September 29, 2011

Epic night of baseball last night.



Nate Silver's blog on the New York Times Website brings forth a new curse emanating from a Bill Buckner themed episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." From the day that the episode aired on September 4, 2011, the Red Sox went 6-18.

From Nate Silver:
The Red Sox had just a 0.3 percent chance of failing to make the playoffs on Sept. 3.
The Rays had just a 0.3 percent chance of coming back after trailing 7-0 with two innings to play.
The Red Sox had only about a 2 percent chance of losing their game against Baltimore, when the Orioles were down to their last strike.
The Rays had about a 2 percent chance of winning in the bottom of the 9th, with Johnson also down to his last strike.

Multiply those four probabilities together, and you get a combined probability of about one chance in 278 million of all these events coming together in quite this way.



Boston Globe on John Lackey: "Not only is he coming off the worst season a Red Sox starting pitcher has ever submitted, but he's a miserable, dim, finger-pointing, unaccountable wretch of a teammate, and those may be his good qualities. "



Carl Crawford's salary in 2011 is $14,000,000.

Boston Globe on Carl Crawford :"Carl Crawford, the player Damon helped replace in Tampa at a fraction of the cost, plays with such timidity. What has happened to that dynamic player who tormented us all those years while he was in Tampa Bay? And is he gone for good? Because right now, he's Coco Crisp with a lousy glove."

September 27, 2011

Their collapse has been epic. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.



September 23 to October 21: Participating eateries this fall are Almond, Asiadog, Bar Suzette, The Cannibal, Fatty Snack, Graffiti | Mehtaphor, Hong Kong Street Cart, Hot Blondies Bakery, ilili, Junoon, Macaron Parlour, The Milk Truck, Momofuku Milk Bar, Nunu Chocolates, Perfect Picnic, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Roberta’s Pizza, Robicelli’s, Sigmund’s, Spices & Tease, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, and Wafels & Dinges.



Channeling Lost, Blade Runner, Avatar, Stargate and Jurassic Park. Wasn't going to watch it but nothing was on. Not bad, Stephen Lang is impressive.

September 25, 2011

I know what a Dingus is but Dongle ? This is the second Laptop Dongle to fail. I admit my boys are probably rough on Dongles. I will tell them to stop constant connection and go on battery, then charge when not using.

A quick tour of the Internet with the Wattage and # 90w 414136-001 finds a variety of prices and many complaints about the frailty of the gadget.Of course, nobody has it except Best Buy which only gives it with a full Power Cable package for $70 bucks. That's what I got and I ordered two to go for $12 ($8 fees and shipping) from a New Hampshire Tech Company. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

September 24, 2011

Brunch at City Crab was excellent.Above was hanging on a wall on the upper dining area, Roccus lineatus, Striped Bass.




Sculpture off of Union Square Park: Gran Elefandret by Miguel Barcelo. It is only there until May 2012.



Bulich Mushrooms from Catskill, NY.



Leo's Ravioli, next to Leo's Latticini is where I buy my Lasagna noodles.



Autumn in New York, Ella and Satch. Great rendition.



They just played the Beacon. Check out Bill Cosby in the beginning, 1973. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter has a quite unusual background.



Beck's Dark , a Munich Dunkel Lager | 4.80% ABV, is the Beer for Autumn in New York.

September 18, 2011

The Floyd Mayweather/Victor Ortiz fight brought back memories of this clip. Yes, that is Ted Cassidy of Lurch fame.

September 17, 2011

Oktoberfest takes place from September 17 to October 3rd, 2011.



The beer for the weekend is Samuel Adams Octoberfest from a Growler.



Wildwood BBQ for Brunch.



Chocolate Waffle.



The Smoke House $13.50
2 Eggs Any Style, Smoked Brisket, Bacon,
Texas Sausage, Buttermilk Biscuit, Country Potatoes.



Tonight's feast will be Stuffed Shells and Manicotti from Leo's Latticini.



A graphic depiction of the life of Richard Feynman. Wonderful and inspiring. I also have two other Graphic works: Machiavelli and The 911 Report.

September 11, 2011

"
9/11 is part of me. It's a part of all of us. People say, 'Are you going to move on?' and the answer is, we move forward, but it always stays with us."
— Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, 1 World Trade Center, who survived 9/11 because he was at his son's first day of school.

September 10, 2011

Went to Rosa Mexicano for Brunch. Huevos Rancheros and Tecate. Ahhh !
Paid for by Gym reimbursement. What a life !



Got Red Peppers, Green Peppers and Yellow Peppers for tonight's Stuffed Pepper Dish.



Season One of Columbo went for less than $20 at Barnes and Noble. Includes two movies: Prescription: Murder and Ransom for a Dead Man. I remember Prescription: Murder for the fact that Falk plays Lt. Columbo as a hard-nosed Detective and not the character he developed in later episodes.



"Bogart can be tough without a gun," Raymond Chandler said in expressing his delight that Humphrey Bogart would portray detective Philip Marlowe in the screen version of his novel The Big Sleep.

Picked this one up and so far, so good.

September 5, 2011

Monday and a Holiday = Greenmarket Lite. Still, picked up White Corn, Onions and Heirloom Tomatoes. The Heirlooms have recently gone down considerably in price.



Orchids for $20 a pot. Made me think of The Big Sleep and General Sternwood:

"A nice state of affairs when a man has to indulge his vices by proxy," he said dryly. "You are looking at a very dull survival of a rather gaudy life, a cripple paralyzed in both legs and with only half of his lower belly. There's very little that I can eat and my sleep is so close to waking that it is hardly worth the name. I seem to exist largely on heat, like a newborn spider, and the orchids are an excuse for the heat. Do you like orchids?"

"Not particularly," I said.

The General half-closed his eyes. "They are nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men. And their perfume has the rotten sweetness of a prostitute."



My boys hit Polo hard, 30% off and an extra 20% for being on their On-Line account.



Coach had a big sale with 30% off. Big line just to get in, and then a 1/2 hour wait to pay.



I hit the Converse store for some cool T-Shirts. I still have my Back High-Tops.





Nooooooo !



A battle that you win cancels any other bad action of yours. In the same way, by losing one, all the good things worked by you before become vain.





Bobby Womack.

September 4, 2011

End of Summer Outlet Run. Got to pump up the National Economy.



Still Life of Greenmarket Bounty: Pears, Donut Peaches and Fuji Apples.

September 3, 2011

Pears at the Greenmarket.



Bluefish and Corn. Can't go wrong with that.



Bowery Whole Foods had some good beer: Smuttynose Saison / Farmhouse Ale | 9.30%. ABV



And, Sixpoint Brownstone Ale American Brown Ale | 5.70%. ABV

September 2, 2011

Library run, this one looked interesting.



Since The Last Lion ended at 1940, I need to brush up on WW II diplomacy.



Carlo D'Este's biography of George S. Patton was excellent, so I figured this was worth a try.



Say what you want about Rumsfeld, he is worth reading.



Samuel Adams Harvest Collection 2011:

• Boston Lager
• Octoberfest
• Black Lager
• Harvest Pumpkin Ale
• Bonfire Rauchbier
• Irish Red

Bonfire Rauchbier looks like a keeper, goes well with BBQ.

September 1, 2011

Flying Fish Extra Pale Ale, a New Jersey concoction, is the beer for the long weekend.