Melz Rants, Raves, and Ruminations

Vermillion

2011-09-04T22:39:00.003-04:00

Yum. Lucky to have my friends G & J come into the Old Town area of Alexandria. It gave me a chance to try this neighborhood restaurant Vermillion on King Street. I had a Pimm's Cup and bowl of their daily soup - a chilled roasted red pepper puree with chive chive crème fraiche, pine nuts, little croutons & squash “crudo”. Delish. Can't wait to go back. Need to find someone who would like going for the Farm Table menu. Hate when they don't allow a "one".

Butterfly pose

2011-07-17T19:34:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I got this shot. This butterfly basically just worked this flower to maximum effect allowing me to take many shots, this being one of my favorites. Wow. This is part of the rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco. I could spend all day there.

buttery perfection

2011-07-17T19:09:00.003-04:00

Went to French Laundry for my birthday. More on that meal later. Just had to comment on the wonderful sugar butter biscuit cookies they send you home with. Perfect crumble crunch with a light coat of granular sugar. These are simply perfect representations of the traditional English butter cookie that typically can't be found in England as they've evolved to producing heavier, denser blocks. These are a balanced effort in lightness and richness. Any thicker, too much cake; any thinner, too crisp. Too fine a granular sugar and the sweetness would prevent the tongue from truly appreciating the butter cookie. Too large a granular sugar and they'd roll right off. I also tasted a hint of salt grains here and there perfectly enhancing the butter-sugar blend base. Behold the joys of a perfect short bread cookie. The bar has been set high. I look forward to any challengers but this one seems impossible to beat.

Blueberry Kuchen

2011-06-27T19:21:00.002-04:00

Confession - I'm a chef only when the bargains or bounty call. This time it was the Friday organic blueberry sale at Whole Foods. Time to make blueberry kuken (that's the way it's spelled on her recipe). Mom has a great recipe I think she picked up when living in Germany. Maybe I should check on that family legend. But I don't want to find out it can from some 1960s issue of Good Housekeeping. I decided to use corn flour for the crust. I got it from Philipsburg Manor in the Hudson Valley and it didn't absorb the liquids as well as white wheat flour so I used that to firm it up. Overall the results were FABULOUS! I'm sticking with corn flour in the future. I t turned out crisp and flaky, blueberries sweet but slightly tart. Brought it into work and it went quickly at our group meeting. Need a bigger spring pan :)

buying habits revealed

2011-03-02T23:34:00.002-05:00

I'm so cheap that all my Amazon "Recommended For You" items are free music downloads.

Cat Bed

2011-01-23T21:35:00.002-05:00

.... otherwise know as that really expensive hand-knit sweater shrug thing I bought for myself this holiday season at Henri Bendel. Throw a million things on the bed and my cat will find the most expensive or new thing to take a nap on. At least she's got great taste!

Inhale DEEPLY

2011-01-04T22:23:00.005-05:00

Just got my new eco-friendly yoga mat from Barefoot. It's natural rubber and jute. Did a few down dogs, pigeon stretching. Noticed my hands smelled like weed. You know, that weed! This might surprise some but I've never used weed. But this never stopped me from being able to smell weed from miles away. Weird. Maybe I can't tell weed from jute. Interestingly strange.

I just realized I come across as the biggest hippie eco-nut. I'm worse than Ed Bagley posting kambucha notes followed by a earth-friendly yoga mat high. Must go eat some red meat to balance the scales. Where'd I put my bottled water and fur coat? Nope, can't go that far without crumpling in hemp-loving heaves.

In Search of a Container

2011-01-04T20:49:00.006-05:00

Brewed some green tea. Did a half-gallon batch to give the SCOBY something to eat. Felt that might not be a good pool for the baby SCOBY to survive on so I brewed a full gallon and bought a really stupid container - too big and round. The poor SCOBY would have to grow way too much. I obviously don't know what the hell I'm doing. YouTube videos and blogging may not be the best way to approach booching.

Home Again, Home Again ...

2011-01-02T21:51:00.004-05:00

Have no idea when they took this picture of the Bolt Bus at 33rd and 7th Ave. since there is ALWAYS tons of traffic and mobs of people. But I have to give a shout out to Bolt for being one of the better bus services around. It costs so much less than the train but is safer than some of the Chinatown options. After a Megabus incident that left me stranded outside of the Lincoln Tunnel (bus driver - truck driver incident), I've been a Bolt regular customer. I also like not having to line up. Bolt boards according to groups; guess that's like Southwest Airlines except Bolt serves How-I-Met-Your-Mother cast-a-likes and SW caters to the support socks crowd. Bolt rewards frequent travelers (group A) by allowing us to board first. YEAH, window!

The Bolt ride to DC really depends on the driver. They can get us there early but some like to stop for a 'convenience' break. Ugh. I like the drivers who push straight through. I really don't need a bad fast food sandwich when riding with a mob of twenty-somethings. Free WiFi works about 60% of the time but I mostly like to catch up with friends on the phone or sleep.

This driver had to stop. He also sprayed air freshness, which is really a misnomer, in the bus thus making me flee the cabin to get some REAL fresh air. We got to DC a little late and I was home in time to start my first bath of kombucha. More on that in another post.

Back home in DC.

Brunch at Locanda Verde

2011-01-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

Met Jeremy and Janice and Locanda Verde for brunch. Strangely I noticed I did the same thing last year with Violet. Is this going to be a tradition? I think not after the lackluster meal.

Cappuccino was good (illy) but too small. Gin fizz was a disappointing gin-meets-grapefruit-wedge bore. Can't order the special pastries from the menu grouping (zucchini bread, chocolate donuts, ginger lemon scone) so ended up with an ok savory cheese and bacon scone and a lackluster pumpkin bread. Couldn't even order pastries from the counter selection and the bar?! Bad form.

Janice's shrimp and grits were bipolar. The grits were delish but the shrimp were shellfishy - I spit mine out :O Jeremy and I split Uovo Modenese and the porchetta sandwich. Both were good but I've come to expect more than good from LV.

Looks like next year I'll have to find a new brunch spot ... probably in Brooklyn, argh!

SCOBY drop

2011-01-02T21:31:00.001-05:00

Read a freaky scary fun article in the Washington Post on making kombucha at home. By Saturday night I'm picking up my first SCOBY from a guy in the upper UWS. Will I brew a wonderful magical elixir or grow Beelzebub in my kitchen? Time will tell.

New Year, New Blog Resolution

2011-01-01T09:21:00.004-05:00

Since I mainly use this format to keep track of what the heck I do, what I like, and where I've been, I'm going to try to actually post more that a few things during the year. I have the crappiest memory and I like browsing my blog just to snap my poor gray brain cells into a reflective, colorful mood that only historical pictures and words can fake so well.

Rang in 2011 from my roof in NYC. Actually it is our building's roof but since I only get a view of the building shaft from my first floor studio, I seem to enjoy the roof more than others. I have also noticed I've been the only person on my roof for the Central Park fireworks three of the last five years - raining last year and freezing the year before. This year may have turned out the same way since I noticed I was first tracks across the snow still mounded into dune-like drifts. The tables were clear of snow so I stood on one thus avoiding frozen feet. About 5 minutes into the fireworks show I noticed a group of neighbors huddled just outside the back staircase door so I wasn't the only person from my building this year. Warm weather helped. Lots of celebrating on all the rooftops around our UWS space. I forgot my camera so the picture above was from 2009. Less clouds this year but basically the same view and same fireworks show with the exception of some weird ones that expand to showcase a smiley face - kind of creepy in my opinion.

Happy New Year! This one has to be better :)

DC Living

2010-12-08T19:38:00.003-05:00

I almost forgot about my blog given new media like twitter and Facebook. But I like blogging for food, travel, and basic bitching about things like art and film. So bear with me as I go back and fill some things in.

1) I moved. I now live in DC.
2) I still bitch. No surprise there.
3) I now have more access to politicos.

I expect a little more bitching about government, mediocre restaurants and plays but less whining about stinky, trashy streets and rude people. Now I'm the rudest person in town, or pretty dang close.

Yes, I'll miss NYC. But luckily DC has good food sources. Haven't yet found restaurants worthy of mention but I'm in heaven over the cheese mongers! Cow Girl Creamery is a fav and their Mt. Tam is creamy, gobbley goodness. And that's right, NC bitches! Their DC shop is the only one outside of their California neighborhood. Yahoo! So until I find other foodies, I'll be content with good cheese. Wallace (and Gromit, perhaps) would be happy company.

Beautiful music

2010-10-22T16:08:00.005-04:00

Hey Marseilles - can't get enough of you. I miss Seattle :(

Fitz & The Tantrums

2010-05-29T02:18:00.003-04:00

I've been loving Fitz and The Tantrums since hearing them in studio on KEXP and KCRW. Finally my chance to hear them live in NYC and at one of my favorite venues - Mercury Lounge. It's a small red-brick walled rectangle of a place in the back of a bar on E Houston. I'll forgive them the crappy beer selection at $6 because their room sounds surprisingly great and the audio guys really work the sounds well.

Cheap Seats, a young and hip band from Philly, opened with a great sound reminding me of 60s pop meets jazzy retro band stuff with vague hints of OK Go. I like their live sound better than the more produced songs I've retrospectively listened to on-line. Very good use of brass - sax, slide trombone, and trumpet. The lead singer also acted as a rebel rouser, cheering the crowd on and trying to pull the energy out. Lots of tight vests, shirts, and Rat Pack paraphernalia gives good look. But it really comes down to sound and they were a great, tight-playing band I look forward to hearing more from.

In their owns words, Fitz and The Tanrums - "The sound is Motown and soul-influenced indie pop." I just love the energy and use of instruments. No guitar, just pure beat, organ keyboard, sax, sometimes flute, tambourine, and bass. It feels so good I dare you not to dance. Noelle has an amazing voice and compliments the sound of Fitz so well, again harking back to classic Motown. She also was working the crowd with Fitz to get everyone in a great place, lots of audience reaction and enjoyment at least up front. I've also found where I can hang with other skinny people and not look freakish - joining a band! Too bad I have no musical talent.

P.S. Rob, you missed a really great show ... and you're an asshole.

Silver Moon Pain au Lait

2010-04-25T19:03:00.001-04:00

Serious Eats has sent me to some great and not so great places in search of cheap yummy NYC treats. Luckily Silver Moon bakery up on Broadway and 105th has always been a favorite. I used to live on 105th so it was both convenient and good. I mostly get the chocolate croissant or cinnamon roll. The former is always good. The later is oftern the best dang thing to bite into on a lazy weekend morning but on occasion they over-bake it resulting in dry disappointment. Never tried their Pain au Lait and I was expecting something bagel-sized. This treat is more like a small wreath loaf. I find the sugar crystals a bit too large to dissolve nicely when eating the bread but the dough, crust, and raisins are so good to make it worth the purchase. Raisins were a tad bit dry but that was OK with the only hint-like sweetness of the creamy bread. I'm a fan now. Luckily I don't live a half-block away now or I'd be a little too indulgent.

Holy Smokes!

2010-04-09T14:59:00.003-04:00

Woke up to voices yelling at each other. I thought they were insulting each other. "Liar, liar!" is what I thought I heard. A little while later I hear glass shattering and shards raining down into the interior yard my window overlooks. Looking up I see smoke billowing out of a 7th floor apartment in the building just West of mine. Yikes! Glad to find out it was unoccupied. Scary. Great job by the fire department. They used the ladders in the front, three trucks, all the tools. Well, that was an unusual start to my day. Lots to keep the chatty neighbors busy with today.

Vet Visit

2010-03-30T18:15:00.001-04:00

So Sunday evening I hear Chai coughing something up, or so I thought. All day Monday she is seemingly chewing at something in the back of her mouth. I get the toothbrush out to give her teeth a good once-over. Still nothing noticeable. All day she avoids drinking, eating, and even grooming. Can't find anything in her teeth or mouth. Perhaps she hurt her tongue? Robber band? She has a habit of turning anything into a chew toy. Finally I'm worried enough to take her to the vet. Wait around a half-hour due to some emergency before me that was more complicated than expected. Got her weighed. She lost a little weight but still just over 6 pounds. Everything else is good - healthy lungs, eyes, some tartar buildup and gingivitis but otherwise great. The vet gets the assistant to help hold Chai while opening her mouth and they see something deep in her throat, something we couldn't see just on first visual glance. They ask me if I want a look - no thanks; just get it out, please. They take some soft tongs and very quickly and easily take it out. Damn it! It's a gold snowflake tinsel thing I used to decorate my niece and nephews Christmas stockings. It's sort of folded on one side and a little frothy but clearly a gold snowflake. Crazy cat! Relief that it was that simple to fix. She's eating, drinking, and back to her bouncy self. Now I just need to make sure to clean up after myself.

Biblical Weather

2010-03-14T19:03:00.003-04:00

Quoting Jack Handy -
"If a kid asks where the rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

So New Yorkers, what the hell did you do? Just look at that radar picture. It's got some sort of creepy yellow eye in the center of today's storm. That is just freaky.

Saw a HUGE metal garage covering laying on 13th St. between 1st Ave. and A as if some Transformer just left an aluminum banana peel on the sidewalk. And a giant light had smashed into the sidewalk in Columbus Circle the night before - luckily no one hurt. It's crazy weather out there. Hold on to Toto 'cause I think it's trying to move us to Kansas.

Must be something you did.

Science Fair

2010-03-07T20:02:00.002-05:00

Headed up to judge the NYC high school science fair projects. This is my second year judging. It's up at City College, a short hop to Amsterdam and 138th St.. I judged the Environmental Sciences projects. This year, like most, the fair was dominated by the Behavior and Social Sciences projects - 94 in total. The next closest popular category was Medicine and Health Sciences. Poor Earth and Planetary Sciences only had 7 projects - guess Pluto getting downgraded just deflated interest there. Our group had 24 projects.

I judged 8 projects. The best was a senior working on an algea biofuel reactor. He would love to take it solar but wasn't there yet - looking to MIT and Univ. of Georgia for help - smart and entrepreneurial thinker. The worst was a kid basically measuring UVB radiation and trying to connect those levels to 1) Ozone smog levels and 2) the protective effects for smog to prevent melenoma. While he did the measurements for the connection with UVB during expected peak levels during the day and very crudely linked it to very limited ozone data (he didn't even understand the atomspheric chemistry and formation of ozone correctly). Unfortunately he made a HUGE mistake of then looking at one NCI public health table and assumed melanoma was less prevalent in Los Angeles due to smog formation there. He should have skipped that part of his work (public health epidemiology and the bio-statistics were too much to take on for this project). Sadly he got me as a judge since this project basically hit both my undergraduate and graduate levels of study so he was trying to bullshit the wrong person.

Another smart kid was a sophomore playing with a public NASA model to understand the pressure implications on tropospheric and stratospheric wind patterns, humidity, and temperatures. One gal in Queens went out to study wetland and marshland soils using a water quality kit to measure things like DO, pH, etc. and she obviously had a good time working that project in her backyard of Jamaica Bay. Another pair presented survey results on Queens dietary habits related to meat consumption and how this related to carbon and climate implications. Two kids surveyed small cornivores in two different urban parks - Inwood and Riverside - very simple but rewarding project for them using the limited resources they had very well. Other projects were metals in roadside soils and climate change and desertification. Overall, it was just uplifting hearing the excitement and enthusiasm in the voices of the kids and they explained their work.

Got my certificate, water bottle, pen, and free breakfast. Enjoyed the kids a lot. There is real enthusiasm there and it gives me hope for future engineers and scientists. Don't tell, but I would volunteer even it I didn't get an umbrella or water bottle. Shhh.

Yang Yang

2010-02-23T23:23:00.001-05:00

It starts with crying. A young, lovely Chinese-French teenager is crying at her mother's wedding. Crying seems to happen a lot in her identity quest. Life is tough as she is adored by men, runs track, and wonders about her father although tells everyone she doesn't worry about her father. Her new step-sister is vengeful. Her agent/maybe boyfriend uses her. More crying. Lots of camera shots way too close - while dancing, talking, walking. A few camera shots too far away - running around the track. Lots of shots through the light source obliterating images and annoying my eyes. It's like someone gave the camera to an uncoordinated ten-year old. The performance by Sandrine Pinna is one-noted. It was torture to see her weep, pout and otherwise just emote variations on 'sad' for what seemed like days. Time to cut the time loss and just cry over this downer of a film choice.

Letters to Father Jacob

2010-02-23T23:22:00.001-05:00

Ingmar Bergman was so good at capturing pathos, making it seem effortless to point a camera at quite human struggling that anyone should be able to see beneath superficial surfaces and see the pain below. But it isn't as simple as having great actors play real people in front of the lens. A good script helps but when silence and pacing are important, good direction and innovative moments are needed. Letters to Father Jocob instead plays it safe and misses the target.

Letters follows two dependents as they search to find redemption and meaning in their lives. A women is released from prison, nowhere to go except to a blind priest's country home. The priest, Father Jacob, doesn't have a parish anymore. Instead, he spends his hours answering letters from people requesting his prayers. Sadly the dialogue, plot, and pacing follows formulas and cliches including water leaking in the home, flooding us with soulful symbolism oft used (A Pure Formality comes to mind). Both actors deliver quality performances, showing restraint and subtlety so lacking in mainstream film. But the director shoots everything with traditional shots, standard motion and pauses, treading old grown with old technique as slow as snail mail. I can only recommend this for Swedes and Sylvia Plath fans.

