Dominic Armato
@darmato.bsky.social
Voice of Guybrush Threepwood. Homeless dining critic. Old-school community food guy. Influencer culture can get bent. Defender of pears. Cubs devotee. On the path of devolution back to Web 1.0.
Pinned
Big news (for me)! Signal boost appreciated!
TL;DR: I’ve posted a new interactive voiceover demo at dominicarmato.com, and I’m lookin’ for work.
For the long version, read on!… (1/7)
TL;DR: I’ve posted a new interactive voiceover demo at dominicarmato.com, and I’m lookin’ for work.
For the long version, read on!… (1/7)
Just got back in my car after having it washed, the radio is turned on, and what freaking station is STILL playing Christmas music on January 2nd?!?
January 2, 2026 at 11:11 PM
Just got back in my car after having it washed, the radio is turned on, and what freaking station is STILL playing Christmas music on January 2nd?!?
Pro Tip: If you signed up for a newsletter and then decide you don't want to receive it anymore, just unsubscribe. NBD. No hard feelings. But please don't report it as junk. That counts against the sender and can mess with their ability to send to others.
January 2, 2026 at 7:45 AM
Pro Tip: If you signed up for a newsletter and then decide you don't want to receive it anymore, just unsubscribe. NBD. No hard feelings. But please don't report it as junk. That counts against the sender and can mess with their ability to send to others.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time once again for the only year-end list that matters.
I present the 2025 list of band names taken from phrases actually uttered in conversation while discussing food over the past year:
I present the 2025 list of band names taken from phrases actually uttered in conversation while discussing food over the past year:
January 1, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time once again for the only year-end list that matters.
I present the 2025 list of band names taken from phrases actually uttered in conversation while discussing food over the past year:
I present the 2025 list of band names taken from phrases actually uttered in conversation while discussing food over the past year:
Reposted by Dominic Armato
Happy New Year to the haters, the losers, and the far left marxist transgender extremists, which I think covers everyone here.
January 1, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Happy New Year to the haters, the losers, and the far left marxist transgender extremists, which I think covers everyone here.
Is it just a given that all Vegas hotels smell like pot 24/7 now, or does this say something about the places I’m choosing to stay?
December 31, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Is it just a given that all Vegas hotels smell like pot 24/7 now, or does this say something about the places I’m choosing to stay?
Sheeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
December 30, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Sheeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Reposted by Dominic Armato
There Are Pho Lights
You’ve just opened up a Star Trek Themed Restaurant.
What are you calling it?
What are you calling it?
ncc-1701-g is written on the side of a spaceship
ALT: ncc-1701-g is written on the side of a spaceship
media.tenor.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:56 PM
There Are Pho Lights
Convincing the public that influencers are more trustworthy than journalists is the greatest trick PR has pulled off in my lifetime.
December 28, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Convincing the public that influencers are more trustworthy than journalists is the greatest trick PR has pulled off in my lifetime.
Reposted by Dominic Armato
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
8:26 PM and I’ve used Pee-Wee’s “What are you waiting for… CHRISTMAS?!” joke a good 17-18 times, but I think I can do better.
December 26, 2025 at 3:27 AM
8:26 PM and I’ve used Pee-Wee’s “What are you waiting for… CHRISTMAS?!” joke a good 17-18 times, but I think I can do better.
This is not a criticism. I am genuinely perplexed and want to understand. But what on earth is the purpose of putting your phone on speaker mode and holding it in front of your face like a tiny tray of hors d’ouevres rather than simply putting it to your ear as God and its designers intended?
December 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
This is not a criticism. I am genuinely perplexed and want to understand. But what on earth is the purpose of putting your phone on speaker mode and holding it in front of your face like a tiny tray of hors d’ouevres rather than simply putting it to your ear as God and its designers intended?
I love this *in theory*, but practically speaking? As a fellow pro writer, give me half an hour and a keyboard and I'll bang out 1500 words, ready to publish. Hand me a pencil and paper, though, and I'll be lucky to manage five sentences. Physically, I mean. I can barely write a check these days.
Ain't a thing wrong with a blue book, maybe throw in an oral examination too, just to keep things poppin'
Does anyone else bristle at this framing? WSJ says blue books are “torturing” students with hand cramps, and “nobody likes them.”
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
December 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I love this *in theory*, but practically speaking? As a fellow pro writer, give me half an hour and a keyboard and I'll bang out 1500 words, ready to publish. Hand me a pencil and paper, though, and I'll be lucky to manage five sentences. Physically, I mean. I can barely write a check these days.
Here’s one I didn’t have on my bingo card. A little tempura restaurant in Tokyo serving their kakiage with *Tajín*. How hilarious is that?!
December 22, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Here’s one I didn’t have on my bingo card. A little tempura restaurant in Tokyo serving their kakiage with *Tajín*. How hilarious is that?!
Whenever I see cricket recaps, I remind myself that this is what I sound like to friends and family who don’t follow baseball.
BREAKING: Australia retained the Ashes with two tests to spare after paceman Mitchell Starc took three of the last four wickets to blunt England's defiant comeback in the third cricket test.
