Road Tips

Legends - Wichita

I've eaten some good meals in Wichita over the past couple of times that I've been to the city.  My last trip, I took one of my dealers and his wife to Legends, a restaurant attached to the Hilton at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport.  It was as good as any meal I've had in the city.

Legends caters to the travelers that use the airport Hilton to stay during business trips.  Most of the people who stay at the airport are connected to the air industry as a number of aviation companies are situated in the immediate area.  Legends offers a full service menu with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Larry Walker, Jr. is the executive chef of the restaurant and he has some interesting dishes on the menu. 

Legends restaurant is open and spacey.  The booths and tables are big so there isn't any problem stretching out.  And it isn't a loud place so conversations can be had with no problem what so ever.

My dealer, whose business is located near the restaurant, said they'll come over for lunch from time to time.  And he told me they'll come to Legends for their seafood buffet on Saturday nights.  And he said their Sunday brunch is probably the best in Wichita.

We took a booth in the corner and ordered up a bottle of the Jordan 2003 Cabernet.  One of the reasons why I went with it wasn't because it was the most expensive wine on the list - it was because it was the CHEAPEST Jordan Cabernet I've ever seen on a menu.  They had it for $65 dollars.  My dealer said, "Oh, you don't have to get that expensive of a wine." 

I said, "Look, I'm not trying to impress you guys or anything.  This is one helluva price on a wine that I've got for upwards of $130 bucks in restaurants before.  I'm not going to let one for $65 bucks slide!"

There were many interesting things on the menu such as New Zealand lamb chops, Kansas grown venison chops, and fettuccine jambalaya. 

I was particularly intrigued by the Steak au Poivre.  I asked our very Greek waiter, Sami, how the Steak au Poivre was prepared.  He said it was cooked in a cognac, deglaze and served in a reduced cream sauce.  I asked if it was sprinkled with cracked black pepper and he said it wasn't.  OK, so that was out.

I almost went with the Key West shrimp - 5 jumbo shrimp with a crabmeat stuffing served in a light cream sauce.  It sounded good, but so did beef.  I ended up getting the Kansas prime rib, medium rare, with a side of vegetables and sauteed mushrooms.  I also ordered a Caesar's salad before the meal.

My dealer ordered the Steak Diane - two medallions of beef, butterflied and served in a wine sauce with sauteed mushrooms on top.  My dealer's wife got the Legends Trio - a filet of beef, a portion of the venison chop and two of the Key West stuffed shrimp. 

We finished the bottle of the Jordan cabernet and needed a second bottle of wine for dinner.  So I ordered up a bottle of the Rex Goliath 2003 cabernet.  Rex Goliath has a slight bite to it, sort of reminiscent of licorice, but a very smooth finish.  It would go great with our meat dishes. 

My prime rib came out a perfect medium rare.  They had a huge dollop of ground horseradish on the fatty end of the piece - it was a pleasant surprise as I forgot to order fresh ground horseradish when I place the original order.  I was flipping my dealer and his wife some good natured shit saying that Iowa raised prime rib is a lot better, but I have to admit this was very, very good. 

The Steak Diane my dealer had looked great and he said it was good.  And the Legends Trio was too much food for my dealer's wife.  The venison bone-in chop was not small, the filet was a five ounce filet and the jumbo crab-stuffed shrimp were huge.  She couldn't finish her meal. 

With tip - and especially with bottle of Jordan at $65 bucks, the bill came to a bit over $210.  Most of the entrees run between $17 to $29, so you can get out of Legends a little cheaper if you want.  The food was very good, and the service was great (although Sami's accent made it a little tough to understand him from time to time). 

I normally don't go for places that are attached to hotels, but Legends was a very pleasant surprise and a place that I would have no problem going back to. 

Shaw's Crab House - Schaumburg, IL

Shaw's Crab House is a longtime Chicago institution that serves some of the best seafood in the Midwest.  I recently took some guys from a new dealer I have to the Schaumburg location (see map) for dinner. 

The original Shaw's Crab House opened in 1984 in downtown Chicago (see map).  The restaurant was developed by Kevin Brown of Richard Melman's Lettuce Entertain You group.  Brown had worked for Melman for seven years working at R.J. Grunts in the Lincoln Park area, then as the manager of the famous Pump Room.  In founding and developing Shaw's Crab House, Brown decided to name the restaurant after his father-in-law, Chuck Shaw, who was an avid fisherman.

Shaw's soon garnered a reputation as having some of the freshest varieties of Chesapeake and Atlantic seafood in the Chicagoland area.  Much of their fresh catch was flown into Chicago each day via air from the east coast.  And it's still done that day, down to Alaskan oysters that are caught and 48 hours later they're at Shaw's ready to be consumed. 

I first ate at the Shaw's downtown in 1988.  It was a great meal from what I remember.  Since then, I've eaten at the downtown location once more over the years.  But I've eaten at the one in Schaumburg on the southeast side of Woodfield Mall about four or five times since it opened in the mid-90's. 

Actually, Shaw's is two restaurants in one.  You have the elegant dining room on one side (right), and the more casual Oyster Bar on the other.  The dining room is reminiscent of a 1940's style Maryland supper club.  The menu is chock full of seafood specialties, as well as steaks and chicken.

The oyster bar is more casual, but not as casual like a Joe's Crab Shack or Landry's Seafood restaurant.  The menu isn't as extensive as the one in the main dining room, but it's still similar.  There's more varieties of oysters on the half shell to choose from on the Oyster Bar menu, although I'm sure that all varieties are available in the main dining room.   

We decided to eat in the Oyster Bar at Shaw's the night we were there.  The dining room has a stuffy elegance to it, while the Oyster Bar is more fun.  They have a true oyster bar where you can sidle up and watch them shuck the oysters while you enjoy a nice cold beer. 

Every once in a while, I have to go all out and get what I like to call "Seafood Overload".  It's eating different types of seafood until I'm so stuffed that I can't eat any longer.  I have a good story that I'll share with you sometime about a trip to Daytona Beach about five years ago and had a "Seafood Overload" dinner at the Ocean Deck restaurant along the beach.   

The night we were at Shaw's, I was up for the "Seafood Overload", so we started out with a couple orders of shrimp cocktails, some sushi and a couple dozen oysters on the half shell.  The seafood was so fresh, you would have thought we were sitting in New England and not in Chicago. 

We then ordered up some Florida Stone Crab, which had just come into season.  Shaw's runs monthly specials on in-season seafood and the Stone Crab was just as good as I remember when I first ate some at the famous Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach.

With this, they also serve you the famous Shaw's garlic rolls - similar to those sinfully wonderful things served at Bob Chinn's.  Although I do like the ones at Chinn's better, the Shaw's garlic rolls are tough to beat. 

We were still hungry and we decided to order up an entree.  I went with the sea scallops sauteed in garlic butter, while one of the other guys got the grilled salmon in an Asian barbecue sauce.  And though it wasn't offered on the Oyster Bar menu, our waiter allowed the other guest to get the crab stuffed baked flounder from the main dining menu.  I almost went with that, but decided that may be too rich - especially since I was on the verge of "Seafood Overload". 

We also ordered a bottle of a Brander sauvignon blanc wine that one of my guests was familiar with, but I wasn't.  It was reasonably priced at $33.95.  I will have to say that it was very good and it was a perfect complement to our meal. 

And like every meal I've had at Shaw's, the food was excellent.  The scallops sauteed in garlic butter were perfect.  My guest who had the grilled salmon said it was excellent, and the other guy who got the crab stuffed flounder reported that his was great, as well.  But just as I feared, it was too rich and he had trouble finishing the whole thing. 

With the appetizers, wine and entrees, the bill came to about $250 with tip.  We went overboard on the appetizers (a dozen oysters on the half-shell were $24 bucks - we had two dozen along with the other stuff), but I can assure you that "Seafood Overload" was achieved by all three of us that evening.   

