Downloadable game review: Yummy Drink Factory, by Amaranth Games – Part 2

Yummy Drink Factory is a cartoonish game that puts the player into the awkward position of a drink shop owner. In the beginning of the game you get lost while driving in your car and you stumble upon a dark forest where there is an odd looking drink shop. You go inside and find an old woman there who insults you and you insult her back through a series of comic book style pop up balloons. After not tipping the old hag you are transported to a fairy world where you have to travel around and serve drinks to the fairies who live there as a punishment for being so rude to the old hag. The old woman shows you the basics of what you need to do and then disappears with a flash of light and your character is left to fend for herself.

As stated the game play is like a story board or comic book that takes you through tutorials. The graphics are decent and there is virtually no moving around, you just click on what you want to do and do it. The point is to memorize a series of recipes and serve them to your patrons in order to be freed from this fairy world. The faster you can serve drinks and accommodate the fairies the more bonuses you get. The recipes start off easy with one to two ingredients and then get more complicated as you progress throughout the game. The music in the game is lacking something and the sound effects in my opinion are boring at best.

Although Yummy Drink Factory is creative in its approach, the game seems stale with the amount of repetition that is involved. There seemed to be no real point to the game except to escape the fairy world prison, which in my opinion is not attractive to most people. Yummy Drink Factory is a game for kid’s age’s six to ten and with that in mind is a good game for kids to play, but for an adult there is really no point to play Yummy Drink Factory.

Nevertheless, I would have to rate this game a 2/5. It’s good to keep small children entertained, but in the end I believe a child still would enjoy playing something else as this game would get very boring very fast. If you have children, download this game and test it out for yourself.

Poetry: Tarot cards

“The Death Card”

His fever for the bottle

A never-ending struggle;

A lust for inebriation

And the world it brings.

Like the Death card

Repeatedly picked

From the Tarot,

A door opens

To another realm -

He takes a step

Further and further

Into the unknown

With each tequila shot.

His soul soars searching,

Longing for home.

Drink recipes: Harvey Wallbanger

The Harvey Wallbanger was first concocted in the 1950s by Donato “Duke” Antone. It was a variation on the well known Screwdriver and is made by taking:

3 parts vodka

1 part Galliano

6 parts orange juice

Take a highball glass and add ice, then pour vodka and orange juice into it mix them together and then float the Galliano on the top.

How the cocktail got its name is a matter of debate. On one side people say that a guy named Harvey existed. He was a surfer who used to patronize the Duke’s Blackwatch Bar, one night after losing an important surfing contest he consoled himself with Duke’s special Screwdrivers and (after a few to many) upon leaving found he kept bumping into walls and furniture. Harvey was given the nickname of Harvey Wallbanger and the drink was also christened.

The other story isn’t as colourful, but instead relates to the Galliano bottle. Because of the shape of the Galliano bottle most bar staff would keep it at the back of the shelf against the wall and when they popped it back it would wobble and bang the wall. The only thing with this story is there’s no mention of the Harvey part, so I’m going to believe in the surfer Harvey’s story.

The Duke was also famous for creating the Godfather and the Rusty Nail and took home the coveted World Champion Mixologist award twice.

Thatsthespirit.com also have a recipe for a Harvey Wallbanger Cake, so for a birthday cake to go with the birthday cocktail or two here’s the recipe:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box vanilla instant pudding

cup oil

4 eggs

cup vodka

cup Galliano

cup orange juice

Mix all of the ingredients and beat for 4 minutes, then pour the batter into a greased and floured cake tin and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. To serve dust with powdered sugar.

However you like your Harvey Wallbangers, in drink or food form, go easy because walls are hard!

San Diego nightlife: Hotspots for singles

In San Diego, some of the very best nightlife, exists in the Pacific Beach area. Known as the place where the party meets the Pacific, the area boasts beachside bars, neighborhood pubs and dance clubs to rival that of any major city in the U.S., with the added allure of a seductive beach locale.

The locals call the area “PB,” which is easy to navigate, with most places well within walking distance, which, depending on how much you like to party, can be a good or bad thing! Most every night of the week, regardless of the time of year, there is something going on in PB.

No matter what time it is, the main attraction will always be the beach, whether you are a local or a visitor. There is plenty of surfing, sunning, beach volleyball and interesting activities including people watching, with rollerbladers, bicyclers and pedestrians along the Strand (or, boardwalk, if you’re an Easterner). It’s hard to compete with the Pacific Ocean!

Accommodations consist of cottages and smaller motels, the advantage of which that there is almost always something available, and affordable, as opposed to the inner city area, where expensive chain hotels abound.

Like any other surfing town, there are plenty of surfers around, which kind of adds to the Moondoggie atmosphere (in fact, there is a bar called just that, in a former surf shop). But dont let the name fool you; it is not as funky as it may sound. With its bar, huge patio and dancing, its probably the most popular sports bar in PB, especially for Monday Night Football.

