cinco2seis

HD1

2011-10-26T10:25:00.004-05:00

Richard Blais, the winner of Top Chef: Allstars and owner and operator of Flip Burger recently decided to try his restaurateur hand at hot dogs and the like. And in doing so, he succeeded in a HUGE way!

This past Sunday, two friends and I decided to try out HD1 in Virginia Highlands. Little did I know, one of my friends, @HeavySeasSouth (who you should follow for some info on amazing beer events and straight up tasty craft beer) had already ventured to HD1. Initially I was taken aback by this revelation but it proved to be a blessing in disguise because he was able to recommend some top notch food that otherwise may have been passed by the wayside.

We started out with the Fried Shrimp and Grits on a stick and the Confit Chicken Wings. I'll say that both were really well done and were some good snacks to get the meal going. I'm not the biggest shrimp fan, at all really, but I'm always sure to give it a try when it comes to something new. A grit-battered shrimp on a stick and then deep fried is just the type of creation I am going to try. Now, the confit chicken wings are a totally different story. I've been noticing everything is being attempted confit, and I have no complaints about it. Especially when it comes to chicken wings. I have never experienced a more flavorful and tender chicken wing than the ones HD1 presented us with. I have no reservations about saying it is by far the best chicken wing you will ever put in your mouth.

With the "Bits and Pieces" out of the way we moved on to the big boy plates. The hot dogs and sausages. I started out with the Eastbound & Down dog first. After seeing the name and reading the description there was no other place I could go. [I love you, Kenny Powers!] In any case, the hot dog was a thing of perfection. HD1 does this really neat thing with the bun where it seems to be an extra wide piece of Texas Toast but it's half the size heightwise, if that makes any sense. The sides and bottom of the "bun" are perfectly toasted giving the bread a nice crunch while still maintaining a nice softness on the inside like a hot dog bun should be. The E&D comes on the house frank with Carolina pulled pork, sweet mustard slaw and mop sauce. The pork is done perfectly and the slaw is really good as well. The mop sauce was a little tangy and almost sour but it paired together nicely with the mustard slaw and overall made a great tasting hot dog.

On the verge of being full but not yet being fully satisfied, Heavy Seas and I decided we needed another hot dog, our other companion decided he'd reached his capacity so we elected to split one. After careful deliberation, accompanied with a recommendation from our friendly bartender, we opted for the Kenturkey. In a matter of minutes my life would change as I knew it. I have experienced some tasty things in my life. But when it comes to the Kenturkey, Chef Jared Lee Pyles floored me. A turkey sausage with bacon, mornay, tomato-pimento marmalade and parmigiano compose this masterpiece of a dog and I am doubting there is any way anyone anywhere can top it. The combination of flavors is beyond words with the crunch and saltiness of the bacon standing out but then being overwhelmed by the sweetness of the marmalade. Throw in the mornay and parmigiano and you're in heaven.

Last, but certainly not least, the homemade soft serve ice cream. I had the difficulty of choosing between the Peanut Butter and Jelly or the Whoppers and finally came to the conclusion that the Whoppers was what I was needing to finish off the meal. It was delicious, but from what I was told by my companion who opted for the PB&J, I had missed out. I believe that's a moot point, but nonetheless, it was delicious ice cream. Chocolate soft serve with malted milk ball crumbs layered throughout. Truly an awesome way to end an amazing meal.

As we left, I told my friends I was pissed at them for making me go to HD1. And in truth, I was. For now, I fear I will have a new semi-weekly place to go enjoy delicious fares and possibly go broke doing so. Oh well. Here's to hoping they are cool with me washing dishes to pay for my indiscretions.

You can visit HD1's website here and as always be sure to check them out on UrbanSpoon.

P.S. - They currently have a 73 out of 87 votes. And for the life of me, I have no idea how anyone could rate them that low. Give them a try, don't let the rating skew you. Seriously. Give them a try.

Remain Optimistic

2011-09-22T14:33:00.002-05:00

Auburn looks bad. Real bad. The prolific Gus offense seems to be almost nonexistent. The defense is in shambles. Paul Finebaum is already writing SI.com pieces detailing how the wheels have already come off the wagon. And who would know better than he? Sadly, a lot of people have decided to start jumping ship in lieu of these recent events/facts/conundrums, and I'm cool with this. In fact, I'll even follow it up with a, "Peace out, bandwagoners!"

We who follow this team and have done so near religiously since the Chizik plane flew into town in December of '08 know this team is and will be a work in progress. I'm here to help give the doubters out there a little more spike to their kool-aid so they can continue to drink it and feel a little more at ease. Now, unfortunately I am pressed for time, so I was only able to throw together my thoughts on the offense, and more precisely the main cogs of the machine. I'll extrapolate upon the others later, and even try to wrap my skull around what I think about the defense and where it will be headed.

The rundown:

Trotter is putting up Aaron Murray like numbers and he's only started in three games in his collegiate career. Granted, we Auburn fans don't think very highly of Aaron Murray, but the guy has all the skills to be great at the CFB and Pro level. He'll only continue to improve with the more experience he gets in game situations behind that very inexperienced OLine of his.

Dyer only has 48 carries through three games. An average of only 16 touches a game from the defending BCSNCG MVP. He is however averaging 7.5yds/carry though which is 1.5yds+ than last year. In all likelihood, he won't be getting 30 carries a game. It's not how Gus likes to do things. Cam was an anomaly. He needs multiple playmakers to prevent the defense from ever keying in on one or two guys. More on that below.

McCalebb has lost production with 30 carries through three games with an average of 4.9yds. However, Gus has been forced to use a 2-back set to counteract the loss of Cam. If he were to use just a single-back set the defense would be able to key in on Dyer and limit our production in the run game. Last year, OMac got most of his yards on plays like the jet sweep with the WRs blocking in the flat and going for a long gain. With Cam being gone, he's being forced to start behind center and make a few runs up the middle.

It is my guess that Tre Mason will soon take over for McCalebb in the 2-back set allowing OMac to go back to the perimeter to set up for the sweeps. Gus has been slowly feeding him into the game situations and has seen that he has the faculty to handle playing an important role as a true freshman. Mason has more size and better balance and is more equipped to run between the tackles much like Dyer and could become a pivotal player in this offense.

Lutzenkirchen has yet to be used in passing situations (only 5 receptions on the year for 80yds), presently he is only a blocker, once the younger guys get more experience with the blocking schemes they'll be able to slide Lutz out into the slot and get him the ball more often. His hands are far too good not to be utilized more effectively.

Emory Blake only has 11 receptions through three games and is currently ranked 11th in the FBS in yds/reception at 21.7. After the OLine becomes better acclimated to the game, they'll be able to protect Trotter for longer and allow for him to be patient enough to get the ball to Blake.

Reoccurring problem in all of this is youth and inexperience. Gus will get the pieces he wants in the places he needs them. He just has to give the team time to build the foundation first.

I'll be sure to followup with the other playmakers behind the scenes and also a defensive rundown as soon as possible.

74 Days

2011-06-15T00:48:00.000-05:00

74 days doesn't seem like too long of a period of time. It's smack dab in the middle of an INSANITY and P90X workout, actually. So with it being in such close proximity, I've decided to take a look ahead at the 2011 College Football Season, and since I am extremely bias [typo intended], I'm only going to reflect on the SEC.

Lately I've been trying to decide where my allegiances would lie in the ever crucial early-in-the-season out-of-conference match-ups. It's one thing to hate a rival, but it's another to not support members of your extended family, no matter how bad you wish you could say that cousin Terry with the lazy eye, speech impediment and the incredibly fashionable jhorts isn't really related to you. With that being said, let's see where the chips would and should lie:

LSU versus Oregon
This is the game that actually got me thinking about this piece. It has taken some hefty deliberation internally, but I think I finally have a sound decision on who I am going to be cheering for in this game. I've got to take the Oregon Ducks. I know it's sacrilegious to go against my brethren, but I absolutely love to watch LSU lose. I think the animosity I have towards them stems from my experience in Death Valley where perfectly good whiskey was wasted by LSU fans who deemed it necessary to pour it on my head. Throw in the fact that Les Miles is the biggest bumbling idiot in the world with who knows how many lucky charms he has shoved up his you know what. Grrr. Ducks. By a touchdown. Yeah, the LSU O-Line will be dominant and they have a really good looking running back, but I think in the end, Jefferson will be Jefferson and he'll give the game away. But then again, I said the same thing last year when they played UNC...

UGA versus Boise St
Talk about an interesting match-up. Boise St doesn't have the strongest record against SEC teams, especially UGA [who beat them 48-13 in 2005]. UGA dismantled the..., stallions?...no, horses..., some kind of horse? Oh! The Broncos. That's right. They're the Broncos. Sorry, I don't pay much attention to teams that don't play in a real conference and have to use a gimmick like changing the color of their field to match the color of their uniforms so opposing QB's can't differentiate between the field and the defender and end up throwing an INT... in any case, this will be an interesting game. UGA is down near horrible as of late. Despite having some of the deepest talent in the SEC, the coaches just can't produce. They've even sunk to the level of blaming [and firing] their Strength and Conditioning Coach as a means to avoid taking some personal accountability. Boise St on the other hand will have Kellen Moore. And he's good. Especially when he's not crying like the little sissy he is. As bad as I'd like to take UGA in this game, I have to lean in favor of Boise St. They have everything to gain by winning this game and nothing to lose. If they beat UGA, they say they beat one of the best SEC teams and that'll give them momentum for the rest of the season to win every game against the nobodies they play. Sigh. Moving on.

Alabama versus Penn St
This game got me thinking: Poor, poor, Joe Pa. And after he just set a career win record. Bless that kind man's heart.

In what will be an amazing resurgence of two traditional powers once again squaring off, Penn St is going to leave this game looking humiliated. I don't want to cheer for Alabama, but there is no way I can believe that Penn St even stands a chance in this game. If Little Nicky has any shape or form of a soul inside that [very] tiny body of his, he'll put the 2nd stringers in before things get out of control. I'm liking the Tide by at least two touchdowns.

The Fred

2011-04-06T10:29:00.005-05:00

This was a post that was supposed to be up almost a week ago, but when you work in the food service industry you are lucky if "tomorrow" turns into "a week from today." While hanging out with some friends we were debating on a place to go in which I hadn't been before. A daunting task when you live in a city as tiny as Atlanta. After a few name drops, The Fred was the only one that peaked my interest. I'd heard it mentioned in casual conversation before but my friends and I had never managed to go out of way to get there. Tonight was the night.

Not knowing what to expect or even where it was located, I sat in the back of the car wondering if we were ever in fact gonna get there. Finally we pulled into a decent sized shopping center locale and I saw that there was a Taco Mac, Taco Mac - Prado to be exact. The place was enormous and was pretty jammed pack for a Thursday night. As we walked in the general direction of the Taco Mac I began to wonder if maybe in fact, the driver and passenger had changed their minds and decided we go there instead?!? As we neared the entry way I began to turn in because I had assumed we were going there and was shocked to see that they continued along and began to walk around the side of the building..., obviously, our destination was down and behind the TMac, right? We continued along and as we came to an alleyway I continued straight to shockingly see that my two companions had done a U-turn into this sketchy looking alleyway beneath the Taco Mac. Confused, I joined them to come to a door with a strange logo, peep-hole and a red button. My friend pressed the red button and we waited. It was at this moment I was finally informed that we were entering a speakeasy. Instantly I was filled with jovial jubilation and fascination. The door opened to a smiling face who was already well acquainted with my companion, who's a beer rep for Heavy Seas Brewing and has managed to meet some people within the industry. We entered the establishment and instantly I was flabbergasted.

Upon entering you wind through a dark, narrow hallway before coming upon the main dining area. It's very dark, but not dreary. A few tables line the middle but the booths along the sides are what gather your attention. Very dark, very cozy with what looked to be plush seats and numerous pillows. And of course, very secluded with very high backs, you instantly get the feeling that some very important business decisions have taken place here. We meandered past the tables and sat at the bar where the same smiling face who let us in, was waiting eagerly to serve us drinks and make us aware of a brand new menu that they were rolling out. Timid at first, since I have given up meat for the practice of Lent, I decided to check out the menu to see what they had to offer. Never so quickly had I regretted opening a menu. Filled with numerous delectable items, one stood out in particular and I knew I would have to break Lent momentarily if only to try this one burger.

A Fried Mac & Cheese Kobe Beef Burger. The Fred - 1 Lent - 0. I chose to take the pub fries with the spicy mustard aioli and I had no regrets. The burger was phenomenal, ordered Med-Rare as to not destroy the flavor of the beautiful Kobe beef, served with all the fixings and the most glorious part of them all, a fried Mac & Cheese cake. Much like a potato cake, but with Mac & Cheese. Perfectly fried on the outside to a crisp golden brown while still relatively gooey on the inside. The burger was so fantastic that when I reached the point of not being able to grasp it anymore, I resorted to eating the remnants off my plate with a fork. Not many things can top this, in fact, I've now got this burger at the top of my list knocking out the long standing champ in the Bocado Burger.

Besides the wondrous flavor presented by the burger, The Fred also appeases the palette by providing a rather elite selection of beers. Typically, people boast about the selection of beers at Taco Mac, well, as a slightly more upscale concept of Taco Mac, you will encounter beers that you've probably never seen in other restaurants or bars.

I don't have an Urbanspoon rating for you guys but I'm working on getting one approved. Until then, hit up The Fred's Site to see a pic of the interior and also their beer menu. They don't have the food menu up yet, but hopefully it will appear sometime soon!

*Update* Urbanspoon approved The Fred for me and here is their rating and a link to their site:

The Porter

2011-01-27T13:31:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago, one of my friends informed that a restaurant in Little Five was hosting their weekly beer event, "Where The Wild Beers Are," featuring Mikkeller and Brewdog. I thought it was worth my time to check out another part of the Atlanta beer-scene, which rocks by the way, and give it a whirl. Originally, I had planned on skipping out on the food. Times are tough and when given a choice, I'm going to enjoy some tasty beers over filling my belly every time. However, after seeing what the special was for the night I figured going broke would probably be worth it and man, was I right!

The bar is in a cool locale, a little too hipster for me, but still, a great bar or restaurant is a great bar or restaurant regardless of where it is located. Once you walk in you are greeted by a CROWD of people all lined up at the bar, the bar is roughly 30 feet long and takes up most of the initial restaurant space. If you are claustrophobic, you may want to wait until your table is ready before trying to muscle the crowd. My friends and I chose to wait at the bar in the crowd of people which is roughly three to four deep leaving no additional room [the servers even have to muscle through the people just to take them to their tables].

After enjoying a few rounds of beer, we were escorted to the back of the restaurant which is A LOT roomier. The actual seating area is really cool, it's a steady climb up with tables on both sides before leveling off at the top with two rows of tables stretching to the back of the restaurant. This is where it gets really good!

THIS right here would be mastery of one's craft! Two inch to inch and a half thick medallions of homemade meatloaf wrapped in bacon [much like people do with filet mignon] seated upon a heaping portion of extra creamy mashed potatoes and topped with what I believe to have been a bacon-thyme gravy and garnished with two extra-large onion rings! Best part? All for under $15! The meatloaf was insane. I don't care how good you think your mom's meatloaf is, you will never try a loaf of meat as delicious as this. I was full looooonnnnggggg before I ever was close to clearing my plate. However, there was NO WAY I was going to leave the restaurant without devouring every last bit of food on my plate. I owed it to the chef(s). I fought it all down and had no regrets afterwards.

A small disclaimer: This wasn't the first time I had been to The Porter. In fact, it was only my second. The first time I went, I ordered the Brats. They were good, but there was very little to the dish. Simply two brats piled upon a huge pile of sauerkraut. I'm sure true brat lovers would enjoy it, but it was just too simple of a dish for me and I couldn't get into it the way I did the meatloaf.

All-in-all, it was a great experience and a terrific place to grab a beer and an eye-opening meal. Strongly recommend going on a night they are hosting a beer event to enjoy the full atmosphere of the joint.

For more info, check out their page on UrbanSpoon or head over to their homepage.

