Welcome to the Metaphysical Martini show, where wit and wisdom come together to bridge the gap between the spirit realm and the physical world, with Ani Avadissian the Mad Shaman of production of cosmicreality.com. Hello everyone, I'm Ani Avadissian. Welcome to Metaphysical Martini, three-part spirit, one-part rational mind. Add two drops of optimism, give it all a good, hard, shaken, poor, dress it, with the olives of grace and empathy, sit back, sip slowly, and contemplate the wonder of cosmic co-creation. And a hearty hello to everyone out there. Hello, hello, hello. Thanks for joining me for yet another round of cocktails on this week's Metaphysical Martini. We show the tries to sort out what's true, what's a woo, and what gets flushed down the loo in a world where we ask. Did that debate seal the fate of the deep state? Have enough people engage their brains to enable the swamp to be drained? Is Big Mike, Michelle Obama's real identity, or is it just talk and general vapidity? With so many scandals, rascals and vandals, how many traitors can Gitmo safely handle? And this final question, I ask, is it even debatable, but Hillary Clinton's body? Is it combustible or inflatable? As always, my darlings, we try to do all this, with as much dignity in decorum as can be mustered on any given day. We are not always successful, I'll admit to that, but we are on a bound to give it our best shot. And on this show, the Metaphysical Martini show, we do love the odd shot now and then, yes we do. In fact, let me take a sip of today's drinky poo and see if it's a winner or a sinner. Hold on my darlings, don't go away, sipping is happening. Wow, I'm going to get absolutely bloody royally sozzled at the end of this day. That's a very nice drink, and I'll tell you more about that towards the end of the show. Metaphysical Martini comes to you from northern Oregon, USA. Today is July the 3rd, 2024, which means tomorrow is July the 4th, and that is a very special day here in America. Because it's the day that people with my accent were told to go back home and stay there. But please don't be fooled by my accent, I am an American citizen, and I am committed to the restoration of the republic, as are all Martini heads. Martini heads darlings, we are all very simple folk, we believe in common sense, common courtesy, and common decency. Sovereignty is our keyword, and we are most definitely spirit-centered. We do not play the petty partisan politics game, the PPP game. Our ideology is libertarian, because Martini heads know the multi-party system is a sham. And we know the globalists bought out roughly 95% of all politicians at local state and federal levels, we know that's a done deal. Because we know how the world works, and we don't like it. But instead of sitting home, whining like a bunch of sugar-crashing babies, we make a point of doing something about it. We are the silent majority, no more, no my darlings, no, it's time for us to roar, and to those paying attention to current events. Well, I think that should be pretty obvious by now. Now, five years ago, maybe, it was more of a lone roar out in the boonies out there somewhere. But today, the lions and the eagles are gathering for one heck of a righteous rumble with the bad guys. Can you feel it ramping up? Can you feel it ramping up? I can. You see, my lions are girded. It's not a good look on me, to be honest, but it is practical, and it gets the job done. Well, what do we have for you on today's show? The theme, of course, today is everything American, and as always, let's start with questions, answers and comments quack. Now, I have a special July 4th poem for you later, written by a highly esteemed and yet unredeemed street poet, and that would be me, of course. And, of course, we have also American civics and history, in which we'll be doing a bit of a quiz, a sort of a veritable cornucopia of Americana trivia. And all of this will be topped off with my favourite part of the show, the cocktail of the day, the cocktail of du jour. So, my darlings, without further ado, let's get on with the show, and let's shake up the fishbowl of perpetual perplexity, and see what pops out. Shakey, shakey, shakey, shakey. Darlings, if you would like to share your thoughts with Martini heads across the globe, send your emails to me, Arnie@ArnieAvadissian.com, or, if you know how to write cursive, via snail mail to Cosmikani, PO Box 714 Wilsonville, Oregon 97070USA, and please let me know if and how you wish to be identified, or I shall refer to you as omit personal details. Our first Missive Today is from Seoul, S.O.L., in Queens, New York, who asks, "Dear Arnie, when is this snotty shit show going to end? I wish I knew, Seoul, I wish I knew, I can't give you a date, but I think we can all agree, this is the year it explodes and it has not yet exploded." And after the explosion comes the fallout, and then comes the cleanup, where no doubt we will find the corpses of those who could not come to terms with something as simple as entertaining an alternative point of view. Now, those paying attention will have noticed that the lower-level managers, the city-level government people, have realized they bit or far more than can be chewed, and they have started backpedaling. New York, for example, certainly is not an exception, make no mistake, there is civil war within the ranks of the globalists, their managers, and their minions. This is where we all pray that the white hats are in position to take advantage of any weakness in the dark camp's defenses, and I believe they are. Things are falling into place very nicely, actually, but I'm not holding my breath or stepping back