Happy Haloween!

We will be handing out half eaten candybars and other crap we don't want anymore. It is kind of like a yard sale! Yaaaaaayyyyy!!!!

Jay About Magnolia

You want to know what Jaybird and his special lady really dig? Brunch! This weekend we were fortunate enough to join a friend we had not seen in awhile for a nice leisurely brunch at Magnolia. To be fair, I was more than a little skeptical about our destination of choice. First off, they bill themselves as eco-friendly/organic fare. That usually translates into taste free mush! Secondly, they are domiciled in the old Hector's space. Put it this way, how many classy joints do you know of that hols beer pong tourneys in the basement. Third, there was a huge line up the stairs when we got there! So, first off... big props to my lady, when there is a line or a wait I usually hang back while she busts up to the maitre di and takes care of business! Once again, she made it happen, and the line moved very quickly. We were sitting down in no time and were able to take in the very bright, well positioned space. Magnolia is actually a very pleasant place to eat from an aesthetic standpoint. On to the food. They have a full bar and the bloody marys LOOKED pretty good, though we had orange juice (fresh squeezed, delicious) so I cannot actually vouch. Our waitstaff was attractive, friendly, and professional. Plus they kept the water glasses full without hovering. Now to the important stuff, the food. I had a tarragon chicken salad sandwich w/ cranberry mayo on sourdough... warm, crispy and delicious. The salad greens on the side were not overly dressed and were nice as well. My Lady rocked her usual, the breakfast burrito. It was good, not great. I think it may have needed more beans but it was very clean and very fresh tasting. Even the home fries were not greasy or heavy. I am giving the place 2 thumbs up. They only do breakfast and lunch but it is a nice way to start the day... even if you start that day around noon!

So Sunday night I watched the movie Strangeland, a Dee Snider passion play. Know old Dee is one of my favorite characters from the 80s glam metal scene, he was the lead tranny/singer for Twisted Sister. This movie however... uh, well, there were alot of tattoos, loud industrial goth metal, and needles. It may have had a message but in the end I am not sure what that message was. I won't ruin it for you, Dee has already taken care of that!

Hey, World Series huh? Thanks Tampa for blowing your wad against Boston. This is one of the worst series ever. Tampa's "big hitters" are 2 for the series. The Phillies have left 12 clown cars full of base runners in scoring position. Clutch hits? Not in this piece of shit. Of course the piece de resistance was last night where a hurricane blew through and they had to postpone the game half way through the 6th inning (about 5 innings later than they should have called it)! Good times!!!

Me? I am just a gigolo, and everywhere I go... people know the part I'm playin'!

Fun w/ the Market

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE DOW (Bonnie Tyler ) uh… and Jay G.

Turnaround, every now and then I lose a little bit a’ money and you're never coming around Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit tired of watching all my stocks go down

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that I may have to work till I die

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see green come up on the screen

Turnaround Dow Jones,

Every now and then I have to fart

Turnaround Dow Jones,

Every now and then I have to fart
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of positive equity

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit helpless and I try to double down

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know I've got to go into bonds

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then I see green come up on the screen

Turnaround Dow Jones,

Every now and then I have to fart

Turnaround bright eyes,

Every now and then I have to fart
And I need you now to go up

And I need you more at 10K

And if you'll only not blow up

We'll be holding on forever And we'll only be making it right

Cause we'll never be wrong together We can have a positive return

Your P/E is like a shadow on me all of the time

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the red

We're living in a powder keg and stopped giving off yield

I really need you today

Recession’s gonna stop today

Recession’s gonna stop today
Once upon a time I was levering up

But now I'm only losing my home

There's nothing I can do A total eclipse of the Dow

Once upon a time there was cash in the bank

But now there's only repo guys on the phone

Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the Dow

Ugh

You know... sometimes you have those days where the world kind of slaps you in the face. Friday was one of those days for me. It has been a very interesting year so far. The strain can be seen in very acute terms as well as an overall fear and panic that seems to be gripping the world right now. Funny how a financial disaster can make everyone go cuckoo for coco puffs. On top of that the Red Sox got knocked out of the playoffs last night, I lost my fantasy football matchup pretty handily, and I am pretty sure my farts reached a level red on the old terrorism scale yesterday! F*ck!!! I guess you have to assume that when everything seems very bleak and there is no discernible light at the end of the tunnel, you have actually reached the near bottom and will soon see that first shard of illumination. I hope that is the case anyway.

