A couple of weeks ago, Christion and I were heading to the movies, and before the film we were going to go eat lunch at a place in Wheeling called Avenue Eats, which is supposed to have one of the best hamburgers in the country. We got there, and unfortunately it was closed because a sewage main on that street had the kind of problem that I expect sewage mains have but don’t understand, and I have decided that I will let “sewage main problems” remain one of life’s mysteries that will remain unexplored. I told Christion that there was another place called Ruttenbucks that I had never been to and that if I couldn’t have a gut bomb burger then I was really craving fried chicken, and he agreed with me that that sounded like a good alternative, and since my mom had been to Ruttenbucks, I called her up.
Now my mom loves fried chicken. There used to be a little place called Becks which had the best fried chicken in the world. It was a little family run place nestled into a hollow that only the locals knew about, the kind of place that everyone loves and is sort of the Appalachian version of a supper club and you would think would be around forever but invariably closes down after decades because the owners get old and have health issues and the kids have all moved away because there are no jobs left in the mines or the mills or the glass factories, so it just slowly withers away, with the quality of the food mirroring the quality of the owner’s health, until mercifully it is no more and all that is left are lingering fond memories until even those are forgotten with time. We used to go there a lot, and my sister, like many of the local girls, did a stint as a waitress, and we would always get the fried chicken because when you went to Becks the reason you were going was to get the fried chicken.
So I was driving along with Christion riding shotgun, talking on the phone with my mom, and I had it on speakerphone so that my hands would be free since I don’t want to kill a family of four, and I asked my mom if Ruttenbucks had fried chicken. Without missing a beat, she said “Why? Does Christion want fried chicken?” Christion and I just looked at each other and laughed and I jokingly said “You racist- why would it be Christion who wants fried chicken?” We were both in tears laughing since we knew we had set her up, because in fairness, I never had asked my mom about fried chicken before, and she and I had talked about the place at least a dozen times, and now the one time I ask her if it has fried chicken she is on speakerphone and my black roommate is in the car. We had a good laugh.
Yesterday, I was heading to the grocery store to pick up some items because I was making dinner for my mom and dad because they had their 47th anniversary the other day and I thought I would do something nice, so I asked Christion if he needed anything, and he asked me to pick up some chips, and I asked which kind, and he said “flavored ones.” I responded- “so, barbecue then?” He just looked at me and laughed, and said- “There you go again.” I was then informed that there was a racist stereotype regarding black people and bbq potato chips, one which I had been completely unaware of until then. I then pointed out to him that when I was a kid, there were three types of potato chips. You had potato chips, you had ruffled potato chips, and you had BBQ potato chips. For me, I explained, “flavored” potato chips are default bbq. I can still see the silver and blue and red packaging of the bags from all the summer town/community picnics with the different bowls of chips next to the assorted jello salads and the empty bowl of ambrosia salad near the potato salad spreading salmonella all over the place.
I thought about this and laughed about it last night when I was following along with the #SaturdayNightSciFi with @BlackGirlNerds and @GeekSoulBrother. When I was a kid, the idea of black nerds just wouldn’t have registered. Hell, there was ONE black person in my town who worked for the college, Zoila Airall (she’s moved on to much bigger and better things) and she’s been a family friend since the 70’s or 80’s. It wasn’t even until I joined the Army when I really even brushed up against black culture. Today, my personal friends and my cultural choices and even my twitter timeline are drastically different and a lot richer and more interesting. It’s weird how much things can change in just a few years. And it’s scary how much I still don’t know or understand and never will.
I like things much better now. Sorry if you were looking for any sort of form to this essay or mindblowing insight. I don’t think I have anything else to say so I am just going to hit publish.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Love some stream of consciousness Cole.
Countme-In
You could have reversed Dick Gregory’s old saw and said, well, Christian would rather be served the Negro instead of the fried chicken.
Diana
Fun read, thanks.
Now for a really fun read, can we have a post including photos of Miri’s kittens? Their eyes should be open by now, which is when the serious cuteness begins.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
We’re you wearing pants?
WaterGirl
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Stream of consciousness Cole is my favorite item on the BJ menu.
WaterGirl
@Diana: Who is Miri?
sharl
Very few folks would be on my list of approved stream-of-consciousness writers. You’d be one of them though JGC.
‘Twas a fun and thought-provoking read (with content I could certainly match, though in a much less engaging way).
gogol's wife
Go to Stroud’s in KCMO for the best fried chicken. At least if you have a time machine that takes you there in 1975. I can’t answer for right now.
Great essay.
SiubhanDuinne
Do not ever buy watermelon as long as Christion is your roommate.
gogol's wife
@WaterGirl:
A cat that one of the commenters adopted and she turned up pregnant. She’s been featured on the front page nursing a couple of times.
Trentrunner
I came in expecting Dave Barry…
…and I got Virginia Fucking Woolf.
raven
Ask you mom about Charlie Williams.
John Revolta
The Brits are the champions of flavored potato chips. Any convenience store will carry at least a dozen types of “crisps” including one that tastes exactly like a roast turkey dinner with gravy and stuffing. Scary.
Sandia Blanca
Not precisely on topic, but barbecue-flavored potato chips are gross.
wasabi gasp
Yay! A guest post from Tommy.
Mike in NC
I like the Utz potato chips with Old Bay seasoning, which most people find gross.
raven
your
raven
@Mike in NC: Funny thing here. They finally have Utz in Kroger except for the pretzels. Somehow the other distributors must be able to keep them out.
JPL
Some of what you are writing about is your youth. I love fried chicken but would not think of making it because it would not be comparable to my mom’s. My mom’s green beans, that were cooked with ham hocks for hours, were great. A good friend, who happens to be black would find that food foreign. She went to high school over seas and then to Northwestern. It would never dawn on me to ask her if she wanted to go out for greasy food.
Mike J
What is it that Canadians call the all sorts of chips sold in one bag?
I think it’s why Walker wants a wall.
All dressed. That’s it.
shell
Phew, that second paragraph was practically one long run-on sentence.
******************
In New Jersey, the default favored chip was always Onion and Sour Cream.
