The Steve Reynolds Program - Issue #16
Issue Sixteen and it comes one week after Issue Fifteen? Who the hell am I, Wee Willie Keeler? I'm not sure, but let's just do what Terry Kirkman's biggest hit says and cherish me as I cherish you! Sorry for that corn, but this quarantine is destroying all social norms!
We're pretending this is over?!?
It's amazing the people just saying "enough already, it's May!" I'm playing it safe. I hope you do too.
The Stuff I'm Digging
Paducah Sunset - a drink I keep going to is one I concocted with a soda I found at Barkeep in OKC a while ago, Angostura Lemon Lime with Bitters (basically Mexican Sprite with a few dashes of bitters added). Now available at Spirit Shop too, the Paducah Sunset is kind of a college kid's old-fashioned. A couple of fingers of Bourbon, top with the Lemon Lime soda, stir, and add a Luxardo cherry. You'll feel like you're on a porch in McCracken County watching the sun set on the birthplace of everybody's favorite country saxophone player Boots Randolph.
Amazon Prime Video- Yeah, yeah, Netflix and HBO have the shows everybody talks about, but Amazon Prime has the weirdest and widest selection of things you had no idea existed. Why watch Jerry Seinfeld's new special rehashing the same old same old when you could be watching the hilarious and savage I Wish I Was Bitter by Andy Kindler from years ago? Why see the latest Michael Bay megabudget explosion fest when you can watch Supermarionation action Thunderbirds Are Go? The other night I watched a cartoon that charmed me in its flirtation with copyright violation and then went to sleep with what I now call "Visual Melatonin" - Ken Burns' Baseball. So many oddities from the most evil corporation in town.
Van Heflin - Yes, I'm stanning an old actor no one remembers. He's from Oklahoma, he looks like Jack Elam's brother, and he could act like a motherscratcher. First noticed him in his Oscar-nominated role as a tortured alcoholic faithful to his friend (read: 50's code for gay) in Johnny Eager. He's even better in The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers as the hero while a young Kirk Douglas is the heel and then his classic roles in westerns like 3:10 To Yuma and Shane are perfect. Move over, Dean Cameron. This is the best Okie actor there be!
Honey Beans - I peeked into the West African grocery store (its name Grace International didn't tip me off what it was for years) in the weirdest strip mall in town and gave these legumes a shot. And I loved them. They're like black-eyed peas but better. ( Maybe they're the Bob Pollard to the black-eyed peas' Jim Pollard?) They taste great and I'll go back at some point for more and support my sweet local West African grocery store.
Look At Me Time
Man, I had some great gigs lined up before this thang showed up. But no ragrets! I'm PUTTING OUT MY BOOK VERY VERY SOON! The cover proposal by the artist blew my mind. I can't wait to see the design. Then I put the tote board on my wall with the goal of selling fifty-seven books. See you next week!