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The Daily Dose/March 9, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
Boldly going where no Writer's Shack columnist has gone since January, The Daily Dose returns with a second consecutive column, clearing out our inbox from The Hiatus with a Capsule Restaurant Review, moderate On This Date Action and some news from the NBA, which we usually don't bother with here, but this is sort of interesting and we had some spare words laying around. Also, the Column Four Foto: opera babe Angela Gheorghiu
CAPSULE RESTAURANT REVIEW: Paymon's Mediterranean Café, West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada: This is what I get for letting The Woman decide where we go to eat, however when we were discussing dinner plans by phone that afternoon I completely lost my mind and said "Wherever you want, honey" and she said, with very little thought, "Paymons!" She had been there a month or so ago for a bachlelorette party or some such nonsense. She wanted to go back.
Leading Off: After acceding to my suggestion for starting off with the shrimp, artichoke and spinach dip, (which comes with fried pita bread) The Woman announced we would be getting a second appetizer, the Flaming Saganaki, which is a Greek cheese made from goat milk. Unlike the Italians, who have the good sense to bread and deep fry their cheese, the Greeks throw it on a hot platter and bring it sizzling to your table, along with the inevitable pita bread.
Judgment Day: Both of these appetizers completely ruled. Totally and utterly. Well, the spinach dish could have had more shrimp, but I think morning coffee could have more shrimp. The cheese was exceptional, though the dip and cheese combined wasn't as mind-blowingly good as I was hoping for, with spinach dip asserting itself and tending to hog the spotlight.
The Main Event: The Woman went with the Combination Plate, which consisted of lots of stuff neither of us recognized: hummus, tabuli, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, bourrani, baba ganosh and Athens fries. She offered me some of it, and I took it to be polite, but I had my own main course to worry about.
What The Hell's Going On Here? I had the Baked Kibbie Platter, mainly out of curiosity because the menu described it as "an assemblage of ground certified angus beef". I'll be honest, I've never had an "assemblage" of ground beef before. At least not to my knowledge, and I've eaten my share of ground beef over the years and probably your share, too. So, like you probably would have been, I was curious as to exactly what constituted an "assemblage" of beef.
An Assemblage Of Beef: It was sort of like meat loaf, although this came with pine nuts, sautéed onions and various spices. The quality of the beef was obvious and the portion had to have been nearly a pound because a growing boy like me was unable to finish it. It was so good I didn't even bother with the rice and vegetables that attended the meal.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Though Gaylon enjoys dining out, and more or less knows which fork to use and can, if pressed, tell the difference between three star and five star service, he is not a professional restaurant reviewer and his opinions are based on his own personal tastes instead of objective industry standards.
We Interrupt This Column For A Word From The Ratings Department: Following Is The Official Writer's Shack Rating scale:
EX - Excellent; as good as the medium can produce in every respect.
VG - Very Good. Well worth your time.
GD - Good. More or less worth your time.
AR - All Right. Not completely without merit.
SP - Nothing of substance; a steaming pile, utterly without merit.
Official Writer's Shack Rating: VG. Every part of this meal was very good. The ingredients were so obviously fresh they reached out and smacked you in the face with their freshness. The Baked Kibbe gets the early nod for Meat Loaf of the Year and anytime you can enjoy hot, melting goat cheese you have found favor with the gods. The service was attentive, competent, courteous and prompt without being rushed. The total bill for this feast, which included a glass of wine for her and a Moroccan beer for me, was $56, which we thought more than fair.
TILL DEATH DO US PART: On this date in 1074: Pope Gregory VII excommunicates married priests in a bid to impose strict clerical celibacy.
Uh, All Right: On this date, in 1776, The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith was published. If we had any financial acumen here at the Writer's Shack we would be able to comment on the landmark importance of this work. However, we don't. We've heard, however, that Adam Smith was, like, really really smart.
Forward, March!: On this date in 1834 the French Foreign Legion is founded. Today the Legion is about 7,700 strong, with officers and Legionnaires from 136 countries. After three years a Legionnaire can apply for French citizenship. Legionnaires start out at, roughly, $1,500 a month. About 34,000 Legionnaires have died in combat.
Anchors Aweigh: On this date in 1986 US Navy divers found the crew cabin of the space shuttle Challenger about 18 miles east of the launch site. The bodies of all seven astronauts were inside.
NASA never did conclusively determine how the astronauts died. It is considered unlikely that the breakup of the orbiter killed them instantly, and the crew compartment, at an altitude of about 48,000 feet at breakup, continued flying for 25 seconds and 20,000 feet before falling to the ocean at a speed of just over 200 mph, which the crew compartment was not designed to handle and would have killed whomever had remained alive instantly.
GET OUT YOUR HISTORY BOOKS: In the first replay of an NBA game since 1983, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat 114-111 in overtime Saturday, completing a game that had been played in December and protested by Miami after then-center Shaquille O'Neal was fouled out even though he had only committed five fouls. NBA Commissioner David Stern upheld Miami's protest and ordered the game replayed, starting from the point Shaq had fouled out, with 51.9 seconds left in overtime.
Historical Context: The Hawks won the regularly scheduled game as well, 97-94.
FunFact: The last replay in the NBA was when then-commissioner Larry O'Brien ordered a replay of a Lakers/Spurs game where the Lakers won a 1983 game in double overtime.
Details, Details: Late in the first overtime with the Lakers trailing by two, Laker guard Norm Nixon faked the second of two free throws, drawing both teams into the key. A double lane violation was called, the Lakers won the ensuing jump ball and Nixon made a game-tying jumper to send the game to the second overtime. The Spurs whined because Nixon never actually released the ball and claimed the violation should not have been called. The Spurs ended up winning the replay and the regularly scheduled game that followed.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: President Dwight Eisenhower (R) and Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver (D) won the 1956 New Hampshire primaries.
Today's Trivia Question: Of the 28 Republican and Democratic New Hampshire primaries held since 1952, how many winners went on to win their party's nomination? - Answer next time!
Threats? Recipes? Trivia question answers? Email The Writer's Shack Here!
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