Bread so crazy, it's in the name!

This was long overdue. I have even admitted this to Nikkilooch, who has been urging for years that I was truly missing out from not eating Crazy Bread from Little Caesars. But I took care of that this past weekend.

First off, it's been years since I've even tasted anything from LC's. But I was willing to explore this new culinary foray. And it totally lived up to it's name! This is especially important after ordering Amazing Lamb from a Chinese joint and finding out it was Just Alright Lamb. Just grabbed a single order with a cup of Crazy Sauce (of course!) and bolted home with every intent of it being a side-item to my leftover Chipotle lunch. That's not quite how things went.

So I was driving home when it became quite clear that my car was smelling better by the minute. Guess why? Crazy Bread! I tossed everything on a plate and was initially dismayed. I guess my brain expected kinda cheesy bread, but this is not CB's style. I started dipping, chomping, enjoying, eating more. Pretty soon I had eaten all but 3 sticks and forced myself to stop there, temptation be damned. I now empathize completely with Nikki's urges to just eat the whole thing in one sitting. Oh - and Chipotle never even made it out of the fridge until much, much later.

My mind was blown. This bread was indeed very crazy.

Even made good use of the leftovers by throwing them in the toaster for a minute to crisp things up. I also learned that it's good to alternate bites with and without dipping sauce. The bread is so good on its own that you gotta let it shine solo... in your mouth. So yeah, overall a very satisfying food experience. It's not fine dining in any sense - it's actually pretty disgraceful. But it's clearly going to be a guilty pleasure in the future. Go get some. Seriously.

Pictured above: my undoing, Crazy Bread/Sauce

Gah...

Sooo.... apparently I need this game like my life depends on it. I'm getting pressured from pretty much everyone that's ever seen it, hearing that I must buy it. I'm certain it's awesome - I've wanted it from day 1. I have only hesitated because I'm trying to spend on needs before wants. But that might be a losing battle. Anywho, who wants to donate $5 to the cause?

Anyone?

Hello...? *tap tap tap* Is this thing on?

The Adventures of Uncle Lucy

It's Sunday, the last day of rest on a greatly needed long holiday weekend. Work has been intensely frustrating ever since Queen Lauren got tapped on the shoulder, so I am definitely taking delight in any time spend enjoying the little things. And while this extended weekend might've had some bumps here and there, it was overall quite refreshing and interesting. Thanksgiving was good - nothing very notable there. Just good dinner with the family and lots of football. But the day after...

I don't shop on Black Friday - I avoid going out like the plague, but I did find good reason to at least leave the house. I drove down to Hughesville (yes - on purpose!) to visit my awesome friend from school and TKD, Hayley. She also had her adorable daughter around, so that made for good fun. I walked in, doled out hugs to all the Heaths, then joined Hayley and Misha in the living room... to watch Diego. Now, Diego isn't quite as bad as his female equivalent, Dora, but it's the same style. Anywho, this episode, "Underwater Mystery," featured a spotted whale named Lucy. And since I never introduced myself to Miss Misha, her brain went to the "recent new names" catalog and pulled out... Lucy. And with her mother reinforcing this (at great amusement), I am likely going to be remembered as Uncle Lucy, despite my efforts otherwise.

We get to a stopping point in Diego and decide to stop out and pick up Ledo's for lunch. So Hayley, Misha and I load up and head over to put in our order. Since we passed a Wal-Mart on the way, we decide to double back and do some quick browsing while lunch gets made. Apparently, the power in the entire store had crashed not 2 mins before we pulled in. We're talking BLACK. The only light is from scattered emergency lights and the sunlight up front. And there are lots of people, all with confused expressions, some bordering on anger and panic. In an attempt to go out the way we came in we are halted by a very ill-tempered employee in a motorized wheelchair. She was old and cranky... and needed to have chocks thrown in front of her wheels. But we got out okay and headed back to Ledo's.

Then we realized the extent of the outage since Ledo's and other nearby stops had lost power as well. Fortunately, they lost power after our meals had finished. So we grab it and go. It took us about 10 mins to get thru one intersection when a state trooper couldn't figure out that his parked cruiser was actually causing more of a blockage. Brilliant.

