popplers

Weekend update

Busy weekend, but lots of fun. Friday night was a flurry of gathering and car-packing, followed by yummy dolsot bibim bop and ginger tea at Little Pusan. Saturday morning dawned (not-so-)bright and (all-too-)early. Fortified by lattes (thank you, Barista-Man), Sean and I piled into the WRX and made our way to the shores of Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Webster, MA for the start of TALCAR XXXII. We arrived early, finished decorating the car, met the neighbors, and registered Team Krusty.

The route took the intrepid Team Krusty from Webster, MA through Foster, RI and into northeastern CT (Pomfret, Woodstock, Chaplin, etc.) on nice, windy roads (paved and dirt) through farm country. We got lost during Leg 1 and weren't able to make up the time because we were stuck behind another rallyer with no place to pass. (He didn't make it easy on us by pulling over to the shoulder and letting us "play through".) Didn't get lost on Leg 2 or 3, but I don't really have a feel for how we did, time-wise. We placed 21st in a field of 40-something, which is not bad for seat-of-the-pants rallyeing with no TSD calculations. (They hand you the route instructions at the start line. We didn't even have a stopwatch with us this year, so it was very laid back.)

Arrived at our final destination (the Charlie Brown Campground) around 3 p.m. We had plenty of time (and daylight) left, so we did a grocery run and bought stuff to cook on the grill and s'mores fixings. Enjoyed our celebratory beer and the miscellaneous goings-on. We were quite surprised when the rallye organizers announced that everyone had completed the rallye by 7 p.m., in daylight, and that no one had opened a Lost envelope— success! Stayed until the awards ceremony, then lit out for home. We hadn't brought camping gear, and Sean was still fighting off a cold. Home in Maynard by 9:30 p.m., and asleep by 10:30 p.m.

Didn't set the alarm for Sunday a.m., and had a bit of a lie-in. Made a huge omelet for breakfast with lots of chipotle salsa and plaid cheddar. Sufficiently fortified by eggs and strong coffee, we washed the car (in the rain) and set off for Northampton. Weather was icky, as was the traffic— several accidents on 495, and a really bad one on 90, made for incredibly slow going until we got out past the 84 interchange. The weather cleared as we hit Springfield, and the afternoon was actually quite nice. Did a little shopping and browsing, then headed over to Green Street Cafe for an early dinner.

I was somewhat concerned, as there were quite a few unfavorable reviews posted on various sites. Most said that the food was excellent, but that the service and/or attitude (especially from the restaurant owner) was horrible. We figured that it's been at least 4 years since we last ate there, so we were crossing our fingers that it hadn't changed hands or gone downhill. I'm happy to say that our fears were unfounded; the service was attentive and dinner was slow-paced (in a nice, unhurried sort of way). We had time to talk and enjoy the food and wine and company. We arrived just after they opened for the evening, and started off with a nice bottle of wine and their baguettes with butter and tapenade. For a starter, I ordered the house-cured salmon with eggplant, which was served up on a bed of mixed greens with a light drizzle of olive oil. It was amazing. Dinner was an order of mussels with saffron. I was expecting them to be cooked in a broth, but they were swimming in a heavenly cream-based sauce laced liberally with saffron. Chris's Sri Lankan vegetable stew was spicy and delicious, and Burl ordered the catch of the day (red snapper). Dessert was an old favorite: chocolate pot de creme.

We polished off the wine, and walked out into the rain. Arrived at the Iron Horse in time to catch the last few minutes of the opening act, Lenelle Moise. Erin McKeown played an energetic, intimate set with a good mix of crowd faves and new material. She came out for two encores (appropriately enough, La Petite Mort was the final encore) and we all went home happy.

A trip report, in lists

Three things that I like about Midwest Air:

1. Extremely comfortable, leather Recaro seats with adjustable footrests. The aircraft was a Boeing 717 with only 4 seats across, so you're either next to the window or on the aisle— no getting scrunched in the middle.
   
2. The crossword puzzle in their in-flight magazine was from Games Magazine.
   
3. No packets of peanuts. Instead, they give each passenger two still-warm chocolate chip cookies.

Three things that I love about staying in a hotel:

1. Fluffy white towels.
   
2. Someone else makes the bed.
   
3. Trying out the tiny little bottles of shampoo and conditioner. This hotel stocked a Bath & Body Works orange-ginger concoction that made my hair smell like Lemon Pledge. I actually kind of like the smell of Lemon Pledge, so this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just odd. (Note: unlike many other trips, I didn't bring the half-used bottle home to use up.)

Three things that didn't particularly impress me about this hotel:

1. Toothpaste splotch from previous guest still in sink. Ick.
   
2. No Comedy Central (and, therefore, no Daily Show).
   
3. Guest, one floor below, playing what sounded for all the world like in-room paddle-ball at 10:30 p.m. WTF?

Three excellent restaurants, and what I had for dinner at each one:

1. Plaza III Steakhouse (Kansas City, MO): Grilled Atlantic salmon, Lyonnaise potatoes, fresh asparagus (steamed), and sauteed mushrooms in seasoned butter. Wine: a very nice Australian red. I didn't order it, so I don't remember what it was. Dessert: crème anglais with fresh berries.
   
