31 Days of Pizza '05

[Sean_Taylor]

Happy Pizza Month ’05!

According to many unofficial websites, October is National Pizza Month. In order to observe this month “the right way”, I intend to eat at least a slice of pizza a day. I hope to learn from past experience (Pizza Month ’02, ’03, and ’04) and make Pizza Month ’05 not just the latest, but the greatest 31 Days of Pizza known to [this] man.

My rules are clear, and I shall intend to adhere to all three of them. They are…
(1) Eat at least one slice of pizza a day
(2) With at least one other person
(3) At a different pizza place each day

As with past years, I encourage everyone reading this to eat pizza every day of October as well. If you can’t stomach 31 days, then settle for 30 (or 29, or 28…) Also, if you are in the NYC metropolitan area, know a great place to eat pizza, and don’t mind the company…then please invite me along! No matter how you plan to observe National Pizza Month ’05, always feel free to follow me in my pursuit of the 31 days on this journal – but just so you can put your expectations at the appropriate level, you may want to view the archived Pizza Month ’04, Pizza Month ’03, and Pizza Month ’02 journals as a reference.

If you’re still interested and want to take part in my 31 Days of Pizza this year, then please click here for this year’s calendar and “sign up” where the schedule permits. Don’t hesitate to sign up on a day that’s already booked (particularly if you don’t already have a “location” in mind)…the more the merrier!

>>>>SIGN UP FOR PIZZA MONTH ‘05<<<<<

[Sean_Taylor]

The calendar is filling up quickly (as we will with pizza during this next month) but there is still space available.

If you have a favorite pizza place, pick a day and sign up . If you don't have a place in mind, sign up on a day that already has a location identified and still has this "sign up" link active.

>>>Pizza Month '05 sign-up<<<

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 0: September 30th / October 1st
LOCATION: Washington St Pizza (Quincy, MASS) at Jessie Slocum's condo in Quincy, MASS
GUEST(S): Whoever was around (Patrick DeLeon, Nat Rink, Andy Butterworth, Jessie Slocum had just gone to sleep).
ORDER: 1 slice of chicken parmigiana
PIZZA REPORT: It was kind of cold but it did the trick.
MISC.: Today was sort of a test run. See, I went up to Boston for Nat Rink's birthday not intending on eating pizza on the 30th of September. But, after several games of pong (on a beautiful and recently painted table) I was pretty hungry. Also, it was way past midnight meanint it was technically October 1st. I even convinced myself it was time to kickoff pizza month (and here is a short movie declaring as much). It then occurred to me that the leftover Washington Street pizza had been purchased and delivered BEFORE midnight. Just to be sure I wasn't breaking my self-imposed rules (I can be quite a stickler for these things), I decided not to count this midnight snack and instead begin pizza month '05 after getting some sleep. But, of course, since I have the photo, I figured I would put it up.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 1: October 1st
LOCATION: Boston House of Pizza (Boston, MASS)
GUEST(S): Patrick DeLeon, Cathryn McGovern, Brock Ballow, Anna Rudberg
ORDER: 1 slice of pepperoni

PIZZA REPORT: Good consistency, yet consistently not good. The sauce was good but not enough of it. The cheese was ok but too much of it. Also, the pepperoni were merely adequate. My favorite part of the slice I had at BHOP (Boston House of Pizza) was the crust. It was evenly cooked in a conventional oven and crispy enough to serve as a very solid foundation for the rather mediocre toppings.
MISC.: It was nearly 11:30pm and I was at Conor Larkin's Pub for my friend, Nat Rink's, birthday party. When I mentioned the pizza month endeavor, several mutual friends of Nat Rink (most of whom I knew from Dartmouth college) rose to the occasion.

