Writing Life

After seeing Let There Be Love at Center Stage on Saturday, we decided to try out The Brewer’s Art for drinks. I’d gone there back when I was working for/at STScI and had told Diane about it for ages. Now that Diane drinks some beer (Belgian-style only), it seemed like a nice way to finish off the night. Brewer’s Art is a great Belgian microbrew bar and an eclectic restaurant.

We decided to walk through the treacherous snow and ice to go from 700 N. Calvert to the 1100 block of N. Charles. Funnily enough, it was just a few blocks up the street from where we had dinner. Nothing like going back and forth, but that was a way to burn off the calories from Kumari. Normally, this would be a quick walk. But with ice, snow piles and a few vehicles on the road, it took us a bit longer. Luckily, it wasn’t too windy or cold out. We did learn that it would have been better to cut over to Charles as quickly as possible as Calvert didn’t have as much clear sidewalk or street surface area.

We arrived around 10:30 and the place was jammed. The restaurant was closed, but a few diners were still finishing food and drink. Diane got a beer menu from the bar and we figured out our respective drinks. My first ever beer here was Resurrection Ale, but I’m more fond of dark beers. They have one called Proletary Ale and that’s what I ordered. I had had it before, so it wasn’t a surprise. It was just as good as I remembered it. Diane chose the Resurrection Ale, as it’s one of their finest examples of an Abbey-style ale.

Taking our drinks, we stood in the front bar area, surrounded by 20-somethings, and the odd 30-something couple. It seemed that everyone in their 30s or higher travelled in couples, i.e. 2 people, or 2 sets of 2 people, etc. The younger crowd travelled in gaggles and crowds. We felt a little old in the place, but we weren’t posers (i.e. trying to look younger). I did do an old person faux pas when I first saw the beer menu. I got out my reading glasses to check out the menu. Diane told me to put them away. Point well taken.

We worked our way to the mid-chamber, where the couches, fireplace and some tables were set up. It was crowded in here too, but we took up residence at the maitre’d desk, which was abandoned since dinner service was over. We hung out, talked, watched the crowd and enjoyed our drinks. After, we set off back into the street, heading down Charles as far as we could go to get back to our car. A fun evening.

We were seeing a play at Center Stage and wanted to grab some food first. I knew the neighborhood somewhat, especially Mughal Garden and the Helmand. But, we wanted to try someplace new. A few googles away, and we found Kumari, an Indian, Nepalese, Tibetan restaurant. We arrived just before 6 and the place was mostly empty. We attributed it to the hour and the snowpocalypse of the past week.

We started with pompadons and three chutney. The ‘brown’ was a tad too sweet, but the other two were nice

Then we split an appetizer of chicken mu-mu, very similar to steamed chicken dumplings. It was large, about 7 large pieces These were served with a type of spicy tiki masala sauce. Very yummy but filling.

For dinner, I ordered the chicken vindaloo, Indian-level spice. Diane got the lamb saag, regular spice. The saag was great. The vindaloo was nice. It was hot (I sweated profusely) but I didn’t taste much burn or spice. Sad. But, I’d like to try the curry or jalfreezi next time. We had plain naan and rice as sides. Very fresh and good.

With the elections less than three weeks away, the debate on Question #2 is heating up. That’s the slots question, i.e. amending the state’s constitution to legalize slot machine gambling in Maryland. The normally very conservative Washington Post editorial page has come out against legalizing slots (today, p. B06). And yes, I do mean the Washington Post’s editorial page which has been drifting (and surging) further right for the last ten years. Also, the Baltimore Sun wrote today that even if Maryland allows slots, it won’t be enough to close the budget gap, something proponents have said is a major reason to support their initiative.

To quote from the Sun’s piece

A year ago, state officials hailed the closing of the so-called structural budget deficit – a persistent gap between revenue and spending of as much as $1.7 billion – after Gov. Martin O’Malley and the General Assembly approved a package that included tax increases, budget cuts and the slots proposal that goes before voters this November.

Estimates then showed that when slots revenue fully kicked in, the expected $600 million a year in new revenue would be enough to keep the budget balanced for the foreseeable future.

But in a matter of months, the structural deficit has returned, to the tune of more than $800 million annually for at least five more years, even if voters approve slots, according to projections from the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services.

In a fantastic editorial today, the Baltimore Sun has called for an end to the death penalty in Maryland. A key quote from the short piece is:

There is widespread agreement among law enforcement officials, prosecutors, defense attorneys and legal scholars that capital punishment does not deter crime, that it is unfair, arbitrary and capricious in its application and that it protects the public no better than a life without parole sentence.

I applaud the Sun for their stance.

My only qualification would be to ensure that if this is enacted, the courts and juries continue to put their most earnest efforts into determining guilt or innocence. I’d hate to see an innocent person sentenced to prison without parole almost as much as executing an innocent person.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett flip-flopped and now supports slots for Maryland. Last I heard, there weren’t any slots slated for his county, but I’m sure he’ll take the money from those exploited in other areas.

Then, we have cop killers. No, not people who kill cops but police who take the law into their own hands and execute suspects who are already in custody in a jail cell. In Prince Georges County, another autopsy report shows again that a suspect in a cop killing was killed in his solitary jail holding cell. Guards have kept quiet and said various things, that is when they even speak with investigators. The Feds are investigating but we’ll have to wait and see.

Nice follow up in today’s Washington Post. Two highlights:

• “The measure … prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.”
• “But in interviews after the court’s decision, transgender people throughout the Washington region said Montgomery’s new law would be most meaningful in making the mundane details of day-to-day life a little bit easier. And they hope that it spurs action in neighboring jurisdictions.”

After a Circuit Court panel of judges ruled that adding the word “primarily” to the slots referendum language would solve all the problems of the biased language, the Maryland Court of Appeals will take up the matter next Monday. Opponents of adding gambling to Maryland’s constitution and communities have said that the change doesn’t go far enough and advocate rewriting the entire text or throwing out the question altogether.

For more on this issue, see my previous posts.

In a great victory today, the Maryland Court of Appeals tossed out the anti-transgender referendum put forward by a Montgomery County hate group. Due to not gathering enough signatures, the appeals court said that the question should not, and will not, be included on the November ballot. The link above is to the great Free State Politics site. The Post also has a piece up, which will be published tomorrow (9/10).