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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Frightening Food
No Trans Fats = No Good
Yah, how can Fried Chicken be bad? It's unfathomable.
I really don't know how to sugar coat this so I'm going to give it to you straight.
Kentucky Fried Chicken now Sucks.
I have a sneaking suspicion it's their new No Trans-Fat Oil they use to fry the birds. The result is an underwhelming, no crisp but soggy piece of burnt protein.
fyi - I ordered both the "Original" and "Crispy" and they both were soggy. A major let down.
Corporate, Take Note!!!
Yah, it's probably better for you in the long run, and you have to adhere to government policy, but if you are going to sell Fried Chicken, you better make it damn good. It's your business!
You've had generations of repeat customers come back for more because you gave us a product we couldn't easily make at home at a reasonable cost.
Well, you are now serving us bad fried chicken and any suburban housewife can replicate that.
I'd rather pay more and receive a better, if not great product than being utterly disappointed with a horrible product cause you guys skimped out on the cheap oil.
Either you change your oils to a significantly higher quality No Trans-Fat Oil, or crank up the fryer and rework the flour seasoning to make sure it crisps up better.
What the hell is your Corporate Chef doing? Fire him and hire a new one!
You've already lost one big fan. How many more can you afford to lose everyday?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tomato Sauce and Tomato Soup
Tomato Sauce alla A Voce
On the show, A Voce uses fresh tomatoes, but tomatoes suck now so I used the canned San Marzano's - Italy's best tomatoes. I had a San Marzano can from Costco - so hence the 106 oz can used...you can obviously use less. The key is the tomatoes have to taste real good just plain - pop one in your mouth and it should be slighty sweet and very rich. The sauce will be a revelation on how a tomato sauce should taste - real tomatoes, nothing else - it really helps to strain the juice, since most sauces use the juice which mutes the tomato flavor.
106 oz of canned San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sprig of basil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1) Remove the whole tomatoes and poke a hole with your thumb to let the juice out. Place all the whole tomato pieces in a strainer in a bowl - make sure there's enough room so it strains properly. Let sit for 2 hours.
2) In a small sauce pan, heat olive oil over low heat. Add garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes. After 3-5 minutes, the room will smell like garlic and basil.
3) Remove the strained tomato pieces and place in a pot over high heat. Salt and pepper the tomatoes. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add oil - not all of it, just use your judgment - should probably be about 2-3 tablespoons worth. Stir around and break up most of the pieces. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Taste and re-season if necessary. If you like the consistency and flavor of the sauce, remove from the heat.
Tomato Soup
With the strained tomato juices from the sauce, it made perfect sense to make tomato soup. Make sure to save one or two pieces of tomato to give the soup more body.
106 oz of canned San Marzano Whole Tomatoes, juices only
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 sprig of basil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
toasted white bread cut into cubes
salt and pepper
1) Set a large pot over medium-low heat. Add olive oil and shallots. Saute for 3-5 minutes - make sure it doesn't burn, but just gets soft. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds to one minute.
2) Add tomato juice and a tomato or two to the pot. Bring to a boil then simmer the mixture. Add the parsley and basil and salt and pepper.
3) Simmer for 15-30 minutes until it tastes right and has the correct consistency.
4) Pour the soup mixture in a bowl and add olive oil, the bread cubes, and pesto. Buono appetito!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sushi of Gari
402 E 78th St, New York 10021
Btwn 1st & York Ave
Phone: 212-517-5340
Fax: 212-288-9235
I've been obsessing to go to Sushi of Gari for a while and so Sunday was the day my dreams came true.
My wife and I got a call from a friend from Japan and he invited us to have dinner in the city.
Good sushi was due and we made the call to visit Gari. My first, my wife's third time.
When it comes to sushi, I'm a purist.. and I gotta say, I didn't want to "love it", but it was just that good.
Gari himself wasn't there, but this place definitely gives Sushi Yasuda a run for his money...
Polar-opposites when it comes to the execution of sushi... but like anything good, when you are the best at what you do, you're doing something right.
Sushi of Gari is Extremely PRICEY but well worth the experience.
Therefore unless you print money in your basement, this is a once a year "treat yourself cause you deserve it" kinda place.
As always, at any qualified Sushi joint, the rule of thumb is to go with the Omakase Menu... and so we did.
I was informed (after sneaking in 3 shots) that pictures were not allowed... booooooo.
** - Madai with Salad Greens (vinaigrette sauce with a fried renkon chip)
- Snow Crab with sweat Ponzu
* - Tuna with Grated Daikon and Ponzu
* - Smoked Salmon
*** - Salmon with Roasted Tomato
*** - Toro with Takuwan
** - Mirugai with Sauteed Parsely in Butter
** - Tuna with Tofu Sauce
** - Charred Ika with Uni Sauce
- Kohada with Kabu
- Hirame Ceviche
- Sawara with Mekabu
* - Shima Aji
** - Foie Gras with Daikon
** - Karasumi with Daikon
** - Uni
** - Anago with Sansho Buds
*** - Chu Toro
- Oshinko Maki
* - Aka Miso Soup with Mitsuba & Nameko Mushrooms
* - Robert Mondavi 2002 Chardonnay
$750 later, we walked out happy and full.
Yes, it's a hit to the wallet, but an occasional treat is definitely good for the soul.
Can't wait to go next year.
- Key to the Stars -
* - Great
** - Excellent
*** - Out of this World !!!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Meatballs Extravaganza
That was the question I asked myself 5 minutes before I got to Aramis's place Saturday for a little planned potluck dinner.
Aramis, Mr. Risotto and I each made some kind of meatball dish and brought it over to the eat-fest.
We ate, and ate, and ate... until we couldn't move anymore and found ourselves sitting slouched on a couch as if ready to hibernate for the winter...
All the meatballs came out "excellent". I'm glad we got together and kicked ass with a little home cookin'.
Porthos - Greek Meatballs with Tatziki Sauce
Side Dish: Mac 'n Cheese - Penne with a bechamel/cheese sauce made with Artisanal cheeses (Piave and Roncol)
Aramis - Italian Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
Side Dish: Spaghettini with Garlic, Oil, and Pecorino Romano
Side Dish: Roasted Broccoli
Mr. Risotto - Swedish Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce (subbed for Lingonberries)
Side Dish: Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Mr. Risotto's Bomemade Bread
I still want to dabble with the Chinese "Lion's Head" meatball, Japanese "Tsukune" Chicken meatball, and perhaps some kind of stuffed meatball... One with a cheesy center, or foie gras mousse center core. So when you cut into it, goodness just oozes out onto your knife and fork...
Mmm mmm good I say.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Reason Why I Love Pasta - Pantry Raider
Farfalle with Roasted Broccoli and Croutons
I love roasting broccoli until it gets almost blackened. You really taste the sweetness of the broccoli that way and get a nice roasted flavor. I had some leftover bread, so I toasted up some croutons which added such a nice nuttiness and texture to the overall dish.
1/2 box farfalle
5 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 bunches of broccoli, trimmed and cut into pieces similar in size to the farfalle
extra virgin olive oil
3 slices of multigrain bread (any bread would work)
1) Add olive oil to cover both sides of the bread slices. Toast until crispy. Cut into cubes and add salt and pepper.
2) Set pan to medium high heat and add oil. Add broccoli stems only and add salt and pepper. Turn until sides are really dark brown or almost black. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove stems.
3) Add the broccoli crowns - salt and pepper again. Make these nice and caramelized as well. You can do this method in the oven, but it takes much longer to get it to caramelize. Add garlic and remove from the heat after 1 minute - make sure garlic doesn't burn.
4) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a large handful of salt and throw in the farfalle.
5) Add all the broccoli pieces back to the pan on high heat. Add farfalle to pan when it's almost al dente - 1 minute under the box time. Add a little pasta water (if needed) to loosen up the mixture. Always taste the pasta to make sure it's perfectly al dente.
6) Add farfalle and broccoli to the pan. Add bread crumbs around, top with grated parmiggiano, and finish with more oil.
Linguine Octoberfest
So I was thinking of doing some type of sausage and cabbage thing. When I looked in the fridge, I saw a nice German wheat beer leftover from one of the UFC fights, so I said why the f not. The dish came out great - the beer adds such a rich flavor almost like an intense stock. I added balsamic vinegar cause I was thinking apples and cabbage are usually a good combo. Didn't have any apples, so I added balsamic vinegar to get the sweet sour thang that Italians do love.
1/2 Box Linguine
Some type of Italian Sausage (preferably not from the grocery store)
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
2 boxes Brussel Sprouts
1 bottle of your favorite wheat beer
2 tablesppons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1) Half the brussel sprouts, remove the core, and slice up the sprouts.
2) Add a gallon of hot water to a large pot. When water comes to a boil, add a large handful of salt and the pasta.
3) Set a large pan to medium high heat and add the oil. Brown the sausage on both sides and remove from the heat. When cooled, slice into bite sized portions.
4) In the same pan, add brussel sprouts and sautee with garlic using the sausage fat still in the pan. Salt and pepper. Add maybe 1/2 the bottle of beer (should 1/2 cover the sprouts) and place the sausage back in the pan. Add the vinegar, cover the pan, and finish cooking the sausage, but make sure not to overcook. More beer may need to be added if not the pot, then to your belly.
5) Add the linguine when it's just about al dente. Cook another minute or until the pasta is perfectly al dente.
6) Plate the dish and finish with some oil. Buono appetito or guten appetit!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
After Hours with Daniel: Season 2
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Little Owl - Brunch Review
The Little Owl - Recommended
90 Bedford St, New York 10014
At Grove St
Phone: 212-741-4695
I've been dying to check out The Little Owl since everyone has been raving about it. I was reluctant to go for Brunch though, since I wasn't feeling the brunch menu. Good thing that I acquiesced to the fiancée and stopped by – this place serves a killer brunch. Overall, I give the restaurant an 80/100.
My Menu
1) Poached Eggs – Highly Recommended
2) Mushroom Omelette – Recommended
Dish Comments
1) Perfectly poached eggs, braised greens, hollandaise sauce, and a sausage bun concoction. This dish was wonderful and the richness of the eggs and sauce were cut by the greens. The sausage buns were a little odd, but still good. Even better with the crispy slices of baguette.
2) A perfectly cooked mushroom omelette (reoccurring theme) filled with parmesan cheese and topped with either truffle oil or truffle butter. Such a fluffy omelette and inside are tasty crimini mushrooms. The only thing that I had against this was I wanted a more eggy and creamy taste – which were probably drowned out by the truffles and parmesan. Also, the fact that it came out insanely hot probably didn't help either.
Overall Restaurant Experience (80/100)
- Food 8.5/10 – Perfectly cooked eggs. A great brunch.
- Service 7.5/10 – Food came out very quickly. For some reason though, I didn't like the attitude of the waitress. She came off as a little bitchy. Also, noticed there were some black bits in the milk for the coffee – not cool…
- Atmosphere 7.5/10 – Super tiny place – seats maybe around 20 tops – and it definitely felt a little cramped. We sat at the bar which was nice since you could see the cooks with the open kitchen. Place was filled with a mix of groups of girls, solo eaters, and young and old couples. We got there at 1pm on a Saturday and ate immediately.
- Price 8.5/10 – Place was reasonable for brunch – dishes were around $12. For the quality of the food (and quantity), it was definitely worth the price.
Closing Comments
The dishes were cooked very well, so I'm very curious to see what they can do for dinner – although it's much pricier for dinner – around $25-30 per entrée.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sushi - My Take
People reading this might want to flame me right away - but hear me out first! I think sushi is overrated. Okay, okay; calm down. What I mean is, I feel people eat it to say "I ate sushi last night for dinner" while stressing sooo-sheeee. It's like Starbucks. I hate the place. It's not that I hate drinking it – or eating sushi – but it's how people make it out to be: trendy. If you really do like eating sushi, appreciate the way it's done, know what you're eating, how to do it, then more power to you. The same with Starbucks. But if you do it, well, just to do it, please stop making fools of yourselves when you're with people that do appreciate it. Take your California roll, your newly found knowledge of using chopsticks, and your cup of green tea with the sugar packet, and sit in the back. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy one of my favorite scenes from the movie Fight Club where they destroy a coffeehouse chain by letting a piece of art roll through it, smashing the glass, and demolishing it. Bravo!
Now then, to those who truly enjoy sushi, I am your apprentice. I tried it before, and while I didn't dislike it, it wasn't too exciting for me. Now that I've read about it, heard discussions, appreciate new food, I now have a new found appreciation for sushi. So much so that I have found myself having cravings lately. Thanks to The Dudes, they gave me a menu that I bring with me to the sushi chefs, and they prepare what they have available. So far, I never went wrong. Until yesterday. And it was baaaaaad.
If anyone has said they didn't like sushi when they ate some they picked up from a grocery store to try at home and completely wrote it off – GIVE IT ANOTHER CHANCE AT A PROPER SUSHI ESTABLISHMENT! See, a couple nights ago we had a craving for sushi. It was 11PM. Every place around me closed at that time, except one Ichiban Sushi (http://ichiban-sushi.com/). Well, they were closed, but they told me they would wait for me. 15 minutes later, and I walked into a dark restaurant where they were waiting for me with delicious toro, unagi, spicy tuna rolls, Philly rolls, and more. We ate nicely that evening. The next day, we wanted more. We didn't want to drop another $40, though. We opted to go to the grocery store. You can see where this going already: MISTAKE! For half the price, we had a lot to choose from. Yes, I know sushi grade seafood needs to be fresh. I understand the significance. I know this will be lower quality that real sushi places. But how bad could it be? I found out. As soon as I opened the package, I smelled fish. One thing that fish should not smell like, ironically, is fish. This was not in my face, knock me over, but enough that I knew right there the sacrifice should have been made to dump the extra cash. I opened the other two trays. Same thing. We opened our soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi packets, and we dig in. My gosh, it was awful. I still put up with it. In fact, I ate about half, but at the end, I couldn't take it. In fact, the last piece I spit up into my napkin. I don't think I've done that since I was a child when my Parents made me eat vegetables. Horrible. The mixture of imitation crab, avocado, mayonnaise with brown rice was not good.
