Thursday, February 19, 2009

60 Second Style:
Entrenched by Trenches

Now that the weather has slowly begun to warm (well, by 5 or so degrees...), expect more precipitation than snow in the coming weeks—making the months of February and March the perfect time to don a cool trench coat.

Created by Thomas Burberry (yes, the founder of the iconic British fashion brand), trench coats are waterproof coats that used to be worn by officers as an alternative to greatcoats during the World War years.

Eventually, trench coats became both a business-like (think epaulettes and rank insignias decorating the top portions of the coat) and a fashionable piece of garment, and this duality persists up to today.

Before, only tall guys could wear them. Because of its length—many reaching or even extending past the wearer's knee—it wasn't the best choice of outerwear for vertically-challenged and average-height guys. This is no longer the issue nowadays, as designers and high street brands all have made interpretations of the trench to fit a wider range of guys. There even are now single-breasted variants, which will be perfect for the lithe dude.

From left: Dean & Trent, Topman, Heritage 1981, and All Saints

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Street Fighter IV: The Live Blog




2:31 PM: Came back from GameStop with my copy of the collector's edition. Ready to play!
2:37 PM: Playing Challenge Mode. It's very much like SFEX's Expert Mode, except it's slower and you can't jump to the harder challenges immediately.
2:38 PM: Dan's pose is elaborate!
2:39 PM: Took me a while to do a crouching heavy punch two-in-one to a Shoryuken. Rusty!
2:42 PM: Gotta really learn how to do focus attacks!
2:45 PM: Enough Challenge Mode. Time to play Arcade Mode!
2:46 PM: Chose Ryu. Neat, they have an anime intro about the Blece Project. Now that's what I'm talking about.
2:47 PM: Eat my Metsu Hadouken, Zangief.
2:48 PM: Ooooh, Ken. How fun.
2:50 PM: Metsu...Hadoukeeeeen!
2:56 PM: Man, I'm rusty. I just lost to Abel on medium-hard difficulty.
3:03 PM: Okay, forget about what I said in a previous post about the announcer being "ok." He gets really annoying after a while. Meh.
3:08 PM: Ryu's American voice actor sounds so much like Arthas from Warcraft. Listen to him say "The answer lies in the heart of battle."'
3:26 PM: Apologies for the delay. I was practicing my focus attacks. Man, I really like this.
3:33 PM: Don't use your super combo meter for super combos. They're weak. Save them for EX attacks or Focus Cancels.
3:46 PM: Thank goodness you can change the language. Some characters sound silly in their English voices.
3:50 PM: Hey, it's Yun and Yang! I'm starting a game as Chun-Li.
3:54 PM: Character-specific win quotes. Neat. I didn't notice that before.
4:15 PM: My rival is C. Viper. Not surprising. She's the only other female in the original SFIV cast.
4:18 PM: There are even character-specific battle-cries. Chun-Li says something before she attacks with her Housenka against C. Viper.
4:21 PM: Warning, system overload...it's almost like the Jean-Claude Van Damme Street Fighter Movie. But instead of M. Bison, it's Seth.
4:33 PM: Have to master Ryu's signature juggle–crouch medium kick, Shoryuken, Focus Cancel, dash forward, and Metsu Hadouken. It's really tough—maybe I should've bought the arcade stick. But I can't afford that yet. Oh well.
4:34 PM: Okay, time to head out. Will play the game with friends over pizza and beer. Tootles!

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Masthead:
Myron's Magazine Roundup

Number of active subscriptions: 33
Men’s general interest
GQ, Men’s Health, Maxim, Esquire, Details, Men’s Journal
Science and Technology
Wired, Popular Science, PC World, Mac Life, Mac World, Seed
Lifestyle
Prevention, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Organic Spa, Blender, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle Decor, Tennis, Saveur, The Smithsonian, Interview, Nylon
Others
Art in America, Psychology Today, Ode, American Photo

(Not photographed: Harper's Bazaar, Saveur, Elle Decor, the magazines that have folded, Martha Stewart Living, American Photo, Popular Photography, and Body + Soul—these are all magazines that I haven't received my first issue yet.)

