Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Pop Burger Pub and special guest star Lex! And featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome, Lex and Pop Burger Pub!
My friend Lex is in town with her family and has a free night out, so she's accompanying me on Cheeseburger Saturday Night tonight. You may remember Lex from her appearance on 365 Bars and back in May on MAD. And we all know, when a guest comes to MAD Headquarters, snacks must be made. Tonight I thought I'd try a nutty mixture, here's the ingredients.
For this recipe you need two snackologist certified bowls.
The base is the Blue Diamond Jalapeno almonds.
Then slowly I add, shape, prune and mix in the other ingredients. As always, I want to warn you not to try this in your house, unless you are a board-certified snackologist. If you don't know what you're doing things can get messy and nasty real quick.
Three hours later the final mix is done. Now all we need is Lex.
And bingo-bambo, here she is, enjoying the snacks and a beer here at MAD Headquarters. Great to see you again, Lex!
Here's the cheeseburger destination for the evening, Pop Burger Pub in Union Square, a short walk from where I live.
When you walk in, there's a giant wall with a takeout window featuring the menu lit up all over it.
The words, "firm fries" were a little upsetting to both Lex and I, although we didn't really know why.
Lex poses with Christian, who's a busboy in the pub. A nice guy, the whole staff is friendly in here.
There's lots of wooden tables and seating in the spacious front room.
But Lex and I chose to sit at the bar in the middle of the pub.
Bartender Peter happily serves us up a beer and the night is underway!
The back wall features some of the bottled beers on the beer menu. Pretty impressive.
There's big wooden booths in the back, let's go say hi to these two women.
Here's Fayola and Jessica at their booth. They had just finished dinner and Fayola had the Superman Burger and recommended it, so that's what we decided to order.
We split an order of onion rings for an appetizer.
See?
The Superman Burger lived up to its name. It was huge and we split one, which was good, because I could never have finished a whole one.
Thanks to Lex for hanging out with me on Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Our Meal At Fayola’s suggestion, Lex and I got the Superman Burger and it was...well...super! It’s a giant burger that comes dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and crunchy bacon on a fresh toasted bun. It comes with fried pickles, but we had them on the side. We started out the meal with onion rings and they were crunchy and delicious.
There’s two other kinds of burgers available, Pop Burgers, which are two slider style burgers and the Invisible Burger which is a portebello mushroom burger. Other entrees include: baby lamb chops; fish and chips; lobster roll with tater tots and a steak sandwich with tater tots.
They have a large selection of draft, bottled and can beer and if you have a sweet tooth there’s hot doughnuts and chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies available.
Cheeseburger Rating Three Wimpy’s, a wonderful cheeseburger! Pop Burger Pub 83 University Place (Between 11th and 12th St.) 212-477-7574
MAD pals and two thirds of the BBC, Gene and Smoopy are in Pittsburgh this weekend. Yesterday they visited the Flight 93 crash site and memorial, checked into a Bed and Breakfast and then visited 399 bars and had 2,947 drinks between the two of them. Here's some photos of their day and night. It starts out at the Flight 93 crash site and memorial, then the bed and breakfast and then onto some of the nighttime bar shots. Looks like a splendid time, thanks for the photos, Gene!
Live, from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Chat 'n' Chew and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, one block away from MAD headquarters, please welcome Chat 'n' Chew!
The Chat 'n' Chew is just a block away from where I live. We took this walk last week, but everything was shut down due to Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene. I'm pretty sure we'll have better luck tonight.
Yes! They're open. I tried about ten shots to get the Chat 'n' Chew neon sign, but it wouldn't turn out. It says, "Chat 'n' Chew," trust me.
They have outside dining in the front here, but let's go inside and check it out.
Tables and a kitschy atmosphere greet you as you walk into the Chat 'n' Chew.
They've recently installed this large silver-topped bar in the front, so I decided to sit there.
And as soon as I sit down and get situated, Robbie, the friendly bartender happily serves up a Red Stripe.
At the front of of the bar is a subtle reminder that they serve pork chops in here.
They have a full bar here with drink specials every night.
Christmas lights, vintage signs and pictures decorate the walls and give the place a fun and festive feel.
