This is the most recent work by David Wolfe, of Wolfe Editions fame. He is one of the best letterpress guys I know and I never cease to be surprised by what he creates. I love that he does not limit himself to presswork.
David took a class at Haystack and, because he is wildly more talented than I (or, most likely, you), this is the result. As I say, he never ceases to amaze me. Let me know if you can't live
without it...
Specifications:
Hook: hand forged 3/4 inch steel stock
Tag: aluminum wire and red copper wire, veiled with copper covered steel welding wire
Butt: copper pot scrubber
Body: aluminum tape,
Rib: aluminum wire,
Wing: steel, brass, brass rivets
Throat: steel wire
Topping: copper covered iron welding wire
Head: steel wire
Size: 21" x 15" x 3"
Weight: 9 lbs.
Stinque posted some Selections from the London Review of Books classifieds for March 12, 2009. The list included:
Fanciable sylph, 52, seeks diversion.
Leading the ever clever TtWS to post:
Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
6:46 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
I dunno, I think a tryst with a fanciable slyph, 52, would be kinda delightful if I were in her age range and inclined that way.
Compelling the Wrong Coast Legal Eagle to query:
SanFranLefty
6:54 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket:
Is a slyph a slutty sylph?
And here our exchange takes a turn to the wonderful, as TtWS responds, a mere 30 minutes later:
Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
7:32 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@SanFranLefty:
Surely a “slyph” is a slut of a sylph,
Sure as “soot” after sweeping is “toos”,
Or the sleeve of a sluice can combine to make sluve,
and the sound when a cat flees is “mewve”.
If we dun ourselves in to the spelling of words,
or dole them out only by what they might mean,
We miss out on some funderful combomakeshuns,
And our use of the language is lean.
So celebretype words of the neolodge sort!
And forgive me my lapses in art,
and if my lackodaise use of orthograpy hurts,
I apolomake stryght from my heart.
SFL, clearly smote, responds:
SanFranLefty
7:37 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket:
Wanna play Scrabble?
TtWS, recognizing genius as well as crafting it, responds:
Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
7:39 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@SanFranLefty:
That was a practically perfect response in every way, darling.
My day is made. It can not get better. I am going to bed.
We effectively ate our way across (a very small portion) of San Francisco...we clearly need many more days and weeks there. On the recommendation of Amy Hahn and Forrest Proper, we had dinner our second night at Kokkari (where Amy's brother is the manager). It was Greek at its very best.
We went with
Brian Cassidy after the first day of set-up. We spent far too long looking over the menu, failed completely to make reasonable choices and resorted to taking a tapas approach and ordering nearly all the appetizers. The highlights were: for Suz, the zucchini cakes; for Brian, the fried sardines; for me, the grilled octopus...and the spanakotiropita was exceptional. We finished the meal by splitting a Galaktoboureko (semolina custard in filo with Meyer lemon spoonsweet and creme fraiche ice cream) and Milo Furnisto (baked cinnamon and walnut stuffed apple
with masticha gelato. Finally, we all had a cup of their greek
coffee, "stone-ground coffee heated over hot sand" (see the
second photo, showing the "coffee maker"). Absolutely wonderful.
While we were banging around SanFran, we also had more than our share of dim sum (thank you
Kan's and, especially,
Hang ah Tea Room) and some very good other bits of this and that. Also notable was
The Chieftain, a very good Irish pub with the best fish and chips I've had in a long time...
On our last day, we were invited to dinner by friends in Woodside at
The Village Pub. Woodside is a village in the loosest definition of the term and the Village Pub is...er...not a pub. It is, however, one of the very best, most interesting, restaurants we've been to in a very long time.
First off, while sending out special little treats is nice and relatively common, the VP gilded the lily. First, before
anything else arrived, the chef sent out a shot of a sort of lobster bisque...lovely. Between the appetizers and the dinner, he sent each of us out a ravioli (Meyer lemon and robiola cheese). Finally, he sent out a small basket of beignets after desert. Also, when the three of us ordered appetizers, the chef sent out a small greens salad (walnut oil vinaigrette) for Suzanne, so she would have something to fiddle with (it was, I'm told, delicious).
