Sushi-go-round

I am so in love with this video. Some American tourists in Japan just set their video camera on a plate and send it around the kaiten-zushi at a Japanese sushi bar. It’s awesome to see all the different diners and their reactions. And the climax is so surprising and suspenseful!

Someone please turn this into a music video.

A Survey of the Commonwealth’s Cupcakes

A cupcake from Party Favors
A cupcake from Party Favors

So, I’ve made my decision and I’m announcing it here.  I am going to conduct a survey of cupcakes in Massachusetts.  Many people know that I think the cupcake is the perfect desert.  I’ve thought this for quite some time, long before the recent cupcake craze hit the nation.  Long before Carrie made Magnolia’s a cupcake bonanza (although those cupcakes are delicious).  I am quite the fan of the cupcake, and i’ve decided to seek out cupcakes across the Commonwealth and report my findings back on this very blog.  Just Giblets indeed!

This has been at the back of my mind for a while, and Scot has encouraged me to do it as well, but I think it really crystalized for me at BookExpoAmerica in L.A. this past May.  Daniel and Heidi are friends of mine from the Midwest who are in the publshing/bookselling industry.  I get to see them every year at BEA and met up with them for dinner and general running around in L.A. this past May.  What I didn’t get to do, is go with them to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, which they visited that afternoon mere hours before meeting me, and proceeded to rave about off and on for the rest of the night.  Could they have brought me along?  Sure.  Did they?  I’m guessing you’ve guessed that they did not.  You have guessed correctly.  Am I bitter?  A little, but I still love them and have almost forgiven them.  Had they known about my sheer unadulterated devotion to the cupcake, I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened, hence my public search for the best cupcake in Massachusetts.

Before I begin, I will need to develop a set of criteria, which I will work on soon and post here.  Then I need to find the cupcakes.  Some I already know about, like the divine confections at Brookline’s Party Favors, and the scrumptuous cupcake deserts at Geoffrey’s.  Many I will have to discover along the way.  If you know of anyplace that has a cupcake worth tasting, please let me know.  And for those of you fellow cupcake aficianados, please visit Sprinkle’s Cupcake’s website and vote for their next location to be in Boston!

Win At Yelling!

(Yeah, Michael posts book reviews and I post stupid videos. Something for everyone, right?)

I think my geek status has lapsed! You’ve probably seen this already, but I totally missed the new beverage of choice for nerds: Brawndo, The Thirst Mutilator! I usually get Red Bull every week at the grocery, but apparently, I’m a totally wuss for buying the teeny cans of pee-yellow, slightly carbonated, “gives you wings” beverage. I need to upgrade to the lime-jello-colored, half-quart, ass-kicking, made with five kinds of sugar, manly-man drink!

Just look at their awesome ad campaign. You gotta love a drink that argues “Drink BRAWNDO and not WATER because WATER is from the TOILET!!!”

How old is your child?

Mmmm… Pizza RollsMichael just got home (at six a.m., ugh) from San Francisco where he’d spent several days at a library conference. I really turn into a worthless slug when he’s away and can’t sleep very well. And this time was compounded by a mysterious sore throat, achiness, and fatigue. Not sure if it was a cold or allergies.

But the one good thing about being a temporary bachelor is that I get to shop for groceries Michael would never eat. Here’s a partial list from my Sunday afternoon excursion:

Hostess Cupcakes, chocolate
TGI Fridays’ Cheddar and Bacon Potato Skins
Wonder Bread
American Cheese Slices, the orange kind
Turkey and Ham Hot Pockets, now with more meat
Fritos
Fritos Bean Dip
Ham and Swiss Lunchables
Turkey and American Lunchables, the orange kind
Totino’s Pepperoni Pizza Rolls, 90 count

“Um, he’s eight. But he’s only visiting for a few days. I just have to keep him happy till Thursday.”