Things that I miss....now that I am all healthy and shit

Did youse guys order Chinses food in those cardboard cartons? 

We used to get them all the time. I would order up a big mess of stuff when we decided to get chinks. Dumplings. Egg Rolls. Spare Ribs. Beef with Broccoli. Szechuan Chicken. Beef in Oyster sauce. Chop Suey. Chow Mein. Lo Mein. The list goes on.

The stuff is horrible for you. Too much salt. MSG. Not so clean in their kitchen practices.

But that shit tasted great. Especially with a couple of beers.

Now that Lisa has to be gluten free, and we are careful about what we eat I haven't had any of this for about fifteen years. Still when I see somebody on TV getting takeout, I get jealous.

I do miss it.

 

Premium Mediocre, what does it mean?

Via Instapundit:  It is not hard to learn to pattern-match premium mediocre. In my sample of several dozen people I roped into the game, only one had serious trouble getting the idea. Most of the examples below, and all the really good ones, came from others.

Premium mediocre is the finest bottle of wine at Olive Garden. Premium mediocre is cupcakes and froyo. Premium mediocre is “truffle” oil on anything (no actual truffles are harmed in the making of “truffle” oil), and extra-leg-room seats in Economy. Premium mediocre is cruise ships, artisan pizza, Game of Thrones, and The Bellagio.

Premium mediocre is food that Instagrams better than it tastes.

Premium mediocre is Starbucks’ Italian names for drink sizes, and its original pumpkin spice lattes featuring a staggering absence of pumpkin in the preparation. Actually all the coffee at Starbucks is premium mediocre. I like it anyway.

Premium mediocre is Cost Plus World Market, one of my favorite stores, purveyor of fine imported potato chips in weird flavors and interesting cheap candy from convenience stores around the world.

(Link to more)

WKRLEM: The Pledge of Allegiance that every child in America should be taught to say every day.

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Public Morals.....a great new show for you to check out on TNT

There is a great new show about policing called "Public Morals." It is about how NYC used to be in the 1960's.

It shows how the "Pad" worked. The Vice Cops would control things in return for a small stipend that all of the cops in the precinct would share in to supplement their meager pay. It wouldn't be much. Maybe five bucks a week. But in return when something goes wrong you would call up and it was taken care of immediately. You know that there wasn't a problem with the "homeless." They were bums and they were rousted and sent off to the Bowery. Not like today where a homeless douche bag could set up in front of your house and take a dump on the sidewalk and the cops can't or won't do anything about it because they don't want to catch a beef.

It has the flavor of the sixties. The fashions. The cars. The cigars. The food. The style. Burn's old man was a cop and he used all of his old stories in the series. Set on the West Side of Manhattan it deals with Irish cops and Irish Gangsters. With a few Wops mixed in for flavor. Written and directed by Edward Burns it stars a bunch of great actors. Brian Dennehy. Neal McDonnough. Kevin Corrigan. Michael Rapaport. Lots of great scenes of violence and mayhem.  There is one mutt who is direct rip off of Crazy Joe Gallo. Has his look and his attitude. Kills five guys with a knife. You see they didn't always have guns in those days.

I remember those days. When the Cops were Irish and the Crooks were guineas. When you had a problem you went to the guys who ran the neighborhood and took care of it. There was no street crime to speak of. The cops controlled the vice. You could play the numbers or bet a horse without paying a huge tax if you won. They always paid off. If you had a beef and were a legitimate citizen the cops would take care of it. Those were the days.

If you want to see the real community policing check this out.

Highly recommended.

The Conversation: The Young and The Cautious

Harris Poll: People Cutting Back Internet Use After Snowden

"According to a Harris Interactive poll, sponsored by the security company ESET, nearly half said they have "changed their behavior and think more carefully about where they go, what they say and what they do online," The Wall Street Journal reported." 

Stephen Cobb, a researcher for ESET, said that the poll shows that "we are seeing something significant here. I don't recall the Internet going backward at any other time."

According to the poll of 2,000 people, 26 percent said they are shopping online, and among people 18 to 34, 33 percent said they are doing less online shopping. (read more)

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"In October, some 15 million people tuned in to watch Major League Baseball’s World Series in the United States. But that’s nothing compared to the other big sporting tournament that took place around the same time: In late September and early October, 32 million people watched the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship, according to a new report (pdf) from SuperData, a games research company."

Watching other people play computer games—or eSports—is big business. More than 71 million people worldwide watched eSports last year, half in the United States, according to SuperData...

Why would someone want to watch other people play video games? Unlike viewers of traditional sports such as football or basketball, the people watching eSports tend to play the game regularly as well. They watch to learn new moves and improve their own game, says SuperData’s CEO, Joost van Dreunen.

That playing experience helps explain why watching eSports is so popular: Multiplayer online games and shooter games take a long time to master, and novice players learn by watching professionals. ”It’s how you learn, and get to see some really cool moments in the game,” says van Dreunen. These sports fans are dedicated too: the average viewing sessions lasts over two hours, and fans tune in to eSports an average of 19 times a month.