SeanMike

That is SO true. Do you know how hard it is to get ketchup out of your Blackberry keyboard?Believe you me, it's hard to explain to the IT department later, too...

I would have to check my own Twitter list to see what inanities I ended up with on there, but I ended the night with a Flying Dog Amber Ale myself while smoking an Aurora 1495...

Way too many rickeys! :-)

Actually, 140.I use Twitter a lot in times like tonight when keeping track of the drinks at a (uh) a drinkfest like the gin rickey festival. But it's still unreliable and, well, "twitchy". This is a forum, we have enough twitchy as it is. And seriously, I honestly thought when I first saw this message "OMGWTFBBQ, lamz0rz". Yes. I think in l33t sometimes. The urge to blast Jake with l33t when I see him (i.e. tonight) gets close, if not quite, to overwhelming sometimes, just for hilarity value.

Given the sheer number of technical problems Twitter has had lately I've found it harder and harder for me to be bothered to keep up with it, myself. There's nothing more frustrating than wanting to use it and just getting page after page of "Uh, come back later" errors.

Buffet at Dixie Bones, plus some ribs we took home. It might not be Memphis but it sure beat the heck outta Red Hot & Blue! Plus, I love the white sauce.

Very interesting. Any idea how it's sold - i.e., is it something that needs special handling or keeping, such as refrigeration? It seems like the pearls would give bursts of Cointreau flavor throughout the drink rather than a consistent taste. I'd probably want to make sure that the cocktail itself tastes fine both with and without - as well as with a LOT of - pearls to make sure you don't get any "bad" tastes.

This was my third year going to the beef festival and the first time there wasn't a drop of rain. In fact, it was a particularly beautiful day for Amelia - not that hot, and better yet, not that humid. The festival runs from 4 PM to 8 PM. We got there shortly after 4 PM and the crowd was already getting thick with the first of two bands blasting away. We set up our blanket and chairs and without hesitation jumped in line for the first beer. This year there were only two beer trucks (down from three last year) and the closest one (to us) would only allow you to grab one beer at a time, no matter how much you pleaded that your mom was really thirsty and honestly, she's standing right over there. The further away truck would allow multiple beers but both trucks had enormous lines the entire time - which many people circumvented by just walking up to the front of and grabbing a non-lite beer. (It only took once or twice to figure that out if you were willing to drink something like Michelob Amberbock - all the beer there is Budweiser.) The food, on the other hand, had much shorter lines this year than the previous years. We were sitting right near the Steamship Round sandwich tent - with something like six serving lines at times, it was "walk right up", grab your sandwich, put on a squeeze of horseradish mayo and enjoy. The sandwiches were fine, if you could get enough meat on it - my first one was a bit light on that regard and I'd wished I'd gotten two and just combined the meat, as the bun was a bit overwhelming. The ribs were better than last year, I thought. The bones slipped right out of the meat with just the slightest tug, sometimes a bit too easily, and I avoided extra sauce as there was the perfect amount on them to begin with. Sure, it made a mess, but they were delicious. I managed to miss the brisket (oops) and the corn on the cob was once again abundant and tasty. The guys making it showed my neighbor how they did it - something about grilling it, and then putting it in the fridge, or some stuff like that. I was busy with my beer and a Rocky Patel sungrown cigar, so I kept getting distracted by the ... characters ... that come to the festival. They kept serving even past 8 PM, but finally we took our leave and headed home for more cigars, a soak in the hot tub, and more beer. But for $25, even with the drive, you just can't beat the fun and value.

Yesterday for lunch I had some beef brisket from Buz and Ned's, thanks to my parents - it was reheated and I ate it on a sandwich along with bacon, but it was quite tasty. Just what I needed for the comedown from the Beef Festival! My parents are incredibly hooked on Buz and Ned's now. Probably next time I go down there we'll be doing a full meal there.

That's the rkatsiteli. One time I took my parents to Horton and my mom had finished tasting - or at least, so she thought. I had her taste the r-cats and she loved it. At one point they were making a sparkling version that I liked a lot. I'm a fan of Horton, but that's mostly because it was my "go to" winery for a long time when I lived in Charlottesville, especially for people who "didn't like wine" or hadn't been wine tasting before. Between the sheer number of wines, and the fact that it was free, and with the generally very friendly and informal atmosphere, it was an easy sell to lots of my friends. (My parents current favorite winery down that way is King Family over in Crozet.)

