Lucy in the SkyBurger with Heartburn

Ok ok... that may not be fair. I had a pretty big day w/ new (to me) food experiences Friday. For lunch we turned our backs on pizza Friday and went for Asiana Noodle House. Not knowing what to order I opted for a Bento Box. Well, the teriyaki chicken was ok but a little overcooked and a little cold. I liked the tempura veggies but the shrimp was so so at best. The miso soup was good but very salty. Salad was limp and the dressing was gross and heavy handed. The sushi? Slimy and just not fresh. I think that may be a eat in place for JUST soup. 1 thumb down on the Bento box.

Later my stomach recovered and it was on to SkyBurger! I had taken down a couple beers here and even tried the fried green beans app but that was it. Friday was the full monty! While everyone else in my party went light I could not order a mama or baby burger... it just didn't feel right. So I went papa burger w/ bacon and coleslaw . We also had fried onion petals for an app although they came out w/ the burgers which came out very fast. Mine was actually quite good. The bacon was crispy, the coleslaw was vinegar-y which fit well, and the burger itself was well cooked and juicy (and f*ing huge)! The bun was also buttery and quite good. Service was fine, decor was ok (kind of like a budget Johnny Rockets), and it was cheap. My Coke was cold and not too watered down. I thought it was pretty good all in. 1 1/2 thumbs up... until... 3AM when I awoke to abdominal pain I have not experienced in awhile. I was up for an hour wondering if I was going to vomit and sure of what was coming out the other end. My special lady also had heartburn. Maybe just 1 thumb sideways until I can figure out whether it was Sky or Bento that beat me down!!!

Goldman in front of Congress

Pretty funny, these Congressmen are clueless.

Congressman: "How Much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

GS employee: "Uh, I, um, do not understand the question?"

Congressman: "It is very clear, how much wood sir?! Answer the question?!"

GS: (looking at notes, very confused) "Sir, I am not sure I understand..."

Congressman: "You understand, wood that a chuck could chuck, apple raisin unicycle! What is your responsibility to your clients!"

GS: "I..."

Congressman: "Answer Kamchatka bear subprime 50% short woodchuck answer comfortable New Century long seller cash... ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!"

GS: (Looking around for a lifeline) "Well, I don't know what a Kamchatka..."

Congressman: "I see you will not answer my question about you being guilty of short longing woodchuck loans. I am moving on to my next question. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy... was he?! Answer the question CDO subprime longer crap pools squirrel tonic banana!!!"

GS: "?"

A little song for Thursday

Go ahead and sing this w/ the candyman tune…

Who can take some subprime
Sprinkle them w/ poo
Repackage them
As CDOs, rated AAA and new

Goldman
Goldman can
Goldman can cause they have no soul and they like to screw you

Who can take a short sale
Tell you it is long
Throw a loser VP
Underneath a bus

Goldman?

Goldman
Goldman can
Goldman can cause they have no soul and they like to screw you

Goldman are fakes
Your money they take
And you even saw it coming
Talk about your 401K
They might even steal your daily work pay….

Who can fool a hedge fund?
Make them feel real dumb
Break a bunch of rules
And make the SEC look like fools

Goldman?

Goldman can

Goldman can cause their legal team is good
And their legal team is good
Because Goldman thinks it should….


http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/willywonkaandthechocolatefactory/candyman.htm

Yeah.... Happy 4/20!!!!

You know what that means?! That's right, today is the 148th anniversary of the day Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard successfully tested pasteurization!!!! So go drink a a glass of bacteria free milk hippies!!!!

It's Rainy Saturday Movie Time!!!

After a brief period of sun, Vermont returned to it's natural position as "Seattle East". Cold, rain, and a whole lotta rain! There really is only one thing to do on a day like that and that is go bowling! But the bowling alley looked full and we didn't want to bowl do option number 2... Lowes to look at windows, doors, and lighting treatments for the mudroom! Well, that is only partly a joke because we did do that and it did suck. At some point my special lady and I may just turn this damned mudroom renovation into a steel cage and battle to the death as to whether we need a sliding barn door or an alcove. Don't worry about me though, I have the weapon of dutch oven mastery on my side. I fight dirty. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, we treated ourselves to a movie downtown. After joking about it for awhile a couple friends of ours joined us to put our money where our mouth was and take in a viewing of Hot Tub Time Machine. You know what? It was great. In fact, it was f*ing awesome. I will go so far as to say it was the best movie I have seen post The Hangover. I am not sure it has the same re-watchability as The Hangover or Old School, but it is just a smidgen behind. Crude jokes, boobs, excellent comic timing, John Cusack, booze, 80s references. This could have really been terrible but was funny. The whole thing was funny, even when they inevitably had to make hard choices and do the right thing and all that crap. Lou the Violator was acidic and spot on. Darrell from the office was solid as the guy with the understated off the cuff jokes that always hit at just the right time. Cusack is a very funny straight man. The kid was a solid nerd, like a Jonah Hill Lite. Only kinda lite though. 2 thumbs up if you enjoy sophomoric hijinks

