I’ve seen the pilot for Alcatraz already (shh, don’t tell anyone) and I can say that the show looks like it is going to be really great.

Subscribed.

I’m starting to believe that if and when Apple TV is updated the hardware price will be surprisingly low.

As you may very well know Eliza and I use our Apple TV a lot. We don’t use all of the features but we use it daily. For $99 (its current price) I think it a steal. I can’t imagine what would happen if, say, a new Apple TV was priced at $29 (my guess at what “surprisingly low” could be).

This, of course, is besides the notion that Apple will, at some point in the future, debut a brand-new television-related product. Perhaps a TV of their own. Or, perhaps, a really inexpensive Apple TV in addition to a TV of their own. Who knows?

But I can say this… I highly, highly recommend anyone with an iPhone, iPod, iPad or Macintosh to consider the Apple TV a must-have accessory. A must-have accessory. And if a new one is priced lower than today’s models than my recommendation would only be stronger.

Chilling.

/via Andy Baio.

I’m with Gruber – I have no idea if this will help Google and Logitech sell anymore Google TVs or Logitech Revues but I love this commercial.

Last night was Conan O’Brien‘s first episode of his new show Conan on TBS. Jack White was the music guest. Perfect. Here is the video.

1. Well, they are watching TV. – Lets face it, people are just sitting on the couch watching other people work out. This isn’t a work out tape. This isn’t Richard Simmons and definitely no Tony Horton. This is a TV show and people are sitting there, watching it, doing nothing.
2. Eating junk food! People eat a lot while watching The Biggest Loser. And, it isn’t like they are eating a sensible meal either. This dude eats pie. Someone else cake.
3. Drinking alcohol. Jillian recommends almost no drinking of alcohol while dieting. But I guess champagne is ok?
4. Cry. The journey for the contestants isn’t only physical, it is also emotional. I guess it is emotional for the viewers too. Every time.
5. Make fun of The Biggest Loser. If you can’t beat ‘em, make fun of ‘em. This guy says he is going to get some cookies and this chick is going to get some donuts for tonight’s premier.

The authors of this list are big fans of The Biggest Loser and are probably as guilty as anyone of doing one or all of them while watching the show.

Enjoy the premier!

There is no need to refresh the page, it will update automatically. Just leave the page open and watch the show.

If you want to participate you can by joining the room on Friendfeed for this post or simply comment below.

The Boxee Box, a mini-square-ish computer with the sole purpose of running Boxee on a television, is becoming more compelling with every press release. Made by D-Link this little box is being reported to hit the market at under $200 and to have one heckuva remote control.

At that size, with that design, that price point and with a remote control that sports a QWERTY keyboard on the back I see no reason not to get a Boxee Box. I’m still looking forward to details on the way it integrates with the home network though.

Easily one of my favorite TV-series of all time. Thanks to Tim Crowe for reminding me. Tim, you’ve just taken up a huge portion of the rest of my summer. And I shall love every second of it. Here we go, Season 1 Disk 1 Episode 1.

No Reservations Australia was about food. Not necessarily Australian food either. More like food that happened to be made in Australia. Like so many other places on this planet, globalization is in full effect in Melbourne, Australia. The food is heavily influenced, if not outright made and served by, people from other cultures around the world. This episode, rather than focusing on the Australia we all think we know (shrimp on a barbie, Aborigines eating bats in the outback, and kangaroos) it focused on the side of Australia we probably never knew was there. I blame Crocodile Dundee for my skewed view of Australia.

I suppose Tony’s little black book being chocked full of amazing chefs all over the world helps – since we undoubtedly saw a side of Melbourne cuisine that most of us probably couldn’t afford. But I’m ok with that. No Reservations is the world through Tony’s eyes – not mine. Through Tony’s contacts, budget, and experience – not mine. And every single week I look forward to that… whether or not it depicts an experience that I could ever have or not.

I decided to make something a little different for this episode. Yes, I made shrimp but I decided to add a little bit of an Italian flare (read: make my own basic tomato sauce and throw it over pasta). There was no indication that Italy has had any real effect on the food in Melbourne, Australia in this episode (although I’m sure it has)… but there was a lot of showing many other areas that obviously have had a huge impact. British, Lebanese, and Sichuan influences were highlighted the most. I need some Sichuan food at my next opportunity.

