ABC news anchor Peter Jennings is dead at the age of 67.
Read more here.
Peter Jennings was a favorite of mine of the big three. He cemented this standing during his steady coverage of the events of September 11th, 2001.
An excellent newsman. TV news is a poorer place without him.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
The League Presents:
The League taste-tests the new BK Chicken Fries
Chickens. Small barnyard birds we like to consume by the bucketfull.
We grill them, we broil them, we fry them up. McDonalds took the lead in chicken reprocessing with the introduction of the chicken nugget way back in the day. Other fast food chains have tried to keep up, all with middling success.
But Burger King has taken it up a notch. Enjoy french fries? Enjoy chicken? Why not enjoy both in one greasy little package?
Perhaps you've seen the BK adds with the chicken-themed metal band, KoqRoq? Well, I'm a bitch for good advertising, and so off to the BK voyaged The League.
Oh, a forwarning. I do not have mouth herpies. I had a weird zit near my lip today and it shows a lot more in these photos than in natural light.
Here is our meal. You can see 2 drinks, 2 sets of regular french fries, 2 burgers and 1 box of BK Chicken Fries. We're anticipating not liking the chiken fries, but we don't think that means we should go hungry.
Here is a box of chicken fries. On the off-chance they're really, really good, we spent a few extra cents and got 9 fries instead of 6.
Not a good sign. You can pretty clearly see the grease lining the box. The fries are smaller than I expected.
In the spirit of the Pepsi Holiday challenge, we tried to pose Jeff near the chicken fries. Jeff refused to recognize the fries as food. True, he doesn't care much for people food as a rule, but when it's deep fried beyond recognition, Jeff would rather play with the straws on the cups.
Jamie steps up to the plate to model the fries and give you a size comparison.
One must always first smell the new food item to get the taste buds ready for that which you are about to consume. The box does little to mask the odor which has been tailing us since we grabbed the bag at the drive-thru.
Free of the box, the fries' pungent smell assaults the senses. Not as bad as I'd assumed.
Taste.
The chicken fries aren't as bad as I'd assumed at first. It's an odd blend of fast-food chicken, french fries and grease. It's tempting to add salt, but I'd be afraid that the chicken fries would dissolve like slugs.
The texture is sort of mushy. Not melt in your mouth mushy like french fries. You certainly do need to chew. Ah, delicious.
The sauce. The name of the sauce is "Buffalo Sauce". Jeff, once again, is completely uninterested.
The color is frightening, as if plucked right from the palettes of hell. The smell isn't anything to get excited about, either.
The smell is really getting to me. Every fiber of my being tells me not to taste this sauce.
My fiber is right. The sauce is inedible. There's some vague sense that it was supposed to be wing sauce, and one is left wondering "why"? The fries have not the taste, texture or feeling of wings, and there's no beer in sight. The buffalo sauce is a false promise made all the more foul by tasting like special sauce with sick in it.
And so endeth my experience with the sauce.
Once again, Jamie steps up to the plate.
Jamie has a very, very different reaction to the fries.
Jamie chooses a different lunch.
Bwah ha ha. the fries are mine and mine alone.
Full disclosure, with a whooper w/ cheese and chicken fries both available, I opted for the whopper. I would think that would tell you something. Also, the fries found their way into the trashcan right behind the sauce. Once the fries cooled down, they just weren't as palatable.
The League votes the chicken fries experience a 3 or 4 out of a 10 on the fast food scale. Oh, and a complete abomination to all of chicken kind.
The League taste-tests the new BK Chicken Fries
Chickens. Small barnyard birds we like to consume by the bucketfull.
We grill them, we broil them, we fry them up. McDonalds took the lead in chicken reprocessing with the introduction of the chicken nugget way back in the day. Other fast food chains have tried to keep up, all with middling success.
But Burger King has taken it up a notch. Enjoy french fries? Enjoy chicken? Why not enjoy both in one greasy little package?
Perhaps you've seen the BK adds with the chicken-themed metal band, KoqRoq? Well, I'm a bitch for good advertising, and so off to the BK voyaged The League.
Oh, a forwarning. I do not have mouth herpies. I had a weird zit near my lip today and it shows a lot more in these photos than in natural light.
Here is our meal. You can see 2 drinks, 2 sets of regular french fries, 2 burgers and 1 box of BK Chicken Fries. We're anticipating not liking the chiken fries, but we don't think that means we should go hungry.
Here is a box of chicken fries. On the off-chance they're really, really good, we spent a few extra cents and got 9 fries instead of 6.
Not a good sign. You can pretty clearly see the grease lining the box. The fries are smaller than I expected.
