Blimpie's - Put It To The Test, There's Nothing Like A Blimpie Best 5/26/12 New York City

(1/4 of the sandwich)

There were certain goodies that my dad would bring home from the island of Manhattan back in the 1970s when I was but a wee lad and spent most of my time meandering in Brooklyn rarely venturing into "the city" aside from a movie, comic convention or accompanying my dad to work on occasion.

Once a year my father would get us the comic book price guide to check on our collection's value Dad also scouted out the very earliest Star Wars buttons, books, magazines and movie program to my delight when the shops could not keep their hands on them, God bless him. and every few months I would get a Blimpie's Best* (a.k.a the B.B.) brought to the kitchen and my gleefully expectant (for I was foretold) watering mouth.

Finding myself 35 years later in front of one of Manhattan's fading selection of Blimpie locations (only 4 left as of this writing) I had to get a Blimpie Best (to go) and Loved every last bite of it, still the same and even better the day after from the refrigerator. Subway sandwiches have trumped BLIMPIE location wise (Like freakin' starbucks) and influenced their menu to keep up with a wider selection of toppings and more than one choice of Bread selection (trendy wraps too). BUT there is nothing like a Blimpie Best with The Works and never will be !!!



I am sure the original Blimpie's had Ketchup and Mustard and they always had the Hot or Sweet Pepper Slices but the Original "Everything" on a Blimpie was Lettuce, Tomato, (sweet) Onion, Salt, Pepper, Oil, Vinegar and Mayo, I don't recall Oregano and there certainly was no Bermuda Onion as seen in the photo above. I am sure they would sell you a pickle separately but "sliced" I Don't Think So (Could be wrong here) Banana Peppers, Olives or Jalapeño Slices (No Way). Well a "Subway" sign of the times and it is nice to have an option, I still get mine with "Everything" and I was happy to see the gentleman ahead of me on line also ordering a Blimpie Best footlong except he did get Oregano and my preparer forgot mine, no biggie.



The Blimpie Best boasts the mysterious and elusive "Prosciuttini" and all these years I thought it was the equally strange and defiant (not present) "Cappy Ham" that helped greatly in giving "The B.B." that unique taste.



As my Sandwich was finalizing preparation I tried to withdraw cash from the in-house ATM only to have the withdrawal go through but the machine malfunction at the point where "Cash Disbursement" occurred!!! a quick call to Chase (thanks Jamie) took care of the "balance" problem.



"Frankly Charlotte, I Don't Give A Damn"

* - While writing this Blog entry it came to my attention that the Sandwich name is in fact NOT a Blimpie's Best but a Blimpie Best.

BLIMPIE.COM

Baked Goodness In Food - Homeade Macaroni & Cheese

It started with a Facebook ransom note that the Snacknappers had my Puff N' Corn, Star Crunch & Streusel Cake and for ransom they ask that I make a Dinner (of my choice) for Jamie and even though my Snacks were returned in good faith I did make good on the deal and made my first ever tray of Macaroni & Cheese. You may ask how I got to this point in life without ever making Macaroni & Cheese from scratch and the answer is simple, I am not a huge fan of Mac & Cheese like most are, this may be changing though after having sampled this and seeing its creation through. I can't wait to have some of the leftover portions.



First Off, you need a whole bunch of ingredients and more than a quart of Milk to fulfill the 5 cups needed for this One Pound (16 oz.) of Macaroni recipe. I am not going to start listing ingredient quantities here, I am just recounting the experience.



A Whole Lotta Topping (and its crunchy goodness) consist of Panko Bread Crumbs, Parmesan-Reggiano Grated Cheese, Grated Sharp Cheddar and 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter to be baked golden brown atop the Noodles.



You are looking at One Pound of Elbow Macaroni (drained). I knew that Jamie and myself preferred Shells as the Noodle of choice for Macaroni & Cheese but wanted to make my first try the traditional Elbow Macaroni. And of course there was a SNAFU, I forgot to set aside one cup of Pasta Water (the water I cooked the Noodles in) and as I couldn't siphon what I had poured down the drain back up I used tap water and it seemed to work out fine (until I taste how much better it is with the Pasta water).



About 20 ounces of Grated Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, One bar Vermont White, One bar Yellow, the Vermont White is under there somewhere.



Mix the Cheeses, Flour, Milk, Salt & Pepper together with the Noodles, transport to 2 Quart cooking dish and apply Topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I baked mine for 30 minutes and what came out you can see in this articles banner photo up top.



Perdue Chicken Burger, Vine Ripened Tomato Slice, America's Choice Hamburger Bun, Macaroni & Cheese.

