wild about wilde

i have a hands-down new favorite tv show this season.  if you haven't heard of it, "running wilde" is, in my humble opinion, brilliant.

the show follows steve wilde, (played by will arnett) a multi-billionaire oil heir.  he is essentially the epitome of a rich snob.  he is vain.  selfish.  has no idea how the real world operates.  has every material possession possible.

when his childhood crush, emmy kadubic (played by keri russell) comes back into his life, his one goal is to sleep with her.  emmy, however, hails from a lower-class background.  as she grew older, she also grew to hate everything steve had become: spoiled, unconcerned about the earth, and egoistic.  because of these beliefs, emmy works as an environmental activist...and runs many efforts to stop steve's oil company from drilling in remote parts of the third world.

as the series has progressed, there has been a unique interplay between steve trying to "do what is morally right" to get in emmy's pants and emmy "getting reacquainted" with the luxuries of life in the united states.

the show goes far beyond your run-of-the-mill love story.  the show is written so well that it is entirely about trying to court your childhood crush, yet simultaneously has nothing to do with love at all.  every episode has been filled with clever political undertones and comedic life lessons.

when you combine the ridiculously brilliant comedic timing of will arnett with the "radical environmental terrorist" portrayed by david cross, the homosexual insinuations from steve's personal aid, mr. lunt, (played by robert michael morris) the hispanic butler (migo) with a gambling problem, (played by mel rodriguez) and the air-head best friend and fellow billionaire fa'ad (played by the incredibly talented peter serafinowicz...rumored to be taking over steve carell's role in the office) the show is simply a hit.  when you add on top of this the perfectly delivered punch lines from stefania lavie owen (the child actress who portrays "puddle," emmy's love child) you have a show that has it all.

every single time i watch the show i get that feeling...the one where you know you're watching something that could really take off.  it's kind of like that feeling you get when you're back home for thanksgiving break and wake up to your mother baking the dinner in the oven.  and how right before the big meal, all you can smell are the delicious, fluffy, gooey, flaky buns baking.  you know you're about to enjoy something incredible, and you know you want seconds (and thirds...and fourths...really, wouldn't the world be awesome if we had thanksgiving dinner every single day?).

running wilde is the rare breed of show that leaves me wanting more.  why eat three buns when you can have four?  so today, as one-half of the founding fathers of TBTOO, i would like to give my seal of approval and recommendation to you that you watch running wilde.  you won't regret it.  if you love that feeling you get from smelling buns baking in the oven...then i'm sure you'll also love running wild.

until next time, keep it toasty.

i think they enjoy buns

sorry, but i just couldn't resist.  stumbleupon...you've done it again.

go north, young man

i officially have a new apartment.  i move in on january 1st.

i'll spare you all of the boring details about all of the new amenities that i'll get to enjoy.  i'll just say this:  one of the big selling points it that i'm upgrading from my current kitchenette to a fully furnished kitchen.  this is a pretty big deal because, well, i cook a lot.  a kitchenette just has 2 hot plates, a sink, and a cutting board.  nothing too luxurious.  the new place comes complete with 4 hot plates, oven, fridge, 2 sinks, microwave, and plenty of cupboard space.

the oven is the key factor here.  because i plan on cooking up some mean hot cross buns.  for those of you currently with an oven, here's a recipe you might enjoy for some fresh, steamy buns:

Traditional Hot Cross Bun Recipe Ingredients:

• 630 grams of strong white flour
• 130 grams of raisins and sultanas or mixed dried fruit
• 90 grams of plain sugar
• 50 grams of plain butter cut into small chunks
• 2 teaspoons of fast action yeast
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, mixed spices or even Chinese 5 spice
• 1 medium size egg
• 300ml of milk
• The zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

Ingredients for the Topping:

• 2 tablespoons of plain flour for the cross
• 1 tablespoon of golden syrup for the glazing

Directions for Baking Hot Cross Buns:

1. Sieve the flour and ground mixed spice into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the sugar, lemon and orange zest and yeast.
2. Add the milk and beaten egg to this mixture and stir until it becomes a soft but solid dough then mix in the raisins and other dried fruit.
3. Sprinkle a kitchen surface with flour and then knead the dough on the flour gently for around 3-7 minutes until it is smooth and workable.
4. Grease a warm bowl with butter and place the dough in a ball in the bowl. Cover this with Clingfilm or preferably a clean cloth tea towel and place the bowl in a warm place for about 2 hours occasionally working it and then replacing it in the warm bowl. This will help the dough rise slightly.
5. Again put the dough onto a floured kitchen top but this time split the dough into 12 equal bits and work the pieces into balls or bun shapes.
6. Grease a baking tray with butter and lay the buns out equally spaced. As with the dough cover the buns with a clean tea towel or Clingfilm and leave to rest again in a warm place but this time for just around 30 minutes. While the buns are resting preheat the oven to 250C (480F or Gas 8).
7. Also, while waiting for the buns, prepare the topping which consists of mixing the plain flour with a drop of water to create a smooth and slightly runny paste. Then when the buns are done resting use this paste to draw a cross on each hot cross bun. For best results use a piping bag for the crosses.
8. At this point the buns are ready to go into the over for around 10 minutes or just until they are golden, depending on the oven this may be quicker or longer. Once out lightly coat the buns with golden syrup or for an alternative why not try maple syrup which is just as sweet. Once cool the buns are ready to eat!

