darkstar965

+1 on BettyJoan's reccs and, especially, her "come on" :-)

Would also add: Woodward Takeout Food.

 

Now that manager Dusty Baker is gone, being a pitcher on the Reds isn't always the death knell of your career.

We didn't watch last night's game--past our bedtimes--but Mr. BLB has Josh Collmenter (Arizona Diamondbacks) on his fantasy team and I have Max Scherzer on mine.  Only one of us was happy this morning.  (I could have warned him.  I had Collmenter two years ago and didn't keep him but that would have been collusion...)

Are you a Reds fan, blb?

That'll do a number on your self-esteem.

He's a starting pitcher for the Reds now.

Only player ever to be on teams making the playoffs for each of the first ten years of his career with at least 3 teams. DC wasn't one of his better stops among the 9 teams he has played with.

Currently 10-0, 1 out in the top of the 2nd in Arizona.

Correction:  Now 2 outs, and Bronx cheers.

The all-time MLB record for runs by one team in a single game is 30 by Texas over Baltimore in 2007. Touchdown and a field goal so far. Who knows?

Thanks, I think so too. She still acts like a puppy and can run about 30 mph, but she'll be 7 next month.

30 mph? Wow! She is a gorgeous dog. Really unique in the best of ways. The ears are great. I'm curious about your attachment to this breed? Did you grow up with them? Is Kiko your first? General descriptions of temperament and health online make them seem suitable for most any responsible owner willing to provide the necessary physical and mental exercise. Do you agree with that? How is she with other (friendly) dogs?

Feel like we're doing a dog chat here. :-)

Very cool. Hadn't seen that, distracted by all the fireworks here in DC today.

... Pierce does help. But Wall is usually the key. In fact there is a case for Wall as the MVP in the playoffs at least in the first...

Of course, now we know things have changed and unlikely Wall will play again this postseason. Really disappointing with how well they were playing.

So what happens today, in Game 3, without Wall? Paul "The Truth" Pierce with a buzzer beater to win and put the Wiz up 2-1 in the series.

Fun fact: today, two players, for two DC-based pro sport franchises, both sporting the number 34, had game-ending heroics, both vanquishing opposing teams from Atlanta. Wiz over Hawks thanks to Pierce and Nats over Braves courtesy Harper. Quite the day for DC sports. Hopefully, the Caps do their part in Game 6 tomorrow at Verizon.

Make that 6 home runs in three games with today's of the bottom 9 walkoff variety. Incredible!

"Look! Bryce Harper Hits Walk-Off Home Run For 6th Homer In 3 Days" by Mike Axlsa on cbssports.com

"Bryce Harper Continues Incredible Week With Walkoff Home Run" by Mark Townsend on sports.yahoo.com

The dish was Mi Bo. Nothing fancy but at that particular moment it was exactly what my taste buds needed.

Wow.  I've been playing this game for years and NEVER win (except when Don does an occasional gimme  ).  I've been to Four Sisters more times than I can count but never noticed a dish like that.  You were very generous with your hints. The "family run part also.

Suggestion for the Uber Mod:  Prizes for WDID? winners?  Just for this weekend in honor of...oh, I don't know...the Caps?  Mothers' Day? 

I was in Union Market this past week and stopped in my tracks as I came upon a new booth selling incredibly thoughtful, sophisticated, beautiful, yet functional tableware. After talking with Amber and Ernie for maybe 15 minutes, I'm hooked and wanted to share this with my fellow members here.

Cloud Terre is the brainchild of Amber Kendrick, a serious creative talent who studied at local Catholic University. Originally trained as an architect, she does restaurant design with current projects including a revisioned L'Auberge and a new concept for Neal Wavra) She created Cloud Terre several years ago, after learning the art of high-end ceramic creation from a true master (her mom, a master ceramicist!).

They've only been open to the public at Union Market for a week. Before now, they have sold near-exclusively to the trade. Those gorgeous dishes at the Ashby Inn and Patowmack Farm (Tarver King)? Those are from Amber and and Ernie. Fiola? Riverstead? Townhouse with the Shields? Seasonal Pantry? Soon to appear at Maketto? Yep, all Amber and Ernie.

Really gorgeous stuff. And, Amber and Ernie couldn't be more humble, talented and just wonderful people.

Switches from hockey to see Harper smack a 3-run homer to make it 7-2.  Five homers, 10 RBIs in 2 games.

Why didn't I go to this game???? 

5 homers tonight, so far.

