The Brooklyn Paper did some investigating and called Apple Headquarters (in Cupertino) and got a denial. Bloggers, once again, are blamed for spreading false rumors.

But the award-winning newspaper did manage to drum up a former Apple store employee, who would agreed to speak annonymously. He told the Brooklyn Paper that there’s been talk of a Brooklyn
shop for at least a year.

“A lot of the higher-ups were asking us
‘cool kids’ what area of Brooklyn we thought would be best [a year
ago],” she said. “I thought either a small store on Bedford Avenue or a
store in Park Slope.”

The bloggers agreed, bandying about
possible sites for Brooklyn’s own enormous cube of a building on Smith
Street, in DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg.

In this week’s Brooklyn Paper, Paula Bernstein talks about writing “Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins
Separated and Reunited” (Random House) with her twin sister, Elyse Schein, which will be released on October 24th. Paula and Elyse interviewed me and my sister for inclusion in the book. They told us that they wanted to meet some twins that weren’t separated at birth to compare notes. It was a fun tea at Sweet Melissa’s and the two writers capture it beautifully in their book. I am honored to be a small part of this fascinating and poignant memoir. Here’s an excerpt from Paula’s P.S. I Love You column in the BP. In it she worries that maybe she was too honest in the book.

I made a concerted effort to
portray myself realistically, warts-and-all. Now I worry that perhaps I
was too realistic. Maybe not everyone — even my longtime Park Slope
neighbors — will find my “character” sympathetic. They might not
understand my initial reluctance to be a twin or my hesitance to seek
out my biological family.

With the memoir about to hit bookstores
— and the requisite reading at the Barnes and Noble on October 24 — I
am trying to reconcile myself to the fact that strangers, acquaintances
and friends will know as much about me and my hang-ups as my therapist.
Of course, I want people to read the book, but I am wary of the
attention my newly gained notoriety will inevitably bring.

Am I
prepared for my favorite waitress at Two Boots to ask if I am still
taking anti-depressants or for the helpful saleswoman at Otto to
analyze my relationship with my sister? I dread the thought of
neighborhood moms shaking their heads and clucking behind my back at
Tea Lounge after reading all about my abandonment issues.

Here’s this week’s Smartmom from the award-winning Brooklyn Paper. The SNA newspaper of the year just won a new award from the Independent Free Papers of America, which cited the paper’s July 28 editorial, “Marty’s blind spot."

Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s famous play, “A Streetcar
Named Desire” says, “I have always depended on the kindness of
strangers.”

But Smartmom begs to differ.

It’s the strangers
who turn into friends that Smartmom depends on. And that’s what
micro-community is all about. Indeed, it’s the small community
groupings that form within a larger community that make it such a
soulful place to live.

Here in Park Slope, there are many
intersecting micro-communities brought together by blocks, schools,
civic causes, PTA’s, cafes, running in the park, dogs, the Y, the
Community Bookstore.

Smartmom was reminded of this last week when
she got a call from a friend with the sad news that a mutual friend’s
father died suddenly on Rosh Hashanah.

In less than an hour,
e-mails were flying back and forth about carpooling to the funeral in
Westchester and where people could send money in their friend’s
father’s name.

This spontaneous show of love and support
impressed Smartmom. It is during tough times that the small gestures of
friendship mean so much. A card. Flowers. A phone call. It helps to
know that your friends are ready, willing, and able to do whatever
needs to be done.

This particular micro-community of women became
friends at PS 321. Smartmom met one of them in a rambunctious playgroup
that convened in Smartmom’s living room when the Oh So Feisty One was
an oh so feisty 1.

She and Smartmom have been friends ever since. They now share a therapist, a meditation circle, and numerous cosmetics catalogs.

Smartmom’s
writer’s group is another one of these micro-communities. On 9-11, when
the firefighter husband of one of the writer’s in the group perished at
the World Trade Center, the members sprung into action to do whatever
they could to help their friend and her son.

In the 10 years
they’ve been meeting, this group of writers have supported one another
through the thick and thin of death, divorce, the quest for an agent,
and writer’s block.

Then there’s the micro-community of the moms
that Smartmom met when OSFO was in pre-school at Congregation Beth
Elohim. At least four times a year, they meet for a “mom’s dinner.”
These hard-to-schedule events are cherished as a chance to catch up and
share what’s going on.