WaterGirl
@gogol’s wife: Ah, the yellow-y orange-y kitty that was nursing. I saw that one, she is adorable, I just didn’t know the name. thank you!
Suzanne
Flavored chips? Have you seen all the gross flavors they have now?! Cappuccino? Sriracha? Buffalo?
FFS, you could buy fried-chicken-flavored potato chips and kill two birds with one stone.
sharl
@wasabi gasp: Naw. It’s the frequent repetition of several key themes that makes for an Authentic Tommy™ submission.
WaterGirl
@John Revolta: I was at Walgreens this week and I couldn’t believe the flavored chips they had at the counter. It was crazy stuff along the lines of roast beef and potatoes or chicken and dumplings, and I thought, why not just eat the real food?
When did this become a thing?
JPL
@shell: When the adult sons were in middle school, as part of a fundraiser, they had moms participate in taste tests of chips with seasonings. It was awful. It was a bunch of chemical pasty ingredients added to potato chips. I would have preferred giving more money to the PTA than participating in that crap.
SixStringFanatic
@wasabi gasp: That, sir, made me laugh loud enough to startle the cats. Thanks!
raven
Man, the floor installer didn’t come yesterday, he came today at 10am and he’s still here. I know he’s doing a great job but it’s 10 hrs of banging, sawing and a compressor! I’ll be glad when this is done.
WaterGirl
@raven: Didn’t you get the memo? Those are the days that you take the pups (and your bride) and leave the house for the day.
shell
Liz Cheney: America Feels ‘Gratitude’ To My Dad ‘Matched Only By Our Love For Him’
Man, whatever drugs she’s taking, I want some.
Why were they even on the teevee? Why they have a book to shill, of course.
JPL
@SixStringFanatic: Bqhatevwr
JPL
@shell: She wants to follow in her dad’s footsteps. She already lost one election so the book might help redeem her. It takes time to destroy a country one person at a time.
raven
@WaterGirl: It rained all day. Besides,she has lots of sewing projects upstairs away from most of it. Besides that it’s been like this since May. This is just the first Sunday.
Suzanne
@wasabi gasp: “Now my dad, is just the nicest guy you will ever meet. Didn’t do nothing to nobody ever. And I just don’t get why you’d want to eat a flavored potato chip, like WTF. if you eat those, we just will all know that there’s something wrong with you?”
JPL
@raven: We had rain this morning, then sunshine. My friend at Lake Hartwell mentioned that it rained most of the afternoon.
also.. it did feel a tad cool so I shut the windows. lol
raven
@JPL: yep
Suzanne
@wasabi gasp: Speaking of Tommy, I hope Omnes and Corner Stone show up to take the piss out of him. I’m mean.
raven
@Suzanne: If your so fucking mean do it yourself big mouth.
Suzanne
@raven: I have, but they’re funnier.
burnspbesq
@Mike in NC:
Utz Crab Chips are awesome. The only better potato chips were Tim’s Cascade Wasabi, which they don’t make any more.
Woodrowfan
plain old Mikesells potato chips are the best! flavored ones are gross.
trollhattan
Month or more back I came home after work and found an open bag of potato chips on the counter, dug in and {boing!} they were the most amazing industrial grease-and-starch-and-salt snack I ever ate. Plowed though the remnants then reached in for the bits that collect on the bottom. Before shoveling them into my maw (no, I never called mom “maw”) I noticed the shards were in a small, clear pool of oil in my hand. Uggggh. Tossed them and the bag.
For the record I don’t eat potato chips but these were some kind of Thai-flavor kettle chips that I swear were the snack food equivalent of heroin. I would have gnawed an arm off for more, at that moment. Luckily, moment passed. Later asked the spouse where she got them but no, her buddy Dana who was passing through town had bought them somewhere. This woman remains rail-thin after a lifetime of eating stuff like this; how is that even possible?
ms_canadada
@John Revolta: I’ve just noticed we have a few new flavours north of the border, in Ontario, Canada…Montreal Smoked Meat, Butter Chicken, Cowboy BBQ Beans, P.E.I Scalloped Potatoes (Prince Edward Island – one of our Provinces).
I’m not quite ready for the Smoked Meat, Butter Chicken, nor the BBQ Beans, but the Scalloped Potatoes, why I’ll give them a try.
@Mike J: All Dressed chips aren’t my fave, but I’ll eat them in a pinch.
My all time fave – Dill Pickle.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I once had to make fried chicken every other day for 3 weeks. I was house sitting 2 teenaged boys and their 11 year old sister. The second night I made them fried chicken. They liked it very much.
Every young woman should have such an experience. I cleaned, and cooked, and did laundry, and shuttled kids around. And occasionally had a chance to read. They were very nice kids, so I know we were all lucky.
@ms_canadada:
I never understood that until I ate chips that got juiced by the pickle next to them in the carry out box. Delicious! Then I tried the flavored chips – ghastly. But I still save dill pickle brine in a jar to dress my own pickles at home.
Ruckus
Ruffles cheddar chips are great. Doesn’t taste like cheddar or chips but I can eat a whole bag in one sitting. Which is why I don’t buy them. Anymore.
Oatler.
You couldn’t get more sodium by mainlining soy sauce, this stroke survivor says.
schrodinger's cat
Best potato chips I have ever had were in Mumbai in Khotachi Wadi by Ideal Wafers. They make them in small batches once a day. They are fried in ghee and seasoned with sea salt.
Best supermarket chips, are Cape Cod. I hate flavored chips, with the exception of home-made potato chips with black pepper.
NotMax
#MundaneLivesMatter
:)
So old that predate ridged chips,. Vividly remember the greasy bags of Wise chips (in actuality, chips ‘n’ crumbs).
John Revolta
@WaterGirl: Well I noticed it in England maybe 15 years ago. I suspected (still do) that it’s largely about a battle for shelf space.
BTW the king of flavored chips IMHO is Zapp’s Craw-taters from New Orleans. Speakin’ of which the best fried chicken (aside from my Grandma’s) is from Coop’s on Decatur St. in the Quarter. Are they still there? Been too long…………………..
trollhattan
@shell:
America’s Most Vile Family(tm)
Comrade Mary
Lays is having yet another flavour “contest“. I tried their so-called butter chicken chips last week and they tasted not at all like butter, chicken or butter chicken. They tasted like BBQ with a little extra sweetness, some vinegar, and the world’s vaguest recovered memory of cumin if your tongue squinted real hard.
