The above video is a commercial for Flex Appeal, a sports nutrition and supplement provider in Medford, MA. It was too good not to share. For full effect, play with your volume turnnnned UPPPPP!

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, New York

If you follow this blog you know my feelings on Boston. I really don’t have anything good to say about it, and why would I right now. The baseball team is in last place, the football team can’t beat Eli Manning when it matters, the basketball team is stuck in old man limbo, and as much as Geoff tries and push the Boston rap scene, it might be worse than the Red Sox. But one thing Boston does very well is stand up comedy.

Whether it’s be being born in the area or getting their start there, the number of comics that came out of one area is pretty amazing. The amount of success and longevity the Boston comedy scene has shown is impressive. Late night kings Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien are both from the area. The old school includes many household names such as Dennis Leary, Colin Quinn, Janeane Garofalo, and Bobcat Goldthwait. Which led into the new school of some of the best known comics of today; Louis C.K., who most consider the best comic alive right now, Dane Cook, Joe Rogan, Bill Burr, the late Patrice O’Neal, David Cross, and Greg Fitzsimmons all came out of Boston at about the same time. This is like 8 of the best current players in the NBA coming out of the same college.

My theory on why Boston has launched so many successful comedians is two-fold. One Boston is a tough town full of loud mouths. These comics had to get their start dealing with the attitude of “entertain me or get heckled”. If they wanted to survive they had to get better. Second, for whatever reason all these comedic minds ended up in Boston and worked off each other. The old school, many of which ended up on Saturday Night Live, created a path for this new school. The new school saw its peers become successful and followed the same path, while at the same time making their own. Whether it be by being prolific and having a new special every year like Louis C.K., through social media and the internet like Dane Cook and Joe Rogan, or by just being consistently funny Boston comedians have made this New Yorker appreciate something out of Beantown.

By Alan Weeks, howiGit Music Writer, Boston, MA

Yesterday marks not only the best day in television history, but also the best Sunday of this young law student’s life. Not only was April 1, 2012 the day of Wrestlemania XXVIII, the second season premier of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and a day where the Celtics beat the Miami Heat by almost 20 points, but it was also the day I sampled the best whiskey my lips have ever tasted.

Prior to Wrestlemania, Rajon Rondo recorded his 5th triple double this season, with 16 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds, rocketing the Celtics past the Heat in a 91-72 win. This kid is straight killing it. The Truth scored a modest 23 points, in true Pierce fashion, putting the Garden on its feet. While I watched the game, at a local Somerville watering hole, I was astonished to find that they carried Whistle Pig Rye. I had only recently heard of this Vermont crafted Rye that has been awarded a 96 by Wine Enthusiasts, the highest rating ever given to a Rye Whiskey. I was dying to try it. This 100 proof, 10 year aged Rye lived up to the hype. I have guzzled gallons of whiskey in my life, of many varieties, ages, and distilling processes, but this was single-handedly the best whiskey I have ever tasted. It is aged for at least ten years in new American oak barrels (Rye that is aged for much longer than 10 years can lose some of its flavor).
Every sip was pure alcoholic bliss, and even at $17.00 a glass, I would recommend anyone that fancies themselves a whiskey drinker to find out the closest purveyor, and start drinking. Visit their website to learn more about
this godly liquid and where you can get your hands on it.

By 5:00 pm my day had already been made, but there was so much more to come.

Wrestlemania XXVIII was set to be an epic showdown of legendary entertainers, coming together to annihilate each other between the ropes. The main event, The Rock, vs. Mr.Fruity Pebbles, John Cena, lived up to the hype. The Rock won in legendary fashion in his college town of Miami to 80,000 screaming fans. The Intercontinental Championship bout between Y2J Chris Jericho, and Straight Edge Superstar, C.M. Punk, although entertaining because of the vicious verbal attacks against Punk’s alcoholic father and drug addict sister, was something of a letdown – it ended with the fan favorite Y2J losing, and Punk retaining his title. But the real event, for those of us who have been watching wrestling since the WWF, WCW, and NWO days, was the Hell in a Cell match between the Dead Man, The Undertaker, and the King of Kings, HHH.

In my 15 years of watching professional wrestling, I have never seen such a legendary match. Two champions of the Hell in a Cell match format competed for almost a full hour. HHH delivered several devastating Pedigrees, while the Undertaker himself punished The Game with his Tombstone Pile Driver numerous times. Both legends could barely stand by the end of the match, which was special guest refereed by The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. In the end it was one final Tombstone that ended an era of wrestling, and finished HHH. With the final 3 count, the Undertaker became 20-0 in Wrestlemania matches, and we saw two of the greats bruised and bloodied like we had seen hundreds of times before, but the end of this match was what was so special. After winning the match, The Undertaker stood over the motionless body of HHH, and his best friend Shawn Michaels knelt at his side, trying to revive the once unstoppable wrestler. Michaels and the Taker looked at each other, with looks of understanding and great reverence for what had just taken place, and then both hoisted HHH on their shoulders, and carried him out of the ring and under the Titantron, a showing of respect that silenced the crowd and will be engrained in wrestling fan’s minds forever. But my Sunday was not over. It was time to get my fantasy on.

