Blogging to Resume 1-1-11

And continue until I grow bored or blocked again.

In the mean time, enjoy this adorable marmot.

I’m Voting for Him

Facebookers go here to see my favorite 2010 candidate.

Live Blogging NFL Week 3: Cowboys @ Texans

Pregame:  Don’t expect much of me today.  I’m still hungover from the Rangers clinching the American League West celebration.

Pregame:  And don’t expect much from the Cowboys.  The players are the same and, more importantly the coaches are the same.  Prediction:  Texans 35  Cowboys 24.

Q1 14:15  - No Roy Williams on the second play.  And it goes for 14 and a first down.

Q1 13:31 – No Roy again and another successful play to MartyB.

Q1 13:01 – I didn’t notice on the first play, but it appears Dez is the second WR.

Q1 11:10 – I went back to rewatch the first play of this drive, and Roy was on the field.  But it appears he’s not been in since.

Q1 10:55 – Roy was in that play.  I’m not sure why you would run that with Choice and not MB3.

Q1 10:15 – I feel like Felix would have busted that for far more yardage a year or two ago. He’s lucky to have gotten the first down.

Q1 8:53 – Too many men in the backfield??  I’ve seen that movie.

Q1 8:18 – Is Witten still concussed.  He had two of the three penalties on that drive.  Oh, and three penalties on your opening drive does little to show that any improvement on that front was achieved.  THIS TEAM SUCKS.  It can’t help but get in its own way.

Q1 6:00 – That was Ware racing from rushing the QB to tripping up the RB downfield.  Awesome.

Q1 5:20 – And now he has a sack.  At least someone came to play today.

Q1 2:55 – MartyB is the dumbest football player in the NFL.  And 3rd & 3 is a passing down and you only had one WR (Miles Austin) on the field??  I don’t consider Roy a WR since he does very little receiving.  And then you send MB3 out wide??  And your brilliant play is to get it MartyB?  Jason Garret you kill me with your comedic play callings.

Q1 2:21 – Great play by Sensabaugh to break up what looked to be a big gainer.

Q1 1:20 – Early on it appears the Texans are targeting Terrance Newman.

End Of The First Quarter – Dallas 0  Houston 0

Q2 14:16 – SERIOUSLY??  3rd and 19 and they give up with a draw and you let them make the first down??

Q2 11:09 – Way to hold them to a FG after giving up that unconscionable 3rd and 19.

Q2 11:06 – FG Texans [Hou 3  Dal 0]

Q2 11:06 – So, Miller Lite, by Triple Hops Brewed, you mean that three hops buds were used in the entire decades production of your flavorless swill??  Who’s doing your marketing these days?  The people that care about hops aren’t going to drink your dreck.

Q2 10:50 – Nice play once again negated by a stupid penalty.

Q2 9:40 – I would be remiss to not mention that Roy makes his first catch of the game.

Q2 8:55 – And now his second for a big first down.  Still no throws to Austin.

Q2 6:59 – Nice try for the home run to Dez.

Q2 6:52 – Where have you been Dez Bryant.  All he does is make plays.

Q2 5:40 – Roy again with a tough catch for a first down.

Q2 5:03 – Wha?  You’re gonna throw across the field to the dumbest player in the NFL?  How is that a good idea.  Cowboys are lucky that didn’t get picked off.

Q2 4:55 – I’ve just about had it with the delayed draw.

Q2 4:09 – Wow.  What effort by Austin to get it down to the 1.

Q2 3:36 – TD MB3 [Dal 7  Hou 3]

Q2 1:55 – Ware with his second sack of the game to force a punt.

Q2 0:27 – Ugh.  Another play canceled by an offensive penalty.

Q2 0:01 – This is exciting 1 second left for Buehler to try to miss the FG.  Prepare to be frustrated with a timeout just as Buehler attempts the miss.

Q2 0:00 – FG Dallas to everyone’s surprise.  How was that not a delay of game penalty??

End of the first Half [Dallas 10 Houston 3]

Q3 11:00 – Come on Dallas.  Let’s stop them here.  Stop giving them big plays on third down.

Q3 10:20 – Woo hoo.  Sack by Ratliff.

Q3 8:19 – Well that didn’t go well.

Q3 6:15 – This has turned into the first two games for the Cowboys where I go near comatose with boredom during the third quarter.

Q3 5:46 – I nice defense stand negated by a dumb play by Jenkins.

Q3 5:36 – But he makes up for it the next play with an interception, the first take-away by the Cowboys of the year.  How is that even possible?

Q3 5:30 – Ok, the delayed draw worked that time.  But still…

Q3 4:55 – That doesn’t mean we have to do it again.  Geez.

Q3 3:25 – WTF.  Sam Hurd??  Where has he been?  Nice catch.

Q3 2:41 – Nice catch by Dez and a nicer tackle by the camera man.

Q3 2:10 – MartyB with a "smart” first down.  Way to find the open space Marty.

Q3 1:34 – TD Roy Williams.  Is this his best game as a Cowboy?  That’s quite a catch by Roy.  He went up and got it where Romo put it and where the DB couldn’t get it. [Dal 17  Hou 3]

Q3 1:34 – This was also easily the best drive of the season for the Cowboys.  90 yards after the Mike Jenkins interception.  Is this the moment the season turns around for Dallas?

Q3 1:28 – Has all the field goal practice weakened Buehler’s leg?  Still no touchbacks this year.

Q3 1:22 – Now can the defense provide a much needed shutdown inning.

Q3 0:54 – Wow that Foster can run in open space.  Let’s not let that happen again, ok?

Q3 0:11 – Rut roh.  Ratliff coming off gimpy.

