this could quite possibly be the single most disgusting concoction i have ever come across, barring anything meat-infused of course. thanks stevie B for bringing it to my attention. i think. the BLOOD SHOOTER is based on the famous CEMENT MIXER shot, which is literally known for its blood CURDLING qualities (lime juice + baileys = ew). aries rules the brain and head area–this would be their libation–frankly i can’t think of a better astro match. happy halloween!

BLOODY BRAIN SHOOTER
Channel your inner mad scientist with this Bloody Brain Shooter. Mixing acidic lime juice and Irish cream causes the cream to curdle, creating brain-like strands in the shot.

1 1/4 oz. strawberry vodka such as Stoli
1/8 oz. Rose’s lime juice
3/4 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
Splash of grenadine

Chill vodka for better smoothness. Add vodka and lime juice to a shaker, shake and strain into a shot glass. Using a straw, dip some Bailey’s Irish Cream into the shot. Once you submerge the straw into the Bailey’s put your finger on top of the straw to hold the Bailey’s in the straw. Dip the straw tip into the vodka and slowly release your top finger. The Bailey’s will curdle a little bit due to the lime juice and you should be able to make strands of Bailey’s.

Repeat the straw/Bailey’s process to build a “brain” in the shot glass. Add a splash of grenadine to the concoction to add the ‘blood’ to the mix. Down the hatch as a shot.

VIA FOLKINZ VIA FINE LIVING

as i probably mentioned about a hundred times now, i was priviledged enough to spend every other summer of my childhood in scotland visiting my family. until i started to get bored of the bi-annual excursions (in my teens), the trips were the highlight of my year. of particular interest to my three sisters and i, were the TENNENT’S LAGER GIRLS. my grandfather (pisces, of course) would enjoy a beer religiously every lunch (which was at one o’clock ON THE DOT) and we would always wait in anticipation to see which girl’s cans would adorn the can that particular day. each girl seemed prettier than the next, and we would have serious debates as to which was the most beautiful. i don’t believe we ever agreed on this even once! apparently i saved one of these hilarious cans (shocker) because i found it in my stuff (of which there’s a plenty) and just had to blog it. i think it’s time for a PAM ANDERSON or DITA VON TEESE–inspired micro brew, don’t you? check out some other old girlie cans on THE GREAT AUSSIE BEER SHED

wow, how awesome do my halloween bottle labels look? jessica of jessica of MOONKISSD, used my clip art during a retreat she attended: “sex, death & magic,” out in CA (where else, right)? so thanks jessica, now we can see how these labels really do dress up the party. get martha’s and my clip art here:

it takes a brit to sign off on a good gin. it’s kind of a funny coincidence, but every time a sample of gin arrives at my door, it seems a scottish relative is not far behind. those brits have an extraordinary sense of smell when it comes to certain types of alcohol—3,000 miles is seemingly not an obstacle.

enter aunt diana… she’s a typical libra without the nasty side effects. i do believe she’s even more balanced that the average well-balanced libra. so much so, in fact, that she lends her balance to others by practicing therapeutic reiki. but reiki or not, aunt diana likes the sauce. namely, the stuff that comes from juniper berries, that goes by the name of BEEFEATER.

shortly after my sample of BEEFEATER arrived out of nowhere on my doorstep, my mom announced to my father that her sister was coming to stay for a spell. well, it wasn’t 24 hours later that a gigundo bottle of supersized BEEFEATER had joined the liquor cabinet. clearly, my dad was scared. he was shakin’ in his boots at the thought of not having my aunt’s nightcap of choice on hand, which was BEEFEATER, which was usually mixed in a G & T. that would be an embarrassment though, wouldn’t it?

well, i wasn’t exactly a speeding bullet on the news of these sleek shot glasses ($22). they’ve been blogged to bits all over the web, but i stumbled on them recently and it was love at first sight. ironic though, because can you think of any two things that go together less than drinking and shooting? ever see Apocalypse Now… well don’t.

so, what exactly is it that makes guns so sexy? the fact that we (or, I) find something so lethal to be alluring is a curiosity. i guess it’s the power to end life. power’s an aphrodisiac so “they” say…

shooting a gun is kind of empowering, i highly recommend it. and hell, with all this talk of a revolution it might be good to have a little metal friend. that said, if i carried a gun in my purse i’d shoot my pinky off at best. i’m totally psyched they opened a shooting club in manhattan. if you want to have fun with some real bullets head on over to manhattan’s new shooting club, WEST SIDE PISTOL RANGE.

