Mystery Dinner Guest

Au Revoir and Thanks for Reading

2008-09-22T17:54:00.003-05:00

It is with great gratitude we leave our ever faithful friends and family readers, and thank you for all your support. Mystery Dinner Guest and Claude have had quite an enjoyable run at this blog but we collectively think the time has come for us to bid tout le monde au revoir and move on to brighter, bigger and better things. Next stop the great wide open. Thanks for reading.

Peace.
Mystery Dinner Guest and Claude
9/22/2008

Introducing the Intuos Tablet...

2008-08-20T21:14:00.004-05:00

"Martha's Vineyard Red Night" by MDG

Ok, it is a rare and dangerous day when we actually praise a product on this blog. But, we think we have just stumbled upon what might just be our next favorite gadget of all things technological. At least for the next New York Minute...

Introducing the Intuos 3 Tablet, by Wacom, which by it's branding advertises it's "for the serious photographer, designer, and artist". MDG was looking for a gadget to buy over the recent MA tax holiday weekend. Sadly, they were out of the Wii and the big flat screen seemed a bit overzealous we reached for the next best thing, we think. Check it, check it, check it out. Holy Batman, we like it.

It comes with a tablet, wireless pen and mouse you connect to your laptop/desktop. Installation is easy, guided step by step through their tutorial wizard. All connects well and you're off. Several graphic editing programs support the Intuos functionality with some of it's tools. For example, Photoshop brushes work with the pen and you can control width during the drawing line with the pen on the tablet. There's some pretty neat sh()t we've been discovering and we've just opened the cover. Double guns thumbs up from us!

Peace Out,
Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

Good Luck configuring your Belkin Wireless Router

2008-08-16T07:11:00.007-05:00

This post will fall into the "rant" category, which last we polled our fabulous audience was the number one area you wanted more.

So backin it up a few days, Mystery Dinner Guest was busy like a bee painting away when the ladder rungs caught in the modem and wireless router wires and kaboom! Toppling off the bookshelf and crashing onto the wood floor below went the lil devices. Now, the Comcast modem faired just fine, still working, in shape and ready to rock. The Belkin wireless router device not so much. Maybe something to do with its delicate little antennae. We don't really know or care other than to determine it no longer connected us to the internet. Seemed simple enough to fix.

Purchasing a new Belkin wireless router, we thought setting it back up would be a walk on the beach. Five days later, and several clumps of hair missing, we are back online with the router. Though no thanks to the phone conversation we had last night with Belkin technical support.

Dang we wish we had the transcript to share. We shall try our best to recreate the conversation which started after ten minutes on hold, with a helpful message about having your Product ID number ready or to hang up and call back with it... playing at the eleventh hour of hold time. Mad scramble to run downstairs, write down the id and run back to the computer still not connecting to the internet.

Ray: Hi my name is Ray. Is this an existing case or a new one?
MDG: Hi, yes this is a new issue.
Ray: Can I have your phone number?
MDG: Um, can I give you my cell number? I'm calling from a LAN line I really don't use.
Ray: Fine mam, I just need a number to call you at in case this call gets disconnected.
MDG: Ok, great. It's xxx.xxx.xxxx.
Ray: Can I have your email address?
MDG: Do you need it to take this call? I'd prefer not to give it out.
Ray: Ok, we'll revisit that at the end of the call. Alright and can I get your name?
MDG: MDG
Ray: Ok, and what's your product ID?
MDG: It's F5D9230-4
Ray: And what's the model number?
MDG: Is that on the bottom of the router?
Ray: Yes.
MDG: Ok, hang on I have to run downstairs to get it for you.
*** runs downstairs to get model id, wonders why this wasn't part of the sweet message in the eleventh hour on hold ***
MDG: Ok, it's 3001.
Ray: What operating system are you on?
MDG: Well, there are two computers. One is running on Windows XP and one is running on Vista.
Ray: There are two computers?
MDG: Yes. That isn't a problem, is it?
*** long pause ***
Ray: No. Who is your internet provider?
MDG: Comcast.
Ray: So what's the problem you're having?
MDG: Well, I'm trying to install the Belkin wireless router. I have one of the computers seeing the wireless network fine and surfing the internet. The other computer will see the wireless network, but will not surf out to the internet.
Ray: So where are the two computers?
MDG: One is upstairs and is connecting wirelessly, and the second is also upstairs and is the one having the problem.
Ray: Wait, you're trying to connect to them both wirelessly?
MDG: Yes, that's why I got the router.
*** wtf? ***
Ray: You don't have one of the computers hardwired to the router?
MDG: Nooo... I have both of them in a different room than the router and am trying to connect from there.
*** seriously dude, the concept of having a wireless router at your home is not to hardwire your computer to the router ***
Ray: Ok mam, the problem is not with the Belkin wireless router in this case.
MDG: Well, what is the problem then?
Ray: The problem is with your computer. You need to call the manufacturer of your computer and ask them for support with fixing your computer.
MDG: But why can't you help me when it's having a problem connecting to your device?
Ray: Mam I cannot help you any further at this point. You need to contact the manufacturer and they are going to tell you you need to call Belkin support and what you really need to do is figure out the problem with your computer.
*** did I just get bitch slapped by this guy or what? ***
MDG: Ok, well seriously, I think you need to have a conversation with your Manager and tell them that they should be providing you with some kind of additional resources to give people like me when they call with this kind of a problem. You can't tell me that I'm the first person to call in with this kind of a problem?
Ray: No.
MDG: And so you're giving me no information on how to resolve this?
Ray: The problem is not the wireless router. The router is working fine. You just told me that one computer is surfing the internet with it. You need to fix your computer. The router is working.
MDG: Ok, well I still think that you should tell your Manager that I'm an unsatisfied customer with your technical support and they should consider providing some more resources. You didn't help me at all. You didn't give me any information I didn't have before this call, and now you're telling me it's my problem. How are you offering technical support? *** huge exhale *** MDG: I hope you have a good night.
*** disconnects the line and heads downstairs for the Vodka ***

Now all I'm left to wonder is what would Claude have done? Would he have handled it differently? Would he have been able to sweet talk Ray Ray into giving it up, telling him the precious piece of information to connect to the internet?

Peace Y'All + Our 50th Post!

2008-08-05T16:37:00.002-05:00

First off, DazzlinDonna over at SEO Scoop developed a brilliant web site, ForPeaceNow.com where you can get and place these awesome kick ass badges to display on your blog/web site/whatever. Donna wrote a really interesting post here about getting back to Peace, and the web site is a spin off from there (at least I think that's the correct sequence of events). We thank you Donna for such an inspirational idea, and we support the effort!

Note from Claude: So my only problem is that while supporting Peace overall, I still have a really foul mouth and like to call some sh*t out from time to time. Ok, so maybe sometimes more frequent than that metric, but still. So I hope this is not an inherent conflict, becuz we like to rant sometimes and hope that that part is still cool-n-the gang?

