Have You Met Ted?

No, I'm not here to write about the greatest sitcom currently on TV (How I Met Your Mother). I am talking about Ted.com.

You may be asking, "What the hell is Ted.com?". I can't claim to be an expert, as Dan just recently turned me on to it, but it appears to be a very interesting website where you can find all types of great speeches and presentations.

From the Website:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 400 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week.

Dan started me with a video of a speech by Dan Ariely. Ariely asks the question, "Are we in control of our own decisions?" Most people would say, "Yes, of course we are." But after watching this video you might start to think differently.

Ariely lists many studies that he has conducted to test the theory, and the results are quite scary. He shows how we are effected by the elements of a question.

For example, in Europe there is a large difference in organ donation from country to country. You would think that this would be based on cultural, political, or religious differences, but he shows us that similar countries fall on both sides of the table. Upon further review of why the differences are so large, he concluded that in the countries with high organ donations rates, the question on the drivers liscense form stated "Check here if you DO NOT want to donate organs." Whereas on the countries of low organ donation, it read, "Check here if you DO want to donate organs." It was simply a matter of how the question was stated that made the difference of 70%.

That was just one quick example, but I highly recommend taking a few minutes out of your busy day to check it out. Its actually kind of funny as well.

If you like the video and happen to watch another good speech, let me know, so I can check it out. I have watched a few others already, and I will put up info on them at some point.

~Joshua

Top 10 Survival Myths Explained

So I got this in my e-mail the other day and I wanted to share it with you. It is something that Neil Strauss sent over to go along with his book Emergency, which I wrote about in an earlier blog.

http://www.neilstrauss.com/survivalmyths.pdf

Its sad to say, but I used to believe in a lot of those myths. Hopefully I will never have to fight a shark!

~Joshua

SHOWS

I KNOW YOU WANT TO GO NUTS.

SO COME OUT TO THE SHOWS, AND GO NUTS. SUMMERS PRACTICALLY HERE, AND WE ARE ALL LOOKING TO KICK OUT THE JAMS.

5/31 WESPAC 7:30 PM

6/3 WESPAC 8:00 PM

6/5 BROADWAY FIELD 8:00 PM

6/6 THE SIX SIX PARTY 7:00 PM

FOR MORE INFO, VISIT MYSPACE.COM/TWOSTATESMUSIC

I AM ALSO TYPING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I MEAN BUSINESS.

~ANTHONY (GP)

Best Wishes!

I know I am doing a really bad job at keeping up with the blog, and as always I apologize for that. I wish I had a little more time and energy to spend with you all. And I promise to try to do better in the future.

I don't have a lot of time today, as I have to run to SDH now to get started for the day. Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish you all a very happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend. I hope you are all enjoying your time off.

Also, some belated birthday wishes to all our dear friends. Jenn, Nads, and Pete, Happy birthday to you all.

Lastly, congratulations to Jimmy. He closed on his beautiful new home in Chicago this week. I hope you enjoy a great holiday weekend in your new house. I can't wait to see it. For anyone who wants to send him New York paraphernalia, just ask, and I will give you his address!

Once again, to all of you, have a happy and safe holiday and I hope to see you all soon. Hopefully more blogs to come. I have a lot of ideas, just not a lot of time.

~Joshua

Question of the Day - 8

Well the time has come again. The weather is getting warmer, and all the little ones that we sent off to college last year are slowly making their returns to So Dam Hot. That being said, summer is usually the time of year where we break our daily routines and get to enjoy ourselves a little more.

What are your summer plans?

I was thinking about this yesterday, and I didn't realize how much stuff I had planned for the summer, and its actually quite exciting.

My first plan for the Summer is to hopefully go work with Dan at his summer camp in White Plains. I am working my way through the paperwork currently, but I think I have a good shot. It will be nice to get out in the sun for a while and see some new faces. It is always good to get away from work for awhile, even if it means going to work somewhere else.

Also, for those of you who don't already know, I am studying to take the Mount Vernon Fire Department test at the end of June. Its pretty intense, and I spend a decent amount of my free time running through the book to refresh myself on all the things I learned in school that I swore I would never need to know again. Ironically, I am thinking the same thing again while studying. =) If all goes well, I will make it through the written test, then it will be off to train with Mikey to beast the Physical Test. Then we will have to see where we end up from there. Hopefully in the Academy!!

On a more relaxed note, it is Summer concert season. I am lucky enough to have great friends who have included me in plans to go see some of the best summer shows around. I will be going with Dan to go see my favorite band of all time Dave Matthews Band at SPAC. It will be my first time there and I have not seen a DMB show in a few years. Also, Alley got me a ticket to see the DMB show at Jones Beach. I love the Jones Beach Amphitheater and have never had a chance to see them there, so that will be an experience of a life time. I have had some truely amazing times at DMB shows in the past, and I expect nothing less at this years shows. Also, Evan got us tickets to go see The Kings of Leon later on in the summer. I have fallen into the radio trap, and have eaten up the new KoL CD. That concert should be a lot of fun. They sing with so much intensity, I am really looking forward to seeing the live show.