• Once while on the Vermonter, a train that went from Washington DC to White River Junction, VT, I bumped into Patrick DeLeon and mentioned to him how he was in my math class, went to high school with Chelsea Clinton, and played Ultimate Frisbee. He nodded. I got the right guy. But the right guy did not know me. Later I found out saying everything you know about a person that you technically never met does not make for a good first impression. Instead of spurring his memory as to who I was I had forever labeled myself as "the creepy guy from the train."
• Cathryn McGovern and I were both student government folk in college.
• Brock Ballow and I decided it would be really funny to ask for a slice of pizza with some d*ck on it. Although it cracked us up, the guy behind the counter didn't understand the request and Cathryn McGovern, Brock's girlfriend, had left the table by the time we returned.
• Anna Rudberg and I were on the Dartmouth fencing team in college. I graduated having lost 21 bouts and having won zero. Although I don't know Anna's record, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was better than mine.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 2: October 2nd
LOCATION: Papa Gino's (Quncy, MASS)
GUEST(S): Nat Rink, Andy Butterworth, Patrick DeLeon
ORDER: 3 slices of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: The chain will do you good. Apparently Papa Gino's is a well known chain in the Northeast but I had never heard of it before. I was pleasantly impressed. My favorite part was care with which each slice was made. The cheese was uniformly distributed, the sauce was well proportioned, and the crust was crispy yet not too firm.
MISC.:

• All my guests were in the same fraternity (Zeta Psi) in college. Despite being graduated for over 6 years, they still refer to each other by their frat names (and probably always will). Andrew Butterworth's house name was "Flapjack", Patrick Deleon was called "Egon" and Nat Rink was "Gleek, the space monkey".
• Nat Rink bumped into another one of his frat brothers at a recent wedding where they greeted each other with their signature handshake...their 35 second signature handshake. Also, someone caught it on tape and then I pointed my still camera at the monitor and came up with this hardly visible movie file
  .
• Patrick Deleon lives with his wife in Vermont. I would say more about him but as evidenced in Day 1 "misc" section, I probably know more about him than I should.
• I wore the same shirt for the first two days of pizza month. I thought I would get away with it but being so clearly in two photos in the same shirt it's pretty obvious. All I can say is that when you travel to Boston, bring more than one shirt.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 3: October 3rd
LOCATION: Pinch (Park Ave South bet 29th and 30th st, NYC)
GUEST(S): Ashley Ward
ORDER: 6" cheese, 6" pepperoni

PIZZA REPORT: Pinch me! PINCH, short for P[izza by the]INCH sells rectangular platter style thin crusted pizza based on the # of inches ordered. Really tasty pizza too. My favorite part of PINCH was its overall uniqueness. Everything had an artsy edge to it. From the shredded (vs sliced) pepperoni, to the rectangular plywood pizza tray, to the thin delicatedly distributed fresh mozzarella cheese, this place is one of a kind. Of course, it helped that the pizza was delicious.
MISC.:

• Our waitress was extremely nice and while explaining how the pizza was served she revealed a tattoo on her inner arm unlike any tattoo I have ever seen. It was words, but not like "mom" or "R.I.P.", instead it read, "If young hearts were not so clever, Oh, they would be young for ever." A rhyming couplet, right there on her arm! By the way, this rhyming couplet is from the poem "Think no more, lad..." by Alfred Edward Housman.
• Ashley Ward was on the television show JEOPARDY! and she won. Although it shouldn't surprise me considering Ashley is a former Jeopardy! champ, she also knows more about Coca Cola than anyone I've ever met. If you're ever competing against her and Coke is the Final Jeopary! category, look out!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 4: October 4th
LOCATION: VIPizza (Bayside, QUEENS)
GUEST(S): Erik Marcisak
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese, 1 slice of Sicilian cheese

PIZZA REPORT: VIPerfect Pun. I love the name of this place and the pizza delivers. Delivers as in good taste, VIPizza does NOT deliver pizza (carryout or dine in only). My favorite part of both slices was the cheese mixture. It wasn't exclusively mozzarella, but instead some sort of cheese blend. I am more of a fan of the Neopolitan style versus the Sicilian. The Sicilian slice here (as with elsewhere) tends to be undercooked in my opinion. It makes for a much dough-ier consistentency but also for undercooked cheese. Since the cheese was so good, I didn't mind. The Neopolitan style slice, on the other hand, was a very good representation of a typical 'NY slice' - thin, easily foldable crust, even distribution of cheese, a good amount of sauce, and 9 napkins full of random orange oil. Oh yeah, and it was delicious.
MISC.:

• Erik Marcisak picked me up from work in his 4Runner and drove me out to Queens to VIPizza. If you look in the background of the photo below, you may recognize 11 Madison Ave (the very building featured in about 20% of submitted Channel 102 pilots).
  