Side Note from Claude: So my other complaint I'd like to lodge here is with current Facebook makers of Scrabble game. Yo! What the F is going on with your SH*T?!?!? Could you PLEASE for the love of the big "G" spend some time going through all of your user feedback forums, throw a sh*tload of $$ at this application ASAP and make it happen?! I heard it through the grapevine, that you're app is WHACK right now. Get your reputation management PANTS ON!

Ok, so back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Right and so the one last thing we wanted to mention is we just celebrated our 5oth Mystery Dinner Guest blog post! A huge thank you to our parents, our siblings, and our loyal rock star fans out there for all your eyes and time. We hope you keep on rockin' the next 50 posts with us.

Peace Out,
Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

Reasons for Cuil's Less than Stellar Launch Include Strawberries and Muffins, Oh My!

2008-08-01T17:07:00.005-05:00

This just in, we now have some factual information to back up what may have triggered the series of most unfortunate events with the recent launch of wanna be Google killer "Cuil". According to a few online sources, Cuil whittled away their $33 million dollar VC backing on strawberries and muffins, free lunches every day, uber-flexible work schedules, and extravagent first class plane tickets.

According to UK based The Register, more recent issues with the new search engine include exposing people to excessive amounts of unsolicited porn, a result they say which was caused by some "serious file corruption". Things are not rolling along smoothly for launch week.

But, they have one ace up their sleeve... online super hero Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land and now Editor-at-Large for Sphinn, turns out to be friends of one of the people involved in launching Cuil. Is it coincidence then his reviews of the product are mainly positive, upbeat, and he seems to be spear heading up the Cuil reputation management defense?

It's amazing what little $33 million can buy you some days.

Peace Out,
Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

Bye Bye Manny and Good Luck!

2008-08-01T05:14:00.005-05:00

Well maybe that explains Manny's jog the other night. And possibly the overall less than stellar team performance. We just heard the news last night a little past 5pm that Manny is leaving the Red Sox! At first, it felt like shock and awe. We're really going to miss:

the tremendous amount of tar he managed to fit on his helmet
the patented toss of the helmet, passing 2nd or 3rd base on a home run hit
manny being manny
manny's hair
manny's smile
manny's sense of humor

Good luck to you Manny in your new digs. And we hope that your real reason for you leaving us isn't the US Dollar, cuz that would just be, like, tremendously sad and incredibly vacuous.

Game back on! Let's go Red Sox, Let's Go!!!

Peace out,
Claude + MDG

Scrabble, Get your Game On!

2008-07-31T17:55:00.005-05:00

So in case you have not got a Facebook account, and had the recent displeasure of attempting to make the switch to the Scrabble Beta application, let us assure you that it is not a pretty picture you are missing out on. But don't take our word for it, no, let us present you with the screenshot to the right. Taken from the Discussion Board for the Scrabble Beta application. We'll refer to this as "Exhibit A".

So, if you read the post titles shown in blue from Exhibit A, you will see that Scrabble Beta is not getting very favorable user feedback at this point. Not so much!

While we would like to add a more personal twist to this product review, we are sadly unable to join a game we've been invited to attend. :: super sad, super sad ::

Our recommendation is we hope you throw some serious developer and hardware super powers at that sh*t STAT Hasbro! First impressions count.

Peace out yo,

Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

Personal note from Claude:

So I just want to add that I am also pissed off right now about the recent Red Sox games. I mean, Manny's jog to first base the other night was just bullcr*p! Manny, you better get your game on too mister! We're watching you.

Not Cuil Enough for School

2008-07-29T17:44:00.004-05:00

Ex-Googlers launched the new search engine cuil on Monday, what was touted to possibly be the "next google killer". C'mon now, really?

How many search engines have we seen try and enter the market to chip away at Google? And out of those, how many have actually been able to put a dent into Google's market share? Ok, just wanted to recap on that.

cuil, pronounced "cool", is sadly another example of a product launch before it's time. From this launch, I have the following three cents:

PLEASE, for the love of GOD, STOP USING WEB 2. 0 NAMING CONVENTIONS WHEN INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS. I can't STAND IT. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE and it makes me THINK YOU'RE A TWENTY-SOMETHING SHOULD BE ATTENDING COLLEGE BUT TURNED YOUR DORM INTO A WEB SERVING MORASS.
Can people please put more emphasis on stress testing and application QA before these gigantic go-lives? It only spells disaster when you don't, and reinforces that you come across looking like a 20-something skipping your calc and algebra classes.
Could you please just accept that Google is here to stay? You can't compete with it, Microsoft can't compete with it, and Yahoo! certainly can't compete with it, so just call it a day and spend the money you are sinking down the toilet on some nice Gucci sunglasses, a villa in Tuscany, and bring all your friends along for the biggest and baddest bash you can throw. It'll still be cheaper than trying to fight this fight.

[MDG side note: Ok, so the third point I kinda disagree with, in theory, but still like to daydream about a fabulous party in Tuscany with all my entourage]

And, for those of you who think I'm being too harsh on the new cuil, here's a random sampling of AP headlines on their launch:

What do you think?

Firefox for your Computer's Health

2008-07-23T16:48:00.006-05:00

In case you didn't get the memo, Firefox web browser by Mozilla is the best computer protection you can use when surfing the internet. Period.

Recent AP reports are saying that malware is undeniably on the rise; the sheer volume of computers being compromised by viruses, spam, botnets and malware is going through the roof.

But what can you, the innocent and unsuspecting web surfer do? You can start by ditching Internet Explorer as your web browser and using Firefox by Mozilla instead. Firefox is a free web browser, easy to install, and a gazillion times less likely to expose your computer to the crap that IE is all about.

So what are you waiting for? For heaven's sake, run *don't walk* to this URL address and download free Firefox today:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox

Peace Out,

Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

p.s. For those of you who recently signed onto your Facebook account and found Claude missing from your Friends and Entourage, you can read about what went down in our last post. Now Claude Rolls with 1.

RIP Claude 7-10-2008

2008-07-10T19:36:00.004-05:00

It's a very sad day in Claude's life. Today he got kicked out of Facebook. Yes, we're sorry to report this news but it is in fact the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help us G*d. Upon trying to login to Facebook this morning, instead of his Facebook profile, he got the not so nice message "Your account has been disabled by an administrator. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here."

Well, zoinks!!! We are just flabbergasted, in shock and awe, more disturbed by this than the Reverend Jesse Jackson comment about wanting to cut Barack Obama's nuts off. Or however he phrased it.

So kids, when you login to your Facebook accounts and are scratching your head wondering why your Friends count is minus one, this is why.

RIP Claude's Facebook Account ~ Wiped clean from the virtual world on 7-10-2008.

Top 10 Reasons Converse Rocks The House, Y'All

2008-07-04T07:09:00.005-05:00

As a little sidebar intro, so we admit that at first we were a little bit sweatin' it, wondering if we were gonna catch any heat from Verizon... you know, from our postings on their lack of environmental concern. However, thank our lucky stars, we came across this recent article available on Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim blog "New Survey: 55% of Companies Not Prepared for Online Reputation Crisis". Big sigh of relief. Moving on, we feel much better about posting rants, raves, or anything in between. Oh, and perhaps the occasional restaurant review for Cape Cod.