Here's Jack, the manager of Chat 'n' Chew.
Ayda is filling up the ketchup bottles, I told her that Kari and Britta would appreciate this shot.
Meanwhile, back at the bar Robbie is busy filling orders.
And here's my dinner! I decided to change things up a bit and got the veggie burger instead of a beef burger. I got it with cheddar cheese and slathered it with mustard. Sorry Kari and Britta.
It was delicious!
And now time to head home and rest up for a road trip I'm taking on Sunday. Read all about that tomorrow! See you then, after dark.
My Meal It was a first last night, instead of a beef burger, I got the Chat ‘n’ Chew’s Veggie Burger and it was great. I got it with cheddar cheese and it came grilled and it was really tasty. Not dry like a lot of veggie burgers are and the bun was bakery fresh. I always say the bun can make or break a good burger and this one definitely made it.
In addition to a turkey burger and a traditional burger called the “Holy Cow” the emphasis at Chat ‘n’ Chew is comfort food from your past. There’s meatloaf, mac and cheese (one of the best in New York in my humble opinion), fried chicken and a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings on the menu. Some of the specialty items include a TV Dinner which consists of: chicken fried steak, green bean casserole and skin-on mashed potatoes with country gravy; The Boss's Favorite which is a grilled steak sandwich on toasted garlic bread with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, mushrooms, and horseradish mayo on ciabatta; and Thanksgiving On A Roll which is fresh roast turkey with homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo on ciabatta. Breakfast and lunch are also available and there’s also beer, wine and a full bar for your boozing pleasure.
Cheeseburger Rating Three Cheeseburgers, a very good burger!
Chat 'n Chew 10 E. 16th St. (Between Fifth and Union Square) 212-243-1616
Okay, tonight I’m finally getting out of work on time. I’m going to go to the Food Emporium in Union Square to get my Hurricane Sunday supplies. I’ve heard people are getting a little kooky and stores are running out of supplies. I don’t get this. It’s only going to be one day. And it’s going to be one nasty-ass day indeed, I don’t want to leave my apartment during the storm, so I’m getting enough food for one day. I’ve seen people on the streets with bags of food and cases of bottled water. That’s fucking nuts! Fill up some jugs and bottles with tap water and put them in the fridge in case the power goes out and there’s no water. And why buy a shitload of food, a lot of it perishable if not refrigerated, if there’s a chance of the power going out?
Anyway, I figure I’ll go to the store tonight for food and then tomorrow I’ll stock up on the booze supply. The whole Hurricane post will be up this Monday, now it’s time to get the grub!
And we're off! The Empire State Building is colorful tonight.
It's really nice out tonight, the calm before the storm.
Windows are being taped in anticipation of the hurricane.
Okay, we're almost there.
Aaahhhh!
And here we are at the Food Emporium. Time to get some supplies for Hurricane Sunday.
Holy freaking shitballs, look at the lines in here. This is nuts.
Goddamn, people do know that this is just going to be a one day shut in, right? All the bread is gone.
Nothing here either.
An empty freezer, I hope all the jerkoffs that bought frozen food realize that there's a good chance of a power outage and that shit is just going to spoil in the heat.
Another empty case. Oh well, I need to lose a little weight anyway.
A few shallots remain, maybe I'll make some onion soup on Sunday.
The loneliest can of sleazy cheese in the world. Sob!
Well, I managed to find a few things but now I have to wait in this god-awful line. I'm glad I went tonight, I can't imagine what will be left tomorrow.
Okay, after a half an hour wait in line, I'm finally out the door with my stuff.
I took a break in Union Square Park to listen to this trio. They were really good so I threw them a few bucks.
On my way home I looked up and saw the lights in this building. I think the storm is the least of our worries. Aaaaahh!
Okay, time for the Sunday night shop hop where I check out an independent business in New York City. Forbidden Planet is a store not far from where I live. I’ve walked by it probably thousands of times, but never entered it. I’ve always considered it a comic book store and while I was really into comics as a kid, I’m not anymore. But while looking around for a place to go tonight, I found out they sell a lot more than comics in there. They have books, toys and what appears to be some really cool inventory. And they’re open till 10 pm, perfect!
We'll go down 14th street to Broadway...
