Had lunch today at The Boatyard in Frisco today. Ambiance in the restaurant was appealing when you first walk in. It was snowing and cold outside and the feel of the place was warming. The specials sounded good but I opted for the Chicken Piccata off the regular menu. At 14.95 for lunch I expected something great and was not quite appeased. The presentation was ok, the chicken was set upon a bed of broccoli and cauliflower that didn’t look fresh at all. The sauce was runny and was cut with way too much lemon juice. The chicken was cooked well and the coating of asiago and parmesan cheese was very good. After I finished the chicken and was done with the meal (it was the only good part) I told the waitress about the vegetables and she revealed to me that the produce that they used was not fresh but frozen! It explained everyone and I’m sorry but The Boatyard in Frisco gets a THUMBS DOWN for using frozen vegetables!
The wine list was decent, they had a mix of the usual bottles from grocery and cheap liquor stores mixed with a some good unique wines. The glass that I had was from a bottle that had been open for a few days and was obvious. I had to have them open a new bottle but they were more then happy.
The Boatyard gets a thumbs down for food and a thumbs up for service. A restaurant with a great space and good people and with some small tweaks on the food has the potential to be great!
They have no website but if you Google them you can find some reviews on other travel sites.
Technology never ceases to amaze me. We have managed to do some pretty cool things through technical advances. Some things, however, should never happen. Case in point: virtual beer. You can now pretend to be a drunk thanks to the creative guys at Bandai.
Here’s what is reporting:
, the company that makes and Power Ranger toys, is targeting a slightly more mature audience (we hope) with its newest novelty item: a can simulator. The $9 toy is a plastic recreation of the top of a beer can, complete with a pop top that plays an electronic sound simulating the opening of a beer can every time you pull it. Every 30 times you pull the tab, it plays what we’re told is “a special sound” as a “reward” — your guess is as good as ours. Also, how much does simulated alcoholism deserve to be rewarded.
We’re not sure what the appeal of virtual drinking is, but between the success of and the , it seems like the beginning of a trend.
This is the most appealing “green design” idea I’ve seen in quite a while.
is putting the friendly back in environmentally friendly. Not only are its lemon- and vanilla-infused vodkas and their aromatic gin completely certified USDA organic, but the Monrovia, California-based company plants at least one seedling in Central America (through its nonprofit partner ) for every bottle sold–that’s 50,000 last year. TRU commissioned an independent report, to be released next week, showing that each tree planted has the potential to absorb 790 square kilos of carbon dioxide, whereas the carbon footprint of each bottle in its relatively lightweight packaging is merely 1.04 square kilos–making the product an eye-popping 760 times carbon negative! At that rate, a single glass would be enough to offset your carbon footprint for a day.
A large quantity has an appetizing effect; a small quantity sustains טובא גריר, פורתא סעיד Edit
A few fascinating medical-Pesach issuses.
טובא גריר, פורתא סעיד -ברכות לה ,עמוד ב
A large quantity has an appetizing effect; a small quantity sustains.[Berachot 35b]
It seems strange but a large quantity of wine will stimulate one’s appetite, whereas a small quantity will satisfy and keeps hunger away.
Therefore if one drinks wine one on erev Pesach he should drink a larger [not to small] amount] so that he will not suppress his appetite for the seder.
In the journal Science [1982] it was published that an rapid infusion of glucose in the duodenum very much increased the appetite of rabbits and a slow infusion decreased the appetite.
This is may explain the statement of the Talmud.
[Source; insights, a Talmudic treasury by rabbi Saul Weiss]
So for over-eaters: it is clear what to do.
Drink a very little bit of wine before the meal [one or two teaspoons]
[Rambam mishne tora [ chapter 5,halacha 2 ]:
[translation by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger, Moznaim publ.corp]
“With regards to these five species of grain: if [flour from these species] is kneaded with fruit juice alone without any water, it will never become leavened.
