ACE OF CAKES: INSIDE THE WORLD OF CHARM CITY CAKES [Review]
You know, I really sort of expected to write that I hated this book.
Let me give a bit of history here. While the talented decorating crew and baking staff at Charm City Cakes has been building a name for themselves nationally, here in Baltimore, there’s been a slowly boiling backlash towards them.
First, it was cute, that a local bakery was getting the spotlight. Then, the show grew into a part of the Food Network lineup, mixing the face of Duff with such near comical human beings as the bleach haired Guy Fieri and butter devote Paula Dean. Add the fact that a simple bakery in the middle of Baltimore’s Remmington neighborhood has become somewhat of a tourist magnet, it didn’t take long before Charm City’s citizen’s got a little sick of the so-called Ace of Cakes.
So it was with massive trepidation I cracked the cover of Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes. What on Earth had they done to earn a BOOK? What interesting stories would be found within it’s pages? Would this feel like another ghostwritten fluff piece like the biographies of other so called “celebrities” that stuff the shelves (and ultimately bargain bins) of your local Barnes & Nobles?
I’m very shocked, and surprised to say that…it’s actually a hell of a great book.
As someone who quickly grew tired of the Ace of Cakes show proper, I realize that I wasn’t quite the target audience, but the book actually won me over.
Presented more as a catch-all scrapbook, the book contains Duff’s life story up through building the Charm City Cakes empire, written in a very relaxed, informal style. Never once does he seem to have an air of self importance, if anything, he seems as confused as I was that they had a book about them. This can be said for the rest of the staff as well, as each member of a bakery has a 3-4 page bio section, where they describe in depth their journey to the bakery and their favorite projects, giving you a closer glimpse of the team behind the cakes. For avid fans of the show, the book has a roundtable discussion with the Food Network executives who greenlit the show, discussing the process from concept to execution of what could be the network’s least-expected hit. Furthermore, the back of the book has a complete episode guide for the show so far.
What really grabbed me, however, was the stellar design of the book. With full color interiors, including hundreds of personal photos, both impressive and embarrassing, you walk away from the book with an amazing grasp on the really laid back and talented people behind the world-renown Charm City Cakes. One of the highlights of the book has to be the fold-out section with photos of seven years worth of finished cake designs.
At a cover price of $35, the book is more than a little pricey; but online booksellers such as Amazon.com have it as low as $19 as of this writing. I’d say it would make a great holiday gift for a fan of the show or of their amazing cake designs.
Despite my reservations, I have to say I ended up completely impressed. Provided you can get it at a decent discount, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes by Duff & Willie Goldman gets a whole hearted recommendation.
Stephen King’s New Book Sounds Kinda Familar
In a fandom inherited from my mother, I really really enjoy the novels of Stephen King.
Whether it’s his classics like Christine and It, his risktaking moves like the Dark Tower series, or more recent novels like the terribly underrated Cell, it’s pretty much a given that if it’s by King, I’ll give it a spin.
So it goes without saying that I’m kinda excited for his new book Under the Dome, which releases next Tuesday, November 10th.
The hype machine is in full effect, with even a trailer(!) being created for the novel, but once I read the plot, I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard of this before…
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as ‘the dome’ comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. Dale Barbara, Iraq vet, teams up with a few intrepid citizens against the town’s corrupt politician. But time, under the dome, is running out….
So, citizens in a city, trapped under a dome.
Wasn’t that the plot of The Simpsons Movie? Oh well, I guess if you gotta steal, steal from the best.
If you, like me, are excited for the book, I highly recommend picking it up through Amazon. Typically retailing for $35, the 1088 page book is just $9! Thanks, Internet!
One Part APOCALYPTICO, One Part FERNGULLY: It’s the AVATAR Teaser
After 15 years of work, we finally get a glimpse at Jim Cameron’s Avatar. And I’m still confused what the idea is.
Maybe after I see 18 minutes of it tomorrow, I’ll have a better idea. Either way, you’ll be the first to know.
A Taste of WILD THINGS
One of the most anticipated films this fall has to be Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic Where The Wild Things Are.
Aside from the rather mature way Jonze seems to be handling the material (based on the trailers at least), one of the more eye opening aspects of the project has to be that Jonze co-wrote the screenplay with famed author Dave Eggers.
Eggers, best known for his psuedo-autobiography A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, evidently became very enamored with the material, as he then adapted the screenplay into a novel entitled The Wild Things.
The New Yorker has just released a portion of the novel (roughly 8 pages of material) in an excerpt titled Max At Sea, viewable online at the link below. It should give a good hint towards the tone of the film, and has me anticipating now both the film and novel, when they’re released this October.
Original Post: Max at Sea : The New Yorker.
Giveaway-O-Rama: THE STRAIN by Guillermo Del Toro!
Today, Guillermo Del Toro’s novel The Strain, the first part of his urban vampire trilogy, hits shelves.
And, wouldn’t you know it, your ol’ buddy Marty is feeling kind. I’m so excited about this, that I’m willing to give you, loyal Blast-O-Rama readers, a copy of this book!
