Cooper Boone's G-Rated Jingle Balls

I must admit that I giggled (like the 12-yr.-old girl I am) when country crooner Cooper Boone told me that he wanted to make his "Jingle Balls" - a modified spherical butter cookie - on WPIX-TV.

Fortunately Spencer Mindich, Jill Nicolini and the rest of the PIX Morning News team remembered how much fun they had back in August when Coop brought in his recipe for Roasted Corn Salad and agreed to take a chance.

And everyone was glad they did as Coop proved his ability to deliver a fun, high-energy cooking segment full of comedy once again and we all got to feast at 8am on his chocolate/coconut/walnut encrusted butter cookies (a.k.a. Jingle Balls).

Watch their hysterical kitchen antics at:
http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/local/morningnews/blogs/2009/12/cooper_boone_1.html

It Must Be Jelly, 'Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That

We've been working with Jambase for ages, but hadn't gotten to meet their San Francisco-based staff until recently, when CEO Dave Rosenheim and editor-in-chief Aaron Kayce stopped by to tell us why "Go see live music" is more than a motto for them - it's a way of life. Because it was first thing in the morning, we brought in coffee and doughnuts - yum!

From left, Dave, Aaron, Chris Taillie and Andy Silva.

Lessons I've Learned on My Travels for Hennessy Artistry

In the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to travel with the Hennessy Artistry 2009 Series and learned a few things along the way:

Why is Chicago called The Windy City?

While heavily debated around the table at Shore Fire's Pizza Friday, it seems that no one is exactly sure why Chicago is "The Windy City." While I thought the moniker was a result of a local politics, and others insisted that it was the lake effect that resulted in actual gales, Wikipedia was unable to solve the debate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_name_%22Windy_City%22#References

And, where does one go when Wikipedia has no answers? The Weather Doctor seemed like a good idea - and they backed me up!

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/chicago.htm

Where is the best breakfast in Chicago?

Hands down - its the Bongo Room in Wicker Park, this place rivals my all time favorite breakfast eatery Zaftig's in Boston's Coolidge Corner neighborhood. (Nora, THANK you for opening my eyes to the possibilities of a Benedict breakfast.)

Where do you get the best Chicago hot dog?

Not nearly enough time to time to answer this question - I must go back soon.

Does HotLanta live up to its name?

Well, the hip-hop scene and female attire is red hot - as evidenced by my evening at The Velvet Room surrounded by spandex, leather, Project Runway's Mychael Knight & Real Housewife Sheree Whitfield. But as far as the weather goes, we made it out of there just in time to avoid the state of emergency flooding... given the circumstances, I'll need to revisit Atlanta when its not raining to weigh in on this one.

Does Delta's electronic boarding pass get you on the plane?

Short answer - no. Despite the fact that I spent 20 minutes trying to get the pass on my iPhone, as soon as I got to the first security check point they wanted to scan my phone to print a boarding pass..... but the scanner was running low on batteries. Luckily, I had printed a back-up. Then when I got to the gate and asked about why they needed to do this, I was informed that even the boarding gates at Delta's U.S. hub hadn't been upgraded to accept their new technology. Maybe next time.

So here I am back in Brooklyn - a little wiser and ready to take on our grand finale at Terminal 5 on October 7th with Common, The Roots, Elevator Fight, Colin Munroe and a yet-to-be-announced but truly iconic surprise guest.

Will I see you there?

You Always Remember Your First Time

[mp3] Ezra Furman: "We Should Fight"

You always remember your first time. The first time you drove a car, the first time you heard Sgt. Peppers, the first time you and that girl (or guy) went to the movies and well... you get it. So, here we have it, my first post on The Suite 16. It feels good. I'm feeling loose. Limber. So, what to write about? The question has been vexing me for oh, about 5 seconds. I'll try and answer the most important question probably on everyone's mind when someone new comes to Shore Fire, what do they listen to? Ok, maybe not the most important question, but it's a question.

To begin, sometimes my jeans may be a little "tight" and you may hear some sort of random, fuzzed-out, lo-fi, chill-wave, no-fi, post-gaze whatever coming out of the speakers on my desk. But I'm no indie elitist. I believe Townes Van Zandt is one of the greatest songwriters that has ever lived. But I'm no fool either. Bob Dylan is almost always tops for me. Cliche? Too easy? Sure, say what you'd like, I'll stick by Bob anytime. Except for Self Portrait. Not so much there.

My favorite record of the year so far is a tie between The Antlers Hospice and The Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca. Yes, I also happened to really love the debut from Those Darlins. Oh well.
Furthermore to whatever point I'm making, I love The Drive by Truckers immensely, but I also love anything the Numero Group puts out, especially the Eccentric Soul series. Levon Helm is my hero, and Rick Danko had a voice of gold, so did Richard. I'm not so much a Robbie fan. Read This Wheel's on Fire, you'll see.

My favorite youngster that no one ever writes about is Ezra Furman, and my favorite old timer that no one writes about is Sam Baker. Except for Geoff Himes, he's the one who turned me onto him.

I could go on and on - as everyone else in the office can, but I won't. Thanks for reading, and come by anytime. I'll listen to you ramble if you listen to me ramble. Fair deal.