March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!



Brouwerij Lane, still good.



Going to Knicks / Celtics game tonight.



Hotel Chocolat Quail Egglets were the high end chocolates for the day.

March 30, 2013

It is officially Spring, first Forsythia sighting.
















Cacti in the sun.



















Got a growler of Brooklyn 25th Anniversary Imperial Brooklyn Lager,a Doppelbock with 8.6 per cent alcohol.




















This place is the Dunkin Donuts of Canada.




Positively 4th Street , cover by Johnny Rivers:

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you

March 29, 2013

Good Friday is here early.

March 28, 2013

Came across this on my I-Pod in shuffle mode : Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie by Bob Dylan. A long spoken Poem:

And your feet can only walk down two kinds of roads
Your eyes can only look through two kinds of windows
Your nose can only smell two kinds of hallways
You can touch and twist
And turn two kinds of doorknobs
You can either go to the church of your choice
Or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital
You'll find God in the church of your choice
You'll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital

And though it's only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
You'll find them both
In the Grand Canyon
At sundown

March 27, 2013

Galadriel from the Movie (from WikiQuote ):

Galadriel: You carry something. It came to you from Radagast. He found it in Dol Guldur.
Gandalf the Grey: Yes.
Galadriel: Show me.
Elrond: What is that?
Galadriel: A relic... of Mordor.
Elrond: A Morgul-blade!
Galadriel: Made for the Witch-king of Angmar and buried with him. When Angmar fell, the Men of the North took his body and all that he possessed and sealed it within the High Fells of Rhudaur. Deep within the rock, they buried him. In a tomb so dark... it would never come to light.
Elrond: This is not possible. A powerful spell lies upon those tombs, they cannot be opened.
Saruman the White: What proof do we have this weapon came from Angmar's grave?
Gandalf the Grey: I have none.



Linda Clifford: Runaway Love

With all my tears
Heartaches and emotions
I'm all hung up with
Love and devotions

So stop messing with my heart
If you don't mean it
And stop messing with my love
If you don't care

Don't come here
Talking bout loving, no
You are using me
Cause I ain't got no
Heartaches to spare



Ace - How Long Has This Been Going On?

Well, if friends with their fancy persuasion
Don't admit that it's part of a scheme,
Then I can't help but have my suspicions
'Cause I ain't quite as dumb as I seem.
And you said you was never intending
To break up our singing this way,
But there ain't any use in pretending.
It could happen to us any day.

How long has this been going on?
How long has this been going on?

March 26, 2013

Saw the trailer for the The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The clip involved Gandalf and Radagast in a dark catacomb, called High Fells, where the Nazgul have escaped from their tombs. I remember Gandalf going to Dol Gulder and the White Council driving the Necromancer out of Dol Guldur. I have to get my The Return of the King and go through the appendices.



In poking around the Internet ,after watching the new Hobbit trailer, came across Ender's Game which is coming out shortly as a movie.



Also came across this Visual which included Ender's Game.

March 24, 2013

From 11:00 a.m. till midnight tonight it is Hoops , Hoops , Hoops. Can't wait for Florida Gulf Coast.



Just ordered Easter Dinner from Boston Market. I will make Mac and Cheese and a Ham to go with it.

March 23, 2013

Ruined my Bracket but this was one hell of a game. These guys are about as quick and athletic as any team I have seen so far. They play with no fear. My son pointed out that in the Big East, the teams are so physical during the year that come tournament time they don't have much left.



Can't believe Easter is next week.



Went to P.E. and D.D. Seafood for some flounder. Tonight is Beer-Battered Flounder and Chips (Nathan's Fries.)

March 22, 2013

Taking the day off for Spring Cleaning. I need an empty house to do what has to be done. Place hasn't really been cleaned for four months, although some touch-ups have been done here and there. Will finish by 12, and then NCAA time.



To clean, I need beer. Good thing I have St. Pat's Day leftovers. I also need an empty house



I also need Music, so the I-Pod gets put on Shuffle and surprises me with one of my over 1,000 songs.



Love Come Down- Evelyn Champagne King

Baby you make my love come down
You make my love come down
Make it come all the way down
Oh you make my love come down
Baby you make my love come down
You make my love come down

Can't do without your tender love
There's no way out
And I can't help the way that I feel
I just can't help the way that I feel



Well, after a lot of hard work, it was time for some BBQ : Briskettown.



Their Breakfast / Brisket Taco was great. Coffee was good too.



Sandwich to go was spectacular. A wonderful place for Brisket lovers.



