il divo

If you need to make your mother happy, treat her to  a show with the beautiful quartet Il Divo! We had to drive all the way down to San Jose to the Civic Auditorium since it's one freeway exit away from the hp pavilion, it's certainly not a journey we haven't taken before.

The staff at the Civic Auditorium appear to be considerably older than those at other venues and weren't as proactive when it came to playing usher. As a result, we and many other people played the seat shuffle as we struggled to find our real seats. But eventually everyone found their place and the Armani-clad heroes of popera entered.

Many a back of someone's head...
a clue to the median age of crowd at the concert.
What can I say, popera panders to a certain demographic.

Sing me "Passera" anytime!

Sebastien, Urs, Carlos, and David take a bow.

The greatest question of the night: Why did Urs wear driving gloves after the intermission? The second half is when the men shook hands with any woman who came to the front... is the Swissman a germophobe?

eat first, talk later

On a very sunny Saturday my lovely Tater Tot had a craving for Indian food. After showing off her new wheels (mobility is key!) we headed off to Vik's Chaat Corner/Chaat and Market on 4th Street and Channing in Berkeley. The Chaat part is a large cafeteria-style eatery with a pretty good selection of Indian street food and entrees, both vegetarian- and meat-friendly.

The dosa is a little crispy on one side and a little chewy on the other, and stuns with the length of the pastry sticking out past the plate. I liked it but Tater would've preferred it if the dosa was filled with potatoes instead of a cauliflower mix. What can I say, Tater knows her taters.

I only had a spoonful of the chicken biryani and didn't find it particularly flavorful, but judging by Tater's sigh of defeat, it must've been filling.

The potato and spice-filled samosa cholle plate was delicious, as expected. I don't think I've ever had a bad samosa, but I did like the garbanzo bean sauce thing on the side. Whaddya know, they found a way to make garbanzo beans taste good without turning it into hummus!

My absolute favorite was the lamb baida roti, or a very hearty bread pocket filled with very tasty ground lamb. I've never been a fan of the smell of lamb meat but that wasn't a problem with this good ol' (just a little) greasy dish. Yum, I would love to have another one of these right about now.

After lunch we peeked into the small market and found spices that Trader Joe's doesn't have (whole cloves, ground nutmeg, cardamom pods) at pretty good prices. Looking for whole star anise? You'll find it here, along with a pickled version of every fruit and vegetable imaginable sold in a can. Quite literally, you can bring a taste of Vik's Chaat Corner home.

a new galaxy

I'm trying something new today... I'm blogging from my new smrtphone! The process is slower and more unwieldy than my good old desktop but I think it's about time I tried something from this millenium.

There are issues... nothing makes me realize how much I love traditional keyboards than my amateur smartphone typing "skills." Or the fact that I accidentally deleted the photo I uploaded earlier and I can't find the equivalent of CTRL+Z on this smartphone. Also, I don't know how to copy and paste so I probably won't be linking each post to the blog's facebook page over the phone.

My new Galaxy and my old Chocolate...
re-added via my trusty desktop computer after the above mishap.

Anyways, on to other things. My beloved chocolate phone began to run out of battery power every night, leaving me with one less alarm for the morning. Well, I guess 4 years is a good run for a second generation mobile phone. So yesterday I asked a friend for advice and marched into the Verizon store. This girl was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her!

After many questions and a short tutorial, I left with the Samsung Galaxy S3. I picked the Galaxy for the awesome camera because frankly, if I'm going to spend this much money, I want this device to do double duty. Perhaps even triple duty as a backup computer, but first I'll need some more practice on this tiny keyboard.

By the way, this old camera was purchased in 2005. Replacing a 4-year old phone and a 7-year old camera in one go ain't half bad!

The limited-edition Harajuku Girls camera designed by Gwen Stefani,
when her first solo album made her my idol.
Picture taken by my smartphone!

(And now more text from the comfort of my equally-old PC...)

There's a lot to learn, and a lot of connections I never wanted but I'll need to accept in order to use the smartphone. For one, Verizon/Android/something insisted I sync my gmail account if I want to use blogger on my phone. That sucks because my gmail account is not my principal account and I really use it just to blog. Also, syncing two email accounts with my phone added a lot of unnecessary "contacts," most without phone numbers and therefore something I would not consider a contact. It also brought back citizens of my very old address book, some people with whom I haven't had contact in over ten years and others whom I don't even remember. I guess I was lucky that I only had to delete 200... well, not quite. My phone says I cannot delete "read-only" contacts. Well as my phone, I'll tell you who I want to delete, and you'll like it!

