Colonel's Deli

I have been eating at Colonel's Deli at 4809 Newcom Drive in Knoxville since I was a teenager, and the same couple, originally from Hong Kong, have operated the sandwich shop ever since I can remember. My sister told me that they recently retired, and I regret not being able to tell them goodbye and to thank them for the countless wonderful lunches I have had there over the years. I like the way they did business. You order your sandwich, select your drink from a cooler and pay on your way out. I just called, and Colonel's is open under new management, though they answered the telephone, "Colonel's Cafe." That will take some getting used to.

Happy 31st Birthday,Randal Keith Orton!

HAPPY 31ST BIRTHDAY,RANDAL KEITH ORTON!

All of us fans wish you a blessed birthday.You have a beautiful family,a supportive wife and a cute daughter.Hope all your wishes will come true and continue being the best that you are now!

-Maricon @ Apex Barbie

Knoword

I have a new way to kill time. (Like I needed it?) It's called knoword and it tests your vocabulary skills. It gives you the first letter and the definition. Then it times you to fill in the gaps. WAY addictive, must say.
Thanks to School Library Journal for the heads up.

Queen Latifah Doesn't Hate Cephalopods As Much As She Ought

[/Film]

Change-Bots and Sea Heroes

I'm struggling with allergies or a cold or something today, so if it's all the same, instead of a real post today I'll send you to Robot 6 where you can read my review of Jeffrey Brown's Incredible Change-Bots graphic novels.

Or if you'd rather, there's my article from a couple of weeks ago about my Seven Favorite Sea-Based Superheroes (That Aren't Aquaman or Sub-Mariner). I forgot to link to that one at the time, but people seemed to like it.

Thanks for letting me take the night off. *cough cough*

Making Moons...

Every now and then people turn my art into completely new and wonderful things that I love to share with you. Remember the Mermaid Cake? Or the Owl Plate? The Winter Swan embroidery? Or the Fall Leaves embroidery?
     Well, here's a new one and it completely blew me away. Michael Sublett used my Moon image...

as a template to carve this incredible piece:

Isn't it wonderful!? Thanks for sharing Michael!

Two Observations About the UT Campus

I had occasion to be in Knoxville twice last week, and I drove down the Cumberland Avenue strip to downtown both times. I observed a couple of things that caught my attention. One is that just about every student one sees on the University of Tennessee campus is either talking on a cell phone , listening to an I-Pod or texting as they walk to class. When I was a student in the late '80's and early '90's you saw the occasional student listening to a Sony Walkman, but cell phones weren't common back then. Texting didn't come along until much later. At my age the distraction seems rather dangerous, but then I was invulnerable in my twenties, too.

The other thing I noticed is that every student I saw was using both of their backpack straps, as one would wear a backpack on a hike. That was considered bad form in my day, and everyone carried their backpacks slung over one shoulder with one strap. I always thought of my backpack full of books as a rather formidable weapon, should the need arise, but you sure couldn't wield it as one if it were on your back rather than on a shoulder.

Restaurant Review -- Confused Grill and Bar

I've been curious for several months now about the Confused Grill and Bar at 1805 East Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville, which is convenient to both the justice center, where I work, and our house. It occupies the building that used to house Lowell's Place, which was a popular eatery when I moved to Nashville in 2002. Before that the building housed the infamous Jailhouse Lounge, which even had bars on the windows. "Drinkin' starts at 7:00. Fight starts at 9:00." When I arrived there at 12:30 p.m. for lunch today, the place was deserted, except for the nice lady that waited on me and her child. This surprised me, because Lowell's usually had a busy lunch crowd. I ordered the American Cheeseburger, which came with fries, and I could hear it sizzling as it cooked in the kitchen. With a drink my tab was $7.10, and I gave my server a couple of dollars gratuity. After scoping out the inside of the place and the Confused Bar and Grill Facebook page, I can say the place is more bar than grill, but they serve a great burger quickly. I'm surprised that they don't have more lunch business than they do, but then maybe I visited on a slow day.

Mysta, Agent of M.O.O.N.

Continuing to catch up with Sleestak's Mysta Mondays.

