DSLR Accessories

So I went ahead and jumped the gun for a Nikon SB 600 flash unit at $184 I think it was. Looks like it'll get here in time for thxgiving =) While poking around I found a nice alternative to the popular Gorilla Pod (cute vid) as well as the Gary Fong Lightsphere.

I've bought a few things at dealextreme before, and overall things have been cheap and I've been satisfied with the price the quality of the goods.


Imitation SLR Gorilla Pod for $12.50


Smaller point and shoot version if that's what you're looking for


Air Blower in case you don't want to spring for a Rocket Blaster


And the SB 600 Imitation Gary Fong Lightsphere

SB 800 version also available

Reviews on the products all seem pretty positive. Definitely worth while to pick up these goods for ~$30 rather than $100

24 Unaired Pilot from 1994

Lemon Garlic Chicken in White Wine Sauce

It's been a while since I've cooked and posted anything, so I thought this was as good as any =) Not much to eat at home, so I opened up this frozen pre marinated pack of chicken breasts from Costco. This pack was lemon garlic marinated and I just ate it with some sweet corn and baked beans.

Why bother with two pans? =P



The pack came with 3 marinated chicken breasts, and I went ahead and added some more chopped garlic and garlic and rosemary seasoning. To finish it off I thought some chardonnay white wine would be a great sauce to flavor it. To get the chicken to cook well I let the cast iron skillet get hot and added extra virgin olive oil. Place the three chicken breasts down and let it seaaar and get all tasty =D Cover the skillet so the steam and heat can cook the chicken evenly without drying the inside.

I personally like cilantro, and it gives that nice herby green color, so I went wild~




Served simply with some rice. Also played with depth of field.

f/2.8 focused on chicken


f/2.8 focused on beans


f/9 to get a nice wider depth of field hehe



Marinated chicken made it easy to make a nice dinner with less effort =Þ Chicken was nice and lemony and surprisingly moist! yum~

Spiders on Drugs

Awesome

Mexican 300

hahaha

Amazing Macro Photography

Detail is insane. Linky

Free Photography Lessons

I could've sworn I posted this a while back, but couldn't seem to find it on the blog. This is a great photography course posted online that starts at the basics and starts to add more knowledge so you can incorporate it into your arsenal.

Free Online Photography Course

Finance Thursday

Is it better to buy or rent? A great interactive graph that will allow you to input figures to determine if you should buy a home in your current market as well as how long before the savings will materialize.

Along with this the Feds have cut rates, resulting in lowered savings rates across the board it seems. I know my AmTrust Direct has dropped from 5.36% to 5.21% over the course of the past month or so, and HSBC has lowered their rate from 5.15% to 4.5% a HUGE drop. Check this thread at FatWallet for a current list of the top LIQUID (no CDs) savings and money market accounts that are FDIC insured.

Still confused about 401k and IRAs after that post I had months ago? A nicely assembled FAQ at FW.
I like this thread as well for this gem:

#11 MYTH (courtesy LittleHulk) "The best way to keep your job is to work hard."

When something is not yours to begin with, how can you hope to keep possession of it?

Enjoy

Smells Like Vagina in Here

i iz on ur senior, retiring to florida

Question: How do you free fall drop an egg from 22m and not have it break?

Answer: beta gel! (not to be confused with anal gel)

Nukka Do Yo Dance

Interesting Ads

drop it like it's hot


wuz poppin


Came across this site that has ads from all over the world. Some are quite ingenious, while others are just plain ol' entertaining. Enjoy!

MadTV Gangsta Fight

With a twist.

Real Black Music

How Women Work

I love it how Howstuffworks has articles on all different kinds of things. Engines, turbos, basically everything you could be curious about. I used to love those big white books as a kid. Now, as an adult. They have something for me as well!


How Women Work

Fan Death

DUM DUM DUM!!!!!

Fan death is an urban legend that originated in South Korea, but has since spread to other countries in the Far East. The belief is that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, some people are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death." Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.