VIA URBAN GIRL SQUAD

VIA BARSTOOLS

once upon a time, it seems like an eternity ago now, i was mixing a drink. or, i was attempting to mix a drink anyway. i had lemon juice, green apple schnapps, peach puree, maraschino syrup, and i hate to think what other stains stuck to my front. from my fingers to my elbows my skin felt like fly paper–someone must have dipped me in a vat of simple syrup when i wasn’t looking. the jigger kept jumping out of my hand and i’m lucky the mixing glass didn’t end up in my customer’s eye. what a night to be butter fingers… the bar manager was breathing down my neck, the world was closing in, i was praying the drawer would be right, and… and then i was called a hot mess. suddenly, everything was awesome. because hey, if i’m gonna be a mess, then i’ll take the hot part too. i was a hot mess and i kinda liked it.

which brings us to the cantaloupe… this yummy fruit is ruled by the moon and is hence a cancer. if any fruit is a hot mess, it must be the innards of a over ripe melon… juicy, goopy, sweet, fragrant, wet, dripping, tantalizing, delicious… does this sound like any of the cancer’s you’ve known?

this cancerian libation was created at my last bachelorette party. it was the end of the night and we were winding down from my astro-bar cheffing lesson… i suddenly remembered that we had not used pisco in any of our concoctions thus far. heaven forbid, pisco is one of my faves! i immediately set to rectifying that by creating a drink on the spot. i threw in some lemon cooking oil, muddled a few leaves of basil, a few chunks of melon, and shook that baby up. i thought it might very well taste like crap. i poured all the girls a sample and waited for their reaction… luckily, it was positive. their faces lit up with surprise, a lot of mmnnns all around, and then someone called that drink a hot mess! everyone chimed in that this was indeed the perfect name for such an unwieldy yet successful bevvie. and the HOT MESS was born…

HOT MESS:
1 1/2 oz pisco
handful of melon chunks
3-5 leaves basil
dash lemon cooking oil
1/2 oz raw simple syrup
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

muddle basil, melon. add other ingredients. shake over ice. double strain as per below into glass. enjoy!

join “today show” correspondent jill rappaport, Q1043 radio personality maria milito, “the wonder team” from animal planet’s “underdog to wonderdog,” “law and order’s” richard belzer, award-winning hip hop choreographer shane sparks, best known for his work as a judge and choreographer on the american television dance competitions “so you think you can dance” and “america’s best dance crew,” and other special guests for the 2nd annual animal care affair gala.

starring fashionably dressed dogs in the Bella Starlet Dog Clothes & Bows—the world’s first ever celebrity dog line!

food, drinks, silent auction, fashion show… thursday october 22nd from 7-11pm. sponsored open bar 7-10. tickets $75. benefits nyc’s homeless and rescued pets.

Sometimes politicians need to be reminded whom they really work for. Now is one of those times.

Last week, several dozen members of Congress put the interests of AT&T ahead of yours and signed a letter to the FCC opposing the agency’s efforts to protect Net Neutrality.

AT&T and these members of Congress were hoping we wouldn’t notice this deception. Well, it was noticed, and now we need to band together and send a message from the public…

Tell the FCC: Stand with the Public for Net Neutrality

THE GOAL: 10,000 signatures to push back against the members of Congress who buckled under telecom industry pressure. each and every one of us needs to send the FCC an urgent message of support for Net Neutrality.

GO TO THIS LINK TO SIGN THE LETTER.

i thought this was pretty cool… blog stats from blog world expo in las vegas this october 15th-17th 2009:

* Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
* More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
* Over 57 million Americans read blogs.
* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
* 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
* 9% of internet users say they have created blogs.
* 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog.
* Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs.
* over 120 thousand blogs are created every day.
* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.
* 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs.
* 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006.
* 51% of blog readers shop online.
* Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.

check out this HUGE shaker at target. it stood about a foot tall, and it was so wide i couldn’t fit my hand around it! as you can see they also had a single serve shaker and a normal size shaker. the big ass one holds 50 something ounces. that’s a whole lotta martini…