It's 2L42 AM in Washing ton D.C.

18 min left for new years for you Wcoast fokls.

What is the first thing I'm doing for the new year?

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Filling out my FAFSA.

My Brother: Man of Priorities

DSCF0562
Originally uploaded by late_apex

Priorities that are obviously in the right order.

No piss water beers in this fridge!









If you think that's bad, look at the cupboards:

DSCF0563
Originally uploaded by late_apex

Dogfish Head Alehouse + Burger Tour Round 3

Took a trip to 7 Corners in Virginia to check out the Dogfish Head Brewery's offerings.

Before we walked in I already knew what I wanted-- their beer Sampler!









5 of the Regular beers + the seasonal, Chicory Stout.


Chicory Stout.
"Brewed with chicory, organic coffee, licorice root, and St. John's Wort."


Dogfish Head beers and alcohol content.

Dogfish Head burger experience eh?

I opted for the Portobello Gorgonzola Burger.




It Sounds yummy.










It looks yummy...

And guess what, it is yummy!

The burger would have been fine without the bacon (I had asked for bacon on this burger after my disappointing Next Burger experience at Chef Geoff's). The gorgonzola cheese had more bite than I expected, but it was a very tasty burger. The gorgonzola was server on the burger FIRM. Gorgonzola is kind of like a blue cheese.

Good stuff.

Visit Dogfish Head Alehouse! Have beer AND a burger!

Chynatahwn

I've probably already mentioned it to you already--
Chinatown in Washington D.C. is serious business.

From Fado Irish Pub & Ruby Tuesday to Hooters & Capital BBQ, the Washington D.C. Chinatown has everything a man could want for the perfect Chinese Cultural experience.

Watch my brother's short video and join him as he takes a serious look at the more-Chinese-than-China-itself Washington D.C. Chinatown:


La Tasca | Fado Irish Pub

Please pay special attention to the accurate, direct translations of the Chinese names of each restaurant.
Pause the video if you have to.

video from LotsofMonkeys.com

Left Foot Braking? What's that?

Cars treated like toasters here.

They're simply appliances that get people from source A to destination B and back.

I think people drive their toasters better than they drive their cars here...

With that said, I was surprised to see a carwash in the district!






"Flagship CarWash" eh?

Really?












$16 freaking 95 for a BASIC carwash!

Are you kidding me?

Ultimate Wash: $20.95
Includes Simoniz, Wheel brightener, an underbody blast and Armor all on the tires.

You know, the same price we pay in LA for a handwash, cherry airfreshener and a 40 min hand wax job tip included. And we don't have to pay for all the nonsense dressings that should be included anyway.

Flagship carwash eh?

What a horrible, unfunny joke.

BurgerTour Zipcode 20008 in 2008 Round 2: NEXT BURGER

So we're finally able to get a table at Chef Geoff's after our first attempt get seated at the horribly busy Downtown location.

Sidenote: Walking into the downtown Chef Geoff's was big culture shock for me. It was 5PM and there were so many pearl necklaces and suits in the building. That's what you wear to work around here!

Last night we tried a different location and snagged a bar table at Chef Geoff's but not without drama.

"Did you guys see the host before sitting?"

"It's happy hour, we usually just walk in and sit down..."
"Turn that sign around," she snaps.

We grab the small standing bar menu at our table and turn it around.
"TABLE RESERVED" it reads.
I'm thinking, if you don't want people sitting down at your table, make sure the damn sign is turned around...

(See at this point, if I were the one talking, we would have already been kicked out of Chef Geoff's)

My brother apologizes and the lady goes on her way. We keep our spot.

========

First thing first. We need beer. At Chef Geoff's happy hour, they have something called the "SUPER MUG." $8. I ordered up a glass of Paulaner Hefeweisen.

This mug is huge.

I mean, look how small it makes the salt and pepper shakers look.












Chef Geoff's has a burger series. 7 burgers rotated through the year. You can only order them when they're available. They call it the "Next Burger" so you can constantly annoy your favorite server and ask when the next burger will become available.

My brother recommended the Bistro Burger, but I ordered the Next Burger instead. (It had bacon in it!)





Looks good! BBQ sauce, B&B pickles and "Mozz Bacon."

Whatever this "Smoked Mozz Bacon" was, it was Mozz Definitely Overcooked as it ate more like taffy.

Maybe it was some kind of emergency bacon that was supposed to be kept in storage...

Anyway, Patty says I should be nicer.

Ahem.

"The bacon was a cooked longer than I prefer."



Go to Chef Geoff's to enjoy happy hour and their awesome $8 (cheap in the District) SuperMugs of Paulaner and Magic Hat #9.

Definitely do not order the Smoked Mozz Bacon Burger.

It'll make you wish you were eating the...

Subaru GC8

Oh Look!

A rare, STOCK 2.5RS!

Let's take a look inside...



/sigh

Indoor Fashion

So everyone was giving me shit at the last movie/beer night about wearing my outdoor gear inside.

I know I look ridiculous wearing all my layers INDOORS, but I'm cold!

