Round-Up: Saturday, Feb. 27

Watch: Great compilation of movies from the 2000s. How many do you recognize?

the films of the 2000s from Paul Proulx on Vimeo.

Watch: The Onion Discusses the 2 am Virus

Round-Up: Friday, Feb. 26, 2010

Eat: Aaron Israel introduced me to babka, and now I just want to jump on a plane to New York and devour as much babka as possible. Thanks Aaron for creating a monster.

Chart: Infographic about Google

List: 25 Romantic Comedies that Don't Suck

Listen: Johnny Depp's the Mad Hatter character was influenced by Sunset Rubdown?! So strange but so awesome. Saw the Rubdown a few months ago in Echo Park and it was a great great show. Here's one of Sunset Rubdown's catchier songs, "Up on your Leopard, Upon the End of your Feral Days”



Listen: Just discovered this band today. Fang Island - "Daisy." The song makes me happy.



Laugh: Curling webcomic, 10 worst Wedding photobombs 

Watch: One of my favorite new bands Surfer Blood does a more stripped-down drum-intensive live set.


Watch: I love this video. Espresso at Intelligentsia




Watch: Waste Lots of Time with This Fun Mixable Youtube video


Watch: Creative Music Video (via)



Watch: Another Awesome Video (via)

Round-Up: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

New Goal: Eat Everything on J. Gold's Just Release "99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die" List by the end of the Year. Here are pictures of 40 of the places. Of course, the first one is going to be the most difficult (and by difficult, I mean expensive. Starting price for a meal: $350 not including tip, drinks, etc...) so maybe I should be more realistic and aim for 80 of them. Luckily one of the more difficult ones I've already bagged: LudoBite's Fried Chicken (doesn't have a restaurant. Just does pop-up concepts). The list w/o commentary can be seen here.

Graph: Income by Religion

Chart: Who Blogs Inforgraphic

Learn: Why You Don't Propose at a Sporting Event

Watch: The Legacy of Sen. Bayh



Watch: Hamm & Buble


Listen: Puma Hardchorus covers Savage Garden



Watch: Two & a Half Men w/ realistic studio audience

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Round-Up: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010

Listen and Read: Vanity Fair presents "The Virile Man's Guide to Liking Joanna Newsom." Stream the album at NPR.

Eat: Awesome. I've been waiting for something like this for awhile. Google Map of the location of food trucks in real time.

Photos: Hi-res photos of Olympics

Learn: The Economics of Drinking Infographic 

Read: Journalistic malpractice on global warming.


Judge: Controversial French anti-Smoking ads

Listen: Brian Fallon (of Gaslight Anthem) on NPR.
Watch: Last night, I went to Comedy Death Ray @ the Upright Citizens Brigade. It wasn't the most solid show I've seen there, but it had its moments. It was cool seeing special guest Nick Swardson (I recommend his comedy album Party), but I guess he hasn't done stand-up in almost a year and it was a slightly disappointing set. Oh well, I'm sure he will be better when he gets back into the swing of things (I've learned quite a bit about the challenges to stand-up comedy from my roommate). Pete Holmes was pretty funny, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe from 24) bombed pretty bad, and everyone else was pretty forgettable. However, Garfunkel and Oates (who you may recognize from Scrubs or several other shows). Here are some Garfunkel & Oates videos:











From Scrubs:

Round-Up: Monday, Feb. 22, 2010

Fun site: Rap Genius - interactive website to explain rap lyrics.

Funny and Interesting News: Interesting take on Alexander Haig's obituary, Indians Object to Super Cool Jesus, A slideshow of Obama feigning interest in mundane things, and the 14 worst onstage musical meltdowns

Read: Depressing but also inspiring read about Roger Ebert's Cancer Battle

Not Funny but Interesting: STD Infographic

Quote: “What passes for hip cynical transcendence of sentiment is really some kind of fear of being really human, since to be really human … is probably to be unavoidably sentimental and naïve and goo-prone and generally pathetic.” — David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest. Oh Joaquin Phoenix.

Listen: LA singer/songwriter Rachael Cantu covers Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" (Via)



Watch: I'm a Kevin Smith fan and all, but this is pretty funny. Especially since, for some reason beyond explanation, I've been following this "Too Fat to Fly" controversy



Watch: Mark Bittman (love his book Food Matters and his cookbooks How to Cook Everything & How To Cook Everything Vegetarian) talks at TED about "What's Wrong with What We Eat"

Round-Up: Friday, Feb. 19, 2010

Read: Informative article about Health Care Profits

Read: A Carnivore's Dilemma: Foodies killing animals themselves.

Why?: Redesigning the Penny

Eat: James Beard Semifinalists Announced & Tips on getting great service at a restaurant.

