So – on Tuesday of this week I was hanging out at the Straight Dope forums. I was specifically in the “Cafe Society” forum, and one of the topics was “Restaurant food fads that should be retired”. In that thread, people railed against chipotle seasoning, ranch dressing, flavored ice tea and Cajun food.

In fact, many people in that thread are apparently sick and tired of Cajun food. One poster in that thread was not only fed up with Cajun food, but also posted a link to this restaurant in Dublin. It’s supposed to be a “Cajun restaurant”, but everyone in the thread got a big laugh out of the restaurant’s description of “Cajun” and “Creole” cuisine:

Cajun is believed to have been the food of poor Negro folks, who lived along the waterways and swamps that dot Louisiana. Creole on the other hand, was the more aristocratic cuisine of the up tempo New Orleans city people.

And yes, before you ask, the people that posted that were being serious. Apparently, some people in Ireland think that Cajun cuisine comes from “poor Negro folks”. Nevermind that the stupid bastards called them “Negro folks” – why not just call them “niggers” while you’re at it? – these people run a Louisiana-themed restaurant… and apparently have no fucking clue where the food they serve comes from! Yes, “Cajun food” comes from “poor Negro folks”… just like potatoes come from China and the waltz comes from India.

A lot of folks got a laugh from the site, myself included. Nevertheless, I wanted to let the “poor Irish folks” know just how idiotic they sounded to… well, anyone from the United States… so I sent them a polite comment correcting them not only on their errors about “Cajun food”, but also their misunderstanding about Creole cuisine. A couple of days later, I got this for all my trouble:

Hi Jim,
I have taken your comments on board.
As you can see i have forwarded this on to my manager.
Drostann

—– Original Message —–
From: “Jim Cofer”
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 7:24 PM
Subject: FROM TANTE ZOES WEBSITE

> Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
> Jim Cofer (jim@myemailaddress.com) on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 19:24:44
> ————————————————————————–
–
>
> Phone Number: 704-555-1212
>
> MESSAGE: Please fix your history section.
>
> Cajun food came from the Acadian French that settled in Louisiana after
fleeing the Brits in Canada. It has nothing to do with “Negroes”.
>
> Creole, on the other hand, is a mixture of African, Caribbean, Spanish and
French. It’s “city” food, but not necessarily “aristocratic”.
>
> Thank you.

A couple of minutes later, I got this in my inbox:

Robbie!!
Check this out!
The things i have to put up with!!

Drostann

—– Original Message —–
From: “Jim Cofer”
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 7:24 PM
Subject: FROM TANTE ZOES WEBSITE

> Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
> Jim Cofer (jim@myemailaddress.com) on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 19:24:44
> ————————————————————————–
–
>
> Phone Number: 704-555-1212
>
> MESSAGE: Please fix your history section.
>
> Cajun food came from the Acadian French that settled in Louisiana after
fleeing the Brits in Canada. It has nothing to do with “Negroes”.
>
> Creole, on the other hand, is a mixture of African, Caribbean, Spanish and
French. It’s “city” food, but not necessarily “aristocratic”.
>
> Thank you.
>
> ————————————————————————–
–
> —
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.14/1171 – Release Date:
04/12/2007 19:31

Classy! I send them a helpful email… trying to tell them that they look like idiots to the rest of the world… and what do I get? A cc: with the line “The things i have to put up with!!”

So you know what? To hell with you, you stupid fucking Micks! If you want to look like complete morons to the rest of the world… knock yourselves out! That was the last time I ever help one of you potato farming, whiskey abusing, wife beating, dirt floor having, Pope worshipping bastards ever!

Around a month ago, I received an email from a lady in Israel named Eva. Eva had her own WordPress blog, but she was having all kinds of problems with it. We emailed each other back and forth, and I was finally able to get her all set up. In the past week or two, she’s really started cranking out the content, and I’ve gotta tell ya: it’s pretty good! So why not give Eva some love and check out her blog at:

galileegateway.com

People that mangle the English language drive me nuts! There are dozens of ways to use grammar incorrectly, but the one that’s been driving me crazy lately is the whole “loose\lose” thing. If you’re one of those people that seems to have trouble with the two, please enjoy this brief refresher course:

“Loose” is the opposite of “tight”. Something that is not tight (such as a screw) is loose. Clothes that are baggy could also be called loose. “Loose” is also a derogatory term for a woman of weak morals, but that’s not really important right now.

