Dead Dog Saloon

On our recent trip to Ocean City, NJ, we stopped into Sea Isle City, NJ for a night. After checking out some shops, we stopped in early for some brews at the Dead Dog Saloon at 39th & Landis. The Dead Dog features a big rectangular bar on the first floor, a stage with live acoustic music almost daily, average bar food, typical bar decor, and a large flat screen TV for sports.

After a few Smithwicks Irish Ale, we headed out to Marie’s Lobster House to have a huge seafood dinner right on the bay. The entrees range from $18 - $80 and up. I settled on a medium priced Mahi Mahi with mango salsa.

We decided to head on back to the Dead Dog Saloon because it was so chill there. A crowd was forming, and we watched the rest of the Phillies game. The bartender even hooked us up with some free brews. I went outside to put some money into the meter and when I came back in, I was approached by a semi-manager looking dude that said that I had to cover up my Jameson shirt with a collared shirt. Suddenly, after 9:00 p.m., a strange new dress code had come into play. I found this to be hilarious, especially since the place was nothing that special. I rented one of their shirts on hand for $10, flipped up the collar, buttoned up the buttons, and looked like a total idiot, basking in the glory of the goofy garment rule they had. Girls could wear whatever they wanted, as I noticed that a girl was wearing a sweatshirt with graphics on it, and she said, "You’re a guy. That’s what they do here," as if I was an idiot.

Here I am wearing my problematic Jameson t-shirt, which I received on my 30th birthday from Mike Murray. Don’t wear something like this to the Dead Dog Saloon!

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Springfield, PA Parade

Yesterday, we went to see my Dad, Raymond Franke, march in the Springfield (Delaware County) 4th of July Parade with the American Legion. This, of course, was eventually followed by going to my parents’ house and pigging out on a big breakfast.

My Dad, centered, kicked off the very beginning of the parade with the American Legion.

Springfield, PA is very Republican. These guys threw out free Republican Party koozies for all of your beverage needs.

Pipes and drums!

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Kutztown PA German Festival

For the second year in a row, I headed to the Kuztown Pennsylvania German Festival in good ole Kuztown, PA. I always love visiting Kuztown for the memories alone, having spent 4.5 years there earning my B.S. in Telecommunications with a minor in Evan Williams whiskey.

The Kutztown PA German Festival is loads of fun for anyone that enjoys to casually walk in the sun, gorge your face with fatty varied foods, drink beer, check out some antiques & hand crafted goods, listen to live music, watch an ox get slow roasted, and maybe learn a thing or two about the days when English was hardly spoken in Berks County.

Melissa and I decided to eat something that we never had before, so we tried these banana fritters. Eight pieces of gloriously fried bananas sprinkled with powdered sugar. You need to get your potassium somehow.

Who doesn’t enjoy a hex sign or two? They are loads of fun. Which one will you buy?

A simple "Lemon Drinka" may have been the healthiest thing to eat at the Kutztown PA German Festival.

What is that guy doing with his left hand in his pocket? Hmmmm…Melissa almost knocked down this little PA Dutcher Dude. Be careful if you plan to lean on him with all of your might.

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Dimitri’s in Queen Village

So, Melissa and I recently celebrated our 3rd year together by going to one of our favorite BYOBs: Dimitri’s in Queen Village. I love the no-frills quick-serving fun lively & loud atmosphere that this Mediterranean restaurant offers.

Dining as a couple, we have finally realized, mixed with the delicious bread, that 3 small plates is plenty ‘o food for us. We settled on the same thing that we got there last time, I believe, which is: scampi, grilled vegetables, and the avocado citrus salad.

Of course, we downed a bottle of moderately priced cabernet, and I have no idea what the heck that dessert was, but it was quickly devoured. We ended up getting ultra boozy, and wandered around the nearby Fabric Row, posing with mannequins and wondering why one entire block smelled like moth balls.

Melissa has a moment with the mannequins.

Melissa is absolutely amazed by something, most likely due to the wine.

Aimlessly walking through intersections, Melissa raves about the grilled vegetables at Dimitri’s. Sadly, we are heading to the South Street Starbucks in this photo for an evening caffeine jolt.

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Virginville Film Festival

Last night, Melissa and I attended the 4th annual Virginville Film Festival at Eckerton Hill Farms in Hamburg, PA.

Taking place above a pond on a grassy hill, the festival displays "10 minute tops" films and videos from area Berks County artists and beyond. For a submission fee of $10, practically anyone with a film / video to present can let it shine that night in the dark serene farm sky.

With the videos / films projected on a large screen, people gather on the hillside to watch the fun unravel all night long, with this year’s total footage easily reaching four hours!

A free keg of Legacy Midnight Wit, free desserts, and a variety of Lara Bars were on hand for chowing on, along with excellent authentically made tacos for sale.