WaterGirl
@raven: During the year of the tree, I just couldn’t stay in the house on days like that.
Oh well, at least you got rain!
Omnes Omnibus
@John Revolta: Coop’s is still there. I like their jambalaya and their bloody marys.
WaterGirl
@ms_canadada: Why would you even need to eat flavored chips when you can hold baby Ella?
edit: Not Ella, Emma! right?
SiubhanDuinne
@wasabi gasp:
@sharl: @Suzanne:
I like and usually admire all of you, but I’m just fed up with the bullying of and picking on Tommy. FFS, what did he ever do to any of you? If you don’t care to read his comments, just scroll on past. He’s not a troll and he’s not a stalker. There are plenty of people who comment on this blog who are way more worthy of your mocking.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Suzanne: @Comrade Mary: Good god, cappucino flavored potato chips? That may just top the ones I saw last week: “Southern biscuits and gravy”.
ETA: I’m guessing that “butter chicken” was the Indian restaurant staple, but I don’t think I’ve ever had it. I think it’s for people who find tikka masala too spicy
schrodinger's cat
Trader Joe sells chocolate covered potato chips, they are disgusting and addictive at the same time.
NotMax
Homemade Saratoga chips fried in duck fat.
Doesn’t get much better than that, chip-wise.
John Revolta
@ms_canadada: They got poutine flavor? Seems like a natural……………………
Suzanne
@Ruckus: I have been known to eat an entire bag of the salt and vinegar ones. And then my mouth hurts because the vinegar burns. And it’s great and disgusting at the same time.
schrodinger's cat
@Ruckus: I never buy chips at the grocery store, they are my one junk food addiction. I can eat half a bag in one sitting. If I ever buy chips it is the tiny 1 to 1.5oz packs.
Mike J
The best potato chips are one I had in St Louis in 198[4|5]. Dressel’s on Euclid street. Cooked to order.
tybee
@SiubhanDuinne:
+1
divF
@Suzanne:
They are doing the same thing with canned soups. Campbell’s cheese steak soup.
Our nephew really likes the beer, bacon, beef, and I think cheese soup. And it lists beer as an ingredient on the label.
Amir Khalid
I too am mystified by the whole flavoured potato chips thing. No matter what “flavour” is claimed on the packaging, they always taste far more of salt than of anything else I can identify. Except “unsalted” chips; those taste like notebook paper rather than potato.
Over the weekend leading up to today, the 31st of August which is Merdeka (independence) Day, we had a two-day Bersih rally in the city. Bersih 4 was attended by 25,000 people, per the Royal Malaysian Police, and by as many as 200,000 per the organisers — according to a lady named Auntie Beeb. There’s not been a lot of local media coverage.
One attendee was our fourth PM, Dr Mahathir Mohamed. He’s the first establishment politics figure to come to a Bersih rally. Dr M addressed the rally to urge that current PM Najib Tun Razak be removed from office by “people power”.
Dr M was a mentor of Najib, partly out of gratitude to Najib’s dad Tun Abdul Razak, who reinstated Dr M’s UMNO party membership back in 1974. (Dr M had been expelled from UMNO in the wake of the May 13 post-election race riots in 1969. Tun Razak himself succeeded Tunku Abdul Rahman as party president and PM after May 13.)
jo6pac
I like this;)
schrodinger's cat
Tommy has fans, who knew!
Woodrowfan
@SiubhanDuinne: +10
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodinger’s cat:
:: Raises hand ::
Randy P
Has anyone seen the dill-pickle flavored popcorn? The clerk at Trader Joe’s claimed it was delicious and his new favorite snack.
Also, I believe I saw “Reuben-flavored” chips or popcorn the other day in the local convenience store.
Dang it, when I was a kid, potato chips tasted like… well, not like potatoes. More like salt and whatever Pringles are made of. And popcorn tasted like the petroleum by-product they use at the movie theaters.
To add to the bizarre things happening in the snack arena, I haven’t actually taken a close look at Slim Jims (which are basically grease, probably WD-40, encased in a non-digestible plastic substrate) in years. I just noticed that you can now get that plastic-grease combo in about a dozen flavors.
@Comrade Mary: I think it was a bag of Lay’s that was Reuben flavored, because I recall it saying something about a contest.
divF
Here’s an idea for a new chip flavor: Frito pie corn chips.
John Revolta
@Countme-In: Christian would rather be served the Negro instead of the fried chicken.
Lenny Bruce said, ” Negroes are mad because they can’t sit at the lunch counter, but what about the Christians? They used to get fed to the lions! I’d rather be refused service than be served as refuse”.
Bill
Local place at the very tippy top of the ridge that separates our valley from the Greater Scranton Area, there’s a joint famous for the fried chicken. Like for decades, famous for the fried chicken. Stopped in one day, on the way back from The Valley Where the Heyna is Grown, and ordered the fried chicken. And it’s the four piece honey-dipt frozen fried “chicken”, courtesy of the foodservice truck. Fuckin’ Sysco.
NobodySpecial
Tommy’s essentially harmless, but the spirit of Stuck lives on in this blog.
ms_canadada
@WaterGirl: Emma it is…they’ve just returned home from the hospital today. My son is so adorable with his baby girl.
Chips are for ‘anytime’ in my book, but I’ll keep them from my granddaughter as long as possible. They are the devil wearing a smile.
Deliciously evil.
ms_canadada
@John Revolta: Yes, I believe I did see Poutine chips somewhere. They should certainly be available in Quebec.
(I’m not a fan of poutine, but I do love gravy and malt vinegar on my fries)
WaterGirl
@ms_canadada: Potato chips, they’re not just for breakfast anymore!
It can be amazing when you see someone you love with their new baby, it can bring engender a whole new facet of love for them. Glad all is well and everyone is home.
SuperHrefna
@Amir Khalid: When I was little in Britain we used to get unsalted crisps with a packet of salt so you could salt them to your own taste. I loved that because as a small child I couldn’t cope with things that were too salty. Nowadays my fave is salt and vinegar, or cheddar or sour cream and onion.
