SeanMike

Is it because of who the band is, or because it is being crowdfunded? Given that they were the guys who introduced me to hefeweizen, I think a beer bar is a great idea. If the latter, how does it differ from, say, Dino's Grotto's crowdfund?

Let's see here - I've been trying to eat out less lately, but a couple of quick hits: ASHBURN area: Kapao is a new-ish place on Waxpool Road, with a big sign out front: "GENERAL TSO IS DEAD. LONG LIVE GENERAL KAPAO!" Though I don't usually order General Tso chicken, I got the General Kapao plus dumplings with a friend. The dumplings were exactly what I was craving, filled with chicken so I didn't feel as guilty, and the General Kapao chicken was big hunks of all-white meat, well cooked, with a perfect amount of batter. It was a great lunch. (That's the same place where in a previous visit I was picking out the little red peppers and one of the cooks told me I should try them, as he marinates them in wine before cooking them. I did try them, and now it's the only place I don't pick them out.) Chin-Chin Cafe is my usual stop when I go get my haircut (therefore I'll be going there again today). I've always gotten the same thing - kung pao chicken (though I've gone from fried to white rice) and sweet and sour soup. The soup can be hit or miss, though even on a miss it's still my favorite in the area, and the chicken is pretty solid though I always feel guilty about my breath afterwards. (Actually I only feel guilty towards my barber, a little Vietnamese dude down the strip mall from Chin-Chin, not my coworkers.) ARLINGTON: El Paso Cafe continues to be the same. They've revamped the menu some and took off one of my favorites (the carne asada steak) but it's okay. Not great. I wouldn't go out of the way for it, but it's okay. Service can still be hit or miss, though it's usually very friendly. DC: Javi at the Passenger seems to be doing more specials recently. Last night was lamb chops with wheat pilaf, and it was very tasty. I also ate at Eat the Rich on Sunday night - a dozen oysters, the soft boiled egg, and the fries - and it was, as usual, delicious.

I got a chance to catch up a bit with Mike Derks last night at Southern Efficiency, though I was too tired to stay for his DJ set at Eat the Rich. This morning I saw an announcement for working on crowdfunding a GWARbar in Richmond. I backed it, because of course I would, and hey, I think it'll be a cool idea. If you think so too, you should check out the campaign.

Are they actually the same as Greenberry, or just who replaced Greenberry? Because Greenberry started in Charlottesville...and there appears to be one in McLean as well. Those seem to be up and running.

I had this memory the other day - I think it was my first trip ever to DC. My family came in to see the cherry blossoms and hit the museums (I still have an Air & Space museum poster that's dated September 1984-September 1985, so that time frame). I was so excited about astronaut ice cream... We went to an Irish restaurant one night. I'd never had that style of food before - growing up in Morgantown, WV, you either ate Italian or "country" style (fish sticks, for some reason, long cooked green beans, squirrel in gravy over mashed potatoes, Western Sizzlin' on special occasions). I had cottage or shepherd's pie or something like that and it blew me away, I'd never imagined a "meat pie". It was so cool! I wish I knew what the name of the place was. I can see the outside fairly clearly, but I had no idea of neighborhoods, or where we even stayed...but I remember that restaurant, and the Air & Space museum.

I saw Fresh Squeezed at the Clarendon Whole Foods today.

So far I've backed 15 KS that delivered (I count 1661, as I got my t-shirt) and 2 that were canceled or didn't meet their funding. I've got I believe 7 still in the pipeline but all with regular updates/etc. As for 1661 specifically, I asked a bunch of questions by email, and she responded back with a lot of info, not all of which I can share. So I'm trying to see what I can say and what I cannot say.

I'm concentrating on this specific one for my article. I've dug up a lot of additional info so we'll see how it goes.

I'm doing an article on it. If you have any experiences with it, or with Ashlee, please let me know. (Please, no "I Google-ed this" kind of responses. I'm doing a lot of research, and I've already gotten lawyers, reporters, writers, and even a PI involved, mostly by inquiry. I'd just like first hand knowledge, please.)

