Ready to be horrified? Check out the near toxic plight of PJ’s Oysterbed, a San Francisco seafood restaurant that closed at the end of May. For reasons unknown, the management and employees left the premises without even bothering to clean out their inventory, which means that for about two weeks, a pile of Dungeness crabs and RAW OYSTERS have been sitting in what was formerly an ice bed and is now a puddle of warm water. The stench is so bad, pedestrians can smell it on the street. But it gets worse. It seems as though San Fran’s pesky subterranean population has discovered this rotting festival of neglect. That’s right: rats have now descended on PJ’s Oysterbed, and they are currently feeding on the rancid remains of the seafood. Oh, and they’re not just normal rats. They are huuuuuge. Note the picture above. Horrifying.
For more information on this stomach-turning debacle, check out Eater SF’s coverage here and here.
Making The Most Amazing R2-D2 Cake Ever
Back in February, I introduced you to possibly the best R2-D2 cake ever, created by my friend and professional baker, Mark Randazzo, who just started up a new bakery, Mark Joseph Cakes. Turns out I wasn’t the only one amazed by this creation. The post drew the attention of BoingBoing, Gizmodo, Elite Choice, and many others. While I loved the traffic, I was even happier that Mark and his wife Leslie, who both run the bakery, got so much exposure. I told them that the next time they make an R2-D2 cake, they have to take more pictures for me to post about.
Well, thanks to the Internet buzz, it wasn’t long before someone came calling. Mark once again whipped up an extraordinary R2-D2 cake, which had to have blown away the four year old birthday boy who received it. Even better, judging by the photos, it appears as though R2 is really one giant red velvet cake with RICE KRISPY TREAT LEGS. I want one. Now.
Whether you’re a Star Wars enthusiast or simply a lover of cake, you have to see this.
FLIGHT BLOG: Chicago to Arkansas to Los Angeles
This past weekend, I took a lovely little jaunt to Chicago, and while I was busy doing work on the flight there, I made sure to reserve the return trip for some good old fashioned flight blogging, or flogging as I call it. Anyway, I’ve just concluded a long, arduous day of traveling, and while my celebrity sightings weren’t as good as my friend Jash’s (he took a flight to NY this weekend and sat next to Usher, or something like that), hopefully the addition of an Arkansas layover will spice up the festivities. Okay, it won’t, but like poker, sometimes you gotta play your low card and hope for the best.
The whole sordid affair after the jump…
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Greetings From Chicago
Sorry for the lack of blog posts yesterday. I’m in Chicago for the weekend, and I haven’t had time to blog. The good news though is that I should have a FLOG on Monday. (Not to mention a few random photos of deep dish pizza and Dave Matthews — not together though.) Stay tuned…
Parking Enforcement Continues To Get It Done
A few days ago, I complained about West Hollywood’s parking enforcement officers being absent for two and a half hours, thus allowing two douchebags to illegally park their car in front of my building without any repercussions whatsoever. It was a deplorable situation, especially since whenever my friends come to visit, parking enforcement is on them like a pack of hyenas. Not fair. Now, thanks to this photo I snapped last night, I have a good idea of what the hell those parking fools were up to Friday night: NOTHING.
ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Muffin Edition
Last Friday, in an effort to save some money, I decided to stay in and watch the National Spelling Bee, thus turning down the many, many invitations I had received to go out to the hottest clubs and party with the city’s celebrity elite. It was a hard decision, for sure, but sometimes even I must find refuge from the flashing lights and gliteratti. However, as exciting as watching awkward middle schoolers was, I still felt like the night needed some sort of augmentation  a little pizazz to keep things interesting. What better way to spice up the festivities than by making my first ever batch of muffins? After all, B-Side Blog reader SpecialK had so kindly purchased me a muffin tin after having seen my previously misshapen baking exploits; so why not put it to use?
And so with a shopping basket in hand and a dream in the heart, I happily bought a packet of mix and plunged down the rabbit hole that is homemade muffinry. Photos after the jump.
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SHOCKING NEWS: Sometimes I Go Outside
Yesterday was a pitch-perfect day here in Los Angeles. The sky was without a single cloud, the sun was bright, and the temperature was in the high 70s to low 80s. Normally with such great weather, I celebrate by opening my blinds and letting the sunshine into my living room, but instead, I decided to do something a little different. I decided to go OUTDOORS.
Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “B-Side went outside? Into the sun?? Isn’t he a vampire who spends all his time at his computer writing about old pennies he found under his bed?” This is all true. However, I am capable of change and surprise, and so with an ambition to embrace life to its fullest (and maybe get some cardio too), I trekked over to Los Angeles’s Runyon Canyon park for an afternoon hike.
Photos of the sordid affair (along with a dash of celebrity) after the jump…
Obnoxious Teens Vs. Parking Enforcement: Who Will Win???
Living in West Hollywood, my neighborhood is routinely patrolled by parking enforcement officers, who quietly stalk their prey from the comfort of their white, eco-friendly Priuses — waiting for that orgasmic moment when they can slap a ticket down on a permit-lacking vehicle and tow it away. Their Orwellian presence rivals a godlike power to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, and should you find yourself on the wrong side of their unflinching Maglites, you’ll soon be treated to a stiff fine and a towing charge. It’s because of this that residents and visitors alike tend to view parking enforcement with a measure of disdain. Like an army of money-eating pests, they never go away, and sooner or later, they get you.
Occasionally though, my friends and I find ourselves siding with parking enforcement. While I’d like to think that no one deserves the hassle of being towed away, truth is that it’s also perversely glorious watching the bridge-and-tunnel folk descend on the nearby Sunset Strip and try to park in front of our apartment building, arrogantly thinking they can park their dumb car just ANYWHERE without checking the signs first. Trust me when I say it never gets old watching these people’s stunned reactions upon return to the empty spot that used to hold their car. Just this past weekend, my friends and I enjoyed the sight (from our balcony) of one shirtless, long-haired, drunken fool stumbling up and down the street, bemoaning the sad fate that had befallen his now-missing car. “Duuuuude, I got towed!!!” he lamented to no one in particular, his long frizzy hair flowing in all directions like Troy Polamalu after a roller coaster ride. This continued for a few minutes until his buddy picked him up and ferreted him off to who knows where — hopefully Supercuts. This cruel turn of events was nothing short of hilarious for us as we watched yet another douchebag fall victim to The System. Of course, he was probably too drunk to drive anyway; so the towing was good in many ways.
Still, watching one idiot get his just desserts is never enough. We always want more; so imagine our thrill when moments after the drunken troll doll departed, two new teenage douchebags pulled up and parked their red mustang without even checking the parking rules. Surely parking enforcement would have their way with them…
Continue reading “Obnoxious Teens Vs. Parking Enforcement: Who Will Win???”
Stalin, Osama Bin Laden Infiltrate Sherbet Land, Peach Beach, and the Rainbow Road
Lenny Stals takes a ride in the Mushroom Kingdom
In one of the stranger investigative reports that surfaced this weekend, The Feed writes that Nintendo has banned the name “Hitler” from being used in its online Mario Kart Wii universe, noting that perhaps a ranting, anti-Semitic, fascist mass-murderer might not totally mix with the more affable personalities of Mario, Luigi, and, of course, Toadette. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the good people at G4 from testing the limits of Nintendo’s iron fist as they tried to go online with equally, if not more, horrendous dictators and terrorists. Long story short: Pol Pot is a master of the Moo Moo Meadows.
Get the full story here.
Live Blogging Me Cleaning My Keyboard
Anyone want to have some nonsensical, Dadaist fun? Then by all means, watch me take on the beast that is MY KEYBOARD!