Kluckr.com has quickly become the go-to spot for local wing info and national wing enthusiasm. Kluckr’s latest event was a national tour of wing-eating Kompetitions, co-hosted by local fraternity chapters to benefit local charities. The tour was a huge success, culminating with an epic wing-eating showdown at Texas Tech.

The first event was held at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee back in April. The competition pit Vanderbilt’s Lambda Chi Alpha Gama – Delta Zeta chapter and the Pi Kappa Alpha Sigma Chapter against one another at the Sportsman’s Grille for some good old-fashioned wing smashin’. Lambda Chi Alpha raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Pi Kappa Alpha for Dismas House in Nashville. Lambda Chi’s Michael Gadebusch led the field with an impressive 15 wings in 5 minutes.

A week and a half later Kluckr was at UNC-Charlotte for another Kompetition, this time hosted by Sigma Alpha Epsilon for the entire campus. Competitors made it out to Wild Wing Café to witness Teddy Holthee throw down 13 wings in just five minutes. Only 13, you say? I guess we didn’t mention they were soaked in enough hot sauce to make even the most resilient wing-lover cry.

In early May, Kluckr paired up with the Theta Delta Chi’s from Schenectady and raised more than $300 for the Bethesda House. They also paid homage to Murphy Potter, who ate 10 of Gepetto’s Mad Dog 357 wings in just five minutes.

From there it was on to the final stop on the tour, Texas Tech. If anyone knew how to eat, it would be these guys. The local Alpha Kappa Psi chapter searched far and wide for the ten hungriest competitors and set them head-to-head at one of Lubbock’s famous Buffalo Wild Wings. The undisputed champion of both the event and the national tour was Preston “The Wild Thing” Whaley, who wolfed down a monstrous 29 wings in just 5 minutes. Second, Third, and Fourth place all put up impressive numbers, at 24, 22, and 21 wings respectively.

If you think you have what it takes to upset Preston, keep an eye on Kluckr.com for Kompetitions this fall. Kluckr will be kicking off the 2010-2011 school year with a tour of the SEC. Get your fraternity organized and you could be chosen to host your own Kluckr Kompetition.

With the 4th of July – and therefore the peak of the grilling season – just around the corner, we asked the members of Taddy Porter, whose eponymous debut conveniently drops today, if they would be so kind as to share some grilling tips with us. The boys were happy to oblige, picking up one of the largest pieces of steak we’ve ever seen (we couldn’t help but laugh, though, that the background music during that bit happened to be the most un-Taddy Porter-esque Little Boots) and roasting that puppy over coals like real men, with a “MacGruber” reference thrown in for good measure. Even better is the vegetable side dish they chose to serve with it: bacon-wrapped jalapeno peppers, stuffed with cream cheese. Yum.

It’s true: Taddy Porter are from Stillwater, Oklahoma. We’re afraid to ask them how many “Almost Famous” jokes they’ve had to suffer during their recent press blitz.

It may no longer be HBO’s flagship series, but “Entourage” remains one of the network’s most consistent performers. And after last year’s excellent sixth season helped to pull the series out of its creative lull, “Entourage” is gearing up for the return of Vincent Chase and Co. with ten new episodes starting June 27th following an all-new “True Blood” and the second season premiere of the criminally underrated “Hung.”

As rumors of a possible “Entourage” movie continue to make their way around Hollywood, both executive producer Mark Wahlberg and star Jeremy Piven have confirmed that there will probably only be one more season of the show after this year. That means that Season Seven is even more important than ever, as it’s guaranteed to play a major role in setting up whatever series finale the writers have in mind. For more on the upcoming season, read our preview over on Premium Hollywood, and then follow along on our Entourage Blog throughout the course of the season. And if that’s still not enough for you, be sure to visit our Entourage Fan Hub for more related content.

Sunday, June 27th at 10:30. Be there or Ari Gold will come looking for you.

My, how these girls have grown.

They may have had a leg up on getting a record deal thanks to their parents – they’re the daughters of producer Tony Berg and Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, and their original bassist calls producer Mitchell Froom daddy – but there will be no cries of nepotism when people hear their new single “He’s Not a Boy.” Hooking up with white-hot ’60s revivalist Mark Ronson, the Like have turned in one killer slice of ’60s pop, and shot a gorgeous black-and-white video to go with it.

