Pajiba

Love John Hannah! I'll have to look into this, but I always feel like a pint of a good microbrew goes better when I'm watching British television. What can I say, I stereotype!

Also, season one of Mad Men is onDemand, as well. I'm hooked!

Ah, John Hannah... the sole reason that I own Sliding Doors and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Should have thought to include him in my five freebies yesterday... He could easily usurp Bruce-Willis-as-John-McClane.

How is it that Ted still hasn't discovered Cracker?
Seems like the BC's most obvious pairing...

Ah, John Hannah, fond memories. Can I have a celebrity star struck moment here (and turn a few of you green)? I've met him, while he was filming the rather awful film Before You Go. Nice guy - sat with us humble extras and chatted rather than hide in his trailer. Just as lovely in person as he is on screen; not unlike his Sliding Doors persona. Alackaday, I was but a teenager and not woman enough to attempt to pounce on him. How I regret it. Sort of. Not sure I like him so much these days. Every time I see him doing the first-class flight adverts, it makes me go cold and whisper a little prayer for John-Hannah-who-was...

What kind of madman doesn't love a mojito? That is my very favourite cocktail. God, I love the Cubans.
Take-Home Chef made a similar ginger beer cocktail with mint leaves on one episode, but his drink used vodka. That seemed a little odd. Your use of gin makes more sense to me. I've got a bunch of leftover fresh mint in the fridge... I should buy some soda and get to consumin'.

I'm with you, Pea. All his other shining traits aside, that lyrical brogue of his never fails to turn me into a giant puddle of swoon.

Looks like I'm adding this to my netflix cue. And checking the AMC sight later! Thanks, Mr. Boozehound!

On a side note, I wonder how well a GiGi or Gin-Gin Mule would do with Tanqueray Rangpur (hey, I like limes)....Only one way to find out!

**glug-glug-glug-glug-glug...**

Mmm, John Hannah. He's one whom I constantly mistake for other actors until I hear him speak. There's no rational or acceptable reason for this. I suppose my brain has a John Hannah block. Perhaps he violated me as a child and I've chose to repress him as a memory.

What's with all this anglophilia.... gin, british tv, proper grammar. Are you too good for American stuff, hippie? I expect your next review to be about bourbon and Law & Order. Don't mess with me, boozehound, I have no compunction about reporting you to homeland security

Clocker, that's a very good point about Cracker! You'd also get the (older) Harry Potter crowd and the gambling addiction demographic.

Now while I have no problem with McCallum, I have to wonder why you didn't pick Rebus which has Hannah as a complicated Scot detective whose constant companion is a bottle of single malt (to the point that a distillery a couple of years ago released a limited edition Rebus whiskey). The best part is that the back drop of a gloomy Edinburgh with its amazing old arhitecture and its gritty new-build estates set the scene so perfectly.

Also on the Mojito I have to say, the drink only works if made with fresh mint and real cane sugar that slowly dissolves as one drinks. The pre-made mixes are just syrupy goo. I also highly recommend the Mojito Royale in which one swaps the Club soda for champagne (to be served this Saturday at my Bastille Day party along with the Boozhound's French 75 recipe)

Megbon:

Hannah is Scottish and plays a Scot so I posit that the term "anglophilia" does not apply.

However, I'm totally with Stephanie and Clocker on the Cracker love. Truly the best crime procedural ever (even after my beloved Christopher Ecclestone left the show). And it has the best line ever on a crime show:
"Good old British justice, innocent until proven Irish."

John Hannah and GiGis...mmmmm. July 20th marathon of Mad Men...mmmmm.

Paddydog I think I love you.

I've never heard of a Mojito Royale but I assure you that will be remedied immediately. Mixing my two favorite drinks (I grow fresh mint for the sole purpose of a luscious mojito)...wow, I think I just squeed myself. Thank Pajeebus I'm working from home today!

Heck, I never even realized Hannah was the guy in Sliding Doors, a movie for which I have an affection I can't really explain. Now that I recall it, he was pretty good. Guess I'll have to put this in the mental "look for that sometime" drawer, along with "Cracker" and "Prime Suspect."

also, too right on the John Hannah love - he is the second reason I own Sliding Doors. The first being I had to buy the dvd so that I could show my hairdresser the cut I wanted. I, in real life, have hair much like "gullible" Gwenyth - and for a while there, I lopped it off for the "new and improved" Gwenyth look. It was a killer look but a bitch and a half to maintain.

