Thanksgiving

Just like the last few years, my parents came down from Ohio and my sister up from Raleigh for Thanksgiving at my brother's. It was another big two turkey thanksgiving.

When my parents arrived on Wednesday evening we went out to eat at Restaurant 3. On Thursday Beth and Matt picked me up on their way to Scott's. We all hung out and munched on snacks till Jen's family, Steve, Yuko, and their daughter Avril came. Avril is 2.5 years old and has spent all of her Thanksgivings with us. She gets more active each year and was the star of the dinner as usual. This year the oven roasted turkey was the favorite over the the deep fried turkey. Scott had Sam Adams and Yuengling and I brought over Bell's Winter White and Sparkling Ale. The Sparkling Ale is an interesting triple.

On Friday the seven of us went to the ICE! scuplture exhibit at National Harbor. It was expensive but interesting. The venue was set at 9 degrees to preserve the ice. Apparently they have a team of foreign artists maintaining it each night. After the ICE! exhibit we ate at Sweatwater Tavern. Then on to the Strathmore to see Brian Setzer and his orchestra on their Christmas Rocks! Extravaganza Tour. We sat way up in the upper tier in the second to last row. Its not a huge theater and every seat is decent but we were up pretty high. It was a rockin' show. Both Santa and the Grinch made an appearance.

We laid low on Saturday. We had a good lunch at Bernie's and dinner at Faccia Luna.

On Sunday we woke and went to Whole Foods together. Last year when we went and there was a jazz band playing. We had to go back this year since the place is huge and we wanted some food and beverages to hold us off for the weekend. Once back at Scott's I made my classic left over turkey and stuffing sandwich. Then we took off to the National Aquiraum in Baltimore. It was smaller than I remember. They had a special jellyfish exhibit which was cool. For dinner I tried to take the family to Brewer's Art but of course it was the one day they were closed. The downstairs bar was open and we walked in but decided to go to Il Radicchio in Arlington for some Itailian.

My Mom brought me my own whole coffee cake which I'll eat for breakfast everyday this week. Good tastes from the childhood.

pics and videos

DHS Director and I ate at Ray's last night

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was enjoying Ray's with me last night. We didn't exactly eat together. But she was there while I was there. Robie heard the contingent at the host stand talk about security while we were getting seated. We took our time with dinner. Robie seemed like he had some steam to blow off from work. Having the day to day responsibility for ISG would not be a fun task. We finished our drinks and headed out the door. While we talked outside Secretary Janet Napolitano came out with some security and got in a communications rigged van. Her security had two rigged up SUVs parked directly outside the doors. Once the Secretary was ready the three cars drove off.

I wonder if her steak was as good as mine.

Bela & the original Flecktones

Lee gave me a tip that the original Flecktones would be playing with Bela Fleck on his upcoming tour. There is one guy who played harmonica and piano who stopped playing with the Flecktones before I started listening to them. He was joining them for the first time in 16 years on a few dates this tour. They were playing at the Strathmore and I had the date on my calendar for months but never did get a ticket. Lee talked about going to the venue to get tickets but ended up not going. I finally got online the day before and there were only about 10 tickets left. I scored a lone seat in the middle of the 6th row. Not bad at all.

Teri and I hit Faccia Luna for some fine 'zaa and then I took off to the show. I took the metro all the way there since Lee wasn't going. The show started at 8:00 and I didn't walk in to the venue until about 8:20. They want you to wait for a break between songs to sit after the show has started. There was no way I was going to get to my front and center seat without interrupting the show anyway. I tried to go between songs but Bela doesn't stop for long and was right on to the next one. To make matters worse the ushers had me enter on the wrong side. My seat was closer to the other side and once I found my row I had to push by everyone all the way down the row during a quite part of the show with the whole audience and band checking me out. Once seated though things were good. Just like the Widespread Panic & Allman Brothers Band show I forgot how much more detail you capture sitting up close. All four members of the band were right in front of me.

