Two things that are warm, flat and good

The Ollie:
Grill Bread:
I made a batch of pizza dough and smooshed it out flat. I rubbed a bit of oil on it. I threw it on a hot grill. Lindz and I made sandwiches out of it for dinner: grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and pesto. French green beans steamed in a foil pouch with onions and vermouth constituted the side dish (all the cooking was done on the grill). Purdy good.
Naturally, the Ollie is quite rich, but very nice.

Rosemary Boule

Suisin 210mm Gyutou

Ahh, there's nothing like a new knife. Lindz has yet to fathom my consuming fascination with cutlery, much less my newfound desire to know all about Japanese cutlery. This knife was made in Sakai, near Osaka. It is the Suisin Nihon-ko Western Style Gyutou, 210 millimeters in length. It is of carbon steel, so this is the only time anyone will ever see it shine. I prepared dinner with it, and it has already begun to develop its gray patina. It is half the weight and thickness of a European knife of the same length. It is perfectly balanced and wicked sharp. My Viking knife (Ringil) is a good knife, but it is the opposite of this Suisin. The Viking (made in Solingen, Germany) is heavy, thick and well balanced. The Suisin (I have decided to name it Usagi, the Japanese word for rabbit. Yes, I know this is intolerably nerdy) is light, thin and perfectly balanced. I like them both. This Japanese piece, however, seems to approach the "extension of your hand" experience much more closely. The shape of the blade is more to my liking as well. I will have to become familiar with it, and, more importantly, learn how to keep it sharp -- a Sakai knifesmith grinds a different edge on his wares than a Solingen one.

One Hundred and Three Friggin' Degrees Today

No more needs to be said.

Summatime

One of my wife's fashion magazines had an article about some alleged fashion "trends" or "looks." These included "Deco," "Anglomania," "Modern Gamine," and our favorite, "Biker Luxe." Naturally, they were each accompanied by photo of an anorexic, hollow-cheeked model dressed in a ridiculous combination of overpriced clothes. Perhaps it's in style somewhere, but we just got a laugh out of it. Anyway, I named a cocktail after it. Lindz had made pomegranate sorbet, and I combined it with some Absolut Mandarin in a stemmed glass. I present the Biker Luxe:

Earlier in the week, Lindz and I went to a concert. This shaky picture is of the talented and excellent Ben Folds, who played before John Mayer. It was a hell of a good show. Mr. Folds really knows how to get the crowd into it. He and his band played a haunting rendition of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit." Mr. Mayer is one hell of a good blues guitar player.

However, Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek is a different story. Once you're inside, it's nice. The connection (or lack thereof) to major streets is a problem. I propose a way to save the American taxpayer a ton of money: Take all the prisoners out of the expensive, overcrowded jails and put them all in the parking lot of Alltel pavilion at the end of a concert. THERE IS NO ESCAPE. Alcatraz was probably easier than it was for us to get home that night. Well, maybe that plan needs a little more work. Anyway, the traffic sucked.

Boo-hoo for us. Life is tough for us. As a gangster rapper once said, "If you ain't never been to tha burbs, then stay tha f##k outta tha burbs, cuz you wouldn't unnastand tha burbs."