MUCH thanks to Terry G for forwarding this video on to me. Before I saw this, my stomach was all tied up in knots and I was just an anxious mess. I mean the fact that there are always too many hot dogs, and not enough buns, has been clearly unacceptable!

Come on people! Why can’t Oscar Meyer and Wonder just call a truce and negotiate a settlement on what the proper number of dogs and buns to a package should be! As the person from Kraft said in this video by John Hargrave, “…sir we don’t work together with Wonder….” Well, that’s obvious! But maybe you should my friend! Maybe you should.

Related posts:

1. The World’s Coolest Automated Ball Launcher for Dogs
2. LaCroix Water – Even My Dogs Wouldn’t Drink It!
3. 7 of the Most Amazing Dogs You’ll Ever See

Today I went down to the Boudin Bakery on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to get some fresh baked sourdough and some of their delicious clam chowder.

When I arrived, there was a group of people huddled around the window where they are usually making the bread. Only this time, a nice young lady was actually talking to the crowd through her wireless microphone system, and taking questions as well.

I was carrying my camera, so I flipped on the video mode and captured the following video. In it, you’ll see how she makes a special bread loaf in the shape of a teddy bear. Very cute, and extremely tasty! Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Aerial Photos Near San Francisco
2. Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
3. Photos From San Francisco: Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39

Whoever said that humans are more evolved than our hairy little cousins in the monkey kingdom is probably the same idiot who taught you how to open a banana… WRONG!

I don’t know about you, but for at least 3 decades I’ve been opening bananas like a, well… cro-magnon. When I should have been opening it like a primate! Here, just watch the video and you’ll see.

Related posts:

1. Damon Scott and Bubbles the Monkey – Britains Got Talent
2. You Can Call Me Al Music Video and Lyrics
3. WordCamp 2008 San Fran: Stephen O’Grady – Open Source Business Models

On my Health Challenge, I asked you guys to try and cut the amount of food you are consuming by about half. Some of you probably thought I was crazy! But let me explain why this is such an important part of getting in shape.

It takes 3,500 calories worth of activity to burn one pound of fat in the human body. Now, the average person’s caloric intake should be around 2,000 calories or less per day, meaning that there are almost two day’s worth of food energy stored in a single pound of fat.

More important than simply looking at the storage, if we start talking about how much energy you actually burn in a given day, you’ll quickly see why unless you modify your eating habits, all the exercise in the world won’t help you!

If we refer to the list below, you’ll see that an average 155 person would need to do 7 hours of HIGH impact aerobics in order to burn just a single pound of fat! If you wanted to lose 10 pounds, we’re looking at 70 hours of high impact aerobics. Wanna work a pound off quicker? Four hours of boxing would almost burn a pound of fat…

The point is, if you keep shoving more calories into your system than you are consuming, you are never going to lose weight. You need to only be consuming enough that you aren’t painfully hungry all the time, and let your body tap the excess fat cells for energy in order to burn through them. And if you’re wondering how many calories are in different kinds of food, we’ll scroll to the end of the chart and see…

Now, the good folks over at WiseGeek.com put together a post that shows you how much you food you get in 200 calorie increments for a bunch of different kings of food. It could range from a whole plate of broccoli, to a one ounce piece of butter! So take a look at those and then think back to the exercise chart and what it’s going to take to burn that off!

Related posts:

1. The Importance Of Retirement Planning
2. Chart: Presidential Candidate Positions on Global Warming
3. The Importance of Net Neutrality

I have a love + hate relationship with Amazon. I mostly love them, even though occasionally they do really stupid things. Anyway, I got an e-mail from them reminding me that they actually have groceries for sale. I was like… “what?”

In my mind I was imagining one of those old failed grocery services where they’ll bring stuff right to you. Milk, eggs, whatever! Well, they don’t seem to have that stuff… but they DO have just about everything else.

According to their description of Grocery beta (don’t know why it’s a freaking image):

• We offer more than 45,000 non-perishable grocery items–and our selection is growing every day
• We can ship many products for free, via Super Saver Shipping, Amazon Prime, or free standard shipping
• We have great everyday prices plus Sales & Special Offers on your favorite brands
• We make it exceptionally easy to find products you buy routinely, or to discover new items we think you’ll like

So, whatever you order you can get shipped for FREE (especially if you are a PRIME member like me), plus remember that you don’t pay any sales tax on Amazon stuff…

They also have a nice grocery list function.

