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Monthly Archives: March 2016

The Why of Why or: Ratings Explained

31 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Movie Review

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BeerAdvocate, IMDb, Jason Alström, Rotten Tomatoes, The Less Desirables, Todd Alström, Untappd

Salutations™!!

I realized in the last week, writing posts about the Movie and/or Beer of the Week, both for The Less Desirables, and realized that I use a lot of comparison sites to show where my rating stands against others in the respective categories. So, I figured that I’d explain what all of this means.

Let’s start with movies, as it’s a little more complicated, overall. The ratings that I use for comparison is IMDb, which is pretty cut and dry, and Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t necessarily. IMDb, for those under a rock is an Amazon-owned database of just about every movie and television show and/or special you can think of. It shows all the cast, crew, trivia, shooting locations, goofs (the mistakes), quotes, release dates and so on. Anything you want to know, you can most likely find it here. They also use a weighted-mean system to figure the ratings of registered users on a scale of 1-10. I use that mean to report how many stars out of 10 any film is.

Rotten Tomatoes is a review aggregator and I use two rating models from it to report in this blog: The Tomatometer and the Audience Score. It registers users and their ratings are averaged to a collective “Audience Score.” The Tomatometer is a different monster. The Tomatometer takes the reviews and ratings from top film critics and averages them. If indexover 50% of the critics gave it a positive review, regardless of weight (1-5 stars), then it is considered “Fresh.” Otherwise it isn’t. So, when I rate mine, I weigh it beside both how “Fresh” the film is on the Tomatometer and the Audience Score. I try to rate them as I watch them. And I rate them on my own scale of .25-5.

When I rate beer I use two comparison tools: BeerAdvocate and Untappd. Untappd is a straight-forward social media platform for beer enthusiasts. You rate your beer on a scale of .25-5 in quarter units. So you can have a 2.75, 3.5 or 4.25 or whatever in and around as long as it’s between .25 and 5. You can leave a description of your rating or thoughts of the beer. BeerAdvocate is an online rating site that rates not only beer but bars, beer stores, breweries and other beer companies. There must be 10 user ratings before it gets a score. The score ranges from 0-100. The higher the number the higher the accolade. Anything from 91-100 is “World Class.” It goes down from there to “Outstanding,” “Very Good,” “Good” and so on. I know that under 50 is “Awful.” In addition to the user scores, there’s the Bros. Score (the score of the two brothers, Todd and Jason Alström, who founded the site). In case you’re wondering, the all-time worst rated beer on BeerAdvocate is Natural Light. The Bros gave it a 37 and the BA (BeerAdvocate) score was 47. I just thought that you’d like know that and I could stretch my beer snob legs a bit. So, that’s the comparisons for the beer. I rate mine, like Untappd, .25-5; same as the movies.

In case you’re wondering, numbers 2-15 on BeerAdvocate’s bottom of all time (in order): Bud Light & Clamato Chelada, Michelob Ultra, Budweiser Select 55, Corona Light, Evil Eye Malt Liquor, Bud Light, Busch Light, Keystone Light, Natural Light, Coors Light, Rock Green Light, Miller 64, Keystone Ice. If you drink any of those, well that’s a shame.

Anywhat, I hope this helps to explain what I mean when I put those comparable items into the ratings systems that I do. I hope it answered questions and didn’t create more questions. If I did, then ask away!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Since its inception, BeerAdvocate.com has grown into the largest and most diverse beer community online and is now widely considered the go-to website for news, reviews, gossip and guidance about beer.” – BeerAdvocate About Us

White Thai or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Beer

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BeerAdvocate, City Beverage, The Less Desirables, Untappd, Westbrook Brewing, White Thai

Salutations™!!

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Beer of the Week, White Thai by Westbrook Brewing from Mt. Pleasant, SC.

White Thai is a white ale that leaves out the orange peel and coriander and, instead, 60001de7-28d0-4b47-b5a8-122b0ac19f7ethey add fresh lemongrass, ginger root, and a dash of Sorachi Ace hops. This means that they step out of the box and it should be delicious. So, sweet, spicy, candy-like, delicious, etc. I’d never heard of Westbrook Brewing but Spencer says they have some great stuff. Their big ticket item is their Gose, but I’m reluctant to try Goses. I like some sour beer but I don’t know. I’ve had one I liked (and I can’t even remember which one) and many that I didn’t. Anywhat! I’m hoping for good things with this brew. It’s light on the ABV, coming in at only 5%. I’m hoping the flavors will out-weigh the light end.

