I Don't Get It '08

[Laurie]

Puffy sleeves winning Project Runway and Richard mixing white chocolate with wasabi on Top Chef.

Wussup, Bravo? I don't get it!!!

Awww, I like Christian Siriano.

I'm not sure how I would like white chocolate and wasabi. It could be one of those crazy flavor combinations that surprisingly works. I've had weirder flavor combinations.

I love chocolate sauces and reductions in savory dishes, but those usually have high cacao content with a bitter edge. White chocolate is pure sugar, no bite, no edge. Just sweet. I like sweet and spicy and sweet and salty, but I'm not sold on that flavor combination.

My favorite restaurant has a crispy beef cheek dish on the menu that comes with whipped celeriac, celery salad, and a chocolate reduction. I've eaten a little bit of the salad off of my friend's plate last week, and it was fabulous. I would be all over that if I ate red meat, but I've found it repulsive since birth!

If you're ever in Miami, come to Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and eat the kimchi. I'm a kimchi convert. It's addictive.

[ericluxury]

Christian came to my office with a couple other Project Runway people last week. Victorya and Jack specifically. Christian seemed a lot more down to earth and normal in person. Victorya also, but Jack was totally annoying.

[Laurie]

Victorya came off as a humorless bitch. Even Heidi thought so.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Victorya came off as a humorless bitch. Even Heidi thought so.

word

I'm not sure how I would like white chocolate and wasabi. It could be one of those crazy flavor combinations that surprisingly works. I've had weirder flavor combinations.

me too.  in fact, wasnt there someone last season who mixed chili pepper with chocolate (during the bacardi quickfire challenge).

[masterofsparks]

Turbonegro. People rave about this bad and I really feel like they're the sort of thing I'd love. I have Ass Cobra and another one and I just don't get it.

It depends on which record "the other one" is. Their next record, Apocalypse Dudes, is to my mind the best rock record of the 1990s. Their other records range in quality from "sucks on hot ice" to "meh."

[Sarah]

Chocolate and chili pepper have been combined forever (double the endorphins, double the fun); wasabi would perform the same role as chili pepper.  It's the fact that pretentious Blais used white chocolate that is so puzzling, as Laurie noted.

[masterofsparks]

An ice cream place here locally has a flavor called Queen City Cayenne that combines milk chocolate, cayenne, and cinnamon and it is delicious.

[erika]

An ice cream place here locally has a flavor called Queen City Cayenne that combines milk chocolate, cayenne, and cinnamon and it is delicious.

Mmmm that sounds like a "Mexican Hot Chocolate"

Num!

[dania]

Tamarind candy I don't get.  Those things are like giant beanpods.  Also they taste gross.  Never should've been made into candy!  I don't get it!

[Josh]

Cah Tawk. I can't stand their New England cackle or their sense of "humor". Now this:



PBS Greenlights 'Car Talk' Television Series

First-Ever Animated Primetime Series for PBS to Launch in Summer 2008
                   TV Series Titling Contest Open to Fans

    BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Start your
engines! PBS is bringing Tom and Ray Magliozzi, of CAR TALK, to TV. Based
on the hit NPR radio show, the as-yet-untitled animated sitcom will launch
with ten 30-minute episodes targeted for summer 2008. Fans will be invited
to submit title suggestions for the television show.
    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070711/DCW076 )
    The fast-paced series will take off where the radio series ends,
focusing on the adventures of Click and Clack and their crew of mechanics
and co- workers. Based largely in Tom and Ray's fictional garage, the show
will focus on the "off-air" escapades of Tom and Ray Magliozzi ("known to
their listeners as Click and Clack," the Tappet brothers) as they try to
fix cars, fend off disgruntled customers and seek out ways to do less and
less work.
    "We want to apologize in advance to Jim Lehrer, Bill Moyers, the folks
at FRONTLINE, NOVA and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE for the damage we are about to
do to your network's reputation," said Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who will
provide the voices for their own animated characters. "Oh, and Big Bird,
too. Sorry, pal."
    "Tom and Ray are larger than life characters, and the only way to keep
them larger than life, and not diminish them on TV, is through animation,"
said creator and executive producer Howard K. Grossman. "We've brought on a
world-class animation team, and I'm confident the series will rank among
the best anywhere."
    "Unlikely!" said Tom.
    "We're looking forward to bringing Tom and Ray to television, with new
characters and stories that capture the humor of the radio series and take
it even further," said John Boland, PBS chief content officer. "Through
animation and fresh content, we anticipate the show will be a hit among
current fans of the radio show and new audiences. PBS has long been a
leader in creating animated, educational programming for children, but,
with CAR TALK, we will present our first primetime animated series for a
general audience."
    The animated series takes place at Car Talk Plaza, a fictional building
which houses their radio studio and their famed garage in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, in Harvard Square. Along with "Click and Clack," the cast of
characters includes:
    -- Fidel -- A mechanic with a cleanliness obsession, who insists on
       wearing Armani suits while working on cars. He can sense car problems
       through smell and touch.
    -- Crusty -- A former Harvard professor who was tossed out of the nearby
       academic institution and now turns a wrench, while thinking deep
       thoughts, for Tom and Ray.
    -- Stash -- A gruff, Eastern bloc escapee who can manufacture anything out
       of anything.
    -- Sal (short for Sally) -- The veteran Bostonian garage receptionist who
       handles insiders and outsiders with the same lack of etiquette.
    -- Beth -- Their young, eager radio producer who desperately wants to
       improve their show and make it more professional to please the network
       higher ups.
    In conjunction with the series, an innovative partnership brokered by
executive producer Howard K. Grossman with The American Association of
Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), whose membership includes all state
motor vehicle agencies (DMVs) in the United States and Canada, will feature
a public safety campaign, with the cartoon versions of Tom and Ray
dispensing safe driving tips and other useful information to drivers
renewing their licenses in person at participating state DMVs, and online,
as well as other educational materials.
    The titling contest will be announced on the CAR TALK radio program and
will allow listeners to submit their own suggestions for the television
program title. More details regarding the titling contest will be available
soon.

[yesno]

Car Tawk. I can't stand their New England cackle or their sense of "humor".

Those guys are the worst.  Thank you Josh.  I would rather drive in silence than listen to those two unfunny bozos.

When I'm on weekend trips, either Car Talk or Prairie Home Companion tend to be on the radio.  This is why I support WFMU but not my local NPR station.  Drop the cornball humor, guys.

[Pete Velcro]

I can handle Car Talk, but Prairie Home Companion feels like a fundamentalist cult brainwash-ritual. NPR has good news shows like Brian Lehrer and--I know Tom was busting on it a few weeks ago, but still--This American Life is cool.  Cool I say!! 

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Every time I hear Brian Lehrer's voice I want to throw him out a window.  I also hear from people that play work softball with WNYC that he's a whiny bad sport, but that's hearsay. 

I never understand what the hell they're talking about on Prairie Home Companion, but I do know that on long van rides with my Midwestern in-laws, it's reassuring and easy to fall asleep to, and a decent alternative to three hours of small talk.

I listened to Car Talk once in 2005, when I was just checking out the top ten list of iTunes podcasts, and erased every memory of it.  I am pretty sure I didn't like it.

This American Life is OK.  I listen to it during the school year, when I have to commute, but it doesn't make the cut over the summer, when I actually have to devote time in order to keep up with talk radio.  The only four talk shows I stick with all year round are Democracy Now, KCRW's The Business, 7SD, and some show involving mirth, music and mayhem.

[masterofsparks]

Prairie Home Companion = awful. My folks and their friends seem to find it funny, but I'll never know why. Then again, they probably wouldn't find Andy Breckman as funny as I do.

As for other shows I like, I've only recently subscribed to the podcast of KCRW's The Treatment, but I like what I've heard.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

The Treatment is pretty great.  I stopped listening recently to make room for more WFMU podcasts, and also because I noticed I had stopped reading and wanted to start again, but I think about resubscribing all the time.  Bookworm on KCRW also has great guests, but Michael Silverblatt's voice takes a lot of getting used to.  I used to sort of hate him, but then I felt bad because he seems like this incredibly kind little book-loving gnome.

Wait, this isn't the podcast thread, we already have like 12 of those!  Sorry!

I don't get Takashi Murakami.  How is his stuff different from Manga again?  Is it just recontextualized, like a visually assaulting, infantile, Japanese version of a readymade?