End of the Third Quarter [Dallas 17  Houston 3]

Q4 12:34 – Cowboys got lucky with the offsetting penalties.  Brooking has looked lost all season in coverage.  Maybe his pregame rants are taking their toll on him. 

Q4 12:30 – I need to bad mouth more players.  It seems like each time I do they make a huge play.  Huge sack and sack up by Brooking and a huge goal line stand by the Cowboys.  Houston had it 1st and 10 at the half yard line and the Cowboys’ D kept pushing the Texans backwards.

Q4 12:25 – FG Houston [Dal 17 Hou 6]

Q4 11:30 – Not good.  Kosar out with an injury.

Q4 11:00 – And now no gain on a run.

Q4 9:54 – TD Roy Williams.  My Main Man is having a career day. [Dal 24 Hou 6]

Q4 9:04 – Fumbled by Foster recovered by Newman.  Another takeaway by the Dallas Defense.

Q4 8:11 – First down MB3.   Run it and Run it and Run it…..

Q4 5:13 – First down Dez Bryant on 4th down.  It looks so easy today.

Q4 3:40 – FG Buehler.  Everything is working today!  [Dal  27 Hou 6]

Q4 1:15 – Meaningless TD Houston  [Dal 27 Hou 13]

Q4 1:12 – Onsides kick recovered by Houston thanks to another dumb play by MartyB.

Q4 0:36 – Dallas gets their third turnover of the day.  Game over.

End of Game Dallas 27  Houston 13

How is this Even Possible??

While listening to Pandora today, I was treated to a previously unknown (to me) Van Morrisonson song – It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.  I was shocked, shocked I say, that I had never heard it.  After all, I thought I had all his music on my iPhong.  Well it turns out it’s really a song when he was the lead vocalist of Them.  So I may still get to keep my fan club membership decoder ring.

Facebookers who need to hear a great song, go here.

Because It’s Never Too Early to Christmas Shop

Facebookers who dare, may click here.

Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, my thighs are cellulite free at last!

I thought this was a joke.  But I found it on Amazon.  So, if you want to buy one…

Happy Fall

I'm not entirely sure why Fall is my favorite season.  After-all, it's when the weather starts getting cold.  But I guess at a certain point I get so beaten down by hot humid Dallas, I desperately need a cool off.

Regardless of the reason, I'm just happy it's finally here. 

Walkabout 2010 Finale

Towards the end of any walkabout, the energy to crap out these blog postings drops off considerably.   So I decided to just dump all of the loose ends from my trip in one gigantic final episode.  Regardless of what you think, it will still make far more sense than the Lost finale.

Day 10 Pictures

Post wedding chilling in Seattle and a visit to the Fremont Troll.

Day 12 Pictures

Hiking and Biking around Hood River and a visit to one of my favorite restaurants.

Day 13 Pictures

More Hood Mt area hiking and picture taking.

 

Best Meals Not Formally Reviewed

• Elliot’s Oyster House (Seattle) – The one place I can’t wait to get back to.  Amazing oysters and crab.  The waitstaff is very knowledgeable and willing to handhold oyster novices to oyster nirvana.
• Pink Door (Seattle) – This was probably the best overall meal of the entire trip.  Excellent food, wine and cocktails and you get a girl on a trapeze.
• Umi (Seattle) – Very good fresh sushi, but the rolls were hit or miss.
• Pok Pok (Portland) -  Excellent southeast Asian street food.  Don’t fall for the hype of the “award winning” chicken wings.
• Three River’s Grill – The return trip to one of my alltime favorite restaurants.  Great food and an even better view of the Columbian River.

 

Food Map

View Walkabout 2010 in a larger map

Facebookers can see the pretty pictures here.

I’m A Carollatarian

And buy his book for christsake.

 

 

Facebookers, watch my leader here.

Live Blogging Bears @ Cowboys

Pregame:  I look for Dallas to bounce back and take this one 24-12.

Pregame:  Today’s pregame meal is brought to you by Burger House.  Mmmmmm burger.

Q1 14:50:  It’s not a good sign that your kicker has to make yet another tackle.  How many does he have now?  Three?

Q1 14: 05:  Nice sack by Spencer.  You could tell he was coming before the snap.  But with two officials now in the backfield, how does neither see the blatant facemask.  Oh well.  Good for us.

Q1 13:45:  Ware almost got him.  Maybe Chicago has a worse O Line than Dallas.

Q1 10:46:  Jones dropped for a loss in the 3 back set. 

Q1 10:09:  INT.  One has to wonder if there is Khardasian residue on Miles hands that kept him from holding on to that.

Q1: 8:50:  There’s a whole lot of confusion on the Dallas D presnap.  But somehow Chicago was more confused and false started.

Q1 8:01:  Cutler may need to be scrapped of the Deathstar Astroturf before this game is over.

Q1 7:31:  FG Chicago [Chi 3  Dal 0]

Q1 6:20:  Sweet.  Three 7+ yard runs in a row by MB3

Q1 4:41:  First ball thrown to Roy Williams and he again looks clueless as to where to be on a hot route.

Q1 4:37:  Chicago sniffs out the screen.  After three great runs, this drive is going nowhere.

Q1 4:20:  Ugh.  Well that went poorly.

Q1 3:52:  Is it me or is this game being transmitted in Medium Definition?  The picture looks very foggy and not very colorful.

Q1 2:44:  TD Dez Bryant on 62 yard punt return!  The punter is still looking for his jock.  [Dal 7 Chi 3]

Q1 2:44:  Onside kick fail.  Who’s idea was that?  Chicago has nothing on Offense.  Why give them any field position like this?

