A great product: A replacement drum pedal for the Rock Band drum kit! When I tried to get our broken pedal replaced and found out that the warranty time was being enforced (though I just read an article today which stated that this policy would be suspended again), the helpful guy on the phone at the warranty department recommended buying a replacement. Look at Best Buy, he said, and it's called Blockhead.
So I did so, and found that Blockhead was the manufacturer, and for 20$ picked up this kit. A drum pedal (adjustable height), drum pad silencers, and a new pair of drum sticks.
Drum pedal: this was the key component, and it works great. Took a little getting used to, but it's got good action and seems well built. There's also the option of either a low point or high point for the normal rest state. I found that the low point was great, it takes very little action to press and even at full release it's easy to use. The high point was very similar to the pedal that shipped with Rock Band and works okay. The mechanism used to switch between the two is very clever. The pedal initially had some trouble with the cord (it wasn't stretched out and so it had some tension at the normal position), but after a day it was fine. It also attaches more firmly to the drum kit than the original, which I like.
Drum pad silencers: A very clever product, these are basically round pads, plus circular strips of rubber. The strips fit snugly around the outside edge of the drum heads, holding the pads in place. They work great, and are even quieter than my original homebrew felt pads, and a lot easier to have stay in place. Very much recommended.
Drum sticks: The only part of the bundle which I had trouble with. They're black. I tried playing with them without lights. I couldn't tell what I was doing. Later trials with the lights on reveal that I can't drum with black drum sticks. I may have been hitting too lightly, or not judging distances well, or something else, but they just didn't do it. Switched back to the Rock Band wooden ones and am happy. Your results may vary!
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Daisy Mint
L and I finally got to go to a new restaurant which opened this past year: Daisy Mint oriental cafe. It's very close, just half a block west of chester on colorado street. The inside was really cool, two walls had picture frames, some with pictures in them, some which were just really cool frames, and some with slight variants on just being the frame (such as being a plate that looked like a picture frame, or a frame with some bees on sticks so that it looked like they were sitting on the glass interior of the frame). There was an absolutely gorgeous table in the center of the dining room, which had a glass center piece, under which were antique sets of plates and silverware for display, sort of like a display case table.
The menu was extremely varied. Like, really crazy combinations of things, most of which looked really good. I ordered a thai fried rice with beef, a tom yum chicken soup, and L ordered a spicy spaghetti. There was also thai iced tea that was excellent, and the menu also had a wide variety of teas that I didn't try, but noticed that some people would come in and order just a tea and have that. So they must be pretty good, I'll have to try some later.
Let's start with the soup. It was a pretty large portion, and served really really hot. The menu said it was spicy, which I wasn't worried about, but should have been. Holy moly was it spicy. The culprit was a crushed thai pepper (looked like a jalapeno but smaller/condensed), and it was really spicy. However, that wasn't actually the strongest flavor, the broth itself was actually a tangy/sweet combination of lime, lemongrass, sugar and some type of thai ginger variant. Really really tasty, and L really liked it, which is unusual. If only it weren't so spicy! The mushrooms and chicken in the broth helped carry the broth's flavor well, and it was a good dish. But... spicy! My mouth still burns!
The thai fried rice was excellent, and not spicy. It had a distinct flavor which I couldn't place, sort of a light savory/starch flavor, and the rice used was very tasty. It was a very small grained white rice, that really reminded both of us of couscous but wasn't exactly that. A good dish, and very affordable - it was $6.50 and with the amount we were served, I could probably have eaten for two and a half meals on just that dish. It also really helped absorb the spiciness of the other two dishes, so it was a good thing we got it.
Lastly, the spicy spaghetti was a neat combination of italian style spaghetti - the noodles, tomatoes, basil, green and red peppers, with thai flavor: a really tasty spice that builds up. I ate a noodle and gave L a look, cause she was saying it was really spicy and I hadn't tasted any. A few seconds later I went "OH!", because it took a while for it to arrive. It was really tasty, and a completely different style of spicy than the soup had been. L had ordered it mild spicy rather than it's usual spiciness, and it was a good thing, because it was a bit too spicy for her, and about right for me, except the soup had already thrown my calibration out of whack. The waitress was really nice though, we reassured her that it was very good and it wasn't her fault we couldn't handle even the mildly spicy version. She brought us some soy milk to help, and it did. It actually was a really good complementary flavor too, so I'd recommend ordering some to go with that type of slow spice.
Overall: Very good dishes though I'd recommend being very careful with ordering the spicy ones, the prices were very good for the amount you got (A lot!), and the menu had lots of other things I'd like to go back to try.
The menu was extremely varied. Like, really crazy combinations of things, most of which looked really good. I ordered a thai fried rice with beef, a tom yum chicken soup, and L ordered a spicy spaghetti. There was also thai iced tea that was excellent, and the menu also had a wide variety of teas that I didn't try, but noticed that some people would come in and order just a tea and have that. So they must be pretty good, I'll have to try some later.
Let's start with the soup. It was a pretty large portion, and served really really hot. The menu said it was spicy, which I wasn't worried about, but should have been. Holy moly was it spicy. The culprit was a crushed thai pepper (looked like a jalapeno but smaller/condensed), and it was really spicy. However, that wasn't actually the strongest flavor, the broth itself was actually a tangy/sweet combination of lime, lemongrass, sugar and some type of thai ginger variant. Really really tasty, and L really liked it, which is unusual. If only it weren't so spicy! The mushrooms and chicken in the broth helped carry the broth's flavor well, and it was a good dish. But... spicy! My mouth still burns!
The thai fried rice was excellent, and not spicy. It had a distinct flavor which I couldn't place, sort of a light savory/starch flavor, and the rice used was very tasty. It was a very small grained white rice, that really reminded both of us of couscous but wasn't exactly that. A good dish, and very affordable - it was $6.50 and with the amount we were served, I could probably have eaten for two and a half meals on just that dish. It also really helped absorb the spiciness of the other two dishes, so it was a good thing we got it.
Lastly, the spicy spaghetti was a neat combination of italian style spaghetti - the noodles, tomatoes, basil, green and red peppers, with thai flavor: a really tasty spice that builds up. I ate a noodle and gave L a look, cause she was saying it was really spicy and I hadn't tasted any. A few seconds later I went "OH!", because it took a while for it to arrive. It was really tasty, and a completely different style of spicy than the soup had been. L had ordered it mild spicy rather than it's usual spiciness, and it was a good thing, because it was a bit too spicy for her, and about right for me, except the soup had already thrown my calibration out of whack. The waitress was really nice though, we reassured her that it was very good and it wasn't her fault we couldn't handle even the mildly spicy version. She brought us some soy milk to help, and it did. It actually was a really good complementary flavor too, so I'd recommend ordering some to go with that type of slow spice.
Overall: Very good dishes though I'd recommend being very careful with ordering the spicy ones, the prices were very good for the amount you got (A lot!), and the menu had lots of other things I'd like to go back to try.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Restaurant Review
Just a quick post tonight, for I still need to work on the presentation some (it's tomorrow at 1:30pm).
Tonight's dinner was at a restaurant called the Louisiana Bistro, a few blocks away from Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans. Pretty small place, wasn't crowded and the group I was with had made reservations. The menu was very simple: five entrees plus today's special (which I didn't notice until leaving, so I don't recall what it was), a few appetizers and salad choices, plus a pretty large drinks list. I can't speak much about the appetizers, salads or drinks, as I didn't have either of the first two, and while I did have a coke, it was pretty normal. Most of the rest of the table had a red wine which was apparently pretty good, I had a dash so as to not be without something to toast with, but was glad it was only two sips worth as it had a weird aftertaste in the throat (but maybe that's normal? I dunno).
I got the entree called "Surf & Turf", though many of the other options looked very good, I had decided that since I've had sausage/duck/etc gumbo for two earlier meals, it'd be good to have something different (though that only ruled out two entrees, the others were short ribs, which I generally don't like, and a lobster dish). This entree was listed as pan-seared filet mignon with crayfish tail scampi and served on garlic mashed potatoes. This listing did not do it justice, nor could my words, however I should still try.
