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Useless Things Need Love Too

Tag Archives: Twin City Hive

The More You Know or: A Little Love

14 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It, Rant

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Tags

A Daisy a Day Florists, a/perture Cinema, Airtype, Alkali Hair Studio, Alma Mexicana, BeYou360, Black Mountain Chocolate, Bookmarks, Broad Branch Distillery, Brookstown Inn, Burke Street Pizza, Cafe Arthurs, Camel City BBQ Factory, Camel Pawn Shop, Camino Bakery, Campus Gas, Cin Cin's, Coffee Park, Computer and Technology Services (CATS), Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse, Crafted; The Art of the Taco, Dogwood Hops & Crops and The Trophy Room, Dr. Renea's, Earl's WS, Ed Dean with Cruise Planners, Fair Witness, Fearless WS, Fiddlin' Fish, Footnote, Fortified Futures, Hair Bomb, Happie Food, Hutch & Harris, Image360, Ink It Promotional Products, Jeffrey Adams, Krankies, May Way Dumplings, Monstercade, Mozelle's Southern Bistro, Mr. Barbecue, Old Winston Social Club, Penny Path Cafe, Reboot, Rec Billiards, River's Edge, Ronnie's Country Store, Sally Gupton Photography, Seamless Living, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, SixFour Web Design, Solutions Afoot, Southside Beer Garden, Stallone Frazier Photography, Stell Brew, SunnySide Mercantile, Sunshine Beverage, Sweet Aromaz, Sweet Potatoes, The B-String, The Breathing Room, The Flour Box, The Less Desirables, The Man Who Ate the Town, The Olio, The Porch, The Quiet Pint, The Ramkat, The Tavern at Old Salem, The Tin Can, TimmyVO, Train to Relex Yoga, Triad Speech Consultants, Twin City Hive, Uncle Buzzy's, Vibes Up Winston-Salem, West End Cafe, West End Coffee House, Wise Man Brewing, WSNC

Salutations™!!

You know, Dear Reader, I have clout. That’s a funny word, “clout.” Not Klout, the social media analytics tool that measures your social media importance. I mean real clout. According to one dictionary’s definition, clout is “influence or power, especially in politics or business.” how-to-shop-local-winston-salem

Now, I’m not bragging on that, that’s a heavy cross to bear, but I know people, people know me. I speak about things, I write a somewhat influential food blog/podcast. People tell me things so I can tell others. That has been built up from The Less Desirables to my time producing/co-hosting Sipping NC, my writings, and so on.

My point, again, is not to brag. My point is people entrust me with information with the intention of spreading it around. With this, I will admit that I get a lot of concessions. I get some “freebies.” I get invited to things because of this “clout.”

Many of the things that I “push” are things that are provided by sponsors of one of my podcasts. I understand that. You understand that. I make no bones about the “official sponsors” that I promote or advertise. Those things are posted about are things that are bartered, traded, gifted or whatever. But, they get that all the time and I will absolutely continue to do that, in abundance.

But, there are a lot of companies out there that are worthy of talking about, even beyond my sponsors or trade partners. These local businesses need to be noticed, need your support and need to be on your “must stop” list.

