Seriously.
I need an album full of complete songs, not just snippets.
A tour would be cool too, Anchorhead.
Best video ever? Probably.
Pick two.
The thought for the day comes from a guy I knew named Chuck. Chuck was always full of wit & wisdom. He said often said something to the effect of…
You can have it done right. You can have it done quick. You can have it done cheap. Pick two.
The Satanic Bat – Satanic Brats EP
There’s lots of free music out there on the internet. I decided to start pointing to some of it.
Sadly, bands disband. For whatever reason, a lot of ridiculously awesome bands just peter out or implode or flat-out fall apart. One such band is old time local rockers, The Satanic Bat. I guess they’d be classified as stoner metal in the most generic sense of trying to pin them down.
My old band (Gasoline Dion) shared a practice space and a band member with these dudes. (Regular readers will know I mention Dave all the time. If you have a band, check to see… Dave’s probably in it.) They even helped us record our album, but probably wouldn’t want their name attached to it. (Maybe I’ll put that up for free in a later installment.)
These cats could (and individually still can) rock, and they had a sense of humor. They were asked to play a Ramones tribute show… and they recorded an EP. The resulting songs sound like Black Sabbath covering the Ramones. Seriously. Since I’m a big fan of both, this is one of my absolute favorites.
Mead Rock 2000 | Satanic Brat EP
Satanic Bat - Satanic Brats EP
Click the link or image above to go through to the old Bat blog post for details and the link to download.
TRACKLIST:
- Loudmouth
- Commando
- Beat on the Brat
- R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Motörhead)
For a weird anecdote… the show was played at Rugger’s with the Atomic Drops, of which Erin “Ernie” Payne was a member. Now, Dave & Erin are my current partners in crime with Ernie and the Berts.
Other live Satanic Bat stuff is available in their old blog, I urge you to check it out if you dig this EP. You can also buy their CD: Tales From the Southland, Tales From the Sea.
Steve & Josh went on to form Rogue Vessel. Dave is in Dethlehem and Ernie and the Berts. Jon ended up quitting music for a while, but I hear he’s back? Anyone have any info on that band?
At any rate, enjoy the EP… I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
(The not so) Holy Cow!
Have you tried any of the new SPICEE CHIKIN… or spicy chicken options? They’re pretty good if you’re into that sort of thing. I’ve blogged about Chick-fil-A before, specifically the South Hills location. CFA is has a great product, amusing promotion (unless you’re a vegan I’d guess), and seems to be a great company if you can get around the whole “maybe they’re too nice to anti-gay groups” thing.
My wife & I had lunch at the Chick-fil-A in Robinson this past weekend, and we found the on-table advertisements for the Spicy Chicken Biscuit breakfast sandwich to be quite amusing for all the wrong reasons. I decided to write to Chick-fil-A to see what they thought, my email and the attached photo below:
From: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011
Subject: “SPICEE CHIKIN BISKITZ” Alarm Clock Table Ad
To: promotions@chick-fil-a.comCiao Chicken Czars!
I am a BIG fan of Chick-fil-A. Your chicken sandwiches & nuggets Can. Not. Be. Beat. Seriously, I don’t know what you do with that breading… but it’s Chick-fan-Tastic. They honey mustard dip? Incredible (or as a cow may say, “INKREDIBULL”). Your chicken noodle soup is my go-to soup when I’m not feeling well and there’s no time for my wife to make some homemade. Your sweet tea is simple, yet addictive. We have stopped at the mall units just for tea while we walk around to shop, and we’ve gone through FSU drive-troughs at times just to get sweet tea and nothing else. The cleanliness of your stores is mostly always impeccable, and the courteousness? Genius. I mean, “my pleasure” instead of “you’re welcome” is such a simple thing… but it makes such a huge difference in the overall attitude. It puts Chick-fil-A far above any other fast food chain in the customer service category. The in-store events, fund-raising, promotions, use of social media like Facebook, Twitter & texting? Savvy indeed! The first fast food joints in my area to use the new space-age Heinz ketchup packets? Innovative!
