Cooking for Brevitt

Brevitt......Are You There?

As you can see I haven't been writing that much lately. Not sure if it's a combination of exhaustion from work or a few other things going on, but the creative juices have been lacking lately....ugh, not good. Anyway, it's been starting to come back the last few days, but I was in a rut on what to write about. So I figured I would just post up a few random points about nothing in particular and see where it goes.....

• Tired of LOL Cats, then turn to I Has A Hot Dog for some relief!
• The industry event I was at all last week was great and all, but still bummed out that I didn't get a chance to see Common and Q-Tip play at one of the parties
  • Q-Tip: Vibrant Thing
  • Common: A Dream
• You can't listen to Pandora outside the US - that kinda sucks
• Meeting Rupert from Survivor was pretty cool, still mad I didn't get a photo with him though!
• Only a few more hours until the NHL trade deadline - will the Bruins pull the trigger on getting Hossa?
• Bartolo Colon - really?
• Brevitt needs a vacation - badly. Something that involves zero stress, warm weather and that's about it
• Kid Robot #14 is serious business
• Think your life is crazy - check out what I'll be doing for the next 2 months:
  • Iceland 2.5 weeks
  • Atlanta 1 week
  • Back to Iceland for 1.5 weeks
  • Atlanta for 1 more week
  • NYC 1 week
  • Las Vegas 1 week

A bit random and a bit ramble, but all Brevitt. Hope that the storm rolling into Atlanta this morning brings some creative juices with it so I can jump back on the posting wagon.

Until then.......

The Signal

Now my friends now that I'm pretty particular when it comes to horror movies. Films like Saw and Hostel just gross me out and I have no desire to see them, but give me something like 28 Days Later and I'm ok. One of those borderline movies that I'm actually interested in seeing is The Signal.

This reminds me of Stephen King's book 'Cell', which I thought was a really good story. Similar in concept I guess, but of course with a different premise. I particularly like that the horror is coming from something we can all relate to. It isn't some space creature or zombies attacking a city - instead, it's normal everyday people who have somehow been corrupted.

Also very interesting to note that the film is actually directed by three different people - very cool concept that apparently turned out fairly well. A featured film at Sundance, you can find tons of reviews online for The Signal which opens nationwide on February 22nd.

Go see it and let me know!

Book Review: Rat Bastards

I've hit six books so far in my quest for 50 in 2008 - falling a little bit behind schedule, but have a ton of business travel coming up so should be able to catch up a bit more. The lucky sixth book had me turn back to my roots a bit with Rat Bastards: The Life and Times of South Boston's Most Honorable Irish Mobster, the true story of John 'Red' Shea.

I believe that pretty much everyone from Boston is interested in what occurred with Whitey Bulger and members of his crew. It's a story that doesn't seem to go away, years after the horrors they committed finally stopped. For those of us interested in true crime, the stories that John discusses are very interesting. Finally when  you combine those previous aspects with being from certain parts of Boston, having experiences in those neighborhoods, living through the latter stages of the Code or any other similar events - these stories hold much more weight.

Right now Southie and Whitey continue to be a hot topic. There are numerous books out on the subject, The Departed remake was crafted around these events, even Rat Bastard has been optioned into an upcoming movie by Mark Wahlberg - the point is, that these stories touch on so many emotions for people from Boston and beyond. Crime, murder, money, fighting the law, honor, integrity, hope, destruction.......every emotion can be found in the stories of South Boston.

This book provides an insight rarely seen when it comes to true crime - that of the guy who admits he did bad things, takes the high road and does his crime, then survives and tries to lead a normal life. John Shea certainly isn't trying to convince people that he is a good person or did the right thing. He even admits that he believes he'll be headed to Hell when his time is up, but it's his honor and honesty that stand out. Maybe it's the old school Boston in me, but there is something to be said about how he handled his own life choices. Shea had everything, then lost it all - only to come out on the other end as a survivor with his integrity intact.

I highly recommend this book to those people interested in true crime, the Irish Mob during Whitey's leadership or people looking for a different type of autobiography. I do feel that being from Boston will help you enjoy this book a bit more, as you know certain details of the book that others might not, but it's not a requirement.

So....Brevitt says go read Rat Bastards and tell me what you think. I'd chat some more, but I have to start plowing through book seven!

Just One Photo

Wired has a good little story about the current struggles of 'The Ones We Love', a photo sharing site that is currently become so popular the founder can't afford to pay the bandwidth charges anymore. Hopefully she is able to rescue the site thanks to Wired and others, so we will see! If you can, reach out and see what you can do to help!

In that same vein, be sure to check out 'a photo a day'. This cool site puts up a new photo everyday with no set theme. With a massive archive of previous posts as well, it's a great place to see some amazing photography.

So support your local interweb artists kidz!

Have any other good sites you want to share? Throw them up in the comments section and let others know what is going on.

One Less Jaws

Pretty sad news, but looks like Roy Scheider passed away over the weekend. Although Jaws scared the shit out of me when I was a kid, it was a great movie. I'd like to forget that the sequels ever happened though!

Anyway, Scheider was in a ton of additional film work and always came across as a solid actor - a no nonsense professional that did a good job and then went home to his family. If you haven't seen The French Connection - something is wrong with you!

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”

Mr. P

No idea what this is, who this guy is or why the hell he wrote this song.....just watch, listen and check out the massive ears this guy is rocking!

Book Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I'm falling behind my schedule for 50 in 2008, but thanks to Darkly Dreaming Dexter I've read five books so far. That's not too bad seeing that it's roughly five-weeks into the year! I have a few work related books waiting for me, so it was good to dive into something as fun as the Dexter series.

I was introduced to the novel from the tv show, but have only seen one or two episodes. From that limited exposure, it seemed like a good premise and wanted to explore if the book would bring more details to the plate.

Overall I thought this was a really good book. Honestly finished it within two days once I started plugging away, so it's an easy read. Was surprised that the murder details were not more descriptive, but that's not a bad thing. Leaving those visual cues to the reader was a smart move I believe.

If you are a fan of the show this is a must read. Fans of criminal investigations or real-life crime novels will also be interested. The story advances in a few more sequels, so looking forward to seeing where the character heads.

Go grab it....

Open Letter to Lost

Dear Lost,

Oh Hai, how are you today? Doing well I hope. I see that you came back on the air so we can view a few more episodes of our favorite Oceanic Air castaways. That's nice. Kinda sucks that will only be a few episodes this year due to the writer's strike, but in the grand scheme of things, probably won't change the story arc that much. Maybe you are curious why......well let me give you my thoughts.

Start answering fucking questions you stupid show!

Serious now - you throw out 45 new mysteries every episode and answer 1. By now there are 65,982 unknown things going on and you have given us clues to possibly 6 of them. Serious? Serious?!?!? I just got finished watching the season premiere (thank you ABC for online episodes) and I'm still frustrated and still vow to stop watching.....but you know what, I'll be back.

You got me hooked damn it!

In closing, let's try and answer some questions and lead us a bit, mmmkay?

Much appreciated.

Your frustrated fan,

Brevitt!

LOL Cats Have Evolved - LOL Metal!

Well you can't go wrong with a little LOL Cats during the day - come on now, they are funny! Thankfully yet another great meme is on the verge of breaking out....LOL Metal. That's right kidz, it's simple too......

Check out some of my favorites, but thanks to the WAREHOUSE for starting this up!

PS: Yes, I know this is an old post from June 2007, but the shit is funny and it needs to catch back on!

Who Wants Matt Damon?

Apparently Sarah Silverman............check it!