Cooking for Brevitt

New Movie: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

I'll admit that I never saw the first Harold and Kumar, but I wanted to. Just looked like it was a funny movie that was just silly - no real plot, just a good time laughing. We need those types of movies no matter how bad the script might be.

Got word of the trailer for their sequel: Escape from Guantanamo Bay was out, so dug up this R rated version from the Tubez.....enjoy!

More Yo Gabba Gabba!

If you remember awhile back I was lucky enough to come across Yo Gabba Gabba and my life hasn't been the same since. The characters are hilarious, Biz Markie is a regular, it was created by the lead singer of the Aquabats, they released Pick It Up - I really could go on and on!

So I was happy to see Boston.com pick up on this show with a feature this morning - Preschool and Cool. Very cool article covering how the show has evolved from something targeted to kids only and has now entered hipster status. Also very cool to learn about W!ldbrain, the company behind Yo Gabba Gabba and Kid Robot. Make sure to check out the work they have produced, think you will be surprised on how much they have put out recently.

Go read the article before I send Muno after you!

Food Will Kill You - Apparently

Although not a frequent part of my posting arsenal, I try to touch on Food and Drink comments now and then. Besides, come on now - everyone loves food and drink! I'm often amazed on certain articles/posts that get published by major outlets. Becoming an 'expert' appears to be a rather simple thing to do. I'm not talking about people who like certain things in life, nope I'm talking about full-time 'experts' spitting out recommendations to the masses.

A vast majority of those 'experts' seem to gravitate to Food as it continues to be such a hot topic in US culture. Maybe it's because I was raised by parents who cared about my nutrition or maybe it was just an interest in food that helped me ensure I ate smart when I was a kid. No matter what it was, I've been able to stick to that plan for the most part.

So it is always interesting to me when someone releases a 'How-To Eat Healthy' tips on a major website as they are usually full of fairly normal decisions. I don't know, maybe I just lucked out and became educated about food when I was younger, but tips like these just seem so full of common sense, I don't see why you need them.

Let's review some of the tips though with standard snarky comments from Brevitt!

• Don't eat sour cream - really, we really need to be telling people that eating this is bad for you?
• Eat grilled fish - hot damn this one is revolutionary! Eating fish..wow?!?!
• Alfredo sauce is bad - hmmm, liquid cheese and butter is bad for me?
• Tuna - ahhhh, the mercury is everywhere!!
  
  • On a side note, is this real or some overblown media circus on mercury levels in fish?
• Chopsticks - apparently instead of being smart and using portion control, we should use chopsticks to eat everything
• PS: extra cheese and pepperoni on pizza is bad for you!

Then there are the comments - please, I have to touch on these!

• "Grilled fish sounds great. Not sure where to purchase this other than the market. Will check into it. Thank you."
  • WTF?!?!? You don't know where to purchase grilled fish? How about you go buy some fish and then grill it!
• "Am a little surprised that most postings felt like they learned something."
  • Yay...common sense.
• "Heard about a book entitled "French Women Don't Get Fat". It is largely based on the concept of moderation and savoring your food, eating slower, eating to enjoy-not to engorge etc."
  • Yup!

Well that's it from me! Go read it and let me know your thoughts.

MMMMM....The Sounds

I mentioned The Sounds awhile back, but every time they come up on my Pandora channel or on my iPod, I always turn up the volume a weeee bit more. To celebrate that, here is one of my favorites. Enjoy 'Painted by Numbers' from The Sounds!

Book Review: World War Z

It took me a little longer than I planned, but finally finished 50 in 2008 #3 - World War Z. Max Brooks is back for another look into the Zombie Apocalypse, this time with the perspective that the war has occurred and we are looking back on the history of the uprising, what happened next and how humanity survived.

I'm not sure what category of book this title is, but bottom line it's a fun read. The depth Brooks goes to in spanning post-apocolyse Earth so the reader hears stories from the US to Iceland to India to Japan and everywhere else. There are very few details unturned and that leads to a good story.

So give this a read if you like zombies or even if you don't - could be surprised by it.

Plus, make sure you check out the World War Z website where you can listen to survivor stories, podcasts, view a world map and more importantly find out your ability to survive once the Zombie Apocalypse strikes. On a sad note, Brevitt only has a 40% chance of survival, so ummm....not good!

FOX News - Watch Out For The Kidz

Wow.....Fox News has always been a bit on the crazy side. You know with skewing facts, focusing on their own agenda and pretty much not reporting reality and all. So although this latest issue isn't that surprising, it's the response of the community affected that is very interesting for me to see.

Let's review!

Earlier this week Fox News produced a feature on Mass Effect - an amazing science fiction based RPG for the 360 that has achieved critical acclaim pretty much everywhere. You can read most of the details over at Destructoid, but in general - Fox News claims that you can perform graphic sex within Mass Effect with full frontal nudity. In typical Fox News fashion, they gloss over the fact on how much character development is needed to get to this stage and their facts about sex and nudity are simply false. Plus their panel of experts contained only one person who had ever played the game and the vast majority only know video games as tools of the devil apparently.