I saw pics of the Bersih rally, it looked huge, way bigger than 25k. Good luck with getting some relatively peaceful change!
dww44
@SiubhanDuinne: As am I.
Honus
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m down with that too. Don’t get the tommy hate. Yeah, he’s a little self absorbed but basically a nice guy. I guess everybody can’t be perfectly adjusted like all the other BJ commenters.
And Grandma Utz kettle cooked are great. Cooked in lard. Only thing better is duck fat and you’ll never get that in a bag from Kroger
SiubhanDuinne
@ms_canadada:
I’ve been reading and posting erratically for at least the past week (health problems, elderly relative, I’m sure you all know the drill) — but in case I missed the window of opportunity, I want you to know that I’m thrilled about the birth of little Emma! (And yes, I do know that it must be bittersweet in the extreme, given your recent terrible bereavement.) Still, congratulations and best wishes to you and to her parents. If you and they are comfortable doing so, I hope you’ll email a photo of her to Anne Laurie for a little front-page action. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would like to see and admire her.
JPL
@ms_canadada: I just love the name. Enjoy your time with her.
RSA
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Cole ought to write a novel, semi-autobiographical, in the great American tradition. He has a voice, as the writing coaches say, and I think it would be a great engaging read.
Howard Beale IV
You haven’t had potato Chips until you have had Better Made potato chips from Detroit.
schrodinger's cat
@RSA: Moping Naked in West Virginia?
wasabi gasp
@SiubhanDuinne: Tommy is…well…a little odd…but then, so are my tastes.
worn
@SiubhanDuinne: Absofuckinglutely. It’s like high school, all over again.
SuperHrefna
@RSA: I would pay good money for a book of Cole essays. I think it would be like if Jack London wrote Deer Hunting With Jesus.
Honus
@Suzanne: @SuperHrefna: salt and vinegar or as my friend Dave used to say “the ones with the battery acid on them”. Dave owned and ran a four star restaurant for 30 years BTW.
JPL
@wasabi gasp: We are all a little odd. That’s why we love this place, but we all don’t ditz others to make us sound good.
Baud
Funny that Cole decided to narrate this whimsical little story only after he fixed the blog.
Suzanne
@ms_canadada: Have you ever had Greek fries, with lemon sauce and feta cheese all over the top of them? Holy balls. NOM NOM NOM NOM NOMZ. There’s a place near here that does Indian-style, with tikka masala sauce and paneer cheese. Have t tried it yet because I think I’ll explode in a ball of gustatory pleasure and turn into a heifer.
As for Tommy, I am offended by the nonstop casual sexist and racist and sometimes just boneheaded comments (Example: I mentioned that I have been weightlifting recently, and he basically said, “Yeaaaaah, giiiirl, that’s sexy…..”, then acted like I was a bitch when I called him on it), but I will lay off.
Suzanne
@Honus: Love me some battery acid. I used to drink vinegar as a kid. Yes. I’m weird.
eemom
@tybee:
+2 to what @SiubhanDuinne: said. Nice little asshole cool kids crowd this blog’s got going on these days.
Unrelatedly, am interested in your nym. I and eedad and eekids just returned from a delightful vacation at Tybee. Usually we go to the Outer Banks, but this year were scared off by the sharks. Great beach ya got there!
JPL
It is so much fun to read comments about McKinley again being named Denali. Fox news is the best.
Just One More Canuck
@SiubhanDuinne: thank you
scuffletuffle
@Randy P: The Trader Joe’s dill popcorn is very good. I was served some just a few days ago and enjoyed it, though I usually don’t care for flavored popcorn.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hey, don’t bring me into this, SD.
JPL
@Suzanne: I missed that.
Suzanne
@eemom: Um wow. Pot, kettle, black.
SuperHrefna
@SuperHrefna: And I’m not talking about Call of the Wild Jack London, no, Cole reminds me of full on ranting People of the Abyss Jack London: http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/PeopleOfTheAbyss/
Another Holocene Human
@Suzanne: I can’t figure out why Lay’s Salt and Vinegar is emblazoned with “Artificial Flavor” on the front.
Honus
@Suzanne: Dave also hipped me to lard. I was eating some potato chips one day and said they were really good. He said “look at the bag. I’ll bet they’re cooked in lard.” Sure enough, they were.
ms_canadada
@SiubhanDuinne: @divF: Oh my, you are so sweet and kind. Yes, the sadness is still ‘front & centre’ yet the birth of Emma has given my life a new meaning. I will think about your idea, and once again, thank you for your support and continued interest. Life is challenging, but then there are BABIES!
Another Holocene Human
@SiubhanDuinne: Me too.
goblue72
The best potato chips are “plain” potato chips from Gibbles in the Cumberland Valley (PA), made from thin sliced potatoes, fried in real lard – salty, airy, crackly, finger-lickin’ greasy –
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/12/gibbles-potato-chips-made-with-lard.html
eemom
@Suzanne:
I was a cool kid on this blog? Sheeyit, coulda fooled me.
Been away for awhile. Nice to see you’re still a smug-ass, perky little twerp.
sharl
@SiubhanDuinne: Could you please explain how my comment was bullying?
Other than perhaps my stylistic use of the ~ ™ ~, which is more my ‘Authentic’ (and probably tedious) thing than a bullying tool, I don’t see evidence of bullying on my part. None was certainly intended.
Thanks in advance for your explanation, or from any of those who concur with you.
P.S. I like Tommy too, but as I noted in my reply to wasabi gasp, Cole’s post fundamentally differ from Tommy’s comments, in the manner I described.
ms_canadada
@Suzanne: My grandmother drank 1/4 cup of vinegar every day. She lived to 88. Don’t know if that had anything to do with her longevity,or if she was just a character, but I do know, I loved her dearly.
Another Holocene Human
@Honus: They should be cooked in beef tallow. Fries, too.
Omnes Omnibus
@ms_canadada: My grandmother smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 75 years and she lived to be 91. Correlation is not causation.
Suzanne
@Another Holocene Human: Seriously, allz you need are potatoes, salt, and vinegar!
