Brian » Night Fall
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm not sure how I ended up with this book on my list, but there it was. A nice easy read for the plane ride to Miami and back. Except it's mostly about a plane blowing up (TWA 800) and ends (spoiler!) with the planes crashing into the World Trade Center on 9/11.
For a book that was somewhat based on real events but entirely fictional, it wasn't bad. There's the element that I guess DeMille felt he had to put in that the TWA case may never be resolved to anyone's satisfaction, and they have to come to terms with that. But I still felt like I knew right where the story was going, just based on the time frame of the book. And sure enough, there it went, right smack into the buildings.
Brian » The Passage
The Passage by Justin Cronin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
At a glance, you might think this book is doomed. It's a vampire book, but the vampires are essentially infected with a virus. In other words, it's been done before (in my most recent memory with Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain). But man, does Justin Cronin pull it off and then some. It's not a short book by any measure, but the reason is what makes the book so good: the details. There's no mystery Patient Zero, we know where the virus came from and why. That sort of back story takes up the first 300 pages or so. And then we jump about 100 years forward to see what happens after the infected start to run out of victims, and that's where it gets really fascinating. You kind of have an idea of how things are going to go, all the way up to the end. But then there's a prologue. And yeah, you just have to read the last page. Love it.
Brian » Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek
Bottled March 31, 2009. Watch your eyes! Nearly forgot to point away from my face while unscrewing the cage. Glanced off my forehead on the last twist. On to the beer...
Pours a great red color. Hazy looking through, big time. Actually got plenty of head and lacing in my tulip glass. Nice looking beer.
My first whiff while pouring I thought, "Uh oh. Smells like cough drops." Didn't get that after the initial surprise. More of a kind of funky aroma really.
But the taste, wow. Bang! Right on your tongue comes the tartness of those cherries. It's so sour you forget it's beer, and the cherriness has to fight to get through. I found if I held the beer in the middle of my tongue avoiding the sides where the sour taste buds reside helped a lot to get more out of the beer.
It might just be that I'm really into the sours right now, but yeah, I might have to go back and grab some more since I know they are in short supply.
Overall rating: 4.45 out of 5
Brian » Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Not exactly a conventional novel, but not so far out there to be a turn off either. It ends up being a really interesting look at the ways all our lives intersect with one another. And yet, it also has a lot on traditional themes like redemption and longing. It even has a little sci-fi thrown in at the end. In short, it pretty much has a little bit for everyone. Go read it.
Brian » Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Medium Raw ends up being more like a compilation of loosely related essays, but that's not really a surprise. What is a tad bit more surprising is Anthony Bourdain's slightly more conciliatory tone. He still criticizes plenty of people (pity the villains in the Heroes and Villains chapter), but also makes clear that he was angry while writing Kitchen Confidential, and that he's mellowed out a bit now.
Really though, you need to read this book for chapter 8: Lust. That would be the food porn chapter. I'm still drooling over that one.
Brian » Breaking out of a slump
I have been in a bit of a slump lately. A couple of things not quite going right, unexpected expenses, stuff like that. But this weekend was pretty darned good, I have to say.
On Saturday, the kids and I went to a local park to go geocaching with some friends of mine. The kids were great the whole time, and didn't complain. They actually had a lot of fun, and were very good when we got home and discovered that we were covered in some sort of tiny bugs (ticks or chiggers, not sure which) that required laborious tweezer removal.
On Saturday night, Lisa and I went to the Eddie From Ohio concert at Wolf Trap. It was a fun date night away from the kids, even if it was still pretty dang hot. Did you know that they let you bring ANYTHING in to the show? Alcohol, coolers, food, whatever, they don't care. Somehow, I managed to scam samples of Fin du Monde (wonderful all around) and Ommegang Abbey Ale (I think the guy has had this for a while, so it's "aged" well: reminded me of these Vosges chocolates with goji berries we've had before).
And yesterday, the kids and I made our first ever FTF geocache! You can read all about it here.
I think it's safe to say I'm out of the slump now. It was a good weekend.
The D's » Our New Family Pastime
Our new iPhones have opened up a new activity for our family: geocaching! From the official site description: Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. So far, I'm up just over 50 finds, and Ellie and Evan are right there with me with 26.
This past weekend, we all went out to Ellanor Lawrence Park for a little geocaching hunt. There were several caches hidden in the park within a reasonable hiking distance from each other. We ended up hiking a total of 4.3 miles over the course of about 4 hours, and we found 9 geocaches! The kids did great too, even during the "bushwhacking" through the deeper grass and tripping over fallen tree limbs.
