Curtis dropped a video for this radio and club banger today…featuring scenes of him getting close to my old favorite Destiny’s Child member, Kelly Rowland…As his Before I Self Destruct is close to dropping soon, is Curtis still one of the best in the game? What do you think?
This is WHAT’S IN MY HEADPHONES…
Peace be with you
The depression is in full swing. I know the Federal Reserve Bank says its a recession and its ending, but that is based on the fact that only a quarter of a million workers lost their jobs last week. Bush was only losing fifty to sixty thousand jobs a month. Now we’re ready to have a ticker tape parade ’cause Obama is only losing a million jobs a month?
On a more personal note my job has been severely disrupted. Not really eliminated, more like sabotaged. I know you’re asking yourself, “how can a dumpster diver’s job get sabotaged?”. There are so many ways, but the particular method employed currently in Arcata is ID discrimination. The Arcata “Community” Recycling Center now requires a photo ID in order for you to receive a refund of the deposit you paid. I neither worship the beast, its image, or carry its mark, either in my hand or in my head. Guess what? Not only is it compelled and you can’t buy or sell without it, but you can’t get your deposit on your soda pop can back either.
This has been going on for a few weeks now. I would of posted this sooner, but I wanted to give Mark Loughmiller, ACRC Executive Director, the chance to do the right thing. I went to talk to him about why he instituted this discriminatory policy, and why he should reconsider his stance. Needless to say he didn’t reconsider his stance, and now its time to start building an action to bring about fairness.
He claimed he instituted the policy because someone stole a “ticket book” and were forging tickets. Like showing the store clerk an ID would prove a twenty dollar bill wasn’t counterfeit. How about having the workers that fill out the tickets sign the damn things? Then only they could forge tickets. That’s both simpler and fairer than not allowing someone to get his or her own money back because they don’t possess a photo ID.
He then said that it was because people steal bottles and cans then sell them to the recycle center. Okay, since it is impossible to prove one pepsi can from another, perhaps a $50 limit in which you don’t need an ID. This seems more than fair seeing how showing an ID or not showing an ID will prove absolutely nothing, thus doing nothing to prevent people from stealing cans. Poor people very seldom have more than $50 dollars worth of recycling, everyone is subject to the rule so it can’t be discriminatory like Mark tried to argue, and it still allows the poor to obtain the refund of the deposit they are due. A rule is discriminatory only if it disproportionately effects a particular class. Allowing no refunds to anyone without an ID is discriminatory, putting a limit equally enforced is not as long as the effected group gets to participate.
ID discrimination disproportionately effects the poor, the young, the aged, minorities, and the houseless. A person goes out and works their ass off to get $5 worth of beer bottles, and then finds out they have to buy someone else a beer in order to cash them in.
Houseless people lose their IDs all the time. Theft, cops, and even just losing it happen more than you sheltered people know. I hear stories all the time about houseless people getting jacked up by the cops and the cop keeping their ID. The cops know it is an extreme burden on a houseless person to obtain the papers needed to get a new ID, not to mention all the things this society won’t let you participate in if you don’t have one.
Mark knows his discriminatory policy does not accomplish the goals he outlines, and it effects the houseless the most. Hundreds of houseless people go around everyday and pull CRV out of trash cans, and off the streets. They do this in lieu of begging you for your spare change. There are no jobs, so they “get a job” by showing initiative, and Mark “Mr. Community” Laughmiller is throwing stumbling blocks in front of them.
I don’t know about the legalities of stealing my deposit, because I don’t have an ID when I go to redeem it. I do however know that the State’s theft, in conspiracy with Mark Loughmiller, of my deposit is in fact a provable theft, where as the theft of a particular beer bottle is speculation at best. I also know that this new policy will prove to be a bigger burden on the poor than it will be successful as a “crime prevention measure.”
What to do? I am working on that. The first thing to do is tell Mark Laughmiller ((707) 822-4542 ext. 210) that you belong to this community and his Arcata “Community” Recycling Center is not being very “community” oriented. I think a boycott might be in order too, but again I like what the ACRC does. Save your CRV as long as you can. If you can’t save your CRV, you can give it to me and I will not sell it to the ACRC until they change their policy.