Lahaina has been a PB beachside institution for over 20 years, located on the beach. Lahaina serves food and drinks, in the bar with wooden outdoor deck.

The Open Bar, across from the Ralph’s shopping plaza, can get crowded on any given afternoon when the sun is out, which sort of adds to the beach bum mentality of days gone by. By day’s end, the crowd seems to disappear to greener pastures, except on Mondays, when folks in the know stay to take advantage of the $2.50 mixed drink special, while the DJ plays a mixture of beach and wanna be hip-hop tunes (he tries).

A great weekend starter bar, is Gringo’s, an upscale Mexican place with the requisite lively Happy Hour. The margaritas are generous, and the almond to-kill-ya (tequila) shots can really sneak up on you.

Reserve Sundays for the Beachcomber, two blocks south of the Mission Beach rollercoaster. Its a good idea to get there early. The crowd is usually a mix of people in all age groups, so no one ever feels out of place (unless you’re out of place in a place like this anyway). However, if you are a bit older, the crowd tends to get younger and younger, so get your groove on before that happens, if that is intimidating to you.

One of PB’s greatest places to go is the Cass Street Bar and Grill, on Cass Street a block from Garnet. The regulars are loyal, in the low-key casual neighborhood bar. It’s good at any time for a quick drink, a small meal (you have to read the wall where the menu is painted), people or sports watching – or playing pool. If you’re single, the best time for this bar is between 8-11.

Christmas 2007: Gift ideas for cocktail lovers

Do the names Pina Colada, Harvey Wallbanger and Raffles Singapore Sling mean anything to you? If yes, you know that we are talking here about Cocktails. Furthermore, if you have a friend or family member that is a lover of these drinks, then you need to read on to discover some of the exciting and unique gifts that you can buy them this Christmas.

Cocktail Accessories

When thinking of Cocktails one of the first gifts that comes to mind will inevitably be the cocktail shaker. However, even this gift can be made a little different. For instance, why not have it personalised with the name of the person you are giving it tooengraced upon it? With different colours available, they can be further personalised by choosing pink for a girl and blue for a boy.

Other cocktail accessories available for the cocktail lover will include the bottle stoppers, spirit measurers and the important cocktail sticks and umbrellas. All of these can be bought to make up those little Christmas stocking extras.

Of course, no Cocktail is complete without the necessary ingredients. An ideal gift would therefore be a hamper filled with a variety of the different drinks that will be needed to allow the cocktail lover to experiment with his or her art on Christmas Day. Do not forget that to add that extra spice to the creations you will also need to include the required fruit.

Cocktail Knowledge

One thing every cocktail lover will want more than anything else is to know how to produce an exquisite cocktail range. To help them achieve this there are numerous Cocktail recipe books on the market, any of which will be a welcomed gift. For the novice Bartending for Dummies’ by Ray Folly could be an ideal choice. Another is the Pink Panther Cocktail Party’ by Adam Riocke. Filled with ideas, recipes and helpful tips, these books will turn the cocktail lover into an expert cocktail maker in a matter of moments.

You could also give a bit of old England to your Cocktail lover with The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock,’ which brings together in one book some of the unique recipes from one of London’s most famous hotels. Imagine your cocktail lover passing across his new concoction to a friend with the comment I learnt this from the Savoy in London’?

Other Cocktail Gifts

If you want to create that special gift for your cocktail lover there are a few ways to achieve this. Take for example clothing. T-shirts and sweaters with their favourite cocktails displayed would be well received. Alternatively, if you are feeling particularly extravagant, why not buy them a special cocktail outfit so that they can really look the part on the day?

Another special gift comes from finding memorabilia from famous cocktail locations of the past, for example the renowned bars and hotels. A mirror with the Raffles hotel, home of the famous Raffles Singapore Slinger or the Savoy cocktail bar is likely to make them the envy of all their friends.

Finally, there is the option of arranging with their favourite cocktail bar to allow the person you are buying for to take lessons from the masters of cocktail mixers. These lessons could include learning all the fabulous tricks cocktail waiters perform as well as getting the mix of contents right.

Since the birth of alcoholic drinks, people have been trying to create weird and wonderful Cocktail experiences that bring give pleasure, excitement and a unique taste to their palettes. This Christmas you have an opportunity of providing the Cocktail lover with another step on their journey to becoming the King or Queen of Cocktails in your circle of family and friends.

Top Fourth of July cocktails – Part 1

The Fourth of July celebrations are as much a family affair as Thanksgiving, so why not give your kids a treat and create cocktails that both the children and the adults can enjoy – with the bonus that no-one need be picked up for drunk driving later in the evening!