5th Avenue Street Fair 5/20/12 Brooklyn, New York

Jamie and myself attended the 5th avenue street fair and boy there was a Whole Lotta People.

 

Very unlike myself I did not take close note of the vendors names, this Pizza looked Amazing and served on wooden planks a la Italia but they were actually a bit too salty. Picture This, Take a perfectly Delicious Slice then add too much salt, Still I ate every last bite.

 

These Empanada's were simply Outstanding, We shared a Beef model and a Chicken and Potato Hottie but there were a few others. These were squirted with some Chipotle Sauce and Two were certainly not enough.

 

Twas a very bright day but here is my Pink Lemonade & Jamie's Classic Lemonade.

 

Earlier we passed a Mexican cart that had among other things a sign that read Sangria/Watermelon Aid, Well I saw the Sangria so they must have been saving sign space since this was a different animal Altogether, Simply Watermelon Juice on ice and as I was intrigued earlier and the Festival was waning along with the prices I got my "Watermelon aid" for one american buck and didn't even like it so much. I gave Jamie the rest and she hipped me to the fact that this was just Watermelon Juice that was seeped during the cubing of the Melons for fruit cups, Those Frugal yet waste not merchants. Hep Seed Cats, Yeah.

 

Just as the fair was closing I grabbed a last minute Burrito that was then transferred via plastic bag to the local Dunkin Donuts and onto the R train to be followed by the D train, She was a lot prettier of a Burrito when she started out, still Way Delicious though.

 

I was very pleased to have taken the photo with the Empanada, Thanks Jamie for taking the photo, noticing how much I wanted too and giving me that extra nudge over the cliff to just do it already.

Life Is An Empanada Party and Ride My See-Saw (Moody Blues)

White Wedding - Zeppelin Hall 5/18/12 Jersey City, New Jersey

In lots of ways I am the least qualified member of White Wedding to write an eyewitness account of any of our performances. Being as the drummer traditionally sits in the back with band members standing directly in front of them who's view is further obscured by Cymbals, Drum Hardware and Microphones oftentimes with bright lights shining in their face.

BECAUSE THERE ARE BRIGHT LIGHTS SHINING IN MY FACE !!!

So you can imagine how much of the audience I don't get to see even in the smallest of venues. I have heard tales of giggling asian girls swooning at Pedini-san, drunken sound engineers, quality Guinness, vomiting nuns and even just tonight with no bright lights shining in my face there were people supposedly doing aerobic splits (not spliffs) during our show all of which I from the back missed.

Peeking between bandmates and using the ears GOD (*) gave me I could tell that our audience was definitely into the show and growing by the end of the third set. Women Ruled the dance floor tonight in no small part due to Giseli-san bringing her friends and Tamara-san bringing hers as well, I also noticed a few people really into "Rock Lobster" that goes to show if you know that record you are going to stop, listen, smile and best of all ROCK OUT!!!.



Some of the band members moonlight at Red Lobster (restaurant) after our musical showcases.



Blondie's Have More fun.



Diana-san owning the Joan Jett Set.



Bono & T.



Spike-san bestowing asian wishes 2 american people.



Another Blau Speck Burger (Blue Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) and some Jalapeño Poppers for good measure did I have pre-show.



Eric-san approves of the Jalapeño Poppers undoubtedly.



WHITE WEDDING HALLOWEEN 2012, COMING SOON.

* - Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin

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This Is Show # 171

White Wedding - Those Special Requests

Every so often we are asked to learn a song or two NOT in our repertoire for a private function or wedding and it has always been much fun for us all (Limelight by Rush notwithstanding) being a challenge and often humorous when it does not fall into the 1980s category. Here are a few of those times.



The White Wedding Band working on the Maroon 5 song "Moves Like Jagger" at rehearsal tonight (5/16/12).



Rocking two Misfit's Classics, "Where Eagles Dare" and "Astro Zombies" at a wild wedding party held in Neptune, New Jersey (10/8/11).



Performing "Limelight" by Rush (10/15/11) at Le Pomme on 23rd street in Manhattan for a private 80s party. Due to the complexity of the music we were under rehearsed and never on steady footing with this number so when the night came we barreled through as best as we could. Details of this performance factor in that Mike (Doc Brown) could not hear his own guitar and during the guitar solo in 5/4 time David literally switched to "sheet music" whilst me an Mike were on feel alone, it train wrecked but we ended it before too late. Just One Of Those Thankfully Rare Moments.

I am so glad in hindsight that I pressed "record" for these one of a kind moments within these one of a kind situations.

