By Our Powers Combined…

This just in, this just in.  …I might be spreading around a rumor and bullshit, but according to Cinematical, Cera has joined the cast of Arrested Development movie.  Huzzah!  …Andy Richter (did you know he went to U of I Urbana/Champaign and Columbia College?) is going to be Conan’s sidekick once again.  …Via Ain’t It Cool News, When the Tonight Show with Conan OBrien starts again in june, it will be with Andy.  Still no word on Masturbating Bear or Fed-Ex Pope.  …Via PopCandy, you can watch episodes of Captain Planet on Mother Nature Network.  I didn’t realize that so many celebrities contributed their voices to the show.  …Michel Gondry, a favorite director of mine, is only making himself cooler in my eyes by recently directing a Flight of the Conchords and now getting ready to direct Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet.  …Bedbugs are making a comeback in Chicago.  Having had bedbugs before, I am fucking scared.  …And in political news, Senator Burris is really up shit creek these days.  I don’t read much news; can someone let me know if its me or does there seem to be a lot of people that are being appointed to political offices that have tax problems?  Is this normal?

Lin’s Bin Lifeguard

So I caught this half-way through on the radio this past summer and I’m not even sure why I even remember it now. It’s XRT’s DJ Lin Brehmer’s thoughts on Chicago Lifeguards, I think its worth a listen. I’m still not sure about my thoughts on what he has to say (I’m not sure if he can even understand).

See Deez Ads

In an Advertising class I’m taking we viewed these ads and I deemed them share-able.

– This public service for Awareness really pulled a fast one on me.

– And this website is kind of hard to describe without ruining anything but make sure to check out the features of this phone and what it’s really about

Just “Slingin'” it out there…

The greasy-spoon diner has, as of late, become the quintessential destination for those getting their “drunk-hunger” on in the wee hours of the morning.  Maybe it’s because a lot of diners are the only nearby place that one can get food on a 24 hour basis, maybe it’s because tired, old waitresses and Vietnam veteran cooks are the only people who can put up with the drunken shenanigans, or maybe its just because somebody somewhere put something on the menu that has established itself as a must-try icon; the kind of food you only hear about in legends gone by and now some deity has manifested this meal here on our humble planet, and one knows that if they eat it, they will receive immortality (or it could just be the alcohol talking).

During my three year tenure at the University of Illinois in Champaign, a local diner named Mary Ann’s served what is known as “The Stack.”  It consists of almost every breakfast food imaginable stacked one on top of the other.  A solid foundation of hash-browns beneath a layer of eggs (any way you want ’em) covered by sausage patties or hamburgers (again, you pick!) holding up a couple of biscuits or toast (too many choices) blanketed by cheese and smothered by ladles of some of the most flavorful sausage gravy ever stirred.  It quickly became a staple in my diet (due to the fact that alcohol quickly became a staple in my diet) and to this day is one of the things I miss most about Champaign.  The good news is a relatively new bar called “The Pony” is owned by an Illini and he, too, must miss the stack as much as I do.  Whoever he is, he put “The Stack” on his menu and proudly serves it to anyone who’s ever sat in a booth at Mary Ann’s at 3 a.m.

The reminiscing about “The Stack” serves only as a segue into our Chicago related food quests.  While drinking around Wrigleyville and some of the neighborhoods to the north, I found myself stricken with such detestable “drunk-hunger,” the likes of which has never been seen.  Not having been out of college for too long, a friend of mine informed me that there was something “much like the stack” at a diner nearby that I had to try.  Knowing that in earlier years I could easily put down one, even two of the storied stack, I had to at least see what was being offered.  Sitting down at the Diner Grill on Irving Park just west of Ashland, I found a life-changing experience.  What was placed before me was not a “Stack;” no, this was different.  What is this called? A “Slinger?” I quietly cut a small portion, slid my fork underneath it, and sampled the morsel.  Friends, there is only one word that can convey the emotion circulating through my entire body at that moment, and that word is “Love.”  Well, maybe not love; let’s not rush into things. Let’s go with  “Like…alot.”

The only difference between a “Stack” and a “Slinger” is Diner Grill replaces the sausage gravy with…wait for it…chili.  Chili with breakfast food? Who would do such a thing? I’ll tell you.  A cook who heeds the muses that bestow upon him such culinary creativity that he hath no choice but to be deliciously daring.

The next time you find yourself stumbling around Irving Park and Ashland, stumble through the door of the Diner Grill.  There are others, some newcomers, some veterans, all just as drunk as you are, waiting (not terribly long either) for that one plate of “Like…alot.”  But who am I kidding? I’ve gone on a couple more dates, and I’m ready to say, “Love.”

Or it could just be the alcohol talking.