8.30.2004
Whoopsi!
Looks like I posted the Ming Tsai post twice! Oh well, read it for variation, and then write an analysis of flaws in my narrative, misspellings, gaps, storytelling gaffes, etc.
Looks like I posted the Ming Tsai post twice! Oh well, read it for variation, and then write an analysis of flaws in my narrative, misspellings, gaps, storytelling gaffes, etc.
NO MORE YEARS
As a native New Yorker, I am delighted with the reception that is being given the dotards at the Republican National Convention. It is only reiterating the obvious when I assert that the GOP is exploiting the tragedy of 9/11. If I was anywhere near the city I would be one of the hundreds of thousands on the street telling the delegates to get the fuck out of Dodge. If you haven't read the 9/11 commission report by now, then you ain't a good American. GW and DICK did absoulety nothing to prevent the attacks, not that they could have, but some effort would have been appreciated. DICK was the anti-terrorism tsar who held NO meetings for months before the terrible day. SHRUB was on the longest presidential vacation in history. How come Montanans get more per capita in battling terrrorism than New Yorkers? It goes without saying, but get the fuck out of NY.
I forget if it was in Salon or even on AOLnews, but i read one quote from a stupid delegate from Texas who said that he did not see any protesters, but only a "Bunch of queers who were trying to get married."
My silly inlaws were over last night for BBQ and they dropped over a sofa and bookshelf for the basement. Have to admit that it looks nice down there. As my wife said, they look better on the shelf than in a stack on the floor. True Dat. Anyway, over dinner my brotherinlaw and fatherinlaw were talking (again) about the new AT&T sales rep who is apparently a little flamboyant. Sometimes those two are extremely provincial. You would think the guy had antennae and a third eye the way they were talking about him. I don't know, but I don't think that anyone's (still alleged) sexuality is (a) not an issue for anyone's discussion; and (b) not important. Who the fuck cares if he's gay. My brother in law is a boy scout leader and a practicing Catholic - he should be used to homosexuals by now!
As a native New Yorker, I am delighted with the reception that is being given the dotards at the Republican National Convention. It is only reiterating the obvious when I assert that the GOP is exploiting the tragedy of 9/11. If I was anywhere near the city I would be one of the hundreds of thousands on the street telling the delegates to get the fuck out of Dodge. If you haven't read the 9/11 commission report by now, then you ain't a good American. GW and DICK did absoulety nothing to prevent the attacks, not that they could have, but some effort would have been appreciated. DICK was the anti-terrorism tsar who held NO meetings for months before the terrible day. SHRUB was on the longest presidential vacation in history. How come Montanans get more per capita in battling terrrorism than New Yorkers? It goes without saying, but get the fuck out of NY.
I forget if it was in Salon or even on AOLnews, but i read one quote from a stupid delegate from Texas who said that he did not see any protesters, but only a "Bunch of queers who were trying to get married."
My silly inlaws were over last night for BBQ and they dropped over a sofa and bookshelf for the basement. Have to admit that it looks nice down there. As my wife said, they look better on the shelf than in a stack on the floor. True Dat. Anyway, over dinner my brotherinlaw and fatherinlaw were talking (again) about the new AT&T sales rep who is apparently a little flamboyant. Sometimes those two are extremely provincial. You would think the guy had antennae and a third eye the way they were talking about him. I don't know, but I don't think that anyone's (still alleged) sexuality is (a) not an issue for anyone's discussion; and (b) not important. Who the fuck cares if he's gay. My brother in law is a boy scout leader and a practicing Catholic - he should be used to homosexuals by now!
I Could Look At Ming Tsai All Day
I wrote this blog the other day, but, alack, it did not get published. Damn Safari browser. Anyway here's a rewrite.
