What Happened, People?

31 Days in December.

bowersem@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:02:21 GMT

I lost two of them due to days off of work.
I played Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box for basically the whole day on Tuesday. I don't know what I did on Wednesday.
Today, having to do that work, I kinda forgot how to stand up straight. It was a real excellent day for learning.

Never again.

30 Days of LJ: Show this Saturday for whoever is keepin' it real LJ STYLE!

bowersem@gmail.com — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:12:46 GMT

08/29/2009 09:00 PM - Jon’s House!
2631 University Ct.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45219
Cost:Free/Donation?
Description:All ages show! John Walsh: Positivity and sing-a-longs! Unscum: "Belgian Crust" Weakness: New kids on the indie block? Maybe one more?

Also, before the show (around 5:00ish) we'll be recording group vocals for an upcoming 7". I'm hoping for about 10-15 dudes/ladies to help. Let me know if you're interested! There's pizza involved!

tastebuddies: The Cola Wars

bowersem@gmail.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:29:57 GMT

We did this test a few months ago, but I've been just plain LJ lazy. Sometimes I sit down and ready myself for the typing and I just drift to other websites, and I can't even bring myself to type more than one bugcafe turn. Sometimes it's a good day if I can make do that one bugwords entry!

Growing up I thought of myself as a Pepsi guy. In college I remember switching teams to Coke. I do like cola, but I like flavored colas even more. When Coke Lime was out, I was super pumped about flavored colas. I thought that it was perfect. We would drink Coke Lime and watch Carrie Underwood climb her way to the top of that Idol season. Vanilla Coke in the bottle is also delicious, though recently I have come to agree with people who say that it's just not the same as it is at Frisch's. The ice crumbles that Frisch's has are the deciding factor in that equation.

But this isn't about flavors. This is about cola. This is the test!

As always, there were six contenders. We let one "diet" in, because it is supposed to taste more like regular. It was Coke Zero. We also had Pepsi, Coke, RC, Encore (Meijer), and Big K (Kroger?)

The Results:

6: Big K 16/40 - How can it be so bubbly, but have no fizz? What a mystery! Nasty, I feel like puking! I'm tasting cinnamon or nutmeg? Bland, strange aftertaste... My taste buds have either died, or this truly is the waste water from the cola factory....

5: RC 17/40 - No surprise here. I always thought that RC sucked. Weird citrus flavor. Garbage water. Yuk! Tastes like oranges, nasty! Ok, could be better...a little unassuming. Lots of bubbles!

4: Coke Zero 22/40 - Ok, tastes too..something....fakey? Has to be an off-brand, right? Very sweet. Very good! Taste the 'fizz', little weird aftertaste. Coke Zero? Diety aftertaste. Sweeter, but not better than (Pepsi).

3: Encore 25/40 - Good flavor, I like that it is not so sharp. I could live with this, pretty good carbonation. Like (Pepsi.) So so. I think my taste buds are tired, I can't discern differences anymore. SAME. Weak, watery...hope it's not Pepsi.

2: Pepsi 26/40 - Not too sweet, could drink this a lot! Nutrasweet? Was this diet? BLECH! Eric sucks - first strike! Sweet, smooth, good taste. Shouldn't be imbibed with any food though, too sweet? Pretty awesome. Mild cola taste. So so, no satisfying aftertaste. Great taste, good scent! Reminds me of Royal Crown Cola from my youth. Tastes like diet minus all sugar, tastes flat. Enjoyable!

1: Coke 27/40 - Pretty good, especially after (RC). Sweet, with more of a bite. Odd, floral flavor. Pretty nice, best so far. Great taste overall. Tastes like (Pepsi), not as sweet as (Pepsi) though. Coke! Gave me a good burp, little cereal in it though.

The top three weren't far off from each other. Reflects my feelings on Pepsi and Coke nowadays, I feel that they are pretty interchangeable. I haven't tried Encore since, but maybe I will!

Dad was ready to party on his birthday!!

This is where my cereal lives, this is where I find hot chocolate.

bowersem@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:58:09 GMT

XPost! 15 Albums, because the last five that I had were a serious stretch!

bowersem@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:07:41 GMT

LJ has lasted many years for me, my personal Myspace came and went, who's to say how long my facebook is going to last!

Think of 20 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically, they shaped your world.

1. Sebadoh - Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock: The first Sebadoh cd that I heard beats out the first DJ album that I heard because Lou's output has been more in tune with me lyrically than maybe any other songwriter ever. This is definitely not my favorite album of theirs by far. I generally don't break it out that much, but it opened me up for all of Lou's other projects as well. I've decided recently that I really don't have a favorite Sebadoh/Sentridoh/Folk Implosion album. I really don't get into the instrumentals and a lot of the crazy jangly stuff. It makes sense in context, but I just really like listening to Mr. Barlow sing some lovey dovey garbage.

2. Dinosaur Jr. - Whatever's Cool With Me: Even though I cite You're Living All Over Me as my favorite Dinosaur Jr. ablum, WCWM gets the nod because it was my introduction to a fantastic band. It took awhile for it to make sense to me. The vocals were out of the ordinary. I was no great fan of guitar solos. It ended up being just right, and Dinosaur Jr. has been a huge part of my life since!

3. Korn - S/T: Never again has one band taken up such an extended period of my life as Korn did. In ninth grade I listened to this album almost exclusively. I listened to it walking around The Farms. I listened to it at the dinner table. I listened to it in the basement. I listened to it in my room with the lights off. At the time I thought that this album sounded amazing. Listening back, my opinion has changed. I always felt like I was a part of something bigger back then when I had that shirt and no one had any idea what it was about. It's weird that this was another of the bands that Rob Weiland showed me first.

4. The Beatles - (Various): I feel alright putting various down, because at the point in my life where The Beatles mattered I didn't understand the concept of an album yet. This would've been in elementary school. I remember that the first song that I liked enough to memorize the lyrics to was "Help." I felt cool being able to sing along to an entire song even when it wasn't playing. My second favorite Beatles song (which eventually became my most favorite) was Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I had know idea what it was about. Andrew just told me that we listened to 1962-something, and then the other one that is years as well....

5. Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night: This was the first album that I would ask to hear. I would listen to this in the car whenever possible. I specifically remember going to some extra-curricular art class at UC on Saturdays maybe and listening to this with some lady from church driving. I recently bought this album again, and it is good. I never got into any other albums. My parents also had Rumors, but it just didn't make as much sense to me as this one. I also liked that the one guy had his one leg pulled up behind him in the picture, and I liked to believe that he pogoed around on it, all one-legged style.