This whole connectivity thing also unevenly dug up photos associated with my two blogs and loaded them into picasa, which I have never used but must be owned by google because why else would they mysteriously appear on my phone? And for some unknown reason, I cannot upload photos I took with my phone to blog posts I made with my phone unless I accept and add google+. Fine, google, collect my information and use it for your evil plans. Just let me hide in a cave when you take over the world.

Last complaint: why does every new phone come with predictive text turned on? And why are they making it more difficult to turn it off by making you weave through a convoluted tribulation of settings? Honestly, who actually needs predictive text? I don't need to accidentally send a message about "sex" when all I wanted to say that "texting is hard" on my new phone!

But really, after just over 24 hours I think I am warming up to the oversized phone. With this I'll be able to snap pictures more easily while I travel and blog (albeit poorly) on the road. I can check my email at any time, though I certainly don't feel the urge to. But the important thing is that the option is there. And, I've waited so long to get a smartphone that Angry Birds is free!

the gritty truth

What's for dinner? Why come to Beachside Cafe, my friends! And that's just what we did.

Speedy chose the fish & chips... the fish fillets fell apart at the touch of a fork. The fries are the soft and salty sort, not the crispy shoestrings type that kids go crazy for. All in all, this plate got a thumbs from Speedy.

Driver tried the chicken and waffles, my Beachside favorite, for the first time. Everyone agreed that these superbly breaded chicken cutlets beat out Little Skillet's fried chicken and waffles.

Snapshot and I both tried the beer-can chicken, marinated in Guinness beer and served with brussel sprouts and cheesy bacon grits. The chicken was pretty good and had an intriguingly savory flavor. The brussel sprouts were not bitter (yes!) and once again, the grits survived my appetite. There's something about that incarnation of cornmeal that really fills you up... as Driver laughed, he used to think grits were prison food.

Oh, what would my cousins in Georgia think of that!

if neon was a color...

In a break from my recent trend of orange shoes, I fell in love with this waterfall hue of Converse sneakers. To make it more, er, me, I got a pack of neon shoelaces. Quite spiffy, don't you think?

Now my feet can dress up like watermelons!

donuts

I love donuts!

Dynamo Donuts now has an outpost in the Financial District... just stop by Soup Junkie's Market Street storefront in the morning for delectable goodies such as this bacon maple donut!

Start your day off with a smile.
Eat a donut.

this is real

For only the classiest Comic-Con fans, ticketmaster and GameStop are selling seats for the very short tour featuring The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. I would go just to see what it's all about but since tickets are about $75 and up, I'll leave this to those who live and breathe it.

I know the music played an integral part to the gameplay of everyone's favorite title OoT but a professional concert is, well, pretty hardcore. I wonder if guests will dress up... as a Cucco? A Skull Child? Or maybe everyone will follow suit and come in coattails like Shigeru Miyamoto.

Whatever the dress code, attendees should come prepared in case the music causes it to rain, to change from day to night and vice versa, or to take listeners back to their seven years ago... when they were probably playing Zelda!

she's a brick house

In a break from our usual ballpark rituals, the gang decided to eat at Brickhouse Cafe on Brannan Street. The prices are comparable to those in the ballpark but the quality of food is so much better!

The Brickhouse Cafe claims to be the home of the "Big Ass Burger." Well, it tastes good but it's not large, certainly nothing to advertise about... the crispy fries are what they should be promoting! But when you have flavor like this, size doesn't matter (much.)

For brunch, I had the Mexican burger: a jalapeño-studded beef patty topped with pico de gallo, jack cheese, avocado, and sour cream, all piled in a soft and buttery bun. I must say that I really love the sour tang of the pico de gallo against the fatty richness of the avocado and sour cream. I've had many southwest- or tex-mex-inspired burgers but this flavor combination seemed fresh compared to the others I've tasted.

Wary of spicy food? The jalapeños don't add any heat to the patty. Avoiding fat? There's not a lot of sour cream and avocados pack that "good" vegetable fat your body craves. Still daunted by the so-called big ass size? Want a veggie patty instead? All acceptable substitutes are suggested on the menu.