Cook: Save some money and spend only $3 on a pizza stone from Home Depot. Also, everything you'd ever want to know about cooking sous-vide

List: The Top Ten Bands Nick Has Never Seen Live That He Plans to See First Chance He Gets:
(Note: I'm not including bands that there is little chance of me being able to see like Neutral Milk Hotel)

1. The Mountain Goats
2. Modest Mouse
3. Los Campesinos!
4. Radiohead
5. The National
6. The Gaslight Anthem (Bought tickets to see the lead singer do a set soon!)
7. TV on the Radio
8. Bloc Party
9. The White Stripes
10. The Decemberists

I would have put Straylight Run in the running, but they just announced they were going on indefinite hiatus this week. I am lucky to have seen most of my favorite bands live.

Round-Up: Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010

List: 10 Literary Classics Made Better as Comic Books

Listen: The Golden Filter - "Hide Me"

Watch: The Morning Benders sing "Echoes" with Chris from Girls, John Vanderslice, and many more


Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Watch: How to Sell Anti-depressants


Watch: Yes, I Wave. No, I don't Buzz

Round-Up: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010

Read: Although I get sick of politics quite easily when it comes to partisan attacks, listening to people repeatedly just parroting talking points, and personal scandals, I do love reading about rationality/incentives/collective action in politics. If you like this nerdy stuff, read this 538 post about non-strategic retirements and cycles.

Read: If you want something less wonky, I recommend reading this short argument in favor of universal health care coverage.

Listen: Stream 35 songs from around the world. 35 music bloggers from 35 countries each post one song that they love. You can also download the songs for free there.

Listen: Honor the 25th Anniversary of The Smith's Meat is Murder by listening to the record and reading what other musicians have to say about the album.

Laugh: Comic about the Starbucks/Guns controversy

Personal: I had a great weekend of food. LA street food festival (LudoBites Fried Chicken = best chicken of my life, great indian food), finally got coffee at LaMill, cooked spaghetti with roasted cauliflower and bacon-panko-breadcrumbs (I hate cooking bacon, might stop making recipes that use bacon) & a fun salad, had one of the best burgers of my life at Comma Ca (good fries and Chocolate Pot de Creme, and $4.50 specialty President's Day cocktails), and cooked a nice homemade breakfast.

Round-Up: Friday, Feb. 12, 2010

Listen: Japandroids - "Art Czar"


News: "The only thing the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] believes would do more to create new jobs than a tax credit aimed at hiring would be raising unemployment benefits. The unemployed spend new funds so quickly, raising demand in the economy so much, that increasing unemployment benefits is, counterintuitively, the single best way to create jobs."

Sad News: "59% of the public cannot correctly answer the question: 'Do you know how many votes are required to end a filibuster in the US Senate?'"

Crave: Top 10 Baguettes in LA.

Big Picture: Two Sets of Pictures of Dancing Around the World. Also, Olympic Torch pictures & Vikings & People at Work

List: Tiny Mix Tapes Finishes Counting Down the Top Albums of the Decade

Listen: Kate Nash - "I Love You More" This is perhaps the most surprising song I've heard this year. I loved her clever, cute, piano ballads on her 2008 album. This is balls-to-the-walls Karen O shit, and I love it.


Did You Know: Valentine's Day is the Second Most Popular Day to Dine Out after Mother's Day.

Disgusting: A guy stuffed a roll of sausage with a cheesy double beef burrito from Taco Bell. There's also a McGangBang.

Listen:

(two circles) - Boredoms

Watch: Set Your Goals Cover Lady Gaga w/ Kazoos.... what?

Set Your Goals - MTV Shows

Round-Up: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

Laugh: What Kind of Interviewee Are You?

How True: “It’s really hard to dig through your sound and also improve and push yourself as an artist and create songs that you’re going to love playing every night on stage,” Henry says. “I think when you put out a few songs and start touring you realize, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to play this song every day for the rest of my life.’” - Sherwood

Crave: Pictures of a Football Stadium Made Out of Snacks

Learn: The 5 Most Widely Believed WWII Facts (That Are Bullshit)

Listen: Yeasayer - "Ampling Amp (Very Best Remix)"


Watch: History of Everything via a Flipbook

Round-Up: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010

Random: Cool facts about Jeopardy. Merv Griffin made $70 million for the theme song, Someone won once with only $1.

So True: Echo Park anti-Hipster letter

Laugh: Every Zach Galifianakis clip on Tim & Eric.

Laugh: ICYN Academy Awards for Guys, Science & Batman webcomic, Tea partiers & Obama share something in common, Lost Writers Need Your Help!, If people were honest on the internet, Why Da Vinci was a Supervillian

Read: Saveur Magazine, Los Angeles Edition."It's no secret that LA's upscale restaurants tend to be more casual and more outwardly trendy than those you find in other great food cities, or that the cuisine here is often lighter and more far ranging. But, why? What made it so?" "It's not fakeness that bothers us but fakeness without heart." They even have a timeline of LA eating milestones. 

Learn: More than you wanted to know about semen. Did you know that semen travels 31 mph and 5% of women are allergic to it? 