And baboom...here we are at Forbidden Planet.
There's a decent crowd in here for a Sunday night.
LIz was working behind the front register. She's super cute and friendly and you should note that five cents out of every dollar spent at Forbidden Planet goes towards buying her a second eyeball.
Wow, Dick Tracy's been around for 80 years. And he even survived that horrble movie.
You know Garfunkel isn't happy about this!
This is a great book about the history of newspaper comic strips.
And here's the manager of Forbidden Planet, Jeff Ayers. He started working at the store when he was 17-years-old and the store was across the street.
Check out the figurines in here. Smurfs and Simpsons and Dinosaurs...oh my!
I love the Ugly Dolls!
Lots of people browsing and reading in here on a Sunday evening.
And there's a second floor as well.
Let's go check it out.
More inventory! Let's take a look around.
They have a large selection of DVD's.
Dice!
I love that Gumby bag!
Meanwhile, back on the first floor Bryan shows off the store's newsletter.
Check out the Marvel shot glasses, very cool!
I hate to be a critic, but this artist made Rosie's bucket head about two sizes too small. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
What I Bought I got Jrumpy the Ugly Doll and a Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! magnet. I should’ve gotten the Gumby bag too, what was I thinking? I have to get back there!
They’ve recently put up an Andy Warhol statue nearby where his Factory used to be. I thought tonight we’d stop by and take a few pictures and check it out.
It is one miserable motherfucking night out here. It's cold, rainy and just plain rotten. I'm starting to wonder if spring will ever be sprung.
Here's the statue. It's made out of silver metal and hard to get a good shot of, especially when it's raining and freezing out here. The statue is right across from Union Square and faces one of the buildings where Andy Warhol had his Factory. It's now a Petco. Sad.
Here's the bottom of the statue, "The Andy Monument."
I met Jesse and Jason while taking pictures there and they agreed to pose by the statue. I tried to fix this photo up in Photoshop, but it still sucks. I took another photo of the two of them with Jesse's camera and it turned out much better. She said she'd send it to me before noon tomorrow. Let's see if she was playing an early April Fool's joke on me. Jason is a talented artist, illustrator and muralist. Check out his work at his website here: Jason Das Disambiguation Page. (So far it's 11:55am, I'm getting ready to post this and I've received no photo. It looks like I've been April Fooled! Sob!) UPDATE: Jesse just sent the photo in! It's below.
From left, Jesse, Andy and Jason. Jesse has a fun and informative blog and you can check it out here: jesse.anne.o. Thanks for sending the picture!
Here's the artist's statement about the project. I'm freezing and I need to go home and write a short story tonight. It should be right below this if I finish it. If not...April Fool's!
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Six Degrees of Andy Warhol If you live in New York you constantly run into assholes claiming they knew Andy Warhol, they worked for Andy Warhol, they knew someone who knew someone who knew Andy Warhol, blah, blah, blah. Well, I’m happy to say that I’m one of those assholes. Here’s my Andy Warhol story.
Back in the late ‘90’s, I was at work. I don’t like to blog about where I work at, although this was a different place than where I'm at now, but I still don’t want to get into it. Let’s just say it was a place that produced the equivalent of garbage and I helped mold things to throw on to the giant pile of trash that they would then sell to another asshole business, who would spread this bullshit all over town, ruining walls, sides of kiosks and tops of taxi cabs wherever they plastered these pieces of culture-crap. But anyway, that’s neither here, there nor everywhere, so let’s move on to the next paragraph. So there I was in a room working on a computer with about six of my co-workers, all working away as well. We sat at two tables that formed an L shape and they were lined with computers. Somebody started talking about the Rolling Stones for some reason and Rich Caposino, who was the manager of the department said, “Those fucking guys trashed my uncle’s house out in Montauk.”
This gave me cause me to glance over in Rich’s direction and ask, “Who the fuck is your uncle?”
“Well, it’s not really my uncle, it’s my wife’s uncle,” Rich replied.
“Well, okay, who’s your wife’s uncle?” I asked again. I was bound to get to the bottom of this, plus it sure beat the shit out of talking about work, a subject I try and avoid at all costs.
“His name’s Paul Morrissey,” Rich said nonchalantly.
