I’ve got a foot in many different worlds. I’ve got a foot in the science fiction world, a foot in the comic book world, a foot in the foodie world, a foot in the ukulele world …

Wait! That’s far too many feet.

In any case, sometimes these worlds overlap, such as when I’m at a science fiction convention and take my friends along on foodie expeditions. Or when some other friend brings a ukulele to one of those same cons and we get to jam. But for the first time, comics and the ukulele have formed their own Venn diagram, overlapping to result in this.

That’s right—a George Formby comic strip.

Thanks to Steve Thompson of BookSteve’s Library for pointing me to Lew Stringer’s blog, Blimey!, where Stringer posted this page from the December 26th 1953 issue of Film Fun.

I’ve no idea how many of these there were, but it looks like George’s Christmas turned out nice again!

So Irene spent part of her day poring through her comic book collection, which meant that when I stepped into her office late this afternoon, I saw the cover to Action Comics #196—and with a cover like this, you know I had to pick it up.

I don’t think I’d ever seen that issue, which would have gone on sale a couple of months earlier than its September 1954 cover date during the year before I was born. But far more interesting than the story that cover was touting was an ad advising kids how not to catch polio. (more…)

As a result of my Saturday night dinner at Range, Bryan Voltaggio’s new restaurant, I was interviewed yesterday by Amy McKeever of Eater about what that first pre-opening preview night was like from the perspective of a customer. Since she’d spent the day and night following the staff around, she needed some input on how it all seemed on the other side of the tables.

Her article was published late this afternoon, and reading it not only brought the meal back to life, it also made me want to get back there again soon so I can order the beef shin!

Irene and I can be seen as a teeny, tiny couple through Range’s long curved glass exterior in one of Amy’s many photos. Can you spot us below (after clicking makes it a little bit bigger, of course)?

See us?

If you look toward the right side of the photo and can find two guys standing side by side, that’s Irene forward of and directly between them, and I’m seated to her right/your left. Our dining companions, who were across from us, are unfortunately obscured by another couple closer to the camera.

Oh, and one last thing—get yourself to Range! But leave some of that beef shin for me, OK?

So three weekends back (yeah, it’s taken me awhile to find the time to get to this), I did one of the craziest, most extravagant things I’ve ever done. I flew to Chicago. For a meal.

Oh, I’ve gone to extremes for high-end dining before, such as my meals at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Momofuku Shoto in Toronto, and Alinea in Chicago, among others. But all of those meals were a side dish to a pre-existing trip—our visit to Machu Picchu, and my attendance at the World Fantasy and World Science Fiction conventions, respectively.

But this was a trip with the meal as its primary focus. My Sicilian dinner at the ever-changing Next restaurant impressed me so that I wanted to take part in its follow-up offering, Kyoto, and so booked tickets back in September the moment they became available.

Even as I did it, it felt wrong somehow. Fly to another city … for a meal? How decadent!

And yet …

If I had a chance to see Nijinsky dance one more time, or Olivier act again, I’d fly across a continent and feel no shame, but when it comes to food, there’s somehow a twinge of guilt, of … should I really be doing this?

The answer is, when it comes to chefs operating at this level of art on a menu which will be offered for a limited period only to vanish and never return …

Yes. Yes, I should. (more…)

There isn’t much I’d wake up early for on Black Friday. In fact, except for the chance to experience what I experienced last night, I can’t recall ever bothering before.

But Bryan Voltaggio, whose Frederick restaurants Volt, Family Meal, and Lunchbox I’d eaten at and loved before, was opening a new D.C. restaurant, Range. He’d sent out an email to his customers offering a chance to take part in a pre-opening preview dinner, and I wanted in. So there I was, sitting at my computer before 5:00 a.m. on Black Friday, hitting refresh, refresh, refresh until I scored a 5:30 p.m. reservation for four on the first of three preview nights.

After studying Range’s awesome menu, and realizing I wanted to try a far greater variety of dishes than would be possible during a normal dinner, I had a plan—I’d bring along a cooler, order way too much food, practice restraint, and treat the meal as best as I could as a tasting menu, waving away half-eaten dishes and creating tons of leftovers. Which, amazingly, I managed to do, thanks in part to one of the friends who’d joined us, who reminded me now and again of how we’d promised to pace ourselves.

