Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Beef Tips


Episode 28: Beef Tips
Starring: Constance
~A Contented, Collegiate Cow of Northfield~

   Constance tries her hoof at Advice Columnist...



Beef Tips
Episode 28 of Left Field
Published November 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide
Aided and Abetted by a semi-fictional character named James Dime

Simply Fodder For Your Next Cocktail Party  
by Sherri Faye (c) 2010

Advice columns have always intrigued me, and I have toyed with writing one. So, why not have Constance do it? I am particularly fond of brutally honest, witty, and direct ones. A good advice column is a bit like therapy, a best friend, a stand-up comic, the Oprah show, and common sense combined. City Pages boasts a couple of them, including “Savage Love” - that knocks intimacy advice out of the ballpark. While the hilarious guidance in the Onion’s  purely satirical “Ask...” column features ever-changing titles. Ranging from “Ask A Former Touring Drummer For The Pointer Sisters” to “Ask A Conspiracy Theorist”, humor abounds. I love that the credentials for every one of the fictional columnists are exactly the same. Dear Abby and her sister, Ann Landers, paved the way for readers around the globe to publicly confess their troubles and accept the advice of a complete stranger. Comparatively dry, when held up against today’s no-holds-barred columns, they still stand as solid evidence of the human need to bare our souls while hoping a magic pill will solve our problems in the form of good advice. Throw in the humor and honesty of Erma Bombeck, and helpful Hints from Heloise mixed with a bit of Miss Manners’ direction, and the grass was truly “greener over the septic tank” of the world because of them. Now let’s see what Constance can do from Left Field, shall we?


For advice send an e-mail to: beeftips.leftfield@gmail.com
Or post it on this blog. 

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A $15 Gift Certificate Could Be Yours
~ for a local Northfield area merchant, store, restaurant, or watering hole ~
Got a burning question that needs a little bovine wisdom, cow comedy (or maybe just some cranberry juice)? Send it to this blog or to one of my email addresses listed below. If your question is featured in a Left Field/Beef Tips comic strip you will receive an “Aided and Abetted by” credit (can use an alias if requested) and a $15 gift certificate the week of publication. Ideas and contributions for future general Left Field comics also qualify.
Caution: Take advice at your own risk. May cause laughing. Right to use artist’s license and writer’s whim reserved.

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(c) 2010 Sherri Faye  All Rights Reserved.
Buy cool cow crap, cow gifts, cow junk, cow stuff! 
Get cow gifts for the cow fans in your life, click below!

View the published version of Left Field in the Northfield Entertainment Guide magazine. Check out all the events going on in greater Northfield - you might be pleasantly surprised!

Contact Constance (or Conrad) for advice:

Visit some of my other online stores and blogs:



Contact me directly at:

Hi M.O.M.

Episode 27: Hi M.O.M.
Getting ready for a Halloween Costume Party...
Enter: Conrad, superhero.  
(c) Sherri Faye 2010   All Rights Reserved
                                                                        
Hi M.O.M.
Episode 27 of Left Field
Published October 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide
Aided and Abetted by Matt Scheisl

Simply Fodder For Your Next Cocktail Party
by Sherri Faye (c) 2010

Holy Cow Capes, Batman, have I ever wracked my brain for over a year figuring out how to incorporate Malt-O-Meal into my comic strip!  Many moons ago, a friend of mine suggested that I drum up Left Field mayhem featuring the beloved cereal company. Matt (said friend) and I occasionally hoist a brew or three at a little hangout in Dinkytown, known as the Blarney Pub & Grill. While recently enjoying a barley pop together we talked about how much we love the smell of  the Malt-O-Meal factory. Matt descends upon Northfield for business from time to time. He described it as a very pleasant, almost popcorny smell wafting through town. Some days it has a delectable chocolatey scent - that’s my favorite. I think Malt-O-Meal lends itself to Northfield in an almost “Willie Wonka” kinda way. Can’t you just picture it? Imagine rivers concocted of breakfast food running through the place. Gondola’s careening about that are constructed of giant cereal bowls, with big ol’ spoons for oars.  I bet some wild-haired guy is in charge of the whole shebang, with little Malt-O-Peeps scurrying about doing his bidding. Oh, the things we can think! I wonder if I can get a tour? Maybe Malt-O-Meal will have a golden ticket in a box of good ol’ fashioned hot cereal.