So without further ado, here are our Top 10 Reasons Why Converse Rocks The House, Y'all...

check the sweet logo design
they're an American company
they bring back vintage in mad style
they're in vogue every decade
converse chucks
their attention to detail
their cool factor is off the charts
they keep their advertising clean (***cough, Facebook, cough***)
their sneakers look good with everything
Target sells them

All this being said, we must admit that upon visiting the Converse web site, we might suggest a few minor tweaks for a better user experience: more obvious navigation, faster loading pages (suggestion: nix the song launching by default), and a more obvious way to turn volume down or off on "My Drive Thru". While the song is catchy and all, it's early here yet and I'm trying not to wake the neighbors. THANKS!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Peace out,
Claude & Mystery Dinner Guest

What's That, Verizon? We Can't Hear You Now.

2008-07-03T19:06:00.002-05:00

Status check for our faithful blog followers, as of today, July 3rd, no response has been communicated by Verizon regarding our "Open Letter" dated back on June 26th. We guess that maybe like the government, Verizon takes the month of July off and didn't have time to prepare an AP Press Release statement before break. Yah, that's gotta be it.

We just want you to take a more leadership role in putting our environment first. Actions speak louder than words, and we really look forward to hearing about your new eco-friendly missions.

Peace Out.
Claude & Mystery Dinner Guest

Citizen Cope - this song is dope!

2008-07-02T18:17:00.002-05:00

So we got another great beat for your consideration. If you haven't heard them before, we are totally grovin' to Citizen Cope these days. Check out "Let The Drummer Kick"

Good beats y'all.
Peace Out.
Claude & MDG

David Cook's version of MJ's Billie Jean

2008-07-02T18:10:00.004-05:00

In case you didn't watch American Idol, and, yes I am aware that there are people out there who downright refuse to, take a listen to this version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, performed by the amazingly talented 2008 winner David Cook...

We heart you David Cook, you really rock the house and we're psyched you won!

Peace Out,
Mystery Dinner Guest & Claude

Open Letter to Verizon

2008-06-26T18:02:00.003-05:00

Hey Verizon!
We're glad you're reading this, as you likely have (one would hope) in place mechanisms to scan for stories with the name "Verizon", to monitor your online reputation? Yes? Good.

Moving on, we wanted to bring to your attention the fact that we, Mystery Dinner Guest and Claude, are rather surprised... a little bit of 'shock and awe' feeling actually with your seemingly lack of environmental concerns. We put forth for exhibit A, your recent advertising mailing for "$19.99 per month unlimited calling for 12 months". Now, we are no English Professor or expert, but were just wondering. Doesn't the second part of that sentence negate the "unlimited" part? But, I guess that's mincing words. Anyway, we found it beyond peculiar you chose to use a a very large and heavy weight "Priority Delivery" envelope to mail your single piece of paper in. *** Are you serious??? ***

Here are our questions on this campaign, in no particular order:

Why the big ass, unwarranted envelope?

Why not think about being green?

Why not think about the freakin' environment?

Why not start using recyclable materials for your advertisement mailings?

We'd like a response, you can post it to our blog here. Thanks.
Mystery Dinner Guest and Claude

What to do for Scrabulous Addiction?

2008-06-23T18:16:00.003-05:00

MDG is strangely afflicted with a new found addiction in Facebook, Scrabulous, which we heard rumors of getting slapped with a big-ass lawsuit by Hasbro for infringing upon their trademarked game. Those poor brothers Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, these gonna need to hire some big guns to fight this battle. But... on the other hand, we haven't really heard much on this news since recently. Is it just caught up in the legal system, or are we gonna get our games pulled from our facebooks?

It is a tad bit addicting to play Scrabble online, though being an off-line avid Scrabbler, maybe this should come as no surprise?

And what makes Scrabulous so fantastic? Well, for starters if you like to entertain the idea of cheating it couldn't be any easier to do so. Built right into the game is a "Look it up" search field where you can instantly check whether a word is legit or not. Yah, they have that in the real game, right? Second, there's this news flash concept of tabbed browser windows, which make it real easy to surf and query sources like Google when in doubt on two letter Scrabble words.

I'm not quite certain whether Scrabulous is going by the Scrabble dictionary, or using some random third party online dictionary. If I had to guess, I'd go with the latter.

And just to poll everyone who's reading this... everyone who is sick of hearing about twenty something billionaires raise your right hand.

Thought so.
Peace out.
MDG & Claude

Facebook : Thems Some Pretty Racy Ads...:

2008-06-21T11:33:00.006-05:00

In keeping with the Facebook theme we seem to have goin' on, Claude decided to review and share some findings on advertisements displayed prominently in Facebook. Yes, that same Facebook application Mark Zuckerberg founded at Harvard and which Microsoft purchased for $246 million. Riiiggght. Just so we are on the same page here.

Advertising, hmmm yes. It is an interesting and amazing industry, that advertising, that. And it looks like the online medium isn't all that different from print or late night television advertising. Just wondering though, is it really appropriate advertising like this for teens and tweens hooked on Facebook like a bunch of crack monkeys? Ok, maybe crack isn't the best analogy to be using here, but you get the picture. Anyways, Claude's findings are that advertising on Facebook is surprisingly racy, and even makes Claude blush.

Some examples for your consideration...

I don't know, maybe we are just downright dumb with our concept of what appropriate online advertising is. Plus, as you can read in the Preppy Ass ad, this ad is Ok'd to run by Google, so it must be OK for the tweens. I mean, afterall, isn't the driving force of Google to do no evil?

Things that make you go hmmmm.
Peace Out,
Claude

Happy Father's Day!!!

2008-06-15T14:00:00.004-05:00

Too all you father's out there, just want to wish you a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable day!
XOXO
MDG & Claude

Joe's Beach Road Bar & Grille Rocks the House

2008-06-11T18:02:00.006-05:00

If you haven't been there recently, the updates at Joe's Beach Road Bar & Grille in Orleans are worth the trip! Some very happy changes indeed... Christian (formerly of Christian's in Chatham) is cooking there now and the menu has some fantastic updates. The haddock with lobster served with jasmine rice and asparagus is out of this world delicious. The tuna sashimi appetizer is yummy and great for sharing.

They extended the bar wrap around style, opening up some nice new seating configurations. The drinks are still rock solid, with a nice wine selection. We dig it. Rated "One of the ten best restaurants on Cape Cod" by Yankee Traveler. If you're on Cape Cod, check it out!!!

MGD & Claude

Know of any good gardening websites?

2008-06-06T17:27:00.004-05:00

Mystery Dinner Guest is:

a) hoping for a sunny & warm weekend here on the Cape

b) hoping to get some gardening in

c) trying to get some tips for the gardening

d) feeling like lazy way out of blogging right now and this seems to fit the bill... oh, wait. was that part out loud?

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the greenest thumb out there I know. While I like to pride myself on my multifarious other ways of being green, I have been known to kill a plant or two. So, we were hoping that someone might be kind enough to share their knowledge on any good online gardening web sites. Preferably ones that give you good ideas, with a good balance of pictures and instructions. Actually, lots of good pictures would be preferable. Nothing overly scientific, I get lost and confused in the academia angle.