• Erik and I had a rather candid discussion about "snuff" films. Snuff films are movies that depict the actual murder of a cast member. Although I am unaware that any actually exist, Erik pointed out that footage of terrorists beheading hostages might qualify as might stunt men that die on set (assuming the footage is used). I mentioned that scene in Wizard of Oz where the munchkin hangs himself but Erik said that didn't actually happen.
• On a lighter note, my niece, Lauren Taylor, learned how to walk today. At 9.5 months, I'd say she's pretty precocious. Here is a short mpg of a mov of some of her first steps...
  

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 5: October 5th
LOCATION: Arturo's Pizzeria (Houston St and Thompson St, NYC)
GUEST(S): Rachael Mason
ORDER: 4 slices of a large Arturo's Fiesta

PIZZA REPORT: A piece of Art-uros. This place is actually loaded with art by Arturo in addition to delicious coal-fired pizza. This coal-fired pizza differs from other coal-fired pizza places because the crust is much thicker at the base of the slice. The Arturo's fiesta, the specialty pizza we ordered, came with mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and sausage. While I strongly recommend it, four toppings is probably pushing the limit on coal-fired pizza. Reason being, each slice, despite the solid foundation crust, was weighed down too much in the center to hold it's shape. But the toppings were so good, it didn't matter if they didn't stay on the slice. After we finished the whole pie, I noticed some abandoned sausage and peppers on the tray which I promptly forked and devoured. Even without the crust and tomato sauce the toppings stood alone. This is the sign of really well made pizza. My favorite part of Arturo's pizza was the thing I just mentioned in the previous sentence. The sauce, cheese, toppings, and crust are all very high quality. When combined, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - and the sum of the parts is a very high number! Now look at me, I'm trying to apply science to art[uro's].
MISC.:

• We sat outside because it was such a beautiful night. While it was nice, we were unable to hear the free live jazz they play inside, we were accosted by a scary beggar, and we came to the realization that Houston is a rather loud street.
• Rachael Mason is a city girl and does not know how to ride a bike nor does she own a driver's license.
• Beware, as coal-fired pizza cools the crust becomes very hard and really does a number to the inside of your mouth. So...eat it while it's hot!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 6: October 6th
LOCATION: Pizza Town II (30th St and 7th avenue, NYC)
GUEST(S): Jarret Berenstein, John Frusciante, Kelly Buttermore, Jason Grossman, Christian Capozolli, Emmy Smith, Matt Shafeek
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: Pizza Town II: not as good as the original. I don't know where the original Pizza Town is located but I can confidently say that the sequel is not as good. The crust was uneven and there was not enough sauce to overcome the mediocre cheese. The fact the dough was uneven (thicker in places in throughout the slice) is probably due to someone pushing the dough in random places to make it fit the pan better. This causes portions of the slice to not be able to fully support the toppings while other portions actually taste 'doughy'. Of course this means that it was not evenly cooked as well. I am being picky though as it was still a pretty decent slice of NY pizza. My favorite part was the convenience, speed, and portability of the slice. The lack of sauce actually keeps it neater when taking it on the go. Of course, I didn't take it 'on the go' so I was unable to enjoy that feature, but it was there. Also, the fact I wanted more sauce means I liked the taste of the sauce. Maybe the original Pizza Town spent too much on sauce and who knows? maybe Pizza Town III will be subtitled, "the return of the sauce".
MISC.:

• Kelly Buttermore and Matt Shafeek both went to college in Massachusetts and while recalling stories of "L.U.G."s (Lesbians Until Graduation), they pointed out something fascinating about Scooby Doo. Apparently, all the characters in Scooby Doo were based on sterotypes of Massachusetts area colleges. Shaggy was the stoner from Hampshire College, Velma was based on a non-faminine girl (L.U.G.?) from Smith, Daphne was a cute Holyoke gal, and Fred was the snob from Amherst. Oh yeah, Scooby was the typical awkward animal-like creature that accidently solved mysteries from UMASS.
  *EDIT (12 Oct 2005) -
  

  Originally Posted by rec.arts.animation

  Q: Who knows if Scooby Doo is based on the Five Colleges?
  
  A: I know and it's not. It was based on THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS
  in the same way that THE FLINTSTONES was inspired by THE HONEYMOONERS.
  
  Fred was based on Dobie, Shaggy on Maynard, Velma on Zelda and Daphne on
  Thalia. Once you know this, when you look at the first season's shows,
  it becomes obvious.
  
  Mark Evanier
  Former SCOOBY-DOO Writer

• Speaking of college, out of eight people five of us had still had our college IDs on our person.
  
