The SATs in Rad

 

Ask anyone on the street what "Rad" is about and you're likely to be hear someone drone on about BMX bike racing and how Bart Taylor is "the man." But, at its core, "Rad" is essentially about the SATs - and specifically about scheduling the SATs.

Early in the movie, when Cru brings a consent form for his mother to sign. She looks at the form (which doesn't have a date on it, more on that later) and says "Isn't that the day you're supposed to make up your SATs?"

Did you ever notice that she says "make up." Doesn't this mean that he already missed them once? Later on in the movie, he's told that the conflict between Hell Track and the SATs could be resolved by simply taking the SATs at a later date and it seems like this is revelatory for him. But if he's rescheduled once, shouldn't it be obvious that he can reschedule again? 

So this is the second time he's putting them off. He's missing the SATs that he already missed.

And why didn't he take them the first time? What, the local yokel was too busy with his paper route? Pfff.

Popcorn in Bed - Star Trek TNG Season 5 Part 2

 

"Cause and Effect" and "Inner Light" - two of the greats.

Guy Buys an American Chopper Bike

 A dude bought a decades old OCC bike, one made on the show "American Choppers." It's extremely overpowered and has rarely been run. This is a series where he tries to fix it up into working order.

As a weirdo "American Chopper" fan, I like that the form and content of this video echoes that show, very nostalgic.

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For the video below, skip to 22:23.

And apparently this is an ongoing saga for which we have to wait for new videos.

3 miles per tank? Holy cow.

For the sake of accurate information, I tried to lookup this episode and watch the bike being built. As far as I can tell, this is from "Senior vs. Junior" Season 1 Episode 6. But looking for that episode, and other episodes, it looks like there is no place to watch "American Chopper" - pay streaming sites as well as free, it's nowhere. I'll grant that I may be the only person looking this up in 2024 but I'm very surprised and don't know how to explain that.

Not necessarily this guy but there are too many drama queens on the internet flipping out that OCC bikes are unreliable. Of course the themed bikes were commercials. Of course they were meant to be looked at rather than driven. Come on.

The Government's Cheese Tunnels

 

I've heard of many aspects of this "conspiracy" for years but never got the whole story. It's not really a conspiracy at all (by the informal definition) since it's all done in plain sight.

I don't appreciate this guy's whole "slacker attitude," but the information is what counts.

Happy Hell Track Day

 Earlier this year, we were told that Rad Day was March 21st, the day "Rad" was originally released. But today is Hell Track Day.

Near the beginning of the movie Cru sees the following sign on a picket fence: 

"7-11 (and) Chief Auto Parts 

Presents Hell Track

Coming to Cochrane." 

It looks like this (through cheap VHS):

But that differs from the original script which stated:

"7-11 & Chief Auto Parts

Presents

HELL TRACK!

Coming to Cochran, June 26th"

That's today.

Not only is there no date in the movie, it's pretty clear to me that it takes place in Fall - school is in session, the leaves are changing. On the other hand, SATs are given in the Spring. 

Not one to make unsubstantiated claims, I would link to the original script here but the uploaded script  has been completely scrubbed from the internet (as far as I can tell) and the only remaining information about it to determine what it said is my own blog...

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (10-6)

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (5-1)

So I remember the June 26th date and you'll just have to trust me.

Happy Hell Track Day. Today's the day where we ride bikes(?) or do back flips or eat Kix? Maybe we should make one or two dramatic exits. I haven't worked out all the details. Let's start building the mythology next year.

Youtube Genre: Driving Videos

 

Above is "Orlando Florida Early Morning Interstate 4 Commute."

This is immediately a new and distinct youtube genre. No events, no dialogue, no editing, just driving on a road - and different stretches of road and different times call for different videos. It technically can include dashcam videos but let's face it, "dashcam videos" is already a separate genre.

I can confirm that the genre spans multiple channels and multiple videos though it's only an up-and-coming genre and difficult to search. Most of the ones I can find are Florida for some reason.

While this isn't my thing, I have heard it said that people with ADHD often enjoy driving because it calms them or slows them down. If nothing else, that's a benefit.

