Space Case
Signs of Intelligent Life
Tales of the Monolith, Part IV
“I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe
is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
– Bill Watterson
I think it’s a fairly universal truth (universal in the sense of applying to all of humanity, not to the actual universe, which would be rather preposterous to presume about, and here I go anyway) that we are all fascinated in one way or another by the idea of other life, “out there”. It has inspired mythology and religion for eons. The ancient Incans, for example, had suggestive carvings and technology in their culture far beyond the plausible – and anytime we can’t seem to explain something, either the supernatural or the aliens step in to explain it. Ever since the arrival of the Monolith here, I’ve been seeing space ships among the puzzle boxes too. It must be a sign.
Space Case by Dee Dixon
Dee Dixon (DED Wood Crafts) knows all about this. In fact a few of these apparitions are entirely his fault. Thanks to his tremendously successful “Where’s My Hammer” box, which garnered a Top Ten award at last year’s International Puzzle Design Competition, his unique creations have been in great demand. His “Space Case” box, one of his more recent follow up acts, charts new frontiers.
From Dee: “I'm a huge space fan. The vastness of the universe is fascinating to me. The unknown is also a great mechanism to get the imagination going. Who knows what's out there. Given how large the universe is it’s easy to imagine we aren't the only ones to occupy it. I wanted to create a puzzle that reflected that. I also like the old "golden age" of sci fi. I knew right away what look I wanted to go for. Campy rockets and aliens with tractor beam saucer ships. I also wanted the puzzle to be difficult. Something a person needed to ponder and carefully consider what's not known.”
Alien invasion
Space Case is an inviting puzzle box. It’s very pretty, made from beautiful Canarywood and Maple, with Redheart accents in comical space shapes. Like Elliot luring ET into his bedroom with Reese’s Pieces, Dee tricks you into boarding this ship. But these aliens are not nice. They will torture you and mess with your mind. Like many of Dee’s puzzle boxes, it can be confusing or down right impossible to figure out what is going on inside at times, for the feeble minded (ahem, no judgements please, I was abducted by aliens for goodness sake). Of course it’s all very elegant, logical and downright deducible, once you’re inside and can make out the workings of the ship. But try telling that to yourself while you’re being experimented upon. Dee really enjoyed this theme and said, “I could easily see myself revisiting the theme of Space Case and continuing with another puzzle. Perhaps "Space Case II - The Probing"” Now I’m having space nightmares.
When Venus is in Uranus
After that kind of rough night experience, I needed something extra special to “celebrate” this box, the kind of drink that can take one’s mind off of all the questionable things that went on in that space ship. I needed something strong, and I knew exactly what it was called: mezcal. Often maligned and misunderstood, mezcal has a rich agricultural history in Mexico and is as refined and nuanced a spirit as any other. All agave based spirits are mezcal, and most come from Oaxaca. Mezcal’s cousin, tequila, is simply a mezcal that is from specific regions, made with pure blue agave.
But what I was truly craving (you know why) was a mezcal Negroni. If you don’t like Negronis, maybe you need to try a mezcal Negroni. Instead of the usual gin, use mezcal. Typically a mezcal Negroni will also swap the rich red hues of Campari and sweet vermouth found in the classic Negroni with light colored amaro and aperitifs. For this version I used Cocchi Americano and the deceptively clear Luxardo Bitter Bianco, a robust amaro crafted in the same fashion as a typical red amaro like Campari, but made clear during the unique distillation process.
If aliens drink, it’s mezcal negronis for sure
It couldn’t be just any old mezcal Negroni, however. No, I had to stick with the space theme after all. We had just been visiting Jupiter on our interstellar cocktail journey. Saturn would be next, and is always nice to visit, but we’ve been there already. Moving on we come to the blue giant, everyone’s favorite, you know the one – Uranus. Getting to Uranus is relatively easy, if you are in the mood, and have an open mind to it. I’m talking, obviously, about blue curacao. Curacao is a delicious orange liqueur similar to triple sec and found in many classic cocktails. Blue curacao is the same thing, just blue. It’s only ever used to make a drink look blue, which is so much fun, right? And now that we’re having fun, finally, why stop there? We can make this Uranus cocktail even better with a planetary ice ball, spiked with a little Fernet Branca, that reminds me of Venus. Here’s what the astrologers have to say about putting Venus in Uranus:
“Venus conjunct Uranus - The dominating influence will be the urge for excitement, the stimulation of the unknown and the thirst for the richness of life's experiences.” – astromatrix.org
I’m just going to drink this awesome cocktail and leave it there. Cheers.
Planetary pair
When Venus is in Uranus
1 oz Del Maguey Vida mezcal
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco
¼ oz blue curacao
Fernet Branca ice ball
Stir ingredients together with ice and strain into a favorite glass with the ice ball. Garnish with an alien lime wheel for an out of this world cocktail.
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