Political "Incorrectness"

As most of you probably know, I try not to talk politics ... I have my own beliefs, but respectfully try not to push them on people ... at the same time, I don't mind having intelligent conversations regarding politics from time to time. Unfortunately, it seems that most people (at least the vocal ones) have really strong (blind, stubborn, etc.) beliefs, and refuse to engage in intelligent discussions, choosing instead to belittle others who don't agree with their "party."

First, let me say that both sides of the aisle unfortunately participate in this idiotic pissing party ... from politicians, to radio talk show hosts, to newspaper writers, to bloggers, and even my friends - heck, I have friends who are republicans and democrats ... for the most part, they can speak, and more importantly, listen intelligently when discussing political issues ... however, I do have a couple of friends who are phanatical about their politics, and unfortunately, are unable to participate in intelligent political discussions ... I remember a party at my house where two of my best friends got into a fist-fight over politics ... folks, that's just ridiculous. Those two friends are no longer permitted to talk politics when they are in my presence.

Recently, I heard of a political spat among some of my blogger friends (I won't divulge any names) - instead of using the forum as a place to discuss each ideology in an intelligent manner, some of these bloggers chose to act like complete imbeciles. If you can't participate in a "smart" discussion on politics, where you are able to at the very least listen to the other side's perspective (so that you can get a better idea where they are coming from), maybe you should at some point try and grow up. It's a free country folks - you're allowed to have your own beliefs, and they don't necessarily have to be the same as another person ... that's what makes this country great. Otherwise, it would be a dictatorship ... or maybe a cult, right?

Why call it that?

There's been a lot of hype surrounding the new Star Trek movie, and for good reason. First, J.J. Abrams, the mind behind the smash TV show Lost directed this blockbuster. And, hey, it's a Star Trek movie, it has a large cult following to begin with.

I'm not a "Trekkie," and I'm kind of excited to see this flick. And, apparently, there are many, many people like me - which means that Abrams hit the mark with his portrayal.

One thing that bothers me - he calls it a "reimagining" of the Star Trek story. I'm not sure why, but I absolutely HATE that term. Really, it's a prequel, isn't it? Why can't it be called this? Why do directors have to use terms like reimagining and rebooting (like the Batman movies)?

Seriously, why not create your own movie with your own Sci-Fi storyline? I mean, isn't this what Star Wars was? Couldn't Star Wars have theoretically been a "reimagining" of Star Trek? Heck, all gangster movies could probably be a rebooting of The Godfather, right? Was Adam Sandler's football movie, The Longest Yard, a "reimagining" of the classic? No - it was a remake.

Reimagining or Rebooting is like screwing with the past, isn't it? Can the Bible be "rebooted?" What about history? Can the Civil War be reimagined? Wait, I think the South has already done this, right? Nevermind.

I'm Sorry, What's Your Name?!?!?!?

Philadelphia has had a "storied" history when it comes to professional soccer - outdoor teams like the Philadelphia Atoms, and Philadelphia Fury graced our area for at least a couple of years. Indoor teams like the Fever and the Kixx had a little bit more success. But really, Philadelphia never really embraced soccer - that's why it came as kind of a shock when I heard the City of Brotherly Love would once again give it a go with soccer.

Just for the record, I'm a soccer fan - I've played it since I was a little tyke, and I enjoy watching it. I'm sure I'll probably attend at least a few games next year when the franchise starts playing.

Here's the thing though. I'm really not thrilled about the name. Certainly any of the previous names that Philly used for it's soccer team would've been better than this. That's right, folks - the new name of the Philadelphia soccer team is the "Union." Really? Union? Is this the best name to choose, considering how the UAW helped to sink the auto industry in the U.S.?

Hey, I think unions serve a good purpose ... but only until they get far too big and bloated for their worth. Understand, absolute power corrupts asolutely ... and sadly, we've seen it with just about every "big" union ever created. In Philly, we have so many unions, nothing gets done ... unless you have tons and tons of money (or friends in the local political offices).

I'm interested in finding out more about why this name was chosen. I mean, if they wanted to symbolize Philadelphia, why not use "Cheese-steaks," or "Soft Pretzels," or better yet, "Meter Maids."

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time again for Mama Kat's weekly homework assignment - click here to find out more. I chose the prompt "I remember when ..."

I remember when the Commodore 64 was the coolest "gaming" system around. I remember when it would take 5-10 minutes to load a game on the Commodore 64 ... and we didn't even complain about it. Now, we get pissed when we have to wait 30 seconds to load a game on one of the next-gen systems! We'd normally either eat a sandwich for lunch, or possibly even have a catch with the football out front while we waited for the game to load.

Most of the time, the game loaded, but there were some games, like Bruce Lee or Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird One on One ... basically, 10 minutes of loading was wasted ... sure we'd get pissed, but we'd try to reload the game.

The best thing about the Commodore 64 was the whole "pirate hacking" culture. Basically, there was some sort of "network" of hackers, who hacked a bunch of games, and created copy disks - I was lucky enough to be plugged into this network, and was able to "acquire" quite a few copy disks - as well as a ton of games ... so many, in fact, that I was never able to play all of them ... a wonderful problem to have! One of the funny nuances I remember was buying a bunch of floppy disks, and using a hole puncher to make them "double-sided," which meant we could copy games onto both sides of the disk.

In fact, my friend BT did a podcast about the Commodore 64, and I made a "special" guest appearance - check it out here (episode 9).

Song of the Week

I like a lot of bands that nobody else knows about (or probably even likes). One of my favorite "personal bands" is a Canadian rock group from the early 1980's (actually, they were together until the early 90's) is Platinum Blonde. Their early sound was very similar to Duran Duran - in fact, they were known as the Canadian Duran Duran. How did a kid from Philly ever find out about this band?

Well, as luck would have it, my parents had friends in Canada, and they sent me the "Standing in the Dark" cassette for my 11th birthday - it was probably the first "rock" album that I owned - so I immediately took a liking to them. The first song on the album, "It Doesn't Really Matter" still resounds in my head after so many years.

The opening features a female voice saying "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin." This is followed by a catchy guitar lick. The lyrics apparently are very political, talking about political officials who ignore the best interests of their own people. Some pretty powerful drums and a strong base fill out the background of the song. If you like Duran Duran, you'll probably enjoy this song ... and most likely, the rest of the album (even if it is a bit more intelligent than Simon's stuff).

Fast Food Corner

I am blessed to live near Philadelphia ... and, no, it's obviously not because of the mostly inept sports teams that call the City of Brotherly Love home. Actually, it's really because of cheese-steaks! People outside of Philly can't understand all the hub-bub (yeah, I went with that word) over cheese-steaks, and there's one major reason - PHILLY ROLLS!

You HAVE to use the right roll when making a cheese-steak - it's probably the most overlooked item in the making of a cheese-steak - and that's really the main reason why these "Philly Cheese-steak" joints outside of Philadelphia don't measure up. Seriously, the other ingredients are important - you need a high quality beef, good cheese, perfectly sauteed onions, but if you fail to use a good roll, you will fail.

If you ever visit Philly, you HAVE to get a cheese-steak, and here are just a few of the fine restaurants in Philly that serve fantastic ones (in no particular order):

1. Pat's - probably the most famous of the cheese-steak franchises, this sits in the heart of South Philly on 9th and Passyunk, complete with gaudy neon lights, and beef that is chopped finely. Can't go wrong here.

2. Geno's - A close (and not so friendly) neighbor of Pat's - steak that is not chopped, but tastes fantastic. Most Philadelphians say you either love Geno's or Pat's, but you can't love both. I say, bull!

3. Jim's - This restaurant is conveniently located on South Street. Generous portions of steak, and a 2nd floor that provides a great view of South Street. Lot's of pics of famous people too.

4. Ishkabibles is also located on South Street, and has good cheese-steaks. They also have really good fries and wings ... in case you aren't in the mood for cheese-steaks ... for some weird reason.

5. Leo's - This one's not in the city. Actually, it's located in Sharon Hill ... but, it's one of the best in the area.... large amounts of beef, great rolls, and local (for me).

Seriously, Bret?

Seriously, Mr. Favre ... it's time to stay retired. We've put up with your act for quite a few years now ... teetering on the brink of retirement and coming back to the NFL ... We're sick of the circus atmosphere you've created and allowed to fester. We were ok with your act a few years ago ... heck, you were a legend in the sport, and you gave us many years of joy. But now, it's just plain sad, seeing a guy who no longer has what it takes to be an NFL player, trying to come back again and again.

We even were sort of ok with you coming back last year with the New York Jets ... many of us felt that you may have been unceremoniously released by the Packers ... we were all probably wrong. The Packers had enough of your "uncertainty" act. You became a diva who wanted the Packers to beg you to come back. When the Packers held you to your "retirement wishes," you got pissed off. You immediately acted like a baby who cries because he can't have his cookie.