just yet. You know, going back to people not willing to change their minds sort of thing, people who think critically are open to debate. You see, people with genuine curiosity and interest in life are always open to debate. They will always hold some space in their heads to see a bigger picture with more detail in it. And we have to accept that a portion of the population simply just has no interest in doing that. They are accustomed to being spoon-fed. They like being spoon-fed, and they value convenience over expansion of consciousness, each to his own. If you spend any time at all on social media, you'll see comments such as, well, I don't think Biden was that bad. Maybe he was just on meds. I don't think he was on meds. I think he was just that bad. And people say things like, I will vote for a turnip before I vote for Trump. People, you already have a turnip. You see, Sleepy Joe's head is filled with turnips. He is a giant turnip. He is the big turnip among all the turnips of the DNC right now. And people say things like, well, what's wrong with open borders? Shouldn't we be kind and just let everyone come in? Well, why don't you keep the door to your home open? And let every Tom, Dick and Abdul help themselves to your goods. And while you're at it, why not offer your wife and daughters up for their pleasure? Just hand over your entire paycheck, why don't you? Sol, thank you for your email, which I couldn't answer. Sol from Queens, New York. You know, Sol, many years ago, many, many years ago, when I was a young woman, and I used to go to Flushing Meadow to see the ladies' singles final for the tennis, I had the tastiest burger ever, and it was in some sort of hole in the wall joint in Queens. I wish I could remember the name, but it was a very long time ago, and I'm old now. And my memory, well, my memory likes to take a few vacation days. My body doesn't have many vacation days, but my memory certainly does. Thanks Sol, have a great life. All right, who else is in the fishbowl? This is from Virginia, and Virginia lives in Christiansburg, Virginia. So it's Virginia from Virginia, how apt? Virginia from Virginia says, "Dear Mad Shaman, my comments deal with the awakening of the American mind. You keep asking why people take so long to wake up. Well, if you are like my neighbors and only watch CNN or MSNBC or their local spin-offs, you would know the answer. They believe whatever mainstream tells them, and they look no further. That's why they won't change, because the television is their God. Now me, I listen to Jesus. That's why my head and my heart are in sync. And I guess we're just going to ride this out and hope for the best. Revolutions, dear Ani, are never neat and tidy." Yes, indeed, Virginia from Virginia. You are correct, and I agree. I make a point of listening to Propaganda's news media from time to time. I used to do it daily, but I really don't think my mental health could take that now. But I do it from time to time, and honestly, when I do, I don't know whether to laugh or cry, or both. I don't know, folks, if you want to live in the box and you want to make the box your whole life, go for it. You know, it's like Plato's cave, really, isn't it? But, you know, it's your lost darlings, because that's a very small world. Thank you, Virginia. I hope you have a great life. And here is one from Vera, who lives in Tacoma, WAP, which would be Washington. The state up from me. And Vera says, "Dear Ani, since you like whiskey so much, I wonder if you know anything about the whiskey rebellion." Ooh, Vera. Whiskey's okay, but I much prefer the warm, sweeter bourbon. But that said, I've never turned down a glass of good whiskey. And, of course, I know about the whiskey rebellion. Let me see if I can sum it up for you in a few short paragraphs. So this happened in 1791, and the federal government imposed a 25% tax on whiskey, which was to be paid by the producer at the point of production and not by the consumer at the moment of purchase. Now, Pennsylvania frontiersmen refused to pay the tax, good for them. Not only did they refuse to pay, they had no problem kicking the stuffing out of the tax collectors. So George Washington, he was the press, right? And he was actually no stranger to whiskey production, although I think he produced his whiskey later on, probably because then he didn't have to pay the tax. So anyway, George Washington, he was convinced by Alexander Hamilton to send troops in to quell these unruly drunken frontiersmen who wouldn't pay tax. You know, thereby scoring a victory for the fledgling federal government. That's the official story, you see, but when we dig a little deeper, we see that the rebellion was not confined to Pennsylvania frontiersmen. It was a frontier-wide movement, which said a great deal about Americans not wanting to be taxed. Kentucky also resisted, Virginia resisted, Maryland resisted, and both North and South Carolina resisted. And quite rightly, in my opinion, all Americans living on the frontiers believed that they were exposed to all manner of danger while expanding America. And, you know, they received very little aid from the federal government. And because of that, they felt they should be allowed to drink their whiskey in peace without having it taxed. And also, Kentucky, as I recall, argued that whiskey was an article that lay at the bottom of their social and economic life and was regarded at that time as an indispensable necessity to life, health, and happiness. And I believe it still is in moderation. And in addition to that, in remote regions, where transportation to sell goods was a challenge, whiskey was sometimes used as a form of