I ordered the filet mignon medium rare and it was served perfectly. The presentation was elegant - the filet was served surrounded by the scampi, on top of the mashed potatoes, and there was a plentiful amount of the cook's special cajun sauce over everything. Very appealing without being spare or pretentious. The meat itself was perfect, probably the best I've had, and upon adding the sauce it was just heavenly. Spicy without being overpowering, complementary flavors in the garlic potatoes and the scampi, and just one of the best meals I've ever had.
Tonight's dinner was at a restaurant called the Louisiana Bistro, a few blocks away from Canal and Bourbon streets in New Orleans. Pretty small place, wasn't crowded and the group I was with had made reservations. The menu was very simple: five entrees plus today's special (which I didn't notice until leaving, so I don't recall what it was), a few appetizers and salad choices, plus a pretty large drinks list. I can't speak much about the appetizers, salads or drinks, as I didn't have either of the first two, and while I did have a coke, it was pretty normal. Most of the rest of the table had a red wine which was apparently pretty good, I had a dash so as to not be without something to toast with, but was glad it was only two sips worth as it had a weird aftertaste in the throat (but maybe that's normal? I dunno).
I got the entree called "Surf & Turf", though many of the other options looked very good, I had decided that since I've had sausage/duck/etc gumbo for two earlier meals, it'd be good to have something different (though that only ruled out two entrees, the others were short ribs, which I generally don't like, and a lobster dish). This entree was listed as pan-seared filet mignon with crayfish tail scampi and served on garlic mashed potatoes. This listing did not do it justice, nor could my words, however I should still try.
I ordered the filet mignon medium rare and it was served perfectly. The presentation was elegant - the filet was served surrounded by the scampi, on top of the mashed potatoes, and there was a plentiful amount of the cook's special cajun sauce over everything. Very appealing without being spare or pretentious. The meat itself was perfect, probably the best I've had, and upon adding the sauce it was just heavenly. Spicy without being overpowering, complementary flavors in the garlic potatoes and the scampi, and just one of the best meals I've ever had.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Totally Not A Spy, Honest!
One of the weird things in Team Fortress 2 (that originated way back in what, halflife? counterstrike?) is the ability to have a graffiti tag which you can spray onto the walls near you.
Typically these are just badly abused, but over at Three Panel Soul they have one of the best uses of a spray depicted: Proving you are not a spy! Totally awesome (as is the spray shown in the newspost for that comic), and I hope he posts the actual spray so that I can use it in game.
In other news, we saw Hot Fuzz today (rented it). Very funny cop movie that was in many ways a parody of other cop movies, but also really interesting in its own unique way. Definitely gets a thumbs up from me, and the final sequence was very awesome, in that you-know-it's-coming way which finally snaps and it actually happens.
Typically these are just badly abused, but over at Three Panel Soul they have one of the best uses of a spray depicted: Proving you are not a spy! Totally awesome (as is the spray shown in the newspost for that comic), and I hope he posts the actual spray so that I can use it in game.
In other news, we saw Hot Fuzz today (rented it). Very funny cop movie that was in many ways a parody of other cop movies, but also really interesting in its own unique way. Definitely gets a thumbs up from me, and the final sequence was very awesome, in that you-know-it's-coming way which finally snaps and it actually happens.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I can see my house!
Or... I can see myself watching myself watching myself watching myself ...
Portal is a great game. The ending is superb, one of the best I've seen. The bonus levels are hard, the challenges are even harder and sometimes ridiculously so. The limited step count ones can be crazily difficult as they are very dizzy-inducing. Using a minimal number of portals is also challenging, but much more doable, as is the time-attack version.
So, the really quick review: Portal is a game based around a simple utility weapon: It can create portals. You shoot a projectile than when it hits a wall/ceiling/floor, marks it with a particular color (orange or blue) ellipse. When both colors are marked, a portal is opened between the two ellipses. Total momentum when traveling through the portal is preserved, but the direction changes to be relative to the ellipse. Energy is not conserved. This sets up some really crazy puzzles and uses for the portals, and within the context of a puzzle game it also sneakily develops a creepy plot. It's not a very long game, but the ending would be worth many times the effort it takes to get there. Now I just have to wait for more levels, by either the devs or perhaps the mod community. :)
Portal is a great game. The ending is superb, one of the best I've seen. The bonus levels are hard, the challenges are even harder and sometimes ridiculously so. The limited step count ones can be crazily difficult as they are very dizzy-inducing. Using a minimal number of portals is also challenging, but much more doable, as is the time-attack version.
So, the really quick review: Portal is a game based around a simple utility weapon: It can create portals. You shoot a projectile than when it hits a wall/ceiling/floor, marks it with a particular color (orange or blue) ellipse. When both colors are marked, a portal is opened between the two ellipses. Total momentum when traveling through the portal is preserved, but the direction changes to be relative to the ellipse. Energy is not conserved. This sets up some really crazy puzzles and uses for the portals, and within the context of a puzzle game it also sneakily develops a creepy plot. It's not a very long game, but the ending would be worth many times the effort it takes to get there. Now I just have to wait for more levels, by either the devs or perhaps the mod community. :)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Lies, Lies, Lies!
So, I finished reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. Notably, this author was nominated for an award for best new author, and seeing as that was likely due to this book, I'm sad he didn't win, though perhaps it's a good thing, because that means that the author who did win must have had a BETTER first book. Wow.
You've probably already seen the Arcane Gazebo's review of it. If not, go read it either now or after you're done here. Please note that the following paragraphs may contain mild spoilers.
I really liked this book, and it falls into one of those weird categories of books for me: those that can't be read in a single sitting. This was due to the crazy complexity of the plot, and the quite unexpected turns it took at times, I just felt like I needed a breather before diving back in to the thick of things. This book contains the essence of the group heist movies: Italian Job, Sneakers, Confidence, to name a few that I've seen. No, I have not seen Ocean's 11 yet, though I picked up the DVD cheap. The lead man on the job is quite likable, and the gang is also great. Thus, finding out that this author is one of those for whom characters can and must die was a shock. Not that I mind that type of book, but wasn't quite expecting it here and so when several characters died
it was a very big shock.
Still, the plot was excellent and did a very good job of providing enough information that though it was being deceptive (unreliable narrative point of view, at times) you could still piece together some things before they got revealed, which is pretty satisfying. I'm definitely going to pick up the second book about the title character, as he's enough to keep me interested no matter the book.
You've probably already seen the Arcane Gazebo's review of it. If not, go read it either now or after you're done here. Please note that the following paragraphs may contain mild spoilers.
I really liked this book, and it falls into one of those weird categories of books for me: those that can't be read in a single sitting. This was due to the crazy complexity of the plot, and the quite unexpected turns it took at times, I just felt like I needed a breather before diving back in to the thick of things. This book contains the essence of the group heist movies: Italian Job, Sneakers, Confidence, to name a few that I've seen. No, I have not seen Ocean's 11 yet, though I picked up the DVD cheap. The lead man on the job is quite likable, and the gang is also great. Thus, finding out that this author is one of those for whom characters can and must die was a shock. Not that I mind that type of book, but wasn't quite expecting it here and so when several characters died
it was a very big shock.
Still, the plot was excellent and did a very good job of providing enough information that though it was being deceptive (unreliable narrative point of view, at times) you could still piece together some things before they got revealed, which is pretty satisfying. I'm definitely going to pick up the second book about the title character, as he's enough to keep me interested no matter the book.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Sharing Knife
I finished reading _The Sharing Knife: Legacy_ today. The first book I had read a while back, but reread it before starting this one. The author is by Lois McMaster Bujold, one of my favorites for both the Vorkosigan series and the Cazaril series (ok, I know it's not his series, but I always think of it that way and don't recall the official name).
