Gotham Gal

Melbourne, Day 2

We started out this morning on the train.  The public transportation is quite good here.  Between the trains and the trams, you really can't go wrong.  We took the tram down to the city to have breakfast at Journal. Small local spot sort of inside the public library.  Breads, fresh juices and coffee.  Some of us have white nectarines sliced in thick yogurt and honey which were delicious.  Had a fruit bun and fruit toast on the side to check it out.  Think cinnamon toast with more dried fruits than just raisins.  Delicious.  You can see that breakfast was a bit hit. 

After breakfast, we walked over the bridge to the Australian Center for Contemporary Art.  The most impressive thing about the museum was the building.  As we walked up to the building, Emily commented that it looked like the architect was by Richard Serra, the artist.  I couldn't agree more.  A very cool large brown steel building that has movement.  Inside, there are two exhibits.  The building really isn't big enough to house a permanent exhibit so the exhibits just continue to change.  Nothing really worth writing home about but worth a trip to see the building.

We left and grabbed the tram down to St. Kilda's.  We had planned on riding bikes that afternoon but it was about 90 degrees outside and I was a little concerned about everyone navigating the streets, so we passed.  We walked over to Luna Park which is a small kid friendly amusement park.   Jessica, Emily and I had to take a least one ride.  The biggest roller coaster was under repair so we opted for the ferris wheel.  Nice views from above. 

We walked down the main drag in St. Kilda's after the park.  Very crowded beach street with many bakeries.  Entered each one for a smell and a look and a bit of reprieve from the heat (they all have air-conditioning).  Decided that we would walk down to the beach and have lunch at the Stokehouse.  We sat outside and had some salads and enjoyed the breeze. 

We found our way back to the tram and the boys went on back to the hotel and I went shopping with the girls.  Two great stores which were a big hit.  Alice Euphemia and Fat.  In between the clothes we picked up some chocolates from the Haighs and KokoBlack.  At this point, I was shattered.  We got back to the hotel, quickly showered and went out to dinner.

We had dinner at Fifteen, Jamie Oliver's new place.  Fifteen is located downtown on a very Italian looking street, I could have closed my eyes and been in Rome.  The restaurant is small and hipster in vibe in a basement.  The food is okay and really nothing to write home about.  Interesting small menu and creative but nothing that great.  Lots of garlic which is always a drag.  We ordered a bowl of lemons to eat for dessert.  Our waitress wanted to know if that was an American tradition. We got a kick out of that.  It is our tradition when we get socked with a garlic meal.  Not going into what we ate here because it isn't worth the details.

Today, we are off to the Yarra Valley wine area.

Melbourne

We got up early, way too early, and took a flight to Melbourne.  I am completely impressed with the airlines. Beyond efficient, nice, quick, etc.  The line was really long.  We had to get our boarding passes in the kiosk and get in line to check out bags.  By the look of the line, I didn't think we would make our flight or the next two flights out.  Wrong.  The Aussies know how to move cattle.  Actually, every country I have ever been to besides my own runs air travel at a completely different speed.  Makes you wonder.

We were picked up by a limo.  I did not book that, believe me.  I had booked a van but they had run out and 5 people with luggage need a large vehicle.  The kids, no surprises, were psyched.  We cruised into our hotel.  We are staying at the Como which is quite nice.  We have a two bedroom suite so we all hang together.  Fred immediately figured out how to run wifi in the entire room off of my computer.  A huge sigh of relief from everyone that we were all connected.  God forbid, we might all have withdrawals.

Before heading out for the day, we walked down the street for lunch.  Right off the main drag is a small cafe called The Pound.  Like most cafes here, tiny that flow into the street.  Salads, sandwiches and of course coffee.  We had some vietnamese chicken salads (like the chinese chicken salad from los angeles) and enjoyed the setting. 

 

After lunch, we headed out to watch cricket.  The Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch thetournament between Australia and India.  The stadium is fantastic, large and modern.  Cricket, very cool, but admittingly I have no idea how the game is played.  The singing and screaming were great.  We cheered when the Aussies scored although we had no idea that they had.  We just followed the crowd.  Regardless, we hung out until a break and made our way back into town. Fred and Josh hit up the pool and I went shopping with the girls.

