Ok, you're a music geek. What else?

[SallyLightfoot]

I've been a music geek since about 6th grade, culminating in New Wave, and then moving on to Jazz, Dub Reggae, and Bluegrass later in my life.

During the past two decades I've also cultivated an interest in wine. 15 years ago I lived in France and developed an appreciation of French wines (Pomerol from Bordeaux being my favorite). In terms of grapes, I prefer Grenache/Syrah blends from France and Spain, as well as Temperanillo (Spain), Mourvedre and more recently Carmeniere (France, Italy, Spain, Argentina).

More recently I've been collecting fine rums. Some of the bottles I've enjoyed are:

Zacapa 23 year and Zaya Gran Reserva (Guatemala)
El Dorado 15 year (Guyana)
Goslings Family Reserve (Bermuda)
Mt. Gay Extra Old (Barbados)
Angostura 1919 and 1824 (Trinidad)
Appleton Estate 21 yr (Jamaica)
Cruzan Single Barrel (St. Croix)
Pyrat XO (Anguilla)
St. Theresa 1796 (Venezuela)
Pampero Anniversario (Venezuela)
Diplomatico (Venezuela)
Brinley Gold (St. Kitts)
Khukri (Nepal)

Anyone else collect stuff or geek out on anything?

[DonGately]

Well, you asked... [:)]

I collect books from small independent publishers, mostly in the horror genre, though some in the crime fiction genre. There are publishers who specialize in bringing long out of print works back into print and others who specialize only on new work.

I prefer to collect books by publisher rather than author. For me, the novel or collection of stories is only half of the equation; I'm very interested in the creativity and innovation that goes into book production, layout, paper selection, cover materials, artwork, slipcases, traycases, remarques, etc. There's some incredible work being done in the small press world.

Usually, the print runs for the books are extremely limited and they are almost always signed by the contributors (author, artist, etc).
In some cases, a limitation can be as small as 5 copies of a particular edition. In most cases, a limitation for a hardback title runs around 250-300 copies for a numbered edition and anywhere between 13 and 52 copies for a lettered edition.

Some publishers, such as Delirium Books, also publish their titles in paperback and you can easily find them on places like Amazon.

Lettered editions have the same content as the limited edition, but with high end production values, often with extra content, a traycase to protect the book, and a much higher price.

Some of the publishers that I really dig include:

Cargo Cult Press
Centipede Press
Morning Star
Bloodletting Press
Delirium Books
Thunderstorm Books
Full Moon Press

and a number of others.

There are also some great writers in the small press world who don't get enough attention. Among them, are:

Greg Gifune
Laird Barron
Ronald Malfi
Nick Mamatas
Sandy Deluca
Michael McBride

I could go on and on about the small press. There is something called Bizarro, which is a literary movement of a sort that is often (but not always) a highly satirical kind of punk rockish/surreal approach to writing. It's still laregly underground but it is starting to seep into all sorts of genres (not just horror or crime fiction). As you can probably guess from its name, Bizarro is sometimes really really weird. But other times it's just terrific.

[Max Murdoc]

Paper clips.....I have quite a collection in my desk drawer at work.

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>Paper clips.....I have quite a collection in my desk drawer at work.
[/quote]

I'm envious...I wish I had a collection of paper clips.

[i_like_lectric_motors]

T-shirts.

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>T-shirts.
[/quote]


I wonder if you have more T-shirts than I have aliases?

[KYYX4ever]

Sally,

that is interesting that you appreciate good rum. I have wondered what the qualities of good rum are--is it sippable, how smooth a finish, etc.? I ask because I get kind of geeky about good, 100% agave tequila:

Espolon
El Tesoro
Penca Azul
Don Pilar
De Reyes
Don Julio
Patron

I can't even touch the Cuervo crap anymore. These are smooth, sippable, nice tequilas where you don't make "the face".
I also enjoy the wine, although I don't think my taste is very discriminating. As long as it's dark red, thick, heavy, and full--faves being Shiraz(es), Syrah(s), and some Cabs and Merlots.

I am also a garden geek, and share my seeds freely. (heh)

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>I can't even touch the Cuervo crap anymore.
[/quote]
Don't let prejudices keep you from the gooood stuff...how 'bout Cuervo Reserva de la Familia with a different Mexican artist designing each year's box? About $100 a bottle and $20 a shot. We gotta talk Angie! [8D]

[KYYX4ever]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>I can't even touch the Cuervo crap anymore.
[/quote]
Don't let prejudices keep you from the gooood stuff...how 'bout Cuervo Reserva de la Familia with a different Mexican artist designing each year's box? About $100 a bottle and $20 a shot. We gotta talk Angie! [8D]
[/quote]

OK, OK, you talked me into it, myblirwin ![:)]
(I guess I meant the regular ol' Cuervo anyway)

[SallyLightfoot]

I've never been a big fan of tequila, but I was recently given a bottle of Don Julio 1942 and I'm impressed. <a href="http://www.drinkhacker.com/2008/10/07/review-four-don-julio-tequilas/">Review here</a>.