In the spirit of the Pepsi Holiday challenge, we tried to pose Jeff near the chicken fries. Jeff refused to recognize the fries as food. True, he doesn't care much for people food as a rule, but when it's deep fried beyond recognition, Jeff would rather play with the straws on the cups.
Jamie steps up to the plate to model the fries and give you a size comparison.
One must always first smell the new food item to get the taste buds ready for that which you are about to consume. The box does little to mask the odor which has been tailing us since we grabbed the bag at the drive-thru.
Free of the box, the fries' pungent smell assaults the senses. Not as bad as I'd assumed.
Taste.
The chicken fries aren't as bad as I'd assumed at first. It's an odd blend of fast-food chicken, french fries and grease. It's tempting to add salt, but I'd be afraid that the chicken fries would dissolve like slugs.
The texture is sort of mushy. Not melt in your mouth mushy like french fries. You certainly do need to chew. Ah, delicious.
The sauce. The name of the sauce is "Buffalo Sauce". Jeff, once again, is completely uninterested.
The color is frightening, as if plucked right from the palettes of hell. The smell isn't anything to get excited about, either.
The smell is really getting to me. Every fiber of my being tells me not to taste this sauce.
My fiber is right. The sauce is inedible. There's some vague sense that it was supposed to be wing sauce, and one is left wondering "why"? The fries have not the taste, texture or feeling of wings, and there's no beer in sight. The buffalo sauce is a false promise made all the more foul by tasting like special sauce with sick in it.
And so endeth my experience with the sauce.
Once again, Jamie steps up to the plate.
Jamie has a very, very different reaction to the fries.
Jamie chooses a different lunch.
Bwah ha ha. the fries are mine and mine alone.
Full disclosure, with a whooper w/ cheese and chicken fries both available, I opted for the whopper. I would think that would tell you something. Also, the fries found their way into the trashcan right behind the sauce. Once the fries cooled down, they just weren't as palatable.
The League votes the chicken fries experience a 3 or 4 out of a 10 on the fast food scale. Oh, and a complete abomination to all of chicken kind.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Hola amigos. It's been a while since I rapped at ya.
Well, I don't have much to report. The League has been a busy bee, and after reading a stack of comics the last two nights, the League wanted nothing more than to toss himself headfirst into bed and wish for the cold grip of death to claim me. Wait, no... That's not right.
Anyway, I've been neglecting my duties here at The League.
It's tough to come up with new ideas, but I'm not here to bitch. I'm just saying... I'm a little dry right at the moment. I'd probably default to writing about comics, but, Leaguers, I'm not sure that too many of you guys stick with me when you see a post on, oh, say, why the JSA is awesome. Or do you?
Anyway, it's kept me from popping up with much this week.
Here's something: For more than a month I've been keeping a log of what I eat for lunch. Why? I haven't the faintest. Anyway, the blog is Lunchtime with The League.
You will notice that 1) Tempe has a terrific number of places to eat. 2) I go out very, very often for lunch.
I just have never really liked eating at my desk, but it does happen. I usually just feel like I've got to get some fresh air and sunlight.
Anyway, it's not engaging reading, but it is out there.
I'm also toying with the idea for yet another blog entitled "The Chandlerist". You know how other people will take photos of their town and talk about all the fun crap there is to do in their town? I want to do one of those about Chandler, AZ. Why? Chandler is the most @#$%ing fun place in the world. People keep telling me that, anyway. Someone needs to keep track of how awesome this place is.
Has anyone else seen the new Coke commercial based on the hippy Coke commercial from 1971? They kidnapped a bunch of kids from around the globe and put a bottle of Coke in their hands and forced them to sing in Ingles.
Hilltop Coke commercial
I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to give the world a Coke
and keep it company
The commercial ran for YEARS, and was one of my earliest memories.
Every few years someone decides to "update" the concept, with varying degrees of success.
Now there's a new commercial for the 'ought's. It's just a bunch of models, you know, hanging out... just chilling on a roof in the NYC area. And, you know, they've sort of turned the Coke song into a rap. And, you know, they're chilling and singing.
There is a short version of the commercial is on TV, but there's an extended version showing at my local theater. I can't seem to find it online.
I'm not sure the original version is this pure thing which can never be touched. It is, after all, sort of co-opting the visual cues of the counter culture movement used for pushing a corporate product into every corner of the world under the auspices of peace and love.
But, you can say it did give us all a memorable campfire tune.
Re: The new version
It's sort of the "photocopy of a photocopy" effect you get when a commercial's greatest strength is it tries to make you recall the first cynically produced commercial in hopes you'll place the same good feelings upon their new, even more cynically produced commercial.
