Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

Two shots to get the party started.

Now a Golden Lillet Martini. Rum, Lillet, and limoncello, shaken with ice. Yum!

I love you all…

I'm poring over my local primary election voters guide, to suss out the bad eggs in the non-partisan races.

One thing that makes it easy: If they put in their personal statement that they are “Not a politician”, I cross them off immediately.

Yes, you are, Skippy. If you are running for public office, then you are, by definition, a politician.

I suppose thirty years ago, that was a refreshing thing for a candidate to say. But now, I tend to associate the phrase with Republicans and libertarians who claim to hate government and public service, but are lusting after that government paycheck and the perks that go with it.

Does someone have a vetted link to Act Blue?

I just want to make sure I don’t donate to a scam site.

Trying an interesting variation on a Cuba Libre tonight.

Our local supermarket gave us a free sample can of a vanilla cola I’ve never heard of. Mrs. Aristus had a taste and doesn’t like it.

I got a highball glass, poured in some lime juice, a couple of shots of white rum, and added the cola. Pretty good. Although anyone seeking to liberate Cuba probably shouldn’t drink too many of them.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend.

Didn’t see too many of you at the Friday Night drinking thread last night.

Those were always better attended when I got smashed and started ripping my clothes off.

Friday Night Rum Buzz. Ask me anything.

Two shots of vodka to get the party started. Now a Cuban Sidecar: Rum, Cointreau, and lime juice. Yummy!

I’m giving up on spending any time in GD or LBN. Too much bad news, and too many trolls burbling that our guy is going to drop out of the race.

Please whisper encouraging things in my ear.

I need a long vacation far away from this madhouse.

I love you all…

The actions of Shooty-Bang-Bang Boy could mean that even Republicans are getting sick of Trump's shit.

Whether it's because his endorsement spells election losses for the candidates he's endorsing, or whether it's because he's backing off the nationwide abortion ban provision of the 2025 thing.

As much as repukes claim to love things that go boom, they may have had enough of having to deal with a loose cannon.

Saw the trailer for "Gladiator II".

Looks like it's going to be a shit-show.

The OG Gladiator film built a fanciful Hollywood story on a small base of historical accuracy, loaded on with a huge number of inaccuracies and outright fabrications. An enjoyable film, even for a Roman history buff like me.

This movie looks like it decided to throw out the small number of historical facts, and cruise on a river of laughable narrative inventions.

At the time of the film, likely the first decade of the 3rd Century, Connie Nielsen's Lucilla, and her son Lucius Verus, would have been long dead. Denzel Washington's character, Macrinus, was a Berber from North Africa, not a black man from sub-Saharan Africa. Macrinus would succeed Caracalla (one of the hilariously mis-represented co-emperors shown in the trailer), but never visited the city of Rome during his short, one-year reign.

By the time-period of the film, there had been no naval battle re-enactments in the Colosseum in nearly two hundred years. It was no longer possible to flood the arena in order to stage them; when it had been possible, the battles were fought using scaled-down ships, and the water was never deeper than about five feet.

And no matter who the Romans are fighting in the real-life battle scenes, they would not have used rowed galleys. The Roman navy had not used these since before the birth of Christ (which makes their use in "Ben-Hur" inaccurate, too.) And the less said about the portrayal of co-emperors Caracalla and Geta, the better. Caracalla was not a pale, weak, crazed palace-dweller. He preferred the rough life of the soldier with his legionaries. And he liked to have himself depicted in statues and busts as a scowling brute. None of the contemporary sources describe him as a crazy-eyed, giggling mad man.

I suppose I will go to see it. But I'm not expecting a film that's any better than its trailer.

The NRA used to be all about marksmanship.

Breaking! This Just In: Republicans Finally Outraged Over Gun Violence!

n/t

Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

Enjoying a Moscow Mule tonight. Fitting, considering the hot weather.

Great day in clinic. Gave my patients excellent care, no office politics, had a lot of laughs with my colleagues. Couldn’t have been better.

Looking forward to a restful weekend.

I love you all…