The drink menu at Brickhouse looks pretty good... there are various cocktails with Western-themed twists and beer on tap at both the upstairs bar and the main bar on the ground floor. I stupidly did not order any of these glorious libations; instead I persuaded two of my friends to get the housemade ginger ale. I have fond memories of sipping a very strong and bubbly homemade ginger ale in Dublin in Temple Square, complete with little ginger shavings at the bottom of the glass.

The Brickhouse does NOT serve this sort of wonderful gingery soda stuff. All I remember is a light coral-colored flavorless club soda placed in front of me. What a shame that they advertise this atrocity as housemade. I must be more cautious of associating travel memories with items of the same name in local restaurants, and I must drink some ginger beer now to push the awful memory of the "ginger ale" out.

Good burgers and (one) bad drink. That's the Brickhouse.

"healthy"

So says the team on what Madison Bumgarner's bobblehead would say if he could speak. The comment is in response to the Madison's favorite question "How are the cows doing?"

I am really impressed by how much this bobblehead resembles the young lefty. The detail on the scruff is fantastic, as is the signature pose for the star pitcher. Bobbleheads have come a long way!

But before I unwrapped the figure at home, my friends and I sweated in our seats as the Giants attempted a sweep against the Astros. All eyes were on perfect-game-Matt Cain as he led the Giants through two-thirds of the game. His pitching was good, but it could've been better.


The offense warmed up, even without everyone's favorite milkman Melky Cabrera. The team scored two runs in just the first inning and Buster hit 3 for 4 at-bats. Panda also stepped up to the plate and kept the crowd roaring with a double.

The game turned into a nail-biter in the 9th as Santiago Casillas allowed a runner on base. But we finally shut down the Astros and achieved a feat that impels grown men to wave brooms.

SWEEP!

Now if only it was just as easy to get rid of this minor sunburn... my foremarms and half of my forehead are a scandalous shade of red!

the smallest pho

Like-minded co-workers set me on the path to Soup Junkie, the brand new soup counter on Market Street. This little hole-in-the-wall boasts long lines, MSG-free soup, and great reviews. Here's mine...

While my friends opted for the crab-and-tomato bún riêu, I wanted to try the beef pho because that is the standard... sort of like the margherita pizza of the soup world. There's a lot to love about the bowl... super-tender beef swim in a flavorful and slightly sweet broth spiked with a lime juice. That broth... it rivals Turtle Tower's soup. Soup Junkie should bottle that stuff!

As good as the pho is, it is a lunch I will not be indulging in every week. This is the smallest bowl of pho I have ever feasted on but it is also the most expensive at $9. Now that's still not a lot compared to other lunch options but as far as pho goes, this is a pricey bowl. The portion wouldn't seem so small if there was more beef but bites of tender beef flank were few and far between.

Nevertheless, Soup Junkie's beef pho is worth a try. You won't regret slurping up all that delicious broth, which is just what we all need on foggy summer days like these.

microclimates

The heat wave across the Midwest and East Coast, the fires in Colorado... even the 100-degree-topping temperatures in the inland areas of the Bay Area (how's that for an oxymoron?) are making the news.

And then there's little old me, living right next to the ocean and for half the day, blissfully ignorant of any sunshine. My house is wrapped in a cozy blanket of fog, and that's the way I like it.

The exact border between fog and sunshine varies each day but it's always a very clear line that I cross on the commute to and from work. The gate to misty moors of Scotla, er, San Francisco can be as far west as 33rd Avenue and east as the Masonic-Presidio tunnel (referencing Richmond district landmarks.)

new record

This might be my personal best for knitting a blanket... I started this blue striped beauty in April, setting an even more ambitious deadline for early May to give to my sister for her wedding. Well, I only had one-third finished by the big day and my loving sister had no interest for such things in Los Angeles. So I decided to keep it for myself but keep knitting and see how quickly I could finish a throw (my last project took me almost a year to complete! And Mumsy keeps it in a box under the bed!)

Not only did I complete this blanket in just over three months (finishing just yesterday) I believe that this is also the largest blanket I have ever knit... I can lay down comfortably on it and not touch the floor so I know that it's at least 65 inches long.

This blanket is staying with me and will grace my convertible sofa, where it will be seen!