currency. So to see it from the American's point of view, newly liberated from the yoke of the British crown, they were being taxed on their lifeline commodity while the government ignored, in their opinion, much more important matters. Now, no surprise that Alexander Hamilton did not expect this level of resistance when he proposed the tax. And he downplayed the extent of resistance when talking about it with, you know, we the people. Now, I could go on about this for a long time because I actually studied this, but I won't. I will end by saying it didn't go well for the government. They repealed it in 1800 because no one decided that they were going to pay it. And, you know, if you're not going to pay it and you're running a brand new country, you need to pick your battles. And whiskey, I think, was a poor choice for taxation. Thank you, Vera, for reminding me of this little gem of Americana. I shall have a little sip of my not whiskey-based drink to celebrate. Hang on. That is one hiccup of a drinky pool. Okay. What else came in this week? This one came in a few weeks ago, actually, but I've been sitting on it because I wanted to include it in today's extravaganza Americana. It's from a young man named Jordan. He's 14 years old, and this is what he wrote. Dear Miss Avidissian, I live in Wyoming, and like watching cowboy movies with my dad, he says the movies make the West wilder than it was, and that not as many people died in real life from violence. Is that true? P.S. I like your silly poems. Jordan, you rock, and you also paper and scissors. Thank you. I like them too. Now the Wild West. I grew up in England watching Bonanza, the Virginian, and a host of other cowboy movies, and yes. Watching those, you would think that everybody risked life and limb just by stepping outside their homes to go to the outhouse. But the reality was not quite so dire. And I just finished reading a book a couple of months ago by a couple of chaps, Terry Anderson and P.J. Hill, and the book's called The Not So Wild Wild West. And it seems crime was actually quite low, and that property rights were, for the most part, respected. And people came together in the Wild West to improve quality of life without government interference. Or help, as the government likes to phrase it. In fact, perhaps it was the absence of government that allowed the West to thrive in the way that it did. There's another book I read before the Wild West book, and it was written by W. Eugene Holland, and it's called Frontier Violence, Another Look. And that came out in 1976. And in that he states the Western frontier was a far more civilized and more peaceful and safer place than American society is today. And I've read many other books that do confirm that. I'm a bit of a book slut. I go into a second hand bookstore, go into the American history section, and I just buy everything that I can find. 1878 in Dodge City? Dodge City, right, where everybody dies in the movies. The total homicide count was five. Five, that's it. Five dead. Hardly enough death to make an exciting television series. And a study was made of the five major cattle towns. Is it Abiline, Abiline? I keep asking, Abiline, it's Abiline, called well Dodge City, Ellsworth, and Wichita. From 1870 to 1885, the Wild West era, only 45 total homicides were recorded. That is disappointing for a movie maker, because that's nine per town for the whole 15 year period. And it was recorded that in Abiline, which was considered the wildest of all, no killings happened. No killings happened to get this, until law enforcement was actually installed. Now, wouldn't you get this impression now? You know, we do better for the most part when government is not sticking its nose in our day-to-day lives. Perhaps we are better off working things out among ourselves, among ourselves without government intervention, but, haha, I can hear you now saying bank robberies. They're in all the movies, honey. What about the bank robberies? Well... Yes, movies are filled with daring wild West bank robberies. But between 1859 and 1900, apparently only a dozen bank robberies occurred. And that's a dozen in 41 years. I will tell you that a modern-day town today has more bank robberies in a year than the wild frontier had in 41 years. Now, I'm not going to say it was all love and light and smoochie-woochie curboys. It wasn't all broke back mountain, you know. No, there was some violence, of course. Young men drank too much and made bad decisions, much like today. But everybody was armed and engaged in open carry. And I have to tell you, that keeps things quite civil. I'm a big fan of open carry. If we read Roger McGrath's Gunfight as Highwaymen in vigilantes, which was written in 1987 and is a jolly good read, we find that the rate of burglary was lower than modern times. And that claim-jumping was quite rare. And rape was very rare, though we could argue perhaps it was not something easily reported. But we can also argue that people took care of each other back in the day. And if you violated someone's daughter, you could expect to visit from a very angry father and a few of his sons. In Deadwood, violence was restricted to crooks and drunks killing one another. You see, when everyone has a gun on their hip, people tend to avoid confrontation. And it's not, you know, just the movies. Do we remember Buffalo Bill Cody in his traveling show? He claimed to have been wounded by Indians 137 times. I was wounded by Indians 137 times. The truth is that he was wounded only once, but once doesn't sell well, does it? No, it doesn't. It seems too that the private citizen did well for himself and by himself back in the day. You