Tuesday, January 31, 2012

my drunk kitchen vegan cheese cake

it don't get much better than this



so many hilarious quotes in there.

Monday, January 30, 2012

muppets strike back

kermit & piggy respond to fox news' take on their movie from a few weeks back

monday haiku 1/30

it's superbowl week
and i have no plans made yet
who has the party?

lefty's back!

ah, man, i missed this a few days back.  my friend chris has returned to blogging.  chris, along with his wife kelly, are the main parts behind the married gamers podcast.  chris was one of the first people i knew blogging at regular intervals, and he introduced us to podcasting and helped us get going.  anyway, he stopped blogging his personal blog several years ago.  but he has returned with new content.  i'm excited.

maybe blogging is making a comeback.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

tower cafe

i loved tower dogs.  it was a sad day, for me, when it closed down.  however, i was excited to hear that something would take its place, and hoped it would be good.  that place: tower cafe.  this mainly is a review of dinner last night, but first let me throw out some details from a few stop ins i had previously had.

tower cafe, like tower dog before it, is open late.  many a time i found myself hitting up tower dog for a late night meal, and am happy that tower cafe is keeping that option available.  the have a simple hot dog, and that's cool.  but, what may be the death of me is their cheesy tots.  good gawd i love their tater tots covered in cheese sauce.  this is the perfect late night, salty post pub grub. i've also had the pulled pork sandwich and it was pretty decent.

anyway, last night the wife and i met two friends at tower cafe for some dinner.  we each ordered different items, so it was cool that we could talk about the different foods.  mike ordered the hot pastrami with fries and it looked delicious.  he said it tasted very good.  from where i was sitting, i could see the cook preparing the food, and so i got to watch him toast the bread, then melt a piece of cheese on it. the pastrami also had cheese melted on, creating layers of pastrami & cheese in the sandwich.  adam ordered the cheese burger & fries.  tower cafe does hand formed burger patties, which i think is a great idea.  they're well seasoned and adam was a fan of the burger.  heather ordered their turkey sandwich.  it was shredded turkey, which i thought was an interesting idea, as i expected sliced turkey.  the sandwich had a cranberry spread on it.  she enjoyed the sandwich well enough, but she's not a big fan of dark meat and so the mix of white & dark meat wasn't her favorite.  i ate the other half of the sandwich today and thought it tasted very good, even as cold leftovers.  all three ordered the regular fries, and i had a few as well, and they were tasty.  me, i went with the spicy cheeseburger.  i'm not sure what sort of spicy spread they put on the burger, but it was great.  very flavorful and spicy, but not too hot.  combined with a pepper jack cheese it tasted great.  i had the curly fries w/cheese sauce (they were out of tots - sad face) and dug them.  they would have been good even without the cheese.

the decor of the place is simple and clean. the staff was very friendly.  the food, all prepared after ordering came up quickly.

overall, we had a good time, and enjoyed our meals.  i definitely be back, and not just for the late night cheesy tots.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

you're a creep, charlie brown

i love radiohead, and have always had a love for the song creep.  i remember how mind blowing the original was when it came out, and love the acoustic version on my iron lung. when it chimes in during the social network, i appreciated the cover, done by vega choir, and how it gave it a slightly creepier feel.

artist rob yulfo put together the song with clips from charlie brown episodes for a great effect.



also, thanks to laughing squid, where i saw the video first.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

downtown hofbrau

i had heard that a new restaurant had opened downtown, and that it was a hofbrau. in my mind, i had memories of the old fresno hofbrau dancing about. rich sandwiches, beers, and such. this new space isn't quite that, and that's all right.


when you come in the door, you see the menu on the wall, as well as a sign board with daily specials. it looks like a pretty good menu, with classic choices. also, i thought the prices were pretty decent. i generally try to snap photos like this discreetly. i was trying, but one of the chefs saw me and asked why i was taking pictures. i explained that i liked reviewing restaurants and photos always help, especially of the menu. it was pretty cool because they chatted me up a bit about how i'd heard about the place, and introduced me to the member of their staff handling their web presence.


i ordered the pastrami hot plate. it comes with a good amount of pastrami & two sides. i got the baked beans and the stuffing. let me tell you about the food. the pastrami - i think i've finally found a place to get a good, solid pastrami sandwich. i liked the pastrami, served here on it's on. it had a good flavor & texture, and wasn't too salty. and, it had just the right amount of fat to it. i was able to easily slice it, and enjoyed the meal. the baked beans - these were great. seriously, i was blown away by these baked beans. great flavor. not too saucy. bits of bacon mixed in here and there. i actually think that i would go back and try other menu items just because of how much i liked the beans. the stuffing - these were not the business. in fact, i thought they were pretty bad. it had a very pasty texture and the flavor was just weird. i choose to get them with the turkey gravy (they also have beef gravy) and even that couldn't save the stuffing. i rarely don't finish sides unless i'm feeling stuffed. i was getting full, but there was no way i was finishing that stuffing. overall, i had a good experience and liked most of the food. i'll go back and try more menu items and some different sides. the person in front of me ordered mashed potatoes, and they looked pretty good.


a view of the restaurant.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

welcome joy

so, i moved some of my sidebar stuff around.  basically, i took out the sports blog (see previous post) and moved adam up, since he's one of the so-called regular reads that actually posts.  i also added our friend joy to the sidebar.  she's new to blogging, but i had a good time reading her stuff today. it deals mainly with her experience doing a 60 day yoga challenge, which i think is pretty cool. i also hope she keeps blogging after the 60 days is over.

so, welcome, joy!

buh bye wide world of fresno sports

so, a while back i started a blog that was intended to be a fresno-centric view of sports.  i was tired of the crappy sports blog the bee had, and wanted to try my hand at a little sports writing.  i gathered a few friends, and launched the wide world of fresno sports (fresnosports.blogspot.com) and went at it.  we did some good stuff, but mostly it wasn't anything spectacular.

as time went on, i wrote less and less, and my co-writers became essentially non-existent.  as it is, there hasn't been a new post since last august.  what, no sports have happened since then?

so, i'm pulling the plug.  it's dead, so let's bury it.  i know there won't be any tears.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

red tails trailer scare

as i wound down for the evening with some tv, i happened to see the trailer for a movie that i want to see.  i knew that it was coming up, and had heard some interesting drama about making the movie.  what movie am i talking about? red tails.  i mean, the story of the tuskegee airmen is inspiring, amazing, and should be told.  it needs to be told.  so, yes, when i heard that it was being made i was excited.  it's got a pretty solid cast of veteran actors.  when i heard that lucasfilm was doing it, and fronting a lot of money because they were having trouble finding backing, i thought even cooler.  good story, continued slight against the people it's about, sounds worth seeing.

and then i saw this trailer on tv.  now, the version i found on youtube is a low budge recording someone did and posted.  i couldn't actually find the version i saw tonight on the official pages, but it's on tv nonetheless



what the eff.  that trailer had me seriously scared about the quality of this movie.  frankly, a trailer like that makes me think the film was a a big, stanky turd.  anachronistic much?  i get that you may spice up a commercial to grab an audience.  and, depending on what you're advertising during, it may even really grab your target.  here's the thing: i was watching the daily show.  yes, that is a "younger" audience,  but i'm thinking that people that watch the daily show and its satirical take on american culture may be looking for something with more substance in a movie.  maybe like this:



then again, maybe everyone watching the daily show is stoned and the flashing colors and synth beats is just what they need to get them to see a movie about a rarely spoken of piece of american history.