Stella:

One word of caution: once you've had a Mojito Royale you can never go back. It's an instant addiction. The Club soda just won't cut it anymore.

There aren't enough words for the ungodly things I'd do to FWaaF-era John Hannah. Problem is, I literally haven't seen him in anything for about 7 years. Is he still alive? What on earth happened to him?

Shay:

Aren't you in Ireland? John Hannah has been doing Cold Blood (another crime procedureal) on ITV for the past four years or so. Sigh! You must actually have a life while I sit here in Chicago listening to DriveTime with Mary Wilson.

Stella, I too used Sliding Doors Gwyneth as a visual aid for a switch from long and boring hair to short and spunky (I couldn't bite the bullet and go blonde, though)! Annoying maintenance, indeed. I miss my short hair...

HB, I went the whole nine yards: went from waist length dishwater-blond (romantic description, I know) hair to short, blond and bitchin' - right in time for college graduation. It was awesome for about a month, but since my hair grows like a weed, it became such a pain getting the back shaved every 6 weeks. Now I'm back to long hair but every time it hits 100 degrees in Texas I wonder if I shouldn't chop it off again... which is like almost every week. Goddam weather.

Sigh Mr Stella and I are --->

socalled - I am calling you a liar. An unintentional liar, perhaps, but a liar nonetheless. Back when you described your ultimate margarita recipe you told us that we could find agave nectar at Whole Foods. That may be the case in Californian Whole Foods, but it is not the case at my local Whole Foods. I wandered up and down that aisle for a long time before I had to accept defeat. I was, and continue to be, incredibly disappointed! How am I going to try this fabulous sounding recipe without agave nectar?! I think I hate you.

ok, wow, that didn't work now did it?

I meant to say something like: Mr Stella and I are very close to to just up and moving to Oregon... this Texas weather is just the last straw.

anyway....nevermind.

God what did happen to WHit Stillman. I loved his movies!

Paddydog, Rebus is also great viewing, and very dark in nature. I suppose strictly speaking, Cracker qualifies as Scots-centric too. People tend to forget Robbie Coltrane is Scots as they've heard his Cornish/Devon H.P. accent for so long.

Extra points to you for remembering the Cracker quote. Hah. (I grew up in Belfast, but currently being baked alive in Texas).

Tamatha, the agave nectar should be with the maple syrup and honey at fine markets. If your Whole Foods doesn't have it, try your local gourmet food store or liquor supply outlet. Or you could grow agave in your backyard.

Oh, on the subject at hand. I love me some John Hannah, and I loved Sliding Doors. I think I may need to rent that one again soon.

I agree with socalled that his performance in FWaaF was heart wrenching. The funeral scene and that specific poem really captures the experience of grief.

Oh. Why didn't you say so in the first place? I was in the juices/nectar area of the store. Ok, I will put the hate on hold.

And, I can't grow agave in my backyard, I live in Western Mass!

StephanieS:

If it's any consolation to you (while you bake), one of my sister's neighbours at home is a transplanted Texan who hates rain. He's a 6 ft 5 in guy who is now living in a 900 square foot cottage (he has to bend over to walk through the rooms). When he met his wife (she was on a trip to Texas), he drove a Ford F-150, now he drives a Toyota Yaris. And on top of all that, for the past 8 years, the entire village has held him personally responsible for the Bush administration and his actions.

Hee! Stella and HB, I totally did the same thing... took a still of blonde Gwyneth to the hairdresser and asked for that look.

Sadly, it didn't work out so well (I, too, found the maintenance too much). I took my dad's hair clippers and gave myself a buzzcut shortly thereafter. Buzzcut was a little extreme, but grew out into an adorable little pixie cut.

Hannah is Scottish and plays a Scot so I posit that the term "anglophilia" does not apply.

Remember that Scottish/British/English Is/Is Not row we had? (Oo-er, and I'm using "row" too! And also "oo-er") Yeah, that was fun and ugly.

In part of my mind, Gwyneth will always have that short "Sliding Doors" hair, and part of me will always love her just for that. Meanwhile, I saw a glimpse of John Hannah today in the Mummy trailer and thought "'the hell's John Hannah doing here?.....oh, yeah, right!"

See, Weisz? That's LOYALTY and that shows CHARACTER!

Scottish people are awfully prickly about being confused for English. I speak from experience on that one.

