Dope or Nope...

Everybody loves hot wings ... or at least, everybody SHOULD love hot wings. I am a traditionalist - I like to dip my wings in blue-cheese dressing. However, some people actually like dipping wings in ranch dressing.

This doesn't fly well with me (no pun intended). This is like going to a sushi restaurant and ordering chicken teriyaki. I am so nope to this. I just need to know why people would even consider ruining the entire hot wing experience by doing this.

Please, enlighten me.

80's Corner

Heff, I'm not sure if this was created or sold prior to the 80's, but to me, it is all 1980's. The Etch-a-Sketch was kind of like the first "graphic-design" software ... or not. Well, it certainly wasn't for me. I wasn't very creative when it came to the Etch-a-Sketch. However, it didn't prevent me from playing with the Etch-A-Sketch for hours and hours at a time.

Sure, all I ever did was make simple looking houses for the most part, or just weird, ergonomically incorrect scribbles, but it was a creative release for my growing mind.

The cool part is that this toy is still popular to this day. Mr. A-Sketch made a killing on this.

Fast Food Corner

In addition to numerous fast food chains, Delaware County has some really great local fast-food joints. One of my favorites is Zac's Burgers. The fast food haven has grown tremendously in popularity in the past 10 years or so, opening 6 restaurants in the area.

They specialize in burgers - think Wendy's, but better. Sure, the price is a little higher, but you just get the feeling that they put a little more TLC in their burgers, and use fresher ingredients.

Plus, these guys have FANTASTIC milkshakes. It's as if they invented them.

What I'm trying to say is that if you find yourself in the Philadelphia area and are not in the mood for cheese-steaks, maybe you should take it upon yourself to find Zac's, and have a burger. You can thank me later.

Song of the Week

Have ever had an experience in which you've heard a song from a group that you are luke-warm to, but the song all of the sudden makes you a big fan of the group? This happened to me with the band "The Kooks." The Kooks are an indie rock band, that probably has some power-pop influences to them. Initially, their songs sound a little to "happy," or at least that's what I thought. Sure, I could listen to them, but I never really felt like I had to dive deeper into this band ... until!

"Always Where I Need to Be" is a tune that sounds similar to some of Rooney's remarkably addicting songs. The song has a great opening riff, good vocals, a "doo-doo-do-do" chorus that refuses to leave your skull, even long after the song is over. My god, I could listen to this song for an hour straight.

Just a fun, song - check it out below, and tell me you're not tapping your toes.

Cruisin!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am going on my first cruise, starting this Saturday. I'll be gone for a week. But don't worry - I've loaded my blog site with pending posts to help you cope with my absence. I apologize in advance for not coming to visit your blogs next week - I promise I'll make it up to you.

Anyway - we're going on a cruise to Bermuda - it's a 6-day, 5-night cruise, and we are sailing out of New York on Royal Carribean. Like I've said, I have never experienced cruising, but it sounds awesome! I mean, we have rock-climbing, ice-skating, roller-blading, casino, pool lots of bars, and great food. How can this miss?

Plus, we're going to the tropic destination of Bermuda - how cool is that? We'll be there two days - and I'm sure I'll have tons of great stories (and a great sun-burn) to share ... that is, of course, unless we run into a hurricane (hey, no wonder the prices are so low - we're smack in the middle of hurricane season ... this can't end good!).

Wish me luck! I'll be back with pics and great stories to update you on!

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's Weekly Homework Assignment! This week, I chose the prompt - If you were a super hero, what would your super power be and why?

I've never been into super heroes too much ... I mean, sure, I thought Superman, Batman and Spiderman were cool, but I never really collected comic books, or followed them much outside of cartoons. But, seriously, who doesn't want to be a super-hero?