The Packers allowed you to start all over with the Jets, but this wasn't enough for you. No, you want to get back at the Packers, and are now considering a move to play for the Minnesota Vikings, so that you can stick it to the team and city you used to "own." Seriously, Bret, it's time for you to grow up ... it's time for you to get over the fact that the Packers moved on. Why don't you just ride off into the sunset with a little bit of grace for once?

Jose, You Can't See ...

There was a story on ESPN.com a few days ago that steroid-injecting legend Jose Canseco will be fighting in a Mixed Martial Arts match. Really? At this point, Gene Simmons thinks that Jose Canseco has whored himself out too much. What's next, the Canseco Grill (a knock on the Foreman Grill for you slow readers)?

I'm pretty sure Jose made quite a bit of money as a baseball player, right? I'm also guessing he hauled in some cash with his books ... not too mention through speaking engagements and commercials, he's probably raked in many millions of dollars. How the heck is he broke at this point? Has he been buying gold toilet paper or something?

He did some "celebrity" boxing matches about a year ago, and got his bloated butt kicked. Obviously, he has no chance in the Octagon. I mean, will people buy the PPV just to see him get obliterated? I guess that's what the people running the show are hoping for.

Part of me feels sorry for the guy ... obviously, he lived beyond his means ... but, seriously, what the heck did he do with all that money? Steroids aren't that expensive, are they?

Whatever Happend to Boxing?

Remember those days when boxing mattered? I remember them well - I got into boxing around the end of Ali's run ... I remember the last embarrassing matches of the legend, but I also remember ABC's Wild World of Sports showing his classics against Foreman and Frazier. I remember the Thomas Hearns vs. Hagler fights, or the Sugar Ray Leonard matches. They were awesome. Heck, I even remember how big of an event it was watching the Mike Tyson PPV's with my friends, making bets on which round he was going to obliterate his opponent in. And then, starting in the 90's, the sport took a nose-dive. But why? I have a few theories:

* Don King - he made the sport popular beyond belief, but the blatant corruption he pumped into the sport ultimately took its toll. If you didn't fight for Don King, you probably weren't going to hit mainstream boxing. King usually had controlling interest in both main event fighters ... folks, that's never a good thing.
* The Rise of Mixed Martial Arts fighting - The shows are all over regular tv, and there seems to be a big PPV on a weekly basis. The fighting is real, and it's violent ... boxing looks like child's play compared to this. Fans who once got their "violence" fix from boxing, get it at a much higher rate watching UFC or Pride shows.
* Less athlete's are going to boxing - it seems like most of the talent are looking into other sports, such as football, basketball, and even baseball (not to mention MMA). Boxing no longer seems like a popular outlet for kids.
* Our society seems to be turning everyone into whimps - when I was a kid and played tee-ball, we actually kept score ... and one team won while the other team lost. As kids, we learned a valuable lesson that sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. Unfortunately, I've heard that many of these youth clubs don't allow scoring in sports - what lesson is learned there? So much for competitiveness. Boxing could never work in this situation.

Weekly Homework Assignment

My mom (on the right)

It's time once again for Mama Kat's weekly homework assignment. The prompt I chose this week is once again in my wheelhouse - "write a poem to your mother." Since I've posted a bunch of "Inga" stories from time-to-time, this should be easy (and hopefully, entertaining).

To my great German mother.
You are like no one other.
The English language you never really got.
Some of your quotes still make me laugh a lot.
You knew right away that a stubborn son you had.
When he refused to eat his spinach, and it made you really mad.
The lessons you taught your kids will never be forgotten.
They turned out super great, and avoided being rotten.
Even though your burgers and steaks always turn out gray.
I'll stop over to eat them any day.
You and dad always made us feel like a million bucks.
We love you so dearly for that, oh shucks!
Thanks again for everything, mom!
You really, really are the bomb!

Fast Food Corner

We used to have a Jack in the Box in our neihborhood - a suburb of Philadelphia. I remember it vaguely on the corner of Route 420 and Mac Dade Blvd - I'm guessing it closed down sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's. I'm pretty sure my parents took me there on a couple of occasions, based on my love for hot dogs, but my recollection of any details fails me.

The place closed down, and there were all kinds of rumors that spread as to its demise ... rumors raning from them using real dogs in their "recipe," (probably not true), to the place being so unsanitary that it had to be closed down (who knows) ... I'm sure the chain just felt it couldn't survive in the Philadelphia area, based on lots of other successful family hot dog restaurants (like The Last Stand).

The chain still seems to be exhibiting some success throughout the country - its website claims that there are more than 2100 Jack in the Boxes operating nationally - mostly out west and to the south. In case you're interested, the closest one to me is in Statesville, NC ... a bit too far of a drive for a wiener.

You're Gonna Play the Super Bowl Where????

I heard a rumor today that London, England has put in a bid to host the Super Bowl sometime within the next 8 years ... I probably should repeat that ... but I won't. A comparison for those of you on the other side of the pond would probably be the U.S. putting in a bid to host the UEFA Cup final. On the surface, it probably doesn't make much sense.

However, Roger Goodell, the head honcho of the NFL, has stated repeatedly that he would like to eventually see NFL teams in Europe. Based on the ultimate failure of the World League of Professional football in Europe, I'm guessing this dream is probably more than a few years away from being realized. But, bringing perhaps the largest sporting event on American soil to England would certainly inject some fresh popularity in the sport overseas ... at least for a little while.

I have many questions. First, will this be played at Wembley Stadium? Second, will British people even be offered tickets (it's practically impossible to get Super Bowl tickets, even in the United States). Third, will the Queen be there? Fourth, what time will this game take place? I mean, London time is 6 hours different than East Coast time ... that could cause a potential problem, considering the NFL enjoys starting the big game at 6:00 pm east coast time ... this would make the start of the game in London around midnight ... I can't see that as a possibility. I'm sure Goodell has a plan in place, though.

Song of the Week

I like the Beatles ... I'm guessing most people have at least a little bit of love for the Fab 4, right? I mean, I'm not crazy about them, but I like their music ... usually in smaller doses. However, there is a song of theirs that I can't get enough of - and no, it's not really a "manly" song (which means, Paul must've written it). Everytime I hear it, a chill runs down my spine - there aren't really that many songs that can do that to me.

I'm talking about "The Long and Winding Road." I'm sure McCartney probably was talking, at least partially, about the imminent end of the Beatles, but it always reminds me of past "loves," and the unwillingness (or maybe, the inability) to truly give them up.

The music itself is hauntingly beautiful - violins, opera-style voices, and other instruments weaving together marvelously throughout the background of the song, building to an inspiring climax (hey-yo). It's a song that was made for McCartney's voice, and probably couldn't ever be properly covered (with the exception of the late Roy Orbison).

In my opinion, it would have to be in the top 10 greatest "slow songs" of all time, and an argument could be made for it being the greatest ... again, just my opinion.

You can read more about the song here:

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's weekly homework assignment.


I chose the following prompt: "Share an interesting email exchange you've had with someone lately." I chose to modify this prompt a little ... ya see, I have a fantastic e-mail conversation that I saved between me and my good friend Ray-Ray. I had this on an old website, and copied and pasted it here.


A hysterical E-mail conversation between Ray and I on July 18, 2001:

Los: Thank goodness that I don't have any more classes to take at Great Valley, so I won't feel the pinch.

Ray: Yep, that would suck. on a side note, i shit my pants this morning.

Los: Was it while you were at the track? I hope it wasn't on your way to work.

Ray: yep, at the track. I had a few beers with the umpire guys last night, my dad came up from the shore and had a hoagie for me, so i ate it. watched the end of the phils game and went to bed. get up this morning, follow theusual routine, sit on the pot and wait for things to happen. now, i know i have this hoagie and beer in my system somewhere and i seem to get rid of some of it. i clean up and head to the track. now i'm cruisin along and i'm gettin a little gassy, then things start rumblin and i know what's goin on, this has happened before. i guess all that bouncin shakes things up in the old bowel system, but i've been able to hold off before and finish runnin then go home and take care of business. not today. on my 6th lap i incur "a little accident." had to stop runnin, cut across the football field, saddle up on my bike and get home. i get up on my deck, strip, and things are a mess, and head to the bathroom, walkin kinda funny mind you. clean up, shit again, this time where i'm supposed to, clean up, and get in the shower. ah, finally clean. now i go back outside, get the hose out, and hose down my clothes. it's been quite a morning. i bet my flowers out back come up nice though. good thing it's raining, it'll wash away any debris that might have been left on the driveway.

Los: Now THAT is a funny story. I almost crapped myself reading it.

