In the New Yorker...

[serious crayons]

Wow, I not only have somehow fallen behind on this thread, but I've fallen way behind on my New Yorkers and missed the article about Bambi. I didn't see it as a kid -- in fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen it start to finish -- so I was not traumatized by the shooting. I'm interested to see what she says about that deadbeat dad, though. Kathryn Schulz is one of the NY writers I really like. I just got the most recent edition of Best American Essays, and she's this year's guest editor.

I just discovered (while arguing with my son, I believe) that Jack Daniels is not bourbon! I always thought it was -- and I toured the JD distillery in Tennessee. (As you've probably heard, since it's somewhat famous lore, the JD distillery is, or at least was, located in a dry county.)

[southendmd]

I just discovered (while arguing with my son, I believe) that Jack Daniels is not bourbon! I always thought it was -- and I toured the JD distillery in Tennessee. (As you've probably heard, since it's somewhat famous lore, the JD distillery is, or at least was, located in a dry county.)

Technically, it IS a bourbon; they just choose not to call it so. 

From wiki: 
The product meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight bourbon, though the company chooses not to use this classification. It markets the beverage as "Tennessee whiskey" instead of "Tennessee bourbon". As defined in the North American Free Trade Agreement, "Tennessee whiskey" is classified as a straight bourbon authorized to be produced in the state of Tennessee

[serious crayons]

Technically, it IS a bourbon; they just choose not to call it so. 

From wiki: 
The product meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight bourbon, though the company chooses not to use this classification. It markets the beverage as "Tennessee whiskey" instead of "Tennessee bourbon". As defined in the North American Free Trade Agreement, "Tennessee whiskey" is classified as a straight bourbon authorized to be produced in the state of Tennessee

Well, at least I was right before I was wrong. And now I can reboot the argument with my son and maybe win for a change.    I knew it was some special process that wound up tasting like bourbon. Not great bourbon, necessarily -- no Old Rose, for sure. 

[serious crayons]

BTW, did you read the article about that celebrity chef? She was quoted using fuck, shit, and bitch all in one sentence. 

Missed it! I've still got the magazine here in a pile that I will read someday. Possibly after I die if they'll let me bring my New Yorkers with me.

I highly recommend the article about Dan Bongino in the Jan. 3 & 10 issue. Yes, it's a duty article, and it's hard going, but I think this is a duty everyone should undertake. Evan Osnos makes a very good point: "Spend several months immersed in American talk radio and you'll come away with the sense that the violence of January 6th was not the end of something but the beginning." I also get the impression Osnos thinks it's foolish for liberals to wring their hands over Facebook and TikTok when they should be paying attention to and being be concerned about what's going on in the world of extreme-right-wing talk radio.

I've been listening to Ezra Klein podcasts and one episode very much made that point. Not about talk radio specifically, but about a whole nationwide movement that's now pretty mainstream -- its terms and ideology get spouted by Tucker Carlson, for example.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I just discovered (while arguing with my son, I believe) that Jack Daniels is not bourbon! I always thought it was -- and I toured the JD distillery in Tennessee. (As you've probably heard, since it's somewhat famous lore, the JD distillery is, or at least was, located in a dry county.)

Technically, it IS a bourbon; they just choose not to call it so. 

I didn't realize it was, either--it's not from Kentucky, after all--until I happened to notice that the liquor store keeps it shelved with ... the bourbons. 

I suppose some connoisseurs might argue, if it ain't from Kentucky, it ain't bourbon.

[Front-Ranger]

Not even if it were made in Bourbon-l'Archambault, the origin of the French  House of Bourbon?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Not even if it were made in Bourbon-l'Archambault, the origin of the French  House of Bourbon?

That would be a no.

[Jeff Wrangler]

OK, who can trace Downton Abbey to King Tut?    (Feb. 14 & 21)

[southendmd]

OK, who can trace Downton Abbey to King Tut?    (Feb. 14 & 21)

I'm winging it, but one of the Earls of Carnavan was ?colleagues with Carter in the 20s and the opening of Tut's tomb.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I'm winging it, but one of the Earls of Carnavan was ?colleagues with Carter in the 20s and the opening of Tut's tomb.

Close enough; I'll give it to you.

The chain of connection I was thinking of begins with Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is Highclere Castle; Highclere is the estate of the earls of Carnarvon; the fifth earl sponsored Howard Carter's excavation; Carter found King Tut's tomb.

(The article in TNY refers to Highclere as "the estate" of the earls of Carnarvon.)