Big 10-4

My cousin Jimmy is the drummer for the band Big 10-4 and they are coming to Chicago on Friday so if you are around on Friday check them out they will be playing at the Park West at 9, tickets are $20.

The Manufacturer

Started a new blog dedicated to the strange stuff I make when I can, its called The Manufacturer. Stevie designed it for me and it looks really cool. Check it out at http://themanufacturer.blogspot.com/

States I Have Visited

create your own personalized map of the USA

Stevie showed me this. I think these are all the stateI have been to.

Giardiniera

Well its getting warm outside which means BBQ season and that means hot dogs, burgers, and brats. Of course when making these you need ketchup and mustard, but don't forget the best condiment of them all Giardiniera. I didn't even no the greatness of giard until a few years ago when Cerone and Asak had me try out a brand they were marketing from That Pickle Guy, a good fresh giard with a lot of different vegetables, but not my personal favorite, although there muffalata is really, really good. Another good giard to check out is Bari, there's is a lot more about the peppers. There "spicy" is good, homemade, fresh taste but they have very little or no other vegetables, I do hear that there "really spicy" is unbelievable hot. The reason I am even talking about giards is because of one I had from a place called Heavenly Hot Dogs in Riverside. It was so delicious I found myself eating almost the entire jar with a spoon. All these Giardiniera's are really good and I am sure everyone has there own personal favorites, but I still claim that the best Giardiniera is Racconto, an authentic Italian giard with the perfect amount of spices to vegetable to oil ratio, in my opinion, but I am always open to try new ones.

Well Spring Is Here

Spring is definitely here. It was a nice warm rain all day today.
more here

A Tavola

Every once in awhile, I like to go to a fancy restaurant. This time I chose A Tavola. This unassuming place came recommended to me by a wine connoisseur named Ryan. When driving west down Chicago Ave. you would have a really hard time finding the place unless you were looking right at the addresses of the houses and three flats as they pass by the window because this restaurant is actually in a little house. At first I thought I was walking into the wrong place because the entranceway has two paths - the first goes up the stairs and the second is blocked by a curtain. A man then opened the curtain and said, "Welcome to A Tavola. Can I take your coat?" We sat down in the only room they had, which was no bigger then someone’s living room. There were probably 8 or 9 tables over all, but none had more than four people in them and most had just two.

The service right off the bat was quality. Not only did the host treat everyone with respect, but he also helped the servers out and would come to the table often to check on things. The place seemed as though there was not one server but instead two or three people serving the whole room with the host helping out. Even though you did not have your own personal waiter it instead felt like you had three personal waiters.

The menu was simple with a few appetizers, some pastas and chicken, beef or fish for an entrée. They have great seasonal food, which I tried and was very impressed. I had "the grilled marinated leg of lamb with roasted parsnip puree and toasted garlic spinach." I went with Erin. She got the oven roasted chicken served with parmesan polenta and garlic spinach. It looked really good but somewhat plain. She said it tasted good but was nothing special. Overall, though, everything at A Tavola was very enjoyable. For a pasta I got the tagliatelle Bolognese, which was amazing. It’s very small, but you can split it with someone if you get an appetizer. The entree was really good and the spinach was perfect. What seems to be their deal is a simple but fresh and well prepared dish with some good wines to complement it. The wines, which are predominantly, if not all, Italian wines, are all really good. I did not try them all but have heard of a few of them and they are all nice wines. We got the Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico, obviously one of my favorites, and Fattoria Del Cerro Vino Di Noble Montepulciano 1999, which was really very tasty.

This place, overall, was really good and left me full and with a smile on my way out. I recommend people check this out, but a piece of advice: don't go as a crowd. It is more of a date atmosphere.

Almanac Magazine

A really cool new site that needs to be looked at called almanacmagazine.com which is an online magazine that showcases photographers and there stories, which was started by an old Chicagoan I know just started. So definitely give it a look.

The Blackberry Pearl

Just got this amazing new Blackberry phone, The Pearl. Its Tiny and has a ridiculous amount of features. I cant wait to actually figure out how it works. I've never had a Blackberry so its going to take a little bit to get used to, but so far it doesn't look that bad. So happy to also be rid of Sprint.

Rosa's Lounge

A couple weekends ago I went to this small, dark, hole in the wall blues bar called Rosa's with a few friends. It was easy to find, but not easy to get to. The only way to get there is by cab and this place really is all by itself. There are no bars, clubs or late night restaurants anywhere around that I could see. The atmosphere and the style in Rosa's was all it's own and quite amazing. It was like being at the bar Blues Halsted, but in the atmosphere and surroundings of Marie's (Rip Tide Lounge) This place had loud blues music playing from a small stage at the front of the room, but was not so loud you couldn't talk to your friends. The name of the person playing that night was Guy King, who I thought was really good and was nice enough to sing happy birthday to a friend of mine towards the end of the night. Rosa's is also not very crowded and makes for a more personal atmosphere. If you want you can sit in the front row or like us you can sit near the pool tables at the back and have the same experience. The prices seemed to be standard, I didn't notice them to be higher or lower than anywhere else. The one problem and it is a major problem is how hard it is to get a cab out of there. We called 2 cabs, we had the bar call 2 cabs, we waited for an hour, hour and a half and still nothing came. Finally we started walking, not to go home, but to find a cab. After a few blocks one finally stopped, but by this time the damage was done we were all somewhat pissed. Next time we are getting a designated driver if we go.