We went shopping in the area of South Yarra where our hotel is located.  Reminds me of lower Broadway meets 14th Street.  Didn't take us long to realize, not for us and made our way back to the hotel to plan out tomorrow's adventures and get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Three, One, Two which is located in Carlton, entirely across town.  Melbourne is spread out.  Reminds me of Los Angeles.  Although I actually love driving on the other side of the road (makes more sense), taking a taxi or public transportation makes life easier. 

Dinner was fun.  The five us split 2 bottles of wine.  One white and on red from the wine country about an hour outside of Melbourne where we are going in a few days.  Start sampling now.  The restaurant is simple.  Big glass windows over looking the street, probably 10 tables, black tiles half way up the wall and then white over that.  We tasted quite a few things off the menu which is small.  Four appetizers and four mains and two specials of the evening.  I began ( and so did Fred ) with the oysters.  5 oysters served over seaweed with Japanese seasonings.  Really good.  Josh went with the Rabbit pancetta with braised carrots, balsamic vinegar, fromage blanc and hazelnuts.  Really delicious and interesting.  Josh said it tasted like chicken.  The girls went with the cured kingfish.  Set out like pounded sashimi was the a long piece of cured kingfish and over that was small round pieces of slowly cooked octopus.

For dinner, Em went with the snapper that had been poached and served with prawns, a green sauce and roasted peppers.  Over that was a small dab of a potato aioli.  Beautiful.  Jessica went with the special which was slightly seared yellow fin tuna over pan fried asparagus and a sauce.  Josh, Fred and I went with the suckling pig.  Prepared very similar to 11 Madison.  A crispy piece of skin over the top and meat that had been chopped up and served rectangular under the skin.  Under that was two thinly sliced Moroccan style lemons with a mustard sauce and a small cabbage salad on the side.

Nothing for dessert because the menu didn't cry out to us.  Hoping for chocolates on our bed.  We grabbed two cabs ( the problem with 5 people) and went home.  Fred immediately fell asleep and the kids are watching another season of something.

Looking forward to tomorrow....

Last Day in Sydney

Last day in Sydney and we really packed it in.  Started out at Roy’s Famous in Potts Point for breakfast.  Really like Potts Point.  Beautiful neighborhood that reminds me of many places around the globe.  We finally got the banana bread, which seems to be on every menu.  Excellent.  Deeply browned served with honey and strawberry jam. 

After breakfast we had a tour of the Opera House.  There are two tours.  Either an hour long tour which run all day (although book in advance) or the backstage tour, which comes with breakfast but only, runs once a day at 730am.  We opted for the hour-long tour, which was just perfect.  The kids all loved it.  The beauty of the architecture and the story of the how the Opera House came to be.  Typical story.  Client hires architect to create something, which the architect really isn’t sure how to build, but believes it can be done and says 3 years is sufficient amount of time to complete.  Along the line the engineers are having trouble achieving what he wants because nobody is really sure it is structurally possible.  The clients get pissed off.  The overruns are huge and the original time constraints are blown away by years.  The architect quits and someone else comes in to finish the job.  In the end, something is built but getting there wasn’t exactly what was planned.  The original plan for the Opera House was 3 years and $7 million dollars.  In the end it took roughly 12 years and over $100 million.  But it is fantastic.  Here is a picture of the room where the Philharmonic plays.  Your breath is taken away when you walk in. 

Next stop was the beach.  We took a bus, actually 2 because we had to transfer to get to Bronte Beach.  All of the beaches are next to each other but set in side small coves so each has a completely different vibe.  We walked from Bronte to Bondi.   In between the two of them are incredible surfing areas where you must be good or your end up torn apart on the rocks.  Small picture but you can see the rocks on the left. 

As we turned the corner to Bondi, we saw the sailing races.  Every December 26th, there is a yacht race from Sydney to Hobart.  It was pretty cool to see.

We lunched in Bronte at two restaurants that have joined forces.  One is Bonsai and the other is Swell.  Bonsai is Japanese/sushi and Swell is a combo of salads, sandwiches and eclectic food.   It was the perfect lunch.  We had two menus to choose from which kept everyone happy.  Jess and I both had a fantastic salad of greens, shredded carrots, raw tuna, avocado, shredded radishes and a ginger Japanese dressing. 

