Jay About Naptime!

So we had a business dinner last night and our hosts were fired up. How fired up? Well, official reports vary but there were between 100-120 Irish car bombs ordered last night for 10 people. While a few were given away, the majority got taken down at our table. Along w/ several beers. How do I stay so productive the following day you ask? Well, a gentleman never asks and a lady never tells... so screw you! We did get into a spirited discussion concerning our favorite "regulars" on Church Street... well, here is my top 10!

10. Overcoat Guy. Overcoat guy rocks an overcoat and perpetually crooked glasses. Of course if your eyes stray from his crazy face or hair you might notice hid shirt tucked into his fly!

9. Big Head Red Sox Fan. Big Head is usually either going P-Diddy style in all white attire or some Red Sox shirt or jacket. He has a huge head, odd expression and talks to himself while walking laps around town! Want to talk Sox? He does... to trees and benches, and parked cars...

8. Walking Stick Guy. 6 foot tall old guy w/ a walking stick, rainbow suspenders and... no shirt! Hiking to barely clothed town I suppose.

7. Drug Dealer Guy. I might get shot for writing this but this character rolls around in a sweatsuit or velour jumpsuit. He rocks dreadlocks, shades, and a backwards baseball hat. His giant dog also makes a point of protecting his eyes w/ some cool shades.

6. Big Red. a 6'8" "woman" who can usually be found in Ri Ra's or cruising up and down Church Street looking for an unsuspecting drunk guy to run his fingers through her huge crazy flaming red dyed hair.

5. Purple Pants Lady. Another cougar on the prowl, this fine specimen looks like a witch... a witch dressed in revealing shirts and purple velvet pants that are way to tight that is! She also cruises the strip or the bars to find children to eat.

4. Todd. Giant hair, crazy eyes... steer clear of this weirdo my friends!

3. Rascal Guy. This veteran of some sort of skirmish cruises around Church Street on a motorized chair w/ his trusty (mangy) dog by his side. All day, just motoring around... insulting anyone and everyone in a 20 foot radius! Nothing like being berated for no reason by someone you don't even know!

2. No Shirt Pipe Guy. Speaking of ya-yos. This guy has the strangest gait you have ever seen, part street pimp, part seizure, all awesome! Of course his jive walk is extra great because he is never wearing a shirt and is always rocking a pipe! You stay classy pipe guy!

1. Smoker Guy. A staple of the Church Street scene. This guy is always walking around town and smoking. Cigarettes, cigars, used butts from the street. He has a vacant stare, a grizzled face, and sometimes earmuffs! He also shuffles around picking up discarded butts then every now and then has a spastic leg movement that looks like he is high stepping to fun!

These guys are great, if you find yourself downtown, try to find your favorite!!!

Jay About Saratoga

So one bad, one good today... My special lady and I were invited by friends LB squared to join them in Saratoga for the horse races and the Phish concert. I have never been to a horse race but I have been to a few Phish concerts and we were pretty psyched. Saturday was hot as balls in the Saratoga Springs area and made it interesting out on the causeway. Surprisingly enough, heat seems to radiate up from asphalt... who knew?! I had a few beers but they sweated out of my body so fast I never even got a buzz!!! It was an interesting scene to say the least, there were folks super dressed up w/ funny hats up in the grandstand... and then there were others wearing jorts, tank tops and Miller Light hats. People watched the horses walk around, they watched the races, some people just sat in front of TV screens in a concrete room gambling. We put a little money down and did ok finishing up just enough to pay for the day. Tickets into the venue are cheap $3, $8 for the grandstand? The food was carnival style, we had peanuts, and delicious Carnival ice cream, and a gross BBQ Pork sandwich (Get the F*ck out of here!). I would give the heat 1 thumb down, the humidity 2 thumbs down, the food 1 thumb in a loop for fun, the races 2 thumbs up, the parking 1 thumb three states over, and the overall scene 1.5 thumbs up, it was fun!

