Mortal Kombat X – A New Face For A New Generation

Mortal Kombat X – A New Face For A New Generation

by kingwich ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Ah, Mortal Kombat.

The first thing anyone thinks of when hearing the words Mortal Kombat, is the iconic Scorpion throwing his wonderfully unique harpoon attack into the throat of his helpless opponent.

For those who are not the most hardcore of gamer’s, let me paint you a picture: imagine a ninja clad in yellow, which in itself is a contradiction because ninjas are supposed to be stealthy and secretive, shooting a rope out of his wrists and at the end of this rope is a sharp knife which he aims for the throat. After catching his opponent, he screams “GET OVER HERE” while pulling them in.

Scorpion and his unique move lit up arcades in the early 90’s when games like Street Fighter were the norm. A realistic, kung-fu movie like fighter with blood and guts brought so much delight to kids all over the world, including myself, your humble author.

Throughout the years, Mortal Kombat increased its already impressive line of characters with new favorites such as Mileena, Baraka, Kitana, Jax and one of my personal favorites, Shao Kahn. The game almost prided itself in how gruesome it was, breaking all traditional rules of video games and even spawning the ESRB, a board that rates video games based on its content to protect children from buying something their parents wouldn’t be too pleased to see.

Mortal Kombat’s history includes the finest action: Bruce Lee style fights with lots of martial arts and an immense amount of oriental culture such as dragons, temples, old chinese wizards with evil plots on destroying the world, scantly clad women with vicious attitudes [and even bigger killer instincts.] It was a male fantasy come to life.

Mortal Kombat X or MKX for short, recently released on Playstation 4, XBOX One, and PC. MKX brings a completely new generation of characters into the mix, with many old favorites getting… well old. Johnny Cage, the A-List celebrity playboy fighter, is now a grizzled old father who gave birth to one of the most delightful characters in Mortal Kombat history, a character who breaks the traditional mold of a Mortal Kombat character and feels like a product of our age. Her name is Cassie Cage.

Observe her for a minute, then go ahead and observe the two ninja ladies above. Cassie is wonderfully modern, rocking a contemporary haircut, normal proportions for a video game character and SHES FULLY CLOTHED! Cassie is a product of our time. Go ahead and play any Mortal Kombat game. All of the characters have an action movie like agenda, witnessing this can be awesome from a pure fantasy point of view, but can get tiring to those less invested in the lore of Mortal Kombat.

Cassie flips off her opponents at the beginning of every fight, she chews and blows bubbles with her bubble gum, and she curses up a storm when things get rough. While she puts up an obnoxious front, on the inside Cassie is a very sensitive person wanting to save the world to live up to the high standards of both her mother, (former leader of the Special Ops) and her father (an A-List celebrity). Cassie breaks barriers in Mortal Kombat by being a completely relatable character. Not only that, but also she takes SELFIES! Then, Cassie posts the photos on a fake social media site in game called Friendships!

Viewer Discretion is Advised….

I truly believe that for a game to be legendary, it can be looked back on and be a timestamp of the culture that was around when the game was released. Mortal Kombat X delivers on that front. I truly advise anyone with even the slightest vested interest to give the game a try. Its a Mortal Kombat game that retains the gruesome gore that made it popular, with a new set of faces that give it a contemporary appeal.

[DISCLAIMER- thgaffblog.com DOES NOT OWN ANY OF THE PICTURES PRESENTED IN THIS POST.]

Heavenly Honey Battered Half Chicken with the Most Average Crispy Shrimp – Dallas BBQ – 23rd Street & 8th Avenue, NY, NY

Heavenly Honey Battered Half Chicken with the Most Average Crispy Shrimp – Dallas BBQ – 23rd Street & 8th Avenue, NY, NY

by Happynikkiii ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

As promised, kingwich and I made a visit to Dallas BBQ. I had the pleasure of being there for their recently launched drink: the Funny Bunny Royale. I do not eat barbecue very often, but when I do I expect it to be tasty and filling and Dallas BBQ filled that quota.

