Weird, Wonderful World Weird, Wonderful World

Doughnuts or Bacon? Why Decide? Happy National Donut Day!

Donut & Bacon Sandwich National Donut DayAre you the kind of person who grabs breakfast on the way to work? And do you hate having to agonize over which mostly-unhealthy choice to reach for—a donut or an egg-and-cheese sandwich? Well, here’s good news: Dunkin’ Donuts recently introduced the Bacon & Egg Donut Sandwich. That’s a fried egg patty and two slices of bacon…between two glazed doughnuts. It’s the national chain’s way of celebrating June 7, which is “National Donut Day.”

The new sandwich sounds like a gut-buster…but it’s actually not that bad. Glazed doughnuts pack less fat than thickly-frosted cake varieties; two of them, even with eggs and bacon inside, amount to only 360 calories. Meanwhile, Dunkin’ Donuts offers a breakfast sandwich made with eggs and turkey sausage, and that health-conscious item has 390 calories—30 more than the one made with two glazed doughnuts.

This isn’t the first time doughnuts have joined with bacon. Voodoo Doughnuts, a small chain based in Portland, Oregon, introduced the Bacon-Maple Bar in 2003—it’s a Long John (a bar-shaped doughnut), covered in maple frosting and topped with two pieces of crispy bacon. After it was featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, the style caught on and can now be found at doughnut stores around the country.

Uncle John’s Wins a Gold Award at The IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards

This year, Uncle John celebrates 25 years of sitting on the throne as the “King of Bathroom Reading” while also winning a GOLD award for Uncle John’s Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader and a SILVER award in for its kid’s book, Uncle John’s KID-TOPIA Bathroom Reader For Kids Only! at the 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards.

KID-TOPIA was honored for non-fiction books for young readers, while the super-sized Fully Loaded was honored in the humor category. The IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards recognizes excellence in both editorial and design and is regarded as one of the highest national honors in small and independent publishing.

Note From a Fan: Jack Tales

From our FaceBook page two days ago, from a recent contest winner:

I want to thank you guys for stirring an old memory, very precious and nearly forgotten. I was reading one of the free books you sent me not long ago (thanks again!), and found the story of the “Jack Tales”, the traditional southern storytelling folklore. My great-grandfather, who was born and raised in Georgia before the *other* turn of the century, used to tell me these stories around 40 years ago, and I might not have thought of them again if not for your book. As I read the article, I was able to read it in his voice mentally. I only wish I could remember all the different stories he told (I know there was one about an island). It really took me back and helped to keep his memory alive. Thank you so much!

Wes R.

Wes, we are so pleased to be able to light that wonderful memory for you, and thank you for thinking to tell us about it. Very nice of you!

The “Jack Tales” story Wes is talking about comes from our very latest annual – Uncle John’s Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader (page 388). Continue reading for the whole story.

Bathroom Reading Month: On Top of the Throne

Every week during Bathroom Reading Month, we will host a giveaway for a book of your choice from the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader collection. Just to spice it up, we will ask you to answer a question on the blog. At the end of the week, we will pick a random winner from the answers and post it on the blog along with our favorite answers. Remember that this is in addition to our “mother-of-all” contest: enter to win the entire in-print library of Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers.

Week #1: On Top of the Throne

QUESTION: What reading materials do you have in your bathroom in addition to Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers?

Answer the question in the comments section of this post to be entered to win a book of your choice from the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader library. Answers must be posted by June 5, 2013, midnight PST to be eligible to win. A winner will be announced on Friday, June 7, 2013. Open to US residents only.

Pop Culture Pizza Pies

pop culture pizzaThere are approximately 50 billion pizza joints in New York City, but Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn is arguably the coolest. For the past few years, co-owner Sean Berthiaume has created dozens of special pizzas with punny names, many “ins-pie-red” by popular TV shows. We call these pop culture pizza pies. Here are a few of our current favorites:

Mad Men

• The “Mad Mein” is topped with chicken chow mein, stir-fried noodles, teriyaki chicken, onions, broccoli, and cheddar cheese

• The “Don Caper” (a play on “Don Draper”) includes capers, tomato, garlic, “soy (Jon) Hamm,” soy cheddar, and mozzarella.

Game of Thrones

• The “Pita Linkage” (named for co-star Peter Dinklage) is an open-faced pita pizza with sliced sausage links, red onions, roasted red peppers, and feta cheese.

• The “Khal-Cheesy” (named for “The Khalesi,” portrayed by Emilia Clarke) has cheddar, provolone, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses with sliced “pepper-thron-i.”

South Park

• The “South Pork” is topped with salami, ham, bacon, onions, and peppers.

Kid’s Book Giveaway—May 2013

UPDATE: We have our 3 winners! Amy S., Rbecca S., and Eric S. have been contacted via email.

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Pop Quiz time!

Do you have horrid memories of pop quizzes from your school days? We’re looking to change that, by awarding prizes just for answering. No ditching class necessary.

So here’s the question (comment below):

Name one thing you’ve learned from an Uncle John’s book.

Tell us something fun. Like that yak milk is pink. Or that the world’s most stolen food is cheese.

You’ll all get an automatic “A” but three random winners will get an “A+” and win our two new kids books: Uncle John’s Infomania Bathroom Reader For Kids Only! and Uncle John’s Smell-O-Scopic Bathroom Reader For Kids Only!.


Must enter by May 10, 2013, midnight PST. Winners will be announced on May 13, 2013. Open to US residents only. Entrants must be 18 years or older.

READY, GO!

Best Golf Book EVER

Masters UPDATE: Adam Scott – WHAT. A. PUTT. Wow.