BeerAdvocate rates it at 86 (Very Good) with no Bros Score. Untappd has it at 3.55 caps out of 5. Have you had this beer? If so, I’d love to hear what you think of it. If you haven’t, run down to 915 Burke Street and grab your sixer. Tell Spencer that this is the beer of the week and get 5% off your order. Then tune into The Less Desirables tomorrow (or later tonight) and see what Caitlin, Bruce, Scott Needham and I think of this beer. Slàinte !

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The result is a wonderfully refreshing ale with notes of lemon candy, citrus fruit, and a slight spiciness from the ginger. Best served at 45˚F in a tulip or wine glass.” – Westbrook Brewing’s White Thai description

Trying the New Thing or: Officially Out of Semi-Retirement

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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Burke Street Food Truck Festival, Clay Howard, Clay Howard and the Silver Alerts, Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, Muddy Creek Music Hall, Neal Goode, The Less Desirables, Threadbare Trio

Salutations™!!

Well, I guess it’s now “official.” I’ve “officially” come out of semi-retirement from the music biz. I had mentioned before that I had played with Clay Howard and Neal Goode in a little acoustic trio at Muddy Creek Music Hall about a month ago. Well, we decided to do some more stuff together, like doing some recording and perhaps booking a show or two.

Well, we decided that if we’re going to do that, then we probably need to practice and learn stuff. I had played with Clay and the “Silver Alerts” twice, but only as a fill-in for when 12933006_694975917320029_8559165572406661538_nJerry Chapman couldn’t be there. We had practiced/rehearsed once for one of those shows and I think we’re professional enough to not have to constantly rehearse together and they knew what they were doing, I just needed to do what I do. And, I did.

So, as I said, we’re going to rehearse (how often, who knows) just to get our chops together and we’ll be okay. We may write some other tunes, we’ll see. But the shite got real when we named the trio and booked a gig. And then, there’s the Facebook page. So, you’re asking, what is this trio called and where is this gig you’re talking about? I know you did, I heard it. So, I’ll tell you.

We decided on the name Threadbare Trio (we can’t decide, I don’t think, on whether or not the article should be used). We’re all older and threadbare, I suppose. And our gig, it’s at the Luna Lounge and Tiki Bar (formerly Elliot’s Revue and Lucky Strike) on the corner of Seventh and Trade. That will happen on May 6. You may get a little “warm up” before then, though. On April 9, Clay is playing at Finnigan’s (the Official Emerald Isle of The Less Desirables) and I believe the plan is for Neal and me to join him. So, after you gorge yourself with the food truck festival during that day, you should come see Clay (and Neal and me) at Finnigan’s. Then, a month later, come out to Luna Lounge and see us as Threadbare Trio. I believe you’ll like it. Like the Facebook page, if you haven’t. We’d appreciate that.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley

The Declutter Mini Project or: Less is More

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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3B, Becks, declutter, Friends, Goodwill, The BCPF, The Less Desirables, Warsteiner

Salutations™!!

We have friends, the Joneses, that just finished their 40 bags in 40 days decluttering project. They had to faithfully get rid of at least a bag (no matter the size) each day for 40 days and that helps get rid of a bunch of crap. They did really well.

Just the thought of that turns my stomach. I’m not a hoarder or pack-rat, not really. I do collect stuff but only the few things that I like. But, that’s not what I’m writing about. The BCPF and I have, in the past, gone through parts of our kitchen and cleared and cleaned things we didn’t need/want any longer. We decided on Friday to pick up where we had left off about eight months ago (yeah, we drag it out). This experiment continued and our fodder for this leg was our glasses and cups cupboards. We have three cabinets for that. 2016-03-27 13.44.31One’s a display case, one’s got all of our regular glasses (pint, wine, drinking, etc.) and the last has a shload of coffee mugs.

We started in the everyday cupboard and cleared it of all of its contents. Whilst we do want to entertain, we don’t foresee any scenario where we’ll need 20 plus, assorted sized wine glasses and 15 pint (read: bar shaker) glasses that have beer names like Coors Light, Miller Light and a deep blue Labatt Blue glass plus other never-used glasses cluttering up the cupboard. So, we decide to only keep 6 smaller wine glasses of like kind (all from former Official Wine Sponsor of The Less Desirables, Barnhills) and four larger wine glasses that came in a set. We also kept six pint glasses and six 12-oz glasses that have Marriott and something else on but they’re really easy to drink beer from. We kept two regular drinking glasses and a few of the taster size glasses. We don’t really use glasses to drink from at home as we have tumblers that we use for that. We kept those. The rest of that was a matter of wrapping and boxing.

