| my love/hate relationship with Chris Kimball |
[Nov. 23rd, 2009|01:15 pm] |
OK, for the most part, I really dig Cook's Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, and to a lesser extent, Cook's Country. The recipies, for the most part are stellar. One or two haven't worked, but the vast majority of them have. I've learned a lot of how, and more importantly, a lot of why to go with the how. However, there's one small, but persistent bone that I have to pick with them. Their ingredients lists. Every so often, I get jazzed to make something, only to find, one or more of their preferred ingredients are hard to procure locally. This really perplexes me, especially since, their test kitchens are about 30 mins away from me. Presumably, I'm able to shop where they do, but yet, I'm not finding what they like the best. Right now? It's Callebaut. They did chocolate and cocoa taste testing, and apparently, Callebaut rated by far the highest. I looked everywhere for both the 60% chocolate, as well as for their dutch processed cocoa, and nada. Zip. Grrrrrrrr. Only after this search did I realize that the cocoa is apparently only avail via mail order. Grrrrr. Not sure about the 60% chocolate. That may be at some other Whole Foods than where I usually shop.
Another product I'm having trouble locating? Boar's Head prepared horseradish. I even went to Cardullo's for both that and the chocolate, but no dice.
Thankfully, I have a few days left to shop for replacements, but still...a royal PITA. |
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| Sign of the Dove: Facebook |
[Nov. 23rd, 2009|01:03 pm] |
We opened 6 November, and it was a smashing success! That night we took in a little over $2k, and I sold 3 pieces...wooooo!
This year, we left Cambridge for Newton. I was bummed, but really Cantabridgians just weren't buying our stuff. There's just too much competition in Harvard Sq, and that basement was such a PITA.
Now we've got a fabu space in the Mall at Chestnut Hill. It's a nice space, but the commute is a little sucky for me. Sales have been fairly brisk, seems we are about $3k above where we were last year at this point in the season.
If you're in need of a gift, do check us out, there's plenty of lovely items for sale, hand crafted by local artisans. Also, if you get a chance, check us out on facebook!
facebook.com/signofthedoveartisans |
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| Are You Being Shagged? |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|08:39 pm] |
OK, this is probably totally old hat, but it was just forwarded to me by a friend and damn if I didn't crack up. The take on Miss Slocombe is dead on. "My pussy was frozen solid, and by pussy, I mean my ......"
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| My stock is rising, despite myself |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|06:58 pm] |
Wow, it's been ages since my last posting. I've been too busy living life to post about it. So much has happened, and each category will get its own post eventually.
In a nutshell:
- I have a new job
- Things are looking up in the romance dept
- Sign of the Dove is now open for the season in a new location
The first two, things just fell into my lap-almost no effort on my part. Apparently, most other people think I'm fabulous, despite whatever dark thoughts I might harbor about myself....
More to follow...... |
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| Awesome manicotti with a fish surprise. |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|10:48 am] |
OMG, just made the most awesome manicotti from Cook's Illustrated this week. The most amazing part? This recipe included anchovies-and I absolutely hate fish.
The dish is baked manicotti puttanesca. Now, I once made their spaghetti puttanesca, which also includes anchovies. I think like 3 fillets, minced. Now, that last attempt, I used anchovy past and it was wretched. Holy crap. Apparently that was my mistake and anchovy paste is just foul. Period. Cook's, actually has some recommendations for anchovies, and tops on their list was Ortiz, imported from Spain. They're possibly one of the most expensive on the market, but I figured if I didn't like them, I could easily pass them off to my mom that loves them. I discovered from a thai dish I once made, that quality fish product is key. It really enhances the dish. First time I made this thai dish, I used whatever fish sauce I found, and it was nasty, the dish was nasty. Then I did a little research online, discovered what brands to find, used a better one, the dish was spectacular.
These 'chovies are pretty fancy, so fancy that they come with a small fork. When I got them home, I opened the jar and immediately took a sniff. Wow. They smelled fishy, which is not a plus for me, but very mild, like tuna. Tuna is about the only fish that I can stomach. Once I minced them with garlic, they started to smell pretty wonderful and cooked up like a dream.
The manicotti method is really easy, and works like a charm. You use no boil lasagna noodles, softened, and roll up the filling. The filling includes capers and kalamata olives (love those)
Seriously, this dish rocks!
