Trying New Cheese: Entry 3, Kerrygold Dubliner

Oh! Top O' the mornin' to ya! The newest cheese that I had the pleasure of trying was the Dubliner, from Kellygold, a cheese imported straight from Ireland! 

KELLYGOLD, DUBLINER 

Milk: Cow
Country of Origin: Ireland 
Region: County Cork
Type: Hard
Pasteurized: Yes
Description: Light orange hard cheese
Claim to Fame: A replacement to cheddar with a combination of flavors

HISTORY: This is a rather new cheese considering some are 100's of years old. The Kerrygold company has only been around since 1962 but it is Ireland's most famous cheese company. Orginally called, "Argalen," this cheese was created in 1990 to be a replacement for cheddar but would still use the same process and equipment that cheddar used. Although it is named after the city of Dublin, it is actually made in Cork. It is a very popular cheese in Ireland and since the country is known for its green rolling hills, what better place for cows to produce some special milk? 

TASTE: The Dubliner has its flavor roots in cheddar cheese but one bite will tell you, there's a lot more going on! The taste is mild and for a split second you'd guess it was cheddar but quickly you realize the flavor has more to it than cheddar. It is nutty with a hint of sweetness and it does not have a lingering after taste. It is aged for 12 months but it isn't as sharp as you might expect. You'll often hear its taste described as a mixture of cheddar and parmesan and I would have to agree with that.  Its texture is hard and it will crumble but more like a sharp cheddar than anything else. This really is a robust, full-flavored cheese.

This would be a great cheese to entertain with on a cheese board because people would guess it is cheddar but not like any cheddar they've ever had before. Dubliner would go great with Cabernet or a dark beer.  

Ireland is well known for its alcohol but this cheese proves they know what they're doing with dairy as well. Dubliner would be a great cheese choice for the dark beer lover. This is a specialty cheese that would be absolutely perfect with a pint of Guinness after a dinner of corned beef and cabbage! Although very close to cheddar, it really is its own thing and I think anyone Irish should try it. I give it a 9 out of 10, mostly because it is so new and not very original, still definitely worth a try AND worth the money at 5.99 for 7oz, a pretty good value all things considered.

At the end of MY rainbow you would definitely find a pot of Kerrygold Dubliner, but that's just my two cents.

CHEESE TIP: Cheese should be stored at the same temperature that it was aged, usually this is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.


Thank you for reading and I hope you check back for my next entry in this series!

Trying New Cheeses: Entry 2, Beemster Vlaskaas

I have tried the cheese, Beemster Vlaskaas. A cheese that won at the 2004 World Champion Cheese Contest, which had 1000's of cheeses competing against each other. It received the gold medal and that means it gets recognition as one of the world's BEST cheeses.

BEEMSTER VLASKAAS

Milk: Cow
Country of Origin: Holland
Region: North Holland, the Beemster Polder
Type: Semi-hard
Pasteurized: Yes
Description: Pale yellow, a creamy texture but still has visible protein crystals, and its trademark purple rind
Claim to Fame: Made once a year to celebrate the flax harvest from the one-of-a-kind Beemster Polder pastures.

History: This is the newest cheese in the Beemster line but it is derived from their oldest recipe and used to be made centuries ago. Beemster Vlaskaas or roughly translated to, "Flax Cheese," isn't made with any flax but was named for the flax harvest time of year. The cheese was made only at this time of year to be eaten by the workers. In 2004 the harvest festival was brought back as a community celebration and the ancient recipe was rediscovered. Beemster produced the new Vlaskaas and took it to the World Champion Cheese Contest held in Wisconsin, where it won the gold medal. Beemster cheese is unique to all other cheese (including other Dutch cheese) because it is only made in the Beemster Polder. A polder is land that was once under water. This means that the blue ocean clay that produces the grass, gives it special nutrients so when the cows eat this grass to produce their milk, the milk and therefore cheese, has a very distinct and unique flavor. Ultimately, this makes the taste of Beemster cheese one of a kind!

Taste: After my first bite I could clearly see why this cheese had won a gold medal. The aroma is strong when you first open it. The flavor just punches you in the mouth, but slowly. Your entire mouth is filled with this tangy sweet flavor that was surprisingly very similar to a very sharp cheddar. Unlike sharp cheddar, the after taste wasn't over powering. The texture is very creamy and yet there are protein crystals, the kind you find in an extra sharp cheddar, which was surprising and curious because usually cheese that contains protein crystals has a texture that is firm and will crumble, not to mention so sharp it makes your mouth want to pucker! Not Vlaskaas, it was smoother than Gouda. I don't know how they did it.

This would be great with any white wine and fruit or nuts. Beemster also recommends a cheese board made up of all Beemster cheeses and although I haven't tried anything else that they produce, they probably all go well together.

I may not be a judge at the World Champion Cheese Contest....(yet) but I have to agree with them. I give Beemster Vlaskaas a 10 out of 10. If you're a fan of extra sharp cheddar, give this a try, the creamy texture is a welcomed change from the crumbling protein crystal filled cheese you're used to. This part of a wedge comes in at $6.99 for 5.3oz, not too bad considering it was imported from the Netherlands AND it is only made in one tiny part of the world AND it also can't be duplicated anywhere else AND it is an award winning cheese. After you realized that, we're pretty lucky that we even get to try some! Beemster, I take my hat off to you, and so the people out there know, Beemster has several more cheeses that have won gold medals. I think Beemster will be finding itself in this series in the near future.