Before even choosing our entrees, kingwich and I tasted the “Dallas BBQ sauce” to see what it would be like. The best explanation of the taste would be to compare it to a smoky flavored ketchup. So instead of getting barbecue chicken, I went ahead and got Honey Battered Chicken and Crispy Shrimp with french fries and corn bread. What could be better?

chicken and shrimp dallasbbq
Honey Battered Half Chicken and Shrimp with Cornbread and French Fries (Tartar Sauce to the right)

One thing I typically do not like to do is get my hands dirty, and you might think it’s strange that someone like me would go to any barbecue spot. Yet, I still love barbecue. The Honey Battered Chicken was not only sweet and syrupy (in a good way) but so tender that someone as fidgety about dirty fingers as myself, could eat it with a fork. Also, the french fries were crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside – just how I like it.

My dislikes were the shrimp and the cornbread. And don’t get me wrong, they were not bad. But they did not have any oomph to them. They were just there. Maybe the honey batter overwhelmed my taste buds, maybe not. I could have gotten the same crispy shrimp anywhere else and I could have made the same cornbread (probably better).

The 100 percent winner of the night had to be the Funny Bunny Royale:

Dallas bbq 4
Funny Bunny Royale

Although, this was apparently supposed to be purple (source: https://www.facebook.com/dallasbbq) and mine is clearly on the pink side, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Funny Bunny Royale is a purple/pink Long Island served with Moscato and a shot of rum. It is difficult to explain the taste of alcohol, but if I had to explain the taste in terms of how it made me feel, this drink had me wishing I could have one every night -and I am not a big drinker.

If you want a restaurant that is not serious or something new, go to Dallas BBQ. If you’re not a fan of their barbecue sauce, definitely try something battered in honey, or hurry to get their Funny Bunny Royale and share it with a friend or loved one.

You won’t regret it 😉

And don’t forget your wipes

dallas bbq wipes
Dallas BBQ Wipes
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Art Tuesdays – A Hand to God

by Happynikkiii ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

As an art lover, artist and blogger I struggled with thinking about how to incorporate art into blogging. Realistically speaking, I do not have the time to go to exhibitions every week thus, reviews would be difficult to write if I can’t go to a museum. So I came up with this idea: Art Tuesdays.

Art Tuesdays will be dedicated to submissions of my own personal work, whenever I do not have external content to review.

So I will start this Tuesday off with my personal favorite:

image

I drew A Hand to God on a day when I felt very lonely. If you look at the date on it, it is over a year old. But the message is still very clear in my mind.

I have gone back and forth with my beliefs if a god exists or not. At one point, I considered myself an atheist. The one person I knew who dedicated their life to God (my grandfather) passed away from complications with a brain tumor and I could not understand how someone divine nor all loving could let this happen to someone so dedicated to him or her.

Recently, I consider myself more agnostic. A brief definition of agnostic, for those who don’t know would be that I believe there could be a divine being but I personally am not putting a name on it. I only use ‘God’ in the title as a symbol. When I think about my life I consider myself very lucky. While I am not well off, I live comfortably. I eat everyday, sleep in my own bed. See my mom and step dad. Still talk to my dad occasionally although that’s awkward lol. But regardless of the trivial bad things that happen to me, I am lucky.

I am lucky to be alive with so much potential and opportunity available to me. So, to get to the main point of why I drew this is: if there is someone, anyone pulling the strings, I reach my hand out to them and welcome them in. Instead of criticizing them for their flaws.

Link

Trailer – The Emperor’s New Clothes by Russell Brand and Director Michael Winterbottom – Studio Canal

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Just saw the trailer for Russell Brand’s film The Emperor’s New Clothes. If it doesn’t scream pissed the fuck off I don’t know what will.

