TDOS Draft to End All Drafts - Round 20

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Captain.. sorry about this one..

I can't have a best things ever list without this one. This actually should've been taken waaay earlier by me...



In-N-Out Burger



I am getting hungry just doing this write-up! :D
 
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Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Captain.. sorry about this one..

I can't have a best things ever list without this one. This actually should've been taken waaay earlier by me...



In-N-Out Burger



I am getting hungry just doing this write-up! :D
You know, I never really got the attraction to In-N-Out. Glorified McDonalds I think. I like the burgers at some other places much more.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
Captain.. sorry about this one..

I can't have a best things ever list without this one. This actually should've been taken waaay earlier by me...
Well, let's see...I already have cheeseburgers and Coca-Cola. The only other thing at In-N-Out is fries, and their fries aren't very good.

So I guess I still come out ahead! :D
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
three already?

Jesus. (not my pick, just an exclamation)

Ok, and I'm off my list too. So...guess for the first I'll do the thing I did not want to do:

Makeup #1

Bread

I did not want to make this pick because it steps on all kinds of toes. I know we've had flat bread and sliced bread at least. But still, me doing a draft like this without adding bread would be ridiculous. Love bread. All kinds. During all the anti-carb idiocy of the last decade I singlehandedly kept America's bakers in business with constant purchases of rolls, loafs, pastries etc. etc. in all their varieties and wouldn't trade the smell of a warm fresh loaf of french bread for the world. So as not to be a jerk, if you want to carve out sliced bread and flat bread (except Naan, which I got with my Indian food ;) ) from this category, that's fine. I'll just take all the rest.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Makeup #2:

A Warm Blanket In a Cold Room

Don't touch that thermostat! Oddly satisfying, I'd rather snuggle under a warm cover in a cold room anyday than crank up the heat.
 
I hate to interrupt Brick in the middle of his make-up extravaganza, but my pick is pending and I gotta get out of here, so here goes:



Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris

The official center of the City of Lights and all of France, this building is simply awe inspiring.

To my great chagrin, I've not had the opportunity to travel much. But I was fortunate enough to spend a single weekend in Paris some years back during an all too brief trip to Europe, and during that entire visit no other site left an enduring image with me quite like Notre Dame.

Perhaps it is simply nostalgia left over from my one grand adventure outside the US, but I can remember feeling the most comforting subtle joy in my life gazing from a little stone bridge at the the lights of this famous gothic building glimmering on the Seine.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
OK, I assume that just like Löwenherz I'm free to interrupt Brick's make-up party...

With my next selection I choose:


I trust that some of you know exactly what that is. For those who don't, it's the logo for my absolute favorite software for programming and mathematical analysis: Matlab. Of course, if you don't have a university license, the darn thing (especially with all the bells and whistles) costs about as much as Hearst Castle, so having free access to it is well worth a draft pick. I select Matlab (including Simulink and all available toolboxes).
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
My next-to-last pick is a bit tricky. I'm going to select what is known as The Epic Cycle -- this Wikipedia link is fairly thorough (though not quite in line with the Oxford Classical Dictionary) but a bit of explanation is in order here.

The Epic Cycle was a collection of Greek Epics, probably from the 7th-6th century B.C. There were as many as fourteen works included in the cycle, and while the individual works were probably written by several different authors, the cycle effectively spanned Greek myth from the beginning of the world to the end of the Trojan war (which probably took up fully the last half of the cycle itself). The Homeric epics The Iliad and The Odyssey are the only works that have survived; the other twelve, aside from a few fragments and scattered commentary, are lost. Although The Iliad and The Odyssey are believed to have been the longest of the works, together they would appear to constitute no more than 30-40% of the entire Epic Cycle.

So while this pick includes two of my favorite works ever, it also entails the "rediscovery" of maybe 50,000 lines of lost Greek epic which, if not perfectly unitary, comprise what was certainly one of the greatest epics ever composed.

Hmm...since the lost works haven't had the benefit of a translator, I wonder if I have to learn ancient Greek to read them!:D
 
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SLAB's #4 looks to be this exactly...
I'll be honest in not knowing quite how to rule in this case. One could argue that SLAB took the general concept of best friends, but AleksandarN took his best friend, specifically -- general population vs. one person, concept vs. item, broad vs. specific.

In this sense, it would be totally allowable and within the rules.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
That's how I read it...and I suspect AleksandarN and his best friend had a really great time at the AC/DC concert.

 
Having picked California as a whole, I've technically already laid claim to this, but considering of all the sites that exist in the world's greatest city (sue me, I'm bias), this is my favorite, earning it the right for a special mention:



Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco, CA

Nonly does this place epitomize serenity and have a both beautiful and tragic history (a plus for me, but considering my results in the movie-maker draft, I won't bore all you non-history buffs with it. Fun fact though: it might be the founding place of the fortune cookie), on a personal note, during my first trip to San Francisco sans my family, I stumbled onto this place completely by accident while wandering aimlessly through Golden Gate park. I felt I had discovered a secret gem tucked deep in the heart of The City far away from the crowds of fisherman's wharf.