Q1 1:09:  TD Chicago.  And this is why you don’t onside kick.  [Chi 10  Dal 7]

End Of the First Quarter – Chicago 10  Dallas 7

Q2 13:36:  WOW Nice catch by Williams.   And that was a hell of a hit he took.

Q2 11:20:  Miles must have washed up between quarters as he’s made two good catches in a row.

Q2  10:15:  Can someone please explain the Miller Lite Vortex bottle to me.  Were there people having trouble pouring their beers out of their bottles?  Was drinking a Miller Lite like drinking ketchup;  you had to work it out with a knife and bang on the bottom of the bottle?  Just askin.

Q2 8:16:  TD Gronkowski, my good Polish brother.  [Dal 14 Chi 10]

Q2 7:15:  I love Demarcus Ware and I don’t care who knows.

Q2 5:50:  Ugh.  59 yard completion by Knox.  Dallas secondary looked way caught off guard.  Cutler had so much time they must have thought he was getting sacked again.

Q2 3:40:  TD Hester on a great catch.  [Chi 17 Dal 14]

Q2 3:40:  Bad challenge by Dallas.  It’s clear on the replay Hester was dragging his right foot.

Q2 3:40:  Why did Dallas stop blitzing??  You can’t give Cutler time to find his receivers.

Q2 2:24:  I love Miles Austin and I don’t care who knows.

Q2 1:39: INT Chicago. Romo’s second.  Another deflection.  Let’s see some blitzes

Q2 0:36:  Jenkins with another great play.  I’m not sure I quite love him yet, tho.

Q2 0:20 FG Chicago. [Chi 20 Dal 14]

Q2 0:20:  Will Dallas take a knee with 20 seconds left on the Chicago 20?

Q2 0:18: Yes!

End of the First Half  Chicago 20 Dallas 14

Q3 14:51 Pam Oliver sounded like she was about to cry.  Keep your chins up Pam.

Q3 14:03:  I would like to write an open letter to Jason Garret.  Dear Jason, PLEASE STOP FUCKING RUNNING THE WILDCAT.  Yours Truly, Steve

Q3 12: 50: It’s hilarious that Roy’s defender slipped so he could catch that.  Otherwise we would have seen another incomplete and bewildered looks by Roy insisting on a pass interference.

Q3 11:20:  MartyB is an embarrassment to Aggie Intelligence.

Q3 10:37:  FG Dallas [Chi 20 Dal 17]

Q3  8:03:  The Dallas D cannot stop Chicago right now.  Newman was lucky to not be called for pass interference on that deep ball.

Q3 7:55:  Nice Sensabaugh tackle to force the 4th down punt.  Cutler still had too much time, though.

Q3 7:55:  So I had this great idea for a movie.  Helen Mirren is an international assassin along with John Malkovic and Easy Reader.  But it looks like it’s already been made.  Seriously, people, stop going to movies.  They stopped making anything worth seeing a long time ago.

Q3 6:20: DEZ!! 

Q3 3:20:  I know the ball was thrown behind Roy.  But why even try to throw at a receiver that is so unwilling to make any kind of adjustments.  They were in 3rd and long because Roy, once again, was unaware he was the hot route and didn’t realize the ball was going to him.  Dear Jason, We spoke earlier about the Wildcat.  I’m still not for it.  But if you need to do it can you do me a little favor.  STOP PUTTING ROY WILLIAMS ON THE FIELD.  Yours Truly, Steve.

Q3  0:20:  That was a better showing by the Dallas Defense.

Q3 0:00:  Felix Jones can’t find any room to run today.

End of the Third Quarter – Chicago 20 Dallas 17

Q4 12:48:  This Offense Sucks.  There are tiny hints of brilliance that ultimately disappoint.  Not unlike this blog.

Q4 11:00:  Another good three-and-out forced by the Dallas D.

Q4 10:27:  So Hamlin committed the illegal block in the back and upended Dez.  If he were just a special teams guy I would be writing a tersely worded memo to Joe Avezzano insisting Hamlin be cut.

Q4 10:20:  Where would this offense be without Miles Austin?  The dude is always open.

Q4 9:46:  Teams are no longer falling for the delayed HB draw.  Let’s move on to something else.

Q4 7:23:  UGH.  Missed FG by Buehler.   Get Eddie Murry on the blower.

Q4 5:45:  It’s not comforting that Wade always looks lost and confused after and opposing offense has just torn up his defense for a big play.  And, of course, I mean more lost and more confused than normal.

Q4 5:45.  Season is over if Jenkins is seriously hurt.

Q4 5:40:  TD Forte [Chi 27 Dal 17]

Q4 5:40:  I’ve seen enough.  THIS TEAM SUCKS!  Wade may want to swing by the grocery store on his way home to pick up some moving boxes.

Q4 4:30:  Fumble Recovered by Urlacher.  Even when Roy does something good it turns bad.  Seriously, get rid of him.  Jerry, you made a bad trade.  Let’s cut our losses.  Why is he getting thrown to?

Q4 2:00:  If something good is to come out of this disaster, MartyB seems to stepping up for a Jason Witten who’s sidelined with concussion concerns.

Q4 1:49:  Well, he still needs to know to get out of bounds during a 2-minute drill.

Q4 1:17:  FG Dallas [Chi 27 Dal 20]  Buehler redeems.

Q4 1:16:  This onsides kick didn’t work either.

End of Game – Chicago 27  Dallas 20

Live Blogging: Cowboys at Redskins

Pregame: Preparing for Football Season with some crab cakes from TJ’s and while still basking in the glow of a Rangers sweep of the hated Yankees.

Pregame:  Do we really need this tired ripoff of “Are You Ready for Some Football”?