Introducing the Spicy Chicken Biscuit

2011-01-04T08:12:00.003-06:00

As a person who thought there was no possible way to improve upon the perfection that is the Chick-fil-a Chicken Biscuit, I am absolutely floored after trying the new Spicy Chicken Biscuit! It is the Holy Grail of breakfast foods. It is quite an extraordinary piece of chicken marvel. It's really not that spicy at all, instead it just has a slight kick to it that is noticeable, but not overwhelming. In actuality, I think that the spicy breading/marinade, whichever Chick-fil-a truly employs, acts more as a tenderizer than anything else on the small breast of chicken. Typically, a normal chicken biscuit is moist, and tender and just the right bit of love in your mouth you need to start your day. However, the Spicy Chicken Biscuit absolutely dwarfs it, or at least mine did. It was truly the most delicious piece of chicken I have ever received from a fast food restaurant. Unless you were able to get an early invitation, you can first pick up your Spicy Chicken Biscuit on January 10th, 2011.

Auburn vs Oregon Recruiting Post HC Arrival

2011-01-03T16:04:00.002-06:00

A week and a half ago I chose to breakdown the recruiting classes prior to the arrival of each school's head coach. After doing so, it was pretty obvious that both coaches arrived with similar players in the "cupboards" to work with and very little could be drawn from those numbers and information.

Today, I followed it up (somewhat at the bequest of @Duckinthedesert, who you should follow on Twitter btw) with a breakdown of the most recent recruiting classes, 2009 and 2010, for each team. To say the least, the teams are A LOT closer in talent than I had ever imagined. Auburn ultimately has a higher average of star athletes, however the difference is quite small and can largely be overcome based upon how much a coaching staff can coach-up a player. I am strictly going off of the depth charts I have access to and my general knowledge of each team and below is what I found.

Again, I used Rivals.com as my source for recruiting rankings and classes to make comparisons.

2009 Recruiting Class
Auburn University ...............9 4* and 16 3*
University of Oregon.............4 4* and 16 3*

4* Points of Note for Auburn:
- 5/9 of Auburn's 4* players all play a significant role in Auburn's offense or defense. 2/9 4* players are no longer with the team. Both RB Dontae Aycock and QB Tyrik Rollison transferred from Auburn following the addition of players in the 2010 recruiting class [I'll touch on this more later].
- Of the 5 4* players who play a significant part in Auburn's offense or defense, only two players are starters: TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen and RB Onterrio McCalebb. The other three players are all on the 2nd team: WR Emory Blake who is the first alternate for either Darvin Adams, Terrell Zachery or Kodi Burns; WR Deangelo Benton who is the second alternate for the three WRs; and Jamar Travis who backs-up NG Nick Fairley.

4* Points of Note for Oregon:
- None of Oregon's 4* players from their 2009 class play a significant role in either the first or second team play.

3* Points of Note for Auburn:
- 3/16 of Auburn's 3* players are starters, including RE Nosa Eguae, NG Nick Fairley and CB Demond Washington.
- 3/16 are part of the two deep rotation on defense: LB Eltoro Freeman, DE Dee Ford, MLB Jonathan Evans.
- RG John Sullen is the lone 3* from the 2009 class who currently backs-up Mike Berry.

3* Points of Note for Oregon:
- A single 3* player from the 2009 class has a starting role in Oregon's offense in WR Lavasier Tuinei.
- Additionally, 5/16 of Oregon's 3* players play a backup role on either offense or defense. RT Everett Benyard, DT Taylor Hart, SLB Bo Lokombo, WLB Michael Clay and LCB Avery Patterson.

Additional 2009 Recruiting Class Points of Note:
- 2* S/OLB Daren Bates of Auburn is a two-year starter on defense.
- 2* starting P Jackson Rice of Oregon and 2nd string 2* DT Wade Keliikipi also hail from the 2009 recruiting class.

2010 Recruiting Class
Auburn University ...............3 5*, 13 4* and 13 3*
University of Oregon.............1 5*, 10 4* and 9 3*

[Since a significantly lower amount of players from the 2010 recruiting classes see any playing time, I will merely break them down in paragraph format]

Auburn 2010 Recruiting Class
Three of the players from the 2010 class currently possess a starting role at Auburn University: 5* JUCO QB Cam Newton, 5* FR RB Mike Dyer, and 4* JUCO RT Brandon Mosley. With the addition of both Cam Newton and Mike Dyer, RB Dontae Aycock and QB Tyrik Rollison both elected to transfer to alternative schools, as previously mentioned above. Additionally, three other players from the 2010 class currently are apart of the playing rotation, this includes 3* FR MLB Jessel Curry, 3* FR HB/SR Shaun Kitchens, and 4* FR LT Jeffrey Whitaker.

Oregon 2010 Recruiting Class
Two players from the University of Oregon's 2010 recruiting class are listed as starters, both 2* FR K Alejandro Maldonado and 3* FR LCB Terrence Mitchell. A third player, JUCO TE Brandon Williams, plays a backup role to TE David Paulson.

- When taking the above information into consideration, Auburn utilizes 19 players from the 2009 and 2010 recruiting classes with an average of 3.52* per player. Conversely, Oregon utilizes 11 players from the respected recruiting classes with an average of 2.72* per player.

- When strictly looking at the starting positions on offense and defense, Auburn averages 3.5* per player; while Oregon averages 2.3* per player. However, it should be noted that four starting Oregon players were not ranked coming out of high school and when they are excluded from the mean Oregon averages 2.78* per player.

So, what does it all boil down to? Auburn currently has much more invested in players they have recently acquired than Oregon does. Presently, Auburn utilizes nine starters from the 2009 and 2010 classes (nearly 41% of it's starters), whereas Oregon only uses one (roughly 4.5% of it's starters). When looking at the two deep rotation, Auburn uses nineteen players, 43.2%, from the 2009 and 2010 classes while Oregon uses eleven for 25%.

To be honest, when I first started doing these breakdowns, I thought Oregon was going to have a HUGE upper-hand when it came to caliber of player, however, now I believe the two teams could almost be mirror images of one another with maybe a little bit of a sway Auburn's way talent-wise. The only reason I would slightly give the nod to Auburn would be due to two main reasons:
- First reason, I believe the SEC West is the toughest division in college football and could even argue for the toughest conference. I don't know that you will find 5 more dominant teams than that of Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi State in any other conference in the nation. When you play and win against the best, you only improve your game.
- Second reason, I believe that the talent levels of both Cam Newton and Nick Fairley are just too much to deny. It's my belief that both of those players are the most dominating players at their respective positions in all of college football.

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Only 7 more days until the big game. Lemme know if I missed anything or got anything wrong, Lord knows there's a strong chance I missed something.

Auburn and Oregon: A Breakdown of Recruiting Classes

2010-12-23T19:41:00.006-06:00

In celebration of the BCS National Championship Game between Auburn University and the University of Oregon, I decided to do a brief analysis of the recruiting classes between the two universities. The primary reason being that Coach Gene Chizik lost the AP Coach of the Year Award to the very coach of the University of Oregon, Chip Kelly, and I felt like Coach Chizik had done a much better job coaching up his players than that of Chip Kelly, or more specifically, it was harder to do so for Coach Chizik.

Starting off, I took the rankings from Rivals.com and compared them. Over the four year spans before either coach was named head coach at their respective universities, ranging from 2005 to 2008, Auburn averaged recruiting players with a 3.5 star average; while Oregon averaged recruiting players with a 3.4 star average. Hardly a big difference yet surprising nonetheless.

Despite the rankings being quite similar, other factors need to be considered before one can reach a conclusion. Auburn had the misfortune of having three different offensive and defensive coordinators in the four year span. While Oregon had only two changes at the offensive coordinator position. Oregon has utilized the same scheme offensively since the 2007 season compared to that of Auburn's since the 2009 season.

After breaking down the classes in total, I decided it was necessary to take the current starting rosters for both teams to see and compare the rankings of each player at their position.

*Players in bold were recruited after 2008 and are not included.
*Players in italics were not assigned a ranking coming out of high school.

Auburn 2010 Starters

QB - Cam Newton
RB - Mike Dyer
WR - Darvin Adams.............3* '08
WR - Terrell Zachery..........4* '06
TE - Phillip Lutzenkirchen
FB - Eric Smith...............3* '08
LT - Lee Ziemba...............4* '07
RT - Brandon Moseley
RG - Mike Berry...............4* '06
LG - Byron Isom...............3* '06
C - Ryan Pugh................4* '07

LE - Antoine Carter..........3* '07
RE - Nosa Eguae
NG - Nick Fairley
LT - Zach Clayton............2* '06
LLB - Craig Stevens...........4* '06
RLB - Daren Bates
MLB - Josh Bynes..............4* '07
LCB - Demond Washington
RCB - Neiko Thorpe............3* '08
S - Mike McNeil.............4* '07
S - Zac Etheridge...........3* '06

Points of Note:
- 8/22 Starters have been recruited in the past two seasons with expectations of playing immediately. Included: JUCOs Cam Newton, Brandon Moseley, Nick Fairley and Demond Washington; SO and RSFR: Phillip Lutzenkirchen, Nosa Eguae and Daren Bates; True Freshman: Mike Dyer
- Aairon Savage (3* '05), who started the first three games, was replaced by Mike McNeil after suffering a third season-ending injury.
- There is an average of 3.64* for the Auburn starters recruited before Coach Chizik and his staff's arrival.

Oregon 2010 Starters

QB - Darron Thomas............4* '08
RB - LaMichael James..........4* '08
WR - D.J. Davis...............4* '07
WR - Jeff Maehl
WR - Lavasier Tuinei
TE - David Paulson............3* '07
LT - Bo Thran.................3* '06
RT - C.E. Kaiser..............2* '06
RG - Mark Asper...............2* '07
LG - Carson York..............4* '07
C - Jordan Holmes............2* '06

DE - Terrell Turner..........3* '07
DE - Kenny Rowe
DT - Brandon Blair
DT - Zac Clark
SLB - Josh Kaddu..............2* '06
MLB - Casey Matthews..........3* '07
WLB - Spencer Paysinger.......2* '06
LCB - Anthony Gilden..........4* '07
RCB - Talmadge Jackson........3* '07
ROV - Eddie Pleasant..........3* '07
FS - John Boyett.............3* '08

Points of Note:
- SO CB Cliff Harris (4* '09) is a player of note who surprisingly isn't a starter for the Ducks, he was voted to the FWAA All-American Team who leads the nation in passes defended and also punt returns for TDs.
- Oregon averages 3.0* amongst the Oregon starters prior to Chip Kelly being announced the head coach.

5* Players
Something interesting I discovered while reviewing the rankings was the lack of "star athletes" on both teams. Between the two National Championship contending teams, only nine 5* players have committed since the 2005 season. Auburn leads Oregon with a ratio of 7:2, however only 2 of the 7 currently play for Auburn, QB Cam Newton and RB Mike Dyer. A third, OL Shon Coleman, should have been on the team but he never enrolled at Auburn following his diagnosis with cancer [he is expected to resign with Auburn in 2011 and enroll]. Oregon, currently only has a single 5* player on their roster in RB Lache Seastrunk. He has yet to play so far this year.

The other five recruits:
AU DE Raven Gray ('08) - Suffered a knee injury and chose to not re-enroll at Auburn following the hiring of Gene Chizik.
AU OL Jermaine Johnson ('08) - Committed to Auburn but never signed his LOI, he then went to the University of Miami.
AU DT Greg Smith ('06) - Transferred out of Auburn to a smaller school after failing to put forth effort in the classroom and the gym.
AU LB Tray Blackmon ('05) - Had a promising career at Auburn and played in quite a few games but decided to try out his luck in the Canadian Football League after the hiring of Gene Chizik.
UO RB Jonathan Stewart ('05) - Had a very successful college career and continues to do so in the NFL. He amassed 2000+ yards and 20+ TDs in his three years at Oregon and was named to the PAC-10 All-Conference First Team in 2007.

So, have I proven my point that Chizik had a harder time getting his team to reach the NCG compared to that of Kelly given what they both had to work with?

No.

I don't think that will be decided upon until after the NCG. The teams are too even talent-wise and scheme-wise to say decidedly which is better than the other. There are a few "x-factors" which fans of either school could use to debate who they feel has a better chance of winning, but the truth of the matter is the two teams are far too evenly matched to do so. The game will truly be an amazing one and I look forward to seeing how it plays out on the field.

Cam Newton Is Just A Kid

2010-11-05T09:01:00.005-05:00

I had been avoiding posting anything new on here this football season. Why? Well a number of reasons actually. I knew how good our team was going to be on the field. I also knew the amount of chemistry this team shared with one another and I didn't want to jinx any of that.

Additionally, I knew that the coaches at Auburn were special people.

Our coaches are determined, driven, and willing to bend the rules (see: Big Cat Weekend I) but not break the rules. Which brings me to this post.

Yesterday, ESPN.com in conjunction with the NYTimes.com released a series of articles connecting Cam Newton with an "agent" in an attempt to solicit money from Mississippi State University. This "agent," Kenny Rogers, is a former player of MSU and allegedly told John Bond it would require a large financial sum to acquire Cam's signature.

All of this is fine and good. Auburn has known about this since July. The SEC has known about it. The NCAA has been investigating it.

The problem? Everyone assumes Cam is guilty of accepting improper benefits before any of the facts come out.

It's been documented that Cam goes to a local school each and every Monday to mentor kids and be a positive role model in their lives where they don't necessarily have one.

Imagine that.

You're a little kid from a broken home with little to give you hope. And then WHAM! One day this 6'6", 250lb legend of a man in your home town walks in and sits down in front of you and asks you how your day was. He asks how you did on your spelling test and presses the issue further when he sees you obviously didn't study for it. After telling you that you can be and are better than that, he takes you by the hand and brings you outside and plays touch football with you. He throws you a game-winning touchdown and for that moment in time, YOU are the legend of a man.

Flash forward to today.

That same legend of a man in your home town walks in and sits down in front of you and asks how your day was. He asks how you did on your spelling test, and instead of giving him an answer, you ask him a question:

"Is it okay to cheat? Some of my friends have said you cheat and got paid money to play football..."

And with that single sentence, you have taken a legend of a man and crushed him to the status of a criminal.

I don't know to an absolute certainty that Cam didn't accept improper benefits. I don't know to an absolute certainty that Auburn investigated the situation completely and there is no possible way this issue could come back to hurt the Auburn family and program.

What I do know to an absolute certainty is this:

SOMEONE at that school Cam stops by on Monday will say something to the effect of what I previously wrote. And THAT is the worst part of all of this. Because when all is said and done, even though he is 6'6", 250lbs, Cam is still just a 22yr old kid.

2010 Preseason Poll Released

2010-08-23T10:29:00.003-05:00

So, anyone who has been paying attention to the AP preseason poll, has probably heard a lot about a guy named Joe Giglio.

He's been catching some slack for not voting Bama number one. Well, he defended his picks recently in an article and here is what he had to say:

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/jp-top-25-presason-10-part-ii

Interesting talking point:

7) Auburn
2009 record: 8-5
Key games: Clemson, South Carolina, @ Alabama

Bottom line: If I really wanted to go out on a limb, I'd put Auburn No. 1. Yes, the SEC has won the past four titles, but it has been the sneaky SEC teams — Alabama last year, Florida in 2008 and 2006 — that have won the title, not the preseason favorite.

Quite frankly, Auburn's schedule is a joke (yes, even in the big, bad SEC) and the Tigers have every opportunity to be 11-0 when they go to Alabama on Nov. 25.

I know people are going to rip this apart, hell, I don't even think we are the 7th best team in the country right now. And definitely not the best team in the country like he loosely makes an argument for. But you should probably take a look at some of his previous picks in the past and you may find some surprises that came close to panning out:

Giglio also was the only voter to put West Virginia at No. 1 in the 2007 preseason poll. The Mountaineers would have played for the title but they lost to Pittsburgh in the season finale. He was one of two voters to rank Texas No. 1 in 2009 — and the Longhorns lost in the title game. Source

Jeremiah Masoli

2010-07-29T14:36:00.002-05:00

Jeremiah Masoli is a name that is being brought up with great frequency as of late. The dude had everything going for him and his team, then he ran into some trouble. A few times.

Now, he is trying to transfer from Oregon to another FBS school in hopes of continuing his play and possibly moving onto the NFL. The problem? No one really trust him.

In an article by Micheal McKnight of SI.com, he details the events of Masoli's life in hopes of casting a better light on the situation. I think he failed. I have included a few quotes from the article and my two cents at the bottom. Feel free to throw in your two cents in the comments if you like.

The "facts:"

A key part of the Eugene Police Department's investigation into the SAE burglary was the security footage from Taylor's Bar & Grill, which showed Masoli and his 21-year-old cousin Tau Lefiti entering the bar approximately three minutes after Max Wolfard called the police.

There were no cameras on Masoli just prior to his arrival at Taylor's, however, a crucial window of time for which the police had four eyewitnesses.