Poetry Reading

2010-02-22T23:21:00.003-05:00

Lucky me. I have talented friends. Allison Cobb and Jen Coleman are two friends from my EDF days in NYC. They live in Portland now and both were reading some of their poetry on the same night due to one poet having to drop out last minute. I went to Three Friends Coffee Shop to listen to Allison read from her book, Green-Wood and Allison read some of her unpublished work. Good evening with good friends.

A Town Called Panic

2010-02-21T23:02:00.001-05:00

I had no idea what I was walking into. Animation from Belgium? Sure, they make good fries and waffles but animation and comedy? Holy cow ... or maybe that should be cows, plural. This shit is funny. Basically there are little subplots strung together to make this movie length. First up, Cowboy and Indian order too many bricks to build a BBQ for Horse. Second is the destruction of their house, building new walls, and the mystery of who took the walls. There is underwater adventure. Fall through the earth's core with the cast. There are crazy scientists throwing giant snowballs via a mechanical metal penguin.

Yes, it is insane. But it is also damn funny. I noticed a giant waffle in the vending machine at the music school. Out is pops along with a teacher's comment to the student to "tend to their waffle." Huh? I don't really care 'cause it just made me laugh, and laugh. My only complaint is that, like with any super salty or sweet treat, I needed a break. I think I would have liked to see this as a TV series, giving me a good break between vignettes. This would also allow me to gather more friends to laugh along with me during next week's episode. Tune in next week to see if Horse, Cowboy, and Indian get into more trouble. I'm sure it'll be panic at the disco.

Heathman Hotel

2010-02-21T18:43:00.001-05:00

Grabbed several small bites in the lounge area of the Heathman Hotel, Portland. Great location when waiting between Portland Film Festival films which are located right across the street.

I had the snails and frogs legs. The meat was wonderfully cooked but unfortunately they paired them with an overly rich and heavy bourguignon-type sauce which was too gooey and overpowering in flavor, smothering the subtler and lighter flavors of the frog and snails.

The oysters were great and they served me plenty of horseradish. But seriously, oysters just need to be selected for freshness and shucked.

For dessert I had the prunes and rice pudding. I hoped for flavorful prunes steeped in a sweet and spicy syrup. Hope springs eternal. I just got rather bland and standard prunes and rice pudding, but it was better than can be expected at the hospital.

The ambiance was fabulous. I feel like I'm in a comfy and posh lounge, no troubles, no rush, just good conversation and comfy seats.

Reykjavik-Rotterdam

2010-02-21T18:01:00.001-05:00

A by-the-numbers crime action thriller that keeps pace with many Hollywood flicks, which means I was bored. Start with a reformed alcohol smuggler who is living a lean life trying to support his wife and two kids on a workingman's salary. His wife's ex-boyfriend, who happened to setup most of our hero's runs, gets him to do one last run. Who would guess it would go wrong putting his wife in danger and forcing him to outwit some dumb cops and an obnoxious OGV captain. They did add some humor related to making fun of Pollack, dumb art thieves, and silly chase sequences just to keep things from getting too tedious. Still, the entire movie played just like every other one-last-heist-job film just changing a few details and supporting characters. Yes, it kept the chases going. Yes, it kept people in peril. Yes, you could guess most every move before it happened. And yes, many people might like this escapist ride. I am saddened that they wasted funds to produce something that Hollywood churns out all summer like sausage. I expect more from my foreign films. Guess I expected too much.

Pearl District and Tea House

2010-02-21T15:36:00.001-05:00

Popped into the TeaZone while walking around Portland's Pearl District. Very nice selection of teas and they care about proper brewing. Unfortunately the few tables squashed in the front aren't very comfortable and the surroundings are more crafty instead of relaxing or welcoming. All that comfort and warm seemed to be reserved for the back room, Camellia Lounge. They had a live music set in progress. Nice to know local musicians have a place to play. They whole Pearl District scene seemed to be reflected in the tea place - lots of earthy outdoorsy looking folks who actually may never get out in the outdoors, preferring to just urban explore in their polar fleece and vegan shoes. Couldn't smell patchouli so perhaps there's hope yet for a recovery.

Moomin and Midsummer Madness

2010-02-21T14:05:00.003-05:00

Crazy, absurdist stop-motion animation from those loopy, and probably high, Finish folks. A family of hippos seems to be living on a tropical island and they like to keep their jewelry in the pond. The volcano explodes which inexplicable causes the island to flood - not a tsunami but a rise of water I don't completely understand geologically but this is not a place of logic if the hippos are living there and these annoying elf people keep popping in to stay, as if relatives. So their home floods, they find a floating stage and make that home, put on some play, loose their kids in tree hammocks, the police lock them up, they trick a woman into unlocking them, all this sort of leads to a return home but what a frickin' trip, and not in a good, mellow, laser show wasy, more like a bad acid trip. Albino tropic hippos. I just will never get over that. Oh, and did I mention it is really, really long .... 75 minutes that feels like you were Rip van Winkle long? I just kept wanting to toss those little felt balls into the dryer and make some lint. Maybe then I couls start a fire to keep myself warm and awake.

Dawson Isla 10

2010-02-20T21:07:00.002-05:00

Just when I thought all the stories about Chile, Allende, and the aftermath. This film moves the action to a concentration camp of sorts on an island that seems to be in constant winter. Various government supporters and cabinet members who supported Allende are sent there to do what? Die? Be used as pawns in diplomatic games? Not really sure. I never felt connected with any of the individuals or the group as a whole. Nostalgic pictures of Allende and re-enactments didn't work for me. Family separated didn't either. It all just seemed flat and unfocused. I think trying to tell too many people's storied distracted from a core heart for the script. I was just left watching the movements. But Ted Kennedy comes out heroic even if the film rightfully questions the U.S. involvement with Pinochet. History - it's a had thing to capture and even harder to have people care about without some dramatic center. Better luck next time, Chile; this isn't Oscar worthy.

Ping

2010-02-20T18:04:00.004-05:00

Lucky for me that while roaming around Chinatown in Portland, I asked for a recommendation on where to eat and was pointed to Ping. This Vietnamese inspired restaurant has many inspired dishes but I was told the spicy ramen noodle soup was worth a try. Noodles not so good but the chili flavors shined. They aren't afraid to use the spice which my taste buds appreciated. Definitely try some of the fun and creative drinks the mixologists prepare. I tried a blood orange update on an old fashion which was pretty good. Skip the thai tea - nothing memorable. As for the serradura dessert - ugh. It tasted like rather flavorless whipped cream and sandy cocoa with only texture to offer up instead of taste. I'd go back for some of the smaller dishes which looks fantastic - small fried fish, spicy peppers. And the bartednder know his stuff. Had a great time eavesdropping on conversation he was having with the couple next to me who lived in Vietnam. He works for Nike. Lucky me I was sitting near them because it offered up an education on soju and I got a taste (drum) of a very good Jinro. Yeah rice fermentation! Never tasted so good.

Sons of Cuba

2010-02-20T16:07:00.002-05:00

A crew follows three prospective kids through Cuba's boxing schools. We see the tough times they have living in financial difficulty. One kid is the son of a famous boxer who stayed in Cuba only to seem to be living in rather humble conditions. The kids cry when they don't win, one struggles with weight, they all seem to struggle with parental strife like divorce or absent parenting. So why didn't I care about their plight.

Hoop Dreams followed two key kids trying to make it in the US via the hopes of basketball. In that documentary, I found myself feeling connected to the families, the games, their lives. Yes, it was forced drama but that is often what documentaries do.

In Sons of Cuba, I really didn't understand why the film-makers were interested in these kids. If they didn't care, why should I? Yes, I felt for the kids when they were struggling, but the editors and film would too quickly pull away from the real drama and focus on the kids and distract me with other material - the coach, the shaky shots of the homes, the streets, the neighborhood. Edited in a more fluid manner, this could have given texture to the boys' stories. Instead it just pulled me away from felling like I knew anything about the kids and their world. It all just felt like veneer, slightly better than "reality" and much less manipulative but still not enough to keep me from wanting to nap.

Portland flight

2010-02-19T23:56:00.002-05:00

Flying direct to the west coast. LONG flight. Better without connections. Still, it seems like FOREVER when your neighbor wants to chat you up. I even displayed the international symbols for leave-me-alone by having my eyes shut and earbuds in. Still this 73 year old lady, who looked like a skinny man at first, had to chat me up. That's how I know more about her and her personal life than I do about some members of my family. There have been three marriages and divorces, iron worker, Marine, and Navy men. She was heading back to Anchorage and kept mentioning her "male friend" which later turned into the obvious romantic connection and her confession to her daughter she just might have a fourth marriage. Wonder if he knows that. But it was entertaining. She's traveled a great deal and she does this mostly on her own. She did seem to have several stories where she was nervous about getting places late. She also enjoyed describing a Parisian cleaning woman's shoes - very long and pointy slip-ons with no back or heel. While it was entertaining and rather impressive how much she talked, and shared, I got distracted and didn't notice my favorite water bottle (I tap NY) and lip stick (Bobbie Brown) had fallen out of my bag during the flight. Sad :(

Mac 'n Cheese

2010-02-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

Winter outside. I slept in until noon since the cat incident kept me part of the night. Lovely snow was coming down which induced me to stay indoors, except a quick jaunt to drop the mail in the box. Decided it was time to use up the noodles and cheese in my icebox. Also had some bacon so..... I altered Alton Brown's recipe and ended up with some rather yummy mac, cheese and bacon. Good comfort food for a snowy winter day. Yum.

Cat barf

2010-02-16T13:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I don't have kids but I do have a cat. I'm not saying they're the same in terms of responsibilities but if they barf at 3 am and again at 5 am, it still needs cleaning. And soothing. Poor baby. It just doesn't sound good hearing those wretch noises just before the barf comes erupting out. The first heave at 3am gave enough warning that I could aim the regurgitation onto the wood floor. This wasn't a hairball; it was full course meal return. Ugh, the smell. Cleanup involved lots of paper towels (recycled post-consumer brand; sorry, just can't be so green to use a towel since that'll smell until the next day when I can get to the laundry room) and a wet towel mop. She had some watery heaves afterwards but the main entree was a lumpy version of dinner. I thought she felt a little warm but decided to see how she felt in the morning before figuring out if a vet visit was needed. Then at 5 am I woke to the heave sounds. Couldn't get her to the wood floor this time so the pure liquid bleck was all over the couch coverlet she uses for a bed. I quickly picked it up so it wouldn't soak through to the sofa but in the process of taking it to the kitchen sink, I accidentally was driping vomit across the living room floor. YUCK. More cleanup. More deodorizing. My poor baby. I sat up with her just petting her, trying to comfort her. Not sure what sort of bug she picked up. She eats pretty much the same food everyday. Perhaps she found some weird thing to eat someplace in the apartment. I think it's more of a bug. By morning she seemed OK but very lethargic. She was drinking her water very thirstily so I wasn't too worried about dehydration. So that was my night. I truly admire parents who manage this time 100. Not fun - the mess but more importantly, the worry. Bleck all around.

Movie Day

2010-02-14T23:44:00.003-05:00

To celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year, I should have ventured to Chinatown. Instead I headed to the movie theater. Yes, I can easily see four movies in one day. My record is seven. Yes, I'm a cinemaniac but I'm getting better; I only do this once or twice a year, not for a full month or more like I did back during my SIFF days. I found moving to NYC shifted my dark theater practices to live theater and musicals. I see a lot less film these days.

Here is the day's rundown:

Avatar - saw this in 3D Imax. If you're going to a film you think will suck and is only interesting 'cause of special effects, might as well get surrounded by the stuff. I sort of expected the story to suck 'cause Cameron (Titanic! BLECK!) only cares about LONG films with TONS of production value. OK, this is basically a GIANT fantasy film where people get to become bigger, stronger, sexier (women even get tails to complete Freud's penis envy idiocracy), and more in tune with nature. But nature is one fucked up zone that makes no biologically evolutionary sense, it's just more glowing and focused on one really giant cool tree-house. Oh, and the blue things, just like humans, love to fight which makes this basically one big action film/video game.

Sure, I loved the moral message of being in balance with nature, not exploiting everything for personal gain. But in the same breathe, Cameron exploits CGI, perfect physiques, sex, violence, explosions, and fantasy with no trepidation. Why are all the Na'vi so similar in looks? Why co-op ethnic looks like corn rows and long phallic braids? White guilt? So while I enjoyed the world of glowing jellyfish-like seeds, fern & frond lushness, and other organically thriving environs, all the actions, explosions, sexual references, and chases can't make up for the lack of engaging story and desperate need of editing. At least you can get a good nap in as it clocks at over 2.5 hours. just relax and dream of Star Wars.

Valentine's Day - Why am I in this showing? Oh, to remind myself how love sucks, there's a day out there to remind men to be romantic even if they aren't and women to demand romance mostly through inflated expectations of action and gifts. Ugh. Ashton Kutcher, the posterboy of selling himself with new media (can someone please hack and kill his Twitter account?) is a florist and basically this films is an ad for all the crap like flowers, chocolates, diner out, etc. that goes along with a forced holiday for love. I think the producers were hoping for an American Version of Love Actually (which I hated, too) but they ended up making a insipid, frivolous thing into a commercial - so I guess that was a very American thing to do after all.

Percy Jackson & Olympians: The Lightening Thief - basically a melding of Harry Potter and Clash of the Titans. I like the infusion of Greek mythology into the hero's journey story. I also liked the creatures and use of CGI to bring both the human and god worlds to life. It didn't hurt to have the Empire State Building also serve as a gateway to Mt. Olympus. Still this is simply a good Saturday morning cartoon special just pumped up with better production values and some name-brand actors (Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson). Uma Thurman was pretty cool as Medusa.

CrazyHeart - Pure Oscar cliché as a drunk country singer/songwriter meets up with a much younger reporter. He sucks the love from her and fails predictably when it comes to being responsible. It is a quiter version of the collapse than most but still the same ground covered. I didn't even like the music (sorry, Mr. T-Bone Burnett). The casting of Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the leads was a smart choice as they kept me interested in an otherwise uninteresting story. Colin Farrell was porrly cast as the young protégé who makes it to the famous level - sorry but his ponytail and accent didn't make me believe he was a big country star. But this little film feels indie and sentimental so I'm sure they'll reward it come Oscar time. If Jeff Bridges gets the nod, it's because of his body of work and not this one performance. His roles playing bad guys and The Dude are much more entertaining, but those roles never get Academy recognition even though I think they're much harded to cast and deliver.

Found Valentine

2010-02-14T04:53:00.003-05:00

I found this Valentine card last year on 86th and Broadway. If it's yours, let me know and I'll mail it to the person I hope is now your wife.

Why did I pick this up? Found objects are very, very interesting. There is a story here. Fill in the blanks.

Why do I still have this a year later? No idea. Correspondence voyeur?

Provenance

2010-02-13T22:24:00.005-05:00

Lew and NJ are partners. Problem for NJ is that Lou is dead. Seems that when you've spent decades with your partner, he tends to stay around giving snarky commentary as you try to go about your business as a photographer and artist - taking an interview, talking about Lew's landscape paintings, working with Lew's daughter and an NYU student interested in cataloging Lew's work. Oh, and then there is the Gothic fiction mystery of who painted the central artwork that dominates NJ's Brooklyn brownstone.

I loved Chris Weikel's new play. He's the goofy guy who brought your the campy send-up of Dickensian novels in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway show Penny Penniworth and the fairytale A Pig's Tale. This play has the smarts and moments of humor but is more firmly planted in a romantic tale of love, acceptance, and living. The universal desire to couple and find someone who loves you and you love them, rounding up for all there faults, is front and center in this play. While there may be the thread of the painting's auteur in the script, the way love is expressed, shared, and evolves between all the characters in the play keeps this story nudging step by step into your heart. I even found myself tearing up near the ending and I'm one cynical viewer.

The reading was handled well by the four key players. Older Lew and NJ were played by James Nugent and Blake Walton respectively. Both gave animated and very enjoyable performances. At first I liked Nugent's performance better as it was more lively and flipant performance but then I realized his character got the funnier lines. Walton seemed a little stiff at first but then warmed up and read the piece very naturally. Desmond Dutcher and Timothy Babcock played younger Lew and NJ respectively. They were dressed in pants and shirts similar to their older characters and seated symmetrically from the center so the audience could connect the characters in the reading; I found this a good directorial clue for us. While the reading was fine, I sort of wanted more spark and chemistry to come through but this restraint is more likely due to the seated nature of a reading and less due to the actors' performances; perhaps I would have enjoyed their roles better with some movement. Still, I loved the main performances and it worked for me.

The end payoff isn't the unveiling of the painter, solving the mystery, but the culmination, and release, of a love that lasts a lifetime. Isn't that what we are all searching for, even if it is a romantic fairytale? Some fairytales do come true, don't they?

New Red Coat

2010-02-13T15:10:00.007-05:00

OK, I really didn't need to shop but I just love walking around Greenwich. I also have this desire to pop into Brooklyn Industries when on Christopher and Hudson to check their sales rack. I've been super lucky at times to score wool lined pants for $9.99 and superslim cut jeans for $19.99, which I just happened to be wearing today. Some of the jersey stuff is sloppy and the cuts for women can often look bulky but they often pull off urban with a edge and I like that. I also like their T-shirts. Today their long down coat caught my attention as I've noticed on long walks through the blustery city that I wished my down jacket were longer. Well this coat has it all. It's quilting is angles to draw the eye down and up, not across the body thus giving it a slim look. I don't look like a Macy's balloon in it. It has three interior pockets one of which has a little port hole for your iGear. What caught my eye were the thumb-button holes in the wrist cuffs. This is so you can put your thumbs in them and keep the coat snuggly fit over your wrists and half of your hand. This leaves your fingers free to surf your iTouch while waiting for the subway or bus. The sale guy also pointed out some other cool features like the gap in the cuff and sleeves so you can easily just tuck your hands in there as if it were a muff. Love that! and the hood is zipper detachable and comes lines in a non-static fabric so your hair won't get all Jim Jarmusch after walking around all day. Pluses - no velcro to catch on sweaters and gum up with hair, machine washable. Negative - made in CHINA :( Plus - the back also has a zipper bottom for walk-ability and venting and it has two collar snaps and a drawcord to snug up the hood for those blustery days. It's like the coolest sleeping bag coat EVER, except for that damn China thing. I'll assuage that guilt by noticing how they use tags made of 100% recycled paper and bag up your goods in reusable bags (although I always use my own bag).

