Repost: "There can be only one [rooster]"

Business Week has put up an inspiring story about the meteoric rise of Huy Fong's "Rooster" Sriracha hot sauce. I love me some Sriracha, so I was excited to learn more about my favourite/go-to brand of the stuff. It turns out that the actual term "Sriracha" is generic, and the actual "rooster" brand is Huy Fong's Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. Good to know.

The actual article is a fascinating read, telling of Huy Fong's humble beginnings and its unprecedented rise in popularity in the West. Interestingly, it turns out the entire hot sauce industry is experiencing something of a renaissance, with it ranking as the eighth-fastest-growing-industry (behind for-profit universities and solar panel manufacturing, randomly). Anyway, give the article a read if you have any affection for the one and only "rooster" sauce, it's a good bit of background info on my condiment of choice.

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'Reposts' are inspired by other articles or blog posts around the Internet. They are used here with accreditation as the basis for short bursts of Max's interests.

Has the true meaning of the ending to The Thing been revealed?

A post went up on io9 today about a reddit user who may have revealed the meaning of the ending of John Carpenter's classic The Thing. If you haven't seen the movie then you should probably reevaluate your choices in life, or at least stop reading now because I'm going to be spoiling its awesome ending. Seriously though, you haven't seen The Thing? Come on, you can do better than that.

If you're still reading then I'm assuming you've seen The Thing and recall how at the end Kurt Russell and Keith David are left sipping whiskey and contemplating their assured demise, but it's unclear whether both of them are still human or not. The film ends on a totally awesome and characteristically ambiguous note with the audience left wondering, "Was one of them the thing at the end?" It's the perfect ending for a perfect movie (you can expect a post on this at some point), and one that has resonated with viewers since the film was released in 1982.

UNTIL NOW (maybe) [probably not]

reddit user kleinbl00 posted a comment on a discussion of The Thing describing a conversation with a friend of his about the movie. His friend claims to have worked for and talked to John Carpenter about The Thing, and well... Just check this out:

A friend of mine, back when he was an assistant, spent a great deal of time with John Carpenter doing interviews and the like for video games and comic projects. I was discussing my conversation with Larry Turman with this friend and he said 

"You know, I asked John Carpenter about The Thing." 

"Oh yeah? What did he say?" I asked. 

"He said he never understood where all the confusion came from. The last frame of The Thing is Kurt Russel and Keith David staring each other down, harshly backlit. It's completely, glaringly obvious that Kurt Russel is breathing and Keith David is not." 

I looked at my friend for a minute, soaking it in. Straight from the horse's mouth. 

"That's a pretty subtle cue to expect the audience to absorb having seen severed heads grow spider legs and run around," I said. 

"That's the genius of The Thing," my friend said, and we moved on to other subjects.

Holy. Freaking. Hannah.

Admittedly it's totally a "friend of a friend of mine"-type unsubstantiated anecdote that could be totally fabricated, but even then it'd still be a really cool take. It just makes me want to go back and watch The Thing again and do a frame-by-frame when I get to the final scene. It's also way too cool a story for me not to have shared here.

(reddit via io9)

Racing Game Players Drive Too Fast for "Gentlemen" Competition

In an interesting bit of gaming news, the British GT has banned graduates from Nissan's GT Academy from competing. For those of that aren't car racing/game enthusiasts, there's a lot in that sentence that probably doesn't make much sense, so let me break it down. The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based (predictably) in the UK. The GT Academy, meanwhile, is an interesting little experiment where the best players of the Gran Turismo games are invited to train/compete in real cars in what essentially amounts to an annual reality television special. It's been going since 2008 and has probably been little more than a PR-stunt, only been notable to those involved/interested. Until now.

Last week the British GT Championship announced that it will not be allowing graduates of the GT Academy to apply for the series' "pro-am" format. By all accounts, this format uses teams that pair a professional driver with a "gentleman driver," AKA a talented amateur who's expected to be good-for-their-experience-level but below the professional level. This difference typically manifests itself in the speed at which both drivers race, with the "gentlemen" amateurs generally coming in at much lower speeds than their professional counterparts. Only last year, GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough drove at speeds that were on par with his pro-driver partner, Alex Buncombe. The guy who got his start playing Gran Turismo on his Playstation was suddenly driving as fast as the pros.

