Malabar: Grade: "A"

My water glass was always half full.

That was enough to keep me satisfied. However, that was just the beginning.

Meriam and the staff at Malabar took care of us and made us feel right at home in the restaurant full of older people and business men.

Usually servers tend to look at younger people as ignorant and bad tippers so they feel it necessary to just stereotype all of them and give all kids bad service.

But Meriam didn’t.

She made sure we were all doing well throughout our meal and besides the delay in dropping the bill everything was very timely.

Even then, as we were all sitting there trying to figure out who owes what she jumped in and asked if we’d like her to split the bill up individually.

This, too, isn’t seen too often. She knew exactly what everyone had and was very quick with the cashing out process.

Oh yeah, and the food was outstanding.

For those who don’t want to spend 15 dollars on an appetizer they have two good-sized pieces of French bread for under five dollars.

Their meals ranged from $9.99 to $28.50 and offer a wide selection of all different types of food. 

I had the mushroom swiss burger, which came with some of the best French fries I have ever had.

The burger was awesome, too. The mushrooms overflowed from the patty to the plate and the vegetable setup was done perfectly. Everything was fresh, and fresh is always good.

The only major problem seems to be the location it is put in. It is right off the freeway, which is a plus, but as you pass the side of it there is no entrance. So you have to go past a few fast food restaurants, take a right at the light, drive ¼ of a mile, turn right then navigate your way through the maze of entrances and exits to six other places.

It’s tucked away in the corner, which is good and bad. It’s good because you feel like you accomplished something in being able to find the place; and bad because you have to feel accomplished by being able to find the place.

Really though, walking in without a collared shirt or slacks you feel a little out of place. However, the staff treats you just like everyone else and the prices aren’t outrageous (not even for Dom perignon which was at a cool $175).

My portions were plenty, but it seemed that a few other dishes, like the Ahi, worried more about presentation than amount.

Other than that, the experience was phenomenal, and the overall grade for Malabar is definitely an “A”.

This place can be recommended to friends, even those who are poor, and is affordable to just about everyone.

And when I left, my water was still half full. 

Avril Lavigne: What is the deal with her and Youtube?

Before Youtube was Youtube, a girl came on the music scene and focused on epitomizing the rebel-like mentality that kids were feeling and she plucked those power chords ever so perfectly while doing so.

Yes, Avril Lavigne was a huge hit in the new millennium as she dealt mind-blowing songs like “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi”. But for some reason the public didn’t like her much, hmm, weird.

She was called faux-punk and a wanna-be who is ruining music.

But the funniest part was, everyone loved to talk about how much they hated her but somehow everyone still knows the words to the radio hits.

Fast-forward five years.

Now the semi-annymous world of Youtube has taken the main stage and Avril is still holding on.

At over 106 million views her song “Girlfriend” holds the number one spot on most viewed videos ever.

In fact, a video, which simply has pictures from her wedding, has 10 million views.

Is Avril someone America just loves to hate or is she a dirty secret that people don’t want exposed?

Let’s investigate.

After searching “Avril Lavigne” her top 10 videos have totaled 265 million views. OK, so she’s popular.

The viewers are allowed to rate the video from one to five stars and with the mob-mentality it is easy to tell if people truly do like the video . Every one of her top 10 videos has either 4.5 or 5 stars.

OK, so she’s liked.

What about an insight on the community that’s doing the voting? There is no way to look at someone else’s video and see the age and sex of the people voting (which is a shame) so the only logical way would be random sampling.

For example, take Avril Lavigne’s “When You’re Gone”. It managed 34 million views and 73,000 comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW2LTnzD-vE

It is way too time consuming to go through every comment so here is a snapshot of the comments.

Darkligher3491 has a pretty standard comment saying he/she adores the song. There is no added info on this persons channel to give away age or sex but the background is of Kelly Clarkson and says “Official Tour Merchandise Web Store”.

My guess is this person liked the image of Kelly as the background and copied it from the offcial site and put it on his/her own channel. Someone who does this tends to be in the range of 13-17. For the sake of avoiding stereotyping the sex will remain unknown.

Comment two talks about how a certain scene reminds them of their burying their grandmother. This person ends it with a sad emoticon and using grandmother twice in a five-word sentence.

Call me crazy but with a username like 13mymy13, the overuse of words, and an emoticon, all signs point to a 13 year old girl.

The third comment reminds me of someone who may have a pinky-twitching disorder because the shift button seems tO bE used a lOt.

This type of text is a dead giveaway. It’s either a 13-15 year old female or a cat that ran across the keyboard. According to her profile she is 15. I call her a she because the background is all pink and 90 percent of the time pink is associated with girls.

