#CHUBcon : Blue Moon Horchata Ale

If you've been following me on Instagram or twitter or elsewhere you've probably seen this at some point: 

#CHUBcon 

And maybe you've wondered, " what is that?" 

I once joked with friends that I was going to start a convention for plus sized people (others were welcome too) and call it CHUBcon. A convention for people who are tired of hearing, "You do you know those mcNuggets are bad for you" or "You like Pringles potato chips? I only buy organic farmers market oranges", etc... I said my convention would be for fans who, like myself, enjoyed getting their snack on!! 

If you've ever thought to yourself, "I have to try that bacon flavored..." Or, "they have HOW MANY flavors of kit-kats?!? I wanna try ..." Then CHUBcon is for you. 

I talked about how I'd get all the snack companies to sponsor it and there would be panels revealing all the new stuff coming out... It would blow up and eventually be a comic con for the snack crowd. I also hoped John Goodman would show up that first year as an honored guest.

 In the end, or I should say SO FAR, CHUBcon is just the hashtag I use for food pictures I post.

However, not long ago, my buddy Joe ( SHOUTOUT ) suggested I take CHUBcon to the next level and actually start writing about the stuff I'm trying. 

So, periodically, that's what I'm going to do..,

And it all starts with the item that sparked this idea:

Blue Moon Horchata Ale.

I'd heard they were making an horchata flavored beer several months back and, not seeing it on the shelves soon after , I assumed like the unicorn it was a mythical creature that would only be the stuff of legend.

That was, dear readers, until this week...

Found in a sampler pack, Blue Moon Horchata Ale was billed as "ale with a subtly sweet yet spiced taste ".

My Mexican taste buds were looking to put this to the test.

The first sip didn't taste like much... The second sip was where the cinnamon taste was hiding. And that's where it ended. I did not get any of the "spice" or anything else the beer promised me.

If you took a regular blue moon and put a dash of cinnamon in it, you could make your own.

That said, did not hate this. 

In fact, I would have it again. Though I don't see this as a regular go to drink I will say that it was fun and did taste interesting enough that I wouldn't mind having another.

Happy Uncle Day

Father's Day isn't just about fathers. For those of us, like myself , who for one reason or another didn't grow up with a dad it's more a day to say thank you for all the dudes who made a difference in your life. 

And for me, no man has made a bigger impact on my life than my uncle Bobby.

My dad passed away in March of 1990, when I was 9. A few months later, in June, would be my first Fathers Day without a Dad. But my Uncle Bobby made sure I didn't spend it alone. 

I wish I could recall what we did, or if he and my mom and I even did anything. All I do remember is that they were both there. And looking back on it now, though I didn't realize it as a kid, that was enough. 

My Uncle Bobby taught me a great many things. He taught me almost everything I know about the music that came before me. He  (and my Papo and my cousin Michael .. Who took me to my first game...) taught me about the great game of baseball.  But most of all Uncle Bobby taught me, just by being himself, what a great man should be like. He's the best uncle in the world and my role model. Everyday I strive to be more like him. 

For some reason there aren't a great many cards for uncles on Father's Day.... And this year, like so many since I was 9, I made him a card of my own... 

Love you, Uncle Bobby, more than these words can express ...

Tommy

Happy free comic book day 2014

Happy free comic book day, nerds.

And for non nerds, WHAT is free comic book day?

It's the first Saturday in May in which, each year, participating comic book stores will give out free comic books made by all the major companies. For new and old readers alike, this is great.... Who doesn't like free stuff. 

For people with kids, this is a great way to introduce them to comics and promote reading in general. 

If you have never read comics or read them as a kid (and watch the movies that come out now) and your looking for something to do today, I strongly recommend checking it out. It costs nothing and maybe you will find something new to read.

