9/03/2012

Beatles - Introducing The Beatles - 1964


introducing the beatles record album
Introducing The Beatles
Introducing The Beatles was the first album released in the United States. This album, printed by Vee Jay Records burst on the scene in 1964, just several months before Capital Records released their version of the first Beatles album, Meet The Beatles. Of course a legal battle ensued and Capital won the lawsuit and Vee-Jay was ordered to pull their records by October. 


rare album introducing the beatles
Introducing the Beatles Back Cover
The back cover is a plain white wrapper with the album title and the song tracks with the Vee-Jay logo top center. 

Side One:
I Saw Her standing There
Misery
Anna
Chains
Boys
Ask Me Why

Side Two:
Please, Please, Me
Baby It's You
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste Of Honey
There's A Place
Twist And Shout
vinyl rare introducing the beatles album
VJ Introducing The beatles Vinyl
Did I happen to mention that this album is a rarity of sorts. Put your Sherlock Holmes pipe down and try to figure out why this album is a rarity. Use the Google machine or Bing it for the answers. Give me your answers in the comments section.

Side One tracks on the actual album:
I Saw her Standing There
Misery
Anna
Chains
Boys
Love Me Do

Side two on the actual album:
P.S. I Love You
Baby It's You
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste Of Honey
There's A Place
Twist And Shout

OK, here are some more clues to investigate:
VJLP-1062
STEREO
63-3403

Let's see how good you really are. That includes you Gumby...





LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

8/14/2012

Wedgewood Pizza - Boardman Ohio

Wedgewood Pizza - Boardman
Wedgewood Pizza has branched out and has another pizza place in Boardman, Ohio. It's been there for several years and I have eaten there several times and decided to check in and critique the famous pizza.
Wedgewood 16 Inch with Chicken Topping
Ordering was standard fare, call your order in, (16 inch pizza with a topping of chicken on half the pizza) and was told 20 minutes and was given a pickup number.

In 20 minutes I pulled in, and you can see by my picture of the store front that it was raining. My pizza was ready and the cashier said that the pizza would be $13.50 total.

Now, the menu states that a large pizza is $10.50 plain. Chicken as a topping was $3 dollars. I assumed that since I only asked for chicken on half the pie that the topping charge would be $1.50 but I was wrong. (Other pizza joints only charge half when you only want the topping on half. Not Boardman Wedgewood.) I paid the $13.50 and left.

The pizza tasted great. Thick crust, nice sauce, cheese, and the chicken was well cooked. All in all a perfect five rating, except for the over charge for the topping.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Boardman Wedgewood Pizza for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

7/28/2012

Hungry Howies Thin Crust Pizza

Hungry Howie's Pizza Shop - Boardman, Ohio
When deciding on a pizza for dinner, several factors come into play.

One: First and foremost, the pizza must be good tasting.
Two: The pizza Ohio has to have a very quick take out service.
Three: The pizza box must be sturdy to survive the ride home.
Four: The pizza must be affordable.
Five: The pizza shop must be close by.





Hungry Howie's meet these requirements. The thin crust is good tasting, not fantastic or exceptional, but good. The drive through pick up is pretty spot on. You pull up, they take your money and hand over the pizza. The box, yellow in color, is sturdy to handle rough roads and perhaps another box stacked on top and still the cheese will not be sticking to the top of the box. Howie's is fairly cheap, and check on their weekly specials for some good deals. And the shop is only five minutes away from us. 

BTW, the chicken nuggets, or strips, or tenders, whatever they call them, are not bad.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Hungry Howie's for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

7/26/2012

Davidsons Restaurant Bacon Cheeseburger

Davidson's Restaurant - Austintown, Ohio
From the looks of the restaurant, it appears small on the outside but once you walk inside, there are plenty of rooms with many a tables. Don't be concerned if the parking lot is full, there will be a table for you inside.

This evening I was intrigued by one of the appetizers, the "Mini Corndogs." Yes, corndogs! There were 10 of them, dipped in batter and browned to a nice crunch. I was surprised at how good they were.


