Smorgashboard Sunday

Welcome to another edition of the Sunday Smorgashboard.  Today I’m giving you the best snippets from around my blogosphere along with a clarifying statement called the Bottom Line.  Why the Bottom Line?  Because I say so.  That’s why.  Now let The Snacking begin…

Faiqa was the Catalyst of the Week when she declared that traditionally ethnic institutions were now American while declaring that crawfish eating does not automatically make you an American.  This lead to some introspection and a further accounting of the concept of American Culture by Hilly.  This topic sucked so many brain cells down the tube that there was even a Clearly Your Retarded episode about what makes a real American and whether or not 14 people sharing one bathroom is too many or not enough.

Bottom Line: Canada is no longer being blamed.  Blame Faiqa.

Speaking of Canadians, Canadia’s Blogger LeSombre did a review of Slumdog Push.  Apparently in Canada they even need to mash up movies to keep the costs of bootlegs down.

Bottom Line: Don’t go see either one separately but especially as a mashup.

Along the same lines, Avitable did a review of Watchmen.  Like most of the world, including my partner KC, he raves about it.  It’s always the raves that worry me.  Why?  Because they also rave about movies that sucked balls like Jumper and High School Musical 3.  Of course I’m going to go myself and determine how I fell about it, but I think I’ll take Avitable’s other reviews at his word.

Bottom Line: There’s reportedly a ton of blue penis in the movie, so it can’t be ALL that bad.  It may actually be… Smurfy.

Update: I saw it.  All the reviews are right.  It rawked.  While the new trailer for Terminator: Salvation was very BattleStar Galacticaish, the trailer for the new Star Trek looks like this is exactly what the franchise needs… adrenaline.

Speaking of things that are blue, Slobokan took on Best Buy when they sold him a broken camera, disrespected his mother-in-law, and laughed about it.  There was some wrangling, some other posts about the situation, and a front page appearance on a little site called DIGG.  In the end though, Slobokan won.

Bottom Line: Don’t be an asshat to the mother-in-law.  Selling previously used and broken merchandise is also ill advised.

On the merchandise front, Miss Britt finally is expanding her brand with a new product review site for every woman.  As it turns out Frederick’s of Hollywood rejected her as an affiliate.  Apparently they are not selling merchandise for every woman… just the slutty ones who’ll wear what they’re boyfriend/husband/domestic abuser buys them.  On the bright side however, Playboy HAS accepted her, so I fully expect photos of her modeling the merchandise to hit any second now… which is why I keep hitting refresh on her Flickr account.

Bottom Line: FOH sells cheap glammy shit better suited for the escort industry than a long time throw at home.  Don’t believe me.  Dawg is always right… always.

Speaking of expansions, it’s time that B.E. Earl has to expand his blog another notch with his 500th post.  That’s enough for a W00T! W00T! celebration on any blog.

Bottom Line: I’m sorry to tell you junior that it’s really all down hill from there.

Finally…

Speaking of expanding notches, Whall is looking to compress a few on his belt.  His new diet program is by far one of the most ingenious and original concepts ever put out there.  I personally can’t wait for the DVD, but there’s no reason not to start this right now! 

Bottom Line: Oprah called.  Dr. Phil wants his common sense back.

P.S.

I love Poppy.

Bottom Line: That is all.

As a reward for feeding me with my internal thirst for reading materials… I designed this simple button for those who may want to display their Snacked upon status proudly:

Additionally… because I am beyond benevolent and loving contrary to what some people believe… here is the code for you to use with a permalink directly to this post.  So if your blog was snacked upon today, all you need to do is copy and past the code:

Smorgashboard Sunday is a weekly compilation of interesting posts, pictures, and videos that I have found within the 350+ feeds of personal or personal related blogs that I currently read.  Due to the volume of blogs and the 10-12 posts I limit myself to comment on, there may be times when posts that you author do not appear.  This is not to say that you did not have a good post, or an important post, or even a post I did not read because in all likelihood I did indeed read it.  This simply means that for that week(s) that you are excluded… well… I thought other posts were better choices for the Snacking.  This does not mean I don’t like you, I don’t love you, or that I don’t read you.  It just means that for that week(s), I chose other posts but there is always the possibility of next week.  Unless.

Unless you cry, whine, send me e-mail messages begging me to feature you, send e-cards with links to the posts you want linked, tell me how I don’t love you, tell me how I don’t like you, tell me how sad you are, tell me how I don’t read you even though you know I did because I commented that week, and/or try to muscle me with threats of large “goombas” paying a visit.  If you do any of that… then hold your breathe until you see yourself on the Smorgashboard again.  While your doing that… go get a white hat and get yourself some Smurfberry Pie ‘cause you’ll be blue before you see it.