I even love the cows. I have a small stuffed one near my PC at home. I have had my photo taken with more than one in-store cow. They’re such unlikely mascots for a chicken restaurant of all places… but it works. I have always wondered about their spelling though… are you trying to imply that eating beef makes you stupid? Well, that’s not the main point of my email, or why I’m reaching out to you today, comrades. I would like to talk about the spicy chicken (or “spicee chikin”) cow though, specifically the one in the attached photo taken while eating lunch at Chick-fil-A this past Saturday.
While I get that the cows “arms” are supposed to be the clock hands, I feel that sadly the placement of said arms is quite unfortunate. Maybe I just have a dirty mind, but as I laughed at it and took a photo my wife giggled and rolled her eyes knowing what I was thinking. Maybe the advertising department should re-think this one? I mean, my arms certainly don’t spin around at waist level. Do yours? The shoulders ought to be placed at the center of the clock face in future cow “clok” (also in this case perhaps an unfortunate way to misspell clock) table displays. I posted the photo on Facebook and the general consensus was that it most definitely didn’t remind people of an arm. I think that if this cow were walking around with something protruding from that area, he may get arrested for indecent exposure. I mean, I get excited over Chick-fil-A too, but not that excited!
I just wanted to write and hear your thoughts on the matter. I’m curious to know if anyone else has picked up on the naughty firefighting cow. “Spicee” indeed! Thank you for your time, I anxiously look forward to your reply.
EAT MOR CHIKIN,
-ERiC AiXeLsyD
Al Armcock
Heh. Well, I thought it was funny. So did people on Facebook apparently. I mean, it jumped out right away. Maybe we have dirty minds… maybe it really does look like a giant cow penis. It’s certainly inappropriately placed for an “arm” if nothing else.
Knowing Chick-fil-A’s history as a company, I had to see if someone would respond to this. Maybe it’s a secret shout out to gay employees and customers that they’re supporting them. I mean, the fireman outfit and the giant appendage?
I have proof that Chick-fil-A is the best company ever. Dan Cathy, the President and Chief Operating Officer of the company himself wrote back to me, and he was the first to reply. I mean, he wrote back before any of the local full service units!
From: Dan T. Cathy <DAN.CATHY@chick-fil-a.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011
Subject: Re: “SPICEE CHIKIN BISKITZ” Alarm Clock Table Ad
To: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>Thanks Eric for your kind comments; delighted to have your business and support.
I have passed along your email to members of our marketing department. Valid observations; we’ll be a little more careful next time!
It’s a serious reply to me just goofing around (I mean, really… the attached file is named “Al_Armcock.jpg”), but there is no one above Mr. Cathy in the CFA organization, and he took the time to reply to my dumb email! I could have gone goofy. Maybe I didn’t go goofy enough. At any rate, this has to be the best answer to an email ever. No “I’m sorry” coupons, no form letter, no blow-off. It was a short reply drawing attention to the matter, saying it will be dealt with, and a ridiculously perfect example of customer service… from the President of the company who I’m sure has much more important things to do. McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, and the rest of you … take note! This is customer service.
I wonder if I’ll hear back from anyone else that I emailed, or from the marketing department now? This just rules. Ha ha.
Last night’s Tubonegro tribute! (via Ernie and the Berts)
Ernie and the Berts did some crazy Turbonegro covers last night… “Suffragette City” (a cover of a cover), “I Got Erection”, and “Sell Your Body (To the Night)”. It was captured in photo and video. It’s a good thing we have no shame.
Subway | Eat Death™
I’ve recently renewed my dialog with Subway, sparked by the news of them rolling out a gluten-free menu. Here’s how it’s going down:
From:
ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Gluten-Free Menu Options in Texas?