I thought it was good, and better than the first. I hesitate the recommend these two books though, both of them started out with scenes that left me decidedly uneasy, and while the rest of the books were usually a whole lot better, the openings were still a bit weird. The characters were pretty interesting, though I thought the female main character had extremely rapid personality changes, though that's based on the odd events at the beginning and could just be me. The good part was in the world building and societies involved, the Lakewalkers were well described and interesting, and the basic premise they were built on (seeds from a mage war centuries ago spawning new mage-creatures) was well developed. I think I'd like to see more books set in the same world, but from different points of view.
Yeah, I know I haven't said what the books were actually about, but I think that's not really necessary. If you haven't read any Bujold, I'd recommend you go read _The Warrior's Apprentice_ or _The Curse of Chalion_. If you have read Bujold, you may like this new series too, though it feels different from them in a way I can't quite place.
I thought it was good, and better than the first. I hesitate the recommend these two books though, both of them started out with scenes that left me decidedly uneasy, and while the rest of the books were usually a whole lot better, the openings were still a bit weird. The characters were pretty interesting, though I thought the female main character had extremely rapid personality changes, though that's based on the odd events at the beginning and could just be me. The good part was in the world building and societies involved, the Lakewalkers were well described and interesting, and the basic premise they were built on (seeds from a mage war centuries ago spawning new mage-creatures) was well developed. I think I'd like to see more books set in the same world, but from different points of view.
Yeah, I know I haven't said what the books were actually about, but I think that's not really necessary. If you haven't read any Bujold, I'd recommend you go read _The Warrior's Apprentice_ or _The Curse of Chalion_. If you have read Bujold, you may like this new series too, though it feels different from them in a way I can't quite place.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Taco Review
Today I review a delicious taco, the monday special at Ernie's truck on campus: Tacos el Pastor. Forgive my spelling if I remembered it wrong. These are spicy pork tacos, and one of my favorite specials at Ernie's. Today, however, there was a slight twist on the usual special.
Normally these tacos are served with rice and beans on the side, and the tacos themselves are two small flour tortillas, with the spicy pork and a bit of hot salsa inside. The twist today was there was also a slice of avocado in each. Now, normally I can't stand guacamole, mostly due to the texture, but I do like avocado a whole lot, so this was an excellent addition. The tacos were very spicy (and I added some extra hot salsa), but the avocado cut the spice really well and made for a great taste.
Normally these tacos are served with rice and beans on the side, and the tacos themselves are two small flour tortillas, with the spicy pork and a bit of hot salsa inside. The twist today was there was also a slice of avocado in each. Now, normally I can't stand guacamole, mostly due to the texture, but I do like avocado a whole lot, so this was an excellent addition. The tacos were very spicy (and I added some extra hot salsa), but the avocado cut the spice really well and made for a great taste.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Order of the Stick: Comedy Gold
We played the Order of the Stick board game last night. It was a bit confusing at first, and the rules were sometimes hard to track down. I wonder if this was intentionally modeled after the D&D experience, as I wouldn't put it past the creators to do exactly that. Anyways, our first game was interesting, and we ended up calling the game after realizing the length of time it would take.
Today, the great W (who is being waited for, in the test chamber) came by and we played another game, this time with four players rather than the five in the previous game. It took approximately six hours to finish the game, but it was a blast! We ended up having a great roadblock, where the only room that was explored on the third level of the dungeon (explored by me, playing Roy), had a huge stack of monsters in it, with a pair of demon roaches at the bottom. Demon roaches are special in that they are henchmen: they support every monster, and have a range of 2, and they are always at the bottom of any stack of monsters (which means they can support all the types above, for example, if there's an ogre king, then a goblin king, then a kobold king, all of them will get supported by the roaches until you manage to get through all three to kill the darn things). This meant that no-one wanted to explore any adjacent rooms, because the demon roaches would support any monsters that dropped in those rooms too, and thus this led to a giant roadblock, where the whole party meandered on the second floor rather than getting closer to Xykon's lair. There was also some hijinks involving a shadowdancer, a pair of dragons, followed by a dark room (with a beholder in it) and a chasm. A fireball was added to the mix, but unfortunately it wasn't able to cure the situation. This was later eased by the dungeon collapsing and the monsters running for their lives.
Anyways, the game was highly entertaining to play, and it held my attention pretty well for the whole time, which says something about it: a lot of long games can cause me to lose attention, the only exceptions I can think of are this one and Arkham Horror. A notable one which does cause attention span loss is the world of warcraft board game, which is fun, but since each side is relatively disjoint from the other's moves, it's easy to go off and do something else during the other team's turn.
Finally, the title of this post reflects one of the pieces of loot that dropped as Xykon died: "Comedy Gold", which shows Roy (team leader) slipping on a banana. Since it was Roy who killed Xykon, this seemed especially appropriate to the situation at hand.
I recommend anyone who has played RPG's before to go read Order of the Stick. Anyone who hasn't, go read it anyways as a lot of the humor is probably still pretty accessible.
Today, the great W (who is being waited for, in the test chamber) came by and we played another game, this time with four players rather than the five in the previous game. It took approximately six hours to finish the game, but it was a blast! We ended up having a great roadblock, where the only room that was explored on the third level of the dungeon (explored by me, playing Roy), had a huge stack of monsters in it, with a pair of demon roaches at the bottom. Demon roaches are special in that they are henchmen: they support every monster, and have a range of 2, and they are always at the bottom of any stack of monsters (which means they can support all the types above, for example, if there's an ogre king, then a goblin king, then a kobold king, all of them will get supported by the roaches until you manage to get through all three to kill the darn things). This meant that no-one wanted to explore any adjacent rooms, because the demon roaches would support any monsters that dropped in those rooms too, and thus this led to a giant roadblock, where the whole party meandered on the second floor rather than getting closer to Xykon's lair. There was also some hijinks involving a shadowdancer, a pair of dragons, followed by a dark room (with a beholder in it) and a chasm. A fireball was added to the mix, but unfortunately it wasn't able to cure the situation. This was later eased by the dungeon collapsing and the monsters running for their lives.
Anyways, the game was highly entertaining to play, and it held my attention pretty well for the whole time, which says something about it: a lot of long games can cause me to lose attention, the only exceptions I can think of are this one and Arkham Horror. A notable one which does cause attention span loss is the world of warcraft board game, which is fun, but since each side is relatively disjoint from the other's moves, it's easy to go off and do something else during the other team's turn.
Finally, the title of this post reflects one of the pieces of loot that dropped as Xykon died: "Comedy Gold", which shows Roy (team leader) slipping on a banana. Since it was Roy who killed Xykon, this seemed especially appropriate to the situation at hand.
I recommend anyone who has played RPG's before to go read Order of the Stick. Anyone who hasn't, go read it anyways as a lot of the humor is probably still pretty accessible.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Days Behind
So I'm falling a day behind updates, though maybe today I'll catch up. Warning, partial spoilers may follow, though mostly minor.
Yesterday (monday) we finished watching Buffy season 4, which puts us up to having completed Angel season 1 and Buffy seasons 1-4. Comparing the two most recently watched, I liked Angel better than Buffy 4, but some of Buffy season 2-3 was probably overall better than the Angel ones we've seen. Still, I like the setting for Angel a lot better, and I also like the main character a whole lot more - Buffy makes a lot of immature mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes, where Angel makes more serious mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes. The supporting cast for both is really good though, I especially liked Spike, Anya and Xander in season 4. For some reason, Willow and Tara just seem more blah in this season, I was expecting to like them a lot more. On the Angel side, Cordelia is one of my favorite characters, and Wesley got a huge amount cooler since his appearances on Buffy. Gunn has only showed up in a few episodes, but I like him already, so pretty much the whole cast gets a thumbs up for me.
In terms of episodes, picking my favorites from each season is tough, so I'll just list a top three for each.
Buffy Season 4:
1: The Harsh Light of Day: Return of Spike, oh yeah. :)
2: Fear Itself: Giles with a chainsaw!
3: Hush: Really creepy story and villains.
Angel Season 1:
1: Hero.
2: Sanctuary: I love the character developments in this one.
3: Blind Date / To Shanshu in LA: Again, development of one of the characters in these two was really cool, and the episodes as a whole worked well.
