odds and ends

Hey peeps. You missed a hell of a night of Rock Paper Scissors at the Khyber last night. It was damn fun, although I was eliminated in the first round. It came down to the last throw. I had tried to psyche out my opponent, telling him I was going to throw scissors, which I then did. He threw them also. I then told him I was going to throw paper. I thought he would believe me and throw scissors. Then I would double back and get him with rock. But he was apparently hip to my game, as he shocked me with paper and sent me off a loser. The bartender made an amazing comeback in the finals to win.

In other news, voting has begun for Daneen and Graham. Please vote for them for the 10! shows ultimate wedding.

And finally, a happy birthday to former Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. I don’t know anything about him, but his name sounds funny, especially if you try to say it with a lisp.

Johnny Grabs Pizza with high school buddy

On Wednesday, I got an email from my old high school and college buddy Bryan Sterling (middle, with me on the right and my buddy Rob on the left**), aka Creamy B. He said he had a business meeting in Philly on Thursday, and did I wanna grab lunch? So I though to myself, “I gotta get this guy in on the Great Pizza Hunt.” I wanted to go to Marra’s, at least partly because that was the name of a girl who broke both of our hearts in high school. But we didn’t have time, so we went to By George’s at the Reading Terminal. The pizza looked really nice, but it was completely unmemorable. Kind of bland, no real excitement. There are definitely better places to eat at the Market. Of course, before we headed back to the train station, I had to get him to try the Amish pretzels dipped in butter. Those things are freaking incredible. Anyway, here was Bryan’s take:

The “healthy” slice of pizza was surprisingly good. The whole wheat crust was delicious, but the chef pushed the envelope a little too far by topping this pizza with celery. Once I removed the celery this slice was quite enjoyable. My second slice of pizza was a more traditional pepperoni and sausage. Although I did not feel healthy eating it, it went down well and forced me to think about a third slice. I’d rate this pizza experience a 2.5 out of 5 pepperonis (vs. stars). The pizza was good but I know Philadelphia has much better pie to offer.
Yeah, I gotta go with Bryan on this one. 2.5 at best.
***About five years ago, Bryan, Rob, and I (photo, above), who all grew up within half an hour of each other, were all dating women who grew up along the New Hampshire/Mass. border, within 30 miles of each other, by sheer coincidence. The girls didn’t know each other beforehand. Rob and Bryan both got married to theirs. I eat a lot of Chinese takeout.

Rock Paper Scissors League Starts tonight

Jam Master Sean, aka C. Urbanus, is known for more than just hosting quizzo at the Dive. He also runs the local RPS league, which kicks off tonight at the Khyber at 8:30 p.m.. JGT might make an appearance, though there are rumors that Jam Master couldn’t meet Johnny’s appearance fee ($5,000 standard). So far, not a single event organizer in Philly has met Johnny’s fee. Johnny, as you may remember, hosted the first annual Keystone Classic. But enough about Johnny, read more about the new league after the jump:

Continue reading “Rock Paper Scissors League Starts tonight” →

Pepperoni rolls at Zio’s

Alright, we ran into our first controversy on Friday at Zio’s (111South 13th Street). I have been eating a lot of your standard triangular pizza lately. So at Zio’s, which I went to with Rob from MAGMA, I decided to try the pepperoni roll. Now, when I was at college at Radford, we had a restaurant that was very famous for serving crusties, which were essentially pepperoni rolls that you could get stuffed with anything you want. With a hunger fueled by gallons of beer and occasionally the inhalation of deadly marijuana, crazed college students would order dozens of these things at 2 in the morning. So seeing these pepperoni rolls at Zio’s took me back, and I had to order one, although to keep things even, I also ordered a BBQ chicken standard slice. The BBQ chicken slice was fine, nothing amazing, a good solid 3 pepperoni slice. But the pepperoni roll gets a ho-ho-ho my goodness. It is the best pizza product I have had on the search so far. Soft and doughey and stuffed with just enough cheese, it blew my doors. But what can I classify it as? I mean, it’s not really pizza, per se. So can I hand out pepperoni’s based on something that’s not pizza? Let me mull over that while you read Rob’s take:

I give my Sausage 3 1/2 roni–thin crust that is good and doughy, sausage which tasted fresher than alot of the crap you get around the city. Cheese slice–3 roni–not as good as last time, but maybe that is because
last time I was hungover, dunno.
Alright, I can’t give ’em a four because the pizza isn’t four worthy. But they get a three and a half…and you have to try the pepperoni roll (they also have a spinach one, which I heard is good). Oh, and when you get it, ask for a side of ranch. Word.

hey yo

Heading out to take a friend to the airport, then I gotta grab some pizza for lunch. I’ll be back in the office (by office, I mean the dingy little room in my house that has a computer) this afternoon to work on stories and pizza reviews. Until then, learn a few things about the Iran Contra affair. Just because.

Happy Birthday Billy Dee

Hey, today is Billy Dee’s Birthday. In honor of his borthday, I implore you to take the Billy Dee Williams Smoothness Test. Actually, it’s nto nearly as funny as it should be. And remember, before there was Billy Dee, there was John Q. Adams.
RELATED: It’s also Zamfir’s birthday! Zamfir rules!

Traffic Court

Hey gang, not gonna get much done on the site today. First I had pizza with an old friend, which I’ll write about tommorrow, and now I’ve got to go to traffic court. All the while I gotta get questions done for tonight. Anyways, I was kind of excited when I got a comment from Angelo Cataldi yesterday on my MySpace account, saying, “Johnny, good to hear from you, pal. I like your shirt, its beautiful, just beautiful…” Well, I shoulda smelled something fishy when a former sportswriter didn’t give his s an apostrophe. According to Dan over at Blinq, it’s all sham.

Quizzo Winners on 10! show

First of all congratulations to two members of La Salsa Caliente, Graham “Don’t Stop Believin'” Baird and Daneen Stamps, who are engaged to be married. Well, the 10! show (greatest episode ever: February 1, 2006) is having a contest whereas they are going to feature five couples, and the one who gets the most votes gets an all expenses paid wedding. Daneen and Graham will be featured on tommorrow’s show, which airs at 10 am. Voting commences tomorrow at 11 a.m. I’ll throw a link up when voting starts. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Johnny with your contacts at the 10! show, why aren’t you involved in this contest? Great question. Well, I had resigned myself to being an old maid. That is, until I fell in love with fruit salad.

Gayle Force Wins

The Alterna Servers proved to be a force at O’Neals on Sunday, in a private party that inspired Johnny to post his worst pun headline ever. The party was for the employees of Gayle (617 South 3rd Street), a Queen Village restaurant that opened a few months ago to rave reviews. The alterna servers included Ed “Nails” Galluzo, a former member of the notorious Western Omelette.

Hey gang

I gotta go study Spanish. In the meantime, read here about a dude who thinks that the cure for all of our current problems is to eliminate 90% of the current human population. I found thsi story on my buddy Donald’s Imploding America website. Oh, and a happy 42nd birthday to Kid of the dynamic duo Kid n’ Play (he’s the one with the tall hair). Johnny claims he can do that dance move where you hold your left leg in your hand and jump over it with your other leg, but I’m not sure I believe him.
Related: Kid n’ Play “Gettin Funky”