A Daisy a Day Florists, Airtype, Alma Mexicana, Bookmarks, Brookstown Inn, Camel City BBQ Factory, Mr. Barbecue, Sally Gupton Photography, West End Coffee House, Camino Bakery, Jeffrey Adams, Hutch & Harris, Fearless WS, Footnote, Camel Pawn Shop, Alkali Hair Studio, West End Cafe, Computer and Technology Services (CATS), Fortified Futures, Vibes Up Winston-Salem, River’s Edge, Seamless Living, Dr. Renea’s, Happie Food, Image360, Ink It Promotional Products, Train to Relex Yoga, The Breathing Room, The Porch, The Olio, The Tin Can, BeYou360, TimmyVO, Ed Dean with Cruise Planners, Solutions Afoot, SixFour Web Design, Stallone Frazier Photography, SunnySide Mercantile, Twin City Hive, Black Mountain Chocolate, Sunshine Beverage, Broad Branch Distillery, The Ramkat, Earl’s WS, Wise Man Brewing, Fiddlin’ Fish, Triad Speech Consultants, Crafted The Art of the Taco, Reboot, Dogwood Hops & Crops and The Trophy Room, Sweet Aromaz, The Flour Box, The Tavern at Old Salem, Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse, Krankies, Fair Witness, a/perture cinema, Sweet Potatoes, Rec Billiards, Mozelle’s Southern Bistro, Campus Gas, ANY of the artists’ shops or galleries on Trade Street, Ronnie’s Country Store, Monstercade, Southside Beer Garden, Old Winston Social Club, Burke Street Pizza, Uncle Buzzy’s, Cin Cin’s, The Quiet Pint, May Way Dumplings, Penny Path Cafe, Cafe Arthurs, Stell Brew, The B-String, Hair Bomb, Coffee Park (all locations) and many, many more.

The point is, all of these businesses are locally owned (and/or operated) and deserve some love. Sure, I take pride in my sponsors and will do everything to promote them, not just because they’re my sponsors but because they have supported me. I’m not going to mention any of them in this post because, for this post, it’s completely unsolicited recommendations. Every one of these businesses is run by local folks who care about their customers and deserve your attention. Not one of these businesses asked me to say anything. I just think this is the weekend and Christmas is coming up. Gift certificates, stocking stuffers, trinkets, dinners, lunches, beers, spirits. Each one of them can help you fulfill your needs and you’ll help keep them in business. I don’t usually say please, but please show them some love and support. They deserve it.

Until tomorrow, when you may see me in a few of these businesses…
Scorp out!

—
“What local businesses SHARE with corporations is a certain expectation of increased profits in the month of December, which many count on to carry them through bleak months like brutal January and devastating February.” – Dana Moody

Cobblestone Piggyback or: Fair Market

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by TGBII in Food, Podcasting

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Tags

Brookstown Business Center, Burke Street Food Truck Festival, Cobblestone Farmers' Market, DiLisio's, Food, Foodie, Kelly Bone, Old Salem, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, Twin City Hive

Salutations™!!

This week on The Man Who Ate the Town, Kelly and I talk about the Burke Street Food Truck Festival, the Cobblestone Farmers’ Market is back at Old Salem, Brookstown Business Center, and more!

download

Cobblestone Farmers’ Market (©US News and World Report)

 

The Farmers’ Market is a big deal. It’s open during the winter months but not outside and this thing tends to just be a better experience when you can be outside. As I said in the podcast, don’t be afraid of ugly food. Ugly food is still delicious food. Heirloom tomatoes aren’t winning beauty contests but they taste so good!

You can listen to the podcast HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Absolutely love this Farmer’s Market, the location, the produce, the vendors and the people. So glad we went today, even with the rainy day we truly enjoyed it.” – Claire Whittum

The Long Weekend or: Things I Wouldn’t Trade

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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Tags

Cooking, Crafted; The Art of the Taco, History of the World Part I, Mary's Gourmet Diner, Netflix, Sawtooth School, The Man Who Ate the Town, Twin City Hive, Underdog Records, Willow's Bistro, WWE

Salutations™!!

This weekend, from Friday until yesterday was filled with good stuff and I wouldn’t ochange a single thing about it. It was fun, informative, entertaining and just plain great.

It started on Friday. I picked up 3B from school and we came home to watch the latest in our run of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. Then, the BCPF came home early and we went to have some artsy-styled beer at the Sawtooth School‘s Arts & Craft Beer where we met up with Beer Dad Paul, his Pilot, Susan, our friends Jim, Jordan and Michael & Karen. After we had about 12 different brews, we headed to one of our favorite restaurant, Willows Bistro, where we all broke bread together as well as more imbibing. We really enjoyed our evening.