So people, please, take it from my hard lesson learned: when ordering sushi, do so at a restaurant. And if you're just starting out, make sure it's a good sushi restaurant, and you're with people who "get it." You will not do it, so you can be seen eating it, but you will grab the pieces with your fingers, dunk it in the soy sauce, tilt your head back, and insert it in your mouth. You will feel and taste the creamy goodness of a toro fatty tuna. You'll sense the texture of the tako octopus. You will appreciate sushi.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Bobolink Farm Tour
The cheeses that we bought and love:
1) Baudolino - my favorite. A very full flavored stinky cheese that is much softer than a brie.
2) Cape Aged Cheddar - a very full flavored, yet light feeling cheddar
3) Drumm - tough to describe, maybe almost like a semi soft brie with a richer flavor
4) Jean-Louis - A blue cheese that is strangely light and sweet.
Btw - was curious to try some raw milk, but they mentioned up front they're not allowed to sell due to some regulations.
Rutt's Hutt - Review
Rutt's Hut - Recommended
417 River Rd
Clifton, NJ 07014
Phone: 973-779-8615
After recently having such a stupendously good, yet bad for you burger at Shake Shack I wanted to continue that taste good, feel bad feeling with hot dogs. Only one place comes to my mind that fits the bill - Rutt's Hut. Rutt's serves Jersey style hot dogs. What makes a Jersey dog you ask? Most dogs are boiled or grilled - jersey dogs are deep fried till they split open. Kinda felt bad about going here after having such wonderful artisanal cheeses at Bobolink, but I wanted hot dogs and I'm glad I went. Overall, I give the restaurant a 75/100.
My Menu
1) Hot Dog – Highly Recommended
2) French Fries with gravy – Recommended
Dish Comments
1) Very crispy and very oily on the outside and juicy on the inside. Buns are serviceable and don't interfere with the dog. Goes great with the mustard and/or relish that is housed in a tin box on the counter. Generally, I like a very rich, flavorful dog (ala Katz's dog) but there's something about having a dog with insanely crispy skin and juicy meat. Betcha can't eat just one - I had 3.
2) As the name implies, it's basically french fries coated with gravy. The gravy makes the fries soggy, but you know what...I don't care that much - it still works well. Again, usually I would prefer crispy fries but these fries drenched in gravy goes well with the dogs.
Overall Restaurant Experience (75/100)
- Food 7.5/10 – Deep fried hot dogs...they're cholesterol-rific.
- Service 7.0/10 – You order the food yourself at a counter and the dogs come out immediately. When it's busy though, the fellas there are like the soup nazi so you definitely need to know what you want.
- Atmosphere 8.0/10 – You order the food, get it and stand around a couple counters to eat. Place looks like the inside of a bathroom (not because of the dirtiness), but for the white tiles. Everyone in there is male and gets three dogs and either frenchie (code for french fries) gravy or cheese, chili, or onion rings. Kinda like a men's club for eating, with no one interacting - maybe it's the shame of eating such a bad for you dog by your lonesome. For some reason, this works perfectly for me when I'm eating hot dogs.
- Price 8.5/10 – Hot dogs and frenchie gravy are $1.80 each. Great bang for the buck considering the dogs are larger than Nathan's and also cheaper.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Second Avenue Deli to Reopen
A Counter History
Friday, October 19, 2007
Shake Shack - Revisited
Man this was a phenomenal burger. The burger meat itself is not thick and juicy, but more like ground up steak meat - kinda like fast food style, but way better. In between two burger patties is a fried portabello mushroom and top that off with a drenching of artery-clogging cheese sauce and some type of sweet mayo concoction. The burger patties themselves aren't that juicy, but the mushroom and drenching of cheese sauce makes it feel juicy. The waits are still very long - about 30 minutes at 12pm on a Tuesday, and the waits are even longer after 5pm. You have to try this burger once though and do yourself a favor and avoid all the other burgers and dogs.
I do have to say that I prefer the classic thick, juicy burger with a simple topping of a little mayo - however this is a great alternative. Definitely recommended...
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen - Chicago - Review
Corner of Jefferson and Randolph
1141 S. Jefferson
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 939-2855
When you think of food in Chicago, there are several staples and institutions that stand out. There is the Chicago hot dog with the nuclear green relish, celery salt, NO KETCHUP, and more making it the "salad on a bun." There's the stuffed/deep dish pizza that could fill you with one slice. Don't forget the Maxwell Street Polish sausage, Italian beef and Italian combo, and so on. Walk through the different neighborhoods, and you'll taste food from around the world. 26th Street makes you feel like you're in Mexico. Just south of downtown, the start of the South Side where the University of Illinois' Chicago campus is lies "Jew Town." This is where the famous Maxwell Street Polish sausage is located that hot dog places everywhere try to mimic.
Jew Town holds another institution in Chicago called Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen. This place has been around since 1942. It was my favorite deli until Porthos introduced me to Katz's Deli in NYC, but this is a very close 2nd. In fact, it may even be able to top the list if I try other foods. Though I've only eaten the corned beef sandwich at Manny's, they have so much more comfort food there. Corned beef is to Chicago what pastrami is to New York City. I've been going to Manny's for years, and it's always the same order for me: corned beef sandwich. And it's a beautiful sandwich. They are the textbook definition to "piled high." It also comes with several spears of a dill pickle and a large potato pancake like none other that you've seen. These sandwiches are generally made and served by Gino Gambarota who is, himself, a known name in Chicago when it comes to food. This guy has been working at Manny's since I started going there many years ago. I was surprised to see him this past weekend with grey hair, since I was used to him with dark, black hair – but he's still got it! He adds to the experience of Manny's.
The guy has a smart mouth. Try barking back, and he'll bite. He'll snap off some wise cracks, compliment little, old ladies, and all the while making your sandwich quicker than anyone you'll see at a Subway. He'll have several pounds of corned beef in his hand, shaving it on the slicer, twirling a large serving fork, throwing it like a dart so it stabs one of Manny's large potato pancakes, grabs a plate with another hand, flipping it, then catching it, set it on the counter, flip the fork with potato pancake, letting it land on the plate, scoop a very generous helping of the sandwich meat, place it on the bread, magically make a knife appear in his hand, slice it in half, and plate it. All within 2 seconds. Amazing. Every time, daily, without skipping a beat. This time around, he tells me to try some of the pastrami, and adds some to my plate. I ate some, and gave the plate back, you know, playing the smart ass role. He asks me in his very Chi Town accent: "What, you don't like it? Then don't come back!" I reverse it and tell him: "No, don't be so cheap. Plate's down, so you can gimme more!!" He laughs and piles on some more. He throws it back at me and says I shouldn't eat any more. He's good. And quick – both at the mouth and hands.
My problem with this place is it closes early. That is until this week. Those of you in Chicago are lucky, since it's opened till 8PM for dinner. They had a party, and even Mayor Daley attended this. Many famous Chicagoans go here and eat along side truckers, construction workers, white collared workers, ghetto-fab people, students, and more. You will see that I included a picture of our possible future president Barack Obama eating a corned beef sandwich at Manny's with Mayor Daley. Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, and Tommy Lee Jones were in a movie called The Big Town where part of it was filmed here.
The sandwiches are pricey, but they are worth it. Eating half is enough, and there are bags and paper to wrap the rest readily available. While there, be sure to partake in other foods that are offered. They have everything from the very Jewish to familiar American, but all in the true sense of the deli. They do open early, so breakfast is served, too. Look for matzo ball soup, roast beef, knish, borscht, kreplach, tongue, soups, liver & onions, short ribs, and so much more. In addition to the corned beef sandwich plate and sampling of pastrami, I also sampled a turkey sandwich. The bad thing about poultry is how dry it can be, and the meat was moist on this sandwich. Can Manny's do no wrong?
The bill for the two sandwich plates and one drink was about $25. A bonus, which is something new (to me), is valet parking. Complimentary valet parking. It helps a lot, since a lot of times; parking isn't readily available around there.
To try to help you experience Manny's, check out the videos below. The first video even captures part of Gino in action when making a sandwich if you fast forward to 3:20. As you can imagine, being there in person to smell, feel, and, of course, taste, is the best way.
Congrats Lan Restaurant
And it's my pleasure to report the latest Zagat's Survey ranked Lan a 25 for Food.
That's 2 points up from last year. And a very respectable number.
Job well done guys... Keep up the good work.
Dishes : To Try
Shrimp Shumai
Red Snapper with Hot Oil Dressing
Chicken Yakitori
Dishes : Must Try
Pan Seared Foie Gras with Simmered Daikon
Braised Beef Tongue in Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Braised Pork Belly
Blue Fin Toro
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Riva - Chicago - Review
Navy Pier
700 E. Grand Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
I visited Chicago this past weekend, but before going, I knew I wanted high-end seafood. I've been to Shaw's, Nick's Fishmarket, Bob Chinn's, and a few other places, so I wanted something different. Several names appeared like Catchy 35, and Joe's (not Joe's Crabshack). I chose Riva, because of the atmosphere knowing that I may have to sacrifice some quality. I read many mixed reviews about the food, but my review will go into the positive category. It seems that the dishes to order was Dover Sole and Chilean Seabass. I had the 28 oz. Dover Sole but 1 ½ pounds of Whole Maine Lobster, since I didn't want two fish dishes. An appetizer of Grilled Octopus and a side dish of Asparagus Parmigiano accompanied the two entrees along with mojitos and cosmopolitan martinis.
Floor-to-ceiling glass doesn't allow for a bad seat anywhere, but I still wanted a table next to the window. Though I made a reservation a week prior, they couldn't guarantee a window-side table but did notate the reservation. Upon arrival, they indicated there was about a twenty minute wait for my table, so I took a place at the bar and watched people walk up and down Navy Pier, dinner cruises and boats lazily passing by, and the patrons drinking and eating at the nicely built bar. It wasn't overly done, not uber-trendy, but just right. I was called for my table, but they asked me to pay for my drinks at the bar rather than adding them to the tab, which I thought was odd, but okay.
The table had the typical white linen, and warm bread with a large, crisp flatbread was served with butter that was too hard to spread. The flatbread was very tasty with a strong garlic presence, which I enjoyed. The bread smelled and felt fresh.
For starters, I ordered the Grilled Octopus. I was thinking it would be something similar to calamari. I waited for the appetizers. And waited. And waited. And ate bread. And butter. And waited. And ate flatbread. And… oh, the waitress stopped by and finally asked about it. She was very surprised to learn about the wait, so she followed up with the kitchen. She returned, apologized again, and stated she will remove it from the bill. Shortly thereafter, a plate with a few much-larger-than-expected octopi arrived on a bed of salad. The presentation was above average but not outstanding. The plain-view of a few octopi the size of your hand, purple in color equipped with tentacles and suckers made for a lovely show. Being grilled, I was imagining a dry dish, but remarkably enough, it was not. The texture, flavor, and enjoyment of eating this dish made me forget all about the wait. The waitress ensured the food would not arrive very shortly after the appetizer, because of the wait, so the time between courses was perfectly adequate.
The description of the Dover Sole on the menu says: "Baked on a cedar plank with lemon-honey glaze, or grilled, filleted tableside, served with potatoes." There was also an option to choose which one of three sauces to accompany your fish: burre blanc, almondine, or meuniere; I chose almondine and am glad I did. When the server arrived to the table, he immediately began to filet the fish. He took his time, diligently ensuring there was not a single trace of bone. He asked if I wanted the sauce on top or on the side, which I surely appreciated, so my almondine went to the side. When the server started to leave, I interrupted him and asked for the head of the fish. "The head?" Oh yes, leave the head behind. He asked me two more times, and I noticed I piqued the curiosity of other diners nearby. I do enjoy cheek and brain and eat the eyeball "meat," too. When the waitress stopped by later on to check if how things are, she was surprised to see bones on my plate. I stopped her before going to the manger and let her know I requested the head. Again with the strange look, but she was happy nothing was wrong. Speaking of the manager, he did stop by the table to check on things, apologized again, and carried on. I noticed he stopped by other tables to ensure quality, which I appreciated. About a quarter way through my fish, I decided to taste the sauce. The fish was good enough on its own, and that's how it should be, but my gosh, the sauce had so much delicious flavor. Pretty soon, I was dunking everything in there; from the fish, to the small potatoes, to the side dish of asparagus, to the lobster. Delicious fish, and bravo to the sauce! The asparagus were normal – not very crunchy, but definitely not limp.
The lobster. What can I say? It was gorgeous. The meat came out perfectly done. A simple shake, and it came out of the shell. Little effort was made to find the meat, unless you went hunting into the leg, which I did. Though I dipped most of it in butter or the almondine sauce, a lot of it was eaten plainly or with a slight squeeze of lemon. Lobster comes broiled or steamed, and mine was steamed.
So the food was good. I was satisfied. But wait, there's more…
The view. Few cities on this earth offer a skyline as magnificent as Chicago, and the optimal place to see it is from Lake Michigan on a boat. Since this restaurant is located on Navy Pier looking back at Chicago from The Lake, the view was fantastic. At 9PM, fireworks erupted outside, and I had box seats to the entertainment. I changed seats on my table from looking at the skyline to looking out towards the lake and watched the show while eating terrific food. One thing was missing, a date. Though my friend gave wonderful company, that was the moment to have a significant other next to you. In fact, I would recommend Riva as a place to begin a courtship to celebrating an anniversary. In fact, the table next to mine was doing so and drove several hours from St. Louis for their anniversary celebration.
The bill was $170 for the two of us including several drinks but not including tip. Valet parking is available for $16, but Riva's validation will drop it to $10. Since Riva is located on Navy Pier, it's nice to be able to walk the Pier and burn off some of the calories while taking in the rest of the entertainment all around you. I did notice outdoor seating for adequate weather. The downstairs portion of Riva seemed more for families and not as upscale, but more… Red Lobster-esque?
Try it; you'll like it. The view, food, and staff made for a pleasant visit, and I would do it again.
Apologies for the bad pictures of the skyline, but the camera captured the reflection too much. In person, you don't see that.
- Grilled Octopus - $11.95
- 28 0z. Dover Sole - $34.95
- 1 1/2 pound Whole Maine Lobster (steamed with choice of broiled)
- Market Price (didn't look at bill)
- Asparagus Parmigiano - $6.95
- Mojioto - $9.50 (I think)
- Cosmopolitan - $12.50
- Validated valet parking - $10
"dinner meeting"
I gotta say, and I can't believe I get paid to do it... but talking about food while eating food may be my favorite activity of all time...
