My Favorite Restaurants in Pueblo – #2 – Pass Key

Pass Key is two things: Italian and simple.  Their menu consists of everything you’d expect to find at any low end Italian restaurant anywhere in the US.  Spaghetti and meatballs, hot sandwiches, burgers, etc.  But their signature, a “Pueblo Tradition,” is the Pass Key Special.  It’s simply an Italian sausage sandwich on greased Italian bread, a couple slices of cheese, some yellow mustard, and a little lettuce for color.  Also, some pickled cherry or banana peppers are tossed on the plate as well.

The Special will never be perfectly cooked, it may be crispy, it may be rare, the cheese may drip off the patty onto the griddle and be burned, it’ll never win any food awards, but it’ll always be delicious.  You really only have one choice to make when ordering a Special.  What cheese do you want on it?  American, Swiss, Provolone, or maybe all three combined.  I always opt for the last, referred to as the “Super Special.”  I’m not too concerned about my cholesterol levels, I like to live dangerously.

An oft overlooked aspect of any good meal is the side.  In the case of the Super Special, the side is Pass Key’s fresh French Fries.  I’m putting my cards on the table here:  Pass Key has the best fries in town.

A somewhat new addition to the Pass Key Special option list is Pass Key’s house green chile to smother the sandwich, essentially creating a Special Slopper.  I have yet to try this combo, but a friend says it’s excellent.

I mentioned the Pass Key Special being a Pueblo Tradition, it’s earned that distinction because Pass Key has continually operated and expanded in this town for 60-some years.  There’s now four locations around Pueblo and Pueblo West, plus a concession trailer that shows up at some of the larger events around town.  The Abriendo location is the most throw-back, the Highway 50 spot has the most modern feel.  A pair of people should expect to pay between $15 and $20 for a meal.

I’ll update this post with hours and menu information when I get around to getting it.

02/01/2011

My Favorite Restaurants in Pueblo – #1 – Grand Prix

Grand Prix Menu Cover Shot

Grand Prix, one of my most frequented restaurants in Pueblo.

Grand Prix is one of only two Mexican restaurants that I frequent in Pueblo, the other being El Nopal.  I go to others on occasion, but not nearly as often as those two.

Service at Grand Prix can be hit or miss.  For better service try to go during a slow time, such as fairly early evening on a weekday or you can try lunch time if you’re not in a major hurry.  Whenever you go, expect to be there for at least one hour.

Most everybody loves their chicken tacos on white dinner, it’s practically what Grand Prix is known for.  I usually go for the #2 combo plate which includes one chicken taco on white, one chicken tostada, and two chicken enchiladas, smothered with green chili.  On days when I’m very hungry I’ll add a pork and avocado burrito or a chorizo burrito.  Be warned, their chorizo can be extremely spicy.  My dad is a fan of their chicken fried steak dinner.  The green chili is pretty good, but just like everything at this place, it’s spiciness varies from batch to batch.  Some days it’ll be on the mild side, other days quite hot.  I’ve never tried their red chili, but Grand Prix has won the Pueblo Chili & Frijoles Festival cook-off with their red chili a few times, so it must be pretty good.

I don’t drink alcohol, but those I know that do say they have the strongest margaritas in town.

Unfortunately Grand Prix is a hit or miss kind of place, one day you’ll go in and have great service and the food is awesome, then on occasion you’ll go and by the time you leave you’ll be swearing  you’ll never eat there again.  But even on a bad day the food is still pretty dang good and that’s why you’ll keep coming back.  My only complaint is that the cups they use for drinks are way too small.  They need to go to a much larger size.

Grand Prix is located at 615 East Mesa Avenue, a couple blocks east of Do Drop Inn’s Santa Fe location.  You can dine in or call and carry out.  Average cost for two people will be right around $20.

I’ll update this post with hours and menu information when I get around to getting it.

01/23/2011

Canon 5D remote shooting with Windows XP, Vista, & 7 x64 & EOS Utility

lighting painting - behind the scenes

Photo by Fenstermacher Photography (fensterbme on Flickr)

Is it possible to use Windows XP x64 (64-bit), Windows Vista x64, or Windows 7 x64 to run EOS Utility for remote shooting with an original Canon 5D or other similarly aged Canon DSLR?

I spent a lot of time searching for an answer to that question.  This is what I’ve found.

(Click here to go directly to Windows 7  info)

Short answer: No. Canon does not provide the necessary 64-bit hardware driver for older cameras on 64-bit Windows.

