Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Twilight - my thought on this fine franchise
100 year old guy dates underage girl...I think that's called statutory rape.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Relishing the Dogs of Summer, part 2
I have been met with disgust and derision over my last post, "Relishing the Dogs of Summer". My response is my final word on the subject.
I put ketchup on my hot dogs, deal with it! It's not like I'm forcing you to do the same.
I put ketchup on my hot dogs, deal with it! It's not like I'm forcing you to do the same.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Relishing the Dogs of Summer
When I was eight, I had a horrible hot dog experience. It was at the British Club in Singapore. The hot dog was made with a British sausage instead of the processed meat product that I was accustomed to. The casing was completely burnt. American hot dogs didn't have a casing, even then, so I was already suspicious- but burning made matters even worse. I bit into the dog anyway. The casing was difficult enough to get through, what I found inside was even worse- my teeth had chomped down on some gristle that I couldn't chew through. Unfortunately, we were guests of some important person or other, so my mother made me finish the hot dog and actually thank them for the experience. That "hot dog" was so bad that the next one I ate was nine years later- and I had to cover it with chili in order to make it palatable.
Cut to now- somewhere in my life I turned a corner- I put the past behind me, where it belongs. At some point in my early thirties, probably at Pink's, I actually started to enjoy hot dogs and associate them with summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm still picky about my hot dog. I don't take many chances.
I bought some kosher dogs (hebrew national, of course) and I've just finished off the last in the pack today. Through the past week of these "dog days" of summer (sorry), I've been experimenting with different condiments- to decide which will be "My Hot Dog". First, the mustards. I started with French's Classic Yellow, which is fine, if a little mainstream. My second contender was Dave's Hurtin' Habanero & Honey Mustard - which has it's place in my world, but I decided wasn't hot dogs. The third, and final, choice turned out to be the winner - Zatarain's Creole Mustard. I has a taste and texture that works well for me. The vinegar accent was an especially welcome finisher for me.
The next decision was the relish- Vlassic's Sweet Relish, a favorite of mine for sandwiches, versus Bubbies Kosher Dill Relish. I have to say that I was trying either while I was trying mustards. I think that the Vlassic worked badly with Dave's Hurtin' Habenero because the double sweetness was a little too much for me. The Vlassic was fine when paired with French's - but was in direct competition with the Creole Mustard. Bubbies' Kosher Dill Relish, on the other hand, worked well with all three mustards. The fact that it was savory meant that it didn't make the dog too sweet with the Habenero, and it worked hand in hand with the Creole mustard...
So the grand winner for my home prepared dog- Zatarain's Creole Mustard, Bubbies Kosher Dill Relish and Organic's Tomato Ketchup (which is the winning ketchup only because it says "Organic" on it- which really brings something different to the table when you are talking hot dogs).
Cut to now- somewhere in my life I turned a corner- I put the past behind me, where it belongs. At some point in my early thirties, probably at Pink's, I actually started to enjoy hot dogs and associate them with summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm still picky about my hot dog. I don't take many chances.
I bought some kosher dogs (hebrew national, of course) and I've just finished off the last in the pack today. Through the past week of these "dog days" of summer (sorry), I've been experimenting with different condiments- to decide which will be "My Hot Dog". First, the mustards. I started with French's Classic Yellow, which is fine, if a little mainstream. My second contender was Dave's Hurtin' Habanero & Honey Mustard - which has it's place in my world, but I decided wasn't hot dogs. The third, and final, choice turned out to be the winner - Zatarain's Creole Mustard. I has a taste and texture that works well for me. The vinegar accent was an especially welcome finisher for me.
The next decision was the relish- Vlassic's Sweet Relish, a favorite of mine for sandwiches, versus Bubbies Kosher Dill Relish. I have to say that I was trying either while I was trying mustards. I think that the Vlassic worked badly with Dave's Hurtin' Habenero because the double sweetness was a little too much for me. The Vlassic was fine when paired with French's - but was in direct competition with the Creole Mustard. Bubbies' Kosher Dill Relish, on the other hand, worked well with all three mustards. The fact that it was savory meant that it didn't make the dog too sweet with the Habenero, and it worked hand in hand with the Creole mustard...