The first witness is Lefiti, who like his cousin was less than honest with police following the burglary. The account he gave to SI.com, however, in a interview separate from his cousin's, mirrors Masoli's to the letter. Both Masoli and Lefiti recall that as they were approaching Taylor's that night in Masoli's car, they saw Embry standing outside the SAE house flagging them down. When Masoli slowed, "[Embry said] something like, 'Come check this party out with me,'" Masoli recalls. "And I said all right, and then I go park my car."

Masoli and his cousin decided that Masoli would size up the frat party while Lefiti peeked inside Taylor's. Then they would decide which scene was better.

Masoli says that he "walk[ed] behind Garrett to the SAE house," where Embry opened the same side door they would emerge from moments later. "We walk up this back stairwell," Masoli says, "and up like a flight of stairs or two and then there was this room just completely open." Masoli recalls loud music and a couple of drunk students sprawled in the hallway.

The second eyewitness, SAE member Trevor Bohne -- like Wolfard an avid fan of both the Ducks and Masoli -- said that he saw the quarterback in the hall with Embry around the time of the theft.

(In his interviews with police and SI.com, Bohne said he remembered seeing Masoli wearing a backpack that night. Wolfard also remembered Masoli wearing a backpack, although he did not mention one during his first interview with police, when he noted only that upon seeing Masoli in the stairwell "Masoli was wearing baggy clothing and the other items (the laptops and guitar) might have [been] taken before [Wolfard] saw them." Masoli and Lefiti denied that Masoli wore a backpack at any point that night. Video surveillance does not show him wearing one at Taylor's Bar & Grill.)

"And then Garrett goes in this room and comes out with a projector," Masoli continues.

It was a situation not unlike the one outside Hillsdale High on June 16, 2005. Something bad was happening -- what would Masoli do? Stay with his teammate, or walk away?

"Something about the situation told me to get out of there," Masoli said, "and I walked right in front of [Embry], didn't say one word to him, just walked right out of there."

Embry followed Masoli into the stairwell, the projector hidden behind his hip, where they encountered the third eyewitness, Wolfard.

The final witness, of course, is Embry, who seven weeks after the crime pleaded guilty alongside Masoli to second-degree burglary. Embry declined to speak with police during their investigation and turned down several requests made through both his attorney and his mother to be interviewed by SI.com.

Embry's attorney, Michael Buseman of Eugene, issued a written statement to SI.com which read, in part: "Rather than be in denial about who is responsible for the situation he is in, [Embry] has ... use[d] the experience as an opportunity to better himself ... I think many young individuals, both non-athletes and athletes alike, could learn a great deal from how he has addressed the situation."

Masoli was walking to class two days after the SAE theft when he got a call from Lefiti informing him that two Eugene police detectives were at his apartment and wanted to talk to him. During his 10-minute walk home Masoli was referred to a legal services hotline by a family member, and was put in touch with a Eugene-based defense attorney named John Kim, who after speaking with the detectives advised Masoli to give them a voluntary statement.

Masoli told the detectives that he and his cousin had driven to Taylor's Bar & Grill on Saturday night. That much was true. But he said "he was never at the fraternity house," which was not true.

"I asked Masoli if he was sure," wrote the detective, "and he maintained his statement of denial."

Asked about Embry, Masoli said, "I didn't see him at all."

Later in the article:

Although the signed statement doesn't exonerate Masoli, it sheds new light on Embry's role in the burglary. Palmer recalls that when he saw Embry and his roommates riding around in Ferras' truck, he waved them down so he could get a ride to the hospital to check on Rob Beard, an Oregon kicker who'd been badly injured in a brawl that same night. "They stopped the truck when they saw me and said there was no room in the back seat," Palmer's statement reads. "So, I hopped into the bed of the truck and noticed a blanket partially covering some items in the back seat.

"En route to the hospital, the truck made a brief stop at a nearby residence. I then witnessed Embry remove two Apple laptop computers and a guitar from the rear seat of the truck and take the items inside the apartment. I was then dropped off at the hospital.

"I had no knowledge at the time that those same items were reported stolen earlier that evening from a fraternity house. I never came in contact with Jeremiah Masoli that evening or heard anyone in the truck mention his name. I was never questioned by police about the events I observed that evening."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/07/27/masoli/3.html#ixzz0v6KnHVkm

My opinion:

I think Masoli is guilty. The only people who are offering support for him are either previous best friends(the dude from the military) or current friends and players. Obviously every player on the corrupt team(see also: the kicker who was in a brawl, the kicker?!?!) wants him to be innocent and to continue to be the Heisman worthy QB he can be and hopefully lead the team to a National Championship, we are talking multi-million dollar deals are at stake. As dishonorable as it is, I would probably lie to protect my QB and the leader of my team if it meant me having a better chance at winning a National Championship game and being a higher draft pick when I become eligible for the NFL. It isn't rocket science, it's dollar signs and decimal points.

It's Been A While

2010-07-22T09:58:00.005-05:00

Wow.

Where to even begin?

I could sit here and ramble on and on about how I haven't had time with this that or the other, and to a certain extent it would all be true. However, I'm not going to waste my time doing so, so I'll jump right into the thick of things.

SEC Media Days are taking place in Birmingham this week. Yesterday saw likes of Alabama and Florida, both of which are under investigation by the NCAA for various accusations involving agents and some party in Miami (for additional info on the matter go here). Then, later in the day, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the NCAA had notified the University of Georgia that they would be conducting an investigation on their campus in the coming days.

So, with the addition of UGA, a THIRD of SEC schools are being investigated for rules violations (for those not keeping up, USCe is also under investigation).

Mike Slive can't be too thrilled.

It's still early in the day and not much more, that I know of, has come out since yesterday. But with the nature of the SEC and it's fans, I believe there will be plenty of additional drama to deal with in the next few hours.

Creole and Seafood Shack

2009-11-23T15:20:00.004-06:00

The name literally says it all. It is definitely a shack! Three friends and I entered and upon so, I noticed that there were only 7 tables. 7 TABLES! And only 2 or 3 of those tables were larger than two-tops.

I instantly knew that this place was going to have AMAZING food!

Driving past, the place is always full! I now know the true reason. But aside from the size of the restaurant, it is mainly the food that keeps it so busy.

I will be honest, their hours are a little abnormal. In fact, you pretty much have to get lucky with them being open, some days they are open according to their sign, other days..., well..., I can only assume the cook was hungover and never made it around to showing up.

However, in the midst of all the chaos, there is something at the very essence of the restaurant that begs me to return.

The food.

Like I already said, absolutely amazing! I played it close to the vest on my first visit because I didn't really know what to expect, so I went with the Chicken Jambalaya. It came with a side of garlic toast and some fried-green-tomatoes. The FGT were off the chain! I have no idea what the batter was and I won't even begin to guess, but let's just say they were the only FGTs I have ever had that I truly enjoyed. The jambalaya was also really good. It had a nice spice to it, but it wasn't too hot for the average patron. One thing I really did like, that others may disagree with, is the fact that they keep it really homestyle. I found a full bay leaf in my jambalaya. One of the other guys that was with us found a chicken bone in his gumbo. Yeaaaahhhh..., these are typically frowned upon, but it really gives it a certain flair, I'd say. The small atmosphere combined with the rustic cooking go hand-in-hand. The meals are priced very nicely and I won't doubt that I will be back again..., as long as I can get lucky with them being open ;)

And, as always, here is a link to their page on Urbanspoon.com:

Wounded Warriors

2009-10-07T16:52:00.002-05:00

To all of those interested, The Columbus/Phoenix City Auburn Club is attempting to wrangle up some tickets for the Kentucky vs Auburn football game. They are wanting to give the tickets away to soldiers from Fort Benning who have been wounded in combat. I personally have offered the use of my ticket and if you are not planning on going to the game, I suggest you do as well. You can reach the president of the club, Jana Tarleton, at:

jhtarleton@bellsouth.net

Weekend Recap?

2009-10-04T01:44:00.003-05:00

So..., I did so-so, at best. A lot of dumb judgement calls hurt me in the end. I finished with a 13-7 record for the weekend. I pulled out the upset with Michigan State, Miami and LSU but missed the obvious ones like USC, Wake Forest and Stanford.

SEC GAMES

Auburn at Tennessee [W]
*A good game from both teams, Auburn's defense and special teams stepped up this week to get the win, Auburn would have lost had it not been for the horrible QB play from Crompton

LSU at Georgia [W]
*I had a feeling this was gonna happen. Both teams looked better than they had in any of their previous games, but in the end the lucky horseshoe Les Miles has hidden where the sun-don't-shine came through in the end and propelled his team to 5-0

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt [W]
*Jevan Snead looked like the Heisman worthy QB he was labeled as at the beginning of the season, however, it took playing Vandy in order to do it

Georgia Tech at Mississippi State [L]
*Despite MSU outgaining Tech, their 5 turnovers pushed the game in favor of the Yellow Jackets

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Cowboys Stadium) [W]
*Arkansas looked flat at the beginning of this one but once they remembered they were playing an overmatched Texas A&M team, they didn't let off the gas

South Carolina State at South Carolina [W]
*Really? Was there any doubt?

Alabama at Kentucky [W]
*Alabama didn't look great in this game. In fact, up until right before halftime it was a pretty even battle. Costly turnovers hurt the Wildcats and Bama capitalized and had little trouble from then on

OTHER GAMES

Oklahoma at Miami [W]
*Jacory Harris did a good job of coming back from behind to lead his team to a victory

Florida State at Boston College [L]
*I had no idea, should have just gone with the home team...

North Carolina State at Wake Forest [L]
*I felt wrong. Looked like State had a chance in the early happenings but in the end the Demon Deacons walked away with the "W"

Michigan at Michigan State [W]
*State had the lead for most of the game but Forcier started one of his patented late game rallies to take the game into overtime. State scored and held on to win

Penn State at Illinois [W]
*It was another no-brainer

Ohio State at Indiana [W]
*I've said it once, and I'll say it again..., "Sweatervest"

Washington at Notre Dame [W]
*Clausen threw for like 420+ yards, he did a great job, flat out. However, the Irish didn't win the game until the final minute or so. They're good but won't have a chance against USC [who I got completely wrong!]

Air Force at Navy [L]
*Apparently planes having an advantage over boats doesn't matter on the football field

UCLA at Stanford [L]
*I gave UCLA too much respect, we all make mistakes

USC at California [L]
*Okay, so the Trojans lit up the Bears, and are much better than I thought however I don't think they deserve to be as ranked as high as they are

Clemson at Maryland [L]
*"The Tigers really are the most like an SEC team in the ACC, they just choke too often..." Why didn't I listen to my own voice of reason? Guh!

Virginia Tech at Duke [W]
*Duke put up a fight. I give them mad props, but still deduct respect points from Virginia Tech for making it closer than it should have been

Wisconsin at Minnesota [W]
*The Badgers looked like they were in trouble early on but they came back using a pretty potent offensive attack, or at least, at 11something-in-the-morning it looked potent

Picks!

2009-10-02T19:31:00.004-05:00

I have been secretly making picks throughout the season to see just how much I do know about the happenings of the college football world, well, apparently, I know a fairly decent amount but not enough to go around bragging. Here are my picks for the week, straight-up. After the games have been played out, I'll tally 'em up and see how things turned out.

Picks are in Bold:

SEC GAMES

Auburn at Tennessee
*I don't think UT can outscore AU and I think that's what it will come down to

LSU at Georgia
*I think LSU bounces back with some offense following last week's joke of an attempt (Srsly? 30 rushing yards on 31 attempts?)

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt
*I actually favor Vandy in this one but my gut says Ole Miss is better than they appear

Georgia Tech at Mississippi State
*Possibly my worst pick, I still think MSU is better than people expect/think (See also: Against LSU)

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Cowboys Stadium)
*Looking for a full rebound from the Hogs. "Neutral field" in the state of Texas against a Texas team..., hmmm..., I still think Petrino pulls out some offense [and hopefully some defense] against the Aggies

South Carolina State at South Carolina
*If Spurrier fumbles here he should retire. Again. 'Cocks win big

Alabama at Kentucky
*Hope against hope that the Wildcats pull out an upset and I don't have to hear about Bama's name as often as I do. Still, logic ways heavier than hope, Bama stomps the 'Cats

OTHER GAMES

Oklahoma at Miami
*If Bradford was playing, I'd take the Sooners, but I think Jacory Harris has the chutzpah to rally the 'Canes to win at home against yet another quality opponent

Florida State at Boston College
*Ehhh..., don't really know..., I'll take FSU b/c the polls tell me I should...

North Carolina State at Wake Forest
*Feeling it, only reason

Michigan at Michigan State
*I think Michigan is overranked and State is tired of being the ~~red-headed-stepchild~~ loser all of the time

Penn State at Illinois
*I've always doubted Zook in "big games" against better opponents. Paterno takes this one to the house

Ohio State at Indiana
*Sweatervest

Washington at Notre Dame
*Wanted to pick the Huskies, but I've seen how Clausen and Weis act together and it's kinda sickening. I think they have HUGE man-crushes on eachother

Air Force at Navy
*Planes have a strategic advantage over boats

UCLA at Stanford
*Bruins took down UT at Neyland, reason enough for me to respect them as a Pac-10 team

USC at California
*I never bought into the USC hype and I still won't, not yet, I think the freshman got lucky against [a worst than usual] Ohio State team, but I don't think he pulls it off again

Clemson at Maryland
*The Tigers really are the most like an SEC team in the ACC, they just choke too often, I attribute it to their head coach

Virginia Tech at Duke
*Really? Maybe if Coach K had control of the playcalls something could be accomplished, Va Tech takes it in a yawner

Wisconsin at Minnesota
*And The Axe goes to the Badgers

A New Era Begins

2009-09-06T17:32:00.007-05:00

In what was being deemed as an upset opportunity, the Auburn Tigers squared off against the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech yesterday. Auburn was breaking in an entirely new coaching staff with a completely new offensive style. Louisiana Tech had a successfull year last year and even went to, and won, a bowl game following the end of the season. Coach Gene Chizik had said prior to the game that he believed it was going to be hard fought up until the very end..., he was right, sorda. Instead of it being a battle all the way through the conclusion of the fourth quarter, it was more of a battle through the conclusion of the first half. After going into halftime with only a three point lead, the Auburn coaching staff made necessary adjustments and came out in full strength in the 2nd half while driving towards a 37-13 Auburn victory.

I spent most of the day tailgating and embracing the newly designed campus landscape. I even provided two of my friends with a quick tour of all of the additions. One was an alumnus who hadn't seen any of the changes, and the other was a student who just never needed to make it to the respected part of campus on a daily basis. Both were pretty amazed with all of the changes as they very well should have been. The first picture is of the new Student Center. Most of the people on campus refer to it as "The New Foy." I personally hate this because although it was designed to replace the old Foy Student Center, the new Student Center encompasses many more aspects of student living than the previous one ever did or could. The building is literally in between Jordan-Hare Stadium and the Haley Center and is just a few steps away from the Quad. Just to the left of the student center[in relation to the previous photo] is the newly designed "green" landscape. In years past, many would remember this area being quite hilly with the Eagles' Habitat residing at the top. The habitat has sense been moved, the land flattened out and redesigned. During football season the area has been leased out to a private company that provides Auburn fans with all of the necessary tools for a successful tailgate. To the more observant person, it is also a way to maintain the new renovations without drunk tailgaters destroying the property that the university just spent a pretty penny on renovating, while placing the monetary blame on the private company if the property is in fact destroyed. You can find the company's website here. The third picture shows more of the "green" area and also in the background you can see the newly added Tiger Transit pick-up/drop-off location[it's the one with the orange flags on top just in front of the stadium]. The area is completely covered with gas-lantern styled LED lights on the exterior. Inside/underneath there are picnic tables where students can go to eat lunch while they wait for their transit or just a quiet place with a beautiful scenery surrounding it to go and study. The whole area has been designed to mirror the similar architecture on the West side of the stadium where Will Call and General Admissions are located. Speaking of the West side of the Stadium, there is also this little puppy which is still being worked on[as you can see]. It is the newly constructed Auburn Arena. A $92million arena which is due to replace Beard-Eaves Coliseum beginning in the 2010-2011 basketball season. The arena will make for tough gameday's for visitors to the Arena as it will place students, and fans, closer to the action in hopes of distracting the opposition as is popular in many SEC sports arenas. It is with the sports arena that I will leave you as it was the end of my tailgating experience for the day. The next place: Jordan-Hare Stadium! Look forward to videos[albeit not great ones, I'm no videographer] of the 2009 Pregame Hype Video along with some others, pics and tidbits from inside the stadium. You can find all of those in my next post. War Eagle!