Even if [flour] is placed in [these] juices the entire day until the dough rises, it is permitted to be eaten [on Pesach], for fruit juice does not cause [dough] to become leavened.
It merely causes [the flour] to decay.
The following are [included in the category] of fruit juice: wine ,milk, honey, olive oil, apple juice, pomegranate juice and all other similar wines ,oils, and beverages.
This applies so long as no water whatsoever is mixed with them.
If any water is mixed with them, they cause [the flour] to become leavened.”
Simply, the smallest amount of added water will cause the mentioned grains to become leavened[to become chametz]
It is fascinating to be able to remark here the halacha brought by the Rambam and to relate this to the fact that in traditional medicine [as well in homeopathy] all water is not just water.
Water in fruits is considered to be totally different
from just plain water [ both of them are H2O in chemistry]
In homeopathy water that is shaken very vigorously has found to be different [from the water before it has been shaken] when examined with atom spectrography.
It is as if water has a “memory” [like footprints in the snow, which show-like a memory- that somebody passed there some while ago]
On seder Pesach all of us will remember the leaning on the left side.
[Kitzur shulchan aruch [chapter 71,halacha 5 ]
“It is beneficial to begin one’s sleep while lying on the left side, and afterwards to change to the right side.
This is beneficial to one’s health, since the liver is on one’s right side, and the stomach on one’s left. When one leans to the left, the liver will lie on the stomach and warm it with its heat. This will hasten the digestion of the food. After the food is digested, it is preferable to lean to the right, thus allowing the stomach to rest and the wastes to descend. One should not turn frequently from side to side”
Remarkablec that I found in only one medical textbook form 1959 [and in no other book] that the temperature in the liver veins is above 41 degrees!!
Then it becomes understandable that lying on the left side “cooks” the food in the stomach [see above] which means that the speed of digestion is increased significantly!!
Do you know that recently it has been found that people who sleep only one on side have more tendency for kidney stones?
faith: a small word that means so much to so many. so what does it mean to me?
i was baptized as a non-denominational christian. i don’t ever remember setting foot in a church, except historical churches in boston and others encountered during my travels. i think my father was catholic and my mother protestant, but neither one was very spiritual or religious.
i have prayed before a couple of times, but was not sure what/who i was praying to. i used to cut myself just to feel something, anything … the last time i did that was about 8 or 9 years ago. not sure exactly. the last time was more serious … earlier that week i drank many shots and drove on the freeway really, really fast. i could barely see straight. i didn’t feel anything — no adrenaline rush or anything. i even closed my eyes and let go of the steering wheel for a few seconds. i stacked the odds up against myself, and nothing happened. somebody was watching over me.
but i was still in the same frame of mind. i used to cut myself with a sharp kitchen knife. mostly my left arm, because i am right handed. i was in a really bad place. i planned out what i was going to do next. i went to the craft store and bought a whole set of exacto knives. i looked up on the internet exactly what i would need to do to cut my wrists — i looked at anatomy sites and others. some sick bastards put instruction manuals out there. i went to bed one night and took like a half a bottle of pain killers (not sure which kind). nothing happened, but i couldn’t sleep — it had the opposite effect of what i wanted.
this put me in a worse state of mind. exacto knives are sharp — i cut my arm pretty deep, over and over again. the pain was not redeeming as it had somehow been in the past. but somehow the blood trailing down my body made me feel something. i sobbed and i prayed. it was my last chance.
i felt an overwhelming sense of …. love — that’s the only word i can come up with the describes it. and then a sense of peace — like it was going to be ok. and that’s what stopped me from finishing what i started. i cried myself to sleep and woke up covered in dried blood. i was sick for days. i realize that the painkillers may have had something to do with it, but whatever it was saved my life. i have not cut myself since then. i am afraid that i won’t stop next time. i have never honestly told anyone about this before now. i’ll always have the scars to remind me.
so i don’t know what happened that night, but that is the closest thing i have felt to faith. i believed it would be ok.
the reason i needed to stop drinking this time is because i was having thoughts that were familiar — thoughts that might cause me to go to that place again. and i know i can’t go there again. the self-destructive behavior would only have gotten out of control.
i guess the only thing i have faith in now is that i am on this planet for a reason, and somebody/thing kept me around for a purpose. so that’s what i think about when aa says “higher power”– whatever it was that saved me that night. but i have a hard time tapping into it. i’m not sure what it was.
