April 30, 2016

15% coupon, just ordered a signed copy.



I have to pick up my youngest at Newark Airport tomorrow, Five-Boro bike tour will give me fits.

April 29, 2016

Garden of the Asylum. (St. Paul's Hospital)



The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt.)



Almond Blossom.



Rembrandt's Night Watch.

April 27, 2016

They brought back the fast-pass. Lines weren't bad last year but I just ordered the fast-pass.



DeLillo's newest: Zero K. On the list of things to read.



Amsterdam.

April 26, 2016

Youngest now in Amsterdam for tomorrow's King's Day.



The blooming trees are beautiful but I'm sneezing all day.



Great cover. Also, interesting review of new biography of Wallace Stevens. The Emperor of Ice Cream was always mysterious and frightening:

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

April 24, 2016

Everybody Wants Some !! was ok, I liked Dazed and Confused better. Adapting, learning while taking the journey seems to be the point. Music was good, never knew the Van Halen song from which the title comes from. Animal House remains the college movie of all time.



Been listening to the Prince tribute on Sirius/XM: Sirius Ch. 184 or XM Ch. 1.



Joe and Pat's from Staten Island.

April 23, 2016

Finally, Spring is here. I'm sneezing and miserable from the tree pollen and Asparagus have arrived. The NYT has some really good recipes. Here is the one I picked:

Ingredients

2 pounds thick asparagus, woody ends snapped off
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt
freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Nutritional Information

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a baking sheet or a baking dish large enough to hold the asparagus in one layer. Place the asparagus in the dish, and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until the stalks begin to shrivel and color lightly.
Remove from the heat, toss with the thyme and season with lemon juice if desired.

Tip

Advance preparation: If you want to serve this hot, there’s nothing to do in advance; however, you can serve it at room temperature. Don’t add the lemon juice until just before serving.



My youngest is in Italy. I sent him back a picture of me in the middle of the fountain circa 1984.



The Sistine Chapel is breathtaking.



R.I.P. Lonnie Mack.

April 16, 2016

I like Sci-fi and action movies and this one will be seen. Mixed reviews so far. This one by RogerEbert.com gives one pause:

“Nicolas Cage turned down a lead role.” Considering the films that the weirdly indiscriminate Cage is perfectly willing to sign on to do, the fact that this was somehow beneath him should pretty much say it all.

I'm going to see it anyway.



I still subscribe to Time magazine, a leftover from school-based subscriptions. This cover is a hoot. Hooray for Barry Ritholtz's and others smack-downs. Asshattery is a great term.

April 15, 2016

What a game ! Down $100, then up $100, left the table winning $40.



Lots of good beer at a work party.



Daily meditation reminds me of taking it one day at a time:

Matthew 6:34 Authorized (King James) Version

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

April 13, 2016

Sunflowers.

April 12, 2016

My Blackberry work phone is being replaced by a Samsung Galaxy, I'm guessing it will be S6. I imagine my learning curve will be minimal. Looking forward to see how it matches up with my I-Phone. Everything is migrating to phones, have to keep up. I liked my Blackberry for the networking capability but it is now a different world. Here is a: review.



A visitor making coo noises outside my window this morning. I believe it is a Mourning Dove.

April 11, 2016

This book came in a gift basket after another devastating loss of a family member. I now read a meditation every morning.



XVIII.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

April 10, 2016

$25 gift card and two 20% off coupons get this.



And this. E.O. Wilson is an expert myrmecologist. Love the title.

“Earth relates to the universe as the second segment of the left antenna of an aphid sitting on a flower petal in a garden in Teaneck, N.J., for a few hours this afternoon.”

April 9, 2016

$20 win !



Great name, wine wasn't bad.



A box of Callaway golf balls for my winning bracket.

April 6, 2016

Yankee opener. cold, cold ,cold. Bathroom was only place heated, lots of people just standing around to get the chill off.

April 5, 2016

Perfect score.

April 4, 2016

Picked the winner, 98% in the ESPN bracket challenge. I won in a private group, a box of golf balls for my effort. A great championship game.

April 2, 2016

MSG, game was meaningless, place was packed.



Night out, great weather.