The world's first peak at Optimus Prime and Bumblebee from the forthcoming Transformers movie directed by Michael Bay. I have never looked forward to a Michael Bay movie. Its an odd sensation.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
First peak of Transformers
Ten. Worst. Cars. Ever.
AutoMotoPortal has a rundown of the 10 worse cars ever. Of course, they include the Pinto. A friend of mine in high school used to drive a used Ford Pinto. One time I was riding with him when we got rear ended. That was a sweaty moment.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
McRules
Fast Food News carries the New Rules made by one McDonald's cashier for the McMasses....
- Don't confuse franchises! We don't Biggie size, we don't have onion rings or nachos, and no...you may not "Have it your way."
- If you ordered a burger without pickles and they somehow ended up there anyway... just pick them off because that's all I'm going to do when you bring it back to me to "fix it."
- Don't come into the lobby two minutes before we close. Chances are I've already cleaned, and it will only cause me to do unspeakable things to your (already stale) food.
- Don't scream at me if I ask you to repeat your order... we're talking about cheeseburgers, not missiles... so calm down!
- If you don't see tomatoes on the sandwich in the picture don't [f#@%ing] ask me to take them off. The Big Mac has been around for ages... it doesn't have tomatoes.
- Does this look like Toys-R-Us? Who cares if your kid's got 10 of the same toy already. That's telling me you don't feed them at home enough!
- When I hand you your food and say "Have a nice day," you better respond with a smile, a "Thanks, you too," or at least acknowledge my existence. Its called being polite people.
The Best Burger in La La Land
Slashfood turns you on to an article from the LA Times about the the best burgers in LA...and how to make them...
Terrace Duck Burger
Stonehill Tavern Kobe burger
Terrace sirloin burger
And here's a list of places to get a good patty...
The Counter. Order any combination from a huge matrix of ingredients in this popular, airy spot. 2901 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 399-8383. $6.50 to $12.
Cut. Made from American and Japanese Kobe and sirloin, topped with shallot-jalapeño marmalade, tomato confit and aged gouda, Kobe sliders are served on house-made brioche buns. Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 276-8500. $20 (for 4 sliders).
Father's Office. This Westside bar has a fantastic burger: French roll, blue cheese, caramelized onions, arugula and a "no substitutions" policy. 1018 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; (310) 393-2337. $10.75.
Ford's Filling Station. Ben Ford's gastropub has a classic take on the burger, made with house-ground beef, Point Reyes blue cheese, caramelized onions and a La Brea Bakery bun. 9531 Culver Blvd., Culver City; (310) 202-1470. $14 at lunch; $16 at dinner.
The Hungry Cat. This may be a fish house, but David Lentz's Pug burger is terrific. Served with aioli, field greens, blue cheese and a mountain of fries. 1535 Vine St., Hollywood; (323) 462-2155. $14.
Literati II. This casual West L.A. spot serves a classic burger done right: a stellar patty, a triangle of iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion and a dab of aioli. 12081 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 479-3400. $14.
Lucky Devils. Massive burger, made with Australian Kobe and available in classic or fully loaded with Maytag Blue, Gruyère (yes, both), Nueske bacon and garlic aioli. 6613 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; (323) 465-8259. $12.95 or $15.50.
Social Hollywood. Kobe sliders at the Moroccan-themed bar come with Gruyère and caramelized onions. 6525 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; (323) 462-5222. $17 (for 3 sliders).
Stonehill Tavern. The truffled Kobe burger is hedonistic, but not pointlessly so; it's got lots of smart truffled accouterments, any of which would be great on its own on a burger. St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach, 1 Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point; (949) 234-3318. $28.
The Terrace. Though there's a great sirloin burger on the nightly menu, on Sunday burger nights by the pool, there are five to choose from, including a boffo duck burger. Sunset Tower Hotel, 8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 654-7100. $21 to $25.
25 Degrees. This retro hotel bar serves flavorful, assemble-your-own burgers, wrapped in parchment like a gift. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 785-7244. $9 and up.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Coke, now under the GPL
Microplex, an "alternative" cinema in the UK, were too "alternative" to sell Coke at their theater. But their "alternative" patrons kept asking for it. So using a little detective work, they figured out the secret formula to Coke, and now they've released it via the GPL. Enjoy!
Step 1: 7x formula:
Using food-grade essential oils, assemble 3.75ml orange oil; 3ml lime oil; 1ml lemon oil; 1 ml cassia oil (nb. reduce cassia content for next production); 0.75ml nutmeg oil; 0.25ml coriander oil (6 drops); 0.25ml lavender oil (6 drops); 0.25ml neroli oil (optional/removed due to high cost).
