B-Side Blog

LISTEN: Do We Like Madonna’s Leaked Song?

Everyone loves a comeback story, and I have to admit that lately I’ve been ready for my ’80s icons to make a splash again. Whitney Houston, Prince, Phil Collins, Pebbles — I’m pulling for them all. Chief among the stars I’d like to see resurrect themselves is Madonna, and let’s face it, of all the names I just mentioned, she seems the most likely to launch a successful comeback (after Pebbles, of course).

Some might argue that Madonna hasn’t really gone away, which is true, but she hasn’t had a mega-hit since her Music album eleven years ago. Since then Madonna’s had moderate success with tracks like “Hung Up” and “4 Minutes,” but nothing that’s left a major impression on pop culture. Now comes a leaked demo of Madonna’s new single, “Give Me All Your Love.” It’s peppy, that’s to say the least, and it certainly is catchy, but will it be a hit? And is there room for Madonna in today’s Lady Gaga / Katy Perry / Rihanna pop scene? Take a listen and then weigh in.

Via Vulture

Inside Mark Joseph Cakes

Every so often I post about my friends’ bakery, Mark Joseph Cakes, which is run by Mark Randazzo and his wife Leslie. Mark is responsible for my most popular blog post of all time (the famed R2-D2 cake, which still draws hundreds of readers every day), and I’m happy to report that since that droid cake first appeared on this blog three and a half years ago (!!), Mark and Leslie have been up to great things. Not only do they still crank out awesome cakes, but they now consistently land on the pages of various bridal magazines such as The Knot and most recently, they were profiled in New York with a full page spread.

On a recent trip to Manhattan, Mark and Leslie invited me over to their lovely Upper East Side workspace — a humble bakery adorned with a simple yet eye-catching sign. Walking in through the front door, I was assaulted by all manners of cake aromas. I could have fainted from bliss (that happens, right?), but I kept it together for the sake of the blog, Mark and Leslie, and humankind in general. After the jump, check out some pics from inside Mark Joseph Cakes… Continue reading “Inside Mark Joseph Cakes”

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS PHOTOCAP: Night of Beauty, Seances

There are two things that every cast member on any Real Housewives excels at: getting cosmetic procedures and interacting with the dead. Last night’s episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills gave us all that and more! The first half of the show focused on an open-house of sorts at Paul’s practice. He invited the ladies to show up and enjoy various non-surgical procedures in what was amusingly dubbed “Paul’s Night of Beauty.” It was rather similar to what I call Ben’s Night of Beauty, except that instead of tightening up my body with lasers and needles, I just sit around and eat chocolate-covered almonds.

Anyway, we spent entirely way too much time at Paul’s Night of Beauty (or P-NOB), but it wasn’t all for naught. We learned some important things. For instance, the reason why Kim has been acting so erratic and intoxicated is because she’s apparently mixing three different medications, all of which have scary names full of “-one” and “-ox” sounds. It seemed like a rather logical culprit for her behavior; although, I’m not sure the crystal meth conspiracy theorists will be sated.

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ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: CBTL Winner Crowned with Coffee-Inspired Short Ribs and Pork Skewers

About a month ago, I posted yet another contest on this blog imploring readers to submit recipes with the chance to win a free CBTL Kaldi single serve coffee machine. The rules were simple: enter a coffee or tea-inspired dish, and the winning recipe (as judged by an elite panel of tasters) would win the machine.

I received a lovely selection of submissions, and ultimately, I decided to whip up two dishes: Crystalis77’s Short Ribs Braised in Coffee Ancho Chile Suace and Noreen’s Garam Masala Pork Skewers. Both recipes piqued my curiosity with their inventive uses of coffee, and while I was hoping to incorporate at least one tea-based recipe or one dessert item into the mix, I decided that for my sanity I would merely make two dishes.

