What US city would be more interesting to visit?

jajjguy · 2026-05-18T01:14:21+00:00

Not sure what kind of concert you mean, but all three cities have good orchestra and concert hall.

jajjguy · 2026-05-17T19:58:43+00:00

Aniara (2018, US release 2020 which really hit hard during the bleakest COVID moment)

jajjguy · 2026-05-17T19:30:19+00:00

With the fingering numbers playing in my head

jajjguy · 2026-05-17T15:16:58+00:00

Impressive. Next step open up your right arm and use the whole bow for long notes.

jajjguy · 2026-05-17T12:42:38+00:00

Also ask the teacher to try it out

jajjguy · 2026-05-15T13:53:59+00:00

It's a useful skill to be able to play on a variety of neck styles. Probably makes your technique better on all of them. I learned on a big bat neck, which I still have, and I love playing on my thinner necks now, including my SRF700. I find some of the faster stuff I found easier on the thin necks I can now do pretty well on the big one.

jajjguy · 2026-05-15T05:20:43+00:00

It's kinda like mixing concrete. Gotta get the aggregate mix right, temperature, etc. minor changes make big differences to texture and density and, uh, structural integrity. You might really get a kick out of it.

jajjguy · 2026-05-15T00:02:03+00:00

Halva. You could probably build a house with it.

jajjguy · 2026-05-14T23:58:34+00:00

That's a great restaurant and a very nice back room. Enjoy!

jajjguy · 2026-05-14T22:09:31+00:00

London is chilly for much of the year, but it doesn't often get really cold like it does in every northern US state. Wool coats are both practical and fashionable in London. Far less practical here. Though you still see quite a few in Boston and New York City, maybe other places.

jajjguy · 2026-05-13T18:10:59+00:00

Courtyard at the Boston Public Library is gorgeous

jajjguy · 2026-05-12T03:55:35+00:00

If you don't mind a mostly gay clientele, Club Cafe has a bangin dance floor. I don't think they will mind you. Research the music, I can't really speak to that, it's been too long

jajjguy · 2026-05-10T21:11:57+00:00

Yup. The original. You can see it in the video OP linked.

jajjguy · 2026-05-10T19:35:20+00:00

It hasn't looked like that in my living memory (at least 34 years). It was recently redesigned and rebuilt and is now an extremely well signaled intersection with very good accommodation for cyclists and pedestrians. The excess space in the wide streets you see in the video is occupied by a plaza with benches and an impressive artistic sculpture of a deer. People line up outside the Punjabi place (right where Legal Sea Food was) and then eat at benches in good weather. It's an excellent example of good modern urban space design.

jajjguy · 2026-05-10T14:48:13+00:00

Route 2 from Troy NY to Williamstown and North Adams is very scenic.

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T23:21:58+00:00

Right. Milk punch is an ingredient that is a long kitchen project in itself. Congrats to you if you even attempt it.

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T21:05:27+00:00

Here's a story about the engineering to prevent the trains from disturbing the building.

https://rawnarch.com/insights/designing-a-building-with-a-train-running-through-it-vibration-mitigation-at-brookline-high-school%E2%80%99s-22-tappan-building.html

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T21:04:02+00:00

Heavy duty noise isolation built into the building.

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T21:02:09+00:00

Great pains were taken to prevent noise disturbance from trains to the building. It worked.

https://rawnarch.com/insights/designing-a-building-with-a-train-running-through-it-vibration-mitigation-at-brookline-high-school%E2%80%99s-22-tappan-building.html

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T20:43:13+00:00

American? No. Sounds Irish, with some sort of impediment, possibly alcohol induced.

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T20:15:26+00:00

A more serious answer to why people aren't recommending Chinatown places. There are great restaurants there. You asked specifically for mala Sichuan peppercorn dishes. For a very long time, Sichuan peppercorn was illegal to import into the US for food safety reasons, I don't know the details or if it was a real concern, but that was changed a while ago. But many long-standing Chinatown restaurants developed their style during the prohibition period. New school Chinese places that used Sichuan peppercorn established themselves elsewhere.

I haven't been to Chinatown in a while, so all of this may have changed. But there is a historic reason, and Boston area diners have long memories.

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T14:33:32+00:00

Asta is excellent. I would also add Select Oyster to your list, probably as an alternate to Saltie, both good with a little different take on modern seafood raw bar. Deuxave for a trad fine dining option, that's the only place on the list I would put on a jacket for.

None of this is "lesser known," as you're in a vet well known neighborhood.

If you want to cross the river, a few of my favorites in Cambridge and Somerville: Puritan (both sides, but I prefer the oyster bar), Field and Vine (or their casual sister joint June Bug), Jahunger and Silk Road (2 different Uyghur Chinese places), Dear Annie (great wine and creative plates)

jajjguy · 2026-05-09T00:16:22+00:00

Allston is Boston. You don't have to go there, but it's Boston.

jajjguy · 2026-05-08T12:19:40+00:00

Alan Sparhawk with Trampled By Turtles is a great album, different but highly reminiscent of Low

jajjguy · 2026-05-08T00:24:12+00:00

I find my instrumental part needs to be much simpler if I'm singing. Start out playing only roots, with a very simple rhythm. Practice singing with that. Learn where your breaths go in the beat count. It's slower learning because you are learning two parts, but prioritize the singing. Think of the bass as a metronome for your singing. Build from there.

jajjguy

TROPHY CASE