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Coffee is my drug of choice. I also happen to be a fan of the web designer turned comic guru known as The Oatmeal. So when The Oatmeal released an infograph summarizing the fancinating history of coffee I knew I had to pick it up. Note: All links to The Oatmeal are a different comics I like  By way of The Oatmeal 2 Comments I love Japanese food and in the past year I've come to especially love izakayas. The most recent one I tried was Halu. We got there a little after 10pm and the place was packed. Always a good sign if a place is closing in an hour and people are still jamming to get in. I don't normally talk about decor since price and taste are usually the deciding factors for me, but I have to say I loved the Beatles, 60s, Rock N Roll motif. The small restaurant was packed wall to wall with memorabilia ranging from ticket stubs, guitars, comics, posters, and flip books. Any other space was functional or served as a reminder it was a Japanese joint and not Mel's. Wanting to get a representative sampling of of the menu we took the shotgun approach and (randomly) hit various items: Fried Stuff Mushrooms and Scallops on skewers, an item called Japanese Pizza, and Spicy Chicken Katsu Ramen. The small plates were $4 a serving and the ramen was $12. All in all the food was fantastic but I would opt out of the ramen (which was good but I've had better) and load up on their skewer items. Quick Review: Love @ Great Price  Dinner with parents + Mexican restaurant ran by French owners = a dinner at Papito. Papito is a sister resturant to Chez Maman and Chez Papa all of which are located within the same block in Potrero Hill in San Francisco. My favorite item from Papito is the Hambergersa which is a hamburger made with chorizo. Tonight however i opted for the Tempura Chicken Quesadilla. It's a fair amount of food but a tad pricey for $10. The rest of the menu is reasonable for what it is. Quick Review: Like @ Fair Price  Bastion is the best downloadable game I have played this year. The art style is bright with a wide color palette. The game play and story was so entertaining I played through the game twice. (Bastion offers "New Game Plus" which allowed me to keep everything I earned from my first game to use in my second play through.) But the best features of the game are how the story is told and it's hauntingly beautiful music. The game is narrated by a man the player encounter in the game, who recants the player's exploits while they are happening. The dialogue is never repeated and the narrator picks and chooses points in the game to let silence or the music tell the story when he is not speaking. The music is a fusion of classical strings and brass, guitar riffs, and techno beats and bass. It a mash up that perfect compliments a universe that pull inspirations from the Scifi, Western, and Pixar movies. I highly recommend that game at only $15. Quick Review: Love @ Fair Price  Deus Ex: Human Revolution does so many things perfect that it hyper exaggerates their small flaws. The near future represented in the video cut scenes, emails, news clips, articles, and ebooks provide such incredible rich detail, that it makes you wonder why you are walking around the half empty back lots of Detroit and Shanghai. The games greats strength in game playing are the vast options of how to handle just about any situation through a variety of means. However, the game clearly has a preference for players who play stealthy and hack computers rather than preform activities that are brash and confrontational by providing greater experience and rewards for the former. The graphics of individual levels are gorgeous but the facial animations of the people are hard to watch (after playing LA Noire ) and follow squarely in the uncanny valley. Ultimately my negative critiques are nits that I picked and I really had a great time playing the game. If the game wasn't so long to play I would consider playing through again immediately. I really want to love this game and it is close but liking it a heck of a whole lot is not bad either. Quick Review: Like @ Fair Price When in Seattle drink as the locals drink. I managed to hit up three different coffee shops while I was in Seattle. I generally order a white mocha if I'm trying a place for the first time. I prefer them hot, not to sweet, and with a clear taste of espresso.  Zeitgeist Coffee The first place I had coffee while I was there and it was also the best. I stumbled upon the coffee shop when I got lost following directions from Google Maps. I didn't really know what to expect so I went with my default of the white mocha. It was served just how I liked it and at $3 for a large it was a great deal. I wish I had the chance to go back there and try out some of their other drinks. Quick Review: Love @ Great Price  Uptown Espresso I tried uptown my second day in Seattle and it was quite drab when compared to Zeitgeist. I tried a white mocha from there as well. The drink was far from bad but it almost $4 for a small. Quick Review: Like @ Over Priced  El Diablo Coffee The final coffee shop I visited was El Diablo which was located in a section of the Queen Anne district that had the neighborhood vibe of Berkeley, CA. The shop took inspiration of Mexico's Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and bright red chilies. I ordered a Mocha Diablo and as you can see from the picture they barista was able to draw an image of a smiling devil in the foam. The drink was the most expensive of the three at $4.5 but the peculiar surroundings and craftsmanship of the barista was worth the visit. Quick Review: Love @ Fair Price  I recently came back from my first trip to PAX. PAX is the largest fan run gaming convention in the US. From, board games, to card games, toys, and videogames, there is something for just about anyone at this convention. The grounds surrounding the convention halls have open tables allowing space for people to place games they brought, try out games they borrowed from an on site game library, or catch a quick lesson on a new game from numerous enthusiast and volunteers. My favorite game I demoed is called The Impossible Machine and is a game that is play with 2-5 people. Players combine cards by building of other other players cards until the group has constructed their own Rube Goldberg Machine. At anytime the machine can be started and parts start falling off. The player would managed to contribute the most cards to the device before to stops running is the winner. Its a quick game to learn and offers a fair amount of fun for a small group. Missed the chance to pick it up for $10 but still managed to get it here in San Francisco for $15 Quick Review: Like @ Fair Price This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.  I was bouncing the idea of this post with a friend and it turns out she had a very different intrupretation of what "Pile of Shame" could mean for gaming. For me I think of games that I bought and intend to play but have yet to really even start. This particular list includes:
My friend on the other hand saw thought I meant games I'm ashamed I own (and enjoy.) A that list would include:
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