Last year I would recap the HBO show Game of Thrones every Monday for this blog in a few short sentences. I will do the same here, with the caveat that this will not do the best show on television justice. Last season ended with the exiled Princess walking into a burning pyre, only to come out unscathed, baring dragons. Yes. Dragons.

In the second season premier the land of 7 Kingdoms is engulfed in all out civil war. The good guy from the north, who was beheaded at the close of last season, is rebelling against the evil rich family’s claim to the Iron Throne. The good guy, who was the beheaded guy’s son, is now leading the rebellion and seems to be straight killing it as King of the North. The former legitimate King of the 7 Kingdoms, who died last season, had two brothers, a homosexual intellectual, and a puritanical military strategist, who both now claim rights to the Iron Throne. The exiled Dragon Princess now wanders in the desert with her baby dragons, trying to survive, while also planning an invasion of the 7 Kingdoms from across the river. It has now been confirmed that there are Zombies north of The Wall, and that they are killing pretty much everything they see. The dwarf (who is not that evil) from the rich evil family is now running the kingdom for his family, and won’t put up with his incestuous brother and sister’s sex and political trifling. Oh yeah, and did I say there are dragons?

That was my Sunday, and I am now hung over from all of the awesome televised stimulus and rye. How was your Sunday?

“Bottle it up inside, handle it like a baller, take that shit to the grave.” ~Kenny Powers, Eastbound and Down

Easily the most quotable show on television these days, and maybe the funniest. If you haven’t checked it out yet, do so.

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How has Eli Manning become such a stud? Such a hardened competitor? Such a 4th quarter ninja? When it comes to training, he’s stealing a page from the Warriors of Goja.

Well, not really.

Seriously though, I need someone, anyone, from India to explain this to me. There’s more than a billion of you, and I need to know what’s going on here. Keep watching as the absurdity only grows.

Spoiler alert…

Breaking Bad’s fourth season finale did not disappoint, wrapping up what was one of the show’s strongest seasons and serving as a major transition point for the series. While the fourth season was initially regarded as one of the weaker seasons, the last 3-4 episodes may have been the single best stretch of television I have ever seen. This show has now climbed out of its Emmy award-winning hiding place and must be regarded among the best shows on TV.

The fourth season saw the relationship between Gustavo Fring and the cartel finally come to light. While previous seasons had catered to this relationship, the details of the back story were unclear. The fourth season drew a captivating picture of this relationship, ultimately setting up a confrontation for a single throne. As you’ll see from the clip above, Gus was finally killed in the season finale, closing the book on one of the more interesting, calculating, and well cast characters I have ever come across in any show. The actor who plays Gus, Giancarlo Esposito, undoubtedly opened up countless doors for himself with his performance in this role. While much has been made of Walt and Jesse’s acting, to me their performances pale in comparison to Gus’.

With the entire cartel family dead, as well as Gus, it certainly felt as though the fourth season finale was also the series finale. That said, I’m sure that’s not true. AMC has hit gold with this series, and now Walt and Jesse have a strengthened relationship with a clear path to the top. The fifth season will undoubtedly focus on some characters still unknown to us who have some claim on the void left by the death of the cartel family and Gus. I’m sure their will be suitors on either side of the Mexican-American border.

As for questions that I have, did Walt poison Brock to win Jesse’s trust back?

I think it’s fair to say that Steve Jobs’ passing yesterday took the nation by surprise – I certainly was not expecting the news. Jobs was a visionary in the tech industry, a super creative mind, and an excellent CEO; I think that you’d be hard pressed to find many who would argue those points with much credibility. But that said, some of the reaction I’ve heard and read in response to his passing is just so far off kilter, I think that it needs to be addressed. This whole notion of “Steve Jobs, America’s Hero” just doesn’t fly with me. Yesterday I heard someone liken Jobs’ death to the passing of the President. Ummm, what?

Let me start by saying that I work for a technology company. More specifically, I work in the Innovation District in Boston – an area so synonymous with tech start-ups that it’s generally regarded as the East Coast’s version of Silicon Valley. Apple’s focus on the simplification of the user experience is something that other companies including my own seek to emulate in their products. But does that make Jobs a hero? I say no – it makes his a very intelligent mind and a great businessman. Let’s also remember that Jobs did not create the portable personal music player or the computer – he simply made them better. If you listen to much of the fallout since Jobs’ passing yesterday, you would be led to believe that he walked into his garage one day with a hammer, some nails, and a 2×4 and walked out with an iPad. Let’s give the rest of the folks over there at Apple a little credit too, eh?

So what’s my point? Why am I sitting here in the wake of Jobs’ passing, doing what I’m sure many of you will read as Jobs bashing? Because all of this brings about a larger debate. It’s no secret that America’s heroes, idols, etc. far too often take on the form of Snooki, Kelly Osbourne, or Drew Brees – I think most of those declaring Jobs as a hero would agree with me on that. But can a businessman (all of whom are out to make a profit) be a hero simply because they are a great CEO? I think there is some gray area there with regards to CEO’s who lead companies like TOMS shoes, but in general (and in this case) I’d argue no.