Round-Up: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010

Debate: Would you accept the European health care social contract? "It's part of the social contract: doctors accept limited salaries in exchange for limited liability; patients accept that they cannot sue doctors for millions of dollars in exchange for a guarantee of access to decent health care." The author argues, "People can be persuaded to give up their right to sue doctors for huge damages if they understand that those damages come out of everyone's pockets, because the system works for everyone and requires some sacrifices from everyone"


News: Christmas bomber is cooperating. This = an argument for justice, against torture. 


Understand: Track by track breakdown of the great new album "Odd Blood" by Yeasayer. Listen to the album here.


Laugh: Braces & dating, Jobs (for Republicans), Party of No, NBC, SI Swimsuit Bracket (I at least think it's funny b/c of the time put into making this), Bachelor v. Shutter Island mashup video. 


Listen: Frightened Rabbit - "Swim"





Watch: I got pretty interested in remix culture when I was researching for the class I taught. This is well done.





Watch: Google doesn't mess around when it comes to social networking. Seriously, I feel like I'm one of the few people that use Wave, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it.

Round-Up: Monday, Feb. 8, 2010

News: Can't be a good sign that HP's political action committee maxed out donations for the opponent of former HP CEO Carly Fiorina in the race for the Republican Nomination for US Senate. "They Know Her."

Personal: A few decent sized news agencies have written about the video game website I wrote. GamePro, GamePolitics, and Reuters.

Discover: Tiny Mixtapes begins its countdown of their favorite 100 albums of the decade.

Read: About Oscar campaigning.

Clever: For fans of The Office, Modern Family, and Dawsons Creek,  

Listen: Hot Chip's "One Life Stand"

Round-Up: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010

List: Cool idea for a list: 10 Albums from the ’00s We’d Like to See Performed in Full

Sound Smart: Things I Can Say to Save My Ass During the Super Bowl

Don't Eat: 10 Most Un-nutritious Chain Sandwiches in the Country. #1: Cheesecake Factory Grilled Shrimp & Bacon Club. Almost everything there is super unhealthy.


Imagine: Which Filmmaker Do You Wish Was Directing the Super Bowl?

Watch: 1 Laptop per 3rd World n00b

Watch: The Perfect Lost Episode

Round-Up: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

News: Great quote in this article about Republicans wanting to seat Scott Brown to stop the NLRB Chair confirmation.
"I love how we cave to the Republicans and won’t seat our Senator, [Al] Franken. Then we reverse cave and seat their senator. I mean forget the analogy of one is playing checkers and the other playing chess. It’s like one is playing chess while the other is sitting there picking their nose"


News: Is Obama going to get the health care bill passed through reconciliation? It's starting to look like it.


Listen: The Soft Pack - "Down on Loving"


Lunch: Top LA Restaurants for a business lunch


Eat: How to store cheese (with pictures!) (Personal Note: I love spinach. So healthy but makes everything taste so creamy.) Also, add rosemary when you grill meat to reduce cancer-causing properties.


Tweet: 
michaelianblack: Of course gays should serve in the army. Who's better at exercising,  polishing things, and making their beds really well? Nobody!
DougBenson: Jay-Z isn't a movie star or a singer, so when he says he's the new Sinatra, he's means the could-have-people-killed part

Watch: Jason Segel and Jack Black sing "Dracula's Lament"


Laugh: Pee-Wee Gets an iPad

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

Laugh: Another reason why the Grammy's are terrible (or maybe awesome?): Snooki of Jersey Shore interviews the amazing French band Phoenix

MTV Shows

Round-Up: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday: Where to Hang Out and Eat in LA During the Super Bowl.

Flowchart: Remember when Cuba Gooding Jr. showed promise?

List: 50 Worst Movies of All-Time (#1 is Batman & Robin)

Read: Albums vs. Singles. Some history and some predictions.

Watch: The worst attack ad I've seen in a long long time, by Carly Fiorina. Make sure you watch the beginning as well as the end when there is a man dressed in an evil sheep costume crawling around.



Watch: Vampire Weekend do a 20-minute live acoustic set

Round-Up: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010

News: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KT) before President Obama supports Conrad-Gregg proposal: "As I have said many times before, the best way to address the crisis is the Conrad- Gregg proposal." After Obama supports it: McConnell votes against it. There's just too much integrity in Congress these days evidently.  

Entertainment: Round-up of Movie & TV news from the last week. Harry Potter in 3D, Weird Al on Cartoon Network, George Lucas musical, and more....

Laugh: Flowchart to help you choose your major, Worst Maxim Covers, Women are slower at getting jokes, but enjoy them more, Strip Games webcomic (nice iterated prisoner dilemma shout-out), Karma: The Board Game webcomic,

List: 50 Most Racist films

Watch: Atlas Sound at Natural History Museum (it was a fun night)

Save: America's Biggest Rip-offs by CNNMoney

Watch: Trapped in the Drive-Thru