Darn you and your teasing ways Jake! Out with it! What's going on?! Can something please make up for the sheer pain and suffering I have endured since not getting two free bottles of Genevieve Gin last week?! (Well, I did have a Rogue Juniper Pale Ale last night. That helped some.)

Is there a separate thread for Village Bistro? I couldn't find it, but if so, feel free to move this post... I'd walked past it a gazillion times but today was the first day we went there for lunch. I'd remembered seeing a review, I think in The Onion, emphasizing the quality of the specials. While my coworker next to me got the mussels for an appetizer (and I split them with him) he went with the blackened chicken sandwich - as did about half the table - and I went with one of the lunch specials, the lobster ravioli with rockshrimp and something else. The mussels were good. I'd hesitate to say "great" but then again, I don't know if I've ever had mussels that I'd say that about. They were tasty enough and a big enough portion in the bowl. The lobster ravioli was fan-fugu-tastic. It was in a slightly spicy cream sauce, and after I finished off the rockshrimp, corn, and other vegetables and the raviolis, I grabbed some of the fairly decent bread and sopped up about half the sauce with it. I really need to go to the gym now! It was a bit expensive for lunch but worth every penny. And not only did they quickly accommodate 9 people without reservations but they also split the check 9 ways without being asked nor adding a service charge. Man. I'm fat and happy right now.

So far tonight...a Beck's Dark, a few Smithwick's, an Irish coffee at Tom Bergin's, and now Miller Lite, as I recover from E3 and try to figure out how to write a non-condescending "first look" article on Atari's new DS game "What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver".

Last night we carried in empanadas from the On the Fly cart. Well, my friends did - mine disappeared between the time that I bought it and we got to the front gate somehow... If they sold the empanadas in the stadium that'd probably be the only thing I'd eat there.

They are more like fried chicken than any other wing I've had in a long while. I do not have good memories of Hooters wings, either in quantity or quality, other than what's stuck with me throughout the ages which was: "I absolutely despise Hooters wings." The cheese on the nachos was melted shredded cheese. There was enough on there - there wasn't a ton, but it wasn't sparse, it was just right. Honestly, I think the nachos were close to perfect for "sports bar food". Then again, I was a few beers in at that point and famished...

Is his name Roy?! Ahhh, he's one of my best friends. I can't not go out to eat with him! (Me love grammar...) It's not really I thought the food was THAT bad...it's just not anything special. I wouldn't go out of my way to replace it with most of those as it doesn't really bother me, though that Korean sounds good. And sometimes a guy just needs a plain ole cheesesteak or some (non-boneless) wings. I always say that just because you like the good things in life doesn't mean you have to give up the not-as-good things. (Thus my propensity for cheap ramen with chicken from a can or finding myself eating carry out from CuCu once again today...)

