Fuel For Gaming, My Ass

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ve never had a sip of Mountain Dew in my life and I find such a concrete statement insulting. I am also insulted by the fact that MTN DEW is so awsm tht it cn shrtn wrds. Actually, what I find most insulting is that this is perpetuating a stereotype about gamers. Okay, really what I find MOST insulting is that some gamer just saw the above advertisement and immediately reached for a frosty can of “teh Dew” in his trusty computer-side mini fridge.

My fuel for gaming, obviously, is hatred.

My Faves: Mark’s Top Six Beers

Right in the midst the grandest video game conference of the year with arguably some of the biggest bombshells dropped in recent history, and we are here talking about beers. Now that’s my kind of site. So now it’s my turn to chime in with my top six fave Ones That Are Cold.

6. Tiger: I wouldn’t even consider this a “good” beer, but it brings back great memories when I drink it. When I was in the Navy, I went out to sea on a British ship once, which has a completely awesome drinking underway policy, in that they let you drink underway. So we had a mini-fridge down in our enlisted berthing stocked with Tigers that we would unwind with every night. Great memories. Goes well with Chinese food.

5. Killian’s Irish Red: This is probably the most full-bodied beer on my list, which Russ turned me on to it a couple years ago. I don’t drink it often, and usually when I do it’s out of a pitcher. The only bad thing about it is that it gives me the worst beer-shits of any other cold one ever. Goes well with a lot of water.

4. Echigo. This is my favorite Japanese beer, and not being one of the mainstreams (e.g. Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi, etc.) not may people have had it. We sell it at my restaurant, and here’s my sales pitch: “We are one of the only places that sell this in the area. It’s from a microbrewery in a place called Niigata, Japan, and is a rice-based beer, that uses “Ichiban” rice, which is the highest quality rice in Japan.” After that, people are begging me for it. Luckily they don’t find out until they get the bill that’s it’s $12 a bottle ($4 at Don Quijote). Goes well with sushi.

3. Bud Light: This is my favorite “cheap beer,” and my favorite “unwind after work” beer. For some reason, I get made fun of a lot for liking it, even though it is the champagne of beers. Goes well with darts.

2. Snakebite: A Snakebite is a mixture of two different beers: half Harp, half Hornsby’s Crisp Apple. Just a hint of apple but not too sweet, this is the perfect afternoon beer. Unfortunately Fortunately, there is in only one store left in Hawaii that sells Harp, and they only sell it in twelve packs, so every time I want it I have yo buy 24 beers. Goes well with nachos.

1. Negra Modelo: I’m generally not a fan of really dark beers, and I’m convinced that (in the U.S. at least) the only reason people drink Guinness is to look tough. Negra though, being a Mexican dark beer, is super smooth and refreshing, and with a squeeze of lime is the true “cerveza mas fina.” Goes well with tacos.

My Faves: Top Six Beers

I’m no taste-tester, no sir – I’m just picky. Therefore, this list isn’t going to be full of taste-test jargon or actual true-to-beer adjectives, since I don’t know them. Instead, I’ll just tell you why I like these six beers.

6. Kirin Ichiban
This is my default Japanese beer, which usually comes with a little glass to pour it into (love that). Goes well with sushi, katsu, or generally anything crispy. Not so good with noodle soups.

5. Miller Lite
This beer replaced Bud Lite (which had replaced Budweiser) as my favorite “cheap” beer. I spent one college summer with a friend who, when buying a pitcher or a round of beer, would get Miller Lite without consulting anyone else first. I grew to prefer it.

4. Carlton Cold
This Australian beer was my first “favorite beer”, after I was introduced to it in 2002 while on vacation down under. At that point it was a relatively new beer to the country, and I think it hasn’t gained much popularity to this day. It reminded me of American beer but a) it had a higher alcohol content and b) still tasted okay when it got a little warm.

3. Killian’s Irish Red
My top two beers aren’t sold in Hawaii, so this became “my beer” during my seven years there. The first three swigs from a cold bottle of Killian’s is pure heaven; the last three are usually warm and bitter. It’s a nice bit o’ variety they unintentionally pack into every bottle.

2. Yuengling Traditional Lager
First thing that popped into my head the moment I decided to move to Maryland last year – this beer. This beer is pure middle-of-the-road: medium body, medium bitterness, medium smoothness. And it’s just the right mixture for me and my mediumness.