(btw: the above quote is from my wife's aunt)
On Wednesday the inlaws brought us to Blue Ginger (their friends cancelled on them, and my ever-resourceful and grubby wife insinuated ourselves into an implied invitation). It was my first 'celebrity restaurant' (unless you count the Mulligatawny I got from the Soup Nazi, but that's a story for my memoirs, tentatively titled either "I Fuck Like a Lesbian" or "Damn Cripples Took My Money"), and I did not know what to expect. It was just a suburban restaurant, from what I could tell in the interior. The ceiling was made of the same foam/insulation crap that hung in every high school classroom I ever worked in (and that we also had hanging in the delightful casual family dining establishment that I chronicled in earlier postings). The decor was okay, not as swanky as I would expect. (What's he doing with all the Public Television money? Obviously not spending it on decorating!).
Here's how the grub broke down: appetizer: Mussels; entrees: Dad: butterfish; Mom: lamb w/ tabouleh; Wifey: polenta and grilled vegetable napoleon (pile stuff in a stack and call it a napoleon and charge twenty dollars for it); CFranz: chili tea infused porkloin. (Overcooked: I requested medium). For desert wife and I split a sorbet banana split, which was very nice. I also had a saketini for aperitif. If the inlaws weren't there I could easily have had one or seven more. I believe that sake directly contributed to the conception of my first daughter. (The equation for making a baby goes like this: Sake + Alison Kraus concert = unexpected baby surprise). Overall the food was pretty good, but not earthshatteringly great. We'll go again someday. I can't help but feeling that I had just as good or better back in good old c-ville. Jarman's Gap in Crozet and teh Old Mill Room at the Boar's Head Inn, to name just two examples.
Oh yeah, we did see Ming Tsai. He was walking around the dining room signing menus and cookbooks. He is kinda attractive, as Aunt Beth avers, but he does look like he went through some cosmetic.
I wrote this blog the other day, but, alack, it did not get published. Damn Safari browser. Anyway here's a rewrite.
(btw: the above quote is from my wife's aunt)
On Wednesday the inlaws brought us to Blue Ginger (their friends cancelled on them, and my ever-resourceful and grubby wife insinuated ourselves into an implied invitation). It was my first 'celebrity restaurant' (unless you count the Mulligatawny I got from the Soup Nazi, but that's a story for my memoirs, tentatively titled either "I Fuck Like a Lesbian" or "Damn Cripples Took My Money"), and I did not know what to expect. It was just a suburban restaurant, from what I could tell in the interior. The ceiling was made of the same foam/insulation crap that hung in every high school classroom I ever worked in (and that we also had hanging in the delightful casual family dining establishment that I chronicled in earlier postings). The decor was okay, not as swanky as I would expect. (What's he doing with all the Public Television money? Obviously not spending it on decorating!).
Here's how the grub broke down: appetizer: Mussels; entrees: Dad: butterfish; Mom: lamb w/ tabouleh; Wifey: polenta and grilled vegetable napoleon (pile stuff in a stack and call it a napoleon and charge twenty dollars for it); CFranz: chili tea infused porkloin. (Overcooked: I requested medium). For desert wife and I split a sorbet banana split, which was very nice. I also had a saketini for aperitif. If the inlaws weren't there I could easily have had one or seven more. I believe that sake directly contributed to the conception of my first daughter. (The equation for making a baby goes like this: Sake + Alison Kraus concert = unexpected baby surprise). Overall the food was pretty good, but not earthshatteringly great. We'll go again someday. I can't help but feeling that I had just as good or better back in good old c-ville. Jarman's Gap in Crozet and teh Old Mill Room at the Boar's Head Inn, to name just two examples.
Oh yeah, we did see Ming Tsai. He was walking around the dining room signing menus and cookbooks. He is kinda attractive, as Aunt Beth avers, but he does look like he went through some cosmetic.
Lesbian NYC Librarians
As per Nevsky's example, I have been hitting the Next Blog button ensconced in the upper right hand corner. I too have come across way too many Jesus poems, Malaysian teenager blogs and "Omigod the first week of college is hard" blogs. Luckily, I stumbled across my doppelganger blog: Kinky Librarian.. Visit her.
