"A Dumpster Fire Wrapped in a Tortilla"

"Did you hear that Gene Wilder died?"

"What? No. Crap. Man, he was amazing. What memories. 'Young Frankenstein'. 'Willie Wonka'. 'The Producers'. 'Stir Crazy'. 'Blazing...'"

"You know what? They now make a Whopper as a burrito."

Brief silence

"Well I guess we can't grieve forever..." 

For God's sake!

(What you are about to read are the strained notes and recordings of a very harrowing 24 hours. This is all part of the Tucson Homeskillet eating a fast food mega-conglomerate's version of one of their signature beefy sandwiches turned "Mexican". Yes. Spiced burger meat with lettuce, pickles, onions and some kind of cheese drool wrapped in a gummy tortilla and served up for like $3 or something. We lost count of the cash. Because we have none. We lost count of the amount of drippy tube woe we ordered. Because we went a little insane. Please read with caution because things kind of got ugly. And greasy. And somehow nearly got one of us deported.

But for those brave enough, please enjoy and endure our descent into a flame grilled, made with 100% beef hallucination. One that can only be described as: 'Iffy'.

Now sit back, relax and pray for those that barely made it out without the aid of Zantac and a priest.

We give you...The Whopperrito!)

As big as Chili's head...and that's a big head

Taking the Whopperritos out of the bag

"These things are kinda big."

"Yeah. Kinda heavy too."

"How much were they?"

"I dunno. Four bucks or something. Each."

Unwrapping them, staring at them for a moment

"We live in Tucson. Is this some kind of sacrilege?'

"It totally is."

"I'm a little scared."

"Me too buddy. Me too..."

No going back now

Taking bites, contemplating, examining, nervously adjusting in our seats, grimacing

"Wow."

"Yeah. Wow."

"Tastes like a dumpster fire wrapped in a tortilla."

"Yep. Sorta like a Wilford Brimley pap smear."

"I get the Whopper thing but...that aint burger meat. No idea what that is."

"Is this...'cheese'?"

"Could be. Like hockey nacho squeeze gone seriously rogue. Good thing it comes with a salsa."

"Is that what that is?"

"Is it?"

 "Are we, you know, gonna be....okay?"

Long pause

"I doubt it."

*heavy sighs* 

Unholy creation...be gone!

"Well...what do we do now?"

"We wait."

10 seconds later

"I feel....funky."

"Things are not going our way I'm afraid."

"I can smell...shapes."

"Absolutely. Like Selena Gomez is crawling up my leg right now. I think she...wants something."

"Too late now. Better cave in to her demands. It's for the best you know."

"I think she wants some sort of Satanic ritualistic sacrifice. Is that...true?"

"Dunno. You wanna play darts?"

"Is that legal?"

*Best Emperor Palpatine impression*

"I will make it legal!"

Some darts to lighten our darkening moods

"What possessed them to make the Whopperrito in the first place?"

"Not too sure. Same goes for Mount Rushmore. Nothing like desecrating sacred land with honky propaganda. Say, I can't feel my thumbs!"

Bit of a pause, things get garbled here, some mumbling

"Yeah but how many times have you seen 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'?"

"Is there a number that can climb that high?"

"More alcohol?"

"Is there a number that can climb that high?"

This is when the madness began to settle in

"Did you just make a cocktail out of a Whopperrito?"

"It's what the King would want."

"Elvis?"

"JEEZE! Is he here?"

"That's the cheese ooze terror talking. You know he's shacked up with Salman Rushdie and Marilyn Monroe in Jersey right? He can't be here."

"Twenty six grams of fat, almost two grams of saturated fat, seventy five milligrams of cholesterol, fifty nine grams of carbohydrates and well over one thousand milligrams of sodium!"

Another break

"So. Foosball?"

"It's what the King would want."

It's just a foos paradise

"So would you ever order one of these things again?"

"I can't even see my shoes. What kind of question is that?"

"I heard a bunch of people like this thing. Why is that?"

"Nickleback has sold millions of albums. Competitive vaping is a thing. Ann Coulter. It's just, well...part of our landscape. It's just..."

"Whoa! What the heck is that?"

*Unnerving shaking and swirling of darkness into our immediate reality*

"Wait. Is this...normal?"