…we’re highlighting a feature we call Your Shopping List, which you’ll find under the “Your Lists” link on the top of every page. Your Shopping List makes it easier to locate and keep track of items you purchase routinely–products such as coffee and tea, cereal, paper towels, and cookies.

And if you have items you routinely order, they can automate the process:

Our Subscribe & Save program offers an extra 15% off and free shipping on items you routinely use and keeps them coming every one, two, three, or six months.

One of the important things for me is that we’re always looking for Gluten-free foods at the grocery store. But they are very rare. Imagine my surprise when I found that Amazon has a whole freakin Gluten Free Section! And for health nuts like Terry G. they have a whole Natural and Organic Section.

But that’s not all, they have an International Foods Section including – most importantly – a Greek Food section. That should make my dad pretty happy.

So anyway, I recommend you guys give it a try. I know I’m doing it now…

Oh, and by the way… also have a Blog called Amazon Al Dente’s Blog, which you Foodies out there might find interesting enough to subscribe to. I did.

Related posts:

1. Beware – Amazon.com Offers NO Price Protection!
2. Amazon Unbox Movie and Television Downloads
3. Free Marvin Gaye MP3 From Amazon.com

I’m not sure where Deviled Eggs got their name, because they taste like they came from heaven! Anyway, for those of you who don’t have a clue how to make these tasty little suckers, I’ve got your hook up!

The hardest part of making deviled eggs is simply boiling the eggs. Seriously. That’s it. So here is the easy way to hardboil the eggs:

• Place a dozen eggs in a large saucepan. Yeah, I said a dozen. Trust me, you’re gonna want them.
• Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by 1 full inch.
• Turn the stove top on high, and bring the water to a boil.
• Remove from the heat source, let it sit for 2 minutes, then cool the eggs with cold water to stop them from cooking.

If you did it right, your eggs won’t be all cracked. And after you cut them in half the yolk will be solid and pasty as opposed to runny. The rest is downhill from here!

Now in addition to your eggs, you are going to need some mayonnaise and some pickle juice. Optionally, you may want to dice up some pickle slices into small chunks to mix in as well, but I don’t recommend it (because I don’t eat veggies).

Now, the next step is to crack your eggs and peel them. I find the easiest way to do this is to gently roll them along the counter to crack the center, then peel them away. If you do it under cool running water, the shells will really come off easily.

As you peel the eggs, you need to use a sharp kitchen knife to cut them in half and scoop the yolk out into a mixing bowl. Keep the white halves on a plate nearby. Oh, and if you rip a couple of the white parts, don’t worry, you need to cut a few of those pieces up and put them in the mix as well.

Finally, once you’ve got all the yolks in the bowl, along with a couple of the whites as well, add in 2-3 tablespoons of pickle juice, 3-4 heaping tablespoons of mayo, and some fresh ground salt and pepper. Then stir with a fork like a mad man!

What you are looking for is a creamy, yet chunky consistency. Feel free to add more mayo, salt or pepper to taste. Then after you’re done, fill those empty egg halves with your mixture, shake a little paprika on it for color. And go to town!

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Peel Boiled Eggs in 5 Seconds Flat!
2. 5 Minute Avgolemono Soup
3. Dom DeLuise and Johnny Carson Play With Eggs

Ok, ok. I know what a bunch of you are going to say, so I’ll get it out of the way so you don’t have to…

• This blog is racist! What have you got against Asian food?
• Um, since there are like 2 billion Asians and only a few white people, did you ever consider that maybe YOU’RE the one eating strange food?
• You don’t even eat vegetables do you?

Well, you can comment all you like, but it’s going to fall on deaf ears! I went to the Vietnamese grocery store with my very, um… Vietnamese, sister-in-law, and I snapped these photos of strange foods with my trusty iPhone.

I bet you can’t even identify half of them!

