Cocktail Confessions

Continued from Part I…

Amongst our party this is what we ordered: 2 orders of paella (to be split amongst 4 of us, me included since I love paella), 2 pork tenderloins, 1 chipotle short ribs, and I think 1 order of Camarones (sautéed jumbo shrimp).  Other than the paella, all the dishes were pretty much served with whipped potatoes and spears of asparagus.  The main dishes themselves were a mixed bag of reviews amongst us.

Michelle said the short ribs were good but a little spicy for her.  They looked good yet the side of potatoes and asparagus seemed a bit paltry for all the dishes that received them.  The good news is that the girls all ordered the single dishes and felt fine afterwards, but for the four of us guys, these potatoes and asparagus wouldn’t be enough.

Monica had the chili citrus glazed pork tenderloin and was satisfied with it.  It was tender, (as I had a taste of it myself) and pleasant, but nothing special as far as pork dishes go.

Monica's Pork Tenderloin Medallions

Alicia had the Camarones (shrimp) served on a bed of red rice and ratatouille, but again, while good, wasn’t anything exceptional or noteworthy.

Finally the four of us guys split two orders of paella amongst ourselves.  This dish was the biggest letdown.  While the platters themselves were indeed very large, hot, and filling, they were very inconsistent.  The one Sam and I shared had a lot of clams and very little chorizo (I could only find one piece myself) whereas Brian’s and Chris’s platter had practically no clams at all.  We all noted that the bacon was undercooked as well, as if the chef actually forgot it until the last possible second and thought the carry over heat from the dish would cook it.  The spices themselves seemed mild and I requested that our waitress bring us some hot sauce (they had Tabasco) to liven it up. 

In the end, we all thought that while the paella portion size was good, we had all had better paella experiences elsewhere.

Paella - El Cid style

Desert was not included, but you can choose either flan or chocolate mousse cake.

The dinner show itself was good, but not great.  On stage were two female Flamenco dancers, one guitarist, and one singer.  The show itself lasts for about an hour and the two female dancers have a pretty good workout there up on stage.  Personally I enjoyed the guitarist and singer, but in other shows I’ve been too at other establishments the men were a bit more active and even danced whereas they didn’t here.  Even though the stage lighting was a bit on the low end, I was able to record some pretty good excerpts using my Kodak Playsport.  I shot unobstructed video at 720p and feel they came out fairly well, especially the sound. Overall, I shot about 22 minutes of raw video which I broke up into 3 separate YouTube video segments that I have edited and uploaded.  I’ve embedded one video here, but you can see the third one on YouTube via this link if interested.

After the show we all made our way outside to the patio once again for a final drink under the stars as the staff then converts the entire restaurant into a Hip-Hop club that open at 10pm.  No, I’m not making this up.  They seriously remove all the floor tables leaving only the booths and make way for a dance club.  I thought it very strange that a Hip-Hop club shows up at a Spanish restaurant later in the evening, but we didn’t stick around to see the clientele.

So overall, I rate El Cid a solid ‘3’ on a scale of 5 (breakdown):

Ambiance: 3.5

Food: 3

Dinner show: 3

Value: 3

This past weekend Monica and I were able to join our friends for a Flamenco dance and dinner show at the historic El Cid theatre located on the sunset strip near downtown Los Angeles.

The initial incentive was that our friend Brian was able to score some heavily discounted tickets for the show via an offering from groupon.com.  Personally, I have yet to use groupon myself, but I understand that have killer deals daily for various group activities at all kinds of different locals.  I need to check it soon for some additional outings.

In attendance would be Brian and his fiancé, Shea, their friends Chris and his wife, Michelle, my old college buddy Sam and his wife, Alicia, and finally my wife, Monica, and myself. 

We all decided to meet at the El Cid just prior to 7pm, so we took 3 sets of vehicles.  Our own drive wasn’t so bad until we transitioned from the 5 fwy to the 101 north.  The last 15 miles or so seemed to drag on as our average speed was about 15-20mph.  But that is pretty much Los Angeles traffic at any time these days, and we finally pulled up to valet parking at 6:50pm.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting to think the El Cid to look like.  The building itself was built around 1900 by D.W. Griffith and was used to screen the now famous movie, “Birth of a Nation” back in 1915.  In 1950 the building was converted into a mini theater and was know to be a local hangout for stars at the time.

In 1961, the building was converted once again, this time as the ‘El Cid’ restaurant, and made to look like a replica of a 16^th century Spanish tavern.  There have been a few ‘minor’ cosmetic changes over the years I imagine, but for the most part the building itself looks somewhat dated.  That’s not necessarily bad, mind you; it has an intimate and somewhat charming setting and retains a certain Spanish aesthetic one might recognize from a 1970’s Spanish villa.

The walls are a faded white adobe stucco with dated cracks here and there accented with faded red brick and large wood beams.  As you make your way through the sidewalk main entrance you immediately wind down a steep concrete and brick path surrounded by greenery and flowers with irregular steps, (ladies be careful with high heels) until you arrive at a lower patio veranda. 

The patio area has both a few booths lining the outside walls and free standing tables located in the center.  There are free standing space heaters strewn about and a small outside bar that serves various domestic and imported (mainly Mexican) beers and of course cocktails.