So the grand winner for my home prepared dog- Zatarain's Creole Mustard, Bubbies Kosher Dill Relish and Organic's Tomato Ketchup (which is the winning ketchup only because it says "Organic" on it- which really brings something different to the table when you are talking hot dogs).
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
My Name is Bob and I have a problem.
I'm scared that my current addiction will catch up with me this summer.
Over the last year I started to watch current television shows. It started with dvd collections of past tv shows. I was safe when I stuck with shows that had ended. I loved it. Serialized shows became a minor addiction to me. During a single week I watched character and story arcs that had taken years in their original run. Movies that only took 90 minutes could no longer satisfy my needs with their puny character development. I was hooked.
Over the course of months, I found myself cruising Amazon for my next hit. I was jonesing bad for a new experience. Amazon taunted me with a sale. The first three seasons of Lost were bundled together. Curiosity and the monkey on my back forced me to click the taunting "Add to Shopping Cart". Amazon Prime rushed me my fix in the next couple of days. That's when I was screwed. I was mainlining a current tv show...and Lost, in my opinion, is one of the greatest. Soon I was buying other current shows like Eureka, Burn Notice, and Heroes. I caught up to shows just before the new episodes started to come out last season. That's when I became a slave to my DVR- and not just to those shows, but to new shows with a tenuous link to shows that I'd enjoyed. I loved Lost, so Fringe was a natural leap. Buffy and Angel were gateway shows to Dollhouse.
This week has brought with it a sick dread. Fringe and Lost are going into hibernation (or is it remission? I don't know the term for when shows go into reruns). Luckily, I easily kicked the Heroes habit quickly, so that is one less problem. But I'm scared. I haven't built up a tolerance to summer reruns that others might, I haven't been much for tv shows since high school. I don't know how I'm going to handle it. I have a feeling that I'll soon be trolling the TV Series aisle of Fry's looking for my next fix or checking Hulu for shows I might have missed. I just hope that I'm not shivering in a dark corner watching old procedurals on USA, waiting for new episodes of the shows that I miss. God help me if I get so bad that I start watching sports.
Over the last year I started to watch current television shows. It started with dvd collections of past tv shows. I was safe when I stuck with shows that had ended. I loved it. Serialized shows became a minor addiction to me. During a single week I watched character and story arcs that had taken years in their original run. Movies that only took 90 minutes could no longer satisfy my needs with their puny character development. I was hooked.
Over the course of months, I found myself cruising Amazon for my next hit. I was jonesing bad for a new experience. Amazon taunted me with a sale. The first three seasons of Lost were bundled together. Curiosity and the monkey on my back forced me to click the taunting "Add to Shopping Cart". Amazon Prime rushed me my fix in the next couple of days. That's when I was screwed. I was mainlining a current tv show...and Lost, in my opinion, is one of the greatest. Soon I was buying other current shows like Eureka, Burn Notice, and Heroes. I caught up to shows just before the new episodes started to come out last season. That's when I became a slave to my DVR- and not just to those shows, but to new shows with a tenuous link to shows that I'd enjoyed. I loved Lost, so Fringe was a natural leap. Buffy and Angel were gateway shows to Dollhouse.
This week has brought with it a sick dread. Fringe and Lost are going into hibernation (or is it remission? I don't know the term for when shows go into reruns). Luckily, I easily kicked the Heroes habit quickly, so that is one less problem. But I'm scared. I haven't built up a tolerance to summer reruns that others might, I haven't been much for tv shows since high school. I don't know how I'm going to handle it. I have a feeling that I'll soon be trolling the TV Series aisle of Fry's looking for my next fix or checking Hulu for shows I might have missed. I just hope that I'm not shivering in a dark corner watching old procedurals on USA, waiting for new episodes of the shows that I miss. God help me if I get so bad that I start watching sports.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
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