Superbowl wrap up.

Once again the Superbowl has come and gone. The commercials are over, the hours of pre-game are done, the fans are checking out of  hotel rooms. In the wake of the Green Bay Packers win over the Pittsburgh Steelers I have to admit I'm left with a sort of bad taste in my mouth. No, no, no, it wasn't the game itself, but more of everything that surrounded it. As far as the game goes, I thought it was excellent. In the first half Green Bay dominated and held the Steelers to just a few points, giving them the opportunity in the second half to be the 1st team to ever come from a 10 point deficit to win. There were exciting plays, surprising turn overs, and a feeling of excitement as the Steelers looked like they may pull it off in the last 2 minutes. Just a really good game to watch with friends and enjoy. Especially since my team lost in the playoffs, I was able to just watch and not stress about it.

So why the bad taste? Well, I'm not sure where to begin. I would say it started early in the week with the coverage from Dallas. Most of it was about the weather. Since I live in New England and we are getting one of the worst winters here in a long time. I felt pretty disinterested about a small storm in Dallas and how inconvenient it was for people to get there. Welcome to my world folks. Then we move on to the pre-game. I'm not picking on any particular network because it seemed that anyone who was covering the game was doing this. They were just repeating the same things over and over. All they said was,  'How hard it is to bring Big Ben down" and "How well he can scramble to keep plays alive" vs. "Roger's quick throw to avoid the pressure" and "How he is filling Farve's shoes."  Wow, enough with these insights that have been beaten like a dead horse. Then we eventually get thru the introductions and onto the National Anthem by Christina Aguliera. Yes, I'm sure you all know she messes it up and it's a shame. I'm not going to harp on it. It's a hard song to sing and I'm guessing there is a lot of nerviness when performing it in that setting. So I will cut her some slack. I don't think anyone intends to screw up the National Anthem in a setting like that and I would venture to guess she feels bad about it. But people like Dieon Sanders don't need to tweet bad excuses for her.

After what felt like forever we get to the game! It was great to watch and I actually prefer to see them on FOX because I think they have a much better handle on the technical side of the game than any other network. The camera work is always spot on and their graphics flow and blend into the game which make it easy to watch and get the information you want while not disrupting the overall vision of the game. That being said, there was some crazy audio stuff happening throughout the game and I was not sure if it was FOX or Comcast or even something with how my friend had set up his system. It was only marginal annoying since most of us were talking during the game. The 2 announcers (Troy Aikman and Joe Buck) did a decent job. I'm not really fans of either of them and they did basically what I expected of them. One of the things that I was a bit bothered by was a graphic FOX put up in the 1st half about Ben Rothlisberger's off field issues. I'm no fan of the guy, but all myself and my friends sitting around the TV could say is, "Why put that up?" I mean really, what was the point? We all know what happened. Was it necessary? It seemed poor in taste as if FOX was trying to smear Ben even more during the game. Hey guys, get a clue. This is the Superbowl. It's not about one guy it's about 2 TEAMS. If you want to go after the guy do a special on him or something, don't do it in the middle of the game. It's poor taste.

So the 1st half ends with what was looking to be total dominance by the Packers. The players clear the field and we get some nice analysis on the game before the halftime show started. FOX probably should have stayed with the football guys and not shown us a half time show. Without going too much into it. It was just bad. The whole Tron thing was a visual nightmare and the music was terrible. Don't get me wrong, I like the Black Eyed Peas, they just sounded like crap and the way it was mixed was bad too. I also like Slash and that version of Sweet Child was just not good. He probably was the best part. Those box top costumes, I don't even know what to say about those...geeesh. There are more than enough blogs and reports out there for you to read so I will just end it early like they should have.

