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Alchemy: Today’s Special

Beware of the Italian Chili Dog

Ladies and gentlemen…what we have here is no ordinary hot dog. At approximately 0800 hours, a golden-brown Italian sausage was taken into custody and placed inside a grilled roll dusted with parmesan, oregano, and chili flakes. Premeditated flavor. Inside the roll, a layer of Dijon pesto, green, smooth, and clearly working with outside forces. Then the accomplices arrive: peppers, mushrooms, onions, melted provolone…and what appears to be bolognese. On top of a sausage. My God. The Calabrian chili hits first…sharp, hot, aggressive. Then the anchovies come in from the side like an unmarked vehicle. Salty, stealthy. And the basil garnish? A classic attempt to appear innocent. This isn’t a chili dog. This is organized crime on a bun. And I’m going undercover for a second helping.

This week’s menu

Drink me:

Gossamer

A bubbly flowery orange gin cocktail with peach and orange blossom.

añejo tequila, cinnamon syrup, Galliano, Cointreau, lemon juice, with a mezcal sptriz and Tajin rim

Meet the Team

Seasonal cocktails:

Stick it in your ear - Album of the Day:

Explosions in the Sky

The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)

The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place is the third studio album by American post-rock band Explosions in the Sky, released on November 4, 2003, through Temporary Residence Limited.

  1. First Breath After Coma

  2. The Only Moment We Were Alone

  3. Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean

  4. Memorial

  5. Your Hand in Mine

Stick it in your ear - This week’s top 10:

Feature Presentations: Black and White

Blow Out

(1981)

Did someone sit on a duck? What we have here is a movie about sound. Not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill sound, like bacon sizzling or your mother-in-law yelling at you for parking on the lawn. No, this is about a movie sound and a story about a sound man named Jack. Not a loud man, not a quiet man, just a man who records noises for movies. One night, while out collecting perfectly innocent sounds like frogs, crickets, and what I believe was a squirrel hiccuping, he accidentally records a car going off a bridge. Now, most people would call the police, file a report, and go home to watch reruns of Seinfeld. But not Jack. He rewinds, plays it back, and realizes there’s more than meets the ear. A gunshot. A murder. Things get complicated, as they often do when microphones, mobsters, and democracy collide. Along the way, he meets a woman, loses a woman, and learns the hard way that when you’re up against shadowy government figures, you should probably invest in better headphones. There are car chases, cover-ups, explosions, and at least one owl who I’m pretty sure was in on it. In the end, Jack uncovers the truth, but at a terrible cost and is only left with one thing: the perfect scream for his horror movie but realizing too late about a healthy work life balance.

Directed by Brian De Palma

Written by Brian De Palma & Bill Mesce Jr.

Staring

John Travolta as Jack

Nancy Allen as Sally

John Lithgow as Burke

Creature Double Feature: Thursday September 4, 2025

Motel Hell

1980

Motel Hell is a heartwarming film about family, small business, a touching story of Farmer Vincent, a man who runs a roadside inn with his sister, and the importance of eating locally sourced food. Farmer Vincent and his sister run a quaint little motel on the side of the highway. To the untrained eye, it looks like any other roadside stop—clean rooms, reasonable rates, and a meat smoker out back. They make their own brand of smoked meats. The slogan is simple: ‘It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters.’ What they don’t mention is that sometimes the critters are… people. The process is fairly straightforward. Vincent kidnaps travelers, buries them in his garden up to their necks, and treats them like crops until it’s time to harvest. Then he turns them into sausage. Not exactly farm-to-table—more like interstate-to-table. You’ve probably stayed at motels before where the breakfast was questionable, but never to this degree. Things get complicated when Vincent falls for a young woman he rescues after a motorcycle accident. Between the romance, the secret garden full of buried heads, and a showdown involving a chainsaw and a pig’s head mask, it’s safe to say Motel Hell isn’t listed on AAA’s most recommended lodging. In the end, Vincent admits on his deathbed that his real crime wasn’t cannibalism, kidnapping, or mass murder. No, it was using preservatives. A shocking revelation, and one that makes you think twice about reading the ingredients on a package of sausage.

Directed by Kevin Connor

Written by Robert Jaffe & Steven-Charles Jaffe

Staring

Rory Calhoun as Vincent Smith

Paul Linke as Bruce Smith

Nancy Parsons as Ida Smith

Midnight Movie: Saturday August 30, 2025

Motel Hell

1980

Motel Hell is a heartwarming film about family, small business, a touching story of Farmer Vincent, a man who runs a roadside inn with his sister, and the importance of eating locally sourced food. Farmer Vincent and his sister run a quaint little motel on the side of the highway. To the untrained eye, it looks like any other roadside stop—clean rooms, reasonable rates, and a meat smoker out back. They make their own brand of smoked meats. The slogan is simple: ‘It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters.’ What they don’t mention is that sometimes the critters are… people. The process is fairly straightforward. Vincent kidnaps travelers, buries them in his garden up to their necks, and treats them like crops until it’s time to harvest. Then he turns them into sausage. Not exactly farm-to-table—more like interstate-to-table. You’ve probably stayed at motels before where the breakfast was questionable, but never to this degree. Things get complicated when Vincent falls for a young woman he rescues after a motorcycle accident. Between the romance, the secret garden full of buried heads, and a showdown involving a chainsaw and a pig’s head mask, it’s safe to say Motel Hell isn’t listed on AAA’s most recommended lodging. In the end, Vincent admits on his deathbed that his real crime wasn’t cannibalism, kidnapping, or mass murder. No, it was using preservatives. A shocking revelation, and one that makes you think twice about reading the ingredients on a package of sausage.

Directed by Kevin Connor

Written by Robert Jaffe & Steven-Charles Jaffe

Staring

Rory Calhoun as Vincent Smith

Paul Linke as Bruce Smith

Nancy Parsons as Ida Smith

Alchemy: Friday August 29, 2025

South Park Elementary Fish Sticks

Yo, yo, hold up, hold up. Everybody keeps talkin’ ‘bout this fish sticks thing like it’s funny, like it’s a joke. Nah, see, y’all don’t understand the vision. Fish sticks ain’t some late-night cafeteria food - fish sticks are art. Golden. Crispy. Dipped in the sauce of creation itself. When I bite into a fish stick, I’m biting into destiny, into genius.

But every time I walk into a room, somebody wanna say, ‘Hey Kanye, you like fish dicks?’ NO. No, I don’t like fish dicks. I don’t even know why y’all keep saying that! I’m a creative prophet, I’m the voice of a generation, and you think I don’t know the difference between sticks and-? Man, stop playin’ with me!