CT Rambling

Random Thoughts With Robo – How To Be A Better restaurant patron

I can already hear a couple of you snickering in the back who took the under. “Not even 5 posts in and he is already blogging about the restaurant business. Who does Carbunkle Trumpet think that he fucking is……Anthony Bourdain?“

Way back before online shopping, or even the internet, people used to shop “virtually” back in the day via a catalogue. Want to know something even crazier. We used to mail the order form in, along with payment (check or cashiers check) to that company. I am going to lose some of you with the next sentence, but humor me. After you mailed off your order to that company about 6 to 8 weeks a box would arrive to your house with the order in perfect packaging without any tracking or email notifications.

I know, you are probably thinking that it is time to put Carbunkle to bed because he is rambling again but honestly that his how we used to shop from home. Now when you would go to a department store in Memphis you would either head to Goldsmiths, Sears, or Fred P Gattas Company.

Ok, Ok, Ok, let me get to the point. I hear your grumbling that I am going off on another tangent there RMT and KLCMan. Stop yelling at me from your snow fort.

Mr. Gattas had a particular hiring test for any new salesperson or manager. When he had to do the final interview he would always make sure that their meeting or interview would happen over lunch. I don’t care if you were conceived with the sole purpose of working for the catalogue showroom. It didn’t matter that you had top honors at Memphis State and were being groomed to run a fortune 500 company. If you salted or peppered your food before tasting it, yo ass was not getting a job with Fred P Gattas Company. And that secret has been in the vault for a number of years.

I will go one further.

Coach Bob Stephenson, may he rest in peace, was the former athletic director at Christian Brothers University. He also would he take any future coach or staff member to lunch on Thursday. Where did you go have lunch with Coach you ask? You were going to Barkesdale Restaurant in Cooper Young District because they were serving Chicken Livers. Coach wasn’t so much making sure that you salted or peppered your food but if you were going to order a ‘meat and three’ from the daily special. If you did then you had the job. Now if you were going to wimp out and order a burger. Or even worse, ordering the 14 dollar salad, then I don’t know what would happen. Full Disclosure, I don’t like chicken livers but the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and fried green tomatoes were excellent. Yes, that is how I was named the first head trainer at CBU and they only paid me a paltry $5K. And I took the position and was happy as a clam.

So here is is Random Thoughts With Robo – The next time you are eating a meal with people, pay attention to their eating habits and or dining mannerisms. Do they automatically salt their food before tasting? Trust me, you can learn a lot about how a person will act by the way that they handle themselves at the table.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Random Thoughts With Robo – Am I Really THAT Southern?

I acknowledge a couple of things these past 6 months after doing some New Years Day self reflection. First of all, the bulk of the content for this worthless dribble has pretty much been our adventures in New York and on vacation. Some of you are probably are tired of “oh look here is a picture of us by the worlds largest ball of yarn” post and I am fine with that.

So what am I going to blog about? Where the latest Kroger shopping carts are located on the streets of downtown Savannah? Don’t laugh, but there already is an Instagram account for that. I am surprised that the Kroger on Gwinnett is still in business because there are more shopping carts in the surrounding neighborhood than in the grocery store.

I could talk about the number of trains that go screaming by the Park and Broad intersection in the morning. This, by the way, is primary ~~excuse~~ reason that all of my fellow “Fresh Praline” cart selling work family is late to work for the 10AM Line Up call.

What do I do? Wait I got an idea.

Back in the fall I would get on the Snapchat (yes I have a Snapchat account) and give a “Random Thoughts With Robo” post to my 5 followers. Every weekend I would share brief moments of brilliance that I would get when I took my first hit off of my freshly cut Perdomo Cabinet Series Churchill cigar. Some of what I was putting down, I have to admit, was some monumental shit. The latest was that Geranium is now wearing a Caftan and I have a velour track suit coming from Temu this week. I also spoke about being nice to everyone because this is an election year and it is going to be a rough one.

So ,the plan is for me to give you a brief weekly or maybe twice a week post of “Random Thoughts With Robo” I don’t know who that Robo fucker is but I hope he doesn’t mind me plagiarizing the hell out of him.