Question - Why do I never see long-length down coats for men? You'd think we women, who tend to have more 'padding' on our thighs and butts, would be more insulated than guys from the hips down. Men in general, however, tend to not get as cold as women so maybe they just don't feel the cold on their a** and legs when winter blows. Or maybe they like that feeling. Makes 'em feel like their lumberjacks or Alaska frontiersmen.

Little Owl

2010-02-13T13:57:00.003-05:00

This little Greenwich Village place on Bedford & Grove is a favorite of mine but I've never been for brunch. It was G's idea so I have to thank her for the suggestion. I got there about 10 minutes before they open at 11 am worried that there would be an insane line like at Prune. Lucky for us there were just ten other people so we were easily seated. We actually table hopped when I noticed the view and location further away from kids was near the door. I worried about a cold draft but I was comfy in the window seat right next to a radiator heater! I was in cozy bliss tucked in this gem or a place, conversation and good food with a friend, the picturesque snow and historical streets all around us. Looking out, we noticed a tour group traveling in a pack looking over at our building, taking pictures; I felt a bit like a goldfish in a bowl. It sort of felt good to be a local - an ignorant local who still has no idea what the histroical significance is of the building we were sitting in. At that moment all I care about was the menu and my hot cup of Mighty Leaf tea. Hmmmm, good.

I know it was 11 am in the morning but I had to have the burger. After reading a piece in the Guardian on the 50 best foods to eat in the world, I had to get me a Little Owl burger. I've had the pork belly at Gramercy Tavern and the pastrami at Katz's; still haven't been to Babbo (bad me!). The burger has also been featured elsewhere (e.g. Serious Eats, Saveur) as one of the best in the city. So I ordered the burger, rare. Yep, I'm a red meat carnivore. When the meat comes from Pat La Frieda, it's gonna be good. And it also comes with cheddar, applewood bacon, and fries. The meat, cheese and bacon were perfect. I can say it is the best ground blend burger I've had in a long, long time. I think the roll was a tad disappointing but that may be due to the need to give it some density to stand up to the juicy meat and not go soggy. I'm going to disagree with other reviewers with my preference of brioche-style buns over this carb-heavy roll. My favorite is Shake Shack's potato bun when it's perfectly grilled with a crispy crunch edge on the rim. Lettuce - good, tomato - not ripe but ok, red onion - perfect and thinly sliced to not overpower. Fries were crisp and seasoned well. Condiments of ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard all came in individual serve containers which is really, really un-green, unsustainable. G noticed my eco-disgusted face when they plopped those on the table. I slowly ate my way through almost the whole burger but I had to leave a bite or two, plus some straggler fries, on the plate. My jeans could only contain so much. I won't have to eat for a week after this.

G got their version of eggs bennie - two poached eggs over a fontina sausage bun (more of a roll-biscuit hybrid), a rustic green (G's guess - escarole, my guess - kale or chard variety), and hollandaise. Looked good. She said the eggs were perfectly poached and they broke into a creamy yellow goodness, no signs of being under or over cooked. The bun however really didn't express either a sausage or fontina flavor in any noticeable way in her opinion, and G knows food! She added a side of bacon 'cause it's just soooooo good. Her latte was good; no foam as she asked. Hard to grab the waiter's attention for some fresh ground pepper for her eggs but in general, the service was attentive.

The place was packed by 11:30 am so best to get there early. Next time I'd do the brunchy stuff. I also like the pastas at dinner. My preference is dinner. But on this cold, snowy and lazy Saturday, it was nice to enjoy the sounds, warmth and comfort food at this neighborhood gem ... that really is more of a city treasure. Good eating!

Thank You

2010-02-12T19:53:00.003-05:00

How cute is this? Seriously, I love this stuff. All you parents out there may not see the beauty but since I don't have kids of my own, I don't have colorful kid artwork plastered all over my refrigerator or spilling out of drawers and cabinets. I actually keep this stuff! And I actually like these expressions of creativity. Very kid-like and fun. As adults we forget the simple joys of coloring, using glue, playing with stickers, cutting out shapes from colored paper. Thanks, Chloe. I love your fish and bubbles. I love your handwriting - very nice and your 'e's are looking particularly good. This goes in my box of kid art along with a drawing of a dirty diesel truck (that one has stickers, too!), valentines, and a few creative stories. All of those little expressions of fun and love make me happy. Gifts that keep giving.

Backyard Winter Wonderland

2010-02-10T20:14:00.002-05:00

We haven't really had a good snow fall this year. Last year was full of wintry days. I would sit in the stairwell window and watch the wonder as I worked on my computer. Unfortunately by 1st floor apartment only has a window looking out at the space between our building and the one just west of us. The look down gives a thrilling view of the mounting bags of recyclables building up over the week.

Yeah for backyards. Sadly it is sticky, wet snow so walking about in it isn't a magical as watching it fall from a comfy place indoors.

SNOW!

2010-02-10T14:42:00.002-05:00

Whoa. NYC is in the middle of the snow storm, or like New Englanders like to call it, a Nor'Eastern. Love the big, fluffy flakes coming down. I'll have to post a picture looking at our backyard courtyard. Love those hidden parts of NYC, the growing, quiet places tucked behind the pre-wars and brownstones. Enjoy the winter wonder.

The Pride

2010-02-09T23:04:00.000-05:00

Knocked my socks off good. Four actors seamlessly move between characters and two time periods pre and post out-of-the-closet eras for gays. In one setting, we have a wife and husband who are introduced to the wife's co-worker on a book. Obviously the two men share something. In the more modern setting, we have a guy struggling to stay committed to his partner as he casually seeks flings and one really strange Nazi fantasy. Back and forth the characters move, staying in the same stage setting, using movement lighting to transport the audience back and forth between the two worlds.

While this might sound disjointed and chaotic, it actually has the opposite effect after the first few shifts. The flips also serve to pause the story for dramatic effect, leaving little cliff hangers here and there. I found both stories of struggle very personal and poignant. I felt the suffering of the repressed homosexual back in the 50s not wanting to be 'different' and labeled perverse, even mentally ill. I also wanted the modern guy to get his shit together and hold onto someone who loved him. None of this would have been possible without the fabulous cast - Hugh Dancy (Adam, Journey's End), Adam James (Last Chance Harvey), Andrea Riseborough (Happy-Go-Lucky) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited).

I loved the first half, the home lives and character build-ups. The second half seemed bumpier. The magazine editor's story about wanting a edgy homo-written piece for his men's magazine could have come off as a forced push to shove the politics of the time into the audience but luckily there was a personal recounting of an uncle he visited in hospital and that one moment saved an otherwise loud monologue of sorts. While some sections floundered to find meaning in the story arc, this bothered me less upon reflection because all struggles, personal, political, and social, take time and don't naturally and always move forward. There are bumps along the way and some just stop on the path, even go backwards. So some ends get tied up, others seem left hanging. Still, it was one excellent play that deserves a wider audience. The play may be focused on gay experiences but the story is universal - finding personal pride when society tries to take it away. Beautiful.

Potato Leek Soup

2010-02-04T18:24:00.002-05:00

A Lie of the Mind

2010-01-29T22:58:00.004-05:00

Sam Shepard is intense. I think his work can be rather overt and when good, very surprising and awakening. Mostly I find it heavy handed and too ambitious in its attempts to be THE next great expression of the American experience. I found that true of A Lie of the Mind. I was mainly attracted to the play given the superb cast. They did bring breath and life to the words and actions but the story just flounders in the mid-west setting and absurdest variations on rural stereotypes of Americans including the percieved love of guns, destruction, and violence.

Jake (Alessandro Nivola) is a very big guy with a very big anger management problem that resulted in the hospitalization of his wife Beth (Marin Ireland). At the start of the play, Jake is talking with his brother Frankie (Josh Hamilton) and it becomes clear that Jake believes he has killed Beth. Later we find Mike (Frank Whaley) in the hospital with his sister Beth and it is clear she is suffering severe brain damaging affects from the beating. Jake and Frankie's mother Lorraine (Karen Young) is scarily doting on her sons, particularly Jake, to the detriment and neglect of her daughter Sally (Maggie Siff). Frankie goes to Beth's parents' (Laurie Metcalf and Keith Carradine) home to find news about Beth only to be shot by her brother, Mike. Thus the wheels of slow decay begin turning.

Acts of neglect, non-cathartic tantrums, and strange physical moments of dependent servitude roll about the stage. While all the performances, with the exception of Karen Young, are fascinating and engaging with surprising compassion for their relatively nonredeemable characters, I almost wished they would break from the written word and action and show them to be more than mere puppets and tonal exaggerations of American dysfunction. Karen Young, however, just seemed shrill and annoying as Lorraine which is sad given that her character is suppose to bring redemptive, re-birthing via a fire. Instead this final act of release seems sad and pathetically drowning instead of freeing. Perhaps that was the intent, given the destructive and dying nature of Beth's home. In the end, Jake and Beth deliver a story of horrors without any new perspectives given as to this sad tale. It left me more squeamish and filmy than entertained or engaged.

The director, Ethan Hawke, was in attendance that performance and I couldn't help notice his audible laughter behind me during certain scenes. My laughter bubbled up sometimes more from an act of release at awkward moments of discomfort but I perceived Mr. Hawke's laughter was suppose to align with some sense of dark humor in the writing that I somehow missed. Now I love sick humor and laughed hysterically, almost peeing myself, during the Broadway performance of The Lieutenant of Inishmore but I know Martin McDonagh was very intentional in this approach to the play. I'm uncertain how Sam Shepard expected humor, if any, to present itself as either release or comedy in A Lie of the Mind. Thus this contributed to my unease with the work, again. Ah well, perhaps I just don't get it. I'm just not theater-smart enough to hang with such a cool playwright and director. I do love Carradine and Metcalf and would be happy to see most anything they're in.

A View From The Bridge

2010-01-28T18:42:00.008-05:00

Shitty seat. I paid a relatively steep price just over $70 and ended up in the last row, right side section of the orchestra. Last row wouldn't be so bad if the balcony didn't hang so low, chopping off the top half of the stage. The effect is like viewing a sever letterboxed edition of the play - but it's a play ... and I can see the sets rising above my view ... but I don't get to see that during the performance. Stupid fricken ticket system. Doesn't tell you that when buying online. Luckily the action stayed planted on the stage floor but still it is annoying to have the view cutting off the full height of the brick walk-up and other Brooklyn scenes. Enough whining … onto the play.

I love Arthur Miller and somehow I've never seen this play. He is such a layered playwright, always giving more to the script and natural dialog more than is found on first read or first experience. In this tale about an Italian family living in Red Hook, Brooklyn, familiar and resonating themes of immigration, financial struggle, paternal control, sexual tension, and homophobia still play very well today as they did back in 1955. I kept thinking how this could even be re-staged and directed with only slight modifications to be in Texas or California with Mexican immigrants searching for a better life ... or practically any hard-working blue collar place where male-dominated families struggle to make a better life in a rough, tough, corrupt blue-collar world.

This staging played it safe with a traditional approach - realistic sets, strong actors, expected lighting. The two big name draws are Liev Schreiber as the controlling patriarch and Scarlett Johansson, in her Broadway debut, as his niece, Catherine. Both gave competent and strong performances with naturalistic moves and accents. The effortless Jessica Hecht was perfect as Beatrice, a bit beleaguered yet carefully and cautiously assertive. Michael Cristofer was weak as the narrative lawyer, Alfieri, seeming to stumble over lines and hovering too early in the stage right shadows during one transition thus distracting from the action. Corey Stoll and Morgan Spector played the two Italian immigrant relatives. Both were competent but Stoll seemed more balanced and subtle in him delivery, using his large frame not in a thuggish way but in a calming way, when lifting a chair or moving around the small flat. This served to make later action seem more impassioned than if he played it more muscling from the beginning.

Glad I went, sad I paid too much, frustrated at my crappy seats. It's all water under the bridge.

Gravlax and cream cheese

2010-01-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

Scallion cream cheese to be exact. Tyring out the selection from Russ & Daughters and I'm liking the gravlox the best. The Norwegian is a tad bit to oily and thus a slight bit more of the salmon fishiness. The Gravlax tastes more rich and complex in flavor likely due to the wonderful dill and salt cure, the dill still clinging to the edge, giving that bit a wonderful herbed taste I just love. Yum.

As You Like It

2010-01-26T23:09:00.004-05:00

Headed out to Brooklyn to check out The Bridge Project's production of As You Like It. I tend to like this Shakespeare play mainly because it's low on gore and the women get to have a central role in driving the plot. Of course there's cross dressing and power struggles, classic Shakespeare. And I haven't seen many versions of this play so my expectations were probably high given that Sam Mendes was directing.

The set is simple and effective. I particularly like the open feel of the stage, the use of lights that come down to set the frame - boxing ring, diner table - and the trees, grasses and raised boardwalk.

The performances were all good but I really never felt any of the deliveries was exceptional. More disappointing was the very tradition and staid direction. While everything was good, nothing was great. Even the thrill of local community theater has more anticipation and tension as you wait the expect flub or set gaff. This whole piece just worked like clockwork. Guess I miss the thrill of the risk but perhaps Mr. Mendes didn't feel comfortable taking those risks ... out in Brooklyn ... when people expect a certain solid delivery.

Perhaps next time, I'll take a risk and go see an NYU production.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-01-24T20:06:00.004-05:00

Terry Gilliam is still creating strange, magical, and crazy worlds. Sometimes the stories get lost in the texture and tricks but in his latest tale, the story is there if you care to find it. The hero's journey in this case takes the action behind the mirrored world of Dr. Parnassus (prolific Christopher Plummer who seems to be cast in every film these days needed an octo- or septuagenarian man).

It seems that Dr. Parnassus, a monk from unknown lands, has made a deal with the devil (Tom Waits) involving a bet regarding humankind's morality; he must save a few souls in particular to prevent the devil from taking his daughter (Persephone myth?) who will soon come of age. Obviously there is a great deal of Greek, Tibetan, Indian and other mythology in this tale (Mt. Parnassus was the place to seek art, literature, poetry and other lofty pleasures).

Dr. Parnassus has a traveling gypsy caravan roam which he puts on his 'shows' with the assitance of his daughter (Lily Cole), a dwarf (Verne Troyer), and a doting young boy (Andrew Garfield) in love with his daughter. They save a man (Heath Ledger) hanging from the underneath of a bridge in London. The hanged man is our hero, required to face his internal demons, false personas, represented quite literally with different faces/facades in the form of some very pleasing actors - Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell.

The imagery is simply breathtaking. I love the textures, colors, dimension, and creativity in all the worlds and landscapes thrown at us. It still is very Gilliam with giant heads and English print influences that hark back to his Monty Python work. I also found the pace to be very action-forward but pulled down by an uncertainty as to if it was all going anywhere. This created a pensive unease as I wasn't sure when the rollercoaster ride was going to end. But it did. And the ride was fun, if a little long. The people met and places visited during the experience were fun but too numerous to leave a few indelible moments to last in the mind beyond the few hours of viewing. I was left with more of a feeling of tapestry, textures, colors, and filmy feeling (mostly from Tom Waits). It's like looking at a really busy collage or oriental rug then asking yourself days later, "What did that look like?" You'd have to go back and look again, as the details are fleeting, but the feeling still lingers.

Alias

2010-01-24T18:12:00.000-05:00

Brunch with L and J on the Lower East Side (LES). I've done Prune and Public so many times, I wanted to try a new place. I chose Alias. They have an emphasis on southern breakfast stuff. J went with the bland, boring but predictably good poached eggs with sides of stuff like biscuits and bacon. I went with teh biscuits and gravy - looks gray but tastes great and they gave me ample amounts of gravy so I was never left with dry biscuit. That's a good thing given that the biscuits were some strange healthy variety using a whole wheat flour? Well, they looked like they were made from a whole grain and they were dense, not flaky or crumbly which is more typical southern fare. L had the huevos rancheros which looked good with festive colors covering the plate. I personally never order Mexican food north of the Texas panhandle and east of the Mississippi, heck, maybe not even east of Houston. We also got the corn meal waffles with apply compote to share - yum but still too healthy - I need more butter. Good comfy food. Left feeling full and happy.

Lower East Side treats

2010-01-24T17:58:00.001-05:00

After brunch, we headed to Essex Market only to find it closed today. Bleck! Guess I've never sauntered around LES on Sundays. No Roni-Sue chocolate covered bacon. Maybe that's a good thing for my arteries and waistline.

Kept moving west on Rivington past adult treats at Babes in Toyland (Seattle has a store, too!) to indulge the inner-kid at the best candy story ever - Economy Candy. This is really becoming an addiction and I need to seek some help or intervention. Luckily everything I bought today, except for sour apple and cherry gum, was for my nieces and nephews. L didn't buy anything - wtf?!

