With my mother coming to town in a few weeks, and my studio apartment–to lift one of her phrases–the size of a postage stamp, I’ve been scouting out NYC hotels, relying primarily on TripAdvisor’s user-generated comments and photos.

A write-up of boutique hotel chain Kimpton’s Times Square location, called The Muse, stopped me dead in my uncharitable, tourist-judging tracks with its gut-dancingly hilarious take on the hotel’s proximity to fine dining:

“Bubba Gump is my favorite resturant, which is in walking distance from the hotel. There is normally a 20 min wait–but it’s worth it (try the hushpuppies).”

And don’t forget to take the NJ Transit or LIRR out of the city first thing the next morning to sample Denny’s classic “Moons Over My Hammy!”

Hushpuppies – Single:

E&hl=de&fs=1&]

Youtube Channel:

-

Myspace Site:

http://www.myspace.com/hushpuppies

Offizielle Website:

http://www.hushpuppies.com/

Wikipedia:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/HushPuppies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HushPuppies

Last.fm:

http://www.lastfm.de/music/HushPuppies

When driving to work last year, I passed the Q Shack every single day.  Not entirely sure what kind of BBQ it was, it always intrigued me and have been meaning to try it for months.  Yet it never made it to the top of my list since it seemed there would be very little I could eat (being BBQ and all).  However, after returning from LA I found out they have sweet potato fries (a staple from my LA diet), so I figured now’s the time!  Last night I ventured there for the first time to meet up with Jon, who I haven’t seen in WAY too long.

Overall I rate the Q Shack as a restaurant a 6.5 .  I loved the somewhat divey feel with long tables where you might just end up sitting with a stranger.  You order at the counter, so you don’t have to wait to be served (which was great considering how hungry I was after class last night), and they even have good bottled beer.  We ended up sitting outside (even better), and I got a pulled Chicken sandwich.  What a perfect compromise, as it wasn’t classic grilled chicken, still felt like I was eating BBQ (it was mixed up with BBQ sauce), yet it wasn’t something with 4 legs.

Everything comes with hush puppies, and of course I got some sweet potatoe fries.  I finished the sandwich (it was definitely pretty good), but am definitely out of shape in terms of eating heavy fried foods (as compared to when I was living in Gaston and was a champ), and ate about 2 hush puppies and half the fries.  I will admit, I was pretty disappointed with the fries.  I think they were too thick and didn’t cook all the way through, so they were the kind if you hold it by one end the other end is droopy.  Not the best.  But the price was right (definitely affordable) and overall I have few complaints.  If you’ve never been you should check it out.

The company, however, was a definitive 9.  -1 because I no longer see him nearly enough, and sometimes hanging out makes me miss the old times!

Turns out, vacation is not that different from home.  I was awakened by a five-year old monkey staring at me.  There I was, sleeping (not necessarily peacefully, as vacation beds are NEVER comfortable, but I was asleep, nonetheless) when I came to a certain consciousness.  I could feel the eyes before I saw them.  Then, I opened my eyes and looked at the most beautiful pair of big, brown eyes that exist. 

“Oh good!  You’re awake!  Can we have breakfast?”

I mumbled something like “Shmurf hurf, five more minutes, mumph,” and Monkey in the Middle smiled and ran out of the room yelling, “Mom’s up!  She’s gonna get our breakfast!”

I got up, poured the cereal and thought about going back to bed, but once I’m up, I’m up.  So, I poured my own bowl and listened to the monkeys chatter about what they were going to do at the beach today.  Looking out the window at the gray sky, I thought to myself ‘not likely’ but didn’t say anything.  I don’t like being the crusher of dreams.  At least not at 6:30 in the morning.

The good news is that although it did rain a bit in the morning, it cleared up by 11, so we put on our bathing suits and all headed out to the beach.  We plopped down our chairs, put up the umbrella and Real Man walked down to the water with the Baby Monkey, who loves the water, but only if he’s firmly attached to the hand of an adult.  The two big kids splashed around in the surf, and I pulled out trashy paperback #1 and started reading.   We were at the beach for about four hours, alternating being the hand-holder and looking for shells with the kids. 

It was windy.  I don’t mean windy as in “Ah…what a nice refreshing breeze coming off of the water.”  When I say it was windy, I mean it in the “better put down the umbrella” way.  I’d say that the wind was coming in at about 10 mph for the first two hours.  Somewhere in the third hour, it ramped up to about 20 mph, and at the end of the 4^th hour, I think it’s safe to say we were between 25-30 mph.  We were the last people on the beach, doggedly determined to squeeze every minute of beach out of this vacation.  But, when the Baby Monkey was actually blown over from a standing position, we figured it was time to go.  Also, by this time, so much sand had blown onto us, we resembled a box of 5 powdered donuts.

