I would like to send my condolences to Mike in this, his time of illness. If anyone knows how to make him feel better, post now or forever hold your peace.

thanks to the delightful and open perspective that mike has on all things that is media, he has not-so wisely allowed me to post a book review on wwsg. Warning: stop reading right now if you don't like to read, don't like to read that will make you think (and cry), or don't like to read books that amytai reads (although this will eliminate about 1/3 of all current fiction marketed in the US)
on to the review!
"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult is a heart-wrenching saga of a family's struggle to save lives. Anna, the protagonist, is a 13 year old girl fighting for her voice, her emanicipation from that which has shackled her since her conception: her responsibility as her sister’s sole source of bone marrow and organ donation and medical aid. How do you live when your whole life's purpose is based on providing spare parts to another human being?
It reaches into the soul of ethical dilemmas that have just reached the forefronts of medicine with the dawning of the genomic age.
Autonomy, fidelity, veracity, benefieciance, non-malfeasance: in that order. That's the order we're suppose to determine treatment and care for patients right? But in real life, things aren't like the black and white of the words on the screen. In real life, there's a family and others involved. When you give a kidney, it's not just saving your sister's body, it's saving your mother from eternal grief, it's saving your brother from a downward spiral into sociopathy, it's saving your family. So when does a 13 year old girl get to grow up?
Trick question, she never got to be a kid.

Hey WWSG.com'ers whats up? Just thought I'd let you know about some of the great stuff our little site has to offer...First and foremost be sure to take my Road Trip Compatibility Test to see if you have what it takes to drive cross country with me! Then be sure to check out the new Bios on all your favorite WWSG personalities. Plus, don't forget about the changed once a week Song Of The Day feature...all your old favorites are still there too, just check out past songs of the day.
If your not the reading type, then go to the pictures section and take a gander at recent pics from The Warped Tour, Barenaked Ladies/Alanis Morissette concert, The Weekend of Insanity, and many more. And finally, be on the lookout for the official WWSG do it yourself Movie Blender, with the brand spankin new Blendomatic 4000...The future is now!

So I got so excited today about Justin going xcountry, I thought back to my trip, and that delicious salsa that I had at the orehouse restaurant in Santa Fe. So I called the restaurant up. See, this place had been promising to can and ship their salsa for years, but never actually gave consumers a mechanism. Here was my conversation:

"Hi, is this the Restaurant Manager Diana? Hi Diana, my name is RJ Hagerman. I drove cross country two years ago and ate at your restaurant. I'll be honest, your salsa is the greatest salsa I have ever known."

"Wow, thanks, we really appreciate your feedback."

"Anyway, I really want to buy some salsa, because a friend of mine is driving cross country, and I started getting nostalgic, and so I need some."

"Well RJ, it turns out that when we went to bottle the salsa, it ruined the integrity of the ingredients."

"But Diana, what if you just put it in dry ice and shipped it."

"The dry ice experiment was a horrible debacle."

"Diana, I need your salsa, I NEED it. I WOULD PAY YOU 25 DOLLARS for 2 BOTTLES OVERNIGHT! I DON'T CARE IF IT SPOILS!"

"Well, I'll see what the cook thinks..."


Clearly, I was at about 2.74 sticks, and lovin it.

So some of you may have heard either mike or me discusing "how many sticks of butter" we're experiencing. For those of you who would like to participate in this higher brain activity, allow me to explain the scale and its origin.

The scale is from 0 sticks to 4 (think of a pound of butter from the grocer). Each stick is made up of 8 tablespoons. You can add either tablespoons or the equivalent in decimal (1.5 sticks is equal to one stick, four tablespoons).

The degree of emotional intensity (or insanity) is ranked on the butter scale. To give some perspective, a good day of work means my stick count might only get as high as .6 sticks (most people probably about .3), whereas a 3 stick count or above means you're dealing with some serious issues (when I hit three sticks, which is rare, I'm usually speaking in tongues).

By the time you hit 3.75 sticks of butter, chances are very good that you're going to end up sleeping that night in either jail or an asylum. 4 sticks is reserved for those who take a rifle to the top of a clocktower.


THE BUTTER SCALE IS BORN:
The origin of such a brilliant scale lies in my own personal eccenticities. One morning, late for work, I started feeling sort of crazy. Crazy in a way that you sort of start yipping like a dog and spewing out crazy talk.

So here I am, in my car in the parking lot, contemplating the lack of parking spaces within 10 miles of my front entrance, when I decided to call Mike (who was already at work) to discuss my situation.

When contractor Mattozzi picked up the phone, I informed him of my current activity: "MIKE, I'M DOING DONUTS IN THE PARKING LOT! I DON'T KNOW WHY!!!" Mike sounded cautious, perhaps concerned, waiting for me to provide more detail. And that's when it happened.

The words poured from my mouth like a stream from a mountain spring: "I am a stick of butter."

I don't know why I said it. It just sounded like the right thing at the right time. That was how I felt, like a stick of butter. And when it came out, it sounded so deliciously perfect to me, I couldn't stop laughing... Mike listened to me for, I would estimate, 2 full minutes as I laughed maniacally and shouted various things about butter.

