Cinco de Cansado

¡Feliz Cinco de mayo a Ustedes! Normally I would call for a rousing trip to the cantina to sling back some margaritas and burritos, but I'm afraid my fiesta blood is flowing a little slowly today. I had THE absolute worst night of sleep last night, and I'm not exactly sure why. I went to bed around the normal time of 11pm last night and laid awake, WIDE awake until about 4:45 am. Just in time to catch a few winks before my 5:30 wakeup call. Needless to say, I'm in no mood for parties and have become a basic walking zombie for the day. In order to feel like I somewhat celebrated the holiday today however, I treated myself to a Corona after work with a colleague (never TOO tired for beer) went and got some sushi take out (unfortunately not feeling the Mexican fare tonight) and retired almost immediately to my bed. I took a nice nap, and feel a little better now, but hope that my little bout of insomnia doesn't become habitual.

In other Cinco de mayo news, a local news station, in honor of the holiday, aired a running strip along the bottom of the screen during their early morning and late afternoon broadcasts claiming that today is "Mexico's Independence Day" and compared it to the 4th of July. As I'm sure you all know (and if you don't, you would most certainly look it up before broadcasting it on cable television) that in fact Mexico's Independence Day is NOT el cinco de mayo but rather el dieciseis de septiembre and today commemorates something quite different. Perhaps Mary Lou Rosenmeyer from Kennywood tipped them off to this bit of misinformation. Yet again, our local news source working for you! ¡Que tengan un buen y feliz cinco de mayo!

Durty Nellies et al

Eat your heart out Jen-nay, I made my own Guamalee yesterday. (Please note the intentional placement of durty nellies just for you). As I was browsing the produce section of the grocery store yesterday (which is my favorite part of grocery shopping) I decided to make guacamole on a complete whim. And I must say, it turned out flawless.

In other food news, my flour tortilla package recommends that if you have children who are partiularly picky eaters, you should try this delicious recipie: "Hot Corned Beef Roll-Ups with lettuce and spicy dressing". What planet did the marketing staff and kitchen gurus at Azteca flour tortilla company come from? That, to me, sounds like the most ridiculous item to make for a picky eater. No thanks Azteca.

I'm also waiting with baited breath for the season premier of Top Chef on Bravo. As the countdown on the right hand corner of my screen winds down, Bravo is re-airing the season finale of Project Runway, which is a show I mistakenly got sucked into. Mainly because they show re-runs of it constantly and I always stop when there is nothing else on. I guess you could call it one of my guilty pleasures. I secretly love it when Heidi Klum says "Auf Wiedersehen". I did, however, find the winner Christian incredibly annoying. Just a little too flamboyant and over the top for me (can you believe it?).

Yin'z Want Some Guac?

It looks like Rick Sebak will have some new Kennywood memories to rant about on the next PBS special. Complete with serapes and maracas. Oh wait, those are Mexican not Spanish. I'm just trying to be silly. In case you haven't heard, Kennywood is being bought by a Madrid-based company called "Parques Reunidos". And, according to the news, this company buys and owns amusement parks all over the world. Being a Pittsburgh implant, I've never really shared the nostalgic passion for Kennywood as many of my cohorts do. Yeah, the Racer's cool, Potato Patch fries...whatever, Noah's Ark...creepy. I've actually only ever been there a handful of times, but every time I've gone, it's been enjoyable. So, I can see why some people who grew up with "Kennywood Memories" might be a bit miffed by the sellout. However on Channel 4 news yesterday afternoon, Mary Lou Rosemeyer, spokesperson for the park, set all the Yinzers at ease (or at least the racist ones) when she assured Pittsburgh that they do not expect big changes in the park. No they do not expect it "to become a giant taco stand", end quote. Thanks for the careless and stereotypical comment Mar! Well, it would be stereotypical if tacos were Spanish. I think the comment might have been a little snappier, maybe even laughable had it been a paella (or pie-ella) stand. Or even a tapas bar. But a taco stand? I'm sorry Mary, I thought you were in public relations. I thought it was your job to speak to the public. Oh, it is? Get a new job. In her defense, she apologized later that day, and claimed it was meant to be a silly and lighthearted comment. Which, I don't doubt it was meant to be. However, it was careless AND stupid. I mean, if you're going to make a mildly offensive ethnic joke on public television, at least get the punch line right.