Wedding Entrance Dance

Here's the link to the Wedding Entrance Video everyone is talking about.

More on the event here and here

Kings Of Leon

I've been spending some time with Kings Of Leon's Only_By_The_Night. While I'm not a big fan of the production of the disc...very hazily and overly compressed, (I like a crisp bright sound...think any Jet album), the bass absolutely is punishing. I don't know what they did during the mix, but even at low levels my rearview mirror vibrates like crazy with the bass line. On some songs, you can almost feel it in your chest as if you were at a concert.

While Only_By_The_Night isn't necessarily my cup of tea, a few of the songs strike me as being very Springsteen-like in construction and power. Especially cut 8, "I Want You." A slightly brighter mix and it would be fit well in Bruce's Darkness era.

Kings of Leon are a fringe act for female leaning adult/rock pop station like ours, but if you get a chance, give the album a listen. And if you like it PAY FOR IT. BUY IT IN A STORE, NOT DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE. Not to support the record industry, but to support your favorite band. Other than that, it's just stealing. Really.

Boston North End Market Tour

The highlight of our Boston getaway was taking a market tour of the Italian North End. My wife set this up after she had seen it online and on The Food Network. Oh My Gosh...this tour is unbelievable...the ONLY way to truly see the North End. The tour was hosted by a former chef, and while you don't go in restaurants and try food, you do go into markets and learn to shop and cook like a true Italian. After taking this tour, I will never shop for or think of food the same way again.

Just a few of the things we learned:

• It's better to cook with a male than female eggplant, and how to tell the difference.
• Why there is truly no such thing as Italian bread.
• In Northern Italy, cooking is very butter and lard heavy. As you head further south Olive Oil (Arabic and Greek influences) becomes the norm
• Why in Italy it is proper to drink cheaper wine at lunch and dilute it with water (this drives the French crazy!).
• How to tell if a store bought item is truly from Italy (it should have a DOP marking on the label)
• The Balsamic Vinegar we buy in stores locally is, well, crap. Very little vinegar in it at all. Producers use brown sugar and assorted things to make it taste like Balsamic Vinegar, which truly only comes from the Modena area of Italy. We saw a 4 ounce bottle that went for $125...got to taste a drop. Wow...what a difference!
• Why out of the 80 or so North End restaurants, about 60 are Italian-American, and handful are true Italian.
• Why the most popular pastry shop in the North End (Mike's) has the worst pastries. Nothing but a food tourist trap

It matters not if you are into cooking...if you are addicted to the Travel or Food channels, this tour is for you!

Some web sites to get you there:

http://www.foodtoursofboston.com/

http://www.salumeriaitaliana.com/ (One of the best true Italian markets in Boston. They ship everywhere! Click around this site...tons of recipes here as well.)

http://www.vcirace.com/ #1 Italian Wine Shop in U.S.

http://www.northendboston.com/

The pics are photos I took along the way. Click on them and blow them up to get the full North Boston feel.

Boston Travel Hints

Just back from a quick and fun 2 and 1/2 day Boston getaway. I'm always wondering how much to post about vacations as having someone go on and on about what a great time they had can be pretty boring, much like watching someones vacation movies at a house party. But I do want to give travel hints on this trip, especially since a trip to Boston is almost the quintessential historic family getaway. A couple quickies:

For all it cost, and as long as it took, The Big Dig may be the biggest improvement to a northeastern city since the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. It has transformed Boston from what used to be a rusty dirty loud exhaust choked walking city into a beautiful walking city . You can walk walk the Greenway from the North End all the way to Chinatown. Another result is incredible access to Logan airport. I kid you not, the ride from our hotel in Charlestown to the Airport was faster than from Tonawanda to the Buffalo airport. What used to be an hour ride in Boston in now just 20 minutes tops. And because there is now an airport only access road from the now underground central artery, the time allotment doesn't go up much even w rush hour traffic. Here's the difference:
















Hint #2: Our hotel, the nearly new Residence Inn by Marriott in Charlestown (found by my wife on Tripadvisor.com) was incredible and perfect for families with kids of walking age. The rooms are huge (all suites), the price is about 30% cheaper than staying in the city, but you are RIGHT THERE in just a short walk over the Charlestown bridge with incredible city views from all rooms (see pics). Located right next door is the North Station T, which has trains connecting to everywhere.


The Residence Inn is also cost saving because each morning they put out a HUGE buffet breakfast, absolutely free. And it's not just sausage, bacon and greasy food (though that's all I tend to eat), but healthy cereals and fruits as well. It probably saves a family of 5 about $50 a day.
For close by dinners there are a bunch of pubs and eateries in Charlestown within a 5 minute walk. Think places like JP Bullfeathers and the old Jimmy Mac's. If you can walk an extra quarter mile a day, we highly recommend this hotel!

Soda VS Pop

You can tell where someone is from by what they call it: soda, pop, Coke, Pepsi, tonic.

And someone has actually done a survey on it! Check out the amazing pop vs soda map here. And definitely scroll down to see the conclusion!

10 Things Rental Car Companies Won't Say

It's vacation time, and many times that means getting a rental car for some portion of your trip. From personal experience, I've found that researching and getting the best car rental rate is often tougher than getting cheap airfare. This article from SMART MONEY confirms most of what I have found out. Hidden surprise: Check out item #5...a very close friend of ours (and yours) is quoted!!!

Fortune Magazine's Mid Year Dumb Business Moves

KFC, The Yankees, GM, Madoff, and even Barack O'Bama are on the list for bad business moves.
Check it out here and see if you agree.