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Monica and I located our party in a booth at the far end of the patio and enjoyed a couple of cocktails with everyone.  We also posed for a few pictures prior to be seated inside and enjoyed the last remnants of the western setting sun in the open air.  Prices for drinks were a tad hefty.  My Jack on the rocks was $9, and Monica’s Crown on the rock was $10, and these weren’t huge glasses.  Perhaps just a shot, maybe slightly more, poured over ice into a lowball glass.  The girls said the mojito’s were pretty good and Shea was enjoying some fruity looking martini.

At approximately 7:00pm we were asked to line up to be seated at our dinner table.  After a brief wait outside we were led inside down a short and low ceiling hallway to the main dinner floor.  Luckily we scored a nice table right up front next to the raised stage.

Looking about the room, everyone is seated at long tables and surrounded by typical Spanish decorations including the obligatory velvet bull-fighting poster and faux balcony windows lined in ornate rod iron fixtures.  It was a tad dim in the room with stage lighting fixtures overhead.  With everyone seated inside, (I’d guestimate about 75 people or more are here for the show) it was a bit cozy, but the aesthetics lent an air of authenticity.  Restrooms are located in the back and are small.  Despite it’s charm the restaurant does feel a bit dated and could use a fresh coat of paint, a little dusting here and there, and a few minor repairs.

Our tickets included a three course meal (soup, salad, & main dish).  The soup was delicious and reminded me of a Spanish interpretation of Miso soup.  It was a thicker, creamy broth with a light mixture of fresh vegetables.  I really enjoyed it as it had a rich, yet light flavor.  It had the texture of a bisque and a very unique flavor.  Following the soup, the second course consisted of a garden side salad with raspberry vinaigrette.  All in all, it was a typical salad, nothing special but at least it was fresh. 

Since we all considered this evening a treat and we all arrived on an empty stomach, of course we opted to purchase some additional appetizers, or ‘tapas’, as they are known in Spanish.

The Tapas were very good.  In addition to standard chips and a hearty and spicy salsa our table also ordered the following: fried calamari rings (served with lemon wedges), crab stuffed mushroom caps (with a lobster cream sauce), fresh ceviche, and fried manchego cheese (served with pesto sauce).  I can tell you everything was good, but the stand out item was the manchego cheese, well, more so the fresh pesto sauce.  That pesto was da bomb!  Everyone really enjoyed that, but we all agreed that all of our selections were good.  On average, the tapas range between $8 – $11, except the chips and salsa ($4), although I’ve been to other Spanish restaurants where the tapas were a bit more unique and felt more original than the offerings here at El Cid.

The actual main dish was next and as stand alone items they range from $15 to $20, unless you get the paella, (made for two) and has a price $35.  The one thing I didn’t understand is that if you chose to have a single serving of the Paella, they charge an additional $10!!  That seems pretty extreme since paella is just a rice dish to begin with, so why the need to charge $10 more for half a portion makes no sense to me.

Flamenco Exceprt: Part I

To be continued…..

This morning when I first got up I decided I was going to be somewhat proactive today and do some ‘Jayson’ chores about the house.  In addition to do some laundry, watering plants, sweeping the garage, taking the car in for an oil change, I decided I’d take the time to build the free smoker my wife graciously gave me as her 10 year work anniversary present.

Armed with a bloody Mary in one hand, screw driver in the other, and a mix CD of dance trax pumping from my garage stereo, I finally broke out the ‘smoker’ box that has been sitting in my garage for the last few weeks and decided to assemble it.  It turns out that the time we got was in-fact NOT the Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker we thought was listed in the catalog, but the lower-end Brinkmann 810-5301-6 Smoke ‘N Grill charcoal smoker.  It actually retails for about $69 and is made in China, which is quite apparent when you start your initial assembly.  The issue straight out if the box is that you can tell that quality control is a low priority with Brinkmann, or at least this model.  But then again, it was free to us, so it all depends on how much you really want to complain.

Straight out of the box, here are some of the issues I came across:

1. Main kettle drum was slightly damaged on bottom rim.  Not a deal breaker, but a minor dent was disheartening for a brand new grill.
2. Top kettle paint job was badly scuffed.  Yeah, right out of the box there was some major scuff and scratch marks to the black enamel paint job.
3. Weld points on the actual chrome-plated grill surface were loose.  On one of the 2 enclosed grill surfaces, I noticed that a few weld points were in fact not secured properly.
4. Drill holes were off-kilter.  On some, (not all), of the pre drilled holes where the handles are to be attached, the holes were not aligned properly.  After some minor bending of the handles, I was able to secure the handles as instructed, but they should not have been as difficult as they were.
5. Kettle was not perfectly round.  This is an issue if you want the top kettle drum to fit on body correctly.  Since the body was ‘slightly’ oval instead of round, (as it should have been), it took some additional bending and compression my end to get it to the proper shape.
6. Finally, the sheet metal door that allows access to the front of smoker to add additional charcoal was also bent.  Thankfully, it is thin enough where I could bend this back into shape by hand, but overall, very dissapointing construction for an out of the box product. 