And so, last night at 5:30, Irene and I found ourselves happily seated at a table at Range, looking forward to the wonders chef Bryan Voltaggio’s crew was going to prepare for us.

Our server explained that though the restaurant would be able to deal with 300 customers at full capacity, the first of the preview nights would only serve 130 as the crew got up to speed. We had no problem with being guinea pigs, and because of this found whatever slips in the level of service that occurred (most of which will go unmentioned, because it just wouldn’t be fair) to be endearing rather than troublesome.

And since the food was amazing, everything I hoped it would be, causing quite a few moans that it’s perhaps best one only utters when among friends, I had no problem with being part of helping the crew figure out how to operate in this new environment. In fact, I enjoyed watching the learning process. (more…)

As Carol Ross Joynt wrote in The Washingtonian this morning, “The opening of a new restaurant is like the opening of a Broadway show.” And as those of you who’ve been following my posts on Bryan Voltaggio’s soon-to-open restaurant Range already know, I’m as excited about having nabbed reservations for the first of its pre-opening preview nights as I would be about scoring tickets to the opening night of a new play.

Maybe even more so.

Which is why, with that dinner only five days away, and having already seen the dinner menu, I’ve been wondering—what about dessert? (more…)

I got together with a few other ukulele players this afternoon for a rare jam. Which made me realize it’s been far too many months since I last shared a uke video with you.

As those who haven’t been recoiling from my irregular ukulele news know, I bought my first instrument on Black Friday 2012, so it’s now slightly more than twelve months since I took my first strum. I share this video to show how a year of plodding stubbornness can triumph over a complete lack of natural musical ability.

If there was a uke teacher in my area, I’d sign up for lessons immediately, but sadly, there is none. I’ve been mostly self-taught through YouTube videos, a month or two with a guitar teacher who tried to help me along, and two days at last summer’s Strathmore UkeFest.

Meanwhile, I’ve already signed up for next year’s Strathmore UkeFest, plus this week I committed to attending the March George Formby Society convention in Blackpool.

I have no idea how much more I can learn without one-on-one face-to-face teaching … but this brings me joy, and so, I continue.

After having shared with you two self-serving snippets from the April 2, 1972 episode of the Malachy McCourt radio show on which I was a guest, I feel I should present you with some excerpts that are a little more public-spirited—so here are three commercials and a news report, all with an old timey feel that makes them of much more general interest.

First up, an odd Planned Parenthood ad—odd because, until the song which takes up most of the airtime finishes playing, I had no idea what the ad was even about.

(more…)

My fascination with my Brooklyn-infused teen voice from 40 years ago (which I told you about yesterday) has me thinking that I’m surely not the only one who’d like to hear the sound of the voice he used to have. Here’s another snippet from that newly digitized 1972 episode of the Malachy McCourt radio show to give you idea of who I was back then.

Scott Edelman discusses teacher reaction to his high school newspaper

While I’ve shipped a copy of the two-hour show to my high school pal Barry Chaiken, there were five other students who appeared with us who should also get copies, but I have no idea how to reach them.

Maybe you can help with that.

They are—

Robert Weisberg, South Shore High School

Les Becker, Bronx High School of Science

Meryl Cranes and Darrell Middledorf (or Daryl Mitteldorf?), Stuyvesant High School

Bob Streeter, Hardin (or Harden?) High School

If you have any idea how to find these guys—because my Google-fu has proven useless—let me know!

I like checking out restaurants when they’re still all shiny and new, which is why I made sure to get into both Momofuku Shoto and Cafe Boulud during my recent trip to Toronto. It’s also why I woke up before dawn on Black Friday to get reservations for the first preview night of Bryan Voltaggio’s new restaurant Range.

Yesterday, a bunch of D.C.-area food bloggers were given a look at what Range would offer, and their various tweets, Instagram pics and write-ups made me extremely jealous I was not among them. But the good news is—we now have a look at what Range will offer when it opens, because the Washington Post shared the menu this afternoon.

Have a look!

I’ll probably order the whole rabbit, hunter style when I dine there in 11 days.

Or the rotisserie lamb neck.

Or the pork cheeks.

Or perhaps the veal sweetbreads.

Or maybe … just maybe … I’ll order them all, and make sure I have a cooler along to carry home a ton of leftovers!