Russo's Adirondack Grill
3664 State Highway 30
Vails Mills, New York 12078
518-883-7601
Proprietors Michael and Barbara Russo
It was St. Paddy's Day and my dad was hankering for a drink. So we went to the rundown Italian bar and restaurant called Russo's in Amsterdam NY. Dad had a glass of wine and a toast. I had a diet soda. We watched the teevee at the bar and the traffic go down West Main. A train blew through. Dad had to pee.
Dad came back from the mens' bathroom and I knew it hadn't gone well. "This place is a rat hole," he said. By his description, the bathroom was filthy. We left.
Russo's in Amsterdam had been there for many years-- more than thirty by my reckoning. And the place looks it. The restaurant is housed in an old building which had seen better days probably before I was born. The bar rats look like they crawled out of the Mohawk. Even the pizza and the pasta fazole ain't what it used to be there.
But this review is about the new Russo's, the one in neighboring Fulton county. My dad flatly refused to visit the new Russo's, even after I went to check the mens' room one day. That may be just as well.
Companion and I went to the new Russo's for lunch yesterday. There were three men at the bar-- they could have been transplants from the old Russo's so similar in style and appearance they were. The food is uninspired and flavorless. On the plus side, companion reports the mens' bathroom is clean. More negative: the radio was loud and the music-- really bad sixties and seventies style (think, "the worst of..."). There was one drunk at the bar talking to a couple of restaurant patrons who were leaving. Even the drunk had to yell to be heard. The bear with the pizza out front rendered by a local chainsaw artist was the only thing remotely Adirondack about the place. Logs and timber do not equal those great mountains.
From the menu, companion ordered Lobster Bisque ($3.59) and I ordered the Italian Wedding Soup (also $3.59). In addition to the soups, I also arranged for a plate of garlic bread toasted sans cheese ($2.79, with cheese the price is upped a dollar to $3,79) and I asked for a cup of coffee.
The coffee sucked. It was lukewarm and uninspiring to my now conditioned for black coffee palate. It was served in an old fashioned diner style cup which did nothing for the total non-ambiance of the place. And the wait for the coffee was unacceptably long at 18 minutes.
Companion's soup was served in a crock and it was a pleasing lobster bisque color-- not the fake pink that some places serve. He declared it to be acceptable. My Italian Wedding soup was served in a crock also. I was pleased to see some little slices of squash that so many places leave out. I was unhappy with the subtraction of cheese from the ingredient list for the little meatballs. I was very unhappy with the deletion of SPICES from the soup altogether.
The garlic bread was also disappointing. It was over-toasted and under-buttered. The cup of marinara sauce that it came with was similarly uninspiring, lacking flavor. I know times are hard and spices are expensive but geez. Even at rock-bottom prices, I expect food eaten out will have some taste to it.
So folks, if traveling about the area skip Russo's Adirondack Grill and keep going. My personal suggestion is to wait until you hit Saratoga if traveling east, go to Romano's in Johnstown if traveling west, the Crystal Ristaurante if heading south, and some sleepy little diner perhaps in Day or Northville or further along if venturing north. Russo's Adirondack Grill is bound to disappoint so don't bother. Even a hot dog from the local Stewart's is more pleasing.
sapphoq reviews books and more
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, November 12, 2010
Time Warner Cable in the Capital District
I've been a customer of Time Warner Cable and its' predecessor for several decades. The number of television stations have increased along with my bill. I was alive for the breakup of Ma Bell, the creation of Baby Bells, and the introduction of bundles services-- cable plus telephone plus internet access all in one bill. I was a part-time toll collector when a bunch of folks were traveling up the Thruway installing fiber optics.
Not all of the news is good. There is a disturbing connection with Comcast-- a company whose policies I hate. Time Warner Cable uses dynamic I.P. addys in order to prevent regular customers from having access to creating a business class website without proper payment. This switching regularly causes fluctuations in the signal coming into my home. With the advent of an option to buy faster download times, my non-turboized net speed has suffered significant decreases. Additionally, the installation of higher-speed cabling to local hospitals have left some of us complaining that our phones cut out briefly at irratic intervals.
