Batson's Blog

This week I decided to go North. I went to Cornelius to check out a cupcake shop I found online: Just Baked Cupcakes & Coffee House . They have a nice, little store. Because it's part coffee house, part cupcake shop, it has a different vibe than any of the other shops I've been to. It's in a brick home on Main Street in Cornelius. There are a couple of tables and a few chairs right as you walk in. With a gas station right next door, the shop is definitely a nice place to stop and get a snack if you're on a road trip. They have different flavors each day. That's a good way to get people coming back day after day. When I went they had about five or six to choose from. In addition to cupcakes they have various other kinds of bars, brownies, and cookies. I was there for the cupcakes though! The first one I had was the Sugar Cookie cupcake, which, remarkably, tasted like a sugar cookie. Topped with the sprinkles you'd find on an actual cookie, the...

With the possibility of Jay Leno leaving The Tonight Show (round 2), what’s he to do? He retired once and came back, so the man obviously has too much ambition to ride his Harley’s and live off his fortune (which is what I would do). So, what’s a guy to do with his time? Lucky for Jay, I have a list of possibilities – some probable and others not-so-much: 7. Become a judge on America’s Got Talent Leno could join the cast of other eclectic judges. Leno's addition would actually bring some legitimacy to the show, as he's been a comic for decades. He's had some of the top musical acts in the world booked on his show. He's also seen all kinds of random talent perform on The Tonight Show stage, whether it's a trick involving a BMX bike or a dancing chicken. The only catch is that America's Got Talent is on NBC, which Leno probably isn't too fond of right now. Maybe in a couple of years. 6. Appear in the next season of Celebrity Apprentice Thi...

As WWE is gearing up for Wrestlemania, TNA is preparing for Slammiversary. With their new pay-per-view model, Slammiversary is the next big pay-per-view TNA has -- but it's not until June. We'll see if that new model generates any additional interest or buys. Saturday night they were in Concord, North Carolina for a live event. For $16 (I didn't bother trying to get floor seats), it doesn't matter what event they're gearing up for or how many pay-per-views they have. I'll buy a ticket. I went to a TNA live event in 2008. I got to help out at a different live event in 2009, clearing the broken table (courtesy of Team 3-D) from the ring and taking the photos for the fans as they posed with A.J. Styles in the ring after the event. This time, I wasn't wanting to meet the wrestlers or network with anyone. It's just something to do on a Friday night for a relatively cheap price. I've been reading spoilers and catching bits and pieces of I...

I was surprised to see a new brand of cupcakes (or maybe I just hadn't been paying attention before?) at Food Lion recently. They are cupcake mini's from La Bree's . There are six cupcakes in each pack and four different flavors to choose from: Luscious Lemon, Carrot, Chocolate Caramel, and Red Velvet. The lemon are apparently seasonal. I'm not sure about the Chocolate Caramel, Carrot or Red Velvet. The packages said the Carrot and Red Velvet were "Sweetly Traditional," while the Chocolate Caramel was "Sweetly Salted." Maybe they are all seasonal? I like lemon, so I figured I'd get a pack of those and one of the Chocolate Caramel, in case they were offered for a limited amount of time too. I didn't eat them right away since they were already packaged up. I tried the Luscious Lemon a couple of days after I bought them. To my surprise, they were moist -- as though they were as fresh as a cupcake made that same day. I'm no...

It's been almost a week, but Pink's performance at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte still has me amazed. I had previously mentioned that I had a small amount of hope that Pink would soar high above the arena the way she does in her televised performances. I wasn't actually expecting it, however, so when she ended up doing just that, I couldn't have been more surprised and entertained. The entire night was like a string of some of her greatest hits, performed just as she does them on TV. In "Try," Pink used some of the same choreography she used during her AMA performance last year. The stunts in "Sober" were changed from her VMA performance, but it worked well. She She added a few new twists though. "Family Portrait," for example, which was performed halfway through the show, was a stripped down ballad, accompanied by a piano. I actually like that version better than the original, which as never been a favorite of...

Happy National Alien Abduction Day! Strangely enough, March 20 is known as alien abduction day. To celebrate, I present to you the friendliest and least friendly aliens from entertainment history. I made the list for IMDB , which I recently joined. I always used it to look up information, but I never realized that it’s actually a pretty fun website too. You can give movies ratings, make lists that rank movies and characters, and write movie reviews. It's not as addicting as FarmVille, but I've spent a few hours on it already. Here’s a look at the top five aliens from each of my lists. 5. 3rd Rock from the Sun aliens They came to Earth to study it. To do this, they took human form. Over the course of their mission they realized the pitfalls and the positives of being human. Once the mission was completed, they left. It seemed like they'd be singing the praises of the planet in their future travels. Granted, there were several points when the Big Giant He...

I got a nice surprise this week. After two weeks of cupcakes that weren't as amazing as I was hoping for, Bake Me A Cake blew me away with their incredible cupcakes! They're located in North Charlotte, off W.T. Harris Boulevard. I was Googling their webpage when I noticed that they also had a location at Northlake Mall. Low and behold, I was at Northlake Mall at that moment. Sure enough, on the lower level of the mall, outside of Abercrombie & Hollister, there's a Bake Me A Cake stand. I was there close to 6:30. Since they were about to close, they discounted the cupcakes to $1.50 a piece. Sweet deal! That being said, even if the cupcakes cost $3.00 each they would have been worth it. I chose four of the multiple flavors they had available. Strawberry I've been on a strawberry cupcake kick the past several weeks that I've been doing these reviews, so I had to start with that one. It was amazing! The strawberry (all the cupcakes that I trie...

P!nk is coming to Charlotte in one week. She'll be performing at the Time Warner Cable Arena next Saturday . I got my ticket last year, so I've been looking forward to this for a while. I went cheap on this one, so I won't be getting an up close view. One thing P!nk has proven over the years, though, is that you never know where she'll end up during one of her performances. She may go right past me as she's flying through the air. I'm not sure what to expect with this concert because I haven't read any of the reviews of her previous concerts on this tour. Hopefully the entire night will be a nice surprise -- from the set list to the spectacle of the show itself. Pink is widely touted as one of the best live performers around today. To get ready for the concert, I've been watching some of Pink's previous performances. The concert is seven days away, so let's take a look back at seven of Pink's best performances. 7. God Is A D...