Episodes

Episode 15: Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Drink Clone, Donut Training

Sarah Shun-lien Bynum/photo courtesy of Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

This week: award winning author Sarah Shun-lien Bynum uses her children to live out her own teen fantasies…We replicate a cocktail recipe… And Rico celebrates athletes by stuffing his face with dough and butter.

Drink Recipe: “The Elk Cloner”

In 1982, a 15-year-old computer geek named Rich Skrenta unleashed the world’s first personal-computer virus: “The Elk Cloner.” What started as a prank aimed at his friends has evolved into a $40 billion dollar a year headache for computer users worldwide. If you’re interested in fighting the scourge of internet viruses, there’s a Nigerian prince collecting money for the cause. Please send us your bank account number post-haste.

RECIPE created for the DPD by Miles Thomas of Branzino restaurant in Seattle, WA:

  • 2 oz Absolut vodka
  • 1.5 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice cubes
  • oz white grape juice
  • .5 oz Damiana
  • 1 dash “Scrappy Bitters” Orange

Combine all ingredients over ice in a shaker, and shake until frosty. Serve on the rocks or up in a martini glass. Garnish with a stick of RAM.

After Dinner Mint

notes on this week’s show

For more about the Elk Cloner virus — in its creator’s own words — check out Rich Skrenta’s web page on the subject. Wrote he in an old usenet post circa 1990: “The stupidest hack I ever coded generated the most interest.”

Our Icebreaker joke this week was told by Buck Down, leader of the conflagrant dance-funk circus called The Mutaytor. Their Inauguration night – which they spent in the company of The Crystal Method and 1500 or so friends — was by all accounts a lot different than President Obama’s.

And finally, if you happen to find yourself in Eagle Rock, California and decide you need to gain about 20 pounds quick — here’s Polka Restaurant, aka pierogie heaven.