Welcome To The Future

2009-08-22T11:12:00.002-05:00

Somewhere around 10pm last night, 3G began popping up in Auburn, AL. I originally heard about it on Twitter[who would have thought it could have an actual tangible use?]. It was a pretty momentous occasion to say the least. As an iPhone 3G owner for the past year and some change, I have been counting down the days until when 3G would be an option for my network service. But alas, I have waited and waited. Srsly, it was sad. I would get excited at the mere site of 3G towers whenever I was driving into Atlanta. I would find "free" apps in the App Store and download them at will just to see the speed of the network. I would even turn off my WiFi connectivity just to "play around" with the 3G network.

Thank you, AT&T/Bellsouth/Cingular, you were a little slow to get the ball rolling, but at least once it reached the pins, it knocked them all down. My 5-bars of 3G goodness are proof of that!

The Times They Are a Changing...

2009-08-14T01:58:00.004-05:00

Chris Todd was named Auburn's starting quarterback by Coach Chizik following tonight's practice. I must say, I'm not surprised. Todd was the leading candidate even in the Spring IMO when he wasn't even physically getting reps. He has the skills to do well in this offense and I believe he will do so, hell, he was the 2nd stringer behind Graham Harrell at Texas Tech. What is possibly more interesting, is that presumed runner-up quarterback, Kodi Burns, was seen practicing drills with the wide receivers and Coach Trooper Taylor. Coach Gene Chizik later said that Kodi should be expected to be used in a wide variety of ways ranging from the "Wildcat" position to wide-receiver.

"We just feel like Kodi can help this football team somewhere on our offense," said Coach Gene Chizik.

So, I guess add another playmaker/mismatch to the ever growing list. And also, Chris Todd, good luck and War Eagle!

7 Days In...

2009-08-12T14:14:00.004-05:00

The Auburn Tigers have been practicing for the past seven days and held their first scrimmage yesterday, Tuesday, August 11th. Initial reports from practice are saying that all of the QB's saw reps and the the offense and defense both did extraordinarily well, with a few mistakes made, which were to be expected.

Tyrik Rollison and Clint Moseley worked out with the 2nd team offense against the 2nd team defense. It is unclear how many drives each QB got, but there are reports that Rollison saw the most amount of playing time. Also, there have been whispers that Rollison led the 2nd team offense on four drives for 2 TD's and 2 FG's, but TTFWIW.

One side note: Antonio Coleman went as far to say this about Tyrik Rollison, “Hey, he’s going to be a great quarterback for Auburn. That’s all I can say. I think he played lights out. It was like he was just normal running that offense out there. That was pretty nice.”

Kodi Burns, Chris Todd and Neil Caudle all got reps with the 1st team offense against the 1st team defense. Each QB got two drives apiece.

The young receivers, DeAngelo Benton, Emory Blake [had one TD reception of 40+ yards with a pass from Clint Moseley], Travante Stallworth, and Anthony Gulley all received high-praise from Coach Trooper Taylor.

Additionally, Onterrio McCalebb had a rushing TD up the middle of between 30 and 40 yards. Both CB's, Demond Washington and Harry Adams had INT's on the day. And also, monster freshman TE Philip Lutzenkirchen was one of the two TD receptions from Rollison.

This Just Occurred to Me

2009-07-26T21:24:00.004-05:00

For no apparent reason, as far as I can tell, I just had an epiphany. I realized that there is a pet peeve in my life that needs to be brought up for the greater good of humanity.

For years it has annoyed me to the point of wanting to push an old lady down a flight of escalators.[Is that even proper, not the pushing of an old lady down a flight of escalators, but the actual teminology? A flight of escalators? I mean..., you have a "flight of stairs," so why not a "flight of escalators?" Whatever. We're going to roll with it.] So. I am nowhere near an escalator at this moment in time but when my brain gets struck by lightning through brilliance..., wait..., scratch that. Let's go with..., "when my brain gets a spark kinda like rubbing your sock-covered feet on the carpet and touching a doorknob," I can't help but bring it to the attention of others.

Just recently, as in a few moments ago, I realized something ground-breaking and earth-shaking. People who "ride" the escalators in various places, NEED TO RIDE THE ELEVATOR! Listen. This may sound a little pushy or bossy, but I'm sorry, if you are going to utilize the escalator, then walk up it as it continues to move! If the guy who invented the escalator had intended it to be something that people just stood on to deliver them to the floor above or below their present location, I am pretty sure he would have changed his design scheme to include some kind of enclosed device that was easily lifted and lowered to the desired floor. Oh..., wait..., someone else invented just such a device, it's called a freakin' ELEVATOR! Srsly, it might just be me, and I might just be neurotic, but my belief is that escalators are kinda like those motorized paths you see at the airport that help you reach your destination faster provided you use them correctly, except they are inclined in an effort to raise you up a level. I don't know if our society is just fat and lazy and that is why they stand in my way when I am trying to use to the escalator, or they just have a fear of enclosed spaces and don't like to ride the elevator.

*Which, if this is the case, I have a news flash for you from a pretty reliable source:

Every single place you go that isn't outside, is an ENCLOSED SPACE! GET OVER IT! Stop being scared of pointless ~~shit~~. There are bigger things to worry about in your life than how much elbow room you have!*

Crazians!

2009-07-20T13:59:00.003-05:00

I stumbled upon a forum thread that requested people post pictures of crazy Asians. I couldn't help but repost them here for everyone's enjoyment. Some were good, some were bad. Here are my two favorites:

P.S. - If anyone can tell me the significance of crushing a dudes crown jewels and the relation they have to Dorito's, please, Please, PLEASE inform me of it!

Sam Adams' Imperial White

2009-07-10T19:46:00.005-05:00

So, as of lately I have been super excited. Alabama has only just recently started allowing higher alcohol percentage beers. Being from Atlanta originally, I was use to obtaining them and cherishing them every time i returned home. Occasionally, to my surprise, 1 or 2, or 20 high-gravity beers would somehow wind up in my trunk unknowingly and make their way towards Alabama. It was a shame, for so long the ultra-conservatives battled against the idea of it, all the while allowing Everclear to be bought with a fake I.D. from a state regulated distributor.

None of this is really important. The point of the matter is Alabama has changed for the better and is expanding the market in it's state. It is reaching out and it is progressing. As someone who is knowledgeable in the subject, distributors thought the idea of it was going to be a bust, they now find themselves being back-ordered at times and having to order more and more cases by the day. I applaud those out there who are making this happen.

In any case, Sam Adams' Imperial White is an amazingly good beer.

*Disclaimer: It is normally quite hard for me to ever be a fan of any Sam Adams, if I encounter one I haven't tried, I give it a whirl. For the most part, I never enjoy it. I do, however, like the non-typical Sam Adams that looks like the typical Sam Adams, I think it is the Ale, I always get them confused.*

It is pretty thick, much thicker than I anticipated because I was comparing it to a Hoegaarden in my mind. At 10.3%, it'll put a hurting on you, quick! I'll also say I preferred the smoothness of the Hoegaarden compared to that of the Sam Adams' Imperial White. However, I think the flavor of the Imperial White was much better. It is a really strong and sweet Orange and Coriander. As good as it was, I would still take a Hoegaarden over the Imperial White, nothing can compare to the aroma of the beer and an orange slice combining as you take your first taste of the Hoegaarden.

Little Rosie's

2009-07-10T18:47:00.005-05:00

As promised, Little Rosie's Mexican Taqueria. The view from the outside can be a little misleading, actually, it's really misleading. As I was walking up to the door, I remember expecting to have to drop at least $20(tip included) to hammer away a lunch at this place, *as a side note: I only spent 9 something, drink was 1.29(go for the small next time, unlimited refills, duh!) and got a fairly large platter with a burrito, soft taco, beans and rice.* Back to what I was saying, the inside, in my opinion, resembles nothing on the outside really. I think the only way I could explain the inside would be to say it is like a Hispanic TGIFriday's. The food service is quick and cheap. The food is good. It's really good..., for fast food mexican. Honestly, I'd say it is a healthy medium between Taco Bell and Moe's, but more Mexican-ish. This is probably impossible to follow and I apologize in advance, but at it's essence I would say that it is a good cheap alternative to your average sit down Mexican restaurant. Tastier and healthier than Taco Bell and more authentic than Moe's, just be willing to understand you are forgiving flavor in favor of frugality, which is nothing like being cheap. I'd take Little Rosie's over any normal Mexican restaurant any day.

Huntsvegas!

2009-07-06T13:18:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was July 4th. I was presented with the esteem pleasure of being invited to attend two of my friends marriage in..., Athens, Alabama???? WTF? I didn't even know there was an Athens, Alabama. In any case, a few buds and I drove up to Huntsville(aka "Huntsvegas" - It's an Alabama thing, every city has some kind of nickname). Needless to say, I was super jacked! It had been a hot minute since I had gotten to be in/at a casino and I was ready to win some paper. Well..., nobody decided to inform me ahead of time that ~~fucking~~ Huntsvegas doesn't even have a single freakin' slot machine! It was unnerving and upsetting, but easily overcome. We arrived in the 'Vegas around 3am Friday morning and did what apparently is customary in the City of Lights, wait..., wrong Vegas..., in the City of Wannabe Vegas, and we drank until about 8am in the morning taking a break to cross a busy four-lane highway at 6:30am to grab some chicken biscuits from the most heavenly of places, Chik-fil-a! We woke up somewhere around noon and got to getting on and everyone went and ran some errands before getting ready for the nightlife. While they were doing that, I stopped in at a restaurant I had heard a hefty amount about and was interested to try(FYI it is called Little Rosie Taqueria but I will extrapolate more upon that issue in my next post). After grabbing a bite to eat the guys and I met back up at a bar near the place we were staying, it is called The Thirsty Turtle, the only way I can describe this place is imagine the worst most drunken mess of a bar you can, then go to the Turtle and experience a true drunken mess of a bar. This bar allows smoking inside, and as for ventillation, well, as you can see, it is a pretty sad system to say the least. We got our buzz on and retired to the house, a few of the guys took a nap, the rest of us kept drinking and pregaming. Later that night we taxied downtown and hit up a few bars, Humphrey's, Philby's, and Mason's. And FYI, don't go to Humphrey's or Mason's, those ~~bitch ass~~ establishments like to close out your tab and coincidentally "forget" to give you your card back. And, any experienced bar patron knows, this is only a poor attempt at them trying to double charge you for your tab. So always keep your tab receipt as proof! Saturday was the wedding, and it was fun. Of course we arrived later than we were expected to being the grooms best-friends, but he and his wife knew that there was no way we would be early early, so they wisely made our invitations 30 minutes earlier than everyone elses to ensure we would be there promptly! Gotta love it! The wedding was real nice, and really casual. The bride and and groom had fun during the ceremony and before taking their walk down the aisle they pulled out some goofy Fourth of July sunglasses and put them on. It was pretty funny..., and..., adorable?!? Yeah, it was adorable. For the rest of the afternoon we hung out at the lake house, everyone else drank while I watched and relaxed(I decided it would be best if I bit the bullet and stayed sober all afternoon so we could have a designated driver in case there were road blocks heading back to Huntsvegas). Later that night everyone(minus the bride and groom, of course) headed to the Turtle and closed it down to celebrate two of our other friends who decided to announce that they were now engaged. Weddings bring out that sort of behavior I suppose. All-in-all, it was an amazing weekend. I had tons of fun and wouldn't have traded it for anything else on a July 4th weekend..., wait..., dang it! I can think of one thing I would have rather been doing. Damn slip-and-slide debauchery. Maybe next year?!?!

iPhone 3.0 Firmware Goes Live!

2009-06-17T12:18:00.001-05:00

The new firmware for the iPhone 3G just went live. I am updating as I type this. Pics soon to follow.

Holy Fantasimazing!

2009-06-13T17:41:00.003-05:00

I had no idea this was even going on in Tokyo, but, apparently they have been working on a little project to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gundam. Now, I have never been a fan of the series or whatnot, but the mere idea that the Japanese were able to make a full scale model with a 1:1 ratio is pretty freakin' glorious to say the least. I have included the link to engadget.com where I found the choice info. Follow the link and show your support and peep some pretty cool photos of something totally useless but fantasimazing none the least. Find it here.

Who's Number One?

2009-06-09T12:55:00.003-05:00

So, I don't like to brag because I try to stay as humble as possible, but I'm totally going to. When can you ever say you are number one in anything when it comes to the Interverse? You shut your mouth Steven Colbert! In any case, after my good friend Kate contacted me and I subsequently dropped her a "Re:" I managed to jump through some necessary hoops in order to get some notarization. Here are the fruits of my labors. You can pat me on the back next time you see me :)

Disclaimer: Said ranking only applies to Auburn, I think, it may be all of Alabama, but I am pretty sure it is just Auburn. Also, as a side note, I am No. 31 in Atlanta even though my only reference to a restaurant there is: aforementioned referenced. If you really want to know who is "King Ding-a-Ling" according to me when it comes to Atlanta Food Blogging, check out this informative kick-ass site for the scoop!

Urbanspoon Rocks!

2009-06-09T11:33:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to make a friendly reminder for my good friend Kate over at Urbanspoon that both she, and the company she works for, both do, in fact, rock! And for the readers out there, don't forget to stop by the site, as always, you can find it located right cheer! Awesome reviews and tons of info on almost every restaurant you can think of.

However, one comes to mind that I have been trying to add that I have been unable to because their phone number and address has yet to be listed. Anywhere. I can't even find it anywhere in the Interverse. I knew I should of peeped a closer look at the menu. Oh well, I'll just go back for dinner tonight. Be prepared for an update later today. That includes you too, Kate!

I'm Baaaaaaacccccckkkkk!

2009-06-08T20:53:00.006-05:00

Okay! So, I recently visited a group of hotties in the ATL and went to a concert with said hotties. While I was there, I was informed that the house the girls were renting from was "haunted." And as proof of said haunting, the tenants in the house confirmed to me that, on multiple occasions, they had used the extremely reliable iPhone App "Paranormal State" to prove the validity of their claims. Well, as you all know, I can't resist something as asinine as a claim like that. So..., I did the one thing I knew to do and I downloaded the app.

*Here's Where Things Get "Spooky"*

The application refused to download for the longest time. In fact, it didn't complete downloading until right before we left for the concert. Spooky right? So, I decided that whenever we got back to the house I would test out the validity. Nope! Not a possibility. Instead, we went straight to the bars when we got back to the girls' place and I was unable to test it out.

*Here's Where Things Get Hilarious(at least by my standards)*

Well, letting my curiosity get the best of me, I decided to search the web for possible places in Auburn to go and test out the application. So, I did what every normal human being would do and I googled "Auburn Alabama hauntings." First hit, AMAZING! You can find the most kick ass, and credible, website at this location. Not only does it sound stupid as $417 but it doesn't even give exact locations or even very descriptive locations. What's worse is, it is peer created. MEANING, I could get wasted one night and make up a ghost and submit it to this site and it would be posted. Seriously? I mean, srsly?

In any case, I have yet to try out the application, legitimately, at an alleged place of "hauntings." If you know of one, please, feel free to comment and let me know, I really want to try this app out. Until then, I guess I am going to have to roam around Auburn hoping to run into "A guy having the head of a beast has occasionally been noticed near Chewacla State Park pushing orbs around." Surely, he can't be that hard to find, right? Especially with such a reliable app as Paranormal State. LOL

Up!

2009-06-04T11:51:00.003-05:00

I am planning on going to see Up here in about an hour. I am going to go by myself if I have to. This movie looks absolutely hilarious. First off, I love Disney/Pixar movies. Second, I love 3-D movies. Third, I love Disney/Pixar 3-D movies that involve talking dogs and balloons! I can't wait to see it. I know it is going to be amazingly awesome, but I will still let you guys know what I think of it after I go see it. Holla.

Oh, one last thing. If you want to peep the trailer. You can find it here, I would have embedded it, but Disney disabled it. Oh well, give another website some hits. They deserve it.

Holla. Holla.

