songbird's crazy world

So the Mets were out of it by the All Star break and the Yankees held on to slim hope until their elimination last night. But we are also Ducks fans.  We were there thr night the Ducks became the 2012 Atlantic League champions .  The championship series is a bit earlier this year.  It's a best of 5 series, the first two games were here on Long Island last night and tonight, and the series moves to the home of the Somerset Patriots (Bridgewater, NJ) starting tomorrow night. Drew's friend Joe is a season ticket holder and also works at some of the games.   He received comp tickets for tonight's game and passed them along to Drew.  Great seats, too, right behind home plate. Weather was more suited to football and we had to bundle up in sweatshirts. There were some very loud Jersey boys sitting behind us. The Ducks won last night's game and hoped to do as well tonight. The first half of the game was dominated by the Patriots.  They took an early 2-0...

Drew and Marc are friends, they wound up living together in a Felix Unger/Oscar Madison/Odd Couple sort of scenario.  They're listed as the two tenants of the house. Over the years they've rented out the extra bedroom to a series of room mates.    The current room mate, S, is a man in his 50's, an aging hippie type, a nice enough guy who is hardly ever home.  Not a problem. Some of his friends, though ... I have my "home office" at Drew's house.  Works better than in my own lunatic asylum.  I was here alone a few weeks ago when the door bell rang.  It was a woman,  in her 40's or 50's, casually dressed in jeans and a hoodie, with an obviously runny nose.   "Does S still live here?  I'm J.  I was away for awhile but I'm back now.  He does live here?  good.  Let me leave him a note so he can call me." I was sitting in my office yesterday when J walked into the room.  Same jeans, same hoodie, same...

 Hummus.  Babaganoush.  Tzatziki.  Moussaka. Kebab.  If those words conjure up a slice of heaven, welcome to Ayan's Shish Kebab Restaurant. Ayhan Hassan came to this country from his native Cyprus a few decades ago, and founded a chain of Long Island restaurants that ...well, Ayhan's Mediterranean Restaurants   offer some of the best Greek and Turkish food on the Island.  My favorite location is the original, in Port Washington, with its charming view of the harbor.  But that's a bit of a hike for us.  The Westbury location is a relatively small restaurant  decorated to resemble a Greek fishing village -- complete with classical statuary. From the moment I am served that wonderful, soft Turkish bread with the garlicky tzatziki dip, I am in heaven.  Saganaki  was served as a dip with chips -- I just love melted cheese.  I wasn't fond of the Greek salad this time around, too much vinegar in the dressing. Main course --...

Life is full of unexpected opportunities. It's Sukkot. That's the Jewish equivalent of Thanksgiving. An 8 day holiday celebrating the harvest.   It's a minor holiday, most people I know learned about the holiday in Hebrew school but don't really observe it. The holiday is celebrated in a Sukkah, a small hut built to resemble the dwellings in which our ancestors resided while wandering in the desert for 40 years after the Exodus. You're supposed to build one of these behind your house, decorate it with fruits and gourds and etc., and eat all your meals in the hut for 8 days. I actually did this once, when my kids were little (still have the building materials in the garage somewhere, I think), but for the most part -- it's the kind of thing you do in Hebrew school and then ... The other tradition of Sukkot is to wave the lulav and etrog.  A lulav is a slender palm branch that is held together with two willow branches and t...

So our evening began at the Imax theater, for the re-release of "The Wizard of Oz", this time in 3D. This movie is an American classic.  I've seen sequels and prequels and parallel story lines, but I always find myself going back to this movie . . .for a film that had so many problems during production, it is remarkably well crafted.  The sepia tones in the Kansas scenes giving way to the startling brilliance of technicolor.  When the farm hands and Professor Marvel make comments that foreshadow who they will be in Oz.  The attention to detail in the Munchkinland sets.  The simplicity and wistfulness of "Over the Rainbow" contrasting with the clever vocabulary of the other songs. If you've never seen the film in a movie theater you've missed so much detail . . . And watching this film turns me into a 5 year old. Afterwards we went to Noodles and Company.  Thought we'd try it now that it officially opened.  Tonight I had the Caesar salad -- just a...