Travolta24(+10)

 

If I didn't live in the hood, I wouldn't like this so much.

Today, a group of people who volunteer their time for worthy causes (Meals on Wheels, etc), got invited to do a test run of the new Ted's Montana Grill opening in downtown Kansas City. I was one of those invited.

I'd never been to Ted's before so I didn't know what to expect. As Ted's was giving us lunch for free, there were a few rules. 1) The table had to share either an appetizer or dessert. We opted on onion rings. 2) The table had to share either a soup or salad. We opted for chicken tortilla soup. 3) Everyone could pick a sandwich - either beef, bison or chicken. We all opted for something different - mostly bison. I decided to try something called a Spikebox and I got it as bison since I wanted to try bison. The sandwich was bison, some kind of cheese, bacon strips and jalapenos.

Our waitress, Heather, also brought out something they called Half Sours - it was like a combination of cucumbers and dill pickles. We all seemed to like the dill flavor and crispness of these cucumber pickles. They were more dill pickle disguised as cucumber.

 

 

After getting our drinks, we were served with straws. We didn't know this at the time, but Ted's is trying to be earth friendly by not using plastic. Our straw was made of recycled paper and many of us at the table compared it to a compact toilet paper roll. After that description, some people just didn't use the straw. Another thing we noticed is that the fountain drinks had crushed ice in them - and we're talking the entire glass was full of ice. Those of us drinking ice tea had bigger cubes of ice. I know ice tea is cheap to make, but not getting much soda with your ice is insane especially when it was $2.29 for a soda. You can request regular coke which comes in a small Coke bottle from years ago.

 

 

 

Our onion rings and soup got delivered to the table, but we didn't get spoons to dish out the horseradish sauce or the soup. We had to wait awhile for Heather to get back to our table with spoons. We all enjoyed both the onion rings and chicken tortilla soup - and especially the horseradish sauce. KH liked it so much she kept it in her sights the entire time. 

After a short wait, our food arrived. The Spikebox was really good. It had fresh jalapenos on it which made it that much better. The bison was good too and it had a little sweeter flavor than normal beef. I had to take a picture of the meal as all of our meals came with a little American flag in the middle. Nothing says patriotic like eating bison, which used to be endangered species, while reminescing about cowboys and indians on the great plains. When we were waiting to be seated, there was a bison head on the wall. I wondered if that was the bison we were eating today. BW said no, it was his sister. Although the burger was good, the cost was crazy - $10 for the burger. I know bison is leaner than chicken (or so someone said at the table) but I didn't know we had to give that much to enjoy it. I guess they don't have lunch prices here.

 

 

 

KH used the restroom and said he liked the soap in there. He said it was old school. What is old school about soap? Well compared to the gels we have today, they had a powder substance - we'll just call it Ajax - that he said was smooth when mixed with water. "Powdery Goodness" - he didn't say that, I did, but I told him I'd put that in here just because. TN also used the restroom and in keeping with being earth friendly, he said they have signs all over the place touting they don't use water in their urinals. I don't know what they use, but this sounds nasty. Does more Ajax or Borax or even bleach come out of the urinal to cleanse it? The world will never know.

We all liked the free lunch but when we got the bill, we were a bit taken back. If we would have had to pay, our bill would have been almost $100. That's expensive for lunch...a little too expensive.

Questions remain...with all the places getting ready to open downtown, how will their lunch service survive without a special lunch price? A Chipotle is opening in two weeks across the street. How will they survive the onslaught of the $6 burrito?

If you want more information about Ted's, check out their website here

www.TedsMontanaGrill.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to get away from all the politics so I'm not even writing about them - even though I christened tomorrow as Super Fat Tuesday (sponsored by Jenny Craig, New Orleans and your local voting station). On to the non-political post!

There's a band I've always loved since the day I first heard them - the B52's. I was indoctrinated from their pop-smash "Love Shack" with their quirky-60's surfer-ish sounds which was just different and unique than other bands. I remember "Roam", "Channel Z" and later on, when listening to old stuff, "My Own Private Idaho" among others.

I think I liked them so much because, in a way, they helped me come out of the closet. I always had a crush on Keith - the guitarist and sometimes drummer and Cindy and Kate where a drag queen's dream with great outfits and bee-hive hair with their signature 60's dance moves.

