FOTC

Flight Of the Conchords is the name of a very funny 1/2 hour show on HBO as well as the name of the New Zealand folk duo that stars in the show. These guys are hilarious. Here is what is says about them on Wikipedia:

Billing themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" (having been bumped by a tribute band of themselves, Like of the Conchords), the group uses a combination of witty observation, characterisation and acoustic folk guitars to work the audience.

The first season of the show was on all last summer and (good news!) they will be putting together a second season that will be starting next January. The show encorprates the duo's songs while showing the day to day lives of Jemaine and Brett, 2 sruggling muscians who have moved to NYC from New Zealand as they meet with their band manager, Murray and have several run ins with their top (and only) fan, Mel. Until the next season starts, I get my FOTC fix through re-runs on HBO and YouTube:

Here's a video from one of their stand up shows...explaining how they invented rap in New Zealand:

It is also important to note that Andrew started watching this show after Entourage each week last summer and I was not into it...it took me about four episodes to come around and quickly became obsessed...I guess that proves once and for all that Andrew is just that much hipper than I am.

27 Days (but who's counting?)

We are now just 27 days away from our wedding.... We leave for St. John in 22 days and are in the process of finalizing our plans. Tonite we booked a day trip to the British Virgin Islands.

This day charter will take us to Virgin Gorda to The Baths.


The boat then takes us to Diamonds Reef for some snorkeling.
After that we head to Marina Cay for lunch at Pussers


The last stop of the day is at an old favorite of mine.. The Soggy Dollar Bar on White Bay on Jost Van Dyke.
This is a beach bar that has no dock so you have to swim to shore (hence the name soggy dollar)... This is a great place to kick back, have a drink and relax on one of the many hammocks...



The trip back to St. John includes sunset drinks and shrimp cocktail...

All in all this should be a fun day!!!

Matzoh and More

Here's a recap of the big crazy seder down in Great Neck last week. The annual Bergang passover seder was the first one for Denise. Seders at the Bergang house are usually quick affairs. My father who leads the seder rushes through the Hagaddah at a quick pace and the Matzoh Ball soup (the first course) is served fairly quickly. This years seder was a big one. There were 20 people in attendence (that's a lot of maztoh balls). Nonetheless, there were the usual rituals that come with any seder (the dipping, the four questions, the drinking of the wine)... Here is a picture of Denise and my father (Peter) getting ready for the reading of the Haggadah. Denise is holding The Concise Family Seder book. She first asked why the book was backwards and then she asked if they were purchased at the Christmas Tree Shoppe... Notice the tissue in Denise's hand. She was sneezing all nite. Perhaps she's allergic to matzhoh.
Here is a picture of me and my mom getting ready to sing some fun songs about moses...Notice that there are not one but two glasses of wine in front of me.

All that wine led to the inevitable dropping of food into my water glass. yes thats apple kugel in my water glass...

Microphones and Stages

As many of you know Denise and I like to go see live music. One of the bands that we have become somewhat obsessed with is the Ryan Montbleau Band...

We first saw them a few years ago when they opened for our other favorite band Assembly of Dust. Ryan and his bands' music is hard to describe. It's has folk, reggae, blues, and jazz all intertwined. Ryan himself is quite a modest guy...He always wears a hat and sits on a stool during his shows and is constantly tapping his foot..It's quite a sight to see. His band consists of a bunch of really talented musicians including a violinist and a bassist who plays the upright bass. In addition the drummer and the keyboard players are brothers... Ryan and his band are constantly touring...If you get a chance check them out.

Ryan's signature song is called Stretch...He plays it at every show and it's one of those songs that everyone sings along with. It's a song about his hopes and dreams....Here's a video of the band performing it....Take a listen..

Pinkberry, Pinkberry, Pinkberry!

We went to NYC again this past weekend (for the annual Passover Seder...more about that later!)and took the oportunity to go to Pinkberry twice in 3 days! Pinkberry is a Korean frozen yogurt place that originated in California and also has about 10 stores in NYC. Andrew introduced me to it in January (when it was 10 degrees outside!) and now it is a "must do" every time we go into the city. The popoulation of NY seems to be just as obssesed as I am about pinkberry as the one we stopped at on Friday night on the way home to Long Island (small detour into the city) had a line out the door and I waited in line for 1/2 hour while Andrew had the car double parked, and this was at 11 at night! On Sunday afternoon, we hit a different pinkberry (on the west side)and only waited in line for about 15 minutes (again while Andrew was double parked and kept moving to avoid the cop trying to write him a ticket) Not only did we have Pinkberry for the drive out of NYC, but I had brought a small cooler and ice packs and brought back pinkberry to enjoy at home...unfortunatly, it loses a little of it's greatness when you don't eat it fresh, however it is still better than any frozen yogurt/ice cream/frozen treat availble in Manch.
So what makes Pinkbery so good? The original tastes like real yogurt, no extra flavors added, very tart, refreshing and not too creamy. It does come in coffee and green tea flavors which are okay, but not as good as the original. The toppings are great too...lots of different fresh fruits (strawberries, bluberries, blackberries, mango, kiwi)different toppings like yogurt chips (my fav), carob chips (Andrew's fav), almonds, coconut, and "rice balls" that taste a little like gummy bears. The weirdest topping available is a variey of sugary cerals...cap't cruch, cocoa pebbles and my fav...fruity pebbles! I think Pinkberry might be availble for franchise, maybe we will start the first one here in NH!

