November 06, 2008

Obama Landslide.

My favorite chart of the election results.

Posted by Duff at 01:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Remember

October 12, 2008

NYC Things I Am Missing/Reminiscing About This Morning.

• Playing tic-tac-toe against the live chicken in the arcade across from Wo-Hop. (This is gone. The chicken. Not the arcade. I don't think.)
• Slot car racing upstairs on Broadway. (Also gone.)
• Roast beef sandwich and cheese fries at Brennan Carr in Brooklyn. (Still there. Hopefully.)

Posted by Duff at 09:39 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Lists, Remember

June 19, 2008

Best Twitter Ever

How does one choose a Battlestar call sign, really? I'm thinking Schmoo, but does that really communicate my abilities as a viper pilot?

(not written by me / but there's an obvious clue if you also know this person!)

Posted by Duff at 01:34 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Random Quotes, Remember

May 28, 2008

Quote of the Night and perhaps THE CENTURY!

Said by my Dad, to my Mom, in the midst of reporting to her about how AWESOME Battlestar Galactica is (he's halfway through season 1, disc 1 (the mini-series), he had to hang up to get back to it but called me midway through to rave), which he just started as I sent him all the discs as an early Birthday present:

Carolyn is the one kid in a million who actually paid off.

Hello, I WIN. ;) And yay, Dad is loving BSG too. Someone else to share the obsession. Yay!

Posted by Duff at 09:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., DadReaction, Random Quotes, Remember, TVTVTV

May 12, 2008

Japan Minutiae

just a list of things and moments I want to remember...considering I've already forgotten lots of them... will be adding any that pop to mind (fingers crossed).

• Qoo (pronounced "coo" like a dove), best juice drink ever.
  
• Morning set (preferably with Hotdog!)
  
• Green tea "milk" (latte)!
  
• incredible vending machine proliferation
  
• yes that gives you change for 100,000 yen ($100)
  
• Pocari Sweat!
  
• Calpis (swoon)
  
• "winning" the toy at the arcade (thanks to the arcade manager who apparently really really wanted me to win and moved the toy into an "impossible to lose" position)
  
• random shrine in the nishki market
  
• Japanese boy scouts spotting Americans: "Hi! Hi! Hello!" (my reply, of course: "Konnichiwa!!" which made them giggle like crazy)
  
• unbelievable proliferation of smoking. for a country obsessed with cleanliness...
  
• no glitzy postcards. plenty of other trinkets to buy, but...
  
• heated toilet seats
  
• noisemakers attached to toilet seats
  
• blue button = "for washing of the buttocks"
  
• pink button = "for Ladies only" (?!?!)
  
• the morning bowers/greeters at BIC camera in Kyoto
  
• cartoon characters hanging from phones, bags, jacket pockets, pants pockets...
  
• ancient hunched over grandmas & grandpas totally kicking our asses on the steps (both up and down) at Fushimi Inari
  
• duck ramen in Tokyo at the place Christoph found a "shortcut" to (ha ha ha)
  
• the japanese restaurant meal we had in Kyoto where Jackie made our reservation and pre-ordered all our food
  
• hmmm, I wonder what this is. fish? tofu? root vegetable?
  
• that is one LARGE piece o' tentacle.
  
• "green pea soup"
  
• the first ramen restau we went to in Higayashima.
  
• teddy bears on benches
  
• rachel shutting the taxi door and the uproar it caused
  
• japanese set at the Hearton in the morning
  

Posted by Duff at 04:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Lists, Remember, Travel

April 18, 2008

Five Things.

Three great pleasures in life: Music, Food, Sex.
-Anthony Bourdain*

Two certainties: Death, Taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin

*Listened to Bourdain's appearance on the 1/27/08 SoundOpinions podcast while I walked home. Very entertaining. A favorite line (not an exact quote / I'm paraphrasing): you even show the appearance of enjoying Billy Joel's music in my kitchen and you're immediately fired.

Posted by Duff at 06:20 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Podcasts, Random Quotes, Remember

March 31, 2008

The Very Few Places I've Been Outside the U.S. [Updated]

1. Canada.
-Winnipeg: too many times to count.
-Toronto: only the airport.

2. England. Three months (all summer) in 1988. 18 days in 2000. Assorted other mini trips in 2003/04/05. A week in January 2007.
-London.
-Cornwall: Falmouth, Truro, Constantine.
-Assorted other towns in the Southern tip.

3. France. 2004
-Paris.
-Montpellier/Montbazin.

4. Australia. 2006.
-Sydney.
-Melbourne.
-Uluru.
-Cairns.
-Darwin.

5. Belgium. 2007.
-Brussels
-Ghent
-Bruges

6. Japan. 2008.
-Kyoto
-Nara
-Himeji
-Tokyo

Posted by Duff at 09:20 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Lists, Remember, Travel

August 27, 2007

Planet Mnemonics

The old mnemonic my Dad can still recite from however many gazillion years ago (hahaha) he learned it:
My (Mercury)
Very (Venus)
Earnest (Earth)
Mother (Mars)
Just (Jupiter)
Served (Saturn)
Us (Uranus)
Nine (Neptune)
Pies (Pluto)

The new mnemonic he made up for the Pluto-less planets:
Miserably
Vain
Earthlings
Must
Just
Shut
Up
Now

Posted by Duff at 04:39 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Lists, Remember

July 26, 2007

Consider Yourself...WARNED.