A lot of people don't like the Lettuce Entertain You empire, but the restaurants are all run independently and have a character all their own.  And Shaw's Crab House is certainly no exception to that.  If you're in need of a seafood fix and you're in downtown Chicago or in the NW suburbs, I heartily recommend Shaw's. 

Ice Storm of 2007

We just went through a major winter storm that dropped a lot of heavy snow on people north of us, and a lot of rain on people south of us.  Here in the Quad Cities we were stuck right in the middle as it dropped a lot of freezing rain on us.  Coupled with winds that had gusts over 40 mph, it created a lot of havoc yesterday.

Power lines were down and at one point tens of thousands of people throughout the area were without power.  We were lucky - we only lost our cable service for a while last night.  But it could have been a lot worse.

We have a huge maple tree that sits in the yard of Jane's old house that we just love in the summertime.  It provides an immense amount of shade for us when we're sitting on our deck.  There's one large branch that comes out and hovers just over our main utility lines for power, telephone and cable.  As you can see in the picture (enlarge by clicking on it) the branch was precariously close to hitting the power wire during the height of the ice storm yesterday.

The big maple tree lost a lot of branches from the weight of the ice coupled with the high winds.  Here's a shot of the downed branches in our back yard over to Eric and Molly's place.  Notice the large branch balancing precariously on their power line.  They never did lose their power, though.

Here's a closer shot that I took this morning of the big limb still balancing on the power line to Eric and Molly's house.  The power company is so back logged that they told them it may be a day or two before they're able to get over and get it down. 

Thankfully, our big maple in front of our house didn't lose the big branches like the one in back did.  But it did lose enough.  A couple hit the roof just above my office when I was sitting in there yesterday afternoon.  The bang was loud enough to make me jump, but when I went out to see how big they were (right), I could only imagine what it would have sounded like had one of those big ones out back nailed the house. 

We were able to get out about 6 p.m. last night to drive around (after getting the ice off of my car).  It was dark in a number of areas, but the sky would occasionally light up with the blue-orange hue of transformers exploding, and later in the evening with lightning from thunder snow that came through the area. 

We ended up meeting our friends, Scott and Marcia Schroeder, and their daughter, Angela, for dinner at Granite City.  As we were eating dinner (I had a reuben topped with cole slaw instead of sauerkraut - it was very good), Marcia said, "Oh, gosh.  Look outside." 

I turned and it looked like a blizzard outside.  By the time we finished our meal and got outside, it had snowed two inches and it was coming down in barrels.  Getting home was a little treacherous - the sleet we'd had in the late afternoon has actually provided some traction over the ice from the earlier freezing rain.  But the heavy wet snow made it sloppy and slick.

We made it home OK via a number of darkened streets in Davenport.  In fact, the power was out for a large area in our neighborhood west of our house.  But when we came down the street we could easily see the front porch light on and we knew we were still fine.

We went to bed last night not knowing if we'd lose power in the night from the heavy snow coupled with the freezing rain already on branches and lines.  I woke up about 4 a.m. this morning and looked out the window.  The big branch that looked like it could come down at any moment was back to it's normal place.  I looked at the remote thermometer in our "lodge" and it said 34 degrees.  It had warmed up and the ice had melted off the trees. 

This morning, it's 35 degrees.  There's little to no wind.  A lot of the wet heavy snow that fell last night is now slush.  I'm going out to use the snow blower in a little bit and it's just going to be a sloppy mess.  Then I'm going to have to deal with the picking up of branches after that. 

But, it could have been a lot worse...

Rosemary-crusted Porterhouse Steaks with Red Wine Sauce

A little over a year ago, the folks from the Weber-Stephen Company, the company that makes Weber Grills, asked members of the Weber Nation web site (of which I'm one) to send in their stories about using their products.  Since I have three Weber grills, I wrote in and talked about my history for using the grills.  I told how my father taught me how to cook directly on a Weber years ago.  Then years later, I taught him how to cook indirectly on a Weber. 

It wasn't long after that when I received an e-mail from the Weber-Stephen marketing department that asked for recipes from people that could possibly be used in a new grilling cookbook they were working on. I sent in my Horseradish Encrusted Salmon recipe along with my Cheese-stuffed Nuclear Burgers.  I got an e-mail back acknowledging the recipes, but I never heard any more after that. 

A few months later, I got an e-mail from the Weber marketing department again asking if I'd like to take part in a questionnaire regarding the new cookbook.  I logged on and answered some basic questions, and that was that. 

A few weeks later, I received another questionnaire via e-mail that asked a few more pointed questions, plus they also had a number of possible pictures and titles for the new book.  They asked me to vote as to what I thought the best ones were.  I did and didn't think more of it. 

A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Weber that said the new book would be called "Weber's Charcoal Grilling - The Art of Cooking with Live Fire".  They said that the book would have over 100 recipes with stories and tips from grilling fanatics from around the nation.

And last week, I got an e-mail from the Weber marketing department once again and it said the book would be ready to buy in April at bookstores and on-line on the Weber site.  However, as a token of their appreciation for giving them my opinions that helped shape the concept of the book, they were going to give me one free of charge.  All I had to do was to provide a mailing address.  I sent them a return e-mail with my address and didn't think much more of it.

Last Saturday morning, Cindy had gotten up before me.  When she went to get the morning paper in the front door, there was a pack from FedEx addressed to me.  Thinking it was something for my work, she laid it outside my office door.  When I got up and looked on the floor by my office, I saw this package and I looked at the return address.  It said, "Weber-Stephen Co."  My new cookbook had arrived!

The book is authored by Jamie Purviance (right), a long time grilling fanatic.  Purviance studied at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and has now written four books on barbecue cooking in conjunction with the Weber people.  Purviance authored the very popular "Real Grilling" cookbook, as well as one of my favorites, "Weber's Big Book of Grilling".

In Weber's Charcoal Grilling - The Art of Cooking with Live Fire, Purviance profiles a number of people from around the nation who live for grilling and barbecuing.  Each person profiled contributed recipes to be included in the book.  For a cookbook, it's tough to set down.

We've tried a couple of the recipes so far and here's one I'd like to share:

Rosemary-Crusted Porterhouse Steaks with Red Wine Sauce

Prep time: 20 to 30 minutes

Grilling Time: 10 to 12 minutes

(Actually, the recipe called for Porterhouse Steaks, but I ended up getting a thick Delmonico Ribeye instead.  Take my advice - go with the Porterhouse because it is much more lean than the Ribeye and carves better after it comes off the grill.)

Sauce

2 cup low-sodium beef stock

1 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

Steaks

2 Porterhouse steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 pounds each and 1 1/4" thick, trimmed of excess fat

Olive oil

2 tablespoons (about 4 sprigs) of finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

(Note: We only did one steak since it was so big, so we halved the ingredients for the two of us.)

1. In a medium saucepan whisk the beef stock, wine, ketchup, thyme and pepper.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook until one cup remains, about 20 to 30 minutes tops, stirring occasionally.  Remove the saucepan from the heat. 

2. Prepare the Weber grill indirect cooking (water pan in the middle with coals along two sides of the pan).

3. Lightly coat the steaks on both sides with olive oil.  Season evenly with mixture of rosemary, salt and pepper.  Let steaks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

(Note - This is a big thing that a lot of people don't know about cooking meat on the grill.  Throwing a cold piece of meat on the grill will not allow it to cook evenly.  You can keep the meat on the counter in a cover bowl or pan while it warms up.)

4. Make sure the cooking grates are clean.  Sear the steaks over direct high heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, for about 3 minutes per side.  Move the steaks over indirect light heat in the middle of the grill and cook to your desired doneness.  About 6 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees for medium rare.  You can rotate the steaks away from the side heat to make sure it doesn't overcook.  Remove steaks from the grill and let stand for 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Bring the sauce back up to a simmer, add the butter and whisk to incorporate it in the sauce.  Carve the steaks and serve warm with the sauce, either on the side or poured directly on the steak.

