Ben is reviewing Fidel's

Went to Fidel's Little Mexico in Solana Beach with Ms. Reyes last night and had:

(Pardon the excellent iPhone photography)



Guacamole with Chips (and a fuckload of cheese)


Me: Negra Modelo, Fish Burrito (Fried Mahi Mahi, covered in more cheese)
Tamara: Perfect Strawberry Margarita, Crab Enchiladas
Notice the guacamole has been decimated.



My review:

Go now.

Ben is randomly cursed.

Curse #1.

Loaner cars from BMW of San Diego are usually BMW 3-series sedans but mine happened to be a Toyota Solara... CONVERTIBLE.

The most non-heterosexual car in the world.

You better believe I rolled it hard with the top down!

BTW Lady Ga Ga P-P-P-P-Poker Face was on repeat.

Curse #2.

My laptop at work randomly flips my display 180 degrees so that everything is upside down. I have to hit CTRL+ALT+UP to reset the display so I can work again. FML. Check out my monitor, it's upside down.

Ben is Tilted

The crew holla'd at Tilted Kilt for the Nuggets/Lakers game.

I walked around Petco Park before everyone arrived because I was the first one there (of course)


10th and J


Petco Park Scoreboard


View of the infield from the "beach"


Selective Coloring. My first try.


Jed and Alana finally arrive.


The fucking best.


Decided to play with high ISO (1600) with my 50mm F/1.4.

Ben is not a beer snob.

I enjoy beer.

I have drank countless varieties of beer.

However, unlike my other interests I am not as snobby/picky with the beers I choose to drink.

When I was 21 (*6 years ago, we are fucking old!) I thought I was really cool because I drank Newcastle Brown Ale by the gallon. I can't say that I don't enjoy a Newcastle here and there, but it isn't what I would rank in my current top 5.

I leave you with my top 5 current beers.

NEGRA MODELO, Mexico - I enjoy this dark beer and it is currently my favorite. It is nice and smooth and though it is dark, it is not bitter or heavy. It is very satisfying to drink and doesn't have an overtly hoppy aftertaste. I enjoy it straight from the bottle with a wedge of lime squeezed into it. My favorite place to drink a Negra Modelo is Fidel's in Del Mar. Thank you Damon for introducing me to that place.


SAPPORO PREMIUM BEER, Japan - This rice lager is great to drink with oily or really salty foods. If you know me well that makes up 79% of my diet. This beer is just right when eating at a Japanese food restaurant. Drinking this will not make your food taste different, it will just provide a refreshing way to wash everything down. I prefer my Sapporo Premiums out of the tall bottles. My favorite place to drink a Sapporo Premium is at Cafe Mums Shabu Shabu in Japantown, San Francisco. This is the place Jeff and Crystal pioneered and love to frequent.


WIDMER HEFENWEIZEN, Portland, Oregon - My favorite drinking beer when I want to get drunk. This wheat beer is high in Alcohol By Volume (ABV) but doesn't have an unpleasant (to me) hoppiness. I can't stand hoppy beer, it must be the pussy ass in me. A Widmer with a orange slice is what Neil drinks. While it does taste delicious I don't want to fully give up my manhood so I just squeeze a lemon wedge and enjoy. My favorite place to drink a Widmer Hefenweizen is ANYWHERE.


BUD LIGHT LIME, St. Louis, Missouri - Yeah. It's a lime flavored beer. It's a lime flavored light beer. It's a lime flavored light American pilsner beer. It's also fucking addicting and I want one right now sooooo bad. Thank you Grace for addictng me to this. My favorite place to drink a Bud Light Lime is at Grace's apartment. Anyway I know some of you are snickering at this choice while sipping your microbrewed pale ale at the perfect temperature that maximizes the hoppy nuttiness and aroma, that's OK. The world needs douches like you to make fun of.


BUD LIGHT, St. Louis, Missouri - The tried and true. I will drink this any day and not feel bad about it. Do I need to say more? It doesn't meet the needs of beer snobs (it is basically light yellow water), but fuck beer snobs. All I care about is having fun. Is there anything more fun than shotgunning a Bud Light before a Charger game? Nope. And that's the way I enjoy to drink this fine beer the most. Anyone want to challenge my sucking ability? Yes homo.

As a side note: I HATE HEINEKEN. I HATE ANY BEER FROM STONE BREWERY (FUCK THE RUINATION). I HATE GUINNESS, unless it's in an Irish Car Bomb.

Ben is not a fan of J.R. Smith.

but...
B's up.
L's down.

Ben is rigged.

Took rig shots with Ron (Ronsega) today. Ron has engineered a rig solution using several different Italian made Manfrotto parts mixed with some Home Depot pieces. It is really an elegant solution and works well. Ron also wields a pretty crazy collection of photographic know-how and some elite gear.

The subject of the day is my BMW M5 (E39). Location is a random business park in Eastlake.

The moving shots taken with Ron's Canon EOS 20D fitted with a EF-S 10-22mm UWA lens with a ND8 filter and circular polarizer. This is mounted on a Manfrotto ball head which is clamped to the rig.

I used my Canon EOS 5D fitted with a bunch of lenses (EF 17-40mm F/4.0L, EF 50mm F/1.4, EF 70-200mm F/4.0L and a EF 24-70mm F/2.8L (Ron's))

Ben is salvation.

Just got back from watching Terminator Salvation.

I must say, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I am a Terminator nerd, however so take my words with a grain of salt.

I won't review the movie, but I recommend that you go see it. It's at least worth it for the action sequences alone.

BTW... why is Philip Rivers the new Terminator?

Sam Worthington, the Terminator/Human hybrid (spoiler!)

Philip Rivers, the Alabama slammer.

Ben is one week late.

Here are some pics from Lorna's Canon Powershot G10 of last weekend's trip to San Francisco.



Flight was two hours late. Got to Grace's apartment at 1:30AM.



My camera is big.



No homo. (Yes homo)



Kris Allen just got socked.



Gay-shas.



The first, part two.



Cliffhouse



Walkin' at Sutro Baths



The Captain and his matey.



Yes homo. (No homo)



The torture machine.



Sisig Nachos @ Mercury SF



Tocilog @ Mercury SF



Walking down Fillmore.