White Wedding - O' Flanagans 5/11/12 New York City

It's Bisque A Long Time Coming,... The Lobster Hats.

It has been an aspiration of Dave's for some time (over a year) that we include the B-52s song "Rock Lobster" into our repertoire just for the props alone!!! Tonight this has come to fruition and I had a Blast performing it. White Wedding's rendition (see video below) premiered in our third set. incidentally "Rock Lobster" is also one of my favorite 80s songs recorded in 1979 and one of the greatest Warner Brothers singles of All Time.

The band played well tonight however not flawlessly and I had an effortless (comfortable limbs) drumming experience aside from my "extra" quarter note after the end of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock & Roll" to which Eric replied "Good Job".

I Love this guy.

While trying to "hail" a cab tonight for our trip home (Drum Kit and Guitar/Amp in tow) and after a tiring night (it was after 3 a.m. now) I said at one point within earshot "If It All Works Out..." to which Jamie and Eric clearly heard "Do You Wanna Go Work Out ?" that perplexed and humored all concerned or so I was informed.

Four new songs were Premiered tonight, "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" by the Georgia Satellites, "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" and "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's. Exciting, YES.



A fan gives the band the Mollochio, It Didn't work.




"NO!!!, Its pronounced Beef Wel-LING-ton you silly person"



"NO!!!, Its pronounced JOAN JETT!!!"



I Love to Singah about the Moonah Innah Juneah and a Springah, I Love to Singah.



"Bond,..... James Bond."



Snap It Pal.



After the first set I needed a shave and craved an 80s Orange Soda but not just ANY 80s Orange Soda!!!

Had To Be A Sunkist. It's been well over a year I had me a Sunkist and Orange is still the Most Evil Soft drink flavor out there, Talk about making you want to keep drinking More & More Soda !!!



Jamie was our camerawoman not only for all the pictures (of people) seen in this entry but also for our Live video feed to Ustream.com via J.C.'s iPhone via the World Wide Web via the Internet.



A Most Delicious Bacon Cheeseburger with (dare I say almost too much Bacon) Tasty Steak Fries garnished with Dill Pickle Slices, Bermuda Onion Patty, Tomato Slices and Romaine Lettuce Leaves.



Jamie had the Teriyaki Chicken and while she felt it was a bit heavy on the Teriyaki Sauce the "inner asian" in me thought it was just right.



Premiere Performance of "Rock Lobster"

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This Is Show # 170

White Wedding - Zeppelin Hall 5/4/12 Jersey City, New Jersey.

I haven't much to say about this show as it was a last minute booking and just one week after our last performance at Zeppelin Hall but they did open up the outdoors portion of the Bierhall which I did not get a chance to check out since I was under the weather. Tonight however did treat us to Tamanda (not an anagram but a combination of two names) who were both very lively on the dance floor and of which half can be seen in the photo below.



Tamanda Loved our singers stage presence and the setlist choice of material.



J.C. utilizes his mobile device between sets.



be happy, eat more chinese food.



self portrait of Jamie (our photographer) and Spike.



Collette rocking the crowd, aside from her vocal prowess she really knows how to work the room as well.



The Bacon Cheese Burger Jamie got for me after I was unable to eat much of my Breadbowl Clam Chowder as seen below due to showtime.



New England Clam Chowder in a Breadbowl which was hard to eat (the Bread had to be cut with a knife and then Chowder started spilling) flanked by Mozzarella Sticks.

This Is Show # 169

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The GrandMothers Of Invention - The Iridium 5/4/12 New York City

SHIT,.... This Band Smokes!!! and its not such a Wunderkind as this is Zappakind.



Don Preston on Synth, Vocals, iPhone and Vile Foamy Liquids.



Napoleon "He Be Burnin' Them Beans Up" Murphy Brock.



Tom Fowler on the Bass.



Robbie "Seahag" Mangano Tearing It Up.



A ticket to tonight's performance was thirty five dollars but we were offered to pay the table minimum which was around twenty to twenty five dollars a person if we chose to stay for the second show which Jamie, Max, Bill and myself certainly did and pictured here are some of the drinks imbibed since food would have been way too messy and probably distracting to the performing musicians at such close proximity.

Drinx - (top to bottom) Diet Coke (Jamie's), Pinot Noir (Spike's), Coca-Cola (Spike's) and a Rose' (Jamie's but inherited by Spike).



If the McDonalds Quarter Pounder is anything it certainly is NOT mighty or even meaty. Jamie's ninety nine cent Double Cheeseburger had much more to offer. Oh Yes.