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Finally a bill worth passing!

Firstly...how bout them Cowboys! Big win for the boys over the weekend knocking off the Giants, who basically spent the last 4 weeks playing Junior Varsity. Glad they finally got knocked back to earth.

Now, onto the news of the day. I read in AM New York this morning that Councilman Simcha Felder from Brooklyn is looking to put a ban on feeding pigeons.

As reported here back in July, pigeons have become bigger and nastier in recent days. I reported that due to steriod based grass fertilizers, pigeons have been on a eating spree, gobbling up as much steriod infused seeds as they can get their beaks on. Also it's well known that pigeon shit is highly acidic and causes the rotting and decay of our bridges, buildings and infrastructure.


A pigeon performing a "shit and run" in NYC

So this bill would effectively ban all feeding of pigeons. Furthermore the bill calls for the creation of a "pigeon czar to be held accountable for all the city's pigeon-related complaints".

Now if the city had any brains at all they'd appoint me pigeon czar. Just give me a shotgun and I'd effectively end the pigeon overpopulation problem for good. And anyone caught feeding a pigeon would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

What would that punishment be? I'd unleash a gang of ugly, unruly pigeons, lock them in the offender's house or apartment for a week, feeding them nothing but Ex-Lax and Metamusil. I'd lock the violator in the house as well, leaving them to defend themselves against the shit fueled rage that would transpire. Then after the week was up, I'd "humanely execute" all of the pigeons in the house leaving the homeowner to clean up the mess of shit and pigeon carcasses. I bet your bottom dollar that the violator of pigeon law would never, ever feed a pigeon ever again!

If they did violate a second time....they would be met with death. No questions asked.

Think I'm the only one with these thoughts? Think again.



Take a look at the Royal Society for the Preservation of Pigeon Killing, which is better known as KillthePigeons.com

There's countless stories on this site of how pigeons destroy our every day lives and also reports on the "heros" who help rid the world of pesky pigeons.

Are you sick of pigeons shitting on your new coat the first time you wear it? Are you tired of having to dodge swarms of pigeons on the street as soon as someone so much as feeds them a small piece of bread? Speak up. Support Councilman Felder's proposal ban on pigeon feeding! Join the cause and let's keep the damn pigeon population under control!

Wear it loud...wear it proud!

There's a shirt I've been looking for recently after watching a documentary on the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's an old "Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn" shirt. It had the Dodgers logo and was given to fans back in the 50s as a rallying cry to keep the Dodgers from moving from Brooklyn to L.A.

John found a replica of the shirt from this company called No Mas.



While it wasn't the shirt I was looking for, it is based on an authentic shirt that fans used to wear back then:



The website had a ton of other really random, cool t-shirts.

Here's a few of them I personally love:

The Amazing Mess


Even though the shirt is referring to the 86 Mets, I think it's quite appropriate given this year's collapse!


Tecmo Bo

Who can forget Tecmo Bo and he unstoppable hijinks in Tecmo Bowl! If you need a reminder on how good Bo was in Tecmo Bowl, here's a reminder for you (click to play).


Rated Rookie


Donruss' Rated Rookie cards were a hot commodity back in the days. I know I jumped for joy when I found a McGwire rated rookie in a pack of Donruss.

For those who don't remember what the cards looked like, here's an example:



Btw, is it just me or does Greg Maddux look strikingly (get it - he's a pitcher - strikingly - I'm a fuckin genius!) like Pedro in that picture?



Strawberry


Love the sarcasm of the whole "say no to drugs" and Strawberry angle. If only the picture had him AND Doc Gooden leaning against a "Coke" vending machine. Now that would be classic!

Although I think this picture would more exemplify a "Say No to Drugs" campaign!



And to think all three of those guys were the biggest stars in the heydays. How the mighty fall sometimes:

Food a-plenty

There's a new king in town in the world of competitive eating.

Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, currently the #3 ranked eater in the world, has wiped the floor with Joey Chesnut in the past few days.

First, Bertoletti knocked off Joey Chestnut at the State Fair of Texas, winning the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship with a new record of 29 waffles in 10 minutes. Chestnut was the two time defending champion, but fell short by half a waffle.



For his troubles, Pat took home $3500 and the new Waffle House Belt, which was unavailable as of press time. No word if Pat also took home a year's supply of syrup. (BTW...waiting for the Utah Flapjacks eating contest. That would be the breast! I mean best!)

