Gibsons Steakhouse - Chicago - Filet Mignon

Gibsons Steakhouse

If you ever find yourself in Rosemont, Illinois, does yourself a favor and head on over to Gibson’s Bar And Steak House for dinner. It’s just across the street from the Donald E. Stephens convention center.

If you get there before 6pm, you should be able to find a table. After 6, expect a long wait as the restaurant. We have been here several times before over the years. We made it before six and our hostess seated us and our waiter was over in a few minutes to take our drink and dinner order.

I ordered the Filet Mignon, (Here is a tip for you diners out there: If the restaurant has “Steak” in its name, you order the steak for your meal) The price of my entre was $33.00 plus a diet soda.

The Filet was a solid 8 ounce size, cooked to my specifications, and they nailed it. It was full of flavor, tender, juicy, and cut like butter.

Roll And Butter

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the rolls and bread that came with the Filet. The steak was just that good. The bread was also very good, a pretzel style bread roll that when topped with butter, was very tasty indeed.

Hash Browns

Instead of the atomic size baked potato that is a popular side dish option, I went off the grid and selected the house home style potatoes, or hash browns as many people know them by. The portion was generous, the potatoes hot and well cooked, and was a good variation from the standard baked potato.

What you see here was $36.00 before tip. When you look at the 8 ounce Filet, the rolls, and the hash browns, the price was in line. Add top shelf service, a clean restaurant, and you have a fantastic experience and meal.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Gibsons Bar and steak house in Rosemont for dinner.

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Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery - 1979

E.L.O. Discovery Record Album

The Electric Light Orchestra was a band that I liked to refer to as a "Rock Opera" band. Perhaps because they spoof the classical genius Beethoven using music from his Fifth Symphony. One of E.L.O.'s hit songs was Roll Over Beethoven. (Not covered on this album though)

The cover is a dark background with a man in a turban, (Reminds me of Ali Baba and his 40 thieves or Jason and the Argonauts) and he's holding a round colorful disc with ELO illuminated in the center. (Seriously, the disc looks like the old time electronic game Simon, a game to test your memory.) At the top is the bands name in light blue with the album title (Discovery) directly below in a burnt orange color.

The back cover of the ELO Discovery album depicts a scene from an Arabian palace, complete with a guard wielding a sword.

The top left corner has the song titles listed. The songs are:
Shine A Little Love - Confusion - Need Her Love - The Diary of Horace - Wimp - Last train To London - Midnight Blue - On The Run - Wishing - Don't Bring Me Down

All music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne
Bottom left has the Jet records logo, released in 1979 by CBS Records.

The inside cover art is a panoramic view of the same man on the cover in the desert seemingly running away from a horde of sword wielding Arab Charger riding men. And there's that Simon electronic game again. See, it does help to improve your memory.

On the far left in powder blue lists the band members. They are:
Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy, Kelly Groucutt

The Album sleeve has photo's of the band members and the instruments that they play. Notice the porn mustache Kelly Groucutt is sporting. It was the 1970's mind you.

The flip side of the album jacket has the song lyrics to each song. Top center has a photo of the Electric Light Orchestra in concert. A multi colored lighted space ship hovers above the band. (A big Simon electronic memory game)

This album produced two top 40 hits. Shine A Little Love and Don't bring Me Down. If you like rock music with an classical orchestra backing them up, you will love E.L.O.

E.L.O. Discovery Back Cover Art

Electric Light Orchestra Discovery Album Inside Cover Art

E.L.O. Album Jacket Cover

E.L.O. Album Jacket Cover Lyrics

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Thought Screen Helmet Aliens Sinister Intent

Results Not Waering Thought Screen Helmet

The question of whether aliens exist is a moot point as millions of citizens have well documented sightings with miles of evidence of their visitations. However, until just today, the most puzzling question was; Why are aliens here on Earth? Why bother with humankind? What advantage would they have coming here?

The Grassy Knoll Institute can now reveal that answer. In a word, the aliens are looking for a little "Action." It takes hundreds of years for alien ships to travel from their home world to Earth. After many generations of breeding, the gene pool depleted, leaving the women incapable of bearing offspring. The only solution was to find a new fertile gene pool. Human females.

