Rockstar Juiced

/ drinks
by Steven

Purchase Price: $1.99
Purchase Place: Quik-Trip
Rating: 4.5
Pros: Tasty orange and passion fruit flavor. Easy to swallow. Enriched with vitamin B.
Cons: I don’t really taste the mango.

I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee and energy drinks lately, sometimes mixed together. I really like the vitamins you really can’t find in coffee. Although energy drinks usually costs a lot more than coffee, I like having a handy can around when I’m too lazy to brew. What I really enjoy about Rockstar Juiced is that it contains 70% juice. Whether this is accurate or not…I don’t really care.

You first get a heavy orange citrus blast of flavor followed by a mild taste of passion fruit. The passion fruit is barely noticeable. The can says that there is also mango flavoring but I barely tasted it. Most importantly, there is no medicine aftertaste found in many energy drinks. I believe that this is my new favorite energy drink.

Rockstar Juiced has 80 milligrams of caffeine. I highly recommend it over Rockstar Zero Carb or the original Rockstar Energy Drink. Rockstar Zero Carb has 160 milligrams of caffeine and 0 carbs, but it tastes bitter compared to Juice. I would actually recommend Rockstar Zero Carb over the original although it pales in comparison to Rockstar Juiced.

Rockstar Juiced is filled with a palethora of vitamin B. Vitamin B is essential to building muscles. Instead of explain why, I will turn you to this link. I like vitamin B. I like this drink. It’s as simple as that.

Wendy’s Value Menu

/ fast food
by Steven

Purchase Price: $1.05
Purchase Place: Wendy’s
Rating: 4.5
Pros: Cheap. Gets you full. Tastes great.
Cons: Some items are not worth your money.

Wendy’s itself is one of the finer fast food restaurants out there. I have no evidence to support this claim but you are going to have to trust me on this. I didn’t review every item off the dollar menu because I have yet to try everything yet.   

Crispy Chicken Sandwich    4.5
It’s a plain chicken sandwich with lettuce and mayo.  The chicken is excellent but the lettuce always seems dead to me. 

Mandarin Oranges    1.0
What the hell is this? I can get a much larger can of oranges at Kroger for $0.70. I could dump this whole cup into my mouth without looking. 

Yogurt with Granola    0.5
You can get premium yogurt and granola at any grocery store that tastes and looks better for nearly half the price. 

5-piece Crispy Chicken Nuggets    5.0
These nuggets are very cheap and better tasting compared to McDonald’s. Nuggets come with either honey mustard, barbeque, or sweet and sour sauce. The barbeque sauce is what makes me want to buy nuggets every time I’m at Wendy’s. 

Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger    4.5      
The JBC is a classic. There’s a good amount of sauce and bacon. I love how it’s not cluttered with crap like some burgers. However, the meat seems very skimpy. 

Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe    4.0      
It’s a JBC without bacon. The addition of onions are welcomed but the burger overall feels amiss without bacon. 

Small French Fries    4.0      
Wendy’s has good fries. I rarely find a really floppy oil-soaked fry or one that has been burnt. I wish fries weren’t so bad for you. 

Value Coca-Cola    1.0
$1 is not that great of a deal for soda even if it is refillable. I’m not a fan of soda. I usually load up on value menu food at Wendy’s and save even more money by getting water. I’m not a cheap bastard. I’m a college student.

Small Frosty    2.0      
The frosty is a hit-or-miss. Sometimes you’ll get thick chocolate or vanilla milk. The frosty should be thick and enjoyed with a spoon. The frosty is also kind of bland and loaded with fat.   
 
Small Chili    5.0
This chili is excellent. It’s my favorite chili out of fast food chains. It’s lower in fat compared to the burgers and it is meaty. It comes with crackers and chili sauce. The chili sauce needs to be spicier. 

Sour Cream and Chives Potato    2.0      
The potato is big and the chives are plentiful; too plentiful. Don’t be mislead. Potatoes are good for you but if you put the sour cream and the butter on it, you mind as well eat a triple cheeseburger. 

Side Salad    4.5      
The side salad is an good choice for the health conscious unless you use all of the dressing that comes with it. Hint: Don’t use all of the dressing. The tiny tomatoes are awesome. 