Regaining his appetite quickly, Bertoletti then crushed Chestnut (get it, crushed chestnut - ha ha - I'm so witty) in a "Chicken Wing Chowdown" on Spike TV.



Pat devoured 4.1 pounds of buffalo chicken meat in eight minutes to take home the $25,000 grand prize! Not only did Pat hold off Chestnut, but he also knocked off Kobayashi in the contest (Joey ate 4.05 pounds for second while Kobayashi came in third, with 3.12 pounds).

Good stuff. I'm soooo looking forward to see who wins the Krystal Square Off on Oct. 28th. Bertoletti ate 76 Krystal's to qualify this year. Although the record is still Kobayashi's 97 Krystal's in 8 minutes.



Speaking of eating feats, I happened to catch a show on the Travel Channel the other night about the Top 10 places to pig out.

The show was pretty good. Among my favorites were the 12 egg omelette at Beth's Cafe in Seattle.



The eggs are fried on the grill and served up on a pizza plate with toast and hash browns. I've made some doozy omelettes in my days but don't have a space large enough to make a 12 egg omelette. But I'd like to tackle that one day.

I'm also definitely down for the oyster challenge at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans. You know I'm gonna try to battle my way on top of their Oyster Eating Contest leaderboard. Although there's a long way to go to #1, as the top leader on their board downed 52 dozen oysters in 2-½ hours. I'm gonna have to bust out the "I Eat'M Raw" shirt for some extra inspiration.



Another challenge I'm up to trying is the Reilly Burger at Eagle's Deli in Massachussetts. The Reilly Burger is named after local resident Sean Reilly, who devoured a six half-pound hamburger patties, quarter-pound of cheese (not quarter pounder w/ cheese - a QUARTER POUND of cheese). Before you think that's nothing, he also polished off 5 pounds of french fries.



It took Reilly 2 hours and 7 minutes to finish the entire meal. Anyone who finishes the feat in the 2-½-hour time limit receives a full refund and their picture on the wall next to Reilly and his fellow overachievers, of which there are very few. I'd definitely be able to do the burger part. The fries I don't know. That seems like a waste of calories to me!

Finally, the other challenge I'd like to embrace is the "World Famous, Free, Seventy-Two Ounce Steak Dinner" at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. The goal is to finish a 72-oz. steak, tossed salad, shrimp cocktail, roll with butter and baked potato in one hour. The meal is free if you can finish the whole steak and all the side items in an hour or less. 4,800 people have completed the meal out of 30,000 who have tried. I'm pretty confident I can add my name to that list. And I'm not lying either. I love me some steak. As long as they don't make me dissolve all the grizzle and fat too, I should be all set (click picture to play the scene we all know and love!)



(Btw...no word on whether or not that was actually Keycoon, our favorite coon candidate for president, with a Swastika on his chest during his cameo role in The Great Outdoors. Stay tuned for his official announcement regarding this allegation.)

Monkey Love



Everyone sing along at once now:

I Believe In You and Me
I Believe That we will be
In love eternally
Well as far as I can see
You Will Always be the one
For me (Oh yes, you will)

And I believe in dreams again
I believe that love will never end
And like the river finds the sea
I was lost, now I'm free
Cuz I believe In you and me

I will never leave your side
I will never hurt your pride
When all the chips are down, baby
Then I will always be around
Just to be right where you are
My love, you know I love you, boy

I will never leave you out
I will always let you in, boy (mmm, oh baby)
To places no-one's ever been,
Deep inside, can't you see?
That I believe in you and me

Maybe I'm a fool
To feel the way I do
I will play the fool forever
Just to be with you forever

I believe in miracles
And love is the miracle
And yes, baby you're my dream come true
I was lost, now I'm free,
Oh, baby cuz i believe, i do believe, in you and me
See, I was lost, now I'm free
Cuz I believe in you and me.

Ridin with the 'po-po'

So last night was pretty adventurous. My "good citizenship" kicked in again as I was witness to a "small time crime" last night next to my apt. Earlier in the evening Tegdirb (perhaps best nickname ever?) saw a few 'utes' break into a construction site across the street. I had debated alerting the proper authorities but held off since they just appeared to be horsin' around in the site. Well an hour or so later I looked outside again and said 'utes' had taken a "long metal instrument used to climb" and were in the process of chucking it over the wall of the construction site (notice i'm not using real names for the crime and product should certain utes discover google and discover my blog and thus discover my identity - you figure out the rest. After all, I survived the first four slugs in my chest while ridin w/ Pac in Vegas...don't need any matchin scars.)

