The Chinese Spring Festival (Chun Jie 春节), what we call Chinese New Year, is currently in progress. This is the biggest holiday in China and has many awesome traditions. One of these is the Lion Dance.
Often mistaken for Dragons, the Lions will be in Chinatown this Sunday, February 21, 2010. The Southern style lion dance is a ritual to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck and fortune to a shop. The local Kung Fu troops will be parading through Chinatown from ~10AM-5:00PM.
So how do you enjoy the event without having any idea what it is about?
Don’t Just Stand There
This isn’t a typical parade. You can actually follow the action from shop to shop and there will be plenty of gong fu troops with (usually) 2 lions, a buddha, firecrackers and a drum. Shopkeepers place a bowl full or lettuce, oranges and red envelopes in front of the shop. The Lions come to the shop, jump on the bowl, eat the lettuce, throw the oranges and grab the envelopes. Then they go into the shops and restaurants to scare away the evil spirits. When they leave, the shopkeeper tosses firecrackers at them to scare them off.
The Lion dances can be a little intense with the firecrackers, so keep the kids close. They like the colorful costumes and enjoy the dance, but sometimes the bangs can be a little much. If they get scared, then go to a restaurant or bakery.
Plan to Eat
Come early to Hei La Moon, Chao Chow City, Emperor’s Garden or China Pearl to have dumplings, buns and tea. This is called dim sum. Har Gao / Xia Jiao is a shrimp dumpling. Shu Mai is a pork dumpling. The sticky rice in lotus leaf is delicious and has meat and other delights inside. Ask for pork buns or “nai wong bao”, which is a delicious custard bun. They’ll be surprised you even know about this one. My kids love it.
Remember, the lions come into the restaurants so have your camera ready.
If Dim Sum is not your style or you come later in the day, Vinh Sun has extremely delicious Hong Kong style food with roast pork that melts in your mouth. They also have dishes served in sizzling hot clay pots that are winners. It’s better to get a group together when you go for Chinese food. Dishes are meant to be shared. Shabu Zen’s cook-as-you-eat hot pot is a unique and delicious experience. They have 2 locations. One is in Allston, one in Chinatown. It’s kind of like Japanese Tapas. Hei La Moon’s “feasts” are authentic and incredible. Ask for the Chinese menu. They have seafood and non-seafood feasts for 4, 8, 12 – more.
Hit the Bakery
My favorite is Hing Shing. I love their custard buns, cookies and coconut bars. The cookies are also delicious and the prices are insanely low. Other people swear by Ho Yuen and Eldo Cake House. There are plenty of bakeries in Chinatown to enjoy and no one, except maybe the owners, would fault you for going to more than one!
Follow the Action
When you are not eating, follow the action around. Throw a kid on your shoulders and follow a gong fu troop. It’s a great way to get to know Chinatown. Pop into the shops, talk to the people, grab a bubble tea, a snack, or menu for next time.
Chinese Lesson 中文
Try these out when you’re in Chinatown
新年快乐 : Xin1 Nian2 Kuai4 Le4 /Shin Nee-en Kwai Luh/ This means “Happy New Year”
恭喜发菜：Gong1 Xi3 Fa1 Cai2 / Gong She Fa Tsai / This also means “Happy New Year” but literally means “Congratulations on your Riches”
Happy Year of the Golden Tiger! Hope to see you there.
This year’s Boston Wine Expo was not at all what I was expecting. Never having been to one, I figured it would be a pleasant affair where well mannered folks waited patiently to taste and discuss their favorite expensive grape juices*. Instead it was ravenous wine fans pushing their way past others to get every last drop of wine and every last piece of stinky cheese possible. I also expected to be able to taste more than 4 or 5 varietals. Most booths had Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and and sometimes a blend of the aforementioned. There was not a map of the booths and the wines and the wine vendors themselves were horrible marketers. No flags, just nearly invisible-through-the-crowd signs to mark their tables.
