Desert Islands and Books

The other day I happened to glance at an old Bible that I have. For some reason that triggered a thought about What book would you want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island? Usually, when people are asked that question, the will say "Oh, the Bible." Sometimes you will hear someone say something like "The complete works of Shakespear," although that would probably be more than one book.

Me, my book would be Boy Scouts of America Official Handbook for Boys, preferably the original 1911 edition.



Hey, I want to know how to start a fire with sticks, build a lean-to, and identify edible plants. Plus, maybe, I could finally learn how to tie a sheet's bend knot so I can bend the sheet to the clew of a sail. For some reason I think this would be important.

As promised, I stopped into the Waterfront Ale House and visited my friend Gaid. He failed in his attempt to quite smoking so I am still charged with bringing him cigarettes back from Mexico. Those unfiltered Camels he smokes are hard to come by but he said he would settle for Marlboros.

Oh, yes, he said to separate the glass from the Boston shaker you tap the Boston shaker, not the glass. I will make myself a Margarita this afternoon and check it out.

But, back to Waterfront Ale House. Now my one complaint about this place is that the beers are a bit pricey. On the other hand, they do have a nice selection. I started out with an Ommegang Adoration.

Adoring My Adoration


This is Ommegang's first seasonal winter ale and is a stiff (10% ABV) dark Belgian ale. It is quite spicy with corriander, cumin, mace, cardamom and grains of paradise included in the mixture. You get a good hit of alcohol but it is a very pleasing beer and perfect for a cold winter day.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a Rare VOS Belgian Ale. This is another Ommegang product and another tasty one. This one had, perhaps, a bit ore of a hint of orange and, at a relatively benign 6.5% ABV didn't knock the Mysterious Chinese Woman off her perch.

Another Good Winter Beer


In addition to the Pig Island festival on Governor's Island that I went to, there was also another event there called Meatopia.  At this event Sam won 1st place for beef and  he also won the top Grand Master award as well.

Another Blue Ribbon


Well, it's not a blue ribbon, exactly, but a nice piece of paper. Maybe there was a ribbon to go with it.

And, as promised, a closer look at the famous hot sauce.

Use With Caution


Now when I say this sauce is hot, I mean it.  I was telling Jim, the chef here, about how it was written up in Details.  He said it was so hot that he used it only sparingly.

Of course we then also ordered two appetizers that make use of the sauce, Buffalo Wings and, something different, Buffalo Calamari.

Squid And Chicken


Both were very good, but I thought the calamari was particularly good. Maybe because you don't see it too often. Definitely worth trying if you stop in. And the orders were large enough that we had plenty to take home.  Oh, and they were also plenty spicy.

Oh, yeah, the beer prices. Ten bucks for the Adoration and six bucks for the Rare VOS. As I said, a bit pricey, but you do have a nice selection. I think six bucks is the cheapest beer they have except for the special, which is usually four and a half bucks but you have to drink it at the bar. I think the are pretty lax about that rule, though.  You can't really blame Sam for the prices though, this neighborhood is really undergoing a change and, sadly, rents are going up, and steeply.  I have already mentioned how the really good Mexican restaurant nextdoor to Waterfront Ale House had to give it up.  Sadly, the only way you can afford to stick around, unless you own your own building, is to increase prices.

Today I have to tidy up my place because the Mysterious Chinese Woman is hosting a birthday party, for herself, tomorrow. I think she is combining it with a Chinese New Years celebration as well because we will be in Mexico both for her kind of actual birthday on February 1st (Mysterious Chinese Women tend to have "kind of actual birthdays") and the Chinese New Year which starts on February 3rd. It will be the year of the rabbit but my suggestion that we serve rabbit at the party was strongly rejected. I don't know what all we are having, but I am responsible for roasting a leg of lamb.

I did make it clear to everyone that no matter what else is taking place, at 6:30 the television goes on and I watch the Jets game. Either that or I leave to watch the game at one of the local watering holes. Probably not the Waterfront Ale House, though. They just have two little televisions.

Best Undiscovered Sauces

The latest issue of Details magazine had a section on peppers and hot sauces and I was happy to see that the Waterfront Ale House's Whisky Barrel Hot Sauce made their short-list of America's Best Undiscovered Sauces.

Undiscovered, Until Now


The owner of the Waterfront Ale House, Sam, has always tried to have good food and great beers at his places.  When he first opened up his place on Atlantic Avenue about 20 years ago (and across the street from where it is now) Tim Stark, a farmer who raises heirloom tomatoes and peppers, sold chile plants in front of the bar during the Atlantic Antic.