After a couple of minutes, I had to hang up with my fellow wage slave because I couldn't stop laughing. Then I found a parking spot. But more important that the parking spot, the butter scale was born.

Let me just say that I saw a commercial during the redskins game that was a repeat from last season. Now, I'm OK with the idea that you want to reuse commercials, that's cool. But opening weekend? What the hell?! This is second to the playoff weekends, so it's time to bring out the new. Bad on Fox for not telling the NFL to shove it with their commercials.

Jude Law is appearing in 6 movies this fall! 100 WWSG bonus points go to whoever sees them all.

Checklist:

Aviator, The - 12/17
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - 12/17
Closer - 12/3
Alfie - 10/22
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - 9/17
I Heart Huckabees - 10/15

G. W. Bush and John Kerry somehow ended up at the same barbershop.
As they sat there, each being worked on by a different barber, not a word
was spoken. The barbers were even afraid to start a conversation, for fear
it would turn to politics.
As the barbers finished their shaves, the one who had Bush in his chair
reached for the aftershave.
Bush was quick to stop him saying, "No thanks, my wife Laura will smell
that and think I've been in a whorehouse,"

The second barber turned to Kerry and said, "How about you?"
Kerry replied, "Go ahead, my wife doesn't know what the inside of a
whorehouse smells like."

So in there last issue, Maxim magazine named their top ten crazy sandwiches across the US, with #1 being a concotion from New Jersey named the Fat Darrell. They began talking about the Fat Darrell on the Y100 morning show, and as I listened I became more and more intrigued. The Fat Darrell contains the following:Chicken fingers, mozzerella sticks, fries, and mozzerella cheese all baked together on a hoagie roll and served from grease trucks at Rutgers New Brunswick.
As the show progresses, someone calls in and says a place in Northeast Philadelphia, Little Nickys, has these fat sandwiches.
The next day Nicky himself comes to the Y100 studio to prepare...THE FAT BITCH. The Fat Bitch makes the Fat Darrell sound like a nice healthy salad. The Fat Bitch is a cheesesteak with mozzerella sticks, chicken fingers, onion rings, and fries all baked together with mozzerella cheese on a hoagie roll. I am sold, I must try one of these fatwiches.
So Connie, Joe, Amy, and I ventured to Little Nickys to try one. Con and Joe split one FB, Amy had a Skinny Bitch (no steak meat or chicken fingers) and I have an FB all to myself.
This thing is good. First off, things aren't leaking out the side...Everything is packed tightly into the crunchy roll and there isnt too much of everything...Perhaps one of everything but the fries, which there were more of. Each bite is a different flavor on top of another one, a new taste, but never overwhelming each other. The Chicken Finger aided the Steak instead of just tasting like a thrown together monstrosity. You haven't lived until you've clogged an artery with one of these things.
Now on the same morning show, the talk of sandwiches continued (If I don't stop listening I'm going to turn obese within 6 months) and someone mentioned the Schmitter. The Schmitter is a special sandwich served at Phillies games, named after the great Michael Jack Schmidt. So tonight I happened to go to a Phillies game (they lost to the Braves 7-2) so I decided to take one on.
The Schmitter is has Steak meat (not diced like on the Fat Bitch, whole slices), Fried Salami, Fried Onions, 2 alternating layers of American Cheese, tomato (which I had taken off when I ordered), and a "Secret Sauce", all on a kaiser roll. I must say, another winner here, as the drippy secret sauce was coated on there just enough to taste with every bite without overtaking the mixed taste of the two meats. The thing that did it for me here though was the melty cheese popping out the sides...If you want to live past 50, don't eat more than one of these things a year.
Next time I try a wacky sandwich, I'll try to find one without Cheesesteak on it to change it up a bit. But I did notice while at the game...Cracker Jacks are just Honey Smacks cereal. Haven't had Honey Smacks in years...good stuff.

Scrubs - Season Premiere: Scrubs delivered a very funny premiere without too much of its usual sap... not that Scrub's sap isn't acceptable, but you don't want anything too heavy for a season premiere. The new dynamic of Carla and Turk being married worked for me, as did the aftermath of the JD-Elliot breakup. Also, the scooters were hilarious. It's good to see Scrubs pulling in another big name guest star in Heather Graham but of course that increases worries that this is the last blast before the cancellation of this wonderful show. So get off your ass people, watch this great show, enjoy it while it lasts! Or more accurately, get on your ass...

Father of the Pride - Series Premiere: Aaahg the horror. What do you get when you mix Shrek with Sex and the City? The sexually confusing kids(?) cartoon Father of the Pride. This show has it all: a lion struggling to find time to bang his wife, Roy being sexually assaulted by a line of pheremone-crazed zoo creatures, a panda trying to score with a lioness, and the latent homosexuality of Siegfried and Roy who also spend time trying to "observe the mating ritual" of two pandas. Sexual humor and cartoons has had hilarious results in the Simpsons, Family Guy, and Futurama, but there was something about Father of the Pride that was downright disturbing and unfunny. Oh yeah, if you're going to put a bunch of sexual humor into something that looks like the latest disney flic, you better damn well MAKE IT FUNNY...!