Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Year in Review, Part 1

I awake with a hangover and a ferret's corpse in the freezer. 2007 seems a failed adventure. Like the delinquents prophesied, I am alone. My gut tells me that 2008 will be a year composed of dead eternities with small disasters interspersed between them.

I could not make it through winter without intoxication. Fever and endless night. It will be months before I commune with my classical gods and hear reverberations of Arcadia marching to the beat of my quickened pulse. When will the river melt, the nymphs return? The world is ice; my only comforts, my imagination and a mystery tea.

In my dreams I imagine Helga returns and gently takes my arm. "Myoki's mysticism is spew," she whispers tearfully in my ear, the smell of mist and vodka on her breath. I kiss her and hear strange tongues, childish and snake-like. We sit by the fire; I tell her I love her vegetables.

In the evening we eat pot pie and do not speak. The kitchen seems bright and beautiful. We smear paint on each other's faces and dance to New Order. I am happy in my dreams.

Tucker & Taz amuse me but play shitty music.

In the depth of winter, an IKEA catalogue arrives at my door. How did they get past the gate? I get drunk, burn it, and hold my hand over the flame until the heat becomes unbearable. LYCKSELE & GRANKULLA YE SHALL NOT DEFEAT ME.

My world is a cave, but nothing like Lascaux.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm looking for information about Snake wine, do you have any ? This is Snake wine:

http://www.asiansnakewine.com/

thanks for help.

Nigel Tewksbury said...

Eh? Oh, yes, of course.

Snake wine (rượu rắn in Vietnamese) is an alcoholic beverage that includes a whole venomous snake in the bottle. It originated in Vietnam and can be found around Southeast Asia. The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are usually not preserved for their meat. They are preserved to have the snake poison dissolved in the liquor. However, because snake venom is protein-based, they are unfolded and therefore inactivated due to the influence of the denaturing effects of ethanol.

Varieties

There are two varieties of snake wine:

* Steeped: A large venomous snake can be placed into a glass jar of rice wine, often with many smaller snakes, turtles, insects, or birds, and left to steep for many months. The wine is drunk as a restorative in small shots or cups.
* Mixed: Body fluids of snake are mixed into wine and consumed immediately in the form of a shot. Snake blood wine is prepared by slicing a snake along its belly and draining its blood into a mixing vat with rice wine or grain alcohol. Snake bile wine is done through a similar method by using the contents of the gall bladder. Snake meat, liver, and skin can be prepared to accompany the drinks.

History

It originated in Vietnam and spread throughout the region of Southeast Asia and Southern China. Snakes are widely believed to possess medicinal qualities and the wine is often advertised to cure everything from farsightedness to hair loss, as well as to increase sexual performance. However, these claims should not all be taken literally as many are likely exaggerated to attract buyers. It is illegal to import snake wine to many countries including the United States because the cobras and other snakes killed in the production are often endangered species.

Nigel Tewksbury said...

Incidentally, I purchased some snake wine from http://www.asiansnakewine.com/ a few months ago. It made me vomit all night and gave me diarrhea for 5 days. It is nothing like the proper stuff--when I had it in Vietnam, it gave me a 2 hour erection and thickened my hair.