The Allergic Kid | No More Dead Children

Posted on by Standard 5

You read my post about Ammaria Johnson, right?  Well, here’s another excellent blog that you need to check out on the subject:

Why?  Because it’s important to hit this message hard, and repeat it until everyone’s sick & tired of hearing it.

A small excerpt:

Failure to give Benadryl, no Epi-pen on hand and the outrageous decision to call a parent instead of 911 when a child’s airway is closing?  I don’t even have words for this school’s heinous behavior.  What part of “life threatening medical condition” did they not understand?  These people shouldn’t be entrusted with the care of a gerbil, let alone a child’s life.

And what kind of self-serving, we’re-not-responsible-for-the-death-of-the-child-in-our-care, preparing-for-a-lawsuit garbage was the school district trying to serve up with its statement that this girl died of a “pre-existing medical condition”?  Here’s the county’s own guidelines for managing food allergies which the school failed to follow.  (Thanks to @IknowTiffany for the link.)

Couldn’t agree more.

Someone, please, make a good Nightfall movie.

Posted on by Standard 3

If you’re not familiar with Nightfall, it was first a short story by Isaac Asimov later developed into a novel by Asimov & Robert Silverberg.  It’s one of my favorite pieces of fiction.  Handled well, it could be like Indiana Jones meets Star Trek or Avatar and The Da Vinci Code.

Overall the movie could have an Apocalyptic kind of feel… with new beginnings and a b’ak’tun-like cycle.  It would be great if the movie were released this year, with the 2012 hype reaching full fervor soon.  Tie into that some epic sci-fi stuff, archeological mystery, journalism, psychology experiments, a little humor, religious and government conspiracies, disproving long-standing scientific theories (like “hey, we revolve around the sun!”) and blowing peoples’ minds, and even a great philosophical message.  I’d say you can’t go wrong with it as long as you try to stick to the original story as much as possible.

Nightfall (Asimov short story and novel)

Nightfall

It has apparently been made into a movie twice.  I have seen one of them, and I just remember it not only betraying the story but just being crap.  One was made in 1988 and one in 2000.  I looked on Netflix and can only see the one from 2000 and it can only be “saved”, it’s apparently not on DVD in their collection.  So maybe I watched this way back, from a video store or even on a VHS tape.  The 1988 one, I can only find used VHS copies on Amazon, so perhaps it doesn’t exist on DVD.  I just remember it being an inexplicably different planet & having different characters, or perhaps being another “cycle” than the one depicted in the book.  I may have to track them both down for the fun of it.

The book starts out with a little preface saying basically that it’s an alien world, with alien things … but in order to convey the story well, they were going to use the word “boot” instead of making up an alien word to cover whatever appendage the alien did the equivalent of its walking on.  So, while it would need to be an alien world… it wouldn’t need to be too alien.  It would have to be easily related to.

A successful movie would really need to make use of the suns & colors at the times of day & days of the week.  Much like The Crow had bleached overall look or 300 looked like a painting in every frame, the colors of the sky would need to change ever so subtly from red hues to yellow hues as noted in the book.  They could certainly relate to the mood of each scene.

Dr. Isaac Asimov, head-and-shoulders portrait,...

Asimov wrote a great story. Don't screw it up.

Also… don’t alter the damn story.  It’s great how everything’s revealed.  Don’t rename the characters.  Don’t rename the planet.  Don’t get rid of their numbers.  Don’t change their occupations.  Don’t add any characters.  Don’t take the premise & build another story around it.

In a time where Hollywood is making movies that are remakes or reboots of movies only  a few years old… why not tap into some other sources, especially ones from (arguably) one of the best science fiction writers of all time?  From Wikipedia:

The Science Fiction Writers of America voted “Nightfall” the best science fiction short story written prior to the 1965 establishment of the Nebula Awards, in 1968, and included it in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964.

Do you really need any more proof that this would make a great film if handled properly?  I mean, even this would make a great poster tagline if condensed somehow:

According to Asimov’s autobiography, Campbell asked Asimov to write the story after discussing with him a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!

