[...i ate #191/192/193] A&W double teen burger, onion rings and root beer

July 16th, 2009 Graig

A&W is the taste of Northwestern Ontario. Not Thunder Bay, but rather highway 11/17, more specifically White River… the halfway stopping point between TBay and the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) where A&W has had a major stranglehold on the fast food market for over two decades. Every time I eat at an A&W, which I admit isn’t very often… less than once ever three years I’d say… I’m reminded of family excursions from Northern to Southern Ontario.

The Onion Rings at A&W, with it’s heavily seasoned, crumbly coating, are almost as classic as their root beer, the latter of which is always best served in a frosted A&W mug, but rarely is served like that anymore.

Of course, eating and enjoying A&W meal leads to two things: excess calories and guilt.

Tags: 191, 192, 193

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[...consumed all new #192] Superjail

July 15th, 2009 Graig

There was a time where I would buy into anything the Adult Swim line of 15 minute programming was doling out. But after four or five years, when Sealab and Aqua Teen’s humour descended to yelling and extreme sudden violence as comedy, my fanaticism started to wane. Plus, GAK moved from New York to Tokyo and my lifeline to Adult Swim was cut off. New shows like Morel Orel, Squidbillies and Metalocalypse were suddenly unknown commodities and I was wary of their quality. But Tom Goes To The Mayor gave way to Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job and Sealab gave way to Frisky Dingo so there was still quality going on. But for every Boondocks there’s The Family Guy (seriously, we have Adult Swim to thank for that… *shudder*), for every Robot Chicken there’s an Assy McGee.

As more Adult Swim shows start cropping up on Teletoon and G4TV, I’m getting to check out what’s been offered, and while Delocated was a bit of a surprise, Superjail is a total bloody mess.

The first barrier to entry with Superjail is it’s artistic style, which is like squigglevision (Dr. Katz) meets early Mike Judge, mixed with Klasky Csupo (Duckman) as if templated by Jeffrey Brown. To be clear, it’s ass ugly, primitive-looking animation, as if it were doodled in the marginalia of a 14-year-old’s history class notes. Hell there might as well be blue lines and three hole paper along the side of the screen because it looks perpetually doodled.

The titular Superjail is where the harshest of harsh criminals go, captured by the sleek Killbot at the beginning of each episode, the title sequence changing with each show (about the only segment of the show I actually like) as Killbot drags them off to the volcanic location. Once inside the mayhem begins, as the deranged, Willy Wonka-esque warden (voiced by David Wain) sets about with his sociological or psychological experiments, often involving his dwarf accountant, his butch head guard, and resident doctor venturing out amidst the population.

If I thought that Aqua Teen and Sealab moved too deeply into violence-as-humour in their later years, but it’s solely Superjail’s stock-in-trade. The bulk of a 15 minute episode will be consumed by senseless mayhem, to the point that it’s borderline surreal… an intense barrage on the senses. I found the first episode I watched unpleasant, but the second episode curious as I tried to understand the nature of the show.

Alas, it’s not for me.

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[...learned #192/193] panic x2

July 15th, 2009 Graig

As a new father, I’m experiencing the paranoia, nightmares and restless sleep that comes with the territory.

Last night, LL was sleeping in the bassinet at the foot of the bed (making my daughter sound like a small dog probably isn’t the best thing) and she wasn’t having the best of nights falling asleep. At one point I swore I picked her up out of the basket, and began rocking her back to sleep, only to rock myself back to sleep. I dreamt I put her down beside me on the bed, only to accidentally pull the blanket over her, which stirred me since that can fatally impede their breathing. I woke up in the dark in an utter panic fumbling around searching for my baby amidst the sheets, knocking pillows around and not finding her anywhere. I reached into the basket and she wasn’t there, and Aden was missing as well from beside me. “Honey?” I called out, my heart racing with ferocious intensity.
“Yeah?” I heard calling back from the other room.
“Do you have the baby?” I asked, unsure of whether the panic in my voice was noticeable?
“Of course,” she said, as if it was the most obvious answer to the question, which it was.
I honestly don’t know whether I had actually picked LL up and put her down again or if I never picked her up at all, or Aden took her from me… that uncertainty of what actually happened is probably the scariest part of all.

That cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind is no bullshit, babies actually can swim

This freaks me the hell out, but babies do have a natural swimming tendency which, if it’s not nurtured, they lose quickly with age (as they begin to rationalize and understand fear, hesitation, tentativeness, I’m sure). They have an automatic response to being in water, a distinct paddling and kicking motion, as well as holding their breath.

I noticed with LL, that when I hold her stomach down in the bathtub, head above water, that she starts to move in the water. Unfortunately with the latest bath, she splashed some water into her mouth as she was breathing in and began to choke (like how you do when you gulp down your drink in the wrong pipe). The immediate realization was that she wasn’t breathing properly and I quickly flipped her to her side in my arms and started patting her back as she started coughing, and eventually, crying. Those few seconds were absolutely scary, and I realize that an infant CPR course is in order.

Tags: 192, 193

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