PHO BO!

It's no 6 course "french laundry" style meal but it's one of my favorites...a big bowl of Pho from The Golden Bowl in Manch. We didn't have the food, energy or time to cook dinner tonight so we went out for the quickest, cheapest and one of the tastiest meals out there. We have been there so much that we don't even need to look at the menu..and it's one of those places that we always order the same thing...fresh summer rolls, Vietamese salad and 2 big bowls of pho...Andrew always gets the veggie and tofu and I am a big fan of the wonton. Rice noodles, broth, fresh veggies, basil, bean sprouts and some lime juice...yummy. The pho is just perfect on a cold day or if you are feelin a bit under the weather and I think there is an unwritten rule about being really loud and obnoxious when you slurp down those noodles...it's okay because everyone in the place is doing it too. We have tried several of their other dishes and they are all just as good but each time we always go back for the pho!

Six Course Dinner (oh my!!) at the Rhode Island offshoot of The French Laundry

I am going to write about my dinner last night in Rhode Island.
Many people who were at the dinner are my toughest critics and I feel like I'm
walking on eggshells just typing this...no matter what I write they will
have something to say about it..... (HAHA)
On saturday night I traveled down to East Greenwich, Rhode Island to have dinner at my friends Ingrid and Josh's house....In attendence were Ingrid, Josh, Jon, Carolyn, Kim (AKA Allison) and Myself (missing were both Jeff and Denise)
This was not your typical dinner party (nor is any at their house...for instance, one time they served us mystery meat and told us to taste it before they revealed it was Oxtail...Ask Denise about that one :) ...
This was a six course, three-hour affair with homage paid to Thomas Keller and his restaurant The French Laundry.....(these guys don't mess around)
This was the menu that was served to us...
Course 1-Guyere Cheese Puffs (The french name for these is escaping me now)
Course 2-Quail eggs and bacon (served individually on a spoon..YUMM)See picture below

Course 3-Grilled Tuna with a Soy Ginger Ketchup
Course 4-Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter
Course 5-Grilled Lamb with Braised Shallots and a Thyme Oil
Course 6-Lemon Tart with a pinenut crust with Honey Whipped Cream

Needless to say this was quite a meal...Kudos to the chefs (Josh and Ingrid)
In addition, the drinks (Josh's home brewed Cider) were fantastic as well..
P.S. I hate driving through Providence...why the hell are there so many left exits...
How ratty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hello Newman"

This past weekend Andrew and I brought my parents into NYC for the day. We had bought them tickets to see Chicago on Broadway for Christmas last year. They loved the show and had a good time with Andrew "driving" around the city (not really driving...more like scaring us to death!) During our brief few hours in the big apple we managed to hit our favorite lunch place, The Great American Health Bar, the best frozen yogurt ever (Pinkberry, Pinkberry, Pinkberry!!!!) and get take-out from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon Grill. While my parents were at the show we went to MOMA and saw some famous works of art, including my favorite Starry Night and Andrew's favorite "Map" by Jasper Johns (a 4 foot version of this may end up in our living room some day). Andrew also very much enjoyed the Jackson Pollack.

In the past 3 years I have been to the city about 20 times with Andrew and never once have I had a celebrity sighting but all that changed this weekend! We were driving down Central Park West and Andrew was pointing out the different buildings and different famous people who lived in them. We were stopping at a red light and he pointed to a building and told us that Jerry Seinfeld lives there...and there he was...getting out of his car in front of the building! My mom and I were in the backseat and were able to catch a few pictures.

Andrew is convinced now that I have had a celebrity sighting I won't be looking for any famous people on the street anymore...he's wrong! All in all, it was a fun day.

DAY O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Sister Rachel's recent encounter with Harry Belafonte himself led me to search for some youtube videos of the legendary musician/actor.... Apparently she was at a restaurant called Scaletta in New York (a restaurant frequented often by certain members of my family). She approached him at his table and started talking to him and told him what a big fan she was and that she had some of his music on her IPOD. My search led me to this classic moment from the muppets...
If this doesn't bring a smile to your face..well then...there's just no hope for you.... Enjoy.

"Big" Wedding Decision

Well...Andrew and I have decided to change the wedding plans and instead plan a big church wedding! We are so excited! More details to come soon!




By the way...April Fool's! 54 days and counting until the beach wedding!!!!!