Ray: Yeah, hilarious. and i'm wearin white compression shorts and white champion shorts to boot, so the brown is just seepin through there like there's no tomorrow. so when i'm on my bike my big ass is in the air, cuz i'm not sitting down in the stuff, that's just gross, and all the cars probably see this big brown stain. lotta fun. i think i'm gonna start wearing diapers

Interesting Tidbit

Here's an interesting question for ya - what's the largest American (United States) brewery? You're probably thinking Anheuser-Busch, right? Nope - it's no longer American - bought out by some European company a little while ago. What about Miller or Coors? Well, they are same company now ... but, they've also been bought by a non-American company. So, who is it?

Currently, Boston Beer Company is first - it's the company that makes Samuel Adams. But, that's about to change. According to this article, the Yuengling brewery may overtake Samuel Adams by the end of this year. If you're not from the east coast, chances are you've probably never heard of Yuengling. It's the oldest U.S. brewery and has been operating since the early 1840's ... for most of this beer's existence, it has been just a regional brewery - basically just serving most of Pennsylvania.

I remember my friend's dad drinking this stuff out of the can in the early 1980's - it was a weird name for a beer. He swore up and down how great this beer was ... apparently, he's a visionary. This beer has grown every year for the past 20 years. When I was in college, I really started noticing this beer (early 1990's for those keeping score). This is the unofficial beer of Penn State - specifically, Yuengling Lager is the beer of choice - In these parts, if you ask for a Lager, you'll get a Yuengling Lager. Yuengling makes many other types of beer - a premium pilsner, a light pilsner, light lager, Lord Chesterfield's Ale, and a really good Porter.

They've grown quite a bit in the past 20 years ... now having a bunch of breweries up and down the east coast ... and by all indications, they could be spreading west ... exciting times for a "local" Philadelphia (well, Pottsville, but close enough) brewery! You can find out more here.

Song of the Week

As many of you probably know, I dislike country music ... no, it's probably closer to outright hating it. Look, I know they are talented musicians, but it's just not me ... I don't like the twanginess of the music, and I especially hate much of the themes.

That said, there are some country songs I like ... a very few, actually ... you can probably count them on one hand. This particular one fits in perfectly during this time of year - baseball season. Alabama, a legendary country band, put together a little diddy about America's sport (or, at least, what used to be America's sport) in the early 1990's, called "Cheap Seats."

Really, the song is more about minor league baseball, as opposed to major league baseball, but still, it fits. The "story-line" goes into following a minor league team in a small town, drinking beers, eating hot dogs with lots of mustard and relish, and how even though the world around this town continues to grow bigger and bigger, this town can always escape from this by going to a minor league game and "transporting back" to a simpler time.

Yes, there is some twanginess to it, but not that much really. Yes, you can tell it's a country song, but still ... the main chorus is really catchy, and the actual theme is more than tolerable.

You can see the video here:

Fast Food Corner

Burger King is a distant second (or third, if you consider Wendy's) to McDonalds for most things fast-food. However, the King is surprisingly close to the Clown when it comes to breakfast (in my opinion). Their Croissanwich's compete very well against McMuffins, and I prefer their hashbrowns to McDonald's hashbrown thingy. Plus, a couple of their calorie bomb sandwiches are pretty cool (you have to admire a fast-food company that doesn't care about nutrition) - like the "Enormous Omelet Sandwich.

But, I found something on the breakfast menu that is truly light years better than a comparable product at Mickey D's. Burger King has something called the "Breakfast Wrap." Now, I'm not sure if you can get this at every BK, because I'm having a difficult time finding it on their website. Anyway, it basically consists of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese and a couple of hashbrowns in a wrap. McDonalds has something called the Breakfast Burrito - I guess in theory, it isn't that bad, but I don't like the peppers in the wrap - sometimes simple is better ... and to me, that is especially true when it comes to breakfast.

Plus, this BK Breakfast Wrap is extremely easy to eat whilst driving - a very important item to consider when ordering fast food. Bravo, Burger King, for getting it right with regards to breakfast! As an aside, I didn't try the BK Breakfast shots yet - these are kind of like breakfast "sliders" with your choice of bacon, sausage, or ham to go with the eggs ... obvously, ham is the worst choice.

Another Weird Story ...

You probably read about this earlier in the week - I just found this a crazy story ... 21 horses died at a polo tournament ... I guess the obvious punchline is ... did anybody tell the horses it was water polo? But seriously, folks ...

Unbelievable story ... I mean, what happens here? Does Alpo come a'knockin'? Yep ... unfortunately, I went there. I was thinking about going with the Elmer's glue comment, but for some reason, Alpo won out (Somewhere in heaven, Lorne Green is smiling down on me).

But in all honesty, what an awful situation ... I bet quite a few people thought they were just "horsing around." Nope, I can't even begin to be serious about this story.

For those of you who don't believe me, or want to read more, click here:

Sports Addict

I'm a sports addict ... yep, I've finally accepted it. I can't get enough of sports. When I'm not watching sports, I'm either listening ot it on a sports-talk radio station, thinking about sports, arguing with my friends about sports, or watching ESPN SportsCenter for the 5th or 6th time in a row. That's probably a good definition of addiction.

Here's the thing - when my home teams lose, and that happens more than a few times, I have a tough time watching SportsCenter or listening to sportstalk ... this is especially true after one of my teams loses a big game. Case in point - It took me about a week to begin listening to Sportstalk and watching SportsCenter after the Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game. I was devastated. I was sick. And, I didn't want to think about it or be reminded about it. My guess is that many of you sports "freaks" are a lot like me (please, tell me it's true!).

What I'm wondering is - does this happen in other areas? Do people get this way when their favorite singer gets voted off of American Idol, or when a chef they like makes an awful meal on TV? What about you political wackos (on both sides)? Do you stop watching the news for a while when your candidate loses? Just wondering.

Weekly Homework Assignment

Tough call this week with Mama Kat's weekly homework assignment. I don't usually read books, but as luck would have it, I actually did read one, thanks to a recommendation a friend gave me at work ... heck, he even let me borrow the book.

I guess he came up with the recommendation based on my German heritage ... we may even have been talking about Cape May (I had recently taken a trip there), and some of the "mysteries" of the town. One of the mysteries or "legends" has to do with a German U-boat (submarine) that was sunk just off the coast of Cape May in World War 2. A book about this was written a few years ago, called "Shadow Divers."

The story itself is about a some scuba divers who discovered a wreck off the coast of Cape May, and spent the better part of a decade trying to identify it. The writing of Robert Kurson is so good, it makes you feel like you're searching the wreck with these heroic divers ... even at times feeling like you're oxygen tank is running out of air.

Best of all (in my opinion), it paints these doomed submarine crewmen as humans ... not devils who were part of the Nazi regime ... something hardly ever done when writing about World War 2 (I guess that's quite understandable, based on the atrocities the Nazis inflicted on the Jews and the rest of the world). It's a surprisingly quick read, and is really hard to put down ... I read so much, so quickly, that I had dreams about scuba-diving ... and I never have had an urge to do this.

Fast Food Corner

Back in the mid-to-late 80's, a "fast-food" German-style restaurant opened in my neighborhood. The concept of German "fast-food" probably wasn't such a good idea ... at least not if you served just German "fast-food." But, as weird as that concept was, the name chosen by this restaurant probably was even a less appetizing idea (no pun intended).

"The Wurst Place" was the name given to this place ... and the slogan was "The Best of the World's Wurst." Surprisingly, it lasted nearly an entire year before it closed its doors. I never got the nerve up to actually step foot in there and order something ... I kick myself for not doing so, considering my full German Heritage. I think my parents went there once, but only once ... which means, they really didn't care much for the food, either.

Maybe someday, there will be a "Renaissance" of sorts for German-style cooking ... heck, we've seen Irish bars explode in the United States in recent years. Maybe German bars will be next ... and at that point, maybe we'll welcome German "pub food" a little more openly ... after all, Irish food really isn't that great, is it?

A band came to my attention in the late 1990's - they were called the New Radicals - you probably remember the song "You Get What You Give," the song that got quite a bit of airplay - it's a catchy song ... and if you were lucky enough to purchase the album, "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too," it's one of those albums you can pretty much listen to all the way through (seems like less and less of those albums are being made nowadays, unfortunately). The album itself masterfully mixes some early sounding rock with catchy pop, often criticizing society (according to Wikipedia) whilst glorifying drugs and sex.

Unfortunately, the New Radicals came and went rather quickly, and can probably be defined as a "one-hit-wonder."

Personally, my favorite song on the album is the opener, "Mama, we Just Can't Get Enough," probably due to the fact that they lifted the rhythm sound from "Sympathy for the Devil." The song is chocked full of catchy choruses, as well as witty and deep lyrics, in addition to some pretty intense piano playing at certain points of the tune.

Here's some more information on the band in case you are interested.

Madden retires .... NO!!!!