When No Reservations focuses on food everything else seems to fall into place.

What better way to cap off an otherwise crappy day? Tune into the Travel Channel and be whisked away by Anthony Bourdain to someplace you’ve probably never been, learn facts about that place that you’ve probably never known, and watch him experience peoples and foods that you’ve probably never experienced yourself.

The opening few minutes of No Reservations – Chile, for me, weren’t that great. I’ve watched the episode twice now and I still think the beginning could have used a punch up in the first few minutes somehow. That being said, the rest of the episode was fantastic.

I don’t know about you, but every time I watch No Reservations I end up drooling, stomach making gurgling sounds, ever wanting a dish of whatever Tony is eating. Not this time. This time my lovely wife Eliza whipped up some empanadas for us to enjoy. We were both surprised when empanadas were not in this episode… but wait – they were. One of the missing scenes was mouthwatering empanadas. We had ours baked not fried as Tony does. I don’t know how Tony isn’t 300lbs.

Patagonia. I think the No Reservations crew are using some new lenses this year because, while Patagonia looks like one of the most beautiful coastal areas on the planet, it looked altogether real or three-dimensional on my HD TV. I could smell the seawater. Whatever lenses you’re using – keep it up. Chile is one of the most gorgeous episodes to date (Venice is high up on this list).

Twice during this episode Tony remarked how he could see himself somehow delegating the job of host to someone else. He jested that he’d just like to sit back, relax, and enjoy his food without “worrying about the cameras”. He has to be kidding right? Although I believe he’s a hard working man, a man that does his job well, puts a lot of effort into making what could be just a good show a great one – I also believe he really loves his job. But, if he wants to experiment a little – I’m available for a trip or two. There are several places on earth I’m dying to get to, to explore, to enjoy, to photograph, to eat.

I bet with Tony’s job I’d come to love Mondays.

Next up: Australia. Having had kangaroo I’m looking forward to Tony’s take on what I think is some of the best meat in the world.

To say that I’m excited, wouldn’t be enough. You all know where I will be on Monday. Sitting on my couch, mouth gaping, a warm pool of drool at my feet, staring at my television – listening to the snarkiest man alive – Anthony Bourdain – talk about meat, fat, butter, and probably cheese in Chile.

That’s an evening of entertainment friends.

The interview is very laid back and provides some enlightening information about the show, what happens after the show is over, and some really great information about keeping yourself motivated to keep your weight and health maintained even after you’ve lost the weight.

Excellent job Jennifer & Co.

Something I hadn’t really noticed, which is mentioned on LOSTpedia, is that “When Jack is doing Roger’s work for him the chalk board is filled with material. In multiple shots afterward, the board is erased in random parts with previously erased parts reoccurring.”

If you have any better screenshots or find any online please link them up in the comments.

Side note: I think season five of LOST is shaping up to be the best season yet. We’ll see if it has a strong finish.

Random 60: HD TV – The choices are endless! | Favorite on Viddler.

In the market for a new TV? You’ll be going HD. But what to buy? LCD? Plasma? DLP? How big? 30-something? 46? 47? 50? 50+? What about the hrz? 60? 120?

I don’t know about you, but the possibilities are exhausting!

What do you think? What is the best HDTV?

As we’re finishing up the second-to-last season of LOST, I’m guessing that the accuracy of theories may rise. We’ll see. But I suggest that if you do not want anything spoiled, do not read this theory either.

The Time Loop Theory suggests that there are several iterations of time at work on The Island. That Richard and Ben have both lived more than full lifetimes on the island in an effort to change an ultimate future demise of the island. That The Orchid, combined with The Swan, was able to keep the island in a continuous 108 minute loop. And much, much more…

You’d really have to read the entire thing to get the scope. And a lot of sounds pretty darned convincing – but then again – so did so many other theories that ended up not panning out. I’d be ok with this theory being the official story of LOST. But being that the theory is open ended – I’d like to see how it all ends anyway.

