Local Travelogue

Oh, the places we'll go. When James was in town visiting we naturally centered our journeys on food and drink. Here's where we went:

Perch (Park Slope)
Breakfast: Fried egg in toast with bacon

Brooklyn Bread (Park Slope)
Lunch: Delicious broccoli rabe/chicken/mozzarella on crusty hero

Tomato and Basil (Park Slope)
Brunch: Reheated pizza slices!

Cherry Tree (Park Slope)
Afternoon pitchers of PBR

Aunt Suzie's (Park Slope)
Dinner: Red sauce Italian tasty

Mission Dolores (Park Slope)
Late evening craft beers, pitchers, and Bushmill's

White Horse Tavern (West Village)
Afternoon pints and snacks

The Spotted Pig (West Village)
Late Lunch: Their famous burger and shoestring fries - better than Corner Bistro? We think not.

Astor Center (East Village)
Classic Films, Classic Cocktails: A very cool class - we tasted bourbon, scotch, rye, and made our own cocktail as well.

The Edge (East Village)
Evening Yuengling, darts, and pool

d.b.a. (East Village)
More craft beer... Founder's IPA; then back to The Edge for darts

Lucky Jack's (Lower East Side)
Memory Lane? Some one on one pool.

The Gate (Park Slope)
Afternoon pints on the deck. Perfect.

Fette Sau (Williamsburg)
Meat coma. Just too good.

Dram (Williamsburg)
Classic cocktails. Mixologists. Delicious. Stomach feeling better yet?

Full Circle (Williamsburg)
Skeeball. Good canned beer. Skeeball.

Loving Cup Cafe (Williamsburg)
A southern feel. More cocktails. Deadly buy-back shot. Decent band. Who covers Corinna Corinna, Sweet Virgina, and My Soul all in one set? Some of us know.

d.b.a brooklyn (Williamsburg)
Deja vu? That shot from before is creeping up.

Matchless (Williamsburg)
Matchless indeed. Left soon after arrival.

Anthony's (Park Slope)
Delectable pepperoni margherita pizza

Pacific Standard (Park Slope)
Sunday night trivia may need to be a new tradition...

Why "Mad Men" Is Worse on AMC

I've caught up. Now I get to watch "Mad Men" with everyone else. But I'm slightly disturbed and underwhelmed by the new experience. And I'm not talking content. Somehow, though, I can't help but wonder how much the proverbial medium affects the message.

Here are five reasons why "Mad Men" was better when I watched it through Netflix or Amazon.

1. The AMC Logo
There's something cheap about having to watch a show with a network's logo prominently displayed in the corner the whole time. HBO doesn't do it. Neither should AMC.


2. Awkward Commercial Breaks
I'm not just talking about the fact that it HAS commercials, which obviously detracts, but it seems like the show is not produced with commercials in mind. The breaks seem sudden and unevenly spaced. Not something DVR really helps with.


3. The Titles Before and After Commercials
To make matters worse, AMC has decided to place an awkardly edited title slide of the shadowy Mad Men figure set to a beat or two of the theme music. Chintzy.


4. The Fidelity
Maybe I have Time Warner to blame for this, but there is no comparison between watching the show on Blu-Ray or even Amazon on Demand to the HD version on cable. The darks are splotchier and the colors duller. Not nearly as crisp.


5. Coming Attractions
Yes, I know it's my choice to watch these, but sometimes they just spring up without notice. I decided not too long ago that I do NOT want to know what's happening "next week on..." ANYTHING. 


It's interesting how TV's move to HBO and Netflix has kept the viewer hidden from the more commercial aspects of what television viewing is necessarily about. I don't think I mind with most shows, even ones I consider to be "very good" (like "24" in its heyday or any sitcom), but when I consider a show to be transcendent I expect it to well, be transcendent---above all of the above.

"Mad Men" Buzz

As the July 25th season four premiere of Mad Men approached I had to avert my eyes from the constant stream of buzz surrounding the show---in the New York Times, in entertainment magazines, on many blogs that I follow. Clearly there is something about this show that makes us all want to respond, to talk about it.

Luckily I had a lot of time this summer to catch up, having just started on Season One earlier this year. As with most great shows that I am behind the ball on, Netflixing to catch up with, I do what I can to pace myself, to make the show last just a little bit longer, to let each show linger on the tongue.

But I knew I had to go a little faster if I wanted to be a part of the conversation.

I am finally caught up (well, only two episodes behind, but at least in the current season) and I am eagerly going through  my queue of commentary on the show. I'm not quite ready to offer up any unique take on this show, except to say that I believe that it is "literary TV", much like The Sopranos or The Wire. I find myself thinking about the characters and themes, directing and acting at various times throughout my day.

As I said, it lingers. And I want more and more tastes.

btw...
*My favorite so far may be Katie Roiphe's "cultural study" in the New York Times, "On 'Mad Men,' The Allure of Messy Lives". Katie argues that part of the show is appealing in part because our current culture is so steeped in organic food, yoga, and moderation that we might be missing the fun of stylish misbehaving. I actually felt inspired to be a little reckless after reading this; a catharsis for my own frustration at the pressure for perfect health and moderated lives that seems to surround these conservative times.

The Cost of a Good Drink

herradura.com

I bought a couple of bottles to restock my sad bar (which really is just a couple of bottles atop an air conditioning unit) and when the total cost came to $82, I wondered, should I really be spending this much on scotch and tequila?

Naturally I rushed home to do some calculations. It turns out that a decent scotch (like Johnny Walker Black) and a decent tequila (like Herradura Silver), which both cost about $38 for a 750ml bottle, are quite worth the investment.

A 750ml bottle is equivalent to about 25+ ounces. One "drink" of straight alcohol is about 1.5 ounces. (And yes, I do pour into a 1.5 oz. shot glass to measure first.) Meaning there are just under 17 drinks in a bottle. In the end, I would be paying about $2.25 for each drink.

smuttynose.com

Obviously this is insanely cheaper than a bar, so we won't even go there (unless said bar has a healthy pour).

But let's talk about beer. And since we're not talking about moonshine liquor, let's talk about decent beer. Take a Pilsner Urquell or a Smuttynose IPA, for example, which typically cost between $10 and $13 for a six-pack. Let's average it at $11.50. This would mean each beer costs about $1.90. And seventeen beers would cost close to $33, netting me a $5 savings.

As a result of my highly scientific calculations I have appeased my guilt for the time being about my purchase this morning.

A Cableman Visit That Worked?!

I had the fortune this morning of having an appointment for sometime between 8am and 11am to fix a nagging problem I've been having with my Time Warner service. Naturally just as the new season of "Mad Men" begins I do not receive any picture for AMC and a handful of other actually decent channels (like IFC).

Have you tried resetting your cable box? Yes, like a hundred times.

Okay, well call back again tomorrow if there is still a problem. Okay.

Ummm... cable's still not working. Okay, we'll have to send someone out. And the next available appointment is in like two weeks from now. Perfect.

So I woke up early for the big morning, careful not to go anywhere without my phone lest they call and I'm not there to pick it up. This also means there is not enough of a time window to take a shower or run out to get half and half. Guess I'll have to wait for the morning coffee too.

But there is a good side to this story. The guy who came was professional and solved the problem real quick. Turns out the Radio Shack cable amplifier I've been using for several years now was making the signal too strong. Hmmm... okay...

Well, my channels are back and now I guess I can feel a little better about spending a buck forty a month for this stuff?