South End Foodies

Being such a famous blog star, I have been invited to contribute to other blogs. A new one, Les Gourmundes Officionados de South End Ristorantes Flagrante Delecto, has just posted a review from a recent experience I had at a sad little Italian restaurant.

To be fair, the food was pretty good.... but read on to find out how the atmosphere can ruin a good dinner.

STELLA'S: NOT STELLAR YET

Stella's
1525 Washington Street
Boston
www.bostonstella.com

The perfect summer evening. The perfect dinner companions. It ends there.

Peter called as I was leaving work and wanted to know if I wanted to have dinner. It was the perfect night to dine outside, so I thought, "let's go to Stella's!" I had never been and always wanted to eat there. Its upscale Italian. Fun yellow awnings adorn the large windows with lots of patio seating.

Peter called an got a reservation. Oh Peter, he always knows how to get a reservation. He just made a call.

Unfortunately, the outdoor seating is on a first come, first serve basis and is not subject to the reservations holding us a table indoors. On a whim, we agreed to eat inside. In retrospect, this was a mistake, even if we did have to wait a little while for a table. The restaurant was uncomfortably hot and there was hardly any moving air. The waitress, finally realizing how uncomfortable we were, apologized at the end of the meal, explaining that their AC wasn't working so well.

It appears that Stella's is THE hotspot for pregnant women. I counted at least 3.... who knows how many other women in the place were knocked up. The entire middle of the restaurant was occupied by a large table of women gathered for a baby shower (equipped with large cake made out of diapers). Who has a baby shower on a Thursday night at 6:30?

The Food
Warm, stuffy rooms do not promote appetites. That isn't science, that's experience. I guess tough times has fallen upon Stella's as they only provided us with one small piece of bread (Peter and Bryan had been before and noted they used to provide an entire bread basket). P & B insisted we get this fried risotto ball for an appetizer. Unfortunately, only 2 of these balls came in an order (again, Peter and Bryan recalled 3 being previously provided) so we had to split them in awkward portions (aka I took one whole ball and P & B fought over the remaining one).

I had swordfish for dinner. Jean and I had been talking about it at lunch, so when I saw it on the menu it caught my eye. The piece of fish was very small. And I don't think I've ever said this, but the potato was the best part of the dish. Bryan ordered a pasta dish which was too hot for me to try and Peter ordered pork which made him want to puke (literally). The pork looked more like veal and was pretty much flavorless (I had to try it).

To drink I had a Sam Adams Summer Ale...hoping it would transport me back to the summer nights I spent outside at AriBar on Boston Harbor. Unfortunately (I seem to be typing that word a lot) the thoughts of enjoyable summer evenings lasted only for a fleeting moment, because then the music began. Halfway through the meal someone decided to turn on unbelievably loud music. It was so loud and inappropriate that almost everyone in the restaurant looked up when they turned it on. It was strange trumpet music and it was so brassy and harsh that it was hard to hear P & B who were sitting very close by.

The highlight of the meal was a near Andrew Keenan Bolger sighting. We decided, however, that the person we saw was far too tall to really be AKB....but this possibility certainly provided a needed excitement to a rather otherwise disappointing meal.

reviews of the new iPhone....

iPhone 3G: Good news for those who want to buy it and good news for those who already had an iPhone!

Recently, I had an accident. I was getting out of my car and I dropped my iPhone. If you are not familiar with the iPhone, almost everything is done on the touch screen. Its fantastic. There are only 2 real buttons you can actually push.

I happened to drop my iPhone on one of those buttons. I didn't damage the screen (as I have done to MANY iPods) or the inner mechanics of the phone. Since the button was now jammed into the phone due to its impact with the ground, the phone kept turning itself on and off.

Luckily I still had my old Motorola Razr phone to use in the meantime! (Read: I hate that phone.)

So I brought it to my TC (technology consultant) at work who has many Apple Certified plaques and things hanging on his wall. I thought, maybe this man can help me. Do you know what he did? He attacked my phone with a screwdriver and a little tiny chisel. I HAD ALREADY TRIED THAT!! ....and I don't even have a certificate! (although once someone did call me a Mac expert...and I am the Apple Computer Consultant to FolderWave (hahah) but seriously, that part is true!)

So I sort of came to the realization that I would need to buy a new phone, now that it was ruined way beyond just dropping it on the ground.

Randomly a few days later I was near the new Boston Apple Store.. ooooh! Its so shiny and glassy and pretty. I can't delay telling you how wonderful the experience was:

I walked in and was greeted by a girl who I immediately fell in love with. She had a headset on and called up to the genius bar to see if they could sneak me in earlier than the next available appointment. So 10 minutes later I was sitting with my genius, Mike. I explained to him everything I just typed for you (leaving out that I am a Mac Expert). Mike says, "usually this is not covered under warranty, but today we'll hook you up." He opens the cabinet behind him and gives me a new iPhone. A NEW iPHONE! Now, it is one of the old versions, but it was still BRAND NEW! I went back down the shiny glassy stairs, trying not to fall since you can hardly even see the steps and high-fived the girl I had fallen in love with at the entrance only 15 minutes before.

AND THEN! When I plugged the new phone into my dock, all my numbers, texts, photos, and videos magically reappeared! I LOVE APPLE.

And now the new 3G Phones. The back of the phone is black. I think I like that a lot. But the even better news is that people with the old version of iPhone will be able to download the free software update, essentially giving them the features of the new 3G Phone. Network and speed aside (and I really don't mind the speed of my current iPhone), they will be very similar.

