"I'll Drink to that." Vodka Stingers & Boozey Battleship

Thursday was a weird day for me. I went to work like any normal day, but towards mid-afternoon I heard news of Broadway Legend Elaine Stritch's passing. For those who dont know me, I am in love with theatre, and I obsess over "The Greats." I consider Elaine Stritch to be one of the all time greats of the theatre age. She was completely herself, and never tried to fit into the unfortunate "cookie cutter" image that all of the new actors on Broadway have created themselves to be. She didn't need auto tune, she didn't sound like a robot or try to mimick Kristen Chenoweth's 'Glinda' voice, she was 100% Elaine. She worked hard, and her strength never ever wavered over 50+ year career on the stage.


Off stage, she dealt with alcoholism and diabetes, among other things. The stage was her safe place. It terrified her, but that's what she loved about it. The excitement of fear. She drank, she smoked, she was crass, she didn't wear pants, and she was chock full of witt and sass. I adored her in every sense of the word. Hearing that we lost another "great" was really sad to me.


I see what Broadway is becoming, and yes, there IS talent on stage today, dont get me wrong -- but aside from maybe a handful of performers, there is NO ONE that stands out, anymore. There's no one that owns their "type," and works off of it. Ethel Merman was the ONLY person on stage who sounded like Ethel Merman. Patti LuPone is the ONLY person on stage that sounds like Patti LuPone. Angela Lansbury is the ONLY person that sounds like Angela Lansbury.. Bernadette Peters is the ONLY person that sounds like Bernadette. Elaine Stritch was the ONLY one who sounded like Elaine.. Get my drift? Now its a bunch of auto tuned people who all sound the same, all sing from the same place, etc. It hurts my theatre loving, golden age obsessed, soul.


(Please note, these are only my opinions/thoughts/fears in regards to Broadway..)

Elaine was in a show called Company, written by Steven Sondheim. She played the coveted role of Joanne,  a brassy, divorced, alcoholic, severely insecure on the inside and tough as stone on the outside, dame. One of her title songs in the show is "Ladies Who Lunch" where she famously sings, "Another vodka stinger! I'LL DRINK TO THAT." So, I went out on my quest to find a bar that made vodka stingers in honor of Ms. Stritch. I went to one bar that didn't make them, so I had a cosmo for her while I was there. Finally and ironically, the bar directly across from my apartment served them. Phew! God, it was so strong..and tasted like mouthwash, but I did it. Cheers to you, Elaine.

Afterwards, Frank and I decided to have a fun little "date" at home. We're kind of broke because we're saving up for the wedding, etc, so we stayed home and ordered chinese, bought a case of beer, and played battleship together. Except we dont just play ordinary battleship. You see, Frank and I are extremely competitive, so we made a drinking game out of it to up the stakes. How WE play Battleship: every time you hit the opposing players ship, they have to drink. Once you eventually sink their battleship, you have to take a shot of Fireball. It's really fun, and of course, I ended up getting drunk on a Thursday night. Also, I'd like to note that I won. And it was great..Ahhh... I love winning. :)

All in all, it was a booze soaked Thursday that ended with me beating Franks butt in Battleship. I'd say thats a pretty fantastic Thursday. :)

Here are some videos of the heated battleship games..