Missed Connections: An Incomprehensible Fantasy

With the rapidly changing landscape of the internet, it seems like we are using a new app or website every week. They aim to improve our lives and build upon the tools before them. With this, there are a lot of websites slowly decaying and rotting right before our eyes, no longer updated and on the verge of obscurity. Today, when consumers think about purchasing something, they may go to websites specific to that item, but for the people who don't have a lot of disposal income (like me), they go to second hand websites. Places like eBay or the increasingly popular Facebook Marketplace. The latter has slowly phased out Craigslist, a website that has been on its deathbed for a while now.

Founded by a soy tech dude named Craig, the website acts in a similar fashion to the classified section of the newspaper, another thing becoming irrelevant to most people nowadays, where you could post an advertisement or message for people in your area to respond to. I am sure everybody on here knows what Craigslist is, it's not an obscure site whatsoever, but there is a section on Craigslist that is often overlooked: Missed Connections. The feature is not unknown, but it is not the first thing one would think of when the website is mentioned. The intended purpose of Missed Connections is to connect people who interacted in real life, but failed to get contact information. This is not how it functions in practice. Instead, Missed Connections acts as a breeding ground for the most freaky and horny people you would never want to connect with. And just a reminder, these are people in your area. Everybody posting on there is delusional. The posts typically involve a man making eye contact with a woman from across the store, with the man mistaking it as something far, far deeper. It's sad, but I have little sympathy for these pathetic coomers. There is no hope for these people.

 

It is not the fact that these people are so desperate, it is that people hardly use Craigslist, especially not missed connections. The desires of these individuals are so far removed from anything remotely normal, which makes it so bizarre read. At first it is entertaining to browse Missed Connections, but it quickly becomes depressing if you start scrolling for just a little bit. I am so intrigued by the users on the Craigslist section, but I know that these people are beyond saving, too far gone to achieve a state of normalcy, or even just being slightly weird. The false sense of anonymity combined with being totally shameless breeds the cesspool known as Missed Connections.

Maybe it's a good thing that Craigslist is dying out. Maybe this website should become consumed by the sea of the internet, lost and eventually dead. But also, where will these horndogs go? This I would rather not know.

"Why Does The Best Food Come From The Sketchiest Places?" Please Shut Up. Just Enjoy The Type Fish.

There is a sentiment towards restaurants in "the hood" that seems to be common nowadays. Often times people claim that the sketchier the location, the better the food. What a load of idiocy. Good food is abundant, especially in the city of Richmond, Virginia. I think we should absolutely be celebrating the food in places that are not often given much thought, which brings me to a gas station on the border of Henrico and Richmond City. Inside of a Valero on Williamsburg Road, where the gas is $3.19 a gallon, is a Krispy Krunchy Chicken. The gas station chicken chain is abundant in the south. Most places will have one of them, but this one is special because it also has a deli. Adjacent to any bodega or corner store, where you can get a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for 40 cents more than a gallon of gas, this KKC offers quite the selection. A new friend brought this place to my attention with one menu item, the fish sandwich. Since I can remember, I have been ordering the Filet-O'-Fish, Big Fish, and every other fish sandwich that fast food restaurants offer, so when I was recommended a tasty fish sandwich, I had to go as soon as possible. 

While I planned on going with my friend Yahya, he woke up quite late and was on a time-constraint so he bailed. Luckily my buddy Aidan was free, and we ended up driving to the other side of the city for this fish sandwich. When we arrived, the smell of fried food was the first thing that hit me, which on my empty stomach had me salivating. The store itself was like that of any gas station. The selection of snacks was really solid, with the dusty shelves boasting uncommon goodies like Peanut Chews, Little Debbie Strawberry Shortcake Pastries, and well beyond expired Rock Creek Soda. I placed my order and the lady said it would be about 7 minutes because they wanted to cook the fresh. Before she started working on my order she asked if I wanted everything, and duh, of course I wanted the works: lettuce, tomato, and mayo. We browsed the candy, chips, soda, and skill games while we awaited my sandwich. It seemed to be busy as two or three other people ordered fried chicken and potato wedges before I got my food. Just before it was handed to me, the lady asked the last question of if I wanted onions on it, to which again, DUH, of course I responded with yes. Wrapped in hot tinfoil was a behemoth, monstrous sandwich, placed on the counter where the register is. Costing me $4.99, an absolute deal in my eyes, I was now in possession of what I know now as one of the best bites in the Richmond area. Me and Aidan walked to my car, where I unraveled the foil to reveal a real beauty. The stock image on the old menu board above the kitchen depicted the sandwich as a smaller fish patty on a regular old bun, but that is not what I received. Instead, I got a huge fillet of a deep fried white fish, folded in half, between two slices of lightly toasted Texas toast, with the works. 

