Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: bookstores (Page 72 of 107)

In the Raw is cooking!

Cookin’ up a construction storm, that is…

Someday soon, you’ll be eating sushi where this dirt is. And when I say, “You’ll be eating sushi,” that is to say “I won’t be, but maybe I’ll watch you enjoy your meal.”

Nothing against the dish and certainly no ill-will toward In The Raw, which will be serving dinners to the public from the location in the accompanying image. I just don’t think I’m ready for raw fish. Oh, sure. A raw fish is fine when it’s dangling from your fishing hook and a raw fish is dandy just before it goes into the skillet.

I just need that cooking process to come between the raw portion of the meal – and my mouth.

They’ve made some progress in downtown Broken Arrow, although it is low to the ground. In the ground, actually. The foundation for their new building is set, and I’m sure things will be rising quickly from that solid planting.

It would be great if they could get their facility up and the restaurant readied by the time the Rose District project is completed. According to the paper this morning, that should be late October-early November, depending on what project is being discussed. They hope to have it all in place before the holiday shopping season rolls around.

In the meantime, those of us already in our buildings are trying to keep from wringing our hands and worrying. I’m not complaining about any of it, because it does no good fussing over it and – I’ve learned – time seems to be flying right along. I’ll turn around a couple of times and the whole thing will be finished.

The second image shows where the brick planters are nearing completion on the east side of Main, south of Commercial Street. (You can click it for a larger view…) I trotted down the block to snap a shot before the sun dropped below the edge of the rooftops. Workers were rolling up the bright orange construction fencing, but I couldn’t tell if they were removing it or simply relocating it.

As with any big remodel, the sidewalk supervisors among us have a variety of opinions. I believe about half of the folks mention that “it seems to be taking forever,” while the others are marveling at how “fast they are moving along.” Probably it is somewhere right in between those observations.

Here is a news flash: The images are courtesy of my just arrived replacement cell phone. Purchased on eBay: $20… Bluetooth photo transfer: Priceless.

The phone is the same model as the one I washed in the laundry. It felt comfortable in my hand as soon as I removed it from the mailer. In fact, it proved to be pretty painless to get the phone transferred to my phone number. Sent a text message already. Got one back. Checked the alarm function and camera. Battery recharging just fine.

This little beauty does it all – all except make a call.

The telephone function appears to be crippled unfortunately, and in the case of a phone that is something of a disappointment. Early diagnosis? The built-in speaker is kaput. No ringtones, no music, no internet-provided audio. No hear-y when people speak-y.

Other than that, I love it.

I’m going to try an earbud to see if it will pass along sound that way.

If not, my texting skills are bound to improve in a hurry.

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main Street, Broken Arrow OK!

A Cheesy Congratulations!

Congratulations! To Lovera’s Famous Italian Market in beautiful downtown Krebs, Oklahoma! Earlier this month, their handmade cheese won two awards at a national competition. In Wisconsin, of course – home of the self-proclaimed Green Bay Packers cheese-heads.

For those of you who haven’t sampled the Krebs cuisine, you’ve certainly missed some special dining. Pete’s Place is probably the best known of the Pittsburg County Italian restaurants located just east of McAlester. The Prichard family has been preparing Italian food and Choc beer since the early 1900s. The Lovera family has had a steady run with their Krebs food market as well, and their reputation seems to keep growing.

Ms Middleton of the Tulsa World featured the business in a Monday morning article.

Before reaching high school age, I was fortunate enough to attend a combined McAlester-Krebs school, where the middle-school-aged students were bused the three miles or so over to St. Josephs School. There, the cafeteria was staffed mainly by volunteer moms who whipped up lunches, Italian style. I’d had spaghetti before, of course – but it was courtesy of my dad and a can opener. This was something entirely different.

As is the case with a lot of things encountered in those early years, the special nature of those pans of fresh garlic bread and ravioli weren’t appreciated until years later. I guess I assumed every kid had the same sort of lunch program.

I suppose that’s where I got my kitchen start – as a tray-stacking, floor-sweeping, plate scraping volunteer. The way I figured it, it got me out of class a little early and I got to ease back into the post-lunch studies a little late. The kitchen activities didn’t strike me as work at all, and even provided a life changing event for me.