John Madden retired, and the NFL will never be the same ... it was kind of sudden, wasn't it? I mean, isn't he supposed to give us a 1-year warning or something? Couldn't he just announce one last season before shoving off? Why?

Well, I do have a theory? I mean, Harry Kalas just passed away last week ... he was 73 - the same age as Madden. Coincidence? Probably not. My theory is that Madden was hit pretty hard by the death of Kalas, and realized that he had a bunch more living to do, and didn't want to end things in his "Madden Cruiser." Just a theory, folks.

More importantly, what's going to happen to the Madden video game "franchise?" I mean, there hasn't been a sports video game as popular as the Madden series ... the new release every year is almost like a holiday ... many people purchase the game at midnight, take the following day off, and play the game non-stop all day (or week). It's pretty crazy, if ya ask me. But, now what? Will EA Sports continue to promote John Madden, or will they promote somebody new? And if so, who? Are we looking at Collinsworth 2010? Will we have a Gumbel and Gumbel release? Is this Brian Baldinger's big shot? More likely, the Madden name will eventually fall off, and the game will just be called NFL 2010. Just a thought.

We'll miss you, John ... now you can join Pat Summerall ... and he ain't even dead. Oh, and yes, I owned that first Madden game ... for the Commodore 64.

That's "Tree"-mendous!

As some of you many remember, I used to comment about some "interesting" news stories on a semi-regular basis. I pretty much tired of doing this (oh, and nobody really read it), so I gave up on it. However, from time to time, I'll still post a story or two that really "amuses" me.

And coincidentally, I just came across a really unbelievable story ... a man went to the doctor's office, complaining of severe chest pains ... the doctor expected to find cancer, some benign tumor ... but he never expected to find a tree ... yeah, that's right ... an f'ing tree was GROWING in this guys lungs! How does this happen? Did this guy have "relations" with a Fir tree? Nobody's really sure. The good news is that the man has fully recovered, and was back at work a week later. Truly, "Tree"-mendous!

Here's the story, in case you don't believe me:

Song of the Week

George Thorogood is many things - a heckuva blues guitarist, a successful rocker, a guy from Delaware ... heck, he was almost a member of the Rolling Stones (a blog post for another time). The first time I noticed Thorogood was when I watched his "Bad to the Bone" video on MTV - it may be one of the coolest videos ever ... Thorogood playing pool with the legendary Willie Mosconi. (Here's the video in case you've never had the pleasure of seeing it)

Not only is the video cool - the song is a true rock song, complete with overwhelming riffs, classic saxaphone, and a primal beat. Thorogood's voice is perfect for this song - scratchy, loud, and mean. It's one of those songs that just makes you want to go out, have a drink, and start some trouble (not that I'm condoning any of this). There are a number of fantastic guitar solos in this gem, as well as some cool/funny lines - "When I walk the streets, Kings and Queens step aside ... every woman I meat, they all stay satisfied."

Here's more info on Thorogood, in case you're interested:

Fast Food Corner

Remember back in the day when Wendy's had a taco bar? How cool was that? I miss it ... I miss it a lot. I mean, why did they give up on this? I have a guess/theory. You see, most Wendy's restaurants are kind of small. They have small tables, and small food trays ... both of these bother me to no end (but, I like the food, so I always return ... and then end up complaining). Anyway - did they get rid of the taco bar because they wanted to add more small tables? Kind of makes you think, I guess.

Speaking of which, I also miss Roy Rogers' free fixin's bar ... how has nobody else run with this idea? Heck, wouldn't it be easier to hand somebody a burger and say, "You can stop bothering me and just add whatever toppings you want over there?" Why hasn't McDonalds or Burger King jumped on this? Are they too lazy? Does Roy Rogers have a copyright on this? I gotta know! I wanna build my own burger, darn it!

Any other past gimmicks that you guys miss?

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's Weekly Homework Assignment. This one's a pretty easy one for Philly ... in fact, I blogged about it just a couple of days ago. Here's the question: 3.) Tell us about a local news story that's all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

If you're from Philly, this is an easy one ... sadly. It's the death of legendary Phillies announcer, Harry Kalas. I think David Montgomery (main mouthpiece of Phillies management) said it best when he said, "The Phillies have lost their voice." Kalas was loved by just about everybody in Philadelphia - in addition to having a golden voice, the man had a golden heart too. He probably never, ever turned down giving an autograph or having a picture taken with a fan. Heck, he even recorded voicemail messages and wedding entrances for total strangers!

All of these are reasons why Kalas was so beloved by Philadelphians. But, a friend at work and I were talking about other reasons why this has hit us so hard. Certainly, because Harry announced just about every Phillies game for the past 38+ years, we relate life events that occurred during Phillies games (at least we sports fans) to Harry and his voice ... if you're not a sports fan, this may sound stupid. But trust me, it's true - the Phillies always seemed to be on TV or on the radio in the summertime when I was growing up ... and I always remember that voice. When I imagine Phillies highlight reel plays it's Harry's voice describing them.

Plus, Kalas never retired. He died AT THE BALLPARK, JUST A FEW HOURS PRIOR TO ANNOUNCING A GAME!!! He died on the job ... but he died doing what he loved doing, and I'm guessing if he had any say in this, he wouldn't have written it any differently. But, had Kalas retired a few years ago, this loss, though still shocking and painful, probably wouldn't have been AS painful. Still, we lost our voice, and even though the game will go on, and I'm sure at some point, another announcer will develop a legendary career whilst announcing for the Phils ... it just won't be the same.

God bless you, Harry the K! In case you want to hear his voice one last time (or for the first time, click here.

Too Soon?

A friend of mine e-mailed me this picture/potential ad ... not sure if we are ready to make fun of this yet ... definitely not in good taste (no pun intended). I wonder how McDonald's feels about it?

Hard to Believe, Harry ...

The "phans" of Philadelphia lost one of their own earlier today. Harry Kalas, the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, died suddently just prior the game against the Nationals earlier today. The news hit me hard ... I'm guessing it hit many of us in the area hard. Harry has announced Phillies games for more than 38 years ... that's longer than I've been alive.

The show must go on, but man, it's gonna be heard listening to the game, and not hearing that velvety voice of his, announcing the starting lineups, saying "Struck him out!," or using his trademark "Outta here, home run!" line. It seemed like in the summer-time, Harry was part of the family at times - his voice always on in the background, updating us from time to time on what the score was.

But Harry's voice will also be missed across the country, as Kalas was also the voice of the NFL - providing voiceover for numerous NFL shows, as well as games on the radio. The man was a legend - every bit as large as Vin Scully, Harry Cary, Mel Allen, and Jack Buck.

This season will not be the same for us, unfortunately. But, time heals all wounds ... I'm just guessing this one may take a little longer. We love you, Harry!

Trout Fishing Report

Ladies and Gentlemen - I went to my first trout fishing opening day in over a decade ... and I survived! I went with my good friends Rich and Mark - guys who have been carrying on the tradition for a number of years. It was a long day, but it was an excellent day.

After having assembled at my house at around 6:00 in the morning, we were able to find a Rite Aid that carried polarized sunglasses for Rich, and a Dunkin Donuts for Mark, and we made to our destination - Ridley Creek around 6:30 AM. We scouted our fishing hole and made it to our location at around 7:00. We had about an hour until first cast - more than enough time to prepare, tell stories, and most of all goof off.

We all did relatively well, considering the murky water, and gusting wind - I caught 4 trout, Mark caught 5, and Rich caught 3. We all missed a number of others, and sadly, I broke my new fishing pole. All in all, it was a great and wonderful day - and I can't wait to go out again ... once I get another fishing pole.

Song of the Week

There have been a couple of notable "theatrical" bands in the history of rock - Queen and The Talking Heads come to mind ... there's another more recent band that has taken the torch from these legendary art-rock bands - The Darkness.

This band has been around for longer than most people realize - dating back to 1991 ... sure, the vast majority of people didn't hear about this band until probably 2003 with the release of the "Permission to Land" cd - one that enabled them to play huge rock shows throughout the world, even getting the opportunity to tour with the legendary Metallica.

Their first major hit, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," is just a great sing-along song ... well at least part of the chorus is ... the lead singer sings about as fast as that guy who did the Micro Machines commercials talked (look it up). This song is filled with powerful guitar riffs, a candy-metal sound, and a lead singer loves to sing falsetto ... it's a song you probably won't want to openly admit to liking (kind of like that "Hey-Ya" Outkast song), but you probably secretly like.

You can find out more about The Darkness here:

Weekly Homework Assignment

It's that time of the week again - Mama Kat's Homework Assignment I chose the following prompt: What is an unpleasant experience you had eating? Write a poem, paragraph, or something else about the experience.

Reluctantly going to my aunt's ...
It was Easter, so I had to put on good pants.