I grew up with my grandparents, and my grandmother was the worst cook in history. Nevertheless, she had one great recipe for a cream cheese dip for potato chips. I make it every year on Super Bowl Sunday (Mr. Suzanne has dubbed it “once-a-year dip”, and a friend of ours calls it “crack dip”), and I have improved it with shit-tons of garlic and herbs. I get the wavy S&P chips from Trader Joe’s to serve with it. Delicious for shoveling.
JPL
@Another Holocene Human: IMO, When someone calls out another post only to criticize quirks, it says more about them, then it does the poster.
Another Holocene Human
Light a candle for Jays, bought out by Lays.
They were fresh, and tasted like potato. Really, really delicious potato.
Now excuse me, y’all made me hungry for spicy potato chips and I’m fresh outta those, so I’ll just have to raid the pantry I have.
JPL
@Suzanne: Have to admit, Trader Joe’s has pretty good chips.
schrodinger's cat
@Suzanne:
Word.
Example of what Suzanne said, comment by Tommy:
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
:-)
Suzanne
@eemom:
Love this. May become my new nym.
The eemom MO = come in late to thread, complain about Anne Laurie or someone else, drop snide insult about intelligence or physical appearance or just “God, this place SUCKS”, then flounce out. We could do an eemom comment generator. It would be a blast. Not as funny as the Carlos Danger name generator, but just as easy.
JPL
Even though I mentioned this before.. my son was online and I asked him the highest mountain in the US… He answered Denali. So I said , you heard about the change, and he said, what change. Since he visited Alaska several times, he really wasn’t familiar with McKinley. He assumed that was a mountain in another state.
Amir Khalid
@Another Holocene Human:
Probably because Lay’s use artificial salt and/or vinegar.
It’s interesting that so many commenters here are partial to potato chips fried in lard or duck fat. Something fried in lard could never pass my lips, of course, and I doubt I’ll ever see chips fried in duck fat at the supermarket. But does animal fat add something to the flavour?
Suzanne
@JPL: The latest weird snack I’ve been enjoying are the wasabi-and-soy almonds. Gross and weird, and yes, awesome,
divF
@ms_canadada:
Hurray! Belated congratulations to you all.
The reports here on kids are delightful. lamh36’s photos of her nieces are great, as are suzanne’s reports on Spawn the Elder, just to name two of our correspondents in this department. So don’t you be shy.
mai naem mobile
These are the posts I love to read from John on BJ. Heehee.
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: Thanks for highlighting that.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: Most people who are serious outback skiers, mountaineers and the like have called it Denali for a long, long time.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m none of those things and I thought the name had changed years ago.
qwerty42
Enjoyed it John.
Honus
@goblue72: Nibble with Gibbles!
Keith G
This thread may be redeemed yet.
Honus
@Amir Khalid: short answer: yes
SiubhanDuinne
I don’t want this thread (which has a wonderful OP!) to become all about Tommy, or about our differing views of him.
Look, this Balloon Juice place is — as many others have observed, many times — a kind of family. Different commenters are going to irritate us, or resonate with us, or waft on past making no impression one way or the other. Some days we’ll all get caught up in someone’s soap opera, the next day we’ll hardly remember the person’s name.
I happen to find Tommy an appealing person, and I’m inclined to give him a pass — or at least the benefit of the doubt — when others see racism, sexism, and other outrages. Tommy’s a grown man and if he says something that annoys or offends you, I have no problem with your calling him out directly. Pretty sure he can handle it and respond, defend himself, apologize, or whatever.
Where I do have a problem is with people essentially snickering behind their hands, mocking Tommy’s own idiosyncratic style (I find it rather endearing; others will certainly disagree, and that’s fine), and acting like mean girls passing notes in junior high.
Anyhow, I’m done with this subject now. Heading to bed soon, and unless I see some of you in the wee hours (because gods-damned insomnia), I wish you all a peaceful night’s sleep.
ms_canadada
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes, I agree. However, my mom was cured of mouth cancer, then took up smoking again (!!!) and died. I’m still mad at her for doing that. She has missed the birth of 3 great grandchildren, 4 of her 12 grand children’s marriages, because she loved her cigarettes more than she loved life. Tragic for everyone in my family.
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: In the olden days when son was wild and reckless, he visited a friend in Anchorage, to go snowmobiling on a glacier, Fortunately, when they got stuck, other tourists came by and helped them out. He still talks about the time, the Russians saved his butt, but don’t tell Sarah.
John Cole
@wasabi gasp: Who the hell is Tommy? The only person who posts here with the name of Tom is Levenson.
And Tommy the commenter has not comented in this thread. What are you all fighting about?
Suzanne
@ms_canadada: I’m so sorry for your loss, and I feel you on that anger. Dealing with it (poorly dealing with it) today, in fact.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Yes, Body, depth and a kind of velvety surface crispiness.
@Bill
Bit of a schlep from the Scranton area (and dunno if it is there any longer) but there was a fried chicken place called The Roost between Hawley and Honesdale. Really tasty “broasted” chicken (marinated, breaded, deep fried in oil in a pressure cooker).
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
We need a Hillary-Bernie thread to help heal the rift caused by the great Tommy debate.
Baud
.
jake the antisoshul shoshulist
Even Cthulhu is not evil enough to like flavored potato chips. However plain potsto chips are my kryptonite. I go into a feeding frenzy that would make a great white envious.
lamh36
I have this gay bestie who’s is white and from Mississippi…he love Fried Chicken more than I do!
oh and stop setting up your mom
JPL
@John Cole: lol Tommy posts here and he is quite entertaining but sometimes he is repetitive like us all. Some folks take offense because they are assholes and not quite of the repetitive age. Just my opinion though.
Debbie
@ms_canadada:
I’m surprised all that vinegar didn’t eat through her stomach.
Suzanne
@Debbie: The hydrochloride acid in the stomach is stronger than vinegar.
Baud
@John Cole:
That son of a bitch Tom Levenson. Don’t even get me started.
SiubhanDuinne
@John Cole:
Speaking of Tom Levenson, he had a terrific piece in today’s Boston Globe.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/08/29/sexism-science-leads-willful-blindness/1E4PejOdQDxhNmK1HceIQO/story.html
Suzanne
@Baud: LOL. I love Tom Levenson. The art has been a most welcome addition to this blog.