On our 100 step walk back to the house, night descended on the island and we no sooner stepped inside when the thunder and rain started.  There are great French doors in the living room, and so we watched the storm for awhile, then gave the kids baths and took our showers.  It was evident that there would be no more beach today, so we pulled out our board games and decks of cards and got to having some indoor fun.  My Monkey Girl asked for help as she laid out her pattern for the new quilt she’s making, so she and I holed up in my bedroom for awhile, getting that pinned together. 

We decided to go out to dinner, as we didn’t want to pull out the charcoal grill and grill the London Broil we had planned on in the rain.  The owners of the house left a notebook with all of the menus from local restaurants in it.  We chose a restaurant just over the bridge, on the mainland, called Batson’s Galley. 

A few other interesting details about the restaurant:

1) The bumper sticker on the front door of the restaurant that said something like “I love Jesus Christ.”

2) The enormous, carved wooden sign of the 10 Commandments on the wall behind the register.

3) The other sign behind the register, advertising the hours of the local “Church by the Sea.” 

Nothing wrong with any of that.  You just don’t get that a lot in New Jersey.

I keep forgetting that we are in the south, until we go somewhere where there are natives.  I can’t imagine what it must be like in the deep south, as I’m already bowled over by the accents here.  Baby Monkey continues to be fascinated by the southern accents.  I’m fascinated by the amount of fried food.  The only thing on the menu that wasn’t fried was the spaghetti, so that’s what I got.  (The food was all delicious and the place had a super friendly atmosphere.  Anyone heading to Surf City, NC…I’d recommend this place…we wound up eating there twice.)

While we were looking at the menu, the waitress (who was delightful) brought out a basket of fried spheres.  We said ‘thank you’ and then looked at each other, wondering what the heck these things were.  Real Man is brave, so he took one, took a bite and said ‘Not bad.’  There was some type of bread inside.    Monkey Girl will try anything, so she tried one as well.  She liked it, which was not a surprise.  When the waitress returned, Monkey Girl said,

“Excuse me, what are these?”

“Hushpuppies,” the waitress replied with a smile and walked away.

We all looked at each other again, wondering what the heck these things were.  Our final guess is that it was fried cornbread balls.  We enjoyed looking at all of the food and seeing how different it was from what would be served in New Jersey.  Not bad, just different.  The “roll” that came with Julia’s spaghetti was a hamburger bun.  The “garlic bread” that came with my spaghetti was a piece of toast that had been buttered and sprinkled with garlic powder.  The “hushpuppies”… well, I don’t really have an equivalent for that.

I keep falling further and further in love with North Carolina.

I love hush puppies, but I never get to eat them. I’ve made them from a mix before, and they were good, but I thought I would try and make them myself. I wasn’t sure what granulated garlic was, so I threw in some minced (I know it’s not the same thing). I used a melon baller to try and shape the hush puppies into little balls, but the batter stuck, so they were oddly-shapen, and they kind of resembled fluffy pillows. But they tasted great! I asked Toby what he thought, and he said they “need some kind of sauce.” I also served my Faux-crab cakes with these, so I used Tartar sauce on mine. Mmmmm. We also enjoyed some grilled corn on the cob and some cole slaw.

rating: 9

Crispy Hush Puppies
(from the August 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine)

2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups plain yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup buttermilk ranch dressing
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
vegetable oil

1. Stir together flour and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Stir together egg and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in flour mixture just until moistened (batter will be thick). cover and chill 1 hour.
3. Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat  to 360 degrees F. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls, in batches, into hot oil. Fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until hush puppies are golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Drain on a wire rack over paper towels; keep warm in a 250 degree F oven.

Yes, I know. I can’t believe I’m up at this hour either. But someone has too cause I’m typing this blog! HA. lol.

Today was great. It started by my looking up a site for a friend. The site was for the best seafood in NC. After going on their site this morning, I found myself craving fish. But living no where near the coast, I was stuck. Thus, I tried to ignore my cravings and move on. Well, guess what. God is so nice. When we buzzed in the grocery store, one of us got this notion in their head that they wanted fish for dinner!? haha. I hadn’t opened my mouth about my earlier taste bud thoughts. But it was so cool. Needless to say we hunted down the fixin’ for a seafood dinner. And I do mean hunt. Do you know there was only one kind of frozen hushpuppy at the store?! I was shocked…and it wasn’t the normal southern kind either. I don’t really know which it was. It was good – don’t get me wrong…but sigh. lol. [ For an idea of my fav type of hushpuppy: click here]

We found some breaded tilapia and some (and pretty) green and yellow beans (a.k.a. string beans)

I worked some more on my iWeb project. Building the site is only half the work. Getting the text written is a lot in itself. But it’s pretty neat. I’m thinking I’ll streamline some things and have my main site link to this blog, cause I like the Word Press set up.