Saturday, The BCPF and I were up and to Mary’s Gourmet Diner and then to Underdog Records (of course). We nabbed a great haul (see yesterday’s post) and had some great coffee at Twin City Hive. We came home and listened for a few hours and went to our standing bar rezzie at Willows (yes, two days in a row). As we were going to Willows, we got a text from our pals Stacy and Paden, inviting us to come over and hang out on the deck and do a little more imbibing. So, we had a great meal at Willows then went and hung with S&V and Beer Dad Paul. We talked life, podcasting, rekkeds and just had a wonderful time.

Sunday came and we kind of lazed around before going to eat at Crafted: The Art of the Taco and picked up 3B. We went grocery shopping (I really enjoy grocery shopping) and came home to watch History of the World, Part I in the latest “movies that we (The BCPF & I) grew up on.” Then we started dinner, which was probably one of my favorite things we’ve ever made here, “In the Home Kitchen.” It was a peanut curry chicken. Delicious. I’ll post about that on the food blog. Then it was a WWE PPV and we had fun watching that.

So many great times with my best girl. Many great times with my boy. Many great times with our friends. So much that I wouldn’t trade for anything. We are so lucky to have what and who we have in our lives.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Stand-up philosopher. I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension.” – Comicus (Mel Brooks)

Escaping Neverland or: How We Found a Way Around

11 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

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Tags

Amazon, Charlotte, Costco, Discogs, IKEA, The BCPF, The Less Desirables, Twin City Hive, Underdog Records, WSNC

Salutations™!!

In Sunday’s “Silent Sunday” I said that we had purchased a cabinet for our LPs. This was greatly needed because we’re wracking up the number of LPs in the house and they’d become stacks, which isn’t good for the records themselves. We had been looking online for some stuff, Amazon, office supply stores and what I believe to be Hades, even though I’ve never been there, IKEA. Some people love it and that’s great for them.

unnamed (1)

Yes, I reused the picture from Sunday.

I just know that The BCPF and I are both impulse buyers, or at least have a tendency to be, and I didn’t want to risk being sucked in to the gingerbread house for the witch to eat us after tempting us with delicious treats. I’m not saying I won’t go to IKEA, but I just haven’t and am in no hurry to do so. I hear “horror” stories of others calling for the death of the place because it was so enticing and got them to overspend due to interest beyond practicality. Nah.

Plus, the closest one is in Charlotte and while I’m okay with Charlotte, I just wasn’t in the mood to drive down there just to “shop.” We had stopped in at Underdog Records (the Official Vinyl Sponsor of The Less Desirables) to get our weekly fix from “the Candyman” Jonathan and we talked about going shopping for cabinetry. He was really pushing the IKEA idea. My stomach turned… nope.

We went to Twin City Hive (Official Coffee Sponsor of The Man Who Walked the Town) to get The BCPF’s caffeine on and Joey told us that Costco has a record shelving system, or at least had one. We like Costco and decided it was worth the look. Well, we found what we were looking for and it was only $99.99. It’s a sturdy cab and it looks pretty good. It wasn’t too hard to put together, either. About 25 minutes is all it took us to put it together. Then we spent an hour alphabetizing the collection because that’s how we roll. You should have seen the both of us wringing our grubby little hands in anticipation of that kind of fun. We both have enough OCD (or CDO with the letters being in the correct order) that we need alphabetizing for our sanity. It went fairly quickly, though.

We just had a ball doing that. I separated all the albums into stacks according to what the first name or artist was (that’s how Discogs alphabetizes) and The BCPF sorted them into alphabetical order. If we have multiples of one artist, we decided to put the releases in chronological order. It was just fun. We love that stuff. Now, when want to do a “random grab” or use Discogs’ randomizer it will be more organized and easier to find stuff. We use an orange card to show where we took the LP from so it can go right back in without sifting. We’re just excited. So, look out #nowspinning group on Facebook. There’s more to come! Head to Underdog Records to get your record fix and check out my collection on Discogs.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Just go through the exit and directly into the warehouse. You skip all the selling that way.” – Jonathan Hodges on IKEA

Silent Sunday or: The Loot

02 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by TGBII in Silent Sunday

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Tags

David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Electric Light Orchestra, Hoots Roller Bar, Luciano Pavarotti, Mary's Gourmet Diner, Peter Gabriel, The Decemberists, The Less Desirables, Twin City Hive, Underdog Records

Salutations™!!