And now holy cow, Angel Cabrera. What a finish coming up…

Congratulations, Adam Scott and Australia! Wow! What a finish! (And Angel Cabrera – you are a class act. Nicely done! And very nice of Scott to give a nod to the Shark. All around very nice day of golf.)
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Hey, did you know you can get your favorite golf fan the best book on golf ever made! No, not that one – this one!

Check out this review at Amazon:

Every year for Christmas, I get my husband an Uncle John Bathroom Reader – as the throne room IS his favorite place to read. He is a golfer, too. THIS book has to be one of the funniest since the laughter floating out the bathroom door was just plain fun to listen too. Later on or days later on the golf course, he would be sharing the stories he read and the laughter would begin again.

This year, I gave him a new padded toilet seat for his throne and 3 Uncle John Readers! I do believe it was one of the best choices I’ve ever made as far as gifts go…especially on the grin and giggle meter!! Thanks, Amazon for having the best choices.

And it’s not just humor, check out this sample:

Meat Cute? Meat Cuts Renamed

Meat Cuts
Why so sad, Mister Cow?

Meat is getting a makeover. Meat cuts are renamed to give them more marketing flair.

As the weather gets hotter and more and more Americans’ fancy turns to thoughts of grilling, the beef and pork industries are planning on some thick and juicy changes. They’re going to rename as many as 350 different cuts of meat.

This has nothing to do with the recent horsemeat scandals at European IKEA stores and Burger Kings. Rather, the industries want to promote their products with some marketing flair while at the same time eliminating confusion over the same cut of meat having multiple, often long and confusing names.

Some Not So Egg-cellent Easter Products

Easter eggsIt’s the hoppiest day of the year! Here are four egg-citing Easter products.

1. Funny Bunny. This wind-up toy rabbit distributed by a candy company called Treat Street dispenses jelly beans as it waddles across any flat surface…by pooping them out. As the packaging notes, “Wind him up and watch him GO!”

A Kick-in-the-Pants Note From a Fan

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Via private message on FaceBook, yesterday:

Oof, Carrie C., what a story. Sad—but with a happy ending! Hooray! It is so thoughtful of you to take the time to send us that note. We are truly touched. Thank you more than we can say – truly.

P.S. We asked Carrie exactly how she uses the Kindle to accommodate her impaired vision. We thought we’d pass it on in case it can help anybody else out there:

Introducing BLOX: A Word Puzzle Game

Blox: A Word Puzzle GameThe innovative wordsmiths at the BRI have once again taken a popular puzzle form to a whole new level. The results: a word puzzle game, called BLOX. The concept of Uncle John’s Bathroom Puzzler: BLOX is easy. We’ll provide you with a configuration of letters and tell you hoe many words we found. Your job is to find those words and scribble them down in the blanks.

Click through for an example of the game and a puzzle to do at home.

Stuff You Should Know

Last week, our very own Gordon “Uncle John” Javna was a special guest on the very popular podcast Stuff You Should Know discussing the Barbie doll (Listen HERE). If you haven’t heard Josh Clark and Charles W. “Chuck” Bryant’s highly informative and hilarious podcast yet, go to the SYSK website right now and subscribe to their podcast. Also, don’t miss the premier of their TV show on the Science Channel on January 19.

Meet the BRI: Jay

Meet the Bathroom Reader StaffIn honor of our 25th anniversary, we think it might finally be time to introduce you to the people behind this amazing series. We will be posting brief interviews with each of the staff members throughout the month of November.

 

Today we introduce Jay:

Q: How long have you been with the BRI, and what do you do?

A: I’ve been helping Uncle John make books since 1998. I’ve written hundreds of articles, edited thousands of pages, ran point on half a dozen books, and shepherded more than 30 covers to press.

Meet the BRI: Melinda

Meet the Bathroom Reader StaffIn honor of our 25th anniversary, we think it might finally be time to introduce you to the people behind this amazing series. We will be posting brief interviews with each of the staff members throughout the month of November.

 

Today we introduce Melinda:

Q. How long have you been with the BRI, and what do you do?

A. Six-and-a-half years. I’m a developmental editor, which means I work with writers, designers, and a ton of other freelancers to put together some great books. I do a fair amount of writing too. My favorite book so far is probably “Plunges into Canada, Eh.” Long live the Great White North!

Meet the BRI: Thom

Meet the Bathroom Reader StaffIn honor of our 25th anniversary, we think it might finally be time to introduce you to the people behind this amazing series. We will be posting brief interviews with each of the staff members throughout the month of November.

 

Today we introduce Thom, better known as BRI T. on our FB page:

Q. How long have you been with the BRI, and what do you do?

A. I joined the BRI in 2002 as a part time newspaper reader and story cutter-outer, the idea being to use news stories to generate ideas for articles. I had a long songwriting history by then, but none as a non-fiction writer. But I liked what I saw at the UJBR and within a few months I was surreptitiously handing in articles to Gordon – just awful articles. After I did this enough times he finally got annoyed and started training me to write proper UJBR articles. Been a writer and editor ever since. And since 2010 I’ve also been the main UJBR blogger.

Q. What is your favorite part about working on Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers?

Meet the BRI: Ginger

Meet the Bathroom Reader StaffIn honor of our 25th anniversary, we think it might finally be time to introduce you to the people behind this amazing series. We will be posting brief interviews with each of the staff members throughout the month of November.

 

Today we introduce Ginger:

Q. How long have you been with the BRI, and what do you do?

A. 5 whole years, but it feels like it’s only been the blink of an eye. I’m responsible for the marketing here, which means I’m in charge of thinking about all the stuff that helps to put the books in front of your faces: the website, advertising, radio tours, social media, etc. I also do a bunch of stuff behind the scenes that helps to get the books into bookstores and online stores to get them in your hands or on your ereader.

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