(To) “lose” something is to misplace it. You don’t want to lose your wallet or your car keys. And you don’t want your favorite football team to lose on Sunday. You probably did want to lose your virginity as a teenager, but that too is neither here nor there.

Interestingly enough, it seems that most people don’t use the terms interchangeably (like the whole there\their\they’re mess). I rarely see people use “lose” when they mean “loose”, but I often see people using “loose” when they mean “lose”, as in “I hope you didn’t loose your XP install CD – you’re going to need it soon”.

In any case, please do the world a favor and use the terms correctly. Those of us that actually paid attention during grammar lessons would appreciate it!

Goodness gracious! It’s RAINING in Charlotte! Seriously! It seems like it hasn’t rained here in six months!

Thank you for the rain, Lord – just make it stop by Saturday, OK?

There weren’t a lot of restaurants in Snellville, Georgia when I was a kid. The All-Star Drive-In and Huddle House had cheap eats covered, Dairy Queen was the only fast-food restaurant, and two locally-owned restaurants (an Italian place whose name escapes me, and “Country Manor”, a down-home cookin’ place) rounded out the culinary options. There wouldn’t be a McDonalds in Snellville until I was in grade school. The town was so hard up for new places to eat that the first week the Del Taco was open the restaurant had to have a hostess and waiting list!

There was one other restaurant on the outskirts of town: Ken’s Pizza. In my mind’s eye, I can remember the place like I was just there yesterday. There was nothing fancy about it – you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between Ken’s Pizza and a 1970s-era Pizza Hut. It had the same checkered tablecloths as Pizza Hut, the ones that Yassir Arafat would wear on his head later on. Beer and soft drinks were served in the same clear plastic pitchers that Pizza Hut used. The restaurant was full of dark wood, a jukebox, and – later on – those table-style video games. I fell in love with Tempest at Ken’s.

But the thing I remember most about Ken’s is the pizza. Which was the point of this story, of course. I’m pretty sure that Ken’s was the first pizza I ever had. It was certainly the first pizza I remember. And to this day, I can still remember what it tasted like. Ken’s pizzas came on a thin crust… but not that tasteless, crackery thing that Pizza Hut sells. It was a yeasty dough with a hint of cornmeal in it, which made the crust paradoxically thin and strong at the same time. Then there was the sauce… so different than what’s on pizzas today. It was much thinner than the glop on most chain pizza today, and was also slightly more spicy that what you get from Dominos and Pizza Hut too. And Ken’s didn’t bother with all that “novelty pizza” crap that the chains sell these days. They didn’t have “Hawaiian pizza” or “Thai Chicken pizza” or “The Big New Yorker pizza”… or anything like that. They had a few selections, but most people just read the toppings list and picked a few of their favorites.

Sadly, Ken’s is gone now. The chain is still around, but it changed its name to Mazzio’s and contracted a lot (at least in the Atlanta area) since the 80s. There used to be Mazzio’s all over the metro Atlanta area; I just checked the company’s website and they only have two remaining locations in Georgia: one in Columbus and another in Winder.

But rather than be sad about it, the memory of Ken’s pizza actually amazes me. Humans tend to think of “memory” as a visual thing. When you think back to early birthdays, vacations, or your Dad taking you to see the Harlem Globetrotters, we tend to think of it in a visual sense, that is, remembering what we saw. But my memory of Ken’s Pizza is overwhelmingly based on taste. I can instantly recall it, and in fact, I do compare any new pizza place to Ken’s. And it’s just not the same.

(Note: Do you have ANY idea of how hard it was to find the logo and mascot from a pizza place that changed names over 25 years ago? Also, there are apparently six Ken’s Pizza restaurants still operating in Oklahoma, where the chain was born. Dude, if I’m ever within 400 miles of one, I’m TOTALLY going!)

UPDATE!

My family still lives in the Atlanta area, and I still visit for holidays and concerts and such. After Christmas 2020, I stopped at the Mazzio’s Pizza in Winder, GA (the last Mazzio’s in the southeast!). This is from my Instagram post about it:

Some say we spend our lives chasing our first high, whether that’s whiskey, weed or women.

Ken’s Pizza was the only pizza place in my small hometown. Ken’s is the first pizza I remember eating, and every pizza I’ve had since I’ve compared to that.

In 1984 or so, Ken’s renamed itself Mazzio’s and got rid of their original pizza. But they brought it back a few years ago. So I stopped at the last Mazzio’s in north Georgia – in Winder! – on the way home from Christmas with the family.