Finally, Aurras tells us how the video gave him/her goosebumps and the song is really powerful, OK, the sentence is put together decent but the context of Avril Lavigne being “really powerful” makes me think 16 or younger.

Her age isn’t revealed but again, the background is pink.

OK, so four random comments and the results look like this:

Person 1: Female?
Person 2: 13 year old female
Person 3: 13-15 year old female
Person 4: Female

Also, three out of these four are from Canada.. so is Avril.

Maybe it isn’t America that secretly loves her. Maybe it’s the adolescent youth up north that are running the numbers so ridiculously high. The only logical conclusion would be that the majority of her fan base won’t be able to legally drink until 2015.

The summary: Avril Lavigne has catchy songs that can either deal with the hardest of breakups or the excitement of new relationships. Her songs cover a wide array of topics.. er, relationship topics, that can really only be popular with those who can’t wait to go clothes shopping before school next summer.

Great, I got an answer but still have one question: Why is it that I still find myself singing “Complicated” in the car?

We Need Girlfriends: Yeah, it's better than anything on television

In an age where Two and a Half Men wins awards and the economy has dipped lower than McCain’s chances of winning the election, the world needs entertainment.

With out any doubt the first place to go is Youtube; more specifically a Youtube series.

To avoid any confusion a Youtube series is like a television series, only it’s on Youtube.

Good, now that we’re on the same page, check out We Need Girlfriends (if you haven’t already).

This series had an 11 episode run that followed three newly single 20-somethings living in New York. With the combination of great writing, acting and directing, this series had me instantly hooked.

The first few episodes are a bit iffy as the story tries to get established, but even after the first episode it’s hard to deny the addicting nature this series has.

The soundtrack isn’t too bad either.

The music is all local New York bands (I’m sure for legal purposes and local exposure) and has an awesome soundtrack that keeps up the tempo of the show.

The storylines are all solid and seem to come full circle as every character seems to grow throughout the episodes and the comedy, which constantly references Facebook and movies, is flawless.

In fact, this series was so good that CBS picked it up and plans to turn it into a series for its network.

I’m hoping you had the same reaction as me: “wtf”.

Good for CBS for opening their windows and realizing there is real talent on the internet and more specifically Youtube; and good for everyone involved on the We Need Girlfriends project for getting to this level.

But the chances of this show being pulled off by the network are slim to none.

First of all, many different sources say that the three original stars will be pulled and replaced.

Seth Kirschner, who plays Henry, has been involved in several other projects and they all seem to be good actors. They mesh perfectly together and provide that dynamic trio that covers all aspects of a human being.

If CBS thinks they can duplicate that by replacing something good then they can kiss any hopes of this series making it.
Not only that but the music obviously will be different. It will lose its local feel and its unique quality by providing music that a lot of people would never have been exposed to otherwise.

The only bright spot is that they signed on the writers of the show who will continue to write for the CBS series.

Maybe, just maybe, they can keep the good thing going but nothing would be sweeter than watching season two exclusively on Youtube.

However, getting the style of writing by CBS head honchos may seem to be a hard task and they won’t have the freedom to put whatever they want in the scripts.

Their talent is undeniable and if a rising producer had any guts, he needs to pick this crew up.

Everything is what made We Need Girlfriends an amazing series. It was everyone that brought the show together but bringing it to the TV screen may be like making “Joey” after “Friends”.

Keep everything that made the show what it is, if you don’t want to do that then don’t recreate the series. Simple as that.

How to get big on Youtube

The debates are finished. The issues are on the table. Now let’s get viral.

The Internet has offered an interesting twist in the saga of Presidential elections. Now we can dig up old facts, historic videos and new dirt – with a few lies in there as well.

More importantly, the smear campaigning and defamation to both candidates can now run rampant all over major Websites and the entire World Wide Web.

Propaganda can wear many faces. It can be comedic, serious, fearful or believe it or not.. complete lies. But as they say, that’s politics.

Youtube users have not failed to use the site as such, as thousands of videos are floating around attempting to defame the other candidate.  However one video personally made me laugh out loud and it wasn’t until the end that it hit me.

After watching many videos, this McCain one struck a nerve.

c

Let me preface this by saying my political beliefs are not on the Republican side. Now let's proceed.

 This specific video posed as an interactive chain letter hoping to cause a ruckus among the Internet faithful, also known as E-faithful.

Instead of just text as seen in an e-mail or letter we saw visual evidence of the cross-talking of the presidential nominee. The video directed us through multiple cases in which Senator McCain seemed two-faced.

Now how to get this spread?

There’s only one solution: propaganda directing propaganda.

After the video ends it says: “It’s up to you to get the word out” as intense murder music plays in the background. And if this isn’t enough we see more text fade in:

“Send this to 10 people, and tell them to pass it on.” 