Related posts:

1. Heartburn and Spicy Foods
2. Top Foods To Fight High Cholesterol
3. What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

This evening I ate a 16oz. New York Strip, along with a bunch of other stuff, at The Weber Grill in Chicago. Mmmm! It was tasty.

But as good as the meal was, half the fun was the entertainment value. You see, my buddy Chris from Layered Tech and I braved the -10 degree temperatures and snow to walk 3 blocks to eat there. And when we got there we sat in the bar at a counter overlooking the Grillmeister!

The following photos came from my iPhone while he was preparing our, and many other, steaks. So, here’s to you o’ master of the flames! Budweiser should make a commercial about you.

Related posts:

1. Photos From San Francisco’s Bay Bridge Area
2. The Freedom Grill Hitchmount Portable BBQ Grill
3. Funny Foods From the Asian Market

This little post goes out to Neal and Cali, the biggest bacon fans I know. Yes Greg, even bigger than you.

So, you’re sitting around one Saturday afternoon, when suddenly your stomach begins rumbling. But you know that it’s no ordinary rumble. It’s the kind that can only be cured with a massive bacon fix! Not a problem.

Here is what you’re gonna do. First, you’re gonna get a muffin pan and turn it upside down and line it with aluminum foil. Or for those of you in the UK, you can use al-u-MIN-ium foil.

Next, you’re gonna weave the bacon into little baskets and wrap them over the outside of the muffin cup.

Finally, you’re gonna put that puppy in the oven and bake until crispy. How long is that gonna be? Don’t ask me. I didn’t make these, I just found them on flickr thanks to Yogma.

Last step? Eat them, silly!

Related posts:

1. You’ll NEVER Eat Bacon Again
2. Tiropita Recipe (Greek Cheese Pies)
3. Google Wave – It’s New! You’re Gonna Want it! But What Is It?

Months ago when flying into San Francisco, our plane was diverted into a holding pattern a little ways outside the airport due to traffic, and as I watched from the window I noticed that we were circling some sort of massive pools of colored water. They were so vibrant in color that I was amazed, and I took a bunch of photos (and posted them).

What I didn’t know at the time was, that was the Cargill solar evaporation salt production facility. I actually just learned it by watching the TV show “Modern Marvels” that was specifically on salt production. As soon as they began describing the location of the facility I instantly knew what I had seen months ago!

Anyway, the rich colors that you can see in the ariel photography are supposedly due to the microorganisms that live in this heavy concentration of salt water called brine. The brine contains a concentration of about 25% salt, which is about the maximum amount of salt that can actually be disolved in water.

Cargill describes the salt production facility as such:

Solar Evaporation

Solar salt is produced through the natural evaporation of sea water or other naturally occurring brine. Salt water is captured in shallow ponds and allowed to evaporate by means of the sun and wind. During the process, a salt bed forms on the bottom of the pond. The salt is harvested, washed, screened and packaged. The typical solar “crop” takes from one to five years to produce.

So, what they are doing is flooding sea water into these large areas and then basically letting it evaporate away over time and leaving millions of tons of salt behind for harvesting.

This is actually similar to a naturally occurring process which is demonstrated in a few inland bodies of water such as Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the Dead Sea, and other ancient bodies of water. For example, the great salt lake used to be many times larger than it is now. But over time the water has evaporated, leaving the concentration of salt much, much higher than even the ocean. About seven times higher to be exact! In the southern portion of the lake the concentration is about 15% salt, which the northern half is closer to 25%.

You can actually see the difference in the salt concentrations from the satellite imagery in the embedded map below:

And of course, the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats nearby are just another part of the evaporated ancient lake that the Great Salt Lake comes from. The Salt Flats of course being the place that most of the world’s land speed records were set.

Anyway, I know I rambled on a little there and moved from San Francisco over to Utah, but I thought the whole thing was just so cool, starting with the fact that I had actually photographed a salt plant without really knowing it. Hope you guys found it as interesting as I did.

Related posts:

1. Record Power from Solar Cell
2. Aerial Photos of Mount Ranier for Your Desktop Wallpaper
3. 1980 – Lake Completely Drains After Drilling Accident

So, it looks like thanks to the new Guns and Roses album being released soon, Dr. Pepper is going to give us ALL a free one. But you have to print out your coupon on Sunday! Enjoy.