I forgot to mention I also ordered cheese on the sandwich. This was really freaking crazy. Really fresh with crispy, fluffy bread, gloriously artificial Kraft Singles, and hot, fresh, and crunchy fish were all elements that made this taste really good. The raw onion was the best part, though. But as I was enjoying it on the hood of my car, I was taking in the environment around me. A barber shop, two abandoned houses, and a furniture store are what surrounded the place. It made me think about how god dang stupid food influencers are. Maybe I could fall under that umbrellas now that I am blogging about, and I also feed into it by consuming that food brainrot, doomscrolling away while How Kev Eats, DangItsWayne, and LukeFoods talk about how the dangerous places always have the best food. My mind goes to a specific reel by Kev, where he gets pupusas, and he mentions that when the curtido is in a "sketchy" dimebag, you know it is about to be fire. Jesus Christ, just enjoy the food and don't make any weird remarks. But it makes sense that they are that stupid considering that when they describe food it is either "creaming", "busting", or it gets them horny in some weird way. Food doesn't need to be perverted or sketchy, and maybe the location isn't in a gentrified luxury condo complex, but they are bringing establishments down, places that clearly try their best to make quality food. My gripes with food influencers are extensive, but that has to be what pisses me off the most. I shouldn't expect so much from short-form content creators, with little background in anything culinary. While I don't possess the background, I am not trying to do anything with this. For a lot of these "foodies", their passion is likes, and while they can claim they do it for the love of trying new food, at the end of the day it is about the engagements. The public decides where they want to go, with hype being the driving factor behind what they eat. It doesn't even matter if they are really genuine about it, the hype drives the content, end of story. Maybe I come across as jealous or bitter, but this has been bothering me for a while. It could be a good thing that places like the Valero in Fulton Hill doesn't garner the attention that a new Nashville Hot Chicken place or Detroit Pizza place would get, but a place that makes affordable, delicious food deserves the glory that those places get. It should be celebrated that there are places in the community that don't follow trends or make a quick buck off of newfound fame. But that is not how the world works, is it? All I know is this: I am just gonna enjoy the god dang type fish.

Figurine

My latest obsession has been the synthpop project from somewhere in the United States that I don't know. I am gonna guess Los Angeles, California. These people are super elusive, with only one of these people really being known outside of this project. That person is none other than James Figurine, better known as Jimmy Tamborello, who is most famous for The Postal Service, another synthpop group that is a lot more popular. While writing this, I found out Jimmy Tamborello was in one of my all-time favorite bands Strictly Ballroom, one of the best emo rock bands to ever exist. He also has one more big project titled Dntel, which is his solo synthpop project. The other two members are David Figurine (Forster David Rudolph) and Meredith Figurine (Meredith Landman). The group released their first single, I Wait For You By The Telephone, in 1996. It wouldn't be another two years until their next release which is also their debut album, Transportation + Communication = Love. 

My favorite album of their second one titled The Heartfelt, a 14 (+ 1 bonus) track full-length release that dropped in 2001. The opening track is an atmospheric ambient track that features some awesome melodies and beautiful vocals, which sets the tone for the rest of the album. It goes right into one of my favorite tracks the group has made, IMpossible. I am trying to watch this movie called Like Crazy which has the girl from Rogue One and the dude who died Anton Yelchin. It lowkey looks really bad though. But IMpossible is the most depressing song I have heard in a long time. It is a super catchy track, with heavy pop vibes, but it carries this melancholy tone because the lyrics are so sad. It's incredibly heady, and every time I hear that intro I can't help but feel tears welling up inside of me. The rest of the album is also amazing with the tracks Rewind, Way Too Good, So Futuristic, and Let's Make A Love Song being some of my favorites. This is a no-skip album. Enjoy The Heartfelt, I included a download for anybody who wants to add it to their iTunes/iPod. Otherwise, listen to it on any streaming platform you may have.

  The Heartfelt (2001)  

1.) International Space Station II

2.) IMpossible

3.) Pswd:Stdum

4.) Rewind

5.) Way Too Good

6.) Stranger

7.) Time

8.) Instrumental

9.) Pswd:Natur

10.) Our Game

11.) So Futuristic

12.) Pswd:Pttrn

13.) Heartfelt

14.) Let's Make A Love Song

15.) Bonus

I Am About To Take You To Blog City Muthasucka

Welcome to my blog friends. I will post about music, movies, and food on here. Also, I will post about my life probably. I hope to post consistently but I am a pretty busy person. I am aiming to do weekly posts. Don't come here expecting any writing that is remotely decent. I am stupid as fudge and don't write too often. I may also post a lot more. Subscribe to the blog and you'll see my activity.

Recently, I watched a movie called Passing Strangers (1974). It was made by the same dude who directed that movie about AIDS called Buddies (1985). Passing Strangers stuck with me because while I am not gay, the movie is incredibly freaking gay. It captures an incredibly difficult time period for gay people, right as the AIDS epidemic was becoming really big and people were just starting to be more open with their sexuality. The premise is about someone like I just described: an 18 year old boy who is eager to experience gay stuff with dudes. Oh and obviously this takes place in San Francisco. The person in question responds to a newspaper ad of somebody looking for love, and they do just that. The music in the movie sounds like what I imagine the entire decade of the 1970s sounded like. There are some nice pop-y, but minimal tracks, notably near the end where they are riding bikes and crap. It's not often I see the use of both black & white and color film used, the only movie that comes to mind right now is His Motorbike, Her Island  (1986), which is a fun movie where the protagonist loves his motorbike as much as the main character of Passing Strangers loves penis. Did I mention this movie is pornographic? It features a lot shots of guys penises getting jerked off, and also the same people having graphic, hardcore sex. They do it everywhere, but the place I think about them doing it the most was outside. They just start going at it and after the cumming they just start chilling. Everything is shot so tenderly and intimately that I couldn't look away. It is something very new to me and it was cool to be exposed to that type of media. Once again, I am not gay, but I am definitely an ally, especially after watching this movie. An essential watch for anyone interested in queer cinema. 7/10 Shoutout to my gay friends <3

Something that has also been on my mind is the lap cheong. It is a Chinese cured pork sausage that is super tasty. I eat it daily and it is probably the one food I would choose to eat the rest of my life. I like to slice it kind of thin, and then sauté them with minced garlic, then serve it over rice with some kimchi. The sausage is very salty, but it is balanced out nicely with the other stuff I think. Yum.