Well, there's no break for me. Not that knitting is a chore, I enjoy it quite a bit (otherwise I wouldn't knit!) But my dear friend Chikorita is already 5 months pregnant with a baby boy and I'm set on knitting a baby blanket to resemble the flag of Peru (the homeland of both parents.) The yellow border is supposed to be that gold rim you sometimes see on some flags... well, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I've only seen gold fringe on flags of the USA. Looks like Peru is getting the royal treatment from me!

Just gettin' crafty. Again.

the slipperiest noodle

The perfect remedy for cleaning house on a foggy weekend? San Francisco's best pho from Turtle Tower (this is the Geary Boulevard location in the Richmond.)

The tender beef! The rich and onion-y broth! The wide yet slippery noodles!

Wait a minute, these noodles weren't always this wide. Oh who am I kidding, I love a good noodle and this one slips and slurps in the most satisfying way. I only add a squeeze of lime to brighten the beef-heavy bowl; otherwise, this pho is perfect.

A regular or small-sized bowl (pictured) will set you back less than $7. And Turtle Tower is now issuing loyalty cards that can be linked to your e-mail and smartphone and all manner of that portable technology. Eat ten bowls of pho and get one free! This is a reward that won't take long to earn.

And that extra special something that makes a place so memorable? Turtle Tower has a table for two right in front of the wheelchair-accessible door to the restrooms. Ick and equal-access factors aside, this is pretty funny. It turns out that the entrance to the restroom is just around the corner. But I still wouldn't want to sit there!

summertime

Ever since I was a child, nothing has signaled the beginning of summer like the end of school, bowls overflowing with strawberries, and a thick coating of fog enveloping my neighborhood.

Well, I've been out of school for four years now and the fog has finally pushed its way through this heat wave. The strawberries have been plentiful as they always peak around my birthday but they're even sweeter when a surplus arrives at the store and they go on sale for $1 per pound.

However, surplus strawberries aren't always perfect. What to do when some of the bunch are not as firm as you'd like? Turn them into a smoothie! You can't tell the original texture when it's liquefied!

I like to mix my strawberries with unflavored yogurt, the nice and tangy kind. Right now I'm loving French Village yogurt from Trader Joe's but use any that you prefer. Sometimes I add a few blackberries to the mix but not too much; blackberries have a strong flavor and a little goes a long way.

Before...

... and after!

GIR, ride the pig!

So a little alien told his companion on a long-gone Nickelodeon cartoon known as Invader Zim.

Now this isn't a pig that most people can ride but I think it is just as nifty... this summertime miniature pig-shaped grill from Cost Plus World Market is as useful as it is kitschy and adorable. The terra cotta piggy is available only in stores and I snagged the last one on the display. These little piggies are selling like hotcakes!

The pig itself fits in a loving embrace and at my estimate, the small grill can cook 2 small hamburger patties or a handful of hot dogs at a time. Or a plateful of little smokies. The point is that this little piggy is meant to cook for a little party. Most reviews on Cost Plus's website give the little oinker 5 stars and rave that the charcoal-powered grill is perfect for cooking for two.

Now that piggy is finally out of my trunk and in the giddy arms of my friend who just bought a new condo, piggy will most likely spend the Fourth of July sunning himself or herself (she hasn't named it yet) on the small patio and cooking a hot dog or two.

And me? I'll be hoping that Cost Plus World Market gets another shipment of these because at just $25 a pig, I want a whole farm.

pack a light saber

I may have missed out last year but there is no way I'm not getting myself a death star baseball this fall... I'm going to Star Wars Night 2012 at AT&T Park! This Labor Day as the Giants take on the D-backs the crowd will revel in all their Jedi, Sith, Ewok, and cyborg greatness.

Tickets are on the expensive side... I'm not paying $55 to sit in the arcade. So it's back to the top deck for me!

But even though I paid a price that would normally cover my seat and my meal, I feel like I've done the right thing. Sounds silly, right? Well take a look at today's crossword theme...

Hands down one of the top five crossword themes ever!
So I missed 4 clues... help me out?

Star Wars Night, here I come!

And to sweeten the deal, today the Giants completed a historic shutout sweep of the Dodgers. It's a good day to be a Giants fan!

goldeneye

Today I woke up to this:

The plan was that I keep Soleil for a few days while we move furniture around Mumsy's house and paint... I mean, we don't want a hyper little fox trailing paint everywhere.