I believe I’m going to start using my Silent Sunday to talk about the haul we get fromR-9473688-1481204754-7100.jpeg Underdog Records on Saturdays, that is unless there is an item of importance I need to talk about. Underdog Records has become part of our Saturday routine. It’s walking, Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Underdog, Twin City Hive and then Hoots, if we have a hankering for a brew. Now that the weather is warming up, we’ll be going by there more often.

So, this week, at Underdog Records, we got the following:

  • Bowie – Diamond Dogs (1974) {180g vinyl reissue}
  • Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel [Car] (1977) {180g vinyl reissue}
  • Dusty Springfield – Dusty Springfield’s Golden Hits (1966)
  • The Decemberists – The Tain|5 Songs (2004)
  • Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record (1977)
  • Luciano Pavarotti –La Bohème (1983)

Underdog Records is the Official Vinyl Sponsor of The Less Desirables and we love our growing record collection, all thanks to Jonathan and his awesome record store. You can find Underdog at 835 Burke Street in Winston-Salem.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Lord, here comes the flood. We’ll say goodbye to flesh and blood. If again the seas are silent in any still alive. It’ll be those who gave their island to survive. Drink up, dreamers, you’re running dry.” – “Here Comes the Flood” (Gabriel)

The Recap or: The Food That Was

27 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It

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3B, Bernardin's at Zevely House, Hoots Roller Bar, Mary's Gourmet Diner, The BCPF, The Katharine Brasserie, The Man Who Ate the Town, Twin City Hive, Underdog Records, Willow's Bistro

Salutations™!!

Honestly, this could have been a The Man Who Ate the Town post and me piggyback it, but I may actually do the opposite and reverse that. But, I figure there will probably just be a post about one of the places, soon. Anywhat! Let’s get to this…

16939225_1324440457616854_8739977501094267498_n

Camel from Bernardins

I told you yesterday, Dear Reader, that I would recap the food that we had in our “celebratory” weekend. It started on Friday night when The BCPF and I went to a place we’d never been before, Bernardin’s at Zevely House. Her at all and me, not since they moved from Jonestown Rd. That old place didn’t have a lot of charm, though. And, looking back, my date was not the greatest, so, I go back and call it, my first time, too. We wanted something special, and as much as I love our regular “go tos,” I also wanted something different. This was it.

We ordered Camel for me and Emu (not shown) for The BCPF. Yep, we wanted exotic and that’s what we got, at least for “’round here” standards. I’m going to save the descriptions for the food blog but I will say that both were tender and slightly gamy but not in any kind of bad way. Brittany, our server, is a good friend of ours, so that made a great night even

2017-02-25-19-23-00

Carolina Chucker App

better. We also had maple sweet potato cheesecake. I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes but this was pretty good!

Saturday morning we did our walking thing, then went to Mary’s Gourmet Diner which is always fantastic. A stop at the record store, that’s Underdog Records, buying a cleaning system and some records, followed by coffee at Twin City Hive and brews at Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company makes it all a great afternoon and we have standing Sangria Saturday rezzies at Willows Bistro so that was up next.

2017-02-25-19-41-19

Carolina Chucker Breast

At Willows we were treated with some “Carolina Chucker” which is a cross between a quail and a dove. It was pretty good. It was freshly hunted and Chef Travis said he had to make sure all the buckshot was out of it. Also, we had the Carolina Chucker breast wrapped in bacon and stuffed with pickled jalapeno. There was other things included in both of those dishes, but again, that’s for food blog. I got what I feel is the absolute most solid dish on Willows menu and that’s the ahi tuna plate. It’s always perfect. The BCPF had the fried Rappahannock Oyster Salad. Thanks Willows, Chef

2017-02-25-21-19-16

Rappahanock Salad

Travis, Chef Brent and their team of awesomeness. Of course, we had several sangrias.

