Mikemenn
#1 Good Eats Aficionado, Briner and Zealot
1/23/2003 08:00:33 AM

Monday, May 20, 2002  
I recently returned from a vacation to the state of Hawai'l. We spent 1.5 weeks on the islands of Oahu and Hawai'i (aka The Big Island). Even though it was overcast and often rainy, we had a good time.

And once again as I often do when I travel to a distant location, I was reminded that there are a lot of people in a lot of places doing a lot of things. Not a great realization, to be sure. Just one that puts me in the perspective of being 1 six-billionth of the world's population.

Right now you and 6.2 billion other people are doing something. A good number are sleeping. But others are working on medical and scientific break throughs, going to school and harvesting crops. Politicians are making decisions that they think are in someone's best interest (probably their own), cooks are sweating in a kitchen, people are fixing things, breaking things, driving, flying, having sex, paying bills, making phone calls, watching a movie, making money, spending money and probably worrying. Alton Brown and his crew are starting their day to advance production of another episode of Good Eats (unless he's on his book tour). Even the evil of the world such as terrorists, corrupt dictators and murders, are putting on their pants, having breakfast and getting ready to do something, somewhere, somehow.

It's just mind boggling at times.
5/20/2002 08:31:33 AM

Wednesday, April 10, 2002  
I watched the "Matrix: Revisited" last night. It was a DVD history of the first Matrix movie: what went in to making it, the actor's, director's and producer's view of it and the movie making process. I was once again astounded and amazed. Not so much at the movie, but the people behind the scenes.

Of the 6+ billion people in the world, I wonder how many of use are living a life of mediocrity. There are some really brilliant people out there doing some extraordinary things. Einstein, Hawking and Ghandi were brilliant people for who they were and what they did. They shown in the limelight and will go down in history for probably forever. But there are scores of others who, in their own right have just as much ability and talent to do incredible things with what they have at hand. The Matrix called upon hundreds of people doing their job very, very well to produce a very, very find movie. The marital arts folks who choreographed and trained the actors were great. The sound guys spend hours mixing many different layers of audio to get one half-second shwosh because they want it to sound the best. Keanu Reeves, the perfectionist, spends 4 months of training after just having completed fusion of his spine. The directors alone are incredible in their scope of vision of getting just what they want on screen.

But most of us, probably you and certainly me, live our humdrum life from day to day, making little impact on our lives and that of others. I'm not talking about finding one's 15 minutes of fame. I'm not talking about saving the world. I'm talking about engaging our minds to a potential that is certainly there for most of us but hasn't begun to turn because there is no drive for us to do so.

I don't want to be extraordinary. I want to be ordinary to the extreme. I want my life to matter to my family, my God and myself. I want to be.

I knew from my limited experience that putting together a TV show has many facets that must be thought out at the director and producer level. Alton and crew certainly have this talent. But it didn't dawn on me just how talented AB was until I read his short story at this website. He's not just throwing facts and recipes together to form a show, he's creating art—and the show's success is based on that. He makes it look easy because he's talented enough to do that. It's not easy. It's far from easy. And yet there's the show and it certainly looks as if it should be.

The GEFP is certainly fun. I enjoy it because it not only helps others but it introduces me to people across the country. I certainly could do better with it. But I probably won’t. My life of mediocrity is to blame. Maybe my “drive” will engage in the future. Maybe.
4/10/2002 08:20:19 AM

Tuesday, March 19, 2002  
Whilst surfing around the net with the search string "Good Eats Fan Page", I came across an entry about, well, myself. Someone thought it creepy that I was transcribing the shows. Now, I've heard "too much time on my hands" and "weird" and "stalker" many a time. But "creepy" was a new word for me.

Why do I do this?
Why do I spend nearly 5 hours typing, proofing, editing and organizing transcripts?
Why do I host a Message Board, Yahoo! Group and co-own a Yahoo! Club?
Why do I even write in a blog?

There are several reasons. Here are a few.

1. I have too much time on my hands. Given.


2. My homepage says something about “honoring” Good Eats with a fan page … whatever that means.


3. I really, really, really believe in the show. Not so much in Alton Brown, per se, 'cause he's a doughnut thief and doesn't like Miracle Whip. But rather the premise on which he created GE: that one can learn a lot from cooking and that cooking can be learned. [Well, that’s my understanding of it anyway.] When I buy into something, I really like to promote it. As a result, I get the words “weirdo” and “creepy” thrown at me because the stuff I buy into sometimes isn’t, shall we say, “mainstream,” i.e. Star Trek, Star Wars, star gazing. But I think the show has merit on so many levels that a fan page seems the logical thing to do.