Source: The Time Loop Theory.
Via: Jason Kottke.

I have a confession to make. I only watched the first twenty-five minutes of No Reservations - Philippines on Monday. Why? Because I was tired after playing many hours of basketball. Why else? Because I didn’t think the episode was any good. So I shut it off. Went to bed. And awoke the next morning thinking that my review of the episode was never going to happen.

That changed today when I decided to give the episode another shot. You see, I have never seen an episode of No Reservations that I didn’t even want to finish. I have never turned one off and then never resumed playing it later. Never. So, with notebook and pen in hand I rewatched the entire episode to see what I may have missed.

Turns out I was right. Well, about the first twenty-five minutes anyway. The beginning of the Philippines episode was, well, pretty dull. The guy in the beginning, while passionate about his country’s cuisine, wasn’t bringing any thunder (as my friend Gary likes to put it). It wasn’t until he took Tony to a Dampa, a market where you buy fresh ingredients and have the opportunity to have them cooked for you on the spot, that the episode really began to gain some momentum.

After I poured over every detail of this episode, I was able to extract the really great tidbits (in my opinion) that made the last half of the episode very good. Here are a few lists I’ve made as a result of this episode.

Things I must eat

• I want to “adobo” something. After doing a little research, it turns out that adobo simply means to marinate something. However, in the Philippines, it is meant as a particular kind of marinade – though used as a cooking agent. Confused yet? It is pretty simple. When something is “adobo” in the Philippines it means that it was cooked with soy, garlic, pepper corns, and onion.  I can do that. And I plan on doing it.
• I must have sisig. You know, the dish that Tony had that was all pig head parts, cooked and then chopped up, and served on a hot plate, sizzling over a little bit of butter to make the underside get nice and crunchy? To me this was the “best dish” of the episode. I don’t know how or where, but I’m going to have sisig.
• Milk fish. I don’t know why but this fish was instantly added to my “must eat” list. Cooked in vinegar? I’m in.
• Ox tail. I’ve had ox tail, in my younger years, but it was in a soup and as I recall not all that tasty. I’d love to try it the way they had it prepared in the episode – though very little information was given about this dish. Bummer.
• Lechon. Roast pig cheek. Need I say more?

There were other foods in this episode that would be worthy of exploring for sure (the coconut milk crab or stuffed crab back come to mind) but I have had these dishes before. And I will someday again. Why isn’t there more than three meals per day? Why do calories exist? I ask myself these questions all the time.

Here is another list that I made during the episode.

Things I’d like to do

• Buy and eat at a Dampa. I don’t know if any exist in the United States let alone in my rural area of Pennsylvania. But being able to buy fresh meat, fish, and vegetables from a market and then having them cooked for you immediately sounds like something any foodie must do.
• Cook up some of these Filipino dishes myself. I mentioned that I’m going to adobo something. I’d also like to try my hand at making the stuff crab back and the tomato salad with fried squid. Also the fern salad.
• I must find a batuan. Tony called it something else (Coloman seed?, no idea. I couldn’t hear him clearly. I think No Reservations needs subtitles or show notes or something.) but it was the small green fruit that was sour in the beginning of the episode. They use it to make their dishes a little bit sour. I’d like to try that.

So even though this episode of No Reservations took thirty minutes to get off the ground, I really enjoyed watching it the second time around. I can’t quite sympathize with Augusto’s cultural identity crisis (well, maybe I can, I am Dutch after all) but I thought it was a good way to explain why Filipino dishes aren’t more prevalent here in the United States. No where near as good as the food porn special, but probably better than my least favorite episode. But that is a post for another time.

The opening sequence comparing the states of mind of areas like Los Angeles to the fact that Chicago is a city, is interesting.  I’m now wondering what that means exactly.

Duck fat fries? I must try some!

Deep dish pizza. That is why I thought Chicago was known for pizza.

Tony rented a Cadillac.

So is this guy the guy that came in second to last year’s Saudi Arabia winner? I think it is.

Wow. That is a lot of tamale to make by hand. 39,000 a week!