And, again, not my thing, but I clicked on this because the time attracted me. I really like city lights against a night sky. The sunrise isn't bad either.

Popcorn in Bed - Star Trek TNG Season 5

This episode includes the famous "Darmok" episode.

"Unification" guest stars Stephen Root and I'm blown away. He plays a Klingon and he is absolutely unrecognizable, both visually and voice-wise. Even now that I know that it's Stephen Root I still don't understand.

Review: Wendy's No Beans Chili

 Yes, reviewing Wendy's fast food chili would be sad and pointless but what I'm reviewing is actually this:

Wandering around a grocery store other than my regular, I found a can of Wendy's No Beans Chili and had to get it. I've never seen anything like this before. Does Wendy's sell store burger? Store fries? As far as I know, no, but here's their chili on a store shelf.

Trying it, it's tomato forward with chunks of mystery meat and just a hint of spice. In short, it tastes like the chili you get at Wendy's minus the beans.

But why take away the beans? Chili isn't chili without beans. And it's not like you cut them out to save money, beans are cheap. Doesn't make sense. Well apparently Wendy's chili is available on Amazon and it's available with beans, so I guess it's down to just what my grocery store decided to offer.

If anyone knows of Wendy's Frosties being sold in stores, let me know immediately.

Amazon Ad with Misspelling

 This book that Amazon is advertising has a misspelled cover.

"The Sunfower Festival"

Re:View - Popeye

 

This is labelled as re:Visit not re:View but I don't understand the difference.

I have no opinion of "Popeye." I may have seen it but I'm not even sure about that. But this is just a great discussion about an interesting movie, if you're into that.

Popcorn in Bed - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

 Most Excellent.

Yet More Tom Myers Jokes

 

I worry that in the current state of  things, my blog might become too Tom Myers heavy. There are two forces at work: I'm not finding a lot of good videos and I can't get enough of Tom Myers' unique brand of nonsensical non-humor joke product. If it's too much, please forgive me.

I also get a kick out of the blunt thumbnail. "What do we want to say about Tom Myers?"

"Tom Myers Stinks." 

Late Night - Mel Blanc

 

Nothing crazy, just a classic interview with the best voice actor of all time.

The Music Genre That Is Specific Situations

 

Here's a new genre of youtube videos that is also (arguably) a musical genre: songs/videos that are very specific situations.

For instance, have you heard "It’s 1993 and you’re in a hotel pool (Vaporwave Mix)?" That's the video above. I like this song because I remember being in a hotel pool in 1993. But don't confuse this one with "It’s 1994 and you’re in a hotel pool." Those are two different years and time waits for no man.

But then you might also check out "It's summer 1989 and you're cruising in Los Angeles."

Or how about "It's sunset in 1991 and you're on AOL (Vaporwave Mix)" I'm not sure anyone was on AOL in 1991 but the spirit is right.

Another thing I've never experienced but am curious about is "It's 1985 and you’re at the beach on summer break (Synthwave Mix)."

On the other hand, I do remember "It's a Friday night and you're at Blockbusters", I've just never heard the song.

And the same for "It's summer of 1995 and you just came in from outside".

And so forth.

Now, one of the rules I have about declaring a new youtube genre is that the videos have to come from more than one channel. I was thinking that confirming such a thing is nearly impossible because how do you search for this as a category? 

That being said, the "summer 1989" video above is from a different channel than the rest. That's technically sufficient. I've also tried searching for "vaporwave" and there are a few other channels so I'll say it's legit.

Gordon Ramsay TV Dinners

World-famous Chef Gordon Ramsay has his own line of frozen dinners available exclusively at Walmart. And I tried them all the four I could find. Here's my review... 

Fish and Chips

So first off, the box shows a lemon wedge and tartar sauce which the product doesn't contain and there's no disclaimer, so that seems illegal.

Next, the heating instructions are to put them in the oven for 22 minutes, which seems like a betrayal. Isn't it mandatory that frozen dinners are made in the microwave? I'm no expert, I know I could be wrong, but it just seems like if I wanted to bake something in my oven for 22 minutes, I would not be buying frozen dinners.

