I Suck At Bobby's Burger Palace

Since being on vacation for the holidays, I seemed to have lost track of time. Lately, I don't remember what day is what anymore. Plus, I have been sleeping in late. It's a very peculiar feeling.

Nevertheless, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley) on Wednesday. Like Karen and I, Marc and Kelley are off during the holidays. Similarly, my friends (Cass and Ellen) were also on vacation for the holiday break. Since the six of us were off, Marc tried to get all of us together to hang out for the day.

The destination: Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. As it turned out, Cass and Ellen could not join us for the day trip. So it ended up being the four of us for the trip.

Needless to say, the ride down was fun. While we were heading down to Connecticut, the topic of public access television came up. In particular, we were trying to think up of a show that we could create for Quincy's public access television station.

One of the possible suggestions that came up was a show similar to "Three Sheets to the Wind" starring Zane Lamprey. For anyone curious, the premise of "Three Sheets" is that the host basically gets inebriated at various international locations while learning the local customs and whatnot. In our Quincy public access version, Kelley and I would basically get inebriated at various locations around Quincy. And luckily, Quincy does have a lot of Irish bars.

My favorite suggestion for a show was a reality television series to get Cass elected as mayor of Quincy. The first season would feature all of us in our attempt to convince Cass to run for mayor. (For anyone curious, Cass does not want to become mayor... yet.) And hopefully by the end of season one, Cass can be convinced. From there, season two could be the actual process of our attempt to run a campaign for Cass as he runs for mayor.

It would be interesting to find out if it would be possible to run a campaign based solely on public access television. Plus, the show would actually give me the opportunity to use the slogan "Don't be a Koch-head". Koch (pronounced like the soft drink, Coke) is currently the mayor of Quincy. I am not a big fan of Mayor Koch, and I'm not even a resident of Quincy. Perhaps the reason for my dislike is his awful hair...

Anyway, those were but some of the ideas that we came up with during our ride down to Mohegan Sun. Another idea that I came up with was to have a bunch of Native Americans sitting atop the Mohegan Sun tower just raining arrows down upon the cars as they approached. I figured that the arrows would give the place a more authentic feel... than just simply a gambling casino.

Needless to say, we arrived at Mohegan Sun (sans the shower of arrows) and walked around a bit. Truth be told, I was a little nervous for Karen because I knew there would be smoke in the casino... even in the non-smoking section. Karen did not seem too concerned about the smoke and her pregnancy. Hopefully things will still turn out okay.

Eventually, we decided to eat at Bobby's Burger Palace. Now I suck at Bobby's Burger Palace. I have never eaten at Bobby's Burger Palace. Plus, I have never even heard of the place until this trip to Mohegan Sun. As it turned out, the place is actually inspired by Chef Bobby Flay, and not just some random person named Bobby.

And I must say... the burger was absolutely delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) I had the L.A. Burger, which is a burger topped with avocado relish, watercress, cheddar cheese and tomato. It tasted fantastic. I might have to be a fan of Bobby Flay now. It was that good. Karen and I also shared a dark chocolate milkshate and sweet potato fries... so good! It goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Following the Bobby's Burger Palace experience, the four of us walked around... had a few drinks at a bar named Lucky's (which had a pretty good Jolly Rancher martini)... and even tried our hand at some gambling. Well, I should say Karen and Marc tried their hands at gambling. I'm not a big gambler. (Well, neither are Karen or Marc for that matter.)

Sadly, we didn't win anything. Of course, it's probably tough to win big when the games that were played were the slot machines and video poker. That reminds me, I still want to learn to count cards. Perhaps some day, I'll learn how to do that.

Anyway, after our fun trip down to Mohegan Sun, we headed back to Marc and Kelley's to watch... Star Trek.

(The video below is a trailer for Star Trek.)


Karen had the movie in her Netflix queue. I must say, the movie was awesome. Of course, I probably should have expected the movie to be good. The movie is a J.J. Abrams movie, and he has done a lot of things that I have enjoyed... like Alias, Cloverfield, and Lost. Even Mission: Impossible 3 was decent for a Tom Cruise movie. I am even tempted to watch episodes of Felicity... but then I think about how lame the show seems.

Perhaps I was channeling my inner geek. The movie Star Trek was great. It was a great way to end the day. All in all, the entire day was absolutely fun. I'm glad that Marc organized the get together.

