Category Archives: Lifestyle

Lifestyle, Shopping Madness

Happy 7 Eleven Day New York City :)

Leave a comment

Today was 7-11-2011 and what better way to celebrate it than with a free small Slurpee courtesy of our local 7 Eleven franchise.  When one adds to the fact that it was about 90 degrees in the shade today it made for a perfect side trip from my errands and something worthy of one of our Shopping Madness postings.  Why not right?

Bay Ridge 7 Eleven Store

The PM.com HQ is located in close proximity to this store and while I had once wandered down to the one on 65th Street while looking for the KISS Cups, I was certainly not going to do that today.  It was just too hot.  So anyways, into the store I went and I was a little surprised to see no clear and visible signage about the free Slurpees but when I inquired at the counter I was handed not one, but two small cups.  The size of those cups are nothing more than a tease, so I was glad that the clerk handed me two.  It must have been my smile and friendly approach.  That does work sometimes you know.  With the upcoming Captain America movie coming out in a little over a week, I decided to go with a patriotic theme with my Slurpees.  I poured one blueberry and one cherry.  Of course I didn’t set them correctly for the photo purposes but like I said, it was 90 degrees in the shade.

I managed to avoid a brain freeze somehow but as you can see via the next image these two treats did not stand a chance.

Here is a better visual of the very festive cup.  No, I did not keep them, but I did put them in the recycle bin.  I think that is what I was supposed to do.

Thanks to 7 Eleven for offering this little premium for their customers.  It was the perfect day for it.  Also thanks to my Dad for letting me know this was going on in the first place.  I had no idea until I saw his email.  Enjoy the summer everyone and try to stay as cool and as hydrated as possible.  It’s for your own good.

Features, Food and Drink

Foodtastic: Fish Tacos (Well, In A Manner Of Speaking)

Leave a comment

Welcome to another adventure in the Kitchen With Ken and this time around I was in the mood for something akin to fish tacos.  I’ve long been a taco fan but only ever had a fish taco when I went to an area McCormack and Schmidicks restaurant for their Happy Hour.  The particular concoction from the kitchen of PiercingKen is probably only a fish taco in name based on the overall difference.  The rationale behind this was to use some stuff in the fridge so it would not go bad and had a little bit of an idea to make my own little treats.  So wash your hands and help out as I take you through this one, I promise to be brief since this was on the easy side.  You will first need a small pan to bake some of our fish products in.

My Very Old Baking Pan

Continue reading Foodtastic: Fish Tacos (Well, In A Manner Of Speaking) →

Features, Food and Drink

The Cookie Is Power

Leave a comment

The other day while adventuring around the city on the way to the Book Expo America, my buddy Skeleton Pete and I saw a literal caravan of teenagers who were carrying and handing out cookies no less. This was apparently a promotion from one of the nearby hotels and they were having a blast of a time surprising the New York City workaday travelers with their offerings. Some were shouting and others singing and it was all in the name of the cookie. Not a bad way to get some attention. This was truly a great way to start the day and I made sure to secure my cookie in my bag for later consumption. I figured that it was better to be able to enjoy it while sitting down and relaxing after a hopefully productive day of journalistic tasks.

The band of merry travelers of the cookie actually handed me a couple of them, and I was not going to argue about this at all.  It’s packaging was appealing to the eye and spirit and cited that “stressed spelled backward is desserts”.  Talk about your level of Socratic wisdom.  Once home, I did open it up to let you see just how well it was baked.  It was a chocolate chip cookie and it had a lot of chunks of the stuff which is something I always prefer at the end of the day.  As you can see by the image below, this was a very sizable treat and I used a penny to give you a sense of scale. Don’t worry I didn’t eat the penny in case you were wondering about that.

I’m sorry if this made you jealous but it really was not my intent.  I only felt like sharing this small bit of good fortune with you readers.  It sure was tasty though. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Features, Food and Drink

Advance “Yays” For The Pending Bowery Diner

Leave a comment

I was coming home from a relatively fun afternoon with the singer of the band Naked who hail from Finland and once “Muff” had and I had parted company to continue along in our own adventures I happened past this big board of a wall sign.  It was proudly announcing the “Coming Soon” of the Bowery Diner.  Obviously it’s going to be a conventional diner but I like the idea of having someplace new to eat before or after shows at places like The Bowery Ballroom and its nearby Bowery Electric or Poetry Club.

Coming Soon: Food!!!!!!

This is the best shot of the sign that I could get based on my distance from it and need to get back to PiercingMetal HQ, but it did manage to excite me just a little.  I love new places and while this furthers the upgrading of the Bowery region, it has indeed changed a lot since the closure of the legendary C.B.G.B.’s so why not just embrace some of the more interesting things that the area offers up at this time.  All I know is that they better make a damn good burger as I will be Yelping about them for sure if they don’t.

Features, Food and Drink

Wanting A White Mana Hamburger Right Now

Leave a comment

I’m sorry, I just felt that you readers deserved to know that I was instantly made hungry by this single photo of the White Mana Diner in Jersey City this afternoon.  It amused me that I found this image after having shot it about seven months ago while helping a friend move some of their things from an apartment to a storage unit, but here it was – just sitting in a folder of hundreds of shots that I had yet to determine a use for.

I took the photo while riding “shotgun” in my friends car, and I had the little Sony point and shoot camera with me, as I am often apt to have be the case these days and as we hit a red light, I drooled and said “Mmmm burgers”.  Of course she was in a rush to finish moving her stuff so this was all I would see of the place and that bothered me after the fact when I learned it was in fact a historical landmark and is associated with the 1939 World’s Fair. I am not sure that my friend ever tried it but she did make mention that it was well-known and that made me look further into it. Too bad we didn’t have a few extra minutes because stuff like this just gets the curiosity going.

Read all about its interesting history via the Wikipedia entry HERE.

Now the only question I have left is who is up for an adventure out to Jersey City with one of the purposes being to visit and eat something from here? Summer is good exploring time.