In response, the British GT Championship has banned this year's GT Academy graduates from competing. British GT series manager Benjamin Franassovici has issued a statement saying,

[GT Academy] has shown itself to be a great way to source raw talent and turn that into real racing talent as we saw in British GT last year with Jann Mardenborough. However Nissan’s ability to find such amazing raw talent means that we cannot accept their full season entry for British GT in 2013. Their new recruits have very little racing experience so they have to be on the lowest performance grade. Their talent, going on Jann’s speed last year, doesn’t reflect this lack of experience so it is not fair to put them up against our Pro/Gentleman grid, the basis of British GT3.

I'm not a fan of racing games, and I don't even care about car racing, but I think this is pretty cool news. Essentially an entire (albeit small) class of video game players have been deemed too talented to compete as amateurs in a real driving competition. That's not only the best marketing that Gran Turismo (subtitled "The Real Racing Simulator") could ever have hoped for, it's an honestly good argument in favour of taking the medium seriously in terms of training potential.

Repost: The Alien Beauty of Les Arènes de Picasso

An architecturally-inclined friend of mine pointed me towards Untapped Cities, a site that examines interesting and largely unknown qualities about major travel destinations. It seems sort of like a mix between a cultural blog and Lonely Planet, and that seems like a pretty awesome little niche. In particular I was directed towards a post from January 2012 about mass housing units in the suburbs of Paris, and despite how boring that description sounds it's actually a really cool piece.

The whole article is worth a read but I just want to focus on the bit about Les Arènes de Picasso. It's the building pictured at the top of this post, and as author Charles-Antoine Perrault explains,

In the post-Modernist tradition, Spanish architect Manolo Nuà ±ez Yanowsky intended to break with standardized, functional modern architecture. The overall setting is highly symbolic–the two circular modules are aligned on an axis parallel to the Equator and are meant to represent the wheels of an overturned chariot.

 The building is strikingly unique, especially when you consider that this is a mass housing unit that contains "540 dwellings, a kindergarten, a high school and a few convenience stores." I would love to see this place used as a set in a movie, either in a Bond flick like with Hashima Island in Skyfall (check that link out by the way, it's a really cool story itself) or as a deserted setting in a post-apocalyptic flick à la London at the beginning of 28 Days Later. Sadly, given the fact that Les Arènes de Picasso is a housing unit and at least one school, it's unlikely that it would be used as a film setting. Still though, the design of the place is just so out-there that it would be beautiful to see on film. I could imagine a really interesting tracking shot that takes advantage of the columns seen at the bottom of the image up top. They've got kind of a Sagrada Família vibe (see below), very cool stuff.

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'Reposts' are inspired by other articles or blog posts around the Internet. They are used here with accreditation as the basis for short bursts of Max's interests.

Heroes in Law: Judge Barbara Crabb

It's not often that you can hold up someone in the legal system as a shining example of awesomeness, but today I have the pleasure of doing just that. This post is about U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb (on a side note how amazing is it that there's such a thing as Judgepedia?!). Last week Judge Crabb ruled that three characters "created" by Todd McFarlane were actually derived from characters previously created by Neil Gaiman.

The dispute originates with issue #9 of McFarlane's Spawn comic book series. Released in 1993, the issue was guest written by Gaiman and introduced a set of "Medieval Spawn" characters into McFarlane's universe. In 2002 a US federal court found that Gaiman was a co-copyright holder of three of these characters, namely Medieval Spawn, Angela the angel bounty hunter, and Count Nicholas Cogliostro.

Spawn #9, featuring Angela

Gaiman further questioned the origins of three characters in the 1999 series Spawn: The Dark Ages, believing them to be imitations of his Medieval Spawn characters. Judge Crabb ruled in favour of Gaiman, determining that Dark Ages Spawn and a pair of female angels, Domina and Tiffany, were derived from the characters the Gaiman created.

