Apizza Scholls

We finally made it to Apizza Scholls to see what all the fuss is about. We tried to go there a few times before and it has been closed or the line has been out the door. We got there around 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and the wait was 45 minutes. I think if we had come a little later we could have cut that in half, but I have heard of people coming at opening time and waiting for hours.

The menu is pretty simple, they have pizza, salad and a few antipasti. We started with the Winter Salad, which had greens, pears, pecans and blue cheese crumbles, which was awesome. We were torn on which pizza to order. There are several good options, plus you can build your own. We ended up getting half Pig and Pineapple and half Apizza Amore - pecorino, romano, fresh garlic, basil and hot capicollo (cured pork shoulder). The pizza was huge, and we were only able to eat half of it. Overall it was very tasty, the only problem was too much garlic on the the Amore side. So, now to the question, how did it stack up against other pizzas in Portland? At about $25 a pie, I would say it is better than Pizzicato, but not as good as the pizza at Nostrana Cafe. It is very good pizza and worth waiting for (not two hours, but 45 minutes). You can get a pitcher of Anchor Steam beer and think about the desert you will get next door at Ja Civas after the pizza.

Apizza Scholls
4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 233-1286

On The Road - Jack Kerouac

Now that the "100 records you should own" is over, I am starting a new series, "The 25 Books You Should Read." Hopefully there will be a few books here you have not read yet, or at least a few that you may want to read again. If you are like me, you didn't do all the required reading in high school or college, so this is your opportunity to catch up.

Published in 1957 On the Road is the quintessential work of beat poet and author Jack Kerouac. It is autobiographical, tracking Kerouac's (Sal Paradise) trips across the US as a young man, with the rest of the beats, William S. Burroughs (Old Bull Lee), Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty) and Neil Ginsberg (Carlo Marx). Like a lot of other wanna be hipsters, I read this book during college as I was travelling around Europe on the train. Like most young people I thought I had discovered this book and that I should share it with the world. Little did I know that it was already a very popular book and that I was living out a cliche. That said, this does not diminish the greatness of this book in any way. It is the best coming of age story of all time in my opinion.

Kerouac is a great writer. I have read all his books, and some are more accessible than others. On the Road, is the Kerouac starter book. It is easy to read and has a plot which is easy to follow. Once you read this, you can move on to Pic and Maggie Cassidy which are also very readable. If you enjoy these books you can take on the more challenging books like the Book of Dreams and Dharma Bums.

Where does the money go?

Today I was walking to work and as I passed a hotel, I saw a guest hand a bellman a few bucks for getting him a cab. I started to wonder, where will that money go next? I was pretty sure he would not be reporting it on his W-2. This made me wonder, how far could those few dollars go in the unreported economy?

Let's say the bell man walks over to the strip club down the street after his shift. He stuffs a few bills in the strippers g-string and heads out. She heads back stage to meet her pimp who she owes money from the night before. He takes the money to his drug dealer and scores an eight ball. The drug dealer takes that money and hands it over to his bookie to place a bet. The bookie pays the money out to his strong man for collecting on a deadbeat. The strong man goes to get a haircut, where he passes the money over as a tip. The barber uses the money to tip his waitress at lunch.

So far this money has changed hands almost ten times and no one is going to pay any taxes on it. I am sure this could keep going, but I think you get the point.

Cereal Wars

Are you a big cereal eater? I personally love Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch. I like to buy a big box and keep it at work, but lately the box has been going down a little fast. Come to find out there is another RBC lover who sits by me and I suspected he was snacking from my box. He has his own box, but it is a small one. When we talked about it, he actually thought I was eating from his box as he too was experiencing shrinkage. So, we enacted a new cereal law. If you didn't buy it, don't eat it. I don't trust people so I am keeping the box in my locked office.

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

Here it is the last record of the "100 records you should own." This has been a lot of fun, and I am happy to finish this up with one of my favorite artists who everyone goes out and buys the Greatest Hits record. Don't do that. David Bowie has several great records you should own, but they all seem to only have one great song on them. I would say that Ziggy Stardust is his most complete record, start to finish and it also has a couple of great singles, "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City." After you have bought this record, go back and get, Low, Heroes, and Scary Monsters.

