samhexum

GM's Cruise to slash robotaxi fleet in San Francisco by 50% after collisions yeah, I heard there was a lot of knocking boots going on...

This is dedicated to you, @pubic_assistance: A Field Guide to the Great Hot Dogs of America From New York’s all-beef classic to Alaska’s reindeer-driven rendition, here are 15 supremely local versions that flaunt the bounty to be found on a bun. By J. J. Goode August 14, 2023. Summer is high season for the hot dog, from backyard grills to ballparks to the finest roadside joints. Across the United States, hot dogs exhibit a striking diversity that reflects the microclimates in which they’ve evolved ever since the 1860s, when an entrepreneurial immigrant introduced the species from Germany. Here we take a wide-ranging, but admittedly inexhaustive, look at some of the varieties you may encounter in the wild. New York Dog NATURAL HABITAT The Big Apple DISTINCTIVE FEATURES All beef, with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard New York State is a epicenter of American hotdoggery, home to beloved hyperlocal wieners like Syracuse’s Snappy Grillers, micro-regional variants like the three-inchers of Troy, and destination footlongs like those grilled over coals at Ted’s in Buffalo. Still, New York City lays claim to the defining dogs: not the dirty-water type, but the all-beef franks puckering on the griddles at Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island, pastrami-slinging delis and storefronts with “Papaya” in their names. Tomato-stained “onions in sauce” is a worthy condiment, but spicy brown mustard with either sauerkraut (for traditionalists) or relish (for swashbucklers) is the move. Tales are even told of those who take both. Texas Tommy NATURAL HABITAT The Delaware Valley, oddly DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Bacon and cheese In the grand tradition of misleading hot dog names, this mid-20th-century creation hails not from the Lone Star State but, reportedly, from Pottstown, Pa. It may have taken its name from a Ragtime dance that was as indecorous then as the topping combo may seem today. Now you can get one from Wilmington, Del. (at Johnnie’s Dog House & Chicken Shack, it’s bacon-wrapped in the original fashion), to Philadelphia (at Steve’s Prince of Steaks, you’ll find a split wiener topped with bacon strips and whiz). The region’s other contender, a fried fish cake on a dog, doesn’t stand a chance. Slaw Dog NATURAL HABITAT The South DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The slaw In West Virginia, which lays claim to masterminding the topping way back in the 1920s, it’s often paired with hot dog sauce (or, as some might identify it, chili). In North Carolina, it could come piled on an electric-red, locally revered Bright Leaf dog. The dog is nearly vermilion at Nu-Way Weiners, a Macon, Ga., destination since 1916, where the slaw atop the chili is cold, creamy and finely chopped. So, too, is the topping at the Varsity in Atlanta, where it’s a valid move to skip the chili and order an all-beef frank crowned with just slaw. Puerto Rican-Style Dog NATURAL HABITAT The island’s many stands and carts DISTINCTIVE FEATURES No topping spared Puerto Rico is rich with carts selling hot dogs adorned in the Boricua style. These low-key setups belie the joys of this frank, which is decked out with some version of virtually every standard topping: Squirts of mustard, ketchup and cheese sauce join forces with layers of sauerkraut, onions and carne molida (ground beef cooked with sofrito that plays the role of chili). Finally, there are crunchy potato sticks, the crown that turns this variety into dog royalty. The Sonoran NATURAL HABITAT Arizona in general, Tucson in particular DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The best kind of fusion The name nods to the leading theory of its provenance: Sonora, the Mexican state just across the border. But spend enough time in metro Phoenix or Tucson and you’ll see that this extravagant dog is Arizonan to the core. The “dogueros” who operate the mobile outfits (like El Sabroso in Phoenix) and griddles (Los Chipilones in Tucson) don’t hold back. In a roll that clocks in somewhere between bolillo and bun, there are pinto beans, diced tomatoes and onions, as well as stripes of mustard, drizzles of green salsa and squiggles of mayo. Under there somewhere is a hot dog wrapped in bacon and on the side, a little gift — a couple of charred yellow chiles. The Ripper NATURAL HABITAT North Jersey DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Deep-fried perfection The paradigmatic New Jersey dog is defined by its cooking method, a bath in hot oil that transforms a natural-casing frank into the blistered archetype of ugly-delicious. Some North Jersey legends specialize in the ultimate version: rippers. The default at Hiram’s Roadstand in Fort Lee and an option at Rutt’s Hut in Clifton, they are fried until they burst and new nooks and crags emerge to char as crisp as cracklings. Chili-cheese, relish and mustard are all welcome. A highly honorable mention goes to the Italian Dog, invented in Newark at the original Jimmy Buff’s: Two links are fried, stuffed in “pizza bread” and buried under cooked peppers, onions and crispy potato. <b<New York System NATURAL HABITAT Rhode Island, strangely DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Meat sauce, strict parameters and a touch of flair Don’t let the “New York” fool you — these are pure Rhode Island, and rival Chicago dogs in their particularity. The midcentury brainchild of the Original New York System restaurant, they are also called hot wieners, gaggers and Greek lobsters, though never hot dogs. At places that carry on the tradition, staffers deftly prepare them “on the arm,” lining up steamed, slightly sweet buns from Homestead Baking Company on their forearms and filling them with wieners made from veal, beef and pork. They are then dressed with mustard, “meat sauce” (what an