Man Lab: Ten Manliest Cocktails 2012

It’s time for Christmas parties around the world. One thing is consistent among all parties: Everyone but the DD and the wait staff is drunk. However, it’s not exactly in fashion to down beer after beer. Unfortunately, beer is the staple of male alcoholic beverage consumption.

So it’s back to our Man Lab to help you figure out what you should drink at your fancy Christmas functions. As we do every year, here is our list of the top ten manliest drinks that aren’t beer or wine that you get away with drinking at a formal function. Continue reading

BioWare is Going “All Hands on Deck” for Next ME3 DLC

mass-effect-3-citadel-dlc-unofficial-bannerI may have been underwhelmed by Mass Effect 3’s Leviathan DLC but I was more underwhelmed by the follow-up Omega DLC. What was expected to be ME3’s equivalent to Lair of the Shadow Broker turned out more like its Overlord. For the third post-launch DLC, BioWare has gone all hands on deck. Most of the production team’s major players from the full game are back to work on this DLC. That includes the writers, composer Sam Hulick and even voice actors from the main cast. Continue reading

Wednesday Link-Off: The Bigger Picture

doutzen-kroes-victoriassecret12-07Today, we take a break from the long reads to bring you our usual set of Wednesday links.  Don’t worry, though, because there is still some worthwhile reads in today’s links. But first, here’s Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes. Her appearance has everything to do with cashing in on last night’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

John McAfee’s run from the law in Belize has been a long running story in the tech world. The story is exposing the possibility of corrupt government officials in Belize and the ineptitude of the police for being unable to arrest him. (New York Times)

By now you’ve likely heard about the murder-suicide committed by NFL player Jovan Belcher. Here’s a breakdown of the timeline of that fateful Saturday. (Kansas City Star)

The editor-in-chief of The New Yorker thinks that Hilary Clinton will run for President in 2016. (The New Yorker)

After the jump, a celebrity is planning a Senate bid, what does a Marine think of Spec Ops and a DMX Christmas carol. Continue reading

Mass Effect 3: Omega DLC Review (or Mama, I’m Coming Home)

mass-effect-3-omega-bannerThe Mass Effect 3 Omega DLC has been an interesting topic of discussion. While most Mass Effect fans loved Aria T’Loak, the overlord of the Omega space station, would doing a mission with her be worth the extra $5 that BioWare was charging? When it was released Lair of the Shadow Broker was the most expensive piece of Mass Effect 2 DLC. Could Omega live up to the legacy of LotSB? Continue reading

Who Is Canada’s Next Racing Hero?

Now that the Formula One season is over, it’s time for us to look ahead to the future of motorsport. In Canada, we have an amazing motorsport history. Formula One’s best and most exciting driver, Gilles Villeneuve, hailed from Quebec. His son, Jacques, won the Indy 500 and IndyCar championship before becoming the Formula One World Drivers’ Champion. The most exciting F1 is consistently the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal. West Hill’s Paul Tracy is one of the winningest drivers in Champ Car (formerly CART) history.

But who is left for Canada to cheer for now. No one is at the top echelon of the sport right. But that isn’t to say we don’t have some potential racing heroes waiting in the wings. So here’s a look at the future of Canadian motorsports. Continue reading

Lowdown Monthly – November 2012

It’s time to once again take a look back at the past month here on the blog with Lowdown Monthly. Considering the amount of content we’ve pushed out over the last 30 days, I thought now would be a good time to bring it back. So here’s our look back at our favourite and the most popular posts of November. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: Sports Bucks

michea-crawford-paindusucre12-01If you thought there was a lot to read on the blog last week, wait until you see we have what we have in store for this week. We have a review of the Mass Effect 3 Omega DLC, a look at the top Canadian racing driver prospects and our annual look at the Spike Video Game Awards and none of those are short posts. It’ll be a good week if you like long reads.  Anyway, let’s kick off the links with Canadian model Michea Crawford.

Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp says that it’s time Republicans stop worrying about ridiculous pledges they make to earn endorsements and worry about the electorate and being accountable to the voters. (New York Daily News) By the way, if you read the comments, you can see the Tea Partiers take issue with her common sense point of view in this column.

Forbes again released their list of the value of NHL franchises. The problem is that they seem to be making up the revenue numbers used for valuation and ignoring the fact that there’s a lockout. (mc79hockey)

You shouldn’t need any help figuring out why you should have Notre Dame football. If you do need help, here’s a Hater’s Guide to Notre Dame. (Deadspin)

After the jump, David Stern is drunk on his own power, the return of Iron Chef isn’t as successful as hoped and a modern Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Continue reading

Entertainment Link-Off: Op-Ed

berenice-marlohe-omega12-07Once again, I draw in for Jackie for the entertainment links. Unfortunately, this weekend is a complete wasteland. Nothing noteworthy is opening this weekend. Okay, there’s that Killing Them Softly movie starring Brad Pitt which critics like and movie goers are lukewarm on. Since I don’t think she’s been featured in a set of the entertainment links, here’s Bond girl Berenice Marlohe. Continue reading

Join Us In Fighting Hunger on Freerice.com

One of my quieter December traditions is joining up with a group of Formula One fans to fight hunger in the world by answering quiz questions on Freerice.com. This website is operated by the United Nations World Food Programme. For every question answered, the WFP will donate ten grains of rice to the hungry thanks to advertising revenue.

This year, we’ve created our own Lowdown Blog group to work together as a team to feed the hungry. Even if you don’t join our team, you should sign up on Freerice to fight hunger and learn some new things in the process.

Caption This: November 24 – 30, 2012

Inspired by the Globe and Mail’s caption writing person, we waste our time writing funny picture captions for some of the more interesting photos we come across when blogging. So here are some of the best pictures from the past week with a funny (-ish) caption. Continue reading