Wee, NOT EXACTLY ? Oui, NOT QUITE ? Wii Fit, DEFINITELY !

Yes, its another installment of "EDELBLUM vs MACHINES."

In case you don't know, I'm a real weenie when it comes to machinery. The Xerox machine at the library has long been a challenge to me, I never programmed a VCR in my life and I have only recently mastered the high-beams in my 8+ year old mini-van. Of course every now and then I do succeed and this I'm happy to report, is one of those occasions.

First, we look back at the last seven months in which I lost 18 pounds...and kept it off. Somewhere after the summer I seemed to lose my momentum...and a few ounces crept back into my "glutes," belly etc. Powerless to combat this...I did my usual raising of the white flag or in this case, white napkin...tucked it under my chin and chowed down.

Unfortunately for me...nothing beats the smell of a 1/2 gallon of double-fudge-ripple chocolate ice cream at two in the morning. My diet was over and whatever self-control I had was gone... like the proverbial house-of-cards...the sugar rush engulfed me like a junk food tsunami.

Luckily before the under-tow of calories swept me away, the tide changed about three weeks ago. My son Andrew bought...with about $100.00 of his own money...the Wii Fit System. Being ignorant to it, I assumed it was, like other Wii products...a toy. Initially, I walked-in on Andrew "playing" with it and was convinced it was silliness but the next time I saw him, I saw what it was truly designed to do.

Wii Fit--TONES YOUR BODY, INCREASES CONFIDENCE AND REDUCES STRESS--GREAT FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY !

The Wii Fit System gets connected like other Wii games to your TV. But instead of a sports simulator...it is a virtual personal work-out trainer. Whether you are a beginner (like me) or not, you can design an exercise regimen that suits your needs. Therefore, you can forget about buying several single-dimensional devices like a stationary bike which are not only cumbersome but soon fade into obscurity...and become a clothes hanger. And, unlike the expense and travel time of going to a gym, (not to mention the uneasiness of struggling in the beginning in front of strangers), all you have to do is turn on your TV.

The Wii Fit System provides you with a choice of virtual personal trainers, (I chose the dominatrix personality...to further encourage me to succeed while bolstering my self-esteem). Through your trainer, you set daily and weekly goals, have weigh-ins, balance tests and even a body composition age estimate.

Wii offers a wide-range of; strength training, aerobics, yoga and balance games. These activities are clearly demonstrated...plus if your technique or form needs adjusting, your trainer will recognize it and suggestion improvements. To help keep you motivated, your scores are ranked with others in your household (or visitors). Then, as you succeed more exercises are opened to you. At the same time, you are encouraged to increase your repetitions while being provided with health tips along the way.

The music is motivating and the animated graphics are cute. To represent you, you get to customize a caricature of yourself, (I'm the fat bald guy in the green shirt). Yet the cuteness shouldn't deter even the toughest guy from working with it. Also, the system was easy to set-up and an electronics GENIUS like me can actually turn it on and navigate to where I want to be. I was even able to trouble-shoot the one problem I encountered...figuring out how to shut it off.

Bottom line ! After 10+ uses, I still look forward to competing against myself and comparing how well I stack-up against Andrew (he's become a Wii work-out animal...I see how far he's progressed...the results on his already trim body are impressive). Me, I'm having fun, losing weight and toning my body like never before. I watch what I eat and most importantly, I'm conquering machines.

Wii Fit takes up almost no space to store and requires only a little room to use. Even though I'm not quite ready to rip phonebooks in half, I, like other MGTP readers, QUEENTHEE and SAND recommend it highly . LACC has already come by to check it out and is getting one. Anyone else who wants to see it in action are welcome to come by and give it a try.

NOTHING SAYS, "COLUMBUS DAY" LIKE CHINESE FOOD

Five years ago, on the Friday of the four-day (Friday through Monday) Columbus Day weekend, we took a disastrous day trip to Manhattan with two of Andrew's friends. In order of importance, we were to have lunch in Chinatown, visit Ground-Zero and spend a little time at Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty across the harbor.