UPDATE: The movie was fricking dope! It was on par with "Wall-E" to give you an idea. So, if you are expecting a knee-slapper, you need to look elsewhere. This is more of a heart-warming kinda deal. Still amazing nonetheless and definitely deservant of a look-see. I'd have to say that the dogs are my favorite characters. Also, in reference to the dogs, go to the bathroom before going to watch the movie, because the many "Squirrel!" references will have you close to peeing your pants if you aren't careful and are like me and like to pay $10 for a soda comparative to the size of a Motorcycle's gas-tank. Go see it. Srsly. Go see it.

Twitterific!

2009-05-24T21:04:00.002-05:00

So, I am officially a broken man. I have decided to get on the Twitter train. Not because I want to really, but more because everyone else wants me to. Plus, this will be an interesting social-experiment I think. And, as we all know, the best part about social-experiments is that you can tweak the findings to your favor! Check out my tweets over to the right. Also, you can find my twitter page here, although, I don't really see the point in going there.

The Vortex

2009-05-12T02:06:00.006-05:00

I had heard bits and pieces about this place for sometime now and really didn't know what to expect. Some people had said it was a good place for a variety of beers (always a plus). While at the same time some people had said it was a place that was a little "off" because of it's atmosphere. Well, in all honesty, I can't say either of those two allegations is untrue. The place is in fact a haven for beer connoisseurs and for those looking to escape the "norm." I thought the place was absolutely amazing with really good service. I was given the challenge of knocking out the "Double Coronary." Not only was I excited to give this baby a whirl, a couple guys I was with decided to make side bets with me that I couldn't put every thing down on my plate. Side note: I didn't. The burger consist of the following:

Two grilled-cheese sandwiches as the buns
I'd say what looks to be a 1/2lb patty, backyard burger style
Two fried eggs, well
Four pieces of cheese
Five pieces of bacon
And of course lettuce, tomato, and red onion

I knocked out the burger, but the tots that came on the side were hardly touched. It was the most glorious heart-attack inducing masterpiece of a burger I have ever seen/encountered. It was literally so large I couldn't fit a single top-to-bottom-bite in my mouth. And I don't regret a single moment of enjoying the entire monster. But, as always, if you don't agree with my recommendation or need some further proof, check out their page here at UrbanSpoon.com.

OMG!

2009-04-29T14:21:00.002-05:00

I'm stuck behind a sorostitute at the ATM and she is either asking it out to dinner and a movie or they are having an in depth discussion about Global Warming and the effects it has on the Zulu tribes in Africa. It's a ~~G-D DAMN~~ ATM, go up to it, get money or deposit money, walk/drive away from it. That simple. Guh!

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-04-20T12:11:00.003-05:00

I have been off the rocker when it comes to updating as of late. Work and school have been kicking my ass like a Mexican named Jorge taking out his frustrations on a donkey. In any case, I was checking good ol' FML and ran across this one. If I ever heard better motherly advice I would probably piss myself:

"Today, my mother called me downstairs to give me what I assumed was going to be "The Talk" (About four years too late). So she sits me down, holds my hands, and with the gentlest, most motherly expression on her face tells me, "Honey, if you ever come home pregnant, I'll kill you and the baby." FML"

You can find more great FML's here!

Kitchen Engenuity

2009-04-09T18:42:00.004-05:00

I personally think that kitchen employees have to be some of the brightest people around in order to survive in their environment. I have seen some pretty good spur of the moment decisions by cooks in order to accomplish a certain task on the fly, and I have to admit, this one is right up there with the best of them. I can't take credit for this one, but I have got to give props to whomever came up with this idea. After the KM broke the handle on the sprayer something needed to be done in order to wash the dishes. Low and behold, a kitchen spoon works perfectly in the handle's abscence. Knice and gnasty!

First Attempt @ Making Fajitas

2009-04-02T22:47:00.007-05:00

Epic success! I am overly stoked at how well these came out. I suppose if I am gonna describe them, then I need to give the whole story. I went to visit "Ivy" at her place of business, which is actually just a warehouse full of junk for sale. However, they actually have some useful junk. I was able to find a mass assortment, well, no, not an assortment because they were all the same, but a mass..., collection?, yeah, that'll do, a collection of fajita-iron skillets. In any case, there was a ~~shit~~ ton of them for sale, and the best part was that they were only $6.29 a piece, and that includes the skillet, a snazy pot holder for the handle, and a neato little wooden plate that the skillet rests in post-cooking and whilst-eating?!?
The Setup -
Tortillas: Some simple tortillas that I grabbed from the store. Medium size. I dampened some paper towels and laid six of the tortillas out on it with them overlapping. I then rolled them up and placed them on a cookie sheet in the oven while the fajitas were cooking to warm them up. There was a problem with doing them this way that I discovered, and that made the unwrapping part somewhat difficult because they decided to stick to the paper towels, but it was only half of them. Oddly. I don't know why, I'm not a scientist. I'm a person who likes to blog and cook things. I should be fat, but through another mystery of science I can't gain weight. In any case, it worked because they were warm and soft, it didn't because it was like trying to peel the label off of an import beer bottle. Nearly ~~fucking~~ impossible. But, with a little patience, a lot of hunger, and a fairly good amount of not really caring if there are pieces of paper towel on parts of your tortillas, you can easily look past this as I did. LOL.
The Veggies: The veggies were dope. They might as well been a product being slang on the corner from a guy named Ray Jay in an overcoat. I grabbed one red, one orange, two green and about six or seven Serrano peppers. I deseeded and julienned them along with half of a large white onion. Also, I took another two or three Serrano peppers and cut them into rings leaving the seeds in tact to give the concoction a little extra spice. I then pitted a mango and took out all the meat, diced it up real fine and mixed it in with all of the veggies. I then poured in some Limeade to almost completely cover (the reason for the limeade was because it is a hell of a lot easier than squeezing an ass-ton of limes, which was just a guess but worked out!), added in some Mexican Chili Powder, some cumin, and a little bit of cilantro and mixed it all together and tightly covered it with plastic wrap. *Side Note: I don't use measures, most of the time. This is for one reason, and one reason only. I am a cook, I am not a baker. I don't have time for that ~~shit~~.* Continuing on..., I placed it in the refrigerator for about an hour and a half to marinate, and then I drained off all the liquid prior to cooking in the skillets.
The Chicken: I used frozen chicken, thawed it out in the sink under running water for about 45 minutes to an hour while I was prepping up the rest of the stuff, i.e., the veggies and fresh guacamole. After the chicken was done thawing I julienned them into chicken strips about 1/4" wide and as long as the actual breasts. I then placed all the strips into a bowl, covered with Limeade, added in some cayenne pepper, cumin, Mexican Chili Powder, cilantro and a clove of garlic cut in half and lightly mixed them all together. I then took a lime, sliced it up and placed them on top to give just a little more of a lime-kick to them, covered the bowl and placed it in the refrigerator to marinate for the same amount of time as the veggies.
The Finish: I set the oven to 500 degrees, popped both of the skillets inside and waited for the oven to preheat. I removed all the necessary deliciousnesses from the refrigerator and portioned them out into the skillets after they had been preheated. I then placed them in the oven for about 3-4 minutes, took them out, folded the veggies over themselves as to even out the cooking and flipped the strips of chicken onto their other sides as well. I drained off any excess liquid, VERY CAREFULLY, it's a freaking piece of iron that has been heated to 500 degrees, and placed them back into the oven to finish for another 4-5 minutes. Also, you may be wondering about the rice, the rice was just simply New Orleans' Style Mexican/Spanish Rice that I had started making about 20 minutes prior to removing the ingredients from the refrigerator. I removed them from the oven. Threw on a scoop or two of rice, and served them with the tortillas. Like John Travolta and his psychic powers, they were Phenomenal.

Laredo's!

2009-03-30T19:41:00.002-05:00

So, a few friends and I decided to grab some lunch today after getting out of class. Normally, we would have traveled downtown to get the usual, typically Mellow Mushroom, but today I was feeling saucy and convinced everyone to go out to Laredo's in Opelika. Sadly for the business operator, there was hardly anyone there eating lunch, in fact, there was only a table of businessmen. However, this was awesome for us because the service was speedy and never ending. Normally, I would have gotten one of their HUGE margaritas, but as you all know, due to Lent, I am not drinking as of late and marinated on a glass of Sweet-Tea. I got the "Palomino Burrito" and an order of "Fried Jalapenos." The burrito was a flour tortilla filled with marinated chicken, and covered with queso dip served with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, refried beans and rice. At the very least, it was delicious. I am still full in fact and I ate over five hours ago, so you know the portions are sized well. And for only $7-8 there is no room for complaining. Now, I love spicy things and trying things I have never had before, low and behold, fried jalapenos. I was honestly expecting something totally different. To tell you the truth, I thought they were gonna be jalapeno rings battered and deep fried, MAN, was I wrong. From the looks of them, I'd say they are merely just fresh jalapenos dropped in the fryer until tender. Now, I like hot and spicy things, but these babies kicked it up a couple notches. I couldn't even eat one with out chugging my Sweet-Tea or covering it with sour cream. My eyes were watering, my cheeks were flushed, and my brow was drenched! It was fantastic! I was only able to eat one though, and everyone else at the table was unwilling. But, if it's your kinda thing, I say give it a try. As for everything else, it was a great lunch. If you haven't yet, you should. Again, I don't believe the mass populace is correct in their grading of the restaurant. It is a very attractive restaurant, the help has consistently been the same over the years since I have been going there and are very nice and great workers on top of that.

As always, you can find UrbanSpoon's website here!

Surprisingly Fantastic!

2009-03-24T17:04:00.004-05:00

Two of my friends and I had been traveling from Auburn AL down to the Gulf and were getting hungry as we were getting into Gulf Breeze. We were gonna just pick up some things from the Wal-Mart, but when I saw Toro Bravo, I convinced everyone in the car to give it a shot. Walking in, the restaurant is really, REALLY nice looking. It is very attractive and clean and the live music playing was something that really surprised me. As soon as we sat down we were welcomed with chips and two salsas, one a black bean salsa, and the other a fairly spicy tomato based salsa, both were amazing! The service was excellent but the best part was by far the food. I got the "Shrimp Fajita Quesadilla." And from a person who doesn't like shrimp or seafood really, the quesadilla was phenomenal. The shrimp was extremely fresh, and the quesadilla's tortilla was obviously made from scratch. To make it even better, the quesadilla was HUGE and the cheese inside, was the Queso Dip that you can order as an appetizer with your chips. Off the chain. I took a pic, but it is only half of the quesadilla because I couldn't resist eating it before taking it's picture, also, sorry that it is blurry. LOL. Strong recommendation. Best Mexican food I have ever had! I promise, it is a lot better than it's UrbanSpoon rating!

P.S. - You can find UrbanSpoon's website here!

Post 101! It's a Doosy! Part One!

2009-03-23T22:26:00.017-05:00

Okay, first and foremost, this isn't the 101st post. It was going to be the 101st post, but I have been working on it for so long that it has actually fallen behind a few others, I think two or three. In any case, this is a short story about my Spring Break and all that went down on it. And, by "short" I mean that this post is going to be HUGE!!11!@ LOL, it is so long I am having to separate it into multiple uploads so I can take a break in between writing/editing.

Let's get it poppin'

So, I had been having a pretty horrible Spring Break originally. And by horrible, I mean horrible. My account overdrafted, work was miserable, my personal life was causing all types of unwanted drama, and not to mention the stock market was gaining momentum, which would normally be a good thing, except when you are in the process of buying stock and the cost is going up. FML. So, in order to get away from all the monotony of my life flushing itself down the crapper, I traveled up to one of my best friends' lake house. It was definitely the relaxation I was looking for. Literally moments after arriving this was the view I was blessed with, and, essentially the moment that I knew my week was about to have a major turn around.
That night we headed down to the dock to peep the stars in the sky. Since I was beginning my photography rant I snapped some photos of my friends. It was a bit chilly out next to the water, not to mention extremely dark ~~as shit~~. But, it was relaxing at the very least. "Wheezy" was wearing this pretty dope hat that appeared to glow with the flash of the camera, which was really cool because you would never have known it was reflective had I never taken a picture with him wearing it. Also, "Ivy," who is extremely poisonous btw, was lounging out watching the stars. I tried to take a few photos of the stars, but it was to no avail. Sad day. But a glorious night.
"Snapples" (on the left) and "Snicka" (on the right) also took a moment to take in the sights, which were unbelievable, I really wish I had a night vision camera or some other way, shape or form to show you guys, and the sounds, which were almost nonexistent. It was quite possibly the most peaceful place I have ever encountered. Or, so I had thought. But I'll explain that more later. That night we finished off the relaxation by enjoying a game of Monopoly which lasted for a good while before we all realized it was going to turn cut-throat pretty soon and decided to go ahead and call it a night for the most part.
I left the lake the next morning because I had to get back to town in order to work later that day. I hadn't really decided what I was going to do after I got off work, because I was suppose to leave for the beach in a few days. It wasn't until later that night while I was working that I realized I had to go back to the lake house. My week had been so crappy and the only place that had given me release from all the stress, was the lake. So, I called up "Ivy" and asked if she was interesting in partaking in "round 2" of heading up to the lake, she was so we headed up there. To, not so much my surprise, but more my delight, I discovered that one of my best friends "Pookie" was already up at the lake, and two more "G Squared" and "Bennie Boo" were also planning on making the trip. It was at that point that I knew it wasn't going to be a night of relaxation, but rather a night of debauchery. I was definitely right, but didn't mind, the guys provided hours of entertainment which I was able to catch on film. This is "Bennie Boo" and "Pookie" beginning their beer-pong reign of dominance while beginning their stroll towards a night of debauchery.
This has got to be one of my most favorite pictures. It is packed with very little action but a WHOLE BUNCH of back story. This is "Francois" and "Pookie." "Francois" is the lake house chaperon. He watches over everything that goes on, and never fails to freak you out when someone has moved him around the lake house without giving you prior knowledge. In fact, I woke up one morning only to be freaked ~~the fuck~~ out by Francois standing on the other side of the door of the room I was sleeping in. I honestly thought I was about to walk into someone. Nope. Just "Francois." LOL
Annnnddddd, begin debauchery..., NOW! Now, it is no surprise that the beginning of the debauchery began with these two. Especially with "Pookie." He is always down for making someone feel uncomfortable. And low and behold, did he pick the right person to make feel uncomfortable. I don't know how these two got on this conversation, but for some odd reason "Pookie" was having a conversation about how in photos sometimes your neck scrunches up and all of your "neck fat" can be seen. "Ivy" was a little uncomfortable about this and "Pookie's" way of making her feel comfortable was to explain that it is almost the same thing as the fat on the end of your elbow and that it wasn't really a big deal...
Now, to provide a little additional back story, this was the point in the night when I knew things were gonna start getting out of control, so much so, that I decided that a video would be the best idea to encapsulate all of it. But this is also when lightning stuck my brain and gave me an idea which two Guiness spokes-scientists could only describe it as "Brilliant!" I quickly realized that there was no way my camera would be able to record all of the excitement on one memory card, probably. And that the coolest way would be to just take photo-stills in rapid succession, so I did just that. For about the next hour and half I simply sat by and took pictures of all of the happenings without focusing my camera or attempting to get good shots. The next morning I reviewed them all and the resulting shots are here for your enjoyment. This is "Pookie's" face of disapproval about "Ivy" not allowing him to see her neck fat.
When word got around to "Bennie Boo" about what was taking place, it didn't take long for him to assist "Pookie" in making "Ivy" feel uncomfortable by forcibly making her allow "Pookie" to pinch her neck fat. I am not gonna lie, watching this was brutal. It was funny as hell, but I really felt like a videographer in the Serengeti Desert not saving a baby gazelle from the approaching lions. Such is the life of an innocent bystander... Besides, if she wanted saving all she would have had to of yelled was "Stranger Danger!" Everyone knows that!
Life Lesson: If "Pookie" wants to judge the amount of neck fat he has to the amount that you have, you should probably just let him. It will make it easier for both parties involved. Well, he got his wish, she had a few laughs, and "Bennie Boo" was able to do his part. End of story. Right? Wrong. After witnessing something that looked way to similar to a rape scene on the Lifetime Channel I thought for sure that the excitement would die down somewhat. I was wrong. But not really to my surprise, and definitely not to my disappointment.
As you can see from the picture, it was starting to get late. I don't really know how these two started fighting but it was literally right after they had attacked "Ivy." Yet again, not really surprising in the slightest. What was surprising was how long they were able to wrestle around, not break anything nor wake up "Wheezy" who had already gone to bed because he had to be back in Auburn for work at 8AM. Which, ironically, these two woke he and "Ivy" up for somewhere around 6:40 in the morning because the two of them were still up drinking. I have no proof of this because I had gone to bed many hours before. But, nonetheless, this was the beginning of the tussle.
I really thought that this part right here was going to be the end of "Pookie's" head being together in one whole piece. Somehow, through G-d's good grace, they both managed to avoid hitting either of the tables they were scuffling amidst. Additionally, they still somehow avoided creating enough noise to wake "Wheezy" up. Which, I am kinda doubtful about. I have no idea how any living creature could have slept through all of this. I wouldn't doubt if his hosting skillz were that immaculate though and simply allowed it all to take place as to not ruin everyone else's fun.
How the mighty have fallen. This was by far the closest they came to destroying the kitchen table. At the very least I thought one of the chairs and/or "Pookie's" spinal cord were going to be broken in half. I considered moving the camera to get a better shot of the action, but had a feeling it would all end up back within the frame. Not only was I right, but I am glad because I think it adds a certain amount of swagger to the whole thing. Luckily for the onlookers, the lake house, and the participants involved, this was almost the unanimous "end" to the tussle. I think it was more of a matter of them being extremely exhausted rather than the crowd of people thinking it was a good idea for it to come to an end.
LOL, with little breath left, and even less energy, the two of them decided to "hug-it-out" and call it a stalemate. It was slightly depressing to see it all end, but it was definitely time for a change of pace. One that was not so aggressive. The night continued on past this in picture form, however, it got slightly outtahand and luckily I decided to put the camera away before it got really outtahand. To leave this first half of the post with a nice little cliffhanger, I will only say that there were some batwings, and a goat or two. Stay patient, the second half of this post will be up a little later today, with a lot less debauchery and a whole bunch more scenery and relaxation.

