Zombies, Demons, & Ugly Americans

Comedy Central is showing off the ugly side of America with their new series, Ugly Americans. The series comes from the mind of illustrator Devin Clark. It is about an alternate New York in which Mark Lilly (voiced by Matt Oberg) a human social worker, helps ordinary people as well as creatures from horror, fantasy, and sci-fi films, adapt to life in New York City.

In addition to Mark Lilly, the “Ugly Americans” cast features Randall Skeffington, Mark’s zombie roommate (voiced by Kurt Metzger), Callie Maggotbone, Mark’s demon boss and office fling (voiced by Natasha Leggero), Leonard Powers, an aging drunken wizard (voiced by Randy Pearlstein), Twayne, a terrorizing demonic bureaucrat (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) and Lt. Grimes (voiced by Larry Murphy), a law-enforcement officer who despises non-humans. Additional characters are voiced by Mike Britt, Devin Clark, Pete Holmes and Julie Klausner.

The series was developed and executive produced by David M. Stern, former writer of The Simpsons, The Wonder Years, and Monk. In an interview with TV.com, Stern discusses how he landed the gig as a head writer and his embarrassing stint as a production assistant on Mystic Pizza. The series is animated by Augenblick Studios, the same company that brought Superjail! to Adult Swim and animated segments to Nickelodeon’s Yo Gabba Gabba.

Ugly Americans will premiere tonight on Comedy Central at 10:30pm e/9:30 pm c, right after the premiere of South Park’s 14th season. Watch a clip from the show by clicking below.

You can watch more clips and previews of Ugly Americans on the official website.

Photos: Comedy Central

McDonald’s Shamrock Shake Turns 40!

40th Anniversary Shamrock Shake

Lovers of all things minty are certainly not strangers to Shamrock Shakes, the seasonal milkshake offered annually at McDonald’s restaurants in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. The triple-thick milkshake has flavoring similar to the vanilla shakes, but with a hint of mint and a bright green hue. McDonald’s restaurants served the drink annual for several years until many restaurant locations stopped serving the shakes in the early 1990s. The public outcry was heard and the Shamrock Shake was brought back, but not before several websites, such as ShamrockShake.com, were organized to let the public know exactly which locations are selling the shake. The shakes begin to sell in late-February and stop sometime in late March (typically beyond St. Patrick’s Day).

For the 40th anniversary in 2010, McDonald’s decided to upgrade the shake to feature a whipped topping and a cherry, resembling a sundae or birthday cake. Purist should order the shake sans whipped cream and cherry for the pure mint flavor of the original.

The cult following of the Shamrock Shake is nothing new. For decades devotees of the milkshake have tried to decode the recipe for enjoyment year-round. One of the most simple, and possibly most accurate replication can be found on FoodGeeks.com:

Shamrock Shake Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1-1/4 cup milk, 2% lowfat
1/4 tsp. mint extract
8 drops green food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Stop blender to stir with a spoon if necessary to help blend ice cream. Pour into 12-ounce cups and serve each with a straw. Serves 2.

Extra Tip: For the gourmet foodies add a sprig of mint for garish.

The Shamrock Shake is an American tradition that continues to spread across the globe. In 2008, the Shamrock Shake returned to Canada after a five year absence. The shake makes news all over the internet as well as traditional media. This year treat yourself by stopping into a McDonald’s or pulling out your blender, and enjoy the mint milkshake! Happy birthday Shamrock Shake! read more

When should you pull the break?

Most people that ride public transportation daily do not pay much attention to the safety signage near the door. One New Yorker, Casey Neistat, decided to look deeper into the emergency break procedure developed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). He asks frequent riders a simple question: When is it okay to pull the emergency break on a train? The answers vary. It seems that such a simple question is highly contested among MTA riders. The lack of a clear solution leads Casey on a search for an answer.

Lady Gaga Goes to Jail

Fans of avant-garde pop artist Lady Gaga know that her videos never fail to impress. Like something out of Wonderland, Lady Gaga brings as much performance to her music than almost any other mainstream artists. Gaga’s video for her latest song, Telephone, had it’s world premiere last night. Needless to say, it is something to remember.

In the Michael Jackson tradition of music video as mini-movie, Gaga spins a story that is a mix of Quentin Tarantino meets Themla and Louise. Gaga’s partner in crime is none other than R&B siren Beyonce, sporting a series of outfits that seem to have come from the more tame side of Lady Gaga’s closet. With unabashed product placement and outright ridiculous fashion, the video is worth watching, even if you’re not a fan of the music.

