June 30, 2009 - Beer, Books and Goldman Sachs

Great new site plugging NYC Craft Beer Bars. When Summer
Streets comes in August, I'll plot a Beer crawl along the route.



Newsweek has a special edition devoted to books. Fifty Books of Our Times and Top 100 Books give you enough to think about.

I read seven books of the Fifty list and Forty-Seven
of the Hundred list. I have ten of the unread books in my library.
Using the lists, I now have eleven books to tackle. Including
"The Way We Live Now" by Trollope which I downloaded at
Project Gutenberg.



I subscribe to Newsweek so I got the "Book Cover."
The newsstands have Michael Jackson.

"Newsweek took a a different approach, incorporating Jackson's death into a regularly scheduled issue. But the magazine, a double issue for the weeks of July 6 and 13, has two different covers — with the Jackson cover available on newsstands and subscribers receiving an issue celebrating "What to read now — 50 books that make sense of our times." Number one on the list: "The Way We Live Now," Anthony Trollope's satiric dissection of Victorian financial and moral tribulations, first published in 1875."

The Financial Blogs were abuzz about Matt Taibbi's piece from
Rolling Stone about Goldman-Sachs. It is readable and calls
for people to get the pitchforks. It was up for a while but was
taken down for copyright infringement. Excerpts are now up
at Rolling Stone.

June 29, 2009

Restaurant Week has arrived.
The site now lists participating Restaurants.
Three weeks this time.

Summer Streets.
NYC will temporarily close Park Avenue and connecting streets
from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and
open it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays in August
(August 8, 15, & 22).

June 27, 2009

Early is best. No big crowds, plenty
of good stuff. Went to P.E. and D.D. Seafood for
Lobster and Calamari. Fresh garlic , Mushrooms and
Tomatoes will round out the lunch. Today's breakfast
was Strawberries and Cream. Berries were from Fantasy Fruit
of Afton, NY. Small but sweet.



I spoke to the farmers of Sycamore Farms, Middletown, and they
expect to have Corn next week - small ears for the first two weeks.
They told me the combination of heavy rain and sunny days
this year should result in very sweet corn.



Purple Carrots.



Still mostly flowers.



The sun was bright.



My local Stop and Shop has an impressive Craft Beer
section. They also had Guinness 250. A maltier, fizzier
version of its older, creamier sibling, the world's best-selling stout.
The anniversary stout uses carbonation, rather than a
combination of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, which is used by
Guinness Draught.

The result? More zing.

The taste is different, too, although it retains the rich flavor of
Guinness Draught. Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout
also has more alcohol, at Guinness 250, about 5 percent by
volume, compared with 4.2 percent for Guinness Draught.

Guinness 250 Anniversary Draught
Alcohol: 5 percent by volume
Calories: 136.3 per 11.2 ounces
Brewing: Made with a double brew stream that combines two types of malts, ale and stout. Carbonated. Uses Guinness yeast, triple hops and roasted barley.
Pour: A one-part pour, at an angle.
Date: Launches in the U.S. April 24, in Australia and Singapore later.

June 21, 2009 - Summer Solstice - Happy Father's Day !

Father's day gifts were Godiva Chocolate Pretzels,
new Gym shorts, and a $25 Barnes & Noble Gift card.
Outliers and Conquest of Gaul were bought.
Big breakfast and Mimosas on tap, Beer to follow shortly.
NYCgo.com has a good Local Summer Beer Slide Show.



Stonehenge Solstice.


Credit: Ivan Ghezzi

The rise of the sun is seen at a 2,300-year-old structure
in Peru, between Tower 1 and Cerro Mucho Malo at the June
solstice, 2003,viewed from the western solar observatory.
The sunrise position at the solstice has shifted to the right
approximately 0.3° from the year 300 BC.

Our planet is tilted 23.5 degrees on its spin axis. On June 21
this year (some years it's June 20), the North Pole is pointing
toward the sun as much as is possible.


Photo by Joan Marcus

Playbill has some great production photos of Twelfth Night.
Above is Jay O. Sanders and Julie White. Today's
NYT has a nice article on the female leads. Interesting
that Shakespeare's wife was named Anne Hathaway. Hathaway
married Shakespeare in November 1582 while pregnant with the
couple's first child, to whom she gave birth six months later.
Hathaway was 26 years of age; Shakespeare was only eighteen.



