April 16, 2008
A few maps
While tidying up my desk, I found the following maps: Manhattan & Welsh Guide to New York City (a search on Google for this term does not yield promising results!), which I picked up at the Mid-Manhattan Library a few days ago before a multi-lingual poetry hoe-down; NYC Cycling Map, 2007 edition. The 2008 map is now available online: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bikemapfront2008.pdf http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bikemapback2008.pdf, which really should be in my cycling bag; Andorra (Andorra? Andorra!), which an eager Andorran pressed on me in Brussels; and Biblical Sites in Turkey (at atlas with gazetteer, actually) recently sent me by my parents. Some appealing photographs complementing this book appear in the Biblical sites in Turkey flickr pool.... Read more
May 31, 2007
Patisserie Stéphane Secco
The Patisserie Stéphane Secco, at 20 rue Jean Nicot - 75007 Paris (not far from the Quai d'Orsay and the Esplanade des Invalides, a very pretty part of Paris indeed) has delicious honey. Good bread, macaroons, and other pastry -- and delicious honey. Close to the riverfront, should one want a picnic.... Read more
February 8, 2007
In which we see Eisenhower, simplied
It's the Eisenhower Interstate System, simplified. Almost the opposite of Erik Slotboom's deeply technical and scholarly Houston Freeways book, which includs the history of each cloverleaf, weaving area, and off-ramp.... Read more
November 26, 2006
In which we never drive again
The DMV sent me a renewal form. I have lived at the same address for seven years. The paperwork notes that because I am so firmly planted at this address, I can renew my license "VIA INTERNET". Awesome. The web site immediately launches some garish video with horrendous sound, and the "Sound On/Off" widget does nothing. Nothing. I kill the volume on my computer and click through the online renewal business. At the glorious conclusion ("click once", the site advises for each "Continue" button"), I see the confirmation: CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully completed your internet transaction. Please allow up to ten days for processing. What internet is this, that takes two business weeks for processing? In an age where a Google search for "California DMV turn off sound on homepage" takes a quarter of a second, why does a transaction at the DMV -- which has already confirmed my Driver's License Number, Date of Birth, Address, special Renewal Identification Number (sent via postal mail), and a half-dozen other pieces of personally-identifying information; and has already vetted my bank card for the payment -- why does this transaction take 3,456,000 times as long? I also really like that I avoid having to submit to a vision exam by renewing over the internet. The state requires that this exam accompany all renewals processed in person at a DMV Field Office. Presumably the state made an assumption because of my age, although they already know that I have an CORR LENS restriction on my license.... Read more
November 13, 2006
In which we have eaten something disagreeable
She said, "You look like a rainy Sunday in Pittsburgh!' And I said, 'I feel like a rainy Sunday in Pittsburgh.' And she said, 'Have you been eating something that disagreed with you?' (I think this quotation comes from "Service With A Smile", by P G Wodehouse, who, for an Englishman, had a suprisingly negative view of Pittsburgh's climate.)... Read more
November 8, 2006
October 20, 2006
nopa
After several months of rebuffed attempts to get into this place, Anna and I finally sat down in NOPA, first at the long bar and then at a two-top. I got over the ridiculous name ("North of Panhandle" is off by a few hundred meters and a whole New York City concept). The drinks are good, and the menu promising, both for cocktails and for wine (the half-bottle selection is quite decent, even). In fact, the whole dining experience was pleasant enough that it renewed my enthusiasm for eating out in San Francisco. There are few enough honest restaurants of any price; I can think of Papalote, , the delicious pizzerias Pauline's and Little Star, and, the difficult-to-get-into Slanted Door -- well, I can't really think of too many other outstanding places to eat, places that advertise the quality of their ingredients and stick to their principles. The Bay Area has many other fine places to have a breakfast (Ole's, say, or Kate's Kitchen), lunch (Mondo Caffé), and dinner; or to have a glass of wine, a cup of coffee, or even a glass of real ale. But we seem short on honest places to get an unpretentious plate of good cooking. Nopa has yummy, good food made fresh in the kitchen (which we could see from our table), good drinks made right at the bar, and pleasant, attentive staff. I was impressed and pleased. Now if I could reliably get a table ...!... Read more
September 29, 2006
May 14, 2006
March 11, 2006
In which I dream of juicy kebabs
As one who knows well the pleasures of enjoying some of the dreamless while on a long train commute, I laughed out loud when I saw the "Wake Me Up At" stickers. Although I journey to the end of the line, and can at worst saw logs while someone pilfers my bicycle helmet, I do know the anxiety of someone who wants to sleep for a few minutes yet still wake up in time to get off at, say, San Carlos and sleeps through the stop (although then you have a different set of problems ...!). I disagree with the anti-Brixton sentiment, I do like the schematic representation of the average sleeping rider's dream. Oh yes: and wake me up at Farringdon, where we will find the Jerusalem Pub, minding the ps and qs with St Peter's. Aside: All in London has a nice tube-stop-by-tube-stop guide to what's on in London; Mark and I tried something similar with the CTA and our nascent "Gate Culture" journal. ... but we got nowhere, other than my enjoying lots of bicycle-riding along the once-derelict Jackson-Englewood and Lake elevated lines. Ooooh, the CTA.... Read more
January 10, 2006
In which we complement the curry chips
Now when I am stumbling over to Beshoffs on O'Connell Street, I know how to plan my footsteps before and after: the Proper Pint web site shows maps of Dublin, with nifty annotations about each pub. And I suppose that if I am out late, then I can lift my feet over to the Beshoffs take-away on Westmoreland Street. The famous Beshoffs fish and chip restaurant was founded by Ivan Iylanovich Beshoff a seaman in the navy of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. He fled Russia after he took part in an ill-fated mutiny on the battleship Potemkin at Odessa in 1905 and arrived in Ireland in 1912 with the intention of travelling on to Canada. He missed his boat connection and decided to stay. Three hurrahs for curry chips! and for pints! and for cask ales!... Read more