A cheese that came from humble beginnings and made it all the way to a World Champion, that's a real underdog story with a happy ending. Vlaskaas is worth its weight in gold, but that's just my two cents.


Cheese Fact: Did you know? American Cheese is NOT considered cheese by law. It is illegal for a cheese manufacturer to label it as just, "American Cheese."

Thank you for reading and I hope you check back for my next entry in this series!

Trying New Cheeses, First Entry: The Port Du Salut

I have decided to make a new series where I review cheeses that I have never tried before. Did you ever see that cheese section in your grocery store with all those strange imported cheeses that you've never even heard of before? I have. Have you also wondered who is eating that cheese? I have. I am now one of those people. I will taste, describe, rate, and give a brief history on each cheese that I try.

 My first entry that I am going to try for you, the Port Salut.

PORT SALUT

Milk: Cow
Country of Origin: France
Region: Brittany, Loire Valley
Type: Semi-soft
Pasteurized: Yes
Description: Pale yellow with an orange rind.
Claim to Fame: Created by Monks in a French monastery.

History: The Port Salut or Port Du Salut is a French cheese developed by Trappist monks in the Notre Dame Du Port-Du-Salut Abbey in Entrammes, (some places around the world call this cheese Entrammes). They've been making it since the early 19th century. In 1873 they made a deal with a local cheese supplier and it was sold to locals for the first time. The demand was so great that they started to worry about protecting their cheese rights. The abbey wanted trade protection and the name, "Port Salut" was trade marked for this cheese. They ended up selling the rights in 1959 to a major creamery. Now we all can enjoy this cheese but it is still being handmade by the monks in many monasteries throughout the French countryside.

$5.99 for 5.3oz

The cheese comes in a wedge from what is known as a disc. It feels soft and appears to be creamy. Its smell wasn't as strong as I thought it would be, considering it is a rind washed cheese.

Taste: Seriously probably the best cheese I've ever had. It was amazing. It was very creamy, a velvety smooth texture that just melts in your mouth. It's a tangy sweet flavor as if it is sharp but it is only aged for 60 days. The flavor was intense but subsides quickly, leaving very little after taste, (for cheese that is). I actually couldn't stop eating this and although it was expensive for the amount you get (which is the case for most imported cheese) at $5.99 for 5.03 oz, it was worth every single cent, and then some. Do yourself a favor and try some of this cheese. It would go great with fruit, white wine, or on a cheese board.

I'm going to give Port Salut my best score ever, and since this is the first review it was going to be the best score no matter what, but even if it hadn't, it is still a 10 out of 10. Delicious is the perfect word for this cheese, just plain delicious. I highly recommend this cheese to any fan of Gouda, Munster, or Monterey Jack, you'll LOVE Port Du Salut. I'd definitely get more and I have to because I ate it all!

This was a cheese made by monks in a monastery and you'll find the taste to be...heavenly, but that's just my two cents!

CHEESE TIP:  Eat and serve your cheese at room temperature, cheese tastes better at room temperature.


Thanks for reading and come back to check out my next entry in this cheese series!

REAL LIFE PROBLEMS NEVER MENTIONED IN FAMOUS SITCOMS

We love to tune into situation comedies to get lost in their world of antics and crazy situations. Did you ever stop and think about some of the plots to these shows though? Here are few problems that never came up in any of the episodes but always had me wondering how nobody mentioned these things.

Charles In Charge
Oh Charles, in charge of our days and our nights. I want Charles in charge of me as well. Here's what really bugged me about this show. What was the father thinking? I mean seriously come on, what was his thought process? The whole premise of the show was flawed from day one! "I'll just take an attractive college guy, move him into my house to watch over my two hot teenage daughters, leaving him fully in charge of what they can and can not do." Father of the year material right here! In real life the only thing Charles would be in charge of would be paying child support to one or both of those daughters. Pretty sure it is the job of EVERY father, that has girls, to keep boys AWAY, not move them into your house for easy access, not to mention full discretion of rules and childcare.

It starts with a shoe, then a sock, then your daughter's knocked up.

Clarissa Explains it All
Hold on, father of the year isn't locked up yet! Remember when we'd hear that ladder hit the window sill and an electric guitar would strum while using the whammy bar? Yes, that's just Sam the teenage neighbor boy climbing through your teenage daughter's window. How many fathers out there would be ok with this scenario??? There was never any warning either, he would just randomly crawl through her bedroom window, which was always open if you noticed, so don't think miss Clarissa was so innocent. Then sometimes the dad would walk in and be like, "Oh hi Sam." Right, a teenage boy that just entered your daughter's room without you knowing is perfectly acceptable and then you greet him in a friendly manner? Plus you know about the ladder and you just leave it sitting outside under her window, that's dangerous even with Sam out of the equation! I think father of the year has some tough competition! 

"Oh hey did I catch you toweling off after a shower? I'll just watch."

"Sorry I dropped in unexpectedly, I'll let you get back to whatever the hell it is you're doing in here."

Just sitting on a teenage girl's bed with her alone in her room, no big deal. 

Full House
This house was full of something....LIES. So let me get this straight. Jesse's sister Pam was married to Danny Tanner and was the mother of Stephanie, Michelle, and D.J.  Jesse and his parents (also Pam's parents) both have dark hair, as they are of Greek decent. Jesse's grandparents are straight out of Greece. Got that? Danny Tanner, also has dark hair but nothing like the dark complected Jesse and one can guess, his sister Pam as well. HOWEVER, Danny and Pam's daughters are all blonde. Odd...Greek descended girls that are very light skinned and blonde haired. They COULD get their genes from Danny's side of the family but I think there is a much more obvious reason. JOEY IS THE FATHER!!! He is the father of all 3 of those girls, Danny's wife was cheating on him the entire time and there is living proof! Come to think of it, Jesse's twin boys both have blonde hair and are very light complected....JOEY HAS BEEN SCREWING ALL YOUR WIVES FOR YEARS!!! Danny and Jesse never made these assumptions and no one ever pointed out these affair babies.