Last summer, only three of them managed to
get together for a quick dinner at Sette one humid night. But that
meant a more intimate conversation and more Italian rosé to go around.

While nibbling on the restaurant’s delicious
and decadent Parmesan fritters, Smartmom fretted because she didn’t
know where Teen Spirit was going to high school in the fall. History
Mom, a teacher at a Manhattan private school, told her about a school
(let’s call it “Hippie School”) that would be perfect for him.

“Call them,” she said. “I just have a feeling it might be a good fit.”

Smartmom
knows enough to listen to her smart friend. When she called Hippie
School the next day, nobody picked up the phone. Later, she tried the
cellphone number listed for Hippie School’s parent coordinator.

The
principal answered and the rest is history. Apparently his Blackberry
was broken and he’d borrowed the parent coordinator’s cell.
Coincidence? Fate? You be the judge.

Teen Spirit is now enrolled at this unique school, and Smartmom got History Mom a bouquet of flowers from Zuzu’s Petals.

“I didn’t do anything!” History Mom exclaimed.

“Yes,
you did! Your suggestion set it all in motion. It’s all because we got
together for dinner the other night,” Smartmom said.

Then there’s
the ad-hoc micro-community that is Third Street (on the north side
between Sixth and Seventh Avenues). Last Spring, when a neighbor was
dying of cancer, neighbors shared their shock and grief and tried to
figure out how to be of help. It was one of the most difficult things
this micro-community has had to face.

Sometimes, there is pain. But more often there are shared bottles of wine, impromptu BBQs and sidewalk conversations.

The
other evening, Smartmom saw a Third Streeter saying goodbye to her son
as he got into a car bound for college in upstate New York.

Smartmom
watched as this strapping young man she’s known since he was 5 hugged
his mother and brother. While she did shed a tear, she knew enough not
to interrupt this moment of tenderness.

Listening. Caring. Networking. Yenta-ing. Wanting to solve one another’s problems. That’s what micro-community is all about.

A micro-community grows together
and offers love and support as needed. It’s about knowing when to help
and when not to intrude. Subtle. Heartfelt and real: these
micro-communities are a source of strength.

So Blanche, it’s not the kindness of strangers. It’s the strangers who become friends that are worth believing in

That’s right. The Jewish Daily Forward has an article about Chocolate Girl, the new Kosher candy shop on Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets in Park Slope.

Owner Tziporah Avigayil Jaeger is making etrog jelly-filled chocolates
for Sukkot. I’m “trying to draw on the holiday. This is something that
captures [its] essence,” said Jaeger, an Orthodox Jew and veteran
candy-maker who has been selling chocolates wholesale for the past two
years. “Otherwise, there’s really nothing specific for Sukkot.”

The city is spending $1 million on an advertising campaign intended to help prevent car and bike accidents on the streets of New York.

"Avoiding a crash comes down to one simple action: LOOK"

The ad will appear on bus shelters, taxi tops, phone kiosks, and
buses in English and Spanish this fall.

In the past ten years, 225 cyclists were killed and 3,462 additional
cyclists were injured on the streets of New York. 

That sucks.

So we finally tried NoNo Kitchen.

NoNo stands for North of New Orleans to those who don’t know. And the fare at this eatery on Seventh Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets is Cajun with some traditional southern cooking thrown in for good measure. It’s also fresh, delicious and nicely served. In fact, the service is very attentive and they have a good beer and wine list.

Love the corn bread.

But what a deal. On Monday-Thursday nights they have a $25. prix fix and it’s a lot of good food. The PF comes with an appetizer, a soup or salad, a main course and a delicious dessert.

We were impressed. Plus it’s a pleasant restaurant to sit in. For appetizers we tried the fried okra, the popcorn catfish and the Jambalaya Won Tons. For entrees, I had the Shrimp Creole, which was not on the Prix Fix menu. It was very good. Hepcat and Teen Spirit had the salmon, which was on the PF. And OSFO had the smothered steak, which was DELISH and EVERYONE at the table was stealing bites.