As per Nevsky's example, I have been hitting the Next Blog button ensconced in the upper right hand corner. I too have come across way too many Jesus poems, Malaysian teenager blogs and "Omigod the first week of college is hard" blogs. Luckily, I stumbled across my doppelganger blog: Kinky Librarian.. Visit her.
The currency of negotiation in any marriage is the blow job. Except, perhaps, in a lesbian union.
On the Turntable
Loaded (Fully Loaded Version Disc 1)-The Velvet Underground; I Am the Cosmos- Chris Bell; Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse; Bedtime Stories - David Baerwald; The Last Waltz (Disc 1) - The Band; One Foot in the Grave - Beck; Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys (Disc 4); Ill Communication - The Beastie Boys; No Code - Pearl Jam (The two-year-old pulled this one off the shelf. ONce she pulled off the Nuggets box set, and once she pulled down Purple Rain. Whenever Margie pulls an album off the shelf and we play it she dances around like a drunk monkey.); Don't Back Down - The Queers; Ruby Ann: Rockin' Rollin Robbins, Vol. 3 - Marty Robbins
Music You Will Soon See on Ebay
The Nixons - The Nixons; Schwule Madchen-Fettes Brot (My mom goes to germany and brings me back bad German rap); Talk On Corners (Special Edition) - The Corrs; Letter from Home - Pat Metheny Group; All Killer No Filler - Sum 41; Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies; Storytelling - Belle and Sebastian (I am the biggest B&S fan, but I have to admit that this album is a pooper).
Moral of the story: stop buying crappy cds!
Loaded (Fully Loaded Version Disc 1)-The Velvet Underground; I Am the Cosmos- Chris Bell; Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse; Bedtime Stories - David Baerwald; The Last Waltz (Disc 1) - The Band; One Foot in the Grave - Beck; Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys (Disc 4); Ill Communication - The Beastie Boys; No Code - Pearl Jam (The two-year-old pulled this one off the shelf. ONce she pulled off the Nuggets box set, and once she pulled down Purple Rain. Whenever Margie pulls an album off the shelf and we play it she dances around like a drunk monkey.); Don't Back Down - The Queers; Ruby Ann: Rockin' Rollin Robbins, Vol. 3 - Marty Robbins
Music You Will Soon See on Ebay
The Nixons - The Nixons; Schwule Madchen-Fettes Brot (My mom goes to germany and brings me back bad German rap); Talk On Corners (Special Edition) - The Corrs; Letter from Home - Pat Metheny Group; All Killer No Filler - Sum 41; Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies; Storytelling - Belle and Sebastian (I am the biggest B&S fan, but I have to admit that this album is a pooper).
Moral of the story: stop buying crappy cds!
8.29.2004
I Could Look At Ming Tsai All Day
The above is a quote from my wife's aunt when my mother-in-law told her we were eating dinner on Wednesday night at Blue Ginger. It was kinda neat. I had been hinting at eating dinner there for years. The wife and I split the mussells appetizer. For the entree I had a chili tea infused porkloin; wifey had the polenta and vegetable napoleon. I want to be a chef - pile stuff on top of each other and call it a napoleon. The mother in law had lamb with tabouleh and the fatherinlaw had Butterfish. My pork chops were overcooked (I requested medium, they were closer to medium-well-to-well,o well). It was might tasty, but I wouldn't necessarily call it the best dining experience of my life. I have eaten just as well, and for cheaper in other places. Jarman's Gap in Crozet and the Mill Room at Boar's Head Inn, for example. It was nice, and I will be back, but it was lacking in something. I did have a saketini, which was awesome. If the inlaws weren't around I could have easily had two or seven more. I do believe that sake has contributed to the conception of my first lovely daughter. (Evil combination: Sake + Alison Krauss Concert = unexpected baby!)
Oh yeah, nevsky, we did see Ming Tsai in the dining room he was chatting up the guests a la Rocco, but he did not come to our table. Good, I hate smoozing and acting impressed and trying not to say something dumb. He looked like he had plastic surgery, either that or he's well preserved in Asian spices (done with French techniques!) He was also busy garnishing plates - the life of a Public Television celebrity never ends.
