Distractions: ‘Pork and Beans’, Nerve.com, ‘Shear Genius’
WEB: What a joke
There are few things funnier than fake commercials. A certain devious kind of humor comes from stealing the bizarro language of television advertising and using it to describe imaginary –and usually ridiculous –products. The majority of these commercial parodies have come from “Saturday Night Live” (think Dan Aykroyd in SNL’s “Bass-o-Matic ’76”),but they’ve also been a favorite sketch comedy form on shows like “Mad TV” and the erstwhile “In Living Color,” among others. And now, the Web-savvy geniuses at Nerve.com have compiled their watchable list of the Top 50 commercial parodies of all time. But careful if you’re on the clock. Some of the videos (and, for that matter, most of the Web site itself) are totally NSFW (not safe for work).
It’s the ultimate in nutrient-free mind candy. But can we just say that Bravo’s weird hairstylist competition, “Shear Genius,” can make for some pretty (unintentionally) hilarious viewing? The show, which airs Wednesday nights on the cable network, pits 12 stylists against one another in a hair-cutting contest with a $100,000 prize. One stylist is cut from the show each week. The host is former “Charlie’s Angel” Jaclyn Smith, now 63 and amazing to look at. Where else can you find people competing against one another to cut hair blindfolded, or to style hair like Marge Simpson’s? A summer treat.
DINING: Stick to the ribs
The Nickel City Mac-and- Cheese at Torches Restaurant in Kenmore is sinfully rich –and downright addictive. What makes the dish so great is the Buffalo twist it puts on a childhood classic. Those elbow macaroni noodles you affectionately remember are served here with a blue-cheese alfredo sauce, enhanced by sun-dried tomato and a shot or two of Frank’s RedHot. Over the top go fresh breadcrumbs, a sprinkling of scallions, and a couple of pieces of buttermilk fried chicken. It’s $14 at dinner, for a bowlful, in the chic restaurant at 1141 Kenmore Ave. Decadent. Delicious. And worth every penny –and calorie.
You might not be a fan of the band Weezer, but the group’s latest music video has gone multi-mega- platinum. The song is “Pork and Beans,” but it’s not the music that matters here. It’s the images – a nonstop send-up of viral videos from Hapless Nunchuck Kid to Clueless Miss South Carolina and Fun With Coke and Mentos. How much do people love viral videos? So much that they’ll watch a spoof of them more than 8,742,191 times, as of last count. (See the video by searching for “weezer pork” on YouTube.)
