Ken Wheaton's Blog, page 6

The truth about Brooklyn barbecue

[image error]If you’re gonna take a picture of a tray of meat, THEN ORDER A TRAY OF MEAT. (Photo courtesy of Izzy’s Smokehouse, Brooklyn.)

The article was headlined “Why Is Brooklyn Barbecue Taking Over the World?” I’m not even going to link to it. But it was a perfect example of a certain sort of food writing: provocative clickbait written by someone seemingly ignorant about barbecue and journalism.

It also gave Brooklyn way too much credit while trying to champion something that didn’t need his damn he...

Your Brooklyn bullshit isn’t helping Brooklyn barbecue

[image error]If you’re gonna take a picture of a tray of meat, THEN ORDER A TRAY OF MEAT. (Photo courtesy of Izzy’s Smokehouse, Brooklyn.)The article was headlined “Why Is Brooklyn Barbecue Taking Over the World?” I’m not even going to link to it. But it was a perfect example of a certain sort of food writing: provocative clickbait written by someone seemingly ignorant about barbecue and journalism.

It also gave Brooklyn way too much credit while trying to champion something that didn’t need his damn hel...

Trump vs Amazon: More Stoopid

Donald Trump think Amazon isn’t paying it’s fair share in taxes. Hell, maybe it isn’t.

But what’s increasingly clear is that Trump doesn’t understand how actual business works these days. Trump has probably never shopped at Amazon. He’s probably never shopped at Walmart. He’s probably never shopped at a grocery story. Hell, he’s probably never shopped for himself, period.

I’m ALL for companies paying their taxes. And more taxes! And we should definitely have a discussion about Amazon demandin...

E.T. and the anxiety attack

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Last night, I watched E.T. from start to finish. I can’t remember the last time I did that. I do remember that the first time I tried to watch E.T., things didn’t go so well.

I freaked out right around the time E.T. was found sick in the ravine, white and almost dead. If memory serves correctly, I ran out to the bathroom and barely succeeded in puking up a box of Hot Tamales and soda (25% chance it was Dr Pepper, 75% chance it was Mr. Pibb, way back before Pibb Xtra was a thing).

I’ve always...

It’s election season: Let’s play ask a politician!

As a recovering journalist, I know that working journalists love nothing more than other people telling them how to do their jobs, especially folks who never covered that particular beat. I was never a political reporter, so maybe I shouldn’t be writing this. After all, I don’t have the level of expertise it takes to pitch tons of soft-ball questions to continue my access to a politician and the occasional hard ball designed to make me look cool in front of the other reporters. Or something...

Mark Wahlberg shouldn’t apologize

[image error]There are a number of good examples to make the case of egregious pay disparities between men and women in Hollywood, but the reshoot for “All the Money in the World” isn’t one of them. (Quick recap: They had to reshoot the move. The cast and crew supposedly volunteered or worked for next to nothing, except for Wahlberg, who was paid $1.5 million.)

If anything, it’s an example of some people getting played for chumps and then getting mad about it after the fact. It’s a case of not realizing y...

Eating Louisiana: A few photos

I’m home in Louisiana for the holidays. And that means food. Lots and lots of food. How has it gone so far? Let me show you. 

1. Fried shrimp platter from Soileau’s in Opelousas, eaten upon completion of 25 hour drive from New York. 

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2. Sunday morning breakfast. Boudin and cracklins from Ray’s. (Billy’s boudin recipe, though.) Donuts from Mikey’s. I ate a lot more than what is on this plate. 

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3. Pepper jelly and crackers. A light pre-meal snack. 

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4. Wild game gumbo. Squirrel, duck, goose,...

Carrying on in the face of terrorism — and jackasses

Yesterday morning while on the way to work, I stopped to take a couple of photos. One was a lovely shot of lower Manhattan. The other was of a handful of helicopters hovering over the city like buzzards over a carcass. There’d been a bombing in the subway, so every news outlet in the tristate area had eyes in the sky to provide viewers with one-of-a-kind shots of NYC rooftops.

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[image error]There are actually four helicopters in this photo.

I posted both photos to social media and carried on my way. Afte...

Donald Trump is the father of us all

[image error]“Who ya gonna believe? Me or your own lying ears?” Photo by Gage Skidmore

So Donald Trump is now suggesting that actual audio tape of him talking about grabbing women by the cooter could be fake. This even after he previously admitted that it was his voice on the tape and that he did, indeed, say those things.

Sure, previous Liar in Chief Bill Clinton tried to weasel himself out of a corner by arguing over the legal definition of “is.” (And I wouldn’t put much past either of the Clintons when...

Debriefing: Marine Corps Marathon 2017

[image error]One of these things is getting creaky, old, and doesn’t cooperate anymore. The other one is my body.

Sometimes you run the race you trained for. Sometimes you run the race you wish you’d trained for. The latter will get you into trouble.

Last weekend, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. All season long, I’d harbored hopes of another PR (that’s personal record for you non-sporty types; for the Brits, yes, it’s the same as Personal Best).

A PR would have meant completing the rac...