Read the experts write ups of the new phone now:

Mossberg: “If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life. The same goes for those with existing iPhones who love the device but crave faster cellular data speeds. But if you already own an iPhone, and can usually use Wi-Fi for data, you probably should hold off and get the free software upgrade before deciding whether it’s worth getting the new hardware.” (link)

Pogue: “So the iPhone 3G is a nice upgrade. It more than keeps pace with advancing technology, and new buyers will generally be delighted….But it’s not so much better that it turns all those original iPhones into has-beens. Indeed, the really big deal is the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store, neither of which requires buying a new iPhone. That twist may come as a refreshing surprise to planned-obsolescence conspiracy theorists — and everyone who stood in line last year.” (link)

Baig: “Extra, extra: iPhone 3G: The Sequel, is worth the wait….It’s cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business. Apple’s blockbuster smartphone already had nifty features such as visual voicemail, a splendid built-in video iPod and the best mobile Web browser I’ve ever used. With GPS newly added to the mix, this handheld marvel has no equal among consumer-oriented smartphones.” (link)

Mossberg also wins the multimedia race. Although Pogue is reportedly working on a sequel to last year’s “I Got An iPhone” (an earnest musical number sung to the tune of “I Did it My Way”), Mossberg’s video is already up, and available here.

he almost yodels the song....

I am literally just sitting on my couch playing this clip on loop. I'm laughing so much, I've actually started to cry.....




Visit Craig's Blog.... even if he is a fake person. It is still very funny.

What are you doing August 20th?

Jesse McCartney and Jordin Sparks To Co-Headline Tour In August

July 7, 2008 8:28 p.m. EST

Jennifer Tormo - Celebrity News Service (reporting for Adam's Blog)

Hollywood, CA (CNS) - Popstars Jesse McCartney and Jordin Sparks will team up to co-headline a tour this August.

McCartney will be promoting his latest album "Departure." The album's first single "Leavin" peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The multi-talented 21-year-old has written and co-written songs for Leona Lewis and Vanessa Hudgens.

Sparks, 18, will likely perform hits off her self-titled debut album, Jordin Sparks.

Sparks became the youngest winner of Fox's "American Idol" when she won at age 17 last May. The pop and R&B singer has since achieved success with hits like "Tattoo" and "No Air."

Tour dates are as follows:

Aug. 05, 2008 Sacramento, CA

Aug. 07, 2008 Los Angeles, CA

Aug. 08, 2008 Glendale, AZ

Aug. 09, 2008 San Diego, CA

Aug. 11, 2008 Salt Lake City, UT

Aug. 13, 2008 Denver, CO

Aug. 15, 2008 Minneapolis, MN

Aug. 16, 2008 Chicago, IL (Jesse only)

Aug. 17, 2008 Detroit, MI

Aug. 19, 2008 New York, NY

Aug. 20, 2008 Lowell, MA

Aug. 20, 2008 Boston, MA (not sure how they are planning to be in both Lowell and Boston....)

Aug. 22, 2008 Atlantic City, NJ

Aug. 23, 2008 Sewell, NJ

Aug. 24, 2008 Pittsburgh, PA

Aug. 27, 2008 Toronto, ON

Aug. 29, 2008 Washington DC

Aug. 29, 2008 Baltimore, MD

Aug. 30, 2008 Greensboro, NC

look at me go.... 2 days in a row!

just a quick update to yesterday's blog....

I went home last night, only to find that my DVR was playing with my heartstrings--- you see, the DVR had "hidden" the fact that it would continue to record episodes of Summerland! (yes!)

I had checked upcoming recordings and NOTHING! ....just Swingland and Barefoot. No Braden, Nikki, Ava G, Cameron... no NOTHING! But yesterday, there it was, despite the reports: the pilot episode of Summerland! "The N" once again prevails and has only changed the time (which is not really something I care about anyway since I have a wonderful DVR looking out for me...and, I guess, occasionally providing me with surprises!)

Also: Please note the 2 blogs I list on the righthand margin. AKB's blog has always been there. But Craig Steven's Blogg is a new one..... Oddly enough, both Andrew and Craig just blogged together and you NEED to check it out, because Craig (sadly, a fictional character) ranks on Andrew the whole blog for only starring in Spelling Bee's national tour and not on Broadway.

Plus, and we've touched on this in past blogs, but there is once again a strange parallel between me and Andrew--this time it comes in the form of Jesse McCartney! I'm not sure if I believe it, since the entire interview seems made up, but Andrew admits to performing Jesse McCartney during auditions! Someone needs to find me a clip of that!

a pre-season 2 post...

Many of you may wonder what I do with my time INSTEAD of write wonderful blog entries. The answer is simple. I have become obsessed with the short-lived TV phenomenon, Summerland. I remember seeing a tiny snippet of one episode back in like 2002 or 2003 when it was actually on TV. It was a late-night marathon on "The N" (by the way, besides the Food Network, "The N" is the only TV station I watch anymore... well maybe Bravo, but that's it) that really got me aquainted with the show. At first, it was my infatuation with Zac Efron that hooked me--he guest stars as Nikki's boyfriend and later becomes part of the cast. As I watched, however, it has lead to an even more unhealthy infatuation with Jesse McCartney (future blogs on this subject to come).

Last night "The N" aired the series finale. After consulting my DVR, I discovered they will not be cycling back to Season 1....That 70's Show will be airing in its place. :-( (Thank God I have every episode of Season 2 saved on the DVR!)

However, once the new fall season begins, DVR real estate will indeed be at a premium....so PLEASE....SOMEONE.....BUY ME THE ENTIRE 2 SEASON COLLECTION OF SUMMERLAND (at the very affordable price of only $129.99!) Thats 8 (EIGHT!) DVDs! (!)

Come on!

Summerland
Seasons 1-2
All 26 episodes
8 DVDs
Regular Price
$207.99
Our Price
$129.99