Random Thoughts With Robo Savannah Edition – I was on the phone today with my spiritual advisor. She doesn’t know that, but when we talk on the phone we pretty much pick up right where we left off. She is in a really cool orbit that ranges from Belize all the way up to Indiana and I really appreciate that she includes me in her circle. The first time I formally met her was when I showed up on a Sunday morning to her B&B on San Pedro with charcoal, tin cans, some Belikin beer, a lighter, a cigar and BBQ’d 12 chickens in her backyard. She still loves to share that story with friends because it was just a normal day in Belize. Then IGA Ken, Brussle Sprout dropped by and then Chunky and Ruth stepped in to help me shred chicken in her kitchen and it was a party. But I digress….

Today I am on the phone with her and offering advice on how to cure that hated burning when you pee sensation. After a lengthy give and take on the situation, symptoms and possible cure, I was offering her some suggestions when I smelled something from the kitchen. Without missing a step I said “hold on Kitty, HEY Geranium!!!! can you check on the bacon, I think it is burning” and returned to our previous discussion without missing a beat.

This led Kitty into hysterical laughter which she said “Only you could say that in the middle of a serious conversation!” This later led me to think; am I really as cornbread southern as my friends and family from New York say that I am?

Let me tell you, I got roasted by a lot of people on Manhattan for my southern accent. From the point that some people felt that I was mocking them because I would default say “Yes/No Mam/Sir” regardless if they are older or younger than I was. Trust me, this was a big thing for some old school New Yorkers. Then there were the “Oh you must be from Texas” folks who don’t know the difference between a Mississippi Southern Delta accent from a Southern Arkansas accent. By the way, I have a fraternity brother who would take 3 days to say the pledge of allegiance because (love you JD Walt) he spoke that fucking slow in his southern Arkansas accent.

So I guess that my accent is really profound. I know that Long Island Sam used to give me “My Cousin Vinnie” quotes and trust me when he visited Southaven MS for work you should have seen the messages I got from him. I also know that my Staten Island brother from another mother would giggle at some of my “Roboism’s” but I guess that is time that I have to embrace it.

Oh and for you remaining New Yorkers who are still on this thing. When someone says “Bless Your Heart” it isn’t a good thing.

So that is it. Let me know if you like this new direction. I am trying to keep the word count low so you can read this on your deck in Chicago smoking a cig or sitting on the can because I plan on still posting in the morning.

Going through some old pictures and found this one. Still was a good meal even though the cost of Ubers were double the price of dinner.

Back when I was beer butt smoking some chickens in the common area of Changes in Latitudes B&B on Ambergris Caye. I started laughing when Cindy came down with the heads for the chickens.

Trying to download old pictures is getting to be a pain in the butt. Anyway I plan on posting on Tuesday Mornings as I take the Dot Bus downtown to sell “Fresh Pralines” let me know what you think.

Last Croatia Post – Final Dinner, Drinks, and one helluva end to a great vacation

More pictures of Split then we will get into the last dinner.

We found out that when dining in Croatia the portion sizes were HUGE and pretty much each meal we had left overs. We threw it into the water for the fish but we decided to cut back. Our last night we were having day drinks at this nice restaurant and our waiter asked us if we had dinner plans. Our waiter was really cool and we said, sure, we will come back and dine with you.

When I say that he gave us menus and then took them from us and said, I am going to set up your meal.

Share 3 Appetizers
Add the 2 Main Entree Pasta dishes as your pasta course.
Nice Salad to Clean the Palate
You have 5 guests so I am going to order 3 Entrees and have them split up for you.
Only 2 Desserts and 1 Cheese Course
Wine to be served for each course.

What the Hell, bring it on!

No Idea what this was but whatever it was, it was damn good.

I guess I only took pictures of the entrees. They were good. Fish Entree

Beef Entrée and the slaw was so unique too!

I was not partaking in an espresso martini this evening.

So here is where the evening went really deep. It was at this time that we were drunk enough and our waiter (who had been taking nips of wine) sat down and wanted to have a deep conversation. Dude asked me “So all Americans love MAGA right?” Which turned into a huge discussion how no self respecting MAGA person would leave the USA. It was ‘us liberals’ who like to travel abroad. It was an Anthony Bourdain moment for sure. The above were our notes about Tito, the history of Croatia, what is next for Croatia and what is next for the US.

