Batson's Blog

It's Halloween once again. Time to dress up in costumes so that you're barely recognizable. If you don't do such a good job with that, not a big deal. After all, it's not like your loved ones are in danger if your secret identity is revealed. Some of these super heroes though? You have to wonder why they couldn't come up with something a little better. First off, there's Superman . When he's not fighting crime, he spends his time reporting at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent . The problem with this secret identity is that it consists of a pair of glasses and less hair gel. Granted, it could work if Clark Kent didn't work at a newspaper where photographers, reporters and editors are covering stories about Superman every day. Those people should have noticed the similarities instantly though. Isn't Lois Lane supposed to be an award-winning journalist? Somehow, Clark Kent's identity went typically unnoticed as a flying, saving-the-day ...

I blogged before about some of the crazy intersections you'll find when driving around Charlotte . It's not just the design of some intersections that make you LOL though. Take Statesville Road. Or is it Statesville Ave.? Well, it depends on where you're at. Statesville Avenue changes into Statesville Road as you cross over I-85. What is the purpose of this name change? I have no idea. Maybe there's some method behind the madness that the Charlotte City Planning Department understands. Being able to choose street names gives you the chance to confuse people sometimes. Other times, it gives you a chance to get creative. Take a look at some of these names: If you've got to go someplace, Ideal Way may be the way to go.

Okay, I’ve gathered more photos of personalized license plates. I kind of look like a creeper taking photos of people’s license plates in parking lots, but some of them are too good not to take photos of. Others? Well, maybe you can help solve the mystery behind some of these plates. What exactly do they mean? Your guess is as good as mine. We’ll start with a few easy ones though. Elyse? Simple enough to figure out. I do have to wonder, however, if Elyse has a boyfriend or a husband. If she does, how does he feel driving around a car that says “Elyse” on it? It wouldn’t be so bad if you just keep driving. I wouldn’t want to get out of the car in a Target parking lot with people around to see me though. I’m assuming it’s not Rob Lowe who is hanging around in Charlotte. Ms. Paige. Again, easy enough to figure out. Pinzer – gotta’ be a nickname. Last name maybe? I have no idea. Is that an “O?" A "D?" Dr. K? ORK? I’m assuming t...

So, when I was on my way to Granny Mac's Bake Shop last week , I noticed there was another bakery in the strip mall right next door: Cake Makin' Sisters . Why not stop in and check it out? It's a new shop that opened up in the past few weeks. Apparently the owners took over the shop from a friend who wasn't able to operate the store anymore. It used to be Sweet Bliss Cupcakery. There was a nice selection of cupcakes to choose from -- nothing too innovative, but enough to give the customer a few choices. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the cupcakes, however, was how small they were. I've seen cupcakes that small before, but being right next to Granny Mac's? I don't know how they're going to make a profit. Competing with Granny Mac's is their problem though. My task was picking out two cupcakes to eat. I settled on a strawberry cupcake and an oreo cupcake.

When I compiled a list of some of TV's most sustainable stars, I forgot about Katey Sagal . The cover of one of the recent issues of Entertainment Weekly made me realize that. I still remember her as Peg Bundy, so I sometimes forget that she's done things beyond Married with Children . After that show ended in 1997, she went on to be Hyde's mom on That 70's Show (for a few episodes anyway), lend her voice to the show Recess , and then landed the part as Jon Ritter's wife on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter . Once that show ended, she made reoccurring guest appearances on Boston Legal and Lost . Watch Katey on Lost Meanwhile, since 1999 she's been a voice actress on Futurama . Since 2008 she's been part of the Sons of Anarchy cast. Not bad. Not bad at all. You've done well, Peg Bundy. Related Content: • TV’s Most Sustainable Stars • Gravity – reviewed. • The Hart of Dixie (Season 1) - reviewed.

