Thursday, August 30, 2007

Back to our regularly scheduled program
















This is a repeat dish but it's the first time I made it with this much success. I think it had to do with using enough zucchini this time and carefully rereading my umido instructions where it says "cook in oil as to not boil the zucchini" so I let the zucchini cook in the oil much longer than I did in the past. Voila! So this is a hefty dish and hard to cook in small quantities but hopefully some reverse mathtology will help future endeavors. I used one 500 gram package. Err... I think it was 500 grams. Yes, that's right. One 500 gram package of Riccia. 5 Zucchinis so I guess that translates to 1 per 100 grams. I used 3 shallots for soffritto and cooked the zucchini for about 15 minutes. Afterwards, I added somewhere in the ballpark of 6 fluid oz of water. It was a standard 12 oz glass I was using and about half of it went in. Lastly, I mixed the pasta and the sauce in a hot pan. Add salt, pepper, and cheese to taste.

Check out version 1.0 with significant zucchini shortages and the original Italian version.
















So I cooked this for two of my vegetarian co-workers in San Rafael. See, even Jimmy's birds enjoy it. hoo-ray!





















Near their apartments is the classic Starbase 1 arcade, home of much gamercise and classic gaming. I'm pretty sure the machine they have there is some freakly new version of it because according to the internet, Ms. Pacman only has 4 levels and the version I played had this evil crazy staircase-like level. In addition, the speed was cranked up (which I like) and the difficulty seemed a bit low. On the first level, the red ghost slowed down when he got near me. Also, when you die, not all the ghosts would come out of their hut which was frustrating because I wanted to eat them all! Anyways, if you need further proof, I would call into question that yet again, according to the internet, my score of 133,740 would place 15th all time in Ms. Pacman scoring. For the 3rd time playing it in the modern era, I would find that somewhat impossible to accomplish so easily/soon.


Related, have you seen this old video of this primate playing Ms. Pac Man? Quite amazing! They say it's a chimp but I believe it is the sex crazed relatives of the bonobos species.



And while I'm posting youtube videos, I get excited when I find songs I can sing. This is due largely to my "unusual" singing range. I think it's a standard 2 octave range between C to C with who knows in the falsetto transition range.

Here is a classic sung by Belgian Wunderkind Michael "Junior" Verschuere who sings it a few steps below the recent Jordin Sparks version on American Idol which I can sort of pull off but no where near that well.



And plug this one into the karaoke box next time.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Who is reading my blog?

I'd like to take this opportunity to address my readers. WHO ARE YOU??? Please leave a comment so I can find out who the heck is reading my blog. Did you come across it from Blogger's "random blog" link? Are you just window shopping? Are you a regular? Let me know. I'm very curious. This blog is mostly for myself since I don't have a clue what I do with my time without it but some people regularly visit.

Friday, August 24, 2007

King of Kong 2
















I saw King of Kong again. It was still awesome. The director Seth Gordon was on hand to field questions. One question would be, "how the heck did you get in on this subject?" And the answer was he has history with FunSpot, the New Hampshire arcade that appears in the film.

Indirect Spoiler Alert:

Some other items addressed were that a suspicious tape in the movie (you'll know the one I'm talking about) was in fact verified as a genuine tape via the master recording. Also, according to Gordon and official score keepers Twin Galaxies, Billy Mitchell scored 1,050,200 on the 25th anniversary of his original 1982 record. The saga continues.

some of my favorite quotes:
the whole Kill Screen segment. including "I thought I was going to be the first Fun Spot kill screen, but then 3 fireballs trapped me..." and "for someone else to beat me to the kill screen would be a let down."
the "what do you think my initials are?" segment.
"if you do not know the next attack pattern in Tron, you will lose your life."
"Some people ruin their lives trying to get in that book."
Mr. Awesome's guide to girls.

End Spoiler Alert

Check out this "not included in the movie" clip featuring Mark Alpiger, courtesy of Destructoid. Pathetically funny!

Ben also had a t-shirt show at the Space Gallery. We went to Tommy's Joynt afterwards for food and drinks.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

King of Kong

This movie was awesome. I didn't expect it but it was. Here is a taste of the humor from the trailer.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Monday, August 20, 2007

TFBeering: Nat Lush

So apparently while I was away on vacation, I became a terrible lush and drank a lot at the office getting very little work done.





































*burp*

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Day 11: Seattle (Dim Sum, Pike Place)
















Picture in Picture





















Dim sum










































































































































































































Mmm...... cake...
















Pike Place
















Flying Fish Company as made famous in the 1980s Spike Lee Levi's commercial. Amazingly, a simple google search turns up zero results for the commercial video but there are plenty of vids online of the flying fish spectacle itself.
















Alexander. The man who knows. He sees all. Your past. Your present. Your death.
















Asian Pear* (yoink!)
*actually it turned out to be a crappy soggy pear. I like the crunchy and crisp ones =(
















???
















Snagged from Gabe's camera. Me buying Chinotto, the awesome bitter citrus beverage.
















This was only amusing because it was RIGHT next to a Westin or Four Seasons hotel in downtown Seattle.





















Random robo-chicken sculpture.





















Seattle's crazy library.
















Library's "meeting" room. This is the hall you tell people to meet you at but instead you drown them in a torrent of blood.
















Indeed they are, so eat them quickly!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Day 10: Seattle (Cruise Disembarkment, Liu House Lunch, Chinese Food!)
















The Loh's disembark!





















Lunch at the Liu's
















Seafood for lunch?
















Check out those prices!
































Spot Prawn (yoinked!)
















Shucking





















































Lian Mien (cold noodle)
















Drunken Prawn (Amaebi)
































O-toro O-plenty
















Sashimi shpread
















Spot prawns cooked in Shao Xing cooking wine with some ginger .
















Don't forget the crabs. Steamed with Ginger and Lemon.





































"Boy I married into the right family! (munch munch)"
















INTERMISSION
















Jellyfish Salad.
















Fried Tofu
















Soup thing
















Fish thing
















Duck thing
















String bean & Beef. Thing.
















Clams.
















Kung Pao Chicken
















Strange salad with smoked pork.
















That's all!