While that was being sorted through, I emptied the display case. I was once in the Beer Glass Collector’s Club in which I got two international beer glasses per month, along with a certificate and description of the beer. I was in that for ten months. So I have 20 of them. I also, over the years, collected Warsteiner pilsner glasses, two Beck’s giant mugs/stein, and 8 tall wheat/pilsner styled glasses. Also, I had six sherry glasses and six port wine glasses. The proximity of this cabinet to the stove had, over the years, created a lot of grime and gunk on the glasses. The ones that had etchings I put in the dishwasher, the ones with paintings, while I believe them to be safe, we handwashed. The end result were some fantastically sparkling glasses. So, I rearranged them to look nice, leaving the Warsteiner glasses in there and moved the Becks steins to the main glasses cabinet which were placed behind the normal drinking tumblers. We continued to wrap along the way.

The mug cupboard was last and pulling everything out, we had around 30 coffee mugs. I do drink tea and sometimes decaf coffee, but we couldn’t, again, think of a scenario where we needed that many coffee mugs. So, we each picked about six or seven that we felt a connection to (The BCPF likes to get mugs from places we visit) or liked especially. We paired it down tremendously.

So we finished wrapping all the glasses and mugs that we decided not to have in the house. I then went out to our out building to see about a place to put them. Yeah…  I went back in the house and said to The BCPF, “you know, Goodwill is looking like a great home for all of this.” She said that’s true but I don’t think she thought I’d go through with it. I loaded up Nigel (the Kia Soul) with six boxes of glasses (I told you we had a lot) and drove it to Goodwill. They acted like they didn’t want them at first and then came out and said, okay, we’ll unload them. We came back and did a few more piddling things around the kitchen and dining room area (they’re the same). I then went through our newly growing record collection and I put all the used together and the stuff we’ve gotten new in another spot, for now.

Saturday we to up and went downtown to get our hair cut, stopped by the store and came back to sweep and mop the floor. We felt good about it and asked our friend Jim to go to dinner with us and then come home and shoot the breeze with a few beers. Combined with the bathroom that 3B and I cleaned thoroughly on Thursday, the weekend felt very productive and we were glad to have company. We think we can get to a point to have others over soon. We like that idea. We know just the people to invite, too. That’s another story, altogether.

Anywhat! It really is a relief and pleasure to have a freshly cleaned living area and when we left and came home or this morning when we came downstairs, it was awesome to come to that clean space. So rewarding. Now, we have come up with a maintenance plan to keep it this way. We’re so busy but there must be a way. What secrets or techniques do you use to enure your house stays presentable or just clean enough to make you happy? We’d love to hear.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“When we clear the physical clutter from our lives, we literally make way for inspiration and ‘good, orderly direction’ to enter.” – Julia Cameron

Silent Sunday or: Adding to the Collection

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It, Silent Sunday, Uncategorized

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Asia, Billie Holiday, Bruce Hornsby & The Range, Donna Summer, Ella Fitzgerald, Genesis, Steve Winwood, Underdog Records

Salutations™!!

For Christmas, my Frère-in-Law got me a $20 gift certificate for Underdog Records. Yesterday, I was able to cash that in and this is what I added to my collection.

2016-03-27 14.04.17

L to R (upper): Donna Summer: “On the Radio 1 & 2;” Steve Winwood: “Back in the High Life;” Billie Holiday: “The Original Recordings;” Genesis: “Invisible Touch.” (lower): Ella Fitzgerald: “Memories;” Asia: “Asia;” Bruce Hornsby & the Range: “The Way It Is.”

Thanks, brother!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“There’s too many men, too many people. Making too many problems. And, not much love to go round. Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?” – “Land of Confusion” (Rutherford, Banks, Collins)

The Four Horsement of the Apocalypse or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

26 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review

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a/perture Cinema, AFI, Alan Hale, Amazon, Birth of a Nation, IMDb, Netflix, Pomeroy Cannon, Rotten Tomatoes, Rudolph Valentino, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Hunger Games, The Less Desirables, Twilight, World War I

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). It stars Rudolph Valentino, Pomeroy Cannon, Alan Hale

Per IMDb: “An extended family split up in France and Germany find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield during World War I.”