Sam had the bright idea of buying up all of his peppers, which included chocolate Scotch Bonnets, Thai chiles, bird peppers, and poblamos to make his own hotsauce.  He blends his sauces in the basement of the bar and then ages them in old oak whisky barrels that he got from friends at San Francisco's Anchor Steam Brewing Company.  The sauce is aged in these barrels for two years.  And let me tell you, it is good and HOT!!! 

Coincidentally, I will be heading to the Waterfront Ale House this afternoon for a few beers and dinner.  I also want to talk to Gaid, the world's friendliest bartender, to see if I can get some advice about using my Boston shaker.  I haven't been to the Waterfront Ale House for awhile (too many holiday and Jets parties).  The last time I was there Gaid said he was going to give up smoking.  It will be interesting to see if he has and, if he has, if he is still the world's friendliest bartender.

Boston Cocktail Shaker

The Mysterious Chinese Woman bought me a Winco brand Boston cocktail shaker but I am having problems using it.  Whenever I make a drink in it I have a devil of a time getting the glass out of the shaker.  It is almost as though the coldness of the cocktail causes the metal shaker to shrink around the glass.  I guess I will have to make a trip to my local watering hole and ask the bartender if there is some trick I am missing.

Last night, after making a batch of Margaritas, I had to run hot water over the shaker before I coult separate it from the glass.  By the time I was able to do so the ice-cubes had all melted and the drink was far from frosty cold.

I was wondering if maybe the Winco brand uses a thinner grade of stainless steel than other shakers which would increase the liklihood of the thing seizing up, so to speak.

Anybody who has a possible solution to my problem, please feel free to offer your advice.

Big tiff between the Mayor of New York, Bloomberg, and the Governor of New Jersey, Christie, over whose team the Jets really are.  New York already lost the battle over the Statue of Liberty (it is in New Jersey).  Of course the Jets play in New Jersey but I think the real test should be to which state do the players and coaching staff pay their state taxes.  My guess is New Jersey.

Of course Bloomberg, he of limited knowledge of history, said "Well, they don't call Joe Namath "Turnpike Joe."  Someone should remind Bloomberg that back when Joe Namath was playing the Jets did play their home games in New York.

Now, let me ask you this, regarding team names and where they play, When the Nets move where they play to Brooklyn, do you think they will still call themselves the New Jersey Nets.  My guess is that they won't.

Breaking News

Brett Favre officially signed his retirement papers yesterday, again.

Just thought you would want to know.

And Brett is so young.  Hell, Evander Holyfield is 48, and he is fighting Sherman "Tank" Williams this Saturday.

Got to love Sherman's nickname, "Tank."  But really, Sherman Williams?  Shouldn't his nickname be "Paint."  Oh, wait, that is Sherwin, not Sherman.

Just think, if the Jets and Green Bay end up in the Superbowl it will be two teams that Brett recently retired from playing for all the marbles.  Now wouldn't that be a bit ironic.

Jets Jets Jets

What more can I say, it was a most gratifying victory for the Jets yesterday.  The game was just exciting enough to be interesting without actually causing stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting - unlike their last meeting which wasn't at all exciting but did cause stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.

Bring on the Bumble Bees. 

Play Dead A Disapointment

I went to see the theatrical production Play Dead on Thursday evening and was quite disappointed.  Because Teller of Penn and Teller was involved in the production, if not the actual performance.

The premise of the show was that it was a reproduction of a midnight spook show, something that was, apparently, quite popular back in the 1930s and all the way to the 1970s, although I never saw one.  These shows consisted of a magician who booked a movie theatre for a midnight performance, had fake skulls strewn about, a couple of comely assistants skimply dressed up as vampires or something, and a lot of spooky music.  The shows were often quite cheesy and basically just provided a dark place for teenagers to make-out.

Well, they captured the cheesy part.  The theatre holds about 50 people and the stage is quite small.  The host started out by eating a lightbulb (jeez, haven't seen that before) and then proceeded to tell stories based upon the content of cardboard boxes stacked on shelves.  The stories were about real people, such as Albert Fish, who lived in Brooklyn and kidnapped, murdered and ate small children back in the 1800s.