Results and winners after the jump…

Continue reading “ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: CBTL Winner Crowned with Coffee-Inspired Short Ribs and Pork Skewers”

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS PHOTOCAP: Finding Love Isn’t Kim-possible

I’m baaaack! Sorry everyone that I disappeared for a week. Two non-blogging projects wound up in my lap, and long story short, I really had no time for blogging (let alone several other vital aspects of my life like working out, three meals a deal, and on occasion hygiene). Luckily, my personal bottleneck of activity has passed, which means I can get back to doing what I do best: writing withering comments about people I don’t know. MEOW. Wait, did I just meow myself? Clearly I’m a little rusty.

Anyway, let’s hop in the time machine and go back seven days to the most recent Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which presented us with the creepy season debut of Russell Armstrong as well as the extravagant engagement party for Pandora held by gazillionaire Mohamed. It was all sort of crazy and over-the-top and… okay, let’s skip this all and get to the real buzzworthy part of the episode.

WHO IS HE?

I’m talking, of course, about Kim’s secret boyfriend Ken, who made a glamourous splash late in the episode. I don’t really like to rail on people’s physical qualities (especially those that can’t be changed), and I think it would be disingenuous of me to mock Ken based purely on his appearance when I’ve taken Kyle Richards to task for being similarly judgmental of people like Brandi… but… let’s just say that Ken is… well… his face has a lot of character. And by character, I’m specifically referencing the likes of Gargamel. Or perhaps an Angry Bird. Or maybe even some bastard love child spawned by Gargamel AND an Angry Bird. The point is that I’m sure Ken is a lovely guy, but when it comes to looks, I think we’ll just keep our eyes trained on Mauricio.

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS PHOTOCAP: Finding Love Isn’t Kim-possible”

Win Some Awesome Prize Packs from ‘Burn Notice’ and ‘Covert Affairs!’

If you’re a USA fan, you should know that Cover Affairs returns tomorrow and Burn Notice comes back on Thursday (both at 10 PM). To celebrate these shows of international intrigue, B-Side Blog is giving away not one, but TWO mighty prize packs, both valued at $200 or more!

All you have to do is get ten of your friends to start following @bsideblog on Twitter (and stay following for at least a week). Make sure that they tweet your handle at me so I know who’s responsible for whom.

First person to successfully do this wins the prize pack of their choice. The second person to achieve this mighty feat will take home whichever prize pack the first person doesn’t choose.

Ah, but there’s a twist: get fifty people to follow me, and you get to take BOTH prize packs! Fun!

And what, pray tell, will you win? Details after the jump…

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So I Made a Taylor Armstrong Jack-O’-Lantern…

Classify this as creepy but fun. I decided to make a jack-o’-lantern out of Taylor Armstrong’s face, and I must say that I’m very happy with the results. I really wanted to do some pop culture themed pumpkin, and what better place to look for inspiration but The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? Clearly, I had to pumkin-ify Taylor as she has one of the most distinct faces on Bravo. I’m not saying she necessarily looks like a jack-o’-lantern, but I just knew those famous lips would translate particularly well to a gourd.

After successfully creating Taylor in pumpkin form, I have to say that I’m a little obsessed with doing more. Ideally, it would be great to make pumpkins of the entire Beverly Hills cast, but I’m not sure I have the stamina for such an endeavor (not to mention the time). Next year…

Pics of the pumpkin party after the jump… Continue reading “So I Made a Taylor Armstrong Jack-O’-Lantern…”

Ashley from ‘Real Housewives of NJ’ Gets In Dustup at Hollywood CVS

This just in! My spies out in the field have texted me this VERY pressing matter:

“Spotted: Ashley from NJ hwives at CVS on hwood n la brea being yelled at by security!!! (But they let her go. Dunno wha happened!)”

My friend went on to text that she had “bad cake makeup on.”

Dunh dunh DUNHHHH.

So it’s official: Ashley (or is it Ashlee) is here in LA and still a troublemaker. If only we knew what she had done to incur the wrath of CVS. We know one thing for sure: she’s probably wiping one invisible tear away from her eye with her index finger as we speak.

