Check you equipment.....It is going to be a bumpy ride!

Get ready to swim in the New Year!

I promise much better content next year!

And the photography will knock your socks off.

I am ready to dive in!

To 2013!

Happy New Year Everybody!

Vacations are great.....

Especially if you can spend it with your honey.

And your family.

So make plans to have fun with them tomorrow to start off the New Year right!

Vacations are great.....

But I am so glad to be home with all my friends.

Especially you Little Debbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They had food for everyone!

Even though I didn't like the food that much.......there was plenty of stuff for Titus.

Monkey Red October!

Everybody loves Monkey!

The guys on the bridge loved him. You know the crew.

There was a stoic Russian navigator. Wouldn't crack a smile. Even when I asked him about Mr. Chekhov and if it was hard to avoid other "Wessel's" when he was steering the ship.

But Monkey made him smile.

Even though he tried to keep a straight face.

Everybody loves Monkey!

Full Steam Ahead Monkey!!!!

Monkey wouldn't let go of the steering wheel. Once he started driving the ship he just wouldn't let go.

Monkey's are strange that way.

He kept saying "I won!"

Look over there Monkey....It's Cuba!

I had no idea that we were sailing so close to South America. Curacou and Aruba is right next to Venuzula So we motored down there really fast. So fast that the wind was crazy sometimes.

We passed in the straight between Cuba and Haiti. Monkey was scared because he thought if we were shipwrecked that the Haitians would eat us. But I told him to not be afraid.

Be brave little monkey. Be brave.

Relaxing was a goal.....but it was tough to get there.

When we go on a vacation there are always diverging viewpoints. My idea is to just chill and sit around and read and drink and not think about shit. Other people want activities. They get bored easy. So they want shore excursions and going here and going there and shopping and all kinds of shit.

Guess who wins?

This was from the five minutes I got to sit on a deck chair and relax and look at the ocean.

It was very peaceful and relaxing.

Just as I thought.

They even let monkey be the captain.

Which is not surprising since they let one be President.

If Mort were alive he would say that was racist.

They let anybody drive the boat!

Even drunk guys in Hawaiian shirts.

The Cruise Recap!

We were kinda disappointed on this Princess Cruise. They have a better reputation than some other lines but this cruise did not justify it. We went on Carnival the last few times and they have the rep of being a low end cruise but they were a lot better. Go figure.

First of all it was reflected in the food. I mean it was good but the Carnival food was better. They had many choices but the beef was not up to snuff. It was so bad that I ordered a vegetable entry one dinner and they almost called for the ships doctor. I mean I would never do that. But I had to because I just didn't like the choices. So I got a spinach flan that was pretty bad. I mean the food was edible but not special enough for a high end cruise. We had previously went on  a Princess cruise to Canada a few years ago and the food was far superior.

Two of three islands that we hit were just not good.

The Princess Cay was actually pretty good. It is an island that is totally owned by the cruise line so everything is included in the excursion. Except for the drinks of course. The alcoholic drinks that is. We set up snorkeling and a paddle boat ride. You get a locker to put your stuff in while you are in the water which was pretty cool.

Curacao was a total bust. We were there on Christmas day and pretty much everything was closed. They said that they go all out on Christmas but you couldn't tell by us. Since the ship was there for a very short time we decided not to go to the beach. So we just walked in the town and it was pretty grim. It would be like going to New York and wandering around Wall St while everything was closed. Well if Wall Street was a slum.

Aruba was supposed to pull it all together. Supposedly they have great beaches. We signed up for an excursion where once again everything was included. Snorkeling. Banana Boat rides. Even booze this time. But iy kinda sucked. More about that later.

Anyway we had a good time. I mean the family was together and we had a lot of laughs. We won't be going back to Princess but we will be going on a different cruise line.

It is a hell of a lot better than staying home for Christmas let me tell you. A hell of a lot better.

We have photos!

I have a ton of photos but haven't had a chance to download them yet.

The snorkeling ones are classic.

We/re Back!

I think.

The cruise is over and we are just recovering.

We ate too much, we drank too much and we swam too much! It will take a few days to recover.