  From LtoR &TtoB: Jarret Berenstein, Kelly Buttermore, Sean Taylor, Matt Shafeek, and Jason Grossman.
• Emmy Smith wasn't initially named after the Television award. Instead, her initials are M.E. and over time that evolved into the name "Emmy". I wonder if the Television award name went through the same evolution.
• Jason Grossman and Christian Capozolli met at college where Christian was going to start a worldwide creative factory. Jason likes golf and is even working on a musical production called "Golf".
• Jarret Berenstein's dad owned an airline.
• Kelly and John Frusciante did a scene in our Magnet Theatre Level 4 performance about Quiznos. The scene was so good, Kelly and I ended up going to Quiznos after Pizza Town II for dinner II.
  

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 7: October 7th
LOCATION: Patsy's Pizzeria (34th St and 3rd avenue, NYC)
GUEST(S): Maddy Mako, Michael Jeffrey Cohen, Alan Fessenden, Jen McNeil, Amanda Allan
ORDER: 4 slices of pepperoni

PIZZA REPORT: Good pizza down pat-sy's. I downed half a large pizza in minutes. My favorite part of the pizza is the coal-fired crust but every other aspect is in a close tie for second. The spicy pepperoni is hand cut and curls up slightly around the edges when placed in the superheated oven. I love that. The cheese is fresh mozzarella and, if I'm not mistaken, the sauce is imported from Italy. Despite the fact the sauce travels half way around the world, the cooks spread it on plenty. Patsy's knows how to churn out perfect pizzas at an extremely fast rate. Most dine in pizza places take too long to go to for lunch but not Patsy's. You can come in, sit down, give your order, get your order, eat your pizza, and leave in under an hour and never feel rushed.
MISC.:

• I ate lunch with a good portion of the improv group Butter so it was both fun and funny. If you haven't eaten food with a group of improv comedians, I highly recommend it.
• I wore my one multicolor business casual shirt with French cuffs today. Thing is, it only looks decent when worn with a tie. So I wore a tie. If you look closely, you'll see a half-windsor knot. I learned how to do it today at work by looking it up on the internet. Here is my guide in image format
  
  Maybe the half-windsor is [k]not for you. If so, there are other knots you can try.
• Maddy Mako and Amanda Allan like nail salons and recommend them for everyone...including guys.
• Michael Jeffrey Cohen is moving to Astoria, Queens (my neck of the woods). Hopefully he will let me know if he finds any places in the neighborhood that serve Chicago Style hot dogs. Afterall, he lived in Chicago for a long time.
• When someone is on verge of a sneeze but can't quite bring it out or hold it back Jen MacNeil says "fish" to the person. In her experience this either stops the sneeze or brings it out. In addition, Jen has a cure for the hiccups. Ask the person a very strange specific question, such as "What did you eat for breakfast last Tuesday?" and somehow that does the trick.
• Last night, I randomly bumped into Amanda Allan on the subway train. This morning, on the way to work, I randomly bumped into her on the subway again. And now, I not so randomly bumped into her at lunch. Wonder when I'll see her next...
  [*} Alan Fessenden is a vegetarian but the guy can cook!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 8: October 8th
LOCATION: Grimaldi's Pizzeria (Hoboken, NEW JERSEY)
GUEST(S): Tony Carnevale, Bob Acevedo
ORDER: 2 slices of sausage and pepperoni

PIZZA REPORT: Grimaldi's is superb and superior. My favorite part of each slice is the sauce. It is so ubiquitous and also so good that you swear you could just drink it (and I don't like V8). But there's more. Separately cooked delicious Italian Sausage, spicy pepperoni, and fresh mozzarella cheese all on top of coal-fired brick oven crust put this pizza in a class by itself. Although my pizza had two toppings, I strongly recommend everyone going and ordering a pizza with just cheese. You will see just how wonderful pizza can be. Grimaldi's pizza reigns supreme.
MISC.:

• I was eating pizza on my way to my first ever campout-slumber party. Of course, mother nature had other plans. It was nonstop rain for hours - the entire night. So no camping out and I also didn't sleep well, so my campout-slumber party ended up a noncampout-no slumber party. I did wind up in a hot tub for an hour (4x the recommended time) and also may have also caught a cold.
• Bob Acevedo's love of Dr. Who comes in handy.
• Tony Carnevale (also a fan of Dr. Who) founded Channel 102, which currently contains nearly 100 short episodes of tv shows. All are online and all are free!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 9: October 9th
LOCATION: John's Pizzeria (Bleecker and 7th Ave, NYC)
GUEST(S): Alix Sternberg, Megan Morrison, Jen MacNeil, Matt Pack
ORDER: 3 slices of sausage