To: Paula Gomez <gomez_p@subway.com>, Rob Searfus <R.Searfus@sfaft.org>, Mack Bridenbaker <m.bridenbaker@sfaft.org>, Christine Sumecki <c.sumecki@sfaft.org>, Subway Customer Care Team <asksubway@subway.com>, “B. Pingarron” <b.pingarron@sfaft.org>, “M. Luby” <m.luby@sfaft.org>, “Anna Marie Seeley (Customer Care Representative)” <seeley_a@subway.com>, Kevin Kane <kane_k@subway.com>Hello Friends at Subway,
I write to you today because we have had a dialogue going in the past about food allergies and cross-contamination that I would like to continue. I have recently read a few articles online informing the masses that Subway plans to roll-out some gluten-free menu options in the Dallas & Tyler Texas markets soon. If you would like to read the articles in question, here are some links:
While I would like to be able to applaud this effort, I also find it quite frustrating.
I am quite proud of Subway as an organization when I read such responsible things like “The baked goods will arrive pre-packaged and individually wrapped. Employees will be educated on how to cut the bread using a pre-wrapped knife to avoid cross contamination.” I mean, really… this is a novel idea and a stellar effort as well as great news for Celiac afflicted potential Subway customers. Certainly lines like “Also, to further avoid cross-contamination, that same Sandwich Artist will prepare the order from beginning to end, ensuring a 100-percent gluten-free meal” offer a level of comfort to those who must dine gluten-free. While other restaurants have offered gluten-free menus, you seem to understand that a knife that cuts a regular bun cannot also cut the bun of a gluten-free selection. This would, I imagine, be quite a worry for a wheat-allergic or Celiac person. I can imagine this scenario quite well, actually. You may remember my past missives expressing my allergy to shellfish (and more specifically to your “seafood” sub offering).
This is where my frustration sets in. I have written to you on multiple occasions expressing the frustration for not only my shellfish allergy, but all of the “top 8”; Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Soy, & Wheat. Why have you picked this opportunity to only concentrate on the wheat? There are others too… I know of people with tomato and pepper allergies that would be thrown into the same anaphylactic shock that I would given I were to take a bite of unknowingly deathfish-laiden lunchmeat. While you seem to understand the importance of a gluten-free knife… what about a cheese-free, tomato-free, and shellfish-free knife? Perhaps you have forgotten my previous letter with a few colorful illustrations of the contaminated knife issue. I will repost here for your convenience:
Then we have the community knife. If one were to cut someone’s seafood sub with that knife, wipe it off, then cut my sub, there are STILL allergens on that knife, enough allergens to kill me. Do you want me to be thrown in to an Anaphylactic fit? I doubt it. Well, at least, I hope not.
Think about this – do you share your toothbrush with everyone in your household? Would you with everyone in your office? Would you share it with everyone that you pass on the way to work in the morning or with everyone who’s eating lunch with you at the same place where you’re choosing to dine?
Yes, it sounds gross, but those potential germs that you’re no doubt currently horrified of are the same as the very real allergens that will most certainly throw me into instant death.
If that didn’t do it for you, imagine I put a giant dried dog turd on the sandwich board, cut it in half, wrapped it, wiped off the knife [with a re-used dishrag type cloth], and then cut your sandwich. By Subway’s current logic, that knife is clean and contamination free. This is most certainly not a pretty picture to you, my friend. Is it?
Does any of this ring a bell?
Also, I have received conflicting reports on how such issues are currently handled or have been handled in the past. One reply states…
The Company policy directs our independent restaurant owners / operators to take all necessary precautions to prevent the possibility of cross contamination. This includes the policy of washing all utensils and containers after each use. Each restaurant is independently owned and operated and is the responsibility of the franchise owner to implement and enforce the policy.
Which seems to conflict with yet another reply…
I have gone ahead and copied our Training Department so that further lessons can be addressed with owners and their employees on proper handling.