Fan Death

The Man Code

You see these all the time, but this is probably the most complete, and most accurate list I've come across: The Man Code

Casting Kung-Fu

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAA

New AE86 From Toyota

Clean your pants, because Toyota is bringing back a true classic. Many of you know this car from Initial D as the perfect drift car. Even the drift king Keiichi Tsuchiya started off learning in an AE86. Toyota has announced that they're bringing it back and it will be in showrooms in Winter 2008 at around $12,300 USD. SWEET. Bonus that it'll be coming from Fuji Heavy Industries aka SUBARU =D

More pics here, thanks David!

Transformer Nikes

Nelly's err force ones can't even do this.





More here and here

Japanese Dizzy Boxing

HILARIOUS. Anyone know why they're going for that bucket of stuff after they get out of the water??

Mr. Potato Head Optimus Prime

I TOTALLY want this.

More than meets the fry.

Death Cat

I like how the article describes the cat as "taking his work seriously", and "meowing at his displeasure" when forced outside. I do think animals are more in tune with nature and the life cycle than humans are. How do we know a storm or hurricane is coming out way? (Besides the crazy winds and rain) Birds will dot the sky running from an oncoming natural disaster.

Full story here

Thriller

What do you do when you're incarcerated in the Philippines? Make a 1,500+ person coordinated "Thriller" dance.

Panda Escape

That's why they wear a white and black mask!

Dancing Otter

Coordinated Dance

Crazy.

Friendly Prank

Baaaa

235 Reasons To Have Sex

Pffft. Like you need a reason?

Researcher Cindy Meston said: "We identified 237 distinct reasons why people have sex. They ranged from the mundane - 'It feels good', to the spiritual - 'I wanted to feel closer to God'.

From altruistic - 'I wanted the other person to feel good', to manipulative - 'I wanted to get a promotion'."

For the study, reported in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour this week, psychologists at the University of Texas quizzed more than 2,000 men and women aged 17 to 52.

"Why people have sex is a surprisingly little-studied topic," says their

report. "One reason for its relative neglect is that scientists might simply assume that the answers are obvious."

Each of the 237 reasons was given the highest rating by at least one of the people taking part.

Full story here

LOLCATS

I've seen the various pics, but I never realized that it was such a big phenomenon...





More here

Death By Caffeine?

Sure why not???

Kitten Massage

OHNOES!!!1~

I've Got a Crush on Obama

The Rude Awakening of Optimus Prime

USB Rechargeable Batteries

My coworker just pulled me over to another coworker's station to show me this! She's charging it right now from her laptop. Very shibby.

Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart

I dooooooooooo...

Here is a Kwik-E-Mart set up for The Simpsons movie promotion. Opened on 07/01. It's in Burbank, CA at the corner of Olive & Verdugo in the 91505.

Link to album

Ah Yes

FTW!

BBoying For The Pope

Hercules! Hercules!

Never Ask For Advice

From a stranger... let alone one that posts it for everyone to read.

Dinner In The Sky

It's a bird.. It's a plane... No, it's.. a buncha rich people eating while suspended in the air???


Check their site for more info, pics, and a video!

DUM DUM DUM!!!!

Things Overheard In New York

Guy #1: I'd totally hit that.
Guy #2: Dude, I'd hit that so hard whoever could pull me out would become the King of England.

Via Overheard in New York

Bibimbap Ssam Bap

Made a bibimbap version of ssam bap tonight =D everything homemade except the kimchi, which I bought at the market today. What is bibimbap? How might one MAKE bibimbap? Au contraire my dear, because that's sort of irrelevant for this post. What's Ssam jang? let alone ssam bap? Ssam bap is pretty much lettuce wraps using a form of meat with ssam jang, or ssam sauce, wrapped with red leaf lettuce. Ssam jang is the sauce, basically a seasoned bean paste, that you eat with it. To make this easier to make and eat I just did it bibim style, all in one bowl rather than held in your hand.