Pets + snark + progressive politics + art + food + music = my favorite things.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Okay, that made me spit the last dregs of the evening’s red wine all over my iPad screen.
wasabi gasp
@John Cole: He’s that guy with no dead bodies in his house.
NotMax
@Baud
Best. Comment. Ever.
geg6
@SiubhanDuinne:
Agreed.
Gin & Tonic
@wasabi gasp: Just sayin’.
RSA
@schrodinger’s cat: @SuperHrefna: I know! It’s a rich vein. Sample chapter names:
Mopping Naked in West Virginia
My Car is Still in a Field
The Case of the Disappearing Mustard
One Testicle, Lightly Tanned
Tunch
It would be epic.
Suzanne
@Suzanne: To say nothing of naked mopping + missing mustard + cars in fields + fugly end tables + eating shit while carrying the puppy across the ice so her paws don’t get chilly.
Dawwwww.
Suzanne
@RSA: Oh damn, I forgot about the ball hanging out. LMMFAO.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
That’s cool. Thanks for finding and sharing that.
maeve
Meat flavored potato chips are just wrong – the Lays contest has West Coast Truffle Fries flavor (which is just too much despite lack of meat) and East Coast Reuben and Southern Biscuit and Gravy and something else I can’t remember.
My proposal – Seaweed and Herring Eggs – never made it to the ballot – can’t understand why it wasn’t voted for – local delicacy – after the herring spawn you gather the seaweed – the herring eggs are like fish flavored pop rocks.
Also (too) – we’ve been calling it Denali for years – I have to do a double take if it is referrred to as McKinley – but even in the main Alaska paper (adn.com) some commentators are ranting about “Executive Privilege” and “re-writing history”
Suzanne
@maeve:
Oh fuck that.
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: deep fried in oil in a pressure cooker
Is it just me, or does that sound like a disaster waiting to happen?
Mary G
@SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, the making-fun-of-Tommy is getting really old with me, too. If he’s not even on the thread, why do you keep bringing him up?
catclub
@burnspbesq: Mildly hot pepper cashews are amazing. I had them in Sri Lanka
and they cost the earth, but they are tasty.
Amir Khalid
@John Cole:
You don’t know who Tommy is? Next you’ll be saying you’ve never heard of Malaysian correspondent Amir Khalid.
dr. luba
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “Butter chicken” is an Indian dish that is very popular in India, where I’ve had it many a time in restaurants. Per Wikipedia, it was created in the 1950s at the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi.
It is also a staple in American Indian restaurants.
schrodinger's cat
Where is Steve? How is the big floofy kitteh doing?
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
I don’t think it’s Tommy’s content that annoys most, it’s his style of writing. It get’s old pretty quick.
But, and it is a big, firm, round but, I’ve learned from him. Both substance and style. He, and his critics, made me take stock of my style, be a bit more critical of what I post and how I write it. And that ain’t nothing. So I agree with you, you don’t like Tommy or his style, slide on over to Cleek’s place and install the pie filter. Or like you say, just pass him by. Now I use the pie filter on trolls, but I’m not putting Tommy in there, he doesn’t deserve that at all.
Gin & Tonic
I just finished making a batch of pickled eggplant. A family at my local farmer’s market brings these baby purple-and-white-striped eggplants, ranging in size from half your pinky, to maybe your thumb. I put up a bunch of jars every summer. Thing is, I really don’t like eggplant at all, but everyone else in my family does, so they look forward to a few jars every winter.
gogol's wife
@SiubhanDuinne:
This.
Joel
@Randy P: Slim Jims are “mechanically separated”. Called such because — you guessed it — the chickens are butchered by machine. This is detected by the presence of bone solids, up to 1% by weight.
Suzanne
@Ruckus:
Stealing this.
That’s what she said.
Ruckus
@schrodinger’s cat:
Half a bag? What a lightweight. You’ll never be allowed a membership at glutton’s monthly with that attitude.
JCJ
The spicy basil flavored potato chips in Thailand are fantastic.
schrodinger's cat
@Ruckus: My guilty conscience kicks in, when I am through with half the bag.
NotMax
@schrodinger’s cat
Eat the other half first.
;)
John Cole
@RSA: Ehh, choose the posts and I will send them to an editor. I can’t tell the good ones from teh bad.
gogol's wife
@RSA:
Yesyesyes
Riley's enabler
Zapp’s “Voodoo Gumbo” chips for the win. I only buy a bag once or twice a year because I will kill the entire bag in a sitting.
Guilty pleasure…so very good. And no meat flavor involved (ew).
gogol's wife
@John Cole:
Tire rims and anthrax
The one where you were sitting on a bench is a classic.
JPL
@John Cole: Not Tunch though. I miss him along with all the pets that I have lost. I am just not ready.
Amir Khalid
@Ruckus:
Tommy can be repetitious — particularly with his family history — and, on occasion, obtuse or lacking in self-awareness, as in the example schrodinger’s cat quotes at #116. But most of the time, he doesn’t seem mean-spirited. I’ve seen commenters far more objectionable than he tolerated here, including one self-styled “portrait artist” I shall not mention by nym partly because he used so many of them.
redshirt
@Amir Khalid:
Cole doesn’t read this blog. He has no idea who any of us are.
Doug R
Mmmm kettle cooked jalapeno and cheddar. Not hot to the taste, but make sure you have something available to drink right after.
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Me too, loved the big white kitteh and his orange tail. I found another kitteh,Shiro
Neko, on the intertoobz, who reminds of Tunch!
JPL
@Amir Khalid: Great comment. Tommy has his own trolls.. Not sure why though.
SuperHrefna
@Suzanne: I love him too, but the poor guy has been trying to argue with Louise Mensch on Twitter today so his brain may be parboiled by now. For those not up to speed on UK politics it’s a bit like arguing with Sarah Palin, or nailing jelly to a wall. I will not be surprised if his next post has art by Hieronymous Bosch or Edward Munch
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Best come back ever!!!!
ROFLMFAO
Cervantes
@SiubhanDuinne:
Seconded.
redshirt
@Ruckus:
Tommy is certainly not a troll.