I immediately spun around in my chair, squinted in Rich’s direction and excitedly spat out, “You don’t mean the Andy Warhol guy do you?” Rich chuckled at how excited I was and said, “Yeah, that’s him.”
“Holy shitballs,” I cried out, “I’ve read that without him, Andy Warhol never would’ve made it as big as he did.”
Rich and I then talked about Paul Morrissey, his films he did with Andy Warhol—Rich told me his wife was in a couple of them, which I thought was really cool—and how Morrissey had discovered the Velvet Underground. Rich explained to me it was Morrissey’s idea to put Nico in the group because Morrissey had said, “Lou Reed can’t fucking sing!”He then said that Paul could be a little cranky.
I was publishing my magazine fishwrap at the time and I asked Rich if he knew how much Morrissey was involved with Interview magazine.
“From what I know, it was pretty much his idea,” Rich replied.
I asked him if he’d give him a copy of fishwrap the next time he saw him and Rich said he would. I was always looking for someone to back the magazine in those days. Paul Morrissey surely could get someone to get behind it. Interview was a big success, I had a hunch that if he saw fishwrap, he’d love it. Maybe he’d be the guy to spring me out of my night job and land me in the world of magazine publishing, where I felt I truly belonged.
“Maybe I’ll be the next Andy Warhol,” I thought to myself. I made a mental note to get a white wig.
Just then we were interrupted by a slithery penguin-like creature who wanted to know what the “status of the level of the queue was.” That last line may sound like utter nonsense to most of you, but I guarantee you that if Rich and/or Frank Scott (another co-worker from back then) are reading this, they are having a nice little chuckle after reading that line. So anyway, about a month went by and it became a running joke with me to ask Rich how Uncle Paul was doing. I also kept reminding him that the next time he saw him, he needed to show Uncle Paul a copy of fishwrap so he could turn it into the next Interview and I could quit my job.
One day while I was staring out the window day-dreaming about being the next Andy Warhol working dilligently as I always do, Rich came running up to me with some papers and a big grin on his face.
“You want to meet Uncle Paul?” Rich said while breaking out into a bigger smile.
“Huh?” I shot back.
“He’s out in the reception area, I just printed some stuff out for him. Come on, I’ll introduce you to him,” Rich said while turning towards the door. Sweet mother of fuck! The timing couldn’t have been better. Rolling Stone magazine had just had their 30th year anniversary and I had just published an issue of fishwrap devoted to Rolling Stone. I felt it was really a strong issue and the cover was a black and white parody cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone. I had gotten some press on it too. In addition to being the editor of New York Press at the time, John Strausbaugh also wrote a media column in the paper and he wrote about that issue of fishwrap and gave it high praise. I told Rich to wait and I dug in my bag and grabbed a copy of fishwrap and the clipping from the New York Press. Soon I was following Rich through the company’s office towards the reception area.
Within minutes we had made our destination and Rich opened the door to the reception area. There was a man standing there, medium build, white hair and a touch of a scowl colored his face. He said hi to Rich and I realized it was Paul Morrissey. He looked older and a little more haggard than the pictures I had seen of him, but then those pictures were twenty to thirty years old. Of course he was going to look older, what was I thinking? Rich introduced me to him and his scowl got even worse. He kind of had an expression on his face like someone was putting a cigarette out on the left cheek of his face.
I stuck out my hand and said, “It’s really a pleasure to meet you, your films, your work with Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground were genius.”
He halfheartedly shook my hand and the scowl turned into a grimace. Almost like now someone was putting out a Cuban cigar on the right cheek of his face.
I figured that I should make my move.
“I publish a magazine called fishwrap,” I said while shoving the magazine into his hand that I had just shook, “and I’d really appreciate you taking a look at it. It’s been a cult and critical success and I’ve gotten a fair amount of press for...”
“What the fuck! The cover’s black and white! What’s wrong with you?” He shouted at me while staring at the magazine like he was holding a bucket of steaming elephant dung.
At first I was stunned and then I tried explaining it to him. “The reason it’s black and white is that it’s a parody of the first cover of Rolling Stone, we...”
“Fuck Rolling Stone, they get everything wrong and they always have,” he shouted waving my own magazine at me.