Yesterday (monday) we finished watching Buffy season 4, which puts us up to having completed Angel season 1 and Buffy seasons 1-4. Comparing the two most recently watched, I liked Angel better than Buffy 4, but some of Buffy season 2-3 was probably overall better than the Angel ones we've seen. Still, I like the setting for Angel a lot better, and I also like the main character a whole lot more - Buffy makes a lot of immature mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes, where Angel makes more serious mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes. The supporting cast for both is really good though, I especially liked Spike, Anya and Xander in season 4. For some reason, Willow and Tara just seem more blah in this season, I was expecting to like them a lot more. On the Angel side, Cordelia is one of my favorite characters, and Wesley got a huge amount cooler since his appearances on Buffy. Gunn has only showed up in a few episodes, but I like him already, so pretty much the whole cast gets a thumbs up for me.
In terms of episodes, picking my favorites from each season is tough, so I'll just list a top three for each.
Buffy Season 4:
1: The Harsh Light of Day: Return of Spike, oh yeah. :)
2: Fear Itself: Giles with a chainsaw!
3: Hush: Really creepy story and villains.
Angel Season 1:
1: Hero.
2: Sanctuary: I love the character developments in this one.
3: Blind Date / To Shanshu in LA: Again, development of one of the characters in these two was really cool, and the episodes as a whole worked well.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Soon I Will Be Invincible!
_Soon I Will Be Invincible_ is a book by Austin Grossman. I just read it based on the review over at Girls Read Comics. If you want a more critical review, go over there and read that one. The following is my not terribly critical review.
I really liked this book, and it was mainly due to the viewpoints used to tell the story: Doctor Impossible, evil genius super villain, and Fatale, futuristic cyborg who gets offered a spot on the super-team, the Champions. Doctor Impossible is exactly how I imagined an evil genius would work: logical, crazy ideas that he does make work, a humorous inner monologue, and even self-awareness of his villainry (is that a word?). He's got the plan right from the start, and though the key idea isn't revealed until much later, if you are carefully watching the details it's certainly possible to work out what he's doing.
Fatale, on the other hand, is very new to her abilities, and has that out-of-place perspective when she gets invited to join the world's most famous super team. This works really well, because she has the same thoughts and is curious about the same things that I was, figuring out how the different people on the team interact, what their real back stories are, that sort of thing. She's also one of the best people on the team at analyzing the situation and so getting the perspective from her eyes is key.
Finally, I was completely surprised by a plot twist near the end of the book. There were two, actually, but one of them was completely surprising and I thought it worked really really well. I'm going to have to go back and read it again just to be able to verify all the clues that were there (and there were plenty, since we got to see both sides of the story, the heroes and the villain). The entire world setting was pretty neat as well, I'd be tempted to run a superhero game in the setting just because there's a ton of great heroes and villains mentioned in passing which would make great characters.
I highly recommend this book for a fun read, especially if you like superhero comics, or stories from multiple interesting viewpoints.
I really liked this book, and it was mainly due to the viewpoints used to tell the story: Doctor Impossible, evil genius super villain, and Fatale, futuristic cyborg who gets offered a spot on the super-team, the Champions. Doctor Impossible is exactly how I imagined an evil genius would work: logical, crazy ideas that he does make work, a humorous inner monologue, and even self-awareness of his villainry (is that a word?). He's got the plan right from the start, and though the key idea isn't revealed until much later, if you are carefully watching the details it's certainly possible to work out what he's doing.
Fatale, on the other hand, is very new to her abilities, and has that out-of-place perspective when she gets invited to join the world's most famous super team. This works really well, because she has the same thoughts and is curious about the same things that I was, figuring out how the different people on the team interact, what their real back stories are, that sort of thing. She's also one of the best people on the team at analyzing the situation and so getting the perspective from her eyes is key.
Finally, I was completely surprised by a plot twist near the end of the book. There were two, actually, but one of them was completely surprising and I thought it worked really really well. I'm going to have to go back and read it again just to be able to verify all the clues that were there (and there were plenty, since we got to see both sides of the story, the heroes and the villain). The entire world setting was pretty neat as well, I'd be tempted to run a superhero game in the setting just because there's a ton of great heroes and villains mentioned in passing which would make great characters.
I highly recommend this book for a fun read, especially if you like superhero comics, or stories from multiple interesting viewpoints.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Daft Punk is playing ...
And they were excellent. It's interesting, usually when I go to concerts, one of my favorite things to do is watch the artists/performers playing the particular instruments. Usually I watch the drummer and sometimes the bassist or others. For Daft Punk, that does not really work. There's not much visually going on with the artists, and the instrument they play is not visible. This is made up for by the overwhelmingly elaborate visual displays. I don't have good words to describe them as a whole, so let me just give a short glimpse:
The stage opened with a gigantic pyramid in the center (or maybe it'd be better to call it a triangle, or a pyramid cut in half down the diagonal), with Daft Punk inside the pyramid about two thirds of the way up (that section was cut out of the pyramid, but there was still the cap above). They were dressed in what looked like shiny vinyl or leather suits, with reflective robot-style helmets. The visual display started simply, with lights outlining the pyramid in the shape of a triangle, and two large screens to the far sides of the stage showing close ups of the performers and other parts of the stage. Then the large LED display behind the whole stage was added in, previously unnoticed behind them. At some point around here, a secondary display in front of the LED display (and to the sides of the pyramid), which was essentially a triangle honeycomb with lighting along the edges, lit up and was added in to the different visuals. Not content with this, huge lighting strips actually on the pyramid edges were used, and then (for "Around the World") it turned out that the entire arena had similar lighting strips around the edge, which illuminated the whole floor! Next up, it turned out that the surface of the pyramid, not just the edges, were video screens, and they got added into the display! Many variations ensued, such that when they finished the set and the crowd was shouting for an encore, we exchanged remarks as to how they'd be able to top themselves for an encore.
Glowing Costumes. The same ones they were originally wearing were lit up, with light displays along the major lines of the helmets and jackets. Totally awesome and unexpected.
Anyways, it was an excellent show and I even moved around a little somewhat synchronized with the music, which is fairly unusual for me (I'm not sure why, it probably deserves a different blog post about it. I just tend to be a receptive person when listening to music, rather than active or interactive.). Of note were one of the openers for them: Ratatat, which we previously heard on the Gazebo's CD _Some Disassembly Required_. I don't think they played the song which AG put on the mix CD, but they were very good and I'm going to have to hunt down an album soon.
The stage opened with a gigantic pyramid in the center (or maybe it'd be better to call it a triangle, or a pyramid cut in half down the diagonal), with Daft Punk inside the pyramid about two thirds of the way up (that section was cut out of the pyramid, but there was still the cap above). They were dressed in what looked like shiny vinyl or leather suits, with reflective robot-style helmets. The visual display started simply, with lights outlining the pyramid in the shape of a triangle, and two large screens to the far sides of the stage showing close ups of the performers and other parts of the stage. Then the large LED display behind the whole stage was added in, previously unnoticed behind them. At some point around here, a secondary display in front of the LED display (and to the sides of the pyramid), which was essentially a triangle honeycomb with lighting along the edges, lit up and was added in to the different visuals. Not content with this, huge lighting strips actually on the pyramid edges were used, and then (for "Around the World") it turned out that the entire arena had similar lighting strips around the edge, which illuminated the whole floor! Next up, it turned out that the surface of the pyramid, not just the edges, were video screens, and they got added into the display! Many variations ensued, such that when they finished the set and the crowd was shouting for an encore, we exchanged remarks as to how they'd be able to top themselves for an encore.
Glowing Costumes. The same ones they were originally wearing were lit up, with light displays along the major lines of the helmets and jackets. Totally awesome and unexpected.