Dinner w/ friends was also a scene. The summertime Saratoga nightlife is out of control! There were people everywhere and the bars were packed w/ cigar smoking gamblers, cougars on the prowl for big winners, and other assorted NY characters. We dined at the Grey Gelding. The bar was pretty cool and the drinks looked nice. I went w/ straight scotch so there really is no way to mess that up. My lady had a Mojito that was a little sweet but ok. The natives started getting a little restless as we had not eaten real food all day and we were not seated for about 40 minutes post reservation. Of course that paled to the wait for actual food which was over 1 hour. As for the food itself? Well first off, the place was not cheap! For an appetizer, my wife and I shared a salad and then got guacamole and chips. The guac came as a platter the size of New Jersey! It was good but even w/ the help of 8 other people we did not dent it. I took it home and am still eating it 4 days later! (just kidding, that would be gross). People who had steak or the snapper seemed satisfied for the main course. My wife had a shrimp and pasts dish that was heavy handed on the garlic... it was good not great. I had veal and let me advise, never get the VEAL!!! Overall it gets 1 thumb down for slow service, high prices, and pedestrian food. The only thing keeping the other thumb at bay was the good company and fun time we had.

Whooo... now we get to the "show". The concert was held at SPAC which is an interesting park. As a park it sucks... it is just a series of parking lots w/ buildings and trees interspersed. As a concert venue or place to stay (there is a beautiful hotel on the grounds it is amazing). They somehow managed to throw a huge concert while letting other folks continue to use the grounds for other purposes and it really was not an issue. There are 2 golf courses, a pretty cool pool, and amazing huge old beautiful buildings on the grounds. It was cool. We all parked grilled and headed in. Special thanks to LB squared who invited us to the balcony which was key. 2 seconds after we walked into the roofed building it started pouring... pouring!!! 40 year anniversary of Woodstock, let's just say the lawn seats got a little soggy. The concert itself was pretty good. The first set took a little bit to get going. The second set really ripped though and the crowd was really into it. Once again, good company, fun time. 1 3/4 thumbs up.

Overall the weekend was really a ton of fun and it was pretty painful coming back to work on Monday. I think I need to win the Powerball or something!

end of an era

today will be a 2 post day... I will get the shitty one out of the way first. Yesterday we paid the price that finance firms often do, a loss of some people due to not so great performance. I have always thought of this place as a family (good and bad) so any and every loss hurts. Yesterday was particularly painful as my longtime friend and associate was let go. It was a sad day for everyone as he is generally regarded as one of the "good guys" in the industry. This person got me into the company and into the industry and had a hand in other folks getting their feet wet here as well. He also worked tirelessly, even in tough situations and gave his blood, sweat, and tears to this company over the last decade. So here is a shout out to a good person and a good friend who I know will be back before long and I am sure better than ever.

Must have a wide foot... you got both of them!

I really have a tale of two weeks going on here... work absolutely sucks. It is really something special. On the bright side, I have been to the gym every day except Tues. I have been eating pretty well and have generally been in a pretty good mood outside of work. Plus it is sunny this week and very warm. Pretty stoked, we are in line for a 2 week summer. Makes those 7 months of brutal winter worth the trouble!!!

So the VT Mozart festival has been hit by the double wammy of the economy and the poor weather this summer. We have not gone to a show but have in past years and generally enjoy the festival. So asking for money right now is probably a non starter but there is an alternative... the Swedish Bikini Team Orchestra!!! I would go every night for that, they are excellent musicians.

So I understand that Hillary Clinton is a little peeved about always being second fiddle to Bill, but she is going a little Jan Brady on us here. I mean, Bill was the President. Hillary is also our nation's top diplomat as my very astute special lady pointed out... baby fits are not the way to go.

Karl Rove had a hand in getting attorneys fired because they were not helping the conservative agenda? I am shocked! Dick Cheney is about to write a book and talk shit about the only guy in America who had his back the last 10 years?! No! Now my whole world has been turned upside down!!! Jay About Town still kicks ass? Well, at least a little order has been restored!

Couple quick shout outs... I am now pimping Outdoor Research products because that is how I do! I also am giving props to RVG Electric in the Chittenden County area. The guy has been straight w/ me both times I have spoken to him and he has not tried to oversell me. That counts for something.

It is a sunny day, I think it will be nice to sit on Church Street and make snarky comments while sipping a beer (chugging)... How do I turn that into a profitable business? Should I put out a cardboard sign? "Will insult you for food!" "Veteran Asshole... please help." "I just lost my conscience and can't help the words coming out of my mouth, any $$ would be appreciated!"

Just sayin'...

