Best damn show on TV: Rob and Big

I'll never forget peering at an American paper while living in Korea and seeing the #1 movie in the United States was Dude, Where's My Car. I felt SO GLAD to be residing overseas and nowhere near schlock containing the word "dude." For this reason, I feel a little silly touting my new favorite TV show, Rob and Big.

PLOT: Rob Dyrdek is a professional skateboarder and verbose showboat. Big Black (aka Chris Boykin) is his straight-talking, I'll try anything once-bodyguard. They live together in a L.A. pad and get into some crazy hijinks every episode. It's a reality TV show that Big Black admits is not completely real. Regardless, Rob and Big reminds me of an amusement park ride whose specs are a bit off, resulting is a frantic yet exhilarating ride. I am especially fond of Big Black, who tells it like it is. Getting dressed up to be on their own cereal box (after getting no response from Kashi), Big applies red lipstick and says, "I hope I don't get beat up in the streets for this."

Rob & Big repeats are on MTV all week.

I'm too dumb to operate an iPod

I had big plans to throw my newly purchased iPod across the customer service area of Best Buy, today. Two days of frustration over not getting it to sync properly reaked havoc on my sunny disposition. I wanted it all to play out in a dramatic display with the Apple product sailing through the air. Alas, I realized I'd get better service if I wasn't a raving lunatic.

Best Buy accepted my return without question. The Geek Squad guy pushed some buttons and furrowed his brow on how this new Apple product failed so miserably. A Best Buy employee found me, later, browsing at their other MP3 players and suggested I reexamine my iPod's default settings, since it's set up to use as little memory as possible. $230 dollars and an iPod later, I discovered the guy was right. Apple 1. Ajumma 0.

Arrest warrant: Shia LaBeouf

Insano California issued an arrest warrant for actor Shia LaBeouf, today. Shia received a citation for unlawful smoking (which is apparently a misdemeanor) while smoking outside a Burbank boutique on February 18. Shia was to appear in court at 8:30 AM, today, but neither he or his lawyer showed appeared, so a $1,000 bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

An arrest for outdoor smoking? It's not like he was smoking outside a preschool playground or into the faces of defenseless puppies. What is California's problem? Why don't they go chase real criminals like gangbangers and workers comp cheats? I've been away from Cali for a year and they STILL send notices (addressed to me in Minnesota) threatening to sue me for not renewing my car insurance within their state.

Car show! Car show! Car show!

What do you get when you mix thousands of Minnesotans who have just endured 4 months of sub-zero temperatures with hundreds of gleaming, new automobiles? You get the Twin Cities Auto Show! Ajumma and hubby methodically trekked through the convention center, yesterday, to see the car industry's offerings. Here are some highlights:

- Ajumma easily could have driven away in a new 2-door VW Rabbit, despite hubby's protests that VW makes unreliable cars

- Two Porsches on the floor already had "SOLD" signs on them

- Nissan displayed their silver $70,000 Z model, whose engine runs over 400 HP!

- Honda, Lexus, and Infiniti manual models didn't feature shifter knobs, since people like to unscrew and steal them at car shows

- Ajumma's hubby scored himself a knit cap for correctly naming all 3 Scion models
- Toyota earned my "Most Attractive Spokespeople" award at the show--mainly women of color in short, red leather belted jackets, black shirts, and stilletto boots

- Hyundai gave away mystery packages that were 90% waste, 5% giant poster, and 5% delicious bottled water

- All ages, colors, and races turned out for the show--and everyone had fun (even the babies in strollers).

- Next up: Hot Import Night on Saturday, September 27, 2008 @ the Minneapolis Convention Center

Walker & Diesel in "The Fast & Furious 4"

Good lord, I am totally out of the loop. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are apparently filming the 4th sequel to the movie, The Fast & the Furious. This past week they were photographed on set in Los Angeles. The movie, directed by Justin Lin, is due out summer 2009 and also stars Sung Kang.

Paul Walker, you look good in those Pumas. I'm glad it's a fork in your hand and not a cigarette. Vin, you've been away too long (and by too long, I mean making crappy movies like The Pacifier and Find Me Guilty). Photos courtesy of ridiculously fantastic site, ohlalamag.com

Bale and ShoWest in Vegas

Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhall, and The Dark Knight director, Chris Nolan, came out to promote their new flick at ShoWest in Las Vegas, on March 13. The movie's promo included a special clip dedicated to late actor Heath Ledger who appears in The Dark Knight as the Joker. Of his co-star, Bale said, "I hope that this can be seen as a celebration of his work."

Bale also mingled with Into the Wild star, Emile Hirsch, who recently wrapped up the live-action version of Speed Racer. Ajumma never realized Emile was so short...even in vertical stripes! Photos courtesy of christian-bale.org

Am I dreaming this?

If you've ever driven from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, you've seen the old abandoned water park on Highway 15 near Barstow, California. It sits like a dusty Emerald City, a tangle of taunting useless slides in the middle of the dry, scorching desert. Well, apparently Rob Dyrdek and his friends couldn't pass on the opportunity to tear it up in the park during their last trip to Vegas.
Watch the video of the boys taking on Rock-a-Hoola here.

Classic Korean butt

Flat as a mat. The truth hurts sometimes.

"All aboard!"

A comedian once asked why hybrid cars look like gay space ships. I wonder this too. Last night, I took my first ever ride in a Toyota Prius Hybrid. Here's a superficial breakdown of the experience:


1. Rather than cranking a key, the Prius features a power button.

2. The Prius has a little knob that your finger nudges to activate drive and reverse.

3. To park, you push another button, also on the dash.

4. A screen on the dashboard shows consumption and other electronic messages. This was just too much information for me!

5. Priuses have rear view cameras to prevent you from running over your neighbor's kids and your recycling cans.

The idea of shifting my car with my finger seems a bit crazy to me, but it's hard to argue with good gas mileage. All in all I enjoyed my close encounter of the third kind.

I seriously thought this was Webster!

A trillion years ago on Baywatch there was an Australian lifeguard character named Logan. Well, turns out Logan is a gay. He's a gay with a partner and a future Ugandan son. When I saw the photo, above, I thought it was a Logan, his partner, and '80s actor Emmanuel Lewis. Then I remembered that much like Ajumma, Webster's been hitting the Girl Scout cookies too hard and is a bit thicker through his middle.