Through their telepathic abilities, the aliens are able to control humans. Once a female candidate is selected, the aliens proceed to seduce them in hopes of impregnating them. If a successful pregnancy occurs, the female is abducted so the fetus can be removed and implanted in an alien female host. This assures perpetuation of the alien species. The human female is then returned left wondering what had happened to her remembering only fragments of her abduction.

This is a warning to all the abductees' being taken and visited by aliens. To prevent unwanted pregnancy, you must continue to wear your properly constructed Thought Screen Helmet at all times. The helmet, lined with velostat offers telepathic canceling properties that prevents the aliens from linking to your mind. Think of it as wearing a condom on your head. No link, no control, no intercourse, no pregnancy.

For the men taken, perhaps this explains that pain in your ass when you are returned. Perhaps.....

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Dunkin Donuts – Sausage Egg And Cheese Wrap

Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Wrap

I remember when Dunkin Donuts only sold coffee and donuts. That was a long time ago. Today, they have at least 50 different coffee flavors but more importantly, they have these new fangled breakfast wraps.

As I was getting a coffee for Patty, I spied the wraps. I had to have one. I ordered the sausage, egg, and cheese wrap. The counter girl sprang into action, taking out a frozen round egg patty and sausage patty and a slice of cheese plus the wrap. All went into an over, (I suspected it was a microwave oven) and it cooked for less than a minute.

As she pulled out the tray, I asked what kind of oven it was. She said it wasn’t a microwave but some sort of high-speed hot air oven such and such. Anyway, she wrapped it up and bagged it for me.

As you can see, the wrap is not really a wrap, but sort of a small soft taco. The cost was proportional, at $1.29 for what you see. Of course it was hot, the cheese melted, the sausage and egg hot and the taste was good. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Dunkin Donut breakfast wraps for breakfast or a snack.                 

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Chick-Fil-A Chicken Breakfast Biscuit

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Breakfast Biscuit

My son Patrick found out that if you go to Chick-Fil-A drive through in the late morning and order from the lunch menu, you may just receive a little extra with your order. Today was no different.

Inside the take out bag, was a foil wrapped sandwich marked ‘Free Sample’ that contained a breakfast chicken biscuit. This was a no frills biscuit with a piece of breaded fried chicken in between.

Surprisingly, it tasted pretty damn good. The biscuit was fresh and the chicken well cooked and juicy and hot. The cost, well, it was free. Apparently, a few minutes before the restaurant switches gears and goes from breakfast to lunch, whatever breakfast items they have left are given away to the lucky patrons ordering at the right time.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Chic-Fil-A chicken biscuits for breakfast.                  

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Subway - Foot Long Steak And Cheese Sub

Subway Philly Cheese Steak

Last week I ordered the $8 dollar Big Philly Cheesesteak sub. Just the other day, I ordered the $6 dollar foot long steak and cheese sub. One was 6 bucks, the other 8 bucks. Upon close inspection, I could not distinguish any difference in the sandwiches. Except of course the $2 dollar cost.

The sandwich tasted exactly the same, with the same amount of chopped steak, was prepared the exact same way. (Toasted) But it was $2 dollars cheaper so it ranks a tad higher. My advice, do not order the Big Philly Cheesesteak, all you do is pay $2 dollars more.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3 out of 5 shots and recommends Subway Foot Long Steak And Cheese for dinner.

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My ABC Lost Theory Was Correct After All

I remember May 23rd, 2010, late evening, the waning moments of the six-year sojourn of what was the finale episode of ABC's Lost series flickering away. Christian Sheppard gathered the castaways in the church, their special place to find each other, and guided them into the light right before a tearful and joyous reunion of the castaways that mattered most to Jack. Damn it all to Hell, they were all in Purgatory. My Lost theory of Virtual reality with a dash of alien intervention was shattered. Or was it?

Just what was the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory…. For six years it was…..
Although it appeared the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 were on a tropical island, they were being deceived. There was no island. The survivors were in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways were interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments were performed on them. Who was running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

That evening I fired off my Lost Series Finale Theory, begrudgingly accepting that my theory was not only flawed, but down right incorrect. Until some months later when a new wrinkle of my Lost theory would come to light.

