Thursday, November 3, 2011

Men & Cooking

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Effective Friday, November 4 the Hometown View will no longer be posted on this Blogger page. Please check WOBM.com for the latest Hometown View.

I have read and been told that women find men who cook attractive…even sexy.
That certainly doesn’t do me any good because as my wife will tell you I am useless in the kitchen unless you count picking up the phone and ordering take out useful. This month’s segment of “The Above-Average Guy” in Men’s Health magazine deals with men and cooking. Some results that you might find interesting.

• 82% of men say they savor their time spent cooking in the kitchen.
• 46% say a grill is their favorite cooking tool…I agree.
• 37% say even when the temperature outside is below freezing they will still cook on the grill.
• 35% of men say their cooking style is primarily “plan and simple.”
• 71% say they have no problem pouring themselves a bowl of cereal for dinner…I feel the same way about a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.
• With Thanksgiving coming up it’s interesting to note than 20% of men take over the cooking on this holiday.
• 33% of men also say they carve the turkey.
• By the way, the average guy gains between 3-5 pounds during the holiday season.
• 50% of men secretly think their moms are better cooks than their partners…I am not among them. My wife is a tremendous cook and baker.

Of course food shows have become very popular and I am among the 62% who regularly watch them. In our house the Food Network is the fallback channel to watch then there is nothing special on. Even though I don’t cook I am fascinated by shows like Iron Chef America, The Next Food Network Star, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and many others.

• 30% of guys who watch food shows say they do so for the females who do the cooking. Topping that list is Giada De Laurentis, whose Giada at Home is quite popular in part because the 41-year old is as hot as her food.

Couple of other numbers to keep in mind. Nearly half of the men surveyed say they have seduced a woman with their kitchen prowess and over 17,000 men injure themselves with kitchen gear each year. I don’t know if these last two are related in any way.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

A Column About Nothing

I really have nothing to offer today. I’d like to believe it’s just a one-day thing
due to a variety of factors, not the least of which is stress, burn-out and fatigue.
I live with those things (like many of you) all the time but usually am able to block them out and come up with two minutes of something here each morning. However as I sat at my computer screen this morning I just could not find anything
that was compelling enough for me to discuss, analyze or comment about.

There are a couple of somewhat interesting political items I thought about, including the mayoral races in Toms River and Berkeley. Maybe I’ll do that later in the week. I usually don’t get into world affairs because I never feel like I know enough and frankly there are plenty of others who can offer more than me. As for New Jersey “stuff”….there’s nothing really there, at least not today.

Of course I could always fall back on sports but I try and leave that for when I have a very strong opinion on something that is somewhat controversial. Most of you really have no interest in what’s going on with the Big East Conference but I can tell you the name makes no sense if schools like Boise State, Air Force and Houston are about to join. Maybe they can steal of the name of that bar in Mantoloking and call it the “Used to be Conference” as in used to be teams that actually were in the east. Nothing more exciting than a Rutgers-SMU basketball game on the schedule.

As for entertainment stuff….well I mentioned Kim Kardashian yesterday (and I guess again today) and now can’t for another couple of months because of a self-imposed limit on mentions of people who frankly have no reason to be mentioned in the first place. Are you into “Boardwalk Empire”, “Homeland”, and “The Good Wife”….the three best shows on TV? I think I did that a couple of weeks ago.

Well I’m sorry but for today you are going to have to give me a mulligan as I just have nothing. So please excuse me…I’ll try and come back tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Random Thoughts To Start The Month

Just a few random thoughts on this first day of November:


It’s always funny to me about how professional athletes downplay or even ignore the money aspect when they sign a contract. Monday CC Sabathia agreed to a new deal with the Yankees rather than opt out from his current contract and test the free agent market. I’m sure there are many Yankee fans breathing a sigh of relief that the team’s best pitcher is staying in pinstripes. When asked about remaining in New York Sabathia said “my son loves it here. All my kids love it here. My wife loves it here, obviously, and I do too. I love pitching for the Yankee fans and everything, so it was the easy choice.” What this noble 31-year old failed to make much of was the fact he had the Yankees over a barrel so they ponied up at least another $30 million to keep him. The new contract will pay him $122 million over the next five years…for that kind of money he should like New York very much.
By the way Sabathia lives in Alpine, New Jersey.

After less than three months of marriage Kim Kardashian and pro basketball player Kris Humphries are calling it quits. Actually she is calling it quits as the New Jersey Net basically had no say in the matter. Kardashian released a statement Monday saying “After careful consideration I have decided to end my marriage.”She went on to add that it was not an easy decision as she had hoped the marriage would last forever. 72 days after a $10 million wedding it’s over which is bad news for Humphries who signed a pre-nup and doesn’t even have the NBA to go back to unless the two sides settle their labor problems. By the way insiders say the marriage ended over where the couple would live….she of course wanted to be in Los Angeles while he wanted to settle down in Minnesota. Yeah right!

On a more subdued matter. The Ocean County College Athletic Hall of Fame will induct four new members at a dinner ceremony on Wednesday, November 16th in the college’s Health & Human Performance Center. The newest induction class includes former athletes Lynda Friggle and Rene Martinez and coaches Len Anen and Peggy Matthews. I will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the event and for ticket information you can call (732) 255-0400 x2380.