Check Raise

"EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY."

T. H. White

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."

William Blake

I leave for the airport soon for a long overdue trip to the Mecca of sin, Las Vegas.  This blog will resume next Wednesday.

Airplane Book: Michio Kaku,  "Physics of the Impossible."  Regards to all.

Here is an amusing page from Housekeeping Monthly circa 1955.  It contains such gems as:

"Make the evening his.  Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you.  Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

... Let him talk first- remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

Don't complain if he is late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night.  Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

... Remember he is the master of the house and as such he will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness.  You have no right to question him."

No doubt the author of this authoritative missive went on to create great philosophic masterpieces.

I have been back at the gym for a week now and I am still feeling somewhat exhausted.  I am currently lifting three days a week and doing cardiovascular work six days per week.  Next month I will move up to lifting four days per week.  Sadly I am much weaker than I used to be.  There is good news, at least I can add some food to my current one meal a day regimen.  Although perhaps I should eliminate the one rest day?

In happier news I am headed for Las Vegas on Friday for such debauchery that can be had with my new healthy lifestyle.  At least there will be pokering.

Also of note, a new Cajun/Creole place Yats has opened here in Chicago on Randolph Street.  Supposedly all of its dishes are only $ 5.50!  Apparently it is an outpost of a successful Indianapolis place.  Here is an interesting review of the place from Chicago Gluttons. Gumbo!!!

• I have been watching quite a bit of the Olympics.  After viewing the US Men's Basketball team yesterday morning trounce Greece, I think this is the best US team since the Jordan, Barkley, Bird, and Magic Johnson squad in 1992.  I expect them to win the Gold Medal.
• Swimmer Michael Phelp's diet was profiled in a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal.  He only consumes 11,000 more calories a day than I do (they pegged his intake at about 12,000 calories per day).  Despite his massive success I think there is too much coverage of Phelp's at this point.  It has gotten to the point where the commentators hang on his every action,  "Michael Phelps is now sitting and resting ....  Michael Phelp's may eat lunch later ...Phelp's is now going to wash his hands ...'
• I watched Dana Torres, aged swimmer extraordinaire, swim in one the the preliminary events this morning.  She finished second in the heat at age 41.  Nice to see youngster's doing well.  The winning swimmer in that heat was sixteen years old.
• I am really enjoying some of the offbeat competitions in this year's Olympics.  I found myself strangely interested in fencing and badminton.  I wonder if there is some place that one could play Badminton here in Chicago?
• There have been many complaints about the coverage here in the United States by NBC.  Restricting their web coverage and refusing to show events live has left many viewers angry.  I mostly find it a little discouraging in that it is very hard to get a handle on the schedule of the events.  I often miss events that I want to see and get caught in the loops that NBC has set up where they show highlights of the same events they are focusing on, over and over again (swimming, gymnastics).
• Okay, must have Chinese food for lunch today!

The Doctor has finally cleared me to return to the Gym so I wandered down there today to rejoin and commence my new lifting regime.  The person who registered me was one of those perky enthusiastic souls who took my money and cheerfully said,

"You know we have a lot of classes for seniors that you should consider!" 

Ugh.  At least I appear to be youthful?!?

Here is an interesting post from the excellent Food blogger, Pim, concerning "How to Make Your Own Pop Tarts."  If only every meal could be Pop Tarts.

• I have been watching an excellent television series, Madmen, on AMC.  A period piece set in the 1960s in the Advertising agencies of New York City.  A scary look at the world of my parents and their 4 cocktail lunches and rigid social code.  This is the best show on television by a large margin although it is a bit dystopic.
• Apparently there is a pizza joint in Chicago known as Purgatory Pizza.  I feel like I too am in purgatory as I really can't eat pizza any more, but you've got to love their name.  I wonder if Dante would stop in for a slice?
• I finally saw the film Juno on DVD last night.  I thought it was well done but oh how I wish that I had kind and understanding parents like the ones the main character in this film had.  I can't imagine how my mother would have reacted if I had gotten some girl pregnant while I was in High School.  No doubt I would have been homeless shortly thereafter and living on the street.
• I am headed for Las Vegas on the 22nd of this month for some epic, yet healthy eating, and some marathon live poker sessions.  Viva!
• I walked about 30 miles this weekend as part of my new health kick.  This was good in that I got to see some neighborhoods that I had not explored much but no one tells you about the soreness of one's feet that this leads to.  Brother can you spare a bucket of ice?

I went by the Pharmacy yesterday (a pharmacy which specializes in pet medications) to pick up Julian the Cat's blood pressure medicine.  So I told the clerk what I was picking up and she said to me:

"Clerk: Oh there is a note that Julian should speak to the Pharmacist to have her describe the special instructions for this medicine.  Is Julian here with you?"

Laoch: Er, no, Julian is at home.  You do realize that Julian is a cat?

Clerk:  So she isn't here with you?  Oh ...."