The above is a quote from my wife's aunt when my mother-in-law told her we were eating dinner on Wednesday night at Blue Ginger. It was kinda neat. I had been hinting at eating dinner there for years. The wife and I split the mussells appetizer. For the entree I had a chili tea infused porkloin; wifey had the polenta and vegetable napoleon. I want to be a chef - pile stuff on top of each other and call it a napoleon. The mother in law had lamb with tabouleh and the fatherinlaw had Butterfish. My pork chops were overcooked (I requested medium, they were closer to medium-well-to-well,o well). It was might tasty, but I wouldn't necessarily call it the best dining experience of my life. I have eaten just as well, and for cheaper in other places. Jarman's Gap in Crozet and the Mill Room at Boar's Head Inn, for example. It was nice, and I will be back, but it was lacking in something. I did have a saketini, which was awesome. If the inlaws weren't around I could have easily had two or seven more. I do believe that sake has contributed to the conception of my first lovely daughter. (Evil combination: Sake + Alison Krauss Concert = unexpected baby!)
Oh yeah, nevsky, we did see Ming Tsai in the dining room he was chatting up the guests a la Rocco, but he did not come to our table. Good, I hate smoozing and acting impressed and trying not to say something dumb. He looked like he had plastic surgery, either that or he's well preserved in Asian spices (done with French techniques!) He was also busy garnishing plates - the life of a Public Television celebrity never ends.
Margot and the Bowed Tibia
On Monday we took our lovely daughter Margot to Children's Hospital in Boston for a visit with the children's orthopeadic sturgeon. (or was that the aquarium? I crack myself up) When chitchatting with the doctor he asked us were we were from, what specialists we saw before with Margot's foot problem, etc. When he found out we were from Charlottesville and had just moved up here to the Boston area, he gave us a look like we were crazy. "Concord's nice too," he said. Maybe I was just projecting on him. Like when I told the lady in the pet supply store that I had just moved to Concord from Charlottesville and she said "Sorry." My wife probably didn't even register it. Of course, I didn't mention this to the lovely wife; we are arguing enough about the move. For example, she can't stand my griping about the pizza. I told her that the pizza at Tony's in West Roxbury tastes like WonderBread with ketchup and Kraft cheese. She really got bent out of shape about that. After we saw the doctor we were suppossed to go into North End (Boston's idea of Little Italy) and get what many consider to be the only authentic pizza in the area (Regina's Pizzeria, to be exact). Christine did not want to drive in the traffic and got mad at me because I let her make a wrong turn. I thought she knew where she was going! So, no pizza for Chris. I don't even want to talk about what we had for dinner instead.
Oh! About Margot's foot? Almost forgot. Poor girl has a serious radial bow to her tibia, it has formed something like an S-shape. It has led to one leg being almost two centimenters longer than the other (or shorter depending on how you look at it). Right now we have to get a new pair of orthopaedic shoes to solve for the discrepancy. Poor girl. She will most likely have to get painful leg lenghtening surgery when she is around ten. She was born with this problem. When we got her ultrasounds we couldn't even find a foot! Her foot was planted flat up against her shin when she was born - we called it her flipper! Damn insensitive parents! Luckily it hasn't slowed her down at all - she is quick as exlax.
On Monday we took our lovely daughter Margot to Children's Hospital in Boston for a visit with the children's orthopeadic sturgeon. (or was that the aquarium? I crack myself up) When chitchatting with the doctor he asked us were we were from, what specialists we saw before with Margot's foot problem, etc. When he found out we were from Charlottesville and had just moved up here to the Boston area, he gave us a look like we were crazy. "Concord's nice too," he said. Maybe I was just projecting on him. Like when I told the lady in the pet supply store that I had just moved to Concord from Charlottesville and she said "Sorry." My wife probably didn't even register it. Of course, I didn't mention this to the lovely wife; we are arguing enough about the move. For example, she can't stand my griping about the pizza. I told her that the pizza at Tony's in West Roxbury tastes like WonderBread with ketchup and Kraft cheese. She really got bent out of shape about that. After we saw the doctor we were suppossed to go into North End (Boston's idea of Little Italy) and get what many consider to be the only authentic pizza in the area (Regina's Pizzeria, to be exact). Christine did not want to drive in the traffic and got mad at me because I let her make a wrong turn. I thought she knew where she was going! So, no pizza for Chris. I don't even want to talk about what we had for dinner instead.
