The Modest Thoughts of a Jive Sucka

Saturday Afternoon Quick Hits

Hey gang,

As you may have noticed,the weekend is here and I've decided to do some very late spring cleaning. Time to box up the winter clothes and get rid of all the crap I've collected over the past year (I'm a bit of a pack rat; a habit I'm desperately trying to break). Hopefully I'll get it all done, but odds are I'll just end up watching Mel Gibson movies with my new friend Marbles.
Tomorrow is my day off from Body For Life (every Sunday is free-for-all day) so I plan on cooking up a storm. I've decided on Eggs Bene and Banana Bread for breakfast, but that's as far as I've gotten. Any suggestions would be welcome. Now let's get to the quick hits!

1) 30 rock fans will appreciate this - someone has written a review of A Blaffair to Rememblack.

2) The 10 Best Movie Sites You Should Be Visiting.

3) Candy sushi looks really neat. I would absolutely make this for my kids if I had any idea who they are and where they live.

4) Megan Fox is the latest bit of unbelievable hotness to come out of Hollywood. She's so attractive that some might even call her flawless. But not so. Someone found a flaw, and boy is it a doozy.

5) Kindertrauma has a write up of one of my favorite little horrors of the last decade, May.

6) The Ultimate E3 2009 Booth Babes.

7) Have you ever ordered something from Amazon and it gives you the ol', "Add $**.** to your order to qualify for FREE Super Saver Shipping!"? Well, Superfiller will help you find something to fill that remaining amount, down to the penny. A GREAT service.

8) 6 Reasons More Horror Films Should Be Like 'Drag Me To Hell'.

9) One of the big things in the bread baking world to come up recently is this method for making five minute artisan bread. I've never tried it, but here is the method if you want to give it a whirl.

10) The 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010.

11) I know it's not the time of year for it, but here are five variations on hot chocolate.

12) More Japanese insanity.

I've started a Classic Country mix on my iPod with some really terrific music from the 50s and 60s. Here's Devil Woman by the great Marty Robbins.

AB

Quick Hits

Hello good people!

Things are pretty quiet these days. Right now I'm just hanging out, listening to my favorite CD and reading my favorite literature. I've been mulling over the David Carradine deal over the last day or two. If you aren't up to date, basically he was found dead in a Thai hotel room in a compromising sexual position; he had a rope tied around his business and that rope was tied to a rope around his neck. Here's my opinion on the matter, gang. Life is rough, and if performing some creepy, peculiar sex act makes you feel a little better about it, knock yourself out. As long as you aren't causing problems for others and are basically an upstanding member of society, and you do these things in the privacy of your own home, go crazy and enjoy your freaky self. Just try not to die in the process. Here are some quick hits.

1) They are remaking the 1986 film Short Circuit. This is just fine with me and I'll tell you why. The film Short Circuit sucks. If people want to remake the rubbish movies from the past then that's just dandy. I just don't like when they remake the good ones. Thppt.

2) Save Money with No-Equipment Exercises (insert Carradine "exercise" joke here).

3) Why Video Games Are an Excellent Economic Indicator.

4) It appears that the Wall Street sequel will star Shia The Beef. That mother lover is in EVERYTHING.

5) Rock/Pop Stars Who Jumped the Shark.

6) GymSearch is a nice map mashup application from GymPost.com. Using it you can easily find local fitness clubs and sport centers including martial art schools, aerobic studios, racquet clubs and more.

7) Bad news, 24 fans. One of the biggest douche actors of the 90s has joined the cast.

8) Picture the gayest thing you can imagine and multiply that by a million. Then, perhaps, you will be approaching the unprecidented gayness of the Daniel Craig popsicle.

9) Here's an ideal stocking stuffer for all of the lovely & liberated ladies out there.

10) YourFonts turns your handwriting into a personlized font. This is great for someone like me who forgot how to write about five years ago.

11) Here is a complete list of all the wonderful songs used in the game Bioshock. I have already started collecting...

12) Avvo is an interactive portal where professional lawyers give you FREE personalized advice and answer your questions. In return, you rate the lawyer on how they did so other people know about them beforehand.

13) The 50 Most Overlooked Games of this Generation.

14) Nine Affordable Steaks and How to Grill Them Anywhere.

15) The Best How-To and DIY Sites.

16) Check out an early review of V.

17) ThisIsWhyYourFat.com documents the different foods that have turned you into a big fatty.

18) 5 Websites to Learn a LOT More About Photography & DigiCams.

19) 50 Hottest Women on Twitter 2009.

20) Five Voice Actors Whose Faces Don't Fit Their Roles.