Another season of TV shows is just starting. In fact, tonight is the season premiere of White Collar on the USA Network . I can’t personally attest to the quality of the show since I’ve only seen a few episodes of it. However, the fact that the show is on its fifth season says something. The couple of times I did watch, I watched for one reason: Tiffani Thiessen . She, among a few others, is the topic for my blog today. At this point she has got to be considered one of Hollywood’s most sustainable stars. Thiessen’s first major success was as Kelly Kapowski on Saved By The Bell . That show is still on reruns in syndication (the same can’t be said for Saved By The Bell: The New Class ). After SBTB , Thiessen went on to 90210 , keeping things interesting as the vampy Valerie Malone after Shannen Doherty’s departure from the show left a possibility of boredom on the Beverly Hills-themed drama. Thiessen floundered a bit after her run on 90210. Shows like Fastlane , Good Mor...

It's Boss's Day. What better way to celebrate than by counting down 10 of the most horrible bosses to work for? You think you have it bad? Try being under the employ of some of these people... 10. Michael Scott It's hard not to like Michael Scott...if you're watching him on The Office. If you're his employee, that's an entirely different story. He's in way over his head when it comes to managing anyone. In his attempts to be politically correct, he ends up offending many of his employees. He's constantly trying to be the center of attention, making a miserable work setting for the crew that works at Dunder Mifflin. He'll often make promises, but renege on those promises when he realizes they won't work. His heart is in the right spot at times, but he usually messes up anything that starts off with good intentions. 9. Parker Selfridge I was going to place Donald Trump here (due to some of his horrible decisions in the board...

Last month Bruno Mars was announced as the half time performer for Super Bowl XLVIII . He's a fresh choice and an amazing singer. It should be a highly entertaining show if they can select some PG-rated songs in his repertoire. Who opens the show though? Who is the National Anthem singer? Miley Cyrus From a publicity standpoint, the obvious choice would be Miley Cyrus. The twerking, tongue-wagging, foam finger-waving Cyrus has been grabbing headlines since before her performance at the Mtv VMA's. If they want headlines, then NFL and Fox executives would be smart to choose Ms. Bangerz . It wouldn't be a bad decision on Miley's part either. After all the disparaging headlines and remarks she's gotten lately, it would be a nice change of pace for her to deliver a great version of "The Star Spangled Banner." Hunter Hayes If you take a look at the history of national anthem singers at the Super Bowl, most tend to be female. There are som...

I got some sad news recently: Taco John's discontinued their deliciously underrated treat: the apple grande. For me, this is worse than the Twinkie ordeal earlier this year. I grew up eating these whenever my family went to Taco John's. You didn't even need to get a taco. A Pepsi, potato oles and an apple grande was a delicious meal by itself. The apple grande was not one of those treats that you'd often hear people talking about. There are probably quite a few people out there who never even got to experience the taste bud happiness that the apple grande provided. It was an amazing, crispy flour tortilla that was coated in cinnamon and sugar and topped with warm apple filling, cheddar cheese and crushed cinnamon candy. I was told by one of the Taco John's locations that they no longer served the apple grande and that it was a nationwide change. I don't know if that's the case or not. The item is still listed on the Taco John's website...

Thousands of people were in Concord for the Bank of America 500 this weekend. I made a stop, just south of the Speedway, at Granny Mac's Bake Shop . I wasn't really sure what to expect going there. Had I checked out their website, I probably would've had a better idea. Once you walk in, there are donuts, cookies and other goodies to the right. The cupcakes are to the left. I started walking to the display case and quickly noticed that these cupcakes are huge! They’re Perkins Mammoth Muffins huge or Sam’s Club huge. One thing's for sure: you don't need too many of these cupcakes to make a hearty dessert. Strawberry Cupcake This cupcake was potent! I could smell it in my car on the way home even though the cupcake was securely packed into a plastic bakery box. There's a nice strawberry flavor to it. In searching for awesome cupcakes this year, I've realized that some strawberry cupcakes have a really strong strawberry flavor (almost to t...