The new one doesn't have ugly people in it. It's just models lip-synching. Nor did they even bother to fly in some dude from New Guinea and some chick from Indonesia. They just went down to the local talent agent and had them send over some good looking 20 year olds after they were done with a Calvin Klein commercial.
Sigh.
At any rate, no matter how bad it gets, it's probably nowhere near as bad as most of Pepsi's advertising.
Oh, and I'm watching Hogan Knows Best on VH1.
Hulk just said, with absolutely no sense of irony:
Without Rocky III, Hulkamania wouldn't have been able to grow into the strongest force in the universe.
You know, Peabo and I saw Hulk wrestle in 9th grade. Screw electromagnetism, screw gravity and the strong and weak forces. Hulkamania IS the strongest force in the universe.
Well, I don't have much to report. The League has been a busy bee, and after reading a stack of comics the last two nights, the League wanted nothing more than to toss himself headfirst into bed and wish for the cold grip of death to claim me. Wait, no... That's not right.
Anyway, I've been neglecting my duties here at The League.
It's tough to come up with new ideas, but I'm not here to bitch. I'm just saying... I'm a little dry right at the moment. I'd probably default to writing about comics, but, Leaguers, I'm not sure that too many of you guys stick with me when you see a post on, oh, say, why the JSA is awesome. Or do you?
Anyway, it's kept me from popping up with much this week.
Here's something: For more than a month I've been keeping a log of what I eat for lunch. Why? I haven't the faintest. Anyway, the blog is Lunchtime with The League.
You will notice that 1) Tempe has a terrific number of places to eat. 2) I go out very, very often for lunch.
I just have never really liked eating at my desk, but it does happen. I usually just feel like I've got to get some fresh air and sunlight.
Anyway, it's not engaging reading, but it is out there.
I'm also toying with the idea for yet another blog entitled "The Chandlerist". You know how other people will take photos of their town and talk about all the fun crap there is to do in their town? I want to do one of those about Chandler, AZ. Why? Chandler is the most @#$%ing fun place in the world. People keep telling me that, anyway. Someone needs to keep track of how awesome this place is.
Has anyone else seen the new Coke commercial based on the hippy Coke commercial from 1971? They kidnapped a bunch of kids from around the globe and put a bottle of Coke in their hands and forced them to sing in Ingles.
Hilltop Coke commercial
I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to give the world a Coke
and keep it company
The commercial ran for YEARS, and was one of my earliest memories.
Every few years someone decides to "update" the concept, with varying degrees of success.
Now there's a new commercial for the 'ought's. It's just a bunch of models, you know, hanging out... just chilling on a roof in the NYC area. And, you know, they've sort of turned the Coke song into a rap. And, you know, they're chilling and singing.
There is a short version of the commercial is on TV, but there's an extended version showing at my local theater. I can't seem to find it online.
I'm not sure the original version is this pure thing which can never be touched. It is, after all, sort of co-opting the visual cues of the counter culture movement used for pushing a corporate product into every corner of the world under the auspices of peace and love.
But, you can say it did give us all a memorable campfire tune.
Re: The new version
It's sort of the "photocopy of a photocopy" effect you get when a commercial's greatest strength is it tries to make you recall the first cynically produced commercial in hopes you'll place the same good feelings upon their new, even more cynically produced commercial.
The new one doesn't have ugly people in it. It's just models lip-synching. Nor did they even bother to fly in some dude from New Guinea and some chick from Indonesia. They just went down to the local talent agent and had them send over some good looking 20 year olds after they were done with a Calvin Klein commercial.
Sigh.
At any rate, no matter how bad it gets, it's probably nowhere near as bad as most of Pepsi's advertising.
Oh, and I'm watching Hogan Knows Best on VH1.
Hulk just said, with absolutely no sense of irony:
Without Rocky III, Hulkamania wouldn't have been able to grow into the strongest force in the universe.
You know, Peabo and I saw Hulk wrestle in 9th grade. Screw electromagnetism, screw gravity and the strong and weak forces. Hulkamania IS the strongest force in the universe.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Hot or Not?
Decidedly NOT.
Leaguers, The League is not a handsome man. He's large, portly, sort of blank around the eyes and generally resembles a panda which has somehow lost it's way and cannot figure out how to return to the bamboo forest.
We lack washboard abs, hair gel, a waxed chest and pretty much anything else which someone might consider to be "attractive" in this day and age. Perhaps the pizza and sloth lifestyle I've adopted isn't turning me into the muscel-bound dynamo I had hoped it might.
