O-Val

Where is the next podcast?!? When will it be out? What are you guys doing anyway?

Patience, patience… John K. is doing a modeling shoot in northern Ohio and I’m busy counting my winnings from the PUR Tour ($38). We’ll do one tomorrow morning, I promise.

un goût d’été

Summer is my favorite season and France is my favorite country. We had an email a few podcasts back from a listener who was on his way to France to watch the tour. We advised him to partake in the typical summertime drink of France, Pastis. More specifically, Ricard, a pastis from Marseille. It is an apéritif enjoyed by the French, typically before a meal. To follow is correct Ricard preparation technique.

1) Assemble necessary ingredients – ice, proper glasses, ricard, chilled water

2) After adding 2 to ice cubes, pour in 1.5 oz. of Ricard.

3) This step is the most important and can only be achieved to satisfaction after many trials. You add water to taste. Some like it stronger, some do not. If you make the first one very strong then you tongue goes numb and you have to make the subsequent Ricards very strong. Experimentation is critical.

4) The Ricard from the bottle is a clearish amber colour. After adding water it becomes cloudy and looks like this.

5) Enjoy a little taste of southern France in the summer!

6) Bonus points — the tray I am using (a gift from my lovely wife) is a bar serving platter, circa 1960, and shows the Tour route from that year.

Fashion Police

talian cyclist Ricardo Ricco (C) leaves the Coni headquarters where he held a presser, after he was interviewed by an anti-doping prosecutor, in Rome on July 30, 2008.

As JK in NC points out, Ricco should get a 2 year suspension for this outfit. Now, I am a fashion victim myself sometimes, and I am watching the new season of Project Runway, but c’mon. It looks like a t-shirt came from the souvenir stand outside of the Colleseum or the Pasta Museum in Rome. Wait… there’s a Pasta Museum? Sign me up. I there.