Ingredients:

• Dweng Jang
• Gochu Jang
• Salt
• Sugar
• Sesame Oil
• Sesame Seeds
• Garlic
• Spinach
• Soy Sauce

Follow the Ssam Jang recipe, but feel free to tweak the ratios a bit according to your taste. I used a standard kitchen spoon and basically did something along the lines of a 2:3 ratio for bean to red pepper paste, along with about a clove or so of garlic, pressed. Add in some sesame seeds and sesame oil, along with sugar if you so feel inclined and u have a delicious Korean dipping and all purpose sauce. After preparing the sauce I used sliced beef rib eye bought at the market to mix with some sauce as marinade to be eaten later.

For the Shigmchi Namul (cold spinach) banchan (side dish) I roughly followed the recipe linked. I forgot to add salt to the water while blanching, and I think it would've made a nice difference in the seasoning, so remember it if you can!


After allowing the meat to marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator cook with sesame oil. If you like onions feel free to add a few to help boost the flavor. Cook over medium heat, and be careful, because oil will pop onto your hands and arms.


The meat's really the only thing you need to cook. I lay a bed of garden salad mix, topped with rice mixed with sesame oil and sesame seeds, surrounded by the meat, spinach, and kimchi, while a small dollop of ssam jang on the side as sauce when I mix it all up.

Eating it in a bowl like this rather than hand lettuce wraps makes it easier to hold and make. Just overall more delicious comfort food when you just want to eat.

If Chuck Norris Were President

What would he promise?

Garlic Onion Pork Loin with Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I've had this Costco Swift(?) Pork Loin in my freezer for a while, so I decided to go ahead and defrost it after work yesterday. I was way too tired, and ended up passing out on my bed, only to wake up almost two hours later. My sister needed a book for her final today, so rather than cooking it up and spending all that time, my dad and I brought the book to Jen, and just went out to eat.

Which brings me to Pork Loin tonight!!!

Pork Loin

• Costco Onion Garlic marinated Pork Loin

I just cooked this according to the directions: Place lean side down and bake for 20 minutes for each pound. Pretty simple. A pan with a layer of foil, the pork loin, 350 F oven, and some rosemary garlic seasoning and dried crushed red pepper on top for flavor. Mine was 4 lbs so I let it cook for around 1:20.

Mashed Potatoes

• Red skin potatoes
• Dried Italian Herbs
• Garlic Salt
• Fresh Cracked Pepper
• Butter
• Yogurt

I let the potatoes boil for 30 minutes, then let it simmer for another 30. Half because I wanted the potatoes to be well cooked throughout, and half because I was doing other things and forgot about them (oh well). Drain the potatoes after you're finished and BRING THEM BACK TO THE FIRE. If you don't do this last step you'll end up with water in your mashed potatoes. No one wants that. You'll learn the water steaming away. After 30 seconds turn the flame off and mash your potatoes. I added about a tablespoon of butter, some fresh cracked pepper, garlic salt, dried italian herbs, and about 3/4 cup of homemade yogurt. Yogurt is a good healthy alternative to sour cream, and since I make about a quart of non fat yogurt a week I had plenty in my refrigerator. Make sure to taste to see if you'd like to add more butter or salt.

I made some gravy from a mix I bought during lunch today, and that's it. The pork loin has a great flavor to it, and it's incredibly tender. The mashed potatoes have a great creamy consistency, while still having solid small potato chunks inside to remind you of what you're eating. I feel that the skin adds a nice texture and flavor to the mashed potatoes as well. I had it with a glass of Merlot from Trader Joe's ;X

Stop by for a bite, I think I still have 3.689 lbs of it.

Lego Sculptures

Pretty sweet.




Via Geekologie

Account Jacker Gets Jacked!

Sucka

Internet Phenomenons

O RLY? Some of the origins of your favorite internet jokes.

Japanese Human Tetris

Why don't Americans have variety shows like this?

MXC Top 25 Most Painful Eliminations

Some were pretty funny, others were just so so. What is MXC?

Optical Illusion House

Wow, done well. It reminds me of those eyes that follow you at Disney's Haunted Mansion... where it's an imprint you're looking at rather than a statue.

People's Court Judge Lays The Smackdown

Cot Dang he pissed her off.

Harry Potter's Wang

I mean wand.

Purely in the interests of science, I have replaced the word "wand" with "wang" in the first Harry Potter Book

Let's see the results...