Since the tartar sauce wasn't actually included, I had to improvise. I had recently bought some Cinnabon Pudding Paks and used that as the dipping sauce, in accordance with what I assume Gordon's wishes may well have been.

In the end, these taste great. The chips are thick and super potatoey while the fish (pollock) chunks are juicy and tender. The portion is really small though. This wouldn't be a dinner for me, this is a snack. I could probably eat two and still be hungry. Oh, and each of these is about $6, if that's a factor.

Rating: THIS FOOD ON THE BOX ISN'T IN THE BOX! YOU COULD GO TO JAIL FOR THIS!!!

Lasagna with Bolognese Meat Sauce

So, now that I did my oven complaint, I found that this one is microwaveable and only takes a few minutes. Right.

Now here the instructions say to "Lift the film on corner to vent slightly" and the dish is a circle so there is no corner. COME ON, WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT, YA DONUT?!

The instructions also say to microwave for 3 minutes twice and then let rest for 2 minutes. I followed the instructions completely - I followed them to the letter - and when I bit in to it, I burned everything in my mouth. My lips, my gums, my tongue are burned. Throughout the day, I could feel a blister on the roof of my mouth getting larger. It was something to do to pass the time.

This again tastes really good, I mean I think so... They taste good to the extent that I could taste anything at all after burning my mouth. It's well made, it's tasty but it's too small though. Again, I could eat two easily but each is 44% daily value of saturated fat.

Rating: IT'S TOO HOT! YOU COULD'VE KILLED SOMEBODY WITH THIS... DONKEY!! Bloody hell...

Shepherd's Pie

Have you ever wondered why it's called "shepherd's pie?" It turns out all the shepherd's pie I've ever eaten really isn't shepherd's pie. Shepherd's pie is made with lamb, it's in the name. When beef is used, it's Cottage Pie. And, yes, this is made with beef.

Starting to get a rhythm here - another standard microwaveable process.

This is a bit more liquid than I would hope. The mashed potatoes are topped with a good amount of cheese though, which is great. I added some salt and pepper to improve on/correct Gordon's sloppy work. It's another case of pretty good flavor with too small a portion.

This dish contains 84% of your daily portion of saturated fat. I guess it's the cheese? So if you eat this and the lasagna in the same day, you're at 128% and probably still hungry. I know I would be.

Rating: IT'S SOGGY! HAVE YOU NOT TASTED THIS?! Get your head on straight, ya donut!

Chicken Pot Pie

Of the four, I think this is my least favorite. Again, this is microwaveable, and again, it's lava, but I was prepared this time and made the necessary precautions. The crust is super hard, like a thicc cracker. They succeeded in bucking the usual trend of having a soggy crust, I suppose. I still think it's too hard. All the all the ingredients have mixed together to create one uniform taste (not unusual for a chicken pot pie) and there's nothing distinct or great about it. It also tastes slightly strange to me for reasons I can entirely place - like there's a slight chemical taste or something.

For sure, it's not terrible, or even bad, but it is just kind of 'meh.'

Rating: IT'S BLAND! THIS IS BLAAAND! Oh, come on!

Conclusion

I'm really of two minds on this whole thing. These are some of the best-tasting frozen meals I've ever had - maybe THE best - so, on the one hand, they kind of live up to the name and if you don't mind small portions, they're worth checking out.

But I also can't get around the fact that Gordon Ramsay has made a career out of nitpicking other chefs' food and berating them about every minor detail, putting himself up as the example of a chef doing everything right, barely able to tolerate the many failings of everyone else, and here he is selling food made in a factory and sold at Walmart so that any slob in a t-shirt can throw it in the microwave. I can't escape the feeling that this is selling out to an extent that's shocking.

Insights from the Geteven Director's Commentary

 Someone on Reddit has watched the Geteven DVD and notes some interesting trivia from the Director's Commentary.

Link.

10 Hours of Geteven Doing the Shimmy Slide

Woo! Let's do it again!