And, the latest information according to the QSRWeb.com article is that “Sandwich Artists in those two markets will be trained on how to cut the roll with a pre-wrapped knife for one use only.” So, have they been trained in allergies in cross-contamination already, or not? Color me confused, my friends.
I’d feel safer if the seafood concoction wasn’t anywhere near the meat & cheese where it currently sits. I’d also feel safer if the same knife wasn’t used to cut all of the sandwiches, and the same dishrag-type towel wasn’t used to wipe off the knife in random intervals between sandwich slicing. I’d feel safer if all the sandwich artists, managers, and owners were trained on allergens, cross-contamination, and the seriousness of anaphylactic shock. I’d feel safer if all stores contained a first aid kit complete with an epi pen and clear instructions for its use.
Why should the Celiac-afflicted feel safer, but the rest of us with deadly food allergies should not? I look forward to your response, your insights, and how you plan to move forward regarding all potentially deadly allergens and how they are to be handled in your stores. Thank you once again for your time, I hope to hear from you soon.
Inquisitively,
-ERiC AiXeLsyDP.S. – I was wondering, when you work in an office for Subway, do you have an in-office Subway in which the employees receive (or make) their own lunch? Or, is there a Subway nearby where you get free or discounted food? Or, are you all too sick of Subway to eat there?
And I got this back…
From: Searfus, Rob <R.Searfus@sfaft.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 4:31 PM
Subject: RE: Gluten-Free Menu Options in Texas?
To: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>Hello Eric,
My apologies for not replying earlier, I was traveling and in meetings most of the week, (as well as attending to some family business). But enough of the excuses.
Forgive me for not having more product answers, but I’m simply a field marketing representative out here on the west coast. I have inquired with our R&D department to try and get the answers to your questions. No replies yet, but this week has been tough for me to get a hold of anyone on the east coast due to the severe winter storms that they have been having (offices closed for at least a couple of days.)
I’ll follow up by e-mail when I get any answers for you.
Thanks, and BTW, what part of the US to you hail from?
Rob Searfus
Field Marketing Manager
Subway® Franchise World Headquarters
16337 SW Leeding Ln
Tigard, OR 97223
Cell: 503-954-5479
Toll Free: 1-800-888-4848 x 4089
Fax 503-579-6715
e-mail: searfus_r@subway.comIMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGE: PLEASE NOTE MY EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED TO searfus_r@subway.com. Please update your address book to reflect this change. We are undergoing a technology transition. During this transition, you may still receive emails from the “sfaft.org” address. This is not an error, but please enter my new subway.com email address when sending emails.
So I wrote this…
From: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: Gluten-Free Menu Options in Texas?
To: “Searfus, Rob” <R.Searfus@sfaft.org>Thank you Rob,
I had actually wondered if anyone would reply. I had an email chain going before with a Ms. Paula Gomez & Ms. Ana Seely… but they have been short replies and my main questions have gone unsanswered.
I’m in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Thanks for your time, I hope to hear from your colleagues soon!
-Eric
But in the mean time, I made some pretty pictures. I can’t decide which one I like the most.
Which one do you like best?
Defining Allergy-Friendly
AllergyEats.com
So, quite a task has been put to the food allergy community by Allergy Eats: Define what it means to for a restaurant to be “allergy-friendly”.
You may have seen it in a recent re-posting by me, or on your own. I urge you to form your own response and send it to contact@allergyeats.com. I figured that I’d use this blog to sort out my thoughts before I sent them on to Paul at Allergy Eats. I don’t exactly how I’ve morphed in to a food allergy advocate of sorts, but I feel that it’s important to help out any way that I can, and encourage others to keep up work that moves us all in the right direction. There are already some great comments on the blog, and I’m sure he’s got an inbox full of suggestions already… but it’s important to keep them coming so this can be looked at from multiple angles.