Dr Pepper to deliver on its free-soda promise
TX State Wire
Published: November 20, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” is a reality.

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. “Chinese Democracy,” infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

“We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper’s Web site. They’ll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.
___

On the Net:
www.drpepper.com
www.gunsnroses.com

Related posts:

1. Free Themes and Apps for Blackberry Curve
2. Swan Lake Performed by the Chinese State Circus
3. Chinese Farmer Builds Kick-Ass Homemade Airplane

My last stop before leaving Austin was lunch at Chuy’s. I’ve never seen so many happy employees in one place before. They were all smiling and very gracious. And you know what? Happy people make great food!

If there is ever a Chuy’s nearby, go get you some.

Related posts:

1. Cisco’s Restaurant in Austin Delivers the Goods
2. Enzyte King Gets 25 Years of HARD Labor
3. View of the Texas State Capital in Austin, TX

While exploring Austin I fired up the iPhone and checked Yelp to find a nearby breakfast joint. The top suggestion was Cisco’s Restaurant, a little Mexican joint that all the reviewers were raving about their “awesome migas”. Well I didn’t know what a miga was, but I enjoy a good breakfast tacos! So we headed on over.

From the outside, the place was unremarkable – except for the fact that the tiny parking lot was packed! The inside was worse. Seriously cramped tables in a maze of rooms were packed with people, and it was hard to even find a seat. But finally we sat down, and learned what a miga actually is…

I guess it’s a local specialty, but basically it’s eggs scrambled with onions, tomatoes, sausage, and tortilla chips. I wasn’t brave enough to try it, but it did look good. Anyway, we ordered up a table full of tacos in a variety of flavors including bacon and egg, sausage and egg, and potato and egg. Then we waited…

Now, the folks working at Cisco’s were very nice, but the service was still poor. But right about the time you are getting a little negative – they bring the food.

The tacos were honestly great, and they were seriously loaded with eggs and meat! I couldn’t even finish two of the three I ordered.

All in all, Cisco’s gets a thumbs up! I shall return…

Related posts:

1. Yoics Delivers Free Remote Desktop Sharing for Macs, Linux and PCs
2. Peel Boiled Eggs in 5 Seconds Flat!
3. How to Make Bacon Cups

Last Sunday Elie, Jad, my wife and I joined Cali Lewis, Neal Campbell, Dave and Kat Curlee, and a bunch of other folks at the State Fair of Texas for a GeekBrief.TV filled day of goofing off.

The weather was very nice, with a nice breeze and a perfectly blue sky (even though it rained the very next day). In addition to munching down on every sort of State Fair food you can imagine, we also watched concerts, checked out the auto show, saw a home technology exhibit at the Women’s pavilion and much, much more.

It was fun making some new friends, and hanging out with the gang for a nice day of absolutely no responsibility (I don’t get those very often right now). So here are about a hundred photos I took during the day. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Scenes from Austin, Texas
2. Cisco’s Restaurant in Austin Delivers the Goods
3. View of the Texas State Capital in Austin, TX

Ok, there has been a lot of bad financial news lately, and it can be a real downer and a non-productive waste of time to worry about it. Instead, I would like to focus on some organizations who are using their power for AWESOME and who demonstrate that the power to do good is stronger than the power to do bad. (Keeping in mind that not all charities are good.)

When we focus on what is most important we can make a real difference, so to get us started, here is a little video to put things in perspective. For any of you who have not yet seen it, it starts sad and then makes you truly grateful for what you have by demonstrating the power we really do have over the world around us.

In response to the concepts outlined in this video, Google has put the entire Googleplex on notice to begin thinking differently and to use collaborative effort for the betterment of the most people possible. They have started a project known as 10 ^ 100, and what a great project it is. As they say:

“…new studies are reinforcing the simple wisdom that beyond a certain very basic level of material wealth, the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people.“

Their project is to find an idea that will help the most number of people in the world, and implement it. More of a think globally, help globally idea.

But Google is not the only one seeking answers. There are a lot of charitable organizations seeking to really make a difference in the world. And you can help! Just pick something that you are passionate about, and give of your time, energy or financial support. I’ve gathered a list of several to help get you started.