This is one of my favorites so far, mostly because Matt Baker drew it, but also because it has a strong secret agent vibe. Mysta's "vacationing" undercover at a resort when she gets word that a scientist acquaintance of hers (who's been experimenting with some weird stuff called Electro-Ions that Mysta's loaned him) sends word that he's in trouble. I put "vacationing" in quotes because - as Sleestak points out - it's suspicious that she just happens to have chosen a resort very close to where Dr. Svord is conducting his tests.

There's a pretty assistant, tragic murders, secret call signs, a sinister villain, and a brutal henchman, all of which remind me of Bond films. There's even the "gadget" of the Invisibility Cloak (predating Harry Potter by almost 50 years), which Mysta seems more interested in than the Electro-Ions that created it. Curious to see if she uses it in future adventures. It sure sounds like she wants to.

Coloring Page Tuesdays - Baby Tigers love to read!

Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!

Spring!
     Easter comes late this year, so we're not to the bunnies yet. Nope, today we have a tiger. Hope you enjoy him!
     EARTH DAY is coming - April 22nd...
     I've already received a few requests for the high resolution files of my Earth Day images for murals, t-shirts, and canvas bags, and I'm willing to share them with you too. It's my tiny way of giving back for an important cause. So, check out my Earth Day images, and if you need the high resolution files to help promote your non-profit Earth Day activities, I'll get them to you to send to your printer.
     I also have some ready-to-order products in my Zazzle store. There's still time to order - so check it out! (Click the logo.)

     Click here to view the entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection.
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.

     Learn about my bilingual picture book Paco and the Giant Chile Plant ~ Paco y la planta de chile gigante - click the cover.

Old College Inn Moving

Yesterday's post about the change of ownership at the Pie Wagon in Nashville reminded me to write about the Old College Inn in Knoxville, which has been in the same location on the Cumberland Avenue strip since before I attended the University of Tennessee in the late '80's and early 90's. Most all of the restaurants on the strip now are chain stores, and OCI is one of the few places left near campus with local flavor.

OCI has existed in one form or another since 1939, and my dad, who was born only two years before the restaurant began serving UT students, frequented the place when he was a student in the 1950's. He continued to enjoy OCI, particularly their mettwurst and beans, and he took us when we were kids and later as adults. Although I suppose I understand the business considerations, I was saddened to hear that OCI is changing locations after all these years. It will remain on Cumberland Avenue, but it is moving east. I suspect parking for lunch will now be next to impossible.

WWE RAW results [March 28,2011]

Randy Orton confronted CM Punk (WATCH |PHOTOS)
Randy Orton appeared hungry for CM Punk’s head on a platter. And really, who could blame him? Last week, Punk terrorized Orton’s wife on their tour bus in order to lure his WrestleMania opponent into perilous straits. When The Viper arrived to defend his wife, Punk hobbled him with a wrench to the knee.

Returning to his hometown, The Second City Savior boasted about the ambush and theorized that Orton had developed a false sense of security after defeating each of Punk’s New Nexus disciples. Having heard enough, WWE’s Apex Predator confronted his tormentor. Amid the ensuing scuffle, Orton lined up to punt The Second City Savior in the skull. Unfortunately for him, though, his knee wouldn’t allow it. Punk seized the opportunity and instead leveled Orton with a jaw-rattling GTS.

Land of the Lost (2009)

My plan worked. Extremely low expectations married with a view of the movie as a film-within-the-show allowed me to make it all the way through without ripping out my eyes and ears. It would be an exaggeration to say that I enjoyed it, but I was at least able to enjoy parts of it without despairing over What Have They Done to the Show?

I knew I was going to have problems with Land of the Lost as soon as Will Ferrell was announced as the star. I don't much like Will Ferrell's work. Not even Anchorman, the movie everyone reminds me about as soon as I tell them I don't think Will Ferrell's funny. I tolerate him in Elf because I love Christmas movies, but I can't make myself watch it every holiday season. Haven't yet seen him in Stranger Than Fiction, though my resistance to it is weakening. At any rate, Land of the Lost did nothing to change my mind about Ferrell's style of comedy.

I did however like Danny McBride and Anna Friel. This is where it came in handy to see the movie as something that the Marshalls might have had to endure once they got home. Otherwise, I would've been extremely frustrated that Rick Marshall's kids have been transformed into a love interest and an idiotic guide.As it was, I laughed at McBride a lot and Friel was less annoying than she was in Pushing Daisies.

