Paris Food log days 2 and 3
Day 2 is a bit of a haze as the jet lag seemed to really get the better of us. We ate lunch at a nice little place on the Isle Saint Louis. Day 3 Lunch:
kel: grilled vegetable salad
me: “italian salad” which consisted of a large plate with individual piles of arugula in olive oil, shaved artichoke hearts, halved cherry tomatoes and shaved prosciutto all covered in shaved parmesan. In the middle was a tennisball sized piece of mozzerella covered by a single basil leaf.We drank chilled white wine like it was gatorade. Dinner:
at an outdoor restaurant on the Rue Mouffetard
Kel had mussels and scallops in a very briny broth for an appetizer and braised duck leg and potatoes for entree and a cheese course for desert.
I had a goat cheese and toast salad, lamb in a garlic sauce and a chocolate torte.
on the way back to the hotel we stopped at a cafe for more wine and a crepe with nutella. Which I definitely didn't need but man was that good.
kel: grilled vegetable salad
me: “italian salad” which consisted of a large plate with individual piles of arugula in olive oil, shaved artichoke hearts, halved cherry tomatoes and shaved prosciutto all covered in shaved parmesan. In the middle was a tennisball sized piece of mozzerella covered by a single basil leaf.We drank chilled white wine like it was gatorade. Dinner:
at an outdoor restaurant on the Rue Mouffetard
Kel had mussels and scallops in a very briny broth for an appetizer and braised duck leg and potatoes for entree and a cheese course for desert.
I had a goat cheese and toast salad, lamb in a garlic sauce and a chocolate torte.
on the way back to the hotel we stopped at a cafe for more wine and a crepe with nutella. Which I definitely didn't need but man was that good.
Paris food log, Day 1
...in case you're following along at home: Lunch:
We had some red wine, bread and cheeses sitting at a cafe across the street from Luxembourg gardens.
Dinner:
Ratatouille (served just a little cooler than room temp) served with poached eggs.
Merlan (a bit like flounder) with a butter sauceCheeses
Profiteroles
We had some red wine, bread and cheeses sitting at a cafe across the street from Luxembourg gardens.
Dinner:
Ratatouille (served just a little cooler than room temp) served with poached eggs.
Merlan (a bit like flounder) with a butter sauceCheeses
Profiteroles
Theme Song for the Willis House
Beedge asked me to track this down for him. As soon as I found it I knew that we had a new theme song for our household:
That's the orchestral version but here's a nice Piano/Violin version, too.
The Sabre Dance from Khachaturian's Gayane
(download)
That's the orchestral version but here's a nice Piano/Violin version, too.
Stereophile raves about Passionato
I used to enjoy reading Stereophile back when I had the time and disposable income to really appreciate comparisons between high end audio setups. So it feels pretty good to have them write something positive about Passionato. Read the stereophile piece here.
45 Mile Red Bank to Belmar Loop
back where we started (128k, what a mistake!!!)
I'm in my recliner listening to Egberto Gismont's Danso dos Escravos. The track is off of a CD of the same name that I ripped into a 320k MP3 some time ago and sounds pretty darn good through my new Vandersteens.
However, prior to this track I listened to some tracks off of Imperial Bedroom which sounds great on CD but like ass at 128k MP3. Unfortunately, I have so many albums encoded as 128k MP3 that it makes me sick. I realize that I'm going to have to go back and re-rip literally hundreds of CDs.
I was a short-sited fool!
Years ago when I was working in front of my computer out of my attic apartment in Cincinnati I was simultaneously ripping dozens of CDs a day. Never when I ripped those CDs did I image I'd be sitting in an easy chair listening to those files through a very nice amp, and outboard DAC and a pair of Vandersteens that allow you to hear every bit of sonic accuracy that you gave up when you choose disk space over sound quality.
Mindfulness meditation/Vipassana course in Freehold, NJ
Last year, Kel and I took a meditation course (read about Vipassana meditation on wikipedia) offered by the NJ Center for Mindfulness. I can not say enough good things about the course.
The class is taught by Ken Verni who does a fantastic job of conveying the practice to experienced and beginner students. It meets once a week for eight weeks and if you give the class even the minimum time and attention it requires you will not regret it.
The spring course starts on April 19th with an introductory talk on March 22. At the very least if you are even remotely interested in this, try to attend the introductory talk. For more info, send Ken an email: kenaverni@aol.com
music, all kinds.
Late yesterday afternoon while we were getting dinner together I noticed how much I enjoyed listening to the Otis Redding album I'd put on. This album I've heard dozens of times seemed totally new and genius to me. The cause of this "hearing anew" is perhaps due to the fact that I've been really stretching my ears and listening skills several nights each week listening to new classical pieces (a lot of Mendelssohn and Sibelius, lately).
(download)
I was having lunch with a few of the guys from Passionato the other day and someone made the point that both Jazz and Classical are similar in the sense that they are like wine: they can be appreciated at face value but the more you know the more deeply you can appreciate what's going on. What's interesting here vis a vis Otis Redding is that knowing about the wine can foster an appreciation of every ingredient in the meal.
Here's "Pain In My Heart." Listen to those horns. And that guitar. Man.
Aperture 3 crashes when entering upgrade serial number - solved
Was a bit frustrated after I shelled out $99 to apple for an Aperture 3 upgrade license and Aperture kept crashing whenever I entered the license key they emailed me. Following this thread I renamed my /Library/Application Support/ProApps/Aperture System ID file and everything seemed to work out. That, of course, meant digging out my Aperture 2 serial number which was a bit of a maddening hunt since I bought A2 prior to using YoJimbo where I store all my serials. Anyway, problem solved. Will wait til later today to upgrade my library as I hear that's a bit of a nightmare process as well.
playing hookie on the upper west side today
Taking the day off today to take J up to the Museum of Natural History. Will probably walk through Central Park to hit the Met and see the Egyptian stuff while we're at it. If anyone has any picks for lunch around Columbus and 80th or so, drop me a txt. Thinking about maybe sarabeths for some breakfast for lunch.