Number of magazine subscriptions that have folded: 3
Plenty, EGM, PC Magazine (although it still will continue as a digital magazine, I consider it a moot effort now)

Number of magazines that aren’t available as subscriptions, but buy on a regular basis: 5
V Man, Vogue Hommes International, Another Man, Fantastic Man, and GQ Style

Favorite coverline ever in a magazine: “Do you have douchebag hair?”, Details November 2008

Of the 6 men’s general interest magazines:
Best style advice: Details
Most memorable articles: Men’s Health
Widest breadth of articles: Men’s Health
Not interested at first but grew on me: Men’s Journal

Of the 5 science and technology magazines:
Best coverage: Wired
Interesting articles: Popular Science
Read the most pieces each issue: Mac Life
Widest breadth of articles: Wired
Not interested at first but grew on me: Wired

Of the lifestyle and non-categorized magazines:
Favorite publication to read: Psychology Today
Best in page layout: Town & Country (very clean, which is really how I like it—despite it being a women’s magazine, and I only get to read a page of it, Style: Men, each issue).
Has the most number of great-looking photographs: Art in America (come on, this one’s a clear winner. Even the ads look awesome.)
Not interest at first but grew on me: The Smithsonian
Title with the best of intentions: Ode (it’s the magazine for intelligent optimists, which is really just saying that we should stop looking at everything that’s bleak in life—there’s still a lot of good to look forward to and to smile about)
Women’s magazine I don’t mind reading: Marie Claire. I like their human interest pieces

Average price of subscription: $0/year. I get lots of free subs because I’m part of the industry.

Earliest magazine to arrive: Hearst publications—Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Town & Country

Magazines with the most prompt customer service: Condé Nast—GQ, Details, Wired, Domino

Magazines that arrive in my mailbox in the best shape: Condé Nast

Magazines that arrive in my mailbox in the worst shape: Hearst

Magazines that have the most number of subscription cards stuck in each issue, even though I’m a subscriber already: Rodale—Men’s health

Magazine I’d like to get a subscription to: Wallpaper*

Next in line: New York Magazine

And third: Best Life—not my market, but I like its fiction and interest stories the same way I like Men’s Health’s.

Section of my magazines I almost always get to read: The Front-of-Book (these are one-page stories that are found in the first few pages of the issue, usually has industry news, vignette-style reporting, or what’s new and what’s hot pieces)

Section of my magazines I almost never read: The celebrity cover stories. I don’t care about what the celebs are up to. And I really don’t like the fact they’ve invaded a lot of my magazines. I can count the number of exceptions with my hand.

Magazine that inspired me to become a magazine journalist: EGM. I thought playing video games for a living is the best job in the world—I still think so, although now it’s all about writing stories that would make a difference in the reader’s lives, whether it’s in giving a bad game a bad review just so they wouldn’t waste their $60 buying it at Gamestop the first day it’s out, or in reporting the latest breakthrough in curing or treating Alzheimer’s.

Best magazine article I’ve read: “Simplify Your Life,” Men’s Health July/August 2005. Full article can be found here.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Mangez, Mangez,
Vous Mangez Avec Moi


No one in my family—immediate or otherwise—is a chef, yet one common trend I see all of us having is our shared interest in cooking. My mom cooks a ton of things, my dad second in number of dishes in his repertoire, and my two brothers not minding breaking out the pots and pans every now and then. Speaking for myself, I’ve been handy in the kitchen since I was in middle school. While I did have it quite easy in the beginning because all I’ve done was to cook breakfast meats—sausages, spam, and eggs—they still were considerable challenges because it wasn’t all about drizzling a heated fan with fat and plopping the meats in. For the sausages, I’ve to use a knife to make small slits so even the insides cook (I remember the first time I didn’t do it—the outsides were charred but when you bite in the sausage, the insides were so cold it was just disgusting to even attempt to recook), slice up the spam from the can (and the can wasn’t exactly easy to deal with either), and finally, the whole mess of having to crack open the eggs and making sure you don’t break up the yolk as you firm up the whites. Small feats for the more experienced cook (moreso a chef), but for a kid like me back then, they’re a big deal.

Eventually I got tired of the same thing—perhaps I got tired of the fact it’s only during breakfast that I get to eat my own cooking—I told myself I need to graduate to cooking an actual dish.

My mom helped me out. She was cooking pasta one day and basically asked me if I can finish up the sauce after browning the meat (it was bolognese, a meat-based sauce with celery and carrots), and I didn’t have problems picking up the wooden spoon and emptying two cans of crushed tomato and seasoning with sugar, pepper, salt, italian seasoning, and a handful of basil.

This continued for a while—I’d come in halfway through the cooking process—until she finally thought I was ready to take the reins. Ingredients were easy to come by and didn’t require so much in terms of prep: You can buy the beef ground up, and there’s the personal processor to chop the onions, garlic, and the vegetables. (Although I must say this: Any cook who refuses to chop their own onions is not a cook. You have to cry. No exceptions.) It was a matter of being patient with the entire thing: The onions and garlic have to release their aromas first before going on, the beef has to brown evenly, and the vegetables have be cooked just slightly so they don’t disintegrate to mush.

Pretty soon, after a few not-so-successful tries (and I only say this because it wasn’t as tasty or well-spieced as I thought the sauce would be) I was conquering the realm of pasta sauces.

