At first sight, this was going to be a CIDU. Then it was agreed to be not that puzzling — still, it’s not perfectly clear if it’s just a funny situation idea.
Say, what actually was the reason for Cmdr. Bond’s preference? Do the components get more evenly mixed, or less? Does some air get incorporated? Does it bring out the flavoring of the vermouth? Or hide it?
A geezer theme for sure.
An interesting kind of Meta, that we are flatfootedly calling “LOL-Meta, alluding to an old joke, by forestalling it”. Possibly a CIDU for a few — if you don’t already know what the patient’s question had to have been, by all means venture an idea of it in comments.
Comics I Don't Understand 
SPOILER
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“Doc, after the surgery, will I be able to play the violin?”
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I don’t drink, but I’ve been told that shaking a martini actually makes it worse than stirring. IIRC, canonically the novel’s Bond is not actually upper-class and is somewhat faking his sophistication.
The Andertoons reminds me of my now-retired primary care physician during my annual checkup.
Doc: “Any problems with your hearing. Don’t say “Huh?””
Supposably* the martini thing is something about “bruising” the gin. I’ve never cared enough to look it up beyond that.
Related Bond joke:
Q: How does James Bond like his eggs?A: Steak and, not shirred.
*Actually a word, meaning “as may be assumed, imagined, or supposed.” I’ve used it for years as a joke, then was surprised to find it wasn’t just a mistake! (Though it’s not the same as “supposedly”, obviously.)
When it comes to the shaken martini debate, I think back to the words of Henry Gondorf in “The Sting”: “Always drink gin with a mark, kid. They can never tell if you cut it.” I’m thinking 007 just wanted to stay sharp so drinking a watered-down martini would do the job.
Shaking rather than stirring the vodka martini may have had something to do with making lower quality vodka passable, since an occupational hazard of his was drinking cheap booze in Soviet dives. I do recall that he’d also put pepper in vodka if drinking it straight, because that bound up some nasty oils that could end up in cheap vodka. And he just developed a taste for shaking rather than stirring even with decent vodka.
Doc: “Any problems with your hearing. Don’t say “Huh?””
Reminds me of how my PCP once asked “And does it hurt when you do this?” [illustrating an arm movement]. And I told her “You know, it sounds like you’re doing the setup for what must be the oldest doctor joke in the world!” It took a few seconds, but I’m happy to say she got it. “So, don’t do that!”
BTW, my Comics Kingdom email this morning only had 3 comics in it. When I went to the website, my favorites page showed all the comics I’d favorited. I reported this (hope springs eternal), but wondering if others had the same experience today.
It took me a while to figure out that the gag in the second comic was the “Newton’s Cradle” on the desk. There’s no reason that one couldn’t be made with four elements (instead of the standard five), but punching bags designed to absorb as much impact as possible, which would probably render the thing inoperable.
P.S. I was not able to find a single source that actually recommended shaking a martini (most gave reasons why it probably wouldn’t be a good idea), but I did find one article that offered a few cogent reasons why someone might choose to shake one anyway (echoing some of the points made above).
P.P.S. After injuring my knee on Wednesday, I went to see an orthopedist on Thursday (the day on which that Moderately Confused appeared). I showed it to the doc, and he was amused.
Shaking a martini melts the ice faster, making it colder and more dilute. It also aerates it, but it is usually other cocktails you want to aerate. I’ve heard it argued that Bond wants a more dilute drink so as not to be as tipsy as other people drinking at the same rate. This wouldn’t be as obvious as ordering a Shirley Temple.
phsiii: A joke about Sean Connery’s scottish accent?
@ R.A.L. (11) – That’s not an accent, there really is a dish known as “shirred eggs”.
All the posters suggesting that the shaken martini is Bond being clever to avoiding being as drunk (so there Josiah Bartlet!) are well taken, except… the guy is portrayed as an absolute clown in the one book I tried to read (Diamonds Are Forever, I believe — the one where he goes to Nevada): in following the bad guys, he is so distractable like a 5 year old with ADD, that he sticks a quarter in a novelty venting machine to get a whiff of pure oxygen, and that causes him to momentarily get loopy and loose site of his quarry at a key moment and lets them get away — quite a piss poor excuse for a “world class” spy with a license to kill….
@Kilby (12) — yeah, thanks. Didn’t realize that wasn’t commonly known?
I’ve heard that you must never shake a gin martini, but always shake a vodka martini, for the reasons given in the comments. As phsiii notes, the experts say shaking bruises gin, whatever that means. I’ve never heard anyone complain about bruised vodka.
But I do have to find fault with Bond’s taste. Why would anyone want a vodka martini, when gin tastes so good? There’s Tanqueray and then the B’s, Boodle’s, Booth’s and Bombay Sapphire, and the G’s, Gordons and Gilbey’s, and they all taste different and they all taste yummy. Even the cheap house brand is good for a gin & tonic. Anyone who drinks vodka gimlets probably drinks lattes made with hot water instead of coffee.
(EIDU – Expression I…) I’ve never heard of a ‘relationship canon’. I can make a guess, but is this something people really do, sit down and work out the terms of their relationship? Or have I guessed incorrectly, and it’s something perfectly sensible?
