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The Daily Dose/November 15, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
Notes from around the Human Experience...The Column Four Foto is Olivia Newton-John!
CAPSULE PASTRAMI SANDWICH REVIEW: The Hat, Valley Blvd. and Garfield Ave., Alhambra, California: We do not throw out the "Heavyweight Champion of the World" title out often. It's a big world, and we haven't eaten every pastrami sandwich mankind has ever made, but we've eaten enough so that we feel confident in extending that title to the pastrami found at The Hat. Lord knows we've eaten enough of them over the years.
Mandatory Disclosure: Yours Truly actually wasn't present at The Hat. The Woman was in the area this week and actually bought one and brought it back for me. Even four-and-a-half hours old, it still completely ruled.
Deep Background: Yours truly grew up in the area around The Hat. The exact location is Top Secret, of course, due to Internet privacy regulations and the generally sensitive nature of my work here at the Writer's Shack, but it would be accurate to term the area the old stomping grounds, not that we ever did a whole lot of stomping.
Back To The Future: Anyway, The Hat has been at the corner of Valley and Garfield for ages. I can remember first going there as a kid with my dad sitting me on the counter so I could supervise the preparing of our dinner and it wasn't new then. And it hasn't changed much either. The grill used to be gas, but now it's electric, but that's about it. The last time we were there, in June, 2007, the same sign suggesting it might be best not to feed the birds was hanging in the same place its been hanging for decades. And birds were still loitering because the sign could not have been more ignored had prizes been given for non-compliance.
By The By: The curious can go to Google Maps and scope it out. Enter 'the hat Alhambra california' and for added fun Street View it!
Uh, Is Street View A Verb? It is now. We take pride here in taking the time to write, which requires thought, preparation and organization, if not professional copy editing, as opposed to mere blogging, which is simply typing whatever the hell you want and running with it, but, for today at least, 'street view' is a verb.
Back On Message: They have an extensive menu at The Hat, burgers, hot dogs, et al, for those who don't like pastrami, but you go there for the pastrami, like generations of San Gabriel Valley residents have done. Be advised, though, side orders make the portions at Claim Jumper seem skimpy. A side of onion rings could itself feed a family of four, and the chili fries could feed a small frigate.
FunFact: There's a place here in Vegas that advertises "LA style pastrami" probably because there are a lot of people who used to live in the LA area now living up here, and while it is not an everyday occurrence, it certainly isn't unprecedented to run into somebody up here who's heard of The Hat. They agree, too, it's the best on the planet. Don't argue with us.
We haven't tried this place though, and it is unlikely we will. One, it is not reasonable to expect it to be as good as The Hat, and honestly, we don't want it to be, so in case it is, we don't really want to know about it.
We Interrupt This Column For A Word From The Ratings Department: Following is the Official Writer's Shack rating scale:
EX - Excellent; as good as the medium can produce in every respect.
VG - Very Good. Well worth your time.
GD - Good. Worth your time.
AR - All Right. Not completely without merit.
SP - Nothing of substance; a steaming pile, utterly without merit.
Final Rating: EX. This is the best in the world. If it were entered in the Pastrami Olympics, forget the medal stand, it would win the gold like Bob Beamon won the long jump in 1968. It wouldn't even be close.
TEN HUT! 85,256 days after the formation of the Continental Army, Ann Dunwoody became the first woman in the US military to be given a fourth star, being promoted from Lt. General to General in ceremonies Friday at the Pentagon. Dunwoody's has spent most of her 33-year army career in supply and logistics and interestingly said she really had no goals for her army career, and that in college she really wanted to be a PE teacher and raise a family.
Quotebook: Dunwoody called the promotion "as overwhelming as it is humbling".
General Dunwoody Reporting As Ordered: Her first assignment as General is as commander of the U.S. Army Material Command, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, though one of her duties will be moving her command to Huntsville, Alabama.
FunFact: The first women in the US military to be promoted to flag officer were Anna Mae Hayes and Elizabeth Hoisington, both promoted by the army to Brigadier General on June 11, 1970.
WE THE PEOPLE: On this date, in 1777, the Continental Congress, meeting for reasons we're sure they thought good in York, Pennsylvania, approved the Articles of Confederation, after a year of debate.
The Articles provided for allowing the new government - among other things - to make war, negotiate diplomatic agreements, set weights and measures and resolving issues regarding the western territories, but made no provision for executive leadership of the confederation or for taxation or any other method of generating revenue.
Hot, Unicameral Action: Each state could send between two and seven members to the Continental Congress, but each state had only one vote, and members, in an interesting twist on term limits, could only serve three out of any six years. It called for a Committee of the States to run the government when Congress was in recess and even pre-approved Canada for membership, if they ever bothered to apply. It was replaced by United States Constitution in June, 1788.
Proud As A Peacock: On this date, in 1926, the NBC Radio Network signs on with 24 stations. It would spit into Red and Blue networks the following January, and eventually add White, Gold and Orange networks, with the Blue Network would eventually become ABC. NBC sold NBC Radio to Westwood One in 1987 who eventually phased it out.
I Guess He Would Have Voted Against Proposition 8: On this date, in 1941, Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders all homosexuals in Germany arrested and sent to concentration camps. Exceptions are made for top Nazi's who are gay, though.
Not The Ruling They We're Hoping For: Two years later on this date Himmler orders gypsies to be "put on the same level as Jews" and sent to concentration camps.
Our Lives, Our Fortunes And Our Sacred Honor:The cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial is laid by President Roosevelt on this date in 1939. Roosevelt would officially dedicate the Memorial on April 13, 1943, the bicentennial of Jefferson's birth.
Make Love, Not War: On this date, in 1969, a crowd estimated at between a quarter-million and 300,000 people marched on Washington, protesting the Vietnam War. The march was led by three drummers, followed by marchers carrying eleven wooden coffins holding placards containing the names of Vietnam war dead. An immense wooden cross followed, followed by a banner and then the marchers, most of whom were chanting "Peace now". The demonstration was rather peaceful.
WRITER'S SHACK FAVE UPDATE: Nine-time NCAA Division III national football champion and official Writer's Shack fave Mount Union College closes out the regular season today at Marietta College. They are 9-0, 8-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and are winning games by an average score of 46-6. They have clinched at least a tie for their 16th straight conference title and the top seed from the OAC in the D-III playoffs. They can earn their 17th undefeated regular season.
FunFact: Mount Union leads the series with Marietta 37-8-1 and has won 28 straight over the Pioneers, including last year's 57-0 drubbing.
Thought For The Day: All the misfortunes of men derive from one single thing, which is their inability to be at ease in a room {at home}. - Blaise Pascal
The trivia question is taking some time off. It will return.
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