Anyways, it was an excellent show and I even moved around a little somewhat synchronized with the music, which is fairly unusual for me (I'm not sure why, it probably deserves a different blog post about it. I just tend to be a receptive person when listening to music, rather than active or interactive.). Of note were one of the openers for them: Ratatat, which we previously heard on the Gazebo's CD _Some Disassembly Required_. I don't think they played the song which AG put on the mix CD, but they were very good and I'm going to have to hunt down an album soon.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Dwarven Digging
Today I got to observe a game of Dwarven Dig, a board game I've had for at least a few years, which occasionally gets played. I'm not sure how those playing felt about the game, but I thought it was excellent fun. Roughly, the goal of the game is to dig into the treasure chamber (at the center of the map), grab a treasure, and make it back outside, which incidentally means you can use any entrance, not just the one you came in. The game starts by laying out the hexagonal tiles which form the board, and in such a way that you get to place good tiles near you, or bad tiles near paths which others may have to take. This is only the beginning of the antagonism between the dwarves.
I think what I observed in this game that I found enjoyable to watch was the same quality I have seen in Munchkin: there's a whole lot of backstabbing that goes on, to try and stop whoever seems closest to winning from actually doing so. This is helped by one of the dwarves abilities, which is to cause a shockwave which not only damages the hex they are in, but also nearly any target hex on the board. This can be done even at the start of the game, when the different dwarven digging parties are across the board from each other. I had great fun trying to convince people to use this ability, which culminated (though probably not directly, as I think at that point Mason had already committed to using it) in a beautiful shockwave which took out three dwarves at once (each player starts with 4), including the miner which initiated it. (At least, I'm remembering it was the shockwave that cut those groups down to size, correct me if my memory is faulty. I do know that miner died while doing a shockwave, it was an excellent way to go).
So, this is a random post about a board game I observed this evening, so while I'm here, I will mention some other ones: I really want to play a particular board game again, but I can't recall what it was called in order to find it. I played it with Jon and two friends while we were visiting for the wedding. It was based on a gangster-run moonshine operation, where you tried to get as much hooch as possible sold from the different nightclubs and speakeasys. There was bidding for trucks to transport the booze, you could buy more manufacturing capability, and to get first selling rights at a speakeasy, you had to have the most gangsters in the back room. It was an excellent game, but I can't recall what it was called.
Also on the board game news front, Carcassone was released for the xbox 360, so I may give that version a try, the regular game is excellent and moves pretty well. I'm also trying to locate a copy of Overlord for the 360, but no luck with that so far. That's not a board game though, so it deserves another post if I do ever get it.
I think what I observed in this game that I found enjoyable to watch was the same quality I have seen in Munchkin: there's a whole lot of backstabbing that goes on, to try and stop whoever seems closest to winning from actually doing so. This is helped by one of the dwarves abilities, which is to cause a shockwave which not only damages the hex they are in, but also nearly any target hex on the board. This can be done even at the start of the game, when the different dwarven digging parties are across the board from each other. I had great fun trying to convince people to use this ability, which culminated (though probably not directly, as I think at that point Mason had already committed to using it) in a beautiful shockwave which took out three dwarves at once (each player starts with 4), including the miner which initiated it. (At least, I'm remembering it was the shockwave that cut those groups down to size, correct me if my memory is faulty. I do know that miner died while doing a shockwave, it was an excellent way to go).
So, this is a random post about a board game I observed this evening, so while I'm here, I will mention some other ones: I really want to play a particular board game again, but I can't recall what it was called in order to find it. I played it with Jon and two friends while we were visiting for the wedding. It was based on a gangster-run moonshine operation, where you tried to get as much hooch as possible sold from the different nightclubs and speakeasys. There was bidding for trucks to transport the booze, you could buy more manufacturing capability, and to get first selling rights at a speakeasy, you had to have the most gangsters in the back room. It was an excellent game, but I can't recall what it was called.
Also on the board game news front, Carcassone was released for the xbox 360, so I may give that version a try, the regular game is excellent and moves pretty well. I'm also trying to locate a copy of Overlord for the 360, but no luck with that so far. That's not a board game though, so it deserves another post if I do ever get it.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Ratatouille
Ratatouille is an excellent movie, and you should go see it if you haven't already. I realized at the end of the movie that my face was getting tired cause I was smiling and laughing so much, and that is about the best thing I can say about a movie, so I will leave it at that.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Spice
We went to see the movie "Paprika" today. If you haven't seen it yet, the following paragraphs may contain spoilers. The short review is that it's a good movie, and you should go in expecting it to be strange. I should mention that it is in japanese and we saw it with english subtitles.
The longer review: There were a lot of interesting characters in this one, and I was pretty happy to see many different types. The story is based around some devices that allow someone to share another's dreams, and several of these getting stolen. The evil bad guy (tm) was pretty easy to guess, but exactly how he was evil and what really was up was extremely difficult to tell, partially because the line between reality and dream sequences was very thin at the best of times, and non-existent the rest of the time.
Of the characters in the movie, I really liked the story of the police captain - the movie starts (roughly) with a journey through his dreams, and later those same dreams are revisited through a different perspective and it really ties his story together. One of the other things I really liked were some of the traveling/chase scenes which involved Paprika - the changes she takes and the scenery jumps are extremely hard to predict and were really cool in that weird way.
The only thing I found a little odd was the ending. I think it made sense, but I dismissed an earlier scene as being important for a completely wrong reason, and so didn't notice some of the things which I should have in order to make the same scene near the ending actually make sense. It's hard to explain. Actually, the whole movie is hard to explain, I feel like I need to have a dvd of it handy and playing as a reference while trying to write about it.
So, I'll end with the comment that it was a good movie and worth seeing, just for the weirdness/surreal settings and the interesting characters.
The longer review: There were a lot of interesting characters in this one, and I was pretty happy to see many different types. The story is based around some devices that allow someone to share another's dreams, and several of these getting stolen. The evil bad guy (tm) was pretty easy to guess, but exactly how he was evil and what really was up was extremely difficult to tell, partially because the line between reality and dream sequences was very thin at the best of times, and non-existent the rest of the time.
Of the characters in the movie, I really liked the story of the police captain - the movie starts (roughly) with a journey through his dreams, and later those same dreams are revisited through a different perspective and it really ties his story together. One of the other things I really liked were some of the traveling/chase scenes which involved Paprika - the changes she takes and the scenery jumps are extremely hard to predict and were really cool in that weird way.
The only thing I found a little odd was the ending. I think it made sense, but I dismissed an earlier scene as being important for a completely wrong reason, and so didn't notice some of the things which I should have in order to make the same scene near the ending actually make sense. It's hard to explain. Actually, the whole movie is hard to explain, I feel like I need to have a dvd of it handy and playing as a reference while trying to write about it.
So, I'll end with the comment that it was a good movie and worth seeing, just for the weirdness/surreal settings and the interesting characters.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Heroic-mode Guitar!
Guitar Hero II is an excellent game for the PS2. I never actually bought it, or the first game, though I played Tim's copy a lot. That recently changed, with the release of Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360, I picked up a copy of the game, along with the guitar controller which was redesigned for the 360. The short verdict: Excellent game, my hands hurt.
As far as I can tell, there are very few differences between this game and the PS2 version. Most notably, there are 10 more songs, and eight of them were added to the career mode, by making each block have 6 songs, including the encore, rather than 5. Some of the songs have been rearranged a little, so while each block has an additional song, the final set doesn't have any of the new ones, and the first set has two of the new ones. See this article for complete details on that. The other difference is that there's the achievements which are tracked for each profile. The one I'm proud of currently is "Eddie Van Halen Award", which is given for a streak of 500 notes without a miss. I got that one on "Less Talk More Rokk", by Freezepop, on medium difficulty. Also amusing was "Rock Snob Award", given for refusing to play an encore. (Hey, they wanted Free Bird as an encore! I had to say no!) I got help for the "Hendrix Award", which is given for completing a song left-handed.
Song list review: (New songs)
Possum Kingdom - Toadies. Not a cover. For being in the first set, on medium difficulty, this one had some fairly tricky fingering and rhythm. Notably it starts you on the sections which are long repeated notes followed by an almost hammer-on (doubled note, you do have to strum but has a similar feel). Good practice there, and it also has several offbeat sections which can be surprising unless you are paying attention. I don't actually know the song, but L says she's heard it before and she liked it.