So I brought Soleil home with me on Friday night. I didn't have her for 2 hours when Mumsy texted me to bring her back the next day because she was already missing the little pooch. So I snapped this picture of Soleil on my bed because it's probably the last time in the next few years that I'll get to live with her!

buttery good

In an effort to deter the feelings of aging, Tater and I went to a sort of pre-wedding celebration at Butter on 11th Street. This bar/snack bar is done up in a delightful glorification of all things white trash... an RV juts into the floor, an elk head draped with leis stands sentry over the scene, and the walls are covered in Sailor Jerry and vintage drink paraphenalia. Butter's special drinks come in jars and "the champagne of beer" is served in a paper bag.

L: Andy's punch, a light and fruity drink off the menu for lightweights like me.
R: Bitchin' Camaro, a blend of Sailor Jerry rum and Dr. Pepper

Butter also serves up snack food out of the end of a trailer... you can choose from a selection of deep-fried and microwaved goodies. Want mac 'n' cheese? You can get it straight from the box or fried in little balls. Pauly is the nice man who will whip these up and as he is as fast as the microwave. He is sweet as any man in half a trailer can be, though according to the online menu I think I was overcharged $2... didn't even see the full menu to the right of the trailer until after I started navigating my way back with my food. So check the prices on the wall before paying!

a judicious sampling of the comfort food snack menu...
I didn't ask Pauly what nubby is.
That's probably a good thing.

Tater had a craving for tater tots - what else!? I was dying to try the deep-fried twinkie (and will probably die from it.) I did notice that Pauly gave us both ketchup and ranch for the tots and three different kinds of sprinkles for the twinkie. He also poured the last of his Torani bacon-flavored syrup into a little cup so I could have graham-cracker battered twinkies and marshmallows and whipped cream and sprinkles and bacon all in one basket. Outside of butter, I'd think twice before ordering something like this. But here, it seemed like the right thing to do.

Overall, Butter carries a good vibe and gives you everything you need (drinks, snacks, and the Giants-A's game playing on a projector) to have a good time. The clientele seems mixed but prepare to get pushed a bit by passerby, even if you're sitting at the bar.

friday special

What better way to end the workweek than a soul-satisfying lunch from Koja Kitchen foodtruck at Truckstop...

Kamikaze fries and a short rib Koja sandwich...
yum!

Minus the kimchi (I forgot!) this is the exact same meal I ordered last time. This food does not disappoint... lusciously fatty fries mixed with notes of sweet and spicy... the fries are pretty filling on their own. And at $13.50 for the meal pictured (with a can of Coca-Cola) this food truck is one of the greatest deals out there. Want to pick up a single item? The Kamikaze fries are $6 and won't leave you wanting. The short rib koja rings in at $6.50 and all the others (bulgogi beef, chicken, or vegetarian) are just $5.50 a pop. And I must say again that though these sandwiches are small, they are filling and packed with flavor. After all, the "buns" are made from rice patties.

Oh, and this time, the food was piping hot! Keep coming downtown, Koja Kitchen!

third place

It's only the second time a gang of us yelled and screamed our way through Elephant & Castle's Thursday night trivia contest but we really outdid ourselves. Not only did we place (3rd overall!) but we also won a bottle of wine!

One of the questions was about a puzzle from China where you arrange 7 pieces to form a geometric shape. I knew right away that the answer was tangrams, even though the clue struck a discordant chord with me. Back in grade school, my third-grade teacher had taught us that tangrams came from Japan, when somebody dropped a square tile in front of the emperor (the square being a fancy emblem for Japan's more popular pastime, origami.)

But now I see that wikipedia corroborates the theory of Chinese origins. Could it be possible that my teacher misinformed us all? My world is crumbling before me... but at least I know that between a group of 10 or so people, we can place third.

image courtesy of google image search

Third place!

Trivia is only on Thursdays but Elephant & Castle on Clay Street is a lovely place to go for happy hour. Can you say $5 snack plates?

if it ain't broke, don't fix it

So my first attempt at homemade marshmallows failed... instead of pillowy soft masses of delight, I created vanilla-flavored gelatin squares. No one eats vanilla jello, they eat vanilla pudding. It was a huge disappointment and only added to the stress of the workday.

I thought about trying again tonight. I even stopped by the supermarket and bought a new pack of gelatin. But you know what? When you mix unflavored gelatin with water, it sort of smells like stinky feet. Just in case you weren't convinced that gelatin is made from the hooves of our cloven friends, just sniff it.