Also for sale were very cool Virginville Film Festival t-shirts, buttons, as well as a DVD of the entire night for just $5.

If you like homemade, DYI, non-pretentious videos made by amateurs and professionals alike, you should definitely check it out next year. It’s like a high-definition YouTube in a rural sky.

The bathrooms of the Virginville Film Festival await you!

Melissa forgot her glasses, so we had to walk alllllll the way back to the parking lot. She thinks it’s funny.

Plenty of custom hand made signs were everywhere to let people know that they were on the right track.

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Phillies Summer Solstice Fun

After the Magic Garden fun, I met up with the Virginville Crew and Richie-Rich, along with the Celebrity Kids Duo for a smoldering hot day at Citizen’s Bank Park. Being the longest day of the year and sitting above right field made for non-stop sunlight action. Luckily, I wore sun screen and kept getting up to eat as much as possible. We ended up at Johnny Brenda’s, of course. Where else?

Richie Rich enjoys a hot dog and a brew. That’s a New Hampshire shirt he’s wearing, not a Yankees shirt. (A drunk guy in the bathroom was barking at him about it.)

Jen and Wayne chillin’ in the sun.

And the sun keeps hanging on. Richie Rich sporting a beard longer than Wayne’s?

Wayne and his blue cast, soon to be departed from it.

Wayne outside of Johnny Brenda’s with his Smurf blue cast.

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Philadelphia’s Magic Garden

Philadelphia’s Magic Garden at 1020-1022 South Street is a site to behold. I recently went there for the Summer Solstice Reverie event which featured improvisational dance and music. As you walk through the pathways, you never knew what you’d bump into performance-wise.

The best part about the Magic Garden is that you can actually rent out the mosaic of beautiful madness that it is for weddings, parties, events, etc. Very cool.

Check out some video and photos below:

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Boston Cookies

A great new way to get fat is to eat an all natural Boston Cookies Chocolate Chip cookie. Sure, it’s vegan, has zero trans fat and no hydrogenated oil, but just one of these bad boys has:

• 400 calories
• 14 grams of total fat
• 5 grams of saturated fat
• 460 miligrams of sodium
• 26 grams of sugar

This cookie was moist yet crumply and sat in my stomach like a brick holding me down and forcing me to watch bad TV. The chocolate chips are void of tasting like chocolate at all. Enjoy!

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Trio

Last night, Melissa and I went to Trio, a Thai cuisine BYOB, in the Fairmount section of town that first opened just over 2 years ago. Upon entering Trio, the place looks tiny, as there are only a few tables on the first floor. But the upstairs has ample seating and an outdoor deck as well. It was a gorgeous breezy night, so we sat out on the deck overlooking a very quiet block.

Located at 2624 Brown Street, Trio is far removed from busy Fairmount Avenue, and instills a very relaxing atmosphere. The most expensive dish on the menu is the "Pink Peppercorn Filet Mignon" at $19. Most dishes are very moderate in price. I delved into the "Seafood Hot Pot", which is a medley of baked jumbo shrimp, calamari, scallops, mixed with glass noodles and scallops. Very hearty. Melissa enjoyed a "Baked Atlantic Salmon" with Sake Dijon mustard sauce. And of course, I always get dessert and settled on the Marzipan.

We then proceeded to get a drink at the London Grille, which is a great place to watch the Phillies game, especially when they win 20-2 like last night. Hellzzz, yeah!

Here’s where Trio is in Fairmount:

View Larger Map

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Sega Master Dork

Back in 1987, everyone was getting the 8-bit Nintendo. Of course, I wanted one too, but I decided to get Nintendo’s 8-bit competitor at the time: the Sega Master System.

At the time, Sega hardly had any games at all in comparison to Nintendo, and their marketing & packaging was far inferior than Nintendo’s. In Japan, it was a different story, as they had more games to choose from and seemed to spend more money on advertising.

For example, here’s the American "Alex Kidd In Miracle World" packaging:

Oh, that hypnotic simplistic grid with clip-artish illustration.

And here is the Japanese packaging of the same game:

Much more exciting!

I can’t tell you how many lame hours I spent in grades 7 - 9 playing the 8-bit Sega Master System. But, what could I do? I was a total dork and soon realized that I actually wasn’t going to be the next Mike Schmidt…or even Steve Jeltz for that matter. It really didn’t help with the ladies being holed up in my bedroom, mapping out role-playing games with pen and paper either.

Of course, seeing things like this didn’t help me either.

For all you Sega dorks out there, there’s a YouTube user named talbot1939’s that video tapes himself kicking ass and easily winning several games with ease. Brings back some memories! Here he is conquering the game "Black Belt":

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