Anyway I figured it was time to alert the authorities and after calling Tres-Uno-Uno I was told that this WAS in fact an emergency and was patched to Nueve-Uno-Uno where I told the dispatcher about the illegal activity transforming in front of my eyes.

After giving a description of location a few minutes later I received a call back asking to confirm location. A minute or two after that another call asking for updates. And then a few minutes later I was asked to come downstairs to "take a visual".

After meeting the po-po outside I walked with them round the corner to where several utes were being questioned (per my original description). I glanced over unassumingly and squinted to see them. The clothing "fit the bill" but I couldn't make a positive facial ID. I mean then again it was 9:30 at night and I was seeing the action from a good 75 feet away. So a little hard to make out facial identification. I informed the officers that I couldn't make a positive facial ID but the build/clothing fit. We took a walk to the break in area and I identified where the large metal climbing apparatus was taken too and where the utes might have stashed it.

I gave a few more statements and then was told to hop in the car for a ride back to my apt. I climbed in the back seat and holy shit...let me tell you, for those who haven't been in the back of a copcar there's NO leg room back there. None. I barely could squeeze my legs in and I'm not even that tall. Anyone over 6'2" would basically have to be a contortionist to fit into the back of a squad car. I guess they make the experience as uncomfortable as possible.

Anyway not sure what they did with said utes but I felt like I did my civic duties. Most people (actually all people) in my neighborhood wouldn't say dick because they don't give a shit. But I figured that a) the construction company would want to know their property was being damaged b) lets teach these utes a lesson by letting them know someone is always watching them. The whole experience made me feel like I was on the set of CSI: NY or NYPD Blue or Homicide: Life on the Street (BEST cop drama ever in my humble opinion) or any other NYC crime type show. I always thought I'd make a good cop...although I'd prefer to be a undercover or "rogue civilian" cop, catching civilians engaging in acts of "petty" crimes (you know this from my Rules of Pedestrian Engagement article from back in the days).

Speaking of police officers...apparently this one got sick on a salty burger.. I mean, we all know McDonald's burgers are pretty flavorless on their own (hence why we douce them in ketchup, mayo, lettuce, tomato, etc). But getting one that had a ton of salt on it would probably taste like shit (It is shit, austin).



I agree with the quote in the article that said the cop should've thrown out the burger on first bite. But hey, a hungry cop is a hungry cop! Just good thing it wasn't a donut that had a certain "sugar-like substance" spilled on it. Last thing we need are officers sniffing their uniforms to get them some more of the "powderly sugar" goodness. Of course I'm talking about the innocent white powdered sugar. I would never insinuate that an officer of the law would snort some coke off their uniforms. In any case I'm sure his salty burger tasted a hell of a lot better than the rubbery egg & cheese I had from Starbucks this am.



And that was after waiting for 20 minutes (no joke) for a grande Vanilla Latte and said egg sandwich. All I really wanted was the Latte to help my digestive system perform its magic this am (TMI?) but I threw the rubbery egg sandwich in there as well. My question is why would you microwave an egg and cheese? Why wouldn't you just get a toaster oven and toast it? At least then the english muffin wouldn't become rubbery in the microwave, it would be nice and crispy. Same with the bacon. And the egg would heat just the same in the toaster as it would in the microwave. Am I making sense here or is that just too much common sense? I'm a man who knows my egg sandwiches (was a short-order cook in a bagel shop for a few months) so needless to say it's very disappointing when something simple like an egg and cheese gets so fucked up.

Anyway the real picture I should have taken this morning was on the subway. I was sitting across from a woman who looked like a cross between a 100 year old weathered Native American tribeswoman and a pug. Seriously, that's probably the best descriptor for her. And the women was probably in her 50s/60s at best. Her skin was so weathered and wrinkingly and her face was compressed like a pug's is. It was quite fascinating actually. I was so tempted to whip it out and take a picture of her/it (talkin about whippin out my cell phone of course). I wish I could of but then too many people got on and stood in my way.

If she wore a blonde wig and wore a white dress she may have looked something like this (only darker):

Just grin and "bear" it




There's a bit of a crisis in Lake Tahoe these days. It seems that global warming has taken some winter jobs away from the ever present black bear population which have caused the bears to have to resort to other means to get their yearly income. Some bears have joined the lucrative real estate market, others have found employment in casinos. Yet the ones that were previously employed as ski instructors or ski resort lift line workers, have had problems regaining employment in the area.