The rave reviews and building intrigue got to me. I went to go see Gravity . I wasn’t really sure what to expect. No bad reviews? That’s a gamble. After all, when people rave about movies, there’s a safe bet they won’t be good. Half of the movies that earn Academy Awards each year are more boring than entertaining. Meanwhile, how was a 90-minute moving going to be able to capture my attention when the focus is on an astronaut being stranded in space? Well, the reviews were right and the movie had my attention from the get go. So if you see any headlines that say, ‘ Gravity soared,’ ‘ Gravity was out of this world!,’ ‘Get pulled in by Gravity ’ or any other cheesy puns, you can probably believe them. It wasn’t the best movie ever. It was groundbreaking in a way though. It’s essentially just two actors – Sandra Bullock and George Clooney – in a weightless, soundless environment. I’m not sure how accurate their depiction of space was (moreso than Star Trek and Star ...

The 2013 American Music Awards nominations were announced by Kelly Clarkson and will.i.am in New York City this morning. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis lead the pack of nominees with six nominations. Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake are right behind them with five, while Rihanna, Robin Thicke and Florida Georgia Line received four nominations each. I was happy to see Pink announced as a contender for Female Artist of the year. Her competition includes Swift and Rihanna. She's also nominated for Favorite Artist - Adult Contemporary, but she'll have to beat out Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 for that. Artist of the Year? Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake are all up for that one. Meanwhile there's a new category for "Single of the Year." Thicke's "Blurred Lines" is, of course, up for that award. Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" was also nominated. "Thrift Shop" was appropria...

If Miley were in The Brady Bunch , Jan would definitely be saying, “Miley! Miley! Miley!” She stole the attention away from the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes – or any other celebrity for that matter – for most of the past two months. For every two people bashing Miley Cyrus’ more adult behavior, there’s one of her fanatics defending her every action and someone in their 30’s saying, ‘Leave her alone. She’s just being young.’ To me that’s kind of a cop out. I know a lot of people who didn’t do what she was doing when they were 20. I don’t necessarily have anything against it. If she wants to swing in, naked, on a wrecking ball, that’s cool. I get it. She’s naked – open to harm and disappointment and heartbreak. Licking sledgehammers? That’s done to get attention. I don’t find Miley to be a sexpot, but she’s not ugly by any means. Maybe there are older teenage boys or guys in their early 20’s who are raging horny over Miley. I don’t know that they’re going t...

I recently made a trek almost the entire way down the east side of I-485, stopping at each Sam's Club location, trying to find Green Acres on DVD. It started when I was talking with someone recently. She'd mentioned that Green Acres is at least $20 online. I said, 'No way. It's only $8 at Sam's Club.' Thankfully I had a picture to prove myself right. However, I figured it'd be good to get them on DVD while I could. I didn't want to shell out $20 if Sam's did stop carrying them. I went to three Sam's Club locations and none of them had Green Acres , like they had just a few months ago. Finally, after getting a day pass at BJ's, I found three seasons of Green Acres for $8 each. It got me thinking about how difficult it is to find DVDs these days. Growing up in the '90s, I remember being able to find almost any movie at a plethora of video rental stores. If you wanted to own a movie, you could buy movies at Suncoast Motio...

Thor: The Dark World was the last movie on my 2013 'must-see' list. Gravity owned the box office this weekend though. It grossed $55.6 million, making it the highest grossing opening weekend film for Sandra Bullock or George Clooney 's careers according to CNN . I've seen Facebook post upon Facebook post and tweet upon tweet, recommending that people go watch the movie. In fact, I haven't seen one negative review for it. I’m intrigued by the movie. I was ever since I saw the first preview . This movie, unlike so many others, seems to have done it right. The trailer didn't give away the entire film. In fact, it only gave away a small portion of it -- Sandra Bullock's character seemingly getting hurled into the dark abyss that is outer space. I want to know how in the world (or out of this world...) Alfonso Cuarón made an interesting movie that lasts 91 minutes and is about an astronaut being lost in space. It's not like Armageddon , where...

