Rocky's Party Pizzeria

I won the jackpot in the arcade (1000 tickets). The 'Big Bass Wheel' machine will tell you a 'fish story' in a mock Minnesota accent when this happens. Which is not an entirely bad thing, given that dispensing that many tickets takes several minutes.

  The Menu 

Cheese Pizza
Fried Macaroni and Cheese
Breadsticks
Garlic Butter
Two sodas (each equal parts lime Fanta, peach Fanta, and cream soda)

Rating: 10/10

The pizza and fried mac were both quite good, the breadsticks were excellent, but winning 1000 tickets added at least half a point.

OM Indian Fusion

This establishment has a sign on the door reading 'Notary Public'. Need I say more?

The Meal

Chicken Triple 5
Chicken Lollipops
Gutti Vankaya
Rice Pudding
Basmati Rice
Rose Milk

Rating: 6.8/10

 

Everything was delicious, but my drink didn't arrive until I was done eating, and my friend insisted on MILD to the point that I had to correct the server that, no, I didn't mind spicy food. I KNOW I'm eating in an Indian restaurant.

League Trivia at Pedro's

I am paying for my friend's food next time, because a 2 dollar tip if the bill is more than 1 dollar is just plain insulting.

The Meal

Chicken Strips with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
Fries
Horchata (2 glasses)

Virgin Piña Colada

Rating: 5/10 

The food was nothing spectacular, but not bad, though the fries always seem to need salt. The drinks were superb, however. But we lost and I learned my best friend is a lousy tipper. It's not like she can't afford it, her dad's a diplomat and they have a second home in Ecuador! I'm living on much less and I can afford to give a decent tip!

Red Lobster

Portion sizes and calorie counts be damned, THIS...IS...RED LOBSTER!!!! Cram as many Cheddar Bay Biscuits down the hatch as you can, they'll soon bring you more! Get a side of rice pilaf if you want to forget how much cholesterol is in the rest of the meal, but remember: CRAB! LOBSTER! SHRIMP! WHATEVER THE HELL LANGOSTINO IS!

The Meal

Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Parrot Isle Coconut Shimp
Garlic Grilled Sea Scallops
Rice Pilaf
'Chesapeake' Corn
Raspberry Smoothie
Chocolate 'Wave' Cake

Rating:  10/10

What can I say? The only thing wrong with this was one slightly overdone shrimp. Everything else was delicious, although the corn had a tad too much seasoning, but not so much excess as to ruin it.

Rumaki

Trust me, this is far better than it sounds.

16 water chestnuts, canned
8 oz. enoki, fresh or canned
4 slices bacon
Hot soy sauce (teriyaki sauce will do in a pinch)

Trim enoki and rinse thoroughly. Let drain 15 min, then divide into 16 equal portions. Soak water chestnuts in sauce 15 min. Remove and discard sauce. Cut bacon slices into four equal pieces. Wrap bacon quarter around 1 enoki portion and 1 water chestnut. Repeat. Bake 30 min. at 345-350 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve immediately.

Coming soon!

Over the next two weeks, I will do my best to review the following:
Red Lobster (done!)
Om Indian Fusion (done!),
League Trivia at Pedro's Mexican Restaurante (done!),
Rocky's Party Pizzeria (done!)
and Enrique's Market (done!).
In the meantime, enjoy my asparagus recipe:
16 stems asparagus (washed, with tough bases removed)
8 strips thick-cut bacon, cut in half lengthwise
Mayonnaise
Coat asparagus thoroughly with mayonnaise. (Yes, this is a necessary step, and I have the burn scars to prove it.) Wrap one bacon strip half around each asparagus stem. Secure with toothpick(s) if necessary (it shouldn't be, but it depends on the quality of your bacon, and some of us can't afford the better stuff due to circumstances beyond our control). Bake 14-15 minutes at 425-430 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve immediately.

Marcus Palace Sun Prairie/New Doctor

M&Ms and Popcorn: who could ask for more?

 

 The pater familias decided he wanted to see Dunkirk. There is no shutting him up until he gets what he wants, and I wanted to see John Nolan pretend to be blind. (Note: He has a seemingly identical haircut in this film to what he sported in Person of Interest. Does he just like it, or is his hairstylist just not very imaginative?) So off we went. I took one look at the concession stand menu, and saw, beneath the various sizes of popcorn (Large, Regular, Junior) the phrase 'M&Ms add-on'. Yes, the attractive, rather harried young woman behind the counter is compelled to mix your choice of plain or peanut M&Ms into your popcorn, if you pay the extra 3.50. Butter is free with purchase.
The Meal:
Buttered popcorn with peanut M&Ms
Pretzel bites with nacho cheese
Lipton PureLeaf Sweet Tea
Chocolate-covered Cookie Dough Bites

Rating: 7/10

 

I've had better, I've had far, far worse. The popcorn was excellent, oily, crisp, and hot enough to partially melt the M&Ms. The pretzels were dry and slightly stale, but the cheese covered that nicely. The tea was, well, Lipton. That is, drinkable, but with an unpleasant aftertaste and suspicious amount of sugar, even for sweet tea. The cookie dough bites were delicious, but a bit too small.

"Regeneration: it's a lottery."

IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME (pun intended). There is no reason why the Doctor cannot be female. They were once described as 'of indeterminate gender', Time Lords have been seen changing apparent age, race (if that even applies) and biological sex upon regeneration before. The Doctor has radically altered their apparent age before, most notably in the transitions between One and Two, Four and Five, and Eleven and Twelve. They have also changed race, if you're the kind of museum piece who thinks the Irish aren't white. The Master had to change his name because he was now a she (and also still madder than a bag of hammers, as evidenced by the fact that she seemed to think she needed to wear a corset). Melody Pond/River Song went from white to black and then back to white, and the General implied that the form seen in 'The Day Of The Doctor' was their only male body, which means she became a he became a she. (Amusingly, the two bodies we have seen were BOTH more-or-less bald. And they also changed race in the regeneration we saw, changing from a bald white male to a bald black female.) To be blunt, there is no in-universe biological reason why Jodie Whittaker cannot play the Doctor. There is no reason why ANY reasonably talented actor/actress could not be cast.