Also, not really summer, but shortly after, I will be part of my friends wedding. My boy Pete (who can be seen in some great pictures on Flickr) is finally getting married. I never thought I would see the day. I was honored when he asked me to be in the wedding. I have always looked up to Pete, and I feel like he played a major role in shaping me into the person I am today. Along with being a part of the wedding, I am also going to be a part of the bachelor party. WooooHoooo!! Don't get any ideas! We are going to West Virginia to White Water Raft some of the craziest rapids in all of the US. I don't know what I am getting myself into.

Before I forget, I will also be enjoying a bunch of great Yankee games at the new stadium. That has been a tradition of ours for the past four years, so that is always a good time.




What about you guys? Other than spending hours upon hours at SDH with us, what do you have planned?

~Joshua

PS - Jimmy has given me an open invitation to go out to Chicago to visit him and spend some time at his new place. If I can fit it into my hectic life, I will try to do that as well this summer. If not, I will enjoy a beautiful (and by beautiful I mean dreadfully cold) Winter with him.

The New SoDamHot.com

You have heard it here first, the new and improved SoDamHot.com is up and running!. For anyone close to us at SDH, you know this project has been a long time coming. Let me first extend a gracious thank you to our dear friend Yuhei. For not only is he the genius behind the beautiful webpage, but he has been an undervalued and grossly underpaid producer of many of the items seen and sold at SDH. Our gratitude to him cannot be fulfilled by words alone. But I will try, especially since he still controls the site! ; )

Moving on, I hope you enjoying your first viewing of the site. On SoDamHot.com you’ll be able to view our full and hopefully updated menu, hear great music, view our new products, and even get free food!! Every once in awhile, Scott or I will post a coupon of some sort on there, to make sure you guys are checking it out. Also, feel free to check out our links. There you will find some of the great charities we deal with as well as some other great sites that we feel you should be checking out.

The site is still a work in progress, like everything at SDH, we are constantly trying to improve ourselves. The “Shop” is still a long way from being finished, but check out some of the ideas we are working on and send us some feed back on them. Tell us what you like or dislike, so we can create the items that you guys want to buy!

Also, we want our photo section to not only highlight SDH, but our customers. So send us some great new pics to add on. I personally would like to see how far we can spread our influence, so take some pics with your SDH shirts or shwag anywhere you might be. Let’s see who can take the craziest SDH pic.

If you’ve made it this far, then you must truly be interested in what I have to say. So before I bid you all a farewell, I want to thank you for checking out the new site, and bearing with it through its production.

Thanks to one and all. Peace, love, and great food! Remember…Life is complicated, We make it simple!

~Joshua

Two Years!!

Hey All,

Let me first thank you all for continuing to follow the blog. It is not always the easiest project to keep up with, but I enjoy it immensely. For those of you who do not already know, which I would have to say, is just about all of you, today May 15, 2009 is the two year anniversary of our ownership of So Dam Hot.

It seems like only yesterday that we opened the door to our new business, and it is truly amazing to see what we have become in such a short time. Hopefully it is only the beginning of a great chain of amazing restaurants, but if not, it will always be a special place for me.

Thank you, one and all, for all your support over the last two years. For all the guys who have had a hand in the business, your services have and continue to be greatly appreciated. Whats mine is yours, and always will be. So share some pride in OUR accomplishments.

Dan, thanks for continuing to voice your opinions and working hard to complete all the So Dam Projects.

Kyle, thanks for being an effortless part of the family, who can be called upon any time to help out. Slow and steady wins the race.

Girl Pants, thanks for pushing everyone's buttons and keeping us on our toes. Your services have been invaluable.

Guy, thanks for being a true work horse. There is nothing that can keep you away, including a few plates and screws in your ankle. Your crazy life is always entertaining.

Zaza, thanks for the fresh attitude you bring to us every time you come back from your many adventures.

Cuz, thanks for your continued support in spreading our name. Your efforts are appreciated and your work is incredible.

Twink, thanks for not being afraid to do the dirty work. You are an example for everyone, and it has been a pleasure to see you grow. You will always be the little bro I never had.

Marty, the newbie, thanks for joining us and learning the ropes. We will ship you into shape at some point.

As a reminder, we have the new menu printed, the website is very near complete and should be up shortly, and the mock-ups for the new apparel are going to the printer any day now.

Continue to read the blog, and support us. Check out the updates on Flickr, and see all the pics we have posted. And make sure to send me or point me to photos of yourselves so that you can also be a part of the page.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to serving you for a long time to come.

