15 October 2017

Some Sunday morning English word puzzles

Here are some more interesting English words to get you going on a Sunday. Please feel free to answer in the Comment section if you know or after you have found the answers…

1. I remember growing up during childhood, one of the best things about rains was that typical smell of the earth after the initial showers. I am sure you remember it too – and even experience it today – that earthy smell you get after the first showers – especially if the ground was very dry. There is actually a word to describe that smell. Do you know what it is?

2. I have a not-so-healthy habit of piling up books. When I hear good reviews of a book from friends, I usually go to iBooks, read up a few sample pages and if it still interests me, I buy it. Here is the catch though – I do not often get to reading those books. Sometimes, it takes me a long time to start reading them. Do you have the same habit? That of buying books and not reading them? There is a word to describe that behavior. Do you know it?

3. Any of you who have visited us in our Atlanta house will know that we live in a forest. We love the raw beauty of nature and the privacy of a forest. There is a word to describe people like us who love the forests. What is it?

4. While I dabble a lot in alcohol, I never could get myself to drink beer. Certainly, I understand the production process and categories of various gins, wines, vodkas, whiskies, but I am an absolute neophyte when it comes to beer making. I have heard my friends use a few words – like IPA, hops etc when talking about beer. I never knew what hops are – except that it has to do with beer. Curiosity eventually got the better of me and I looked it up. Well, hops – I found out are a kind of plant and is used during the beer making process. In fact the category of plant that hops belong to is called “bine”. I was sure that was a misprint of “vine” (I guess I was thinking wine – grapes etc etc). Turns out “bine” is the right word. Do you know what a “bine” is? More importantly, what is the difference between a “bine” and a “vine”?

5. If you have gotten to this point, you obviously love words and are at least moderately curious about them. So, we will finish up with a word to describe you. What do you call somebody who is a lover of words?

Here’s to learning a few more new words…

Category: Word Play | 16 Comments on Some Sunday morning English word puzzles
14 October 2017

From the bartender’s corner: Gin #22 – “Only” Gin

It is sort of an unique name “Only”. This gin is distilled in Spain – near Barcelona to be precise. The base is neutral grain spirit and then during the distillation process the following are infused: juniper berries, jasmine, lemon balm, hibiscus, violet, rose petals, mallow, lavender, pansies, veronica and orange blossom.

From the botanicals, you can guess – and you would be right – that this is a very flowery gin. The nose and the finish is distinctly flowery. The palette was a little flat.

The bottle is a nice red and orange one.

Tried with gin and tonic first.

Category: Cocktails | 1 Comment on From the bartender’s corner: Gin #22 – “Only” Gin
5 October 2017

Nikispeak: A storage disk

In Miami airport, we were walking around when I came across a picture of an old 3.5inch disk. Showing it to Nikita, I explained – “Believe it or not, in the 1990s, this is how we stored data. Each one of them could store 1.4MB of data. Put in todays’s terms – just to store ONE of your iPhone pictures, you would need three or four of them. For one photo!!!”

Nikita weighed in what she had heard and said wisely “That just proves one thing…”

Expecting her to comment on the rapid progress of technology, I asked “What?”

Pat came the reply – “That you are really old, Dad”.

Touche!!

Category: Humor, Vacations | 4 Comments on Nikispeak: A storage disk
3 October 2017

From the bartender’s corner – Vancouver

This is a rather uncommon gin cocktail. It is a close cousin of the very traditional Martinez. Instead of maraschino liqueur, the twist in this drink is the Benedictine. This drink was created in the middle of last century in Sylvia Hotel overlooking the English Bay in Vancouver.

The ingredients include gin, sweet vermouth, Benedictine and orange bitters.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
28 September 2017

Presidential Trivia

To distract all my USA FB friends voicing their strong opinions for or against our current President’s tweets/statements on NFL players “taking the knee” (ha ha), here are some Presidential trivia questions. Hope both sides of the debate can work together to find the answers….

1. I was stunned to find out recently who our first President to have been born in a hospital was. Want to take a guess?

2. George Washington, of course, was our first President. Did you know that in both his terms, he was voted unanimously to be the President? Not a single electoral college of any party voted against him. Here is the question – which party did he represent in those two elections?

3. Kennedy, as we know was the youngest person to have been elected President. (Technically, Teddy Roosevelt became President when he was younger than Kennedy but that was not thru an election – previous President was assassinated). How about the oldest President to have been elected?

4. There has been only one President in the history of US who was a confirmed bachelor. Who was it?

5. On the other hand, there was another bachelor who was elected the President. And he married his sweetheart in White House while he was the President. In fact, even had his daughter born in the White House. Who was it?

6. We know many Presidents who have held the position multiple times. Almost always consecutively. (Of course, after Franklin Roosevelt’s 12 years of Presidency, there was a law promulgated that put a cap to 2 terms only). In fact, in the recent past, Obama, George W, Bill Clinton have been all 2 term presidents. There has been only one President who had 2 terms but not consecutively. He won, then lost a rebid and then won again the next time. Making him the only President who has 2 separate numbers for himself(like George HW Bush was 41 and his son was 43…). Who was it?

7. We have all heard about the crazy schedule of Presidents. President Obama, for example, wore the same color shirt and trousers to avoid wasting time in the morning in selecting clothes. On the other hand, there was a President that woke up every morning at 5AM only to practice piano for 2 long hours!! Who was it?

8. Being a President and being the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are two of the highest positions in US (in fact they are the highest positions in two of the three branches – Executive, Legislative and Judiciary wings). There was one President that has the distinction of being both (of course – at different times). Do you know who it is?

9. A sitting President was once pulled over and arrested for going too fast (eventually fined too). Who was it? I will give you a hint – he was crossing the speed limit while riding a horse!!

10. There was one fortunate President who survived two consecutive attempts to assassinate him within a space of 17 days – and I say fortunate since he survived both attempts. Here is the crazy thing. Both were attempted by women. In fact, those were the only instances of a woman ever attempting to assassinate a sitting US President. Who was that President?

Bonus question:
By most accounts, Anne Royall was the first female journalist of this country. She had tried, for months, to score the first ever woman conducted interview of a US President. The President just would have nothing if it. Anne came up with a devious plan. She had found out that the President regularly swam in the Potomac early mornings. In the nude!!! So, she simply snuck up on him one morning while he was in the river, gathered all his clothes and sat on them till he would agree to an interview! Who was that hapless President (no doubt he would consider himself lucky to be in the pre-selfie era 🙂 )

Category: Puzzles | 25 Comments on Presidential Trivia