We get home, we eat, Misha goes up for a nap. So we throw on a movie, which frequently upset the very temperamental DVD player (which is why we stopped at Wal-Mart in the first place). We get thru half of the movie and the kid comes back down, needing a snack. So Hayley grabs her a pack or two of fruit snacks and she chows down. But she leaves all the purple and orange and yellow ones. "Clearly," I think, "we have the same taste, and she's weeding out what she doesn't want." Not wanting them to get sat on or go to waste, I finish off the unwanteds while a bathroom break is being taken. I was wrong. They were wanted. I ate a little girl's fruit snacks. Yup - now I'm THAT guy. So, of course, Uncle Lucy gets teased and ribbed again for a while, but I guess I had it coming.

It was a very pleasant visit, and I'm so happy that I got to spend time with my friends. And Misha must have forgiven me because she gave me a big hug and waved me goodbye. She might have addressed her farewell to Lucy, but she's cute enough to let it slide. It was quite an adventurous day.

Survivor: Nags Head

It came so slow and has gone by so quickly, but it definitely happened - Beach Week 2009. As Leah had been appropriately trained to say, Beach Week was "legendary." I'd been aching for this one way more than last year for various reasons. First, prior to driving down to NC, my most recent trip and break from was was to TX for a funeral. That doesn't count as a break at all. Also, work has been pretty stressful over the last few quarters. I needed this one. I needed it BAD!

That being said, this legendary entry will sum up our legendary trip in the same fashion as last year's. No real plot or sequence of events, but rather a shot-gunning of random happenings, observations and maybe a gripe or two. But rest assured: we still came out in the positive this year, and I'm so happy we went. Game on!

-You can chalk it up to whatever excuse you like, but I was first to the house. Yelling "FIRST!" kinda solidified that.
-I DID NOT LOCK MYSELF OUT ON THE BALCONY THIS YEAR! (I know you all wondered/hoped...)
-Eating lunch at Pierce's Pitt BBQ (in Jamestown, VA) does not suck at all. It sucks so little, I made sure to do it on the way back.
-I'm still awful at shooting pool, but I've gotten slightly more tactical about my approach. I found it also takes me about 30 games to finish a round without scratching once.
-Lars' head and the glass-topped tables did battle numerous times. I believe the tables dominated.
-Dad and I hit up the Wright Bros. Museum, listened to a story-telling and saw lots of killer historical spots.
-I found that you can still get blisters from walking on just sand. Seriously. I also thought my calves were gonna rupture for several days.
-Our new lottery system for assigning dinner duties worked very well. I see no reason to change that in years to come.
-If one person in the family gets sick, then we ALL get sick. Of course, some people gotta 1-up everyone with sinus infections and intestinal whammy (not naming names).
-Weather was amazing every day. Some humidity and clouds here and there, but c'mon. Also got footage of some SERIOUS lightning storm action.
-I believe it is worth $100 to run and jump in the ocean in the dark, windy night. Chris does not share that belief, though he was willing to ponder it for a while.
-I believe we made a record number of trips to Duneburger this year. I personally experimented with their shakes. Cherry: fantastic; butterscotch: pretty good; pineapple: meh.
-Sleeping in (past 8:30) was not an option.
-I love the movies Horton Hears a Who! and Finding Nemo... but after this trip, I need some time away from them. They'll understand.

INTERMISSION (Just linked the first thing YouTube gave me - go figure it's by the "My spoon is too big" guy... Honestly, it was either this or the Monty Python segment. I apologize.)

