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Alex Lovett
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Tags: - Games
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Yes I have finally received my Fanatec Porsche Force Feedback Wheel woo yay woo

I have watched the thing travel the world by boat, travel Germany by road and now It's here after countless delays and setback the wheel I ordered in June -_-

I was expecting it in September.. no such luck it seems, some folk have had this pre-ordered over a year ago... anyway... what is this thing, this shiny technological masterpiece...

It arrived with good timing in one way as Dirt 2 just came out so I can play it first with my new wheel!! all the newness and awesomeness!



Here it is, taken at night so photos a bit grainy/blurry and washed out etc, but it still looks cool!






And here are some videos below in the links of me messing about with it in Dirt and Shift, I need to make a video of Richard Burns Rally which is by far the most fun despite It's age.



Naturally videos and pictures do little to convey the forces that are being applied to your hands as you drive, so use your imagination

;-)




Sure it was expensive, but it is the only wheel on the planet that supports everything, xbox, PS3, PC and looks good while doing it as a bonus.

It has immense force feedback, Rally Driving will jolt your arms all over if you are not careful, racing games will give you the subtle feedback as tyres are about to loose grip and when you need to counter steer a slide thus preventing a crash (they will at least if they properly simulate tyre deformation and contact patch which few do). Overall it provides a big deal of immersion into a game which may normally be a rather passive experience, suddenly you are drawn in and engaged and given extra sensory perceptions that not only make it more entertaining but easier to drive well.

It isn't as well made as a real porsche wheel, it has some defects, stitching is rough to touch, buttons have a bit of a gap and one button is really wonky to touch, the wheel is quite hard; theres no padding under the leather so it feels a bit hollow and hard, but compared to other gaming wheels.. it licks them all and it is a bit cheaper than a real Porsche wheel

:-)



This is It's closest competition:

hahahahah.. look at it... hah... get out of here, It's not any cheaper either really. Pedal Shifter on it are better though by the looks of it, which isn't difficult as the Fanatec's are so useless and rough I had to unscrew them and just use the buttons underneath, which work fine and I quite like them but it makes shifting while steering very difficult.

Biggest pest with this wheel is no game works with it properly by default, not the wheels fault as games are A. designed for retards who cannot drive, and B. are designed for weak ass regular geared wheels.

But you can always tweak and hack and disable all the dampening and aids to unleash It's power if you want.

Richard Burns rally needed a Max Torque tweak hidden away in some physics file which made the game... scary, I recommend using Drift Mode and a lower FFB if you do this though to simulate some kind of power assisted steering.

--

Below I shall detail how I went from a casual arcade gamer to full blown racing nerd with a wheel to proove it.

--

First racing game for me was really Need for Speed Underground, I don't count any games before that especially not the very first which would have been Burning Rubber on the Amstrad CPC+ shown below for amusement


It was a shit game then and it sure as hell is shit now

Anyway NFSU was a great introductory game, it was fast, easy enough to control with a keyboard, exciting stuff...


Then came NFS Most Wanted, which I felt was a great game too, nice graphics for It's time and this time I played on xbox with a analog controller giving much greater control over steering and acceleration.


Then came Forza 2, I tried the demo, thought it was an amusing insight into how real cars might handle, amusing in that they must all handle like ass thanks to It's overly difficult handling down to bad tyre physics.. ok the ewer not bad but they were on the sadistic side when it came to locking up.


I thought the game was bland and boring, and it is... really... but I changed my mind later...

I next got myself into Colin Mcrae Dirt, wow what a blast, it was fun but way more challenging than previous arcadey games I had played, still in the arcade realm though it is no sim.


The graphics also blew Forza out the water and still do, it looked the part and was a blast, so I splashed out on a Microsoft Force Feedback Wheel. Relatively cheap lil thing especially as I got %% off due to damaged packaging.

And it was an epic experience playing it with the wheel, took ages to get used to it, but once I had there was no going back. The level of immersion shot thru the roof, the fun, the swet on my brow... It's the best fun id had gaming in a long long time.

I then tried Forza Demo again and it came alive.. .suddenly it made sense with a wheel, what is the point of a car simulator if you then drive with a thumb stick... it makes no sense. With the wheel the feedback made the cars fun and drivable, it gave you a sense you would eventually just know and feel/untuit when a car was about to screw up and you would have already automatically counter acted it via the wheel.

The graphics were still horrendous and the gameplay was still dreadful, but the driving was fun with all the nuances you would expect.

I quickly realised the wheel I had while good for It's price, was no match for the high end wheels that only worked on PC and PS3.

I looked at PC Car Sims and thought of buying a wheel, but all the PC sims looked dull... lifeless even more so than Forza.

Then I heard Need for Speed were doing a 'sim' racer, and Forza 3 was coming.. and Dirt 2... and I danced, oh how I danced

Dirt 2 above... in game.. no really in game, graphics so good It's actually sexier than real life, I could lick it


How crap does Forza look now.. this is Shift looking very nice indeed

NFS Carbon had came and gone and had been shit, NFS Pro Street had came out, was a piece of shit, NFS Undercover had came out and was a piece of shit... pattern forming stuff... fortunately NFS Shift was by someone else entirely, and they have done a brilliant job, it feels like pretty damn good sim under the hood especially after some hacks. And the graphics and immersion are way above what anyone else other than Codemasters has been able to deliver.