I will come up with a new gig, but I will always feel betrayal by ACRC, and empathy for those poor houseless people who will now have to pay someone else out of their meager bounty in order to redeem their deposits. I think Mark should take the word “community” out of their name. Fortunately it is the peak of fruit season, and I at least have something to eat. It seems every year more and more things in this land o’ the free require mandatory ID. First – no ID no job. Next – no ID no vote. And now – no ID no eat. If it wasn’t designed to be eugenic it certainly turned out that way.
love eternal
tad
Edit: since the time this post was made, Blizzard has shut down some iPod apps. I don’t think that Warcraft Chest or Warcraft Characters are available at this time.
For my birthday I was the happy recipient of the iPod Touch. This handy little gadget has a million uses, from the calendar to watching movies to productivity tools with a web browser to music. The first thing a new Touch owner does is download a bunch of new apps from the App Store.
After getting the necessities, I browsed around the App Store for something useful. I found a few Warcraft apps that have really helped out. And they are all free. Edit: since I wrote this post back in December, these apps have been changed so that they are no longer free.
Do you like using AtlasLoot in game? There is a similar program for the Touch and iPhone called Warcraft Chest.
It has almost everything AtlasLoot does. You can search through loot lists for raids and instances, on normal or heroic, and it will show you the full item description just like it appears on WoWhead. It doesn’t require internet access. I use this when sitting around during down time, or when I just want to look at the new stuff in Wrath.
A second app that has become useful is WoWTalent. It is a fully functional talent calculator for your iPhone, iPod Touch. It has all of the trees and talent descriptions, and allows you to build a complete spec and then save it.
This would be really useful for someone who respecs a lot. I use it when I go from my Combat leveling spec to my Mutilate instancing spec or back. I can pull up a spec on my iPod and refer to it as I put points into my trees. No more mistakes!
The third app I got is called Warcraft Characters. It is a very easy to use armory app. It retrieves your characters from the armory and shows you abilities, talent spec, skills, etc… It does require internet access to refresh it, but you can view the cached information with no access.
All of these do the same functions as in-game add-ons. But I am trying to cut down on my add-ons, and I hate alt-tabbing out of the game to look stuff up. So these apps for my iPod Touch are very useful and easily accessible while I am playing or just sitting in traffic. They are all available for free through iTUnes or the App Store on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
If you are not sure where you can cast your vote today, please go to this New Jersey Division of Elections site. Election results down to the municipal level will be found here. And if you want to refresh your memories as to where the three major candidates stand on the issues, this Voters Guide : Decision Day should be consulted.
Here are some interviews on a variety of topics of interest. (H/T Brian Auten of Apologetics 315)
- Jay Richards defends capitalism from a Christian perspective
- Stephen Meyer discusses biological information in the cell
- Rebecca Hagelin from the Heritage Foundation
Marvin O’lasky is the interviewer. There is an audience of students from the King’s College in New York, NY.
The Get to Know segment has featured some of my favorite places and this one is no exception. King David Dogs is one of my favorites in Indy. You can find a hot dog anywhere, but once you have one of their dogs, you will never go back to the over processed hot dogs that you used to know. The hot dog is awesome and they offer a ton of toppings that will keep you coming back. So we “sat down” with the owner of KDD, Brent Joseph to talk about everything hot dogs…
You can find King David Dogs:
Indianapolis International Airport.
Downtown Indy:
15 N Pennsylvania St
Indianapolis, IN 46204-3101
(317) 632-3647
King David Dogs Website
WIBIA: Tell me about the name King David?
Brent: The King David brand was created by my grandfather William and his brother Paul when they owned the Hene Meat Co. They created the King David brand as a private label for some of their product. They did beef summer sausage, beef bologna, corned beef, pastrami, liverwurst, and of course hot dogs.
WIBIA: What makes the hot dog so good?
Brent: First off, it’s an all beef dog. That makes a BIG difference. Second, it’s a skinless ¼ lb. dog. Even though it’s skinless, it still has a snap to it when you bite it, similar to a dog with a casing. It has that snap to it because there is a lot less fat and therefore moisture in the dog. King David Dogs also have a very unique flavor profile. You can taste the difference. With most hot dogs out there, people dress them up and top them with all sorts of condiments to mask the taste of the dog. A lot of times the actual dog is just a vessel for condiments. Some of the other dogs out there are just downright scary, brown colored meat sticks made with miscellaneous chicken and/or pork parts. Not the good parts either. Our dogs are 100% Kosher-style, all beef franks. The flavor of a King David Dog is very unique and stands up on its own without any condiments.
