Only, It Wasn't Snowing

(Above, everyone at the end of the night, vaguely left to right, Ted, Sara, Rachael, Matt, Seth, Bert, Cori, John, Cathy, Kenny, Kailin, Tobias, Aron, Sylvia, Nick, with the menu, Brook, Karen, and Steph.  All Photos by Josh!  Below, Rachael and Cori.  Below that, Sara, Seth, and Sylvia. )

(Below, James and Mo, and Josh and Amanda.  I think Helen took the picture of Josh and Amanda, but Josh took the other one.)

Below, Philip and Sylvia.  Bottom, Sue, Roberto, Taylor, Aleks and Alvin.  Thanks Josh for the beautiful photos!  Many more coming soon!)

Revolutions

Huge Thank Yous to Everyone Who Came Out Saturday for the Second Night of Winter Sports.  


It was an awesome and lively crowd on Saturday-- thanks to everyone who came out before heading up to TRUST, thank you to everyone who came later and brought the second and third waves, and thanks to all who hung with us for the whole evening.  (...and a very big and quite special swooping Thank You to our lovely guest from Los Angeles.)


Thank you too to everyone for rocking such winter finery as you were.  We've got some beautiful photos by Josh to post.. they are undergoing the transition from analog to digital and should be ready to put up soon.  Hope you got a preview from Josh at the party-- they are truly gorgeous and I can't wait to post them and show them off.  


Before we get to the photos, though, I want to post the menu up for posterity..
Ted's cocktails Saturday night were focused on being holiday-ish without going overboard-- with just enough sweetness to be appropriate and just enough dirtyness to be inappropriate.  


Specialty Cocktails
Cabin Fever.  A Reason to Stay Indoors.  Hot Cider served in a glass mug with couvoisier, white rum, and a cinnamon stick.
Forget About It.  When You Want it to Linger A Little.  Cold Sparkling Cider with Tequila and a dash of Chartreuse, served in a champagne flute.
Wartime Behavior.  A Bite from Beautiful Lips.  A shot of Courvo and a splash of St. Germain in a Ginger-rubbed glass, served to sip.  And Bite.
Debutante's Regret.  The Hidden Crazy Eye behind Big Sunglasses.  Champagne and Courvoisier with Cool Whip if you're dirty.  Served like Bubbles.. but the Cool Whip will give you away.


Thank You Ted and Thank You Josh for your magics!
Cheers and I'll be back soon with some photos!

Danse Au Hasard

(Top, Charlie and Ted.  Above, Cori!  By Josh Umami.)

(Top, Devon, Ryan, Brain, and Mo.  Middle, Christina, Megan, Alison and Nick, and above, Megan, Christina, and Alison.  Beautifully polaroided by Josh!)

(Two above, Ted and Sara.  Immediately above, Belan and Brain.  Woo!  Below, Nick and Andrea.  Bottom, Erik.)  Thank you everyone for coming to hang out with Ted, Josh, and I!  Can't wait to see everyone this Saturday for the second night of Winter Sports.  See you then :)

Countdown

This
Saturday.




Hello Everyone.  Join us this Saturday for Winter Sports Heat II!


Just as the first round of Holiday Parties reaches a close, I think we all feel the need to kick back with some non-holiday themed-- but nonetheless sartorial-- merrymaking.  Think of it as a warmup for 2010!  We're putting the finishing touches on our menu this week, and working out the kinks, but details are as follows:

Your Stylish Attendance Requested at the Winter Sports Heat II

on Saturday, December 12th.

From 9 pm on and on and onandonandonandonandon.. 

Beautiful Beasts of the Present

(Top, Helen, Mark, and Paula!  Middle, Seth, Sara, Emily, Ikuyo, and Allie... Above, Sara, Emily, Ikuyo, and Allie.  

Below, Nick, Christina, Alison, and Megan.  Also below, Brandy and Jameson.  All by Josh of course!)

(Below, Sylvia, Kenny, Erik, and Cori.  Bottom, Steven and Kailin.  Photos by Josh)

Happy Thanksgiving

(Top, Cori, with hidden Kenny, Steven, and Kailin.  Above, Daniel and Charlie.  Below, Chika, Jared, and Chris hydrates.  Photos by Josh Umami!)

(Above, Ted and Seth, who invented something really gross when he put whipped cream on a PBR.  Below, Sylvia and Christy.  Btw Happy Birthday Sylvia!  All by Josh)

(Above, Karen catches Josh in the act.  Below, Nick, Bilan, and Brian.  Thanks Josh for the rad photos.  More coming next week!)

High Cream

Thank You.

Massive Thank Yous to everyone who came out for the first Winter Sports!  Especially to the people who I hadn't met before!  You guys brought the party to a whole new place.  We had a TOTAL blast!