“Yeah, yeah fuck them,” I said trying to back pedal, “there’s color inside and I think you’ll like the layout. I do most of the writing and I make fun of...”
“Look at the size of the photos in here,” he barked at me while staring wild-eyed at the magazine and turning pages, “they’re the size of postage stamps. You need big photos, this stinks!” he barked while continuing to flip through pages.
“We’re going to have big photos, in fact the next issue is going to be nothing but big photos,” I lied. I felt like a drowning man trying to reach a life saver that’s inches out of reach. Desperate is the word for what I was.
“Aw fuck, here’s another black and white photo, this is just terrible!” He said while handing the issue back to me. He grabbed the papers from Rich and I can’t remember if he even said goodbye. It was kind of like all of a sudden he just vanished.
I took a deep breath, cocked my right eyebrow up and said to Rich, “I think it went fairly well, what do you think?”
We both started laughing and Rich told me he didn’t mean any harm, it’s just the way he is. He said he talks that way with everyone. We laughed some more about the whole situation and went back to work.
That evening I called about a half a dozen people and the conversations all started out with me saying, “You’re not going to believe who yelled at me today!” And that is how I was indoctrinated into the Royal Order of Assholes Who Tell Stories About Knowing Someone Who Knew Andy Warhol. In fact, I have to run now, I’m late for a meeting with them...fuck...I keep forgetting to buy that white wig! Further reading: Paul Morrissey, IMDb, WarholStars and tumblr Photos by Paul Morrissey.
One thing that amazed me last year while doing my 365 bar trek was how people reacted when I approached them and asked to take their picture for the blog. Before I started, I thought maybe fifty percent would say yes. I was pleasantly surprised that it was usually closer to ninety percent saying yes. At first I dreaded walking up to strangers and asking to take their picture, but after a while, I got used to it and I enjoyed it. This led me to think of an idea for MAD to do occasionally, instead of approaching several people for a photo, I’m just going to approach one person and ask to take twelve photos of that person’s face. If they agree, I’m going to call out different emotions and words for the person to react to. I’m going to call this, “Extreme Close-Up.” Let’s go see if I can pull this off.
Goddamn, it's cold out here again tonight, where are you spring?
It's kind of deserted out tonight, I guess people are pissed that spring has refused to be sprung on this city and they're staying inside.
Oh no. I guess I should thank them for the warning.
I think I'll cut over here and go to Union Square Park, there's always people there.
Okay, here's Union Square Park, let's go to the other side where the steps are, kids are always hanging out over there.
Jesus creeping Christ, it's empty over here and it's not even 10:30! Come on people, work with me!
I was going to ask this guitar guy, but I went over and he seemed to be stoned out of his gourd really into his music, so I didn't want to bother him.
Okay, here we go! This competitive chess player's name is C and he wasn't camera shy at all. He agreed to be the first person to play, "Extreme Close-Up" on MAD. The idea here is to get C to look directly in the camera and then I'm going to throw words out and have him mirror them with his expressions. Here we go!
Happy. (I wanted C to look directly in the camera, but after repeated requests, I gave up I thought maybe this was a better angle anyway.
Sad. (Not too much different than happy, but hey, what are you going to do?)
Confused. (He's still not looking at the camera, but he's getting into it a little more.)
Mad.
Charlie Sheen.
Emilio Estevez. (This prompted C to look away even further from the camera and say, "Man, I don't even know who she is!" I figured this was a good time to end this first edition of, "Extreme Close-Up." Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark!)
Extreme Close-Up—Epilogue Okay, I admit, this exercise could’ve gone a little better. Part of it was me, maybe I should’ve given C a little more direction, but after asking him to look directly in the camera 37 times, I got a little tired of asking. I thought about trying someone else, but there was no one around and quite frankly, I was kind of out of the mood to do this. I’m not a beaten man though, I will try this again...maybe in a bar next time.
Strand Bookstore @9:17 pm Union Square/East Village I had such a good time last week at Bleecker Bob’s, I thought that every Sunday I would venture out and go visit a local and independent store. I know from growing up in Peoria, Illinois that sometimes you just can’t escape the chain stores, some towns don’t have as many choices as others. But in New York there’s really no excuse not to shop local, at least most of the time. So that’s what I’m going to do every Sunday evening for the MAD blog.
