Kamikaze Cookery = Procrastination Crack
Remember the final week of school before winter break? Remember how every second spent doing something that was NOT writing your papers or studying for exams was pure ecstasy? How even the most mundane household task – scrubbing the toilet, sewing up holes in your kitchen towels, bleaching the porch steps – took on new thrilling dimensions of fascination simply because it didn’t involve reading about how clever Michel Foucault was?
If you do recall the special thrill of illicit exam week activity, you can doubtless sympathize with my current situation. I’m working full-time at a demanding job AND taking 2 grad school courses at night, so every second of stolen leisure takes on the heightened sensation of having procrastination crack cooked into it. For the past two days, my time-wasting drug of choice has been Kamikaze Cookery.
I admit, I’m a latecomer; brought in along with the herd of yahoos who migrated following their mention on BoingBoing. But I’ve latched on to the show with particular vigor because the three characters who run it remind me fondly of the many British geeks I know and love. I passed the link on to 
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Although they’re still finding their voice and learning about the medium of video, working rough and tumble without too much scripting and experimenting with what to film, where to film and for how long, using handheld cameras in kitchens with minimal space and less lighting (except Paul & Jehane’s kitchen, which has a bit too much light), I have high hopes for these guys. Season Zero is a big learning curve for them, although I worry that making one show per week is going to strain their resources, since there have been a few duds (*cough*HealthGrills*cough*) since the first, most excellent “How to cook a steak using a vacuum and blowtorch” video.
(My totally unsolicited analysis of Kamikaze Cookery's pros and cons)
Enough blather. Now I have to return to the dreadful task of writing my dreadful papers on project management for the web (oh, the irony!) and information and communication technologies and how they’re revolutionizing the world (aren’t I getting paid to do just that at work?). Why did I decide I needed a second Master’s degree again? Boredom, was it?
ps – Should mention that Kamikaze Cookery also has their own LiveJournal feed and Facebook page.
Hi! Glad you’re enjoying the show, and thanks for all the comments. That’s a *really* helpful analysis, and I’ll be passing it on to the rest of the team.
Thanks again.
(You’ll like the episode after next – it’s a tremendously Top Gearey episode, where we pit blowtorches against each other in a fight to the death… Sort of. You’re right on the money with the analysis of where we’ve succeeded and failed on the Top Gear comparison.)
There’s no isomorphic correspondence between us and the Top Gear team. We fought for a little while about which of us would get to be Clarkson, then decided to leave it. So it’s just us.
I have my own opinions about which of you might grow up to be Clarkson, but I’ll keep my ideas to myself, lest I make enemies. And I’m glad it’s just you lot as yourselves; as you can see in my comments above, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Genuine is best.
You’re most welcome for the comments. They’re free of charge, but it’s a devil’s bargain because they’ll keep coming, wanted or not, and I’ve no incentive to pull punches since there’s a rather large ocean between us.
Note: take my advice on marketing, but not on actual cooking. I’m pure voyeur in the kitchen; like to watch but am tit useless at food creation.
I see you became an associate – good for you! – but also see that you added a Twitter link without actually signing up the show for a Twitter account, tsk! Perhaps you are tweeting, but if so you haven’t advertised it on your Subscribe page nor have you posted it to your Facebook group, double tsk. Also note that you changed your Google ad so now it’s not telling me I’m fat, but is rather annoyingly positioned, floating over video. If these are my choices, I think I’d rather the big ad at the end than floaty link, pls.
I enjoyed watching Alex, ahem, “scientifically” drink tea and play video games. For excruciatingly lengthy cut-scenes/enraging game play I submit the intro to Okami (good game, but criminally long opening), and of course, the worst game I have ever played, bar none, Jurassic Park III: the DNA Factor, which was made all the more disappointing by the fact that as a general rule, anything with dinosaurs is awesome.
Will keep an eye out for Top Gear. Please include a warning to young & sensitive viewers like myself before the video if there is, as the teaser suggests, any unfortunate incidents involving the blowtorch and your genitalia. Ouch.