Total Bill with all wine, booze, food, and aperitifs was about $60 bucks per person. James or Weed – correct me if I am wrong

Best trip we have ever had in our life. It has been months since the trip but reading and looking at the pictures only makes me miss Croatia even more. If you want information on how to book this, ask Geranium. She did it all!

Psst Hey Buddy, Let Me Tell You A Secret….

That was Richard our Main Doorman at Coleman Towers seven years ago. The rest went like this…

“If you want a happy NYC home then go find you a Bodega Flower Guy, befriend him and tip heavily. They will tell you what flowers are the freshest and will last an entire week. The Bodega Flower Guy is in my opinion, more important than the Dope Dealer.”

I have to admit, it takes patience seeking the trusted advice of the Flower Bodega guy. Upper East Side I had a great one. Brooklyn we kind of suffered there but Brooklyn Fare had some good ones but they were EXPENSIVE. When we were in Hells Kitchen – Forget about it, I ended up walking over to Whole Foods and they had a great selection. Now that we are are in FiDi, the offerings of a Bodega are slim but I slip up to Chelsea to get groceries and then I found Hector.

Hector until this Saturday was my guy. He screwed me on this last purchase and I will have to tell him when I Cosmo Kramer return the blue hydrangeas because they were pitiful on Day 2. I should mention that we just turned on our heat and the weather has been wonky so this one may have gotten by Hector’s approval.

What is funny about having a flower guy is that even though I may have a request of a certain flower by Geranium I have been shot down by Hector and told to buy something else. Naturally there is some disappointment but Geranium loves that they last a whole week and smell even better. There was a spell of me buying Tulips and Easter Lillies and and we changed it up by buying a Orchid when we send my mother one for Mothers Day and special occasions.

I am sure that there are some of you who are thinking “You drink your dinner Carbunkle?” this is not such a big deal, “suck it up Buttercup.” Sorry but $20 Bucks a week with $5 to $10 for a tip over a year adds up. So naturally there is a little pressure on Hector but he really let me down. I mean now I have to break up with him. He better give me the next one on him or it is “He Gone!”

I mean you have to know what you are looking for when you head to the corner Bodega.

Seriously these can cost anywhere from $5 up to $30 bucks. In the flower shops….triple the cost but you don’t get a vase with the Bodega guy, unless you need one.

By the way, when they put up the weather shields there is maybe a foot clearance and is damn near impossible for more than 1 person to be looking for flowers.

These are from my nearby Grocery Store. They are nice but VERY expensive and I have yet to find a bouquet that would last more than a weekend.

This is what they looked on Saturday night and I started to have doubts. Oh and I got the Vase and Rocks from Walmart so suck it folks.

This was in the morning and we are starting to see wilted flowers. Oh and yes I dunked the whole flower in cold ass water for 5 minutes to try to revive them. Hector, I am returning this tomorrow ala George Costanza trying to return soup at a Diner.

I will keep you posted. Meanwhile can anyone recommend me a good Flower Guy in FiDi or Chelsea?

The Best of New York by Carbunkle Trumpet

Another subtitle of this post should be “Your sisters ass! That is not the best!” because I am going to get some potential comments from the peanut gallery.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and that nobody is learning how to open up ketchup bottles with their elbows or feet. I came up with this post a couple of years ago and I figured that given we have moved 4 times in almost 7 years I have a ‘fair’ understanding of some of the “Best of New York” So lets get into shall we…

The Best Bagels in New York (Might as well upset the apple cart right off the bat) with this category.

There are some who say that H&H is the best.
There are some who say that Best Bagels on 37th Street is Number One
Staten Island Sam swears that there is a bagel joint over on the island of Staten that is worth taking the ferry.
Former NY/NJ resident San Pedro Scoop swears by Murrays in Chelsea.
Other notables are Tompkins Square, Tal Bagels, and Bagel Works in the UES
However, I feel that the fellas over at Smith Street Bagels in Cobble Hill Brooklyn edge everyone out by a hair. Make sure you order – Everything Bagel, NOT Toasted, Scooped, Scallion Cream Cheese, Add Lox, Red Onion and a bottle of Hal Seltzer. (You are welcome)

Best Deli/Sandwich Shop for a Hoagie/Hero (I am not debating the name here folks)

