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SeanMike

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Everything posted by SeanMike

  1. SeanMike
    Ditto. 100 proof, to me, seems to be the cutoff; underneath that, you definitely don't want to dilute (put it in the fridge, or use "rocks" or the metal balls or whatever that don't melt) if you want it cold. Then again, I feel like 100+ proof is where you really start getting the interesting flavors. Trying a barrel strength whiskey straight, then slowly adding water to it and tasting it as the flavors change, is eye-opening.
  2. SeanMike
    Exactly. I first encountered this when writing for a video game site. You'd be given access to an alpha or beta version and supposed to write about it, but if you wrote "man, this game sucks" you'd never see another one again. (Think about it: how often do you see *previews* of things, especially exclusive ones, that pan them?) But there's always ways to write about things that highlight the good parts while downplaying or brushing over the bad parts. "I really enjoyed the game flow, and I'm sure the UI will be tweaked and improved when it releases..." I've said flat out in multiple places that I try to avoid writing bad things about places. I learned that lesson early; there are hundreds of variables that can go into a visit to a restaurant or a bar that you might not know about, and typically, I don't have the budget or time to go to a place multiple times if I don't like it. If I don't like an event, I talk to the organizers before I write anything about it to give them a chance to look into it. (See: the last time I went to a William Grant & Sons party at Tales.) (I also do tell anyone who sends me samples that I don't guarantee a review for unsolicited samples, and I review FAIRLY on any product. Products, IMHO, are a much more static, quantifiable thing to review than a given night at a restaurant or bar.) Yes, PR folks are looking for good publicity. Yes, there are bloggers and other writers out there who only shill to get free shit. As a *READER* you should only be giving your eyeballs to people who you WANT to read. Those bloggers, writers, etc., get tons of views. Complaining about them just makes you look jealous and demeans your own writing ("oh, he only gave them a bad review because he didn't get invited"). Instead, work on making yourself better, and educating people as to why they should be more discriminating in what they read.
  3. SeanMike
    FYI: sold out
  4. SeanMike
    Right. No one is going into this starry-eyed and naive. As soon as a blogger stops covering the events he or she is invited to, the invites dry up. I could give you a number of great examples from the cocktail blogger world, and if you see me in person, you can ask me. PR folks, as much as we might like to think, are not stupid. They know where they're getting their ROI, and if they don't, then they lose their jobs. Owners know the same thing. If you want to prove them wrong, you have to show WHY it should change first. Complaining about it, whether it be about the owners, the PR machine, or the bloggers, just makes you look whiny and entitled, wondering why someone else got a shiny and you didn't. Well, let me put it this way: I noticed when I started getting invited to fewer and fewer soft openings, promos, etc. And I was mad. And then I realized that I had been going to them, and not writing about them. If you're invited to a party in that kind of situation, your job isn't "eat and drink as much as you can then go home and pass out" - it is "eat and drink AND THEN WRITE ABOUT IT." I've seen this in the video game industry, I've seen it in the food and cocktail industry, I've done it to journalists in my industry. We wine and dine them and they don't put out? They don't get wined and dined again. Nobody is giving food bloggers or any other kind of bloggers free stuff out of naivety or generosity. If the bloggers aren't disclosing it, take them to task for it - with proof, of course, not all situations are black-and-white as even Don has seen - but don't sit back and act like posting somewhere different, ON IT'S OWN, makes you any different. Everyone's comments online have repercussions. It's scary how easy someone can lose their job over an online comment, be it on a blog, on here, on Twitter, whatever. It's also scary how easy you can blow your own credibility with just one remark that you didn't think through before posting.
  5. SeanMike
    Got mine!
  6. SeanMike
    At Tender in Pittsburgh, I had the best burger I've had in longer than I can remember. For $7 on Mondays, you have your choice of several burgers. I got the blue burger - 1/3rd pound burger, cooked perfectly medium rare, with blue cheese, fried egg, onion jam, and balsamic aoli. Also, great cocktails (bias: I have friends who work there and hooked me up while there) and a great atmosphere.
  7. SeanMike
    Really? I was just looking on VA ABC's price list the other day for it. A friend of mine was surprised when I said I loved it as a less-expensive bourbon as the only Weller he'd seen in VA was something around $80. How much is it? Better yet, can you give me the ordering # (so I can send it to him to special order since apparently his store doesn't carry it)?
  8. SeanMike
    Everyone I know who has had Peter Smith's version and the "real" version picked the PS7 in a heartbeat. So, so good. (I don't bother with Primanti's anymore when I go to Pittsburgh, but don't they already have branches in FL too?)
  9. SeanMike
    When I lived in Charlottesville the running joke was that the University side of the bridge didn't take AmEx, and the Downtown Mall side did.