Oh! About Margot's foot? Almost forgot. Poor girl has a serious radial bow to her tibia, it has formed something like an S-shape. It has led to one leg being almost two centimenters longer than the other (or shorter depending on how you look at it). Right now we have to get a new pair of orthopaedic shoes to solve for the discrepancy. Poor girl. She will most likely have to get painful leg lenghtening surgery when she is around ten. She was born with this problem. When we got her ultrasounds we couldn't even find a foot! Her foot was planted flat up against her shin when she was born - we called it her flipper! Damn insensitive parents! Luckily it hasn't slowed her down at all - she is quick as exlax.
8.22.2004
More on My Fecal Fascinations
Everybody poops. Not everybody feels compelled to chronicle their shitting experiences in weblog form. Luckily for us we have the awesome website The Poop Report!. Users are encouraged to submit embarassing tales and stories concerning inappropriately timed BMs.
The Swift Boat Captains for Truth are after me. Seems like I didn't deserve the medals I earned during the Vietnam War - When I was in my mother's womb! in my mother's womb I chased an injured Charley rocket-propelled grenade launcher haflway up my mother's fallopian tube and shot him mercilessly dead. We had made a pledge that if we had encountered any black pyjama-clad VC in the uterine environment, we would turn in and fight them. But some of the other swift boat captains - who were not in my mother's womb at the time - say that I shouldn't have gotten the medals that i received. They are a bunch of dry humps.
On the Turntable
Dear Charlottesville,- Various Artists; Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia- The Dandy Warhols; Average White Band; Wisteria - Arson Garden; The Snare - Looper; The Lily and the Lamb - Anonymous 4; Let's Kill Saturday Night - Robbie Fulks.
CDs that are going to be on Ebay real soon: Familiar to Millions - Oasis; Be Glad For the Song Has No End - The Incredible String Band; Amorino - Isobel Campbell; AOI:Bionix - De la Soul; Textures - Mixed by Darren Emerson and Alex Paterson; Blow - Straitjacket Fits
Dear Charlottesville,- Various Artists; Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia- The Dandy Warhols; Average White Band; Wisteria - Arson Garden; The Snare - Looper; The Lily and the Lamb - Anonymous 4; Let's Kill Saturday Night - Robbie Fulks.
CDs that are going to be on Ebay real soon: Familiar to Millions - Oasis; Be Glad For the Song Has No End - The Incredible String Band; Amorino - Isobel Campbell; AOI:Bionix - De la Soul; Textures - Mixed by Darren Emerson and Alex Paterson; Blow - Straitjacket Fits
I forgot to include Dino's in West Concord in my list of inferior pizza products of massachussetts. My soul is aching.
8.19.2004
Pizza Update
I have still not found a pizza that I like up here as much as Christian's and Sylvia's back in my old stomping grounds. Maybe Nevsky can buy me a slice of black bean pizza from Sylvia's on the corner and mail it to me.
Here's the list of bad pizza: Maynard House of Pizza (What the hell is a house of pizza? They have them all over here. Is the house itself constructed of pizza dough, cheese, sauce and toppings? Whenever I see "house of pizza", I will now think to myself "House of Pizza-That-I-Want-To-Avoid"); PapaGino's (I shoulda known better); Sorrento's.
Decent pizza (I'll be back): T.C. Lando's in Acton; Maynard Village Pizza.
Someone tell me where I can get a decent slice like I could in Shrub Oak. Please, anybody?
I have still not found a pizza that I like up here as much as Christian's and Sylvia's back in my old stomping grounds. Maybe Nevsky can buy me a slice of black bean pizza from Sylvia's on the corner and mail it to me.