The Second half rolls in and what a half it was. For a bit there it really looked like the Steelers were going to pull off the upset and make an amazing comeback. Everyone at my friends house was on their edge of the seat for most of the 4th quarter. With the Steelers slowly closing the gap I was really excited. The 2 point play to bring them within a field goal of a tie was amazing. It was just a great play to watch. You could see the whole thing develop as it was happening. A few minutes later Green Bay comes back to put another 3 points up and now they are ahead by 6. With less then 2 minutes to go and one time out I though I was about to see another amazing march down the the field by Ben and the Steelers. Could he do it in another Superbowl?? Take his team down the field for a last second touchdown to win it? For a moment there I thought it would happen. If you watch the game you saw. The only thing that did happen was the Green Bay defense stepping up to seal the deal. Great job and very exciting. The Packers then stepped onto the field and ran one more play in the old victory formation and the confetti dropped. Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for a fine job. In the future tho, I think the stage for the trophy presentation should be much larger. Big enough to hold the entire team, since it was a team effort that got them there they should all be up on the stage not just a select few walking up and down some stairs. It just looked odd.

Finally, to wrap up my ramblings lets touch on the commercials. This years offerings were pretty poor overall. I think only 4 of them made me laugh out loud. Most of my friends were sitting around with an obvious blank expression as they whizzed by between the too long breaks from the game. Too many car commercials, too many stars I don't really care for, and too much trying to be funny. Some of the commercials were so bad I don't even remember what product they were pushing on me. As I sit here right now and this about it, I know a Kardashian was in one of them but for the life of me I can't remember what the product was. Also, Ozzy and Beiber were in one for a phone I think but I'm not sure on that either because I can't remember the company it was for. I think it's pretty bad when you run a commercial and people can't even remember your product. I do remember the Chevy Transformer one, which was a riot and the Doritos one where they brought everything back to life was funny. The beaver one was great as well but again I forget that one's product. Tires I think.

Overall a great game to watch. It was like that awesome present you get wrapped in newspaper. Not much thought on the outside of the gift but open it up and there is a great thing to be seen inside. Thanks for another great season of football and I hope we have football in in 2011-2012 right before the end of the world. Congratulation to the Green Bay Packers and their fans.

Back to shoveling snow because that's Life in New England

Geoffrey D

Hot Sauce and 101 uses for it!

I make my own hot sauce each year. As I was passing out a few bottles to friends someone ask what could you possibly use hot sauce for aside from a few things. So it got me thinking and I came up with this fun list of…

101 Uses for Hot Sauce

1. Stuffed Crabs
2. Crab Cakes
3. French Fries
4. Onion Rings
5. Pasta Sauce
6. Any Asian food
7. Potato Chips
8. Pita Chips
9. Tacos and Burritos and most Mexican food.
10. In a shot with Tequila
11. Mixed with Tuna fish
12. In Beer
13. With cheese and crackers
14. In Guacamole
15. With Sushi or Sashimi
16. On trees to prevent animals digging into them
17. Scrambled Eggs
18. In Chili
19. In Soup
20. On Corn on the Cob
21. With Pizza
22. On Burgers and Meatloaf
23. With Steak and Onions
24. With Sausage and Peppers
25. On Ribs
26. In Wing sauce
27. With hollandaise
28. In cocktail sauce
29. In Birdseed to keep squirrels away
30. In Shepard’s Pie
31. On Raw Oysters
32. In pulled pork
33. Mix into Mustard
34. Mix with tarter sauce
35. Put on your nails to quit biting them
36. Use to teach a animal not to beg at a table (mild only please)
37. Melt with cheese for a fondue
38. Add to Nachos
39. Around flower beds to keep animals from digging
40. With deviled eggs
41. Key ingredient for pepper spray
42. In Ramen noodles
43. In Stuffed Peppers
44. In a Casserole
45. In many types of wraps
46. With chicken sandwiches
47. Add to Cajun Cesar Salad
48. Add to many restaurant sauces to spice them up like Bloomin’ Onion sauce
49. On potato skins
50. In a Omelet
51. As a mouth gargle for a sore throat
52. On Garlic Bread
53. With Stuffed Bread
54. Mixed with bread dipping oil
55. In Dips for chips
56. Baste on shrimp before grilling
57. On Lobster tails
58. With Hummus
59. In plain rice
60. Add to a bloody mary
61. On grilled cheese
62. In a 3 bean salad
63. On hotdogs
64. On calamari
65. Clean pennies with it
66. On corned beef
67. Put on a cracker for you friend to see him/her sweat (kidding)
68. On a Ham or Turkey sandwich
69. With fried shrimp
70. On whole belly clams
71. With Mozzarella sticks
72. With a falafel
73. On a steak and cheese sub
74. Add to linguini and clams
75. On Raw Clams
76. With chicken tenders
77. Marinade for Swordfish or Salmon
78. Add to Salsa
79. Use with simple syrup on a fruit salad
80. Use as anti-inflammatory
81. Help clear sinus up
82. Apparently there is a hot sauce based toothpaste
83. In Creole Slaw
84. Mix into Absolute Pepper for a Peppertini
85. Infused into Tequila for a spicy drink (different from the shot)
86. On a slice of cheese
87. Toss with peanuts
88. In clam chowder
89. On pork chops
90. On lamb chops
91. With beef sate or chicken
92. On Dumplings
93. On Raw Crab claws
94. Mix in Meatballs
95. On a portabella mushroom sandwich
96. With plain bread
97. On pickles (not me for that one)
98. With tuna macaroni salad
99. Add to veggie patties