(Note - using hickory wood chips soaked in water and placed on the fire before introducing the meat will help enhance the taste of this recipe.  You can also add the used rosemary branches to the lit charcoal for a little extra flavor.)

Once again, it's much better to use a more lean piece of meat like a Porterhouse or large T-Bone for this recipe.  The Delmonico Ribeye was flavorful, but too fatty.  We wasted a lot of weight on the discarded fat from that thing.

As I said, Weber's Charcoal Grilling - The Art of Cooking with Live Fire will be available on-line from Weber.com or from your local bookstore in April, just in time for the start of the grilling season for most people.  But if you're like us and grill year round, you'll find a lot of great recipes in the book.  I highly recommend getting the cookbook when it comes out. 

Marty Stuart

I haven't been writing much about the Redstone Room in downtown Davenport lately.  There's been some recent upheaval at the River Music Experience, of which the Redstone Room is part of.  Right now, the RME and the Redstone Room are a ship and a dingy trying to find their direction. 

With that said, they've again begun to book some acts that we would like to see and recently they had guitar-man extraordinare Marty Stuart perform his solo act for a nearly packed house. 

Stuart has been a longtime fixture on the Nashville scene, combining country, blue grass, rock and folk into his music.  The Mississippi native has been playing professionally since he was in his early teens and was considered something of a prodigy when he was as young as nine. 

Before going out on his own, Stuart played with a number of legendary music figures including Lester Flatt, Doc Watson and Johnny Cash.  Stuart actually ended up marrying Cash's daughter, Cindy, in 1983.  They divorced five years later.  Stuart is now married to one of the greatest voices in Country Music, Connie Smith. 

Stuart said this would be only the second solo show of his career in an article in the Quad City Times.  He usually is backed by a three piece band when he tours on the road.  I was kind of hoping to see him with his band, but sometimes those solo shows work out to be pretty good.

In any event, Stuart was the second renown Nashville guitarist to come to Davenport in as many days.  The night before, Vince Gill played at the renovated Adler Theater in downtown Davenport.  I would have liked to have seen them both, but I thought seeing Marty Stuart in an intimate setting like the Redstone Room would have been more enjoyable. 

Opening for Stuart was 26-year-old Stoll Vaughan, a Kentucky troubadour who has opened for the diverse likes of John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Def Leppard and Journey.  Vaughan had sort of a "Bluegrass Bob Dylan"-style to him and he was accompanied by a great mandolin player by the name of Harris Gardner.   He was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. 

After about a half hour break, Stuart came out with his trademark rooster haircut (only slightly more gray these days) and an acoustic guitar.  He went right into "Streamline Lover."  The only problem was that you could only hear his guitar and not his vocals.  After a minute or two of fussing around by The Redstone Room's sound guys, Stuart's voice boomed through the P.A. speakers, much to the delight and loud applause by the crowd. 

As much as I would have liked to have seen Stuart backed by his three-piece band, it turned out to be a great experience as he whipped through a number of songs, pausing only to acknowledge the applause from the crowd. 

Finally, Stuart began to tell a story about his old friend and mentor, Johnny Cash.  Stuart bought the house next to Cash's house outside of Nashville and he talked about how he missed his old friend since Cash died in 2003.  Stuart talked about how he was wanting to write a song in tribute to his friend, but he couldn't come up with the right words. 

He said one day he was watching a crow eat some of the fruit off the trees that Cash had planted on the property between Stuart's and Cash's house (a plot of land where the home of Roy Orbison once stood before it burned in 1968).  Stuart said that Johnny Cash used to remind him "of a big ol' crow", and that's how he got the inspiration for the song "Dark Bird".  And he proceeded to play it.

Stuart soon changed from his acoustic guitar to his mandolin.  He played two instrumentals and one vocal selection which was a bluesy number.  Let me just say that it was the first time I'd ever heard a mandolin played on a blues tune. 

Changing again to his electric guitar, Stuart played his mid-90's hit, "Tempted".  Then he spoke about his relationship with the Lakota Sioux tribe at Wounded Knee, S.D., and how he has been working to bring to light the perils the tribe faces in the form of drug abuse, alcoholism, low income and gang problems.  He said he was adopted into the Lakota tribe, he and his wife were married there in 1997, and he continues to visit the area and play concerts for their benefit. 

Stuart then played a couple selections from his 2005 album "Badlands" that was produced by the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter, John Carter Cash. 

A couple more songs and Stuart called it an evening.  However, a raucous standing ovation from the crowd brought him back out.  He proclaimed, "Well, I didn't have anything planned after this point.  What do you want to hear?"

Favorite Stuart tunes through the years were called out and he said, "OK, that's fine.  I play a few more.  But you all need to get up closer to the stage."

(That's one of the problems with The Redstone Room.  They have a nice dance floor that's about 15" X 20" in front of the stage and they usually don't have chairs or seating on the dance floor when these acts come through.  So the artist is playing to people seated about 18 feet from the stage.)

So, we went up from our seats toward the back of the room and Stuart played four more songs including his hit, "High on a Mountain Top" and finished with a rendition of the traditional "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".  You could tell that Stuart was having a genuinely great time up there by himself.

Afterward, he had a small meet and greet by the side of the stage.  I went to the bathroom, but Cindy got an autographed picture of him - for $5 bucks.  She said, "If you can have autographed pictures of people, I can have them, too." 

I said, "But, yeah, I don't think I had to pay $5 bucks to get an autographed picture before though."

It was a fun night of great music at The Redstone Room.  I'm hoping they get more acts like Marty Stuart in there to help keep the place going.

Dr. Robert Adler

A moment of silence in remembrance of the man who helped make the world couch potatoes - the co-inventor of the wireless remote control for television, Dr. Robert Adler.

Dr. Adler died last Thursday in Boise, ID at the age of 93.  A native of Austria, Dr. Adler emigrated to the United States just before the outbreak of World War II.  He landed a job with the Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1941 and worked on a number of communication projects for the U.S. Armed Forces during the war. 

After the war, his research work with Zenith included a number of projects for the Zenith primarily in communications.  But it didn't include working on a remote control.

History shows that in 1955, Eugene Polley devised a wireless remote control for Zenith called the "Flashback".  The remote used photo cell flashes that a receiver in the television would pick up and change channels, mute the volume and turn the television on or off. 

Zenith marketed the remote television system and it was a big hit - selling over 30,000 units.  But it had a big problem - it didn't work well in sunny or well-lit rooms. And it was battery powered and people thought their televisions were malfunctioning when the batteries got weak. 

Dr. Adler, who had been working on high-frequency signal technology for Zenith and the federal government, took on Polly's project and devised a remote control that used high-pitched tones to change the functions.  The remote worked by the pressing of a button activating an aluminum rod that sent a tone the television would recognize.  Thus, the invention of the Zenith Space Command remote control.

The cost of the remote control function added about a third to the price of televisions, but it was an immediate hit.  And the unique thing about the original Space Command control was that it used no batteries. 

Still, the Space Command had some problems - simple sounds such as keys rattling would cause the set to change channels or turn off. 

Dr. Adler worked on projects that refined the Space Command control in the 60's, introducing a unit that used ultrasonic frequency tones instead of the much lower frequency tones.  The rest, as they say, is history.   

For years, a few historians believed that Dr. Adler got a lot of unwarranted credit for being the first designer of the remote control.  Polley's Flashback device had been on the market for a year before the Space Command became part of the American culture. 

Polley (left) went through life privately stewing about the perceived slight he was receiving for not getting the full credit for the invention of the wireless remote control.  A lot of AV aficionados don't recognize Polly's name when the history of the remote control is brought up.  In fact, Zenith only pays tribute to Dr. Adler and not to Polley on their web site.  Polley does get a small mention in the story of the history of the remote, but that's all. 

For Polley's efforts with the Flashback, he was paid $1000 dollars.  Polley once said, “Not only did I not get credit for doing anything, I got a kick in the rear end.”