We spend a little time walking through the sand and hanging and then grabbed a bus back into town.  We still had visions of doing a chocolate walk.  There are about 5 chocolate shops in town but unfortunately they were all closed except for one where we bought some licorice.  The licorice here is delicious.  Josh is exhausted (see picture on left).  As we walked along the streets in the central business district, we witnessed something that I have never quite seen before.  At all the high end shops, Bally and Louis Vuitton had lines around the block, literally.  There were guards letting people in based on how many people were in the store.  What was more interesting is every person in each line was Asian.  It was quite a sight.

We got back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.  Our dinner reservations got completely screwed up.  As I said in earlier posts, many places are closed during the holidays.  We have voted to return to Sydney during the year when there are no holidays.  We did actually have one reservation at Flying Fish, which is at the end of Jones Wharf.

The restaurant is very cool.  An old warehouse at the end of the pier that has been converted into a restaurant.  We sat upstairs and could see the oil tankers and boats leave harbor.  The food was innovative but not that delicious.  Three of us began with the seafood tapas, which gives you four bites of a chef’s choice to see what creative things he can do.  For dinner, I went with the Sri Lankan shrimp in a curry sauce.  Everything tasted good but the flavors lacked depth and interest.  We had a good time but were all bummed that we couldn’t go to other places we had wanted to go.

As a whole, loved Sydney.  A wonderful place to live.  We hit every neighborhood, almost.  My feet are aching.  The Establishment hotel, which is located a few blocks from the Rocks, had nice rooms and a cool vibe but the concierge is lacking to say the least.  The service is not what it should be.  If I came back, I wouldn't’t stay there.  Probably stay at Blue, which is in Woolloomooloo.  Good locations, near Potts Point where I could have breakfast daily and on the water. 

On to Melbourne.   

Christmas Day in Sydney

Christmas Day is sort of a drag when you are traveling unless of course you are hanging at a resort.  Sydney basically closes down.  Restaurants close for days.  There are many places we wanted to go to but aren't open while we are in Sydney.

We took a bus out to Bondi Beach and were planning on doing a beach walk.  Weather wasn't really in our favor.  It was a bit cold, windy and overcast.  Major drag.  Hoping for this weather to pass through and see beautiful sunny skies soon. 

We did find a bite on Bondi where there are a few places open to eat.  We found a little hole in the wall next to Speedo up on North Bondi. 

A stroll around town and then back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation. 

We did the Bridge Climb last night.  Josh got half way up and freaked.  Heights is definitely not his thing.  I was pretty sure he didn't want to go when we walked into the building but thought he should give it a try.  Face your fears.  He got to the stairs which are literally right under the platform and went cold.  Since I was the only adult in the group, besides Jessica, I took him down.  It was sort of a drag for me because I really wanted to go to the top and take in the views but what can I say, I'm the Mom. 

Afterward we wanted over to the Park Hyatt on the Rocks and found a bite to eat.  Bad food but at least some thing to put in our stomaches.  I sound like a bah humbug but Christmas Day doesn't do it for me.  I hate that the restaurants, if they are open, serve only one option for a meal and are extraordinarily expensive so I refuse to do it. Next year, I need to plan better.  Glad to see Christmas Day over and done.

Day 3, Sydney

We began our day in the Botanical Gardens which are absolutely beautiful.  I also love that you can just stroll into them, no gate, no cost.  We walked down to the waterfront area of the Botanical Gardens.  Great views.  The hanging foxes were pretty wild which hang from the trees like bats.  Jessica could have done without them.

After leaving the Gardens, we walked over to the Art Gallery of New South Wales which sits inside the garden.  Large building which is perfect for exhibits.  We all really enjoyed the layout, the views and the architecture.  It was really interesting walking through and seeing the permanent exhibit.  Many of artists we had never heard of.  There was an exhibit of Sidney Nolan, supposedly one of the best painters in Australia.  Never heard of him until yesterday.  The kids really enjoyed the museum and so did I.  Emily even commented to me she is really drawn to late 20th Century early 21st Century modern art.  She'd rather own an Eric Freeman or Matt Satz over a Picasso any day.  Pretty interesting actually.  I can't say that I feel much differently.  I wouldn't mind owning a Gerard Richter.