Well, besides the horizontal tango. : ) That should just be understood.
Nils and I chatted about food in Manhattan, Restarant Guides, Purveyors, Celebrity Chefs, Top Chef, Knives, Cooking Techniques, and Favorite Dishes. In short, it was tons of fun with a lot of laughs.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Reason Why I love Italian Food...
Raw Puntarelle with Anchovy Vinaigrette
A nice bitter salad with a very pungent dressing. I added balsamic since I thought the sweet/sourness of the balsamic would cut through the bitter puntarelle. A very refreshing dish.
1 bunch puntarelle
4 anchovies
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1) With a pestle and mortar, add anchovies and a little bit of salt and mash into a paste. Add the garlic clove and mash some more into a fine paste. Add all the vinegar and olive oil and stir around until it becomes a thick vinaigrette.
2) Thoroughly wash the puntarelle and cut into bite size pieces.
3) Add the dressing on the puntarelle bit by bit and make sure the puntarelle isn't drowning in the dressing. Just enough to coat - puntarelle should still be relatively crisp. Add the pepper and if need be, a little more salt.
Linguine with baby leeks
I love pasta and this dish represents why I love pasta. I believe as long as you have very good olive oil, you can cook one fresh ingredient well and the dish will come out great. All you taste is the sweetness of the leeks, the richness of the oil, and the textures of the leeks and perfectly cooked pasta. Make sure you have a very rich olive oil and very fresh leeks, since there's really nothing else besides these two ingredients - they need to be very high quality.
1/2 Box Linguine
1 bunch baby leeks
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
very good extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1) Add a gallon of hot water and a large handful of salt to a large pot. When water comes to a boil, add the pasta.
2) Throughly wash and trim the leeks and cut into thirds. Sautee the leeks over high heat until the leeks slightly wilt (about 1-2 minutes). Add the garlic cloves and stop cooking when the kitchen smells like garlic (about 30 seconds). Take the pan of the heat.
3) When pasta is finished (always 1 minute before the box says so), add the pasta to the leeks and continue to cook for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the oil and pepper, and taste. Add more salt and pepper if need be.
4) When plating, make sure the amount of leeks to pasta is about 50/50 (again, since there's no other flavorings to the dish you need some leeks) and top off with more oil.
Monday night round up
Unfortunately Chef Romano wasn't in yesterday. He's in Japan for 3 weeks helping out with the opening of Unions Square Cafe Tokyo...
All things aside, I have to say, the Danny Meyer Hospitality is fantastic. The staff took real good care of us and were very approachable... They even sent something out on behalf of the chef. We had :
- Fried Calamari with Anchovy Mayonnaise **
- Pan Seared Foie Gras with Figs and Baby Kyoho Grapes **
- Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce and Parmesan Reggiano Cheese ***
The Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi is one of those signature dishes that you go, "hmm... where has this been in my life and why haven't I had this earlier?"
I will go back to have every single one of these dishes again. It was great.
So after the amuse, we walked towards Chanto and Hakata TonTon... Unfortunately they were both closed today and so we finally ended up at En Brasserie. There, we had :
- Natto with Pork wrapped in Lettuce ***
- Braised Red Perch in Tsuyu Broth *
- Pan Seared Duck Breast with Grated Daikon Sauce *
- Broiled Beef Tongue *
- Spanish Mackerel Rice cooked in Earthened Pot **
Needless to say, we ate to our heart's content and walked across town back to my car.
Until next time! Bon apetit.
Bif - it's what's for dinner
Monday, October 15, 2007
Dudes Night - Burp Castle / Lan
Part Deux of Dudes night was at Lan for what was initally meant to be a drink and a quick bite. As usual, the rest of the dudes met up and it was a food onslaught. I can't stress how consistently good LAN is with their food - the sushi that night was amazing. Porthos took care of the ordering and this is what we had. Give it a try next time you're at a LAN or any high-quality sushi restaurant...it may run you about $100, but it's way worth it.
- Radish and Sawara (Spanish Mackerel) Appetizer
- Sashimi Platter - Madai (red snapper), Hon-Maguro (bluefin tuna), Shima-Aji, and Mirugai (Giant Clam)
- Chu-Toro Sushi (medium fatty tuna)
- Uni Sushi
- Aburi O-Toro Sushi (charred fatty tuna)
- O-Toro Sushi (most fatty tuna)
- Negi-Toro Temaki (scallions, fatty tuna hand roll)
- Anago Temaki (salt water eel hand roll)
- Uni Temaki
- Shima-Aji Sushi (yellow jack)
- Negi-hamachi maki (scallions, yellow tail, roll)
This is probably the most absurd batting order in terms of enjoying the delicate nuances of Sushi. But this was after all "Dude's Night" so we went for homeruns at every up at bat.
*Sawara Fry in Light Ponzu Dressing
Madai (Red Snapper), Shima Aji (Amber Jack) ,
Maguro (Blue Fin Tuna) and Mirugai (Giant Clam)
1. Chutoro (Nigiri) - Big Eye Medium Fatty Tuna
2. Bafun Uni (Nigiri) - Hokkaido "Ba-Fun" Sea Urchin
3. Botan Ebi (Nigiri) - A subspecies of Sweet Shrimp
4. Crispy Fried Heads of Botan Ebi
5. Hon-Maguro Toro (Aburi Nigiri) - Blue Fin Toro, torched
6. Hon-Maguro Toro (Nigiri) - Blue Fin Toro
7. Negi Toro (Temaki) - Scallions and Toro in hand roll
8. Anago (Temaki) - Conger Eel in hand roll
9. Murasaki Uni (Temaki) - California "Murasaki" Sea Urchin in hand roll
10. Shima Aji (Nigiri) - Amber Jack
11. Negi Hamachi (Maki) - Scallion and Yellowtail Roll
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Most expensive dishes...
Any man who throws this out on a date is compensating for something seriously lacking...
I've heard of guys driving around in their flashy sports cars, or even an H2...
But to dazzle a chick (cause no dude is eating this) with this, is purely desperation.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Foodie Bad-Boy
They both think in terms of "$$$" ... but luckily for RR... she's cuter than her antagonizer, and her bubbly "personality" doesn't hurt corporate and TV executives make objective decisions in signing her on multi-million dollar deals.
Compliments of People Mag...
Chef Anthony Bourdain Attacks Rachael Ray's Dunkin' Donuts Ads
By Brian Orloff
Rachael Ray and Anthony BourdainBourdain Attacks Rachael Ray's Dunkin' Donuts Ads | Anthony Bourdain, Rachael Ray
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is turning up the heat on Rachael Ray – calling her out for endorsing Dunkin' Donuts, the New York Post reports.
"She's hugely influential, particularly with children," he says in the November issue of Outside magazine. "And she's endorsing Dunkin' Donuts. It's like endorsing crack for kids."
The No Reservations host, never one to hold back his commentary, adds: "I'm not a very ethical guy. I don't have a lot of principles. But somehow this seems to me over the line. Juvenile diabetes has exploded. Half of Americans don't have necks. And she's up their saying, 'Eat some [...] Dunkin' Donuts. You look great in that swimsuit – eat another doughnut! That's evil."
Ray's rep responded to the Post: "Anyone who knows Rachael and watches her on TV is aware she promotes balance and moderation, instead of living life in extremes."
In fact, when the company announced her endorsement and advertisement deal, Dunkin' Donuts said it asked Ray for her insight in creating what they term "better for you" food and beverage options – lighter fare that includes smoothies and a reduced-carb bagel.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Food Humor
Thanks BudLight!
clip 1
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Michelin Guide
Our country in general loves rankings - watch VH1 anytime of the day and you'll probably see some top 100 ranking for Celebrity Disasters or Celebrity Sex Tapes. Even the weather channel has the 100 worst natural disasters. The problem with these rankings are they're a matter of opinion. Everyone's opinion differs and most of these rankings or lists, Michelin and Zagat included, don't give you enough information to decide which ranking/list aligns with your tastes.
I get asked a lot about where to go eat or what lists to use. In general, I try to stick to the Chowhound website since you get a wide sampling of what people's opinions are and these food geeks are super detailed on their reviews. If you need a place to start, try the local newspapers to get some opinions from the locals. Obviously, we hope our website will provide you a detailed glimpse of what to expect. Also, something I've learned is regardless of what people say, if you really want to go check a place out - go do it. Your taste might be different from someone that despises a place...
Oh ya - don't use the Michelin Guide in Italy. Love the French and their food, but the French based Michelin Guide has no idea what they're talking about when it comes to Italian food...
- Porthos said...
Restaurant Politics - These stars are probably accurate if you are a Michelin Food Inspector or NY Times Food Critic. As someone in the industry, if I call in advance and reserve with the use of connections, I am usually taken care of very well. I am assuming most restaurants will go above and beyond the call of duty when they are being rated by an internationally known restaurant guide. This gives us a skewed rating scale and in many ways, it's counter productive to go by their rankings.
2 years ago, I actually sent in my resume and application to become a "Food Inspector" for Michelin. I had worked in the industry for 3 years by then, and had extensive training working with our staff and in-house chef, isolating flavor profiles of regional foie gras, beef, pork, chicken and duck. Not to mention all sorts of mushrooms, charcuterie, cheeses and even some exotic game.
But the Michelin family, with their snootiness quickly wrote back saying I was still under qualified and too young to have the palate necessary to assess with their ratings scale.
Oh well... I'm not losing any sleep over it. And after the past 2 editions of Michelin NYC... I'm proud to say I am not a Michelin Guide Food Inspector. I completely disagree with their ratings.
2008 NYC - Star Notable Restaurants
Every restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide is recommended by our team of professional inspectors. The ones listed below have earned stars that reflect their exceptional culinary achievements, regardless of cuisine style. Stars represent only what is on the plate. They do not take into consideration interior decoration, service quality or table settings.
|Greenwich Village
|Reserve a table
|Midtown West
|Upper East Side
|Reserve a table
|A Voce
|Reserve a table
|Greenwich Village
|Blue Hill
|Greenwich Village
|Café Boulud
|Upper East Side
|Reserve a table
|Café Gray
|Midtown West
|Reserve a table
|Country Restaurant
|Reserve a table
|Greenwich Village
|Reserve a table
|Reserve a table
|Reserve a table
|Upper East Side
|Fleur de Sel
|Reserve a table
|Midtown East
|Gotham Bar and Grill
|Greenwich Village
|Reserve a table
|Gramercy Tavern
|Reserve a table
|Jewel Bako
|East Village
|Upper East Side
|Midtown East
|L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
|Midtown East
|Midtown East
|Reserve a table
|Perry Street
|Greenwich Village
|Reserve a table
|Peter Luger
|Reserve a table
|Spotted Pig
|Greenwich Village
|Sushi of Gari
|Upper East Side
|The Modern
|Midtown West
|Reserve a table
|Reserve a table
|Midtown East
|Reserve a table
|Greenwich Village
|Reserve a table
|Lower East Side
|Reserve a table
|Reserve a table
|Upper East Side
|Reserve a table
|Del Posto
|Reserve a table
|Gordon Ramsay at The London
|Midtown West
|Midtown West
|Upper West Side
|Upper West Side
|Le Bernardin
|Midtown West
|Reserve a table
|Per Se
|Midtown West
|Reserve a table
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Scary Spice
No, not the "singer" (put in quotes purposely), but what is used in a spicy dip called nam prik pao that was being made in London's SoHo district at a Thai restaurant called Thai Cottage. While the bird's eye chilies were deep frying, it caused people to cough and gag resulting in a chemical attack scare. Firefighters broke through the door of the restaurant to find no attack.
I wonder if they laughed and ordered satay and the dip. At least that's what I would have done. Sure, owner has no door, but it's good advertising. Being a chili-head, I'd be there the same day to try the sauce. With a gasmask…
Friday, October 5, 2007
BarFry - Review
BarFry - Recommended
50 Carmine St, New York 10012
Btwn Bedford & Bleecker St
Phone: 212-929-5050
At first, I was disappointed that 50 Carmine – a great Italian restaurant was closing it's doors. Fortunately, a fun new restaurant has opened in it's place – BarFry. The concept is simple – take a wide range of ingredients, apply a tempura batter to it, and provide fun dipping sauces (jalapeno soy, wasabi remoulade, red chili citrus, sweet miso). Surprisingly, it works pretty well. Overall, I give the restaurant an 79/100.
My Menu
1) Pork Cutlet, Kimchee, and Cilantro Po Boy – Recommended
2) Crab Cake Tempura – Highly Recommended
3) Scallop Tempura –Recommended
4) Shitake Mushroom Tempura – Not Recommended
5) Veal Terrine Tonkatsu – Highly Recommended (must have)
6) Oyster Tempura – Highly Recommended (must have)
7) Avocado and Wasabe Tempura – Recommended
8) Concord Grape Sorbet, Yuzu and Pineapple Sorbet, Green Tea Sorbet – Highly Not Recommended
Dish Comments
1) Nice po boy stuffed with a relatively tender pork cutlet, crunchy kimchee, cilantro, and fried tempura bits. Unfortunately, the cilantro was way over powering. Still fun to eat especially dipping in the red chili citrus sauce.
2) A decent crab cake wrapped in a bird's nest of fried tempura. The fried tempura was amazing – not sure if it was authentic, but it was perfectly crunchy and not greasy at all.
3) I love scallops and this was decent. Not great and should be much better, but again – I love scallops.
4) I have no idea how he did it, but they managed to completely eliminate all the flavor from this mushroom – very bland and no mushroom flavor.
5) This was stupid good. Basically, ridiculously tender veal filled with a whole bunch of good stuff - probably cartilage and other gelatinous type things. Perfectly fried and amazing with any of the sauces.
6) Incredibly rich oyster flavor that was still very juicy and tender even though it was fried. Second favorite dish of the night.
7) Avocado is nice and rich, the wasabi wakes up the flavor a little, and the perfect fried texture is a nice balance.
8) I like making ice creams and sorbets and after visiting Italy - I think I know how it should taste and feel. The sorbets here break every single rule in the book. When I stuck my spoon in the sorbet, I could tell that it was too icey and even worse the texture was also like baby food. Also, the fact that they were fresh fruits made the sorbets very sour. The ice creams fared better, but still was not that great.
Overall Restaurant Experience (79/100)
- Food 8.2/10 – Great crispy texture on the outside and the food was generally very good with lots of tempura options. Dessert was terrible though.
- Service 7.5/10 – Food comes out very quick, but the waiter is very pushy on ordering more food.
- Atmosphere 9.0/10 – Walking into the place, it looks like Pearl Oyster Bar but sounds like Pearl's angst-ridden stepson. There are classic marble counters and tables, mirrors on the wall, and white table cloths. However, they blast their music loud which I kinda liked – only because they played my type of music (e.g. Rage, Pearl Jam, Wu Tang, Outkast). Place was very empty, but it was around 6:30pm on a Thursday. I definitely like the feel of the place and could see myself sitting at the counter and chowing on some tempura and drinking some beer.
- Price 7/10 – This place looks cheap (around $4-7 per tempura), but it adds up since the orders are 2 ounces small. Example, the avocado was one slice and that was $5. I still had a great time trying the food, but the bill came out to be $40 a person with only one drink. I was OK paying that amount, since we sampled a lot but the money to food quantity/quality ratio didn't seem right.
Closing Comments
I definitely liked the place a lot for the fun in sampling all the types of tempura, but the price may prevent me from making more frequent trips. I'm still going to come back with the dudes and sample everything...