"Huh. Never thought about it. The summoning rift between our reality and that brought on by the fact that we ate Whopperritos without any inclination of consequence or thought to what we might do to the ensuing churn of possible human plight due to our gluttonous disposition."

"Yep."

"Yep."

"You ready for another one?"

 "Um. Sure. But first, lemme..."


*Heads off to the lavatory only to...*

The abyss stared back...hard

Madness.

*Roiling, contorting, singing tunes from "South Pacific", but not all that good*

"So....what do we do now?"

"There's only one thing really."

"You mean? No! You can't mean...."

"Yes. I do mean."

Pause. 

*More demonic stuff happening here, like crazy weird shizz...not cool but way awesome*

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"There can be only one that can explain all this tortilla wrapped insanity."

"Word. And the tortilla isn't even that good. It's all chewy and mass produced. Not a good accompaniment to..."

"SILENCE! We must now consult with the almighty master of wisdom and bad food authority."

"You mean...?"

"Yes. We must seek out the advice and guidance from none other than...Lil' Poundcake!"


*Angels sing, harps strum, horns bellow, can openers buzz and spill tuna water all over the kitchen floor*


Amen!

I will do thy bidding oh great fuzzy master

*After licking her butt for six minutes*

"You must go to the Mexican Consulate and seek redemption. This is my mandate and it is the only way to achieve true vindication of such heinous crimes against the burrito universe."

"But...it's not my fault. I just ate the stupid thing."

"You will then get me tasty fishy treats and rub my belly for an hour. I will love it but I will show you displeasure by biting your hand whilst you rub. But if you stop, I will only look at you as if you are some kind of monster. And then! When you begin to rub my belly again, I will kick at you with my hind legs trying to throw you off."

"But....why? Why oh fluffy empress who occasionally poops in the hall?"

"It is a puzzle wrapped in a enigma then wrapped again in a riddle then packaged in a quandary and then shipped off to the island of seriously-what-the-fxxk."

*Bows head*

Later

At the Mexican Consulate

"On behalf of all guilt ridden and slightly privileged Caucasians, please allow me to extend our deepest and most sincere apolo..."

Gets immediately bum rushed by security, thrown out, then asked to turn off cameras and to see our credentials 

"Hey man. It's not my fault. You see, my cat, Lil' Poundcake, had very firm, very direct instructions for me to..."

Gets tazed 

"I....I have failed you, oh wise and...fuzzy master..."

Dies

You can't say we didn't try, only following orders our cat gave us

(It was at this point that things got blurry. The line between reality and the severely battered subconscious grew dimmer and dimmer.

The Whopperrito had won this battle but thanks to some fans of the Tucson Homeskillet, and the advice of a spectral Selena Gomez, a dark ritual was performed and redemption came in the form of an altar of sacrifice, banishing the forsaken fast food menu item to the deepest dimension of spicy beef hate and tortilla wrapped torment.

So let this be a lesson of warning to you dear food blog reader: Proceed unto the drive-thru with extreme caution. We did not fare well with this challenge so with a bit of luck, an iron stomach and taste buds that have long been put to pasture due to stupid food trials such as this one, you might do a bit better than the recent victims here did.

Or just skip this crap all together. There are a lot better options to get your burrito fix in. Just saying.

The choice...IS YOURS!)

Back to the realm of shadows with you!

Thank you for reading.

Good night and good luck.

P.S. : No toilets were harmed in the making of this blog.

Just kidding. We destroyed a couple.

Just kidding. A ton of toilets were laid to waste.

Sorry about that.

Sincerely,

The Tucson Homeskillet

RIP our bowels and sanity

Camera, Typing and Still Missing
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
First Accursed Week In September, 2016

Metal Influence:

DEATH

"Scream Bloody Gore"

All Hail the Omar!

When I first moved to Tucson over ten years ago I weighed about 170-ish. Sure I had my signature belly, but it was not as, shall we say, "engaging" as it is today. The rolling hills of San Francisco, walking and skating them on a regular basis, kept me in fairly good shape. Now I pretty much drive everywhere and because of the amazing food here in the Old Pueblo along with the lack of exercise due to a full time job, not really being into the whole gym thing plus curating this blog, I'm easily up to 200 + change.

Thanks Tucson.

The gut has gotten a bit more, shall we say, "prominent"?

After I had my fill of Sonoran hot dogs, chimichangas and hangover food courtesy of Lucky Wishbone, I was ready for my next exclusive Tucson gastro-introduction. This came quite easy for my wife who simply said:

"Well you have to get an Omar from the Sausage Deli."