Taking a Strange Bus

Everyday I take the number 15 bus to work. If you've read this blog before you know there are a lot of interesting people on the bus. You see and hear a lot of weird and wonderful stuff and over time you look forward to seeing the bus people. Yesterday I took a new bus I had never been on before. This is always a scary venture into the unknown, but it also provides the opportunity to meet an entirely new group of bus people. I wanted to go to a class over on the east side between home and work, and I saw that the number 20 bus would actually be the fastest way to get there. It stops close to work, so I didn't have to walk very far, and it dropped me a few blocks from where I needed to be. If you don't know the bus route, the hard part is figuring out where to get off. You are always worried that you went too far or that you'll get off too early. Luckily this bus had a reader board that said where the next stop was so I did not screw it up.

So what about the bus people? The #20 bus goes through a little rougher area than my normal bus (if you don't count the methadone clinic), so I was hoping to see some color, but unfortunately it was pretty boring. The people looked pretty normal and dressed fairly nicely. I might go as far as to say that it was a better group of people.

Whatever Works

At the end of last year the NPR radio program Fresh Air repeated an interview they did earlier in the year with Woody Allen. I was glad they did as I had missed it the first time around. The main question Terry Gross kept pounding away at was, "how are you different from the characters in your movies?" I thought this was a great question and I expected Allen to talk at length about how autobiographical his movies were, but I couldn't have been more wrong. He insisted he is not an intellectual and that instead, he is the guy sitting on his recliner watching the ball game in a t-shirt.

This story becomes a little harder to swallow after watching Whatever Works on On Demand. To me, Larry David is a louder, more cringe inspiring version of Woody Allen. In this film, David plays Boris Yelnikoff, a tortured intellectual who was once a well respected professor and scientist. More recently, he has divorced his rich wife, moved into a dump of an apartment and makes money teaching kids to play chess. To call him a conceited jerk would be an understatement. He is offensive to everyone he meets, including Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) a young Southern runaway that shows up on his doorstep. After he takes her in, the movie dives into the myth that everyone from the South is repressed and if they could all move to New York, their true selves will be revealed.

While I enjoyed this movie, I think the combination of Woody Allen and Larry David creates too much angst for one movie. It is ironic that David's character chastises his young charge, Melodie, for using cliches, when this movie is really one big (well played out) cliche.

Whatever Works now out on DVD and PPV.

SuperFreakenomics by Levitt and Dubner

If, like me, you loved the book Freakenomics, you have been waiting four long years for the follow up SuperFreakenomics. The wait has paid off, SuperFreakenomics gives you more of the witty, pithy economic insight you loved in the first book. Not only is this book well written, it is a lot of fun to read. You literally don't want to put it down when you read the next provocative chapter heading, "How is a street prostitute like a department store Santa?" or "Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance." The insights into why prostitution is cheaper now than at the turn of the century and how to catch a terrorist, are very interesting, but my favorite chapter is, "What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?"

Would you believe a volcano eruption might do more to help stop global warming than anything Al Gore could do? You will after you read this chapter. You'll also get to see all the amazing things that former Microsoft guru Nathan Myhrvold and the genesis at Intellectual Ventures are doing to help geoengineer a solution to climate change.

There is no doubt the authors like to write about controversial topics: global warming, prostitution, but how about saying it's safer to drive home drunk than to walk home drunk? You can hear the MADD folks going ballistic on this one, but the statistics bear it out. If you have some friends over and they have had too much to drink, you are not doing them a favor by taking away their keys and making them walk home. If you want them to get home safely, put them in a cab or get them to spent the night.

If you like social insights like this, you'll love this book. I just hope we don't have to wait another four year for the next book, but if we do, you can keep up with the authors on their Freakenomics blog on NY Times.com.

The Country Cat - Revisited

Saturday night we walked down to one of our local restaurants, The Country Cat. It has been several months since we last ate there and we were happy to see that it was packed out and doing well. There are several restaurants that have opened up along Stark Street and it is quite a happening place. The good news is that The Country Cat is still serving up great food and drinks. We started at the bar for a couple of great cocktails and deviled eggs. When we got to the table, we went straight to entrees. We had the Skillet Fried Chicken, which was three great pieces of chicken with greens and I ordered a side of mashed potatoes to go with it; and the Whole Hog, a rolled belly, brined chop, & smoked shoulder on South Carolina grits. We also had a great bottle of wine, and a very nice apple crisp for desert. Overall the prices are reasonable and the service is great. I look forward to returning more often.