Pregame:  I’m setting the over/under on the number of times we see the “Brees ‘Personality’ NFLShop.com” commercial at 4 1/2.  I swear I saw it 100 times today and it’s already run once in the pregame.

Pregame:  I’m fearful of a sloppy preseason and a banged up offensive line.  Prediction 24-20 Deadskins.

Q1 15:00:  And here we go…………..!

Q1 14:55:  “Miles Austin, Garfield Highschool”, pretty cool!

Q1 14:50:  “First catch and first down from the Garfield HS graduate!

Q1 13:05:  MB3 looks good early with a couple of easy first downs.

Q1 12:25:  Dez just 2 yards on his first catch. Then back with the same play for minus 1. 

Q1 11:01:  Even when the ball doesn’t even get to him, Roy Williams looks bad as he’s driven to the ground after a deflection.

Q1 4:29: Cowboys finally able to stop them on 3rd down.

Q1 4:25:  FG Washington [Wash 3  Dal 0]

Q1 4:11: Jones in Space.  New this year on the WB.  That’s funny cause the WB doesn’t exist anymore.

Q1 1:19:  Wow.  Roy Williams makes a tough catch and then seems to be broken.

Q1 0:45:  Jesus Fuck.  That sort swing pass to Bryant isn’t working. STOP IT.

 

END of the First Quarter – Washington 2  Dallas 0

 

Q2 14:21:  Buehler missed a kick.  Someone get a Gramatica on the blower.

Q2 11:47:  Are you fucking kidding me?? Who the fuck called a time out on a play that was going to go for miles??  MB3 was headed for the house.

Q2 11:47:  Brees commercial second showing.

Q2 11:40:  Good thing they still picked up the 1st down on a similar play.

Q2 10:39:  Offense seems to be just as disorganized as in the preseason.  Maybe they should try that 1 yard swing pass to Bryant.  No one would ever expect that again.

Q2 8:15:  Nice FB dive for 7 yards and to get the offense off their own goal line.

Q2 0:22:  I haven’t written much in the last 8 minutes because I was passed out from boredom.

Q2 0:00: TD Washington.  [Wash 10  Dal 0]   OMG.  Choice fumbles with no time left.  Fall down, goddammit!!

 

---

END OF THE FIRST HALF – Washington 10   Dallas 0

---

Q3 15:00:  Let’s hope things go better this half.

Q3 14:55:  Nice tackle by the kicker Buehler.  Still doesn’t make up for his miss, though.

Q3  11:12:  Washington calls their second timeout of the half.  Will this come back to bite them?  I’m not sure anyone could possibly know that.

Q3 10:23:  Scandrick is offsides on a made Washington FG.  Did this team even go to training camp?

Q3 9:37:  Interception by Newman in the endzone.  But he held just before the pick for a Washington first down.  This just keeps getting better and better. 

Q3 9:21:  Jenkins make two plays in a row to keep the Redskins out of the endzone.  At least someone cares.

Q3 9:15:  Juggled snap on the FG hold and Newman’s fuck up is nullified.  Cowboys ball on downs.  Is this the turning point of the season?  Is anyone still watching this mess?

Q3 7:36:  Jesus F Christ.  Why is Roy Williams on the team.  The ball was in your fucking hands Roy.  Catch it.  You suck.  Die.

Q3 6:55:  Bryant is fast right?  Why all these short routes?  Well, no points again on a drive.  Worst Offense Ever.  This team will not score the entire season as long as Roy Williams is playing. Cut his ass.

Q3  5:05:  Ugh.  Wildcat for 4 yards.  That will get us back  in the game.

Q3  4:15:  Bryant finally thrown to downfield.  First down!

Q3  3:50:  Nice.  Option football baby.  Somewhere Emory Bullard is smiling in his grave.  He’s dead, right?

Q3 1:41:  TD Miles Austin.  [Wash 10  Dal 7]

Q3 1:41:  BTW on that play MartyB motioned to the left and seemed to start blocking one second after the snap.  Is there a less interested player in the NFL than MartyB? 

Q3 1:33:  Buehler with his second tackle fo the game.  I’m not sure that’s a good sign when your kicker is having to make tackles.

END OF THIRD QUARTER – Washinton 10  Dallas 7

Q4 14:50:  Ware with the sack.  Finally they get to McNabb.

Q4 11:30:  MartyB with the stupid block in the back to negate another nice catch and run by Austin.  This also set up the very unstable 1st and 12.

Q4 11:18:  The one yard swing past to Roy Williams is not going to work either, Garret.

Q4 10:20:  Mmmmmmm 3rd and 26 after a hold and false start.  Somewhere Flozell Adams is smiling in his grave.  He’s dead, right?

Q4 7:40: Seriously.  Stop throwing to Roy Williams.  They had a fucking Linebacker on him.  He sucks.  Cut him.  NOW!

Q4 6:20:  Another set of downs that ends in a punt thanks to a an ill-advised throw to Williams.

Q4 4:31:  Uhoh.   Ware’s down.  There goes the season.

Q4 3:10:  Defense is tired.   Washington is finally able to run the ball on a gassed Dallas D.

Q4 1:50:  FG Washington.  Wash 13  Dal 7.   We’re gonna need some Romo Jedi magic.  Please someone give Roy Williams some pom-poms and have him on the sidelines cheering instead of “running” routes.

Q4  1:45:  Ogltree with the kick return.  Where has he been all night??

Q4 0:11:  Austin keeps it interesting with a 31 yard catch on 4th and 10.

Q4 0:08:  Williams again?? STOP IT!

Q4 0:03:  Boring game until the final two minutes.

Q4 0:03:  Last play of the game.

Q4 0:00:  TD Williams but negated by a Barren’s third holding call.  With no time left the game is over on an offensive penalty.