Yes, I know Pushing Daisies was a critical darling and I liked it for the most part, but not for the part where Ned and Chuck couldn't touch and it was Rogue all over again. Or the constant reminder that Ned was keeping a huge, horrible secret from her. Friel was fun and likable in the part, I just didn't dig the uglier side of the show that her character represented.

Holly of course has none of that. Instead, she has the unenviable job of having to admire and respect a character played by Will Ferrell. A character - I'm quick to add - that is designed specifically to be unworthy of admiration or respect. This isn't an Anna Friel flaw, it's a fundamentally ridiculous problem in the script. Nice job by Friel for making Holly attractive and charming in spite of that.

Cha-Ka was stupid though. The less said about him the better.

What I was most curious about - and the reason I wanted to see the movie at all - was what they did with the show's mythology. How much would they include? How much would they change? I like that Grumpy was there (and that Holly named him) and that Enik's an important part of the story (though his motivation has completely changed from the show). I was elated to hear someone mention the Zarn until I saw what they actually did with him. I liked that he had Leonard Nimoy's voice, but he's the Zarn in name only, having nothing in common with the inter-dimensional traveler from the show.

But you know, if I'm a person living in the world of the TV series and this movie is all I know about the Marshalls' adventures, I don't hate it. It's not Good in any sense of the word and parts of it are downright horrible, but other parts are enjoyable and even funny. As a whole, like so many other movies, it's mundane and ultimately forgettable, but that's a blessing and a vast improvement over what I expected going into it.

Buying a Home

Buying your first home can be one of the largest investments you will make during your life. Prepare yourself by learning about the process of home buying and the responsibilities of homeownership at our next Living in Canada talk, Buying a Home, on Monday April 4 at 12:00 Noon. Real Estate Agent Brad Stolson from Remax Reality will be in to answer your questions about home buying, and to let you in on the information you may not already know. This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend.

Pie Wagon in Nashville Under New Ownership

The Pie Wagon is a restaurant in Nashville that serves Southern-style country food, and it is a place I visited for lunch often when we lived in Nashville. (Nashvillians refer to this type of restaurant as a "meat and three.") At the Pie Wagon, they serve you from a cafeteria line, and they always feed you a hearty, quick meal. Carol, the lady who ran the place for twenty years, sold the restaurant recently, and the new owner plans to add breakfast, burgers and wraps. Carol and her son, Jason, were always nice to me when I ate there, and I wish them well. I will have to visit the restaurant soon and check out the changes.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

I just finished reading UNEARTHLY by Cynthia Hand and must say I LOVED it! I rarely write actual reviews, but here's what I said on GoodReads: The relationships were wonderfully honest, clever, and refreshingly new. I loved the characters. I loved the way the mysteries unfolded. Of all the angel books out there that I've read, this is by far my fave. A great read for even those who don't read angel books! And while completely satisfying - there was room for a sequel which I will be anxiously awaiting. (I seldom read two books by the same author - there are so many books I want/need to read, it takes a lot to read a second.) Bravo Cynthia! Here's the trailer...

More Pictures from the Cruise

Here are some more snapshots from the cruise Grams took Sherry and the kids on during spring break.

I'm proud to say Joey tipped these musicians with his own money.

Rainy Weekend at Home

We've been busy and travelling the past couple of weekends, and with rain in the forecast all weekend we've enjoyed some domestic tranquility here at the homestead. Sherry and Sarah did their regular volunteer work over at the animal shelter yesterday morning while I bought our groceries for the week. They also went out for a bit yesterday to visit one of the ladies they know from the shelter whose mama cat had kittens yesterday morning. I cooked us a batch of chicken and white bean chili, and we spent most of the day watching movies. My selections included Iron Man, which I had not seen, and The Blues Brothers, which I can recite by heart. We also watched Marmaduke, which Sherry and I thought was awful and which Sarah loved. It was quite sappy.

Chicken and White Bean Chili

CHICKEN AND WHITE BEAN CHILI

1 cup chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried, crushed oregano

¼ tsp. ground red pepper

¼ tsp. ground cloves

3 cans (15 oz.) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans (4 and ½ oz.) diced green chili peppers or chopped jalapeno peppers

3 cans (15 oz.) or less chicken broth or stock

2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (8 oz.)