The Country Cat
7937 SE Stark Street
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 408-1414

White Stripes

It is hard to pick which White Stripes record to feature. They are a band that I wanted to include in my top 100, but I don't have a clear front runner in their three newest records. I came to the band a little late, with their fifth release Get Behind Me Satan. I had of course heard of them and heard their music on the radio, but this was the first record I felt compelled to buy. I also really like their latest effort Icky Thump and subsequently went back and bought the critics favorite Elephant. They are not a band I would say you need to own all their records, because I don't like them that much, but I have to say I like all three of these records and you would not go wrong with any of them.

Keep your travel straight

Last week I downloaded a new app that helps keep your travel plans organized. Once you get your itinerary from the airline or your travel agent, you email it to Tripit and it stores all the info for you. It will let you know if there has been any changes to your flight and send you other alerts. I was able to keep up with the status of my return trip from Chicago and check on the progress of the inbound flight. It helps you with seat recommendations. It can give you directions to your hotel through Google maps and it also stores car reservation info. It is particularily helpful if you are on a long trip with multiple flights and hotels. I don't think you need to upgrade to the premium service as the free service seems pretty good.

Alu Wine Bar and Lounge

You should not go to a restaurant the day it gets a rave review in the local paper, you may end up like us, waiting 45 minutes for a table. As we were dialing around trying to see where else we could go, enough time passed that we got a table (good thing as everywhere else was swamped too). Turns out we were very glad we stayed. The food and the service were excellent, despite the place being over run. We sat down in the lounge, but the dining room upstairs looked very nice too. They also have a patio, which will be great in the summer.

Instead of going for entrees, we ordered all the small plates that were recommended in the Oregonian article: the pumpkin gnocchi, the roasted carrots, the cheese plate, pork rillette (slow cooked pork in a pot that you spread on a piece of bread) and the seared scallops. There was not a bad thing on the plate, it was all fantastic. In fact, that was the best gnocchi I have ever eaten. To top it off we had an amazing bottle of wine, Cooper Mountain's Life, a sulfur free wine that was amazing. The only thing that did not hit the mark was the Almond cake desert, but the Chocolate Terrine was very good. As I said the place was swamped, but the service was still great and we got a visit from the owner Jeff who was a really nice guy. I think they have a great thing going here and I look forward to returning soon.

Alu Wine Bar and Lounge

2831 NE ML King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97212
(503) 750-2691

Green Day - American Idiot

American Idiot was named one of the top 50 records of the decade by NPR's All Songs Considered, it also won a Grammy and is the most critically acclaimed Green Day record so far. If you are heading to the store to get this record, you should also pick up their first major label release Dookie. It is fun to see how much the band has matured between these two efforts; they were 19 when Dookie came out and had been playing together since they were 14. American Idiot is an amazing record and "Wake Me Up..." is one of the best songs of the decade. Their anger and disgust with the Bush administration is channeled into 13 songs that taken together form a rock opera on the order of The Who's Tommy or Quadrophenia.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

I was very excited to read Zeitoun in New Orleans, I think it makes a book even more interesting if you can read it in the location it is set. That may have been a mistake. I can't remember when a book made me so mad. I thought I was going to be reading about one families experience after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans; I didn't expect it to be a feel good story, but I didn't think it could be any worse than what people went through at the Superdome.

Spoiler alert: there is no way to talk about this book without giving away the story. So here is the story. Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a painting contractor in New Orleans. He has lived there for over 10 years after immigrating from Syria. He is happily married and has three kids. He has a successful business and employs crews all over town. People love him. With Katrina bearing down on the city his family evacuates to Baton Rouge, but he elects to stay and protect the house. During the night his house fills with 10 feet of water and he has to move everything he can to the second floor. He spends the next week paddling around New Orleans in a canoe helping people evacuate and checking up on friends houses. His wife calls him every day begging him to leave. After two weeks he is running low on food and decides it might be time to leave. That's when he goes AWOL; his wife does not hear from him for almost a month. She is frantic, but what can she do? New Orleans is closed down and no one can get in.

Finally she gets a call from a good Samaritan to let her know her husband is in jail. He was arrested for looting and has been held in a state prison without being allowed a phone call for a month. Because he is Muslim, Homeland Security suspected him of being a possible terrorist. They don't seem to understand anything about Muslims, as almost every meal he gets has pork and he can not eat it; as a result he looses 30 pounds. The injustices that followed are unbelievable. I had to confirm this was a true story it was so unreal. I don't want to give away all the terrible things that happened, but the list is long. This story made me mad at New Orleans, madder at FEMA and disgusted at how screwed up the government is.

