Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I saw Solo this morning! It was great. Alden Ehrenreich pulled off an excellent Han Solo, and all the other actors alongside him were also excellent (we're looking at you, Woody Harrelson [as Tobias Beckett] and whoever played Qi'ra): there wasn't any character or poor performance that made me think "Wow, that character is annoying/completely unnecessary." The storyline was compelling, and it was full of surprises. Lawrence Kasdan's screenwriting awesomeness has not dulled overtime! In fact, Solo is so good that I'm on the fence as to whether it or Rogue One is better (and I loved Rogue One). I guess you learn something new about yourself every day: I learned that my liking of Han Solo wasn't 100% Harrison Ford (although it partially is). I'll give a rundown (spoiler-free) of what happens, but you can stop reading now if you want to see it without knowing anything about it. Solo follows Han's adventures before he ever meets Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Luke Skywalker (and finishes off with room for a sequel), cataloguing a young Han, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian and his closest companion (the droid L3-37, who's got attitude), Han's friend-maybe-more-than-a-friend from his home planet of Corellia, Qi'ra, and Tobias Beckett, on a mission to obtain valuable coaxium. A definite must-see!
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Angels vs Yankees (today at 4:15!) - and Solo
I don't follow baseball, but my money is on the Yankees. But if I followed baseball, I'd support the Angels, even if I thought they wouldn't win. I don't even know which team has a better record, honestly, so I guess I'm just rambling on now. There are a bunch of other games today, too. The Cubs vs some team or other, and the Indians vs the whatever-their-name-is. If you like watching baseball, this is a great day to do it. Me, though, I like watching Star Wars better. I saw Solo this morning. I'll post my thoughts in the next post!
Weird Weather
What is up with the weather over the past week or so in SoCal? It's crazy cold for May! I mean, I actually smelled somebody having a fire in their fireplace the other day (and on most Memorial Day weekends, you're way more likely to smell a barbecue). Well, I guess most people from colder climates would find it even weirder that it usually gets so hot over the summer here. I kind of like this weather, though (it is interesting, given that it's May).
Friday, May 25, 2018
On My Previous Post
My previous post shows the time (in the Pacific Time Zone, uses Daylight Savings). I hope you appreciate it.
This and my previous post are part of my new blog series answering some of the most frequently asked questions on Google.
This and my previous post are part of my new blog series answering some of the most frequently asked questions on Google.
What is My IP? How to Learn Your IP Address: All You Need is Google
Fun fact: If you'd like to know your IP address, just searching "what is my ip" or "what is my IP address" on Google will make it show up at the top of your search results. I'm not sure if it's completely accurate, but it's probably close! And just in case you don't know, an IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique combination of numbers that signifies your location (Wikipedia) on the Internet, and that's how computers get messages to the right place.
This is the first post in a new series of posts answering some of the most commonly searched questions on Google.
This is the first post in a new series of posts answering some of the most commonly searched questions on Google.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Yanny or Laurel
Okay, so there's this audio recording where some people hear. the word "laurel" and other people hear "yanny." My mom and my little brother hear "laurel," but my dad, my older brother, and me hear "yanny." How crazy is that? #yannyorlaurel #whichdoyouhear #mindblown
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Great Restaurants with Vegan Options in SoCal
This is different from my best vegan restaurants list in that this one focuses on Southern California and doesn't include all-vegan restaurants: it only features places with vegan options. All right, here's my list:
MOD Pizza
Nice place to stop by for vegans and non-vegans. It's basically a Pieology (no fee for toppings and they make it quickly) that offers vegan cheese (on request, though - they keep it in a different place, so you have to ask). Try the marionberry lemonade. It's sugary (so maybe half it with water), but it's really good and it seems that they only have it at MOD.
Tacos Cancun
This place is down in Huntington Beach, and it's honestly way overpriced. However, it makes this list for a few reasons: it offers fried ice cream (with cinnamon-y fried tortilla) and horchata (an excellent traditional Mexican drink derived from rice), and they do offer vegan chicken on their nachos (but I think it's extra money).