Sunday morning it was brunch time and, again trying something new, we went to Katharine Brasserie & Bar. Yes, we’ve been there before but not for brunch. I

2017-02-26-12-24-38

Biscuits and Gravy

certainly started off with some delicious steak tartare followed by their french take on biscuits and sausage gravy. The BCPF had eggs and sausage with side of fried green tomatoes with a spicy tomato aioli. The bardude
Rolando P. made me a fantastical rum drink and I dug it.

Sunday night, we cooked in and it was a family effort as The BCPF, 3B and I all did our share of duties for the meal. We fixed a tangy carnitas-style taco with an avocado crema and homemade peach salsa. It took us about an hour for prep and cooking

2017-02-27-15-59-21

Homemade carnitas tacos with avocado crema and peach salsa

but it was fun and we if we may toot our own horns, it was darn good. Recipe coming soon on the food blog. I didn’t have my special light for that picture so it comes out a little bit dark and yellowish, so the pics don’t do it justice. So that’s our food weekend. A lot of great food in there. Not a bad meal to be had for us. Watch for more on The Man Who Ate the Town.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“What’s crema?” – 3B

Better Nate Than Lever or: People Are Awesome People

12 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Tags

The BCPF, Twin City Hive, WSNC

Salutations™!!

I’ve been doing a bit of work for some friends of mine, Twin City Hive. They’re going to do a few little podcasts, more on that when the time comes. But, I have to say that doing this has introduced me to some fantastic people.

Today was one of those days, I must say that today, I met one of my favorites from this whole project. I met a young lady named Mamie. I’ll leave it at that, but she was an amazing person. She’s totally the opposite of me. Divinity school, female, African 11aTCHAmerican, etc. However, she and I had a lot of stuff in common. Our appointment was at 11am and we talked for about an hour in our “conversation,” but we stayed at TCH and chatted about all kinds of things afterward.

She doesn’t know if she knows Ma Père or not, but she knows a lot of his friends. She did some work with the pastors of the church he is a board member of. She does volunteer work at the Children’s Home because she spent time there as a youth. She is a personal trainer, a life coach, a body builder and just plain awesome. There was a lot about her that was just amazing. When The BCPF came home I told her that she just had to meet this woman because I feel she’d really dig getting to know her, too.

That being said, there are six other people (or 5 singles and a hubby and wife) that I talked to last week in this project and everyone were fantastic in their own way. I have contact info for them all and want to have other conversations with them away from this project. I hope to hang with them and have dinner with them and The BCPF sometime soon. I’d like to thank Terry and Joey for allowing me to do this project for them. I really felt in touch with the people that I’ve talked to.This town is full of awesome people and I can’t wait to help introduce you to them. I’ll write more about this when the podcasts are ready to roll (I still have a lot of work and editing to do with them. Keep watch!

Update: I completed this right before we left go to Luv Luv Festival at Spring House, but I forgot to hit send. That’s twice this week. I’ve been really, really swamped. I apologize for it being posted late.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“You and I are the same person…” – Mamie

The Best or: Those Who Deserve It

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

a/perture Cinema, Ali Brown, Atelier on Trade, Beer, Camel City BBQ Factory, Camino Bakery, Chef Tim Grandinetti, Chef Travis Myers, City Beverage, Coffee Park, DiLisio's, Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, Hoots Roller Bar, Jared Keiper, Jimmy Greer, Karon Click, King's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar, Mark Grohman, Mary's Gourmet Diner, Meridian, Michele Russell, Mission Pizza Napoletana, Quanto Basta, Shane Ward, Silver Moon Saloon, Single Brothers, Small Batch Beer, Smitty's Notes, Spring House Restaurant, Tavern at Old Salem, Test Pattern, Test Pattern Studio, The BCPF, The Beer Dads, The Garage, The Genuine, The Katharine Brasserie, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, The Man Who Walked the Town, The Porch, Tommy Priest, Twin City Hive, Vagabond Saints Society, Willow's Bistro, WSNC

Salutations™!!

