overidon.com Central Database for Overidon Omnimedia

Steve Simeone

Last night I had the tremendous pleasure of going to the Brea Improv. The comedian Steve Simeone did a set that had three excellent features, perfect timing, overall great jokes, and nostalgic reminiscence that brought me back to when I was 9 years old. Simeone has jokes that are funny and insightful at the same time, without being preachy. This is a tough line to walk and the skill implemented in doing so was commendable. I was seriously blown away when he mentioned the Russian dude from wrestling, that took me way back. Simeone discussed things that were truly funny now that I’m 30. So I’d recommend this comedian for someone who was in their mid-late 20’s or 30’s. The jokes were primarily geared for those ages. Although someone who just had their first beer might appreciate the ones about family beat-downs. Those are winners that transcend age brackets.

Steve Simeone mentioned elbow drops and wrestling in the set I was at. And part of that made me think about how, although my brother was much older than I was back then (and technically now as well) the rough-housing I did with my friends was a lot of fun. I remember when my friends who knew karate would always want to test their moves on me. And since I didn’t know how to kick very well, I didn’t have a very good time. But one day my brother gave me his worn out lime green Pump Reebok’s and I kicked my friend in the shins and he said that was cheating. I considered them to be the boots of justice.

And that’s the whole thing! After listening to Steve Simeone, my mind started to open up and think about memories that I hadn’t even touched on in years. It truly takes a masterful comedian to go to such a special place in one’s mind and let the imagination run wild, like we did when we were young.

Also the other comedian who was before Simeone, was Steve Trevino. His set was much shorter than Simeone’s but his was great as well. He told some jokes that were kind of mean but I thought they were great. Overall, the two comedians killed the audience and the whole place roared with laughter.

Another thing that I remember from last night, was that everyone was having such a great time, that a guy who was on a date laughed a lot with our group in a synchronized fashion. It was like the comradeship and friendship was bleeding over from table to table. That’s a huge bonus because it just makes the night that much more fun. Also it gives the club a safer and more relaxed feel that made enjoying each joke significantly easier.

I’m so glad that I got to go to the show with Jonathan Ferret Campos, and it’s been too long since we last got to hang out.

-Tyler

San Kai Crunchy Roll

San Kai Japanese Restaurant
(714) 241-7115
3940 S Bristol St, #112, Santa Ana, CA 92704

I’ve been to San Kai twice so far and there are a couple items that really shine there. First of all, their crunchy roll is very tasty. It has shrimp in it, which is pretty normal. But what is great is that the shrimp are nice and crispy and taste fresh. They have good flavor and make me feel glad I ate them. There is sauce on the crunchy roll as well as tempura. Together this makes for a deliciously temptational treat of taste titillation.

The other items I’ve ordered at the Sushi Bar were mostly tuna items. Their yellow-tail is very well priced for how fresh it is. The yellow tail portions and big for a sushi bar. And although the price per item is higher than a more affordable sushi bar like, Kura Sushi, the pieces of fish are generally much larger. So you can get a full sushi meal in less pieces, rather than having to purchase a greater quantity of smaller fish pieces.

So, a cut roll was flirting and asked a pair of Nigiri sushi, “What’s your sign?”

And the yellow tail said, “Pisces.”

Speaking of Nigiri Sushi, their Maguro, which is another form of tuna (usually less-expensive than yellow-tail) was excellent as well. Although I prefer the yellow tail because it more buttery and melts in the mouth.

The chefs at the Sushi bar are great and well mannered. They are friendly and wear name tags so it is easy to be polite and say their names respectfully when ordering. I always notice that I get better service when I can get on a name-name basis with a sushi chef. It’s part of the fun.

I also tried their Eel Avocado handroll. It was quite good and the eel piece was meaty instead of tasting old and tired. Sometimes when eating BBQ’d eel, I wonder what I’m really eating. “Is this skin, or burnt eel guts, or what?” But at San Kai, it tasted quite good.

