saulrosenbaum.com / 2007 / August

I started my career as a pen and ink illustrator, and I love dark humour, so Edward Gorey has always been a personal favorite.
Gashlycrumb Tinies is, in my honest opinion, his masterwork (although everything he did is brilliant).

I knew he was my kind of guy when I saw this photo of him

artwork: Edward Gorey

photo: Steve Marsel

[via Harvard Magazine]

Do these eyeglasses make me look silly?

I have a dear friend who has the most amazing ear for music, she can name, artist and title of practically any song recording in the last 30 years after just hearing the first few seconds - she’s scary accurate. She knows a LOT about music, who was in what band, who wrote what etc.. You can lose hours on the topic with her, and I often do.

For a non-musician I spend a lot of time talking and thinking about music. Yesterday I went to a few meetings and I still had my ipod clipped to my shirt, and inevitably I was asked me what kind of music I liked, what I was listening too, both very typical questions (since wearing an ipod in public is ‘code’ for ‘walk right up to me and ask me about the kind music I listen too’)
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So Last night, ‘T’ and I went out for dinner celebrating her birthday, It was impromptu so we didn’t really have a destination in mind, we ended up at the Villa Barolo in Warrington, PA. Overall I’d say we where impressed - the menu featured customary Italian cuisine, a full raw bar, and over 20 nightly specials that included organic exotic fare. ‘T’ went with a classic penné dish, I was adventurous and ordered the;

Filet of Kangaroo Marinated with Fresh Rosemary & Garlic Grilled & Drizzled with a Honey Rosemary Demi~Glaze Served over Sweet Roasted Peppers Accompanied by Sweet Mashed Potatoes

(yes, you read that right…) I really liked it, it was a bit like a braised beef rib, but gamier, but very tender it was teamed with burgundy mushrooms, and some great sauteed veggies. T’s penné was also very tasty - if not impossibly large. We finished off dinner with chocolate dipped strawberries (of which I only had a tiny bite) and some seasonal fruit - highlight of the fruit dish was a Chinese Yellow Watermelon - surprisingly it tasted just like butter (I’m not using butter as a metaphor here, it actually tasted like butter). Service at Villa Barola was excellent.

The math is easy. Good food + great selection + excellent service generally means we’ll be going back, they had a Hawaiian Kona Kampachi, I really want to try.

Villa Barola Ristorante & Wine Bar,
1373 Easton Road
Warrington, PA 18976
(215) 491-9370

I’m a fan of iced coffee, but this is the first I’ve heard of cold brewed coffee, I’ll let you know how it is in a few days.

[via eat]

Billy vs Steve, the winner is the king of kong - coming to a theater near you.

There are a very few Billy Joel songs I like, although I respect him as a songwriter, all that being said here’s Weezer covering ‘Uptown Girl’.

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So if you’re a regular reader you know that my ipod died, I finally accepted it was dead, and decided to move on - since I’ve been trying to get more exercise, the Ipod Shuffle seemed the perfect choice, I ordered it yesterday from Apple, today it arrived - immediately I’m impressed, it’s tiny, metal and really substantial feeling, in true Apple fashion it’s controls are clear and unobtrusive. Setting is up is much like you’d expect, attach USB, start iTunes - done.

I’m thinking this was the right choice, after charging I strapped my little orange friend on, and the first 3 tracks where Devo (Are we Not Men?), Cake (Racecar Ya ya’s) and Suzanne Vega (Bad Wisdom) - that’s got to be some type of sign. Oh, and for once it’ll be nice to have a piece of gear I don’t have to buy a case and accessories for.

In case you where wondering I’ve named the new ipod ‘Itch’.

Charming strong voice, nice acoustic guitar - honestly I don’t love the song, but the voice easily makes up for it. Check out her website, you can buy her album on cdbaby.

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We recently bought a new TV for upstairs, here’s a few gems of wisdom, if your headed out to buy yourself a big LCD or Plasma.

• Buy a TV that’s suitable for the room, bigger is not better if your too close to it.
• Be aware of the differences and limitations of LCD, Plasma, DLP etc. they each have specific strengths, weaknesses and issues,
• Be aware they always look smaller in the store, they’re HUGE when you get them home.
• Buy cables that are longer than what you think you’ll need.
• Learn the lingo before you shop, otherwise your flying blind, if you don’t know the difference between 1080i and 480p, how can you make an informed decision.
• If the TV is bigger than your car, spend the money get the in-home service, you’ll look foolish driving down I-95 with your TV strapped to the roof of your car.
• Buy extra AAA’s and AA’s.
• Save all the boxes, just in case you need to return something.
• If anything comes with a power block, label the block as to it’s owner, they all look alike.