Note the “set dressing” around the two characters in that comic. These are nerds who enjoy movie franchises with layers of characters and stories.
He’s proposing to make their relationship official, as if their lives were parts of a larger story arc. They will treat their relationship as a media universe franchise, and regale their friends with its origin story. Eyes will probably roll. :-)
A show’s canon embodies its official characterizations and plot points. Those created by fans generally are not considered canonical. There can be heated debates regarding this.
Or just take the word “cannon” to mean “official”…
@lark: *canon
Two “n”s goes boom.
@ MiB (15) – Sunday’s “Ink Pen” raises the issue of whether the martini should be shaken before or after consumption:
P.S. Garfield once had a similar alternative solution:
@lark: *canon
Two “n”s goes boom.
Bull!
And I misspelled “lose” yesterday…
Old joke, from a joke book that was in the school library when I was a kid:
Mother: Junior, why are you jumping up and down?
Kid: I took my medicine but I forgot to shake the bottle!
Per Robert, a James Bond Expert – Flemming made up the drink for the first book. He put in a recipe for the drink. He never had one. He called it “the Vespa” the name of the girl in the book. Years later he went into a hotel bar, the bar tender insisted on making one for him and brings it to him – he tries it and thinks it disgusting.
(Due to his being a MAJOR James Bond fan I have learned more about James Bond than any woman needs to know.)
Add on – I have a good sized teddy bear collection. Robert has a James Bond collection – multiple copies of books, lots of toys both from he was young and also more recently – a display case in our office holds them.
When we bought our house the Bond movie posters were hung on the basement walls – so much nicer for me not to have a woman’s crotch facing me every morning when I wake up as I did in our apartment when they were hanging in our bedroom. Lobby cards in addition to the posters (along with the rest of our movie poster collection).
I always say – I know more about James Bond than any woman should.
Speaking as a former bartender:
In practical terms, the difference between a shaken and stirred martini is how much water you work into it. A shaken martini breaks off and melts in more water, making it just a tiny little bit more dilute. I personally prefer it that way; others may not.
The original Vesper cocktail, if I remember correctly, was a stalling tactic. I think he was in a card game and was losing, and wanted a moment to collect his nerves, so just invented a ridiculous martini variation – three parts Gordon’s gin, one part vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet, shake until very cold, garnish with large twist of lemon peel.
Lillet hasn’t made Kina since the 1980s, replacing it with Lillet Blanc, which is sweeter and less bitter; the closest thing made today is Cocchi Americano. I’ve made the Vesper and … it’s not good, and everything odd about it makes it worse than if you went with more expected choices. First – the gin choice. Doing a call for Gordon’s is a weird move. Gordon’s is a well gin – the gin in the bartender’s well or speed rack, the gin you get if you don’t ask for something better. If I got to a bar, I hope that their well has something on the level of Gordon’s or Beefeater, but calling for Gordon’s by name is just … okay, dude, that’s cool, I guess.
Then three parts gin to one part vodka. Because you like gin but not that much? You want to have 75% the gin flavor as regular? Again… okay, dude, you do you.
But the point is that you’ve now decided that you want a 75% of the flavor of a low end gin.
The rest of it, not so weird. Kina Lillet and Cocchi Americano are wine-based aperitifs with quinine; they are like a bitter vermouth. And the lemon peel works fine.
But the whole three quarters one cheap booze and one quarter another … that’s just showing off, and showing off in such a silly way that it’s clear that it’s just showing off to show off.
I’m sure a Vesper tastes better than an Alaskan Polar Bear Heater, as concocted by The Nutty Professor played by Jerry Lewis.
Had to shut down last night – time to wash dishes from snack and go to bed (2:30/3am) so did not get a chance to finish posting.
The Jeff Stahler cartoon having a good knee and a bad knee is not always related to old age.
I have what I refer to as my bad leg and while I am old now, this goes back to third grade. I had a virus in my left leg and back then it was an assumption it was same and there was nothing to do but let it run its course. I missed a good deal of third grade due to staying home and did schoolwork from my teacher on my own. (Whenever in later years a teacher would say to the class “you have studied this before” and I had no idea about the subject, I just presumed it was taught in third grade.) Every now and then the knee bothers me again.
Then when I was in high school I was in religious club for we teens to socialize with each other which met at night at members houses. We had an adult leader (who came from the National of the club). One night he decided we were all sitting around too much and had us all go for a run outside. (The house where we were meeting was in dead end (called a court around here) and we ran out and and then across to the other side of the street – I fell off the curb doing this. I tore “something” in my ankle (per the doctor – what was never determined. I had to wear an ankle brace (aka ace bandage in a figure 8) for some time. Every now and then the ankle acts up again and bothers me. (First trip I took with Robert to Colonial Williamsburg with all the walking we had to buy a new ankle brace at a pharmacy.)
So my left leg has been my bad leg since third grade. Luckily it is an on and off thing (mostly off), but the ankle or the knee does act up again sometimes – never been both at the same time though.