outsider might call chili), raw onions and a flurry of celery salt. That’s “all the way,” and with a glass of coffee milk on the side, it’s the only way. Chicago Dog NATURAL HABITAT The Windy City and its environs DISTINCTIVE FEATURES “The garden” Regional hot dog tradition at its most precise, the Chicago dog is an improbable masterpiece, whether you’re peacefully taking down a boiled version at Superdawg Drive-In or ordering a char dog while you get roasted by the staff at the Wiener’s Circle. It’s “dragged through the garden,” which means topped with exactly seven items that doting partisans can rattle off without hesitation: yellow mustard, relish (customarily a neon green), chopped white onions, tomato slices, a pickle spear, pickled sport peppers and celery salt. The foundation beneath is also imperative: a natural casing, all beef (nearly always from the local wiener maestros at Vienna Beef), tucked inside a poppy-seed bun. Half Smoke NATURAL HABITAT Washington, D.C. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES A special sausage Underneath the blanket of saucy chili and beyond the chopped onions and yellow mustard that are vital to a Half Smoke served “all the way” is the signature sausage that defines this capital classic. While the smoky, slightly spicy pork-and-beef links were invented as breakfast fare at the Weenie Beenie, they are now available at establishments throughout the city. But no purveyor is more famous than Ben’s Chili Bowl, the U Street monument to meat. Technically, its Half Smoke is more sausage than hot dog, but it’s so good that we don’t care. Cheese Coney NATURAL HABITAT The chili parlors of Cincinnati DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The city’s famous (or infamous) chili This Midwestern standout wields a familiar trinity: chopped onion, a stripe of mustard, a sauce of finely ground beef. But it is then topped with a prodigal pile of shredded Cheddar. Adherents who haunt parlors like Skyline and Camp Washington scoff at the it’s-not-chili complaints, celebrating the sauce’s distinctive spicing of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon — and the miraculous merging of Mediterranean and Slavic flavors with early-20th-century American tastes. That said, they also take theirs on spaghetti, so the jury’s still out. Seattle Dog NATURAL HABITAT The food carts of Seattle DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Hot frank, cool cream cheese Outsiders sometimes wince at the thought of Seattle Dogs. Even some locals consider them fit only for a post-boozing binge. Yet there they are, cream cheese-slathered buns hosting hot dogs. Lore has it that the creation is a good three decades old, invented by a bagel purveyor named Hadley Longe. He opened a bagel cart in Pioneer Square, and soon after began offering dogs served with a schmear on bialy rolls, begetting imitators galore who swapped in buns. Griddled onions — possibly a nod to the onions on bialys — complete the style. Coneys NATURAL HABITAT Michigan DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Not just another chili dog with mustard and raw white onion Coney Island is the name for the dogs, the whole category of restaurants that sell them, and the place that inspired their originator, a Greek immigrant (either Gust Keros or George Todoroff, depending on whom you ask) who passed through the hot dog hub of New York City on his way west. Michiganders differ, with Midwestern politeness, over Coney particulars: In Detroit, the Coney sauce at the stalwarts American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island has a fluidity that makes staining your shirt inevitable. In Flint, locals call the sauce “dry” as a compliment, while the city of Jackson has its own variation, with differences so subtle they’re nearly undetectable by outsiders. Most everyone seems to agree on the supremacy of Koegel’s brand dogs and the necessity of beef heart in the chili. Bologna Dog NATURAL HABITAT The Jewish delis of Baltimore DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Beef two ways The heyday of Baltimore’s Jewish delis has passed, but the legacy lives on, at least at Attman’s Deli, one of the last vestiges of East Lombard Street’s Corned Beef Row, and the Essen Room in nearby Pikesville. Both still offer the duet of emulsified meats that’s become known as Baltimore’s hot dog. Slices of griddled beef bologna on an all-beef frank is a textural lark and, as the beloved local historian Gilbert Sandler noted “grease from the bologna mixes with the grease from the hot dog, and both find their way into the bread.” What sounds like redundancy is actually profundity. Polish Boy NATURAL HABITAT Cleveland DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Kielbasa à la barbecue Long ago, Clevelanders said “Polish boy” and meant kielbasa, the garlicky smoked sausage beloved by the Polish immigrants who arrived in the city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the term refers to this sloppy sensation, a glorious fusion. Propelled by local Black-owned smoked-meat concerns like Virgil Whitmore Sr.’s Mt. Pleasant Bar-B-Q, cooks began to furnish the city’s hallowed sausage with the toppings on hand: coleslaw, a pile of fries and plenty of barbecue sauce. Reindeer Dog NATURAL HABITAT Alaska DISTINCTIVE FEATURES A delicately gamy link, Coca-Cola onions In the summer of 1892, Capt. Michael Healy brought back the first reindeer from Siberia as a new food source for hungry Alaskans. That same summer, Nathan Handwerker (the founder of Nathan’s Famous) was born. Coincidence? Well, yes. All the same, today Alaska’s on-a-bun benefaction is a dog made with lean, delicately gamy reindeer. The consummate rendition comes from Yeti Dogs in Anchorage, where the link teams up with another Alaskan hot dog tradition: sautéed onions spiked with Coca-Cola. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/dining/regional-hot-dog-styles-america.html [Limited access]