After the movie, I headed to Russ & Daughters with J. He wanted to pick up some lox. Since I was there, I might as well buy some Norwegian, and some gravlox. What's the difference? As their website describes, "[g]ravlax is an age-old Scandinavian specialty of salmon cured and coated in a delicate brine of salt, sugar, dill, and other secret ingredients" and Norwegian is "[a] lovely balance of smoke and salt with a nice firm texture, Norwegian is one of our least expensive salmon, but one of our best." Still it's not cheap. And to make it all worthwhile, the best scallion cream cheese EVER! They put big and plentiful pieces of scallions in there, infusing the whole white spreadable gooness with that green crisp flavor. Much better that the barely visible and almost hidden scallions in Zabar's version. Yep, they beat out Zabar's ... on this one item, and maybe the gravlox. Still, my neighborhood has some of the best fish - lox, gravlox, sturgeon, etc. - given Zabar's, Murray's Sturgeon Shop, and Barney Greengrass are all in walking distance to my place. Obviously, UWSers know good food, and we're too lazy to go to other neighborhoods to shop. But LES is rather fabulous, and they have better plethora of great restaurants.

So I headed home with lots of goodies. Damn, it is great living in the land of the plenty ... what can't you get in NYC? Yep, even some stuff ya don't want like public urination, spitting and bad Mexican food. Luckily today I got the good stuff.

Sunset at Far Rockaway

2010-01-22T22:35:00.002-05:00

Last day at work, one final commuting trip back home from Far Rockaway. The sunset and ocean views are rather spectacular. I will miss the section across Jamaica Bay. I'd often see the most wonderful and diverse collection of birds. I'd even see one particular redtail hawk looking east over the bay in the narrow section on Broad Channel.

brussels sprouts

2010-01-22T18:03:00.001-05:00

I'm super lucky to have a GreenMarket each Sunday just down the block from me. I get my Thistle Milk, bacon, artisan cheese, apples, and various other season and local fare right there, super easy. Mostly I'm happy all week with my finds but about once or twice a month Thistle doesn't have yogurt. This makes me sad. I love their yogurt, tangy, creamy, super fresh. And I get a bag of a bag of mixed apples for $2 and make the yummiest homemade applesauce to add to my yogurt when the dessert-lover in me comes out.

Sad news. Brussels sprout season is coming to an end. It's taking me longer to pick out good ones and more time to prep them for my favorite way to cook them. I like to take bacon fat (it's from the local Tamarack Hollow pig farm folks so I'm not feeling as bad as if it were some HUGE agri-industry place) and brown the cut edge of the sprouts before adding a little water and steaming them. Yum.

San Antonio

2010-01-16T23:45:00.005-05:00

Went home for the 3-day weekend. Almost forgot my luggage at the office. Had to run back after boarding the subway and thinking it strange how I didn't have anything heavy to schlep to JFK. Luckily I still had time to make it out to the airport since I caught the very next subway into the city. Far Rockaway is rather far away. Ugh.

Got into SA Friday night. I went back to visit my folks and a friend I reconnected with via FaceBook. FB is truly amazing as it brings up all these old faces I hadn't thought of in years. There are a few negatives but mostly it is an amazingly great way to update friends and family on all the adventures and updates you can't squish into Christmas and holiday card updates. I hadn't heard from my college roommate and her husband in years, so my update with them was two additional children!

Spent most of Saturday doing the tourist stuff downtown. Walked a good portion of the Riverwalk. Picked up the River Barge for the most of the old section of the river. Lots of new construction but I still love the more natural section with the cypress tree knees jutting up and the vegetation bring in the organic calming elements to the stroll. We popped into the mall for a quick bite to eat and bathroom breaks. Walked up to street level to walk past the Alamo. Yep, it's still there. Yep, you still remember it. Back across the street to wind over to the bus stop to head back to T's parents place. Haven't done the downtown loop in years. Learned a few things from the boat guide but mostly it's the same.

Dinner was from Chit Chats Bar-B-Que. Really good stuff from these gals working in a small place near the AlamoDome. Everything was great - brisket, ribs, very lean pork.

Spent Sunday with my folks. We tried going to chamber music at the synagogue but noticed the parking lots surprisingly spare. Everyone in Texas drives everywhere. Turned out one of the musicians was ill so they had to cancel. Weird since my last visit when I went to hear a quartet play they started late due to one of the musicians getting stuck on a delayed flight. Maybe it's me.

We ate at Pappasitos, one of my favorite places. Start with the fresh guacamole which comes with the good chips; table chips are too thin and sometimes stale. They have the best grilled quail. It comes with a lime butter sauce and really fresh tortillas. Damn good stuff.

We went to see It's Complicated. Rather simple and silly plot but the cast delivers the subpar material with enthusiasm. I personally hate this recent genre of film - older woman fantasy flick. The formula includes a 'mature' woman with a great career, fabulous home and wardrobe, can't seem to get guys her age, often her ex, to take notice. AH, but by the end of a series of goofy incidents, some involving a one-upsmanship over their younger competition, she gets the guy, not her ex. Ref: Something's Got To Give, Nights in Rodanthe, I Could Never Be Your Woman. Ugh! Pure fantasy drivel. Sadly most of these lame films are directed and/or written by women, sometimes very talented women. WTF? Why keep perpetuating the myth that a man will complete the happily ever after story? Maybe they need to read some Bella DePaulo.

That rant out of the way, I did enjoy Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin's performances. And I did like the negative reaction to the use of plastic surgery. Good for that message. And John Krasinski delivered great comedic reactions in the supporting role as the future son-in-law. Steve Martin was too restrained, not that they needed to use him in all his chaotic craziness but I wanted to at least see something beyond an impression of being stoned. But it was entertaining escapist material, only because I didn't have to pay ;)

Monday I had to head home. Before boarding the plane back to NYC, I needed a good Mexican breakfast taco fix. Our first choice was closed so we headed to Panchitos. It's across the street from Julian Gold, which is so great to see since most local fine clothing stores have long been gone post Macy's, etc.. Good restaurant switch. I had two tacos which were great. They do great migas and chilaquilas but the standout item was simply the corn tortillas - OMG! This is what all tortillas should taste like - fresh masa, warm, fluffy, cooked yet soft, bursting with flavor and no hint of dryness. Why, oh why can't I get this in NYC?

Ah, I miss food, family, friends. But could I ever live here again? Time will tell.

The Understudy

2010-01-13T23:13:00.007-05:00

Crazy antics at the theater. Luckily the stage manager is as frenetic and crazy as the world of theater production. And Julie White is the perfect person the play the ball-of-nerves character. Her skinny frame seems to be using more calories than an Olympic athlete as she bounces around the entire theater, literally, trying to keep a rehearsal afloat, or at least moving towards progress.

Her job is to help get the understudy (Justin Kirk), ready in case the secondary lead, Jake (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), needs replacing. Turns out the understudy is the stage manager's ex-fiance who left her weeks before their wedding, no explanation or parting words, just ran. Seems he also has a strong disdain for Jake's talents thinking his action star status landed him the role.

The plot is simple so really the entertainment value is in the performances. Kirk does a great take on the line, "Get in the truck!" which we gladly see looped back later in the piece. I also like this silly dance they put together at the end - who doesn't like a dance number ending?

The writing likes to skewer the Broadway production system in many forms. The easy target is the use of the film star to headline. While I myself often wonder if this is good for theater (Jeremy Piven, Catherine Zeta Jones, Sienna Miller, Julia Roberts), I can't argue with the numbers as many of those plays and musicals keep the house filled so long as the star is there. The other details were fun and added some good measured comic relief - the stoned and never-seen lighting and set assistant, constant cell phone use, agent calls. But the problem with the play-within-a-play theme is it gets boring for most of the audience who doesn't work in this business.

Luckily my audience was filled with industry types - guy behind me was some sort of theater directors - everyone kept stopping by and the house manager asked if he was going to drop by backstage after the show. Lots of theater folks, mostly gay guys, all standing up, waving to each other, saying, "Hi", etc. The only person I recognized was Mario Cantone. The guy sitting next to me turned around to chat with his former acting teacher who was sitting with the director guy. I've never been so aware of my female hetero state. But I think the audience reaction and enjoyment helped elevate the experience to a higher level.

While personally I love Julie White and her performance was extremely engaging and tone-perfect for the character, I just kept thinking that she was too old to be romantically involved with Mark-Paul Gosselaar cast as Jake. Justin Kirk and Julie White see cast well for that relationship but I hate ot be age-ist when I say that while Mark-Paul Gosselaar is hot, hot, hot, I just couldn't see why his character would be attracted to the stage manager. Still nice to have the eye-candy and the female fantasy that us gals over 40 could be appealing to men over ten years younger.

For a light evening out, this was a fun and comedic romp. Not all Broadway plays need be pivotal or groundbreaking. I consider this piece a fun escapist ride, complete with hot men, fun staging, chaotic crazy Julie White, and dancing, of the fun of dancing. "Get in the truck!" never looked so fun ... and funny. Justin Kirk, you crack me up.

sticky fingers

2010-01-13T23:09:00.001-05:00

I guess asthmatics who frequent public libraries are also kleptomaniacs. This was from an email I got from NYPL:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
01-13-10

Riverside Branch
127 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10023-6447
(212) 870-1810

LIBRARY HOLD REQUEST CANCELLED
The request that you placed for this item has been
cancelled since all copies appear to be missing &
are no longer available.

AUTHOR: Stalmatski, Alexander.
Freedom from asthma : the revolutionar
CALL NO: 616.238 S
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did the NYPL also spell canceled wrong, twice?

Doctor, Doctor

2010-01-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

Yep, I've done my yearly, obligatory appointments. My gyn is nice and didn't dally too long down under. I hate when they're under the makeshift tent drapped over your knees and legs talking to you while mining for god-know-what. Dr. K is in and out without like an expert. And she looks at me, at my face, while pushing around on my tummy checking the ovaries and such. It feels like kneading dough. Lucky for me she can do this quickly, too, she says because I'm so thin, it's super easy to find all the parts. TMI? Probably. She asked if I had my yearly boob squish. I told her I'd skip it this year. Sorry, but I don't have a family history and I think the false positives in the early 40s age range are not worth me doing that every year. Next year, I promise. Right below that other fun thing I've avoided, the colonoscopy. Getting old is sooooooo much fun.

My primary, another Dr. K, is in the same building, different floor. I told her about my chronic problems - night sweats, joint pain, sinus pain, lung congestion and muscle tightness. She asked if I'd seen the pulmonolgist - nope. I think Dr. I's replacement sucked and I didn't want to go back and see her; she never returned a couple of phone calls and an email I sent back in Jan. 2009; I was freaking out over a lung thing and didn't have insurance. Instead I just went to a doc clinic and got cheapo Amoxicillin and it worked just fine. Lesson learned, some doctors don't return your calls when you don't have insurance. Bleck. But Dr. K was sympathetic and gave me a perscription for Amox. in case I got sick again. She could hear my wheeze. She also ordered a blood workup to see if anything changed since two years ago. Other than that, not much she's able to do since my symptoms are so weird and I'm in general good health otherwise. Ah well, we all just keep going 'cause the other option just isn't for me. Bloodwork came back normal for most everything.

Got in all my doctor's visits now while I have health insurance. Lucky me 'cause our country sucks when you don't have a job with those benefits. When you're unemployed, how can we afford it? Most are better off just buying care as needed versus $400-$1000 per month. We who do that just hope we don't get hit by a bus or contract some wacky contagious disease that sends us to teh hospital for an extended stay. Can't afford the nightgown charge.

Asiate

2010-01-10T22:45:00.010-05:00

Oh, to have disposable income. If I were some trust-fund kid or a trophy wife (please, don't tell me how long you laughed after reading that), I wouldn't spend my time and money on clothes and shopping sprees - I'd spend it on great food. And NYC has some great, great food! I am a daddy's girl so when Dad was in town, it was time to try Asiate. Yes, my inner progressive thinks haute cuisine and it's associated high prices are silly when we have things like poverty and environmental disasters all around us, but I do so love the genius and artistry behind really great food ... and I feel a tiny bit better knowing what I'm enjoying is a consumable, something a creative and inspirational group of folks has decided to present with loving and attentive care, not something that collects dust or breaks and fills up a landfill someplace.

Asiate is this posh restaurant at the top of the Mandarin Hotel in Columbus Circle with beautiful views of Central Park South. Brandon Kida is some sort of taste-bud magician, blending Italian flavors with Asian and American influences. My starter - hawaiian blue prawns, wild arugula, buckwheat tagliatelle en papillote - was this suptuous pasta and prawns bundle cooked in pastry paper. It was creamy and buttery, delivering al dente noddles with an ample number of firm and flavorful shrimp. Dad had pork served three ways - very tasty pig. I had the duck which was so beautifully cooked that it satisfies like really lean beef but with a more rich tooth and chew to it as it released its flavorful life. I don't think I've ever eaten duck this good. If you think of it as a gamy and strong flavored bird, this presentation will have you rethink your whole notion of duck meat. The glass of red wine the waiter recommended was very nice

For dessert, I chose the Lemon-Lime Gâteau - vanilla marshmallow, sudachi citrus sorbet. I sometimes go for the chocolate but I tend to be more of a citrus, cream or savory person. So glad I tried this as it was both satisfying to the taste and eye. The marshmallow was more dollops of goo around the rectangular plate. They accented and contrasted the sorbet cool ice and the spongy gâteau. A perfect dessert for me - brightens and livens my tongue and doesn't overwhelm my stomach or mouth.

Now when can I go again?

South Pacific

2010-01-10T21:26:00.003-05:00

Shitty seat wayyyyyyy up in the left balcony. Still good music.

I'm in love with Paolo Szot. I know most go for tenors but his baritone voice is so seductive. Sure, he is a little young to place Emile de Becque but add a little gray at the temples and some facial hair to hide the lack of wrinkles and perfection! I was so glad when they cast a trained opera singer in this role. Lucky for us they found Mr. Szot.

They had a new Nelly and Lt. Cable. It is very hard to fill Kelli O'Hara but Laura Osnes does a great job with the music. Where she seems to still be getting her footing is in the acting. She seems hesitant and there isn't serious chemistry between her and Emile de Becque.

Lt. Cable was also a new cast member - sorry, forgot who. I hate to be pervy but he's no Matthew Morrison. Mr. Morrison was so unbelievably sexy as Lt. Cable and when he was shirtless, you could smell the female sweat and hear the audience sighs of delight. That is one hot body that is hard to follow ... and he could sing!

Loretta Ables Sayre still brings meat and robust flavor to her portrayal of Bloody Mary. Danny Burstein seems a little weary performing but still give a good performance if somewhat dulled from a year ago.

It's really all about the songs and music. Rodgers and Hammerstein were amazing. I remember putting on our own show for mom, dad, and other ~~victims~~ audience members in our Texas living room. Loved dancing around with a towel on my head singing Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair. I don't think I even understood the significance of Carefully Taught until a decade or more later. I was in love with all the songs, the feel and heat of the Pacific Islands, I wanted to steal away and live the romantic island life. Sure, I didn' get the war, the racism, all the other layers. But all that gets lost in Some Enchanted Evening when you're a kid ... with stars in your eyes, or Paolo Szot on stage ;)

Billy Elliot

2010-01-09T23:22:00.002-05:00

Finally made it to Billy Elliot. I originally bought tickets to replace Ratime when it was announced it would close Jan.3, the weekend before our tickets. But then the rush of last minute ticket purchases for Ragtime allowed them to extend the run to the weekend my dad was coming to see it. Yeah for dad! Scramble for me. So we ended up seeing two shows today after I made a frantic call to Telecharge to explain the situation thus allowing me to change the tickets for the evening performance.

Tons of kids are here to enjoy Broadway. WOOHOO – kids in the theater! We need new blood to keep the theater and dancing alive. Lights go down, show proceeds. BOOOO – kids in the theater! Where are their manners? What about theater etiquette? Where are the parents? All I hear is the crinkling of every know plastic made to contain sugary snack. AND I keep hearing the rattling rhythmic percussion of one gall munching on the world's largest bag of M&Ms. She can't just poor them all out, she must be shaking out one at a time because this sound continues through the ENTIRE first half of the show. I kept turning around, shhusshhhhing, no effect. Where were the parents? I only saw one mother and she seemed oblivious to how the noise her daughters were making was annoying the experience for others around them. Guess the acceptable threshold of kid noise is much higher when you're an actual parent. During intermission, I even asked the girls to be try to be considerate of all the noise the wrapper make. I think it helped, or more likely they ran out of candy. While exiting the theater, I notice candy shrapnel of the greatest carnage - piles of empty M&M, Godiva, and Twizzler packaging crumpled on the floor. Noisy and litterbugs, these demon spawn. So much for the future of manners at the theater. Wow, must have lost my maternal instincts at the last witch convention.

Billy Elliot jumped the pond about a year ago and yet I still hadn't been able to get excited enough to pay full price to see it. With guests in town, that excuse went away. As a musical, it's hard to get excited about coal mining, labor disputes, and Margaret Thatcher.

Sadly I don’t recall one song from the entire musical. Sometimes Sir. Elton John can’t get it together. Oh wait, I do recall a rip-off of a Chicago tune … they even used Razzle Dazzle in the refrain! Ouch.

Trent Kowalik was the lead during our performance. He was lanky and id a very nice job, particularly in the solo moments. I found a brick wall and shadow number very good. The flying nymber was rather silly and dated, reminding me on many a bad production of Peter Pan.

Kate Hennig as the dancing teacher was phoning it in. She flubbed several lines and seemed to walk about the stage if she didn’t care; not her character no caring, she didn’t seem to care or even like the fact that she was there to entertain, to enjoy performing.