After a touch of debate with myself, I decided to create something I knew I wouldn't fail miserably at: whoopie pies! Tonight I tried a new flavor: hazelnut whoopie pies with honey buttercream. I added a touch of cinnamon and ground ginger to the whoopie cakes but I didn't taste any of the spices... probably because my tongue is numb with sugar from tasting the buttercream!

If you have yet to taste roasted hazelnuts, I highly recommend you jump on that train. Now.

bling rings

I started my travel blog I hella went there! to encourage myself to engage in more adventuresome traveling, to pack less and less, and to wander further from the beaten track in the hopes that someday I might join the ranks of rugged mountain women who stride anywhere without fear or maps.

But my friends know me all too well... "You can't give up your bling!" says Cabbage.

Yesterday I took Miss Piggy, a gift from Tater, to work. This ring has a lot of character... not everyone can wear pigs on their person.

bling fit for a queen

The Cabbage surprised me with a gift in the mail: a menagerie of glittering creatures that transform my knuckles into the most happily gaudy cuff that I have ever had the pleasure of wearing.

these babies have got some serious sparkle

The funny thing is that this is just the start of my fantastically quirky collection of costume jewelry. There are many more rings, and tons more earrings, and even a few necklaces in the form of one animal or another. It's the easiest zoo you'll ever keep.

beach fare

Tater and I have been frequenting Beachside Cafe for their cheap eats... behold, Tater's breakfast burrito. Just look how big that sausage patty is!

One day the cafe wasn't serving waffles... so I satisfied my desire for their delicious chicken and waffles by trying the chicken sandwich. It's the same tender chicken in the same crispy yet non-greasy coating, but instead of a waffle and maple syrup, it 's companions are a soft bun and a cabbage slaw. I think cabbage is really underestimated; it has more substance and crunch than it's popular cousin lettuce and it never gets soggy, no matter how much sauce is coating a slaw or salad or fish taco. All hail the cabbage, both the food and friend.

By the way, the size pictured is a large. It's double the regular size and only one dollar more.

But the weekend after we returned and I was finally able to order the heavenly chicken and waffles again! Looks like the guys at Beachside Cafe are pounding the chicken cutlets more thinly, but I wasn't left hungry after that breakfast.

I need to resist going this weekend lest I develop a Cheers-like attachment to the restaurant... must resist!

what is it?

I'm not sure to where these people are headed or what they intend to do with this glorified golf cart but it sure looks fun.

It brightens up any traffic jam at the Bay Bridge!

sweet risk

After procuring a candy thermometer, I finally tried my hand at the basic vanilla marshmallow in my newest cookbook, Marshmallow Madness. I must say that the entire book needs a rewrite because no where does it tell you to add the 1/2 cup of "Classic Coating" to the mix. I guessed that myself.

And maybe that's why I'm so unsure about these...

After cooking, whipping, and pouring, the marshmallows require about 6 hours to set before I can play with them. I hope these turn out okay!

it ain't a birthday without a little crazy

It's not all sweets and giggles...

But for the most part, my 26th birthday was lovely and stress-free. The day started off with small surprises from my friends... hot chocolate with whipped cream!

A big fat burger lunch at Ziggy's!

Desert-lettes from Cafe Madeleine!

Check out this cute panna cotta! I'm soooo keeping the cup.

Chikorita sent me flowers, all the way from Seattle!

Mumsy took me out to a Thai restaurant as recommended by someone from work... we had fun making our own spinach leaf cuplettes...

... and flaunting the flowers made from the straw wrappers. It was her idea!

But don't you think for one moment that it was all easy. After dinner, one very young, energetic, and slippery girl decided to slip out the door and run into traffic and across neighbors' yards, and almost into the 38! Thanks to the help of two women - one of which runs as fast as the Road Runner - we were finally able to capture the little fox and bring her home.

I guess her present to me was a workout. Nevertheless, I am very grateful to the women who helped us corral this ruffian in. And of course, thanks to my family and friends, my birthday came out on the plus side of things.

showstopper

If you thought last night's game was great... Matt Cain led the Giants to a 10-0 PERFECT GAME victory over the Houston Astros. Cain racked up 14 strikeouts (more free sausage!) Notable assits from Blanco, Arias, Belt, Posey for catching, and the whole team for scoring!

image courtesy of google image search

To top it off, this is the very first perfect game for the Giants, East Coast and West Side!

Not to rain on last night's hit parade but darn! Wish I'd been at this one!