Shats!? I'm for Them!

Found this today and it both brightened my day and deeply disturbed me at the same time. I love the internet.

7 saltines in 1 minute

This eating test of strength really surprised me last week.

I was in Chicago at a work meeting last week. During dinner on Thursday, I was told that it was impossible to eat 7 saltine crackers in 1 minute.

I've heard a lot of these tests before but not one so seemingly easy. After a couple of sips of my Hurricane and some support of my coworkers, I was ready to put this to a challenge.

As you can see, it's easier said than done. After 2 crackers, all of the moisture in your mouth is gone. The trick here is to eat and swallow the crackers one at a time. This is what happens when you try the "shove them all in" method.

you can barely see the cracker dust being sprayed out as I try to contain my laughter.

Harry's Country Club's Teaches Me About Booze!

You shouldn't ever pass up an opportunity to raise your whiskey I.Q.. I had a great time on Saturday at Harry's Country Club in the Rivermarket when they held their first round of booze school. The magical elixir being taught? Bourbon!!!

This all starts with a conversation between a couple friends where the subject being discussed was Scotch and Irish Whiskeys. I've never been the biggest fan, and always have thought that Scotch tastes more like a campfire than liquor. However we did all bring up that it would be great to have a way to learn more about whiskeys and to have a chance to sample some different ones to find out what we're into and what to leave on the shelf.



My friend Dan took this conversation seriously and went right to one of the finest whiskey aficionados in K.C., Harry from Harry's Country Club. You see Harry treats whiskey and beer like they are fine wines. It's one of the only places in town offering whiskey flights and his selection is rivaled by very few.

Harry must have seen this as an opportunity, because within weeks we were all invited to HCC's first Bourbon tasting. For a mere $27 (that includes the tip folks) we were treated to 5 different bourbons as well as 2 rye whiskeys.

The tasting was held in an unknown room above HCC. It was a great spot and would be fun to rent out for a private party. Within 2 hours we'd tasted all of our whiskeys and were treated to a variety of appetizer foods including pretzels, pizza crackers and even a mini blue cheese burger that was absolutely delicious.

They brought in a very entertaining speaker that walked us through the tasting, filling us knowledge as well as spirits. The biggest things I walked away with is a new favorite bourbon which is Basil Hayeden, and knowledge that bourbon's only being from Kentucky is a huge myth! Jim Beam is made in Missouri. Although Bourbon does need to come from the U.S., the name encompasses the process more than the place of origin.



We had a great time and left feeling warm and fuzzy but not drunk. We also learned that Harry is planning on having more of these in the upcoming months. Mark your calendars for March 21st when he'll be having Belgium Beers 101.

Sunday Night Cartoon

My "Grumpy Old" inauguration Day

Today was a workday after a much appreciated 3 day weekend where I had celebrated my 30th birthday. I knew that if I didn't leave the house, I wasn't going to get much done. With all of the TV coverage combined with my weakness to the internets, I was going to be a goner if I didn't attempt to go somewhere to work.

Of course I went to my second office that is Westport Coffee House at around 9am. The place was pretty dead with it's usual flow of people grabbing a coffee before they went into work and some students scattered among the tables attempting to study.

An older man came in and immediately sent a couple of wiz bang comments out to the baristas about how he was surprised they weren't watching the inauguration on tv. The way he spoke to them along with their uninspired replies, you could tell he was a regular that people wished wasn't so regular. He ordered his coffee and b lined to a seat near me where he (I kid you not) slapped down his "Gun Lovers Monthly" magazine and his paperback bible. This guy was looking for some action today. He wanted it known that he wasn't at all interested in the "show" that was going on today and wanted to confront anyone who was.

I had a lot of calls to make and meetings to setup for the week so I setup a very choppy and almost unwatchable streaming video on CNN, where I was surprised I was able to sign in to my Facebook at the same time, turned off the sound and began making calls.

Sure enough the old guy came by my table and just couldn't help himself from saying, "Tough day at the office huh?" I'm guessing by some of the right wing blogs and radio spatterings I've heard in the last few days was he was implying that in these economically woeful times, I should be worrying more about my work than seeing this schmuck take office online. Like somehow the economic problems we are facing today were created by the middle class not working hard enough and that if we don't have our nose to the grindstone today of all days, we'd be doomed for another drop in the DOW by a few hundred points.

What's bothered my for the rest of the day, is that I had no witty retort to fire back at him. In fact my response was a meek, "yep, it's a real rough one", followed by a short grin. I really wanted to plow into the guy, to let him know that I wasn't one of the groupies, and not even a registered democrat. I also wanted to throw something at him to know that we were also not buddies and I was not one of the crabby many that have stated way too many times, "Now that the he's in office, we'll if he'll fulfill all of these promises."

Somewhere down the road, I did get caught up. I enjoy the feeling of hope and I love a politician that can speak openly about logical thinking, openness to science, and even point out that the "non believers", are just as American as anyone else. We will absolutely see what he can do in these toughest of times, but whatever it is, it feels much better than it did during the last 8 years of fear and fighting.

I finally let it go tonight. Nothing I could have said to ole grumpy pants would have changed his mind. He was looking for a fight and didn't get one. I can only hope that this may be the beginning of the end for those old thinking processes. The politics of sticking to something and not wavering, not cooperating, and especially not listening.

Following the events today online was also a trip. To feel like I was watching the event alongside of all of my friends, even though we were scattered throughout the country, was inspiring and made me feel a connection that I never have before for politics and pride in my country. There is a feeling of scratching the surface to something big, and that it should be the right to all in this country to feel that same connection.

Today was a special day. Not only because a black man became president and not because the W crew was saying their final goodbyes, even though I did snicker a bit at Cheney's Lebowski impersonation. It was special because of the people. Because people were happy even in a very unhappy time. People were connected and it feels different. Right now, I'll take different and see where it goes.

Music Videos Survive! They Will Always Survive!

Remember the days of getting home from highschool, turning on MTV, watching the "Black Hole Sun" video and thinking it just couldn't possibly get any better than this?

Though music videos outlived their usefullness to humans on cable television, the internet has injected new life into one of my most memorable and favorite timewasters.

Just check out a couple of my favorite ones that I found under the giant couch cushions of the internet.

ZOMBIE ZOMBIE Driving Clip Simon Gesrel Xavier Ehretsmann
by JeanCarpentier

A GI Joe tribute to my all time favorite sci-fi horror movie? I almost believe this was made specifically for me.


Another sci-fi related vid from the band Hella. Nothing beats old sci-fi and a new type of hero.

Excuse time!

Yep, it's my turn to throw some worthless excuses at you folks! I was hot off of a 2 week holiday vacation and as excited as a treckie seeing young Kirk & Spock come to blows in the new Star Trek Trailer.

Somehow I contracted some kind of super strain of the black plague and have been bed ridden since Monday.

Have faith fellow readers! I'll be back on the wagon in no time.