Oooh, I Like!
Hey, these new additions at Kicks Hawaii would look good while on a vacation at Disneyland.
Passion
Ace of Cakes LOST in Hawaii
Duff and the creative cast of Charm City Cakes are in Hawaii filming for their Food Network hit, Ace of Cakes. Through clandestine means, I learned about the filming at Tropics Community Activity Center on Schofield Barracks and being a fan, headed there to find a mass of cake fanatics.
We waited in the long line that wrapped around the Community Center but got to see Duff give an interview in the back of Tropics.
Surprisingly, the line moved quickly, and we were packed inside in a matter of minutes.
Duff, Geoff, Mary Alice, and the rest of the cast were introduced, and the show was underway. Duff explained that Ace of Cakes was in Hawaii for several reasons. First of all, the show was invited to Hawaii by Army fans stationed here. Still though, the cost to bring the cast and crew to Hawaii would be too much both for the Food Network channel and the Army. This is where the mega-ABC hit, LOST, stepped in. You see, LOST members are also big fans of the creativity of Charm City Cakes, and you know where LOST is filmed right?
So the big budget of LOST paid for Ace of Cakes to come to Hawaii! During their stay, Ace of Cakes filmed an episode, Duff and the crew accepted their Army invitation to Hawaii, and Hawaii fans benefitted. Not only that, but of course, Duff would need to work his cake magic while in the Islands and he did so, twice.
Going back to LOST for a bit. To return the generosity, Duff created a cake for LOST to be unveiled sometime soon. Sources say Duff met Jorge Garcia earlier this week, but the LOST cake is still a shrouded mystery like the show itself.
Back at Schofield, Duff designed a cake dedicated to the servicemen and women in the Army, and it looks like this…
Spoiler Alert! Don’t watch the video if you do NOT want to see the cake.
http://www.youtube.com/v/7PcYLw6wrTI&hl=en&fs=1
It was too crowded, so I didn’t stick around to try to meet Duff, Geoff, or Mary Alice or get closer pictures. I did get a picture of the non-big-three.
A few more pictures in my Picture Gallery.
https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
Thanks Ace of Cakes (and LOST)! And thanks to Schofield security and the staff of Tropics for keeping everything under control and accommodating all fans.
Playing with PostRank
Playing around with PostRank which could be a contender going up against FeedBurner. I also installed the PostRank WordPress widget which shows the top ranked posts here according to their metrics.
Not sold yet, but time will tell.
Thesis Theme Update Available
The WordPress theme, Thesis, that I use for Pulpconnection has a new version, going from 1.3 to 1.4. I haven’t upgraded yet, but the new version features “killer recent entries.” Sounds like a winner.
Read more and download Thesis 1.4 here.
Stefan is Unstoppable
With 8 Top Chef contestants remaining, it was time for the popular Restaurant Wars challenge. Sunset Lounge led by Leah up against Radhika’s Sahana.
Both restaurants struggled, but in the end, the Europeans, Stefan and Fabio, saved the Sunset Lounge. Fabio worked the front of the restaurant as only he could while Stefan continued his dominance, creating two desserts that delivered his team to salvation. I thought Stefan’s culinary weakness would have been desserts, but I surely was wrong. Even though Stefan is portrayed as an arrogant, non-team player, that dude can cook and is the one to beat in Season 5.
As expected, losing team leader, Radhika, was sent home after her nerve-racking experience in Restaurant Wars. Did I mention Stefan was arrogant? Read his words about Radhika’s departure. True, but a little too blunt.
No Ka Oi Runs Deep!
Wow, I didn’t realize how strong my No Ka Oi background was until I scanned my current rotation of kicks. Take a look. See the strong influence of red, black, and white colors?
Dang, No Ka Oi runs deep!
Andy Bumatai’s HI Tech Talk
I shoulda known local talk show host Andy Bumatai was an akamai kind of guy after seeing him at the Kahala Apple Store back in 2007. Andy’s back on the air with his simply named The Andy Bumatai Show where Andy showcases local highlights. But look at recent show topics that cover the high tech scene in HI – Social Media and New Media Delivery, and you’ll get a flavor that Andy’s tech skills are all in the ohana.
Episodes are put online at no charge for viewing on YouTube. Here’s part 1 (of 4) of the Social Media episode talking about blogs and Twitter.
Even the live studio audience was a bunch of techies tweeting away during the show.
Taping is done at the ING Direct Studio and is free to attend. The Andy Bumatai Show airs weeknights at 9:35 on KFVE.
Respect Your Ingredients
Episode 8 of Top Chef was somewhat of a shocker. Lessons learned down on the farm, respect your ingredients (and proteins) and past performance means nothing.
For these two reasons, Ariane was ousted after mangling her team’s lamb dish. Tom Colicchio presented his philosophy of cooking, stressing the respect chefs show their ingredients. Ariane, he felt, dishonored her lamb with her butchering. Even though Ariane has done well with lamb in past competitions, each elimination brings a clean slate, so Ariane was dismissed.
Reading about Ginx
Saw this article about Ginx.
More about Ginx.
HONOLULU, Hawaii, January 14, 2009 – Peer News Inc. released the following statement today regarding Ginx:
Ginx is a Twitter client that aims to provide Twitter users with a rich experience for sharing and discussing links. Ginx was created to enable people to become more actively engaged in the news and topics they care about.
Ginx recently went live to a small group of early alpha users who are providing feedback to the team on features and functionality. Peer News expects to make Ginx available to more users later this year. For updates on the service follow @ginx on Twitter.
Ginx is the first service from Peer News, a new startup co-founded by Pierre Omidyar and Randy Ching.
When the Booze is Gone, It’s Time to Move on, Gene
Those were Gene Villiatora’s parting words on Top Chef as the Hawaii-raised chef didn’t make it past Week 7. Throughout the competition, Gene was a lucky survivor, advancing through each challenge doing it his way. And in Week 7, Gene, for better or for worse, stuck to his roots and made a questionable fish dish that didn’t completely win over the judges.
Gene almost made it through this week’s double elimination with the backing of new judge Toby Young who admired Gene’s wild creativity. Unfortunately, Gene’s visual whole fish dish with daikon, tomato, and basil didn’t have the flavorful punch the judges were looking for.
Here’s how it went down.
Gene, thanks for a showcasing Hawaii’s culinary talent and wish you much future success!
Bella’s Lullaby on Sheet Music
At a family dinner, I heard one of my nieces practicing on the piano. The music sounded familiar even after only a few notes. It was none other than Bella’s Lullaby from Twilight! I couldn’t believe it until I saw the sheet music with my own eyes.
Besides the soundtrack and forthcoming DVD, I didn’t see sheet music as another popular Twilight memorabilia item. Dang, Twilight is simply a beast, not just a box office beast. If you’re digging Bella’s Lullaby, you can buy the sheet music from Twilight at Musicnotes.
And I underestimated Amazon where I also found the Twilight Score (with complaints about Bella’s Lullaby being inaccurate).
Just what is Bella’s Lullaby? It’s the song Edward wrote inspired by Bella, and it goes something like this…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUM9k1A1nU&hl=en&fs=1]
Team Jacob Getting Pumped
To retain his role as shape shifting Jacob Black of Twilight, Taylor Lautner needed to bulk up his teenage bod. Looks like he’s doing a good job.
I think he’s been in contact with the Tabasco Man asking about his special Tabasco juice.
Update: Taylor must be staying away from the delectable bacon desserts. Check out his Wayne’s World-like abs from this Access Hollywood interview.
A freeze frame for the female fans.
