December 30, 2013

Some un-posted Christmas shots. This is Patience. The wreaths used to be a yearly gesture but has been missing the past few years. Glad to see it back.



Fortitude.



I had Turkey carving duty due to my knowing how to carve a turkey like a butcher.



The dog was always fed when I didn't do it, I continued the tradition.

December 29, 2013

The NASA Saturn pictures are awesome.

December 28, 2013

I received four Christmas cards in the mail this year. Half-price MOMA cards go out today, A Christmas tree pops up when you open it



Another half-price purchase, Quicken 2014. Been using it for a year now and it is a great program.



Twilight Zone New Year's marathon coming up on SyFY. My favorite is the above, Richard Matheson's Nick of Time.

December 26, 2013

Gifts were Beer, Wine, Books and Amazon gift cards. No BBQ, but I'll get some this weekend. This is an Abbey Beer : The Weihenstephan Brewery can trace its roots at the abbey to 768, as a document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. A brewery was licensed by the City of Freising in 1040, and that is the founding date claimed by the modern brewery. The brewery thus has a credible claim to being the oldest working brewery in the world



Clash of cultures and B-Ball. Looks interesting.



Was Shakespeare a lawyer ?



I had read parts of this in The New Yorker.



New for this year, I usually receive Barnes and Noble gift cards but this year was two $40 Amazon gift cards.
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Tuffo Valpolicella.

December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas !



Some stuff to eat while wrapping presents and watching the Yule Log. Thank God for gift bags, makes the chore that much easier.



TWC free movies on demand (1006 in NYC) has the Yule Log and other Christmas scenes. Channel 11 also has it this morning.

December 24, 2013

Sharknado wall calendar, the perfect gift.

December 23, 2013

Angel at Basilica of San Domenico, Bologna by Michelangelo:“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

December 22, 2013

The tree is up and decorated. I did get the Banana-head decoration.



My favorite Snow Man and a companion.



I always have trouble getting gifts for the female relatives. This year I went to Sephora for their gift card set to finish the Christmas shopping. A female bartender had told me you can't go wrong with that and it includes a nice compact case with a mirror. I am done.



In all my shopping forays, I happened to think about myself. This album just came out. One of my all time favorites. December 1973, I was a college freshman in Ohio when I first heard them.

December 21, 2013

Happy 100th Anniversary to crosswords.

December 17, 2013

As part of my Christmas shopping experience, I took a walk down Fifth Avenue. Of course, I had to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.



The Cartier Building has been doing this for years and it still looks great.



I like the female elf-warrior Tauriel played by Evangeline Lilly even if she is not a JRR creation.



Visited the Italian Cultural Institute for their exhibit on the 500th Anniversary of the publication of The Prince.



Cesare Borgia, an example of how to use power in The Prince. Pope Leo X, a patron.

December 14, 2013

Snow is coming.



So is Smaug, pronounced Smowg, or Smowwwg.

All these diphthongs [in the books] were falling diphthongs, that is stressed on the first element, and composed of the simple vowels run together. Thus ai, ei, oi, ui are intended to be pronounced respectively as the vowels in English rye (not ray), grey, boy, ruin: and au (aw) as in loud, how and not as in laud, haw. [Emphasis added]
-Appendix E of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.



This is the last of my Christmas song purchases. My I-Pod Christmas song list is now 131 songs.

December 8, 2013

Christmas Wreaths.

December 7, 2013

Pearl Harbor. 72 years ago.



The Italian Cultural Institute of New York has an exhibition on Machiavelli this month, celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the publication of The Prince :686 Park Avenue only open M - F, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.



Cranberries in the sun.



Today is Lasagna day. Went to Leo's Latticini in Corona for some fresh noodles. Stopped at the Lemon Ice King of Corona as long as I was in the area.

December 2, 2013

Sunrise this morning had a nice Coral color.

December 1, 2013

Samuel Adams Cherry Chocolate Bock is terrific. It is like a Cherry Coke on Steroids.

November 30, 2013

I don't usually start my Christmas shopping this early but I received my Amex rewards which were two $100 Barnes and Noble gift cards. That and a Black Friday weekend 30% off coupon makes today the start. I will take a day off later in December to complete the purchases.



Man, I guess I have to buy this Bannana-head ornament.



Holiday Market in full swing.



Since I'm getting his more recent book, bought this one too.



Bought Dr. Demento Presents: Greatest Christmas Novelty CD. Needed Jingle Bells - Singing Dogs, and Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer for the Holiday collection..

November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving !



Just installed Windows 8.1 from the Beta version. Too much work, I even called Microsoft and I was told to re-set and get the manufacturer's installation disks. I told the Microsoft Tech agent that the solution they suggested was insane and that Microsoft should really re-think their customer support.

The answer didn't seen right so I went back to researching the problem. I refreshed rather than re-set. That worked but it wiped out many programs such as Adobe Reader, Firefox, AOL, Office 365, Quicken and I-Tunes. Most documents were preserved and now my anti-virus program works. It would not in the Beta version. Thank God for Cloud back-up. Office 365 was a problem but a fix-it program wiped out all previous Office installs and all was back. Again , too much work and thankfully I am adept at finding solutions.

November 24, 2013

My assignment for Thanksgiving is Pies and Wine. Here's an interesting one- Momofuku Milk Bar's Franken Pie : two slices of candy bar pie, two slices of apple blondie pie, and four slices of crack pie.



Wednesday the Greenmarket has a special expanded Wednesday version for the day before Thanksgiving. That's when I'll get some Terhune Orchards' Pies.



James McBride's The Good Lord Bird won the National Book Award. A friend of mine who has read a lot on John Brown has been telling me about this book for some time. A Barnes and Noble coupon sealed the deal: $14 for a hardcover.



Ah, a local store has Miami Onion Rolls. Reminds me of Ratner's.