Bo Diddley was referring to this song when he said
his last words. I was at a funeral once when this was
played. An outstanding Gospel piece.



In the Hall of the Mountain King: Peer Gynt Suite.
Both music pieces inspired by today's NYT crossword.



MIT has an online course with videos on GEB.

June 20, 2009

Before today's downpour, a little Jackson Browne.



Early morning Greenmarket run, it is wide open
if you get there before 9:00 a.m.



First appearance of fresh Basil.
Will make Pesto next week.



Still mostly flowers.



First appearance of Cherries, and of
Raspberries.

June 14, 2009 - Big Apple BBQ Party Beer Post

It was Packed at the beer garden





The Beers I had at the Big Apple BBQ Party.
All fresh and tasty.



No matter the equipment, you still need starter coals.



They didn't have any but this was one cool Beer logo.

June 14, 2009

Happy Flag Day !



Yesterday was Queens distribution of Shakespeare
in the Park tickets. Outside the Flushing Center for
the Arts. No rain yet.



Up the block was an Art-Deco WWI memorial.



After that, it was BBQ. The Big Apple Barbecue Party.
This was Rack and Soul. The Ribs were great.



Ed Mitchell does Whole Hog style.
The sandwich is the best of show.



Here's the Pitmaster. His restaurant
is in North Carolina.



Twelfth Night at the park. Had to stop in the
first act for rain, but soon resumed.
The clowning was first-rate. Jay O. Sanders is fabulous
as Sir Toby Belch ,as is Hamish Linklater as Sir Andrew
Aguecheek. They steal the show. All in all, a great evening,
the colonial setting was perfect for outdoors and the music
was terrific. Feste had a wonderful singing voice.

June 11, 2009

Cleopatra's Needle.



Still Hunt.

Did the Chase Corporate challenge last night. Hot
humid night, man those uphill stretches were killers.
Finished in 39 minutes,5K, 3.5 miles, I used to do 10K,
6.4 miles, in 48 minutes but that was 25 years ago. I know my
limitations. It was fun and crowded, two Bud Limes were waiting
at the finish as well as lots of wine. Nice night out.



The course is around the west-end and finishes near the
Bethesda fountain. While running, you go past the Onassis
Reservoir and are soon right behind The Metropolitan Museum
of Art at about the 3 mile point. The sculpture Still Hunt ( above)
is near there and looks ready to pounce on the joggers. Cleopatra's
Needle is in view and still looking good.

June 7, 2009

The beer for the day is a growler of Brooklyn Brown Ale.
So much better from the tap than from the bottle.



On last night, Manhunter by Michael Mann. This was the first
appearance of Dr. Lecktor (that's how he is billed)from the
book Red Dragon. It is a Miami Vice styled piece.
Brian Cox is great as Lecktor. You gotta love a movie that
features In-A-Gadda-Da Vida.

Great Scene:
Will Graham: I know that I'm not smarter than you.
Doctor Hannibal Lecktor: Then how did you catch me?
Will Graham: You had disadvantages.
Doctor Hannibal Lecktor: What disadvantages?
Will Graham: You're insane.



Mann and Manhunter brings back memories of this 86
series which featured some of the same cast - Farina,
Lang and Smitrovich.



A quick Glenn Gould Bach. After my Dead-Fest, I went
straight to Bach.

June 6, 2009

65th Anniversary.



The L Magazine has a good article on
10 Summer Beers In & Around The City .



Not crowded at 8:00 a.m.



Lots of Lobster at P.E.and D.D. Seafood.



Sugar Snap Peas make their first appearance.
$5 a pound, ouch. The price will come down.



Sugar Snap Peas.

• 4 oz Sugar snap peas
• 2 Garlic cloves; crushed,
• 1 tb Lime juice
• 1/2 ts Brown sugar
• Or honey
• Water
• Zap for 1 or 2 minutes per taste. I go for one minute.
  

Busy week ahead. 5K race, 3.5 miles. Some
cold beer will be waiting for me after finishing.



Next Saturday and Sunday is the Big Apple
Barbecue Block Party.



Next Saturday, after BBQ and beer.
Twelfth Night in Central Park.