Through all of this, Dr. Adler remained stoic about his accomplishments.  He realizes that history has embraced his name as the father of the remote control, but he'd been uneasy about the recognition.

“I don't believe (the remote control) has a single father,” Dr. Adler said one time.  "But the general public wants one name to attach to something.”

For his efforts, it should be noted that Polley's use of photo cells was way ahead of it's time.  Most remote controls today use low-level infrared signals to control televisions, DVD players, CD players and a number of other consumer electronics. 

When Zenith was given a lifetime achievement Emmy Award in 1997 for the invention of the remote control, the company directed that co-awards be given to both Dr. Adler and Polley.   

In all, Dr. Adler had 180 patents on a number of inventions, the last was published just a couple weeks before his death on advances in touchscreen technology.  His wife, Ingrid, said the remote control probably wasn't even his favorite invention.  In fact, he didn't watch much television. 

"He was more of a reader," she said last week.

Still, Dr. Adler was a true pioneer in the development of a device that is now considered a necessity in the control of electronic products - including non-audio and video units - in the modern home.  I just couldn't let his passing go by without paying some sort of homage to the man.

Breaking News - XM and Sirius Announce Merger Plans

A tip of the hat to the observant Tony Jobe who just sent me this press release:

"XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. have agreed to merge, the two companies said Monday.

"The deal would consolidate the only two companies in the emerging business of subscription-only satellite radio, and is sure to face tough scrutiny from federal regulators. Investors and analysts have been speculating about a deal for months.

"The two companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the chairman of XM, would remain in that role."

In a previous post here, I talked about how the rumor of the proposed XM/Sirius merger was the talk of the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  The merger will have a combined enterprise value worth about $13 billion with about $1.6 billion in net debt.

The merger will face two major obstacles - having to get past the Federal Communications Commission, which has a history in turning down similar deals in the past (i.e., the proposed merger between Dish Network and DirecTV); and the issue of compatibility between Sirius and XM receivers. 

If the proposed merger were to go through, it would certainly solve a problem a lot of Audio/Video manufacturers are having by trying to choose between the two satellite formats for their receivers or tuners. 

And it will also probably knock a lot of people off the fence - like me - who was having a hard time trying to decide which satellite service to subscribe to.  I see a lot of good programming on both systems, but there is a lot of redundant programming on both, as well. 

Read the full press release on the proposed merger here.

As more information becomes available, I'll be sure to pass it along.

Arena Sports Grille - Elmhurst, IL

I'm really starting to like Elmhurst, IL when I go into Chicago.  It has kind of a small town feel to it, but it's smack dab in the middle of the Chicagoland metro area.  There's a number of good places to eat and drink in Elmhurst.  And a place that I have known about for a long time, but never visited until recently, is the Arena Sports Grille on Lake Ave. (see map).

From the outside, the Arena doesn't look that big.  There's been tons of cars in the lot every time I've gone by, but this one time I decided to go in and have a beer and a sandwich and check the place out. 

I found that it's a lot larger on the inside than it appears from outside.  They have nearly 50 televisions throughout the place, a pretty good menu featuring the usual sports bar fare - wings, burgers, sandwiches, etc. - and they also have a selection of steak, seafood, and chicken. 

Arena Sports Grille has a pretty good variety of beers to choose from.  Except this has to be the only bar in the Chicago area that does not serve Anheuser-Busch products.  That's right, no Bud Light, no Budweiser, no Michelob.  Nothing at all from A-B.   I just thought that to be very strange.

The Arena features a series of bar and food specials through the week.  They have a large are full of pool tables.  And they carry virtually all of the sports packages shown on satellite television today.

When I was in Chicago recently, I'd had a long day and decided to stop into the Arena to get some dinner and catch some basketball on television.  I sat at the bar and ordered up a beer and a menu.  Unfortunately, the music was so loud in the bar it was almost unbearable to sit in the place.  Thankfully, they were playing classic rock tunes and not hip-hop. 

But there was a lot of basketball on.  College games, pro games - there had to be 15 to 20 different games on.  But one of the other problems I had was that I was close to a Duke supporter.  He was obnoxiously loud as he was cheering the Blue Devils on against North Carolina.  He got so bad that one of the floor managers had to come over to settle him down.  Thankfully, he moved to another area of the bar soon after that.

I had hoped to get the roast pork dinner special that night, but the bartender informed me that the specials only went to 8 p.m. (it was about 8:15 when I got in there).  So I ended up ordering a Prime Rib French Dip sandwich with cottage cheese. 

It wasn't bad.  In fact, it was pretty good.  I didn't care for the grilled onions on the sandwich, nor the creamy horseradish they served with it.  But the meat was flavorful and tender, and the bun didn't over-power the taste of the meat. 

Other than the music being too loud in the place, and the obnoxious Duke fan that was seated near me for a short while, the Arena Sports Grille is everything one would be looking for in a sports bar.  Good selections of food, beer, and viewing choices.  And when you get tired of watching the game, you can always challenge your friends to a game of pool.  It's one of the nicer sports bars I've been in.   

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue showed up in my mail box today.  I'm sorry - I must be one of the very few heterosexual males whose "give-a-shit" factor is down near zero when that magazine shows up. 

The cover is graced by the beautiful singer/actress Beyonce - the first non-model or non-athlete to grace the Swimsuit edition's cover.  The subsequent pages are filled with tons of pictures of beautiful - yet, unattainable - women in these unbelievably high-priced bathing suits.  I'm telling you - seeing the price of some of these skimpy swimsuits (some are over $500) tells me that I'm in the wrong business. 

Actually, I normally thumb through the magazine and then toss it.  I look more for the articles on where the photo shoots were conducted.  The girls in the swimsuits, I have no interest in, whatsoever.  Yes, they're beautiful.  But I learned long ago that they're chock full of that age-old drug, "Unobtainium". 

This year, the destinations of the photo shoots caught my eye as a lot of pictures were taken around Memphis and in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - two places that we've been to in the past couple of years.  They even include a pair of cheesy anaglyphic 3-D glasses for a swimsuit pictorial on Maui. 

The thing that amazes me about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is that it's the print world's equivalent of the Super Bowl.  Only with a focus on males age 25-54.  At 236 pages, it is twice the size of a normal issue of S.I. and advertising is the big reason why.  Budweiser has, by my quick estimation, has a minimum of six pages in the magazine, including the back side of the center fold out featuring Beyonce, and a full page ad on the back of the magazine. 

There's big ads for Pontiac, DirecTV (featuring a nude Burt Reynolds) and Perry Ellis.  There are ads for other car companies, colognes, and men's clothing.  And ads featuring liquor, motorcycles and consumer electronics.  They are all ads that you have never seen before, and in some cases you'll never see again. 

There's an emphasis on music in the 2007 Swimsuit Issue with performers like Jimmy Buffett, Aerosmith, Kanye West and Kenny Chesney featured with the models.  Well, actually, Jimmy Buffett's guitar was featured with the models as part of a promotion for a new video featuring Buffett and the swimsuit models.

Granted, over the years the S.I. swimsuit issue has jump-started the careers of models such as Cheryl Tiegs, Rachel Hunter, Elle MacPherson, Carol Alt, Kathy Ireland, Cindy Crawford and Stacey Williams (right) and brought them all into the forefront of the pop culture stage.  Well, maybe not Stacey Williams, but she's my personal favorite and I just wanted to post her picture.   

And for years it has stoked the cultural debate as to what constitutes pornography.  Actually, I get the biggest kick out of the printed letters in subsequent S.I. issues from the prudes who bitch about the issue and cancel their subscription.  However, due to modern values weeding out the fun-haters and fuddy-duddies, Sports Illustrated admits that those letters are now fewer and fewer each year.   

Bryan Curtis writes an interesting article on Slate.com about the historical nature of the Swimsuit Issue in an intellectual light.  It's actually pretty fun to read. 

It's Sports Illustrated's highest read issue and you'll see it on newsstands for months to come.  But there isn't much to it, other than pictures of pretty girls in swimsuits and a bunch of ads. 