Sour cream

Sautee onion and garlic in hot olive oil until onion is tender. Stir in spices and simmer for a few minutes until mixture starts caramelizing and sticking to skillet. Use broth to loosen mixture from bottom of skillet, and to wash contents into crock pot or soup pot. Add the rest of the canned ingredients to the pot and set heat to high. Cook chicken, chop into bite-sized pieces and add to pot. Once the chili is good and hot, reduce heat to low and cook for an hour or so. Serve with Monterrey Jack and sour cream.

NOTE: We've made this recipe several times, and it is quite good, though I'd like it to be thicker. The original recipe called for four cans of broth, and three still makes more liquid than I'd like.

Virtual Ink!

Coming up on Saturday April 2nd at 11:00am is our great new videoconference series for all you aspiring writers out there. Join our hosts at the Canmore Public Library for the launch of Virtual Ink! In the first session entitled ‘Warmup’, Writer in Residence J. Jill Robinson will read samples of her work, talk about her approach to working with writers, and give participants an opportunity to try out a writing exercise or two. An overview of upcoming workshops and how to submit your manuscripts for a private session with the author will be provided. This virtual workshop is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend.

Check out all the workshops in the Virtual Ink! Series:

Saturday April 2 @ 11:00am: Warmup

Saturday April 9 @ 11:00am: To Begin to Begin

Saturday April 30 @ 11:00am: Whose Story Is It

Saturday May 7 @ 11:00am: Writing Your Family

Saturday May 14 @ 11:00am: The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Happy 80th Birthday to Mr. Spock

Spock

Today is the 80th birthday of Leonard Nimoy, who plays Mr. Spock in the classic Star Trek franchise. There is an interesting clip on You Tube of Nimoy explaining his famous greeting, pictured above, which was inspired by Jewish liturgy.

Happy Rocks!

To quote:

Last month our family watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop." We loved it. In fact Gracie was bound and determined to become a street artist when she grew up. I tried to explain that while the art was fun and the story was great, vandalism isn't a good thing.

So this Dad and his kids ("Z-Kids") came up with a wonderful solution.
First, they created a bunch of happy rocks:

Then they put them in places where they might make people smile:

Click ROCK ON! to view the entire, awesome collection!
Thanks to Patrick Girouard for the link.

Shark Jumping and 'Fridge Nuking

I ran across the idiom "jumping the shark" recently on the Amazon Al Dente foodie blog in a post suggesting that the current obsession with bacon on the internet and elsewhere has hit its peak and may be in decline, and this may be so inasmuch as I have not seen a post with bacon on No Silence Here in some time now. According to Wikipedia, the expression is from the Happy Days episode where Fonzie jumps over a shark on water skis, after which nothing on the show could be quite as noteworthy. A similar expression, "nuking the 'fridge" is derived from one of the Indiana Jones flicks, in which Indy survives a nuclear explosion inside a refrigerator.

Power 25 [March 26,2011]

Week in Photos [March 26,2011]

Source

WWE Smackdown results [March 25,2011]

Michelle McCool & Layla def. Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes(WATCH | PHOTOS)
Doing their best “Jersey Shore” impression, Team LayCool emerged to face Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes. When Rosa turned her attention toward an interfering Michelle, Layla took the opportunity to hit the Lay-Out neckbreaker for the victory. Will the flawless duo do the same to Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi in the Six-Person Tag Team Match at WrestleMania? (Match preview)

Bonnie Lass #2

Last month, I checked out Red 5’s inaugural digital-first comic, Bonnie Lass and wrote about it for Robot 6:

[It's] surprising in a couple of ways. For one thing, it’s bawdier and sillier than the other Red 5 books I’ve read. Bonnie Lass isn’t just a description of the main character, it’s also her name. So, as you can tell from the pun, the humor is pretty low-brow. There are jokes about Bonnie’s breast size and plenty of physical slapstick; not really what I’m used to from the company that publishes Atomic Robo and Neozoic.

But just as I was ready to write it off as a disappointing gag-book, it clicked in with an exciting action sequence and finished the first issue with an interesting villain. It also revealed that the story doesn’t just take place in a fantastic version of seventeenth-century Earth. It’s an amalgamation of that and Westerns with a bit of Film Noir and some modern technology thrown into the mix as well. The result is a light-hearted adventure story that owes as much to Indiana Jones as Pirates of the Caribbean. Which, now that I think of it, is exactly the kind of thing that Red 5 publishes.

