A quest to finding the best ribs in Miami is no easy task. Many have their favorite restaurants and especially locals prefer some of the historically honored traditional establishments such as Shiver's or Shorty's.

A good rib is one that is tender, not dry and above all else, tasty. And with these come subjective interpretations, which is delicious to one person may simply be atrocious to another. Some are ok with parboiled ribs for tenderness while others demand that they be slow roasted or slowly smoked. There are varying styles of barbecue that differ from Texas to North Carolina as well as the regional accompanying sauces.

I went to four different barbecue places to try their selection, in search of the best ribs and I was surprised at the complexity of the task. Each place I went to held their own and have their own special merits and I could easily go to any of these places depending on what I am in the mood for on that particular day. I am in the fortunate, or if you look at my waistline, unfortunate position of liking everything, beef ribs, spare ribs, baby back ribs, so long as it tastes good and the meat is tender.

First on the list is Shiver's BBQ in Homestead. It is a landmark and has been around since the 1950s.

They have a large variety of offerings and when it comes to ribs they have the full gamut of pork spareribs, baby back ribs and beef ribs. You can get all three in the "rib trio" which is what I did:

Warning! Spoilers ahead! I have not read the book series this show is based on, so this is a highly speculative review and summary. This week's episode was probably the best since the first two as the pace picks up. Quite a bit of information and nuance is given to us as we learn more about the mysteries of the Silo. Only 4 episodes remain and thin...

Homestead is anything if not diverse. Mexican food, barbecue, traditional continental food, Brazilian food, it's all there to be found and discovered in a rural wilderness from the urban Miami Jungle.  With this, I had to try Yardie Spice, a Haitian/Jamaican restaurant with top ratings for years on yelp. The outside is a very unassuming decor,...

Warning! Spoilers!

Picard season 3 episode 8 “Surrender” has aired and it does not disappoint. Now, admittedly, I’ve enjoyed all three seasons of Picard despite others having some negative views. Perhaps it is the nostalgia that I enjoy, or perhaps I just like older style sci-fi. Regardless, I’m grateful and glad this show was made as I’ve felt there has been a dearth of good new sci-fi shows since the pandemic. Let’s get to the episode...

Vadic, now fully in control of the USS Titan-A spends most of the episode showcasing her skills as a sadistic menace terrorizing the captive crew while taking away any working ship systems. She even takes it to a new level with crew executions, all for the purpose of obtaining Jack Crusher which has been the target since the beginning of the season.

Riker and Deanna make an escape from Captain Vadic’s ship, the Shrike, to make it back onto the USS Titan-A for a very heartfelt reunion. The crew reunited, easily overcome Captain Vadic and they strategize their next moves just hours before the reunion where all of star fleet and their ships will assemble. The show ends on a cliff hanger as Troi and Jack prepare to open the door that has been haunting his dreams the whole season.

Reminescent of the good old days...

What am I playing these days?
Endless Space 2 from Amplitude Studios is a 4x turned based strategy game that has been consuming my time in the past two months.. Originally released in 2017, it's had a number of expansion packs and mini releases since. The game is reminescent of Masters of Orion 2 even down to having troop invasions of planets. It has a similar feel to civ6 and there have been a few nights I've stayed up for just one more turn.

It is a typical "explore, expand, exploit and exterminate" game. Space combat has a cool battle video sequence, however, I found myself skipping these after the first battle. After destroying a fleet that orbits a system, you then do a ground invasion. The twist from earlier games is this has improvements in gear for your ground assault including better use of technology, tanks and airplanes. This actually does make it more fun.

The game has several victory conditions including science, economy, conquest, wonders and total score,  Generally, I just play until the game ends on its own. It does a good job of ending earlier rather than having tedium once it's obvious that you've won.

AI seems better on alliances and teams than Civ6
The game has a political system. I remember joining with a computer player on my alliance in Civ6 and my own computer ally had declared peace right as I was about to make major gains. This AI seems smarter in letting you obtain your gains and will send ships to your aid as well. The computer opponents seem to have their own personalities from the condescending Horatio to my favorites being the Sophons.