Monday, January 29, 2018

January 29, 2018



For a planned trip, I am learning Swedish. I signed up for Babbel and am going over common phrases. It also works on my I-Phone. I love their way of saying hello.



So I watched 1/2 of Animal House, then...



Then, I watched Netflix's A Futile and Stupid Gesture. Went back to Animal House to finish it off. The Futile and Stupid Gesture movie was good. and shined.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

January 28, 2018



A free reward from Starbucks.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

January 27, 2018



Birthday week and now I am starting to get e-mails and regular mail about it. I'll take it. This one is Boston Market giving me a free dessert.



Grand Hyatt.



I like the old Guinness ads.



Birthday Riesling.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Thursday, January 25, 2018

January 25, 2018



Perfect score!

Sunday, January 21, 2018

January 21, 2018



I used to meditate a long time ago. I recently started again. Five minutes a day in the early morning. Funny, when you do a google search for images, it is about 98% female.



A write-up in Thrillist about Sal, Kris and Charlie's Deli in Astoria:
"There are more delis in New York than Rays who claim varying degrees of fame, so when we say that Sal, Kris & Charlie's makes perhaps one of the greatest sandwiches in a city that would give Dagwood a seizure, we mean business. One of the city's best deep cuts for food, this long-standing outer-borough deli (it doesn't even have a website!) is basically a bodega on 'roids. It's cheap. It's simple. And it's exactly what the sandwich world needs right now. Get the legendary Bomb, which, as the menu states, has everything. And that's not a classic case of NYC bravado skewing facts. It literally has more ingredients than the freezer at the Cheesecake Factory -- turkey, salami, ham, three types of cheese, mayo, LTO, and so, so many more meats, dressings, and accouterments. If we listed them all, we'd get carpal tunnel. For these sandwich kings, and for the Bomb, in particular, we all should be compelled to bend the knee."

Saturday, January 20, 2018

January 20, 2018



Google Arts & Culture platform now allows you to take a "Selfie" and it will match it to a painting. Pretty Cool.


The Banquet of Ahasuerus,Aert de Gelder 1680s,From the collection of The J. Paul Getty Museum.

This painting shows a scene from the biblical Book of Esther, when, after seven days of feasting and drinking, King Ahasuerus drunkenly asks one of his eunuchs to summon the beautiful Queen Vashti. She refuses to appear, angering Ahasuerus and prompting him to dismiss her and choose Esther as his wife.

I'm the guy drinking with the cup to his mouth, not the eunuch.


Josiah Rose of Liverpool,Benjamin Marshallca. 1795,From the collection of Yale Center for British Art.

This guy doesn't look like me that much but the app is a blast.





Tuesday, January 16, 2018

January 16, 2018



Saw The Commuter. Not a great movie, but it had moments. At one point Michael(Liam) causes the train's air-conditioning to malfunction which causes all the suspects to be in one car. Orient Express anyone? But, Poirot isn't an action figure. Then, a Spartacus moment.

Monday, January 15, 2018

January 15, 2018



In Cold Blood
, on TCM On-Demand.



and had eerie resemblances to the real killers.



Wow! What a finish!

Sunday, January 14, 2018

January 14, 2018



Had a real Alexa / Echo problem. Don't know what caused it, but I could see connectivity on my end could be the issue. After turning off my router and resetting echo, all is good. Took too long, but now I am drinking wine, watching Football and Basketball, and listening to a long playlist of the Marshall Tucker Band. I got into them when I lived in Connecticut. Only one original member left, but a good group.



Minnesota Vikings! Super Bowl with home-field advantage. Pictures from my Minneapolis trip. See what happens. I have a shirt I am ready to wear.



Cleaning out my fridge.

Friday, January 12, 2018

January 12. 2018



I was advised by Best Buy's Geek Squad to change my anti-virus software. My old one was Kaspersky which I have been reading some negative articles about. I'll give this new one a try and Best Buy threw in a free year if you agreed to set up a 2019 payment. Set-up was easy and quick.



Tax season is upon us, but Federal rules aren't available yet. Amazon always gives a decent price.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Monday, January 8, 2018

January 8, 2018



Australia: The Twelve Apostles. Erosion has left eight.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

January 7, 2018



Great Barrier Reef. WhitSunday plane over heart reef.



Finished the / Dr. Lecter trilogy. Hannibal is a mess but it does have moments. Like: the opera based on Vita Nuova.

"A ciascun'alma presa e gentil core" by Dante Alighieri
A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core
nel cui cospetto ven lo dir presente,
in ciò che mi rescrivan suo parvente,
salute in lor segnor, cioè Amore.
Già eran quasi che atterzate l’ore
del tempo che onne stella n’è lucente,
quando m’apparve Amor subitamente,
cui essenza membrar mi dà orrore.
Allegro mi sembrava Amor tenendo
meo core in mano, e ne le braccia avea
madonna involta in un drappo dormendo.
Poi la svegliava, e d’esto core ardendo
lei paventosa umilmente pascea:
appresso gir lo ne vedea piangendo.



English translation by Dino S. Cervigni and Edward Vasta:

To every captive soul and gentle heart
into whose regard shall come the present words,
so that they in return may inscribe their views,
greeting in their lord, who is Love.
Almost had passed a third of the hours
of the time in which to us every star shines,
when to me appeared Love suddenly,
the memory of whose being gives me terror.
Joyous to me seemed Love, holding
my heart in hand, and in his arms he had
my lady wrapped in a cloth asleep.
Then he wakened her, and this burning heart
to the frightened one he humbly fed:
afterward I saw him turn away weeping.

Source of the text – Dante Alighieri, Vita Nuova, edited and translated by Dino S. Cervigni and Edward Vasta. Notre Dame: The University of Notre Dame Press, 1995, pp. 50-51.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

January 6, 2018



Frost on the inside. Below -7° outside with the wind chill.



Perfect score!

Friday, January 5, 2018

January 5, 2018



More snow shots.



Getting ready for the weekend's cold snap.



Hannibal Lecter: What became of your lamb, Clarice?
Clarice Starling: They killed him.
Hannibal Lecter: You still wake up sometimes, don't you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the lambs.
Clarice Starling: Yes.
Hannibal Lecter: And you think if you save poor Catherine, you could make them stop, don't you? You think if Catherine lives, you won't wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs.
Clarice Starling: [choking up] I don't know. I don't know.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

January 4, 2018



Snow. Time off after a queasy commute. Watching movies and drinking beer.



Köstritzer Schwarzbier.



Red Dragon, I liked Manhunter better. But, this version has merit. The Blake painting is in the Brooklyn Museum.



Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Monday, January 1, 2018

January 1, 2018



Saw The Mummies exhibit at AMNH before it closed. Learned: Canopic jars were used by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process to store and preserve the viscera of their owner for the afterlife. They were commonly either carved from limestone or were made of pottery; Cartonnage is a type of material used in Ancient Egyptian funerary masks from the First Intermediate Period to the Roman era. It was made of layers of linen or papyrus covered with plaster. Some of the Fayum mummy portraits are also painted on panels made of cartonnage..




75% sale since the exhibit is ending. $6.



Stopped in and saw Our Senses. Lots of interesting stuff about how our senses are limited.



Super "Wolf" moon. Later, this month, there will be a Blue Moon.



Bully! It's cold.



A little Tiki action.



Dino tree.



Bondi Beach.