The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

[Jake]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Is Ken your real name, or is it Kenneth? Have you ever gone by Kenny?

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage? What about non-alcoholic?


Do you plan on living in Indiana forever, or are you looking to move somewhere else eventually?


Also, how's your job search going?

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Why are you so awesome?

Pick one: Vox or Fender (Amps)

Rock or Rap?

If the only music you could listen to(beside the music you make) was one band's full discography, which band would it be?

I would say I'm so awesome because I'm completely comfortable with myself and showing who I am to other people, and try to challenge myself in a variety of ways to learn and experience new things or hone and refine skills I already have. I'm not a perfectionist and I'm not afraid of failure. I don't have to be THE best, I just have to be MY best.

I love the tone of Vox over Fender, always.

I'd probably go with hip hop. There's more happening there for a bassist. I love classic rock, cut my teeth on Zeppelin, love the Beatles and Pink Floyd. But hip hop gets me excited. I think there's a lot of really cool stuff in that game still, and I think apart from some harder to find niche stuff the rock game has become stagnant to my ears.

Choosing one band's discography...that's a tough one. I'll get back to you. Great questions all around, especially that one.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Is Ken your real name, or is it Kenneth? Have you ever gone by Kenny?
My "Christian" name is Kenneth. Up until fourth grade everyone called me Kenny. Now just my grandma and aunt do...everyone else knows me as Ken. In a more formal, professional setting I prefer Kenneth, but people that I'm well acquainted with can call me Ken.

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage? What about non-alcoholic?
I'm a booze aficionado, or at least as much as one can call oneself at the age of 22. If you really beat me down and hold me to it and threaten my life if I pick more than one, I'd say a Manhattan would be my drink of choice. Maraschino cherry in the glass, Woodford Reserve (bourbon and not rye, I know, but that's how I like 'em) shaken with the sweet vermouth...it's liquid perfection in my book. To mix that up a little bit, replace the cherry with a thimbleful of single malt scotch (Glenlivet 18 year is my pick) swirled in the glass and then dumped before pouring the Manhattan to make a Firefighter's Manhattan.

A very close tight second place is a good mojito. I've been making them with Rhum Agricole this summer, which is a bit different from your typical rums. I'll save the nerdism, but if you can find a bottle of La Favorite Rhum Agricole Blanc, buy two bottles. Enjoy half of one now. And be thankful you have another bottle and a half when the rum industry explodes in the near future the way vodkas blew up not too long ago.

For the past month I've been riding vodka martinis with a twist of lemon pretty hard. Chopin and Reyka are both great vodkas for this.

I also love wines...red especially. Love pinot noir. 2007 was a good year for California petite sirah (IMO, better and subtler than 2006). A waiter turned me on to Argentine malbecs, which are phenomenal. A good chardonnay from the Russian River Valley is good as well...but reds are where it's at for me.

Beer, I like stouts and porters. The occasional brown, pale, india pale...but for the most part, stouts and porters.

Nonalcoholic: water, green tea, iced tea, root beer, ginger ale, orange/grape soda.

Do you plan on living in Indiana forever, or are you looking to move somewhere else eventually?
Now that I have a part time gig that can cover my expenses, every job I'm applying to is out of state. Mostly on the East Coast. I'd love to live near Boston. There's a lot of government work that would be open to me on the Eastern seaboard from New Jersey down to North Carolina, so going east is definitely a viable option for me. I've heard from friends I'll appreciate Indiana more when I leave and come back to see family. I'm sure that's true. But I don't think being a lifer is for me.


Also, how's your job search going?
The job search is frustrating right now, as I'm sure you know. For the most part I'm keeping my head up. With my degree and the way the economy SHOULD rebuild itself in terms of new industries and infrastructure, I think it's a good time to be a physicist. I'm maybe a year to two years early on that, but I'm keeping my finger on the pulse and seeking out opportunities so I can make my play. I'm confident and optimistic, which can play a big part of it. I'm thankful to have the luxury of some income during my search, because I know plenty of people are having doors closed to them in the midst of all this.