Flushing Meadows Corona Park now features a home for retired concrete playground animals in a quiet grove just east of the iconic Unisphere. NYC Parks hosted a retirement party for the six whimsical cement sculptures on Aug. 18, complete with party hats and cake, and issued a proclamation honoring the retired animals that graced public parks until they reached their golden years. “At NYC Parks, our civil servants take many forms: not only park workers, but also the beloved concrete animals children have been playing on for decades in our playgrounds across the city,” NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said. “We’re so excited to unveil this new contemplative space in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, as we send some of our hardest-working employees into retirement in style.” Hailing from all across the city, the six playground sculptures — two dolphins, one elephant, one aardvark, one camel and one frog who until now were living out their last years in storage — will be the first residents in the new retirement home. The grove includes new benches that were installed to add to the contemplative nature of the area. A new accessible pathway has also been added to allow park goers easy access through the area from three separate points. Parks will also be enhancing the existing canopy with additional trees, shrubs, and landscaping elements. Most of the concrete animals found in the city’s parks today were added in the 1980s and ’90s under former Commissioner Henry Stern, who tasked Parks engineers to incorporate animal art into every new playground project. While some features were designed by staff in-house, most — like the frog, which can be found in many city playgrounds — were prefabricated by manufacturers. As playgrounds are renovated over time, the concrete animals are often removed, with the blessing of the community members who use the park, to make way for new play features and to add more accessible play space. Stern died in March 2019, and now his beloved playground animals have their retirement home in his favorite park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park. “We hope that despite their retirement, they will continue to inspire imagination and creativity in park goers into the future,” Donoghue said. Visitors can park at the Queens Museum Parking Lot and then walk past the Unisphere to the grove. NYC Parks unveils ‘home for retired playground animals’ at Flushing Meadows Corona Park – QNS.com QNS.COM Flushing Meadows Corona Park now features a home for retired concrete playground animals...

