Grecco's Pizza of Bedford, IN

Grecco’s is the jam. They don’t have a public restroom but that’s okay. The soda flows. I’ve only had their hand tossed pizza but they also have thin, deep dish, and “chicago style”. I do consider chicago style and deep dish to be the same thing. So I would like to know what Grecco’s thinks of the difference. They’ve likely had the same menu for decades. The picture on their website shows a square pizza, so their version of deep dish might be more like a Sicilian or a Detroit-style pan.

Let’s talk ratios. Grecco’s hand tossed pizza is a 2.5cr/3ce/3ch.  I’ll rate their crust 3.5/5. It’s very airy for a midwest style hand tossed, giving it a new yorky quality. It’s not exceptionally chewy but the flavor is great. Yeasty and somewhat sweet. 

Their sauce gets a 3/5. I could eat a bucket of it but it’s not super memorable. For overall quality, they get a 3.5/5. They’re in Bedford so I have to use standard standards.

For style, they get a 4/5. Their pizza is really satisfying. The walls are wood paneled. Their halloween decorations are old. They even have stained glass panels attached to their windows.

Grecco’s get a score of 70%. I love it!

Pajama Sam in No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside

I started playing this game hoping to get relaxed enough to do a number of creative things that all require a little extra patience.  It took me about an hour to get through to the end, but that's okay.  I didn't want to spend all day on it.  Still, an hour seemed pretty short so I read the walk through and found out the adventure puzzles are actually different every time you start a new game.  Pretty cool, huh?  

I know it's not always cool to play a kids' game when I could be jamming some Call of Duty and shelling out some serious cash for an Xbox.  Sometimes it's nice to play an easy adventure game and see if the realm of things you enjoyed in the 90s can still hold up to today's standards.  Truly, Humongous Entertainment never left us hanging in their long stream of timeless hits.  They spared no effort in making Sam's closet into a truly magical place.  The world within is full of interesting characters and almost everything can be interacted with.  I'd like to see the singing carrot front a punk band.  He's a vegan anarcho-socialist with the voice for punk.  I was inspired.  

Skittles' Water Enhancer

From day one, I’ve been a fan of water enhancers. They are often cheap and can be delicious, energizing, fortifying, and hydrating. So of course I had to try Skittles’ take on water enhancement. I love how they give us four different flavors in one box. At $1.99, it’s an easier commitment than $1 for one flavor of Crush, which might not even be good. Skittles’ water enhancer is also a good deal because for $1.99 I got a total of 20 pouches, more than enough to flavor 320 ounces of water. Enough to fill over five two liters.

I never knew red skittles were supposed to be strawberry flavored. Somehow I figured it was punch or cherry. The strawberry might be my favorite of the bunch. While I usually don’t go for strawberry flavor, I think it’s improved by the drink’s skittly sweet finish. While orange is almost always my fave, followed by grape, these two flavors just weren’t as tart as I prefer them.

The green apple looks really good but it’s just not my bag. To me, it’s better than most green apple flavors because it’s less tart than usual. I do think lime would have been a better choice for green. 

Growing up I drank a lot of mixtures of Aldi’s powdered fruit drink. Gremonaide was a good one, as was Grorange. You know sometimes it pays to experiment, so I made a skittlicide,which turned out to be more delicious than any of the regular four. It would be really great if they made tropical and very berry version of the skittles’ water enhancer. Tropical skittles are awesome.

Stay out of the Bathroom by R.U. Slime

 

Back when I wasn't allowed to read Goosebumps, I bought this book.  I was in fourth grade.  FYI, for this blog, I'm only writing about books I've read since I entered the zone.  So I did read this book just yesterday and I did have to order it from Amazon.  

They call it a parody but it's not really.  Stay out of the Bathroom doesn't have much to do at all with Stay out of the Basement.  Stay out of the Bathroom is written from the perspective of an extra rambunctious 12-year-old named Joe.  Instead of trying to be actually funny, R.U. Slime just talked a lot about bathrooms and barf.  Edgy for the demographic.  I guess it did tickle the giggling mischief maker within.  

It's funny what kind of memories turn-up when you're rereading something 25 years later.  Joe's bathroom was, in my head, my own bathroom at the time.  My sister and I shared the upstairs bathroom, between our bedrooms.  One time I left an empty handi-snacks container in the waste basket and my dad yelled at me for attracting ants.  He would have caught it sooner but you know how it is.  He was more into the big bathroom downstairs.  

