6:23 AM >> 2007 Thanksgiving Salsa-Off

Hey, so I won the 2007 Thanksgiving Salsa-Off (sponsored by Tostitos). Finally. My challengers were very disappointed. I rubbed in the championship title as much as I could.

The entries were:
#1 Ken's Mine Sucks Pity Salsa - his attempt to play down his traditional chunky red salsa was not effective. Pretty good, though but no tastes really stood out.
#2 Damian's Pineapple Salsa Verde - WINNER, WINNER, WINNER. A green salsa with a sneak attack of some sweet sweet pineappley-ness.
#3 Dusty's Cilantro Overload - This salsa had a doink-load of cilantro. After a while I got use to it, but whoa major cilantro.

Our judge was Mary Dunn. She's a Mom and a Wife to the Salsa-ers. It was a blind contest so her prejudices where not brought to the table.

Thanks guys for a good year. Can't wait to play again in next year's contest.

6:17 PM >> 2007 Thanksgiving Salsa-Off: Update

I won. I won. My Pineapple Salsa Verde (PSV) won the 2007 Thanksgiving Salsa-Off.
MORE TO COME.

4:13 PM >> Another Major Test

One of major, major proportions, even more major than the previous test.

10:13 PM >> Tester

This is a test of major proportions. This is a big test.

7:18 PM >> STAR WARS BOOGIE

It's been a while since I've watched these. A nice bit of nostalgia. Enjoy.

11:48 PM >> A fine line...

In this whole culinary world there is such a fine line between sober and drunk.

Quod est Demonstratum >>
(Corporal you may not wish to viddy this photo. It shows a pizza that's been pizza-raped.)

1:05 PM >> You see...

I told you I couldn't keep up with this blogging thing.

9:36 PM >> The Composer

So I've written before about how much I love music. My love of music combined with my stratospherical Nerd Quotient means that I still make Mixtape CDs. For the uninitiated, and Mixtape CD is just like a Mixtape except on a CD instead of a cassette. Of course, nowadays my Mixtape CDs are actually Mixtape CD Playlists since I make them for my iPod. But that is just too long to say. The strangest thing about moving to Playlists rather than Mixtapes or Mixtape CDs is that now there is no limit to the number of songs I can include. But of course everyone knows that a good Mixtape (like a good kid) needs limits. And that is where the Nerd Quotient kicks in.

I don't just make Mixtape CDs with a bunch of random songs on them. I still carry on the grand high-schooler tradition of trying to piece together the exact mix and arrangement of songs to achieve the mood or convey the story or woo the lady. So this is probably really embarrassing, but I am going to be sharing my Mixtape CDs with you as I make them, and I'll explain the deep-seated thought that went into each and every song and their placement in the Mixtape CD. Some of them will be really cheesy, I'm sure. So I'll start with a simple one.

This Mixtape CD is entitled Right-Hand-Man. The title is a reference to a line from the second track; this track, when I heard it in July, re-kicked-off my love of Mixtape CDs, so of course I had to honor it. As I said, this Mixtape CD is simple, so there is no grand, over-arching theme or meaning or purpose to this one.

Right-Hand-Man
1. Mission - The Opus (First Contact)
2. First Contact - The Opus (First Contact)
Normally I'd explain the tracks one-by-one, but these two tracks are inseparable. "First Contact" is what I wanted to include because the opening beats always hook me and take me off and running. But I realized that those beats aren't nearly as hookish without the creepy, sample-filled intro of "Mission".

3. Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
Normally I can barely make out the lyrics in a song, let alone understand them. Fortunately, this song is easy to hear, and the lyrics are just a bunch of cool questions beginning with, "Do you realize?" I also like that they used two question marks. And the music in this one is amazing.

4. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence (Fallen)
I don't know whether it's embarrassing or not to like Evanescence these days. The chick has such a great voice, and she totally draws me in whenever she's belting it out. Then the guy chimes in, and that's usually when I wonder if I should be ashamed. I figure I'll just enjoy this one.