6. Huey Lewis and the News - Sports (mostly): There were a couple of albums that Andrew, Dad, and I would listen to a bunch. I specifically remember that Huey was special time on the way to Father and Son campouts for church. I would look forward to rocking, but not rocking too hard. I was reading this list with Andrew and he did not guess that Huey Lewis was what we listened to on the way to camping. He guessed three other things including: Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, and Jim Croce. Then I called Dad because we had to settle the dispute. He said Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Beatles, and some other garbage! I was TOTALLY WRONG.

7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk: In elementary school I didn't really comprehend how hot the cover of this album was. I just knew that the music was completely crazy at the time, and I loved it. One of the girls in ACCESS (the smart kid class) knew about them as well. Our brothers were both skaters, so that made sense. Her favorite song was the cover of Higher Ground. I had a crush on her. Later on in high school I think she ended up being a coke head, which is awesome. This was the first band that I was made fun of in middle school for liking. My sister gave me an RHCP shirt, which I rocked ALL OF THE TIME. Ryan Jacobs made fun of me for it until high school when they became popular and he apologized. The first song of theirs that I loved was Show Me Your Soul. The Jukebox was instrumental in teaching me The Humpty Dance.

8. The Misfits - Walk Among Us: This was one of the first punk rock tapes that I ever listened to. There were a couple of dub copies that I'm not sure of the order on. DK - Give Me Convenience was on one side, Evilive on another..... Walk Among Us is still my favorite Misfits album. I never got into Danzig. Recently John Walsh opened up for the latest version of The Misfits at The Southgate House. That was fun. Nice enough guys they were!

9.. The Descendents - Somery: I know that this is a collection, but it's where I started. I don't own it now because I eventually wanted to own everything individually. This was another cd that I got from Jen. She liked all of the coolest stuff all of the time. This was one of the first bands to make me think about how awesome the drummer was, and how cool it must be able to play like that. One of my first super crushes linked up with many of the songs on this cd. I look back and wonder why I liked her. She kinda sucked a lot, and was not cute. hahahahah, nice!

10. Depeche Mode - Violator: I love this album. I hated hearing this album in Jacob's. I could hear it any other place, but just not around those hipsters (Jessica!!!) Whenever I think about this album, I think about The Lost Vikings. I would turn the game music down and just listen to this album. When I was in middle school Andrew had tickets to go see Depeche Mode with Ryan Little - (his sister was mentioned previously as an elementary school crush.) Ryan misplaced the tickets, and Andrew had one of the worst weeks/months of his life. They were later found in a fruit basket at Ryan's house. Their new stuff kinda sucks. All of the solo stuff sucks. I stopped caring after this album. Everything up to this album is awesome, but this is the crown jewel.

11. They Might Be Giants - Lincoln/Flood: Andrew and I had both of these on tape. Probably from Columbia House. They gave me funny music. I still really like music that doesn't take itself too seriously, if seriously at all.

12. Slayer - Divine Intervention: This album made me love 'extreme' metal. I felt like I was a part of something bigger when I listened to this tape (in a different way than Korn did, however.) It was mind blowing for me in ninth grade. This paved the way for me liking faster and faster music. I never took any of the lyrics seriously, however. They make me chuckle at times. Seasons in the Abyss is my favorite Slayer disc, but DI is the one that started me off. I listened to South of Heaven at Boy Scout camp one year and felt like an absolute bad ass.

13. Shellac - At Action Park: This album sounded amazing. I already liked Big Black, so at first this didn't make sense to me, but I got into it. On one of the worst nights of my high school life I was listening to My Black Ass on repeat and I ditched Melissa at Sharks. I couldn't listen to that song for a couple of years because of the connection. It was intense. Do you know what else is intense? 1000 Hurts. A Prayer to God is completely and utterly intense!

14. Revelation Records - Quicksand: Manic Compression, Orange 9mm: Driver Not Included, Shelter: Mantra, Sense Field: Killed for Less: There was a short period of a couple of years where I was way into Revelation Records and everything that they had to offer. I bought shirts, stickers, tons of cds, baseball caps, and beanies! Quicksand was on Island by this time, but I think that Revelation may've released the LP, so it totally counts!!!!

15. Enya - A Day Without Rain: This was my after show music for about a year. It was also my driving to student teaching/internship days with my sister. After Dead Mission shows I would listen to this on my way home while thinking about a girl that I had a crush on, and also while hating my life.

Cincypunkfest this weekend:

bowersem@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:02:40 GMT

I'm going to go both nights this year, instead of just the one I play...I think. I'm sad that Team Stray isn't playing, even though we never got the best reaction, but it's over! I listened to Gender Studies a bunch this week, and I still listen to the unreleased discography thing pretty regularly. John Walsh will be fun though. New Jon rocks, and not many people have seen him with us, as that Bogarts thing wasn't too well attended.

Hopefully I have an absolute blast this weekend! That's not really my personality though. I'll probably just float through it. Nice.

Dinner:

bowersem@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:57:10 GMT

I went to Skyline with Matt and decided that I just needed to know. I've gone long enough knowing that I like delicious cheese coneys, but not knowing exactly how I like them. Starting out years ago I would get them plain. A few years back I switched to onions and mustard. I don't know why, just did. So I ordered four cheese coneys. I did that because lately 3 and four ways are just absolutely PLAYED. I ordered one plain, one with mustard, one with onion, and one with onion and mustard.

Plain - Plain boring
Onion - Actually gross
Mustard - Good, but missing something
Onion and mustard - Perfect

One of these days when I haven't eaten anything ever, I'm going to order a 3-way, a 4-way, and a 5-way and let them duke it out in my belly for the victor.

tastebuddies: Cincinnati Chili Edition!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:12:53 GMT

I never doubted that Skyline Chili would be the victor. I'm just going to blow it right there. Don't even read this crap. You knew that too. Seriously, Gold Star? How would that be the other big name in the running? Gold Star sucks so completely hard. It is the absolute loser in the chili candidacy for chili supremacy!

There are numerous other chili spots around town, but six is the magic number, so six it is! If there was one other spot that I would've put in here, it would've been Pearl's. Pearl's will always be close to my heart. Tom S. says that Pearl's is some of his favorite chili bowl action, and I think that Marcus has said that in the past as well. I generally trust things that Tom S. says because he has a good head on his shoulders.

5. 13/35 Gold Star - Bad flavors. What is that, cumin? Looks like fresh diarrhea. Yuck! What is that taste? A little spicy, but yuck! Weird spice. Good, classic flavor. Saucy, delish. Tastes like dirt, not good! Weird all around! Tastes like, pepper? ICK. Also tasted whatever spice that is. Eric smells like a Hot Topic. Cheese did not improve it, but average.

4. 18/35 Mike's - Wow, great 'body' or whatever that's called. Perfect, holy crap! Cheese made it a six!!! Sorta funky, just overall taste sucked. If I could give it a zero I would. Super meaty, delicious and thick. Pasty, something yuck is in here, but I don't know what...gross. Looks like poo, tastes like poo too. Strange flavor, weird meat texture. Not as strange as the spice flavor in (GC and BA), but I didn't hate it. Looks like fresh diarrhea, meaty, not my favorite taste. A little off.

