Link Of The Week

My dear friend and faithful reader Big Mama sends me some of the coolest foreign commercials her emails.  I know she's an extremely cool person, so it's not surprising that she sends such cool commercials, butI've often wondered where on earth you could find them.  I know that being a cool person, she probably has alot of cool friends, who maybe forward them to her.  But then again, she might just find them online.  I found a site online that is the place to go to see foreign commercials.  I haven't checked with Big Mama to see if she goes to this site, but here it is nonetheless - to see cool and funny commercials from our friends across the pond in the United Kingdom, just visit http://www.visit4info.com.  The sites the commercials in three categories: funny, cool and sexy.  You can also do a search for the commercial by the product or brand name.  I've watched a few and I have to say I just love the British sense of humor.  So check the site out, and if you find some very cool commercials that you think I'd like, shoot me an email with the link. 

A Sad Day in L-ville When Puddin Struck Out

The weekend sure hasn't started out very good, faithful readers.  I was dog tired yesterday, and when I got home from work all I wanted to do was take a nap. I was gone every night for the past week and a half and it was catching up with me.  But there was no time for napping - I had our tickets from work for the Bats ballgame and didn't have time to rest.  I did manage to sit down on the couch for 20 minutes to catch my breath before heading downtown.  I drove around Slugger Field instead of going to the season ticket holder parking lot, and hit the jackpot when I found a parking spot on the street.  I was already $4 to the good. 

My good fortune was short-lived, though.  We walked around the inside of the stadium before going to our seats and along the way bought a fried bologna sandwich, my favorite food at Slugger Field.  I opened up the wrapper and couldn't believe my eyes.  They toasted/fried the bread along with the bologna.  It was sacreligious.   Everyone knows that fried Fischer bologna is supposed to be served on fresh white bread, preferably the thin sandwich loaf bread. We ate them any way, but made a note never to visit that concession stand again.  Strike one.  A couple of innings into the game, I got my second favorite food at the ball park, nachos with peppers.  After eating 4 bites of them, the tray slipped from my lap and before I knew it there was a pile of cheese, tortilla chips and jalapeno peppers by my feet on the ground.  Strike two.  The Bats were getting beat again, so we left a bit early to head home.  As we got to the car and I was taking off my jacket before driving off, I noticed that my new favorite sunglasses (my infamous Bono glasses) weren't in my jacket pocket where I put them earlier in the evening.  It's not like they are the real type of glasses that Bono wears that will set you back a C-note or more; I bought these for $10 at one of the shops at the Glory Of Rome back in the spring.  But they had sentimental value and they were cool, and I was pissed off because I lost them.  Strike three.  Puddin struck out. 

It's Only A Dime, But It's The Principle

I was at McD's the other morning, and after I placed my order at the drive-thru, the cars ahead of me still hadn't moved so I had to stay were I was - in front of the big menu board.  I was reading about their new Asian salad, and the menu said you could add a bottle of Dasani water for "only $1.40."  I glanced down at the bottom of the menu where the beverages are listed, and imagine my surprise when I saw Dasani bottled water for $1.30.  Yep.  That's right.  McD's is charging two different prices for the same item. 

With all of the bad press today about the high-calorie and fat-filled items on fast food menus, McD's has a good idea to offer salads and water as an alternative to a 1500-calorie burger.  But do they need to charge a dime more for the bottle of water?  If you look at it this way, someone, most often a PAT, has to go to the refrigerator case and get a bottle of water if it's ordered - it doesn't matter if you order it with a Big Mac or with one of their new Asian salads.  It doesn't take an extra 10 cents worth of labor to get that bottle from the refrigerator to the customer.  If anything, you'd think McD's would charge you maybe 10 cents less for the water if you buy it with their salad.   I know. It's only a dime, but it's the principle.  You save fifteen or twenty cents if you get one of the extra value meals, but yet they will charge you a dime more if you order the bottled water with their new salad.  The only thing I can say is WTF?

New Product Review

I love trying new beverages, especially when they're made by my favorite beverage manufacturers.  In this case, we're talking about another product brought to us by my favorite soft drink people, the good folks at Coca Cola.  Their newest product is Coca Cola Blak.

I'd read about Blak a few months ago, but haven't seen any in the stores yet.  Coca Cola Blak is a blend of the carbonation of Coca Cola with real coffee. I think this is Coca Cola's attempt to capture more of the energy drink market, since this drink has a good amount of caffeine.  My co-worker and faithful reader GS mentioned Coca Cola Blak yesterday, saying he saw them in a local convenience store. After I mentioned I'd been wanting to try one, he offered to pick some up.  When he brought in the four-pack this morning and I saw little bottles shaped just like the old school Cokes.  When he handed me the bottle, I expected it to be plastic, but imagine my surprise when I felt the bottle and discovered it was in deed glass - the same shape and size of the old bottles.  The Blak bottles are made from clear glass; no greenish tint like the old ones, and they're covered in a dark plastic wrap.  But they do look pretty cool. 

Enough about the cool packaging.  On to the actual product.  Coca Cola stresses that Blak isn't just another flavor extension of Coca Cola.  I agree.  It honestly didn't taste like coffe-flavored Coke.  But you could definitely smell and taste the coffee.  You could even see it, too - I poured mine over ice in a glass, and instead of regular cola foam, Blak had a coffee-like froth.  The first taste surprised me.  I was expecting it to taste like coffee-flavored Coke, but it really didn't.  It wasn't as sweet as regular Coke, thanks for the aspartame (which makes an 8-ounce serving of Blak only 45 calories, as opposed to about 100 caloires for Coca Cola).  It wasn't bitter, either.  You could definitely taste the coffee, and you could also taste the cola. 