( Baked Manicotti Puttanesca )
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| a hair don't |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|06:45 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | fashion, hair | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | CafeNation | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "To Sir with Love" - Susanna Hoffs | ] |
Now, to some, I hardly have room to talk about bad hair. However, as much as some might revile my hair, I spotted a male 'do even worse than mine. Shaggy, below the ear length, with a comb over. What, that's not all. It was dyed matt black. Doesn't sound so bad? Here's the coup de grace...at least 2 inch white roots. Yes. There's more denial there than in a plastic surgeon's office. To me, the funniest part? The white roots cancel out the comb over. I mean, really. A comb over is supposed to hide thinning hair. However, dark hair with light roots? Gives the illusion of thinning hair. I remember, years ago, seeing some goth boy with long black hair in the mall. I did a double take...his hair looked thinning. He looked like he had alopecia. Then it hit me. He wasn't a cancer victim, just a fashion victim. He had dyed what appeared to be flaxen hair jet black. However, since his roots were more than an inch long, it looked like his hair was falling out. From a distance, his flaxen hair looked flesh tone. It was really freaky.
With the longish comb over/dye job/roots look, we've got a mess going on. I'm all for alt hair dos, but I wanted to ambush this due, and slap his face, Cher style, and yell "Snap outta it!" At the very least, maintain your color. Even if you can't afford to go to a stylist every 4-6 weeks, learn to maintain your own color, damn it! If you can't afford the upkeep, go natural!
Debbie Harry called, she said Blondie was going on tour, and she needed her hair back. |
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| I'm not wild about Harry |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|09:14 pm] |
I was going through my old vinyl collection recently and there were a couple of albums I was looking at that I so badly wanted to like, but just don't. The first is Rockbird, a solo album by Debbie Harry. Now, I've always been crazy about Blondie, but her solo stuff has always left me cold. Not sure why, but it's never grabbed. There's something so not interesting. Anyway, I remember French Kissing in the USA had been released as a single at the time, and while the song's pleasant enough, it just sorta lies there.
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| My goodness, what an amazing set of Honkers! |
[Oct. 12th, 2009|07:24 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | art, music | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 1800 House | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | creative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "That Bangle Girl" - Robbie Fulks | ] |
Geeeez, I guess I should have paid closer attention to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lilas 's recent blog....
So, last night, sprung free from work and not wanting to take the Green Line home....for obvious reasons. Primarily, the Green Line passes right through the heart of the beast....Kenmore Sq. Last night was not a fun time to be in that area-Red Sox got their tight little asses handed to them on a silver platter by a bunch of Angels. Hell, I think it was worse than any ass whoopin' The Guardian Angels ever administered in Boston.
So, since Sundays are difficult public transit-wise, I figured Plan B would work. I'd hop on at South Station and take the red line to Harvard Sq and then grab a bus home. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy....what could possibly go wrong?
Plenty, it seems. I ascended from the depths of Cambridge, hitting the waning daylight. Immediately, I saw throngs and a cacophony assaulted my ears. WTF?
Seems I forgot that Oktoberfest was happening yesterday, and this included Honk Fest. Ooopsie! Not that it was a problem. The brass bands were excellent. Apparently this is an annual gathering of marching bands from across the country. It was a good time. There was good street food, and an overabundance of scruffy leftist eye candy! There was some good talent there as well, and two particular bands stood out for me. The Pink Puffers and The Second Line. The bands were great. Of course, I felt a little longing. I wished I had studied a cooler instrument when I was a schoolboy. Orchestra nerds are so much less cooler than band geeks. They were really rocking out....I was envious..
However, the downside, how the #$% was I gunna get home?? The bus I wanted, the 66 was rerouted. What a pita. I ended up waiting over 30 mins for one. I decided to just sod it and grab a 86. I wanted to take care of a few things before heading back to the apt, but I decided to take a bus that was actually showing up AND it runs closer to my swinging bachelorette pad.
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| Damn you, Dell!!! |
[Oct. 10th, 2009|08:00 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | computer | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | CafeNation | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | angry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Ballroom Blitz" - The Sweet | ] |
ARRRRGH!
Crapped on by Dell, yet again.
My first laptop, I received as a gift at the end of 2005, a dell. Almost 2 years to the day, the LCD screen backlight pooped out. The machine still works, but there's no screen. When I called Dell, they wanted $450 UP FRONT for me to send it back and them to fix it. f**k them.
Beginning of 2008, as a Birthday gift, I get another laptop, a Dell. For the most part, all seems right with the world. Now, less than two years after I've rec'd it. There's a problem with the keyboard. 8 keys have shorted out: 4, 5, r, t, f, g, v, and b. None work at all. ARGH! Looks like my keyboard's shorting out. Fantastic.
In this case, apparently there's a relatively cheap and easy fix. The Inspiron 1525 is designed so the owner can swap out the keyboard. I'm happy that I can potentially fix this myself, but not happy that I have to do so. The cost of the new keyboard, about $15-40, depending on where I procure it.