As far as the bun, we get them from Gonnella. They are in Chicago and they come in fresh every day. Our delivery driver is in his truck by 3:30am every day. We steam them and they are amazing. I think they make the best hot dog bun around. Believe me, I’ve tried plenty of them.
WIBIA: Last year you expanded to your second store at the airport, any other plans for expansion of retail stores or selling your dogs to larger chain grocery stores?
Brent: Yes, we are currently in talks about expansion for another location here in town. That’s all I can say about that at the moment. As far as selling the product to larger chain grocery stores, I’d love to. We had some meetings in the spring with a large chain, and we are continuing those discussions. Hopefully, if customers keep asking for our product, that will help get us in these stores!
WIBIA: What keep customers coming back?
Brent: You know, I’m not sure I know exactly what it is. I know what I want it to be. I would like to think it’s the best hot dog that people have ever had. And at least once a day, a customer will tell me that it was the best dog they have ever had. One reasons people return again and again is price. Even though you can get a hot dog for much cheaper at a gas station, you get what you pay for. I think people are willing to pay for quality and this is a quality product. We don’t skip on any of the toppings or ingredients. I buy the highest quality items I can and we make a number of menu items from scratch every day. This is also one of the cheapest hot meals that you can get downtown. You can get a regular Build Your Own dog (includes 4 regular toppings), a side item (Fries, Tater Tots, Baked Beans, a bag of Zapp’s Potato Chips, Cole Slaw, or a whole pickle), and a fountain drink in a plastic take home cup with free refills for $6.52 after taxes! That’s pretty cheap for a huge lunch, and it works out to only about $1.00 or so more than one off a cart, and that hot dog has been sitting in scary hotdog water for the last four hours or so.
Another reason we have so many regular customers is that we are quick. Depending on the line, we can get usually get you in and out in only a few minutes if not less. Finally, I think that a lot of it has to do with service. I am really big on service. I tell my employees that you can go anywhere and get mediocre or bad service, but people remember good service and I think they really appreciate it. I know I do. That is something that I have keyed in on since the day we opened. I want people to feel welcome when they come to King David Dogs.
WIBIA: Indy needs a good sausage shop (keep it clean!). It seems like you have a jump start with arguably the best hot dog in town, have you ever thought about making Polish Kielbasa, German sausages, etc…
Brent: You know, I’m as big of a cured meat and sausage fan as anyone that you’ll find, but unfortunately this market (Indianapolis) doesn’t have a lot of demand for it. You would be surprised as to how few requests we get for brats or polish. Maybe once a month if not less. People in this town like to keep it simple. When I started this restaurant, the goal was to do one thing and do it better than anyone else. I like to think we have an advantage over any competition out there because we have a proprietary product in with the King David Hot Dog. Nobody else can get these dogs except through me, anybody can open a hot dog stand and serve Vienna or Hebrew National. In fact, people have tried, and haven’t had the success that we have been so lucky to enjoy. We will have been open three years in November. We are unique. We are a local company with a product that was created by a local family. The King David brand has local roots and history. I think that people really connect with that and want to help support it. I am just trying to create something that this city can be proud of. If you go to New York or Chicago, you think of pizza, Philadelphia has cheese steaks, Kansas City and Memphis are known for BBQ. What are we known for? Corn? Some people will argue breaded tenderloins, but the truth is that outside of this state people don’t really know what the hell a breaded tenderloin sandwich is.
WIBIA: Your menu has a few suggested items, but with 30 toppings, you could get pretty crazy. If I choose the build your own dog, but instead you would build it for me, what would I be eating?
Brent: Probably a Boom Boom Dog (fried egg and cheddar cheese) but I’d add a little extra kick with some onions cooked right into the egg on the grill, some bacon, some salsa, and maybe some even jalapeños if you were up for it. Really it all depends on my mood. I am kicking around some new ideas so be on the lookout!
WIBIA: One of my favorite breakfast treats is diced hot dogs browned in a little butter and scramble some eggs with it, most people think it is gross. What other recipes do you like to make with your hot dogs?