Sure, Jobs touched the lives of millions of Americans – by bringing music to their ears on their way to work (while taking a couple hundred out of their bank accounts). To me, despite all of the creativity, genius, whatever you want to call it, this is something of a slap in the face to the real heroes out there – most of whom will die with little acknowledgement whatsoever. I can’t help but think of the research scientists developing chemotherapy treatments that actually save lives. There’s a million other professions and fields that are similar in nature, and there’s no reason for me to list them all. But these fields have equally (if not more) brilliant, creative minds that are making a much more significant impact.

When was the was the last time your iPod saved your life?

Steve Jobs’ passing represents a sad day and the loss of the leader of one of America’s great companies. But for those of you who are going off the deep end with regards to Jobs’ significance, let’s have some perspective and honor the man for what he was.

By Chris Horne, howiGit Contributing Writer, Wrentham (Foxboro land), MA

Madden ’12 was released to the public today, and in its honor, Complex.com’s Ebenezer Samuel came out with a post listing “The 50 Most Dominant Madden Characters” of all time.  The list is pretty solid in most spots, my biggest concern with the post being the pen name “Ebenezer Samuel,” which clearly needs a little work.

Anyway, obviously Michael Vick takes the number one spot, as he and virtual he alone was able to convert all of my friends who used to suck at Madden into touchdown scrambling, Falcon-jersey donning, instant-replay loving tools. (So, quick recap: Michael Vick effectively ruined Madden in 2003, killed young puppies, and ended at least three of my childhood friendships.  And he just got locked up (excuse the phrase) for six years and $100 mil, and is universally loved by his peers. Go figure.)

The list is riddled with other running QB’s as well (#48 V. Young, #44 McNair, #34 Culpepper, and #22 McNabb) leaving Aaron Brooks and Seneca Wallace to ponder their now worthless careers.

Three former Patriots made the list; Ty Law at #31, Asante Samuel at #30, and Randy Moss at #4; joining Tom Brady (#12), the only current New England player on the list.

Tennessee also had four representatives on the list (Chris Johnson, Vince Young, Steve McNair, and Eddie George), tying them with the Patriots, and getting edged out only by San Francisco who led the list with five players (Taylor Mays [!], Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Terrell Owens, and Patrick Willis, in that order).

The Jets have one deserving player on the list in Darrelle Revis (#45), and one player laughably ranked at #7.  I’ll let Ebenezer take it from here:

“In real life, Antonio Cromartie is Darrelle Revis’ understudy, but in Madden, he’s the class of  the corners.  The Jets cover man stands a rangy 6’3, which leads to a lot of pass interference calls in reality.  In Madden, though, he’s the perfect height to stay with big wideouts like  Terrell Owens.  In 2008, EA gave Cromartie a 97 Speed rating and, realizing his penchant for  flashy interceptions, they gave him a high Spectacular Catch rating.  The result was the finest ball-hawking CB in the history of the game.  He’s not rated quite that high these days, but he’s still among the game’s best defenders.”

The fact that Antonio Cromartie is “still among the game’s best defenders” and the fact that he finds himself on this list at all serves well to point out that Madden, no matter how “realistic” it has become, is nothing but an a feeble attempt to simulate real NFL football.  Which probably means that old Ebenezer’s post, and consequently my own, serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever to society. But thanks for reading!

That being said, I’m about to go play some Madden ’12, and though it may be heresy, I think I’m gonna run with the Jets.  I hear Cromartie has a 99 Fertility rating this year.

A few months back I published a look as Danny Macaskill’s video “Way Back Home” which quickly turned into quite the viral slam dunk on the web. Here is a look at Danny’s most recent video “Industrial Revolutions.” While I don’t think that this video is quite as spectacular, you can’t help but be awed by this guy’s talent. His balance is absolutely incredible. You’ve also got to love the cinematography and the music selection (straight outta the UK) in all of his videos. Enjoy.

I know that many of you have already seen this, but this certainly classifies as the most ridiculous video I’ve seen in quite a while. I know this kid was drunk, but how much of an idiot can you be? Sure, he got lucky and didn’t get eaten. But imagine if he had – it wouldn’t have been too unlikely – and his family, friends, etc would have been forced to watch this video leading to his death? Come on dude, get a brain.

This video particularly hit home with me as I spent this weekend surfing at Coast Guard Beach in Truro, Cape Cod – not far from Chatham where this took place. I was out in the water during low tide when an enormous seal, we’re talking 400 or 500 pound, popped up about 10 yards away from me and decided to check me out. I’ve seen my share of seals on the Cape, but this thing was a pregnant mother and was freakin’ HUGE – at first I thought it was a walrus. Point being, the sharks go where the seals go, and if this seal took my breath away for a moment when I found myself in the water with it, I sure as hell am not diving into the water on top of a Great White.

Some people just baffle me.