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Orange County
Orange County's Mark Dorosin kickstarts campaign early for NC judge's seat
Civil rights attorney Mark Dorosin announced this week he will be a candidate next year for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Dorosin, the managing attorney at the UNC Center for Civil Rights, announced his candidacy Monday night in a Facebook post. He plans to seek the seat being vacated by Judge Ann Marie Calabria, who intends to step down at the end of 2018.
Wake County District Court Judge Jefferson Griffin announced his plan to seek Calabria's seat Monday.
Dorosin, the chairman of Orange County's Board of Commissioners and a member since 2012, said he had been thinking about a run for a while. The courts are often out of touch with North Carolina residents, he said, and need judges with experience representing those who are underserved by the justice system.
If elected, he would resign from the Orange County Board of Commissioners; his term expires in 2020.
Dorosin noted Tuesday that his campaign was inspired, in part, by clients who expressed "how valuable it would be to have elected representatives who truly understand their experiences and perspectives."
"My work over the last twenty years has been dedicated to helping historically marginalized individuals and communities engage local governments and advocate for their interests," he said. "Electing a judge who understands and appreciates those perspectives will produce a more equitable legal process for all North Carolinians."
But the timing also is right because what's happening in the state and the judicial system, he said. Dorosin's own Civil Rights Center came under fire this year and is awaiting a UNC Board of Governors decision this summer about whether its attorneys can continue to represent clients in court.
"I think the pressure that the judiciary is under right now is a good reminder of why it's important that we have judges with a wide range of experience, and particularly with the experience in representing excluded communities," he said. "It wasn't any one particular thing. It was certainly the combination of everything that made this seem like the right time."
Dorosin is a graduate of Duke University, UNC Greensboro and UNC's Law School. He has been with the Center for Civil Rights for eight years, teaches political and civil rights at the law school, and is the faculty adviser to the Julius Chambers Civil Rights Moot Court team. In 2010, he was named the Pro Bono Faculty Member of the Year. He now serves as chairman of the Civil Rights Section of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.
"In all these positions, I have remained deeply engaged in appellate advocacy, writing and arguing numerous cases in the appeals court and Supreme Court," he said.
Tammy Grubb: 919-829-8926, @TammyGrubb