1. Tooheys New
It’s funny that a beer I haven’t been able to drink in over five years is my #1. I think some of that may have to do with nostalgia. I first tried this beer while visiting Australia in 2002, but it didn’t capture my heart until 2003 while in-country again. All I can say is that no matter what combination I was drinking that night, or at what state of inebriation I was in, this beer was always perfect. Again, this isn’t a very popular beer in its own country (although I remember it being pretty popular in Sydney/NSW), but I have a feeling that it would be huge stateside. Like Yuengling, it’s a middle-of-the-road beer, which is right up my alley.

Food: Maryland Blue Crab

In our latest podcast, I explained my current obsession with Maryland blue crabs, which fell on the deaf ears of Mark and Tyler, who were only interested in the fact that I steamed them with beer. Still, I decided to write a quick how-to post for anyone interested.

My Cheese, Nacho Cheese

I can’t really explain it, but I have a unnatural affinity for fake, cheesy (pun intended) nacho cheese. As a young lad, only one food item topped the oozy nachos found in stadiums, theaters and gas stations, and that was a nice hearty chunk of homemade beef jerky. Mark may not remember this, but he watched Napoleon Dynamite with me and my wife at a dollar theater some years ago, and we shared an order of theater nachos. What he definitely doesn’t remember is the fact that I wanted to snatch those lovely cheese disks from his hairy little hands and have them all for myself. I’ve been on the lookout for a good, crappy cheese sauce for years now, and the closest thing I’ve found is the gallon-sized bucket they sell at Sam’s Club, which is way too much cheese even for me and my obsession.

I found the above-pictured cheese sauce at the most traditional of Mexican shops, Wal-Mart, for $1.20. Its taste is exactly what I’m looking for, it’s cheap, and the can is the perfect size for two people to share. Try it out if you see it.

Review – Mana Energy Drink

I was at my local electronics depot the other day when I came across some of the very energy potions that I found doing a googlesearch (one word). But where did this drink come from and what does it do? Well, I’ll let the Official Mana Potions website explain:

WTF is a Health Energy Potion?
Health Energy Potion is our second potion, it tastes smoother with an apple-cinnamon flavor and additional helpful herbs and vitamins like elderberry, ginseng, and biotin. Health Energy Potion has powerful energy similar to Mana Energy Potion, except that instead of getting you charged up to do battle, it recharges you after the fight. With a slightly different energy profile, it will pick you up for work in the morning or get you ready for a new night of gaming.

I know, I’m insulted too. So how does it taste?

The drink has a very high tannin level comparable to a leaky 9 volt battery yet the fragrance has subtle notes of pure alcohol and expired German cough syrup… very elegant. If you are looking for an oaky, round-in-the-mouth red with just a hint of hobo piss then you are most definitely going to want to check out Health Potion Energy Drink.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go see a doctor about my newly developed diabetes.

Dominos’ Pizza Tracker

When it comes to ordering pizza, we’ve been eating a fair amount of Domino’s. This is mostly due to its online ordering service, which includes a handy real-time “pizza tracker”. We usually know within a few minutes when the pizza will actually make it on our doorstep, allowing me ample time to change out of my chicken suit, put on some underwear, and head over to the door with a fresh $1 tip in hand.

The pizza isn’t bad, either. They have a new “Brooklyn style” pizza that is foldable. Very convenient.

Threecast Episode 15!

God, we’re so eclectic! This week we cover games from the PS1 to the iPhone and the Xbox360. We discuss music from Prince to The Appleseed Cast. We even briefly contemplate thirsty koala bears.

• Mark shows up late to the party, party starts without him
• Russ gets all fiduciary on the show talking about banks and stuff
• Tyler cold rejects Mafia Live for being too math intensive for his little bird-like brain

Subscribe via iTunes
Download the .m4a file directly. (with pretty pictures)
Download the .mp3 file directly. (just the audio)
Listen streaming:

Intro – Bitshifter
Outro – Suburban Kids with Biblical Names

Bento Box, Zelda Style

This looks much tastier than that BioShock bento that Tyler posted about. I think it’s the hamburger patty, or maybe the lack of drill. You can check out more here.