Frankly, I was surprised no one ordered the Honey and Cane Syrup Slow Roasted Pork Tender Loin Tender Pork Loin Served with Poor Man’s Gravy Cornbread Dressing & Vegetables. Yum, that sounded good.

Yes, we will return to NoNo kitchen when we’re in the mood for hearty good eats and Arrogant Bastard beer. It’s perfect for the winter months. Jamalaya. Creole. Ribs. Roasted Pork Loin. Steak. Hearty, hearty good stuff.

You won’t want to miss tomorrow’s BROOKLYN READING WORKS reading at the Old Stone House at 8 p.m. because:

1. It’s the first reading of the year at Brooklyn Reading Works.

2. This year, there are many interesting readings planned and Rudy Delson’s is a great one to start with.

3. Rudy Delson is a hot new author with a hot new book called Maynard and Jennica, a very New York love story told by an astounding number of narrators. It’s ambitious, funny, smart, deep. This is sort of his first reading. He is doing a reading at Barnes and Noble in Manhattan today. But tomorrow at the Old Stone House will be a real EVENT.

4. It should be way fun to hear Rudy read from his book. Benjamin Kunkel, co-founder and editor of N+1, and others will be reading.

5. Rudy is bringing cheese with labels and wine from Red, White, and Bubbly. I am bringing goodies, too.

6. The Community Bookstore will be selling books.

7. Learn a little American History while you’re sipping wine.

I thought this sounded interesting. It’s a philanthropic co-ed sports league and it’s coming to Brooklyn this fall with kick ball in Prospect Park and Touch Football at Brooklyn Tech. For more info: go to Zogsports.org

ZogSports, the charity-focused, social, co-ed sports league
for young professionals in their 20s and 30s, is coming to Brooklyn
for the first time this fall.

Our Kickball league started this past Sunday but there is still
room for people to sign up for our awesome co-ed Touch Football league!

ZogSports has spent the last four years helping young
New Yorkers break the monotony of the typical day – work/gym/bar/home – by
offering sports leagues, trips, social events, and volunteer
opportunities.  To date, they have brought together 33,000+ participants
and given more than $290,000 to charity. 

This fall, ZogSports expands to Brooklyn with Kickball
in Prospect
Park and Touch Football at Brooklyn
Tech.

Participants can sign up as an entire team or as an
individual/small group and we’ll place them on a team.  Teammates get to
know each other at the organized post-game happy hours at local bars. 

As a philanthropy-focused organization, ZogSports
donates a portion of all proceeds to charity, and helps all participants Play
For Your Cause by making donations to winning teams’ charities of choice.
Teams have the opportunity to win both on the field as well as off, with awards
given for Best Team Name, Best Team Spirit, and Best Happy Hour Team. ZogSports
also partners with local charitable organizations to promote/co-sponsor their
events, and organizes charity events of its own.

Read the poem about Marilyn the Tortoise that everyone loved at the Marilyn Monroe 80th Birthday Bash at Brooklyn Reading Works in June of 2006.

It’s a real knock out, tour de force poem. You gotta hear Michele Madigan Somerville read it. Maybe she’ll read it again at the Poetry Punch group reading on November 15th at the Old Stone House. Here’s an excerpt but you can read the rest at Fresh Poetry, Michele’s blog.

In ’69 Marilyn the Tortoise, was bequeathed
to my brothers and me by our drug-dealing Cuban
superintendent who, running one step ahead of
the local Vice Squad, was forced to leave his French
Provincial sectional mustard velveteen
sofa and the largest RCA model television money
could buy. He packed up what he could
of his tight cellar dwelling in haste, pausing to leave his family
pet, Marilyn, behind. She lived her truncated reptilian
life in a roasting pan lined with gravel; she ate lettuce
when we thought to feed her and had little choice
but to shit where she ate. Thinking her dead, one day,
we discarded her. Little did we know, tortoises fly
in the face of time — almost as if death fails
to tunnel into the tender part of their living meat…(excerpt)

When Jamie Livingston, photographer, filmmaker, circus performer,
accordian player, Mets fan, and above all, loyal friend, died
on October 25th (his birthday) in 1997 at the age of 41, he left behind
hundreds of bereft friends and thousands of  photographs neatly
organized in small suitcases and wooden fruit crates.