As the stories were told some relatively basic illusions were done, some involving members of the audience.  There were also some mindreading tricks that, quite frankly, if they have nothing do do with you are really quite boring.  Who cares if someone in the audience is thinking of a lost relative or close friend whose name sounds like Harry, or Larry, or possibly Carrie.  Is there someone in the audience....  Well, of course there is, proably half the audience.

The most amusing illusion was the one that involved the conjuring up of Eusapia Pallidino who, in the 1880s and early 1900s claimed that she had control over the dead.  When she was conjured into existence she was nude (a bit of titillation for your money) and, somewhat out of character, sporting a bikini wax job.

At any rate, I have seen better shows put on by kids in their garage.  Except for that naked girl part, although when I was a kid we certainly tried to recruit one of the neighbor girls for that role.  We never even got one to audition.

On the plus side, before the show we stopped into Minetta Tavern for a drink.  The last time I was there, a couple of years ago, it was an Italian reastaurant.  Now it has new owners and is French.  We got there about 5:00 PM thinking we could just grab a table for an early dinner.  We were told we could wait to see if a table opened up due to a cancellation.  And the place was empty.  But not for long.

We sat at the bar and had a drink and by about 6:00 PM the place had really begun to fill up, and there were no cancellartions.  We settled for drinks, a Manhattan for me and some kind of a special drink for the Mysterious Chinese Woman.  I forget the name, but it was one of the signature cocktail designed just for Minetta.  It was really quite good and the next time I pop in I am going to have one of their specialty drinks as well.  And I will return, and with a reservation.

I didin't feel like eating French so we wandered down a few doors to a Mexican restaurant, the name of which escapes me.  It was huge though, and pretty much empty.  The staff was friendly enough and they made my Margarita to my specification, using fresh lime juice and Herradura silver tequila.  This was after they gave me a free taste of their house Margarita and I found it to be too sweet.  Interestingly enough, our waiter was from Minnesota, where yours truely was born and spent his formative years.

The food was plentiful, but pretty typical fare.  I liked my cheese enchilada because it was nice and greasy and cheesy, just the way they should be.  They are kind of meant to be eaten early in the morning after a night of drinking to absorb some of the alcohol before you go to bed.  And to give you good farts the next day.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman didn't like what she ordered for the same reasons.

Actually, there is kind of a funny story about Mexican food, farts, a drive-in movie showing Jurassic Park on the side of a building during a thunderstorm and my first date with the Mysterious Chinese Woman.  Despite, or maybe because of, that night we are still together.  

The Green Hornet

Not too much is going on here, although I am heading out to see the play Play Dead tonight.  It should be interesting.  It is co-written and co-produced by Teller, the silent half of Penn and Teller, the magicians.  I enjoy their shows and have seen them live twice.  The play is supposed to be quite interesting, full of gory special affects.  It is off-broadway in a little 50 seat theatre that is supposedly done up to look like an old deserted theatre.  I will report on my evening tomorrow.

But, today we will do one of these weird and little known connection things.  And, what with all the buzz about the new Green Hornet movie, what better topic.

First, did you know that the Green Hornet is a distant relative of the Lone Ranger?  Ah yes, and the reason has something to do with the fact that the impetus behind The Green Hornet was George W. Trendle who was the co-owner  and managing parner of WXYZ and spearheaded the development of The Lone Ranger.

In "real life" the Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newpaper publisher.  The Lone Ranger was originally John Reid, a Texas Ranger and lone survivor of an ambush.  The Green Hornet is the great nephew of The Lone Ranger.

Now, after starting as a radio program, Universal Pictures made two Green Hornet serials.  In those serials the part of Kato was played by Keye Luke, perhaps best known for his role as "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan movies.

In more recent time it was Bruce Lee who played Kato in the television series.  And, here comes that unexpected loop-around, Bruce Lee was strongly being considered to play the lead in the Kung Fu series.  One of the main reason he moved back to Hong Kong and started his movies career was because he was so upset about losing the role to David Carradine, who wasn't even Asian, to boot.  Anyway, so what has this got to do with anything?  Well, the actor who plays Master Po in Kung Fu is, you guessed it, the original screen version of Kato, dear old Keye Luke.

Now you will all have something to contribute to the water-cooler conversations about The Green Hornet.

Gone To Ghana

I had breakfast at Junior's, which is always a good thing.  I had kippers and eggs and cheesecake for dessert.  But, the reason I had breakfast there was because I met my nephew, Charlie, and his wife, Kaylee.  They are on their way to Ghana where they will spend four months doing their student teaching.

