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This has bugged me since I was a kid.  Why do hot dogs come in a ten pack, while their buns come in an 8 pack?  I am sure every ordinary American has noticed this.  You go to the grocery store, and you grab your 10 hot dogs.  Then you walk over to the buns, and grab…one (8 buns) or two (16 buns) bags.  Huge dilemma.  Then at home, one of two disasters strikes.  One, you want a second hot dog and you feel lucky to find one, but there are no more buns.  Two, at the end of a barbeque, you want another hotdog, but you are left with 6 unused buns.  

Is there some kind of rhyme and reason to this?  Is there a conflict between butchers and bakers?  Has no one noticed?  Is this some kind of corporate decision where they can sell more dogs or buns, because this makes people waste food? 

Hot Dog and Bun Ratio needs some rebalancing!

We all know that the fashion is constantly changing and “created” by few people in the world.  Influential designers, models, or celebrities can all create “fashion” by simply introducing them to the world and claiming (“defining”) that is the new fashion. 

This is commonsense…I know…but there are certain things out there that just look like they are made into fashion as a “dare”, “just to prove a point”, or even a “mistake.”  Think these examples:

Dolce to Gabbana: “Dude, look at what I found in my parents’ garage.  My pants from when I was 7 years old.  I dare you if we put this in our next show, women all over the world will wear them even though they are too short and small.  Let’s call them ‘Capri’, so it sounds hip.”

What about Brad Pitt getting to a hotel before a black-tie dinner and saying: “Dang it.  I forgot to pack my socks.  I guess I will wear my suit without socks.  I am sure no one will notice.”

This is a fun exercise.  I am sure you can come up with something for those gigantic sunglasses, bell bottoms, shaving the head thing, low-cut jeans, those women’s dresses that look like maternity clothes (flare out under the breasts), pilot goggles, indoor sunglasses, “grills”, etc.

I have always wondered.  Why is it a big deal for the waiter to recite the specials from memory?  It is “the thing”, right?   It is a custom?  Is it expected of them to?

Are waiters in general expected to do that?  (I don't expect them to.) Are the restaurants requiring them to do that?  (I'm thinking yes.)  Am I supposed to be impressed with that?  (If so, I want to be impressed by good service and good meal.)  I just don’t get “why” they do that, because…well, I just don’t see why it’s a big deal.

I think I’d rather skip the uncomfortable silences when the wait staff messes up or forgets the specials.  I’d rather have the special read to me in the correct manner.  I am allergic to some stuff, and I’d rather know with accuracy what the specials are.

Don’t let me get started on memorizing the order they take…

PS. One time, this waitress read this very long specials list from memory, in perfect manner, and in one breath, and we all cheered and clapped.  That was impressive and fun, but I am still not sure if this is expected of the waiters.  Anyone know?

I guess I just don't get it.  I get the whole idea of going out after a day of skiing and getting plastered, dancing, or whatever else you want to do.  But why on earth do we have to use the french language to express this?  Is English not descriptive enough?  "After Skiing" or "Post Ski" doesn't do the job?

Or were the French the first to think of going out after a hard day of skiing?  Were English-speaking peoples sitting around post-ski playing solitaire when some guy named Jaques came in one day and showed them how to party?  ("Gee, why didn't we think of this?")

I know it's a stupid thing to be ranting about, but it irks me because it sounds so damned pretentious when people say it.  Get real, people!

Isn't "Boneless Ribs" kind of an oxymoron?  I thought the rib was the bone.

More importantly, what's the fun of eating ribs without bones in them?  The most satisfying thing about eating ribs is the pile of picked-clean bones on your plate at the end

This weekend was the "official" start (what "official" decided this, I don't know) of the holiday season, and already I'm sick of the holidays.  Call me Mr. Grinch.  But who wouldn't be a grinch after a month of hearing cheesily-performed christmas carols over the PA Home Depot and a whole month yet to endure?

Santa was in all the malls on November 1st this year.  I know retailers like to milk us for everything we've got during the holidays, but two months of it is a little ridiculous. 

Here is a question: with Santa making his trip down from the north pole just in time for Halloween this year, what did he dress up as for the occasion?  Did he do the sexy devil thing (irony!)?  Or did he do something more topical, like the SNL *blank*-in-a-box guys or Captain Jack Sparrow?  I'd really like to know.  Santa, if you are watching this, weigh in with some pics!  I wonder if his elves got in on the halloween action.