You see, although I recorded the series finale, I had put off viewing it until just last night. (Anger can do that sometimes) And there it was, the Holy Grail, my missing link, looking me square in the face. After watching the entire show from beginning to end from my DVR, the very last scene before the screen went dark made me ask this question.

Why did ABC Lost show the wreckage of flight 815 during the credits? With no survivors! Nor a single shred of evidence that there ever were any survivors. Just wreckage. No foot prints. No makeshift huts. No clothing. No tools. No bodies. No people. Nothing. (The network claims that these scenes were placed to decompress the audience from such an emotional roller coaster that was the finale before the local news came on.) (However, the Grassy Knoll Institute has an alternate explanation)

That is when it occurred to me that my virtual reality theory was correct after all. Wait for it readers... Perhaps these fleeting images signified that no one survived the plane crash and the entire series never happened. Or... The reason there are no bodies or any sign of survivors is because the castaways are still in the VR chamber.

You see, in reality, the castaways were never on the island, never got on flight 815, never crashed. Instead, they were secretly ushered into a VR lab where unspeakable experiments were performed on them. The castaways were put through the paces time and time again until a favorable outcome was achieved. Perhaps Jack and his crew finally got it right this time, Jack giving in to the island mystique, creating the end game, the church scene.

Remember the season five finale, when Jacob and the Man in black were talking on the beach. It was the VR experiment they were discussing. How no matter what they did, no matter what obstacles placed in the castaways path, the result was always the same. They were both waiting for a unique outcome, the church scene.
MIB: You’re still trying to prove me wrong.
Jacob: You are wrong!
MIB: They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it’s just progress.

If you can remember, I stated that the VR experiment would reset itself after an unfavorable outcome. Hence, Miles, Ben, and Desmond, remembered fragments of past scenario's giving them the ability to predict the future. This also easily explains the time travel scenario of the castaways on the island living in the 50's, 70's, and present time. These were merely new variables and parameters of the experiment.

In essence my dear readers, the Lost castaways did not crash, did not get on the plane, did not die, nor went to heaven. Instead, they were reset to begin yet another battery of tests. Perhaps we will get lucky enough to see these new tests come to light, in say, a 2011-2012 Lost movie or mini series expanding on what happened right after the church scene in the finale.

I feel better now....

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Best Soccer Logo Ever

At times like these, I wish our logo had twice as many letters.

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Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac 1975

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac Vinyl Album

 Fleetwood Mac released its tenth album in July of 1975 and after a year on the charts reached number one on Billboards Album charts. This is the second album also titled Fleetwood Mac with the original released in 1968. 

John Mcvie is on the left holding the cane and sipping champagne and Mick Fleetwood, who is the tallest member of the band, is depicted as very short juggling the world with the band revolving.

Fleetwood Mac album back cover has a photo of the band inside a bathroom. Band members from left to right are, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, And John McVie.

At the bottom of the back cover: The song titles are listed in the first two rows, the band members in the third row, and the legal mumbo jumbo in the fourth row.

Side One: Monday Morning, Warm Ways, Blue Letter, Rhiannon, Over My head, Crystal.
Side Two: Say You Love Me, Landslide, World Turning, Sugar Daddy, I'm So Afraid.

The front side of the liner notes had the lyrics to each side. The biggest hit from the album was Rhiannon, sung by Stevie Nicks. The exact lyrics are below.

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover..

All your life you've never seen
A woman - taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win...

She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark-
And when the sky is starless-

All your life you've never seen-
A woman - taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win...
Will you ever win..

Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover

All your life you've never seen
A woman - taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win
Will you ever win

Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon

Taken by
Taken by the sky (Repeat three times)

Dreams unwind
Loves a state of mind (Repeat three times)

Please not that the lyrics on the liner notes do not match up. Perhaps space was at a premium and the lyrics were condensed.

The back side of the liner notes contained the lyrics to the flip side of the album. Playful penguins were scattered on the page.

This album is a Warner Brothers Records, song selections published by Rockhopper Music, 1975.