This lucky bear found employment as a Pepsi taste tester


Jack, 3, was able to find employment as a garbage man


Benny, 7, is now a drive thru banking teller

Some bears have been forced to give up their homes and are basically wandering the area homeless, unable to afford the rising rents in their dens anymore. These bears have resorted to a life of petty larceny, breaking into other bear and human residences in order to grab some "bare" essentials, such as food and water. Other, craving the luxury of their former homes, have treated themselves to romps through strangers hot tubs and have even used the bathrooms in the houses they're breaking into.


Bears in Lake Tahoe have been slowly forced out of their homes, causing them to use neighbors hot tubs for relaxation

Some of the bears have been messy, leaving behind a trail of damage after their romps through the houses. "They went into my sisters room and pooper on her bed" said Danielle Hyde.


The scene after a renegade bear left his neighbor's kitchen in shambles

Other bears have more been neat and courteous. "I chased a bear out of my living room. He'd been eating Chocolate Kisses. I found 15 wrappers on the floor - just wrappers, no chocolate mess. He was much neater than my own kids ever were" said Gloria Bourke. Another homeowner said "...he was a perfect gentlemen. All he took was a tub of Java chip Starbucks ice cream and a five-gallon tin of popcorn" said Tower Snow, Jr.

Regardless of the aftermath, the residents of Lake Tahoe will need to live with their new inhabitants as these bears search for a better means and more gainful employment.

(Note: this above story is based "loosely" on an article that appeared in People magazine. The photos and quotes are real...the story is a slight twist of the truth. All bears gave their approval to use their name and likeness in this story.)

"Fantasy" Weekend

When you think "fantasy weekend" you probably don't envision 12 guys in a room drinking beer, talking football, with a newborn and a greyhound (unless maybe you're Britney Spears). But when it's fantasy football season, there's no time for females or lounging at the beach. There's some pride on the line and some drafting to be done! Well, this past weekend was my annual fantasy football draft. I'm proud to say our league has been in existance for 15 years and I think I've been a part of it for the last 9. The best part about our league is that we try to be together in person for the draft. Obviously getting everyone in the same room year after year is difficult, especially with people living all over the country, but that's what makes our league special.

Anyway, not to bore you with all of the fantasy football details (if you want to know my team feel free to post a comment) but one of the highlights is always the food. We've come a long way since our inception, and at recent drafts you could find lobster, freshly caught steamed quahog, Vietnamese Tiger Shrimp (the biggest shrimp you've ever seen!), homemade chili and other tasty treats (both homemade and store bought).

For this year I was able to bust out some boneless buffalo chicken strips using my newly updated recipe. I bake my famous "buffalo wings" instead of frying them and make a "special sauce" which has become famous over the years at Super Bowl parties and other gatherings. I've started to substitute chicken wings for skinless, boneless chicken breast that I carve up into bite size portions and bake away. The result is a nice tender and tasty buffalo chicken piece that's for the most part healthy for you (minus the sodium in the buffalo wing sauce).


My buffalo style chicken (right) accompanied by Pigs in a Blanket and Jalepeno Poppers

Along with my buffalo style chicken we feasted on Connell's chili, pizza, homemade Hummus, brownies, and Ian's extra large, butterflied grilled tiger shrimp (of which I ate about 20 of - hence no pictures).


Connell's chili


Pizza and homemade hummus

So the food this year was a success, even if we didn't have freshly caught clams and steamed lobster. But maybe we'll make up for it next year!

Anyway, I had another "fantasy" experience last night when I was invited to a swank party thrown by Meow Mix. Now when you think Meow Mix you don't think party (unless there's some catnip thrown in!) but the party was a "Meow Mix Acatemy Back to School party".

The party was thrown in a converted space on Union Square East and 15th street. There were limos in the front and cameras everywhere and immediately I thought I wouldn't be let in with my khakis and untucked polo shirt. But since I "was on the list" I was let in.

Immediately after I walked through the front doors it was like a stepped on stage of a model shoot. To my left was a photo area where singer Kat DeLuna was holding some cats and posing for pictures. On my right was an area to purchase Meow Mix "attire" including t-shirts and handbags. Further into the room were two side rooms with more photo areas, including a life-size kitty play area where another model was taking pictures. The room then opened up into a bar and food area, with a stage and areas to "catnap" and stretch.

