AnimaMundi

It's Complicated

When the weatherman says it's complicated, that means they don't what the hell is going to happen. They were predicting 2"-5" of snow. We got at least 8" of heavy wet snow. I know it's winter in upstate NY and anytime after December 1st watch out! So I cranked up my snowblower this morning and, being the fucking winter warrior that I am, I cleared half of the driveway in no time. Then the damned machine kept veering to the left. I looked at the tire and it wasn't flat but had separated from the rim. Meaning that it was indeed flat but didn't appear flat. There was no air in the tire. I tried a pump. No luck. My friend T. came over and we got the god damn wheel and tire off after a bit of a struggle. Thanks, locktite. Well, it works. So, we bring the tire and wheel over to his immaculate garage. This guy has carpeting in his garage. How many people do you know that have carpeting in their garage? It's not plush carpeting, but still. Anyway, he has this huge ass air compressor and we try several different ways to inflate the tire, but the seal between the rim and tire was screwed up. So, I bring the tire up to my crack Russian mechanic G. who is just up the street. I look up on one of the lifts and see this old car that reminded me of a vintage MG only somewhat larger. G. tells me it is a 1948 Bugatti. This car is a year younger than I am and it doesn't look that bad. It is a convertible and sits up there with pride and a certain presence. G. told me that The Bugatti runs and that an older gentleman wants to drive it again before he dies. I think about that while I look at the car and try to imagine what roads and hills it has been on. Who sat in the seats with the wind blowing their hair and scarves into the air? The back fender has an "NL" sticker on it for the Netherlands.

When I ask G. how much for the snowblower tire repair, he replies nothing. I look him in the eye and say thank you. G. has serviced my Accord and Accra's since 2000 or so. Before that he serviced my late 80's Volvo 240 many times. So we have an economic and neighborly relationship dating back a few years. I have handed over many dollars to this hardworking guy. I have heard about Russian mechanics from the Ukraine. They know how to manufacture parts for autos for which parts are no longer made. It's this way with the 1948 Bugatti. For it to see the road again, he will have to make parts. I'd like to see that car on the road and meet that gentleman owns it. While G. repairs the seal on the tire, two of his mechanics take a break. I stand next to them. One is a Russian who is at least 6+ ft tall and another is a Latin American. They both are seated at a table. The Russian is about as tall seated as the Latin American is standing. They talk cars and the pros and cons. Both hardworking immigrants to the new land of opportunity. They come to work everyday and don't ponder Ponzi, bank bailouts or hedge funds.

In other weather related news, I just got my new Fedco Seed catalogue in the mail. It's always fun to look through it and see what new varieties are on offer. The pen and ink drawings seem from another time and are beautifully done. This year there's Goethe quotes peppering the text and seed descriptions. In view of the recession, the revealed inadequacies of our food sysytem and the fact that many people started gardens for the first time, it is ironic that New England's weather for the summer of 2009 was the worst in 40 years. This was the summer of end blight and the loss of almost all of the tomato crop. That's why those heirlooms or any tomato for that matter were so expensive at the farmer's markets in the Northeast this year.   

"...in our discussion of the cotyledon...we found several leaves and apparently several modes carried together around one point. As the various species of pine develop from the seed, they display a rayed circle of unmistakable needles that, unlike other cotyledons, are already well developed. Thus in the earliest infancy of this plant we can already see a hint, as it were, of the power of nature. which is to produce flowering and fruiting in later years."  Goethe, from "The Metamorphosis of Plants"

"Seed is the biggest issue around democracy in food. Seed is a common resource, and we have to protect it for future generations...I would call GM a cruelty to seed...I will live to see the end of Monsanto."  Vandana Shiva

Noel

This is the way they roll in Guadeloupe-Martinique for the holidaze.

Download 05 Noèl o péyi

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has for the most part meant little to me. I had been taught the mythical first thanksgiving gospel. Our family observed it with all of the fixin's, but it sort of left me with an, eh. I liked coming home for Thanksgiving from college given the rations in the cafeteria and my own cooking skills at the time. Don't get me wrong, I still love a good turkey sandwich on toasted rye with mayo. In fact, it is my sandwich of choice when I eat at the local deli. 

I am all for giving thanks for my family and friends, what I have experienced and for what I have. Some people love Thanksgiving for its non-religious slant. I don't want to eviscerate Thanksgiving. It's not that important to me. It should be enjoyed for its simple meaning. Let's get it over with so we can start shopping in earnest.

Uncle Fester Redux

It was in January 2008 that I posted this about my head, hair and face. Now it has happened again. This time the circumstances were different. When I went to my barber, Joe, the other day, I asked him to cut my hair just like his only slighter longer. He has a brush cut that has grown out for about two months or so. It's an inexact science as everyone's hair grows at different rates. But not that different, unless you are Larry David. When I asked him to do this, he remarked to the white haired gentleman shorn right before me, "I never know what this guy wants!" I turned to him and said "just like yours only an inch longer." As he was cutting my hair, he continued to talk to the white haired gentleman he had just shorn about taxes, repairmen and roofers. Not good. I had my back to the mirror. When I turned around I looked at my head. He had brush cut the sides of my head and left my thinning top longer. It looked stupid. Like Ed Grimley without the gel-spike. So I asked him to take more off the top. Which he did. My hair will look like I asked him to cut it in about a month or so. I am going to take a photo of it then and show it to him. Joe is cool. He'll say "Why didn't you tell me that's the way you wanted it cut?" 