Sign I saw in a parking lot on North Avenue:

PARKING FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY
Other cars will be crushed and melted and the drivers will be executed!

No joke. That's some serious shit right there.

Posted by Duff at 04:42 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Remember

Stereotype Jokes = my fave.

European Heaven
British are the Police
French are the Cooks
Germans are the Mechanics
Italians are the Lovers
and the Swiss run everything

European Hell
Germans are the Police
French are the Mechanics
British are the Cooks
Swiss are the Lovers
and the Italians run everything

Posted by Duff at 11:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Remember

June 22, 2007

Best Late-Night Burrito EVER.

On Ashland, just south of Division (less than a block), there are THREE places called La Pasadita. Apparently they are owned by three different brothers. They all have a very similar dive-y look.

You want the side of the street with two (the west side) and you want to go to the one that's further south, and you want to order the steak burrito (and then if you're me you want to have someone with you to split it with because it is GINORMOUS and you've already had way too many calories of beer before you got there anyway) and then you are ready to die and go to heaven because you've just had the best burrito of your life.

p.s. this was the second time this burrito has blown my mind. I had to make sure the first time wasn't just a drunken fantasy before I recommended it. oh my buddha, it was even better the second time.

Posted by Duff at 12:21 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Recommending, Remember

April 13, 2007

RIP Kurt Vonnegut.

His appearance on Jon Stewart last year was one of the funniest things I've ever seen and fortunately for us, you can watch it on the web. In addition, here's the list they refer to in that interview.

He never lost his edge. He never stopped saying the same simple message over and over: War = Wrong.

Can you claim to be well-read if you skipped "Slaughterhouse Five"? I think not!

Who knows if this is accurate, but on Wikkipedia, they cite his own grading of his books, and here are the four he graded highest: "The Sirens of Titan"; "Mother Night"; "God Bless You, Mr Rosewater"; and "Jailbird".

Posted by Duff at 07:15 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Recommending, Remember

March 06, 2007

Who's going to Tulsa with me?

And how hard are you laughing that I am actually pricing flights there just to go to a fish restaurant?

White River Fish Market, 1708 North Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 918-835-1910

Recommended with a full page article in the March issue of Gourmet. It sounds A LOT like a great brisket place Ginger once took me to on the outskirts of San Antonio somewhere (I should find this out, no? Doh!). And by "great', I mean, the most amazing meal I've ever had included creamed corn made with REAL CREAM.

Obviously this place may not have creamed corn, but apparently they have fried onion rings, gumbo, cornmeal hush puppies, and buttermilk pie (hello!). You walk in, pick your fish, and say "fried, broiled or grilled." And that's it.

Sounds delish!!

Posted by Duff at 07:48 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Remember

February 25, 2007

The Best Chinese Food I Personally Have Found in Chicago.

Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown.

Kite in Lakeview.

And Joy Yee's in either Chinatown or Evanston (which is usually where I get it) or Naperville, where I used to get it before Monica and Charlie moved away and left me all alone!!!

Posted by Duff at 12:05 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Lists, Remember

January 23, 2007

Holy Crap, Dreams DO Come True!

Crowded House to reform and play Coachella festival.

Hello, I'll be buying tickets the second they're available...

Posted by Duff at 10:58 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Remember, Tunes

October 12, 2006

A New Batch of Aussie Slang from Casey

• That bloke's crooked like a dog's hind leg (He's a crook)
  
• That sheila's a sausage short of a hotdog (She's stupid)
  
• A man worth his salt (He's a good man)
  
• Gidday you old Bastard (A term of endearment)
  
• You little Beauty (when something good happens)
  
• Town Bike (local slut)
  
• Even Blind Freddy could see that (when you miss something obvious)
  
• I'll be right back, gunna go point percy at the porcelain (guys going to the loo)
  
• I'm off like a frog in a sock (I'm leaving)
  
• Mate, I'm crook (I'm sick)
  
• Been speakin into the great white telephone (Been to the toilet)
  
• She'll be right (I/things will be better soon)
  
• Your shout (Your turn to buy me a beer!)
  
• Piffed a yonny at his noggin (threw a stone at his head) - victorian
  

Posted by Duff at 09:07 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Lists, Remember

October 11, 2006

Melbourne Dining Recommendation

Sel de la Terre. 74 Tookrak Road, South Yarra.

Expensive but very delicious French food, even to a native Frenchman (Christophe, no less! A man of high-class tastes).

Posted by Duff at 01:52 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Remember

Chicago Dining Recommendation.

De Cero. 814 W. Randolph.

Their taco list is awe inspiring and oh so yummy.

Posted by Duff at 01:51 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Remember

August 25, 2006

NYC Dining Recommendation.

Nan and Lear and Grace and I once had a fabulous meal at this tiny little place:

Itzocan. 438 East 9th street. Between First and A

Very good guacamole.