The Donuttery
OK, not exactly a restaurant, but the Donuttery (also in Huntington Beach) offers several different flavors of vegan donuts. Notice: the vegan apple fritters are extra money and don't come in the dozen, but they are definitely worth it. Also, the Donuttery has great cake donuts with chocolate frosting and peanuts, blueberry, and seasonal pumpkin donuts (they're great).
MOD Pizza
Nice place to stop by for vegans and non-vegans. It's basically a Pieology (no fee for toppings and they make it quickly) that offers vegan cheese (on request, though - they keep it in a different place, so you have to ask). Try the marionberry lemonade. It's sugary (so maybe half it with water), but it's really good and it seems that they only have it at MOD.
Tacos Cancun
This place is down in Huntington Beach, and it's honestly way overpriced. However, it makes this list for a few reasons: it offers fried ice cream (with cinnamon-y fried tortilla) and horchata (an excellent traditional Mexican drink derived from rice), and they do offer vegan chicken on their nachos (but I think it's extra money).
The Donuttery
OK, not exactly a restaurant, but the Donuttery (also in Huntington Beach) offers several different flavors of vegan donuts. Notice: the vegan apple fritters are extra money and don't come in the dozen, but they are definitely worth it. Also, the Donuttery has great cake donuts with chocolate frosting and peanuts, blueberry, and seasonal pumpkin donuts (they're great).
The Best Vegan Restaurants in the U.S.
Next Level Burger
This is a small chain found across the West Coast (mostly in Oregon and Washington, though, there's only 1 in California), and in Brooklyn, that is pretty much a McDonalds for vegans. They've got burgers, fries, and milkshakes (try the PB cup one, it's amazing). I just wish I lived near one...
Cornbread Cafe
This joint is not a chain - it's only in Eugene, Oregon - but it's more than worth a stop if you're driving up the West Coast! It serves Southern comfort food (in Oregon? Who knew?) like mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread (naturally). Also, they've got a signature sandwich, titled "The Eugenewich."
DJ's Vinyl Vegan
This is a food truck up in Astoria (also Oregon). It makes this list mostly because they have AMAZING "Phish and Chips" with tartar sauce.
Ethos
This is a great restaurant in Orlando (finally, we're out of the West Coast!) that serves personal ice cream sundaes - and that's just one of the many, many items on their menu! If you're hitting up Orlando, see my suggestions of how to spend your time there.
***UPDATE: Since creating this list, I've taken a big trip around the country and can now include several more places not on the West Coast. Here they are.***
The Chicago Diner
So glorious... Chicago might be a big city, but it's probably not where the average vegan would expect to find the best food. Nevertheless, here it is. My family of five ate well and shared a few enormous, magnificent milkshakes for under $100 (not counting the tip, though, because we had to tip well for food that good). For those of you who aren't longtime vegans, who think this is a bit of a steep price, know that all vegan places cost a lot and often charge more than this for food that isn't nearly as good. If you're there, I'd recommend the seitan steak - it's really good and a huge portion size.
Fare Well
My strongest memory of our time in D.C. is that it was over 100 degrees and horridly humid. The time we spent outside walking between museums made me wonder if anyone would be able to carry me if I collapsed right there in the street, and my mom and brothers ended up really sick from the heat. However, this restaurant was so good that we ate there twice and ordered the same thing both times. The "breakfast special" was a great deal and also happened to taste awesome: tofu scramble, sausage, and pancakes. We cut up the sausage and mixed it in with the tofu, and upon tasting it we knew we'd never look at the world the same way again.
Veggie Galaxy
This little gem in Cambridge made me want to go to Harvard or MIT. Okay, not really, but I liked Harvard anyway and this clinched it. I had the stuffed French toast (which was great), but I wanted to come back and sample the whole menu. They were out of fried mozzarella sticks when we went, but the fried mac and cheese balls (I think that's what they were) we got as a replacement were so, so good. And the little clipping on the wall when you walk in that shows it was referenced in an X-Men comic had my not-so-dormant inner geek jumping for joy.
