WILD THING

How is the USA faring on COVID-19 compared to our European partners?  From the New York Times this morning:

We have had more deaths because we have more people.  On a per/capita basis, the UK seems not to be faring well.  Reasons?

• Government policy to keep the economy going.
• Spotty vaccination rate and mask-wearing.
• Decline of vaccine effectiveness.

I had this posting ready yesterday, but the news of the day got in the way.  Anyway, my Sundays are predictable.  I could have watched the World Series, PGA and an assortment of NFL games.  So I did something totally different.  Has to do with WILD THINGS.

First, though, my meals this past week.  Once a month, 15 Craigside has something called Manuahi Market.  Manuahi means free, meaning that there is an assortment of snacks and stuff provided by the dining room.  Thought I'd try something different by orchestrating a dinner with their offerings using local liquor:

Manapua, edamame (boiled soybeans), konbu maki(macroalgae and pork), salad, and three drinks, Coors beer (I should have had the Aloha Beer), Fid Street Gin and Old Pali Road whiskey.  I wrote about the gin earlier this year:

In the 19th Century, the arrival of English ships in Honolulu Harbor led to a strong Victorian influence.  Named after a sailor's word for "drink," "Fid" Street, now known as lower Nu'uanu Avenue in Honolulu, became the place where thirsty and sea-weary reveled.

Not only is this the first gin I've ever seen brewed here, but Fid Street became Nuuanu Avenue, where I now live.

According to Hawaii legend, the gods reside in the ever-present mist where the peaks of the Koolau Mountains meet the heavens.  Tropical rainfall from this mist is filtered for generations through volcanic rock to become the pure artesian water we source to create our legendary whiskey.

Nuuanu Avenue heads toward the Koolaus, and became Old Pali Road.  Old Pali Road whiskey is brewed by Koolau Distillery, a company that was founded in 2018 by two U.S. Marines.  The Chief Executive Officer is Eric Dill, was serving in Iraq when soldiers in another unit were busted for making moonshine in their barracks.  He decided on the spot to make this a career when he retired.  Also Chief Operations Office is Ian Brooks, who served in the Middle East and has a street named after him in Rhamadi, Iraq.

Koolau Distillery is the second Hawaii whiskey distillery.  Their brew is more a bourbon than scotch, for they start with a mash of 91% corn.

You can tour their facility at 905 Kalanianaole Highway, Unit 5014, Kailua on Oahu.  Costs $20 with advanced reservation.  Call 808-261-0685.

Fid Street Gin is the first to be created on Maui.  Haliimaile Distilling Company is located in Upcountry Makawao.  They have a range of products:

• Fid Street Gin.
• Mahina Premium Rum
• Pau Maui Vodka.
• Paniolo Blended Whiskey.

They too host tours, for only $12.  You get to learn what they're doing, then end in their tasting room where you can try three of their drinks.  Do you know why?  Hawaii state law states only three/person/tour.  You also get to keep the shot glass.  They have a private tour for $25.  Call 808-758-5154.

My other meals this week including a hot dog to watch NCAA football.  This actually was an Italian sausage with croissant as buns.

Then for dinner Saturday night I had chicken katsu, where I fried the 15 Craigside version in butter, and had it with a salad and creamed spinach.

Yesterday for lunch I enjoyed a cheese, foie gras and artichoke assortment:

I prepared four sauces for dipping:  blue cheese/truffle, horseradish/catsup/hot sauce, balsamic and oil and salsa.

After that meal, I had to do something other than watch more sports on TV, so I went to Amazon Prime, and glanced through their top layer of recommendations that are free for Prime members.  Something Wild, released in 1986, caught my attention, for I remembered seeing this a very long time ago, and couldn't remember what happened at the end, except that it was totally unexpected.  Went to Rotten Tomatoes, and their reviewers gave it a 91 rating.  Noted to be a screwball comedy.

Wild Thing by the Troggs, reaching #1 on Billboard in 1966, was the theme.  About that song, there was a spoof by Chip Taylor of Bobby Kennedy of Wild Thing, and another by Bill Minkin, that got squashed after the assassination.

Sister Carol sang the song at the end, but if you watch it now you will know the ending.  So don't if you wish to first see the film.

So anyway, Melanie Griffith plays this wild girl who rooks a strait-laced executive (Jeff Daniels, at the age of 31) into traveling with her from New York to Pennsylvania.  He generally plays nice guys, and you've seen him in a whole number of films, like The Purple Rose of Cairo and Dumb and Dumber.  

The film reminded me of one of my personal relationships, and also of the pandemic.  There are waves of climaxes that reach a peak at a 10th-year high school reunion, where husband and felon Ray Liotta makes a smashing entry.  There is a final climax near the end that seemed predictable.  The end, though, was Hollywoodish, unexpected, and nothing close to what I was imagining when I started watching Something Wild for this second time.

Melanie Griffith is now 64, and doing some research, I found out she is the daughter of Tippi Hedren.  She was the primary actress in both The Birds and Marnie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  

Griffith went on to make Working Girl in 1988, where she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.  This is the film where she one-upped Sigourney Weaver.  She was once married to Antionio Banderas and Don Johnson, from which came daughter Dakota Johnson of Fifty Shades notoriety.

Jonathan Demme passed away in 2017 at the age of 75.  He began his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, and went on to also direct The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, where he won the Oscar for Best Director, with the movie also gaining four other major awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.  In 1993, he directed Philadelphia, which got Tom Hanks his first Best Actor Oscar.

The Dow Jones Industrials rose 139 to 36,053, an all-time high for the first time ending above 36,000.

The Dow 36K prediction was first made by journalist James Glassman and economist Kevin Hassett in October 1999. The Dow was hovering just above 10,000 when their book, "Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market" was published.

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