Anyway, I heard of this Fanatec wheel when Forza announced they were supporting it shown below with a motion rig.. and i'm like finally!

Forza 3 looked really good too (from a distance), the wheel looked like a must have... then I saw the price... thought harder about it... and decided what the hell, I earn money to spend it and have fun, and this definitely looked like a top top quality product not only in aesthetic thanks to the Porsche styling genuine leather and paint and genuine badge... but more importantly it was quality gear inside that only the likes of the Logitech G27 can come close to... and man that wheel looks like a toy POS to me.

Anyway Forza 3 then came out, I bought it, turned out to be ok, but still ugly and dull as sin compared to what NFS and Codemaster were putting out, but it was all forgivable-ish as the handling was huge leaps better and it was class leading before. They have now full tyre modelling for deformation which is a big deal in how it affects the car handling and tyre slip/grip.

Forza is a driving game, Shift is a racing game.. big difference. Driving around on your own in a nice car in Forza is actually a pleasure on the few scenic road tracks it has.

Forza still has a plasticy look to it down to the bad car shaders which they could get away with better if they did any post/color correction or even get basic exposure right. They should really use normal maps on the cars instead of high poly as you can see dings and dents in them which could be easily avoided and make it fast enough to have more cars on track., another huge huge let down as It's limited to 8 cars a race.. ugh what a waste of time driving round a 10km track with 8 cars thinly spread over it.

Looks pretty good above sure, but in game and on older tracks especially it looks pretty sad at HD res.

Sorry for the rant/history lesson, but I want to show how I went from casual arcade racer to full blown top of the line limited edition force feedback wheel. I'm even looking at some of the hardcore PC car sims that I previously wrote off as ugly and dull. Got into outdoor 60mph karting And thinking how I can realistically buy a Lotus Elise to do the real thing-ish...

And theres also GT5 to look forward to on the PS3, which looks better than Forza, but it still looks like it might be quite sterile and dull in gameplay... though who knows, I shall wait to try it before judging, I commend them on the amount of content the game will have and if they add weather and day/night I will have to have some pretty bad gameplay to not still be a great game.

-Edit

Ok another GT5 preview article just came out and the thing looks outstanding on paper, they are adding weather and night racing... yay oh yay! finally! ooh and damage-to what exact extent i'm not sure but they even say they have interior damage for 100 or so cars'
How such a major part of racing has been left out of most.. nay all games, I don't know. All you ever hear about during F1 races or Rally or GT or anything is how the weather effects the tyres. My only hope now is for some real endurance race type stuff, but to have the computer pick the tyres for yo.

Which reminds me of another point I love that in Forza you can go in a tweak the car's setup and parts, it has It's own fun to it, but I'd also like to be able to forget about that entirely and just be a race driver sometimes too and have an expert team behind me setting all the stuff up and leave me to racing and trust my car is ALWAYS competitive, in Forza I feel like half the time I loose is cuss my car is junk... yah It's alll the cars fault

;-)






And that above is all I've got to go on right now regarding the night racing

:-P



You'd have thought being given a world exclusive they would have put bigger images in -_-



--

So is this wheel worth the money... yes, and if you want a longer answer to that... yeeeeeeesssss

it was worth my money, whether it is worth yours depends on how much you value your money and how much you would enjoy racing games really.

Now who wants to buy me the full setup for Christmas? I want to nerd out!!!!! they have a motion rig coming soon too... I need more money for this hobby

:-D



And before you say that the 3 screens is overkill, It's actually quite a big deal with car games, as without periphery vision you can't make tight turns as accurately as you can't see the apexes or see cars to your left and right that you may drive into. Aaand you judge speed from your peripheral vision, stuff whizzing by on your far left and right really makes you feel and see the speed you are doing which is why sims feel like you are driving slow and to the 200mph you are doing in game, try driving with a box on your head and a slot for your eyes... tunnel vision is not cool to be race driving with.











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Tags: - Food
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I hate the word Gourmet, perhaps as it reeks of pretensive and elitist... anyone who can taste the difference of crap from good food and has the money and wisdom to choose the better stuff read on

I am no food expert but here I shall collect some of my findings of stuff I find particularly delicious

It doesn't inherently have to be expensive, I like simple foods, not everything has to be aged 100 years to pass my palate.. id rather eat at Pizzahut than a authentic Italian Restaurant, I'm not a big fan of nouvelle cuisine where they server you tiny ass amounts of food in some kind of sadist fashion of making you want it more... pseudo expensive I call it, where people try to make stuff seem expensive by either covering it in fake gold or just giving you hardly any of it in order to make you feel posh because you are that superficial.

Anyway I could rant on forever, to the food and drink!!