Judge Crabb made it awesomely clear that she had taken the case seriously, describing and utilizing the official mythology and logic of the Spawn universe in her ruling. The decision is available in full here, and is totally read-worthy, but here are the some of the more relevant passages:

Much as defendant tries to distinguish the two knight Hellspawn, he never explains why, of all the universe of possible Hellspawn incarnations, he introduced two knights from the same century. Not only does this break the Hellspawn “rule” that Malebolgia never returns a Hellspawns to Earth more than once every 400 years (or possibly every 100 years, as suggested in Spawn, No. 9, exh. #1, at 4), it suggests that what defendant really wanted to do was exploit the possibilities of the knight introduced in issue no. 9. 

...

If defendant really wanted to differentiate the new Hellspawn, why not make him a Portuguese explorer in the 16th century; an officer of the Royal Navy in the 18th century, an idealistic recruit of Simon Bolivar in the 19th century, a companion of Odysseus on his voyages, a Roman gladiator, a younger brother of Emperor Nakamikado in the early 18th century, a Spanish conquistador, an aristocrat in the Qing dynasty, an American Indian warrior or a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I? It seems far more than coincidence that Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn is a knight from the same century as Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn.

McFarlane has been instructed to provide Gaiman an accounting of money earned from any comic books and other merchandising in which Dark Ages Spawn, Domina, and Tiffany appeared. He has until Setpember 1st to comply.

Spawn: The Dark Ages

It's unfortunate to see artistic disputes like this, especially from people as talented and passionate as Gaiman and McFarlane. McFarlane has tweeted "COMMENT: Neil Gaiman has the absolute right to defend his position. That’s one of the great privileges we all have in this country. TODD." Gaiman described his reaction to the victory on his blog:

I wish I took some kind of joy in this, but I don't.

At this point all I hope is that Todd can do an accounting for all the comics I wrote for which he paid no royalties, and the rest of it; and that he'll settle up and I will make some comics charities very happy; that his comics company will finally come out of bankruptcy; and that I can forget this forever.

Gaiman also provides further reading about the case via Maggie Thompson's blog and his own archives.

Bringing this post back to the positive angle, Judge Crabb clearly did her homework and then some. She dove head first into the incredible universe that McFarlane (and Gaiman) created and took it seriously. More so, it seems, than some of the series' authors. She used logic, evidence, and critical thinking to elucidate exactly why Gaiman deserved copyright interest in the Dark Ages Spawn characters, and even stated it in the terms of the Spawn lore. As someone who is seriously considering a career in law, I can say that Judge Crabb is the kind of legal practitioner that I would hope to be. She made the right call for the right reasons, and what's more she made it awesomely. A true hero in law.

(Via Geekosystem, where you can see some side-by-side character comparisons to judge for yourself)

This Actually Exists: Titanic 2

No, this isn't a trick. Your eyes do not deceive you. This is the real deal: Titanic 2. As in a sequel to the movie Titanic. You know, the one James Cameron made? About the boat? That sank? "I'm the king of the world" and all that jazz? Yeah, there's gonna be a sequel, and no, it is not taking itself at all seriously. Take a look at the official plot synopsis:

On the 100th anniversary of the original voyage, a modern luxury liner christened “Titanic 2,” follows the path of its namesake. But when a tsunami hurls an ice berg into the new ship’s path, the passengers and crew must fight to avoid a similar fate.

Seriously. A fucking tsunami (!) "hurls" an "ice berg" at the boat? Like, oh my god. My mind reels at the problems with that premise. First off, it's completely ludicrous, in an awesome way. Second, just what the fuck is an "ice berg"? Since when can "ice" be used as an adjective? The word "berg" is actually the short form of iceberg, so are they trying to say the boat gets hit by an icy iceberg? Granted I'm nitpicking, but come on, it's fucking Titanic 2! How can you not have fun with this? The producers clearly are.