~Joshua

P.S. - Happy birthday Simone. You're birthday will never be forgotten here at SDH!

Guy's Musical Guilty Pleasure

For all of you who had no idea what Guy was talking about when he said his guilty please was "Oh Yeah" by Yello, here is the video. You might recognize it from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I love the 80's!

~Joshua

I'm back

Hi All,

Joey Zaza here comin at you live from So dam Hot headquarters. I just returned home to the great town of Valhalla yesterday for the summer. My freshman year of college at SUNY Oneonta has come to an end. It's sad but at the same timeI just couldn't wait to get home so I could get some delicious Chubber Fries with honey mustard at my favorite eating establishment around.

Let me tell you, honey mustard is the way to go when it comes to Chubber Fries. Just writing about them makes me want to have some...mhmmmmmm... sorry about that.

As I was saying you should come in to So Dam Hot and peep my new hair cut tonight from 4-730, ill be here. And ask about the new menu item, Baby's Mama......

Zaza out

~Zaza

New Menu

New menus have finally arrived at So Dam Hot. Check out our newest combo. We call it Baby's Mama. You have to come by an order it if you want to know why.

Baby's Mama - A plate of crispy french fries topped generously with melted American Cheese, Chili, Sauteed Onions, Burger Bits, and SDH Sauce.

Its the newest progression in chopped up food on fries. Hahaha.

What will we think of next? Maybe you can create a new combo and we can name it after you. Unless of course you are named Mike Restiano, in which case you will never have your own special. Because you claim everything to be the Mike Restiano Special.

Hey, I just typed a blog, I'm gonna call it the Mike Restiano Special.

~Joshua

Kobe & Lebron Commercial

I recently caught this commercial on ESPN and I find it hilarious. I wanted to share it with you to see what you thought. If you don't follow basketball, then this could be the stupidest commercial you have ever seen.



Post season. Woooh. So Dam Hot. $20. Make some noise!! SDH! I need a chicken wing in my hand! Yeaaah!!

~Joshua

Question of the Day - 7

Ok, well at least Jimmy had fun answering his own question. No worries, I will press on, even if this is just an online conversation between me and him. If you ever want to join in, feel free to!

So, ever since I started this QoD section, I am constantly racking my brain for new ideas. Usually questions will come to me in batches, and I just pick and choose which one to use at what time. Today's question is one I have had on the back-burner for some time now. And I was all set to use it today, when it actually came up in a conversation. A song came on the radio and Girl Pants was like oh this is a guilty pleasure of mine. So...

What is your musical guilty pleasure?
What do you listen to, own, love, that you are ashamed to admit to?

Well this one is pretty easy for me. I haven't been through my CD collection in a long time, but I can think of a few CDs that I am ashamed to say I own.

My first guilty please is, LFO - Summer Girls. Haha, it makes me laugh just thinking about. But after listening to it again on YouTube, I realize why I enjoyed it so much. Its chorus is really catchy. The lyrics themselves are horribly lame and cheesey, but it still kinda makes me smile. And besides, I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch. My second guilty pleasure is, Ricky Martin - Living La Vida Loca. Come on, it was cool at the time! I used to love listening to this song until I found out I wasn't supposed to like it. Again, I brought it up on YouTube and I find myself kind of bobbing to the beat as I am typing this.
Why is it so wrong to admit you like the music you actually like?

Before I leave it to you guys to add your thoughts, I have to tell you about Kyle's guilty pleasure, because I know he doesn't blog.

I was at SDH one day with Kyle and a song came on the radio, and Kyle started spitting lyrics out. I had no idea what the song even was, but he knew every lyric. When I asked him what it was he responded, " Come on man, It's Britney Spears. This song is hot. I own this album." I am sure most of you already know Kyle, so I will leave it at that. You can think about how strange that statement was coming from him.

Ok people, lets get involved, comment back. Jimmy is cool, but not THAT cool!

~Joshua

P.S. - This is also a guilty pleasure of mine!

Bike New York 2009

On Sunday I had the opportunity to partake in the TD Bank Five Borough Bike Tour of NY. I have to say it was one of the best experiences of my life.

My day started at 5:30 am when I awoke to get ready for the ride. After picking up a Gatorade and a Five Hour Energy Shot, I headed down to the city for the tour.

The tour started at Battery Park on the end of Manhattan. There were 30,000 riders allowed this year and it was crazy to see them all around Manhattan as I was driving in. The weather wasn't great, and we got drizzled on as we awaited the start.

The crowd roared as we were finally unleashed on our journey. We traveled through the streets into Central Park. Even though I am from NY, I haven't seen much of the park, so this was one of my favorite parts. As we got going, you didn't really feel the weather, for now that is.