I will be paying special attention to things local to me in and around Birmingham

Restaurants

Nandos
Killer food, simple food, healthy (relatively) and spicy is always good in my book

PizzaHut
Good pizzas but always leaves me feeling like a fat bastard, a good treat now and then but for gods sake don't go regularly and go at a time when the kids are not around

La Tasca
Great great food, the Tapas are wonderful not as good as Mechu but pretty close

Red Peppers

Random Tapas Place by Canal

---

Mechu in Birmingham
Very nice classy place, good prices, amazing Tapas


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Tags: - Food
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Carrots, Swede, Peas, Onion, Chinese Cabbage, Lamb Kebabs, Tomatoe


Spicy Ham and Chinese Cabbage, Onions, Tomatoe, Spicyness! (Learning to use various Indian spices I have)



Chicken Pasta Bake, Oat Bran and Cheese Topping = Yum (Sauce was Tuna Napol...)


Tofu, Chinese Leaves/Cabbage, Onion/Peas/Pepper, Rice
Chicken cooked into Garlic Nandos
Tofu and Leaves cooked in Soy and Chinese Herbs and Vegetable Stock, they soak up the flavour very well.


Noodles
Tofu and Chinese Leaves/Cabbage
Cooked in Soy, Herbs and Sweet/Sour Sauce


Gloriousness is a Costco Tiramisu


Failed Cake, just tasted too damn sweet, though it is meant to look like that.. mostly


Inedible sausage of forever cooked, not my fault or doing!

Chinese Leaves simmered in soy sauce
Thick noodles + Chicken in garlic black bean thingy thing sauce :-p I forget


Trifle I decorated with a Cherry Brandy moat ;-P




Alexs new invention, the double wrap... tasty!







Enchiladas - Pain is Good BBQ Flavas - Peas - Cheese and Ham fried in tomato chutney stuffed inside the enchiladas - Sundried Tomatoes and Chilis - Diced Tomato - Onions - Peppers



Sweedish Meatballs - Pasta - SunDried Tomato - ChilliPepper - Peas - Grilled Cheese





Yes most if not all the food I eat looks pretty disturbing, messy, mushy... but I tell you what, It smells good and tastes great and is simple to make

:-)


Fried ham in spice, Juicy Green Jalepeno Peppers, Boiled Potato mixed with Pataks Rogan Josh sauce and Heinz Beans with melted cheese on top and grilled




Variation on the same:


Thicks Noodles + Meatballs


Meatballs and Pasta


Pasta Bake with Soup andCheese grilled


Thick Noodles + Sauce + ham + Rice


Thick Noodles and cooked ham+sauce


Thicks Noodles plus tomato sauce plus spicy meatballs



Chicken


Red Thai Curry with.. stuff!


Real Mince complete with far too much fatty oil, learned to drain it in future and dab with paper towels or just use fake/Quorn Mince to save arteries!




Chorizo Sausage or Lincolnshire Sausage cooked in Barbados Mustard Pepper Sauce, with Onion Gravy and bubble and squeak (Cabbage/Mash)







Some restaurants I have visited

Sticky Chicken - Thai - Red Orchid Canal side Mailbox Birmingham


Tapas at Mechu - Birminhgam, best Tapas ever





2nd Visit to Mechu:


La Tascas - Good Tapas! = Fat




Indian in Manchester by River - East East Restaurant



Thai Restaurant Mailbox Birmingham

Good very spicy indian food aimed at indian people - StarCity Birmingham






--

Favorite Ingredients and Meals


Tesco - Sundried Tomatoes (they look disgusting but dice them up and they taste delicious, add a lovely tart and rich flavour to almost anything)


Tesco - Merchant Gourmet Roquito Hot Sweet Chilli Peppers (amazing juicy sweet spicy nom!)


Star - Jalapeno Peppers - Juicy Spiceyness Lovely!!


Nandos - Hot Peri-Peri Sauce, lovely flavour, real taste, and good on spice/hotness too, comes in different strengths too along with a variety of flavours.



Chorizo Sausage, why buy normal sausages when you can have chorizo, spicy and rich flavored and no less healthy than normal sausages I believe.

I just recently bought some Chorizo & Pork sausages and the are fantastic. Too Strong to eat on there own you'll really want to put it with something else like Patas Bravas or what I had it with Bubble and Squeek

:-D

or just onion gravy and mashed potato or something. Such basic and simple food but it tastes really good. Slightly worrying how much fat /oil drips out of these things though, the Pork+Chorizo are not as bad as the full on chorizo and I think they taste better too.

Thick Chinese Noodles

These are fantastic if you can find them, I get them from a chinese super market Sing Fat
They cook reeealy quick and go well with so many things.

Morrisons - Quorn - Mince - 1.99


Quorn Mince, looks pretty weird but tastes great and is essential if you like mince/meatballs etc as the real beef stuff is horrendously unhealthy you can just see it dripping with oil and fat


Quorn Italian Style Meat Balls - Very very nice


Quorn Chicken Style Pieces - need a fair bit of oil to soften them, doesn't taste much like chicken at all


Quorn - Peppered Steaks

Frozen rice and Frozen Diced Onions are a must if you do a lot of stir fry. It makes cooking effortlessly fast and simple.