I knew we were having ham for dinner.
In my mind this was not a winner.

I've hated ham ever since I was a kid.
I threw up on ham a number of times, yes I did.

I was hoping they'd have another dinner for me.
However, they did not ... no-sir-ee.

My mom told me to eat some of the dishes on the side.
But instead, I wanted to run and hide.

She asked if I wanted corn, broccoli, or apple sauce.
If I ate them, cookies I would toss.

Frustrated, my mom told me to eat a bowl of ketchup.
To which I happily replied, "Bottoms Up!"

I ate ketchup for as my meal.
To me it was no big deal.

No longer has ham been the only meat.
A side of turkey just can't be beat!

Fast Food Corner

A couple of us went to one of those Taco Bell/KFC "restaurants" this past weekend ... First, let me say that I absolutely LOVE these places! Think of the possibilities - I can order tacos AND pop-corn chicken without ever having to go to TWO restaurants! An awesome concept, to say the least. I'll even go a step further - I've seen a Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut SUPER restaurant ... sure, it's hard to order a pizza from a place that serves tacos and chicken, BUT I find it much easier to order those delicious bread sticks from there ... but I digress.

This particular taco bell/KFC must've been the absolute worst fast food restaurant in Delaware County (and quite possibly, the world). Absolute chaos gripped this restaurant - no clear directions on where to stand to order food or receive food, listless workers doing the bare minimum to get paid, Van Morrison music on the radio (still can't get that annoying Domino song out of my head).

It wouldn't be so bad if the the bad times stopped there. No, the food itself was terrible - even for a fast food restaurant. These employees apparently decided it was ok to "improvise" with creating fast food - for instance, the Mexican Pizza, which is supposed to include flour tortillas, instead had corn tortillas ... oh, and it also was supposed to include beef and refried beans ... however, these employees decided it was ok to skip the beef entirely. Sometimes, innovation is welcome and encouraged ... sometimes. But, usually, these should be "piloted" on volunteers, as opposed to being served to paying customers ... ones who will probably never, ever come back again, based on the awful, awful experience.

But hey, at least there are other Taco Bells in the area, I guess...

Invention Needed

We humans have invented many fantastic and wondrous things - the wheel, the car, the computer, bacon ... I could go on and on ... anyway, there are some "uninvented" items that just make you scratch your head ... I mean, we can go to the moon, but we can't cure cancer? We can see galaxies millions of light years away, but we can't "cure" balding?

So, where am I going with this? Well, I had a meeting the other day, and during the meeting, I "noticed" that i had a "bat in the cave." Yep, that's right, somehow, my nasal cavity decided to produce a booger during this meeting. How embarrassing! This doesn't happen to me all the time, thankfully, but it only needs to happen once in a meeting, doesn't it? I mean, you start thinking differently about the person who has had that hanging booger, right? I've seen this happen to others - it's hard to look at them the same, isn't it? It's kind of like when someone comes out of the bathroom with a pee-stain.

Shouldn't there be some sort of "preventative" booger invention - something that you can insert to your nostrils prior to a meeting? Just a thought.

Ketchup Question

I'm a big fan of ketchup ... well, who isn't? I love heaps of ketchup on my fries, burgers, heck, even on hot dogs! I've never had a problem with ketchup - to me, there's really no way to improve it. However, some companies do not share my feelings.

In an effort to take ketchup to "infinity and beyond," ketchup companies have decided to make ketchup available in a variety of colors. For some reason, somebody in a board room with a tie came to the conclusion that red is not an ideal color for ketchup, and that other colors like blue, green, and yellow need to be added to the ketchup pallet. Did these people do customer research, and if so, did they really get feedback trends that were based on the actual color of ketchup? "Man, I love ketchup, but I really wish that it was blue." "You know what's missing with ketchup? Color variety, that's what!" This has to be the dumbest idea since the clear cola phase, right?

Not Sure About This...

A coworker/friend of mine and I were chatting the other day ... we have this game we do called "Dope or Nope" - basically we come up with a topic and decide whether we are cool with it (Dope), or are not cool with it (Nope). I wanted to get your help on this particular topic we discussed - women shaving their eyebrows and penciling eyebrows in?

Now, from my standpoint, I have wild-growing eyebrows, and constantly have to trim them, for fear of looking like John Madden or Andy Rooney. My eyebrow hairs sadly do not act as a team, and when they grow too long, they look like blonde crab-grass. So, I can certainly appreciate the desire to keep them short, trim, and well groomed ... but I think I'm not cool with with the shaving and penciling in of new eyebrows.

Here's the thing - it seems to me that you totally defeat the purpose - why get rid of eyebrows, just to add them again? Isn't that like 2 or three useless steps? Can't you just work with your current eyebrows? And, if you can't, please let me know why? Maybe I'm ill-informed on this topic.

Secondly, these penciled-in eyebrows always make the person look like they're shocked. Maybe I'm talking to you about the weather ... maybe I've asked you what you're eating for lunch ... maybe we're discussing some work-related issue ... either way, your eyebrows make it seem like I just flatulated on your face. It just doesn't look natural to me ... again, I'm willing to listen to counter-arguments or reasoning behind this - please, educate me.

Weekly Assignment

It's time for Mama Kat's weekly assignment again! This week, I chose the following prompt: What is a common misconception about you? Oh man, do I need to narrow it down? I mean, some people think I'm pompus, mentally challenged, genious, witty, non-caring, overcaring ... basically, it runs the gamet. I'm probably somewhere inbetween on all of these.

However, because I love to laugh, tell jokes, and goof off, there are many people who think that I can never be serious. Although, I'm not one who thrives when he's serious, there are times when I can be serious - especially when it comes friends, family and work. There have been many situations (too many, in fact, to even put on this blog) where I have been relied upon to be a good friend or family member - when a critical situation has occured, and "funny-Los" has to give way to "serious-Los." There have been plenty of times when we've hit crunch-time at work (again, probably too many to even list), and I've had to put on my "serious" hat. I am more than capable of doing this, and I've realized through the years that there is enough room in this world for both ... however, both need to be done in moderation.

Stoppage Time ...

Just some random thoughts creepin' and crawlin' inside my brain:

* I'm going trout fishing for the first time in years this Saturday ... does this mean I'm going up a notch on the "man-scale?"

* I'm watching Wrestlemania on Sunday ... does this mean I'm going down a notch on the "man scale?"

* It usually isn't a good idea to do a shot of Jamison's after 1:00 AM ... or ever.

* The college basketball tournament puts the NBA to shame ... with the exception of LeBron James.

* I'm reading a book called Shadow Divers ... fascinating story about a U-boat that was discovered off the coast of Cape May ... I highly recommend it (and yes, I know the book came out more than 3 years ago).

* I like the milk at the bottom of the cereal bowl ... is this OK?

* I want to play on a bar soft-ball team.

* Thank goodness baseball's back!!!! Go Phils!

* Weekends go by far too fast when you're having fun.

* What happened to Verne Lundquist's neck? Was it fired along with Billy Packer?

Interesting topic

Recently, whilst watching some college basketball at a local watering hole, my friend "Slant" and I got into a conversation about music, like we normally tend to do. During this talk, a Stones song came on the radio (as if it was fate). I believe the song was "Get Off of my Cloud," one of their classics. Of course, our conversation naturally gravitated to the Stones.

Slant mentioned he loves a lot of their older songs, but really didn't like Satisfaction. I found that a little odd, because Satisfaction is one of their most popular songs ... ever. But, hey, I won't hold that against him. Truth be told, it's not really one of my favorites either.

We discussed the song a little further (because I can't let stuff like that go), and I brought up the fact that the opening riff is great (I probably used obscenities and other words), to which he agreed. He took it a step further and said that the opening riff to Satisfaction probably defines rock and roll the best ... in other words, if you were thinking of a way to describe rock and roll, playing the opening riff to Satisfaction is all you'd really need to do.

I found this fascinating ... far be it from me to ever disagree with someone making a bold yet positive Rolling Stones related statement. I wanted to see everyone else's thoughts on this (I'm not completely sold on the statement, but I'm close).

On a related note, I was wearing a Rolling Stones shirt to the bar (surprise-surprise), and a patron of the bar said something along the lines of "I'll forgive you for wearing that shirt - the Stones are an awful live band." Hey, to each his own, but the guy based it on one show he went to in the early 1970's. I mean, seriously? This band has been around for ever - they must be doing something right? Having a bad experience at one Stones show and generalizing that they suck as a live band would be akin to me eating a bad hamburger and claiming that all hamburgers are terrible. The man later followed that idiotic comment up with another doozy "That song B*tch is the only good song the Stones have ever made." I informed him that the jerk-store called and they were out of him.

