Fin De Semana! 5-23-14

Maybe we’re all being too hard on Garth Brooks. Todd Snider thinks so. After reading his story about him, maybe you’ll agree. There have certainly been an increasing number of open letters to Garth in the last couple of years. Like it or not, there’s a lot of hope wrapped up in him and what his return might mean.

An interesting wrinkle in the ongoing drug wars in Juarez- Billboards in El Paso are now referencing the struggle right across the river.

I’m sure there’s something to the upcoming whiskeypocalypse, but when smaller distillers are the ones telling you to hoard bourbon, I find it a little suspect. I only say this because I can still get limes for my tacos.

What I’m Listening To:

Juan Cirerol. I have no idea how I was so late to the game on this guy. Juan does his thing so well it looks easy and makes you wonder why someone wasn’t doing it before. His mix of norteño and American folk is genius. Mixing the plonky guitar rhythms of the two neighboring countries into Cirerol has found a style that simultaneously feels new and familiar to sing his songs of druggy misadventure. Even without speaking Spanish his playful smartassedness comes through his delivery, finding a satisfying middle ground between Chalino Sanchez and Bob Dylan.

What I’m Drinking

I’m not one for clear liquors or sweet drinks. Imagine my surprise when my wife made mojitos with a bottle of the nice rum my in-laws brought from their home in  Puerto Rico. I’m sure it breaks all the rules, but she combines a 1/4 cup of simple syrup that she’s chilled in the fridge, then muddles exactly 11 mint leaves (she’s very serious about this number) with a pinch of sugar in the glass. Then she adds the simple syrup, fills the glass with ice, adds a 1/4 cup of white rum and the juice of one lime, stirs and tops it off with club soda. Like I said, this is the opposite of what I’d normally drink and I loved it. It’s great in the 90 degree evenings we’ve been having.