This customer is not entirely happy. And yet, I don't want The Dish. My choices for high speed internet access are severely limited by geography. That is to say-- non-existent at the current time. Until something better comes along, I choose to remain with a less-than-stellar performer.
sapphoq reviews says: Time Warner Cable gets a D- in my grade book
Not all of the news is good. There is a disturbing connection with Comcast-- a company whose policies I hate. Time Warner Cable uses dynamic I.P. addys in order to prevent regular customers from having access to creating a business class website without proper payment. This switching regularly causes fluctuations in the signal coming into my home. With the advent of an option to buy faster download times, my non-turboized net speed has suffered significant decreases. Additionally, the installation of higher-speed cabling to local hospitals have left some of us complaining that our phones cut out briefly at irratic intervals.
This customer is not entirely happy. And yet, I don't want The Dish. My choices for high speed internet access are severely limited by geography. That is to say-- non-existent at the current time. Until something better comes along, I choose to remain with a less-than-stellar performer.
sapphoq reviews says: Time Warner Cable gets a D- in my grade book
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Atheism by Kerry Walters
Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed by Kerry Walters. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2010. Paperback, 195 pps., incl. Works Cited and Index.
I had two professors who used a book they'd written for the textbook of college courses they were teaching. One was a man who taught Phonetics. I loved everything about that book, from the soft red leather cover to the typeset used on the pages to the subject matter. The other was a creative writing instructor. I did not find his book to be as worthy. I judged that book to be as stilted as the writer-- not terribly creative and more concerned with pumping up his false ego. It was with these past experiences that I picked up Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed written by a college professor who also uses it in undergrad courses that he teaches.
Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed is designed to make atheism accessible to the average intellectual. On that level it succeeds admirably. It is an easier read than Richard Dawkins, cites numerous philosophers and theologians in its' pages, is careful to define what is meant by key words, and distills the framework of both worldviews into easy-to-follow ideas.
Where the book fails is in Kerry Walters' constant apologies for the outspokeness and brashness of Dawkins and other "New" Atheists. Those theists who are turned off by Richard Dawkins' take no prisoners style are unlikely to convert to atheism anyway. I see no reason to apologize for Dawkins just as I also see no reason for a theist at an A.A. meeting to apologize to the sole atheist in the room before sharing her spiritual experiences.
Apart from the constant mention of Dawkin's presentation, I enjoyed this slender volume. I came away with a deeper understanding of Aquinas' Five Proofs for the existence of God. I also gleaned from its' pages the multifactorial nature of a decision to believe or not to believe. And finally, I was able to identify the commonality vs. causality concerns inherent in a naturalistic historical narrative of religion itself.
Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed is unlikely to win any converts from the fundamentalist crowd to non-theism. Nor will it suit the reader who possesses only a rudimentary understanding of logic and discourse. Although I do not agree with Kerry Walters' final supposition of where the atheists and believers may begin a constructive dialogue, there was much in this book I found to be informative.
sapphoq reviews says: cautiously recommended.
I had two professors who used a book they'd written for the textbook of college courses they were teaching. One was a man who taught Phonetics. I loved everything about that book, from the soft red leather cover to the typeset used on the pages to the subject matter. The other was a creative writing instructor. I did not find his book to be as worthy. I judged that book to be as stilted as the writer-- not terribly creative and more concerned with pumping up his false ego. It was with these past experiences that I picked up Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed written by a college professor who also uses it in undergrad courses that he teaches.
Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed is designed to make atheism accessible to the average intellectual. On that level it succeeds admirably. It is an easier read than Richard Dawkins, cites numerous philosophers and theologians in its' pages, is careful to define what is meant by key words, and distills the framework of both worldviews into easy-to-follow ideas.