Salvation - Rancid. A cover. Not very long song, which is nice, but I didn't really like it. Only interesting part was similar almost hammer-ons as in the previous one.
Life Wasted - Pearl Jam. A cover. In the second set, and I nearly died trying to play it the first time. Has some really tough fast fingering parts, and near the end there's a "this part is just to be an asshole to those playing guitar hero" type solo. On medium difficulty I could manage it, but I wonder what it'll be like on harder settings. Good song though.
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper. Cover. Love this one, just a fun song to play. Not really as hard as some of the previous ones, but could be because I can play this type of song better. It has some nice solo type sections and the vocal sections are awesome.
Hush - Deep Purple. Cover. Another fun one to play, has a good combination of single note sequences and chord sequences. I like the way it sounds, too, looking forward to seeing what the co-op bass part looks like.
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer. Cover. Lots of off-beat notes, good sequences and has some hammer-on moves in it which I found good to practice. Also a good one for me to practice not releasing lower notes in long sequences that will re-use them.
Dead! - My Chemical Romance. Not a cover, woot! Also a totally awesome song. Pretty fast, lots of cool sequences and arghhhh I only missed two notes that time! This one gets my approval as the best song that was added.
The Trooper - Iron Maiden. Cover. Hardest song in the group that was added to the career sets, the main difficulty on medium is a sequence of lines that just gets painful to try and finger individually, but can be done a lot easier by holding the lower frets and doing the upper sequence. Even that is really tricky in this one as you have to both add notes and reveal to other notes in rapid succession.
Bonus tracks:
Drink Up - Ounce of Self. This one sucks. Hard to read sequences and it's basically the same stuff all the way through to the end. Probably a good one to practice hammer-on and pull-off moves on, but not that fun to play and the music isn't my style.
Kicked to the Curb - Noble Rot. Easier than the previous, and actually fun to play. Has some fast solo sections that are actually readable and also helpful in learning how to do the long runs with no strums.
Honorable Mention - Soy Bomb, by Honest Bob and the Factory to Dealer Incentives. Excellent instrumental bonus track, that I don't think I played in the original ps2 version, but was apparently present.
There's also some purchasable tracks for download on Xbox Live, but so far I've managed to resist getting Killer Queen, my favorite song from Guitar Hero. The other thing that deserves mention is the new controller. The action on it is pretty good, and I found it a lot easier to trigger star power with a subtle motion on this one, making it a lot less distracting than it sometimes can be. It also has a d-pad, xbox button, and start/back buttons! Now I just gotta find a use for that. Maybe Castlevania: SOTN using the guitar controller? :)
As far as I can tell, there are very few differences between this game and the PS2 version. Most notably, there are 10 more songs, and eight of them were added to the career mode, by making each block have 6 songs, including the encore, rather than 5. Some of the songs have been rearranged a little, so while each block has an additional song, the final set doesn't have any of the new ones, and the first set has two of the new ones. See this article for complete details on that. The other difference is that there's the achievements which are tracked for each profile. The one I'm proud of currently is "Eddie Van Halen Award", which is given for a streak of 500 notes without a miss. I got that one on "Less Talk More Rokk", by Freezepop, on medium difficulty. Also amusing was "Rock Snob Award", given for refusing to play an encore. (Hey, they wanted Free Bird as an encore! I had to say no!) I got help for the "Hendrix Award", which is given for completing a song left-handed.
Song list review: (New songs)
Possum Kingdom - Toadies. Not a cover. For being in the first set, on medium difficulty, this one had some fairly tricky fingering and rhythm. Notably it starts you on the sections which are long repeated notes followed by an almost hammer-on (doubled note, you do have to strum but has a similar feel). Good practice there, and it also has several offbeat sections which can be surprising unless you are paying attention. I don't actually know the song, but L says she's heard it before and she liked it.
Salvation - Rancid. A cover. Not very long song, which is nice, but I didn't really like it. Only interesting part was similar almost hammer-ons as in the previous one.
Life Wasted - Pearl Jam. A cover. In the second set, and I nearly died trying to play it the first time. Has some really tough fast fingering parts, and near the end there's a "this part is just to be an asshole to those playing guitar hero" type solo. On medium difficulty I could manage it, but I wonder what it'll be like on harder settings. Good song though.
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper. Cover. Love this one, just a fun song to play. Not really as hard as some of the previous ones, but could be because I can play this type of song better. It has some nice solo type sections and the vocal sections are awesome.
Hush - Deep Purple. Cover. Another fun one to play, has a good combination of single note sequences and chord sequences. I like the way it sounds, too, looking forward to seeing what the co-op bass part looks like.
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer. Cover. Lots of off-beat notes, good sequences and has some hammer-on moves in it which I found good to practice. Also a good one for me to practice not releasing lower notes in long sequences that will re-use them.
Dead! - My Chemical Romance. Not a cover, woot! Also a totally awesome song. Pretty fast, lots of cool sequences and arghhhh I only missed two notes that time! This one gets my approval as the best song that was added.
The Trooper - Iron Maiden. Cover. Hardest song in the group that was added to the career sets, the main difficulty on medium is a sequence of lines that just gets painful to try and finger individually, but can be done a lot easier by holding the lower frets and doing the upper sequence. Even that is really tricky in this one as you have to both add notes and reveal to other notes in rapid succession.
Bonus tracks:
Drink Up - Ounce of Self. This one sucks. Hard to read sequences and it's basically the same stuff all the way through to the end. Probably a good one to practice hammer-on and pull-off moves on, but not that fun to play and the music isn't my style.
Kicked to the Curb - Noble Rot. Easier than the previous, and actually fun to play. Has some fast solo sections that are actually readable and also helpful in learning how to do the long runs with no strums.
Honorable Mention - Soy Bomb, by Honest Bob and the Factory to Dealer Incentives. Excellent instrumental bonus track, that I don't think I played in the original ps2 version, but was apparently present.
There's also some purchasable tracks for download on Xbox Live, but so far I've managed to resist getting Killer Queen, my favorite song from Guitar Hero. The other thing that deserves mention is the new controller. The action on it is pretty good, and I found it a lot easier to trigger star power with a subtle motion on this one, making it a lot less distracting than it sometimes can be. It also has a d-pad, xbox button, and start/back buttons! Now I just gotta find a use for that. Maybe Castlevania: SOTN using the guitar controller? :)
Monday, May 28, 2007
In which books are "reviewed"
Books!
I recently read some books. This is probably not surprising at all, I tend to read books. What is surprising is that I will now review these books! Actually, since I pretty much like most every book I read, I'm just going to talk about the books I have read recently, and hope that that will serve as a useful review, or at least be interesting to read.
Book #1-3: Trading in Danger, by Elizabeth Moon. I also read Marque and Reprisal, the second book of the series, and Engaging the Enemy, the third book of the series. These were a slight twist on usual military sci-fi with a strong lead heroine (i.e., the Honor Harrington template), in that the lead character was a member of a family of traders, who at the start of the first book gets kicked out of the space academy for something she didn't realize was a mistake. Assisting me in this review is Cao Cao, who is entirely too curious about the laptop for my liking. Sorry for the non-sequitur. Anyways, the main character then goes into the role of a trading ship's captain, and ends up in one military situation after another, which was a pretty interesting and different take on the genre. The second and third books are also good, using the set-up of the first book to continue a long storyline involving the main character's family. Another interesting topic covers the FTL communications in the setting being controlled by a single corporation, and what happens when they get subverted. I haven't read the last book in the series yet, but only cause it's out in hardcover and I think it'll be in paperback soon.
Book N: March to the Stars, by David Weber and John Ringo. I've of course read a lot of Weber books, and knew he'd written some with John Ringo which I'd not yet read. So when I saw this one in the used bookstore, it was easy to pick up (sometimes used bookstore ones are hard as I won't recall if I've got it already or similar). Halfway through the book it became clear that it was the third book in the series. It was still quite good, the plot covering a stranded marine company and the prince (third heir to the Galactic Space Empire or whatever they called it) they were in charge of protecting. The prince apparently started out being pretty spoiled, but by this book he was pretty damn cool, and many of the characters were excellent. It also had some interesting insights into how four-armed roughly humanoid aliens would adapt to warfare ranging from swordfighting to rifle volleys and on to higher tech weaponry. Great characters and an interesting story, I'm going to have to pick up the two previous books, as well as the one after it in the series.
