Making Fun of the Rich

This house is for sale in the Chattanooga area for 4.9 million dollars.

To which I can only say one thing: "Suck it Beverly Hills!"

You know you have too much money when a helicopter is required to get a complete view of your house.

The living room has a very modern feel. If your last name is Flintstone or Rubble.

The kitchen is heavily laden with that wonderful, finger print attracting substance know as stainless steel. Ideal for a kitchen if you're not the one cleaning it.

A round bedroom. If only it rotated.

With so many chairs, I am gonna assume this must mean the house was built as a refuge for orphaned children, probably with cancer. The owners are now selling it because they have managed to place all the poor, parentless children with families. I am sure this is correct because why else would someone need so much space for a single family.



Is anyone else thinking "Beam me up Scotty" right now?

White chairs in the dining room. The help must just LOVE these people.

And white chairs in the living room.

The following must be imagined as being said in the voice of Thurston Howell III: "Muffy darling, I don't know WHY the help keeps quitting. After we bought those black mastiff pups and had the red wine gala to celebrate, they all just left! Makes absolutely no sense to me. Oh bother Muffy, I just spilled my chardonnay"

Because they wanted to recreate the look of the Northgate library in their own home. (This is only funny if you live in Hixson Tennessee)

The house is described as being designed with Frank Loyd Wright influences. I have been to many FLW houses in my time and was not impressed. Very poor tippers.

Roman pillars... so this must be the vomitorium?

Ok now I hate these people. An indoor pool.

This view makes me feel less bitter. It's looking a little Holiday Inn-ish from this angle.

And by the way, Capitalism: A Love Story is playing this week at both the Rave and the Bijou. Saw it yesterday and loved it!

Simon's Cat

The Boathouse, Chattanooga Tennessee

The Boathouse,
Chattanooga Tennessee


I've decided that I don't really like most of the food at the Boathouse but will continue to return. That is because I love the view from the deck which, on weather pleasant days offers a relaxing view of the river that one can stare placidly at while eating their dry sandwiches and funny smelling coleslaw (seriously, it smells like fish). The freshly made guacamole is wonderful and probably the best thing they serve. So if you're smart, you will order that with a beer and then go home and make yourself a sandwich. Ok, the grilled greenbeans are good too. But, items claimed to be specialties, like the Voodoo Chicken--deep fried chicken with flavorless black beans and rice-- are rather dull.

The featured cocktail at the Boathouse is the Brazilian lime, sugar, and rum drink the caipirinha which, according to Wikipedia, the name "caipirinha" is derived from the word "hillbilly. " Should we be offended by that?

Ristorante

Ristorante, by artist Annie Greene.


Believe it or not, this "painting" is made entirely of yarn that has been glued to the surface. A friend and I noticed another work by this artist while on a trip to an Atlanta area art museum today.

Gai Lan

I purchased gai lan at the farmers market in Atlanta, as part of my goal to try new and exotic greens. Of course, once I tasted it, I realized that I probably have had it before in Thai restaurants.

Gai lan, also called Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is much more bitter than broccoli although, like like lots of other types of produce, selecting the perfect bunch of Gai Lan, is apparently an art form (that I have not yet mastered).

I sauteed my gai lan with ground pork and served over rice noodles, and seasoned with mushroom soy sauce. This has a different flavor than regular soy sauce although I don't know if I would describe it as mushroomy. I do like it though and have been putting it on everything lately. I added a few hot peppers for color. And because I bought way to many to eat in one lifetime, so am trying to find ways to use them up.

Milas Taqueria Mexico

The second and final stop on the Great Houston Taco Experiment 2009 was Milas Taqueria Mexico. The tacos al pastor are excellent here and I would say they rival actual Mexico City tacos. We would have liked to have tried more Houston taco locations but with so much great Asian cusine in Houston, we thought it wise to sample more of the healthier Vietnamese, Chinese, and Middle Eastern restaurants, than lard cooked (but delicious!) tacos.