Now, I better toss it out before Cindy gets home...      

Valentine's Day Boycott

Call me a spoil-sport.  Call me a Grinch.  I don't participate in Valentine's Day.  I refuse to recognize an obscure British observance that has been trumped up by the greeting card industry. 

I went to the store today to pick up some things for fish tacos and I just chuckled when I walked past the greeting card displays at the store looking at all the suckers getting last minute cards.  And I just shook my head as I walked past the floral area that was teeming with people buying overpriced flowers that will last all of three days - tops. 

And the great thing about it - Cindy doesn't believe in Valentine's Day either.  We're of the mindset that if you have to take one day out of the year to show your love to your spouse or significant other, then you must not be very secure in your relationship. 

I've said this before, but I prefer to send my wife flowers on July 23 or October 14 just because it's July 23 or October 14.  And I send her cards when I'm away from her for long stretches at a time.  We leave each other notes and do little things for each other all through the year.   

Oh, and we refuse to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day.  As far as we're concerned, Valentine's Day is just another day. 

So call us blasphemous.  Call us fun-haters.  We're comfortable knowing that we didn't add to the billion dollar plus industry that has suckered millions of people for a number of years on Valentine's Day. 

I'm sleeping well tonight...

Cirque du Soleil - Delirium

The touring company for Cirque du Soleil's stage show Delirium came through the Quad Cities last week and put on two shows at The Mark of the Quad Cities in Moline.  Cindy had mentioned that she thought it would be fun to go to, so I bought a couple tickets a few weeks ago and we went.

Cirque du Soleil (which is "Circus of the Sun" in French) got it's start in 1984 in Montreal when two street performers, Guy Laliberte (right) and Daniel Gauthier, combined their talents for a commissioned show marking the 450th anniversary of explorer Jacques Cartier's visit to the region.  Laliberte and Gauthier then expanded the show to include a non-animal, circus-like atmosphere and took it on the road.  The featured performers were acrobats, ballet artists, musicians and jugglers - all of whom had outstanding talent. 

Laliberte and Gauthier then opened permanent shows in both Las Vegas and in Orlando.  They expanded their touring companies to include shows such as Alegria, Quidam, and Varekai.  Gauthier "retired" in 2001 and Laliberte continues to oversee the Cirque du Soliei empire. 

OK - now a little side story.  The silent partner/owner in the company I work for is a guy by the name of Andre Reindeau.  Andre's main occupation was running a company by the name of Solotech which supplied the lights and sound for a number of touring musicians such as Celine Dion, Anne Murray and other Canadian entertainers.   Laliberte and Gauthier turned to Solotech to be their main sound and light company when Cirque was on the road. 

When Mystere opened at Treasure Island in 1993, Solotech was called on to design the sound and lighting for the show.  And when Caesar's Palace opened their new Colosseum venue (left) for Celine Dion's A New Day show, Solotech did the sound and lighting for that place, as well.  Andre told me that there are over 140 speakers in place in the Colosseum.  That's a lot of sound, I'm tellin' ya.   

Andre retired from the Solotech and sold his share a couple years ago.  Cirque du Soleil made him a very rich man.  And he maintains a close relationship with Laliberte to this day. 

Even though I've had the chance over the past few years to take in a Cirque show in Las Vegas free of charge, but I've never taken the offer.  Now that they were coming to the Quad Cities, I thought for a moment about calling up Andre and seeing if he could get us some complementary tickets.  Then I thought, no, I don't want to be a pest. 

The basic story of the Delirium stage show centers on a man who finds himself in a delirious dream filled with music, dancing, acrobatics, image trickery and confusion.  The music is very good, dancing is OK (if you're into that), the acrobatics and stunts are marvelous, the projected images on the see-through curtains were pretty remarkable, and the confusion is just that.  You get to focusing on a performance at one side of the stage and the next thing you know, there's something happening at the other side of the stage.

The stage for Delirium is also set up to work long-ways on an arena's floor, rather than setting up at the end of the arena as they would for rock concert.  Thus, only half of the arena can be used, but it worked out well.  When I went to get tickets, I actually had the chance to get two tickets down on the floor.  But then I thought that I'd rather be back a ways because the stage was so big that I thought we may miss something if we were too close.  It turned out that was the way to do it. 

The rigging for the lights and sound are the most complex of any concert/act I've ever seen.  And I was mesmerized by the projectors they were using for the images cast on the see-through curtains. 

Greg Hipskind - the drummer for Wicked Liz and the Bellyswirls (right) - is part of the set up and tear down crew the Mark hires for concerts and shows.  He told me the basic set up of the show took about 6 1/2 hours and about 8 to 10 hours total.  And before the first performance at a venue, they have a dress rehearsal the night before to make sure everything works. 

I sat there and figured that the performers must not get a lot of time off because they would be performing in a place for three days, pack up and go to the next town, set up, do a dress rehearsal, and then do the shows for two to three days.  But given that a lot of the acrobats and performers only have one act in the whole 90 minute show, they can probably get by with it.

The highlights of the show - other than the music, which I liked a lot - were the guy whose delirious dream we were watching unfold.  He hovered above the stage for a good portion of the show attached to a sphere that changed colors throughout the show.  He was sometimes part of some of the stunts, but most of the time he was just an interested observer. 

Of course, there were the well-in-shape acrobats and aerialists who balanced or flew all over the stage area.  One of the aerial acrobats was a little Chinese guy who was pretty amazing to see. 

Other than the music, my favorite part was the girl who "hula-hooped" with up to seven hoops.  She came out and began to twirl one hoop around her mid-section.  She was tossed a second one that she twirled around her leg while the first one was still going.  Then she put her right leg straight up in the air so her foot was over her head.  She got a third hoop and was twirling that with her right foot over her head, the second hoop was around her mid-section, and she still had the hoop twirling around her left leg.  And I don't mean it was just the backyard variety of speed that she was putting on the twirling of the hoops - they were rocket fast going around her!

There were a couple things that I didn't quite understand - there was a bald-headed guy on stilts (who was very nimble and good on them, by the way) who seemed to just be hanging out and moving around the stage during the songs or acts.  In between segments, he'd do this maniacal laughter and screech out words in French.  Weird.  Also weird was this very annoying man who started out the evening in the crowd, made his way to the stage and would come and go from the proceedings from time to time.  I never really knew what his purpose in the show really was.

All in all, I'm glad we went.  Tickets were a little pricey (over $100 bucks each with fees), but for a show of that size and quality, you knew you had to pay through the nose for the production.  All told, there were nearly 50 performers and musicians, about 75 production people, and 15 managers and coordinators in the traveling party for Delirium. 

Delirium is one of those shows that you sort of wish you could see again because it's so busy.  You know there are things you may have missed during the course of the show.  I know I missed a few things.   

Actually, I'd like to get a hold of Andre to see if he could line me up with a meeting with one of the production guys.  Not for free tickets - I'd pay to see this show again - but for a tour and a close look at how they do the sound, lights and video.  I see they're going to be in Peoria and in St. Louis later this spring.  We may have to just go again...

Maria's Mexican Restaurant - Ralston, NE

One of the things that I love are the little out of the way places to eat.  And I was just at one recently called Maria's Mexican Restaurant in the Omaha suburb of Ralston (see map). 

I went out to eat with a buddy of mine one evening while I was in Omaha recently.  His wife actually suggested we go to Maria's.  Although I was in the mood for a good ol' Omaha Steak, he talked me into going to this little Mexican food place on the south side of Omaha. 

Maria's isn't much to look at from the outside.  It's a pretty non-descript building, but it has a lot of parking around the place.  And according to my buddy, the parking lot is pretty packed most of the time.

The main dining room is bright and loud.  There's a large mirror on one end of the room and a big screen television on the other end.  I thought the dining room was too bright and too loud for my tastes.  We asked if we could eat in the bar - much quieter and with a lot less light.  The hostess kind of looked at us funny and said, "Well, sure, if you want to!"