Brent: I like to throw them in the fryer every once in a while. It sounds awful but it’s delicious. When I do that I usually don’t even bother with a bun. Just some Bertman’s mustard (a spicy brown mustard we get from Cleveland). I also like them chopped up and mixed with scrambled eggs. It’s almost like salami and eggs which is another favorite. I like to slice them up and wrap them up in crescent roll dough and throw them in the oven to make as appetizers when I have people over to the house. I also used to eat them with Kraft Mac & Cheese when I was little. That may also be because it was the only thing the babysitter could make well. We are experimenting with some new ideas, including a King David Dog on a waffle, with some homemade honey mustard.
WIBIA: Tell me what is new at KDD?
Brent: We just added some beer battered onion rings since we had so many requests for them. They seem to be going pretty well. We also added something called Funnel Cake Fries. It’s a dessert item. They are basically strips of Funnel Cake batter that look like fries. We fry them until they are hot and slightly crispy, sprinkle on some powdered sugar and you have fried deliciousness in a cup! They really are amazing.
WIBIA: I am always looking for good tips, where do you like to eat in Indy?
Brent: Basically anyplace with meat or sushi. One of my favorite places was h2o but I heard that Eli Anderson recently sold it and I haven’t been since the ownership change. I do really like Tegry Bistro for their sushi. If I had to choose only one kind of food to have the rest of my life it would totally be sushi. I just never get tired of it. Although my wife does so I never get to have it as much as I want to. I have also been addicted to Goose the Market lately. I have been strategically planning afternoon meetings on the north side so I can stop by the Goose and grab a Batali on my way to the meetings. Brugge is another favorite. The Duck Confit Mitrailette is amazing. The Capital Grill is on the list as well. They do the best steak tartare that I have ever had and I try it anywhere that has it listed on the menu. The only problem is that they took it off their menu but if you ask nicely, the chef will usually make it for you. I also think that the Balsamic glazed Delmonico is the best steak in the city. Finally the chorizo tacos at Pancho’s are a can’t miss when I want something south of the border. Add some fresh limes and cilantro and I am in heaven (and a cold Pacifico).
WIBIA: At WIBIA, we are big eaters. Have you ever thought about sponsoring a hot dog eating contest?
Brent: Yes. I’ve thought about it but am not really sure where to start. I thought it would’ve been a great Grand Opening event but we are a little past that. I’d love to explore the idea further, are you volunteering to organize it?
WIBIA: We might have to talk about that more!
I got my hair cut at Juan Juan Salon in Brentwood today by an extremely charming girl named Jean. It was easy to remember her name because it’s like mine, but shorter. =) She is so passionate about all aspects of hair and her job – she is really easy to talk to and really made me enjoy my time in the chair. I really trusted her to give me the best look for my face, while keeping most of my length.
With the help and expertise of the salon owner, Sean, she helped create a look that I love and really is perfect for my face. Thanks so much, Jean! Now I want to wear my hair down instead of tying it up all the time.
What do you think?
Occasionally, I’ll find myself in a conversation with one of the more conservative, senior members of our department, and that professor will say something like this: “I just don’t understand why these kids today keep getting messed up with drugs. It’s all so pointless.” Well, this is kind of a silly question, and, while I don’t respond this way, in my head, I think about the truth. The reason that people do drugs are that drugs are fun as shit. The problem, however, with drugs, is that they are also addictive, and depending upon what type of drugs you are addicted to, they can pretty much derail your life. So, today, in the interest of showing why dabbling in hard-core drug usage may not be the best choice for Johnny Undergraduate and Suzie Front-Row, let’s explore these two scenarios.
Cocaine: Imagine that, like Dr. Faustus, you one day awaken to find Mephistopheles just kicking it in your dorm room, ready to offer you the following temptation: If you so agree, The Devil will arrange things such that you are able to have sex with Angelina Jolie as often as you’d like – but there’s a catch. Every time you engage in conjugal relations with the world’s sexiest woman, Mephistopheles gets to remove one of your appendages. So, the first time you have sex with Lara Croft: Tomb-Raider, you lose a pinky. The second time, you lose a ring finger, and so on. Eventually, once all of your fingers and toes have been removed, the Devil hires Lorraine Bobbitt to slice off that other thing on your body that looks (for some men) like a finger or a toe. And there’s more…
Certain people in the world have the ability to enjoy this act once, and then to move on with their lives. They find that they are capable of dabbling in Miss Jolie for one isolated incident, and then are completely able to live normal, healthy lives with only nine fingers. Other people have been hardwired differently. Once they get a taste of the bliss that is Angelina’s bedroom, they are unable to keep from returning, and it becomes something that they need in order to function. The interaction of intercourse will become the one meaningful event in their lives, and they are willing to sacrifice everything else in their world for the return of that rush – including, because now all they have are a set of nubs for hands, typing their terms papers by holding a straw in their mouths and punching the keys on the computer one at a time. Lastly, for a select group of individuals, say one in a thousand (like Len Bias), sex with Angelina Jolie mixes with their natural body chemistry in such an earth-shatteringly intense way that it stops their heart on the spot, killing them instantly. The greatest catch is that you don’t know what type of body chemistry you have until you try the game for the first time.
