Friday, July 12, 2013

YouTube: R.I.P. Frank Outzen (ReggaeFrank09)

For me and others in the chilehead community, it's been a tough last few days. Amidst what was to be a week of celebration, we got blindsided with the tragic passing of our buddy, Frank Outzen (a.k.a. Reggaefrank09). We all paid tribute in our own ways.



Basically, July 4 started like any other day. I got up early for a small morning snack, then ventured back to bed to get a bit more sleep on my day off from work. I got up a bit after 6:00 a.m. and actually went to edit and upload the review of Frank's Teriyaki Brain Strain Jerky. Then I checked Facebook.

(Sidebar: Long story short, Frank sent several of us reviewers a sample of his Brain Strain Jerky. I notified him when I got the shipment. Frank said to put it in the fridge immediately because he did not use preservatives. Good thing, too, because I didn't get to reviewing the jerky until a few days later.)

Frank's sister had tagged him in some pictures with a sorrowful caption. It didn't register initially, but eventually I put two and two together. I didn't want to believe it, since I had just gotten a message from him a few days prior about when I was gonna put the beef jerky review up. I had even invited Frank to be part of a YouTube collab I was working on (he declined).

It pained me because Frank never got to see the review I did for him. I took my video down (it had not been made public yet), added a one-minute dedication at the beginning, then re-uploaded it and released the video early. I wanted to keep my word on putting the review on YouTube. Frank's family and girlfriend saw it and were genuinely touched.


God speed, Frank. We'll see you on the other side.
 _________________________

Canada Day was July 1. Naader and I teamed up for the first of two collabs that week. Poutine, anyone? I also brought some Canadian beer and whiskey to the party.


I wasn't about to let July 4 be a completely depressing day. Along with Naader, we still celebrated America's independence with some McDonald's apple pies.


Foodbeast released an article and video about a "Monkey Style" In-N-Out Burger. Even though it's not an actual secret menu item (workers are not allowed to put fries in the burgers), that didn't stop many of my friends from creating their own Monkey Style Burgers:

Unfortunately, there's no In-N-Out where I live, so I improvised with...McDonald's. Meh.


One more review on Pringles chips. Still have no idea why I did that video. I probably just wanted chips.


Finally, I released a new video webseries last week. "Afterburn" is basically eating a pepper, describing my experience, and surviving at least five minutes with no relief. It won't be an everyday series, that's for sure. There's another video planned soon.


More collabs are coming. The next one in particular is scheduled for next Sunday (7/21) and is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Until then, embrace that pain!

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