So to lighten things up a little... here is my 5 second recap of Sunday's sporting events! Seattle got creamed by Tampa Bay, possessing the ball for 18 of 60 minutes. I have taken dumps that lasted longer than 18 minutes...the looked and smelled better too! The Brad Johnson/Roy Willliams era opened in Dallas, it went so badly Jerry Jones fake face exploded! San Fran has the ball and J.T. O'Sullivan... FUMBLES!!! What is that at the end of the rainbow? Apparently a turnover! Well, at least Reggie Bush has Kim Kardasian to talk to ($20 says that dude tries to drive off a bridge in less than a week). San Di-suck-o, anybody left on the Norv Turner bandwagon? 2 of the best defenses in the league, Vikings vs Bears... 89 total points, 766 total yards. Anybody get the over on that shoot out? Tennesse is good (Vince Young is not). Glad Peyton Manning is my fantasy QB, now I can hate him in real life AND in fake life!! J-E-T-S... oops.. can we get Pennington back? Red Sox... when did Varitek and Ortiz both turn 80, I forgot to send a gift? That guy Matt Garza is a punk. How can you have enough saliva to spit every second for 4 hours? Lester pitched well, just not quite well enough. Tough way to end, but could kind of see it coming. Too bad.

We ate at Taste on Saturday night with a large group. Decent food, ok service, good wine, reasonable cost. I say 1 2/3 thumbs up!

Gotta Be Flexible!

Spent the weekend w/ the in laws. Usually, it is not that daunting for me as I really like my wife's family. This weekend was a little overwhelming though. Possibly my already somewhat fragile mental state played a part. I was able to shoot one of my best rounds of golf ever though posting an 86 in a "shamble" format. Everyone hits a drive, you all use the best drive and then play your own ball the rest of the way. It was a beautiful day. We took a carload down to Conn. w/ sister, her boyfriend, and another pal. It was wild and wacky!!! BTW, my name is Gene, I am from Germantown, and I drink Gin... in case you were wondering. We also had a couple of very fine meals including home cooked ribs and wonderful garlic braised brussel sprouts.

On Saturday we packed into the living room and took in the Nick Cage action extravaganza Next on the in laws new 58" Panasonic HDTV (complete w/ blue ray disc player). After a little battle w/ the speakers, and audio in general (and by little I mean I was almost kicked out of the family for trying to start a steel cage match w/ several family members), we were treated to one of the best pictures I have ever seen. You could really see Cage's hair plugs! Plus Jessica Beil's boobs were life size, BOO-YEAH!!! The movie itself wasn't half bad. There was a semblance of a story, great special effects, and it was less sucky than say... GhostRider! 1 future telling thumb up.

The ride home was also a treat. Leaf peeping galore! We also were treated to a sighting of Tater's Pizzaria. Too bad we had already eaten!

One little item from the BTV area. Roque's has a new name, Madera's! Of course the food is the same, the drinks are the same, and the decor is the same. We were having a fine time the other night laughing, joking, eating a halfway decent fajita burrito... and then? The jack asses gave us our bill and as our host was writing the tip they claimed we were being too loud, customers were complaining, and we had to leave! One, we were leaving anyway. Two, it is a f*ing Mexican place not fine dining... it is supposed to be loud. Third, no one complained to us? Needless to say, the tip was drastically reduced and they were lucky to get anything more than the bird. 2 ginormous thumbs down and a temporary ban!!!

Hey, 940 up on the Dow yesterday? Guess Columbus discovered a sack full of money and his stock broker! Shazam!!!!

Well like I always say, better late than never! (yeah, I say that... that and the F-word, I say that alot too)

Hey Look... It's a New Feature!