The other thing is I’ve been thinking a lot about what I will or want to be doing in the coming months. It’s a funny thing about life. You hear or see things and you either take to them or not. I love what I’m doing and keep getting more and more ideas. But at the same time, I can’t start the new ideas without finishing out the older chapters. And there in lies a conundrum of life. Paul talks about running the race and sticking with what you are doing to the finish. But sometimes when we have been caught in the race for so long, it gets hard not to wish for the seasons to change. That’s why I get happy when I think about Jesus’ mercies becoming new with each morning. I know that when I wake up I can gain a new perspective on things if I just stop and ask.

I’m ready in the natural for a new season to kick off, but somehow, I think maybe I’m jumping the gun a bit. I think if I stick out with my current course of action, I will gain knowledge I will need in the later seasons in life. And when I think about that, I start getting excited again. idk…maybe it’s good to get a bit of a change in your perspective.

We are on vacation at the NC coast with my daughters, my son-in-law, his parents and brother.  The in-law family is from Oklahoma, so I’ve enjoyed showing them around our old stomping grounds at Oak Island.  Last night we went up to Southport to have dinner.  The restaurant we visited has changed hands since the last time we ate there, but the new owners in their menu information assured us that they were long-time residents and know how to serve seafood.

Unfortunately, while waiting for our order of fried, boiled and broiled seafood, we asked the waitress about when she was going to bring us our baskets of hushpuppies (the food, not the shoes).  I figured she’d just forgotten this important detail.  She said that they don’t do that.  If we wanted a basket of hushpuppies, we’d need to order them at $2.00 per.  I was SHOCKED!  I mean SHOCKED! I’ve been going to southern seafood restaurants at the coast and back home since I was a kid, and I’d never sat at a table at a restaurant serving traditional fried seafood and not had a couple of baskets of hushpuppies to munch on while waiting for the orders to arrive.  Understand that in the South, hushpuppies are served with both seafood and barbeque, but I don’t expect the HP basket ahead of a barbecue order.  Some places do it, but I don’t expect it.  However, in a seafood restaurant with southern roots (called a fish camp by some- another story) there’s just been an unwritten rule that complimentary HPs are just part of the deal.  When I looked at the owner’s bio a bit closer, I found that he had trained at a culinary school and with some famous chefs.  Apparently, that’s the problem.  I thought their prices were a bit high, but the food was good.  However, this stuff is not “haute cuisine.”  It’s fish and shrimp and oysters for gosh sakes.  Had I not had guests, I would’ve had a word with the manager for their own good.  Man, remember where you are! 

I’m all for change- gotta be to work in the real estate business these days.  But some things just should not change.  Traditions withstand the test of time for a reason, and this is a tradition that should always be honored by southern seafood restaurants. 

Hushpuppies on the table and keep ‘em coming!

 In the latest addition of Cooks Country Magazine there is a fantastic recipe for Hushpuppies. 

This recipe is soo fabulous that I decided to make them to accompy the ribs that were being made for 4th of July.

These are super easy to make and come out light and almost fluffy, if you can call anything that has been deep fried fluffy.Another great thing about this recipe is that you can add some extra ingredients like chillis, cheese, corn, crab or ham. See bottom of recipe for different variations.

Ing:

¾ c cornmeal (see note)

½ c all purpose flour

1 ½ t baking powder

½ t baking soda

¾ t salt

¼ t cayenne pepper

¾ c buttermilk (see note)

2 large eggs

¼ c minced onion

2 quarts peanut or vege oil for frying

1. Make Batter

Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne in large bowl.

Whisk in buttermilk, eggs, and onion until combined.

Let batter sit at room temp. for 10mins. or up to 1 hour.

Note that the batter will be runny.

2. Fry Hushpuppies

Heat oil in large pan over med.-high heat to 350 degrees F.

Drop batter into oil in heaping tablespoons and fry until deep golden brown, 2-3 min’s, turning hushpuppies halfway through cooking.

Transfer to wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet.

Serve

Variations:

*Corn & Red Pepper Hushpuppies

Add 1 c corn kernels (fresh, canned or frozen) and ½ finely chopped red bell pepper to the batter.

* Crab & Chive Hushpuppies

Add ½ lb crabmeat, 2 T Dijon Mustard and 2 T mince fresh chives to batter.

*Ham & Cheddar Hushpuppies

Add 4 oz finely chopped deli ham, 1 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese and 2 T Dijon mustard to the batter.

This picture was taken at Betty’s Waterfront Restaurant in Holden Beach, NC. It is just “a hop, skip and a jump” (as we say down here) down the road from Wilmington. If you don’t have enough time to drive all the way to Calabash for seafood, Betty’s is the next best thing.