Ho ho ho, I'm ready for new year's now.  Bring on the champagne and party hats and balloons.  Then, let's bring on the spring!  (yes, I know...  it hasn't even snowed yet...)

This weekend, I decided that online shopping rules.  10 reasons why I hate malls, especially this time of year:

1) They smell like the entire mall has B.O.

2) Fake trees.  Don't lose leaves in winter.  Not normal.  Confuses my circadian rhythm.

3) Too many people in an enclosed space.  Feels like petri dish.  Can feel diseases invading my body with every breath.

4) Parking.  Would rather jump naked into pile of razor blades than compete with other holiday shoppers for parking.

5) The smell at the perfume counter in the department stores.  Smells nasty.  Also makes rest of mall smell more nasty when you leave store.  Double whammy.

6) Indoor fountains.  Smell like swimming pool, ugly.  Useless.

7) Snooty department store salespeople.  Get out of my face.

8) Can't shop naked without getting arrested.  Stuffy mall too hot for wearing clothes.  Irony.

9) Mall restaurants -- universally bad.  Cheesecake Factory. Rainforest Cafe, others.  Disgusting.  Would rather spend money on poo than put up with those crowds and mediocre food.

10) Makes blood pressure go up.  Bad for health.  Shortens life.  Will regret every trip to mall when on deathbed.

There are too many rants and complaints about Cheesecake Factory.  They seem to be the target of everything bad in American dining.  Today, I wanted to give them a fair chance, so here is my unbiased review.

First Take:
Health = Heart Stopping.
Portions = Colossal.  Way too big.
Food = Barely.  Some edible, most not edible at all.
Atmosphere = Deafening.  Mud slinging monkey house
Ambience = Unnatural. Guests afraid that orange egg lamps will shoot out aliens
Price = Extremely affordable...in an up-side-down world.

Part 1: Health Considerations
After much research, I was able to find it on their website. Under Nutrional Information, it says, "At this point, we do not provide nutritional information for our menu selections. We pride ourselves on using only the freshest and finest ingredients available. Everything on our menu is made in-house on a daily basis so that we can maintain the highest food quality standards." 

Review: "finest", "in-house" and, "quality" are all great, but what happened to the "nutrional information?"  I feel like they are trying to change the subject here.  It's either the writer didn't know what "nutrional" meant, or they got confused and started writing about their legal team.  

I was able to find another source (CalorieKing.com) for their mystery nutrional information.  I wanted to be sure to give Cheesecake Factory a fair chance, so here's their "Weight Management Salad (Asian Chicken)". 

    Calorie 574, Total Fat 31g. 

Hmm...that seems a little high for a "Weight Management" salad.  It's either their lettuce is made of cheese, or they mistakenly copy-pasted Subway's Footlong Roast Beef Sub.

(Continued - maybe...in fact, doubtful.) 

I love Italian food.  I really do.  I just love walking over to North End after work with wife and/or friends and hanging out.   Unfortunately, the quality has been declining steadily.

We used to be able to walk on over, and jump into any restaurant and the food and atmosphere to be decent.  Just another flavor of the day.  Recently, however, we can no longer just walk in and expect quality.  Some of these restaurants are just plain crap now, and I mean that for service, price, cleanliness, atmosphere, and the food!

These restaurants are completely spoiled by tourism.  They realized that no matter how poorly they treat customers, how gross the food, how crammed the dining area, how expensive the dishes, they will get more customers.  Well, they may be right, because you don't have to worry about repeaters when it comes to tourists.  This is extremely disappointing to a local like me.  Below are my thoughts.  It's not like I spent a lot of time on this list, but I thought it would spark some feedback from others.  

Worst Offenders IMO:
Strega, Limoncello, Fiore (deck is nice), Dolce Vita

Good, but declining IMO:
Lucca, Bricco, Cibo, Daily Catch

Still Decent IMO:
Pomodoro, Terramia, Mama Maria, Prezza (little overrated), Cantina

Still Strong IMO:
Davide, Giacomo's, Mama Maria, Taranta, Maurizio