Amanda was our waitress and we immediately started out with a couple of gold margeritas.  They were OK - I've had a lot better margeritas. 

Maria's is famous for their deep fried flour tacos - soft flour tacos loaded with beef, then deep fried for about 30 seconds, pulled out and garnished with cheese and lettuce.  It's very similar to the old Raul's or Lil' Nips in Des Moines.  I just love that style of tacos. 

I ordered two beef flour tacos with an enchilada.  My buddy ordered up one of the dinner specials - a taco, enchilada and burrito.  Less than 10 minutes later and another margerita, we were eating. 

The tacos were good - I don't think they were as good as what I remember from Raul's or Lil' Nip's.  They were definitely much better than the enchilada.  The sauce they used was nothing special and it sort of detracted from the taste of the beef in the enchilada.

All in all, Maria's tacos were very good, but the enchilada was so-so.  The margeritas were average (and expensive - $9 bucks a shot).  If it weren't for the tacos, I probably wouldn't go back to Maria's.  But the tacos are worth a repeat visit.   

More Television Battles

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Mediacom and Sinclair Broadcasting announced an agreement last week to allow the cable provider to re-transmit the signal of 22 Sinclair owned stations on their system.  Mediacom had been denied to re-transmit Sinclair owned stations since January 5. 

When it became apparent the federal government wasn't going to put the screws to Sinclair to conduct a peaceful mediation to the dispute, Mediacom threw in the hat and signed an agreement to allow the cable provider to re-transmit Sinclair stations thru 2009. 

The CEO of Sinclair Broadcasting, David Smith, is a Bush Administration ally.  Earlier in the dispute, the Federal Communications Commission ruled in favor of Sinclair in the matter.  It became apparent that Mediacom was in a no-win situation with the government and ponied up the extra money as well as legal expenses Sinclair accrued during the dispute. 

A day before the announced agreement between Sinclair and Mediacom, the cable provider announced a nominal rise in basic rates beginning March 1.  And just days after the Sinclair agreement, Mediacom announced that the agreement would eventually raise subscriber rates even more.

The Wall Street Journal has been watching all of this very closely.  In an excellent article from last Monday, Peter Grant wrote that the shift of balance between cable providers and broadcast corporations is becoming increasingly tilted toward the broadcasters.  It also takes an interesting look at the behind the scenes negotiations between Sinclair's Smith and Mediacom CEO Rocco Commisso. 

While this drama continued to unfold, Major League Baseball recently announced that satellite provider DirecTV will have the exclusive rights to show MLB's Extra Innings package of baseball games on their system.  Extra Innings is a service that shows up to 60 out-of-market baseball games per major league team.  Previously, Extra Innings was available through On Demand and available in 75 million homes with cable and satellite service in the United States.

The 7-year, $700 million dollar agreement between Major League Baseball and DirecTV will limit fans who live out of their favorite teams market to watch the action, or they must subscribe to DirecTV.  Right now, only 16% of the homes in the United States have DirecTV.

Extra Innings is also available on computers for $79 annually, but it requires a broadband interface to watch it.  And the quality of watching a game on a computer is not as good as watching it on, say, a 42" plasma television.

The agreement has raised the ire of members of Congress, including Massachusetts senator John Kerry, who is head of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees communications matters.  Kerry called on FCC chairman Kevin Martin to investigate the deal and the implications it will have upon consumers. 

In a statement, Kerry said, "I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices. In this day and age, consumers should have more choices -- not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players."

So far, the FCC - in its typical bureaucratic fashion - hasn't commented on the MLB/DirecTV deal, other than to acknowledge that Martin has received the letter from Kerry.

Pennsylvania senator Arlen Spector feels the deal between MLB and DirecTV constitutes a violation of MLB's antitrust exemption status and has directed government antitrust lawyers to look into the matter.

Spector said that while they can't charge MLB with an antitrust violation, he felt that the government should continue with MLB's antitrust exemption only if they avoid exclusive packages like the one with DirecTV. 

With the start of the baseball season less than two months away, I seriously doubt any of this will get resolved before then.  But I certainly do like the bi-partisan effort Congress is showing on behalf of common people to stop MLB from becoming even more of a monopoly. 

Joe's Crab Shack

Here's another place that I'll never go to again - Joe's Crab Shack.  The reason?  The food is just plain horrible. 

Joe's Crab Shack is part of the Landry's restaurant chain owned by Tillman Fertitta, which includes the Landry Seafood restaurants and the Rainforest Cafe restaurants.  To see my earlier post on Landry's, click here. 

Joe's formula is similar to Landry's and Rainforest Cafe - dazzle 'em with fun so they won't realize the food is crappy.  It must work because I always notice how packed places like Landry's, Joe's and the Rainforest Cafe are. 

Tom Kirkendall, who writes the Houston's Clear Thinkers blog, pointed out to me after my post on Landry's that one of the other big key's to success of the restaurants is very simple.  Nearly every Joe's, Landry's and Rainforest is situated in a great location.  And these are high traffic, high visibility locations. 

Joe's decor is busy with a lot of kitsch hanging from the ceilings and walls.  It's loud and they encourage large gatherings for birthdays and celebrations.  The wait staff is usually young, dressed casually, and intentionally interact with the clientele to make them feel comfortable.  Joe's atmosphere does a wonderful job of masking the fact the food sucks.

The menu is typical seafood fare that you'd expect from a place like Joe's.  Lots of seafood dishes, soups, and sandwiches.  They also do steak and chicken dishes that is usually used in combination with seafood.   

I've eaten at Joe's three times.  The first time, Cindy and I had dinner at the one in St. Peters, MO in 1999.  We both started out with a cup of the clam chowder and it was horrible.  Some of the worst clam chowder I ever had. 

And our dinner wasn't much better.  I had the spicy boiled shrimp and it wasn't all that spicy.  The shrimp was overcooked, but I could still get 'em down.  And the sides of potatoes and corn on the cob were just horrible.  The potatoes were cold and the corn was mushy and tasteless. Other than the shrimp, everything was just inedible.

I figured that I had a bad meal and they all couldn't be that way.  About six years ago, I was in Orlando and we got in late on a Saturday night to our hotel.  A Joe's was down the street and we figured that since we were closer to the ocean in Florida than in Missouri, the fish would be better.  Huh uh.  I had the broiled seafood platter that evening and the fish and shrimp were rubbery.  I was highly disappointed.

OK, so I usually give a restaurant only a couple chances to dazzle me - I actually gave Joe's THREE chances.  The last time I went was about two years ago when I was in Chesterfield, MO at the Hampton Inn.  In the lobby I happened to run into a friend of mine who is a rep from Kansas City.  He had one of his sales guys with him along with a regional manager for a manufacturer who I knew.  The regional manager asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with them - they were going next door to the new Joe's Crab Shack.

I hesitated and told him that I'd had a couple bad experiences at Joe's.  The guy - who was from California - said that he and his wife love the Joe's in southern California.  He said, "I've eaten at Joe's all over the country and have never had a bad meal." 

Well, I figured out that he was one of the many who get dazzled and caught up in the decor and the way the wait staff interacts with the customers.  He was having a good time having the gal put the big bib on him, he loved the big presentation with the mallet to crack the crab shells on the table, and he was sucking back mai tai's like they were water. 

I didn't even see anything on the menu that I really wanted, so I got the lobster and shrimp linguine in an alfredo sauce.  The pasta was overcooked, I think there were two chunks of lobster and three shrimp with the pasta, and the alfredo sauce was average, at best.  It was so disappointing. 

But, the guy from California, who had the Crab Daddy Feast, thought the food was outstanding.  Maybe the Crab dishes were good, but I'm not about to step foot in another Joe's to find out. 

Joe's Crab Shack - along with Landry's and Rainforest Cafe - preys upon people who don't go out to eat all that often, and who like to get entertained during their meal.  The sensory overload with the decor, happy wait staff and great locations must mask the horrible taste of the food.