FINAL  Washington 13 Dallas 7

Nice game guys.  Keep playing like this and you’ll get that first pick in the draft.

Mr. Plinkett Finally Likes a Movie

From the man who tore George Lucas a new one with his scathing reviews of The Phantom Menace and The Attack of the Clones as well as disemboweling all of the Star Trek TNG movies, we now get a good review of J. J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot.

 

 

 

Facebookers can see these reviews HERE!!

Why? Because We Have Something To Live For

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds - TIME: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Walkabout 2010: Day 9

Michelle and Ryan’s wedding is without doubt the greatest wedding I’ve ever attended.  Just look at those fucking pictures from Ryan’s parents backyard in Anacortes.  And if that wasn’t enough, there were some of the best crab cakes of the entire trip.

Facebookers can see the pretty pictures HERE.

Walkabout 2010: Day 6

Another lazy day on Whidbey Island.  I drove around a bit and found Coupeville and Toby’s Tavern which I reviewed earlier.

Afterwards VW and I did some hiking in Oak Harbor and then took the ferry to Port Towsend to continue on to Sequim.

Unfortunately, Sequim is largely  retirement community and most everything, including The Three Crabs which Clare from the Pink Door told us to go. 

So we headed to the local Indian casino.  If you think the casino boats in Shreveport are depressing, try a small town Washington casino.  But it was hard to say no to $2 black jack.  Two of the three dealers we had were fairly fun and animated.  But the dude we had in between, Michael, was about as lifeless a human being as there has ever been.  His expression never changed and his monotone never changed except when someone doubled down when he would growl “Duuuuble Dooooooowwwwwn”.

I finished up $20.  Not bad.

Facebookers can see the pretty pictures HERE.

Walkabout 2010: Day 7

 

I’m finally at a point where I can catch up on my blogging.  So I’m going to start out with the the highlights and backfill with some of the lesser days.

Day 7 was easily the best day of an already amazingly awesome trip.  Starting out in Sequim I headed for a local diner for my fill of French toast.  It was ok.  I then wondered out to the Dungeness Bay.  But there wasn’t much there except Three Crab’s that Clare from the Pink Door had told us about.

The day was foggy and grey for much of the morning and didn’t have much faith in being able to see anything in the much ballyhooed Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.  Entering the park, it’s 17 miles to the top of the ridge.  And for the first 14 miles there was a thick fog to drive through.  But then the clouds part and one of the most beautiful area of North America become visible.

While on the ridge we met Admiral Nigel Jingjing III (the chipmunk) and Norman Skeeze (the young buck that walked up to us).  I know some of these pictures look photo shopped, but I assure you they are not.

Facebookers can see the pretty pictures HERE.

Eating Coupeville: Toby’s Tavern

Where you don't fuck with Sue and leave your fucking kids at home.

Continuing on with my quest to eat some form of halibut every day, I stumbled upon an extremely old looking bar in Coupeville claiming to have Fine Food.  That’s really all the endorsement I need.  So I entered.

Since I had halibut fish & chips the previous day at the yet to be reviewed Sunbolt’s I went with the only slightly different crispy halibut burger.  It was essentially a round filet of halibut fried and placed on a buttered bun.  It was delicious and paired well with a Bridgeport IPA. 

Seeing that the Toby’s had their own beer, I ordered up a Toby’s Parrot Head Red Ale for dessert.  Despite it being flat and fairly flavorless, I went ahead an purchased an accompanying pint glass.

I don’t know why anyone reading this would ever be in Coupeville, but if you are, you do need to check this place out.  Decent bar food, many good beers on tap and salty bartendrixes make this the only “go-to” place in Coupeville in my books.

B+  (on the dive bar scale)

 

View Eating & Drinking in a larger map

8 Front St Coupeville, WA

Location:Front St NW,Coupeville,United States

Walkabout 2010: Day 5 Pictures

A lazy day in Oak Harbor.  There’s not really much to do here.  I now know why Clare from the Pink Door made a face every time it was mentioned.

Facebookers go HERE

Walkabout 2010: Day 3 Pictures

 

Facebookers go HERE.

Eating Portland: The Farm Cafe

Synopsis	A snarky Dallas blogger escapes the heat and flies into Portland and meets a  funny-named wine that proves to be the star of the big show on this very special episode of Eating Portland.
The Food	Apps Williams Baked Brie - Slice of brie served warm with toasted sugar, roasted hazelnuts, seasonal fruit, and Ken’s baguette. It’s amazing how the fruit and the brie and hazelnuts work flawlessly together in the mouth hole to form a perfect union of flavorfulishness     Clams and Mussels  Fresh local clams and mussels sautéed in golden ale with garlic, butter and red chili flakes, served with grilled bread. Seriously, some of the best mussels I’ve ever had.  The hint of tarragon put these bad boys over the top.  And there was plenty of juice for sopping.  And you know how much I like-a da juice. Entree Flame-grilled Halibut Fresh halibut fillet flame-grilled and served with grilled squash, French lentil salad and cilantro pesto. Sorry, no picture.  While this was a nice piece of halibut, it did seem a bit bland compared to the apps.  The grilled squash was a very tasty accompaniment while the lentils were a bit too al dente.  But that’s just picking nits. Dessert Blueberry Bread Pudding This may be the best bread pudding ever -- blueberryy and delicious.
What I Liked	Everything Love & Squalor Pinot Noir – I like picking wines that have a funny name.  It’s how I discovered Pinot Evil.  Although a bit on the sweet side, it was full of great noiry flavor and the aroma was amazing.  It may be the one wine I would rather smell than drink but not because it tastes bad.  It just smells that good.
What I Disliked	Feeling very underly tattooed.  But it’s Portland, so I may have this feeling for a while.
Conclusion	Eat here be happy. I’m adjusting my grading scale to accommodate the great foods of the PacNW.  I can’t start off with an A and then have no room for conceivably better places to come. B   10 SE 7th Ave Portland OR

Worst Hotel Ever

“How quaint”, I thought as we checked in. “Real keys instead of key cards.  I can’t remember the last time I was at a hotel with actual keys”.