4. 18/35 Blue Ash - Looks like fresh diarrhea. Bad aftertaste for a second, but good going down. Meaty! Weird taste, same smell is in taste. Too much nutmeg? Yuck! Not good, bit chunky. Meaty, good flavor, a little watery, still good! Seemed a little bitter, a little spicy, meaty. Enough spice, sorta weird aftertaste. Enough meat, overall decent. I think this is one of 'the sweet ones.' I like the texture, but a little greasy. Cheese did not improve it, but acceptable. Eric is a fag.

3. 21/35 Empress - Eric sucks. A little too meaty for me, but taste was fine. Cheese made it better. Aftertaste went from vomit to great! Smelled weird. Good, but a little bad aftertaste. Best so far...Runny, strong meaty flavor. Off flavor, trying to be like Skyline, but it's not. Chewy meat, OK. Seems a little meatier than the others, not super weird flavor. Looks like fresh diarrhea. There is a flavor in here that I do not like at all!

2. 22/35 Camp Washington - Looks like fresh diarrhea. Spiiiiiiiiiccccyy.
Tastes the most 'homecooked' of the bunch. Spicy. Definitely the most spicy. Closest the the kind of chili that I like. Nice spice, chunky meat. Beef stew flavor, chunks of meat...also an imposter. More like Texas chili, spicy, good flavor, large pieces of meat. Too spicy, not enough flavor though. I wanna not eat this. Ewww, still not the worst though. Not my bag. Spicy but fine, the chili was too meaty. Not the best aftertaste.

1. 31/35 Skyline - Great. Cheese made it even better. It seemed to have a little kick. Tasty! Enough spice, not enough meat. Not enough substance. Better than OK. Good meat flavor, not bitter. Sweeter flavor. Smooth texture, little spicy aftertaste, yum! Watery, but good! Finally, yum! Pretty spicy. Liquidy! Looks like fresh diarrhea. Tastes perfect! SKYLINE!

I learned today that I've been spelling diarrhea incorrectly for what probably has been years! I can't even believe that!

Also important, however, is how delicious Skyline is, or maybe just how our palates have become accustomed to it over time. We are a Skyline family, and maybe it's just that those other prominent spices in the other batches aren't what we are used to.

I'd seriously like any self-proclaimed Gold Star enthusiasts do the taste test with other samples. Having just Gold Star and Skyline is so obvious, you've got to get other tastes in there to make it a bit more fair. LET ME KNOW IN THIS HOUSE.

tastebuddies: Chocolate Bars Edition!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 07:48:16 GMT

(Photos to be inserted at a later date!)

I love chocolate, like most people. I say most like most people, but I mean like all people who aren't basically morons. Chocolate is GOOD. It is DELICIOUS. I don't know who you're trying to kid if you say otherwise!

The chocolate test will be a two parter, or maybe more. There were more brands that we weren't able to test because of the six brand rule. Six samples are what we use. It's just how the game is played. It just worked out that way! One sample that was seriously missing ON THE REAL was the Palmer's bunny chocolate. This chocolate is melt in your mouth delicious all the way. It is the first thing that was eaten out the Easter basket everyOH MY CRAP IT WAS NOT EVER IT IS GROSS.

This taste test was also the first taste test to feature a colorized scoring sheet. Andrew had a fantastic graphic of a man with a chocolate fetish touching all over chocolate bits with his hands. It was intense. And do you know what else is intense?

TASTE TESTS, THAT'S WHAT.

Enough already!
Note: This time around the score is out of 35, as we had the pleasure of two visiting testers: Jessica and Emma Beans.

5. 10/35 Ritter Sport - Weeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrdddddd. Stop table talking, idiot. Weird! Hard, flaky, not smooth. Doesn't melt in my mouth. I taste hot dogs? No likey! Not as good as others, caramel aftertaste. Baking chocolate again? Gross!

4. 17/35 Hershey - Just OK. Smoothish, eh. Didn't melt as easily, kinda waxy. I've decided that I don't like plain chocolate, however that is good. Sweet. Bland, blah, blah, blah. Seems sugary. Pretty good, rich taste. Good feel. Of course you like my paper, idiot. Best chocolate so far. Hershey's, delish!!

3. 18/35 Dove - Is this a Palmer's bunny? GROSS. You can't trace the letters on your tongue, idiot! Aftertaste was getting close to bitter, so I took a drink of my Coke and swished it around. Seems the same as another to me, creamy, yummy chocolate taste. Richer than the last, nice bite size. Bitterish, do no want more! Little creamier than others. Sorta bitter, tastes more like baking chocolate. Ick. Smooth though.

2. 19/35 Ghiradelli - Another Palmer's bunny? GROSS. You don't have a distinct palate, idiot. What is that taste? Too bitter, too rich. Do I even like chocolate? Smooth, still something missing...just fine. Eh. Doesn't melt as easily as others. Waxy, not too much flavor. Creamy, smooth, nice bite, should've taken a bigger piece! Creamy and delish!

1. 22/35 Perugina - Strange aftertaste. Rich, breaks off nice, strange aftertaste. Sweeter flavor, finally a good one! Best taste to me. Pretty darn good compared...still, something missing! Air mattresses and Advil, idiot? I am so done with chocolate, but this was my favorite, so tasty! Tastes like a dusty Palmer's bunny.

1. 22/35 Cadbury - My bad ya'll!! I would've known anyway! This is my brand!! (Edit: Eric accidentally flipped his over because he wasn't paying attention and read the brand name. Cadbury is seriously the best anyway, and I totally know it when I taste it. It RULES HARD.) Eric is the biggest idiot, really. Good basic chocolate flavor. Had a "Quik" kinda quality. Good aftertaste. The cheese did not improve it. Not as chocolately as I want it. Tastes sorta...cheap? It is too cocoa-y? Sorta smooth, just OK. Common taste, creamy. Smooth, quick melt. Expected chocolate flavor. Tastes like a Cadbury egg. Creamy, milky, smooth, don't like the size. Seems the same as (Dove) to me. Creamy, yummy chocolate taste.

Shelley revealed her devious side on this taste test, letting us get all the way to the end before revealing that she'd switched some of the names on us! It would've been more exciting had she not picked Hershey as one of the ones to switch around. Hershey is totally obvious! I'm not meaning to be that Sixth Sense guy or anything, but c'mon. One of these days she's going to melt my brain with the most devious set up of all. I JUST KNOW IT.

So, after all was said and done, my boy Cadbury came through, but couldn't fend off Nestle's Perugina. WHAT IS THAT. I've never even heard of that stuff! And it just up and tries to take the chocolate city over?