As that old 1970s song noted, The things we do for love.

• I am reading a fine book by Chinese Nobel Laureate, Gao Xingjian, entitled "Soul Mountain."  So far it is graceful and a bit existential and mystic.
• The tornadoes from the other night passed without damaging my neighborhood but we did have some spectacular lightning.
• I am making Dan Dan Noodles today from this excellent recipe (although I am using shrimp instead of pork).  Stop by before it is all gone.
• Here is a cool, quick Synesthesia test if you think you might have this condition.
• I have been listening to a pretty cool podcast from Roz Savage who is attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean.  You can check it out here.
• word of the day: agrestic - (adj) rustic, uncouth or unpolished.
• Here is an amusing video response from Paris Hilton to McCain's recent campaign ad which mocked her and sent her mother (who had previous contributed to the McCain campaign) into a frenzy.

So I was sitting on my couch earlier this evening watching the Cubs game when all of a sudden loud sirens came on outside and the television started playing the Emergency Broadcast System.  Unlike normal they did not say this is a test, instead they said this is an actual emergency!.  All I could think about, strangely, was this meant we were about to have a Global Thermonuclear War!  Obviously I have been watching too many end of the world movies.  It turned out to be a tornado warning as there appear to be cells throughout the city.   I assume the power will go any minute.  If I don't return, you can find me huddled in the basement, awaiting the end ....

O'Malley, making his claim on the laundry bag.

Start your weekend off right with Drinktown!

Last night I attended the first ever Minor League game at Wrigley Field.  All was well until a torrential downpour in the ninth inning sent me scurrying for cover and eventually the game ended up being called for rain.  I did not get to have enjoyable ball park hot dogs but I did get to have a pretzel so all was not lost.  The quality of play was not terrible and the announced attendance was an astounding 32,000 or so.  It really was an amazing turn out for a minor league game.  Sadly though, baseball is just not the same without the once standard beer per inning.

I also had a nosh at Ben Pao (new menu!) so my stomach was not neglected. 

My militant Feminist friend Bubbles (who incidentally is a performer at a First Amendment establishment) and I were eating sushi together last night, when she mentioned that she had been to a posh party recently wherein sushi was served on naked women's bodies.  I remarked that I thought this seemed like a delightful practice that should be incorporated into most modern parties.  She felt, quite staunchly, that such a practice was demeaning to women.  So what do you think: demeaning or delightful new trend?

• I saw the film Brideshead Revisited last night with Bad Betsy and found it to be beautifully filmed but quite slow in its pacing.  This is a film about the relentless class structure found in Great Britain before World War II and a striver's attempt to find a place in the Upper Class.  Grim and slow but not bad.
• I ate at a wonderful Mexican Place on Clark Street in the most Northern part of Chicago on Saturday.  Sabor Michoacan is cheap and tasty and is being added to my rotation of go to places in the City.  I had a seafood tostada that was so good I found myself dreaming about it last night.  I also enjoyed some hand squeezed orange juice with my meal.  I had several items and could not finish them all as the portions were substantial.
• I have just started Fuchsia Dunlop's memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-sour Memoir of Eating in China, about her apprenticeship at China's premier Sichuan cooking school.  It has been very engaging thus far and has made me want to book a trip to China forthwith.  Dunlop has also written a fine book about cooking Sichuan food which I consult often.  Wow, I am so hungry now!
• My new favorite TV series is on again this evening.  The Middleman is amusing and witty and can be found on ABC Family on Monday evenings.
• The Peoria minor league affiliate of the Cubs are playing a rare game at Wrigley Field on Tuesday Night which I plan on showing up for and watching others consume enormous amounts of beer at possibly reduced prices.  Tickets are cheap (5$-15$) so you should head out there if you are in town.  Go Baby Cubs Go!

I knew it was a bad auspice when, while Muffy and I were standing in line waiting to seat ourselves in the theater to see the X-Files film, a guy from the earlier showing says to me as he exits, "Save yourself!'

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

Anaïs Nin

• I am watching the film  "When Harry Met Sally," early this fine morning. Great film:
  
       Harry: "There are two kinds of women, high maintenance and low maintenance."
       Sally: "What kind of woman am I?"
       Harry:"You are the worst kind, you are high maintenance but think you are low maintenance." 
  
  Hahahahahahahaha, this observation applies to a large proportion of the women I have dated over the years!
• I am reading an interesting period memoir, Stud Terkel's "Talking To Myself."  While this has been wildly uneven, it is worthwhile because it is fascinating to see what Chicago was like in another era.
• I have signed up for a Japanese course!
• Is there some way that I can avoid the coming X-Files film?  Sadly, it seems like every middle aged woman on the planet is anxious to see this film.

Friday found me at the Arlington Park racetrack for some intense gambling.  After a remarkably positive session I treated myself to a T shirt and bought my track companion Candi an epic meal.  It's actually a nice trip to get to Arlington as the Metra train takes you there from the city and drops you at the Gates.  I am unsure why I do not go every day.