101. With tater tots

100. Just plain baby!

Top 10 Things Bartenders Won't Tell You

or

Stuff You Need to Know From Behind The Bar

Number 10

If I am out of what you drink and you've have had a few drinks already. I'll just make your drink with the next closest thing. So Seagram's V.O. becomes Seagram's 7 and Absolute become Smirnoff. You won't know the difference...no, you won't.

Number 9

Lemons and Limes are usually a few days old, especially if it's Mon or Tues. Also, just about every bartender and person on the waite staff has touched them. If you get a drink just skip on the fruit. This also goes for the olives, those have probably been sitting around for over a week at a slow bar.

Number 8

You really should think twice about being an annoying drunk or a pretentious asshole while sitting at the bar. Especially to the person who is making your drink and serving the food if you ordered too. Just saying...ok.

Number 7

If a mistake is made and the wrong beer is opened, it gets put on ice until someone orders it. Don't be surprised if you end up drinking a pre opened beer that's been on ice for and hour or so.

Number 6

The smaller or less of a tip you decide to leave me, the less I am inclined to make a nice drink for you or even pay attention to your needs. Bartenders make most of their pay from tips. If you can't pay me for my work I don't see any reason to work for you.

Number 5

Ok, guys, we all know what girls are hanging out at the bar just to scam drinks off of you. Because you're really not as good looking as you think you are. Most of these girls are here every other week or so and they pull it off all the time.

Number 4

Also, ladies, we know which guys are just trying to get you drunk so they can get you home. We also know the last 5 girls he took out of here. So, that cute little line he tossed out at you that seemed so original is worse than a skipping CD.

Number 3

If you order shots chilled, the longer I can leave them on ice the better it is for my bar, since I use less liquor to make them. 8 shots of chilled vodka means I really only have to pour 6 shots in since the ice will melt. You still pay for 8 tho...thanks.

Number 2

Great looking women behind the bar don't want you hitting on them all night (see number 5) unless she is ignoring everyone else at the bar but you. Just leave her a nice tip and be thankful she talked to you. We all know that in the real world there isn't a chance in hell she would be talking to you. As an employee it's her job to be nice to you, don't mistake that for her wanting to jump in bed with you. She doesn't. As interesting as you think you are...you're not.

Number 1

Don't call me "Bub", "Pal", "Ace" or "Buddy" and don't call her "Sweetie", "Babe", "Honey" or "Toots" while waving money at us. As well as whistling, yelling, slamming glasses on the bar or any other such rude and childish behavior. Something like that will put you last on my list to get served. You can call me "Sir" and her "Miss" until you introduce yourself. If you are standing at my bar I know you are there so have a bit of patience.

This is my personal list you may have a few other things to add.

but that's...

Life in New England

Brrr it's cold out!