 

[Chaos]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

In previous posts, you've given good advice on subjects including Men's fashion, fine dining and 'adult' alcoholic beverages. I'd figure you for someone twice your age.
Where / how did you develop an appreciation for these things at such a young age?

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

To be perfectly honest, the same magazine that published your signature (IIRC). I've taken Esquire since I was 18. I took GQ for a year and found it to be complete rubbish. Esquire always has great writing from cover to cover.

I was also dating a girl who was really into fashion so that got me into men's style a bit more seriously. We'd look at the magazines together. I had never been much on trendy stuff that my peers were wearing... The more "classic" styles appealed to me more. From there I've just developed actual enjoyment for shopping... which is a separate experience from buying. I'll go to a store to look at clothes, try them on, etc. etc. But typically won't buy anything. I'll wait for a sale, go in and pick my size off the rack and be out in under twenty minutes.


For dining, I honestly don't know what it was that set me on the kick of trying new things. Probably a good contribution was watching the Food Network. My grandmother and mother are both excellent "homestyle" cooks, so I grew up in their kitchens (along with my father's woodshop and garage). My approach to life in general is a little bit more "Why not?" so I'd adds bit and dashes of different spices when I could. Living by myself in college was wonderful... I could do whatever I wanted. It afforded me the opportunity to play with Caribbean and Central American styles a bit at dinner parties for friends. I'd do a few chili nights with friends also, which was always an adventure in the spice rack. This summer I've really gotten into Asian food, especially sushi. I think I've consumed a solid 10lbs of raw or seared ahi and yellowfin.

This past weekend I went to a Belgian restaurant that did savory crepes. The waitress took my date's order and asked for mine and I said, "Oh, just bring me whatever you think is the best on the menu." She went on to talk about a duck crepe and then a vegetable crepe and I interrupted her and said, "I want you to surprise me. If you could have any crepe from the menu tonight, that is the crepe I want." I ended up with an incredibly delicious roasted tomato, mushroom and artichoke crepe. So, doing stuff like that is fun. I know it makes the waiter's sweat when a patron does something like that, because it puts the pressure of the transaction back on them. But so long as you aren't a picky eater (and I am obviously not) I think it's a great way to go, especially at a new restaurant.

So I guess my attitude toward food has grown because my parents fixed us new recipes growing up, and at a restaurant I'm not afraid to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I went vegetarian for a semester just to see how I liked it (I did, for the most part) but was dating a Serbian girl and was invited to a traditional family party. Her mother offered me something with meat in it and then apologized, but I told her I'd rather have the experience of trying something new, especially when my diet was voluntary.



As for drinking...I tended bar for a semester in college and got to know some really, really great bartenders that way. I got turned on to mojitos watching the Miami Vice movie... I made such terrible mojitos at first, but now... I'm pretty proud of them. When I get passionate about something I like to learn all about it, and start from the beginning. I wanted to be a good bartender, not just a kid pulling beers and making rum & cokes or shooters. I read anything I could get my hands on, found blogs to see what was hot in other cities, watched other bartenders whenever I could. There's a great video podcast called Art of the Drink that does classic cocktails and updates on classics. I'm tight with the manager at a martini lounge back at school and he's just as big a nerd as I am. He brought some incredible rums back from a trip abroad, I've done wine and sake tastings for he and some friends, it's just been a complete blast digging into what is really a truly American phenomenon with cocktails.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

My first drink ever was a whiskey drink at a non-greek frat party my freshman year of school. The guys had made a jug of whiskey cider (whiskey mixed with apple cider). Stuff was delicious, and was mixed surprisingly well all things considered. I was hooked on whiskey. For a while all I would drink was straight Jack Daniels on the rocks... sometimes straight from the bottle. When I turned 21, I had already become the bartender among my friends and also was working in a bar, so I felt some obligation to know how to make proper drinks. These days (all of two years after the Jack from the bottle days...) you'll find me with a manhattan, martini or red wine. I mellowed pretty quickly because working in a college dance club...those people are just pathetic drunks. I didn't want to be the guy trying to get a bartender to pour long or griping about the price of a rum and coke. So my attitude is borne out of a love for drink as much as it is a respect for the crap bartenders occasionally have to put up with.

