Dog On A Root

Free Is Fun - jim Young “I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing.” Queen Latifah I am proud of my Scottish Heritage. And at the risk of perpetuating a myth let me just say “Free” is my second favourite four letter word. It seems there was a lot more free stuff when I was young. Post-war manufacturing growth and the new medium of television brought about inventive marketing strategies to combat fierce competition. This ultimately resulted in free giveaways and mail-in prizes to encourage brand loyalty. The brand loyalty concept didn’t really work on me though. As a youngster during the 50s and 60s my only loyalties lay with whatever flashy give-away toy caught my eye as I followed my mother down the aisles of the grocery store. And there were a lot of them to choose from. One of my favourites that comes to mind was the small plastic submarines that used to come in boxes of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. After filling them with baking soda and dropping them into a...

 

  The Harvey Wallbanger - jim Young This recipe is from “Chapter 5: Common Cocktails” of my new book “Belly up to the Bar, Cocktails for Two” . In addition to cocktail recipes, as you will read below I try to provide a bit of the background of the origins of the cocktails along with some personal anecdotes and family stories. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of “Belly up to the Bar” , it’s available on Amazon or you can contact me at dogonaroot@gmail.com The Harvey Wallbanger was a popular cocktail I discovered in bars in the 1970s when I first came of drinking age. It’s too bad that it’s not as readily available as it once was, but there’s no reason you can’t make them at home.  Harvey Wallbanger (2.5) Stuff You'll Need: 1 oz Vanilla Liqueur 1½ oz Vodka Chilled Orange Juice Slice of Lemon Do This: 1. Pour Vodka and Vanilla Liqueur over ice cubes in a highball glass. 2. Top with Orange Juice. 3. Gently stir. 4. Garnish with a slice of lemon. The Harvey Wallbanger wa...

The Final Review - jim Young “At the end of the day, all that matters is love and memories. So make sure that you give it and make sure you make them.” - anon Many people have reported seeing their lives flash before their eyes just before death. But of course those people that tell us that, didn’t really die. They only suffered a near death experience. So we don’t know for certain if that also happens with people that have actually died. However, not everyone that experiences a near death experience has reported this phenomenon. But maybe they just hadn't gotten all the way there yet. Maybe if they had gotten a moment or two closer to their actual death, their film migt've started to roll. At what point does your inner stage manager cue the lighting operator to lower your house lights and call for the projector to roll? I wonder if any of these people also saw a quick countdown from 8 to 2 accompanied with a little beep that counted off the seconds to go as each number appeare...

 

 

- jim Young “Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it.” - Adolf Hitler I’m getting more than a little annoyed with how so many people ask why I am (as many Canadians like me are) so concerned with what Donald Trump is doing but not what our government is doing. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I can’t help but believe that many others may share my thoughts on this. First of all it’s an ignorant question which presupposes that I can’t be concerned with more than one issue at a time. How insulting is that? It’s the old either/or syndrome. As if I can’t be concerned about more than one thing at a time. It’s led us as a whole down a very dangerous path. It seems we shouldn’t help ANY refugees until we help ALL our veterans first. We shouldn’t help ANY of the unemployed until we help ALL of our senior citizens first. God help the children of these people. What would they suppose they would ever do if both of their children were drowning? Save the oldest first w...