This album propelled Fleetwood Mac to new heights of popularity. I remember in late 75 and 76 this album dominating the airwaves. It was also the time I got my drivers license and i couldn't wait to blast the 8-Track of Fleetwood Mac with the bass turned up high in my car.

Good times, good times,

Dreams unwind, love's a state of mind.

Fleetwood Mac Back Cover Art

Fleetwood Mac Lyrics

Album Lyrics

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Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries

Wendys Natural Cut Fries

Wendy’s fast food restaurant had some pretty tasty french fries in the past but in a bold move, much like Coca-Cola did in the past, changed up the recipe and hoped for the best. Unlike Coke, Wendy’s bold move paid off.

I saw all the commercials touting Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries with sea salt made from whole russet potatoes. On my way home, I stopped at the drive through for some fries. The attendant asked, “Welcome to Wendy’s, may I take your order?” Feeling saucy, I replied, “No thanks, I’m just looking!” After several moments of awkward silence, I ordered a large order of the new fries. (Please pull forward to the second window)

The cost: $1.69 for the large. The order was correct and delivered in a quick fashion. The fries were fresh and hot. The container was full, a very fair portion.

To the taste: As stated above, Wendy’s fries were very good in the past, but the new fresh-cut fries are outstanding. They were well cooked, not soggy, not to crunchy, and the sea salt or whatever was just the right spice. These were some damn good fries. Not Idora Park level, (The ultimate fry) but very good.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Wendy’s Natural Cut Fries for lunch and dinner.

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Giant Alien Woman Wanders Onto Military Airfield

Giant Alien Female Invades Air Strip

Giant Alien sighting today in the biggest little city in the World, Reno, Nevada. A day before the Reno National Championship Air Races a giant alien female wandered onto the air strip and began to inspect several of the aircraft.

The Grassy Knoll Institute believes the female alien was taking inventory during a recon mission to size up the firepower of the area. An imminent attack is quite possible as the aliens attempt to pinpoint the location of the very secretive military base, Area 51.

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Subway – Philly Cheese Steak Foot Long

Subway Philly Cheese Steak

Subway restaurant has plenty of sandwich selections. While I was waiting in line to place my order, I spied in the premium section the Big Philly Cheesesteak. When it was my turn, I ordered the foot long on Italian bread and asked for it to be toasted. It was built in just a few minutes.

The cost was $8 dollars for the foot long. The bread was fresh, and toasted, not burnt. The provolone cheese was fully melted, the chopped steak hot and juicy. A little pricey for 8 bucks, but if you don’t stick with the value menu, prices are high.

The taste was good as I noticed no fatty meat in the sandwich and had just the right texture. Mind you, this was no Geno’s or Pat’s Philly steaks, but for fast food, it was adequate.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.75 out of 5 shots and recommends Subway Big Philly Cheesesteak for lunch and dinner.

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Lemon Grove Cafe - Youngstown - Take Out Order

Lemon Grove Take Out Cheeseburger

The Lemon Grove Cafe

122 W Federal Plaza
Youngstown, OH 44503
(330) 744-7683

A restaurant is only as good as its service. In Youngstown Ohio, the Lemon Grove Cafe is centrally located in downtown, perfect for local business employees to flock for lunch and take out. However, customers beware when you order take out.

Joe Pesci said it best, “They’ll fuck you at the drive through.”

Back in the middle of December, we decided to try a new place, the Lemon Grove Cafe. Being that we were busy for the Christmas holiday, we ordered take-out. I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, which came with one side, so I opted for the extreme chicken soup. I really had no choice, fries or chips were not an option.

We went and got our order and returned to work. I opened my white styrofoam container that held my lunch. As you can see, there was no cheese. A simple order and they cannot get that correct. Just imagine if I had ordered something special.

The cost of this feast was $7.50 including the side of soup. The price was adequate if the order would have been correct and packed right.

The burger was a half pound of beef, Catullo beef, a local meat supplier. It was adequate. It was well cooked. The taste was ok. The bun was a tad soggy, perhaps from the cup of soup that was leaking all over the container. The bacon was two strips, but alas, uncooked as you can see.