But how unattractive is The League?
Well, for years we've had the technology to tell us exactly that. We've long suspected a deep love of pizza and loathing of an exercise regime would lead to a general feeling of repulsion by most folks, but now we've got real, scientific evidence.
Leaguers, The League has submitted his photo to HOTorNOT.com
The offending photo
Come see my linky link here.
I went ahead and voted myself a 10. I figure I need a little boost to offset the onslaught of poor numbers as we move forward and I gradually realize the best looking I will ever be was probably 10 years ago, and that ain't ever coming back. It's all downhill from here.
I've done a little research, and I figure in light of today's sex symbols, the League is but a pale shadow. I figure if we get a 3 to a 3.5, we're doing gangbusters. We're just not going to do well here.
Nonetheless, it's better to be honest with oneself and just find out.
I'll be checking my stats. To see how poorly we're doing, you'll see something along the lines of the item below:
Good Lord, I am not a good looking man.
This is going to rock.
Decidedly NOT.
Leaguers, The League is not a handsome man. He's large, portly, sort of blank around the eyes and generally resembles a panda which has somehow lost it's way and cannot figure out how to return to the bamboo forest.
We lack washboard abs, hair gel, a waxed chest and pretty much anything else which someone might consider to be "attractive" in this day and age. Perhaps the pizza and sloth lifestyle I've adopted isn't turning me into the muscel-bound dynamo I had hoped it might.
But how unattractive is The League?
Well, for years we've had the technology to tell us exactly that. We've long suspected a deep love of pizza and loathing of an exercise regime would lead to a general feeling of repulsion by most folks, but now we've got real, scientific evidence.
Leaguers, The League has submitted his photo to HOTorNOT.com
The offending photo
Come see my linky link here.
I went ahead and voted myself a 10. I figure I need a little boost to offset the onslaught of poor numbers as we move forward and I gradually realize the best looking I will ever be was probably 10 years ago, and that ain't ever coming back. It's all downhill from here.
I've done a little research, and I figure in light of today's sex symbols, the League is but a pale shadow. I figure if we get a 3 to a 3.5, we're doing gangbusters. We're just not going to do well here.
Nonetheless, it's better to be honest with oneself and just find out.
I'll be checking my stats. To see how poorly we're doing, you'll see something along the lines of the item below:
|
Good Lord, I am not a good looking man.
This is going to rock.
Monday, August 01, 2005
2 quick blips...
Blip #1
Here's a nice article on the architecture appearing in the skyline of the DC Comic: The Manhattan Guardian. Read here.
This is why I like Grant Morrison's stuff. I knew there was some crazy stuff going on in the background of the frames and from some of the dialogue, but I didn't realize that the structures the characters were referring to actually existed.
Special thanks to Jim D. for the article. Go read Manhattan Guardian.
Blip #2
The @#$%ing Suns just traded away Joe Johnson. I listened to the news all the way into work today, and this was the only story that made me audibly shout out "NO!" and start pounding on my steering wheel.
I think I need to recheck my priorities.
On the other hand, that's 2 of my favorite players gone. (No, the other one was Quentin Richardson, not High-Fiving White Guy).
Blip #1
Here's a nice article on the architecture appearing in the skyline of the DC Comic: The Manhattan Guardian. Read here.
This is why I like Grant Morrison's stuff. I knew there was some crazy stuff going on in the background of the frames and from some of the dialogue, but I didn't realize that the structures the characters were referring to actually existed.
Special thanks to Jim D. for the article. Go read Manhattan Guardian.
Blip #2
The @#$%ing Suns just traded away Joe Johnson. I listened to the news all the way into work today, and this was the only story that made me audibly shout out "NO!" and start pounding on my steering wheel.
I think I need to recheck my priorities.
On the other hand, that's 2 of my favorite players gone. (No, the other one was Quentin Richardson, not High-Fiving White Guy).
Suggestions for Further Reading
Quick Picks of the Week
Flash 224
Did you read the Geoff Johns rant from a few days ago? No? Well, go read it. Johns is wrapping up his run (ha ha... It's the Flash... a run. Oh, screw you guys) after five years. He's going out with a heck of a bang, going back to events of two years ago and beyond to create what appears to be the pinnacle of the sort of crazy-assed, mind-bending, fan-boy rewarding superheroics Flash has been excelling at monthly for five years.
Thanks, Geoff.
