Member since 2005. Provider of unfiltered and honest opinions.

Warning: This diary may be inappropriate for the thin-skinned, easily offended or those who feel victimized by life in general.

So who/what am I? Among other things:
Epicure
Traveler
Polymath
Critic
Dog Rescue Advocate
Hospital & Healthcare Consultant

Latest Entry

Catching up…

August 18, 2018
The last several weeks have been terribly busy, between work, travel and having to divert to attend the funeral for Joël Robuchon.  Will try to get on more frequently, but just a quick note to say I am alive and well.  
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Recent Entries

  • Rednecks & Fireworks…
    July 4, 2018
    They say the most common last words of a Redneck are, "Hey, y'all, watch me do this!"  So the 4th presents the perfect opportunity for self-inflicted trauma.  Deep-frying a turkey on Thanksgiving, with the attendant risks of setting themselves, and the house, on fire must be a close second. The J...
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  • Some places still get customer service…
    July 2, 2018
    My luggage takes a beating, as I usually fly twice a week.  Years ago I started buying Tumi bags, as they have superior craftsmanship, and will usually take about 2-3 years of abuse.  Most other brands, like Samsonite, etc. might give you half that.  (Yet they are now owned by Samsonite!)  The ol...
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  • 55-60% of your body is fluid, but your gender isn’t…
    July 1, 2018
    The science is settled. The two biological sexes (and there are only two) are broadly (though by no means perfectly) coterminous with gender. This holds for nearly every species in the animal kingdom, even us, and for all societies on Earth. Close to 100 per cent of the human race is born with a ...
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  • TOTW26: Am I a water person?
    June 30, 2018
    My happiest times are spent in a city of water.  I often say that my veins run with the waters of Łaguna de Venesia - the Venetian Lagoon.  I love being near the water (which is good, as it's never very far away in Venice).   Floating along a silent canal in a gondola, or crossing…
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  • Asset 5
    50 Shades of Rosé…
    June 24, 2018
    Last night we drank a bottle of 2017 Bermejo Listán Negro Rosado from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.  I can only describe this as a Rosé that drinks like a Red.  Such wonderful complexity, nuance and balance - with a unique minerality from the volcanic soil.  The environment there means that di...
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  • Asset 5
    TOTW23: First childhood memory…
    June 13, 2018
    February 9, 1969 I can be specific about the date, because it was a blizzard that paralyzed NYC for days.  I was 2 years and 10 months old.  15 inches of snow fell, and traffic disappeared.  I recall looking out the window at the falling snow, watching it blanket Central Park. My father helped me...
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  • There, I’ve said it…
    June 11, 2018
    Anthony Bourdain was NOT a nice person.  I know several people who have known and worked with him for decades.  Pre- and post-fame, sober and strung out on heroin.  And they all have said that his television persona was a complete act.  In reality, the terms most often used to describe him were, ...
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  • Nothing isn’t free…
    June 6, 2018
    Apparently, the cost of Nothing is $2.50 a liter in New York City.  I now know this, as I bought some prior to a meeting.
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  • Let them eat cake elsewhere…
    June 5, 2018
    Much Sturm und Drang from the Snowflakes over the Supreme Court decision regarding a wedding cake.  I think the court is a crowd of out-of-touch geriatrics, but even so, baked goods discussions are not the best use of their time.  Perhaps it’s my Libertarian streak, but I don’t think the baker, J...
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