Have You Been About Town Jay?!

Well, yes and no. I know it is difficult to make it through the week w/out a Jay About Town post but I have been busy. Day 175 of my 365 day bender in the books!!! In all seriousness though, we have been out to a few old haunts, entertaining friends at the homestead, and just generally...about town. Quick recap, I have been to L'Amonte a few times in the last couple weeks. Generally, I enjoy the food, the specials are usually pretty special and the atmosphere is ok. Been drinking beer at the Green Room and the Tavern. The Green Room is close which is nice. On the downside you always smell like roast duck when you leave. The Green Room also exposes a fatal flaw on the Burlington scene... how much money and time do you have to spend in a joint before a bartender knows who you are and throws you a free drink?!?!? The owner (I think he is the owner) is great, and is on the ball, but the regular bartender... I just don't know. In Boston or NY a guy is attentive and slings free drinks when you buy a bunch and pay good tips, here in VT that is almost never the case. Poor form. The Tavern is a great scene, but you can only sit 6 to a table (what kind of f*ing rule is that) and the food is beyond awful. Beer is always cold though. I also recently ate dinner at Smokejacks. Haven't been there in awhile, they were a little over aggressive w/ the salt. Last Thursday though I had a pretty good meal. The table shared breaded cheese curds (tasted like grilled cheese sandwich), seared tuna (only ok), a cheese plate (local cheeses, always a good call), and something else I have now totally forgotten! My entree was a delicious cod. Really well prepared fish, not dry at all, and w/ tender gnocchi and greens. I then finished it off w/ a lemon ginger sorbet. There you have it, Smokejacks is back in the rotation!

One more little vignette from last week. So I was lounging on the couch watching the Red Sox and drinking a beer the other night. Out of the corner of my eye I see it, a F*ING mouse! He waddles slowly from under the couch I am sitting and confidently strolls out to the middle of the living room. It is around 8PM and still light out mind you, not like this little punk is creeping around in the middle of the night. Like the silent assassin that I am, I slowly get up and grab a magazine (ESPN the mag, I hate that one, been trying to cancel it for 5 years, they just keep sending it), then creep toward the beast. To my surprise, he not only does not run, he doesn't move at all!!! I pounce, and BLAMO!!! I nail him!!! Of course I feel a twinge of conscious when he wriggles around not quite dead. But if I don't finish him off he will be back so... BAMMM!!! I hit him again (twice)!!! Who needs a cat, that is 2 mice I have taken down!! Only 100 more to go...

Back in the Mix

For the 8 of you who read this blog... my bad, I have been all over the place lately. Few things to mention. R.I.P. George Carlin. Congrats to the Celtics. Great team, built to win, good story for some all time great players who deserve to shed the choker name tag. As for the Lakers... grow a set ladies! So what have I been doing w/ myself? Entertaining a little, working a lot, and hitting up a few events locally. My lady and I went to an Ice-luge party last week. Seriously. It is funny for a few reasons. The funniest thing is that the cops came and busted a bunch of 30+year old yuppies sucking down homemade fancy liquors through a huge block of ice that had been hand carved w/ power tools in the back of a very nice house in Burlington. Yeah, we all had to hop in our Subaru's and head back to the burbs... too much yelling. Fortunately we had about 18 lawyers in attendance so we were well represented! Friday it was raining so we went to "Don't Mess With the Zohan". My advice is not to mess w/ this movie until it comes out on HBO in 3 weeks!!! 1/2 a thumb up. My lady made a delicious BBQ meal for Friday night finished w/ a rhubarb crisp. She is really quite a fine cook. If you have a chance and have a BBQ, pick up "The Barbecue Bible" by Steve Raichlen, you won't regret it. BUY IT!!! You know what sucks about the movie Private Parts? It paints Howard Stern as a nice guy just making jokes to support his family whom he loves. In real life though, he dumped his devoted wife and married a dingbat blond model best known for modeling in a Maxim" magazine rip off. Well played chump. We went fishing in Lake Champlain last week as well for "work". Fun times, lots of jokes, a few beers, and K-Dog pulled up a 14pound lake trout. Big f*ing fish! We should have tried to see if he could eat it w/in 15 minutes!!! Uh, guess that is about it for now, I have a beer pong tournament (w/a maple table, hand crafted micro brews, and fine crystal glasses) to attend!!!!

Blowin' Sh*t Up!

I have a cold. It is June 13th and I am sick, can you believe that crap?! Stupid Friday the 13th. I am a little foggy headed so that is my excuse if this post makes no sense. So being a buy side guy in the business of finance, you sometimes have the opportunity to schmooze. It is relationship building and is really quite useful. Now most folks play golf, or go sport fishing, or do dinners. Here in VT? We shoot guns!! Now I am not actually a gun owner and am not exactly an enthusiast... but my co-workers are and I am more than happy to go along for the ride. Not sure I am down w/ killing animals but I am a huge fan of putting a few slugs in a cardboard target (or in my case all over the dirt mound behind the target). Yesterday we shot a .22, a .40. a .45...an AR-15 assault rifle and a 12gauge shotgun. Man, that shotgun knocks you back a bit! Then we went for a civilized dinner at the Kitchen Table in Richmond.

