The newly acquired gun from Japan, Wei-Yin Chen, is pitching to a 2.4something ERA for the resurging Orioles. I’m slated to catch a day game at Camden Yards later this summer, but I want to point out the potential Taiwanese match-up during interleague play later this year, now that Chien-Ming Wang is kind of healthy, and is doing well in his rehab start.

Interleague play for Nats and Orioles conclude in the series on 6/22 to 6/24 at Camden Yards. Man, I’d hit up one of those games that weekend if this match is to happen. And wear some NYY Wang crap to the game. LOL. Anyway, it would be fitting and lightly ironic if Wang gets a win in that series, considering how it came to be when he first got hurt during that fateful interleague game back in the 2008 season.

I DVR’d the Darvish vs. Kuroda game already, that one is pretty sweet. And goes to show how rare this kind of matchup is. I think given how they are AL/NL teams, that they’re “neighboring” teams is the only blessing in an otherwise impossible-to-match situation. Well, the Rangers do play the Yankees quite a few times over the season so I guess that is unavoidable. Hopefully we’ll get to see a good Kuroda vs. Chen game as well as a Chen vs. Darvish match.

All these AZN pitchers are not letting their brothers down, at least.

My dad was in mosty to get a glimpse of the new Honda Accord redesign. None to be seen except a concept accord on the floor. It gives us a good idea what it’ll be like, I guess.

The new Audi S8 impressed me a lot.

Realigning the top-end Mercedes S class was a good move.

Cayman is still a great buy if you want a nice sports car. Forget the Boxster, even if it is redesigned for 2012.

Among American muscle cars, consider the new low end CTS coupe, which I bet gives the Genesis a run for its money. For pure $-to-HP, the new Shelby Cobra Mustang is impossible to beat. I mean, you’re paying $50000 or so for 620 HP? Nuts.

The new Kia car with all their superbowl budget, it’s solid choice in the already crowded compact segment. I mean even the Passat this year is a very good choice. Or even the Jetta maybe. They are really the same. Just don’t buy the CC, seems like a poor choice unless you are sucker for AWD.

As for the budget ricer segment, I’m pretty hype about the BRZ and the FR-S. Well, first off, why would you buy a FR-S is beyond me, since the BRZ is outright better. Comes with standard nav! I mean, can I relive my 240SX? If it comes in under 24g it will probably beat the Genesis, at least at the sub-$30000 range.

Did you know Nissan is trying to push out a respectable line of vans, not the mini types, but commercial/passenger sort of thing? Watch out, Mercedes Benz!

I was really impressed by the Fiat 500′s. Abarth man, that could be sweet if priced right, and I guess starting at 22000 makes it reasonable. Despite what reliability issues they may have. I’d take it over, say, a GTI or similar. The fact that it only has a 5-speed transmission is more of a problem. I am willing to take a price cut for a slight performance cut in this case.

The Acura ZDX, what is this I don’t even. Pretty nice though.

And there were other things. Like seeing Stan Lee talking to the McLaruen guys.

Until next year!

There’s a lot I could say but let me keep it real brief.

• Screen is easy to scratch, so be careful.
• It’s way too big. If I have issues navigating it with one hand, a lot of other people will too.
• It’s fast? Yea it’s fast. Does it lag? It can. In fact at this point I think no android phone will escape this, just like you can make any PC lag.
• Great screen, but I guess that is par for the course. Still kinda oversaturated though.
• It’s not thick or heavy. And the flimsy build is not a real concern–the back cover is the thinnest and whimpiest back cover I’ve seen on a phone, but it gives a good hand feel once clipped in.
• WTB a legit car kit.
• I don’t see the point to the soft nav buttons if they’re lit all the time and that you can’t trade it out for screen real estate. Wallpaper and apps have to cut itself out of those number of pixels. The real benefit is just that when your phone is off, it looks like a cool slate. Except it isn’t even that cool since you still can see where the screen and camera is.
• Never liked the way samsung placed the power button, but I’ll live.
• Volume rocker is fine, although I tend to hit it accidentally if I don’t use a case.
• Battery life is actually pretty good if you turn off LTE. Better than my N1.
• LTE is fast when it works. It doesn’t always work I think. VZW 3G coverage is pretty solid though, so that has been a big help.
• LTE on, it uses power like a laptop uses power. But it’s not going to drain even if you plug it into your car, unlike certain review used to claim.
• ICS is awesome
• The MTP thing is not a big deal, but it is a minor annoyance if you copy files to your phone all the time.

