Notes from above ground

• When you are talking, loudly, in a restaurant, about your philosophy concentration, think about where you are for a second.  There may be people who understand that you are being more than a little fraudulent.
• Oh, and when talking about your blog, do not mention that it is the best blogging platform of 2001.  Or do.  It made me giggle.
• The return of a couple of series this autumn has been like a warm emotional blanket.  Even though they are completely different formats, it is interesting to watch how How I Met Your Mother and Castle are sharing story lines. (Come on, if you watch either of the programs you know what I am saying.)
• Angry BHO makes me happy.  "It is not class warfare.  It is math."
• Big Blue (AKA The New York Football Giants) won big last night.  With Vick being hurt, I am looking forward to Sunday and football.
• I am moderately irked by technology right now.
• We had Chinese food last night from a place that Justice Scalia enjoys.  I wonder if it is the same type of Chinese (Hunan) food that the Founders intended us to have.

Important Movie Quotes - Wet Hot American Summer

More of you are unfamiliar with this film than are familiar with it.



It is one of those movies that is watchable over and over and it gets better with every viewing...more absurd and funnier.

And look at that cast...

Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Zak Orth, and A.D. Miles

Lamb, Books, & Picnic Baskets

• I finished "Dog Blood" this past weekend.  The author has written a number of things that I have liked but not loved.  In this case, I loved it.  I strongly suggest that you read Hater and then Dog Blood and tell me what you think.  Especially if you have grown tired with some of the tropes of the zombie genre.  This is not a zombie book (oh yes, it is...) but it explores the same themes.  I look forward to the third book of the series (Them or Us) which comes out in about eight weeks.  I mean, if you don't like the genre, I understand...but then why are you reading me?
• On Saturday, HJ77 and I went looking for things to fill a picnic basket.  My suggestion was "Let's head to the Farmers' Market" which HJ77 had offered resistance to before. Now, I know someone like me loving Farmer's Markets is so much of a cliche that it is stuff that white people like. But I do love them...I like fresh, seasonal, local food, and I love tasting new things that I have never had before.  When I think of Farmers' Markets, I think of the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market or the Greenmarkets in New York and I have certain expectations about what as going to be available.  My belief is that you should be able to buy the bulk of your food directly from the producers.  (There is also the thing about buying fresh and raw food as opposed to the boxed crap that most people shovel into their maws, but I understand why my situation, while not being unique, is different.) So, in our quest to fill the aforementioned picnic basket, we headed to the largest Farmers' Market in Rhode Island, the Hope Street Farmers Market.  HJ77 was very happy at the Troy market and she had told me that her's was different.  Because I am an idiot, I thought "How different could it be?" Mainly because Providence is one of those towns that is full of smart people with hippie sensibilities and enough money to demand what they want.  Yeah, I was wrong.  It was not that it was a bad farmers' market it just that it was...small.  I was expecting a literal cornucopia of fresh and local delights and...while there was some of that, there was also a lot of...the same stuff.  We ended up having to go to a...wait for it...Whole Foods to get the rest of the things for the picnic basket.  Ironic, no?
• On Saturday night, HJ77 and I had dinner at Cook & Brown Public House and while I am not going to write up a review (I am sure that HJ77 will over at SugarnSpice.) I wanted to mention a couple of things.  One, the service was incredible. It was just great.  Our table was great too. (I am wondering if it is a Union thing.  HJ77 graduated with the Chef-Owner.  I do not remember him.  I doubt he remembers me.  Maybe that is why the service was great but I doubt it.  I think that they offer this level of service for everyone.) Our appetizer was outstanding.  Lobster makes everything better, no?  Especially when it is cooked well.
  
  Doesn't that look grand?
  
  For the entree, I had the lamb shoulder, which is very good.
  
  Now here is the issue. The difference between very good and incredible comes down to one little thing for me. I love chorizo. It is a wonderful sausage and pork is always good. It also has a distinct flavor. The sauce for the farro salad was finished with chorizo oil and at the end of the meal, that is all that I tasted. Again, not bad but...I was loving the taste of the lamb and relishing what was my first real Autumn meal of the year. The dessert (which HJ77 will talk about) made up for it. If you are around, and can get a reservation, please do check it out. (Oh, as a by the way, the Union alum who is the Chef-Owner is also a James Beard Award winner...that is pretty cool.)
  

Important Movie Quotes - Fletch

Who doesn't like Fletch?

"It's all ball bearings these days"



I may have told various people at certain points of my life to "put my bill on the Underhills' tab."



"What can I say about Fletch?"


"Fred 'The Dorf' Dorfman!"

Games

I like games. Not video games. (Aside from Civilization, I do not really play video games. I understand their novelty, but...I would rather read.) Words games and choice based games.

You know...games like F/M/K (or the heterosexual male version "Bro/Bestman/Kill") but I cam up with a new one the other day and it has been floating around in what used to be my brain for three days. Teacher Dave played it with me (and it took hours) and HJ77 played it as well.

I call it Exile.

Here is the supposition that is at the heart of the game:

You are the enemy of the state. This being a progressive country (and because you are popular), you are not going to be put to death but exiled (for life) to a tropical desert island. On this island, you will have all the media you can want, but once you are cut off from the world, no new media will come along. There is enough good food to last for the rest of your life, plus the ability to grow more food. There is beer and liquor as well as a still and the setup of a microbrewery. You will be given a large five bedroom home with modern amenities and two acres of land that has been cleared for athletic fields and the like (including a driving range and putting green). This is a sweet set up, and one of the nicest prisons imaginable, but make no doubt about it, it is a prison.

And part of your punishment is choose four other people to share your exile. If everything is provided for you, and your life is fairly luxurious, how do you want to spend the rest of your life and who do you want to spend it with?

When thinking about my list, I was considering gender balance, personalities, and the ability to get along (or get over things quickly). I was also considering things like who they had out in the world (meaning: kids? spouse?), whether or not they liked hot weather and beaches and such (strangely, a number of people who I considered, like my brother, hate the beach and heat and everything associated with it. Weird, no?), areas of interests. (I prefer generalists to experts.)

Oh, and if they would have a grudge if I pulled them out of their lives and exiled them with me.

Who would be the four people that you would want with you?

I am still working on my list, I have three out of my four. Apart from my father, my list is private and I am not asking you to publicize yours, but...

Who would you want with you forever and would they forgive you for it? What traits would you value? What is important for you?