I’m warning you, this is a long description. Okay, how this very long monstrosity of silent film starts off is: there’s this Spaniard rancher named Madariaga who has two daughters, one who marries a German (who Madariaga hates) and one who married a Frenchman (who Madariaga adores). The film does state, however, that a lot of the youth around this rancher’s farm does look a lot like him. I wonder what that means? That’s sarcasm. b70-10547Anywhat! the daughter who married the German has three sons and she and her husband hope that the Frenchman’s wife (who in the film’s beginning is preparing for childbirth) gives birth to a daughter, that way their three sons will inherit the old Spaniard’s millions. Well, as luck would have it, the baby is a boy, named Julio Desnoyers (Valentino).

Cut-scene to Buenos Aires where Julio and the Centaur (the nickname of Madariaga) frequent bars in seedy parts of town, where the Centaur is often drunk. And there’s a monkey. They have a monkey. Julio’s parents think the Centaur is a bad influence whilst the German side are staunch Germans and have no fun, only respect for the Fatherland. There’s a quote from Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (no, I’m not that smart, I had to Google it) that states: “Man shall be trained for war, and woman for the recreation of the warrior: all else is folly.” That’s staunch, right? Well, the German grandsons are all concerned because they heard the Centaur gave Julio a lot of money and land in his will. Well, guess what, in Buenos Aires, the Centaur dies whilst riding his horse. Turns out, he didn’t give everything to Julio, after all. He divided it between the two daughters, evenly. And, there’s still a monkey. Upon this development, the Germans move back to the Fatherland and the French go to Paris, but not without a hitch: Marcelo Desnoyers was a defector. He risks going back for the family’s happiness.

Julio was a manwhore in Paris, “studying” art whilst being surrounded by women constantly; wracking extensive and expensive tabs everywhere in the city. His mother refuses to give him money because of the naked “models” in his studio. She does, however, give him items of value to which he can trade.He has the monkey. He falls in love with Marguerite Laurier, the much younger wife of his father’s good friend. The husband grants a divorce to avoid scandal (he’s a politician) but before anything can happen between Julio and Marguerite, World War I breaks out. Everything is on hold. Well, not hold but preparations for war sends France into a tizzy. I guess you can see where this is going.

The stranger that lives above Julio’s studio, with his long beard and dark eyes starts rattling off biblical prophecies and visuals of gloom and doom are thrown upon the screen, including scenes of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Nation rising against nation. Marcelo gets caught up in his desertion from earlier and feels badly. Marguerite becomes a nurse, she starts taking care of Etienne (her ex-husband) who’s been blinded; Julio is unhappy. So, Julio also joins the war, even though he’s not a French native. Again, that danged monkey shows up. What is it about that monkey?

Marcelo goes back to his castle in the northern part of the country. More horsemen visuals. More carnage. More horsemen. That danged monkey. More killings.  The Germans overtake the castle, forcing him to host a general and his staff, one of which is his nephew. His nephew tries to protect him but he’s arrested after an incident involving an officer’s assault on a woman. He’s to be executed but, surprise! Here come the Allies and the “Miracle on the Marne!” Marcelo is saved but his castle, and its riches within, is destroyed. More horsemen visuals! And… Marcelo returns to Paris. He’s happy to see Julio has joined the French. He tells Julio that his own flesh and blood has joined the enemy so if you see them, shoot. Kill.

Four years pass and the Allies get stronger and finally push the Germans back. Julio shows up from the battle and has gained some recognition for his bravery and service on the “front.” That stupid monkey again. Julio then sets off on a mission to “no man’s land” where he comes face-to-face with his cousin in a trench. Then BOOM! They’re blown to bits from a shell. Why wasn’t the monkey in there with them? Anywhat, Marguerite tries to leave Etienne but the ghost of Julio tells her to stay with him. She does.

Cut-scene to Marcelo and his wife over the grave of Julio. Marcelo sees the stranger from above Julio’s studio in the graveyard and he asks him if he knew his son. The stranger then stretches out his arms (a la the “Christ Pose”) and states: “I knew them all.” He then points to the sky and shows Marcelo the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding away into the clouds. He states, too: “Peace has come—but the Four Horsemen will still ravage humanity—stirring unrest in the world—until all hatred is dead and only love reigns in the heart of mankind.” The End.