I Totally Just Willed That To Happen

2009-03-21T14:00:00.002-05:00

We are currently laying on the beach in Pensacola. It is freakin' glorious, aside from all the muscle-headed guidos around us, and the occasional high-schoolers interspersed amongst the college Spring Breakers. I just witnessed three high school girls fumbling around the beach and noticed that the drunkest one was wearing what she thought to be a sexy stylish tube top. Not only was she wrong, but I could tell her boob was about to pop out, so I acquired ''Mr. Wonderful's'' attention and let him know of the situation and sure enough she went to fix her top and her boob fell out. The worst, and best, part was she didn't correct it and NO ONE on the beach told her as she continued fumbling around. And, to her dismay, her friends didn't assist her either because they were too wasted to notice. Love it!

Something That Annoys Me

2009-03-20T19:35:00.003-05:00

We are still driving down to the beach presently. We have been on the road for 4 hours now and are roughly 45 minutes to an hour away from our destination. However, something has been annoying me for the past hour or so, and I would like to know if this happens to everyone or just myself, so reply in email form or comment below. Whatev. In any case, like I said, for the past hour or so, my damn right eyelid has been muscle spasming and it is annoying as SHIT! I keep having to like pinch my eyelid and kinda rub it at the same time, annoying! And another thing, we just crossed the border into the ''Sunshine State,'' and I don't see any damn sun anywhere! In fact, if I was an astrologer, I would say the sun is down! Bullshit!

Mac mini Unboxing

2009-03-20T14:28:00.011-05:00

I'm super stoked about this one! Here are the unboxing pics of my new Mac mini I just acquired. Hopefully, I will be able to create a pretty kick ass iPhone App using the SDK I just downloaded on it! Cross your fingers!

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-03-17T15:03:00.003-05:00

This one is horribly fantastic. I hope that it never happens to me, or anyone I know for that matter. And, truth be told, I didn't find it on the fmylife.com website, I actually found it on The Book's fan page of FML! Which is pretty much the same thing in essence I guess. Here it is:

"Today, I had drunk sex with a girl that I barely know. I didn't have a condom and was nervous about getting her pregnant,but she assured me that I could pull out. Right when I was about to pull out, she wrapped her legs around me and yelled,"Be my baby's daddy!" I couldn't get out in time. FML"

Also, as always, FML can be found here and their fan page on the book can be found here!

I Can't Even Entitle This Post

2009-03-15T12:08:00.002-05:00

I just witnessed the newest ''Snuggie'' and I'm more at a loss for words than I have ever been. Just to help provide an adequate foundation of retardedness for this, for those who don't understand the idea of the ''snuggie,'' it is a large blanket with sleeves built in. No, wait, they already have that, it's called a robe, that you wear on backwards! And what makes it worse is the color scheme they chose for them, if they don't remind you of a robe on backwards they will sure-as-shit remind you of fashion reminiscent of cults. It's freakin' insane and people love them. They have sold tons of them. But nevermind, now back to the point. The foundation has set, let's build this house. The infomercial I saw today was for the ''Flirty Girl's Fitness DVD.'' It is the largest train-wreck about to happen in my opinion. I see this becoming the next Tae-Bo rage, just in the most whorific way possible. Cue the 20/20's and 60-minutes about how America's female youth has turned into chair and pole dancing Demi Moore wannabes. It will be out of control! I mean, for a freakin $1 more they throw in a STRIPPER POLE! Not only is that every fratgots dream, but that just seems ridiculously whoretastic for any girl at any age. "Hey, welcome to Dollar General or The Dollar Tree, may we offer you a nice, stainless-steel silver-polished stripper pole?" I mean, WTF? Most guys, most respecting guys only go to see girls' dance on stripper poles because the beer is cheap(maybe $1.25) and it is funny to laugh at girls who lessen themselves to a price even lower(only a $1 on average!) Maybe it is the fact that I have a little sister who is 14, and could easily be persuaded to buy this by the girl the same age as her who's life dream is to be the quaterback's girlfriend, I don't know, I just think this is horrible. But, it will at least be fun to watch the train-wreck when it happens!

You can find the website here. It is worth a peep, if only to see how happy the girls are to be on a pole...

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-03-13T12:09:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I haven't been doing it daily, but it has been pretty close. I am pretty sure I ran across the best one yet. Whoever wrote this one, definitely needs to go hide under a rock somewhere.

"Today, I was walking my friends dog around the neighborhood, as I was walking I noticed a little girl fall off her bike. I let go of the dog and ran over to help. The girl was ok but the dog ran into the street and got hit by a truck. FLM"

Now, it isn't necessarily the actual quote that I liked, it was more the fact that the ~~dumbass~~ person who wrote it, misspelled "FML," really? Those letters aren't even that close on the keyboard! That is like me misspelling "and" as "adn!" Some people just need not reproduce. I hope this person is sterile by nature. FML.

Dope In It's Own Right

2009-03-12T10:48:00.001-05:00

I was walking on the new concourse, and by new I mean less than a year old, and not only does it look great but it is pretty free from flaws. This may be the one exception, I must have walked by this leaf imprint at least a thousand times and never seen it, but for some reason it caught my eye as I was walking from the Student Center with my fruit cup this morning. I thought it was dope, you might not, but then again, I don't really care what you think ;)

Shot Down...

2009-03-10T18:56:00.003-05:00

My term fratgot was denied by the website, however, I am now an editor on the site and I am determined to keep submitting until I myself receive the term and consequently, accept it! ;)

Girls Might Be Retarded

2009-03-10T13:47:00.004-05:00

I was reading an article in USA Today explaining that most college-aged girls think guys are just out to get them liquored up.

First of all, those who are out to get a girl wasted are probably fratgots, which is a term I coined and allow free use of.

Secondly, use some common sense! No one likes the drunkard that is hanging out with everyone else, especially if it is a girl. Most of the time when it is a girl, she goes and does something like lose her cell phone and blame it on her boyfriend or her boyfriends' friend. Also, typically, this drunk girl attempts to have sports-related conversations with the guys she is drinking with, in an attempt to find common ground, and more often-than-not, just ends up sounding retarded and annoying.

According to the article, "a survey of 3,616 heterosexual college students (62% were women) found that women overwhelmingly overestimated the amount of alcohol a typical guy wanted his female friends, dates or girlfriends to drink. (71% of women believed men wanted them to drink excessively.)" Additionally, 26% of the women surveyed said that they thought men would like a female companion to consume at least five or more drinks when hanging out with them. And nearly 1 in 5 women thought that men would be more sexually attracted to a woman that drank at least five drinks.

You can find the whole article here.

Here is a visual comparison for those who don't fully understand. The picture on the left is of a "typical drunk girl" while the picture on the right is one of an "ideal drinking partner."

When Life Gives You Eggs You Make Eggs?!?

2009-03-10T10:04:00.001-05:00

I know that isn't the right saying, but I am so full that I can't even think straight. My first class this morning was canceled because my professor had a family emergency he had to tend to. Normally I would be elated to hear such news, however, we were supposed to review for our exam today but we aren't able to now. Oh, he also canceled our previous class day so we haven't even had class in the past week but still are going to have our exam on Thursday, FML. In any case, since I had a lot of extra time I decided to make a huge breakfast and fatten myself up. It was glorious! French toast, eggs, a bowl of cereal, grapes and of course, a glass of milk with ice. For those who have never had milk with ice, you are missing out. As long as you drink your milk, the ice doesn't melt and won't water it down like people expect. Try it, I bet you like it more than usual.

I Need to Save My Friend

2009-03-07T19:50:00.001-06:00

One of my friends, ''Nighthawk/Miles,'' doesn't care what others think about him, which is one main reason I have him as one of my best friends; however, he is making me go out in public while he is wearing shorts, socks and clogs. I'm no New York fashion expert, but seriously? No one could ever really go out in public dressed like this and expect the opposite sex to interact with them. It's a shame that I love him so much as a friend, otherwise I wouldn't let him leave the house like this.

Poor Poor Housekeepers

2009-03-06T11:47:00.003-06:00

So, at the good ol' HGI, they are getting new uniforms, I don't know if this is going to include me or not, but the first new uniforms to arrive were the housekeepers. Of course no one else was willing to model the new uniforms for my manager, and me being me, decided I didn't give a flying fuck how stupid I was going to look. Here is the aftermath, I feel sorry for the housekeepers, this is like a really bad nursing home uniform. I feel like all the housekeepers are gonna go around with bed pans breaking old people's hips and shit.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-03-05T14:30:00.005-06:00

The final trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been released by FOX, and here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

That's Only in the Monin

2009-03-05T13:21:00.002-06:00

I saw this in Arby's the other day and could only think of two of my most favorite people on the face of the Earth, Bub Rubb and Lil Sis. For those of you out there who don't know the ~~famous~~ infamous duo, I have included their equally infamous video from YouTube. The funniest part is they actually became celebrities for a short time period following the release of this YouTube video; however, they are probably passed out in some gutter somewhere now rotting in their own feces and vomit from a crack overdose, but "that's only in the monin!"

Meanwhile, On the Other Side of Campus

2009-03-05T12:42:00.002-06:00

While students are dealing with a bomb threat on one side of the campus, others are enjoying hanging out with some predatory birds and students of the Raptor Rehabilitation Center on the concourse. This is probably the closest I will ever be to a bird of this nature.

Bomb Threat on Auburn Campus

2009-03-05T12:38:00.001-06:00

This is an AU Alert I received at 12:33PM today. AU Alert is a system employed by Auburn University to immediately inform students, faculty, and friends and family about emergency situations ranging from tornado warnings to, well, obviously, bomb threats. Hopefully, the situation will be corrected shortly and whoever called it in, probably an ill-prepared student for a test, will be dealt with appropriately.

iPhone Feeling A Little Under The Weather?

2009-03-04T15:51:00.003-06:00

Over at engadget I ran into a post that is of considerable concern for myself. Apparently, in what is being termed the second occurrence since the release of the iPhone back in 2007, the phone has caused a bit of a malfunction resulting in a teeny, tiny, little fire! The link to the post can be found here for those of you wanting additional information, but I believe in this case, a picture says plenty!

Possibly More Signs Pointing to "Yes"

2009-03-03T07:23:00.004-06:00

I checked one of my favorite blogs this morning to discover this fantabulastic link:

Apple Store Down Worldwide

This is HUGE, because the information I posted yesterday about the iMac and Mac Mini refreshes is pointing ever so more to being true. Like I said before, I am hoping, with both fingers crossed mind you, that this is the reason. I'll let you know, as soon as I know, when everyone who lets me know, lets me know ;)

UPDATE: Apple's site just went live, and I can confirm that there are in fact new iMac's and Mac Minis!

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-03-03T00:08:00.001-06:00

This is what you get for being a bitch:

"Today I was walking when a man pointed a camera at me, so I decided to be bitchy about it and say "Did I say you could take a picture?" and he replied with, "No, but can you get the fuck out of the way so I can take one of my wife and kids." I turn around, and they were right behind me. FML"

As always, you can find the entire collection of FML's here!

Awesome News!

2009-03-02T19:16:00.002-06:00

I was just reading one of my favorite websites,Apple Insider, because a friend had sent me a link to peep. Well, what delicious news that followed, was an update saying that Mac Minis and iMacs could be expected as early as tomorrow! This would be amazing. I just registered to be an Apple iPhone Application Developer and have been waiting for the new Mini to come out so I could pick up one. Let's hope this isn't a rumor and is absolute truth! Link to the article aqui!

Best Weekend Ever!

2009-03-02T15:27:00.016-06:00

So, this was one of the best weekends I have ever had. So many awesome things happened, I can't even begin to explain. But I am going to try my hardest to do so. First, it started out with the Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which, in and of itself, was Heaven!. But following the retrieval of said doughnuts, I got the chance to talk to the girl of my dreams for an hour, which always puts me in a good mood. I went to bed early that night, because I had to work the next morning at 8AM. And to my surprise, I awoke to possibly the best day I would have in a very long time...

It all started around 6:15AM, I was having trouble staying asleep because I had gone to bed so early the night before, so when my "initial alarm" went off I was awake, and by awake, I mean, awake. So, I followed normal routine and hopped onto "The Book" and saw that one of the cooks I was suppose to work with had posted on his status that it was snowing. I was ecstatic. I grabbed my camera, ran downstairs(still in my boxers and nothing else of course), continued outside and began taking pictures.

Realizing I was probably going to be pressed for time because it never snows for a prolonged period of time in Auburn, I hopped in the shower, showered in probably 2-3 minutes, threw on my chef gear, and rushed out the door. I had to get to Samford before anyone else got out there and ruined all the perfectly untouched snow. This picture here was around 6:30AM and the snow was just beginning to coat the roof. Almost immediately after taking this photo, my camera died. So, I rushed home to "charge" it; this was when I realized it was battery operated. Doh! So I hurried to Winn-Dixie and bought some replacement batteries.

I continued around town, stopping at the elementary school to snap a photo of the kids' playground. I thought it was extremely appropriate because little kids love snow, and they are typically found on playgrounds = obvious connection to the photo ;) I was really surprised to see how few cars were driving around. Not to mention, how few children were out playing, i.e., none. Had I any friends who were up this early, I would have already been having a snowball fight!

My next stop was at Moore's Mill Park, the snow was just starting to come down pretty thick-like and I was excited no one had stopped by there yet to peep some photos. Obviously, these were the picnic tables in the park. I had actually wanted to make my way over to Kiesel Park but it was on the totally opposite side of town and I was trying to make my way back to campus before the snow either let up or was destroyed by others who were either taking pictures, playing or building ~~snowmen~~ snowpeople.

Since the snow was coming down as thick as it was I decided to look up. When I did, I couldn't help but notice the way the snow was sticking to the top of the tree branches. I was actually kinda surprised to see that it was since it was over 70 degrees the day before and I had been frolicking around in cargo shorts! LOL. In any case, the branches enticed me, so, I included them in the morning photo shoot. I know it isn't the fanciest looking photo, but I like it, and it is my blog:P

I made my way back to campus completely, and I was surprised to see that no one had made their way to my side of campus yet. I assume that they were all up at Samford Hall where I had been nearly almost an hour earlier. Knowing this, I took some well deserved photos that were simply amazing to see. I think the best part about it all was seeing something as it was, every single day, unchanged, and then with the blink of an eye, it turned into something beautiful. One of my co-workers had a really good quote, and it went something like this: "It's crazy to just take everything in and hear how completely silent it is, yet, when you actually take a second to look at things, there is so much action going on around you when you think of how many snowflakes are falling simultaneously."

I continued North up campus, hoping that no one had destroyed the area in front of Foy, also known as the "Old Football Field" or the "Koi Pond," I'm pretty sure it is a Koi Pond. In any case, I was lucky enough this morning, now, roughly 7:20 in the morning, to make it up there and see that it had in fact not been touched yet. Man, was I getting lucky. With a little over a half-hour left before I had to be at work, I grabbed this picture of the pond, another of the "Auburn University Land Grant" sign, and the back of Samford Hall as quickly and artistically as I could.

