On Rascal’s Teriyaki Grill

I had just finished my IS 380 midterm, which focused on Normalization, basic SQL inputs, and relational fluff. IS 380 is a course I had to retake this semester, mainly because I flunked the semester project in the Spring. My main goal this Fall was to redeem for my shortcoming in the project. That is the product of wasteful time management, to keep a long story short. I had snacked on some chocolate treats: brownies that Tina of Disabled Student Services baked for the folks there, as well as a Palmer chocolate, a Snickers, a Twix, a fudge eyeball or two, a CRUNCH bar, and so on. I went over to the Beach Pride Center to redeem a ticket that saw the women’s volleyball team dismiss Fullerton in a hurry, and then straddled over to the Walter Pyramid to the sounds of Oingo Boingo’s “Little Girls” to fill out an application for the Monson Maniacs, and drop in $5.00 dues. My apologies to whomever I asked for the extra buck. I originally said that I was going to use it for printing, but it went to another cause. At least she can rest assured that it will stay on campus. Call it a serendipital good deed.

All of a sudden, my mind wandered off to a place I had never been before. Before the match with Fullerton, some representative from Rascal’s Teriyaki Grill handed me a coupon for a free chicken bowl or small chicken salad. With plenty of time to spare before the next class, I took the Passport D to Rascal’s, located near the corner of Bellflower and Atherton. Now this Rascal’s was actually a small franchise. The Kiyomine brothers founded Rascal’s about a couple decades ago, give or take, in a small yogurt shop in Gardena. As the waves of time passed, eventually what used to be another establishment on the same spot became Rascal’s Long Beach.

As I passed through the doors, one of the attendants there recognized me. I decided to go for the chicken bowl, because it would fill me up and hold me down a bit longer. As I looked around the restaurant (which I classify as fast-casual, along the lines of Chipotle [owned by McDonald’s, as my friend Ian of my university’s anime club pointed out]), I took photos of recent articles about this Rascal’s branch, and savored their teriyaki chicken bowl dish. I quickly approved of it, as ESPN talked about Joe Torre, and future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre, and the upcoming football game between Arizona State and Oregon, and a meaningless rally down in Denver (I mean, who would want to hold a rally for a team that didn’t stand a chance against the curse-free Red Sox? I’d save the money used for the rally for finding quality talent…somewhere).

By the way, Gardena was where my big sister took me a few months ago. I was able to buy a Galaxy Angel doujinshi collection, along with the usual Pocky boxes, and maybe a daifuku or two. God bless that Marukai.

As I left, I saw a tree riding a bicycle. Actually, it was a guy dressed as a tree with a pie tin for a hat wearing a bicycle. I just had to laugh like the mad scientist I was in my 666^th life. It was Halloween, after all.

You don’t have to be rich to make a mean-ass burger!

No. Seriously. Just ask a humble guy by the name of Tommy Koulax. It was decades ago that he decided to make a commitment to make the finest burgers and hot dogs and fries in the Los Angeles area. His idea became a reality with The Original Tommy’s hamburger and hot dog chain. Before the baseball game with Oral Roberts on Thursday, I decided to make my annual ritual to the Tommy’s in Long Beach to savor a Tommyburger, which was laced with their special chili. I do this once per year, in the middle of my university’s baseball season, preferably in the first week of April, when the cherry blossoms flow down.

I should have taken a photo of the sketch of Mr. Koulax. This guy knew how to run a fast food chain. No franchising. Word-of-mouth advertising. Not spreading too far in the hopes of finding stability and not close part of the chain. He had savvy. And a famous slogan to go with it: “If You Don’t See The Shack…Take It Back!”

In a city where competing chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and (my home base) Carl’s Jr. (only because they have one on campus) lock heads with other chains to find the right customers, there are some local chains that don’t believe in trying to spread worldwide. The Original Tommy’s is an example of this. It’s akin to the City of Lakewood government: Times Change. Values Don’t.

As I watched the game, I was not disappointed. Oral Roberts just disposed of Wichita State, a team who we lost two out of three to. Dr. Dan, a local supporter of the Dirtbags, as well as the author of the Diamond Dust blog and baseball insert, called for Mike Weathers’ crew to go back to the fundamentals. In spite of giving up an error, the Beach was able to play a solid game through Andrew Liebl, an ace from Livermore up in the Bay Area, and the Bags won 4-0. I think it was a good move not to risk Bryan Shaw choking like he did in the third game against Fullerton. By doing so, he avoided getting his closer risking some more scathing remarks, should he do it two home games in a row. In the pros, I think he would called down, and reassigned.

Speaking of which, the minors got going. While the Los Angeles Angels dropped their first match of the year to those loathsome scum from that cesspool of the Bay known as Oakland, their Triple-A affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees, edged the Las Vegas 51s, 4-3. Ironically, the Angels lost by that same score.

One more thing: the 51s are affiliated with the Dodgers, and they are not starting in the right auspices. Still early, though. And I will bet you that Matsuzaka-mania will die quicker than it started. Maybe not now, but somewhere later this season.