I wasn't too sure if she meant a person or a type of sausage or...what. It didn't matter. I was hungry and very prepared to get into another local favorite destination for eating awesomeness.

Behold: The Omar!

When I had my first Omar sandwich it was from the Sausage Deli's original location in the much smaller hut closer to 1st Avenue just off Grant. Now they have expanded into a bigger residence, just a few feet away from the old Sausage Deli, but this time closer to Grant Street with an expanded parking area and menu as well. They now have a beer bar! And french fries! Yeah, they got themselves a fryolator. And...

Wait, we're getting off the topic here. Sorry.

Anyway, we ordered two Omar subs, to go, found a nice shady spot in a park and then went for it.

All I have to say is: I was immediately in sandwich rapture.

It was glorious. Delicious. It had that perfect balance of savory, sweet, chewy and crunch. Equipped with salami, turkey and Swiss cheese, it's also packed with onions, bell peppers, pepperoncinis and a good dose of yellow mustard and house Italian dressing. Best thing is that the Omar is served hot so all of the items neatly jammed into a fluffy sub roll meld together in a harmonious landscape of flavors and textures. The Omar, at its core, is a very simple sandwich and that right there is what makes it so definitively marvelous.

I sometimes have dreams about the Omar. The sandwich is that tasty that it haunts my subconscious.

So let this blog post serve as an inspiration to you all: The Omar is amazing and you need to get one right now!

Trust me. It's like the best sandwich...ever.

Hands down.

So simple yet so perfect

"When I purchased the Sausage Deli back in 2003," says owner Chris Fanelli, "the rumor about the Omar was that it was created by an old employee that worked with the original owner a long, long time ago. I would say close to 1978 when the Omar was created by, yes, an employee named Omar!

"The Omar is our number two seller, just barely behind the Italian Grinder. We sell about fifty to a hundred Omar subs a day, which outsells the sandwich version to about 3-1.

"The Omar has a nickname too: 'The Breathtaking'! Appropriate right? There are a lot of old school U of A alumni that order it in a special way: they substitute the turkey for smoked turkey and replace the yellow mustard with champagne mustard, maybe that's how it was served years ago, not too sure. I have had many, many regular customers come in wanting to try something else. They usually just stand there, stare at the menu, then of course break down and eventually say, "Yeah, I just can't do it. I'll have an Omar please."

And if you have had an Omar, you know what Chris is talking about.

If you haven't had an Omar yet, then...well, you'll know what Chris is talking about when you do.

Nay a more magnificent sandwich has bestowed our fair little desert hamlet

So without further adieu, The Tucson Homeskillet now presents to you an ode to one of our favorite sandwiches in Tucson or anywhere really:

The Omar!

So glorious!

I love the Omar so much I took it out for some beers.

I had to cut the Omar off after three...it was getting a bit tipsy

Then we played a few rounds of Big Buck Hunter. Oh that Omar...he's a dead eye!

The Omar even got high score. Way to go lunchtime food item!

Afterwards we went to the fair where we rode the Tilt-A-Whirl till we got sick. Wheee!!!

"Can we go again?" asked the meat and cheese stuffed sub sandwich

I betcha didn't know that the Omar is a big Iron Maiden fan. Like...real big.

Run to the Sausage Deli! Run for the Omar!

After a fun day, it was time to relax on the veranda and soak up some lovely springtime rays.

Just chillin' with my homie...a sandwich.

Even our cat, Lil Poundcake, showed her admiration for the Omar, only having this to say:

"Sure, it's not tuna fish but, man, that is one tasty sandwich."

Thanks Lil Poundcake! We always knew you had good taste.

Can cats eat sub sandwiches? Well, we shall soon see...

Oh, the Omar, is there anything you can't do?

We love you the Omar sub! And thank you Sausage Deli for making it everyday (except Sunday)! You rule!

Sincerely,

The Tucson Homeskillet

Can we shut up about the sandwich already? It's time to eat!

The Sausage Deli is located at:

745 E. Grant St., at 1st, midtown Tucson

www.sausagedeli.com 

Eating, Typing & Camera
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
4/20, 2016

Metal Influence:

IRON MAIDEN

"Piece Of Mind"

A Grand Day Out With The Tucson Homeskillet!