Song of the Week

When people think of the Kinks, a few songs come to mind - "You Really Got Me," "Come Dancing," and "Lola" most likely. However, this band which was part of the British Invasion of the early 1960's has many, many great tunes. Sadly, the Kinks never really got the recognition they deserved - in my opinion, they're probably the most underrated and ignored band in all of rock and roll ... OK, I'll get off my soap box now.

One of my absolute Kinks favorites is a song titled Superman ... no, it's not that sappy song that came out a few years ago. Anyway, this is an early 1980's nugget has a classic "Four-on-the-Floor" beat, with a solid rhythmic baseline, accented by wavy keyboards and and some classic Kinks guitar riffs. The chorus "Superman, Superman ... wish I could fly like Superman!" well stick in your head kind of like how good pancakes stick to your ribs. The lyrics (and video) are, on the surface, tongue and cheek, but if you listen closely, the theme of the song is about a world that has many problems (woah, that's heavy Ogre!).

You can find out more about the Kinks here.

I found a video for this song that was a bit strange, so I'm not even sure it is the "official" video for this song - I figured I'd share it with you (at least you can hear the song).

Fast Food Corner

I'm a guy who LOVES mozzarella sticks and Jalepeno poppers. For a long time, one could really only get these at bars and chain restaurants ... I mean, I'm not complaining, but if you ever wanted these at a fast-food restaurant, you'd be SOL. However, a few years ago, Arby's made the "bold" decision of making and selling these finger-food icons ... probably the biggest trick was making these tasty, yet selling them at fast-food prices.

Arby's has done a pretty good job in their attempt. Are they as good as ones served in the traditional locations? Well, no, but they're not bad. Certainly, they're good enough to become a menu staple at Arby's. Frankly, I'm surprised that other fast food chains haven't followed suit with this initiative. Maybe someday, I guess. In the meantime, Arby's can continue to exploit this niche market (man, could you imagine how many of these "appetizers" they'd sell if they were allowed to sell beer with them?

Random Thought

A friend of mine and I were talking the other day about some silly basketball team names. Names like the Syracuse "Orange." Or maybe like the St. John's Red Storm. These are awful college basketball team names. This prompted a discussion on names that would be awful for college teams. I figured I'd share some team names with you ... please share some with me:

The Capris
The Butterfly Kisses
The Mud Puddles
The Aggravagted Duckhunters
The Celloists
The Doll Houses
The Puffy Clouds
The Horse Carriages
The Cuticles
The Sugar Free Chewing Gums
The Procrastinators
The Accountants
The Buttercups
The Weeping Willows
The Moist Towelettes
The Q-tips

Weekly Assignment

I usually take a Mama Kat assignment that is in my wheel-house ... this week, I decided to stray a little and do a more difficult assignment: Your friend tells you he can pick up any girl at the bar, no matter what he says. You bet him $100 he can't. Create the world's worst pick up line and send your friend off into the crowd. What happens?

Here goes nothing:

Bernie and I were hanging at the local watering hole, as was tradition for a Friday night. This Friday was different - apparently, lots of attractive women decided to "invade" our bar ... which was OK by us. After a few glasses of liquid courage, my slightly inebriated friend proclaimed to me that he could pick up any girl at this bar, no matter what he says. I laughed him off, sensing the beer was talking to him ... Apparently, he noticed the doubt I possessed, and immediately pulled out a $100 bill, and bet me that he could.

Being a good friend, I decided not to take him up on the be.... screw it! I figured this would be a great way to make a quick "Benjamin." Before he went off on his conquest, I reminded him that I would be giving him the pick-up line. I whispered the line in his ear, and he almost unswallowed his beer. Even in his pompous, overconfident mind, there was no way a girl would ever fall for the line I presented him. The line? A simple, classic one - "Hey, do you have any German in you? Would you like to?" Not that funny, except for the fact that my friend Bernie was Jewish.

I couldn't stop giggling as he left for his "death walk." How could he possibly succeed. I'm still asking myself this 3 years after the wedding ... (by the way, this is all fiction).

Song of the Week

Urge Overkill is a group that burned very brightly for a short period of time, and is one of those bands you wish would've figured out a way to stay together and continue creating great music. They soared in the early to mid 1990's, but by 1997 were broken up (and sadly, irrelevant).

Their Saturation album from 1993 was the one that landed them on the national spotlight. Sure, they had a few other releases prior to this, but truthfully, there wasn't much good on those releases. The first song on Saturation is Sister Havanna - it comes in quietly with some discernable noise which continues to grow until an amazing guitar riff breaks through. It is a straight-ahead rocker full of great riffs, good solos, and powerful drums. It's a song that you just can't turn off, and is a great introduction to the rest of the album which weaves between rock, psychedelics, and even some heart-felt slow songs. Just a great album all around.

Urge Overkilly released another great album called Exit the Dragon in 1995, but sadly it never caught on like Saturation did. They did get together a few years ago and did a tour ... sadly, I knew nothing about it until it was over ... sigh.

Schue and I went to Rehoboth with my brother and his wife this past weekend - our bedroom had no tv, which of course meant I had to once again tell Schue funny stories until she fell asleep (Schue loves to have the TV on when she's trying to sleep). Initially, I was stumped - I didn't really have any inspiration, at least not from my own past stories.

However, since I was a big wrestling fan (and still tend to watch it to this day a little), I figured I could give her some funny stories about really bad wrestling gimmicks from the past. Here are just a few that had Schue giggling:


The Gobbledy Gooker - This was the brain-child of Vince McMahon, owner of the WWE. Since it was getting close to Thanksgiving, why not introduce a wrestler in a turkey costume. For some reason, this gimmick failed - the fans thought this was a "bird-brained" idea.




Bastion Booger - This was another ingenious Vince McMahon idea. This wrestler was originally "Friar Fergusan" a wrestling monk - however, the fans quickly poo-pooed this idea. Then, the wrestler was repackaged as a guy who never washed, had soiled wrestling gear, and used his armpits and butt to try and win matches ... Oh yeah, his entrance song was a toilet flushing ... seriously.




The Red Rooster - Poor Terry Taylor. He was a pretty accomplished wrestler in other organizations before he came to the WWE. McMahon felt he could best promote this talent by asking him to strut like a chicken in the ring, and die a red stripe down the center of his hair. Somehow, this didn't catch on.




Duke "The Dumpster" Drose - McMahon felt he needed to have a garbage-man gimmick, and he found someone willing to through his pride and ego out the window. This guy would come to the ring with trash-man gloves and a trash can, and his entrance theme was just a beeping sound that big trucks make when they go in reverse. A can't miss idea that missed.




In the mid-to-late 1980's, the NWA had a jobber tag-team called the Mulkey's. They consisted of two pasty white guys who looked to be twins, weighing in at about 150 pounds a piece. These two wrestlers basically were rag-dolls for the top tag team talent in the organization, and routinely got the living crap beat out of them. They never, ever won ... except one time on national television, they "accidentally" won the match when one of the opponents tripped over a Mulkey whilst trying to slam the other Mulkey. The announcer was so excited, he kept yelling "Mulkey-mania is running wild!" as kind of a play on the Hulk Hogan catch phrase.




Yep, I'm a loser.

Fast Food Corner

Living in (or near) Philadelphia is a good thing, especially if you like hoagies (subs, heroes, etc.). Philly has some of the greatest hoagie shops in the world, and that's really why some of these chaings like Subway and Quiznos have a tough time penetrating this market. However, there are a few that have popped up, and even though I generally focus on supporting the local mom and pop stores, I have gone to both Subway and Quizons from time-to-time. No, they are nowhere near as good as Philly's home-grown delis, but both have a few decent "inventions."

Quiznos started the toasting of the subs idea (at least from a chain perspective), and it was a huge success - toasted rolls just seem to taste better for some reason. Subway followed, but their toasting process, which really just looks like some kind of heavy-duty microwave, isn't nearly as good. And Quiznos does seem to pile on more meat on the sandwiches than Subway does.

However, Subway has the better rolls. Not sure if Quizons makes their own fresh rolls, but Subway kills them with this ... it is important to note that in making a good hoagie, you CANNOT NEGLECT THE ROLL. The roll is the foundation of the sandwich. It should have a crispy feel on the outside and a nice fluffy feel on the inside. Tangeant - This is why most areas around the U.S. fail when they try to make a "Philly Cheese-steak," they neglect getting good rolls (or don't have access to them).

Also, Subway has the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki hoagie ... this hoagie alone beats any hoagie that Quiznos can offer - just the right blend of sweetness and bitterness. So, for those non-Philadelphians who have to choose between chains, (New Yorkers have great delis too, by the way), let me suggest Subway.

Stoppage Time ...