(Perhaps they could have wrapped the burger in foil knowing that a thin strip of saran wrap over the cup of soup would certainly spill on a car ride to avoid the burger from being soggy.)

The soup, called extreme chicken soup. Where to begin. First, the container needs help. Almost a quarter of the soup spilled out from under the saran wrap soaking the bun of the burger.

Second, the soup itself. No noodles, a few chunks of potato, carrots, celery, onions, and a couple slivers of chicken. Standard fare at best. Certainly not extreme. It may have been more, but alas the soup had spilled over the container and made a mess.

My first impression of Lemon Grove Cafe, well, the name says it all. Lemon. Even if they hadn’t made the mistake of an incorrect take out order, the meal was a little high priced for what you got. Seriously, no fries available with a burger, only soup or a salad? WTF!

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.25 out of 5 shots and at this time does not recommend Lemon Grove Cafe for lunch or dinner.

Perhaps in the near future I will return and allow a second chance. Time will tell.

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Arkansas Fish And Bird Mystery Solved

Over the past several weeks, interesting reports have been coming in from several small communities in Arkansas as thousands of birds dropped dead from the sky in mass while over one hundred thousand dead fish washed ashore with little explanation.

News reports claim perhaps fireworks celebrations or high altitude lightning were the cause, but that doesn't explain the dead fish nor the second event of birds dying.

The Grassy Knoll Institute did some digging around in the towns of Beebe and Ozark Arkansas, where these mass deaths have occurred and found townsfolk are talking more about the bright and wonderful light show in the sky that has been going on for over a month. Eye witnesses report that almost every night around 11PM orange and white orbs appear in the sky and seem to float effortlessly across the horizon. Some people described them as almost being biological in nature, as if they were alive, and not mechanical.

The Grassy Knoll Institute operatives were intrigued and decided to set up camp in a quiet clearing outside the town of Ozark with a unobsctructed view of the night sky. At precisely 11:01PM our camera's started rolling and recorded the following 45 seconds of film showing orange orbs slowly rising from the lake and gracefully rising into the night sky.

What we captured is unknown at this time, as the footage was flown to our secret lab for analysis. Until a complete analysis is completed, we can only speculate what we witnessed and will let you be the judge. The film is below.

We believe that the birds were attracted to the soothing glowing orbs and flew into them meeting their fate. As the birds flew into the swarm of lights, they became confused and scattered flying erratic and knocking into themselves falling to their death. Also observed was a pulsing electromagnetic energy emanating from the center of the orbs that perhaps when the birds came in contact with them killed them instantly. 

 Concerning the fish, perhaps while the orbs were in the lake water, the fish in the surrounding area were electrocuted by the pulse forcing them to wash up on shore. Why is the government keeping this part of the story out of the news? Is the government attempting to cover up the obvious UFO connection to the deaths of these birds and fish? The grassy Knoll Institute will answer these questions as soon as the film footage is fully analyzed.

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Award Winning Christmas Lights

Best Christmas Lights Awards

A few days before Christmas Patty and I went out Christmas shopping and on our way back home, we stopped to look at some Christmas lights. Sorry for the below quality pictures, these were all shot with my HTC Hero phone. Enjoy the photos.

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1. 
   

   Snooty said

   January 2, 2011 at 9:21 am e
   Those pictures are nice. Are you doing a Predictions 2011? Hope so!
   Reply
   • 
     

     LOTGK said

     January 2, 2011 at 8:12 pm e
     Yes I am Snooty. You can find them right here.
     50 Bold Predictions For 2011
     Reply
2. 
   

   Anti-Christ said

   January 3, 2011 at 1:22 pm e
   I love the commercialism of christmas. it takes away the true meaning. It was my idea you know.
   Reply
   • 
     

     LOTGK said

     January 3, 2011 at 10:41 pm e
     Isn’t everything your idea?
     Reply
3. 
   

   Max Jackl said

   January 5, 2011 at 12:45 pm e
   Merry belated Christmas LOTGK.
   Reply
   • 
     

     LOTGK said

     January 6, 2011 at 8:22 am e
     Thank you Max, and God bless everyone.
     Reply