It's the season three premiere of Hart of Dixie tonight on the CW, so it's only appropriate that I'm just now reviewing season one of the show. Earlier this spring, I spent a good five or six days watching the first season of Hart of Dixie . I initially started watching it because there was nothing very interesting on TV and there wasn’t anything else that peaked my interest on Netflix’s instant access list. When I realized that Rachel Bilson was the star of the show, I considered turning it off. I’ve seen all of 7 or 8 minutes of The O.C. in my lifetime, but it was enough to know that Bilson was not an impressive actress. She showed that right off in this series. She plays Zoe Hart, a doctor who was let go from her job in a big city hospital because her superior said she didn't have the heart to be a true surgeon. She finally accepted an offer from a doctor who'd been calling her for years, asking her to come work at his local practice in Bluebell, Al...

I’m going to guess that Daphne’s Bakery probably dominates the central part of East Charlotte. If you “Charlotte cupcakes,” you’ll see that there aren’t any other cupcake options in that area. Daphne’s is tucked away – off some of the main Interstates, but still easy to access, as it’s off of Matthews-Mint Hill Road. I hadn’t made my way to Daphne’s until last week. I was surprised to see there were a handful of people in there – some ordering treats and others eating lunch in the conjoined Tia Rose café area. As far as a cupcake selections goes, there wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but there were eight different flavors to choose from – including vanilla, red velvet, key lime, funfetti, chocolate and pink lemonade. I picked three cupcakes: chocolate, key lime, and funfetti.

Lets start out with the awesome news that I read recently: Daughtry is coming out with a new album -- Baptized – on November 19. I’m very excited about that since Break The Spell is, by far, the most played album on my iTunes. The lead single for that album is different than Daughtry’s last go around, which had a very rock n’ roll vibe to it. “Waiting for Superman” is more mellow, but still seems like something you’d expect from Daughtry. It's about a woman waiting for her Superman to come along and love her. I'm not sure what inspired the Superman-themed song (or why they didn't release this before the Man of Steel movie was released), but it's a stellar song. I read that the band was hoping to do a more radio-friendly album this time around, steering away from the hard rock they utilized on Break The Spell . Wikipedia’s page on Baptized says the band changed directions with this album, “hoping to fit into the radio generation at the moment.” Apparently...

It's not every straight man who will buy a Cher CD, but last week that's what I did. I've been a fan for a long time -- probably because my mom was. I remember her playing Heart of Stone on cassette tape waaaay back when I was four or five years old. My favorite song was "Just Like Jesse James" because it had my name in it. In 1999, I got my mom Cher's Believe CD. Eventually, Cher came to a nearby arena for one of her farewell tours, so I got my mom tickets. After all these years, I admit, I was curious to see if Cher could still sing. A lot of older performers, like Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks and Cyndi Lauper, don't sound as good as they used to. Cher always seemed like an exception to that rule though. I'm going to pass Closer To The Truth on to my mom, but I took a listen to it first. I read that she'd said it was her best work. It's not bad. It is a nice amalgamation of a lot of musical styles. While I doubt many of th...

Most DVDs go to a menu screen after you’re done hearing about ‘the cloud,’ how cigarettes can kill you and seeing a preview for the latest animated film. Some, however, give you an option. ‘Pick a side,’ they say. I’ve run into this twice recently – with the G.I. Joe DVD and The Break-Up DVD . At first I thought it was a cool concept. Maybe, if you pick Cobra’s side, there’s an alternate ending? Or maybe some special features --- like an in-depth look at Storm Shadow’s sword training. If you pick the side of the Joe’s, maybe there’s a look at their stunt training. No, no, and no. I went with Cobra and it takes you to the exact same screen, with the exact same features, as it does when you pick G.I. Joe. Same thing with The Break-Up .