Time to bust out the Slip n'Slide!

"Are you sure you want to go to the Smithsonian today?"

"Why?"

I leave for 1 day and now this!

This is Jetta, our 2 year old Poodle.

I received a picture message and was informed she started humping the male pit bull that lives with us.


Apparently she started the day I flew out.

Kouki (sometimes Cookie) the pit bull just sits there and takes it.

I was told Jetta rotates her humping to each of Kouki's legs and even grows mad at Kouki when he tries to walk away.

He usually sits back down so Jetta can continue.

Poor guy.

Captain Starbuck

Captain Starbuck the cat and Kimmy (sometimes Kimchee) the dog


They fall asleep on each other sometimes.


::Wolverine Voice:: "Tornado Claw!"


Starbuck's custom pillow.



A video of my pussy(cat) sucking on dog tettees.


Pylon and Starbuck ninjafailing.

Purchase Orders

Here's an old school request for materials my brother wrote to Overlord Santa. (circa 1978~79 i think)

That fat mofo to this day still hasn't delivered the table top version of donkey kong!

Pylons of the Caribbean

I think it's hilarious seeing his leg in a cast-- it looks tiny compared to his fluffy left leg! Yarrr!



Pylon rockin' the 3-legged action in his stroller, The Black Pearl.

Patty's R32 in the background says "SK2 (class) L (ladies class) 811 (competitor number)"

Pylon likes carrrr racing.

Burger Tour DC Stop 1: Clyde's

Clyde's in Bethesda (it's actually in Friendship Heights but everyone just says Bethesda)
Each Clyde's has a theme. This location had a transportation theme complete with model planes, boats and an oval track bar.




My brother recommended the "Smitty's Melt" so I went ahead and order that along with a beer called "Magic Hat #9.

The Smitty Melt was so good I forgot what the Magic Hat tasted like. I was too busy enjoying the bacon, egg and garlic mayonnaise in the Smitty Melt.

I ordered it medium and it was spot on. Perfect meat and just the right amount of fatty juice.


They serve the water here in a pre-chilled heavy metal container.
It's a nice touch.


Haven't had egg in my burger for awhile.



Whatever melted smitty is, it's good!
The garlic mayo was good too!

We finished the meal with an order of mango sorbet, awesome butterscotch pudding, and a creme brulee my dad couldn't resist eating before I could snap a photo.




My Clyde's Smitty Melt Rating: You need to eat it.

The Fast and the Furious

Dan got a new stove (and non-leaking gas lines!)
He lives his life 5 burners at a time.
In those 20,000 BTUs or less, he feels free.

Sport Compact Condos

Crisp turn-in, and lots of grip...

Black squirrel!!

Fall   2008
CISN 11 Telecom/Networking     4.00  A   16.00         
CISN 24 Window Server Networ   4.00  A   16.00         
CISN 31 Linux Operating Sy     4.00  A   16.00         
CISN 34 LINUX Networking/Sec   4.00  A   16.00         
CISN 51 Cisco CCNA             4.00  B   12.00         
SL   2  Linked Service Learn   1.00  A    4.00         
         Semester Totals       21.00    80.00
         GPA                    3.80
About damn time...

Oh and by the way...

"Hey Mikey, I invited you to Julie & Dan's tomorrow night."

"Oh cool.  I haven't seen them in awhile."

"Remember their 3 story house in Georgetown?"

"Yeah yeah."

"You're wiring it for CAT-5 tomorrow."

My First Time

I've been eagerly checking the online grade reports at my school to confirm my grades.

I thought this was amusing.

Look! My first 4.0 over 20 units!  

Too bad RD = Report Delayed.

I'll have a 4.0 for exactly 3 more days until my procratinating professor turns in his sheets.

The GPA will drop down to a 3.80 ::angryface::

Next time!

I stay to the Left on escalators

My brother picked me up from the airport and we took the awesome DC metro (underground eletric train) home.  It's been 3.5 years since I've rode metro.

I quickly remembered how to navigate like an asshole through the Metro crowds.

By asshole I mean "person that lives on the east coast."

===

A thing I do miss about riding the Metro are the fast lanes on the long escalators used to access the Metro system from all stops.

Here the escalator rides can be up to a minute long.  Slow traffic will yield to faster traffic by positioning to the right.  If you want to ride (not briskly walk up) an escalator in this town, you better damn well make sure you aren't hogging the passing lane.

Washington D.C. escalators are just like the German autobahn.

Surprise!

If I didn't see you on or after December 14 (the last Championship) then you would not know I took a plane to Washington D.C. shortly after.

About 7 months ago I was instructed to find tickets to look up a cheap set of tickets to DCA (Washington DC Reagan) from LAX (Los Angeles International). 

I found a sweet deal on a set of nonstops from Virgin Airlines.

E-mail was sent to my father with the ticket information and he promptly told me he'd "take care of it." 

He *did* take care of it... by waiting till the last minute and buying a set more expensive tickets with a stop in Chicago.

I just can't wait to see my dad and tell how much I enjoyed the 3 hour stop for my connecting flight in Chicago.