One of the local competitions is back! The North Shore is host to a small local fried chicken sandwich chain called Flip the Bird and since 2021 they've had a little friendly competition between their various locations.  Each location develops its own signature sandwich for the month, and customers are encouraged to visit all locations, try them out, and then vote. There's also a raffle at the

Seems like Scratch Kitchen is the latest casualty of the COVID-19 closures.  Cinema Salem (our community movie theater) was first, then Beerworks (although I am hoping they'll relocate), and now Scratch Kitchen. Scratch was set apart by having local produce, and organic (oh yeah, and lots of bacon).  The thing that stunk was that their hours were not always predictable...

I heard this song in Barcelona this week while having Tapas at a local restaurant. I think the song was the versione arabe, but this seems to be the regular version. Russia Ne me jugez pas by Sawt el Atlas

It's been a week or so since we came back from our vacation. Now that the jetlag has subsided and I am back to normal, I thought it would be good to have a concise overview of the highlights and lowlights of the trip.  I guess I will be starting with the Netherlands since it was both the beginning and the end of the trip. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I decided to stay in