Defonte’s in Red Hook Brooklyn (first lunch I ever had in New York) is right up there. So good
Katz, Pastrami Queen, Ben’s Kosher – I could spend hours on this this one.
I tried Pisillo Italian Panini on Nassau Street and that also is a good one as well.
Tourists swear by Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli next to the Ed Sullivan thanks to David Letterman but I have not tried it.
I have not been there but Cugine swears by John’s Deli in Brooklyn. Same for Federoffs Roasted Pork in Brooklyn.
I am not even looping Lenwich or Pot Belly into this category, stay in your lane.
But in my Humble Opinion down in the West Village is Fiacco’s On Bleeker street is the Best. The Italian Hero is so good as well as the Chicken Cutlet, Fresh Mozzarella and Roasted Red Peppers. Also if they have the Roast Beef with Broccoli Rabe get that as well.

Best Place to Take Out of Towners on the Cheap (if you have one that I missed please speak up)

Staten Island Ferry (hear me out Mr. 3 First Names before you blow up my phone) for cheap 2X4’s of beer that you can drink on board and you get a great view of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan.
Long Island City over in Queens or take the Tram to Roosevelt Island – here you can get killer views of midtown Manhattan and it is a very nice place to walk around.
Double Decker Buses originating from Times Square – We have done this a couple times and I have to say you get an audio tour of Manhattan as you travel either uptown or downtown. You can also hop off but I would suggest you don’t because you almost never get back on the bus.
Times Square/Brooklyn Bridge – if you have to go there then do it in the morning when the crowds are not as prevalent. And yes Native New Yorkers despise going into Times Square. Probably at the height of the pandemic it was so strange to see it so empty.
Again I could go on for hours but I think that (and you have to study up) but when the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a special you should go during the summer and check out the rooftop on a Friday.

Best Dive or otherwise Classic New York Institution Bar (so going to take shit for this one from SO many) Now this category is very dear to my heart because I love me a good Dive Bar. The translation of a dive bar can be loosely categorized but to me dim lighting and a certain je ne sais quoi of the smell makes a dive bar. Oh and cash only bars too!

Rudy’s in Hell’s Kitchen – Look for the pig on 9th Avenue and get a free hotdog
Jimmy’s Corner in Times Square (yes I am going big balls here folks) best cheap drinks in Manhattan and thank God his son kept Jimmy’s open after we lost him to Covid.
Iggy’s in the UES – spent many a time in this one folks. It reminds me of Max’s Sports Bar but on Steroids. Oh and they have Karaoke at night too!
Billy Mark’s West – Bourdain loved this place
Subway Inn – Another Bourdain favorite and very good at Buy Backs.
Nancy Whisky Pub in Chelsea – My 6’9″ fraternity brother and I solved a lot of problems in this bar before Covid.
If you find yourself out on Rockaway make sure you swing by Connolly’s for a frozen drink.
Hanks in Brooklyn (NOW CLOSED) this place was great but they moved it to a new location and naturally you can’t re-create that dive bar feel.
Brooklyn Ice House in Red Hook or Sunny’s Bar also in Red Hook – really good dive bar
Old Town Tavern – Not so much a dive bar but a great NY institution. Old School bartenders who don’t mince words.
The Campbell – In Grand Central Station – just bring lots of cash
I literally could go on for hours and not even have to text Mr. 3 First Names or Lady Barrister for the names of the others I have forgotten so here goes. Best Dive Bar has to be Milano’s on Houston Street for that classic Beer and a Shot. Now for New York Institution I have a tie (one stole the concept from the other one so they are the same) and it goes to The Commissioner in Park Slope and Whisky Tavern in Chinatown. You can’t beat them and the staff is always on top of their game.

Best Pulled Pork, Ribs, BBQ Chicken, Sausage & Cheese Plate in New York

There isn’t one, the same can be said for finding the best bagel in Memphis TN.
No seriously, there isn’t and the same can be said for Cajun food, I have not found any that are as good as in NOLA.

So how are we doing folks? You ready to see an all out war of comments on my social Media Pages? So without further adieu Best Pizza (Slice or Whole) in New York.

