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My mother and I went to Blue Smoke, a barbecue place owned by Danny Meyer, who also owns the Union Square Cafe, Eleven Madison Park, and the Gramercy Tavern, among numerous others ranging from hot-dog chains to the most elegant dining in New York. And we have Blue Smoke. Southern food done just right. Comfort food to the max. Real (really _good_) fried chicken, perfect ribs, pulled pork, mashed potatoes with write-home-about gravy, and delectable cornbread muffins. While it is a comparatively short menu there are other items which I'm sure are every bit as good as what we had (fried chicken and ribs). This place is a real winner.

If you're ever in New York, the first three restaurants I'd recommend for food excellence are Blue Smoke (117 E 27th, which features the above food), Rosa Mexicano (1063 First Avenue, which features the best, most authentic, most gourmet Mexican you can find anywhere), and Vatan (409 Third Avenue, which features fantastic Indian vegetarian prix-fixe meals). Out of the lot, Rosa Mexicano is by far the most expensive; I don't think anyone could afford for this to be everyday Mexican but, OH MY, you could almost convince yourself to die for this food.

Blue Smoke also houses the happenin' jazz club the Jazz Standard in its basement. I have yet to go but the lineup I saw looked decent if a bit mainstream/traditional (I definitely lean toward the electric fusion side of things--witness my favorite jazz band, Flatland, whom you can find recordings of on adamgottschalk.net and citizenproductions.com (sup Don!)); the food alone though at Blue Smoke makes it well worth the trip any old time.

*CSS*

This week I've been teaching myself CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which is a web-programming language I should've learned _years_ ago. I'm proud that I can already do it, quite well in fact. In essence it allows you to control the layout of web pages and their content independently. If you have a web site with hundreds of pages, this is a huge blessing: if you want to change the look of your web site, all you have to do is change a single file (the CSS style sheet) and every page on your site changes. Even if you have a relatively small site, this is a boon. But the best part is that you can control how your web site works and looks with the precision of a laser as opposed to a hand grenade. Nobody who designs for the web should be without CSS. The table layout method I used for so long, which many still use, is nothing short of barbaric.

Please take a look: http://www.lordsjester.com. Nota bene: Do not use Internet Explorer; if you do, the site won't look right. For some reason Microsoft refuses to support the CSS standards that all other browsers support, Firefox, Mozilla, Safari, etc. To learn the CSS that I did I scoured numerous programming web sites and forums; it is nearly a universal rule that, "The following script will work in every browser known to man _except_ Internet Explorer." The company that excels in making software for everyman can't even bring themselves to do CSS right. Monumental bit of stupidity is that. My new site site is just the way I like it (in every browser known to man _except_ Internet Explorer): simple, minimalist, and elegant. Check it out and let me know what you think.

*NY*

This week my brother's best friend and an old friend of mine came over to rap and get some dinner. We decided to go to The Ultimate Pizza, an Italian place right around the corner. He decided to walk over there (he wanted to see a menu) and as he was writing down what I wanted we had a conversation that went something like this,

"Okay, so a calzone with 'rig-ot' and mushrooms. What else?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, you don't want a salad?"

"No thanks."

"Come on. It's good for you."

"No, really."

"How about a drink? You want a soda or something?"

"No, I got beer in the fridge."

"How about dessert? You want some cannoli?"

"No, I'm good."

"You serious? That's all you want? One calzone?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well, fuck me."

The above interlude I would characterize as 100% New York City.

*Screen*

Watch this tear-jerker of a short movie called "What is That?:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNK6h1dfy2o

_____

This week I watched David Letterman for the first time in years. The man still makes me laugh out loud, which is especially precious to me now. Also, I suddenly realized why I watched him every single night in high school: unlike all the other talk-show hosts, Letterman is a _New Yorker_. He embodies and speaks for most of us. His zany, off-kilter ways are _SO_ New York. It's a trip to be watching a live show and know that the whole thing is happening just a few blocks away. I've started watching him again and realize it's very important for my well being that I do--guaranteed laughs are much needed by my soul.

*Poem*

Virginia Dare

The very first American ever born

was a girl born to colonists

named Virginia Dare.

I can't imagine

a more perfect name

for the first American,

even if I could choose

any name I wished.

Virginia Dare is the one

I would want.

In that name is

perfectly captured

what it means to be

in America's embrace

your whole life through,

is captured the irrepressible

character of Americans,

is captured the pure poetry

this nation is at its heart.

The fact that a girl named

Virginia Dare was the first of us

makes me prouder than ever

to be who I am.

*Teachers*

The first guitar teacher I found in Seattle that I stuck with was a fellow named Brain Oates (whom I recently befriended on Facebook). He was an excellent teacher, especially considering he was quite young when I studied with him. One of the main reasons I really liked him is that when he heard I was a singer he did not shy away from vocals and encouraged both my jazz guitar and my singing; his view (it's more a fact than a point of view) was that the one would positively influence and reinforce the other. That encouragement did me a lot of good, though I was already engrossed in Community College (which I took very seriously) and never gave Brian half the homework time I should have. His supporting my singing made me more confident though, and gave me courage to seek out a jazz-vocals instructor.