-Stack 'Em High now has pancakes with both chocolate chips and shredded coconut. "Dear Diary... JACKPOT!"
-Again, driving home was terrible. Just felt so much longer with nothing but a work week to look forward to. And I-64 jammed up like a mother.
-Some people don't yet grasp the internet. Some people sound a little like George W. Bush. Coincidence?
-I felt personally offended when I fell asleep to Family Guy, then woke up to Seinfeld.
-I managed to go the entire trip without shaving... kinda liberating.
-The ocean did not kick my ass this time around when I went boogie-boarding. I win.
-I don't EVER want to watch Dora or Diego again. Swear I got dumber...
-Some dogs are just too ugly to live. I learned that "brachycephalic" translates to either "Nature kicked your dog's face in" or "will likely die from breathing complications." No thanks.
-This book is farkin' amazing. I couldn't read anything else the whole time!
-Sometimes the hot tub isn't exactly hot, thus effectively making it a tepid tub. Temperature fail!
-There was something incredibly funny about getting my parents to drink shots.
-The Cheat is a super-finicky car passenger. He started fussing and grumbling at random nothings. He also doesn't like the roadside rumble strips.
-700+ miles and zero speeding tickets. Same as last year, but still worth noting.
-I may not be her all-time favorite, but I don't mind at all when Leah shares snuggles.
-We caught a couple more crabs that were "sleeping" at the bottom of the pool. Seeing Leah pick one up and pantomime with it = teh hilarious!
-Terry Anderson wins the first annual I Went to the Beach and All I Got was This Tan from the Computer award.

That's all for this year. Can't wait to do it again. People should be getting jealous enough to want to join in. Honestly, it wouldn't be such a bad thing if I had to make another trip before I went with the family. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Oh - and if I can trick my cameras into working/editing, pics and video will follow soon.

PS - I know I still need to post pics from Warped. They're coming.

Canadians, Trannies and Brits - Oh My!

I said it was coming and now it's here: the awesome story of my third Warped Tour experience... from, like... 5 weeks ago. *ahem* Moving on!

Warped Tour '09 almost didn't happen for me... because I'm an idiot. Mike knew I was going, so we were planning for me to be out of the office that entire day. Then Mike's little brother mentions that he was going to the show the next day, the 14th. I had previously thought it was the 21st (like an idiot). So Mike calls me up, makes me double check my ticket and he's right (and I'm an idiot). So this drastically changes things, like having to get a REAL amount of sleep for the next day.

I get up extra early so I can pack up for the concert and jet to work early. I figured I'd skip all the potential backup to the Columbia venue by already being there. Got to the office around 5:30 AM, let myself in, locked up, then went right to the massage room with no windows and the most-padded semblance of a bed, to sleep until I knocked a few hours out on an early shift. Then... the Mexicans showed up... to clean the place, of course. I locked the doors to keep them out rather than going out and explaining why I was there already. Little sleep was had. Knocked out a few hours on the job, then zipped over to Merriweather.

First and foremost, I will say that the weather was amazing all day long. I remember there being the constant threat of rain or whatever thinking about falling, but it never did. I chilled at the mall to let the entry lines fade, then ducked inside after about 30 mins. Made my trip to the giant inflatable wall to scope out the schedule, jotted down who I needed to see where... and then it began.

Never have I gone to a Warped Tour and known so few bands on the bill, so that made it an incredible opportunity to discover some new blood or some old blood that had previously missed my ears. I didn't get to see every group I wanted, but definitely got to see my share of good and bad acts. Here's the breakdown...

Senses Fail - the only band I made mandatory since I've come to discover their entire discography in the last year or so. Kind of a short set, but I'll hit them again in October when they visit Towson. But they played the fav's, like "Can't Be Saved" and "Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning." Buddy does a lot of mic swinging... like, a LOT. Might need to tone that down and focus on having the mic in-hand when it's time for the vox, but hey, who's the rockstar here? Not me.

I also had the pleasure of collecting autographs and handshakes from each one of the guys at their signing. I even ran into Buddy again after their show and talked him up a little bit. Certainly glad to have dedicated, authentic bands like them on the tour. I got some pics with the guys, but I'll save them all for when I have every shot I wanna share. (Stupid phone!)

TAT - the award for Surprise Awesomeness goes to this punk/rock trio from England. I just happened to be walking by their stage as thing were ramping up and got sucked in. In the interviews I've seen, they agreed when someone characterized their sound as "Joan Jett meets Green Day." And my God, are they addictive! Their frontlady is crude, hilarious, smokin' hot and a phenomenal guitarist! Every guy would try to nail her if she wasn't capable of kicking our each and every ass. I didn't know any of the songs then, but I remember lots of catchy riffs, enticing lyrics and several spots prime for audience participation.

This little dialogue sums up the thrill of getting to see them:
Tatiana: How many of you all have heard of us before?
Crowd: *about half of everyone woo's and cheers*
Tatiana: Well, how many of you motherfuckers have heard of us now?!
Crowd: *EVERYONE goes off like mad*

Their bassist, Nick Kent... solid. Dude is loud and lively. It's rare a bassist catches my eye/ear, but he's just that good. Check out their album, Soho Lights. It's freakin' gold!

