Sony may have gone a little over board with the European launch party for their new PlayStation 2 game God Of War II. The centerpiece of that party, and the main cause of all the commotion, was a freshly slaughtered goat, emptied out and filled with offal that guest were invited to eat from the still-warm stomach. As if that wasn’t enough, topless girls walked around with grapes that they dropped into guests’ mouths, a male model portraying Kratos handed out garlands, and guests were able to throw knives at targets and pull live snakes from a pit with their bare hands. Sounds like a few Sony execs drank a little too much punch when they came up with that idea.
Ikizukuri is Japanese for “prepared alive”, and refers to the preparation of sashimi from a still living animal. The sashimi chefs who prepare ikizukuri are skilled enough to fillet and gut the fish without killing it, and then the ikizukuri is served on a plate with the heart still beating. Though controversial, it’s said that the flavor and freshness can’t be beat (I guess you can’t really get more fresh than a fish that’s still alive). Check out the video for a unique way of watching what you eat.
Mark Howson, the man behind MacAppADay, has put together a bundle of Mac programs that he is calling TheMacPac, and starting May 1st, buyers are supposedly going to get quite a deal on the unnamed software. The bundle includes a combination of 10 games and applications, and will sell for $30 initially, which will rise as more programs are revealed. Though details are few and far between, the following is known:
$288.86 of software
No MacHeist duplicates
No MacZot Friday The 13th duplicates
No MacAppADay duplicates
No apps with a MacUpdate rating of less than 4/5
No widgets
It sounds like something to definitely keep an eye on if you’ve got an eye out for Mac deals, so get ready to join the pac.
The New York Times put together a great piece on the ‘unstoppable’ trend of fixies, or fixed geared bicycles. Designed for the track, these bikes, favorited for years by messengers and hipsters, have no breaks and no gears, and are stopped by an artful combination of reversing the pedals, skidding, or skip stopping. Their purity is their appeal, as the fixed gear bike has become both a fashion statement and a demonstration of skill. With the New York Times covering it though, I think that the fixies are going to have to come out of their underground hiding and into the spotlight as more and more people jump on the single speed bandwagon.
Freddy’s Human Machine for their campaign Make A Move, Make It Happen might not be a Rube Goldberg machine by the strictest standards, but I’m giving it some leeway because it’s just so damn cool. If only all morning routines were this entertaining.
Stephen over at Sand & Cotton put together a list titled “8 Women I Would Rather Not Seen Naked” with the best of the worst celebrity slip-ups and fallouts. Though many of the traumatic experiences are situational and circumstantial, he does make a good comparison between the ways the world was shown the goods and how he chooses to remember them, proving once again that just because you’ve got it, doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.
Despite its Rotten score on the Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Tomatometer:
I decided to rent School of Scoundrels this weekend, hoping that it was one of those movies that critics just don’t understand. Possibly because of my lowered expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by this charmingly sweet comedy that pit the wits of Billy Bob Thornton (of Angelina Jolie fame) against that of Jon Heder (of Napoleon Dynamite fame).
There were enough plot twists and turns to keep things edgy and unpredictable, and enough laugh out loud moments to keep things light hearted and moving, that by the end, I found I had actually enjoyed myself. Plus, the Rotten Tomatoes’ Users Tomatometer scored a somewhat solid 53%, so I know there are a few out there who agree with me. If you’re looking for a good date night renter, or just want something a little different for your comedy movie night, School of Scoundrels should definitely be on your list.
As baseball season begins, it’s once again time to break out your negotiation skills if you want to get into a game, and you don’t want to sit in the nosebleeds. To help your quest, Consumerist sat down with a former season/group ticket representative, and came up with a list of ten tricks (and one bonus trick) to score a seat. With tips like “Buy odd numbers of tickets” and “Go alone, sit near the dugout”, these might not be good for the family outing, but for the die hard fan who just wants to watch his team play from as good of a location as possible, they’re indispensable bits of knowledge to keep in mind. Game on.
Insanely Great Tees wants you to make an iPhone ad, and for motivation, they’re rewarding the winner with an iPhone of their very own (and probably a little bit of Internet fame as well).
To enter, unleash your creative side and make a 30 second spot that is both funny, and includes the words “I’m an iPhone”. Other than that, the rest is up to you, though I’d suggest using puppets. Lots and lots of puppets.
The problem with having style is often not having enough money to acquire it. Thankfully, Men.Style.com has put together a list of 21 products that are stylishly chic, yet have price tags that won’t break the bank. Looking frugal has never looked so good.
