Feast of San Genarro 2012 Little Italy

Feast of San Genarro 2012 Little Italy

 

Brought to you by Kia Motors

 

This Sunday I went to my first Feast of San Gennaro, on Mulberry Street, Little Italy, NYC with Mrs. Cranky, and her sister Mary Ann and BIL Mike, or the “Crank-in-laws.”

The first thing that hits you on Mulberry Street is the crowd.  There is much bumping and twisting, but no pushing and shoving.  Everyone is in a good mood.  I think the good mood is a result of the unbelievable intoxicating smells of great food which changes at every step. 

I guess that’s why it is called a feast.

 

 

 

Mr. Crank-in-law

We had reservation for a late lunch at Il Cortile.  The testosterone challenged crank-in-law made these reservations and she caught a lot of flak because of it.

  “Why would we eat at a restaurant when all of Little Italy is selling some of the best street food in the world?”

 There were steak sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, fried mozzarella, zepolles, funnel cake, every pasta invented, manicotti, baked ziti, lasagna, calamari and much more.

As an aside: In Little Italy sausage is called “sauseege,” mozzarella is “mutz,” manicotti is “managut,”and calamari is“gallamar.” Don’t ask!

As it turned out, lunch at the restaurant was an excellent get-a-way from the hustle and bustle of the street and the food was fantastic (there are NO bad restaurants in Little Italy) so Mrs. Crank-in-law was exonerated.

Thanks, Mary Ann!

After lunch we took in the sites and sampled some more food.

This cannoli was a bit much:

 

Mrs. Cranky and Cannoli Man
Did he just say "Eat me?"*

We bought cigars

 

And Hats

 

 

Horrible Pic of Mrs. Crank-in-law (sorry MA)

 

 

Better pic of Mary Ann

 

 “We skipped the snake girl”

 

 

We gave a dollar and won a prayer

 

 

And we harassed a celebrity

 

“Who’s the Boss?”

Mr. Crank-in-law accosts an unbelievably affable Tony Danza

 

All in all it was a terrific day. 

On the way home, just before the Holland Tunnel we spied someone selling tee shirts with the ultimate NYC- Little Italy attitude:

 In all black with bold white print

 

“FUCK YOU

 YOU FUCKING

FUCK”

I love New York!

*"Sex in the city" reference.

ROAD RAGE

ROAD RAGE

 

Several weeks ago my son asked me to be “Judge.”  Apparently he was driving south through North Carolina with his family when someone passed him and threw out a cup of soda.  Intentional or not, the soda splashed my son’s car and windshield.  Several miles down the road, he passed this transgressor.  My son was the passenger, and as they passed he threw out a box load of popcorn he had been eating.  The popcorn flew over the other car and some even went in an open driver’s window.

My daughter-in-law thought that this was a really stupid and childish act, especially as they had two sleeping toddlers in the back seat.  Matt called me asking “Was I wrong?  Devon says what I did was stupid.”

As “Judge” I asked two questions:

What did the other driver do?

                 And

Did it feel good?

“The other driver slowed way down, we never saw him again, and it felt really frickin good!”

The “Judge’s” decision?  “You got away with a really stupid act.  Were you actually in North Carolina?”

“Yes.”

“Then you were extra stupid and extra lucky.  They hunt in North Carolina.  They carry guns in NC just in case they see game!”

This incident reminded me of a similar event of my youth.  An event that was very stupid, an event where I was very lucky, and an event which made me feel really frickin good!

It was 1969 and I was driving through Philadelphia heading for a job interview.  I was stopped at a traffic light in my hot 1968 VW bug.  The exact moment that the light turned green, the car behind me leaned on the horn.  I figured he was impatient, but damn!  I didn’t even have time to release the clutch.  I was pissed!

I got out of the car and slowly walked back to his car.  He was leaning on the horn all the way.  When I got to his window he rolled it down and started yelling at me to get moving.

“Oh. You want me to move?  I assumed you were trying to tell me there was something wrong with my car.  No problem, sir, I’ll move.  I can do that because as you can see the light is now green.”

I returned slowly to my car and waited until just as the light hit amber and then I pulled out.  The impatient asshole behind me, purple with rage and still cursing and beeping, could not follow in time.  He was stuck for another stop light rotation.

In retrospect this was a really stupid move.  You never know what kind of a nut is in that other car.  At least I wasn’t in North Carolina; still it was very stupid.

                    BUT

Damn did it ever feel good!

STUPID HEADLINES 092312

STUPID HEADLINES 092312

Here are this week’s stupid headlines and my stupider, sophomoric and sometimes offensive comments:

 Virgin births may be common in the wild – Or there are more toilet seats in the wild than previously thought.

Ohio death row inmate makes case that he's too obese for execution– Judge rules that the prisoner’s “last meal” be served three weeks before the execution.

Professor Made Students Sign ‘Vote for Obama’ Pledge – Romney is unconcerned, cites students’ record of cheating on tests.

School Bans Father-Daughter Dances – Dance discriminated against single mom’s daughter.  Hmmm they should have canceled my Senior Prom cause all the girls turned me down.  Isn’t that discrimination against creeps?

Blue Jays' Escobar suspended 3 games for homophobic slur on eye-black – How can eye-black be sensitive?

Man Arrested in HI Pleads Guilty to VP Threats – Hawaiian man who threatened to kill Joe Biden is charged with a misdemeanor.  (Oh calm down, it’s just a joke… You liberals are so sensitive.)

Headless Roman statues found in ancient city – Relic was a likeness of ancient Roman cartoonist who specialized in caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. 

Zimbabwe city residents synchronize toilet flush – Country is in training for new 2016 Olympic event hoping for first gold medal.

Some local Dems to skip the first lady – Obama’s will do anything for a vote, but double dutching Michelle is over the top!

Man charged with car thefts, car break-ins – Well yea, if he stole them he must have broken in!

Tunisia president's former aide gets suspended jail sentence – In Tunisia that’s what they call hanging you from your ankles in jail.