From The McRib to Obama and Other Mid-Term Election Comments

I'll take two of these and a bag o' fries

Where do I begin?  Food or politics?  Let’s go food.

If I heard the news on the television correctly today – there will be fast food junkies around the country with a smile on their face.  McDonalds is going to be bringing back the McRib sandwich (nationwide) on November 2^nd – but for a limited time only. 

The McRib sandwich is not a true rib sandwich.  It’s some ground up pork concoction that they shape to resemble pork ribs – it’s fried and smothered in barbeque sauce with onions and pickles and will set you back 500 calories per sandwich.  Each McRib also has 26 grams of fat (10 saturated) and a whopping 980 mg of sodium – it’s not exactly the sandwich for those watching their weight or concerned about eating healthy.  Despite all of that – the McRib is damn tasty! 

I know that the day that McDonalds posts that the McRib is back on their marquee sign – I’m going to be one of the first through the drive-thru line ordering me a couple of these bad boys and I’ll add a side of fries to the order just to help in the destruction of my arteries enjoying food that I shouldn’t be eating.

And speaking of ribs and fast food – has anyone noticed that the ribs that Burger King was selling earlier this year and disappeared off of their menu?  These little rib bites were the real thing – with a bone and all – unlike McDonald’s McRib offering.  The Burger King rib bites were tasty, but they didn’t drench them in sauce – you had to dip them in a little barbeque sauce container (similar to the dipping containers for ranch dressing and honey mustard that you get at other restaurants).  I’m one of those rib connoisseurs that wants their ribs drenched in barbeque sauce – you dip fries in sauce not ribs – so that was one of my complaints about the Burger King rib bites….along with the price.  The rib bites weren’t cheap and if you’re going to pay a premium price for ribs – you don’t go to Burger King to get them.

I will give a tip of my cap to Burger King for my favorite burger at the moment…the Burger King A-1 XT – one of the more filling burgers on the fast food menus today.  If you’re hungry and you want to feel like you actually ate something after ordering from a fast food restaurant – then The Burger King A-1 XT with A1 steak sauce is for you. 

Let’s talk a little politics – can the mid-term elections come any quicker?  I don’t know how you feel – but I have had enough of the political ads on television and news stories about Christine O’Donnell.  I’m not excited about having to go into the voting booth in a couple of weeks and vote for either of the yahoos running for Governor in Michigan because both of them suck (although I will say that republican Rick Snyder has one of those most irritating voices in politics). 

I mentioned on my Facebook status recently that Delaware Republican candidate for US Senate Christine O’Donnell’s looks reminded me of someone.  It too me a while to figure out who she reminded me of – but then it hit me – Christine O’Donnell looks like Sarah Palin’s favorite mainstream media newscaster, Katie Couric.  Take a good look at her tonight on the news and see if you don’t agree with me. 

One of the other races that I’m watching closely is the attorney general race in Michigan between Republican Bill Schuette and Democrat David Leyton.  One of the reasons that I’m interested in this race is because David Leyton use to be my boss when he owned WTAC in Flint and was the first person ever to “let me go” because of budget cuts and a change in format at the station.  I saw David about five years ago at a restaurant where I was having dinner with my family and Leyton looked like he didn’t know who in the hell I was (and I’m not an easy person to forget).  I found it all kind of humorous, because I was one of the first people that he hired when he bought WTAC and I had worked with him in the past when he use to fill in for Dave Barber when he went on vacation.  Do I want Leyton to win?   Yeah – only because Bill Schuette is a dick and he and the Michigan Republican Party are running one of the dirtiest campaigns that I have ever seen in Michigan. 

And – here’s a piece of news that surprised me.  The web site “The Wrap” is reporting that President Obama will be a guest on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart on October 27^th (which is three days before Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert’s big rally in Washington, D.C.).  I know that Stewart will be respectful of the President – but I also know that he isn’t shy to ask some tough questions to that man won the country over on a platform of hope and change – only to see that there’s been very little of either since he has taken office.  

It's My Buddy's Birthday!!!!

A much younger Van VanDeWalker and Rich Frost

Happy birthday, Van VanDeWalker!

Yup, my old buddy Van (who works for Animal Control in Macon, Georgia) is turning fifty-six today (which is something like three-hundred and ninety-two dog years, but who’s counting?). Van is probably going to be bombarded with birthday wishes from friends and family all day and who knows how many more people in the Macon area, that he has met in his day-to-day journeys with his famous dog, A.C. Pup, will shower him with even more love and birthday wishes. But, you wanna know something? If there’s anyone anywhere worthy of that love and attention – it’s Van VanDeWalker – who like me is proud is proud to say that he’s “from Flint, Michigan, damn it!!!”

What kind of guy is Van VanDeWalker? Well, let me put it to you this way – Van and I met each other some twenty-five plus years ago at WTAC Radio in Flint. We were both hired to work there when former newsman (now Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney) David Leyton purchased the station and switched the station’s format from country to talk. I arrived at the station at around 5:30 in the morning to find VanDeWalker already there preparing for his first newscast. After he introduced himself to me, Van asked me if I would like a cup of coffee from the pot that he just brewed up in the station’s mini-kitchen. When I told Van that I can’t drink caffeinated coffee (because of what it does to my blood pressure) and that I only drank decaf, he went on to compare decaffeinated coffee to female genitilia and it was then and there that I realized that Van and I were going to be friends forever.

Van and I have gone through a whole lot in the last twenty-five plus years. We have probably shared more good moments than we have bad and despite the fact that some eight hundred and eighty-one miles separate us -- our friendship continues to grow – thanks in a large part to the Internet. Both his wife, Traci and my girlfriend, Marty think that we are both a little nuts because we love to play Scrabble and have played it online for nearly nine years – talking trash with each other on the audio chat on Yahoo Instant Messenger as we play. And I will admit that Van is the better Scrabble player – and although I may bitch that I’m a lousy at the game – I wouldn’t mind losing every game, because it gives me a chance to be able to bond over the Internet with my buddy, Van.

Although we have never talked about it – I think that Van and I are a lot alike. If we could wave a magic wand – we would both be sharing our lives with the people that we love today but living in the town that we love and remember (Flint, Michigan), but know deep in our heart that our old hometown will never be like we remember it. And, it’s kind of frustrating that we can’t show our love ones just how great it was to live in Flint – because that city doesn’t exist anymore -- but Van and I remember and every so often it helps the both of us to keep that Flint connection going – because we’re from Flint, damn it! We feel more comfortable with a couple of coneys and a side of fries with gravy on it from Angelos than we would if we had to dine in some fancy four star restaurants.

Van and I both came from neighborhoods where people cared for each other and they watched each other’s back. We lived in neighborhoods where you knew everyone on your street and the street behind you – and if someone needed a hand – you extended yours and you helped them no questions ask. I’m sure that a lot of what Van experienced from living in the kind of neighborhoods in Flint that he lived in, has made him a better person and an even better animal control officer in Macon, Georgia.

You can’t deny it, Van….today is your birthday….and you’re from Flint, damn it! I wish I could be with your personally to celebrate your birthday and I hope you accept my virtual birthday gift of a basket filled with Koegel hot dogs, a week’s worth of Halo Burgers with olives with an endless stream of Vernor’s Crème Ales, a couple of Big John Steak and Onion barbeque steak and onion subs, and some Ya Ya chicken. And, I if you look deep in the virtual birthday gift box – there’s also all the Flint Journals that you have missed reading since you moved to Georgia and, although it’s not from Flint, I threw in a couple of can cases of Tim Horton coffee – only to satisfy your “Hockey Night In Canada” lovin’ taste buds.

Happy birthday, Van!!!