Morrisions Own - Frozen Vegetable Rice (Mushrooms Peas Rice) - £1.29 - BUY



Baps Buns

Sainsburys - Frozen Diced Onions - 500g - 69p - BUY


Sliced Water Chesnuts

Great with noodles, they add a lovely lil crunch to what might ordinarily be a rather mushy blend of noodles. And they don't have much flavor really, try them!

Chilli Bean Sauce, this stuff is epicaly good, goes nice with:


Laksa Paste


Red Thai Curry Paste, I like to stir fry meat in it such as ham, gives the meat a brilliant spicy tang.



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Here is my wish list, if anyone wants to get me any of these for Christmas/Birthday then... who am I kidding I don't know anyone even remotely generous ;-P

Stuff here ranges from cheap and amusing to expensive but worth it to ridiculously expensive shut up now don't be silly

Some of it I have had or tried, some of it I dream of and plan to get, some of it I dream of and will never get!

:-(



A lot of it was lifted and found from UnCrate:

Lotus Elise - £15,000-£20,000
Affordable Super-car, sparse interior small engine but It's small size and low weight mean it handles as good as any car ever could and can keep up with cars 10x It's price.
I absolutely plan on getting one of these when I have the expendable income for it!



If I had the money I would get
McLaren MP4 - $500,000?


Lamborghini Reventon - $1,000,000?




More Lamborgini goodness, they are all pretty damn sexy:


BMW GTR - unpurchaseable


Mustang - £40,000?

In particular id have the Roush handling package

Tesla


Aston Martin DB9


Amalgam Fine Model Cars - $4,300-$4,700
I don't fancy my chances at every affording a real Reventon... I can't even afford an Amalgam model of one *sigh*




Polaris Rush


JetSki - though id have to have a nice beach house and warm weather to go with it


AirBoard - $14,000


Suzuki QuadRacer R450 Limited Edition - $8200


Fanatec Porsche Force Feedback Wheel for PC/PS3/Xbox
Nothing can substitute the real thing but this is really the next best thing.
I have one and they are amazing pieces of kit if you can spare the cash and you really enjoy real racing games/sims on ALL platforms.


3 Screen setup + Motion Rig Chair + The Above Wheel = Goodness


What they use for F1 testing £130,000
And those are not cushiony springy hydraulics, they are mechanical rams... beware of the rumble strips BEWARE!


Tumbleweed Tiny Houses - $40,000







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216+ Nikel plated neodymium magnets - £32

You have to see them in use/action to understand why they are cool


Dosh - wallet


Ties - £25


Leather Jacket
Gap's (RED) leather motocross jacket


Phillips - 16 Million Color Lamp - $200

Link: www.hammacher.com --- 78722




Mathmos Airswitch tc - Red - £43-50

Link: www.mathmos.com


Link: www.inspiredbylight.co.uk


Link: www.glow.co.uk


Link: www.storeinvasion.co.uk --- mathmos-tc-red


Brighten Airswitch by raising your hand vertically upwards directly above the lamp. Dim by moving your
hand vertically down towards the lamp. Movements should be slow and purposeful.



Mathmos Aduki Ni Light
They come in several colors
Red -> Blue
Green -> Red
Green - > Blue
White
It's like a weird twisted chrome stone that's chrome while ff. and light up when on then fade beaten It's two colors, and you can pause It's color too if you want.
It doesn't emit much light and it says it runs for 7 hours or so without charging. Not sure if it can run while being plugged in at same time.

Link: www.mathmos.com




One I bought for Tasha, It's quite cool and entirely useless, after applying a few sticky pads to the base to cushion it and allow you to turn it on and off by tilting it.





Lavalamp - $32.50

Link: www.locomolife.com




Plasma Globes... childish yes perhaps along with lava lamps a rather dated novelty item of kids bedrooms... but I don't care, they are still cool! especially when they are made of metal and not cheap injection mold plastic rubbish.

Blue Lightning 12" Plasma Globe - $2400 - only 275 made
Contact Wayne Strattman with Strattman Design in Boston.. $600 for shipping

Link: www.youtube.com


Link: www.youtube.com


designed by Bill Parker with extremely active blue lightning. This was made and sold by his studio in the early 1980s as a Light Sculpture called "Modern Frequencies".



