stay in the shallow end

As of a week and a half ago, my local Waffle House takes credit cards.

I created a Never Played Smart Playlist consisting of all songs with a Play Count of less than 1:

Holy crap!! I sorted them in chronological order of when I added them to iTunes, and I plan to listen to nothing else until I can say that I’ve listened to my entire library.

From the latest Connections@UVa:

HOOS ARE TAKING CARE OF THEMSELVES: 82.9 percent of U.Va. students did not become hurt or injured as a result of their drinking.

You have got to be kidding me. Even if they are only counting undergraduates, that means that 17.1% * 13,401 = 2,291 students injured themselves as a result of their drinking. I don’t know anything about this survey, which was probably ridiculously unscientific. Even if it was completely accurate, I have to wonder who decided that 2,291 students injuring themselves due to drinking is something to be proud of.

BLOGZOT 2.0 on MacZOT.com: This time, a free license to SubEthaEdit from CodingMonkeys. MacZOT and TheCodingMonkeys will award $105,000 in Mac software for posting a link on your blog.

Same deal as AppZapper, except this time they are giving away some ridiculously good software. SubEthaEdit is one of the first programs I download when I setup a new Mac. Being able to have a licensed version of it for free is going to be awesome.

Before the show started:

After the sun went down:

I picked up a Gatorade beforehand, leaned against the rail, and enjoyed the first half of the show. I’ll gladly pay the Pavilion’s ridiculous prices for a show I really want to see, but for a band like Wilco, who I’m not at all familiar with, this was a great way to spend the evening.

Last week was a pretty good week for food. This week I’ll be stressing out over end of semester stuff, so expect to see more fast food places compared to this week.

• Monday: Lunch at Noodle Bar: Delicious. See my previous post. This week’s winner by a long shot.

• Tuesday: Dinner at Escafe: I received a small financial windfall Tuesday morning, so we decided to splurge a little bit. I ordered the Meatloaf Sandwich and subbed an Asian Cabbage Toss for the side. She ordered the Crabcake Platter. My Meatloaf Sandwich was just okay, and the Asian Cabbage Toss was excellent as usual. I really need to stop trying entrees there and order just the Cabbage Toss. Her crabcake was very good, but a little pricy for the amount of food we got.

• Tuesday: Desert at Splendora’s Gelato: Splendora’s is my favorite addition to the downtown mall. I got a small cup with Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch and Pistachio. I usually get their Bambino cone with whatever hazelnut related flavor they had, but this was the splurge night. The pistachio was good and tasted remarkably like pistachio. The Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch is my favorite flavor they have, and I only wish they’d put more whole hazelnuts in it.

• Wednesday: Lunch at Biltmore Grill: This was my first time eating at Biltmore, and it was fantastic. For $6.50 I got an enormous Buffalo Chicken sandwich and a big pile of Sweet Potato Fries. The Buffalo Chicken sandwich was either one really big or two smaller boneless chicken breasts deep fried and spun in wing sauce on a bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and bleu cheese dressing. It was superb. I ate the whole thing and promptly fell into a coma. The Sweet Potato Fries on the side were also delicious. Whenever I crave “American food”, I’ve never known where to go in town that was good; Now I’ll be going to Biltmore.

• Thursday: Lunch at Mellow Mushroom: I had half a Jerk Chicken sandwich on wheat, no mayo, add jalapenos. This is one of my favorite sandwiches. It’s incredibly spicy, and they grill the jalapenos, which is awesome. I also had a slice of Sausage and Banana Peppers, which was overkill, and I left completely stuffed. My favorite thing about Mellow Mushroom is their crust, it’s sweet and chewy and oh-so-delicious. I’ve gone to great lengths trying to determine the recipe, and have had very little luck. What I have learned is that it isn’t made in the restaurant, but they receive it from the Mellow Mushroom mothership. They use molasses instead of sugar and spring water instead of tap water. Everything else is a mystery. If you manage to come across a recipe, please let me know!

• Friday: Late Night Snack at St. Maarten’s Cafe: I met up with Michael for a few drinks, and he claimed that they had the best wings in Charlottesville. He’s wrong. They were OK, but did not live up to their five chili rating in any way shape or form. Even disregarding the lack of heat, they were just run of the mill vinegar based wings. Sorry, Michael. Their fries are still some of the best in town, though!