This used to be called "The Shark Club". Basically, it's a giant sports bar with lots of TVs. A good friend of mine lives about a mile away from it and was excited to see that they have a variety of different wings. He finally convinced me to Metro out past the Beltway ("But Roy, there are BEARS and stuff out in that wilderness!") to give it a shot. It's a huge place but was pretty empty when we got there. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of drinks - I stuck with Pilsner Urquell as it was happy hour on drinks until 8:30 (food happy hour ends at 7), while Roy stuck with his usual (Jack and diet Coke). Of course, we had to give the wings a shot. The menu describes them as "our signature crispy Southern fried wings". We got the All Pro Sampler Platter ($15.95) which is 16 wings in four styles. We went with Kentucky Derby Bleu Cheese, Georgia Peanut, Island, and Buffalo Bill's Spicy. Roy insisted that we get them boneless. If you want all drumettes (the way I make mine at home) it costs $2 per 6 extra. So the wings were a bit pricey. They weren't bad. The Bleu Cheese ones were interesting, though I'm not certain if I'd like to eat many more than the two I ate last night - an entire order might get to you. The Georgia Peanut were quite tasty, I thought, with some crushed peanuts on top. The Island had the seasoning beneath the fried batter, which was interesting but not bad - I could've gone with a bit of a sauce of some sort on them. The spicy ones, well, really weren't that spicy. They weren't awful, but I probably wouldn't order them again (today, thinking of them, I'm realizing I'm getting their spicy level right around some vegetarian buffalo chicken nuggets I used to get, if that gives you any sort of hint...they were just quite "eh"). The problem overall with my lack of enthusiasm towards them might be the fact that they were boneless and resembled anything in between chicken mcnuggets or large pieces of General Tso's chicken. Since we were still hungry, I got an order of the Nachos Grande ($9.95) and Roy got the Maryland Crab Cake Sliders ($10.95). The sliders came with a side of shoestring fries that were quite tasty. The sliders themselves were nothing to write home about - they weren't as good, I thought, as Dogwood Tavern's crab sliders, though they weren't as "gloopy" either. The bun did nothing for them and they definitely improved with a bit of remoulade sauce on them. The big thing is they need a dash more of spice and a different bun. The nachos were perfectly fine. They hit the spot very well, they resisted getting soggy, they were huge, well balanced, and honestly, a step above most "nachos grande" I've had in a long while. I wouldn't hesitate to get them again, they really hit the spot. The website (http://www.velocityfiverestaurant.com/) has their menus, which includes a sushi bar and a raw bar. Other than that, it's fairly typical sports bar fare. It's not some place I'd go out of my way to go to - but it's not some place I'd avoid. I'd definitely go with the "regular" wings next time I give them a shot, and I could wish they had a larger tap selection. For game days it's probably a hoot to hang out there, particularly with the sheer number of TVs they have and the setup they have with some of their "suites" and couches. I'd go there over Grevey's, but that's not saying much. Given that it's the closest "decent" restaurant to my buddy's house, though, I'll probably end up there occasionally in the future. (Though I'll continue to try to convince him to come into EFC or Arlington, I don't want to get eaten by a bear!)

I would bet it is the "different batches" issue. I've noticed that the chili on the half smokes varies on different nights. It wasn't much different from a Friday to a Saturday night the other weekend, but over the course of a month or so it went from "pleasant" to "wow, that was surprisingly spicy" to "hey, that's about perfect in spiciness" - at least, to me.

Tonight will be to my last "Accenture boss" - he died this morning of a heart attack.

Brian at Central Michel Richard last week made a very good Sazerac.

Ow! D'oh!My Google-Fu has been particularly poor today... Next month, eh? Sweet. That means I'll probably avoid looking for it while in LA next week, though I should be content with the two bottles of Anchor Genevieve that should be coming down to visit me alongside a friend of mine from SF. ('Cause god knows the thing I really need is MORE gin...)

Speaking of missing spirits, how about "Hayman's Old Tom Gin"? It appears to be the same company that does the R&W Creme de Violette, Allspice Dram, Scarlet Ibis, etc... (looks around for Joe...)

After a few months of not having gone there, and despite every other time I've gone being completely and utterly disappointed, I decided that I'd give Piola at least one more shot, as I've been craving pizza for a while. I headed over there at lunch. As usual, it's mostly empty. I avoided the appetizers; I've gotten the carpaccio there before and it was very disappointing, and being by myself, most of the other ones would probably be too much. I was seated promptly and then - nothing. I waited. And waited. I perused the menu thoroughly. And waited. Literally 10 seconds before I stood up to leave a waitress came by. I managed to put in my order. I ordered the #46 - tomato sauce, mozzeralla, sausage - and a Diet Coke. I'd forgotten that for $2 you get a can of Diet Coke and a small cup completely full of ice. Fairly quickly after that I got my pizza. It was fine, I guess, though a bit more blackened around the edges than I'd like. It's nothing great, though. The waitress only grudgingly came back after I was done and more than impatiently waiting for my check. Given the pretentious atmosphere, service that is not only glacially slow but also seems bored by the whole routine, and "blah" food, I'm regretting having spent close to $20 there just for lunch...maybe this time I'll remember that I don't actually like that place at all.

Re: Bluecoat: if you're in Virginia, Virginia ABC carries it - $26.95 a fifth, though I can't tell you which ones have it in stock off the top of my head. I picked up a couple minis of it at Rosslyn ABC recently to give it a shot. I've only had Q Tonic when ordered from Kegworks. Where'd you happen to find it at? I think I prefer Stirrings and Fever-Tree over Q, and the reviews of tonic in the latest Imbibe seem to agree with me - but I wouldn't mind giving it another shot, head to head.

I started off my night with the same thing thanks to Justin. And I agree whole-heartedly - it's a fun, tasty summer drink!