Here's a list of potential super heroes I could be:
* Pull My Finger Man - My wife would probably submit this one, because of the large amounts of gas I bring home with me from work.
* Sarcasto! - I'm a sarcastic person ... just about all the time ... so, my super power would be to overwhelm the villain with sarcasm ... not sure how this would play out, though.
* The Masked Fast-Foodinator - I'd fill the criminals with so much fast food, their arteries would harden. Mild mannered fry chef during the day, The Masked Fast-Foodinator at night!
* Beer Man - "Filling up empty glasses coast-to-coast!" I'd probably be the most popular super-hero!
* The Schu-plattler - A German folk dancer, I would kick and punch my way to victory via songs from Oberkraner Power and The Happy Austrians!

Dope or Nope ...

Aluminum Baseball Bats ... they are used in little leagues, all the way up through college. But they are not used in the pros.

I hate watching college baseball, mainly because of that annoying ting of the bat. It doesn't sound like baseball to me. Yet, when I was a kid, I loved using aluminum bats - they were lighter and it seemed I could hit the ball farther with those bats.

So, I guess I'm torn by it. I hate watching people use aluminum bats, but I like using them. I guess, if I had to choose a side, I'd be a "nope." What about you guys?

80's Corner

What's the one thing that most people remember about the 80's? My guess would be the Mullet. It took the U.S. by storm, lasted about 5 years or so, and now is about as popular has the Hitler mustache ... that is, of course, unless you are a huge hockey fan ... or a country music buff (sounds to me like the mullet either never died here, or never fully went away ... like an annoying cock-roach colony).

I sported a mullet of sorts in the late 1980's ... Sadly (or not), I was never able to don a full mullet, because my hair was far too curly - not a good thing when it comes to mullet-sporting.

The classic tag-line of the mullet was "Business in the front, party in the back." It went well with acid-washed jeans and sneakers without shoelaces.

Fast Food Corner

There was a time in the late 80's and early 90's where fast food chicken restaurants were disappearing from the greater Delaware County area. Sure, we still had our KFC, but other places like Popeyes, Church's, and Genos faded faster than The Dallas Cowboys do in December.

That trend has changed the past two years. Yep, Popeyes has come back with authority, opening numerous restaurants in the area, thus challenging the almighty Colonel. Now, a Church's Chicken just opened up in Woodlyn. With the tremendously positive experience I had at Popeye's, I'm looking forward to giving Church's a whirl. In the coming weeks, I'll have a full recap of the experience. Thank me later.

Song of the Week

Does it Offend You, Yeah? is a British electronic pop band. Their band name is weird, and their videos are even stranger. But they make damn good music. They are compared to bands like the Killers and Daft Punk, but to me, they sound a lot like the 1980's synth pop bands. They do add their own touches to this "genre" that seems to be making a major comeback in the alt-rock arena.

The song I can't get out of my head when I hear it is called "Dawn of the Dead." The funny part about this song title is that I don't think they even say those words at all. Still, the song is addicting, weaving in synth pop sounds that work, with a voice that probably could've been the lead of bands like New Order, The Fixx, or Erasure.

This diddy also adds an addicting chorus that will rattle and roll in your head for hours at a time (like it's doing to me right now).

Check out this "interesting" video here.

Song of the Week

I stumbled across this band whilst listening to the Slacker (by the way, if you don't have a Slacker, or use the software on either your computer or your smart-phone, you don't know what you're missing. Anyway, the band is named "The Whigs." I like this name ... probably because one of my all-time favorite bands was called "The Afghan Whigs." The Whigs really don't sound much like the Afghan Whigs - they are more along the lines of Franz Ferdinand, The Bravery, and The Killers - you know, newish alt-rock.

They have many addicting songs, lots of great hooks, and just fun-sounding music. Traditional 60's era drum sounds, simplistic, yet catchy. It really doesn't matter how simple or complex it is, as long as it's good. Anyway, the song I can't get out of my head is their song "I Never Want to Go Home." It can't be found on either of their two albums, but can be downloaded. I highly recommend it. You can sample it here.

The story surrounding this band is really interesting, especially how they created their first album. If you want to read more, go here.

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's Weekly Homework Assignment! This week, I chose the prompt: Your Fall favorites.