The first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual.
1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half;
2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it:
а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it;
b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl;
в) the heat from your palm will not change the temperature of the wine.
There’s a good saying by one of the greatest French wine lovers, Emil Painot: Offer someone a glass of wine and you can immediately tell whether he/she is a connoisseur by the way they hold the glass.” Even though you may not think of yourself as a connoisseur, you could still learn how to hold the wine glass.
3. Focus on the color intensity and the transparency of the liquid.
a) the color of the wine, and more specifically its nuances, are best observed on a white background.
b) the wine’s intensity is best judged by holding the glass without slanting it and looking at the liquid from above;
4. Next comes the swirling of the glass. This can also seem too pretentious or even dangerous if you have a full glass or a white top. But this movement is important since it prepares you for the next step in wine tasting – the Taste. The easiest way to swirl the glass is to place it on a table or other even surface, and to swirl your hand while holding the glass by the stem. Swirl hard and have the wine almost touch the rim of the glass. Then stop. The wine leaves tiny traces with irregular shapes on the inside of the glass. Some “experts” then read them with as much zeal as coffee-tellers. The truth is however, that they are just an indicator for the quality of the wine – the more alcohol a wine has, the more wine traces it forms.
What does the color of the wine tell us? The wine’s color tells us many things about its character.
First, the color shows the grape variety. Let’s take two popular varieties as examples – cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. Cabernet’s grapes are smaller, with a thicker and darker skin than those of pinot noir. As a result, the color of wines made from cabernet sauvignon is usually described as violet to dark while the color of wines made from pinot noir is associated with ruby.
Second, the color is influenced by the climatic conditions. A hot summer and dry fall result in ripe grapes, with a dark, intense color. A cold summer and rainy fall will produce undeveloped grapes with a lighter color.
Third, wine-making practices also have an influence on the color of wine. For red wine, the grapes are fermented with the skin. Since the coloring agents are in the grape skin, and not in the juice, the longer the process of maceration, i.e. the longer the skin stays with the juice, the darker the wine color will be.
Fourth, the process of wine aging also has an influence on the color of wine. The young red wines are rich in coloring agents and that makes their color denser and fuller. In the course of time chemical reactions take place in the bottle and a sediment is formed at the bottom. The wine’s color gets lighter and is often described as brick or amber.
Let’s go through an example: you pour yourself a glass of red wine and after carefully observing it, you notice a full granite color, good density, and not so good transparency. What conclusions can you draw?
Well, you can safely say that the wine is:
- from cabernet sauvignon grapes;
- from a Southern region;
- relatively young;
- from a good yield;
- that the wine-maker has gone for a good long maceration.
If you know the wine, compare what you know with what you see: maybe the wine has a very full color and the yield has been bad – this speaks of a good wine-making technique; or maybe the wine is too pale for its age – this speaks for undeveloped grape or poor wine-making technique.
Wine has been made for centuries from just a two simple ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Actually, just about any fruit juice can be used, but by far the majority of all wine is made from the juice of the grape.
How is wine made?
Yeast is the magical ingredient that turns grape juice into wine. Interestingly enough, there is actually wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is an open container of grape juice and time. The result however, would probably not be the most palatable of beverages.
There are numerous strains of yeasts and the types used to make wine have been cultured just for this purpose. Well anyway, yeast is a living organism that feeds off of sugars in the grape juice in a process called fermentation.
During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The yeast will also impart a taste to the finished wine depending on various factors such as the strain of yeast used, the temperature during fermentation and other factors.