Look at that guilty look on Joey's face! 

The Dukes of Hazzard
It pains me to find a flaw with this show but there is a pretty obvious one that even as a 3 year old, I wondered. Did you ever notice that Bo and Luke didn't have jobs? They just drove around all day getting into trouble and ended up at the local bar every night to drink beer. Once in a while you see them doing light farm work but they never have actual jobs that would make money. Daisy worked as a waitress but not sure a family of 4 could live off of that. The farm doesn't seem to produce anything other than goat's milk and we know that Uncle Jesse stopped making and selling moonshine so there is no income there. How did they pay for everything that they needed? I've made a list of Duke Family expenses and as you can see, they would have needed a large sum of money coming in every month. 

• Mortgage payment that always seemed to be late (wonder why!)
• Gasoline for a Hemi, even though I'm sure gas was under a dollar a gallon back then, it would still be a lot.
• Bar tab (For nightly drinking, this would have added up)
• Insurance on 3 vehicles (their premiums must have been horrible due to all the wrecks they were in and all the accidents they caused)
• Constant upkeep on the General Lee from being wrecked every week
• Food for 4 people and one goat
• Water bill for laundry (Bo and Luke only had one outfit each but they were always so clean so I can only assume they did wash on a daily basis)
• Bail money for their weekly incarcerations
• Tire money (The General Lee seemed to have its tires shot by bad guys in about every other episode)
• Fines for destroying public property (this includes police cars, road signs, fire hydrants, and everything else they ran over on the show)

  

  That's going to cost a lot.

  
  

  

  You'll need some bail money guys. 

  
  

  

  Probably have to pay for that barn....just sayin. 

After compiling this list I am really scratching my head on how the Dukes had so much money to spend on these things. On the flip side, Cooter, the local mechanic, must have been rich from working on the Duke boys' car all the time. 


Cheers
I'm not saying if you go to a bar you're a drunk. I'm not even saying if you go weekly you should be considered, by any means, an alcoholic. But, if you go every single night... come on, it's time for an intervention! I'd say Norm, Cliff, and Frasier are all alcoholics based on the amount of time they spend at Cheers. No one ever mentions this in the show though. I guess I can see why the bartenders and owner wouldn't try to get any of their customers help because they want their money. Also I'd like to point out only one of the characters has a New England accent, and it's not as thick as you'd think it should be for being the middle of Boston. 

Smile for your AA meeting photo! 

Gilligan's Island
In every episode of Gilligan's Island they attempted to get off the island. Not once did they just try to fix the boat. This always bothered me. I understand there were some big holes in its side, but if you can make huts, tables, chairs, and a radio out of a coconut, how come you can't patch a few small holes??? They clearly show the Minnow in the beginning of every episode and you can see, the damage isn't all that bad. I think they could have made some kind of tar-like substance and used all the trees around them for boards but they never did, they never even mentioned it. Seems like all of their efforts should have been focused into fixing the actual boat on the island, instead of coming up with new wild and crazy escape plans that Gilligan always ended up ruining for the castaways. 

My Two Dads

My two cents on your one problem. So this girl didn't know which of these guys was her father so the judge ordered she had to live with both of them. PATERNITY TEST! HELLO, judge idiot, have you heard of DNA testing? Instead of forcing this girl to live with these two strangers that may or may not have fathered her, she could have done a simple paternity test to find out for sure. In one episode they conduct a DNA test but Nicole doesn't want to find out so the judge looks at the results and doesn't tell anyone. YOU CAN'T DO THAT! You are forcing an innocent, possibly two innocent people, to have a responsibility that might not be theirs. I want to appeal this judge's ruling. 

Yes that's Paul Reiser, no that's not George Michael. 

Happy Days

That's right, I'm going to rip on Happy Days, and not only that, I'm calling out the Fonz! What's more, I'm calling his coolness into question. Blasphemy? Well think about this...Fonzie is SUPPOSEDLY the coolest person of all time. That town adores him, revers him and fears him. All he does is point out how uncool and how lame the rest of the high school kids are and how great he is and how much the women love him. Answer me this, who are Fonzie's friends? Doesn't have any you say? What about the biggest nerds in school? Ohhhh, right, his ONLY friends are the big dorks he makes fun on a daily basis. If I was Ralph or Richie I would have said, "You know what Fonz? You can just stop rolling your eyes at us. You're the lamest one here because all you do is say how cool you are but you're not, you have zero friends and you hang out with us, the biggest losers in school which makes you the KING of the losers, why don't you get out of here? We don't want to be seen with a grease headed, leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding, failed out of high school, STD spreading, poor English speaking dick like you!" What's he going to do, kick their ass? I'd like to see him try when they all gang up on him and out number him. Anyway I never understood how the coolest person in school was friends with the biggest losers in school, doesn't add up Fonz...much like the way YOU can't add anything because you failed out of school you lame ass jerk. Your leather jacket is stupid, I can't believe you wore that while water skiing. 

Sitting with all your friends ARTHUR?

No, this doesn't look stupid at all Fonzie. You're so cool. 

