Sam Ogden: Entropy from the Second Floor

Friday, April 13, 2007

Late Night Eatery of the Month (April 2007)

It's common practice among members of the drinking public to hasten to the nearest eatery once the bars close. After all, the palette has been cleansed, and in fact flushed, all evening with a variety of liquors, beers, and wines, or any combination thereof. And it becomes imperative that the drinker take sustenance before either heading to a friend's house for more drinking, or going to bed to revel in the disco nap of restless, drunken sleep.

In my drive to be the boon companion of the itinerant drinker, I regularly visit the best and the worst of the late night eateries, and it's my mission to provide you each month with the particulars of each.

Some you will know by name. Some are obscure and out of the way. But with my recommendations, you will always know just where to stagger off to for good, sloppy power grub.


Rinderpest.com's late night eatery of the month:

Denny's

Location:

Next to La Quinta

Hours of operation:

24/7

Ambiance:

Motel chic. You're not that far from a real restaurant, but you're not that far from a truck stop either. Perfect for both the weary traveler and the dry-heaving barfly.

Seating:

Traditional table seating with option for postwar booth or counter seating.

Attire:

Recommended

Staff:

Shod, for the most part. Rumpled, with a distinct hint of body odor at shift change. Instances of hairnets are below average, though instances of harelips are above average.

Price:

Double-wide affordable. Go ahead and have that extra shooter at the bar. No need to sell blood plasma this week.

Fare:

For the power drinker mere minutes removed from last call, the menu features traditional breakfast items, such as eggs, pancakes, bacon, and toast, though each is presented by the chef using clever, registered trademark names like the Lumberjack Slam® and the ever popular Moons Over My Hammy®. These items are well suited for any partier in need of some heavy fuel, and the names have been known to cause giddy laughter among the more "naturally" buzzed.

For the more discerning patron, there are also a variety of dinner and lunch items, many of which feature fried potatoes, fried meat substances, and lots of butter and/or drippy cream gravy.

The seasoned after-hours eater will recognize the benefit of mixing one or more of the breakfast items with a portion or two of drippy cream gravy, or possibly smothered in chili that is best when festooned with a shredded cheese product that no doubt comes from an industrial-sized plastic bag.

Dessert:

Variety of pie wedges, cakes, as well as Jell-O and pudding type dishes. Pretty much anything Luby's throws out of its dessert case.

Also a display of mints, and a gumball machine await the adventurous diner, and toothpicks are provided, but are available for paying customers only.

Beverages:

Variety, including ice water, ice tea-colored water, soda, coffee-flavored drink, and . . . water.

After dinner cigarette:

Any American light cigarette with a filter is perfect to complement the food's heady aftertaste. Marlboro Lights or Camel Lights recommended.

*Greasy rating:

3 spoons


*Greasy rating based on a scale of 5 spoons, five being the best . . . or the worst, depending on your point of view.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

News Stories of the Damned

Any of you read online news sources?

I read a few different news-specific websites each day, and I usually just stay in my 'helicopter', hovering above all the bad news, rejoicing in the good, and laughing at the ridiculous. I've found over the years that it's the best way to process all the crap that goes on in the world.

Today, I was reading CNN.com, and came across the following headlines:

DNA confirms Birkhead fathered Smith's baby --- Great! Wonderful! Fantastic!

Actually, I don't really care anything about Anna Smith or any of the money-grubbers chasing her ill-gotten fortune, but I was glad to hear this news, because maybe the whole damn thing will finally go away. I'm pretty sure being force-fed this ongoing bullshit over the last few weeks has caused something valuable to be pushed from my brain. I was wondering why I've been wearing my underwear on the outside of my pants lately. Maybe now, I can return to my normal routine --- wearing no pants at all.

Rutgers player: 'Our great hurt' --- The Rutgers women's basketball team voices their disgust at Don Imus for calling them "nappy-headed hos".

Who cares? Don Imus is an idiot. We as human beings expect things like that to come from the mouths of idiots. These girls have let themselves be affected by something they should have ignored. Of course, it's funny because they've been influenced to care about something that has absolutely no impact on anyone with half a brain by the illustrious leaders of the black community, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson -- who by the way, are in the running with Imus for Idiot of the Year by virtue of not only claiming Imus's statement was a racial slur, but insisting he be fired. It was simply an insensitive, idiotic thing to say. There was nothing racial about it. If people were fired for saying insensitive, idiotic things, Sharpton and Jackson would themselves have been fired long ago. Of course, there would be some other idiot with a perverted since of political correctness to take their place. There always is.

Anyway, there was more to the news day, but these two items gave me great satisfaction to be in my helicopter looking down on things. Some days, I just can't stomach being on the same ground with the ridiculous.