‘Wicked’ just broke a surprising box office record

As a writer, I am the first to tell you that everyone should read more. I am an avid reader. But, I have actually been strugling recently with a pretty heavy bout of a reading slump. I typically read about 2-3 books a month. I am a huge fan of a bang, bang, shoot em up, but I expanded my genre to include everything from horror to legal thrillers, autobiographies, and historical non-fiction. I was asked the other day if I thought I was well read and I had to pause. My instint is to say yes, but then I thought about the definition, and all of a sudden I was in the middle of a philisophical conversation about whether or not I was, in fact, a well read man. So, I dove deep into the subject and came back with this thought: Being well read is different for most men, and here is how you should look at it.

The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can’t. – Mark Twain

Daniel Craig’s James Bond bit the big one in 2021. It was a fitting end to one of (if not the best) run of 007 films in the franchise’s six decade history. There was a depth, a continuity, a feeling of finalism that caused all fans to reflect instead of the usual curse of leaving the theater thinking, “what’s next?” So, the wait for who would don the dinner jacket for MI6 in the newest iteration of the agent has been long, but somehow simultaniuously snuck up on us. It has been five years since we’ve had a new James Bond film, and it will likely be another year or two before we do, marking the longest wait.

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting things to chew on in the meantime. Outside of the books and video game content we have gotten this year, we have also been getting updates on casting, and this weekend marks the final round of James Bond auditions, and here is what we know so far.

Chocolate and peanut butter. Beer and pizza. Buzz and Woody. Ruth and Gherig. There are just some things that work well together. And no matter what you do, you will never beat them and spend all of your time trying to find a more iconic pair than what already exists. I can count on one hand how many times I have smoked a cigar without an old fashioned in the other hand. And, there is a reason there aren’t more times…because, honestly, why would I waste the time smoking without drinking? Why would I waste chocolate without peanut butter? Why would I waste beer without pizza? I wouldn’t. And the Yankees wouldn’t have been the same without Murderer’s Row. And Toy Story would have been nothing without the rivals-to-friends of Buzz and Woody.

But how do you pair a cigar with the right drink? For me, bourbon mixed with sugar, bitters, and a bit of fruit is a good combination with anything. But I reached out to John Gaglio from La Aurora to get a little more guidance on how to deepen my pairing of the two, and here is what I learned.