The standouts were several supporting roles. Izzy Hanson-Johnston played the upstart and annoyingly funny young girl, Debbie. She never mugged for the audience but she had great comedic timing and a spark of happiness and joy even when her character delivered apathetic or jaded lines.

Trevor Braun Michael was the friend who liked dressing up in girl’s clothes. The HUGE dancing dress number is rather stupid and forced, relying on costumes and lots of stagy tap and movement. When the dancing is more organic, focusing on the boys trying on tutus, the fun and frivolity make for good vibes throughout the aisles.

Two fun numbers meant to surprise the audience are when Grandma (Carole Shelley) and the pudgy piano player (Thommie Retter) break out in their own solos – wonderful fun and big audience pleasers.

Overall, as a musical there really isn’t much to Billy Elliot. Luckily the production redeems itself, and some of the purchase price, with dance. Even with a few stumbles and some lackluster supporting players, the movement, energy, and support from more minor characters, the evening was still a fun romp, and that’s an impressive task around a labor-busting, gay-adolescent themed musical. Break out your tutu and dance.

Ragtime

2010-01-09T23:17:00.002-05:00

What a production. What a thrill. What an upwelling of emotion. So sad to see it close so soon.

This is my second, and last, viewing of Ragtime, the fabulous new production that played to critical praise. Unfortunately this is closing weekend. Fortunately closing weekedn was suppose to be last week; I had tickets to this week's performance with my dad and his cousin. I rushed to buy replacement tickets only to get notification a day later that they extended shows through our original ticket weekend so now I had tickets to two shows for Saturday matinee performances - ugh! Luckily I was able to switch the other tickets to the evening. The main reason Dad was coming to New York was to see Ragtime, his favorite Broadway musical, live. We were back in business. Phew! I'd been raving about the production so I'm glad all the ups and downs of "it's canceled, it's extended" resulted in him getting to see this truly magical production.

I saw it in previews and loved the staging and many of the performances. The choreography of the opening number, where the three classes start out singing their individual refrains and end up intermingles, jumbled together, was beautiful. I also love the resonating sound and power of the whole chorus singing together. I'm not sure if they gave more to this performance, the third to last they'd give, but it sounded and felt marvelously moving. The music and singing was just powerful.

And I really enjoyed the very industrial framing used to define the action. With little or no set piece movements, only props and furniture shifting here and there, the elemental steel lines served as a grid on a piece of blank paper, allowing the imagination to fill in the pieces ... of a house, a new car, an assembly hall, a seashore. The costumes definitely help in this illusion, parasols, rags, straw hats, shawls, it all added texture, romance, and realism to the time period.

The crowd was enthusiastic beyond decorum up in my section. This may had to do with the multiple rows of high schoolers right behind me. At times I didn't mind the whistling and hooting but I did mind the bag crinkling and talking during the performances. Such is life - you get the good and the bad intertwined.

So a great musical revival closes way too soon. I was lucky to catch it. Dad gave it a 10 out of 10. Therese was actually singing some of the tunes afterward, still captivated by it all. Good theater does that ... linger, before becoming a fond memory and then a recollection of being lucky to have seen and expereinced something so alive, so engaging, so good. And we were there.

Hotel Edison

2010-01-09T19:42:00.007-05:00

On a cold day in NYC, it is important to be able to find some comfy seating indoors. Unfortunately some sooty hotels don't let you 'sit' in their lobby. Just the previous day, Dad and I popped into this smaller hotel near the theater to escape the cold until the lobby opened. We walked over to a few couches in the hotel lobby only to have the desk clerk question us, "Are you a guest of the hotel?"

I Quickly replied, "Were waiting for someone."

He barked back, "Which guest are you waiting for?"

I was a deer caught in headlights. I'm sure I even looked panicked, mouth agape, eyes stunned.

Dad quickly replied, "Morty Feinstein. We're calling him now."

That seemed to quite the guy for a bit although I heard him tell a co-worker, who questioned what we were doing sitting on their cheap couch, "There waiting for someone." So I guess Dad's power of telling a quick lie isn't passed down genetically.

For today's respite, we relaxed in the lobby of Hotel Edison. I love the murals. A bit of old-school NYC.

Scarlatto

2010-01-09T19:30:00.001-05:00

Tucked below street level on W 27th is a lovely Italian restaurant with surprisingly good food for the theater district. I typically cruise the cheaper, and often better quality fare on 9th Ave. but since Dad and Therese were visiting, I thought I'd try Scarlatto's again. I'd been there before with a friend during the December and was impressed with the beet salad and good selection of red wines by the glass.

We arrived and were seated next to a large circular party of about ten. I really should have asked for a different table. As the evening progressed, and the nearby group polished of several bottles of wine, the noise level grew to such excruciating levels that my dad's voice grew hoarse just yelling to be heard over the cacophony. Sorry, Dad.

The food was good, though. The beet salad comes beautifully presented with thin slices fanned out and accompanies with the perfect amount of goat cheese. My veal cannelloni were delicious - nice, thin, al dente pasta tubes with good, flavorful filling and just the right sauce and cheese mix. Dad tried the ossobuco which looked good. The pear dessert looked better than it tasted.

Good food but sooooo not a place to go pre-theater given the crazy-loud atmosphere. Don't take seniors here, either. The bathrooms are down an awkward flight of stairs. Plus teh service was marginal and indifferent. Dad tipped the coat/hostess gal $10 yet she didn't even help Therese or me put out coats on, instead just handing the lump or winter-wear into my bumbling arms. Really not a good move, but then she'd already pocketed her Hamilton.

Onto the show.

2010-01-09T13:15:00.001-05:00

Yum, Mexican food. I still miss Tex-Mex food but I'm happy to find a decent tortilla in this town. Add fluffy rice and perfectly cooked beans and I just might go back again. Haven't found a place like that in NYC yet.

Decided to try Toloache in the theater district before heading to the matinee of Ragtime. We got there when they opened at 11:30 m. They had a nice brunch menu but I decided to go with the tacos - yum - with black beans and rice. I also enjoyed one of their signature cocktails, a sort of wild blueberry and pomegranate thing; tasted good and I enjoyed picking out the blueberries with my straw. Therese has the shrimp tacos whcih looked so-so.

Dad picked the winner. He had a sort of Mexican update on poached eggs and toast. The eggs were topped with a spicy version of hollandaise sauce. Greens and corn gave it a nice veggie balance.

Problems arose as the hour set in. The lofty ceiling and minimal upholstery mean the noise grew by octaves with each additional person added to the mix. By the time we were leaving, it was hard to hear each other's conversation. Also, the lock on the downstairs bathroom didn't lock resulting in not one but three accidental intrusions on those doing their business. If I were to go again, I think I'd stick with early brunch to avoid the noise and crowd. Better yet, I think I'd head to one of their YerbaBuena locations.

Le Pain Quotidien

2010-01-09T10:48:00.003-05:00

What a wonderful, civilized way to start the day. Comfortable, quality food, nice atmosphere, and food, it's about the food. And this is a chain! No obnoxious florescent lighting in fast-food places, no scary counters with disgruntled teenage and senior servers. You walk in past jams, teas, and pastries. Most of the time you can seat yourself at a few single tables or at the communal tables of rustic wood. No impersonal Formica or the stench of ammonia cleaners. No annoying posters advertising the latest 99cent menu option. The walls are rub painted a warm tan and old metal farm tractor seats act as artwork. I could sit here all day ... or at least until the stroller families overwhelm the place around noon.

Starting the morning off is important for my dad. Left to my own devices, I would sleep in until noon. But I must admit it is nice to enjoy the city before others awake and start making it more frenetic. For a brief moment, the light is filtered through low eastern angles, the air seems a little cleaner, the streets a lot emptier, and we have the whole back area of Quotidien on W 72nd to ourselves.

We always get the bread selection. NYC is blessed with great bread. Perhaps it's all in the water. We have the best water, still not chlorinated, but that soon will change. Lets hope we learn to protect our watershed instead of fracking and pollution the crap out of it for short-term profits. But right now we have the best drinking water I've ever used. The jams are great; my fav is the apricot with huge chucks of half-apricots throughout.

I had a warming cappuccino and a soft-boiled egg, which reminds me of my youth. Mom used to put the egg into these cute cup holders; the one I remember vividly was this sort of elf and she'd put a little cap on the egg for the hat. Who does that anymore? So some of that nostalgia floods back as I use my spoon to tap, tap, tap the top of the shell, making tiny cracks allowing me to peel it away. The spoon feels a tug of resistance on the egg white covering. Once through, it's golden delight reaching the yolky center. I try my best to scoop and mix all the contents to even out yolk-to-white spoonfuls.

There's an art to eating a soft-boiled egg. It comes back so easily. But it helps to enjoy it with family, on a nice cold winter morning in New York, in a nice, quite spot, before the world is fully awake.

Patsy's

2010-01-08T23:51:00.001-05:00

Ah, the classic Italian eatery. No, not the pizza place up in the Bronx; the wonderful, old-school, white-tablecloth, same-waiters-for-forty-years place on 56th. It's just classic. No fancy, high presentation cuisine with avant garde plating and strange ingredients. This is yummy, homey, traditional, comfort Italian food is cooked by a guy called Chef Sal. Common! Ya gotta love a place with a Chef Sal. It feels like I'm tripping back to the late 1950s with waiters in nice uniforms, mirrored walls, coat check,paintings of Italian scenes, and bald guys. Started with clams casino and shrimp cocktail. I had the ravioli three ways - mushroom, spinach and lobster, each with its own sauce. Dad had the osso bucco. I also love that they have a great bar which included Red Dubonnet which is my mom's favorite; even Per Se doesn't stock it. Finished with some of the best espresso and cappuccino in the city complimented by some amazing biscotti. Yum!

A Little Night Music

2010-01-08T23:09:00.002-05:00

In these hard economic times, Broadway turns to celebrities. Is it working? Depends if you're just interested in ticket sales or delivering quality arts.

Stephen Sondheim is a marvel. His work is both popular and complex but I'd never seen this play, probably because anything adapted from a Bergman film would bound to pale in comparison to my first love. But I decided to take a chance since this is Broadway, Sondheim added songs, and Dad was paying - thanks Dad!

The cast is likely what is pulling in the patrons. Catherine Zeta-Jones decided to make her Broadway debut in this beautiful production but I wonder if she truly felt comfortable delivering the most memorable of the songs, Send In the Clowns. She seemed to 'talk' through most of it but she did deliver the main chorus with strength. She was very good with the comedic timing and emotional aspects of the play/musical.

Angela Landsbury acted like a snobby, darkly humorous old regal lady. While she missed her lines, she just works that into her character's faulting, being an old, forgetful matriarch. People ate up her performance where I just found it cliche and standard.

The real standout, and crowd favorite, was Leigh Ann Larkin as Petra. She brought a fun and lusty thrill to her role. When she delivered "The Miller's Son", the audience was captivated. A HUGE round af applause resulted, making me wonder if Ms. Zeta-Jones realized the difference in their two song deliveries and the crowd preference.

The sets were truly magical. With the use of 'mirrored' doors/panels behind the stage center, the space transforms from parlor to country estate to dumpy apartment to birch woods. I just loved the movement, lighting, and flow of the sets and action. Bravo to an amazing result from the production and lighting crew.

Well, it was a nice evening. I'm glad to finally see it in such a form. Yes, it had its pauses, its stalled moments, but it did deliver ... a little night music ... and that is worth something.

Xie Xie and Present Laughter

2010-01-07T22:43:00.002-05:00

Xie Xie. Yum. Finally. Tried to find this place awhile back with Gwen but no luck. Turned out it hadn't opened yet. Met J at this gem of an Asian sandwich shop. It was the perfect place pre-theater. Chef Angelo Sosa, who is a visual treat himself, has put together a fun and varied selection. The lobster roll was flavorful but a tad too sweet for a full-sized portion. Luckily I was splitting everything with J. The sweet glazed pork was good if a bit lackluster but the bun was disappointing and dry; would have preferred fresher flavors. The standout winner, and worth the trip alone, was the tilapia Chanca La Vong - fresh baguette, wonderful fish, fantastic flavors of sweet and sour. Both desserts are also standouts offering very different palate and taste sensations. For the sweet chocolate lovers, the black caramel ice cream sandwich is fantastic, it's gooey center carefully contained in a perfect amount of balancing ice cream held in form by thin and crunchy, thin, chocolate wafer cookies. Yum. The big fortune cookie comes with the yuzu lemony curd giving crunch to this heavenly sour tangy cream. More yum. Definitely a good find on 9th Ave.

Noel Coward gets a revival. In Present Laughter, an aging stage star deals with the women in his life, and one very strange male fan. All the action is staged in Garry Essendine's apartment, lavishly appointed in deco high-style. His wife, his dalliances, and his secretary all make appearances to add comedic wit to his dealings with his servants, male colleagues, and one very queer fan who likes to flit about with gusto and sometimes a teddy bear.

Victor Garber seemed a little campy but the script allows for such interpretations; "You're overacting now!" claims one of the women. I like all the strong female roles and both Harriet Harris, as his acrid secretary, and Lisa Banes, as his wife, are wonderful in their timing, delivery and inflection. They both seem to bring out all the texture in their characters and underneath it all, look like they enjoy their time on stage. Pamela Jane Gray is slightly disappointing as the femme fatale but perhaps this is due to all the buildup of her as the ravishing and seductive Joanna in the first act yet she doesn't appear until the second half; it's a hard expectation to live up to.

The most annoying character was easily Roland Maule, who is an irritating, and mauling, fan and aspiring playwright. Brook Ashmanskas plays it to the hilt. The audience may love this comic relief but I find it jarring and so silly as to be distracting and cringe-worthy. The butler Fred (James Joseph O'Neil) and housemaid (Nancy E. Carroll) added a more palatable and appropriate comic relief I appreciated more, at it really wasn't all that subtle.

Victor Garber seemed a little old for this part but it didn't harm the production or plot. Perhaps his age even added to the absurdity of his appeal to 20-something gals. When he sang, I sort of felt sorry for him. He wasn't bad but he looked so pained. He also seemed to sweat profusely but I was rather close to the stage. For some strange reason I kept thinking how much fun this role could be but Garber seemed to not really grab at that opportunity.

So I have this classic theater family farce to compare against Royal Family or the other Noel Coward revival Blithe Spirit. All had moments of humor, transportive fun, and silliness. There were some standout performances in each and some lackluster renditions in places. Any three would do but all in one year is a bit too much for even this theater fan to handle. But is I had to bet on Tony nominations, I'll give odds to Angela Landsbury in Blithe Spirit.

Smoke and Fire

2010-01-06T22:54:00.003-05:00

I was coming home a little late from work, walking from Columbus to my building. Yikes! There appear to be a lot of fire trucks ... and they're parked on my side of the street ... and I'm getting closer .... and they could be in front of my building ....

Phew. It looks like my neighbors building ... but wait ... a woman is outside just in flip flops, thin pants and a tank top.

It's Bennie, the super's wife. She had to run outside with nothing. I offer her my coat but Bennie runs outside with his coat. Smoke is billowing out of the basement. I move her away from the spilling smoke. I went home to grab a hat and scarf. I gave her those things but forgot shoes. I went home and grabbed some socks and sneakers. Back outside. Seems like all the neighbors are either outside or took their pets, in carriers, to the lobby next door. I think the fire is out now. Still waiting for the clear. But Bennie's wife starts hyperventilating, coughing. I go get the firefighter who gets teh EMTs. They help her and take her next door in the lobby to give her some oxygen. Everything is going to be OK.

FUNNY CHARCTER. This young asian gal in her late twenties sees the EMTs giving Bennie's wife oxygen. She says she needs some ... she'll be right back after she takes her stuff back into her apartment. She is in no way shape or form distressed, in pain, coughing, or looking peaked. When she comes back she is pretty insistent, she want oxygen. The EMTs are nicely asking her why, if she feels any discomfort. She's got nothing. She just feels she needs some oxygen, that she was in the building and should be able to get some oxygen. I leave at this point, my small role here is done. But recounting this story to a friend, who's a lawyer, he thought the young Asian girl might be asking for oxygen in the pursuit of some legal claim or such. And my filter was thinking she must have seen a cute EMT she wanted to spend some more time with. Brains work and filter information very differently :)

Carmen

2010-01-05T23:47:00.003-05:00

The Met has a new production of Carmen. Gone are the traditional sets. Instead we got three rotating concentric circle stages. Was the intent to spellbind the audience like some optical hypnotic device? Didn't work. Felt nauseous instead. Instead of women rushing in, bouncing, fun, energetic, we get grumpy looking gals ascending from a dungeon-like hole in the center of the circle. Instead of a glorious mountain bandit hideout, we get a bombed-out arena. No cute donkey, no picadores on horseback. No fun-in-Spain, "I'm sure Hemingway is around here somewhere" vibe. I'm sad.

Elina Garanca was beautiful in the lead. Her voice was pure magic. She even had a lusty swagger to her performance. And I loved her costumes. Roberto Alagna was a competent Don Jose, strong voice but somehow lacking the insane passion I like. Unfortunately Yannick Nezet-Seguin started out conducting the orchestra with some weakness but luckily the musicians brought the full sound up to standards by the second Act. The female chorus was so whimpy and weak during the Act I town square frolic I thought the bullfight cheering in the final act would be dead on arrival. Luckily the chorus, too, seemed to warm up and delivered by night's end.

