Yoav's Space

My favorite Israeli chopped salad recipe

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-05:00

I don't eat a ton of salad (I should probably have more). But when I do, I'm biased towards this simple Israeli version, because my mom and grandmom make it almost every night.

It's a very simple recipe, very simple salad, just fresh and delicious. Plus SmittenKitchen always has nice pictures ;)

Israeli salad and pita chips - on SmittenKitchen.

Inner Tube Water Polo first impressions

2012-01-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday night I played in my first-ever game of Inner Tube Water Polo (ITWP). The game was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to resume playing the rest of the season once I get back from my trip this week.

Instead of wasting time and words trying to explain the game, watch this YouTube video:

It's more athletic and demanding than I imagined. You'll notice most of the players are not exactly obese folks trying to escape the exercise of pure water polo. (Granted, real water polo is far more strenuous and demanding, and also harsher / tougher, than this.)

The game was a blast. It was more challenging than I expected in many ways, starting with getting in the tube itself. It's hard to keep your balance while moving fast, while holding a ball, and while people try to get that ball out of your hands.

I also didn't read all the rules closely in advance, and it turns out there are some nice twists, at least in our league. The league is organized by Social Boston Sports and takes place (this season anyways) on Thursday evenings at the Boston Athletic Club.

The location itself is a bit of challenge, in that it's buried far off the road in the Fort Point Channel area of South Boston. It's a sketchy area between warehouses and other commercial buildings, especially at night when it's dark.

But the club is clean, well-organized, has great facilities (pools, hot tubs, sauna, tennis courts, etc.), and has a bar with good food and drinks on site! The bar is a natural gathering point after the games, where my whole team got to know each other better. We also hung out with members of the opposite team, which was nice.

Most of my team are rookies like me. Our captain and one other player have played ITWP a bit in the past, but for the rest of us, yesterday was the first time. We got crushed, naturally, but had a blast the whole time. I'm sure we'll get better as the season goes on. By the end of the match I was actually able to stay in my tube most of the time and move around more easily, so that's progress.

Sum of first impressions: this is an awesome fun team sport. I look forward to future matches and seasons.

Restaurant review: the Gallows

2012-01-12T03:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I had dinner at the Gallows, in Boston's South End neighborhood (map). It's a fun, small, local place, with excellent drinks.

The food was good too. We had some of the poutine, their specialty, as well as roasted beets, shrimp, and fried oysters with runny egg on brioche, which was delicious.

But the drinks were really good. My favorite, continuing a recent theme for me, was a cocktail based on Scotch Bonnet-infused vodka, which had a really nice kick, but stayed well-balanced.

Service was good, the ambiance nice, and there's plenty of free parking on the street, at least around dinner time.

All in all, a fun local place.

Hiking Mount Misery

2012-01-11T03:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went hiking with a friend, and we went to Mount Misery in Lincoln, MA, since neither of us had ever been there.

It was a very easy hike, just walking around, with very little elevation changes. The scenery is pretty, and the location is beautiful, but it's too easy a hike: not enough exercise. We drove around Lincoln, Concord, and Lexington a bit, which is always fun. We also stopped by the DeCordova museum, which was closed pending its biennial next week, but its sculpture garden was open and fun.

Not a lot to say about this one. I probably won't go hiking there again, as I prefer more challenging trails. but for easy walking outdoors, it's good.

Movie Review: Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol

2012-01-10T09:53:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I saw the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (MI4) with a friend.

There's not a lot to say about this movie: it's exactly what you'd expect. The action sequences are great, the special effects and equipment is amazing, the plot is cheesy, and the acting is all over the place.

My favorite scene, by far, is the one at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Wow.

What made it fun and worth our while is that we watched it on a big IMAX screen with amazing sound. There were a couple of scenes, at least, where much of the theatre was just gawking at the screen, mouths agape. That was entertaining.

Restaurant review: Momofuku Ko

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday night I had dinner at Momofuku Ko, an amazing restaurant in New York City.

The place is tiny with ~10 seats at a small counter across from the 3 chefs, and that's it. No tables, no other areas. It's behind a barred-looking door on 1st Avenue in the East Village. Everyone walks past the door since it looks so closed, but you just need to open it and walk inside.

There is no menu, as the chefs just make up whatever they feel like that day. It's one fixed price, and they are not the most friendly towards dietary restrictions, which I think is great. There are tons of restaurants out there, and most of them are very accommodating, so it's nice to see a place that makes a point.

The food features many small dishes, comprising a great variety of ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavor combinations. There is no discernible theme, just excellent, delicious, brilliantly-executed work.