That should have gone under the heading of “Signs and Portents”.

But the initial reaction of this charming throwback to a bygone era, known as Hotel Seattle, soon became screams of abject horror and near death.

OK, that was hyperbole.  Nothing almost died, except maybe a tiny bit of our humanity.

I ask few things from a hotel.  The point of a vacation is to spend as little time in the hotel as possible.  So I don’t need mints on the pillow or gold plated shower heads or Tuscan marble foyers.   What I do need is a toilet that can flush.

Let me explain.

Sunday morning I got up “early” to go to Top Pot for the best donuts ever.  But before heading out I needed to tinkle and upon flushing the toilet, it never stopped.  Water flowed continuously.  Since water conservation is a priority of mine (anyone who has seen my front lawn will confirm this) I alerted the dude at the front desk.

“Hmmm.  Our maintenance guy has the day off.  But I’ll see what I can do.”

OK.  It’s not really my problem or my water bill.  So I proceeded to Top Pot.

Once back at the hotel, I was told by (in order not to embarrass her I will keep her identity a secret and only refer to here by some random German automobile initials) VW that the toilet had stopped flushing and she thought that would be an excellent time to “take the Browns to the Superbowl”, “drop the kids off at the pool”, “make gorilla fingers”…..

“YES! YES! I get it.”  I exclaimed.

“Well, just so you’re warned.  The toilet doesn’t flush anymore.  And there’s stuff in it”.

After cleaning up my puke and assuring myself that VW is the only one of her kind to do such disgusting things (maybe she got a bad oyster, yeah, that’s got to be it), I informed the front desk that the toilet had stopped flushing and now wouldn’t flush at all.  The front desk dude told me that the maintenance man would be up shortly.

The maintenance dude came and went and we were told that the water pressure had to build back up in order to flush.  36 hours later and still no flush.

Awesome.

Oh, and don’t lean on the sink or you’ll knock it over.

Walkabout 2010: Day 2 Pictures

Facebookers go HERE

Walkabout 2010: Day 1 Pregame

Woohoo! Although my flight was originally departing from Terminal C, it got changed to the new and swanky Terminal D. More preflight food and booze options!

Thankfully I got a ride to the airport since my American Airlines iPhone app tells me my return flight arrives in Terminal C and thus won't have to deal with interterminal transportation. Has anyone ever had an American flight that departed and arrived at the same terminal? I guess they're too busy figuring out new method of assraping their passengers with ticky-tack fees to get that action item to the completed state.

I got here in plenty of time for a beer and late lunch at Reata. Mmmm Sam Adams Boston Lager. Probably the most pedestrian beer I'll drink for the next 16 days.

Quick review: If you want to pay $20 for a meal on a meal similar in quality to Taco Cabana, then Reatta in Terminal D is for you. The beef fajita meat is the same mushy proceed cow that TC specializes in. Oh and if you want tortillas with your carne asada, that's an extra $1.50. At least the 22oz beer was cold.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Unnamed Rd,Grapevine,United States

A Great Announcement on The Worst Day of the Year

It's about fucking time.

clipped from: blogs.dallasobserver.com

And The People Rejoiced: Green Room Opens Today, and We Have the Menus

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​The Green Room, the Deep Ellum legend that's back in business as of this afternoon, has put quail eggs and halibut cheeks on its elegant opening menu.

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But it's unlikely The Green Room's most ardent fans will ever order many of the announced dishes, since the "Feed Me" option's back: For $47 -- or $68 with wine -- guests get "a unique four-course menu" created specifically for the table.

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While there are plans to add brunch and lunch service, the Green Room is now open Tues.-Sat., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. For reservations, e-mail reservations@greenroomdallas.com. Check out the opening menus on the next page.

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The Green Room
2715 Elm St.
214-748-7666

Area Ultimate Player Catches Foul Ball

Bobby “Fun Bobby” Hawkins (upper right) taunts other Ranger fans with his prowess of foul ball catching.

I, for one, welcome our new adorable canine overlords.

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Ellsworth Ave,Dallas,United States

Not So Adorable Marmot of the Day

Obligatory Dogs at Frisbee Picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Ellsworth Ave,Dallas,United States

Uchiko: The Pictures

 

Cobia Crudo

Sake & Toledo Roll

Usagi Tomago & Wagyu Momo

Bacon Sen

Admittedly, these pictures are not the best.  One of the many things the iPhone does not do well is take pictures indoors.  But thanks to the miracle of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, I was able to make them semi-presentable.

PBJ 2010 Pix

With a pulled groin and sandy mangina sidelining me, the best way for me to pass the time while waiting for the sweet release of death to free me from the stifling heat and humidity in College Station was to try my hand at sports photography.  Although I did get a few good shots, I can’t help but think I need a longer lens.  But instead, I may just buy a Porsche.

OH MY GOD. Single Rainbow

Thanks to Noodles not dropping my iPhone out the car window, we got these sweet pix of a rainbow coming back from College Station.

Adorable Marmot Picture of the Day

I guess this means we’re back together.  Now please try not to fuck it up this time.

Is This Thing On?? TEST! TEST!

Should this blogger bring back his unique form of self indulgence?

Please vote now.

