Why I Like the Kindle 3. A Review.

The Kindle 3 was a birthday gift.

The truth is, I did not know if I would use the Kindle after the initial blush of newness wore off. At fifty-eight years old, I don’t make transitions as easily as I once did. And reading is not as easy as it once was.

But the price is right at $139 for the wifi-only version, and we thought it was worth the risk.

Three months later: I have been using it and I like it.

Here’s what I Like:

1. It is easy to read in daylight, the text is crisp, and the font size and line leading is adjustable. All of that makes reading easier than a book -- especially for older eyes.
2. Books, magazines, and newspapers can be wi-fi or 3G downloaded in seconds. Many classic books are free. This seems almost too good to be true -- but it’s true and it works great. Books for purchase are less expensive than the same book in print.
3. The InstaPaper web app makes “Read later” possible on the Kindle. Love it.
4. Portable, well constructed, and the page movement buttons are large with just the right amount of tactile response.
5. Every book you are reading opens wherever you stopped reading.
6. Newspaper subscriptions arrive every morning, rain or shine, and remain in archive. Currently subscribing to the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Investor's Business Daily.
7. Amazon website is very good for Kindle users.
8. The battery life is reported at 10 days. That seems about right. The USB charger can be used at a normal house outlet or from your PC.
9. Storage capacity is more than I will ever use.
10. Light weight and fits in a large jacket pocket.

Dislike:

1. The experimental browser is very experimental. It's not exactly worthless, but it's close.
2. The Wall Street Journal / Kindle edition is more expensive than the print edition and is incomplete compared to the print edition.
3. The five-way cursor-mover button could be bigger and a little more responsive. It’s the button most often used and it’s the least user-friendly.
4. Getting in and out of books and newspapers can be a little tedious and cursoring down a list of books is cumbersome. We’re spoiled by the cursor movement of the PC and touch screen products.  This is definitely a step backwards.

Suggestions if you buy:

1. Get the leather case with the light built in if you plan on reading at night a lot.
2. Read through the Kindle Guide book. There are helpful keyboard functions that make it even a better tool.
3. Set up your Amazon profile and get familiar with it.

Surprises:
It’s not back lit. I knew it wasn’t backlit but I still expected to be able to read it in the dark without a light. I know that’s stupid. But if you want backlit reading take a good look at one before you buy.
After a lifetime of reading with a printed and bound book it takes some adjustment just holding an e-book. It’s hard to explain unless you have used one. The leather holder helps because it has the same book feel.

Not Yet Tried
The Kindle 3 can be used for audio-books and has an earphone jack.. Have not tried.

Summary
The portability, ease of use, storage capacity, price, and eye-friendly screen and typefaces make the Kindle a keeper product for me.

If you use a Nook, Kindle, iPad, or other e-reader and have an opinion on their usefulness, please comment.

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Chef for Farmer's Market Dinner at Times Ten Cellars. Dec. 5, 2010.

I am late in announcing this, nevertheless, this Sunday, December 5, Chefs for Farmers is hosting their second benefit dinner. Tickets, if they are still available, can be purchased from the Chefs for Farmers website. Here.

The idea of this dinner is to support the connection between our local restaurants and our local farmers, an idea that is hard not to like. 

Ticket Cost: $150. Six-course, chef prepared meal with wine. Benefits Meals on Wheels in Tarrant County. Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails begin at 3 PM.

Chef's participating:
Blaine Staniford – Grace
Dan Landsberg – Tillman's Roadhouse
Dena Peterson – Cafe Modern
Jon Bonnell – Bonnell's
Michael Morabito – Colonial Country Club
Zach Townsend - Pure Chocolate Desserts
Ryan Tedder - Grace
Gwin Grimes - Artisan Baking Co. Food & Fort Worth's very own. ( yes, that's a Ticket reference)
Jay Jerrier - Il Cane Rosso

Location: Times Ten Cellars, Fort Worth. (Just off 7th Street)  

Chef's for Farmers website

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Virgin America -- Now Flying from DFW

I heard a radio interview of Sir Richard Branson today.*

He's the British guy that owns everything that Mark Cuban and Bill Gates don't own. He's also the guy who's financing and developing space travel for anybody who has the $200,000 for a ticket. Peanuts included in price.

