Whisky, Words and Wine

An indulgent week with great food, great wine and whisky, and a lot of fun. A little bit of reading, a little bit of listening , and a lot of watching – a mixed bag this week – some very good, others … well….meh.  Recommendations for The Whisper Man film (De Nero), Jam Café in Sydney and Zareh restaurant in Fitzroy, Melbourne.

And the Slow Hors...

A favourite pod – Strangers on a Bench – comes to an end at its 100th episode – we are almost half way to that – will we put up with each other for another year?

We have both started new books – one an Australian mystery, the other a whimsical Japanese reflection on how to make good decisions at the right time by reading (very) random books &nda...

Graham and three friends head off on their annual cross country ski trip, - chaos ensues! Hear about their trip and their recommendations for things they have seen, read and heard.

Seen:  Lucky (TV), Wellington Paranormal (TV) The Tudors (TV) The Sheep Detective (Film - Hugh Jackman).

Read: "The Cake and the Rain" (Jimmy Webb Biography); Romantasy (Fantasy Porn), My life as a fake (Peter Carey)

Heard: Podcasts - The Rest is Po...

Graham beat the elements and has returned from his backcountry ski trip but has saved the stories for a bonus episode to be published later. Meanwhile Jack has successfully returned from the wilds of the Southern Highlands and an extended visit to a distillery.

It didn't stop him falling down a rabbit hole though and he has spent much of the week researching the aftermath of...

Jack is sampling another Scotland/France combination – distilled in Scotland, aged in France (although this is but a juvenile so doesn't qualify as whisky…).

We plan a “research” trip to Tasmania – home of the world’s best whisky, spectacular pinot noir, and a nude swim at the winter solstice. As part of the research Jack is reading about...

A bit of follow up from last week’s pod regarding Sam Neill (from whom we borrowed the title for this episode) and more on the Odyssey film and its amazing production (no CGI!). And somehow Jack slips in his one impression – this being - Connery, Sean Connery - (who always sounds like Sean Connery - even when playing a 13century Italian monk).

We watch way too mu...

The Odyssey - What a film!

But that has to wait until we have got the World Cup Football off our mind and Jack justifies drinking French Whisky

While we discuss the cinematic sword and sandals phenomen that is The Odyssey which has been at the forefront of our minds since we each saw it, but we have also read and listened to other stuff. Graham i...

The pod starts well with the usual dip into a whisky and a wine, but Graham gets apoplectic about restaurant wine-list  cheating and thereafter loses the plot completely when he talks about the TV series called Beef, but really means the series called The Bear, which, just to add to confusion, runs a lunch shop called “The Beef”. Who can blame him – the first two letters are the s...

Half the title of this episode is a whisky and the other a wine – but don't mix the two. Words follow.

The Football World Cup rolls on, with or without political interference, but that didn't stop Graham actually finishing reading a book and delivering a big recommendation for it. Meanwhile, we wait for the verdict on the book about Johns.

...

This week an Italian waiter called Hamish upsold Jack on a whisky that he poured over ice-cream (he was having a tough day). And Jack claims a different whiskey as his own.

Meanwhile Graham goes to a friend’s coronation.

Nothing cerebral on the watch list this week - World cup football has been occupying our minds and viewing times but Grah...

Excited about a few things – firstly, we are in the same place for the first time in our podcast (we are normally a few hundred kilometres apart), and we have our new theme song – written and performed by Jack,

Jack gets a whisky-related recommendation from an Italian waiter called Hamish, and finds out the reason for the size of whisky hipflasks – which pr...

Scurryfungeing around

The Scotsman goes Irish (Whiskey) while the Australian drinks a Jack Rabbit.  Word of the week: Scurryfunge - both have admitted to doing this at various times.

Jack reads John (not of the Bible, but of John), Graham finishes Norwegian Wood (though didn't sleep in the bath to do so).

***Exci...

World Cup Fever is afflicting both Jack and Graham - great starts by both Australia and Scotland buoying the spirits – hope lives eternal and already they are looking forward to the knockout rounds. So many great individual and team performances and it is only the first week of the greatest show on Earth. And the antics of the fans always entertain. Lots of TV and podcasts fill in the small gaps b...

Graham likes bubbles – who knew? (actually several wineries in the King Valley now know).

Two words of the week – Galloway (relating to the height of horses), and Aptronym – a name which accords with the profession or other attribute of the named person.

Both are getting through their respective books but are not fast readers. J...

Graham may (or may not) have been wrong about where Aran knitwear comes from, but Jack is certain that the whisky he is drinking this week is from Lochranza on The Isle of Arran.

Jack has stopped taking his phone on walks - not because he forgets where he has put it but it is actually a life choice (Mennonites rejoice!). 

As usual, each go d...

Graham and Jack are  in the same country again, and we cut through the whisky haze to round off Jack’s travels, while plutons and googlewhacking make an appearance.

Graham is recovering for the devasting spygate scandal (only a true football fan will understand the depths of despair this creates). Jack is reading about London Falling, while for Graham it is Moscow...

Tonight is the second of this week’s podcasts featuring a cautionary tale about not drinking wine soon enough, childhood clothing trauma, and large sweaty men grappling with each other.

Please listen to the Sumomainichi podcast – it is a blast - hosted by Dave and Amy, (and one episode this week by Graham), and go onto Youtube and watch some bouts – it is a...

A special episode this week involving Jack's jaunt around Scotland and a really interesting chat with the head of one of Britains largest distilleries, Alan Kilpatrick. 

Everything you wanted to know about Scotch but were afraid to ask.

A quick quiz to answer at the end:

• How many barrels of Scotch are their per man, woman and child in Scotland?
• what qualifies as "Scotch"?
• Single Malt vs blends - what's the difference?
• Wha...

“What’s worn under a Scotsman’s kilt? – Nothing! – it is all in perfect working order!” (Spike Milligan).

Jack is back in the old country and living the life, planning a grand tour  of highland distilleries. Graham is jealous and resorts to arcane books on historical borders......say no more.

Jack has fina...