subset: commoncrawl


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$125.00 $135.00
This item is back-ordered. We will ship it separately in 10 to 15 days.
This footbag is the Best footbag I make. It is made with over 850, tiny Titanium rings. Each ring is made from thin 0.047″ wire. Contains almost quadruple the number of rings compared to my other footbags.
Because the rings are so small, and go together so tightly, it feels almost exactly like a sand-filled cloth footbag. Handles quite similarly, looks loads better, and will outlast countless cloth ones.
The Titanium used in this footbag is top of the line, US milled, spring temper, Grade 5 Titanium. One of the strongest Titanium alloys out there. This is the same stuff that is used by NASA to build spaceships.
So, if you want what in my opinion is the best footbag that I make, this is the one for you. But why does it cost so much you ask? Simple, it takes over 8 and a half hours to put together that many little rings; and to do it properly. (That is beside the fact I every ring is made by hand before it is assembled.)
It has a great little jingle to it when kicked around. My new favorite hacky sack. And just like all my other footbags, it cannot get ruined by mud, dirt, fire, or water. This means that if you get it gets wet, or if it accidentally falls into a bucket of jet fuel and then somehow catches on fire, it will still be ok. Try that with a cloth hacky!
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How to convert your Blu-ray movies to AVI on your Mac computer?
This tip shows you how to convert Blu-ray movies to AVI on Mac with DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper for Mac.
Step 1: Load the Blu-ray source
Run DVDFab 10, go to the Ripper module and load the Blu-ray source as the instructions on the main interface (insert your Blu-ray disc or add the Blu-ray folder/ISO file).
Step 2: Choose the AVI format
Go to the profile library on the top left corner of the main interface, and click the Format > Video > General to select the AVI format.
Step 3: Customize your AVI video
Now it's time to customize your AVI video. The main movie title has been selected by default here, but you still can choose other titles. Then you can change the title name and choose the audio track and subtitles you want. You can also click the "wrench" icon to customize your settings and click the "editor" icon to edit your video in your way.
Step 4: Select a directory and start the ripping process
Go to the bottom of the main interface and click the "folder" icon to select an output directory. And then you can click the "Start" button to start the process of ripping the Blu-ray to AVI.