I Suck At Remembering My Son

My son (Braden) passed away one year ago today. Braden, who I sometimes referred to as Little B, was a fighter. He put up a valiant fight for his survival. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be for my Little B. Braden was born too premature. He only lived a week after he was born, but it was one week that I was thankful to have because I got to meet my son. Some fathers are not lucky enough to do that.

It being the one year anniversary of his passing, I do what I do best: I suck at remembering my son. As one might expect, neither Karen nor I were too keen about today. Last week was a little easier because we were celebrating Braden's birth. There is a connotation of life and joy with a birthday. Unfortunately today... well... people don't really celebrate deaths. There is no joy on the anniversary of people's passing, especially a child's.

Interestingly enough, the weather today was dark and gloomy. In fact, there was a constant downpour of rain today. It seems somewhat fitting that today would be a day of heavy rain. Like the famous spin that is mentioned about rain on one's wedding day, I like to think that today... the angels were crying tears of joy because one of their own returned to them one year ago on this day. With the constant heavy rain, it made me feel good to know that the angels really really adored my Little B.

Never one for pity, Karen and I decided to get out of the house and do something today. After a visit to Braden at the cemetery, Karen and I headed off to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. Our plan: to go to the Bodies Revealed exhibit that was showing there.

Karen and I had originally planned to be spontaneous and go yesterday. Unfortunately, my work threw a little wrench in the plans. So, we decided to go today, which was actually nice because it gave us an opportunity to get out of the house. Otherwise, we probably would have sat around our house, watching the pouring rain with nothing to do.

For anyone curious, the Bodies Revealed exhibit is basically a bunch of cadavers sliced up in certain ways in the name of science. The cadavers provide a more authentic learning medium when it comes to muscles, bones, circulatory systems, digestive systems, etc. Truth be told, I thought the exhibit was well done.

I even had the opportunity to hold a preserved liver (and a stomach) in my hand. According to the exhibit, the liver is the heaviest organ in the body... weighing it at approximately 3 pounds. Naturally, I thought of my bff (Kerry) doing her 30 day shred workout, complements of Jillian Michaels of the "Biggest Loser" fame, holding a liver in each hand. Yeah, I don't know why.

Nonetheless, the exhibit was great. Afterwards, Karen and I grabbed a bite to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen that was located at Foxwoods. It was almost as though Braden planned it as such because just the other day, Karen had mentioned how she was craving a dish at the California Pizza Kitchen. And then lo' and behold... there was the California Pizza Kitchen at Foxwoods. Now if only Karen would crave a million dollars.

Speaking of which, being at a casino, Karen and I thought that we had to at least play something while we were there. We ended up playing the slot machine because it was quick and easy. Sadly, the one armed bandit took our money... all one dollar of it. We actually must have looked odd at the slot machine because neither Karen nor I are gamblers. The extent of my gambling is wagering against my friend (Hot Amy). And really, that's not really gambling because it is practically a given that I win those wagers. It's a sure bet. Of course, it helps that Hot Amy has a genetic predisposition to losing.

Anyway, it took Karen and I awhile to figure out how to even play the slot machine because it did not accept coins... only bills... with five being the lowest. It was comical.

With our new found gambling addiction, we then decided to head to Mohegan Sun, a casino also located in Connecticut. Neither Karen nor I have ever been to Mohegan Sun. As we were in the neighborhood, we figured we should at least check it out.

So, we took a leisurely drive down to the other casino and walked around. In terms of size, Mohegan Sun is huge. To me, it almost seemed like we were driving to the airport when we arrived at Mohegan Sun. And truth be told, I think I actually like Foxwoods better than Mohegan Sun.

Sure... Mohegan Sun has the Jonas Brothers coming in October. Sure... Karen and I won fifty cents at the slot machine. (We also lost fifty cents.) But the place is rather dark in terms of lighting. Plus, the smell of cigarette smoke is much more obvious at Mohegan Sun.

Foxwoods seemed to be brighter. It's shopping and restaurants were further spread out from the casino itself, which somehow seems to translate to less cigarette smoke. Plus, Tyler Florence is coming to Foxwoods in October. My friend (Marc) has a man-crush on Tyler Florence.

Anyway, all in all, I had a good time being with Karen today. I think the quick trip was a much needed break with all things considered. Truth be told, we should probably get out and do more things. It would probably be good for us.