The Wendy’s Spicy Baconator

Posted on April 3, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment | 7 Comments

For weeks, I’ve been seeing ads for the new Wendy’s Spicy Baconator. For a while, it didn’t really appeal to me. Despite being a fan of bacon, cheeseburgers, and bacon cheeseburgers, I have never been a particularly big fan of Wendy’s. Moreover, when I do choose to eat at Wendy’s, I generally stick to their Spicy Chicken Sandwich.

Recently, though, I’ve been hearing a few of my peers speak of their great desire to have a Baconator. Evidently, word-of-mouth marketing is effective, because the mention of this monster of a burger by people in my social circle caused me to really want to eat the Spicy Baconator.

Last week, I finally decided to take the plunge.

The first thing you should know about the Baconator is that it’s expensive. It was about $8 for a combo with fries and soft drink.

The second thing you need to know is that it’s an artery-clogger of epic proportions. Both the regular and spicy version of the Baconator have almost 1,000 calories. If you eat this thing on a regular basis, it will kill you.

But, despite the cost and calorie-count, the Spicy Baconator is awesome. It’s certainly not the best burger I’ve ever eaten, but it’s probably the best fast-food burger I’ve ever eaten.

I have read that the original Baconator is not particularly good. It’s apparently quite bland, and the bacon is apparently soggy. The spicy version, though, is a near perfect blend of texture and taste.

The spiciness of the jalapeños, the pepper jack cheese, and the spicy ranch dressing add just the right amount of zest to what would probably be an otherwise bland and typical fast-food burger. The bacon is crisp without being crunchy, and the beef is thick and juicy.

The thing is huge, too. It looks about the same size as a typical Wendy’s Double Burger, but it’s dense. It weighs far more than it should. The thing is a meal in it’s own right, and you’d do well to skip the side dishes when you order one.

When I ate mine, I almost didn’t finish my fries. And, given that Wendy’s fries aren’t particularly good in the first place, skipping them isn’t a big loss. Skip the fries, eat the burger, and then go for a lengthy jog to burn off the ridiculous amount of calories you’ll have packed on.

Thoughts About the Blog

Posted on April 1, 2008
Filed Under Tech | 4 Comments

I’ve been pondering about this website ever since it disappeared from the Internet a week or two ago. For a while, I though that the database was destroyed, and that I’d be forced to start from scratch.

At first, the idea of starting over bothered me quite a bit. Then, I thought it might be a good thing. if I was forced to start from scratch, I could take the site in any direction I wanted.

Of course, being adamsnider.com would limit me in some ways: It would still have to be a site written by and/or about me. But, as a writer who is very aware of the power of the Internet to self-market, I had/have no intention of making this site anything other than a site about Adam Snider: Author.

Still, starting with a clean slate would allow me to redesign the site, if I so desired. It could become a portfolio site. The blog could be moved to a subdirectory (technically, this is still possible). I could do anything.

I think I am still going to be making some changes around here. I will probably make me writing samples more prominent. I will be removing the “services” page for the time being (though I will probably replace it with something similar in the future).

The blog will not get moved to a subdirectory. It will still be the first thing you see when you arrive on adamsnider.com. It may get a new name, though. As much as I like the name Ink Slinger, it sometimes feel strange to have a blog who name does not match it’s URL.

Should I change the name? Would a simple adamsnider.com be better? What about other ideas: Adam Snider’s Weblog, or Adam Snider Online? I’m reluctant to give up the name Ink Slinger, especially since I rank #1 for the term [ink slinger] on Google.ca.

However, [ink slinger] isn’t a common search term, and the people who do search for it tend to be looking for information about tattoos and tattoo artists. These people are not my target audience.

I rank well for my own name, which is something that is important to me. That’s about all that I rank well for, as far as terms that I want to rank well for go. Considering I’ve never really done any SEO for this site, that doesn’t strike me as particularly surprising.

What does all of this rambling mean? I’m not sure yet. I think I’m going to work on rebranding the site/blog over the coming weeks & months. It will still be a place to read my thoughts and ramblings. It will still be a personal blog, but it will focus much more on my writing.

I don’t want to turn it into a blog about writing, but I am a writer more than anything else, so it makes sense that this should be a focus.

At the same time, I don’t want it to be a self-absorbed wankfest (which it really has been, at times). I want my personality to be evident, and I want to market both myself and my writing here, but I don’t want to come across as writing about things that no but me cares about.

I know what I want my blog to be, even if I’m having trouble putting it into words. I guess the reason that I’m writing this post is 2-fold.

I’m writing this to give all of my readers (i.e.: you) an idea of what to expect in the coming weeks. But, the main reason I’m writing it is to get a few things straight in my own head. Plus, putting these thoughts in writing and making them public will, hopefully, keep me a bit more focused on the “new direction” of the blog.

On the more technical side of things, I’ll be using a new theme (which is already in place), and I’ll be simplifying the navigation by reducing the number of categories, and making sure that past posts are categorized as appropriately as possible.

When will these changes start taking place? I’m not sure. Soon. Probably this evening. They won’t likely be large changes. I’ll still be writing about a lot of the same things, I’m just going to try and make them more interesting and relevant to people who aren’t my close personal friends.

The changes, therefore, will likely be subtle and almost imperceptible to some of you. But, to my more casual readers, I expect that they will be very significant. Hopefully, they will change casual readers into subscribers and fans.

Ink Slinger is Back!

Posted on April 1, 2008
Filed Under Tech | 1 Comment

Well, it took a while (mostly because of my own lack of time), but Ink Slinger is back online.

I still have to do a few things: like reinstall my old theme (though, I’ll probably install a new one, just for fun), and reinstall all of the plug-ins that I lost, but other than that, it appears that everything is back to normal around here.

I’m pretty sure I’ve got everything back where it should be, but if you notice any errors, please let me know.

Cigar Gatherings

Posted on March 7, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment | 2 Comments

I enjoy a good cigar. Unfortunately, winter in Edmonton means that I can’t enjoy them year-round.

I mean, I suppose I could smoke in my apartment. Even though I technically live in a non-smoking building, everyone seems to smoke in their apartments. I’ve even seen people walking through the halls with lit cigarettes between their lips—the resident manager included.

However, I don’t want to smoke an entire cigar in my small apartment. The stale smoke will linger for days, and I don’t like that. Maybe if I have a powerful air filter…

Anyway, the weather is finally starting to warm up, which means that I can occasionally sit out on the balcony and enjoy a good cigar, as long as it’s a shorter stick (since, even at 5C it starts to get chilly after a while…it’s above zero, sure, but it’s also about the same temperature as the inside of a refrigerator).

While I certainly enjoy a solitary smoke—it’s quite a contemplative experience—I’m beginning to see cigars as more of a social experience (I’ve got a pipe for my solitary, contemplative smokes). I much prefer to smoke a cigar over the course of an hour or two while talking to friends (who are, presumably, also enjoying a cigar) than to sit around and smoke one by myself.

Basically, what I’m getting at here is that I’m looking to enhance my cigar smoking experiences by combining them with social experiences. If you’re up for a smoke and a conversation, let me know and we’ll see what we can arrange. If I’m feeling generous, I might even let you pick something from my personal collection (as small and humble as it may be).

Should Voting Be Mandatory?

Posted on March 3, 2008
Filed Under Politics | 10 Comments

I asked this question on Twitter earlier today, and got a few interested responses, but I thought I’d ask it here, as well.

Basically, I want to know if you think citizens should be required to vote in a democracy. Even if you don’t support any of the candidates, you could just spoil your ballot (or refuse it, there is an official way of doing so in Canada, but I don’t recall the details), as long as you actually went down to a polling station and took an active role.

In Australia, voting is mandatory, and you have to pay a fine if you don’t vote. Do you think something like this would work in other democratic nations?

Cigar Jack is Holding a Contest

Posted on March 2, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment | Leave a Comment

If you know me, or if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy a fine cigar from time to time. I also read a lot of blogs. Where these two things come together is when I read cigar blogs.