This phone is pretty okay, and like all previous Nexus phones nobody would buy this phone if it didn’t come with the latest version of Android and first-party support.

And even with a gimpy Big Ben, the Steelers are better than both of those teams. Of course the Steelers is far from invincible compared to even their 2010 season, so you have to ask what is going on here.

I think I like this whole Tebow winning games thing precisely because it makes people uncomfortable trying to describe what Tebow’s Broncos have done. How exactly do you talk about predicting an upset? Look at their far inferior team statistics? How do teams get it done when they have little statistical advantages? What is in the game plan? How will Tebow eventually crash and burn? Or not?

Coming into this next playoff game against New England, who is more or less still the same Brady offense monster as they were in recent years, will we see a repeat? New England is definitely also a team that has lost some of its sheen compared to 2010, although obviously Brady is much better off than Ben physically, and the Pats are less beat up than the Steelers as a group. This is such grand stage for such beautiful drama. And in that sense I’m going to root for Tebow all the way, because these upsets make for awesome entertainment. Certainly way better than if the game went the other way. I’m sure CBS execs are doing exactly the same thing.

I have a hard time putting away money. Or I should say, I do a pretty darn good job putting away money…if I can actually spend this much every year on otaku goods. I think if I just cut it by half, I would probably live O.K. If I get a renter AND cut it by half, I would probably be able to remodel my kitchen in a year or two.

So it seems prudent and good to see how I can cut it by half. Using Mint, I was able to narrow it down by category and make pretty pie charts, you know the drill. Looking back to the past 19 months (that’s all I had data for) I can see some interesting changes:

1. My figure spending has actually GONE UP. Despite trying to hold back all year. Well, it probably is more complicated than that. If memory is to be relied upon, my figure spending probably went down in the latter part of 2010, and went up in the middle part of 2011, and then down towards the end, and then up again. The net result is that my figure spending went up by maybe 15%, 6-month-to-6-month. If there is a reason to it, it’s Mandarake. And Love Plus. I’ll get to that in a minute. But given the way the exchange rate has been going, the 15% increase suggests that I have been buying less or buying cheaper, actually.

2. I don’t game much, and haven’t. Yet I put away about 35% of my anime spending on games in 2012. [Trying to not lay down specific numbers... (tho it's easy to infer something ballpark if you think about it)] A good chunk of it is for imported games or the crap Aksys or NISA is selling. And maybe $100 on EVE Online. Hopefully most of that will be off the list next year to make space for maybe a PS Vita. Most notably is a write-off (wwwww) for that NEW Love Plus 3DS that I’ve got proxy’d and paid for. Notable, because I don’t even have it yet and I paid already, and it is the one single largest expense. In light of all this, even if I get a Vita and get horribly addicted to TOR, I will still come out ahead by 20-30%. Or maybe that is a best-case scenario? The best case scenario is that I forgo a Vita until probably December 2012, when there are really good games out already.

3. My music spending has stabilized, which may be a good thing but given how much I spend, I still could do better not buying trashy stuff. On the other hand, I’ve been buying CDs even before DVDs and junk, so I’ve had a long time to come to terms to spending and methods to control it. I guess all I need to do is exercise more wishlist discipline, and put stuff on “wait” to see if I still like it and listen to it 3 or 6 months later. Overall even if I fail to exercise discipline here I should not be badly off. The exchange rate is more evil than anything that I could do at this point–for the same money for 2 CDs at CDJ, I used to be able to buy 3 albums and a single. Sigh.

4. Anime on BD and DVD is still doing very well in terms of how much I spend. Large, single ticket items still make a splash on my list, although you have to give it to Aniplex for being able to do so. Most of my attrition remains with RightStuf and their sales. Some bigger hurts were K-On on Blu, Utena, finished out Marimite, Baccano, Katanagatari, Gundam Unicorn, and some NISA/Aniplex stuff. Single sets like Toradora, Arakawa (I bought this just for an autograph ticket lol), OreImo, Ga-ei Zero (should’ve waited on it lol did you see that sale)… just those alone eclipses my novel and manga purchases by a multitude. Which is to say, all of that just adds up to a Rakkyo box. You know how it rolls. And I still didn’t buy Sorakake Girl 4 lol. Maybe I should before it’s terribly OOP. Or wait until next Christmas? Hmm.