Just a few random thoughts that have been creepin' and crawlin' in my head the past few days:

* I wonder what Billy Ocean is doing these days ...
* Went to Dogfish Head brewery this weekend - greatbeer, and a great story.
* Went to Rehoboth this weekend - the place doesn't have any access to wifi or cable tv (just one tv station) ... it was actually kind of refreshing.
* Balderdash is just a phenomenal board game.
* For some reason, I haven't been as excited about the NCAA tournament this year ... oh yeah, it's because I'm not involved in any money pools.
* Blur - a very underrated band.
* Weekends go by much faster when you have fun (which kind of sucks in a way).
* It really did feel like spring today.
* Instant Kharma's gonna get ya ... right Bobby Bowden?
* Would bacon-flavored beer be a good thing?

Weekly Assignment

It's time once again for Mama Kat's weekly assignment! I decided to choose the prompt: I want to become friends with ... However, I decided to change it a little, and do a top 10 list of people I'd like to become friends with, because ... well, I enjoy lists. So, here goes nothing (in no particular order):

10. Keith Richards - The guy is a rock legend, and quite a party guy. However, he'd probably be the end of me.
9. Brian Regan - I love his stand-up work, and he just seems like a funny guy to hang with.
8. Paul Ruud - I love the characters he plays in the Judd Appetow movies, and I love the one-liners ...
7. Ric Flair - Mr. Stylin' and Profilin'. Again, quite a party animal, but I'd love to hang out and listen to the wrestling stories he has.
6. Mick Jagger - Of course, the front man of my favorite rock and roll band ever. He probably has a ton of cool friends, and I'd love to hear more about the history of the Stones.
5. Keith Jones - The guy is a hockey-head, and just seems like a really funny guy to boot. I loved his book, and I'd love to hear more hockey stories.
4. Don Rickles - The king of the put-downs and one-liners. He'd fit in great with my friends.
3. Guy Fieri - He is the host of Diners and Drive-Ins - basically, he is a chef who makes food a simpleton like me would like. I need a chef like this as a friend.
2. Tom Brokaw - The man is pretty well-read when it comes to history. I'd love to chat with him about his experiences as a news reporter.
1. Bill Simmons - The guy LOVES sports, and is a great sports-writer (see ESPN page 2). I'd love to hang out and debate sports, movies, tv shows, and music with him over beers.

Fast Food Corner

I am a big fan of fast food that can be eaten whilst driving. It is fast food in its purest definition (in my opinion, of course). For instance, a Big Mac is a bad choice - sure, it tastes good, but it is far too messy to eat when one drives. A more sensible choice would be the Quarter Pounder.

French fries are pretty easy to eat while driving, they are the right size, and come in an easy-to-grab container. The geniouses at Burger King have taken this to a whole new level with their chicken fries. The name describes these morsels perfectly. Really, they are little strips of fried chicken in the shape of french fries. OK, I'm not sure how much chicken, if any, is in each of these fries, but that's ok. The more "fried" taste, the better.

And, best of all, they are easy to eat whilst driving. In fact, you can mix these in with regular fries in the convenient stand-up container that BK has designed. All-in-all, a great idea.

Song of the Week

Keith Richards is probably best known as the heart and soul of the Rolling Stones (sorry, Mick). But, Keith has also had a decent solo career. He was spurred on into doing a solo album when Mick spurned the Stones in favor of doing solo work in the mid 1980's. Keith really was hesitant to take this on at first - he felt the Stones were his only band.

But, his hatred towards Jagger fueled him to write some really scathing, and quite wonderful songs on his first solo effort - Talk is Cheap. This album sported a couple of minor hits, including "Take it so Hard," and "Struggle." But, the song I really, really enjoy is the underrated "You Just Don't Move Me."

As evidenced by the lyrics, this song was a direct shot at Mick Jagger, highlighting how Mick ignored the band in favor of stardom, and how Mick became a very shallow person. The beat is very much a rhythmic reggae concoction, with some hard-hitting guitar riffs, and background vocals similar to Sympathy for the Devil. Just a great effort - it's amazing the creativity that can be displayed through struggles and fights.

Pet Shop Boy

As some of you know, I used to work at a local pet shop - I worked there for more than 5 years on-and-off through high school and college. Since I like animals (not in that way, you sicko), it was a cool gig. Plus, taking puppies out of cages always attracted females ... but, I digress.

One of my more embarrassing moments happened one Sunday morning. Given the day, I was probably hung over, but I'm not making any excuses, darn it! After cleaning the kennels and feeding the animals, I was ready to open the gate. We had this gate in the front of the store that required a crank to crank the gate up.

Near the gate, we had a large parakeet cage. It was strategically place by the gate to attract customers (for some reason, people loved parakeets in the late 80's and early 90's). So, why am I mentioning this cage? You'll see.

As I was cranking the gate open, I noticed it was much more difficult to crank than normal. Still, like a true employee, always going above and beyond, I kept cranking and cranking. Finally, at one point, I couldn't crank anymore ... but the gate wasn't all the way up. I took a step back to get a full view and figure out the reason. Yep, apparently the parakeet cage got pushed up against the gate, probably whilst somebody was sweeping the floor.

Unfortunately, now, the cage was no longer on the floor, and was dangling about 5 feet above the ground ... at one with the gate. Just as I saw this, the cage fell off the gate, and before I knew it, the mall was now infested by parakeets. I spent the entire day with a ladder and a net, trying to capture the loose parakeets ... talk about a hit one's pride.

You-Tube Corner

I'm pretty sure everybody loves bloopers (if you don't, you probably have something wrong with you). I particularly love gameshow bloopers, and as luck would have it, You-Tube sports many, many of these bloopers. Family Feud is a show ripe with bloopers - mainly, because of some of the ridiculous answers given by contestants.

One specific blooper that stands above others (in my opinion). It happened during the championship round, and as luck would have it, Richard Dawson was the host (and, of course, he was the best Family Feud host ever). The question was this - "During what month of pregnancy does a woman begin to show." The answer the lady gave caught Dawson off guard ... in fact, he had A LOT of trouble finishing the segment.

Have a look!

Weekly Assignment

Yep - time once again for Mama Kat's weekly assignment. I chose the following prompt: Write about the event that was the end of your childhood.

Wow - tough call. I guess I could probably talk about middle school, or high school - those are obvious "end-points." However, the first time I "realized" that I wouldn't have the endless hours to enjoy being a kid was when I got my first real job. In prior years, when summer came, my friends and I would spend almost every hour of every day at the local swim club - playing drain tag, basketball, or just chatting with the girls. Ah, those days felt like they'd last forever. At night time, we'd hang out at somebody's house and watch movies whilst eating bottomless bowls of pop-corn. It was truly heaven.

Then, I got a job ... and things changed. I remember it well. My dad had a friend at a local waterbed manufacturing factory, and the friend agreed to hire me (an unproven talent). My job would consist of working from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, putting together and boxing waterbed mattresses ... in a factory in which temperatures were always above 100 degrees. It was probably the least amount of fun I had my entire life. While most of my friends were still going down to the pool, I was laboring intensively, sweating like OJ in a courtroom. At night, I was too tired to hang out for very long. Plus, my friends mostly told stories that started with "You missed it, dude!"

As luck would have it, I only worked there for about 1 1/2 months, because my high school soccer team started full day practices in the beginning of August. That summer came and went, and was probably the worst summer of my life. What a rude awakening that was.

I have one of these at home ...

So, apparently, there's a new restaurant "fad" that's taking hold in Taiwan and China ... and if it's coming from this part of the world, it HAS to be interesting and weird.

Yep, Taiwan has introduced Toilet Restaurants ... I sh*t you not (no pun intended). These are restaurants where people eat out of toilets. Napkins and other items on the table look like turds. Talk about ambience! And, the weird part is that these restaurants are incredibly successful. How does this happen. Seriously, I want to know!

I have a toilet in my house ... two of them, actually. I never, ever even think about making a meal and eating it from these bowls. I'm not remotely interested in eating at one of these places ... but for some reason, I want to see videos of people who actually do eat there.

So, what kind of music do they play here? What's the right lighting for a toilet restaurant? When will San Francisco open it's first toilet restaurant? How often can I say toilet restaurnat in a blog post? Don't believe me? Click here.

Fast Food Corner

With the struggling econonmy many fast food restaurants have been promoting dollar menu items recently. There are many contenders, but there can only be one "best" dollar-menu.

5. Burger King really needs to step it up with their dollar menu. I'm not even sure what they have on it.
4. Taco Bell has gone a step further and offer different specials in their "89 cent, 99 cent, and 1.09" value menus. The thing is, their tacos aren't really that filling.
3.KFC has some small chicken sandwiches, and that's about it. Still, their chicken is really good.
2. McDonalds has really "beefed up" their dollar menu in recent months. You can get a McDouble, and even a chicken sandwich. But for the most part, this dollar menu isn't really that big, and the McDoubles look like regular cheeseburgers that have been carelessly smushed together. Still, the small fries are the redeemeing grace.
1. Wendy's was one of the first to promote the dollar menu. And, in my opinion, they are still the best. You can get a double cheeseburger, bacon cheesburger, and even chicken nuggets, just to name a few. I absolutely LOVE this menu, and usually bypass there value meals so I can "construct" the perfect meal at a great price.

