Domesticated Man

Upgrading bitches

2009-12-03T22:57:00.002-05:00

On December 15, my family is entering the 2000s. That is the day that we are dumping the CRT television and having a giant honkin' 52-inch 240hz Samsung LCD TV mounted to our wall. WiFi-enabled Blu-Ray player. Like friggin 32 feet of HDMI cable hidden in the walls. It is going to be insane. We're in a new house...a badass house...and it needs a badass TV set up. We're going animal. It's a "you must have the Super Bowl party" type set-up.

The Getting Old Booze Meter

2009-12-03T22:44:00.002-05:00

When I was in college, I was a beer guy. Lots of beers...and the occasional shot. Goldschlager, Black Haus, Soco and limes and the occasional 100 proof Turkey (only late at night). In the years after college, polished 5 or 6 beers was child's play. In the past few years though, I've gone through a weird transition. I might have 3 beers a month now. It's strange. I don't crave it at all. It's almost work to stack beers, unless I'm really in the mood. Instead, my palette has completely changed. Things like whisky, which were previously verboten in my booze regimen, are now the drinks of choice. I am a single malt scotch mad man. I will have a dram once or twice on a weekend and I am as happy as a pig in shit. It's all I crave. I appreciate the craftsmanship. The flavor. The experience of smelling, swirling, sniffing. Damn, I'm getting old.

Me talking pumpkin tossing strategy

2009-12-03T22:41:00.001-05:00

My agency has a pumpkin shot put contest around Halloween and here is some footage of me talking strategy. You should have seen me in the keg toss.

World's Greatest Kitchen Tool

2009-01-07T12:27:00.002-05:00

I just got a LeCreuset dutch oven and it is unreal. Christened it with a simple dish - Mario Batali's Chicken (Hunter Stytle), which was amazing. Now I am ready to take the training wheels off and get after some osso bucco and braised short ribs. If you don't have one, get one.

This is about as UNdomesticated as it gets...enjoy

2009-01-07T12:26:00.001-05:00

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Yeah, I've got a snowblower bitches

2008-02-23T10:18:00.004-05:00

Is it bad that I totally enjoy watching my neighbors break their backs shoveling plow slop while I cut through the heavy white stuff with my snowblower like a hot samurai sword through a melting stick of butter? No way dude. Here's my logic: Why do you have a snowblower? To get the job done faster, right? So, if I can whack through my entire driveway in 40 minutes, why the hell would I stay out in the cold like the freakin snowblowing Salvation Army instead of getting back inside where it's warm? Hey, if you want to borrow it, fine, but you're doing it yourself. This is how it goes down in "the town of friendly people."

Fairfield Hoops: Red Sea all dried up

2008-02-18T19:40:00.004-05:00

So excited. Wait for 7:30 to watch my beloved Fairfield Stags face Marist on MSG. Haven't been to a game this year because of the new baby. Game time hits and the Arena at Harbor Yard is completely empty. I looks like a private game. How embarrassing! Here are the Stags on a 4 game winning streak, having just knocked off #1 Rider on Friday night and it's President's Day (no work for most) and the school STILL can't fill the gym...for a TV game no less. What is going on up there? Does no one care? The team is 9-6 so it's not like some years when they plays like the Fairfield School for the Blind. The Domesticated Man never regrets his college choice. He bleeds FU Red. BUT, he does resent the half-assed effort behind the athletic program. He sees so many 1AA programs enjoying success each year and drawing crowds at the same time. Gotta ask...is it Connecticut? Is it the talent? Is it the school? Is it the fact that the arena is off campus? In Bridgeport? I do know this. Sometimes the team is good, more times they stink to high heaven BUT they always play hard and the competition is usually solid (MAAC is good ball). People should go. People should care. What other good hoops do they have South of Storrs in CT to cheer for?

Long Time, No Blog

2008-02-18T19:38:00.001-05:00

I'm back. The Domesticated Man took a pregnancy hiatus and watched some good material pass by but with a 7 week old, I can't resist it anymore.

Sometimes You Want To Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name

2007-09-21T13:23:00.000-04:00

Last night I went back to my hometown for the first high school football game under the new lights in Cedar Grove. For the past few years, living in Pearl River has made me pass through daily life anonymously. No hellos at the bagel shop. No horn toots as friends drive by the house. As an in-betweener just starting his own family, those roots are just being planted in my new town. But, it's great to go back home from time to time where, even though you've been gone for over a decade, people still bring up in the context of casual conversation how great your 8th grade football team was, and stories that begin with "I remember when." I know that may be a bit overboard but it makes you feel good...like you mattered when you were here, and that you can always go back. By the way, CG won 28-3. Go Panthers!