Although the menu includes steak and chicken, I always order the fried oysters and shrimp. The hushpuppies are brought out with your drinks and you can munch on them while you’re enjoying the spectacular view of the Intracoastal Waterway. There are few things in life as good as a basket of warm hushpuppies. Betty’s recipe is simply the best.

And if you have a few french fries left, there is always a crew of hungry seagulls waiting to catch your leftovers!

To see more daily photos of other cities around the world, visit City Daily Photo.

So I’ve been riding for some time now. Roughly 3 Years now. I’ve logged in nearly 16,000 miles on my cbr600rr and it runs just as strong as the day I got it. You may be asking, where does one ride that often? Well I’ll be honest…it’s my commuter and joy-ride all at the same time. I ride it to work as often as possible and on the weekends I like to go out for a nice ride out on the windy roads.

Probably the most common ride I do, whether it be me and a riding buddy or just me and my g/f, but I like going out and riding down the old highway 94 here in San Diego. Its a relatively easy ride, lots of trees and grassy hills and most importantly…lots of nice curves =). I usually get out there once a month just to ride and have lunch at the old Barret Junction Cafe. They have the best fried cod fish fry that I know of, not to mention their hushpuppies are to die for.

Hope some fellow San Diegans can make it out with us the next time we go! Ride safe everyone!

(Can you find my bike? It’s hiding behind all the choppers hehe)

Label: Minty Fresh
Rating: 3 Guns

Buy On:

Written By: White Chicks On Rap

When I was given this album, I asked, “Who are The Hushpuppies?”

I was told, “All you have to know is that they are like a French version of The Hives.”

While I agree that the Hushpuppies are a similar to The Hives, the reality is that the band not a copy of anyone.

The Hushpuppies are a five-piece band from France that are starting to make a name for themselves in the US thanks to their song “You’re Gonna Say Yeah” being included on “Guitar Hero: World Tour”.

“You’re Gonna Say Yeah” is one of the tracks off their album Silence Is Golden.

The album has a unique 60’s garage sound, reminiscent of early work of The Who or The Animals. Silence Is Golden has a great flow; the songs well-crafted and written.

There are pumped up songs like “You’re Gonna Say Yeah”, “Lost Organ” and “Bad Taste And Gold On The Doors” and slow songs “Love Bandit” and “Harmonium”.

Personally, my favorite track is “Harmonium” because it’s edgy, moody and reminds me of something that The Smiths would offer up.

I think The Hushpuppies are an interesting band and have a lot of promise…really the US is the last place for a band to break these days. The Hushpippies’ 2005 debut album The Trap was a huge hit in France and 20 other countries; they’ve also toured Europe, Japan and Russia.

Like this band? You may also like: , , .

Lys émerge doucement mais sûrement dans la sphère musicale pop/rock alternatif. Entre Radiohead et Archive, le groupe rennais s’affirme déjà comme une valeur sûre à suivre de très près ! Lys sera en concert gratuit à l’Alhambra, le jeudi 18 juin, avec Mademoiselle K. Entretien avec les quatre sympathiques membres.

CLIQUEZ ICI POUR LIRE CETTE INTERVIEW AVEC UNE MISE EN PAGE SPÉCIALE

Nicolas, tu es le chanteur et leader de Lys, peux-tu expliquer comment s’est construit le groupe ?

Nicolas - En fait, à la base, je suis tout seul. J’ai commencé à composer tranquillement dans ma chambre en 2005. Et puis j’ai voulu faire de la scène, du coup j’avais besoin d’autres musiciens. À ce moment là, Marie a rejoint le groupe. Avant François et Fabien, il y avaient deux autres membres. L’un est notre manager désormais, l’autre notre ingé son !

[ Nicolas (chant/guitare), François (batterie), Marie (basse) et Fabien (guitare) ]

Et comment a-t-il évolué ?

Nicolas - On a créé le MySpace et gagné un festival en 2007, ça nous a permis de faire pas mal de concerts sur Paris et Rennes. En 2008 on a remporté le RTL2 pop rock tour de la région Bretagne, et on a sorti un premier album. On a réenregistré notre single, In my Minds, produit par Olivier Lude, qui a bossé avec M et Vanessa Paradis, et qui nous avait repéré. Et c’est Jeff Dominguez qui l’a mixé. Dernièrement on a joué à la Maroquinerie à Paris !

Justement, tout le monde, quel âge avez vous et faites-vous quelque chose à côté de la musique ?

François – J’ai 25 ans, je suis le batteur et je suis intermittent du spectacle depuis 3 ans. Je travaille sur des concerts, au son principalement.

Fabien – J’ai 20 ans, guitariste dans Lys, et je suis en fac de bio !