LOL. 

All of a sudden a feeling of “you’ve been had” fell over me. The Internet Chain Letter Video at it’s best.

There’s always been a strong belief in my group of friends that if a video has to ask you to pass it on or if you have to beg people to subscribe to you, then maybe your stuff just isn’t that good.

Devil’s advocate would say, well how else do you get it out there? But that’s a different argument in itself.

 

Maybe it’s the years of being told that chain letters fall in the same category as black-tar heroin, Rosie O’Donnell naked and a nuclear explosion – Stuff you never want to see in your life.

 But having this video tell me to tell other people and then to have those people tell more people seemed like begging.

 And to make things better the background is black and the text is blood red. Let’s see here, murder music, red text, begging… It’s one of those videos that will hit hard or miss hard. And the view count is…….

7,038,796.

It’s a political campaign ad that scares you into sending it to other people in the end (take notes if you plan on making it big on Youtube. That or see "Celebrities killed the internet star".)

In fact, this video comes from a user who is devoted on bringing John McCain down: All 302 videos.

He has over 24,000 subscribers and even has a background promoting his site.. And what do you know, it’s an interactive blog site jam-packed with liberal love.

And there you have it. Promote the crap out of smear ads, tell people what they need to do, get them to your Youtube channel which will get them to your website which will generate hits which will then generate revenue.

 Heh, maybe this chain video thing isn’t such a bad idea after all. Good thing I didn’t personally send this to 10 people like the stupid video told me to.

Wait a minute…

Bill Simmons: "The Everything Guy"

When you constantly read a columnist you become friends with them. You laugh at their stupid jokes, you applaud their valiant points and you learn a lot.

 If you’re a writer, you seem to pick up some of their techniques.

 Such is the case with Bill Simmons, an ESPN columnist who has written thousands of articles for ESPN using a style that makes sports even more entertaining than before.

With pop culture references and new slang, Simmons manages to turn every sports situation into something worth laughing about.

Simmons, who is a die-hard Boston fan, doesn’t hide his allegiance. In fact he flaunts it as he openly taunts rival teams and acts as a voice to the common man who has an opinion on sports.

 He has special features and editions like the “Mail Bag” where he takes users E-mails and answers 20-30 of them in a way only the elite can answer.

 Questions range from: “If the Boston Red Sox were a TV show, what would they be?” to “Name the overall best year in sports history?” And his answers either end up being comedic gold or information that you never really thought of.

 His knowledge on sports is undeniable and his ability to cross sports with pop culture is what makes him relatable and humorous. In all, Simmons is a guy who sits around, watches TV and writes about sports – Not a bad gig.

 When you read a writer for a certain amount of time you learn their dislikes and Simmons repeatedly brings back his dislikes randomly and at the perfect time as it draws a laugh to his regular readers every time.

 He hates the WNBA, New York and male insecurities but often writes about his trips to Las Vegas.

 An example of his sports mind comes from an article he wrote about being at the blackjack table in Vegas.

 He compared the dealer to a starting pitcher, but once the dealer began losing every hand and the gamblers began winning, the pit boss would go to the “bullpen” and bring in a new dealer – one who doesn’t speak English.

This “relief” pitcher would be cold, foreign and unfriendly and eventually cause everyone at the table to go broke.

 Analogies are key to Simmons’ success. He knows enough about everything to have his writing effect everyone, not just sports fans. Of course sports fans would get more of the jokes but he has the friendly writing that invites you to read.

Especially in this day, reading about the box score last night or hearing on Sportscenter about another athlete getting in trouble with the law is mundane. But reading Bill’s take on the situation as he writes fluently and allows the reader to understand the situation and then laugh about it is something not a lot of people can do.

 Simmons has recently been getting into Podcasts to stay up with the times, however, nothing can compare to reading the columns.

 What makes Simmons as good as he is isn’t just his ability to make jokes; it’s his uncanny knowledge about sports. He constantly drops references to past events and countless sporting debacles in every column.

 However, it’s easy nowadays to fake it. Just google a topic and within two minutes you’re a genius. However, the amount of sports he claims to have watched and his endless amount of references and stories should be enough to prove that he knows his stuff.

 You can’t pick up the name “The Sports Guy” for being average.

 And that is what makes him and every other good columnist out there worth reading – The knowledge they have on their topic.

 You want to read something that you can learn from, you want to be entertained and you want to laugh. 

 It’s not a big secret that only the best have access to. It boils down to whether or not you have the passion for what you’re doing or following. If you’re heart is in it you can make it worth reading and you can make it, period.

