Deep within the Clan ARC lier (aka Flavius' kitchen) there was much rejoicing.

Flavius - "OMFG we had readers of our blog. Your porn idea worked."
Meterman - "History repeats itself; it is your blog and it was your porn idea. Lesbians."
Flavius - "We need to do it again. I can write lots of material about lesbians; I saw Phantom of the Opera 24 times."
Meterman -"Those are thespians you dip-shit. Why do I keep hanging around with you?"
Flavius - "Well endowed beer fridge?"
Meterman - "Right! Nice porn intro. Get with the beer review."
Flavius -"Right you are. This one is a good one..

Howe Sound Brewery - Father John Winter Ale.

We like this brewery. It is local and the bottles are big and strong.
Meterman - "You mean erect and throbbing?"
Not really they are 1 litre in size and this monster brew was 8% alcohol.

Taste +4

This is a well done Winter Ale. This dark amber ale reveals tastes of pineapple, plum, vanilla and mulling spices. There is a very sweet, malty taste that balances these complex flavours.

Meterman -"This brew had so many flavours you could compare it to a triple jointed circus freak."
Flavius -"Hey those are great porn keywords. I search for those all the time!"
Meterman -"................ I will break this awkward silence by moving further away from you."

Aftertaster +2

There was a long lingering sweet malty taste. This was balanced nicely with a heavy alcohol aftertaste.

Alcohol Content +1

At 8% this brew is a sneaky one, but you can still taste the alcohol.

Value +1

At 8 bucks for one litre of great tasting beer, this is a stellar deal.

In-game enhancement +1

I'm sure the delta went up despite the blurred vision and lack of feeling in my arms.


This one get 9/10, almost perfect score. I went out and bought a few more.

Flavius -"Hey Meterman, where were all those porn references to increase our readership?"
Meterman -"I dunno, it seems kinda tired. We should try something new."
Flavius - "I noticed you used the word 'we'. We also only did one porn post, is the ADD acting up again?"
Meterman -"ADD what do you mean..um. Hey you wanna play video games."
Flavius -"I rest my case."

This was the big meal we had been looking forward to. We have been to higher end restaurants before, but none of them had a dedicated Vegetarian menu. The service and presentation was flawless. So let's begin.
We were started with a sampler of carrot and ginger soup, which was suburb. The sweetness of the carrots was balanced nicely with the spiciness of the ginger. There was not too much ginger. We actually like this better than the soup course.

Courses

1. Market Baby Lettuces. Heirloom tomatoes, avocado, Ellis reserve blue cheese. Wine: 2006 Huia Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough. This is a fancy salad, but the blue cheese was the most amazing thing I have every tasted. I almost licked the plate. The wine was a great pairing, nice and light.
2. Sweet Onion Veloute. Green Apple, Celery, Pickled red onion. Wine 2005 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 'Vielles Vignes, Burgundy. Essentially this was creamy sweet onion soup with green apple sauce, but it was very, very, very good.
   
3. Roquefort Cheese Souffle. Pear Salad with Port reduction. Wine 2003 Chateau Gravas, Sauternes. The highlight of this course was the wine, it had a similar sweetness to a dessert or ice wine.
   
4. Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie. Braised Fennel, Baby Carrot, Roasted Mushrooms. Wine 2004 Martinus Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand. We traveled hundreds of miles, paid $85 per person, and you serve us pot pie! Contents 2 baby carrots, a fennel bit and three mushrooms, real let down. At least it was presented nicely. The mushrooms at least were not buttons. Wine was nice though.
5. Desert was a Tasting of Michael Mina Signature desserts: Warm Chocolate Cake, Coconut Panna Cotta, Mini Root Beer Float and chocolate chip cookies. Wine 2000 Dow 'Late Bottled Vintage' Port. The chocolate lava cake with the port was heavenly. A very uncomplicated dessert which tasted incredible.
   

When the cheque arrived they also let us sample some smaller chocolates and pastries. I also ordered an espresso which came with a side of sugar and lemon rind. This was a very nice touch. We were there for over two hours and never felt rushed. The portions were not overly small, but after two hours you felt nicely satisfied. It was truly an unforgettable meal. We only had one complaint; at a restaurant such as this you must have a complaint. It makes you feel like more of a foodie, even if you are not. We noticed a heavy reliance on cheese for flavour in every course. That was the only complaint; except for the pot pie. Again, this meal passed the tummy test.
We will visit this restaurant again, without question.