My dad came in next. He does a mean pot of upgraded pork & beans. His signature dish required more patience from me: The beans can become mush or crunchy if they’re not cooked properly, I’ve to slice more things like chorizo, chicken, andouille sausage, plus of course garlic and onions; but at this point, I was used to the discipline of “cooking things through”—true with pretty much all tomato-based dishes—that I picked up on the procedure after the first try.

Finally—and I remember when I did this: The Friday before the week that I’d start a new job—I told myself I’d have to cook my own. My recipe? Rachael Ray’s Country French Chicken. (Recipe here.) I’ve seen this episode a number of times on FoodTV, and I’ve always thought of it to be quite easy. One thing I was looking forward to is the use of red wine to flavor the dish. So off I went to the grocery, bought the ingredients—they were all easy to come by, even the creminis—and started with the process.

For some reason, I didn’t season as much as I should have, thus the finished product turned out bland, but because I salted the egg noodles and used salted butter to flavor them, things fortunately balanced quite well in the end. My dad seemed to like it when he tried the same thing that same night, commenting about the need for more salt and pepper in the chicken itself. I made a mental note to myself that if it’s chicken or a nice piece of steak that I should season generously.

It took me two more tries to perfect Country French Chicken, mainly because like Ms. Ray, I eyeball seasonings. (Actually, I picked up the habit from her, so....)

That one dish jump-started my still-growing plethora of recipes that I can whip when necessary. Matter of fact, I have enough that I’ll have something new to eat every day for three weeks:

Pasta
Country French Chicken
Bacon Mac & Cheese
Bolognese
Basic Spaghetti and Meatballs
Carbonara
Lasagna
Pad Thai
Beef Stroganoff
Shrimp with Feta
Penne della Terra
Seafood Alfredo
Puttanesca

Rice toppings
Sesame Chicken
Mongolian-style Chicken & Crab
Cajun Jambalaya
Chicken Curry
Thai Beef Curry

Sandwiches and wraps
Asian-style Chicken and Vegetables
Philly Cheesesteak (a big hit among my friends!)
Steak Sandwich with Mayo-Mustard Sauce
Croque-Monsieur (and Madame)

One-pots
Chili Tots
Beef Bourguignon
Shrimp and Scallop Gratin
My dad’s supercharged Pork & Beans

Among these 25, my personal favorite dish is the Beef Bourguignon. I’ve long salivated doing this French stew ever since I saw it advertised in the FoodTV.com website. Besides, doesn’t it sound so sexy?

For those whom I’ve prepared the Bourguignon to, know that you’re special to me because I’ve whipped up my signature.

Every now and then, I would buy a food magazine or two just to see if I can make something new. I used to just be fine with getting the recipe online, but I found out that I required to see a photograph of the dish before I’m enticed to actually try it out. That’s why cookbooks such as Nigella Lawson’s, Rocco di Spirito’s, and Tyler Florence’s appeal to me so much: They hire photographers and awesome food stylists to make sure each dish that makes it on the pages of their publication stand out and actually entice you to make them at home. I’m actually considering a subscription to the Food Network magazine just because I wholly support the network and its endeavors to make everyone try out cooking.

Now, do I have any interest in pursuing cooking professionally, i.e. train to be a chef? I sincerely doubt it, but I never thought of myself to cook for the satisfaction of others. Basically, I started making my own food for my own personal enjoyment. When friends and family compliment what I make, then that’s a very welcome extra.

So, when are you coming over to my house? I’ll be sure to have at least one day when we’ll not eat out, and I’ll have you try my food. I promise it’ll be good.

Image from thegutsygourmet.net

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Uh, No Thanks.

Snapped this at a convenience store in the Philippines. Yeah, if you can't "garantee" that whoever wrote the copy of your product can spell the most important word in this 3-word phrase, then I don't think I'd feel "garanteed" that your knife's gonna be sharp. So, no thanks.

Music Break: Just a Love Song and Beautiful in my Eyes

Okay, I admit, I have a soft spot for ballads and love songs. But I have strict standards as to how sappy it has to be. Boyband ballads are disgusting and I wouldn't go anywhere near them. For the most part, remakes of past hits are acceptable, since they build on an already successful foundation—i.e. they're already good to begin with.

Christian Bautista, a Filipino singer and a good friend, released an album last year called "Just a Love Song...Live!" and it contained these two songs. Both—well, I'll give him this because he rendered them so well—are remakes, and actually I don't mind.

Simple lyrics, soothing melodies, and both registering low in the too-sappy scale. My favorite of the two is "Beautiful in my Eyes." I got choked up a bit the first time I heard it. Seriously.