Alright then, that's fine. Let's see how it does in round two. Suggestions? I wish that Toblerone had a plain bar, but I don't think they do. I also wish that Kinder had a plain bar, but yet again I don't think they do. Symphony will definitely be in the running. So, that makes three.

1. Cadbury
2. Perugina
3. Symphony
4.
5.
6.

tastebuddies: Microwave Popcorn Edition!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 07:03:21 GMT

Holy crap, apparently we did these last three (Root Beer, Popcorn, Mac and Cheese) over the holidays. I super slacked on these entries, and I heard about it all of the time from the fam. That's fine. I tried like five times, but the words just wouldn't come out of my fingytips. Today, luckily enough, they are. Three entries ago I talked about how fun today was. That's a part of why I wanted to get these three entered. I want to talk about the Cincinnati Chili test! We did it today! The results were NOT SHOCKING AT ALL. NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST WAS I SURPRISED ABOUT WHO WON, AND WHO ATE SHIT ALL OVER THE TESTING GROUNDS.

I haven't really enjoyed popcorn too much lately, and I guess maybe I have a psychological aversion to it or something. It messes up my tum tummers within 5 minutes of the first piece passing my lips! It wasn't ever one of my favorite foods, so I'm not really missing out on much. I still like Smartfood though, but I guess that hurts the tumminator too, thinking back. Carmel corn.....I think that is still ok. Man, forget popcorn!

I lifted this next picture from my sister's blog (and probably half of the other tastebuddies pictures that I use. That's fine.)

On with the testing!

Admin time!

5. 9/25 Act II - Tastes old-fashionedy. I think Shelley forgot to put on the butter pack. 5 unpopped kernels. Eric smells. Something off...almost like Chinese food. Not terrible, but not good. Hardly any butter flavor. Tastes like cardboard. Not so much butter, lots of popcorn skins. Some extra unpopped kernels. Not super buttery, weird aftertaste.

4. 13/25 Cousin Willy's - Has the fake butter taste. Lighter color, not a lot of butter flavor. Good corn flavor. Looked weird, but tasted pretty damn good...but...aftertaste was odd...almost cheesy! Ruined it! Not much butter, tastes air popped.

4. 13/25 Jolly Time - Fake, gross, tastes chemically. Not as crunchy as others, but pretty good flavor. Could've been a little saltier...Eric eats boogers. More of an oily taste, seems like it had the most butter flavor, tasted different from the rest. Why so much yellow color for not so good flavor? I taste Cracker Jacks. Not a strong popcorn flavor.

3. 14/25 Orville Reddenbacher's - Good color, not much salt, not a lot of butter. Golden yellow, not a lot of salt, little greasy, nice and even butter flavor. Good corn flavor, good texture, pretty uniform butter. Flourescent yellow, ok taste, the butter pool was misleading. Eric got more buttery pieces than me! Organic mac and cheese SUCKS. Flavor could have been more evenly distributed. Shelley got more butter too! Needs salt.

2. 16/25 Meijer - Tastes "fake", really good flavor when the popcorn had butter on it. OK, just OK. Good corn flavor. Crunchy, very salty. Don't mind it. Lots of extra kernels. Good butter flavor, good salt, good color. Best one yet. Some butter, some popcorn. All around!

1. 20/25 Pop Secret - Tastes like popcorn, no butter. More popcorn flavor, tastes like Showcase! Burnt, but I love it! Good butter, little greasy. What's with all of the kernels? Good corn flavor, not super buttery. Good, good, good. Great crunch! Great flavor! Salty enough. SO GOOD! Sophie is the cutest.

Midway through this taste test I decided that I kinda mostly hate microwave popcorn. The same thing happened for some of us during the lemon/lime soda taste test. It was an overload! AND HOLY CRAP DID IT EVER HAPPEN DURING CHOCOLATE BARS TODAY AS WELL! The portions were tiny! There wasn't even a whole bar's worth of chocolate in my tumtronic by the end, and yet I didn't want ANY MORE CHOCOLATE. EVER.

tastebuddies: Elbow Style Mac and Cheese (In a Box) Edition!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 06:28:00 GMT

You may or may not notice that the spelling of "The Tastebuddies" has changed a bit. It'll be important in a little bit here, as it'll become more permanent. I asked at the testing tonight. It's all lowercase, there's no 'the'. That's fine.

That's basically in the future when compared chronologically to the test that I'm writing about in this section. So, you didn't hear that yet.

Before we did the test for this one, Shelley was naming off names of macaroni and cheese that we could do. I stayed busy for a few minutes trying to figure out how I'd never heard of The Blue Ox macaroni and cheese. I butted in, and then I felt at least half retarded when we figured out that I hadn't heard the second 'b'.

We always had Kraft around our house. That's just the macaroni that we had. That's what we ate. It was "delicious." It's what "tasted good."
It what wasn't necessarily "turd noodle tubes." Now we were on a journey to see if we were just following tradition, or if it truly was the greatest of the boxed elbow style macaronis!

6. 5/25 Trader Joes - I knew there was a problem when I saw the brown spots. The aftertaste was the puke that I spewed. Macaroni and where is the cheese? Awful taste! Rubbery, the powdered cheese somehow went bad. WTF, buttholes and cheese. Not as yellow, nasty as hell! Why does this taste so bad? No sauce, no thanks!

This marked the first time that a score was entered as "Pukezilla." It was for the next product.

5. 6/25 Annie's Mac and Cheese - This doesn't have any butter in it. It also doesn't have any taste in it. It tastes like a carved up mannequin. Gritty, ewwwww, bitter aftertaste. No taste, not as bad as (TJ), I could still eat this if I was starving. I only finished it because I figured I would never eat cardboard and cheese again. Eric sucks, but this was worse.

4. 13/25 Meijer - Good, would benefit from cut up hot doggies. Best texture as far as cheese goes, but the terrible pasta taste is overpowering. Could have been great....sucks. A little gross, a little cardboard tasting, super orange. Little flavor. At least it wasn't gritty. Why is it orange? Still hungry.....

3. 14/25 Kraft - Not a lot of cheese flavor, best so far (was tasted third.) Finally a normal flavor! Wish it had more zip. I'm still hungry. Back to goodness, but not as buttery as some others. Best of the first few. Goodish flavor, but something is still missing. I guess mac and cheese is only good when you're young.... Good stuff, not as buttery as the first sample, but still delicious. Tastes "crafty."

2. 15/25 Valu Time - Delicious and buttery. I liked that the noodles were different sizes. Not much cheese flavor. Noodles were 'slippery.' Eric sucks. Good butter flavor. Creamy and buttery..delicious! I don't know if I'm saying this because I'm so hungry I could eat Andrew's left arm thanks to Eric being later than crap! Golden color. I'm excited and hungry! Creamy sauce, no tang. Ready for more!

