Resistance is Futile

Eating Plano: The Counter / Eating Dallas: Village Burger Bar

Sometimes the stealer of a concept does a better job than the owner of the original concept.

That appears to be the case with these two upscale burger joints.

Exploring my lunch options at The Shops at Legacy, I discovered The Counter. Upon entering I felt like I had been there before. In fact it seem to be almost the exact same concept as Village Burger Bar in the West Village (which I never got around to reviewing since I ate here before going to see Juno)

Both place feature large gourmet burgers with a variety of gourmey options, fries from both white and sweet potatoes and "onion strings". Also, both places have a full bar for smart cocktails and a good, but typical beer selection.

I found both burgers to be very good. But the Village Burger was juicier and more flavorful. And, while I had the sides at VBB, I had none at The Counter. The sides of VBB weren't that great and like Twisted Root, I would not order them again.

Looking on their respctive websites, it appears that it's actually Village Burger Bar that has stolen (or at least co-invented) the concept. They have the better burger and better atmosphere. And I really enjoyed their ice cold Shiner, which always helps a review.


Village Burger Bar
3699 McKinney Ave C-325, Dallas TX 75204
A

The Counter
5700 Legacy Drive Suite A5 Plano TX 75024
B

Netflix Review: Windy City Heat

I really thought I was going to like this. It had been hyped several time on my leader's show -- he even makes a cameo as a gladiator in a gladiator in a gladiator/dog buddy film.

But good Christ is this a piece of garbage the cat yakked up on Norm's poopy pillow.

This movie is essentially a giant prank on someone who is this far (please picture me with my hand up and my thumb and forefinger a few centimeters apart) away from being a complete retard. The producer have convinced this moron that he will be the star of Windy City Heat -- a generic film noir movie in which he plays a sports memorabilia private investigator.

The concept of the movie is great but there are two major flaws in the execution.

The first is that the prankee, Perry Caravello, a failed comedian that, at times, seems to have stolen Sam Kinison's act. This dude is a pathetic, deluded schmuck. He could have easily been one of Billy Mitchell's stooges. You start to feel sorry for this guy who is being tormented throughout the film by the main pranksters.

The second is a character in the film called Mole. He's a writer for Jimmy Kimmel who, along with the other main prankster Don Barris, has been playing pranks on Perry for years. The problem is that Mole does not look or behave as a normal person. Throughout the film, he is sporting a terribly fake wig and generally looks ridiculous. And he is so distracting that it's hard to believe that anyone could possible fall for this prank except someone with severe brain damage.

This is a generally mean-spirited movie with very few laughs.

• 0 breasts (geez, 2 movies and no boobies)
• several stuffed beasts
• donut table fu
• limo fu
• Academy Award nomination to Adam Carolla for being my leader

King Wally says check it out

D

Don't Try To Walk In Plano

As a white person that relates to Stuff White People Like, one of the important things for me is being able to walk to things. I live in a neighborhood where I can walk easily to several great bars, great restaurants, a couple of grocery stores, and an infinite number of banks.

So one of the cool things about working at Beal Bank is that it's just across the toll road from The Shops at Legacy where many great (Naan) and generaly fine (Starbucks, Taco Diner) restaurants reside.

The other day I didn't bring my lunch to work and decided to walk over to The Shops and grab a sangwich. I had no idea that this simple act would put my life in mortal danger (cue the erie music).

First, there is no protected pedestrian walkway across the toll road. There is a "sidewalk". But this is merely a wide curb separating the left turning north-to-south u-turners from the people going east to west.

Once across the toll road I was confronted not with a side walk or concrete of any kind, but grass. It's like no one in there wildest imagination ever thought someone would walk across the highway rather than drive. Seriously, why walk when you can drive your giant gas guzzling Hummer 2 blocks and catch 5 minutes of Limbaugh?

After about a half block, I'm in The Shops proper. Here there are actual sidewalks and pedestrian traffic lights. So, I guess Plano thinks that as long as you've driven and parked here, you might as well walk. But, please don't let anyone see you do it.

The trip back was even more dangerous. As I tried to cross the toll road with my Potbelly (the sandwich, not my actual potbelly, but I guess that too) I was confronted with your typical suburban cell-phone talking coose who is so distracted with everything else going on in her vehicle, she can see a large man trying to cross the street with a roast beef sandwich in hand as she attempts a second lane right turn.

I'm still alive and will continue to defy death by walking over to The Shops for lunch. It's what my people like.

Netflix Review: No Country For Old Men

I should state up front that I am a big fan of the Coen brothers. As you can see from the list of my top 10 favorite moves, two are from the Coen brothers. And there are others -- The Hudsucker Proxy, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski -- that are also huge favorites of mine.

But with any great artists there are also great misses. Seriously people, Blood Simple is just a bad episode of Threes' Company. And what the hell were they thinking with The Ladykillers???

But No Country belongs in the first list. No quite making my top 10, this is still a great film worth of the Oscar it received. (unlike There Will Be Blood, which was largely a beatiful mess)

By this point, you've probably been beaten down with what this movie is about, so I won't rehash that. If you're still interested, though, IMDB it.

The greatest controversy of this film is the ending. Reviewer after reviewer complained about the ending. I don't see it. It ends strangely, yes I agree. But, to me, the movie ends about 20 minutes after the main story ends. But, I guess, I don't see that as a bad thing.

Overall, this movie held my attention from start to finish. It is an amazing thriller.

• 0 Breasts
• 1 Beast
• 8 murders
• coin-flip fu
• pit-bull fu
• Academy Award nomination for Stephen Root for finally getting his comeupence for burning down Initech.
• Academy Award nomination for Javier Bardem for, oh wait, never mind.

King Wally says check it out.

A

Another Typical Night for JT

Creepiest Documentary Ever

BAD Radio Reports on Thursday featured this documentary about guys who have relationships with Real Dolls.

Enjoy.



I hope to get mine this next week.

Because, Clearly, Some of You Still Need A Reason

No Egrets

Yet!

Alex, where's the squirrel??


There it is.

Get Out of My Head!!!!!

Stuff White People Like, the current contender for funniest website (sorry Drudge), has an item that hits a bit too close to home:

#23 Microbreweries
White people don’t like stuff that’s easy to acquire. Beer is no exception. They generally try to avoid beers like Budweiser, Labatt’s, Molson, Coors, and Heineken because if it’s mass produced it is bad. No exceptions.

So when they need a beer, they turn to microbrews who seem to be located almost exclusively in New England, Ontario, Quebec and Colorado. Being able to walk into a bar and order a beer that no one has heard of makes white people feel good about their alcohol drinking palate.

A friend of mine once met a white guy who brought a notebook with him to every bar. He would then keep a record of all the beers he drank and his experience with
them. He called it his ‘beer journal.’

Also of note: most white people want to open a microbrewery at some point. One that uses organic hops.

Others good ones:

• #87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
• #80 The Idea of Soccer
• #65 Co-Ed Sports
• #62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
• #61 Bicycles
• #57 Juno
• #52 Sarah Silverman
• #38 Arrested Development

I suggest that for a future posting on Stuff White People Like, they do an article on Stuff White People Like.

I Miss Nortel?

Well, only in that at Nortel I would have had time to blog. This Beal Bank job keeps me way too busy to even think about blogging.

And everyone is so nice. Every time I finish a task, I'm thanked for it.

Weird.