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Finding Colin Firth by Mia March
Chick lit
Paperback/eBook, 336 pages
Published July 9th 2013 by Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books
From the author of The Meryl Streep Movie Club, a "heart-warming, spirit-lifting read just in time for beach season" (Kirkus Reviews), comes a new novel about three women, connected in secret and surprising ways, who are in for a life-changing summer when rumor has it that actor Colin Firth is coming to their Maine town to film a movie.
After losing her job and leaving her beloved husband, journalist Gemma Hendricks is sure that scoring an interview with Colin Firth will save her career and marriage. Yet a heart-tugging local story about women, family ties, love, and loss captures her heart— and changes everything. The story concerns Bea Crane, a floundering twenty-two-year-old who learns in a deathbed confession letter that she was adopted at birth. Bea is in Boothbay Harbor to surreptitiously observe her biological mother, Veronica Russo—something of a legend in town—who Bea might not be ready to meet after all. Veronica, a thirty-eight-year-old diner waitress famous for her "healing" pies, has come home to Maine to face her past. But when she's hired as an extra on the bustling movie set, she wonders if she is hiding from the truth . . . and perhaps the opportunity of a real-life Mr. Darcy.
These three women will discover more than they ever imagined in this coastal Maine town, buzzing with hopes of Colin Firth. Even the conjecture of his arrival inspires daydreams, amplifies complicated lives, and gives incentive to find their own romantic endings.
Three women. Three stories of life, love and friendship in a quaint Maine town, along with the wish to meet the iconic actor who made Mark Darcy a worldwide sex symbol. I read Finding Colin Firth while on vacation at Lake Kezar with my family which greatly enhanced my reading experience by being in Maine and seeing for myself the wonderful charm of small-town life and of community (which is a huge component of the book).
Gemma is a journalist recently out of work and desperately needing a change of scenery from her fast-paced city life. Pregnant, she's doubts her maternal instincts and isn't sure she
wants to move to her husband's suburban town to start their family. The thought of having a baby and becoming a stay-at-home mother frightens this career woman. When she hears Colin Firth is in town, she believes interviewing him could help her land a job and find the resolution she desperately needs.
Bea is twenty, single, and discovers from her dying mother's last letter that she was adopted. The letter reveals her biological mother's info. The need to see her real mom takes center stage in her life so she packs up her meager belongings to visit Boothbay Harbor. While there she finds her mom and watches her, not ready to reveal her true identity.
Veronica has gone back home to the town she left as a pregnant teen. She is now a waitress at the local diner, and aspires to sell her homemade pies. She becomes an extra in Mr. Firth's movie and hopes to catch a glimpse of the man himself. She does catch the eye of the town cop and isn't sure if she should pursue him.
Each woman's life intersects somehow with one another over time creating a cool web of friendship, love, and happenstance. The concept of meeting an ideal romantic leading man was unique and showed the power of the movie versions of Jane Austen's books and how women of all ages identify with the trope of the idealized woman meeting the imperfect man and both changing over the course of their courtship. In Mia March's novel, things occur for specific reasons and each is able to work out whatever they need to in this warm, absorbing tale. The characters and situations were interesting and kept me invested. Being chick lit, I found the conflicts were predictably resolved and some scenes were overly sweet for my taste.
Finding Colin Firth is a charming, entertaining summer read. This is my first time reading a book by Mia March and now I want to read her other book, The Jane Austen Club, featuring this town (the movie was a pleasant surprise).
Rating: 3.5
Cover comment:
Since the title refers to the actor's role as Mark Darcy, period costume would have worked better for the cover. The ruffled white shirt (from his famous jumping in the water scene) would have been great. I actually prefer the U.K. cover with the caricature of Jane Austen's romantic hero to this U.S. version.
Book source:
I received a promotional copy from the Publisher in return for my honest review.


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These include Star India, Sony Pictures Networks India, Reliance Jio Digital, Times Internet, Facebook, Airtel, beIN Sport, SuperSport Interactive, Yupp TV, Econet Media Group, DAZN (Perform Group), FollowOn Interactive, OSN (Gulf DTH) and BAM Tech.
Significant absentees include e-commerce giant Amazon and micro-blogging site Twitter.
Also missing from action were Discovery, Yahoo and ESPN Digital.
The media rights are for the next five year cycle - 2018-2022.
The bids were invited for seven categories- India television, India digital, US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and rest of the world.


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Welcome to our website! As we have the ability to list over one million items on our website (our selection changes all of the time), it is not feasible for a company our size to record and playback the descriptions on every item on our website. However, if you have a disability we are here to help you. Please call our disability services phone line at 508.875.7600 during regular business hours and one of our kind and friendly personal shoppers will help you navigate through our website, help conduct advanced searches, help you choose the item you are looking for with the specifications you are seeking, read you the specifications of any item and consult with you about the products themselves. There is no charge for the help of this personal shopper for anyone with a disability. Finally, your personal shopper will explain our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and help you place an order if you so desire.
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This past weekend started off with a kick-ass workout at David Barton gym (Astor Place) hosted by Racked NY. Everyone was in good spirits during the "Pain and Pleasure" class we endured on Friday night. I almost didn't make it to the end! I never ever do weights except when I carry my grocery bags but even that's often too hard for me. In fact, just the other day, I couldn't carry one bag of Trader Joe's grocery and called Dave from the subway for him to meet me half way. So pitiful I know. During the class, we used weights up to ten pounds to do squats, curls and sit ups. Three days later, I am still sore but loving the reminder that I indeed DO have abs even though I haven't seen them in a while! After class, I ventured deep into Brooklyn to join some friends for dinner and played with a cat the entire night.
The next day, soreness made me stay in bed. I slept in, woke up to have some cereal and then took a nap until 2 p.m. It was such a beautiful day and antsy Dave was all dressed with his coat on waiting for me to get the hell up already! I had an out-of-town friend waiting to meet up as well. We asked him to venture into Williamsburg since he's been cooped up in Manhattan for a few days and every single person needs to experience Williamsburg at least once right? We are going to miss Brooklyn when we move out so we took advantage of a beautiful day to walk around south Williamsburg for hours discovering the new shops and cafes that have sprouted up this past couple of years.
|Mast Brothers store
Someone went bun-less (not me!) but then ate all the fries later..
|Umami burger
That was pretty much my weekend! How was yours??


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(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Women's Basketball team dropped a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest this evening, 101-60 to visiting Albertus Magnus College inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. The loss pushes the Raiders' record to 0-8 with a 0-4 conference mark while the Falcons up their record to 9-3, 3-1 GNAC.
Junior Kaylee Kacavas (Dracut, Mass.) netted a season high 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the floor while classmate Megan Hamel (Colebrook, N.H.) registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Emilee Kacavas (Dracut, Mass.) chipped in with nine points and junior Lizzy Meehan (Nashua, N.H.) collected four points and four rebounds.
Albertus Magnus received double-digit point efforts from three different student-athletes including a game-high 35 from senior Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.). Bolden was 15-of-23 from the floor while pulling down nine rebounds. Juniors Jill Johnson (North Haven, Conn.) and Kiki Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) tallied 19 and 8 points, respectively, with Epps netting a double-double collecting 12 rebounds. Junior Kristen Cunning (Hoboken, N.J.) chipped in with nine points off the bench.
Both teams will return to conference action on Saturday afternoon. Rivier will host Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in a 1pm tip-off. Albertus Magnus will also tip-off at 1pm with a road trip to Suffolk University.