RACHEL ZOE PHOTOCAP: Like, LITERALLY, The Season Is Already Over

It seemed like it had just started, but The Rachel Zoe Project is already over. That’s too bad because I didn’t feel like I got my full dose of lunacy. Don’t get me wrong: there were plenty of quintessential Rachel Zoe moments over the past few weeks, but there was also way too much of Rodger and Joey, both of whom have an infinite capability to grate. Rodger whines, and Joey’s just entitled. Poor Jeremiah really got the raw end of the deal here, getting axed for expressing interest in the company. Sure, his plan for Rachel Zoe Home is a bit overly ambitious at this stage of the game, but the guy is so likable and clearly has an eye for style. Why not teach him the ways of the celebrity stylist?

Luckily for ‘miah, he earned a reprieve last night after successfully creating a “store-in-store” experience for Rachel at Bloomingdales. His strong work resulted in an invitation back into the company, which was great news for him, but we all know he’s just gonna be stuck caring for Baby Skylar (or “Sky,” as Rachel says in her trademark staccato). Even if Jeremiah does inch his way into styling, it’s obvious that Joey will push him out. The gayz can be competitive, especially when one of them has the esteemed title of #1 Gay Sidekick to a a Celebrity. Look for more friction on that front.

Nevertheless, as the season drew to a close, Rachel and Rodger had the gang over for a barbecue, and I had to admit that there really did seem to be a family vibe going on with all these kooky characters. Say what you will about Joey or Rodger, but they all do form some strange tribe, and it was oddly endearing. What is wrong with me? Didn’t I used to be snarky? Photocap after the jump…

Continue reading “RACHEL ZOE PHOTOCAP: Like, LITERALLY, The Season Is Already Over”

ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: The Epic Thai Cook Book Test

Last week I headed to Book Soup to see the inimitable Anna David read from her new book Falling For Me, and after all the reading and signing was over, I of course perused the cookbook section, as is always my tradition in any book store. Soon I stumbled upon Modern Thai Food by Martin Boetz, who apparently helms an acclaimed restaurant in Australia called Longrain. As this was the only Thai cookbook I could find in the store, I perused its pages with great interest. You see, I’ve been on a major Thai kick lately, having eaten it seemingly every other day for the past two weeks. It was time for me to get a Thai cookbook.

When it comes to ethnic cookbooks, however, I find it’s important to do a little research. Nothing like trying to recreate a dish from a restaurant only to feel like you’ve made a watered down “American” version. Yes, that sounds snobby, but I think y’all know what I’m talking about. I felt like throwing some caution to the wind though. I wanted a Thai cookbook, and I wanted it NOW. My friend Jessica and I carefully examined the recipes with each page eliciting more and more enthusiasm. When we hit the surprise section in the back dedicated to cocktails, I knew I had found my Thai cookbook. Sold. Literally.

I wasn’t more than twenty steps out of the store when I began contemplating all the fun things I could make. Panang curry, tom kha gai soup, pad thai. Wait… did I see a pad thai recipe in the book? I opened up Modern Thai Food and leafed through it. No Pad Thai. In fact, there was neither a noodles section NOR a rice section. This was absolutely shocking. What sort of Thai cookbook was this? Well, it was a modern Thai cookbook. Hence the name. I contemplated returning the book right then and there, but I decided no. No, I would not do that! After all, the book’s recipes had attracted me enough to buy the thing. I would not return the book unless I had a more compelling reason not to. And thus I announced to Jessica (and to anyone who would listen to me) that I would TEST (finger pointing in the air!) the book! I would make two of my favorite Thai dishes (the aforementioned panang curry and tom kha gai soup), and based on the results, I would determine the fate of this cookbook.

Results after the jump. This one, my friends, is a loooooong one.

Continue reading “ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: The Epic Thai Cook Book Test”