Yup, we here at Jay About Town (you know, the royal we) are always looking for ways to make the site more exciting! I have been noticing on a few of my favorite websites that they have something akin to the "babe of the week" and I tought, WTF?! if it is good enough for the Sun, it's good enough for me!!! I hope to update this section everyweek w/ a new piece of eye candy. ENJOY!!!

In Your Face History!!!

So how about those financial markets huh? It appears to be like quicksand at the moment... the more you struggle, the deeper you get. So I am just going to send my consciousness in a new direction and try to remember, it could be worse... I could live in Somalia! not for nothing, but the Somalian Pirates made somewhere in the neighborhood of $30mm last year. Think they get dental and a 401K plan w/ that? At least they don't have to have the SEC bust their balls about stock options!

Anywho. Red Sox pulled out a huge win last night to advance to the AL Conference finals. Great pitching from Jon Lester and really just a great story. Kid had cancer a year ago, now he is a staff ace on the defending world champions. The Sox really kill me though, the highs and lows. I was giddy when they went up 2-0. Kotsay really brought some defensive energy to the table last night as well as a timely hit. Of course I then almost had a heart attack when the rookie Masterson pooped all over himself and gave the lead right back up and then let a guy get to third w/ one out in the ninth. But then joy when they finally strung together a couple of big hits and another rookie, Jed Lowrie delivered the game winning (Bay) run in the bottom of the ninth. What a roller coaster! BTW, to the Anaheim Whiners (Angels)... shut the F*ck up and stop crying. YOU made the costly errors, YOU made the base running gaffes, YOU left all of those runners on base. That's the way the game goes, call it the ghost of Hendu!

Ever notice the similarities between GW and Brick from Anchorman... "I love lamp!"

A quick football recap... Larry Johnson and Ladainianinan Tomlinson, welcome to irrelevancy. Matt Ryan and Michael Turner, exciting! Patriots, back in the mix. Seahawks, way out of the mix. Dolphins, frisky. Cardinals, frisky. Bengals, frumpy. Eagles, frumpy. Giants for real. Steelers... smoke and mirrors.

So 2 faves once again made the grade this week for my special lady and I. Tiny Thai. Always good, always cheap. Try the Drunken Noodles, you won't be sorry. Finally, the best restaurant in Vermont at the moment? Hen of the Wood in Waterbury. It is top notch. Good service, great food, great atmosphere, good wine, stiff pours... there is not one thing I didn't like about my meal on Saturday (except the drive home!). Try the fried oysters, or the mushroom bread, or the pork cheeks, or the calamari, or the scallops, or my personal fave the short ribs. Heck, spend a week and try EVERYTHING!!!!!!! I should work in marketing for that place.

Guess that is just about it for now... Happy birthday NS!

Lessons Learned?

So I was watching the debates last night, and then reading the commentaries this morning. One overriding theme was how Sarah Palin had acquitted herself quite well. How had she managed to break even or possibly win the debate you ask? Well folks seemed to think she didn't fall flat on her face, had a well prepared debate strategy, and they were taken by her folksy ways! Well that's just great! Are we a country of morons?! Know who else managed to not fall on their face, read prepared scripts well, and had a nice folksy manner? George W. Bush! How has that worked out?! I am not sure about the rest of America but I do not want the person next door as a president or vp. I don't' want somebody who might be fun to have a beer with. I don't want that weirdo who runs the local church group and is president of the PTA. I want somebody who knows the ins and outs of Washington, someone who is well spoken and seems like a leader. I want somebody who I perceive to be almost as intelligent as I am if not more so for F*ck sake!!! I mean, Palin didn't even answer the questions she was being asked because she was only able to read from her script!!!!!!! She may be a nice person, she may have a very bright political future... but right now she is falling into the GW, Quayle, Stockdale abyss and that ain't good!!! Stop being stupid America!!!!!

R.I.P. Mr. Newman

In my rage this week I forgot to post on the passing of Paul Newman. Great actor, by all accounts a good family man, and a true humanitarian. It is a sad time...