Wednesday, September 29, 2010

You're Not From Around Here, Are You?


I'm out of town for work in Kinston, North Carolina.

It's hard to say exactly what Kinston is like, because I've spent pretty much no time outside of the office and the hotel. Just enough to pick up some carryout from such renowned bastions of North Carolina cuisine such as Applebees and Ruby Tuesday's.

I asked some people who've spent some time here where I should go to grab some food, and almost all of them mentioned this place called Bojangles. Apparently these Chicken and Biscuits are thought to be delicious and whatnot, and so I went and grabbed a Cajun Chicken Biscuit for breakfast today on the way to work... and... you know... Eh.

It was okay. I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to get it. I'd put it squarely in the Wendy's, Burger King, Rally's class of food joints. Not strictly shitty. It was tasty. But also not something overwhelmingly delicious, and certainly not something that I'd brag about if I were from here. I mean... I hear they have barbecue in this state.

So, I reported my apathy to my co-worker who now lives in Cincinnati and is from down here in the Raleigh area. He said something to the effect of "I guess it's an acquired taste thing. Like you guys and Skyline."

When he said that, I nearly choked on my gum.

You see... Cincinnati is known for a few different foods. There's Graeter's Ice Cream (touted by Oprah, herself, as her favorite). There's LaRosa's Pizza. And there's Skyline Chili.

Skyline is this chili joint in Cincinnati that features Greek style chili sauce poured over various things like spaghetti or hot dogs or baked potatoes. It's kinda soupy. It has a sweetness to it, coming from the cocoa powder and cinnamon in the recipe. It sounds weird,but as far as I'm concerned, is fucking delicious. I've grown up with it. I could eat a bowl by itself... actually I do).

I couldn't believe that this guy was comparing this weird, kind of silly, chicken and biscuits place to my beloved Skyline, and then I realized that about half of the non-Cincy natives who try Skyline just find it weird and silly. I realized that most Cincinnatians love it, but whenever they've tried to expand to other markets it's failed pretty quickly. So... maybe it's just good because it's what I know.

That leads me to the question... What are the famous regionally popular foods, and do they translate to a wider audience?

Philadelphia has cheese steak, and everyone loves that, but they also seem to have scrapple, and that isn't as popular.

New York has thin pizza. Chicago has deep dish. Wisconsin has cheese curds. Hawaii has spam.

I wonder if maybe I'd just find Skyline weird if I was born in Denver?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I'm a bad, bad blogger.. Football Picks

Hey Folks.... My latest lull in blogging has actually cost me followers. I'm sorry everybody! I've been so, so busy with work and with a show that I've just had no time. The show is done, and I am about to have a bunch of shit to talk about... Bear with me!

Anyway, here are my Football picks:

CHIEFS
VIKINGS
PATS
SAINTS
GIANTS
STEELERS
BENGALS
RAVENS
TEXANS
REDSKINGS
JAGUARS
COLTS
CARDINALS
CHARGERS
JETS
PACKERS

Fingers crossed.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Almost Forgot: Football Picks

No witty banter this week. The games are tomorrow, I'm exhausted, and here are the picks. I have not tabulated last week yet. Totally forgot.

TITANS
VIKINGS
FALCONS
RAVENS
CHIEFS
COWBOYS
LIONS
PACKERS
PANTHERS
SEAHAWKS
RAMS
TEXANS
PATS
CHARGERS
COLTS
SAINTS

Thursday, September 9, 2010

What a Relief!

Go ahead lady. Might as well.


The TM and I spent this past weekend in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin for my old friend TJ's wedding to his high school sweeatheart (I know!), Kim. It was an awesome time full of reconnecting with folks I hadn't heard from in years, meeting new folks, and checking out another cool town (blog on the way).

This is not what I wish to discuss today...

Today I wish to discuss the most retarded thing I've heard about in quite a long time...

I won't go into the whole long background on how this even came up, but needless to say when there are brides wearing dresses and going to the bathroom for long amounts of time, the logistics of the dress and the mechanics of going to the bathroom are discussed. I mean... what would YOU be talking about? But then, after a short time, someone at the table brought up something that I have to believe is a myth...

Bridal Diapers.

Apparently someone decided that getting out of a wedding dress is just simply too time consuming, and the demands of the wedding guests are just far too great to take an extra 5 (or even 15 minutes), and instead... on the greatest day of their lives, those classy, white-clad blushing brides are just gonna have to pee in their pants.

How can this possibly be true?

I admit that I've not done a lot of research. The Google search I ran came up with a bunch of stories from a couple of months ago, both about the diapers, and about how the diapers were possibly a myth. I didn't find them as a product... Let me say one thing..

I hope to all that is holy that this is not true. That this is some weird, made-up thing that some bride joked about wishing they had a convenient plastic sack wrapped around their crotch to save them precious time tinkling. A joke. Please let it be a joke.

No better way to ruin the mood on the wedding night than lifting up the bustles and trusses and petticoats and finding a soggy pair of plastic underpants. Who knows... maybe some people would like that.

And now my football picks:
SAINTS (I picked a good time to become a Saints fan two years ago, huh?)
DOLPHINS (An intriguing team. Guess we'll see.)
BEARS
TITANS (A tough team... if they add Haynesworth, look the hell out.)
PATRIOTS (I don't know if it will happen, but I'd like to see Tom Brady punch Revis in the face. I'm crossing my fingers.)
GIANTS
FALCONS (It all banks on how good Matt Ryan really is. Put up or shut-up).
BROWNS (I may be in the minority, but I've always liked Delhomme. The Browns might be a sleeper).
JAGUARS (I agree with Bill Simmons, who believes the Jags will regret passing on Tebow)
COLTS (Yawwwwwnnn. At least we may be nearing the end of the endless Colts era.)
RAMS (Sam Bradford is a good player. Suh will ultimately be better, but YOU HAVE TO TAKE A QUARTERBa..... sorry... I can't even pretend. Bradford was the right pick if Suh and G. McCoy didn't exist, but they do, so...)
PACKERS (Are going to score a ZILLION points this year)
49ers (I like Patrick Willis as much as the next guy, but I'm feeling another Revis Hype machine building)
COWBOYS (When can the interminable Tony Romo exercise end?)
JETS (Everybody's Super Bowl favorite... whatever. I hope the Pats punch them in their fat faces.)
CHARGERS