A truck pulled into my refuge west of Tucson yesterday and a man got out and proceeded to deliver one of the better sales pitches I'd heard in a while. It would have had me reaching for my wallet if he hadn't been selling steaks and seafood.
Not that Larry Whiston's steak and seafood isn't top notch. Most of the reviews of the meat from his employer, Showcase Meats, are quite good, and the prices seem fair. Alas, this family eats almost no meat, and when I told that to Whiston I could see his heart sink. It was all I could do to hold up the two halves of an acorn squash I was preparing for dinner, as if to say, "No, really, I am a vegetarian. I am not brushing you off like the 57 people before me. My excuse is valid! Believe me!!"
So I told Whiston that I'd let people know they could have meat delivered to their doorstep. This seemed to lighten his mood a little. He said he delivers pork, chicken, seafood and steaks, and that his prices are lower than the supermarket's. He also said the business has a top rating from the Better Business Bureau. His cell phone is 870-1863, and if you call him he'll rush over in his little meat truck.
The life of a door to door meat salesman has got to be a rough one. Here's to you Whiston!
Tags: door-to-door meat sales , showcase meats , Larry Whiston
Probably surprising to no one, the person who managed to eat a "10 piece bacon plate, 6 sausage rounds, 6 eggs, 2 texas toast, 4 pancakes, and homefries (4 potatoes worth)" in under a hour was Tucson eating legend Cardboard Shell. Yeah, and she did it in nineteen minutes according to Bacon and Craeggs' Facebook page. Way to go, Michelle. I don't know how you do it, but somehow it's going to apparently take chorizo to stop you from defeating every food challenge concocted in this town.
Tags: bacon and craeggs , tucson food challenges , cardboard shell , michelle lesko
As part of a collaborative project between the Arizona Historical Society and the Pima County Public Library, Tucsonans who lived in Barrio El Hoyo, Barrio Viejo, Barrio Anita, the Dunbar/Spring and South Tucson areas before the "urban renewal" projects of 1960s, are invited to assist in the selection of historic photos of the barrios for a Centennial Photo Exhibit.
Grab Mom or Abuelita and head over to the Santa Rosa Library, 1075 S. 10th Ave., Saturday Dec. 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tags: Arizona Historical Society , Pima County Public Library , Barrio El Hoyo , Barrio Viejo , Barrio Anita , the Dunbar/Spring , South Tucson , Centennial Photo Exhibit , Santa Rosa Library
While this is only available for Google Maps on Android for now, the mapping of indoor spaces makes a lot of sense. I know how to get to the mall, but I often forget which level the Cinnabon is on. Not the Cinnabon by the food court; the employees there are stingy with the icing. The other Cinnabon, over by the Limited.*
More seriously, however, the demo video shows a map of an IKEA. That's actually helpful, since those places are more difficult to navigate than a corn maze. Go in for a box of cheap highball glasses and all of a sudden you're lying down on a demo couch trying to re-discover your will to live.
* I don't know if this actually applies to any mall in town. I just always like to know where the nearest Cinnabon is.
Tags: google maps , jokes about cinnabons , google maps indoors , ikeas are confusing , Video
GQ's year-end "Least Influential People Alive" list by Deadspin contributor Drew Magary is an entertaining read, especially for the brutal takedown of MSNBC's Ed Schultz: "Hannity is a piece of shit, but at least he can get your average 85-year-old, gay-hating, gold-hoarding grandma to tune in. Then there are pundits like Schultz." However, it might surprise some people who earned to top spot as least influential, ahead of Tiger Woods' former caddy and failed-rapture-predictor Harold Camping. Congrats/condolences to America's most prominent undercover Muslim, Barack Obama:
Okay, so we're cheating a bit with this one. He did order the raid that wiped Osama bin Laden off the face of the earth. But then he used that surplus of political capital to let everyone in Washington stick a boot in his ass. This is a man who should be the most transformational figure of the century. Hell, he promised to be that. Instead he wields all the power of a substitute teacher at night school.
I thought for sure the lawyer who couldn't get a conviction for Casey Anthony might have earned the top spot, but at least GQ's choice should please some of the cranks in our comment section.