2. The Melting Pot (Kansas City, MO): Cheddar cheese fondue (served with raw veggies, Granny Smith apples, and pumpernickel and white bread cubes), mushroom salad (with Parmesan Italian dressing), Mojo Fondue (a vegetable broth seasoned with garlic, orange juice, and lime juice) - Seaside option (lobster, shrimp, scallops, ahi tuna, salmon, portobello mushroom). The Mojo/ Seaside fondue is served with veggies (red bliss potatoes, yellow squash, broccoli, mushrooms) and a plethora of sauces: "angry cocktail sauce" (lots of horseradish), curry yogurt sauce (fantastic with the lobster and shrimp), teriyaki (didn't try it), barbecue sauce (it is Kansas City, after all), herbed butter, a sour cream/ chive-y concoction (good with the potatoes and mushroom caps), and a port/ gorgonzola dressing. Beer: Boulevard Wheat. Dessert: chocolate fondue (of course!) with a splash of Chambord… served with pineapple, strawberries, bananas, brownie chunks, marshmallows, pound cake, and (saints preserve us!) cheesecake. Mooo.
   
3. Bristol Bar & Grill (Leawood, KS): Excellent hot biscuits. Beer: Guinness. Sampled appetizers including bruschetta, lump crab cakes (heavy on the crab), calamari fried with jalapeños and carrots, remoulade sauce. Grilled tuna (seared on the outside, cool on the inside— perfect), served with roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed asparagus. Dessert: chocolate birthday cake.

Three books that I read during my trip:

1. Simon Clark's Vampyrrhic: I'm not a big Anne Rice fan, but this was gory, creepy, smutty vampire fun. A good airplane read.
   
2. John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise: John Hodgman was recently on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (clip available at areasofmyexpertise.com). He is a very funny man, and he has written a very funny book. I think his style of writing is contagious: this "writing in lists" thing is a lot of fun.
   
3. Ruth Reichl's Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table: I really want to like this book more than I do. I'm having difficulty identifying with (or sympathizing with) any of the characters so far. But it is an interesting story, and I loved reading about Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. Recipes are interwoven within the chapters, and I very much want to make Dottie's Spinach.

Three nice things about coming home:

1. The view from the airplane as you fly into Logan, especially around sunset.
   
2. Sleeping in your own bed. Cliché, but it's true.
   
3. Staying home, drinking tea, and watching the snow fall, instead of being stuck in an airport in the midwest.

Music review and road trip

Last weekend, Chris and I took the S2000 and headed into New Hampshire. It was sunny and in the 50s (although it grew steadily colder as we drove north). We went to a concert at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH. The theatre opened in the 1920s as a vaudeville theatre, and later became a movie house and concert hall. It fell on hard times, but was beautifully restored in the mid-90s.

The opening act was The Mammals, a folk/ bluegrass/ newgrass band. They started off with a spirited rendition of Hangman's Reel, then shifted gears hard with their surreal cover of Richard Thompson's 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. Picture, if you will, the song being performed by the Kingston Trio with Margot Timmins (of Cowboy Junkies) on vocals. Or listen to this snippet. The rest of their performance was quite good, with lots of spirited jamming and folk-rock goodness.

Arlo Guthrie was touring with his son Abe and friend Gordon Titcomb. The show was a fun mix of storytelling, songs, and lengthy digressions. Arlo told an amusing story about Bob Dylan coming to visit his father, and followed it up with Mr. Tambourine Man. They played all the hits that you'd expect: Coming Into Los Angeles, Darkest Hour, City of New Orleans, and of course, Alice's Restaurant. The Mammals came back on stage for several of the songs, including a singalong version of This Land is Your Land.

After the show, we (and about 50 other concert-goers) headed over to Hermanos Cocina Mexicana for dinner. Chris and I started off with Melissa's Chipotle Dip (served with veggies and blue corn chips), which was quite yummy (and somewhat healthier than the usual nachos and salsa appetizer). I ordered the veggie Enchilito. I should have ordered the veggie & bean one instead— it was a little too much like a salad rolled up in a tortilla. Chris ordered Bruce's Chimichanga, which rocked. The desserts were fantastic, but we should have split one. After eating the Mexican chocolate pecan pie and a banana chimichanga, we needed to call the paramedics. We rolled to our car and headed for home.

Warm up the Volvo

In an event that rivals the opening of a Krispy Kreme, Ikea finally comes to Massachusetts (Stoughton) on November 9! Only 49 days to 99¢ Swedish breakfast! Mmmm… lingonberries.

British invasion

While going through the paperwork that had been in the del Sol, I found a random fax from my former insurance agent, listing the VIN # for my old MGB. We loves Google:

the Yellow Peril

It looks like it got totally repainted somewhere along the line; the color looks "off" to me. Sadly, the side stripes (one of the car's most distinctive & best features!) are gone. Also gone are the black rubber bumpers (standard for 1979 model year US cars)— replaced with chrome. Here is what it looked like when I owned it, complete with stripes, rubber bumpers, spoked wheels. The color still doesn't look quite right in the second photo; this is a little closer to the Inca Yellow that I remember.