Once all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed, the yeast will fall to the bottom of the container. The wine is removed from the container, leaving the yeast, and is trasferred to another container to mature while waiting to be bottled.
Of course, this whole process has been extremely simplified for a general understanding.
How does wine get its color?
You probably know that there are green grapes and black grapes and different grapes are used to make different wines.
What you might not know is that almost all grape juice (even from the black grapes) is basically colorless to golden in color.
The way a wine gets its color is by letting the skins soak in the juice during fermentation. You can actually make white wine from black grapes by not letting the skins stay in contact with the juice. Champagne is one of the most famous examples.
If the skins are left in the wine for only a short amount of time, a rose (or blush) will be made. If they are left for an extended amount of time, a dark red wine will be the result.
What gives each wine its taste?
Even though there are very few ingredients, there are many things which influence the taste of wine. First of all, there are many varieties of grapes. Each grape variety will produce different flavors, aromas, and even textures.
In addition, the soil and climate where the grapes are grown drastically affect these variables.
Not only that, but the wine maker can control various things by the technique, temperature and yeast used during fermentation. Other variables such as fermenting or storing in oak barrels will also affect the taste.
Never fear, with all of these factors considered even the most avid wine drinker would ever be able to experience all of the different varieties of wine on the market today. Let the treasure hunting begin!
Pickup artists: What do we think of ? All the other feminists seem to be mad at ‘em; for example, here’s this Jezebel , complaining about Neil Strauss, author of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society etc. etc., for being “a man who made himself famous writing about the way to get a woman into bed.” She’s right, that’s not fair! I’m always writing about the way to get people into bed, but I don’t seem to be getting famous at all! That injustice aside, though, it doesn’t really bother me when guys try to get women into bed, because if they didn’t, the human race would, like, go extinct and stuff. Also, they (PUAs) tend to be vilified for inventing , and instructing men to start conversations by asking “do you floss before or after you brush?” But I don’t care! I’m sick and tired of toiling in obscurity! Neil Strauss, if you’re reading this, I am available to apply my sartorial acumen to any of your various multi-million-dollar projects. Hit up my e-mail.
Our heroine, Lucy, made some cash in this line of work; in fact, that’s how our story begins. A young NYC resident, she answered a Craigslist ad that basically “was just like ‘talk for 15 minutes on camera! Make $50!” So I did it.” It turned out to be not quite as sketchy as it sounds. The videos were for a subscriber-only website that featured clips of “guys talking to cute girls,” for instructional purposes, so that other guys could learn by example. She played the role of “cute girl” in a couple of clips, and ended up becoming friends with “Erik,” who worked for the website’s company.
She didn’t want to be anything more than friends, though. “He’s good looking, but not really my type (to be honest). Too blond.” Did he try to wear down her resistance? Did he “build attraction” by “demonstrating higher value,” as a master pickup artist would do? Lucy claims he does not use those skills on her, because “I’ve known him for a while and I see through it all!!!” But he must have been doing something right, because it turns out that they had a “friend hookup” once this past summer. How did he make it happen? “I forgot, there’s one pickup trick that he kind of used on me that works every time, even when I know what’s going on. I don’t know if every PUA does this, but the guys I know will do it. If the girl seems a little resistant or shy or whatever, they’ll be like ‘why don’t you come over and we’ll just cuddle?’, you know? ‘Let’s cuddle’ is practically code to me now.” It works better than the direct approach, she says, because “If he had said ‘hey why don’t you stay so we can DO IT,’ I probably would have been like …. ‘oh, it’s 4 a.m.? Not that late, I can brave an hour train ride.’” Hmm, I guess she’s right. “Why don’t you stay so we can DO IT” has a certain Beavis and Butthead charm, but it never seemed to work when those guys used it.
Master pickup artists? Huh huh, you said "master."
