closing blog

I've decided to stop posting to this blog, but instead consolidate it with Recalcitrant Egg. We'll be in San Antonio at least one more year, and at this point the posting here was so infrequent, it didn't seem to be meaningful anymore.

San Antonio is a great city. I wish I had more time to appreciate it.  We always feel that we have missed so much when it is time to pack out.  But there is still more time, so I'll continue to post about the interesting stuff we see on Recalcitrant Egg.

Spurs vs. Kings

Spurs vs. Kings, a photo by Mark Bonica on Flickr.

Spurs vs. Kings tonight - the Spurs almost had them! such a close game for the last half!







I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do enjoy getting to a game every now and then - if only to have something different to take pictures of.  San Antonio has some affordable sports entertainment, which is nice.  We picked up these tickets from Groupon and the deal was very reasonable.  Of course the ticket is only the beginning of the expenses.  Its a nice example of how the marketing works to swallow up all your consumer surplus.


(BTW - this is the kind of seat a cheap Groupon ticket gets you - I just happened to be using a camera with a really good zoom lens.)

Like most things in life, pro sports requires a certain level of knowledge capital, and as a result a certain level of investment, in order to really appreciate them.  For me, I don't know the game well enough to appreciate the difference between pros and semi-pros, or for that matter high school.  All the lights and noise were fun though.  And of course they don't sell beer at high school games.

we'll be heading to Daughtry and Styx in the next month - hopefully I'll get some good shots from both.

Zushi Sushi, Howl at the Moon

We went down town last night for the first time (for me) in months. It's a shame we don't get down there more often, but living up in Cibolo puts us just far enough away that it's a hassle. Parking downtown is pricey too - at least by this skinflint's perspective.

But we had a great time. We started the night off at Zushi Sushi (http://new.sushizushi.com/SushiZushi.aspx), a chain sushi restaurant. Very casual, modern atmosphere, friendly and helpful wait staff. I've got a pretty limited sushi knowledge, so having someone explain some of the rolls was helpful. I ordered the Cristina Roll, which the menu describes as, "Spicy yellowtail and cilantro rolled uramaki style, topped with escolar, jalapeno and sriracha drizzled in yuzu sauce."



The menu said it was very spicy. I thought it was moderate at most. There were the jalapeno rings on top, of course, but overall, not so much. Nonetheless, very good. Being a sushi novice, I can't really critique the roll. Nice presentation, and interesting flavors. K. and I also shared some gyoza which were very good.

After dinner it was off to "Howl at the Moon". I love Howl at the Moon. If your looking for a raucous, slightly bawdy, good time, I recommend it. Howl is a dueling piano bar, which really means there are two piano players on stage all the time, and they play together, goof around with the audience, and generally encourage a good time. If you stay long enough, you'll probably hear multiple playings of "Piano Man" and "American Pie", but that kind of goes with the territory. One of the things that is cool about Howl is about every 30 minutes or so, the piano players rotate out and a new pair comes out on stage. Last night it seemed like there were three sets of players, and all six would come out and jam between sets for 10 minutes or so. When they are all out, they add on to the pianos electric guitar, bass, drums, and last night trumpet and sax.



Hard to see in this crappy phone cam shot, but the two guys in the middle playing the sax and trumpet are standing on top of the grand pianos during one of jam sessions.

Cover on a Saturday night was $10, but for that much live music and entertainment, it's worthwhile. The act is a bit repetitive night to night, but if you only go once in a while, it's a good time. It's really LOUD, so it's not a place to go hang out and chat with friends.

Good time - both Zushi Sushi and Howl at the Moon are recommended if you're hanging out in downtown San Antonio.

conductor

conductor, a photo by Mark Bonica on Flickr.

a shot of my daughter's high school band performing their Christmas concert.

some day I'll get a camera that can take decent pictures at high ISOs. In the meantime, I'll have to just play around with these light effects.

Dough

Kandie and I finally made it to "Dough" a "Pizzaria Napoletana".

We waited about an hour outside, but the evening was pleasant and we shared a bottle of wine.

Once we were in, we ordered two kinds of mozzarella dishes - one where the mozzarella was wrapped around a squash paste that was amazing. Amazingly tasty and baffling in how they managed to get the paste inside the squash.

The pizzas were thin crust and light.

Everything was delicious - definitely a must-eat if you are in SA.

Not cheap - this is not Pizza Hut. Fine casual dining, pizza style.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving in Houston with Kandie's family.



It's all about the cooking. Cooking together, making a shared meal.

Or maybe it's about the food.



Mark made some amazing mashed potatoes.

Or maybe it's about family.

All of that, I suppose. And some football thrown in for some of us. A Texas sized Thanksgiving.

dinner with friends

we haven't done much of anything worth writing about lately - or at least nothing that is particularly San Antonio-ish.  That's part of the problem with living out in Cibolo - just far enough away from the city that it's a pain to get in and appreciate it.  Definitely want to live inside a city if I have the chance someday.  A cool city. 

But we did have dinner with some wonderful friends the other night.  Katya is from Moscow and we toasted with these beautiful little goblets (I hate to call them shot glasses).