No matter what type of genre you dig, there literally is a comic for everyone out there... One simply has to take the time to look and discover that next great read is out there...

http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/992 

 

Throwback thursday ... From oct 24, 2012

How I get dressed when nobody is around: I DO NOT put one pant leg at a time... Thats for common folk... Rather, I hook one belt loop to the dresser, one to the doorknob (using bungie chords.. As I'm a plus sized man and don't wanna break the loops),  stand on the edge of the bed and JUMP into those MF's like Michael (Jackson, Jordan, take your pick... Game 6). Also: after every item of clothing put on I look in the mirror for 30-45 seconds and say,"SWAG" to myself ( making a mental note to high five myself at the end of the proccess) THEN: I spend 15 min giving my SnapBack the proper "gangsta lean"... If I'm not wearing a hat, I comb out my beard to give it a Rick Ross like body. If uninterrupted , I've got my total prep time down to 2 hrs, 15 min.... THIS is why I  say my look was premeditated, I'm not playing. Preferred music while doing all this: John Mayer's Your Body Is A Wonderland on repeat... Though Maroon 5 ""Moves like Jagger" sometimes works too... But only if it's Thursday .

Doughnuts, Baseball and all the memories in between...

I woke up Sunday morning and wanted a doughnut. 

And this made me think about my Dad.

It's funny how something so simple can remind you of something else entirely. 

And the thought of this reminded me of Sunday mornings when I was a little kid, waking up and always seeing that pink box that no doubt had my favorite, a chocolate old fashioned doughnut, inside waiting for me.

My parents worked all the time, often times early in the morning and until it was dark outside. I can clearly remember being literally carried (i.e.- dragged... See also: "hurry up boy, we are going to be late") down the stairs ( I'm sorry but a 5 year old legs don't work properly at 5am when he's tired) as they dropped me off at my Mamo & Papo's (my grandparents) house before they went to work. It was at Mamo & Papos house that I slept a few hours and Mamo ( later my Uncle Bobby) would take me to school. 

To say my parents worked hard would be an understatement... But Sunday was usually a day they had off together.

Now, as an adult, I realize you just can't turn off your internal alarm clock and though you don't have to, you still find yourself waking up early for some god awful reason ( as I type this it's just past 7:20 in the am on my day off).

So most Sundays my dad would get up before my mom and I and pick up doughnuts for the morning. 

 Don't get me wrong, this isn't the only thing I remember about my dad. I remember a bunch of other things about him... Being in the car as he drove, Waiting with him, for what seemed like an eternity at Bart, to pick up my mom... going to see wwf wrestling at the cow palace and later, when he worked a second job as a security guard there, telling me all the inside info of what the wrestlers were like backstage (" that George "The Animal" Steele is really smart, he signed this paper for you. And The Barbarian got drunk and tried to pick a fight with another security guy... I wasn't there but I heard about it."). 

 In the more than 20+ years since he passed away I, sadly, seem to forget more and more of him... I can't remember the sound of his voice or if he liked to read as much as I do (I'm going to assume I get that from my mom, who can tear though a huge novel in a few hours). The memory of those doughnuts and dozens of other little, small, memories I have, I hold onto. And treasure. They are all I have left.

My dad passed away on March 12, 1990... A year later, March 16, 1991, my family was gathered together in a memorial service for him... And it was on this morning that my Papo died.

To say my Papo was a larger than life character, at least to me, would be an understatement. I'm fortunate that, to this day, I still get to hear crazy Papo stories whenever my family gets together ( which happens less and less now). It seems he was always into something when he was younger. By the time I came around, he was older, walked with a cane, but we still managed to get into mischief. 

(both he and my dad, I think, passed away thinking THEY were each the first ones to give me my first sip of beer)

In the years before I started school (the years I can remember at least) I spent every day with my Mamo, Papo & Uncle Bobby, at their house, playing with my toys and making a mess. They never complained.

 I would also help Papo tend to the garden in the backyard as it was my job to stomp on the snails that were messing thing up ( I don't know HOW they were messing things up, but it kept me busy). 