They can be served cold or toasted, with butter or jam and make a lovely breakfast treat. This recipe is tried and tested, making home made hot cross buns a piece of cake this Easter or any time of year! They will fill your house with a delicious, spicy baking aroma and are guaranteed to fly out of the kitchen.

i don't really know who measures things in "grams" and "milliliters," but they look like delicious buns.

Speaking of Randy Moss

Why is
<<< this guy
still on the field?

I blame the parents.

Someone once said that there are no stupid questions...

I'm thinking about writing a movie based on real events. No seriously, this kind of thing happens every day.

---------

Classroom - Day

It is a stuffy little basement classroom. Students are packed into tight rows of old, uncomfortable chairs. There are equations on the board describing the pressure of a fluid acting on a body. The professor is discussing an example involving a cylinder. There is a convincing 3-dimensional depiction of a cylinder drawn on the board.

A boy raises his hand.

Professor

Yes?

Front Row Hero

So, just to clarify, are we working on a sphere or a cylinder?

Professor

A cylinder.

Front Row Hero

So it's the force on a sphere?

-------

.... only stupid people who keep asking questions.

Op/Ed 10/09/10

i think i'm going to start a new tradition here at TBTOO and post a simple op/ed piece every saturday.  it lets me look foward to ranting and you can look forward to a little insight into my life.  for the first op/ed, i'm just going to use a classic post from the mustache blog.  seeing as how november is right around the corner, i feel as though the post is pertinent to our lives today.  i kept the original post in tact, so just pretend the dates are correct and the names make sense.  until next time, keep the oven toasty.


"in times of shrinking expectations...the bread party rules supreme"


november seventh. 

get out and vote.

most of you know how i will be voting, (some may even be suprised to know that i'll choose a democrat or two) but i feel the need to say something...that perhaps is true of a heartless conservative:

i love negative campaign ads. they spice up everything--providing me with some much needed dirt on one candidate--and absolutely nothing about the other.

but really, what in life isn't negative these days.

i can sit infront of the TV for ninety straight minutes...watching the 5 o'clock news, national news, and 6 o'clock wrap-up without learning about one positive thing that happened over the duration of the day.

some of you may contend, "but kubas, with basic cable you have no exposure to the real world." i see the same things on ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS--nothing "positive" is happening.

and don't even get me started on commercials. i can't stand it when people gripe about how "[insert major party candidate] said some inappropriate words about [insert other major party candidate.]" have you seen TV lately?

it never fails that each day subway tells me how much better their food is than the other major food chains. verizon wireless has more minutes than t-mobile which, somehow, makes them better. t-mobile is cheaper than motorola. motorola is older than unicel. everyone can agree that unicel just blows. excuse me, i don't even own a cell phone. eleven times a day i'm informed that nine new toyotas get more than 30 miles to the gallon, but the average chevy only gets 25. but wait! chevys have 4 star crash ratings, unlike any 3 1/2 star dodge. apparently dodge has better customer service and warrantees than toyota...so i am forced to live with even more of these commericals. perhaps i should try taking lunesta because, fortunately, i won't become dependent. then again, ambien CR allows me to fall asleep faster and longer. maybe what i really need are more commercials clarifying how much the other brand sucks. 

so to you, mr. pawlenty, and you, mr. kennedy--keep 'em coming! you make the one constant in my life that much more enjoyable. i'll see you in 12 days.

keep it like a secret

on sunday morning i went to church.  with my girlfriend studying abroad for the semester and her sister out of town for the weekend, i was attending service alone with just her parents.  just the three of us.  no big deal.

after the service ended, her parents invited me out to lunch.  i understand that for many young men this might be a bit awkward or intimidating, but for me it's really not too bad.  i'm at the point where i know both of her parents fairly well and they know me as well.  they know i'm a good guy with a smart head on my shoulders and that i'm relatively harmless.  

when we got to lunch, there was about a 30 minute wait to be seated.  shortly after waiting for a half-hour, our table was ready and we were seated.  at the exact moment that we got our table, my girlfriend's mother noticed that our pastor from church had just walked through the door with his family.  apparently they had the same idea of where to go for lunch as well.

my girlfriend's father and the pastor at church are pretty good pals.  they have developed a rapport that is really unmatched by many people i know.  after the pastor and his family waited for about a half-hour to be seated, as all luck should have it, his family was placed at the table right next to ours.  

upon walking past our table and realizing it was my girlfriend's family, the pastor's face instantly lit up as he stopped at our table, shook my girlfriend's parents' hands, and joked with the family.  after looking my way, he had a bit of a puzzled look on his face, and asked, "now who are you?"

before i could even get a word out, my girlfriend's father answered,

"this is my future son-in-law."

i think there was a subtle hint somewhere in there...but i'm not quite sure if i got it.

i left that lunch somewhat intimidated, pondering the future, and with a french fry lodged somewhere in my left lung.