Needless to say, I was a little disappointed with my first wine tasting, but I knew that Gary Vaynerchuk could change my mind. It is no secret that I am a big fan of the Thunder Show, Vaynermedia and #CRUSHIT. I’ve seen Gary speak a half a dozen times and he usually brings something interesting to the table. I have seen 100s of episodes of Wine Library TV, but this was the first time I had a chance to drink wine with him as his “Expland Your Palate” session.
We were situated in a conference room at the World Trade Center each with a scoresheet and 8 numbered wines, 1 rose, 3 whites and 4 reds. Gary starts off by greeting us, giving us the Reader’s Digest version of his spiel and then starts to teach us how to taste wine the GaryVee way.
The boomer couple sitting next to me has never heard of Gary. They just bought the tickets because they thought the talk sounded interesting. They are in for a treat. The guy was Austrian. He loaned me a pen. “Schneidermike, you didn’t come prepared? Where’s your iPhone pen?” says Gary. I look sheepishly at my iPhone and Zi8.
After taunting Patriots (and a few Colts fans) he starts off with the aroma. “First, let’s start with the sniffy-sniff. I want you to get your nose as far into the glass as possible.” He urges us all to sniff first, before we swirl the wine. He wants us to experience the wine before and after. He gives me some stink eye for swirling my glass before sniffing. I learn and do not make the same mistake again. “Schneidermike, you wine noob. We have to get you up to speed.” he says. When swirling, you really need to beat the wine up. Swirl it like you mean it. Tasting? That’s “giving it a whirl.”
Pierre Sparr Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose
Aroma according to me: mountain snowy ai, apple, sharp cheddar
Taste: The taste is strong. It’s a crisp, apple-like flavor.
Color: Rose
Score: Meh
It’s a bubbly. I would drink it again, but I would not ask for it.
Price: $12/bottle
Santorini Assyritko
Aroma according to me: white pepper, burning plastic (Gary says rubber tire), cilantro
Color: White
Taste: The taste is of vinegar and reminded me of paint thinner.
Score: Meh / Gary liked this one.
Price: $12-$15
Domaine Lafond Lirac Blanc
Color: White
Aroma: cleaner, Mr. Clean, greens, I got some kind of tropical fruit (Gary said it was starfruit).
Taste: Pear, vanilla, pepper giving way to a bitterness.
Score: Like
Gary says if you’re tried a Lirac, you’re a wine geek. If you’re tried a Lirac Blanc, you are one of a niche of uber wine geeks.
Price: $17
Vinoptima 2003 Gewurztraminer
Color: White? Golden notes.
Aroma: Big fruit aroma, pear
Taste: This sucker was pure pineapple with a white pepper finish.
Score: Like/Love
This was my favorite wine. Gary says it is great with stinky cheese. It was the New Zealand wine of the year at one point.
Price: $50
Fat Barrel Pinotage
Color: Red
Aroma: very faint, hard to pick up much on the nose.
Taste: Lot of tastes: cigar, tobacco, jerky, bacon, chipotle pepper, smoke, monterey jack cheese
Gary said this was a meh. He felt it was missing its soul. A woman said that most people say that it’s a mistake to pair chocolate with Pinitage. Gary said he would try it, particularly since his episode in Montreal where a woman gave him bacon muffins. He ate 4. Sounded like the taste was really intriguing moreso than an actual he lusted for bacon muffins.
Score: Like
Bedell Cellars First Crush Red
Color: Red
Aroma: bread, yeast
Taste: charcoal, smoke, persimmon
Score: Hate
I did not like this wine. It was extraordinarily bitter. It sucked the moisture out of my mouth and soured my puss. This is a 72% Merlot / Cab Franc blend. It’s from Long Island. I think someone must have put some of the Hudson in this wine.
Price: $15, but I would not pay $5. I think Gary liked this one.
Clos de Gamot Cahors
Color: Red
Aroma: I forget
Taste: Chocolate, smoke, metal, iron, Gary said hay/barnyard/earth, moss. I also got a fishiness. Gary asked if anyone else got the fishiness. 2 others raised their hands. he attributed it to the saltiness and minerality of the wine. He told me I should try some Alsatian White wines if I like this one. I’ve just learned that some Gerwuztraminers fall into this category so I am stoked!