5. I spent about 25% of my anime purchases in non-home-video, non-music, non-figure goods. That’s a lot. But that includes all the new earthenware I’m rocking. Like that Nyan Nyan ramen bowl. Srsly. I have to say, though, that Haikasoru is still probably the best enjoyment-per-buck line of anime-related goodness out there. I had a blast with their offering this year, even if I’ve been reading less in 2011. Also the “anime misc” category that I’m referencing to here is kind of fuzzy with Mint. I don’t precisely categorize all my purchases with so much precision. Especially at a con. I wonder how much of that is Tanto Cuore lol.

6. Yea. I spend way too much. Hopefully next year I can look forward to more frugal collector mentality ruling the home.

Rutgers University in New Brunswick has this food culture of grease trucks. They’re these Arab-American setups in the middle of campus, offering cheap foods that contains lots of fat and cal. It’s also delicious. So not only because they were caught selling Coke products, but new foodie trucks wants in! This is just like a replay of what happened in NYC, where the influx of new things rocks boats, lowers profit margins (although in this case RU has a good reason to put the screw on the grease truck owners).

From about.com

From Foodnetwork

It’s pretty simple. I gimped Flay’s recipe to begin with, and just simplified the bits. I used pre-made sauce, but it’s always nice to see a good sauce recipe independently as to how it’s coupled. That said I haven’t even tried it, so I don’t know. I do know my tastes are not too different than what Flay typically aim for, so that probably is a safe bet.

The only real modification is in the sauce, again. I tried to score some fresh parm, but it’s harder than it seems. I went to a corner grocer (Korean, natch) for the moz, and Target for the parm. Mainly because it was convenient, and I will never again buy cheese at a corner grocer in Manhattan if I can help it.  Typical Tyson’s frozen chicken breasts will do. As for bottled sauce, I think anything normal will work, just make sure it doesn’t have other meats (maybe except chicken) in it. I wonder if a white sauce version would work? Probably.

Frying with panko is the only way to go IMO. That said it’s kind of expensive. I think my $5 bag lasted me a good while, so it’s a worthwhile investment.

Basically, I recommend both recipes. Flay’s shorter oven time needs to be respected. I think if you do it hot it shouldn’t take more than 7 minutes at 400F. With that said I don’t know if I would double-barrel fry this, it isn’t a big deal. Flay’s ingredients can pump out an extra 2 mid-small size breasts if you maximize everything, so there’s also that.

Source: http://www.lovelylanvin.com/2011/01/25/japanese-hamburger-steak/

[Copypasta begins]

Ingredients:  (Makes 2 large or 4 small patties)

1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Butter
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon canola/vegetable for frying

Hamburger Steak Sauce:

1 cup good red wine
1/4 cup ketchup
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter

[Comment: I've not actually followed through with the sauce/gravy. Ketchup works surprisingly well as a substitute and it's cheaper and easier to ...squeeze out of a bottle.]

To make Hamburger Steaks, in a small bowl combine panko and milk, mix to soften, set aside until needed. In a frying pan, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, panko mixture, cooled onion, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Using your hands, mix to distribute all ingredients evenly. Divide the meat mixture into two large or four small equal portions. Form each portion into a patty about 1 1/2 inches thick.

In a frying pan large enough to accommodate the patties without crowding, heat the oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add the patties and cook until a nice brown crust forms on the bottom, 4-5 minutes. Turn the patties over and cook until a brown crust forms on the second side, 4-5 minutes longer. Remove patties and keep warm in oven while you make the sauce.

To make the Sauce, in the same frying pan over medium high heat, (drain frying pan of excess oil if needed) add red wine and deglaze the pan scraping up the brown bits at the bottom. Cook until the wine is reduced and thickens slightly. Add ketchup, soy sauce, butter, salt and pepper and stir well until combined. Drizzle sauce over Hamburger Steak and serve.

[end copypasta]

I did try the ketchup/soy mix, it gets most of the tastes but it’s important to have that red wine I think, as I didn’t have any. Going to try some seasoning wine (mirin substitute) next. Probably not going to taste too good.