Branson's in town promoting the launch of Virgin America Airlines, which, as of today, is flying out of DFW to San Francisco and Los Angeles. His vision for flying is simple: "make flying good again."

All I can say is good luck. Air travel is cheap, but it's more about endurance than enjoyment these days.

American Airlines controls more than 85% of flights out of DFW, and as much as I appreciate what they do for the area, I believe we need the kind of competition that Virgin America will bring. DFW airport must agree, they offered Virgin America $2 million in incentives to enter this market.

The options are limited for now. Virgin will have two flights daily to San Francisco and two flights to Los Angeles.

Read more about Virgin America in the Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com 

Virgin America website

* yes, on the Ticket's  Hardline.

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Fireside Pies. Well . . .

This is a tough one.

We got off to a bad start. Our seating was a booth placed too close to a table of eight. My instinct was to ask for a different table but I didn't. My instinct was right because our server forgot to put in our pizza order. Our pizzas arrived twenty minutes after we had eaten our salads and appetizers. Too long.

But people make mistakes and I can deal with a lot when the food is good. So, let's talk about the food:

We ordered an appetizer: meatballs with marinara sauce. Five very small meatballs with a steamy, just-right tomato gravy (that's Philadelphia for spaghetti sauce). Really delicious, but they could be called meat-dots.

Salads: good, cold, fresh lettuce and other leafy vegetables.

Pizza: The pizza is Italy-style, not New York style. The crust is like Il Cane Rasso or Cavalli's. I liked it. Crispy crust, tasty, nice sauce and cheese. Baked in big 550 degree ovens.

Now the tricky part because I want to be fair to Fireside Pies.

Fireside Pies is a very good looking restaurant and bar. Beautiful woods, nicely finished, comfortable seating, Big cylinder-shaped pizza stoves. It's an attractive place to eat and the vibe is upscale pizza. It's a place for the younger business crowd to drink, talk, and enjoy good pizza. If that's what you are looking for I can understand going to Fireside Pies. But for me it's an expensive pizza restaurant.

The pizzas are in the $13 - $14 range, the salads in the $12 - $13 range, and the appetizers, $8 - $15. There were four of us in our party. We ordered one appetizer, two pizzas and two salads -- our server suggested that the salads and pizzas could be shared. But, we discovered, the pizzas are small for two people, especially at $14 a pie. Our bill was $64, without tip and without beer or wine. That's not bad for four people, but considering two of the party left hungry, I think it's expensive.

Put it this way, take off the appetizer, add a 20% tip and you're at $17.00 a person for a smallish portion of pizza and salad, and an iced tea.

Fortunately, any evening Marian and I have with our son, his wife, and their daughter is a good night for me. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate. If you have been to Fireside Pies, please comment.

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I rank the quality of the pizza in the  restaurants that serve this style of pizza, thusly: Cavalli's in Irving, Il Cane Rosso at Times Ten Cellars, Fireside Pies, and finally, Patizio's at 7th across from Fireside Pies.

There are five Fireside Pies in the DFW area, including one in Fort Worth, and one in Grapevine.

Fireside Pies website
Fireside Pies - Fort Worth
2949 Crockett
Fort Worth, TX  76107

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1st Sunday of Advent.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Caravaggio / 1595
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome

Advent is the beginning of the Christian calendar for the Western Church. It starts four Sundays before Christmas Day, so the first Sunday of Advent is not a fixed date. The word Advent is from the Latin adventus and means coming and commemorates the coming of the Messiah and the parousia or the Second Coming of the Messiah.

In the United States it is common to refer to the "Christmas season" as the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year, but the Advent season and the Christmas season are distinct in the Church and have distinct liturgies, hymns, and rubrics. The traditional hymns of the Advent season testify to the expected coming of the Christ child, and the Christmas season, of his joyful arrival.

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"The scene, in the early Caravaggio painting, is based not on any incident in the Bible itself, but on a body of tales or legends that had grown up in the early Middle Ages around the Bible story of the Holy Family fleeing into Egypt for refuge on being warned that Herod the Great was seeking to kill the Christ Child. According to the legend, Joseph and Mary stopped on the flight in a grove of trees." Wikipedia.