At the beginning of the meal, I started taking pictures of each dish, but they kindly ask that I stop, so I did. I have a couple of pics of the first entrees, but they were the least interesting visually.

There is a beverage pairing offered, and we (I was with a good friend) took advantage. It was fascinating and intelligent in and of itself. Besides some excellent wine, there was a variety of sakes, beers, liquors, and combinations thereof. Everything matched the food perfectly, pours were generous, and service timely without being intrusive.

Intrusive is not really an applicable concept in this small a place, anyways. It's designed for you to converse with the chefs and your (very few) fellow diners. Everyone is a serious foodie, and people were comparing notes about dishes, restaurants, techniques. I really enjoyed that.

One of the highlights were a Gruyere cheese soup mixed with burnt onion and bone marrow, matched to a local craft beer, the Albino Python Lager. Great combination.

Another highlight was home-made, hand-torn pappardelle with chicken and snail sausage, over which the chef shaved frozen foie gras. Yeah. Everything's temperature was perfectly calibrated, and the foie gras melted over the pasta, creating an amazing combination. At first we all thought he was shaving cheese, but no...

All in all, it was a great meal at a great restaurant. Getting a reservation there is far from easy, as Frank Bruni noted in the New York Times, but it's worth it. Just leave food allergies at home.

New Year's Eve 2012 in Times Square

2012-01-02T15:38:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, I did something I've wanted to do since I was 15 more or less: watch the New Year's Eve ball drop in person in Times Square, New York City.

This post is kind of long, mostly for my own record and recollection. You may also find it useful if you're planning to be in Times Square for a future new year's eve.

For the impatient, here are some pictures and the key video on YouTube:

Pics on Flickr:

I've lived close enough to NYC for a while, and I've even been there on New Year's Eve in the past. But I always either have another idea, or get talked into another idea: a house party with friends, a fancy ball, some crazy dinner, a cruise, or similar.

A few months ago I decided this year I was going to do it, no matter what. Any and all friends were welcome to join me, and a couple of brave souls did! Thanks, T and D, for spending the time with me in the cattle-style holding pens in Times Square.

The experience itself was amazing. There are huge crowds, as you expect and as you see on TV. I find them energizing. I can easily imagine other people becoming claustrophobic or panicked, and actually saw that happen once or twice.

You have to stand there for a long time: we arrived around 3:30pm, and got back to our hotel around 1am, spending all that time standing outside. You need to be dressed in comfortable warm clothing, which we were, and we also got lucky with unseasonably warm, dry weather.

There are definitely bladder control issues, so you need to be smart about what you eat and drink, when, and how much. But unlike what some web sites said, it was possible, with enough talking and kindness and patience, to use bathrooms in nearby restaurants, and get back into the holding pens. Not easy, and some of the bathrooms were supposedly super-nasty, but feasible.

If you go, you will want to bring a book (or iPad / Kindle), cards, games, and other things to pass the time. I read online that backpacks and such were not allowed in, but that rule was not strictly enforced. I wish I'd have brought some games to play with my friends.

You will meet people, and everyone is happy to chat. We talked to a group of Japanese girls from Tokyo, including one who just slept standing up a big chunk of the time. We met a couple of young German au-pairs from Frankfurt, guys from Bolivia and Argentina, and more. Everyone was friendly and in good spirits.

Barricades are set up early, and streets are closed by the early afternoon. You will want to stay in a hotel that's right by Times Square, and keep your room key on you at all times, because that gets you past many NYPD checkpoints. (I stayed at Hotel Mela, and it was fine, the subject of an upcoming review.)

Alternatively, and even better, you will want to have at least one attractive flirtatious woman with you, who are willing to use their assets to get past other NYPD checkpoints. Yeah, that totally works, and it's worth it. No harm done...

The best viewing spots are along 7th ave, starting around 45th street (44th is actually too close to the ball, at least given this year's location), and going up to 49th. They will be completely full by around 4:30pm, so you will need to be there earlier, and start your wait.

There is a small countdown every hour, and sometimes they show scenes on the big screens from other countries celebrating the new year. Everyone cheers and practices taking photos of the countdown clock and the ball.

There are ongoing performances, and they're fun. The sound setup, however, is lacking: no speakers past 46th street, it seemed like, so it can be hard to hear the music. I'd love for them to put speakers along buildings further up, all the way up to the park maybe.

Midnight itself is high-energy, high excitement, everything you'd expect and then some. Everyone is yelling, screaming, blowing horns, getting their cameras and phones ready.... The confetti come out floating very gently, at least the night we were there. People are kissing, although it seemed like mostly friends kissing on the cheek, not a ton of romantic stuff going on.