So, yah. that's pretty much my lame ass post for the day here... looking for ideas on gardening sites? Anyone? Buueeelller?!

Peace Out,

MDG

If Facebook were real life...

2008-06-04T18:26:00.004-05:00

So Claude's been testing the Facebook waters, and he reports back from the trenches that it might not be all it's cracked up to be. In fact, he recently came across the following YouTube video which pretty much captures what being on Facebook can feel like at times. It's kind of mashup between part email, part Snapfish, part reconnecting with people you'd otherwise never see or hear from again, part selling your personal information to the devil... But otherwise, it is very fun to chat with good friends on, and play fabulous games like Scrabulous! So, Facebook's got that going for it, which is good. And that's Nice!

Let us know what you think about Facebook. Is it good or evil?

Enjoy! MDG + Claude

FaceBook In Reality - idiotsofants dot com

Claude, Your Job Called...

2008-05-26T07:59:00.005-05:00

They want to know which day next week works for an exit interview?

Seriously, we here at the blog are feeling just a little overwhelmed by your lack of work lately. And check your calendar on that exit interview, you're pre-booked for back to back interviews at the P-Town film festival. You know your boy Quentin's going to be there, so you best be hauling your ass back up from Florida in a hurry now, and don't forget to think about what you're wearing for that interview. Seriously Claude, get on it!

Oh, and someone named Holly called too, boy is she pissed. She said you'll know what she's talking about.

Peace out.
MDG

Britney - Discuss

2008-05-25T06:25:00.002-05:00

It seems like every other tabloid has our little Brit Brit on the cover still. Interestingly though, they can't seem to agree on much to do with the shape of her body. The same week one runs the headline "Britney's got her body back!" another runs with "Is Britney Pregnant?" Now, really, number 1) which is it? number 2) why are the tabloids still obsessing over Brit Brit? and number 3) which media outlet is a more reliable source to cite, People magazine or Fox News?

Please discuss...

Stone Cold BUSTED!

2008-05-25T06:00:00.004-05:00

Wese thinkin' we were being on the d-l and nobody would notice, but just found out wese been stone cold busted slackin off on the job here. In case anyone had the decency to wonder, "Now what in the heck do you supposed happened to our little friend Claude? I could've sworn he was just right here and then poof, he's just off again. And how am I supposed to sleep at night not knowing what ever happened to Tomato Man?"

Well, first of all, it is rather easy to move around at lightning speed without being noticed so much. Being two and a half inches tall does have its advantages. Second of all, I was desperately in need of some r&r. Thirdly, mole hunting. Sometimes chasing moles just calls to me. It's like, you can't even begin to imagine how much fun mole hunting is. I mean, maybe you would have a glimmer of an idea if you've played Buck Hunter, but most likely you just don't get point three. Fourthly, I'm just way too busy sometimes to execute on all my multifarious skilz. You think my man Perez Hilton's calendar is mad busy, you ain't seen mine. Enough said. I'm back again. At least for now... I mean summer is calling on the Cape and I'm getting ready to get really comfy in my beach chair.

[Mystery Dinner Guest note: He f-ing bailed to Florida without giving any notice. Then was kind enough to send pictures of taking in spring training games and sunning by the pool. Thank god he managed to get his SPF by airport security, I mean, you should see Claude with a sunburn. Now that's funny.]

The Salmon Dance - Chemical Brothers

2008-04-06T07:13:00.002-05:00

Shout out to little spring chicken, the Salmon Dance by Chemical Brothers is hilarious! We like. Video here for your enjoyment... it should be working, we tested here on Firefox, Internet Explorer and had a problem on Safari but know you aren't using a Mac so don't really care about that then. Let MDG know what the haps on your end?
Peace out. MDG & Claude

The Hottest Hit from 1977 - Fantasy

2008-04-05T08:27:00.005-05:00

Fantasy by Earth, Wind and Fire

MDG has to give a huge shout out to the spring chicken who told us about this one!!! Fo sure it's the baddest and bestest hit of 1977, check this shit out! Keep the tips comin along. So, jack the volume, press play and here's the song lyrics so you can belt it out with Maurice White. You might want to see what you can fashion as a shiny sweatband or glitter pants if you really want to get your groove on. Peace out. MDG & Claude

Every man has a place
In his heart there's a space
And the world can't erase his fantasies
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship fantasy
All your dreams will come true right away

And we will live together
Until the twelfth of never
Our voices will ring forever as one

Every thought is a dream
Rushing by in a stream
Bringing life to your kingdom of doing
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship fantasy
All your dreams will come true miles away

Our voices will ring together
Until the twelfth of never
We all will love together as one

Come to see victory
In a land called fantasy
Loving life a new degree
Bring your mind to everlasting liberty

As one

Come to see victory
In a land called fantasy
Loving life for you and me
To behold to your soul is ecstasy
You will find other kind
That has been in search of you
Many lives have brought you to
Recognise it's your life now in review

As you stay for the play
Fantasy has in store for you
A glowing light will see you through
It's your day shining day
All your dreams come true

As you glide in your stride
With the wind as you fly away
Give a smile from your lips and say
Are you free yes I'm free
And I'm on my way

MLB.com - How Greedy Can You Get?

2008-03-29T14:12:00.005-05:00

Are me and Claude the only peeps who think the MLB.com is about as greedy as a crack monkey who runs out of crack at one in the morning? Well, perhaps that depiction of greedy may not be the best one we can enact, but you get the picture. We're just sayin that MLB.com is mother f*ing uber greedy!

Driving into work the other morning, we picked up some of the Red Sox game being aired from Japan exhibition games. Good stuff. NPR gets a little dry over time and it was a nice change of pace. Listening, listening, enjoying it...

Get to work, shut off radio, head into our office. A lightbulb went off, "hey, let's see if we can't listen to the game streaming it from our computer". Brilliant and it's only Monday at 8:30am.

Quick Googling results find us navigating around the MLB.com web site. Hold up, let us get this straight. We need to PAY the MLB.com greed monster organization to LISTEN to same Red Sox game playing on the radio? Are you serious?

Ah yes, this is the same organization going after Cape league baseball teams for infringing on usage of seven or so pro-league baseball names. They'll have the Cape teams coughing up some serious dough soon enough. We're not condoning ripping of trademarks, intellectual property, or the likes but aren't these Cape league teams fodder for the pro-league?

We'll have to look into getting ourselves a fancy radio to tune into the Red Sox games, as there's no way in hell we would pay the MLB.com a red hot cent for the opportunity to listen to something we can get for free elsewhere.

Rant out.
MDG & Claude

PacMan!

2008-02-29T18:17:00.004-05:00

MDG had a migraine all day today. So in an effort to keep bringing you real and fresh content, Claude is happy to bring you PacMan, thanks to the sweet Google Gadget by SHULTZ:DK - The imperfect geek. Thanks Shultz:DK!

Peace Out,
Claude + MDG

Comcast On Demand - Menu Design Madness

2008-02-26T18:47:00.006-05:00

For the umpteenth time, Claude would like to reiterate for the record that Comcast On Demand menu design SUCKS the big one!!!