Tags: GQ , drew magary , barack obama , harold camping , ed schultz , steve williams , least influential people
If you're OK with feeling wildly infuriated by something you read today, check out Wired's story about how a defense contractor defamed a war hero for disagreeing with their policy of selling sniper equipment to Pakistan:
Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer is perhaps this country’s best-recognized war hero, a man who risked his life over and over again to save his buddies from a Taliban ambush. That’s why he’s the only living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest award for valor — for his actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. It’s undoubtedly one reason why the defense giant BAE Systems hired Meyer after he left the Corps.Then, BAE considered selling high-tech sniper rifle scopes to the Pakistani military. Meyer objected, given Islamabad’s um, unambiguous relationship with the terrorists and militants based in Pakistan. Then he quit. Suddenly, Meyer’s former bosses at BAE started calling the war hero “mentally unstable” and a drunk.
[...]
When BAE didn’t heed him, Meyer decided to take a job with his old defense firm, Ausgar Technologies. But Meyer didn’t get the job. His supervisor at BAE, Bobby McCreight, allegedly e-mailed a Defense Department acquisition official to say Meyer was clearly traumatized from combat, “had a problem related to drinking in a social setting,” and even mocked Meyer’s forthcoming Medal of Honor award as his “pending star status.” The suit says an Ausgar official informed Meyer that he wouldn’t be rehired, thanks to the Defense Department official’s decision to pass McCreight’s assessment on to Ausgar.
Tags: bae systems , dakota meyer , defense contractors , Bobby McCreight , bad people doing bad things
Dear Gov. Perry,
I think we've both realized that you won't be president at this point, but could you please stick around for another month or so?
XOXO,
Dan Gibson
Falling in the polls, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry can’t afford to discount all voters between 18 and 21 years old. But that’s what he seemed to do in a speech today at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.At the end of his stump speech at a town hall meeting, Perry said, “Those of you that will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won’t be, work hard.”
The legal voting age is 18, not 21. The date of the 2012 general election is Nov. 6.
Tags: old 97's , rick perry , 2012 presidential race , 2012 election , Video
There's a new restaurant called Thai China Bistro where Buck and Lil's BBQ used to be at 5121 E. Grant Road. Check out the menu, which includes boba tea and a short selection of sushi rolls, over here.
Tags: thai china bistro , boba tea , sushi
According to an announcement from Occupy Tucson, Asshat is planing to make a downtown comeback beginning tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the sidewalk facing Veinte de Agosto Park and no, the name of his forum has nothing to do with us. Asshat's been hanging out at the occupy, even participating in the occasional general assembly. Since the Occupy movement is all about democracy in action — the beautiful and the ugly, well here he comes:
(Asshat) will begin his Tucson Weekly Public Forum once again on Wednesday, November 30th at 2pm, on the sidewalk facing Veinte de Agosto Park, to allow Tucson citizens and occupiers alike to voice their concerns regarding First Amendment issues, occupation, the exploitation of America's and Mexico's poor, etc. The public will have access to a loudspeaker to make sure their voices are heard.A few years ago, (Asshat) had this same forum in front of the main library. But back then, he had a weapon at his side and would have yellow caution tape around a small perimeter where he would speak from within, along with his usual warning of blowing any one's f-ing head off, if they came inside his perimeter.
Within a few minutes, his forum would become a circus as onlookers would begin firing back with comments, and then (Asshat) would start arguing with the local high school kids on the immigration issue.
Don't know what to expect, so expect the unexpected, but it might be interesting to see if you have the time.
Tags: Asshat , Occupy Tucson , alan ward
Lori Klein, an Arizona state Senator and Cain's Arizona state chairman, told CBS News she stands by Cain.She says she has known him for 12 years and he's "never been anything but a gentlemen—and I am not an unattractive woman."
Klein suggested that if Cain is innocent he should sue White for libel and went on to attack the media for digging up the allegations. She also said that in politics, "we want a virgin to do a hooker's job."
Tags: Herman Cain , adultery , affair , Lori Klein , If He Didn't Hit on Me , attractive women , arizona news , tucson news