There are fireworks in Central Park right after midnight, as I found out. If you're on 7th Avenue, you get a great view of them, which is another fun item. Almost everyone stays around to watch, as we mostly did. But a lot of people start climbing over the barricades out of the pens after midnight, probably running to a bathroom, and the cops don't mind at that point.

There is a lot of milling about, people watching the confetti, taking pictures as the crowd starts breaking apart, and otherwise commemorating the experience. I enjoyed walking around for a while, before we grabbed more Champagne at the hotel.

The overall atmosphere is happy, energetic, upbeat, and excited -- all positive. I didn't see any fights or trouble, even though there were many many people stuck closely together for many many hours.

I did a bunch of other fun items this past weekend, about which I'll blog separately. But this was a life highlight, something I always wanted to do. It was everything I expected / wanted, and then some. Highly, highly recommended.

I didn't take that many pictures, and some are blurry or dark, but anyways, they're all on Flickr:

PS: several people asked me during the night what's the bright red coat I'm wearing, so maybe it's interesting to this readership as well. It's a fantastic mountaineering jacket. The exact model is no longer made, but the closest thing from the same maker (and color) is the Mountain Hardware Absolute Zero parka.

Book review: "Invasive Procedures"

2011-12-26T19:30:00.000-05:00

I saw Invasive Procedures at the airport store and bought it right away because of its author, Orson Scott Card. Card is the author of Ender's Game, one of my favorite sci-fi novels ever. Ender's Game is one of those books, like the Godfather in movies, that has elements imitated so often they've become cliche, but it's the original, the inspiration to many others.

Invasive Procedures is a near-future story, not as far-fetched as Ender's Game. It's about gene therapy and bioengineering, and it's fascinating. I don't want to spoil the story here (I never do), but it's a good, taut read. Highly recommended.

Movie review: Limitless

2011-12-25T04:30:00.000-05:00

Recently I saw the movie Limitless, a recent sci-fi action story about a man who goes from an unmotivated writer to a hyper-intelligent successful analyst and trader, thanks to some new drug.

It's a pretty trodden path in terms of stories, and the latest incarnation was OK. Not amazing, not totally a waste of time, just OK.

The movie did remind me of a similar story, one of my favorite stories from middle school: Flowers for Algernon. This story dates back to the 1960s, and it has a similar theme.

I think the reason this story keeps getting re-made into other stories and movies is that the basic idea is so alluring: imagine you could take a drug to make you that much smarter, without side effects. The world would be a better place, right? ;)

Unfortunately so far there's no such drug without disastrous side effects... As far as we know...

Movie review: New Year's Eve

2011-12-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I saw the movie New Year's Eve. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, even though it's not an original idea (see Love Actually, Valentine's Day, and more...)

The cast is great, and the setting (New Year's Eve in Times Square in New York City) is fun as well. It's not the best plot or movie of all time, but it's fun to watch. It's particularly fun for me since that's where I'm going to be in ~2 weeks myself, in person ;) Look for me in the bright red mountaineering parka...

2 more good TED talks

2011-12-04T14:31:00.001-05:00

Dan Ariely, who was my marketing professor back at Sloan, and has since moved to another school (a big loss for MIT), was always notable for both his style, and for conveying more meaningful stuff in 5 minutes than most professors do in 50. I really miss him. If you haven't read his book (Predictably Irrational) or his blog, you should.

Here's a TED talk from him that's less than 6 minutes in duration, as opposed to the usual 15-20 minutes. Yet it has his signature combination of real stories (in the Made to Stick style), humor, and significant lessons. He always makes me think twice.

The second great recent TED talk I found via Arjun Moorthy, aka @juicemoorthy, who has his own good blog, and works with me at HubSpot.

The talk is by Kevin Slavin, who has a great home page, which does a better job summarizing what he does than I would here, so just go read it. Then watch this fascinating TED talk about how algorithms shape our lives in more ways than we might imagine.

Movie review: Tower Heist

2011-12-04T14:00:00.001-05:00

I expected Tower Heist to be mediocre, just a way to mindlessly laugh at some stupid jokes. And it provided that, but it ended up being smarter, funnier, and trickier than expected. At points, it seemed like a parody of the Ocean trilogy (which I love), but done in a self-deprecating manner.

Either way, there were a large number of super funny moments and scenes. Better than expected.

Restaurant review: Cognac Bistro

2011-11-28T09:34:00.001-05:00

I'm so happy to have this place, Cognac Bistro, right in my neighborhood, a few steps from my house. An actual really good French bistro with authentic execution, a homey feeling, a raw bar, and great cocktails? It's like a wish came true.