The dancing was a nice addition. A rock fracture is used in each curtain, backed by color, different for each Act. The effect is to reflect the evolving relationship between Don Jose and Carmen. Ashley Tuttle and Keith Roberts dance together at the start of each Act. While I think there may have been a slight lift problem in the first scene, the rest worked beautifully and passionately. There were also the fabulous flamenco-style dancers in the gypsy bandit scene. Unfortunately Garanca couldn't manage the castanets thus the percussion was added by someone in the orchestra. Guess castanets must be hard to manage.

Score one for music, another for singing, even if it was delayed delivery on both parts. Subtract two for bad staging and lack of any 'wow' factor set direction. If it weren't for the dancing, I would have appreciated the piece just as much on the radio ... with really good reception and a kick-ass sound system. But I'm glad I attended. You never really know with the Met unless you show up. Sort of like life that way.

Loving the Basics

2010-01-04T20:34:00.003-05:00

Well, freezer stuffed with two chicken carcasses and various veggie scraps and it was time for some cookin'. The simple little act of making basic broth is somehow super-satisfying. I know it's easy, just boiling water. I'm an Aggie; I can do this. I just save up all the stuff most folks trash or compost and freeze it. This leaves the freezer looking like a 7th grade science experiment. Toss it all into a big pot, add water, bring to boil and wait. Yum. Lots of flavor with no added salt. I add that when needed. I freeze some in ice cube trays to use as needed in small quantities and a few larger containers for risotto or such. All ready to go with any broth needs. Now if fixing my life were as easy - frozen job parts, add enthusiasm, heat to bring out the perfect job. I guess getting an interview would be a smarter first step. Wish me luck with that recipe.

Perfect Cup of Tea

2010-01-03T19:22:00.004-05:00

I'm such a tea freak. One of my favorite presents are teas I haven't tried yet and this can be endless. I love how tea is used, brewed and sipped differently amongst various cultures. Tea has been part of Chinese culture dating back thousands of years BC but the tea bag, however, is a rather modern Western device. Most believe Thomas Sullivan from New York was the first purveyor to patent and promote the use of tea bags in 1903-1904.

I have found more tea bags to be crap. Thanks to Lipton and other junk tea providers, they were able to take tea dust, the stuff left after tea leaves break, crumble or are mis-handled, and sell poorer product without much question. The whole leaf is almost always better at releasing the full flavor of the tea. Browsing a tea catalogue, you can even get into which leaves are selected and plucked for each variety; it can get as complicated as find wine (Upton's catalog for example), noting years, estates the tea is grown on, and first notes. To get the right agony-of-the-leaves, it's best to let the tea unfurl in the hot water unencumbered by a bag, metal ball, or other weird constricting device. But I admit that sometimes it is more convenient to have a large enough tea bag to let the leaves open and expand while allowing removal of the wet leaves before bitterness sets in, which is about 3-5 minutes for most black teas.

So what's in a tea bag? Well, paper isn't bad but it's best to not have it bleached (dioxins = bad) or processed. Some say they can tast the paper fiber flavor but I don't tend to notice probably because I rarely partake in those types of teas (Lipton). I stay away from sythetic tea bags since I think it much more likely that plasticy residuals come off into the tea at hot water temps than paper or fabric bags. I'm truely astounded at how many high priced tea brands are using this type of 'bag' as it is really wrong if you care at all about the tea inside that bag.

Mighty Leaf is a great whole leaf brand that uses pouches that can be tossed into the compost heap. They were my bag of choice and now I can compare them to Le Palais des Thés. My sister sent me Darjeeling and I was happy to see the little muslin, unbleached bag doing a nice job. I think it could allow for more expansion but overall it did a wonderful job. I still think I like the Mighty Leafe bag better but the tea from Le Palais des Thés is better quality for traditional black teas and I guess that's what it's all about. I still love ML's fun blends and herbals. I know there are those who say technically that some of these dried herbs and such aren't 'tea' but plfffts to them, I still enjoy a good flavor infused water, hot and cold, regardless of what you label it ... except if it's bad coffee, whcih is much more likely to happen that a bad cup of tea.

Brunch at Locanda Verde

2010-01-02T22:47:00.003-05:00

Frickin' cold day to venture to Tribeca but I had brunch plans with Violet. Met up with her at Locanda Verde just before noon. Settled in with a pot of Earl Grey tea only to find that they'd steeped it too long and it was bitter. I had to add milk and sugar to cancel that flavor out and no hint of bergamot was there. The three pastries of the day were a apple cake donut with glaze - good, not too sweet nor dry, a pumpkin bread - moist but better with the butter, and a lemon herb scone - nicely firm with a light golden outer edge and the favorite of the bunch. I had the Wood Fired Uova Al Forno but the eggs were overcooked and the entire dish needed to be served much hotter. The fava beans were perfect. Violet's dish looked much better; Uovo Modenese which is like an Italian eggs benedict - two perfectly poached eggs, hollandaise, spinich, tomato and hash. Finished things off with so-so coffee. Violet asked for half-and-half and got milk instead. So many waitstaff yet such slow and imprecise service this visit. I'm rethinking this spot as a fav brunch place.

Lasik update

2010-01-02T18:09:00.003-05:00

OK, so several friends weren't aware of my Lasik debacle. Back in Jan. 2007 I had Lasik. I researched and found the best doctor, got references, did a consult with two doctors and chose Dr. M. on the Upper East Side. It coast around $5000 not covered by insurance but I could use flexible spending thus not pay tax on that as if it were salary. Brother loved his, friends loved theirs, one friend in Oregon had starburst at night but he got used to them over time. I thought I was OK. I read about dry eye issues and a few other things but really hadn't heard about the pupil dilation v. resurfaced area problem until after my surgery. To explain what I see is easy - it's a greyer, shadow, 'ghost' image hovering around the true image. To explain how it feels, I kept thinking my contacts had dried out and I needed to take them out or lubricate my eyes. Bleck.

Basically my pupils typically dilate larger that the procedure's resurfaced area thus the light bends differently at that edge causing the ghosting image. If I'm in really bright sunlight I can see 20/20 since my pupil dilates smaller and lets light into only the area the laser corrected. I can take drops to purposely dilate my pupils but they give me headaches; the rebound effect after they wear off is worse that the original ghosting image.

On friend asked if I could have the laser redone to a larger diameter circle. This is not approved here in the US but the doctor I went to see in LA, after I felt Dr. M was patronizing and dismissive of my concerns , told me I could go to Canada if it really bothered me; there were no gaunentees it would work and there are risks like dry eye and other things since the laser will have altered a greater portion of the surface area of the eye. I'm learning to live with it but in the theater and during the grayer days and winter months it SUCKS. I would not do it again knowing what I know now. Had they told me about the pupil dialtion gap issue, I may have made a different decision but it's impossible to say. I just like a more informed consent scenario. And I certainly don't like a patronizing doctor who refuses to explain things to me thinking I can't handle the phisiology or light physics aspects of the process and procedure. Dr. M was very bad on this account. I miss my 20/15 vision :(

For those who wonder, "How bad was it, really?" I would send you to a few friends who had to deal with me and my blindness at work. Isabelle was laughing so hard in one meeting, me wearing these huge dark granny glasses and still not being able to really see, she had to leave the meeting 'cause it was too funny - my Mr. Magoo impersonation. Also, if you were within a 10 foot radius of my computer you could read anything on the screen 'cause I had to enlarge the fonts to SENIOR BIG. It got better, to about 20/40, but still not what I was used to. Now I cough and see like a little 80 year old lady. I just need to learn to wield a heavy purse like a weapon and I'm all set to join their Grey League of Evil. Now where's my walker?

P.S. Those are my new eyebrows. As my friend mentioned, "I hardly noticed until you said something, and the woman couldn't even get them symetrical." I know!

Goodbye Oh-Nine

2010-01-01T19:50:00.007-05:00

2009, you sucked. I know most folks put the happy spin on their year-end recaps but that wouldn't really fit into the whole New-Yorkers-Are-Unhappy vibe. Well SUCK IT 2009 'cause not only did I survive this crappy year but I'm ready for more.

We NYers were found to be THE MOST unhappy lot in the country so HAH, we WIN! Wait, what? The ranking is some sucky study lead by economists, funded by a disease center? Happiness is a disease? Glowing, toxic people in Lousianna were happiest? WTF? That state with Katrina and the most Superfund sites is happier than a place where you can get practically anything within a 5 mile radius and you don't have to drive to get there? They must be slipping some X into the gumbo down there 'cause I wouldn't want to be wrestling any of those mutant nutrias or the still-active KKK.

So here are my top ten reasons why 2009 sucked, but I'm sure it was tougher on Sad Panda:

10. Ten months unemployed and I still never found time to watch General Hospital.
9. Had a great time teaching Girl Scouts how to sail yet didn't get a really good tan.
8. Never found time to yarnbomb the tree holding the Redtail Hawk nest I loved watching all summer.
7. Became a victim of the current roommate trend in NYC - "chew daddies"!
6. Spent thousands of dollars on health insurance I never got to use; Baucus and Snow owe me a lap dance.
5. Chai's shit really does stink ... after surgery fixed her impact anal gland; I'm such a bad parent.
4. Even though I saw more than 35 plays and shows, I missed Jude Law as Hamlet; perhaps that was a good thing due to our bad breakup in 2008 - I'm sure he's still hurting.
3. Domenico DeMarco is still making pizza after a health scare but Di Fara slices went up to $5!
2. I find Molly a great home with my folks and she repays me by eatting my Teva sandal.
1. Swapped family drama for workplace drama, and a 3 hour daily commute; I'm a true New Yorker now!

Yep, in the spirit of Festivus, I've aired my grievances. Of course I have more but they'll have to wait 'till the Feats of Strength are over. Now who wants to wrestle? 2010, here I come. Bring it on. You are such my bitch!

DOT Watching

2009-12-31T13:28:00.004-05:00

OK, I just love turning the sound off on my TV and watching the NYC DOT cameras cycle through their views around the city. My favorite cameras are in Columbus Circle and Times Square, 46th and Broadway looking south, to be exact. I plug in my iTunes and listen to music Genius pics (sometimes that damn thing is creepy good, other times I'm like wtf?) as traffic images bounce into view on my screen. Today has been pure Big Brother fun. I slowly watched the pedestrian-only wedge (thank you Janette and Mike) fill with people, first in snow flurries and daylight then slowly the sun fades and some tube balloons with streamers are passed around. It's like a wiggling blue metalic wave going on and it's only 5:30 pm! I'm impressed. I wouldn't be standing there all day.

UPDATE: Must be raining. The umbrellas are out.

The fun thing is watching the human activity. Cops stopping traffic, puting barriers up, walking around with what I assume are bomb-sniffing dogs. People STANDING all day! Lots of big poofy jackets. Everyone seemly getting along even though they looked like penned in cattle. Once I saw the camera pan around the area; must have been manuevered by some security or DOT person. It's been pretty static for the past several hours. It lost some of the bright signage (Virgin's red neon still glows even it's now defunct) and is now focused more of the street people scene. I'm sure the DHS is using this cam plus lots of others. They wouldn't want NYC to be a target but it's sort of hard to check everyone's underwear.

See you in 2010!

Txikito

2009-12-30T14:46:00.005-05:00

Joined a friend for lunch at Txikito. The couple used to work the kitchen at Tia Pol and I loved the tapas there. Some translated perfectly here like the slated, roasted peppers (piperrak). I eat them like popcorn and become a tad bit sad when the last stem is in my hand. I'd already ordered and eattne a half-order before my friend arrived. Sorry, couldn't wait.

We started with the blood sausage fried spring rolls (morcilla). I found them just a tiny bit greasy but crisp. I expected more firy flavors but they were more firm and muted and monotonistic in spice. I ordered the stew of the day (putxero dia) - chickpea and cod. My friend had the much-hyped burger (Ed Levine, Serious Eats picture). I loved mine. The chickpeas were perfectly cooked and I mistook the cod for a low-flavor firm-yet-soft cheese. Adding a few springs of wilted dark greens helped complete this perfect winter comfort food.

The burger was messy and very complex in flavors. The cheese, a smoked goat variety, complemented the more earthy and rustic meat. It comes in a two patty form while i would have prefered a single, thicker patty. They were still able to keep the middle more medium rare but the edged were a bit too cooked for my tastes yet sruprisingly greasy. Maybe not greasy, but the entire mass was messy and drippy and the juices couldn't all be from the special sauce.

Skip the dessert of goat milk 'custard', honey and walnuts. The concoction doesn't gel thus it's texture is like running, clotted mucus and even a good flavored based struggles to overcome that mouthful feeling. The honey sits on top thus clings ot the spoon instead of being incorporated into the milk custard. This required licking the spoon on occassion, like a lolipop, to try to infuse the sweet flavor into the milk mixture - frustrating and uneffective. The nuts would have provided more interest, as the earth, meaty balance to teh sweet milk stuff, had they been toasted or flavored with a contrasting spice, perhaps. Ah, well, not my recipe to muck with.

Overall the winners for me were the salted peppers and the stew. Perfect break on this cold, winter day in NYC's NW Chelsea neighborhood.

Cheese!

2009-12-29T22:52:00.002-05:00

On this very, very cold day in NYC, I bounced from one store to the next trying to make my way from SoHo to Greenwich via Bleecker without turning into a MelCube. I finally made it to cheese mecca - Murray's. I needed my weekly Crescenza. I also noticed the cheese straws and bought a $2 flakey cheddar piece of heaven to help me make it to the subway at Christopher St. without getting too hungry. Gotta love NYC food!

SoHo Sanctuary

2009-12-29T20:15:00.005-05:00

I don't do many girlie things like getting spa treatments. I can count on two hands the number of manicures or facials I've had. Now massages, I'm all for that! But due to a tempting Groupon offer, I bought a half-price eyebrow wax and manicure at SoHo Sanctuary. Now I've got some pretty impressive Groucho brows and I try to keep them somewhat groomed with a little tweezing but a professional wax sometimes comes in handy during heavy pelting months.

I arrive to the second floor level and relax with a warm neck pilow and a hot cup of herbal tea. This was much needed as today's winter conditions, while sunny and sparkly, put outdoor temps at the bloody-freezin'-pisser level. I've got layers of every knows yarn made to insulated on my body. I also added an underlayer of man-made wicking tights and an outerlayer of fake downy puff-jacket heaven (basically a half-body sleeping bag with arms).

I lay down on the table for my wax-on, wax-off experience. After what seemed like a fortnight, I rose with water-filled eyes to look at the results. While the shape was nice and I seemed to still have enough there to not get too cold, I noticed several rough strands basically just hanging out alone on de-furified zones. I'll just clean those up when I get home.

Onto the manicure. I picked a sparkly gold polish to channel my inner teenager. The hand treatments - oils, hot washcloths, massage - were very nice but the chair was most uncomfortbable. I had to lean forward to get positioned on the manicure tale thus leaving me somewhat sunken down too low with nothing behind me for support. Asked what shape I liked, I said naturally curved, not squared off. I think the squared off look seems very Lee-Press-On fake and add a French Manicure and you'd be set for a porn shoot. Well, she sort of alludes to filing them with more of a flattop edge and then that's what I got. But at least I'm sparkly gold! I'm so glam .... as I bundle up looking like a Macy's Day Pokemon balloon and venture out into the cold SoHo street.

Cookie Love

2009-12-29T18:46:00.002-05:00

If you are smart, you will make sure one of your best friends is a pastry chef. These little gems are baked by the fabulous Jeremy. And I think these may be my new favorites from his set of standards, although I still have hauntingly good memories of an angel food cake with a raspberry puree.

These are peanut butter and chocolate sandwich cookies. They're just a tiny bit bigger than a silver dollar and packed with yummy flavor. The cookies are perfect - outer tender hints of a crunchy outer coat yet chewy perfection when bit into. No crumbling or breaking, the cookies hold their shape and their creamy chocolate center with aplomb. The chocolate is not too sweet or too dominant a flavor, complimenting the peanut butter without overwhelming the tongue. Little bits of peanut add to the texture and fun, bringing the homemade taste right into the mouth.

Damn, they're gone!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009-12-28T20:47:00.002-05:00

Thank god for Wes Anderson. Without his texture and quirky dry, deadpan writing, I would be searching for an antidote to all the Steven Spielberg I grew up on. Sure, ET and Indiana Jones were fun but I never saw the story-book worlds I grew up on brought to life in film ... until now.

Roald Dahl was my choice of childhood reading. He seemed to 'get' kids who were frustrated at adults doing stupid things like hunting (Magic Finger) and being mean (James and the Giant Peach). Fantastic Mr. Fox was a treasure. I just loved pouring over the pictures and wishing I could dig those amazing tunnels. I also loved just saying Boggis, Bunce, and Bean before I even knew what alliteration was. And while Dahl's 'people' books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could be made, and remade, into pretty good films, I never imagined his 'animal' books could come to life so well. But I never knew Mr. Anderson ... yet.

Mr. Fox is a fox, a wild creature, meaning you can't really expect him to behave against his nature, and his nature is to kill. Now when you have some nice hen houses and other easy prey, it's only natural he'll follow this nature and partake in the bounty before him. The story is simply a family man (Mr. Fox) with a dangerous scheme (robbing B,B, &B) that places his family and friends in harms way. Will they survive when the three Bs use every industrial device they have against them?

Anderson explores more of the 'human' conflicts through Mr. Fox. In his screenplay, Mr. Fox gets married due to an unplnned pregnancy and gets a respectable job as a journalist. How many kids stories rbing up such taboo subjects and even has charcters say things like, "I wish I hadn't married you." and banter about the trampiness of the maternal character in a very sympathetic way? Anderson also elevates other human conditions like parental expectations, sibling rivalries (cousins, in this case), and relationship quandaries. Yet even with such adult topics, Anderson keeps a kid-freindly tone my humorously avoiding curse words and substituting 'cuss' in their stead. This attention to detail in dialogue gives such levity to intense matters that the whole film seems alight with magic.