Amazon.com - Chain Reaction

I’ve been having a total blast lately with Amazon.com. I know everyone uses Netflix nowadays and I respect that. People have limited space in their homes/apartments. Also everyone wants to either view films on the cloud and not actually have to look at collections. That makes sense to me. Clean is good. Efficient is the future. But one problem with that line of thinking is that movies and films are a social thing…even if you watch them alone. If you are talking with a friend about a favorite movie, and you mention how some part of it had an effect on your outlook on a specific part of life. Your friend may get really interested in your opinion and ask about the film. And if you actually own the DVD or VHS tape in your collection, then you can simply say, “Come over and let’s watch it! I love that movie, I don’t mind seeing it a 3rd time.”

Can you see how social and cool that is? Now you and your friend can have a blast enjoying the film and it is one more thing you two can talk about while waiting in line for curly fries.

But let’s change the scenario. Let’s say you have a favorite movie that effected your outlook on life. But you don’t actually own it. You just saw the movie using Netflix. And after discussing the film your friend is interested in it. So you say, “Yeah! You should Netflix that movie some time, or else wait for it to be added to the streaming area.”

Do you see how that is lame? Instead of actually hanging out with your friend, you basically gave him or her homework. Not to mention that he/she might already have a super long cued up list of movies already. And she doesn’t want to mess up her position in line to get, “Lost Season 3 – Disk 2.” She could have waited forever for that disk to come in. So actually she will get the movie you suggested in about 2 months.

Actually having a film collection is much more conducive for being social and feeling more confident in life.

So I’ve been using Amazon.com a great deal for music, and I decided that I’d give it a chance on movies as well. A month and a half ago I purchased for full price a New version of Highlander 2: The Quickening – Special Edition DVD. That was super cool, because I wanted to make sure I had an unopened one.

But after that there was a movie that I wanted to see, but I kept forgetting about it. It is called: Chain Reaction, it is a 1996 movie with Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. A lot of people make fun of this movie, but that is probably because they know very little about sonoluminescence. The awesome part is that I got the film in USED DVD format, for 81 cents and $3.00 shipping. So it cost me in total $3.81 to own the movie in pretty good condition. And I will definitely keep it in my collection. I also watched part of the movie with my mom after I saw it alone in my room very late at night in the absolute dark.

And I have to say that paying under $4.oo to own a used DVD on something that is exactly a film that you want to see it great. Do you need to be careful about people who have only a few ratings and may be shady sellers? Yes, you do. But I haven’t had a problem yet. Although I don’t recommend getting used copies of Series DVD’s like Star Trek or STDS9 used, because there are a great many bootlegs out there. So you would probably want to consider getting a new copy directly from Amazon.com if they have it in stock. But for little movies that are from the 90’s and stuff, people are generally pretty cool.

So I just got Lawnmower Man in the mail today and I’m stoked to watch it. Lawnmower Man only had a cost of 54 cents plus $3.00 shipping. So that was totally rad. The condition of the box was OK. It had a removed sticker on the back. But I’m not going to cry.

Now some people might say, “Why get DVD’s and VHS if you can get it on Blue Ray?”

My answer to this is: “I don’t have Blue Ray dude.”

-Tyler

Click for Webcast Courses from UC Berkeley

It recently came to my attention that UC Berkeley offers many courses for free in audio format. Although the different courses use different file types, and access options, the service is quite good. I was able to download an entire Calculus course in m4a audio format. It was really impressive. Some classes don’t let you download the audio, and require you to stream the information. And others share the information and also include powerpoint presentations. So this is a seriously good resource for anyone who is interested in subjects from Math, to Art History and beyond. Some classes go as far back as 2003 and earlier. The cool thing is that the courses are separated by lecture, so it is easy to organize the information. The service is free and it looks like Berkeley is asking for donations in order to keep their archives alive.

CLICK HERE to browse the course catalog of available webcasts from UC Berkeley.

-Tyler