And a green one

Link: www.youtube.com





Texan Artist 'Tim Walker' in 1988


Link: www.youtube.com



Plasma Tubes - $1,525.00 + $300 power supply

Link: www.strattman.com


Link: www.youtube.com






Link: www.youtube.com



30" Plasma Ball for $11,088.00

Link: www.strattman.com




And my plasma globe is bigger than your plasma globe:


Alessi Silver Tea/Coffee Tower - £20,000, $33,500

There's little reason for anyone to pay more than 30 grand for a coffee and tea set, but the amount becomes slightly more tolerable when It's an unquestionable work of art, and the (£20,000; roughly $33,500)

Vaja Cases - $80
Wanted this my my regular original iPhone (I still don't have the 3G one, I'll wait for Apples next big thing and skip that) but couldn't reason with the price of a case that probably needs protecting itself.. but it;s so yummy.. I'm still tempted to get one if it wasn't for the postage cost!
Another thing that pout me off was trying to work out what color it was, as they are built custom to order and you can pick from a range of colors.
I think the red shown below is the 'Ruby Wine' and the stripe might be 'Peach Champagne' or 'Birch' I think id go with birch to be on the safe side as it should just be an off white color and not pinkish or peach.




Black Card - $100,000 min spend
If you spend the money It's a good deal of extras like 24/7 concierge service and reserved seating for Black Card holders at certain venues and events.
For example If I had this card I could phone a number on the back and give them a link to this wish list and tell them I want everything on the list delivered asap at the best price you can find, and they would go off and do that all for me no matter how obscure and rare the item, because lets face it if I had this card id be far to busy enjoying myself to spend time on amazon and google anymore.


Intel SSD
Fast fast fast storage
I actually have one and it was just about worth the price which is very high still as of writing
But applications now open instantly and booting the computer happens in mere seconds.


Pool Table


Before you say glass would make the balls slide, It's a special coated glass and is just like felt but see thru so beat that. Does look kinda sterile and clunky though, I could easily see ways to make a glass table look much cooler!


Coool Pool Table - $200,000 (not including table.. puff)
Video of it in action:


Watch this and skip half way, augmented pool
It looks at your cue and shows you where the balls will go by drawing the trajectory lines it thinks they will take!!
It's not quite spot on, but what a great idea for learning the game

:-)

or cheating

;-)




Silkwood Traders

Link: www.silkwoodtraders.com




They do; do other colors too, but I personally like the red

:-)


Heres my one holding a ridiculously overly heavy bottle of Russian Standard vodka



Twist Cocktail Shaker - $145


Charcoal Water Pitcher - $85


Darn Tough Socks - $15-$25


Colour Changing Shower Head.. lame but cool!
I think it only snaps from one color to the next though, it doesn't fade so *thumbs down*
No batteries required, powered by water pressure I believe... though I've seen a few different manufacturers of it including ones for taps.


Apple iPad - $500
Oh I have no idea what id do with it besides stroke it all day, but it is lust enducing stuff!


Apple Mac Pro
I already have one, but that doesn't stop me wanting more of them! Especially once they start coming out with the 12 Core model soon: 3ghz*12=nerd boner, and I can actually use all those cores too.. bonus!



Apple iMac
I don't need or would have any use for one, but they are so damn gorgeous and self contained... and 27" display... ooh


Apple Magic Mouse
I have no use for it as I need at least 3 buttons and it only has 2, but It's so damn sleek and minimalist
Touch sensitive surface lets you perform basic gestures on the surface too... very cool


Apple iPhone
I already have one of the first generations, but I'm feeling the need for the new one more and more for simple things such as the camera taking so long to open and take pictures, which is greatly speeded up by the faster new model. But I can't bare to spare with the cash for a new one, not unless someone will buy my old one!
Will most likely be being the next big update to the iPhone whenever that surfaces


Logitech MX Performance Mouse - £80
This is the mouse I actually want to upgrade from my existing Logitech MX1000 which is amazing apart from the middle button breaks on all of them!!!
I'm having second thoughts about this mouse especially given the horrendous price, it substitutes a lithium battery for a swappable NiMH one (shorter life span) and you are advised to not charge it till It's almost ran out! And when you do need to charge it you have to fiddle with a usb cable and plug it in, only bonus is you can use it once It's ran out, but with my old mouse It's only ever ran out on my a handful of times in It's long life and that's just cus I was stupid, the battery life on my MX1000 is outstanding. It also lacks buttons my MX1000 has such as the two buttons on top but it does gain a thumb rest button which is very cool... If I had a choice I just wish I could get a reliable MX1000 instead!


Wacom Intuos 4 Bluetooth Wireless edition (Medium Sized) - £360
ooh shiny.. ooh wireless... ooh OLED dynamic descriptions of hotkey assignments ooohooohhh... price

:-(


I do actually want this, my current tablet is small old and scratched, definitely keeping my eye out for a 2nd hand deal... but ebay is such a shit, everything always sells for way above retail! too many retards



Wacom Cintiq - Pen Tablet with built in 21" LCD screen - $2000
Holy shit, expensive, would be very cool but totally unjustifiably expensive, id really have to be a good pen artist to warrant this baby, I'd love to try one for a day.


Powerball Neon White Pro Signature - £18
Cus they look fun and It's round.
Powerball is the world's most powerful hand gyroscope, generating speeds of over 16,000 rpm! Simply by starting up the Powerball in your hand and rotating your wrist faster you can develop incredible speeds


Zeo Personal Sleep Coach - $400

The system consists of a headband with a SoftWave sensor to accurately track your unique sleep patterns, and a bedside display that shows the time, a graph showing your pattern of sleep phases from the night before, a "ZQ" single-digit representation of the quantity, quality, and depth of your sleep, a count of how long you actually slept and how long it took you to fall asleep, and more. For even more information, pop the SD card out of the display and into your computer to upload your data to Zeo's website, where you can get an even more detailed look at your sleeping patterns, and see personalized tips for getting your best night's rest.


Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
I will be pre-ordering this as soon as It's available, I have waited half my life for the sequel! Nerd Boner!!!



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Best prices I've seen so far, great selection too

These guys sell online
But the prices are a rip off and delivery is very expensive naturally, but they are very comprehensive.. they have almost everything...

Good prices, shows drinks from other supermarkets, Sainsbury's has some good stuff well priced.


Malibu - Coconut Rum - £12
Personal Favorite with Coke, I usually get cheap knockoff versions that taste the same when mixed anyway
Though some knockoffs taste of gone off milk, but not all do thankfully


Baileys - £15 (1 Litre) - £12 (70cl)
Favorite of mine, always keep one around, Coffee Flavor version is excellent also. Can never have too much baileys in stock, makes for an interest Horlicks or Coffee too.


Disaronno Amaretto - £10 or 2 for £18 (500ml)
Tastes great with Coke, nice sweet almondy flavour


Sainsbury's Brandy Alexander - £5 (700ml)
Well first off it has my name in it so It's already excellent, really cheap, tastes really nice but buy two as they disappear fast

:-P




Pimms No.1 - £19 (1L) - £13 (70cl)
Great as a pitcher with fresh fruit and lemonade
Great mixed with hot apple juice too
And they do a brandy based Pimms: no.3


PIMMS No 3 - Winter - £14.25 - 70cl
This is a brandy based version of Pimms
Great mixed with hot apple juice, if that sounds retarded to you, try it, it warms your heart for sure

:-)




AMARULA - £11.25 - 70cl
Want it - Just got it, quite nice


GRAND MARNIER - Cordon Rouge - £21.25 - 70cl - %40
Want it, never tried it


GIFFARD - Poire William Liqueur - £16 - 70cl - 25% vol.
Want it


Poire William Liqueur 30% vol 70cl Bartender range - £17.25 - £18.50

Link: www.drinkfinder.co.uk --- ShowDetails.asp


Just got it, very strong taste on It's own, have yet to experiment with it, unmistakably pear flavored


STONES - Ginger Wine - £4.70 - 70cl - from Tesco or Asda
Want to try it


DE KUYPER - Sour Apple - £10 - 50cl
De Kuyper Sour Rhubarb Liqueur 15% vol 50cl - £11.35

Link: www.drinkfinder.co.uk --- showdetails.asp





Pear Brandy - Can't find it anywhere!

PEra segnana - Can't find it anywhere!

De Kuyper Cherry Brandy Liqueur (500ml) £10.30 - £13 70cl - 24% or 20?
This stuff is superb, tastes great with coke.
Id like to get some other flavors of brandy liqueurs too, not sure about apricot though..


And in order or appearance some more Cherry Brandies!
Never tried these but would like to:

BOLS - Cherry Brandy - £12 - 50cl - 24%
BRAMLEY AND GAGE - Cherry Brandy - £12 - 30cl
GABRIEL BOUDIER - 'Bartender Range' Cherry Brandy - £17 - 70cl
GIFFARD - Cherry Brandy - £14 - 70cl
GRANTS MORELLA - Cherry Brandy - £22 50cl
LEJAY LAGOUTE - Cherry Brandy - £12 - 50cl
VOLARE - Cherry Brandy - £13 - 70cl - 24%


CHERRY MARNIER - £15 - 70cl
Just got it, t is essentially a cherry brandy, very deep more complex flavor to it, not overly sugary sweet like perhaps the De Kuyper one, both have meritsI


BOLS - Creme de Bananes - £12 (50cl) - £16 (70cl) - 25%
Never tried it, would like to


Bombay Sapphire Distilled London Dry Gin (1L) 40% vol. £17-£23


Stolichnaya Vanil Vodka - £15.50 (70cl) - 37.5%
Just got it, very smooth taste can't taste the vodka in it at all really


Teichenne Coffee Liqueur - £12
I want this pretty badly to mix White Russians, I can never find the coffee one!


Teichenne Green Apple Schnapps 20% vol 70cl - £11
Want it


Kahlua Liqueur (700ml) - £14
Great in white russians


Danzka Vodka - £17
Great vodka had it a few times, but I dare say the Russian Standard below is better especially for the price


RUSSIAN STANDARD - Original - £10 - £14 - 70cl
Very very nice vodka, cool bottle too, seriously great taste and the price at the moment is outstanding


RUSSIAN STANDARD - Imperia - £30 - 70cl - 40%
Want to try
Russky Standart Imperia has an unsurpassed taste as the liquid tops out in clarity and velvet smoothness.