Marie - J’ai 22 ans, je suis la bassiste du groupe, je jongle entre ça, mon master de cinéma et la vente de fringues !

Nicolas - Et moi j’ai 23 ans, je suis euh… juste “inscrit” à la fac (rires) ! Je bosse un peu à côté.

Marie - Par contre, pour chacun d’entre nous, même si on sait que la musique ne nous fait pas vivre, notre passion prend le dessus !

Pourquoi avoir nommé le groupe “Lys“, vous aimez la monarchie ?

Nicolas – (rires) Non, non, on voulait quelque chose de simple, de court et dont on se souvient facilement !

Vous avez ouvert les Hushpuppies à Rennes, cette année. Comment s’est déroulée cette aventure ?

Nicolas - En fait c’est l’organisateur qui nous a choisit pour leur première partie. Le groupe nous connaissait pas et nous a découvert pendant notre live !

Et ils ont aimé ?

Nicolas - Oui oui carrément !

Ils sont sympas ?

Tous ensemble – Ouais !

François – On a fini la soirée avec eux !

Fabien – Ils m’ont acheté un synthé en plus !

Le single In my Minds est désormais disponible en téléchargement, à quand un album ?

Nicolas - Je ne veux pas me presser ! On a un album auto-produit déjà, mais là nous sommes en discussion avec un label… On prend les choses comme elles viennent mais on ne se précipite pas. Il faut qu’on soit “sûr”. Un album c’est génial, mais c’est aussi beaucoup de travail, de temps et de promotion, donc on va voir.

Quelles sont vos influences ?

Nicolas – Comme tu l’as déjà dit , Archive et Radiohead, puis Bloc Party, Coldplay, Placebo… Un peu Massive Attack aussi.

François - J’suis plutôt électro moi, ou des groupes comme Gorillaz, etc…

Marie - Je suis assez éclectique, à la base j’écoute pas mal de hip hop et un peu comme les autres, Birdy Nam Nam aussi.

Fabien – De mon côté c’est plus du néo-métal ou des groupes comme Pleymo… Mais François a oublié de citer son artiste favori !

François – Lequel ?

Fabien – Ton idôle !

François - Ah ! Et oui, j’aime Sinclair… (rires)

Comment se construit un morceau de Lys ? Est-ce que Nicolas amène la compo et les textes et dit juste aux autres ce qu’ils doivent jouer ? Ou bien est-ce différent ?

Nicolas - Pas tout à fait (rires) ! J’apporte la base du morceau oui, ça c’est sûr. Ensuite on travaille ensemble.

Marie – Ça évolue dans le bon sens, chacun apporte un peu à la chanson, on discute, on donne nos avis, on innove, etc…

François - Nan ! C’est faux ! C’est lui le patron ! (rires)

Fabien - Le Big Boss ! Mais on l’aime quand même ! (rires)

Vous répétez souvent ?

Nicolas - Au moins deux fois par semaine, un peu plus quand on a un concert de prévu.

François - On a un vieux hangar à Rennes pour jouer, c’est super pratique, dans la campagne, on peut se déchainer ! (rires) On s’amuse de toute façon, on n’est qu’une bande de potes qui s’éclate !

Nicolas, que penses-tu des “chanteurs” qui sortent gagnant d’émissions de télé ?

Nicolas - Bof… Tant mieux pour eux, personnellement ce n’est pas mon but. Moi, je veux faire la musique que j’aime, eux ne peuvent pas forcément… Par contre ils ont une visibilité qu’on aimerait avoir. Mais bon…

Vous avez une Dream Team de fans qui vous suit ?

Nicolas – Oui ! Principalement des rennaises ! (rires)

Marie - Quelques parisiens aussi, c’est cool, merci à eux !

Marie, ce n’est pas dur d’être la seule fille dans un groupe de mecs ?

Marie – Ah non non (rires) ! Il y a mon copain, mon frère et un super ami, je ne peux rêver mieux ! Et puis on a tous une personnalité différente qui rendent nos échanges de point de vue intéressants.

Pour terminer, Nicolas, si il y a un film dans lequel tu aimerais que la musique de Lys apparaisse dans la BO ?

Nicolas - C’est pas évident ça ! Sans doute un Eastwood ou Jarmush.

Une salle rêvée ?

Nicolas - Une salle ? L’Olympia. Mais un festival sans hésiter Les Vieilles Charrues !

Et un duo ?

Nicolas (après une longue hésitation) – Chris Martin !

Marie – Je pensais que tu allais dire Brian !

Nicolas – Ouais mais… Chris Martin quoi !