However, there's a catch. While doing a dry run, I decide to try and check the keyboard connection. perhaps something's lose? So I turn off the power, remove the battery, unscrew the back, pop off the front piece, and then unscrew the keyboard. So far, all good. I get the first screw off, then go for the second one. It won't come out. GACK! The screw turns, but it won't screw out. So now I'm screwed, figuratively and literally. Seems I can't swap out my keyboard, it wasn't assembled correctly. And, since it's over a year old, it's not under warranty.
GOD DAMNED IT!
So there, stay the fuck away from Dell, NEVER get a Dell. If you do? Make sure you purchase an extended warranty 'cause no one will touch your computer but them and they will charge you through the nose UP FRONT. |
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| Bad Poets Society!!! |
[Oct. 6th, 2009|10:57 pm] |
OK, it's official, we've got a date, time and place for The Bad Poets Society. All you local peeps, do try and attend, it really is a fun time.
here are the details:
Yes!
The rumors ARE true!!
The Hub's most notorious poetry event returns to Cambridge with yet another collection of inept idylls, odious odes and preposterous poesy!
This year the Bad Poets Society will feature the master-works of Julia Moore America’s own “Bard of the Banal” among other examples of ghastly doggerel and laughable lyrics from sundry aspirants to poetic decrepitude!
The Bad Poets Society commences on Friday October 23rd at 8pm, in the Spiegel Auditorium 56 Brattle Street in Harvard Square Cambridge, admission $5 (cheap!).
"October IS Bad Poetry Month! Tell a Friend!"
Now in our tenth utterly inexplicable year of genteel artistic torpor.
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| Be afraid....be very afraid.... |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|11:08 pm] |
Pardon my ignorance, but I only recently found out this existed....and I'm a little freaked out. Once upon, in the mythical land called The 80's, there was a restaurant chain called Showbiz Pizza, or something like that. Now, I am from that mythical land, and it was nothing I was ever exposed to. Nor was I ever taken to its sister company Chuck E. Cheese. I think at the time they were either midwest things, or my parents were too big snobs to deign to nosh at such a place. That said, I guess at Showbiz Pizza, there used to be an animatronic floor show. Life sized. Called Rock Afire Explosion. Fine, I can understand this. Apparently, there's a cult following for this floor show, and someone's acquired a whole set, and has refurbished it, AND, has reprogrammed it and revoxed it with more contemporary music. Here are a couple of the vids:
and
I really have no words to explain or describe this. Personally, the second one is the scarier of the two. *shudder*
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| Nuclear Family A'Go-Go! |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|10:00 pm] |
apropos of absolutely nothing. Just saw this fun retro commercial and had to post it. enjoy! Back from a time when "chemical", "synthetic", and "plastic" weren't dirty words. Back when the hippest fashion houses in NY and Europe were using polyester for their mod and futuristic designs- Courrèges, Paraphernalia, Paco Rabanne, Pucci...the list goes on. Damn you, Rachel Carson!
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| The "Naked" Truth.... (revised, slightly |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|06:26 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | art, nudity, photography | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Strawberry Alarm Clock-"Incense And Peppermints" | ] |
July, 1997. I was playing hooky from work that day. I was still working for The Bank-for those of you who don't know me that well, I used to work for The First National Bank of Boston in the accounts payable department. I think I was playing hooky because I had to take delivery of my new mattress and box spring. That was the year I finally upgraded from my teen-aged twin mattress and box spring to a full sized bed.
After having taken delivery, I needed new bed linens. I had found a set that I really liked, "Bordeaux" by Croscill-I had seen them at Bed and Bath (I think the Beyond came later...) The closest one I knew of was on Newbury Street at that time. So off I went.
I alighted from the subway, exiting from the Newbury Street exit, as opposed to the Mass Ave side. I'm walking down the street and someone grabs my arm and I think said something like "excuse me." Uh oh! I've been busted! Someone from work's spotted me! I stiffen. I turn and a man asks me, invites me to his photo shoot. It seems that he's trying to gather a group of people to pose naked on the steps of the Boston Public Library for an art project he was working on. Some photo essay, snapping group nudes in every state of the union. I respectfully decline. I'm not about to show my nakedness out in public, no, but thank you for asking. Of course, it's not about me, he needs bodies, I'm sure.
A day or two later, there's an item about it in The Boston Globe. Hmmm, cool.
Fast forward to 2000. I start to hear that I was seen on HBO. Huh? Some show about some dude shooting nudes? Wha...? Then it snaps into place. I suddenly remember my experience from '97. That guy. I don't even remember his face, I don't remember there having been a camera. Turns out, that guy is photographer Spencer Tunick and Boston was one of the first stops for his project to photograph a nude tableau in every state in the US. Apparently, I was filmed respectfully declining that invite. Apparently, this was in rotation, every few months, someone would recognize me, that they saw me on HBO the other night. I didn't realize that this was a stand alone deal, I conflated it with HBO's "Real Sex" series.