Dave Eggers is a great writer (What is the What) and he does a great job getting into this story. He did an amazing amount of research and confirmed everything with outside sources. He also won the trust of the family and made you feel their pain without ever being over the top or judgemental.

Duncan and Colin's Birthday

Today is my nephew Duncan's birthday and last Sunday was his younger brother Colin's birthday. I used to feel sorry for them that their birthday was so close to Christmas, but now I think it's kind of fun. They get to shop the post Christmas sales and get whatever they wanted, but didn't get for Christmas. They can also spend any cash or gift cards they got for Christmas. I have to admit it is a little hard to shop for them as you have just put all your effort into Christmas and they have everything already. This year I went over to Academy Sporting goods and picked up a couple of UT hats and a little gadget that helps you mark your golf ball (I always get them the same thing, so they don't fight). When Colin opened his gift he said, "oh great, I got a pen." He didn't realize that it also had a plastic ring that outlines the alphabet and some basic shapes you can put on a golf ball. When I showed him how it worked, he liked it more.

Unfortunately for Duncan, he now knows what he is getting.

Back to Work

Everything that could wait until next year was still waiting for me when I got back to work. Somehow I thought it might all get done by the worker elves over the holiday. You can tell all the people that have kids, they were happy to get back to work; a little too much family time. While I would rather have another week off, I am glad to get back to my routine. It was nice to go for a run when I woke up, despite the fact that it is still dark at 7:00 a.m. Watching the sun raise was cool. Seeing the regulars and new crazy person on the bus was also reassuring. The Portland streets were pretty empty and tame compared to the French Quarter. People were walking around with coffee cups as opposed to huge ass beers and hurricanes.

Work is going to be super busy for the next couple of months. We need to start planning a vacation.

Home again, home again, gigitty gig

No upgrade on the way home this time. I did get an exit row seat, but it was negated by the fact that the guy next to me did not fit in his seat and spilled over into mine. He was a nice guy and tried his best to make himself small, but when he fell asleep he spread out a lot. Luckily I had downloaded several podcasts to keep myself amused. This American Life, Fresh Air and my new favorite, Planet Money; good listening.

It is always great to get back to Portland. Unfortunately it was dark as we flew in, so I did not get my dose of the Columbia River Gorge. I love the Portland Airport, but the one major flaw is the baggage claim. It always seems like it takes forever to get your bags. Our tourism client has a great new information booth in the baggage claim, so at least there is something to look at now as you wait.

I am one of those people who has to unpack right away and get reacquainted with the house by puttering around, reading the mail, etc. Luckily the house was very tidy and the dogs were super happy to see us. Last time we went on vacation, I am sure Finlay forgot who were are. I turned on the TV just in time to see that the Jets were winning big, so that means the Texans are out of the playoffs. Other than that, it was a good day.

Back to Texas

The drive back to Texas was a lot better than the drive to New Orleans. There was less traffic and a few less crazy people.

I bought my dad Windows 7 for Christmas and he installed it the day before I got home. Unfortunately he was having some issues with e-mail and sound. Between Barbara, my dad and myself we must have spent four hours trying to figure out how to fix the issues. Turns out they were both simple fixes when we finally figured them out, but it was very frustrating getting there. I will say the Windows 7 interface and usability is much better than Vista. If you are using an older operating system, it is worth the upgrade.

Once we got the computer figured out we rewarded ourselves with dinner at El Tiempo. This is one of the best Tex-Mex places in Houston. It is a big restaurant and it gets very busy; you can expect an hour wait on the weekends. It was started when the Laurenzo family who owned Ninfa's (a Houston Tex-Mex classic) sold out to some big corporation. Unfortunately the Ninfa's chain went downhill after that, so the family started over with El Tiempo. We stuck to the classics, guacamole and queso for apps and fajitas for an entree. We got the beef and chicken fajitas and they were excellent. The drinks were also very good; I recommend the frozen margarita with sangria. You can't go wrong at El Tiempo, and don't be worried if there is a long line. Get a drink and snack on the chips and salsa, you will be a happy and full camper.

El Tiempo Cantina #2

5602 Washington Ave.
Houston, Texas 77007

713.681.3645

Happy New Year!

A day of recovery and bowl game watching. I am sad that LSU and Oregon both lost their games, I don't think I am doing very well with my early predictions. I did get in my black eyed peas and cabbage so I am looking forward to good luck and good finances in 2010.

Here's hoping 2010 is a great year for all of us!