21) 21 Essential Steps to Make Your PC Better/Faster/Stronger.

22) Here are the movies out in theatres Friday.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Imagine That
Tetro

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is exactly what I mean by remaking the GOOD movies. I wish Robert Shaw was alive so he could get good and liquored up, head over to the Zucko residence and give ol' Johnnyboy a tuning up. Travolta's the worst. Have a listen to Original Prankster by The Offspring.

AB

Quick Hits

Hi gang,

I've been a little light with the posts lately - lots going on. My little buddy Jessie and I discovered the local dog park and have been spending buckets of time there. We went twice yesterday. I've also been burning a lot of extra time playing the various games from The Orange Box. A video game company called Valve put out this game compilation in December 07 - five unbelievable games for $20. These are some of the most enjoyable games I've played in years and the whole thing would be a steal at $100 let alone $20. Stewie and Pop - go pick it up ASAP. Time for some quick hits!

1) Here's the band list for the next Guitar Hero (go get 'em AntB!).

2) TechGuy is a popular online resource where you can get free technical support with your computer’s hardware and software problems. Whether you are complete newbie or an advanced user, you can get help with your specific problem in different categories including Software, Hardware, Operating systems, Networking and more. I'll be contacting them about my laptop's s***bomb of a battery that won't charge past 47%.

3) FreeShipping is a site that let's you know which popular shopping sites are offering free shipping and on which products. Very nice.

3) Do you like shooting video of your kids but are sick of the choppy footage? A steadycam can cost around $10,000. Here's how to make one for $14.

4) Kick-Ass Scenes That Are In Trailers, But Aren't In The Movies.

5) 10 things Microsoft didn't tell you your XBox 360 can do.

6) Digg is now offering a labs dep't.

7) Zefty is an online application that helps parents teach money management to children and also track their allowances. Using Zetfy Parents can set up virtual accounts for their kids and then specify how much allowance they are getting. The kids can then log in into their accounts and see how much money they have. The application works just like actual bank accounts but everything is based on virtual money.

8) I now officially hate the English language. 15 Words You Won’t Believe They Added to the Dictionary.

9) In case you missed it, Fran Tarkenton really put the screws to Brett Farve last week. Good on ya, Francis!

10) The 1st Annual Class for the Sports Douche Bag Hall of Fame.

11) Velcome to Gerrrmany, ver aar Red Bool has kokain in it.

12) Thrilling vintage movie posters.

13) Here are the movies out on DVD today.

He's Just Not That Into You
Defiance
Revolutionary Road

Thppt. Have a listen to You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me  by Bing Crosby. This one is for my dad who is knee deep in Bioshock right now, God help him.

AB

Quick Hits

Hi gang,

Not much to report. Let's get to the quick hits (there's a whack of 'em).

1) I'm not sure how, but it appears that my old blog is still alive and well on the internet.

2) Sonic the Hedgehog is now available for the iPhone.

3) The reviews for the new Terminator flick are trickling in. The film critics of the world have seen this film and let out a collective "meh".

4) A writer over at Cracked had his Dad rank his 7 most embarrasing athletic failures.

5) Travelers, for fear of being robbed, are now "uglying up" there valuables so that they won't be stolen. Clever. Here are articles on uglying up a bike and a camera.

6) Here is every hilarious Tracy Jordan line from 30 Rock.

7) 100 alternative  horror films. This is a GREAT list. I've added a bunch of these to my Netflix queue.

8) The top ten cooperative zombie killing games.

9) I've written here before that TCM is the best channel on television. Here is a good example as to why. From time to time the host of the channel, Robert Osbourne, will have a person in film come on and be a guest programmer, choosing their favorite movies or the films that influenced them. This month they had Tommy "Tiny" Lister. Brilliant.

10) Moving Pictures is a site that takes photos from a persons life and creates a GIF so that it flips through them rapidly. You can see how they change over the years. Pretty neat.

11) Here is a site that lists the release dates for video games. Check out the pages for PS3, XBOX 360 and Wii.

12) Joss Whedon: Seven Things I Love About Sci-Fi.

13) If you are anything like me, then you get tempted time after time by the informercials on the boob tube. Informercial Scams gives you the lowdown on which ones are legit and which ones are rubbish.

14) 45 uses for WD-40. I know of only one use, and that's to hold a lighter in front of it to make a makeshift flamethrower when you're 12 years old.

15) Heeb is a Jewish magazine aimed at young intellectual Jews. And it's hilarious.

