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23 Kasım 2012 Cuma

Bobby's Burger Palace - College Park, MD

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
What a storm! I hope everyone is safe because Sandy was quite destructive, but thankfully our part of Rockville wasn't affected much. Just a few hours without power.

So we haven't started our 'wedding' diet yet, so I'll just continue to write about fattie places like Bobby's Burger Palace. The Fi (I guess that's his new name? Let's test it out.) visited the University of Maryland location. We met at UMCP, and things have changed. We never had nice buildings and restaurants like this when we were there! I'm not that bitter though...

The name is self-explanatory - they serve burgers. Gourmet ones created by Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay to be exact. The interior is bright with warm lighting. It's filled with bar seating/communal tables and very comfortable chairs that spin! It's a casual place where you order/pay at a register, they give you a number, and they bring food out to wherever you are sitting.

Many of the burgers are named after cities and characterized by a food that represents them. For example: The Fi ordered The Philadelphia Burger is topped with Provolone Cheese, Griddled Onions and Hot Peppers ($7.75). He thought it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

If you're not in the mood for a burger, they offer sandwiches, salads, sides, milkshakes and other beverages. Also, if you don't eat beef, you can substitute the beef patty with turkey or chicken breast.

I wanted a flavor explosion so I ordered the Bobby Blue Burger with Blue Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato $7.75), and it wasn't as pungent as I was hoping. Again, it was an ok burger, but nothing particularly special. Ray's Hell Burger's equivalent is much better.

I love Sweet Potato Fries ($3) and these came with a Honey Mustard Horseradish Sauce which was awesome.

If you like dipping sauces, they have a variety including JalapeÃƒ±o Hot Sauce, Chipotle Ketchup, Burger Sauce, and Barbecue. Sadly none of them really stuck out for me.

Overall, we weren't wowed. So if we were visiting our Alma Matar again, we'd probably stop by Cluck U. However, I will say their service was impressive. We weren't there for long, but 3 different times someone would check on us. Pretty nice!

8150 Baltimore Avenue
College Park, MD 20740
240-542-4702
www.bobbysburgerpalace.com
Bobby's Burger Palace on Urbanspoon

Mark's Duck House - Falls Church, VA

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
Ah dim sum. I don't get to have it often because the bf doesn't like small dishes...pshhh! Well that's what friends are for! One of my friends took me to Mark's Duck House - her favorite spot for Sunday dim sum. The restaurant has been around for over 20 years serving Hong Kong-style cuisine. As their name suggests, they are known for their Peking Duck. However, we didn't get a chance to try it.
Located in a shopping center, there is plenty of free parking, but it can get crowded.

This place is smaller than other restaurants that offer dim sum, so it was PACKED! We took a number when we got through the crowd waiting by the door.

They offered many of the same dishes I'm used to seeing as well as some different items. Sorry guys, but I don't have prices for any of these items because they were in Chinese. All dishes are between $2.50 - $7.50 though.

1. Pan-Fried Chives Dumpling - Out of all the dumplings, this was my favorite.
2. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Shiu Mai)
3. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling
4. Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gao)

5. Fried Taro Dumpling - One of my favorite dishes when I have dim sum.
6. Shrimp Noodle Crepe - Best noodle crepe I've tried.
7. Lemongrass and Ginger Oyster - Oyster by itself was the size of my palm.
8. Stuffed Crab Claw - I broke my chopstick trying to cut this. It was massive!

Service was very fast with the carts, they constantly filled our water glasses, replaced my broken chopstick and reminded me that I forgot my leftovers. I thought they were great! Food was on point. Now I just need more dim sum buddies!

6184 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 532-2125
marksduckhouse.com
Mark's Duck House on Urbanspoon

License illegal drivers? You're kidding, right?

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Look out for the steamroller coming your way.

See the paper today? Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-6 (Chicago! Where else?)) said yesterday that he believes he can ram this bill down the throats of law-abiding citizens of Illinois next week (well, he didn't say it quite that way).

Cullerton believes he can jam the bill to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants (no, John, they are NOT illegal "immigrants"; they are illegal aliens!) through the Illinois Senate this next week (Nov. 26-30). And Democratic Governor Pat Quinn says he'll sign it, if it passes the House.

Better get on the phone, folks. First thing Monday morning, since Illinois Representatives and Senators and their staffs have already taken off for the long Thanksgiving week-end. (Hmmmm, why is it that the Friday after Thanksgiving is a paid holiday for so many (government!) workers?)

Let's see; legal, law-abiding citizens of Illinois cannot get the right to carry concealed weapons, but lawmakers seem poised to give illegal people residing in Illinois the right to drive a car.

What part of "illegal" do the legislators not understand? The best way to make the roads safe is to allow only legal drivers to operate motor vehicles and to enforce the laws against driving without a license or registration or insurance! Hello? Just enforce the laws... the existing laws...

Land of idiocy!

Sheriff has a new "ride"?

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To contact us Click HERE

Whose "ride" is parked in the 501 spot at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department?

A sign in the east reserved parking lot clearly identifies the parking spot for the County Sheriff. I think that's still Keith ("Seldom Seen") Nygren.

But there is a mysterious black Mercedes E350 four-door sedan parked in that spot. Did Nygren turn in his b-i-g white Chevrolet Tahoe for fancier wheels?

The 501 spot is Nygren's. That's the spot for the Sheriff. Who would dare park there? What if Nygren rolled in and couldn't get in "his" spot? Some know, though, he likes to park inside the sally port, where his car is out-of-sight and where it's much harder to keep tabs on whether McHenry County really has a sheriff hard at work and earning his $145,000/year pay.

Rumor has it that this Mercedes was confiscated in a drug deal. If so, aren't there specific rules for the use of confiscated or seized vehicles?

Don't they have to be used for stimulate arrests in more drug crimes? If it is now an "undercover law enforcement vehicle", what is it doing in the MCSD parking lot, especially parked right up front in the sheriff's reserved parking spot?

And, if it is an "undercover law enforcement vehicle", under the County Vehicle Policy it can only be driven by a law-enforcement officer.

Or maybe it's really the personally-owned car of an employee. If that's the case, what is it doing in the sheriff's 501 spot?

Who investigates waste or mis-use in the Sheriff's Department? The Auditor? The Law & Justice Committee of the County Board? Anybody? Nobody?

Mystery deepens about Zinke/FBI letters

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To contact us Click HERE
Efforts continue to discover a copy of a December 3, 2010, sent by Undersheriff Andy Zinke to the Chicago office of the FBI. The letter and all copies of it seem to have vanished into thin air.

Zinke apparently wrote to the Chicago FBI office (then headed by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge) about investigation of Sheriff Keith Nygren. On January 4, 2011, the Chicago FBI office replied to Zinke, opening its letter with "We have had the opportunity to carefully review your December 3, 2010, letter ..." That FBI letter was published on McHenry County Blog, and I have a copy of it.

You can read that letter here. Perhaps you will wonder, as I did, about the old-style typewriter font,. the lack of a File Number, and the disclosure of information that the FBI generally doesn't release.

Now, you would think that the McHenry County Sheriff's Department would have a copy of that December 3, 2010, letter; right? Of course, it should have a copy of the letter. Either Zinke wrote it himself or he had his secretary write it or perhaps one of the officers he directs.

There has to be a copy somewhere at MCSD! Records/documents/letters cannot just be deleted on someone's whim or because it "could" look bad if found. There are records retention laws that are to be followed.

However, a FOIA request to the Sheriff's Department resulted in no letter, and a further follow-up with the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Bureau could not pry the letter loose. The McHenry County State's Attorney's Office cooperated with the Public Access Bureau. What happened to that letter?

It is inconceivable that an important letter from MCSD to the FBI would vanish - unless someone wanted it to vanish - or unless it never existed in the first place.

But what about the FBI's January 4, 2011, response to the request from Zinke?

Now the FBI said it has no such letter as the Zinke December 3, 2010 letter. In response to my June 14, 2012, FOIA to the FBI, initial responses were that I could expect a 118-day delay in a final response. In September and October my request was "in progress". And then today I received information that a "No Record" had been sent to me on July 20.

Which, conveniently, wasn't delivered to me? Question for the FBI... If a "No Record" letter was sent to me on July 20, why was I told in August that typical response time was 118 days? And in September and October that my request was moving along through channels?

Is this just the tip of an iceberg? Was there really no "genuine" January 4, 2011 letter? I have asked the FBI to authenticate that letter; i.e., to confirm that it is genuine and was prepared by Angela Byers in her official capacity and was mailed from the Chicago FBI office.

And maybe the December 3, 2010, letter from Zinke to the FBI never existed at all? Then why would Asst. Special Agent in Charge Angela Byers write to Zinke and request to his "December 3, 2010, letter requesting reports"?

22 Kasım 2012 Perşembe

Mark's Duck House - Falls Church, VA

This place is smaller than other restaurants that offer dim sum, so it was PACKED! We took a number when we got through the crowd waiting by the door.

42. The Unofficial St. Patrick's day in Champaign Urbana

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To contact us Click HERE

If you have been anywhere near the campustown on certain Fridays in March, and come up with a huge throng of greenish looking leprechauns, don't start pinching yourself to see if you are dreaming or not. You have just stumbled into the "Unofficial Saint Patrick's Day" in Chambana.

Here is what UofI wiki has to say about it:

Unofficial Saint Patrick's Day, or commonly known as Unofficial, is a local event on the Urbana-Champaign campus, which aims to replace the celebration of the official Saint Patrick's Day holiday with excessive drinking of alcohol.
Champaign bar owner Scott Cochrane created the event to increase business because the week of spring break on the academic calendar usually includes Saint Patrick's Day, which leads students to celebrate away from the campus.
The event is celebrated usually the weekend before the official Saint Patrick's Day holiday. Bars might open as early as 7 a.m., and students wear T-shirts with slogans such as "Drink 'til you're Irish" or "Irish I were drunk." One T-shirt slogan read: "Tap the keg, forget the class... it's Unofficial, so fill my glass!"

Things are not really as rosey as the above note suggests. On this day, you'll find a lot of underage drinkers, passed out here and there, or coming to class drunk. The police (Champaign, Urbana, County, and of course UofI ones) have a field day ... and nab a lot of underage drinkers.

However, things can often get deadly ... a few years ago, a UofI alumnus died when the motor bike she was riding crashed into a pole on Wright street between Green and Springfield. So, be careful when you are driving through campustown , better avoid going through the area altogether.

There is of course, the "official" Saint Patrick's day, but the drinking frenzy is much less on that one.