The sun finally came out after we left the Museum.  Across the way is Wooloomooloo which is an old pier that has been transformed into an area with a hotel and apartment and restaurants.  Quite a structure.  Historically a port where shipping came in and out.  There is a huge fleet of Navy tankers that resides there.  Also, is Harry's pies.  Harry's pie actually buys their pies from Hannahs which is the place to get pies in Sydney.  So, we did.  Can't say I'd find myself ever ordering the pie again but it was an experience.  We had the Tiger which is the original.  Meat pie with mashed potatoes and mashed peas over the top and gravy.  Reminds me of the kind of food that was the fare in London before the cuisine changed to be more nouvelle.

We climbed a very steep set of stairs that put us in Potts Points which is a really nice neighborhood with cute restaurants, shops and beautiful trees.  We stopped at a few places a long the way as we made our way into Kings Cross and then Darlinghurst.  Serious walking.  Once we got back to Darlinghurst we sat down for snack outside at Coluzzi.  Local hang out.  Wooden tables outside and maybe a few tables inside.  Sandwiches, salads, pizza and fantastic coffee.   

The boys had enough and hit up an Apple Store for wifi and the girls kept on going.  I tagged along with the girls.  We went over to Queens Street which is at the end of Oxford Street.  We hit up a few stores although most were closing for Xmas.  It was imperative that we go to see Simon Johnson which is the Dean and Deluca of Sydney.  We were disappointed.  The shop is quite small.  The highlights are really all of the jarred condiments and the beautiful cheese refrigerator in back which holds a few people.  Otherwise, not sure you could only shop at Simon Johnson like you could at Dean and Deluca.

We kept walking down to a section called Five Ways where 5 different streets merge into a circular.  Couple of shops and restaurants.  Part of the neighborhood.  We picked up a ridiculously overpriced Panetone to eat today for Xmas.  Hope it is delicious.  Walked our way back to Oxford and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel.

Lots of places are not open in Sydney during the holidays.  Sort of a drag.  Also, eating really nice every night after awhile, to me, is too much so we broke it up last night with a trip to Chinatown.  We had dinner at Golden Century.  I believe we were the only people in this huge restaurant that has two floors, sort of stadium like, that were not Asian.  We had a variety of dishes recommended from the waiter.  One was Peking Duck which is served a bit different here than in NY.  They serve it in two courses.  First course is the skin with the pancake, plum sauce and scallions.  Then comes out large pieces of lettuce and the meat from the bone has been chopped up and stir fried in a wok which is rolled up into the lettuce.  As a whole, the food was nothing to write home about but we did have a couple of good laughs there. 

Home and to bed. 

   

Day 2, Sydney

Yesterday was fantastic.  We started out at Bill's for breakfast.  Don't tell me how much butter or cream was in everything we ate because it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.  We went to the original in Darlinghurst, there are now 2 others.  The restaurant is light and airy on a corner with windows open to the street.  Simple white walls, brown floor and an open kitchen.  Very Californian. 

Josh went with the ricotta hotcakes which were probably the best pancakes ever.  Light, airy, sweet with a roasted banana on top and syrup.  Em went with the oatmeal that had roasted rhubarb and brown sugar to top it off.  Jess went with the granola that had roasted apples over the top.  Both delicious.  I believe the oatmeal was made with cream.  Fred was a tad under the weather and only managed the toast.  I had my favorite, scrambled eggs.  Rich, soft and delicious.  Almost didn't taste like eggs, my guess is massive cream.  I had sliced tomatoes on the side and roasted organic sour dough bread.  Not to miss the fresh squeezed orange juice or coffee either.  A large hot coffee that was strong and delicious.  This meal carried me to dinner.  Who would have thought?

We left Bills and took a taxi down to the Quay Circular and grabbed a ferry up to Manly beach.  What a great quality of life.  Tons of teenagers who live in Sydney grab a ride on the ferry and hang out at the beach surfing for the day.  Pretty damn sweet.  The views from the water change your entire perspective. Also, the nicest ferries I have ever been on.

Manly reminds me a bit of Laguna Beach.  Once you get off the ferry you walk through a town that has stores and food, nothing to really write home about but a cute beach town.  The beach is wide which is nice so that people can play on the beach.  The water is cool but tons of surfers and the markers are set for your level.  Nice touch.  We hung here for a few hours and made our way back into town.

When we got back into Sydney we walked over to the Rocks Market which is only open on Sundays.  A total pass.  Very touristy.  Reminded me of Faneil Hall erected for the day.  But we did get to stroll through the Rocks en route to see what that part of town was like during the day.  A bit disneyworldesque.  Not an area I'd spend much time in. 