That instructor was one Kelley Johnson who is to this day quite a successful jazz singer based in Seattle (http://www.kelleyjohnson.com); I'm also friends with Kelley on Facebook and in real life--she sang at the reception for my ill-fated marriage. She taught me more about singing than I ever learned anywhere else. She also taught me more about what it takes to be a real musician. I studied weekly with Kelley for almost two years. During that time my progress went up and down; again, taking college seriously prevented me from doing much else. What I prize most about my studies with Kelley is that she helped me to envision what it might actually be like to be a jazz singer. I will always love her for that.

*Quiz*

The 'real "true colors"' quiz on Facebook gave me a very accurate result. I am blue (and I am not making this stuff up):

Blue values:

Sensitivity

Harmony

Compassion

Joys:

Romance

Friendships

Affection

Strengths:

Nurturer

Sincere

Creativity

Needs:

Understanding

Love

Affection

Frustrations:

Lack of Romance [!!!]

Disharmony

Time Limits

At work you have a strong desire to influence others so they may lead more significant lives. You often work in the arts, communication, education, and helping professions. You are adept at motivating and interacting with others

In love you seek harmonious relationships. You are a true romantic and believe in perfect love that lasts forever. You bring drama, warmth, and empathy to relationships. You enjoy symbols of romance such as flowers, candlelight, and music an cherish the small gestures of love.

In childhood you were extremely imaginative and found it difficult to fit into the structure of school life. You reacted with great sensitivity to discordance or rejection and sought recognition. You responded to encouragement.

*Quotations*

With this kind of success your ego wants to take all the credit. But your heart reminds your soul that it was your heart that had you slaving and creating in the studio making the music.

--Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas on their breaking a billboard chart record

After a full belly all is poetry.

--Frank McCourt

There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.

--Ogden Nash

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

--Chinese proverb

A clear conscience is a soft pillow.

--German proverb

A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.

--English proverb

Nothing makes one so vain as being told one is a sinner. Conscience makes egotists of us all.

--Oscar Wilde

The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.

--Gandhi

The still small voice is wanted.

--William Cowper

Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength to prevent, it seldom has justice enough to accuse.

--Oliver Goldsmith

*Poem*

New York

is not for most people.

Those who were born and raised here

invariably have New York

forever on the mind and

in the blood.

Even those transplants

who love it when they first get here

eventually become disenchanted and

scurry back to where they came from.

New York is a unique way

of seeing the world and

the people in it,

a tenacious way of not standing

for the mediocre,

of saying out loud,

"The emperor, um, he ain't got no clothes,"

a diehard way of generally

standing up for what is right

(no matter the hot water it may invite),

and it represents friendships

that will not ever die.

As with fried liver,

a lasting taste for it is rarely if ever

acquired when it wasn't there

to begin with.

New York is just not

meant for most people.

And New Yorkers like it that way.

*Politics*

By Jason Palmer for the BBC:

"The coming age of lorries that drive themselves or robots that perform surgery is fraught with legal and ethical issues, says a new report. The Royal Academy of Engineering says that automated freight transport could be on the roads in as few as 10 years. Also, it says, robotic surgery will begin to need less human intervention. But it suggests that much debate is needed to address the ethical and legal issues raised by putting responsibility in the hands of machines. "We're all used to automatic systems--lifts, washing machines. We're talking about levels above that," said Lambert Dopping-Heppenstal of the Academy's engineering ethics working group. "It's about systems that have some level of self-determination."

"Issues surrounding autonomous systems and robots with such self-determination have been discussed for a number years, particularly with regard to the autonomous machines of warfare. However, the era of autonomous road vehicles and surgeons is slowly becoming reality, making the issues more urgent, the report says. The removal of direct control from a car's driver is already happening, with anti-lock braking systems and even automatic parking systems becoming commonplace. But the next step is moving toward completely driverless road vehicles, which already exist in a number of contexts, including London's Heathrow Airport.

"The Darpa Grand Challenge, a contest sponsored by the US defence department's research arm, has driverless cars negotiating traffic and obstacles and obeying traffic rules over courses nearly 100km long. "Those machines would have passed the California driving test, more than I would have," said Professor Will Stewart, a fellow of the Academy. "Autonomous vehicles will be safer. One of the compelling arguments for them is that the machine cannot have an argument with its wife; it can run 24 hours a day without getting tired. But it is making decisions on its own." Professor Stewart and report co-author Chris Elliott remain convinced that autonomous systems will prove, on average, to be better surgeons and better lorry drivers than humans are.

"But when they are not, it could lead to a legal morass, they said. "If a robot surgeon is actually better than a human one, most times you're going to be better off with a robot surgeon," Dr Elliott said. "But occasionally it might do something that a human being would never be so stupid as to do." Professor Stewart concluded: "It is fundamentally a big issue that we think the public ought to think through before we start trying to imprison a truck.""

Peace love and ATOM jazz