• Saturday: Breakfast at The Tavern: I lived in Charlottesville for over two years before going to The Tavern for the first time. I’m an idiot. The Tavern is so delicious, and always hits the spot on a lazy weekend morning. I had my usual hybrid order: Pigs in a Chocolate Chip Blanket. Three enormous sausage links wrapped in chocolate chip pancakes. Despite how tasty they are, I’ve never been able to make itpast the second one. This place is awesome, but most of you probably already knew that.

• Saturday: Dinner at Michael’s Bistro: We went out with her friends to Michael Bistro, and since she was buying me dinner, I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu: Pork Tenderloin. Unfortunately, the kitchen misinterpreted our server’s handwriting, and made the Portabello, so two of us had to wait an extra fifteen minutes for our dinners while the other two ate. I understand the mistake, and my only annoyance is that the server said they’d be ready in just a minute, and then it took fifteen. They did offer us free deserts, though, so that was good. The Pork Tenderloin was tasty but nothing special, and it was only five chunks of meat served on some mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes tasted like they had more butter than potatoes in them. Definitely not a fifteen dollar meal, and I don’t think I’ll be eating dinner at Michael’s Bistro again. I do like drinking there, though.

• Saturday: Dinner at Baja Bean: After enjoying part of the Wilco show from the free seats, we decided we’d go to El Puerto for dinner. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we went to Baja Bean. Let me just say, that I don’t like Baja Bean. In fact, I pretty much hate it. I had a cancer certificate to use, though, so I decided to suck it up. First we got their tasteless watery salsa. I asked for some of their companion salsas, which are probably Baja Bean’s only redeeming qualities. The Tomatillo is nice and tangy, and the Diablo has a nice, slow, long-lasting burn. My entree was the Combo Caliente, which was a chorizo burrito, a chicken enchilada, and a jalapeno taquito, all stuffed with jalapenos and topped with some sort of hot honey glaze. It was edible, and that’s about all I can say for it. I just find their food to be completely uninteresting. There’s no boldness in their flavors, which for a Mexican restaurant, is unacceptable. Unfortunately, I still have some money left on the gift certificate, so I’ll be headed back there at least once.

Let me just reiterate how happy I am about Noodle Bar. I can’t wait to go back.

We were wrong.

So today had been pretty much one of the most craptastic days in awhile. We’ve been having all sorts of issues with Speedy for the last week, the worst symptom being that she is running around the house barking herself to sleep every night. We put the gate up over the bedroom door to keep her in the bedroom and hopefully accelerate the process of her getting bored and going to sleep. This moment is marked by her “sigh of capitulation”: the barking turns into whining, and the whining stop with a huge sigh and she plops down and goes to sleep. Unfortunately, last night, there was no sigh of capitulation, so we finally gave in and opened the gate. We are very easily manipulated late at night, and she knows it. We need to fix that.

Anyway, she runs around, barks a little bit, comes back into the bedroom, and goes to sleep at around 2:20 AM. Little did we know that she was on a march of destruction. She gnawed on some of lpk’s shoes and, but nothing too bad; she saved the real destruction for me.

I got a new man-purse yesterday for toting around gadgets and stuff, and I put my digicam, ipod, and gps into it. She decides to pull it down, get stuff out, and use them as chew toys. My digicam is salvageable, it only received some damage to the viewfinder, which I never use. My gps is completely destroyed, but luckily it’s within 90 days of purchase on my American Express, so they’ll refund the purchase price for me. Don’t leave home without it!

Anyway, I left for school feeling all crappy, and after a minute of walking, it starts raining. I get to the bus stop, and my bus which normally takes 5 minutes takes 20, while I’m standing in the rain. By the time I got to class 15 minutes late, I’m completely soaked. Class was actually awesome, so that was good. After class I realized I forgot my power adaptor and had to come back home for it. Then I had to go back to school for journal club, and I came home after that. At that point, I decided to write off the day, go to sleep, and hopefully wake up and salvage what was left of it.

And that brings me to the awesomest dream ever. This dream was a throwback to dreams I had as a little kid. I’d be chased by a mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex across the school playground, and there would be do government agents or something behind it’s red glass eyes trying to decide how they were going to kill me. My dream today was updated a bit for modern times:

It started at an amusement park that was a cross between Jurassic Park and Busch Gardens (or at least the Busch Gardens I remember from nearly 15 years ago). The dinosaurs decide to attack, like dinosaurs are wont to do, and there’s total pandemonium. Everybody’s running around trying to save themselves, and we (I don’t recall exactly who “we” is), are using this parking garage type structure for shelter. Every now and then a pterodactyl pokes it’s face or claws in, or a Tyrannosaurus Rex chomps off a piece of the building. We have a bunch of near misses and watch a lot of people die when the US Military finally shows up. They parachute in these enormous robotic dinosaurs designed to attack the real dinosaurs and a battle begins. It’s reminiscent of the AT-AT battle scenes from Star Wars. All of a sudden, a gruff voice behind me yells for them to call off the robotic dinosaurs because they won’t work. That voice belongs to Jack Bauer.