Jamie took a Polaroid once a day, every day, including his last, for 18 years.

This
photographic diary, which he called, "Polaroid of the Day," or P.O.D.,
began when Jaime was a student at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson.

The project continued when he moved to apartments in New York City
including the incredible circus memorabelia-filled loft on Fulton
Street, which he shared with his best friend. That loft was the site of
many a Glug party, an "orphans thanksgiving," a super-8 festival of
Jamie’s lyrical films, and a rollicking music jam.

An exhibition of this work, will be on view Bard College in honor of the  10th anniversary of his death.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
1979-1997
6,697 Polaroids, dated in sequence
Exhibition runs from October 13-28, 2007
Reception: October 20, 2007

Bard College
Bertelsmann Campus Center
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
organized by Friends of Jamie
Sponsored by the Bard-St. Stephens’s Alumni/ae Assocation
For more information, contact info@photooftheday.net

Rudolph Delson, hot new author of the not new novel, Maynard and Jennica,  will be doing his FIRST reading at Brooklyn Reading Works on Thursday September 20, at 8 p.m. at the Old Stone House.

This funny, wise, deep and ambitious novel weaves together dozens
of voices to create an unusual post-9/11 love story that’s a real page turner. 

Told in multiple voices, excerpts from the novel will be read by a bunch of writers and friends of the author.

Here’s the blurb:

Maynard Gogarty is a defeated musician, a reformed misanthrope who
makes a hobby of surreptitiously filming the fashion faux pas of New
York City commuters. On an uptown 6 train in the sweltering summer of
2000 he meets Jennica Green, a nostalgic Californian who calculates
that she�s been lonesome 68.53 percent of her adult life. Though their
initial acquaintance is fleeting, when fate next brings them together,
at a screening of Maynard�s film, romance intrudes. And as with most
things in life, everyone has an opinion.

In the case of Maynard & Jennica, everyone includes many living and
some dead relatives, a sultry scam artist who may or may not be Russian
or Israeli or German, a hip-hop impresario named Puppy Jones, several
dubious lawyers, a long-lost best friend, and a freelance contributor
to The New Yorker. Exuberantly illuminating much that is telling (and
often horrifying) about our times, fast-paced, and wryly funny, Maynard
& Jennica introduces an astonishing number of narrators —
thirty-five in all — while remaining true to the relationships at its
heart. The result is an uproarious and deeply moving tour de force.
Delson has given us a pair of lovers who are flawed, complex, at once
eccentric and deeply familiar — and in whose story we continue to feel
invested long after we’ve turned the last page.

Here’s an excerpt from New York Shitty about life with pink hair and more.

My buddy Rachael and I recently discussed the pros and cons of having
pink hair. I told her that though I found it enjoyable, blue seems to
better suit me. She concurred, stating “When I have pink hair it makes
people want to touch me”.

Read the rest here…

From her weather tower on Coney Island, here’s today’s weather by Rose at 8 a.m.

"Almost like yesterday. It’s on the breezy side but sunny and going to reach about 70. It’s 58 degrees now and on the cool side. But it’s going to be nice…"

Look what Sustainable Flatbush is up to:

FLATBUSH FROLIC, SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16th from 11am – 6pm

Sustainable Flatbush will have a table at this Sunday’s 30th Annual
Flatbush Frolic street fair! We will be at Booth 118, between Argyle
and Rugby.

In addition to picking up magazines and bicycle maps from
Transportation Alternatives and NYC Powerful Green Maps courtesy of
Green Apple NYC, you can test your skils with a fun Recycling Game
presented by the Department of Sanitation’s Recycling Outreach Program.

The location is Cortelyou Road between Flatbush and Coney Island
Avenues, in glorious Brooklyn. There will be live bands, food,
merchandise and arts and crafts vendors exhibiting their wares –
including an emphasis on local restaurants, musicians, businesses and
artists. If you’re around, stop by and say hi!

See you there. I will be wandering around with my postcards for Thursday’s reading by Rudy Delson at Brooklyn Reading Works (8 p.m. at the Old Stone House on Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets).

Check out the huge schedule of the Brooklyn Book Festival.