When I first heard about the movie I had a conversation with a friend about how the "antagonist" of the film is clearly an evil, sentient iceberg. The result of that conversation was the picture you see below:

That seemed like an appropriate thing to include. Anyway, I was inspired to post this morning by the release of the trailer for Titanic 2, and you can watch it in all its glory right here. Enjoy, I know I did, particularly the line "Looks like history's repeating itself." Classic.

Awesome In The 90s: Will Smith

He's as confused as you are that this look went out of style

I recently found myself reminiscing with a friend about the '90s, that magical and perplexing time when music was "alternative" and boy bands were socially acceptable. The world was still innocent and people were more accepting of others. Lilith Fair was good. Truly it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Perhaps the greatest thing about the '90s was the popularity of one Will Smith. This so-called "Fresh Prince" was a veritable force of nature that appeared in and dominated just about every imaginable form of media. You couldn't skateboard to the local CD store without being assaulted by billboards advertising his latest entertainment endeavor. Now, I know that you're thinking "But Max, Will Smith is still popular now!," and to an extent you are correct. It's true that Smith continues to appear in major blockbusters and remains one of the most powerful stars in Hollywood. But even in that he is but a shadow of his formerly transcendent self. Allow me to elaborate:

Second only to Thriller?

Back in the '90s it seemed like Smith was constantly in the public eye. He was featured in a major motion picture almost every year in the decade, including veritable classics like Enemy of the State and Bad Boys. Smith starred in the one-and-only American classic, Independence Day, AKA the movie that was advertised using the best acronym ever, ID4 (this point has been agreed upon by top scientific minds). On top of all that he also contributed to the soundtracks for two of his summer blockbusters, Men In Black (acronym: MIB) and Wild Wild West (epic music video above).

I have spent countless hours mourning the days when I could listen to the radio and hear Will Smith's voice "rapping" the title of his latest summer flick over-top of some old Stevie Wonder music. For this alone the '90s were truly the time of kings.

All that is to say nothing of Smith's non-movie-related musical releases, in which he continued to celebrate his being an irrefutable badass. I remember purchasing his 1997 debut, Big Willie Styles, alongside a copy of Our Lady Peace's Clumsy, and then listening to Smith's album like way more. His humbly titled follow-up, Willenium, was notable for its inclusion of the aforementioned Wild Wild West song and for closing off both the decade and millenium in style with "Will 2K." Way to class it up, Will.

How many other celebrities can list coining the term 

"Jiggy" among their career achievements?

Last but certainly not least I should mention Smith's success on television. It would be impossible to forget his turn as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which has been cemented in the cultural consciousness by countless public renditions of the Carlton dance by bad dancers. That and the continued popularity of the show's theme song, produced by none other than (gasp!) Smith himself! A man of many talents indeed! The show ran from 1990 until 1996 before Smith moved on to work exclusively in film, and the world has felt a little more empty ever since. I take solace, however, in remembering the show's greatest moments, including a crossover with yet another '90s gem, Blossom. If you click here you can watch the TV event of the decade in Spanish on YouTube. Whoa!

I believe that with this post I have proved both that Will Smith was more awesome in the '90s and that human existence in general was better because of it. I will leave you with Smith's classic 1998 single, "Miami." Enjoy, and (as always) make sure to "jig it out y'all" whatever the hell that means...

Jesus in Portuguese Playboy

I'm going to present this without comment. It's better that way. Check out the link for the context and consequences.

(Via Geekosystem)

Cool Stuff: Creative Collaboration

Apologies for the absolute dearth of content around here lately, I've been out of town a lot and generally otherwise occupied. I've got a few things I'm working on that'll hopefully come to fruition soon, but for now I wanted to share this really cool argument/video:

Clay Shirky, an American writer and theorist on internet technologies, has an interesting perspective on the value of creative collaborative activities on the internet. This includes everything from knowledge databases Wikipedia to memes like Lolcats. He sees the internet as a significant leap forward in terms of human culture, comparing the hours spent actively utilizing it to those spent passively watching television. In describing the inherent worth of even something as trivial as Lolcats, Shirky argues that "the stupidest possible creative act is still a creative act. Doing something is different than doing nothing."