I'd definitely do Rose's, especially if I can have a corner seat. (What? I'm anti-social lately. )

I've followed Rick for years on Twitter (and I thought Facebook) and he's always cracked me up, but I've been glad to see the success his bar has had (at least, via social media). But I can't stop laughing at this video. It's up to debate whether it's the nonchalant Tooth Fairy comment, the honey part, or how he garnishes the drink...

Went there last Thursday on a date (which I thought went well though she declined a follow up date, oh well). Cocktails were great. Food was great. Service was almost great. (I could've used slightly quicker follow-ups, especially after the hard sell she gave us about ordering more food, as we'd only ordered about four small dishes, but it was still fine for how busy it was.) Price was surprisingly good for what we got, IMHO. With Sietsma's review out today praising it, I'm betting it'll get a lot busier. Ed Witt gave me a hard time when I was there for not letting him know I was coming (my bad), and when my date left the bathroom at the end she commented that it seemed I knew everyone on either side of the bar (well, that happens). I can't wait to get back. My brother is going next week and I'm already jealous. Maybe this weekend...

By Rick Dobbs, out of California: I seriously laughed out loud, and hard, at that video. Especially the garnish.

Of particular import to this board, the GWAR-B-Q has been announced for 2014, in support of the Dave Brockie Fund and a Pit Bull rescue fund: Also, Mike Derks aka Balsac, the Jaws of Death, will be DJ-ing at Eat the Rich on Thursday, May 22nd, also in support of the Dave Brockie Fund. I haven't seen the guy in over a decade, so let's see if he remembers me!

Josh, that sounds pretty cool. Though to be fair, I think a lot of the concepts would be cool - I just hope the location is okay for them. I don't think people (at least yet) think of walking that way except those going to the Melting Pot. And I hope whoever wins opens up before I move out of Ballston.

Huh. That makes sense to me and I agree with Don. The couple of times I've swung by the Westover location I haven't been impressed but I always liked the carryout more that I got from the one near Arrowine.

No humor to it, really, doesn't advance a story line on the album, overall it's just a meh song, like most of the album. Most of the time their more - ahem - risque' songs are quite humorous, but this one, like Pre-Skool Prostitute, just isn't. It is catchier than the latter, though.

I caught up to s4e3 last week - will get the latest episode either tonight or later this week.

We Kill Everything, 1999. If the fact that the official GWAR forums back in the day claimed bringing up this album would lead to you being banned, well, you can guess how folks think about it. It's said it's the worst performing (financially) album they did. Honestly, it's a mostly forgettable album with a stupid "bad guy" character and even stupider songs for the most part. 1. Babyraper - It's catchier than it should be, like many songs on this album, but there's little to no redeeming value. Much like the next song. 2. Fishfuck - A lot of these remind me of the crap punk songs on Death Piggy's album, which are catchy in a way but stupid and short. 3. The Performer - For some reason this song reminds me of Carnival of Chaos' Sammy, but more personalized to the band. I like the horn flourishes to the song, but otherwise...meh. 4. A Short History of the End of the World (Part VII (The Final Chapter (abbr.))) - Hey, an instrumental. Yay? Actually, yay. It shows off some of their musicianship and it's much better than most of this album. 5. Escape from the Moose Lodge - This starts the "storyline" part of the album. A hint: it's fairly dumb, even for a GWAR album. This song isn't THAT bad, because we don't have toilets and a shitty "bad guy" character yet. No, wait...it keeps going. Dumber, and dumber...time to crank up the booze. To be fair, it's not that much worse than some other songs, I just don't like this album much. 6. Tune from Da Moon - Great, now we have Scroda Moon. It's kind of a typical "bad guy" song, so if you like them, which I typically do, it's okay. Honestly I want to dislike it more than I actually do, but that's mostly because I don't like Scroda Moon. I'm okay with this song. 7. Jiggle the Handle - I'm not okay with this song. It's so dumb. So, so, dumb. Usually I listen to these songs as I write these but...no. Not this song. I Just. Don't. Care. It's stupid. It's not funny. It's not catchy. It's a mess. I'm not wasting 5 1/2 minutes of my life on this song. 8. Nitro-Burnin' Funny Bong - Evidently I like this song more than the band, though DBX played it occasionally. I think it's just a fun song. Though "In the twilight of my years/I am still a drug addict" makes me sad. 9. Jagermonsta - I have absolutely no reason to feel like this is a "screw you for not sponsoring us!" song but that's the feeling I always got from it, especially as they talk about driving drunk, killing people, and getting away with it. 10. My Girly Ways - It's the return of Danielle Stampe as Slymenstra Hymen. I actually think this is one of her better vocal performances. 11. The Master Has A Butt - Just the title of this song makes me embarrassed. It just started playing and it has the psuedo-country feel to it and I remember, oh, you know what, just ignore this song. Really. It's dumb. It's not worth it. Screw it. 12. We Kill Everything - One of the longest GWAR songs out there. Woo. Less then two minutes into it, I'm already bored. 13. Child - Think this song is underrated. But also doesn't stick out too much. 14. Penile Drip - This is a very Death Piggy/DBX-esque song in my opinion. Catchy backbeat. Incomprehensible lyrics. 15. Mary Anne - A rare Derks singing example! I actually like this song quite a bit. 16. Friend - Uh. Yeah. Not sure of anything about this song. 17. Fuckin' An Animal - This song is very catchy. Do you *really* want more details about it? After this album we move on to Violence Has Arrived, which returns to more thrash metal and while not one of my favorite albums, I do think has some good tracks on it - including one of my all-time favorite ones.

