Thanks to Blogiche, and Special Thanks to My Readers

       Many of you are probably avid blog readers, and I know how difficult it is at times to locate a blog that will interest you.  I found another resource for you at http://blogiche.com, a site that provides real-time views of recently updated blogs, and directs traffic to those blogs.  It cycles through views of the blogs every 10 seconds or so, but you can view the blogroll and click on a blog’s name to visit it.  It’s a great timesaver, and a great way to keep up with updated blogs.  To those of you who have visited through a referral from http://blogiche.com (I’ve had more than 7,000 referrals in the past week), welcome, and I hope you continue to visit! 

       Most of all, I extend my thanks to you, my readers, for continuing to return to my blog, for which I’ve recorded almost three quarters of a million views in the past six months!  And thanks very much for coming back!        

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out!   

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

The Titanic in Times Square

       Back on June 16, I wrote about the Titanic exposition on 44^th Street, originally scheduled to end in October.  Fortunately, it has been extended, and my wife and I visited it last Saturday morning.

       We actually got our first glimpse on Friday night while passing the window display containing a model of the ill-fated luxury liner.  Upon entering the exhibit on Saturday, what we found incredible was the number of artifacts that have retained close to their original condition, in spite of almost a century of exposure to sea water.     

       The have many pieces of the ship there, such as the ship’s whistles.  There are also letters and postcards that belonged to some of the passengers.  The most amazing artifacts were the pieces of china and glass.  There was even one bottle that still had cooking oil in it!  To help the preservation of these valuables, each glass display case is strictly controlled for temperature and humidity.  

       At one point, there was a large iceberg (from fresh water, not salt water) that visitors could walk up to and touch, and there was also a piece of steel in a glass case.  The case had two holes in the top, and visitors were allowed to poke their finger in to feel the metal.  Most of the exhibit was dimly lighted, making the entire experience surreal.

       The one exception was the brightly-lit replica of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase, which I’m sure you remember if you saw the movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.  It was truly magnificent, and even evoked some memories of past cruises for us.  If you have the opportunity, go to the exposition!    

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center

My wife and I spent part of this past weekend in New York City, and had a great time.  Our stay was cut short by one of our cats needing surgery; but that’s a story for another day.

On Friday night we had dinner at Rue 57, on the corner of 57^th Street and Sixth Avenue.  Since we got there early, about 5:30, we were able to get seated right away.  As with my previous visits, the restaurant was great.  My wife had the grilled sea scallops and I had Pasta Bolonnese; both portions were just the right size, so we walked away without that absolutely stuffed feeling that many of experience with good food.

       The weather cooperated, so we walked over to Columbus Circle (the lead picture above) to see the Holiday Under the Stars at Time Warner Center.  I’m glad we did; the giant stars twinkling to the rhythm of the Christmas music was a perfect start to the holiday season for us.   

       Our next stop was the Marquis Theater to enjoy the seasonal performance of White Christmas.  You may remember my post from last December 7 in which I wrote about not attending a Friday afternoon performance of that show because of the unbelievably high cost.  Well, this year we got Friday evening tickets for about half the price, so we went. While we both like the movie better, the cast and crew, including David Ogden Stiers as General Waverly, performed well.  More about our shortened weekend later…    

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Thanks to Alphainventions, and Special Thanks to My Readers

       Many of you are probably avid blog readers, and I know how difficult it is at times to locate a blog that will interest you.  A guy named Cheru Jackson has created Alphainventions.com, a site designed to provide real-time views of recently updated blogs, and direct traffic to those blogs.  It cycles through views of the blogs every 15 seconds or so, but you can pause it.  And you can also click on the blog’s name to visit it.  It’s a great timesaver, and a great way to keep up with updated blogs.  To those of you who have visited through a referral from Alphainventions.com, welcome, and I hope you continue to visit! 

       Most of all, I extend my thanks to you, my readers, for continuing to return to my blog, for which I’ve recorded more than 700,000 views in the past six months, and I’ve a single day with almost 14,000 views!  And thanks very much for coming back!        

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out!   

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

The Exotic Hot Dogs of New York City

       I’m sure that you can find a variety of ways that hot dogs are prepared and eaten in any large city, and New York is certainly no exception.  Here are some that were recently featured in New York magazine: 

• Pickles Jalan at Willie’s Dawgs on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn – with pickles, jalapeno, and peanut sauce
• Bruschetta Dog at Super Hot Dog on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village – with olive oil, basil, chopped tomatoes, and sliced garlic
• Fatty Dog at Fatty Crab on Broadway in the Upper West Side – with ground pork, shrimp, and sausage, along with mayonnaise and tangy radishes
• The Keema Chili Dog at Elettaria on 8^th Street in Greenwich Village – with ground duck meat and a side of kimchee
• DBGB Dog at DBGB Kitchen and Bar on Bowery in the Lower East Side – a beef sausage but little in the way of toppings.