Joe’s (multiple locations) have plenty of tourists flocking to them for a simple slice
John’s of Bleeker – whole pizza only and this is a good one as well.
I have heard a lot of people talk about Rizzo’s in Astoria Queens but have not been there yet. Yo Stagie and Tater’s Mom can you confirm this for me please?
Now our trusted Consigliere Maria swears by her beloved DiFara in Midwood Brooklyn and I have had this and it is a good one for sure.
Whit’s End in Rockaway is a good one, quirky but good.
Same for Grotto Pizza down the street from us but there can only be one at the top.
I have to thank our former doorman Luciano for this suggestion but NY Pizza Suprema tucked right behind MSG gave us the best slice and whole pie. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

No comments about the ketchup on my hotdog, I was at a weak moment in my life.

Hey Kid, get the F out of here with that Crap!

So feel free to let me know your thoughts, obviously I didn’t go too deep in the Best of the Best but I hope that you had a fun read.

The Return of the Worthless Dribble

You know it is bad when you are getting grief from Homeless Jenny for not blogging. It isn’t that I didn’t want to post here, I didn’t really have any content. I mean the premise of the blog was that I would showcase our New York adventures and well, we didn’t do much the past 15 months. But just like a case of herpes, the blog returns.

If you haven’t been keeping up, we moved again!!! We left Hells Kitchen/Hudson Yards in May and found us a Baller apartment in FiDi (Financial District) right next to the New York Stock Exchange. Because of the huge supply of apartments in Manhattan we were able to secure a 1 bedroom (with an actual door) apartment with a wraparound terrace for a 2 year lease with 7 months free. That net rate put our current rent about $100 more than what we were spending for a terrace so we were fools not to take advantage of it.

We took our time decorating and adding a couple new pieces but now the Bud Fox baller pad is ready for pictures and for people. We have already had Vivian and Stone over for dinner and this afternoon Mr. 3 First Names and Lady Barrister are coming over for afternoon libations. So here is the nickle tour.

Entry Hall when you open the door. This is also my office Monday – Friday

Yes we have a Mudroom. I know this is foreign to a lot of New Yorkers but we had the space and why not?

The Crap Closet with Out of Season Clothes and Coolers

Now a Must Have – In Suite Washer and Dryer

Yes we have a Proper Bar. The last time I had one of these was when I owned 595.

Long Hallway into the Kitchen/Bedroom and rest of house

Bedroom that we can make Ball Shrinking Cold at Night. Yes we did pair down and swapped the King for a Queen Bed.

Those Ugly Ikea Shelves have survived yet another move.

Kitchen with the easy Bake Oven and another apartment without a Garbage Disposal

All of of the Playbills that we plan on adding to in September when Broadway returns

Got the TV Hung on the first day and we will find something to go in this spot to hide the cord

Geranium’s office and the first time in 15 months that we are not on top of each other trying to work. Our productivity has been great since we have moved here.

Yeah it is kind of a hot mess but this is the grilling area with our George Foreman Electric Grill “Guido”

How cool is having drinks out here when the weather is nice?

So there she is. We estimate that we have about 700 square feet and with the Terrace it is HUGE compared to the shoe boxes we have lived in before. So who is coming up for a long weekend?

New York is back and so is the worthless dribble. Homeless Jenny come on up!

What Neighborhood Do You Live in Again?

There is a common misconception about the neighborhoods here in York. People think that these neighborhoods are huge when some can only be a city block.

UES, UWS, FiDi, SoHo, these are all well known neighborhoods on Manhattan. When I would tell people I lived in the UES which is true but we were actually living in the Lennox Hill neighborhood. Do you actually know where this in Manhattan? So I kept it simple.

When we moved to Downtown Brooklyn it was the same. Where our address was if I walked across the street I was in Boerum Hill, I cross Flatbush and I was in Fort Greene, two blocks away and I was in Cobble Hill.

So here in Manhattan we have the same neighborhood shrinkage. The Diamond District is only a long block long. The Flower District is maybe a short block long. Little Italy is basically one street now.

So when we landed on W37th we were between 9th and 10th avenues. The Leasing agent said we were in Midtown West. That is technically right but if I walk a block West I am in Hudson Yards. I walk one block East and I am the Garment District. The Fire Station that is behind our building boasts they are Hell’s Kitchen’s Finest. Then if I walk 5 South I am in Chelsea.

The Back of our Building from W38th Street

The Apartment that is behind our balcony. Or as DJ Bobby calls it “Its the Led Zeppelin Album Cover”

Every time They Dispatch We Have To Drink!

