I love Gustav Mahler's music. I didn't know he was so clever with languange, but I've just found the proof:
"Tradition is the preservation of the flame, not adoration of the ashes" ("Tradition ist Bewahrung des Feuers, nicht Anbetung der Asche").
Nice, ja?
It's not a real crystal ball, it's just an upside down picture of a wineglass (from the Hog Island Oyster Bar post below). But just like in the movies, you can see things in the reflection that you wouldn't expect (click on the photo for a bigger version).
It wasn't perfectly clear outside, and Hog Island uses a computerized check system. What else do you see?
This sort of Blow Up might lead anywhere, but it is clear it would be easier with more pixels to play with. This picture was made with a 3 megapixel camera. Six or eight megapixels would make this sort of drilling down easier. Am I talking myself into a new camera?
This "crystal ball" is also a good example of mental focus. It is taken from a fairly plain still life of some oysters on the half shell, but as in most things in the real world, there is more there than initially meets the eye. Is the ability to find the hidden information a positive attribute? Or, is it a form of attention disorder? Like most crystal balls, it contains more questions than answers.
Some place has to be the best place for raw oysters in the city. To my tastes, the oyster bar in the Ferry Building run by the Hog Island Oyster Co. is it.
I wouldn't call the space beautiful, but since one of the walls is twenty feet high, made out of glass, and looks out on the bay, it certainly is bright and cheery! There is a wrap-around marble bar with about 15 seats, some inside tables seating perhaps 12 more, and a good collection of tables outside which are really nice on a sunny day.
I hope this BBC article Indonesia Fears Bird Flu Epidemic doesn't prove that my avian flu post of two days ago was prophetic....
I don't know what the odds are, but given what happened in 1918 and the obvious virulence of the H5N1 strain of avian flu when it crossed to humans in the winter of 2003/2004, everyone should learn as much as possible. A good place to start is the resources page of the Flu Wiki. Even if you are neither a boy, nor a scout, in this case you should do as they do and be prepared.
Mike Officer started Carlisle and established a good reputation with his zinfandels. Until now, I hadn't tried his syrah, but Whoa Nellie! I have should have been paying closer attention.
2002 Carlisle Syrah Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County
Wow, what a wine. The color is deep ruby like the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz, and the wine is fantastic, like it has come from Oz. It has a super rich nose of pepper, fruit and spice. The palate is mouth coating with a full body, great complexity and balance, and a finish that goes on for minutes. It is somewhat reminicent of an Aussie shiraz, but this wine obviously has more cold-climate characteristics. This is super stuff. I couldn't be happier with it. (94 pts.) (tasted 9/16/2005)
This is my favorite time of the year at the farmers market. Finally things are ripening, and the farmers bring in a wide range of items to drool over. The end of the summer is pepper time, and the peppers were out in force on Saturday.
For a few years Happy Quail Farms has been selling Pimientos de Padrón, a small pepper from Spain that make a popular tapas when fried in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt. I love them, but at $6 for a small bag (4 oz.?) they have been expensive. This weekend, Mariquita Farms was selling 8 oz. baskets of these delicious little peppers for $5. Hooray for competition, I say! Mariquita was also selling some "Heart Pimento Peppers" which are an interesting heart-shaped pepper quite close to a red bell pepper in taste (perhaps a bit sweeter).
Happy Quail Farms remains the Pepper King, though. They had a gorgeous display of colored sweet bell peppers including chocolate and purple, in addition to red, orange and yellow. This is the place to get supplies for a dinner party salad that might end up being too pretty to eat.
Today I took some pictures as I explored the market. I sometimes describe visiting the Ferry Plaza market as a descent into Food Porn. You can decide if I am right by viewing my photos here.
Every now and then I find some annoying or wonderous fact about San Francisco to comment on. This time, however, I direct your attention to some serious comments about the city, namely this article by Joel Kotkin which I unaccountably missed when it appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle last May.
When Bob Denver died last week, I sent out a note to some friends lamenting his passing and noting that I remembered him best for his portrayal of the ineffably cool Maynard G. Krebs, the beatnick sidekick of Doby Gillis. I think the rebellions of youth were much more sophisticated in the 1950's than they were in the 1960's. I prefer Jazz to Rock and Roll, beatnicks to hippies, and Ken Nordine to the Smother's Brothers. It's nice to see that Meghan Daum agrees with me in this piece in today's Los Angeles Times: What we dug about Maynard. UPDATE: Original link had aged out. Current link is to the LA Times archive where, unfortunately, one has to pay for the full text.
It may be that I am in a very tiny minority about this, but I'm a wee bit concerned about the rush to throw money at the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I've been shocked at the misery and death and destruction along the gulf coast, and have donated to private charities to help, but $10 Billion plus $50.8 Billion is a whole lot of money however you look at it, and I have the feeling that this is only the beginning. It is plainly too much money with not enough accountability. Paving the streets of New Orleans with dollar bills (*) will not make up for the evacuation that didn't take place, and the food, water, and rescue that was late. Assuming 200 million taxpayers, all of us just donated $300 each to federally-funded hurricane relief.
Given the current political climate only a very brave person, who is truly committed to reigning in spending would vote against this supplemental appropriation. No one in the Senate was that brave, but eleven House members were both brave and principled, and I salute them:
One of my favorite producers is Adam Tolmach who makes Ojai Wines. I went to a tasting last night and took along a bottle of Ojai 2000 Thompson Special Bottling Syrah (200 cases made). It was really enjoyable. Ojai is a small producer so not everyone has a chance to try this wine, but think wine lovers everywhere owe it to themselves to track down and try this wine. To get you properly motivated, here are my Ojai tasting notes (including the bottle opened last night).
2000 Ojai Syrah Special Bottling Thompson Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County (9/6/2005)
A deep and dark purple-red wine which is almost oqaque. Nose shows ripe berries and spices. Medium-full body, lot's of extraction and with firm tannins and a long dusty finish. Although it is big, big, big, it is a balanced wine and isn't overripe or candied. If you've got some of this, save for another year, preferably two before trying. (94 pts.)
It is important to always be observant. One of the reasons I love San Francisco, is that it is a compact place and very easy to get around in by walking. One sees a lot more on foot than from inside a car. You can never tell what you might find if you look.
For instance, I have always suspected that there are things about the Far East that Westerners don't understand, and I think this picture from a recent walk through Chinatown proves it....
Everyone has heard of the Mark Twain quip about "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," so perhaps it is appropriate a place once named The Cold Day Restaurant is now as much a part of the city as the fog. The Tadich Grill —like the cable cars, the Ferry Building and the Golden Gate Bridge— is a part of the landscape. Certainly it doesn't hurt that it predates all of the other landmarks, dating from 1849. And, there is no doubt that it is a good place for a meal on a cold, foggy day. It exudes proper and upright stolidity like a paneled library, which it somewhat resembles.
When I first moved to San Francisco, I used eat lunch here every Saturday, perched on a stool at the long wooden bar with my hat and coat hung up behind me on the polished wood panels. The waiters, dressed in white linen jackets, are professionals and they are efficient without being familiar. Rumor has it that this was one of the last places you could find leather cups full of dice on the bar. A throw of the dice was used to determine who would pay for the meal. But even though I haven't seen them myself, it doesn't take much imagination to pretend that they are there in front of every other seat. I even met a Republican here once. I am not certain who was more surprised, me to find myself seated next to a Republican, or him to also find himself seated next to a Republican.