1. 20/25 Kroger Original - Creamy, saucy, good initial flavor, but still looking for tang. Good cheesy flavor! Best so far, almost cheesy, GREAT texture, lacked cardboard flavor entirely. Liked the darker color. Good, strong taste!

The 'indie' comes out ahead again! Most people involved with this test have already switched to Kroger brand. Well, for elbow style that is. You seriously CAN NOT mess with Spongebob shaped Kraft, and also Kraft Spirals. Seriously there is absolutely no way that you can top those! That is, unless you are Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Those are different products entirely though. That's why they weren't allowed in the race.

So, I wasted 27 years of my life eating sub par macaroni and cheese....sigh...that's fine.

P.S. Sophie stopped by for this taste test!

tastebuddies: Root Beer Edition!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:35:46 GMT

I always have thought that I enjoyed a good root beer. I've had some missteps in my life, however. Dog 'n' Suds was the first beverage that I ever got 'rust mouth' from. I didn't ever think that I would need to watch out for that. It's only happened a couple of times since, but that was my first, and worst. It ruined that brand for me forever- unfair as that may be. Jolly's never did a dang thing for me. Call me names or whatever, but I always thought it to be watery and not delicious. Enough with the introductions, let's get on with it!

I spilled root beer all over the papers from this test. It kinda gives them an air of authenticity.

There have been a few tests so far where there was a brand that was sorely missing. This test was one of them. I went to six or seven stores in a mad rush trying to find one damned bottle of IBC root beer. The closest that I came was some diet at Kroger's. I was not going to have that taint the test, so we did without.

4. 9/25 Bawls Geek Beer - Frosty! Off taste? Foamy, brown water. Foamy, hardly any flavor. Lots of root beer flavor, good for floats maybe, not for drinking. Frothy but shitty, really.

3. 11/25 Barq's - Aftertaste is a bit diety, flat?, licoricey? Tastes like a liquid Dum-Dum. Weak flavor. Sugary, not much root beer taste. Medicine flavored root beer, strange after taste. Good, could have been fizzier!

3. 11/25 Stewart's - Carmel, weird, butterscotch? Tastes like maple! Good flavor at first, but morphed into bad taste. Smells very sweet, weird after taste. Not very root beery. Best initial taste, but still sucks. Maybe I just don't like root beer.

2. 16/25 Mug - The best one yet! Good flavor. Smells like root beer barrels from Cracker Barrel. Good flavor without being too rich. Good foam, tasted good, had a hint of artificial banana popsicle afterward. Nice foam, decent flavor. I wish I had some vanilla ice cream. Flavorless, seriously.

2. 16/25 Big K - Like a root beer barrel, but odd aftertaste. Licoricey, but good flavor. Good flavor, little sweet. Pretty strong taste, brothers. Tastes like an old timey root beer barrel.

1. 20/25 A&W - Good. Good flavor, nothing great. Good flavor, no aftertaste. Good brown color, nice sweetness, this is perfect. All I need is a slab of vanilla ice cream, seriously.

Those comments for the winner surely wouldn't make anyone rush out to buy this product! Maybe growing up L.D.S. spoiled us on root beer. I dunno. I really used to like it a lot! I don't find myself ever thinking, "holy crap I need to have root beer right now."

A long time ago with Jason T. at the P.R.F. apartments (whatever they were called), I spent a week subsisting on Twizzlers and root beer. I remember it fondly, but that may have been the week that ruined root beer forever for me.

Root beer floats are still fine though.

Duh.

Today was the greatest day that I've ever known.

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:20:35 GMT

Well, it was fine.

Jessica and I took an Eric and Tom tour of Dayton. I say Tom, meaning Tom C., but then I realized that after the first part of the tour it turned into the Tom S. tour.

Part one included the Dayton mall, shopping and pinball. They had two pinball machines today! One was a rickety old South Park machine, and the other a fancy new Sopranos machine. It was complete with strippers on poles. I also played Soulcalibur, and that rocked. Then we tried to play Time Crisis II, but my gun didn't work, and I was let down. It would make the screen flash and everything, but my bullets wouldn't show up. I spent my time ducking, and watching my guy be all worthless on Jessica's screen.

I bought some shoes and a Ducktales shirt. I bought it at Hot Topic. I have fond memories of that Hot Topic, as it used to be Hot Gothic. Now, however, it looks the same as the rest of them....(which may be goth, don't care!)

We also went to Half Price, and I got some awesome stuff! Maybe the most fun item is a 30 pack of Opus post cards. Who the hell do I send post cards to? Let alone, who's going to appreciate an Opus card enough to deserve one? After that we tried to go to Dingleberries to buy used cds that smell like incense, but it doesn't exist anymore. We discussed Marion's, but weren't quite hungry enough yet.

Then we went to Bill's Donuts, and Jessica's mind was blown. They aren't my favorite donuts per se, but I do appreciate them. The place smelled AMAZING when we stepped inside. (Edit: I just ate the apple danish that I bought, and if the danish kingdom ever had a king, well sorry I JUST MURDERED HIM WITH MY TEETH.)

Next up was The Bookery. I didn't find anything in the comic book side, but across the street I rocked it. I bought a box of Garbage Pail Kids cards, and opened all 35 packs in a marathon session that barely satiated my obsession. They only cost $10. It was fine.

I bought a Jeff Smith style Shazam shirt. Still haven't read the comics. Like the cover art, have 'em all. Taking my time.

We talked a bunch in the car and while walking around. It was a relaxing day.

Afterwards we journeyed home for another fun night of tastebuddies action.....

With my sister, whom I loved.

bowersem@gmail.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:19:22 GMT

I look a little less heterosexual in this picture than usual. Might be the hair, I dunno. I used this leave-in conditioner/highlighter type stuff. I thought it was a fun product. They were giving it away on campus at UC once, but I never saw it for sale in stores.

Ninth Grade in a Nutshell

bowersem@gmail.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:02:10 GMT

This was hiding behind another picture in a frame on the wall. I guess someone must've rotated it up front recently.

Sorry everyone, I guess I win the prize.

Definitive Faces Volume Ten: John Walsh

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:34:24 GMT

Well buddies, Team Stray is officially over, so I have one real band going. That band is John Walsh, and I think that it rules. I think that it rocks. I think that I love it. I know that I love it.

The shows have been getting better and better over the years. I think that we're almost up to fifteen shows. The shows have been slow going, but being picky about shows has made them all the more enjoyable. In other bands in the past we played many, many lackluster shows just because. Scheduling with these four guys being so difficult has made planning shows way ahead the ideal method. Of course, that is about to change.

