nVerse

This Tasted Alot Better Before I Saw the Packaging From Whence it Came…

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Available at your local costco or online for $6.84 for 8 POUNDS of potato salad carton gooey goodness.

Chevy’s Salads Not So Slimming

I went to Chevy’s the other day as someone convinced me that it was national Tequila day - and as fate would have it,  most of my favorite burrito places don’t serve tequila…so, yes, we went to Chevy’s.

ahhh Chevy’s, that Applebees of Mexican cuisine - the Olive Garden of texMex.

Anyways, shockingly, they now display their nutritional info next to each item on the menu - and I have lately acquired a semi-obsession for comparing nutritional facts of fast foodish places.  Chevy’s is no exception.  Joy!

The Chevy’s menu with nutritional facts is a fascinating read.  The super cinco combo meal which I was tempted to order was just shy of 2,000 calories.  not surprising.

What is surprising is the semi-healthy sounding Toastada Salad with Chicken - no doubt, this sounds like lighter fare…right?

it weighs in at 1551 calories and 94 grams of fat.

The chicken fajitas at 908 calories and 31 grams of fat is likely tastier, more filing and more fun to eat.  yes.  more fun to eat.  Ole!

Fake Cop Pulls Over Real Cop

Ah Oakland.  Only in Oakland… ok, I have to be careful here - I recently cited some of the crime stats to an Oakland resident (a newbie yuppie transplant) in what I thought was a fact-stating sense of info sharing - e.g. “…Oakland has the dubious distinction of ranking fifth worst in a nationwide ranking of violent crime.  …Oakland finished 2008 with 124 homicides”

… and as a result of this statement I perturbed this Oakland resident to a state of uber-defensiveness.  I won’t bother you with the snippy details except to say that his defense was, “from my home in the Oakland Hills with beautiful views, great neighbors and down to earth people, i had no idea. ”

Well, buster, if you live in the fifth most violent crime ridden city in the US, maybe you should have an idea…

Oakland does have great views and wonderful people and a whole lot of other gems of awesomeness - but it is also just below Detroit in terms of violent crime.  Just like the Hunters Point area of San Francisco is no place to go after dark.  To understand the beauty and character of Oakland you have to include the entire package - including its culture, its crime and storied past - turning a blind eye to reality just makes you look at things through rose-colored glasses… and pretend that you are living somewhere else.   It’s kind of like reminding a resident of Belvedere that a decade or two ago it had one of the highest per capita murder rates in the US when one person was shot and killed (Belvedere is a tiny affluent, snooty town) or that Angel Island wasn’t always just a sweet place to take your sailboat to and picnic with the kids - it was once a horrible detainee camp for Chinese immigrants (remember the Chinese Exclusion Act? in affect from 1882 until 1943???)  …

ANYHOO.

this story was on the AP today, and I thought it was too funny not to retweet repost:

“Calif. - Oakland police say a man impersonating a police officer tried to pull over a real undercover officer and was arrested.

Police say 21-year-old Antonio Fernandez Martinez of Oakland was arrested Wednesday in the Fruitvale district after trying to pull over an unmarked police vehicle. Martinez was driving a Ford Crown Victoria outfitted with flashing lights, a microphone and speakers.

Martinez, a convicted car thief, will have his felony probation revoked and could face a prison term.”

geez, I hope he faces a prison term.

Can you imagine driving through the Fruitvale district and getting pulled over in front of say, the Fruitvale BART station - where the cops shot Oscar Grant earlier this year?  At first, you would fear that the cop was going to shoot you and claim he was reaching for his taser gun and was defending himself from the odor of your spearamint-fresh breath.  THEN you realize that he isnt a real cop… honestly, I am not sure which is more scary.  Maybe it’s scarier for the guy who doesn’t think there is any crime in Oakland at all… Eeeee - zing!

Hot Dogs Are Bad For You? Vegans are Suing.

According to the associated press, a vegan advocacy group calling themselves the Cancer Project, are suing to have hot dog makers use warning labels (and no, not labels that say, “warning may contains parts of the snout, lips and toe nails of a pig”).  The defendants of said lawsuit are the manufacturers of various brands including Oscar Mayer (aka Kraft foods), Sara Lee, Hebrew National, Sabrett, and Nathan’s Famous.  Apparently, according to the lawsuit, a report by the national institute for Cancer research indicates that, ” regular consumption of processed meat can increase the risk of colorectal and other forms of cancer.”

Really? thanks geniuses.

But why start with the makers of hot dogs?  why not with the makers of Slim Jims and beef sticks? why not 7-11 - the purveyors of deep-fried death sticks of processed meats called the 7-11 Go-Go Taquitos??? …apparently they are “neat to eat and heavy on flavor.”

First hot dogs, then what?  TV dinners???

Lady GaGa Meets Kermit(s) T. Frog

I don’t think i have ever done a post about fashion, nor about Lady GaGa.  I know, you are shocked.  Both topics, IMHO, are kind of a snore.  But i saw a post on New York magazine today and what i saw made me pause and think, “what the heck is going on here???”

Oh, it’s just Lady GaGa being interviewed by a German talkshow while wearing a bunch of Kermit dolls as an outfit and a hat. Says GaGa, “”I dress this way all the time because it inspires my life. I dress this way because my whole life is art and my whole life is performance.”

puke.

Lady, you look like you are wearing a muppet cemetery.

Move along, nothing to see here.   You can go about your business. Move along.