I saw one of these


Sourz - Apple - £26
Good for Shots


Aftershock - Black - £23
Good for shots, though I haven't tried this flavor it sounds interesting
Cranberry spiced liqueur shooter


AVA TAHITI - Moorea Coco - £20
Coconut Liqueur
Looks interesting haven't tried it


Snow Queen Vodka - £63
Never had, the price makes me curious


Roberto Cavalli Vodka - £100
Definitely never had, price makes me very curious


SEBOR - The Beautiful = Absinthe - 55% vol. Half a metre tall
Fancy bottle,curious if it tastes any better than the horrid cheap shit I\'m used to.


LA FEE - XS Absinthe Suisse - £50
Again curious how much better it tastes than the typical stuff.


CLAZE AZUL - tequila - Ultra - £2500
The price makes me hella curious what could make something worth that.
I knew of £10,000 bottles of Whiskey and such, but not Tequila?
--
Ah ok I think It's the limited edition and craft of the bottle, they only made 100, normally it is indeed the best tequila but retails for about $100 in It's standard bottle.



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Liquor Chocolates are always a good thing even the cheap ones

:-D




Hotelchocolat

Link: www.hotelchocolat.co.uk


Has some great stuff, really really nice tasting.
And they have a tasting club you can join where you get unusual different chocolates delivered every month to rate if you wish, or just scoff them all.



EZ Grill - $10

Link: www.ezgrill.com




Meatball Grill Basket

Link: www.williams-sonoma.com





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Why are peppers called peppers?
Columbus thought he had found the plant that produces black pepper when he landed in North America and thought he was in India. That's why we call them "peppers."

Is eating chilli bad for you?
There is no evidence that eating too much chilli is unhealthy, or that it causes ulcers. In fact, capsaicin is used in anti-inflammatory creams to treat ailments like arthritis and shingles.

Can you get desensitised to eating chilli?
Yes. Tests have showed that with successive exposure to equal concentrations of capsaicin, the sensation of pungency decreases.

How do I get rid of the burning feeling?
If you burn your mouth with chilli, drinking water will do no good because capsaicin is not soluble in water. (It's like trying to wash away grease with water) Fat will do the trick - and that means drinking milk, eating yoghurt, ice cream or even peanut butter.

--

Can be purchased from sites like:

Link: www.funkypepper.co.uk


Link: www.hot-headz.com


Link: www.chilliworld.com


Link: www.scorchio.co.uk


Link: www.chilefoundry.co.uk



What makes peppers spicy is the capsaicin, and anyone who regularly has spicy food will have noticed over time you become desensitised to the spiciness. But no worry there is ALWAYS something spicier round the corner. Spicyness is scientifically measured in 'scovilles' and it ranges all the way unto 16,000,000 for pure undiluted capsaicin crystals.

For example
Jalape'f1o Pepper is 2,500-8,000 scoville
Cayenne Pepper, Tabasco pepper is 30,000-50,000
Habanero chili, African Birdseye is 100,000-350,000
Law Enforcement Grade pepper spray is 5,000,000'965,300,000 (ouch)

Big list of products with position on the scoville scale:

Link: www.chilliworld.com --- Scoville_Scale.asp



There seems to be a lot of 'collectors' items and and limited edition crap, like spicy sauce is on the same level as fine wines or aged whiskey or something...
I like stuff that is of quality and has good/refined flavour, I don't mind paying more for it, and If it has a novel interesting/stylish bottle then that's a bonus I might even pay a few more £ for, but do I care if It's numbered and limited edition? no! silly bottles with skulls on and warning signs etc etc... lame

There is no shortage of hot sauces:


And a big tip when dealing with spiciness, if you over do it, just swish a glass of milk around your mouth (more full fat the better),
it disengages the capsaicin from your mouth and spiciness will quickly fade, water and other drinks will do nothing if not make it feel worse

:-)


I heard honey works too.

I have to frown on all the macho bullshit associated with some of them with crappy 'skulls' and danger signs on them, theres nothing inherently clever or difficult about making something spicy at all, it' can be as simple as adding more capsaicin! but that will not make it taste nice!

For example:
Blair's Original Death Sauce
Just looking at it you can tell It's not going to be exactly gourmet, I'll quote a review
"Absolutely awful. Maybe not as disgusting as the Mega Death sauce, but still bad. It's got a strong and offending chemical smell and flavor. I would not recommend this to anyone."
This 'Blair' guy must be a dickhead and all the people who collect his stuff are even bigger dick heads buying into pseudo exclusivity and limited edition crap.
I might change my mind if some of them actually turn out to taste nice, but I don't dig the marketing angle or the product design.


Oh brilliant just found a review by Jeremy Clarkson, well I say review, an incident involving him and some Insanity Sauce:

"Even now, the following morning, I feel weak, shell-shocked, like I may die at any moment. And all I'd ingested was a drop."

He brings up another wonderful point I too have been going on about the past few days especially regarding earning labels and how everything has now; so we take no warning and don't really know when something actually really is dangerous.


