Author: Buffet o' Blog

Laughing is good for you. So this blog is a buffet of randomness and humor. Most of the content here is original and thus exclusive to this site. I encourage everyone to participate in the comments section -- it makes it more fun for everyone.

a chocolate countdown

Did you survive the shopping madness that is Black Friday? I did, so you get more ramblings. Speaking of that, since large TVs are rather affordable now, I was hoping for some great deals on groceries instead, but didn’t find anything really discounted. (I suppose that means I’m officially an adult now, if I’m thinking more about grocery prices than getting a bigger TV on Black Friday.)

Now we’re into the busiest time of the year, but I’ll still make time to share some funny pictures related to Christmas.

I see these every year for Advent / Christmas, but a chocolate-a-day countdown seems like it would be good for a number of other events. What do you think?

Is this a fail? Or genius? Or some points for making a good attempt? Some might say it’s tacky, but is it still better than no car decoration?
This was also listed as a Christmas decorating fail. Granted, monkey flinging poop isn’t exactly holiday-themed, but it is funny.
Again, this was listed as a fail. It’s not Christmas, but it’s neat. If there was a “Star Trek Saves Christmas” episode, it probably did fail by being really cheesy. Seems like a lot of older shows had episodes like that.
It’s log!!!

For the log reference:

Bonus reference: When Phineas and Ferb became toy designers, they created Perry The Inaction Figure, which doesn’t do much. That’s the genius of it, because it can be anything to a kid with an imagination. (Think of how a box of random Lego blocks can be anything, but now so many Legos are kits. You can still build other things with a kit, but people are more likely to build what is on the box. Likewise with other toys — a generic action figure can be anything. But I digress…) After their day of being toy designers, they moved on. The Har D Har Toy Company tried to design another product with a similar ethos, coming up with Brick, which reminded me of Log.

mind over math

I recently had a birthday, and some friends were suggesting I am getting old. That’s simply not true. Now, the calendar might suggest I’m getting older, and I am indeed older than I was, but I’m not old. I don’t feel as old as the calendar says. So it’s mind over math. 🙂

Besides, old age is at least 10 years older than I am. It’s a moving target. 🙂

But whatever on the number of my actual age. I like to remind people that studies show that people who have the most birthdays tend to live the longest.

finding the best fried chicken

Somebody recently used our (underutilized) “Contact Us” form to ask: “Where’s the best fried chicken?” I can answer this one.

This was at Monte Ne Inn. All they serve is fried chicken and sides. You get a table, and they bring the food out. There’s no ordering, except for a drink and then later cobbler with ice cream (which is also great). They bring all the food you want. Worth a visit if you’re ever in northwest Arkansas.

The best fried chicken is at my mom’s house. Unfortunately, her house is not open as a restaurant, so you don’t get to experience it. I can tell you about how she makes it, though. She buys the whole chicken, cuts it up, puts on a breading, and fries it. Then she uses the grease to make gravy (milk-based, Southern style) to go on biscuits and homemade mashed potatoes. This is one of the best meals possible. It’s time-consuming, but worth it.

Which restaurant has the best fried chicken? That’s hard to answer. I don’t often get fried chicken at restaurants anymore because it’s somewhat disappointing by comparison. I would recommend looking for some country-style kitchen where they cook everything from scratch. Find one that’s not a chain, where it’s older people working there, who cook for others because they like to. A place where the food is cooked to be delicious, rather than squeezing out more profits. A place where they use real butter. We have a few of these where I live, and the food is consistently good.

There are probably chain restaurants with good fried chicken. You could ask for suggestions from friends who have similar taste preferences. If you ask online, you’ll get answers that will include almost every restaurant*. Perhaps you should make this your own adventure quest: over the next few months, try different restaurants to see whose is the best. It’s a fun time. 🙂

I wish I had more answers on this. Ultimately, the best option is learning to cook it yourself. It’s more work that way, but it tastes better, and it saves you money, too.

* I saw this with an online discussion for the best pizza place in my town. It was funny for how absurd it was. People listed every single pizza place there is, including gas stations and the lowest-cost pizza places where the main emphasis is the low-cost. Someone mentioned a place that’s more famous for children’s games and parties, where the pizza is definitely not high quality. I don’t want to dis’ them by name, because they all have a role, if that’s what you’re looking for, and we all have our preferences. But to say they have the best pizza is absurd. I recommend asking friends who like the same restaurants as you.

What do you think about the idea of a food adventure quest where you find the best instance of a type of food in your city?

a holiday for losing weight

Obesity in America is a big problem, which needs a solution. Actually, we know the solution. Despite all the diet fads and bringing back the presidential fitness test and time-change chicanery, we know what the best answer is: eating less and exercising more. It’s that simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.

So what’s the problem with our solution here? We need people to know about this and then to do it. So if the government is serious about making a difference, here’s some ideas. (I’m not suggesting it’s the government’s business, but since they try to do something about it, it might as well be more effective. Well, we do need the FDA to protect us from harmful additives, but they shouldn’t legislate our health and fitness. But I digress…) Here’s the idea:

1) To bring awareness to the issue, create a national holiday (or even multiple days, like in the spring and fall). People can have a paid day off work IF they commit to getting physical exercise. There could be events setup to encourage people to do this together, like a 1-mile walk (but make it fun, perhaps without donuts for this one). This would help people get exercise, and hopefully they would realize it can be fun and help them feel better, so perhaps they will continue getting more exercise in the future. Various groups could schedule events on this day, like a free 10-minute introduction to pickleball or tennis or some other sport.

2) Provide a benefit for participating. Just getting a paid day off work is a huge benefit already, so there’s that. Perhaps some fitness-focused groups might want to setup some promotional benefits for people who participate in various exercise events. Maybe there could be a rebate from your health insurance for participating. (Some already do this for things like having a gym membership and going to the doctor for an annual physical checkup, so check your plan — they require you to fill out forms to get the rebate, but some do offer it.) The government could offer corporations a tax break for the day to encourage them to participate.

Do you have any more ideas?