Lowrider or Muscle Car?

I just finished installing the lowering springs for the GTO last
night. After my front disc brake project, the stance in the front was
considerably lower. So, I ordered some rear lowering springs online.
They took forever to get here, but I wasn't in a rush; and I bought
from the cheapest website I could find. Well, I have mixed feelings on
the result. Even before I lowered the front, the back was always a bit
on the high side. Now, the frame is about level, but it looks strange
to me. I guess I just need time to get used to it. Also, the bigger
point is that I haven't driven it yet. One of the rear shocks was
severely worn-out. I have a feeling that I am in for a nice handling
change.

25-degrees

So, I am something of a food fan. Not your fine dining, wine and
cheese type-dining. I'm talking about promotional fast food and greasy
spoons. More along the lines of Man v Food than anything else. I had
previously done a series on Promotional Fast Food of the Week. But, I
am actually trying to eat a little healthier. I still indulge in the
weekly cheesesteak, cheeseburger, hot wings, or pizza, etc.

Some guys at work had recommended a place in downtown Huntington
Beach. 25-degrees. There were rave reviews about the burgers and onion
rings at this place. So, I checked it out with the wife on a Date
Night last weekend. We walked into a casual and dark bar; this place
wasn't even a restaurant, so-to-speak. I was going through their beer
list and nothing noteworthy was staring back at me. I did see Guiness
at the bottom, but it was a Guiness milkshake. WTF?! I had to order
it. It was way too interesting to pass up. And yet I'm NOT a milkshake
guy, I don't even eat ice cream that often or really at all. It turned
out to be pretty good. A lot of chocolate, but a Guiness flavor mixed
in there pretty naturally. I ate the whole thing.

Then came the burger. They had a number of cheeses and toppings to
create your own, but I went with their #3. It was a green chili,
chipotle, jack, and I added jalapeno bacon. I noticed too late that
there was a hatch green chili option. This place was focused on the
cheese. It described the type, flavor, origin of each cheese. For
example, fumunda: white, mild & smoky, cow. They take cheese very
serious. It kinda scared me.

It was a great burger. I got mine medium and it came extra juicy, but
not a rare kind of juicy. Perfect. The bun was this huge
kaiser-looking roll, that was actually not bready, but mostly air. It
helped make the burger. The only thing I would change is the
"chipotle". It was a mayo-ish sauce; tasty but not something that I
have to get again. I will experiment with a different sauce next time.

The onion rings looked homemade. Nothing too special. A little on the
"thin" side. They turned out to be really good, too. I'm not an onion
ring guy to begin with. Probably because I don't like thick onions.
These babies were some of the thinnest onions used in 'rings I've ever
seen. Pretty much the perfect onion ring for me.

So, while this place was a bit on the high-end scale as far as my
usual dining goes, I'm looking forward to the next visit. It just
happened to be that eveything was my style and suited my tastes.
That's why this post is so long. I loved eating at this place.

Kings over Cup Chumps

I usually get so excited about some events, that the actual event
itself couldn't possibly live up to my nervous anticipation. Not this
time. Saw a great game last night, as the Kings played a tight game
against the Penguins through two periods. It started-off with a bang,
and Kopitar scored in the first minute of play. Seconds later, Staal
scores on a long slapper at the circles. My first thoughts were,
"Damn, it might be a long night for Johnny Quick." End on the second
had Pittsburgh up 2-1. Quick had some absolute highlight reel saves. A
couple powerplay chances were cross-crease passes that he made killer
splits, toe saves on. There were some really annoying drunk guys
sitting behind me. You know the type, the loudest guy in the arena and
his 3 buddies. Trying to start all the cheers and yelling "SHOOT!" too
much on the powerplay. It was getting on my nerves, as the Kings were
down and the Penguin fans were pretty satisfied with themselves.

Third period saw 4 unanswered goals. Kings win 5-2. They had not even
announced the go-ahead goal, and the Kings scored another one seconds
later. Brown had a sick powerplay goal to seal it. The drunk guys
didn't bother me once the Kings tied it. In fact, they were climbing
all over me and Channer. Though, I think I tweaked my lower back with
this 200 pound dude draper all over me, when they fired a t-shirt
right at us. Damn, I had that thing in my hands. If I played
basketball, it would have been an easy rebound to pull down. The drunk
guys did come in handy as the Penguin "fans" started exiting the
building early, and we said goodbye to them as an entire section.

I wasn't paying attention to anything on my way home and nearly ran
out of gas. The range computer thingy said 1 mile left. Well, I figure
it was my night as I made it to the gas station and got home without
any unnecessary walking or a gas can.

Kings vs Penguins

It will be the stiffest test facing the Kings this year. The Stanley
Cup Champs are coming into LA tomorrow night. The best part of this,
beside the fact that the Kings are playing well, is that I have plans
to see it live. Currently trying to locate tickets for the game. Well,
not me, but my old college roommate Ryan. I'm pretty amped about going
to the game and seeing an old friend. Win-win.

Another Kings note. I was following the blog of one of the Kings
trainers. Joe was a NFL trainer for the Patriots, before coming to the
Kings. He gave an amazing level of insight into the Kings organization
as well as what goes on behind the scenes, on the bench, in the
training room. But his website had issues last week, and I hadn't read
anything from him since. Apparently, he was fired by the Kings. Weird.
Confusing. Disappointing. I hope it wasn't from what he blogged. But I
have to think it was.

Scary Movie

It was a movie watching weekend for me. I love horror films, but don't
go out of my way to watch them nearly enough. This weekend featured
plenty, since it was Halloween. I caught the newer versions of The
Hills Have Eyes and Amityville Horror. Both were enough to keep me
from falling asleep, but not enough for a recommended must see. I
think that monster movies are more my thing. But is it that much
harder to make an original horror movie? I don't entirely understand
the re-makes.

I also saw the newer, animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. My
daughter was captivated by this one and repeatedly asked the names of
each turtle; as she tried to determine her favorite one. The purple
one because he wore purple. Then the yellow one, since he was funny
and said "dude" a lot. But she was most drawn in by the conflict
between brothers; and when Raphael and Leonardo had a rooftop duel, it
was very troubling to her. She has her share of fights with her
brother, but sword play seemed to cross the line. "But Dad, they are
BROTHERS!" she said. This made my weekend. Because if I teach my kids
nothing else but to honor their family, I think I've done alright.