One of the goals of every geocacher is to get an FTF: "first to find." When a new geocache is hidden, an alert goes out to users notifying them, and the race is on. Usually, in our area, new caches are found within a couple of hours. Sunday morning, I got the word that TWO new caches were hidden in McLean, not far from us. I was still tired from the previous day's hike, so I decided to have breakfast and wait a little while to see if anyone would stake a claim. Sure enough, one of the two was found fairly quickly. But the other one, a "multi" cache with more than one thing to find, was still out there at 10, 11, 12 o'clock! So the kids piled into the cars, and off we went.
When we got to the first part, we saw the standard brick wall sign welcoming us to a subdivision. We searched around that wall, knowing that the hider would not have intruded on the plants nearby, but still unable to find anything. Finally, we sat down in the shade of some nearby trees to cool off (it was getting up near 100 degrees, again!). We stared at the back of that wall for a while until Evan finally said, "Daddy, I think it's a magnet." Something clicked in my brain, and I flashed to something I had seen on the Spy Museum's geocaching page. Sure enough, the message was hidden in a rusty magnetic bolt, which perfectly matched the rusty electrical box it was stuck to.
We dashed over to the next stage, knowing we had a chance for a FTF, since no one had logged it yet. This part was much easier to find. One of the key things to look for in the woods when searching for a geocache is a UPS: "unnatural pile of sticks." We saw it immediately, and took the box out. The box held a reward for us as the first ones to find the cache, what a nice surprise!
We signed our names to the log book, posted our story online, and headed home for a celebratory Slurpee which was well earned on a searing hot July day!
Brian » The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I starting reading Sandman way back when I actually read comics and was fascinated. Not too long ago, I saw that they had compiled the series into a nice set of graphic novel type volumes, and put them on my list. Seriously, Neil Gaiman just amazes me with his imagination, and the art in every issue is amazing. You can't NOT give this five stars. Hopefully I will get around to the ensuing volumes soon.
Brian » Pirate Latitudes
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A bit of a genre switch from Crichton, but the book ends up being something like what you'd expect (minus the bad science?). Entertaining page turner beach read.
Brian » Ommegang Biere de Mars
Bright amber color with nice head poured into my tulip glass.
Sour aroma reminiscent of green apple.
Not nearly as tart on the tongue. Some initial tartness with some sweeter malt. But a whole lot o' funk in there as expected from a Brett beer.
Super clean finish, and quite drinkable as well.
Overall rating: 4.4
Brian » American Gods
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm sure whatever I would say about this book has already been said in the multiple awards it has won, etc. I guess sometimes it takes a foreigner (in this case, a Brit) to see what America really is all about. And then to overlay a great bit of fantasy storytelling. Well, let's just say Neil Gaiman is a fantastic storyteller.
Brian » Father’s Day dinner
Yesterday, we went downtown for dinner at Jaleo, one of Jose Andres' restaurants (perhaps you heard Alex name drop him on Top Chef DC last week?). It was "Kids Restaurant Week" in DC, which meant that the kids paid their age for two tapas and a fruit dessert. It was a good thing too, because it was not a cheap meal! I took a few (bad) cell phone pictures of the food, so allow me to describe them to you.
First up was the sea urchin:
A spoonful of refreshing summer goodness. Next up were three Ibérico hams.
As you can see by the picture, this was one of our favorites, and I didn't get to take the picture before most of it was gone already! I really enjoyed the fancy shmancy acorn-fed Lomo Ibérico de bellota.
The fried artichoke was a mild disappointment, though the tapenade was very good.
Then came Lisa's new favorite dish: fried bacon wrapped dates. I have to say, this was definitely a standout.
The menu said you would want to eat them every day, and I think that's absolutely true. I miss them already.
The last dish I took a picture of was the rabbit confit.
It was a good dish, the apricot puree went nicely with the gamy rabbit, but the sauce was a little grainy for me.
Not pictured: the kids' chicken croquettes (not at all like chicken nuggets), salmon, Pan con tomate, and garlic shrimp. Also, Lisa's rice with duck confit and warm green bean salad. Also, the desserts: Chocolate and hazelnut mousse torte, and apple charlotte, both of which were delicious.
All told, we had a good time at our fancy dinner with the kids. The favorites were definitely the ham, the dates, and the desserts. Here's hoping your father's day went just as well.
Brian » Incarceron
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very good YA sci-fi here, though I knock it down just a touch because I still didn't really understand the prison being alive bit. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable read, trying to piece together the connection between the characters and the two worlds they live in. Very imaginative in its setting though, which made it fun to read.