Other books which I may review in the future: Shadowplay, by Tad Williams. The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Prime, by Poppy Z. Brite.
I recently read some books. This is probably not surprising at all, I tend to read books. What is surprising is that I will now review these books! Actually, since I pretty much like most every book I read, I'm just going to talk about the books I have read recently, and hope that that will serve as a useful review, or at least be interesting to read.
Book #1-3: Trading in Danger, by Elizabeth Moon. I also read Marque and Reprisal, the second book of the series, and Engaging the Enemy, the third book of the series. These were a slight twist on usual military sci-fi with a strong lead heroine (i.e., the Honor Harrington template), in that the lead character was a member of a family of traders, who at the start of the first book gets kicked out of the space academy for something she didn't realize was a mistake. Assisting me in this review is Cao Cao, who is entirely too curious about the laptop for my liking. Sorry for the non-sequitur. Anyways, the main character then goes into the role of a trading ship's captain, and ends up in one military situation after another, which was a pretty interesting and different take on the genre. The second and third books are also good, using the set-up of the first book to continue a long storyline involving the main character's family. Another interesting topic covers the FTL communications in the setting being controlled by a single corporation, and what happens when they get subverted. I haven't read the last book in the series yet, but only cause it's out in hardcover and I think it'll be in paperback soon.
Book N: March to the Stars, by David Weber and John Ringo. I've of course read a lot of Weber books, and knew he'd written some with John Ringo which I'd not yet read. So when I saw this one in the used bookstore, it was easy to pick up (sometimes used bookstore ones are hard as I won't recall if I've got it already or similar). Halfway through the book it became clear that it was the third book in the series. It was still quite good, the plot covering a stranded marine company and the prince (third heir to the Galactic Space Empire or whatever they called it) they were in charge of protecting. The prince apparently started out being pretty spoiled, but by this book he was pretty damn cool, and many of the characters were excellent. It also had some interesting insights into how four-armed roughly humanoid aliens would adapt to warfare ranging from swordfighting to rifle volleys and on to higher tech weaponry. Great characters and an interesting story, I'm going to have to pick up the two previous books, as well as the one after it in the series.
Other books which I may review in the future: Shadowplay, by Tad Williams. The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Prime, by Poppy Z. Brite.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Spicy Tuna
Today's entry in the restaurant review section is from dinner at Zono Sushi. It's located on Lake, between Del Mar and Cordova, so it is a very short walk for us and one of the places we like to go to. Both the sushi bar and the tables there have great service, and today we sat at a table. My order was for the dinner combination: beef steak teriyaki and vegetable tempura, with an extra order of spicy tuna cut rolls from the sushi bar. What followed was an excellent dinner, i'll describe each item in roughly the order it was eaten.
Edamame: A bowl is brought just after the drinks when eating at the table (rather than sushi bar). This was perhaps the weakest link in tonight's meal. If I were to compare the size and quality of the edamame, it would be to Kabuki's offering, which is usually hot with sea salt on the outside and huge soy beans (steroid-juiced?). We were served what looked like pretty normal soy beans. Some sort of scrawny, and not really any specialness to them. They were good, but just not quite the polished component which I've sometimes seen elsewhere.
Miso soup: Served extremely hot, in a bowl perfect for sipping. I can't stress enough how the serving temperature affects miso soup, even when way too hot it can be allowed to cool down, but if it's lukewarm it just doesn't taste as good. This was excellent miso soup, lots of particulate in the broth which made neat patterns while sipping, and a scattering of the tofu and seaweed which adds flavor.
Spicy tuna cut rolls: This is a particular favorite of mine, and something which I'll order from every sushi place I go to in order to compare the myriad ways in which it can be served. There are three main components which tend to vary for this dish: The consistency and composition of the actual spicy tuna mixture, the flavor and type of spice used in said mixture, and the extra garnishing and presentation of the rolls. I should probably expand on this subject in a seperate post, but as I only analyze these pieces as I'm eating and then file (later) an overall assessment of how much I liked the type, it's hard for me to actually compare with past selections as this will be the first time I've recorded the actual components. The spicy tuna cut rolls at Zono are one of my particular favorite types. The spicy tuna mixture is excellent: no hint of mayonnaise (which typically is used as a binding element and conveyor of the spicing), excellent and generous amounts of tuna, and a solid consistency with just enough porousness to allow the wasabi/soy sauce mixture to seep into it. I don't have a good word to explain the flavor of the spice, other than it is the usual flavor used for spicy tuna. This version was not extremely hot, but had a solid spice heat that built up over repeated exposure. The wasabi in the soy sauce complemented this nicely with a small flash of instant heat that quickly died off only to leave the realization that the background level of heat had risen pleasantly. Finally, the only addition to the spicy tuna rolls were finely cut pieces of cucumber in the roll, which added a fresh crunch to the roll which I liked. Overall, an excellent spicy tuna roll and one of my favorites out of any sushi place I've ever been to.
But that's not all! As I was rambling on here, the main course actually had arrived only very shortly after the sushi, and so I started on that as well.
Vegetable Tempura: There are again many ways to serve this dish, and to meet my approval there must be two important components: The tempura sauce must be served extremely hot, and the tempura batter can't be too thick on the vegetables. The whole point of this dish (in my opinion) is to serve excellent cooked vegetables with a light batter that performs the duty of conveying the tempura sauce, such that the resulting flavors are a mixture where the primary taste and texture is that of the vegetable, with a light crunchy texture from the batter and the sauce's flavor overlaid upon the whole thing. The common mistakes of lukewarm sauce or thick batter can easily turn this dish into a good or mediocre one. If the sauce isn't hot enough, the dried batter on the vegetable, which usually retains heat very poorly even though the vegetable will be quite hot, when soaked in the sauce, becomes a lukewarm wet batter which contrasts with the warm interior. If there's too much batter, it can be hard to taste the real center of the dish, the vegetable, and all you get is tempura sauce flavored batter. I have now been horribly sidetracked. The vegetable tempura was excellent: the sauce was hot enough that steam rose off the surface. The batter was perfect, completely covering the vegetables, but so thin that the color of the vegetables shone through. I had zucchini, eggplant, onion, green bean, carrot, green pepper, mushroom and sweet potato. A few of these deserve special mention: I don't normally like the eggplant, green pepper or sweet potato (or for the latter, not as much as L does, so she tends to claim it). With that in mind, they were excellent: I normally do not like cooked green pepper as it will go mushy, even though the taste is still good. In this case it was cooked perfectly, the outside having a slight crunchy texture without causing it to go mushy. The mushy texture is also why I tend to dislike eggplant, but in this case it was pretty good. The only odd thing was that I couldn't taste much eggplant, I'm not sure if it has a strong flavor or not as I don't tend to eat it, but it came across as mostly a solid base for the sauce flavor.
Pickled cucumbers: a small side dish that comes with the combination, I loved the japanese style pickled cucumbers as they are sweet but not overly so, and a great spiced taste.
Beef Teriyaki: There are two levels of beef teriyaki on this planet. There is the good, solid beef teriyaki that has a solid texture and conveys the sauce well. Then there is the tender, perfectly cooked excellence that I usually think of as a different dish entirely. I find it is usually pretty easy to figure out which kind I'm getting: if I order beef teriyaki and the server asks how I'd like it cooked, it will be the second kind. That is exactly the kind I ordered and got at Zono tonight (cooked medium-rare), and it was excellent, tender and juicy in its own right, and served with plenty of teriyaki sauce which complemented the beef's flavor, rather than taking it over.
The salad, rice, and egg roll: I actually remembered to ask for no dressing on the salad, as the usual one I don't really like. It was a good salad, fresh lettuce (though mostly iceberg) and a scattering of cabbage and carrots. The rice was great, though I ended up being too full to finish it, I like having it with the teriyaki as it tastes great with the teriyaki sauce. The egg roll was a tiny little thing served as decoration perhaps, but still crunchy and tasty.