So Maria, what is it? Where the Hell Do we Live and in what neighborhood?

If You Can Have Dinner With 2 People (Living/Dead) Who Are You Eating With?

I had a lot of people who were excited about reading last Friday’s post about where you were first going after this madness is over. So I asked the same folks who reported back a different question.

“You can have dinner at a restaurant or at home. You can invite 2 people to break bread with. Either of these people can be living or dead but the caveat is that one person has to be a New Yorker. So who are you dining with and where you going to eat?”

I will start – I am dining at Balthazar ordering the Seafood Tower to start with. For my New York Guest I am sitting with the late Anthony Bourdain because I have always wanted to pick his brain on the way things are now (prior to COVID-19) and thank him for hating on Vegetarians. The other person is the late Chef Paul Bocuse of Lyon France. Bourdain idolized him and I want to learn about how things were for him. You see I got my start in the restaurant business working at Chez Philippe in the Peabody and talk about a tough environment.

Shawneen from Middle Village – JOHN LENNON – a New Yorker by choice. He fought tooth and nail to stay in New York; he said that at one point in history Paris was the place to be, but in the 1970’s, New York was the place to be and he wanted to be here. His political views were profoundly before his time and considered dangerous to the point that the FBI had a file on him. Imagine all the people, sharing all the world? This might still be a dangerous idea today, sadly. When I saw the movie “Yesterday”, I laughed and sang along and just enjoyed the what if – until the scene where the main character is sent to visit the seaside cottage of a seafaring man with round spectacles. I cried my eyes out. If The Beatles had not been famous, John Lennon would not have died. I want a bottle of red, fried calamari, eggplant parmesan (cause that’s how we do it in the boroughs) and conversation with John Lennon all night long. For the second person And since this is my fantasy – my second guest would be DONALD TRUMP (but not for the whole night -just for an hour). Because I don’t think Trump could sit across from John effin Lennon and not still believe that all the people could be sharing all the world. PERSONALLY I THINK I SHOULD JUST STOP NOW BECAUSE SHE WON TODAY FUCKING BRILLIANT!
LJZ – Having dinner at Oceana with her husband and Dr. Fauci
Don Bruni – having dinner with Sammy Davis Jr and Jackie Gleason
AV The Russian – Her Father (New Yorker) and Jesus Christ and they are breaking bread at Corner Bistro.
AB The LSU Fan – Sitting at a table with his back against the wall at Umberto’s Clam House with John Gotti and Carlo Gambino.
AB The LSU Fan 2 – Old Homestead with Chris Mullin and Felipe Lopez!

Lady Barrister – Is going to PJ Clarke’s having dinner with George Carlin and Jerry Seinfeld because we need to laugh.
BikinisareForever – She wants to have dinner with her Grandparents
BikinisareForever 2 – Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer
Flynn Shady – Going to Rao’s or Old Homestead and having dinner with Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien.
Mr. 3 First Names – going to Keen’s steakhouse and having dinner with Admiral Raymond Spruance who commanded the US Naval Forces involved in the battle of Midway. Also is Washington Roebling who built the Brooklyn Bridge.
PC The Memphis Fan – John Lennon and George Harrison and they are goingto Thai Villa on 19th to geek out on the music and hear them talk shit about Paul.

PC the Memphis Fan 2 – Teddy Roosevelt and Zahi Hawass at Keen’s Steakhouse.
Vivian Longstreet – Going to Raoul’s and having dinner with Gov Andrew Cuomo and her NOLA buddy Lisa who is going to run his presidential campaign.
Ty Middelton – His late mother who was an amazing woman and always shot from the hip and Ron Howard to close a multi-million dollar film deal for his book series.
Stone – Also at Raou’s with Draper Kaufman (Father of Navy Special Warfare and Teddy Roosevelt. THAT IS SO INTERSTING PEOPLE ARE PICKING TEDDY ROOSEVELT
BjorkSue – is going to a Cheesecake Factory with Ivanka Trump and Jessica Simpson.
Bar Wife – Bill Murray and Chevy Chase and they are going to a bar.

