Episode 24: Alain De Botton, Mudville, and Parkside Dining
Alain De Botton/Photo by Vincent Starr
Audio Extra
Download “Dream City” - the new single from Philadelphia band Free Energy. It’s the perfect soundtrack for summertime cruising, or for languidly driving a Trans Am off a pier into the ocean.
Drink Recipe: “Casey’s Killjoy”
On June 3rd, 1888, Ernest Thayer’s baseball rhyme “Casey At the Bat” was first published in the San Francisco Examiner. Popularized by vaudeville actor DeWolf Hopper, soon everyone in America was in love with the poem… except the author. And even he would surely appreciate this week’s drink: a Mudslide reimagined for Mudville.
RECIPE, as created for the DPD by Colleen Raabe, bartender at the restaurant Alex & Ika’s in Cooperstown, NY:
In a shaker over ice, add:
- 1 shot espresso
- 2 oz. Irish whiskey
- 2 oz. Chocolate liqueur
- 2 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
Shake, strain into glass filled with more ice. Serve with peanuts and cracker jacks.
After Dinner Mint
notes on this week’s show
To hear one of DeWolf Hopper’s estimated ten thousand recitals of “Casey At the Bat,” click here. (Warning: the actor was not known for his subtlety)
Since releasing his first book in 1993, Alain De Botton has penned a string of bestsellers exploring the nature of Architecture, Philosophy, Work, Status and Love. But, y’know, maybe one of these days he’ll try to focus on something actually important.
Speaking of important, this week’s Icebreaker comes courtesy of Glenn-5, bassist for Anvil. And if, when you hear “Anvil,” you don’t think “uplifting story of friendship,” you clearly haven’t seen the new documentary about the band’s unlikely 30-year existence, appropriately titled “Anvil: The Story of Anvil.” Rectify that situation immediately, and then rejoice at the fact that after decades of obscurity, in July they’ll be opening for AC/DC in a football stadium.