The guys in the crowd look like the Strokes doing their best Beatles impression (for all I know, those are the Strokes), and the girls, well, that ’60s mod look is catnip for me. Lead singer Elizabeth “Z” Berg and keyboardist Annie Monroe in particular make me gooey. Isn’t it funny how girls are actually sexier when they show less skin? I’m personally burned out on the whole ‘stripper teen’ thing. This clip is a sight for sore eyes, on a number of levels.

Like the song? You can download it for free at ESDMusic.

Disclosure: Sponsored Post

Click to see all of the posts in my Gillette Pro series.

As someone who was facial-hair free for the first two decades of his life and has occasionally re-embraced that appearance (often without intending to do so, but that’s a story for another time), I certainly wouldn’t dismiss anyone from going after a nice, clean-shaven look. All it takes is the press of a button on your remote control, however, to see that many of today’s TV stars are quite happy to sport a ‘stache, grow a goatee, or cultivate a beard.

Given that my livelihood involves praising and, as often as not, criticizing small-screen programming, this can sometimes prove to be a problem for me, and depending on your viewing habits, it’s possible you’ve experienced this same situation: you watch a show, you see an actor who’s carefully farming his facial hair, and you find yourself thinking, “Say I wonder if *I* could pull that off…”

Unless you’ve got a professional stylist in your corner, the probable answer is, “No, you can’t,” but there are certain styles that still continue to breed amongst the general public as a result of having gotten significant television exposure.

Here are just a few:

· The Obsequious Interviewer’s Beard. It’s a given that you should be well-versed in movie trivia if you decide to adopt this look, but the most important procedure surrounding this beard is regular conditioning, as you will find yourself stroking it in a contemplative manner whenever anyone is speaking to you. Nobody likes beardruff. (You know, dandruff of the beard…?)

· The Reality-Show Beard. Yes, it’s scraggly. If you’re trying to survive for some reason or find yourself in a race that one might choose to describe as amazing, then you’re not going to have time to keep it neat and trim. Still, it has a certain rugged charm to it. NOTE: This beard is only included under the presumption that, at some point, you’ll want to tighten it up a bit…and when you do, might I suggest – particularly as a result of contractual obligation – that you might consider using Gillette products? I hear good things about the Gillette Fusion ProGlide…

· The Alternate-Universe Goatee. It’s a longstanding staple of science fiction television that, should a show’s characters ever find themselves in an alternate universe where everyone has a counterpart; the counterpart of one of the clean-shaven male characters will sport a goatee. Growing one of these is an instant opportunity to do things different from the way you ordinarily would, and it also provides you with an instant out: just shave and say, “That wasn’t me! It must have been my counterpart from that other universe!” Works every time.

· The Bad-Ass Cop Scruff. You have to walk a very fine line to be able to get this just right, because if you’re not careful, you might find yourself with the better part of a beard before you know it. In addition, a nice-looking wardrobe goes a long way, as raggedy clothes will transform a bad-ass into a bum in most people’s eyes. Lastly, those who aren’t fond of sunglasses will need to practice their steely stare to accomplish maximum bad-assery.

· The Hawaiian Private Investigator ‘Stache. When it comes to TV-inspired facial hair, this is the trickiest of all looks, not to mention the most expensive, as you not only have to be able to look good wearing Hawaiian shirts, but you also have to be able to afford to drive a Ferrari 308 GTS. To date, only one man has ever successfully pulled this off. I can’t quite recall his name, though. I want to say it might be Thomas something…

As noted, these are just a few of the facial-hair looks that you can find up and down your TV dial…if, y’know, your TV happens to be thirty years old and still has a dial…but whether you choose one of these looks or go for something from a different realm altogether, be aware that your results will vary wildly. Just because you can reproduce the beard, goatee, or ‘stache down to the last whisker doesn’t mean that it’s going to look the same on you as it does on them, so once you’ve shaved it into what you perceive to be perfection, examine your new look and treat it like a network executive looking at a TV pilot. Ask yourself, “Do I deserve to be picked up or passed over?” If it’s the latter, then you know what you need to do: wipe the slate clean and start again from scratch.

Hey, that’s show biz!

Let’s face it guys….chocolate is usually the kind of treat reserved for the palates of women. That doesn’t mean we don’t like it, but we don’t crave it like we do, say, beer, or chicken wings. Mmmm, I’m getting hungry again!

Anyway, we were intrigued enough by a press release promoting Pure Dark, a brand of chocolate that is available both online as well as in retail locations in New York City, including the new distribution channel of Food Emporium stores.