I'm sorry, Mr. Fertitta.  I won't be going to Joe's again...

Granite City - Clive, IA

I wrote about the Granite City chain of brewpub/restaurants in an earlier post over a year ago.  I cut a wide swath in that post talking about the Granite City restaurants as a whole.  I wanted to share a recent dinner I had there with a couple guys from my dealer in Des Moines. 

After we finished up with a meeting, I offered to take the guys out to dinner.  A couple of the guys begged off, but a couple of the others said, "Yeah, sure!"  We tossed around the names of a couple of places, then settled on the Granite City Brewpub out in Clive (see map).  It was a cold night and Granite City has some good comfort food for those long winter nights.

I thought the Granite City in Clive was new as I'd never noticed it before.  But I was told by the host who sat us that it had been there for over three years.  He asked, "Have you eaten at a Granite City before?"

I said that I'd eaten in a number of them and he looked back at me and said, "Well, we're the best." 

They brought out the menu and I didn't even have to open it up.  I knew exactly what I wanted - a glass of their Northern Lights lager and the Granite City Meatloaf - a large piece of baked meatloaf that is grilled before serving.  The guys were completely impressed that I knew the menu by heart.  I said, "Don't be too impressed.  I've eaten at a number of Granite City's and the meatloaf is very good."

So good that I talked one of the other guys into getting the same thing.  The other guy went with the Honey Rosemary filet mignon.  I've had that, too, and it's very good as well.

The one thing about Granite City is that their food is much better than their beer.  The beer is OK, at best.  But their food is very good and the portions with some of their plates are huge.  In fact, there always seems to be TOO MUCH food when it comes out. 

And this time was no exception.  The slab of meatloaf was easily a pound in weight.  It had a side of their garlic-mashed potatoes and handful of their very good onion straws.  The only thing that I wish they'd serve with their meatloaf and the mashed potatoes would be a side of brown meat gravy.  Still, it's very good. 

The other guy who got the meatloaf was happy he got it.  "I've never had their meatloaf before.  I was sort of surprised you ordered it, but you ordered it with so much conviction that I figured it had to be pretty darn good." 

The other guy's Honey Rosemary filet was a little overcooked for his taste, but it was still edible.  He said the taste sensation of the honey, rosemary and garlic was wonderful.  He also went with the garlic mashed potatoes and he loved them as well.

The one thing about the Granite City brew pubs is that the food is consistently good.  They serve too much of it (I couldn't even finish the potatoes or the onion straws) and it always seems to be too filling.  Still, Granite City is more of a restaurant that happens to be a brew pub rather than a brew pub that serves some food. 

And the one in Clive was very good.  I don't know if it's best of the ones I've eaten at, but it's got to be in the top three.

The Letter Club - Omaha

Thanx to Chuck Ellis who informed me the Letter Club has closed their doors. 

I wrote about the abundance of great sports bars in the Omaha/Lincoln area in a post over a year ago.  I don't know if I've been to an area that has such a large selection of very good sports bars.  The Letter Club in Omaha (see map) may have set the bar a little higher for the other sports bars in the area. 

The majority owners of The Letter Club are former Nebraska Football players Aaron Taylor and Scott Frost, and former Nebraska Baseball player Aaron Bilyeu.  Actually, the official name of the place is The Scarlet and Cream Letter Club - after the colors of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

I met up with my buddy, Chuck Ellis, at The Letter Club one evening during a recent trip to Omaha.  Actually, The Letter Club is located within the new Village Point shopping center and is within sight of the new Hilton Garden Inn on the far west side of Omaha, the hotel that I stayed at during my visit. 

The main room of the bar/restaurant looks a little industrial, but it has two 25 foot diagonal projection screens on either end of the main room.  And there are another 40 televisions of all sizes located throughout the place, including 13" televisions at each booth. 

And all through the place was Nebraska Football memorabilia.  We had to take a quick look at some of the stuff before we sat down.  And we had to look at more of it before we left. 

Chuck and I sat at the bar and had a few beers.  Since he had already eaten that evening, I grabbed a menu from our bartender, Amanda.  The menu consisted of normal sports bar food with appetizers, burgers and sandwiches along with some main entrees consisting of steaks, seafood, pasta and chicken.

It wasn't busy at the bar, so Amanda clued me in as to what the best sandwiches were from the grill.  She convinced me to try the Oskie Chicken Sandwich - a grilled spicy chicken breast topped with a slice of corned beef and a generous slathering of chipotle mayo sauce.  It came with seasoned fries, but for a buck more you could substitute onion rings.  I went in that direction.

I wish I'd gotten the seasoned fries (even though I might not have eaten the seasoned fries, either).  The onion rings absolutely sucked.  They were inedible.  Chuck, who heads the meat department at an Omaha area Hy-Vee, said that it looked like they were the pre-made frozen variety.  Whatever they were, they were horrible.

But as bad as the onion rings were, the Oskie Chicken sandwich was outstanding.  Amanda certainly didn't steer me wrong on the chicken.  It had a great taste sensation to it.  I don't eat enough chicken sandwiches on the road, but I will come back to The Letter Club and get that sandwich again.  It was very good. 

The Nebraska football program has a storied past and a lot of great memorabilia is on display at The Letter Club.  Along with the abundance of televisions throughout the place, and the good food (though don't go for the onion rings), and a nice selection of beers, The Letter Club is a great addition to the already large number of very good sports bars in the Omaha/Lincoln area.    

Hilton Garden Inn - Chicago

I get a lot of people who ask me, "Where's a good place to stay in downtown Chicago?"  There's a lot to choose from, but one place that I always recommend is the Hilton Garden Inn. 

Located at the corner of State St. and Grand Ave. (see map), the Hilton Garden Inn is just three blocks from Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile stores.  Nordstrom is literally caddy-cornered from the hotel.  And the State St. stores south of the Chicago River - such as Macy's - are a 10 minute walk away.

And the Weber Grill Restaurant is located on the main floor of the hotel.  The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Actually, their breakfast buffet which includes made to order eggs, french toast and pancakes is surprisingly good.  You can smell the Weber Grill restaurant all the way up to the upper floors of the hotel.  I swear they purposely vent the smell of cooking meat on the briquette grills into the hotel's corridors.  You instantly get hungry when you walk out of your room. 

In addition to the Weber Grill Restaurant, there are a number of great restaurants within a two to five minute walk from the hotel.  Harry Caray's, Heaven on Seven, Pizzeria Uno, Gino's East, Sullivan's, P.F. Chang's, Vong and Shaw's Crab House are just a few of some of the wonderful places to eat very near the Hilton Garden Inn.  For the sports minded, the ESPN Zone is just around the corner.  And for the youngsters, the Rainforest Cafe, the Rock and Roll McDonald's and the Hard Rock Cafe are just a couple blocks away. 

The rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn aren't huge, but they're comfortable.  When we've stayed there I've asked for a room with a northerly view.  The view on the north side of the hotel shows a number of the skyscrapers on the north end of Michigan Ave. with a great view of the John Hancock building.

Looking north toward the John Hancock tower from the 19th floor of the Hilton Garden Inn.

Through the week, prices at the Hilton Garden Inn range from about $135 to $159.  They offer a number of packages that include shopping and romantic getaways.  However, weekend rates can skyrocket to $249 a night and up.  But sometimes you can find a good deal on the weekend.  We got a great deal the last time we were there for the Christmas weekend.  We paid $139 a night for two nights and got the third one free. 

Parking at the Hilton Garden Inn is steep - It's a minimum of $22 bucks each time you park and leave.  But, actually, it's not bad for downtown Chicago.  However, the Hilton offers valet parking with unlimited in and out for $36.  But it's best to park the car yourself and cab it around town if you need to go any where that isn't walking distance from the hotel.

We like staying at the Hilton Garden Inn for the comfort, the central location and the close proximity to shopping and restaurants.  If you want to stay at a place at a medium price for hotels in downtown Chicago, I fully recommend the Hilton Garden Inn.   

Upon Further Review...

As a wise man once told me, "There's two sides to every story."

Or maybe I got that from a song from Joe Walsh.

After talking in a post yesterday about the fun-haters at the National Football League putting the kibosh on planned gatherings at churches and public places to watch the Super Bowl on a large screen projection television, it turns out that it's not the NFL making up arbitrary rules regarding where and how games can be watched.  It turns out that they are fully working within the copyright laws of the United States.

I happened across a radio talk show yesterday where the guest was talking about copyright laws on the heels of the NFL's demand that the Fall Creek Baptist Church does not show the game on their 120" projection screen on Sunday evening.  It turns out that it's illegal for any private party to charge to watch a program, movie, sporting event, etc. on a television larger than 55" diagonally. 

Here's the part of the U.S. Code that deals with watching performances and charging admission for the broadcast performance (shows, concerts, DVD's, sporting events, etc.):

(II) if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space;

Even after the church said they would not charge admission to offset the cost of the food they'd serve, the NFL still said, "Huh uh." 

It was because they were going to show it to a large group of people at a church on a screen larger than 55 inches diagonally. 

Thanks to Tony Jobe who sent this along:

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's longstanding policy is to ban "mass out-of-home viewing" of the Super Bowl. A major exception to the rule is made, however, for sports bars and other businesses that show televised sports as a part of their everyday operations.

"We have contracts with our (TV) networks to provide free over-the-air television for people at home," Aiello said. "The network economics are based on television ratings and at-home viewing. Out-of-home viewing is not measured by Nielsen."

The U.S. code on exemptions for copyright infringement can be found here:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000110----000-.html

By the way, it turns out that you can watch the game on two televisions in your house.  And a thanks to Bill Hesson for the homework on finding that provision in the U.S. Code. 

Still, I think the NFL could have done a better job of conveying their position as to why they threatened legal action on the Fall Creek Baptist Church - and other similar gatherings around the nation.  The NFL doesn't need to be so heavy-handed.  In fact, if they had just cited the law instead of been so cold and callous in their delivery, I would have never brought this up in the first place. 

For as good of a public relations department the NFL seems to have, they clearly fumbled on this one... 

Look Out for the NFL Police This Sunday

The Super Bowl is Sunday and the NFL is continuing to confound the common fan/viewer with some pretty silly rules regarding parties and gatherings that will be watching the game. 

The NFL said no to a church group in Indianapolis who wanted to show the game to members of its congregation on the church's large screen projection television.  NFL officials spotted a flyer from the Fall Creek Baptist Church that advertised showing the game on the church's 120-inch projection screen.  The flyer used the term "Super Bowl" which is a major no-no (hence, all the advertisements that refer to the Super Bowl as "The Big Game"), and the church was going to charge a nominal fee to cover the cost of refreshments during the game. 

The NFL sent the church an overnight "cease and desist" letter.  When church officials offered to take the "Super Bowl" out of the flyer and to not charge the nominal admission, the NFL would still not agree to the church showing the game.  The reason?  The screen was larger than the NFL's allowable maximum size.   

The NFL has threatened a number of other churches across Indiana and around the country with legal action.  The league flatly said it will not allow any church group to show the game on their large screen projection televisions.  A number of planned gatherings have since been canceled. 

This was on the heels of an NFL ruling that Indianapolis Colts fans cannot congregate at the RCA Dome to watch the Super Bowl on a large screen projector. “It’s prohibited,’’ Greg Aiello, the NFL’s vice president of public relations said. “Mass, out-of-home viewing is not permitted by our television contracts.’’

The NFL reiterated their stance against mass-viewing of the game with a press release reminding not only churches and organizations, but people holding private parties of the rules of mass viewing. 

NFL PARTY RULES 

For groups that want to host Super Bowl parties -- other than sports bars and businesses that normally show televised sports -- here are the rules the NFL says must be followed:

• No admission fees (even to pay for snacks).

• Only one television (55 inches or smaller).

• No use of the words "Super Bowl" in promotional materials.

• No exhibition of the game in connection with events "that promote a message."

       From what I gather from these guidelines - I cannot have more than six or eight people invited over to my house via a printed invitation and have the 32" television in our family room tuned to the game, while also having the 20" television in our "lodge" also turned on to the game at the same time. 

       That also knocks out people who just went out and bought a 61" plasma television for the game, and who have invited a bunch of buddies over to watch the game and slam back a few beers.

       The NFL does allow sports bars and other establishments that regularly show football to carry the game and they don't have to adhere to the "mass-viewing" rules they set down for private gatherings. 

       Along with the NFL's continuing fight with cable companies over the stipulations they're placing on showing the NFL Network on cable systems, the NFL continues to alienate the people that hold the key to their future growth - the common fan.

       Their conviction on holding ground on their demands for 70 cents per subscriber for cable systems to show the network could be viewed as admirable by some, but their "mass-viewer" rules for groups watching the game is downright asinine.

       I truly believe the NFL is slowly losing their grasp on reality... 

Blue Cat Brew Pub - Rock Island

We met up with our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder one night last weekend and decided to go out to get something to eat.  We wanted to go to a place that we hadn't been to either before or for quite a while.  Cindy came up with a good suggestion - Blue Cat Brew Pub in downtown Rock Island, IL (see map).

The Blue Cat has been in business since 1993 when the sister and brother duo of Martha and Dan Cleaveland started the place in the middle of The District - Rock Island's entertainment district.  Martha ran the kitchen while Dan brewed the beer. 

In 2001, Dan Cleaveland gave way to brewmaster Bernie Moore.  Cleaveland is still in charge of the brewing process, giving his final say on the flavors Moore comes up with, but Moore is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the brewing plant. 

Known for their eclectic food menu, the Blue Cat quickly got a reputation as having great food with very worthwhile and drinkable beer.  I can safely say that I've never had a bad meal at the Blue Cat, although I've had some interesting ones. 

Their beer selection is impressive with a variety of year-round and seasonal ales.  And their Off the Rail Pale Ale is one of the better brew pub pale ales that I've had. 

It was a very cold and raw night when we got into the Blue Cat around 8 p.m.  The crowd was very sparse so we were seated right away.  (In contrast, we've been in there on weekend nights where we had to wait upwards of 30 to 40 minutes to get a table.)

Scotty and I immediately ordered an Off the Rail while the women ordered hot tea.  I didn't care that it was cold out.  I wanted a good beer. 

As I said, their food selection is a step above the usual sandwich/burger fare that you find at most brew pubs.  But their sandwiches and burgers are pretty darn good.  And they have a good selection of seafood dishes including a great portabella mushroom stuffed with white fish, with spinach, tomatoes and mixed cheeses and served over a bed of pasta with sauteed shrimp.  It is out of this world. 

But since it was a cold night, I was look for something warm and rib-sticking.  Marcia went with the Brew Pub cheese burger and Cindy ordered the special that evening - salmon topped with mozzarella and a tomato sauce with a side of pasta.  I'm not partial to seafood with a tomato sauce, but Cindy thought she'd give it a try.

I was torn between three things - the barbecue beef brisket, the meat loaf with seared spinach, and the pot roast platter with melted cheddar cheese and grilled onions piled on top.  Scott ended up getting the beef brisket and I decided to get the pot roast.  It was comfort food at its very best.

And as always, my food was very good.  Nothing fancy when it comes to pot roast with melted cheddar cheese and grilled onions on top of real mashed potatoes.  Marcia liked her burger and Scott devoured his beef brisket.  Cindy said the salmon with the mozzarella with the tomato sauce was "interesting".  She told me later she didn't know if she'd get it again, but wanted to give it a try.   

The Blue Cat is one of the more popular places to go for business people for lunch where they serve a number of the same items on the dinner menu.  And the Blue Cat has dinner specials each night that they change on a weekly basis.

All in all, the Blue Cat isn't pretentious, the beer is good, the food is above average for a brew pub.  It's one of our favorite places to eat, but we obviously don't eat there enough.