Week of 11/08 - Television: a Cruel and Tempting Mistress

This weekend I was reminded once again how much influence television has over our lives. Let's face it. Before there was a home office in every house and a computer in every home office, there was a television in every living room. And before the blogosphere and internet advertising dictated our every day lives, TV programming did the same. For me, this weekend, the programming of influence was a show by the name of Man vs. Food. This guy gets paid to travel the country and eat until he gets sick. And, every once in a while he travels to our neck of the woods, showcasing some local eateries that I wouldn't normally take much notice of. This weekend, my job had me rushing off to Boston, Massachusetts to work at a blood drive at Gillette Stadium; tough work for an Eagles fan but times are tough and money is in short supply. It just so happens that a few nights prior I was watching an episode of Man vs. Food on Netflix (which I can stream through my Wii now) which took place in, you guessed it, Boston! The place from the episode that stuck in my mind was a little shack on the harbor known as the "Barking Crab", a little hole in the wall restaurant that served up ridiculously large portions of seafood. Since my wife and I were in the mood for some authentic New England seafood, and since the best places to get authentic Philadelphia cheese steaks are little holes in the wall, I figured what better place to eat? The food was fantastic and smashing open a whole lobster with a large rock brought out my instinctual hunter side that hearkened back to my neanderthal ancestors. I left the "Barking Crab" that night with a full belly, a satisfied grin, and a touristy t-shirt sporting the slogan, "Everyone should have crabs". Unbeknown to me at the time, I also left the "Barking Crab" with a horrible case of food poisoning, one that left me violently ill for the better half of a week. If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this it is, "don't trust everything you see on TV". Now, off to Zagat.com to figure out what's for dinner tonight.