BANTER WITH BEN AND LISA #69: Government Shutdown! New Britney Spears Video! Moby Dick!

You guys, this was a good one…. There’s only one podcast on earth that can discuss the government shutdown, Britney Spears’s new video, and Moby Dick without skipping a beat. We discuss all that and more on this latest episode of “Banter with Ben and Lisa.” Also going into the banter blender: “Gravity,” ghost tours …

BANTER WITH BEN AND LISA #68: Emmys Recap, Jon Gosselin, Nate Burleson, and Portland Adventures

This week on “Banter with Ben and Lisa,” Ben Mandelker (bsideblog.com) and Lisa Timmons (twitter.com/timmonslisa) give pop culture a big bear hug. First, Ben discusses his recent trip to Portland and shares passages from an 1888 etiquette book he found at Powell’s Bookstore. Then the two talk about Nate Burleson of the Detroit Lions and …

BANTER WITH BEN AND LISA #65: Nantucket Adventure; Also, The Conjuring and The Lion King

This week on “Banter with Ben and Lisa,” Ben Mandelker (bsideblog.com) and Lisa Timmons (socialitelife.com) discuss a harrowing tale of courage and adventure on the violent waters of Nantucket. Electronics were destroyed, memories were made. Then we discuss “The Conjuring” and another similarly intense piece of cinema: “The Lion King.” All that and plenty of …

BANTER WITH BEN AND LISA #60: Royal Babies, Kardashian-Jenner Conflict, and Amanda Bynes

On this week’s “Banter with Ben and Lisa,” we talk babies: from Prince George Alexander to North West. We then check in on Brody Jenner’s clash with stepmom Kris Jenner and discuss the latest craziness in Amanda Bynes’ life. Plus, we read a seething piece of hate mail from a Fox News viewer. Always fun! …

THINGS I ATE: Korean Grub at Kobawoo House

Kobawoo House in Koreatown is hardly a discovery. The place has been packing in eager diners for years and years, with hungry patrons lining up to taste the restaurant’s famed pork belly bossam (not to mention the expert seafood pancake also found on the menu). What exactly is bossam? It’s basically meat that gets rolled …

BANTER WITH BEN AND LISA #59: Lindsay Lohan, Tara Reid, Hoku, and Other Failures

This week on “Banter with Ben and Lisa,” Ben Mandelker (bsideblog.com) and Lisa Timmons (@timmonslisa) talk extensively about such pop culture failures as Lindsay Lohan, Tara Reid, and Hoku. Who’s Hoku? Exactly. Along the way, we naturally tackle racist controversies from Paula Deen and Big Brother 15, and revisit one of our favorite movies, “Jurassic …

THE QUAFF: Jalapeño Green Tea Mojitos Edition

Earlier this week, I brought you tales of classic mojitos. Now I come to you with a variation on the theme. Introducing the jalapeño green tea mojito, a cocktail invented by my friend Sly and me and patterned after the wonderful green tea mojito, which was also featured on this here blog (with me in …

THINGS I ATE: Meat Cakes at Beijing Pie House

For about a year and a half, I’ve been wanting to try Beijing Pie House — a Chinese eatery in the heart of Monterey Park, CA. The restaurant boasts dumplings the shape of overgrown hockey pucks that squirt searingly hot liquid at the most benign of pokes, and as we all know, benign poking is …

THE QUAFF: Classic Mojito Edition

A week ago, I attended a lovely Memorial Day BBQ at my friend’s house, and when I asked if I could bring anything, the hostess suggested that I bring some hard alcohol for summer cocktails. This immediately got my brain working: I knew I had mint in my fridge… and mint makes me think of …

THINGS I ATE: Thai Food at Night + Market

For a while now, my friend Sly and I have been wanting to try the fare at Night + Market, a much buzzed about Thai restaurant within a restaurant on the Sunset Strip. The eatery has garnered all sorts of praise from local critics and bloggers (Jonathan Gold recently listed Night + Market as one …