Who are they using to test this sh*t out on? Monkeys from the deepest jungles of Africa? Wild boars from parts of middle America that shall go unnamed? Almost ex-heroin users trying to get a fix? Perhaps, hmmm... perhaps they do not have user groups for the On Demand menu feature... or for the freakish design of their remote control for that matter.

How many times can we get lost in On Demand menus? Or find a movie we want to watch which seems to drop off the face of the earth when going back to select it? Would it kill Comcast to make a universal "Back" option that exits you out of every screen? Could they consider the needs of the simple minded human being when designing these services? Considering the fees we pay to use them, it seems like the least they could do. Ouch, our heads hurt from thinking about it.

Anyone else out there know what we're talking about? That's all for now...

Peace out,
Claude & mdg (mystery dinner guest)

Tomato Man is Back!

2008-02-20T17:38:00.004-05:00

For the love of Christ, Tomato Man is already back in action! It seems early, it being all of 31 degrees and feels like 23. Snowflakes could bust a move any minute now, yet there he sits. Outside, on his stool, all patient like with his dog. Watching his very early, lone tomato.

Tomato, singular, which is usually plural, but it appears he is starting slow outta the gates this year. Or maybe that's how it went last year, if only we'd pay more attention to the peeps. One lonely plant stands where several will soon join, all bundled up in cellophane or plastic or whatever material he's got on protecting the singular plant at this peculiar time of year to be planting.

Tomato by way of guessing, as I never do actually see the plants in the flesh. It's a quick drive-by, sometimes a sideways glance while passing by bike on the trail parallel to his house. I see the cellophane, wrapping its way around circular stakes, which I can only assume to be tomato. It could be corn. Or peas. Or pot for all I know, but that would be pretty brazen as he's sitting on a state road.

And who is to say he's early? By my count, it being the official beginning of spring training in Florida and Arizona maybe he is the smart one and I the learning by the seat of my pants one. Enough snowfall is projected this week to require plowing and digging out of driveways, but that cellophane is probably pretty rad shit. Maybe as warm as moon boots, puffy North Face jackets, or even warmer.

Me, I'm just washing my hands from planting my seeds indoors. Tomato Man, he's got it going ON while I am looking at weeks of tedious watering and moving around and draining and prodding. But what do I know?

Claude & MDG thinks we got us a 'ject in the works here. A little late night sneaky pants action to find out what hides beneath the cellophane perhaps? It'll have to be stealth though and Claude will have to do the leg work as MDG is not at all interested in adding trespassing or B&E to my rap sheet. Not that B&E was even mentioned, but you know how one thing leads to another in these type pursuits.

One thing is for certain though, wese peeps are back in the action on our blog. You can count on it.

Peace Out,
Claude & MDG

Claude's Cape Cod Haiku

2007-08-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

It's so close!
Empty beaches, and drivable roads -
Patience, grasshopper.

Billiam For Prez!

2007-08-17T19:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Claude and MDG are both fickle. After watching the recently glamorous Billiam on YouTube, and again on CNN, we must say our vote is now up in the air. A write in candidate for the ballots, perhaps?

We love Billiam. He asks an important question on our future environmental trajectory and scares the chickens out of Mitt Romney. Now, why is that? Mitt can't face off with a snowman? WTF? Pehaps he needs to start pumping some iron, or take a multi-vitamin, or try eating Wheaties. This shrugging off a critical question on voters minds leaves us only to conclude Mitt has no answer. --- red flag for Mitt ---

In case you missed it, here's the YouTube clip below of Billiam's response to Mitt's shrugging off his first election question...

Brilliant! Look forward to seeing Billiam at the next debates, we'll be watching.

How YouTube Changed the Election

2007-08-09T19:13:00.000-05:00

Flash forward to the election count for 2008... did YouTube matter? Yes, you betcha'. How? Here's some of the tangible ways YouTube changed the 2008 United States presidential election:

Accountability. If you make mistakes now, made mistakes then, or are making mistakes in the future, YouTube will be there to illuminate them. In living color, on replay, and on demand.
Real questions. YouTube brings the power to the people. Voila, a format for average Joe to ask questions of the candidates, and let their voice actually be heard. MDG's still a little bit frightened by the man with his pet gun, asking questions on gun control, but hey, power to the people.
Greater media reach. YouTube's acquisition by Google makes it financially injected, and poised for pole position.
It came at you fast like a spider monkey. Suddenly the masses, along with the candidates realized, YouTube does matter. It matters a whole lot. It happened a bit fast, like the clip at which Rob and Big, Meaty and Mini Horse are growing on us, but that's cool and the gang, yo.
It connected with you on a different level than traditional media like television, radio & newspapers.

Here's just one of the many YouTube presidential 2008 clips already out there, titled "Vote Different". This great mash-up video is created by Philip de Vellis, we're lovin' the 1984 reference at the end:

Note: Don't try and watch this YouTube clip over dial-up. That's not a good thing.

Claude's predicting a winner at this junction in the race. True, it's early on, and there's a whole lotta campaigning and speaches and fund raising up the wazoo left to be done, but Claude's going with Barack Obama for 2008. It wasn't the Obama girl YouTube video that got us, just for the record, but we're behind you all the way. Go Barack, you already got our vote!

9 Things You Didn't Know About Claude

2007-08-07T17:58:00.000-05:00

9. He's mostly falls into the 15 percent of Americans who hate the remaining 85 percent of Americans, as identified by David Letterman.
8. His favorite color is green, celadon green right now.
7. He does not like cats, and isn't particularly enamored of lolcats either.
6. He doesn't have a middle name.
5. Small children scare him.
4. He was once asked to join Ripley's-Believe-it-or-Not Troupe, but politely, yet condescendingly declined.
3. He likes to sing Neil Diamond in the shower.
2. He and Britney have the following things in common: spent time in the same rehab penthouse, sport the same do, and look pretty f*ing sweet in green sweatpant suits.
1. He taught Oscar the f*bomb when he was five.

Claude's Howze

2007-08-05T07:51:00.000-05:00

Man, Claude's getting amped up about his upcoming trip to the land of Led Zeppelin and gettin' the Led out. Home of the best damn chicken wings you'll ever taste, in fifty different flavors to choose from. They're all good. Home of Rod Serling and inspiration to his Twighlight Zone.

Also in the land where Claude hails from is Claude's howze. He pretty much big pimps it there, and we recently set up a photo shoot to share a glimpse into Claude's life. Like Britney's recent glam shoot, this one didn't go so well at times. Unlike that two dollar magazine though, we're actually gonna share with you the pix we got...

Shout out huge "THANKS" to Mystery Dinner Guest's friend, Z, for providing the sweet photo shoot and awesome captions! This is best read while listening to Led Zepplin and eating chicken wings...

This first one is of the woman and the horse. At first you're like, "Who is this woman and apparently the horse she rode in on????" Then you're like is this Claude's long lost wife and the horse she's been riding? But then finally you realize this is Claude's long lost illegitimate horse of a son......(insert joke here)

Then I thought I'd take an aerial shot of Claude's future dream and I noticed Oscar who I had forgot to put in the pics. Needless to say he was pissed off even worse then usual.....