Using a measuring syringe, measure out the oils into a glass or ceramic container. Keep covered to avoid volatile oil fumes escaping. Then dissolve 10g instant gum arabic (equivalent to 22ml) in 20ml water (low calcium/low magnesium, Volvic is good) with one drop vodka - Cube uses Zubrowka. (Be aware that total quantity of vodka will be 0.0007ml per litre of Cube-cola).
Place the gum/water/vodka mix in a high-sided beaker - stainless steel or glass are best. Using a high-power hammer drill with kitchen whisk attachment, whisk the gum mixture at high speed while your assistant droppers the oils. Mix in steadily with the measuring syringe. Continue to whisk at high speed for 5-7 minutes, or until the oils and water emulsify.
The resulting mixture will be cloudy. Test for emulsification by adding a few drops of the mixture to one glass of water. No oils should be visible on the surface. You now have a successful flavour emulsion, which should hold for several months.
Step 2:The mixers
This makes two allied concentrates, Composition A and Composition B, which can be stored separately before being mixed into cold syrup with the addition of sugar and water.
Composition A
Mix 30 ml double strength caramel colouring (DD Williamson Caramel 050) with 10 ml water. While stirring, add 10ml 7x flavour emulsion (oils/gum/water mix).
Composition B
Mix 3 tsp (10ml) citric acid with 5-10ml water, then sieve in 0.75 tsp (2.75ml) caffeine. Mix thoroughly using a pestle and mortar until caffeine granules are no longer evident. The mixture may behave erratically, turning either white or clear for no apparent reason. If it goes white, add more water. Pass through muslin or jelly bag to remove any anomalies.
At this point, A+B can be packaged separately and later reconstituted into cola syrup.
Step 3: The cola syrup
2 litres water; 2kg sugar
Compositions A & B
Make a sugar syrup (mix in a cooking pot on low heat to dissolve quickly) using 1.5 litres of the water and all the sugar. Filter if unsure. Mix Composition A into the remaining 500ml water. Add Composition B, then the sugar syrup. You now have 3 litres Cube-Cola syrup or approx 18 litres cola.
Step 4: The cola
As required, make up your cola as a 5:1 mix, five parts fizzy water to one part cola syrup. Cube uses 350ml syrup in a 2l bottle of Tesco Ashford Mountain Spring. This cola recipe is released under the GNU general public licence.
Best Veggie Burgers
The Vegetarian Times tells 'ya....
Best all-around burger - Quorn Chicken-Style Patties
Best fast-food style burger - Boca All-American Flame Grilled
Best spicy burger - Boca Spicy Chik'n Patties
Best traditional veggie burger - Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties
Best mushroom burger - Gardenburger Savory Portabella
Best California Style Burger - Amy's California Veggie
Best Tex-Mex - Dr. Praeger Tex Mex
Best "unique" burger - Dr. Praeger Bombay patties
Best Vegan Burger - Whole Foods Vegan
(Thanks Slashfood!)
The 50 most expensive cities in the world
1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo
10. New York
12. St Petersburg, Russia
13. Milan
14. Beijing
15. Istanbul
15. Paris
17. Singapore
18. Dublin
19. Sydney
20. Shanghai
21. Rome
21. Kiev
21. Vienna, Austria
24. Tel Aviv
25. Helsinki
25. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
27. Douala, Cameroon
28. Taipei
29. Los Angeles
30. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
31. Lagos
32. Beirut
32. Hanoi
34. Sao Paolo
34. San Francisco
36. Stockholm
37. Ho Chi Minh City
38. Chicago
39. Miami
40. Rio de Janeiro
41. Lusaka, Zambia
41. Amsterdam
43. White Plains, New York state.
44. Shenzen, China
45. Abidjan, Ivory Coast
45. Dakar, Senegal
47. Toronto
48. Jakarta.
48. Bratislava, Slovak Republic
50. Prague, Czech Republic
Are you reading this Tom Cruise?
If you've ever wondered what Scientologists really believe. Read this...
More Bourdain
Salon has a great interview with my favorite celeb chef Anthony Bourdain. Another great read...
Did the Republicans steal the '04 election?
Catching up on some oldies I've been meaning to post....(Having 3 kids is hard on the blogging)....
Robert Kennedy Jr has a very detailed article in Rolling Stone in which he claims that the Republicans committed massive voter fraud around the country but in particular in Florida and Ohio. If even half of this is true, there would be a riot.
Is this horndog our best chance for peace?
The Washington Post today carries the story of Thobaity, a 23 yr-old Saudi man on the troll for love. But that's not so easy in Saudi Arabia where they bring cockblocking to a whole new level:
Saudi Arabia's zealous religious police can arrest and jail anyone who violates the rules of local culture, a mixture of tradition and the country's ultra-strict Wahhabi Islam that forbids most social contact between men and women who are not related.