That, however, does not make it any less fun to call socalled a "hippie." In light of our very first exchange (which he may or may not recall), I will embrace any opportunity, not matter how specious, to thrust the hippie moniker his way (somehow that came out kind of dirty...)

Oh I remember, sweet-smelling (presumably) hippie chick. How's the tofu?

Delicious, nutritious, and entirely undeserving of its reputation.

PaddyDog: I'm not gonna lie to you, I had never heard of Cold Blood before you mentioned it - which isn't so much to say that I have a life, more that while you sit in Chicago listening to Irish pop culture, I sit here in Dublin watching American shows and following American pop culture. I have honestly listened to DriveTime about 3 times in my life, and then it's because someone else puts it on in a car and hurling myself out into traffic is the marginally less preferable option.

Paddydog,

Thanks for the story! Your sister's Texas transplant neighbour has it way worse than me.

I've mostly acclimatized to the summer heat, and have become an expert gecko rescuer. I have taken personal responsibility for the formation of Iraq after WW1, so everyone is cool with me.

I will definitely be trying Ted's Gin Gin Mule. Thanks for the recipe, Ted.

Well there is one benefit of living just this side of hell (Texas)...
I put a load of laundry outside to dry this morning and it dried faster on the patio than it would have in the actual frickin' DRYER.

Holy fuck. I hate it here.

Shay:
Would you believe I never listen to it when I'm home. But there is a strategic upperhand to be had in being able to cut my mother off at the pass when she calls and says "you'll never guess what them feckers in the Dail have been doing now" by answering "why, yes actually, I do".

Ah, yes, the heat and humidity we Bostonians have been suffering lo these many weeks has caused me to gaze longingly at the pixie cuts I see every now and again. I did get the post-V Natalie Portman style a couple years ago and it was a little more manageable...pea I envy your buzz cut boldness. I watched Empire Records the other day and when Robin Tunney shaved her I head I was thisclose to grabbing the nearest clippers...fortunately, I don't own any.

Sliding Doors is one of my absolute favorite movies, and I have had a crush on him ever since. "Fact, they should be called the Featles."

"I have to wonder why you didn't pick Rebus"

I've only watched a couple of episodes, though I have the series now. I'm stoked for it, but McCallum is still his defining character in my mind.

a) Thanks for the tip, Boozehound, I do love a snarky Scot. Hell, I married one. Will have to check out this show.

b) Hoh-Lee-FUCK, I've only just now tried the French 75 tonight, and it is godtopusdamned POTENT! Yellow Tail Bubbles + my husband's own gin + lemon + sugar water = very drunk me! Damn, I thought GiGi was dangerous.

So, thanks and thanks.

Ditto from my husband.

Now, it may be the two vodka tonics and two mojitos talking, but when I can come to a site and find a review of McCallum, which was a hungover Saturday staple of mine for several blissful months in Europe, and a couple of fabulous cocktail recipes, I fall in love with Pajiba all over again. Man, I love you guys.

He was the best thing about The Mummy.

I am so watching this.

PaddyDog - God, that actually works for you? If my mother has decided she's telling me an anecdote about something she heard on the radio or something that "one of that shower in Fianna Fail!" has done to personally spite her, she's telling it come hell or high water. My presence is required to (a) respond with the occasional "Hmm" or "That's awful!" and (b) to make her feel (marginally) less crazy.

Trader Joe's has the agave nectar next to the sugar, and a few shelves from the maple syrup (at the moment).

Oregon Stella, really? Maybe you should reconsider. It's not that great here. It rains a lot you know. And we can't pump our own gas. Are you sure? But then again I'm already a home owner so feel free to come and help continue to raise my property value.

As for the margarita recipe, I know it's late but I feel the need to contribute this anyways. I commented before that I too like my margaritas Ted style, but with Rose's lime juice instead of agave nectar. So in a completely unrelated move the Mr. recently picked up some agave nectar from one of our hippie designed alternative grocery chains (thank you hippies!) and told him that we must, must make margaritas with it. I couldn't remember the exact recipe from Mr. Boynton but I thought it was a two to one ratio of tequile to agave and lime juice, so I made a pitcher corresponding to that. Way. too. much. agave. I would halve it next time and double the lime juice. Either that or I would stick with Rose's lime juice instead. It was way too syrupy sweet. But if you like things that way I'm sure it would be ok.

Is this too long of a post? That's what I get from excessive wine consumption on a Sunday night. Speaking of, what movie/tv show are you going to review with a very expensive bottle of wine followed by finishing off an inexpensive box?