With time winding down before I had to be at work, I knew there was one last place I had to stop before I headed in for the morning. Back to Samford Hall! I drove back around to the front of Samford Hall, and now, there were tons of people out front taking pictures and having their pictures taken. Luckily, no one was standing in the area that I wanted to take a picture. It truly was a lucky morning. I parked my car in the first open spot on College St that I saw. Hopped outta my truck, left it running, and darted across the first two lanes to the median where I paused for a second, bent down, and peeped this photo. Feel free to steal this photo btw, there is one that is sold ALL around campus that one lucky fellow was able to get a few years ago while everyone else was inside taking classes and it was snowing for like 30 minutes. Everyone has seen that photo I believe. I hope this one will rival it in popularity especially because it is free. Kudos to whoever that dude was for making money and all, but seriously? It is called the "Auburn Family" for a reason. Make your money some other way douche! Sorry, I got off on a tangent. In any case, after I took this photo, a random foreign exchange student(at least, that is how he sounded to me) asked if I could take a picture with his camera of him standing in front of the sign. I agreed, took his picture, which included him smiling from ear to ear, and made me feel rather good I might add that I was able to help him out, and I continued into work.

To make an awesome day even more awesome, I got off work somewhere around noon. It was actually 11:47AM to be exact. I only know because the time clock wasn't working and I had to write it down for my boss, LOL. In any case, I got off work, mass-texted everyone I thought would be interested, and organized a fairly nice sized snowball fight. Originally, it was going to be just our group of friends, but after making our way onto campus, we quickly realized that not only were there different gangs of students on campus having snowball fights, but each gang had their own "turf" which they were protecting! It. Was. Amazing! We originally got ambushed and quickly grouped together to try and take out the first gang's forces, after taking their land from them we waged war for a fairly good amount of time. This is us right after we took their patch of land from them and beginning to get flanked by the Chinese on the left.

We held our own for a fairly long time, and the Chinese retreated after our original enemies and ourselves began teaming up on them. Thinking it was time for a new opposition, we made our way up the concourse towards Samford Hall to try and find another rival gang. Instead of successfully accomplishing our goal, we came across this awesome snow-sculpture of a tiger, so I stopped to grab it's likeness within my camera!

After departing from Samford, we made our way to RBD Library where we saw a rival gang waiting. After they saw our numbers, they quickly retreated without even a snowball being thrown. We were clearly the strongest snowball gang on campus at the time! We waged war upon each other for a fairly good amount of time to the sounds of honking cars driving past on College Street, most of us fell down a few times, and those that did were quickly assaulted by everyone else. It felt amazing to act like a 6yr old once again. After we were tired and nearly frozen and frostbit, we stopped a couple passing by on the sidewalk and asked them to take a picture of our gang for a moment. They agreed, and so ended possibly the best weekend ever!

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-02-28T19:01:00.002-06:00

This site never gets old, I just love how retarded some people are naturally, here's today's:

"Today, I forgot to do my French homework, but since it was an online worksheet, I told my teacher my internet wasn't working. I told her with an e-mail. FML"

Again, the site can be found here!

Heaven!

2009-02-28T18:56:00.001-06:00

If I were to die, this is where I would go. Well, not here exactly, but definitely to a Krispy Kreme. It would be the best damn Krispy Kreme ever with an unlimited supply of "Hot Now" glazed and chocolate covered creme filled doughnuts ever flowing with me having the inability to ever gain weight, scratch that, I want to gain some weight. Howbout, a never ending supply of "Hot Now" glazed and chocolate covered creme filled doughnuts with me having the inability to ever gain too much weight and become fat! Yes! That is my heaven. If it weren't for the fact that the closest Krispy Kreme to me is over fifty miles away, I would work at one and possibly own one. It would be glorious!

Sushi..., and Grilled Food!

2009-02-28T12:59:00.001-06:00

Two of my friends and I went to
Shogun's for dinner last night. We got some sushi and some grilled food, I had nothing but noodles, rice and vegetables from the grill since Lent restricted me to a "no meat" kinda night. But nonetheless, it was some pretty tasty stuff. Since I am allowed to eat fish on Fridays, I went with this crab, masago, and mayo roll (it has a name, but I honestly don't remember what it was) and also two Conch Nigiri, for a random flair. The crab roll was good, nothing extraordinary though. But as for the conch, it was..., interesting to say the least. It was kinda sweet at first, which was a really good thing, but after you got past the sweetness, you begin to realize how chewy it is. And by chewy, I mean chewy. It was really fibrous, which was something I definitely wasn't expecting. The overall experience was a lot of fun and the hibachi chef was pretty talented, although, not very social or entertaining like most. Afterwards, we followed it up with watching Slumdog Millionaire which is probably the best "love story" I have ever seen. It is a really entertaining movie that everyone should see. You wouldn't believe some of the ~~shit~~, err..., stuff, that happens in the movie.

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-02-27T16:42:00.003-06:00

There is a tie today, I couldn't decide which I thought was funnier. Both are pretty good though. One for the guys, and one for the ladies:

"Today, I was walking through the mall with my boyfriend of a year and a half. There was sign outside of the jewelry store that said, 'Engagement Rings-No interest for 12 months.' I said, 'Look, baby! No interest.' He replied, 'That's right...NO INTEREST.' FML"

"Today, I hit a car while trying to answer a phone call from my mom. I quickly answered the phone and shouted 'What!?'. To which she replied, 'I just had a bad feeling in my gut about you so I wanted to make sure you were ok.' FML"

Hellz Yeah

2009-02-27T16:21:00.002-06:00

Following the previous post, or next post depending on how you look at it I guess, and knowing how I am probably the only person who finds it amazing that I found a box of Bottle Caps in Wally World, I decided to post something that was actually relevant. I was reading The Plainsman the other day and saw this nifty tid-bit of information. 3G in Auburn! I have been waiting for this day for a ~~almost neverending extremely very~~ long time, or at least since last February when I got my iPhone, well, that's not entirely true, since last July when I actually picked up the 3G version to be honest. But, I was totally wanting 3G before then, so..., it is almost completely true?!?!? In any case, Auburn is set to receive 3G sometime within this year, which isn't really news to me, seeing as last August/September-ish the ~~bitch~~ lady working at AT&T told me it would be "here by the end of the year, or at least the beginning of next." I guess her and AT&T use a different calendar than I do...

Gango'change!

2009-02-27T16:11:00.001-06:00

I am not going to lie, when I saw these in Wally World last night, I nearly died from jubilation. I love these things. I didn't even know Willy Wonka was cool enough to mass produce them. I have always remembered them as being in those annoying to open paper packages that only gave you two at a time. You should go buy some, right now, you know you want to...

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-02-26T16:30:00.001-06:00

If this doesn't show you how stupid us guys are, I don't know what does:

"Today, I saw my ex-girlfriend across the street. I was walking with a girl whom I'd been hooking up with and wanted to make my ex-girlfriend jealous. I kissed her and she immediately smacked me. I got a "ha-ha" text message from my ex. FML"

Experimenting Galore

2009-02-25T21:49:00.001-06:00

Tonight I prepared a few things I have never tried before. I took a few ideas and threw in some twists to make it my own. Pan Seared Salmon, which is nothing special, with a Crab Aioli on top, which was something I haven't heard of as far as I know, and a side of Cornbread and Shrimp Stuffing. I figured the cornbread and shrimp would work together because I rationalized that people like shrimp and grits,
grits are made of cornmeal so cornbread couldn't be that far off. I really wanted to try it but since it is Ash Wednesday, I couldn't. My server, manager and also the person working the front desk said the Cornbread and Shrimp Stuffing was good. I didn't make them the salmon though, so the jury is still deliberating on the verdict until future notice.

Daily F*** My Life Quote

2009-02-25T14:48:00.002-06:00

One of my best friends sent me this website link the other day and I instantly fell in love with the site, since then I have pretty much told everyone about the site, and I haven't met a person who didn't find it funny. I have decided since I look at the site every day, whichever quote strikes me as the funniest on that day, is gonna be posted here, ideally, daily.

"Today, my girlfriend and I had sex for the first time. When I was on top of her, she asked me if it was in yet. I said yes. She sighed. FML"

A Friendly Reminder...

2009-02-25T12:03:00.008-06:00

Today is Ash Wednesday. Today is the beginning of Lent. I have never, ever, ever successfully completed a Lent. This year I am determined to do so. I know not all religions practice Lent, but me being a Catholic, I am suppose to. So, since I am always up for a challenge, I am going to give up some of those things which I "enjoy" so much(and are also a waste of money mostly). Here is a friendly reminder of what is to be expected:

Lenten Abstinence - Abstinence from meat is to be observed by all Catholics, 14 years of age or older, on all Fridays during Lent(see Code of Canon Law 1249-53). Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (All adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their 60th year.)
-courtesy of St. Michael's Catholic Church

In accordance, I am...


Giving up:
a) Drinking
b) Smoking
c) Soft drinks

Picking up:
a) Not eating on Ash Wednesday or the Friday of the 
   Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ
b) Not eating meat on the Fridays of Lent
c) Being more productive, especially with respect 
   to studying
d) Running everyday of Lent

I Love Things That Are Viral...

2009-02-24T00:07:00.004-06:00

I was browsing around a newly befriended friend's page on "The 'Book" the other day and I saw this link which sparked my curiosity. Apparently, I had never heard of this until today/yesterday, but Stride Gum paid this random dude to travel all over the world doing "his dance" in the process. They not only paid him to go to seven different continents, but they paid him to do it twice! In any case, he did, and in the process he was filmed doing it. This is by far the coolest viral video I have ever seen personally. If you want to find out more about Matt, this is the place to do so. Additionally, I have included the actual video. Damn, this dude is freakin' lucky.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Mega Upload Day!

2009-02-23T11:16:00.005-06:00

I have been defaulting lately on updating, I have been super busy as of late! But the good news is I have enough time before my next class to where I can throw in a few updates, so here they go!

James Brown Bashes UGA
Dr. James Brown was explaining the importance of where to place your compost bin the other day in class. Apparently this lesson struck a nerve because he began to go off on a tangent. YES! Nothing is better than a Dr. James Brown tangent! So, he decides to inform the class that his compost bin is made out of a normal looking trash can and is placed near the entrance/exit of his garden for easy access. Enter the tangent-bus! He then informs everyone in class how "those annoying Georgia fans who don't know any better" every other year they come down for the Auburn/UGA game do the same thing, and unload all of their trash from their buses and RV's and imprudently place it in his compost bin thinking it is a trash can, and ultimately contaminate his compost and has to throw it out. (Enter jokes about Auburn being a land-grant university from the likes of UGA and Alabama fans.) Ha! Takes the fun out of it when I am prepared for it huh? Well, Dr. Brown has informed us he is prepared now, he built a shed for his compost bin and put a lock on it. I wonder if they will start to break in thinking it is an out-house. (Again, enter jokes about Auburn being a land-grant university.) War Eagle, Dr. Brown!

"Guilotas?...Guilotas?"
Love it! Okay, so Saturday night a few friends and I went to Acalpulco's for dinner before going out. I have been on a "order the most random sounding thing on the menu" kick lately and saw numero sesenta y dos on the menu and knew I had to get it. Guilotas en Salsa Verde. Sounds intriguing, right? Well, I think it is pertinent that I explain the dish. Yeah, definitely some grilled quail drenched in a green salsa/sauce served with rice and beans. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Wrong. I should have known I was in for a "treat" when the waiter looked at me with a puzzled look upon his face while repeating "Guilotas?...Guilotas, numero sesenta y dos, verdad?" I quickly informed him that I knew what it was and I hadn't had it before, but that I did want to try it. He walked away shaking his head in disbelief. That was clue number two. To be honest, it was the first time I had ever had quail, and it does taste pretty much like chicken, however, everyone failed to inform me that it had it's bones in it still. Had it not been the most difficult thing to eat in the entire ~~fucking~~ world, it probably would or could have been really good. I don't recommend quail to say the least.

Chicken Tortilla Soup!
And, finally, to close out this post, I have added a photo of some Chicken Tortilla Soup I made at work the other night. We had some items left over from a banquet the night before, so I went ahead and used a few of them to make a soup that we could freeze and use at a later time so it wouldn't be wasteful. It was pretty freaking delicious, I think I have done a better job before back when I worked at Buffalo's, but that was many moons ago and I had to work strictly off of recollection. Everyone at work said it was amazing, but I am doubting that they have had this particular soup before and didn't have anything to really compare it to. But, I did accept their compliments, both verbally, and more importantly to me personally, the fact that they all got a second helping. Which is my normal way of deciding just how good something I prepare is. In any case, dis be da soup right err.

Beware!

2009-02-20T14:13:00.001-06:00

Apparently there is a serial pencil breaker out there somewhere, who goes around breaking all of your pencils on the day you have fill-in-the-blank tests. I'm not sure why I was targeted by this psycho with a graphite and wood vengeance, but I just want everyone to be aware of the issue. And don't worry, the single pencil that survived has been placed in protective custody and is under my constant surveillance.

Sushi!

2009-02-19T13:50:00.004-06:00

I went the other night with a few friends, as is customary, to get some sushi. We went to Fuji, and this, no joke, was probably the best sushi I have ever had. Granted, we didn't go until about 8 o'clock at night, and I hadn't had a single thing to eat all day so I was starving. But, it was amazing and here is the proof. I got a, from top to bottom in the photo, Summer Roll, which is like a Crab & Salmon Romaine Salad inside Rice Paper, it was served with the Sesame Sauce that is on the right side of the pic. Below that, is the Shaggy Dog Roll, which is tied for my all-time favorite with the Drunken Tiger Roll from Juliana Tokyo. I am pretty sure the Shaggy Dog is a tempura shrimp roll with salmon/crab on top, I can never remember. And finally, the one at the bottom! LOL, this thing looks crazy, but it was awesome! I didn't eat the fried heads of the shrimp, I assumed they were decoration only; in any case, those are Sweet Shrimp Nigiri (Amaebi) Rolls. And they are fantabulastic!

This Is Gross...

2009-02-15T17:51:00.003-06:00

Now, normally, well, not normally actually, because I don't normally run into something this gross; however, since I did encounter it on Valentine's Day I thought the humor of it all overwhelmed the disgustingness of it.

I stopped at the gas station before going into work yesterday and when I got out of my truck this is what I came across. Like I previously said, I would have left it but thought the overall irony of running across something like this on Valentine's Day afternoon was too good to pass up.

I just wish I could have heard the story that made this end up where I found it...

This Looks Absolutely Amazing

2009-02-15T12:22:00.002-06:00

I like to browse through Apple's movie trailers from time to time to see what is coming out in the near future; and last night, whilst doing so, I ran across this trailer, X Men Origins: Wolverine. It looks crazy good. And I am definitely going to go see it on opening day. I already marked a spot on my iPhone's calendar!

I Got Jumped Wednesday Night

2009-02-13T11:44:00.010-06:00

I meant to post this the other day, but I forgot to because I was too busy posting it on Facebook. In any case, Adam and I went to Sky Bar on Wednesday to watch the UNC vs Duke game, which UNC won btw. And not only did they win, but they won with swagger, two players on UNC were able to make history at UNC by becoming the first two players, from that university to record four consecutive victories at Duke, under the head-coaching of Coach K. Enough about the game though, back to the point at hand.

We had been hanging out for a good while before anyone else started showing up at the bar and somewhere around 11pm I got up to go use the facilities and when I came back there was a douchebag standing in the hallway preventing me from getting by back to where Adam was. Well, after asking him politely to step aside, which he didn't nor did he even respond, I got tired of being polite and I decided to bump into him as I went by instead of the two girls he was talking to. He tried to talk some shit to me as I walked away but I just ignored him and shuck my head. Next thing I know, the dude has followed me to my table, spun me around and begins to confront me about what just transpired, this is how the coversation went:


Me:  I'm sorry dude, do you have a problem?
Douchebag:  Yeah, you just fucking bumped into 
     me when you walked by.
Me:  Yeah, I couldn't get around you because you 
     were in the way.
DB:  No one just bumps into me and walks away!
Me:  Oh, really?  Well, then, what?  Are you going
     to do something about it?
DB:  Yeah!  I'm going to fucking choke you!
Me (laughing as I say it, I couldn't help it):  
     Oh really?  You're gonna fucking choke me?
DB:  Yeah!  I am!
Me:  Alright dude, if you are gonna fucking choke 
     me, then go ahead and choke me.

