
• and I even had time to meet up with my friends for D&D&D at Polyrhythm on Thursday!

Family, friends, food and drink and a little downtime - staycations can actually rock pretty hard in the proper conditions.

Runyon's Holiday Spirit: The Hot Tom & Jerry

NOW one time it comes on Christmas, and in fact it is the evening before Christmas, and I am in Good Time Charley Bernstein's little speakeasy in West Forty-seventh Street, wishing Charley a Merry Christmas and having a few hot Tom and Jerrys with him.

This hot Tom and Jerry is an old time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true.

But anybody will tell you that there is nothing that brings out the true holiday spirit like hot Tom and Jerry, and I hear that since Tom and Jerry goes out of style in the United States, the holiday spirit is never quite the same.

The reason hot Tom and Jerry goes out of style is because it is necessary to use rum and one thing and another in making Tom and Jerry, and naturally when rum becomes illegal in this country Tom and Jerry is also against the law, because rum is something that is very hard to get around town these days.

For a while some people try making Tom and Jerry without putting rum in it, but somehow it never has the same old holiday spirit, so nearly everybody finally gives up in disgust, and this is not suprising, as making Tom and Jerry is by no means child's play. In fact, it takes quite an expert to make good Tom and Jerry, and in the days when it is not illegal a good hot Tom and Jerry maker commands good wages and many friends.

from "Dancing Dan's Christmas," by Damon Runyon

I cannot say for certain where I first came across the once-common warm holiday cocktail called the Tom & Jerry, but it may well have been in the writing of Damon Runyon; I came across "Butch Minds the Baby" in either a short story colelction of Dad's or some anthology or another in junior high.

Runyon's potent mixture of high vocabulary lowlifes and antiquated dialogue spiced with Prohibition-era slang sank its hooks deep into my brain at first exposure so that when I stumbled across a used copy of Runyon - On Broadway in the Leduc Bookshop, I snapped it up.

Runyon taught me what a Roscoe was without spelling it out:

Good Time Charley says he does not blame him, at that, as Miss Muriel O'Neill is so beautiful that he will be dancing with her himself no matter what, if he is five years younger and can get a Roscoe out as fast as in the days when he runs with Paddy the Link and other fast guys.

...how even bodily assault can be made humorous and potentially justifiable:

It finally becomes necessary for Charles to tap him on the pimple with a beer mallet, and afterward the constables come around, saying what is going on here, and what do you mean by tapping people with beer mallets, and the only way Charles can wiggle out of it is by stating that the character with the beard claims that Mae West has no sex appeal. So the constables go away saying Charles does quite right and one of them has half a mind to tap the character himself with something.

... and conveys the difficulty of minding one's own business while interacting with fast guys who have handles like Kitty Quick:

'Listen,' he says, 'do you know anybody in Europe?'

Well, this is a most unexpected question, and naturally I am not going to reply to unexpected questions by guys from Philly without thinking them over very carefully, so to gain time while I think, I say to Kitty Quick:

'Which Europe do you mean?'

I owe the majority of my love of language and turns-of-phrase to my father, but Mr. Runyon definitely has a hand in there as well.

As a result, when I came across a container of Tom & Jerry mix at a store the night before last, and remembering the important role it plays in Dancing Dan's Christmas (readable here and highly recommended), I really had no choice but to pick it up.

Bear in mind that the Tom & Jerry was an old-timey drink when Runyon wrote about it in the 1920s, going back a century or so at that time, and was possibly created as a promotional aid to a play by Pierce Egan called Tom & Jerry or Life in London, the first production to run for 100 consecutive performances in London, but whether this is due to the quality of the play or the assistance of the spirit imbued in the beverage is unknown.

The proper drink is like a warm milk punch or egg nog and normally comes from a batter made by mixing separated egg whites and yolks, sugar and butter and one thing and another before adding it to hot milk (or water, cocoa, or coffee) along with brandy and dark or spiced rum.

The Collins mix is more like a syrup or paste, similar to a jar of hot buttered rum mix, and I added two tablespoons to a cup of milk heated in the microwave, then dutifully added an ounce each of Captain Morgan and VSOP and stirred them together.

Now, I am pre-disposed to liking hot boozy drinks when the weather starts turning cold and I am also a fan of egg nog (until I am not) so this creamy, aromatic and gently spiced cup was right up my proverbial alley. Give me a hot Thermos of Tom & Jerry and I could be convinced to try out for the Iditarod, and I might even forego the dogs.

Furthermore, Audrey's version, made with hot water due to her fear of phlegminess, was also quite tasty, just not quite as creamy - a difference more of texture than taste, really.