They flew from Las Vegas to JFK and got in around 8:00 AM.  I had given them instructions on how to take the Air Train and the subway to get to my place so they showed up around 10:00 AM.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I met them at the subway stop and we walked to Junior's for breakfast.

Anyway, Charlie and Kaylee started a blog to document their adventures in Ghana.  I am posting the link in case any of you feel inclined to take a look at it.  It might be quite interesting.

Charlie and Kaylee's Ghana Adventure

GO JETS!!!

What can I say, a real cliff-hanger, but the Jets did manage to win.

When You're A Jet You're A Jet All The Way


Things looked a bit grim when the Jets couldn't convert a third down on their second to last possession, even after being the beneficiary of a "roughing the kicker" penalty.  But the defense managed to hold Peyton and the Colts and our offense managed to get us down the field for the winning field-goal.

It may not have been the prettiest win in the world, but it looked damn pretty to me.  And with Sanchez pulling off that last drive, and winning some of the really close games, some in overtime, earlier this year, he is looking like the real deal.  He may be the most dangerous quarterback in the game with time running out and needing a score to win. 

And don't forget, last year Mark became only the second quarterback to win two playoff games his rookie year (the other being Joe Flacco) and now owns a 3 and 1 playoff record.

The Jets may not go all the way this year but, by-golly, they sure have become an exciting team.  And probably the most interesting team in the NFL with, certainly, the most interesting head coach.

Go Rex, We Love You, Man!!!


And, somehow, we have to thank Brett Favre for making this all possible.  Brett may have thought he played the Jets for a fool in his quest to go to the Vikings but, You know what?  He who laughs last laughts loudest.  And whose laughing now?

I am begining to like my Brett Favre New York Jets jersey more and more as time goes by.  I sniffed it this morning and it is starting to smell like napalm in the morning - it smelled like VICTORY.  Of course the Mysterious Chinese Woman thinks it just needs to be washed.  But then she also washed the two sweaty towels that Sue Wicks threw me.

It's Only A Game

Golf Digest just announced that they will no longer carry Tiger Wood's column in their magazine.  And, even more embarassing, Tiger Woods will no longer be on the cover of the new release of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters."

You may remember that last year he shared the cover with rookie Rory McIlroy.  That was the first year Tiger hadn't been featured solo.  This year the cover will feature the yellow flag at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Sales of the game have dropped by around 50% since the news of Tiger's infidelities pretty much flooded the media.

Tiger Woods will still appear on the PlayStation 3 Collector's Edition of the game, which will cost $10 more and include five additional courses.  Maybe it will, indeed, be a collector's item.  It may be the last version ever released.

This one really should be a collectors item.  When they put Favre on the cover they thought he had retired and put him in his, what everone at the time thought would be his last, Green Bay Packer's uniform.  Of course by the time the game came out Brett was playing for the Jets.  Now, don't you agree, that should make it a collectible?



And, in the more hubris department, New York's Mayor Bloomberg still refuses to say where he was during the early morning of our Christmas blizzard saying "I have a right to a private life the same way you do."  Really, even when a blizzard is paralyzing the city and it is shutting down because noone seems to be in charge? 

And this from a man whom many susupect of having presidential aspirations.  I don't think so.

Kettle Black in Brooklyn was one of the places that Mayor Bloomberg did visit for his photo-ops on streets that were plowed.  A bit of an interesting choice seeing as how back in April there was a huge brawl there that resulted in a Port Authority cop getting his jaw broken and a firefighter getting stabbed.  And, just a few days after the Mayor's visit, the principal owner of the Kettle Black, a former firefighter, pled guilty to cheating the state and city out of over $1 million taxes.  He is due to spend 90 days in the slammer after making restitution of about $1.5 million.  The owner of Kettle Black, that is, not the Mayor.

It is snowing here again, but big fluffy flakes that are melting as they hit the ground.  I can already hear Mayor Blommberg crowing about what a great job the city did this time around, keeping the streets clear and the trains running.

Our Congress At Work

Members of the House of Representatives, led by their new Republican majority, will kick off the 112th Congress this morning with a reading of the U.S. Constitution. The reading is largely a political maneuver, so it's no real surprise that the Constitution you'll hear read on C-SPAN this morning will be the politically correct version.

That is because no elected politician wants to stand up and read aloud the Founder's vision of African Americans equaling three-fifths of a white person, so the GOP has decided to leave that part, and others, out when the Constitution is read today.