Bill Simmons was born and raised on sports, he can tell you who the point guard was for the Boston Celtics in 1983. He can also tell you all the character names on Beverly Hills 90210.

He’s more than just a sports guy, he’s the sophisticated thinking that it takes to become a great columnist.

He’s Bill Simmons.

 

Celebrities killed the internet site.

Youtube is a community where people can be heard. It’s a place for common people to post original content like skits, speeches or home videos.

Oh, and it’s a place that the mass media market has already taken over.

Eleven of the twenty most viewed videos ever on Youtube are by famous music artists.

For a website whose slogan is "Broadcast Yourself” they sure need to do a little explaining.

From Avril Lavigne (who has the most viewed video at 104,081,786 hits) to Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake (which is at a dismal 20^th place 49,756,998 plays) the most viewed videos on Youtube looks more like Billboards Top 200.

However, if you select the top rated by users of all-time we find that only two mainstream artist is in the top 20 and rightfully so: Tenacious D and Pink Floyd.  And even these videos are ranked 13^th and 19^th, respectively.

That stat in itself should mean something.

Youtube used to be a place for the common people, the middle-class. Now you can’t go past two videos without seeing a celebrity sponsored video or a promo for a movie.

Obviously ads are a must-have because let’s face it: people have to get paid. But the fact that music videos and mainstream artists haven taken over a website aimed to promote the creativity of people is disgusting.

Youtube has probably grown beyond anyone’s expectations and has even been the headliner of a new tech era, but for some reason the 11 out of 20 most viewed of all-time just flat out bugs me.

Of course celebrities and music videos should be allowed on Youtube, but take it out of the most viewed ever. Everyone has already heard of every one of those songs so why not give 11 less-famous but equally as popular online people a chance.

Let them shine and be known as the top 20 most popular user-based videos.

But face it, this is a country that no matter how hard they try will always see the richer and more popular float to the top.

As to not be a complete hater, Youtube has done a lot for the greater community and has constantly worked hard on original and special features as well as connecting to its community.

But now back to the hate.

If Youtube is about listening to its people then why is the “top rated” button so hard to get to. You have to select “more” and then not only that it’s at the bottom of the drop-down menu, while most viewed isn’t.

Weird.

 Top-rated means the highest rated videos by the users, yes the users. It has nothing to do with how well you can promote your video or how popular you are. It is about how good of quality is this video – yet it’s on a dropdown menu.

Maybe it’s a mute point, but don’t pride yourself on something and not do it. That’s like going into Burger King and having them tell you that they are taking the mayonnaise and cheese off of your burger because you’re too fat.

It’s kind of like MTV killed the radio star, then MTV killed itself and now Youtube is the new, but old, MTV, got it?

In other words: make MTV more about music so Youtube can be more about its users. 

Signed – The World

This is Sportscenter

1979

Annie Roboff is on my list of people to kiss.

Also on this list are Tina Fey, Jessica Biel and Shia LeBeouf (don’t ask).

But why pick Annie? There’s one simple answer: She created the Sportscenter theme song.

If you smoke, hearing this song is like having that first cigarette of the day. If you work out, it’s like that first burn. If you’re a lover, it’s like the first – well you get the picture.

Inside this sports news program, anchors go over the daily action in sports and usually discuss topics that have been lingering like injuries and player drama.

But it’s so much more than that.

It’s the simple yet funny narrations to the highlights.

It’s the comfort of seeing the stars still shining.

It’s the sick play that you missed from another game.

It began 30 years ago and has aired over 30,000 unique shows and has been shown more than any program in TV history.

And to this day Sportscenter is what makeup is for girls.

It can be known as a real-life soap opera, they bring you the drama around all the major leagues and college sports like a soap has different storylines.

It can be known as a light-hearted comedy as the anchors poke fun at professional athletes and contend against each other with quips and jokes.

The list goes on and on but one of its signature highlights that no one, whether you like sports or hate ‘em, can rip on: the “Top 10”.

They countdown the top 10 best plays of the day from all around the country and bring it to you in five minutes or less as the show wraps up.

Who could ask for more?


Once the introduction music hits no matter what mood you’re feeling it all seems to go away as the crane lowers onto the two always-happy anchors.

One of the best parts about Sportscenter are the commercials.

They sometimes mock and let you into a pretend world if the athletes actually worked with your favorite anchors. Here are a couple good ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZooFJBks9YU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSuePNS3tYY&feature=related

The anchors bring a human side to reporting and most of the time make your local sports anchors look like jokes as they struggle to figure out which cliché to use … or does Del Rodgers really just suck?

Either way Sportscenter is a great program because it’s almost always on when nothing else good is on and there is that therapeutic melody that let’s you know that everything will in fact be OK.

Da da da, da da da.

2008