Tauba Auerbach

K 50"x 38" ink on paper 2007

Conceptual graphic artist, Tauba Auerbach creates artistic studies of the language and the written word, also relating the verbal to the symbols used in written language. She is one of my favorite artists. To see more of her accomplished and innovative styles please visit her website.

Subtraction (Startling) ink and pencil on paper 27"x 27" 2007

The 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show February 9-10

Those eyes, those ears, those nose! Aahhh roooo! It's time to get your dog on, for the one hundred and thirty third time! Can you believe it's been going on this long? That's alot of ticks! Even the ticks on these champions get a grooming. Last year's winner UNO, was the first beagle ever to claim Best In Show. That smacks of canine bigotry.

Who will be Best In Show this year? Will there be another great story?,.. a long shot defies the odds?,... It better not be some dumb yapper mutt!! I'm very sorry for that outburst, I don't know what got into me, I apologize. Anyway,.. watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show every year is like someone handing me a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup. It's comfort! So please go to the website, it's very informative, and it will give you the complete broadcast information where you can watch. Here are a couple of links for last years show pics. 1), 2), 3).

2008 winner "UNO" Hound Class (K-Run's Park me In First)

The Empire State Building is bathed in Westminster purple and gold annually for the show.

Crab cake at Faidley's Baltimore

This is the award winning lump crab cake from Faidleys Seafood in the historic Lexington Market in Baltimore. You can get a platter with fries and a side but got just the crab cake. They, and most everyone say it's the best in Baltimore, and that's saying alot because crab cakes are the claim to fame for a ton of restaurants in this city. The crab cakes here are basically a large ball of almost entirely lump crab meat, surrounded by a perfect blend of tangy and sweet filling. Don't let the look of it fool you, that thing is almost ALL lump meat! The best crab cake around? I couldn't say, I don't eat many crab cakes but these were awesome. The atmosphere is great, they serve cold beer, and the staff have a good time.
For more of my pics of market see here.

200 N .Paca St., Lexington Market, Baltimore Md., 410.727.4898 MAP

cold and briny

I ducked into the Main Ave. Fish Wharf in SE Washington DC today for a half dozen clams for the always cheap $5. Make sure you go to the far end of Jessie's Cooked Seafood stand, I find it's got the best. Everytime I go there, the clams are always bigger, colder, and tastier than the other stands. Tip the guys before they start shucking and they always take care of you.
See: Captain Whites Seafood City • Jessie Taylor Seafood

1100 Main Ave., SW Washington DC. 202.314.5759 MAP

the White Onion at Vace

This is the White Onion pizza at Vace Italian Delicatessen in Cleveland Park, Washington D.C., pronounced (vaa-chay). I could go on and on and tell you how much I like this pizza, but I won't. I'll just say It's my favorite pizza pie. All the others like The Italian Store, 2 Amy's, Pizzeria Paradiso and so on, have their own specialties and their great but this is by far my favorite. Very thin crust with the best tasting mozzarella, and plenty of shaved, sweet Vidalia onion. Their other pizzas are also made with fresh ingredients and are delish. Please visit their website for more info. It's located directly across the street from the famed Uptown Theatre. Many people consider Vace the best kept secret in D.C. and I agree, their pizzas are the best.

3315 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington DC, 2008, 202.363.1999 MAP

El Pollo Rico

There are alot of Peruvian chicken restaurants around the D.C. area, but the one place that keeps coming up in blogs and articles is El Pollo Rico in the Clarendon district in Arlington Va. It was recently featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show. Around lunch or dinner time the activity in the parking lot of El Pollo Rico is reminiscent of the frantic drive-in restaurants of the fifties. People going in and out, doors opening and closing, cars jockeying or spots. Folks, everyone is saying this is hands down the best chicken of this type in the area.

Chicken is the only entree on the menu here, you can get a quarter, half or whole. They'll ask you "with everything?" and you'll get cole slaw and fries on the side along with as many tiny containers of (dangerous) green chilli and their delicious mustard/mayo sauce as you like. The chicken really is delicious and very moist. Great unusual spices flavor it, and the skin is cooked crispy so it's almost like another side dish. The slaw has heavy horseradish and the fries are from frozen but crispy. Yuca frita or plantains would be a better side but what are you gonna do. A fork-full of chicken, skin, chili, and mustard/mayo sauce and you know why the lines are always long. Wash it all down with cold Inca Kola. So is it the best Peruvian chicken I've ever had? Yes.

The dining room is huge, it's cash only, and typical of a Clarendon eatery, the parking is sparse. It's all worth it though, it's the very well seasoned, very moist chicken that people show up in droves for. Also a bargain, my half chicken meal pictured above, with everything and the Kola came to $9.57.

El Pollo Rico, 932 N Kenmore St., Arlington, VA. 703.522.3220 MAP

The name of the Lamborghini Embolado comes from a Spanish festival called the "Toro Embolado". The festival involves releasing a bull into the streets with a burning ball attached to it's horns. The Lamborghini Embolado concept by Luca Serafini, possibly the big brother to the Gallardo.

I think I'll stick with Scrabble.