So that's the story. To this day, I still haven't seen this documentary. I just know that I'm in it. Judging from a later experience disrobing in public, which ended badly for me and my ego, I think I made a sound choice not to have taken part.
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| Skiddoo! |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|06:01 pm] |
An early birthday gift for ursomniac. This is the trailer for a cult movie called "Skidoo!". Otto Preminger's lesser known later films. I still haven't seen it, but it's supposed to be quite the trip...The trailer has Dr. Timothy Leary...'nuff said.
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| I've been spotted... |
[Sep. 25th, 2009|09:06 pm] |
Random weirdness in life. So, I'm in one of my fave hangouts, a cafe in Allston (not CafeNation, a different place on Harvard Ave.) Just sitting here with my laptop chilling out, watching last night's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (awesome, by the by...but I digress.) So I'm just hanging out. I'm right by a picture window on the street, and since I have the attention span of a brain damaged goldfish sometimes, I often get distracted by passers by. I happened to notice one dude breeze by. Kinda cute, but nothing to stop watching Doc Robbins over. Suddenly, I look up, said dude is at my table. I'm a little...uh? Then he excitedly asks me if we're doing Bad Poets Society this year. I answer yes, and he literally jumps a little with squee and bounces out. That was very odd, I don't think I've been spotted on the street in a long time-not since I was in Brigadoon at The Boston Conservatory. Not since everyone seems to tell me they saw me in an episode of Real Sex on HBO (apparently there is footage of me in an episode, long story....)
Kinda cool!
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| Bad Accents |
[Sep. 24th, 2009|06:51 pm] |
Wow, this commercial just started playing in the New England media market lately. The joke being a New England pop-quiz. OK, the quiz and answers are cute. However, these are some of the worst regional accents I've heard in a long time. Is it me, or do these dudes sound like they're Australian????
Don't get me wrong, I'm not offended that we're being pandered to and I can laugh at the clichés being espoused-I mean, the only thing missing is a Red Sox cap. I'm just offended by those accents. Dan Castallenta's Mayor Quimby character has a better accent.
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| State of the Art |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|11:09 pm] |
Yesterday was South End Open Studios in Boston. This year I was less in the mood than in the past, but it was a nice day out. I mostly go to support my friends, but only one actually has a studio there-the talented and fabulous Darrell Finnegan-potter par excellence. Seriously, his work is unbelievably gorgeous. Some of his forms are so sensual, and others have a fun, surreal angularity-like a jack in the box. My friend L- and I visited his studio on Tremont St, and we chatted a bit. The best part? While we were chatting, some rich dude and his young Asian boyfriend were buying Darrell's stuff like it was a fire sale. Wooo!
Since I wasn't in the mood to do the whole South End studios, we just stuck to 551 Tremont. There was good, bad and mediocre art. Sadly, I didn't take notes, so I can't recall everything. One of the most amazing work I saw, this woman took whole segments of birch bark and covered the insides with gold leaf, 24k, rose gold, and white gold. The effect was just luminous-golden, rosy, and silvery light shining from within the white curled bark. Of course, there was another person there taking pictures. Bad! Bad art viewer! For all you n00bs out there? It's considered bad form to take pics in an artist's studio without their OK. Said artist? She scolded the shutterbug.
There were other works that I liked. One artist, Miriam Shenitzer, an illustrator. She had a series called minimal pairs. She would pair and illustrate words like "Squid" and "ID" with minimalist illustrations. Another artist, she hand stitched together used tea bags and embroidered them, to make unique tapestries.
I would have seen more, but I was a bit enervated.
While, I was talking to Darrell, he said he'd try and see if he can't get me a teaching gig at MIT. I'd really like that. This isn't an actual teaching gig, per se, it's more a student extra curricular course. I miss teaching.
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| Saturday Night Funnies |
[Sep. 19th, 2009|09:56 pm] |
OK, since I found Tracey Ullman Show clips posted on Youtube, I've been watching some of my old faves. This one is perhaps my all time fave. It's brilliant, and Glenn Close's character borders on character assassination. Her Virginia is a dead on take on a post stroke Bette Davis. Tracey's character is a great take on Kate Hepburn. Also, this sketch has true heart, it's not just bitchy sniping between two old movie legends.
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| I love coffee |
[Sep. 19th, 2009|09:04 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | coffee, food | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 1800 House | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Cars driving up and down Comm Ave | ] |
Saturday morning, me and my coffee. Bliss.
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curious
blah
bouncy
scared