The wife has been out of town for almost a month and I really haven't left the house since she left. It's odd. Being joined at the hip like we are, when she goes to train new bartenders in various locations across the US, maybe once twice a year for a few weeks, my first inclination is to get a bunch of stuff accomplished. The reality of it all is the first week she's gone I live in almost silence and seclusion. I love her more than anything but she can be quite the tornado of clothes anywhere and everywhere, towels strewn about, shoes left in the middle of walkways and lord almighty if I can't just get a corner of the comforter when she literally coils herself up in a blanket ball from her night spinning much like a thrill seeker barrel rolling down a steep hill.

So the first week I clean the house knowing it will stay clean, take as many naps as possible, listen to Metal at top volumes alongside not saying a word and just enjoying the tinkling of garden chimes and the cat purring. Around the second week I start watching movies and shows I wanna watch and possibly have one too many to drink at night as trying to sleep without struggling for a bit of sheet only makes the bed feel empty and the house somehow bigger and darker. The third week I sort of get into this groove of "being alone" and before you know it she's back and all is right with the world. Well, our little world anyway.

The Wednesday (my one true day off during the week) before she returns, I decided to make a journey of it. Getting inspired by Wallace and Gromit and their "Grand Day Out" where they go to the moon to get more cheese and then are accosted by a skiing enthusiast robot oven, I too wanted to eat and do something around Tucson that I have been meaning to get on with. So I made a list, set a course and when I woke up at the crack of noon I got in the car and began my adventure. So here are the results of a most recent Homeskillet outing.

Was it grand? Some points. But a few snags only made a beautiful late winter afternoon as close to perfect as one could hope for.

Here we go...

Stilton? Wensleydale? 

First stop was a new taco place right down the street from my house and it is called:

El Berraco

2960 N. First Ave.

What used to be El Mezon del Cobre (a fine place to eat and grab some beers while we did laundry next door at this little wash shack called Dean's Village Laundromat) is now a nautical themed Mexican food establishment that boasts some of the best and most inventive seafood fare in the neighborhood, if not the city. I mean, the outside is built to look like a submarine and when you walk through the port like doors, you enter a fairly dark and blue hued underwater themed submersible bar and restaurant, one that you might find in some overpriced water park.

It was late afternoon so the lunch rush had already come and gone. Sure there were a few people in there but when I was sat at one of their large tables in the middle of the action, I had a feeling that I was in for something good.

In the center of the long plank-like table are a bevvy of various hot sauces and along the curved walls large flat screens display the specialties of the house all keeping with the undersea motif. This place is pretty cool.

The massive Chile Relleno Taco

Scanning the menu, I instantly became a bit weary of the prices. Tacos and tostadas ranged in price from $8 to $20. For a taco? In Tucson? So I asked my server what the portions were like and with a gesture of his hands as if he were holding a football, he assured me that the food here was very generous.

"Trust me," he said with a smile, "they are like no taco you have had before."

So I ordered a taco and a tostada. He then looked at me and asked "For...just you?" This made me nervous. Did I order too much?  The tone of his voice indicated that perhaps my appetite wasn't as big as the food here. I then assured him that I "just wanted to try a good variety" and, yes, I will need a to go box. But I was so hungry I knew that I could devour all the food I just ordered. It couldn't be that big...could it?

First up was some chips and salsa but....this wasn't your average free dippin' sauce you expect in a Mexican food joint. This wasn't made with tomatoes, but rather tropical fruit, peppers and, get this, soy sauce. I had to ask because when I dunked my chip into it and took a bite I was overtaken by flavor. Simple, beautiful, fresh and imaginative. Seeing my pleasure of just sampling the salsa, he kept bringing out more for me to try. Each one was wholly different and textural from the next. Some hot, some thin, some bright, some dense but all delicious.

Soon my first item arrived. It was the Chile Relleno taco which was described as a jalapeno filled with cheese and shrimp, topped with a cabbage salad, cilantro guacamole with a creamy chipotle dressing and pickled onions. Upon first view of it, yes, my server was right, this is a very shareable taco. It was big. But I braved the sheer mass of it all and dug it.

Glorious. Absolutely filled with layers of flavor, balance of heat, crunch, savory and creamy that all came together in a wonderful array. He was right, I hadn't had a taco like this before.

Then came the tostada.