Alexisonfire - this is another group I just happened upon near the end of the day. Their music seemed like something I might wanna check out later, but that's not what hooked me (though it isn't without merit). A song or two in, a "that guy" near the front chucks a cup of ice and it spills on the lead guitarist (who was kicking lots of musical ass). Half of the band plays on while the other half drops gear and goes after this dude! You don't fuck with the band - they're Canadian, but they'll still beat your ass for being so audacious. Lucky for that guy, security got their hands on him before the band did. Had that not been the case...? Yikes. I took a break from them for about 60 seconds to see the big headliner across the field everyone was talking about, 3OH!3. They blew chunks - that is all. Went back to the rockin' Canucks. Didn't stay for the whole set... last group of the day, tired, gave up and called it a success. Lots of dynamic sound, good use of all the members on vocals and instrumental layering... need to check them out more on album-quality stuff.

Anti-Flag - these guys remind me of Rise Against in their style and anti-authority theme. They even chastised the elevated VIP stands for not coming down and joining the rest of the crowd in the mix. But they were't all "fuck you"s and yelling - they played some good songs, none of which I knew before, but they drew me in faster than anything else I'd seen that day. Again, definitely need to see more. But also credit them for riling the crowd up into one of the most vigorous mosh cyclones ever. I just ran and bumped and picked people back up until my lungs were dust-coated from the frenzy. Another good pic to come of that.

Neat little PS from those guys... I'm walking back to my car and I pass Justin Sane as he's biking around. Couldn't navigate him to a hotel like he needed, but I thanked him sincerely for coming out and he took his praise graciously. Very cool guy.

Those are all the highlights... time for some lesser events.

Escape the Fate was good.

Behold the Flood was surprisingly good for a little local group.

Millionaires made me want to hurt someone - they sang poppy songs about being divas and they danced. You're at an underground punk-rock show. We don't have room for circus acts.

Jeffree Star epitomizes "circus act" like nothing else I saw that day. This flamingly gay transvestite vocalist did nothing but strip off his clothes, sing raunchy, faddy songs and call everyone bitches in every way he could. They made me want to rethink freedom of speech. I know music is a very subjective topic, but they have no substance or heart. I can't wait for these fakes to fizzle out and get min. wage jobs.

Westbound Train was... out of place. This was a very enthusiastic jazz ensemble that was playing the other half of the pavillion stage before Senses Fail came on. So the crowd was kinda loaded in the exact opposite way they wanted. They were decent, but need to find a new channel that suits them better. They started playing "Shout!" and everyone just wanted them to keep getting "a little bit softer now..." until they left. They win the ever-depressing Participation Ribbon.

And then, while I was waiting in line for the Senses Fail signing, I got to watch this one spastic dude in action. All he had with him was his sign pointing towards "Free Stuff" and a whole lot of sexual frustration. This was made evident by his ever-expanding variety of suggestive dance moves involving the large sign-on-a-stick. One of those random things that will always stick with me... sadly.

So that's about it. Some highs, some lows, some starvation, and lots of exhaustion. Got home, showered off the multilayered crud on my skin and called it a solid win. Viva la Warped! (Pics to follow - harrass me if I stall too long.)

Another Weekend Top 5

This was one of those kinda busy, blurry, already-gone weekends. Yet it was well-spent and productive.

1. For all the time Jonathan has been there for me, I got to be there for him once.

2. Aprehension be damned -turkey burgers still kick ass.

3. Read two whole books in less than a day's span.

4. Sidewalk chalk and short walk to the lake with Leah.

5. Managed to snag the last remains of Mom's Day ribs.

Back to the craziness of work and more work...

Top Cinco de Anoche

1. Boss picked up dinner and drinks tab at Diamondbacks.

2. Thai chili wings and free taco buffet.

3. Some girls thought I looked like Michael Cera (in a good way).

4. Rainbow shots are awesome to watch being poured.

5. Only did one shot of tequila... odd stuff that is.

(Not pictured: remembering exactly what shade stomach bile is.)