All these items could be fixed easily and shouldn’t affect the overall process of grilling and smoking, but that’s not really the point.  Free or not, when I buy a factory sealed product, I expect it to be as close to 100% mint as possible.  In this case, this ‘freebie’ felt as if it were perhaps a clearance item and no wonder it was given away free to my wife.  I’d say it was closer to 75%-80% condition out of box.

Assembly was fairly easy, even with the re-bending of some of the sheet metal I had to do.  The few other issues I noted are as such: A) The legs are a bit short.  I wish they were slightly sturdier and longer.  B) Thermometer is a very cheap model that indicates ‘warm, ideal, hot’ as opposed to actual degrees.  When cooking a brisket, pork, or chicken, you may definitely want to invest in a separate meat thermometer as the included one will be hard for anyone to tell what the actual maintained temperature is.  C) The included charcoal and water basin plates could fit a tad better as well.  They are exactly the same parts used internally, but how they rest on the internal clips is a little shaky.  A handy person with a drill and some engineering or shop experience may want to employ a little additional efforts and modifications to help secure these items prior to use as this may be a recipe for errors down the line.

Speaking of modification, I came across the following website in which this gentleman vastly improves his own Brinkmann smoker.  Using just a few of his ideas may vastly improve your own cooking experience, and over time I think I will introduce his mods on a more accurate thermometer, gasket, and internal grills surface security.  Check it out here.

So my initial score would be a 2.5 on a scale of 5.  Could be much better, could be much worse, so I guess I gave it a half point for being ‘free’ in my case, otherwise the construction seems a bit subpar for a $70 product…and that’s Amazon’s price mind you.  It may actually be more at BBQ shops or other online grill stores, so this is for sure a ‘budget’ item.  There are higher qulaity smokers out there, but of course expect to start shelling out $100+ at that point.

So once completed, according to the instructions, you should initially cure your smoker to help burn off any excess factory paint inside and help resist and prevent future rusting.  I did this by removing the internal charcoal pan and grill grates and spraying the inside with PAM grill spray.  After a liberal coating inside, I began to start a few pounds of regular Kingsford charcoal in a standard chimney starter.  You can find generic versions of these as low as $10 bucks at most hardware stores.  Anything more than $17 maybe a rip off and I don’t think the higher end ones are all that much better than the $10 ones.

Once I had the charcoal started, I let it burn for approx 15-20 minutes within the starter before pouring it directly into the smokers charcoal pan.  Allowing the 15-20 minute burn allows for any fuel on the charcoal to dissipate for an overall cleaner tastes in your food (no gas taste).  Also, it allows for all the charcoal to get started evenly and reach a more consistent temperature.  When the charcoal turns from black to an ash gray, its ready.

Now that the charcoal is in the smoker, go ahead and put the lid on top.  Within 5 – 7 minutes or so, you should see the thermometer reach  the ‘ideal’ reading.  Go ahead and let the smoker cure for a minimum of two hours.  If you note that the dial begins to dip in the first 45 minutes to an hour, go ahead, open the door, and add some more charcoal briquettes.  But after 1.5 hours, no need to add anything else.  Let it burn through as is and make sure it cools q100% before removing spent charcoal.  At this point your initial curing should be complete and your ready to start your real first smoked effort.

During the curing stage, I went to Lowe’s and bought myself a bag of hardwood hickory charcoal.  It’s not that expensive, about $7.50 for a regular size bag.  Just remember that it takes less hardwood charcoal than standard coal briquettes to maintain the same temperature and they also burn longer.  Follow instructions on the bag and you should be able to make it last longer than standard OTC charcoal everyone else uses at their beach BBQ’s.   Not to mention you’re getting these because the idea is that you actually want to ‘smoke’ your meat.  Smoking is all about low temperatures, maintaining that temperature, and long times.  We aren’t grilling hamburgers of chicken breasts here.  No we are smoking for generally 8 or more hours depending on the cut of meat.  A 10 lb brisket will smoke easily for 10-12 hours, so we’re in it for the long haul.

Not to long ago I had the opportunity to revisit a long forgotten dining treasure in south San Clemente, CA.  My good friend Brett came down from Idaho a few weeks back to visit for a few days, and one of his goals was to check off a few of his favorite eateries that he doesn’t get to enjoy anymore since moving away from the area years ago. 

In addition to the mandatory stop at In ‘N Out Burgers, he also wanted to hit up the original Pedro’s Tacos for a carne asada burrito, cheese quesadilla and taco and take it down to the San Clemente pier for a surf side picnic lunch.  It was a perfect day to do so and we made our way with our to-go bag and got a beach side table and watched the waves roll in late afternoon surrounded by local surfers and other beach goers.

I totally forgot how deliciously good Pedro’s is for a small hole-in-the-wall joint, and once again proves that sometimes simplicity often makes for the best meals. 

The original Pedro’s opened in south San Clement back in 1986 and became a hit with the local surf community and high school students for being the first fish taco stand in the area and having a relatively inexpensive menu.  Like wildfire, it gained in popularity mostly by word of mouth, a no frills menu, and accessibility to the community.  It’s one of those local legend stories that people outside of Orange County may not have heard of, but everyone else in the area will make a pilgrimage to Pedro’s sooner or later.  Over the years they’ve been able to open sites in north San Clemente, Fallbrook and more recently Oceanside.