16) I was looking for some new clothes to buy on the web and came across a brand called The Mountain, which is the t-shirt brand that I will exclusively buy in the future.

17) 15 MIA Kool-Aid flavours.

18) 15 of the Meanest CAPTCHAs ever.

19) HowToCleanStuff.net is a useful resource with cleaning how to’s  and guides for wide range of household and personal stuff including clothing, indoor & outdoor items, personal things and more.

20) Retrospace has posted a blog entry on the genius that was Tony Orlando and Dawn.

21) The Goonies recently got together for a reunion. Here's the video.

22) PowerPoint is the most popular tool for making presentations. While it has many default templates and backgrounds to choose from, if you feel that none of them fits the theme of your topic, check out TemplatesWise. It is a directory of free downloadable PowerPoint templates and backgrounds.

23) Here are the movies that came out on DVD this week.

Valkyrie
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
My Bloody Valentine 3D
Fanboys
Outlander

24) Here are the movies in theatres tomorrow.

Terminator Salvation
Dance Flick
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Easy Virtue

That's it, friends! Have a listen to Birdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants.

AB

Quick Hits

Hi all,

I've been a busy little beaver lately. Once again I have renter trouble - it's like pulling teeth trying to get them to pay their rent. The first ten days of every month is a stress fest, running around calling and trying to squeeze the money out of them. It's bullshit. So I filed eviction papers, once again. It seems like a brother can't get a break these days. I shouldn't complain though; outside of that, life is just Jim Dandy.

My lovely sister headed back to BC yesterday which is a bummer. We had a terrific time while she was here. We saw The Class, a marvelous little French film that I would highly recommend to anyone. Get on it. I've also begun volunteer work for Newborns in Need, a charity dedicated to providing handmade clothing for newborns. The extent of my involvement so far is making cupcakes for an upcoming meeting, but maybe there will be more to do once I infiltrate ingratiate myself into the group. Time for some quick hits!

1) Just a quick note to all of those involved in the Pizza Dough challenge - only four days left to cook and get your photos/write-ups in. I already have an idea of what the ingredient will be for the next challenge...

2) Here's a video report from the Wall Street Journal about a 19 year old girl who died of a heart attack due to her bulimia. Eating disorders are a sad and terrible thing.

3) Check out the red band trailer for the upcoming film, The Hangover. Yes, please.

4) Movie Stars Who Die the Most in Film.

5) Support Your Vet is a website that teaches friends and families of returning vets how to behave and act when they return. Well done.

6) How to Stop Dealing With Someone Else's Lateness.

7) Top 10 Xbox Live Arcade Games (w/ Vids).

8) If you are looking for a way to save on paper and ink, check out PrintFriendly.com. It is a new web application with a browser bookmarklet which lets you create print friendly version of any webpage, and print only content you need. The application removes all clutter and arranges content in easy to read format. Once webpage is ready for print you can download it as PDF or print it out directly.

9) McDonalds is taking on Starbucks in the gourmet coffee war. Upon hearing this, I, of course, went straight to this:

It's hot!
How hot is it?
It's so hot that I poured a cup of McDonalds coffee in my lap just to cool off!

NICE.

10) Mommy Dearest: The Best and Worst Mothers in Video Games.

11) Red Dead Revolver is finally getting a sequel. BAM!

12) TIME's Top 10 Panics Ever.

13) 20 Products To Traumatize Your Infant.

14) 10 of the Nastiest Restaurant Scenes in Movies.

15) 10 Most Bizarre Beauty Pageants. I absolutely could not believe the first one on the list.

16) Here are the movies out on DVD tomorrow.

Taken
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Passengers
Of Time and the City
O Jerusalem

I am ALL OVER Taken. Liam Neeson whooping some ass is my idea of a good time. Here's Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney and the Wings.

Quick Hits

Hi all,

I'm way too lazy to describe the riveting events of my jet set life right now, so let's get on to the links.

1) Wizard runs down the top 200 comic book characters.

2) Yakaz aggregates local classified listings from over 7000 classified listing sites including Craigslist, Kijiji, Livedeal…  etc, and presents results in an easy to search interface. Search listings by location, by type (real estate, cars, jobs etc.), by features, by price range and physical distance; sort them by relevance, price and date listed.

3) The Ferris Bueller Fight Club Theory.

4) SugarStacks is a website that lists images which show the actual amount of sugar in food products that we consume on daily basis.

5) Nerve lists the best opening film scenes of all time, from Raising Arizona to Dawn of the Dead.

6) If you want to get into shape and looking for workout routines, try Workouts. It is an online application that lets you select a muscle group and get number of related workout links pulled from Del.icio.us.