Perhaps my favourite cigar blog is Cigar Jackâ€™s Cigar Reviews. As the name implies, it’s a blog that reviews cigars. It also covers other cigar-related news, but the reviews are the main thing.

Right now, Cigar Jack is having a contest to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the blog. To enter, you basically just need to write and submit an article that you think would be of interest to cigar smokers. Every day in March, they’ll pick one of the best submissions, and give the author a 5-pack of Camacho cigars. At the end of the month, the best of all the submissions will win a box of Camacho 10th Anniversary cigars.

Of course, like all contests, there are some rules and regulations, so you’ll have to visit the contest page for more information.

I Eat Meat

Posted on February 25, 2008
Filed Under Personal | 2 Comments

For those of you who were keeping score, I have failed miserably at my plan of only eating meat when I am at restaurants and/or at other people’s houses. I eat meat at home, too.

I did manage to go for a little while without, but I just could not give it up. I like meat too much. I have, however, managed to cut back a lot on the amount of meat that I eat at home.

I use “meat alternatives” like tofu, beans, and a few other sources of non-meat protein with some regularity. And probably at least half of my at-home meals are meat-free. I think that’s pretty good, both for my health, and for the environment.

While I failed at totally eliminating meat from my at-home diet, I think I still managed to get a good results—lowering my meat intake—as a result of my failed experiment.

How-to Start Video Blogging in 5 Easy Steps

Posted on February 4, 2008
Filed Under Tech | 3 Comments

I’ve been thinking about doing some video blogging (or vlogging, as the cool kids are calling it) lately, mostly for River City Writer. I’ve never really been sure where to start. I know I need a camera and a decent microphone (whether it’s built into the camera or not), but that’s about it.

For River City Writer, I’d probably need an actual camcorder, since the idea would be to capture relevant video about different aspects of Edmonton life and culture, but depending on the specific nature of the video, I might be able to get away with using a webcam.

Anyway, the point of all of this is to say that I’ve found a pretty good tutorial about how to get started with video blogging. It’s a beginner’s guide, so if you’re looking for something more advanced than “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Video Blogging,” this won’t be for you.

If you’re interested in video blogging, I recommend that you check out Michael Martine’s tutorial: “Start Video Blogging in Five Easy Steps.” It’s an incredibly easy rundown of what you need to do, and it also makes the process sound much less intimidating to those who might be afraid of the amount of work involved.

Online!

Posted on February 4, 2008
Filed Under Personal | 2 Comments

Yesterday, as I was hooking up all of my electronics (TV, stereo, computer, etc.) in the new apartment, I decided I’d make it easy for the cable guy and connect all the cables myself. After all, why make him cut a bunch of cable when I already have my own? This way, all he’d have to do when he came to activate my services would be to flip a switch on the cable box on the side of the building.

After that, I was ready to take a break. Figuring I’d watch some Arrested Development on DVD, I turned on the TV to find that, ta da!, I have cable. I’m not sure if they already transferred my services and just didn’t bother to tell me or if they just haven’t disconnected the previous tenants services yet but, either way, I was pleasantly surprised. This is nice, because it seems that my new apartment is too far away from the other wireless networks in the building to pick any of them up.

Offline!

Posted on February 2, 2008
Filed Under Personal | 2 Comments

I’m moving today. In fact, in just a few hours, I should be all settled into the new apartment (which, by the way, is fantastic; I finally got to take a look at it yesterday, and I think I like it more than this one, even though it’s obviously smaller due to the fact that it’s only a 1-bedroom). This means that I will be without an Internet connection for at least a day (unless I can steal wireless from one of my neighbours).

Basically, I forgot to tell Shaw that I was moving, so I’ve only just today arranged to have my services transfered. I requested that it be done tomorrow, but that probably won’t happen, because I didn’t give them enough notice.

So, essentially, this means that, if you need to contact me, phone and/or text me. You’ll have to use my cell, since my other phone is VOIP (and, I’m actually thinking about cancelling it anyway…why do I need 2 phones?). It also means, of course, that I won’t be blogging for a few days (again, unless I can leech off of one of my neighbours until my service gets connected at the new place).

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