Simple Menu = Simply Great

This past weekend as Monica and I were coming back to from a day down in Del Mar, I decided to take her to the original for her very first Pedro’s experience.  The place has a lot of charm as it is appears to once have been an actual home there on PCH built in the 50’s that was converted to a restaurant in the mid 80’s.  What was once the front yard is now adorned with a handful of small picnic tables, the backyard a parking lot, and a bedroom now a drive-thru.  There is no indoor seating, just a walk up order and pick-up window.  It’s fun to sit down at one of these tables and in the distance see the Pacific Ocean, especially at sunset in the summer.

Like I said, it’s a no-frills menu.  You can get items a-la-carte or a simple combo plate which includes rice and beans.  The beans and rice aren’t much to shout about, the rice is just traditional Spanish rice.  It’s not good, but it’s not bad either.  It’s what you’d expect fast food Spanish rice to taste like.  Same for the refried beans, although I tend to think they are a bit soupy at times.  But that’s not why you go.  Most people go for the simple fried fish taco’s, or their famous rolled taco’s topped with guacamole.

The quesadillas are old school.  Just cheddar cheese in a large flour tortilla, grilled and folded up in the shape of a square.  You can also get chicken and carne asada quesadillas as well, but I’d wager that the plain cheddar is the gold standard there.

Additionally, they serve traditional tacos and burritos as well, along with veggie, potato, and shrimp variations (although sometimes the carne tacos need to be drained a little better before being placed in the tortilla).  Pedro’s also boasts about a dozen breakfast burritos including steak & egg, chorizo, ham, beans, bacon, etc., and all the combinations thereof all served up to 10:00am.

But by far, if you are going to stop by you cannot go wrong with carne asada burrito.  For just under $4, you cannot get a more satisfying and savory burrito to tide you over at any time.  I don’t know what they marinate their steak in, but it has the very addictive slightly, yet noticeable salty component to it that just makes you salivate for just one more bite.  It’s a flour tortilla stuffed with meat, beans, cheese, guacamole and you must have the jalapeño salsa.  I cannot tell you how many people ask for extra jalapeno salsa.  Sure, it’s just in small clear packets, the kind most people tear open with their teeth and forefinger, but it is just perfect with just about anything on the menu.

So for a total of just under $15 we both had our own combo plates, a cheese quesadilla, and drinks.  You can’t go wrong at Pedro’s, it a little slice of hometown goodness that just can’t be replicated anywhere else.  While it is far from a 5 star experience, you need to keep in the mind it is just a hole-in-the-wall, cheap, and limited….but it always has a steady stream of foodies either lined up at the window or waiting in the drive-thru, so that has to tell you something.  Oh, and don’t forget the salsa packets!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the Huck Finn Jubilee out at Mojave Narrow’s Campground in Victorville, CA.  It was myself, my wife, my good friend Brian and his fiancee, Shea.  I plan on posting some future installments here about the jubilee itself, but there was one small thing I wanted to get out of the way first, the food at Vittle Village.

Now to our overall disapointment, there was absolutely no beer to be found at any of the vendor booths.  That makes one heck of a long day to be sitting out at a beautiful campground, listening to various bands based on early Americana bluegrass and country, with the smell of BBQ in the air with no way to purchase any beer.  There seems to be a lack of verifiable information on whether it was sold or not in the past.  Depending on who I spoke to in my desperate search for amber nectar, I was was pretty much told down the middle there was/wasn’t any beer the year before.

In the hopes of having some really good country inspired food, I had failed to eat breakfast that morning running on only about three cups of coffee until we made our way to the ‘foodie’ area of the fair at around 1pm.  Sadly to say the options were a tad limited.  If I can recall correctly there was on corndog/hotdog stand, one funnel cake vendor, one bratwurst/sausage kiosk, a tent that sold roasted corn on the cob, and another tent that had some plates of BBQ chicken and ribs.  The one that caught my eye was Ptrains BBQ which emphasized hot wings and a wood smoked BBQ chicken pizza.  Each vendor sold cans of soda or bottled water although there were two specialty drink places: one that sold either fresh lemonade or strawberry lemonade, and the other  homemade craft soda’s such as rootbeer and cream soda among some of their offerings.

I gravitated towards Ptrains because of the very large custom made BBQ pit shaped like an 1850′s era style steam train engine, and of course the smell of the wood laden fire.  In addition to my fondness of BBQ and cooking, I also enjoy model railroading, so the chance to learn more about this epic one-of-a-kind custom train pit and the sampling of some good ‘ole BBQ seemed perfect for me.

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Ptrains is a family run business based out of Rancho Cucamonga, CA.  You can go to their site and read the family story about Ptrains all there.  By looking at their schedule, it appears they travel to various events all over the place with pit in tow.  I can tell you that the whole family seemed very genuine and nice.  I had a chance to talk to one of the daughters who was overseeing the wings being cooked and she was very pleasant and was happy to share with me the story of the train.  The train itself happens to be a relatively new addition, being only a few months old and was custom built by a gentlemen in Houston, TX.   The man who built it (name escapes me right now) has built other well known grills including the famous Six-Gun Grill, and took so much pride in this train creation decided to drive it out himself to deliver it to the client only a few weeks back.  The Ptrain pit cost roughly $50K and duplicates steam era sound effects as well.