Maybe disastrous is too strong a word but through no fault of anyone, nothing went right. Our first obstacle in town, aside from being anxious to get started and hungry, was that the main hub through Chinatown (Mott Street) was closed off. Soon I discovered that all the side streets were inexplicably also closed. Parking in Chinatown has always been a challenge but if you're willing to run back and keep feeding the meter there's never a problem.

ONE OF THE GAZILLION VENDORS NEAR MERCER STREET. THIS ONE HAS, COCONUTS FROM MADAGASGAR, LIVE BABY TURTLES AND KNOCK-OFF ROLEX'S FOR SALE (NOTICE THESE $10 WATCHES SPELL ROLEXX WITH 2 X's) .

Our parking search radius widened without any luck. Then because I had kids in the car, even though it's against my religion to pay more for parking than to eat, I, for the first time in my life, gave in to the horror of paying to park. My nightmare skyrocketed to Hitchcockian proportions when, thousands of live crabs crawled out from Pell Street and worse, all the parking lots were FULL! Oh, I was kidding about the crabs on Pell Street...it actually happened on Bayard Street however, the parking lots were indeed full-up.

We finally parked at a meter on the Bowery with distant Canal Street easily ten blocks away.
It was clouding up and I recall saying, "At least its not raining."
Perhaps it was a sign from above because a street urchin saw it fit to pee in the street right in front of us...ahhhh,the ambiance of Chinatown. I re-thought the situation and figured, by the time we got to our destination, I'd have to walk back a half mile to feed the meter.

We turned around and got back in the car. I drove to the corner where our favorite restaurant was (it was closed off, remember) and dropped them off. I took the fifty-cent tour and drove through oddball places I never saw. I stopped after thirty minutes when I realized that I was one of several other cars trawling for a parking spot.

Back in Chinatown, I pulled along side a traffic cop and asked why all the streets were closed.
He said, "They are gearing-up for the Columbus Day Parade on Monday."
I said, "Where is there a Columbus Day Parade?"
He said, "Little Italy."
Adjacent to each other, Little Italy and Chinatown are separated by Canal Street. Mott Street is on the Chinatown side and its called Mulberry Street on the Little Italy side.
I said, "They closed all the streets in Chinatown today, for a parade in Little Italy on Monday?"
He said, "Gets really crazy around here."
I said, "Its pretty crazy right now...I dropped my family off at the Wo Hop restaurant and they have been waiting almost an hour."


THE PHOTO DOESN'T GIVE JUSTICE TO THE WO HOP RESTAURANT--17 MOTT STREET (downstairs). IT'S MY FAVORITE EATERY IN "C-TOWN" AND THERE REALLY ISN'T A SECOND CHOICE. I'VE BEEN GOING THERE SINCE ABOUT 1973 WHEN GAS WAS 38c A GALLON AND IT WAS NO BIG DEAL TO VENTURE INTO THE CITY FOR "CHINX" AT 2:AM.

He said, "Tough break."
I said, "Well, can I leave my car here (in a traffic island, on the corner of Mott and Bowery) for five minutes so I can let them know where I am and get them out."
He said, "You'd be illegally parked...I'd have to give you a ticket."
This of course was in the pre-cell phone era.
I pointed up curvy Mott Street, "C'mon, gimme a break. It's only a half a block, I'll run and be back in no time."
He said, "If I let you, I'd have let everyone..."
I controlled my sarcasm and said, "I'll give you my wallet...please they might be panicking...don't make this an emergency."
"Okay. Keep your wallet but hurry." He then smirked, "If my sergeant shows up, I'm gonna have to nail you...and if she's in one of her moods, you'll probably get towed."