I've been to Cognac three times now, including last night with my parents, and each time has been great. The bistro classics like steak frites are well done, as are some more interesting takes on fish (particularly the monkfish). The cocktails are really nice and well-mixed, and the atmosphere is great.

Go there. You won't regret it. Plus you'll be supporting a local, family-owned-and-operated restaurant. There's free parking ;) It's just a tiny place, so make a reservation.

Daily pic project, worth doing?

2011-11-26T13:15:00.001-05:00

I recent stumbled upon this 2006 blog post, "How to be interesting," via news.ycombinator. It's an interesting post with good ideas, many of which I do already. But one that seems appealing is posting a daily picture to Flickr (or your photo site of choice.)

I think I'll give it a shot. Have you ever tried this daily pic idea, or something like it? If so, how did it go?

I started with one this morning, my new coasters:

You can follow the whole set and view a slideshow, etc, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoavshapira/sets/72157628161882243/

Really good "intro to kiteboarding" video

2011-11-19T10:49:00.001-05:00

Once or twice a week, a friend or colleague asks me how to get started with kiteboarding. I can explain it, but this video does a pretty thorough job, and (unlike most such videos) actually has nice high production values. Watch it in 720p HD.

It covers setup, launch, relaunch, landing, packing, the wind window, some safety precautions, and more. A really good video. All you need is a trainer kite, and you can get started without going in the water, getting a harness, or anything else.

Good choice of instructor, too ;)

Mimzilla, a non-tech blog I really like

2011-11-07T11:06:00.002-05:00

Mimzilla is the author of a blog called "Don't Put Chopsticks In Your Hair" which I really like. She doesn't write very often, but she writes well, and the topics are interesting.

Her latest post is about her mother's death, and the assorted funeral-related procedures in Japan. It makes for fascinating reading, and she shares a lot more than most folks at such tough times.

Read "Hatched, Matched, and Dispatched."

Book review: Tina Fey's Bossypants

2011-11-06T10:45:00.005-05:00

I read Tina Fey's "Bossypants" on vacation in Israel last month. I don't remember why I picked it up, but one day I saw it in the Kindle app, and it fit my mood.

It's a light-hearted funny book with plenty of interesting stories. There's a few rants and raves in there, but they're mostly very entertaining, and well-written as you might expect given Tina Fey's professional experience.

A fun book to read on a beach day (as I did) or on a snowed-in day (as are forthcoming...)

Movie review: "2 night"

2011-11-04T15:43:00.003-04:00

Last night I watched the movie "2 night" at the Coolidge Corner theatre near my house. It's part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, and I went with a friend (Osnat) who's also an Israeli originally but lived here a while, like me.

We both enjoyed the movie more than we thought we would. It was both funny (very funny at times) and deeper / more complex than I expected.

Movie site: http://www.twonight.co.il/

Movie review: Hanna

2011-10-30T19:04:00.002-04:00

I love assassin-oriented movies, so I rented "Hanna" on my Apple TV the other day. It was a pretty fun movie, though certainly not in the realm of the Jason Bourne films.

Hanna, the protagonist, is a young girl trained to be an assassin by her dad, a former secret agent, it appears. They are up against some high-ranking government official who wanted to be Hanna's mom, or wanted to have her own kids but couldn't, or both. It's not really clear.

The movie has some nice action, and overall it's a fun little action flick, but nothing to write home about. A good film to watch while it's snowing outside.

Movie review: Margin Call

2011-10-30T12:18:00.001-04:00

Last night I watched the movie "Margin Call" at the Coolidge Corner cinema. It was a decent movie: not great, not bad. I don't have a ton to say about it.

One of my favorite things about the movie was the shots of New York City from the high offices of the financial firm depicted in the movie. Lots of great shots during the day, at night, from various angles, really cool. One of the best is near the end, when the firm's CEO is having dinner at the upstairs private dining room by himself.

I like Kevin Spacey as an actor, and he does a good job here, as always. The story is interested, but the various books I've read on the 2008 meltdown were much better. For example, I reviewed Michael Lewis's "Big Short" last year, and I thought it was awesome.

Anyways, a decent movie. It's also fun to see a movie sometimes in the Coolidge's upstairs "Gold Screen" room, which has ~10 wide leather armchairs, feels like someone else's home cinema.

Book review: "Diary of Manhattan Call Girl"

2011-10-29T15:49:00.001-04:00

A couple of days I finished reading Tracy Quan's novel, "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl." This novel was recommended by a friend (who is not a call girl ;)) and it was a strange, but good, read.