know that great wagon trail thing, the great wagon trains, roughly between 1814 and 1860, when approximately 30,000 people crossed the country to settle in California and Oregon. Well, those wagon trains were very well organized. Wagon train groups were set up by private citizens, you know, voluntary organizations that provided not only the machinery for transport, but also the rules for safe transport. You know, you need hunters, you need to catch fresh meat and fish, and you want to shoot at the raiding parties. Horses and oxen need skilled attention. Carpenters, blacksmiths and the like would be needed to maintain those pioneer wagons, which were basically wood with like a little iron around them. And you need trail cooks. And, you know, these private organizations made sure each group had the correct mix of skills. People worked together to reach their final destination. And once they arrived, they often stake their claim long before anything resembling surveying and public domain were in place. They formed their sort of club, you know, their tribe. And I'll quote from Frederick Jackson Turner, a perfect example of the power of the newly arrived pioneers to join together for a common end without the intervention of governmental institutions. You see, we also had the cattle man associations, didn't we? They established the branding system, and they were very good at arbitrating disputes and finding ways to prevent overgrazing. And, oh, you know what, I'm rambling. I'm rambling. I'm rambling here. So I'll finish up by saying, I think we would all do so much better without government interfering in our private lives. And thank you, Jordan, for bringing this to our attention, the not-so-wild Wild West. Get along, little doggies, get along. That was a horrific accident. I do apologize to every American out there for having to hear that. Okay. Here's an email from omit personal details. Let me have a drinky poo. Hold on. Hmm. Honey, go slow on the drinky poo. It's a strongy poo. And this one from omit says, "Madam, in your never humble opinion, how would the founding fathers regard the push to transhumanism and posthumanism?" What an incredibly interesting question. I'm not sure if they would understand the concept fully. It's purposefully altering our ancestral coding to create meat robot slaves to serve a race of sociopath, child molesters, and devil worshipers. Now, the axis of evil at the time was the British Empire. The crown was the Satan, the oppressor. Okay, so how would we present this to the founding fathers? What language would we use? Well, Ben, upper echelon members of the Empire in cahoots with off-world dominators have hatched a plan to turn the human race into obedient automatons. Oh, yes, Ben, yes, yes, Mr. Franklin. Of course, they would appear normal mostly in appearance, but instead of having their own thoughts, they would respond to a central command. No, no, no, they won't rebel, Ben, because, you know, they're humanity. Their sense of sovereignty will be stripped from the codes, you see. They would be, you would be, the same as your slaves, but without their own thoughts. Just meat-covered machinery doing as they are instructed. What's that, you say, Ben, for what purpose? Oh, well, for the same purpose, people keep slaves today, so they can prosper from the sweat of another's brow. You see, Ben, you may think an American slave today is worth only two-thirds of a man, but the ones we call servants of deep state. They think of you. Yes, Ben, even you, an educated, curious man, a philosopher with a brilliant mind, they think of you as a useless eater, one who consumes without contributing to their well-being, to their prosperity. And I assure you, Ben, this is the plan for the future of America. Indeed, for all mankind, they will make sovereignty a dirty word. They will insist on calling it democracy, which actually isn't a good way to go, if you want representation for all, but that won't matter because their goal is to convince you that black is white and evil is good, and that tofu actually has a taste, and none of which is true, of course. Sorry, Mr. Franklin, what was that you were saying? How will they do this? Oh, you know, they'll experiment over the years, you know, figuring out the best way to terrify people into submission. It will most likely be a plague, some contagion they will create and release, and when they sell you the cure, the poison will actually be in the cure. Very clever, isn't it? So, you know, what would the founders make of that today, do you think? I imagine they would be horrified just as we are today. Okay, thank you for that question. You cowardly omit person who didn't want to give your name. Let's see, what should we do now? Let's take it from this one. Should I take it from the left side of the bowl? Should I take it from the right side of the bowl? Oh, in honor of Trump, I'll take it from the right side of the bowl. So, here's one, and it says... This is from... Oh, this is from Andreas. Andreas in London, who says, "My parents were born in Cyprus. I think your dad knew my dad. They were both weird blokes, small world. Anyway, I have a question for you. What is the best type of soap to use if you feel you have been exposed to dark entities? I don't feel attached or anything, just slimed." Andreas, very good practical question. I use a soap made of cloves, cinnamon, and salt. And there are many such soaps, clove soaps out on the market. Just make sure you use one that is emollient and doesn't take your skin off, because, you know, clove, it's pretty strong stuff. And it's okay to mix up a sense with it, like clove and orange or clove and