Song of the Week

I probably should've done this about a year ago - I think that's when Robert Hazard died ... Mr. Hazard really wasn't much of an influence to music outside of the early 1980's, but his sound seems to be coming back in a lot of the newer 80's influenced groups of this era.

Specifically, his song "Escalator of Life" has that classic 80's sound to it. But man, does it still rock. It sports a great beat, fantastic baseline, and a chorus that is infectious.

Just a little bit more information on Mr. Hazard courtesy of Wikipedia:
* He was born in Philly (can't go wrong with that).
* The song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was written by him ... seriously.
* He died August 5, 2008.

You can find out more about him here.

Guess Who's Making a Comeback.

So, Michael Jackson is going to be performing a few more times in London, England, in what he is saying is a "curtain call." We could only be so lucky. Look, the guy had a great career, both with the Jackson 5 as well as when he went solo ... then, the 1990's hit.

He is addicted to plastic surgery, as evidenced by his face which even the Elephant Man thinks looks weird. Unfortunately, he's also addicted to young boys ... that's probably why McCauley Culkin and Corey Feldman are no longer popular. He looks as if a stiff wind would turn him to dust at this point.

Does anybody really think this guy is even going to show up at these "performances?" Anyway, if interested in find out more, check out this link ... at the very least, it should give you some laughs.

Cornhole?

This past weekend, we had a little get-together, and decided to hold a Cornhole tournament. You're probably wondering what the hell Cornhole is? Is it some sort of side dish? Nah. Does it involve some form of sex? No way, dude.

Cornhole is a game involving bean bags and boxes. Here is the definition, courtesy of Wikipedia: Cornhole is a lawn game in which players take turns pitching cornhole bags—cotton duck bags filled with feed corn—at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. These platforms are usually made with plywood or occasionally plastic, and are often decorated. A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point. Play continues until a player reaches the score of 21.

The twist - we played this on the Nintendo Wii ... and folks, it was a blast. It's pretty easy for anyone to learn, and all the family can play. Beer and alcohol makes it better (as it does with just about anything). Of course, even though I hosted the tournament, I finished a disappointing third. Oh well, maybe next year if this becomes some kind of tradition.

By the way, why Cornhole? Was the name "Scrotum Toss" already taken?

You-Tube Must See

I told my wife recently about a funny video clip from You-Tube. The funny thing about this clip is that I remember watching it when it aired on TV. This actually has to do with wrestling ... wait, don't leave! It's actually really funny - let me give you some background on it.

In the early 1990's, WCW was promoting some pay-per-view wrestling event (it may have been Bash at the Beach, but that's not really important). At the time, the two big good guys (faces) were Sting and The British Bulldog, and they were having a feud with Sid Vicious and the tag team of Harlem Heat. For about a month, Sting and the Bulldog had been boasting about their new partner, but they weren't telling anybody who it was.

Finally, during an interview segment, Harlem Heat and Sid confronted Sting and the Bulldog. This was a perfect opportunity to introduce their new partner. Now, the character WCW created was called "The Shockmaster." As if that wasn't bad enough, the Shockmaster wore some sort of glitter mask, and some kind of fur vest. And, if THAT wasn't bad enough, his entrance was priceless.

Sting announces the Shockmaster's name, and the Shockmaster breaks through a wall ... unfortunately, he tripped and fell to the ground, losing his helmet. What's funny is that the other wrestlers and the announcers tried to save the situation by overlooking the classic tumble. Funny thing is that this storyline mysteriously disappeared as if it never happened.

You can see the segment here.

Weekly Assignment

Mama Kat had a prompt that interested me ... actually, she usually has a prompt that piques my interest, but that's besides the point. Anyway, one of her prompt is "Normal is ..."

I have never considered myself normal, but I come from a middle class working family, you know - the kind with 3 kids, lives in a nice suburban neighborhood. So, this got me to thinking - what exactly is normal? It took me a while to think about it, and I still haven't come up with an answer.

For something to be considered normal, it sounds to me like it is the "average" of other things. For instance, "normal" body temperature is 98.6 degrees, but I'm guessing there are many "normal" people out there who don't have a 98.6 degree body temperature.

How about this - a normal family consists of a mother and father, and 2.5 kids. With that definition, is anybody at all normal? If you have two mothers, does that make you abnormal? How about if you live in a 1 parent household?

The more I got to thinking about "normal," the more I realized normalcy is an unattainable thing ... yet, we're still judged by how close to normal we are. Wow ... did I just get philosophic? Sorry about that.

More Random Thoughts ...

* I just saw that AIG lost 99 billion in the past year or so ... really? I mean, were they just throwing it out of their windows by the end?

* I miss the absolute rush of listening to the local radio news station on the morning of a snow-storm as a child, and hearing those magic numbers that meant my school was closed for the day ... it felt like the possibilities were endless.

* Don't get me wrong, I prefer the simplicity (and customizability) of buying individual MP3's over CDs. However, there was some sort of exhuberance in buying a cd, tearing off the plastic coating, looking at the artwork of the album, and holding the cd in your hands ... it actually felt like you really PURCHASED something.

* Boxing and Tennis are missing heroes and villians ... really, that's the main reason nobody's watching anymore.

* This season of Lost has been absolutely awesome! 24 has been really good too.

Song of the Week

I heard this song a couple of years ago, liked it, but didn't really think much about it ... until I recently started hearing it on mainstream radio. MGMT is an interesting band - it's really a two-person outfit, and instead of genuine instruments, they choose to go the route of the computer ... and usually, synthesized music is a no-no with me - but somehow, these guys make it work, especially, with the song "Kids."

This is probably their most popular song, although MGMT fans will tell you there are plenty of better songs - guys, I'll get to listening to those songs at some point ... eventually.

"Kids" has an infectious hook that is strung throughout the entire song, just to make sure it stays in your head long after the song ends. It also has a great chorus section that, once you learn it, begs you to stand up and shout it. The lyrics are dark, but intriguing. And hey, guess what - they're American! How 'bout that!

You can find out more about MGMT here:

Fast Food Corner

This chain of restaurants, which has overtaken the Philadelphia area in recent years, isn't exactly "fast-food," but in my opinion is close enough. Five Guys Burgers and Fries" came up with a unique concept - selling just burgers ... and fries. The idea has worked tremendously.

Not only that, but they use really fresh and top quality ingredients ... and more importantly, they cook it AFTER you order it. The burgers are huge (and messy - which is fine by me, by the way). The fries are tasty - and the amount of fries given is more than generous - they put an extra scoop in each bag.

Sure, the price is a little higher than other fast-food chains, but good quality and taste more than justify the price. If you get a chance, take a trip to Five Guys.

An End of an Era

We thought this was going to be taken care of. We figured, it was only a matter of time. There's no way number 20 will be playing for any team but Philadelphia, we thought. He's a guy who will end his career in Philly - we felt this was a given. Sadly, reality set in, when Brian Dawkins signed a contract to play football for the Denver Broncos.

The fans are ready to revolt - you can hear it on TV, radio, newspapers, the internet - the heart and soul of the team should've been an untouchable. How can that be replaced in the locker room? Can one even put a price on that?

I've been tossing and turning thinking about how I feel about this situation. On the one hand, Dawkins is in his late 30's, and isn't the player he was 5 years ago. On the other hand, players like Dawkins and Ray Lewis play with such an infectious tenacity, they make other players better (and, more importantly, they hold those accountable).

Brian Dawkins was a rookie in 1996, ironically the same year I interned for the Birds. He was very quiet that year, but you could see his passion. He eagerly listened to the leaders of that defense - Troy Vincent, Willie T, Michael Zordich ... he soaked up their knowledge like a sponge. It was only a matter of time before he would take the batton from them.

Now, 13 years later, his run is finally over. He was such a great leader, and the hope is that another young lion with the same passion and pride spent the last few years soaking up Dawkins' knowledge like a sponge, and is ready to accept that batton. But who is that lion?

As for Dawkins' departure, nobody can determine who will benefit from this move. Will the Eagles' focus on youth pay off? Does Dawkins still have anything in the tank (by the way, B-Dawk will be visiting Philly this season with the Broncos)?

Here is one way the Eagles can spin the bad PR they are receiving - build this team up right. We need a tight-end who can block and catch. Let's bring in a capable fullback. A good receiver wouldn't hurt. And let's make sure the O-line is taken care of (one way or the other). Oh, and let's not trade out of the first round again - the move blew up in your face last season.