Check out the video below, it's well worth four minutes of your time, even if it is a passive interaction. I for one am on board with him, and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

(Via Geekosystem)

LOL: ThinkGeek Served Cease and Desist for Fake Product

ThinkGeek, the popular online store for original geek clothing and paraphernalia, was recently served with a cease and desist letter by the National Pork Board. The claim states that the website infringed upon the NPB's trademark on the slogan, "The Other White Meat" (umm, gross). It's true that ThinkGeek used the phrase "the new white meat" in advertising for their product, Canned Unicorn Meat. However it's also true that the Unicorn meat is a fake product launched as an April Fools day prank, and thus protected as a parody.

I'll bet the lawyer(s) at the NPB are really embarrassed right now. I would be too if I outed myself as a humourless moron in such a dramatic fashion. To celebrate this memorable occurrence ThinkGeek is offering $10 off any purchase of $40 or more until June 30, just enter the code PORKBOARD at checkout.

It's days like this that I really love the internet.

PSA: I Get To See Pavement Today

And they're gonna play these songs:

And I will be happy. And it will be a very happy (almost) birthday for me.

Today is a great day.

Cool Stuff: Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company

There's a sandwich shop in Toronto called the Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company, named after Wilco's 2007 album Sky Blue Sky. Every sandwich on the menu is named after a Wilco song, and since hearing about this place I've spent a lot of time listening to Wilco songs and thinking about what each of them might taste like.

It's a pretty novel idea, and as soon as I heard about the place I knew that I needed to try the "One Wing" and/or the "Side With The Seeds." This gimmick puts me in the strange position of ranking my desire for sandwiches based on both their ingredients and also how much I enjoy songs that really have nothing to do with food. For example, a Pitchfork news post about the shop describes the "California Stars," which is unfortunately no longer featured. Unfortunate not because the sandwich sounds tasty, but because I love that song, and thus want to eat it. This seems to be some new and strange horizon for musical appreciation and I for one fully support it.

Last night a friend and I visited the cafe for the first time, and I can say that the sandwiches are awesome as well as cleverly named. On the proprietor's recommendation I decided against the "Side With The Seeds" and instead had the "Wishful Thinking." Not because I liked the second song more than the first (quite the contrary), but because I have more of a penchant for mushrooms than tomatoes. Seems this really is about the food first and foremost after all. Go figure. My friend had the "Via Chicago" and it was, in a word, scrumptious. In addition to the fantastic food the cafe featured an incredible atmosphere, with Wilco tour posters adorning the walls and tasteful music playing on the stereo. The staff were also incredibly friendly, offering the aforementioned helpful recommendations as well as good conversation about nature of running a sandwich shop. All in all it was a great visit, and I look forward to many more in the coming months.

If you are in the Toronto area and like food and/or Wilco then I strongly recommend you check out the Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company. Come for the novelty, stay for the amazing sandwiches. Just don't ask for Wilco The Sandwich.

Movies I Love: Road House

I was watching Point Break this past weekend when I came to a startling realization. I said to my friends, "This movie is great, but (with the exception of the scene where Patrick Swayze throws a dog at Keanu Reeves) it's no Road House." When my comment was met with nothing but blank stares it suddenly dawned on me that many of the people I care about most have not seen the1989 classic, Road House.


I consider this to be a tragedy of epic proportions. Road House is one of the best action movies of the late '80s, and everyone who appreciates that kind of cinema should see it and love it. I am dedicating this post to spreading the gospel of this incredible and hilarious movie, and trust me when I say that you are seriously missing out if you haven't experienced it for yourself.

Road House stars Patrick Swayze as Dalton, a professional bouncer who is hired to clean up a seedy roadside bar in small town Missouri. He ends up defending the locals from a corrupt businessman who rules the town with an iron fist and a private army of thugs. In the process Swazye beats the piss out of a ton of dudes and picks up the local doctor (Kelly Lynch) with the line, "Pain don't hurt." He also calls out to his bouncer-mentor (the amazing Sam Elliot) to help decimate the local bad guy population. Oh, and did I mention that the movie features Jeff Healey as the house act at the bar where Swayze works?