My dinner was ok. The service was fine but deathly slow. I had a Caesar salad which was pretty good, not overly dressed. I then went w/ a chicken pate which was actually very creamy and quite good. Could have used some more bread for that. I finished w/ a crusted pork loin. It was a little dry but the flavor was good. The garlic potatoes and asparagus were quite good. I would g 1 1/4 thumbs up. I have had better meals there. On the bright side, there may not be many things more humorous than the look on the 80 yr old stuffy lady in pearls' face when a rousing F* bomb rose above the already quite heightened din at the table of goons next door. Yeah, we were the goons!

Pop quiz hot shot... can you name the Prez on the dime? Time's up!

Gettin' Old

I had my 10yr college reunion this weekend and had a few interesting takeaways. The first is that for the most part, the folks who were assholes still ARE assholes. Secondly, it is interesting to see less hair, more grey hair, and more body mass! The 10 year apparently is the time when an explosion of kids happens, there were loads of babies and pregnant women. Unfortunately it also seems to be the time you learn of divorces, which is sad. Apparently as I have gotten older I have become more cranky. That's what my wife likes to tell me. I like to tell her she smells bad. Really though, I am more cranky... the older I get the more I realize this is a planet populated by f*ing morons and I am the only one who has a clue. Go ahead and file that one away, someday I am convinced you will realize it too!!!

Our friends A&L came up from NYC w/ their puppy. It was really fun to have them up and the dog was great. We did a short hike in 95 degree, 100% humidity up Mt. Philo. Man, it was hot! We also did a quick tour of the Magic Hat Brewery. I suggest you check it out if you are in the area and have not been. Hey, free beer, that is pretty cool. My buddy Beans and I had a few cocktails and stayed up to watch a classic movie... Chained Heat. Not really sure what was happening but wow! Women in prison, nudity, drugs, murder. It had it all!!! Chained Heat, put it in the queue!!

On Sunday we had brunch at Shelburne Farms. It is an amazing place built as a summer home for the Vanderbilt-Webbs in the late 1800s. The landscaping was designed by the same guy who did Central Park. The whole place is pretty amazing w/ wonderful gardens, huge ornate buildings, and sweeping views of Lake Champlain. As for brunch itself... The scenery is great. You can either sit inside a prim and proper dining room or outside w/ lake views. They had a harp player... a harp. The food was pretty good. We started w/ warm scones complete w/ raspberry jam and whipped cream (not sweet, but actual cream). The ladies had a cloth wrapped cheddar omelet that seemed to be a hit. My lady had a side of sausage (hehe) which were delicious. The boys went the eggs benedict route. They were pretty good but not phenomenal. I likes the ham and the holandaise sauce was nice and lemony. I had a decent mimosa (that's how I roll) and the coffee was great. Everyone was getting jittery knocking down 3+cups. Prices were quite reasonable. The only downside was the service. We had to ask for more coffee and water several times. We also had to ask for the raspberry jam a couple of times. Apparently the 6 service people could not handle all 8 tables. If you want some fun ask my wife about the cream/butter. I dare you! Anyway, all in I go 1 & 1/4 thumb up. Service is big for me.

I guess that is about all the posting for me today... I need to go and do some more things right!!!

Jay is Not About These Towns!!!

So it may not be perfect here in the good old U.S. of A, but at least we don't live in these places!

Just Russia being Russia
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/world/europe/03russia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Sure G.W. might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but talk about throwing stones...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362107,00.html
Seriously... they actually still throw stones there

Just dusted off my Member's Only Jacket and...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361705,00.html

Open mouth, insert foot
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362121,00.html
oh, crap...this happened in the U.S.A.

whoa
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756

fake mustache, check. fedora, check. trenchcoat, check. fake accent, check and mate. Chavez is back in the game!!
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZFnvarkllnTSXx_21_FR2mY04tgD90VD5CG0

I, uh, was researching a part, uh, er my dog died, uh well, there were locusts...a terrible flood!!! I swear to God it's not my fault!!!! (catch the Blues Brothers' reference?)
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06032008/news/columnists/tatum_to_cops__thanks__113776.htm

GM just can't give away Hummers.... HAHAHAHAHAHA.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080603/gm_shareholders.html?.v=5

Hey, check out that movie Juno... thought it was really good. Very unexpected. Thoughtful, funny, touching... seriously, check it out or I will punch you in the wiener (you'll get it later)

Celtics vs Lakers... tough one. I am a Lakers fan but having spent a few years in Boston and all of my life in New England I know everything about the Celtics and watch them all of the time. Hard team to dislike. That said, I am going w/ the Lakers in 6. Kobe-beef is not to be denied!

and finally... the video of the day. hang with it, slow to develop but I nearly crapped myself I laughed so hard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCk_w9s2HE8