So for my trip down memory lane, and maybe yours, I present to you a few videos of the B52's - who by the way - are releasing a new CD later this month called Funplex. PS - I still think Keith is cute!

Ok, I'm becoming an old man. No, not just from the getting a year older, just overall old mannish. Today is my birthday and I could be less enthused.

I know it only comes once a year and it's your personal day, but blah. Nothing magical happens, there is no fanfare, no balloons, no parties, no reason to get excited. It's just another day. The obligatory birthday dinner with parents happened on Sunday with birthday presents. That was nice. The obligatory birthday dinner with partner and presents will be happening sometime this week or weekend. That will be nice. But honestly, I don't get excited anymore. I think the inner child has finally died. I can't find a pulse...

My friends have always kidded me that I was the Dorothy (with a bit of Rose) to their Blanches (Golden Girls reference if you didn't get it). I've always felt that I was somewhat grounded and if you want to say grounded = old, then go ahead and make that connection.

Back in grade school, it used to be exciting. I have a twin sister so we would have joint birthday parties. That was something to enjoy and remember.

I think for my 30th birthday, my partner gave me a surprise birthday party. That was fun too. I felt dumb though b/c I should have read all the signs that something was going to happen, but didn't. Oh well.

I'm not crying for a party or anything. Actually, I prefer to stay out of the spotlight - too many others need it more than I do.

It's not just birthdays either. It was Christmas last month too. I'm becoming an old man - I think I've always been an old man in a somewhat younger body. I need to find a way to reignite the flames of my being and start getting excited again.

Happy birthday, Julie!

 

 

 

 

Something the local paper alerted me to this morning. Now she's a Barbie girl with some problems. Enjoy the humor if you can and the statement it makes afterward.

Ok, I opened it...and I like what I'm hearing!

There's an internet radio station from the Music Genome Project called Pandora (http://www.pandora.com). Basically, you can enter in an artist or song title and while sometimes they'll play the exact tune, they're really good at finding artists and songs who have music similar to the music you want to hear.

This morning, I entered Miss Jane because I wanted to hear "It's A Fine Day" and it brought back some good songs that I would categorize in the same genre and likeness like Olive's "You're Not Alone", Urban Cookie Collective's "The Key The Secret", Nadia's "It's Gonna Take Time" and "It's A Fine Day" as well by Miss Jane.

It's an interesting concept and I know there are other online sites who do something like this, but I'm digging Pandora and this box of music I'm listening to now. And I'm listening to artists and songs I may or may not have heard of before, thus expanding my music repitoire.

You can register, it's free and you can listen through any internet connection or computer. Some phones can even stream it if you're so lucky and have EVDO services in your area.

Here's to you finding your new Pandora's Box of Musical Goodness. See what or who you could be listening to now.

That was what I said last night...read on:

 

Around 11:30 last night, I was inches away from getting in bed and getting some sleep when I heard a noise, make that several noises. The first noise sounded like the wooden bar we have against the sliding back door was knocked out. The second noise sounded like a huge thump and the third sounded like breaking glass. I swear I thought someone had broken into the back door!

I woke JE up and said I thought someone had broken into the house but the alarm didn't go off. We came so close to calling 911 it wasn't funny, but decided to take matters into our own hands. I threw on some clothes and got a softball bat. I had JE go down with the bat first and we made our way downstairs.

Not a sound was coming from anywhere. We checked the backdoor - nothing. The wooden bar was still there and there wasn't a forced entry, no broken glass. I noticed in the kitchen there were a few things on the floor near where we have some pantry shelves. First, I noticed that the bottom pantry door was open about 5 inches which was odd in itself because we never use the bottom pantry. Then, I noticed the tortilla warmer was on the floor. Next, I noticed a part of a mixer we had was on the floor and finally, in a ziplock bag, JE's prized "Vamp It Up" vampire plate was on the floor in several pieces in the bag.

Ok, that explained the sounds, but what it doesn't explain is how they got there. JE swears he had the plate in a separate cabinet and has no idea how it would have gotten where it was - plus he was very upset that it was broken. The other things could have fallen off the wire shelving we had, but we didn't know where they were before and how did the door on the bottom pantry get opened?