Cinemas are banned -- men and women sitting in the same dark place is considered too likely to arouse mischievous hormones. Restaurants and coffeehouses have separate, partitioned areas for "families" -- male and female relatives -- and single men. Security guards stand at the entrances to shopping malls to bar men who are not accompanied by a wife, sister or mother. University classes are segregated by sex. Unrelated men and women riding in the same car (women are not allowed to drive) can be jailed by the religious police, a government agency known formally as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Harsh!
But Thobaity and many other Saudi youth are finding a way around the luvin' po-po using the marvelous gift of technology, in this case, mobile phones, SMS, and Bluetooth.
In the end, our hero Thobaity finds love, but sadly, he and his secret girlfriend must hide their relationship until they can conspire to get their parents to "accidentally" meet and decide that they should be married.
Let me proffer that our horndog friend Thobaity is our best chance for peace in the Middle East. My only hope and prayer is that Thobaity and friends will rise up against this stupid bullshit and create a society where The Man won't kick your ass for making eyes.
Is my faith that an all-Arbian cast of Meatballs will rise up and direct its pent up fury where it really belongs? Perhaps. Just call me a romantic.
P.S. - Thobaity, you gotta work on your pick-up lines, dude. Not that I should talk, I was pretty bad in the day too, but "I'll be happy if U would B my girlfriend" is a little forward. I'm just saying.
To DRM or to not DRM
Cory Doctorow recently wrote a piece for InformationWeek called "Apple’s Copy Protection Isn’t Just Bad for Consumers, it’s Bad for Business" and a blog called PlaybackTime decided to take him on, not so much defending DRM, but more saying the Cory isn't giving Apple any credit for the positive things they have done and is taking a very extreme point of view.
I look at this way. Say what you want about DRM and Apple's use of it. All I know is this – When I go to iTunes, I can legally download more than 2M songs for $1 a piece and almost any TV show I want THE DAY AFTER IT AIRED for only $2. What Apple has accomplished for consumers who want to get their content legally is massive and goes well beyond iTunes. The entire entertainment industry is changing as a result of iTunes and you are seeing that everywhere. There are many more positive benefits to what Apple is doing than the negatives that Cory sees...and none of this would be happening if Apple didn't have a DRM that the entertainment industry could buy off on. But beyond that, there are literally millions of people for whom the Apple DRM rules work and every quarter we are reminded of that as Apple reports skyrocketing download growth.
There are a lot of things that you could sit and pick on with Fairplay or DRM in general. But my faith in DRM technology is a little better than Cory's – perhaps because I know many of the people making it and they are not evil or ogres. I think we are going to get to a place where you don't even notice DRM unless you are trying to do something illegal, and I think we will get there in the next five years. The DRM functionality to implement new business rules, and the willingness of the entertainment industry to be more flexible with the business rules, is driving the technology to a place that most consumers will never see as restrictive.
And I also believe in the consumer. Every time the entertainment industry has overreached, the consumer has rejected it. Has there been greed and ignorance driving some of the decision making? Sure. But ultimately, the consumer has said "no" and it is the fairest solutions that are prospering in the market.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Re-Imagineering – Yeah right
Readers of this blog will know that I have been critical in the past of the Re-Imagineering blog. After their heartfelt opus on the horrors of moving the parking lot, of all things, I finally decided to post my thoughts. However, all comments on their blog must be approved by the blog owner, so I have a feeling my note will never show up. So I am posting it here too:
If anything proves to me that this blog has no other point of view than to embalm the park, this is it. You are nostalgic about the parking lot?!!! Give me a break!
I would really love, for once, this blog to offer something up other than nostolgia for the trivial and outdated. If we actually had the 1960's park that Re-Imagineering would have us have, NO ONE WOULD GO.
Walt famously said that Disneyland would never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world. He acknowledged that the park could and absolutely should change. And if he were alive today and still personally designing the park, it would still not be the park it was on opening day.
But what I find even more "trapped in a time warp" is the Eisner era griping about everything. Newsflash - Michael Eisner is gone. Bob is investing in the parks and Lasseter is at the Imagineering helm.
Now is a time to offer up great ideas about what the Disneyland of tommorow can be, not to complain about how we should bring back the most dated and trivial elements of yesteryear.
For example, I find the criticism of DCA boring. Everyone gets it already. Why can't we move on and offer a point of view on what DCA should be, because like it or not, DCA is going to be sitting there for a long time one way or another. Better to make it a park we can all be proud of than a ghost town sitting across the way from The Happiest Place on Earth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
