Panoramic Pickin'

The Scottographer has some great panoramic shots up from last week's show at the Cantab Lounge: Jake & Taylor Armerding playing with Zack Hickman and Charlie Rose (not that one).

The Joint Chiefs of Retrospection

My first Pickin' Tuesday at the Cantab was just over three years ago.

Heading back for the nth time this evening to catch Red Hot Black Top in the company of various ne'er-do-wells with whom I regularly associate.

And Pickin' Baines Johnston still keeps the eternal flame of live bluegrass burning. A twang of the banjo to Scooter.

"It's tough to hear up on stage so please keep it down in the back..."

"Take me down to the Sunset Grill..."

Props to Scottobrew Beersalot for putting together a little midweek break to kick it with Dr. Goodbeers over at the Sunset Grill & Tap on Wednesday. Pumpkin beers were the order of the evening, and I tried the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale (disappointing - a little lackluster in taste although it sports a healthy 7% ABV), the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale (amazing - incredibly complex, spicy, and delicious at 8% ABV), and the Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout (really nice, dark, hint of sweetness and roasted flavor at 6.75% ABV).

Seasonal beer. One of about three positives of living in an Arctic clime.

Notes on an A-side Weekend

• Mean Rachel came to visit the Hub!
  
• I was fortunate enough to meet the entire Mean Rachel clan, including her mom, dad, sister (Congrats again on the MD and engagement, Grace! And happy birthday!) and aunts - one of whom has a blog. There's quite a bit of Farris presence on the internets.
  
• Everyone should go check out RumBa at the new InterContinental Boston hotel. There is a nice patio area out back overlooking the water and you can drink cocktails out there. More importantly, Kevin the bartender brought me out some free chocolate cake for my birthday. This was delicious gourmet cake with "Happy Birthday" scrawled in chocolate sauce on the plate. We were enjoying some champers out on the patio and then Kevin comes out of nowhere with the cake. He also made sure to top off our glasses in honor of my bday. I will definitely go back because of such excellent service - looks like they have a cool sushi place as well as a $$$$ restaurant.
• Giacomo's maintains its perfect record of making first-timers absolutely love it.
• Veuve makes an excellent mimosa.
• Drinking champagne three days out of four is really the way to live the high life. (Note: not that high life).
• The Blue Blood Express is a wild ride!
• Walking around Boston on a hot day really makes you appreciate the nice breeze coming off the water.
• We really need to make Pickin' Tuesdays a regular thing again.
• From the Obvious Department.
  
• Being inebricated and exhaustired = recipe for successful verbal brainstorming.
• Glazed bacon has yet another convert.
  
• "Bluegrass? What's that, like banjos and shit?"
• Despite their phonetic proximity, Boston and Austin are geographically far too distant. And that's very unfortunate.