Honorable Mentions:
There's a nice food truck with decent vegan sausage up in Eugene (although for the life of me I can't remember its name), and there are some nice places in SoCal like Veggie Grill. And while I couldn't give this a full position on the list because it's mostly NOT vegan, The American Dream in Huntington Beach has THE best Impossible Burger around. It's expensive (somewhere in the ballpark of $16 per burger, if I remember correctly), but so good and so worth it as a rare treat. Also, when traveling and desperate for real food beyond the French fries you keep grabbing ever so often, few things beat a bowl piled with veggies and guac at the nearest Mexican restaurant. Just check for lard, won't you?
This is a small chain found across the West Coast (mostly in Oregon and Washington, though, there's only 1 in California), and in Brooklyn, that is pretty much a McDonalds for vegans. They've got burgers, fries, and milkshakes (try the PB cup one, it's amazing). I just wish I lived near one...
Cornbread Cafe
This joint is not a chain - it's only in Eugene, Oregon - but it's more than worth a stop if you're driving up the West Coast! It serves Southern comfort food (in Oregon? Who knew?) like mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread (naturally). Also, they've got a signature sandwich, titled "The Eugenewich."
DJ's Vinyl Vegan
This is a food truck up in Astoria (also Oregon). It makes this list mostly because they have AMAZING "Phish and Chips" with tartar sauce.
Ethos
This is a great restaurant in Orlando (finally, we're out of the West Coast!) that serves personal ice cream sundaes - and that's just one of the many, many items on their menu! If you're hitting up Orlando, see my suggestions of how to spend your time there.
***UPDATE: Since creating this list, I've taken a big trip around the country and can now include several more places not on the West Coast. Here they are.***
The Chicago Diner
So glorious... Chicago might be a big city, but it's probably not where the average vegan would expect to find the best food. Nevertheless, here it is. My family of five ate well and shared a few enormous, magnificent milkshakes for under $100 (not counting the tip, though, because we had to tip well for food that good). For those of you who aren't longtime vegans, who think this is a bit of a steep price, know that all vegan places cost a lot and often charge more than this for food that isn't nearly as good. If you're there, I'd recommend the seitan steak - it's really good and a huge portion size.
Fare Well
My strongest memory of our time in D.C. is that it was over 100 degrees and horridly humid. The time we spent outside walking between museums made me wonder if anyone would be able to carry me if I collapsed right there in the street, and my mom and brothers ended up really sick from the heat. However, this restaurant was so good that we ate there twice and ordered the same thing both times. The "breakfast special" was a great deal and also happened to taste awesome: tofu scramble, sausage, and pancakes. We cut up the sausage and mixed it in with the tofu, and upon tasting it we knew we'd never look at the world the same way again.
Veggie Galaxy
This little gem in Cambridge made me want to go to Harvard or MIT. Okay, not really, but I liked Harvard anyway and this clinched it. I had the stuffed French toast (which was great), but I wanted to come back and sample the whole menu. They were out of fried mozzarella sticks when we went, but the fried mac and cheese balls (I think that's what they were) we got as a replacement were so, so good. And the little clipping on the wall when you walk in that shows it was referenced in an X-Men comic had my not-so-dormant inner geek jumping for joy.
Honorable Mentions:
There's a nice food truck with decent vegan sausage up in Eugene (although for the life of me I can't remember its name), and there are some nice places in SoCal like Veggie Grill. And while I couldn't give this a full position on the list because it's mostly NOT vegan, The American Dream in Huntington Beach has THE best Impossible Burger around. It's expensive (somewhere in the ballpark of $16 per burger, if I remember correctly), but so good and so worth it as a rare treat. Also, when traveling and desperate for real food beyond the French fries you keep grabbing ever so often, few things beat a bowl piled with veggies and guac at the nearest Mexican restaurant. Just check for lard, won't you?