Tonight I’m going to a legendary bookstore in Manhattan. The Strand bookstore has stood tall in the face of competition from chains like Barnes and Noble and Borders and from online stores and devices like Amazon and the Kindle and the iPad, oh my! Strand opened in 1927 and still does a brisk business seven days a week. The store and its 18 miles of books has been featured in movies such as, Julie and Julia and Six Degrees of Separation.And they’re open every night until 10:30 pm. Perfect for a nighttime visit from MAD. Shall we?
We'll go right down 14th, hang a right on Broadway and...
Boom! Here we are at the Strand Bookstore.
They have rows of outside shelving units offering hundreds, if not thousands of books for a buck. In the summertime if I'm going to Coney Island or taking a long subway trip I always stop here and pick up a buck book for the ride there and back.
Jinny and O were checking out some of the books outside.
It's still chilly out here, so let's go inside and take a look around at this giant-sized bookstore.
I wish I had a fisheye lens to capture the whole first floor, but this will give a pretty good idea of the number of books in this place. The Burgess Meredith character from that Twilight Zone episode would've creamed his jeans in this joint!
Here's a couple of tables of books specifically about New York.
This isn't a book about the sandwich chain.
Strand buys used books and here's some stacks the store purchased that you can buy tomorrow.
You find some unusual neighbors in bookstores. Here's Marilyn Monroe next to Hunter S. Thompson.
Nice to see John Lennon next to David Bowie as they were friends in real life.
Here's a couple of Ian Fleming 007 novels. I like looking at book covers and spines just as much as album covers.
Whoops...I think we'll just skip this section, I've had enough of Oprah for three and a half lifetimes.
A tall stack of books to be re-shelved.
Hey look, it's the Twitter Whale! He can read? Who knew? I have to Tweet this when I get home! It's sure to get retweeted!
Here's Daniel and Van working the back counter of the store.
Let's go up to the second floor and see what's going on.
Hey buddy, what do you think this is, a Barnes and Noble cafe? Get up and buy the book, cheapskate and let's keep this place in business!
Wow, this looks like a cool book and it's one of my favorite movies. Let's look inside of it.
It's got the entire script and tons of photos from the movie. Very nice!
Here's a variety of coffee table books. I don't see Kramer's though.
An aerial view of the lights and books on the first floor.
Let's see what's on the third floor. I'll take a kooky guess and say, "More books."
Art. I wonder if they mean Garfunkel or Fleming? Who knew so many books were written on those two icons of entertainment.
Cool cover for the "Art and Text" book. Simplicity at its finest hour. Hey I went to art college for four months, I know what I'm talking about!
This Popeye cover of a serpent coming out of Wimpy's pants is a little suggestive, buy who am I to judge?
An overhead shot of the front of Strand's.
Strand bookbags...
Strand coffee mugs...
And for those of you that like to indulge in the risky business of drinking and reading: Strand shot glasses.
Speaking of that, I'm ready for a beer or seven, so it's time to say over and...well, you know. See you tomorrow, after dark.
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Strand: A Brief History (Reprinted from their website.)
The Beginning In 1927, Ben Bass opened Strand Book Store on Fourth Avenue, home of New York's legendary Book Row. Named after the famous publishing street in London, the Strand was one of 48 bookstores on Book Row, which started in the 1890's and ran from Union Square to Astor Place. Today, the Strand is the sole survivor. All in the Family
Ben's son Fred started working in his father's store at the age of 13. After a tour of duty in the Armed Forces, Fred returned to the family business and took over its management in 1956. Soon after, he moved the store to its current location on Broadway at 12th Street, where he rented 4,000 square feet of space - a very large space, at that time. The Strand now occupies 55,000 square feet of space.
8 Miles of Books In the 1970s, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George F. Will wrote, "the eight miles worth saving in this city are at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. They are the crammed shelves of the Strand Book Store."
18 Miles of Books...And Then Some More than thirty years later, the Bass family now owns the building at Broadway and 12th Street. They also operate the Kiosks in Central Park. In the early 1990s, Strand went online and today book lovers from around the world can shop from our entire selection at strandbooks.com.