  10. SeanMike
    As someone who is friends with a number of food bloggers I'd recommend remembering not to tarnishing an entire group by the actions of some. Yes, they get invited to events, etc. etc. Not all of them are conniving new ways to get free stuff. Most of them (and admittedly: as am I, for certain things and places) offered them based off past coverage. If you'd like the PR/marketing system to change, yelling about "the bloggers" is about as useful as complaining about Yelpers. It ain't gonna do a thing. Instead, think of how you can beat them at the game.
  11. SeanMike
    I don't mind electric hand dryers, as long as they are the XL or the Dyson. However, I do notice how you end up with puddles underneath them... I do also appreciate it when there's also paper towels in there in case I need to blow my nose. (And Don, your mention of pants is my constant fear at work since I wear khakis there. On the other hand, with this cold weather, I'm also wearing long underwear, which helps with that. )
  12. SeanMike
    Your mental picture of me was incomplete if it had lacked those previously (though replacing the gimp mask with a WW1 bombers cap and goggles and the school girl outfit with chaps and tassles would also work).
  13. SeanMike
    I believe that is implicit permission to start sexting. Time to break out the gimp mask and school girl outfit!
  14. SeanMike
    I'm excited for them - I hope they do well. It sounds really cool, even if it won't open before I (probably) move out of Arlington...
  15. SeanMike
    Is it a 900 number? Or can I send sexy texts to it?
  16. SeanMike
    So not having kept up on their expansion, I got a bit of a surprise last Friday. I was driving back from West Springfield, MA, to Arlington, and was on some little kind of highway thing in NY. Running low on gas, I picked a random exit to try to find some. Big mistake. Evidently there are no gas stations that I could locate in quaint, downtown Mount Kisco, NY. There was, however, a BGR. Whaddyaknow?! (Being that it was around 9 AM, I did not stop. But I was surprised to see it, even if I was still mad I couldn't find a gas station.)
  17. SeanMike
    Exactly. When I worked at 1525 Wilson 2007-2008, there was *NOTHING* to do in the area. All of our happy hours, etc., were up in Courthouse or Clarendon. We would have killed for a place like this.
  18. SeanMike
    I just went to the Ballston location. Like usual, the service was prompt and friendly. I had the Boston Bibb salad with flank steak, and I'll be honest: it was fantastic. One of the best salads I've had in ages. Like lperry said, I do think some of the pieces were cut a bit big... The *ONLY* thing that keeps me from going there more is the price on draft beer. Sure, there are some $6 pints, but for the most part, it's $9+ tulips or other small glasses. I'd really like some options for a beer that'll last me more than a couple of minutes...
  19. SeanMike
    Here's my culture for y'all today: J-Pop meets death metal. Thus: Babymetal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cirhQ8iLdbw
  20. SeanMike
    It's my belief they are recreations.
  21. SeanMike
    Mental note: support more Arlington businesses. (Especially Nick's. )
  22. SeanMike
    Actually, there's no response to Eric's query - what is the difference between I and II? I'm about to hit my two year anniversary living behind Ravi Kabob and I've never eaten there. Now that I've had Kabob Palace in Crystal City my brother and I are debating getting similar things from both places and comparing them. I will say, however, that Ravi Kabob is by far the best landmark I've ever lived near - I easily have a 90-95%+ success rate telling cab and Uber drivers "I live behind Ravi Kabob" no matter their ethnicity. The little Latino spot next to Ravi Kabob is gone (though its sign is still there) and is now called "Ravi Chaktadra" (I hope the spelling is right, I'm going off memory). The door says "Carry Out Express". I haven't had time to check it out but I assume that it's also part of the Ravi chain?
  23. SeanMike
    I actually liked that BW-3 came in to Ballston - while I love Rustico, and so many other local places, sometimes you just want a sports bar and a bunch of wings. World of Beer is also a chain but I've appreciated their beer selection (their food, on the other hand...). Don't forget also there's a very large development going on right next to Ballston mall. And if I remember correctly, there's a rehabilitation project in the works for the mall itself. Clarendon is overpriced, particularly for the crowd it currently attracts, IMHO. I'm a bit disappointed that I'll need to move in a year from my current place, since I'm about halfway between Ballston and the growing Columbia Pike area, but it'll be interesting how the county keeping affordable housing between the Col. Pike boom and Ballston restoration will affect that area. On the other hand, with Clarendon, since it is that thread: I'd hate to see more national chains there, especially bad ones (like American Taproom, which I can't stand). But property values are up everywhere, it seems, in the county, so perhaps it needs a bit of the pressure there to force people out to other parts of the county. (The Metro line property values are why a number of my friends left their EFC condos/townhouses; one couple moved to Falls Church, one to Annapolis, one to Del Rey and my brother and sister-in-law to south Arlington, where they could actually afford a yard.)
  24. SeanMike
    The bottles do make fun a "bottled cocktail" container. Though be careful, the cork can come apart.
  25. SeanMike
    So the trick to getting In-n-Out to come to your area is to infringe on their trademarks?
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