La Berraca tostada, bask in all of its glory

The La Berraca tostada features salmon, shrimp and scallops on thick warm corn tortillas in a sea of ranchero essence sauce. Now, I haven't had thick corn tortillas like this since my time living in southern California or various trips to Baja. Everything about this dish was amazing. So fresh, so clean and so considered and thought about. At this point I began to get a little light headed from all that was going on in my mouth and stomach but I trudged on and actually finished the La Berraca tostada. But between the thickness of the Chile Relleno taco, the chips and the samples of salsas and the fact that I still had a full day ahead of me, I did indeed ask for a box for the remaining taco. Note to all readers: always trust your server!

El Berraca is new but is easily on it's way to becoming a food destination here in Tucson. Owned by the same team that runs the BK franchise, this place is now something that I treasure and fear in my neighborhood. Treasure because...oh my god! Fear because...oh my god, am I eating here again? Like I need a taco habit to aid in my already expanding middle. Whatever.

When I left I was so elated that I considered going up a few blocks to the house, cuddle up with the cat and take a nap. But...no. I still had four more places to go so off I went.

The next food destination was:

Hopyard Deli

210 N. 4th Ave.

I've been wanting to try this deli ever since going to Ermano's next door but never stepped foot in there even though its open later than most delis. Now, if you've read other Homeskillet posts you know how deli obsessed I am. Seeing how rare it is to get me to come down to 4th Ave, or even downtown, I thought the Hopyard Deli must be awesome because the decent reviews and accolades are coming in from all sides. 

Well, I must have caught them on an off day. 

It was late afternoon and the place was empty. It was nice, clean, seemed like a great location to stop in for a soda and sandwich but there was nobody there. Like...nobody. Not even an employee behind the counter. I couldn't even hear anybody prepping or cleaning or...anything. So I looked around, decided to get some pastrami to go and then waited. 

And waited. 

Maybe it was self service, I don't know. After about ten minutes or so of just standing there and looking into the cameras hoping someone would see me, two teenage kids slowly emerged from the back and just sat on a table checking their phone. I had to ask, "Uh, do you work here?" The girl with the blonde dreads and stoned eyes walked behind the counter and just looked at me. The other dude in the Bonnaroo t-shirt just sat there not even acknowledging anything. So I hesitantly ordered some pastrami, which seemed like an absolute chore for her, then the dude slid off the table, rang up my order and had problems running my card because the iPhone thing was "acting all stupid". What should have taken a minute or two was like a twenty minute ordeal. Plus it was getting close to 4pm and I didn't want to be late for my next appointment, which started at exactly 4 and if you don't get there on time...the merchandise goes quick. 

In silence and non appreciation, I was handed my stack of cut meat and I dashed out the door to my next destination. 

Thanks Hopyard, now I know: Just stick to the Sausage Shop and all will be well. 

Plus the pastrami was bullcrap.

Meh

Well, after that disappointing venture, I was off to my next annex, one that I know will not let me down, because the third spot belonged to:

Barrio Bread

Various Locations (This one came from the Tucson CSA, 300 E. University in the Historic Y courtyard)

No, I did not take this picture, thanks to the good person who did

When I re-started the Tucson Homeskillet almost two years ago and totally immersed myself in the local food scene, one of the first people to friend me and who I started to follow back was Don Guerra. This alchemist of local grains and flour creates some of the tastiest bread I have ever had the privilege to put in my mouth. Working out of his garage, Don is a one man flurry of baking, spawning delicious loaf after delicious loaf and sells his wares across Tucson at random locales, usually schools and community areas.

On this particular Wednesday, he happened to have a stand set up at the Community Supported Agriculture center courtyard on University Avenue.

Pain Epi and Au Levain, in repose

I got there at exactly 4pm and there was already a line. After staking my place in the que while checking out the amazing goods for sale, I had a horrible thought: Barrio  Bread only takes cash on outings like this, and I hadn't been to an ATM in quite some time.

Crap. Thing is, I rarely carry actual money with me, so I dug out my wallet and opened it up, praying I had at least a few bucks. Luckily there was a 10 in there...whew. Not enough to buy one of each but at least to grab two of my favorites, the the Pain Epi baguette and the au Levain loaf.