(Above, Ikuyo, Gerald, Nick, Em, and Allie.  Emily was carrying around that whipped cream canister all night.  Below, Ted, Cori, Andrea, and Nick, finishing a drink.   Polaroided by Josh Umami!)

A few more things I'm thankful for (its only a few days until Thanksgiving, u know) before I wear it out-- Thanks to EVERYONE for trying our cocktails.  After everyone warmed up with a Wartime Behavior or two, we added a new drink to the menu:  Halfway thru the party, to compensate for a sudden shortage of St. Germain (blame Ted's ridiculously good French Gingers) we coined the French Mexican, our own cinematic aggrandized version of what it know in less cinematic times as Tequila with Sparkling (French) Lemonade.      

This move led to a little bit of debate on the floor about what was the most popular drink of the night.  The first half of the night had a great spread; the Wartime Behavior and No Sadnesses (thank you linguist Erik) putting up solid competition for the French Ginger and the Debutante's Regret, both of which seemed to capture everyone's need to warm up and ease into the evening.  By the middle of the night, No Sadnesses were storming the place.  But even with the introduction of tequila to level the playing field after the departure of French Gingers from the menu, I think the Debutante's Regret solidly took the second half of the night.  

(Above, Ryan, Brian, and Mo.  Below, Sara and Seth, who holds a Debutante's Regret.  Photo by Josh)

So is this what puts the Sports in Winter Sports?  A room full of rad, creative people plus a freshly-minted menu of new cocktails on the wall, and each cocktail vying for drinkage throughout the course of an amazing evening?  Could be, given how we didn't drink nearly ANYTHING besides the five drinks on the menu all night...  Its a good story.

But is that the answer?  It does make a good story, but here's the thing:  I'm not sure we need to know what puts the Sports in Winter Sports!  We don't need an excuse to get together and have a blast.  We just need a venue.

(Below, Em and Ikuyo!  Photo by Josh)

One other sporting-type idea comes to mind.  Let's make ourselves a game to shake up winter hibernation in the Northwest.  A season of friendly tussle between our energetic selves and the rainy quiet.  One night a month!  To get together, rock all night, bring more friends together, and punctuate the grey until next summer!  Next Winter Sports is coming up in a few weeks.  Hope to see you all there!

Thanks to Seth and Sara for this post's title.  They kept saying things like High Cream while drinking Debutante's Regrets.. Funny

Tomorrow

Good News.


Tomorrow we open the doors on Winter Sports.


And last night Ted and I toasted to the opening as we put the final touches on tomorrow's menu. 
I'm excited to say the menu feels pretty good.  I'm anxious to share it with everybody and get your thoughts!
So come out tomorrow and try a few of these things.  Or have a Gin & Tonic.  Or just dance.  Plenty of time in the evening for all three.  And now the menu:


Heat I  Specialty Cocktails
Wartime Behavior.  A Bite from Beautiful Lips.  A shot of Courvo and a splash of St. Germain in a Ginger-rubbed glass, served to sip.  And Bite.  
No Sadness.  Dry, Ephemeral, In Search of Lost Time.  Port and Soda with a touch of Chartreuse and one lonely Bitters Ice Cube.  Served in a Champagne Flute.
Debutante's Regret.  The Hidden Crazy Eye behind Big Sunglasses.  Champagne and Courvoisier with Cool Whip if you're dirty.  Served like Bubbles.. but the Cool Whip will give you away.
????   Nameless but its So Good it Must Make the Menu.  Muddled Ginger in St. Germain, served as a sipping shot.  


Heat II  Mixed Drinks
Boodles Gin
Some Strong Vodka
Sodas and Tonics and Lemons and Limes and Oranges
Tequilas


Opening Ceremonies, 11.14.2009
9 PM on and on andonandonand
Contact nfkamuda@gmail.com for address and details.

polaroid Preview 10/10

This is my bar.  Nick, polaroided by Josh Umami.

Mucho Gusto

Opening Ceremonies


Your Stylish Attendance Requested at the Winter Sports Opening Ceremonies, on Saturday, November 14th.
From 9 pm on and on and onandonandonandonandon


What it is:
Winter Sports is a monthly bar/ party that I'm holding in my house to fight the winter blues with good friends, good drinks, and good style!  We'll provide the music, alcohol, and respite from the elements, and you provide your good vibes and stylish presence.  Come whenever you want and bring a small donation if you can spare it.  Fight hibernation and deal with the winter blues with swagger... 

Wartime Behavior

Its almost time for the Opening Ceremonies!


The facebook invite went out this morning, and the sms invite will go out this evening.  I apologize to any readers who didn't get an invite, it means I either don't know you or maybe you're out of town and so I didn't pass it along?  


So. I have an exciting announcement to make.  