UWS Holly – Andy Cohen (Godfather of Bravo Trash TV) and Anderson Cooper.
JP on the Island of Long – Billy Joel and Elton John
JD (Not the Bottle but the legend) – Alex Hamilton and Dave-1 from Chromeo and they are going to eat Dim Sum.
BK is requesting dinner at Lugar with us.
Stuey who is in OK – Yoshaiaki Omura, MD his bidigital O ring test would be a topic that I would enjoy. Second person is his mother who passed away 12 years ago. Or he would sub out Nikki Glaser who is easy on the eyes.
RMT (Reader Number 5) also having dinner with Anthony Bourdain and her husband.

Ate there once, the mutton is pretty good.

M(squared) the Domestic One – She is bringing her parents and having dinner with them and she is eating in.
Mary Louise Geranium – Ina and Jeffrey Garten at Rao’s
Z(squared) is taking his brother to dinner to celebrate his acceptance into Columbia’s EMBA Program.
Steve from Flushing – Having Dinner with Derek Jeter and Pedro Martinez (of Boston) and they are drinking at Yankee Tavern.
The Bartender – Kramer and Neuman at Soup Nazi’s joint.
Mr. Clean – Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel – Tavern on the Green. THAT IS A GOOD ONE!
Constantine – Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew Broderick at Minetta Tavern for burgers.
San Pedro Scoop – AOC and MLK – I am feeling hopeful for change and I want to get those two together.

Thanks to all that played along. San Pedro Belize – I may be coming to you for next Friday so stay tuned!

A Trip Down Memory/Middle Street on Sunday. Lots of S/O’s

Got a lot on my mind as of late and I needed to find something to occupy my day on Sunday. As you saw from my post on Saturday I was looking for stuff to do so I cleaned the oven. Social Media was getting heavy so I decided to re-read two of my favorite Bloggers down in Belize. I actually emailed Scoop and Taco Girl to tell them what I was doing. They both will have seen the spike in their account metrics and wonder what was up. Each of the blog platforms give you idea of how many visitor click on posts and what country they were from.

I read both of the blogs to the start and I have to say this was a welcome distraction. Granted I didn’t click every post but I was amazed at how, going back to their starts how they have evolved. Me, my goofy ass and this worthless dribble….I still can’t spell for shit.

Below are some screen shots I grabbed and if you are one of those ACMB’rs you may want to take a look back as well. There are some great old pics of those early pub crawls. Thank you Rebecca and Laurie for a much needed distraction.

So here is Scoop aka Rebecca – She originally is from New Jersey and lived in Manhattan as a bond trader till she moved to Belize in 2007. Originally going to chill for a while she then babysat a bar as the manager for a spell. She now lives up north of the bridge with her boyfriend who runs the Cayo Frances Farm & Fly.
She started https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/ and gives you a great look at the country as a whole.

This is Taco Girl on the left. Laurie moved to San Pedro in 2006 from Canada. She has a lot of great information about San Pedro. She can be found at
https://tacogirl.com/

From TacoGirl – Spurs and Simon at BC’s. Seriously ACMB’rs there is some good stuff in the archives

From SanPerdo Scoop – God I miss Gino and the Shake Shackers

From TacoGirl – Pedro’s from back in the day.

From San Pedro – Wade the Gringo is the only guy I know who got a ‘cease and desist’ from a major Burger Chain in the US.

TG – I love this picture for so many reasons. Sadly, the bar and that guy in the white tanktop are no longer with us.

SPS – I post this picture in the fact that Scoop and I prefer those older cougars and sugar daddy’s as both our spouses are older than us.
It is also a fact that Jeff and I share the same OB/GYN.
Ok so there are 3 doctors on the island and the town OB/GYN is also the doc you go for stiches, general illness and I have visited Doctor Gonzales when I had a bug bite that got infected. Jeff took the tip of his toe off and needed stiches.
He is doing fine by the way

TG – I picked it for 2 reasons – I can’t believe how young the Kinnion Kids are in this picutre and how great Laurie looks now since she lost a bunch of weight and has kept it off.

SPS – Here Scoop played off that she was interviewing this couple when it was secretly a proposal that the groom worked up. And Conch Creative was in on the charade too so they could get some pics for the real proposal.
Reb – You ever keep up on them?