I love the fall - I always have! Even when I was a kid, having to go back to school, I loved it. I loved playing soccer. I loved the chilly nights ... able to see my breath in the mornings on my way to school. I loved the leaf piles that I would always jump in.

Now that I'm older, I love the fall for different reasons. Sure, I enjoy seeing the leaves change color, and eventually fall (although I'm not a big fan of raking the leaves).

I especially love the sports that overtake the fall - college and pro football, baseball playoffs, the start of the hockey season.

I love the holidays in the fall - I love Halloween, and dressing up for Halloween to this very day. I enjoy Thanksgiving - seeing and hanging out with family (and of course, watching football!).

I like wearing jeans - I've liked them as far back as I can remember ... probably because I wanted to be like The Fonz back in the day. Now, I just think they're comfortable. I like sweat pants too, and tend to lounge in them for weekends at a time.

Truth is, I probably like all the seasons for different reasons.

Dope or Nope

This one comes from the movie, PCU, a movie that came out in the early 1990's about college-life ... sure, it wasn't as good as Animal House, but still definitely worth the watch. In the movie, Jeremy Piven's character says something along the lines of, "Don't be that guy!" to a fellow fraternity member who had on a shirt with the rock band he was about to go see. So, I ask you this - do you agree with this statement? In other words, is it uncool to wear a shirt with the band name to a concert featuring that particular band?

I don't know if I've ever done that before, but I don't really think it's that big of a deal. I mean, really? That's a no-no? Then, why even bother selling shirts at those concerts? What's the problem with this anyway?

80's Corner

Acid-Washed Jeans ... need I say more? Oh, I do? OK - well then! This phenomenon took America by storm in the 80's. Basically, you take jeans, wash them in acid until they fade or, better yet, start getting rips or holes in them. I had all kinds of these jeans ... I loved them, but they never seemed to last very long, usually the holes in them would rip further the more times they were washed, usually leaving you with something that resembled blue spaghetti. But, man did I love these jeans - made me look cool (especially with that electric blue Oakley jacket!).

Fast Food Corner

So, what exactly is your definition of fast food? Most likely, you're definition will have something along the lines of getting food fast. Well, if that's indeed the case, I think Taco Bell no longer qualifies as fast food. Let me explain.

This past Friday, my brother, his wife, and I went to Taco Bell to pick up fast food for Fast Food Friday (still awaiting a copyright for that). We get there, and order our food. I am not making this up when I say it took about 20 minutes for us to get our food. 20 minutes! We could've gone to a more "authentic" Mexican restaurant and gotten our order in less than that time. 20 minutes! Really? How can that even be justified?

Seriously, Taco Bell. If the reason you can't get my food to me quicker than in 20 minutes is because your prices are so low, then I suggest you add 10 cents to the price of everything and pick up the pace. I have always liked your food, from a fast food standpoint. But, I can't justify ever going back (this has happened more than once, by the way).

We'll Never Forget ...

Eight years ... has it really been that long? It feels like yesterday sometimes. You know, "when our innocence was lost?" El Padrino, a New Yorker, put together a great post about 9-11, and his experiences and feelings. I think his blog captures it all so well.

I commented on his blog that I'll never forget where I was or what I was doing. I had been in work (at Penn State Delaware County) a little less than an hour, when my co-worker, Deb, came in and announced that my boss, Joe, was coming in late - he was following a story about a plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately thought it was a small, private plane. I had no idea of the magnitude of this story.

I immediately clicked on cnn.com, and began following the story. With every passing minute, the story got more and more grave and serious. Then, a second plane crashed into the tower. My god, we're being attacked! Is this even possible? By this point, I couldn't even click on cnn.com - so many people were getting their news from there that the site was crashing. I ended up going to the BBC website to get my updates ... just surreal.

I remember going to the cafeteria because that was the only place that had an external tv feed. I watched in horror, and even remember saying to Deb, "these buildings are going to fall." I don't even know why I said it, but I just knew. Sure enough, the impossible happened.