Mmmm, this is delici-AHH!! YOU’RE DRILLING THROUGH MY SKULL!!!

I hate to give away the name of a site I check all of the time, because now all of the posts that I steal from there will become common knowledge… but Geekologie has some delicious looking food up on its site that makes me wish the gaijin around California knew what the hell they were doing when it comes to sushi (and sashimi).

Some genius has made up some bento boxes of Bioshock, Portal and the obligatory Mario Brothers.

The last time I made something that looked this good with my food it was a fluffernutter that looked exactly like Gordon Freeman.

Food: Hawaii, You’ve Met Your Match For Once.

Wife and I have been living in Maryland for two months now, after a very long stint in Hawaii (seven years for me, much more than that for my wife). There are lots of adjustments to be made making a big move like this, and for me personally I’ve had a hard time adjusting to haole food again. I still haven’t found good kim-chi, a non-sweet kal-bi mix, or anywhere that prepares Japanese curry. So imagine my surprise when Maryland one-upped Hawaii in the Asian food aisle.

My favorite instant noodle is Mi Hai Cua, which after some research (i.e. Google Translator) I found out means “Two Crab Noodles”. They’re not lying, because it’s got two crabs staring right at you on the cover, just waiting for me to partake in their delicious treats. Manufactured in Singapore with oodles of love and…noodles, it’s one of those pricey comes-with-oil-and-chili ramens that usually cost about $1 each. There was only one place that sold them in Hawaii, Ranch 99, which suddenly closed last year.

Not two miles from our new house is a place that sells them for about $.50 each, which is pure awesomeness. I’ve eaten so many lately that I’m kind of sick of it already. Time to start cutting back.

Threecast Episode 4!

Threevue Thanksgiving Thursday Threecast! While most sites like to sit on their haunches and “enjoy” their time with “friends and family” and “celebrate their blessings”, we bring you entertainment. You know we love you, right?

Mirror’s Edge, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty 5 and Left 4 Dead get some talk time this week as we look back on our first epic year as Nova Scotia’a premier gaming culture site, and Hitler Bad: Threevue Good.

Enjoy!

Episode 4:

• Mark declares the loading screen from Mirror’s Edge his Official Game of the Year
• Russ talks for 1 hour and 23 minutes about handling and preparing chicken
• Tyler is publicly outed when Mark revealed the existence of his lover, Takahiro

Subscribe via iTunes
Download the .m4a file directly. (with pretty pictures)
Download the .mp3 file directly. (just the audio)
Listen streaming:

Intro by Bitshifter, Outro by Q-Tip.

Food Review: G&M Restaurant & Lounge

So yeah, Maryland is known for its crab cakes. I’m a huge fan of crab, and my family did plenty of crabbin’ when I was a kid, but I’ve never liked anything besides just straight-up crab. Crab cakes in my home state of Washington generally have onions in them, and if you’re observant you may have noticed that my Xbox 360 gamertag is onionsaregross – ’nuff said.

My friend Chris has been urging, nay, requiring me to try out G&M Restaurant & Lounge, which is the most famous place around for Maryland crab cakes. After a less-than-stellar trip to Crab Towne USA, I was ready to give Maryland’s blue crabs another try. G&M ships their crab cakes, and they get all sorts of awards, so they must be damn good, right?

Chris had told me to order a double platter (pictured above, $23) and split it with my wife, since it’s cheaper than both of us getting the single $17 platter. Screw that shit, I ate the whole thing myself. There’s no better feeling than getting full off of crab, if you ask me. The cakes themselves are really nothing more than oodles of crabmeat barely held together by breading and what I like to call “crab guts”. I ate my two with a little trouble near the end, and Janey only ate half of her single platter, so I think from now on we will follow Chris’ advice but I’ll eat the half that my wife doesn’t.

This was by far the best crab-related food that wasn’t straight crab that I’ve ever eaten in my whole life. Happy now, Chris? I am.

Crab Towne USA

Tonight my wife and I went to a local crab place called “Crab Towne USA”. I had heard about its all-you-can-eat crab and shrimp, and since I’m new to Maryland I thought it would be my best bet to try out the East Coast’s prized blue crabs.

Guns And Pizza, What Else Is There?

No keyboard crumbs!
No greasy fingers!
No life!

Gamer Grub!