Handbill Handout

I'm not wishing for the end of summer or anything, but I am looking forward to see how this shakes out . It's always great to see the best players on the international stage. Takes the edge off my disappointment that the Habs aren't going to play a game at the Big Owe this season after all, though that's for a good reason too - the Als are having a great year and need the place for a possible playoff date. Summer sports? Well, I am heading to my favorite minor league ballpark this weekend, though it is not a favorite of the players . Ah well, progress is inevitable and I suppose its inevitable that small towns will be run out of organized minor league ball. Players want big, well-lit luxury locker rooms before they get out of A ball, never mind the majors and there's money to be vacuumed from folks in bigger cities who want the charm of minor league ball even as the prices for tickets and concessions climb to what major league tickets cost just a decade or so ...

Saturday morning, 11:30am.

The Top Chef: Masters Finale was the other night. Unlike many of my fellow fans of the guilty pleasure that is the Top Chef franchise I enjoyed the “Masters” version of the series. To me it seemed more focused on the craft and personalities of the chefs as opposed to some personal Real World-type drama nonsense. The finale in particular was for me a perfect food show. The concept was each chef was to tell his story in the form of a four course meal. The first course would represent his earliest food memory, the second would be the food that made him want to become a chef, the third was to be a dish from his first restaurant and the final dish was to represent where the chef is now and where he wanted to be in the future. It was one of the most enjoyable episodes of any television show I’ve ever seen. If some network actually had the guts to make a series out of this concept focusing on one chef per week, not even making it a competition with all of the contrived drama that tha...

I hope Mr. Softee can survive this review . This whole seeing-Bruni-in-person thing is still weird though. Then again I got used to seeing Ruth Reichl's face everywhere, and I don't think it was as big a deal when Grimes quit the job. Still, I wonder when Bruni will make his Top Chef or Iron Chef debut. It's gotta happen, doesn't it?

anniversary weekend.

I need to train my cats to do this . While that's cool, it doesn't beat the Thai Elephant Orchestra , at least not to me.

I wrote most of this the same day we hiked up the mountain but initally thought it was too melodramatic and really over-the-top to throw out here. Then I remembered hardly anyone comes here so who cares right? So without further ado, chapter 380-whatever, wherein the author and his wife journey up the volcano: A breeze wafted some of the sweat from our dusty, exhausted bodies as we sat under the umbrellas of the “Fast Food” café a hundred yards from the Ercolana Curcumvesuivio stop. I had finally done it. I had set a goal for myself and achieved it. I had help, of course, there isn’t a soul on Earth who achieves anything without help whether he knows it or not. I was, and still am, giddy with achievement. Sure it’s achievement just to my fat, out of shape, old ass but looking up the steep, pumice-gravel-filled path to the summit of Vesuvius I never thought I would make it. Even after probably logging 2 miles just walking around the ruins of Herculaneum and up and down the hill to...

Was sold to me by this gentleman. Here he is slicing it up. One slice lean meat, one slice of skin that's crispy on the outside and unctuous and fatty underneath. Alternate 3 times (6 slices total), put it on a hard roll and you have the omnivore's nirvana. A smell, taste and texture experience that is a worthy rival to the beauty hammering your other senses in this part of the world. All yours for 2.50 Euros. Want some cured meat instead? Well ask this guy. He'll carve you some prosciutto right off the leg. Just tell him how many slices you want, he'll weigh it up and collect the money. If you have any love for meats porcine, I suggest you make some plans to come to Siena on market day (Wednesday) and pay these gents a visit. With all due apologies and respect to my fellow Americans (particularly those of Southern origin or orientation), the pig from here is the best I've ever had. Then again, I have a few days to go here, maybe there are even better swine to be ...

Ercolano (Herculaneum). Yes, that is right above the ruins of the ancient city. Sorrento, just off the square. Naples. St. Agatha (up a mountain from Sorrento, the drapes are above lemon trees). We were so inspired the Mrs. did laundry in our room in Sorrento and we created our own.

God it's hot here. Really hot. However it is not humid and the food is good and the scenery is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Here's one tip if you're traveling to Italy in the summer: carry a lot of water. Really a lot. More than you think you'll need. Even if you're not hiking to the summit of a volcano which is what we did yesterday, though I'm going to have a rather longer essay about that later. Today was pizza day. We went across the bay via hyrdofoil to Naples, a not-very-attractive city, however it has its charms and one of them is the pizza. Most places are closed on Sunday but we went to a pizza place that has been cranking out margherita pies since 1923. The four of us split three pies, a traditional margherita (in its own photo), a margherita con bufala mozzarella (the consensus favorite) and the margherita con funghi. All were outstanding, they were thin-crust and although the Mrs. felt they were "a bit wetter than I would've liked" we al...