Baumbach & Anderson's screenplay makes many changes to Dahl's book yet all of them seem to mesh well with the media and time. I just loved the adventure of Mr. Fox vs. the dumb, glutenous, and power-hungry men who ran the town. The dialog zinged with spirit and digressions into existentialism, feats of athleticism, and poignant social observations ("But in the end, he's just another dead rat in a garbage pail behind a Chinese restaurant.").

I also enjoyed the use of stop-motion. The characters and process were refreshing throwbacks to a more classic time, when Dahl wrote, when computer animation and glossy post-production effects were unimaginable. Anderson still keeps his trademark sense of texture and set design with details like Mr. Fox listens listening to a WalkSonic player, the play-by-play for the game Whackbat, and Rat's Security tag. The dialog is wonderful and I kept thinking how succinct and smart some of these characters were ... then they'd revert to hissing and scratching - it's in their nature. Such contradictions in behavior - that couldn't be reflective of say Homo sapian behavior? What could we learn from Vulpus vulpus, except some fancy scientific terms for a few woodland creature? And how to ask Wolf about winter ... in French. Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?

Well, I learned a little ... but mostly I was entertained and enchanted. The later is rarely achieved in movies these days. Now I want a bandit hat of my own, even if I have to find a really stretchy tube sock. I will wear it with pride until the DVD comes out, or Mr. Anderson takes me to another wild and fun place I've never been before. Anyone up for a game of Whackbat? I'll bring the pinecones.

'ino

2009-12-28T20:31:00.001-05:00

Headed down Bedford Street with Jeremy to a destination unknown. We arrived at 'ino, a very small, cute cafe - bar to the right, on the left about 6 tables for two and just enough room for a supermodel to pass down the center. We were there to try the truffled egg toast (borrowed link to another blogger's picture).

While I loved the runiness of the egg yolk and the fabulous melty tang of the cheese, which I believe was Gruyere, I was not impressed at the very hard and very dry edge parts of the toast. Perhaps this is traditional as to give something sturdy to cut and dip into the gooey center. The asparagus and balck pepper were well balanced in spice and green, crunchy zing to cut the buttery fat of the egg & cheese. Truffle oil essence was barely there. While I like more of the earthy floavor, I can understand where most palates woudln't want too much of it in their dish, still I think it should at least leave the tastebuds wondering what special ingedient was pulling this all together. Our capuccinos were fabulous, mine normal, his dry.

When arriving, the only other people there were two Australian gentleman who were quickly joined by a woman with the most adorable baby swaddled in a cream knit hat. I swear the family looked like Boden catalogue models. The waitress was precise and informative and had some of the best tatoos on her inner forearm I've ever seen. A mob of hipster late-twenty-somethings came in as we were leaving. It only took about 5 of them to make the place feel over-crowded. Thank god for weekdays off! I'd hate to stop over on the weekend.

Paul and Leela visit Harlem

2009-12-27T21:57:00.002-05:00

Harlem. Who wouldn't want to dress like this ? We walked down 125th St. and looped back to Grant's Tomb. The benches around that area were funtastical. We then hopped over to Riverside church and got caught up in the stained glass. We took a ride up to the 20th floor of the tower only to be kicked out by a security guard as Paul was trying to open a window so I could get a better photo. We didn't know it was a nesting perch for a redtail hawk.

Swung by Columbia University before grabbing a pastry at Silver Moon Bakery. I'm in love with their chocolate croissants. L&P are great walkers so we headed downtown via Central Park past the reservoir and Tavern on the Green. Sad that Tavern it will soon be closing.

Times Square & Rockefeller Center

2009-12-27T19:59:00.000-05:00

After ICP, Paul, Leela and I headed to Times Square. We past a line of Model-T vintage Fords. Very neat. The crowds in Times Square weren't too bad but the line for TKTS was HUGE. I've never seen such a crowd but then I tend not to be in TS during the holidays or during morning half-price ticket rush. I recal standing in line with Dad once and I know it wasn't that long. Crazy, but good given so many shows are struggle.

I had tickets to see Ragtime on Jan. 9th but now those are useless. I'd seen the new production and just loved it. Guess historically set history lessons set to Joplin just doesn't bring 'em out like jukebox stuff like Jersey Boys.

After taking in all the retinal overload that is Times Square, we moseyed over to Rockefeller Center. Smart to enter from the northwest corner instead of 5th Ave. We swam upstream and I was able to get a good shot of the tree. I'm such a tourist when friends come visit.

International Center of Photography

2009-12-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

I met up with Leela and Paul with the ICP on 6th and 44th. The centerpiece exhibit was Dress Code, a set of photographs/videos that directly or indirectly carry fashion as part of the expressed work. With 33 artists (one installation wasn't working) representing everything from formal studio photos to video games, there was bound to be things I loved and things I hated.

Cindy Sherman (photo link left) has always been a favorite of mine but I've never seen her work in person. She had two pieces showing and both were most 'real' drag than some other prints I'd seen. I love her sense of play, as if she were an adult playing dress-up, but with much higher production value.

I also liked Zhou Tao's video 1-2-3-4. The scene bounces from various morning rituals of formation as employees prepare for their day working in Guangzhou. While some of the row-by-column images appear militaristic, the outfits and gender segregation showcases the constraints and individuality of various cultural and social working-class demographics. Just the movements and calls are hypnotic in a small way.

There was a strong preference to showcase black artists, particularly African-American imagery. Unfortunately the themes surfacing tended to fall to stereotypical portrayals of the subjects as jungle-like, untamed, exotic, or exploited (sexually, vocally, or otherwise). This saddened me but I can't truly criticize given my limited understanding or experience of fashion and photography filtered through those experiences. I just hoped to see more breadth and innovation given the number of artists representing these broad experiences, temporally and culturally.

My favorite piece was a portrait of Cate Blanchett by David Rosetzky. The video was beautifully looped so you could join the expression of person and space at any moment in the cycle and not be lost. Cate walks through moves in a large space, set with a chair and walls; it could be any backstage space in an old theater. In one part she takes off or puts abck on several jersey-cotton layers of tops, adding form, color, and texture. other segments have her posing her hand, moving to music, and sitting in a chair for a lens that needs to focus. Throughout the portrait, she talks about masks, interpretations, human contradictions, futility of self-awareness given temporal changes in self, and many other engaging topics where acting, life, and expression intersect.

Parts are so messy

2009-12-23T22:09:00.001-05:00

I find the down escalator at the new Whole Foods on 96th and Columbus so very entertaining. That's because on the way down to finding your produce and seafood, you can also find whole babies. I know I just hate cooking with parts. Good to know they sell the whole thing. Much more sustainable and you get more for your money. But are they local?

I love this new store. It's about the same distance from me as the Columbus Circle one but much more open, less crowded, and more stuff for the residential types. The Columbus Circle store is more prepared foods and stuff for tourists looking to picnic in Central Park. In the far north UWS store, there is tons of room to move about and not feel elbowed or rushed - how very un-NYC. I know folks who love the aisles that only supermodels can fit through but it is sooooo not fun when in a standoff with the Jewish yentas in Fairway or Zabar's - they have nasty, sharp elbows and aren't afraid to use them. Up on 96th I'm in heaven. The old ladies also seem to not graze in this more expensive pasture so I get to visually stalk all the cute hipster guys as they search for their vegan fare. Oh how I love the vegan body, just don't ask me to give up bacon.

The best part of Whole Foods is the local stuff. I'm addicted to Siggi's yogurt made right here in NYS. It is the best stuff ever. They call it Icelandic yogurt. Guessing that refers to the very creamy, thick nature of the white goodness that comes in a recyclable plastic cup, foil lid, and removable paper label. Packaging is smart and sustainable but it's the ginger orange and plain flavors I crave - no added sugars and the milk/calcium content of three typical yogurts packed into this dreamy delight. They also sell Thistle milk. I'm such a dairy whore.

cheese, glorious cheese

2009-12-22T22:25:00.002-05:00

I love stracchino. It's this wonderful soft cheese I would always have while staying in Italy with G&G. I miss them. I miss the cheese. But finding fresh stracchino here is difficult. I bought some at Zabar's once only to find it old and molding. A few places in Little Italy carry it but only in the winter. Need to get down there sometime soon.

So while at Murray's, I asked about stracchino,

which they didn't have. They very cute and eattible guy behind the counter recommended trying crescenza. I'm in loooooove! It has a tiny bit more tang than stracchino so I love that. I have it on toasted rosemary bread.

I know it is basically butter fat transformed into a lovely, creamy, spreadable blob of goo but it's heaven to me. Luckily I'm a skinny underweight stick so I justify eating such things to help me become a little more insulated for winter. Bring on the fat-and-happy calories!

mayonnaise

2009-12-21T23:00:00.001-05:00

That's right, I made home-made mayonnaise! Bow down to the domestic goddess!

Seriously, this is a big pain in the ass. I started using my hand blender - big mistake. Since the egg yolk and dry ingredients are so low in the bowl, the blade sits too high to really achieve an emulsification. I started with one egg yolk since I really don't need all that much mayonnaise for just me. But now I had a bowl of liquid oil-egg gunk.

I decided to consult the web and found that one woman's technique was to use this sort of mixture and add it spoonful-by-spoonful to the other egg yolk. She also uses a bottle to add the oil drop by drop - personally I think that's for folks who can't resist the urge to pour the oil in too quickly.

So, I now have two bowls I'm working with - the new egg yolk and the liquid mixture. I decide to switch to the hand beater - that old fashion thing you and mom used to use before Kitchenaide's awesome stand mixer (I miss mine, sniffle, sniffle). Little by little I add the oil, then a spoonful of the egg goo ... then oil .. more focused on getting the egg goo incorporated ... I think it's working ... maybe not ... this is taking forever! WTF? Alton Brown's recipe calls for hand whisking this? Is he insane!? I'd be exhausted and looking for the nearest vodka bottle trying that stunt.

I'm getting some ridges. Yes, it's thickening. Emulsification is my bitch! I ad some more lemon juice (acid) to get a bit more white fluff. Keep whipping. It's looking good. Finally! So there! I kicked that oil-egg-resistance's ass. I add some herbs, adjust the spices to taste. I can make mayonnaise. My job, social life, commute, and finances may all suck but dang-gum-it, I can make mayonnaise in one tiny closet-sized NYC studio kitchen. I'm a GODDESS!

Tipsy Parson

2009-11-29T22:55:00.002-05:00

Brunch finally arrived. After about a month of false hopes, J and I headed to 156 9th Ave.

(19th St.) to check out what the Little Giant folks are serving up in Chelsea. Known for their southern inspirations and use of pork, I looked forward to the menu and company even if earlier reviewers were rather disgusted at the rough service start.

I was most interested in their house-made pastries so I ordered the buttermilk chive biscuit, monkey bread, and sticky roll. Even though the sticky roll and monkey bread didn't need condiments, each comes with one so we tried the apple butter, lemon curd, and green tomato preserves. Monkey bread was yeasty but not doughy, sweet and good. If going for a sweet fix, go with to the sticky roll which was packed with cinnamon sugary flavor and crunchy yummy pecans. The chive biscuit is a signature for a reason: perfect outer crust of golden flaky savory flavor with a solid but not dense center. I hate doughy rolls so was delightfully happy to find all three cooked properly. The lemon curd had a nice tart zest, not too strong or too weak. The apple butter was good but nothing beyond what is to be expected from well puréed apples. The green tomato preserves were the standout with their spicy zing; I'd go back for that.

With pastries, one should also serve good tea. Lucky for me, they were serving whole leaf teas from Harney & Sons. While I prefer a cloth or unbleached paper bag instead of a synthetic bag, their 'sachet' at least allows the 'agony of release' - the whole leaves expand to release their flavor. The Paris blend has wonderful nutty, carmel, and bergamot floral notes.

J ordered the deconstructed version of the ham and biscuit with poached eggs. The ham was a bit chewy but at least not too salty. Poached eggs were perfect, no signs of water or gooey egg whites with nice runny yellow yolks. Strange how a perfect poached egg has the outer similarity to stretched fresh mozzarella. I enjoyed the ambrosia with fruit like pineapple, grapes, and a few other things I forgot. What made it stand out was the fresh, homemade marshmallows, toasted coconut flakes, and mint that lightly infused hints of flavor here and there. We also ordered the bourbon glazed Berkshire belly sticks. They were wonderful slices of fatty meat that flaked into good chunks of saucy, caramelized chew treats. Yes, I sound like a dog, a happy dog. I was in pork heaven - better than a bacon fix. Never thought I'd utter those words.

Service was good, super attentive, and very nice. I bumped a glass off a table breaking it into the bench seat spanning the left wall. They were so kind and cleaned it up super pronto. They also have a very good looking man (a wonderful update on the Mad Men masculine profile - hey, eye candy is important, too) working the floor who had no problems jumping in to help out the wait staff. All the staff was hopping and very attentive. Guess they are trying to make ammends for eariler hiccups. Ah, such

From the House of the Dead

2009-11-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

Wow. I started off my Met opera season with this new production of the grim and bleak story of life in a Siberia prison. Guess I'm feeling the melancholy. After close to a year of looking for a new job, I wasn't feeling either secure in my NYC footings or financially capable of my season tickets, even the cheapo Family Circle, that I opted to just buy single tickets to all the new productions. I missed Tosca, which from what I read was a good thing. Thus I started this Met season with an operatic take on Dostoyevsky's novel about tough times in a Siberian prison. Bleak exponentially.

High up in my B106 Family Circle seat, I knew this production would be cinematic and modern. No red curtain was romantically holding back big sets. And secretly the conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, started right in with the fabulous music. I've never seen a conductor skip the lighted entrance and obligatory pre-curtain applause. But this was one hell of an opera. Leos Janacek's music swung between strong Wagner elements and Philip Glass modernity, which was surprising and shocking to me given it's 1930 original production date. I loved the superb and dramatic use of the orchestra showing all their professional potential to spectacular results.

I've come to expect wonderful results from the orchestra but I was pleasantly surprised at how well choreographed the conductor connected the music with the stage direction, edgily pushed into new places by Patrice Chéreau. Staging was stark against three gray blocks with activity swirling mostly in the center of the stage. The Met has nicely been adding dance and movement to their works. This was best expressed in a theater play piece in the center of this 90 minute tale. The men acted out a play of sexual dalliances and the gestures were overt, which I loved given that prisoners often suffered mentally and physically from such containment so such expression seem apt. At times when the people moved rapidly around the stage, they added unexpected percussion to the piece which I didn't like. I did, however, like when stage characters placed instruments on stage as the libretto and opera called for such expression. I also liked the use of supertitles projected on the stage walls which allowed me to absorb more of the full piece without always referencing my subtitle screen. One must read the libretto translation since there are so many characters talking about their past and how they came to be in prison.

While I liked the direction and loved the music, I was unimpressed by the singers and underwhelmed by the chorus. Perhaps in Act I and II the distraction was the sound of people shuffling around stage. By Act III I could hear Peter Mattei (Shishkov) and Stefan Margita (Flika/Luka) with clarity but everything before then seemed muddled. Even the parts where I expected a pounding or reverberating chorus effect ended flat. But my ear isn't well trained and perhaps the sounds of stage movement carry to the highest levels in Family Circle with more distraction than in other parts of the Met.

Overall, I was impressed. The opera is short and forceful as it deftly it trudges out tough material and segregated story elements with the skill of a tightrope walker. Dramatic and properly contained. A dramatic way to escape for the evening into a world of haunting and unforgettable imagery, movement and sound.

SPOILER ... please don't read if you intend to see the opera!

The most startling and awakening direction, and the highlight of the opera, was the massive drop of what looked to be about a ton of scrap paper onto center stage between Act I and Act II. POW! All this crap, trash, just dumped on this encampment. LOUD and DISTURBING, even causing a cloud of pulp dust to linger like a fog. This is what prison burden must feel like. I never saw this coming and it was very effective. I just sat there wondering, "What the hell was that?" The pause was strong. The whole space was silent. Waiting to see the air to clear, I thought what is going to happen with all that? Act II has the prisoners come out and begin clearing the mess. That's life - dumps on you, someone else can cause this huge mess, even injustice, and you go out there and start picking it up, clearing it away. I was awestruck. While I'd go back, perhaps, just for that one scene, I don't think the moment would have as much impact on me if I knew it was coming. The surprise is what shook me. Sorry if you're reading this and plan to attend as I probably ruined that effect for you.

TV Head

2009-11-24T20:21:00.002-05:00

CNBC came out to a home in Queens. The camera crew was out with us on Monday but didn't air the footage until a live feed on Tuesday. They caught the back on my head while we set up the blower door for home leakage testing. They take more than an hour of footage and pick about 30 seconds. Funny how my head got in there. I do like helping the folks and wish we could do more. It's a simple process that really helps elderly and low income folks just keep warm without going broke. Too bad they used the homeowner clip of saying she'd use the savings to paint. Most of our clients just need the heating to work and can't afford basic necessities so their savings go to food and medical bills. Ah well, can't control the press or pick the client response. We've had people cry with thanks when we show up trying to help. Very moving.

Egg

2009-11-22T18:46:00.005-05:00

This week's brunch adventure was just one stop across the East River on the L in hipsterville central - Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While waiting for the subway there were strange musical notes coming from an accordion player. The sounds seemed more appropriate for the streets and canals of Venice, Italy. I commented that the music seemed out of place in the underground of NYC. Gwen replied, "Nothing is out of place in the subway." So true.