The reading of the Constitution on the House floor has never been done before, and it's only happening today thanks to the tea party. Throughout the campaign last year, "returning to the Constitution" (in a vague and largely undefined way) was sacred to the tea party, and supporters of reading the document aloud today seem to hope that hearing the words in the House chamber will cause members to adhere to the document more closely.

Democrats and Republicans are expected to participate in the reading, but not all members of Congress think it's a worthy use of their time.  So of course, before time is wasted reading only the politically correct parts of the Constitution, additional time is being wasted while members debate about whether or not the Constitution should be read at all.

Oh well, what else have they got to do with their time?  Deal with the economy, unemployment, the national debt, the wars in Afghanistan and Iran?  Hah, that can wait.  Let's grandstand a bit first.

Any bets on whether or not John Boehner tears up when he reads his part?

No Happy Ending

Just a few random musings to start off the new year.

First, best headline of the year so far, the NY Daily News front page featrured a picture of my favorite quarterback, Brett Favre, with the caption "NO HAPPY ENDING" in regards to the ex-Jet masseuses suing both him and the Jets.

Second, during the whole snowstorm fiasco here in New York over Christmas, not only was Mayor Bloomberg nowhere to be found, he refuses to say where he was.  And Deputy Mayor Goldsmith, who oversees snow clearing, was in Washington on a skiing vacation.  In fact, as it turns out, nobody really knows who was actually in control during the snowstorm and its aftermath.  You have to love New York.

Third, How about those Knicks?  Not only did they blow out the NBA's best team last night, they positively humiliated them.  So much so that the Spurs coach pulled all of the starters with three minutes left in the game when they were down by ten.  Hell, I have seen the Knicks blow a ten point lead in less than three minutes before.  Oh, it was a real defensive battle, the score was 128 to 115.

Fourth, is "douchebag" now considered to be a dirty word?  I see that a number of publications, including the estimable NY Daily News, has begun to use "d-bag" in its place.

Fifth, does it really make sense to release a new version of "Huckleberry Finn" with the word "slave" replacing the word "nigger."  Now I agree that the word "nigger" is offensive to many, including me, but aren't we going a bit too far with this.  How many recent Afro-American authors, Richard Wright and James Baldwin come to mind, have used the word in their works.  And how about the Avengers song "White Nigger"?  Or the lyrics to "Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello? Or the lyrics to "Battleground" by Joe Jackson?  Do we go back and edit the word out of everything?  And does substituting "N-word" in print really accomplish anything except looking silly?

Oh, and finally, I think Brett Favre has retired again.  But then, this is becoming something of an annual event.  Once more and they may declare it a national holiday.

Happy New Year

Heading to New Jersey today for a prolonged New Years celebration at my Mysterious Sister-In-Law's.  Looking forward to it because we all had to leave early last Sunday due to the snow and I didn't get a chance to dig into a number of interesting beers that Jim brought over.  We were going to watch the Jets and Giants games and drink them up but, alas, didn't get to them.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate a bit more this time.

So, I will bid you a fond adieu untl 2011 and wish you all:


 

I Would Rather Be In Mexico

It is one thing to be in Mexico watching the weather reports from New York showing blizzard-like conditions.  It is quite another to be in New York when there is a blizzard.  I couldn't even make it to the deli to get a paper this morning, and the deli is only a block away.

I am going to have a second cup of coffee while I listen to Brian Wilson's great album "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin."  Then I will try for the deli again and take a few pictures, which I will post.

The Jets lost, but managed to back themselves into the playoffs, so go Jets.  The Giants, well, they just backed into a meat-grinder.  I think Eli realizes he can never catch Brett in number of games played but he is certainly making an effort to catch him in the interception department.  He threw four yesterday and leads the league with 24 so far this year.

All This, And No Newspapers!!!

And no mail either. So much for "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

Spooky

Well, there is a reason that the Chinese Woman is called Mysterious.  She asked me what I wanted for Christmas and, because I am a man of modest wants and, really, couldn't think of anything I just said "Why don't you get me that Rabbit cocktail shaker.  The next day I started thinking that what I should have asked for is just one of those Boston shakers like the bartenders use.

Nothing Fancy

All I needed was the metal part because I have plenty of pint glasses, mostly stolen from Molly Malone years ago when I used to live right around the corner and would routinely walk out of the place with a pint of beer for the road.