Well I Jinxed It

So much slushy wet snow/hail/rain. It was like being in a snow globe this weekend.

Cubs Tickets On Sale

Just a friendly reminder, Cubs tickets go on sale tomorrow. Here is some more info about getting tickets at the Chicagoist.

The Snow Is Meltin

I'm so excited I can finally the ground again. The snow and ice have started to melt and the temps are getting warmer. Man I can't wait for the spring, the winter was starting to get depressing.

Interficio

Well, just signed up online for a water gun assassination game for the spring, its called Interficio. It looks hilarious and hopefully fun. The basic rules are that you upon signing up you give your home address, work address and a picture of yourself to the mediator, at which time your info is given to an assassin. Once you are signed up you are later sent your own "mark" with all there information. So then for 28 days in April I will stalk and be stalked as I try to take out someone with a water gun. If I can get to my target before I am "off'ed" I will then receive a second assignment from the mediator and so on. The winner gets 1000$ so its worth the frightening realization of how easy it is to be taken out by water balloon. I'm starting a team that I am told Al, Mike and Vorrel are supposedly joining, if not I will be rollin solo, April should be an interesting month. I'll let you know how I am doing.

New Fan

I made a new fan yesterday, well I didn't really make it, but I did upgraded it. I replaced the electrical sockets on it, I got a new glass cover for it and finally I made new blades for it. The old blades were laughably small and ugly so I thought I would make them longer and out of aluminum. I like how it turned out and hopefully it can make the room cooler in the summer.

Dumpstaphunk

Went and saw this band last weekend at the House of Blues. Dumpstaphunk was really good, the show was to short though. They were the opening band and since its the HOB everything has to be in a perfectly timed and structured order. What they did play though was worth way more than the price of admission. The House of Blues on the other hand is ridiculous. They go overboard on how strict they are. I almost didn't get let in when they carded me, I guess they thought I was using a fake ID. They pass you through a security checkpoint, pat you down and wave the wand all over you before you even get in. In the HOB they also do not allow picture taking, so if you attempt it they take your camera and delete all your pictures then charge you while they hold onto your camera. All this didn't matter though because Dumpstaphunk put on an awesome show. The main act on the other hand was horrible so we didn't stick around past his first song. If Dumpstaphunk is in town again I will definitely be there, I just hope they play at a different venue

Las Vegas

Well I haven't written in a long long time, lots of work. The Bears lost the Superbowl, I don't want to talk about it. Afterwards though at 5 am I flew to Las Vegas to set up for a convention. For the last couple of months I have been working really hard manufacturing some huge displays for a flooring company. It is very time consuming because there are massive metal displays that nobody has made before, so I need to not only figure out the best way to make them but at the same time show everyone else how to make them.

Las Vegas was cool I have not been there since Al and Shea's 21st birthday years ago. I was lucky enough to stay at the newest hotel on the strip this time, the Wynn. This hotel was no joke, it was huge and portrayed itself well, as being one of the nicest on the strip. It had all the normal casino amenities, but then added in a few things that made you realize you were in an expensive hotel. Things such as the Ferrari dealership right near the front, the three Italian named stores right in view of the entrance, stores so fancy that when you walked in they ask for your financial statements and all the stores have the guys in black suits guarding the doors. What was also nice was the layout some casinos just blast you with lights and noise but this one was... well obviously not subtle, but not at all annoying. As you walked into the registration area they had a nice little outdoor patio that looked out at a man made waterfall and lake, at night the lake would light up with all different colors. I didn't really have time to enjoy the casino though once I got to my hotel room I was off to the convention center across the street. Here is where most of my time would be spent.

For the next several hours Chris, my customer, and I were setting up displays for the Surfaces Show, a convention showing off any product that covers a surfaces, in our case wood flooring. When I walked into this place I could not believe how big it was, the ceilings was as high as the United Centers and the overall space was probably 500,000 square feet. The booth or area that we were to be setting up our product in was something like 5,000 square feet. The space next to us for another flooring company was 10,000 ft. These things were massive, one booth had several rooms and even stairs going up to a second level. All the stuff for these booths were being made as we stood there. People were erecting lighting systems, huge plasma screen TVs, anything to get people to come to there spot was being done. We even saw people walking a group of attractive women through there booth who would later be the ones working the space in some what scandeles outfits.

