Ploafmaster General

Except when politicians are involved.

I have to say, it was refreshing to see an Academy Awards ceremony last night where major award categories were mostly devoid of "mainstream" films. I don't know whether that bodes ill for ABC's ratings or not, but at no point did I feel as if a quality actor/actress or film was usurped by crap. I was particularly happy to see Daniel Day-Lewis pick up Best Actor, and while I'd have liked to see Brad Bird snag Best Original Screenplay for Ratatouille, at least he collected Best Animated Feature.

I think the nominations reinforce the notion that 2007 was an uncommonly good year for the art of film making. I don't know (or much care) how the studios fared, but the craft certainly advanced, and I think the world is better for it.

Hilarious new-ish commercial from Old Spice:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPYWTkP9NDM&rel=1&w=500&h=418]

This fine post about bathroom fixtures reminds me of why I read The Sneeze.

Mugs has pur-chased his own domain in order to resurrect The Writing on the Bathroom Wall. Go check it out, quickly, before he uploads something useful...

Better not cross this Elmo doll...
(via Engadget)

I think I'm having too much fun with iMovie these days...


Hot Diggity from ploafmaster on Vimeo.

Michel Gondry created his own version of the trailer for his upcoming movie, Be Kind Rewind, illustrating rather perfectly what the whole film is about:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B0dJQ35rDs&rel=1&w=500&h=418]

Make sure you check out the official trailer for comparison.
(via kottke)

So here's footage of the failed US spy satellite getting "the business" in orbit above earth, you know, in case you like to see stuff like this:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw_puoWTl9o&rel=1&w=500&h=418]

Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman have concocted a set of awards they call The Golden Clogs, described hilariously by Anthony Bourdain on Eater. My clear favorite category (though not necessarily nominees)?

THE ALTON
For being on Food Network and yet, somehow managing to Not Suck

Be sure to read the follow-up interview with Bourdain as well.

Ironic Sans has a great post from January referencing seven specific propaganda tricks to watch out for during the election season. It was fantastic to see somebody approach the campaigning of politicians in this manner.

Sea monkeys, take a hike. Snow monkeys are where it's at. Also known as the Japanese Macaque, these awesome primates live in the northern parts of Japan including the Nagano area. Aside from the awesome fuzzy and snow-frolicking nature of these animals, they're known for swimming and playing around the natural hot springs

The photograph above comes from Flickr user Nachosan, who's photography on the whole is quite excellent.

Tonight, if the clouds ever clear up over Richmond, I plan to check out the Total Lunar Eclipse. There's a full moon out tonight, and NASA was kind enough to provide a cheesy but informative graphic that shows when everything goes down Eastern Standard Time:

Here's a glorious little short film:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsF0Eqs8yQ8&rel=1&border=0&w=500&h=418]

I'm going to guess, by the cheesy synth music, that this effect was achieved by careful rehearsal moving in reverse. The result is incredible, in the same league as the video for Coldplay's "The Scientist".
(via ze frank)

The New York Times has a fascinating interview video with Dr. Roger Hanlon about his research into cephalopod camouflage.

You're might hear about it all over the news today, but just in case it's drowned out by the Wisconsin primary here in the states, I'll post it here.

Fidel Castro has announced he will cease to be Cuba's El Presidente. Whatever you think of the dude and the situation in Cuba, it's certainly the end of an era - the man was president of the country for 49 years! It should be interesting to see what happens next...

I just discovered that Late Night Underground has a video showing some of the hilarious behind-the-scenes action from the "fight" over who made Mike Huckabee.

I threw this together last night in about 1.5 hours. Be afraid...


Eine Kleine Nachtfilm from ploafmaster on Vimeo.

Shortly after Valerie arrived home yesterday evening around 6, she started relaying information from one of her co-workers about a butcher shop in Richmond. My ears instantly perked up - you see, I'd been looking for an honest-to-goodness full service butcher shop for years, and I gave up some time ago. But now I pressed Valerie rapidly for the name, if she could recall it. "Butcher...B-b-b-Belmont? Butcher of Belmont?"