We went back to relax at the hotel.  Dinner at was 730 back in Darlinghurst where we had breakfast in the morning.  We ate at Fish Face.  Sydney's version of Mary's Fish Camp.  Sweet.  The food was absolutely fantastic.  A tiny little restaurant, open windows, dining on the street, and high cocktail tables for eating that allow you to see the open kitchen as they cook.  We had a delicious bottle of white wine from New Zealand.  Started with the special salad of the day.  Poached shrimp, sliced peaches, watercress and a lemon oil.  Wow.  We also had some sashimi and trout handrolls.  Josh went for the sushi plate.  For dinner we all had fish.   Jess and Fred went with the snapper perfectly cooked.  Crispy skin over a potatoes and peas in a large white bowl.  Em had the special fish (she grabbed the last one of the night) and I went with the Blue Fish, not like Atlantic blue fish.  The skin was thinly sliced potatoes that had been placed over the skin and crispy.  It was all absolutely fantastic.  They really know how to cook fish.  We even went for dessert.  Puffed pastry tart with a bit of creme inside and sliced fresh strawberries.  All and all a huge hit.  Wish Fish Face existed in the West Village.  It would become my local haunt. 

Home and back to bed. 

From the world down under

Flew into Sydney yesterday morning.  Quite an efficient customs system and the people are so friendly.  We made our way over to the hotel to start out on our way.  I had paid for one room the night we were on the plane to insure we had a place to hang and shower at 9am when we got there s. waiting until 4 for our room to open up.  It was definitely the way to go. 

We are staying at the Establishment which reminds all of us of the Mercer Hotel.  We are in the business district so perhaps not the best location but certainly a great cool hotel. 

The weather was not optimal so instead of hitting up the beaches we made our way over to the Fish Market.  Stalll and stalls of fish vendors.  You can eat there or take home fresh fish.  We sampled some oysters and sushi.

Afterward, we attempted to get taxis over to the Waterloo suburb.  Taxis are not that easy to come by in certain locations.  Also, they really need to know the exact location of town that you plan on going to.  We ended up directing them where to go which is pretty hilarious since we just got into town for the first time ever. Each area has the same street names so it is tough.  The cost to take a taxi is exorbitant.  Working on public transportation for tomorrow.  We went to Sopra Cafe which is on Dank Street in an area that was once a bunch of warehouses.   The cafe sits on top of a market similar to a Gourmet Garage yet more spread out and less options.  There is also an area that gives cooking courses.  Very cool.  Simple fresh Italian food.  Salads, pasta, delicious stuff zucchini blossoms, and fish. 

This particular area has a variety of galleries which we walked through are lunch.  Some galleries are solo while others are grouped together in a building.  My guess is this area will continue to grow.  From Dank Street around the corner to Young there are more funky modern furniture stores and a few more restaurants.  All modern with large windows looking over the street.

After this we decided that we'd walk.  What a walk.  We walked from Waterloo through Darlington and then Paddington and then Surrey. Not sure I have that in the right sequence. It was certainly a good way to get a feel for the city.  Paddington has lots of shopping.  The girls hit up a few stores.  Then they took us down Hutchinson Street where is Collete Dinnigan (one of the top Australian designers).  The street is small and really cute.  We hit up each store.  Our favorite was probably the vintage store that had fantastic stuff from the 60's. 

At this point we were wiped and went back to the hotel.  We had dinner at Yoshi at 730.  Yoshi has three options.  Each a tasting course with sushi at the back end and each run a different amount per person.  Josh had no interest in eating and so the rest of us ate.  We ordered the Saqura Course.  Scallop cake served with Japanese spring vegetable with Wasabi flavored bonito, a mixture of Ocean trout wrapped with pear and served with Kimizu, blue crab and goats curd avocado roll (smaller than the end of your thumb), grilled pacific oyster in a matsumae style sauce, deep dried kanpyou marinated with ginger juice and soy cumquat and foie gras mousse pie.  Next out was oven baked sliced abalone which was baked in a salt encrusted shell and seaweed which you opened to find the fish inside.  Next fried duck breast in a Jibuni style port wine flavor, and then the white fish wrapped in seaweed and green tea soba noodle. Ok, at this point Fred was literally sleeping at the table.  We had been there about two hours.  It was 930 at night about 5am our time.  Luckily we had a game to play with us, Apples to Apples, where we go nowhere without.  I asked them to bag the rest and just bring out the sushi.  Perhaps they went out to the ocean to catch it but the meal their is very long and slow.  I realize that Yoshi has been given 2 hats for the past couple of years perhaps because of the creativity of the food but taste wise, I'd pass.  It did nothing for me. 