After the first day we were still not done but we had to eat. Also we were waiting on the other display people to move some equipment around so we could work. You would think this would be a good thing that I got to leave a couple hours early the first day, but I was stressing out so much about something going wrong the next day that I couldn't bring myself to go crazy in the casinos, plus its weird being in Vegas all by yourself, it makes you feel depressed. I did gamble but very minimally on the first day. Sat at the bar and played the slots while I had a drink then went looking for food.

The next day went really well and I got everything set up, luckily before I had to leave, my plane flight was for early afternoon. Before I left though I told Chris I needed to quickly stop and give the casino some of my money so we sat down at a roulette table and 5 minutes later, literally, maybe even less I lost $40, so not bad, but I wish I could have spent a little more time. I did place a bet on the Bears to win the Super Bowl for next year, 8-1 odds, not bad. They have the Chargers winning it all, ha, not without any coaches. Well works been slowing sort of, so I will start to try and write more often.

more pics here

I Love the Bears

I was taken on a Bears city tour the other day by Al and Bill, it was great. I got to see all the amazing Bears lights and support throughout the great city of Chicago. Here are some pics from the tour....GO BEARS.

I know I havent been writing much, but I have been super busy at work and I will be writing some stories ( of wich I have many) in the next week I promise.

Happy Birthday Russian

Happy Birthday Joe

Nuetral?

Red

Red or Orange

Orange

Vorrel may have takin this picture, dont know, but it is orange.

Green

Blue

For Stevies color week...

Brooklyn Beers

I'm so happy, Brooklyn Brewery is now distributing in Chicago. One of if not my favorite beer is Brooklyn Lager, but it has not been in Chicago till now.

Flickr Pics

Juicy Wine Co.

Johnnie's

A. Finkl and Sons

Buddy Guy

More pics here.

The Bears Are In The SUPER BOWL

Orlando

After Christmas my family and I DROVE down to Orlando Florida to go to my cousin Jimmy's wedding. It was a good time, the wedding was awesome. My family was a bunch of dancin machines. Before the wedding we all got to play a little golf and take in the great weather. I would write more but I have been so behind I will just show some pics.

Late Night Drivin

Just A Tree

Tee'n Off

Anole

The Alter

More pics here

Happy Birthday Vorrel

mmmmmm chicken

Christmas

This is an old one but have to try and catch up haven't done anything since Dec 31st. I am slackin. I will start at Christmas. My family had the usual Christmas, good times, and I received some great presents. We usually for Christmas dinner go to my cousins the Nondorf's, but since they had just thrown a Christmas eve party for some ridiculous amount of family members, 85, they did not have it this year, instead the Tobin's did, and as in all of there party's it was amazing. After a big bash over there we went to the O'Connors to finish up the night with some music and Miller products.

The Nondorf's Christmas Eve

Nagle and Johnny at the Tobin's

The O'Connor's

Congrats Connor and Molly

Happy New Year

Dont Get to drunk

Merry Christmas

Presents

A Flask Belt Buckle

Bear vs. Packer Checkers

I got these gifts, amazingly, from Vorrel and Stevie. Thank you so much, they are amazing.

George's Hot Dogs

I am a sucker for old school hot dog joints and this one is perfect. George the owner and cook is especially great. He is nice to everyone who walks in and really makes you feel like you are his best customer. Just the other day I walked in there with 2 minutes before close everything was put away and you could tell he was ready to close up. I walked in apologized and said sorry are you still open, he said yeah of course come on in. He struck up the grill again and got me a pizza puff and fries in no time. I didn't want to bother him so I was going to get my food to go, but it would have for sure been cold walking 5 blocks in the freezing Chicago winter, he though insisted that I stay and eat, he genuinely seemed to want me to stay so I did. The food was great and I was glad to be warm eating hot food.

Christmas meme

Stevie asked me to fill this out.

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Some are wrapped some are not depending on how he is feeling.

Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My Moms bread

Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
Waiting on the stairs while our Dad checks to see if Santa came, then he would always coming back and say "sorry not this year"

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
The brothers and sisters give each other presents

How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Big colorful bulbs maybe some ornaments, Im a fan of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Dislike it greatly

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
hmmm...

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Anything by these guys Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yum

Christmas Tradition growing up:
Going to a different Aunt and Uncles house for Christmas eve with a million family members

Least Favorite Christmas Tradition Growing Up:
None

Breakfast or Presents First?
Presents, I don't know if we even make it to breakfast

Winter Renegade

Everyone should check out the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend. Its at Pulaski park In the Rec center and will be in three different rooms. Stevie will once again be displaying her awesome jewelry. The fair is running on Saturday and Sunday from 12-5. There is a ton of different things that are for sale there from scarfs and hats to necklaces and earings.

NFC North Division Champions

Well, Rex Grossman played absoulutly terrible but the Bears still easily clinch the division, thanks to, once again, the special teams and the Defense. The final score was 23-13 with Devin Hester running back a punt and Rickey Manning Jr. scoring off an interception. The Defense also had three sacks and a safety. The Bears are 10-2 with four games left, now we are going for home field advantage.

First Major Snow

Today it snowed like crazy in Chicago.

(not my picture, AP photo)