Afterwards we stopped by the Daily Plant for a debrief. Not much to say about that place. The bar is ok, decent space, ok vibe, so so service. The food is not great but not terrible. It is fine. I did have a Serazac which is a fun drink. Basically it is rye whiskey served in an absinthe washed glass. Yeah, be careful. We realized what we really need in this town is a Smokejack's revival. We used to complain about that place but it filled a niche. When you wanted halfway decent food and a good cocktail on a sunny day on Church Street in the afternoon that was the place. The rest of the street has either really bad food, no seating, or bad drinks. The Smokejack's space has been empty for over a year now. Come back to us Old Smokey! Come back!!!

I am predicting the Sox finish 4th in their division. They suck. Can't pitch, can't field, certainly can't hit. I am not sure David Ortiz could hit a home run off a tee. Just painful to watch.

Dinner Party Suprise!

So my special lady and I were hosting another couple for dinner and as my wife had to work a little bit late (at least that is what she told me!), I had to cruise home and get dinner started. To be fair, meals w/ multiple steps get me flustered, I am not good w/ culinary timing. Well, last night I was home early and all ready. I had my recipes out and was starting to get prepped well in advance of dinner. As I was butchering up some pork I get a knock at the door. It was a mom and 2 junior high aged kids asking if I had a cat? Besides the one I was holding? Nope. Well, I knew where this was going. Our next door neighbor has an outside cat and sure enough, it was now dead. Not the first one by the way. So w/ a squirming cat (can't go outside) in one hand and a butcher's knife in the other I try to give the mom a phone to call the neighbor and leave a msg (they were not home). First phone, dead... second phone, doesn't have the number... transfer the number, mom can't figure out how to use phone... I am typing number, holding cat, knife, watching the pork, and the clock! OK, message left and while I am a little behind I am still ok. Mom comes back to door w/ dead f*ing cat. WTF?!?!? Do I have a towel to wrap the cat up? Sure. Now I am holding my cat (so he does not eat the pork), a meat hammer (haha), and trying to track down a crappy towel. OK, here you go, problem solved. Tick Tock, Tick Tock. Back to pounding meat! Knock at the door... seriously, WTF!?!?!?!?! Can we leave the cat here as that was the message we left? Sure, fine, whatever, get the f***k out of here! Does the mom leave the cat at the end of the deck as I said? Nope... she leave it right next to my front door. Yeah, sure, why not. At this point my wife rolls in and asks me what the hell have I been doing and why is dinner just getting going? Have you been drinking? Were you watching TV? 1/2 an hour w/ dead cat!!!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! I am now flustered, yelling,rushing, swearing like Patrick Ramsey. Wife not impressed. You did here about the dead cat right? Scream. Dead cat? Where? Outside I think... oh wait, there it is right there for our guests to step over. Guess I better sort that out. OK, we get dinner going, guests arrive, we pour wine, start eating, telling the dead cat story... all is well, except... There will be a call at some point.

Phone rings in the middle of dinner. Oh crap, I need to brace myself. False alarm, telemarketer. Second call. This one was sad. I do really feel bad for my neighbor. She is nice and was obviously pretty broken up about it. So now I leave the table deliver the cat and proceed to help bury it. Yup... cat funeral in the middle of our dinner party. I swear. Finally, I bury the cat and come back to my house. My wife asks, what were you doing?! Burying a dead f*ing cat!!! Well, you are going to wash your hands right?

Clean up... Aisle 4!!

So I was a bit remiss in not doing a review for a recent concert we attended, Bassekou Kouyate. Mr. Kaouyate played the Flynn Space a couple weeks ago w/ his band Ngoni Ba. They were a 6 piece ensemble from Africa playing various percussion as well as the Ngoni instrument. The Ngoni is considered by some to be a precursor to the modern day banjo and this group played a style of music akin to American blues. After getting major praise from the likes of Bela Fleck and Eric Clapton we were very keen to check the out. The intimate space was great for this group who was energetic and very engaging. They wove short stories into the music and really played a solid set. The one guy playing a hand drum was kicking his feet above his head and jumping around while the other band members picked away at the Ngoni and cruised around the stage like they were backing up James Brown! An added bonus was the preponderance of older white audience members dancing like they were at a wedding, that was fun. Plus, the space had a little bar so you could have a beer and watch a great show (and weird white people dancing). An extra bonus was that we got to sit right behind local celebrity, Tall Big Hair Guy from Toubab Krewe and guess whether the good looking girl with him was his girlfriend, sister, or other? Good times. If you get a chance to check this group out... do!