Try these three easy cocktails, or should I say mocktails, for your next Fourth of July gathering. Of course, if you want to add alcohol to the adult drinks you can. Suggestions for alcoholic additives are also included – but they taste great without!

BLUE MONSOON

Ingredients:

1 carton pineapple and coconut drink/juice

1 bottle lemonade.

1 bottle blue food colouring.

Method:

In a jug drop about a teaspoon of blue food colouring. Now fill one third of the jug with pineapple and coconut drink and then top up with the lemonade.

Alcoholic version suggestions: add a couple of shots of Malibu or Blue Bols.

BLUSHING BELLE

Ingredients:

1 carton pineapple juice

1 carton orange juice

1 bottle bitter lemon

3 tablespoons grenadine syrup

Method:

In a jug add the grenadine syrup. Fill 1/4 of the jug with orange juice, then top up to 1/2 with the pineapple juice. Fill the remainder of the jug with the bitter lemon.

Alcoholic version suggestions: Add a couple of shots of Galliano or Vodka.

HAWAII DREAM

Ingredients:

1 carton apple, mango and lime juice

1 bottle ginger beer.

Method:

Fill 1/3 of the jug with the apple, mango and lime juice, then top up with the ginger beer.

Alcoholic version suggestions: Add a couple of shots of Vodka.

Assessing the alcohol and drug culture at American colleges and universities

Drinkers Not Thinkers

If you believe the popular’ view of a stereotypical student, a sober student must sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but amid the familiar scenes of pub crawls, alcohol binges and drinking games, there must lay a carefully constructed and probably fragile view that one should maybe, for a while at least, lay off the alcohol’. This is of course quite often the whimsical recoiling of a hung-over delicate individual, reciting these timeless words knowing full well that come dinner time they will once again be lured into a world of lowered inhibitions, relaxation, cheerfulness and, after one too many, a slight quandary with coordination.

A student having a few drinks is by no means a new concept but now the media has taken up the mantle and the debate rages about the future health of a country built around the local watering hole’. The reasons for students drinking more are numerous. Many courses have less tutored time, some courses having as little as 4 hours scheduled time in university per week with the focus being on personal study time’. This leaves (especially in the first year when 40 percent is all that is required and, lets face it, in many cases hoped for) a lot of recreational time which many students use to play pool/drink, go bowling/drink, play football/post-match drink, etc, etc. There is an enormous social pressure to drink, with most social events serving up some opportunity to drink in excess. This puts huge pressure on the average student to follow suit. Indeed going to the cinema is one of the only places where the common student can hope to be in an alcohol free environment and even there I’ve heard of students sneaking in hip flasks for vodka nips’.

Many bars actually cater for the needs of students knowing full well that the majority of people drinking during the week are in fact students. They offer cheap drinks, two for one deals and in some cases, free shots. Most nights during the week a student can drink a silly amount of alcohol, buy some form of takeaway and stumble home all for the reasonable total of around 20.

In my opinion the reasons students and young people in general drink more stems from a holistic depletion of this generation, not in terms of material needs but concerning psychical, mental and spiritual thinking. On the whole we are becoming more and more worldly wise, we do not believe as passionately in God and we do not grow up with basic moral values once taken for granted. We need to find material

Determining the best sports drinks

The following is a detailed review of 7 popular sports drinks, plus a few generic pointers to help you any sports drink you run across.

Way back in 1965 the virtual Stone Ages of sports nutrition a few exercise physiology eggheads at the University of Florida (who probably had money riding on their football team, the Gators) whipped up a secret weapon to help their boys stay hydrated, energized and hitting hard during their grueling, hot games. It was simple reallyjust a bit of sugar, sodium and potassium in water. But science backed it, the Gators loved it, and the team excelled. And so was born the very first sports drink aptly named Gatorade.

While Gatorade hasn’t change much over the past 36 years, the science of sports nutrition hasand along with it the number and diversity of sports drinks. Now there are drinks formulated to meet your pre, during, and post workout needs. My goal is to help you separated the jetsam from the flotsam to explain what to drink when and why in order to maximize your endurance sports performance and recovery.

Unfortunately I don’t have time to cover all of the 100 plus drinks on the market one by one. So before I do a detailed review of 7 popular drinks let me lay out a few generic pointers to help you critique any sports drink you run across. Keep in mind that there are other cool bells and whistles in some of the more cutting edge drinks (that I’ll point out in a bit), but the parameters below are foundational, and should be present in any drink you use for the prescribed purpose.

Use What to look for

Before Endurance Training (BET)

2% to 3% carb concentration to optimize hydration efficiency and top off energy stores.

Low GI, complex carbs (such as Polydextrose) to avoid rebound hypoglycemia during your workout.