My appetizer was the Dungeness crab salad, pictured here. A mass of Dungeness on a bed of gelled blood orange reduction, off the the left is a lovely little julienned apple and blood orange salad. Simply exceptional.
My entree was a grilled Moroccan spiced quail with glazed carrots and toasted almond couscous. Two boneless (save their wee legs) birds on a bed of couscous. It was, without a doubt, the best quail I have had...well...pretty much for as
long as I can remember. Unbelievably good.
For desert, I had the Meyer lemon mousse bar, balanced on a sliver of pound cake and topped with wafers of sour lemon meringue. It was very nice and a great counter to the spices of the quail. That said, Suzanne's desert (see image) was exceptional. She had the "Opera Cake", a mocha buttercream with chocolate ganache. It tasted *better* than it looked...no small feat.
Our host brought two bottles from his cellar, thought we only opened one of them (as we were approaching having to make the trek back to SFO for our departure. Before we ordered, our server decanted a bottle of Chateau Clos Saint-Martin - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, a wonderful bordeaux that worked well with everything we had...and was, in its own right, simply wonderful.
It was an amazing way to end a wonderful week in San
Francisco. We had had such fun, all week, catching up with friends and colleagues...and eating and drinking all about town. To finish with old friends and such a wonderful meal was just a perfect end to the week. I hope they will come East, so we can return the favor...else there is always next year.
Addendum: On Saturday night the "young members" of the ABAA gathered to drink and shout at each other over the all too loud pub music that played in the back ground at
Vesuvio's. It was great fun, though the absinthe was unnecessarily sweet and not chilled enough for my taste. Images can be found at my
Facebook page.
Before we went arrived at Vesuvio's, we had dinner (with Brian Cassidy and
Garrett Scott. Just a few doors down from the bar, there is a storefront japanese/sushi place that looked clean, empty (earlyish) and...well...open. So in we
trooped. The sushi was great, the spicy tuna was pretty much the spiciest I've had and, best of all, they served "Monkey Balls". How can you not order them...just on principle. We ordered one that Brian and I split...it was remarkably good cool, raw fish within halved balls of deep fried (very quickly) rice balls. The moral is, never pass up a chance to have good, hot monkey balls...
I should get one or two more SF ABAA posts up in the next 24 hours or so. Too many balls [sadly not monkey] in the air...as usual...
I love getting surprises in the post and the holidays are typically the best time for such things. This year has been the best ever (at least from a chocolate standpoint). We received a banner number of cards and notes (though have not yet sent our own....very pathetic). We received the usual bit of Harry and David, fruit, fruitcake and passable chocolates...BUT THEN....
I have a lovely client in Chicago who sent me a wonderful box of
Fannie May chocolates (currently
on sale and I will vouch for them.). The company has been making chocolate in the Chicago area for about 85 years and makes some wonderful things. This would have been treat enough...AND YET...
A few days later we received this quite remarkable box of
Godiva's "G Collection". The flavors include Lemon Drop, Tart Raspberry, Bananas Foster, Apple Pie, Tahitian
Vanilla, P.B. & Jam, Salted Caramel, Caramel Macchiato, Wild Bolivian Dark Chocolate, Mexican Hot Cocoa (with ancho pepper). Suz and I are being very selfish and not sharing this box with the kids at all . We are splitting each one...except the raspberry, for as good as it appears, the whole anaphylactic thing is so tedious...
Oh, and I got a Toblerone the size of a small dog in my stocking. Needless to say, this is all helping my diet and weight-loss program enormously...
On that note, we will be bringing another dozen of
Simply Divine's amazing brownies to the SF ABAA book fair. WooHoo.
Finally, to top off my warm/fuzzy feelings towards my clients, I have received a number of cards and emails saying genuinely lovely things. At a time when the economy appears so shaking, winter is upon us and things are just generally dicey on many fronts...having one's client's go out of their way say thanks, etc is just...well...one more reason I love doing the things I do. Here's to a great new year...I'll do my best to keep you all amused and shelving things that bring you pleasure...
This is the most recent work by David Wolfe, of Wolfe Editions fame. He is one of the best letterpress guys I know and I never cease to be surprised by what he creates. I love that he does not limit himself to presswork.
Silly the ways of the reader
taking de-light in the word.
We are all so illumined
with the fanciful and the absurd.