The 3:30 Dilemma

2007-09-15T14:47:00.000-04:00

YankaRutgerDame game today...very cluttered TV this afternoon. What to do?

Meat in the Media

2007-09-12T17:27:00.000-04:00

As a food lover, I have thoroughly enjoyed the recent articles in major men's magazines about meats, beef and steakhouses. Men's Journal did a meat bible. GQ had a nice piece as did Maxim's July issue - "Building A Meat Temple" about the perfect brick grilling station. My favorite, however, was a feature in this month's Details (with Brad Pitt on the cover). The article, entitled "The Best New Steakhouses in America," profiles some of the hottest beefeterias around the country in an attempt to break the mold of red checkered tableclothes and dark wooden walls. While many of these places are still full of white collared, corporate card power types, most boast a stylishly designed interior decor that somehow tricks the brain into feeling like less calories are being consumed. Personally, i have eaten at Craftsteak in Las Vegas and have my eye on Quality Meats in Manhattan for a near-future boy's night out.

The Sanctity of Morning

2007-09-12T17:14:00.000-04:00

Is it just me or is 7:00 am SHARP too early to use an industrial ride-on lawnmower to cut the grass? I know, I know. The town ordinance says...Well, I think I am just going to have to use my leaf blower at 10:00 pm this Sunday night. What happened to me?!

Everyone Should Have A Dog

2007-09-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

How funny is this?!

Cocktails...Skinnydipping...Sports: Why I Like Being My Age

2007-09-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

The older I get, the more I realize what's important. Years ago, if asked to a 1st birthday party, I probably would have made a face. When you're younger, you feel like there's a million things you would rather do, even if you end up doing nothing instead. You act that way because you think you're cool. Now, with age you begin to realize that what is really important is being with good people who enjoy each other's company and welcome other good people into the circle. Today, we had a 1st birthday party and I had as much fun as I ever did at any house party or night at a bar. Why? Let's talk about this party. There was great food, a stocked bar, every sport imaginable and a lot of amazing people trading laughs and stories. Being an expectant soon-to-be dad, I also noticed how cool it is to have a bunch of little rugrats around. There were kids belting baseballs into the house, flipping horseshoes left and right. Then, a bunch of the little boys stripped down to their birthday suits and made a break for the neighbor's sprinklers. Sounds like a domesticated version of a crazy college kegger, right? Bottom line: I love being domesticated. You appreciate what it's all about and this next phase of life is really awesome. Can't wait until parties like this go down at my house. Buckle up!

Things I've Never Tasted

2007-08-28T16:16:00.000-04:00

Today, I shocked people when I told them I was eating my first wrap ever. That's right...until today, I had never eaten a wrap sandwich and frankly, I don't see what all the buzz is about. Good old bread kicks a wrap's ass any day.

People's reaction to my wrap comment prompted me to want to share some other fun food revelations. Here it goes...In 29.5 years on earth I have never eaten:
1) a tuna sandwich (I love tuna sashimi, seared, grilled, ahi, fatty, yellowtail...all that, but no way on the canned stuff)
2) a bagel with cream cheese (love bagels, love cheese, no cream cheese)
3) clam chowder (Manhattan I've tasted, New England is barf in a bowl)
4) egg salad sandwich (yuck, do I really have to explain this one?)
5) will not knowingly eat mayonnaise on anything but Wendy's or a BLT and the occasional potato or pasta salad

Flank Steak Perfection

2007-08-26T20:33:00.000-04:00

I am THE grill master! We had a little Sunday BBQ today and did a monster 2.5-lb. flank steak. Made up a great marinade with a little Asian twist. Not sure of the exact measurements but you should definitely give it a try:

- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 3-4 crushed garlic cloves
- 1.5 tbsp minced ginger
- chopped green onion
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- two dried red chilies with seeds

Mix all that up and pour it on a flank steak covered in some cracked black pepper (no salt - the soy sauce has plenty of that already). Let that sucker sit for about 4 hours. Be sure to scrape the stuff off before laying it on the grill - it will catch fire and cause the ends of the steak to burn. Cook it to medium rare, then let it sit for a few minutes to collect its juices back. Slice it and enjoy.