■ À propos de cette interview : Elle a eu lieu au Backstage O’ Sullivan le mois dernier, lorsque Lys y jouait un concert. C’est mon ami Jib’ qui me les a fait découvrir lors de mon dernier voyage à Rennes. Le quator est jeune et sympathique ! Leur musique planante vous envoûte tout de suite ! Je vous invite à venir les voir au concert de jeudi soir, pour tomber sous leur charme ! En plus c’est gratos, ce serait con de pas en profiter !

■ Plus d’infos sur le groupe avec dates des concerts à venir et 6 titres en écoute sur www.myspace.com/thelysmusic

Photos : Dominique Lefort ©

]]> http://eatinginraleigh.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/smithfield-bbq-treats-deployed-sailors/ Sat, 30 May 2009 11:44:53 +0000 bill844 http://eatinginraleigh.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/smithfield-bbq-treats-deployed-sailors/

It started with a sailor who wrote how much he missed Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Jamie Franks grew up in Selma, North Carolina and wrote that “eating at Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N BBQ is always a MANDATORY event when I’m at home on leave!”

Franks is an Operations Specialist and Rescue Swimmer in the US Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Mobile Unit Three, stationed out of San Diego. They are currently deployed to Afghanistan.

Employees of the North Carolina-based Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q sent Franks t-shirts and two cases of hushpuppy mix. The unit prepared the hushpuppies at their Memorial Day Cookout. Franks wrote back:

“We just wrapped up our Memorial Day ceremony and cookout. I have to tell you – the hush puppies were a HUGE hit! I couldn’t make them fast enough! Every time a batch came out of the fryer they were instantly gone. Most of the guys were eating a hush puppy for the very first time, and kept coming back for more until the fryer eventually ran out of oil, and I had to close hush puppy production. Thanks for providing us with a little taste of home while we’re way over here.”

Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q has “adopted”  the unit and plans on sending a care package every month filled with cards, magazines, food, and other items the soldiers would enjoy.

All about our recent trip to North Myrtle Beach and our personal recommendations for you.

Where we slept: We stayed in a bright room at the mega-hotel Wyndham Ocean Boulevard. Upon check in, they called it one of the biggest Wyndham resorts in the world. I believe it may be one of the biggest resorts in the world. As a lover of boutique hotels, this place was like Disney World in my opinion. And not necessarily in a good way. With a lazy river, multiple pools, a strict carding policy at the hotel bars, this may be the perfect place for families with children. For a girls weekend? Not so much. Also, the hotel is mostly a timeshare property, which means that maid service costs extra, but they allow regular hotel reservations. Be wary of regular hotel reservations. If ever there is an issue, it is difficult to find a person to correct the problem. I had to file a claim with my credit card company in order to have the overcharge corrected. I am still waiting for phone calls from four managers at the Wyndham and at the corporate offices of Wyndham. I have two unanswered emails. Am I alone in thinking that canceling a falsely made (on their part) extra reservation shouldn’t be this difficult? That this is ridiculous? This is, by the way, one of the many reasons I prefer boutique hotels. Because of this problem, I cannot bring myself to recommend the hotel. There are a number of large resorts along the beach, most of which seem to have the same amenities.

What we ate: North Myrtle Beach has no shortage of hushpuppies, cornbread, fried foods, hot dogs, clams and other seafood. Nor is it void of the typical, popular chain restaurants – Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Applebee’s, Bonefish Grill, etc. If this is what you’re looking for, there are a number of places you can go without reservations for a quick, not very expensive, mediocre seafood meal. If you want something more, it may be a bit more difficult to find. After searching the internet for some time, I found Thai Season. Clean and large with polite, fast service and pretty good thai food, it was a more delightful experience than we were expecting. We were the only ones at the restaurant. North Myrtle Beach has no idea what they are missing.

How we partied: If you really want to, there are many bars some of which play music. There’s isn’t anything particularly special about a single one, although Spanish Galleon seems to be the largest. Partying isn’t actually necessary, staying home is the better option.

How to sightsee: Well, truth be told, there’s not too much to see in North Myrtle Beach, but if you’re looking for something to do, I’d suggest driving south on Highway 17 and letting the billboard advertisements guide you. There are waterparks, aquariums, etc. Other than that, just enjoy the beach – which was bigger than most along the Atlantic and clean and enjoyable.

What we would do again: Eat at Thai Season. Spend time on the beach. Rent a car to get around.

What we would do differently: I believe the better idea may be renting a house in North Myrtle Beach, spending a lot of time keeping to oneself or the group, and cooking your own food rather than trying to find anything spectacular.

Budget: $150 for a roundtrip fight from New York to Myrtle Beach. $500 for a two bedroom suite hotel room. $160 to rent a full sized car for four days. $100 on food, drink, souvenirs, beach chair rental, etc.

Timing: Four days was just fine. Spending just a weekend here doesn’t feel like too little time.

Language: English only.