There are many ways, I feel, Counter Strike is similar to golf

• Expensive outlay of cash for good initial equipment. What is the price of a 8800GTX these days, or a set of Pings.
• they both usually involve drinking beer
• both can take long periods of time
• both can be very frustration, but we still play anyways
• lots of intense action, followed by long periods of waiting. You set up, hit your ball, then walk 10 minutes to find it.
• wives/girlfriends/spouses get mad when we play too much
• upgrades are needed to enhance performance. These usually do not help.
• neither are a real athletic sport
• the both usually involve swearing
• they are mainly a male sport
• sport related injuries affect wrists and forearms
• there are professional league with stars
• these stars can give private lessons for a fee
  
• no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better

There are some areas the CS is not like golf

• we don't handle our balls during play
• CS is not a real-time face to face social sport
• CS is almost exclusively played indoors
• CS game play can be shorter
• good players don't make big $$

Deep in the lier of clan ARC, Meterman and Flavius plan to accumulate millions in dollars and earn fame in previously unimaginable proportions.
Flavius - "We need to draw more hits to our blog. This will be the first step to fame and fortune."
Meterman - "As usual, I have found several flaws in your scattered reasoning Dumb-Ass."
Flavius - "Well check under my feet!"
Meterman - "You wish. Firstly, this is your lame blog. I would never be associated with something this childish and asinine. Secondly, there is no money to be made in blogging. All the money being made on the net usually involves porn. Thirdly, there is no lier. We were sitting in your kitchen eating lasagna. And lastly, you are never going to be famous because you are boring and your material sucks.
Flavius - "Thank you mister warm fuzzy. I have the perfect solution."
Meterman - "Oh sh*t, now what. It's not going to involve your baby pictures again, is it?"
Flavius - "Even better, but not as risqué. Lets use a lot of porn keywords to draw attention from perverted search bots. More attention should draw more hits and more subscribers."
Meterman -"I never thought I would ever say this; that might actually be a smart idea."
Flavius - "I know we can pull this off, and dangle our manthings for everyone to admire. How was that for a start."
Meterman -"Terrible. Leave the funny stuff to me."
Flavius - "Right then..

This black canned, face slapping beer is an ARC favourite. At 8%, is this not for the faint of heart nor weak of liver.

Meterman -"The can is as black as Angela Jolie's public hair."

Taste +3
Despite having a nose of high fructose corn syrup and paint thinner, this beer actually tastes pretty good. There are slight nutty flavours hidden under the first rush of hops. The sweetness really hides the high alcohol content.

Meterman - "The beer is sweet, voluptuous and gives a great creamy head. It does not taste like Paris Hilton's ass."

Aftertaste +1 There is almost none. The malt sweetness fades gently and leaves a mild vapor of solvents.

Meterman -"The blond coloured ale, gave me a throbbing taste of things to come."
Flavius - "Wasn't that a bit much?"
Meterman -"Shut up. I know what I'm doing."

Alcohol content +1
At 8% this beer can hurt you. It is quite easy drinking. Three quick ones back to back could leave you face down in a pool of your own fluids.

Meterman -" This beer is sure to blow me away after I get off my job."

Value +1
For 500ml beer with 8% alcohol that you can find for under $2, this is a great deal. Perfect for first dates and after a nasty break up.

Meterman -"I bought this beer from a lesbian at the liquor store. I was in line behind a threesome of cheerleaders."
Flavius -"What the @#$# was that!"
Meterman -"You wanted hits right! Nothing gets hits like lesbians and cheerleaders."

Ingame Enhancement +1
The delta went up, even though my consciousness went down.

Meterman -"I'm out of material. This sucks. Get me another beer."
Flavius -"I wish you were a beer...

This one gets a 7/10. This beer has one use and one use only. To get you @#$#ed up in the most efficient way possible. That is why we like it and recommend it to all our friends.

Meterman -"You don't have any friends."
Flavius -"That was mean and not entirely true. What about you, aren't you my friend?"
Meterman -"Please don't make me answer that."