The worst thing I ever did in a bar was knock over my own half-full manhattan, my fourth of the night. The bartender was great about it, offered to replace it because he knew I wasn't going to get belligerent, but I told him if I couldn't keep one drink on the bar I didn't need another. I've gone back to that bar several times since and have always been treated well, to the point of having rounds for friends comp'ed and a seat cleared for me.

SO

The short answer is I've read Esquire religiously for the past four formative years, I dig in deep on things I care about to learn everything I can, and I love experimenting and trying new things just for the sake of new experience.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Sounds like you are a smooth operator!

 

[Ninja Monkey]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

I would say I'm so awesome because I'm completely comfortable with myself and showing who I am to other people, and try to challenge myself in a variety of ways to learn and experience new things or hone and refine skills I already have. I'm not a perfectionist and I'm not afraid of failure. I don't have to be THE best, I just have to be MY best.

I love the tone of Vox over Fender, always.

You sir, have won 3 internets for correct answers.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Are you a fisherman / hunter?

What do you read for fun, if at all?

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Are you a fisherman / hunter?

What do you read for fun, if at all?

I've wanted to get into fishing for a while. Nothing against hunting, just not really my bag. I think the challenge of fly fishing is really cool.

I like to read a good bit of political and philosophical writings, biographies and memoirs, science...nonfiction, mostly. I have to force myself to read fiction; it's not that I dislike it, it's just not the first thing I grab.

I really love reading Eastern religion and philosophy texts (Grew up Presbyterian so I feel like I "already know" a lot of the western stuff). I guess I also "avoid" fiction because I'm attracted to learning about different cultures in our world.

I also (unsurprisingly) REALLY like the heady physics/cosmology/philosophy stuff. The cosmology unit in my astrophysics class and the "frontiers of quantum physics" as it were in my quantum mechanics class very much show how blurred the line is at the very edges of the unknown.

Oh! And I also read comics/graphic novels. I'm more of a DC fan, I think the writing is better and the characters are a bit richer. My favorite hero is Green Lantern, with Batman a close second (Batman used to be #1). My roommate turned me on the "new age" of comics and it is a truly legit form of literature now.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

As a barman myself, I like your kind. Come to my pub any time.

I guess we are both at similar stages in our lives, graduates in the middle of a recession. I'm finding it pretty hard to stay positive about the whole thing and have become kind of bitter about the university and degree process, have you found yourself wondering whether you should have done it at all? Maybe not, maybe it is different for more academic subjects like physics.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Oh, and would you be so kind as to share some of your favourite drinks recipies for me to try out at work this evening?

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Which of the following three manly men do you most identify with, and why?

1. Joe Montana

2. Sean Connery

3. Chuck Norris

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

As a barman myself, I like your kind. Come to my pub any time.

I guess we are both at similar stages in our lives, graduates in the middle of a recession. I'm finding it pretty hard to stay positive about the whole thing and have become kind of bitter about the university and degree process, have you found yourself wondering whether you should have done it at all? Maybe not, maybe it is different for more academic subjects like physics.

I don't regret choosing the degree I did. Part of the trouble with it is that the "normal" avenues for employment require an MS or PhD, and at this point I'm not convinced I want a higher degree in physics. I'm leaning towards an MBA or education degree. Right now there's a huge demand for teachers from the STEM disciplines, so I could effectively have my masters paid for and be guaranteed a job after. It's an idea I'm toying with presently but am not yet sure it's the path for me.