What can I say, if you have never experienced what real bread tastes like, you have no idea. Follow Barrio Bread online and track them/him down. Authentic bread is honestly one of my favorite things to eat. You think it's so simple, and, in reality, it is, but it is so much more. So complex, a living thing that is nearly almost all air, but it's science so... I hate to use this word, but the flavor is transcendent. Yes...I said "transcendent".

After the disappointment from the deli, the two loaves I was lucky to get made up for it. Just the smell alone made me woozy. And when I bit into the pain epi I honestly drooled a bit on myself. Which was funny because I wasn't even hungry. Those tacos from El Berraco were still doing their job which made my next destination a bit questionable.

Real bread is so Metal

To experience their happy hour cocktails and food, my fourth location was intended to be:

Pasco Kitchen & Lounge

820 E. University

I'm sure the drinks and food were good but...

Here's the thing: I didn't get a chance to grab a drink or any food. Pasco at 4:30pm on a random Wednesday in February was PACKED. For real, there was absolutely no room at the bar, the patio was way over crowded (I mean, it was a splendiferously beautiful day so that was no surprise) and although there was a table or two open, I felt weird being alone in that sort of upscale environment, me in grubby shorts and tattered Vans, among the late afternoon scenesters and purveyors of lunchtime gossip and wine pairings.

So...I split. But I told myself I would return, hopefully with a partner and probably not as sweaty and still bloaty from the taco apocalypse I had just endured.

Sorry Pasco, but good on you! Congrats on the success. I mean, the food looked good and the cocktails appeared inviting. Hopefully next time.

Anyway, at this point my daytime adventure was winding down and I was really craving a drink. Luckily my final stop was a bar, a bar in a video store no doubt. That's right, I finally hauled my lazy butt over to:

Casa Video Film Bar

2905 E. Speedway

The day was growing pretty warm, I had been driving and walking across a good portion of the city and I was so ready for a little respite and a cold beverage to ease me into the evening. Luckily when I walked into Casa Video's beer and coffee bar I was very pleased to find it full of places to sit and was gloriously air conditioned. Not too sure why it took me so long to check this place out but...I was glad I finally did.

Beer and a movie? Um, yes please!

Their beer selection was great, covering not just Arizona breweries but many others from the Pacific and Southwest. And there was a movie playing on the various flatscreens, Badlands, a movie I hadn't seen since I was a kid. This was great, just what I needed to end my grand day out.

The bar is set up really nice too. Not only do they have fantastic beer on tap but also microbrews in bottles for sale as well. Plus they are a full service coffee bar to boot. The other bodies in the place were drinking fresh brewed coffee, but not me. I needed an ice cold beer. And I got one. An IPA from a brewery up in Flagstaff. After grabbing my frosty glass filled with golden hued goodness, I took a seat on a comfy red chair near a viewing screen and sighed deep.

To quote Ice Cube: Today was a good day.

The beer was amazing; citrusy, hoppy, balanced and, most important, very cold and a bit strong. Folks from the regular video store area would wander in to access the second floor area seeing as the only way there was through the bar. I watched Martin Sheen and a very young Sissy Spacek kill people across the acrid space of South Dakota while quaffing a delicious ale made a few hundred miles up a ways as kids munched on popcorn before ascending the stairs to select a fine foreign film or exploitation movie whilst on a cozy chair hiding from the beating sun and after work traffic outside.

Everyone should have days like this. It makes you really appreciate the city you live in. When I was a resident of San Francisco for over 12 years I would do a "discover your city" tour at least once a month. Sometimes just jumping on a train and getting off at some random neighborhood and walking around to see what you could find. Tucson is no different. I mean, our "train" only goes a few blocks here and there but, you get what I am getting at here.

And, to quote Calvin and Hobbes: There's treasure everywhere!

Perfect way to end a fun day

Sure, the deli was a flop (like I said, I probably caught it on a not so awesome day) and Pasco was filled to capacity but...still. I set out to do what I had planned to do and when I went home to think about dinner and call my wife I was greeted with the fuzzy face of our cat, laying in a box and looking at me with "so when do I get a treat?" eyes. Days like this are indeed rare but when things come together, you need to just lean back and appreciate the awesomeness of the town you live in.

Thank you Tucson. We shall meet again on another excursion like this.

And then you lucky kids get to read all about it.

How grand is that?

Lil' Poundcake...you my only friend

Camera and Typing
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Late February, 2016

Metal Influence:

DEATH ANGEL

"Seemingly Endless Time"