But some great pic's though.

Happy New Year guys!

For the record!

Nothing beats traveling first class.

It seems wasteful going first class just to florida but it was worth it. All it cost was some miles to upgrade and who needs miles. We get a ton of them because of purchasing from the store so it was well worth it.

We always worry about the weight of our bags and the charges for extra bags but this time it was no problem.We went to the premium curbside check in and the skycap guy goes "No problem sir." He loaded all our shit up without weighing it and gave us boarding passes and we went to the front of the line for security.

And we got breakfast while everyone else got a glass of water.

Suck it peasants.

For the record1

Just in case....I love youse guys. Keep the faith and keep up the good work.

For the record

If you want to understand what the Evil Blogger lady is all about you need to catch a couple of episodes of Honey Boo Boo. Just sayn'

Just for the record.

If the Jets lose it is Tim Tebow's fault.

Especailly if he does not play.

Sort of like the Republicans and the fiscal cliff.

Now I kind of understand it?

Living in Brooklyn the way I do I am isolated from what goes on in most of the country. You see I live in a neighborhood where stuff goes on much as it did in the 1950's. Or at least for me. I mean I don't spend all my time in front of the TV playing Xbox. I don't have a video console. I am sure that is a function of my age because I bet young kids here have them and play with them all day long. Since I don't really have contact with them I guess I am out of the loop.

Anyhoo I am down in Florida waiting to go on the ship on Saturday. While I am there a young relative was over the house. He is a teen who is home schooled. Not really socialized. Spent the whole time playing Xbox. I think it was Call of Duty |Zombie or something. The whole game consisted of him killing Zombies. Reloading and pulling the trigger. That was it. Nothing else.

You can't tell me this shit doesn't have an effect on the kids who do it 24-7. Not all of them obviously. But it just takes one or two. Killing without remorse. No real blood or guts. Just reloading and killing.

When I was a kid the person who taught me to shoot to us out and put a can of tomato sauce on a fence and had us shoot it. Sauce flew all over the place. He told us to imagine that was blood. With these video games there is no imagination. Only desensitization if that is a word.

I have to say that the people who say these video games have an effect on some of these shooters might have something there. I don't know what to do about it.

But watching this kid....I was getting scared.

It's time for another vacation!

Snookie and the Situation are packing for another vacation. When we were so busy in July and August with the show we booked a cruise for the whole family. And luckily paid for it. Hee.

We thought we would be fine because we had three employees and we would have coverage. Of course we had to get rid of two of them for stealing and now we are down to one. So we have to struggle to get another person to cover because we want two people in the store at all times. But it looks like we have it covered.

One night we were coming home from Enoteca and we had opened up the store to get our stuff out to bring home. We ran into one of Lisa's gays who told us he had just got laid off. Lisa has a bunch of gay guys who come by to say hello all the time because they love her and her style. Some of them are in the fashion biz and we buy fabric from them and what not. This guy works in the hotel biz and got laid off of his job. So I suggested we hire him to hang out in the store while we were away. He can be a presence hanging around and pick up a couple of bucks. The girls will feel more secure and it should work out fine.

I don't know if I will have internet on the cruise so I might be off the grid for a while. We are going down to Florida on Thursday so I will be posting until we get on the ship on Saturday morning.  I will probably be very productive since I will be lazying around on Friday so who knows?

The cruise will be through Christmas and New Years and we will be back in New York on January 2nd.

We kept saying one line all winter. "We are on the ship."

Soon we really will be.

Did I mention there is a lot of chum in the water?

They want to make nice over at TOP. So they are putting out a lot of chum. I have to laugh. I might comment here and there in an alter ego but Trooper York will never return.

Rh you freak me out man.

Chip S. said...
I apologize in advance for dragging crap from TOP here, but it's kind of on-topic and it's something that's really bothering me. Plus, this is a forum where I think I'd get a straight answer. So, w/ apologies, I'd like to know if I'm way off base in finding rhhardin's series of comments over there on the posts about this massacre deeply disturbing. I think that sometimes I overreact to stuff online, and wonder if this is one of those times. But at the moment I think the guy is at least a mild sociopath.