Approximately 100 mg of sodium and 40 mg of potassium per 8 ounces to promote rapid absorption of water in the gut and top off electrolytes.

Antioxidants such as beta-carotene, vitamin C and E to prepare the body to handle production of large amounts of free radicals during exercise.

During Endurance Training (DET)

6% to 8% carb concentration to optimize the delivery of carbohydrate energy and water to working muscles.

A mix of complex and simple carbs (such as glucose, fructose and maltodextrin) to provide both quick and longer lasting ready energy sources to best spare glycogen reserves.

Approximately 75 mg of sodium and 25 mg of potassium per 8 ounces

Drink recipes: Cosmopolitan – Part 2

Belonging to all the world; polished; sophisticated; worldly, all embracing. We could also add to that description versatile and limitless, as in the possibilities of what can be done with the Cosmopolitan cocktail.

The Cosmopolitan or Cosmo came to be known by many during the glory day run of the HBO television series, Sex in the City from 1998 to 2004. It was the sophisticated pink cocktail of choice sipped by the character, Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker who in a campy sort of way even went so far as to order a Cosmo at a drive thru burger window in one episode.

Madonna is also given credit for helping the Cosmo “arrive” on the cocktail circuit. The paparazzi photographed a Cosmo in the hands of Madonna at the Rainbow room in 1996 and overnight the drink became a sensation the world over. Bartenders and restaurant managers from as far away as Germany and Australia called the Rainbow Room asking for the recipe. It was then that Dale DeGroff added the finishing touches of Cointreau and a flamed orange peel to the already existent recipe that has become the standard to which all others make their variations.

So where did the Cosmopolitan get its start? Between 1956 and 1970 Ocean Spray advertised a series of drink recipes in their brochures and even on their bottles of juice. One of these drink recipes was the Harpoon. The Harpoon was simply vodka, fresh lime, and a splash of cranberry juice. Later, that drink evolved into what we know as the Cape Codder or Cape Cod. It still has the same ingredients, but in much different proportions with more cranberry and only a splash of lime. One drink built on the next. What happened with the Cosmo is what likely happens with quite a few cocktails. A bartender here or there adds or takes away, gives a drink a twist here and a dash there, and pretty soon, one drink evolves into another drink. HarpoonCape CodderCosmopolitan.

In looking up the Cosmopolitan in several of my trusted cocktail books, not one of them had the exact same measurements as the next. This is not such an unusual find as you may have discovered in the bar books stocked on your own shelves. It is for this very reason that bartenders and drink enthusiasts alike begin tweaking cocktails to their liking. For the purposes of this experiment the basic Cosmopolitan recipe I’ve chosen comes from the Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff.

Cosmopolitan

1-1/2 oz Citron Vodka

1/2 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz

Memoirs: Drinking – Part 1

MY BROTHER: PSYCHIC ENCOUNTERS, VODKA, PIZZA AND MISSING TEETH

My brother and I have been very close since I tried to kill him by buring him in a snowbank when I was eight. We fought on and off for a few years when I was between the ages of nine and eleven because we had rival “gangs” and “forts” in the creek near our house. We reconciled after a few scuffles with the law and several hard knocks and became friends in our mid-twenties. He is two years younger than me and some people saw that we look nothing alike. Others say we look like twins.

He is dark haired and I am blonde. When he’s drunk he gets an accent. I get bitchy and sullen or overly talkative. We both like vodka and judge people easily and secretly (or openly, depending on the circumstance) despise weakness. We are completely loyal and completely selfish. We form our own team. We think we are invincible.

The vodka night happened when I lived adjacent to the bar. Peter was bored so he came to my tiny studio apartment and we killed an 18-pack of Molson and then headed down to the bar to drink shots of Jack with vodka chasers. The whole combination had me a little fuzzy so I don’t exactly remember how we managed to get someone’s pizza (it was delicious) and I don’t excatly recall trying to set my brother up with the barmaid (it would have been fate if she hadn’t been such a bitch). I do remember slamming my head into my door at the top of my apartment and watching my brother fall halfway down the stairs and then laugh himself silly until he tumbled down the rest. We woke up in the morning, me in my bed and him sprawled out on the papasan, feeling like death, but it was a good night. I can tell. Even if I don’t really remember.

My brother broke his tooth on something at a party held by a friend of mine. At that same party I went for a walk with some biker chick and ended up crashing a house party to use their toilet. By the time I came home Peter had drunk at least a bottle of Crown and an assortment of other beverages. He was lying on the couch clutching a water with a chipped tooth. To this day we don’t know how it happened. He wrote appology notes to all of my friends later and we went out for breakfast the next day. It’s a complete enigma- like the coins he swallowed when he was a child that mysteriously appeared in an unpleasant way when he was 25. He never got the tooth fixed. You can see it every time he smiles.

My brother and I were playing Circle of Death

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