Welcome to another edition of Smorgashboard Sunday.  Believe it or not, this is the first Smorgashboard of 2009!!!  That’s either evidence of its complete unimportance or a shining example of my laziness.  Like those “Make Your Own Quest” books… you decide!  On with the Snacking…

Poppy is making sure that you don’t confuse her with anyone else.  I know… it isn’t like you could… she’s one of a kind…

Avitable has demonstrated how to properly do a product review.  Mommy Blogger Wannabe Product Review Moguls take note…

They should call it a blowfun! from Adam Avitable on Vimeo.

Best. Product Review. Ever.

Dave had a close encounter of the monster donut kind while on his Cologne, Germany trip.  If a regular glazed from Dunkin’ Donuts is around 450 calories, then that donut must be… around 5 days worth of calories.

Shiny completed his week of Plagarism 2009 while skirting legal issues…

Mizdayneem b’Tapud!!!

LeSombre recounted his uber-Africa odyssey in only one blog post!  I would have totally milked that for at least a week.  Really.

Sarcastica is at the 26 week mark and apparently enjoying every moment of it (except the constant need to pee).  Just wait ‘til the teething starts… oh boy!

Soda‘s job isn’t all work and no play… she has a decent amount of eye candy around her!  I mean really… recliners… she couldn’t have found any way to try them out???  Must.  Socialize.  Harder.

DutchBitch is on holiday in London with Penelope.  What’s the first thing she does?  Drink wine of course!!!  Yeah London’s calling alright… and they’re saying, “Get this DutchBitch out our city!!!  She’s drinkin’ us dry!!!”

Normally I keep my links restricted to personal blogs, but today I’m going to link to a blog post I think all bloggers should read.  It is 13 Quick Tips To Make Your Blog STAND OUT From The Crowd from Darren Rowse.  Seriously, there is some very good advice in just that one post… but his archives are chock full of the stuff.

Finally…

Whall is keeping it real by wishing a Happy Birthday to a true American Idol.  Do you know why Iran released the American hostages on Inauguration Day in 1981?  Because they didn’t want to chance messing with Ronni Ray-gun…

So that wraps up this week’s Smorgashboard Sunday!  I hope you enjoyed it… and don’t forget that if you are thinking about attending TequilaCon ‘09, you might want to listen to the TalkCast Lick. Slam. Suck. on Monday night.  This week Poppy and I will be discussing specifically the nightlife in Santa Fe, a Tequila oriented beverage, and profiling more interesting Santa Fe bloggers.

As a reward for feeding me with my internal thirst for reading materials… I designed this simple button for those who may want to display their Snacked upon status proudly:

Additionally… because I am beyond benevolent and loving contrary to what some people believe… here is the code for you to use with a permalink directly to this post.  So if your blog was snacked upon today, all you need to do is copy and past the code:

Smorgashboard Sunday is a weekly compilation of interesting posts, pictures, and videos that I have found within the 350+ feeds of personal or personal related blogs that I currently read.  Due to the volume of blogs and the 10-12 posts I limit myself to comment on, there may be times when posts that you author do not appear.  This is not to say that you did not have a good post, or an important post, or even a post I did not read because in all likelihood I did indeed read it.  This simply means that for that week(s) that you are excluded… well… I thought other posts were better choices for the Snacking.  This does not mean I don’t like you, I don’t love you, or that I don’t read you.  It just means that for that week(s), I chose other posts but there is always the possibility of next week.  Unless.

Unless you cry, whine, send me e-mail messages begging me to feature you, send e-cards with links to the posts you want linked, tell me how I don’t love you, tell me how I don’t like you, tell me how sad you are, tell me how I don’t read you even though you know I did because I commented that week, and/or try to muscle me with threats of large “goombas” paying a visit.  If you do any of that… then hold your breathe until you see yourself on the Smorgashboard again.  While your doing that… go get a white hat and get yourself some Smurfberry Pie ‘cause you’ll be blue before you see it.

As 2008 comes to an end, I’ve decided to come up with a few lists of a few different things bloggers I think you may find interesting along the lines of what I did in The Lists 2007.  For further information, be sure to read the disclaimer at the end.

