HoodedHawk

Kirsten and I had a great evening this past Saturday. We had dinner at Butterfield 9 in Washington D.C., before walking a block to see David Russell perform classical guitar at the Church of the Epiphany.

The dinner was great. The restaurant has a nice ambiance – quite elegant. Kirsten started her meal with the Longneck Squash Soup (goat cheese, roasted pancetta, and apple compote) – “Delicious”. She then had a 1/2 plate of the Carnaroli Risotto (glazed butternut squash, swiss chard, and black truffle) – “Delicious.

I had the “Chocolate Steak” (New England Elk, creamed parsnips, bitter chocolate, fleur de sel). The waiter said that elk tastes a bit like venison. That would be a good comparison, except that I have never had venison (that I remember). I figured I’d give it a try. Cooked medium-rare, the elk was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. It was coated with cocoa, making for a slightly crispy crust, while the bitter chocolate sauce under the steak was a neat complement; it definitely enhanced the flavors. My only issue was the size of the portions (small). Also, I was glad I ordered “Truffle potato puree” on the side, because what came with the steak was basically a garnish, and not a real side dish(es). The puree was delicious as well, though I would have preferred a more firm “mashed” potato side.

Neither Kirsten or I cared much for the “creme brulee” desert, as it was not a “classic” version; we would not have recognized it as creme brulee if not stated on the menu. It had a sort of “cookie” crust rather than caramelized sugar. The raspberry sorbet on the side with it was good.

Butterfield 9 is only a block from the church where the concert was held, so we used valet parking at the restaurant and picked up the car after the concert.

The concert was very enjoyable; just Mr. Russell on a slightly raised platform at the front of the church with no amplification. I could hear the guitar just fine, but I had difficulty hearing his intros clearly (also partly due to his Scottish brogue :) ). The pews were hard to sit on for 2 hours (we were glad for intermission). The music however was great. We had been listening to his Bach and Baroque cd’s – but he didn’t play any of those pieces. I greatly enjoyed most of his pieces with the exception being the one that was actually written for him by a contemporary. Oh well.

A 5200 year-old goblet (see image below) from the Burnt City in Iran has a series of images depicting a wild goat jumping up to get leaves from a tree. The animation shown is from an 11-minute documentary about the goblet (which was actually found ~1970). Basically, if you take each image in succession (like a flip-book), you get the animation. Neat.

Note that the post-revolutionary Iranian archaeologists kinda got things wrong; they attribute the tree on the goblet to the “Assyrian Tree of Life”. But the goblet is from 1000 years before any mention of the Assyrian civilization in historical records. Ooops.

I just returned from a wonderful weekend Retreat at the Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, MD. The House is right on the Potomac River, with beautiful, serene grounds overlooking the water. Surrounded by woods, there are also trails you can walk to enjoy nature even more. Inside the house are accommodations for about 68 or so retreatants. This past weekend (Feb 29-Mar 2, 2008) was a men’s retreat. Meant to be a time of contemplative prayer, it is a silent retreat to allow you to more easily get into the “spirit”. Three meals a day, Mass daily, and many lectures on prayer. Large blocks of time were devoted to individual prayer. You can attend as many or as few of the events as you like. The Jesuit priests (as well as Sisters and lay people) running the retreat were wonderful and quite approachable.

I last went on a retreat almost 30 years ago; other than “I liked it”, I don’t recall it at all. I believe I will be able to remember this retreat. With three kids, the youngest only 17mo, it’s not often I get to spend a weekend in “silence”, lost in my thoughts. Wonderful experience. This photo above is linked to some more pictures.

This giant frog lived 70 million years ago in Madagascar, and was the size of a beachball. From what scientists can tell, it ate whatever could fit in it’s (huge) mouth. The thing looks like it could eat a Yorkie. The little frog in front of it in the picture is the largest frog living in Madagascar today…

Etsy is selling these buttons. Famous paradox; makes your head spin a bit. :)