Dessert: a generous slice of orange. Excellent, fresh and so juicy I had to eat it with a napkin at the ready so as to not endanger others nearby. A great finish to the meal.
On the whole it was an excellent meal, and I would (and do) recommend Zono Sushi to anyone in the area. I've eaten there many times and it's always a great experience. I feel like I should mention the prices here - it came to roughly 40$ (before tip) for the two of us, and my meal was a slightly larger portion of that.
Edamame: A bowl is brought just after the drinks when eating at the table (rather than sushi bar). This was perhaps the weakest link in tonight's meal. If I were to compare the size and quality of the edamame, it would be to Kabuki's offering, which is usually hot with sea salt on the outside and huge soy beans (steroid-juiced?). We were served what looked like pretty normal soy beans. Some sort of scrawny, and not really any specialness to them. They were good, but just not quite the polished component which I've sometimes seen elsewhere.
Miso soup: Served extremely hot, in a bowl perfect for sipping. I can't stress enough how the serving temperature affects miso soup, even when way too hot it can be allowed to cool down, but if it's lukewarm it just doesn't taste as good. This was excellent miso soup, lots of particulate in the broth which made neat patterns while sipping, and a scattering of the tofu and seaweed which adds flavor.
Spicy tuna cut rolls: This is a particular favorite of mine, and something which I'll order from every sushi place I go to in order to compare the myriad ways in which it can be served. There are three main components which tend to vary for this dish: The consistency and composition of the actual spicy tuna mixture, the flavor and type of spice used in said mixture, and the extra garnishing and presentation of the rolls. I should probably expand on this subject in a seperate post, but as I only analyze these pieces as I'm eating and then file (later) an overall assessment of how much I liked the type, it's hard for me to actually compare with past selections as this will be the first time I've recorded the actual components. The spicy tuna cut rolls at Zono are one of my particular favorite types. The spicy tuna mixture is excellent: no hint of mayonnaise (which typically is used as a binding element and conveyor of the spicing), excellent and generous amounts of tuna, and a solid consistency with just enough porousness to allow the wasabi/soy sauce mixture to seep into it. I don't have a good word to explain the flavor of the spice, other than it is the usual flavor used for spicy tuna. This version was not extremely hot, but had a solid spice heat that built up over repeated exposure. The wasabi in the soy sauce complemented this nicely with a small flash of instant heat that quickly died off only to leave the realization that the background level of heat had risen pleasantly. Finally, the only addition to the spicy tuna rolls were finely cut pieces of cucumber in the roll, which added a fresh crunch to the roll which I liked. Overall, an excellent spicy tuna roll and one of my favorites out of any sushi place I've ever been to.
But that's not all! As I was rambling on here, the main course actually had arrived only very shortly after the sushi, and so I started on that as well.
Vegetable Tempura: There are again many ways to serve this dish, and to meet my approval there must be two important components: The tempura sauce must be served extremely hot, and the tempura batter can't be too thick on the vegetables. The whole point of this dish (in my opinion) is to serve excellent cooked vegetables with a light batter that performs the duty of conveying the tempura sauce, such that the resulting flavors are a mixture where the primary taste and texture is that of the vegetable, with a light crunchy texture from the batter and the sauce's flavor overlaid upon the whole thing. The common mistakes of lukewarm sauce or thick batter can easily turn this dish into a good or mediocre one. If the sauce isn't hot enough, the dried batter on the vegetable, which usually retains heat very poorly even though the vegetable will be quite hot, when soaked in the sauce, becomes a lukewarm wet batter which contrasts with the warm interior. If there's too much batter, it can be hard to taste the real center of the dish, the vegetable, and all you get is tempura sauce flavored batter. I have now been horribly sidetracked. The vegetable tempura was excellent: the sauce was hot enough that steam rose off the surface. The batter was perfect, completely covering the vegetables, but so thin that the color of the vegetables shone through. I had zucchini, eggplant, onion, green bean, carrot, green pepper, mushroom and sweet potato. A few of these deserve special mention: I don't normally like the eggplant, green pepper or sweet potato (or for the latter, not as much as L does, so she tends to claim it). With that in mind, they were excellent: I normally do not like cooked green pepper as it will go mushy, even though the taste is still good. In this case it was cooked perfectly, the outside having a slight crunchy texture without causing it to go mushy. The mushy texture is also why I tend to dislike eggplant, but in this case it was pretty good. The only odd thing was that I couldn't taste much eggplant, I'm not sure if it has a strong flavor or not as I don't tend to eat it, but it came across as mostly a solid base for the sauce flavor.
Pickled cucumbers: a small side dish that comes with the combination, I loved the japanese style pickled cucumbers as they are sweet but not overly so, and a great spiced taste.
Beef Teriyaki: There are two levels of beef teriyaki on this planet. There is the good, solid beef teriyaki that has a solid texture and conveys the sauce well. Then there is the tender, perfectly cooked excellence that I usually think of as a different dish entirely. I find it is usually pretty easy to figure out which kind I'm getting: if I order beef teriyaki and the server asks how I'd like it cooked, it will be the second kind. That is exactly the kind I ordered and got at Zono tonight (cooked medium-rare), and it was excellent, tender and juicy in its own right, and served with plenty of teriyaki sauce which complemented the beef's flavor, rather than taking it over.
The salad, rice, and egg roll: I actually remembered to ask for no dressing on the salad, as the usual one I don't really like. It was a good salad, fresh lettuce (though mostly iceberg) and a scattering of cabbage and carrots. The rice was great, though I ended up being too full to finish it, I like having it with the teriyaki as it tastes great with the teriyaki sauce. The egg roll was a tiny little thing served as decoration perhaps, but still crunchy and tasty.
Dessert: a generous slice of orange. Excellent, fresh and so juicy I had to eat it with a napkin at the ready so as to not endanger others nearby. A great finish to the meal.
On the whole it was an excellent meal, and I would (and do) recommend Zono Sushi to anyone in the area. I've eaten there many times and it's always a great experience. I feel like I should mention the prices here - it came to roughly 40$ (before tip) for the two of us, and my meal was a slightly larger portion of that.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Teriyaki Tacos
This just in: Teriyaki Tacos are delicious.
Take one corn tortilla, add rice, shredded beef teriyaki, generous amount of teriyaki sauce and eat. Very tasty. This meal was served courtesy of B&C Teriyaki, a restaurant in Arcadia (or perhaps Monrovia, it's right near the edge) on Foothill. We've been by this place several times before, and it was always noticeable by the big signs in the window saying "Tacos" and "Teriyaki". It indeed serves a selection of tacos and teriyaki. In particular, there's about three different taco choices, three burrito choices, and a selection of teriyaki and curry (beef or chicken). I chose the beef and rice plate, which also comes with beans (which were ok), salad (forgot to ask for no dressing), teriyaki sauce in a separate cup, hot sauce, and three corn tortillas, which led to the assemblage of the teriyaki taco as mentioned above. I did not get a chance to test their hot sauce, due to the stunning surprise that was the teriyaki taco.
Take one corn tortilla, add rice, shredded beef teriyaki, generous amount of teriyaki sauce and eat. Very tasty. This meal was served courtesy of B&C Teriyaki, a restaurant in Arcadia (or perhaps Monrovia, it's right near the edge) on Foothill. We've been by this place several times before, and it was always noticeable by the big signs in the window saying "Tacos" and "Teriyaki". It indeed serves a selection of tacos and teriyaki. In particular, there's about three different taco choices, three burrito choices, and a selection of teriyaki and curry (beef or chicken). I chose the beef and rice plate, which also comes with beans (which were ok), salad (forgot to ask for no dressing), teriyaki sauce in a separate cup, hot sauce, and three corn tortillas, which led to the assemblage of the teriyaki taco as mentioned above. I did not get a chance to test their hot sauce, due to the stunning surprise that was the teriyaki taco.
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