Amazingly, the car only has 84,000 on the odometer. It had 69,575 miles back on June 29, 1995 (different random piece of paperwork)!

p.s. Ugh. Someone mounted the atrocious luggage rack to the boot. My mechanic at the time (Bob Nicholson, Brittanic Motors) advised against installing the rack because mounting it involves drilling 4 holes in the trunk, which = 4 more places for leaks to occur. <sigh>

Yow! A follow-up to Zippy

I meant to write about this over the weekend, but it got away from me. Despite the pouring rain and gusting wind, I did make it to That's Entertainment in Worcester for Free Comic Book Day. It's a great store— all kinds of comics, action figures, posters, toys, and what-not. (Lots of what-not.)

Bill Griffith was there, and he signed my copy of his new book: From Here to Absurdity. I also got to meet Richard J. S. Gutman and chat with him briefly. I asked him if he had a favorite diner, and he said the Mayfair. After looking at this photo, I can see why. Happily, he will be curating an exhibit this summer at the Culinary Archives & Museum at Johnson & Wales, Providence, RI. Now that the weather's getting nice, take a road trip and check out Diners: Still Cooking in the 21st Century. Don't forget to stop at Jigger's.

More Philly

Just a quick comment about the hotel where I stayed: Loews Philadelphia. Based on some of the reviews at tripadvisor.com, I was a little worried about what I would find when I arrived. But I was pleasantly surprised— the PSFS Building is extremely cool. (That site has great pix of the lobby and SoleFood restaurant, too.)

It was built in 1932 by Howe & Lescaze, and is considered one of the first modern skyscrapers. For more pix and historical info, check out:

• B&W photo from 1932
  
• the "marquee" as seen from Market Street
  
• A View on Cities
  
• Philadephia Architects and Buildings
  
• Great Buildings Online

S2000

Well, I was going to take a lot of pix of the new car and post them here over the weekend, but things didn't exactly go as planned. However, this car is practically identical (and there are lots of pix) and you can buy it! The main difference that I can see is that my car doesn't have the Honda "H" logo on the nose and tail— it has a mostly black "S" logo. Oddly, numerous Google searches don't turn up any pictures of the aforementioned "S". So, I guess that I will have to get the camera out this weekend.

Altered States

This is pretty cool— you can create your own personalized map of the USA. Here are the states that I've been to (not counting states that I've driven through while en route to other states, nor states in which I've had a stopover but never left the airport):

Across the pond

I didn't write a real trip report for my recent London visit (wasn't much time for non-work-related events). But I did take some photos, and I've scrawled a few random musings. Enjoi.

The Pad Thai that ate Bangkok

Thai and foreign chefs cooked the world's biggest Pad Thai outside a shopping mall in Bangkok on Thursday. I am proud to report that we made the world's 15th biggest Pad Thai last night, in Maynard. In spite of it being the 15th biggest, there aren't a lot of leftovers-- we were hungry.

The World's Biggest Ketchup Bottle (and other really big things) are featured in USA Today.

Rail Baron

Baltimore has some truly amazing buildings. Just around the corner from the hotel is a beautiful structure, which I just researched (yay, Google!). It is apparently the Baltimore Trust Company Building, which was built in 1929. It is #8 on this list: Built To Last: Ten Enduring Landmarks of Baltimore’s Central Business District.

This morning, I was looking for a quick breakfast and walked by the B&O Railroad Company Headquarters Building (#9 on the list above). It's breathtaking (and the tiny little photos on the web site don't do it justice)-- I'm kicking myself because I didn't bring the digital camera on this trip. More information is available in this excerpt from the Historic American Buildings Survey (Acrobat Reader required).

Saw an interesting-looking tower during the cab ride back to the hotel. I wish that I had more time to wander. So many things to explore: the B & O Railroad Museum, the American Dime Museum, the streetcar museum, the nation's official dental museum (is it safe?), and many, many more…

"Persons of artistic accomplishment"

Visited the Peabody Essex Museum last night for the first time in several years. The newest show, entitled Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile, opens tomorrow, and the Japan Society and the museum hosted an event to preview the exhibition. (Online exhibition is probably nifty, but requires Flash.) Watched a Discovery Channel documentary on the life of the geisha, noshed on some dessert, and enjoyed looking at photographs, paintings, kimonos, and more.

The Peabody Essex (or PEM, as it's now known (yes, they hired someone to rebrand their image, and their new MoMA-style bit of pretension includes the italicized M in the logo) looks really good. I know that they've poured a ton o' money into revitalizing the museum, and the galleries and exhibits look terrific. I'm looking forward to heading up again so that I can see the Chinese wood-block print exhibition Men Plow, Women Weave.

Mai tai

Chris has been searching for the Ultimate Mai Tai, and apparently it's right here in our back yard. I can't wait to visit the Tiki Lagoon.