He’s just objectively incapable of posting without mentioning himself or his parents, no matter the subject.
No big deal, obviously, it just gets repetitive.
Ruckus
@SuperHrefna:
Nailing jelly to the wall sounds far more entertaining and less prone to tools being thrown.
eemom
@Suzanne:
Child, I’m flattered by the amount of effort you put into all that, but surely you have better uses for your itty bitty brain than lovingly cherishing every comment I’ve made for the last 5 years that you took offense to.
Call me when the training wheels are off.
SuperHrefna
@Ruckus: All day I’ve been tempted to tweet Levenson and tell him not to bother trying to reason with Mensch. It just isn’t possible. At least she isn’t in parliament any more…
JPL
@redshirt: Okay and the point is? If it annoys you, ignore it.
redshirt
@JPL: I do, but sometimes its hard to do so when he’s half the responses in a given thread. As I said, no big deal.
redshirt
Also, Jalapeno flavored potato chips are the bomb.
jl
@redshirt: Cole don’t want you damn kids talking behind the other kid’s back.
Southern manners. (that is, they have them)
Though, if Cole is Southern, how come he has never talked with his mother about fried chicken. It doesn’t add up. Time to fire up the rumor again, that Cole is just another DougJ sock puppet.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: He knows what he did.
schrodinger's cat
@jl: For all I know, you could be DougJ. We are all DougJ.
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat: I AM DOUGJ!!!!
schrodinger's cat
@jl: Did WV break up from Virginia so that it wouldn’t be a part of the Confederacy? I thought, Southern==Confederacy.
magurakurin
@Baud:
I used to be all of those things and I had thought the name had been changed as well. Glad that it finally has been. Next, Obama needs to change the name of Mt. Rainier in Washington back to its real name, Tahoma (orTacoma). Hell, Peter Rainier was a bloody Redcoat for cryin’ out loud. And Tahoma is the Queen of the Lower 48 as far as I can see.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: Kentucky is southern and so is Maryland. Neither joined the Confederacy.
schrodinger's cat
@redshirt: Did you see that article in the NYT about the Appalachian Trail, about Mt. Katahdin?
Omnes Omnibus
@SuperHrefna: It’s still going on.
p.a.
No love for Wise chips? Who doesn’t like the oddball green and black chips chips included in every bag? And the alternate Salt’n’Dust flavor!
magurakurin
@John Cole: who the hell are you? Keep your nose out of it ya noob.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: How does one define which state is southern?
What about Washington D.C., that’s southern too, then?
JPL
Wes Craven died. I am not a fan of horror but still will miss him.
magurakurin
@Baud:
plenty of that over at the Great Orange Satan. That places is coming unglued again. I actually commented over there a few times. And then someone ran the comment up a flagpole sort of like ISIS does with severed heads. Gnarly.
Sandia Blanca
Here’s a shout-out to Kitch’n Cook’d Maui Potato Chips–the original Maui chips.
And in the odd category of “disgusting, but can’t stop eating them,” my daughter recommends Snapea Crisps.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
I guess it’s like the irrational “Hatha-hate” that Anne Hathaway got after the Les Miz movie.
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat:
Nope. Got a link? Is Obama gonna change all the mountain names?!?!?!
NotMax
@schrodinger’s cat
Below the Mason-Dixon line.
Washington has always been a copiously southern town.
Cervantes
@schrodinger’s cat:
The Mason-Dixon Line?
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: If you order tea and they bring you an iced beverage it is southern. If you order tea and they bring you a hot beverage it is not.
ETA: As noted, the Mason-Dixon Line is a good marker.
JPL
@Amir Khalid: Maybe, that would be great for Tommy because she was great in that role.
Amir Khalid
@magurakurin:
They’re arguing about Tommy at The Daily Kos?
SuperHrefna
@Omnes Omnibus: Ouch.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
The best portrayal of Fantine, spoken or sung, that I have ever seen; and the truest to Hugo’s conception of the character.
redshirt
@Amir Khalid: They changed the name to The Daily Tommy And Bernie
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: hmmm That’s not quite right. You are served sweetened, undrinkable, iced tea
Suzanne
@SuperHrefna: Or, even worse, someone truly odious like Thomas Kinkade The Painter Of Light TEE EMM.
Come to think of it, Kinkade is the perfect analog to Palin: Shallow and saccharine, harmful to the improvement of the self, fake Christian, and the market totally fell out and now you can pick that shit up on eBay for CHEEEEEP.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: I was trying to keep it short.
magurakurin
@Amir Khalid:
They might as well be. It would make as much if not more sense. The people there are way, way too invested in the personality of the candidates. Cult of Personality is not just for the right wing, as we all know.
RK
There are cultural differences, of course, which is why I always say Obama isn’t black. But “black culture” has become less “black”, at least in some part I think, as more blacks have been able to fully participate in all areas of society. Very funny chicken anecdote.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I just want to tell DougJ that I will call out any commenter I notice making casual racist or sexist remarks. I may also remark upon repetitive posts that include the poster’s perspective, no matter the topic.
If that makes me a bitch mean kid; I’ve been called worse by scarier people. “I’m not mean; you’re just a sissy” was once placed on mt desk as a table tent. I didn’t mind.
schrodinger's cat
@NotMax: Of course! I should probably go to sleep now, before I make a fool of myself, again.
SuperHrefna
@Suzanne: Yes, if his next post has Thomas Kinkade or maybe Damien Hirst, we will have to stage an intervention.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): DougJ?
Suzanne
@SuperHrefna: John’s end tables always make me think that he needs a giant Nagel print in a black and gold lacquer frame to go with them.
RSA
@John Cole:
Cool, thanks. We’ll crowdsource the selection, if there are enough people interested.
schrodinger's cat
@redshirt: Curmudgeonly administrator of the Baxter State Park has had enough of drunken louts who hike the Appalachian trail and spill champagne at the summit.
SuperHrefna
@Suzanne: Hee! ‘Course I remember when I thought Nagel’s work was so breezy and cool and fresh, but it was the early eighties and I was a tween…
Origuy
@ms_canadada:
I was on PEI last week; Charlottetown is a pretty little city. The rest of the island reminded me of the US Midwest; fairly flat and agricultural. We had a big group there for the Canadian Orienteering Championships and went to New Glasgow for a lobster supper.
