Weekend leftovers

The restaurant that time forgot

I went to China Garden again this weekend. I ordered another Navy Grog, which didn't show up until I was nearly halfway through my lunch (egg foo yung). According to the drink menu, their recipe is passionfruit juice and Barbados gold rum. It still tastes more like grapefruit juice to me, but maybe I don't remember what passionfruit juice tastes like.

I brought my camera this time to take pictures. You'll notice that they're not posted below. That's because the Kodak batteries that came with the camera (which I got maybe a month ago) were already dead. But that's okay. I'm going back there twice in the next three weeks. After mumblemumble years they can certainly manage to stay open another few weeks, knock on wood.

I'm taking pictures not because the decor is fancy or even attractive, but because it's barely changed at all for as long as I can remember. I'd like to have some record of it before they redecorate.

Now I need product

I got a haircut on Saturday. I knew what I wanted, but I couldn't remember the name of the character on General Hospital who had the same cut. All I could remember was that, in this character's deep dark past, her original name was "Connie Falconieri." You see, because it's a big secret, she and her boyfriend mention it loudly and frequently - far more often than her real name ("Kate Howard," I remembered later).

Fortunately, the stylist knew who I was talking about and gave me more-or-less the same cut. This was a welcome switch from my last stylist. She watched TV all day in her salon, but it was mostly talk/brawl shows and judge shows, none of which provide much inspiration for a lady wanting a decent haircut.

The best celebrity/TV character hair salon experience I ever had was many years ago when I went for color. I said I wanted the same shade of red as Dr. Crusher from ST:TNG. The stylist didn't ask "Who's that?"; she asked "Which season?" I had to admit that I wasn't sure!

I can read and so are you

Some friends gave me the gift of fine literature this weekend: Stephen Colbert's I Am America and So Can You. This book has literally changed my life since I began reading it. Before that, I was a person who didn't own a copy of the book. That's completely different now.

Seriously, it's much better than I had expected. It's bigger than it looked on TV, and the binding is actually nice, with end papers (you never see those any more) and a ribbon bookmark. The contents are even better. It's a lot like watching the show (which is going to be off the air for who knows how much longer), and there are even sarcastic notes in the margin to sort-of duplicate "The Word." There's a transcript of his speech at the White House Press Correspondents' Dinner last year. There are helpful photos, thought-provoking stickers, and countless other features, such as words.

Everyone should own at least one copy of this book. I'd recommend one copy for each room for quick reference at all times; attached with a chain if possible to prevent theft. If there are multiple people or other literates in your household, you might need more copies.

I know Colbert himself has already endorsed the book with his own award. I'd also like to nominate it for a Hamster-Themed Blog Readers' Choice Award.

New pet peeve

Car companies must have some of the biggest advertising budgets in the world. So why are their commercials so lame? (VW ads excluded.) We are talking about some of the dullest, most uncreative, unimaginative ads of all time. A few are extra-loud or have annoying music, which means that in addition to being bored by them, I actively hate them.

There are some brilliant ads for car insurance. Too bad none of these clever advertisers do business in MA.


Useful Spanish of the day
ornitorrinco
(platypus)