I like bulleted lists for some reason, so that’s how I’ll try to organize my thoughts:
- The restaurant has to have a policy that reaches to ALL levels. Too many times restaurants claim to have god allergy practices, but it doesn’t trickle down to the wait staff, the cooks, or anyone past management. Having a policy is great, but it needs to be understood and respected through all levels. I feel comfort in a place when the waitress has the manager or even the chef come out to discuss allergy & cross-contamination issues with me. Training, some sort of certification, and re-training annually or semi-annually would be excellent.
- Changing current thinking. This is a good one… Today at Boston Market, I noticed a sign on top of the cash register that read something to the effect of “If you have food allergies, please talk to the manager before placing your order.” It’s great they’re recognizing the fact that there are food allergies out there, but… the cash register is at the end of the counter, and only reached well after you place your order. Also, I’d hope that someone with food allergies would already have a heightened awareness when going anywhere to eat. (If not, please read this.) More thought needs to be put into place, not just “CYA” measures.
- They have to exude reassurance. A poster is great. An “allergy-friendly” menu is great. A sign at the cash register or on your table or on the salad bar is great… but not enough. In with the training on all levels, the sever (or whoever answers the phone) must bee confident with the answers that you want to hear. No “I don’t think” or “not really” or “I’m not sure so you’d just better not order that” will do. Have the right answers. Know why. Understand the severity. Knowledge of the kitchen and where everything is cooked should be a must for servers and managers. Nuts can’t just be “picked off”. There’s no such thing as “oh a little won’t hurt” with butter. The fryer doesn’t “get hot enough to kill anything you’re allergic to”. It’s unsettling fr someone with food allergies to dine out. Making them feel safe is a must for “friendliness”.
- On a related note… especially the person answering your phone. When dining out of town, I try to call ahead (or get my wife to call ahead for me). My favorite response ever was an Amish place in Ohio where I asked if they had shellfish (“like shrimp or crab or oysters” I said)… the girl went on to say “No, we have oysters, but they’re in soup, and there’s shrimp… but it’s not in a shell.” Needless to say, we didn’t go there.
- All allergies are equal. It’s great to see “nut free” options, or “gluten-free” menus, but let’s treat all allergies with the same respect to cross contamination. The top 8 are; Milk, Egg, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Soy, & Wheat. But, there are others too! I know of people with severe allergies to peppers, and have heard of corn allergies. These people need to feel safe too! Current government regulations don’t regulate the labeling of any allergens other than the top 8, so that’s all that people seem to pay attention to. Special attention needs to be given to all kinds of allergies, not just one allergen or group of singled-out allergens.
- Know what you’re serving. Are their anchovies in the Italian dressing or Worcester sauce? Is this fried in peanut oil? The server shouldn’t necessarily need to know off hand, but this information should be able to be provided upon request. Having it in written form would be tremendous. (We could go into other special dietary needs here too… not an allergy, but I have an aunt with Diverticulitus who needs to know if there are seeds or nuts that may be ground up and hidden in things like dressing or soups or bread.) Listing all this on a website would be excellent.
- Separate locations & utensils for allergy-free meal preparation. Cross-contamination is huge. I don’t worry about a mutant lobster crawling into my mouth by itself… but I do worry (immensely) that some scallop juice might be on the grill where my steak was cooked… or that someone who just made a shrimp cocktail didn’t wash their hands before making my salad. I’d love to know that the place where I’m dining has a fish or shellfish only fryer, separate grill spaces for different kinds of meat (even a vegetarian/vegan section would be cool), even separate cutting boards, prep areas, knives, and other utensils.
- Keep the nuts off the salad bar… near their own station.
- Hey Subway, don’t put the “seafood” sub stuff right next to the other lunchmeat, and don’t cut those subs with the same knife you use for all the other subs!
- Ability to accommodate the unusual. Say someone has an inhalation allergy to peanuts… Can you seat them somewhere so that the people at the next table are able to order some peanut-encrusted dessert without throwing them into an anaphylactic fit? Can you do this without rolling your eyes, sighing, and making it a big deal?