*he began choking me*

Little did he know, I was standing in front of the table where my boy Adam was. Well, Adam jumped the table he was sitting at, flew past me, grabbed old dude and put him into a headlock. They wrestled on the ground for a few seconds knocking chairs and tables over and what-not before the bouncers could jump in to break it up.

I then had to convince one of the bouncers to let Adam go and let him know that DB had jumped me and he was just breaking it up to help me. After I told the bouncer this and he saw that the DB was now trying to fight the other bouncer, he decided Adam and I were in the right.

DB got carried out by his arms and legs, and thrown out on the sidewalk. Adam and I continued drinking and having fun.

Let this be a lesson to all the douchebags out there:

*Nice guys may finish last, but douchebags get thrown out in the street like bums*

UPDATE:
I had to revise my post because a reader thought I wasn't clear enough with my post. I hope this clears up any confusion!

My Friend Adam Is Amazing

2009-02-12T14:29:00.001-06:00

I have a friend who doesn't really consider himself an artist, but he is. This is his newest piece. It just may be my favorite to date, which says a lot seeing as I was going to purchase one of his other pieces for $400. This one is much smaller than the one I was willing to pay $400 for, but I'd price point this one at $300 because I know how personal in meaning this piece is to him.

Huh, Go Figure...

2009-02-11T18:42:00.001-06:00

I walked outside and witnessed this rainbow, so I hurriedly scattered inside, grabbed my phone, and snapped a picture before the clouds rolled in and erased it from the sky.

Gameday!

2009-02-11T14:28:00.003-06:00

Today is one of the most storied days in all of College Athletics. Today, is UNC vs Duke. Quite possibly, in my opinion at least, the best rivalry in any sport. I have been a UNC supporter and fan for many years now. I don't know how, or why it began, but I have always loved Carolina basketball. A fair amount of my close friends share the same passion for today as I do, some are supporters of the, more frequently victorious, North Carolina Tarheels; while, others pledge their allegiance to Duke, and their, eerily similar to their mascot, Coach K. Whatever team you support, after today you will be able to walk away from watching the game tonight being able to say, "that was one of the best games I have ever seen." And it will be. Because it always is. The big game is tonight at 9ET/8CT on ESPN and ESPN360. Here is an Ultimate Highlight Video provided by ESPN:

Two Words: Amaze, Zing

2009-02-10T14:49:00.003-06:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Follow-up, & My Underlying Point

2009-02-09T12:20:00.002-06:00

So, like I said. According to old dude in the suit, I deserve to go to Hell for all of the things he thinks I may have done. However, he is the one forcing his, I assume, child to hold up this sign. I stopped to take pictures of the pure irony of the situation, to which onlooking University Students jovially laughed at.

So, According To This Guy I'm a Sinner...

2009-02-09T12:16:00.002-06:00

This guy has never met me. He has no idea what I am about or what I believe in. However, he knows for certain that I am a sinner and in need of repenting, keep this all in mind as I add a subsequent blog post...

P.S. - Notice the police officers in the top left of the photo watching to make sure University students don't kick the shit outta this guy.

My Dream Has Become A Reality...

2009-02-08T00:02:00.004-06:00

The most amazing thing has happened. I have discovered that there is a revamped version of my most-favoritist game of all-time, Dr. Mario, I mean, seriously, can you even think of a better game? It's like Tetris meets Robert Downey, Jr. And, to further prove that it is fate for me to have the game, which only cost $10 btw, is the fact that Nintendo took it upon themselves to wait to release the game until it was my birthday! How freakin' awesome are they to respect my love for their game that much?!?! A picture is worth a thousand words, huh? Well, I could come up with way more than 1,000 freakin' words to describe how awesome this is! Oh, and sorry for the crappy photo. It's the best I could do! Oh, and one more thing:

I'm a freak when it comes to this game; and, I am pretty sure I could beat you, as in anyone, in this game at any given time. With the exception of maybe my dad, who seems to be pretty evenly matched to me.

Apple-Pecan Glazed Pork Tenderloin

2009-02-07T23:50:00.006-06:00

This was my dinner tonight. It wasn't the first time I had made this, well, actually, it was the first time I used a pork tenderloin, because in my previous attempt, I used cuts of pork from the grocery store. So, in any case, tonight I made Apple-Pecan Glazed Pork Tenderloin. All I did was place the tenderloin in a roasting pan, seasoned it with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic, sage and some thyme, oh, and a little E.V.O.O.; and roasted it for about 45 minutes at 350 until it was a nice 165 degrees all the way through, then served it with some cuts of broccoli and a baked potato. As for the glaze, I had saved it by freezing it from the first time I made this, and luckily, had made a mental note to let it thicken up the next time I used it; however, I was so hungry when it was all good and ready, that I didn't wait for it to cool down and thicken appropriately, so it was a little runny, but it'll be perfect for the leftovers!

Another Random Thought!

2009-02-06T19:10:00.004-06:00

So, I was literally, figuratively struck by lightning today while driving past the public housing sector on my way home, and had, what I believe at least, to be an awesome idea.

Back story:
Last summer my duplex got broken in on the one night my roommates and I weren't home. I actually lucked out and already moved all of my valuables to my new residence, my roommate wasn't so lucky. A group of hoodrats broke in and stole a gang-of-change-of-stuff, ranging from his brand new HD Plasma TV to Xbox360 games, to his pillowcase filled up with his collection of loose change. Yeah, I know, that's a little overkill when it comes to robbing someone.

This was my inspiration!

I think a fantabulos idea for a movie would be to have a group of friends/roommates who are put in a similar situation as my roommates and I. After filing the police report and failing to have their stuff returned by the authorities, the guys decide to get a little payback. So, in an effort to right that is wrong, they begin breaking into the public housing homes and robbing the people blind of all of their useless crap. After a while, the cops luck out and actually catch the guys and prosecute them; however, after word leaks out about their reasoning, all of the people (who dont reside within the public housing and have had something stolen from them over the years) pool their money together to buy the best lawyer money can buy in an effort to get the guys off the hook!

My Sister Kicks Ass!

2009-02-04T16:08:00.004-06:00

Today I received a package from my sister. And, I didn't open it up initially when I got it because I knew what it was; the Twilight books I had sent to her so she could read them. After a few hours, my roommate got curious so I opened the box. And to my surprise, there was a surprise within the box! My sister picked me up this kick ass T-shirt. Peculiarly, she found the shirt in Target, right next to two other shirts of a similar nature that said "I Love Candy" and "I Love Fashion," and I don't know how "Nick" plays into those at all. Either, because of Nick Lachey, or because my blog has gotten more popular than I thought. LOL, doubtful. Continuing along, she also included a card with yet another surprise; $40! The card said it was to "help pay for the shipping" and some extra for "a little free time." Thanks, me likey a little free time!!! You can check out her family's blog here if you feel so inclined!

Sushi!

2009-02-04T15:55:00.003-06:00

So, "Mr. Wonderful" and "Navigator" decided they wanted to take me out to lunch the other day. I incorrectly informed them that Juliana Tokyo had a lunch special of two sushi rolls for $7. I was wrong. I found out today, that it is actually Fuji, that has the lunch special. Mental note of that, check. So, in any case, we went and had lunch. I got a single Spicy Tuna Roll because I didn't want to abuse their generosity. Anddddddd, it was decent. Definitely have had better. It was probably because we went in at lunch time and the real sushi chef had yet to show up. Whatever the case, here is a pic.

Music I'm Listening To... Now!

2009-01-31T15:23:00.004-06:00

In staying true in to my appreciation of music and what it individually means to each individual, here is what I am listening to now! A sample of every song, with the unfortunate exception of "Prom Queen," listed below is available in the Songs iLike Now, Jan 29th! section in the border of my blog.

"Electric Feel" and "Time To Pretend" - MGMT

"Prom Queen" - Lil Wayne

"Love Lockdown," "See You In My Nightmares," and "Heartless" - Kanye West

"4 Words(To Choke Upon)" - Bullet For My Valentine

"Everyday Is Exactly The Same" - Nine Inch Nails

"Crimewave" - Crystal Castles

"Decode" - Paramore

"Dangerous" - Ying Yang Twins *yeah, I know it is old, but it's awesome*

"Oxford Comma" - Vampire Weekend

"Let It Rock" - Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Alfredo

2009-01-30T23:59:00.003-06:00

I had to work tonight. Which, was unusual. I never work at this particular job on Friday, but for some reason or another, I was scheduled; in any case, I couldn't decide what I wanted to create tonight. So, after pondering what sounded like the most fun thing to make, I decided I wanted to roast some red peppers. I then decided I was going to make a Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce but disbanded the idea of the sauce and decided I was just going to use the cream as a base for an Alfredo Sauce. So I did. It was pretty fantastic. If it had a pinch more garlic, it would have been off Granny's Rocker.

Sushi!

2009-01-30T23:41:00.003-06:00

Work got canceled on Wednesday so as a treat, a few friends and I got some sushi for lunch. It was definitely less than spectacular, but it is sushi. And it is difficult to go wrong with sushi, so it was enjoyable at the very least. We went to ''China Palace: Asian Fusion,'' FYI. The waitress was ~~awesomely~~ unnecessarily fast with her service, but she was pretty funny so it made up for it. This is a "Sakura Roll." I wish I could tell you what was in it, but I can't, truth is, I randomly picked it b/c I hadn't yet made up my mind and the waitress was rushing me! I do know, that, it had masago and what looks to be Eel Sauce on top, and some tempura batter and raw fish and crustaceans inside?!?!

Bling Bling!

2009-01-25T19:03:00.001-06:00

Went to Durango's tonight for dinner, as I was leaving, I saw this pimp ass coin operated ''jewelry machine.'' for the low, low price of $0.75 I got this awesome ass blinging chain. I wanted the one that had a Spinner on it, but I can settle for the Bulldog. It should make all my UGA friends happy. Besides, I don't mind supporting UGA if the rumors are true, that they are gonna try and get the late, great Auburn Football Coach, Mr. T Squared!

The Pulse

2009-01-25T16:19:00.002-06:00

The guys and I went out last night to "The Pulse." It is as lame as it sounds, pretty much, but we all agreed we could see it becoming a popular place one day. The good news was we knew a few of the bartenders and there was never a long wait for drinks. I meant to get pictures of the place so everyone could see, but by the time I got around to taking them, it was way to dark in there and they would have looked like crap. I'll detail it out as best as I can however. You walk in through the main entrance of what use to be "Highlands," and to your right is a cheap looking DJ booth with 80's style class bricks composing it with purple lights behind it and a fog machine to the side. In front of the DJ booth is a light-up dance floor with a GIGANTIC disco ball hanging above it. There are a few booths scattered around the dance floor area. As you walk in the main entrance, to your left, there is a HUGE bar that is kinda like a triangle I guess with two or three bartenders working it. Again, there is another GIGANTIC disco ball hanging above this bar, I don't know why, maybe they got the "Buy One Ridiculously Large Disco Ball, Get Your Second Free" deal that was going on at "www.build-a-cheesy-bar.com." As for the rest of the place, from what I saw, it is the exact same as the "Highlands" use to be. Oh, one more thing, they renovated the bathrooms. Otherwise, nothing different except no cover and cheesy bar effects.

Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon with Sauteed Shrimp Covered with a Creamy Crab Sauce

2009-01-23T11:11:00.004-06:00

This was my special I prepared last night in anticipation of Dr. Long, a nutritionist and regular customer of mine who continually orders a fish item, fruit, sauteed vegetables and a glass of milk. The man is in incredible health and has to be nearing 70 years of age. In any case, he didn't show up last night for the first time in probably a month so I was unable to prepare this for him but couldn't resist making one and taking it home, hence the boughetto aluminum foil in a to-go box setup. Much apologies, but the idea is still portrayed quite well I believe.

The Cream Always Rises to the Top

2009-01-23T11:05:00.003-06:00

Tim Cook, acting COO of Apple and Auburn alumnus, has been named by Steve Jobs as the interim CEO of Apple while present CEO, Steve Jobs, takes a sabbatical in response to rising health complications. Congratulations Tim! Represent Auburn to it's fullest! War Eagle!

Way to Go Be a Tuscalooser...

2009-01-22T10:29:00.006-06:00

*Possibly Explicit Language Follows, You Have Been Warned*

In a change of events that no Auburn fan could have foreseen coming, James Willis, an All-Southeastern Conference Linebacker and Auburn Alumnus, has resigned from Auburn University and has accepted a position at the school just north of Auburn in what has got to be one of the most disgusting places in the continental United States, Tuscalloosa, Alabama. James Willis has fallen in the ranks from well-respected recruiter, to the tampon for the ever-flowing Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama.

I can understand that perhaps it just didn't feel right for Coach Willis. That, maybe, with all the new coaches, he just didn't fit in as well. Or maybe, he felt like he was only being kept around for his recruiting skills rather than his knowledge of linebacking since our newly hired Defensive Coordinator specializes in the Linebackers Unit. Whatever the reason, I wish him well at his new place of employment.

Now, back to the true topic at hand.

James Willis, you are a tampon! You are now the world's biggest tampon. I hope you enjoy soaking in all of the Crimson Tide and you become supersaturated with it, so much so, that your douche of a Head Coach, who proved he has no class by snatching up a coach of THE rival school with less than two weeks left during recruiting season, can come through and clean up all the excess Crimson Tide that you can't Willis. Damn, Nick! Have ~~some fucking class~~ a conscience, or a soul while we're at it, maybe the devil could work out a deal to get you yours' back! Feel free to proposition our coaches after the recruiting period. But two weeks before signing day? Even Philip Marshall of ESPN writes, "most head coaches won’t hire somebody in those circumstances. Tommy Tuberville waited until after signing day numerous times because he didn’t think it was right to do otherwise. Obviously, Saban had no such feelings." Even the National Media, the bloodsucking, story hungry vampires of our world, think it was a dick move.

In closing, James Willis, don't ever, and I mean EVER, consider yourself apart of the Auburn Family again. You are now Auburn's little red-headed step-child. Stay the ~~fuck~~ heck away from our University and our traditions. You have single-handedly managed to become the most hated person by Auburn alumni, students, and family members. Which, honestly, I give you credit for, because it is impossibly difficult to be more hated than Nick Saban. And who knows, maybe that was his main reason for hiring you. Maybe he got tired of everyone saying how short he was, or how much of a douchebag he was for not staying at any coaching position for an extended period of time. Well, kudos to Saban, because he has now managed to become only the 2nd biggest douche bag thanks to you, James Willis.

Barack the Vote

2009-01-20T09:02:00.003-06:00

I don't know if this was pre- or post-election, but in any case it is amazing that I witnessed this walking into the Haley Center on the day of President Obama's inauguration. It is a matter of hours away and I am extremely excited for him and our country, but I am more excited that positive vandalism like that seen here is prevalent even here in the Deep South. I don't condone vandalism, but in this particular case, I will, and I am!

The Twilight Saga

2009-01-18T17:23:00.003-06:00

It is done. I have finished reading every single novel within the Twilight saga/series, whatever you want to call it. Amazing. The best way for me describe the stories without ruining anything for those of you out there who are reading them, or may develop an interest in reading them in the future, is, the story begins as a snowball rolling down a hill, no, not a snowball, a snowflake, a perfectly formed snowflake with 8 prongs, falling from the sky which morphs into a snowball rolling down the hill and finally creates a gigantic mountain of snow with the capacity to destroy a village. The ending is by far the most perfect ending to the story. And even though it is a story strongly rooted in characteristically femimine based ideas, it contains enough death, destruction and supernatural mayhem to easily entertain each and every guy who reads it. So, I ask those of you out there who enjoy reading, to leave your stereotypes at the door and experience a truly amazing story.

P.S. - A simple "thank you" to Stephenie Meyer for so effectively entertaining me with your words and your imagination for the past two and half months. I really appreciated it.

My First Attempt...

2009-01-17T20:37:00.004-06:00

I decided to try making a Beef Wellington since I had always seen it done on ''Hell's Kitchen'' and various other shows. It was delicious, but I left it in the oven too long and it came out as a medium/medium-well. I was shooting for medium-rare but failed miserably. It's cool though, I'll know next time to take it out earlier. In any case, here it is. Beef Wellington with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus Spears, one of which was wrapped in Prosciutto before being roasted. I inhaled it to say the least, I devoured everything on my plate a good 10-15 minutes before anyone else in the house, man I'm such a fat kid.