For pretty much my entire life I’ve been into photography/videography/film.  I’ve had everything from a 110 point and shoot, to both Nikon and Canon 35mm SLRs, to a Sony Mavica that recorded images on floppies, to a compilation of today’s digital cameras.  I’ve shot 8mm film and used splicing tape to edit it.  I’ve had a myriad of camcorders and VHS editing equipment including a professional 4 head VCR with a flying erase head.  Needless to say, I’m a very visual person and like to look at pictures.  While I do dabble with my own photoblog, here are the photoblogs that I found to be profound, outstanding, and inspirational in 2008:

Miss Britt Daily Photo - While there are many technical aspects to photography, they are truly secondary to the infusion of creativity and passion used to mold the image through the lens.  Miss Britt’s Daily Photo is a prime example of that creativity and passion being primarily represented in the photograph.  Her images, while focused and detailed, radiate warmth from being personal and based on the heart within the second the shutter snapped.  There is no better art than that derived from the heart.  Of course, through no fault of her own, she remains under the yoke of the “amateur” label.  You can tell when she decides to allow her passion to become untethered, and you’ll wonder why her captured seconds haven’t been printed in LIFE Magazine already.

Joe’s NYC - Even as a resident of the city, I have to admit that I take my residency for granted and often do not take the time to look at the wonders surrounding me.  Joe doesn’t just find wonders in the things that are wonderful to out of towners.  He finds the wonder in all the things that I so often pass by without even a first thought much less a second.  The city is a wonderous place… and thanks to Joe even a jaded citizen like myself (because c’mon… let’s be honest… I’m jaded as they come) can be inspired by it.

Celery Jam - Whereas photobloggers give us all the gift of their vision, Celery Jam is in itself a gift from Dan to his wife Kerry so that it would ”challenge and inspire me to take more photos”.  It seems to have worked!  I like Kerry’s photography simply because while you know she’s trying out some sort of rule or suggestion, you also know she’s throwing something in there that is her own brand of vision and forging the image from the heart.  She’s doing the 365 Day Project (a picture a day for a year for those of you not in the “know”) with a splash of the life that surrounds and a copious amount of variety instead of the self-portrait the Project calls for.  It’s that little tweak… that customization… that takes her pictures above the average fold.

CatsEye Photography - Exceptionally amazing.  As much as I am about life and portrait photography, the landscape photos at CatsEye Photography simply took my breath away.  Once that drew me in… I was pretty hooked with the rest of the photos.  So vibrant.  So colorful.  So closely captured to the perfection that nature gives us that the only thing closer would be to actually be standing there.  One of the really nice things about the photos is that the photographer is not from the United States… so the scenery to my eyes is completely fresh.  Definitely worth at least a perusal, if not an RSS subscription.

Grasp The Moment - It’s important to understand that Grasp The Moment is not a photoblog in the traditional sense.  However the tapestry that is woven between word and image is just as powerful, if not more so, than the finest stand alone 1,000+ word photo.  Variety being the spice of life also seems to be the subject genre of this blog.  You’ll find everything from macro stills to fire engines on the scene of a five alarm blaze to the white sanded beaches of exotic Belize.  Although the posting schedule seems to be a bit erratic… well it isn’t a traditional blog to begin with so don’t bother bitchin’… just subscribe and enjoy it as it happens.

The Honorable Mentions

I know… I’ve never done an honorable mentions before… but the last time I checked this is MY list… so go make your own if you think it’s such an issue.

• For whatever reason, Finn doesn’t have a photoblog… or at least not one that I’m aware of.  She does post some of her excellent work on her blog from time to time… but if you’re a hardcore photo enthusiast there may be some posts that you won’t care for.  Too bad.  Subscribing to her is worth it… plus reading some words every now and then is a good thing.

• Poppy and I have had the opportunity to meet alot of very cool people, both bloggers and not.  So let me tell you that the person behind this Flickr Photostream is Awesome with some mad skillz… and yes, that A is meant to be capitalized.

As a reward for being the best of the best for 2008… I designed this complex thing-a-ma-bob for those who may want to display their Listed status proudly:

Additionally… because I am beyond benevolent and loving contrary to what some people believe… here is the code for you to use with a permalink directly to this post.  So if your blog was Listed upon today, all you need to do is copy and past the code:

The Lists is a yearly compilation of interesting bloggers that I currently read.  Due to the volume of blogs and the 5 blogger limit, there may be authors who do not appear.  This is not to say that you did not have a good blog, or an important blog, or even a blog I did not read because in all likelihood I do indeed read it.  This simply means that for that year that you are excluded… well… I thought other bloggers were better choices for the Listing.  This does not mean I don’t like you, I don’t love you, or that I don’t read you.  It just means that for that year(s), I chose other bloggers but there is always the possibility of next year.  Unless.

Unless you cry, whine, send me e-mail messages begging me to feature you, send e-cards with links to the blogs you want linked, tell me how I don’t love you, tell me how I don’t like you, tell me how sad you are, tell me how I don’t read you even though you know I did because I commented at some point, and/or try to muscle me with threats of large “goombas” paying a visit.  If you do any of that… then hold your breathe until you see yourself on the Lists again.  While your doing that… go get a white hat and get yourself some Smurfberry Pie ‘cause you’ll be blue before you see it.