Campbell’s opinion to the contrary was: “I think men would go mad.”

So studio execs, casting directors, effects teams, directors, & producers… get on this.  Please?

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Thank you!

Posted on by Standard 3

I got a bajillion birthday wishes on Facebook today (OK, only over 140, but it’s still a hell of a lot), one on Google+, and even a happy birthday wish over the radio airwaves thanks to the ever-awesome Whip!

I almost peed my pants last night when Bethany told me she saw that Duncan Redmonds (of Snuff, Guns ‘n’ Wankers, Dogpiss, Billy No Mates & 300 other of my favorite bands) had wished me a happy birthday.

'nuff said.

'nuff said.

I just wanted to say thanks to all my friends & family for the birthday wishes.  I’m glad to each & every one of you, through the many interesting facets of life!  I had over 130 people say happy birthday and the day’s not over.  I’m glad I’ve made so many cool friends over the years, through school, work, camp, family, other friends, playing in bands, and even through social networking.

Bethany got me this cool Batman hat!

Bethany got me this cool Batman hat!

Your favorite pizza sucks, my favorite pizza rules! (Part 2)

Posted on by Standard 14

So, last time I blogged about pizza, I covered some of my favorites: Aiello’s, SLICE, & A’Pizza Badamo.  This time I’ll blog about other area big-hitters.

Beto's Pizza on UrbanspoonBeto’s is another place nearby that is just excellent.  They’re the place that you’ve probably heard of that doesn’t cook the cheese & other toppings.  You’ll probably either love it or hate it.  I dig it, the wife does not.  The only thing I’d change is the consistency of the sauce… I’m not a fan of chunks of tomatoes in pizza sauce, but the flavor is excellent.  They don’t get all fancy with toppings here either, just simple, straightforward pizza with cheese that’s melting as you eat it.  I think my favorite way to eat it is just as plain cheese pizza.  Why mess up such a beautiful combination?

Molly's Pizza on UrbanspoonMolly’s Pizza is close by too.  They have some great pizza, and some really crazy specialty pies like the Ranchero Steak Pizza and the Pierogi Pizza.  I personally like to get a pizza with zucchini on top.  Excellent stuff!  It’s hard to pick a favorite around here.

Fiori's Pizzaria on UrbanspoonFoiri’s is a south hills institution.  Sorry, I don’t get it.  Is it good pizza?  Most definitely.  Is it overrated?  In my humble opinion, yes.  Maybe I’m biased because you can get deathfish as a topping there.  At any rate, if you’re in the area and a pizza aficionado, it’s worth checking out before you decide that Slice is the best place around.

Il Pizzaiolo on UrbanspoonIl Pizzaiolo isn’t your regular Pittsburgh pizza shop.  They’re fancy.  They have great pies in a steep Neapolitan tradition.  As they say themselves…

…the restaurant has become a vibrant gathering place for lovers of Neapolitan pizza, pasta and Italian wine. Nearly everything on the menu is hand-made. And if it’s not made in-house, it’s imported from the best artisans, cheese-makers and salumeria in the world. Mozzarella di Bufala comes direct from Naples every Thursday and the pizzas are baked at 1000˚ in a handcrafted, wood-fired brick oven for less than 90 seconds. This, along with perfectly leavened dough, San Marzano tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil, produces the most authentic Neapolitan pizza possible.

So obviously, this is no Pizza Hut.  They make incredible gourmet pies.  Unfortunately it’s entirely not what I’m craving when I “just want a pizza”.  This is where you want to go when you’d like a nice evening out to enjoy some of the lightest most delicious pizza you’ve ever eaten.

Italian Village Pizza (Canonsburg/McMurray) on UrbanspoonItalian Village Pizza is all over the place.  Both by location and quality.  They used to have a killer A1 Steak Sub at the one on Rte. 51, but I don’t think they have that any more.  The last one I frequented was the one in McMurray, but I only ever got the pizza once or twice.  The steak & Italian subs are incredible, but the sauce was just too bitter for me.  It tasted like straight tomato paste with some basil thrown in.  Some people love it, but it just wasn’t my thing.