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You heard it a million times: "Engage your customer". And you didn't really – didn't you? Simply because it is very complex if you look at your team of 1,000 employees. Engagement is actually a pretty complex process when you look under the hood. Blasting out some email shots and posting a 50 feet declaration of love on time square isn't cheap but it wasn't complicated.
Now how would one engage a team of 1,000?
What exactly would you tell them to do?
Where precisely should they engage
Who should engage?
When should they engage?
Why would the prospects and customers actually want this engagement?
Which are the best ways to measure the success of this "engagement"?
And aren't you engaging through sales and marketing for over 40 years now with millions of marketing dollars?.
Yeph – screw engagement – nice idea but we won't pursuit this rout.
But does that mean a dead end? Does that mean we give up?
Put the whole model on its head.
Consumers don't want to be sold, don't want to be pushed – at the same time they want to be taken serious, they want to be heard, they want to get in touch with somebody in your organization whenever they need your help! Therefor let THEM engage with you! Not only it is much easier to accomplish but that is what WE consumers or business buyers want – including you yourself. Too many companies create a nifty social media campaign but your prospects still have no way of getting social with you – it's just yet another, expensive marketing gig.
Approachability is a very tiny but very powerful first step
OK some may say "We have no time or resources to take care of all our customers, we have to do other work as well" – Hey good for you! You are probably so successful and rich that indeed you have no time for customers – ignore everything I wrote. But for those who NEED new customers badly it's a different story.
Imagine your sales teams, marketing people, product managers, support teams, management would just share the social presence they are already on with customers and prospects like this one: Http://XeeMe.com/Yourname and let everybody get in touch. Instead of pumping thousand of advertising dollars in a fan page that people enthusiastically like and then frustrated leave because you are untouchable – have a personal touch if needed. Those who share their presence are instantly approachable – and the customers and prospects can engage.
Our First XBX
We demonstrated the approachability model with 10 small and medium business owners. Within 48 hours they received on average 1,000 visits to their social presence. More than many business blogs get in a month despite the marketing effort to promote that blog. While this was a team of 10 individual businesses – a team of ten employees could easily aggregate 5,000 visits a day! I will share more details about XBX next week but so far it already proved success. Not only in visits but actually in new community members, event registrations or whatever the attendees had to offer.
The Bad News:
1) You will be terribly disappointed when you figure out how hard it is to buy from your own business
2) You will be frustrated to realize that even if a prospect is "in the market" they can't figure out what you offer
3) You will be seriously annoyed that your internal processes are rotten and not customer friendly
Customers engage with you for a reason and if you don't make it obvious and easy – even all your marketing dollars can't help. That's no news – but it surfaces with a terrible precision when you turn on your approachability mode. I guess that was the second most important learning from XBX.
The most important learning is: Make sure that customers can engage with you! And they will – they always wanted. Every dollar spend in promoting your brand is wasted when people can get what they want.
(get in touch wherever and whenever YOU like)


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Fall is a very important time for lawns in the Pacific Northwest. The shortening days and cooler nights stimulate grass growth. The growth of grass roots and rhizomes (underground stems) in particular is stimulated. Additional side shoots develop, making the lawn thicker. Fertilizer added during September through November just stimulates this process. It will also turn the grass a darker green color, usually within two days.
There are many good brands of lawn fertilizer. Some are specially formulated for fall application. Some are labeled as "winterizers". These winterizers usually contain more potash or potassium. I still feel that the ideal balance for all lawn fertilizers is a 3-1-2 ratio of nitrogen/phosphorus/potassium. This could be 15-5-10 or 21-10-14 or similar percentages. I like to have at least part of the nitrogen from slow release sources, although this is less important for fall application.
Another benefit of fall fertilization is that some of the nitrogen is taken up and used in making amino acids which are stored in the roots and crowns. These are available for immediate growth early next spring before the soil is warm enough for roots to take up fertilizer.
Fall (September-October) is the natural time for grass seed to germinate and grow. It is the best time to seed a new lawn or reseed existing thin areas. If you decide to plant seed, be sure to scratch or loosen the soil surface so seed can come in direct contact with the soil. If spots are small, a rake, tine cultivator or spading fork will be enough. For larger areas you might want to use a power rake or thatch removal machine. Lower it enough so that the blades or tines scratch into the soil. Fertilize at the same time you plant the seed. Rake the seed into the soil leaving some showing on top. The most critical and important step is to keep the soil surface constantly wet for at least 3 weeks. A thin layer of bark dust (soil pep), fine compost or peat moss will reduce the drying rate. Light sprinkling 3 times per day is needed unless rain occurs.
Fall is also an excellent time to control weeds in lawns and other areas. Weeds are busy sending food manufactured by the leaves down to the roots. Weed killer also goes down to the roots quickly. If you have a lot of weeds in the lawn, a weed and feed fertilizer could be applied. If you have only a scattering of weeds, a liquid lawn weed killer is more efficient. A granular weed and feed product should be applied when the grass is wet and should not be watered for 24 hours. The same dry time is needed after liquid lawn weed killer application.
Fall is a good time to aerate and/or remove thatch from Northwest lawns. You can rent aerators and thatch machines or we can do it for you.


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In the last few years, the Department of Homeland Security has went on a literal ammunition buying spree, purchasing over a billion and a half rounds of ammunition alongside other police state weapons such as armored checkpoints and high power sound cannons.
A report published on theintelhub.com in July of this year documented the buildup and its connections to what DHS must believe is an impending civil war.
"This astonishing amount of purchased ammunition has led many to speculate and believe that homeland security is actively preparing for what they believe will be a bloody and extremely violent American uprising and or civil war.
When you couple this large-scale buildup of ammo with bulletproof checkpoints, law enforcement bulletins labeling everyday Americans as possible terrorists, and a series of videos that painted middle class Americans as the new Al Qaeda, you can clearly see that at least portions of DHS are planning for some sort of violent confrontation with the American people."
Sadly, many Americans believe that the DHS is either completely good or simply not powerful enough to takeover the country.
Obviously both those claims are complete hogwash. An agency that was actually for the people would not be ordering over a billion rounds of ammo to be used inside the country or creating videos that portray everyday Americans as possible terrorists.http://theintelhub.com/2012/11/01/dhs-takeover-newly-released-dhs-manual-reveals-advanced-surveillance-and-tactical-network/
It may or may not happen. If it does... are you ready???


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Crazy morning… Flights were changed… Babies upset
My lovely husband is coming home early. Yay!! I woke up to bad news, but I'm not going to let that ruin today. Baby Hulk and Chunk woke up in bad moods. I think they miss daddy. They are doing all kinds of crazy stuff. B Hulk is trying to use the Force to get Chunk to come to her. She learned that from daddy.
For some reason I'm in a motivated mood. I might even exercise. A little zumba and some weight lifting. Who knows? I need to lose about 100lbs to be a supermodel, so I figure about 65lbs will get me to Size Sexy. I want my stomach flat, toned arms, and a lifted booty like in those commercials. All this needs to happen by yesterday. Let's face it that's probably not going to happen, but at least it's a start. Right? My real goal is May 15. Hopefully I see some change by then.
I'm working on some baby shower items and my swap project. Hopefully I can get more done between my workout and cleaning the house. Oh and my husband just informed me that he left his keys at the hotel. Today is going to be a really long day.
I think we agreed not to have sad blogs, but I have to put this out there. I lost a friend last night and I want her to know that she was always sweet and is truly missed.


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Preheat oven to 190°C.
Season roast well with salt and pepper. In a medium saute pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil. When hot, sear roast on all sides, until nicely caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove roast to a sheet tray lined with a wire rack.
Meanwhile, place garlic, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, mustard powder, 1/2 cup oil, salt and pepper, to taste, in a food processor and pulse until mixture forms a paste.
Rub paste all over roast. Bake in the oven until the roast is cooked to medium-rare or registers 125 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 minutes.
Let roast rest 10 minutes before slicing and serve with Horseradish Cream.
Horseradish Cream:
In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Yield: 1/2 cup


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Meeting people through the internet has been happening for quite a number of years. Now there are people who join internet meeting sites who are quite experienced and some who are total novices.
It would be great to have a bit of a mentoring opportunity right here on our site. It would be great to hear stories about the best and worst dates or meetings. Since we're focusing on humor here…How about the funniest dates and meetings.
The reason for the popularity of internet dating and meeting sites is that it works. People do meet people. Couples couple off. People find friends, lovers, spouses, partners, house-mates, and travel companions.
Lets hear about what you're looking for and what you've found in the past. If this is your first time out, what are your worries? What are your hopes and expectations.
Our profile is where you need to write about yourself in a more honest and personal way…but here you can talk about your anxieties as well as your sense of confidence. It will be great for the more experienced people to make comments and suggestions to help the novices become more comfortable.Follow Us:


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JOAN puts forward the view that the SNP are the champions of the poor thanks to their freezing of council tax, and says that an independent Scotland would be able to help people even more.
IT was branded "son of poll tax" when first introduced – and for good reason.
The council tax was only a slight improvement on the hated Thatcher tax, which charged rich and poor the same. Son of poll tax was also unfair.
A billionaire living in a Band H palace only pays three times more council tax than someone in a Band A bedsit – even if his income is 100 times higher.
Do you like this post?


