We love BJ's

I know what you're thinking - lots of people like BJ's, so what? Well, Tina's mom and a friend of hers had advised her against BJ's, saying it just didn't taste all that great. Fortunately for us, we decided to investigate ourselves and found the food to be delicious and the service was perfectly adequate. For those not in there area, a new one opened up in the west end of "the loop" in Hunter's Creek. We went there last night, and really enjoyed ourselves. The restaurant was well laid out, comfortable, if a little cold, and had a short wait. I expect the wait to change as word of their delicious deep dish pies spreads. That's what I got - the vegetarian. If you decide to get one, I might recommend the small instead of the mini. The mini was only 6": adequate, but the 8" was more than enough to satisfy. You'll probably bring home leftovers. Tina got a big Turkey sandwich with wedge-cut fries. She said it was really good. I tried one of the fries and I can attest to that. As wonderful as the entres were, the appetizer was really the highlight. Avocado wonton rolls. Wow, were they good! Amazing, even. The only problem was that they were very filling. Which is to be expected - avocados are like 98% fat. Good fat, but fat nonetheless.

So anyhow, we enjoyed BJ's, and if you have one in the area, we think you'll them too. Here is their website: Click here for BJ's.

Maraka

If any of you have ever watched a single episode of Dora the Explorer, you'll get a few good laughs out of this video.

Voluntary Suicide

While conch shells are victims of involuntary suicide, some species of goldfish are afforded the luxury of voluntary suicide, as depicted here:

Shark Repellent

We got to talking about sharks at work and we ended up with Batman. Why Batman? Because he came prepared to fend off the marine nuisance using his patented Shark Repellent. Well, I did some research and thought I'd share my findings.

First, there is this 16' frozen great white in Australia:


and from the side ...



Naturally, one wants to protect one's family from such a menace, so I YouTube'd Batman's shark repellent. LOVED this show as a kid. Admittedly I was a bit disenchanted when I came across a clip of the original movie. Here are some highlights:

First, they drop the bat ladder from the bat copter. Not just any ladder. A bat ladder. What distinguishes it from regular ladders? The label.



While descending the bat ladder, Adam West is accosted by a rubber shark:



Wiggling in frustration, Adam West wonders where he went wrong in his acting career. Fortunately for him, he has a lovely assortment of marine animal repellents in the fragrance section of the helicopter. While this won't help with his career, he can at least end his humiliation using this convenient plot device.



(West's obsession with aerosol-based solutions, and a dating dry-spell would eventually lead him to invent Axe body spray, but I digress...)

Here we see Robin finding an inventive way to avoid tea-bagging the Batman:




I am happy to report that the shark repellent worked, and the rubberized animal exploded into the ocean. Yes it did, it exploded. Watch the video. It's at the very end:

Cracking Knuckles

Quick survey: Have any of you ever been addicted to cracking your knuckles, but somehow, after years of doing so, trained yourself to stop? If so, why did you it?

Another question: Do you have any weird joints that you crack? I just cracked my jaw. I don't know anyone else who does this, but I've been doing that since the 4th grade.

7-10-08 Update

I updated some of the political links and added a new Misc. Link. Yes, Buchanan is on there. He's brought up some very interesting points about war lately and I have to say, I've become much more dovish having ceded some of his points. Some of his other stuff I don't agree with, but hey, that's true of anyone with an independent mind.

I've also added a really helpful link on self-defense. I came across this site when I did a Google on keyword Burglary. It had a LOT of helpful information on how to mitigate burglary risks to your home and family. If you've never clicked on any of my links, you should really do yourself a favor and at least bookmark that one.