The 5 home runs in two games are the most of all time by a player as young as Harper. Historic stuff happening at Nats Park this week.  Go today, lovehockey!  4pm first pitch. We'll be there!

Four Sisters?  Based only on your most recent hints since the dish doesn't especially look like Four Sisters to me.  But, packed all times of the day? They do tend to be that.

OK.  I'm going to WiseGuy soon now!  As always, great to see a new business participating here so thank you, "wiseguy NY Pizza."  And, welcome to donrockwell.com. Really great to have you here.

No doubt Chef Copeland will reply for himself but, as a huge fan of neapolitan pizza (but with experience and fondness for NY style as well), I know Ghibellina's pie is one of my favorites in the region.  Looking forward to trying wiseguy and suspect someone there knows a thing or two about pizza too.  It's all good in my book.   

...

However, I do know this: More Chinese people died during WWII than from any other nation with the possible exception of the U.S.S.R. - I've heard reports of up to 20,000,000; you can do your own research, and reach your own conclusions as to "why" they died. As for The Rape of Nanking, I guess that was pre-WWII, and as much as I'd like to ask Iris Chang, the author of the book "The Rape Of Nanking,", she committed suicide and isn't available.

Purely a personal opinion others obviously don't share but, as much as I love having discussions like the one on this thread in person, I think the web is a very poor medium for topics like this.  Again, that's neither right nor wrong; just my own bias for several reasons unique to me.

That said, I've quoted the last part of Rocks' most recent post simply because I was about to post the same.  Whatever one's views about genocide and horrific crimes against humanity relative to war, good to consider a wide variety of examples and regions.  As I read through the thread above (with great interest), it did feel very WWII/Europe and Japan centric.  Iris Chang was percolating in my thoughts by the 2nd post so glad to see that Don included her work, which was so important to shine light on a lesser-known genocide in the west.

I'll add <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold" s_ghost"="">one more to the mix (there are still dozens of others through history obviously).  Very rough guesses on this one put the death toll at 10,000,000 and, while war was a contributing factor, commercial greed and corruption were even bigger propellants.  A book as important as Iris Chang's, in my humblest of opinions.

Bottom line is a business is worth something if it is profitable...

That's how it SHOULD be. Even how it once was. But, since the late 90s, that bedrock has been shaken. Now, a business is worth something (to someone or to a few) if they can IPO and sell shares. That's the new tradition exemplified by "new economy" stalwarts like Facebook, Groupon, Amazon and Yelp. Hence why we call it "funny money."

?..Still though, if it is for sale, it just might attract an enormous number.  Who knows???

I think it highly probable to fetch a premium and be very lucrative for Stoppelman and other large shareholders. Less likely to provide the same kind of returns to common shareholders and other small fry within and beyond the walls of the company.

OK.

Your assumption about "the folks at wsj.com" being "pretty on top of what works" is utterly reasonable, but misplaced. It's not so black and white in terms of "non-paying readers"; lots of grey. Businesses of all kinds are operated at a loss for different reasons and not just due to incompetence or the usual drivers of business failure. In the case of the WSJ, have to remember the Bancrofts sold the esteemed brand to a foreigner in large part because they couldn't operate it profitably. Today, News Corp and Rupert Murdoch control the Journal. This article, from the less-restrictive Guardian, may help.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/07/rupert-murdoch-wall-street-journal

As to your very reasonable question, "Why shouldn't they keep me locked out?" it's a matter of business and marketing strategy and not one of ethics or fairness. My personal view, informed by experience, is that audience size and audience quality both matter. And, sampling is an important way to build both. In traditional broadsheet businesses like the Journal, WaPo and NYT, it's much more common to operate partial firewalls (like ESPN's "insider" program or certain "premium articles" only available with a subscription) or to limit the number of "free" articles than can be accessed from a specific IP address before requiring someone to pony up the subscription fee.

These are issues still very center-of-plate in large corporate media boardrooms. The WSJ has always been a bit of an outlier on pricing model but not one that has inspired much followership in the industry, with good reason.

"If you let me write $200 billion of hot checks every year, I could give you an illusion of prosperity, too."

-- Lloyd Bentsen, 1988

There's going to be a nebulous concept that emerges from all this called something like "virtual profitability," where there's no actual profit, but an "effect" on the global situation. Yelp probably *is* responsible for $5 billion worth of societal change; it's just not going to flow into the coffers of Yelp.

The reason people hate Yelp so much is that Yelp has built its worth by aggressively extracting that "virtual profit" from society, and turning it into cash in their coffers - this, in the form of shaking down businesses, harassing them to take out advertisements, threatening them with censored reviews, etc. This goes directly against the natural order of things, which would (without aggressive money-grabs) result in Yelp being powerful and influential, but not wealthy.

And as much as I hate to say it, Wikipedia - a wonderful product that I adore, admire, and use daily - is going to have the same problem. Wikipedia is powerful and influential, and has created untold amounts of societal wealth, but they're not in a position to shake down businesses, so it's going to be extremely difficult for them to cash in on their wonderful product (people are essentially assuming that Wikipedia is some sort of "government agency" that they're entitled to, but it isn't and they aren't).

Definitely lots of funny money at play here but have to remember that an IPO changes everything. Especially in terms of the discussion about "coffers." Once a company is floated, founders and significant equity holder coffers are very different from the corporate coffers. In many (but not all) cases like this, the former do incredibly well while the latter struggle, as you root cause. Also, I do believe it very possible to generate sustainable profit while not crossing the ethical and societal lines Yelp has crossed. FWIW.

According to the Wall Street Journal Yelp is reportedly fishing around for a buyer.  The article does a reasonable job of summarizing its financial history and aspects of its controversial existence...

Just FYI that any WSJ link requires a subscription to read. They're a bit ridiculous in that way, believing such an impenetrable firewall is good for business.

Very cool for Chef Gjerde and WK! Don, what's your take on the Furstenberg snub? The NYC winner there doesn't have as long a resume but maybe was seen as more innovative? Or, maybe just a function of how the judging does tend to be NY-centric, which you or someone wrote about recently here?

I find that it always turns out for me, some times better than others, but I've never had it completely fail, even when I've screwed up badly.  There's a fairly lengthy discussion of the technique in the Shopping and Cooking forum, starting with this post.

My own take on it is that there are sophisticated bread baking reasons (i.e. "science") for doing a long cool rise of a heavily hydrated dough (which also have to do with the type of yeast), but that the relative simplicity of the technique makes it an appealing sell also to people who are intimidated by baking bread or think of it as something that requires a long investment of time.  No-knead bread, which actually does involve minimal kneading, requires only a few short labor-intensive bursts of activity.  Skimming the posting at the link you provide, that appears similar to the POV of that author.

While it's a technique Lahey used at his bakery, the reason for its popularization initially was Mark Bittman, master of the essential simple everything.  Discussing Bittman opens a whole new can of worms, of course.

Interesting! I'm much more familiar with Bittman than I am (was) with Lahey. I guess my real curiosity here is whether you are a big Lahey fan as a result? I wonder if this innovation was a big reason the JBA judges chose him over more traditional and more experienced bakers? Not sure.

Lahey is the man who made no-knead bread super popular a few years ago, FWIW.

I'm not a baker and, perhaps incredibly, hadn't heard of "no-knead bread" before. Do you think it a good thing? Reading some about it, I would guess some pros might look down their noses at the innovation. The comments here are even more telling than the article but both were interesting to me.

"What's With The No-Knead Bread Thing?" by Sharon Astyk on scienceblogs.com

Now scratching my head even more at how/why Furstenberg didn't win.

I liked the peaches. And I liked maraschinos. However, I was never big on the fruit cocktail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYbc2AmgLmw

"Peaches come in a can. They were put there by a man."

Can't believe Rocks doesn't LOVE those lyrics!

Okay, okay, I didn't say "bad," I said "questionable."

Was going to ask the same thing Joe did. You did seem to imply something was wrong/bad with the last two ingredients when considering your statement fully:

"The ingredients look okay, until you get to the final two, at which point they become questionable." So, 'not okay' was the same thought I had.

Grapeseed (Bethesda) would be an excellent choice and Jeff (Owner/Chef) is a great guy and friend to this community.

Red Hen in Bloomingdale is wonderful Italian. Unlikely you'd be able to book a table now but they hold some tables for walk-ins so could work if you'd be able to go early. Not as fancy as spots below I'll suggest but delicious.

Most everyone here agrees Fabio Trabiocchi is one of the city's very best Chefs. You tried Fiola Mare but no luck. Someone else suggested his more moderately-priced (but still quite nice) Casa Luca. How about the original Fiola? Still great, in town and definitely good for a special night.

R24 (Chef RJ Cooper) would also be great for this. Really interesting, innovative and delicious food and absolutely special occasion appropriate.

Restaurant Eve in Akexandria (Chef Cathal Armstrong) is another of the area's most exceptional places in the romantic, night out but with really great food category.