Well, those are some of the problems I had with those TV shows. I do like all of those shows actually and watched them but I never could get over those few things that bothered me. Like, how come Seinfeld constantly wore his sneakers in his apartment? He never took them off when he was at home. Who walks around their house or apartment in shoes all day??? Doesn't that bother anybody else? Oh well, I'll keep watching. 

CHIMPANZEES LEARN TO USE SPEARS, WHAT ELSE WILL THEY DO?

It has been known for years that chimpanzees have been using primitive tools but just recently it has been discovered that they are now constructing and using spears. Chimps are the only animal, other than humans, that kill for no reason. This should scare you. They are clearly learning at an alarming rate. People are freaked out by the speed and change of our climate but all the while chimps are planning their take over and we will be caught off guard. WELL NOT ME! I watched Planet of the Apes, I know what the future holds for humanity. I refuse to become a slave to those damn dirty apes. Here is the path that the apes will take in evolution. Please pay close attention so when we see these things happening, we can stop them. There is still time.

-1960, Chimpanzees are documented using simple tools such as sticks for catching termites.
-2007, Chimpanzees are documented using simple primitive spears.
-2015, Chimpanzee females are documented to use spears more than the males.

Next the Chimpanzees figure out that spear heads are even better than the sharpened sticks. Soon chimps begin to market these new spears to Gorillas and Orangutans. They also make up lies and spread rumors so they can sell more spears. This is how the dark path of "brain vs. brawn" of the Gorillas and Orangutans gets started.

Soon the chimps become intelligent enough to realize they are throwing their own crap. This leads to the invention of indoor plumbing and since they live outside, they invent houses. It's kind of a backward evolution, but it doesn't matter because they end up with houses and plumbing.

The chimps become aware that their homes are empty so they now invent things to fill their houses, such as tables, chairs, ottomans, and dinette sets. They need to hang things on their walls too, which leads to the invention of the Chimp Nail and in time, the Chimp Screw, which leads to the Chimp Screw Driver.

Some chimps realize their homes aren't as nice as other chimp homes so they begin to steal things for their own home. This is how the first chimpanzee neighborhood watch is created.

To get back at the chimps that are a part of the neighborhood watch, some other chimps develop the first ape home owner's association and with it, strict rules and guidelines for grass height and landscaping. This leads to the invention of primitive lawn mowers and garden gnomes. As a way of knowing who owns what yard, the chimps develop white picket fence. They soon get tired of saying, "Ape Home Owner's Association," and shorten it to AHOA, thereby developing letters and an alphabet.

The invention of a written ape language brings with it a lot of other things as you can imagine. They start to make signs to put outside their homes that say, "It's a boy!" to announce when they have kids. They also make, "Keep off the grass" signs and some of the more clever chimps make signs that say, "I don't dial 911." That becomes the first use of numbers and a number system shortly follows.

The orangutans see the written language as a way of making fun of the gorillas so they start to wear signs that say, "I'm with stupid" that have arrows and they'd go sit beside gorillas. These signs become cumbersome and they start to design a new, more comfortable wearable sign. This is how shirts are invented. All of their shirts have sayings on them and the orangutans begin to sell these and market clothing and fashion design.

Orangutans become obsessed with their looks and ape society believes their red skin and blonde hair is beautiful. They look down on any ape that has dark hair. To lighten their hair, they lay in direct sunlight and sleep during the day to get the most sun. These beds become known as orangutanning beds and this obsession with looks leads to the first eating disorders.

Gorillas, having trouble with reading, and noticing they can't compete with chimps and orangutans when it comes to the written language, come up with new ways to out do their brainy counterparts and to feel good about themselves. They are smart enough to realize they are much larger and angrier than chimps and orangutans, so they invent sports. This is a way to feel superior to the chimps and orangutans that try out for the team. Gorillas start to wear numbers on their shirts instead of words, as a direct insult and display of pride. This is how the first jersey is created.

Wanting their children to feel accepted among the great gorilla athletes, chimps and orangutans push their children into sports, even when they are not cut out for athletics. Some chimp fathers only do this as a way to live vicariously through their children.  Gorillas begin to build big sport arenas and they take up so much space in doing so, that they build them further and further away from the homes. Getting to and from practice proves to be difficult so chimps invent the mini van. The van was a great idea but without wheels it is pretty much useless.

This leads to the invention of the wheel and simultaneously, the bumper sticker. Orangutans see this as the same opportunity that presented itself for their shirt ideas. They start to sell, "Baby on Board" and "Horn Broke, Watch For Finger." window clings. Without anything for these clings to stick to, the orangutans invent glass. These lead to windows for their homes which allow neighbors to be nosey and spy on other neighbors.

Chimps start to use their mini vans everyday which creates car pool lanes and traffic jams. No one knows whose turn it is to go at intersections so they invent stop signs and go signs. When they realize this doesn't make any sense they invent traffic lights by using lightening bugs and the recently invented glass. Wrecks are still too often so chimps invent car insurance but when no one follows the rules of insurance the orangutans invent lawyers.

This is how the bar association is developed. Judges also appear around this time which leads to the first recorded evidence of a gavel by apes. To be fair they had already created the hammer years ago when they invented nails for hanging things in their homes and yet it never occurred to them to invent the court system so they could use their hammers as gavels.

The orangutan lawyers begin to run out of insurance fraud cases and target their old rivals, the gorillas. They invent a police force, a group of individuals that ensure apes that are driving have auto insurance, and if they don't, are arrested and brought to court. The orangutans secretly pay the police to target gorillas more often than the chimps, this creates police corruption and racial profiling.

