Worm and Retort

It’s week three of rehearsals and my body is just about to give out. I’m sore in places I didn’t know could get sore. My body keeps moving in spite of itself at rehearsals, and I get home every night just dreaming of bed. I need a night or two off. Which, thankfully, I will get tomorrow.

My ongoing research on that elusive substance, absinthe, has unearthed a couple of interesting facts. The first is that, outside of the lesser brands being sold at high costs, there are a few very reasonably priced absinthes out there that are supposed to be pretty good. Most notable among the manufacturers is Jade Liqueurs, which makes absinthes based on lost recipes of the Belle Epoque (they were formerly called Belle Epoque Liqueurs). For a little over a hundred dollars (which is pricey, but not as pricey as some), you can get a bottle of absinthe that is of, supposedly, grand quality.

I found reviews for a couple of their products (and there are only a couple of products to review right now) at La Fee Verte, a very informative Web site that has articles on absinthe, thujone (debunking its reputed properties as a drug), wormwood, and the general zeitgeist of the age in which absinthe thrived. They also describe why absinthe must be distilled, as opposed to being merely macerated. Essentially, thujone, which is not particularly soluble in alcohol, must be distilled out of wormwood. Macerating wormwood releases its bitter oils, but not any thujone. I suspect the same is true of anethone, the essential oil found in anise. Consequently, I’m building a still this weekend.

I have found two still designs that I like online. The first is this teakettle still, given to us by Dangerous Laboratories (whose dry ice detonation gif frighteningly resembles what I did to myself when I was twelve). The second is this one at La Fee, which I like because it keeps the alcohol away from the open flame. Mine will be a hybrid of the two. The retort will be a two-liter, heat-resistant beaker with a cork in the top, submerged in a water bath. A copper tube from the top, connects to a flaring unit that connects to the condenser, which is more tubing, coiled inside of a milk jug full of ice water, that then leads into my receiver. If I have time and money leftover, I’ll add a fancy little water escape so I can keep the water cold. But that’s not necessary. And there I will, hopefully, have a functioning still. (I should note that, since distilling alcohol without a license is illegal in the U.S., I won’t actually use this still for that purpose. This is a purely hypothetical discussion, you see, one carried on by a scientific mind for fascination's sake).

The "Korpervelt" exhibit (a.k.a. “Body Worlds”) opens tomorrow at the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately, based on my schedule and when it’s running, I won’t be able to make it. Actually, that’s bullshit; I wouldn’t miss it for anything. It just means I have to play hooky one day from work. At any rate, I once again recommend seeing it. It starts Friday and runs until March 20, and it is one of the most interesting, beautiful, macabre pieces of art I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. See my previous entry on it for more.

My friend, Ian, who would never describe himself as a writer, has posted some interesting entries over the past month or so. The most recent is a monologue he wrote to and from work one day, which isn’t on a vastly new subject (by his own admission) but covers it in a way that is so unpretentious and just genuine that it really appealed to me. The other is about a friend of Ian’s, his arrest (the friend’s, not Ian’s), and their friendship. Anyway, both impressed me greatly, so I thought I’d mention them here. (Incidentally, Ian has commented that he wouldn’t call himself a writer because he just takes forever to write anything, which reminds me of what a teacher once said to me and a classmate who thought she wrote poorly: A good writer isn’t one who writes easily; a good writer is one who thinks about what he/she is writing and strives to write it better. )