We arrived at Egg on 5th and Bedford to find a rather large crowd. I quickly added my name and "2" to the list on page two; they were still on page 1. While waiting, I grew increasingly impatient since they were seating at least two groups of larger numbers - 4 and 5 - who arrived after us! Gwen was keeping me calm until the server jumped to "Corleen - party of two" when Corleen was in fact after us on the list and after the several groups of 4 and 5 already seated. The hostess apologized, went to seat us, and then crossed out Corleen and not Mel?! I think she was overworked. Wonder if Corleen ever got her seat? We'd been waiting for 45 minutes! Yikes.

On a good note, there were abosolutely no kids, babies, toddlers of any kind. Yeah! No stroller to dodge, no shrieking, but strangely there were crayons at the table. I went to work on the butcher paper on the table. If all of Williamsburg is like this, I give it thumbs up over postnatal enclaves of Carroll Gardens and Fort Greene and toddlerville Park Slope any day.

So the picture above from the NYMag shows their egg sandwich with ham and a poached egg. Well the egg sandwich isn't even on the brunch menu but is on their take-out menu so we ordered it from there. We had some hiccups as it is scrambled eggs but Gwen convinced them to present hers with a poached egg. I ordered mine 'normal' meaning scrambled, with ham and cheese. We also ordered sides of carmelized grapefruit with mint, roasted tomatoes, hashbrowns, and bacon. Hey, we were hungry!

While we waited they served cinnamon sugar donut holes which were good, fried well with no doughy center but a light, airy texture with no hint at greasiness or dryness. My only criticism is they'd taste better warm or hot.

We waited a very long time for our order. The couple next to us ordered at about the same time and were served at least ten minutes before us. My egg sandwich was cold on one side and just warm on the other. I think it was waiting for Gwen's poached version which was served hot and oozing with yolky goodness. Hers was the better choice.

The ham was the standout - salty goodness like the best hams from Spain or the South. Cheese was good and tangy, not hidden. The biscuit was a little too dense for my tastes; I like a fluffy and flakey version with a crisper edgy outer crust, preferably a nice golden brown. The biscuit at Prime Meats still wins in that category. The tomatoes were a smart acidic balance to the salty, buttery, fatty sandwich. Hashbrowns were absolute heaven, crispy outer crunchy brown shredded potato patty way better than anything I've ever tasted north of Virginia. Gwen used a chunk to sop up the egg yolk remains on her plate - smart move! Grapefruit was just a warmed grapefruit with a sprig of mint in the center - nothing special. Bacon was chewy meat goodness with a slim edge of fat fabulousness.

They had our check in hand, ready to shove us out the door, but we ordered coffee and tea. The waitress really had no other pastry or sweet offerings to tempt us, sadly. Good brunch places really should have a pastry basket selection or at least a scone/biscuit/muffin option! And they're known for their fig jam and she never mentioned this?! Weird. I think they just wanted to turn the table. The coffee Gwen had was good but my tea (ordered mint but got English Breakfast) was crappy tea-leaf-dust in a crappier tea bag. I'm a whole leaf gal and this just won't do. They'd be better off serving Lipton with milk and sugar if they're going for the Southern Cafe thing.

Overall, long wait but enjoyable, especially the poached egg sandwich, stewed tomatoes, hashbrowns and bacon. Just expect to wait. Luckily the crowd is nice even if they wear oversized sunglasses with homemade knit caps and secondhand vintage sneakers; think Flight of The Concords without the cool Kiwi accents but with better eyewear. Some very nice young guy eye-candy; too bad they all had girl company. Food appetite satisfied but the lust appetite goes on unquenched. Where's Bret McKenzie when I need him? Damn, he got married :(

Upper West Side thoughts

2009-11-20T23:35:00.001-05:00

Katz's leftovers - So the potato latke held up well for a mid-day treat. Unfortunately the broccoli one was too oniony and the sweet potato one turned into a too-sweet lump of starch. Ugh. By day 2, really more a weapon than an edible .

Had dinner with my UWS friends in the nineties. I love their apartment overlooking CP with trees and nature right out their spacious windows. In my tiny studio, I look out on the space between buildings and the trash collection zone. At least we recycle a lot.

I & J are great people, super eco-friendly BHLs like me. They have two adorable girls who remind me how much energy parents need. They also keep my maternal instincts in check, refreshing my opinion that it's better to rent than own; I'm too lazy and selfish to be a proper parent. During the course of a few hours, they played piano, colored and practiced handwriting skills, one started a personal best challenge for jump roping turning pink through the process. Lots of energy there. I need a nap.

On my walk home I'm confronted with tons of single Jewish singles heading into various bars, restaurants and establishment. Newly heartbroken me was swimming against a current of very youthful and rather attractive stream of singles. It was like salmon season, or would that be lox? I knew this was a Jewish neighborhood but little did I know that " Today the area between 85th Street and 100th Street is home to the largest community of young Modern Orthodox singles outside of Israel." if one believes everything written in Wikipedia. If that isn't a good reference, perhaps Unattached, a documentary, will suffice; I thought just being single was shunned in normal society, Jewish communities up the order of single-as-a-pariah magnitude ten-fold! And it's worse for the women! Yikes. Well, perhaps he's in that crowd ... and I sort of hope he finds his mate, and she gets fat and mean after pushing out all those kids :P Just kidding, sort of.

Katz Deli

2009-11-19T21:06:00.002-05:00

Headed down to Katz on Houston and Lowell for some Matzoh ball soup. I sort of crave that when I'm not feeling well. I love the chicken soup at Zabar's and their Matzoh balls are good but a little too fluffy. Katz's are perfect but their broth is too dark, more like a beef broth. But damn, those Matzohs are great. I also got a potato knish, square, and a round sweet potato one. The round ones are HUGE and personally I like the crusty bottom on the square better. Both were so big I took them home as leftovers. The also serve pickles - crisp cucumbery ones and the soggier dill ones, along with pickled tomatoes - I like the crisp ones. I sort of miss the cole slaw that is typical at other delis like Arnie's. So NYC still has all the great food. I need to remember that when I get all grumpy. I'll blame the bitchiness lately on the phlegm and such. Yeah, NYC. And Houston Street really if fabulous.

Sickie Comfort

2009-11-19T11:13:00.003-05:00

I am feeling better but overslept. I called into work at 8:30 am, which is usually the time I start work! I just woke up so wanted them to know I was coming in late, maybe do only a half day. But my boss told me to just stay home and rest. He also got a fax with my temporary insurance card! Yeah. And they faxed it to my doctor so maybe now I can get in for an appointment and not worry about getting a crazy bill .... too much to hope for?

So the cough still persists. I did enjoy about 10 blissful hours of sleep. It was heaven. Now I have a comfy cup of hot tea, yummy yogurt from Thistle, the world's best dairy. I cut up some crisp apples from NYS to add a little sweetness. I'm all tucked in to watch P&P, one of my favorite sick day comforts. I'm watching the A&E version which should never be confused with the horrid movie version with Keira Knightly.

So it's more rest and relaxation for me. Still coughing a bit but I'm mending. What a relief. You forget how good it is to be healthy until it isn't there. I'm so lucky to have good friends and coworkers helping me out.

Health Insurance Companies SUCK!

2009-11-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

I started working at Margert back in September. They go through the Brooklyn Diocese for their health insurance and benefits. I've been bugging them for my health insurance card for months. I decided to pay out of pocket for my flu shot since luckily that was only $25. Of course Mt. Sinai sent me an additional bill for $70 for some mythical 'vaccine' which I contested and they said they would remove from my account. We'll see if that happens. Are the hospitals and insurance companies always trying to out-fuck each other with billing and denial claims? I wonder.

So I've been calling the Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield number for weeks. Back in October they claimed I wasn't in their system; to talk to my HR person. She called the Diocese and their insurance broker said they didn't accept the fax she sent in, they only took mailed forms - ARGH! Why hadn't anyone called about this change in policy. So my co-worker mailed in in back in mid to late October. I was in training for about three weeks and didn't get sick. Then I felt sick last Thursday and called; still no record of me in their system. WTF! Monday I returned to the office and talked with my co-worker who called her person, the insurance broker, who said she had me in her system, MetLife I believe, but Empire just must be slow in putting me into their system.

I've been sick since Thursday, taking illegal amoxicillan I got in Mexico as a backup. I think the drugs help a little by stopping the fever and muscle aches I had back on Friday and Saturday but the lung congestion and phlegm are all still there and I'm suffering BADLY.

So I call Empire again and all they have me down for is dental! WTF? I need medical NOW! They tell me to contact the insurance broker. My coworker calls her person and connects me. The woman is a ball of excuses! First it was her claiming it was our fault for getting the forms to her late. WTF? I told her we faxed the forms and wasn't told that their policy had changed to not accept faxed materials; that she really should not use that as an excuse for bad processing on their part. I told her I found it unprofessional for her to be putting this back on us as if it were our fault. It was their responsibility to tell us proper procedure to apply for a new addition to the health benefits and someone, ANYONE, should have called to tell out staff that when the received the faxed application and decided to ignore the application on procedural grounds; why wait for us to figure out they weren't processing anything, have us call, and then they tell us, "Oh, we don't take faxed applications." Money! Why tell someone they aren't in the system if not telling them gives them another month or more where they don't have to cover someone. ARGH! She was not going to bend or even recognize the anomaly where she had my information, Empire had me down for dental, so what happened to the medical coverage? Two other employees had to wait three months to get their Empire health coverage cards. I find this unacceptable and rather fishy. They get away with three months of not having to pay any health coverage while taking premiums. It's all to conveniently lined up to help them and their pocketbooks while I have a chest full of congested mucus, coughing fits, and a whole host of related health problems that I should really see a doctor for!!! The US health care system is sooooooo fucked up.

So I go to work. Can't afford to take vacation. Trying not the make my coworkers sick. I want to nap under my desk. This is a great fucking system we have and I don't even have to worry about a sick kid.

Sickie Blues

2009-11-17T22:20:00.000-05:00

My frickin' lungs. I really need them and sometimes they consipre against me and create mahem, and joint pain, and night sweats, and congestion. Or maybe the congestion is causing the lung gunk. Whatever, I'm sick and metally drained and an emotional mess. Stayed home sick. As a new blue collar worker who clocks in with an electronic timecard not too different than Fred Flintstone, I need to call in and worry about if I accrued enough sick time hours for this. So stressful and demeaning. Slept almost all day. Popped in my sickie favorite, Sense and Sensibility 2008 tape. Slept through most of it. Made a Fariway run around 9pm for juice and grapefruit. Now I hate citrus; reminds me of being sick. Stupid insurance company still is fucking around and hasn't getten me my card. I need to see a doctor but can't afford going while not 'covered' even though I've been working since September. ARGH. It really sucks living like the majority of American's, worried about timecards, insurance, sick days, time clocks. Oh how I long to be back in the professional ranks where you may work 60-80 hr work weeks but you're paid better and never have to play the ask-the-priciple game about your time, your vacations, sick leave, hours, etc.. I am a responsible and dependable person and it is so demeaning to always have to ask permission for most everything. I'm just so drained. At least a day of sleep and cat cuddle therapy helped.

Neko Case

2009-11-16T23:37:00.000-05:00

Oh, I love you Joey Burns! You are so unbelievably talented and watching you play is orgasmic. You wear those geeky shirts and pants, unlike those glam rockers with their stupid leather pants. I'm such a sucker for the MIT nerd look. I didn't even know Calexico was opening for Neko tonight. I must say I've only listened to about a half-dozen of their songs and now I'm hooked. I would have paid just to hear them play. Two

Silver Trees is one of my favorite songs and I should shout out to KEXP for introducing me to Calexico and Neko. Damn, there's a lot of great music out there. Now I need to pick on Feist of Wire. They did a great job weaving a variety of their songs together and the aucoustics were perfect. Kudos to the sound folks.

Damn, the fucking dumbest twenty-something girls arrive to sit next to me and ruin the feel. They are decked out in fall dresses and boots that show how hefty their calves are. Good stock if you needed breeders. They proceeded to talk VERY LOUDLY over Claexico's music the ENTIRE TIME!! Any break they had in the vapid conversations about guys and parties was to check their phones for text messages. ARGH! Can't anyone just enjoy being in the NOW!!!! I tried to tune them out but they were so fucking loud! Right next to me. I made sure to cough in their direction every chance I could.

Neko took the stage with her supporting band around 9 pm. The stage design was stupid and reminded my how much I hated Lilith Fair

crap even if I liked the music. Earthy tree and owl sketch image tapestries bordered the stage with a film screen center behind the band. The films would show typical strange David Lynch compositions - pigeons eating, highways, carnival lights, a model building glowing from the inside. I had no idea how they related to the songs except for the tiger and tornado ones.

She came on stage wearing a wonderful red satin silk dress. Comments abound - cougar, lynx, pre-menopause jokes. She was good with the banter. Overall I found the sets too focused on Fox Confessor and Middle Cyclone stuff. I miss the old songs from Furnace Room Lullaby and The Virginian but I guess her younger followers can't enjoy the more classic country elements of her early work :( So sadly the texture and movement between songs seemed monotonistic since she didn't pull from a full range of her work. She did do a nice job pulling in some talents like Joey Burns and Martha Wainwright. Then she had to go and play Don't Forget Me and I just lost it, crying like a stupid idiot all over a lost love. I'm so pathetic sometimes. I sucked it up, lasted for the obligatory encore few songs, none really worthy of returning to stage but overall a good evening. At least the sound was close to perfect. With live performances, ya never know. And it's only three blocks from my home so I can't really complain about lack on great entertainment here in NYC.

Stumptown Quest

2009-11-15T22:37:00.003-05:00

My friends in Seattle were part of Matt's new grpahics for Stumptown. I've seen some preliminary work on the comic before this week but it takes several issues before the publishers are ready and willing to distribute the work. So Stumptown was finally ready for release and I went out on the streets of NYC to find the first issue.

First stop - Forbidden Planet in Union Square. This seems to be the mecca for the younger, hipper comic crowd. Sorry, I just can't call it a graphic novel yet. So I walk in, look down teh aisle in new week's releases and can't find it. I ask the 20-something asian guy who can't seem to make eye contact with me. He heads off to the bound books section and I stop him, explain it's a new single issue. He asks what type of genre. Some sort of mystery, noir, murder type I say. Finally I just go ask the central guy behind teh raised circular desk guarded by several computers on the peripheri. He looks it up and tells me they're sold out. He suggests other stores. What stores? It's not like I frequent comic stores. He recommended Time Machine on &th and 14th or St. Mark's. I headed over to Joe's coffee to meet Lisa.

Joe's on 13th has good coffee but crappy decor and ambiance. It's all shitty aluminium faking-to-be-chrome chairs and tables with bright lighting and walls that love to bounce sound in LOUD patterns. Lisa showed up and we just headed out.

Time Machine was the throwback comic shop. It was the complete opposite of Forbidden Planet. No bound books. No plastic figureines. No costumes or paraphanial. Just comics in their little plastic covers and they were everywhere. So there are about 6 people there and Lisa and I were the only customers. You have to take a flight up one set of stairs after ringing for teh buzzer at street level. The oldest guy behind the counter seemed to be in charge. He was sold out but called three shops to find a copy - at the Midtown in Times Square. This guy was so nice but so strange as he kept turing to the gal in front of the counter, asking for the bottle of Jack Daniels. Funny when I asked him what they started with, refering to the number of Stumptowns he had, he replied, "The whole bottle." Obviously they'd been drinking a lot, there was only about an eighth of the JD left.

I left Lisa in Union Square territory and headed to 40th via the 2/3 subway. Again, Midtown was a second floor space but much larger and much cleaner to catter to the mainstream comic fan in his teens. A little less flashy, high-priced, and cool at Forbidden but definitley cleaner and less nostalgic that Time Machine. Who knew there was such diversity in the comic buying world?

So I read teh first issue on the ride home. Interesting story. I like how the main female, who does look like my friend S in Seattle, isn't a bimbette. Only one bikini clad gal is portrayed in this issue and even she looks 'normal', not like some freaked version of a woman - the comic stylized HUGE breasts, big lips, and impossibly placed clothing clinging places despite gravity physics. I thought the palate was monochrome which maybe was the intent give the underworld crime tones. While I may not care too much for the scratchier inked lines, I do like the use of locals and architecture which pulled me immediately to the Portland and Seattle Northwest areas I know so well. The story is engaging but not really grabbing me just yet. We'll see what happens next issue.

Fallen

2009-11-15T15:28:00.002-05:00

I'm such a sucker for a gorgeous guy. I start dating, I'm all excited, which hasn't happened to me in years, and then he falls off the face of the earth. I decided after no returned email or phone calls to stop doing busy work around my place - laundry, unpacking, much-needed cleaning - and rollerbladed for the first time in YEARS.

Central Park was lovely today. Above is a great photo from a friend and while there is less green and more bare branches, there is still a lot of color. The wet leaves led to some tricky rollerblading. I only fell once on the steep downhill part of the loop up on the North section near Harlem. I tried to stop as I rolled over a $20. Two cyclist got it :( Used lots of muscles I thought were in good shape; I was wrong. Realized I need to gain some more muscle. I also realized there are too many damn people in Central Park! We need a bigger park.

I also realized that rollerblading still didn't make me forget about him. Lots of little broken hearted moments, but I know I've caused a few of those myself so none of us are blameless. Why do I get on this crazy thing called dating? Oh yeah, solo stuff sometimes sucks after awhile :p