Ok, here we go. The Mother In Law. Ooo, the mighty dog might even look better.

“A root beer gone wrong.” Great quote. But they didn’t say exactly what it was!

The Might Dog. A tamale and a hot dog. (this reminds me how much I miss Hawaii’s puka dog)

I don’t mind deep dish pizza as much as Tony. I’m open for anything. Then again, I’m not from New York.

Wow. Look at that pizza. That is a lot of food.

See, the chick gets it: The point of Chicago’s deep dish pizza is that “It is giant and filling.”

Haha. Tony is being difficult. But he is usually reformed by food. Lets see if it happens again.

Wow. Those people were big.

A plate sized slice of pizza. Sign me up.

Eating pizza with a fork.  ”I get it.” Immediately reformed. Food is Tony’s Achilles heel.

“Some people are in business for money. Thats the wrong way.”

I am guessing that is not really roadkill. It is probably the name of the dish he creates. We’ll see after the break.

A food blogger. Tony is usually not a fan of food bloggers.

I love smoked things. Though I can’t remember ever having any other fish besides salmon smoked. On my to do list.

I really need to find a job where I can buy as much food as I can possibly eat.

Wow. That is a lot of fish. Meaning big pieces. I wonder how much that stuff costs.

“Efficient mass transit.”  Chicago people, do you agree?

Note: So far, zero mentions of Oprah = zero shots.  I think if Tony goes the entire night without talking about Oprah, I will do a shot to commemorate that!

An edible menu?  Now THAT is eco friendly.

“Do you ever want to eat roadkill?” Me: Yes.

An edible cigar from an ash tray?  With ashes? Thats great. At least this guy is making food incredibly fun.  Still not too many tasting notes from Tony on how good this stuff is.

Tony was on the radio in Chicago? Must find audio. Mancow Muller.

I have never seen Tony eating dog sh*t. But I have seen him eat the Boar intestine. Which was gross and according to his blog took two weeks to recover from. It is one of the only meals I’ve seen him eat that I have not desired to have myself.

I think Tony’s only ambition in life is debunking stereotypes. Mancow is a good guy!

Whoa. North side and South side… “education”. I like that Tony pointed out that these were generalities.

Here comes the egg slut line.

There it is. Oh, and I want one of those sandwiches. Yesterday.

Three Ss. “Sex, Sinatra, and your sandwich”

I am not usually into the fancy schmancy type of food presentation. But this guy’s presentations look like they are specifically thought out based on the food he’s preparing.

Wow. Have you ever heard Tony’s voice that low before?

Did you see how good that swordfish looked?

What is torro? Must research.

“Chicago has, hands down, a better hot dog than New York City.”  I don’t know Tony, I’ve had some incredible hot dogs in NYC.

A pickel on top? Eliza would love that.

I saw the Foie Gras dog. I want one.

Making a list of places to eat on my way through Chicago the next time I’m there: Hot Doug’s is number two, while the first is the egg slut sandwich place.

Perhaps I should add “The publican” to that list.  ”Oysters, Pork, and Beer. The holy trinity.”

Ham cooked in hay? Is that what he said?

I hope all of these ideas these guys are throwing out there end up sticking with their new restaurant rather than business getting in the way. We shall see.  I have a feeling most every restraunt opened by chefs are created this way.

Chicago was a fair episode. Not my favorite – but definitely made me incredibly hungry.  Chicago appears to have my own taste in food. Simple and lots of it.

WASHINGTON, DC.

Stereotypes are made to be broken. That is the saying, isn’t it? Maybe it isn’t, but it should be. I try to live my life in a way that ignores conventional wisdom, bucks the status quo, and defies the general rule.

I’m no rebel. I could never pull off the leather jacket. But I don’t mind discovering things for myself rather than only basing my opinions on the knowledge of others. I think Eat Weird, the online video show that my friend Chris Fehnel has allowed me to help out with, is a great example of how stereotypes are meant to be broken. Do you think that eating a Kangaroo is bit, well, weird? I don’t. I think it is some of the best food I’ve eating in my 28 years of living. Think it odd to suck on a pig’s foot? Chris doesn’t. He enjoys the darker parts. Just because you’ve grown up thinking one way doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go against the grain to try to prove it wrong.