Here I’d also like to try to address this thing…

VinceNt’s vs. Vincent’s

I’m still not sure what the exact dispute is… if there’s still a dispute, and if there are only two Vincent’s involved in this saga.  Can anyone fill me in on this?  I’ve heard several amalgamated stories over the years.  Some credible news even.  First, you’ve got to get your head around the locations…

There’s Vincent’s Pizza Park – One on 30 in Irwin/North Huntingdon, one on Ardmore Blvd., and one in Holiday Park (the one I used to frequent).  And there’s Vincent’s “of Greentree” …oddly enough in Greentree, Southpointe, and the West End.  (There also seems to be a Vincent’s Pizza Pub on Mt. Washington – I’m unsure if they’re related to any of the others.)

I haven’t been to Vincent’s Pizza Park in Holiday Park in a long long time, but I remember it as the greasiest pizza I have ever had.  It was good, but greasy.  Some people like that.  I’m not the biggest fan of grease, but I remember they had a nice thick crust & a flavorful sauce.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Vincent’s in Greentree, but the one in Southpointe has great steak subs, garlic buns, and pretty good pizza.  Their “like it” percentage on Urbanspoon is pretty low though.  No idea what’s up there.

Vincent's Pizza Park on Urbanspoon Vincent's of Southpointe on Urbanspoon

Which Vincent’s is your favorite?  Which Vincent’s location is the best & the original?  (I think it’s Vincent’s in Forest Hills)

Please, chime in on any of these locations, any from my previous pizza post, or any that I may have missed.  I may dive into pizza chains next.  Pizza is always a subject of hot debate (and it goes well with beer).

Radical!

Radical!

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Another Food Allergy Tragedy: Ammaria Johnson

Posted on by Standard 16

There are many posts out there already in the Food Allergy community about a tragedy involving a peanut allergy that happened only yesterday in Richmond Virginia.  I won’t rehash the details, but I would like to provide some links to articles that are worth reading:

I felt the need to post because we obviously need to reach beyond the Food Allergy community.  If you’re reading this, I ask you to reblog, repost, tweet, +1, post your thoughts about the situation, repost one or all of the above articles, tell your friends and neighbors… use social media and good old fashioned word of mouth to spread the word.

This issue is bigger than the bullying, bigger than the politics, bigger than “my kid needs his peanut butter sandwich”.

SCHOOLS NEED TO HAVE EPI-PENS ON SITE, AND NURSES, TEACHERS, STAFF MUST BE PERMITTED TO ADMINISTER THEM.

There is no longer an excuse for anything getting in the way of this.  This is not a single isolated incident kind of thing any longer.

From WTVR:

“She has an allergy action plan at the school,” said Pendleton, which authorizes the school to give her Benadryl during a reaction. “They didn’t do that,” she said.

At the beginning of this school year, the mother said she tried to give the clinical aid an Epipen for emergencies, but she was declined and told to keep it at home.

According to Chesterfield County School policy parents are supposed to provide the school medication for children with allergies.

This is unacceptable.

Write to your senator now.  Write all of your elected officials frequently.  Ask them to endorse a bill like this, or any bill that comes up on the issue.

Administering a dose of epinephrine is not a 100% guaranteed life-saver, but imagine if lifeguards in school pools were asked not to administer CPR for drowning children?  We sure as hell need to do something.

If it’s your thing, please pray for the family, the teachers, students, emergency responders, and medical staff involved.

What are you waiting for?  Read those articles, & re-post now!

EpiPens are portable epinephrine-dispensing de...

Epi-Pen

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Thank You! [2011 in Review]

Posted on by Standard 2

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 29,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 11 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Also, it told me this…

Who were they?

Your most commented on post in 2011 was Concert Stereotypes

These were your 5 most active commenters:

  1.   Dave | 26 comments
  2.   omawarisan | 20 comments
  3.   Sam | 17 comments
  4.   valleyofsteel | 11 comments
  5. Jennifer is Always Sick | 10 comments

So, thanks to all of you for being the top commenters this year!  Most of my blogs are meant to encourage discussion.  Hopefully here, though more likely on Facebook or Twitter.  (These numbers may be skewed, if you didn’t login to WordPress or use the same Gravatar email address, Facebook, or Twitter to comment consistently.)

