Friday Night Wine Buzz. Ask me anything.

[Aristus]

Relaxing after a mixed week; two good days and three crazy days in clinic.

I love you all...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Did all those Mozart masses help?

[Aristus]

3. Very much...

Had a pretty relaxing, less-than-normal-stress day today.

I'm pretty sure Wolfgang Amadeus helped...

[Lithos]

2. Why wine and not vodka?

?

[Aristus]

4. Shhhhhhhh!

It's actually both...

[Lithos]

7. Titos, Grey Goose, or Smirnov?

?

[Aristus]

8. Smirnoff Citrus.

Two shots...

[Lithos]

9. Cool

I support local - Titos all the way... Add local flavored water and I've got a Keto-friendly drink...

[Aristus]

11. A local distillery just started producing bourbon.

Even though bourbon country, Kentucky, is 3/4 of a continent away. I bought a bottle in order to support local. It's pretty good...

[Lithos]

12. Yeah, it's just process and attention to detail

Find yourself some Japanese Suntory Whiskey - will blow you away. They learned from the Scots, but applied their Quality Control techniques and attention to detail to create something special...

BTW check plus for supporting local!!!

[Aristus]

16. I had heard Japanese whiskey was good.

But I couldn't imagine why. On your recommendation, I'll pick up a bottle soon...

[Lithos]

17. Here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_whisky

[Aristus]

20. What should I start with?

Single malt? Or a blend?

[Lithos]

22. i had maybe 2-3 Japanese Whiskeys

The blend was very tasty and I would start here. The single-malts were rich, but were more middle of the road in that they were technically excellent, but not unique. For me, unique are the Island single malts of Scotland. For the record, an aged Talisker is my goto Single Malt. I still look for a Japanse blend for general use whiskey and prefer it over Jamesons, etc.

[Aristus]

23. I got my start with whiskeys with Cutty Sark, a blend.

Very smooth, but not very challenging. However, starting with a Japanese blend sounds like a good idea.

[Lithos]

25. I did not like Whiskey until I tried a Japanese Whiskey

It was a good introduction. I got to try it in a Japanese blend at a small "Salaryman" bar in Japan proper. Before that, my introduction was Johnny Walker which I thought sucked. I got into Island Single Malts later. I do like high-end Jamesons, but it's not my preference.

[Aristus]

26. Hmm. Now I'm really intrigued.

How did you like Japan? My step-daughter and son-in-law visited Japan a couple of years ago, and liked it, but found it very strange.

I've studied Japanese culture for a number of years, and find it fascinating. But it's mostly the historical culture of the Tokugawa Shogunate, so not really informative of modern Japan.

[Lithos]

27. Back in the early 90's I worked for a Japanese company

So, I got three, all expenses, trips to Japan paid for by the company... Total time about 6-7 weeks.

Most of my time was actually working, but I got to hang out with the engineers (I was a Mechanical Engineer at the time - former life). The majority of the time was in Hiroshima, but I did get trips to Kyoto, some time in Tokyo (mostly in the various airports), and time in the interior.

Did get to tour a couple of Japanese castles (highly recommended) and much of what makes Kyoto famous. My work peers lost weight because they were stuck up pigs, but I gained weight and much to the chagrin of my guides avoided the McDonalds and the "American" steak houses. Did get to eat Wagyu in Kobe.

There is a lot of historical revisionism in Japan if you follow the official sites. I did get to tour the Hiroshima Peace monument but also had an experience where a survivor stepped on my foot in a Passive-Aggressive act (Was the only American in the museum). To complement that, my guide did take me after one session at a bar to a hole in the wall where this older lady who was also a survivor told me (over very delicious snacks and beer) about the bomb and her aftermath experiences. That interaction is special and I will hold very dear til I die.

[chillfactor]

5. Good evening Aristus!

On my third glass of wine. Made a margarita for myself last night that knocked me on my ass...has been some time since I had tequila......can't handle it like I used to when I was a young whipper-snapper! Do you drink tequila?

[Aristus]

6. Yes, but only ever in margaritas.

I did some tequila shots once. I had to join several different religions in order to get sufficient prayer experience to pray that that never happen again...

I can't wait until things open up for good. I'm going to go to El Toro and get the biggest margarita they have...

[chillfactor]

30. When I was young....

I could have 5-6 shots of tequila and not feel a thing. Suprising how old age affects one's ability to handle the hard stuff.

[Lithos]

10. Question

Gonna skip the Zoom friendly top, non-Zoom friendly bottom question...

Trump - Russian turn-coat, or so stupid that he's unaware he's a Russian asset?

[Aristus]

14. Russian turncoat.

Trump is stupid. But he's also apathetic to anything that's not money.

When Putin offered him millions to "throw the fight" so to speak, I'll bet Trump shrugged and scooped up the money. To him, betraying one's country for nothing is sedition; betraying one's country for money is business.

[Lithos]

18. That is my take too

He uses money as a way of measuring success... Which explains why he lies about how much money he actually has.

[Wolf Frankula]

28. tRump is a Russian Spy

His real name is Dmitriy Bumshteyn. The real Donald Trump died in the 1980s. Gospodin Bumshteyn is an agent of the Foreign Intelligence Agency of Russia, formerly he worked for the KGB, the Committee for State Security. He and Vladimir Putin go way back.

Yes, you domfoks elected a Russian Spy.

Wolf

[Lithos]

29. LOL

I can not disagree...

[applegrove]

13. I saw a few health workers a month ago and could kick myself i did not thank them for

their heroism. I was concentrating too much on not touching my mask with my hands. I got home and felt terrible. So for anyone who forgot to thank you this week at your clinic -- thank you.

[Aristus]

15. Very nice, thank you...

[Lithos]

19. Dr. Google (or Dr. Trump-Mengele?)

Have you dealt with any idiots who used Dr. Google to their detriment? Love to hear how this turned into a massive fail. Special focus to any who used Dr. Trump for the "quinine" (not spelling the actual name), and/or Bleach?

[Aristus]

21. Yeah, I have some patients who rely on Dr. Google.

Anti-vaxxers, most of them...

I have some patients who look up their symptoms and come to the wrong diagnosis, but mostly they are good-natured about it. If I come to a diagnosis that is different from what they came up with on-line, they usually accept that I know what I'm talking about.

[Lithos]

24. Stupid

Anti-vaxxers, most of them...

Science rules....

I use Dr. Google, but I have very high skepticism about it. I do a full differential and prefer the simplest solution that explains the core symptoms. Ie, it's a wart and not a benign tumor, etc. I also go to my doctor when something does not fit, or any significant checklist comes up (you should not have blood come out that orifice...)

I did score a zebra illness once, but it was for one of my cats and the vet dermatological specialist agreed with me after I sent him 3 medical research papers and he consulted with a set of academic Italian DVM's for confirmation.

[Niagara]

31. It's Saturday night and I'm googling my symptoms.

Turns out I just need a new President.

[Aristus]

32. Here's your prescription:

Vote.

Encourage others to vote.

Drive people to the polls, if you have to.

I hope you feel better soon.

I hope we all do...

[Niagara]

33. Already on my to do list.

I'm also encouraging others to donate what they can, when they can. Disposable income for some are difficult, but we need the Senate and the Presidency.




Thank you, Aristus.