This was a very busy month! So much has happened since the last blog entry, but I wanted to start off with a little bit of gratitude. If you're reading this right now, here's a huge THANK YOU for your support! I'm eternally grateful to anyone who has interacted with the site, YouTube, stream, or any of my socials. It's been an exciting journey, and I'm thrilled to bring more seltzer and entertainment content to you all!
We finally got a chance to get out of town for a long weekend away this month to one of my favorite places, Las Vegas! Sin City. The Entertainment Capital of the World. Modern Day Sodom and Gomorrah. I fricken love Las Vegas! When you're in Vegas you really feel like you can have everything in excess: Food, gambling, booze, seltzers, EVERYTHING. It's such an over-the-top town, and it was hotter than the devil's anus. Temps hit over 100 Fahrenheit, and I enjoyed every minute of it. People always say the temps aren't too bad because it's a dry heat, and I completely agree! The weather was perfect for walking around, drinking a hundred frozen cocktails, and hanging in the pool. Plus, we booked the trip just to see No Doubt at the sphere. Rebecca is a HUGE No Doubt fan, and they rocked the house down.
"If I'm traveling and I see seltzers I haven't tried before, I'm going to make it a point to drink and review them." — Matt
If you are a big live music fan and really want to see a show, you should totally put the Sphere on your list. The band was able to match a really good musical performance with tremendous visuals on that huge Sphere screen, making it feel almost like a 4D experience! This is my second time at the Sphere, where I originally saw Dead and Company (Before Bob Weir died) and I have to say No Doubt was a way better show. Gwen Stefani (and those other guys) put on a rockin' performance which was much better than the music of Dead and Company. The main difference though was that for No Doubt the Sphere visuals were sort of an afterthought, whereas at Dead and Company the visuals were the whole entire show and experience. So, depending on what you would prefer, good music vs good visuals, your mileage may vary. Still, you should do yourself a favor and get to a show at the Sphere just for the experience, it's unlike any other!
But this was my second time seeing No Doubt live, and my 3rd time seeing Gwen Stefani perform, and I have to say this is really just all about Gwen Stefani. No Doubt is basically just the Gwen Stefani show, but for good reason. She's an excellent performer, sounds very good, and looks amazing, but all the other guys in the band are basically just window dressing. There aren't any main solos for anyone, and it doesn't sound like all of their music is overly complicated, so it almost just feels like it's Gwen Stefani and the rest of the band is also there. But still the show was fantastic despite my minor critiques (hey I'm a seltzer critic, not a music critic!) and we had a hell of a good time seeing them perform!
We also spent a few days just relaxing and enjoying Vegas, and that meant great dinners, hanging in the casinos on the strip and old Vegas, floating in the pool, and we got to see Cirque du Soleil. Of course, it wouldn't be proper if I didn't get a chance to drink a bushel full of seltzers, which I did! I even saw a few seltzers I never tried before throughout the trip, and I brought them home to review on stream in the next few weeks! I've decided that if I'm traveling and I see seltzers that I haven't tried before, I'm going to make it a point to drink and review them, so I'm looking forward to seeing more seltzers on my adventures around the globe!
On the exercise front, I've been training to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon for the last few weeks and I'm happy to report that I completed the race this past weekend! It was the longest race I've ever attempted, and it was no joke. 13.1 miles is actually pretty dang tough, and my legs were cookin'! But it was an absolutely awesome day and a blast to run from Prospect Park to Coney Island in Brooklyn with everyone on race day. The vibes were immaculate, and the party was poppin' even though at around mile 9 I wanted to kill myself. My goal was to complete the race at a sub 2-hour pace and I ended at a finish time of 1:43, so I'm pretty proud of that. If you ran the Brooklyn half this weekend or any race of that length, congratulations, you totally rock! It's been 2 full days, and my quads are still toast. I took a ton of pictures and videos, and I'll be throwing some of that on the YouTube page so keep your eyes peeled if you're interested in checking out the race!
So there has been a crap ton of stuff going on in life, but I'm always going to be streaming, gaming, watching tv, drainkin' seltzers, and consuming all sorts of media. Here's what we got going on:
On Stream
Seltzers — Obviously.
Yapping — Constantly.
Saros — I'm finally going to dive into this game for real. I've done a few runs and haven't beaten the first boss yet, but the game is chaotic twitchy fun! It's just like Returnal but I'm not as hooked on Saros as I was immediately hooked on Returnal. I enjoyed the mysterious dark setting of Returnal, and the story behind the main character in Returnal was more unique, but I'm still going to go through as much of this game as possible. I'm certain it will open up as I continue through.
Deep Rock Galactic Rogue Core — ROCK AND STONE! This game comes out this week and I've been greatly anticipating its release since they announced it! I've been fascinated with the Deep Rock team and their ability to pivot genres, and I may have enjoyed Deep Rock Survivors even more than Vampire Survivors! I'm really looking forward to getting back into this roguelike version of Deep Rock and doing it once again FOR KARL!
Games Off Stream
Diablo IV Lord of Hatred — This game rocks. I finally beat the main story on stream, and it was actually pretty well written, but it's the end game that drives everything. I'm a big fan of the hard-core mode (which is if you die once, you lose the character) and I'm going to be working on that off stream for a while. I'm sad to report that the first hardcore character I made already died (RIP 😢) but I'm going to be back at it. I didn't like that Warlock anyway.
Apex Legends — New season is out and it looks wacky with the new legend who can slide to infinity and beyond. But I love playing this game, and if I can get the boys back, we're going to be grinding out ranked. Looking for a pro contract.
Vampire Crawlers — Could this be my game of the year? Quite possibly! It's so dang addicting, but I'm a sucker for deck builders. But if you take a compelling deck building game and add the Vampire Survivors je ne sais quoi, then you have a hit on your hands. Also, coming off my Vegas trip makes me like this game even more. It feels like I'm in the casino every time I play it!
What We're Watching
The Boys — This one's finally wrapping up, and I think I'm ready. It's become too over the top at this point, and if it wasn't coming to an end very soon, I'd say it had jumped the shark. BUT I'm excited to see what happens to all da boyz, and I'm sure I'll feel good when it's all over. I think it's one of those shows that didn't overstay its welcome and the viewer will feel satisfied when it's complete.
Your Friends and Neighbors — Jon Hamm, what a guy! I know Jon Hamm has been in a lot of other shows since Mad Men, but I don't think anything he's done has really highlighted his ability as a leading man until this show. The show itself isn't groundbreaking or genre defining, but it's watchable and a good time. We really enjoyed season 1, and as a popcorn show, we're excited to kick off season 2!
SPORTS! — KNICKS BABY! In the Eastern Conference finals, we'll definitely be watching that all playoffs and on stream. It's all coming together: The Knicks are heating up, they're back in the conference finals, and the LIRR is on strike. It's like 1994 all over again!
Other Stuff
Just some random crap we'll be talking about on our next few streams. Our next trip will be this July for two weeks in Europe, but you know I'll be searching for Europe's next big Spiked Seltzer. It'll be like Eurovision, but more exciting and I'll be drunk. The weather is turning and getting hotter now, which means there will be more beach days and I'm committing to making more Seltzer on the Beach videos and putting that number on the spreadsheet to the test! Of course there will be more: updating this site, more reviews, more games, and MORE EVERYTHING. I hope to see you there!