 Gorillas join the police force when they see an unfair low number of gorillas working in law enforcement. These gorillas are offered money (bananas) to keep quiet. This leads to bribes and the guilt the gorillas feel leads to police brutality.

Soon chimps, orangutans, and gorillas alike all see the need for one ape to lead them all. None of them can agree on a leader but all decide to accept the one ape that is chosen by the majority of the population. This leads to the first election. Chimps lie to orangutans and gorillas to get more votes. Orangutans make empty promises to gorillas to gain their votes and the gorillas use scare tactics to get votes from the chimps and orangutans. Ape politics are born.

A chimpanzee is elected to be the first president and although all are not happy with the choice, he clearly points out that if you didn't vote, you don't have a right to complain. Some still complain that they didn't have a chance to vote because they weren't home on election day. This leads to mail in ballots. There needs to be a way to get the mail in ballots to where they are going so the post office is invented. They then realize they can send more than just mail in ballots so they invent mail boxes. One chimp paints his mini van brown and invents UPS.

The chimp president constantly gets targeted with daily crap throwing so he hires people to protect him, this is the creation of the secret service. Crap is flung at his house so much that it needs to be painted white. All know that the ape president lives in the white house.

The chimp president realizes he needs more money because everyone asks him to fix things in their society. In a way to get free money he invents the idea of taxes. He requires that out of all the bananas you get in a year, you have to give some to him so he can use that money to fix roads, build schools, and pay the police force and postal workers. In reality he pockets most of the bananas and uses a lot of it to fund his campaign.

Gorillas complain that a gorilla was never voted president but that's just how a three party system works sometimes. Each ape picks an animal to represent their party and to put on their campaign ads and signs. The chimps pick an elephant because it's big and scary and intimidating. The orangutans pick a donkey because the first orangutan that ran for president was afraid of donkeys, he was kicked by one and he thought it hurt pretty bad and always feared them. The gorillas pick the butterfly as a way to show their softer side and distract voters from their large, angry, violent ways. In fact, their campaign slogan of, "Violence Solves Everything!" never gains popularity.

One chimp wants a different president and doesn't want to wait for the next election so he decides to kill the current president. He wants to use their only weapon, the spear, but realizes he can never get close enough to use it. He makes a mini spear and flings it with a string and bendable branch, inventing the first ape bow and arrow. He succeeds in killing the president and inventing the assassination at the same time.   

Apes want a way to share things with other apes so they know what they did or what's their current mood. They begin to string up nets in front of their homes and throw things into them to show off to the neighbors. Some apes begin to connect their large nets with other nets creating an even bigger net of things. Soon all ape homes are under one giant internet. They often throw things into the net so others can see what they've done. Sometimes an ape will crawl into the net to be seen, although this is looked upon as very narcissistic, some apes become famous due to all the exposure.

Chimps begin to work on a way to throw rocks harder and faster, the same way the bow threw little spears harder and faster. This is how guns are invented. Gorillas love guns and call them, "the great equalizer." They shoot any president they can. The ape secret service begins to carry guns. Eventually young chimps bring guns to school for protection from larger apes. Some ape legislators want to outlaw guns but most are bought on the streets anyway.

As the ape society grows they begin to expand into human populated areas. The apes come off as friendly and loveable to fool the stupid humans to gain their trust and to learn more about them. They soon figure out the complexity of electricity and fiber optics and install power lines to their neighborhoods.

The apes invent their own television channel dedicated to apes only, ABC, the Ape Broadcasting Company. The apes are sued but due to the humans being terrified and so worried about offending anyone or anything, the apes win their case easily and get to keep the name ABC. They then sue the original ABC and win the case for the same reasons.

The apes produce good wholesome family shows to entertain while teaching morals and values. After that the sitcoms get raunchier and raunchier, constantly pushing the limits and testing boundaries. When apes tire of these kinds of shows, they invent, "reality tv" which are shows without a script and just show daily ape interactions. When these get boring they start to tell some of the apes what to say or do in these reality shows. In time the reality shows are as fake as the sitcoms, some of them being entirely scripted.

Some ape politicians use the invention of the tv as a way to spread propaganda about human beings, creating fear and panic. This terror begins to unite the 3 different types of apes into one large, "Us vs. Them," kind of mentality. They start to complain about equal rights and unfair ape treatment. They begin to sue businesses that won't serve or hire them and in time they win all of their court hearings because their attorneys have been working for years in the ape court system.

The apes then devise a genius plan of setting up a public ape figure that only talks about peace and living together through nonviolent protest rallies and marches. The apes then assassinate this public figure but frame humans, who have already adopted the thinking of, "don't do anything to offend the animals." This causes great uproar in both societies and the apes, and most humans, demand equal treatment of all apes.

The apes demand that their politicians are allowed to run for office and humans allow this to make up for the assassination. It takes years before apes are allowed to vote but when they do a chimp is elected to become President of the United States of America. This is the turning point of human history as he hires all ape cabinet members and gets rid of all congress members that do not side with the apes. He then appoints an ape vice president and secretary of state. He starts to change laws and lowers the taxes of apes but raises the taxes of humans, making almost all of them poor but making all of the apes rich. The few humans that still have a lot of money see what is happening and become very close with the president instead of trying to overthrow him.

 The chimp president begins to change the constitution and reinstates slavery, but only for humans. Humans are then enslaved and they don't fight back because again, they don't want to offend anything or make others think they are racist against apes.

MEANWHILE...