 

 

Live Blogging the GHASP

Pregame. Looks like a bit of a tailwind. Just 100 miles to go.

9:00. 34 miles out. A little more than a third done. The weather is almost perfect - cool overcast. What wind we have is mostly tail.

10:10 50 milesout more than half way done.



11:11. 64 miles out. I would normally be done but I have 30+ miles left. The hills are starting to bother me. Pray for me.

11:53. 74 miles out. 3/4 done.

12:55. 86 miles out. 8 miles to go. I'm ready for a beer.

1:32 DONE. Bring on the beer and brats. Ride time 5:46. Total time 6:29. Total distance 96.6 miles. Average speed 16.7mph. Good times.
-- Posted From My iPhone

Location:Metlink Rd,Austin,United States

You See What Happens When You Tangle with a Skunk??

Live Blogging the 30th Annual Muenster Germanfest Bike Rally

10:20 - I got here way too early. I'm all suited up and ready to go but there's still 40 minutes until the start.

10:21- just noticed there's no 3G up here. So it really is like the days of the early German settlers when wireless broadband was in its infancy.
10:32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful day. Sunny a little windy and cool.

12:30- 19 miles in first rest stop. Good Christ it's windy. Just 40 more miles to beer.

12:31- I want to punch the cooz that corrected her husband who said "we at 20 miles?". And replied "18.9 actually "

2:00 second rest stop. 36 miles in 28 to go. The wind is beating me up.

2:45 Saint Jo rest stop in the town square.  Not much going on here.  Finally heading east to enjoy some tailwind.

3:26 Final rest stop.  Only 10 more miles.  Heading south back to Muenster for a not very enjoyable crosswind.

4:00 DONE!  Total time was 4:30.  Not very good.  But considering the strong wind, I’ll take it.  Next up The GASP (Greater Austin to Shiner Pedal).  Now on to my 2 free beers at the Germanfest.

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:7th St,Muenster,United States

Attack of the Clones: Worse Thing Since Bagpipes

FBers go HERE for highlarryass Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones Review.

Mmmmm

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:N Houston St,Dallas,United States

Eating Earth: Applebee’s

Synopsis	An American gastronomic institution delights and amazes with both flair and style and makes my engagement something I would never forget.
The Food	Appetizer My soon-to-be fiancé and I went for broke and got the Appetizer Sampler – mozzarella sticks, spinach and artichoke dip, cheese quesadilla grande and boneless chicken wings.  The only disappointment was the lack of gooey cheese in the chicken wings. Salad Are you fucking kidding me???  I’m here to eat, not graze. Entree After such a filling appetizers my STBF went for something lighter and ordered the Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo Bowl.   This consisted of plump, juicy shrimp on a bed of pasta tossed with fresh broccoli, creamy garlic Alfredo sauce, and shredded Parmesan. Served with toasted side bread.  The attention to detail is remarkable at Applebee’s as almost three quarters of the shrimp were exquisitely  deveined.  And I don’t know who that Alfredo guy was or is, but he sure does know how to throw together a cheese sauce. I, on the other hand, was still hungry and ordered the Fire Pit Bacon Burger.  This dude is piled with pepper-Jack cheese and slices of real Applewood smoked bacon and served on a toasted bun with smoky chipotle spread, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions.  Wanting to save room for dessert, I told them to 86 the lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. Dessert This was a truly special moment in my life.  I had pre-arrange for the entire wait staff to bring out our Strawberry Cheescake, classic cheesecake, graham cracker crumbs, strawberry sauce and whipped cream, and to sing loudly “Will You Marry Steve” to the tune of Happy Birthday.  Needless to say, she was very surprised and we eagerly wolfed down the cheese cake and celebrated with a bottle of Kendall-Jackson sparkling Rosé.
What I Liked	How I feel like I made a friend-for-life with my server Todd. That almost everything on the menu is an excuse to consume more cheese. All those whacky knick-knacks.  Or are they bric-a-brac?   I can never get that straight. The bottomless 46oz Coca Cola tumbler.  All that cheese works up a powerful thirst. When my fiancé and I were at a loss for conversation, we could always doodle on the placemats with the provided crayons. Did I mention all the cheese?
What I Disliked	That I can’t live in an Applebee’s
Conclusion	With so many locations to choose from worldwide, it is going to take this blogger quite a while to hit every one of them. A+ Millions of Locations

OMG!! Rush is Right. Obama is a Marxist!

 

FBers go HERE.

Cool Picture of the Day

Hey Asshat: Workplace Edition

I apologize if this ends up disturbing your delicate sensibilities, but sometimes I need to call someone out.  Even if I don’t actually know who that someone is.  Actually, I often call people out whom I have no idea who they are.

But who in the wide wide world of sports would think that it was non only a good idea but also proper to throw their gum out into the urinal at work???

Seriously, what were you thinking??  There’s a trash can right behind you.  Your Juicy Fruit had become so flavorless  during urination that you had to spit it out right that minute?

And did you even think that some poor soul is going to have to fish that piss soaked gum out of the urinal?  Would you like to do that?? Do you think anyone wants to do that?

My Leader Gets Some Pub

clipped from www.fastcompany.com How Adam Carolla Became a Podcast Superstar Radio-and-TV personality Adam Carolla stumbled into podcasting and immediately became its No. 1 star. Now he's launching his own broadcasting network. Inside the messy birth of a new medium. In just over a year, Carolla, 45, has used this same improvisational approach to lift podcasting from the realm of amateur audio and video blogging to an increasingly professional medium with real revenue potential. His daily talk show was an immediate hit -- more than 50 million downloads in its first year -- and was named iTunes's best audio podcast of 2009.