The downside of the evening was a meal at Vietnam Restaurant 2. Last time we eat there. Bad food, bad service, flat beer... heartburn. 2 thumbs down, especially since they charged us for the beer we did not drink.

We watched Boondock Saints last night. I know a lot of people like this movie... I am not one of them. It was ridiculous. Not the good kind of ridiculous either. The Wire on the other hand is really coming around. I am not a fanatic but certainly an interested party.

Red Sox.... ugh. Can't pitch, no relief, fielding is so so, hitting is so so, Ortiz can't catch up to a 78MPH fastball... might be a long year.

OK, guess that will do for now.

Silver linings

So we had my grandmother's funeral in Maine yesterday and it was very nice. There were clouds early and late but the sun came out in force for the service and it was a lovely service. My uncles were all there and it was special. I think Gram would have found it fitting. We also were treated to some of the family's baking magic. The biscuits were amazing, as were the ginger cookies. Really solid stuff. While in Maine my special lady and I were treated to a couple fun meals. In Augusta, A-bird did a little digging and we found a cool brew pub in Halowell which is either part of Augusta or just south... it was 5 miles south of the Civic Center. The street was really cool with coffee shops, music, bars, and cool looking shops. Real urban revival in a pretty generally rundown city if you ask me. Anyway, we hit up the Liberal Cup for a beer and some chow. The space was cozy and truly pub style. Service was friendly but slow. The in-house beer was solid. They did not have the IPA on tap but the stout was pretty good and the porter was very good. As for the food... wow. Very rich! We shared a delicious french onion soup and a small caesar salad and we could have called it there. But then, I had a prime rib quesedilla which had very tender flavorful beef but was so filling I started to sweat sitting still. My wife had a fish sandwich, richly breaded haddock w/ cheese on buttered kaiser roll. I think we should have asked for a handcart for desert! Overall 1 3/4 thumbs up, great atmosphere reasonable prices and good beer. Quick bonus, we ran into my freshman hall monitor (JC) Ben at the bar. I have not seen or thought about that guy in 15 years and we ran into him at a bar we found almost by accident in a city we were staying in for 1 night randomly. Small world I suppose.

Yesterday afternoon we were driving the long drive back to VT and food options seemed pretty slim. Then, out of nowhere... we come across the Sunday River Brewery! Jackpot!!!! We were able to sit on the deck under the sun and have a microbrew and some lunch. The IPA here was good, the porter was also good, so was the seasonal hefeweizen. For lunch, we shared some addictive sweet potato fries, a so so caesar salad and then a pretty ok buffalo chicken wrap. The wrap was good, the chicken was pretty good, the sauce was only ok and they needed more blue cheese. Another 1+ thumb up experience though for the atmosphere, the service, the price, and the beer!

It was a sad day and I almost lost it a few times but there is always some good that comes from the bad. It was nice to be with family and to remember the good times... and there were many. So now I guess we move on.

NCAA Finals

Pretty decent game last night. Solid defense, lots of ball movement, 2 well coached teams and interesting storyline. I enjoyed it. BUT... I am giving CBS 2 huge thumbs down for turning a 90 minute game into a 2 hour 37 minute odyssey. You do not need a 3 minute TV timeout... every 2 minutes! There were so many commercials I forgot from time to time I was watching a ballgame. It started to feel like an episode of 24 which after you factor out commercials is more like 3!!! I also thought the referees were overly influenced by the crowd. They really let the Butler Bulldogs hack away and get away with a few travels etc... Don't get me wrong, I am no Dukie... I hate the legacy and still am not a huge Singler/Scheyer fan. But fair is fair and anytime a Duke guard went to the rim he was risking a grade 2 concussion. Speaking of... Matt Howard, like the intensity but maybe just tone it down a bit so you can play more. Love the dirtstache. I do like Zoubek, knows his role on the team, works hard, doesn't try to do too much. After this season I need to totally rethink the way I pick games because the "mid-major" phenomena seems legit.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have been a bit distracted but there is lots to talk about so I will try to get back in the flow later this week...

Goodbye

So my grandmother died on Tues. and this is a quick post to say goodbye to a lovely person, Mary Flanders. I cared for my grandmother very much and she for me and my family. She lived to 94 and was still very coherent and in command of her mental faculties. Unfortunately the rest of her body was unable to keep up. It is sad but not tragic. My grandmother died peacefully and she died with my mother at her side and generally cared for by family and loved ones. There is not really much to say but goodbye and I love you.