We walked home and literally crawled into bed.  Today, beach. 

From a birds eye view...

We are en route to Australia.  First stop is Sydney then Melbourne and then the Great Barrier Reef.  There were so many options but we narrowed it down to three. 

Started yesterday afternoon when I picked Josh up at school. He had informed me that he had just puked his guts out.  Wonderful.  On the way to the airport we had to pull over once and then the other time he bravely just stuck his head out the window.  After lots of sleep and a few more times in the bathroom, he seems to be no worse for the wear.  A total trooper. 

I booked this vacation last January.  Getting the flights and the hotel rooms early on sort of guarantees that we get what we want.  There were two options to get here either United or Qanta's.  Went with United because the cost difference was pretty large.  Now that I am sitting on United, I know why Qanta's is more. 

United reminds me of what is happening to the United States.  Although I am quite aware, maybe more than most, about all the new and exciting ventures happening around our country yet to me, the country is getting old and tired. On this plane, the technology for the movies is old, the seats are antiquated, and the interiors need updating.  It all works but it is old.  Like our country, our debt and lack of leadership hasn’t allowed us to invest in infrastructures such as state of the art airports or new highways. New Orleans is a perfect example of minimal amount of money being spent to restore a city.  I feel like our country has become tired and fat. 

When I talk to people who have been to China or India, you can see the excitement in their eyes as they tell about the growth.  Even walking through the Frankfurt Airport last summer which is beautiful and new makes me long for that when I walk through JFK, La Guardia or Newark.  First entry into our country you don’t feel like you are walking into a state of the art country but something 20-30 years old attempting to update through new construction that once it is done will be behind the times upon completion. One of the reasons I got so excited about seeing the plans laid out for the Highline is that the architecture, the community use, the greenery is all so grand and beautiful, well thought out and state of the art.  The Highline says hope.  Yet here is a public space that will cost millions to complete and a huge amount of the money must be raised in the public arena.  Why?  Why shouldn’t the Government (Federal or Local) be supporting the future parks?  It is the same thing with Pier 40.  Wonderful ideas coming out of a small group of people who want to create what the community wants with parks and facilities but it is easier for the Government to just hand it off to a big developer who can pay for it without public money or private funding who will just create another boring bland shopping mecca like Disneyworld.  Quite frankly, that is pretty sad especially in New York City. What happens when the money tightens up in the public sector, does the Government just sit by and let the future projects that will keep us looking like we belong in the 21st century, dry up?  What happens when the shopping mecca doesn’t create the economies that were planned.  Do they let the large companies who built the infrastructure just walk away?  Can’t imagine people not using parks but I can certainly imagine not filling up Cirque du Soleil every night or a movie theater or another Gap store.  Does the Government care about that or do they just want to bring in the cash now and screw the future of our communities.

This past 7 years has been an utter disaster.  Run by a bunch of men who were conservative in the 50’s and 60’s and now we are in the 21st Century.  They have held us back as a nation.  They have lived in their own myopic world and let the powerful US become the evil meanie.  We are have become the great and powerful wizard behind the curtain.

Next election, who is going to bring us back to reality?  Who is going to make the hard decisions?  Who is going to put our budget back into alignment?  Who is going to be in touch with our nation now and its future?  Who is going to make friends again with the rest of the world?  Who is going to put money back into the infrastructure of our country through projects, education and growth? 

This pre-election hype is painful to watch.  Why is Iowa the first to decide who the candidate should be?  Wouldn’t it make sense to let Missouri, the state that is more a microcosm of the US?  Regardless, are Iowans going to go in the voting booth, by themselves and pull and lever for a black man or a woman? I am not so sure.  Wouldn’t surprise me to see John Edwards win because he is white and Southern. 