I remember following this story all day (and then all week, and then all month, etc.). I remember hearing of the other planes. I remember worrying that my girlfriend was in trouble because she worked in Philly. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming.

My god, has it really been 8 years already?

By the way, if you haven't had a chance, read this article.

Retro

I was going through my old website, and came across a pretty funny guest post from "Mung." I figured I'd share it with you:

My secretary loves crack
I am not wearing a belt today. This is problematic. You see, I got up early and went to the gym before work. This, in and of itself surprises many of you, I am sure. Regardless, I packed up my work clothes (casual Friday, you know…) and headed off. After I worked out, I took a shower. I used soap. As I got dressed, I realized that I did not bring a belt with me. Normally, my moderate heft aids in keeping my pants up, but today, the situation is a little different. I have on a this neato pair of pants that have this revolutionary new Teflon© coating on them to help with stains. Yes, any kind of stain. I also have a shirt on that I took to the cleaners and had laundered and starched. It is a fairly fine grade cotton button-down shirt. The problem arises in that I have this fairly smooth shirt tucked into these slippery-ass pants and let me tell you…things are not working out. My pants keep falling down like a fried egg flies out of Inga's (Los's mom) bacon-grease soaked frying pan. I think our secretary caught a little glimpse o’ me crack!

F- Canada
Not a big hockey fan, but I caught an article about our National Anthem being booed at the Islanders- Canadiens game the other night. F- those morons. Can you say, “52nd State?” I only know like one or two Canadians and as far as I remember, they were not real bright. When I was a kid, there was this Canadian guy that, every summer, would drive from like somewhere in the taiga of Quebec down to my parents house to collect persimmons out of this tree in our yard. He apparently knew the dead people who lived there before us. He was really odd and drove a Renault and had a blue tint to his face. He was such a dick…just showing up and shaking our persimmon tree. FYI, the persimmon is a gooey, apricot like fruit sans the pit. It is like a small, silicone breast implant, but it is pink. Anyway, I’m like, “dude, those stupid ass fruits keep falling out of that tree onto my Datsun. What’s the deal?” He just ignored me and kept shaking. Parlez vous English, blue face? I thought it was cool when my parents built a deck and we had to cut down the persimmon tree. Though they did not think about it at the time, I could not wait for Jacques Thibeaut to roll in with his little fag French car and look for the persimmon tree, only to see a nice new deck built where it once stood.

I agree with Los, finally
Though I do not wax sentimental as much as Los does about our college years, I was thinking today about one specific thing. It was late spring, 1994. We decided to have a party at the fabled apartment in Cedarbrook. I don’t know where we came up with this figure or what made us think we could do it, but we bought 11 f-in kegs of beer. I remember Grubb dismounting Rachel long enough to take us down to Nittany beverage and filling his little Chevy truck with 11 kegs. I also remember bringing them into the apartment and just sitting them around, in no particular pattern, to be tapped when one of the others ran out. I think we used like 900 cups that day. There were people from 28 states and 7 countries there. It was just the most surreal thing when I look back it. I remember around 11 o’clock or so at night, we sang happy birthday to someone, and just as it ended, the opening riffs of “Crackerman” by Stone Temple Pilots tore out of the speakers at the perfect time. Freehauf dove off the bar. The next morning, the sweet stench of stale beer and cigarettes still permeated the apartment. I woke up alone, wondering if it was Durff or Grubb or Matt Scott who had violated my girlfriend that night. But, I did not care. We had rocked.

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's Weekly Homework Assignment! This week I chose the following prompt: Transcribe a recent entertaining conversation you recently had with someone.

Oh boy ... I have many entertaining conversations with many people on almost a daily basis. One that really sticks out is a conversation I had with a close friend via text-messaging (cell phone) regarding the Michael Vick signing in Philadelphia. A few things to keep in mind - my friend is as stubborn as a mule (so am I). Also, he is so far right politically, that fascists think he's nuts.