PIZZA REPORT: "Dear John, I love your pizza". Now that was an easy "Dear John" letter to write. The pizza here is really good. My favorite part is the coal-fired pizza crust. It's sturdy and supplies the perfect foundation for the sauce, cheese, and toppings. In my case, the toppings were delicious Italian sausage. The cheese is not fresh mozzarella but it's not old either. It's just good mozzarella. The sauce has a slight tangy tomato flavor that tastes so good that you just got to eat more. And since the pizzas are so thin, feel free to eat more.
MISC.:

• We were seated at a window looking on to the line formed outside of John's. Jen MacNeil noticed the people looking in on us and nonchalantly put her fork in some leftover crust and danced it around like it was normal. It definitely attracted attention causing the rest of and this guy peering in on us to laugh. We eventually had him take a photo of us through the window which didn't turn out because of the flash and I took a photo of him where he was all blurry. I still might post them here though.
• Megan Morrison is from North Carolina and loves to watch improv comedy. She and Alix had to leave to get to UCBT's ASSSCAT - an improv comedy show that is responsible for 75% of the funniest things I have seen in my life.
• Alix Sternberg was excited to be a part of Pizza Month...but she doesn't eat pizza! She had spaghetti. I wonder when National Spaghetti month is...
• Matt Pack was late, but I couldn't blame him. I, myself, risked being late watching the fourth game of the NLDS between the Astros and Braves. It went into extra-innings so I did all I could to postpone my departure from my apt in Queens, but by the 11th inning, I knew I had to go. Matt is a lifelong Braves fan so it makes sense he could not step away. I arrived into the city and check the score on my phone and it hadn't changed; 6 to 6 in the 13th inning. While waiting in line, I continued to follow the box score on my phone but the only thing that changed was the inning. By the 15th, Matt Pack left the game in order to avoid missing pizza day 10 altogether. When he arrived at John's, the game still wasn't over. We both used our mobile devices to check the score until finally it changed. Houston won on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 18th. The game ended with Roger Clemens coming in out of the bullpen to pitch on three days rest to get the win. Sadly, Matt's Braves were eliminated. That being said, we both agree that the game may be one of the best baseball games of all time.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 10: October 10th
LOCATION: Lombardi's Pizzeria (Spring St. and Mott St., NYC)
GUEST(S): Tony Carnevale, Kevin Hines
ORDER: 3 slices of cheese, 2 slices of pepperoni and garlic

PIZZA REPORT: Famously delicious. It can't be easy being THE pizzeria that started it all in the United States and still churn out just about the most delicious pizza in the business, but Lombardi's does just that. My favorite part of Lombardi's pizza is the cheese-sauce tandem. This combination is absolutely perfect in distribution and quality. The imported Italian sauce is mixed with several spices and sits alongside the fresh mozzarella which is sliced so thin it practically melts in your mouth (even though it's technically already melted on the pizza). With each bite of the plain cheese slices, I enjoyed just the right amount of each topping. To make matters better, these idyllic toppings come on a coal-fired brick oven crust. My pepperoni and garlic slices were also tasty. I typically don't like too much garlic and the Lombardi's staff must have sensed that and just put a hint of it on the pizza adding yet another taste sensation to an already delectable specimen (thank you, Mr. Roget!).
MISC.:

• The food was good, of course, but so was the drink. We ordered a pitcher of Coke and as you can see in the photo, they brought us a full pitcher of coke and put the ice in the cups. This enabled us to pour as we pleased and not worry about the pitcher gradually becoming more and more diluted with time. It also meant more Coke!
  