(c) 2010 Sherri Faye  All Rights Reserved.
Buy cool cow crap, cow gifts, cow junk, cow stuff! 
Get cow gifts for the cow fans in your life, click below!

View the published version of Left Field in the Northfield Entertainment Guide magazine. Check out all the events going on in greater Northfield - you might be pleasantly surprised!

Contact Constance (or Conrad) for advice:

Visit some of my other online stores and blogs:



Contact me directly at:

Got Bail? or Mug Shot


(c) Sherri Faye 2010 All Rights Reserved





























Got Bail? or Mug Shot
Episode 26 of Left Field
Published September 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide

Simply Fodder For Your Next Cocktail Party
by Sherri Faye (c) 2010

Does anyone else use the “Cow-On-A-Stick” as a directional tool to and from the Northfield area? I realize it’s not a cow, but for both obscure and obvious reasons, the phrase ‘cow-on-a-stick’ simply flows better than ‘bull-on-a-stick’. I get a kick out of it... this bovine beast hovering above the land. It’s unique, hilarious, and makes an otherwise non-descript landscape become an intersection boasting a landmark of Paul Bunyonesque proportions. A bit further down the road is the side of a building advertising three products in a run-on sentence of sorts. You know the one, boldly proclaiming “Apple Cider Cheese Fudge”.  My daughter, Staci, and I always chuckle, remarking something to the effect of “Hmmm, must make for an interesting flavored fudge.”  I love anomolies that set a place apart from the rest o’ the world. I also immensely enjoy annual town festivals. Among my favorites - The Strawberry Festival in Pungo, Virginia. And, of course, The Defeat of Jesse James Days!  This year, Left Field will be there with cowbells on! (literally) We’ve secured a craft fair booth. See you there!
(c) 2010 Sherri Faye  All Rights Reserved.
Buy cool cow crap! Cow gifts for cow fans!





Cow-On-A-Stick or State Fare

Cow-On-A-Stick or State Fare
Episode 25 of Left Field
Published August 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide
(c) 2010 Sherri Faye  All Rights Reserved.
Buy cool cow crap! Cow gifts for cow fans!





Kobe or Not Kobe

Kobe or Not Kobe
Episode 24 of Left Field
Pubished July 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide

Simply Fodder For Your Next Cocktail Party
by Sherri Faye (c) 2010
After my last column about grass-fed beef, my mind
segued to “Kobe Beef”. A year or so ago I noticed signs
popping up on restaurant table tops and grocery store
windows proudly announcing “We have Kobe Beef!”. I
was thinking (in the voice of Anchorman, Ron Burgundy)
“This must be kind of a big deal... Maybe Kobe Bryant
has a new gimmick or the meat sellers of America have a
real problem with that guy.” But, I digress. Realizing
quickly that was not likely the case, I did what every
modern woman does and I googled it. (Note: I believe a
petition should be submitted to the Vatican to canonize
Google as “St. Google, the Patron Saint of Information”).
I did my homework about this Kobe Beef. The Japanese
really have it down. They have outdone themselves with a
zen approach to pre-preparing tasty burgers. Applying the
tenets of Buddhism in my life, this makes me more
comfortable about possibly consuming this Tajima treat.
Renowned for it’s tenderness, flavor, and marbled texture,
Kobe Beef is virtually the Nirvana of steaks. Cattle are
pampered like guests at a 5 star spa in Dubai replete with
massages, beer mash and copious amounts of sake.
Nothing but the best, they are treated like royalty until it’s
time to become one with the cleaver. These cows must
think they have found bovinian bliss (obviously they
haven’t been to Northfield - that is, until they arrive as
filet mignon). If I come back as a cow, I want to be one of
those kuroge Wagyu and live like a bovinae princess,
blissfully unaware of the nature of my impending demise.
I expect a bon-bon is served after each days heavenly
massage. Mmmm, bon-bons are great. Support your local