Wonder Woman #219 and OMAC Project #4
Holy smokes. I'm just really digging the heck out of the OMAC Project. I do think DC completely screwed up by not just integrating the Superman/ Wonder Woman "Sacrifice" storyline right into OMAC, but it doesn't really effect me as I read Superman and Wonder Woman, anyway (and so should you)... If Rucka's idea was to get you to read more comics, I think he succeeded. Thus far, of the four Countdown to Infinite Crisis series, OMAC seems poised to have the most far-reaching effects in the DCU.
Wonder Woman #219 ends the 4 part Superman/ Wonder Woman "Sacrifice" storyline, with multiple artists on board. Apparently there was some scheduling issue as this issue had to be shipped in order, and thus DC had to bring in a lot of help. Still, the issue works. Wonder Woman shows she is a warrior in a way Bruce and Clark simply are not, and one gets the feeling things are going to be changing rapidly in the next month or so.
OMAC Project #4 (of 6) follows the events of WOnder Woman #219 by about two minutes. If Sacrifice brought the story to a boil, now it's spilled over onto the burner. Cool stuff here. Nice art. Nice cliff hanger leaving you waiting for the next issue.
JLA: Classified #10
This series is a sort of "out of continuity" series featuring the JLA, written and drawn by a new creative team with each arc. This issue features writer Warren Ellis and artists Butch Guice. I'm sort of a fan of Warren Ellis. I like most of his work when I don't feel like he's trying to tell me in his story how he's writing down to me so my feeble earth-man brain can get the ideas. (Give me Morrison anyday, giving me enough credit to believe I'm following him where he's going) Here Ellis is doing nice work, and it doesn't hurt that this Guice guy is on the art chores. I like Guice's stuff here, and I'm not sure I've ever seen it before. He's got a nice, realistic style without resorting to drawing over photocopies.
Not sure where the story is going, but it should be good. He's writing Superman as something other than a muscle-bound idiot (DC's editorial seems to have finally found writers willing to do this, or else is gently persuading writers away from this 90's staple). Ellis's Lois is actually really interesting.
Anyway, the series just started, so it's worth seeking out.
For previous SFFR, click here.
Quick Picks of the Week
Flash 224
Did you read the Geoff Johns rant from a few days ago? No? Well, go read it. Johns is wrapping up his run (ha ha... It's the Flash... a run. Oh, screw you guys) after five years. He's going out with a heck of a bang, going back to events of two years ago and beyond to create what appears to be the pinnacle of the sort of crazy-assed, mind-bending, fan-boy rewarding superheroics Flash has been excelling at monthly for five years.Thanks, Geoff.
Wonder Woman #219 and OMAC Project #4
Holy smokes. I'm just really digging the heck out of the OMAC Project. I do think DC completely screwed up by not just integrating the Superman/ Wonder Woman "Sacrifice" storyline right into OMAC, but it doesn't really effect me as I read Superman and Wonder Woman, anyway (and so should you)... If Rucka's idea was to get you to read more comics, I think he succeeded. Thus far, of the four Countdown to Infinite Crisis series, OMAC seems poised to have the most far-reaching effects in the DCU.Wonder Woman #219 ends the 4 part Superman/ Wonder Woman "Sacrifice" storyline, with multiple artists on board. Apparently there was some scheduling issue as this issue had to be shipped in order, and thus DC had to bring in a lot of help. Still, the issue works. Wonder Woman shows she is a warrior in a way Bruce and Clark simply are not, and one gets the feeling things are going to be changing rapidly in the next month or so.
OMAC Project #4 (of 6) follows the events of WOnder Woman #219 by about two minutes. If Sacrifice brought the story to a boil, now it's spilled over onto the burner. Cool stuff here. Nice art. Nice cliff hanger leaving you waiting for the next issue.
JLA: Classified #10
This series is a sort of "out of continuity" series featuring the JLA, written and drawn by a new creative team with each arc. This issue features writer Warren Ellis and artists Butch Guice. I'm sort of a fan of Warren Ellis. I like most of his work when I don't feel like he's trying to tell me in his story how he's writing down to me so my feeble earth-man brain can get the ideas. (Give me Morrison anyday, giving me enough credit to believe I'm following him where he's going) Here Ellis is doing nice work, and it doesn't hurt that this Guice guy is on the art chores. I like Guice's stuff here, and I'm not sure I've ever seen it before. He's got a nice, realistic style without resorting to drawing over photocopies.
Not sure where the story is going, but it should be good. He's writing Superman as something other than a muscle-bound idiot (DC's editorial seems to have finally found writers willing to do this, or else is gently persuading writers away from this 90's staple). Ellis's Lois is actually really interesting.Anyway, the series just started, so it's worth seeking out.
For previous SFFR, click here.
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