So I hurried to get Oscar into the shot as quickly as possible and shot this one.....big mistake. As soon as Mr. Grouch heard the flash go off he knew I had got him from his left side which is his BAD SIDE! He started screaming " Motherfucker I've been in this business 38 years and no one shoots me from my motherfucking left side.........motherfucker!!" "Look at my contract I have final approval over all fucking pictures.....SHOOT IT AGAIN!!!!!

So I shot this one and the grouch was pleased. He was like "Yeah motherfucker!! You take a shot of the grouch you take it head on baby!! You get the full grouch effect motherfucker!!!" Man that grouch has a filthy fucking mouth....later----Z

Contagious Weight Loss

2007-07-29T06:59:00.000-05:00

It's about time, the funk soul brother.

We've started a new meme, and call it "Contagious Weight Loss". It's about losing weight leveraging the higher powers of visualization, and supporting others using this process. It's a private club, and Mystery Dinner Guest, C.R. and M.F. are all embarking on it together as the premier members.

You see, the piles in the closet were getting bigger, the pants from last spring that the dryer went to town on were multiplying. We needed to make a change. A change that's going to last. That's where Contagious Weight Loss walks in the door.

We've set out weight goals. This action is of primary importance. If you don't know what you're goal is, your mind has a very hard time seeing it. Um, Duh. How can you win the race when you don't know where the finish line is?

We set an event into place for when we achieve our goals, we can already see it. We're already achieving it in the future.

I've got an outfit planned for the event, white tank top, grey sweat pants, and a towel I'm gonna wear around my neck. Perfect for running up the steps from Rocky in Philly, PA. We're gonna be there!

Game On!

A Plea From Claude...

2007-07-18T18:37:00.000-05:00

So, normally I wouldn't do this, but Claude has begged that he please have a bit of reprieve from the constant comparisons to the Hollywood over-and-already-done-with crowd. He's really a bit down in the dumps at this point, and is still having a difficult recovery from his Jackson P. attack. The latest Britney comment might have been the one that put him over the edge.

Please, give Claude some space at this delicate time. He's also a little bit shaken by the confusing events of last evenings television broadcast, where he swears he saw Tucker Carlson sporting a full length tie. A WHAT? That's right. Claude's whole world turned upside down just like that.

Peace Out.

Thanks Distilled! Wikipedia-Less Google for the Masses

2007-07-16T18:54:00.001-05:00

It's been brought to MDG's attention there's a new way to search using Google! It seems our wishes have been granted, finally, a way to get Google search results without having to wade through buckets full of Wikipedia links. The talented and fun group of folks over at Distilled, in the UK, have developed a neat little plug-in for Firefox, which allows you to search Google sans Wikipedia.

Wikipedia seems to have risen in its incredible wiki-strength in Google, to a level of super sys admin, or David Beckham and Posh, or some kind of crazy bitch slapping hurricane all out of control like. We are just looking for a way to tame the beast, opt out of wiki results, turn off the wiki-ality.

For you fans in the UK, they're close to releasing a Google UK version... as well as considering a similar plug-in for removing eBay results. Sweet!

We are thrilled, and so, so thankful. Thanks Distilled, you guys rock the house!!!

Yours Truly,
MDG, Claude, and the Citizens in Search of a Wikiless Google

Rebuttal from Claude (ooohhhhhh and He is Pissed!)

2007-07-15T07:50:00.000-05:00

Oh my stars, my ears ache! The abuse I had to endure yesterday, after coming home from the market and having to relay my conversation where blasphemous statements were heard, like "Claude's finished, he's done, he's like Cher!" and "Nobody knows him, he should hang it up". I mean, it was all I could do to keep tabs of the former celeb list he was getting compared to, names like Barry Manillo, and Chachi. Oh wait a minute, didn't I see a reality TV show starring Scott Baoi just last night? Ummm, so, right then and carry on. And it's just a matter of time before we hear about Cher making a million on eBay, selling her locks or leather ass chaps.

So we did have round two conversation, where I tried my best to rebut for Claude. He was beside himself, drowning in sorrows that were only just setting in. And, then snap! The worst of the celeb comparisons yet, "He's like Britney".

Good god dang! I aint got no rebuttal on that one. Claude's down for the count now, KO.

If you want to send Claude a kind note, the Comments are now open. Peace out, MDG

Ardeo - Mediterranean Bistro

2007-07-07T06:17:00.001-05:00

With the recent Fourth of July already past us, the summer is cruising by at an alarmingly fast speed. With all the bustle of the summer, in came a new restaurant to Brewster, Ardeo. Ardeo has locations on the Cape now in Brewster, South Yarmouth, Yarmouth, and Hyannis.

Ardeo is a Mediterranean style bistro, set in the building where Square One Bistro was last summer. The interior looks almost exactly the same as Square One's, though the art on the wall may have changed. The outside has a nice patio with umbrellas set up on it, and is right along the bike path... looks like a nice stop for lunch if you're doing a long ride along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and passing through Brewster. The front of the building has a smaller, square shaped dining area and bar built in against the far wall. There are about 6-8 chairs at the bar for dining and drinking. The back of the restaurant has a larger, more rectangular shaped yellow dining area with larger tables and seating for groups as well as couples and singles.

The menu is eclectic, and there's a variety of appetizers, wood stone pizzas, salads, burgers and more. We tried the Middle East Mezza appetizer to share for the table. The Mezza is a great medley of stuffed grapes, hummus, tabouli, baba ghannouj, cucumber yogurt served with sliced pita bread. The flavors are really authentic middle eastern, and it was all very fresh and refreshing.

We also tried and liked the wood stone pizzas, they were delicious and served up on the table, resting on top of giant tomatoe cans plastered in Ardeo stickers as disguise & PR. Again, everything tasted muy fresh.

It's nice to have a different choice for a restaurant in Brewster, the pickings can be slim and there is always room and open arms for more restaurants to come this way...

At the end of the day, here are the important questions Claude would ask:

Can you get all kinds of hammered in the place?
Well, I guess so but wouldn't recommend it.
Howza bout dropping the f-bombs like mad?
Probably not going to fly so well, but a few could likely pass.
Am I gonna walk out of there still hungry or roll out?
Somewhere in the middle to the roll out side of the spectrum.

Welcome Home Alan Johnston

2007-07-05T17:17:00.001-05:00

We are beyond thrilled, grateful and relieved to hear the news that Alan Johnston has been released in the Gaza Strip! The BBC Journalist was kidnapped and held in captivity for four months, and released on July 4th, 2007। We are so happy for Alan and his family for his safe return. Welcome home.

To read more on Alan Johnston, please see the BBC web site page devoted to him.

Open Letter to Claude Fans Everywhere

2007-06-16T04:39:00.001-05:00

Ever since Claude's been on the wagon, he's been working on honing his multifarious other habits, and hobbies too. The following letter is from Claude, who asked to not be photographed for this article, as he hasn't fully recovered from the Jackson incident.