Obviously there are lots of candidates for that sort of bullshit long-range diagnosis, but people like "Alex" aren't taken seriously AFAIK.

As chickenlittle has stated I used to follow up every post of rhhardin at TOP back in the day. His posts always gave off a bad vibe. I don't know what it is but it had a whiff of kid toucher in it.

That reminds me of something that happened this week. This dude comes in and he is selling advertising in a "kit" he was marketing. It is a "Child Protection" kit that he would distribute to all the local schools for children to learn about how not to get kidnapped. And he wanted us to buy an advert. He showed me all the other stores that did but that did not impress me. I mean I don't want my store associated with child kidnapping in any way what  so ever.  So why would I spend $500 on an ad. Plus this guy also gave off the kid toucher vibe. I told him no but he was very pushy. Later both the wife and my employee told me the guy had come in and was very nasty to them when they told him he had to wait for me to make the descion. He wasn't nasty to me but it was very weird.

You never know about the people who post on the internets. Just sayn'

What's that smell?

It's the fuckin' Giant's stinking up the joint!

The only reason they got killed was because I was sick today and got to watch the whole game on my new 43inch HD TV! Whenever I get to watch the game uninteruppted they always get their ass kicked.

Well except for the Super Bowl.

Or when they play losers like the 49er's, Pats or Fudge Packers.

The Giants always have to do it the hard way.

Jeeez.

Deep Thoughts......By TItus

I love titty witty's.

Titties.

Tinsel Tits.

YEA- I am dancing around my office right now thinking of tinsel tits.

wooooooooooohooooooooo

Tits.

Tinsel Tits.

Whose that author?

She wondered if the unrest and strife that had lately come to the little village of Cottonwoods was to involve her. And then she sighed, remembering that her father had founded this remotest border settlement of southern Utah and that he had left it to her. She owned all the ground and many of the cottages. Withersteen House was hers, and the great ranch, with its thousands of cattle, and the swiftest horses of the sage. To her belonged Amber Spring, the water which gave verdure and beauty to the village and made living possible on that wild purple upland waste. She could not escape being involved by whatever befell Cottonwoods.

Commentor Memories Number 170 The Crack Emcees's Mom Misses him

He has been gone for a while and she is trying to tempt him to come back by making his favorite dishes.

But even her pancakes can't get him to call home.

Com'on buddy. Call your mama!

Poems by Japanese Girl with Machine Gun stuck up her ass!

The long spring day,
its mists rising,
before I know it
has turned to twilight,
and the heart that crowds my chest
hurts me so
I moan
like the mountain thrushes.
Then from the mountains
where our great Lord,
a god aloof,
is pleased to wander,
a wind comes blowing,
and as I stand alone,
morning and night,
it turns back my sleeve
and I think how auspicious
is that one word "back"!
Back where her gun is.

I call myself a man of spirit,
but on this journey,
grass for a pillow,
my thoughts keep going back—
no way to stop them—
and like the fires that burn
when fishergirls of Ami Bay
boil down their salt,
these memories burn
deep within my heart.
Of their 50 caliber butts.

Because the winds across the mountain
blow without cease,
each night in sleep unfailingly
I think with longing
of my love back home.

With her clenched cheeks
firing again and again.

Commentor Memories 169 Dust Bunny Queen Fight Club

The first rule of Dust Bunny Queen Fight Club?

You don't talk about Dust Bunny Queen Fight Club!
The second rule of Dust Bunny Queen Fight Club?

Wear clean panties.

Gratutious Bathtub Scene.....Swede swimming editon

Hey here is a gratuitous bathing scene with a bonus "Whose that Girl?"

You know her you love her and you love her even more when she is wet.

Jummping Jimminey whose that girl?

Yankees sign Kevin Platypus!

So the Yankees continue their policy of signing stars from other teams that their fans hate just to get us riled up. I mean in the past they had signed Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon and Daryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden and Steve Howe and fuckin' A-Rod.

Now they have signed ex-Red Sox third baseman Kevin Platypus!

I mean this fuckin' guy hated on the Yankees. Always had shit to say. Now that A-Rod that fuckin broke his hip like anyother AARP member they got Platypus to fill in at third on a one year contract for 12 million or so.

What a bunch of bullshit.

I know that George loved to do this because he thought it stuck it to the other team but all real Yankee fans hated this. Now his kids are pulling the same shit.

Seriously enough of this shit.

The only good thing I can hold on to is that the Giants would never get a loser like Aaron Rodgers on their team. They shot their wads with Craig Morton and Norm Snead. Never again.

The Tao of Pooh

When thoughts arise, as soon as you sense them heading on the
road of desire, bring them right back onto the road of reason.
Once they arise, notice them, once you notice them, you can change
them.The key is to put them to use where they will do the most good.
Vanilla is still a flavor. Savor it on the road of life.

Marilyn's Diary

Aunt Lily was really out of control after Uncle Herman left him to marry that slut Carol Herman. She started drinking and hanging around with bad companions.

The worst part was all the plastic surgery she got. She got a nose job and had collagen injections into her lips. She couldn't get Botox because that was dead skin and she was already un-dead so that didn't do anything for her.

When she got her boob job it was all over. They were just huge! Way too big for her frame.

She couldn't get a job with those puppies so eventually she became a stripper to make extra dough to pay for the mortgage on the Munster Mansion.

It was sad really.

WTF....why can't they all be like that

I mean they are killing me. It can never be easy with the Giants.

The Giants finally broke out and scored some points. They always have to do it the hard way. At least we broke out and hit it. Enough with the low scoring bullshit.

The Giants always seem to come up with young talented speed guys at running back or recciever. Our GM Jerry Reese hit big with David Wilson. That kid can play. I hope he gets more touches as a running back or little flare passes.

We might have something there. Just sayn'

You said what Bitch?

I know youse guys don't follow the Real Housewives franchise but there is a particularly gruesome one tonight on the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

There has been an intense rivalry between Adrienne Maloof (owner of the Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino) and Lisa Vander Pump (who owns a couple of restaurants and an act she stole from  Joan Collins Dynasty days). They have feuded ever since the reunion and it has been getting nasty. Now Lisa is a swart little twat and is using Brandi Granville as her puppet to attack Adrienne. Last week the ladies were all at table and the subject of babies came up. Brandi was talking about her birthing and asked some of the other ladies if they had natural or c-section or whatever. Adrienne said she had a c-section when in fact it seems she had used a surrogate and was never pregnant at all. Brandi took that under advisement and later blabs it at a party and hilarity ensues.

What is extra spicy is that Paul who is Adrienne's husband goes all ape-shit and is threatening and whatever. Subsquently the Maloof's get a divorce and Paul hates Adrienne. It is really relaxing to watch other peoples troubles. You can laugh at them. You can revel in them. I mean it is not sad like when Honey Boo Boo's mother loses another tooth or Snookie gives her baby herpes by kissing it but it is still fun.

Required viewing for all nudnicks.

ee cummings on Abe Vigoda

but mr can you maybe listen there's
me &
some people
and others please
don'tconfuse.Some
people

's future is toothsome like
(they got
pockets full may take a littl
e nibble now And then
bite)candy

others
fly,their;puLLing:bright
futures
against the deep sky in

May mine's tou
ching this crump
led cap mumble some
thing to oh no
body will
(can you give
a)listen to
who may

you

be
any
how?
down
to
smoking
found
Butts

The Tao of Poo

Filling all the way to the brim
Is not as good as halting in time.
Pounding an edge to sharpness
Will not make it last.
Pounding it hard
Will get you there.

Catching up on stuff

We  are catching up on TV series we haven't seen since we were so busy. Time Warner Cable gave us free "Showtime" for six months so we are catching up on some of the series that we had not seen.

We weren't going to watch Dexter because we hate all these serial killer shows. I mean they show you stuff you don't want to know about. That's way we don't watch 'Criminal Minds" or "Profiler" or any of that crap.

The Borgias seems like something we might like but the wife doesn't like historical shows and she always makes me stop and explain what is going on. The sort of killed "Game of Thrones" for me so I will be giving the costume drama's a Pas-a-dena.

We did start watching this "Homeland" which got tons of awards. As I am sure you know it is about a Marine who is turned by the Muslim terrorists. And they he is elected to high office. Which seems like a stretch until you realize we have a President of the same ilk.

In any event we are watching it in sequence which is the way to do it. You can see two or three shows in a row and follow exactly what is going on. It is pretty interesting.

And it makes it easy when there is only repeats or Jets games on the TV.

I just can't take Clarie Danes. She is fucking annoying. The way she looks around like a crazy person is just pissing me off. If I wanted to watch a ditzy blond with a superiority complex yell at everyone and tell them that they didn't know anything and that she was the be-all and end-all......well I would go over to some blog or something. 

Sheeesh.

NORTON YOU'RE A BLABBER MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In her continual effort to drive me crazy the wife decides she might want to get a dog. Not a real dog. A Labrador or German Shepard or a Dalmatian for crying out loud! A freakin teacup poodle!!!!!!

You see our cousin has a dog who is a little who-er. During the hurricane this little poodle humped every dog in site and they are dropping litters left and right. She tells Lisa and she decides she might want one. Now she doesn't like real dogs. Too much work. Too much mess. But a little frou-frou one might be "Cute." So she says!

"Cute."

Fuck. Now I am going to have to carry the fucker around like Ken in the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." His wife (also coincidentally named Lisa) makes him carry little Jiggy in every scene. The freakin guy looks like a demented Rod Stewart carrying a rat dressed up like Elton John.

So I have a quandry. I mean I love dogs. But frou frou dogs not so much. I will end up taking care of it. But it will make her happy. So what should I do?

I decided that we can get the dog if we name it "Norton." If she is gonna dress him up she can put a little fedora and t-shirt and vest. This way I carry it around I can yell at it in all the old Honeymooner's quotes.

"Norton stop barking. You're a blabbermouth"

"Norton Address the Wee Wee Pad. HELLLLOOOO WEE WEE PAD!"

Maybe I won't look so stupid.

It's a thought.

DEEP THOUGHTS IN CAPS.......BY TITUS

i just WATCHED THE MOVIE WE BOUGHT A ZOO.

I CRIED.

MATT DAMON TOUR DE FORCE.

SCARLETT JOHANSON NEEDS AN OSCAR FOR BEST TITS-SHE REALLY DOES HAVE BEAUTIFUL TITS, AM I RIGHT, STRAIGHTIES?

THE BIGGEST ONES IN THE MOVIES

EXCEPT FOR JACK NICHOLSON

HE HAS DELICIOUS TITS

YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TITS

TITS!

Commentor Memories 168 Ricpic lets his freak flag fly

Ricpic is very modest but he wanted share with us the reason he was chosen most popular Mensch in the Forest Hills Hadassah in 1979.

He was the lifeguard in the Mikva and he didn't even have to use his hands.

You magnificent bastard!

Commenter Memories 167 Mama M serves up the meatballs.

Always one to join in the fivolity Mama M sent us a photo of her serving her spicy meatballs to Mr M.

Oh that's a spicy meatball!

Commenter Memories 166 Cedarford wants to Sig Heil

Everybody wants to get into the act as Cedarford forwards this school photo from back in the day in Munich.

He had all his waistcoats monogram ed. But with only one initial?

Commentor Memories 165 Titus wants in!

Not to be out done, Titus insisted I post this photo so he can out do Sixty. This is of course during his game show period.

Commentor Memories #164 Sixty Grit Posts a photo

Sixty Grit agonized over posting his photo but finally broke down and put it on twitter. So I figured I had to share it with youse guys.

He had nothing to worry about. He is a fine figure of a man.

Remembrance of Things Pabst.

So we come out of the Apple store and decide to just wander around to see what there was to see. We window shopped since all of the stores were closed. We checked out Louie Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry and a couple of other joints down there in Soho. There were a ton of shops but not many restaurants. 

We were on Spring St which is sort of the heart of Soho. Back in the day I used to go to this joint called "The Brewery" which was on Thompson St. So we sort of wandered that way even though I think the joint had closed. Soon enough we come to this restaurant that the wife wants to check out. It had a board outside advertising tapas and a line to get in. And you know what. Every jerkoff on the line was texting on his phone. I looked in the window and it had a long bar and the menus printed on blackboards on the wall and  little tables crammed one on top of the other. Not my kind of place.

I look across the street and I see this old school looking place. It has cheap Christmas lights strung over the old school awning. We cross the street and check out the menu. We decide to give it a chance.

It is a cute little old school bistro called "Bistro Les Amis." It has all the old school dishes. You know. Steak pom frites. Coq au vin. Filet mignon with bearnaise sauce. You know the works.

We get seated right away and look around. Holy cow. Everybody else is old. Perfect. They are there for the food and not the bar scene. Perfect.

Funny enough we take a table right next to the bar just like we did the night before. It was interesting because we got to overhear the waiters all night. All they did was gossip. Mainly about what the tips were for each table. The waiters were two old guys in their fifties who were professional waiters. They knew what they were doing but they were burned out. That happens sometimes in an neighborhood place. A restaurant has it's useful life. The staff is all hot and eager and ready to go. But the grind of the everyday work eventually takes it's toll. Unless you have a great leader they start to get depressed at same shit different day thing and they more or less start to go through the motions. I mean they will engage with them if you bring something to the table. We knew that if we started going to this place we would own it. I mean I introduced ourselves to the waiter like we always do. We ordered a full meal and left a very, very nice tip. They earned it. My water glass was always filled. That is very important to me because I normally drink about twenty glass of water at every meal. I love to clean my palate to taste the next thing I am eating. Some places hate to give you water because they figure you won't drink alcohol. Most places that know me know that is not an issue. This place did the water thing without knowing that and it was great.

Here the guy was sure to give me a wine list. They had one of my favorites "Santa Cristina" on the menu and I got a bottle. We started with some nice appetizers. I had the Onion soup with the Gruyere cheese. Recently I bought a big chunk of Gruyere and I have been putting it on everything. I make eggs and omelets with Gruyere  and even used it on some stuffed mushrooms. So I enjoyed that.

Lisa had the "Salade de chêvre chaud en feuille de brick croutons aillés et lardons." Which is "Warm Goat Cheese Wrapped in a Pastry Leaf. Served with Mixed Greens, Garlic Croutons & Bacon." Very tasty.

Then for the main course I had the sirlion steak in the peppercorn sauce and Lisa had the "Cognac Crusted Filet Mignon with Carmelized Onions & Bearnaise Sauce." Both were very good and cooked to perfection. The bus boys were very attentive and served quickly and efficiently. Both of the waiters came over several times to check on us just the way you are supposed to do.

We topped it off with dessert. Lisa had the chocolate souffle. and I enjoyed the hot blueberry crumble with vanilla ice cream.

We called for a car and when he got outside he texted us. We settled the check and walked to the coat check. When the waiter finished cashing us out he rushed to thank us and shake our hands. I guess when they gossip about our tip it will be a good thing.

It was a nice little restaurant for what it was. I recommend it if you want a no hassle decent time.

So here is your phone you just have to wait for the comet part duex

So the wife insist that we had to go back to the fuckin' Apple store since her phone won't hold a charge. She calls up Apple and it turns out that we have some insurance bullshit and they were just supposed to give us a new phone. Imagine that! Soul patch guy didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. We couldn't get an appointment until 8pm at night so we cabbed it into the city after we closed the store.

Now the store was a lot less crowed since they were not having a concert so we were able to get help right away. The dude that was helping us was typical. Dirty, smelling and wearing one of those knit caps that the Smurfs wear. He looked like a fuckin' idiot. And this times looks were not deceiving in this particular case. First he tried to tell us nothing was wrong with the phone but we insisted he look up the account and could see the notes that we were authorized a new phone. So he disappears into the back and come back half an hour later with the phone. He has to call our carrier and change the chip and what not but we finally got out of there with a new phone. The wife wanted to look at the computers and Mac Books but I wasn't having any of it. I hate Apple. I don't want to buy any of their shit. Everybody I know who has it complains about how it is so fucked up. So the wife askes me what kind of new computer I want to buy.

I tell her a real computer. You know one with those punch cards that you have to put in the slots like I had to use in college. Now those were the days!

Anyway we decided to eat in the city again. We tried to use her I-pad to go on "Chow Hound" or "Urban Daddy" because they tell you what restaruants are in the area. And guess what. The fucking I-pad didn't work in the fucking Apple Store!

So I said fuck it lets just go outside and wander around Soho and see what we can find.

It was the right choice.

Remembrance of Things Pabst

We tried to salvage the night after spending so many hours at the Apple store so we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants that I have mentioned before: Incognito.

It is a funny thing about restaurants. Sometimes you go to a joint and everything is perfect. You have a great meal and a lot of fun and you mark it as a place you want to go to all the time. So you go a couple of times and it is good but it is never as good as your first time there. I don't know if the people get used to you and complacent or the staff changes or you are just unlucky. But some of the things you like just don't happen on subsequent visits so you are kinda disappointed.

Now the first time we came here it was great. One of the co-owners (the guy in the tie in the photo) was very helpful and we met the chef and it was all great. Only the chef was there as the other dude was off. We wanted to go back for the wife's birthday but it was right after the storm and nobody was going to Manhattan if they didn't have to do it. So we finally made a month or so later.

As soon as we walk in the chef/owner Paola comes running over to say hello. What was funny was when we walked in the hostess asks if we have a reservation. We go no....we just wandered in. So they take us to our favorite table which must be the one they put people without a reservation. It is in the corner right next to the bar so you get you drinks quicker. What's not to like? Anyway Paola rushes over to tell us what is happening and tells us how he was shut for two weeks and had to throw away a ton of food because of losing power. He was upset because he said he had momentum and he lost it because of the storm. So he was trying to get it back. He brought us over an amuse bouche of  a couple of pieces of thin crust pizza with sausage and broccoli rabe. It was very nice. Then he left us to the tender mercies of his waiter.

Now it was funny but it was the guy in this photo which is on their website. So he must be one of the main guys. What was funny was he didn't know what he was doing. I mean he was competent but he had no style. Now we ordered a cocktail to start like we always do but I was thinking about getting a bottle of wine. But he never gave me the list. So we talked about it and decided to just go with cocktails because we want to cut back a little. Two cocktails is much better than two cocktails and a bottle of wine.But the joint lost out because if he gave me the wine list like he was supposed to I would most likely order a bottle so the house lost out. Then he recited the specials. I asked for the goat cheese ravioli which is my favorite. Now this should have told him that we were there before because it was a summer dish that was not on the current menu. He recites the specials but they seemed a little light. We put in our order and he disappears for the rest of the night. Ten  minutes later I hear another waiter at the next table recite the specials and he mentions about five of them that I guy didn't name including a couple we might have ordered. I think this waiter guy just didn't get it.  Mainly the dude didn't work with people who just wandered in and didn't have a reservation. This is a problem in most joints. They don't maximize the sales they can get because they put people in categories. The chef guy knew we were spenders but his waiter guy was oblivious. Oh well.

We decided to eat lightly. We split two appetizers. One was a dish of marinated olives and the other was a crositini (piece of toasted bread) with a manchego melt over a cannoli bean paste.  Then we went to the main courses. Lisa had artichoke ravioli in a cream sauce and I had veal medallions over tagliatelle pasta in a veal ragu. Both were very nice indeed.  Then we split a piece of Italian cheesecake for dessert. All in all it was a tasty dinner and we got away cheap as the whole bill was only $100. Pretty good but it was only because we didn't do a bottle of wine or the salad and pizza courses like we usually do when we go there. This is believe it or not a mid priced Manhattan restaurant so you can't judge it too harshly. The only thing I judge is that the waiter didn't do his job. Not that I care all that much. But I felt bad for the owner who was running around like a chicken without his head. I mean when the waiter loses out on selling a bottle of wine and an extra special he is costing him dough.

As soon as we were leaving we saw another example of what was going on. We said good by to the bus boys who had been serving us and who had been great all night. The waiter was no where to be found. The chef comes barreling out of the kitchen when he sees that we are at the door to rush and thank us for coming in and to ask how the food was and that he hoped that he would see us again. Which he will. We love his place. It was a little bit of a letdown this time but it will most likely be great the next time

The only things are places are almost never as good as the first time you go there and decide you love it.

Oh and I am making the goat cheese ravioli in the balsamic tomato sauce for our store Christmas party. If they don't have it I might as well do it myself.

So here is your phone you just have to wait for the comet.

In 1975 I went to "Crazy Eddies" to buy my first calculator. It was a Casio and had big buttons and could do all kinds of cool calculations on it. Much better than the adding machines we were used to in the accounting biz at the time.It was sold to me by Irving Shapiro who was wearing a shirt and tie and was very knowledgeable about the product without overselling it.

At the beginning of the week the wife started busting my chops that we had to go to the Apple store to get her phone fixed. It kept shutting off and not working properly and she was getting very frustrated. So we decided to go on our day off which is Tuesday to get it fixed and have a day in the city. What a fiasco.

We called for an appointment at the Apple store in Soho and the only one we could get was at 5pm, Primetime for shitheads. I had never been in the Apple store and didn't know what to expect. When you get there they take your name and put it in their I-pad which I guess gets it into the system. Then you sit at the "Genius Bar" and wait till they call your name. Which took about an hour.

Now I was looking around at all the workers and customers and other than one other older couple there was one word to describe them all: Scievy. They all looked like they didn't wash. Everyone of the employee wore jeans and a red apple t-shirt and sneakers and looked like they were either homeless or they were waiting for the fuckin' comet to show up. They had dreads or soul patches or tons of tats or funky dirty knit hats. WHAT THE FUCK! WHERE WAS IRVING SHAPIRO FROM LEVITTOWN WITH THIS THREE PIECE SUIT!!!!!!

The customers were even worse. Some dude in a knit cap sat next to us for two hours and didn't do anything but nod out. Nobody approached him to find out what was what. I had to keep a hawk eye on him and the wife's purse so they didn't disappear together. He must been hanging out until it was time to go push someone in front of the train. WHAT THE FUCK APPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally this hipster douchenozzle with a soul patch and a dirty knit cap calls our name. He goes over the problem and says he has to wipe the phone. So of course the wife has to back up her photos. She had 5,000 photos on her phone. Yes that right. 5,000. She had the highest storage and memory on the phone so we had to sit there for two hours for the photo's to download. Then the douche wipes the phone and says she just has to put the apps back on and everything should be fine.

In the meantime they were having a concert at the Apple Store. I guess to drum up business they have live music. Some young Justin Beiber type dude sang. There was a huge crowd of young girls who weren't buying anything but I guess there must have been some reason for that.

We finally finish our business with the wiped phone and got to leave four hours later. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Of course the wife had to buy some Apple accessories shit so that took a little bit of time.

We get out and decide to go out to dinner at one of our favorites 'Incognito." (More on that in another post)
When we get home guess what happens? The I-phone is still broke. It keeps shutting off on it's own and not working even when there are no apps or programs running to screw it up.

The wife tells me we have to back to the Apple Store.

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEEP THOUGHTS IN CAPS....BY TITUS

I HAVE SOME BOOGS IN MY NOSTRILS THAT I HAVE TO LITERALLY TEAR OUT-THEY ARE LIKE PLASTERED IN THERE. I JAM MY PINKY WAY UP THERE AND WHEN IT CUMS OUT IT IS COVERED WITH BLOODY BOOG.

IT IS JUST LIKE THE WHITE HOUSE WE HAVE A BOOGER STUCK THERE AND WE CAN'T GET HIM OUT!!!!!!!!!

MY HUSBAND THOUGHT THE WORD "SLEDGE" WAS SOMETHING SANTA RODE ON-HE THOUGHT SLEIGH AND SLEDGE WERE THE SAME WORD.

WHEN I RIP THE BOOGERS OUT MY NOSE BLEEDS BUT IT IS SO FREEING.

BOOGS.