And now you see why this is the awesomest dream ever. Jack Bauer starts yelling at the commanding officer that he needs to call of his robotic dinosaurs, because they will only make the situation worse. Of course, people in power never listen to Jack Bauer, so he goes off to resolve the situation himself. In what was obviously poor judgement on our part, we go with him: People that tag along with Jack Bauer always die. Unfortunately, my recollection of the dream gets spotty at this point. The last thing I can remember happening is that we’re on a bus being chased by a T-Rex (almost exactly like the chase scene from Jurassic Park, except with a bus). Some military is on board, and tried all sorts of weapons against the T-Rex with no effect. Finally Jack Bauer breaks a back window of the bus, takes aim, and brings the T-Rex down with one shot. Apparently Jack Bauer is an expert of dinosaur anatomy.

I woke up around this point completely refreshed and in much better spirits. Once again, Jack Bauer saves the day.

… that I don’t have my cell phone or my camera on me, a hen passes me on the sidewalk as I’m walking home on JPA. Yes, a hen. At first I was thinking, “Oh how cute, a hen.” Then after I passed it, I realized that it was just the scout, and soon an army of poultry will march on Charlottesville and destroy us all. Come to think of it, the hen did look kind of like Turkitron:

Turkitron: Enjoy those tacos now, for in a thousand years, they will be illegal…heh ha ha ha hah…I think we all know why.

Meatwad: We know why?

Turkitron: ANTI-TACO LEGISLATION! Disestablishmentarianism.

Normally I’d wait until next week’s last week in food, but this place is two delicious to wait.

I noticed it tucked behind Satellite Ballroom facing the parking lot last saturday night when we went to St. Maarten’s. It’s name is actually Noodle bar, and I learned that it has been open for exactly one week. There’s a small menu with four appetizers, four noodle bowls, and three rice bowls. Actually, I’ll just type out the whole menu:

• Thai Spring Roll served with Spicy Peanut Sauce: $3.25
• Northern California Roll Sushi Roll of Avocado and Cucumber: Whole Roll: $5.50, Half Roll: $3.25
• Asian Veggie Salad with Plum Soy Dressing: $5.50
• Soup of the Day: $3.75
• Noodles
• Vegetable Pad Thai (spicy): $6
• Noodle Bowl of Soba Noodles, Ginger Mushroom Broth, Shiitake Mushrooms, Bok-Choy, Bean Sprouts, and Scallions: $5.50
• Curried Ginger and Tofu (spicy): $6
• Sesame Noodles served cold with Cucumber, Red & Green Peppers, and Scallions: $5
• Rice
• Vegetable Stir Fry with Baby Corn, Water Chestnuts, Red and Green Peppers, Snap Peas, and Scallions served over Rice: $6
• Teriyaki Chicken over Rice with Sesame Seaweed Salad: $6.50
• Vegetable Fried Rice with Peas, Onions, Carrots, and Scallions: $4.50
• Add Chicken, Shrimp, or Toku for $2.50 to any Entree

Three of us went there for lunch, and we ended up getting the first three noodle dishes. I had the Curried Ginger and Tofu which was awesome. They also had chirachi sauce to heat it up a bit. This dish tasted very Indian. Lots of curry and ginger (as the name suggests). Mixed in with the noodles were red peppers, scallions, bean sprouts, and some very flavorful tomatoes. All the veggies were fresh and retained their firmness and texture in the dish unlike many curries you get in restaurants. There was also a LOT of tofu in the dish, which was also prepared extra firm. I had a chance to sample my friends’ dishes also. The sauce in the Pad Thai was very rich, and my only complaint would be that there was too much of it for the amount of noodles. The broth of the Soba Noodles were nice and spicy and were matched perfectly by the fresh vegetables.

Based on this first visit, I’d say this place is one of the best values on the Corner. I’ll be headed back once or twice more this week.

Update: Re-reading this post, it makes me sound like I am shilling for them. That’s definitely not the case. I’m just very very excited.