Steakhouses? I’ve been to a few.
But Gibson’s in Chicago actually surprised me.
I expected the steaks to be good. They were. The atmosphere was less stuffy than many steakhouses. The service better.
But what really surprised me was how often I used the term ‘bone-in’ tonight in polite company. And how quickly it became impolite.
Actually, that didn’t surprise me at all.
I did learn why ‘bone-in’ makes your steak tasty. It’s something to do with the bone marrow melting.
He he. ‘Bone-in.’
In my college journalism class, our first assignment was to write our own obituary.
Most students in the class played it safe and wrote rather mundane re-tellings of their life accomplishments. When the instructor gave them back, he chastised us for our lack of imagination. In our defense, it was the first assignment.
Who knew the guy had a sense of humor?
Well, he would have loved Michael “Flathead” Blanchard. His recent paid obit in the Denver Post was written with extreme entertainment value. It includes lines like…
Mike wanted it known that he died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors’ orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died.
It makes me sad that I didn’t meet Mike before he died. The wake sounds like it will be fun, too:
He asks that you stop by and re-tell the stories he can no longer tell. As the celebration will contain adult material, we respectfully ask that no children under 18 attend.
Atta boy, Mike.
Posted in Humor, Entertainment, Family, Life, News, Friends, Writing, Commentary
Tagged adult material, college, college assignment, college class, college instructor, college professor, commentary, Denver Post, doctor's orders, entertainment, family, friends, Humor, journalism, life, life story, Michael "Flathead" Blanchard, news, obituary, raising hell, sense of humor
While Kentucky was busy winning a national championship, the world kept turning.
And the planet Mars has come for a visit.
In fact, last night around 8:30pm ET, the moon, Mars, and the bright star Regulus formed a ‘cosmic triangle’ in the night sky.
Isosceles, from the look of it.
This is the closest Mars has been to the Earth in a month, and when it returns next month, it will only appear half as bright (something to do with its current retrograde motion, blah blah). So this is a good time to take a look-see.
In the triangle , Mars is the reddish object, Regulus the blue. And the moon…well, I think you can figure that one out for yourself.
Hmmm. Red and blue ‘stars’ appear in the sky…right after the NCAA Finals? I’m sure astronomers will simply point to the celestial calendar. But I think this is proof positive:
There are college basketball fans on other planets.
Posted in Basketball, Humor, Life, News
Tagged astronomy, basketball, celestial calendar, college basketball fans, commentary, cosmic triangle, Humor, Kentucky Wildcats, life, Mars, moon, NCAA Championship, night sky, planet, Regulus, Sports, stars
The Oreo turned 100 yesterday. I cheered. Bet you did, too.
But last night I learned that the eerily similar Hydrox sandwich cookie is 104 years old.
Now I have a bad taste in my mouth.
The Oreo — which, let’s face it, has the better name between the two — came second. Was actually inspired by Hydrox.
But somehow Hydrox has always been perceived as the knockoff through the years. So much so that the cookie was removed from the market in 2003. Yet in 2008, in response to an online petition, Kelloggs put Hydrox back on the market, albeit temporarily, under the original Sunshine label.
Now? All I can find is some crushed Hydrox on Nuts.com.
How fitting.
Posted in Children, Cooking, Family, Food, Foods, History, Home, Humor, Life, News, Shopping
Tagged 100th birthday, 104th birthday, advertising, bad taste in the mouth, commentary, cookies, cooking, family, food, Foods, friends, home, Humor, Hydrox, Kelloggs, knockoff, life, Nuts.com, off the market, online petition, Oreos, sandwich cookies, shopping, Sunshine
What’s your fantasy band name?
I confess, I’ve never given it much thought.
Until now.
In a current TV ad campaign, a teenage boy asks Siri to remember the band name “Migraine Headache.”
And the terminally-quick Craig Ferguson will label any funny-sounding phrase he utters as the name of his band or the movie he’s writing.
And now I find myself doing the same.
Funny headline on nytimes.com? Could be a band name. Someone posts a photo on Twitter or Facebook with an odd title? Band name. Someone misspeaks in everyday conversation? Band name!
My favorite from last night’s Twitter feed?
Mid-Winter Popsicle
Don’t steal that one. It’s mine.
Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Life, Movies, Music, News, Television, TV
Tagged advertising, band names, bands, celebrities, comedy, commentary, conversation misspeak, Craig Ferguson, entertainment, Facebook, Facebook photo album, fantasy band names, Humor, Internet, life, Mid-Winter Popsicle, migraine headache, movie title, Movies, Music, news, news headline, NYTimes.com, one hit wonder, Siri, Siri television ad, Television, TV, tweet, Twitter
There’s Team Edward and Team Jacob. But in the doll making game…
It’s Team William all the way.