CaJohns - Eve Krakatoa 200 ml - £16
Well interesting looking bottle for sure, wonder what it tastes like though?
Made by CaJohns they look more serious about sauces and actual flavour than just being retarded like the above Blairs


CaJohn's - Gourmet Chipotle Hot Sauce - £6


More CaJohn's from

Link: www.scorchio.co.uk


I have tried the Fatali Fire one and It's pretty damn hot, unusual taste, reminds me of nandos peri peri but not as sweet


CaJohn's - Frostbite Hot Sauce - £7
Vinegar, Water, Salt, Aquaresin of Capsicum
The world's first white hot sauce and the first sauce that sparkles and shimmers when you shake it. Use Frostbite in any beverage to add heat without changing the flavor or color!
-
Sounds fairly bland I guess, for drinks? just use to add heat? a lot of heat.


Pain is Good Batch #114 Jamaican Hot Sauce - £5 each
I have the Jamaican and Lousiana style bottles, and they have lots of flavor and plenty of spice, very BBQ'y



Interesting packaging, and they look like they are interesting and varied flavours and variety.

Review:
"Now I am biased, I just love Juans stuff and this sauce does'nt disappoint. Maybe because I like pain or maybe because this sauce has TASTE it is up there with my favourites like da bomb and blairs 4am.
Enjoy the jerk flavour before the heat sneaks up on you

:-)

this suace is ideal for girlies who like to experiment as well as blokes who think they can handle it hot."

Mad Dog 357 Ghost Pepper Hot sauce - £7

Link: www.scorchio.co.uk --- ghost-pepper-sauce-p-909



Ok I got this one, and I rubbed my finger round the rim and put it on my tongue and it burned like crazy, this stuff is very hot! has a deep burning sensation at first starting in the throat, I can't say it has a nice taste, It's unusual, and it often makes me hiccup uncontrollably!
Other Review: OK, I was expecting this to blow my head off yet it did not. However, the flavour is simply amazing and the heat levels are just right to allow that flavour to really jump out at you!! Well done to Mad Dog again overall!!!


Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper Naga Jolokia Hot Sauce - £7.50
Review: WOWWEEEE!!! This stuff is HOT! This is a beautiful sauce though. It's pure genius in a bottle. And you know what? It tastes GREAT!

Link: www.scorchio.co.uk --- daves-gourmet-ghost-pepper-naga-jolokia-sauce-p-947





Nitro Naga Chilli Jam - £4 Exclusive to

Link: www.scorchio.co.uk --- nitro-naga-chilli-p-748


I have this one and It's pretty interesting, It's easy to spread It's not thick like jam, taste very sweet/sugary but has a big deep spicy kick to it.


Baron Blazing Hot Sauce - £2

Link: www.chilliworld.com --- SP6.asp


Review: Best sauce I've tasted. Great taste, but won't kill you. Great for chili, tacco's, hec I like it so much I might try on my breakfast cereal!


Windmill Hot Pepper Sauce - £2 - Mustard based

Link: www.chilliworld.com --- SP6.asp


Review: with all these rave reviews can't believe it took me so long to try it... all these people can't be wrong and there not... great stuff


El Yucateco Red Habanero Pepper Sauce - 5,790 Scoville - £4
Looks good, recommended by a friend, they do hotter ones too.


El Yucateco range from - £22

Link: www.scorchio.co.uk




I have the green haberneo one and It's pretty vile looking stuff, very spicy.. not sure what to do with it yet, it doesn't really add any special flavor other than the flavor of the pepper, which I think is the whole point of it

:-)



Magma Sauce 500,000 Scoville
Magma Hot Sauce looks exactly like a lava lamp only the floating firey ingredient will burn hippie right out of your tongue! In a sea of heat rests Oleoresin of Capsicum, aka the fire!! When you tilt the bottle from side to side it looks like a retro lava lamp.


Tabasco Sauces - £2.25
rates in at 2,140 Scoville for comparisons
I find it quite sweet generally just adding a nice zing.


TABASCO'ae Chipotle Pepper Sauce - £4.25



Nandos Hot Peri-Peri Sauce
One of my current favourite, It tastes great in heinz tomato soup, or indeed almost anything you add it to. And they do milder versions and a black extra hot one.
I'm starting to get used to It's heat now and it tastes mostly sweet and still very nice, but I'm looking for spicier sauces now.


Reggae Reggae Sauce
nice BBQ flavoured spicy sauce I use sometimes


Pickapeppa Original Sauce - £2


Cholula Salsa Picante Hot Sauce - £2.45
They have a few varieties you can get 3 for £7.25




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Bacon everything anything.. seriously I'm dead curious!

Bacon Vodka, No, that's not a typo. Bakon Vodka ($30) is a new premium-quality potato vodka infused with a savory bacon flavor. For use in a bloody mary for example

Link: bakonvodka.com




Bacon popcorn


Bacon Bourbon Caramel Corn


Bacon Jam - $17


Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix - $14


Baconaise


Bacon Soap - $6


J&D's Bacon Lip Balm - $13


Bacon Floss


Mmmvelopes


Bacon Salt


Tactical Canned Bacon - $16




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