Interstellar fireworks, or, This is what it sounds like when dust storms collide

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Thursday, June 29, 2006 6/29/2006 03:35:00 PM

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Hello, American readers. This one's for you. All you foreign types, shoo!

No, just kidding. We're open to all, here. However, the chronological significance of the events detailed in this post will really only be meaningful to us Yanks.

This coming weekend/week, our solar system will witness a pretty neat phenomenon. Two very large storms on Jupiter will be coming as close to collision as they'll likely ever come (the official press release from the more famous storm can be found here).

One of the two participants is the very famous Great Red Spot, favorite of grade school science classes and a massive conflagration of dust and whatnot that is wider than two Earths.

The other combatant, the underdog if you will, is condescendingly nicknamed "Red Jr." Until just recently, however, Red Jr. would have been better nicknamed "Little Whitey," because it wasn't red. It just kinda all of a sudden turned red like the Notorious GRS, in a shift that astronomers speculated was caused by a strengthening of the little storm. The little guy was psyching himself up for the big fight!

Anyway, it's not going to be visible except through strong telescopes, but it's just kind of neat that as we're watching our fireworks here in the Good Ol' US of A, an even larger explosive event will be taking place millions of miles away at the same time.






Go get 'im, little guy.

FUTURAMA

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Friday, June 23, 2006 6/23/2006 03:49:00 PM

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FUTUR-FUCKING-RAMA.

I am gonna watch the shit out of my DVDs for the next year and a half.

Seriously. I might even skip presidential election coverage.

Okay, maybe not.

But FUTURAMA, BITCHES!!

Firefly: So, am I supposed to eat this?

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Monday, June 19, 2006 6/19/2006 10:00:00 AM

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As has been previously mentioned, I hit Firefly with the Madison A to Z folks recently, and you can find our collective thoughts on the establishment here.

I got there a few minutes before JM and Nichole, so I got the chance to relax and peruse the menu (it was, not unexpectedly, a little different from that displayed on their website). The staff were very friendly, and went back to the end of the dining area to make sure the rest of my party wasn't there. Nothing extravagant, but a polite touch that often gets left behind.

"Bright, but not always glowing" is a spectacular way of describing Firefly (not to mention poetic!). The ambiance is nice, hinting at formality, but the unique shape of the dining room makes it feel more quaint than imposing (think Noodles). The menu offers a wide variety of entrees, as well as appetizers and (unlisted) desserts that appeal to many cravings.

The problems came with the actual delivery of edible goods. As pictured on the A to Z review, the presentation was great. However, the garnish-splosion that graced my scallops left me a little perplexed; everything was edible, but was I supposed to eat it or just gaze at it, in awe? I did a little of both, and was not as amazed in the eating as I was in the gazing.

The entree itself was very tasty, quite bold for scallops, but it wasn't so fantastic as to merit the price. The scallops weren't particularly big. The wasabi mashed potatoes weren't particulaly wasabi-ish. The black bean garlic sauce wasn't particularly polite (tasted great, didn't always play well with others on the plate). Kind of the dictionary definition of a B+.

The bookends of my meal were, on the other hand, very satisfying. The Thai iced coffee was exactly what I hoped it would be when I ordered it (although I'm sure it wasn't made with ingredients as exotic as the name implied). The dessert (a green tea-swirled-with-chocolate cheesecake, on a chocolate crust) was really nice. If you've ever had green tea ice cream, you know how refreshing a mild green tea flavor can be when mixed with a sweet base. Plus, since it was from the last little bit of that pan, and kind of ugly (and since it was free), they gave me a slice and a half. Jackpot!

The drinks-and-dessert approach would, I think, be the best way to maximize your experience at Firefly. It seems like Firefly is continuing to evolve in the right direction, so I'm not pessimistic at all. Nevertheless, I'll stick to Eldorado Grill for my formal Food Fight experiences.

A good beer and some ribs

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Saturday, June 10, 2006 6/10/2006 09:45:00 AM

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Okay, so weeks later, I finally get around to telling you about my birthday dinner. That's all right, though, because I might still be digesting it.

A little biography first:

My dad was an actor, and one of his many roles was a small turn as Death in Stop the World I Want to Get Off! I had the benefit (as a very young man) of being a castmember's son, and as such I was given an equally small role (Little Littlechap, y'all! Represent). The play was put on at the Between the Locks stage. The building still stands, and has housed a number of businesses and a few eateries over the years.

So, other than one very short trip to the no-longer-with-us Dos Bandidos, my birthday dinner marked the first time I'd been in Between the Locks since I was about 5. It was a little surprising how familiar it felt, including the fact that we went in the back door rather than the front. It smelled the same. Wild.

The new establishment is Stone Cellar, most recently known as Adler Brau. They've got a really wide menu for a brew pub, and I was happily torn as to what entree to order.

It should be noted that my first beer of choice was a porter. If you're a porter purist, perhaps this would not be for you; it was surprisingly light, and didn't stick to the tongue like many dark beers can. It was very drinkable, if not totally faithful to the Fuller's London-style of porter.

Anyway, I went with the BBQ ribs in a crazy-good stout BBQ sauce. This is where the stick-to-your-mouth experience began. The sauce was clingy and sweet, with a definite stout presence, and the ribs were so well-cooked that nothing was left on the bone but teeth marks.

With my lovely rack of ribs, I enjoyed a special brew at Stone Cellar--the vanilla stout. Again, it was a fairly light drinker (for a stout), although it was thicker than the porter (as it should have been). The vanilla drew my attention, but didn't scream at me, and it was a great way to bring out the sweetness in the BBQ sauce.

I'm dropping the ball as to what I had for dessert (this is what I get for waiting so damn long to post this), but I know it was tasty.

The atmosphere at Between the Locks is very appealing; obviously, it has a quality that sticks with you over time. I'm hoping that Stone Cellar continues to thrive, because it's a great place to have a brew pub. If you're in the Appleton area, it's worth the safari into the middle of town to visit Stone Cellar. If I might borrow the grade scale of my friends at Eating in Madison A to Z, I'd give Stone Cellar a solid A. I will definitely be back, and at the risk of offending the fine folks at the Fox River Brewing Company, I'd like to say that that's how you craft a brew pub menu.
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