Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Oh the Holidays ...

The holidays have us a little bogged down at the moment but we promise that another season of fantastic articles is on the horizon. Stay tuned and we suggest you follow our Facebook feed to get the latest news from Expect Odd Things.

Have a Happy New Year and see you in 2011!!


Thursday, November 18, 2010

Transient Thursdays - Autumn Cookin' with Kyle


I feel the dust slide between my hands and the winter squash as I rifle through the giant cardboard bin at the farmer's stand. With the smell of hay and fires in the breeze, staring into a kaleidoscope of earthy vegetable colors, I whisper, “man, I love autumn.” The crisp air, the colors, the scritching sound of leaves blowing along the street kindle a quiet joy in my heart. Choosing some for their aesthetic gnarliness, and some for eating, I bring as many squash to the checkout as my arms can carry. Squash are beautiful, inexpensive, rippin' with nutrition (see?), and a versatile cooking ingredient. There are tons of types of edible winter squash, far more than what is typically seen in the grocery store.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Streaming Sunday - Raising Hope

Each fall networks hurl their new shows at us en masse. We then begin the scramble to find out which shows have promise (Outsourced, Running Wilde) and those that are in desperate need of cancellation (Lone Star, The Gates). This week we'll feature Fox's new show Raising Hope.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Weird Wednesday - Deadliest Catch: The Social Game

One of the biggest things on Facebook since its inception are its games. From Farmville, to Mafia Wars, Scrabble, and even Chess Pro, everyone is playing flash based games in their browser on Facebook. Well not to be outdone by other options the brass behind the hit Discovery Channel show "The Deadliest Catch" are in development with Hive Media for a Deadliest Catch Facebook game.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Tuesday Brewsday - Discovery Channel's Brew Masters

In two weeks, for the first time ever there will be an entire television series devoted to the world of craft beer. On November 21st, Discovery Channel will begin airing "Brew Masters" starring Dogfish Head Brewery founder and President Sam Calagione. Some of you may remember Sam as being one of two industry insiders that were followed for the documentary "Beer Wars".

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Streaming Sundays - Halloween Unmasked

The history of Halloween spans all the way back to ancient Celts. It was migrated over to North America as immigrants began pouring into our borders in the early 20th century. It slowly began to gain popularity throughout the century. We all grew up Trick-or-Treating when we were little, and now we'll begin taking our own children door to door collecting candied goodies from all of the neighbors. 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Mad About Music Mondays - Halloween Music

The words "Halloween music" are hard ones to unwrap, as it evokes many concepts and ideas. Some think of eerie sounds, creeky floors, and shrieking screams. Others think of the music from scary movies with their anxious ambiance literally the soundtrack to some of the most frightening moments in our lives. Others think of the campy songs thats accompany childhood favorites like Purple People Eater & Monster Mash. In addition, are songs with topics that are dark, morbid, or simply about this oddly joyous holiday. All of these and more are our feature on the Mad About Music Monday.



Sunday, October 24, 2010

Streaming Sundays - Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project

If you haven't heard of the comedian Don Rickles, then you've truly never heard anyone roasted before. The King of Insult Comedy, Don Rickles has been at it for over five decades making people laugh. His first movie appearance was in 1958, in a little diddy starring Clark Gable, better known for his role two decades earlier in Gone with the Wind

There are couple roles that Rickles has snuck into and by such you likely are familiar with his work. He played casino manager Billy Sherbert in Martin Scorcese's Casinoalso he's the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise. This week's Streaming Sunday selection is a feature-length documentary by Animal House director John Landis all about Don Rickles' career. 

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Weird Wednesdays - Labuat's Soy Tu Aire

This week's Weird Wednesday selection comes in the form of a musical group, a website, and an interactive online music experience. For their first music video, Spanish band Labuat teamed with web designers for a one-of-a-kind 'music video' that likely can never be duplicated. That's because of all the tried and true visual concepts attempted in music video, one where you create the images has never been even attempted before.


The story behind Labuat itself is quite interesting and intertwined if you ask me. Labuat consists of Spanish music producer and publicist Risto Mejide, the Barcelona-based alternative pop band The Pinker Tones, and 2008 Operation Triunfo Winner (a Spanish television show with likenesses to American Idol) Virginia Maestro.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tuesday Brewsday - Acme California Ales


BREWSDAY IS BACK! 

What we consider our cornerstone post, Tuesday Brewsday, is back. I'm sure your taste buds are as anxious as mine are to find out what wonderful fermented beverage we bring to you next. This week we head up the California coast to Fort Bragg, CA all the way in Mendocino County just north of San Francisco. There we find the North Coast Brewing Company quietly nestled near the Pacific Ocean. 