While sipping, I looked up the Damon Runyon passages where I had first encountered this elixir, and ended up reading her the entirety of Dancing Dan's Christmas while she showered - Runyon's prose is a joy to read aloud, as I hope the excerpts above make evident. We also discovered that Tom & Jerrys were once served in their own bowl and mug sets, many of which can be found on eBay and Etsy and the like:

Man, I do not like to think of myself as a materially driven fellow on the general, but if I had the kind of domicile that would facilitate storing a bepoke bowl and mugs for a seasonal hot cocktail, I would find that most copacetic.

Regardless of serving vessel, however, I hope I have the opportunity to make hot Tom & Jerrys a more routine part of my holiday hospitality - after all, it is no longer illegal, and while it might not increase my wages, we can all use the friends it can bring, as Mr. Runyon asserts in the passage above.

UPDATE: Here is the recipe for those interested; consider adding the egg yolks to the butter before mixing to make things easier. Very tasty as a cocktail but also makes a very tasty cup of coffee!

From The Badger #46, by Mike Baron and Ron Lim

The Sleeper Car Experience

When Audrey and I planned our return trip from Churchill in July, we had initially planned to do the entire 14-hour drive from Thompson in one go, so we booked a sleeper cabin to ensure we were well rested. 

Tragically, this alone did not grant us the additional endurance required for such marathon travelling, but hey, you don't know unless you try, right? And sleeping in an actual bed, in a private room, on a moving train, was a very cool experience.

I want to say it was a little more than double the price, so two economy tickets (in a reclining seat, with a plug-in for my CPAP) would have been about $200, while a cabin for two made that part of the trip about $470 or so.

After loading our larger luggage onto the baggage car, we boarded the sleeper car directly from the rear of the train and our delightful attendant (porter? concierge? I'm not even sure), Val, showed us to our tiny cabin. And to be sure, claustrophobes need not apply - I never thought to try but am pretty sure I could touch all four walls without moving my feet from the center of the room. 

She showed us the features and amenities of the room (which included a wall-mounted fan) and advised we would need to let her know when we wanted the beds put out for sleeping, which we asked her to do at 11:00.

When she left and closed the door, we were left with a space about 5' x 7' with two relatively comfy reclining seats (albeit without the footrests of Economy class), a sink and mirror, and our own (tiny) washroom. We eventually figured out we could stow our two carry-ons in the 'attic' above the washroom which made our sitting area feel a bit more spacious and the sink had a little hinged cover we could set my iPad on to watch a movie later. 

We got ourselves situated pretty quickly and decided to go spend a little time in the observation car while it was still light outside.

On our way, we discovered that our car actually did have a shared shower we could use (although the rocking motion might make you rethink shaving with a blade). If you were travelling to Churchill from Winnipeg ( a 40+ hour endeavour) I am certain this amenity would be greatly appreciated!

And we also passed the car full of sleeping berths - small couches that face each other during the day and which convert to curtained bunks for sleeping at night, a la Star Trek: Lower Decks.

The domed car is usually a bit cool, so it is a good idea to bring a sweater. The very first seat is rear-facing, with a table between it and the next seat which makes it very popular with people who want to share a meal or play cards while enjoying the scenery. The remaining seats with their airline-style tray-tables provided a great space for me to sit and write my blog the next morning so I could post it on-schedule once we got back into wi-fi country.

There is also a small dining area in the area just below the dome, and a small canteen with coffee and light meals directly below it.

It had been a long day though, so we retired to our cabin to watch a movie on my iPad - Bullet Train, ironically, which I had downloaded from Netflix. Tragically I had not realized that my new iPad, purchase two months ago, did not have a headphone jack so we were unable to use my splitter. Luckily I was able to set my Bluetooth speaker on a suitcase between us so we could hear everything clearly enough over the ambient train nose and track clacking (but turned subtitles on anyways).

Shortly after the movie wrapped up, our porter (not Val) came by to convert our room, so we headed back up to the dome care for a few minutes while he did so. When we came back, he was wrapping up, but before leaving, asked if we wanted a knock on the door if the aurora borealis was visible that night. Audrey said yes without a moment's hesitation, and I thought this was a tremendous service to offer.

The beds do not leave a lot of room in the cabin once they are deployed, but are spacious and comfortable. There was a plug-in for my CPAP and room for it to rest near me at the head of the bed, as well as a shelf for my eyeglasses and a pouch I could tuck my iPad behind once I went to sleep.

Each bunk has its own reading lamp, and the upper one even has some sturdy nylon webbing to keep a sleeper safely in place if the train should experience excessive deceleration.

Now, the Churchill train is slow, peaking around 50 km/h, but not necessarily steady, proceeding as it does over muskeg and ground tormented by frost heaves. I worried that this would make it difficult to sleep, but in truth, the rocking back and forth is kind of soothing, and we both slept soundly through the night.