Wyndham Ocean Boulevard, 410 South Ocean Boulevard, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29582

Thai Season, 1004 Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29582

Spanish Galleon, 98 North Ocean Boulevard, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29582

Recorded at ‘the velvet’ music venue in Second Life, this collection includes a bunch of stuff that doesn’t get a lot of mainstream recognition. Feedback/comments always welcomed

Tracklisting

Hushpuppies – Pale Blue Eyes
Army Navy – Snakes of Hawaii
The Rifles – History
Pull Tiger Tail – Light Turns Red
Death To Frank Ziyanak – Put That Cat On A Leash
Kid Carpet – Employee Of The Month
Cassette Kids – Acrobat
Helen Love – Joey Ramoney
All Girl Summer Fun Band – Grizzly Bear
Florence And The Machine – Kiss With A Fist
Look See Proof – Keeping Mistakes
Eight Legs – Those Gray Days
We Smoke Fags – Eastenders
Empire Of The Sun – Half Mast
Owl City – The Airway
I’m From Barcelona – This Boy
Harlem Shakes – Sickos
Hockey – Song Away
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Tenure Itch
My Morning Jacket – Highly Suspicious
The Blakes – Vampire
Cats On Fire – Draw In The Reins
The Lodger – Simply Left Behind
The Wave Pictures – Instant Coffee Baby
Scissors For Lefty – Mama Your Boys Will Find A Home
Pipas – Cruel And Unusual
Saturday Looks Good To Me – All Over Town
The School – Can You Feel It?
The Smittens – Something Sassy
The Beep Seals – Stars
The Boy Least Likely To – Saddle Up
Belle & Sebastian – You Don’t Send Me
Mommy And Daddy – Cops
Sissy Wish – Tokyo
Royal Bangs – Broke Calculator
Johnossi – Summerbreeze
The Gay Blades – Why Can’t I Grow A Beard?
Blitzen Trapper – Not Your Lover

Today is a big day as someone with a strong interest in buying our house is scheduled to view it at about 11 of the clock, Stepford time. Of course, instead of spending the evening cleaning so that we could goof-off this morning, we went out and had supper at The Flatiron Cafe.

Practice Day

After many months of planning and preparation, Key and Cindy Adcock served breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 6:00 am until closing. Key looked exhausted when we saw him, maybe around 5:15 or 5:30 pm. Said he’d been 10 minutes late his first day on the job. He said Cindy had arrived on time. Key said they didn’t have quite as big a breakfast crowd as they expected, but were very busy during lunch, from about 11:00 to 2:00. Cindy, when we saw her, said she was tired, too, but didn’t look it.

Caution-Lady and I didn’t expect to get in, thinking the cafe would be packed to capacity, but at the time we arrived, we had our choice of seating. The place did fill up pretty quickly thereafter. We fed on fried green tomatoes, Philly cheesesteak steamer sandwich, onion rings, fried catfish and hushpuppies.

Seventy-Six ate a baby food concoction of green beans and rice washed down with a few ounces of milky-milk. He did well, and didn’t squall until it was time to leave. Then he voiced his discontent the entire drive home, which normally lulls him to sleep.

I must get busy now. Sweep the floors, scrub things, and tidy up.

It’s been a while!  I’m going to try to post more podcasts over the coming weeks and, in the meantime, I thought I’d record and post my recent DJ set at the Rooftop music venue in Second Life.  Enjoy

Tracklisting

We Smoke Fags – Lust Puppet

Hot Club De Paris – Who Am I?

Kid Carpet – Failed World Record Attempt

I Am Bones – Building Hospitals

Voxtrot – Easy

IMA Robot – Philosophofee

The Wave Pictures – Just Like A Drummer

The Dresden Dolls – Coin-Operated Boy

The Cure – Love Cats

The Jam – Town Called Malice

The Klaxons – Golden Skans

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – Iceage Babeland

Empire of the Sun – Standing On The Shore

Shiny Toy Guns – Ghost Town

Lucky Soul – Get Outta Town

Tullycraft – Bored To Hear Your Heart Still Breaks

Pocketbooks – Don’t Stop

The Indelicates – Stars

Noah And The Whale – Shape of My Heart

Scotland The Brave on Bagpipes!

Wolfsheim – Ruby Dont Take Your Love To Town

Pants Yell – Don’t Take It

Belle & Sebastian – Roy Walker

Malcolm Middleton – Four Cigarettes

The Dodos – Winter

The Electric Pop Group – Summer’s Day

The Waifs – Sweetness

1990s – Is There A Switch For That?

