whiskey checkers

carol reed - our man in havana - 1959
(ernie kovacs and alec guinness)

vin de pays du vaucluse

good wine is a necessity of life for me
thomas jefferson

found on kermit lynch's red wine - vin de pays du vaucluse
mis en bouteille par leydier et fils

a good wine for a dipsomaniac without a sou

georgian wine

otar iosseliani - falling leaves - 1966

unconscious of nightfall

in less than half-an-hour the started, the cider-makers in the yard having ceased their labours and gone away, so that the only sounds audible there now were the trickling of the juice from the tightly screwed press, and the buzz of a single wasp, which had drunk itself so tipsy that it was unconscious of nightfall.

thomas hardy - the woodlanders - 1887

danny boy

coen brothers - miller's crossing - 1990

block 24

hendry, primitivo

city lights

charles chaplin - city lights - 1931

the melancholia of john barrymore

john barrymore in george cukor's diner at eight, 1933
(attempts at dipsomania between 30 and 45 minutes in the film)

with harvey at charlie's

from henry koster's harvey, 1950

elwood p. dowd and harvey at charlie's, jimmy stewart as a fine dipsomaniac

i intend to search your offices

drink from john huston's the maltese falcon, 1941

capering about most obstreperously

the liquor soon mounted into their heads, as it generally does even with the arrantest topers newly landed from sea, and they began capering about most obstreperously.

(from the spouter-inn chapter)


when stubb reappeared, he came with a dark flask in one hand, and a sort of tea-caddy in the other. the first contained strong spirits, and was handed to queequeg; the second was aunt charity's gift, and that was freely given to the waves.

(from the monkey rope chapter)


"that drove the spigot out of him!" cries stubb. "'tis july's immortal fourth; all fountains must run wine to-day! would now, it were old orleans whiskey, or old ohio, or unspeakable old monongahela! then, tashtego, lad, i'd have ye hold a canakin to the jet, and we'd drink round it! yea, verily, hearts alive, we'd brew choice punch in the spread of his spout-hole there, and from that live punch-bowl quaff the living stuff!"

(from pitchpoling chapter)


herman melville: moby-dick, 1851

whiskey and soda for me

"no ice in mine, steward. i can't think why you ruin good whiskey by putting ice in it"
nigel bruce in roy william neill's sherlock holmes in pursuit to algiers, 1945

kentucky, boone county kentucky

"its the water makes the whiskey fit to drink"

sterling hayden in john huston's asphalt jungle, 1950

pappy van winkle, 20 years old

and the place of action (drinking house)

francis lodwick: the forms of distinctional marks, 1647:
the actor (drinker), the action (drinking), the object (drink), the inclination (drunkard), the abstract of the demonstrative adjective (drunkenness), and the place of action (drinking house).

from imagining language: an anthology, edited by jed jasula and steve mccaffery, mit press 1998

sake. i'll think while i drink

mifune in yojimbo

the wine of lovers

space rolls to-day her splendour round!

unbridled, spurless, without bound,

mount we upon the wings of wine

for skies fantastic and divine!

let us, like angels tortured by

some wild delirious phantasy,

follow the far-off mirage born

in the blue crystal of the morn.

and gently balanced on the wing

of the wild whirlwind we will ride,

rejoicing with the joyous thing.

my sister, floating side by side,

fly we unceasing whither gleams

the distant heaven of my dreams.

charles baudelaire, 1906

suttree, early times

how you doing, jim?
i'm doin everybody i can, where you been? where's the whiskey?
here ye go. get ye a drink, bud.
what is it?
early times. best little old drink in the world. get ye a drink, sut.
suttree held it to the light. small twigs, debris, matter, coiled in the oily liquid. he shook it. smoke rose from the yellow floor of the bottle.
shit almighty, he said.
best little old drink in the world, sang out j-bone. have a drink, bud.

*****

goddamn. what is this shit?
early times, called j-bone. best little old drink they is. drink that and you wont feel a thing the next mornin.
or any morning.
whoo lord, give it here. hello early, come to your old daddy.
here, pour some of it in this cup and let me cut it with coca-cola.
can't do it, bud.
why not?
we done tried it. it eats the bottom out.
watch it suttree. don't spill none on your shoes.
(pages 22-23)

*****

lord honey i know they make that old splo in the bathtub but this here is made in the toilet. he was looking at the bottle, shaking it. bubbles the size of gooseshot veered greasily up through the smoky fuel it held.
(page 24)

*****

the last time i drank some of that shit i like to died. i stunk from the inside out. i laid in a tub of hot water all day and climbed out and dried and you could still smell it. i had to burn my clothes.

*****

early times, he called. make your liver quiver.
(page 26)

cormac mccarthy, suttree


1950's map of downtown knoxville from this site

du whiskey

sneaking some whiskey in frank perry's rancho deluxe, 1975

....whiskey or something?

speak for yourself, you may be a
sinner, but i ain't yet had the opportunity

dipsomania from ang lee's brokeback mountain, 2005

the late show

"i'd offer you a drink, but i really don't think there's going to be enough to go around.
right now i think i need it more than you do"
art carney in robert benton's the late show, 1977

new possibilities for dipsomania

danish: alkoholisme
dutch: periodieke drankzucht (periodic spirits sigh)
french: dipsomanie, alcoolisme
german: trunksucht (drunkenness craze)
greek: διψομανία, αλκοολισμός
italian: dipsomania
japanese: 渇酒癖, アルコール中毒 (thirst liquor habit, alcoholism)
portuguese: dipsomania
russian: алкоголизм
spanish: dipsomanía
swedish: periodsuperi

(with some mac translations)

drunk was ale

more mcsorley's, nyc

sawdust on the floor

ghosts

the small particles of wood or other material that fall from an object being sawed

small of or material fall an being the particles wood other that from object sawed

of material an the wood that object small or fall being particles other from sawed

material the that small fall particles from of an wood object or being other sawed

the small particles of wood or other material that fall from an object being sawed

porque yo say champana, y tu eres mierda

you think i am shit
but you are wrong
cause i'm champagne
and you're shit
until the day you die
you, not me
will always be shit

todd solondz's happiness, 1998
(the brutal breakup scene)

hendrick's gin

image by t. morley

hendrick's gin (from scotland) with langston the dog and books.

goes good with a touch of mint & tonic, or straight.

lag a'mhuilin, meaning: hollow by the mill

lagavulin or 'the strange horse of suinabhal'

(if you like a peaty scotch)

rio bravo

with the shakes

dean martin trying not to drink in howard hawks'
rio bravo, 1958