Smitty’s Notes Best of 2016 list came out this week and I, along with The Less Desirables Network, have a lot of friends on that list. You can read the entire list HERE. This is only the winners that pertain to me, my family and friends and my businesses.

The abbreviation key: Winner (W), Runner-up (RU), Honorable Mention (HM).

The Less Desirables sponsors:

  • King’s Crab Shack – W, Seafood
  • Finnigan’s Wake – HM, Late Night; HM, Tap Beer; W, Restaurant Bar; RU, Male Bartender (Brandon Creason)
  • a/perture cinema – W, Movie Theater
  • City Beverage – HM, Beer/Wine ShopBOWS2016_150x226
  • The Garage – W, Live Music Venue

The Beer Dads sponsor:

  • Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company – HM, Local Brewery

The Man Who Walked the Town sponsors:

  • Mary’s Gourmet Diner – RU, Local Activist (Mary); RU, Best Scenester (Mary); W, Breakfast; W, Brunch
  • Atelier on Trade – RU, Bakery; HM, Dessert
  • Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company – HM, Local Brewery

Friends of me, The Man Who Ate the Town or just cool people I like:

  • Test Pattern – HM, New Bar/Nightclub (Open since July 1, 2015); HM, Power Couple (Brian and Drew Cole)
  • Tommy Priest – HM, Local Activist; W, Local Scenester; W, Power Couple (w/Kendall Priest), HM, Coffee (Coffee Park); HM, Barista (Jimmy Greer Coffee Park Airstream)
  • Camino Bakery – W, Bakery; HM, Dessert; HM, Coffee; HM, Barista (Kevin McHugh)
  • Twin City Hive – HM, Chocolatier; RU, Coffee; W, Barista (Rachel Hayes); RU Barista (Joey Burdette); W, Free Wi-Fi
  • Willow’s Bistro – HM, Brunch; RU, Chef (Travis Myers); RU, Server (Shane Ward)
  • Spring House Restaurant & Bar – RU, Romantic Dinner; W, Fine Dining; W, Chef (Tim Grandinetti); HM, Restaurant Service; HM, Restaurant Bar
  • Quanto Basta – RU, Italian Restaurant; HM, Take a First Date; HM, Restaurant Bar
  • DiLisio’s – W, Italian Restaurant
  • The Katharine Brasserie – W, New Restaurant (Open since July, 1, 2015); HM, Romantic Dinner; HM, Fine Dining Restaurant; RU, New Bar/Nightclub (Open since July 1, 2015); HM, Restaurant Bar
  • Meridian – RU, Take a First Date; HM, Fine Dining Restaurant; RU, Wine List; HM, Chef (Mark Grohman); W, Server (Brandy); W, Bartender, Female (Michele Russell); RU Bartender, Female (Ali Brown)
  • Single Brothers – RU, Dive Bar; HM, Meet After Work; RU, Craft Cocktails; W, Best Place To Meet Single UNDER 40
  • Silver Moon Saloon – W, Dive Bar
  • Camel City BBQ Factory – RU, BBQ; RU, New Restaurant (Open since July, 1, 2015); RU, Ribs
  • Tavern at Old Salem – HM, Chef (Jared Keiper)
  • The Porch – HM, Mexican; HM, Brunch
  • Mission Pizza Napoletana – HM, Pizza Parlor
  • Small Batch Beer – RU, Local Brewery; HM, Tap Beer; RU, Meet After Work; HM, Bartender, Male (Quentin Williams)
  • Local Band – Winner: The Genuine, Runner Up: Karon Click and The Hot Licks, Honorable Mention: Vagabond Saints Society

So a hearty congratulations to all those mentioned. Your worth shows in the community. I’m proud to know you all and for the sponsors, I’m proud to be part of your, and for you to be part of my, family. Still can’t figure out why The BCPF and I weren’t on the Power Couple list. I have to vote more next time… wait, there isn’t a next time for this “best of.”