Long answer: Yes, but…

…but what?  There’s a way to get it working, but it’s not technically in Windows XP, Vista, or 7 x64.  You have to use a process called virtualization using virtual machine software and a copy of Windows XP 32-bit.  Most of what I write below pertains to Vista, since that’s what I’m using, but it should also apply to Windows XP x64 and Windows 7.

I’ve tried a few different VM software packages.  Microsoft’s own Virtual PC 2007 (free) will not work because it doesn’t support USB devices.  Oracle’s free/open source (GPL) VirtualBox does support USB devices, but I could not get USB pass-through to work on the version (4.0.2) I used, which was the latest at the time.  Finally I tried VMware’s VMware Player for Windows.  It’s another free application, and it’s worked beautifully for me so far, and using the Unity feature, I can use EOS Utility and Digital Photo Professional in a way that they appear to be running natively under Vista.

As I said, you do need to have a copy of Windows XP (32-bit) available.  I happened to have an old copy that I bought way back when XP was first released and it installed into the VMware virtual machine that I set up without any problems.  You might be able to find a copy somewhere if you know where to look.  Installing EOS Utility and DPP were both as simple as launching the install programs through the virtualized Windows XP.  The final step was plugging in my 5D through the USB port on my laptop, enabling it in the virtual machine, and having Windows XP install the necessary Canon camera driver software (which should have been copied when you installed the EOS Utility software).

To keep my virtual machine’s (fake) hard drive as small as possible, I used another feature of VMware Player that allowed me to setup a folder in Windows Vista as a network drive in (virtual) Windows XP.  I then set up EOS Utility in XP to use that network drive as the Destination Folder in the preferences for remote shooting.  All photos shot via remote shooting are instantly available to me in Windows Vista.

There’s a couple small problems I don’t like about this solution.  One is the load time for EOS Utility.  Since VMware has to load, the virtual machine has to launch, Windows XP has to boot completely, then EOS Utility finally launches; it’s not quick to get into the program.  Whereas natively EOS Utility would normally start in just a second or two, the virtualized route takes about a minute to start (this can be shortened with careful optimization of the virtual machine settings and services and start up programs in the virtual Windows XP).  Another problem is when I exit EOS Utility, VMware Player will continue running until I also shut it down.  Neither of these impact the function of EOS Utility, it works perfectly using this method, but both are a bit annoying.

More on Windows 7

Again it’s a yes and no situation.  If you’re using the Starter or Home Premium editions of Windows 7, you’re best bet is to use the information above.  If you’re using Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate; EOS Utility works similarly well using the XP Mode software (which is a modified and optimized version of Virtual PC with Windows XP already installed and USB support enabled).  I haven’t upgraded to Windows 7 yet so I’m not going to go into it here, but there’s plenty of resources on the internet for you.  Just use Google to search for “Windows 7 XP mode EOS Utility Canon 5D.”  Or click this link for one of the better guides.

Hopefully some out there will find this information useful.  I’m not a tech support guy or computer wiz, but if anybody has any questions or needs help I’ll do my best to answer them, just use my comments section below.

01/22/2011

Final Thoughts: Okami (PS2)

Wow.

Great graphics, awesome sound and music, a beautiful story, and epic gameplay all add up to one of the best games I’ve ever played.  It’s no wonder that Okami was chosen as game of the year by so many in the games press back in 2006.  What is a wonder is that it’s still languishing in relative obscurity.

If you haven’t played Okami yet you really need to.  It’s only about 30 – 40 hours, so a couple of weeks at a few hours a day is a great use of your time to play it.

Get it on the PS2 to see it in all it’s original glory, or get the Wii version and enjoy a new level of immersion as you waggle your stick around to paint with the celestial brush.

If you missed this one and you’ve been needing a good adventure go buy Okami now.

RecommendedRecommended
05/16/2010

Final Thoughts: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment

I finally got around to finishing Vandal Hearts today.  Overall I enjoyed the game, but I’m not a hardcore RPG player, so I’m not comparing it to other RPGs.  It’s only about a 15 or 20 hour game, you could probably extend that to 30 hours if you spent more time exploring.  Does it stack up to Disgaea or Final Fantasy or any of those other popular RPGs?  No.  But it’s not really meant to I don’t think.  It’s a $15 game on the PSN, so consider it in that light.  Flames of Judgment is kind of hard to compare to the previous Vandal Hearts games because of that, but I think I enjoyed it as much as I did the first in the series.  It certainly has made me want to go back and play the first two, so I guess it was good enough.

If you’re a fan of tactical RPGs, but don’t want to invest a ton of time into one, then buy Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment.  If you’re a hardcore RPGer that thinks anything less than 50 hours is a ripoff, then skip it.

Not RecommendedNot Recommended
04/03/2010