Check out Lady Gaga and Beyonce in Telephone below: read more

Free SXSW Music Sampler for 2010

It’s that time of year again for NPR to give us a free iTunes sampler of some the new and emerging artists that will be presented at the SXSW Festival. Each year, the festival hosts a variety of musicians, filmmakers and many people in the tech industry to meet-up and share information. For information on how to redeem your free downloads from iTunes, click below.

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Celebrating 2010 in Sydney

In case you weren’t in Sydney, Australia on New Year’s Eve, we have the fireworks bonanza shot by ITN News. The weather in Sydney around this time of year is great, so why not have a fantastic fireworks display? Enjoy it and look forward to more posts here on Awesome By Default in 2010!

Who screams? Ice cream… for equal rights

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is standing up for civil rights with their recently announced “Hubby Hubby” flavor,  in honor of Vermont’s recent passage of legal marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The Hubby Hubby ice cream is a 30-day rebranding of their popular “Chubby Hubby” flavor. The move is mostly symbolic (PR stunt?) since the name won’t be changing on any store shelves or UPCs. The effort was done in cooperation with Freedom to Marry, a group that fights for marriage rights

The press release sent out by the company this week states, “Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights.”

Since announced on their Facebook page yesterday, the name changed has caused a stir online. Comments ranged from “Brilliant name change” to “Time to give it a rest B & J.” While many people blame Ben & Jerry for using their product as a political soap box, many feel politics and ice cream just don’t mix. Who can blame them. Many products we use today are neutral. If Coca-Cola suddenly supported creationism, would you still be a fan? If Burger King decided all people that buy Whoopers support abortion, would you still order one? Does your food need to have a social agenda?

As someone that supports ice cream and equal rights, I find it refreshing and strange that our political issues can have a flavor. In a slightly ridiculous twist, CBS News recorded a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream truck serving Hubby Hubby to the public in Vermont. The video is below…
read more

The Wild Things Are Right Here

This week the first official (non-teaser) trailer for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are has been released. Its a mix of CGI and costumed actors. Looks like its going to be something special. As a fan of the children’s book, I’m excited to see it.

Moon Landing Denial: Out of This World

Yesterday was Moon Day, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 14 moon landing. As someone that has always been intently interested in space, I took some time to research the event through various resources. As with any humanity-changing event, the detractors have taken it upon themselves to naysay the US exploration of the moon and proposed some rather elaborate conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good conspiracy theory. The Di Vinci Code had me looking at the Pope with a raised eyebrow. These are the same types of people that believe the attacks on 9/11 were orchestrated by the government, AIDS is a man-made disease, and Scientologists & Jews run Hollywood. Its these types of shaky premises that make a good story, but offer little foundation.

Moon Day has help tame some of the rumors started by the moon landing deniers with new photos showing the original moon lander and the astronaut footprints on the surface of the moon. While this evidence certainly won’t convince a denier of the scientific truth, its a validation to those of us that want the evidence. The new satellite images come to us as a result of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, which launched on 18 June. LRO’s mission is to photograph the moon to scout for future mission sites. So far, LRO has located five of the six Apollo missions that landed on the moon’s surface. read more

Who do we blame for Auto-Tune?

A lot of complaining has been going on over the use of Auto-Tune in popular music. Auto-Tune is software that corrects the pitch of a sound wave digitally. It has been use by many popular singers including Madonna, Rascal Flatts, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Kanye West and countless other top-40 pop singers. It came to the forefront this year when rapper Jay-Z released his newest single, “DOA (Death of Autotune),” which proclaims the practice of using Auto-Tune is gimmick. Rappers such as T-Pain have become the poster child for the technology, utilizing the correction technique for all of his songs. Are rappers of the future supposed to sound like robots?

So who is to blame for all this Auto-Tune drama? The inventor of the proprietary software, Andy Hildebrand, takes pride in his creation as he give a reporter at PBS’s NOVA a full demonstration (see above video). Don’t blame Andy for the sudden Auto-Tune abuse though. He points the finger at Cher, who let the secret out with her song Believe. Since 1996, the software has been in use to correct certain words within songs. As the video highlights, Hildebrand’s software was initially intended for more subtle pitch adjustments. As the reporter points out, Auto-Tune is simply “Photoshop for audio.”  read more