May 2009 Archives

Those of you familiar with TMI Thursday know that Lilu gets this train rolling here.  As she says,  "Join us all in humiliating the crap out of yourself every Thursday by sharing some completely tasteless, wholly unclassy, 'how many readers can I estrange THIS week??' TMI story about your life. Or hell, about someone else's!"

I was never really a fan of Green Day.  OK, so "When I Come Around" on Dookie was a pretty good single 15 years ago.  Then American Idiot was released in 2004.  That put Green Day in a whole new light for me.  American Idiot hit all the right notes, with great songs thoughout the album.

21st Century Breakdown, in contrast, is a mixed bag.  Don't get me wrong, the album is good and true Green Day fans will appreciate it.  But after the American Idiot, I expected another leap.  The new album breaks no ground for Green Day.  It's Green Day.  There are hits on it.  I bought the Deluxe edition off iTunes.  "Last of the American Girls" has a pretty good beat to it.  "Know Your Enemy" feels much like all of American Idiot with it's pace.  Good reason it was picked as the pre-release single.  On the Deluxe Edition, it comes with "Like a Rolling Stone", which is kind of a slow pop ballad.  It was good and still distinctly Green Day in sound, but not exactly all there.  And that's just the problem.

21st Century Breakdown sounds like Green Day, but isn't any different from any other Green Day.  If you are a Green Day fan, you'll probably want to buy it.  If you are a casual fan, like me, you might like it, but it's no American Idiot.  Buy it here on ' or use the Amazon link above.

When you think of subs you think of Domino's Pizza right?  For months, I've seen the commercials on TV, most notably during sporting events.  Then I needed the appropriate moment to actually try this.  We have also considered the Pizza Hut pasta and that was tested as well.  More on that later.

So The Sports Freak and I tried them.  And you know what?  Not bad.  We ordered the Philly Cheese Steak, Chicken Parm, and Chicken Bacon Ranch.  There was consideration for the Veggie, but why would you?  633 calories compared to the Philly Cheese Steak at 695.

The subs were delivered to us and they were still pretty warm.  We each tried half of each sub, but probably only got through one whole sub plus a bit each.  The Philly Cheese Steak was passable.  Not as good as the real deal from Philadelphia, but better than many of the area cheese steak makers.  Only possible lack in this was the amount of steak.  I was surprised it turned out so well.

Chicken Parm was as expected.  It can be screwed up, but it wasn't by Domino's.  The chicken and sauce were flavorful and in the right balance.  Not too much, not too little.  The cheese was fine

The trailer for the group was Chicken Bacon Ranch.  We ordered it without the ranch.  I prefer ranch in my salad, not on my sandwich.  It was kind of a throw-in because Domino's was offfering a 3 for deal.  We could have gotten pizza, but opted against that.  While it wasn't bad, I think the bacon could have been more crisp.  The chicken seemed to work less well than in the Chicken Parm.

All three subs delivered on the oven toasted bread.  Not overdone to become a rock, but enough to keep the ingredients in and not spill out.  For fast/delivery food, I generally rate it only "re-orderable" or never again.  These fall in the "re-orderable" category.

The Pizza Hut Pasta on the other hand, "never again".  Like the blockbuster movie, maybe it's the hype and it wasn't really that bad.  But if you are going to sell the pasta that can fool Italians, it better deliver in taste.  It didn't.  On a different day, the Sports Freak and I ordered the Lasagna and something else.  Honestly can't remember the other one.  Maybe it was the Chicken Alfredo?  In any case, Chef Boyardee might give them a run for their money.  What does Pizza Hut have going for them?  It comes hot.  OK, maybe I was harsh, but marketing it as it fools Italians, must mean they have no taste buds.  Pass on these if you ever feel the need and make a simple pasta yourself at home.  More satisfying and probably lower in sodium as I felt like I needed a gallon of water after that meal.

Time to get my geek on.  Yes, this is a review of Star Trek the movie.  JJ Abrams reboot of the franchise is a success.  Whether you are a long time fan of Star Trek or ask why that dude has pointy ears, you'll be entertained by the movie.  You'll also be entertained by the follow up movies that I'm sure are coming.  I was disappointed that no one was dressed up for the movie.  But one of the people I was watching with the movie said "Those people probably caught it last night (Thursday)".  She's right.  The full review and some spoilers can be found once you jump to the whole entry.  If you don't want to be spoiled, stop here.