First off, we are getting closer to having our menu dialed in.  For anyone that doesn't know Ted or myself, for off-the-street generally pretty devil-may-care types, but when we go in to make something, if we don't think we're hitting the mark, we'll stay up for days until we can get it right.  The Winter Sports menu should reflect that: half the drinks will be straight up good gin and strong vodka in tonics and sodas, complemented by some rocking wine selections by Chirsty and Jameson, our resident industry experts.  The other half will be house cocktail specialties-- provided we can NAIL the recipes before hand.  


And so here's the exciting part: We've got one in the bag.  Named The Wartime Behavior, the idea is that the drink should taste like the same kind of free spirited questionable judgement that people invoke during surreal times of desperate measure.   Classic passionate abandon.  In addition, the size and flavor should be evocative of wartime classics:  small and served in a shot glass to represent frugality; smooth, but with a bite, a bit like going into a trance to escape from current affairs. What we came up with captures the abandon of Henry Miller and Anais Nin in the altered state of mid-century Paris:  A shot of Courvoisier mized with a bit of St. Germain, in a glass rubbed with fresh ginger... topped off by letting a thin slice of ginger float on the surface... and sink to the bottom.

Polaroid Preview 9/10

My Winter Sports partner, Ted, and our friend Jameson.
Photo by Josh Umami.

Polaroid Preview 8/10

John W, III.  Photo by Josh Umami.

Polaroid Preview 7/10

Bernice!  Photo By Josh Umami

Polaroid Preview 6/10

 

Sylvia, by Josh Umami.

Polaroid Preview 5/10

Karen, Bernice, and Sally.  Photo taken by J.U.,  Artist-in-Residence.

Polaroid Preview 4/10

Sally, Christy, and Jameson.  Photo by our Artist-in-Residence Josh Umami.

The Ranks

Yes!
Josh Umami has just agreed to a Winter Sports residency.


I thought for a second about likening this to Robert Capa and how he hung with the militia in the Spanish Civil War, but comparing Winter Sports to the Spanish Civil War seems like a no-win situation.  


What I can say is this:  Josh will be our official photographer-in-residence, documenting each night with his magical Polaroid.  I'm looking to him to produce some beautiful artifacts of Winter Sports, and of course asking him to make sure his documentation is completely subjective and his photos make the party look fully and unnaturally awesome.


In exchange for his artsyness, I agreed to try and get a job at an internationally renowned arts foundation so that Umami can leverage this experience to some serious art world coin.  Anyone have any chair positions open?  I'm a hard worker (between the hours of 2 pm and 5 pm) and have strong skills in magazine reading, I'm a polite and unquestioning listener, and I can make a stiff drink.  I'm also really good with dogs.  What kind of Chairmanship does that qualify me for?


...Thanks, Josh!  Looking forward to it!

Polaroid Preview 3/10

Karen, Tobias, and Sara. Photo by Josh Umami, of course.

Polaroid Preview 2/10

Seth and Sara.

Photo by Josh Umami, my favorite Polaroidist.

The ODB (and the other ODB)

I've got two things to say:

1.  Our first menu item: the chow.  Nicknamed the ODB, it is late-night perfection in sandwich form. Take one Pillsbury Butter-Tastin' Flaky Layers Biscuit (yes thats really what they're called), add peppered bacon, and stand back and let the magic happen.  Of course, there are some details of the ODB that have to be kept under wraps until we debut it at our Opening Ceremonies on November 14th, but I will try to sneak a picture of one to you before then if I can.  Yum!

2.  Speaking of ODBs, I just got a big-ass book by tastemaker extraordinaire circa 1940ish-2004, the Helmut Newton.  The book is SUMO, and was originally published ten years ago in a earth-shattering 20" x 27" size.  I just picked up the re-issue (og copies run $15,000) and I have to say that it is stunning.  It'll definitely be available for browsing during Winter Sports nights.  Can't wait!

Winter Sports Preview 1/10

Christy, Ted, John, Taylor, and Emily.
Photo by Josh Umami, my favorite Polaroidist

Preview of the Games

Hello,

We're excited that you've come to check out the new blog for the 2009 Season of Winter Sports. Keep your eyes peeled for information regarding our upcoming Opening Ceremonies, currently scheduled to kick off on Saturday, November 14th. We realize that may seem like a long time away, but I promise you, it will arrive in no time at all.

To keep things moving until then, I wanted to post a few events that we at Winter Sports are looking forward to in the meantime:

Tonight, Sept 20. Beach House is playing at Neumos.

Friday, Sept 25, Fame the movie opens nationwide.

Sunday, October 4th, go to Corson Building for Sunday Brunch.

Saturday, October 10, School of Seven Bells is playing at Neumos.

Friday, October 16, Where the Wild Things Are opens nationwide.

Thursday, October 22, Yo La Tengo is playing at the Showbox Sodo.

Friday, October 23, Ong Bak 2 opens nationwide.

We'll be back soon with pictures from this summer's qualifying matches!

Huzzah until the 200009 Winter Sports Season officially opens!