Jumping off a tall bridge and onto a hard surface will, from all of my experiences with slightly lower-heights, hurt. This is true and will probably always remain true. Not a trend I recommend bucking.

What about movies? The movie you thought about renting this weekend only got a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes? OH NO! What are you going to do? Critics hated it, surely you will too!! You know what? Rent it. You might like it. If you’re like Chris and I, you’ll actually look for the most poorly reviewed movies ever made… rent them… grab a few beers… and watch them. Like I’ve said so many times before; ‘You have to eat a few bad steaks to know what a good one tastes like.’

What about places you’d like to travel? Do you base your vacation destinations on what Anthony Bourdain refers to as “the hotel channel” in his book Kitchen Confidential? Even he would be the first to tell you not to listen to his suggestions, to pave your own path, disregarding everything you’ve ever heard about a place, and just soak it in for yourself.

Tonight, in the third episode of season five of No Reservations, Tony and his team travel to Washington, DC. I don’t know about you but when I think of Washington, DC. I don’t think of food. I think of the Capital Building, the White House, politics, museums, monuments, rows and rows of the victims of war — anything but food. I’m looking forward to seeing this stereotype of Washington, DC., an area no more than 6 hours drive from my front door step, being broken, smashed, and obliterated as No Reservations shows us a different side of the nation’s capital. The good food side.

Photo courtesy of The Travel Channel.

As 2009 begins many reflect on what has happened this past year. I’ve read many reflections, updates from last year’s resolutions, countless thoughts on World events, and some have jotted down a list of the places that they traveled to in 2008.

I had the privilege of traveling to many places inside of the United States over the last year. Something that I always find fascinating is that, even though I didn’t leave the country, I have experienced many different cultures. Every city I’ve been to felt very much American yet each had their own history, traditions, and of course food woven into their cultural tapestries.

Being that I’ve lived on the east coast of North America, both northern and southern, for my entire life no other city “feels like America” to me more than New York City. Whenever I travel I feel as though New York City is my barometer for how much a particular area “feels like America” to me. I expect those of you from other parts of the country can relate.

This past year I found myself in close-to-home areas like Philadelphia, New York City, the Finger Lakes region in New York, and even small towns that don’t register on Google Maps unless you zoom way, way in. You know, until all you can see are blocky images of what should be trees. I also visited Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the island of Oahu, Hawai’i. In each of these places I never felt as though I left the United States — though I knew that I wasn’t home.

During a recent trip to NYC I had lunch with a few friends at Thai Basil, a restaurant no wider than a large hallway, on 9th Ave. and W 56th St. The food was extremely good and the tea service was a welcomed warm-up from walking the windy streets in midtown Manhattan. In Philadelphia I chose Pat’s over Gino’s every single time. Visiting my brother’s family in North Carolina resulted in my having the very best onion soup of my life during a day trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. In Las Vegas, of all places, I had an incredible italian meal with some friends from all over the world. In Hawai’i, between the Luau on the beach and the highly Japanese-influenced culture of Waikiki, I managed to scarf down a delicious Puka Dog (pictured) in the very same place that Anthony Bourdain did in the Hawaii episode of No Reservations.

No matter where I traveled this year the culture was always slightly different, being influenced by innumerable factors. I wonder though, does the various cultures that make up the America that I know ever end up influencing the very cultures from which they all originated? This country is incredibly young after all. A new year has begun and I’m very much looking forward to doing some traveling outside of the United States. Maybe I’ll be able to answer this question myself by the time the next year rolls around.

On Monday a new season of No Reservations is starting that will take us, by way of the magic of television, to Mexico. When I first saw the promotional videos for this season and saw that the first episode was Mexico, I immediately wondered how much Mexico “feels like America”. Being one of only two of our mainland neighbors Mexico is about as close as you can get geographically without actually being in the United States. I’ve been to Texas. I’ve seen the influence that Mexico has had on the culture there (Not that it hasn’t had a major influence all over our country.) On Monday, while I’m watching the season premier and eating a gordita filled with some sorta of greasy meat (thanks to my newly-married friend Josue Salazar for the suggestion), that is what I’ll be looking for. Is the influence reciprocal? Is it even palpable? Will Anthony even mention it? I’m excited to find out.

