Old Time Radio at OTRCat!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Bleeding on the landscape.






















 Hello, kiddies! Ol' Uncle Aardvark is in the wilds of Columbus at a seedy old Ramada Inn, warehousing shirts at Anime Punch: Revoluticon. AP is a usually robust springtime con, but this is a smaller relaxacon version, with the big guns coming out in December as AP: the Armageddicon, to celebrate the Mayan calendar thing. We will be there, Itzamná willing (see, you CAN learn new things here!). We have two other cons this weekend, MomoCon in Atlanta, and KawaKon in St. Louis, with varying levels of success. AP is the...least successful so far. We shall see.


A high point of the weekend is having Jay Agan stop by the con for the day. We have traded stories of old TV shows, voice actors, foreign policy and cat food. We are nothing if not eclectic. Pizza tonight at a wood-fired oven place.
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So, a Coast-to-Coast guest was talking about the problems in Syria and the uprisings and killings going on, and George Noory asked "Why don't we go in and do something?!". Good old reliable George. The answer should be, "Because it isn't ANY of our business.". Period. Second answer: "We can't afford to.". Either is a compelling argument.  Either is true. Both. Both are. Even if it would be a "good thing" or would "help the poor children", because we cannot afford one more "good thing" as a nation, and we cannot  afford to write another bad check for children not-our-own. Syria's civil unrest is not our business, not our problem.
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Well, after an afternoon of negotiations, Jay and I have come to an uneasy detente. I shall remain an unrepentant infidel in re: the Cult of Haruhi Suzimiya, though I shall watch more of it. Jay shall remain a stiffnecked...jerk...as far as the sublimity of Ponies is concerned, so I guess that very little is different. Plus ça change....

However, we have agreement on one uniting truth: Bono Pizza is less a pizza pie, and more a work of art. 

 
 Photo: Columbus Crave/Columbus Alive


 Their 10-inch pizzas are $10 each, or 3-for-$25 (their "menage a trois" on the menu), which would be outrageous from an assembly-line place, but Bono's, now, that is a pizza of a different color! Doesn't matter if you have a pepperoni or a kitchen-sink 'za, it is the same price. The trick is, it is baked in an oven roughly one-fifth the temperature of the surface of the Sun! A wood-burning stove, which cooks the continually-watched and carefully-turned pizza in 2.5 minutes. The yeast dough is made in-store, and is crispy and light;  all of the toppings are fresh, the herbs and veggies bright with flavor. The mozzarella, which comes out looking like marshmallow fluff, it is so pure and rich, is an experience all to itself. As they say, cheap at twice the price. "Gourmet" is a much overused word, but it is correct and accurate, if inadequate, to describe their creations. They use calamata olives, because California black olives are chemically "blackened". The calamatas add a whole new dimension to the classic Pepperoni, Mushroom and Olive pizza!  Peruse the website. Their place is the veritable hole-in-the-wall establishment which virtually insures a taste treat. Should you come to Columbus, OH, go to Bono. Better yet, come to Columbus specifically for Bono's. Tell 'em the Aardvark sent you. Bill, Peg, and the rest of the crew, thank you. You have all pleased the 'Vark! And thanks to Jay for telling us about the place, and driving us there in his venerable Crown Vic. OH! Dessert...We split a Belgian Waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Loen, Jay and I were happy campers.

11 comments:

Michael W said...

Hole in the wall restaurants are my bread-and-butter. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred my best eating out experiences have happened in places most people would drive by without giving so much as a glance (which reminds me: if you ever find yourself near Bastrop, Texas, check out the Pecan Tree Cafe, where "home cooking" isn't just a marketing ploy).

And, although I dislike being thought of as an Isolationist, even I agree that the only nation-building we need to be involved in is the United States.

The Aardvark said...

'Grief, Michael...a John Bircher, you?

:^3

Michael W said...

I don't think I'd go that far. It's so hard getting bloodstains out of white sheets.

The Aardvark said...

Hmmm...I think you refer to the group that D.W. Griffith made that movie about.

Michael W said...

There's a difference?

The Aardvark said...

Actually, yes.

Birchers were/are anti-communist, anti-UN.

Klan is allergic to melanin.

The Aardvark said...

The JBS got a bad rap primarily due to propaganda by the people they struggled to expose, that and having a cachet of being permanently stuck in the '50s. Imagine George McFly reading "None Dare Call it Treason".

Jay Agan said...

Re. My Lethal Pony, etc.:
Stiff necked jerk ..... & proud!

By the way. I found out Bill wasn't the only one behind "that sign". Grrrrr!

Michael W: Yeah, there is a difference between the Birch Society & the various Klans. Having been a Bircher myself & later running with various people from "interesting" groups back in the day, I've found there's big difference between the two.

The John Birch Society actually has black & Jewish members & are more preoccupied with THE CONSPIRACY (that will not die.). They're sorta kinda the Jehovahs' Witnesses of the right wing.

The Klukkers, nazis et al ..... well, we know what they're in to.

It was fun watching Birchers & Klukkers arguing at paranoia fests back in the 80s.

The Aardvark said...

Jay, re: The Sign.

Only a bystander. I may have said...something...to set Bill off.

I utterly admit to hilarity, primarily at Bill's excitement over his project. I now know I need to speak carefully around him. Excitable chap.

Jay Agan said...

No offense taken. I thought the whole thing was funny as all get out.

Bill is Bill, always will be. Wouldn't surprise me if he had this planned from the start.

TheWayfarer said...

My brother in law was a KockKrunchin'Kraphead for many years, and I know not whether his rehab was successful or just sucked.
"Jehovah's Witnesses of the right wing"...BEAUTIFUL!!! Wish I had thought of it.