Open Letter to Claude Fans Everywhere:
Yo! What up homies? So I need your help here, as recently I've been on lock-down. I can't get at no booze here, and the shakes have come and gone already. To illustrate just how much I've learned and grown from this wagon crap, I wrote this poem:

I've been thinkin'
This not drinking'
Things for the birds

My brains achin'
I'm not fakin'
Lock-downs a turd

Rehabs for the dogs
Lilo's an f-n hog
I want my booze!

SOS,
Claude

Note: Claude asked me to clarify for some of my readers who aren't in the know, Lilo is Lindsay Lohan. He said if you weren't hip to that, you should really be spending more time on this web site. Peace out.

Gracie's Table

2007-06-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

We rangled together a small crowd on Friday night and headed off to Dennis, in search of a good dinner and drinks. Claude was unable to join us, as he suffered a rather sensitive accident which left him requiring a whole new wardrobe, and unfit to be seen in public. Gracie's Table has been on our list of restaurants to hit for a long time, so we decide to give that a try.

Luckily for our car, we had a good land mark as I had recently been to Buckie's Biscotti. Unlucky for car number two, they had not been to Buckie's. Gracie's Table is located at 800 Main Street (Route 6A) in Dennis. Signage for the restaurant is not the greatest, and, in general, this applies to all businesses located in this particular village shopping area.

The restaurant has a small bar area, tucked in a corner that looks cozy and intimate. We headed through the downstairs dining room full of diners and fantastic scents of spices and food, and up the stairs to one of two dining rooms. You feel like you might be in someone's Cape cottage-turned cozy restaurant. Upstairs is a small dining room that looks ideal for private
parties. The upstairs is about half seated when we arrive, and continues to be sat throughout our stay. It feels like the upstairs is a little more relaxed, and you can be a little more rowdy if you should so choose to be.

The menu had a very nice array of tapas, Spanish style dishes that are meant to share, along with entrees. We are in fascination and love with the tapas, and end up ordering almost one of everything. We ordered up the frog legs, roasted red pepper filled with saffron rice, the potatoes of importance, pear and cheese filled ravioli, pork adobo, littleneck clams with chorizo, spicy chickpeas & hand cut fries.

The dishes all looked wonderful,very colorful, fresh, and absolutely full of fragrance. The one dish I cannot bring myself to taste are the frog legs, they look so much like the bottom half of a frog I can't bear it. As a kid, I'd bring home frogs to the garage in hopes of having them stick around like good pets. Our friends eating the frogs legs loved them, and said they were delightful and tasty.

The pear and cheese filled raviolis are so savory and delicious we order a second of these right away. Served with two giant sized raviolis per tapas plate, and adorned with whole roasted garlic cloves, we wanted a few more big bites to go round the table. The pepper dish stuffed with saffron rice is one of our favorites. The dish is served with a line of smaller sized red peppers, individually stuffed with saffron rice. The peppers are perfectly delicious, and combination of rice perfect. The pork adobo is spicy and zesty, and served pulled pork style.

The dining staff is quite lovely and very pleasant. They are attentive, and clear and check in with you at just the right times. We noted they kept good care of a neighboring couple, who was en route to the theatre, making sure to get them off to the show on time.

The drinks were really our only area of concern and disappointment. The bottled beer selection was limited, wine choices looked slim, and martini style drinks were on the pricey side at $11. Two of the mixed drinks we ordered ended up tasting like light pours at the bar. The Sangria was OK, and the fresh slices or orange, lime & lemon look great in it, but we're glad we didn't order the pitcher.

By the time dinner wrapped up, we were too full for dessert or after dinner drinks. It was a great amount of food, not too much and definitely not too little. We loved the flavors and will definitely go back to Gracie's Table.

Why Claude's On The Wagon

2007-05-28T06:39:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. Last we spoke, we were talking up our big trip over to Martha's Vineyard and our fancy pants dinner reservations at a primo restaurant there. Nothing happened to the reservation, per se, except for the fact we had a little mystery dinner guest of our very own accompanying us on this said trip. After laying pretty low for a few years, Claude decided to make a reappearance back out on the scene.

Claude and I go back, way back to the night we met at Denny's at about two in the morning. He was just hanging out there all by himself, surrounded by a mountain full of plates of runny egg puddles and maple syrup swamps. He looked a little freaked out, over-caffeinated, and in need of plan B. Being as diminutive as Claude is, we sent Swatley in for the mission. At 6"5, he was the best man suited for the job, for sure.

Returning to our table with Claude, Swatley started chatting him up like they were old acquaintances. Naturally, I joined in the conversation and Claude and I too became fast friends. Just like that, he wasn't all full of crap and opinions on everything and a new mantra you must digest. He was just Claude.

Fast forward to the very recent past, and I do promise there will be more Claude stories to follow in the near future, but for the brevity of the blog sake, I should be getting back to our MV trip.

So Claude is along for the ride on our MV trip, and on the ferry ride over out of Woods Hole, he starts talking smack about how fortuitous it is that Kentucky Derby and Cinco De Mayo happen to fall on the same day. The Derby talk quickly hones in on the proper drinks to be drinking in honor of the occasion. You see, Claude is a walking mixologist, he's dined with Hollywood stars, drank keggers at UMASS Amherst, and lived in Paris, France. He can rattle off where to get the best margarita in LA, who makes the best dirty martini in NYC, and which Notting Hill hot spots have the best drinks combined with best scene all wrapped up in the same pretty sentence.

For the Derby, he tells us that the chances of us finding a proper mint julip on MV are like a snowballs chance in Hell, so we better come up with a different drink of the day pronto. We discuss the pros and cons of beer, margaritas, and wine. We settle on margaritas and are off in search of a good place for margaritas and watching the race.

We pull up some bar stools at Season's in Oak Bluffs, and order appetizers and Cadillac Margaritas on the rocks. The spring rolls were a little on the greasy fried outside side, but tasty and the dipping sauce was the expected yummy sweet orangy tangy sauce. The peanut satay was good, the pieces of chicken were loaded with curry flavor. The dipping sauce was pretty watery in consistency though, we were expecting something a little thicker. The margartitas were excellent and that's what mattered most that day.

Three margaritas later, we decided to get a move onto our next destination. For the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, we weaved our way through Oak Bluffs and over to Edgartown. Margaritas became the theme of the day, with Claude entertaining us with stories galore about what types of tequila we should try in our next margarita. Claude declared a new MV mission, we were to squeeze in as many different drinking establishments as possible on this splendid, sunny trip to Martha's Vineyard.

Time was ticking on and it was looking like we were not in any shape to be attending a swank dining establishment. Claude, of course, looked stellar and composed as always, in his usual green outfit. We on the other hand were getting louder and laughing harder by the minute. A call needed to be made on the dinner reservation. We cancelled it with mixed feelings for sure, but under the circumstances, we really felt it was the right thing to do. For the sake of the small children, and anyone seated within earshot.

Gold star for us for fitting in as many drinking establishments as possible in one trip to Martha's Vineyard. In a follow up posting we can recount what those were. That is if we can recall them.

And that my friends, is why Claude's on the wagon.