I’m not exactly sure what they offer to grill on the circuit, but on the menu today was only the pizza and chicken wings.  I hope in the future if I run into Ptrains again, they may offer up some brisket, ribs, or pork items.

Anyway, my buddy Brian had the wings and offered me one, but I declined.  I’m sorry that I did in retrospect because I would have liked to have included that experience here as well, but I can tell you Brian said he enjoyed his and they had a pleasant glaze and wasn’t too spicy.

I myself decided to try the wood fired bbq chicken pizza.  I can tell you it had a lot of potential, but just wasn’t there.  It wasn’t the taste per-se because Ptrains ketchup based bbq sauce is indeed mighty tasty (although not too spicy), but the execution of the actual pizza was a tad off.  First, even though the wood smoking induces a mouth watering aroma to the pizza, the crust itself wasn’t completely done.  It wasn’t as crisp as I would have liked it to be and a tad doughy in parts, as if it wasn’t cooked all the way through.  It probably could have stood a few more minutes on the grill to firm up a bit more.  Secondly, it was a bit over-sauced in the BBQ department.  I’m not exactly sure if they were trying to highlight the chicken or the sauce, but it came across as little heavy on the sauce.  Maybe because it was their first time here and it was a busy part of the day or they are still working the kinks out in the recipes, but I could have used a bit less sauce and a bit more chicken.  That being said, it wasn’t bad, but definetly room for improvement.

It’s been a few months now since each of these handheld ‘shoot and share’ flash camcorders have been released to the consuming public with plenty of both professional reviews written and video examples available to compare out on YouTube.

Unfortunately, I still cannot decide between the Sony PM5 or Kodak Zx3 to purchase for myself and I have never agonized so much over such a simplistic decision.  It’s not like I’m buying a new car or house.  We are only talking about a sub $175 camera.

From a previous posting I gave what I call a half-assed review on my brief experience with the Playsport and that I was somewhat impressed.  Mind you, I didn’t have a chance to shoot under water (it’s waterproof up to 10 feet), or accidentally drop it (it has a rugged exterior), or do any advanced features such as using the HDMI port.

I haven’t had any luck playing with the Sony PM5 at all.  All the Best Buy’s in my area only seem to have it listed on their websites but not in their stores.  The one I did get to see in person at a local MicroCenter didn’t have the cables or batteries to power it on, so I couldn’t do anything with it other than hold it.

The pricing for both is about a $20 dollar difference.  The Playsport generally retails for $149 (sans SD memory) and the PM5 is $169 (sans memory as well).  Depending on the day of the week, or on pure chance, I have seen both ‘unofficially’ listed cheaper at various websites, especially the PM5.  It’s weird to me that model color seems to effect the price as well, especially amongst the Sony.  Sony models in white and pink seem to be listed cheaper as they are the more unpopular of the flavors.  Not sure why, and I really don’t care if I hold a pink one or a blue one.  I’ve seen the pink one as cheap as $137 online, then jump back up in price the next day,  Same with the white model listing at $145 one day and then back up the next.  The Playsport fluctuates on occasion as well.  I’ve seen a white Zx3 for as low as $127.  Unfortunately none of the major online or retail stores had discounted either one over Memorial Day weekend.  I was fully prepared to commit to one or the other if there was a decent sale this past weekend, but alas, there wasn’t.

Kodak Playsport

I need to make a decision soon, as I could have used one this last weekend when I went to Travel Town up in Los Angeles.  I ended up using the video option on my Motorola Droid phone which worked just fine, but kind of a hassle to get the video off the phone, convert it, and then do some editing before I posted to YouTube (I’ll have those up shortly in an upcoming post so you can see).  I also want to use it for both some BBQ’ing vodcasts and model train builds I’m doing as another hobby.

In examining their features, both have some solid pro’s….and some solid con’s.  It’s a wash to me, but for some reason I keep drifting back to the Bloggie PM5, but just by a hair.  If I can’t find a good deal in the next few days online or in person for the PM5, I may just opt to go with the Playsport anyway, and I won’t be bummed.  See, between my wife and I, and some various engagements coming up with my friends and this very website, I’m finding more and more reasons to buy one sooner than later.  As a matter fact, we are planning to go to Victorville in about 2 weeks time for a Bluegrass and Country festival and I’d love to shoot some content.  I also have a friend coming in town next week, and Id like to use it for some goofing around we’ll be doing ourselves.

So, in no particular order, here we go again:

• Kodak has an edge in both being waterproof and more rugged body. Kodak +1.5 (I have a tendency to drop shit…a lot)
• Kodak has an HDMI port: Kodak +.5 although I doubt I’d use this feature, thus the 1/2 point.
• Both on have built in video editing software that self installs to a PC and both suck.: wash
• Sony has built in USB arm, whereas Kodak needs an additional cable.: Sony +.5
• Sony has a 270 degrees swivel lens for self shooting and protection.: Sony +1
• Both have a 5MP camera, neither have a Macro lens or flash.: wash
• Sony has a ‘slightly’ larger LCD screen: Sony +.5
• Kodak LCD has special ‘glare feature’ saturation filter: Kodak +.5
• Both have 4x digital zoom controls: wash
• Kodak has 1.5 hr typical battery life whereas Sony has 1 hr: Although this data is unconfirmed and a bot sketchy at best. Pricing out additional batteries (you’ll need them for long weekends) shows that the Kodak brand tend to be cheaper.  Kodak +.5
• Sony can use both SD cards (class 4) or Memory Dual Stick Pro: Sony +.5
• Both suck in low light conditions: wash
• Kodak takes ‘slightly better’ stand alone pics due to Sony’s delay between pressing the button and shot being taken.: Kodak +.25
• Kodak files don’t like MAC (I could care less), but Sony mounts three (3) drives when plugged into PC and doesn’t play with new Win 7 without converting the files, meaning extra steps if I move off of Win XP. Kodak: +.5
• In the audio tests I have heard, I think the Sony sounds better.  Both have mono mic’s, and neither has an external mic jack.  Sony: +.5 for personal taste.
• In the video tests I have seen, I also think the Sony has a richer and more saturated color and also sharper picture compared to the Kodak.: Sony +1
• Model color palette.  Kodak has 3 colors to choose from where as Sony has 4.  I could care less.: wash.
• Both shoot in 4 different quality modes: 1080p, 720 & 480 @ 30fps, and also 720 @ 60fps.: wash.
• While both have some internal memory, neither are enough to take anything credible, so expect to buy additional class 4 SD memory for both.: wash
• Kodak is $20 cheaper on all accounts: Kodak +1

So based on my completely unscientific rating system the final tally is: Kodak = 5.25, Sony = 4.  Actually that is quite surprising for me and this has been a real eye-opener.  It’s possible that in the long run the Kodak may be slightly easier to run in terms of video conversion to .WMV and cheaper batteries.  While I may never use the waterproof feature, I’m glad it’s there as friends may accidentally spill drinks on it and I won’t be afraid to use in the rain.  I also have a tendency to drop objects, so the rugged casing may be a bonus in my favor and of course the base cost makes it slightly more attractive as well.  I may miss Sony’s superior color and sound and slightly larger screen offerings though, but I now think I’m leaning towards the Kodak.

Taking all this into account, I may now be actually be leaning towards buying a Kodak Playsport.  Tell me what you think below in the comments.  I’ll hopefully purchase something by the end of this week.

Quinn's

I don’t usually do a lot of restaraunt reviews, but I thought I’d take the time to tell you about a little place in Old Town Tustin, CA that I discovered on my own a few weeks back.  Plus it doesn’t hurt to get a little extra content and broaden my wings here once in a while, especially when it’s an interesting place and compliments my own website.

Quinn’s Old Town Grill is located at 405 El Camino Real in the historical district of Tustin, CA (see map below).  Old Town Tustin is a few square blocks of early Californian living centered around restored buildings dating back to the 1880′s.  I won’t bore you with all the details, but if you really want to learn more about some of the old town highlights and points of interest on your own, go ahead and click here.  In my own personal experience, you can cover the district in just a couple of hours on foot, so I suppose it could make for a decent afternoon discovery and adventure walk on a nice afternoon.

Anyway, Quinn’s opened up in the heart of old town back in 2007, although the building has been around quite a while longer.  From the outside one would suspect it’s an Irish pub, with its green awnings and beer signs indicating Guiness and Harp are sold there.  But it’s not your typical Irish pub with dartboards and loud rock/Celtic music.  In fact, it’s kind of a throwback to earlier times with decor that looks like it was held over from a cozy bistro circa 1950, complete with period black and white photography of the area.  Inside you’ll find the rustic brick walls, large oak booths, traditional dining tables and a short wall that can seat approx. 15 patrons at the bar alone.

They have daily lunch and dinner specials, and of course have special events centered around holidays such as Mother’s Day, March Madness, Easter and of course St. Patrick’s Day (just to name a few).   In addition to the beers on tap and Guniess and Harp I mentioned earlier, they also serve wine and have happy hour daily from 3pm to 6pm, and Irish Coffee is always $4.95.  On Tuesday evening they also have table to table roaming magician (which will explain the playing cards tacked all over the ceiling).

It’s very relaxing inside and dress is casual, although during lunch hour you’ll see people in business attire from the surrounding area.  On the few occasions I have been there the staff have all been very friendly and personable.  Often the bartender will also serve as a waiter to some of the closer tables and each time they have engaged either me or someone in my party to friendly conversation.

The variety of food is decent and not limited to Irish fare, although if you are looking for that, there are somewhat re-interpreted classics there.  For instance, I had Shepard’s Pie the first time I was there and it was more like a hearty stew topped with mashed potatoes than the more traditional means.  The Shepard’s Pie was good, with fresh ingredients, distinctive lamb, and was served piping hot…however, my carrots weren’t fully cooked that time and were a bit on the raw side, but that was my only real complaint.

The sandwiches are a good portion and fresh as well.  My friend Brian recently tried the Reuben and said it was one of the best, if not the best, Reuben he has ever had.  It did look good and the meat was piled on.  I myself tried The Royal Dublin, a chicken salad like concoction with fresh apples, pistachios and golden raisins blended in on squaw bread.  Served with a little hot mustard on the side (had to have horseradish on it), it was very fresh and good as well.  Brian also tried the soup of the day which was a fish medley that he said was enjoyable as well.  It had fresh prawns, and scrod in it as well as many other ingredients.  Who uses scrod these days?  I just like saying ‘scrod’.  Scrod.  There, I got it out of my system.

Reuben *pic taken by Brian

They have a decent variety of sides as well, including fresh fruit salad (it was fresh), shoestring fries, and salad.  I was disappointed with the steak fries.  They weren’t anything special or seasoned, they just seemed like typical frozen fries.

Of course they have various other foods including Napa chicken, Sand Dabs, Halibut fish & chips, prime rib, and plenty of steak cuts, chops and other selections.  I can’t really do it justice here, so I recommend going to their website

If I were to make one complaint, it would have to be about the appetizers.  They just seem too standard and run of the mill for the rest of the menu, and somewhat pricey for appetizers.  Sure, they are discounted during happy hour and a few of them might seem fine at home, but only at the bar as finger food.  While at the end of the day, it is a just a bistro with an air of Irish flair to it, but just seems odd to have Thai chicken skewers and shrimp won ton present.  I suppose the fresh oysters on the half shell and jumbo shrimp ($ .75 ea. happy hour) may make up for it though.

I also judge places on their ice tea.  A lot of places say they have fresh ice tea, but in reality if the tea is served cloudy it really isn’t fresh.  Also I can always tell if it is from a syrup, concentrate, cheap tea powder, or stored in a metal or glass decanter.  While Quinn’s ice tea isn’t the best I’ve ever had (fresh filtered black Ceylon leaves), it is definitely fresh (i.e. clear) and superior to most establishments.  Always a good sign in my book.

Overall I’m kinda struggling on how to fairly score the place and on what scale.  Taking all things into consideration; friendliness of staff, decor, atmosphere, main dishes and selection, portion size, appetizers and sides, freshness, and bang for your buck I’d think Quinn’s Old Town Grill is a 3.75 out of 5, but easily one of the spotlights in Old Town Tustin.

Since I still have yet to decide on what flash-media camcorder to buy, I am fortunate enough to have my friend Brian lend me his Kodak Playsport this last week for a test drive.  For those that don’t know what flash-corders are, they are basically pocket sized video recorders that instead of using tape or CD media, save the files digitally to internal flash or SD cards.

They generally retail for sub $200 and target people on the go who who want to record video clips or still pictures on the go without lugging around a larger, more professional camera or camcorder.  They aren’t meant to make you the next Cecil Demille, but for those that like to share memories via FaceBook, YouTube, smaller emails and the like.  Features are generally limited and is really meant to do one-touch recording on the fly.  Think social sharing teens, soccer moms, and dads on the hunting trip.  If you understand this, then you should know what to expect and what not to.

The big three are considered to be Kodak, Sony, and Cisco.  All the others are poor imitators, and you get what you pay for, so don’t expect superior quality in both recordings or durability if you go with one of the off-name brands.  Out of the gate, I eliminate all the Cisco ‘Flip’ brands because of the cost factor.  There is nothing that the Cisco ones do any better than the Kodak or Sony models other than cost more.  They may have made it virtually ‘idiot proof’, but with the various Flips, you sacrifice pure 1080p HD recordings and as a reward for stripping down to the most basic features, you actually pay more.  That being said, many people do like their Flips for their simplicity, and no one can argue their marketing machine made a splash as the Flip Mino and new HD Slyde are practically household vernacular…but that doesn’t make them the best.

I’m torn between the lower end Sony Bloggie and new Kodak Playsport.  Both have pros and cons that on paper seem to cancel each other out.  From what I have read the Bloggie has superior video qulaity whereas the Playsport has better audio pickup.  Both have 4 recording settings that are identical, have zoom features, have editing software, have the ability to take 5 megapixel still shots.  Bloggie has a built in USB connection, whereas the Kodak uses a cable.  Kodak is roughly $40 buck cheaper and is has one additional feature that extreme outdoors people may indeed like…it is waterproof up to 10 feet under water making it ideal for the beach, skiing trips, and backyard pool parties.

So now that you get the idea, here are my preliminary findings on the Kodak Playsport:

1) Lowlight conditions do not favor this camera.  We used it once at night in my backyard with the only light source being some tiki torches, bleed over light from the kitchen to the backyard, and some decorative overhead hanging lights.  The Kodak did not fair very well.  I suspect the Sony may not do much better as neither has a flash or floodlight function.  Perhaps too much a battery drain?

2) However filming at dusk seemed to be okay.  The raw format for the Playsport is .MOV files, friendly to Apple and Quicktime applications.  The following video was taken at the San Clemente, CA pier this past Sunday at roughly 6:30pm.  I think the colors turned out pretty well, and the raw playback footage on my PC (prior to YouTube uploading and conversion) was nice, albeit it somewhat shaky (more on that in a second).

3) Now the shakiness.  You’ll note that even with EIS turned on, it stills seems very jerky even though my panning was fairly smooth.  I have heard this from other people as well and that the Sony Bloggie may indeed do a better job at image stabilization.

4) Here is the second video taken just a bit later.  Again, looks good other than a bit shaky:

Miscellaneous stuff: comes with a wrist strap and a very small and somewhat generic manual.  Visiting the Kodak support page, I noticed that a new firmware patch was released in March of this year, shortly after the the Playsport went public.  Too bad I couldn’t find anything at the Kodak webpage that informs users what the firmware upgrade actually does, but here’s to hoping it addresses the EIS and the reported false battery charged readings.  That is, some people are stating that the battery doesn’t seem to charge 100%, or even if the indicator does register that the internal battery is 100%, only minutes after use, the icon shows it’s already 25% spent which may make some users wary how the long the battery life actually is.

The nice thing was that that plugging in the Playsport to my PC via a USB cable, Windows XP detected it immediately and there was no additional software I needed to install.  I was able to go in to the media storage and quickly drag and drop the .MOV files over to my PC.  That was pretty seemless.  I did not have a chance thus far to play with the actual camera for taking still shots, nor did I use the included editing software that is built in to the Playsport to alter my videos.

Now I also created a YuoTube account and uploaded both movie’s there as you see embedded above.  One thing I did note…the raw .MOV files are much sharper than the YouTube videos you see here.  I assume YouTube has some type of conversion and compression process and in the end you may notice a bit more pixelation and muted colors.  That could be because YouTube uses the .FLV format or something else.

I received a pleasant surprise today; I got a call from my good friend Brian who wanted to see if I was up to meeting him for lunch since he was going to be in the area.  Knowing that the only thing I had with me today was a microwaveable cup of soup and a very generic roast beef sandwhich I made myself this morning, there was really no arm twisting involved.

We agreed to meet at Beach Pit BBQ located in Old Town Tustin.  Years ago the location was known as the Tustin Garage, and as the name suggests, was a place for auto and tractor repair.  Its been since retro-fitted and now sports a restauraunt that’s decked out is something akin to Texan and Route 66 decor on the inside.  The menu is a bit limited in choices for they only really serve ribs, pulled pork, sausage, salads, cornbread and sides, but then again, it isn’t meant to be a huge dinner place.

It’s fairly sizeable inside and open.  They have a small bar with a few flat panel televisions that usually are tuned to a sporting events.  It’s basically a beer bar only, with a few domestics in either bottles or cans, but also some craft beers on tap.  Today we both partook in a pint of Karl Strauss amber lager.  I normally would never drink during the work day, and haven’t in many years, but when the boss is away…..Anyway, the lager was very nice and somewhat light tasting with no bitter aftertaste.  It clocks in at 4.2% as well.  For those that are interested, they do indeed serve a standard fare in wine.

My lunch was the special: Grilled cheese sandwhich with pulled pork on Texas toast.  It comes with a side of seasoned fries for $6.95.  It was pretty darn good, and don’t think I didn’t slather on a little spicy BBQ sauce to boot.

Brian had a small platter of ribs, and although they counted five, they were huge.  He only actually ate four.  We also shared a basket of fried dill pickles.  He took the rest home with him with the left over rib.  Now I’ve had better fried dill pickles elsewhere, but these weren’t bad, they were actually just right and hit the spot.  They come served with a side of ranch.

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They have all the traditional BBQ sides, including cole slaw, mac ‘n cheese, baked beans, corn on the cob, potator salad and blueberry cornbread to name a few.  Deserts include ice cream sundae’s and banana pudding.   Additionally they have fried okra bits, sweet potato fries, pulled chicken, and more.

It’s a decent place for lunch with the guys, having a beer after work, or maybe a casual meal with the family.  They have four locations in So. California I’m aware of and its a fine little place.  Now, is it 100% lip licking traditional BBQ?  Not really, there are other venues like Bad to the Bone (SJC) and even Lucille’s I personally think is better, but overall, if you’re looking for a simplistic BBQ experience then Beach Pit is just fine.  I’d give it 3.5/5 stars, and 1/2 of those stars is based on teh decor, otherwise I’d give this place a 3/5.

The last two Friday’s in a row, (and could tonight be the third?), I have found myself at a local water hole in RSM known as Amazing Grapes.  It’s a nice little place if you’re into wine tastings, but my friends and I discovered they have a nice little hand crafted brew section with a few fancy imports and domestics.

Best Extra Stout

Personally, I’m not really a wine person, or at least a pretentious wine snob who swirls a glass and stares at the ‘legs’ as they drizzle slowly downward as they cling to the glass.  I like a nice Pinot Grigio, an occasional Italian red, or even a mellow merlot.  But I don’t know enough to tell you the difference between a $8.99 bottle and a $49 bottle.  I do like my champagne though, and can tell a cheap bottle from a more mainstream and classy one.

But that’s not why my friends Jon, Joe, Chip, Ryan, Paul, and I go there.  No, like I said we can get a really good microbrew in this non-bar setting without drunken a-holes around, or a myriad of plasma flat panels all competing to grab your ear with the various sports highlights and a stereo system that only plays Brown Eyed Girl ad-nauseum.

One beer that I have discovered there is a stout from an Australian brewer, Coopers.  It’s called ‘Best Extra Stout’ and clocks in at 6.3% alc/vol.  It’s has a very robust and hearty flavor, but especially very smooth and dare I say creamy.  I enjoy stouts a lot, from Guinness to the various oatmeal varietals as well, and I must say this Cooper’s is one of my news favorites.  Has a very distinct smokey yet chocolaty taste.

If you get a chance, check it out.