4. The main body of the GEFP is the transcripts. To date—and with a little help from some proofreaders—I’ve transcribed 65 shows. Why transcribe? There’s just so much information that unless you have a photographic mind or Tivo, it’s hard to retain it all. I mean, it’s almost like a class. And with 65 thirty-minute classes, one could almost say they’ve completed a year of school. It’s a resource. It’s a great read. It’s fun. It’s informative. Why shouldn’t the shows be transcribed? Well? Well? Why not?


5. And lastly, call me creepy, call me a weirdo, call me Ishmael, but I just enjoy doing it. Yes, I’m riding on the coat tails of Mr. Brown. T’weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have a web page at all. But I would like to think that in some small way I’m helping him get his message out. Were I this religious about my religion.

So there you have it. For what it’s worth, another blog entry into the mind of Mikemenn.
3/19/2002 01:43:13 PM

Tuesday, March 05, 2002  
I'm really happy for Mr. Brown. His hard work really seems to be paying off. "Paying off" isn't promised anywhere in the Constitution. One could work hard a long time and never see a "paying off". But here he is, 7 years after graduating from culinary school with several shows under his built, a website, a book coming out, national fame, interviews, heck, he's even hosted award ceremonies.

However, I hope his "work" hasn't come at a price. I really hope he's remembered his first duty to his family. He probably has. His wife is executive producer of Good Eats so they must be working together. And he's mentioned his daughter often in various venues, so she must be on his mind. It's difficult to know where the balancing wire is located between supporting a family and being there for them. It would be sad if he's balancing on the wrong wire. I hope he's found that line and stays true to it.

I never want to know about this home life. I wouldn't want anyone prying into mine and I don't think any "fan" has the right to pry into his unless he let's us in on it. There's the professional Alton Brown and the personal Alton Brown. I'm only interested in the former.

May God bless him and his household, not just with good eats but with a good life.
3/5/2002 06:58:42 AM

Thursday, February 21, 2002  
You know what makes my skin crawl when I transcribe the recipes: hearing Alton talk while he's eating. *shiver* I use headphones and a small tape player and the sound of him smacking his food around in his mouth while there's food in there just makes my skin crawl. He doesn't have that affect on me on the TV, just the headphones. Ugggggh. AAAAHHHH! Whew. Okay, I think I'm better now.
But what's the point? To see that he likes his own creation? Something we can neither smell or taste ourselves? I don't understand. Good TV, I guess.
But didn't his mother teach him not to talk with his mouth full? I'm pretty sure it's a social faux pax in real life and on TV.
2/21/2002 07:06:17 AM

Wednesday, February 20, 2002  
I'm always worried that the page will bog down with no new additions except the transcripts. So far, in the past 2 years, I've found new things to add. I don't want to make the site so complicated and huge that folks can't browse around. But I like to keep something fresh arriving if I can. Recently I just added a page called the Alton Brown Time Line. I'm tracking his professional career as I find it out. He's done quite a bit already. I hope he doesn't see me as some kind of stalker or paparazzi or something.
2/20/2002 02:55:31 PM

Tuesday, February 19, 2002  
I consider the GEFP a hobby. Some people invest their spare time in gardening or trains or stamps or Star Trek. I invest it in a web page. It's allows me to be creative, help others, and keeps me from going insane with boredom. I've met a lot of great people out there who know a WHOLE lot more about cooking than I do. That's why I like the show. I feel like I'm getting a small culinary education in the process.

Why did I begin creating the GEFP? Well, there was just SO much information crammed in a 30 minute show that I couldn't retain it all. I tried a web page with just notes but I found it seriously wanting. After many shows of doing this I decided to go back and transcribe everything. It took awhile but I caught up. And it just grew from there. Some of the pages I add are for fun (like the Other Information page and the Where's The Title From pages. Other pages are just to help one find show information by content or recipes or whatever.

I get compliments all of the time and I really appreciate those. Since I'm not making any money on this (except those who donate to offset my costs), the e-mails and posts at the guest book really warm the heart. I don't think any other cooking show creates the kind of on-line community that Good Eats has. Welcome everyone!
2/19/2002 09:01:23 AM

Monday, February 11, 2002  
It's the newest thing. I'm gonna try it. Blogging at the GEFP. Here we go ...
2/11/2002 09:41:34 AM