Powdered Booze

• Dutch students invent powdered alcohol that can be sold to minors

• Adding water to powder creates fizzy-lime flavored liquid

• Innovation is called Booze2Go





I love that they made it specifically because powdered alcohol can legally be sold to minors... awesome





Via CNN

Lockpick Business Cards

What a great way to be remembered! Although these seem a bit pricey, considering that they can be used as fully functional lockpicks...

Google Street Views

Wow this website got put together rather quickly. Compiled is a list of user submitted Google Maps Street Views with interesting pics. This is probably my favorite: Very nice!





Linky

Surface Computer

Pretty sweet deal. It's like your wall is a giant iPhone

20 Minute Execution Takes 2 Hours and 10 Tries

"What is clear from today's botched execution is that the state doesn't know how to execute people without torturing them to death," American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio attorney Carrie Davis said Thursday

.





You know, if it were Jack Bauer, he would've tortured him, asked him where the nuke was, tortured him some more, retrieved the location of the nuke, and then Newton would've died while Jack Bauer tries to save his life.





Via CNN

9 Steps to Becoming a "Dating Mogul"

Have you ever read an article in which a wealthy entrepreneur from Slurfenburg says, "Gee, I just sort of kicked my car one day and the next thing I know I'm running this fantastic business?" Success does not simply happen on its own or by luck. It happens because people figure out how to take care of "the basics."


Via Yahoo!

AT-AT Snow Walker

Made from paper!




Via David

Teriyaki Glazed Salmon

I'd been craving salmon for a while, and when a coworker brought a store bought bento in for lunch I knew I had to make some.



Start off with a good salmon steak. It's basically a cross section of the salmon, with the spine in the center. If you purchase this at an Asian market then you'll most likely have to request for them to cut it in half, unless you want a 2-3 inch steak. While that would be quite delicious, it's not exactly what we're going for. Give the steak a rub down with good quality extra virgin olive oil, and lightly coat with seasoning, salt, and fresh cracked pepper. Remember to coat both sides. You can also feel free to throw some garlic on top and around to let it roast up nice and sweet. It worked well the first time around, but the second time had the surrounding garlic burn... oops... After the salmon's ready place it in the oven at around 350F and let it cook for 20 minutes.



While this is happening you can make the teriyaki sauce for the glaze. This step is purely optional, as the salmon tastes great even without it. I just happen to like teriyaki sauce ^_~ There's so many recipes for teriyaki sauce out there, but I've found this to be a great basic recipe for it.

• soy sauce
• sugar
• cooking wine

all in equal parts. Of course substitutes can be made. If you have mirin that'd be a great replacement for some of the cooking wine and sugar. Sake works great as well. I enjoy adding minced garlic and grated ginger to my sauce as well. If you'd like your teriyaki sauce to be thick and viscous rather than a liquid add cornstarch before heating. Add all your desired ingredients into a pan and heat on low until the sauces melds into a delicious nectar. If you added cornstarch make sure to bring the sauce to a quick boil to allow the cornstarch to work its magic.



Bout time for the salmon to be finished. If you want to go au naturale then let the salmon broil for 10 minutes and enjoy. If you're going the teriyaki route either use the sauce as a topper after it's finished or add it now and let it broil with the salmon to get that nice sheen. Next time I'll probably either use liquid teriyaki sauce to top, or just top the thicker teriyaki glaze at the end.



Ate the salmon with some sauteed spinach, napa cabbage, jalapeno, and shrimp sauteed together for a nice balance to the heavier flavor of the salmon. The jalapeno was a nice touch that gave it a little punch. Didn't come out looking quite as good as when I broiled it without the sauce. Oh well, still tasty!~


p.s. the tastiest part of the salmon are the two points. The skin and the fat underneath it keep that area nice and juicy and so succulent.

Makes Porn Pics Not Porn

Just came across this today.

Passed it to a few friends.

Hilarity ensued.

Pics!

Starcraft Tournament

News Comic of Starcraft 2

Via Ctrl+Alt+Del and David

Why They Post Speed Limits By Toll Booths

Wow... uhm... you all right dude? That was a pretty hard crash there.

