Man Sells Neighbor's Dog at Yard Sale

I think this is the first time that an event that happened about a block away from my house has ever made national news (even the back page). Click the pic to read the story.

30 Years and Still Going

The Star Wars franchise was launched 30 years ago this week. It's amazing that a movie that initially cost $13 million to make has earned over $22 billion. Not a bad return on investment. Although it has been a couple of years since the final movie was released, the Star Wars franchise earned $1.5 billion last year. That's more than newer franchises such as Superman, Spider-Man, and Pirates of the Carribean brought in during the same time period.

Is Paul Shaffer the Iron Man?

I was watching the 2nd Annual VH1 Rock Honors Awards tonight, and Ozzy Osbourne was the final honoree. During Ozzy's tribute, they played a clip from the video for Iron Man, and for the first time I noticed that there is an Andy Warhol style picture in the background of the video that looks exactly like Paul Shaffer, David Letterman's band director. Strange.

What a Difference a Year Makes

The pic on the left is of Eddie Van "Munster" Halen a little over a year ago at a VH1 event. The picture on the right was recently published by Guitar World and is the first public photo of Eddie since he recently completed rehab. It looks like he put on some much needed weight and spent a few bucks to get his teeth back into shape. I don't know if he had any other work done, but he looks healthy. If all rehab had done was fix his hair, it would have been worth it. I wonder if Van Halen will reschedule that canceled reunion tour with David Lee Roth that was supposed to happen this summer. I doubt it, because I think trying to stay sober around DLR's incessant yapping would be difficult for anyone.

The Sopranos Shocker with Lincoln Log Sandwiches

Sunday night's episode of the Soprano's, The Second Coming, had one of the most disturbing scenes in the history of the show. No, Tony didn't whack another relative (this time). The scene that was so hard to watch was Carmela preparing a dish called Lincoln Log sandwiches. Carmela could be seen spreading cream cheese into the middle of four sliced hot dogs that were placed on two slices of bread. When her son, AJ, came down stairs, Carmela proudly announced that she had made Lincoln Log sandwiches and presented the dish to AJ. AJ passed on the sandwiches and went directly out to the pool to drown himself once Carmela left the house. AJ has been suffering from depression on the show, and I guess the Lincoln Log sandwiches pushed him over the edge. Luckily, Tony came home and heard AJ struggling in the pool in time to pull him out, but not before managing to scarf down about half of a Lincoln Log sandwich. Yumbo!

I did a little research, and I couldn't find any information about Lincoln Log sandwiches on the internet, and I initially thought it was something contrived for the show. However, after a little digging, I found that the sandwiches are actually a variation of Seattle Cream Cheese Dogs, a popular food sold by street vendors in Seattle. The Seattle version uses sweet onions, mustard, and sauerkraut (optional). Mmmmm. Hot dogs, cream cheese, AND rotten cabbage. Sounds like a real culinary delight. If you'd like to see the recipe for Seattle Cream Cheese Dogs, click the pic above.

Tony Romo & Carrie Underwood

My man, Romo, was Carrie Underwood's date at the Country Music Awards last night. The two haven't announced they are a couple, but come on! She was on the Cowboys' sideline for about two hours during the Thanksgiving Day game last year before and after performing at halftime. Troy Aikman dated country music singer, Lori Morgan, so I have confidence that Romo won't let his celebrity girlfriend screw up his playing. I'm glad Romo is with Carrie Underwood and not Jessica Simpson. Rumors were that Romo dated Simpson, but in reality he never got further than having lunch with her father. Carrie is much smarter than Simpson as evidenced by the fact that she duped America into voting for her as the 2005 American Idol winner when she actually should have been competing on Nashville Star. I believe Romo dating Simpson would have just been too taxing on him and a distraction because of having to explain stuff all of the time.

Romo took some friendly ribbing from the media for holding Underwood's purse while she accepted her two awards.

"You have to help out when you can," he said. "I am just a secondary protocol there. I am there to do a job, and it was to hold the purse."

Romo also met George Straight while at the awards, and Cowboys' tight end, Jason Witten, claimed that Romo had no idea who George Straight was.

"I knew who he was," Romo said with a big grin. "I've never met him before, but I knew who he was. Witten doesn't know what he's talking about." Yeah right. I wish I didn't know who George Straight was either, and I sure as hell wouldn't be bragging to anyone about meeting him.

Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award

A product I designed and am receiving my first patent for won a Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award for Best New Product. There were thirteen winners out of the thousands of new tools displayed at this year's National Hardware Show. The tools I designed will be featured in an upcoming issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. The tools will also be featured on several TV programs on HGTV, Do-It-Yourself Network (DIY), and PBS in upcoming months. Click the pic for more info about the Editor's Choice Award.

The 2007 Beale Street Music Festival

The 2007 Beale Street Music Festival came and went over the weekend. Here are a few notes about the festival and Memphis in general.

• Attendance: 300,000+ (estimate)
• Weather: Mostly hot & humid.
• Racks of ribs I consumed: 3
• Best ribs: Blues City Café
• Number of kids I met on their first acid trip: 1
• Number of times the kid asked if the acid would kill him: 14
• The Mall of Memphis: Demolished
• Graceland: Still standing
• The Pyramid: Ever since the NBA decided the Pyramid wasn't worthy of hosting professional basketball games and the FedEx Forum was built, the less than 20 year old Pyramid has sat empty. Now, there is a Bass Pro Shop in the bottom level. What a joke. The FedEx Forum is nice, but it does not have the character and the appeal of the Pyramid, and I think it's a total waste of a great arena.
  
• Number of people too drunk to walk: Hundreds
• Jesus Freaks: Several
• Pan Handlers: The only people asking for money were firemen collecting for the "Fill the Boot" campaign for the March of Dimes. A lot different from five years ago when homeless people were everywhere.
  
• Wolfmother & Godsmack: Sounded great, but I bailed. Temperatures and humidity were around 90. The Budweiser Stage where the bands played was fenced off for some reason, but nobody controlled how many people entered the fenced area. Far too crowded and hot to see anything or enjoy the show.
• Papa Roach: Excellent. The small amount of rain and cool breeze blowing in from the Mississippi was welcome. No fence around the Autozone Stage so the crowd wasn’t packed like sardines.
• Daughtry: This American Idol loser rocks. Great band.
  
• Hinder: If Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Joshua Todd of Buckcherry somehow had a kid, it would be Austin Winkler, lead singer of Hinder. Austin isn’t quite as ugly as Tyler or Todd, but his lanky frame and stage mannerisms make it obvious that his style was influenced by both. Hinder is probably the best band I’ve ever seen live that only has one album out. The headlining band on the closing night of the festival is usually an established act, but Hinder showed they were worthy of being the main act.
• Drive between Memphis and Little Rock: Still sucks.

Yumbo!

These are actual photos from old cookbooks. I'd guess they are from the 60's, because whoever thought this crap looked appetizing enough to publish must have been tripping on acid. Click the pic to see all of the Nauseating Cookbook Photos on Cheezball.net.