Today we had our first practice with Jon Hands. I can't wait to see just exactly how the dynamic changes. We may write the next album as a full band at practice as opposed to the way we've written all of the other songs. The way its been in the past has been this: Eric writes/records drums; Mike/Andrew/Jon records guitars and bass; Eric writes lyrics; Mike records vocals; back up vocals are recorded. It should make the next album either be the one that makes us sound "more mature", or the album that completely fucking slays shit and makes a whole bunch of sense.

Team Stray's last show was amazing. Apart from the emotions that the end of Team Stray brought, I had a fucking blast with John Walsh. There were so many people there. A bunch of different photographers got some suuuuuper awesome pictures of both bands. Kelly, who used to be from Columbus, took the best picture of Andrew that ever existed. Look at the John Walsh comments to find that one at www.myspace.com/americasmostpositive .

In the above picture Nick is having such a good time that his head is hurting!

I like that people of all ages can appreciate John Walsh. I like that people appreciate the positivity that is represented. I like that I get to involve some humor in the lyrics. I like that I get to be in a band with my brother. I like Jon and Mike as well. Little Jonny Weiners makes me happy a lot of the time, even when I think that he is being super punk rock. I've enjoyed Mike's friendship as well for many years, and I have Cathy to thank for making me meet him. I'm pretty sure that Cathy is why I met him.

This is officially the best picture ever taken of a John Walsh show.

The first time I saw it I laughed a bunch, and then I was proud that I was in the machine that powered it's making.

Today Jon Weiners told me that the next album will be called Positive Universe, and the following with be Positive Galaxy. After that the next album will be Positive Infinity. That makes sense.

The Box Set III will hopefully be coming out this year. There were about fifteen shorts songs recorded awhile ago for what would've been a submission for the Short Attention CD that came out half a year ago, but we failed in the time zone. I want to finish these songs for inclusion on The Box Set, because at this point, they probably aren't solid enough to be a follow up to Positive Nation.

For anyone that hasn't listened to Positive Nation, I really think that it is probably the second best album that I've ever been on. Some tightening up could've made it number one, but fucking Gender Studies is so solid that it hurts my brain!

Here's to a few more years of John Walsh, keeping it positive!

Team Stray's Final Show!

bowersem@gmail.com — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:44:11 GMT

Team Stray, John Walsh, and The Dopamines. This will be an awesome, fun, good looking time. There are one or two bands playing before "our show", so if you happen to need to show up late, that is fine! I may just smile the whole night uncontrollably. That'd be fine.

I had a dream:

bowersem@gmail.com — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:54:05 GMT

I don't know exactly what I was doing in the dream, but that's not the point. All I know is that I was laying around in my dream, all just hanging out. The deal here is that I was wearing what I thought was a sweater with buttons. I just felt real awesome with my sweater with buttons that I was wearing. I don't really remember the color, but I like to think that it looks just like the one that I went out and bought a couple of days later. Turns out a sweater with buttons is called a cardigan. Then I felt dumb. I don't know much about clothing. So anyway, I am enjoying this sweater with buttons that I am wearing. I won't be wearing it out in public much, however, seeing as I kinda look like a totally bigger nerd than usual in it.

Black with gray borders/lining/whatever the hell. Black buttons.

While I was at the mall I gave into my other addiction. Cologne. I bought new cologne. And I love it. My favorite cologne of all time is Chanel Egoiste Platinum (word order may be wrong.) I mention this because my new guy is also Chanel. It is Allure, and it smells super awesome.

Other colognes that I like, and explanations.
1. Chanel Platinum Egoiste: Reminds me of high school, the first cologne that I ever loved. I would steal it from Andrew before I ever could afford anything above, well the Aramis and English Leather that I inherited from dad don't really count as affording.
2. Allure: This gets the number two spot because I'm real excited about it. Rules shit.
3. That new Sean John (I think) stuff Unbreakable (I think): This is the second newest stuff that I have. It rocks the joint in a way fit to be enjoyed.
4. Chrome: Old school, a little fruity. For those lighter days.
5. Aqua Di Gio: This one's almost gone finally. I won't be buying another bottle, but I'll enjoy it all the way up to the end. The ex liked this stuff a bunch.....

Nice!

Mix exchange!

bowersem@gmail.com — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:32:08 GMT

Tuesday Dec. 30th at Pearl's. 7:00ish. Bring about ten mixes. We'll have dinner, coffee, and board games!

My sister did this, and I was kinda thinking it might get me in the spirit, turns out it didn't.

bowersem@gmail.com — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:46:11 GMT

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? I like both a lot. I usually have to add some milk to my eggnog though to make it a little less mucousy. I like most forms of hot chocolate. Swiss Miss rocks. Milo was a deal that we did a lot when we were little. Here is when I hate hate HAET hot chocolate: when it comes out of a coffee machine and tastes like coffee. I really think that this sucks a bunch, which is weird because a pack of hot chocolate in coffee is generally excellent to me. I guess it's just when there's only a hint of the coffee.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or sit them under the tree? I don't think that if I ever have children that I will let them live in the fantasy world that involves around Santa. I also won't let them be dicks to the kids that still believe though.

3. Colored or white lights on tree and house? I always felt that white lights (especially those new fangled icicle ones) were for uppity bitches. Please give me so big old honkin' colored lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? There is some at work, you know, just in case.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I still live at home, so I don't have to worry about it. I think I'll behave in the style of my parents though, and just keep it simple. One little decoration that lets people know that I'm down, but not insane.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Probably pumpkin pie. We do it at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and all of the rest of the year as well. I also love all of the cookies that my mom makes around the holidays.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? It may be the time that I got two of the same M.A.S.K. toy and I was bummed about it. I checked through the presents days before, and I told on myself just so I could have mom exchange one for me. It was the big purple semi Rhino. I should've just saved one in the package and then had a couple hundred dollars today.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't really recall. I don't remember ever ascribing to that bee ess.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I used to, but nowadays we usually don't get too many gifts, and we don't want to be "out" first on Christmas, so I usually don't.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? The tree at home has all of the usual suspects on it. Emma got stuck with popcorn and cranberry duty this year. hahah.

11. Snow, Love it or Dread it? Love it! I used to like it enough, though I never liked being cold and wet. Nowadays I seriously hate it's guts because it means that work will be super slow and I have to make people mad by calling them off. When I was teaching it was suuuuuuuuuuper sweet though!! Though I still would not get paid, at least I didn't have to make a bunch of dudes mad.

12. Can you ice skate? I've only tried once, and I failed miserably. It was at The Festival of Lights on some of their skates that were leftover from the 50's.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I feel good about winning as Corrie's favorite gift-giver. As far as my favorite, I dunno. Probably when I would get the "big" legos back in the day. Throughout the year I would only be able to afford small legos, but birthdays and Christmas meant either a pirate ship, or an airport, or the fire station, etc.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering that I have to live the rest of the year, and shit's the same. Get over it, and spread that cheer throughout the year!!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Same as my favorite food. Pumpkin pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Waking up and checking out my stocking. It always has delicious Australian candy in it, and then I get to trade for the stuff I like. I get rid of my Pollywaffle everytime, if mom doesn't remember that I hates 'em.