Okay, so I laid out the entire film and yes, I know it was long. But, what I just did was save you, Dear Reader, the need to ever sit through this film. That is, unless you have insomnia, are a glutton for punishment, or you have to watch it to fulfill an obligation (which is why I did it). I think there’s nothing wrong with this film structurally, but I also think the whole thing could have been told and shown in around an 1:15, not the 2:12 it took up of my time. The book was only 327 in paperback. The story itself was actually good, but mix my short attention span with this long of having to read my movie and classical music, I was done after an hour. I sat through it all, though. I fell asleep only twice and had to rewind it to catch myself back up.

The reason I watched it was because it was on the AFI list of top 400 movies of all time. I can see where it was revolutionary but, jeez o’Pete, it was way too much for me. Rotten Tomatoes has no rating on its Tomatometer, which to me is odd since it’s one of the oldest films in history; only two critics have reviewed it. It does have an Audience Score of 75%, though. Some are strong, I guess. Same with IMDb: 7.9 stars out of 10. As I stated, the story itself was very good, I maybe could have read the book quicker than watch this film (I know that’s not true). Based on the story itself I would rate it 3.5 stars. However, being as I had to sit through badly preserved film stock and the length, for the film itself, I’m rating it only 2 stars. The only film I can think of that dragged as badly as this was another silent film from about three years prior, Birth of a Nation. Between the two, I’d be hard pressed to choose which was actually worst. I’d rather sit through Twilight or The Hunger Games before watching another like this. I watched this on Amazon Prime and I had to “rent” it because it’s not available as part of the Prime membership and wasn’t on Netflix. The best part was being able to mark it off the AFI list.

Have you seen this film? Did you stay awake the whole time? If so, I’d like to hear what you think.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“n a world old in hatred and bloodshed, where nation is crowded against nation and creed against creed, centuries of wars have sewn their bitter seed, and the fires of resentment smoldering beneath the crust of civilization but await the breaking of the Seven Seals of Prophesy to start a mighty conflagration.” – Opening card of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Time Off Friday or: You Deserve a Break Today

25 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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3B, holiday, The BCPF

Salutations™!!

Today is Good Friday. I don’t observe Good Friday as a “holiday” per se. Not in the American sense. I’m non-religious so to me it is a holiday in the European sense. Time off;jamaican-public-holidays-2012-2013 a day off, if you will. So, since The BCPF and 3B are both off from work/school, I’m taking the day off, too. Which also means you get the day off from my rants and raves. Yay you! Yay me! If you do observe the “celebration” this weekend, then enjoy it. If you don’t and just get some rest and relaxation, enjoy! I’ll be back tomorrow with a long-winded movie review to make up for the lack of words today!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Holiday? Is like, what? I’m a hyperactive girl, so it may be boring for me to be on the beach doing nothing. I just need to find a place for three weeks and work but sleep in the morning, maybe write a little bit, have a glass of red wine. That’s my perfect holiday.” – Melanie Laurent

An Italian Piggyback or: DiLisio’s Goodness

24 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Food

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DiLisio's, The Man Who Ate the Town, Wine

Salutations™!!

Sorry this is a little later in the day, I was busy writing a post on The Man Who Ate the Town. And that’s what you get today, Dear Reader: one of my now famous piggybacks! Thi2016-03-14 09.50.42s time we continue the Food Pairing Series and go back to DiLisio’s where we had a fantastic Italian pairing with wine. This was good stuff. There’s a reason I call him my favorite Italian. You can read what I said here. Buon appetito!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Pavarotti, you coming to my wine dinner?” – Tony DiLisio

Hurley Park Blood Orange Wheat or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Beer

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BeerAdvocate, City Beverage, New Sarum Brewing, The Beer Dads, The Less Desirables, Untappd

Salutations™!!

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents New Sarum Brewings‘s Hurley Park Blood Orange Wheat, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.

We had this on The Beer Dads a few weeks back and I have to say that I loved it. Porters are my favorite style of beer and I like this better than I do their Roundhouse Robust Porter that we had on the show last week. It’s got a great citrus/blood orange flavor and isn’t 2151d93b-3215-4ca6-80bc-220f4a707037overpowering and compliments the light wheat body that doesn’t taste like bananas like many wheat beers have the want to do. I like wheat beers usually but this is even better than usual. This brewery has the potential to do great things. Both beers that I’ve had from them have been good but this one goes further and is really good, to me.