Here's the list of bad pizza: Maynard House of Pizza (What the hell is a house of pizza? They have them all over here. Is the house itself constructed of pizza dough, cheese, sauce and toppings? Whenever I see "house of pizza", I will now think to myself "House of Pizza-That-I-Want-To-Avoid"); PapaGino's (I shoulda known better); Sorrento's.
Decent pizza (I'll be back): T.C. Lando's in Acton; Maynard Village Pizza.
Someone tell me where I can get a decent slice like I could in Shrub Oak. Please, anybody?
Have you ever tried the cereal Golean Crunch? My wife bought a box of it and I tried it this morning. It's like eating the burnt half-popped kernels of popcorn at the bottom of the bowl (just add milk).
To the assholes who took our digital camera off of the train at Canobie Lake Park - Thanks, we needed to upgrade anyway. But haven't y'all heard of the lost and found, yankee assholes.
Lowell, Beautiful Lowell
Some people view Lowell as a dank post-industrial shithole. Granted, out of the many stankholes that mass-a-two-shits has to offer (Worcester, Framingham, Natick, Lawrence, to name a few), Lowell has a certain aura of disdain among the chowdaheads i have talked to. Personally, I have been chtarmed out of my pants each time I have visited Lowell. The Lowell Folk Festival was brilliant fun. We saw some performers that I have long admired - Might Sparrow, Huun-Huur-Tu (yes I jumped on the Tuva throat singing bandwagon when it was popular ten years ago) and JD Crowe and the New South. And JD and the New South played my favorite bluegrass song ever, which namechecks my dear old Charlottesville. Only two bad things about the Festival: the Nigerian food gave me the runs later (the goat stew was pretty awful and the dodo (fried plaintains) were cold; and the canal could have been cleaned up for the festival. This was outweighed by the fun we had at the spoolcar races, the Native American exhibit, the music on every street corner, the trolley ride (Margot's first) and the train museum. We will go back every year.
The second time I was charmed by Lowell was at the Lowell Spinners game. We were there on Peter Gammons Bobblehead Night, but, lo, we showed up to late to receive the bobblehead of the nattering grey-haired ninny of ESPN fame. He threw out the first pitch, and for some reason he was wearing a hawaiian shirt. The stadium itself is beautiful, and reminded me of the Durham Bulls stadium in North Carolina. The Spinners lost to the Tigers class A team, and they belong to the same league as my hometown (almost) Hudson Valley Renegades. Go Gades!
Some people view Lowell as a dank post-industrial shithole. Granted, out of the many stankholes that mass-a-two-shits has to offer (Worcester, Framingham, Natick, Lawrence, to name a few), Lowell has a certain aura of disdain among the chowdaheads i have talked to. Personally, I have been chtarmed out of my pants each time I have visited Lowell. The Lowell Folk Festival was brilliant fun. We saw some performers that I have long admired - Might Sparrow, Huun-Huur-Tu (yes I jumped on the Tuva throat singing bandwagon when it was popular ten years ago) and JD Crowe and the New South. And JD and the New South played my favorite bluegrass song ever, which namechecks my dear old Charlottesville. Only two bad things about the Festival: the Nigerian food gave me the runs later (the goat stew was pretty awful and the dodo (fried plaintains) were cold; and the canal could have been cleaned up for the festival. This was outweighed by the fun we had at the spoolcar races, the Native American exhibit, the music on every street corner, the trolley ride (Margot's first) and the train museum. We will go back every year.
The second time I was charmed by Lowell was at the Lowell Spinners game. We were there on Peter Gammons Bobblehead Night, but, lo, we showed up to late to receive the bobblehead of the nattering grey-haired ninny of ESPN fame. He threw out the first pitch, and for some reason he was wearing a hawaiian shirt. The stadium itself is beautiful, and reminded me of the Durham Bulls stadium in North Carolina. The Spinners lost to the Tigers class A team, and they belong to the same league as my hometown (almost) Hudson Valley Renegades. Go Gades!
