As the story goes, in 1999 (or thereabouts), three guys from New York wanted a slice of pizza and couldn't find one. So they stopped at an old gas station on Central Avenue in the Plaza Midwood area and created a "hand crafted" slice, with real mozzarella, rich tomato sauce and fresh ingredients.
Remember, remember, the third of November, when the Patriots came back to make the Bulldogs surrender.
So read the banner under the grandstand on the Independence side of the bleachers at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, and it seemed that the entire Independence crowd was drawing their inspiration from V for Vendetta, for they were out for blood this time around.
Almost exactly a month ago, the Butler Bulldogs had built a 21-0 halftime lead in what will surely go down as one of the classic football games of all time. In that game, the Independence Patriots came out of the locker room after halftime ready to play. They tied the game and went to overtime. Each team scored a field goal, and they went into a second overtime. The Big I recovered a fumble and won it in the second.
There would be no such drama this time around.
I have to say that Thanksgiving is, hands down, becoming my favorite holiday. Yes, this is at least partially because I like to eat. But it's also because there is very little work involved. And no, this does not mean that I don't do any work for Thanksgiving. But every other holiday requires a reasonable amount of effort - at least for the amount of enjoyment that I receive. Not Thanksgiving.
I will also admit that when I was younger, I received a decent amount of enjoyment from Halloween. But as I grow older, Halloween has lost some of its luster. I suppose you could chalk this up to maturity, but let's face it. Would you put me and maturity in the same sentence? I didn't think so. It simply must be something else.
As the years go by, I simply find myself enjoying the other holidays less and less. They involve so much more work and there is less to get back out of them. Perhaps I'm getting selfish in my old age. But not Thanksgiving. Sure, there is some cooking involved. But once that is done, it's all about sitting back and enjoying the feast with family. Unfortunately this year, even Thanksgiving was a bit of a disaster.
Read "The Great Thanksgiving Food Poisoning Virus From Hell" »
After last week's debacle in the nation's capitol, where the Carolina Panthers were supposed to whip up on a Washington Redskins team that frankly hasn't done that well, and came out with their collective tail between their legs, everyone was calling for the head of quarterback Jake Delhomme. Frankly, it wasn't a bad idea, but Delhomme wasn't the only player to stink up the place. The loss could be placed on just about anyone. It was that bad. Then the Panthers went to Philadelphia, where they played the Philadelphia Eagles, who were having troubles of their own, including starting a quarterback (Jeff Garcia) who hadn't seen considerable playing time in this decade. Guess what? They lost again, but this time the loss could squarely be placed on Delhomme's shoulders.
It's not uncommon to find a Chinese restaurant in a strip mall (at least, not in Charlotte), but it is reasonably uncommon to find a decent Chinese restaurant in a strip mall. This particular restaurant has been in this location next to the Food Lion for quite a while, for good reason - it typically has a solid flow of traffic moving in and out through the doors.
I stopped in here one morning on the way back from dropping the kids at school, and while it isn't much to look at (on the outside or the inside), I'm glad that I did. The service is top-notch. Everyone greets you with a doll baby or a honey or a sweetie every time they see you - whether it's the first time, whether they are filling your glass or whether you are on your way out the door.
For an area that is somewhat rundown, this place is in surprisingly good shape. The area around it is a bit rough, perhaps, and the parking lot isn't the best. The inside is friendly enough and the staff is okay, but they probably won't win too many prizes for making you feel welcome, but they aren't outright rude or anything like that.
Frequently busy due to their great food, but the wait moves fast - as does the time at your table. If you go at a peak time, know that you aren't going to have a long wait, but you aren't going to have time to sit around and be coddled by the wait staff either. They're going to get you in and out as quickly as possible, because there are likely other people waiting for your seat.
There are plenty of places where you can go to eat barbecue, but I have to say that I'm not sure that you'll be able to find as many where you can eat quite as many varieties of barbecue. You can get just about any type you want here, from beef (brisket) to pork to ribs to chicken. You get sauces on the dishes of course, and you get more on the table, so you should be set no matter what you like.
At Mac's they serve things other than barbecue, but the barbecue is definitely the special. They also serve burgers, and you can "create your own" by adding not just cheese, but all sorts of fixings to satisfy whatever craving you might have. They serve salads at Mac's, but let's face it - you're not here for a salad.
I have updated the Bloglines Toolkit to version 1.6.8 and posted an updated archive. There are no new features available in this version, but there are some localization announcements to be made. This version includes a brand new localization for Catalan (ca-AD), and updated localizations for French (fr-FR) and Chinese (Simplified) (zh-CN). Those of you who use the automatic updating feature of your browser may have already seen an update announcement. This is for the same version.
Ever since installing Firefox version 2, I've noticed a steady deterioration in my computer's performance, but I haven't been able to put my finger on it. Since installing the 2.0.0.1 update, it's been even worse. For some reason, I decided to try and figure it out yesterday, and I think I've managed to stumble on the reason. Please note that isn't to say that I've fixed the problem - only that I know the cause.
I typically keep 10-12 tabs open in Firefox. Perhaps I shouldn't, but I do. It's just the way that I use it. I almost constantly keep Firefox running. I just have little reason to close it, and with 1GB of memory, it's usually not a problem. Even when Firefox gets up to a couple hundred MB of memory, it's rarely an issue. If it is, I simply close the window and restart it with the tabs intact. I maybe do this every week or so and life goes on. But still, the performance was getting worse.
Tomorrow night there will be a whole bunch of people gathered in Times Square to watch a fancy lighted ball drop from a tall tower. It will be cramped. It will be cold. It will be late. I can attest to these things because I've been there. It's been a few years, but I'm sure if anything, it's just going to be more cramped and perhaps even more cold. It probably will happen at pretty close to the same time, but since I'm even older, it might seem to be later.
Because of these reasons, and because I have made no plans to go to New York - and it's unlikely that I'll do so in the next 24 hours or so - it's not likely that I'll be there. It is very likely, however, that I will be elsewhere, watching another tradition unfold. This one is a bit closer to home, but that doesn't mean that it is any less interesting.