The Pixies – Debaser

Moving Units – Going For Adds

Hockey – Too Fake

Pop Levi – Sugar Assault Me Now

My Teenage Stride – Terror Bends

Hushpuppies – You’re Gonna Say Yeah

Rotary Ten – Idols of Our Own Design

Clear Tigers – Summertime

Blitzen Trapper – God & Suicide

Now, Guitar Hero Sings European Songs
Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero World Tour – which features on-disc songs from top global acts such as Tokio Hotel, Hushpuppies and Radio Futura – is offering new three-song Track Packs of downloadable content from European bands including Germany’s Sportfreunde Stiller, France’s BB Brunes, and Spain’s Fito Y Fitipaldis…More

Also Read:
Swanky TV Ads Precede Guitar Hero World Tour

Guitar Hero(R) World Tour Expands Global Music Library With Downloadable Songs From Europe’s Hottest Bands

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec 11, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ –

Increasing its library of local music from around the world this month, Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero(R) World Tour – which features on-disc songs from top global acts such as Tokio Hotel, Hushpuppies and Radio Futura – is offering new three-song Track Packs of downloadable content from popular European bands including Germany’s Sportfreunde Stiller, France’s BB Brunes and Spain’s Fito Y Fitipaldis.

Following their home country’s disappointing 2006 World Cup elimination, German rock band Sportfreunde Stiller re-wrote their chart-topping hit “‘54, ‘74, ‘90, 2006″ in anticipation of a 2010 championship, re-titled it “‘54, ‘74, ‘90, 2010″ and are bringing it to Guitar Hero World Tour as part of a three-song Track Pack available today. Also included in the pack and further expanding the global audience are Italian rock band Negrita with “Mama Mae” and French rock sensation BB Brunes with “Dis Moi.”

Swedish rock icons the Backyard Babies, whose Guitar Hero(R) III: Legends of Rock on-disc track “Minus Celsius” saw an increase in digital audio downloads after appearing in the game, are building on the success for an encore with “Degenerated” off their 2008 self-titled album. Joining the Backyard Babies in the second three-song Track Pack to be released later this month are Spanish rockers Fito Y Fitipaldis with “Por La Boca Vive El Pez” and Netherlands’ beloved Di-Rect with “Johnny.”

The two Track Packs will be available on Xbox LIVE(R) Marketplace for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation(R)Store for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system for $5.49. The songs in each Track Pack will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection for Wii(TM) for 200 Wii Points.

Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a wired microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators are also able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is now available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, the Wii home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit worldtour.guitarhero.com.

Avril 2006, le printemps de Bourges fait rage, mon ex a eu la chance de gagner des places pour le concert du 29 Avril de Hushpuppies, Katerine, Arctic Monkeys, Deus et Dionysos !

Quelques groupes me sont alors encore inconnus, mais j’adore les bonnes découvertes !

Hushpuppies : groupe français de garage rock que je découvre lors de ce concert et là c’est le choc ! Magnifique, quelle énergie sur scène, toute la foule bouge et est emportée par la musique très prenante. J’adore et je deviens fan !

Katerine : je n’ai pas trop aimé ce genre de musique, cependant Philippe Katerine mettait le feu !”et je coupe le son………. et je remets le son !” la foule est hystérique, elle hurle, Katerine fait durer le suspens à chaque “remise de son”. J’ai aimé le concert malgré que je n’accroche pas à la musique, alors je n’ose imaginer le pied monumental pris par un fan de Katerine !

Arctic Monkeys : groupe de rock anglais nous venant tout droit de Sheffield ! Musique puissante, j’adore ! Un de mes groupes de rock anglais préféré ! Pour rappel ils ont 19 ans de moyenne d’âge lors de ce concert… ils ne bougent pas autant que Katerine sur scène mais c’est compréhensible vu leur ancienneté. Le public aime, chaque titre étant déjà un tube c’est un plébiscite !

Deus : ce groupe belge de rock indé nous vient d’Anvers. Je ne connais pas beaucoup ce groupe à vrais dire et je suis plutôt dans une phase d’attente de la suite. Le concert ne m’a pas particulièrement marqué non plus. Je ne connaissais pas leur musique, n’étais pas particulièrement emballé, et le jeu de scène ne m’a pas laissé de souvenir transcendant….

Dionysos : ha on y vient enfin ! héhé, quelle merveille ce groupe français ! bon pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas… euh… un des groupe français qui met le plus le feu en live ! Et bien sur ça na pas loupé ! Déjà le décors féérique est tout simplement magnifique et nous transpose directement dans l’univers de dionysos ! Mathias, comme à son habitude, assure énormément ! Quelle énergie déployée ! La métamorphose de mister chat est tout simplement superbe avec la voix de Babet et reprise du public pour le fameux “TA GUEULE LE CHAT”.

Song for a jedi se termine en medley ou Mathias nous gratifie d’un énorme slam jusqu’à la régie. Ce fut la première foi que je les voyais et je fus comblé ! Super spectacle !