I didn’t have a grand plan for it. No speech that I wrote out beforehand and memorized. There would be no clever and elaborate proposal that I spent a year planning. No flashmobs. No other participants. Just she and I. Nothing would be recorded and uploaded to YouTube for girls to gush and cry over. I did it in a very public place, but tried my damnedest to make it as private a moment as possible. All I knew is that I just wanted to do it, in my own awkward and honest way. Continue reading
This week on The Beer List, as promised, I am following up on last week’s feature on Not Your Father’s Root Beer with a review of Coney Island Brewing Company’s Hard Root Beer. Since the hard root beer craze came out of nowhere this summer, Coney Island Brewing’s version has served New Jerseyans as a go-to substitute for Not Your Father’s in its continual absence. I didn’t waste any time after acquiring a can, cracking it open at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning. Continue reading
This week in my ongoing toy series, Funko Friday, the Pop! doll created in the likeness of Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction will be featured. Pulp Fiction is one of my absolute favorite movies, and is also one of the greatest films of all time (that’s a solid fact). I won’t explain much about Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece here, as even watching it for the first time can be at least mildly confusing due to the fact that the storyline jumps around in time. Vincent Vega is played by John Travolta in the movie, in one of his most memorable roles. The character is a hired gun for one Mr. Marcellus Wallace, and is put through the ringer with his partner Jules (Samuel L. Jackson, in an even more memorable role) before the end of the film. Continue reading
Last Tuesday, the denizens of the Jersey shore celebrated the start of what is lovingly referred to as “local summer”, which is a period of two or three weeks in September after the Bennies leave, when the roads are clear(er), the beaches are relatively empty, and the weather is still warm enough to enjoy various outdoor activities. The invaders from the North have made the trek back to where they belong until the next Memorial Day Weekend. For the past three-and-a-half months or so, the southbound side of the Garden State Parkway has been jammed with New York license plates, providing a slow-moving passageway for swarms of loud-mouthed litterbugs who make the shore a living hell for locals and the laughing stock of the nation each summer. The weekly invasion appears to start on Thursday nights now, as in the Benny universe, Fridays are non-work days. Continue reading
Welcome back, once again, for a new crop of sappy rockers that you must get into your ears and hearts! Essential Power Ballads, Volume 3 is here!
Europe- “Carrie”
Swedish rockers Europe, the same guys who brought you the infinitely cheesy, space-themed “The Final Countdown”, offered up this by-the-numbers power ballad from the same wildly-successful album. Subdued verses, keyboards, big choruses, guitar solo. It’s all there. Continue reading
I can say with confidence that in my now decade-long love affair with beer, I have never seen such crazy hype over a particular brew than I have over Not Your Father’s Root Beer. Small Town Brewery, based in Wauconda, Illinois, decided to brew an alcoholic root beer, and en masse, everybody’s head exploded. For most of the summer, it was impossible to find in New Jersey, unless you were willing to relentlessly call up liquor stores to find out if they got a shipment of the stuff, and then immediately jump on the bottle or two to which most stores were limiting customers. Personally, I couldn’t be bothered to do that. Continue reading
This week’s edition of Funko Friday will focus on the Pop! doll modeled after the sunflower from the game Plants vs. Zombies. This one is actually part of Jenn’s collection of Pop! dolls, as she likes them and loved that game. I spotted it at a vendor stand at the New York City Comic-Con in 2013 and picked it up for her. Continue reading
In certain ways, the haughty, sickeningly idealistic and self-righteous movement we call “progressivism” has turned the United States of America into a frightening battleground for even the most well-meaning of people. More and more, we have to go through our days walking on eggshells, afraid to say much of anything, so as not to offend the hypersensitive individuals who seem to be multiplying uncontrollably. We have to watch our mouths for the words that we say, even when we’re not saying anything that’s traditionally or patently offensive. The political correctness police are everywhere, ready to string you up in public for being insensitive, racist, or otherwise insulting, even if you truly didn’t mean to be. Continue reading
If you’ve read my first guide to Essential Power Ballads, I hope you enjoyed it! Welcome to Volume 2!
KISS- “Forever”
A sappy gem from the Unmasked era, and co-written by Michael Bolton, “Forever” showcases a sincere Paul Stanley making a promise of eternity to his love. Stanley doesn’t have a great voice, but his passion makes up for that in spades, at least for this song. It turns out that the band that brought us such family-friendly hits as “Let’s Put The X In Sex”, “Love Gun” and “Lick It Up” has a soft side after all. Continue reading
I first tried the White Ale from Allagash earlier this summer at an upscale restaurant called Char in Red Bank, New Jersey. It happens to be the same place where on another occasion, my friends and I spotted actor Chazz Palminteri and his entourage, a member of which grabbed me by the back of the neck and shook me, mocking me for ordering lobster at a steakhouse. I thought for a moment that I just pissed off a wise guy and was going to get whacked when I walked out the door. But, I digress. Continue reading
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