WHAT’S MY OBSESSION WITH FOOD SHOWS ?

Hi … my name is JD and I’m a food-show-holic !

If you find yourself watching repeats of food shows and find yourself repeating the hosts lines or you know the recipes by heart … you’re a food-show-holic ! I am happy to tell you though, that you are not alone.


I can’t seem to stop watching repeats of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” and “A Cook’s Tour” … and he doesn’t even do any cooking on the shows. I’m not watching it to learn recipes or new cooking techniques … I’m just completely entertained by this guy.


Recently, Keith Floyd passed away and there was an endless stream of Keith Floyd repeats from his Fjord Fiesta, Far Flung Floyd, American Pie … I realized that we’d never get anything new from this charismatic man.

Who loves the BBQ guy ? I do !

Who loves Surfing The Menu ? … well … I preferred it when it was Bender and Curtis (who has his own show called Take Home Chef … love that too).

Who loves Iron Chef ? Don’t you love it when the guy says “Fukui san” ? LOL !

Whatever happened to Gordon Ramsay ? I liked his no-mistake-no-nonsense attitude.


What food-show-holic would I be if I didn’t give props to the man himself.


The original superstar chef … Jamie Oliver. Naked Chef revolutionized how cooking shows could be made interesting, humorous, informative and not stuffy. Of course, Mr. Oliver has moved on from his younger days taking on causes close to his heart from taking in problematic youth to his 15 Restaurant charity programme worldwide, taking on the British government with his School Dinners programme, getting people to start cooking more at home with their own produce in Jamie At Home and of course his Great Italian Escape (where he needed to recuperate) … if you don’t love Jamie … you’d better check your pulse.

You thought I was done huh ? … My list of loves would definitely not be complete without the voluptuous Nigella Lawson. Yummy ! Don’t really watch her shows for the cooking … you know why I watch it don’t you ? Hehehehe.


Before I finish up … can someone tell me this … why is that Sizzle guy still on ?

If you’re a food-show-holic like I am … tell me your loves and hates. Would love to hear from you.

ADAPTATIONS … GOOD IDEA OR BAD IDEA ?

When was the last time you really enjoyed a comic book adapted movie ?
I’m guessing most would answer … Transformers 2 was OK right ?

I agree … Transformers 2 was awesome … if you’re a Transformers fan. I recently watched it again and I watched it from a non-fan point of view and, to be honest, was a little disappointed with it. I’m starting to see what everybody else has been saying … Jerry Bruckheimer messed the movie up. Great visual effects (except for the robot chick with the tail that molests Sam Witwicky) and great sound and all that but the story … COME ON !!!

This got me thinking.

What other comic book/cartoon series adaptation movie promised a lot but bombed big time at the box office cos of bad production/storyline/directing/acting. Here’s my list of the 10 worst (I’ve got a ten best as well coming up so relax la !).

- League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Daredevil
- Superman 3 and 4 (was there a 5 ?)
- The Watchmen
- Fantastic Four
- Phantom (waaaaay too campy … Billy Zane in purple doesn’t work for me)
- The Hulk (the one with Eric Bana)
- Batman Forever (with Val Kilmer) and Batman and Robin (with George Clooney)
- Bloodrayne (if not for 1 particular “scene” … the movie would be unwatchable)
- Catwoman (what was Halle Berry thinking)

There have been some really good ones though. Here’s my favorite 10 (in no particular order) :-

- Iron Man
- Transformers
- X-Men series (not Wolverine)
- Spiderman
- 300
- Batman Begins
- The Crow (the first one … so sue me if I enjoyed it)
- The Hulk (the Edward Norton version)
- Road To Perdition
- The Rocketeer (also campy … but I thought it was cool)

There were some which were kinda in the gray area … wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not but worth mentioning :-

- Masters Of The Universe (kinda like it)
- Flintstones (boleh la)
- Garfield (can’t hate a cate with Bill Murray’s voice right)
- Mortal Kombat (the first one … so cool)
- Supergirl (oh yeah)
- GI Joe
- … did I miss any ?

Then there were those bad video game movies :-

- Alone In The Dark (starring Christian Slater)
- Far Cry (man this was bad)
- Doom (with The Rock … no way no how)
- Street Fighter (the old and the new … both suck)

There were some good video game movies too :-

- Silent Hill (creepy)
- Resident Evil (c’mon Mila Jovovich)

I guess there are just 2 more coming out that everybody’s excited about cos we hope they’re gonna be good …

Prince Of Persian (starring Jake Gylenhall) and Thundercats (no cast yet).