7) How Hollywood managed to screw up X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

8) 7 Clearly Fake News Stories That Fooled The Mainstream Media.

9) 10 Most Horrifying Movie Moms.

10) Two Free Apps To Sync ANY MP3 Player with iTunes.

11) Prolonging your iPod battery life.

12) Ready Your Shift Key: 30 Classic PC Games That Still Rule.

13) Sam's Club now has online auctions.

14) Here are the DVDs out this week.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Last Chance Harvey
Wendy and Lucy
Chandi Chowk to China
Just Another Love Story
Momma's Man

Noooooo thanks. Have a listen to Jumpin' Jack Flash by Ananda Shankar (I love this).

AB

Quick Hits

Good morning, friends and neighbours!

As I mentioned my lovely sister is down here for visit so I decided to make the Top Chef challenge steak again. Just as good the second time around. Tonight it's Potato Gnocchi in Sage Brown Butter. I'll be posting it on the food blog tomorrow or the next day.

I finished a second run through of Bioshock so I thought I'd dig deep into the ol' PS2 graveyard to pick one of the many unfinished games I own. I decided to crack out The Suffering which is a nifty little game, but it's not that difficult and it's seriously lacking in the graphics department. I'm sure it was state of the art in 2004 but it doesn't really hold up now (especially coming off my Bioshock high).

Time for some quick hits!

1) The former football teams of two high schools in Pennsylvania have decided, fifteen years later, to replay a game that finished in a tie. I played high school football, and to be honest, I would probably do it if I was in their shoes. Of course it would take about a year for me to get back in shape...

2) Peculiar 1970s trading cards.

3) There is a video game coming out which involves Mr. T fighting Nazis. Oh HELL yes.

4) J.J. Abrams picks some of his favorite things for Wired magazine.

5) The history of Jughead's hat.

6) Radio Locator is a website which lets you locate radio stations across the US. Just type in your city/zip code or state and click “go” to get the list of available radio stations in nearest proximity. Great for road trips (I'm thinking about you here, AntB).

7) The wonderful Zoe Bell has an online show called Angel of Death. Low budget, badly acted, super violent, loads of fun.

8) Childhood fears visualized. I've posted this in the past but it's so great I thought I'd put it up again.

9) Here are the movies in theatres tomorrow.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Battle for Terra

I can't wait to see Wolverine. And by can't wait, I mean can wait, until it comes out on BluRay and I don't have to deal with all the big mouth, texting rats in the theatre. Have a listen to The Window Up Above by George Jones.

AB

Quick Hits

Hello there.

Not a whole lot to report these days, people. I've been pretty busy with a variety of things but nothing that warrants mentioning here. My lovely sister is down here visiting from BC which is always nice and tonight we are going to sit down and crack out the old Star Wars: A New Hope DVD. I caught the end of it on SpikeTV the other day and now want to watch the whole thing again. Great, great movie. Here are some quick hits.

1) 6 sites for celebrating Cinco De Mayo.

2) Ten games that hate the environment.

3) If you want to know which video games are being released in the future, check out VGReleases.

4) The world's greatest librairies, past and present. While I'm at it, here's how to make the most of librairies in the Digital Age.

5) Amazon is having a pretty extensive sale on BluRay discs. Nice, big discounts.

6) The 10 Best Frenchmen on Film.

7) If you are looking to plant your own garden but don't have the backyard space, try gutter gardens.

8) I decided to have a look at GoogleDocs the other day and it's really great. Google Docs is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users.

9) It looks like they'll be remaking Videodrome. Everytime they do this a little bit of me dies.

10) I remember the first time I saw the video for the song Wipe Out by The Fat Boys I was introduced to beatboxing (which is awesome). Well, it looks like beatboxing has evolved.

11) Madden 10 will incorperate the Wildcat offense. Thppt.

12) 6 Random Coincidences That Created The Modern World.

13) Make sure to check out E:60 tonight on ESPN2 at 7pm. They'll be running a feature on Gregg Valentino. Who's Gregg Valentino, you ask? He's this guy.

14) The Hollywood Wax Museum is auctioning off some of it's less popular statues. I was going through the list trying to see which ones I wouldn't mind having, and then I hit the jackpot.

15) Here are the movies out on DVD today.

Hotel for Dogs
Bride Wars
The Uninvited
JCVD
Notorious

That would be a no for each and every one of those. Have a great day, folks. Here's Relax Max by Dinah Washington.

Quick Hits

Good morning, all!

