Pickle Pop Redux

/ Shane / 1 Comment

In case you are keeping track at home, I still had one Pickle Pop left after our previous trials.  Well, Evie’s birthday party seemed like a good time to break it out.  I meant to blog this a long time ago when it was fresh in my mind, but I will try to do my best to remember everyone’s reactions.

A brave soul goes first

A brave soul goes first

Even though he doesn’t like pickles, we convinced Nathan give it a try.  I will let his reaction shot speak for itself:

Not so much

Not so much

 After the ice was broken, everybody wanted to try.

Dabu

Dabu votes no

 I can’t remember for sure, but I don’t think Chris liked it.

Chris gives it a try

Chris gives it a try

I thought Anna might like it since she really likes pickles.
A new hope

A new hope

I think she thought it was okay, but she wasn’t wild about it.  After that we thought maybe a kid would go for it if an adult wouldn’t.  In any case, kids are easy to trick and will do anything their daddies tell them to do.
Maybe it is more of a kid thing

Maybe it is more of a kid thing

Eliza didn’t dislike it, but she’s old enough to recognize an icy and therefore didn’t get what she was expecting.  Also the reaction was a little skewed, what with the camera and all the adults crowding around.  I think she would eat them under different circumstances.
On to the next sucker

On to the next sucker

If I remember correctly, Tom thought they were alright.  I for sure remember him requesting Sauerkraut Pops, but I told him they probably already had enough trouble selling Pickle Pops.  Sharon didn’t want to try them but she did anyway.

Dont forget the folks outside
Dont forget the folks outside

Well, obviously with a predisposition to dislike, the outcome was obvious.  That brought us to the last, but not least, test subject.  My dad LOVED them!  He would have eaten a whole box if it was available.  He even slurped up the extra melted juice at the bottom.

Finally, success!

Finally, success!

So, although it took a while to find the right person, in the end we did find a person just crazy enough to like the Pickle Pops after all!

Miracle berries, almost in my grasp!

/ Shane / 1 Comment

As I have previously reported, there is a crazy Miracle Berry that messes with your taste buds such that everything you eat tastes totally different and delicious.  I really wanted to try it out and a berry only costs about $3 a pop, but I couldn’t really find a place in Chicago to get them.  You could import them by the hundreds, but that was pretty expensive!  I even considered buying a plant and growing them myself, but they sounded pretty difficult to take care of.

But finally, a light in the darkness!  And from who else but my favorite store, ThinkGeek?  Now available for purchase, you can buy Miracle Berry Tablets, which work the same as the berries.  I am really itching to try them and now they are affordable (even if they are on back order).

So, anyone up for a flavor tripping party?

LeRoi Moore

/ Shane / 1 Comment

The saxophonist for and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, LeRoi Moore died yesterday from complications stemming from an ATV accident. 

Although I’m not as much of a Dave Head as I once was, it was still pretty shocking to hear.  It is weird to think of the band without him.  One thing I’ll remember was his interesting stage presence…I always heard he had terrible stage fright which is why he always wore dark sunglasses and didn’t move around the stage much during performances.

That is all.

Protein S Deficiency

/ Shane / 2 Comments

Kind of like concatenating your first pet with the street you grew up on to find your “porn star name”, you can also try the Random Awesome Album Generator algorithm, courtesy of MegDesk. (EDIT: Click on that link and go check out some of the ones in the comments!)

  • Band Name – The tile of this article
  • Album Title – The last four words of the very last quote on this page
  • Album Cover Art – The third image on this page

    • Verily, I give to you Some Pretty Annoying Virtues by Protein S Deficiency:

    (cover created by me)

    You can add your own in the comments!

    The tastiest part is the soul

    / Shane / 1 Comment

    Over the weekend I had to trot, trot to Boston to do a little work.  While I was there, I was very bold and adventurous trying food that I normally wouldn’t try.  One night we were out at the Fisherman’s Festival and my boss stopped at a booth serving clams.  He was pretty excited because, being French, they ate a lot of fresh seafood growing up.  So he ordered a plate and convinced me to try one.  I had never had one before and figured I probably never will, since it is not something that would normally appeal to me.  So he squeezed some lemon on there and I ate it.  I was pleasantly surprised!  I mean, I like seafood quite a bit, so I don’t know what I expected, but it was good.  Saltier than I imagined.  I would like to try one with the hot sauce maybe.  Anyway, we continued walking along and I inquired what the difference between clams and mussels were.  He started explaining that (among many other differences) when the lemon juice hits the mussels they shriveled up.

    I stopped cold.  “You mean they are alive??”  He laughed and said, “Yeah, what do you think you just ate?”  I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me, and it doesn’t change anything about the fact that I actually thought it tasted pretty good, but I’m sure glad he told me that after I ate it.  I was fairly horrified.  I just imagined me chewing and chewing and ending his little life.

    I also had the opportunity to eat an entire lobster.  Again my boss was there to demonstrate all the tricky bits and how to properly dismantle him.  Again, it was super, super tasty but I just had to keep suppressing the knowledge that I was tearing this animal apart with my bare hands.  Especially when there was something disgusting, like the contents of its stomach.  The thing is, I have no problem with killing animals and I have no problem with the awful conditions of slaughter houses, etc.  I think if you eat meat or fast food, or wear leather, etc. you better come to grips with the fact that that’s what is happening.  I have no remorse over that, I’m no PETA lover.  But I don’t like to be reminded that my food came from an actual animal; I’d rather someone else took care of that part.  I mean, I want my garbage collected but that doesn’t mean I want to actually do that part myself!

    I also tried clam chowder, which was ALSO delicious.  So, that was 3 adventerous forrays into the New England food world and 3 big hits.  Although I’m still not sure I could bite into another clam knowing that it would be that bite that ended his tiny life.