Let’s isolate the issues and points that I want to talk about first. Then kind of “Socratic” my way through them.

1. There are more online gamers who are women than men.
• But they can’t clearly be all playing the same kinds of games, can they?
• How many of them play competitive games?
• How does that define “average gamer” stated in the article?
• Isn’t it contradictory to claim that gamers are misogynistic if a large number of them are women? What would be the nuance that we need to take into account to reconcile this difference?
• And who are gamers? How do we profile average gamers? Should we even bother?
2. There are way fewer women competitive gamers.
3. There are way fewer women in fighting game tournaments.
4. Women are treated poorly (versus some kind of societal national average way women are treated) in competitive gaming scenes.
• Poorly meaning in a sexist way?
• Is sexism just another way to put down someone?

With my 1.5 yr mark coming up (well it’s up technically but the 6-month-to contract renewal time is in November) it’s time to shop for a phone. I’m definitely interested in Verizon’s Nexus Prime and Droid RAZR. I also have some partialness to a GSM style device that AT&T provides. Sprint is a dark horse with good 4G plans and prices. All three, as of now, have good devices.

Current problem with my phone and service. Ranked:

1. It only supports  HSPA, which is really terrible especially as an AT&T customer in this area–it  is simply unusable on large strides of the northeast corridor. And on the train is where I use my phone the most.
2. It could be a little faster, although I can run most anything I want to at this point. Even more if I hack it and run a 3rd party ROM
3. It’s finally dropping out of the googly heaven, but it’s still a well-oiled and well-hacked machine.

Long story short, these are the devices low-down:

• I like those Galaxy S II’s, even if we’re 6 months into its life cycle already. AT&T’s LTE version launches next week and it is probably the one I would buy if I am sticking to that device. It’s also available starting 11/6.
• Pluses: Nice screen, Available next week. Probably best supported non-Nexus phone you can get.
• Minuses: LTE won’t roll out in this area until probably late next year, so feeling a bit wasted with just HSPA+. Kind of big. 6months in the cycle. Feels tinny.
• I like a Nexus Prime because I’m coming from a Nexus One, and I like my googly updates. I tinker with my phone enough even if I’m running stock vanilla right now. No release date yet though.
• Pluses: Google Heaven experience. Good phone all-around.
• Minuses: Probably has one of those fatal flaws that mars all Nexus phones. A gambit on a Samsung CDMA-LTE phone. GS2 has better screen. No MicroSD slot
• I think the Droid RAZR is a top notch device coming from the hardware perspective. Google’s “partnership” with Moto bodes well for Moto owners. It would be more desirable than the Nexus Prime if it had the added devices like a gyro and a compass. out 11/10.
• Pluses: Good hardware, doesn’t feel like a POS, better than Nexus Prime basically in terms of hardware quality.
• Minuses: Lack of a gyro and a compass, no NFC.

In terms of network, pros and cons:

AT&T:

• I am an existing AT&T customer, so upgrading to anther AT&T phone saves me the ETF. The ETF for me is actually very low due to the fact that my 2-yr is not with an advance device. (I got $50 out of this supposed contract). But another $80 or whatever it is now (150 – 4*number of months, or 150-4*16=86).
• I am grandfathered into their unlimited data plan. This is a huge deal potentially.
• I can stay with the family plan (it’s better value for everyone on the plan, but not necessary the cheapest option for individuals).

VZW:

• Full LTE coverage in my area, way better coverage on commute. Even in the tunnel!
• See above, ETF.
• About the same cost as AT&T on the individual basis.
• 2gb data limit most likely.

Sprint:

• Cheapest on the individual basis, unlimited data.
• See above, ETF.
• Worst coverage for my area. I don’t even think I get 4G at my folk’s place.
• But unlimited all that jazz.

The picture is more complicated if I also splurge for a LTE mobile device like a laptop/portable hotspot or a tablet as a holdover. But that is like another $50/mo on the device. That solves the immediate service issue needs (I would get a VZW mifi type thing with LTE) but if I upgrade my smartphone to a LTE device then it kind of is just redundant. Or I can buy a VZW iPad2 and do pay-as-you-go, and resell the iPad when I renew. Something like that.

Damn, those Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTEs are pretty tempting! Only if I have $700 to throw around.