Check back with me when these movies come out and see how these 2 did and for the rest of my lists … if you don’t agree with ‘em … please do comment … I may have missed a few.

OUR ICONS PASSING

It's been a strange few months.

Our favorite artistes have been singing their hearts out ... belting out hit after hit.
Our favorite actors have been lighting up the silver screen with Oscar worthy performances.

The youngsters have also proven their worth with Miley Cyrus the undisputed queen of the youngster stars with Taylor Swift and maybe even The Jonas Brothers in there as well.

OK ... that's one end of the spectrum.

Here's the other end. The sad end.

In the past 6 months alone ... we've lost a good number of award winning celebrities ... names we grew up with. Names that conjur up images of magnificance and a life full of vitality. That's the side the world sees. What the world doesn't see is the private (and family) side of these superstars we've grown to love thru the decades. Some struggled with drug addiction. Others with medical issues. And some with psychological troubles.

I'm not pulling skeletons from any closets here ... just wanna make sure these names stick in your head cos these were icons of the industry and they deserve to be remembered.

Date of Passing	Age	Name	Field
09 / 14 / 2009	57	Patrick Swayze	Entertainment
09 / 14 / 2009	65	Keith Floyd	Entertainment/Food
08 / 25 / 2009	77	Ted Kennedy	Politics
08 / 13 / 2009	94	Les Paul	Music
07 / 17 / 2009	92	Walter Cronkite	Journalism
06 / 25 / 2009	50	Michael Jackson	Music
06 / 25 / 2009	62	Farrah Fawcett	Entertainment
06 / 23 / 2009	86	Ed McMahon	Entertainment
06 / 03 / 2009	72	David Carradine	Entertainment
05 / 04 / 2009	75	Dom DeLuise	Entertainment
04 / 25 / 2009	86	Bea Arthur	Entertainment
03 / 18 / 2009	45	Natasha Richardson	Entertainment

... and then there was also Heath Ledger who passed away in January 2008 ... who died tragically at a young age at the height of his career and leaving behind a young child.

You will always be in our hearts and minds and we'll recall the happy times as if you were members of our own family because in a way ... you were in all our lives.

We'll miss you.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE ROTI JOHN ?!?!

I’ve recently started fasting along with Dilly for Ramadhan and part of the fun of the fasting month is the festivities and fun at the pasar Ramadhan. You see the most amazing spread of food and it’s been well documented on the “Food Network” overseas that Malaysia has one of the more diverse selections.

What I’ve noticed over the years that I’ve been fasting and also visiting the ‘pasar’ is that there’s always one item that becomes this “phenomenon” that’s seen in every single pasar nationwide. You still do get the staples like ayam percik, nasi campur, satay and a myriad of kuih but that one item add to the variety and it’s everywhere.

A couple of years ago, it was the mini murtabak … then it was the deep fried popiah (springroll), then the tube drinks came along (with the multi level ingredients) … then last year kebabs were a huge hit but what do I see this year ?

ROTI JOHN !

You can get it a la Subway … short (which I think is a 6 inch) and a long (foot long I guess) and all with different 'inti' (filling) !

In case you’re wondering what the heck ‘Roti John’ is … here’s how it’s explained in Wikipedia :-

“essentially an omelette sandwich, is a popular Malay breakfast and snack item … The ingredients include minced meat (chicken or mutton), onion, egg, sardines, tomato-chilli sauce and a baguette-type loaf.”

I know you’re used to having me rant on and on but not this time … I ain’t ranting. I’m just wondering … how do they (the bazaar stall owners) come to this agreement that this year they decree ...

“we’ll all make Roti John and we’ll flood the markets”

I’ve been having Roti Johns everyday during Ramadhan trying out different stalls at different bazaars. There’s only a slight variation and they’re mostly delicious. Mostly. There were 1 or 2 stalls that had questionable ingredients which made it taste weird but all-in-all … my experience with the Ramadhan Roti Johns have been quite satisfying.

I think, however, that I will need to broaden my horizons for the last 2 weeks of the fasting month so I guess I’m gonna leave the Roti John behind and try different things. Any suggestions and where I can get it ? I’m willing to drive to anywhere within the Klang Valley although I do miss the pasar Ramadhan in Penang’s Bukit Jambul … which I think rocks !

Anyway … send in your suggestions and comments … would love to hear from you ! Sorry ... too much Roti John I think :)