I ran off and luckily my family never went into the restaurant. So it was easy to gather them up. Back in the car, I explained the Columbus Day situation while they moaned in a collective high-pitched starvation tone. We wound up at the South Street Seaport (YAWN). The highlight was taking pictures of the East River and Brooklyn Bridge as a foggy haze set in. Of course we ate in what amounts to their up-scale mall's food-court first but the PHOTO-OP was clearly the better time. P. S.-- I paid through the nose to park!

We then found out that there is nowhere to park at Ground-Zero. I parked at a fire hydrant and we took turns looking around, reading the plaques, etc. Our last stop was Battery Park. There was no place to park their either. So I waited in the car while they walked out to the water's edge for their first up close glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. They got back to the car rather quickly and cheerfully explained the abundance of weirdos they saw in such a short time.
Looking for inspiration I said, "What did you think of the Statue of Liberty?'
Andrew said, "It was too foggy we couldn't see it."

THE CADILLAC OF TWINKIES

Hostess Twinkies are 75 years old. YUMMY LOOKING AND STILL SO VERY TEMPTING

In 1933, Twinkies were introduced by the makers of Wonder Bread; the Continental Baking Company of Indianapolis. They were invented by baker James A. Dewar who was looking to use idle strawberry shortcake machines when strawberries weren't in season.

I had always assumed that they got their name from being packaged as twin cakes but that is not so. James Dewar was inspired by a billboard advertising the Twinkle-Toe Shoe Company.

The snack cake's originally had banana filling and cost five-cents for the two-pack. That affordability made them particularly popular during the depression.

In the 40's, to support the war effort, bananas were rationed to the general public. So, vanilla creme was substituted. The new flavored Twinkies exploded in popularity, therefore the recipe was never changed back.

Twinkies became a household name when it became a sponsor for the classic kids TV show, "HOWDY DOODY."
YOU CAN'T SEE THE STRINGS BUT HOWDY DOODY WAS ACTUALLY A PUPPET !

During the Cold-War, due to the fear of nuclear attack, many paranoid Americans built personal bomb shelters. It seems hard to believe these days, but Twinkies...due to the reputation...that they stay fresh forever...were among the survival foods that were stockpiled.

President Bill Clinton recognized their significance and included Twinkies in a time-capsule.
RELEVANT IN THE 21st CENTURY, "TWINKIE THE KID" RIDES AGAIN

Today, a half billion Twinkies are sold each year.

Me personally, I loved Twinkies as a kid...especially if they were refrigerated. But because I was a choco-holic and still am...I preferred Ring-Dings, Yodels and Devil-Dogs (in that order) before Twinkies.

In the summer of '74 when RBOY and I worked at *Disneyworld, we together, discovered something that satisfied our love for Twinkies with our stronger love for chocolate...behold...the Chocolate Twinkie. Chocolate Twinkies, (the cake was chocolate and creme center remained the same) never really caught-on and were discontinued in a short time. Nevertheless, he and I were their best customers. At our apartment complex, we'd go to the convenience store buy them up. For our epic 24-hour car ride back to New York, we bought every one they had.
*On October 1st, Disneyworld celebrated its 37th anniversary, RBOY and I were there, year 3.

Over the years, most of our tastes become more adult. I left Twinkies behind twenty-plus years ago for better junk food and didn't look back...until I had a child. My son Andrew is 14 (I'm not sure if he wants me to include the half because he's actually, 14 1/2). Like all kids, he has tried every conceivable snack food there is. That means...I have RE-TRIED every conceivable snack food. Unfortunately, this time around, my adult palate found Twinkies to have a chemical taste...even refrigerated.

I swore-off Twinkies for another ten years until now. What I discovered is the "Cadillac of Twinkies," however, it must be noted...that these are NOT Twinkies. What they are can be summed-up in one word; ENTEMANN'S. More specifically, Entemann's Sponge Creme Cakes. Trust me, if you ever loved Twinkies, drop everything and find them...maybe your waistline will hate me...but your tongue will love me !