More than anything else though, I remember being really little ( maybe 4 or 5 years old) and Papo turning on the tv and showing me the game of baseball, San Francisco Giants baseball to be specific. He and my Uncle Bobby explained the rules and all that and how The Dodgers were bums ( still are) and I was hooked. From then on, the Giants were my team. Sadly, he never got to see The Giants win that first World Series in 2010 but as they recorded that final out, I thought of him and all the other Giants fans that didn't get to see this and how they were there in spirit.

The love of the game, the love of the team... THAT was the greatest gift my Papo ever gave me.

I went back and forth all week, deciding if I was going to write something about the anniversary of their deaths. And if I did write something, would I even share it. I write this for nobody other than myself. 

Last week marked the anniversary of their deaths. And though the time I got to spend with each man was not nearly long enough I'd like to think they'd be proud of the man I've become, the man my Mom & my Uncle Bobby raised me to be... The life I've made ( and am still carving out for myself) and...  last but not least, I'd at least get a high five or a slap on the back from both for the beautiful woman I've found to love and who I can't wait to call my wife. 

I suspect they are doing just that, high giving and, okay, maybe having a few beers, and still looking out for me from above.

I love and miss both of you more than simply writing a few memories down could ever express, 

Tommy

Large Marge

When I was little watching peewee big adventure and the part w/ large marge would come up, I'd ask my mom to come into the room and watch it with me, so I wouldn't be in the room by myself...thankfully she always did... 

Sadly, I can't watch Large Marge's ghost face to THIS day... seriously, when that part comes up, I look away... 

The 21 Most Traumatizing Moments From '80s Kids Films http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/the-21-most-traumatizing-moments-from-80s-kids-films

Goodbye, CandleStick Park

I only ever got to go to one 49er game (the only NFL game I've really ever been to, actually) and it was a preseason game against Seattle in '96 I think it was. Naturally,  the Niners won that game.

( side story: I gotten trouble after I got home from the game because I lied and told my mom that The bus I was taking home didn't show up till later, however we stayed and were on "the point after" post game show on KTVU. Since we are in the front and my mom watch the game she saw me on TV and caught me. Grounded for two weeks for lying.)

But for me, memories of BEING at candlestick ( or 3com or whatever they changed it too then changed it back to...) will ALWAYS be about San Francisco Giants baseball. 

I can remember, Clearly, in 1990 when my cousin Michael took me to my first game at The Stick. I was in the fourth grade and won some award that got me free Giants tickets. The game was in either April or May and I think my dad was supposed to take me but unfortunately he passed away in March of that year. My cousin took me and it's a day and game I've never forgotten. The San Francisco Giants lost the San Diego Padres with Kevin Mitchell popped up in the 9th. 

A few years later it was me who is the older cousin taking my cousin Chris to his first baseball game. 

It was during one of those games with Chris that I got my first and thus far only ball caught during batting practice. The ball ricocheted off one of the bleachers at candlestick and though he was caught on the bottom of a dog pile of people trying to get that ball... it rolled right over to me. I quickly tossed my hat over it and it was mine . ALL MINE. I have it to this day.

I Remember one Sunday in 1997 when my mom just randomly said "hey, do you want to go to a giants game this afternoon?" Naturally the answer was yes. I also Remember from that same game, her buying me a Giants shirt  that, I think, celebrated 40 years the team were in San Francisco..  I wore that shirt for so long, for years after, until it practically had holes in it and then I used it as a pajama shirt. 

Games with friends. Games ( both Giants and Niners) on TV. Wishing I was there in 1989 to see the the Battle Of The Bay World Series and then immediately not wishing I was there when the earthquake hit. 

Will Clark. Kevin Mitchell. Robby Thompson. Dave Dravecky. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. Steve Young. When neon Deion played for both the Giants and the Niners. Matt Williams .Barry Bonds. and being frustrated as hell when Rod Beck would blow a save. 

You know,  I might not have not realized it till just now but candlestick does represent a little bit of my childhood and several great memories that flood my mind at the mere mention of its name. 

I'm sure you, reading this right now, might feel the same way too. 

http://youtu.be/mS9eCDGaNwY