Bikini Tops Help Sell Coffee

According to a video on CNN, having a sexy young blonde with a nice body wear a bikini top helps sell coffee. I'm surprised CNN didn't report "Walking outside while raining causes wetness."

Lean Wit It Rock Wit It

Clothing Sales!

Aeropostale Clearance Sale

additional 20% off clearance with coupon code ADD20 (exp 5/18, excludes fragrance and already marked down non-clearance items)

Shipping starts around $6, or is free w/ purchase of $100+. $10 off for new Google Checkout users.

A few items worth considering (prices are after discount):

Guys:

• Polos $24.50 - $29.50 $7.99 - $10.39
• Striped Jersey Pocket Polo $26.50 $6.39
• Eagle Circle Slub Henley $34.50 $3.99 (small)
• Green Plaid Western Shirt $34.50 $6.39
• Aero Half Zip Hoodie $44.50 $10.39
• Embroidered Eagle Hoodie $39.50 $10.39 (color: opal)
• Embroidered Eagle Hoodie $39.50 $10.39 (color: mars red, size XL)
• Original Bootcut Jeans $54.50 $11.99
• Camo Cargo Pant $49.50 $10.39 (color: camoflauge)
• Camo Cargo Pant $49.50 $10.39 (color: camo)

Girls:

• Polos $19.50 - $24.50 $6.39
• Burnout Dot Henley $24.50 $6.39 (color: bleach)
• Striped Henley $29.50 $3.19 (color: crater. size: xs, sm)
• Striped Henley $29.50 $3.19 (color: royal navy. size: xs, sm)
• Basic Collared Shirt $39.50 $10.39 (color: strawberry. size: medium)
• Shadow Stripe Hoodie $29.50 $10.39
• 3/4 Sleeve Cable V-Neck Sweater $39.50 $7.99
• Patch Pocket Skinny Flare Twill Pant $44.50 $10.39

Misc:

• Aero Bear $29.50 $4.79
• Canvas Ripstop Carry Bag $19.50 $6.39
• Marabou Comfy Flip Flops $16.50 $3.19

H&M 25% off Friends and Family Discount

We're extending our 25% discount to you!

Friday May 25th - Monday 28th May, at EVERY H&M in the USA!

SAVE 25% on ALL* your purchases. You MUST register ONLINE in advance to receive this special discount offer:

www.hmfriendsandfamily.com

Discount offer e-mail will be sent out Monday, May 21st. REGISTER ONLINE before then! Feel free to forward this offer to your friends!

*Not valid on Gift Card purchases. 25% discount cannot be combined with any other offer.

You No Hungry For Girl

You hungry for Hot Pockets!!




Watch the others too~

Don't Piss Off Your Roommates

Can't seem to embed this one. It's a little long, but worth the watch.


Video

Break Dancing

Watch till the end.

My KSWISS

Hot new KSweezy kicks, courtesy of the young kids working up a sweat in a shop in Hong Kong. Thanks!



Yep, das right.



Hehe



Time to rock the shit.



Couple more pics on the picasa album.

7 Signs She'll Be Good in Bed

Or you could always ask her, "So... you good in bed?"


Via Blended

Ducati Motorcycle DRIFTING

SHIET

Masi Oka on Conan

I saw parts of this live on tv a week or so ago. It's an awesome interview.

Complete Photoshop Makeover

Wow

Wok Racing

Mwahaha

Wok racing is a sport developed by the German TV host and entertainer Stefan Raab. Modified Chinese woks are used to make timed runs down an Olympic bobsled track.

Via Wikipedia

Everything Your Kitchen Needs

For $200.

Like cookbooks, kitchen equipment is a talisman; people believe that buying the right kind will make them good cooks. Yet some of the best cooks I’ve known worked with a battered batterie de cuisine: dented pots and pans scarred beyond recognition, an old steak knife turned into an all-purpose tool, a pot lid held just so to strain pasta when the colander was missing, a food processor with a busted switch. They didn’t complain and they didn’t apologize; they just cooked.

Via New York Times and David

Pollution in Beijing