Now you may be asking yourself, "Why is he talking about North Coast Brewing when it's an Acme beer?" Well, I'd say, great question! North Coast Brewing Company makes the beer but the name harks back to another notable brewing company from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mad About Music Mondays - Wax Poetic

When one hears Norah Jones' music several musical styles come to mind, Jazz, Pop, Adult Contemporary, maybe even Rock. However one music style that is next to never associated with Norah Jones is TRIP HOP. You probably already think I'm crazy for even associating such a classic upbeat melodic singer like Norah with the downbeat tempos of a niche style known for it's association with American hip-hop.


I was shocked, as I'm sure you are, to find out that Norah Jones' beginning wasn't seeded at the hands of a classical pianist, or jazz virtuoso, but in the New York City trip-hop band Wax Poetic. Their past, and present-day line-up is the topic of our first Mad About Music Monday post in seven months.

Friday, September 10, 2010

New Posts on the Horizon

We have gas back in the tank and the engine is running! All we have to do is load the car and this puppy is back on the road!!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mad About Music Mondays - Sin City Sinners

Todd Kerns, Brent Muscat, Rob Cournoyer & Dr. Ellis
are the Sin City Sinners of Las Vegas, NV. 
Local music is a fickled thing. Many arguments go back and forth as to who's the best and why. Last year the Sin City Sinners placed second in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's annual Vegas' Best awards. Second to a band that not only doesn't make Las Vegas home, only one band member considers Las Vegas to be his home, they don't play any local shows with the exception of their annual stop-through on their nationwide tour. Well this year's poll comes out in two weeks and hopefully Vegas will get it right this time around. Without a doubt in our minds the Sin City Sinners are thee #1 band calling Las Vegas home. You may have noticed our players on both the right sidebar (go ahead and click play) as well as a rather large one at the bottom of each post and the homepage.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Streaming Sundays - Steal This Movie (2000)

It's been a long time (91 days) since we've last posted a Streaming Sunday feature-length film. Well folks, that's because we're trying to stray away from copyright infringement and the 'stealing' of other people's works. We're attempting to go legit and stir clear of the piracy plaguing the internet today. Alas, we're going the safer and more respectable route of finding those movies that are posted free on reputable sources and websites.

So funny enough, our first movie is appropriately entitled, "Steal This Movie!" starring Vincent D'Onofrio as Abbie Hoffman, the well-known 1960's social and political activists that rustled the feathers of local, state and federal governments with the Yippies. Janeane Garafalo guests stars as Abbie's second wife Anita in this great counter-culture biopic. Also note that Michael Cera appears as Abbie's son america. (His name is purposely spelled with a lower case 'a')

The film takes it name from the guidebook to social activism, Steal This Book written by Abbie Hoffman in 1971. However the film takes basis from on several books including To America With Love: Letters from the Underground written by both Anita and Abbie Hoffman. You may recall the flag shirt wearing gentlemen whom introduces Forrest Gump to speak at the Vietnam protests at the Lincoln Memorial. That gentleman is someone portraying Abbie Hoffman as he lead the Vietnam protests in Washington, D.C.

'Abbie Hoffman' appears in Forrest Gump

Thursday, March 11, 2010

MikeD's Ten Instrumental Songs You May Have Never Heard

On Monday, Scooter posted his Top 10 Instrumental Songs. Using his criteria (listed below) I compiled my own list.

No themes from movies or television are allowed. (Love Theme, Peter Gunn theme, Guns of Navarone, TSOP)
Not a single word may be said during the whole song. (Reel Big Fish's 241, Tequila, Wipe Out, The Hustle, Daft Punk's Musique)
Lyrics may not exist for the song upon recording. (Jeff Beck's A Day in the Life, SRV's Little Wing, Sing Sing Sing)
No overly campy songs featured prevalently in media. (Dueling Banjos, Star Wars Cantina, The Entertainer, Soul Bossa Nova)
Cannot predominantly feature a solo as the majority of the song. (Moby Dick, Eruption, I Know You're Here)

Music is a powerful tool that I think helps exemplify many aspects of life, whether ones life experiences, hardships, celebrations, or misery. I've always had a interest in instrumental music though, even at a young age when I first bought my first Metallica album, actually cassette Master of Puppets in 1989, which features of course Orion, which Scooter mentioned in his post. (Which you can purchase on the left in it's amazing lo-fi sound.)
It's emotional impact ran deep even without words you get a keen sense of what kind of moods they were expressing throughout the passage. Since then I have greatly expanded my musical influences; whether it's traditional folk, classical, jazz, rock, metal, electronic or anything in between. I like music that takes me on a journey, something to ponder, or simply zone out to.

Words never meant much to me too often in music because I think of them as more personal to the artist, unless the subject is more historical. This is probably one reason why I got very into heavier death and black-metal as the vocals were used more as instruments of rage and fury.