Today Strand Book Store remains a fiercely independent family business with Fred and his daughter, Nancy Bass Wyden, at the helm. With over 200 employees, more than 2.5 million used, new and rare books, a renovated main store and a growing author events program, the Strand looks forward to offering great books at great prices to book-lovers worldwide for another 80 years. The Next Generation
On October 26, 2007, the Strand Book Store welcomed its newest family members, William Peter and Ava Rose Wyden. These are the first children for Strand owner Nancy Bass Wyden and her husband, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Strand 828 Broadway. (@12th St.) (212) 473-1452
--------------------------- Some Things I Did Before Work Today Wondered where the weekend went. Listened to Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Went to Netflix. Added Fear Strikes Out to my queue. Hope it shows up by Friday. ---------------------------
Midnight Movie @12:01 am Chelsea Okay, it’s Friday and that means it’s time for the Midnight Movie here at MAD. Tonight’s movie is one of my all-time favorites, “Fear Strikes Out.” It stars Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden and both of them are great in it. It’s the true story of Jimmy Piersall, a Boston Red Sox player (hello csp!), who, for a while, was a couple bases shy of a baseball diamond. This movie chronicles those kooky years of Piersall and his bitter and over-bearing father. Okay, let’s go to my apartment and watch it.
Every year there's a night when you walk out and realize that winter is finally over. Tonight's that night and it feels great! Of course, now that I've said that it'll probably snow six feet tomorrow.
Nice, you just tack a sign to the door and tell the store to move itself! Let's try that here: Movie, start now.
You can't read this in the picture, but it's an error box saying that a critical error has happened and the disc cannot recover. I tried cleaning it but got the same error in the same place. Looks like in addition to fear, this movie has also struck out. Anthony Perkins went "Psycho" three years later and Karl Malden used an American Express Card to get to San Francisco. The End. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Starring Pop Burger Pub and special guest star Lex! And featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome, Lex and Pop Burger Pub!
My friend Lex is in town with her family and has a free night out, so she's accompanying me on Cheeseburger Saturday Night tonight. You may remember Lex from her appearance on 365 Bars and back in May on MAD. And we all know, when a guest comes to MAD Headquarters, snacks must be made. Tonight I thought I'd try a nutty mixture, here's the ingredients.
For this recipe you need two snackologist certified bowls.
The base is the Blue Diamond Jalapeno almonds.
Then slowly I add, shape, prune and mix in the other ingredients. As always, I want to warn you not to try this in your house, unless you are a board-certified snackologist. If you don't know what you're doing things can get messy and nasty real quick.
Three hours later the final mix is done. Now all we need is Lex.
And bingo-bambo, here she is, enjoying the snacks and a beer here at MAD Headquarters. Great to see you again, Lex!
Here's the cheeseburger destination for the evening, Pop Burger Pub in Union Square, a short walk from where I live.
When you walk in, there's a giant wall with a takeout window featuring the menu lit up all over it.
The words, "firm fries" were a little upsetting to both Lex and I, although we didn't really know why.
Lex poses with Christian, who's a busboy in the pub. A nice guy, the whole staff is friendly in here.
There's lots of wooden tables and seating in the spacious front room.
But Lex and I chose to sit at the bar in the middle of the pub.
Bartender Peter happily serves us up a beer and the night is underway!
The back wall features some of the bottled beers on the beer menu. Pretty impressive.
There's big wooden booths in the back, let's go say hi to these two women.
Here's Fayola and Jessica at their booth. They had just finished dinner and Fayola had the Superman Burger and recommended it, so that's what we decided to order.
We split an order of onion rings for an appetizer.
See?
The Superman Burger lived up to its name. It was huge and we split one, which was good, because I could never have finished a whole one.
Thanks to Lex for hanging out with me on Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
At Fayola’s suggestion, Lex and I got the Superman Burger and it was...well...super! It’s a giant burger that comes dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and crunchy bacon on a fresh toasted bun. It comes with fried pickles, but we had them on the side. We started out the meal with onion rings and they were crunchy and delicious.
Three Wimpy’s, a wonderful cheeseburger!
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