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“As you enjoy the kudos bestowed upon you by your fellow citizens, I encourage you to savor the moment, because this year, 2016, marks the last year of my Best of Winston-Salem competition.” – Smitty’s Notes Best Of 2016

Cryptic No More or: The Test Pattern Studio

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by TGBII in Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bruce Cole, DiLisio's, Silver Moon Saloon, Single Brothers, SOB40, Such-N-Such Limited, Such-N-Such Media, Test Pattern, Test Pattern Studio, The Garage, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, Threadbare Trio, Twin City Hive, Washington Perk & Provision Company, WSNC

Salutations™!!

You know how I’ve been spouting nondescript and cryptic posts over the last week about changes and such? Well, it’s time to let that cat out of the bag, yeah?

All my podcasting, video production, voice overs, podcast consulting, audiobooks, etc. are all handled through the business of Such-N-Such Media which is owned by my (and my partners’) parent company, Such-N-Such Limited, Inc. We’ve been doing this media thing since at least 2010, or at least I have. It worked fine out of my house for a while but then we started having a lot of guests, guests were the feature and not just the hosts. That original studio was in my house, first in a downstairs room that became my son’s room and then in the upstairs “loft” that also housed my bedroom. That got awkward. So, I wanted a change.

In December of 2012, we moved downtown off of Fourth Street into the Chatham Building. The first location in that building was pretty cool. It was where we needed it and all was 2016-07-20 22.08.36right in the world. They had to do some building and improvements and that created a reroute of how to get into the building. Okay, no sweat. Then they added one of my favorite places downtown, Washington Perk right above me. That wasn’t too bad, either. But, then we realized that every time they would grind their coffee in the coffee shop, it would sound like a cat getting raped in the basement. I asked to move and the landlords accommodated me.

We moved into a new space directly diagonal from the old into a lonely, sometimes dark and cold hallway, which again, worked fine for me. However, after moving in that spot, I started getting more and more business and doing more and more podcasts. I was in there, sometimes, from around 8am until 11pm. Let me tell you, if you can’t see how the day’s progressing one day or so, that’s not too bad. When it’s almost every day, then it starts to get depressing. Add the fact that we had to have a separate key to go to the rest room and it was just a bit annoying. So, it was time to look for something else. It took us a while. I looked at several places, mostly around Main and Third and SOB40 near where DiLisio’s and Twin City Hive are. Those, for whatever reason, didn’t work out.

Back at the end of 2015 and into this year, our co-host was the “Right Reverend Cool,” Bruce Cole. He had a vision to start a radio station of some kind, whether terrestrial or internet radio, and was looking for places for us to do that, together. He found a place. It turned out that his brother, Brian Cole (from now on called BCole), owner of Single Brothers and Silver Moon Saloon had just purchased the Luna Lounge and Tiki Bar from its previous owner. In the back of this building was an extra space that once held the Lucky Strike retro store. It was sitting, well I can’t say empty, er… it was sitting unoccupied and needed something in there. Enter Bruce and me.

Bruce moved back to Chicago to be close to his wife (that’s a different story and it was sweet, but dang do I miss him) and that left me in negotiations with BCole. That’s fine, we’ve known each other for a while, even longer than I’d known Bruce. We had some talks and serious thoughts about what we could do. We came to an understanding as to what that was going to be. There were some repairs and mods to be made to the space, sure and there are still some that need to take place (and are taking place) but we decided that that was going to be the new The Less Desirables Studio. But, also, it wasn’t. At least we weren’t going to call it that.