Pure Dark is made from cocoa beans with a supposed “intense flavor profile.” I’m not sure how they choose them, but they are very right in that assessment. The flavor is bold and powerful, and almost has a coffee-like background flavor. This isn’t the kind of thing you can eat mass quantities of, but you could do far worse in choosing a snack.

We tried the raspberry acai rounds, which are dark chocolate discs that are coated in a raspberry/acai natural flavors. The chocolate balances with the bright flavor of the fruit in a big way, but this is one of those things that is clearly geared more toward women, because I’m not a fan of mixing fruit with chocolate.

I did, however, love the chocolate covered almonds, which were among some of the best I’ve ever had.

The caramelized nibs were a bit different, basically cocoa beans that were roasted and chopped. The flavor of these is more intense than any of the other Pure Dark products we tried, but a good intense.

If you’re a fan of chocolate, you need to find this stuff online…..especially if you want to impress your significant other!

For more information, please visit www.puredark.com

When I posted the latest simple-but-awesome video from OK Go to my Facebook page, a friend joked, “No hot tubs? Bitches and hos? Gold chains/teeth? Money being thrown in the air?”

Exactly.

Truth be told, it’s hard to believe that all of those hip hop video cliches still exist. The money they’re throwing? Not real. Hot tub? Only if you want to contract hepatitis. The women? Well, most of them are ho’s, if that one woman’s tell-all book about her life as a video vixen is to be believed. Either way, none of those clips stand apart from the others, and if your video doesn’t stand apart, then odds are your song won’t, either.

OK Go clearly knows this, because they have made a game out of constructing music videos that are easy on the eyes – in that they don’t include a million jump cuts – yet impossibly complex. Their last clip, the Rube Goldberg puzzle “This Too Shall Pass,” set the bar impossibly high, but damned if “End Love” doesn’t rise to the challenge. Using the stop-motion photography that Zbigniew Rybczyński made famous in his clip for the Art of Noise’s “Close (To the Edit),” OK Go shoot a clip that appears to be taking place in real time…really lengthy real time, like 24 hours. And then, just to be cute, they include a couple of super slo-mo shots and at least one shot at normal speed. And check out the goose that follows them everywhere.

This week’s Happy Hour cocktail is for all you iced tea fans out there. Spice it up a bit by adding some SKYY Infusions, like this cool recipe we got from the kind folks at SKYY Vodka.

SKYY Summer Palmer
Kathy Casey, Kathy Casey Food Studios

1.5 oz. SKYY Infusions Citrus
0.25 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Sweetened Iced Tea
0.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

Combine SKYY Infusions Citrus, triple sec, unsweetened iced tea, lemon juice and ice into a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass with sugar rim as garnish.

If you’re hosting a barbecue, it’s always fun to offer more than just beer in a cooler. Put out a drink cart with some flavored vodkas and plenty of mixers and your guests will have a great time.

If you aren’t an avid fan of the mumblecore movement you have may have missed the Duplass brothers’ newest film, “Cyrus.” No, that’s not as in Miley Cyrus, a point the film studio is trying to hammer home with notmileycyrus.com, a site with links to funny clips from the movie (why they decided to go forward with that title is beyond me, but they didn’t ask me).

The Duplass brothers are best known for their indie work with movies like “Baghead” and “The Puffy Chair.” Despite the A-list cast in “Cyrus,” the film managed to retain a lot of that indie flavor. The basis of the movie is simple: John (played by John C. Reilly) is still struggling with a divorce from seven years ago when he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei), a stunning mother with a secret – her son. Jonah Hill plays Cyrus, the never-been-weaned son that will do anything to keep his mom to himself.

Our own Jason Zingale wrote a full review for Bullz-Eye. Here’s a quick take from his article concerning the relationship between Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei:

It’s a relationship that could have easily come across as creepy if the material didn’t have such a genuine quality to it. Granted, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still hard to swallow at times, but the cast does a pretty good job of not focusing too much on the somewhat taboo nature of their bond by keeping the story flowing – particularly since all the dialogue is improvised. Marisa Tomei is easily the best actor of the bunch, but she’s a little out of her element here, relying mostly on her co-stars to guide her through each scene.

For his full “Cyrus” review and more reviews on this summer’s hottest movies, head over to the Bullz-Eye movie guide.

Do you like bourbon? Sure, we all do!