lavender, clove and herbs. All of that works very well. Okay, well, thanks for that. Andreas, send me an email and let me know a little bit about why your father and my father knew each other, because my dad was up to no good for most of his life, which makes me think that perhaps your dad also worked during the general grievous era and was up to no good. So anyway, drop me a line. Maybe we can connect and have a chat. All right, well, let's see. I think we have time for more. Of course we do. We do have time, plenty of time. This is from Charlie in Basingstoke. That's in the UK. And Charlie says, what is the actual point of the US Constitution? England does not have a Constitution, so what uses it? What use is it? England does not have a Constitution? England does have a Constitution. Of course it does. How could you not know that? It's a bit different from the American one in so much as it's not all in one document, but it's there. I think back in boarding, so they called it an unwritten Constitution, but that's not true either because it is mostly written. It hasn't been codified. It hasn't been brought together in one single document. Because codified constitutions, they're typically created after a major political event, a turning point, a collapse of a government or something, you see. And that hasn't really ever happened in the UK. Well, I'm OK, there was Oliver Cromwell in his 17th century instrument of government, but that's just a blipping time. And everyone's forgotten about that. Yes, we should all forget about the Puritans. What a boring bunch of people they were. Anyway, back to the Constitution thing, with no real threat of collapse, I suppose there was no need to codify the Constitution. Let me quickly refer to my big book of all things British. Hold on, hold on. Of course England has a Constitution. Britain does. Yes, UK has a Constitution to be found in leading statutes, conventions, judicial decisions and treaties. Examples of the constitutional statues include the Bill of Rights, 1689 Acts of Union, 1707 and 1800, Act of Settlement, 1701, Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, Human Rights, Scotland Acts, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Examples of conventions include that the monarch acts on ministerial advice, that the Prime Minister sits in the House of Commons, that the Queen appoints as Prime Minister, the person most likely to command the confidence ha ha of the House of Commons. And parliamentary sovereignty is commonly regarded as the defining principle of the British Constitution. This is the ultimate lawmaking power vested in the UK Parliament to create or abolish any law. But of course Parliament can limit its lawmaking power. And that was in the Human Rights Act, or it can devolve legislative power as in the Scotland Act. And other core principles of the British Constitution include the rule of law, the separation of government into executive, legislative and judicial branches, the accountability of ministers to Parliament, ha ha, the independence of the judiciary and blah, blah, blah, lots of boring words. The main disadvantage of an uncodified Constitution is that it's harder to understand and you have to pull it all together and it's not just one big thing. But in answer to your question, what good is the American Constitution? I can only offer this. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity to ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. And therein, my darling bloke from Basingstoke lies the answer. The blessings of liberty will create a better society and a better society as a small government because the people of the civil, sovereign beings with a moral compass. And on that high note, I thank Charlie from Basingstoke and all the Martini heads for taking time to write in today. Darling, I know you have a choice of Mad Charmons and I thank you for choosing me. And by the way, without you, there wouldn't be much of a show, would there? No, because Quack is core to this show. We just wanted to know what Americans out there are thinking, Americans from all over the place, even Americans in the territories of expat Americans. We want your input. And now. It is time for a little pat of poetry. Yes, folks, after a hard day's shamaning, I like nothing better than coming home, putting my feet up, having a nice cup of tea, or a small drinky poo, and writing really hard, yet occasionally brilliant, non-peer reviewed poetry. Today's offering was written after I forced myself to watch one whole hour of mainstream propaganda news, and I showed remarkable restraint in not pouring myself a stiff one, or jumping, screaming from the upstairs window. But instead, I channeled my energies elsewhere, namely into this poem, after which I did scream a bit, truth be told. So this is my little offering for July the 4th. It is called "I Am an American" by Arnie Avadissian. That's me, by the way. Okay, here we go. I am an American. It is not something I take lightly. I took the test and made my vow. I is wide open, forthrightly. I am not an idealist, or someone with quaint romantic notions. The choice I made came from my deep heart's core. Only sovereignty is worthy of my devotion. No state may dictate whom to love, whom to hate. A free thinker can never be baited, nor have their rights legislated. The Bill of Rights, when carefully heeded, shows how cleverly that truth was ceded. The Bill of Rights, when carefully heeded, says in a moral society it is not needed. I am an American. I claim my right to be happy and free. And should you ever choose the globalist's sellout? What will I do? I guess you'll fuck around and find out. I do