The rest of this season will bring us to Venice, Washington, D.C., the Azores, Chicago, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. For posterity I’m going to say that I’m most looking forward to the Venice and Sri Lanka episodes. How has Sri Lanka recovered from the Tsunami in late-2004? It seems so long ago now. Was the No Reservations crew drowned in Venice?! All these questions, and more I’m sure, will be answered in the latest season of No Reservations.

Here is an excerpt:

“I mean what else could I have done with roughly 83 hours of free time? Stretched out this is over two weeks of full-time labor, double the amount of time it takes to learn to be a pilot, or the record time a person has circumvented the entire planet Earth solo. Ok, but do those things have anything to do with a mysterious island, a plane crash, love triangles (and sometimes even love squares), black smoke monsters, invisible cabin dwellers, polar bears in tropical climates, self-projecting children, time traveling consciousnesses, or JOHN LOCKE? I think not.”

Source: Waking Ideas: LOST in time.

The music video features The Fray’s new song “You Found Me”.

Source: LOST Season 5 “You Found Me” (link opens iTunes)

Here are Gary’s television appearances, in order of their original airing (the list), starting with Mad Money with Jim Cramer from May 13, 2008.

Choose any video by clicking the title and that will reload the player.

1. Late Night with Conan O’Brien – August 1, 2007. #
2. The Ellen Degeneres Show – September 20, 2007. #
3. The Ellen Degeneres Show (recap) – September 21, 2007. #
4. ABCNews – Nightline – October 4, 2007. #
5. The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch- May 7, 2008. #
6. Late Night with Conan O’Brien – May 12, 2008. #
7. Mad Money with Jim Cramer – May 13, 2008. #

If you would like to embed any of these videos on your site, click the # (pound) symbol to go to their respective URLs to get the HTML embed code. If you need help with this task, you may ask in the comments of this post.

Notable Web videos

Gary has given many talks, speeches, and keynotes. I’m adding these to the list of television appearances because I believe some of these deserve a mention.

• Authors@Google: Gary Vaynerchuk, April 3, 2008

Gary in the press

Main stream media has not ignored Gary’s success either. Here is a small collection of press that Gary has received in newspapers, magazines, etc.

• NYMag: Does Your Wine Taste Like Stinky Socks Dipped in Cheese? – May 20, 2007
• Los Angeles Times: Wine Library TV: Robert Parker for a new generation? – March 12, 2008

Gary’s mission to “Change the wine world” is definitely underway.  You can help him by spreading the word about Wine Library TV, but more importantly Gary wants everyone to open up and try new things.  Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and enjoy wines that you’ve never had before.

Thanks for all of your hard work Gary.

If you have any links to add to this, please comment.

Note: This page to be continuously updated. Last update: May 19, 2008 – 12:13pm EST.

Eliza and I wanted to invite a few of our friends over and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to create an invitation since it is something I’ve been waiting to do for a while. Being that I’m not all that creative or talented I decided to do something simple.

Here are some photos to show the process of creating our invitations in a bottle.

Simple custom DHARMA logo made in Illustrator.

Used watercolor paints and coffee for dirt and blood effects.

Dried the paper a few times between paintings.

Cutout art paper for name tags.

Same dirt/blood treatment for name tags. Spatter!

Crinkle the paper, a few times, to make it seem aged.

The finished invitation.

I used Dollar Store bought bottles, wrapped up the invitations like a scroll, and tied a short piece of twine around them to keep them from unraveling and threw them inside. The corks were from our cork collection, so they were easy to find.

All materials used: Art paper, water, watercolor paints, coffee, a lighter, hot glue gun, twine, bottles, corks, my printer, printer paper, Adobe Illustrator, some scissors and a pencil.

I’m pretty happy with how they came out and I already know what I want to do for next year (something completely different). Have you ever done your own custom invitations? Care to share them?