So here I am today, in New England with a snow storm. Turns out the weather men/women got it a bit wrong tho on how bad it was going to be. There was talk of like 12 to 18 inches and as of now we have about 4. Which is still enough to go out and clean up but no where's near the amount they had predicted. It began to occur to me that being a weather man/woman is one profession where you get to be on television and be completely wrong and not get fired over it. Sweet deal.

But, unlike most people, part of my job is to plow peoples driveways and clean sidewalks. So while out driving around in this bad weather I notice a few things. The first being the amount of people who, to the best of my knowledge, have no business being out when people are trying to actually work and clear the way for the following day. I mean rushing to the store for that loaf of bread or gallon of milk seems to me a bit crazy. To potentially risk your life and the life of another person for something you really don't need is just totally nuts. It's not like the storm is going to keep you in the house for weeks upon weeks. Generally it's just 1 day. You're telling me you can't wait one day for a few things at the store? On top of that, it's not like these people didn't have fair warning that a potentially large storm was coming. The news people have been "Drama-ing it up since Saturday" (that's for another blog...drama-ing, I know it's not a real word). The second thing I notice is the rate that people drive in bad weather. Alot of people and I mean ALOT, drive so fast I almost wish they would wreck that nice SUV they are cursing around in. But I am not wishing bodily harm on them or anyone else. But still, just because you have a huge SUV with 4 wheel drive does not give you the right to drive like a jack ass. Your car cannot stop and better than a regular car and it won't do anything special if you hit a patch of ice. In fact you have worse stopping power than a regular car because of the extra weight it takes to slow your vehicle down. So I wish people would get that into their heads and slow the frick down. We all know that some people just need to learn the hard way and hopefully it's not at my expense or that of another person.

That's it for now. I'm back out into the bad weather to fight the crazies and finish up for the day/night. I got my nice warm jacket, some great music and a nice hot cup of tea in me...let's go!

and that's Life in New England

Geoffrey D

Status Update

I've been pretty busy the last few weeks but I will post a few new things in the coming days. Just want to get a few things off my mind and out of my head. These things include people who post comments on various websites like local news ones or sport webpages. Also, going to touch on the canceled Slayer tour (boo!). Then maybe I will blog a little about false advertising that seems to be happening more and more.

I'm currently reading a book called "Eat this Not that". It's both scary and eye opening to some point. Some of the information I always knew but when you read it you just become more aware. If your curious about the food you eat pick this little gem up.

Not much else happening, it's just cold here but that's Life in New England.

Double Standard?

Ok, so I have a few questions to ask because I’m not sure how I should feel about this situation. I personally have no ill will towards my fellow man or woman for that matter but for the last few years this issue has bothered me. I think it’s a double standard but I’m not quite sure. So, I will attempt to explain what I see and how it makes me feel and then ask the question.

Over the last few years there has been the same commercial that comes on TV around the time of any major holiday. It’s more prevalent during the Christmas and New Year’s time and I am sure many of you have seen it. It’s that same drunk driving commercial. You know the one, the serious voice saying “over the limit under arrest” with the people driving in a car filled with liquid that looks like beer or a martini. Yeah, that one. Now how on, I’m not condoning drunk driving so relax and I have no problem with the message that the commercial is sending. But, do you notice something about the commercial? Like the people they are all pulling over? Maybe now you see it. In this day and age of trying to squash out stereotypes the government goes and puts one on TV and has been running it for several years. Still don’t get it? Let me break it down for you. Every one of the people being arrested is not only white, but also in the same age bracket (38-45) and then on top of that they are each put with their stereotype of drink. So we have the white, beat up Ford driving, scruffy looking, baseball hat wearing guy driving around in a beer filled vehicle. Then we see the over weight, white, sport car driving, shirt and tie guy in his vehicle filled with a martini type of liquid complete with olives. Ok, so you get my point I don’t need to go over the rest but they are just as bad.

I really feel like this is both a racist commercial towards men like me and an attempt to make me a target. It’s to the point where every time I see the commercial I get a bit angry. It’s like profiling the white male race between the ages of 38 to 45. I also can’t believe no one has spoken up about it and that we all just stand around and accept it as fact. I know if the shoe was on the other foot and these commercials featured all women we would be hearing about it. How about these other commercial scenarios? I don’t think they would be acceptable either.