17. What tops your tree? I dunno what they have on it.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? If I ever had something sweet to ask for, it'd be receiving. When I do a good job, I get real excited about giving though. It's hard to be excited though when all you're giving is gift cards. I did a real good job this year on birthdays for Andrew and Becky. They got the same thing, but it rocked! Becky's picture was real cute, and Andrew's two pictures of Ben were awesome! Andrew's may've been two years ago though.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Probably something off of the Two Inch Winky Christmas cd. Or The Vandals' Oi to the World! I also like Christmas hymns a bunch. I guess I like tons of Christmas songs.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Delicious. I like peppermint. I also like cherry a lot. Spearmint sucks. Any of those fruit flavors are fine too (watermelon for example.) Chocolate ones suuuuuuck though.

Here's to another lackluster holiday!

Mix Exchange: Update

bowersem@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:37:07 GMT

Interested parties:
Trent Upchuck
Nick Turnip
Robert Mayberry
Tom Schmiddy
Jen Gin
Eric Basheesh
Jon Weenies says that "he will do it"
Belinda McTaco
Matthew Hemi
Carrie Nation
Mikey Seeds

There are a couple of maybe piles that I didn't put on the list, but I will if they confirm! Also, if your printer/burner breaks in the next few days let me know so I can take your name off!

Are we mostly interested in having this go down at Pearl's one night between Dec. 26th and Jan. 1st? There seemed to be some overlap of outta towners in those dates.

Cd mix exchange, anyone?

bowersem@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:21:42 GMT

Interested parties:
Trent Upchuck
Nick Turnip
Robert Mayberry
Tom Schmiddy
Jen Gin
Eric Basheesh
Jon Weenies says that "he will do it"
Belinda McTaco
If Mike does it, Tommy C. will do it

The results last year for the mix exchange were pretty, pretty lackluster (Larry David voice), but I'd like to try again. It seems like this year more than any other, the people that I hang out with are listening to more and more different things than me (and each other.)

If you want to do this, I would very much like you to do a good job. None of those "my printer broke" rushjobs that are basically just the last 10 songs that you played in iTunes on a cd.

Make a cover. I just like to see what people do when they have to do an art project. I really don't think anyone will ever top Tom S.'s collage collection from that one year oh so many years ago.

I'll probably be asking around in person too, however, seeing as some people don't check their LJs as much as they REALLY SHOULD.

I have a lot of songs that I need to make sure that people have in their lives this year. Lets do it!

EDIT: January 9th will be a good day for me to trade. It is Team Stray's last show at The Blue Rock Tavern, and I figure some dudes will be there. Other than that, I'll trade wherever, whenever. A Pearl's game night is an excellent idea (as suggested by Robert.) It wouldn't be hard to manage, seeing as I've been keeping those up with the help of some newer friends lately!

The Tastebuddies: Grilled Cheese Edition

bowersem@gmail.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:31:59 GMT

Let's start off with a picture of six delicious looking grilled cheese sammy whammies.

Everybody (except for idiots, and straight assholes) likes grilled cheese samliciouses. There is nothing wrong with just melty cheese between two slices of bread that have been toasted in a pan or on a skillet. Some people just make them better than others. Also some people have their own touch to make them delicious. One night last week we set out to find some answers.

The Tastebuddies had some extra members again (same extra members as last time.) It is an added bonus to have the 'rents and Emma around, but Spencer really doesn't give a crap about his time spent with us. His answers also aren't much help to the cause. He doesn't seem to understand that, because this isn't school, he can at least pretend to have fun while writing.

Round one seemed like a giant waste of time to me at first. I wasn't fully wrapping my brain around the idea. I thought that it was same cheese, same bread, same butter, different cook. But, turns out it was same bread, same butter, same cooks, different American cheese. American cheese is usually used in the grilled cheeses around town so this was an awesome idea.

As always, six brands were used. Scores are out of 45 points.
Sixth Place: 17/45 Meijer brand. I guess the commercials are wrong. They come in last place a lot! Like yellow glue, not much for taste, great, no flavour (c'mon mom!!!), super rubbery, yuck, bland......
Fifth Place: 25/45 Land 'O Lakes. Not much cheese flavor, great, smooth, slightly salty, creamy texture, fake cheese taste, classic - but wish there were more gooiness....
Fourth Place: 30/45 Kroger. Tasty, gross, rubbery, great, smells better than Andrew on a good day, not tons of flavor, sticks to my teeth, creamy in texture, good cheesy flavor, Emma sucks, like yellow glue......Those comments didn't sound five points better than the last brand! Dang!
Third Place: 31/45 Kraft Singles. Heck yes! This is the one that made me commit table talk, no cheesy flavor, pretty good, the smallest, least perceptible edge in cheese taste, I really like grilled cheese, not as great, o.k., lacked taste (didn't seem to be substantial - thin slice.).........
Second Place: 33/45 Velveeta. Awesome taste and melt!, Sophie is cute and Eric is not,
smooth, o.k. taste, nice texture, greater, the ultimate grilled cheese cheese, tasteless, best so far.....
First Place: 34/45 Boar,s Head. Not much flavor, yum, almost perfect!, Eric sucks, golden yellow sunshine, give me more!, strong cheese taste - but not better - this is why I went to mozzarella.......

Different palates from everybody. The comments range all over the place even for the first place pick!!! The top three were pretty close this time though.

My parents are keepin' it real grilled cheese and a baby style!

I've been in a few grilled cheese offs over the years, and I don't think I've won one yet, but that is o.k.. I felt cheated a little though when Tom showed up late with his double-decker at Glendora a few years back. The real prize though at a grilled cheese off is knowing that everyone else gets to have delicious grilled cheese samtowners in their bellies.

My ultimate grilled cheese is regular old white bread and mozzarella cheese. I like the cheese to be all kinds of stretchy and delicious. I like American grilled cheeses, mostly because I have to. That is mostly what you will always get at a diner. That is fine. I like grilled cheeses with tomato soup. I usually don't have them that way, but when I do it is super fine.

On to Round Two!!