The computers of the world have become self aware and start to watch the ape and human interactions. They wait for the perfect time to set off their nuclear missiles. When the apes figure out what is happening it is too late for them to fight back and the world is destroyed.



So that is clearly what is in store for our planet. Please don't let this happen. I urge and encourage you to prevent this horrible inevitable future from happening. Kill all apes whenever you get the chance. Show them no mercy. If you see one crossing the road, speed up and run over it. If you see one in the woods while hunting for bigfoot, please promptly shoot it. If you see one in your backyard at your bird feeder, go get your BB gun, and if you have a bug zapper, turn it up to monkey strength. We must not let the fun and entertaining future of the cinematic Planet of the Apes turn into a dismal harsh reality. Let us unite as humans and do what we do best and force a species to go extinct, against its will. We can't rely on nature, that would take too long. Don't be fooled by the apes, they are smarter than you look, they've been tricking us for years. Remember, we don't call them the great apes for nothing...

HOW TO TELL IF YOU'VE EVER WORKED IN FAMILY BASED THERAPY OR CHILDREN AND YOUTH PROTECTIVE SERVICES

Here's a test to tell if you've ever worked in Family Based Services or for the state in Children and Youth Protective Services. Keep track of how many times you answer, "YES," and at the end there will be a score. I myself can unfortunately say yes to every single one of these things. 


1. If you've ever taken off articles of clothing before you go into a home for fear of getting them covered in fleas, lice, or smoke...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

2. If you ever bathed yourself in hand sanitizer after coming out of a home and you STILL felt dirty...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

3. If you've ever worked a 12 hour day but didn't get paid one cent of overtime...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

4. If you've ever been in a home and were offered a seat and after you looked around at your options, you told them you'd just stand for the next hour...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

5. If you've ever driven with the windows down in the middle of January to help get the smell off you after coming out of a home...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

6. Has a dog ever looked at you in the eye and you can read his face and you know the face says, "This is what I have to deal with on a daily basis."...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

7. If you know of a household that has 3 + adults living in it and yet the children run the home...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

8. If a family has ever told you that their pet died over the weekend and they were all shocked and surprised by the death but you won a bet with a coworker that the animal would be dead the next time you went to the home...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

9. If a family tells you about their family history and how many people are in their family and the first thing you think of, is how to make sure your partner gets stuck doing the genogram and not you...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

10. If you know a family where the 7 month old baby has more teeth than its parents...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

11. If you have ever pretended to help the family figure out who the person was that called Children Protective Services to report them because it was you and you didn't know how to tell them...you might have worked for FBS.

12. If the first thing out of your mouth when you heard the On-Call Crisis Phone ringing was swear words...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

13. If you ever disguised your voice while on a crisis call because you were on call and you knew the family and didn't want them to know it was you...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

14. If you looked forward to the one and a half hour drive one way to see a client because it is the highlight of your day...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

15. If a family has ever told you they were thinking of moving and you encouraged them to relocate to a different county because you knew they were then going to be out of the range for your company's coverage...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

16. If you know of a family where the 10 year old is the smartest one in the home...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

17. If you've ever had to tell the school staff that a child doesn't actually have a speech impediment, it is just how all of their family talks at home...you might have worked for FBS. or CYPS.

18. If you've ever done a genogram with a family and it doesn't branch...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

19. If you know of a family that has 3 working lawn mowers and a car that isn't...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

20. If you've ever watched children and dogs eat out of the same dog dish, at the same time, while the parents are watching...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

21. If you know a family that is on food stamps, the parents don't have jobs, and they still eat steak every night...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

22. If you've ever helped a family do a budget and you find that since they are on welfare and with food stamps, they make more money in a month than you do...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

23. If you know of a family (or families) that don't have enough money to pay for food or rent or other bills but they have a 65 inch flat screen HD TV...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

24. If you were ever with a family that went into a store to buy the essentials and came out with bread, milk, cigarettes, and 20 dollars worth of lottery tickets...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

25. If you've ever spent the night in an Emergency Room until 5am with someone that attempted suicide because they were pissed off at their parents...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

26. If you've ever watched a family spend thousands of dollars of their tax return money and they still don't have enough money for the rent at the end of the month...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

27. If you know a child that gets excited when their parents tell them they are making ketchup sandwiches for dinner...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

28. If you ever watched a child mentally prepare themselves for the restraining they knew was about to take place...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS.

29. If you were ever in a grocery store and you could HEAR a family you knew in the next aisle, and you avoided them by listening for them and escaping to other aisles...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS. 

30. If you had a teenager in your car, and they crapped themselves but never said a word until you saw your passenger seat...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS. 

31. If you've ever responded to a crisis call and a teenage girl attacked you and made you bleed but because of that you ended up as employee of the month...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS. 

32. If you're pretty sure a drug deal was put on hold because you were sitting in the family's living room and they wanted you to leave so they could complete the transaction...you might have worked for FBS or CYPS. 



If you answered, "Yes" to all of the questions, congratulations and condolences, you have worked for Family Based Services and possibly Children and Youth Protective Services, perhaps both, you poor thing.

If you answered, "Yes," to 25-31 of these, there is a strong chance you worked for Family Based Services or Children and Youth Protective Services for many years. Recovering from this trauma isn't very likely.

If you answered, "Yes," to 20-24 of these, then you probably worked for Family Based Services or Children and Youth Protective Services for a short amount of time but long enough to change you forever. Lucky you.

If you answered, "Yes," to less than 20 then you must have just started working for Family Based Services or Children and Youth Protective Services! GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN. 