When BCole and his lovely and brilliant wife, Drew, purchased the Luna Lounge and Tiki Bar, they had every intention of changing the name and theme. And, they did that. It is now called Test Pattern. It will go back to being a smaller music and performance venue and it has, because I’ve played there with The Threadbare Trio and will again in August. BCole and Drew decided that they wanted to be the “studio sponsor” of The Less Desirables Network and that they are. With that deal in place, every podcast that is recorded there (whether it is a TLD Network show or contract show) must state that they’re recording from “The Test Pattern Studio” and we’ll talk about what they have going on.

Now, that will not affect the sponsorship of The Garage. As BCole said on The Less Desirables this past week, there has always been a symbiotic relationship between The Garage and whatever Test Pattern has been and as far as he’s concerned, it will stay that way. I’m glad because I certainly don’t want to lose The Garage. So, located at the corner of 7th and Trade, 701 North Trade Street is where Test Pattern is located. Right behind there is where the Test Pattern Studio is where The Less Desirables Network now calls home. We’ve very proud and excited about this new venture.

Some of the highlights? Only one door (and a gate) to go through to get to it; a window that I can see out to the world and not be blocked off from it; a private bathroom that doesn’t need a separate key to use; access to glass washing (either mechanical or practical); accessibility to the area; an “On Air” sign that will light up when we’re recording; the ability to advertise that we’re there. There are more, this is just the beginning. Did I mention that we’re excited? So, while we’re still working out the bugs with things and getting everything just right, bare with us on the production quality of the shows as we’ll be working to tweak what we need to. Each room has its own personality and I’m still learning this one. But, no matter what… thanks for listening to all the TLD Network shows!

I do want, quickly to thank my landlords at Chatham bldg. (WRCP) for all they have done prior to me leaving. It afforded me the opportunity to grow and expand my biz. Thanks, so much.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“That literally and figuratively makes sense on the side of Test Pattern…” – BCole on the idea of TLD being in the new studio.

For Pete’s Sake! or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by TGBII in Beer

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BeerAdvocate, City Beverage, DuClaw Brewing, For Pete's Sake!, Superfan Damien, Twin City Hive, Untappd

Salutations™!!

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables presents For Pete’s Sake! Imperial Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter by DuClaw Brewing Company, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.

This came as a recommendation from “Superfan” Damien just this past weekend. He said I needed to try it and that’s what we’re going to do tonight! From what I can tell this is the big, more potent and stronger brother of what I’d call DuClaw’s flagship brew: Sweet Baby Jesus. For Pete’s Sake! is an Imperial (which means it’s a whopper) 06a97244-a6a0-4bd4-915d-144e57cbee17 (1)Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. Like a really potent peanut butter cup. It comes in at a whopping 9% ABV. That tickles the cockles of my heart in and of itself.

This beer is so new that there not only is no rating on BeerAdvocate, but there’s no entry for it either. Untappd, however, does have an entry and it’s rated at 3.88 caps out of 5. The website states: “For Pete’s Sake! An Imperial version of Sweet Baby Jesus, a Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, raises the bar again with its silky, full body, big roasted malt flavor and aroma dominated by rich notes of peanut butter and chocolate, subtle fruit and coffee notes…” I mean, that sounds awesome, right? Right-o Daddio!

One of the cool things about this beer is what’s on the underside of the carton. I’m going to copy it here:

“Dear Person with Awesome Taste,

Thank you for sampling our beer. With this one simple, insightful act, you’ve proven yourself both wise and incredibly physically attractive.”

It concludes with: “Thanks again, intelligent, beautiful stranger, cheers!”

What more can you say than that? Well, what I will say is that if you’ve not tried it, you should go down to 915 Burke Street and get your own sixer of this brew and tell Spencer or Sonny that this is the Beer of the Week and get 5% off your order. That way you can sample it whilst listening to this week’s episode of The Less Desirables. There you can see hear what Caitlin, Bruce, Joey and Terry from Twin City Hive and I all think about it. Let us know what you think when you do (if you haven’t already).

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“For Pete’s Sake!: It ’s a whole new level of Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter!” – DuClaw Brewing website.

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