nogblog

MONTREAL EXPOSITION

For absolutely no good reason, Mandy and I hopped in the car on Friday morning and drove to Montreal.  Who would have thought that a city so easily mistaken for European would be reachable on less than a tank of gas?  What the city lacked in sightseeing ‘musts’, it more than made up for in flavorful French restaurants, street performers on cobblestone and overall Euro-charm.  C’est la vie.

Would recommend Montreal to any Northeasterner looking for an unlikely roadtrip.

Duck crepes and melon sangria on a backdrop of open-air live jazz.  great lunch!

Bucket of garlic moules (mussels).  Yum.  French cuisine x 3 meals a day x 3 days = happy stomachs (sad wallets).

A few more pics from Montreal here

THE BARCLAYS

Mark Twain called golf ‘a good walk spoiled’, and up until today I sorta agreed.  But when Joe offered up VIP access to watch the sport’s undisputed greatest player ever (not to mention the Lady Liberty backdrop, bottomless buffet and open bar), I managed to find some room in my Sunday.  Thanks pal.  Awesome day.  (note: “cameras prohibited, strictly enforced”.  So I only got a few.) 

 Our view on the final hole as Tiger assesses the situation.   

Tiger sizes up 8-foot birdie attempt on 18th hole that would force sudden death…

To the crowd’s unanimous disbelief, he missed.  Game over.  Congrats to some other guy.

Windy City Weekend

Traveling to fun cities a few times a year is a nice perk of Mandy’s job, and from time to time, I get to tag-a-long.  Three fun days in Chicago.  

Chicago through the bean.

View from Hancock Lounge.

Wrigley = best place in the world to catch a game.  Sorry Fenway, it’s true.

Howl at the Moon.  Dueling pianos w/ five piece accompaniment play to a ruckus crowd.  Here, they’re poundin the ivories to Warren G’s “Regulator” while a birthday boy does push-ups on the piano.

Everyone meets their doppleganger at the bean.

Bean kiss.

My Will Smith video photo.  

A few more Windy City pics here

JULY PIE

July’s delegate at the Pie-o-the-Month convention was baked on August 9.  Been busy.  Tasty yes, but the blueberry innards didn’t hold shape and the crust was as forgettable as The Golden Palace, the short run 90’s spinoff of The Golden Girls.  Not among my best pie efforts of ‘09.  Looking to bounce back in August.

He Sang. He Danced. He Stole Things.

Jason Mraz last night at PNC Arts Center in NJ.  Maybe it’s the trademark fedora, maybe it’s his lightning fast lyrical wordplay, or maybe it’s his signature big band orchestral/folk fusion music, but something just makes this guy plain cool.

JULY RECAP

I know I owe you all constant insight into our every move, but being so caught up in the Jon & Kate fiasco has left me little to no free time for blog updates.  Priorities. So here’s a lightning round recap of the past month’s events.

After 18 long months of working in NJ, NBC finally brought us back to midtown Manhattan, where 80s lawn furniture…

…and wannabe Mary Poppins’ abound.  Later Jerz, I heart NYC.

Whiffleball tourney sponsored by Twitter = Twiffleball tourney.  And yes, some people were actually sending updates while running bases.  Enough.

Fourth of July fireworks on National Mall, preceded by Manilow, Aretha and Muppets concert!  Things went awry when Sam the Eagle was fatally wounded by a Republican Senator’s hunting rifle.

Only at a Nationals game…

Some rare Connor qt during Fourth of July in D.C.  I think we were reading about poop.

My team’s first web series launches online and at home on video-on-demand.  Viewer reaction and the great press we’ve been getting is all kinds of positive; decide for yourself here!

A boring commute.  Unless you count that one Beatle I ran into.

Had to catch the Reds during their one trip to NYC.  Sox hat, Mets Jersey, but rooting for Reds—Mandy is an equal opportunity fan.

Drove to Philly for Green Day concert.  Moments after this picture….

…lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong runs up our aisle, takes a sip of Mandy’s wine and plays “Enemy” a mere two feet away while the whole arena goes nuts.

During LA business trip, made Dodger Stadium debut.  Manny didn’t play (hurt), but thoughtfully graced the fans with his presence in the stands two rows in front of me.  

After six months of development and prep, the “Gayle” shoot became a reality in LA last week.  Shot ten webisodes in five days.  Show launches Sept 15!

Office lady sees our camera crew taking over her building and immediately proceeds to pimp out son’s headshot.  Welcome to LA.

Roger, one of our stars, prepares for his close-up.

That pretty much catches us up.  Now that the Gosselin drama has subsided, normal blog frequency should resume.  Thanks for understanding, internet.

June P.O.T.M = Key Lime!

The June effort of the Pie-of-the-Month club = most ambitious to date, including homemade crust and zesting limes sans zester!  In the end, the taste buds weren’t exactly rioting.

PERU. FINALLY.

Back less than a month and already got our pictures developed!

Had the time of our lives in Peru, the most underrated, under-visited, under-appreciated spot on Earth.  Scenic landscapes, fascinating history, low prices, cordial natives, and guinea pig dinners abound!  Buonos tiempos.

Albino llama standing guard over Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.  2010 Frommer’s cover, here we come.

Peruvian girl with Alpacas on either side.

Machu Picchu Mandy.

Without a doubt the most amazing sight of my life.

lots more Peru pics here.

Dear Nogblog, I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you. I’ll do better. love, Ryan