5 Things to Do in Orlando, Florida
1. Go to Universal Studios Orlando.
I've been to Orlando twice, but never to Disney World (maybe because I'm a Californian, and we've got Disneyland?). Both times, though, I hit up Universal Studios Orlando. It's way bigger and has got way more rides than Universal Hollywood (although it hasn't got the backlot tour), and if you're a Harry Potter fan, you could spend a full day just exploring Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and riding the Hogwarts Express.
2. Eat at Ethos.
It's not exactly cheap, but it is amazing. Ethos is a vegan restaurant, but even steadfast carnivores might enjoy it. See my list of top vegan restaurants.
3. Go canoeing - if you're not afraid of alligators :).
My family did this, and we actually saw an alligator!!! Unfortunately, we are afraid of alligators, and so our trip got a little bogged down (pun intended) by that experience.
4. Stop at Panama City on your way to Orlando.
Not Panama City, Panama - Panama City, Florida. It's the beach! Again, definitely not cheap, but great. The sand is so white there! I'd highly recommend the Holiday Inn at Panama City Beach. The first floor leads right out to the beach, and there's a great pool with dive-in movies, and a neat splash pad. The rooms are nice, too, and with a great view.
5. Go to Disney World.
Especially if you're not from Southern California. If you are and have been to Disneyland, maybe try Epcot? I've never been there, but it's probably less like Disneyland than the Magic Kingdom.
Hope you enjoyed these tips (NOTE: #3 is partially a joke - our canoe ride was actually quite fun, despite the alligator, and it didn't hurt us - you should try canoeing in Florida, but I'd get out if I were you if you see an alligator)!
I've been to Orlando twice, but never to Disney World (maybe because I'm a Californian, and we've got Disneyland?). Both times, though, I hit up Universal Studios Orlando. It's way bigger and has got way more rides than Universal Hollywood (although it hasn't got the backlot tour), and if you're a Harry Potter fan, you could spend a full day just exploring Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and riding the Hogwarts Express.
2. Eat at Ethos.
It's not exactly cheap, but it is amazing. Ethos is a vegan restaurant, but even steadfast carnivores might enjoy it. See my list of top vegan restaurants.
3. Go canoeing - if you're not afraid of alligators :).
My family did this, and we actually saw an alligator!!! Unfortunately, we are afraid of alligators, and so our trip got a little bogged down (pun intended) by that experience.
4. Stop at Panama City on your way to Orlando.
Not Panama City, Panama - Panama City, Florida. It's the beach! Again, definitely not cheap, but great. The sand is so white there! I'd highly recommend the Holiday Inn at Panama City Beach. The first floor leads right out to the beach, and there's a great pool with dive-in movies, and a neat splash pad. The rooms are nice, too, and with a great view.
5. Go to Disney World.
Especially if you're not from Southern California. If you are and have been to Disneyland, maybe try Epcot? I've never been there, but it's probably less like Disneyland than the Magic Kingdom.
Hope you enjoyed these tips (NOTE: #3 is partially a joke - our canoe ride was actually quite fun, despite the alligator, and it didn't hurt us - you should try canoeing in Florida, but I'd get out if I were you if you see an alligator)!
Monday, May 21, 2018
What's Wrong With the Federal Budget
The budget cuts billions of dollars from many government agencies, especially the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. That's a problem because the EPA helps create legislation involving cleaner air, cleaner water (there are even water contamination problems in the U.S: see this county in Kentucky), and wilderness conservation. Also, 18 billion dollars have been allotted for Trump's wall. Is that where all the EPA money went?
Do you know how tired I am of hearing that the student activists from Parkland are being manipulated and used by the "liberal media"? I consider this an insult to youth everywhere. They wouldn't be saying that about adults! Also, the legal term "minor" ought to be switched as it has negative connotations ("minor" also means "insignificant").
Kemp for Governor! Yeah, Right...
This is a real campaign commercial for the midterms in Georgia! I'm not kidding you, this guy is running for governor - my aunt saw the commercial on TV! Look and see for yourself if you don't believe me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q1cfjh6VfE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q1cfjh6VfE
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