Big Money Tony

All I want to say here is how important it is to remember the charities you believe in.  Donating money, time, or product to a good cause should be about causes you care about.  Everyone has been affected by the economy, so I made an effort this year to spread the wealth, which I have none of.  But what I have, I make sure it goes around.  In particular, I will admit that I donate a large percentage of my donations to one particular group of organizations, those who help fight cancer.  But that is what I care about, so that is where my money will go.  So with that, here is the list of organizations I donated to in 2009.

In the case of Muhammad however, I feel this is justice deserved.  Crime occurs every day, every minute.  Many times there is a reason, a motive.  Then sometimes, like here, there isn't a real explanation.  Crimes happen because of opportunity, need, emotion.  Only opportunity applied in the DC Sniper case and that's a stretch, since the opportunity was that anyone who went out in public was a target.

This series of crimes paralyzed the DC region for weeks.  While I did not personally know any of the victims, the locations of most of the crimes occurred in or near the neighborhood I grew up, worked, or frequented.  Most disturbing for me was October 14, 2002 when Linda Franklin was killed outside the Home Depot in the Seven Corners area of Falls Church, Virginia.  I was at work nearby and drove by there just an hour before she was killed.  During the spree, I had co-workers from the Philadelphia area ask me the best way to drive to avoid the sniper when they were headed to Virginia.  I worried for my parents, brother, and sister who still lived in my childhood neighborhood.

When Muhammad, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were finally captured, we could all rest a little better.  With his execution last night, it seems we can all rest even smoother now.  Sometimes the death penalty may feel right, even if you have no opinion.

A couple of weekends ago, The Sports Freak, Q, and I went to Charlotte, NC. We had 2 reasons to go, as we have a friend living there, and the Redskins were playing the Carolina Panthers. Well, this was a great idea in the pre-season when the Redskins looked like a middle of the pack team, not the debacle they have become. If you want to read more about our thoughts on the game, see here. But what I'm writing about here is food.

Our Charlotte friend told us about the great city, how as a Northerner, he loved the pace and lifestyle the South and particularly his current home city provides. The three of us had visited before, but we were barely there a day so we didn't experience the city much. This time, we got to some of the restaurants.

We flew down Saturday morning, arriving just in time for lunch. So after checking in at the hotel and meeting up with our friend, we all headed over to the South Blvd location of Mac's Speed Shop. From the outside, it looks like almost any restaurant. But the tiny parking lot was packed. Always a good sign. Going instead it was even better. The place was definitely full inside as well, but lucky they had a table for 4. While they had regular tables, much of the seating are bar height tables and stools, which is where we were seated. The place seems to be more of a bar with a large bar seating area, but is appropriate for the style. TV's showing sports all around and the diners ranged young and old, from yuppies, professionals, and yes, bikers.

The picture above was what I ordered was "A Little Bit of It All". Meaning literally. There was BBQ Chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket, and ribs for meat. 2 sides and Texas toast accompanied the big plate. For my sides, I ordered the mac and cheese and onion rings. That was a lot of food.  We also made the great choice/mistake of ordering a plate of hushpuppies to start.  The hushpuppies were better than what I've had before, but I only had one, because the entrees came up quick.  The ribs were outstanding.  Some of the best I've ever had.  Just enough sauce and they were meaty and tender.  The pulled pork was good.  I've had better, but the amount they served was unbelievable.  If you imagined a roll to make a sandwich, make sure you have at least 2 rolls, as I think they slaughtered a whole pig for the amount on each plate.  The beef brisket was good.  The Sports Freak ordered just the brisket and he thought it was excellent.  I didn't get to it much until I had already gone through all the ribs and much of the other meat, so I was already full.  The disappointing part of the plate was the chicken.  it was almost as if they roasted the chicken without seasoning then basted and sauced right before serving.  The sides were great.  The mac and cheese was crunchy on top and creamy in the middle.  The onion rings had a nice and crisp coating, but had the snap I like with the onion.

I would definitely go back again, but would order only the ribs.  They were that good.  Oh, "A Little Bit of It All" at $16 implies there is a bigger plate.  Yes, for only $10 more, you can get "A Whole Lot of It All".  I don't know who any one person can eat that much.  I was served enough food to feed a family of 4 for 3 nights.  I left at least a normal plate of food.  As for service, it's not fine dining, but it's good service.  The staff all seem to have some ink on them.  If you have the chance, try one of Mac's Speed Shop's three locations.

It was not intentional slight, it was just that Halberstam never crossed my radar.  I had no idea the depth of this man's work.  When I searched for a new book to read, I ran across this in a Kindle edition.  Perfect, I thought, as I could read this at my own pace without needing a physical copy.  The Korean War was something I had not really studied since high school.  It seems to be a much forgotten war in America, known only as the event that split Korea into the North and the South.  Or the comedy that is MASH.

Halberstam weaves stories from Washington insiders, foreign hands, and the men on the ground in a story that tells the Korean War from pre-war to post-war and Cold War implications.  The stories from the boots on the ground and how they dealt with it once back home were the strongest, deepest memories.  The pain of going through the war and how some of them had just been through WWII and had to return to foreign lands to fight yet another war.  In a way, Halberstam shows us how Korea was the original Vietnam, a war that nobody really wanted to fight.  Only Korea had no real public face, unlike Vietnams protests.

In the end however, the most fascinating part was the game MacArthur was playing with Washington.  Many military careers and lives were lost over the things that MacArthur supposedly did.  We can only judge from what was stated by those who were there and the sight does not seem pretty.  This is part of the story I had either never learned or had completely forgotten, but Halberstam's book has put it all in perspective for me.

Overall, if you are a history buff like me, you will want to read The Coldest Winter.  It might be a little too much detail for your casual reader.  But fascinating nonetheless.