Brogan's Blog

Do you remember the California Raisin figurines from Hardee's in the 1980's? If you answered yes, you must be older like me. A 9 year old version of myself would beg my parents to take me to Hardee's just to get the cool figurines. For only $0.99, raisin figurines were offered with the purchase of either two of the sweet biscuits or another dessert. Looking back at it now I wonder what my kids would think of these figures. Probably they would think they are so dumb. But to me.... it was so cool. Let's take a look back at this little toy you could get at Hardee's. Hardee's released its California Raisins figurines in 1987, a year after the characters first appeared in commercials. These collectible toys were part of a promotion for Hardee's cinnamon 'n' raisin biscuits. The California Raisins were introduced by the California Raisin Advisory Board in 1986 with their famous "Late Show" commercial. Hardee's followed up a year later w...

Mount Everest: Could I?

Mount Everest has always been one of those dreams of mine. I grew up watching shows of people trying to climb Mount Everest with some succeeding and many others falling short. Everest: Beyond The Limit was the show that really got me interested in the adventure. The show followed teams of climbers and Sherpas (who are the real heroes of the expeditions) in their attempt to summit Mount Everest. Now if you have no idea what Mount Everest is or why someone would want to climb it, here is a little info. Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain, situated on the border of Nepal and China, with an official height of 29,031.7 ft. It is still growing due to tectonic plate movement, while its summit is a harsh "death zone" with thin air and extreme cold. The mountain has local names like Sagarmatha (in Nepal) and Chomolungma (in Tibet) and was named after Sir George Everest. Interesting enough Sir George Everest never climbed the mountain. Nor did he ever even see it! Sir Geo...

Friends "The Quiz"

Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Fox, Matt LeBlanc Friends, which ran for 10 years on NBC, was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. I remember every week waiting for it to be on TV and I would make the time to watch. The characters were all wonderful, it was funny, had great guest stars and was one of the most popular shows at the time. So, I'm sure you have seen it. So let's see if you can remember it? Take the quiz and let's find out! Loading…

Guinness Fun Facts: Did You Know?

As someone with Irish roots, I was always intrigued by Guinness when I hit the drinking age. It's one of those beers you just got to have. And yes, it tastes good. I have always said one day, I will get to Ireland, go to Brogan's Bars in Dublin and have myself a Guinness. But until then, I can learn more about the wonderful drink. Join in and learn these fun 10 facts about Guinness. 1. There really is a small ball in your Guinness can. It’s actually a Guinness widget that’s working hard to replicate the draught experience in a can. When a Guinness can is popped open, a small amount of beer and nitrogen, which is trapped in the widget, is forced out to create the famous creamy head that you’d expect if your Guinness was poured for you from a tap. 2. The water used for Dublin-brewed Guinness comes from the Wicklow Mountains, County Wicklow is known colloquially as the 'Garden of Ireland'. 3. More than 160,000 pints of Guinness are lost every year in facial hair. Guinnes...

Pickle Bacon Pizza - I tried Making and I Conquered

So here's a weird thing about me. I really love dill pickles. So when I heard about pickle pizza I was excited. Unfortunately, where I live there aren't any real close pizza places that serve pickle pizza. I did however find a frozen version at Target. I had to try it! Although it had chips on it. And the idea of a frozen pizza with chips on it didn't make sense to me. Wouldn't they not be crispy? Hmm. But it had pickles. So I baked it up and it was not good at all . Gross even. I didn't even eat more than one piece. Pickle Pie from Target - No Good! There had to be another option. I could drive far away and try one or I could just try and make my own. I went for option 2 and decided to make my own. I ran to my local grocery store and bought a 2 pack of pizza crusts, some roasted garlic parmesan sauce, some shredded mozzarella, some bacon bits and some dill pickles. Total cost was $19.30. So right around the cost of getting a prepaid pizza before tip or delivery ...

Sherlock: Except No Others

Except no others. Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson) is the best version of the Sherlock Holmes. By far, no contest! Yes, Robert Downey Jr. has a movie version that put out two films, but that one isn't on the same level. So the great thing about Sherlock is it's based in present time. Which to a modern watcher makes it so much better. So if you aren't familiar with Sherlock at all, what's it about? In this contemporary version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, Dr. John Watson is a war vet just home from Afghanistan. He meets the brilliant but eccentric Sherlock Holmes when the latter, who serves as a consultant to Scotland Yard, advertises for a flatmate. Almost as soon as Watson moves into the Baker Street flat, they are embroiled in mysteries, and Sherlock's nemesis, Moriarty, appears to have a hand in the crimes. Now although there are many criminals through the seasons, Moriarty comes about mo...

Milli Vanilli: Why

Wednesday, July 4th, 1990 was the first concert I ever attended in Des Moines, Iowa. I was 12 years old, and at the time I was so excited. I mean the show was the one you had to see. Who was it? Seduction, Young MC and the headliner was Milli Vanilli! At the time Milli Vanilli was the group you had to see. With such great hits as Blame It On The Rain, All or Nothing, Girl You Know It's True and Baby Don't Forget My Number, Milli Vanilli was my favorite group at the time. And don't lie, most of you liked them too. As I was watching the concert, as a 12 year old, never did I think that they weren't really singing the songs. Fast forward to 4 months later to November of 1990 and the scandal hit the news. The Milli Vanilli scandal was the revelation that the duo's lead members, Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, did not sing on their own records; their vocals were performed by studio singers. This lead to their Grammy for Best New Artist being revoked and the duo becoming a...

Tipping at Starbucks

Does everyone expect a tip now? It seems like more and more people are expecting a tip from me and with the economy being the way it is, I have no more money to give them. Just yesterday I went to three places where a tip was expected. The first was the hair salon to get my hair did. I've never really understood tipping the stylist. I think they get paid a pretty good hourly rate, don't they? But, what it really comes down to is fear. If I don't tip well, will they botch my haircut the next time around? Will I leave with a big chunk of hair missing from the back of my head? Will they shave the word "cheapskate" back there? So then I go out the dinner at Centro. Some great food by the way. So here I see why we tip. The servers get paid a small hourly wage and depend on tips as part of the salary. But here's a question. Would I rather eat somewhere where I didn't have to tip and the food prices were higher? Or would I rather have the choice ...

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