• There is an ad on the wall of Lombardi's for a magazine called Pizza Today. Tony Carnevale checked to see if the magazine actually existed last year and found out it does. Furthermore, he bought me a subscription that continues to this day. I was reading my most recent issue of Pizza Today on the subway and four boys (I swear it was two sets of twins) noticed the cover and said, "mmm, pizza" and "I like extra cheese" and "that looks good". They were right, it did look good. It was a dessert pizza. Two of them came and sat next to me in the subway train (the other two were already pretty close) and all of them looked over my shoulder as I turned the pages of the "top pizza trade magazine in the business". In between gigantic ads for Hobart dough spinners and magnetic delivery signs, there were a couple of photos of pizza from different vendors. Without fail, one of the kids would say, "ooh, I like that!" while another reiterated his love for "extra cheese". It was a funny moment, but alas, my transfer came and I had to leave. I offered the boys the magazine which they readily accepted and fought over.
• Kevin Hines and I are both eagerly anticipating the release of DOOM, the movie. Here's a link to the home page with a trailer. I will warn you that a good chunk of the trailer is from the first person perspective with the gun held in foreground (like the video game...not entirely like the video game as the camera is able to tilt up and down - a feature present in DOOM II, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, and Unreal Tournament, but not the original DOOM). The fact they use this perspective at all (in the trailer) made Kevin chuckle at the movie theatre.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 11: October 11th
LOCATION: Freddie and Pepper's (W. 74th and Amsterdam St, NYC)
GUEST(S): Amey Goerlich
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese, three-fourths of a slice of pesto

PIZZA REPORT: Pesto Chango! I wanted to chango my slice of pesto for another slice of cheese, but I endured. I was trying something new and I like it for the few bites. The ricotta cheese bits were particularly good. My favorite part of the cheese slice was the sauce. Despite being a tad bit center loaded (cheese did not extend all the way to the crust), I enjoyed the tomato flavor on this typical NY slice. Since the pesto slice had no tomato sauce, I actually ended up abandoning it three-fourths the way through it. I acknowledge that this may be due to my inexperience in the pesto arena and would not be opposed to trying another slice of it in the future...just not 'near' future. And although I truly enjoyed the slice of cheese, I was expecting some "peppers" or extra spices (maybe some "freddies") but I suppose the place was named after some people and not some ingredients.
MISC.:

• Amey Goerlich is on a first name basis with Former President Clinton (she would call him "Bill") Look for him in an upcoming documentary created by Amey about smoking...er not smoking.
• Stewart's Root Beer is delicious.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 12: October 12th
LOCATION: Alba's Pizza and Restaurant (37th St and Ditmars Blvd in Astoria, QUEENS)
GUEST(S): Kevin Hines
ORDER: 2 slices of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: Good to the last slice. And I can honestly say that because I had the absolute last two slices they served today. Fortunately, they were plain cheese and, as a nice bonus, they tasted really good! My favorite part of each slice was the hot mixture of the sauce and cheese. Alba's, like many NYC pizzerias, keeps the slices on display until they are ordered - at which time they place them in the oven to reheat them. My slices came out so piping hot and fresh that you'd swear they were not being "re" heated at all. The evenly spread dough helped create a foundation for the sauce and cheese coexist in hot harmony. And since it was evenly distributed each bite tasted remarkably similar. I savored each and every bite. Alba's is a very solid place to get a conventional oven Neapolitan style slice of pizza. The kind of slice most people picture when they hear "New York City" even though very few picture Astoria, Queens.
MISC.:

• When I say I had the last slice, this was not because it was late, but rather, Alba's closes early. We entered around five of 9pm and I ate the last slices. This gave us an excellent view of the staff mopping up the inside of store, wiping down tables, and pulling the cages over the storefront. They also turned out the light before I got a decent photo of me and Kevin (see photo above) - so I took another one without us so you could see the "Alba's Pizza and Restaurant" sign.
  
• Longtime crossword puzzle fans, Kevin Hines and I began discussing this "new phenomena" of Sudoku. Sudoku is the number matrix game in most newspapers nowadays. Kevin just doesn't get the same fulfillment he does when finishing a crossword puzzle. He likens it to emptying out a deck of cards then picking them up and putting them in order. I'm paraphrasing but me mentioned that when you finish, you don't pat yourself on the back, you just nod your head and get back to what you were doing before. Even though it rings true, both Kevin and I do the Sudoku puzzles every single morning.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 13: October 13th
LOCATION: Nick's (W 94th St and 2nd Ave, NYC)
GUEST(S): Cat Kemp, Jen MacNeil, Kevin Hines
ORDER: 2 slices of sausage, 2 slices of mushroom

PIZZA REPORT: Blazing hot! Nick's has two extremely large gas powered convection ovens that cook their pizzas at temperatures exceeding 800'. Our two pies were no exception. The first slice I had I put on my plate and just waited for the steam to dissipate for a second. I've learned the hard way what happens when one doesn't do that. You burn your mouth and can't taste the pizza in front of you nor the pizza you intend to eat in the next 18 days. So waiting paid off. My favorite part of Nick's pizza was the gas-fired crust. Coal fired ovens are no longer allowed in the city so I was amazed at the gas-fired alternative. Although there were no charred edges (a signature of coal-fired pies), the crust was warm, chewy, and provided the necessary support for the toppings. I also liked the toppings. The mushrooms tasted fresh and the sausage were just spicy enough. This pizza is good. If Nick's doesn't have the reputation as the other great pizzerias in the city, it should.
MISC.:

• Cat Kemp and Kevin Hines are big Red Sox fans. However, only Cat has gum with Red Sox centerfielder Johnny Damon on the cover.
  
• Jen MacNeil used the Johnny Damon gum to blow her first bubble gum bubble. It's interesting they call it "bubble" gum yet so few people blow bubbles with it nowadays. Times are changing, I guess.
• Kevin Hines used to have a bus driver that got in a wreck every other week. Most of the time the students didn't even notice until she would say "oops!" but sometimes her mishaps would cause everyone to lurch forward. Furthermore, Kevin and his other busmates (is that a word?) used to have foam fights with the seat incilation and padding. They were able to take more and more liberties while his bus driver had her jaw wired shut. After the wires came out, she got a lot more stict.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 14: October 14th
LOCATION: Two Boots (Food court at Grand Central Terminal, NYC)
GUEST(S): Erik Tanouye, Tony Carnevale
ORDER: 1 slices of Bayou Beast, 1 slice of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: Cajun and cornmeal. That's what set's Two Boots apart from the rest. My favorite part of each slice is the cornmeal crust primarily because of the crunchy consistency it gives the slice. Since the Cajun toppings are optional but the crust always contains cornmeal, I suppose it would make or break your opinion of this pizza. It did the former for me. The "two boots" represent the geographic shapes of the restaurant's influences (Italy and New Orleans are shaped liked boots). My slice of Bayou Beast exemplified the combination of both boots as Cajun toppings (such as anduille, crayfish, and shrimp) were expertly mixed in with the mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. The other slice I ate was just a cheese slice (only one boot represented) but I liked it also.
MISC.:

• Tony Carnevale and Erik Tanouye are two of a kind yet nothing alike. They both are brilliant writers, quick thinkers, fantastic video editors, hysterically funny, musically gifted, and extremely humble...yet each is completely unique. How is this possible? I don't know. And usually when I don't know something, I either ask Tony or Erik.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 15: October 15th
LOCATION: Joe and Pat's Restaurant and Pizzeria (1758 Victory Blvd near Manor Rd, STATEN ISLAND)
GUEST(S): Angela Demanti
ORDER: 3 slices of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: Sauce-y! My favorite part of this pizza was the sauce. Lucky for me (and Angela and everyone else who eats here) the homemade sauce goes all the way out to the edge of the crust. And the crust is delicious as well. Their thin and crispy crust is cooked to perfection in a gas-powered convection oven. The mozzarella cheese is cut into cubes and scattered about the pie producing small exquisitely melted cheese patches. The combination of the homemade sauce, cheese patches, and the thin crust was worth the trip to Staten Island.
MISC.:

• What was the trip to Staten Island? Well, first it started with a train ride from my apartment in Queens to what would normally be the ferry terminal but due to weekend construction only brought me to Canal St. From here there was a transfer to the 6 to Brooklyn Bridge then a transfer to the 4 to ferry, which I just missed. Eventually, I boarded the ferry and 30 minutes later I was in Staten Island, where I met Angela. A hop, skip, and a jump and a 20 minute bus ride later, we were at Joe and Pat's Pizzeria. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day and if you haven't been on the ferry or in Staten Island on a nice day, I highly recommend it.
• After the pizza, I realized how contagiously polite Angela Demanti is. She thanks the bus driver in such a way that each and every passenger after her follows suit. I wonder if the bus driver had ever been thanked that much. I was amazed. Angela credits her upbringing but regarding bus driver thankyous, she said in Ireland 'not' thanking a bus driver is viewed as an insult.
• Speaking of Angela's family, if you ever want to see a photo of her and her two sisters, just ask her. She carries photos of them with her everywhere she goes. Angela also has a photo of a gigantic snowman.
• When I was talking to one of the cooks at Joe and Pat's about pizza specifics, he mentioned that I should vote for the store on Life dot com. I went to the site and sure enough, there is a battle of the boroughs for the quest for the best slice in New York City. Vote for your favorite here... http://www.life.com

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 16: October 16th
LOCATION: Papa John's (Cresent St and Hoyt Ave in Astoria, QUEENS)
GUEST(S): Andy Butterworth
ORDER: 6 slices of pepperoni, 1 slice of cheese

PIZZA REPORT: Is it possible to sleep in, order two large pizzas in the early afternoon, then eat nothing but pizza the entire day? The answer is "yes". Over the course of 7 hours, I had 7 slices of Papa John's pizza and don't regret a thing. My favorite part of Papa John's pizza is the sauce. Even as the condition of the pizza approached STP (standard temperature and pressure) the sauce retained it's D (deliciousness). I used to work at Papa John's and I have always been a fan of their sauce blend. It's sweeter than the typical pizza sauce. I was also amazed at the consistency of the crust. It was spongy when it was hot and it was spongy 7 hours later. "Spongy" in a good way. Papa John's is a ubiquitous chain so it comes as no surprise that the cheese was rather bland in that 'mass-produced' sort of way. That said, the sauce, crust, and pepperoni more than made up for it. The pizza was also very aesthetically appealing. It really looked like the posters of the pizza in the store. There were no red edges, no center-loading, nor any pinches in the crust. This lends credence to the old Papa John's motto, "the perfect pizza at the Perfect Price." That was the motto when I worked at Papa John's (in Valrico, FL). Of course, they have changed it in the last decade. The current motto is "Better Pizza, Better Price" which still involves the words "pizza" and "price" and I must say that it was better than nothing, which is the only thing else I had to eat today.
MISC.:

• Andy Butterworth and I watched baseball all day. Postseason baseball is amazing despite the fact that both of our favorite teams (Red Sox for Andy, Mets for me) are no longer playing. Andy introduced me to Paul Newman's Green Mountain coffee. It was tasty and really got me up and going to be nice and alert to do nothing all day.
• I shouldn't say I did "nothing". After all, I called my mom. Oh, and also I played Unreal Tournament 2004 with my brother. He is a doctor with a wife and two kids so the only time I spend with him is playing first person shooter computer games. Fortunately, we do this 3-4 times a week. We aren't bad either. He tends to defend the base while I am tasked with capturing the flag. We were not so successful tonight. 12 year olds kept calling me a "noob" (derogatory term for a "newbie"). I have a thick skin though.
• Yes, that is a life size pikachu pillow behind me on the couch. Also, if you look closely, you can see the framed embroidered pizza slice Erika Kern made me at the end of Pizza Month '04 last year. Isn't that cool?

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 17: October 17th
LOCATION: Lazzara's Pizza (38th St and 7th Ave, NYC)
GUEST(S): Silvija Ozols, Kevin Cragg
ORDER: 2 slices of Margharita, 1 slice of Pepperoni

PIZZA REPORT: Tangy tomato trays. The last time I had pizza cooked on a cookie sheet, I was at lunch in my high school in Florida. I liked it there and then but I love it here and now. Lazzara's pizza is made with premium ingredients on a uniquely solid crust in a very hot oven (unlike my high school's ingredients, crust and oven). My favorite part of Lazzara's pizza is the sauce. It tasted a lot more tomato-y than other pizza sauce but I welcomed the change. I was amazed at how stiff the crust remained under the strain of the thick sauce and heavy toppings. The pepperoni slice had shredded spicy pepperoni which really mixed well with the tangy sauce. The Margharita slices had fresh mozzarella cheese which I love and thinly sliced tomatoes which I like (in moderation). Since each slice of the Margharita had about two sliced tomatoes, I achieved this moderation by just picking one off. Although I love the taste of tomato sauce, I have not yet adjusted to the weight and juiciness of an actual sliced tomato as a topping.
MISC.:

• Silvija Ozols knows Latvian dance and uses a gigantic foam finger to cheer on the New York Mets. I'm proud to say that I was there when she got the foam finger and although it didn't work against the Diamondbacks, I am told it does work against Colorado!
  
• Kevin Cragg's knees are feeling better and he has the urge to get back on the ice even though it's likely that is where he hurt them. I don't blame him though. I blame hockey fever.