One night a couple of weeks ago, she had some pickup plans of her own. “I went out with the plan to seduce a particular guy. He’s a friend of a friend and we met at a party a few weeks ago, then hung out again more recently in a more intimate setting.” (She and “Blake” had been hanging out with her other guy friend and that dude’s love interest.) “So we had been G-chatting a lot and we planned to meet up on Saturday night, and since I met him through that mutual guy friend, I assumed he would be there too. But he wasn’t, so I ended up hanging out with this new guy.”
She had planned her outfit carefully. “I wore this purple tank top from Mango that’s a wool jersey and very low cut in a V and pleated, so the bottom is loose but the fabric is drapey so it’s really flattering. I’ve gotten laid at least twice in this shirt, and I think it’s because it’s so low.” Its effect must be subtle, though, because “People compliment me on so many things when I wear it! My jacket, my necklace, my haircut, the shirt itself. Or they ask if I’ve lost weight or something.”
Ella Moss tank
Velvet tank
(Why’s that picture so small? You get the idea though; another tank top .)
“I also wore a white Club Monaco blazer, black skinny jeans rolled up a little, and these beautiful Charles Nolan kitten-heel blue suede pumps with a perfectly shaped almond toe and the best cut on top showing just the right amount of toe cleavage. And I hate saying toe cleavage.” I couldn’t find these damn shoes, but I did the best I could.
Paige black jeans
Blue suede peep-toe pumps
Jessica Simpson blue suede pumps
They had a typical bar-hopping night, “went to other venues, he left and came back, etc.” Along the way, they met up with some other people, including her friends Erik and the other dudes from the PUA business, and they all joined forces. It was a fun night, “but [Blake] had just twisted his ankle and wasn’t allowed to drink because of his pain pills, so he was totally stone-cold sober while I got more and more housed. Then around 2 he said he was tired and going home and he’d walk me to my subway station (different from his station) but I was pretty fuzzy at that point, and I was thinking you know… if nothing’s going to happen, then I kind of want to stay here with my friends. So I said I’d stay and he left, and I went over to join my friends at the table where they were sitting.”
The whole gang sat and drank for a while, and then decided they would go to Erik’s house and play beer blackjack. “But since it was past 3, we couldn’t buy beer, and instead we went for wraps across the street.” Then they went to his place “and ate and drank whatever was in the fridge and then it was about 5, and everyone started going home.” Erik “told one guy he could sleep on the couch (he lived on that couch for a month when he first moved to town) and told me that I was welcome to stay if I wanted (which I’ve done before, platonically).”
“So when I stay there, I stay with him in the bed, and so he gave me some pajamas and we got in bed and we always talk for awhile before sleeping, especially when we’re so drunk and he’s so high, but instead of staying on our sides this time, he had kind of trapped one of my legs between his. We were kind of getting closer and closer while talking, and then he was teasing me about something, and then he was tickling me and I was kind of screaming and laughing, and then he was kissing me really aggressively, and I was surprised, but drunk and so I went with it.”
“It was very drunk sex though, I had to stop and get water before going down on him, and then I had to stop again for more water after we started doing it, then again, then finally we both had to get water and when we came back we kind of just fell on the bed and went to sleep. There was some talk earlier of him not wanting to come yet and holding back, but I don’t think he did, in the end.” Isn’t that always the way? Why do drunk guys always think they’re about to come, and then they never do? “I searched for evidence and there was none.” The jizz detective!
The disappointing failure of this investigation, though, paled in comparison to the next day’s tragic coda. “In the morning, I was completely hung over and I got up and watched cartoons with [Erik] on the couch. Then we all went for brunch and I had a great burger and fries, and I only ate half so I could eat the second half for dinner, but then I went to a sample sale and had to check my bag at the front and forgot it! I didn’t realize it till I got home (like 45 minutes away) and I was THIS close to going back for it. It was so awesome, it had blue cheese and portobello mushrooms.” No word yet on what happened with Blake.
Technology never ceases to amaze me. We have managed to do some pretty cool things through technical advances. Some things, however, should never happen. Case in point: virtual beer. You can now pretend to be a drunk thanks to the creative guys at Bandai.
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