What happens next you say?

Well the interwebz pick up on this boiling piece of crap and the gaming community exploded. First were stories on pretty much every gaming blog denouncing the piece, then the publisher EA jumps up to defend their product, this is follow by more fan boy ranting, which lead to G4 jumping on the news - all of this is great, but here is the kicker.......the gaming community got has started a war against one of Fox's 'experts' via her Amazon book listings.  In particular, her latest book is getting eaten alive by negative reviews.

Make sure to check out the Amazon post as well to read them all! Some of my favorites include:

• "Take this with a grain of salt, but I heard her parents were Dracula and Josef Mengele. Would you trust that? No Just Kidding. But more seriously she likes to shoot her mouth off about things she has no experience or even research into. I'd take my above statement more seriously than anything she pens."
• "I did not read this book, I'm just gonna assume that it has nothing but garbage in it. Why should I waste time reading? I plays teh videogames. Well, I'm just gonna go play with my se-xbox. I don't recommend this book though, so take that as you will."
• "There's a new study out of the University of Maryland that says this book sucks."
• "One of the worst books I've had the pleasure of never reading"
• "Mass Effect has turned me into a sex crazed zombie. I just wish I had never played with that damnable devil-machine. I can't sleep or eat anymore... I'm up all night, craving digital sideboob. This book features no sideboob."
• "A new study straight out of Massachusetts shows that this book sucks. It contains full, frontal, bi-lateral, and subatomic nudity and sex acts between women and violent men who play Mass Effect. Keep away from children. It's so tough being a parent now a days!"

• "...I poured myself a bowl of cereal this morning, so im an overachiever too. Anyway back to playing xbox..."

Lesson learned Fox News and more importantly - look at how the community reacted. Even if you believe in what Fox was presenting and think video games rot your brain, you need to admire the power of viral groups.

As a fan of games and someone interesting in the marketing power of these actions - it's been a very interesting few days.

If I Was a Musician....

Thanks to everyone's favorite Super Hero, I'm posting up about my life as a musician.....if that actually happened. Here is the deal:

• Go to Wikipedia and hit random article - bam, Band Name!
• Random article again - shiiiiit, Album Name!
• Random, random, random - do it until you have your Song Names filled up!
• Done

How did old Brevitt turn out you ask? Hmm...let's see!

• Band Name: Randy Ball
• Album Name: Middleville
• Track Listings:
  1. Airi Suzuki
  2. Monosomy 9p
  3. Bob Mendello
  4. Ramsey Township, Fayette County, Illinois
  5. Santa Rosa de Goias
  6. Saint-Chely-d'Apcher
  7. Landscheide
  8. Robert Orr
  9. We Shall Never Die
  10. MSB
• Hidden Track
  1. Cook's Distance

Apparently we like singing about people and places......oh and Mario Super Baseball.

Sizzla: Thank You Mama

Always liked Sizzla and his tune 'Thank You Mama' is on steady loop on my Pandora channel. It came back on earlier today, so figured I would drop this song on my masses! By that I mean the four people who read my blog......

Check it!

Back From the West Coast

I made it back to ATL after a week long trip in San Francisco visiting Macworld. It has been a pretty crazy week, so let's take a look at the good stuff!

• Mac Air: Apparently this just came out....who knew??!? Hahah!
• Snow: I has it and it followed me to Atlanta - seriously, there was a pretty big storm here on Saturday. Looked like about an inch stuck on the ground, although by Sunday morning it was mostly gone!
• New Coat: I'm digging the coat even though the material is a bit different than I thought it would be.
• NFL: Big game today for the Patriots - can they continue the push?
• Street Hockey: Picking this up with some co-workers. Actually not a big fan of street hockey, but think this will be fun. League started on Sunday, but because I brought the snow, first game is next week!
• Cloverfield: Good movie - go check it out. I'll do a full review shortly, but get there early for previews. This batch was great!
  • Iron Man
  • Star Trek
  • Hell Boy 2
  • 10,000 BC
• Chili: I've been itching for my secret chili recipe for awhile now and finally made it....so good! It's not nachos, but damn close!

Come back soon and read more!

Imma Stealin Yo Mac Airz!

I've been asked by pretty much everyone I know to steal a Mac Air when I get the chance.....ummmm, sure. Although they are quite slim, I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to slip out without anyone noticing my slippery fingers!

Alas dear friends, you will have to run down to the nearest Mac Store and purchase one yourselves.

Other good things about Macworld and SF so far.....list being generated......now!

• Cool shit! So many creative things going on here, very different than other trade shows I've been to.
• Fan boys - daaaaaaaamn! I got caught entering the Moscone just as the doors to the public were opened. Bad idea. Nothing like wading through thousands of rabid fans just trying to get to work.
• Le Colonial - very good French Vietnamese fusion food. Check this out if you are in SF!
• Kid Robot Store - damnit I missed my new coat by a few hours, but still plan on hitting the retails store later this week.

Back to work in a few minutes...so enjoy the day kidz and chat soon!