July 2009 Archives

For the uber-geeks out there (oh you know who you are!), Mel passes this along. Enjoy. Until the inevitable backlash starts.

I don't know what Sarah Palin will be doing in the future, but I think Bill Shatner may have found his True Calling.

The new season of Top Chef premieres August 26th, and not one, not two, but three (three!) of the contestants are from Atlanta: Hector Santiago of Pura Vida; Eli Kirshtein of Eno, and Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill. Alas, no Chef Wendy of Eurasia Bistro in Decatur.

We're down to four finalists on the Next Food Network Star! I was rooting for Debbie, but after her pity-party-blame-game of this past week, her marinated ribeye isn't sounding so good anymore.

Blog War! Foodie Style! Here's how it went down: author Kelly Alexander went on NPR and admitted to enjoying the miso salmon at The Cheesecake Factory. Then fancy-pants food writer and blogger Michael Ruhlman was totally like "Kelly doesn't know food from a hole in the ground!!" and Kelly was all "Oh yeah?" and Michael was all "Yeah!". So Kelly challenged Michael to try it for himself! Long story short: girls rule, boys drool (for miso salmon). Michael conceded defeat.

But, you know, there's a reason that miso salmon tastes so good. In his new book, The End of Overeating, former FDA chief David Kessler explains the gross science behind what makes chain restaurant food taste good, things like making food easier to chew, double frying, and adding four or five different kinds of sweetener to everything. Ew.

If you're still wanting some mass-produced edible goodies, but just wished it looked better, then check out Fancy Fast Food for some excellent food styling tips.

Want these.

Don't forget to set your DVRs for the premiere of Drop Dead Diva, not only co-starring Margaret Cho but also partially filmed in Decatur.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry about this. At any rate, it makes me feel very, very old. More coverage here.

I'll admit it: I'm a Facebook gal. MySpace just brings out the cranky old lady in me with the blaring music, and the flashing, garish backgrounds and whatnot. Now super cool internet researcher danah boyd tells me I'm part of an insidious networking divide that re-creates real world class and race divisions online. Crap.

Dear Westerners: While many Japanese fashion trends are lovely and worth imitating, please exercise some restraint. Some things are just not for you.

OMG OMG OMG! Shakira's new album is coming!

Not since the days of Tommy Tutone's "Jenny (867-5309)" has a song wreaked such havoc. The BBC reports that since the UK release of Soulja Boy's "Kiss Me Thru The Phone", Gerry Matley and his wife Catriona Howard Smith of Oldham, UK, who unfortunately have the phone number mentioned in the chorus of the song, have been getting about 60 calls a day from fans hoping to talk to the star. Matley commented:

Some of them really want to believe that they have got through to their heart-throb.... Some of them are devastated when we have to tell them that he doesn't live in Oldham but over the other side of the Atlantic.

Soulja Boy isn't totally at fault, however. As Ms. Howard Smith noted, "If they called the number with the American dialling code in front of it they will get through to a recorded message from him."

[An aside: A friend has a 10-year-old who is a big fan of this song. His mother heard him singing it one afternoon, and thought he was saying "Kiss me through the thong." Much hilarity ensued.]

H/t Melanie