Sharpening my Pencil

2007-05-02T04:45:00.000-05:00

Hola peeps! I am just so excited about my upcoming trip this weekend to Martha's Vineyard, that I'm already sharpening my pencil in anticipation. I'll be reporting back from Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard with a restaurant review from the island.

It being the shoulder season yet here on the Cape and Islands, figuring out the trip logistics and details is proving a bit more difficult, but we're up for the technical challenge.

I've made a few changes on the blog: added email icons so you can email the stories, added rss feed to subscribe, added tags for story labels. Am still debating whether to enable comments, thus far my experience on sites had been comments = attract psychos to your website. We shall see.

Peace out.

JCrew - Better Check your Pockets

2007-04-28T07:59:00.000-05:00

Before I launch into the story about JCrew and your pockets, let me first announce I'm sharpening my pencil as you read this for a super restaurant review next weekend. We'll be ferrying over to Martha's Vineyard to dine at one of Edgartown's most exclusive restaurants, so stay tuned next week!

So recently I purchased a few things from JCrew, from their online website. When the box arrived, I opened it up and tried on everything. Thankfully, it all seemed to fit just fine so far. Getting down to the last item to try on, I pulled up the pants and went to button them. Only, no button. Hello, button? But, I just bought this new thing and it's supposed to be all bright and shiny like, and, wtf happened? Thinking, did it get all busted up in the shipping and handling? Shaking the box and ransacking through the packaging a second time, I look down and stick my hands into my pockets of my button-less pants. What's this? A piece of paper it feels like, pulling it out I unfold it and read it aloud... "button fell off". Hmm, well yes, by George, that seems to be the case!I do believe you got it.

But, my shiny, new thing is not new? I just ordered it... my brain, it hurts from thinking about it. And do I return it back to them and need to fill out the return slip too? As if to say, hey guys, guys. Listen up for a second, you remember these pants that were supposed to go to returns? Well, can you please put them in the right bucket this time? I mean really. Is that so much to ask?

Homestar Runner

2007-04-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

In case you aren't familiar with Homestar Runner and his gang, you really need to check out his web site. You can call him Homestar Runner, or Fluffy Puff Marshmallow, or Lionel Ritchie. But pretty much just Homestar Runner. Homestar will keep you entertained for hours, or as long as you have time to spend with him & the gang.

My personal favorite today on Homestar's site is in the 'Toons section. Here's a link to the 'Toons. Once you're there, check out An Important Rap Song. It's by Crack Stuntman, and if that doesn't make you laugh I'm afraid I can't help you either.

A huge "Thank You!" to my amazing friend who introduced me to this website!

The Roo Bar - Hip, Contemporary Cuisine

2007-04-23T05:02:00.000-05:00

The Roo Bar serves up contemporary cuisine in a chic, upbeat and artsy atmosphere. It reminds me of TriBeCa Grill. Their Chatham location has great brick walls and very tall ceilings. The custom metal wine racks and blown glass lights are designed by local artists, and help give the restaurant its feel. The wine list is impressive, and offers many selections by the glass as well as bottle * gold star *.

We tried the calamari, which is served with avocado aoili and marinara dipping sauces. Mixed in with the calamari are pieces of pepper, which are also lightly battered and fried. We love the pepper, and the sauces are both great to pair with calamari.

The menu has lots of fun choices for appetizers and entrees. We try the lobster maki rolls, which have lobster tempura on the inside. They are delicious, and the tempura is still a little crunchy to give them just the right texture.

We tried a wood fired pizza, which sounded great from the menu description. Sadly, this was not our favorite dish, and we've had better pizza there before. We also tried a steak dish that was served with asparagus and mashed potatoes.

For dessert we tried the chocolate martini, which was out of this world yummy. The secret ingredient is ButterShots, which makes almost any after dinner drink even better.

The atmosphere at Roo Bar really enhances the meal, the background music is consistently good and the service and bartenders are top of the line, and smokin' hot!

MYSTERY DINNER GUEST SCORE:

Food - 7/10
Service - 9/10 - They are simply delightful!
Atmosphere - 8/10

Gerardi's Cafe - Authentic Italian Cuisine

2007-04-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

Getting back to business... we recently dined at Gerardi's Cafe on Route 28 in West Dennis. Gerardi's is owned and operated by Diego and Sasha Gerardi, and serves up fresh and authentic Italian cuisine that will not disappoint.

Gerardi's is a teeny tiny restaurant with few tables and reservations are strongly recommended. They also offer take-out, which is great for summer nights when tourists are rampant on the Cape. When you walk in the door, you're met with aromas of baked tomato sauce, garlic, and freshly brewed Cappuccino. It feels much like a European bistro.

For an appetizer, we tried the Chicken & Prosciutto and shrimp parmegiana. Both were out of this world tasty. The house bread is served with herbed olive oil and just came out of the oven. We try the grilled steak medallions with risotto cakes special, and a veal parmigiana for our entrees. For good measure, we ordered the bruschetta with goat cheese.

For dessert, we tried the home made cannolis and cappuchinos. The cannolis were perfectly crunchy on the outside and deliciously creamy inside. Service was friendly and excellent, and the food just off the charts. Go now!

MYSTERY DINNER GUEST SCORE:

Food - 9/10
Service - 8/10
Atmosphere - If you get the booth, it's an 8/10

Goodbye O'Reilly, Hello Colbert

2007-04-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

So this post goes not in the "Restaurant Review" category, nor in "Spring Training" (which are both overdue yet for posting...), but in the "random rant as needed" bucket.

Many of you are familiar with my failed attempts to contact Bill O'Reilly on subject matters of utmost importance. Topics like Michael Jackson, Ashley Olson, Coca-Cola advertising campaigns. Yet, all my correspondence went unresponded. Nothing. Nada. Such a busy man as Bill, consistently calling out people to come and rumble on his show, must not have time to review every letter and email sent to his attention.

Now someone else, hardly a newcomer to the scene, may be worthy of such attention. Yes, I am referring to the one, the only, Stephen Colbert. Quite simply put, the Greatest Living American today. And who could compete?

Spring Training 2007

2007-03-09T01:14:00.000-05:00

It's Spring Training time again, which means the "official" baseball season is just around the corner! We flew down to Florida to catch as many games as possible, and managed to see Dice K pitch for the Red Sox against the Dodgers in Vero Beach. Along with being another great add to their already amazing pitching lineup, it looks like beer choices get better with Dice as Kirin is now available in the big cans.

The Red Sox are looking great, and I'm predicting they'll make it to the final four teams this year, if not go all the way. Big Poppi, Manny, Papelbon, Coco Crisp, Shilling, Wakefied, the list of A players goes on and on for the Sox.

"But don't you live in Massachusetts, so you always pick the Sox" you might ask? Well, for over twenty years of my life I lived in New York and Massachusetts, but you won't see me rooting for those money grubbing Yankees. They can keep Johnny Damon, he looks ridiculous with short hair anyway.

My poor, beknighted Father would like it known he is a life-long Yankee fan who thinks "Red Sox suck" should somehow be added to our National Anthem.