Actually I wasn't really being rhetorical...but yeah. When I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class they emphasized SIPDE (scan, identify, predict, decide, execute) and knowing that on a motorcycle, you're just dead if someone does something wrong...I pay a lot more attention now when I drive.

I keep reading this as "food eroticism". I need to go home (or get laid or something).

I had mine washed out with soap once. I think it was when I told my mom I hated her. Never needed another lesson on that again! My parents were very patient in doling out the spankings. You had time to think about what you had done and what was going to happen before you got spanked. They never spanked while angry or in haste. Mental note: call my parents and tell them I love them. They're great.

Just the other day I passed an Arlington County car where the driver was very much under the speed limit and erratic. When I passed him he had his head down, reading a stack of printouts. (And yes, I contacted ARL Co. with the car number, time, and place, and they're looking into it.) People do stupid shit while driving. Is it because they're thoughtless, selfish, stupid, overconfident, or what? It doesn't matter. Look at the signs they put up on route 50 that basically said "don't hit the car in front of you" and they reduced the accident rate! I used to do a lot of stupid shit while driving. I used to brag about playing Brickbreaker while driving down the toll road. I used to drive drunk occasionally. I used to text and drive. Fortunately for me, I never hurt anyone or myself while doing those things, and I don't do them anymore. I am still not perfect and I know that and I work to try to fix my driving problems. But too many people never think about what they're doing, or think that they can get away with it, and that's why you need such an obvious campaign.

I'm almost finished with season three, and so I'm going to try to avoid spoilers for now. That being said: I'm not a huge TV fan. I watch some shows, but not a lot, and very few get me emotionally invested in them. But by damn, am I invested in this show now. I've never loved and/or hated so many characters so strongly on a show, I think. The last show I was this wrapped up in was House of Cards, and there were characters there that made me just kind of go "meh, whatevs, yo" as to their fate. On GoT, however, I have strong opinions on each character. And man, does Jon Snow suck.

I do miss Hardee's sometimes. When I was in high school, I was in all of the music ensemble "zero period" classes before school - woodwind, brass, and percussion (I played percussion in all three). I'd often pick up one of my friends and we'd stop at Hardee's for pork or chicken biscuits and a big cup of sweet tea. I imagine if I ate that today it'd wreck me (and the last time I went to Hardee's for breakfast, it was disappointing) but back in those days, I could eat about anything...the joys of being 17.