I've seen Bela and the Flecktones on many occasions. They are all excellent musicians although my least favorite is Futureman. Not sure what his deal is; he plays percussion on some funky garage built guitar looking contraption. He taps on the thing to get his sampled sounds. To me its a gimmick and I'm not impressed. Sitting this close though I got the best look so far at his instrument. He did play a few real drums and cymbals with one hand on occasion.

Bela played his usual virtuoso banjo. He switched between his normal custom banjo and his purple bodied banjo with a sampling system attached. Victor Wooten also threw down. He played his fretless 5 string most of the night and sounded awesome. The new guy switched between harmonica and piano. Admittedly I haven't seen a ton of harmonica players, John Popper is the obvious one that comes to mind, but this guy is one of the best. He played these awesome loops at about a dozen notes per second and then played melodies within the loops making it about two dozen notes per second. It was amazing. All four guys had the stage to themselves for a bit. It was some good jams and a good time.

Cornmeal, DSO, and a good Sunday

Dark Star Orchestra played at the 9:30 Club for the second night in a row on Saturday. And for the second night in a row it was sold out. Cornmeal was opening up on Saturday and Lee wanted to go. When I showed up at his place to leave he was at John’s apartment, the same guy from the Mike Gordon show. John drove and we stopped by Lee’s friend’s place on T St before the show. After walking there we walked in a good 10 minutes before 9:00 but Cornmeal was already playing. There weren’t that many people there at the time.

The 9:30 Club has some good beers. I had a Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre on draft before going to Harpoon IPA in a bottle once the crowd came in. Cornmeal rocked out. They were a good blend between bluegrass and jam without being spacey at all. The female violinist and the acoustic guitarist were stand outs. She was throwin’ down. Playin’ a ton of notes per minute during solos and speedgrass jams. The guitarist was impressive on that acoustic neck as well. He played slide on one song.

I haven’t seen Dark Star Orchestra in many years. It was sorta surprising that they sold out two nights at the 9:30 Club. They do a good job of “recreating the Grateful Dead experience”. They started out with Hell in a Bucket and continued to play the Dead tunes in a quite realistic fashion. It was amusing how each band member often physically mimicked the Dead persona they were taking on. They played pretty well and it was an entertaining show.

On Sunday after some french toast out in the nice sunny day I stopped by D’Vines for some fine beer. I found a few worth carrying home.

• Avery - Salvation 22 oz
• Avery - Sixteen Saison 22 oz
• Brewer's Art - Ozzy Ale 750ml
• Stone - Vertical Epic 2008 22 oz
• Victory - Wild Devil Ale 750ml

I rode through town to North Capital St to meet Mike. Not far but the farthest I’ve ridden east in the city.

Friday Night Caps

It was a short four day week with Veteran’s Day. Monday was sunny and 70 but the rest of the week was wet including my day off on Wednesday. Around 4:30 on Friday it was time to forget about work and start the weekend. Teri and I took off and grabbed some food before going to see the Caps. I scored two club level seats near center ice for $70 each. I responded to a Craigslist ad for tickets and it turned out being a service called dreamtix.com. They did the same thing this other guy does that I’ve gotten tickets from and that is having the tickets reprinted at willcall and left in my name after paying paypal. Unfortunately when Teri and I got there no tickets were to be found. I had a phone number and the guy on the line was quick to help me out. Dreamtix.com servers were down a few times that day apparently. There were down the first time I called to get tickets. My emergency contact had a guy on the scene and after being conferenced together we met. He handed me tickets and kept on walking. The guy on the phone told me to enjoy the upgrade. They were lower level seats.

After getting some beers we walked in about 10 minutes in to the game. Our seats turned out to be about the 8th row almost exactly on center ice. After a scoreless first period the Wild got the first goal in the second. The Caps had to come back from behind as opposed to trying to maintain a lead as usual. They pulled through without Ovie; Green and Pothier scored. Laich scored on an empty net at the end.

ful, biking, Cajun, hiking, Birch & Barley

Today was a full day. I met Kirby for breakfast at Keren for ful as usual. Somewhat unusual she was on time and I was five minutes late. We had a good breakfast. Afterwards we headed to a tourist bike rental downtown because they had their full 2009 bike fleet on sale. They get new bikes each year. They were standard Trek hybrids and cruisers but for a good price. Kirby toured around on a 17.5” hybrid which was too short and a 20” which was too big. Then she tried the 18” cruiser and liked that. The hybrid had a guy’s top tube and the cruiser was good for her as she often rides in skirts. Her old bike was falling apart and she needed a new bike. We rode around the mall for a few and it appeared she was happy with her new ride.