Anyway, I didn't want to say anything because I thought the Mysterious Chinese Woman may have already ordered the Rabbit for me.  When she gave me my present I was a bit surprised at how light it was.  But, when I opened it, to my delight it was just what I really wanted, and not what I asked for, a Boston shaker.  She had read some of the reviews for the Rabbit and, apparently, they weren't too favorable.  Many people complained that it leaked.  And, she had heard me talk about the Boston shaker in the past.

So there you go, I got what I really wanted, even though I didn't ask for it.

When Men Were Men

Sheesh, everyone making a fuss because the University of Minnesota doesn't have heating coils under the field and the Viking football players are complaining about the risk of injury by playing there.  Is it just me, or aren't domed stadiums and heated fields a relatively recent innovation.  How did football ever get played back in the good old days when icy conditions, snow, rain and mud were considered to be just part of the game?

Bud Grant would be rolling over in his grave, if he was dead.

Brett's still tough though.  He is actually starting tonight.  Who would have thunk.

Vegas At Night

Okay, enough about Brett Favre, the Vikings, and conspiracy theories about the stadium dome collapsing. As someone pointed out, it isn't like that was the only time it has collapsed. Actually, I think it is the fifth time. They sure build them to last in Minnesota.

But on to more pleasant topics. Strolling around downtown Las Vegas at night is always kind of fun. Plenty of lights and you can actually walk from one place to another. The casinos and bars are closer together downtown then stuff inside the casinos on the strip. It literally took me half an hour to walk from the sports book of Ceaser's Palace to a smoke shop in the place, buy a cigar and walk back.

Bright Lights Of The City


On this particular evening we had eaten dinner at, I believe, Three Georges.  A very good steak house and quite reasonably priced for what you get. Not that it is cheap, but the food is very good and the ambience is classy.

Afterwards Tom, Jon and I headed for The Griffin for a nightcap.

I See The Light


This is one of my favorite nightime haunts when I am in Vegas. Mostly locals and a nice quiet place to have a drink. We were well served by a bartender whose name I took pains to write down on a napkin that I can no longer find.

The Unknown Bartender


I asked her if she would take a picture of the three of us and she gladly obliged.

Smile, Everyone


She asked me why Jon wasn't smiling and I said sometimes if you pulled his ear you could get him to smile.

Trying To Get Jon To Smile


As you can see, I wasn't very successful. She asked if she could try.

Much Better Results


We finished up our cocktails and we then headed to downtown. for a final nightcap. Unfortunately, or not, the one picture I took of the exterior was out of focus and I forgot to take any pictures inside. It was getting to be that time of night.

The Knicks played a thrilling game against the Celtics last night and for the first time in a long time I am not being sarcastic. Went down to the wire and, although they blew a seven point lead in the fourth quarter to lose by two, it was exciting all the way. Up to, and including, Amare's three pointer at the buzzer to win the game, except that it was one-tenth of a second after the buzzer.

Bring on the Heat.

Breaking Rumor

Word has leaked out that Brett Favre was so distraught at not being able to start last night's game that he gnawed off his own arm in frustration.

On Its Way To Canton?


Well, nobody said that Brett wasn't tough.

Favre Vows To Return

Brett Favre said, after missing last night's game and ending his streak of starts, that he will return.  He said with the advances in medical technology he would be back next year better than ever.

Just Strap Her On


His original arm will be shipped to Canton, Ohio.

Monday Night Football

I guess Favre must have said he needed another day to get ready.

And the Jets managed to have yet another game, their fourth, without scoring a touchdown as they lost to the Dolphins.

Who would think the high point of the day would have been watching the Knicks.  They actually beat a good team, the Nuggets, in an exciting game.  And Amare Stoudemire set a Knicks record by scoring 30 points or more in eight straight game.

I am reading Keith Richards' autobiography, "Life."  So far it is pretty good, but I think his knowledge of geography is a bit lacking.  He goes on a bit about how the Rolling Stones were originally a blues band, steeped in the history and culture of the delta, etc., etc., etc.  In one passage he says:

"Our thing was playing Chicago blues; that was where we took everything that we knew, it was our kickoff point, Chicago.  Look at that Mississippi River.  Where does it come from?  Where does it go?  Follow that river all the way up and you'll end up in Chicago."

Ah, somehow I seriously doubt you will end up in Chicago if you follow the Mississippi River all the way up.  You might end up in Minneapolis, though.  Or, maybe, Bemidji, if you keep following it.  Or Lake Itasca, if you really want to follow it all the way.  Chicago is on Lake Michigan, a slightly larger body of water than Lake Itasca.