Friday, August 22, 2008

The Omnivore's 100

Ripped shamelessly from casa az: yet another list...

So, you know the drill:
"Copy the following list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating."

I've had 75 out of the 100. I've noticed that a lot of interesting things aren't there -- like 100-year-old eggs, geoduck, live octopus, or bo-shin-tang (dog stew). I've not had live octopus, but I have had live sushi.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (I'm going to assume yes, since I tried many stinky soft cheeses in Paris, yum!)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or Head Cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Soudough Bowl
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (aka pufferfish) (didn't know it until I was done...best damn fish ever!)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings [maybe not, now that I've looked them up!]
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill [depends on how old...]
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess fruit pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose Harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole Poblano
96. Bagel and Lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

How about you?

Lori

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Game Night Fun

Okay, I'll admit, I'm a game fan. I've clocked some hours in roleplaying games, Civilization...I played Civilization when it was, gasp, a board game!

I was terribly depressed after going into a gaming store in the late 90s, asking if they had any bookcase games...The young guy in the store looked bewildered. "Bookcase game? What's that?"

Ah well. I enjoyed the marathon gaming sessions as a 20-something, and now that I'm a mumble-mumble-something, I enjoy my evenings of drinking wine and playing games with friends.

Which brings me to the new game in my repertoire, ZapIt's GameWave.

Before we go any further, as I've mentioned before (here, here, here and here), I'm into the whole phenomenon of word-of-mouth marketing...I get samples of products, and chat about them -- with full disclosure of course.

Well, I received a GameWave unit through BzzAgent.com and to be completely honest, I'm thrilled with it! I like my games competitive, but without rancor, and that is exactly what we get with this unit.

I've had a couple of game evenings with friends so far, and they were definitely successful. Luckily, the most successful game so far is the one that comes free with the unit, "4 Degrees", a trivia game. What really works is that all of the games are played by everyone all at once, as everyone has a remote that works independently. It's a very neat concept, and all of the games are familiar ones, with mutations that take this everyone-at-the-same time idea to a new level.

Tips
If you do some looking around on the site (GameWave), and you're interested in purchasing one of these units, here are some things I've discovered:
  • The unit comes with 4 remotes, and most of the games can only accommodate 4 remotes. No need to upgrade with the extra 2 remotes until they have more games that can use them.
  • Other BzzAgents have had problems with the unit and its interaction with plasma TVs. But, they've also reported very good customer service -- so check before you buy, to see if it is (still) a problem.
  • The Bejeweled clone game, "Gemz" is cool, but definitely needs a larger TV if you want to play with opponents. I won't even bring it out when people come over...my TV is too small!
  • If you are interested, let me know, 'cause I can toss a coupon your way. Email me at loricat at gmail dot com.
Enough of the product-praise. I think my regular readers understand that I wouldn't give a good review of anything if it were shite...I've panned books and products in my time.

Back to your regularly scheduled absurdities...

Lori

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Lazy "Artists"

So, I was wandering in an adult toy store this evening...

Get your minds back here! I was in a Future Shop, not the other kind of toy store!

Anyway, I was browsing the cheap DVDs, and I came across this fabulous 1985 movie:

We all remember this one? I'm sure it was on everyone's Top 10 lists!

But Dennis Quaid's picture on this poster/cover made me stop short...

"Hell, he looks just like Miles Vorkosigan!!"

So, out there somewhere is an artist that got paid the big bucks at Baen books in 1995 for "creating" this very cool cover art.

Buddy, people have longer memories than that!

Lori

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Can Pass Air

Press releases abound today for the launch of Canada's new get-through-customs-easy-like program: CANPASS Air.

C'mon people! Did you not run this past a couple humans with even a mild sense of humour before the launch?!?

What's next for the border? CanPass Gas?

Make me proud!

Lori

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Inflatable dog turd sculpture escapes Swiss museum, wreaks havoc

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up!

For real and for true.

Found this via a friend on Facecrack...whose favourite headline when we were kids was "Hippo Crushes Circus Dwarf."

Lori