Next I rode up Mass AVE to meet up with Sarah to enjoy the nice day. I forgot to turn on to Wisconsin and went a bit too far but made it to her place a little after 3:00. The plan was to check out a Cajun dance at Glen Echo park. Sarah drove there and it was an old person party as expected. Sarah and I, and the band, were about half of the average age of the people there to dance. We missed the lesson but it didn’t look like this type of dancing took much practice. We hung out for a few songs, walked around, and then decided to hit Great Falls before the sun went down.

We drove to the Virginia side of the river since I haven’t been there in years. I forgot about Scott’s Run Preserve which was crowded. We stopped at the next area. It was a small parking spot and trail. We went on a stroll for 30 or 40 minutes and made it back at dusk. A couple guys were on mountain bikes which makes me wonder if it’s a possible spot. They didn’t look too serious though.

After the hike we hit Birch & Barley. Kirby and I were going to hit this the night it opened but things didn’t work out. We didn’t go upstairs to Churchkey but downstairs was quite nice. I started off with a Stone/Brewdog Bashah. It is a nice black Belgian IPA. It was very tasty. Sarah and I began dinner with the octopus and it was excellent. We were basically served one big tentacle. It wasn’t the slightest bit tough. Very tender and delicious. Sarah got the burger and I got the pork cheeks. Her burger looked good but she asked for medium rare and it was well done. My pork cheeks were small but good. They were fall apart tender in some mashed potatoes with other good stuff. The manager almost insisted we return Sarah’s burger and promised to bring out some munchies to hold us over. After a few they brought out the funky cornbread, mushroom, cheese appetizer that we asked our server about. Now I assure you that “cornbread”, “mushroom”, and “cheese” were nowhere in the description. This was a fine dish. They also brought out a mustard duck pizza. I wasn’t a fan because of the mustard. It wasn’t too bad but not something I was in to. The second burger they brought out for Sarah looked like it was cooked medium to us. It was definitely not medium rare. They flavored it with something decent though.

My second beer was a Brewdog Hardcore IPA on cask. That was pretty darn good too. Sarah liked both as well. I think I was only supposed to get a 12 oz snuffer of that being 9% but they gave me a full pint. I was able to top this most excellent beer with my third though. I ordered a Brooklyn Brewery Manhattan Project. This is a strong ale. I’m not a huge fan of strong ales but I am a fan of Brooklyn Brewery. I didn’t realize until just now that this was Garrett Oliver’s latest Brewmaster Reserve. It is not listed on their website. Sarah and I thought it was awesome. A not over the top strong and complex brew. Hopefully I’ll be able to find this beer again. Here is the description:

Just as good restaurants will often feature the Chef’s special new dishes, every two months our “Chef” creates a new draft beer for our Brewmaster’s Reserve line. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver certainly loves beer best, but many good things provide inspiration. In this case, it was the realm of traditional cocktails. So Garrett decided to conjure up something unique with his friend David Wondrich, America’s top cocktail expert and winner of the 2008 James Beard Foundation Book Award. A few years back, David introduced Garrett to the classical version of the Manhattan, made not with bourbon but with rye whiskey, red vermouth and bitters. It quickly became Garrett’s favorite cocktail, and it spawned an idea. A robust rye beer, partially aged in Rittenhouse 100-proof Bonded Rye barrels from the Heaven Hill distillery, and then infused with the herbs and spices that flavor red vermouth and bitters. Then a dash of tart cherry, and the result is THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, a tasty new beer showing echoes of New York’s most famous cocktail, the Manhattan. It is great as an aperitif, but also with game dishes, especially duck.