Score: Meh/Like
Follies Touriga Nacional
Color: Red
Aroma: Wood / Oak
Taste: OAK OAK OAK, acai berry, big wood flavor, cloves
Score: Like, 2nd favorite
Gary was excited that the crowd liked this wine because, not only is it from Portugal–> the price is around
Price: $9
After the Follies Touriga Nacional, a woman in the crowd swore she would only drink French oak and that she did not like the wine because she thought it was American oak. Gary corrected her and told her it was Hungarian oak which she also did not like. She swore up and down that she was tuned for particular type of oak. He swore up and down that he could trick her palate – to the point where he was willing to “bet the house” against her and told her that she had to come and be on the Thunder Show. He said that either way, they would both win because if she was right, they’d go on Good Morning America. If not, at least she would get to be on the show.
All-in-all, not only was a it a great time, I got some great homework. I am off to Marty’s to explore Alsace.
Caveat: This is fun and non-scientific and directional. It took me about 15 minutes. I created three groups of posts:
- all posts about Scott Brown
- all about Martha Coakley
- all posts about Scott Brown and Martha Coakley
And through the magic of Social Media Monitoring (thanks @Radian6)…
Both Candidates are Campaigning Hard
Looks Like Brown Has a Slight Edge in Voting
query: voted for Brown (and not Coakley) vs. voted for Coakley (and not Brown)
Brown’s Supporters Are More Passionate
query: Love / Like / Hate / Dislike Brown (and not Coakley) vs. Love / Like / Hate / Dislike Coakley (and not Brown)
It’s going to be interesting to see how this one shakes out. I am voting later today.
Are old product advertisements burned into your mind the way they are into mine? I randomly recall several every day. This morning, it was Keebler Suncheros. In fact, that one is on medium rotation. I hope someday that I will be able to access my brain as if it were a Linux drive mount so that I can delete a few things that I do not need.
Burger Chef
Like Suncheros, many of the brands and products that I recall have been discontinued. Often, they make me feel nostalgic. The other day I randomly recalled Burger Chef. Burger Chef was a 70’s franchise that competed with McDonald’s. Their mascots were Burger Chef and Jeff. They invented the kid’s meal and called it the Funmeal. Their prizes were second to none. As a kid, I remember getting a spooky Halloween record with a count and a Frankenstein’s monsters type. They even had Star Wars posters.
My parents did not take us out for fast food often. I remember Burger Chef as a treat. We would eat at the restaurant and talk about the stuff on the Funmeal box. It was one of the few times I actually got along with my brother.
Burger Chef had some quirky branding issues. They were Burger Chef, but their sandwiches were all spelled Shef. They eventually were sold to Hardee’s. One of their tags lines was Incrediburgible!
Fruitibix
Weetabix cereal used to have a smalled, crunchy, dried fruit infused cousin called Fruitibix. In the UK, these have been relaunched as Weetabix Minis, but they do not seem to have made their way to the US yet. Fruitbix had dried dates and Bananabix was made with pickles. They had a unique flavor. Each piece was round and about the side of a mini-wheat. They had a slight crystal-sugary layer and each piece had at least one dried fruit. They stayed crispy in milk, but were delicious when they absorbed a little milk. Alas, now they’re gone in the US. Apparently they were the masses found them both offensive and dreadful because I could not find a single picture of them in Google images.
Discuss
I kicked off the discussion with two obscure brands, but yours do not have to be. It can be something nostalgic, useful or silly. My kids were watching Ratatouille on a car trip. My favorite scene is the one where Anton Ego, the critic, eats the ratatouille and instantly vividly recalls being a little boy. Thinking about Burger Chef did that for me. (Is that sad?)
What brands and products that have been discontinued do you miss?
Why do you miss them?
Is there an alternative?
A public service message from Team Boston
Please support our efforts to cure cancer. http://bit.ly/bostonbeatcancer
What is Movember?