Heifer International

Gifting breeding animal pairs globally.

For over fifty years the Heifer Project has been providing families in developing countries (and parts of the US) with breeding pairs of animals: cows, goats, pigs, rabbits, water buffalo, ducks, and so on. Even in the world’s poorest regions the cost of a cow or goat can exceed a year’s income, preventing many families from acquiring animals. When a family receives a breeding pair they get meat, milk or eggs, but more importantly, they now have a source of income as the offspring are sold.

The deal with Heifer Project is that the recipient must agree to give one breeding pair of offspring away to another family, thus paying the gift forward. Therefore a small amount of money contributed now will multiply manyfold as families gain food, pride, a source of income, and the means to help someone else. It’s hard to imagine a better gift, or a more practical, proven lever in making a difference in communities of need.

Here is the full gift catalog. It is very affordable. And here is a video demonstrating the power of a project like Heifer:

Incidentally, are you tired of the fat cats getting fatter from your money? Well if you think globally then you ARE a fat cat. If you are able to read this post you have electricity, computer access and are probably able to drink a tasty beverage at the same time that you are reading this in the comfort of your electricity filled world. That is more than the majority of people on Earth.

So, here are several ways that you can invest in the betterment of others that need your help and will actually pay you back not only financially but also spiritually.

Opportunity International

Donate to fund microlending.

Micro-financing is quite the rage in international circles for one very amazing fact. The payback rate on tiny loans to the workers in developing countries is greater than the payback rate for large loans to their home countries.

In other words, from an outright profit perspective, you are better off loaning money to a Bolivian peasant than to the Bolivian government. Furthermore, there is now no doubt that Bolivia itself, and any other country, is much better off if investment goes directly to their poorest citizens than to the government.

Several non-profits, starting with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, have pioneered micro-credit loans on a large scale and for large investors. The easiest way for a helpful citizen to contribute funds to a wide variety of micro-loan programs in different parts of the world is through Opportunity International.

Here is the story of Alba from Honduras and how Opportunity International helped change her life:

Opportunity International has been providing micro loans for 30 years, even before the term microcredit was coined. They work through Trust Banks, groups of 20-30 (mostly women) borrowers who meet weekly for encouragement and to cross-guarantee the loans.

TrickleUP

Donate to fund grants to start businesses and provide training.

Rather than dispense loans, Trickle Up issues outright grants, but with strings attached. They provide seed capital and training for micro-enterprise hopefuls. Maybe someone with ambitions for a food stall, or a repair shop. A typical deal is a $100 conditional grant. Unlike in a micro-loan program, grantees don’t have to pay the money back, but they do have to get trained.

Here is a video that demonstrates the power of this program:

Grantees must commit a minimum of 250 hours in the first 3 months to their venture, reinvest at least 20% back into it, and keep an account ledger, among other conditions. Last year 10,000 business started via Trickle Up donations, and 30,000 budding entrepreneurs benefited from this global program. There is huge emphasis on training for very basic business skills. And follow up expansion grants are offered, too. About 70% of grantees are women.

Grameen Foundation

Inspried by the original Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Minimum contribution, $100.

One of the Grameen Bank projects is Village Phone – cell phones that women buy on loans and then can rent to others for income.

“The Village Phone program in Uganda, the first of GF’s efforts to replicate the pay phone program outside Bangladesh, continued exceeding expectations in 2005. More than 3,500 microfinance clients have bought and now operate a Village Phone as “Village Phone operators.”

Besides the boost to operators’ incomes, the program is creating a national telecommunications network. Of Uganda’s 56 districts, 53 now have at least one Village Phone operator. Often, Village Phone is the first local telephone that villagers have. Having a quick means to communicate has contributed to higher levels of productivity, savings, and safety for entire communities.

Grameen Bank and its founder were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, so that tells you something signifigant about this group:

Namaste Direct

This is one of the most direct person-to-person micro-lending programs. When you give to Namaste Direct, you are informed of the person who receives your loan, how they used the money, and their progress.

ND can also arrange a visit to the lendee — this will turn your loan into a life-changing experience for you as well. But because of this directness the giving area is limited — currently to Mexico and Guatemala. No minimum contribution.