I rushed up the stairs and searched for "butcher" and "belmont" on Google and found a link to the Belmont Butchery. Seeing they were open until 7pm on week nights, I raced downstairs and told Valerie to put her shoes back on.

We were taking a fast ride to the butcher shop.

Located on Belmont Avenue between Ellwood and Floyd, Belmont Butchery greeted me with its fresh meat case and its smaller charcuterie case. Therein were contained every conceivable cut of beef, pork, lamb, etc. Homemade sausages and pancetta, duck confit, lardo...this was foodie heaven.

Proprietress (she prefers "proprietrix") Tanya Cauthen (formerly a rather serious chef) was more than happy to answer any and all questions, and to share her reasons for getting into the business. Here is a butcher with whom I can build a rapport, asking for advice on good cuts, cooking methods, and other recommendations.

I purchased a rather gorgeous flat iron steak for tonight's dinner and returned this morning for a spot of pancetta (for spaghetti alla carbonara). I couldn't help myself, though - I also bought a single link of their fresh made garlic sausage which I decided to eat for lunch today. This was the best piece of sausage I have eaten in my entire life. Seriously. I can't wait to see how the steak tastes this evening.

You can keep your candy store - I feel like a kid in the butcher shop.

Even casual acquaintances know that I'm a huge Alton Brown fan. It's because of him that I keep Kosher salt in a cellar on the counter. It's because of him that I focus more on technique than recipes. I suppose it's because I grew up watching Mr. Wizard, and as a grown up I love to cook. Brown's show, Good Eats, is the best of both worlds.

It was with some surprise, then, that I came across this rather amusing video wherein Brown spends over six minutes hawking Shun knives:

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-2611989298700188336&hl=en

This video is fascinating for two reasons. First, it's structured like a clip right out of Good Eats, from the foam props to the camera work. Other than the more-obvious-than-usual sales pitch (Brown's use of the knives on the show is obvious, and his Shun sponsorship is well-known), one might think this was a pirated clip from the Food Network. This, in fact, leads to reason two: I'm guessing Brown likely wrote this ad spot, and was allowed to borrow heavily for his own knife-centric episode, "American Slicer".

Yesterday's All Songs Considered (I'm a day behind since I listen to the podcast) had Radiohead's Thom Yorke as guest DJ. It was excellent not only for the peek at what music influences one of my favorite band's front man, but the casual ad hoc interview was entertaining, too.

I think one of my favorite parts was when host Bob Boilen recognized a sample from Frank Zappa's music in track from Madvillian.

You know, the website looks pretty crappy - but Mike Butkus' (yes, that's his REAL NAME) pages of camera/meter/etc. manuals is astounding in its breadth. I'm sure this will provide an invaluable resource to anyone with a soft spot for old-school photography equipment. This guy is truly providing a service.

Because Val and I are having a shamcy dinner in Paris next month, we agreed in advance to save some coin and forgo our tradition of eating at a real classy restaurant on Valentine's Day. Instead, I'm cooking a nice dinner at home this Saturday night. Valerie still wanted to go out tonight, however, so we were deliberating about where to chow down. Val wanted to eat somewhere cheap-to-moderately priced, and still fairly casual.

Her choice explains why my wife is one of the most awesome people in the world. Valerie decided we should go to Buzz and Ned's tonight to feast on smoked meat.

I love you baby :-)

You be the judge...I'm still not sure yet.

http://l.yimg.com/cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/fop/embedflv/swf/fop.swf

Blue Times from Hyun De Grande on Vimeo.

This video was part of the 2007 48 Hour Film Project, a worldwide touring contest in which teams of filmmakers spend a weekend making short films. Blue Times was the 2007 winner for Best Cinematography and Best Musical Score when the project visited Ghent, Belgium.