Australia retains the Ashes with 2 tests to spare after a tense victory over England in Adelaide
Australia has retained the Ashes with two tests to spare after Mitchell Starc took three of the last four wickets.
bit.ly
December 21, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Whenever I see cricket recaps, I remind myself that this is what I sound like to friends and family who don’t follow baseball.
Yes, I am twelve.
December 20, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Yes, I am twelve.
Physically navigating Japan requires a level of proprioception that just doesn’t come to me naturally.
December 20, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Physically navigating Japan requires a level of proprioception that just doesn’t come to me naturally.
I find these days that Steam sales are when I buy AAA games, and *avoid* buying indies until the sale is over so I can pay the little guys a reasonable amount.
December 19, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I find these days that Steam sales are when I buy AAA games, and *avoid* buying indies until the sale is over so I can pay the little guys a reasonable amount.
“Mr. Swanson, we are deeply disappointed in your performance this quarter. You have failed to meet 92% of your metrics goals. If you’ll please step through this door, we can best decide how to address these shortcomings.”
December 19, 2025 at 2:33 AM
“Mr. Swanson, we are deeply disappointed in your performance this quarter. You have failed to meet 92% of your metrics goals. If you’ll please step through this door, we can best decide how to address these shortcomings.”
My most recent AI agent repeatedly offered me reservation times then said they were not available when I accepted, told me my (eventual) reservation was booked when it was not (surprise, no table!), and arbitrarily switched to Spanish halfway through our conversation. But this is funnier.
December 18, 2025 at 11:02 PM
My most recent AI agent repeatedly offered me reservation times then said they were not available when I accepted, told me my (eventual) reservation was booked when it was not (surprise, no table!), and arbitrarily switched to Spanish halfway through our conversation. But this is funnier.
How has nobody started an EDM band called Sons of Moog?
December 18, 2025 at 4:32 AM
How has nobody started an EDM band called Sons of Moog?
Gotta say, one of the perks of being in Japan for pre-Christmas is that you get a lot of festive Christmas music without it being the same freaking two dozen songs you hear ad nauseam back home.
December 17, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Gotta say, one of the perks of being in Japan for pre-Christmas is that you get a lot of festive Christmas music without it being the same freaking two dozen songs you hear ad nauseam back home.
Currently enjoying something I have never once had in Tokyo — leftovers.
When we didn't finish our rice donabe, they packed it and sent it home with us.
I know this will elicit a shrug from those who haven't spent time here, but this is WEIRD. Is there a cultural shift underway?
When we didn't finish our rice donabe, they packed it and sent it home with us.
I know this will elicit a shrug from those who haven't spent time here, but this is WEIRD. Is there a cultural shift underway?
December 16, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Currently enjoying something I have never once had in Tokyo — leftovers.
When we didn't finish our rice donabe, they packed it and sent it home with us.
I know this will elicit a shrug from those who haven't spent time here, but this is WEIRD. Is there a cultural shift underway?
When we didn't finish our rice donabe, they packed it and sent it home with us.
I know this will elicit a shrug from those who haven't spent time here, but this is WEIRD. Is there a cultural shift underway?
Quest Quest Ep. 59, wherein I join sandwich correspondent @grundislav.games in discussing the green room offerings at @adventurex.bsky.social before barrelling headlong into the minefield of a regional sandwich rivalry:
youtu.be/KWy1WU0ZcD8?...
youtu.be/KWy1WU0ZcD8?...
Quest Quest Ep. 59: Game of Some Years (2025)
YouTube video by decafjedi
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Quest Quest Ep. 59, wherein I join sandwich correspondent @grundislav.games in discussing the green room offerings at @adventurex.bsky.social before barrelling headlong into the minefield of a regional sandwich rivalry:
youtu.be/KWy1WU0ZcD8?...
youtu.be/KWy1WU0ZcD8?...
I realize this is as petty as it gets. But to this day, any time I walk into a restaurant I was the first journo to write about and the framed article on the wall is from some other writer and/or publication that covered them months or years later, I get annoyed :-D
December 15, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I realize this is as petty as it gets. But to this day, any time I walk into a restaurant I was the first journo to write about and the framed article on the wall is from some other writer and/or publication that covered them months or years later, I get annoyed :-D
Tyranny of the best, exhibit 4273: The problem here isn’t introducing people to a new thing. The problem is that food media (and, to be fair, its audience) is obsessed with framing everything as “Forget X. Y is better!” The fuck it is. It’s different. Both can be good. Enough with this BS.
counterpoint: no it's not www.cnn.com/2025/12/13/h...
Forget hot chocolate. Golden milk is the much healthier cozy drink you need right now | CNN
Scientist and cookbook author Kanchan Koya explains how to make golden milk, a cozy beverage that may have numerous health and anti-inflammatory benefits.Find more of Kanchan’s recipes at spicespiceba...
www.cnn.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Tyranny of the best, exhibit 4273: The problem here isn’t introducing people to a new thing. The problem is that food media (and, to be fair, its audience) is obsessed with framing everything as “Forget X. Y is better!” The fuck it is. It’s different. Both can be good. Enough with this BS.