Brian » Merry Strasmas!
A couple of weeks ago, I took a flier on a long shot. No, not the Kentucky Derby. I took a reasonable guess that the date of Stephen Strasburg's Major League debut would be June 4. I turned out to be wrong, but we went to the game anyway and had a good time. The kids played on the playground, had ice cream, and we managed to escape without buying any souvenirs.
Last night was Strasburg's actual debut, and you'd have to say he lived up to the hype. 7 innings, 94 pitches, 2 runs, 4 hits, no walks, and 14 strikeouts. FOURTEEN! Including the last 7 batters IN A ROW! After giving up a homerun, he retired the next ten batters, including eight by strikeout. Phenomenal.
At least I will have a better idea of when he'll actually pitch from now on. Every five days, mark it down.
Brian » Logicomix
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Did you know I was a math major in college? I wasn't necessarily interested in math problems as much as I was just good at getting the answers right. Logicomix delves into some difficult questions at the very root of mathematics, that stuff that I wasn't interested in, and makes it really interesting. And it's not just the fact that it's in graphic novel form, but that it's in a nice narrative form that puts you into the story. This effectively puts Bertrand Russell's life and pursuit of answers into a fine perspective, accessible to a LOT more people than would have ever been interested in the topic, including geeks like me who should have been interested in it in the first place. Tremendous.
Brian » The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thought that the "dog as narrator" gimmick would end up bugging me after a while, but it actually did end up working well (even though it was strained for a big portion of the pivotal trial which did not allow dogs to be present of course). The thing that knocks it down a touch for me is the overwhelming sadness that pervaded the story and never let up. You are set up from the outset for the big sadness, but man, the sad moments just kept coming throughout the whole thing.
On the positive side, I now know that in Mongolia, they believe that dogs are reincarnated into men when their souls are ready, so that's uplifting anyway.
This book is the "All Fairfax Reads" selection for this summer, so if you're a neighbor, go get it!
Brian » Let the Great World Spin
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had my doubts a couple of chapters into this novel, wondering how Colum McCann would pull together what seemed to be a bunch of vaguely related short character stories. But as he masterfully gave voice to each new character, I was drawn in more and more, and began to see how they were all connected, and to appreciate McCann's brilliance. I can say without a doubt that he does manage to pull off a feat nearly as amazing as the tightrope walker who serves as the backdrop. This is definitely going to land on my favorite book list this year.
Next up is American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I'm reading for the One Book, One Twitter book club.
Brian » New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale
Pale orange color, good head and significant lacing.
Pine hop aroma with some citrus.
Good balance of flavor with the malt managing to pin down the hop bitterness.
Not too much of a lingering bitterness, nice smooth carbonation makes for a drinkable beer.
Overall rating: 4.1
Ellie » Ellie gets glasses!
Ellie had been complaining that the vision in one of her eyes was fuzzy, so we took her to the eye doctor yesterday. Turns out she has amblyopia, which means that one eye is lazy and makes the other eye do all the work. The doctor is hoping that with glasses, she will start using that eye and it will get stronger, but there is a possibility that she might have to get a patch to force the issue. Fun.
But, for now, she got to pick out her stylish new glasses.
Trying on the first pair, not bad.
A little too funky.
Not too bad, we liked these.
The runner up pair. She liked them and didn't want to choose, but we thought the next ones looked better.
The winner! It's going to take some getting used to for everyone, our little girl wearing glasses. But she seems excited about it, and hopefully we can avoid any extreme treatments and she'll start seeing better. Oh yeah, and here you can see the Coke bottle effect in action:
The D's » Trying Canning
We're trying something new around the DC D's household: canning!
It's something we've been thinking about doing for a while, but never really had the guts to try to figure it out. We figured that with CSA season quickly approaching, we had better start learning. With that, we bought about 5 pounds of strawberries from Whole Foods, got some jars and lids from the hardware store, and set about cooking up some strawberry preserves.
Jars cleaned and ready.
Strawberries ready.
Pot ready.
The strawberries sat in the sugar most of the day, and then we cooked them and let them sit overnight.
The following morning, we had to heat them back up and get them in the jars.
The jars being sanitized.
Filled jars sitting in the water cooling down.
The finished product. 2 pounds of strawberries gave us 3 half-pint jars of preserves. The recipe said we should have gotten 4, but even our second batch came up short of that. Now that we've gotten practice, we're ready for the gobs of tomatoes and everything else to come this summer.
