It feels like fall out there! Finally! I pulled some flannel out of the closet upstairs and swapped out my short-sleeve polos and shorts. It’s a good day to be inside, with all this rain and wind.

We met Teri for some snackies and wine at Bellview for one of the last soirees of the season Friday after work. Next weekend Rhonda and I will be in New Brunswick visiting Aaron at Rutgers for Parents Weekend. I’ll have plenty to share for sure. Tripsy is all loaded up with ideas and a reservation for Le Malt Lounge on Saturday. We’re planning on stopping at Stokelan Estate Winery on ride up.

Buena Connection’s The Backroads

Rhonda and I rolled up to Hammonton yesterday to restock our salami stash; they have these big unmarked salami that are identifiable as spicy or mild only by a rubber band. They are always excellent and will last you a while unless your salami lust is boundless.

We stopped off for a pint at the Buena Connection Brewery, which I’ve featured a few times here. I tried their Backroads IPA, which they describe thusly:

Pours like a pale yellow, almost straw-like color with a light-moderate haze. notes of fresh squeezed orange juice with a medley of citrus and tropical aromatics

It’s their take on the juicy, hazy style of IPA that has found favor among hopheads in the last few years. It was excellent. I was tempted by their Photon (kölsch) and Western Sky (West Coast IPA), and of course the Oktoberfest. I was really happy with my selection. A former classmate of Rhonda’s pours pints there and we love to chew the fat with him while we have a few sips. I actually cycled with him once, back when I first started riding with the group that would become Paramount Cycling Club.

Gerard Bertrand Gris Blanc

After the salami run, we stopped at Rocco’s Town House for an early dinner (are we that old now?) and it was once again excellent. We asked for a bottle of White Horse Winery’s rosé, but they were out. The waitress suggested this gris blanc, it was perfect: crisp, but with a touch of tart fruit on the palate.

I had scallops for dinner, and we shared their steamed mussels first. All really really good.

Tron 4K

I was a wee pup of seven years when Disney’s Tron debuted in theaters. It was the kind of special effects-heavy kid-friendly sci fi flick that us kids dug right into, including the five-points-of-aritculation Tomy toy line. Tron:Ares just came out in theaters, and while I don’t think I’ll see it there, I will as soon as it comes out on Disney+. I thought it would be fun to watch the original, which I’ve done many times over the years. I cued it up the other night and started watching, and the first thought I had was, “wow, the special effects really hold up.”

Rhonda remarked that it must have been touched up, and she was right:

The original Tron has been digitally scanned and meticulously restored by The Walt Disney Film Restoration team, which corrected the new digital master for dirt, warping and other source imperfections. Resulting, Disney claims, in “pristine image quality.” The Restoration Team’s work was all undertaken under the supervision of director Steven Lisberger, too, to ensure that the remaster remains true to the original artistic intent.

I’ve encouraged the boys over the years to enjoy Tron, as I did with DC and Marvel comics, Star Wars, and lots of other plastic pursuits. Diamond Select released a three-pack of Tron figures that borrowed the Tomy line’s colored translucent plastic, but with updated articulation and detail compared to the original line. I ordered it for the boys back then and Aaron was kind enough to let me display the Kevin Flynn figure on my desk.

There’s a lot to ponder on rewatching Tron: the nominal hero, Tron, overshadowed in plot and on screen by an impossibly young Jeff Bridges; the anthropomorphized “programs” that live in the Grid; and questions of identity and free will.