I really feel that this is a great outlet for me.  It helps calm me down, & give me something positive on which to focus.  I really do appreciate all of the people out there taking the time to read, comment, and even subscribe.  Most of you are my friends in some capacity, and I’m glad that you continue to be interested in whatever I happen to be ranting about.

So, what do you want more (or less) of in 2012?

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Let’s talk ape movies, or I’ll throw poop at you.

Posted on by Standard 6

I finally watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and I realized that I really like movies involving apes. Especially if the apes “win”.  When I was a kid, I checked the Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall books out of the library quite regularly.  My favorite Zoobooks were the ones about chimps, gorillas, and orangutans.  I remember when WPTT 22 existed and they played movies like King Kong or one of the Planet of the Apes series regularly.

Netflix has weird genre splits & sub-genres.  Why don’t I see an “ape movie” category?  Someone over at Netflix, after you’re done burning all the Qwikster proposals, get on that.

Here are some of the ape movies I really like.  In the comments below, let me know some of your favorites.  (You don’t have to login, you can use your Facebook ID, Twitter handle, WordPress ID, or just leave a name & email address.)

  • King Kong | The best of ’em all.  This is a two way tie though, as I dig the 1933 & 2005 versions.  (There are lots of them, but these are the best.)  From Stop Motion to CGI, you get a great story no matter what the effects.
  • King Kong Lives | This movie was ridiculous.  When I was a kid, I totally accepted that after the events of the original Kong, they could have built him a giant pacemaker.  No problem.
  • Gorillas in the Mist | This was the Dian Fossey books come to life.  Incredible.  People really are bastards when it comes to some of our closest living relatives on this planet.
  • Project X | Top Gun meets Planet of the Apes.  Sort of.  It’s sort of funny, too.  Crazy movie, further proof that people are horrible horrible creatures.
  • Congo | The book was a little more thrilling, but the movie was still pretty cool.  Also, if Ernie Hudson is in your movie, it rocks.  Ancient ruins, intelligent apes, genetic memory… exciting stuff.

So, what are your favorites?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

m/

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How to Drink Buttermilk

Posted on by Standard 10

I’ve been quiet with blogging lately.  I’m not all that busy, and I’m certainly not out of things to ramble on about.  I guess I’ve just been doing other stuff.  I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday & any time with friends, family, or time off of work.  Today. I was inspired to make a post about buttermilk, and thought I’d get it down before I forgot about it.

Charlie’s Old Fashioned Buttermilk

Charlie’s Old Fashioned Buttermilk

I like buttermilk.  Occasionally, when at the grocery store… something hits me that says I want buttermilk.  Much to my wife’s dismay, I listen.  Buttermilk is an acquired taste to say the least.  Most people any more seem to see it as a cooking ingredient.  It makes great pancakes, ranch dressing, and mashed potatoes.  It’s a good dredge for breading.  It’s good in many recipes.  But, it’s also a delicious drink.

Generally I prefer Charlie’s Old Time Buttermilk (by Turner’s) or Country Charm Cultured Buttermilk (by Dean’s).  Uncle Charlie’s has the tiny added butter flecks.  If you like things like sour cream, cottage cheese, or stinky cheeses… you may also like buttermilk.  (Maybe if you like yogurt too… but I personally hate yogurt.)  You may like it only after your first couple of tries, like beer or coffee.

No, it’s not higher in fat than regular milk like you’d expect.  It’s good for you.

