Song: Iron Chef

For some reason I can picture Weezer performing this one.


Working hard in my kitchen, just don't get in my way
Got my trout searing lightly and a Gruyere cheese souffle
Cooked my beef a la Wellington and my salad of the day
Of fava beans organic greens with crouton crudites

Want some soup? have a ramekin I just whipped up for you
Pureed squash and sweet potato with a soupcon of a roux
Made with truffle oil and cocoa flour, it adds the perfect touch
I just love to feed you all so much.

I wanna be on Iron Chef
I wanna beat an Iron Chef
I got mad skills and I've had my pills
So let me show you how
Let me show you now

Got my theme, got ingredients, it's time to make a meal
Here's my apple Waldorf salad served inside its candied peel
My chicken breasts with apples spiced with mint and curried pears
And linguini cooked in apple juice served with apple angel hair

The apple chicken sausages are served with ravioli
That are filled with fresh ricotta in a creamy sauce with Stoli's
My apple chips with ginger should be dipped into the maple
Did I make my point right here at the table?

I wanna be on Iron Chef
I wanna beat an Iron Chef
I got mad skills and I've had my pills
So let me show you how
Let me show you now

Don't know who will be judging but I know they'll like my style
Gonna chat with the cameraman, make the Chairman crack a smile
All you foodies better watch me work, just see me in my groove
And ponder every minute on just what you would improve

Do you wanna be on Iron Chef?
Do you think you could beat an Iron Chef?
Do you have mad skills will you give me thrills
Won't you show me how?
I wanna be on Iron Chef
I wanna beat an Iron Chef
I got mad skills and I've had my pills
So let me show you how
Let me show you now

(c) Teddywolf,
January 2, 2006

TV Blogging

It's a brand new year, and brand new shows are coming out on various channels. Today, though, I'm concentrating mostly on Cartoon Network.

First item of note: Cartoon Network is starting their own Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. This is significant. Currently, the Saturday Morning landscape has precisely none of the channels that carried them when I was a child. There's Fox, UPN, and ABC Family (formerly Fox Family). With the addition of Cartoon Network this makes a solid plurality of channels.

I have watched a sneak preview of one of the shows, called Zixx. Premise: Boy in junior high, who lives with his uncle, misses his missing archaeologist mother. Oddly enough, some bum on the street gives him a crystal that she'd dug up - and knows him by name. He and his friend discover a different world, a cyber-world, by passing through a portal. There's a conspiracy to take over the Universe that they uncover. And they meet Zixx, a cute teenage girl who knows the other world quite well and does her best to persuade them not to go back...
The show is produced in Canada - you can tell by the accents, despite some voice coaching. The animation for the other world bits is quite good, and reminiscent of first person shooter games. The acting is a little wooden in spots. Not Shakespeare, no indeed. This show is geared toward boys in the 8-14 range with some lesser appeal for the girls, and looks to be wholesome enough. It's not joining my lineup, but I'm way outside the target demographic and feel no loss. Second season is already airing in Canada on YTV, but the ratings will need to be good for CN to sign it up past the first season.

Another new show on Cartoon Network is in the Adult Swim lineup: Ranger Smith. Yes, the character from the old Hanna-Barbera Yogi Bear cartoons. This new edition is done by John K and Spumco. The voice work is quite good as a rule, with only minor deviations from the original HB characters. The old sound effects and music are all included and done extremely well, and they have generally done the bears quite well.

Despite those touches, though, it felt more like a Ren and Stimpy cartoon, albeit one of the lower-key ones.

The difference in animation style and the addition of usual Spumco sound effects made this cartoon a bit disconcerting for me. It's not like I go looking for Yogi Bear cartoons, but they have a particular look and feel for me. The Spumco additions, done as often as they are, jar me out of the story. The jokes are good, the story is good, the voices are good although it's strange to hear Boo-Boo sound like Ren Van Hoek, but the Spumco touches are not so welcome for me. I enjoy them in Spumco original material, but it really messes far too much with Jellystone. If they happened less often I expect I'd like 'em more. When they want to they are able to capture the essence of older style HB animation while maintaining the usual Spumco high quality, and as a rule I enjoyed those visuals the best. Top visual, though, was pure Spumco, and ivolved Boo-Boo and Daisy in the bushes with bees. I will say no more.
If you've never watched Yogi Bear cartoons before then you should like this. If you have watched Yogi Bear before you might have the same reaction I did. Or you might not. I do think it's worth a looksee, and I'll give it another look another time.

Lupin the Third is returning to CN tonight; The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are back for a new year on Comedy Central. The TiVo will have much to watch tomorrow.