So, do you choose to accept this offer? Many people, in fact, do choose to play this game. Like Rick James says – “Cocaine is a Helluva Drug.” The question is, at the end of the day, which joke will get to be yours. Will it be A) “What did the five fingers say to the face?” “SLAP!”, or B) “What did the five fingers say to the face?” “I remember when I wasn’t a set five bloody removed appendages sitting in the Devil’s trashcan.”
Marijuana: Smoking weed, on the other hand, is sort of like getting to hang out with Ellen DeGeneres. She has a way of making everything funnier, even the little things in life, and she’s less dangerous in that it is basically impossible to cheat on your girlfriend with a 50-year-old lesbian (unless you happen to be a lesbian yourself). You come home at the end of the day, turn on the television, and something about Ellen makes you think it would be nice to have some cookies. Still, even though Ellen is less intoxicating than Angelina Jolie, there is a certain amount of risk. Some people, after hanging out with Ellen at the end of the day, start to enjoy themselves so much that they choose to order the Oxygen network from their local cable or satellite provider, and decide to spend all day every day sitting on the couch – because hanging out with Ellen’s just more fun than going to class. Also, your parents might tell you that hanging out with Ellen is a gateway to having sex with Lara Croft: Tomb-Raider.
Now, the great thing about life is that each of us gets to make our own decisions when offered these scenarios by Mephistopheles. You can choose Option A; you can choose Option B; or like Richard Pryor in Brewster’s Millions, you can choose “none of the above.” Personally, when I was in your position, I decided that Cocaine probably wasn’t the best idea. I’d seen too many of my friends do things like jump through a plate glass window, bong a fifth of Jack Daniels and pass out in a phone booth, or wake up on a bus in Clarksville, Tennessee. I have friends, in fact, who are still in and out of rehab (and other friends, who like Amy Winehouse, just refuse to acknowledge that they need to go). So I decided that drugs were probably a lot like produce – the organic ones were safer. But I won’t tell you what you should decide – I just want to lay out the options in a way that’s a little more realistic and relevant than advice delivered by Nancy Reagan.
NOTE #1: Evidently, in real life – not the metaphorical world I have constructed for the purposes of this post – having sex with Angelina Jolie carries with it other consequences. Just ask Brad Pitt. Every time Achilles has sex with Lara Croft, she either spawns or adopts another child. Somebody’s gotta get him some help, or at least a few more nannies.
NOTE #2: Dr. Wizard’s Advice will be taking a short break for the Thanksgiving Holidays, and will not update on Wednesday or Friday. So, if you’re new to the site, now’s the perfect opportunity to catch up – and to tell all your friends about The Wiz while you’re home over break. (And, by The Wiz, I don’t mean the Wizard of Oz adaptation starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, although that’s good too.)
HA! It’s a FRUIT!! According to history.com’s “All About Halloween” website, ” Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which also includes squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.” Next question…what’s a gherkin??
If you’re looking to kill a little bit of time before Saturday, be sure to check out all of the cool facts and quizzy items on history.com’s Halloween website. You can learn about the history of the Jack O’Lantern, get spooked by some true (?) stories of hauntings, learn about superstitions, see how Halloween is celebrated throughout the world, discover more fun pumpkin trivia, print out stencils to make your carved pumpkin the coolest in the neighborhood…..and more! So, if you run out of candy when you’re passing it out this weekend, you can always impress the neighborhood kids with your knowledge on the topic!
In England, people used to carve WHAT instead of pumpkins? Apples? Beets? Potatoes? You’ll have to go to history.com to find out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagehalloweencollector/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
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