The next morning we hung the "Please make up our room" sign on the door (a first for me I believe) and headed to the canteen. We got two microwaved English muffin breakfast sandwiches and two coffees ($19) and ate them in the dome car.

When we returned to our room, the beds had been stowed and chairs replaced, and it was somewhat liberating being able to brush our teeth in our own sink without worrying that someone else was waiting to use the toilet. I doubt people on the Orient Express think about things like this, but having travelled this route seven times prior, it was a notable perk.

We arrived safe and sound in Thompson around noon, caught the shuttle to the campground where we had parked it (although the train station parking lot is apparently much safer than it used to be), and began the long drive home.

In the final analysis, can we say the Via Rail Cabin for Two was worth the money we paid for it? Well, certainly, for the experience, if nothing else. I have grown up seeing people sleep on trains in the movies and reading about it books since I was a kid, so getting to do it myself for once was extremely cool. And if a person valued their privacy, or required their own washroom, or preferred to isolate from other passengers for health reasons, this is certainly a good way to do it.

Would I pay the extra $135/person (each way) the next time Audrey and I make our northern pilgrimage? I am honestly not sure. I don't find the recliners that bad for sleeping and I would prefer to spend that money on dinner and drinks at the Tundra Pub, but if the budget allowed for it, I would certainly consider travelling by sleeper car in the future.

(And while eating breakfast in the dome car, I also learned from the conductor that Via Rail has one of the few corporate logos that is exactly the same when viewed upside down.)

The Rest of TXmas 2023

Looking back from New Year's (which felt very topical and timely when I wrote about it at the time), it occurs to me I should jot down some of the Texas experiences we had prior to that celebration.

Things got off to a delightful (if early) start when our flights to Houston on Christmas Day were completely hitchless. This may seem a mundane thing to celebrate, but I am a very wary and anxious traveler, particularly when border crossings are involved. There had been drama already when one booking site's autocomplete had mussed up a traveler's name and escaped my notice until after the tickets had been paid for, and then more when my vacation was almost denied due to a blackout imposed 6 weeks before departure, 12 weeks after I had purchased non-refundable tickets and 11 months after I had submitted my vacation request. 

So very little sleep was had on Christmas Eve, and it had nothin' to do with Santa. But all's well that ends well, and we landed in Houston late Monday afternoon, and Tara and Jerry arrived in short order to whisk us away to their lovely home outside the beltway.

It was close to 6 pm when we left IAH and I was kind of hoping we would hit up an awesome Texas Whataburger on our way home, but true-to-form, Tara had already prepped an immense charcuterie table for us, which we enjoyed on their patio.

The thick red liquid in our glasses is a remarkably weird beverage -  a fruited imperial sour beer called Elf's Blood, from the local Ingenious Brewery. What makes it weird? Well, let's start with the fact that it is the very first beer that my ale-hating wife has finished a glass of. We can move on to the fact that despite rocking an impressive 9% abv, it tastes like a tart fruit smoothie, but Elf's Blood earns its weirdness appellation primarily because it looks like Dracula should be sucking it out of an IV bag. I desperately wanted to bring some back, but having an unpasteurized live beer in my luggage for 14 hours felt like a terrible idea.

We gathered to open presents the next morning and discovered that Tara had purchased Xmas pajamas for everyone (as well as rainbow blanket scarves) so we could start TXmas Day off properly.

All the gifts were thoughtful and well-received, but the real treat was everyone coming together to help prepare the immense and tasty Christmas dinner menu. Peeling, pushing, crock potting and barbecueing all coalesced into a feed that Audrey and I were still eating leftovers from when we left nine days later.

Much of the rest of our time in Texas is a blur of eating, relaxing, conversing, sitting by the fire table or lounging in the hot tub. 

Or quiet time catching up on reading, both leisure...

...and professional.

Oh, and no small amount of drinking, including the excellent Goose Island Bourbon County stouts Jerry always procures as part of his Black Friday pilgrimage. They were excellent, as usual, and Jerry was delighted to see that Bobby was just as much a fan of them as he and I are.

And spectacular dinners out abounded; from seafood at BLVD in Galveston:

To excellent Mexican fare at nearby Don Ramon's:

And of course, our semi-elegant night out at McGonigel's Mucky Duck to ring in the Irish New Year:

Introducing Bobby to the Johnson Space Centre and Buc-ee's in the same day [CORRECTION: Buc-ee's was actually after Galveston!] trip was almost overwhelming - so much scale!

But all good things must come to an end, with Fenya and Bobby returning to Toronto and Glory heading back to Edmonton Jan 2, with Audrey and I getting home late on Jan 4.

My depression this weekend had very little to do with the return of cold weather to Edmonton and a precipitous drop in both stout and margarita intake. But looking back over these photos tonight and in the future will be a great reminder of a wonderful family time.