hope you enjoyed that. And if anybody was offended by the F word, I apologize. I forgot to bring my prudo meter along with me today. Okay, martini heads, what should we do now? Let's have a drink, because that's what martini heads do. Hold on. Lovely. All right, instead of American civic history things, we're going to do American trivia quiz. Okay, these are the rules. For every question you answer correctly, you can award yourself a piece of chocolate, or one small donut, or $1. And if you get them all correct, and you are on the honor system here, martini heads, if you get them all correct, send me an email and I'll give you a $40 gift certificate, which you can put towards any of my services. Now, are you ready? You get five seconds per question, and hoping I'll be able to get through all 20 questions before the end of the show. Take a moment. Take a deep breath. Feel your inner American. Get ready. Okay. Question number one. Name the organization that planned the assassination of J.F.K. And if you guessed CIA, you guessed correctly. Well done. Question number two. Which American political figure wins the award for the most friends on record as having committed suicide? Yes, it's Killery Clinton, hand-made into Lucifer and servant of the hierarchy of darkness. If you got that right, well done, and I'll give you a bonus point. Question number three. Is the United Nations in New York subject to American municipal law? No. It is considered international land, and therefore subject to diplomatic law, so foreign nationals working there cannot be tried under municipal law. Question number four. Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson. Interesting note on that. Jefferson wanted John Adams to write it because he thought Adams was better qualified. Adams convinced him to take up the pen and take the lead because he said, "Sir, you are a Virginian and Virginia ought to appear at the head of this business. Also, sir, I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular while you are very much otherwise. And also, sir, you can write ten times better than I." Another interesting tidbit I found. Jefferson's initial draft included a condemnation of slavery, which of course was promptly taken out by the Continental Congress to much progress too soon. It could have destabilized the fledgling republic. Question number five. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death?" That was, of course, Patrick Henry. And he said that on March 23, 1775 at the Virginia legislature, also known as the House of Burgesses. He was quite a character that chappy. He started making waves against the crown more than a decade before the declaration of independence. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, which sometimes I am, he didn't want a federal government at all. He thought that the states should just take care of themselves and legislate themselves because a central government would, he thought, one day, become far too big and end up replacing the British crown. He was right, wasn't he? Yes, he was. Okay. Question number six. What were the 13 original states of the United States called before independence? (barking) That's an easy one. They were called colonies. Colonies. How are you doing? Are you all doing well there? Are you scoring high on this test? There's chocolate doughnuts and dollars at stake here, people, so keep it together. Question number seven. When did the star spangled banner officially become the anthem of our great nation? (barking) Those little dutes sounded rather sad on that one, didn't it? All right, when did the star spangled banner officially become the anthem of our great nation? Well, that was March the 3, 1931, by a congressional resolution. Interesting tidbit. In 1916, during World War I, Woodrow Wilson ordered the star spangled banner to be played at military occasions. 1918, during a baseball game with the Boston Red Sox, and where do the Cubs come from? I think Chicago, the Chicago Cubs, the band played an off-prompture rendition of the star spangled banner during the seventh inning, and as they did so, the players and fans stood up, took their hats off and sang. How lovely is that? I seem to remember that there was an attempt during JFK's tenure to replace it with America the Beautiful, or at least have America the Beautiful, which really is a very beautiful song as a co-enthem. But Americans decided they preferred spangles to amber waves of grain. I can see why, although America the Beautiful, oh my gosh, what a beautiful song. All right, question number eight. How many states in the Union? People playing the kazoo is a lot more difficult than you would think. And how many states in the Union? Did you guess 50? If you guessed 50, you are right. And for a bonus point, what are the 49th and 50th states? And they would be Alaska and Hawaii. Question number nine. Who becomes the president of the U.S.? Who becomes the president? I am tiddly. Damn, this drink has really hit me. I'm going to stop drinking for a minute. Who becomes the president of the U.S. if the president should die? Well, I think we all guessed that one. It would be the vice president. Very scary thought right now with that giggling, chortling lunatic in there. Yes, it would be the VP. Question number 10. Who becomes president if the VP and the president should die? That would be the speaker of the House of Representatives. And a little tidbit. If he or she decided to die also, and I don't blame everybody for wanting to die right now. It's chaos. Then it's the president pro tempore of the Senate. And should he or she decide to pop off? Then we go down the cabinet, starting with the Secretary of State, and ending with the Secretary of Homeland Security, a department that just simply shouldn't exist in my opinion. But no one asked me. I wish they would ask me before making these life altering decisions. I have good ideas about America and how we should move forward. All right, moving on. Question 11. What is the supreme law of the United States? It is the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. So the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, and all of them can just bother off. Because nothing supersedes our Constitution. And don't push it. Because our citizens have 7.62 reasons why you won't get away with it. Question number 12. What is the minimum voting age in the United States? 