I don’t remember not liking buttermilk, but there aren’t many of “us” out there.  My parents always drank it, my grandparents drank it.  I was used to it forever I guess.  It’s delicious, and now something I crave like a special treat.  I’ve had people make horrible faces after trying it.  I’ve had people swear at me, and even hit me after letting them try it.  This is how you man up (no offense to ladies, the dairy-allergic, or the lactose intolerant) & drink buttermilk the right way:

  1. Get a nice tall glass.  (I like a nice beer mug or even a really tall weizen or pilsner glass.)
  2. Pour in just enough buttermilk to cover the bottom.
  3. Add salt & pepper to cover a good portion of the top of the buttermilk.  (Paprika like on old-school diner cottage cheese if you’re fancy.)
  4. Pour buttermilk to the top of glass.  Top off with more salt & pepper if desired.
  5. Make the first gulp obnoxiously large.
  6. Make a refreshing “ahhh” sigh.
  7. Enjoy the rest at a relaxed pace.

…or just drink straight from the tiny jug or carton if you’re a barbarian.

Tall glass of buttermilk

Tall glass of buttermilk

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How to pick a band name (for sadly uncreative musicians):

Posted on by Standard 12

Band names have always been fascinating to me.  They’re rather important for many reasons.  They need to be memorable.  They represent the band on flyers, album covers, in reviews, on T-shirts (& other merch), and anywhere else they can be printed or spoken.

This is why I’m continually surprised by local & national level bands choosing some inconceivably stupid monikers.  (Especially local level bands.)

I realize that it’s a difficult thing to do.  You’re sort of stuck with it once it happens.  (Although, I’ve seen a few bands morph & rename themselves several times.)  A lot of the good ones are already taken.  Metallica is probably the best band name ever as it’s catchy, it’s not something else, and it describes the music.  When you Google Metallica, there’s no mistake as to what you’re going to get.

Some friends & I like to think up band names.  Sometimes we hear a phrase or sentence or word & think (or remark) “…that would be a cool band name.”  It’s important to brainstorm.  Throw all of your goofy ideas at a wall.  See what sticks.

With the internet age upon us, I urge you to use all of the tools at your disposal when naming your band.  Primarily, Google.  Once you have thought of a band name or two, go to Google and type it in the search bar.  Hit search.  Have the idea?

If something comes up & a band is already named that, don’t name your band that.  Seriously.  It takes 3½ seconds to Google something.  You can even use Bing or Yahoo.  If you’re signing up for a website like Reverb Nation or Band Camp or Facebook or even Twitter… and there’s another band there already named what you wanna call your band, change the name of your band rather than having a goofy unmemorable and not even remotely cool url like one of the following:

  • reverbnation.com/[bandname]rocks
  • reverbnation.com/[bandname]1
  • reverbnation.com/[bandname]music
  • reverbnation.com/[bandname]_Pgh

I don’t care if you want to be a hit recording artist, or if you have resigned to just rocking out cover tunes in bars from not until the end of time.  This has been happening since the days of the old MP3.com, MySpace and PureVolume …and it must stop.

Avoiding these things makes your band easily searchable online.  People will give up if they don’t find you right away.  We’re lazy as a species, apparently.  Or we just have short attention spans.

Your band name has to be easily remembered, and your band should be easy to find.  I was in a band called Gasoline Dion.  Google that and nothing comes up except stuff about the band.  Like the name or not (& “get” it or not), it’s easily remembered & easily searchable.  That’s what you need to shoot for.

Maybe later I’ll blog about band name categories & give some examples.

For additional reference:

Have any lists or comments to share?

Batman Infographic: Every (Significant) Bat-Suit Ever [ScreenRant.com]

Posted on by Standard 2

I just wanted to share this, because it’s awesome.  It’s cool to see the bat-suits in the same style rather than just cut & pasted from their sources.

The source: Batman Infographic: Every (Significant) Bat-Suit Ever | Screen Rant.

Click through for the big one.

ScreenRant.com | Batman Infographic: Every (Significant) Bat-Suit Ever - By Ben Moore

ScreenRant.com | Batman Infographic: Every (Significant) Bat-Suit Ever - By Ben Moore

This is by Ben Moore. As it says in the graphic, check out:

ScreenRant.com ⌘ @BenAndrewMoore

BenjaminAndrewMoore.com ⌘ BAM@BenjaminAndrewMoore.com

Screen Rant FB ⌘ Benjamin Moore FB

…and thanks to the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader blog for calling this to my attention!

Batman: an iconic superhero whose powers are r...

//^V^"

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