My main course was the half pound bacon cheeseburger with fair fries. The burger was well done as specified, the bun fresh, the cheese melted and thank goodness the bacon was cooked. (I hate when I order a bacon cheeseburger and there is soggy uncooked bacon on top) The burger was delicious.


The fries to my surprise, were fantastic. I am in search of the elusive "Idora Park" french fry taste and this night was the closest I came. On a Idora Park scale of 1 to 10, these fries were a 9. The texture, the taste, the look, feel, the presentation, all Idora Park like. Only thing missing was the white paper cone holder that Idora fries came in.

Completing the meal was a slice of cheesecake topped with strawberries. It was very good and ended the meal on a high note.


The reason for 4 stars and not 5, the service is a tad lacking. No offense to the wait staff, they are working hard, but they are spread to thin. Our waitress was covering an entire room, which was to much for one to handle. Management needs to add more help.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Davidson's for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

7/15/2012

Bacon Hot Fudge Sundae From Burger King

Hell Yeah Bacon
Yes, I know it was out there, hanging out with the deep fried twinkies and deep fried cheeseburger and it was just a matter of time before it landed on the Blue Plate Special.

Let's break this down, ice cream, hot fudge, and bacon. Whip em all together and you have the Bacon Sundae. I will state, I was a skeptic, however, after the first bite, it's true, bacon makes everything taste better.

If you like bacon, and ice cream, make the drive to Burger King and score a bacon sundae today.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Burger King Bacon Sundae for dessert.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

6/24/2012

OCharleys Restaurant - Steak And Chicken

Patty and I stopped at O'Charley's restaurant chain last week for a bite to eat. It was not crowded, but it was busy but we were seated immediately. Our waiter came right over and took our drink order and returned promptly with them.

Our waiter returned with our drinks and took our order. I had the potato soup and it tasted good. Plenty of chunks of potato, creamy sauce, and bacon scattered on top.

Renee brought out our dinner in a timely manner smiling and having a good time. I ordered the sirloin and chicken combo with a baked potato.


The chicken strips were lightly battered, well cooked, crispy, and surprisingly good.
The 6 ounce sirloin was cooked perfectly, juicy, no fat, and tasted great.
The baked potato topped off the meal. There was no room for dessert.

The service was fantastic all the way around, the experience was very pleasant, the prices reasonable, including diet pop but not tip under $20 dollars, and the food tasted great and was prepared perfectly.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends O'Charley's Restaurant in Boardman, Ohio for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

5/29/2012

San Francisco Chinese Pizza

Chinese Pizza In San Francisco
Walking the streets of San Francisco, I happened upon this pizza shop in an out-of-the-way corner. I was hungry and decided to enter. It did not have the appearance of a standard pizza shop, but hey, there was a picture of a slice of pizza on the sign outside so it had to be good, right! I ordered a slice of cheese pizza with sausage and pepperoni.


This is what I got. I will say, it mostly resembled a slice of pizza, it certainly was triangular, and flat. But I was looking for taste. And,... well,... it wasn't awful. It was warm, which was a plus, the crust wasn't stale, the sauce from a jar, the cheese from a bag, but all in all, it wasn't awful. The price, $3 dollars, which, in San Francisco and being hungry, wasn't awful.

To sum up. It wasn't awful.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Shawerma Chinese Pizza for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

5/04/2012

Nathans Hot Dogs - MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas

A month ago, I attended the ASD Las Vegas trade show. After a very long day of travelling and show set up, I was tired and returned to the MGM hotel. Not having a bite to eat all day, I found myself wandering the MGM food court. I spied Nathan's hot dogs and got in line. I ordered two hot dogs and french fries. I paid my $9 dollars and waited for my number to be called. A few minutes later I had my tray of Nathan's.

The hot dogs are unique. The casing is different than most hot dogs. It has an almost crunchy casing. I loaded them up with ketchup and went to town on them. Nathan's hot dogs taste good, the bun was fresh and warm, the hot dog itself fresh and not over cooked. The fries were standard fare but were good. For a quick bite to eat after a long day, Nathan's in the MGM Grand Hotel is a good choice.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Nathan's Hot Dogs inside the MGM Las Vegas Hotel for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL