I Had My Druthers

Someone asked me what my New Years Resolution was yesterday.

"Play less Candy Crush on the subway," I said.

He laughed. He lives in Albany.

I can't make a resolution to lose weight, exercise more, or write more. I just have to do it.

I can resolve not to waste my hours (or as many hours) on those addicting phone apps.

On the subway to work, I did not play games. I composed the beginning of a blog post.

At 12:30, I headed to Penn Station and boarded Amtrak to Albany.

I met up with work friends and we went to a fabulous place called Druthers, where I drank their Oatmeal Stout

and their "Against the Grain Smoked Weizen."

And then I ate this:

That's their "Memphis BBQ Mac N Cheese." It is what it says it is. Pulled pork, barbecue sauce, coleslaw and mac  n cheese. 

I ate half.

The weather is single digits win Albany on day one of my trip.

I went back to the hotel, worked, and posted on Tattoosday (here) for the first time in almost a month.

New Year's Day, the Brooklyn Way

After sleeping to 11, or so, which is quite unusual for me, I breakfasted on King's Hawaiian french toast, courtesy of my lovely bride.

Around 3:30 we headed into Manhattan to meet some old friends from California, and met them on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.


We then walked over a very crowded bridge, as the sun set, and stopped for a photo op.

Then we headed to Old Fulton Street, and Juliana's Pizza, one of the best pizza places in the world.

It is in the space of the original Grimaldi's, which closed and then reopened in many incarnations, including right next door to its original location.

When we arrived, the Grimaldi's line was about the same size, but it moved faster. We waited over an hour in the cold, but it was worth it. Their classic Margherita pizza is divine, and their white pizza is pretty amazing, too. We also had their special #4, which consists of tomato, mozzarella, arugula and prosciutto.

I washed it down with an Insulated Dark Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.

When we left, the line for Grimaldi's was gone, but the line for Juliana's was as long as when we arrived.

Cleaning Out My Inbox: May Edition

Well, after a month of poetry posts, I am looking at a handful of interesting things, languishing away in my inbox, collecting cyberdust. Let's take a look, shall we?

Last Wednesday, due to an unfortunate series of events, my childcare options fell through, and I had to miss an amazing concert by Crowded House. My dear friend Janet was offering me a ticket, and I couldn't make it. Needless to say, Janet was understandably miffed, and she sent me this link, which shows what I missed, the P.S. 22 Chorus performing with the band at the Fillmore NY, Irving Plaza. Point taken. Still Sorry, Janet.

Cristina, an old friend from Los Angeles sends me sad news here.
Crown City Brewery is going out of business at the end of the month. Sure, it's been ten years, probably, since I ate there (the commute from Brooklyn is killer), but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the place where I drank numerous rare and hard-to-find beers (Tusker! Watney's Cream Stout!) and ate countless awesome Smoked Chicken Lahvosh pizzas. Such news makes me sad.

Ben sent me a link to a site that has this picture in the Erotica section. To figure out why...

click here. Hint: Nice Teats!

Since we're talking about farm animals, my Aunt Lee sent me this YouTube video of the 2006 WEG Freestyle Dressage Competition:



Moving on, but staying in the animal kingdom, my mother-in-law sent this evidence of ursine defecation:


Probably best to end on that. Heh.

Ipswich It Up

The fourth selection from my August beer o' the month drop was an American microbrew called Ipswich Original Ale. From the Mercury Brewing Company in, you guessed it, Ipswich, MA, this is a good hearty microbrew which pleased the BillyBlog palette. I'll spare you the jargonny review. I liked it.

See what other, more serious beer enthusiasts, opined here.

Do I Like French Beer? Maybe Yes, Maybe No.

Slowly, slowly progressing through my beers o' the month. My second taste came from here:


There's a "sophisticated" description here. Personally, I didn't like it too much, and Melanie liked it less. It had a bitter aftertaste that just didn't sit right with me. I'll still drink it, but only when all others have gone the way of the gullet.

Next I sampled another French beer, a self-described "Abbey Ale" from St. Druon.
The bottle pictured is slightly different than the one I drank. This was significantly better than the Jenlain, although they came from the same brewer. More info here. This brew had less of a bitter taste and was generally more pleasing to the palette. Again, you won't get an analytical thesis from me on the difference between the two brews. I just liked the St. Druon more.

Waiter, There's a Beer in My Glass!

I may not have mentioned it, but last month I celebrated my fortieth birthday.

Last week the first installment of a three-month gift that keeps on giving arrived in a large, heavy, unmarked box that contained 12 bottles of joy. Yes, my pals the Geigers had given me a delicious run at the beer-of-the-month club. Actually, it's 4 different beers each month, times three.

Since I am an occasional beer consumer, this present made me quite happy.

Tonight I cracked the first of the four brews sent my way, a tasty "black Bavarian style" lager from Sprecher microbrewery in Milwaukee.


Steve, some guy on The Opinionated Beer Page, wrote the following about this beer:

I traveled 1000 miles to find this black lager. It's almost stout-like, with its dark chocolate background, slightly sweet flavor, and dark maltiness. I am dying to go to Milwaukee to check out this brewery (among others). It'd be like a trip to the Holy Land for the Pope. This was made for winter nights. (1/31/2004)

I am not a connoisseur, by any standards, so when I read the description from Sprecher:

This intensely dark Kulmbacher style lager (currently entering contests as a strong porter) has a superb malt complexity with the distinctive flavors and aromas of coffee, caramel and chocolate. A renowned smoothness and a creamy, tan head make it a world champion.

I say, "Okay, I get that."

All I know is that I am quite often in the mood for a dark, thick brew with a sweet taste that reminds me of years ago at Crown City Brewery in Pasadena, when one of my favorite beers was a Watney's Cream Stout (review here). Alas, Watney's cream stout hasn't passed my palate since the early 1990's, and a message board here intones the bad news: "Apparently when Watney's was sold they stopped production on several lines, including this one. Shame on them!"




So since I apparently will never have one of these again,


this Sprecher black lager was a delicious reminiscence. I am hardly qualified to talk about hops and malt complexity, but I am qualified to say that I liked this beer a lot. Anyone missing those good old cream stouts of Watneys might find an adequate replacement in this delicious beer. It's dark complexity of taste is welcome in my beer glass any day!

Coney Island, Siren Festival, Sunset

I was going to blog about the Siren Festival, but instead I'll just blog about the afternoon and evening.

We went to the Siren Festival last weekend. It was a not-too-hot day on Coney Island. But there was a crowd. This is the crowd before M.I.A. took the stage:


Here's the best shot I snagged from my brave little camera:
We met up with friends Aransas and her husband Andy. Since we couldn't really get close to M.I.A., we decided to head to the boardwalk. We snagged some beer and ambled down the beach. After a while, the following scene unfolded before us:



We wandered on. We passed the aquarium and then headed back. As we neared the festival, Melanie saw something and she reacted. Along the back side of the aquarium was a corridor fabricated out of the French barricades. The path was created for the festival V.I.P.s. This is what we saw:



I love the picture because of the hugeness and color of the wall. Upon closer inspection, we see that it is David Johansen, lead singer of the New York Dolls, walking to the backstage area.


We followed along a while, watching as the frontman from the legendary band neared the security checkpoint.


After the band disappeared toward the backstage tents, we mingled on the boardwalk, chatting and taking in the sights. Suddenly Melanie pointed out something she had seen earlier:


Two guys were walking around with a huge wooden phallus. Perfect for BillyBlog, I thought. I approached the two Guardians of the Object, and requested to take their picture.

They complied, and then requested that I pose with the phallus. I did, and they snapped a photo (so much for a career in politics), but they politely declined to take a picture of me, avec l'objet, saying they were not allowed to do so. They explained to another curiosity-seeker that their friend had carved the giant appendage and entrusted them with a mission to wander the city and record their adventures. I wandered back to my companions and we continued chatting, pausing occasionally as people reacted to the trio of interest.

We heard the band start up. We couldn't get close. The sun was setting.



I then chose to record a "New York Minute:"


You may have noticed in the video that we were right next to the world-famous Cyclone:


We then decided to go grab some dinner. As we left, I snapped some pictures. I love this one:

I was shooting the couple on the ground,

but the whole picture, the sun setting on the Cyclone, the trash on the pavement, the colored skirt of the woman in the foreground, all make me interested in the moment caught in time.

Our walk to supposedly the best pizza in Brooklyn at Totonno's was punctuated by a breath-taking display in the sky.


and here:

Alas, Totonno's closes at the despicable hour of 8:30, and when we arrived at 8:34, we were turned away.

The dusk blurred into nightfall:

Before we settled into a dining establishment, we were intrigued by this sign:

We ended up at Coney Island Surf & Turf Grill where we had some of these:


Tasty and perfect for the location. Check out their website here.

Brooklyn Vegan has tons of pictures of M.I.A.

Oh, and I thought I was a dork because I brought my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to read on the train to Coney Island, but Brooklyn Vegan spotted some folk even dorkier than me. Well worth the step to the link here.

More photos from Gothamist here.

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat

After the movie last night, we went to a friends' house and barbecued. I had several of the above-pictured beverages. They were delicious.

Fortieth Birthday Post #35: Beer at My Party

Friend Jonny G. brought the following beverages to my party to help celebrate. I drank at least 40 oz.

End of the Week-est Links

A beer after my own heart! Article here.

Tiger Beer - Best Commercial

Saw this first over at Best Week Ever, and had to embed it here.