Anyway, here goes:

Ray-Ray: I gotta find another team to root for, now that Vick is with the Eagles.
Me: I'm not thrilled with the move, but I'm sticking with the Birds.
Ray-Ray: How can you possibly even consider doing that with that criminal Vick on the team?
Me: Let me preface this by saying I wish the Eagles didn't make the move. However, I'm willing to take a wait and see approach with this.
Ray-Ray: That's absolutely ridiculous. That guy doesn't deserve a second chance anywhere, after killing all those dogs via electrocution, hanging, etc.
Me: It's not up to me to decide that. Besides, he did his time. I think he deserves a second chance. If he screws this up, the Eagles will suffer, anyway.
Ray-Ray: So, do you think Hitler deserved a second chance?
Me: Really? Are we comparing Vick to Hitler now?
Ray-Ray: Well ... not exactly.
Me: So, let me get this straight. Nobody deserves a second chance. Is that it? So, when Rush Limbaugh was caught buying Oxycontin black-market style, should he have been given a second chance?
Ray-Ray: Rush wasn't given a second chance. He started up his own radio show.
Me: Sounds to me like he got a second chance.
Ray-Ray: So, if Vick had killed 30 million dogs, would that have been enough for you?
Me: Really? Another Hitler reference?

And on and on it went. If any of you know me or Ray-Ray, you know it is practically impossible to sway us with logic ... as hopefully was demonstrated here.

Dope or Nope ...

Here's one that will probably stir up some serious conversation/argument. Pizza crust. Some people can't get enough of it, while other leave it to the side, wanting instead to save room for more of the actual pizza.

I'm of the belief that pizza crust is absolutely delicious and essential. People who refuse to eat the pizza crust are not true pizza eaters in my humble opinion. The crust of the pizza is like the skin of fried chicken ... ya gotta eat it! It's delicious!

I eat the pizza crust plain, but I don't mind dipping it into sauces like pizza sause, or garlic sauce, or butter sauce .... great, I just drooled on myself. I however, think adding cheese to the inside of the crust (like Pizza Hut does) is overkill ... there's already enough cheese on the actual pizza.

80's Corner

As a young Los, wading his way through his early life, Los's Mom introduced him to a magical juice that came in a pouch ... one in which Los had to craftily punch a hole in said pouch with a flimsy plastic straw that broke more times than it should've. The juice? Capri Sun, of course!

At the time, it was unlike any packaging juice has ever seen ... sure, we had bottles, cans, and even boxes ... but no, that wasn't enough. The fine makers of Capri Sun decided it was important ... no, vital to introduce another end-point for juice ... some sort of metallic-looking pouch that was nearly impossible to open. In order to pierce this metal, one had to provide quite a bit of force and velocity to the attached straw. If you broke the straw, you were SOL. I think I may have used scissors once or twice, but what's the point of doing this? You'd have to pour the contents into a glass afterwards, defeating the entire purpose.

Once you got your straw in, you sucked away, creating perfect suction, as the juice left the bag. If you were daring enough, you could squeeze the pouch and try to catch the juice shooting out with your mouth ... or just shoot your friends with it. Brings back so many memories ... they should probably make adult alcohol Capri Sun ... nah, maybe they shouldn't.

Fast Food Corner

Not sure if anybody read this story recently, but the founder of Papa John's Pizza apparently went through an exhaustive search to find his 1971 Camaro he sold to start up his pizza franchise in 1983. Considering how successful Papa John's has been, I think he made the right choice in selling his car.

I'm guessing he really, really missed it, because he ended up paying about 250,000 for said Camaro. I guess more amazing is that the car still looks and runs great!

Just a side note about Papa John's - it's a very creative and front-thinking pizza restaurant. Did you know that they were the first national chain to create an online "tool" that allows people to order pizza ... this was back in 2002, by the way.

I've only had Papa John's once or twice ... it's really good pizza, but we tend to order from mom and pop shops in the area. We're loyal like that.


You can read about the story here.