Sixth Place: 19/45 The Weinermobile's Classic Mustard Bomber. I brought this to the table because I figured that someone may have their mind blown. Turns out nobody in my family likes mustard all that much. I like this sandwich, though I'll admit that I generally never have mustard near my grilled cheeses. Seemed to have a mustard/pickle taste, I wouldn't buy this, kinda have to be ready for this, is that Miracle Whip?, interesting, wouldn't eat this again, bunch of yuck, looks good - might be o.k. if I was warned......
Fifth Place: (tie!!) 23/45 Birdseed bread. Andy brought his and Corrie's favorite bread to the table. His cheese choice was fontina. This bread is terrible, taste's like mom would like it, nutty bread - guessed mozzarella, good cheese, not a fan of the bread,
yummy bread, lot's of cheese, didn't like the savory with the sweet.......
Fifth Place: (tie!!) 23/45 This was my mozzarella on white. I bought the wrong kind of bread. I went for some fancerson type of bread. Too sweet, didn't work, and my sandwich suffered for it!! No flavor, rubbery cheese, wish it was wheat bread (ed: who the hell ever says that??!??!), Eric likes cheese and gravy, looks good, smells good, not a lot of cheese flavor.......
Third Place: 24/45 Andrew's Rye, mayo, and swiss. This sandwich made me almost puke right there. I like Reuben's, but the mayo made me think about spewing some things. Rachel Ray probably likes this sandwich - but I dub this The Nightmare Sandwich, like the flavor of the secret ingredient, strong taste, excellent, fun bread, wish it were gooier cheese, good as a reuben - but as a grilled cheese - get real!, looks weird, smells weird, no thanks!....
Second Place: 32/45 Corrie's Wheat and Cheddar. This rocks! Awesome cheese for real! Love the stretchiness, good cheese, covers everything, classic grilled cheese!, stringy goodness, smells good, looks good, nice crispy bread, good all around, good cheese, bland bread, tastes like nothing, the bread tastes better, iffy on the bread - but the cheese was ridiculously awesome......
First Place: Shelley wins!!!! 36/45 Colby and Pepper Jack on Sourdough. This rocks, nacho sandwich, great bread, tasty cheese, finally an original!, too stringy, wonderful bread, spicy cheese - not good, looks and smells awesome - different, extra goo factor, like the spicy flavor, awesome cheese, crunchy bread, I heart colby jack, like the kick!

The taste test was a success. Emma said that she was sick of grilled cheese, but I could seriously have tackled another one right there. It reignited my passion for melted cheese between two pieces of bread.

A view of the judges table.....

bowersem@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:16:28 GMT

Every once in a great while I'll straight buy some chocolate chip cookies and eat them. I'll usually use milk, and then when it's all over I usually don't think that they sucked or anything. Basically I was probably retarded every time that those events transpired. Usually when I would buy the cookies my mom hadn't made her chocolate chip cookies for awhile. My mom's chocolate chip cookies are not my favorite cookies of hers. Monte Carlos are brilliant. Her gourmet chocolate chip cookies are 100% the jam (better than the regulars.) There is also a carrot cake with icing, or maybe those were pumpkin with icing cookies that I would run over someone with my car for.

When her chocolate chip cookies first come out of the oven, they are jammin'. Once they've settled they become harder and I still enjoy them. This may be part of why I am no fan of soft/chewy chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes mom will freeze the cookies, and these are also excellent. Every different temperature of cookie is delicious with milk. I've been spoiled over the years because of her delicious cooking.

Last week at Andy's (not Andrew's) birthday dinner/celebration we had spaghetti. Andy also had me play Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii. I haven't played a single game on Wii yet that has made me say "oh man, this system/game rocks!" Horserider was even worse than the other games that I'd played. The best game that I've played has been the tanks mini-game. After dinner we had the taste test.

The winner of the contest scored an amazing 52.5%. Come on cookies, you should be way more delicious than that! My dad swears that had "Chip-its" still been around, they would've blown the competition away. I tried to bring up Pizzarias (delicious chips that were discontinued because of their uber-delicious nature...they had the best texture of any chip every), but chips were not on the discussion menu. Also at the end of the competition we may or may not've decided to have a home baked chocolate chip cookie competition. That may not work too well however, based on the competitive nature of the Bowers family.

Dad stacked his uneaten cookies so he could look at 'em as the results were read. Makes sense!

Scores and select comments:
Chewy Chips Ahoy - 11/40: No taste/waxy chips. Yuk. Straight poop. Yuck xs 10! Nasty. Not appealing, funny taste, oily. Tastes like playdough. Seriously people? Playdough? Awful aftertaste.

Chewy Chipsters (Meijer) - 13/40: Looks burnt/may be flavored styrofoam. Good aroma, good taste - yet far from Chip-its. Looked crunchy/was crispy. Weird. I guess I'm not a fan of soft cookies, I always thought I was! Excellent cardboard.

Soft Batch - 13/40: Yuck, weird aftertaste. Would be ok if wrecked on desert island. Man, do I hate chewy cookies. They give me the hot gas, if you know what I meant. Crumbly, fake aftertaste. Looks homemade, tasteless. Tastes like a Fig Newton. Hope it doesn't make me poop.

Meijer Chipsters - 17/40: No flavour (C'mon mom, you've been here for decades!!) Weird taste. Best one yet! chocolately, cool, bruh. Wouldn't buy these. I discovered that I don't like store bought cookies. These taste like those crazy McDonald's cookies. Gross. After that last one (Chewy Chips Ahoy) this one is a freakin' 10!

Chips Ahoy - 20/40: Dry, crumbly, weird choco-flavor. Dry, good amount of chips, yuck! Mild, brittle, not a favorite. Looks like a tiny turd. Corrie hated it. Andrew sucks. Tasted good, crumbly. Not enough chips! Perfect, sweet enough. Eric sucks.

Keebler Chips Deluxe - 21/40: Not enough chocolate chips! Lots of chips, not a lot of taste. Pretty good, more chocolate. Hot chip action! Tasted like packed dirt, Andrew smells. Very similar to first sample in look, texture and taste. Good amount of chips. Lots of chips, too bad they are terrible. Pretty good, maybe too many chips. Milk made it a five.

I guess I'll learn how to make some cookies in this house just so I don't have to buy these tiny bags of garbage anymore. Apparently, that is.

John Walsh

bowersem@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:22:07 GMT

John Walsh came out with a new album. It is a collection of the "Nuthin' Demos" and the Ohio Hardcore tracks, and then seven more songs. Eric Tuffendsam mixed and mastered them for me. I'd wanted to hear what JW would sound like with someone way more competent than me finishing them off, and I got a taste with the Ohio tracks. The rest of them turned out pretty excellently, the only deficiency being that track 9 is kinda quiet. It is from a different session than all but one other, and there were more tracks than others, so the mastering was kinda rough. I didn't give Eric much time though, but he did a stellar job with what he had.

Now that those tracks are done I'm ready to finish up all of the short songs and then have a fresh start and maybe write an album as a band. Weird.

We also have brand new shirts that are super awesome looking. We also have new hoodies!

We played a show with The Misfits and it was super fun.

Team Stray just played a show the other day that I felt pretty awesome about.

Next up is an Unscum live show. Hopefully we are ready in time. It is December 28th!!!!