All You Need

OK GO - This Too Shall Pass

In a word: Wow. However, that is one video I actually have no interest in seeing any behind the scenes footage. Setting all that up must have been tedious.

A Reason Good as Any to Visit LA for a Weekend

This burger looks absolutely delicious. Maybe it's the mid-morning hunger pains creating these thoughts, but hopping a flight to LA or an impromptu drive across town to get one of these is looking more and more feasible.
The pretzel bun not only looks good, but sounds very interesting on a burger. Check it out if you're in the area.

/Seriouseats

3 Square Café + Bakery

1121 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90293 (map); 213-629-1765; rockenwagner.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: A nicely balanced burger that makes great use of the pretzel bun.
Want Fries with That? Yes please. These are very tasty fast food style fries.
Prices: Pretzel Burger with fries, $12.50
Notes: Grab some of the superlative baked goods to-go at the store next door.

Life is Hard

Life Is Hard is a very brief platform game offering an exploration of just how difficult life can be. Just use your left, right arrows to move around and up to jump. Take a moment to enjoy this entertaining, little game and let me know what you think of it.

Locus OS

This location-based operating system called the Locus OS is pretty damn slick. The operating system was designed by a guy named Barton Smith and supposedly the multiple widget desktops are designed around locations (home, work, car) and automatically switches between desktops thanks to GPS and Wi-Fi mapping.

Korean BBQ

Korean BBQ is a unique eating experience; the food one orders is brought for you in little trays, uncooked and marinated, and one cooks it on an embedded flame grill in the center of the table. There are vents all the way around the grill or above your table to suck the smoke away from the food. Typically there is an all you can eat deal, available, where they bring you as many beef strips, spare ribs, salmon strips, pork strips, chicken breasts, cow tongues, cod strips and cow liver as you want for $24.95... give or take a few bucks. Some places may even offer an all you can drink deal on top of that. While all this is happening, the main course is surrounded by bottomless side orders of classic Korean cold dishes and condiments. Avoid these distractions at all costs, however tasty they may be. You must keep your eye on the prize. The meat.

These restaurants must make their money by bringing smaller portions of the food to slow down one’s eating, letting the food sit in one’s stomach to get fuller faster, along with the fact that they don’t have to pay anyone to cook. One would imagine, they just hire an army of dishwashers instead. But the genius of it all is the atmosphere it creates, and the fact if you hit up the right place, it is damn tasty. The gluttony that exists in American society isn't necessarily unique, it's just more often than not, executed poorly.

Too Young to Blog

A new study says Blogging is for crusty old people. Young people want stuff like texting and Twitter. Old people just want you to get the hell off their lawn.

Danah Boyd, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, says that when it comes to blogs, "people focus on using them for what they're good for and turning to other channels for more exciting things."Those channels might include anything from social networking sites to others that feature games or video.

...now, get off my lawn!

There's No Going Back

During his Emmy-award winning performance, Kill the Messenger, Chris Rock has a hilarious bit on the differences between men and women. He sums it up succinctly:

"Women cannot go backwards in lifestyle. Men cannot go backwards sexually."

An example he uses for women is the first time they get into a nice, warm car after clubbing, waving bye to their friends who are waiting for the bus in the cold. After that, they can’t be with a man who doesn’t have a car, or as Rock puts it, “That’s how the fuck you roll for the rest of your life”. This extends to guys with their own places, then guys who take them on vacation.

On men, he says, “Once we get the sex we like, that’s how the fuck we roll. I like my coffee like this, I like my steak like this, and I like to fuck like this…Ladies, don’t get mad at us. Get mad at our ex-girlfriends. She’s the one that [sic] spoiled it for everybody” because if your ex-girlfriend did something freaky, you expect your current girlfriend to do the same.

In general, the same is true for girls too, but not necessarily in these aspects of course...

If you can’t be with a girl who refuses to try exotic foods, who wouldn’t recognize the effort you put into making her feel loved, or who doesn't understand you, and laughs at your stupid jokes, guess what, that's because somewhere along the way, you had that, and you can't go back.

That’s why this entire idea is a little frightening.

Most people get more flexible on things about their mates as they head towards (or beyond) the marrying age but for some, they seem to be move the opposite direction. Picture each person you've ever been with has been an (overall) improvement over the last, and things just haven't worked out, now the bar has been raised so damn high you don’t think you’ll ever get there again, and you’d rather be alone than settle. Of course Chris Rock's version of the joke ended a lot funnier, and in usual Rock fashion, quite true... but I never claimed to be a comedian.

The Rules

On discussing rules about acceptable dating habits: The rules that one may follow may be difficult for another to understand. But one seemingly universal rule is that once you've known someone fairly well for more than 24 hrs, their sister is off limits forever. Now for someone who doesn't have siblings it may be a difficult rule to understand. Some may say the problem would lie in whether a break-up would happen; and where would one’s loyalty lie if said situation came to pass. Of course if both parties are mature enough, they will be able to remain friends after something like that, but let's not swell on exceptions. However ultimately, the decision and risk would lie with the friend and the sister. Just to be safe though, don't do it. There are plenty of other people out there, some would say, too many even. Go bark up another tree, preferably a stranger.

Another popular rule is to not date any friends’ ex-girlfriends. This is mostly an unspoken rule among friends, since after a breakup, the last thing you should do is have a detailed discussion of how to divide the spoils. The rule might seem very rigid to some, but if you're splitting hairs and trying to rationalize whether you should go for it or not, you better have a damn good reason. Otherwise see the answer to rule #1 above.

Now onto the ladies. It is commonly heard that some girls won’t date guys shorter than them. If you cannot begin to comprehend this rule, then you are most likely a short male with confidence to match. It may seem shallow, but at the same time you would have to imagine their situation. It might not be about stature, but feeling safe. Who knows, I have no answer for this rule, just abide by it and move on.

Next, Chinese girls who won’t date Chinese guys. The only explanation one can fathom for this is that a girl may not like the Chinese culture, and they associate Chinese guys with this. It may be the reason they give, but if they don't back it up with some serious physical attribute reasons, either that or they are some sort of "race traitor," which is less likely (one would hope). Regardless, the facts are these, stay away from Ex's and siblings.... and go to the gym more.

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