FINCA Village Banking

FINCA makes loans directly to the poorest villages. They aim their lending to 10-50 neighbors who come together to form a village banking group, and who in turn decide who should get what and how much.

FINCA specializes in small loan amounts ($50-$500) for the very poorest. The minimum contribution to their program is $50. While a few hundred dollars is powerful, with only $5,000 you can start a whole village bank for micro-loans, thereby compounding the power of micro-finance to an entire small community.

Here is Natalie Portman explaining her experience with FINCA.

Unitus

Minimum contribution, $100.

Unitus, like Accion below, funds other local micro-finance programs, rather than direct loans to individuals.

“Unitus seeks to identify highest-potential emerging MFIs (Micro-Finance Institutions) and help them to achieve exponential growth.”

http://www.unitus.com/sections/involved/involved_cu_main.asp

Accion

Accion provides technical assistant to local micro-lending institutions.

Minimum contribution, $50.

“ACCION is leading the effort to make micro-lending financially self-sustaining. Micro-lending programs have the potential to cover their own costs. The interest each borrower pays helps to finance the cost of lending to another. In most poverty alleviation efforts, every person helped brings the program closer to its financial limits.

Successful micro-lending programs, on the other hand, generate more resources with each individual they help. As a result, well-managed micro-lending programs generate more income than they spend. Once they become economically viable financial institutions, they have the ability to access a virtually unlimited source of lending capital – the billions of dollars invested in the world’s financial markets.

Several of ACCION’s partners have already made the transition from nonprofit, charity-dependent organizations to banks or other regulated financial institutions.”

ACCION has a series of informational videos here.

Modest Needs

Grants small one-time cash gifts to those who require help to get them through a tough time.

A need, if honored, is granted within 72 hours, with no strings attached. Modest Needs does this with commendable efficiency via the web (it’s not hard to be broke and still get online), heart-warming sympathy (every request is read by a volunteer), and impressive reach (220 requests granted this year, or 7% of the million dollars sought for).

Modest Needs’ entire finances are completely transparent on their website. Since their inception they have spent $0 on fundraising and $0 on advertising. They are astoundingly thrifty (total annual cost to run this charitable operation: $24,000). The rest of the small change they collect goes to those to whom small change can make a big difference.

Here is their public service announcement:

This article was co-authored by Karen Rhodes and John Pozadzides. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

Related posts:

1. Student and Federal Loan Consolidation
2. Exactly 9 Years Ago Today: Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
3. Guide to Charitible Giving

I know that like 10 billion people eat Ramen noodles every day, but I guarantee no one takes the route of preparing them that these folks took on this Japanese game show.

It was apparently a Rube Goldberg competition and they used everything from bowling balls to marbles and included both flames and water. This machine goes on for about 5 minutes and manages to do nothing more than pour some hot water over a package of noodles.

Awesome.

Related posts:

1. The Awesome Flaming Rube Goldberg Machine
2. How Marbles Are Made
3. 5 Minute Avgolemono Soup

Folks, I went to Las Vegas last week for business meetings, but during the evening I did take a little break from working on Layered Technologies and Woopra stuff for a few hours to go have dinner at the Bellagio Buffet, and then do a little gambling after dinner.

Had such a great time that I thought I’d share it with you guys.

First of all, I acted like a complete pig at the buffet. Oh yes, I hurt myself!

I started out with at least a couple of pounds of split Alaskan King Crab legs, followed by spicy pepperoni pizza and gyros, and then some Buffalo sirloin steak and hand carved turkey breast with gravy, mashed potatos, corn and mushrooms.

Incidentally, I tried the Buffalo because everyone says it’s so good and lean and has Omega 3’s in it and all that. Well, it was very lean, but I also found it to be tough. Frankly I’d take a nice porterhouse over this any day.

After all of that I scarfed down a plate full of deserts including key lime pie, lemon pie, chocolate mousse, and God only knows what else.

The thing about the deserts is that they all look good enough to put on a postcard! And they taste pretty good too, thought not quite as good as they look.

After I was finished gorging myself like a a child on Halloween, my buddy Chris and I went to the casinos to throw away our money!