I’m happy to report that “Ken’s Supreme” looks, smells and tastes EXACTLY as I remember, and for a few glorious minutes yesterday it was 1977 and I was six years-old again, and happy in a way that only a childhood favorite can make you! 🍕♥️

 

Remember that post from a week or so ago when I linked to an MSN article about silly academic studies? Well it seems that Captain Obvious has struck again!

According to this study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, girls that post pictures of themselves on personal web pages or social networking sites are (wait for it…) far more likely to be contacted by strangers than either boys or girls that don’t post their pictures.

I suppose that researchers need actual hard evidence of this to confirm their studies or justify their budgets or whatnot… but come on people! You mean dirty old men might stop and leave a nasty\unwanted message on a teenage girl’s MySpace profile, but that same person would skip over boy’s profiles or profiles with no pictures? Really? Seriously?

Color me shocked. (/sarcasm)

As you are all too aware, customer service in this country sucks. Some companies simply grow too fast too quickly, and customer service gets lost in the shuffle. Some companies expand by buying other companies, and it simply takes a long time for the existing systems to be “connected” properly. Some companies simply grow too large for customer service to be effective. Other companies see customer service as a drain on profits and farm their support services out to the cheapest offshore company. And lots of companies just don’t care about customer service.

At one time or another, most of us have been trapped in a customer service nightmare of endless phone trees, service reps that offer ineffective solutions or try to get you off the phone as quickly as possible, repeating the same information over and over again… It’s like something Kafka might have dreamed up. But one company isn’t like that at all: Zappos.com.

Zappos.com is an Internet shoe store. I’ve ordered from them twice and found their service to be outstanding (although I never had reason to call them for anything). But then I read the story of Zaz Lamarr.

It seems that Ms. Lamarr bought a couple of pairs of shoes from Zappos and found that they didn’t fit. She arranged to return them, but sadly, her mother passed away and Zaz found herself busy with making funeral arrangements, settling her mom’s affairs, and well… mourning. After a few days had passed, Zappos emailed her to ask where the shoes were. Zaz emailed back telling them that her mom had died and that she would call UPS when she got the chance.

The next day, Zappos emailed her back, apologizing for her loss and informing her that they’d arranged for UPS to come out and pick them up – all she had to do was seal up the box and put the on her doorstep. And if that weren’t sweet enough, when Zaz came home the next day from running errands, Zaz says that “a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears.”

Now THAT’S customer service, people! Let’s hope that anyone from Comcast, US Air, Delta, Wal Mart and any of the other giant American companies read that article… soon!

Nothing too important here, just some random musings about celebrities:

1) A lot of people in my age bracket say that Debbie Harry “looks rough”. And while I agree that she has seen better days, I think a lot of folks don’t understand that she was kind of old (for the music business) when Blondie took off. People forget that she was 33 when “Heart of Glass” made her a superstar; by contrast, Madonna had already released her first greatest hits album – The Immaculate Collection – when she was that age. Debbie Harry was born in 1945, which makes her 62 today. So she doesn’t “look old”… she is old!

2) You know how the occasional celebrity death will sneak past you? Sometimes you’ll be talking with the missus or friends and you’ll say something like “I wonder what Robert Stack is up to?” and they’ll say something like “not a whole lot… he died in 2003”? Well, a few nights ago I was chatting on Yahoo! Messenger with Richard, my best bud from high school. We were talking about Atlanta radio personalities, and we were looking up various people on Wikipedia and Google.

Come to find out, Atlanta radio legend “Skinny” Bobby Harper died back in July, 2003. Born in Saskatchewan, Harper first hit it big in Cincinnati, then moved to Atlanta, where he was a mainstay for 30+ years. He was even the color commentator for Atlanta Flames radio broadcasts, for goodness sake! And although you might never have heard of “Skinny” Bobby Harper, you definitely knew him: a guy named Hugh Wilson worked with him at WQXI in Atlanta; Wilson went on to create the show WKRP in Cincinnati, and the “Dr. Johnny Fever” character is based on Harper. R.I.P., Bobby – sorry it comes so late!

3) Lastly, from the “Who DIDN’T See That Coming?” file… it seems that Lou Pearlman – the man that created the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, and who started the careers of Justin Timberlake and Nick Carter – is a filthy pedophile. According to an article published in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, Pearlman took liberties with dozens of young boys, including Carter and several early members of the Backstreet Boys. Amusingly, Pearlman is is jail in Florida now, but not for being Chester the Molester – apparently he swindled 1,000 people out of $315 million. He was on the run, living in Indonesia under an assumed name, until busted in June.