Now that I've read the second issue, I like the series even more. I'm used to the light-hearted, slightly naughty tone now and appreciate even more a world in which better pirate ships are equipped with GPS. I also like that co-writers Michael Mayne (no relation) and Tyler Fluharty have dedicated a substantial part of the issue to rounding out Bonnie's motivation for wanting to one-up her famous pirate father. That doesn't mean that there's no forward movement on the treasure-hunt plot, but it's nice that Bonnie has good reasons for feeling the way she does and that she's a deeper character than just Cute Pirate Girl.

Mayne and Fluharty have some hard work ahead of them to make Bonnie's slacker friends and brother as sympathetic as she is, but they've already started laying some of that foundation. Bonnie Lass holds a lot of promise.

Diva Focus - Pretty in Beige

WWE.com has uploaded new photos of Kelly Kelly.Her outfit is from the episode of Smackdown before Money in the Bank.

Space Station Against the Sun

The object that looks like a Star Wars TIE fighter in the upper right-hand image of the sun is the International Space Station, with space shuttle Discovery docked to it. You can get a better view of it at Wired Science.

Thundarr Hates Cephalopods

Mysta of the Moon vs the Plant-Monsters of Vitan

I've gotten way behind on Sleestak's Mysta series, so I'm going to spend some time catching up. I've moved most of the comics linking to the Annex, but Mysta's different because - like Sleestak - I enjoy reading between the panels and trying to figure out the subtext. Since I want to keep on doing that, I'm keeping Mysta here.

One of the coolest things about deciphering the story-behind-the-story is that Sleestak and I have come up with different takes on Mysta's tactics. We agree that she's benevolent in her intentions, but passionately protective of what she considers to be dangerous knowledge. Where we differ though is in how far her influence extends and to what lengths she goes to control power. I see Mysta as a mostly benign gatekeeper of knowledge who - with the support of Earth's government - sometimes has to act violently to protect the galaxy at large. I hope I'm not misrepresenting Sleestak, but his Mysta is harsher and controls the government.

In Part 18a, Mysta travels through time and fights killer plants. From which we learn a couple of things: 1) that future bio-chemists wear awesome helmets, orange-scaled Speedos, and little else, and 2) that history seems to remember Mysta kindly. When she goes to the future and visits a school, she overhears a lecture about her in which the professor calls her, "our beloved idol."

That seems to support my view of Mysta, but I can't ignore the possibility that she had a really excellent PR firm spinning her legacy in a positive direction. Even if I'm right though, I can't argue with Sleestak's interpretation of that last panel. Mysta's clearly been kissed. Hard.

Su Blackwell's fabulous book sculptures

This takes reading to a whole new level! Su Blackwell creates the most amazing scenes out of books, even hand-written diaries. It's no wonder her work is so popular with top jewelers and advertisers. She's even made some of her sculptures life size. Oh, to live in a book. You gotta go see: SuBlackwell.com!

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link via Jane Curley.

Fallen Tree at the Cabin

Here is a photograph Laura took of the tree that fell at our cabin in Estill Springs during the storms there several weeks ago. We're just about to burn up the last big tree that fell out there, so once we take a chainsaw to this one we'll be set for firewood for a few more years.

More Cruise Pics

Scary Boong

Joey

Jake

Pirates! Arrrgghh!

Tornado Pounds Greenback

I just got up and turned on the television to learn that a tornado hit Greenback, which straddles the Blount and Loudon county line, last night. Highway 411 was closed overnight, and several homes and other buildings were damaged or destroyed. Greenback is about fifteen miles from where we live in Maryville. I checked outside our house this morning and could discern no evidence of the storm. In fact, I slept right through it.

UPDATE: Ed Rupp just reported that 411 is passable, although a lane is still closed northbound.

Pruning Trees and Shrubs

Spring is just around the corner! For all you weekend warriors who have been stuck inside during this long winter, we’ve got a treat for you. Our new Home and Garden series begins this month and will feature speakers who are experts at home repairs, gardening, and general home maintenance. Join us for our first session, Pruning Trees and Shrubs on Tuesday March 29th at 12:00 Noon. Our guest speaker, Nigel Seymour, will discuss basic pruning procedures for trees and shrubs in the home landscape. This is a free session and everyone is welcome to attend.