Wedding Hangover

Well, it was a big weekend as the JBs made it official down at the Trapp Valley Lodge in Stowe. Beautiful location, perfect day... really a wonderful wedding. The crowd assembled was very fun and the reception was really great as well. I would easily put this into my top percentile on the wedding scale... 2 huge thumbs up all the way around. A few highlights... Michael's on the Hill in Stowe, excellent passed hors d'oeuvres (my highlight food item of the weekend, perfect size, delicate flavors,well put together), wickedly good pineapple infused vodka on the rocks, nice lobster bisque, excellent salad course, good but not stellar main course (pork and or trout), and good strawberry rhubarb shortcake. They do a nice job up there. Thanks to the Senior B's for a fun time Fri. night. Saturday we did a little hike up Stowe Pinnacle and then grabbed a quick sandwich at Shaw's General Store in downtown Stowe. Very attractive women work there (if that is your thing, and it might be mine!) and the Turkey Rachel was pretty good. Liked the Thousand Island dressing and the coleslaw... turkey was only ok and I wish it had been heated. Then off to the wedding! The location at Trapp is really fantastic, the venue itself is pretty ok as well. They had a nice presentation and the food was pretty good. I had a well prepared beef tenderloin that came w/ a potato strudel which was delicious. Wedding food is never easy and I think they did well. From there it was dancing time and the crowd was enthusiastic as was the band. So there you have it... I will not go into the gory details (just know I woke up in my own bed and seemed to be in 1 piece)!

We stayed at the 10 Acres Inn... I am not sure it was really on 10 acres. Pretty no frills place, it is clean and perfectly acceptable as a place to stay a night or two.

Saw that movie about Notorious B.I.G. this weekend Notorious. The special lady and I both enjoyed it. As movies go these days... it had an interesting story, ok actors, and kept the intensity up for 2 hours. 1.5 thumbs up.

BTW, too had about John Hughes dying... that guy was prolific! Sure we all know about Pretty in Pink, and 16 Candles, but he produced the Home Alone movies, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, 101 Dalmatians, wrote Mr. Mom, and Beethoven's 2nd. Really amazing...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000455/#producer1990

R.I.P. Red Sox 2009 title hopes... pitching in the tank and now the batting lineup turned old overnight... tough to watch.

BEEEEEES!!!!

I have not been stung by a bee in a long time so I guess I was due... last night I mowed the lawn and in the process I saw several voles making a run for it from the grass to some shrubs. I mowed one down. Karma, being the great equalizer found me minutes later. I was trying to fire up my weed whacker and I was yarning on the starter rope when I felt something on my arm. As I swatted it away, something stung my leg, then my arm... and then I realized I was in the middle of a swarm of bees who were like a crazed biker gang, and I was the jerk in the Prius getting harassed!!! I flailed about and then made a mad dash for the house. The stings were painful, in fact the one on my leg still really hurts! F*ing bees.

Speaking of painful... John Smoltz, thanks for coming out!

Big wedding this weekend w/ the JB squared couple making it official! Will I dance vigorously? Distinct possibility!

Jay's Amazing Soggy Adventure!

F*ing rain... seriously, f*ing rain. It rained Friday, it poured Sunday, it is threatening this afternoon. That is It! I have had it w/ this mother f*ing rain on this motherf*ing plane!!! OK, I feel better... So the special lady and I packed up the car and went to stay w/ friends C&E Music Factory (in from the west coast) at their family place in the Adirondacks... on Big Moose Lake. It is a lovely lake, not too crowded, and the house is really fantastic in that old Adirondacks style. Friday was rainy but we read a bit, and chatted, and had a few drinks and some dinner. BTW, enchiladas are A-OK in my book! As is scotch! Saturday started pretty ominous but the clouds burned off midday and it turned into a hot and sunny day. We paddled canoes, read, swam, my lady showed off her water skiing chops (she is very good), and ate and drank again. Both nights were fun but early which was perfect. Sunday it poured, I mean absolutely poured. After our goodbyes, we slogged home. Beautiful drive though, even in the rain. No moose?!

We spent the rest of Sunday watching movies... I watched "Watchmen". It was visually quite stunning, the story was a little pretentious but some of the characters were interesting. I have not read the comic book but the movie assumed the audience was stupid and pounded obvious themes over their heads. Overall I would give it 1 thumb up... cut 45 minutes out, way less blue weiner, little more subtlety...

Oh hey, look... more parking in Burlington!