When it comes to country music, I don't know shit from Shania.

F. Murray Abraham walks picket line: 'Average actors don’t make a living' If you're only average at what you do, how well should you be compensated?

We should have a sub-topic for DWE -- Driving While Elderly (meaning well over 65, of course, because 65 is NOT elderly, damn it!) Runaway car slams into salon, misses patron by feet: see video An elderly woman lost control of her car in Arizona on Saturday afternoon and crashed into a local beauty parlor, narrowly missing a patron in the waiting room — with the whole thing caught on video. 1.mp4

Mom of 15, who faked death after allegedly boiling newborn puppies, found alive behind false wall not that same old story AGAIN!

Matt Rife befuddled as bra flung at him during stand-up show 'befuddled' is a synonym for 'nauseated', right?

Mr. Purcell is now Miley Cyrus' stepdaddy.

Today's your last day to shop, though you really should've done it weeks ago.

You can win $1 million if you solve this famous problem

TO HELP Y'ALL REMEMBER... https://astoriapost.com/museum-of-nostalgia-in-astoria-come-for-the-toys-stay-for-the-memories When The Museum of Nostalgia in Astoria opened its doors last month, within two weeks there were guests that became regulars and an overwhelming amount of messages online and calls to the museum looking for certain toys, or to sell and even donate their collectibles. The part toy store, part museum offers its visitors a portal to simpler times and innocent joy-when toys were brought to life by childhood imagination. The museum is filled with thousands of toys, games, and other collectibles, mostly from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. The owners, Jeff Zappala and Phebe Taylor, have been collecting toys for fun for most of their lives and wanted to share their world with the community. “We just really wanted to make sure that we can contribute to the community and do something that’s different in this neighborhood,” said Zappala. “We do sell on eBay too, but it’s much more fun to have a kid come in here and [see a toy] and start screaming that he hasn’t had that since he was little,” Taylor added. Zappala and Taylor have been a couple since 2010 and got married in 2015. They both work in education, Zappala teaches second grade and Taylor is a sightseeing guide for a student travel company. When they met, Zappala mainly collected Transformers, and Taylor had a more diverse collection from her childhood era. It became a part of their relationship to help each other grow their collections. “When we got together, we just kept the cycle of collecting,” said Zappala. “Every Christmas, every birthday, we’d buy each other toys and we just kept adding to our collection.” Museum of Nostalgia Eventually they would have floor to ceiling shelves that a friend built for them, but they didn’t initially have a plan in mind to open a museum. Their first taste of sharing their collection came in 2020. While stuck at home during the city shutdown from the pandemic, a friend suggested they audition for HGTV’s Cash in the Attic, which they initially auditioned for via a Zoom call. While the premise of the show is to see how much your items are worth to sell them and put the money toward a major goal, Taylor and Zappala gained something else from participating in it. “The expert on the show is actually just a wonderful comic bookstore owner upstate,” said Taylor. “So he was our first contact with someone who owns a small business in that realm of nerdy, geeky collector stuff. The best thing about the show was not what we made in the auction, it was really meeting him, and he also introduced us to other people that have been very helpful.” When the 31st Avenue Open Street in Astoria became introduced to the neighborhood, the couple used that as a first point of contact with the community to get a better idea of what people responded to and were interested in. They would eventually become regulars at the Queens Night Market in Flushing, which they still attend, but once they found an available space for rent in the neighborhood, they were more than ready to put their ideas to life. “New York City doesn’t really have a lot of vintage toy shops,” said Taylor. Zappala added, “I think if we were just a toy shop we might be doing even better, but we wanted that little touch that separated us from any other toy shop.” Taylor and Zappala admit that with all of the toys and collectibles the museum is filled with, it’s only about 5% of their collection at home. They also have arcade style video games and a vintage Ms. Pac Man cocktail table which they keep in one of their most beloved aspects of the museum, a family room, complete with a plastic covered couch and TV, just like you may remember growing up. Museum of Nostalgia “Her concept was to have that environment of someone’s basement or your family room that you kept your toys in,” Zappala said. “I love this room. I never dreamed of how it would all come together. It just has a great feel.” According to the couple, many visitors often make themselves at home and watch whatever cartoon or movie they might have been playing that day. Overall, the reception from the community has been incredible. In the short time since they’ve opened, they have received great feedback and are regularly brainstorming to create new, fun concepts for their visitors to enjoy. “The turnout has been amazing, people have been so supportive,” said Zappala. “A couple in the neighborhood keeps on bringing different family members in. There was a guy that came in and he was tearing with joy. He was so happy to be in the experience and seeing triggering memories, like “I had this toy when I was younger.” The Museum of Nostalgia is located at 31-27 31 St. in Astoria and is open from noon to 7 p.m. daily, except on Wednesday. Museum of Nostalgia Museum of Nostalgia Museum of Nostalgia