What if there was a commercial put on TV about the drug “crack” and only black people were getting arrested or being chased down the street. You’d see the camera pan over to a police car with a young black male getting slammed on the hood. Then you would hear that serious sounding voice over, “use or sell crack- under arrest.” Then you could have the scene with a bunch of black males dressed up like gangsters standing against a wall in an inner city setting selling crack, then out of nowhere the police pounce on them. The same serious voice would say something like the police are “cracking down” on crack. What if it was a commercial for street racing that featured only Latinos and low rider cars with loud mufflers, tricked out tires and spoilers that are about a mile high off the back of the car? I’d be willing to bet that organizations would be ringing the phones off the hook saying that those commercials are racist or they portray their specific group in a poor light (which would be true). So now maybe you see what I am talking about. I’m not sure if I have communicated the ideas across correctly and I am by no means trying to be racist nor an I making fun of any race or group of people. So on to my questions:

Am I over reacting to this commercial being a stereotype for white males?

Is this a case of a double standard? That being if the shoe was on the other foot it would be a problem for people.

Here is a link to the commercial on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHytr5GocwY

Careful what you ask for

Well since I have this blog I might as well use it for something good. Which of course would be bitching about something that really annoyed me. Isn't that what blogs are for? Complain about things that you have no control over while you sit at your computer steeming over it? Yeah, that's what I was told they are for! Ok but really, I did have a bit of a problem the other day and I feel like venting about it. So here goes.

I have a peice of lawn equipment that has been around for like 20 years. My grandmother bought it for my father and we both use it. It's the tiller for the garden. Well, we have basically abused the shit out of it over the years. It's a bit rusted, the wheels are all bent, the pull chord broke a few times and I tied it together to keep it working. We leave it out in the rain, snow, sleet. Ok so you get the picture. I recently lost my digital camera or I would go outside and take a picture of this baby. This tiller tho has never failed us, it starts every time and runs like a champ. I'm always a firm believer that if something is working great don't go and screw it up.

Four days ago I go out to use this most durable machine (they don't build em' like they use to) and the pull chord finally snaps off completely (grrrrr). Normaly this is not something out of my realm to fix and any other time I would bust out the ol' tool kit and get going. I didn't. I had so many other things to do that I figured I would best be served if I just tossed it on the truck and ran it down to the local hardware store to have them fix it. I don't mind sending local places some business now and again, it's good to keep up relations with these local businesses and it's part of the charm I like about living here in New England.

Now, here I am pulling this (which looks to the hardware guys like a peice of junk and I swear I heard them laugh a little) thing off my truck and I tell the guy can you fix this pull chord and just change the oil and spark plug since it's here. He says to me, "So you want a tune-up." I looked at him and I repeted what I had just said, "I just want the chord fixed and the oil and spark plug changed." He looks back at me and says, "well that's a tune up." I said, "that's fine."

Ok maybe you see where this is going. Maybe this is my fault for not making sure what I was getting, but here is how it ends. I get the call to come pick my machine up. I show up and he tells me it's a $60 bill. I said well that's alot for those few things. He produces a list of what they did; Cleaned Carb, New Filter, New pre-Filter, Changed Oil, New Pull Chord, New Spark Plug. Ok, so I'm no dummy and there are a few things on the list I didn't ask for. Of course I confront the guy about it and he tells me, "You said Tuned Up." and of course I say, "No, you said tune-up, I said oil and spark plug." We go back and forth with who said what and what this and that entails until I finally did what any man in my position would do....I bent over and let this guy screw me. Now I don't often give in to situations like this, but I could see it was going no where and I wasn't gonna get my tiller unless I paid him. I was kinda in a jam there. Sometimes you have to pick your battles and for this one I just had to let it go. Needless to say I will never do business there again.

I know small business like this are having a hard time in this economy. One thing they need to remember is, if you keep screwing over your customers like that you will be without any to screw in the end.

and that my friends is Life in New England
Geoffrey D.