Malt: Malted Rye, Crystal Rye Malt, Canadian Two row pilsner malt, British Maris Otter

Hops: German Perle

Other sugars: Caramel syrup, brewer’s sugar, Organic cherry juice

Other Herbs/spices: Bitter Orange Peel, Sweet Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, Gentian Root, Cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, cloves.

ABV: 7.5%

It was a good Sunday with excellent weather for some biking, hiking, great food & beer, and even some music.

missed karting & got the Droid

I was excited for my first kart race since I broke my collar bone. It was a NASA enduro kart race at Summit Point. Unfortunately the cops and DMV had other ideas. I got pulled over on the way by a cop on the side of the road with a license plate scanner. She proceeded to inform me that according to the DMV my license has been suspended since February of 2008. This was interesting information being that the DMV issued me a license in February of 2009. The cop had to take my license anyway. She told me to go straight to the gas station at the next exit and park my car. I got off at the next exit, which happened to be Falls Church, and drove straight home. I’ll be calling the DMV on Monday.

Since I wasn’t racing karts I decided to look in to my next phone. I got the HTC Imagio when I came out on October 6th. It is a nice phone. As mentioned I have always liked my XV6800 I got almost 2 years ago. It was a slick piece of hardware for its time. My biggest complaint was it being thick and heavy with a full keyboard. The HTC Imagio is thin and light with a huge screen. It was even the first phone with Windows Mobile 6.5. The problem was that it had Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft hasn’t updated their phone operating system in many many years and in this technology world that means it is obsolete. I knew a Verizon Android phone was coming and I decided to get the HTC Imagio anyway with the ability to return it within 30 days. Sure enough the day after I get the Imagio it is leaked that Verizon will soon have a sweet new phone with Google’s Android operating system. So I sent my phone back on day 28. Their warehouse had received it but not processed it by Friday when the Verizon Droid went on sale.

I went to the crappy private Verizon store in my neighborhood to see if they could do anything for me. My info had not yet been updated which meant I couldn’t get the 2 yr contract upgrade deal. As luck would have it on the second call the Verizon people were able to find the warehouse supervisor and confirm everything was there. I was able to walk out with my Droid.

It’s a slick phone. It has a full keyboard but it is super slim. The best thing may be the email. Being a gmail user Google’s Android email interface is ideal. I don’t drive much but the free new Google Navigation capability is cool. The contacts and calendar apps are 100x better than Windows Mobile. And I can access Google’s chat client GTalk. The home screens can be customized with shortcuts and widgets. I still need to figure out how to import my bookmarks from Opera. It appears you get a lot of the missing functionality from their app store being that it is an open source operating system. So far I’m enjoying the phone with the largest resolution, fastest processor, thinnest keyboard, and most advanced version of Android. I assume things will only get better.

fine steak and throw down speedgrass

It was lining up to be a good night. I’ve been looking forward to the Stringdusters playing at IOTA within walking distance of my apartment for a month or two. I’ve only seen them a few times and don’t have any of their albums but I’m a fan. These guys throw down. Starting the evening out with some fine flesh properly seasoned and grilled over an open flame doesn’t hurt either.

Teri’s birthday is Sunday and we decided the celebration should start at 5pm Friday. We kicked things off a bit early by busting out of the office just after 4:00. After a few drinks and a little break we hit Ray’s. As usual it was some lip smackin’ deliciousness. We had the grilled scalps and chateaubriand. Their scalps are the biggest I’ve ever seen. As good as it was we couldn’t finish all the chateaubriand. Being Teri’s birthday we got a free slice of key lime pie. They have some damn good key lime pie.

We hit the Galaxy Hut for a drink after dinner before the show. I can’t remember what I had but it was a new one for me from their impressive beer list. It was early so it wasn’t crowded and we even got to sit at the bar for a bit.

The Stringdusters, as expected, threw down. I walked in right before they started their first song (I think). They played a good combo of excellent traditional bluegrass and rockin’ dynamic speedgrass. The place was full, although people were leaving before the end. They played two short sets. The whole band was strummin’ those strings real swell. They were jammin’ out and putting a lot of energy in to it. IOTA has an early curfew or something because their shows always end early. I’ve probably been to IOTA more in the last month than I have in my whole life.

Not a bad night.