Here's a <a href="http://www.drinkhacker.com/2008/11/25/review-jose-cuervo-reserva-de-la-familia-anejo-tequila-2008-edition/">review of Cuervo Familia</a>

[SwampThing]

Speaking of rum, a few years back my wife and I celebrated our anniversary at a nice restaurant and a stranger bought me a small glass of British Royal Navy Imperial Rum
http://neversealand.downtothesea.org/20 ... erial-rum/ I was later told it cost over $100 for the shot. The manager personally served it with a brief history of the rum.

<font size="1></font>

[plagiarism]

[quote]Originally posted by SallyLightfoot

Khukri (Nepal)

[/quote]

I have to ask. WTF is this rum? I found their website and wasn't enlightened at all. I don't think of sugar cane plantations when I hear Nepal.

[SallyLightfoot]

Cool-- rum questions! [:D]

Starting in reverse order:

[b]plagiarism[/b]>> [Khukri] [i]I have to ask. WTF is this rum?[/i]

I always hated rum & coke, probably because it's always served with Bacardi White rum, which is bad swill. It gives rum a bad name. Anyway, Khukri is a very rich flavored, very dry rum. The dryness makes this rum worthless for sipping straight, but when combined with Coke it becomes almost perfectly balanced. It's almost as if this rum were designed for mixing with Coke, and it has rescued rum & coke from my list of exiled drinks. A lot of rum drinkers (esp the younger kids) drink Sailor Jerry's spiced rum, or Captain Morgans' rum with their rum & cokes. This is like taking a sweet soft drink and making it even sweeter (although Sailor Jerry's caramelly goodness almost makes it ok). Khukri is inexpensive ($18 per 750ml), and has an interesting origin (the hippie trail in the late 60's), so if you want to elevate rum & coke to a "killer" status, it could be your secret sauce. <a href="http://rumreviews.com/?rums=145&go.x=10&go.y=5&go=go">Here's a review of Khukri</a>.

[b]SwampThing[/b]>> [i]British Royal Navy Imperial Rum[/i]
Cool story. That is some rare rum. I've never had BRNI, but I've read about it. Navy rums are either Jamaican style (e.g., Appleton's), which are full-flavored but have a lot of fire, or were once issued on board British Navy vessels, which issued sailors a daily rum or grog ration until 1970! Pusser's British Navy Rum and Sea Wynde are both available in my area, but I prefer Appleton's 21 yr, which is sippable and similar in style to navy rum.

[b]KYYX4ever[/b]>> [i]I have wondered what the qualities of good rum are--is it sippable, how smooth a finish, etc.?[/i][/b]
It depends what you like, and of course, rum can vary a lot by distillation process, aging and ingredients. Rums can be distilled from molasses or sugar cane juice, which has a big impact on flavor.

The cane-based rums (popular in Brazil is the cane-based rum variant cachaça) tend to have a dryer, smokier, funkier taste. Examples are Barbancourt (Haiti) and 10 Cane (Trinidad). Molasses based rums encompass pretty much every other rum, and they are distilled into light and dark rums.

I tend to categorize rums by sweetness. I prefer aged sipping rums, which you just put in a glass and enjoy after dinner. I don't like these to be sweet, and unfortunately aged rums often are. Zacapa, Zaya and Pyrat are all famously high-end sipping rums, but their downfall for me is that they are quite sweet. Pyrat is almost like Grand Marnier in terms of sweetness & fruitiness, and I'll only add that into mixed drinks. I like rich flavored rums that don't have much burn. My current faves are Angostura's offerings, El Dorado 15 year, St. Theresa 1796 and Gosling's Family Reserve Old Rum.

For flavored rums (read: sweet, mixed drinks), anything from Brinley's is amazing if you can find it, and Cruzan makes a line of good ones (gotta love Guava rum!!).

In all, I think rum is a good spirit to explore. There's a lot of variation, which increases the chances you'll find something you like. It's also relatively cheap--you can buy very good rum for $20 - $30. Why drink expensive whiskey and single malts, which taste like slamming your face into a telephone pole?

[MARV]

I agree on the price factor. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Pyrat family of rums. I also tend to favor the Gosling's brand having discovered it a couple years ago. I'm going to Bermuda this summer and look forward to having it in it's native setting [8D] I think rum is a great alternative to scotch when having a cigar. I like to sip it straight or on the rocks every now and then. I find that Black Cat is fine for mixing with Coke or even ginger beer.

<a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/marvymarv/?action=view¤t=tick.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/marvymarv/tick.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[SallyLightfoot]

[b]Marv[/b]>> [i]Personally, I'm a big fan of the Pyrat family of rums[/i]

Pyrat XO has a great, fragrant nose. If you pour just a little in a glass, in a few minutes the room will start to fill with an apricot orange-peel scent. It's also a killer dessert topping-- for ice cream, bananas foster, bread pudding, etc. I would enjoy it straight it weren't so candy-like. If you're a whiskey drinker, you'll probably hate it.

I think I've seen Black Cat, but I've never tried it. I'll have to check it out. Of the Gosling brands, the Family Reserve Old Rum is stellar and worth seeking out. It's probably the most expensive rum I own ($80), but man it's a treasure. I fear for running out of it. <a href="http://www.macheterum.com/2008/01/goslings-family-reserve-old-rum.html">Here's a review.</a>