“Do You Remember the 21st Night of September?”

If you do, you’ve been around for quite a while.

Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” was released in 1978, 40 years ago.

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The Bayeux Westeros Tapestry

Many of the scenes from Game of Thrones are shot in Northern Ireland, where rabid fans try to anticipate the show’s upcoming storylines by charting the arrival of cast members in Belfast. (“Saw Kit Harington at St. George’s Market. That means Jon Snow is still alive!”) That has not gone unnoticed by Tourism Ireland, which has made a major effort to attract tourists in search of a taste of Westeros.

Tourism Ireland, in collaboration with HBO, has commissioned the Game of Thrones Tapestry, inspired, of course, by the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman conquest. In the new, Irish version, each panel of the tapestry captures one scene from one episode of Game of Thrones. The tapestry is already 66 meters (217 feet) long. When it’s finished in 2019, after panels have been added for the episodes of GoT‘s final season, it will be longer than its prototype, at 77 meters (253 feet).

Until recently, the tapestry was on exhibition at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. It has been temporarily removed, but will be back on view when the most popular series in the world returns to HBO in April 2019.

Meanwhile, you can view the entire (so far) tapestry at this beautifully designed website.

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A Sample from The Game of Thrones Tapestry

On the left, the scene in “The Ghost of Harrenhal” (S02E05) in which Catelyn and Brienne of Tarth witness Renly Baratheon’s murder at the hands of his brother Stannis’s shadowy assassin.

On the right, from “The Old Gods and the New” (S02E06), King Joffrey incites a riot at King’s Landing, in which he and Sansa are nearly killed.

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A Sample from That Other Tapestry

Museum Day Is Saturday

Smithsonian Magazine’s annual Museum Day is Saturday, 22 September 2018. More than 1,600 museums, galleries, and historic sites across the country will celebrate it by offering free admission with a downloaded voucher, which you can get here. The website includes an easy-to-use search engine that lets you to quickly discover the participating museums in your area.

The Good Place — Season 3 Sneak Preview

SPOILERS: Don’t play this video unless you’ve seen all the episodes of the first two seasons of The Good Place.

This bright, funny American comedy returns on 27 September 2018. The first two seasons are on Netflix, so you have time to catch up. It will take your mind off Florence.

Lunch at Filomena — 16 August 2018

Filomena

This was my “Why haven’t I ever been here before?” lunch.

Filomena, in Georgetown near the canal, has been around for 35 years, but I’d somehow missed out on it until now. This is a classic Italian family restaurant, named for the matriarch of the founder’s family, and filled with furniture, antiques, and knick-knacks from her home.

The menu casually drops the names of some past patrons, like President Clinton, who favoured Linguini Cardinale (Lobster Meat in Creamy Cardinale Lobster Sauce over Linguini) and U2’s Bono, who ordered seconds of the Rigatoni con Salsicce (Whole Link Italian Sausage pieces with Mushrooms, Onions, Ground Italian Sausage, Chianti Wine, Herbs and Vine Ripe Sunday Sauce).

Polpetti Classico

When I was in Venice last year, I had Polpetti—Italian meatballs—for lunch at Ca’ D’Oro, which were rumoured to be the best in the city.  According to the Michelin Guide, Ca’ D’Oro’s “meatballs are…legendary”.

The Polpetti Classico at Filomena were infinitely better.

[NO PICTURE]

I wasn’t able to take a useable picture of my main, Cannelloni Frutti di Mare. Here’s Filomena’s description of the dish:

“A Generous Amount of Fresh Shrimp, Creamy Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheeses blended and stuffed into the Pasta, Mamma’s rolled Black Pasta Sheets. Our original Seafood Lasagna recipe in the form of Cannelloni. Oven baked and covered with our famous Creamy Cardinale Lobster Sauce.”

A bit disappointing, after the great Polpetti.

Cookies n’ Cream Mousse Cake

This Cookies n’ Cream Mousse Cake gave me everything I wanted from a dessert. Not only was it delicious, it was, like everything at Filomena, generously proportioned, i.e. BIG. A welcome change from the three-bite desserts I’d had earlier in the week.

Will be back.

The Struts — “Body Talks”, featuring Kesha

Glam Rock Lives!

What a great song! Watching this new version of The Struts’ “Body Talks”, featuring Kesha, never fails to make me smile.

The shaggy-haired, skinny, androgynous lead singer for The Struts is Luke Spiller, who has been described as “the musical love child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger”.

Kesha is…Kesha.

In the past four years, The Struts have opened shows for The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Guns N’ Roses, quite a collection of Rock Gods (or Rock Dinosaurs, depending on your musical preferences).

The band has just started a three-month, 45-city US tour, with many of those 45(!) shows already sold out.

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Here’s the colourful video for the original version of “Body Talks”:

Lunch at Sonoma — 15 August 2018

Sonoma

Meanwhile, back during Restaurant Week…

Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar is on Capitol Hill, a block away from the Library of Congress and two blocks from the U.S. Capitol itself. That means it gets an interesting clientele, like the two people sitting at the table next to me, who spent their lunchtime rather indiscreetly discussing the inner workings of a Republican representative’s office.

Virginia Fried Oysters

Virginia Fried Oysters on a sweet Anaheim pepper purée with a house-made bacon jam. Anaheim peppers are mild, but give some heat.

Cinnamon Braised Beef Short Ribs

The main, Cinnamon Braised Beef Short Ribs with shaved Brussels sprouts, buttermilk mash, and pan jus, was the star of the meal. The Brussels sprouts were a little undercooked, to my taste, but the short ribs were excellent.

Goat Cheesecake

The Goat Cheesecake with marshmallow fluff and maple walnut syrup was tasty, but, once again, the portion was small. Desserts should be excessive, and give the diner those wonderful pangs of guilt one gets from hedonistic overindulgence.

I don’t have much to say about this meal. It was all right, but I not special enough to make me plan another trip to this restaurant.