Road House is an outstanding and unique entity in the history of cinema. It's absurd like Point Break but tongue-in-cheek like Commando, and just as fantastic and action-packed as both those movies. You really owe it to yourself to see it if you have a sense of humour and/or a pulse. I too was skeptical when it was first thrust upon me but then I saw the light, and each person with whom I have shared the film has agreed: Road House is awesome.

If you need any further convincing to see it then I'll just add that the movie's tag-line is, "The dancing's over. Now it gets dirty." 'Nuff said.

moot TED Discussion

4chan founder moot's TED talk is now available online, and you should watch it. It's a fantastic history lesson for those who don't know about 4chan or the significant influence its had on the internet and popular culture. moot also gets a chance to discuss his vision and defend the anonymity that is written into the structure of 4chan. It's a really interesting talk and well worth watching if you're at all interested in technology and culture.

LOL: The Motherfucking Pterodactyl

I don't typically use the internet-speak term "lol," but this comic made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Like, a real guttural chuckle that rose up into and out of my throat and nearly shook me from my chair. I couldn't not share this hilarious Pterodactyl comic from TheOatMeal.com, a site I've recently become aware and a fan of. I strongly suggest you check it out, if only to discover the meaning of the ridiculous image above. Their semicolon use comic is worth a look too.

New Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Trailer

A post at /Film has alerted me that there is a new trailer for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World up on Facebook. I am including it below:

My excitement for the film is palpable, by which I mean that it is capable of being palped. At the same time I doubt it'll be anywhere near as good as the books. That's not to say the movie won't be earth-shatteringly awesome, but rather that the books set the bar so high that I'm lowering my expectations in preparation. I want to enjoy this film for what it is, not what it isn't, and then pontificate about the difference.

We shall see what Edgar Wright hath wrought come August 20th.

Little Girl Writes to Nintendo, Gets Free DS

Definitely the cutest thing I've heard in a while. That's pretty awesome of Nintendo.

Via Kotaku.

Pac-Man on Google

Google has done something incredibly cool today: they've incorporated a playable version of Pac-Man into their logo.

If you use the search engine then you're probably familiar with how the company sometimes alters their logo to correspond with holidays like Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, etc. Well today is apparently the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, and Google is marking the occasion by sharing the game with the world. Clearly this is an effective strategy since I had no idea the game was so old, or that today was at all important really.

This probably won't last past today, but if you have a chance then check it out. Press the "Insert Coin" button beside the usual "Google Search" one and watch out for ghosts!

Found on Kotaku via, umm, Google.

This Actually Happened: Alabama Teacher Used Assassination of Obama to Teach Geometry

A high school teacher in Alabama was reported for using the assassination of US President Barack Obama as an example to teach students about angles and parallel lines. Wow. I couldn't have made that up. The teacher is apparently not being fired though he has been placed on leave.

Joseph Brown, a senior in the geometry class.
, stated that the teacher "was talking about angles and said, 'If you're in this building, you would need to take this angle to shoot the president.' "

Reported (mostly) without commentary because the story says so much more on its own.

Found at Geekosystem via The Birmingham News

Fake Painting Photography

A friend posted this link on Facebook, and when I went to the website it took me a solid minute to realize what I was seeing. Through the link is a series of photographs by Washington, DC artist Alexa Meade in which acrylic paint has been applied to subjects. The resulting images are look uncannily like paintings on canvas but are actually installation pieces.

I've included a few of my favourites here, but definitely check out the full gallery over at Bored Panda. This is the most effective realization of a "living painting" that I've seen since What Dreams May Come (say what you will about that movie, it was visually stunning). This is one of the most interesting and unique concepts I've encountered in recent memory, and I'm very curious to see what else Meade can come up with.

Thanks to Bekky for the link.