The Underground — Issue #123
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: A film about a man who survived the 2013 Boston bombings, how to cook a Filet Mignon like a pro, a self-driving race car completes a lap, and Conan O’Brien and Will Arnett play some video games on Clueless Gamer.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. Stronger is a film that will probably get Gyllenhaal an Oscar nomination. One of the most moving images to come out of the Boston bombing was that of a man who had his legs blown off being rushed by civilians to help. The image was so graphic that it had to be censored because his arteries were literally being squeezed shut as he was being moved. It’s those things that show the courage of your fellow man, but it doesn’t show the pain of the aftermath.
Premise: A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 helps the police track down the killers while struggling to recover from devastating trauma.
The movie looks like it will really tug on the heartstrings with a story about a struggling couple being pulled together after such a tragic event.
I don’t know how I feel about capitalizing on something that happened a few years ago, but this looks innocent enough. Even the first movie that really documented the Boston Bombing was pretty good, and that had Mark Wahlberg in it. Yuck.
Hold back your tears when watching the trailer below. Or don’t, you monster.
2. The best recipe for cooking Filet Mignon. It’s summer now, so many of us want to throw a steak on the grill, pour a drink, and enjoy the Sun as we neglect some responsibilities for a while. Sometimes you may want to spend a little more for a steak that you don’t want your kids to eat with ketchup. You may want to splurge and buy yourself some Filet Mignon.
I found a recipe to cook a great Filet Mignon that takes a bit of prep, but when you bite into it, it will be totally worth it. Let’s dive in:
Ingredients
- 2 filet mignon steaks, each about 6-ounces and 2-inches thick
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- About 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Remove the filet mignon from your refrigerator and set them on your countertop to come to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Filet mignon is very lean and doesn’t usually require any trimming.
- Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Season the filet mignon with salt and pepper on both sides. I use approximately 1/8 tsp. salt and pepper per side.
- Heat a large oven-proof sauté pan (I prefer a stainless steel skillet; don’t use a non-stick pan) over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and let it get hot.
- Add the filets to the hot pan and let them cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Use a timer and don’t move the filets around in the pan during this time. After 4 minutes, flip the filets. Then immediately transfer the sauté pan to your pre-heated oven and set your timer. Cook in the oven for 5-7 minutes, depending on your preferred level of doneness: 5 minutes for rare, 6 minutes for medium-rare or 7 minutes for medium.
- Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the filets to a clean plate. Tent with foil and let them rest for 5 minutes. Do not leave the filets to rest in your sauté pan or they will overcook from the residual heat in the pan.
- Spoon any juices from the sauté pan over the filets and serve immediately.
It’s really not that difficult, and when you bite into it, it’s worth every second it took to make it. The main thing to remember here is not to mess with the meat when it’s in the pan. People tend to push down on it, turn it over multiple times, and turn the meat into jerky. This is bad. Follow the directions.
3. This racecar make a full lap at high-speed. Remember to put on your headphones or mute this, but this view from the camera on the Roboracer’s Devbot self-driving race car is pretty amazing. The racecar manages to complete a lap around the Formula-E race track in Berlin. How fast? This baby hit 124MPH.
That’s faster than my car. Then again, when I’m at a stop light, old ladies look over and laugh at my busted ride. It’s cool, I have a sweet bike that takes me back and forth to where I need to go. I’m no poor person who uses his legs to walk around.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, the self-driving racecar. I can hear the screams of fear from the South at the thought some robot car will come down there and wipe the floor with all the Nascar drivers. That would probably be a lot more interesting to watch.
Have a look at the Roboracer tear up the track in the video below.
4. Will Arnett joins Conan to play ARMS on yet another fantastic Classic Gamer segment. Whenever Conan does a Clueless Gamer segment on his show, it’s must-watch television. It doesn’t even matter what game is being played, because Conan is hilarious. The thought of Will Arnett joining him to play a game I’ve never heard of is cause for celebration.
In this episode, Conan and Arnett play the game ARMS — A game where, well, you have huge arms and fight each other. It really shows off how different the Nintendo Switch is to other gaming systems. I can’t picture someone playing this on PS4, but you never know. I’m not really a fan of buying expensive additions to play games like this, but it appears the Switch controller takes care of that.
Conan and Arnett playfully talk trash to each other throughout, so I suggest not watching this at work.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com