Two co-workers waited until their bottles were good and cold before they performed their taste test, so we could see if there any differences in the Blak being chilled or over ice.  One of them gave me a sip, and to me, the carbonation seemed a bit stronger than when I had mine over ice. We all three agreed that we liked the coffee aroma that you got when you first opened the bottle. After much discussion, we all agreed that we did like Coca Cola Blak, and that we would drink them again.  Coca Cola Blak receives the TWIT seal of approval.

 

Tribute To Roy Orbison

My dear friend and faithful reader Big Mama was in Nashville last week for a gathering of Roy Orbison fans and to celebrate his birthday. When she told me some stories and how much fun she had, I asked her to give me a report for the journal.  She files this report with TWIT:

Here's a report of our days in Nashville celebrating Roy's birthday.   We had a blast!  (Roy Orbison would have been 70 years old April 23rd.)

First, I'll tell you what we did in our "spare" time! We visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and saw a great exhibit on Ray Charles, and yes, there was a large photo of Roy recording in Studio B along with Fred Foster, Anita Kerr and others.

Now on to the parties...When was the last time Joe Melson and Bill Dees were in the same room talking about working together???!!!!! This past weekend!!! That was incredible, Joe Melson signed lots of our things – my friend had him sign an old piece of sheet music - Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. He was asked him what his favorite song was. Guess which one? We asked him if maybe it was Running Scared - nope, he flat out said it was Only the Lonely.

Bill Dees was his normal wonderful friendly and effervescent self.  Bill has a real gift of friendliness and such an upbeat attitude. It takes a while to get used to him - he really is unique! But he is truly talented and blessed with many gifts. Wesley Orbison was there on Sat. night and gifted us with a few songs. Bill was really encouraging him, telling him that he is loaded with talent. Wesley lamented and felt bad that he had not developed his talent - he is still young!!! Welsey brought his daughter, Emily, Roys' granddaughter, who is such a sweet young girl of about 14. You can really see the Orbison in her!!

There were maybe 40 or so of us there. In addition, Larry Henley, (correct me if I have the spelling wrong) was there, who was a member of the New Beats, who did Run Baby Run and he wrote a few songs that Roy recorded. I have not checked the details on all this yet.

We also had a visit from Mary Beth Hurst of the Orbison building and our forum. It was nice to meet her and we hope to continue to build a solid relationship between the fans and the Orbison Group.  (www.orbison.com)

I hope this is just a start to the many memories and continuing relationships that we all have.

Happy Birthday to Roy!

 

There is a exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, and goes on until December this year…..they opened it with Barbara Orbison earlier this month…..

http://www.rockhall.com/exhibitions/featured.asp?id=2502

 

Now You Can Have A Beer Belly

I heard about a very interesting product this morning on "The Bob And Tom Show."  It's called "The Beer Belly."  It's a pouch that men (and, I guess, women) can strap around their stomachs.  It's a neoprene sling and a polyurethane bladder that can hold 80 ounces of your favorite beverage, hot or cold. The bladder is held in an insulated pouch and is worn under your clothes for concealment.  It gives the appearance of one having a beer belly.  From the pictures I saw online, when it's filled with a beverage, it looks straight up just like a real beer belly.  They also sell what they call a "Pleasure Extender" - a gel pack that you can freeze and insert into the sling to keep the contents of the pouch good and cold for a few hours.

For those of you going to the Oaks or the Derby, or up to the Indy 500 next month, this would be the perfect accessory for you if you want to smuggle in your own drinks.  I think you'd have a better chance of pulling off the Beer Belly than you would by trying to smuggle vodka in Ziploc bags stuck inside a ridiculously-sized gallon of mayonaise. 

The Beer Belly also comes with a long drinking tube.  I'm thinking this might raise a few eyebrows if people see you sucking out of a tube that's coming from underneath your clothes.  But I guess the beverage inside has to come out somehow, right? 

Thunder Observations

This year's Thunder Over Louisville could not have been better.  The weather was gorgeous - low 70's and sunny, with a slight breeze all day long.  Traffic going home was way better than the last time I went - it took one-third the time to get home this year than in 2004; I got home just over an hour.  I'm sure that's a Derby Festival record.  There was no drama all day long - just fun and merriment and fireworks. 

As always, I was on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary to report to you, my faithful readers.  Unfortunately, I did not see any mullets.  Believe me - I was looking for them.  I saw some amusing sights during my 12 hours at Thunder Over Louisville, but the funniest thing I saw was on the way home.  As I was inching my way down Main Street, a group of young guys were crossing the street in front of me.  They were like the rest of the 800,000 people down there - carrying coolers, bags, plastic tarps and folding chairs.  One guy bringing up the rear of that group was their designated chair carrier.  When I say he was carrying folding chairs, I don't mean the kind that fold up and go in a nylon back with a shoulder strap; I mean the guy was carrying folding chairs - the metal kind like we have in the fellowship hall at church and at the VFW bingo hall.  The poor guy wasn't only carrying his own chair - he was toting three other ones, too.

As someone who's been in the Baptist church all their life, I've carried more than my fair share of these metal folding chairs.  But my carrying of the metal chairs has been from the chair rack to tables and back; I've never had to carry the chairs for blocks and blocks after partying out in the sun all day.  Nor have I carried four chairs at a time, either.  My hands are small and I can only safely hold one in each hand without dropping them.  I cannot imagine carrying two in each hand for goodness knows how many blocks.  I don't think I would have even carried one metal folding chair down there.  If that was my only alternative, I think I'd just sit on the ground.