TG – Stop Laughing Travelqueen, Dita, Isla and DCG

SPS – This is Maya from Conch Creative
Oh and don’t get your nose out of whack Badass Auntie.
I am getting to you this weekend. (oh that sounded cheeky)

TG – What tha? Taco Girl blogged about me?
This was when I was cooking chickens in Kitty & Shuffles’ courtyard when they owned their B&B

SPS – When the guy formally known as Prince came to Belize

Anyone remember this one? Here is Muppet on her faux Wedding.
For those of you who read those crappy jokes this is Cindy who provides the other half of those jokes.

If you can’t tell that’s SPS and she snuck over to Caye Calker to stalk celebs

TG – I love this one. This is her at her Surprise 50th birthday.

SPS – The production assistant who tried to block the pictures of the Bachelor.

TG – The Surprise Wedding Vowel Renewal of Otter and Mrs. Otter.

TG – Back when people would jump out of perfectly good airplanes in Belize.

It was great afternoon doing nothing. I hope you enjoyed the walk down Memory Lane.

The Decade in Review

I know that this post is a couple of weeks late. I have been kinda busy and add to that Geranium has been working at my creative desk…….#herfault

So I started jotting down all the events that have occurred in the past 10 years. I was filling up a Legal Pad I realized HOLY FUCK! We have done some major shit in the past 10 years.

Without further adeau and in no certain order are some highlights, difficulties, not so great moments. I look back on this list and I see things that have defined us. I chose that certain quote about the windshield vs rear view mirror for a reason. Without further adeau;

CBT was “fun-employed” for a bit – Let me tell you there really isn’t much fun in that. Mind you it was 10 years ago but as I look back it was the greatest thing that happened to me. I will elaborate on this later.
CBT became a Carnie for Memphis in May and lived to tell about it. I tell people up here what I did that spring they still can’t believe it. It taught me a lot. Most importantly I learned that one should always have a nickname and periodically yell “Go For Robo” when answering a call.
Geranium went back to cleaning bedpans. I joke when I say that she was asked to come back after she came down to the river and hung out with me as a carnie. That was true by the way. This also was a good thing for our progressive movement.
CBT went to work for AMF/HW. Yep I needed to get off the streets and I found a little nitch for myself and we made a little money and had some fun too. In all seriousness God Bless Ernie and Lynn Mellor for taking a chance on me. I will always be in your debt.
English Mike/Claire, RJ/Mal-O-Rie, & Mr. 3 First Names/VQ all got hitched in the past decade. What is important about this stat is that we now have a full basketball team roster of kids. More kids to help us when we get older.
Geranium got diagnosed and Then kicked the ever loving Fuck out of Cancer. Let me just say that not all superheroes get to wear capes. Since then we sadly have some friends of ours join this club too. This also defined us and put things in perspective.
Geranium decides to not only get an Undergrad but then a Masters in Bed Pan Cleaning. I have told her that there is no reason for her to go get her Doctorate or Juris Doctorate. Her ass is done with text books.
Carbunkle Trumpet completed his first and only 1/2 Marathon. Again, if my knees could bend backwards I would kick my own ass.
After many years of owning a bar in South Bluffs we pulled off a Ponzi Scheme and moved to the core of Downtown Memphis. Yep we had to get RJ/Mal-O-Rie’s house sold, then they bought ours and we got the condo. God Bless Ponzi Scheme Pawn JL for believing a bunch of strangers at the pool that one day. *Disclaimer – I don’t have good nickname for her so this will work till I come up with one*
Geranium gets her a Job in New York City! What can I say, we like it up here. We probably are going to stay for a little more while. Anyway we haven’t seen all the dive bars in all 5 boroughs.
I get a job seeing Double Decker Bus Tickets to Tourists. Ironic that I had to move to New York to get this job.
New Job (again) for Geranium – She left cleaning those bed pans to working for a company that would make the cleaning solution for the pans.
Move from the UES to Crime-Free Brooklyn – Let me tell you, if it wasn’t for Maria we may still be unboxing those damned boxes. Moving in New York sucks!
Stamps are getting put on our Passports – Truth be told we chose to move to New York so that we could take advantage of cheaper and direct flights to foreign lands. We really have enjoyed this.

We look back for a moment and are very grateful for our past experiences. Some of those experiences without a doubt has made us move forward.

Always look forward folks, always forward.

You mean to tell me that you don't have Sweet Tea?

The ramblings of a guy living in Savannah on this worthless dribble.