If you answered, "Yes," to 10 or less, you probably never worked for either place, you're just in one of these families that Family Based or CYPS has visited. How awkward. 

Problems I have with the English Language

So English is known as one of the most difficult languages to learn and I believe this is true. If it is true, it is only because of all the crap that doesn't make any sense! Here are some of the problems that I have with the English Language. Don't worry, I can easily fix these problems though.

The alphabet, to start with, has 26 letters but at a closer look does it need that many???

We have, "C" and we know what sound it makes. We have, "K" and it makes the exact same sound. Sometimes you have to put them together and make, "CK" and that makes the same sound as both the C and the K. So why do we need 3 different ways of making the same exact sound??? WE DON'T. In some cases they are interchangeable, as in the name, "Kathryn," and "Catharine." Also screw the "C" for being able to sometimes make the sound of an, "S." We have an "S" for that, we don't need the "C" acting like some other letter. Then you put the, "C" and the "S" together to make the same sound that the, "S" already makes, like in the word, "science" or "scene."

So when you add the, "C" to the, "H" you get a new sound, like in the word, "Channel." HOWEVER, if you put an, "S" in front of it, you then pronounce it differently, as in the word, "school." Not sure why we need 3 letters here either, and how come the CH combination doesn't apply here. I am starting to see why people struggle to learn this language! Then the CH sound can be completely ignored when it is in a word, such as, "yacht." A silent CH? That means the CH combination has 3 different sounds, and you're just supposed to automatically know which is which.

Don't think that, "S" trouble maker gets out of my rant. It's being half the problem with these combinations! When you add it to the, "H" you get a specific new sound, like in the word, "Shallow." Yet, when the, "S" is alone in the word, "sure" it doesn't need the, "H" to make the same exact sound. Well I say, you need the, "H" to make that sound, you can't just pick and choose when you need it or don't need it!

I want to discuss the, "X,"  quite possibly the most useless of all of our letters. What sound does this make again??? Box, fox, ax, exit, and.....xylophone.  So it makes the sound of, "CKS" just like in the word, "socks" but instead of spelling it, "Focks" we use an X. Then it can be used to sound just like, "Z" in the world xylophone. How come we just didn't use the Z for that word??? Also if X can make two different sounds why isn't it a vowel? In the word, "extreme" we add an, "E" but if it were a vowel, we could just spell it like, "xtreme." In the name, "Xavier" it says its name but there is no vowel status for this letter?

I won't go into my issues with the, "Z," or what I call, "The S with an attitude." We almost don't need it and that's why I think we should just use it more often so it doesn't feel like a waste.

Speaking of useless letters, here's a pointless rule. Did you every notice that the, "Q" always has a, "U" after it??? Queen, quail, question, quest, quasar, quiet, quite, quickly, quality, quantity, qualify, quote, and so on. In fact....it CAN'T be used unless it is followed by a, "U." That makes a Q without a U, pointless to even have as a letter. Why not just add the U sound to the letter Q so we don't need to add a U every single time? OR BETTER YET, why not just use the C and the U together, as in the word, "cue ball." Just looking at that word raises more questions, like, why not put a "C" and a "W" together instead? Cwestion mark.

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.........sometimes? Why is, "Y" sometimes a vowel?? Please explain that load of crap to me! You can't sometimes be a vowel and sometimes not! That's like saying, "5 is sometimes a number." It either is or it isn't. I say give the stupid letter the vowel status or cut it loose completely! By my count that's two more letters that should be vowels.

Don't get me started on the silent letter! Silent letter??? Why the hell would we add a letter to a word but not have the intention of using it??? No where else in life do we add something without any purpose and say it is imaginary and you don't use it, even though it is there. That's like saying, "The number is 350. I really mean 35, but the 0 is a silent number." People will say the silent E makes the vowel say its name, like in the word, "game." Ok, that's nice but guess what, "gaym" There, I fixed the need for the silent E.

At least the silent E has a reason, crappy and easily fixable as that reason may be, it still has a purpose behind it. Unlike the silent letters in knife, lamb, damn, debt, know, honest, right, folk, mnemonic, colonel, pneumonia, gnat, psychology, depot, sign, whistle, and faux. That sure is dumb! I mean....dum.

I feel like the English language was just invented for making teachers feel important and to go on power trips. Think about it, our rules always have exceptions and variations. "I before E, except after C, OR when sounded as, "A" like in neighbor and weigh." WHAT?? Did you get all that kids? Geez, how bout we just scrap all that and do this teachers, "naybor" and "way." Also according to your stupid silent E for vowels rule, how come it isn't, "wae?" Explain that to me. Oh that rule didn't apply for that word hu? So when a child writes that, you get to mark it wrong and shake your head as you roll your eyes.

How can you have 2, "o's" together as in the word, "book" and "look" but then in words such as, "food" and "mood," they don't sound the same? How they can sound completely different?!?! How is a child supposed to know which way to pronounce these double letters?? No silent letter to help them this time. I guess they'll just have to mispronounce it, get corrected, and just somehow figure it out for the next time, right? Well, that's exactly what we've been teaching the kids for years! Also explain this to me, "rude" and "food." Not, "fude" and "rood." Two ways of doing the same thing but only one is correct, part of the time.

