NYC

Wow, what a week! KJ is out!! YESSSSSS!!! I have been waiting for this day for so long. I can barely remember what it was like before him but I can't wait to find out what it's like when he's gone. Get lost, creep!

 

I had a brief trip to New York last week. I pretty much forgot to take pictures, probably because my battery was often low. I packed a lot into a couple of days. I should remember that short trips to New York are ok. You can take that Jet Blue nonstop and it's not that far, and you can do so much in 2-3 days. I walked the High Line with Gballs, brunched with Chapstick, went to the sprawling, overstuffed Jim Shaw show at the New Museum (great review here), went to Grand Central Oyster Bar which is pretty much on my top ten of best places. Had a cannoli at Fortunato Bros, a bastion of Italian-American, unhipsterfied Williamsburg.

 

At Grand Central I had the New York-to-the-max server guy pick me out some raw ones, and my favorite (which I ordered two more of) was the Belon, which is large and flat. Then I had a cherrystone clam pan roast. I didn't know exactly what pan roast is, but it's a delectable soup/stew, cream-based, with chile and paprika, some big, chewy clams, and a piece of toast in the middle. I asked how it was so delicious and he said the recipe was from 1913. That's the kind of answer I like! I had it with an ice-cold martini made from Green Hook Ginsmith's American Dry Gin. I need to get a bottle. It was served in a teeny martini glass with a little carafe of "extra" on the side. I was in absolute heaven.

 

On Saturday night !!! were having an album release party on Avenue A and I stayed up all night there, well I slept from 4-5 am at my airbnb, and then headed to the airport. That's how you maximize two days in New York!

 

 

Shirkin' not workin'

I'm shirking work today because it's Friday and I have three meetings to look forward to. I just turned in a piece I wrote for a safety newsletter and it referenced a gripping document called "Why didn't the custodian pick up my trash?". See, I am still a "creative". HATE that term. Too many "creatives" not enough people with real skills. I myself have no real skills so I shouldn't talk.

I had a beer at Empress last night that I knew nothing about and it was fucking great. It is brewed by Grimm Artisanal Ales (?) and it's called Rainbow Dome. It's a hazy apricot sour aged in oak barrels and dry hopped. Hopped sours are hard but when it's done right they're my fave. Cuvee de champions from Cantillon is in my top 5 favorite beers. And it's only 5% ABV which makes me even more confused about how I got so drunk last night. Had a Bike Dog Mosaic and a Thornbridge Jaipur at Pangaea last night (the Jaipur is 10% but it was a tulip) and then the Rainbow Dome. At that point I started to gush about Smiller because I miss him because he's in SoCal for work (getting hella instagram props and hashtags from beer bros). Then I went up to Thiemann and drank a swig out of his glass of Wild Turkey without asking. Nice move, rudenik! Split the burger at Pangaea and it is indeed the bomb and comes with McDonald's-esque fries (which is a good thing). Had a bite of the fried chicken and greens and I will be getting that sometime. Then scarfed up a pumpkin bon bon and nutty cone from Gunther's and off to Empress. Oh yeah, and I ate a Parker House roll. Those smell incredible. I love Empress so much.

The two flavors of the month at Gunther's are pumpkin (meh) and licorice, which is insane. It is dark green and tastes like eating a frond on an anise plant (is that what those are called?) or Fernet or something. I didn't want more than a sample because it's so strong but now I can't stop thinking about it.

KJ's shitbaggery, explained

You have to go 20 minutes into this Deadspin podcast (titled "Kevin Johnson's shitbaggery, explained) for them to start talking about KJ (although I ended up listening to the first 20 minutes which was a pretty funny dissection of a recent choking incident in baseball), but it's worth checking out. For some reason they did not bring in McKenna, the Deadspin reporter who is an expert on KJ, and it's obvious they don't have much more than a passing acquaintance with the scandal. It's painful to realize that as a concerned citizen I am forced to be an expert in KJ's Machiavellian dealings and general sleaziness. They get the outlines pretty much right and throw in a shoutout to the SNR in the end and a funny dismissal of KJ's "heroic" saving of the Kings. They marvel at how KJ has not been brought down by his many, many scandals and conclude that if he was mayor of New York or another, more prominent politician he'd be long gone. It's true, all Weiner did was send a dick pic!