Mattel has released a Barbie and Ken version of William and Kate to commemorate their upcoming one-year wedding anniversary.
As you can see, they have given William a full head of hair — something he doesn’t possess in real life — and strengthened his jawline. And although Kate looks a bit like every Barbie I’ve seen, she’s pretty and her gown is spot-on.
No doll marker would risk offending the royal family.
That clearly wasn’t a concern for the Mattel designer selected to create the dolls that recreate the wedding of Bella and Edward in Twilight Breaking Dawn.
I’m guessing he isn’t a fan of the saga. And Edward in particular.
His doll’s face is flat and fat, and his hair looks like an old lady’s wig. I know the white makeup isn’t flatteringly on anyone in the movies, but it eliminates all detail here.
In the words of my friend Tina…
Barf.
Posted in Children, Comedy, Commentary, Design, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Movies, News, Shopping, Toys
Tagged Barbie and Ken, Barbie bolls, Bella Swan, children, comedy, commentary, design, doll designer, Edward Cullen, England, entertainment, Humor, life, Mattel, Movies, news, Prince William, Princess Catherine, Robert Pattinson, royal family, royal wedding, shopping, Team Edward, Team Jacob, toys, Twilight, Twilight Breaking Dawn, wedding anniversary, white makeup
Have I mentioned that I’m part German?
Yep. And I’ve never been more proud of the fact than today.
A group of German linguists has chosen ‘shitstorm’ as the “Anglicism of the Year.”
Shitstorm…defined as “a public outcry, primarily on the Internet.” The jury who made the declaration said shitstorm fills a gap in modern German vocabulary.
This pleases me on many levels.
I always think of the Germans as being so practical-minded. And sure, they may have added this word to ‘fill a gap.’ But it’s a poop word! I love that.
It also makes some of the words that we silly Americans have added to our dictionary of late seem a little less, well…silly. Word like turducken. Bromance. Defriend. LBD.
Tramp stamp.
Yep. That’s a shitstorm of language going on there.
Posted in Commentary, Education, Humor, Life, News, Politics, Travel
Tagged Anglicism of the Year, bromance, commentary, danke schoen, defriend, German, German language, German linguists, Germany, Humor, Internet, language, language gap, LBD, life, poop, poop word, practical-minded, public outcry, shitstorm, silly Americans, tramp stamp, Travel, turducken, word of the year
Ripped from the headlines in jolly ol’ England…
Downton Abbey meets Occupy Wall Street!
Manchester resident Steph Pike was arrested for aggravated trespass while protesting outside a Barclays Bank.
Friends say she was conducting a peaceful protest as a member ‘UK Uncut,’ a grassroots group formed to highlight ‘corporate tax dodging’ and alternatives to the government’s spending cuts.
Police say she was arrested to preempt the aggravated trespass that was clearly being established.
Seriously?
While I’m sure her presence outside the window was aggravating to certain Barclays employees, any charges of trespass are trumped up at best.
Me? I’d charge her with a keen sense of humor, creativity and — I gotta say it…
Balls.
If Congress censors the web, this is all you’ll read online.
Sign the Google petition and urge them to vote NO on SOPA and PIPA on January 24th.
Posted in Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Commentary, Internet, News, Politics, Technology
Tagged blackout, blogs, censorship, commentary, Congress, Google, Internet, Manhattan, news, online jokes, petition, PIPA, politics, SOPA
Play big!
Over the weekend, students at MIT hacked the Green Building on campus and made it play Tetris.
It’s not the first time a college building’s lights have been hijacked. Students at Brown University and Delft University in the Netherlands pulled off similar stunts years earlier.
But it’s still pretty darn fun.
And I think New York City should consider itself challenged — not the colleges per se, but all the wonderfully tall buildings that occupy downtown and bring in millions of tourists each year.
Sure, we have dancing snowflakes on the side of the Sax Fifth Avenue Building each Christmas, but I’m talking bigger. Taller. Faster.
We know you can vary the lights at the very tip-top to reflect the seasons. How about using the lights on the side of the building to create the biggest video game in the world?
If you don’t do it, I’ll bet there’s a hacker out there who will.
Game on.
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Posted in College, Commentary, Design, Education, Entertainment, Games, Humor, Internet, Life, News, Technology, Travel
Tagged biggest video game in the world, Brown University, building lights hijacked, college, commentary, computer hacker, dancing snowflakes on side of building, Delft University, design, education, Empire State Building, entertainment, game on, games, Humor, Internet, life, Manhattan, MIT, MIT campus, Netherlands, New York City, Sax Fifth Avenue, technology, tetris, Travel