6.25.2008

Who'll get stuck with Jen next week?

I'm okay with Corey being the last one sent home on Hell's Kitchen. She was my pick, but like I said earlier, she started falling behind these past few episodes. Any of those top three would have been fine with me, but Jen definitely had to go before this trio! I thought it was humorous when Corey was picking the ice during the "punishment" and said that sometimes she pretends it's Jen. Maybe I need an ice block to get my frustrations out?

But now between Christina & Petrozza... hmm... I think Petrozza will be crowned the winner. He's more calm and focused in the kitchen and doesn't get involved in the kitchen conflict. Only downside is he's not a very tidy guy. That might not sit well with Ramsay. Christina's inexperience will show; yet surprisingly she's won the past three challenges! Good for her though — she even saw this challenge coming when she was eating with her parents. If she had only listened to her mom about the cream!

What I can't wait to see next week is who picks (or gets stuck with) Jen! I'm anticipating the sabotage already (cue in The Beastie Boys... Listen All Y'all It's A Sab-a-taaage) Christina commented that she'd pick Corey to be on her team. Not sure how that will pan out since they're technically "frenemies".

From the sounds of it, the winner will become "Sous-Chef" and not the coveted "Executive Chef" of the new LA restaurant. What an experience still that would be!

Who's your pick?
Petrozza
Christina
  

This Week's Wine Rack Find

Bachus Wine Rack
Store your wine in style! Marcel Wanders designed this beautiful modern rack for Slide® of Italy. With removable casters and stackable design, each unit holds 40 bottles. Mix & match colors for an even more impressive display (available in gray/green/white). Still not sure what the bunny has to do with the rack, but he blends well and is darn cute!

www.slidedesign.it
See site for pricing



NOTE: Very cool site done entirely in Flash (warning: very slow); worth checking out since all of their products are very minimalist and modern.

6.24.2008

Kitchen Nightmare's Fall Trailer

The quality is not the best, but as promised I finally tracked down the trailer for the next season of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. NOTE: I don't like the photo still they chose for the video — yuck! Anyway, enjoy it you f'ing donuts...

Coming Thursdays this Fall



Hell's Kitchen is still my preference of the two Ramsay shows, but my favorite KN episode from last September was when he visited Peter's in Babylon, NY. I'm originally from Long Island so it was great to see familiar turf. The family-run Italian restaurant showcased bad food and lot's of family feuding. Peter even punched a bill collector during an extreme fit of rage. Classy! For everyone wondering though, Gordon brings the family closer and the restaurant back up to par in the end. Aww, isn't that nice?

Catch Hell's Kitchen Tonight — Tune in to FOX at 8 Central!



I'm ready for tonight's new episode of Hell's Kitchen. With Jen finally gone, the top 3 contenders battle it out for the new LA restaurant — Corey, Christina & Petrozza each get a chance at running the kitchen. That always makes for a good episode. Lot's of yelling, swearing & tears...

And, who could possibly be the mystery guest?

6.18.2008

This Week's Wine Rack Find

After my Hell's Kitchen post today, I'm posting a not-so-serious wine rack.

Take your wine everywhere you go! This "rack" hold over 750ml of your favorite beverage and increases your cup size 2 full cups. Sucking wine out of a tube seems wrong!

Booze Filled Bra: The Wine Rack
www.firebox.com
$29.95 (only available in size small... mediums expected by June 24, 2008)

Ding, Dong! Hell's Bitch Jen is gone!



After bringing the team down time after time, and stirring the pot with her "me-attitude" — Jen has finally left Hell's Kitchen! Man that woman can babble on and on...The only way she could have stayed is if they duct-taped her mouth shut. But then, she couldn't eat the left overs from the pregnant ladies plates. That was really gross, but not surprising! My favorite line about her almost has to be when Jean Philippe asks her, "Are you going to be bitchy all day?" Who else thinks Ramsay or the producers kept her on the show just to provide conflict? I would almost bet, too, that she was the one that voted twice when they went back to decide the two that should go home.

I've been routing for Corey all along, but she really didn't do that great last night. She seemed really sluggish and just not with it. The raw fish was gross. I'm sure we was frustrated and the pressure was starting to get to her. Christina came from out of nowhere and won the individual challenge. She was a star last week, too. It was funny watching her have such a blast trying on and winning tons of designer clothes. That really chapped the rest of the team when she came back, but I don't agree with how they were completely ignoring her. That doesn't show teamwork on their part and should be noted for future reference. No matter how jealous or angry they were, she won the challenge fair & square and didn't deserve the lashings from her teammates. But, burning Chef Ramsay two times during dinner service needs to be added to her list of screw-ups.

Ramsey at the end of the episode squeaks out a, "Well done, now f-off!"... Who will the mystery guest be next week? Ooooh...

I would be happy with any of the remaining three winning at the end — Corey, Petrozza, or Christina.

Did you see the Kitchen Nightmares trailer for the new fall season? That was hilarious! I'm looking for the trailer and will post it when it surfaces on the web...

6.17.2008

Grapes in ND... Who Knew?!

We definitely don't live in "Wine Country" but I finally have some pictures of the grapes growing in our backyard. The yard is already stocked with apples, gooseberries, chokecherries, plums, june berries... you name it. This is exciting though! The next few years we'll finally have fun making wines and jellies.

6.12.2008

This Week's Wine Rack Find

Very artistic way to hold 6 bottles! I like that you can lay it vertically or horizontally and add multiple racks to create more impact.

Cru Wine Rack
www.umbra.com
$158

6.11.2008

LOL Gophers




Someone should start a new series called LOL Gophers! For my few readers not familiar with LOL Cats, you need to check it out. Our son thinks they're hilarious.

Anyway, why LOL Gophers? I went outside last night after supper and discovered that the damn gophers in our yard are not just nibbling at our garden, but destroying it. So frustrating!! Some plants are totally missing, some are chewed off at the base of the stem, some are just carcasses laying there. Then on to the herb garden... parsley has been tossed everywhere as if it were a huge salad. Little f'ers!!

Beware, little critters...watch your step!

6.10.2008

My Latest Design


Last month our company decided to finally put up a blog! I had fun designing the template and also got a chance to develop some php skills. Frustrating at times, but overall I think it was a rewarding experience. I'm still a designer at heart, but this programming piece of the picture is intriguing. Wouldn't mind learning more...

Thanks in advance for checking it out... let me know what you think!

I'm feeling nostalgic today for some reason and want to revisit the days of pencil drawing & photography. Wish I could find the time to dabble again! I'm thinking of posting some of my past designs to share... Stay tuned.

6.09.2008

iPhone 3G Ad

Oooh, shiny! And half the price...

Who else is distracted by the WWDC Keynote?

So is there anyone not listening or watching the coverage?? I'm now listening to live coverage of the Worldwide Developer Conference 2008 Keynote. Tried really hard to follow Leo Laporte's coverage from TWiT Live, but it was so overloaded and jumpy.

One major question I have is the new name of Mac's OS 10.6 — Snow Leopard. Are they serious?!! OS X - Monkey would have been a better choice in my opinion. Anyway, it's a milestone release for Apple since it will leave the PowerPC behind: a 64-bit clean, Intel-only Mac OS. So wow, the death of the PowerPC? My poor G5. Good news for me though I guess; maybe a new computer at work :)

I'm a big Mac fan/user (always been), but this keynote is boring me to bits...Okay, now I'm awake – He just said "pick their apps", but it sure sounded like he said "pick their @ss"!!

Of course, the big topic is — the iPhone! Too bad we can't even get iPhone service here. Sega demonstrated Super Monkey Ball with tilt action which would be pretty fun. Other new features include: contact search with live searching; full iWork document support; complete support for Office documents (Word, Excel, and now PowerPoint); bulk delete & move for messages; the ability to save images you get; a new calculator with scientific mode when you rotate the iPhone; parental controls; tremendous language support.

Finally onto the iPhone 3G... After learning so much with the first iPhone, Apple has created an even thinner model with solid metal buttons, gorgeous display, camera, flush headphone jack, and dramatically improved audio, longer battery life, and simply FASTER. Oh yeah, and GPS built in.

Without being able to see anything, I'm missing why they're listening to "It's a Small World"... Oh, it's available to more countries now (70 total). That was kind of corny! Crap, we can't even get service in ND! Anyway it'll be available July 11th in 22 of those countries. Someday...

It's finally over and now I can get something accomplished.

6.05.2008

This Week's Wine Rack Find

Kind of on the spendy side, but I really like the simplicity.

Malaga - a Modern Wood Wine Rack
www.greenergrassdesign.com
$160 each unit + $180 for the base

6.03.2008

Hell's Kitchen episode looks awesome tonight!

I can't wait for tonight's new episode! Last week we were left hanging knowing Jen will be rejoining the girl's Red Team and Matt will go back to the men's Blue Team. Both of the aforementioned contestants seriously need to go! I actually grew to like Louross and was really surprised he got "de-jacketed" last week. At this point I honestly think Corey will win, although I don't think she can handle a restaurant of her own. Should be interesting to see how the girls handle Jen again... could be a good "Hell's Bitches" episode. I sure hope Jen doesn't win the challenge either and get to go to Vegas to have dinner with last year's winner, Rock. She looked a little too excited in this week's spoiler. Looks like Matt goes crazy too, "Something is really going fruity inside of his brain!"..."Delusional, outta control, freakin bonkers! He's just completely lost it!"


Virtual Gordon



"People are getting f'ing impatient!" "Oh F me senseless." LOL!! Gotta get this when it comes out for wii. Our son would even love it for DS (hopefully they have a PG version). Looks like it's available for PC users now for only $19.99.

Here's the description of the game from the site:

Hell’s Kitchen is a US TV phenomenon as renowned Gordon Ramsay puts aspiring chefs through a rigorous culinary bootcamp. Experience the show's pressure-cooker atmosphere as you go through a series of kitchen and dining room challenges. Success depends on how well you can cook and serve meals, so master each time management test to progress. Each meal is scored by Gordon Ramsay- do you have the talent to be a "Five-Star" chef in the hottest kitchen around?

Check out tonight's episode at 8 Central on FOX...