If any of you all want to borrow this book, feel free to let me know.  I know it's a rare one!

"The Clownward Spiral" by Terry the Horror Clown

Terry the Horror Clown is a character created by Boo Dudes of Nashville, TN. Most of Boo Dudes’ releases are intelligently crafted, halloween-themed parodies of popular styles. If you dig into their other material I think you will be pleased at their mastery of dracula style vocals and gothy, chorused guitars.

This release is quite different from all of that. I was expecting horrorcore of some kind but I don’t think that’s what Terry’s doing. His beats are often more industrial than hip hop and his vocals are always auto-tuned. Actually, I think KLOWNSH1T feat Beppo! would make a great radio song for all seasons. I really liked Beppo. It would be cool to hear some of his solo material.

Dracula’s DUI is super catchy. I really dig how the auto tune fuels a constant stream of melody. I feel inspired to listen to a lot more industrial music but I know it won’t be as entertaining as this. Have you ever wondered how a clown sounds when they’re being stabbed to death? Me neither but I really enjoyed hearing it in Oops! Another Stabbing feat. Beppo and Dem Funnel Cake Boiz.

I like songs about stabbings and candy and stuff but I’d really like to hear more lyrics about Terry’s personal life. Where is his hood? What made him decide to become a clown? I like how most rappers are often rapping about their cred. It makes them seem human, as if they need validation. Terry isn’t like that. He doesn’t need to impress you. He’s a true psychopath.

About Reviews

One of my best readers asked me the other day about my review of Kurt Vonnegut’s Man without a Country. I didn’t talk about the book much at all. My other readers were probably also perplexed. Sorry.

I will try to do better though I don’t remember what Man without a Country was really about. It was more like a collection of essays. He talked about what people were meant to do. He talked about walking to the post office to mail his drafts instead of emailing with his editor. He talked about how the 1970s were a good decade for music.

About my reviews though. Let’s not call them reviews.  I don’t think my opinions are as valuable as my experiences.   At one time I decided to make a list of every book I read and figured it might be a good idea to record my take-aways and figured it would be a good thing to put in my blog.

There are going to be a lot more book reports, after all.   I have posts written and scheduled for the next few months.  Thanks for coming to the zone.

I read this book (Stay Out of the Basement by R.L. Stine)

 

Thriller number two for this spooky season, this is actually my first Goosebumps book.  As a child I wasn't allowed to read them.  I don't know why, maybe my parents thought Goosebumps was evil.  Anyway, my folks got me an e-reader for my 26th birthday and I downloaded the whole goosebumps collection so maybe I'll read another this year.  

Stay Out of the Basement was pretty good, actually.  I think sometimes kids have much better taste in books than adults do, since they are more regularly expected to read literature.  R.L. Stine did not disappoint and I'm really glad he got so many (other) kids reading.  Still I wasn't scared.  Let's get scary!

Look at these non-scary alternative covers!

I'm not scared!

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

 

This one was also a loaner from my pal, Zach. In a way, I resent Kurt Vonnegut... the whimsical existentialist, living the aspirations of every twenty something with a pen and a pack of pall malls. Still none of them will ever get to be the next Kurt Vonnegut. The world only needed (maybe) one and I do resent the crud out of him; always bragging about smoking pall malls. So arrogant. Hating semicolons. Are fragmented sentences really so much more bad ass? Let's remember. He was from the old world, before it was decided that cigarettes should be super expensive and only consumed at certain places at certain times, designated by those who intend to keep us under control and dead when we are no longer exploitable.  

What is with Vonnegut's arrogance? Is that just how the greatest generation were?  I guess they didn't grow up to see everything they've ever done become a subject of mockery on the internet. In a way, maybe I just resent my own lack of confidence. Part of why I read a lot is to get a better grasp on what makes writing good, in hopes of writing better things myself. Regardless I have a hard time bringing myself to create something I know is going to be somewhat humiliating.  

And so it goes. Thanks Kurt. I know probably had the best intentions. I know you were actually a real special guy. You probably never meant to discourage me and remind me what a self-loathing, wretched, shitty writer I am. Let's blame social media.