18. You have to be 18 years old to vote in the United States. You have to be 21 years old to have a beer, or any kind of alcoholic beverage in the United States. And you know what? I really don't have a problem with keeping alcohol away from people for as long as possible, only because it does do damage to younger brains. But it does not seem fair to me that at 18 years old you can go die for your country, but you can't get a cold beer. Maybe they should allow servicemen to have a beer. I don't know. Moving on, I'm rambling. Number 13. How many branches of government are there and can you name them? Well, there are three. Legislative, executive and judicial, but you all knew that. Number 14. What is Congress? What is Congress? Well, it's the Senate and the House of Representatives. Question 15. How many senators are there in Congress? (barking) 102 from each state. Question 16. How long may a senator serve? (barking) Six years. That's it. Bye-bye. Question 17. How many representatives, Congressmen and women, are there in Congress? (barking) 435. There you go. If you didn't know that, you know now. Question 18. For how long do we elect representatives? (barking) We elect them for two years, but they can be re-elected, and that can be a bit of a problem if they keep getting re-elected over and over again, and being useless, which most of them are. Number 19. What are the duties of the Supreme Court? (barking) The duties of the Supreme Court are to interpret the constitutionality of laws. They're making better choices these days. And the last question. Question 20. How many stars on the American flag? (barking) There are 50. 50. I counted them. 50 flags. 50 not flags. 50 stars on the American flag. One for each state. Okay. Now, I hope you've been keeping your track of your progress there. If you've got them all right, or if you've got 80% or more right, send me an email. I'll send you a $40 gift certificate to any of my services. There you are. And a bonus question. What is the name of the actor playing Joe Biden? (laughing) That is a trick question. I have no idea who the poor sucker is. But I suspect he will end up in a ditch somewhere. Cold. And pale. And lifeless. So, go ahead people. Shut up your scores and send me an email. Moving on. You know, I'm very interested. I always have been, even back in England. I've been very interested in early American history. And if I had taken a different route in life, sometimes I wish I had, I would have studied history in anthropology and probably specialized in food anthropology. Because how civilizations grow and thrive, you know, for the most part, it's dependent on their nourishment or lack thereof. There is a channel on YouTube I enjoy. It's called Town Zends. And Mr. Town Zend, he explores 18th century American cuisine, and he's fully immersed in the timeline, costumes and everything. He's fully immersed in the feeling of the era. Now, I don't care for poo tube because they keep taking my content down, citing medical misinformation. In other words, I am spreading truth and they don't like it. But I will watch poo tube for the Town Zends. So check it out and try out some of the recipes. When we look at the sort of things Americans used to eat back in the day, obviously, you know, they ate what was available. One of the popular things they liked to eat was called old eel pie. Now, I'm not sure that the eel had to be old, but that's what it's called, old eel pie. And that's definitely a taste brought over from England, where eel is still very, very popular. Studios, jelly deels served with parsley sauce and mashed potatoes. It's quite a delicacy, especially in London, where I'm from. But early Americans loved eel pie so much. They used lobsters as bait to catch the eels. Well, that said, of course, lobster was a common food back then, and not $26 a pound like it is here in Oregon. But eel fell out of favor in modern times. But then again, when the Japanese started to come over and get us interested in sushi, eels back on the menu. Another popular item at that time was roast beaver tail. Don't you dare giggle, roast beaver tail? I must admit, it does not sound appealing. But if you are a hungry frontiersman, engaged in physical work, and you want easily trapped food, high in calories, well, a nice juicy beaver tail hits the spot. Beaver skin was a valuable commodity. So win-win for everyone, except, of course, the beaver. So you could say, well, we're just hunting the beaver for its skin, but we might as well eat the tail as well, because, you know, there it is. So roast beaver tail, it appeared in cookbooks well into the 1940s. And, you know, then it disappeared. And perhaps that's best. It is a high calorie food, and today's society is far more sedentary than active. What else was popular back in the day? Turtles. Turtle roasts held along the East River in New York, served as trendy, really trendy society events during the 1800s. You