I saw the Canadian Lays flavours; didn’t have the courage to try them. The US gyros flavored chips are awful.
Nutella
@Omnes Omnibus:
I don’t know about Kentucky, but Maryland didn’t join the Confederacy because the feds came and arrested a third of the legislature before they could vote on secession. The Union army occupied the state to prevent the Union capital from being surrounded by Confederate states. Definitely below the Mason-Dixon line.
Amir Khalid
@ms_canadada:
Why does the Queen’s youngest son have a Canadian island province named after him? Is he that popular over there?
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat: That dude needs to lighten up.
schrodinger's cat
@redshirt: True, but these celebrity ultra marathoner types can be a bit much with their entourage and all. I say good for Bissell for standing up to that.
SuperHrefna
@schrodinger’s cat: Wow, he sounds like fun. I get wanting to protect the nature we have left, but I don’t think the way to do it is by excluding everyone who wears logos on their clothes from hiking. You need to get people to feel a connection to nature if they are going to vote to protect it, you can’t just keep it for your own little exclusive club. ( where I live, the north shore of Long Island has a lot of these mean spirited snobs when it comes to our beaches)
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat: That area of Maine needs tourists. Badly. Baxter State Park should be working on means to accommodate more hikers, rather than threatening to cut off access.
I totally get the idea of protecting the land, but this incident is ridiculous.
schrodinger's cat
@redshirt: Yeah, you are right. Does Millinocket still have the paper mill?
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat: I don’t think so. I think every mill is gone. You can buy a 4 bedroom house for like 35K there, as there is no one, pretty much, willing to move there. Why would you?
Ruckus
@SuperHrefna:
Every nice area seems to have rich people who think they own everything. They get really upset here in CA when they get told that they don’t own the access to the beach and can not stop people from using same. Been going on since long before I was a pup.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Failed humor on my part, while stating an actual position. See @schrodinger’s cat: comment above.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Got it. Should have gotten it right away.
gbear
I’m reading this post late on a Sunday night (I should be in bed now) and nobody’s going to see this comment, but I really loved this post. I realize that I like it in the same way that I liked the movie Lonesome Dove with Robert Duvall as a country singer on the skids. There’s not a lot of big drama in that movie, it just kind of rolls on until it gets to the point where the singer gets it back together, and then it finds the perfect place to stop. I’m glad to read a story where normal life happens in a good way. g’nite.
maeve
@Amir Khalid:
Yeah – here in Alaska we have Prince of Wales Island and Prince William Sound. Why is Ketchikan Alaska (the rainiest town in the US – not the rainiest place – that is in the middle of Kauii but there is no town there) on an island named Revillagigedo – no one can even pronounce it!
However as of today we no longer have a mountain named McKinley – it is Denali!
divF
@NotMax:
DC is (or used to be) a hybrid. In JFK’s words, a city of “southern efficiency and northern charm”. Now, not so much – the north won.
To see what DC was like in the pre Civil-Rights era you might want to look at Florence King’s “Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady” about growing up in DC and what are now the Virginia suburbs in the 40’s and 50’s. Ms. King is a split personality: a WFB right-wing nut, but not a hateful racist. Really funny, too.
Mike E
@redshirt: Baxter is now “Kill Whitey St Park”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike E: Finally.
RK
@gbear: I think you mean Tender Mercies not Lonesome Dove.
redshirt
@Mike E: Mt. Katahdin is now Mt. Trump’s Greatest Mountain
dww44
@gbear: Lonesome Dove? Duval was in that movie but I wouldn’t exactly say it didn’t have drama. Plus the period of Lonesome Dove was the 19th century West.
dww44
@dww44: Should have hit the refresh button before posting. Tender Mercies it was.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Well said. I agree completely.
Viperbuck
Altho I grew up in Brooke Co. WV I now reside in Dayton, OH – home of Mike Sells potato chips. Soon after moving here I got hooked on their Old Fashioned line for their simple perfection. And our native confectionary goddess Esther Price has a chocolate covered Mike Sells ripple chip that defies the descriptive power of mere language.
As far as the titular subject of this essay, a guy I dated when I first moved to town filled me in on some of the things said about us poor melanin-deprived folks when we were out of earshot. I found all of them hilarious and many really thought provoking.
Has Christion mentioned to you, Lily, Rosie, or Thurston that maybe one of yinze might smell like a wet dog?
TriassicSands
John, you need to read the research on hands-free — turns out you’re still a menace to that family of four you don’t want to kill. The problem is being on the phone, not having the phone in your hand. It’s called distracted driving.
People who want to be able to talk on the phone while driving continue to kid themselves that what they’re doing (hands-free) is safe — or at least safer than hand held.
sharl
@SiubhanDuinne: Alright, SD, this is a good elaboration. Thanks for posting it. I could have responded originally without jumping in on (what turned into) another group tackle of the absent ‘commenter T’. I’ve always avoided those up to now anyway, having never felt any urge to join in. It’s a slip-up I won’t repeat.
Have a good day (hopefully one unburdened by the after-effects of insomnia).
Lee
I know I’m late to this but I also had no idea about BBQ flavored potato chips.
gbear
@dww44: Gah. I was tired last night and really screwed that one up. I meant Tender Mercies. Wow.
Paul in KY
@schrodinger’s cat: He’s right about the anyplace for sex stuff…
Paul in KY
@Nutella: We wuz smarterer than them fancy-pants Marylanders, with their fancy-schmancy flag, an fancy ocean, grumble, grumble…
blackcain
re: flavored chips
That would have not have registered for me regarding BBQ. I would have been annoyed and said there are like fucking 50 different types of flavored chips.. which one?? Also, really BBQ? I thought it was the onion and sour cream that was the first.. Anyways, it’s all nasty.. just get some pita bread and bake it in the oven, yo.
bnmng
You know I heard that Black people like fried chicken and watermelon. I also heard they like ice cream. Oh, and fireworks, warm days at the beach, holidays, and comfortable shoes. Strange.