twothirds

With 80 degree weather on Friday, I decided to put my mint plant to use and made some fruity drinks. Gina had a berry-infused mojito in NYC which served as my inspiration. Since I half-ass most things in the kitchen I do not have a recipe, but it went something like this:

• two-shots of rum
• juice from a lime
• handful of mint
• semi-frozen berries (4-5)
• brown sugar (~2 tbsp)
• Soda water
• Ice

To make the drink:

• Add the rum, mint, sugar, and lime to glass. Muddle ferociously.
• Add the berries to the glass. Muddle lightly to break them down, but preserve their shape.
• Add ice to fill the glass to 3/4 full
• Add soda water to top it off
• Stir
• Enjoy (multiple times)

To accompany the drinks, I brined a chicken which went into the smoker. I really need to get my act together and brine the chicken a day in advance. This way I can “dry” it in the fridge overnight. Brined chickens are yummy, but they tend to have a rubbery skin. Sides included:

• Mashed potatoes
• Roasted brussel sprout with panchetta
• Fennel, tomato, and cucumber salad with a blood orange vinaigrette

Mental note: I really need to start taking more pictures of my food pr0n.

A website just did a review of low price guarantees for the airline industry. This triggered a recent experience I had with a hotel. When I booked online direct through the hotel, they charged me $209. This has to be the lowest rate, correct?

Since I could cancel up to 24 hours before the reservation, I decided to search out a cheaper hotel in the area. Low and behold, the same hotel was on Expedia for a $50 cheaper base rate at $159!

I called the hotel expecting to get a $50 credit since expedia was cheaper, but for some unknown reason, the hotel preferred I cancel my original reservation and book directly with expedia. At the end of the day, I saved $50, but I was a bit upset that the hotel did not honor their low price guarantee. I guess the moral of the story is, “always check another source, since guarantees are bullshit.”

As a side note, when talking with a friend in a hotel industry, she told me that is pretty much the worst thing a hotel can do since Expedia steals ~%20 of the booking rate. The hotel actually lost more than $50 by having me book with Expedia.

My rookie season of Fantasy Basketball has ended and I am the champion:

I completely mismanaged my season, but in the end “Your Mom” ended up on top by one-three pointer. Had I not made a last minute change to start Mike Dunleavy last night, I would have been sharing the victory with Mr. Finger Roll.

In the next few days I will announce a press conference with every intention of retiring from fantasy basketball forever with an undefeated record.

Next stop, pure energy.

Via Rama

A few years ago I got tricked into playing fantasy football. At first I thought it was lame–like Second Life lame. At the end of my first season, I was hooked and an official fantasy athlete.

This year I was coerced into playing fantasy basketball. The last time I followed basketball, the Warriors were in the playoffs. It’s been awhile to say the least.

Since I loved fantasy football, I figured basketball would be great since it’s 2-3 times longer than football.  That 2-3 times the fun, right?

Overall, I can’t stand fantasy basketball. The season is long, I have no idea who the players are, and I keep forgetting to update my lineup. The whole experience is a bit like one of my reoccurring nightmares where I forget to show up to a class until the final on the last day.

Crap, I’m in ECON 202! I have no idea what I am doing! I have a final today! Wake up, Jed. WAKE UP!

Fantasy basketball is a bit like that for me at times, but only I can’t wake up and I have my honor to defend.

Unfortunately, I’ve done petty well this season. I should probably be in first, but I’ve managed my team like an assclown and I’ll end the season with ~10 unused games. Next year, I should quit this sport, but “Your Mom” will have to avenge the piss-poor management of players and give it another go. After all, the Warriors just might make the playoffs. I can be a basketball fan again!

PS: If I do happen to pull off a 1st place finish, I will cowardly retire and go out undefeated.

I am gonna have to ask Watt, a true Coors fan, if this will make the brew better or worse.

While I was waiting for a light the other day during a ride, I noticed the following in a Walgreens parking lot:

Any old guy wearing sweats from the 80’s, a half shirt, tube socks up to his knees and rollar skates from the 70’s. He was practicing some sort of spin move. The outfit looked like something “Terry” from Reno 911 would wear.  I’m still not sure if the outfit or his “moves” were more entertaining.  Eitherway, it looked like he was having a good time.  I guess that’s the important thing.

Probably not the smartest consumer out there, but yet another example of how craptastic apple can be at times. When I talked to the “genius” about getting my mouse button fixed, he denied my claim at first as “it was within spec.” Yeah–your sausage fingers might like the way it clicks, but it was visibly sunken, gave no more feedback and there was no more audible “click”.

As a side note, my case actually has a slight crack in the sidewall, which is a pretty common problem. When will that void my warranty?

UPDATE: Hmm.  After reading this, I should be able to warranty this.

Nothing like a good ol fashioned flame war: bray vs. bile. It was so much easier to track these things back in the usenet days since they were all in the same thread. Maybe someone needs to write a mashup to collate and display these things.