Although Brand is definitely not poor now, he allegedly had a very difficult childhood. When he was six months old, his parents separated and was left to his mother’s family when she later developed breast cancer. It’s not a leap to assume that he dealt with a fair share of struggle in his own life before the radio shows, comedy specials, money and scandals.

One thing I did not realize about the UK before seeing this trailer was that it is just as fucked up and corrupt as America. Why are the rich getting richer while everyone else struggles? One theory that this documentary asserts: the rich have kept a blanket over our eyes, for far too long.

Did the bankers pay back their huge bonuses, no they carried on making more money – Brand

Make a Difference

#Thingscanchange

Watch this trailer for me new film with Michael Winterbottom on what we should bloody do http://t.co/uvkagD06yu

— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) March 28, 2015

**The film opens nationwide in the UK April 21. No international release revealed as of this posting**

City Kitchen – Whitman’s – A Simple Cheese Steak for Everyone.

City Kitchen – Whitman’s – A Simple Cheese Steak for Everyone.

by kingwich ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello everyone! My name is Ariel Martinez and before I begin my little review on a decent sandwich I had a couple of days ago, I’d like to let you guys (and gals!) know a little about myself. I’m a simple man. A man sort of behind in the times, a man who isn’t on any social media or even likes using his phone. Hell, the only reason I got rid of my old Galaxy 2 was because it was at a point in its life where no matter how much I tinkered with it, no matter how much I prayed to the heavens for just one more day of use… it was dead. Shucks. If we have any Parks and Recreation fans out there, I have been compared to Ron Swanson a bit too often. I hope that paints a picture of the person I am. Except that I don’t boast one of the most beautiful mustaches on the planet.

Just a beautiful mustache.

Very much like Ron Swanson, I am a big fan of American cuisine. Burgers, Ribs, Cheese steaks, Apple Pie, you name it. I’ve never had a salad and I intend to keep it that way. There’s a certain science to making the perfect burger, the perfect ribs which always leads me to try new places and certainly be open to try anything that ANYONE recommends me (seriously guys, any burger BBQ American cuisine locations you guys can recommend in the NYC area I will go to). A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of going into City Kitchen in New York City. Nicole commented on the history of City Kitchen and what was in store there but the first thing I noticed while walking in was a bustling and maybe even a bit cramped center of great food. Its like the food court in your local mall but just replace teenagers with hipsters. A lot of hipsters. The particular establishment I decided to chow down on that day was Whitman’s.

Whitman’s is a burger joint whose main restaurant is located in the East Village. It makes the food we’re guilty of loving but using locally grown ingredients. If I can enjoy a burger and help local farmers, I have done my patriotic duty as an American. I decided to try their cheese steak which looked amazingly appetizing on their online menu. When I received mine it looked awesome! However there is one fatal flaw…. I had to put ketchup on it!

Whitman's
Visually pleasing.

Now that shouldn’t be! A cheese steak should carry the flavor all in it self without any extra sauces or condiments. The steak should be seasoned to the point where the cheese compliments the flavor of the steak. When I first took a bite, the cheese was the only thing I tasted. The cheese was fine, a very smooth buttery taste whose texture added to the overall smoothness of the steak. However, the main ingredient left my taste buds wanting a little more. The fries, a corner-stone to any sandwich, were very small. I wondered whose hands they were designed for. They were however, some of the best fries I have ever had. It was a roller coaster of flavors which started with a very crunchy outside followed by a very fluffy inside. It had a very enjoyable salty after taste which sat well in my mouth when I followed it up with another fry. I found myself eating the fries before I even took a single bite out of the sandwich, it was that good.

Whitman’s cheese steak is a fine sandwich for lunch on the fly but for more seasoned cheese steak veterans, it lacks the fantastic seasoning that other dedicated cheese steak places offer. But their fries are out of this world. Seriously just go there for fries alone. You won’t be disappointed.