- Special markers/identifiers. I saw a commenter note this in the comments on the Allergy Eats blog post, and it’s absolutely brilliant. Something ought to be a literal red flag… in the system, on an order ticket, on the check, on even the plate itself. Everyone knows that orange-rimmed coffee pots mean decaf. Why not red for allergies? Or get crazy & assign a color to each of the top 8 & one for “other” allergies? Did I read that Legal Sea Foods does double-plating or something to that effect? It’s genius. I’d like to extend the symbols idea to the menu too… why not have some sort of system with easily recognized food allergy icons?
That’s my take for now, but there are already many other great suggestions in the comments section over at Allergy Eats. Please, take the time to send yours to contact@allergyeats.com before Feb. 2nd!
Double-feature flier & its inspiration:
So, I made a flier for an upcoming show. Haven’t done one in a while. I tried to stay sort-of true to the source…
AllergyEats | Urgent request for support to help impact REAL, impending food allergy legislation!
This is an important one for my food allergy readers… please take the time to read this post from Allergy Eats and respond accordingly! This is your chance to have some real input to actual legislation, not just another request to your state, federal, and local officials.
The entire post below is reposted with assumed permission… please re-post, re-blog, re-tweet, use your ham radio or the telegraph, and get the word out.
Urgent request for support to help impact REAL, impending food allergy legislation!
I am reaching out to the entire food allergy community with a great opportunity for us to have an impact on REAL, forthcoming food allergy legislation.
A few months ago, I was invited to work with a governmental body that is enacting a food allergy law pertaining to restaurants. (For now, please respect my decision not to mention specifics. I believe doing so could compromise my ability to effectively represent our food allergy constituency.) I was, and remain, very excited about this opportunity to advocate for our community.
In the course of this group’s discussions, there seemed to be a lingering question – what is the definition of an allergy-friendly restaurant? While I was very comfortable responding to that question myself, I believed at the time that it would be more effective to have community comments, which I was (and am) very confident would support my position. I suggested that I contact members of the food allergy community, via the thousands of AllergyEats members and social media followers, and solicit as many unprompted opinions as possible.
So here’s what I’m requesting. Could you please take a moment to answer the following question:
How would you define an allergy-friendly restaurant? (Please be as specific as possible.)
This is an absolutely critical opportunity to affect not only impending legislation, but legislation that could become a template for other states and municipalities across the nation!
I strongly urge you to take a few minutes to respond to this request. I believe my effectiveness in advocating for the food allergy community will be directly impacted by how many supporters answer this call. To that end, please also consider spreading this message as broadly as possible, using social media, blogs, or any other resource you have access to. The more voices we have, the more effective we will be!
I assure you that I will continue to do my best in advocating for our community and I promise to share more about this particular legislation when appropriate.
Important Note: I need to collect responses by February 2, giving us just one week, so please consider responding as soon as possible.
Again, the question I am asking you to answer is:
How would you define an allergy-friendly restaurant? (Please be as specific as possible)
Please submit your responses to me at contact@allergyeats.com or feel free to post your comments here on the blog by clicking Comments or Reply. (Email is preferable, but either is greatly appreciated.)
Thank you for your support!
I’m going to say it even though I shouldn’t have to… comments on this blog are appreciated, but to get them to AllergyEats, please comment on the original blog post or email contact@allergyeats.com.
Sadly, this sums up my general attitude towards dining out with food allergies and “safe” menu options:
http://twitter.com/#!/FoodAllergyBuzz/status/30366826915434496
Sat. Feb. 5th at Excuses with the Hang Lows! (via Ernie and the Berts)
Feb. 5th at Excuses… you really ought to come out to this one. The Hang Lows are cool dudes, and ska bands are always a great time!
World (and Lunar) Domination 