I've had a lot of personal things to attend to lately so my apologies to those who participated in the Top Chef challenge. I'm waiting to hear back from Mr. Halifax to see if he had a chance to make the meal and then I'll post. Here are some quick hits!

1) Since the summer is coming up, check out Esquire's Big Back Yard Bonanza 2009 for advice on grilling, entertaining, etc.

2) 10 Great Books For (Traumatizing) Children.

3) If you spend lots of cash on your medical prescriptions and looking for a way to save some money on drugs check out MedTipster. It is a website that allows you to find affordable generic and therapeutic alternatives to your prescription drugs.

4) The 6 Scariest Babies in Movie History

5) Kindertrauma posted (and solved) one of my childhood "Name That Trauma" mysteries. What a great site.

6) CarBibles is a comprehensive auto maintenance guide, useful both for DIY car enthusiasts and ordinary vehicle owners. Site explains in detail how different car parts work (suspension, brakes, engine, transmission, steering etc.) includes useful car maintenance tips, product reviews and general advice for car owners.

7) Robert Rodriguez is going to remake Predator. Ridiculous. Leave well enough alone, directors.

8) The Joker will be a playable character in the upcoming video game Arkham Asylum. That's pretty sweet - looking forward to that game.

9) How BioShock 2 will be better than the first.

10) How to speed up your Mac.

11) DayTipper is a platform for sharing practical daily life tips. It has more than 7500 published tips submitted by users in various categories (Buying/Selling, Travel, Education, Family, Household etc.) that provide insights to very specific everyday problems such as “How to make a room seem bigger” or “No more smelly feet”.

12) 10 must see movies at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Have a great Sunday, gang. Here's Negro y Azul by Los Cuates De Sinaloa, a wonderful song that was featured at the beginning of the last Breaking Bad episode (you can hear them say "Heisenberg"!).

AB

Quick Hits

Hi all,

The Top Chef challenge is complete and I'll be posting the results later today or tomorrow. Everyone did really well! Here are some quick hits.

1) Unions have found their way to Walmart. So if you notice the price of tube socks going up a penny or two, go ahead and blame the Quebecers.

2) In the world of horror, zombies are the new black. Just ask Woody Harrelson. If you're not that familiar with zombies, feel free to sign up for this course at Columbia College in Chicago.

3) Researchers have recently discovered that the Great Wall of China is 180 miles longer than previously thought. OK... hold on just a second. I completely understand when scientests discover a new type of gibbon in Africa or cartographers find a river that they didn't know about, but how do these goofs not know the length of the Great Wall? It's man made! I'm amazed that no one has accurately documented the size of this thing. You read about people swimming across oceans or flying around the world in record setting times - has no one tried to jog this thing yet? This reeks of sloppy work. For shame, science community.

4) 10 YouTube URL tricks you should know about.

5) 40 Amazing Online Photography Magazines.

6) Here's a webpage dedicated to Jennifer Runyon, one of the great beauties of 1980s film (and one of my earliest crushes).

7) Playspace is an online playground finder (you know... for kids).

8) Good news and bad news for Rock Band fans. The good news is that a Beatles edition is on the way. The bad news is that you'll have to take a second mortgage on your home to buy it.

9) Spike! has a new television program called Deadliest Warrior, which is just terrific. They select two warriors from history (the episode I watched had Viking vs. Samurai) and use various scientific methods to figure out who would most likely win if the two squared off. Then at the end you get a dramatized fight. Great stuff there.

10) The NFL Draft is this Sunday (ohhh man I love the Draft) - here are the 100 worst draft picks in history. And for you Bills fans out there, here are the best and worst Bills draft picks of all time.

11) 10 Of The Most Annoying Vista Irritations Solved.

12) Ida Maria is a singer I've been enjoying lately (Immediate Audio).

13) 10 dangers of genetically modified food. God help us. I wouldn't touch the stuff.

14) How to grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 square feet.

15) PS2s are going for only $99 these days.

16) Have you guys met Fred yet? You should really meet Fred.

17) Travis Henry, former Bills/Broncos running back, says that he is broke. This is due to his nuclear grade sperm and the legions of bastards he has aimlessly roaming around the US.

18) Scarlett Johansson wrote a piece for the Huffington Post about how womens be too skinny, and that the media is directly to blame. Meow!!! Go get 'em ScarJo!

19) Musicians who aced acting roles.

20) Here are the movies out on DVD today.

Frost/Nixon
The Wrestler
Notorious
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
A Jihad for Love
How About You
House of the Sleeping Beauties

That's it for now kiddies. Have a listen to Joseph! Joseph! by The Andrews Sisters.