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JRiver Media Center 24 Full Crack + Serial Key
JRiver Media Center 24 Full Crack + Serial Key is whole media solution for sizable libraries. It organizes, play, and tag all sorts of media documents and rip, burn, serve to Xbox, ps3, upnp, dlna, and Tivo. It capabilities audiophile first-class, 10-foot mode, faraway manipulate, HD television recording in real time, customizable media views, helps play, cameras, ninety+ media file formats, integration with Facebook, Flickr, Audible, Amazon mp3, google, youtube, Wikipedia, Hulu, remaining.Fm, and Twitter, cowl art research, 3 skinned interfaces, visualization studio helps you to create your personal visualizations, DSP studio lets in the personalization of the listening environment, clever lists primarily based on guidelines, drag-and-drop for smooth playlisting introduction, aid for cd and DVD database, and aid for famous handheld gamers.
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If you've downloaded before, jump to the download phase below. In case you're new to this, you would possibly read the "getting started" subject matter on our wiki.
Whilst the download finishes, click on the downloaded report to install. Mc will ask a few questions and will then begin uploading your media files. You could forestall the import and specify where to appearance if you decide upon. All through import, mc can be less responsive, however, it'll accelerate while import finishes. For the duration of this time, you may click on around to try matters. Many options are to be had with a right-click on.
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When folks in AR hear the word automation, it doesn't necessarily bring to mind the most positive, reassuring thoughts. Change is never a seamless process but distinguishing fact from fiction can go a long way.
Every AR department has the same goals - reduce operating costs, collect payments faster and strengthen their relationships with customers - AR automation is simply a tool to help accomplish them.
Learn why AR automation shouldn't be scary and why it matters more than ever in this insightful white paper.
Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly


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Yes the car is finally finished :D Well I won't write a big description because nobody reads it anyways. Maybe 2-3 People read. If you want to know any informations just ask me it.
Well but I still have to say a big thanks to Turn10, Matheus-340 and a good friend of me who made the engine of this Monster :)


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Yarn Crush
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Inspire yourself with a monthly project-in-a-box. Yarn Crush delivers premium yarn (full-sized skeins, or coordinating sets of mini-skeins), and brand-new knit and crochet patterns designed to use them. All notions required to complete either project are included, and Yarn Crush usually includes a bonus gift, too. They offer monthly or bi-monthly shipping options, and two different subscriptions: Sock Crush (starting at $26.99) or Yarn Crush (starting at $32.99).
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The human body uses lipids for a variety of applications, including as a fuel source, to construct membranes and to protect and insulate the body. While ingesting too many lipids can cause health problems, the ingestion of some is necessary. Lipids occur naturally as oils, fats and waxes.
Lipids that are solid at room temperature are called fats. The human body uses fats primarily as an emergency food source. This is because fats are more calorically dense than any other type of macromolecule, making them the most efficient substance for storing energy. When an animal eats more food than it needs, it stores the excess energy in the chemical bonds of lipids. Later, when the animal needs to access these reserves, it breaks the chemical bonds, releasing energy.
Additionally, the human body relies on fat to help insulate the body from cold temperatures. Other animals use fats in the same way, such as seals, polar bears and other creatures living in cold climates. Lipids repel water, which makes them very useful molecules for a body that is 60 percent water. By using lipids to form membranes, the body can channel and contain water where it needs. Lipids also work to protect some delicate structures of the body. For example, the fat found around a human's internal organs helps to protect these important structures from damage.


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Because almost everyone could use a mid-week win.
What's your Badass? A song? An outfit? A signature drink? Your ability to shoot withering looks at assholes? You unique knack for slicing up illogical arguments without batting an eyelash? Your commitment to a cause? Your prowess in electrical engineering?
What makes you think, "I am a righteously badass beast"?
Share, GT!


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No availability currently: My FI studio is full and I'm not able to accept new students at this time. Click here to read about other options for studying Feldenkrais.
What is Functional Integration?
For most people, there is no better way to address pain reduction and self-improvement goals than the neuromuscular reorganization possible through Functional Integration lessons (hands-on, one-to-one Feldenkrais). Whether commencing a series of lessons, or just getting to know the Feldenkrais Method on a one-to-one basis before joining the weekly classes, FI lessons are an excellent way to begin studying the method.
Feldenkrais is a system of movement education with applications similar to physical therapy, but more holistic. When someone wants to reduce pain, recover from an injury, or improve an aspect of themselves (anything related to movement, balance, posture, athletics, or artistic performance), a Feldenkrais lesson addresses the whole person–not just the symptom–by eliciting changes in the nervous system. Scientists call this process "neuroplasticity," the brain's extraordinary ability to acquire more efficient patterns of movement and action if given the right environment. Nothing creates that environment like the Feldenkrais Method.
Functional Integration lessons are pleasant and effortless, done fully clothed, lying on a low, comfortable table, using a gentle, non-invasive touch. Students describe their sensations during lessons as pleasurable, relaxing, and fascinating. Most experience immediate reduction in pain, and over time they discover lasting, specific improvements in the movements of their day-to-day lives.
It's a very personalized process, and sometimes difficult to describe. Below are a few words from some of my FI students.
A student who came to me for FI lessons with symptoms of chronic pain and fatigue wrote this about our work together:
Why FI sessions? Taking time to listen to my body regularly is good all by itself – but the real benefits go on and on. More flexibility. More energy. Fewer headaches (and neckaches, and shoulder aches, and more). The easiest fall allergy (and asthma) season I've had in 15 years. More than anything, more awareness of how I spend my attention and focus, so I can do more of what I want, and do it in ways that best reach toward my dreams and my goals.
Why Nick? A wonderful balance of conversation and silence, a willingness to explore, but also to suggest. An external perspective who not only notices what he sees – but also what he hears and feels, and what that says about the body and response. I look forward to my sessions, no matter what else happens in the week, as a chance to stop and breathe and focus on just one thing: listening to what's good for my body.
— Jane, 34, librarian.
Another student wrote this about the FI process:
I enjoyed your gentle manner, your attentive eyes, and your knowledgeable way of guiding me to discover my own solutions for helping me improve my comfort. What a beautiful model for personal empowerment and the discovery of internal resources of which I was unaware."
– David, a neuropsychologist
Take a look at the Testimonials page for more information.
Hours and Location
I teach one-to-one Functional Integration lessons by appointment in my studio at our home in Eagan, Minnesota (south of St. Paul, convenient to I-35E and I-494).
While most FI lessons are about an hour, I meet with new students for 90 minutes. This gives us ample time for an informal interview to orient us to your needs and goals, a one-hour FI lesson, a consultation about what you can expect from Feldenkrais, and discussion of possible courses of study.
My regular Functional Integration availability is Monday-Wednesday and Friday, with lessons available mostly in the middle of the day. To schedule lessons or learn more, contact me.
Lesson Fees
The cost for the first visit (90 minutes) is $150. Regular ongoing lessons are about 55 minutes and cost $120.
I recognize that my students' wellness goals and financial circumstances vary. I work hard to help my students achieve lasting improvement within the realities of our schedules and resources. Here are some ways to maximize your improvement and minimize expense.
- If you can commit study time toward your self-improvement goals but cannot afford or schedule frequent one-to-one FI lessons, you will find great value in my ongoing public Awareness Through Movement (ATM) Feldenkrais classes.
- A great low-cost option my students find beneficial is to use lots of guided self-study. Through our one-to-one FI work (even if it's infrequent) I can recommend "homework" ATM lessons in audio or printed form, specifically chosen for your needs. I have created an industry-leading extensive collection of high-quality, free to use, donor-supported streaming ATM class recordings called The Feldenkrais Project.
- Other lessons are available for purchase from other Feldenkrais Practitioners. Check out the Recommended Products page for examples. I also frequently lend students self-study resources from my own CD library.
- Many students use a combination of FI lessons and ATM classes/recordings to maximize their learning in an affordable way.
- If you have a Health Savings Account (HSA) you may be able to pay for Feldenkrais Functional Integration lessons with it. While the Feldenkrais Method is an educational modality (not healthcare), the medical community often puts Feldenkrais under the billing heading of "neuromuscular reeducation." Check with your HSA bank or insurance company. Receipts are available upon request on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.
Contact me to schedule FI lessons, or if you're looking for directions, info about your first visit, or the FI student intake form, click here to visit my studio orientation info page.
Invented 60 years ago by Israeli athlete, Judo master, engineer, and physicist Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, the Feldenkrais Method has been called "a revolution in human health" by Smithsonian Magazine. Students call the Feldenkrais Method "the missing link in fitness" and "a user's guide to the human body."


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Now that Todd Stevens has been living in Roanoke for about six months, I'm getting to know him pretty well. In particular, I'm getting to know him as a Magic player, and I now see that he's essentially the exact opposite of me. I like to kill my opponent, and the decks that do that best are aggro and combo. They don't much care about what the opponent is doing because their thing, unimpeded, will win.
Todd is too much of a nice guy to kill his opponent. He'd rather sit down, play for 40 minutes, draw a ton of cards, make sure both players played a healthy amount of Magic, and then finish the game mostly as a formality.
Today's deck is much more along the Todd end of the spectrum than the Ross end. It has lots of planeswalkers (most of them Gideons), good removal including some sweepers, and card advantage from Lingering Souls and Night's Whisper. If the game goes really long, then you can even get Cryptbreaker going like you're playing Standard from last spring. This deck is really great at grinding out long games of Magic.
But there's a problem with doing that in Modern: there are lots of Rosses trying to kill you, and this deck is structurally unfit to answer all of them. You could try to play some discard spells, but combo decks in Modern are built to power through those with ease, so in reality you need something more. You need haymakers and you need them to come down quickly because on Turns 3 through 5 you must establish a clock.
Leyline of the Void and Leyline of Sanctity are common sideboard cards in Modern for a reason. They can win games by themselves and there's nothing faster than "Turn 0." They aren't getting countered. They aren't getting Thoughtseized. They are there. And they are great against Storm, Dredge, Scapeshift, and Burn, the four most popular non-interactive decks.
Is it the most elegant plan in the world? No. But it's a powerful one, and that raw power is enough to steal some matches while you spend the rest of the day beating up on the Grixis Death's Shadows and Jeskai Controls in the room. Even if things don't line up perfectly, you're guaranteed to spend way more time playing Todd games of Magic than playing Ross games of Magic.
Just don't complain when I have the Nature's Claim. I always have the Nature's Claim.
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (9)
- 1 Gideon Jura
- 2 Gideon of the Trials
- 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- 1 Liliana of the Veil
- 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
- 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis


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