You're welcome!

Back to Grass Growing for a Second...

2007-08-26T11:36:00.000-04:00

If you read my last rant about lawns here, you know that I have been way into grass this year. Found a cool site dedicated to grass growing. It's called Watching Grass Grow. Check it out. My personal favorite is the 1-year time lapse.

Picture Me Rollin' - My First Trip To Buy Buy Baby

2007-08-26T11:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went crib and stroller and playpen and car seat and glider shopping. As this is our first baby, the whole experience was totally foreign to me. It's weird, like anything else, you begin knowing nothing and then after a few excursions, you're explaining to a total stranger why the 30-lb rating will get you through an entire year while the 22-lb is going to put you back in the store at about 10 months. Wow! We went to a few different places first but ended up at Buy Buy Baby. This place is major. You've got your doe-eyed young expectants (like us) walking around like "we need this and, oh, we need that" and then your battle-hardened experts with three toddlers in tow and the husband on the Blackberry (left mine at home). The sales guys at this place are like a car lot meets a furniture store meets the handbag department at Nieman Marcus. You can't walk 10 feet without someone wanting to show you something. But they are good. Our guy - a late 40's live with his mom-type - knew every spec of every stroller in the whole store. Good for us but how did he get to that point? Anyway, we need a cool stroller, a good man stroller, with good wheels and a slick look. Even though we're having a girl, this thing needs to be a man-pushable package of baby-carrying technology. I am learning that baby shopping is like a new frontier of cool gear. Why just get wheels when you can have shocks and wheels...why buy a seat when you can get one that vibrates? So watch out! I am picking up the lingo, checking out the color patterns and thinking about the bells and whistles. I guarantee that our stroller will be something I'll be proud to roll around town.

Like Watching Grass Grow

2007-08-24T15:14:00.001-04:00

There is something about having your own little piece of property that makes you obsessed with grass. We had some work done in the back of the house that left with zero grass. I started the season with pure dirt and rocks. Since then, I have been near OCD about seed spreading, watering and the casual observation of said grass as it peeks through the soil and begins to grow. I moved around the yard caring for little bits at a time as if my grass was a pet. After dinner, I would go spend time with the grass-to-be, I would fluff it, water it, pick foreign objects away from it, scare birds and squirrels away from it...I would talk to it, encourage it, negotiate with it. Four months later, I know have Yankee Stadium-esque looking grass in my backyard and it's freakin awesome. Sure it's a mix of Kentucky, Bermuda and some crab (a result of many different seed combos), but it's my grass that I planted from scratch. I am proud of my little lawn. From now on when people say "it's like watching grass grow," I might think that's a good thing.

My Saturday College Football Routine

2007-08-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

Every Saturday begins the same way:
1. go to bagel shop for taylor ham, egg & cheese on a plain bagel with SPK (that's salt, pepper and ketchup), a Yoohoo and an everything bagel with low fat veggie cream cheese for the Mrs.
2. go to Dunkin Donuts for two large regulars, one with milk and sugar (me) and one with milk and Equal (the Mrs.)
3. stop at convenience store for Daily News for an easy read during commercials
4. go home and eat breakfast while watching College GameDayWhat do you do?

The Domesticated Man Gets Ready for Football Season

2007-08-24T12:32:00.000-04:00

Football season is dangerously close. Every year at this time, something changes in me. I start wearing jerseys around the house, making sure we have no plans on Saturday afternoons and buying Tostitos medium salsa con queso by the metric ton. It's an animal instinct, the way a salmon knows to swim upstream or a wolf just knows how to kill its next meal. Way back when, I played football. I played junior football as soon as I was old enough, then again in high school and even continued on at a division 1-AA college. After college, I took some time off...didn't go crazy for it. I was busy going out in NYC and doing other things. Sure I followed my teams - Rutgers, Notre Dame and the NY Jets - but I wasn't fanatical about it. So a few years ago I got bit by the football bug again. Like an amputee scratching an itch on a leg long gone, I have begun to make football a central part of my life again. What I used to put into physical preparation, I now compensate for in attire, comfort and good food. The hardest part now is not becoming a lard ass couch ornament. That is why I always watch games with a ball in my hand. Simulate a pass, toss a few up to yourself, stand up and do a few Ray Rice moves to keep the blood flowing. That's how I do it!