Giving new meaning to "fire in the hole"

Colin Furze has been arrested. The plumber from Stamford in the United Kingdom has upgraded his scooter in a way that all of us who have ever been plagued by tailgaters wish we could do: He installed a freaking FLAMETHROWER on the back of his vehicle.

After being arrested, he told police he didn't intend to "...set fire to people's cars, it's just something interesting to do."  Kind of like smuggling a whole bunch of cocaine into the United States, getting caught, and then telling authorities you didn't intend to sell the cocaine, you just thought it would be interesting...y'know, to see if you could transport it across the country or something.

First thoughts: "Ugly Americans"

Chances are you've been eagerly awaiting to see a new, original animated series for some time. After all, just about everything coming out now is simply a new season of an established series (South Park, Family Guy, etc). Let's face it, there's not that many good original animated shows right now...And no, The Cleveland Show hardly counts. Fortunately, the wait could be over.

I'm happy to report that after viewing the pilot episode of Comedy Central's new animated series "Ugly Americans", I'm convinced this show has the possibility of becoming another cult-like hit in the vein of Futurama!

Let's take a look at why this show has the ability to be great:

• The series was written by David Stern, a former "Simpsons" writer.
• The series takes place in an alternate version of New York City, where normal humans coexist with zombies, monsters, and other freaks of nature / fantasy / science fiction. Just about anything you can think of. Actually, now that I think about it, this is pretty similar to Futurama.
• The main character, Mark Lilly, is a social worker with a zombie for a roommate. Has any series ever had a zombie as one of the main characters? I think not. Yeah, they're kind of riding the zombie bandwagon, what with all the pop culture of it in the mainstream lately (Think World War Z, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, etc) but hey, it's still cool, damnit!
• Many of the voices in this series are done by stand-up comedians such as Natasha Leggero and Pete Holmes. I'm hoping that for future episodes they will get cameos by greats such as Phil LaMarr.
• Lastly, the animation is good. You won't have to worry about it looking like South Park, there's plenty of detail in the scenes.

"Ugly Americans" premiered a week ago on Comedy Central, and comes on every Wednesday at 9:30 P.M. central time. You can watch the pilot online as well. View, be impressed by Randall Skeffington, the best zombie roommate ever, and see what you think.

Fan Vs Food: The belated aftermath

Hey guys - So not too long ago, Travel Channel and Man Vs. Food held a contest to see what sort of food challenges people around the country could come up with! Naturally I wanted to take part in this, as
A. I love to eat
and
B. Have seen just about every episode of MvF.

The premise was simple. You needed to photograph yourself attempting either an already established challenge at a restaurant, or create your own challenge. Now, as some of you may know, Man Vs. Food did an episode about St. Louis already where they highlighted several different places: Crown Candy Kitchen, Pappy's Smokehouse, and Iron Barley.

I decided to make my own challenge, one that I had been pondering for many years. Is it possible to eat the entire value menu at a restaurant? Well, this fateful evening, I decided to find out. And of all the places I could choose, it was decided that Taco Bell would be my battleground.
Ever wondered what the entire value menu looks like? Minus the drink, here you go:

 Taco Bell changes its menu often, but the current line-up of value menu goodness during this challenge was:
1. Cheese Roll Up
2. Potato Soft Taco
3. Triple Layer Nachos
4. Crunchy Taco
5. Soft Taco
6. Chicken Soft Taco
7. Chicken Burrito
8. Bean Burrito
9. Beefy 5-layer burrito
10. Cinnamon Twists
11. Caramel Apple Empanada (dessert)

Needless to say, I had to go through not only a second but also a THIRD wind to pass this epic meal. Much like Adam Richman, I began to hit the wall about 3/4 of the way through. Plowing through the nachos and tacos first probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. It left me with all those ridiculous burritos, which pack quite a punch, and are much more filling than one may realize.Especially when you eat four of them. (So...much...tortilla...)

My favorite moment though, wasn't even reaching the finish line. It happened right beforehand - getting to my final treat, the caramel apple empanada. Biting into this thing was the equivalent of tasting victory. The sugar rush also somehow made my body not feel so full either. Ric Romero, take note! News at 10! Sugary foods cause increase in hunger, can lead to childhood obesity!

The aftermath:  

     What a napkin might look like after copious amounts of fire sauce.


I won't lie, I felt like complete and utter SHITake mushrooms after this meal. And my entry didn't make it onto tv for the Fan Vs Food contest (though strangely, one of the entries that did make it was some person eating a lot of Mexican food.) But, I did it to say I could do it!
Now, if you're interested in participating in a Taco Bell Value Menu Challenge, here are a few fun facts: My meal clocked in at a staggering 3,220 calories according to the official T-Bell nutritional calculator. Hope you have a gym membership. Also, unlike most other restaurants out there with their uber food challenges, this one is only going to set you back about $11-12.  The only downside to this is that you aren't likely to get your photo taken by any of Taco Bell's staff. However, if you do finish this challenge, I will gladly put your photo on my blog! Got a challenge of your own? Tell me about it!