You may have noticed people walking around with additional (or in my case bigger and stranger) facial hair. These people are not trying to get in touch with their inner Joe Namath, they are involved in the fight against cancer. During the month of November, many of us have decided to band together and battle against men’s cancer. November is Movember.
The quick and dirty legend is that a group of guys were sitting together enjoying a few pints. Half were talking about giving back to the community and the other half were saying you know, I could grow a better Mo (moustache) than you can. You got your chocolate in my peanut butter and your peanut butter is in my chocolate. Wham. Movember is born.
Everyone Has a MOtivation
Everyone has their MOtivations. On the fun side, people style their Mo after someone ridiculous or famous. At the end is a gala where you dress up as your MOtivation.
We also have personal motivations. This year I learned that my uncle has stage 4 cancer throughout most of his body. It’s in his lungs, brain and spine among other places. He started with a melanoma on his neck and they thought they were able to take it all out. Unfortunately, it spread. I am fighting to improve treatments for others in a hope that we can keep them from suffering the way my uncle has and is.
Please consider donation of ANY amount. $1 $5 $10 $1000 $5000 $10000. If your company has a corporate giving program, I would love to talk to them. I will perform spectacle, create video or exchange time for donations. Want me to shave my head or go Brazilian? I’ll do it for $10K corporate donation. Be creative. Those of you who know me know that I am willing to do / eat just about anything for a laugh or just to create fun content to prove a point.
Team Boston
This year, we’ve assembled a group of marketers and social medialites in Boston to battle the forces of Team Austin. It’s billed as a competition, but it’s really a group of like minded souls who want to help bring attention to the need to destroy testicular and prostate cancer.
We started by shaving down to nothing
And we’ve all been shaving a little less than usual in an effort to raise money to fight this horrible disease. For the record, here are the team members and their Movember Space pages. You can donate to any of them and it supports Team Boston and cancer research.
Walt Disney World Epcot Food and Wine Fest 2009 from Schneider Mike on Vimeo.
I eat and drink my way around the (Walt Disney) world. Watch my big fat head take you through the festival. I get more and more lucid as the video goes on. “The wine is not lime flavored.”
People complain about #FollowFriday because people just throw out a bunch of names without giving any reason to follow the people on the list. My solution has been to provide a reason or theme with each person I recommend. For instance,
#followfriday @agrahamwilcox <- Must follow for NBA fans
Today, Brad Ward decided to take it all up a notch.
The story begins at SXSW. SXSW is the conference that keeps on giving. In the past I have equated it to cramming a whole semester of college into 2 weeks. The people that you meet are the people you want to meet, the experiences that you share are meaningful both in the “classroom” and in the bars and social events.
On the night of the mashable party, Not only did I sing Ziggy Stardust with a live band, meet Seth Rogen and Joseph “Cobra Commander” Gordan-Levitt, I met Brad J. Ward.
I was heading to the bar to pick up my 4th (or so) and I was in queue to sing with the band. Well, the video tells the story
Did I think he was going to gank my charger? No. But my own phone was low on juice and I couldn’t hear the bartender. The band was RIGHT in front of us and Brad was looking to disappear. What good is a business card if I can’t charge my phone later? I decided to chill out about it, sing my song and have fun at the party instead of worrying about whether I would be connected later. Glad I did. Brad is an amazing person that I met at the conference and I am having a good time getting to know him better through twitter. Follow him!
Rebecca Corliss and the Boston University Terriers are Elite from Schneider Mike on Vimeo.
I just wanted to proclaim that the Boston University Terriers are far superior to my beloved Miami University Redhawks. I would also like to encourage you to follow the incomparable Rebecca Corliss on twitter! . Which I would recommend whether I lost the bet or not. She rocks.
According to Volkswagen’s RoutanBabymaker3000, powered by Oddcast, this is what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s daughter would look like. She’s a cutie!
And here’s their son. He’s a dashing young lad.
This thing is brilliant. I don’t know if it will sell minivans, but it will get people talking and making babies. Impressions Impressions Impressions!