BeerAdvocate has no rating for it yet, although I have submitted a rating and review. Untappd has it at 4.06 caps out of 5. I rated it 4.25 on Untappd. The brew is 6% ABV and is as refreshing as it is light. Delicious. Have you had this brew? If not, you should run down to 915 Burke Street and get your sixer of it. Tune in later tonight or tomorrow to see how Tammy (Caitlin’s fill in for the night), Bruce and I like it. We do have a guest, Blanca, but she usually doesn’t drink when she’s on. But, you never know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
” Red and pale malted wheat, aromatic hops, lemon grass and orange peel gives this ale a unique twist on classical wheat beers. The addition of blood oranges late in the brewing process yields an unmistakable conflict of sweet & tart, resulting in an amazingly enjoyable beer.” – New Sarum Brewing’s description

But, the Manneken Pis or: Pensées de Belgique

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Rant, Travel, Uncategorized

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BE Cafe Marche Jourdan, Belgium, Bruges, Brussels, Chez Leon, European Union, Manneken Pis, NATO, Paris, Sofitel Europe, The BCPF, Walt Disney World

Salutations™!!

Another terrorist attack and in another city that I’ve spent a little time. We all remember this past November when there were attacks in Paris, probably my favorite city dans le monde. Brussels is home to NATO and the European Union so it’s a very important city, not just from an historic angle but for financial, humanitarian and political angles, as well. It’s the capital city of a beautiful and mostly docile country.12794359_10207848998577380_2288901122513598825_n

I’d like to say that I have fond memories of the city, but truthfully, I really don’t. Well, that’s not exactly true. There were parts that I really liked. The Grand Place (pronounced grahnd plah-s) is as beautiful and welcoming as any large-scaled, historic city in the world. It is like stepping into Fantasyland in Walt Disney World every time you step into and out of  any store or just when you open and close your eyes.The Manneken Pis (which really does mean what you’d think it would; see the pic, right) is classic and, really, it’s funny. It has other points, but overall, my thoughts of Brussels is that it is a dirty, miserable city. And, we’ve been there twice.

The first time The BCPF and I were there, it was March, 2013. We had just gotten there from Amsterdam, which we loved. It was exciting getting to Brussels; cool and sexy. Then we got out of the train and it was like a cloud was just on the city. It didn’t help that it was kind of cold at that time. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza and that hotel was quite nice. We made the mistake of asking the concierge about where we should eat and they basically sent us to the European version of Shoney’s. A place called Chez Leon. I had mussels there, which is kind of a specialty in Brussels. Well, The BCPF had one style and I had another; can’t remember which is which. Whatever the case, I got sick, she didn’t. I think mine was food poisoning.  It’s a good thing that our room was nice and comfortable because I was laid up all that night and most of the next day. The bathroom, I must say, was pristine! I swore that I’d never eat any food that rhymes with the city I eat it in again. In fact, I’ve probably had about 3 mussels, total, since then.

The second time, we got there in 2014 for the last night of our honeymoon; we had just been in Bruges in the northwest of Belgium, that was one beautiful (and plentiful on the beer) city. It was important to be in Brussels to catch our flight home and yes, we were leaving from the very airport that was involved in the attacks this morning. That one night we stayed at the Sofitel Brussels and I have to say it was one of the nicest hotels that I’ve ever stayed in and I’ve stayed in some nice ones. That night, too, we decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, BE Café Marché Jourdan which is an awesome and quite fancy restaurant. I think one of the best meals I’ve ever had was at that restaurant.

So, the hotels (especially the ones that I sell there) are fantastic and food was hit (in BE Café Marché Jourdan, at least) or miss (Chez Leon). It’s just that the rest of the city is dingy and gray and dreary. The people, for the most part, were polite and helpful, but there’s just something about the city itself that I don’t care for. All that being said (and I know it was a lot), I truly feel for the people because I do feel a twinge of kinship with the city. It’s just like the cousin that I really don’t care for. I do like all my cousins, by the way. But, that whole area of Europe is near and dear to my heart. The fact that yet another country is hit hard by these selfish, ungodly monsters is enough to hurt your heart, no matter how you feel about the town. These Belgians are human and deserve to live without fear of this craziness, but right now, especially today, they aren’t afforded that luxury. I hope they rest well and come back stronger. My thoughts and positive vibes to them. And, here’s hoping that Brussels, as a city, brightens up after they’re back on their feet.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“L’union fait la force!” – Belgian motto (Unity makes strength)

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