Song of the Week

The song starts off with a driving drumbeat, and a chorus of "Read all the pamphlets ... and watch the tapes." It's a sound you'd probably expect to hear off a Ramones' album. However, the LCD Soundsystem diddy quickly turns to more of a disco sound, without truly abandoning the punks undertone ... quite a fusion. It's a song you'd probably hear at a night-club, but wouldn't be out of place at a bar.

Catchy hooks, and choruses - this song probably isn't radio clean enough, but is catchy nevertheless. The chorus is very catchy, looks like it was influenced by Warren Zevon's Warewolves in London, and the baseline is strong and powerful ... lots of synthesizers, but they work well.

The song ends much like it begins, with everything fading but the "Read all the pamphlets, and watch the tapes" over the same driving drum beat.

Couldn't find the video, but here's the song in case you're interested.

Can It!!!

Penn State recently announced that tailgaters who are tailgating on the grass are no longer allowed to drink beer in bottles. In fact, tailgaters are no longer allowed to bring any bottles whatsoever onto any fields where they are tailgating. They are only allowed to bring cans. According to the story in Philly.com, "Officials say it's a safety issue for children, students and animals that use the field the rest of the year."

However, tailgaters who are tailgating on concrete are still allowed to drink from bottles. That makes a lot of sense ... about as much sense as Brett Favre's retirement/unretirement flip flops. I mean, wouldn't it be more dangerous to drop a bottle on concrete than it would be to drop a bottle on grass? Plus, do you think a drunk tailgater would be less likely to discard a can on the field over a bottle?

These Penn Sate policymakers are well on their way to lucrative government positions.

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's weekly homework assignment! This week, I chose the prompt: Share your friendly advice for someone you think needs it.

For those of you people who are fans of sports teams you have no connection with ... i.e. you never lived in or around the city of the team, you never went to that team's college, OR you didn't have close family who attended there ... you are NOT A REAL SPORTS FAN!

I'm talking to you, you Notre Dame fans who live nowhere near South Bend ... who just seem to like the team because ... well, because you're either Catholic or Irish. I'm sorry, you aren't a true fan. I have enjoyed the past few years in which the Irish have looked about as bad as the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's been great not having to listen to you gloat about a team you have no real connection with.

I'm talking to you Yankees fans who probably haven't even stepped foot in New York. Seriously, did you buy your Lakers Kobe jersey this past summer? How 'bout those Penguins? Gotta love the Gators, right? You're a fair-weather fan, and I have no respect for you.

I'm talking to you Cowboys fans! Oh, I'm sorry. The home-team wasn't doing so well when you began following Jerry's kids? No excuse. A true fan sticks by his (and her) team through thick and thin ... that's part of what being a fan is all about. I hate you.

Do me a favor (seriously, humor me) - Read Rick Reilly's column on espn.com. He says it far better than I ever could.

Dope or Nope ...

Here's a topic near and dear to my heart - Pro Wrestling. It has experienced several highs and lows over the past 25 years or so. Who can forget the "Rock and Wrestling" era of the mid 1980's, or the Monday Night Wars of the 1990's? What about the tragedy around Chris Benoit, and the deaths of several wrestlers in the past 10 years, that brings up issues with wrestling policies?

I have no idea why, but I enjoy watching and following wrestling. I've been a fan for more than 25 years, and tend to be like an encyclopedia when it comes to wrestling history. I think it's an escape from reality ... much like people watching American Idol or NASCAR. Maybe I'm just fooling myself.

So, what do you think of pro wrestling?

80's Corner

I remember it clear as day ... being down on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, walking past one of those "Wings" clothing stores ... seeing that electric blue Oakley windbreaker on sale for $15. I immediately fell in love. I eagerly purchased that sucker and wore it for years ... long after it went out of style, unfortunately.

And yes, I still own that windbreaker ... and eagerly await the day that the style gods once again look kindly upon said loud jacket. One day .... one day I'll be back on top of the fashion world ... one day!