Posted by Duff at 08:19 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Remember

May 30, 2006

Old dog, old tricks.

Dear Cranky Monkey Butt,

Never buy special limited edition Kitkats for your dad if you are not sending them RIGHT THEN because you know what will happen? YOU WILL EAT THEM YOURSELF. Or at least some of them.

Sincerely,
haven't we been over this before?
yourself.

Posted by Duff at 12:24 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Letters, Remember, Too Good to Delete

May 25, 2006

Things About Australia I Need to Write Down Before I Forget.

Me and the SuperEggplant, we've got some Australia stories...

• The dirty dude on the flight to Darwin (GOVE!) and the Rod Stewart music video.
  
• $40 movie in Cairns ($14.50 per adult)
  
• Roo: Soap on a Rope.
  
• Waterskiing practice hole.
  
• BEND OVER! (and what about Casey using it in a meeting! ha!)
  
• Ex-cop canadians: Teacher and Flic BnBs.
  
• David: The Tram Whore: brekkie sandwich; hook turn; Toshiba; okely dokely; Hello Moto.
  
• Anzac Biscuits.
  
• Gossip rags.
  
• Jimmy (bus to Kakadu): the panflute/bible banger combo.
  
• Two sock! (Kakadu)
  
• Cheezels; Smith's chips.
  
• Good on ya!
  
• How ya goin'?
  
• Solo! Lift!
  
• "ie": brekkie, tantie, etc.
  
• Chinotto SUCKS.
  
• Brandy snap cremes @ David Jones.
  
• Black currant mentos (comme Ribena).
  
• No pennies! "Currency rounding benefit"
  
• Iced coffee = ice cream!
  
• Ginkos!!! (w/ barefeet!)
  
• Lollies
  
• Eskies.
  
• Pokies.
  
• SuperEgg: "You people and your walkabouts!" Bono: "Hey, I'm not a black fella."
  
• Dirty Harry. No, Larry. No, Lazy Harry!
  
• Uluru bus driver: Traffic coming down from Darwin today. Oh, there it is.
  
• Truck stop "Toasties"
  
• Namgachak (check spelling!): The aborigine Yam Hitter
  
• Kakadu: king size mosquitos. Tiny boat frog.
  
• FLIPPS: burgers & seasoned fries.
  
• A dingo ate my baby!
  
• Yum cha = dim sum.
  
• Blue Heeler (Hila)
  
• Bilbys for Easter.
  
• Mariko the "Asker"
  
• Kirribili
  
• Casey-isms! Knocked you for sixes!; How's your bitch?; I'm down with it, homes.; What up, MN?; I think he's got a roo loose in his top paddock!
  
• Kinokuniya, not just a Japanese bookstore in SYDNEY anyway.
  
• Aussie damper
  
• Banana...bread/frapps/etc.
  
• Flat White. Short/Long Black.
  
• Uluru: black flies. pool people. $$$$. Thorny Devil!
  
• Cairns: runway humidity. King + Twin. Green Island $12 hot dog.
  
• Cat pooh on the CDs!
  
• Melbourne: Patchwork on Central.
  
• Bathroom spider!
  
• The Tram STARER!!!
  
• Italian dudes: "mate" discussions.
  
• French Bakery on Glenferrie: lemon tart.
  
• Fannie Bay Gaol.
  
• Melbourne Gaol's freaky porcelain death masks: brain mapping.
  
• Darwin hotel: fire alarms, hot water, hideous mint aperitifs.
  
• Bataan death march to Military Museum
  
• Lunch at Babka!!!
  
• Glider spot: kelpi, Australia sheep dog. Big plate o' nasty shrimp.
  
• Darwin: Feb 19, 1942 bombing. 1972 Cyclone Tracy.
  
• the Tet offensive! Tetley!
  
• Darwin airport: CMS punes; MF book return and FIGHT!!
  
• "Coon" cheese.
  
• Little puking boy (handfuls) getting off plane and his horrific father. MF coming to rescue w/ barf bag.
  

Posted by Duff at 08:22 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Lists, Remember, Travel

March 07, 2006

Things to Remember: Hitler & His Generals Mnemonic

Hitler - Has only one left ball.
Goering - Has two but they are small.
Himmler - Has something similar.
But Goebbels - Has no balls at all...

I don't know the name of tThe tune this is sung to , 'cause if I did, I'd tell ya, don't ya know. But i is "Colonial Bogey March" or "that song they all sing in Bridge on the River Kwai. If you want me to sing it to you, just ask next time you see me. I'll be happy to be oblige.

Posted by Duff at 07:46 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Remember

December 07, 2005

Note to Self: Why can you not remember these things?

Item #1
Mom and Becky are first cousins.
Becky and I are first cousins-once removed.
Rachel and I are second cousins.
Goes by generation.
Stop forgetting this, what is so hard to remember.

Item #2
Riesling categories
Kabinett - dryest
Spatlese - middle (sweet, but not too sweet)
Auslese - SWEET
Gee, wouldn't it be a better idea to remember this than to call Steph and ask her EVERY DAMN TIME YOU GO TO THE LIQUOR STORE.

Posted by Duff at 11:00 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Remember