As a Niners fan, I had always admired San Francisco, but that was the day I fell in love with The City and the Tea Garden was the central player in it.
 
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VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Fantastic choice! That has to be one of my favorite places on earth, even though I haven't been there since my grandmother took me a very long time ago...
 
Ok, I was going through my list and realized I had a TON of food but absolutely no dessert. So, for my next pick I select only the best candy ever...



Snickers
 
You know, I never really got the attraction to In-N-Out. Glorified McDonalds I think. I like the burgers at some other places much more.
Glad I'm not the only one. The one thing they have going for them is real ice cream milkshakes.
You two are crazy... the fact that they can have like 5 things total on the menu and are as popular as they are is a testament. Its also the only restaurant besides Taco Bell where I eat and don't feel like I'm eating cow lung.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
You two are crazy... the fact that they can have like 5 things total on the menu and are as popular as they are is a testament. Its also the only restaurant besides Taco Bell where I eat and don't feel like I'm eating cow lung.
I would much rather eat at any number of burger joints than In-N-Out (won't name them because the draft is underway). And really, 5 things on the menu and you would want to eat there all the time? Once every 6 months is fine for me, tops.

The burgers are slightly better than McD's, and that ain't saying much. The fries are fresh and I like them, but so what? It's trendy, but food-wise it is average.

And any time you put Taco Bell on the top of the food chain, I know you are nuts. ;)
 
All of In N Out's ingredients are fresh actually and the service is great. However, one should also note that they don't have just 5 items on the menu... they have an entire secret menu with more selections as well.

From Wiki:

In-N-Out has a limited menu consisting of only three different sandwiches: the hamburger, cheeseburger, and "Double-Double" (double meat/double cheese). French fries and fountain drinks are available, as well as three flavors of milkshakes. The hamburgers come with lettuce, tomato, with or without onions (the customer is asked upon ordering, and may have them fresh or grilled), and a sauce, which is called "spread," and is similar to Thousand Island dressing with a mayonnaise base.

There are, however, additional named items that are not on the menu, but are available at every In-N-Out. These variations reside on the chain's "secret menu," though the menu is accessible on the company's web site.[28] These variations include 3x3 (which has three patties and three slices of cheese), 4x4 (like the 3x3 but with four patties and slices of cheese), Neapolitan shakes, grilled cheese sandwich, and Animal Style, a house specialty that the company has trademarked because of its association with the chain. An Animal Style fry comes with melted cheese, spread, and grilled onions on top. By adding patties at an additional cost, one could conceivably create a burger of any size; 100x100 burgers have even been ordered before.[29]
If you go in order the Neopolitan Milkshake as well. :)
 
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I would much rather eat at any number of burger joints than In-N-Out (won't name them because the draft is underway). And really, 5 things on the menu and you would want to eat there all the time? Once every 6 months is fine for me, tops.

The burgers are slightly better than McD's, and that ain't saying much. The fries are fresh and I like them, but so what? It's trendy, but food-wise it is average.

And any time you put Taco Bell on the top of the food chain, I know you are nuts. ;)
Agreed. I really think a large part of the popularity is that its a regional chain with a national presence and so its still an event for many people to eat there. Kind of like a big donut chain when they went national 10 years ago, absolutely huge fad for a few years and then they had to start closing shops as quick as they opened them. When I was in business school my favorite marketing professor told us how in the 70s he would take West Coast trips and always bring a 12 pack of Coors back East when he was through and it would be some huge event for people back in Boston to drink Coors, imported from the exotic West. Also you have the double-entendre name which is kind of like people in the mid-west wearing Mr. Zog's Sex Wax shirts during the 80s. You put one on every corner like McDonald's and you'd see the interest dry up real quick.
 

Larry89

Disgruntled Kings Fan
All of In N Out's ingredients are fresh actually and the service is great. However, one should also note that they don't have just 5 items on the menu... they have an entire secret menu with more selections as well.

From Wiki:



If you go in order the Neopolitan Milkshake as well. :)
not really a secret menu, just asking to add what they already have on what they already have...
 
Sorry everyone...back to school night tonight. UGH.

SAUCE



GGG took carnitas from my Mexican food pick (and my pork pick!), so I'm going to have to return the favor. By "sauce" I'm referring to my Sicilian mother-in-law's homemade tomato sauce. The key to the whole thing is that it starts early in the morning and cooks all day. Early in my marriage I thought it was weird to wake up to the smell of Italian sausage and simmering tomato sauce, but now I realize how important it is. There is nothing like her sauce, and I simply will not eat tomato sauce from a jar. Whenever she visits, she makes us a huge pot, separates it into small containers, and fills our freezer with it. Defrost it, cook up the pasta of your choice, and you're good to go.
 
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