Here ya' go:
  

Library of Alexandria

Some years before I had even heard of the Library of Alexandria, I had a big dream about its contents and its wealth as "the place of the cure of the soul". The books and manuscipts were displayed before me in a special light. It was a humbling dream. It only was years later through reading the works of Carl Jung and E.M. Forster that I learned of the biblioteke, which term actually refers to the Collection of Books rather than the building itself, and its importance in the history of western civilization. In light of the dream, the print copy book versus the ebook is at an interesting nexus right about now.

Autumn in NYC

Our trip to NYC was a good one. The Excelsior Hotel is a great place to stay if you can get a reasonable rate. It's right across the street from the Museum of Natural History. I figured we parked somewhere under the Hayden Planetarium in the constellation of Orion. On Friday we had a fine lunch at Land Thai Kitchen. The place is small, but big on hospitality and flavorful food. They don't hold back on the robust spices and chilies. The Massaman curry with chicken, the green curry with chicken and the wok cashew nut with shrimp were all top shelf. Thanks to Gastropoda for the deem. I went again on Saturday night and ordered take out to bring back home. Our waitress from the day before, Pookie, remembered me. I found this a comforting touch. How many places have I been in where a person remembers me from a one time visit? In a city of millions of people.

On Friday night we met friends for an early 6:30 dinner at Fatty Crab at their Hudson Street location. Without a doubt, I can rank this as one of our worst dining experiences in Manhattan dating back to 1980. What's up with that, Zak? Where is Zak Pellaccio amidst your empire? Nowhere man. It is something I don't even want to blog about. The food and music were that lousy. The decibel level at the place was in the redzone continually. Think hardcore-screamo-noise-pop-grunge-garage-punk cubed. The food was flat, meagre and exorbitantly priced at $155 with 4 glasses of wine before tip. Luckily, the gracious people we met there made it all worth it. I tried to get even by posting on City Search, Chowhound, Menupages, Yelp, NY Magazine and post #80 on eGullet. I felt that I had to say something. 

Maud and Max are good, very talented and humble people. They both have that languid southern feel. We like that.  We were fortunate to get to meet you both. Big up to both of you. Thanks again for taking the time to get together. And Maud, bless her heart, managed to drag herself away from Ancestry.com for a few hours.

On Saturday we made for the Chelsea Market before the swarms of people attending the NYC Wine and Food Festival clogged the place. After walking around the West Village and the LES, we decided to try Sigiri for lunch. The place is small, but big on their welcome. The curries were bold and robust. There is no holding back here either. We shared the prawn and chicken curries. Sri Lankan cuisine is similar to southern Indian, but different and unique in its own way. Sigiri is definitely on the return visit list.

Saturday night we made the obligatory visit to Fairway Market for Parmigiano cheese, sherry vinegar and a few other things. Aldea and Locanda Verde will have to wait till our next visit. Our energy levels were not optimal so...

On Sunday, the line at The New French was very long so we opted for Petite Abeille just down Hudson Street a few blocks. It was decent enough. The staff were very friendly and the food was good. Nothing exceptional, but solid fare.

We spent the rest of the day walking to Washington Square and Union Square.

In NYC the rare always happens. It is bound up with the people of the city. This is why I love NYC. The people make NYC. This is what makes us keep coming back.

P.S. Oh, these were all over the pavement.   

 

Gourmet Magazine RIP

We had a subscription to Gourmet magazine for a few years. I enjoyed looking at the luscious photographs, reading the articles and trying some recipes. The copies are still in our cellar. (If I toss them, you can be certain Conde Naste will start charging to access Epicurious.) I especially liked the travel pieces, but were the accommodations and restaurant suggestions all that affordable to those who could not live the Gourmet "good living" lifestyle? I always got a chuckle when Gourmet would offer their budget suggestions for a hotel. Once upon a time, we knew people who thought that they lived out of the pages of Gourmet, literally.

Regina's thoughts on the demise of Gourmet.

Gucci GG Plus Sneakers Only $316 @Bluefly.com

 
Economically speaking, things ain't right and won't be for sometime. You don't have to look very far. Billions of dollars are being thrown around like it was cotton candy. People say it's not that bad, as they click on those Gucci sneakers. "But, it's free shipping!" they say. My friend Mike, a self-employed plumber, said to me recently: "People don't realize how bad it really is". Mike is no alarmist. He's practical and hardworking.

Another friend, Alfonso in Dallas, is in the wine business. He says he keeps all of his wine in a closet. It must be a very spacious walkin one. He has never posted a photo of it it so I can't really say. I do know that it contains some wines of exceptional artistry and mystery. Now, during this metastatic economic shitstorm, he notes that some high end producers are raising their prices. In the meantime, inventories are backing up, wines begging to be closed out, wanting to find a good home. At least that's what I hope and in some cases I have been lucky enough to buy a few bottles at closeout prices. That might change if the closeouts become more plentiful. I might come close to having a full wine cellar. Then the winter weather would b mitigated some.

Fucking Idiotic Is As Fucking Idiotic Does

Friends of The (Gurgling) Cod, or FOC, know of what The Cod speaks. So it should come as no surprise that he has been labeled a "fucking idiot" for reviewing a book about Saint Alice Waters and her devotees. This can be read on many levels, as you choose or as they choose, whoever "they" are. As the Cod says, if he is a fucking idiot in the use and comprehension of the English language, then maybe he should look for another day job. I don't think his students would agree, but that's another story.

Wild Wild West

The Italian Wine Guy on the Italian Wine Trail journeys to Marfa, Big Bend and the Chihauhau desert.  He is a creature of the desert so he knows its sounds and smells. Check out his slideshow for a feel for what it's like to be there. I especially like the night shot that is more than a little surreal.