Here’s another post from Park Slope’s own Rudy Delson. He will be reading at Brooklyn Reading Works on September 20th at 8 p.m at the Old Stone House. It should be a super fun reading with friends and other writers reading from his hot new novel, Maynard and Jennica. Catch him in between doctor’s appointments.

I’ve been visiting my doctors. On Tuesday it was Dr. Jane Kutsowsky, my ophthalmologist, over on President and Fourth. She shares a clean, spare office with three other doctors, and in their lobby is a large, flat-screened TV. Tuesday afternoon, it was tuned to The Young and the Restless. I was trying to be good, trying to ignore the TV and read my Robert Walser, but the commercials were distracting. Did you know that there is an ailment called Restless Leg Syndrome? And there are prescription drugs to treat it? And that those drugs are advertised on The Young and the Restless?

Dr. Kutsowsky determined that my eyes are no worse than ever, but, in pursuit of a ghostly floater, she had to dilate my pupils to an extreme. For four to six hours, she told me, I would have trouble focusing—which meant that reading and writing were out for the rest of the day. What to do with my sudden afternoon free?

Well, I decided to visit the Statue of Liberty. Liberty permits me write; I bring her, as offerings, copies of my books. So I got on the R Train to Whitehall and then got on the ferry to Liberty Island, carrying a copy of Maynard and Jennica in my bag. It’s a longish ferry ride, and—my eyes still teary with dilation—there was nothing for me to do but listen to the tourists next to me:

“There’s rum for you, Ted.” “Bill, make rum for Ted to sit.” “Oh, who wants M&Ms?” “Oh, ha ha!” “Ha ha ha! Jeanne sure loves her M&Ms!” “She sure does.” “There’s rum for you, Ted, Bill’s going to move over.” “I’ll take some of those.” “Who wants a soda?” “Ted, sit, there’s rum.” “No, I’ll stand. Gotta burn these calories!”

Did Ted suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome, I wondered.

But I don’t like to think mean thoughts about tourists. Because, frankly, they are so touching. Americans do such silly things with their liberty; but, for the most part, when they come to New York for the first time, they’re grateful enough for their liberty to take a trip out to visit the colossus that honors the virtue. We may be indulgent, but at least we’re pious.

Anyway, as of Tuesday, a free copy of Maynard and Jennica has been left on Liberty Island. If you find it, it’s yours.

Gowanus Lounge has the goods: The Gowanus Whole Foods is delayed until 2009. What gives? Go to the Lounge to find out.

For one night only — Saturday, Sept. 15 — Club Loco, the monthly teen music club, at Old First Church opens to adults (and teens over 14) to raise funds for this season.

Favorite performers, including Cool and Unusual and Dulaney Banks, will be onstage. Wine and hors d’oeuvres, soda, and chips will be served. Items such as guitar lessons and fencing lessons are up for grabs. Cover charge is $25 (adults) $10 (teens). Tickets go on sale in front of the church from 12-5 PM on Sept. 8 and 9.

Be there.

New York 1 reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has opened a disaster assistance center to help those affected by the tornado that tore through the city on August 8th.

FEMA has officially designated Brooklyn and Queens eligible for federal assistance. The center is located at 552 59th Street in Sunset Park. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Residents can register for assistance by calling 1-800-621-FEMA or by going to www.fema.gov.

That’s the title of a post by Daniel Meeter, Pastor of Old First Church on Seventh Avenue on his Old First Blog.

Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim also has his story to share on his blog, Notes. 

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn, is a new blog from OTBKB fave and guest blogger, Brooklyn Beat. Here’s an excerpt from a post called "9/11: Metaphors for Living."

It would not be too farfetched to say that there was something
positively volcanic about the sight of the burning building in the
distance, as though a fault had erupted and some intense steam and fire
and brimstone from the bowels of the earth had been channelled to the
surface.I debarked at Union Square and began to make my way north and
west. My daughter was at a classmate’s apartment on 28th and 7th
avenue. When I arrived there were about a dozen girls hanging out, who
this mom had wonderfully rescued from the boredom of waiting to be
picked up at school. While there, I spoke to my mother. I knew the
address was familiar. She has a cousin who lives in the same building.
We managed to find her and check on her before my daughter and I
embarked on the trek home.We went to one train station but it was
closed. We walked further east and Union Square again had no trains
running. The transit workers suggested we try West 4th Street. As we
walked along the streets, the sky was filled with the huge plume of
smoke. My ears rang with the desperate clamour of the rescue vehicles
that would resound, non stop for what seemed like several days. There
was virtually no traffic in the street except the occasional emergency
vehicle.As we crossed Sixth Avenue, our faces were pelted with a fine
mist of grit and dust blowing from the southern tip of Manhattan. I
still don’t want to think what was in that fine power that we brushged
from our faces and clothes. Miraculously, the F was running and we took
it into Brooklyn to my old stop at 15th Street and Prospect Park West.