Where the book fails is in Kerry Walters' constant apologies for the outspokeness and brashness of Dawkins and other "New" Atheists. Those theists who are turned off by Richard Dawkins' take no prisoners style are unlikely to convert to atheism anyway. I see no reason to apologize for Dawkins just as I also see no reason for a theist at an A.A. meeting to apologize to the sole atheist in the room before sharing her spiritual experiences.
Apart from the constant mention of Dawkin's presentation, I enjoyed this slender volume. I came away with a deeper understanding of Aquinas' Five Proofs for the existence of God. I also gleaned from its' pages the multifactorial nature of a decision to believe or not to believe. And finally, I was able to identify the commonality vs. causality concerns inherent in a naturalistic historical narrative of religion itself.
Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed is unlikely to win any converts from the fundamentalist crowd to non-theism. Nor will it suit the reader who possesses only a rudimentary understanding of logic and discourse. Although I do not agree with Kerry Walters' final supposition of where the atheists and believers may begin a constructive dialogue, there was much in this book I found to be informative.
sapphoq reviews says: cautiously recommended.
Drowning Anna by Sue Mayfield
Drowning Anna, Sue Mayfield. New York: Hyperion, 2001. Small size hardbound, 316 pps.
Set in England, Anna is a new arrival at school where she is befriended and then shunned by most of the other girls in her class. She is outright bullied. No one lifts a finger to help. Hints of anorexia and then a full-fledged suicide attempt take place before Anna's mother determines that her daughter needs her intervention.
sapphoq reviews says: It may be that anorexia and self-injury express themselves differently in England than they do in the U.S. Stateside, anorexia is usually attributed to a sick rebellion against controlling parents; and cutting to trauma whose purpose is to make the cutter feel more or go numb. I give this one a clear miss.
Set in England, Anna is a new arrival at school where she is befriended and then shunned by most of the other girls in her class. She is outright bullied. No one lifts a finger to help. Hints of anorexia and then a full-fledged suicide attempt take place before Anna's mother determines that her daughter needs her intervention.
sapphoq reviews says: It may be that anorexia and self-injury express themselves differently in England than they do in the U.S. Stateside, anorexia is usually attributed to a sick rebellion against controlling parents; and cutting to trauma whose purpose is to make the cutter feel more or go numb. I give this one a clear miss.
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
The Good Thief, Hannah Tinti. New York: Random House, 2008. Paperback, 345 pps., inc. reader's guide.
Ren is stuck in a Roman Catholic orphanage for boys run by some priests. With one hand amputated, he is passed by when the boys are lined up as prospective parents drop by to bring home a kid. He is almost at the age where he will be sold to the Army. Then a mysterious relative shows up.
Ren leaves behind the only home he has ever known and joins his "uncle" on various escapades involving thievery and trickery. There is grave robbing also. Eventually he finds out who his parents are and he finds a true home.
The Good Thief is set in New England sometime in the 1800s. The author's familiarity with New England and its' history moves the story along to a successful conclusion. There are a couple of drunks in the story who never do quite sober up, a doctor, some nuns, local villagers, and a murderer. This book has an unusual take on the orphan-finds-love theme. Blood and guts also abound. The story is well-told and enjoyable.
sapphoq reviews says: recommended.
Ren is stuck in a Roman Catholic orphanage for boys run by some priests. With one hand amputated, he is passed by when the boys are lined up as prospective parents drop by to bring home a kid. He is almost at the age where he will be sold to the Army. Then a mysterious relative shows up.
Ren leaves behind the only home he has ever known and joins his "uncle" on various escapades involving thievery and trickery. There is grave robbing also. Eventually he finds out who his parents are and he finds a true home.
The Good Thief is set in New England sometime in the 1800s. The author's familiarity with New England and its' history moves the story along to a successful conclusion. There are a couple of drunks in the story who never do quite sober up, a doctor, some nuns, local villagers, and a murderer. This book has an unusual take on the orphan-finds-love theme. Blood and guts also abound. The story is well-told and enjoyable.
sapphoq reviews says: recommended.
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