know, they featured the turtle, where they roasted it, but they also put it in a soup, wall-heard of turtle soup. It's a very, it's the main protein of that hearty little soup. It disappeared from menus due to over-harvesting, and it's quite rare to find now. It's almost always mock turtle soup. But if you want the real thing, you have to go to Louisiana and to New Orleans. That's where you have to go. Of course, people ate whatever they could. Corn was native to America, root vegetables, all those things. Hunting and fishing were must-have skills. You know, lots of wild game meets what potted for preservation. And pickles were essential for digestion. And cakes and breads, such as jumble cookies and pepper cakes. You know, whatever you got that you could mix with flour and put some raisins or whatever the heck you could get your hands in and make it into some sort of cake. Those were very popular, but none of the desserts, including the ever-popular syllabob, none of them were as sweet as they are today. And that is good, because America has a dangerous sugar addiction. Fascinating stuff. I'm going to go and get some cookbooks on pioneer cooking and early American cooking. I can't quite remember the name of the one that I was after I should have made a note, but I will tell you about it on the next show. So, by golly folks, July the 4th tomorrow, what are you all doing? I'm going to be with my friends in beautiful camis, Washington, sitting in the backyard in this five acres of forest, where we're going to have an almighty barbecue, some cold beers, and I'm going to terrorize everyone with my American trivia quiz. So, hopefully they haven't been listening to this podcast. Otherwise, they'll know all the answers. A reminder, folks, to check in on my website from time to time, www.iavadiscian.com, sign up for my monthly newsletter called Monthly Messages, a very fabulous title there, Monthly Messages, and then you'll get all the discounts and the specials, and you'll know what I'm up to, because somebody has to keep a track of what I do, and it's certainly not me. Darling's, we've done it again. I mean, we're getting close to having used up one whole hour of linear time. One hour, we will never get back. So, I hope you enjoyed listening in as much as I enjoyed recording it, because I had a blast. I always do. This is the day I look forward to every other Wednesday, where I get to connect with martini heads, patriots all over America and ex-pat Americans from wherever the heck you are. Perhaps some of you are on the moon, perhaps some of you are on Mars, but thanks to the internet, we can all be connected, and I get to hear what's on your mind, and you get to experience my brilliance and my bullshit for an hour. How lucky are you? But now, my darlings, I finish my drink, and that always means the end of the show, because, you know, by the end of the show, I'm usually quite tiddly, and I'm really struggling with some words today, which is not a good look on a lady. Today's real-life cocktail was, wait for it, as far as we know, the first actual cocktail to be created and have the recipe printed in America. We're going back to 1806. It did not have a name at the time, but today we know it as a Sazerac. And I love that name. It sounds like a sorceress spell. Begone foul, Sazerac, back to the void from which you were spawned. Well, over the years, the recipe has had many amendments, about as many as the Constitution, but the original ingredients were brandy, absinthe, sugar, and bitters. So I set out to recreate this little early little American gem, and I have to be honest, I might need some help getting up off my share once this show is over. This is the original Sazerac, and here's how I think you make it. You're going to need absinthe, but just for a rinse, two ounces of good cognac, half an ounce of simple syrup, three dashes of pastured bitters, and for garnish, you're going to want a lemon peel, and it's going to have to be organic, okay? What you do is you rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with the absinthe, fill it with crushed ice, and set it aside. Then you get another mixing glass with ice, and you put into that cognac, and simple syrup, and bitters, and you stir until it's well chilled. Now, going back to the first glass, you discard the ice and any excess absinthe from the prepared glass, and then you strain the other drink into that glass. Then you express the lemon peel oils over the top of the drink, and you garnish with the peel, and I assure you, my darlings, you have one of these on July the 4th, and you'll be singing the star spangled banner at the top of your lungs, probably naked in the driveway of your house, much to the distress of your neighbours. Remember folks, cocktails are great if they are an occasional treat. If you use top shelf ingredients and take the art of mixology seriously, which you should, wondering, is all you need. I'm Oni, mad as the day is long, and rather tiddly, Abidissian. This was Metaphysical Martini, a production of cosmic reality radio, to whom we are most grateful, Smoochie-Woochie-Woochie. Shout out to mysticalwares.com in Mount Vernon, Washington, for making sure that this podcast reaches the ends of the earth and all throughout the solar system. Until we meet again, tell the establishment to stick the monkey pox up its arse. Let's get Trump back and end this farce, and whatever else we find ourselves doing, let's do it while letting the spirit inhabit the human. Happy 4th of July. You have been able to stick to the Metaphysical Martini with Ani Abidissian, the Mad Shaman, the production of cosmicreality.com. (upbeat music)