Caesar Side Salad    4.5
The Caesar salad is worse for you than the side salad despite the healthier lettuce. The dressing that comes with it is unhealthy and the cheese is even worse. Despite the health risks, this salad will satisfy any Caesar salad fans. 

Olde English

/drinks
by Steven

Purchase Price: $1.29
Purchase Place: Quik-Trip
Rating: 3.5
Pros: Smooth and cheap, just how I like my beer.
Cons: Must brush teeth after drinking.

I’m not really a beer connoisseur nor will I ever be since my tolerance for alcohol is that of a nine-year-old girl. I was known as the kid that passed out fifteen minutes into the party hugging the speakers that were still blasting music. I’ve been building up my resistance by eating cereal with beer instead of milk every morning since then.

I haven’t been drinking much lately, especially since the realization that school was kicking my ass and I needed to shape up. I didn’t really even do anything for my 21st birthday. Two weeks later, I happen to be at a QuikTrip and decided to pick up a beer. I wasn’t going to do any heavy drinking since I had work the next morning so I decided to get a 40oz.

I’ve had “Olde E” when I was a young binge drinker. Now that I’m a little bit more mature, I decided to buy Olde E because it was cheap and I wanted to review a beer. When I buy a 40, I usually avoid Bud or Miller since you can find those everywhere.

Olde E was an excellent choice. I did not remember Olde E tasting so smooth. It’s not too strong and not too weak and really easy to swallow. That’s about as best as I could do into describing the beer. One annoying feeling after drinking this beer is the impudent urge to brush your teeth because they instantly feel unclean.

I’m can’t really compare this to Samuel Adam’s Cherry Wheat because 40’s seem to be in a different genre of themselves. Cherry Wheat is expensive, but quality beer that deserves a try. Olde E is a 40 that will get you drunk at the fraction of the price. Other than the rotting teeth feeling from Old E, it is a classic compared to other 40’s.

Wii Remote Controller

/ electronics
by Steven

Purchase Price: $39.99
Purchase Place: Best Buy
Rating: 4.5
Pros: Wireless. Turns off console without touching console. Good design. Comes with wrist strap.
Cons: Expensive. According to many videos online, the wrist strap is flimsy.

The Wii remote weighs like a TV remote, looks like a TV remote, and tastes like a TV remote. What makes it special is the accelerometer inside that I will not even attempt to explain. The Wii remote simply makes videogames more interactive and fun than an average conventional pad.

The price seems fine at MSRP $39.99 but it does not come with the Nunchuck attachment. That must be purchased separately for $19.99. That Nunchuck is optional and not required for all games, but come on. It’s like buying a car without a steering wheel. It’ll cost a little more than $60(the cost of an Xbox 360 game) for the full experience.

What makes the Wii remote appear more expensive is the lack of a rechargeable battery. Even though Nintendo says that the battery life lasts from 30-60 hours, it feels like a lot like 30. I was suggested to turn off vibration and the sound on the remote, but that detracts from the overall experience. A third party developer is releasing a Wii remote dock that will charge the remote, but that will inevitably cost more than I’m willing to compensate.

Wavebird for the GameCube lasts 5x more than the Wii. This accelerometer technology must drain batteries. Buy NiMh rechargeable batteries, which will eventually reduce the cost of using the Wii compared to alkaline batteries. The NiMh batteries and charger will probably add another $30 to the Wii remote and nunchuck.

It seems like I’m bashing the remote because of the price and low battery life, but I love the thing. It’s accurate and most importantly, fun to use. I’m even having a great time writing messages with the remote. The gimmicky approach for the DS worked very well for Nintendo and I hope it works for the Wii.

Wii + Finals = Slow Updates

I’ve had the Wii since Nov 25th due to a special friend of mine. Updates have been lacking due to the Wii and finals, mostly Wii. I assume my other editors are also studying hardcore and do not have the time to write anything.

I will attempt to update a lot more during Christmas break starting in two weeks between my Zelda, Final Fantasy 12, and Guitar Hero 2 sessions.

Right now, school is kicking my ass and I feel like jumping out of a plane.

Visit iconfactory.com for more hilarious Wii safety images.