Oh yeah, the place does not have a sign or marking. 359 Bedford Avenue, Briskettown.

March 21, 2013

The fun starts today, forget about the play-in games already done.



My BBQ Calendar has some Etymology: barbacoa.

From a lexicography standpoint, barbecue is derived from the word barbacoa, used by Taino Indians in the Caribbean to describe an elevated wooden rack on which they slow smoked at low temperatures fish, lizards, alligator, and other game.

The word barbacoa was brought to Europe by Spanish explorers and it first appeared in print in Spain in the 1526. Even though the word was for the stand, not the food or the method, it expanded to include both in Europe.

March 20, 2013

DVD time, The Hobbit or There and Back Again.



The hunt for Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty.



With each new movie comes a streaming Cloud based service: UltraViolet. I signed up and will try it out. From their FAQ:

What is UltraViolet?

UltraViolet is a free, cloud-based digital rights collection that gives you greater flexibility with how and where you watch the movies and TV shows that you purchase. When you buy a movie or TV show from a participating retailer, it's automatically added to your UltraViolet Collection and you have options to stream it over the Internet and/or download it for offline viewing to a variety of connected devices. Because UltraViolet offers so many viewing choices, you have greater freedom to choose where you want to watch - on a mobile device, computer, television, game console, etc.



Of course, not to be confused with A Clockwork Orange:

Alex: There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

March 18, 2013

Last year Louisville broke my heart and my Bracket. Have to say they are my favorite again. St. Louis from the A-10 looks real good also.

March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day !



Interesting interview of Michael Keaton from Grantland.

March 16, 2013

Irish Coffee (Irish: Caifé Gaelach) and Soda Bread.

March 15, 2013

The Village Voice has a good article this week on NYC BBQ. Includes a mention of Robert Pearson , who was slinging Texas style Brisket in LIC in the nineties. The Legends Bar in Jackson Heights still follows his technique.



St. Patrick's Day weekend starts today with some Soda Bread and Irish Coffee.

March 10, 2013

The Mindbenders - "Groovy Kind Of Love" (1966.)



The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch is a triptych ( 53a in today's NYT Crossword), painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch.

March 9, 2013

Have to say, thanks to XM Radio and my I-Pod, my car is a virtual Juke Box. I am listening to more music lately. Right now, it is mostly Jazz and Reggae. Classical comes next. The XM 70s on 7 station is a hoot.



Come A Little Bit Closer by Jay and the Americans. It was written by songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, as well as Wes Ferrell.

So we started to dance
In my arms, she felt so inviting
That I just couldn't resist
Just one little kiss so exciting
Then I heard the guitar player say
"Vamoose, José's on his way"
Then I knew, yes I knew I should run
But then I heard her say, yeah

Come a little bit closer
You're my kind of man
So big and so strong
Come a little bit closer
I'm all alone
And the night is so long



More Barnes and Noble coupons, This one a look at Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by Garry Wills.



With discounts, the Gangs of New York DVD came to $5.50. Daniel Day Lewis is terrific in it.



Bloody Mary Mix by Migliorelli Farm will start tomorrow morning.



Peach Blossoms.



Starting St. Patrick's Day today with Guinness Black Lager and Soda Bread. The NYT has a great piece by John Patrick Shanley on being Irish.



Edible Manhattan has an essay entitled "Squid Pro Quo."

March 8, 2013

Of course, you have to make slight changes. After two failed tries, I added one more Tbs. of flour, one more Tsp. of dry mustard (Coleman's), another 1/2 cup of milk, one more Tbs. of Margerine and 16 oz. (two packs) of sharp Cheddar Cheese. I used one pack and a 1/3 to make the mixture and the rest on top. That worked better.

March 6, 2013

The NYT reviews Mighty Quinn's Barbeque today. Lots of good Brisket all over town. There was a time when Katz's was the choice, then came Pearson's and all the other BBQ spots.



Going to make Macaroni and Cheese tonight. It was one of my wife's signature dishes. On the side of the fridge was a yellowed Creamette Pasta Box recipe (dry Mustard is the key):

2 cups elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook macaroni in 5 quarts boiling water for 8 minutes. Drain macaroni.
In medium saucepan, melt butter.
Stir in flour, mustard, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture thickens slightly.
Add 1 1/2 cups cheese to milk mixture and stir until melted.
Stir in macaroni.
turn into greased 2 quart baking dish.
Top with remaining cheese.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.



Creamette Basic Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe.