Evi you higher price who-a you!

Now I know why I got slices of filet mignon on my last trip to Incognito. Beef prices have skyrocketed to 11% more than a year ago. So you burgers and steaks are increasing drastically in price. Or they give you smaller pieces or cheaper cuts.

I think they just gave me less than the 8oz filet that I paid for because the increase in price has just hit them too hard.

Com'on Evi where is the cheap little cud chewing we know and love?

Tragedy at Boy Scout Camp

A 12 year old Scout shot himself in the head at a Scout outing in San Diego. There is some dispute as to whether it was an accident or a suicide attempt. His father and grandfather were both on the trip.

I remember how careful we always were on handling guns when we went to the rifle range. Most of the time it was with 22 rifles and the strict guidlines were handled by the instructers. But every once in the while one of the Dads might have brought up their "personal firearms" to the range and you got a chance to fire a 38 or on one memorable occasion a 45. Fire arm safety is a vital part of the experience.

So the poor kid must have did it on purpose. What a shame.

Terrorists murder Jewish Kids...Obama warns Israel

Those three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped were found dead today. Killed by Hamas a terrorist group that Obama enables. He issued a tepid statement but warned Israel to “I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation.”

In other words don't strike back at the murders. Where's the hash tag about "our children?" Or is that only for black or Muslim kids? We know that Obama only cares about his tribe. The question to me is how do Jewish voters accept this shit from this moron.

It never ceases to amaze me.

Ripper Street

Another show I am enjoying is a BBC production called "Ripper Street."

It is set in Whitechapel in London after the end of the "Jack the Ripper" murders. It has really great stories and excellent production values. It kind of reminds me of "Deadwood" and I can not think of any higher praise.

The back store project continues

Today we worked like dogs to get the back store finished. I got all of the back stock put in the cedar room and started cleaning up for the contractors. Lisa is planning out the layout and we are figuring where we can get the racks and so forth.

Lisa had a great idea about the table. It is a little too big for the store so we are going to split it in half and affix the two halves to the wall to serve as a selling area. We can put a mannequin or just pile up panties and bras and stuff. She got the idea when we opened it up in the room.

The table is in pretty good shape and will look great once we refinish it. Pretty good bargain at $75. It will look cool stuck in the wall.

We still have to organize the back "Wall of Bra's." That is about half of the stock of Prima Donna that we will have available. We are also putting in a new step between the stores.

There is still a lot of work to be done.

I had a good night last night

The wife was busy working on the website putting up photos and new products. I wasn't feeling well so after I cooked dinner she told me to sit with my feet up and watch some of my favorite tv stuff. I caught the Yankee/Red Sox game which was exciting but a disappointment. Then I went to Amazon Prime. You see she gave me permission to watch a Western.

It's not that I really need permission. But I normally watch them when she is not watching with me because she claims it is boring. Of course if she ends up watching them she always enjoys them and asks a million questions but still the idea of it bugs her for some reason.

So I decided to catch one of my old favorites. "The Sons of Katie Elder." From the Duke's later period costarring Dean Martin and Earl Holliman the luckiest man in show business. Also with great supporting actors like James Gregory, George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin and Paul Fix. I first saw it with my Dad and a couple of friends of mine in the theater back in the day.

What is funny about the story is the fact of who the historical Katie Elder was in real life. Big Nose Kate who was Doc Holliday's mistress and a pretty famous whore. I guess they just appropriated her name and stuff.

The Duke is old and creaky. Bad fitting hair piece and a double for almost every scene. I think he had his lung taken out by then so he was in tough shape. Dean Martin played the same cowboy role he always plays by ripping off the performance that Howard Hawks got out of him. Everybody does what they usually do. It was comforting.

Like a warm blanket on a cold night.

I felt like the "Responsorial Psalm" was in repsonse to my musing.

"The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him"

It was pretty funny that was the psalm this Sunday. I had described the scene I witnessed on Friday on my way to the store. There was the hipster tattooed mom with a seven year old son who refused to do whatever she wanted him to do. It looked like he wanted to dash across Court St. She had a hold of him and they were struggling. She lifted him up in her arms and started to carry him down the street. He hauled off and started punching her. Really hard. In the back. In the head. It must of hurt but he was still a scrawny kid so she just kept walking. How in any universe is it ok to put your hands on your mother?

I mused that we have gone to much to one side of the spectrum. All love all the time without any fear. There has to be a healthy fear of consequences for bad behavior. I think the Church went away from that starting in the sixties. Once they dropped the Latin Mass and started playing guitars and all of that nonsense more and more people started leaving the church. Everyone who thinks they are smarter then me is saying that the old way was the wrong way. That it is much better to have this new way (well not so new way of doing things since it is fifty years old now) is so much better. So what has it meant? Many fewer people in church. Fewer priests and nuns. The end of Catholic education. People saying that they don't have to find God by going to church. That they only had to show up for marriages, funerals, Christmas and Easter.

The thing is there might come a time when they want to go to the church and it won't be there anymore. 

I am not saying we should go back to the nuns beating the crap out of you for your transgression. Necessarily.  Although there are many, many kids that need a ruler across the head now and again. But the way things are now is too far the other way. Every kid and every transgression is fine and dandy. Everybody gets a trophy and a ribbon no matter what they do or how badly the behave. There is no accountability for anything. Without a healthy fear of the consequences it will all go to crap. The President will break the law with impunity. Legislators will get into phony marriages to become resident aliens so they can run for office so they can give their tribe more free stuff. Nobody would pay their taxes. People love their country but they fear the IRS.

Aridog said much better than me: "I think when Trooper refers to "fear" he is really referring to an imbued sense of consequences. Failing to respect others may one day find you face to face in battle, trying to kill each other. Consequences. Failing to be reliable, from a kid's perspective, usually means they won't find adults reliable either. The STFU lesson in discretion is best learned on the block IMO, among your peers. Consequences...trust is a two way exchange. A reliable adult will more easily influence a kid to be the see way...they see positive consequences."

That is the nub of it I think. There is no fear of consequences anymore. So haul off and punch your mother in the face. Nobody is going to say anything. Nobody is going to do anything. Nobody is going to think it is anything out of the ordinary.  It is all of a piece with these couples I see every night sitting in front of the bar with one kid in the stroller and another in papoose sack with their dog tied to the table while they drink beer.  

This is going to be a really messed up place when these kids are in their teens.

Because those precious darlings will have been loved to pieces. But soon enough they will be feared.

Just a little musing on a Sunday afternoon.

The shop is an ongoing project

We were out most of the week trying to get the rest of the stuff we needed to get the back store ready for then new lingerie store. This is the new wallpaper that we are going to put on the walls. We went out to get some track lighting. It looks like we are going to use a black track since the silver or stainless steel doesn't work.

We decided to go to the dirty hippies to see what they had on hand to see if we could get any new pieces for the store. I have been taking them and sending out to Jersey. This Vietnam vet guy I know refinishes them and takes a cheap piece and makes it look like an expensive item of furniture.

It's a goof to go to this joint. They have a bunch of stuff that they sell dirt cheap. My favorite place is all of the books they get donated. You can find some great stuff. Real cheap. I can't buy any because I went strictly kindle but I like to check them out while Lisa wanders the store.

She found this piece. It cost about $100 bucks. It is going in the middle of the back store.

It is the bottom one of course. We are going to refinish it to match the rest of the decor of the store. Not bright yellow like the first piece you saw. That is the showpiece and centerpiece of the store. As well as being storage.

We are going to make it black like the other pieces we got. This is the new one that Sean brought today. It is going to be great to store bras and will be a great place to put bra manikins and displays.

Looks great when it is all painted up. Much better than that Ikea crap made out of pressed wood that you have to put together yourself.

That new table is going to be just the ticket.

Things that make you smile

The first female Dominican elected to the New York State Assembly has plead guilty to a sham marriage to stay in the country. She paid someone $8,000 to marry her so she could be legal while she was banging someone else.

My question is "A sham marriage?" Could this be used to rid us of Hillary?

That makes me smile.

Things that make you smile

A pair of Indian entrepreneurs have invented a new style of "anti-rape jeans" that will help combat the epidemic of sexual assaults. The jeans contain a small alarm that when triggered send a distress call to the nearest police station.

Of course other people have jumped on the bandwagon and devised another style of anti-rape jeans. Inspired by President Obama's jeans. Nobody would ever want to have sex with anyone who wore jeans like that.

Plus they make you throw like a girl.

Things that make you smile

Alec Baldwin noted liberal bigmouth is a little peeved at his daughter Ireland who he affectionally refers to as a "rude thoughtless little pig."

Well she is a big girl now and is all over the tabloids making out with her girlfriend who is a black lesbian rapper.

Makes you smile ya know?

You can tell everything you need to know about a person by how they treat the waiter.

This is one of the rules that I live by. That is why I despise hipsters and yuppies and almost every other fucking idiot that I run across when I am going out to eat. For example there is this column by a stupid entitled twat from the New York Post. Her thesis is that waitresses should be replaced by ipads. What a fucking moron.

A good waitress or waiter is essential to a dining experience. They can answer your questions. Help you choose your meal. Make exceptions and substitutions.  When I go to a place I always introduce myself and the other members of my party. I try to make a personal connection. Or at the minimum establish the fact that I know that the waiter is a person. Not my slave. If they were a slave I would expect them to be a shut in from Oakland ranting about reparations. They are simply a server. Someone to help me enjoy my meal. Not someone that I should berate or treat like shit.

A perfect example is our recent somewhat disastrous dinner at Incognito. The waiter was a confused Mexican who was probably distracted because his kids had just got dumped at the border. Since I had been to the joint more than twice I had the menu memorized. I lead him through the appetizers and the main courses. He had to go to the kitchen a couple of times to be sure that they could do what I asked. Not that it was anything spectacular. Just mashed potatoes. But he tried his best and that is all you can ask. Everyone had a good time. I just worried about the meal and made sure it turned out great for everyone.

The Mexican waiter took the photo so we all look like the Devil. That is what he must think of his boss and all of his customers.

Hey I am happy if they just don't spit in my food.

Remembrance of Things Pabst

You can never go back. We say that all the time and it is so true.

This past Tuesday we went into the city to buy bras and panties and camisoles to fill up the new lingerie store. We made a useful contact with a sales rep who has a lot of good lines. We took our new girl who is going to be running the store since she is very knowledgeable and was a great help. Lisa needs someone to bounce things off of besides me because my comments are always the same. "How much does that cost?" It was an intensive four hours while Omar waited for us in the car.

Now I have Omar wait because we were supposed to hit a bunch of places and I can't around the way I used to. It is hard for me especially in the heat so I would rather pay for him to drive us then get sick. But we spent so much time there that we were done at around seven. So I decided to treat everyone to dinner. Of course we decided to go to one of our favorite joints that I have mentioned many times: Incognito.

So we get there and of course we are greeted by our friend the chef who brings us to our table. But something is off. It is very hot. The doors are closed but the a/c is not blasting like it usually is when we were there last year. The wait staff is completely different. The French girl and the Italian guy are gone and all the wait staff is Mexican dudes. This joint has an open kitchen where you can see them work behind a window. When I went up to go to the john I noticed that the sous chef wasn't there anymore and it was all Mexicans all the time.

I go outside where the chef is smoking and ask him to turn up the a/c. This after asking the waiter a couple of times. He comes in and makes a big production of turning it up. I say thank you and sit back down. Now we are ordering a lot of good stuff. It is Omar's first time in a big time Manhattan bistro. He has been thinking of opening his own joint and I am advising him. I told him it is important to go out and check out other places. Steal the good ideas. But notice the mistakes so you don't make them. The air conditioning is a case in point.

I order the appetizers for the table. A big pizza and meatballs all around. With garlic bread. Drinks of course. Well not for me and Omar. He is a Muslim and I am a heart patient. But Lisa and the new girl enjoyed some very nice cocktails. Then we ordered the main courses. Or at least I suggested what they should get and they were very happy.

That is when I saw that things were going downhill. Lisa and I ordered the filet mignon. This is what it looked like:

Notice that they butterflied it and did not give a full piece of filet mignon where you could identify the cut. That is a no-no. It tasted good but it is not how it should be presented. It was obviously not a full serving and not prepared properly. Now if I give him the benefit of the doubt than it is the full 6oz piece but his kitchen could not prepare it to order as a whole piece so they had to cut it up to make it medium/medium. That is not done correctly. Also they put the Bearnaise sauce on the bottom of the plate instead of on the side to mask the smaller portion. All in all not what it was supposed to be.

Omar and the new girl got steak pom frites which was also butterflied which is very weird for a rib eye steak. Not the way to do it. I didn't make a big deal out of it because I didn't want Omar to get the wrong idea. I just told him the proper way to do it if he had it in his joint. I don't think it will matter because the cuisine of his country is mostly fish so it will have that and a lot of curry.

When you put it all together this is the sign of trouble in a restaurant. No a/c because he is cutting costs. Changes in the staffing so it is only low talent staffers who are obviously illegals. The kitchen has only helpers and no real talent. The owner outside smoking cigarettes and looking worried.. The food being short changed and not prepared correctly. All in all it is time to stop going there. It's a shame. It was fun while it lasted. I don't think it will be around in August when are next in the city for the show at the Javits. We will have to find another place to go.

If they remade the show who would play

If they remade Police Woman who would they have play Pepper Anderson.

I know who I would pick. How about you. Oh and whose that girl?

If they remade the show who would play

Who would we get to play Wrangler Jane?

You know who I would pick. By the way whose that girl?

It they remade the show who would play

Who would play Ginger on the New Gilligan's Island.

I think you know who I would pick. Right Ron?

A three hour cruise?

So the captain of the minnow was driving his boat when he decided to get in a three way and nobody was watching the boat. They crashed into a dock at La Guardia Airport but the port police couldn't respond. If they were towel heads they could have shot down about ten planes before the coppers showed up.

It was the Skipper and his little buddy. But was it Ginger or Maryann.

The board was sixty so that's about right.

Of course we know that the skipper wants to be in the poop deck so to speak. But his little buddy might have been willing to check out Mary Ann.

Palate cleanser

Just to get back to the reason this blog exists.

Besides Pope bashing.

I am still waiting on Palladian

We are working on the details. I think he is working on his tan but what are you gonna do.I might spread the word by email instead of on the blog because we want to keep his privates private.

If you know what I mean.

More info soon.

Heres the poop

I had a messed up day today. My computer picked up a nasty virus and I didn't have time to give it any Nyquil or anything because I had a bunch of meetings in the city and I was out all day.

But I did work on Evan's problem and I think I have a reasonable solution. My driver Omar can pick up the stuff and truck it down to Evan in Pennsy. I am in touch with him regarding the details. Once we figure that out anyone who wants to contribute can send whatever directly to him to pay the bill. I will report back when I have more exact details and everyone can decide what they want to accordingly.

Omar and Hassan are very trustworthy. I know it seems crazy that I am getting two Muslim terrorist to truck down the frills and bags and bows for a big fat homo but hey that's the kind of open minded ultra-conservative Shite  Catholic that I am.

I just don't want them to stop for an abortion or get gay married when they are down there. Just sayn'

Remembrance of Things Pabst

So we went out on Friday Night to relax after another grueling day. When we got to the Greek place it was pretty crowded because it was Friday night at 7:30 and everyone was out on a beautiful night. Since we are in with the in crowd already Lisa went in to talk to the owner. She didn't want to sit in the back because it was too hot and we wanted to sit in the window. So the owner said no problem I will save you a table. Go and have a drink and come back in half an hour.

There is this hipster bar that I have never gone into down the street. It has been open for a bout ten years. It is called "Brooklyn Social." The gimmick is that they took over the space of an old social club. The Society De Riposto which was an Italian group based on people from Bari. I had gone into the joint several times to play cards back in the day. One of my fathers good friends was the President for about twenty years and when one of my buddies wanted to get into the serious game there I went with him to get him in. I wasn't there for long. Didn't sit in for more than a couple of hands. Just to make the introduction. Since they always took his money they were cool with that.

Anyway these hipster guys took over and their idea was not to change much. Same decor. Same fixtures. Just put in a pool table and a ladies room and you were good to go.

We belly up to the bar and order. I can have one glass of wine which I did and Lisa had a Cosmo. We talk to the bartender as we do and what do you know? He recognized us from the show because he lived across the street and saw us filming and made sure that he caught it when it was on. Small world.

What was good about the bar was that were not a lot of young kids in there so we felt comfortable. I said to Lisa "Hey it's an older crowd. And I am ten years older than everyone so if anybody calls me pops I will have to pop him in the snoot." Like I could do that. I am too fucking old for that foolishness.

The music was good too! Van Morrison. The Doors. Fogerty. Classics that the Old Dawgs would play. Just not a lot of Mail Order Filipinos. Just older dirty hippie chicks with grey hair under their arms.

They kept a bunch of the old photos and memorabilia from the club. It was funny to look at them and see some of the old characters from the neighborhood. I was naming them to Lisa when the bartender heard me and said they had no idea who they were and wanted to write it down. I said no way. Let those guys rest in peace. They were mostly simple workingmen but a couple of wiseguys were mixed in who were best not mentioned if you know what I mean.

A staple in clubs of that era (the sixties) would have this photo of the first Catholic President. Everyone had high hopes for him. Of course in some of the other social clubs they would throw darts at it or even shoot at it after Bobby went after the Mob. But these guys always had a soft spot for the first Family of Catholic America no matter how much they fucked up. Luckily none of their daughters got drowned or killed with a golf club or something.

The group shots of the old membership and their citations and awards were more interesting to me.  You see this joint was for the guys who couldn't get into the Knights of Columbus for one reason or another. I think the Pope would excommunicate them or something.

They did add some modern signs of the times just to keep current. They have to have rules after all.

I was generally enjoying myself but then I realized I couldn't stay and keep drinking. I am on a strict diet of one glass of wine a night and I had my quota in the first five minutes we were there. So I was not happy. We paid up and went on to the Greek Place.

We got our table. But they have to get to know me better. Because you can say a lot of shit about me but you can't say that.

Just sayn'

Those that forget history are doomed to repeat it.

There has been an renewed interest in the First World War as we are hitting the centenial of that conflict. The conditions that predated that conflict seem to be recurring again. Instead of the French and the Germans we have the USA and China. With Russia and India thrown in to boot.

There has been a revival almost nostalgia for the event that triggered the war. Cavrilo Princep murdered the Archduke and it all went down hill from there.

I am currently reading an book about alternative outcomes of the First World War called "In Other Trenches." It is very interesting.

The similarities to today's political scene are scary.

Like Honey Nut Cheerios

What does it taste like when you get screwed.

Carmelo Anthony has decided to opt out of his contract with the Knicks and is going to join another team. You would think he would stay with the team that can pay him the most money but he claims he want to go where he can win. I say good riddance.

Carmelo Anthony is the typical overpaid under performing NBA player that made me give up on the sport. I used to have Knick season tickets. Now I can barely watch the games. The game has changed too much for me. What it was in the 1970's, 1980's even the 1990's is not anywhere what it is today. It is the final victory of the style of play that has ended any vestige of interest in the game.

I hope he has a lot of fun in Houston or Chicago. I know he is not going to win.

More excommunication News!

So the mackerel snappers are not the only ones to excommunicate people. The Mormons are doing it too!

They are thinking about excommunicating a woman who is insisting on woman being made priests and bishops and taking over certain sinecures in the Mormon Church. They are not having it. Instead of weaseling out of it like the Catholics do they are going to excommunicate her and throw her out. She can be a priest or a bishop or a rabbi or mugwump or whatever she wants to be. Just not in the Mormon church.

I support this fully. Even though I think the Mormons are nut jobs. I mean who needs more than one wive. How are you going to know who is yelling at you? Jeeez.

PS. They also said they would excommunicate Paulie Walnuts if it got them in the papers. Just sayn'

The Back Store

The back store is getting there. The gate is on and we are getting the contractor there next week. Right now we are busy cleaning it out and putting everything in the room in the cellar. It is very busy and exhausting work.

I don't know how we will get it all done.

Going to the Greek

So we had a very hard day Friday with the cleaning crew and all the work we are doing to fix up the back store. I was too tired to cook so we decided to go to our new go-to place the Greek restaurant on Smith St.

We had the two dips and spinach pies for appetizers. There was the Fava Mani which is a chick pea puree and the Tzatziki which is yogurt, cucumber and dill. Along with the pita we also get a dish of cucumber slices to dip and it was great. The spinach pies were flaky perfection.

The main course was salad. Big Greek Salads with feta cheese and lots of greens and tomato and onion and olives. We got a couple of good side dishes. Especially the Greek Fries.

They aren't very good for me so I only had a couple. Covered in Olive Oil and Feta cheese they were great. A little indulgence because we went with the salad.

Desert was something different. Yogurt with a sour cherry sauce. It was superb. Much better than cake or ice cream.

Afterward we went to Brooklyn Social which is a bar down the street. More about that later.