       Hot dogs, anyone?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible through my site.  Please check it out!   

And to view updated blogs in real-time, go to http://alphainventions.com or http://blogiche.com – they’re both great sites! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Are Casinos Headed for Trouble?

       I just read that Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut (about 60 miles from my house, though I’ve never been there) has defaulted on an interest payment on $500 million in debt notes.  As a result, Standard & Poors lowered its credit rating to its lowest rating of D, meaning that it will be difficult for Foxwoods to get more loans.   

       But they’re not the first; they follow in the footsteps of other casinos owned by American Indian tribes, two in New Mexico and another in Michigan.  However, nearby Mohegan Sun (which I also have never been to) reports that it is financially healthy.     

       I’ve never been to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, and I’m not an Atlantic City fan.  Do I gamble?  Occasionally, but I’ll stick with Las Vegas or, even better, Reno, the “Biggest Little City in the World”…  

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Thanks to Blogiche, and Special Thanks to My Readers

       Many of you are probably avid blog readers, and I know how difficult it is at times to locate a blog that will interest you.  I found another resource for you at http://blogiche.com, a site that provides real-time views of recently updated blogs, and directs traffic to those blogs.  It cycles through views of the blogs every 10 seconds or so, but you can view the blogroll and click on a blog’s name to visit it.  It’s a great timesaver, and a great way to keep up with updated blogs.  To those of you who have visited through a referral from http://blogiche.com (I’ve had more than 7,000 referrals in the past week), welcome, and I hope you continue to visit! 

       Most of all, I extend my thanks to you, my readers, for continuing to return to my blog, for which I’ve recorded almost three quarters of a million views in the past six months!  And thanks very much for coming back!        

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out!   

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

The Evolution of the New York Pizza

       If you’re into pizza, particularly New York pizza (which I am), you may be interested in the evolution of New York pizza styles over the past 100 years, as reported in New York magazine: 

• 1905 – the New York – Neapolitan Hybrid became the standard, baked in a coal oven
• 1950s – Sicilian pan pizza (both soft crust and crisp) and the classic slice of pizza joined in
• 1980s – the Roman pizza, with no crust edge, became popular
• 1989 – Focaccia Robiola entered the scene, with dimpled flatbread, robiola cheese, and truffle oil
• 1993 – now it was Grandma style pizza, with more sauce and less cheese, and the Grilled pizza, with both sides of the thin cruse cooked on a grill
• 1998 – the Pizza Truck drove in from Staten Island, square and little cheese
• 2004 – the New-School Neo-Neapolitan came into vogue, with lots of green topping.  (I hope that isn’t the cheese…)
• 2009 – the Neoclassical Neapolitan pizza, cooked in less than two minutes in a wood-fired oven.

       What’s your pizza of choice?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible through my site.  Please check it out!   

And to view updated blogs in real-time, go to http://alphainventions.com or http://blogiche.com – they’re both great sites! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Holiday Under the Stars at Time Warner Center

       A couple of weeks ago I started seeing Christmas displays in stores; it seems that the holidays start earlier each year.  But one thing you may as well take advantage of and enjoy is Holiday Under the Stars at Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle.   

       Continuing until January 2, this presents shows each night from 5:00 to midnight in the Great Room, a multi-story (150 feet tall) atrium in the center.  Billed as the “largest specialty crafted display of illuminated color mixing in the world,” featuring 14-foot, half ton glass Moravian stars, 8500 LEDs, 11000 fiber optics, and 156 strobe lights.  The light shows are set to holiday music created by a 12-piece orchestra     

       In case you can’t make it, here’s a video of a past show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qthMtUxN-UQ.  

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible on my site.  Please check it out! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Brooklyn, the Center of Pop Music

       You read it right.  New York magazine recently reported a shift in the center of pop music from Manhattan to the other side of the bridge.  It mentioned many spots in Bushwick, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg including: 

• The Market Hotel on Myrtle Avenue
• Above the Auto Parts Store on Bushwick Avenue
• Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Clermont Avenue
• Music Hall of Williamsburg on 6^th Street
• Death by Audio on 2^nd Street
• Glasslands Gallery on Kent Avenue
• Bruar Falls on Grand Street
• Daddy’s on Graham Avenue
• Brooklyn Bowl on Wythe Avenue
• The Levee on Berry Street

       If you’ve got the itch to start a cool band, it’s evidently cool to head to Brooklyn (where I was born, by the way)…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back often – I write and post every day!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my website, http://www.randolphmase.com.  In the near future, I’ll have excerpts of my books that you can read, accessible through my site.  Please check it out!   

And to view updated blogs in real-time, go to http://alphainventions.com or http://blogiche.com – they’re both great sites! 

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

http://www.randolphmase.com

http://twitter.com/randolphmase 

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death in The Cloisters (under construction)

Nathan Hale