how dim sum is made from pingpongdimsum on Vimeo.

You’ll have to forgive Y&H for posting a video that’s so promotional in nature, but I found this inside look at Ping Pong Dim Sum quite fascinating, and not just because the London-based chain will open its first U.S. outlet right here in the District.

I mean, look at those knife skills! I can’t stop watching that dude with the Chinese cleaver as he shaves off pieces of dough, presses them into perfect little dumpling circles, and then flips them onto the finished pile.

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Is this like mountain climbing? You do it because you can? Because of the sense of conquering nature it offers? Because you can get away with being a crappy, unimaginative pumpkin carver if you do it underwater? Whatever the reason, I’m not sure I understand the appeal of slicing up slippery pumpkins several fathoms below sea level. Please explain!

These pumpkins, carved by Scott Cummins, are so impressive, it’s a shame that they will soon rot away into a black pool of squash flesh. I wonder if Cummins ever goes after the neighborhood kids with a pick-ax when they try to smash his pumpkins?

Does this video represent self-pumpkin mutilation or self-pumpkin realization? You decide. Whatever the case, this is just creepy…and cool.

OK, this one is off-topic, but Y&H couldn’t resist. The payoff is too darkly delightful.

Not your thing, eh? Not evil enough for you? Not gruesome enough? OK, then, carve your own pumpkin here, create a screen shot of it, and send it to Y&H at hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com. I’ll post the best ones on the blog.

Bar Trick Challenge – The Impossible Beer Lift – The funniest videos are a click away
In honor of Birch & Barley/ChurchKey’s long-awaited opening, Y&H offers this nifty bar trick that will, no doubt, impress your friends — and annoy the crap out of the servers at the new Logan Circle establishment as the sound of dropping bottles reverberates throughout the place.

Don’t worry,  Y&H didn’t know that the Fast Foodie had left, either. I just stumbled upon these videos this morning and fell for the character played by Hannes Phinney when he said, “I got to get back to basics. I got to get back to my reality. My reality is burgers and fries, tacos, extreme burritos and french fries and burritos and overstuffed nachos and occasional breakfast sandwiches.”

You can watch more Fast Foodie videos here.

Last weekend, during the Taste of Georgetown, I had marching orders (after, that is, passing out City Paper mouse pads, which I think people use to mop up coffee spills now) to pick up cupcakes for a party Carrie and I were hosting that evening. But when I got to Georgetown Cupcake, the line to get inside the tiny store was all the way down the block.

For chrissakes, I thought, you could make cupcakes in less time than it would take to wait in this line. Well, maybe not these Gourmet magazine cupcakes, but in the end, you’d be paying a lot less money per cupcake than those ones at Georgetown. C’mon, folks, give baking a chance!

Here’s an interesting experiment: If you add a sound effect to a public trash bin, will people use it more often? The answer would appear to be yes, if this video is any evidence.

Read More “Sound Effects + Trash Bin = Cleaner Park” »

You know the thing that amazes me about this video? How the deer crashes through the plate glass at this Livonia, Mich. restaurant, but then exits politely and quickly through the front door. I mean, if the poor deer had opposable thumbs, he’d have entered through the proper door to begin with.