HERE YOU GO:

Wear a fanny pack, but adjust it so the pack is on your hip, not blocking the meat or the buns. This topic brings back the fond memory of the evening at the Night Shift gay porn theater on 8th Ave when I was talking to Benny the cashier at the counter he was at (we were casual friends) and a guy came in wearing a sleeveless undershirt, jeans, work boots and a hardhat. He proceeded to take off the hardhat and his shirt, then took off his boots and jeans (revealing a jockstrap underneath). I gave Benny a quizzical look and he told me the guy's name was Hector, and he did this whenever he went there. Hector put his boots and hardhat back on, handed his jeans and shirt to Benny, and started to go towards the seating area. I groped a butt cheek as he went by, and off we went... now that's a BIG cock!

That doesn't mean that 65 is elderly.

the most interesting part of that story is the fact that the link is from yahoo .com entertainment!

Yes, but you just have to embrace the absurdity that the most expensive team in each league's history will miss the playoffs, probably finish with a losing record, and possibly both finish last. My sister's a Met fan, and her hubby's a Yankee fan. They were hoping for a Subway Series; instead they got two train wrecks.

I FINALLY UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINAL LYRICS TO THIS SONG: [Verse 1] When you're alone and life is making you lonely You can always go poundtown When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry Seems to help, I know, poundtown [Pre-Chorus] Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty How can you lose? The lights are much brighter there You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares [Chorus] So go poundtown Things will be great when you're poundtown No finer place for sure, poundtown Everything's waiting for you [Verse 2] Don't hang around and let your problems surround you There are movie shows poundtown Maybe you know some little places to go to Where they never close poundtown [Pre-Chorus] Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova You'll be dancing with 'em too before the night is over Happy again The lights are much brighter there You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares [Chorus] So go poundtown Where all the lights are bright, poundtown Waiting for you tonight, poundtown You're gonna be alright now, poundtown [Instrumental Break w/ Backing Vocals] Poundtown Poundtown [Pre-Chorus] And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to Guide them along So maybe I'll see you there We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares [Chorus] So go poundtown Things will be great when you're poundtown Don't wait a minute more, poundtown Everything is waiting for you, poundtown [Outro] Poundtown (poundtown) Poundtown (poundtown) Poundtown (poundtown) Poundtown (poundtown)

It may be shocking that he married her that young, but two teenagers having carnal relations? Absolutely unheard of among children who were raised right.

'World's cheapest home' with 'avant-garde floor hole' lists for $1 in Michigan

He's been accused by a 2nd girl.

Elderly NYC beach shark attack victim had 5 surgeries in 8 days, now has permanent disability The 65-year-old Queens woman who narrowly survived a shark attack at Rockaway Beach earlier this month underwent five surgeries in eight days — and now has a “permanent disability,” her family said Thursday. Tatyana Koltunyuk — who lost a large piece of her left leg above the knee — will likely need more surgeries along with years of physical therapy, her daughter and son-in-law said. It's so sad that this YOUNG woman not only has to live out the many years she has left with this disability, she also has to live with having been slandered by @WilliamM's favorite newspaper, the NY Post.