I am working on my noshing in New York post, while trying to catch up on my sleep, (awoke at 4 p.m. today) but in the meantime here is an interesting word and some more NYC photos:

• milieu: noun, a person's social setting or environment.

Wabi Sabi is an idea of Japanese aesthetics which tries to appreciate the beauty in the transient and impermanence of things.  It is a melancholy concept exemplified by things like the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  An appreciation of this concept requires the observer to focus on the subtleties of the modest, the imperfect and even things which are dying and decaying.  While not obvious I feel like New York City is full of Wabi Sabi.  Each time you return to Manhattan you are struck by the age of the old winding cobblestones found in and around the Dutch built Wall Street.  Huge crowds of disparate people crush you in Midtown and stately brownstone homes sit quietly as you walk through the Upper East Side.

I found a fine book about Wabi Sabi in an interesting compact Japanese Department Store in Midtown on 5th avenue called Takashimaya.  This is a gem of a multilevel store filed with diverse and beautiful objects.  It required all of my will power not to purchase thousands of dollars worth of items as I moved through the store.  They also have a small eating spot in the basement which serves an afternoon tea which I would like to sample the next time I am through there.  The book, by the way, is called "Wabi Sabi, the japanese art of impermanence," by Andrew Juniper and I recommend it as a fine introduction to the subject.

I also found my way to a small foreign language book shop in Rockefeller Center, Librairie De France, which was one of the first tenants in the Rockefeller Center in 1935 and sadly which is closing later this year.  Filled with rare items it is well worth a visit if you can get there in time.  They say they will move to a catalog sales model but it just won't be the same.

Later I toured the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in the Upper West side on Amsterdam Avenue by 110th street.  This is a beautiful and enormous old Episcopal Church which features beautiful stained glass and fine sculptures.  There was a giant wedding occurring there on the day that I visited and the scene was reminiscent of an Edith Wharton novel.

After touring the church I walked down Broadway on the Upper East side to 59th street.  This is an interesting and worthy walk to see how the rich and the poor live.  I stopped and walked through Zabar's, a gourmet store with just wonderful looking cheese and coffee and exotic fruits.  If I lived there I would try and eat there every day as the deli portion of the store smelled just wonderful.  I also could not help myself and was forced to browse through the giant Barnes and Noble in that area, resisting the irresistible and not buying a cart load of books.

I eventually made my way to the shops at the Time Warner Center which is a huge upscale mall at the foot of Central Park in Columbus Circle.  I browsed but happily had no urge to buy and enjoyed a healthy lunch in the huge Whole Foods Grocery in the basement with what seemed to be every person in Manhattan.

I also toured Wall Street on foot, made a trek to Queens, where my Grandmother lived when I was a wee lad, and found it all to be foreign and different.  Filled with what seemed like most of Asia, Queens has become a giant melting pot and really a wonderful place to eat if you are looking for a nosh.  On one of the evenings I walked around the Circus that the Southstreet Seaport has become and gazed wistfully at the Brooklyn Bridge and the new waterfalls which it features.

I also found time to go to a midnight movie on 34th street and saw, "Hancock", a superhero movie about a superhero who has a negative attitude and whose bad attitude leads to trouble more often than heroism.  I found it to be half a good film, enjoying the ironies found in his bad attitude but hating his reformation.

On Sunday I spent the day at the Museum of Modern Art which I found a little frustrating as they seem to have only exceptional or awful items with little in between.  I did enjoy their sculpture garden and the fine paintings on the fifth floor.  Overall I enjoy the Metropolitan Museum of Art better but there are some fine things to view there and it is worth a trip, although my feet might disagree.

There are things I seem to be leaving out but tomorrow I will note some good eating spots that I sampled and that you might enjoy if you find your way to New York City.

After a very tiring but enjoyable trek through the city which never sleeps by the man who only occasionally sleeps I have returned home to Chicago.  I have much to note about Manhattan as the Depression approaches but that will have to wait until tomorrow after hopefully an epic 14 hour nap.  In the meantime, here is an interesting new word:

esurient: adjective - extremely hungry, famished.

I am headed for the airport and will return on Monday when this blog will resume its normal course.  All important book for the plane: Spook Country by William Gibson. 

Also noted with bitter disfavor that Obama voted for the loathsome FISA bill.  All politicians are evil.

Ok, I have been thinking about going to a Broadway show.  The possibilities seem to be:

A Catered Affair
A Chorus Line
August: Osage County
Avenue Q
Boeing-Boeing
Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy
Gypsy
Hairspray
In the Heights
Mamma Mia!
Mary Poppins
Spamalot
November
Passing Strange
Rent
South Pacific
Spring Awakening
The 39 Steps
The Country Girl
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
The Phantom of the Opera
Thurgood
Wicked
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein

Reviews can be found by clicking on shows.  Any help appreciated.