Sunday, June 15, 2008

Five Bucks a Gallon Coming Soon?

According to a recent poll by the CNN/Opinion Research Corp., 78% of respondents expect they will have to pay $5 for a gallon of gas by the end of the year. Well I've got some news for you. Five-dollar-a-gallon gasoline is already here!

$5.19 for regular at this Mobil station in Needles, CA. (06/15/2008)
$5.19 for regular at this Mobil station in Needles, CA. (06/15/2008)

Over the weekend we went to the desert to visit Tim's family for Father's Day. While there, we found a couple of gas stations in Needles, CA charging $5.19 for a gallon of regular. Ouch! Thankfully that's still the exception and not the rule. But how long will that be the case?

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles

Certain things are always better in pairs. Bonnie and Clyde. Fred and Ginger. Posh and Becks. For me and Tim, an entirely new pairing now tops our favorites list: Chicken 'n Waffles!

Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles, Long Beach. (06/05/2008)
Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles, Long Beach. (06/05/2008)

Despite being Southern California residents for ages, we had never been to the local institution that is Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles. We realize that this blog post is not uncovering some little hidden gem nobody knows about yet. The place is dang popular. And now that we've tried it, we understand why.

We were invited to the one in the LBC by our good friend Amy who wanted to buy dinner for the guys who helped her move the previous weekend. And far be it from us to decline an invitation to Roscoe's Chicken 'n Waffles. Joining us for this long overdue excursion was Amy's sister Ashley and another friend Bill.

Scoe's #2 - 1/4 chicken in gravy with 2 waffles. (06/05/2008)
Scoe's #2 - 1/4 chicken in gravy with 2 waffles. (06/05/2008)

Ashley was already a fan of Roscoe's hizzy, so Bill and I followed her lead by ordering "Scoe's #2," which is 1/4 of a fried chicken, smothered with gravy, and paired with two fluffy waffles. Ash and I stuck to the breast/wing white meat, while Bill went for the leg/thigh dark meat. To counteract the fattier dark meat, Bill at least pretended to make a healthier choice by adding a side garden salad.

Let me just say I was enamored with the chicken on my first bite. The breast I had was extraordinarily plump and meaty. It was cooked to perfection too. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Even the gravy smothering it couldn't diminish that amazing crispy outside.

Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles menu. (06/05/2008)
Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles menu. (06/05/2008)

Don't let me leave out the waffles. They were fluffy, hot and flavorful. My only complaint, if you can call it that, was they put too much butter on top. But it was nothing I couldn't remedy by scraping some off with a butter knife.

Tim and Amy got the Carol C. Special, which consists of 1 succulent breast (no gravy) and 1 delicious waffle. Let me tell you, after trying Tim's chicken, I didn't know which I liked better — with the gravy, or without. It was that good. Tim also tried the buckwheat waffle, which was also delicious, but just a little more dense.

1 Succulent Breast, 1 Delicious Waffle. (06/05/2008)
1 Succulent Breast, 1 Delicious Waffle. (06/05/2008)

Interestingly, after a little web research, I learned that the combination of chicken and waffles is not a recent concept. Sure, Roscoe's opened his first restaurant in 1976, but it goes way further than that. In fact, some believe it goes back to Thomas Jefferson, who on a trip to France in the 1790s, brought back a waffle iron. Chicken with waffles was said to have began appearing in cookbooks shortly thereafter.

Frankly, I don't really care who gets the credit — Thomas Jefferson or Roscoe. All I know is that I loves chicken 'n waffles. We'll definitely go back.

Disney World in 3D on Google Earth

I love Google Earth. I love to virtually thumbtack the places I've been, places I've lived, places I worked, etc. I even wrote a blog post when they launched Google Street View. But now the Walt Disney Corporation has made Google Earth even cooler with its new 3D building overlays of Walt Disney World parks!

Magic Kingdom on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.
Magic Kingdom on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.

As soon as I read about it on The Disney Blog, I popped open Google Earth and turned on the 3D buildings setting. And sure enough, there was Epcot's Spaceship Earth in all its 3D glory. Jump to the Magic Kingdom, and I was delighted to see Cinderella's Castle
shimmering on the skyline.

Epcot on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.
Epcot on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.

At Animal Kingdom, you can see Expedition Everest or the Tree of Life. And the Scorcerer's Apprentice Hat at Disney Studios looks great too! I've posted a few before/after shots, but they're not half as cool as seeing the real thing on Google Earth, where you can see it from any angle or depth.

Disney Studios on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.
Disney Studios on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.

What's even better is that in the 3D building mode, you can click on any attraction and see a short video clip explaining what it's all about. Boy, those Disney folks know a little something about marketing, don't they?

Animal Kingdom on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.
Animal Kingdom on Google Earth with 3D Buildings on.

Check it out if you have Google Earth. And if you don't have Google Earth, you can download it here. It's totally FREE! Here's hoping they get around to doing the same thing with Disneyland in Anaheim ...