Here’s the deal. Leave a comment on this post, and be sure to put your e-mail. I’ll randomly choose two winners to get a copy of the book, and e-mail you for your details.
Update, June 2nd, 5:50pm: I’m really excited to see all of you guys entering. To clarify, I’ll be selecting using this Random Number Picker, to ensure that the selections are completely random.
The contest will end on June 9th at midnight (US Residents only, sorry!), so get to leaving your details! This post will remain stickied at the top until then, so you don’t forget!
Update, June 9th, 9am: Congrats to our Winners Jason and JCVD!
Reminder: THE STRAIN Hits Shelves Tomorrow!
You know, it’s weird to be excited about a book that isn’t Harry Potter, for once.
But tomorrow, the much anticipated Vampire novella The Strain hits your local book retailer. Written by one of Blast-O-Rama’s creative forces, Guillermo Del Toro, with assistance from Chuck Hogan.
Part one of a sure-to-be-exciting trilogy, The Strain is a book I featured here before, but I thought was worth mentioning again. I mean, really, does anyone need another Twilight book taking up a spot in the New York Times best sellers list?
If the concept of Del Toro writing a gritty, no-holds barred vampire book isn’t enough for you…how about a trailer? Maybe two?
I can’t recall another book series that has featured trailers before, but these two videos should have you nice and ready to read The Strain when it releases tomorrow, June 2nd.
Sweet, Sweet Guillermo Del Toro Action: In Novel Form!
We make no claim against our biases here at Blast-O-Rama. There are certain creators or creations that regardless of their implication, that we immediately are interested in, and will defend, mostly blindly.
One of those things is the work of Guillermo Del Toro. And guess what kiddies? If working on a billion movies (including The Hobbit) wasn’t enough, Del Toro (as discussed in the YouTube video above) is taking the vampire novel back from silly pretenders like Twilight.
He’s taking it back with The Strain, an original vampire trilogy, applying classic vampire myth to a CSI-style procedural. (Guess this might help some of your concerns, Jami?)
Here’s the synopsis:
They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come.
In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country.
In two months-the world.
A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.
In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing…
So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city-a city that includes his wife and son-before it is too late.
The first book titled The Strain: Book One of the Strain Trilogy hits shelves on June 2nd. You can pre-order it at Amazon.com here.
Original Post: io9 – Guillermo Del Toro To Save Vampires In New Book Series – Guillermo Del Torro.
So I’m Not The Only One Indiffferent To TWILIGHT Then?
Straight from their uber premiere, the leads of the Sci-Fi Original Picture sure-to-rule the box office Twilight…seem to share the same opinion of the film I do.
Complete and utter indifference.
Posted: November 18th, 2008
at 10:49am by Marty Day
Categories: across the net, books, movies
Comments: 2 comments
Book Review: Rock On: An Office Power Ballad
One of the goals I’ve set for myself in 2008 is to read more books. Sure, I read a lot of comics, but I figured it was time I read more things that didn’t have pretty pictures in them (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
However, my biggest issue is, for the most part, fiction doesn’t grab me. Far too often, I find that modern fiction sticks to a rather boilerplate template, and get I bored with a novel halfway through. To counteract that, I tend to focus on non-fiction and memoirs.
So, I found myself at Amazon the other day, and decided to pick up Rock On: An Office Power Ballad, written by Dan Kennedy. Having seen a handful of positive reviews for it both online an in-print, and knowing that it deals with a topic I’m quite interested in (the ever collapsing music industry), it was an easy sale.
What’s it about? Here’s how the official synopsis describes the book.
How do you land a sweet six-figure marketing gig at the hallowed record label known for having signed everyone from Led Zeppelin to Stone Temple Pilots? You start with a resume like Dan Kennedy’s:
- Dressed up as a member of Kiss every Halloween
- Memorized Led Zeppelin IV at age ten
- Fronted a lip-sync band in junior high
- Worked as a college DJ while he was a college drop-out
In his outrageous memoir, McSweeney’s contributor Kennedy chronicles his misadventures at a major record label. Whether he’s directing a gangsta rapper’s commercial or battling his punk roots to create an ad campaign celebrating the love songs of Phil Collins, Kennedy’s in way over his head. And from the looks of those sitting around the boardroom, he’s not alone.
Egomaniacs, wackos, incompetents, and executive assistants who know more than their seven-figure bosses round out this power-ballad to office life and rock and roll.
Already, sounds like quite the fun read. But the proof is in the pudding. Kennedy writes in a very enthralling stream-of-consciousness style, putting his immediate thoughts into word, giving you an always accurate mental picture of this so-absurd-it-has-to-be-real working environment. His wit abounds, and keeps the pages flowing. I really didn’t expect to, but I tore through all 240 pages over the course of one day, enjoying every step of Dan’s ill fated run in the marketing department of Atlantic Records.
With it’s very timely subject matter, and rather informal storytelling style, Rock On: An Office Power Ballad is an easy recomendation. You can grab it today at Amazon for just shy over 10 bills. Highest Recommendation.