Obama has never sat right with me. I want him to be the guy but he isn’t. I have met him and listened to his same speech and looked at his voting record.  He seems so much like an idealist, like a Jimmy Carter, that I am scared that he will never make a decision but spend more time trying to get everyone behind something he wants but not sure he wants it bad enough to offend other people on that other side of the table.  Is he really a person who can execute and lead?  Not sure John Edwards could lead, maybe I’m wrong but think it might take him a good year if not more just to find the bathroom.  Hilary on the other hand is incredibly organized, has no problem making decisions and does understand how to get people on the other side to some happy medium.  She’d probably be beyond efficient but is she capable to making serious changes in the way our country is run.  We are in need of someone like FDR.  Our entire infrastructure is old, fat and arrogant.  It needs a major redo to bring us into the next century and beyond. 

Like this plane, it works but it could be so much better.  Less than 5 years from now, this plane will be old but capable.  I want it to be cutting edge, state of the art, and leader of the pack.  That is what the US should be or in the end, we will become like England.  Once a ruler now just part of the party when the rulers get together not the leader.

Looking forward to Australian.  More fresh ideas from food, clothing, architectural design, etc. are coming from down under.  They are quite far but change is happening. Australia just elected in a new head of their Government after the old head teamed up with Bush.  Says something.  We are living in a very flat world.  Times are changing and I hope the US will be part of the change.  Right now, from my birds eye view, literally, we are definitely lagging. 

Ricks Picks NYC

Whenever I walk through the Greenmarket in Union Square I feel compelled to buy everything.  Bringing a cart is key otherwise forget it.

About three  years ago I was walking through the market and came upon Ricks Picks NYC.  Innovative guy (Rick) who had created wonderful pickled products in a jar.  I tasted and chatted.  Asked if he had a website (because I didn't have my cart), etc.  Weeks later, Ricks Picks was written up in the New York Times.

Over the years, I have been watching his business grow from a far.  I noticed his pickles at specialty shops like Citarella and then Whole Foods and even a tiny shop in Maine.

About a month ago, I was introduced to Rick though a friend.  Ricks biz is growing and he was looking for possible investors.  I got together with Rick, who happens to be one smart guy and talked.

I am thrilled to say that we are now investors in Ricks Picks.  Looking forward to working with Rick and hopefully helping his biz grow in 2008 and beyond.  And of course eating lots of pickled treats.

Music of 2007

I do love the lists.  This is my top 10 Cd's for 2007 with a few note worthy at the end.  It's tough to stick to 10.

Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills  Love them.  Couldn't get enough of this.  Swedish Indie-pop with interesting instrumentals.

New Pornographers, Challengers  To me, their best CD yet.  Brilliant songwriting.

Arcade Fire, Neon Bible  Probably best album of the year.  Incredible instrumentals, innovative, unique and hands down the best live concert of the year.

The Shins, Wincing the Night Away  I've been a fan for awhile, this CD is fun and upbeat.  Catchy songs.

The Feeling, Twelve Stops and Home  Pure pop.  I can't help myself, I still love the pop.

Voxtrot, Voxtrot  Indie pop from Austin, TX.  Listened to it again and again and again

Bishop Allen, The Broken String  Brooklyn Indie.  Good songs, good music. 

Bright Eyes, Cassadaga  Been listening to Oberst for years.  Like the music, like the sound, like the lyrics.

Ben Lee, Ripe    Maybe not his best but I just love Ben Lee

Fionn Regan, The End of History  Very melodic, minimal, guitar and voice. 

Ok...and the note worthy which I listened to plenty.

Feist, The Reminder  Took me awhile but I finally got in to her.

Lily Allen, Alright, Still  Clever fun and hilarious

Radiohead, In Rainbows  Radiohead is not only different and brilliant.  Putting their music out on the web for the taking at whatever price you want to pay puts them way ahead of the pack.

Kate Nash  Been listening to four singles that I downloaded.  Another clever pop rocker from Britain

Patrick Wolf, The Magic Position  Young, musical and talented.

Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare.  They have taken rock to a different level. 

Kings of Leon, Because of the Times.  They just rock

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend  Cd to come out in early 2008 but you can hear the singles.  This is getting lots of play in the house.  Love them

Little Jackie.  Not even sure where to link.  Coming out on a new label.  Love.  Could end up being a favorite for 2008.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, 100 Days and 100 Nights.  Couldn't help but throw in a little R & B.  My friend told me about this.  Good listening.

So, in the end there are 20 artists absolutely worth listening to which rocked my world in 2007.  A huge nod to Jessica for turning me on to Vampire Weekend, Voxtrot and supposedly The Shout Out Louds although I am not sure about that one.