Okay, maybe we don’t all like it. But if you are a bourbon aficionado, then you’re no doubt familiar with the work of the father and son team of Jimmy and Eddie Russell, even if you may not know it. Jimmy’s a master distiller at the Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and Eddie’s an associate distiller; together, the two of them created a tasty treat known as Russell’s Reserve, which was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Russell’s Reserve is described on the Wild Turkey website as having “a nose that is rich in vanilla, oak, toffee, and a touch of old leather,” a huge body, and a palate that is “very spicy, with notes of chili peppers, tamarind, almonds, and cumin.” How would I describe it? Hey, I’m no connoisseur, but I can at least confirm that it goes down smoooooooth.

With Father’s Day on the horizon, I decided it would be the perfect time to take the Russells up on their kind offer to chat about their work with Wild Turkey, the wonder that is Russell’s Reserve, and – to be holiday-specific – what it’s like for a dad to work with his kid every single day.

Jimmy Russell: Hello, Will! How are you?

Bullz-Eye: I’m good! How are you?

JR: Doin’ fine, thanks!

BE: Is Eddie there as well?

Eddie Russell: Yeah, Eddie’s here, too! (Laughs) How are you doing?

BE: Pretty good. Good to talk to you both…and I’ll tell you up front that I’m very much enjoying the bottle that was sent my way. (Laughs)

JR: Thank you! That’s what it for: to enjoy! (Laughs)

BE: Well, I know this is a multi-generational affair, but how did the Russell family first find its way into the bourbon business?

JR: I was born and raised in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, which was a small community when I was growing up, but there were four bourbon distilleries here, and you had families working all the distilleries. You wanted to get in the business. My grandfather and my father, me, and now my son, we’ve all been in the business.

ER: For me, it was a summer job 29 years ago, out of college. So it’s been a long summer for me. (Laughs)

BE: Growing up, did you both immediately have a taste for bourbon, or was it something you had to acquire?

ER: Well, for me, it was something that I basically always drank. I never was much of a beer drinker or anything like that. It was mostly bourbon.

JR: I’ve always been a bourbon drinker. I don’t care for beer or wine. It’s always been bourbon.

BE: I guess what I’m asking, really, if it was love at first sip or if you had any hesitancy.

JR: We can’t tell that! (Laughs)

ER: I don’t know if it was love at first taste, but it was definitely something I preferred over other alcoholic beverages.

BE: So what goes into the process of making Russell’s Reserve? Clearly, it’s a long one.

JR: Well, it’s one of those where, you know, we have to comply with federal government regulations about bourbon, which you probably already know: it has to be distilled, it has to be made with 51% corn, it has to be distilled under 160 proof, and it must be put in a new charred oak barrel at 125 proof or less. Here at the Wild Turkey distillery, we distill at low proofs and put it in the barrel and low proofs, because the higher you distill anything, the less flavor you have in it. With the Russell’s Reserve, it’s something that’s 10 years old, and…I’ll Eddie continue this. (Laughs)

ER: Russell’s is…we only have one recipe for our bourbon, so when it comes off the still, it could be the 101, Kentucky Spirit, Rare Breed. The difference between the Rare Breed and the Russell’s is that they’re hand-selected barrels, small batch. Where I’m normally dumping 50,000 gallons into a tank for the 101, we’re taking out 100 to 150 hand-selected barrels for the Russell’s Reserve. The 10 Year is just, for me, the top of the line as far as the number of years for it to age. You get all the good flavors, all the good taste, but it’s just such a mellow finish.

BE: Jimmy, I saw on the Wild Turkey website that they describe you as a goodwill ambassador for Kentucky’s most famous export.

JR: Yes, Eddie and I both do…well, we don’t do a whole lot of traveling, because we’ve got a job here at the plant every day, too, but we do travel all over the United States and all over the world promoting bourbon, but especially Wild Turkey Bourbon. You know, we’re known as the premium bourbon of the world. We’re huge in Australia and Japan.

BE: I take it that you’ve been able to travel to both of those countries, then?

JR: Yes, I have.

BE: What’s it like taking an American product over there? I have to figure that there’s a certain amount of national pride for their own beverages. Are they open to other countries’ wares?

JR: Well, in Japan, Wild Turkey is considered a prestige bourbon. It’s a bourbon that everybody wants, and a lot of the top executives own their own bottles in bars, with their name on a nametag hanging on the bottle. When you’re over visiting Japan, come and go have a drink out of my bottle! (Laughs) They consider it their own personal bottle, whether it’s 101 or Rare Breed or Russell’s Reserve. In Australia…well, they just love their bourbon, so they drink a lot of Wild Turkey! (Laughs)

Read the rest of this entry »