From her weather tower in Coney Island, here is the weather by Rose at 8 in the morning.

"It’s going to rain all day. It’s raining now. On and off all day. It’s in the 70’s now with chance of thunder showers. It’s terrible. The ceremony is going on. They’re setting up now. People gathering in the city for the  9/11 ceremony."

Watch out for fake twenties at Park Slope stoop sales. Daily Slope has the story plus comments. Here’s an excerpt from their story.

Over the past few weekends, people holding stoop sales have been burned
by a guy (or these guys) passing fake bills, according to posters on
the Brooklynian message board

Seeing Green’s son, Little D, is walking to school alone. He’s nine and his parents are sort of ready for this big change. Here’s an excerpt:

Elizabeth says that when she was in first grade in Los Angeles, she and a
friend would walk by themselves. And cycle in the streets. What have we lost by our perception that we can’t allow this anymore? And it is a perception more than reality
in the type of neighborhood we live in. Your child is statistically
more likely to be hit by lightning than be abducted (which I assume is
the most trenchant fear, you can after all teach your child to be
cautious about vehicles.) When D walks to and from school in Park
Slope, he probably walks by many of his friends and acquaintances. In
fact, one of our older neighbors said to Elizabeth yesterday, "He’s
growing up! Walking to school by himself." Talk about "eyes on the
street," she’s aware of a lot that happens in front of her house.

A longer post will follow in the next day or two.

Prints Charming used to be in a storefront on Seventh Avenue near Lincoln Place (now Olive Vine). Then they moved to the ground floor of a brownstone on Sterling Place.

Now they’re on Fourth Street just steps from Fifth Avenue.

So it’s a print shot AND a frame shop. With so many shops going out of business, it nice to see an old Park Slope business moving to a nice new space and expanding!

There’s so much to do at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday September 16. Too much even to mention here. So go to the website and check out the events schedule. You can also just walk around and see all the local book publishers and lit publications. Here are readings for kids ages 2 – 8 sponsored by Target. You can even have your photo taken with Bullseye, the Target dog.

10:00 a.m. Troupe Theatre— Performing Enchanting Children’s  Classics  by Ezra Jack Keats, Arthur Lobel

11:00 a.m.  Mo Willems—Elephant and Piggie; Knufflebunny: A  Cautionary Tale

11:45 a.m.  Jon Scieszka—Cowboy and Octopus; Time Warp Trio

12:30 p.m. Alyssa Satin Capucilli- Biscuit; Katy Duck

1:15 p.m.  Mari  Takabayashi–I Live in Brooklyn

2:00 p.m.  Myla  Goldberg—Catching the Moon

2:45 p.m. Randall de Seve—The Toy Boat

3:30 p.m. Tad Hills—Duck and Goose; Waking Up  Wendell

4:15 p.m. Kam Mak—My Chinatown; Moon of the Monarch Butterflies

5:00   p.m.  Pat   Cummings—Clean Your Room Harvey   Moon

From her weather tower in Coney Island, here is today’s weather by Rose at 7 a.m.

"It’s very, very foggy out my window. I can’t see anything. The weatherman says there’s a chance of showers this afternoon. It’s already 79 degrees. So it’s going to be hot and muggy today. And there may be some rain."

New York 1 reports that Chris Monson won The Second Annual Brooklyn Bridge Swim, the 45-minute, 1 kilometer race from the shores of East River Park in Manhattan to Brooklyn Bridge Park. One participant told this to New York 1:

"I thought it’d be cold, but probably 75 degrees, and it felt great, warm. It had a funny taste but tried not to swallow too much."