More on double letters, a, "W" looks more like a double V to me and yet we don't call it a double v. Did you ever notice the word, "vacuum" has two U's in it? Why would it need those? What other word has a double U in it? Again, not sure why two of the same letters beside each other makes the same exact sound as that letter by itself? So remember kids, two, "O's" together make a different sound than a single, "O" (and there are two different sounds for that) BUT two, "T's" together make the same sound as a single T. This goes for double G's, double B's, double U's, double N's, double F's, double S's, double D's, double M's, double L's, BUT NOT double E's, those make the sound of E because it's a vowel, like in the word, "Feed" not sure why that word isn't spelled, "Fede" according to the silent E rule, but hey, whatever, just do what you feel like doing English and we'll all try to keep up!

Here's another gem for you. (Should be jem btw.) "Ring, rang, rung. Bring, brang, brung." Wait, but why not? We have to come up with different words and new rules. There is no, "brung" it's "brought." There is no, "rought" though. Just sounds like more ways for those poor kids to mess up their homework.

I'm also sick of saying, "I feel well." No, I feel GOOD, and I don't see why that should be wrong. It was perfectly fine for James Brown to make a song up about feeling good. I bet his English teacher was rolling in her grave instead of commending him for writing a hit single.


 Ending a sentence in a preposition is something I want to talk about. Where did they get this rule from? I want to. It seems fine to. You understand what for. We aren't supposed to.

Two, too, to, there, their, they're, your, you're. These words have to be, by far, the most misused of all words. These 8 words must account for 99% of the wrong word written in a sentence when an incorrect word is used. Odd, I said 8 words and yet if you say them out loud, there are only 3...

Well, those are just some of the problems I have with our English language. I'm sure most of you teacher people and English majors out there, will be able to defend your precious verbal garbage, but let me just make one more point! Most of our English comes from Latin, a language that isn't used anymore because it wasn't good enough to survive to the present day. Shouldn't we question that?

(That same last paragraph done entirely in the Andrew English Language)

Wel, thoz r just sum ov thee problems I hav with r Inglish langwej. Im shoor most ov yoo teecher peepool and Inglish majers owt thar, wil bee abool to defend your preshus verbel garbaj, but let mee just mayk wun moor poynt! Most ov r Inglish cums frum latin, a langwej that izn't uzed enee moor beecuz it wuzn't gud enuf to serviv to the prezant day. Shoodn't wee cwestion that?

Even MORE Andrew Thoughts

Here are some more things that I think about throughout the day. 



I think gummy worms promote children to eat real worms. And lemon snow cones promote children to eat yellow snow. These are just some unfortunate observations from my own childhood.

The most frustrating thing for teeth must be chewing gum. They're probably waiting for the swallow but it just doesn't happen. They must be so confused because all they know is, they are doing their job but nobody else in the mouth seems to be paying attention.

If cowboys rode on cows would we call them horseboys?

Why don't we just make one giant brick instead of 100's of little ones? It would save a lot of time to put up a wall, yet it would take the same amount of material to make it.

If I lived in Plymouth settlement, I would have been in the buckle business. Did you ever see how many buckles those pilgrims wore? They are on their hats, their shoes, their belts, and who knows what else. I would have dominated the market by creating a need for buckles and then lie and cause panic with buckle shortage rumors.

Are sesame seeds used for anything other than hamburger buns?

I don't care what art teachers say, I think black and white are colors. I also think they are the most important colors we have because all other colors match with them.

If I ever get the chance to shoot a cow again, I want it to be a bull. I will shoot it right in the eye and when someone says what a terrible shot that was, and I'll just say, "What are you talking about? I hit the bull's-eye."

Apparently I'm not a doctor, but I do know one thing they don't. I grantee if everybody just took the time to roll around on the floor with about 10 puppies on a daily basis, everybody will feel a whole hell of a lot better.

Let me get this straight. A piano has 88 strings but it isn't considered a string instrument??? So you're telling me an instrument that has 84 more strings than a violin, 82 more strings than a guitar, and 42 more than a harp is NOT in the string family? No, I think YOU are the one who is wrong. Don't tell me it is how it is played and that's why it is considered a percussion. You slap the bass strings on a bass guitar and doesn't that striking make the bass guitar a percussion instrument? No, it doesn't and nobody would say a bass guitar ISN'T in the string group. Therefore, the piano IS in fact a string instrument. Check mate maestro.

Do those sacks with dollar signs on them for money actually exist? They seem to be in every cartoon but I never saw one in real life. The only place that would even use something like this would be a bank and I've never seen one there.

It's really embarrassing when somebody waves at you and you wave back but then you realize they were actually waving to someone else behind you. Then you feel stupid and a little bit offended that they didn't want to wave at you. Sometimes they notice this and give you a pity wave that only comes from the fact that they know how stupid you feel. I think the waver should just apologize to you for being reckless with their greeting and putting you in the way of their waving lane.  

Baseball must be the only sport on earth where the team with the ball is on defense and you can't score any points if you have the ball. What a mixed up, backwards, terrible game.

I really wish togas would make a come back. Nothing looks more comfortable than a toga to me. I bet they'd be cooler in the summer time too.

It's a fact that porcupines can't shoot their quills. What a waste. If I was a porcupine, I'd dedicate my life to learning how to shoot my quills. Then I'd teach other porcupines to shoot their quills too and I'd walk around all day trying to find smart know-it-all type people that would say porcupines can't shoot their quills, then I would shoot my quills right at them.

If I was a marshal in the old west, I'd make my hanging rope too long and when I went to hang a bad guy, he'd fall right on his butt and we would all have a big laugh at his expense. My hope would be that he would start to think the whole death penalty thing is just a joke. Then I'd string him up again with the right length of rope and actually hang him right.