Pop Culture

The “Five Step Check Method” for Mexican Food

Want to know how I review a mexican restaurant? Of course you do!

Here’s a review to the newest Mexican restaurant in Coeur d’Alene. I’ll be using my patented 5 step check method I like to call: “Kevin’s 5 Step Check Method.”

Spoiler: finally, I have found a decent meal around here.

The Five Step Method

1. Do you remember the name of the business? Believe it or not, in the world of fine Mexican foods, if you answered “yes,” that is a bad sign. You should never remember the name. The best places are the ones you tell your friends about, and when they ask you what it’s called, you say: “that taco truck on 4th,” or “fatty Mexican burrito place on 7th.” If you remember the name of the business, it more than likely means they are trying to sell you an image or a brand name, over delicious and unique food. I have no idea what the name of the new restaurant I went to today was. I do know it was delicious and it’s over on Appleway.

5 out of 5 (more…)

Record Store Day

It’s April 16th, you know what that means! Happy Record Store Day!

The music shops don’t open for another couple hours, but in many ways, I feel like I went to the best vinyl shop in town last night, my grandparents.

My grandparents just moved up from California, and as it turns out, my grandfather was an avid record buyer back when. I’m talking 4 or 5 boxes of LPs, 45s, and 78s. I almost cried it was so beautiful.  (more…)

Nobama, Nobush, Nocare

I just got done walking with a classmate towards my next class. We both have English 102 together and we’re in the midst of writing an argumentative essay.

I asked my friend what he was writing about and he said, “gun control.” I asked him for his thesis and he told me something along the lines that gun control is useless.

Whether or not you agree with his thesis is not the issue. The issue that spawned is that he started spouting off complaints about Obama. I walked along and listened but couldn’t help be slightly frustrated at this situation I found myself in once again. (more…)

Top 10 of oh’10

So before I dig in too deep, I thought I’d make a couple notes.

*Honestly, my favorite album of this year was The Avett Brothers-I and Love and You, technically a 2009 release. Unfortunately I didn’t hear it till early 2010 so it can’t be an official “best of.” I also really liked the last David Crowder Band album, Church Music, also a 2009 release. Both of these albums I listened to heavily in 2010, so I thought I’d give them a mention. If you haven’t heard I and Love and You yet then you are missing out on life.
*This was a great year for music, although a little strange. I found myself disappointed with bands I’ve been into for years such as Anberlin, Angels & Airwaves, Weezer, and The Rocket Summer. It wasn’t so much that these albums were “bad” as I just wanted something new or different. They just didn’t speak to me (or they lost their appeal after a week or two). At the same time, I happened to cling to the newest Jimmy Eat World and I Can Make a Mess albums (bands I listened to in high school) so I don’t really know.
*I’ve never cared for much of The Arcade Fire or for Band of Horses, not because of lack of talent but because I tend to stay away from “indie darlings” who seem to top every hipster list. I couldn’t help it this year. (I’m coming to terms with my indie hipster self I guess) Both albums were exquisite (and I don’t use that word very often). (more…)

B I’m So…

The most exciting part about shuffling your Ipod is the process of rediscovery.

The Rocket Summer has been a band (sort of) in existence since 2003. It’s crazy to think how long ago that was. I mean, seven years, holy smokes! I had friends listening to him (Bryce Avery) since the very beginning. I was a little slow and caught on sometime in later 2004. Probably after I graduated High School and sometime during my internship with the Militia Group record label in Orange County, CA. Either way, I remember getting a free copy of Calendar Days, and loving it completely. I also remember sharing Bryce with my North Hollywood roommates. They hated  it completely.

TV Family was a great song, but it always seemed to be out shadowed by other songs on the album. I originally loved the song Saturday, but eventually really held on to What We Hate, We Make as my favorite. It was honest and real. (more…)

8-Bits of Frustration: None I Tend To Let Go
In 1889, children would’ve made a pastime out of stacking blocks of wood in an orderly pile. One hundred years later they put it on their Gameboy and called it Tetris. In 1984, every boy pretended to be either a fireman or an astronaut. One year later we all had awful Italian accents and dreamed of someday becoming a plumber.

That’s right I’m talking about Nintendo.

Since its creation, Nintendo has been responsible in leading some of the most impressive advancements in entertainment technology, outdating the competitor’s product as well as theirs that came before it. The Nintendo Wii, their newest game console, is an entirely different machine than the original NES or Nintendo Entertainment System that I learned to love as a child. With each new console, we get further and further away from where we began—a humbled mess of chords, cables, and eight bit graphics.  Today, the newest generation of spoiled gamers don’t appreciate the milestones that have been made in video game technology.

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