I picked up the ziplock with the pieces of plate and put it on the counter and I kid you not, the pieces started moving and making noises. That was enough for both of us and we went upstairs. Our house has a ghost and apparently it doesn't like tortillas or vampire plates. I have had an experience where ghosts were present, although I couldn't see them, I could feel them and I was definitely feeling them. It's like a feeling you get if you feel like you're being watched mixed with a cold feeling that runs up your spine. I was so feeling it after the plate pieces started moving.

The feeling is very overwhelming too. After I tried to get to sleep, any noise in the house - and yes, there were more noises in the house - JE thought it sounded like someone mixing something downstairs - keep me awake. Moreso, my eyes started just watering and running down my face and my noise started running. I have no idea what was going on. Maybe I was getting possessed...I've seen it happen before.

I got back up and took one of the dogs downstairs with me and they didn't want to go and I felt a huge rush of cold that chilled me to the bone so much that I had trouble breathing and could barely move at the top of the stairs. I went downstairs and felt the chill again and said, "go away and leave this house." Like that ever did any good.

I went back upstairs, my eyes continued to water, I felt like I just wanted to ball and finally fell asleep.

This isn't our first experience in the house with something like this. One time, a japanese soldier statue inexplicably fell or was thrown from a shelf. Nobody was around it when it happened and it was too heavy to get pushed by the wind. An another time after a friend of ours died, I was upstairs and JE was downstairs. JE said he thought I came downstairs and kissed him on the neck, but when he turned around, I wasn't there. He yelled for me and I asked him what he wanted and he asked if I had been downstairs. I wasn't.

Anyone else have ghost stories to share?

Turkey lurkey day is over and as a time for reflection and thanks, here is what I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful...

...I can read and write which helps me post on here and enjoy others wisdom.

...I have a job although I am working today and don't take enough time off.

...that I have survived living in a house when the housing market suffers and loan defaults are rising.

...that I have someone to come home to even if I forget to call when I am going to be late.

...for good friends who are like the stars...even if you can't see them at night you know they're still there watching over you.

...for my softball team, bowling team/league and dart team for all the good competitive times.

...for my parents who in their age finally tell me they love me vocally and I the same.

...for my dogs Gypsy and Spike for their companionship and entertainment.

...for living in KC and loving its revitalization.

...for anyone who reads this blog.

On the way home from work today, the local radio station was talking about something most vile. I hope you've already eaten breakfast or dinner because I almost stopped the car to -throw up.

Anyone know about a new "homemade drug" called Jenkem? Well if you don't, here's some information for you. Apparently, high school students are doing this and it has been reported that street children in Zambia have done it too. And guess what? You can make it at home too!

Make your own Jenkem (daily):

1. Deliver your daily deuce. Yes, that means take a crap and make sure you get some urine in there too.
2. Take said deuce with some urine and put it in a plastic bottle.
3. Take plastic bottle outside where there is lots of sunlight.
4. Put a balloon over the bottle. When the deuce and urine mixture start to dry out and ferment from the sun, the balloon will fill up with "gases".
5. Take balloon off bottle and inhale said gases from balloon and enjoy the psychoactive effects which last for around an hour and consist of auditory and visual hallucinations.

And there you go. Homemade drugs which smell like sh*t!

I can imagine the conversations... "Damn, we're out. Bobby, go make some more. I know you just had Mexican so this should be some flavorful sh*t!  It's Friday, ain't got no job, ain't got nothin to do, let's get high!"  "Man, this is some good sh*t!"   "Screw glue and gas, man...I can make this sh*t cheap!"

Why couldn't they be like us in high school and just drink or smoke pot?

Want more info? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkem. I especially love the part which a tv station in Indiana gave parents advice to "wait up for them (their children) at night and not let their kids go to bed until they have seen them and smelled their breath."  I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn't be smelling kids' breath. I just about gag thinking about it.

And you thought meth was bad...I can start seeing the PSA posters in Phoenix now...wonder when the first SSA (sh*t sniffers anonymous) meeting will be held?

Post a comment if you've already tried it so we can hold our noses, throw up and make fun of you. 

It's Halloween and for a last minute costume, I decided to use something in my closet which will likely never be used again. It was something unique as nobody would likely ever dress up as this. I took an old Trent Green jersey and I was Trent Green (former KC Chiefs' QB and current Miami Dolphins' QB) with a concussion. I know, it's borderline just wrong. And concussions are no laughing matter...but something just possessed me to do it. After people figured it out around here, they thought it was a little funny. So, with apologies to Trent Green, Happy Halloween!