Episode 3 - Old TV

The Hollywood writer’s strike is over! We can now proceed with our regularly scheduled programming and bring you the next episode of idiot Boxes and Boob tubes …. Alright fine the strike was over many months ago but you know how these producers are, delaying production due to rising costs, and don’t get me started on the actors! Such drama!

Gosh it takes me back, way back, back before I was even born, to the golden era of television. Or at least, to this adorable old TV puzzle box crafted by a favorite Karakuri Creation Group artist, Osamu Kasho, whose whimsical work is well known to these virtual pages. Kasho shared a few thoughts about his old puzzle, now over ten years old, which was created for the group’s “Nostalgia” themed exhibition.

“It's my second work of Karakuri box. I thought the shape of old TV would be a nice box. TV must be a magical thing for the people in the past. I don't want to make an LCD TV. I just drew the old TV I imagined. It must be a wire antenna on the top!” His idea is explained in the original KCG page description as well: “An old TV receives broadcasting reception through an antenna. Do you remember the age before remote controls? We had to actually walk to the TV and turn the round knob in order to change the channel.” I do remember that, actually, and the clunky old remote control “clickers” that really made a loud clicking sound when the buttons were pressed.

Osamu recalls of his youth, “I liked to see stop motion anime when I was a child.” Now that he is older, he has less time for TV. “I love to see movies and get relaxed with beer! But now I got busy and no time to watch TV, or YouTube. Making Karakuri and raising 3 children are only my life routine now. Our third baby was born 29th of this November!” Congratulations Osamu!

The Old TV is a picture perfect puzzle box, adorable in form and sneaky in function. You’ll be stumped for at least the length of a commercial break trying to see what’s on the old broadcast channels. “I thought it was an easy puzzle, but it wasn't for some people. Reactions of people are very important for me. Reactions make the work more special.” My reaction is that Kasho should win the Emmy Award for his television show.

I fiddled with the antenna in this Old TV set for awhile and finally managed to tune in to a broadcast. I guess Old TVs only show old TV shows, because all it would play was a black and white Old West drama called Gunsmoke. It turns out that Gunsmoke was one of the most popular shows of its era, running for twenty seasons from 1955 to 1975. It originated, like many of the original television shows, as a radio drama, which first aired in 1952, and is well regarded as one of the best radio series of all time. The show was notable for its gritty subject matter, set in a real world where the hero often got there too late, and the bad guys got away.

We can contemplate the old days and toast this Old TV with a tasty whiskey sour from High West Distillery. In 2006, High West, an American distillery in Park City, became Utah’s first legal distillery since 1870. They make award winning and highly sought after limited-edition releases, along with their excellent line of bourbons and ryes. This recipe, from their national brand ambassador and in-house bartender Josh Novaski, calls for bourbon - I used their Campfire Whiskey, a blend of scotch, bourbon and rye which they describe as “floral, fruity, bright and spicy, caramel, butterscotch, light smoke and smoldering wood from a campfire the morning after, jasmine, chai tea, sandalwood, leather, tobacco, pine resin and toasted bread” on the nose, with “vanilla, honey, toffee with some nice fruit, blueberries and black cherries, chai spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, orange zest, salty caramels, tobacco, gentle smoke, spicy gingerbread with blackstrap molasses and toasted marshmallow” on the palate. If I can taste just a quarter of all that it still sounds amazing. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to in the Olde Days, do they? Or, perhaps they do. Cheers!

Gunsmoke by Josh Novaski

1 ½ oz High West bourbon

¼ oz Amaro Nonino

Barspoon mezcal

¾ oz lemon

½ oz grapefruit

½ oz cinnamon syrup

Grapefruit twist

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