It was a bit meandering at times. There are a bunch of side stories, of which some are amusing, and others are less interesting. But the main story is so stressful, I felt stressed myself while reading it. It does resolve well at the end, but I didn't think it would.

I think that's a compliment to the author, who managed to take me along for a ride and convey some real stress, and then surprise at the end.

An interesting book.

Cool little poem from "All my friends are dead"

2011-10-25T08:06:00.002-04:00

My little sister Ayelet was here to visit Boston for a few days earlier this month. She found and bought this little book, All My Friends Are Dead, by Avery Monsen and Jory John.

It's a funny little illustrated book, takes < 10 minutes to read from end to end. And it's freely available for reading online at nomorefriends.net. I read it one morning since she just left it on the kitchen table, and I liked this poem from the end of it:

Sometimes I feel alone.
Some days are long and hard.
But when I look out into the world,
I am struck by the impossible beauty of it all.
Those billions of magnificent accidents that
led us to where we are today,
that led us to paper planes and
nautilus shells and the tiny,
crooked smiles of children.
When I think about all the
small perfections of the world,
I have faith that my time will
come. I have faith that some-
day, a warm light will flood over me
and I will find peace.

Enjoy the fall season, everyone ;)

Back from Israel

2011-10-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

It's been a few weeks since my last post, but for a good reason ;) I was visiting my family in Israel, an annual trip at this point.

This time I stayed for a full three weeks, longer than normal, because we had a lot of events going on. My sister Noa gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter (Yuval), and my cousin Shira also gave birth, to a beautiful baby boy (Amit). Mazal tov!

There's also the high holidays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and I got to celebrate both of them with my family. Plus a lot of time at the beach, a trip to Eilat for Scuba diving (beautiful), quality time with my cousins, and some going out to nice new bars and lounges.

All in all, it was a great trip, a combination of relaxation and fun. I didn't take a camera, so I don't have a lot of pictures. I also stayed nearly completely offline, which explains the quiet on this blog. The normal schedule should resume soon.

Restaurant review: Aragosta

2011-09-07T10:06:00.003-04:00

This past weekend Alli and I checked out Aragosta, a bar / bistro in the Fairmont Battery Wharf hotel, as part of my birthday celebrations.

We both enjoyed the location and view. You can sit outside on the patio, or inside, and both are right on the water. It's looking at the water and at a pier where big Coast Guard boats are parked, so that was cool.

The food was pretty interesting, with some things much better than others. The lobster crostini appetizer was excellent, and the paste were pretty good as well. We didn't have room for dessert, but we had some excellent wine (a Ca'Marcanda "Magari"from 2004, highly recommended).

Service was nice and friendly, too. Overall, a fun place.

A couple of quick reviews: Forum, Cafeteria, Harry Potter, and The Scarecrowd

2011-09-04T13:55:00.003-04:00

Getting in a couple of quick reviews in the middle of a long Labor Day weekend.

On August 23rd, Alli and I went to Forum, a new restaurant in Boston's Back Bay, for our monthly date night, aka "the 23rd." Forum is the replacement for Vox Populi, a restaurant / bar we both liked.

You could tell the restaurant is new and still working on its operations. Our server was friendly and well-intentioned, but did not know the menu or cocktails very well. The food itself was pretty good, featuring beautiful presentations and interesting ingredients, but the flavors themselves were underwhelming. The decor was beautiful, and the location cannot be beat, so hopefully as the restaurant tweaks and improves, it will become great.

Yesterday we had a quick brunch at Cafeteria, on Newbury Street. It was a beautiful summer Saturday, and we ate outside, which was great. I had the crab roll, which was delicious, and Alli had the greek salad which was decent. The place has a broad menu that aims to please, with nothing too crazy or inventive, and a lot of comfort food. Service was friendly, if a bit slow. All in all, a fun place to sit outside and watch the crowds, but not a foodie destination.

On Friday night, we met up with friends from work and saw the last Harry Potter movie. We wanted to go see it on opening weekend, but that didn't work out. We both enjoyed the movie a lot. I've read all the books, but Alli has not, and yet we both liked the movies. Great cinematography, great stories, a pretty fun movie.

Finally for this quick review roundup, a book I just finished: The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly. I read the Hebrew translation of this book, not the original in English, but I imagine they're similar. It's a good, captivating story about seriali killers. I like that genre in general, but this one is well-told and features some cybercrime and cyberespionage to make it even more interesting. Highly recommended, and a great beach book.

That's it for this quick review roundup. Happy Labor Day everyone, and remember, my birthday is tomorrow ;) (September 5th...)