Bay House – Staten Island, NY – Asian and Vegetarian Cuisine – Yes, I know, it is on Staten Island (Now Closed) – Location now San Rasa

Bay House – Staten Island, NY – Asian and Vegetarian Cuisine – Yes, I know, it is on Staten Island (Now Closed) – Location now San Rasa

by Happynikkiii ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Bay House is an Asian restaurant on Bay Street of Staten Island, that is gravely unacknowledged. It is a small, hole in the wall type of place that is great to relax with a friend, your family, perhaps even a group of people. It has all of the things I love about Asian cuisine: bento boxes, bubble tea, you name it.

Before going to Bay House, I had never been there before. So as a past vegetarian (not anymore, but I still like anything soy) I was excited to try their Mock Soy Chicken and Broccoli, in a bento box! Plus, I got Mango flavored Bubble tea.

As someone who went to a popular vegetarian college at one point (shout out to Bardians!) I have had my fair share of soy imitations of meat. The Mock Soy Chicken and Broccoli Bento Box came with rice (I chose brown) salted edamame (ah-ma-zing!) and salad. The soy chicken did not leave me craving real chicken. It was flavorful and moist just like the real thing. So real in fact, my boyfriend had a fun time fooling his mom into thinking it was real chicken and broccoli before revealing the truth with my left over portion. The cup of Mango Bubble Tea was the cherry on top of a perfect meal: Tasty and Fulfilling.

mock soy chiken and broccoli w edamame

If you’ve never had anything to do on Staten Island before, come to Bay House (it’s right by the ferry). They have Asian food that will satisfy every type of person and every taste-bud, not just vegetarians 😛
**update: March 28, 2017.
Unfortunately this establishment has been closed and another establishment is in current ownership of the same address. I stand by my initial review of this great place to eat. Sad that it is not around anymore. More reason to support small, local businesses!
N. Oliva

Xoxo.

City Kitchen – Luke’s – So Good I Forgot to Take a Picture Before I Ate It But…

City Kitchen – Luke’s – So Good I Forgot to Take a Picture Before I Ate It But…

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lukes lobster

City Kitchen opened on March 5, 2015 and it’s opening created buzz from the start. Not only is it an upscale food court, but its in Times Square! With nine vendors jam-packed into this one place, you’re bound to find one good option.

So I tried Luke’s.

I took a picture, but from all the excitement I had pent-up and the enjoyment I had once I got their Crab Roll in my hands, I could not put it down for a minute. Suffice it to say, it was everything Luke’s said it would be, it was succulent buttery crab that left you wanting more – and this is coming from someone who typically does not like anything buttery. Much more, because the whole sandwich was about the size of a hot dog on a bun. And not the bun size kind. I got it with water, a pickle and chips and felt cheated out of $16 when I saw how small the roll actually was. As you can see, I had already eaten the sandwich and pickle before taking this marvelous picture.

luke's crab roll and chips

Luke’s did deliver on its promise, but it left me wanting so much more. Not another $13 roll (without the extras)

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The Gaff Blog – A Place for Games, Art, Food and Film Discussion.

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The Gaff is a place for an open discussion, not a place for trolls or people trying to prove something. Constructive criticism is always welcomed. Also, if you have an opinion it is welcomed. But keep it clean. Do not write anything you could not submit to a professor. The only exception may be cursing, as long as it is not directed at anyone. Curse all you want. We are not your parents but we are people too.

be nice or leave

The purpose of this blog is to provide readers with a consumer perspective of the products that each selected industry provides:

  • The Game section will review recently released games or games from the past that our bloggers enjoy and love. In the future, perhaps one our bloggers will play the games for you to see
  • The same applies to our art, food and film reviews. Except for art, we will talk about and review exhibits at several museums. In the future, maybe feature recently released albums or songs and the like.
  • For the food section, the gaff will provide experiences at every bar and restaurant that we choose to visit (we will take any suggestions in the NYC or Tri-state area).
  • The creme de la creme, which is our film section, will feature discussions on newly released films as well as the classics.

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