Since the party was cat themed, invited guests were (besides Kat DeLuna): Iron Chef Cat Cora, "Big Pussy" from the Sopranos, CariDee (winner of America's Next Top Model) and Rachel Hunter. Not sure what Rachel Hunter had to do with cats, but regardless she was there (although I didn't even recognize her, nor did I recognize any celebrities for that matter). All I know was that there were LOTS of tall women there (presumably all models) and lots of yummy food (and a large sampling of Meow Mix Salmon treats for your cats there for the taking). I had joked with some guests that they should serve up the cat treats on little crackers just to see if people would've noticed the difference (they probably wouldn't have). But all in all for the little I was there it was a good time (how can you not enjoy watching models prance around a small room trying to "one-up" each other).

Here are some published pics from last night:





Apparently the "Meow Mix Acatemy" is here to stay for a while too. So may be something to check out if you're a cat lover. Although hopefully the geniuses beyond ICanHazCheezburger won't go and fuck it up for cat lovers.

Even grass is on steriods these days

So Bridget and I were watching TV last night and on came an informerical for Patch Perfect.

The product is a grass "enhancer", helping you maintain that perfect lawn. The line that left us laughing was the announcer strongly saying "It's like grass seed on steriods!!"



I went on the website this morning and apparently you can just "spread it and forget it" (sounds awful familiar to the Showtime Rotisserie by Ron Popeil - "Just Set it and Forget It!"). Although it sounds even MORE familiar to what some athletes are doing these days. Do you think Sheffield or Bonds had the "spread it and forget it" attitude with their "sports creams"?

I can't wait for th WGGC to get their hands on Patch Perfect (that's the World Grass Growing Coalition for those not in the know). Steriod use is running rampant in the grass growing field these days. Especially with more and more homeowners looking for that competitive-edge when growing their grass. Millions of them have resorted to using GGH (Grass Growth Hormones) type products to enhance their lawns. Unfortunately the government has other problems regarding growth hormones these days among professional athletes that they've turned a blind eye to the blatent abuse that happens to soil millions of times a day. It's about time the WGGC stepped up and stopped people from feeding steriods to the earth.

The problem doesn't stop with lawns either. All sorts of birds, squirrels, pigeons and other animals are eating the steriod seeds before they have a chance to infiltrate the ground and sprout. Angry, testostorone fueled gangs of pigeons have been spotted in recent weeks.


An angry gang of steriod fueled pigeons

These bigger, badder pigeons are causing havoc throughout the city by dropping "mega-shits" on people's heads, car roofs and sidewalks. I think it's about time lawn companies stepped up and stopped the distribution of their products. There's millions of pigeons in this world and the last thing we need is all of them uniting to blast us off the face of the earth with their mega acid staining feces!

The Cuteness Factor

Some of the top visited websites in the world these days are animal picture sites. The one in particular that everyone seems to go to is I Can Has Cheezburger.com



The site is basically a cat lovers feast, with pictures and captions of people's favorite feline friends. I personally am more of a dog guy than a cat guy...but cool cats can be cool, and this site tends to showcase pictures of cats putting themselves in precarious positions. Although honestly, I don't like the captions. I think it's stupid and cheezy. I know that's probably the point of the site but still...I don't think cats, if they could talk, would speak in broken english like the site suggests. You'd expect the cat to be articulate and calculating with their words, much like their wary and cautious personalities. Not with a dumbed down "which way did he go, which way did he go" sense of personality. So personally I don't like the site. Is it tongue and cheek? Probably. But honestly, just show me pictures of the damn cat and I'll decide my own caption.

How would that work you ask? Well just look at The Daily Puppy.



The site is just pictures of puppies. A new set of pictures uploaded everyday. Nothing but cute, adorable puppies. No stupid headlines like "I canz eatz da cheezburgerz???" are placed on the pictures. Just the pictures of the dogs and the stories behind the puppies. Plus instead of one picture, the owners normally upload dozens of pictures of their dogs. Personally, I think that's the way an animal website should be done. Let me make my own captions without some idiot telling me what to think in broken english.

Anyway, in the spirit of showcasing your pets...while I don't have a pet of my own (just yet - will have one soon though!), I am an uncle of an American Eskimo named Max.







I'm also a "step-uncle" for an English Bulldog named Vegas







See, you can showcase your pets without captions. Let that be a lesson to I Can Haz Cheezburger! The battle of showcasing animal websites goes to the Dogs!