On the whole, the recession blows. To date I've applied to something like 350 jobs (most of them basic retail/restaurant gigs since the wheels turn more slowly for a *real* job) and had 3 interviews from that pool. I feel like part of the trouble I'm having is people see my CV and the Education: BS Physics line and realize I'd just be taking their job as a paycheck for the interim. There's also an intimidation factor...there's a bit of heft with that degree and I've gotten the impression a lot of HR people are apprehensive about talking to me because they know before we've even sat down that I'm smarter than they... Oh well... :33:

I'm coming around to the idea of doing some sort of consulting work...the question, though, is "What kind of consulting work?" I'm largely drawn to the idea of working on a project-by-project basis where things aren't as static as they can be in the stereotypical 9 to 5 scene. At this point, I'm 22, have a BS degree and now am trying to figure out just what it is I want to do with my life. I've been narrowing it down from one end, knowing that I don't like sales at all or pure research/academia...but what I actually want to do is something I've not yet figured out. I just know what I don't want to do.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Oh, and would you be so kind as to share some of your favourite drinks recipies for me to try out at work this evening?

Absolutely! First, I'll say that I'm a slap-dash bartender. I "feel" the proportions out as much as I do actually measure. When I was tending in a bar, we were on a freepour system, so I learned to count my pours and that is how I prefer to mix.

So, if you're using a jigger...
1 count ~ 1/4 oz

My pours typically come out just a shade long because I don't make the swiftest cuts. If I'm doing a four count, 1 2 and 3 come evenly, count 4 is more like 3/4 a single count, and the cut is about 1/3-1/2 count.

That's as best I can explain it... I've never had a complaint about my mixes. If I'm at home or mixing for a friend, the flavor of the alcohol will be present (I like the taste of booze, and generally don't believe in masking it) but I try very hard to balance it with the other flavors in the drink.

I also try to keep drinks served "up" to about 4oz. Here in America we have some very large cocktail glasses (usually about 7-8oz IIRC) but I believe in both portion control and keeping with the traditional size of a proper drink...

Alas, before I nerd out too terribly much more...

Manhattan:
Long six count of Woodford Reserve Kentucky bourbon (the proper way is with rye. It's hard to find decent rye though, and I prefer the taste of bourbon anyway)
Three count of sweet (red) vermouth. This three IS cut short... the measure is probably close to a two and a half to two-and-two-thirds count.
2-3 dashes angostura bitters

In a shaker, combine above ingredients and shake well. Bruise* the hell out of it. It's bourbon. Beat it up and make it your little... well, you get the idea. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass over a maraschino cherry. Eating the cherry upon finishing the drink is encouraged.

Variation: Firefighter's Manhattan (mentioned above). Mix the bourbon, vermouth and bitters as before. Instead of the cherry, swirl a splash of single malt scotch round in the glass, dumping excess (trust me). I like to use The Glenlivet 18. I've tried it with blended scotch and it was not good at all (I don't like blended scotch in the first place). I did not like Laphroaig 10 when we tried it. I think I would most recommend something at least 15 years old and either Speyside or Highland.


*Note: Bruising is when the ice chips while shaking, clouding the drink a bit. Generally undesirable with clear drinks like a martini, if you're a purist.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Mojito
Okay. This one is labor intensive. Before you go out and buy the other ingredients, make sure you have a muddler. Got one? Okay, here we go... (Note: the recipe below is a double.)

(Note: I take this drink very seriously)

You will need
6 ripe Mexican limes (yes, 6. Yes, Mexican Limes. No sweetened lime juice. No Indian limes. No plastic squeeze limes. These ones are a similar shade of green to key limes and a little larger than a golf ball.) Cut each in half, quarter each half lime.

8-12 sprigs of fresh. Pull the leaves from each stem. Discard stems. Yes, this is a lot of mint. Yes, it's way more than most any other recipe you'll come across. Throw out any bad leaves. I mean it.

3-4 heaped tablespoons of cane sugar. I prefer cane, you can use granulated. I don't much care for superfine bar sugar.

In a (sizable) shaker, combine all ingredients (I like to layer them a bit) and muddle well. Don't worry so much about if the muddler tears your mint leaves, you're trying to get as much juice out of the limes right now as possible. You're muddling the limes instead of juicing them so that you: release the aromatic oils of the mint leaves by crushing them AND introduce the flavor of the lime via the oils in the peel. This way, it tastes like LIME and not just sour/bitter with some sugar added.