This post is not intended to be a 'best of' by any means. This list was sort of thrown together from bands off the top of my head that I greatly enjoy. These also are not listed in any particular order. I could probably go on and list 50 more ranging from all different genres but I'll keep this short and to the point. Hope you may find something you enjoy. If you do, check out their albums or buy them HERE.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Weird Wednesday - Jimmy Pulls a Conan & the Chocolate Stanley Cup

Here are two completely different videos for your Weird Wednesday:

First we have Jimmy Fallon, host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, who slipped and fell last night while performing a stunt race with Chelsea Handler. Does that sound familiar? That's because six months ago the same thing happened to former Late Night host, (now former) Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien fell while racing Teri Hatcher and almost seriously injured himself, but only sustained a minor concussion. So here is the clip of Jimmy pulling a similar stunt with similar results ...

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tuesday Brewsday - Las Vegas Beer Festival "Brew's Best"

This Saturday at the MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas the Buckbean Brewing Company is producing a special beer festival of local Nevada breweries as well as notable breweries from the region. Buckbean Brewing Company, located in Reno, NV, is Nevada's longest operating bottler in Nevada. Granted it's only been two years that they've been operating their business but that doesn't discredit their claim. Also, it's important to note that while they do package and distribute their beer to other markets they don't in fact bottle, they can. That's right they can, and cans are the best way to have your beer reach your customers with the closest to tap quality brew. Cans are 100% protective against oxygen and light, the #1 enemy of quality beer, and provide you to carry your beer where it might be otherwise prohibited: beaches, campgrounds, concerts and more.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Mad About Music Monday - Top 10 Instrumental Songs

With only spotty write-ups lately we're hoping to slowly get the ball rolling by getting back into our regular spots at least on a semi-weekly basis. There may be more hiccups in our schedule on the horizon as we attempt to relocate the headquarters of Expect Odd Things to both a new state and its own domain. That said let's move on to today's order of business. We're back to talking music after taking three months off.

Today's entry is all about the best instrumental songs ever. We'll take a look at the top 10 instrumental songs in every genre of music. Want thrash metal, latin, jazz, 80's or oldies all in one place? Then this is the list for you. To set some criteria of how we figured out our top ten we followed these rules:

No themes from movies or television are allowed. (Love Theme, Peter Gunn theme, Guns of Navarone, TSOP)
Not a single word may be said during the whole song. (Reel Big Fish's 241, Tequila, Wipe Out, The Hustle, Daft Punk's Musique)
Lyrics may not exist for the song upon recording. (Jeff Beck's A Day in the Life, SRV's Little Wing, Sing Sing Sing)
No overly campy songs featured prevalently in media. (Dueling Banjos, Star Wars Cantina, The Entertainer, Soul Bossa Nova)
Cannot predominantly feature a solo as the majority of the song. (Moby Dick, Eruption, I Know You're Here)

Friday, February 5, 2010

Free-For-All Friday - 2010 Stone Winter Storm

It's no secret that we here at Expect Odd Things are more than just casual fans of Stone Brewing Company from Escondido, California. This North San Diego County brewery is renowned for their strong ales, and various other unique creations. Next week, February 7th-13th, they will offer "The Largest Collection of Stone Beers on Tap in One Place at One Time, EVER!" during their Stone Winter Storm they will have over 36 different Stone beers on tap at one time.

Today we'll take a closer look at the different series of beers offered at Stone during their Winter Storm, as well as highlight their specialty beers and beers you've probably never even heard of before. You like Belgians? Stone actually has a couple beers to offer you. How about single beers brewed by three world renowned breweries? Stone's gotcha covered there too. I wish to no end that I was able to attend this amazing offering of what I believe to be a beer demigod. However, I'll be huddled at home crying tears of Ruination, as not attending the Winter Storm will clearly ruin my week. So, here is our wrap-up of the 36-plus Stone Brewing Company beers offered up during their 2010 Stone Winter Storm.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tuesday Brewsday - 48 Beers in 28 Hours (Part 2)


* DISCLAIMER* 
 Grab yourself a good craft brew cause continuing further without one may cause extreme thirst. 

This week's Tuesday Brewsday is a continuation of story written last month, if you missed that you can catch up on the story here.

A little hungover from the previous night's escapades, however only slightly because we ended up laying our heads down nice and early around 10PM. (We had two more breweries we could have visited the night before.) However, last time in San Diego we discovered that Old Town has the cure for a mean hangover. That place is called Casa Guadalajara. Their homemade tortillas and to-die-for Machaca, which is a heavenly blend of generous amounts of carne asada, egg, onions and peppers. The spice and substance of a breakfast here cure any ails your stomach may have left over from the previous evening. Breakfast options aside, we needed to find ourselves a sampler set to enjoy!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Streaming Sunday - Top Ten Movies of the Decade

Our favorite movie critics, the ever opinionated Chicago Tribune writer Michael Phillips and the NY Times' A.O. Scott compiled their Top Ten movie lists of the last ten years. Check out their choices for this past decade's best piece of cinematic art.


For more of Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott, tune into their show At The Movies. Check your local listings. 

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