Chris is actually a pretty big gambler, and I can’t believe some of the stuff I’ve seen him win! But this night was mine, all mine! Ok, so I only play the penny slots! Who cares? Because I went over and hit the jackpot baby!

Yeah, that’s me winning like $200 on the old penny slots!

But wait, that isn’t good enough! 5 minutes later I had a repeat on another machine about 5 feet from the first!

Yeah, the people around me were ready to choke the living crap out of me… but I didn’t care!

So, 15 minutes after I ate at the buffet I was a few hundred dollars richer. Now that is what I call getting fat, and happy!

Related posts:

1. Vegas Bound? Learn How to Gamble…
2. WordCamp San Francisco 2009: Chris Pirillo – Community WebVisions
3. BBQ and Bone Daddy’s – A Tasty Treat!

Just wanted to share this little clip I took at Bd’s Mongolian Barbeque in Bethesda Maryland a few weeks ago.

For anyone whose never been to one of these places, the way it works is you get a bowl and you go over to the raw food bar and put whatever kind of meats, veggies, noodles, etc. you want in the bowl. Then you bring it over to the guys at the round grill, and they cook it up for you while you wait.

It’s a fantastic way to eat and be entertained, and you can do it at BD’s in the DC area, or at Fire & Ice in Harvard Square in Boston.

Related posts:

1. Chefs at Houston’s Steakhouse Working the Grill
2. The Freedom Grill Hitchmount Portable BBQ Grill
3. The Weber Grill Grillmeister

Folks, this is cool. For any of you out there that routinely go camping, fishing, to outdoor sporting events, or even like to take the family to the park for picnics – the Freedom Grill Hitchmount BBQ Grill looks like a fantastic option to carry along and do the cooking on the spot.

I really like everything about the design of this unit, from the secure hitch mount to the articulating arm and even the way the side trays fold into the unit for storage and transport. If there is anything I’d complain about though, it’s the fact that the base unit (offered at Amazon) only has one 12,000 BTU burner. That’s not a lot of heat for doing any sort of serious grilling. For example, steaks are going to take a long, long time, and you’ll never be able to sear them so they’ll come out a little dry.

However for burgers, chicken breasts, hot dogs, corn, and other transportable picnic food this thing should get the job done, and the only thing you need to take with you are some portable propane cylinders.

Now, if you are really serious about your tailgating and you’ve got the bucks to spend on it, they also build the FG-100 with the following modifications:

• Full stainless steel
• Dual 15,000 BTU burners (30k total)
• Grill cover included
• $900 price tag

Oh, and all of these grills come with a 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty.

Related posts:

1. Chefs at Houston’s Steakhouse Working the Grill
2. The Weber Grill Grillmeister
3. I Love the Mongolian Grill!

During my recent stay at the Four Seasons Resort on the island of Lana’i, I had the opportunity to spend a little time with a small group getting personal instruction on the art of the Mai Tai from none other than the Four Seasons’ head Beverage Manager, Mike.

He was kind enough to allow me to film his lecture, though I don’t imagine he had any idea that tens of thousands of people might be watching it in the next week or so! Anyway, this is a fantastic drink and if you study up and make it for your friends you’ll be a rock star!

Incidentally, these were filmed with my Sanyo Xacti waterproof camcorder. Seems like it does a pretty good job even when not submerged.

Part 1 – History of the Mai Tai

It was invented by Trader Vic, so you can also read his story to verify the accuracy.

Part 2 – How to make a Mai Tai

So, the basic ingredients again are:

• White Rum
• Dark Rum
• Freshly squeezed orange juice
• Freshly squeezed pineapple juice
• Sweet and Sour
• Triple Sec
• Orgeat Syrup – NOTE: I found it VERY hard to get this stuff locally. I recommend ordering it from Trader Vic’s Web site.

What are you waiting for? Trust me… it’s good! Of course, if you’re feeling too lazy to make one for yourself, I’m sure Mike will be happy to do it for you if you just travel to the middle of the Pacific ocean and join him there at the Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay.

Related posts:

1. Review: Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay
2. Horseback Riding on Lanai
3. Mike Hollingshead, Storm Chaser