Fill shaker with ice and add, oh I don't know... several ounces of rum. Let's call it... umm... 4oz, I guess? Maybe 5-6oz. Somewhere in the 4-5 range though, I imagine. I typically eyeballed these. I would be asked "How much rum is in this?" and the response would be "Oh...enough."

I like to use a good aged/dark rum. Pyrat XO here in the states is phenomenal, and a bit sweet/citrusy. I also like silver rhum agricole, which is a drier rum. Just using something that tastes decent to sip instead of Bacardi trash. You've already gone to so much effort with those limes and mint, right?

Shake it up. Well. You still have to dissolve some sugar that the limes didn't get. You did add the sugar, didn't you? My roommate had a bad habit of not doing so. The drink sucks if you make it this way. Avoid this.

Strain into a highball (no ice). Top with club soda and stir. Quite honestly, it should look like a morning piss with bits of mint floating in it. Garnish with the top of a mint sprig or if you're fancy, sugar cane. It should be a good balance of sweet and sour (I do like mine a little sweet). If it tastes terrible, you probably need to add a bit more sugar. Just stir it in. Or you used Bacardi. In which case, *sigh*


Margarita
I'm including this one not because I love it so much myself as my friends rave about the way I make them. It is good though... (with all that dang tequila it had better be)

1.5 oz Patron Silver
1 oz Patron Reposado
1 oz Patron Añejo
1 oz Cointreau
4-6oz (I honestly don't know how much...) Fresh limeade (like lemonade, but with limes. I buy mine pre-made. DON'T use a sour mix made from the syrup crap...it's terrible)

Shake all ingredients, pour into margarita glass. Rim with salt before pouring if you're into that. I'm not. Garnish with a lime wheel if you're feeling festive.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Strawberry Daiquiri

Note: This WILL murder you. This is not a prissy strawberry daq. This is a man's strawberry daiquiri. Hold the glass with pride (for as long as you can) and if anyone jeers at you, offer them a taste. They will then understand why it was acceptable for a man such as yourself to order a drink garnished with an umbrella. It's an amazing buzz though because of all the fruit/sugar. I drank one 23oz glass of one of these and had a decent afternoon. I would recommend clearing your schedule first though. There are no ice cubes in this to water it down.

Blender: I have a vintage Oster blender my aunt found at a garage sale. It could probably blend leather. If your blender cannot handle ice (will be explained), I don't know what to tell you...buy one of those "Will it Blend" blenders or something that can chew up an aluminum can like it's a midafternoon snack.

You will need 2 pints of strawberries (well, a pint and a half...the cartons are by the pint though). Buy them at peak freshness even if you aren't making the daiquiries right away.

Cut the tops off all the berries and freeze them overnight. If you can do it on a sheet pan, do. The juice would tend to freeze them together. If you have a knife that can handle it, you CAN cut them frozen. Just be really friggin careful.

Okay, in your blender pitcher add (in this order):
One squeezy plastic lime juice (I think these are like 2/3 a cup to a full cup).
Half pint of strawberries
Two serving spoonfuls of cane sugar (A big spoon. Like you would use to serve a casserole. The REALLY big kind. Like THIS.)
Fill blender with strawberries
Another spoonful of sugar


Now fill the pitcher with rum. This should be close to half a bottle. I like to use Appleton Estate V/X (again, a dark rum).

Blend and enjoy



For a Piña Colada, I use a similar approach. Replace the sugar and lime juice with a can of coconut cream. Frozen pineapple for frozen strawberries, and I like to use equal parts coconut, pineapple and regular rum.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Which of the following three manly men do you most identify with, and why?

1. Joe Montana

2. Sean Connery

3. Chuck Norris

Sean Connery just on pure class alone.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

You are asked to plan a party on a summer evening for about 100 people. Your budget is $10,000. There are no other restrictions, and you are given free reign on all decisions.

Describe this party in as much detail as you can muster.

 

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Oh sweet Jesus man...


I don't even know where to begin... give me a bit



Okay, Ninja Monkey, if I could listen to only one artist/group's music, it would probably have to be The Beatles. It's kind of a cop out, but...yeah. So many cool songs with so many different sounds.