Adorable Marmot Picture of the Day

It's been a while, so enjoy.

The GILF Hunters Have Left the Building

I hadn’t checked out who’s been visiting the blog in a while.  So, I swam over to Google’s Analytics to see what’s steering people here.  And for the first time in for as long as I can remember, there is no mention of GILFs or GILF hunters.

For the last 30 days, my referrals have looked like this:

Keyword	Visits
chowdown countdown list	48
101 chowdown countdown list	38
jt richardson düsseldorf	14
travel channel chowdown countdown list	11
101 chowdown countdown complete list	8
chowdown countdown 101 list	7
101 chowdown countdown full list	6
summer of steve	6
helen markley	5
chow down countdown list	4

So, besides me, JT and my grandmother, people are here to read my complaint about The Travel Channel’s bogus 101 Chowdown Countdown.

I’m so proud that if you Google “chowdown countdown list” my article is the ninth item listed.

This blog has come a long way from it’s lonely days of rambling about egrets.  Thank you all for your support.

Another Reason to be Proud of Jersey

This article reads like on from The Onion. But it appears to be true. Could the Idiocracy really have crept upon us this quickly?

clipped from news.ninemsn.com.au Woman aims to become world's fattest Donna Simpson, from New Jersey, weighs 273kg but told the Daily Mail newspaper she had her heart set on reaching her goal weight of 1000lb (450kg) in two years. In order to pay for the enormous amounts of food she is eating — her weekly grocery bill is $815 — Ms Simpson makes money by running a website where men pay to watch her consume fast food. "I think he'd like it if I was bigger ... he's a real belly man and completely supports me," she said. Her 49-year-old partner Philippe — who she met on a dating site for plus-size people — was encouraging her to reach her goal, she said. Ms Simpson, who needs a mobility scooter to go shopping, eats huge amounts of junk food each week and tries to move as little as possible so she doesn't burn off as many calories. "I do love cakes and sweet things, doughnuts are my favourite," she said. An obese mother in the US is trying to put on weight in order to become the world's fattest woman.

Spring Break Havasu: The Quasi Live Blog [Day 2]

My final day in the land of street-legal dune buggies and penicillin resistant syphilis.

Havasu	I failed to mention that our hotel smelled like someone had fouled up a bathroom 20 minutes ago but didn’t properly ventilate.  Apparently there is a city-wide sewage problem and the whole town smells like that. The complimentary free breakfast looked as if we were in a Cocoon casting call.  And people really were eating those preprocessed frozen egg disks. What is Ellen Page doing running our call center in Havasu?? Dangit, they’re ordering in for lunch.  No second trip to In-n-Out.
Pre-Flight	We got to Vegas 2 1/2 hours before our flight.  Time enough for a swing by Hooters Casino (formerly the great [cheap] San Remo). All my times in Vegas and I’ve never seen the famous sign.  Like the Mona Lisa, it is much smaller than I had imagined. I would classify this as an near epic win.  Three free gin&tonics, up $70 bucks on blackjack and I got to ogle the double Fs of the dealer for 45 minutes, all in lieu of sitting at a dreary airport terminal.
The Flight	Seriously, dude in the center seat of my row.  You went ahead and boarded with your “zone” so you can get properly situated in your coveted center seat?  Do you not know you’re supposed to wait and board last so that if there’s an aisle seat you can take that one instead? US Air has some cute, perky stews.  At least the Vegas-DFW run does.  I was too tired to notice on the flight to Vegas.

Spring Break Havasu: The Quasi Live Blog [Day 1]

For reasons that are known to almost no one, the IT department of National Motor Club is heading to Lake Havasu to visit the our call center. Luckily this is the beginning of spring break and I have brought along a duffle bag full of Girls With Low Self Esteem trucker hats so as to entice a comely coed back to the room for a quick shower.

Pre-board	It always amazes me the number of people up and commuting at 5:45 am.  Seriously, how do you people do it every day?  I guess I didn’t mention my flight was at 7:30am.  Good times. That sure is a long line at “Express” Check In. Why is it that everyone in front of me at ticket counters or car rental counters take forever to process their business and when I get there it takes maybe a minute?? Can we have a Retard Line and a NonRetard line? Center seat.  Awesome!!! Oh yeah, that’s why I haven’t had a Bacon, Egg and Cheese Croisandwich in almost a decade. The hot chick in the almost see through white pants is greatly offset by the heavy-set braless chick in the aquamarine baby doll.
The Flight	No one in the aisle seat of my row.  Zoink!! Great Success!!! Oh, good Christ, Omar Little is three rows in front of me.  God help us all if the plane is out of Honey Nut, yo. I can certainly understand taking pictures of the Grand Canyon from 35,000 feet.  But, hey asshat, did you really think the flash was going to fill in the dark shadows of the canyon?
Havasu	So this is what Garland would be like if it were a major tourist destination. Can it get any better than eating an In-n-Out burger in the shadow of the London Bridge? There’s a church in Havasu that seems to continually protest abortion.  But really, do you want the people of Havasu to reproduce?  This place is ground zero of the growing Idiocracy. Anyone who has spent two seconds on this blog will realize that I like to eat and I like to eat good food.  So there was a bit of disappointment when it was decided that we were going to dine at Shogun, a Benihana knockoff. They must not sell much unfiltered sake here.  All of the unfiltered solids were caked at the bottom and the bottle had to be shaken vigorously to release their heady goodness. The chef challenged our table to a sake bomb race.  I couldn’t pass that up.  That SOB was done before I even go the glass to my lips. To my great surprise, the food was very good.  I am not a fan of Benihana and would usually power down when we would go for lunch during my Nortel days.  I had the filet and scallops and both were very good.  B+.