Exiting out of the park we headed into Harlem. A stream of bike riders devouring the streets on a cold Sunday morning. On lookers were surprised to see the wave of bikers as they pedaled through the city.

We crossed over into the Bronx before heading back to the FDR to make our way into Queens. Over head I could see the legion of riders crossing the 59th Street Bridge. Into Queens we rode, as crowds started to form along the way to cheer us on.

Queens became Brooklyn, and the group pushed on. Brooklyn was the short cut point if you wanted to cut across the Brooklyn Bridge, but I was having none of that. I was soaked and starving at this point, but I came to finish, and that was what I was going to do.

Into Staten Island we went. All that lay ahead was the monstrous Verrazano Bridge. At this point I had to stop to eat. After scarfing down a $5 hot dog and a $4 knish (NO MORE COMPLAINING ABOUT SDH PRICES!!) I pushed forward to the end. My clothes were drenched, and my battery had died on my phone, so it was nothing but adreniline pushing me forward.

The climb seemed endless. Like a mirage in the desert, it seemed like the top of the climb kept appearing, yet never arriving. At last, I had made it, as we coasted down to the festival. I was too tired to enjoy the festival, so I scooped up some free Naked Juice (Amazing!!) and headed the last mile towards the ferry.

I followed the crowd, as it was my first time on the ferry. We packed in like cattle to take our ride to the finish line. Everyone licked there wounds and shook out there legs as the boat crossed the river back to Manhattan.

We docked in Manhattan and it was time to head back to my car. But Dude, Where's My Car?!?! With all the hoopla of the morning, I had neglected to remember what street I parked on. I road the streets of lower Manhattan cold and tired looking for my car. Eventually I managed to double back on my tracks and find my car, after about 15 more minutes of cruising.

I packed my bike into the trunk, changed my shirt and headed home, tired but accomplished.

I can easily say this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The whole ride took about five hours, but the day had taken about eight. I rode through all five boroughs and biked over 42 miles. It was by far the longest ride I had ever made. It was euphoric to reach the end, and I am so glad I did it.

There are many tours throughout the year, in all different places. I would love to find some people to ride with, so if you are interested in doing a tour, please let me know and we can make some arrangements.

Remember, you control the keys to your happiness and you are the only thing that can hold you back. Keep pedaling guys.

~Joshua

P.S. - Here are some photos of me along the ride. I was hamming it up, even though I was drenched and exhausted. And thanks to Brightroom for taking pics of all the riders!

Question of the Day - 6

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome baaaaack!

Its been a long time coming. I have missed blogging, and I am glad you are still around to read. I had a crazy couple of days. But crazy days make for good blogging. So I look forward to telling you all about them in the future.

Just a quick update: The new menus are finally being printed, so we are going full force with the website and clothes, so keep your eyes out for that.

Now for what you have all been waiting for, the Question of the Day. This one came by special request from Jimmy (aka Chicago). Jimmy is one of my closest friends, who I unfortunealty don't get to see very much of. But we have shared lots of great times together and we will continue to have new adventures in the future. I hope he has a good answer!!

Jimmy asks:

What is the craziest prank you ever pulled?

I am really not much of a prankster, so my answer might be cheating a little, but I will give you a few anecdotes from my past, that I found to be pretty fun.

In no particular order...

My first prank was when me and my friend at the time, Kevin, pranked our other friend by telling him I was adopted (hopefully this doesn't offend anyone reading this). It was pretty amusing to listen to him squirm uncomfortably on the other end of the phone as my friend was informing me that I was adopted. Awkward!

Also, me and my boy Vinny used to prank our neighbor with eggs. I don't know if it was really a prank as much as harrassment, but it was hella funny. We used to bomb her house nightly with eggs. One day she suprised us and came running out of the house. We ended up getting chased by a car around our neighborhood for hours. We had to dodge and weive between cars, hop fences, and hide in bushes. We knew we were in trouble, so I formulated a plan. We ended up back at my house, and I told my parents to play along. We went to my room and changed clothes, low and behold, the cops came a ringing. I had a fool proof story with times and places of our wearabouts to give to the cop. And our outfits did not fit her description, so we went free. Sometimes its good to be evil. Needless to say, I don't throw eggs anymore!

Last was our high school prank. We had just received a brand new student parking lot that year. Well me and some friends decided it would be fun to leave our mark. After a long night of spray painting we had a beautifully decorated lot and wall. Of course we ended up getting busted in the end, but it was great for a few days, while everyone in our class enjoyed our great artwork.

Anyway, I missed you guys and its great to be back. Make sure to write comments answering the Question of the Day. I know you guys are out there, cause I got lots of hate while I was away!!!

Till next time.

~Joshua

I'm Sorry!!

I apologize for not blogging the last few days. I have been wrapping up some projects. I have plenty in store for you all this week.

Stay Tuned!

~Joshua