Part of my pre-serving duties was to get the little milk cartons organized to set them onto the trays as the kids passed down the serving line. One of the cooks (someone’s trickster Mom) said she thought one of the crates was full of cartons of spoiled milk. Maybe they were just beyond their “good until” date. Somehow it was suggested that someone needed to sample one to find out. I volunteered and pried open the waxy-paper flaps.

Didn’t even bother to take a sniff. I just tipped up and gulped down. You can’t truly appreciate a great spoiled milk until your mouth is full of it.

That was it for me and milk.

I kept it down, though, and survived the episode. Got a couple of laughs from those watching – you know – from that I-just-drank-spoiled-milk face pucker. After that day: Milk? Not so much. Actually, closer to never again.

Too many associated memories with that one.

But recalling the Italian food, remembering the Lovera market with its tastes and aromas – that’s different.

When so many family businesses have a difficult time through the generations and when small businesses in general have enough roadblocks to continued success, it’s nice to see one still plugging away.

And doing a great job of it.

You can visit Lovera’s and the Krebs Italian eateries by rolling down through Okmulgee or Muskogee (depending on your highway of choice) and crossing the highway on the east side of McAlester. Ninety minutes from Broken Arrow, or thereabouts.

When you find yourself in downtown Broken Arrow, come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main Street, Broken Arrow, OK!

Nyuk Nyuk. A funny thing happened…

Humor.

It’s a funny thing. And I mean that literally, but not completely. That’s because what one person sees as a real knee-slapper another person might find annoying.

Keystone cops. Three Stooges. Legends. Sure, but I don’t think I ever laughed once. Slapstick just isn’t my thing. I hear people laughing (probably pre-taped and added in post-production) on the Funny Home Videos show, but I usually just cringe. I feel horrible for those people who tumble off the stage, ride their skateboards into the sides of parked cars, or slide down the snow-covered hill into a crotch-killing signpost.

Why don’t I see the humor in that?

Same reason a comedian named Steven Wright bombed in Tulsa years ago. I’d seen him on the Tonight Show and laughed out loud. Rare stuff for me. He followed a manic, frantic, prop-using funnyman on stage. Steven Wright’s brand of humor was a little more cerebral. Not brainiac stuff, really. But his droll delivery combined with his off-the-wall observations worked for me. When I saw him, he looked just like he does in the accompanying image.

Example (delivered in a deadpan, straight-face): Went home last night. Accidentally put my car key in the door lock. Turned it and the house started. So… I took it for a drive around the block.

The club was called Jokers. I was one of the only ones in the audience that night that laughed out loud. A few minutes after his set, I glanced to the side and saw Mr. Wright standing next to me. I apologized for the crowd, and admitted that I thought he was hilarious. He thanked me for the support. He had heard my laugh in the otherwise private-conversation-invested audience.

The humor-spectrum is the reason that so many different types of comedians can find success. There are that many people who find the various routines hilarious.

Tonight, I laughed out loud. The television is on in the office while I do some bookwork. (Book store, bookwork: get it? Yuk-yuk-yuk! Puns… the humor genre universally considered unfunny.) The CBS program Elementary is showing and Sherlock Holmes (I can only watch television based on literary fiction. –Joking) responded to a question posed by his assistant Watson.

Holmes, describing a remodeled wall in a home: …and the decomposing body caused a concave bulge in the wallboard.

Watson: You’re sure his body was hidden behind the wall?

Holmes, looking hesitant: Pretty sure.

The camera jumps to the interior of the house, where a gaping hole has been punched in the sheetrock and a body-shaped black-plastic-wrapped package is clearly visible. And it’s clear that the answer Holmes gave was purposely-driven, perfectly-timed:

Understatement.

I laughed out loud.

Realized immediately, that – just like the Steven Wright portion of that night at the comedy club – I was probably not in the majority in enjoying that humor.

So, I’m sitting here thinking: It’s funny how humor is so funny. And its just as funny how some humor is not-so-funny.

Some serious thoughts, there.

Makes me laugh.

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK!

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