Batson's Blog

If you look at Wikipedia's page for June 16th , you'll see a slew of historic events. Perhaps more exciting than anything listed on the Wikipedia page is the fact that June 16th is also Captain Picard Day. Captain Picard Day is celebrated on June 16th because it is the equivalent date to Stardate 47457.1, mentioned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode entitled The Pegasus. In that episode, Captain Picard Day is an occasion for the Enterprise to host schoolchildren and show them what Starfleet is like. Read more at http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2009/06/16/captain-picard-day/#X2HFaaImDHTg3UPx.99 Here's a list of other great captains: Captain Planet Who else can save the planet from pollution-loving bad guys and be a good role model -- all while rocking green hair? That's greatness all by itself. Add in his super powers and his always cool attitude, and you have a great captain indeed. Captain Hook He loses battles to a flying teenager in tights who...

Straight out the gate: if you want to go to Black Velvet Patisserie , you’d better have your GPS or be a Mooresville native. Black Velvet is actually right on Main Street, but I had a heck of a time getting to Main Street. Off the Interstate, around curves, and across railroad tracks to get there. It was my first time in Mooresville. I did have my GPS, but somehow I still ended up parking about 3 blocks away from the bakery. There are a couple of small cafe tables inside the shop. It seems like it would be a nice place to have a cupcake on a sunny afternoon. The day I went there were about seven different cupcake flavors to choose from. I ended up picking out three of them.

American Idol producers Nigel Ythgoe and Ken Warwick have been fired after season 12 of the hit TV show. The show has been in major makeover mode ever since it began dipping in the ratings, facing new found competition from NBC's The Voice . So far American Idol got rid of two producers and lost three members of the judging panel: Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson. They can give the show a new look, introduce new rules into the competition and get an entirely new staff, but the problem they are facing is one a lot of other reality TV shows face as well: how far do you go in revamping the show?

This week I did something a little different. I got some ice cream cupcakes. I got them from Maggiemoos , in the University area. Oddly enough, Maggiemoos seems to be the same company as Marble Slab . They didn’t have a lot of selection to choose from, but I got the Cookies and Cream four-pack. At first bite, there was almost a mint taste to the cupcakes – something I liked. After the mint taste disappears, the whipped cream (kind of a less fluffy version of Cool Whip) takes over. Then comes the Maggiemoos ice cream, which reminds me of a delicious dish from Dairy Queen . It’s very plain, but very good too. Finally it’s a firm portion of chocolate cupcake that finishes off the taste. As if the combination of cupcake, ice cream and whipped topping wasn’t good enough, there’s a soft Oreo cookie on top, along with a few cookie crumbles. The cupcake was amazing because there are so many different flavors to it. In each bite you literally get a mouthful of different flav...

May 31 is National Macaroon Day, so Happy Macaroon Day! What better way to celebrate than with a stop in NoDa at Amelie's to try a macaroon for the first time? I stopped by earlier this week because I knew there was a large selection to choose from. I'd always looked at the cookies in their display case and wondered what they tasted like. I was always a little hesitant to try them. Something about the name -- "macaroon" -- reminds me of something that should taste like a nut. Almonds, walnuts. It's strange, I know, but I'm not the biggest fan of nuts, so I didn't want to have a cookie that tasted like one. Upon closer inspection a few weeks ago (there was a long line at Amelie's, so I was right in front of the cookies for about a minute and a half), it didn't look like they were made of nuts at all. Instead the macaroons looked a lot like a whoopie pie, except not as soft. There were a wide selection of pastel-colored macaroons at...

The minute that Oscar Mayer announced they’d released a bacon-flavored hot dog , I knew I had to get me some. During a Wal-Mart stop last week I found them. I took them home. I made them. I ate them. I was disappointed. They weren’t bad, but, yeah, I was a little disappointed. I put what should have been complete awesomeness into the microwave when I got home. It started popping at about 45 seconds, so I took it out, put some ketchup on a bun and had myself a meal. One of my friends who had already tried them said he didn’t taste the bacon flavor. After having a few bites, I could see what he meant. The hot dog didn’t taste like a regular hot dog. There was something a little off about it. I guess maybe it did have the vague taste of overcooked, crispy bacon, but it wasn’t very distinguishable. It didn't taste the way I was hoping it would have. I wasn’t ready to give up on these hot dogs just yet though. I got out the frying pan, threw some I Can’t Believe...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I was a Star Wars guy. Before the 2009 Star Trek , I was not that familiar with the Star Trek universe. I remember seeing bits and pieces of a few episodes of The Next Generation back in the ‘90s – and then again when they were in a constant repeat cycle on SpikeTV in 2003 and 2004. Outside of that, I didn’t know too much though. That’s why I enjoyed seeing Kahn in the new Star Trek movie . He was a completely fresh character for me. That being said, he wasn’t the most impressive looking villain of all time. He was pretty much an emo Star fleet member – dressed in all black, wearing a leather coat at times as well. Who was the coolest looking villain, you ask? I have a top 10 list below. Let the countdown begin! Loki Thor’s younger brother is a wimp by comparison, but Loki still manages to look pretty cool with his gold, curved, antler-like helmet and his green cape. He looks like a king from another world – so job wel...