5. Tom's Diner (7" A) - DNA & Suzanne Vega (Tom's Album)
Meredith actually thought to buy this one off iTunes for us. Of course I loved this back whenever it came out. So simple yet so great.

6. Car Thief - Beastie Boys (Paul's Boutique)
Given that I was a teenager during the Beastie's heyday, I loved Licensed to Ill, then hated Paul's Boutique when it came out since everyone else did, and then liked the Beastie Boys again in eleventh grade when Check Your Head came out. It wasn't until the summer after my senior year that I listened to Paul's Boutique again (thanks to my friend Adam digging it out), and "Car Thief" was our favorite song. The sweetest part is "A farmer..."

7. Cannonball - The Breeders (Last Splash)
This song was huge in my freshman dorm at UGA. I never got much into this band beyond this song, but I listened to this about a million times. It had a great video, too. (But not as cool as that Cibo Matto video where it's the two girls and they do all that walking around and then overlap halfway through.)

8. My England - Lady Sovereign (Public Warning)
This song just doesn't belong here. I've tried to fit Lady Sovereign on several Mixtape CDs now, and it just doesn't work. She's too jarring.

9. Enuff - DJ Shadow (The Outsider)
DJ Shadow is my all-time favorite musician. This song isn't indicative of the type of music he did that made him my all-time favorite, but it's a really happy, catchy, bouncy song. Q-Tip and Lateef are a great combination because they both sound so happy when they're rhyming.

10. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand)
I'm pretty sure that ever Mixtape CD I make for the next ten years will include a track from this album.

11. B.O.B.B.Y. - RZA as Bobby Digital (Bobby Digital in Stereo)
I'm so pissed that this CD got stolen from me or lost by me. It was really, really cool.
"Stuck to your ass like a Victoria Secrets wedgie!"
"Arm Leg Leg Arm Head"

12. Let Go - Frou Frou (Details)
I hate to admit that I picked up this song from the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack. Mainly because I went on and on so many times to Meredith about how much I hated the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack.

13. Rabbit Run - Eminem (8 Mile [Original Soundtrack])
Some people don't like this song because it doesn't have a chorus; it's just Eminem spitting it out rapid-fire from beginning to end. But every time I listen, this song gets me so pumped up, especially to do something creative.

14. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles (Revolver)
My favorite Beatles song ever.

15. Bleeding Brain Grow - MC Paul Barman (Paullelujah!)
Paul Barman is a white, Jewish rapper who went to some Ive League college who has an infectious, sing-songy flow. Plus he's the only musician to ever beat the They Might Be Giants line, "Son I am able, she said, though you scare me. Watch, said I, beloved, I said, watch me scare you, though. Said she, Able am I, son." for best palindrome within a song with the following: "Ma, origami magi roam. Eve, Mika, RZA, Evil JD. Nasir is Osiris and J-Live, AZ, Rakim, Cormega, Cage, Mr. OC: I'm anomie. I, mon ami." Bonus points since his palindromes actually use letters rather than words.

16. Watch Out Now - Beatnuts (A Musical Massacre)
Another catchy, happy hip-hop track.

17. Girl - Beck (Guero)
For some reason I never include Beck on my Mixtape CDs. So I am making a conscious effort to do so going forward.

18. PJ & Rooster - OutKast (Idlewild)
Once again a single line hooked me in: "Don't make me call the Rooster, he'll shoot ya." Hooked me not only into this song but also into Idlewild the movie--not that I've seen it yet.

19. Monster Zero - King Geedorah (Take Me To Your Leader)
This is another track that probably needs to be cut. I love it, but it's also quite jarring. This one may never make it to a Mixtape CD, but that's OK because Take Me To Your Leader is such a great, self-contained album in and of itself.

5:54 PM >>

Long John Silver's - Buttered Lobster Bites



My dad is from Maine, and he has eaten a lot of lobster in his life. I have, too, since I've been there so often. I never understood why lobster cost so much because lobster is one of those rare foods you can't screw up. Plus, the meat comes from a roach like critter. Must be something to do with having to fish it out of the sea. In any case, I will eat these and I am sure they will be good.